SPARTAE
Introduction
Spartoi are warrior servants summoned into existence by the power of a Avatar Birthright.
Historically, the first spartoi sprang from the ground fully grown and fully armed when the hero
Cadmus slew a dragon and planted some of its teeth in the earth. Later, Jason and the Argonauts
were forced to fight another group of spartoi in order to win the Golden Fleece. In both cases,
the spartoi were mighty warriors but rather unintelligent. (Each hero defeated the spartoi by
throwing a stone into their midst from a place of hiding. Each sparti thought that one of his
fellows threw the stone and attacked the nearest sparti. They quickly killed each other.)
Fortunately, despite being such dim bulbs, spartoi make effective warrior-servants for a
Avatar who’s aware of their shortcomings. As long as a character clearly delineates their duties
and doesn’t expect much in the way of independent thought, spartoi are quite useful. Even better,
as your character improves, so do his spartoi. Mechanically, regardless of his other traits, each
sparti has an Intelligence equal to the Divinity rating of the Avatar who summons him into existence.
Spartoi have the characteristics of a grunt soldier (see pp. 282-283). Spartoi may be taken as followers,
but doing so adds one to the cost of the Birthright above that for grunt soldiers. Spartoi are never
proficient with firearms or any modern weapon, however. Consequently, spartoi have no dots in the
Firearms Ability, but three dots in the Melee Ability.
A sparti springs from the ground wearing an ancient but still
effective breastplate (+4L/2B), bearing an aspis and wielding a
xiphos. Spartoi have effective Valor ratings of 4, but never need to
make any other type of Virtue roll.
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2; Perception 3, Intelligence 2 (4), Wits 3
Abilities: Academics 2, Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Command 2, Control 2, Empathy 1, Investigation 2, Larceny 1, Leadership 2,
Marksmanship 3, Medicine 1, Melee 3, Stealth 1
Join Battle: 6
- Attacks
- Clinch: Accuracy 6, Damage 4B, Parry DV —, Speed 6, P
- Unarmed, Heavy: Accuracy 5, Damage 7B, Parry DV 2, Speed 5
- Unarmed, Light: Accuracy 7, Damage 4B, Parry DV 3, Speed 4
- Club: Accuracy 6, Damage 4B, Parry DV 3, Speed 4
- Xiphos: Accuracy +1, Damage +3L, Parry +1, Speed 4
Soak: 4L/2B (Breastplate) Aspis: A wide shield, usually wood, with a layer of beaten bronze to deflect attacks (+1 DV).
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3 +1 (shield) = 4
Willpower: 5
Virtue: Valor 4
