TEXT: GMs should note that while many Hellfrost campaigns 
  will focus on monster hunting and epic deeds, the game 
  can also be run around a single community, perhaps 
  with the heroes as members of the same extended fam-
  ily—“dungeon bashes” aren’t the only way to play the 
  game.
  This download presents a very simple system for 
  conducting cattle raids. GMs who want a more in-depth 
  cattle raid can simply expand each step into part of a 
  longer adventure, with added complications.
   CATTLE RAIDING RULES
  While adventurers tend to measure their wealth in 
  terms of coin and gear, communities, especially Saxa 
  ones, place a greater emphasis on the size of their cattle 
  herds. Cows aren’t just worth actual coin at the market, 
  but also provide meat (through their calves), hides, ma-
  nure for the crops, and milk.
  Naturally, with cows being valuable assets they are 
  prone to be stolen. Sometimes goblins, orcs, and bandits 
  (and passing engros) are responsible, but just as often 
  the perpetrators are neighboring families and clans. 
  Unless a raid results in bloodshed, it rarely sours local 
  relations much, as retaliatory raids will be launched.
  Cattle raiding is not considered theft by the Saxa 
  (Finnar have reindeer raids to similar effect), so long 
  as the basic laws are followed. First, only a noble can 
  instigate a legal cattle raid. Anyone else who sanctions a 
  raid is just a bandit. Second, a raid is not a battle—any 
  injuries inﬂ icted on either party by another participant, 
  raider or defender, are subject to wergild claims.
  Cattle raids are never conducted for personal wealth. 
  At best, the leader of the band can expect to keep only 
  a small number of the captured cattle. The majority be-
  long to the noble, who typically keeps a large portion 
  for his own herd and divides the rest among his peasant 
  families.
  1) SEEKING PERMISSION
  While cattle raiding is a daily part of Saxa life, only 
  nobles (or whoever rules an independent settlement) 
  have the legal right to instigate them. The ﬁ rst step in 
  conducting a raid is to get permission from the landown-
  er whose peasants you wish to recruit into the raiding 
  party.
  This step utilizes the Kinship & Fealty rules found in 
  the free download, Family. Note that although these 
  rules are optional in Hellfrost, this is one instance 
  where they really do ﬁ t the feel of the game. The rules 
  determine not only if permission is given, but also the 
  maximum number of volunteers. Exactly how many raid-
  ers the characters take with them is their choice, not the 
  noble’s. After all, they are the ones who will be leading 
  the raid.
  Heroes who lead a cattle raid without permission are 
  branded as bandits and thus subject to the full weight of 
  the law if identiﬁ ed and captured.
  Noble player characters have the authority to approve 
  cattle raids, but they must do so from their own lands. 
  That is, an adventuring party short on supplies cannot 
  simply steal cattle and claim legal precedent.
  POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS
  • An important person (a priest, rival noble, senior 
  farmer) opposes the raid for some reason (–2 to Persua-
  sion rolls).
  • The omens are poor (–4 to Persuasion rolls).
  • Bad weather is forecast (–1 to Persuasion rolls).
  • A warrior demand to be made raid leader. If the 
  Persuasion roll fails by one or two points, the raid is au-
  thorized but an NPC is in charge.
  2) CROSSING THE BORDER
  Most farming communities, whether a lone stead or a 
  town, post mounted sentries equipped with signal horns 
  CATTLE RAIDING
  A FREE HELLFROST RESOURCE
  1
  
  HELLFROST
  2
  on their borders. The sentries are tasked with watching 
  not only for cattle raiders, but for more dangerous foes 
  such as orcs and giants. This phase also accounts for 
  locating a herd of cattle and scouting the terrain for the 
  best cover from which to launch the attack and the easi-
  est escape route.
  The raiders must make a Cooperative roll to sneak 
  across the border. Each Wild Card has the choice of 
  whether he uses Knowledge (appropriate Area), Notice, 
  or Stealth.
  Raiders with direct access to any of the following 
  spells may use their arcane skill in the Cooperative roll: 
  boost (Stealth), farsight, ﬂ y, fog cloud (only if cast with 
  altered senses), invisibility, obscure (only if cast with 
  altered senses), silence, and speed. Other spells are per-
  missible at the GM’s discretion.
  The leader and his comrades don’t have to use the 
  same skills. The die roll represents several hours of travel 
  and planning. Thus, while the leader may use his Notice 
  to avoid sentries, a friend could employ Stealth, telling 
  him when to duck into vegetation to avoid breaking the 
  skyline.
  However, every player character in the party must 
  make some sort of die roll, even if the maximum +4 
  bonus has already been achieved.
  Any Extras in the party who live locally make a Group 
  Common Knowledge roll to provide Cooperation. Oth-
  erwise, they must make Stealth rolls.
  Modiﬁ ers: Party size is important—a small band of 
  skilled raiders is far more likely to escape detection than 
  a veritable army of farmers, although a larger force al-
  lows more cattle to be stolen.
  For every ﬁ ve whole members in the raiding party, a 
  –1 penalty is applied to the ﬁ nal result.
  Results: See the next phase for how this helps the 
  party.
  POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS
  • Mounted warriors are patrolling the border (–4 
  overall penalty).
  • Bad weather (–2 to overall result).
  • A hunting party or a fey friendly to the defenders 
  reports the raiders’ presence (Heroes receive one or two 
  less tokens in the next phase).
  • The heroes are attacked by rival raiders. These 
  might be monsters (goblins, orcs, a giant, wolf pack) or 
  from the civilized races. Alternately, a large beast might 
  be in their path.
  3) STEALING CATTLE
  Cattle are typically guarded by herders and the young 
  boys of the settlement. They carry spears to fend off 
  wolves, but they are not warriors, nor are they expected 
  to mount any form of armed resistance. Their typical 
  response on seeing a raiding force is to run for their 
  lives, screaming blue murder in order to alert the actual 
  warriors, who will be in the settlement. The raiders have 
  to act quickly in order to round up the cattle and make 
  their escape.
  The actual cattle raid is handled using a variant of the 
  Mass Battles rules.
  STEP ONE: SETUP
  Unlike a regular Mass Battle, no side automatically 
  begins with 10 tokens.
  The raiders receive two tokens for each whole ﬁ ve 
  members, with no maximum.
  The size of the herd is determined by a random roll, 
  modiﬁ ed by the result of the previous phase. The GM 
  rolls a d6, and modiﬁ ers it based on the result of the roll 
  to sneak into the rival clan’s holdings. Each success and 
  raise grants a +1 bonus, to a maximum of d4. A failure 
  gives a –2 penalty and a critical failure a –4 penalty. He 
  then consults the table below.
  d6 
  Herd Size 
  Battle Skill
  1 or less 
  4 
  d12+2
  2–3 
  5 
  d12+1
  4–5 
  6 
  d12
  6–7 
  7 
  d10
  8 
  8 
  d8
  9 
  9 
  d6
  10+ 
  10 
  d4
  Herd Size: Represents the number of tokens the herd 
  has. The exact number of cattle is irrelevant.
  Battle Skill: The herd doesn’t have any actual skill 
  in waging warfare. Rather, it is an indication of how dif-
  ﬁ cult it is to catch cows. A large herd has more members, 
  and thus it is easier to grab one. A smaller herd quickly 
  disperses, making the raiders’ task much harder.
  STEP TWO: MODIFIERS
  The standard modiﬁ ers for Tokens and Terrain apply. 
  Increase the Terrain penalty by a further point if there is 
  snow on the ground. Unless the heroes intend on butch-
  ering the cattle, in which case this really isn’t a cattle 
  raid, Artillery is of no use.
  CHARACTERS IN MASS BATTLES
  Unlike a regular battle, Fighting, Shooting, and 
  Throwing aren’t much use when trying to round up 
  startled cattle.
  Instead, heroes must use one of the following (their 
  choice): Agility (herding the cattle), Smarts (herding the 
  cattle with clever tactics or knowledge of herding tech-
  niques), Strength (wrestling cattle), or Vigor (for overall 
  endurance).
  Raiders with direct access to any of the following 
  spells may use their arcane skill: barrier, beast friend, 
  entangle, farsight, ﬂ y, speed, and summon beast. Other 
  spells are permissible only at the GM’s discretion and 
  must be directly useful in catching cows.
  
  CATTLE RAIDING
  3
  The difference in tokens works as normal. The +1 bo-
  nus for each Rank above Novice also works as standard.
  The outcome of the roll works exactly as the Mass 
  Battle rules—cows are quite capable of trampling the 
  heroes underfoot, and there may be a bull in the herd 
  as well! Just remember to change the descriptions ap-
  propriately.
  STEP THREE: BATTLE ROLLS
  The leader of the raid may not be waging war, but he 
  still needs to know how to effectively command his raid-
  ers. As such, the regular system of opposed Battle rolls 
  is made. However, the results of the opposed roll don’t 
  indicate casualties.
  Each token the cows lose represents captured cattle. 
  Perversely, this lowers the size of the herd, making it 
  harder to capture more cattle. Adjust the herd’s Battle 
  skill on the next round based on the number of tokens 
  the herd has left.
  Each token the characters lose represents fatigued 
  raiders and the passage of time—the arrival of reinforce-
  ments ends the cattle raid, as no one wants to get in-
  volved in bloodshed.
  Each herd token equates to approximately four cows 
  (quality varies).
  STEP FOUR: MORALE ROLLS
  The herd has no Spirit die, and thus never makes 
  Morale rolls. However, the raiders must make rolls as 
  normal.
  Failure means either the raiders are too exhausted 
  to continue the chase or enemy reinforcements are ap-
  proaching. Either way, the raid is called off.
  Make one more Battle roll and then end the raid. On 
  a result of 1 or less, the raiders ﬂ ee immediately with 
  whatever cows they have captured.
  POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS
  • Berserks number among the defenders approach-
  ing the raiders or the herd has been moved nearer the 
  settlement (–1 to Spirit rolls).
  • The herd has been split (the herd has fewer to-
  kens).
  • A mean bull is present (the heroes have –1 to their 
  Characters in Mass Battle rolls).
  • Bad weather makes it hard to ﬁ nd the cows (apply a 
  penalty to the raider’s Battle rolls).
  4) ESCAPE
  Whether the raiders manage to capture any cattle or 
  not, it’s now time to ﬂ ee before the settlement’s warriors 
  arrive and the raid devolves into a bloody brawl.
  Running away isn’t about tactics or stealth—it’s about 
  pure speed. As such, the party makes a Cooperative roll 
  based on their running die type. Extras make a Group 
  Cooperative roll based on their running die (typically 
  d6).
  Heroes with access to the following spells may make 
  an arcane skill roll instead: beast friend, fog cloud, ob-
  scure, and speed.
  Modiﬁ ers: A penalty of –1 for every cow token cap-
  tured is applied to the over result. Allowing beast friend 
  to be used represents commanding the herd leader, 
  whom the other cows follow without question.
  Results: Consult the table below.
  Result 
  Event
  Critical Failure 
  The raiders are overrun by defenders 
  or lose control of the cattle. They 
  lose 1d6 tokens.
  Failure 
  The raiders are forced to abandon 
  slower cattle. They lose 1d4 tokens.
  Success 
  The party makes it back to their lands, 
  but loses 1d2 tokens.
  Raise 
  The raiders return with all their stolen 
  cows!
  POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS
  • The chasers have speed potions (–4 to overall roll).
  • Bandits, warriors from the raided clan, or a mon-
  ster intercept the ﬂ eeing raiders (cue a tabletop battle 
  scene).
  • A mischievous faerie tries to lead the cattle away (–2 
  to overall roll).
  • A faerie demands a gift for the heroes to ﬂ ee across 
  his lands (pay 1 token of cows or suffer –4 to overall roll 
  due to a lengthy detour).
  5) REWARDS
  By the ancient laws, the noble who sponsored the 
  raid (that is, he granted permission) owns all the cows 
  captured. Generosity is a prized trait among the civilized 
  races, however, and it is an ill-fated noble who does not 
  reward his raiders and peasants.
  Typically, whoever led the raid is granted the equiva-
  lent of one cow (200 gold scields) in coin. How he di-
  vides this among his comrades is left to him.
  Of the actual cows, one is used to hold a feast in 
  honor of the raiders and to honor Bolverk, patron deity 
  of cattle raiders (see below), the noble keeps half the 
  remaining plunder, and then divides the rest among the 
  herding families.
  Taking part in a successful cattle raid (at least one 
  token of cattle returned safely) earns the leader 2 Glory 
  and all the helps 1 Glory.
  POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS
  • The noble fails to reward the heroes for their ef-
  forts.
  • Circumstances have changed while the party has 
  been away, and they are ordered to return the cows.
  
  HELLFROST
  4
  • A visiting higher-ranked noble demands half the 
  cows as tribute.
  • One of the defending farmers claims he was attacked 
  and later demands wergild from the raiders’ leader.
  • One of the cattle belongs to a powerful faerie, who 
  demands it be returned with interest.
  BOLVERK
  Titles: The Raider, Wealth-Bringer, The Celestial Bull, 
  Herd Leader
  Aspects: Cattle raiding.
  Symbol: A bull’s head.
  Priesthood: Herders (priests); Bulls (paladins).
  Herald: None.
  Holy Days: None. Ceremonies are held before and 
  after a cattle raid.
  Duties: To lead and participate in cattle raids, to in-
  crease the herd of one’s clan.
  Sins: (Minor) Failing to take part in a cattle raid once 
  a year, harming a defender on a cattle raid, killing a cow 
  for any reason; (Major) Taking part in an unauthorized 
  cattle raid, having a cow you own stolen by raiders or 
  monsters; (Mortal) Failure to steal a single cow on a 
  cattle raid you personally lead.
  Signature Power: beast friend (cattle only).
  Powers: barrier, entangle, farsight, invisibility, 
  speed, summon beast (cattle only).
  Trappings: Any, except necromantic. Most clerics pre-
  fer natural trappings as opposed to showy effects.
  Disciple Edge: Lesser deities do not grant followers 
  a Disciple Edge.
  Special: Clerics of Bolverk do not gain a free Con-
  nections Edge, but neither do they have the Orders 
  Hindrance. In most communities, the cleric is an advisor 
  to the chief, and likely works as a farmer when not on 
  ofﬁ cial business.
  Bolverk is the son of Ullr, god of hunting. Unlike his 
  father, Bolverk has no interest in harming animals, not 
  even to provide sustenance. Much to his grandmother 
  Eostre’s delight, he is the patron of cattle raids. He is al-
  ways depicted as a muscular man, sometimes armed with 
  a lasso. He is often portrayed with a bull’s head, though 
  there is no standard convention on his exact appearance. 
  Similarly, some statues show him accompanied by a dog, 
  known in myths as “Heel-nipper.”
  There are no temples to Bolverk in Rassilon. Shrines, 
  on the other hands, are common among clans who fa-
  vor cattle raiding as a means of increasing wealth. Since 
  raids are authorized by the local noble, the shrines are 
  universally housed in his great hall. Many bandits, who 
  survive by raiding herds, erect temporary shrines in their 
  camps. Most shrines comprise a bull’s skull draped with 
  untreated cow hide.
  Bolverk’s clergy are very similar in their roles, as both 
  are expected to take part in raids at least once a year. Tra-
  ditionally, priests favor tactics and cunning spell use to 
  catch cattle, while the paladins refer to wrestle the cows 
  to the ground. Priests sometimes bless raiding parties 
  without taking part, whereas paladins always try to be 
  the raid leader. In the event of defenders intercepting the 
  raiders, both types of clergy are prepared to run rather 
  than ﬁ ght. This is not to say they are cowardly; Bolverk 
  simply wishes no bloodshed during a cattle raid.
  In addition to stealing cattle, many clerics hire their 
  services to settlements as herd guardians. Their spells 
  may be better suited to theft, but a barrier or entangle 
  spell is very effective as thwarting thieves, and summon 
  beast can be used to return lost animals to the herd. 
  While they have skills suitable for other types of raids, 
  clerics rarely participate in such activities.
  The clergy have just two ceremonies. The ﬁ rst is 
  held before any raid. Those taking part in the raid wear 
  horned headdresses and leather hides, while the local 
  priest or paladin (it is a rare community that has more 
  than one of Bolverk’s clergy) dresses as a bull. He sum-
  mons the herd to his side with horns and deep, lowing 
  prayers. Traditionally the ceremony takes place outside, 
  with the “cows” and “bull” moving through the settle-
  ment. Children, who are not permitted to take part in 
  cattle raids, may join the ceremony. They dress up as 
  calves and follow the “cows.”
  Occasionally, a character in a wolfskin attacks the herd. 
  The “bull” then drives him away in an act which repre-
  sents Bolverk’s strength as the celestial bull and honors 
  his grandmother, Eostre, the protector of animals.
  After a successful raid, one cow is singled out for sac-
  riﬁ ce. This is normally the healthiest animal. Choosing 
  the sickliest has been known to backﬁ re, with cattle  in 
  the settlement’s herd failing to produce milk or sicken-
  ing. The sacriﬁ ces ﬂ esh is eaten by the raiders and the 
  local community, while its spirit is said to depart to 
  Bolverk’s personal herd. If the raid fails, the community 
  is still expected to honor Bolverk by sacriﬁ cing one of its 
  own cows.
  Roleplaying Guidelines: Bolverk’s clergy tend to 
  be strong and ﬁ t; chasing after cows is strenuous work.  
  Most are also quite intelligent.
  Notice and Stealth are favored skills, as they allow the 
  raider to spot and sneak up on herds. Similarly, those 
  who want to actually lead a herd need to know how to 
  command men. Hence, Knowledge (Battle) is an impor-
  tant skill. (Aside from generally being short on combat 
  skills,  Bolverk’s clergy have all the  abilities a good gue-
  rilla commander requires.)
  Fleet-Footed is a favored Edge, as running away is an 
  important part of any cattle raid.
  © 2009 Triple Ace Games
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Triple Ace Games/Hellfrost/Free Downloads/Cattle Raiding.pdf