Port Keizerin Elisabeth - Hireling Table

Port Keizerin Elisabeth sits like washed up detritus at the mouth of the Sunset River: a jumbled collection of huts linked together by mud paths, with ramshackle jetties poked tentatively into the water as if in trepidation of being swept away. Its namesake, the Empress, has never seen it and never will; its founder, the Ulsterman explorer Robert Carson, named it in the hope of gaining a title. He never did. This is the main port of the Paradijs Kolonie. The entrance to the jungle.

There is no quayside at the Port. The town was founded only 20 years ago and ships still have to moor in the large bay outside. The waters in between are crisscrossed by a miniature flotilla of small boats and skiffs, mostly crewed by native oarsmen with suspicious eyes and tribal scars cut into their cheeks like tears. On land, men looking white and pale and out of place gather together hoping for offers of labour in lumber mills or spice plantations. In the meantime they drink, gamble, and sometimes fight; the bodies, if there are any, are tossed out to sea for the gulls, fish, turtles and crocodiles. 

Now and then, however, men (and occasionally women) of a different type gather at Port Keizerin Elisabeth: armed, armoured, here to sell their strength and toughness and aptitude for violence. They come from all over the territories of the Company and far beyond, in search of wealth, adventure, or sometimes the simple thrill of murder. This is the chief source of hired assistance for a group of PCs heading upriver.

There will be d6+3 potential candidates in Port Keizerin Elisabeth each month. They are 1st level fighters and will join the party for half a share of treasure gained. 

Dice	Nationality	Equipment	Special/Flavour
1	Ulsterman	No armour (AC 12), staff (d4+1)	Has a large and hideous goitre (-2 to reaction rolls for the party)
2	Scotch	No armour (AC 12), spear (d6+1)	Walks with a limp (2/3 speed)
3	Englishman	Leather armour (AC 14), spear (d6+1)	Exceptionally strong (+1 damage)
4	Portingale	Leather armour (AC 14), rapier (d8+1)	Stinks (enemies surprised only on a roll of 1)
5	Spaniard	Leather armour (AC 14), polearm (d8+1)	Can only say “yes”
6	Frenchman	Leather armour (AC 14), cutlass (d8+1)	Is accompanied by a war dog
7	Dane	Leather armour (AC 14), short bow (d6)	Is accompanied by a trained parrot
8	Walloon	Leather armour (AC 14), knife (d4+1)	Prone to aggression (attacks encountered monsters on a roll of 1 irrespective of orders)
9	Frisian	Leather armour (AC 14), axe (d8+1)	Coward (flees if loses half remaining hp in a round of combat)
10	Swede	Leather armour (AC 14), mancatcher	Has a “past” (is being pursued by a magical assassin)
11	Swede	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), spear (d6+1)	Psychopath (will stop to dismember corpses of slain enemies)
12	Duitser	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), whip (d3+1)	Religious (only attempts to subdue rather than kill)
13	Duitser	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), cutlass (d8+1)	Religious (must stop to pray for d6 rounds, five times a day)
14	Duitser	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), axe (d8+1)	Religious (must spend d6 rounds ritually cleansing hands after battle)
15	Duitser	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), sabre (d8+1)	Stubborn (10% magic resistance)
16	Nederlander	Leather armour + shield (AC 15/16), sabre (d8+1)	Handsome/beautiful (gives +2 bonus to reaction rolls for the party)
17	Nederlander	Chain armour (AC 16), polearm (d8+1)	Sharp hearing (only surprised on a roll of 1)
18	Nederlander	Chain armour (AC 16), short bow (d6)	Sneak (always attempts to attack from behind in combat)
19	Ceylonish	Chain armour (AC 16), zweihander (d10+1)	Berzerk (always charges into battle as soon as able)
20	Turk	Chain armour (AC 16), cutlass (d8+1)	Has a “good nose” (has a 1 in 6 chance of tracking or gives +1 if helping another party member track)
21	Paradise native	Chain armour (AC 16), arquebus (d10)	Good carpenter (doubles repair rate for boats)
22	Paradise native	Chain armour + shield (AC 17/18), sabre (d8+1)	Stupid (will wander off on a roll of 1-2 if assigned an unsupervised task)
23	Paradise native	Chain armour + shield (AC 17/18), spear (d6+1)	Missing tongue (cannot speak)
24	Japanish	Chain armour + shield (AC 17/18), axe (d8+1)	Educated (is from a wealthy family and understands 1 – botany; 2 – chemistry; 3 – arcana; 4 – astronomy)
25	Siamish	Chain armour + shield (AC 17/18), whip (d3+1)	Risk taker (always volunteers for dangerous tasks)
26	Tagalog	Plate armour (AC 18), arquebus (d10)	Fake (is untrained; -2 to attack rolls)
27	Malay	Plate armour (AC 18), polearm (d8+1)	Has a telescope
28	Hindoo	Plate armour (AC 18), zweihander (d10+1)	Has “the bard’s tongue” (occasionally chimes in with useful advice)
29	Arab	Plate armour + shield (AC 19/20), sabre (d8+1)	Is on the run from the authorities
30	Afrikan	Plate armour + shield (AC 19/20), axe (d8+1)	Roll twice

[I am dialing the pseudo-17th century real world flavour of LotFP to 11 for the basic set-up for Behind Gently Smiling Jaws. This includes lots of pidgin Dutch and German-sounding words.]