How to Play Legends of Al-Andalus

Here’s a rough guide to playing Legends of Al-Andalus.

Defining a Character

Each player needs a character. See Defining a Character.

Time

The campaign is played in months starting in March 1030 AD. Note: The Muslims of Al-Andalus adopted the Christian solar calendar and holidays (Wikipedia Mozarab) so you don’t need to stress about using “January”, “February” etc.

Employment

Characters can either be self-employed or employed. Characters can be employed by any of these groups:

This makes a difference to the type of encounters they have and sometimes to the location.

If you are self-employed then your encounters depend on your location.

Location

The player character must be somewhere each month – in a location. The choices available should be obvious from the prior encounters or possibly from the player’s current employment. At the start of the game, or if it isn’t obvious, then the player just decides where the character is.

The map is rather stylised. It shows the significant locations within the Emirate and across the borders.

Map Legends of Al-Andalus

Map of the Emirate

Green regions are “Encounter Regions” i.e. these dictate the type of encounter you might have. Orange regions are specific locations within an “Encounter Region” and are significant for specific adventures.

Encounters

At the start of each month every player rolls 1d6 to see if they have an encounter. The likelihood of an encounter is given in the table.

Location Encounter (1d6)
City (anywhere in the City) 1-3
Fort (anywhere in the Fort) 1-2
Villages (Vega)
Villages (Sierra) 1-2
Port 1-2
Ribat 1-2
Sierra 1-2
Muslim Emirates 1-2
Christian Kingdoms 1-3

Type of Encounter 

Employed characters roll for the type of encounter depending on their employer:

Encounters by self-employed characters depend on the location.

After the Encounter

Throw 2d6 versus Rep for all Out-of-Fight (OOF) or routed figures for after battle recovery.

# Dice
Passed
After Encounter At Home
Pass 2d6 All return at normal Rep. All return at normal Rep.
Pass 1d6 OOF are still OOF. May test again after next
battle or when return home. Routers head for home. Player may test again when return home.
All return at –1 to their Rep.
Pass 0d6 OOF become OD while those that ran
away will not return.
Wounded die (1–4)
or retire (5–6).
Routers never
return.

Advancement Points (AP)

Advancement Points (AP) combine experience and money (income and expenses). If characters survive encounters or get paid they can gain AP whereas payment for services will deduct AP.

AP are used to increase Reputation. The table shows the minimum AP required to gain +1 REP. Any increase to Rep happens at the end of the month, after wages and expenses have been factored in. When a character takes the +1 REP they lose all accumulated AP even if this is higher than the minimum required.

Character Advancement Table
Rep Minimum AP to gain +1 REP
2 100
3 225
4 400
5 625
6 N/A

Note: the calculation is ApToNextRep = Rep x Rep x 15. This makes the total AP to get from Rep 2 to Rep 6 roughly 60% of what was required in Legends of Araby to get from Rep 2 to Rep 10. 60% because AP are often awarded in multiples of the Rep and this is lower in this campaign.

AP are gained during play, for example:

Earning Advancement Point
Cause AP Gained
Disabling or capturing an enemy of equal or lower Rep 1 x Rep of enemy
Disabling or capturing an enemy of higher Rep 2 x Rep of enemy
Magic user successfully uses a spell during an encounter 5 x level of spell
Successfully completing an encounter without becoming disabled or running away 3 x own Rep
   

Some NPCs will demand payment for services. The player character must have the AP available or the NPS will not deliver the services. NPCs that are paid monthly will leave if they are not paid at the end of the month.

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