CHAPTER 1: The Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>Reasons To Take the BlackIn the books, the Members of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> have all come to the wall for different reasons, many of which we learn in the course ofthe series. These characters can provide a lot of inspiration as to why your character might have done the same.BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBSer Alliser Thorne was defeated in combat, he had the choice to die or take the black, and chose service at the Wall.Maester Aemon is the last remnant of a conquered House, though he took the black years before, he has sat on the Wall and watchedhis family’s fortunes dwindle and fade.Jon Snow was sent to the Wall as a bastard, where he could no longer embarrass Catelyn Stark, and where his talents could betterserve both him and Westeros.Benjen Stark, Eddard Stark’s younger brother, went to the Wall willingly rather than maintain any aspirations for Winterfell. Therehe found more of a family than he’d ever found in the realms.Donal Noye came to the Wall after losing his arm, rather than let his skills go unused.Chett, a rapist and murderer, came to the Wall as a criminal, and served his sentence in the <strong>Watch</strong> rather than face execution.Ser Waymar Royce came to the Wall immediately after being made a knight, part of his family’s long history of providing men tostand guard on the Wall.Samwell Tarly, a coward and an embarrassment to his family, found himself sent to the Wall where he would be out of the way, andmore importantly, out of sight.Mance Rayder came to the Wall as a foundling, a wildling child brought back by the men of the <strong>Watch</strong> and raised as one of their own.a heartless bastard of a training master, the recruits are forced to leanon each other for support. Bonds of trust are formed and the recruitslearn that they can rely on their brothers-to-be. In turn they learn how tosupport their fellows and develop a dedication to each other that bindsgroups of recruits as friends long after they’ve sworn their oaths andjoined the <strong>Watch</strong>.Use the following stock character stats should you have need of anaverage recruit of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>, not yet finished with his trainingand as yet unsworn.night’s watch recruit statisticsAthletics or Awareness 3, Endurance 3 (Resilience 1B),Status 1, Will 3 (One Specialty 1B) One other Ability 3Combat Defense 7 ❂ Health 9Intrigue Defense 5 or 6 (with Awareness 3) ❂ Composure 9Specialized TrainingWhen students are able to hold their own against everything the master-of-armscan devise, they are considered ready to take their placealongside their brothers as men of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>. Even after theyswear their oaths, training is not complete. The separate branches ofthe brotherhood employ a breaking-in period where the new memberslearn the skills more specifically oriented to their future duties.RangersRangers learn the secrets of the surviving on their own in the Far North:which plants are safe or poisonous; how to follow a trail, whether it wasmade by deer or wildlings; and how to detect and set up ambushes.Almost all receive further training in Marksmanship, as experience hastaught the brotherhood that it is far better to disable an opponent in thedistance than allow them to get close.StewardsStewards have perhaps the most wide-ranging set of skills, and often areselected for their exhibited talents. They receive training in their areasof expertise, whether in a particular craft, farming, animal husbandry, orhunting. Those skilled with letters or numbers are shifted into administrativeroles where their talents can be put to use in management ofsupplies needed to maintain the brotherhood. Still others are appointedas personal assistants to aging members of the <strong>Watch</strong> and learn a widecross-section of skills as they work. Because of the amount of interpersonalwork performed by the stewards, Persuasion, Negotiation, andStewardship are common specialties.BuildersIf the stewards have the widest variety of education, then the buildershave the narrowest. All their training is directed towards helping themwith their foremost duty—to maintain and repair the Wall itself, andthe castles of the <strong>Watch</strong>. The stone and ice structure of the wall presentsa unique challenge, and such men often develop a more general understandingof fortifications.Passing the TestEventually, the master-of-arms will decide that a recruit’s training iscomplete and that he is ready to join the brothers of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>.The recruits gather in the sept, and are given their assignments to therangers, builders, or stewards. The Lord Commander gives them their11
CHAPTER 1: The NIght’s <strong>Watch</strong>The Sworn Brother’s OathWhen sundown comes those of the Faith say their vows before the septon and the first of their order in Castle Black’s sept, while thosewho keep the Old Gods say their oath before a heart tree. Regardless of their persuasion, the oath recited is unchanged from its earliestversions:“Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands,father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post.I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold,the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>, for this night and all the nights to come.”charges, and offers them a final chance to leave the Wall before theyswear their oaths. Those who remain are given until sundown to prepareto take their vows. For all who make it this far it is a solemn time, andeven those who joined as criminals spend their final unsworn day inprayer and contemplation as they await sundown to take their oaths.The Sept at Castle BlackCastle Black, as the seat of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>, contains the best-maintainedsept along the wall—large enough to serve as a meeting place forthe heads of the three branches of the <strong>Watch</strong> and their aides. Recruitswho have completed their training are told of their assignments withinthe <strong>Watch</strong> there, and many of the brotherhood make nominal gesturestowards the Faith.Many of the other keeps along the wall once boasted septs, thoughnot all did. With so little of the wall occupied now, these once-holyplaces are abandoned and in disrepair.Despite the heavy influence of northern lords in the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>,there is no heart tree at Castle Black, and no godswood to contain it.Instead, those who keep faith with the Old Gods travel half a leaguenorth of the Wall. There, on the edges of the Haunted Forest, a grove ofnine weirwoods stand watch. The forest itself is unspoiled, a throwbackto the land when the First Men arrived in Westeros. For those who keepthe old ways, it is often a deeply moving experience.Running a Night’s<strong>Watch</strong> CampaignAt first glance, the stories of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> look different from thestories in the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. After all, they are a unifiedforce, facing a known and dangerous enemy. The intrigue and treacheryof the noble Houses have no place on the Wall, and a blade in the darkis more likely to be in the hands of the Others than an ally.Peel back the surface, however, the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> becomes a portraitof Westeros in miniature. The struggle between duty and family, betweenhighborn and low, between the past and the future, are all presenton the Wall. Rivalries and petty jealousies drive the characters’ actions,and the politics of the Kingdoms shapes their attitudes and desires. Thestories of the <strong>Watch</strong> are the stories of Westeros, with the added pressureof a powerful, implacable enemy waiting for a moment of weakness sothey can sweep over the Wall and into the heart of the Seven Kingdoms.Perhaps the easiest way to run a Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> campaign is to followan arc of development. Begin the players as unsworn recruits, each withtheir own reasons for coming to the <strong>Watch</strong> which they can share or not asfits their characters. Together with one or more Sworn Brothers they undertakethe long journey to the Wall. This gives the players a reason to betogether in the absence of a house, and gives them a goal to achieve early.The trip to the Wall won’t necessarily be uneventful either. It providesan excellent opportunity to highlight the themes that you wantto visit in your campaign. Give your players a chance to see the thingsthey are giving up for the Wall, or the things that they are headingnorth to protect. The long journey is a chance for the players to get toknow each other, to discover things about each of the main charactersin the party.12
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