On Minotaur and their Honor System
By Squire-Candidate Kabaka of the Silvermyst Barony
It is important to note that Minotaur generally come in three sizes that can rather neatly be arranged as follows.
Young Minotaur tend to have black fur. They are out in the world to prove themselves as capable warriors and as such they tend to focus mostly on weapon skills. Very few young Minotaur are capable of throwing spells. As they are young and rather inexperienced, they wield their weapons generally based upon their own strength and not any sort of weapon skills. This means that while they are capable of swinging upwards of 8 dagger blows, they generally do not possess slays. Their constitution is equivalent to roughly 40 dagger blows.
Adult Minotaur have brown fur and they are the most commonly encountered type. As they are more seasoned than the young ones, they tend to possess more skills. Adult Minotaur can swing upwards of 12 dagger blows, and it is not entirely dependant on their strength. They usually have slays or parry’s they can use in combat. Though this author has only encountered one such specimen, it is well possible that they can throw spells should the need arise. Adult Minotaur generally have a constitution equal to between 80 and 120 dagger blows, though not all adults will fall between those ranges.
Elder Minotaur are the focal point of the Minotaur tribe system. They are looked upon as leaders and respected as such. Without the Elders, many Minotaur feel there is no reason to live, as was the case with our recent push into Greystone. The Minotaur that Sir Celdric led us against had no Elders, and were thus suicidal in their attacks. Elder Minotaur can possess any skills that I can think of, though I have most often seen them as Earth or Sky magic casters. It varies from tribe to tribe, but the great majority of Minotaur Earth casters have no problem using Necromancy in combat. I would hope to exclude our allies the Tri-Horn clan in that assumption. Elder Minotaur who cast possess upwards of 4 or 5 spells of the 9th circle and even formal magics in some cases. Even the casters tend to have strong constitution of up to and beyond 100 dagger blows.
Minotaur tend to have a strong sense of honor; especially those that tend to come into our towns looking to engage in honor combat. Honor combat can be done a number of ways, and depending on one’s own strengths and weaknesses, one way may be better than others. Honor combating till one combatant drops and needs healing is one way to do it. However, if the Minotaur and the adventurer have very different skills, such as an adult Minotaur and a young adventurer or a fighter Minotaur against an alchemist, then the 5 hit system might be a better choice. In the first system, each combatant swings as hard as they can, attempting to knock the other down. Once one has fallen, first aid and some small amount of healing is applied and the loser generally offers some token to the other, such as a gold piece or healing. There is no killing blow delivered, and such an action could easily cause any other nearby Minotaur to attack. In the 5 hit system, much as the name suggests, combat consists of merely tagging one’s opponent with a weapon. After 5 hits (or whatever number has been determined), the combat is over and the loser again offers some token to the winner.
Honor combat is a very serious endeavor for Minotaur. They have created a number of rules, which may seem natural to some, but a bit confusing to others.
During honor combat, never attempt to use spells. This is considered dishonorable, as spells would shift the favor to one side. Likewise, any attempts at activating magic items are also wrong and will probably be met with increased aggression on the part of the Minotaur.
Any attempt at healing a fighter engaged in honor combat is also considered dishonorable as again, it unbalances the fight.
Delivering a killing blow to one’s opponent either at the end or even slightly after an honor combat is highly inadvisable and will often be met with extreme retaliation. In one case, a Minotaur who was killing blowed at the end of an honor combat came into town after resurrecting with three of his friends, looking for the adventurer who was foolish enough to break this rule.
Using parry’s and slays and blade furies is quite acceptable in honor combat. It is actually considered dishonorable to hold back because it would be a sign that one is mocking the other’s strength. If a Minotaur is willing to honor combat, it wants an all out fight.
It is possible to arrange for group honor fights. An equal number of Minotaur and adventurers fight together in a small melee.
A Minotaur will not hold back once an honor combat has begun. As such is the case, it is important to pick a fight carefully. One who is new to adventuring should not be picking fights with full-grown adults. It is a good idea to try and identify what tribe the Minotaur is from so you have some idea of how it might fight beforehand.
As a final caveat, remember that not all Minotaur are the same. Not all tribes
are willing to honor combat and not all tribes are automatically hostile. Not
all tribes have the same sense of honor and above all, never attack a member
of the Tri-Horn clan.