Notable Nobles - Part the Last

Finally, we come to the last post in the series on noble nicknames, this time with dwarf nobles. I went all out on this one and gave each three nicknames - hey, maybe dwarves like their nicknames.

WILDGRAVE OGMUND the Standard Bearer, the Tempest, White Shirt

Ogmund is a ragged, wild-haired dwarf who dwells in the rugged borderlands on the edge of the dwarf kingdom, lands invaded regularly by the goblin races, ettins and trolls. A famed giant-slayer, he is a loyal companion of Jarl Vagn, having gone on many adventures into the giant country with his father, Vagr, when they were both young dwarfs with much to prove. Ogmund’s nephew, Skapti, is rarely far from his side save when Ogmund’s berserkergang comes upon him. His retinue also includes three chroniclers, two dwarf warriors and their sergeant, Odi and Ljot, a 5th level fighter who serves as his champion and bailiff. Ogmund always dresses in a white tunic and white, hooded cloak.

OGMUND: HD 9 (52 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Double normal number of followers, immune to fear, berskerer.

THEGN INGIRID the Treacherous, the Usurper, the Well-Served

Ingirid is the half-sister of Jarl Vagn and his most hated rival. Hated by most of her kin due to her treachery and her dealing with the goblins and orcs, she nevertheless holds fortitided iron mines in the southern mountains that keep her wealthy and influential. Her consort is Vandrad, an exile from the Jarl’s court, two scribes and one orc sergeant, Forox. Her minions are very loyal.

INGIRID: HD 5 (23 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Treasure as CL 15, low charisma (6), cast bane (reverse of bless) once per day, +1 morale bonus to soldiers.

JARL VAGN the Springer, Star of the North, the Tail

Jarl Vagn is the young, dashing king of the dwarfs, having taken the throne when his father Vagr finally passed into the halls of his ancestor. Vagn is a lover of gold and luxury, unlike his more stern father, but his glib tongue, handsome features and strong sense of justice have kept him popular with all but his half-sister Ingirid. Vagn is accompanied by the berserker Bersi, the shieldmaiden Hlif (who drives him mad with desire), four clarks (one a 3rd level fighter/thief in service to Ingirid), five dwarf warriors and their sergeant, Olaf the Round.

VAGN: HD 2 (12 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20, +2 initiative, +2 to all attacks and saves.

Notable Nobles - Part the Fifth

For the sample nobles today, we go into the elven wood.


Anwenod the Rebel Earl of Arddus
Anwenod is a raven-haired elf earl who dwells on the fringe of the kingdom and near the border marches of the humans. Grey of eye and lean of build, he is a masterful swordsman with a deep interest in the politics of both elves and men. He is currently attempting to woo the daughter of a human baron as a hedge against perceived enemies in the royal court. Anwenod’s retinue consists of his champion, Keryd (elf ftr 3/m-u 2), four elf warriors, two elf sergeants and Cedric, son of the human Baron Donal, who is a visiting dignitary attempting to secure the marriage of his sister Yulisa to the Rebel Earl.

ANWENOD: HD 9 (48 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 longsword or longbow (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Double normal number of followers, cast darkness once per day.

Kaith the Quick, Duchess of Beor
Kaith is a tall elf woman (5’9”, very tall for an elf) with ebony skin and a sharp jaw line. Her hair is short, curly and as black as pitch and her eyes emerald green and radiant. Kaith is a cynical woman, bored with the tedium of life inside the great elfwood. The high queen is her cousin and a tepid rival. Kaith’s retinue includes three scribes, three elf warriors, the harpist Lhart (bard 3) and the human rake Lardre, whose devious antics and disruptive presence help relieve the duchess’ melancholy.

KAITH: HD 5 (29 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Double normal number of followers, treasure as CL 15, +1 to initiative rolls.

Morgannet the Renowned, the Spider, the High Queen of Elves
Morgannet is the high queen of the elfwood, a gentle woman with nut-brown skin, gray-green eyes and golden brown hair that falls down to her ankles. She is fine-boned, but with flashing, lively eyes and a vivacious, cherubic face. Despite her childlike appearance, Morgannet is an expert politician. Her spies, the elven thieves (level 3 and 4) Blathet and Dumnann are frequent visitors to every court in the land, and little escapes their notice. Her retinue includes three maids-in-waiting (lesser nobles), seven scribes (for the elves believe that every utterance of their queen is prophetic and must be recorded), four elf longbowmen and their sergeant, Pathogius, a human found as a waif and reared by the elves.

MORGANNET: HD 2 (10 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20, Charisma 14, Wisdom 13.

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Illustration by Arthur Rackham. Found HERE.

Notable Nobles - Part the Fourth

Just to show that these nicknames are good for more than pseudo-European nobility, I offer three pseudo-Arabic nobles (and yeah, I like 'em so much I'm going to use them in NOD eventually).

Mansour the Lion, Bey of Rumm
Mansour the Lion is a handsome man, aging and rugged, who commands a fortress where the desert sands meet the savannah. Caravans of traders and pilgrims move through his land, making him wealthy, and his many wars against the nomads have made him famous throughout the kingdom. He looks upon the Sultana Azzah with hopeful eyes, but her heart lies elsewhere. Mansour’s retinue includes the half-ogre fighter Isaam (F5) and his comrade, the sly Ziyad (F1), four men-at-arms and two scribes.

MANSOUR: HD 9 (45 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 2 scimitar (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Double normal number of followers.

Shafeeq the Landless, exiled Amir of Pazazabad
Shafeeq the Landless is a the son of Bishr, the former Amir of Pazazabad. That wondrous city-state was overrun by goblins not three years ago, and the young man has wandered ever since with his retinue, seeking support for a reconquest of his land. The retinue includes four scribes, two sergeants-at-arms and his father’s court magician, the cloying Nazihah of the Nine Lamps (M3). He is also accompanied by Intisar, a lesser aristocrat and the rambunctious daughter of Pazazabad’s greatest merchant (and, unknown to others, the traitor who engineered the goblin invasion) Haarith of the Hoary Beard.

SHAFEEQ, FIGHTER LVL 3/THIEF LVL 2: HP 15; AC 2 [17]; Special: Double normal number of followers, treasure as CL 15.

Azzah the Liberal, the Iron Sultana, the Leopardess, Sultana of Keshfar
Azzah is the Great Sultana of all Keshfar. Learned, wise and fierce, she commands the deserts, savannas and sea for hundreds of miles from her domed capital of Nadid. Despite her coteries of handsome petitioners and the adoration of her people, she knows he is not getting any younger and must soon choose a husband that her line may continue. Mansour the Lion seems the logical choice, but her heart burns for Shafeeq the Landless, if only she knew where he was.

Azzah’s retinue includes the rakish sisters Amani and Munirah, the handsome young Izvod, Baron of Esterhafen and his sister, Lady Bezpa, four scribes, three men-at-arms and he sergeant-at-arms, the loyal Tariq.

AZZAH: HD 2 (16 hp); AC 1 [18]; Atk 2 scimitar (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20, +2 reaction from peasants, constitution 14.

Notable Nobles - Part the Third

And we roll on with TABLE III

Baron Aglos the Gatekeeper
Aglos commands a sizable fortress that guards a mountain pass into the archduchy. He and his warriors have faced countless hordes of goblins and hobgoblins attempting to push their way into the green lands of the archduchy from the frozen uplands. These years of combat have allowed him to perfect a defensive stance that makes him more difficult to hit than the normal heavily armored warrior. His retinue includes two scribes, four men-at-arms and his two boon fighting companions, Aaron of the Golden Harp (a 5th level bard) and Schultz (a 5th level fighting-man).

AGLOS: HD 9; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Double normal number of followers, defensive stance (+2 AC, +1 hp/HD).

Kenne the Imp, Count of Owaith
Count Kenne is a devotee of the dark cult of Mammon, as befits one of his greedy nature. His devotion to Mammon has won him the ability to cast cause light wounds once per day. Kenne has a retinue that includes five clarks (money counters, mostly), a man-at-arms two sergeants-at-arms.

KENNE: HD 5; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Double normal number of followers, treasure as CL 15, cast cause light wounds 1/day.

Archduke Scaton the Handsome
Scaton the Handsome is everything a fairy tale prince should be, except that he is an archduke, of course. He is handsome, charming, well-mannered and brave. Unlike fairy tale princes, he has rarely been outside the walls of his city, Gondwane, but he has cultivated quite a retinue of followers within those walls. This retinue consists of his court champion, Aloysius (a 4th level fighting man) and his comrade, Black Albrect, a rake, his paramour the Baroness Uda, ten scribes (one of whom, Ignatio, is a 5th level assassin sent to spy on the archduchy), three men-at-arms and two sergeants, Duff and Yoder.

SCATON: HD 2; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20, charisma 16.

Notable Nobles - Part the Second

Here's another thought regarding the relative power of nobles. The thinking behind makings kings weaker than border barons is generally sound in terms of "earned experience", which drives the player characters. On the other hand, not all kings are lay-about weenies. Frederick Barbarossa (you can access a scholarly review of his life HERE) and Henry V come to mind, as do Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, etc. These are the architects of empire, as opposed to the heirs of empire. So - if you're doing your king or duke or count as an architect of a great kingdom or empire, by all means, use the Borderer stats for him or her.

Now for some more samples, using this table as a source for nicknames.

Marquessa Hiertrude the Bounteous, the Blood Marquessa
The Marquessa Hiertrude is mostly known for her large, loving family - six children by her late husband, the Marquis. It is less known that she is a vampire, turned by a foe of her husband. She has since turned her children into her spawn (save the eldest, Hormand, who is in hiding) and is even now preparing to rally the humanoids she once fought and lead them into the heart of Azura's kingdom. Her retinue (also vampire spawn) consists of three men-at-arms, two clarks, her court musician Antonio and two sons of the lesser nobility, Anatole and Freder, who were serving as page boys in her husband's court before she turned them. They are now eternally eleven years old and thoroughly evil.

HIERTRUDE: HD 9 (42 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8) or bite (1d10 + level drain); Move 9 (12 out of armor, F18); Save 6; CL/XP 12/2000; Special: Eight followers, vampire powers.

Count Gudolph the Cunning
Gudolph is a cunning man, though only lightly educated. He knows well that his county lies in the path of the Blood Marquessa, and has been recruiting heavily among the priesthood of the kingdom for the last year, giving generous gifts of land to the church in an attempt to shore up his defenses or, at a minimum, convince Hiertrude to march her armies around his land. His retinue consists of two scribes (lay priests), three men-at-arms and three sergeant-at-arms. All of his bodyguards have been trained and armed to deal with vampires.

GUDOLPH: HD 5 (22 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Eight followers, treasure as CL 15, intelligence 14.

Queen Azura I, the Calf
The young Azura has recently assumed the throne after the mysterious death of her mother. She is only 16, but head strong and confident. Faced with signs of rebellion on her borders, she is assembling an army to meet it head on, caring little for the council of her advisers. Her retinue includes four lesser nobles, four sergeants-at-arms (one of them her secret lover) and four scribes doing their best to educate the girl-queen while she scurries about barking orders and managing her new kingdom with gusto.

AZURA: HD 2 (14 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20 intelligence 8, wisdom 6, strength 16, constitution 16.

The Notable Noble - Nicknames and Their Power

Let's begin by defining nobles. Any character with a crown and a fief or kingdom can be a noble, but we're looking at them as antagonists or support staff for the player characters, and putting them in the "monster" or NPC category.

The toughest nobles are the border nobles - the guys and dolls on the fringe of the wilderness fighting against humanoids / barbarians / neighbors day in and day out. We're going to give these folks 9 Hit Dice, making them roughly equal to the name-level characters who might live next door. These folks probably have titles like baron or margrave / markgraf / marquis.

The next toughest are the lesser nobles dwelling within the kingdom's borders - far enough from the barbarians to not be fighting every day, but close enough that they have to muster maybe once or twice a year to fight a war for their liege. Because they aren't the upper nobility, they're more expendable, and might very well have to form up in ranks and charge into battle. We'll give them 5 HD to reflect their combat training and experience. These folks can be barons, viscounts, counts and maybe dukes.

Dukes, however, are usually part of the greater nobility, along with grand dukes, archdukes (yeah, all the various varieties of duke) and the royals - princes, kings, etc. The greater nobility are politicians more than anything else. They're trained to fight, but they don't have to do much fighting. We'll give the greater nobility 2 HD to show off their training and better living.

This makes nobles pretty plain, really - just men and women with 2, 5 or 9 HD. What makes them noble? Well, power, of course. Some hold more treasure than somebody with their hit dice should hold. We'll say the greater nobility have treasure as though they were CL 20 monsters, lesser nobility as CL 15 and borderers as CL 9. They also specialize in retinues. Nobles always get twice the number of followers that their charisma (we'll assume a charisma of 10, but those nicknames we're going to roll up can change that) would normally allow. Greater nobles have triple the normal number of followers.

Who follows a noble? Roll on the table below for each follower ...

Noble Followers (Roll 3d6)
3. Court jester (thief or bard level 1d4+2; re-roll if a second jester comes up)
4. Court musician (bard level 1d4+2; additional musicians are level 1 associates of the first)
5. Rake (5% chance of being a level 1d4+2 assassin; additional rakes are just plain rakes)
6-7. Lesser noble
8-10. Scribe (1% chance of being a level 1d4+2 assassin spy)
11-13. Man-at-arms (platemail, pole arm, sword, maybe crossbow)
14-15. Sergeant-at-arms (platemail, shield, longsword, maybe crossbow)
16. Champion (fighter level 1d4+2; additional champions are level 1 comrades of the first)
17. Court magician (magic-user level 1d4+2; additional court magicians are level 1 apprentices to the first)
18. Chaplain (cleric level 1d4+2; addition chaplains are level 1 assistants to the first)

So, here are our basic noble stat lines:

BORDERER: HD 9; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Double normal number of followers.

LESSER NOBLE: HD 5; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Double normal number of followers, treasure as CL 15.

GREATER NOBLE: HD 2; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Triple normal number of followers, treasure as CL 20.

Now, about those nicknames.

We've all heard them. Charles the Bold, Richard the Lionheart, Pepin the Small. They can describe the person's appearance, faults, foibles, personality and deeds. So, why not let them make nobles something more than cookie-cutter monsters or NPCs.

What follows are 600 possible nicknames, 99% of them drawn from history. Yeah - the weirdest ones are all real - I added about 5 to give me a solid 600. Most nobles have a single nickname, a few have more than one (see below).

Number of Noble Nicknames (Roll 1d10)
1-8. Roll for one nickname
9. Roll for two nicknames
10. Roll for three nicknames

Roll 1d6 to determine which list to use and then 1d100 to determine the nickname. This post has the first list - the other five will follow (hey, this took a while - I need to get more than one blog post out of it).

Since I don't know which set of rules you're using, I tried to keep things basic. If your rules don't give a bonus for high dexterity, then nicknames that give high dexterity should just be treated as descriptive. If a noble gets two nicknames that give him character class levels, then either treat he or she as dual-classed, or re-roll if that doesn't make sense. Of course, anything that doesn't make sense, ignore.

Where a title is mentioned (in ALL CAPS), insert the title appropriate to your noble. If your noble is a baron and you roll "Iron DUKE", just change it to Iron Baron. For REGION, insert the name of a region or kingdom in your campaign world. For BARBARIAN insert the name of a human barbarian tribe or a group of humanoids - i.e. Hammer of the Orcs, Judge of the Scots. References to "virtuous spells" and "sinful" spells we'll be dealt with later, though most of you can probably figure it out.

If a rolled nickname doesn't make sense to you, re-roll.

Click the Table to make it full sized.

TABLE I (Roll 1d100)

Sample Nobles (using nicknames from Table I)

Baron Usted the Bald
Being bald doesn't get Usted much, but as a noble he does get double the normal followers, giving him 8. We roll and find he has the following people in his retinue: For men-at-arms, three scribes (one is a 6th level assassin) and Marcus, the son of the Countess Genevieve, Usted's liege lady.

USTED: HD 9 (41 hp); AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 battle axe (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 5; CL/XP 9/1100; Special: Eight followers.

Countess Genevieve Hairyfoot
The countess has some halfling blood in her; after all, her mother adored pastries and that halfling gourmand who worked at the castle was often called to visit at odd hours. She now rules a prosperous county in the middle of the kingdom. Her eight followers are Wodwick, a sergeant -at-arms, four men-at-arms, a scribe, the Baroness Salamandra, a childhood friend and Sister Sarah, a 5th level cleric.

GENEVIEVE: HD 5; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 12; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Halfling racial abilities, eight followers, treasure as CL 15.

King Humphrey the Antichrist
King Humphrey was birthed on a moonless night, the midwife a witch and his mother a sacrifice. A bastard, he was presented to the court by his uncle and, within a decade, had seized the throne and instituted a reign of terror. His followers include five scribes, five men-at-arms and their sergeant-at-arms, Zabbo, and the wicked Viscomte de Gris.

HUMPHREY: HD 2; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d8); Move 9 (12 out of armor); Save 16; CL/XP 2/60; Special: Twelve followers, treasure as CL 20, spells (1/day - bestow curse, inflict light wounds, protection from good).

FIND PART TWO HERE