Adventure along the Road NorthCHAPTER 1: The Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>The trip to the North is ripe for adventure, and many recruits have their first taste of action before they ever reach Castle Black. This isalso an ideal time to introduce the themes of your campaign, or put the difficult morals of the <strong>Watch</strong> on display. The following seeds areideas for events that could occur during a trip to the Wall.BBBBBBThe Brothers and the recruits intercept a deserter from the Wall, come back to deal with a sick family member. Though the man isobviously in violation of his oath, the players will have to decide how to deal with him.A noble, hosting the group for the evening, offers to send a significant donation to the Wall, if only the Brothers will plant evidenceimplicating his rival in a crime against the King.A poacher kills a lord’s deer and is spotted by the players. Normally such a crime would get a men sent to the Wall, but the poacheris hunting to feed his children, now that his wife has died. To prosecute the man would leave the children orphaned, and certainlysentence them as cruel a life as anything on the Wall.It is even possible to work some of the published adventures into thejourney. Journey to King’s Landing (included with the SIFRP quick-startrules) is an obvious fit, with the only real change required being one ofdestination. Likewise, Wedding Knight (included with the Narrator’sKit) is easy to work the main characters into as either a resting pointalong the way to the Wall, or as friends of one of the families involved.Once at the Wall, the characters begin their training. While playingthrough endless drills and variations would quickly grow dreary, thereare several ways to include their evolution into men of the <strong>Watch</strong>as part of your game. The easiest method is to provide a “spotlightmoment” for each of the players. Work with each player to identifyan important scene in the character’s development and play throughthat scene for each character. If the other main characters wouldn’t bepresent at the scene, have their players take the parts of other Narratorcharacters for the short term. By doing this, you manage to keep allthe players engaged, and still allow one character to feel like he is thecenter of attention in the scene.It is also possible to use the travel and training motif to introduce agroup to the rules of SIFRP. Use the basic rules to handle challengesalong the road, introducing each mechanic or more advanced rule as partof a training scene. This helps players by introducing the rules slowly, whilestill allowing them to feel connected to the game and moving forward.Another method of working with the characters’ training in CastleBlack is in the form of flashback scenes. When a player or the Narratorfeel that the character’s feelings or beliefs in the current scene wereshaped by an event during their training, they can call for a flashbackscene to play through before continuing with the current scene. This canbe a particularly effective technique in Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> campaigns thatdo not feature the characters before they have sworn their oaths, andgives an excellent opportunity to explore relationships between charactersthat might have developed before the campaign’s start.Regardless of how the characters come through their training, theymust at some point receive their assignments in the <strong>Watch</strong> and taketheir oaths. The Commander of the <strong>Watch</strong> addresses each batch of recruitsbefore they swear their vows, and brings home the finality andimportance of the mantle they are about to take up.Depending on the group, a very effective tool is to have the playersactually recite the Sworn Brother’s Oath (page 12). Depending on thescope of a campaign, this can be the last act of a journey to the Wall,or the first act of a campaign among the Sworn Brothers of the <strong>Watch</strong>.Sworn Brothers“A man of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> lives his life for the realm. Notfor a king, or a lord, or for the honor of this house or that house,neither for gold nor glory nor a woman’s love, but for the realm,and all the people in it.”— Lord Commander Jeor Mormont,A Game of T hronesThe brothers of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> are bound to each other, not only bytheir oaths but by their commonality of experience. Who understandsa person better than someone who has faced the same trials, someonewho has the same fears? Unity stronger than mere words ties the menof the <strong>Watch</strong> together, and misfortune follows any person—SwornBrother or not—who fails to recognize this.Do not, however, assume that all men of the <strong>Watch</strong> view each otherwith the same sense of brotherhood and loyalty. They are men, andeach is shaped by both his experiences before coming to the Wall andthose that happen after. Cliques and rivalries form in the black brotherhoodas they do anywhere men gather. Regardless of their unity,the <strong>Watch</strong> is made up of men and it is a man’s flaws that drive theirrelationships.The Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> StructureThe Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> is divided into three branches—a point that, whilenot hidden, is not common knowledge further south. While eachbranch serves its own leader, or First, they are also responsible to theLord Commander himself. The rangers, the most well-known of theBrotherhood’s divisions, are tasked with patrolling the Far North anddealing with the wildlings on their own terms. In addition to the rangers,there are the builders, tasked with repairing and maintaining theWall, and the stewards, assigned a wide variety of tasks that allow the<strong>Watch</strong> to function from day to day. Like a three-legged stool, withoutany one branch the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong> would collapse.Included in the following pages are stock characters that can be usedas average members of each of the branches of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>.13
CHAPTER 1: The NIght’s <strong>Watch</strong>The RangersThe most famous of the divisions with the black brotherhood, the rangersare the ones who are the most in the public eye. When the commonman of Westeros thinks of the Night’s <strong>Watch</strong>, it is likely a ranger whomhe envisions: black-clad, skulking through the Haunted Forest and defeatingthe wildlings through wit and guile as well as skill of arms.Like most things believed by people who have not experienced them,the reality is far different.The rangers serve as the advance guard, and as their name impliesthey range beyond the Wall to face the foes of the <strong>Watch</strong> where theyhide in the Far North. They are consummate survivalists, capable ofkeeping themselves alive for weeks without the support of the Wall,and they are skilled combatants who are equally comfortable with longswordor bow.The rangers are also aware that no one knows the wilds of the FarNorth better than those who live there. Many of them have cultivatedfriendships with settled wildlings, and often as not they learn of eventsnorth of the Wall by means of these carefully chosen allies. They understandthat the King-beyond-the-Wall does not speak for all wildlings,nor do all wildlings swear fealty to him. Shrewd negotiators, the rangersare perfectly willingly to trade food, liquor, cloth or aid for informationabout what the King’s followers have been doing and where. Stories ofattacks by the Others draw their attention and help them plan how bestto confront the threats that face the <strong>Watch</strong> head on.There is no denying that the rangers also bear the brunt of the losses thatplague the black brotherhood. They venture beyond the Wall, far from thesafety it provides. Of late this has come back to haunt them. It has becomecommon for a ranging to head into the Far North and never return, a factthat troubles the Lord Commander deeply. When expeditions are sent tofind these lost brothers, little evidence of their passing can be ascertained,and men the <strong>Watch</strong> can ill afford to lose must be written off as dead.Though most would deny it, the rangers see themselves as the mostimportant of the branches. There is prestige to being among their numberand they view themselves as the <strong>Watch</strong>’s elite. When pressed, manywill say that they view their work as the true work of the <strong>Watch</strong>: thatthe builders and stewards exist to maintain the rangers in the tasks withwhich they are charged. This attitude often colors their dealings withother members of the brotherhood, and rangers are often quick to takeoffense when they feel their concerns are being ignored.When selecting recruits, the rangers typically select those who complementthem: independent thinkers, men with skill at arms and menwith proven abilities at woodsmanship.typical ranger statisticsAthletics 3, Awareness 3, Endurance 3,Fighting 4 (Long Blades 1B), Marksmanship 4 (Bows 1B),Survival 3 (Track 1B, Forage 1B), Will 3Combat Defense 8 (6 in Armor) ❂ Health 9Intrigue Defense 7 ❂ Composure 9Ring: AR 4 ❂ AP -2 ❂ Bulk 1 (Movement 4, Sprint 15)Longsword 4D+1B 3 damageHunting Bow 4D+1B 2 damage Long range, Two-HandedOther Gear: Garron or pony, bedroll, 2d6 days of food, 1d6 days of water14
Change language