CHapter 3: beyond the Wallhouses. Influence does still determining the maximum Status of theleader of the tribe, but using a different scale than noble houses.LandThe Far North is a vast, empty region allowing the tribes who live thereto claim much larger tracks of land than the noble houses of the South.Also mountains are far more common north of the Wall than south ofit, so the cost of terrain has been adjusted accordingly. Wetlands are notpresent in the Far North due to the rocky shores and low temperaturesthat dominate the coastal regions. Communities cost more in the FarNorth and cities are not available at all, nor is grassland. There are anumber new terrain features available in the Far North that are notavailable in Westeros and vice versa. The effects of these new terrainfeatures are described in Warfare in the Far North on pages 112-113.A new feature available for land is the Food Supply feature. Eachunit of land with an Available Food Supply adds +1 to the tribe fortunerolls, while each unit of land with a Plentiful Food Supply adds +2 tothe tribe fortune rolls.LawLaw holdings work the same with free folk tribes as they do with thenoble houses of Westeros. Due to the chaotic and disorganized natureof the free folk their tribes tend to have low Law ratings.PopulationPopulation holdings work the same with free folk tribes as they do withthe noble houses of Westeros. Due to the harsh environment and limitedfood supply of the Far North, free folk tribes tend to have lowPopulation ratings.Power HoldingsLike noble houses, Power is used to build the military might of thetribe. Among the free folk this does not represent soldiers in the leader’spay, but the members of the tribe who will go to war. Because of this atribe cannot have a higher Power than twice its Population. Also eachunit that is destroyed reduces the Population score of the tribe by –5.Tribes that do poorly in war soon find themselves wiped out.Free folk tribes may not have banner houses, but otherwise determinetheir Power holdings in the same fashion as noble houses. Thefree folk may purchase only guerillas, infantry, raider and scout unitsdescribed in the SIFRP core book, as well as those new units describedon Table @-@: New Unit Types.Wealth HoldingsThe poverty of the free folk means most tribes have very low Wealthscores, and even those who do not have few options open to them comparedto the noble houses of the south. Guilds, maesters, and septs are notavailable to free folk tribes. Artisans may only be purchased if the tribealso has a mine and Artisans can never produced castle-forged goods.Step Five: IdentifiersEach tribe of the free folk has a name that is some clue to their beliefs,history, or character. Some tribes have specific totem animals they followor aspects of nature they seek to embody, using them in the tribe’sname, like the Walrus Men. Others like the Thenn tribes use the nameof their territory as their name, which is especially common amongtribes that live in highly valued or contested areas. The tribes of the FarNorth do not use heraldry, instead relying on informative and memorablenames combined with visceral symbols like skulls, painted skins,and war paint to make their tribe stand out.While the players of a free folk tribe need not put time into puzzlingout the arms of their tribe, putting time into deciding what their nameis, why it is, and what the tribe’s common symbols are is very worthwhile.Developing a name to equal to savage starkness of the Cannibal Clans ofthe Ice River, or the informative yet vague Walrus Men, is an importantpart of depicting the tribe’s character. If the tribe’s name does not evokesome mixture of mystery, fear, and savagery it probably needs some work.Step Six: Tribe MembersTribes of the Far North do not have the vast households of noble housesof the South and, aside from the leader of each tribe, there is no commonstructure for the upper echelons of a tribe. There are no positions likesteward, captain of the guard, or master of the hounds that are commonacross all the tribes of the free folk. Members of the tribe who distinguishthemselves are often honored by the leader with titles or advisory positions,but such decisions are completely at the whim of the individualleader. Free folk are often recognized within their tribe for being thetribe’s most skilled healer, best hunter, most fearsome warrior, respectedmystic, valued craftsmen, beastfriend, or cunning planner, but not all ofthese equate to having an actual title. Instead he who performs best in thetribe is given respect for his skills regardless of what he is called.111
CHapter 3: beyond the WallThe Life of the TribeOnce the tribe is created it functions in the same fashion as a noblehouse, growing and shrinking over time according to the skill of itsmembers and the whims of fate.Tribal FortuneTribes of the free folk make tribe fortune rolls in the same fashion thatnoble houses do, though tribes cannot elect to increase a single resourceby 1 instead of making a tribal fortunes roll. Instead they must make atribal fortunes roll at least every three months, but not more than oncea month. For each 1 rolled on a tribal fortune roll, the tribe suffers a -1penalty on all future tribal fortune rolls until that tribe moves to a newland holding using the Migrate action, representing how tribes that stayin one place too long will consume all the resources in an area, renderingit barren. This penalty decreases by 1 for each month the afflicted landholding is not occupied. Non-nomadic tribes require skill in resourcemanagement, represented by the Stewardship specialty, to survive in thelong term. This penalty can also be offset by spending one point of Law,Population, or Wealth per point of penalty removed.Negative results on the tribal fortune roll are most likely to affectLaw, Population, or Wealth as the people and order of the tribe breakdown in the face of the harsh nature of the Far North.AdventuringTribal holdings can be increased through donating coin or trade goods,increasing the Wealth resource of the tribe by +1 for every 200 golddragons worth of coin or goods, or by the expenditure of Glory usingthe normal rules.ActionsFree folk tribes can use the Manage Resources, Begin Projects, andWage War actions, but cannot use the Host Tournaments action sincethey have no interest in such pointless displays. Tribes can also make useof the Migrate and Raiding actions.MigrateThe land Far North is sufficiently barren that few areas can supportpermanent or even long-term habitation. This forces many tribes to remainon the move to avoid drawing too heavily on the resources of anyone area. A tribe may taking the Migrate action moves the bulk of itspopulation to another land holding, hopefully escaping penalties to itstribal fortunes roll. In the case of leaving settlements or fortifications,some small portion of the tribe is usually left behind to secure the previouslyinhabited holding.Tribes may try to Migrate to another tribe’s land holding, but doingso is likely to lead to war.RaidingThe free folk have few qualms about stealing from other tribes when necessary,especially if the other tribe has stolen from them in the past. Thusraiding is a common activity among the free folk. A tribe that takes aRaiding action sends its warriors out to attack and steal from another specifictribe, and may raid only nearby tribes. The tribal leader of the raidingtribe must make a Warfare (Strategy) test with a bonus equal to the Powerof units involved in the raiding against the Defense of the targeted tribe,plus the Power of units defending the tribe. If the raiding tribe succeeds, itsWealth increases by 1 for each degree of success and decreases the targetedtribe’s Wealth and Law by the same amount. If the raiding tribe fails, itloses Power equal to the amount it failed by. Any units involved in Raidingof Wage War actions cannot be used to defend a tribe.Warfare in theFar NorthWaging war is very different in the Far North than in the lands of Westeros.Armies rarely meet in the field, instead playing cat and mouse inthe boughs of the Haunted Forest or among the peaks and valleys ofthe Frost Fangs. Military units are made up of tribesmen, not professionalsoldiers. Speed and strength are favored over defensive strength.Formations aside from mobs are rare. While a free folk army would havea difficult time besting an army of the South half its size, any army thatinvades the territory of the free folk will pay dearly for every step it takes.The Warfare rules remain the same in the Far North, but there arenew options available in terms of units and terrain to better reflect theharsh climate and people north of the Wall.Equipment UpgradesWinter OutfittingResource: 1 Wealth per unit outfittedAll free folk tribal units are assumed to be equipped with winterclothes and snowshoes for non-mounted units. This allows them toignore most cases of extreme cold, including terrain with the Freezingfeature, and move over snow as if it were one category lighter. Nonfreefolk units may be equipped with winter clothes and snow shoesfor 1 Wealth per unit.New UnitsBear riders, charioteers, dog runners, giants, and mammoth riders areall available to free folk tribes as units. Bear riders, charioteers, dog runners,and mammoth riders all move like cavalry.The numbers in parentheses reflect Equipment Upgrade purchases,as described in the SIFRP core book.Bear RidersPrimarily fielded by the Ice Wives tribe, bear riders are cavalry unitsthat use the white-furred ice bears instead of horses. They are heavyhitting and fast, but extremely difficult and expensive to train and field.Bear riders work well both as skirmishers and assault troops, but they donot do well when fighting inside a fortification of any type since bearsdo not take such enclosed environments well. Bear rider units are madeup of twenty bear riders and their mounts.112
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