Friday 3 October 2014

Ix: Caravans Part 1

Some thoughts on equipment and beasts for overland travel (expanding some of what I wrote here before about domesticated animals).


For reference, here are the coins used on Ix:
100 ceramic pieces (cp) = 10 obsidian pieces (op) = 1 bronze piece (bp) = 10 silver pieces (sp) = 100 gold pieces (gp)


Water Consumption
  • In the scorching heat of Ix, humans need to consume one gallon (8 pints) of water per day.
  • Brutes and halflings require 12 pints and 6 pints of water, respectively, due to their size.
  • The water consumption of mounts and beasts of burden is listed in their description.
  • Characters wearing ring mail or plate mail must consume double their normal requirement of water.
  • Travelling at night reduces water consumption by 50%.

Cost of Water

All prices are listed for city or oasis / town / village.

Per pint: 1cp / 2cp / 4cp
Per day (human or mool): 8cp / 16cp / 32cp
Per day (halfling): 6cp / 12cp / 24cp
Per day (brute): 12cp / 24cp / 48cp


Travelling Gear

Animal feed per day: 1op (note that some mounts require multiple "portions" of feed each day)

Barding for moiks or orks:
Bone, ceramic, or chitin: 150bp, AC 6
Bronze: 800bp, AC 5
Steel: 4,000bp, AC 3


Vehicles

Vehicles are listed with the number of beasts required to pull it. Larger beasts are able to pull greater loads, as listed in their descriptions.

Carriage (bears 2 people): Cost 75bp, Load 2.
Cart (bears 4 people): Cost 100bp, Load 4.
Wagon (bears 8 people): Cost 200bp, Load 8.
Small caravan (bears 15 people): Cost 400bp, Load 15.
Small caravan, fortified (bears 12 people): Cost 600bp, Load 15.
Large caravan (bears 40 people):  Cost 1,000bp, Load 40.
Large caravan, fortified (bears 30 people):  Cost 1,500bp, Load 40.
Great caravan (bears 150 people): Cost 5,000bp, Load 150.
Great caravan, fortified (bears 120 people): Cost 7,000bp, Load 150.


Mounts

Moik
These 9' tall lizards are bred for their running speed and endurance. They stand on two legs, with small clawed fore-limbs. Their necks are long and flexible, with a sleek head.

HD 2, AC 8,  Mv 24, Int 3, Att 1 (bite or rake), Dmg 1d6, Sv F2, Ml 7
Cost: 75bp
Feed: 2 per day
Water: 12 pints per day (12cp / 24cp / 48cp)
Load: 1

Battle-trained moiks cost 150bp and have a morale of 9 and 2+1 Hit Dice.

Ork

Domesticated from a species of predatory flightless desert bird, these creatures are used as mounts. They are renowned for their running speed and their resilience to dehydration. Orks have a heavy, horny beak which can inflict vicious wounds. They are aggressive by nature, and have to be well trained in order to be safely used by humans.


HD 2+1, AC 8,  Mv 24, Int 3, Att 1 (bite), Dmg 2d4, Sv F2, Ml 8
Special: +2 bonus to saves vs dehydration
Cost: 150bp
Feed: 2 per day
Water: 10 pints per day (10cp / 20cp / 40cp)

Load: 1

Battle-trained orks cost 200bp and have a morale of 9 and 2+2 Hit Dice.


Beasts of Burden

Teams of Moiks and Orks are commonly used, in cities, to pull small carts and carriages. Merchant caravans typically employ the following, specialised beasts of burden.


Ixilot
Gargantuan 25' long tortoise-like reptiles bred for their might and stubbornness. Ixilots are commonly found at the head of large caravans, as they can pull tremendous loads. Their shells are ringed with barbed tusks, and they bear two curved horns on their foreheads -- Ixilots are a formidable force in battle, despite their slowness.

Ixilots are a purely domesticated animal, without any extant wild relatives. The downside of the use of Ixilots as beasts of burden is their appetite for huge quantities of plant matter and water -- caravans using them have to be well stocked.

Like other animals of the tortoise family, Ixilots have the unusual capacity to enter a deep hibernation sleep. If placed in cool and complete darkness they enter this dormant state after several days, and can thence remain asleep for a span of some years without food or water.


HD 14, AC 2 / 6 (belly), Mv 18, Int 2, Att 2 (horns / shell-tusks), Dmg 2d12 / 2d6, Sv F14, Ml9
Special: Any medium (or smaller) creatures in melee with an ixilot must save versus paralysis per round or suffer 1d10 damage from trampling.
Cost: 2,000bp
Feed: 15 per day
Water: 80 pints per day (8op / 16op / 32op)
Load: 40

Scarab
Giant burrowing beetles 20' long with iridescent black shells, these insects are sometimes used for pulling caravans. They are almost as strong as ixilots, and require less food and water, but are more difficult to train, being especially unintelligent and single-minded. The only way to control scarabs is by the use of certain special scents.

The raising of scarabs is a specialised and complicated art, as their maggot form is so large and voracious, and requires darkness and large quantities of dung and ash to gestate in.

HD 12, AC 4, Mv 18, Int 1, Att 1 (bite), Dmg 3d8, Sv F12, Ml 7
Special: Any medium (or smaller) creatures in melee with a scarab must save versus paralysis per round or suffer 1d8 damage from trampling.
Cost: 1,800bpFeed: 10 per day
Water: 60 pints per day (6op / 12op / 24op)Load: 30

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