This week: Mercenary Troops in Fantasy Edited by: Prosperous Snow celebrating  
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| According to an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, prior to the middle of the 17th Century, it was a common practice of governments to hire mercenaries to enhance their armies. While those troops were all human beings, there is no reason why fantasy and science fiction stories cannot use other intelligent or semi-intelligent mythological creatures as mercenaries. |
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Do you use mercenary troops in your fantasy or science fiction stories? If so, you need to do research on the history of mercenaries. As early and recent history proves, the use of mercenaries can be dangerous for their employers. Mercenaries have been known to turn on their employers and the citizens of the country employing them.
This does not mean that hired soldiers cannot be used to move the plot of a story forward. It does mean that an author needs to look carefully at the historical use of these troops in warfare. If the mercenary troops were disciplined, well paid, and paid on time, history shows that they could be very effective in battle.
Do Orcs make good mercenary troops? The answer to this question depends on how disciplined, undisciplined, and greedy the Orcs are. I think I have read stories where mercenary troops were used. However, I do not remember reading any story that orcs or half-orcs were used as mercenaries, which does not mean those stories do not exist.
Have you written any stories with mercenary soldiers in them? If so, please submit them to this newsletter. Would you consider using mercenary troops in a story? If so, how would you use them?
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dragonwoman  writes: In a story called "Phantom Limb" Marvelous Melnish supplied an invisible leg to an acrobat.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  writes: As someone who plays D&D 5e, there's always that moment when someone has to go "I need a Healer!"
Luckily, there are ways to help out there. Clerics are popular choices, and some can also wear heavy armor and use martial weapons, meaning that they can put up a fight (don't discount the spells). Druids can also heal, with some really dishing out the damage. Bards can also heal - hopefully you got a good player. Paladins, of course, can heal, and dish out the damage. Rangers can heal, and dish out the damage. Artificers can heal, with some dishing out the damage. One subclass each or Sorcerer and Warlock and also heal. Sadly, Wizards lack any class-related abilities to heal the party, but there are some feats, backgrounds and races, with healing-related abilities, along with multi-classing.
Of course, there's always health potions.
HollyMerry writes: A fascinating read about the role of healers in fantasy. The main character of one of the novels I’m writing is a hedgewitch and uses plants in her healing. Most of the healers in her world are women and use plant lore. In another novel I have a society of healers who the other races journey to for healing. The men practice the more advanced healing using science with the women being learned in herb and crystal lore to finish the healing process and tend lesser ailments.
s writes: In my little fantasy world, the vocation of "healer" is a part of the religious establishment. Though not priests themselves, healers align themselves with the various deities. There are also non-aligned healers, but they tend to be looked at with some suspicion.
I discvered very early on when developing my word that some form of medicine was needed. the healing comes mainly from herb lore and some minor magics, but I really ended up minimising the mystic as the world grew.
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Fantasy: July 05, 2023 Issue [#12051]
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