Your court holds up to five heroes. Offers arrive on their own schedule and leave within a few seasons. A level 2 hire costs half again as much. Every hero draws a wage each season: the class rate plus 2 gold per level.
Starts at might 4 · lore 0 · guile 1 · leadership 3. Grows fastest in might, then leadership.
A battlefield legend in the making. Leads armies hard and hits harder.
Starts at might 1 · lore 4 · guile 1 · leadership 1. Grows fastest in lore, then guile.
A wielder of Emberlight. Casts in battle, kindles your reserves, unravels the arcane on quests.
Starts at might 2 · lore 1 · guile 3 · leadership 2. Grows fastest in guile, then leadership.
A pathfinder and huntmaster. Strong on quests, steady in command, at home in wild country.
Starts at might 2 · lore 1 · guile 4 · leadership 0. Grows fastest in guile, then might.
A professional of the quiet arts. Unmatched on dangerous quests; heroes of this kind die old or famous, rarely both.
What the four stats do
Might. Fighting strength in battle, and the stat for blade-work quests.
Lore. The stat for arcane quests. The Saga leans on it hard.
Guile. The stat for quiet quests, and a friend on most others.
Leadership. The army a hero leads fights +2% per point, up to +30%. Only your best leader counts.
Growing
Experience comes from battles and quests. Reaching the next level takes 63 experience at level 1 and 28 more for each level after; the cap is level 10. Each level grants two stat points, drawn toward the hero's calling.
At levels 3, 5, 7, 9 the hero chooses one of two arts, permanently. The choices come from their class:
Champion arts
Duelist. +2 might.
Iron Banner. The army this hero leads fights +6%.
Scarred Veteran. 15% less likely to die of wounds.
Voice of Command. +2 leadership.
Giant's Wager. +3 might, but −1 order where they stand: glory is loud.
Standard-Bearer of the Age. +1 leadership; +20% experience.
Magus arts
Ember Scholar. +2 lore.
Kindled Veins. +2 Emberlight each season.
Frugal Rites. Your spells cost 15% less while this hero lives.
War-Wizard. +1 might; the army they march with fights +5%.
Far-Seer. +1 guile, +2 to quest rolls.
Ashen Pact. +3 lore, but slightly likelier to die of wounds: the pact collects.
Warden arts
Pathfinder. +3 to quest rolls.
Hunter's Eye. +1 might, +1 guile.
Wild Tongue. +1 leadership; +1 order where they stand.
Grey Cloak. +1 guile; 15% less likely to die of wounds.
Beast-Friend. Army +4%; +1 to quest rolls.
Keeper of Old Roads. +2 leadership; +15% experience.
Shade arts
Knife in the Smile. +2 guile.
Second Shadow. 20% less likely to die of wounds.
Poisoned Ledger. +1 guile, +2 to quest rolls.
Night Tutor. +30% experience.
Terror by Candlelight. Army +5%, but −1 order where they stand.
Faceless. +3 guile, −1 leadership: hard to follow what you cannot describe.
Wounds and worse
A wounded hero mends at home, one season at a time. Death looks for heroes in lost battles, in routed armies, and at the bloody end of failed quests. A death-save (from arts or armor) subtracts straight from death’s chance. The dead return their artifacts to your vault and their names to the chronicle.