John
11-30-1998, 12:00 AM
> I get very local in BR, dealing having players get close to a provincial
> ruler such as the count of Bellam in Roesone. how does the count operate?
> Does he collect RP's and what is his income like? When one starts looking
> at translating the BR system to a historical map, as I mentioned, one gets
> the same questions. The feudal system has three levels, which over time get
> inter-mixed and more confusing, but cleanly, there are three levels:
> king/emperor, overlords, and lords who have only peasants (or a few knights)
> as subjects.
In my current campaign I started the group in Bellam, with one of the
characters as Count. I more or less ignored RP et al., figuring
firstly that most taxes would go to the Crown (which also neatly
sidestepped the problem of domain maintenance, since the Crown would
cover that too). I skipped RPs too, figuring that, for example, if
the Baroness sends a message to the Count:
"I want you to prevent Orthien Tane from conducting his business in
your county. See to it, using any means at your disposal."
[Contest action: Roesone vs. Orthien Tane's holdings in Bellam] then
she will be using her RPs as any PC ruler would, but that the players
were now at the 'thin end of the wedge' and actually performing the
nitty-gritty summarised as the Contest action.
If the Count took any action on his own initiative, he would be going
up against the local representatives of, say, Orthien Tane, who would
likewise have no RP, etc., to call their own. The players had more
or less the same set of actions, problems etc. as they would running
on a less local level, but their problems, and resources, were that
much smaller. Having everything on a local level meant that
everything was dealt with personally (by at least one of the party,
which also included the Sheriff and Under-Sheriff of Bellam amongst
its number).
All told, the system worked very well. Anything big which came up
was reported to the Baroness, and she issued instructions. In
essence, whenever the group faced problems beyond their local sphere
of influence, they served to act-out the domain actions of the
Baroness as she ordered.
John.
"Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then
the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a
different universe."
"And now you kill the lambs," whispered Dardalion.
"No, priest. No one pays for lambs."
- David Gemmel, Waylander
> ruler such as the count of Bellam in Roesone. how does the count operate?
> Does he collect RP's and what is his income like? When one starts looking
> at translating the BR system to a historical map, as I mentioned, one gets
> the same questions. The feudal system has three levels, which over time get
> inter-mixed and more confusing, but cleanly, there are three levels:
> king/emperor, overlords, and lords who have only peasants (or a few knights)
> as subjects.
In my current campaign I started the group in Bellam, with one of the
characters as Count. I more or less ignored RP et al., figuring
firstly that most taxes would go to the Crown (which also neatly
sidestepped the problem of domain maintenance, since the Crown would
cover that too). I skipped RPs too, figuring that, for example, if
the Baroness sends a message to the Count:
"I want you to prevent Orthien Tane from conducting his business in
your county. See to it, using any means at your disposal."
[Contest action: Roesone vs. Orthien Tane's holdings in Bellam] then
she will be using her RPs as any PC ruler would, but that the players
were now at the 'thin end of the wedge' and actually performing the
nitty-gritty summarised as the Contest action.
If the Count took any action on his own initiative, he would be going
up against the local representatives of, say, Orthien Tane, who would
likewise have no RP, etc., to call their own. The players had more
or less the same set of actions, problems etc. as they would running
on a less local level, but their problems, and resources, were that
much smaller. Having everything on a local level meant that
everything was dealt with personally (by at least one of the party,
which also included the Sheriff and Under-Sheriff of Bellam amongst
its number).
All told, the system worked very well. Anything big which came up
was reported to the Baroness, and she issued instructions. In
essence, whenever the group faced problems beyond their local sphere
of influence, they served to act-out the domain actions of the
Baroness as she ordered.
John.
"Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then
the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a
different universe."
"And now you kill the lambs," whispered Dardalion.
"No, priest. No one pays for lambs."
- David Gemmel, Waylander