Since using the militia system still appears to be somewhat confusing, I would like to go over what my group and I have done for setting up the militia to start.
Note, we have just set-up the militia and haven't started rolling for training and actions or phases. I have determined that the militia can be formed just at the end of book 1.
What you need: access to Land of Conflict book, militia sheet from the Ironfang Player's Guide, attribute scores of PCs and notable NPCs (this may mean stat'ing out some of them- Kining, Rhyna, Vane, and Jet), and knowledge of how many refugees your group has. And lastly, at least one player interested in managing the militia.
So... the steps are (have the militia sheet in front of you):
1) Start filling out the top of the militia sheet
Choose a name
Rank= 1
Max Rank= PC level - 1
Treasury= 10 gp
Max Treasury= Rank (1) x 10 gp = 10 gp
Training= 0
Notoriety= 0
Choose a Focus from Loyalty, Security, and Secrecy (see page 49 of Lands of Conflict)
2) Assign Officers from PCs (if desired) and/ or NPCs
Ambassador should ideally have a high Constitution or Charisma modifier
Marshal should ideally have a high Strength or Wisdom modifier
Spymaster should ideally have a high Dexterity or Intelligence modifier
Overseer should ideally have a decent Constitution or Charisma, a decent Strength or Wisdom, and a decent Dexterity or Intelligence
Commandant should have the highest level/ HD possible (at early stages this should ideally be Aubrin if she survived)
Strategist could be anyone really.
See Land of Conflicts pages 51-52 for more details.
*As a note, I have decided in my campaign that any PCs assigned to Officer positions need to be available, i.e. not adventuring away from the militia at the beginning of a week, to grant bonuses to organization checks, training, and the extra militia action.
3) Fill out the Officer part of the militia sheet.
Ambassador's best of Constitution or Charisma modifier is bonus to Loyalty
Marshal's best of Strength or Wisdom modifier is bonus to Security
Spymaster's best of Dexterity or Intelligence modifier is bonus to Secrecy
Commandant's level/ HD is the bonus to training.
Strategist grants an extra Militia action if one is chosen.
Overseer gives best of Constitution or Charisma modifier is bonus to Loyalty, best of Strength or Wisdom modifier is bonus to Security, and best of Dexterity or Intelligence modifier is bonus to Secrecy while the Militia teams take actions only.
4) Fill out Organization Check part of the sheet.
Whichever of Security, Secrecy, and Loyalty is the Focus, that one gets a 2 as its base score.
If an Overseer has been chosen or is available, the other 2 checks get a base score of 1. See Land of Conflicts pages 51-52 for details.
Fill in Bonuses from the Marshal, Ambassador, and Spymaster.
The other column is for situational, temporary, and other bonuses.
5) Choose teams and fill out team part of the militia sheet. Max number of teams at rank 1 is 2. Choices are Espionage, Intelligence, Military and Treasury teams. See Lands of Conflict pages 52-54.
Here is where you need to know how many refugees are available as team size and number of Officers matter. If you don't have enough people, you cannot have more teams.
Manager of a team is not really necessary as far as I can tell so far.
Bonus on this part comes from events and previous militia actions if applicable.
6) Fill out Militia Action part of the sheet.
Rank (1) + bonus for having a Strategist (1) so 2 militia actions.
Check-marked actions in this list do not require a team to accomplish. Team actions are limited to those listed in their descriptions.
7} The other parts of the militia sheet:
Events: At rank 1, and as the militia has just been formed, the percentage chance any event occurs is 10% (and will never be above 95%).
Active Events: here are recorded any events that are not resolved within the current week.
Allies and Boons: here is where you record what is granted to the players as the militia gains ranks.
Settlements: There really is no reason to list Misthome or wherever the refugees find themselves in Books 1 and 2. But Phaendar definitely should be listed. I would also list Fangwood Forest. Any place the militia operates should be listed here.
In conclusion, you should now be set-up to run the newly formed militia. The rules to run the militia starts on page 54 of the Lands of Conflict.
I do have a personal concern over Notoriety. It is a rather vague concept that will require DM interpretation. Which also messes with the chance for events happening.
