Das Heilige Römische Reich [WIP Proposal]

[m_1512]

General Rules on Post #7

Historical Orientation

Note The idea about Holy Roman Empire has always been fascinating to me. I used the time off, the time when I did not have a net connection, to extensively read about it. There is a whole variety of things that can make a fun game experience. But there are also some that can ruin it. For instance, if the concept as it is were to be applied, it would more of a history recreation rather than a game. Therefore, I had taken small liberty to add a back-story to this game, and a few deviations from exact history. Hope you all enjoy it. Thank you. The year is 1370. Six years ago, various laws and resolutions were passed. But rather than bring peace, prosperity and strength, it plunged the empire into a bloody civil war. The then Emperor captured, imprisoned and forced to abdicate. This was followed by the slaughter of the Electors. The other Princes fought each other, for each had their own vested interests. Neighbor turned on neighbor, and succeeded only in destroying each other. Assassinations became the order of the day. The future seemed dark for the empire. At that moment, help arrived from the most unusual sources. A nobleman, commander in the formal imperial army, was crowned by the pope as the new Holy Roman Emperor. He marched, and bested the traitors one by one. Meanwhile, the pope kept the empire safe from outside by keeping its neighbors under restrain. At last, the Emperor triumphed. But the guarantee of the pope is as long as the pope himself. With the coming of a new pope, the neighbors would no doubt attempt to seize themselves glory, and some lands. Therefore, the path lies clear. The Emperor must rebuild the empire, and attempt to restore it to its former glory. An overview of the starting conditions The Reich The current administration is in shambles. The Emperor has now a strong hold on the realm. The constitution and laws had been tweaked to help him restore peace. The realm is now ready for re-organisation. That is to say, there is possibility for either re-structuring or carving out new subject states of the empire. The Reichstag is virtually non-existent, as there are no longer any heads of subject states left, due to war, assassinations and abdications. No doubt, these places have to be filled. The higher offices are now being managed by trustworthy aides of the Emperor and by able people from the Vatican. Diplomacy Diplomacy can be considered as neutral. The current pope has held the neighboring powers at bay, for now. But that guarantee would go with the pope. Military The Imperial army (under the control of Emperor) is neither excellent nor bad. It is to say, just sufficient to defend the realm. The empire has no formal navy. Economy The realm is self-sufficient agriculturally. But trade needs to pick up in order to compete with kingdoms like England and like.

Forum Structure

Das Heilige Römische Reich A Holy Roman Empire RPG The Imperial Government This is the seat of the Kaiser, and the center of Imperial government, politics and power. It is from here, that the Reich is governed. The Reich Behold! Here likes the states and institutions of the Empire. Here, you will find all events and adventures. Beyond the Reich Here lie the lands beyond the Holy Roman Realm. There awaits epic adventures and glories for those stout of heart. The Battlefields For Glory and the Fatherland! The Residences Here lie the personal abodes and seats of power of the people of the Reich. The Grand Archives Here you find a vast collection of dusty records and scrolls of the Empire.

Researches and Advances

I intend this game to be unique in regards that we have a scholarly path here – The Path of the Quill. Hence, it is only natural that there should be Researches and Technological advances. Therefore, in this game, scholars can attempt research as quests. The quest would depend on the character’s intelligence stats, and on rolls. Rolls will be rolled to determine how much a research advances. The quest in itself will be a role-play between the character and the moderator.The following points should sum up the rest of the idea. Characters: Any character can take up to research or an advance. However, scholars would have a definite advantage in this regard. This is by taking into consideration the background learning and intelligence stats. Relevance: To protect the game from spoil effects, moderators would keep an eye on what quests are started. For instance, a quest to discover or make gunpowder is acceptable. But a quest to build a F-22 Raptor fighter jet is just pushing it.

Moderator List

Head Moderator: m_1512 Moderators: Okmin, Lucius Malfoy

Player List

Players Absurd Gandalf, Agamemnon, Barry Goldwater, bonez899, Celsius, Comrade Chernov, Confederate Jeb, Cpt.Wsq96, DiddlyDark, empr guy, ForteS, General Brewster, Gone 2 the Celts, Hobbes., irontaino, jacb547, Jesse James, KoS, LEGIONARIVS HVNGARIVS, Lucius Malfoy, Majonga, martin616, Mythre, O'Ciarain, Okmin, Paladin Vargas, Pericles of Athens, Phalanx300, Praetor Darling, rathertallhat, Rhapture, RomanSoldier9001, Shankbot12, The Stig, Uber Patriot, Watercress Xion

[m_1512]

Map

Path of the Church

Path of the Gold

Path of the Quill

Path of the Royals

Path of the Warrior

Freedman Professions

Fisherman (Fishing boat) Farm owner Craftsman Privateer Mercenary Captain (or bodyguard) Merchant ship Captain

Basic Player Guide

This guide covers the basics applicable to all paths and characters. For specific paths, character specifics guides are below. The Character First stop is to create your character in the registration thread. You can open the thread with your character’s name. Also, please edit the thread’s name to the name of the heir when your original character dies. In the case of clergy, the protégée occupies the place instead of heirs (clergy’s cannot marry). Below is the basic’s the thread should cover. Name: The name of the character. Age: Self-explanatory. Also, make sure you update your character’s age every week. This way, you save them a load of work. Appearance: How does your character look like? What is the physique? I do not need to explain much here. Be creative in this regard. Origin: Essentially means from where your character hails from. Does not need long essays, a single sentence would do. This is especially important as your origin would influence your relations with that place. My advice would be to confine this area within Europe as it was extremely unlikely that your character could be from elsewhere, say Japan. Examples of origin could be -> English, French, Spanish, Polish etc… Family/House: A description about your character’s roots. Every character in the game is allowed a shield to highlight his house/family. This section should contain details about the character’s house or roots. You need not be historic with this, be creative to make your character interesting. For example, the house of Brent claims descent from the old Frankish lords of Charlemagne. The one line was just an example; the creativity is up to you. A colorful paragraph about the house would make a splendid read. Background Story: This should sum up a brief, yet rich history of your character. What your character did before and where he/she came from. Make a nice narrative, and let your creativity flow naturally. Personal Effects: In the very first of a kind, this game allows new players to possess 5 items as their personal effects. You can choose from a list of items which will be given in the Registration forum. My advice would be to choose such items which would not only be useful for your character, but suit them a bit as well. The items available are given in the list below. Chainmail Armor, Crossbow, Dagger, Dagger with Carved Cross and Sheath, Journal Book, Leather Gauntlets, Lockbox, Quill, Shield, Shield Rounded, Sieben Flanged Mace, Signet Ring, Silver Crucifix Chain, Silver Crucifix Ring, Sword – Crusader, Sword – Short and Leather Scabbard, Sword – Zweihänder, The Holy Bible, Wooden Crosier Staff. You can replace those items by purchasing new ones from player-merchants or from NPC sellers controlled by moderators. Another important function of this feature is that it tells moderators what your character is having on them at any given point of time. This saves you the trouble of mentioning the items in each and every place you role-play. It is equally important that you keep this list updated. Each Male Character can carry 6 items, and Female can carry 5 items. The Residence Well, now that your character’s ready, he/she needs a place. So, the next stop is The Residences forum. Here you have to create a thread for your character’s home. It’s very simple, name the thread as what you would like to call your abode. For example, The Black Manor, Regensburg. You can situate the residence anywhere within the realm. It is possible to own many personal estates and manors, but you have to confine those in the main residence thread itself. My suggestion, use a list. The main residence could have a brief description to bring a feel about the residence. A picture would only make a nice addition. In this regards, any picture would do, I would go far to say that a picture of even Hogwarts castle would look nice. As the name suggests, the residence is an excellent place for maintaining records which you could not elsewhere. You can store the list of all your character’s possessions in this thread. This place is also ideal for you to post the details of the character’s family, and family trees if you like to do things rather in depth. Lastly, the residence is the place where people would come and role-play with you too. For instance, they might come with just the usual banters or maybe sometimes with sinister plans of conspiracy. Coat of Arms Every player is allowed a basic shield. But it does not end there. As your character goes up in ranks and standings, you can ask additions from Major Darling. The additions would be like supporters, crowns etc. which would better highlight your character’s position. For example, lion supporters are a mark of kingship. When you character is awarded kingship, you can ask MD to add lion supporters to your shield, thus making it into a Coat of Arms. Also note that you can start off from the first step only, which is from the basic/starting positions. There is no jumping the steps here. Incomes By now, you would know about registration and residences. After that the next stop is the incomes thread. It will be a stickied thread, so no problems in finding it. However, here is the link to that thread. There, make a post with the name of the character family. Keep the post updated weekly (yearly in-game) with the incomes, deductions, and balances. Now we reach the end of this basic player guide. Give a look into the Path specific guides for more details about each path and distinctions between the paths.

The Path of the Church Guide

This path is unique in the regard that it includes both spirituality and power. If you choose this path, you can know that you will play a role that rivals the royals. But there is a distinction here, that for most part you power comes from outside. Yes, players of this path derive their power from the Papacy. So, how do you go about it? You can start as a Theological academic (a student of Christianity). From here you have to seek a promotion. There are always two ways in this path. Either you write to Rome (moderators) and ask for advancement or you go about your way delivering sermons and speeches until you are noticed and advancement conferred. Which way you choose is up to you. Should you gain advancement, you become a priest, responsible for a parish. Now, open a thread in the Reich forum as your office. From there, you can carry on your work and other role-plays. The next promotions would be bishop and then archbishop. Please note that you cannot ask for Tithe until after you become a bishop. Tithe is a form of religious tax you can ask from other players. You can ask for the amount in fractions, i.e. a fifth of earnings, or a tenth of earnings etc. Theoretically, the money is to be used for religious purposes, but what you do with your character is your game. After archbishop, you will come across two routes. Step into the sordid world of imperial politics by becoming a price-archbishop. You can ask someone to solicit for you to be conferred one, or accept one when you are indeed offered. Continue in divine path by remaining loyal towards the church. When you become the Prince-Archbishop of a state, you gain the right to levy taxes upon your subjects. While this is an efficient way to make riches, it is also necessary to remember that people would expect you to be benevolent. Given below is the formula to calculate the production of each province. Production = Base value + (D20 * Tier value) You don’t have to worry about this as the moderators will do the math at beginning of each game year. You just have to sum up the values of your provinces. And then you can levy tax accordingly (1/5 or 1/3 or 1/6 etc.), but don’t be too benevolent, as you’ll have to pay the imperial tax to the emperor as you have become an Ecclesiastic Prince. If you choose the second option you can strive on to become a cardinal, and then eventually the pope. With the exception of Prince-Archbishops, all clergymen are exempt from imperial tax. As a clergyman, you can also denounce, excommunicate, and reconcile other players from the church provided you have the authority to do so. Also, as players in other paths have heirs to continue your legacy, you cannot have one as clergymen were celibate. However, you can have protégées who can continue your legacy in that path or maybe stray into other paths.

The Path of Gold Guide

This is the path of gold, the thing that drives the world. This is the most unique path in this game, in a way quite distinct from others. How is it distinct? Here, the rise of your character is in your hands. Indeed, all promotions come from no one, but that you get them for your character. Instead of promotions, you have here charters. Charters are nothing but Letters of Permission given out by royals governing the provinces. You can obtain these by any method you wish; there is nothing ethically right or wrong here. So, let us get on with this guide step by step. Local Merchant You start as a local merchant and setting up your shop thread in the Reich forum. You then select which goods to trade in. A fair note, you can only trade the goods available in that region, which you can get by asking the moderators. Merchant You can then rise to the level of a full merchant, one who has trade rights across regions. For this you must get letters of permission to trade in that region. For example, you are a merchant in Saxony. To get the right to trade in Austria, you must ask for a charter from the royal governing that region. Similarly, you can get charters to trade across many regions in the empire. You must however include a list of charters in your thread. Tradesman As always, you cannot be expected to remain content in the same position. You would naturally wish to trade outside the borders too. Why? Simple, as it will have added bonus of being able to trade different products which would not be available in the empire. You can receive this charter from an Elector only. Merchant Guilds Any group of two or more merchant players may form a merchant guild at any time. A guild may only sell one type of good per year; however the profit from that trade is multiplied by 1.25 per guild member. If the guild chooses to sell a good, members may not sell the same. The guild may use the roll of any member it chooses. For example, if a Tradesman and a Merchant formed a guild, it would be more profitable to use the Tradesman’s roll. Guild members are responsible for setting their own rules and regulations concerning in-game activities, but if active membership in a guild drops below two players, the remaining player may not use the 1.25 bonus the guild provides. Trade League Trade routes may be established between any two territories, inside or outside the HRE, by any Merchant for 30,000 Reichmarks. To calculate income for the trade route, find the sum of the tiers of the two territories it connects. Use the table below to determine exact income. Trading Enterprise This is a concept which will come much later in the game. And it is then that it shall be explained in detail. Specials Items Merchants may sell special items. Special items include those which are not usually purchased regularly by public, for example, swords, armor etc. For such items, the player shall get only character sales, and no NPC sales. Also, guilds may not trade in these items. NPC Income In addition to their base (main incomes), Merchants can also claim NPC income. NPC income is claimed product-wise (good) and by the formula given below. Income of a good = (Intelligence/10) * (Base value * Profit of the Good) To start trading a good, the merchant must pay the starting amount for it. A register of goods and prices will be maintained by the moderators.

The Path of the Quill Guide

This is another path which is very much like the merchant one. Here too, the rise is more or less up to you. You start as an academic, a pursuer of books and scrolls and intellectual musings. First, you open a thread in the Reich forum as your study. From here you carry out your work and other role-plays. To give you a fair note, this is also one of the challenging paths, and hence quite interesting too. Now how do you get a rise? Simple, get noticed by a prominent person, who will give you a letter of recognition. And this is not so simple. You have to have several papers under your belt before you advance each time, and if not papers, several services to the empire. But, the rise is not the entire thing here. There are three paths within this path itself. of Science, of Law, And of Politics. To rise through the science path, you must start perusing any stream of science. Be it alchemy, or the study of metals, they all come in handy. The more papers you give, the more you rise. And you make take up research quests which shall be explained below. The path of law is a beneficial one. This path can lead to you to a place above all royals. The higher you climb the more power you get. After magistrate, you can go on to join the Court Council of the Empire. This body is so high that it is only subject to the emperor. In politics, you go by the way of diplomacy. Here, you can become an imperial diplomat, who can ratify treaties and alliances. Or you can go forth to become a governor of imperial cities, and enter the world of royals. There is not much to explain in the guide here. Hence, you can be creative in this regard. As for the researches and advances, I will give a short note here. Researches and advancements could be anything. Can it be scientific discovery or military technology or doctrine? It can be anything as long as it stands feasible to the time period. No use starting a SETI program. There will be a roll each week for the research completed and by the rp between the player and moderator. To start this, a player must start a quest in a thread.

Path of the Royals Guide - By Shankbot12

Taking this path will throw you in at the deep end, but if you can swim the rewards will be great. You have the greatest hold over the Empire - and the chance to create the biggest impact. You will play a game of shadows, deceit, and lies. For that is what it takes to survive in the Imperial Court. Assassinations will defiantly be the order of the day, and rising high enough, to quickly may well see you on the receiving end. You will start may start off as minor noble, or even an Elector - but eventually all roads will lead to Rome, and becoming the King of them. Fortune, wealth, and power are there for the taking, you just need the determination and ruthlessness to seize it. We suggest you make friends in high places, secure connections, and make plans in the shadows - remember it is not who you know but how you know them. However, trust no-one. Everyone is after the samething as you are, the Imperial throne; and they'll do anything to get it. To this end we suggest you take points in Assassination and the like, anything to improve your chance of survival. Rising up will entail gaining the eye of a high ranking official, and have them be your patron in the big wide world. Proving your has little to do with it, if you take into account what has been said above you'll be sitting next to the Emperor in no time. Of course failure to do so will result in worse men getting the title and all the perks that come with it. Despite this if you can master surviving this path will offer some of the greatest rewards, and can be one of the most enjoyable Paths to play due to the sheer amount of back-stabbing politics going on. So if you're a fan of such environments this is defiantly the right choice for you. Start off by signing up your character, and for this Path a good, detailed history/ground is a must - it will help shape and define your character and what decisions he will make when the lust for power effects him, which it does to everyone. Next you want to get your home thread set up. Make it suitable to your character, it may well end where your plan to seize the throne begins. Location-wise where you are based would be the best option. There is no point living in Munich when you are the Elector of Hamburg, is there? However, you can also change the address later on. Then get your finances in order, this is important as you may end up with a lot of money flowing into your coffers, sure to bring you under the scrutiny of the Emperor. Once you've done all that get going, Emperor...

Path of the Warrior Guide - By Shankbot12

This path offers one of the most divers role players in terms of choices available to you. You start off as a Ritter, a basic Knight, hacking your slashing at the nearest enemy you can get your hands on, but with skill and a bit of luck you will find yourself open to becoming one of the most powerful person in the Empire - and whether that is achieved through marching on land or sailing the seven seas is entirely up to you. We suggest taking points in skills that better improve your martial prowess and your tactical intuition, anything that will help you in combat, ranging from a one on one sword fight to leading a campaign that will save the Empire. The choice is yours. This is the beauty of this path, you have a lot of choices. Want to stay away from imperial politics? The go on to become a Reichsritter. Or if you'd rather try your hand at the the throne then with some worth you may become an Elector, the possibilities are endless - and everyone needs soldiers so you'll always have something to do. There really is no need for a guide for this path as everything is up to you. Having a good personality description when you sign up is very important for this path, and it will effect how certain people interact with you, and maybe even your chances of promotion...

[Gandalf.]

Awesome!

[Lucius Malfoy]

Sign me up! I plan to do Royal or Warrior path

[Rhapture]

I was just thinking that a HRE rpg would be pretty cool. Im in

[The Stig]

This looks very good. I can go wherever we need the numbers, but I'm leaning towards a Church char.

[m_1512]

The general rules and information about the game in format as suggested by stilldawn.

General Rules

Main Characters You can create only one main character in the game. After the main character dies, the heir or protégée will take over as the next main character. The scope of your character is better explained in the player guides. Stats Skill point based stats: Skill point based stats The basic unit in the game is skill points. Skill points are earned through events and role plays. 50 skill points can be invested to increase any of the stats by 1 point. Sometimes, for exceptional role plays, moderators can award players both in skill points and stats. Example: +30 Skill Points, +1 Command. Skill point based stats Strength:Includes the physical toughness of the player. The stronger the player, the more likely he/she is to win duels and fights, and less likely to be killed by assassination. This would also keep your character alive as long as realistically practical. Intelligence: Includes the mental prowess of the player. It is essential for research, learning new skills, strategies, and increased trade profits. It is also required for making new advances in any field. For merchants, intelligence is their trading prowess. Command:It is the military competency of the player. It is required for military strategy. The more the command, the more successful the military maneuvers would be. Also, troops fight better under a good commander, and are better adaptive to innovations.

General Rules

Action based stats: Action based stats These are stats which are determined by a player’s actions/decisions rather than skill points. However, for the start of game or new players, these stats can be increased by skill points. This is for the New Players only. Afterwards, these stats will be determined by actions/decisions. Piety:Piety shows a player’s loyalty, devotion, and dedication to the Catholic Church. Piety is useful for the following important reasons. Clergymen have the power to denounce other people from the church. However, if they themselves are found lacking in piety, the papacy might not allow the person to do so. More importantly, if the target person to be denounced has higher piety than that clergyman, he could find himself in a papal inquiry. Players would find their characters safer with higher piety against Inquisition rolls. Inquisitions can also be ordered by the clergy too. However, should the clergyman be lacking in piety, he would himself fall victim to inquisition. Chivalry/Dread:Again, the name suggests it all. Chivalry or Dread is affected by how a player treats his/her fellows, subjects, and enemies. In battle, Chivalry inspires troops, and Dread scares enemy troops. This is now extended to all players. Although, this would not work with other players, it would still work in rolls and mod controlled characters. This trait works the best in battle when leading troops. Auxiliary Characters These are characters you can play from time to time for a more in-depth and creative RP, they may not collect income, be appointed to leadership positions, hold non-duplicate offices, help main characters do anything to unduly advance, or in any way threaten a main character - they are solely for RP purposes. Auxiliary characters will be subject to the same rules and death rolls as main characters, although they may become main characters if your main character dies without any heirs or protégées. Main auxiliary characters have to be registered in the auxiliary registration thread in the Registration forum. However, auxiliary characters for the purpose of short duration role-plays need not be registered. Killing Auxiliary Characters You can kill your auxiliary characters any time you wish. But you must have a good reason to kill it as you would with main characters. Also, the odds of attempts to finish your aux get doubled. But of course, the killing of an aux will be treated as the killing of a main character. Aging of Characters Characters will age at a rate of one in game year per one real week. At the age of 55 onwards your characters will be subject to natural death rolls - done each week by the moderators, the chance of a natural death being 1/5. When your character reaches the age of 65 onwards the chance each week increases to 5/10, so to kill off any super old, and therefore unrealistic, characters. The character can see out the remainder of any thread in which he/she is role-playing, but must die by the end of that game year. However, players can also commit suicide if they so wish. Signing up and commitment: Role-playing, as the name describes is taking a role of the character. The first thing to be aware of is that by signing up, you are making a commitment to play. Once your character becomes involved in the game it would be a detriment to lose that character through lack of involvement. Keep in mind that taking on leadership positions will mean that you should stay active enough to carry out necessary tasks. If a character becomes too inactive for too long, he may lose his position. As such we ask that any notable absences you take you post in the absence thread. Heirs, Protégées, and Wills This section explains what happens when your main character dies. When you main character dies, you must make a will as soon as possible. The will shall include only the character’s personal wealth. For instance, a duchy is not a character’s personal possession. By default, a character’s personal wealth goes to the heir. But the church could also claim some parts of it. For a clergyman, unless otherwise willed, his fortunes go not to his protégée but to the church. My suggestion would be to prepare the character’s will the moment he/she turns 55. Apprenticeship As was common in those days, heirs and protégées would live under the guidance and mentorship of the character. So, the player has two options when he takes over a new main character. Either the player can use the starting skill point amount set for new characters or he could ask the moderators to roll the apprenticeship roll. Apprenticeship roll = (D20 * 2) % If the roll comes below 5, the roll is rolled again. This is to prevent players from getting the bad luck of getting a meagre 2% to 8% of stats. Useful Terms: OOC – Abbreviation for Out of Character. This is the 'real world', everything that is OOC is nothing of your character and you can use abbreviations and such in OOC. IC – Abbreviated as In Character. This is your in-game character's world. Everything that happens under this is for your character and for your character only. OOC is not to be taken into IC, nor should you fume or anything about IC issues, if you are offended in role-play do not get angry over it. Meta-gaming: Using OOC information in IC, and vice versa. For example, if you read something that someone had done in-game, but your character does not know it, your still character doesn't know it even if you do yourself. This is very important, since people get unfair advantages by doing this. It is forbidden to do so. Power-gaming: This means doing something that you couldn't do. Like, "Bob jumped to moon and landed without injuries upon his arrival." This is not possible (unless the rules say so), and is not allowed. Usually moderators will clear such things up; but it is forbidden. Power-gaming can be similar to meta-gaming. Some people may read about a hidden army in the forest, for example, and marched up to kill them. This is not allowed. Also, harming another player without giving a chance to react for the opposite side is highly forbidden.

Assassinations

There would come a time when a player would wish to murder another character, be it main or auxiliary. There are two ways of how they could it. They could either assassinate them with the help of a professional assassin, or finish them off personally. In the second one, you can assail help from another player too if both agree. But this is a murder which the whole realm would eventually hear of. My advice would be to use the professionals unless you opt for the second way, provided you are confident that your character would get away with it. The best alternative should you be unable to avail a professional assassin is to challenge them to a duel/fight. Assassination (secret) To order this, follow the simple steps. Contact a moderator (via PM the best), Pay 5,000 Reichmarks, State you intent (you must have a valid, IC reason to kill someone. “They looked at me funny” or “I don’t like them” are not valid reasons), The mod will then roll a D20 (in the moderator social group) to determine the outcome and post it in a relevant thread. D20 Rolls:The following are the rolls and their outcomes. 1-5: Capture of the assassin before they even reach the target. The assassin’s employer’s identity is revealed to the target, who may decide what to do with the information. 6-10: Assassin misses the target and escapes successfully. Although the target is not eliminated, the identity of the one who tired to have the target killed remains secret. 11-15: Death of the target and the capture of the assassin. Although the target is dead, their heir may decide what to do with the identity of the assassin. 16-20: The assassin gets in, does his job, and gets out with incident. The target is dead and nobody knows who did it. Open Murder (or assassination) Simply follow the steps. Be in the same thread, you and your fellow conspirators, Post intent along with the reasons (valid ones), State which weapon(s) you and other conspirators intend to use (from the personal effects only), Target can use opportunity to do the same, Moderator rolls to decide outcome, Do spooky stuff (affects Chivalry/Dread) if you wish (putting the head on a pike, or putting the blood on the altar etc.). Without Modifiers 11-20: Death of the target. 1-10: Target escapes. With Modifiers Each character (not including auxiliaries), will provide a +2 or -2 bonus depending on whoever they’re helping. The character (meaning target or assassin, not helpers) with the higher strength will receive a +1 and the character with lower strength will receive -1 bonus. Weapons and armor may also provide bonuses depending on their quality and so forth.

Imperial Systems

In 1370, the Holy Roman Empire operated, as much of the world did, on a set of legal, economic, and military customs known as Feudalism. Feudalism structured society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor. There is a strict hierarchy of landed nobility, with peasants paying or fighting for their liege lords in exchange for protection. These lords have their own superiors, and provide money and troops in exchange for their protection. These superiors also have their own liege lords, and so on until you reach the highest order, the Kaiser (Emperor). Titles and Holdings Anyone who holds two or more provinces can give another player one or more provinces in exchange for their fealty. However, you may only be promoted to a rank lower than the promoter. The Kaiser generally doesn’t promote players to ranks below Count, so it falls to lower ranked nobles to do so. Lords are free to determine whatever tax they wish upon their subjects or whatever services they expect, however their subjects are equally as free to oppose this and revolt. The Oath When promoted, you will be required to undertake an oath of fealty to your liege lord. By doing this, you agree to supply your lord with taxes and troops or any other service in exchange for his help and protection. At any time, a liege lord may revoke the land and titles of their vassals; however their vassals may oppose this and rebel. Levies All landed ranks have a base number of troops ready and willing to fight for them when mustered. Provinces also provide troops. The exact number is tied to the quality of the province (tier) itself. Better provinces provide more levies. Tier 1: 1,500 extra troops to its lord. Tier 2: 1,000 extra troops to its lord. Tier 3: 500 extra troops to its lord. The above is in addition to troops gained from rank. Base levy given below. Kaiser: 5,000 King: 3,000 Prince: 2,500 Duke: 2,000 Margrave: 1,500 Prince-Archbishop: 1,000 Count: 1,000 Baron: 500 Free Imperial Knight: 250 Merchant Republic (sovereign of): 100 Note: Electors add 1,000 men to their levy size. This is in addition to troops from rank and land. Regents When a landed noble dies without any successor (willed or otherwise), or when his successor is judged to be unfit by his subjects, a Regent shall be nominated by anyone and approved by the dead noble’s direct lord. Regents are responsible for the safe keeping of the lands they watch over, nothing more. They receive no extra income and are allowed to raise additional troops only when the deem it to be in the interest of the estate that he is charged with. Regency shall end when a character with a valid claim to the land is approved by both the subjects and the overlord. If no such person steps forward, the Kaiser may appoint someone to the position. Once approved by the subjects and liege lord, they will be able to assume all of the duties and privileges associated with the position. Regency has nothing to do with personal possessions and wealth. The duty of the regent is solely to the state, as the state (county or duchy etc.) is not a personal possession.

Childbirth and Adoption

The following are the rules for childbirth and adoptions in the game. Childbirth The procedure is the simplest. Simply post in the Physician thread, requesting the childbirth roll. The moderator will do the roll and post the outcome. The rolls would be for first the wife’s (or mistress’s) survival, second the survival of the child, and last the gender of the child. The odds are mentioned below. No-Assistance Wife’s survival: 8/20 Child’s survival: 6/20 Mid-Wife (The most basic assistance) – 500 Reichmarks Wife’s survival: 12/20 Child’s survival: 10/20 Regular Physician (Average) – 1,500 Reichmarks Wife’s survival: 14/20 Child’s survival: 12/20 Experienced Physician (Renowned) – 3,000 Reichmarks Wife’s survival: 17/20 Child’s survival: 15/20 Physician of the Imperial Household (The best in the Reich) - For Emperor – Free, Electors – 3,000 Reichmarks, and Others – 5,000 Reichmarks. Wife’s survival: 19/20 Child’s survival: 17/20 The following are the important points regarding the childbirth rolls. You must post clearly, the name of your character for whose spouse the roll is being rolled. The character can be main, or heir, or any family member of the main character. Do not post the roll request for auxiliary characters. You can simple assume them to have children. Only the child from a legal marriage sanctified by the church would be considered as legitimate. Otherwise, it would be considered as illegitimate. Only legitimate children can inherit personal fortune (by default) or stand successor or inherit the family name. You can however include them in the will (for personal fortunes) if you are intending for it to become the main character. You cannot ask for a childbirth roll more than once in a week (real life). If you consecutively ask for four rolls every week, a death roll for the wife will be added from fifth week onwards. My advice would be to wait two weeks before asking the roll again. Adoptions Adoptions are fairly simple here. You can adopt any child, provided it is not a rolled child of another player. Adoptions are subject to permission from your higher lord (in case of royals) or the church (for others). However, the emperor can permit the adopted child to inherit the name, fortune, or even stand as successor.

Incomes

This section covers the income part of the game. The game has base incomes (pre-defined set of incomes), and additional incomes (income from tax and trade). Historically, the currency of the Holy Roman Empire was the Reichmark. Hence, it shall feature as the currency of the game too. Base Incomes Base income is the predefined income for all paths. This is the basic income the players get without worrying too much about it. This income has two sub-types -> Starting income and Yearly income. Starting Incomes The below list includes the starting incomes for the paths. This income is collected when you start the game, and when you are promoted to a higher rank. This is a one time income only, and hence cannot be collected regularly. Path of the Royals Holy Roman Emperor/King of the Romans: 75,000 Reichmarks, King: 50,000 Reichmarks, Electors: 45,000 Reichmarks, Prince: 40,000 Reichmarks, Prince-Archbishop: 30,000 Reichmarks, Duke: 25,000 Reichmarks, Margrave: 20,000 Reichmarks, Count: 15,000 Reichmarks, Prince-Bishop: 12,000 Reichmarks, Baron: 10,000 Reichmarks, Governor of Imperial City (city state): 10,000 Reichmarks Aristocrat/Nobleman: 5,000 Reichmarks. Path of the Royals Imperial Knights: 15,000 Reichmarks, Marshal (Armee) and Admiral (Marine): 20,000 Reichmarks, General (Armee): 10,000 Reichmarks, Captain (Armee) and Captain (Marine): 8,000 Reichmarks, Ritter (Non-commissioned Officer): 5,000 Reichmarks. Path of the Church Cardinal: 35,000 Reichmarks, Archbishop: 20,000 Reichmarks, Bishop: 15,000 Reichmarks, Priest: 8,000 Reichmarks, Theological Academic: 1,000 Reichmarks. Path of the Quill Court Councilor of the Empire (Law): 20,000 Reichmarks, Magistrate (Law): 10,000 Reichmarks, Imperial Diplomat (Politics): 10,000 Reichmarks, Man of Letters (Science): 10,000 Reichmarks, Doctor of Law: 5,000 Reichmarks, Doctor of Politics: 5,000 Reichmarks, Doctor of Science: 5,000 Reichmarks, Scholar of Law: 2,500 Reichmarks, Scholar of Politics: 2,500 Reichmarks, Scholar of Science: 2,500 Reichmarks, Academic: 2,000 Reichmarks. Path of the Gold Imperial Charter: 40,000 Reichmarks, Merchant Republic: 35,000 Reichmarks, Tradesman: 30,000 Reichmarks, Merchant: 20,000 Reichmarks, Local Merchant: 10,000 Reichmarks. Yearly Income The below list includes the yearly incomes for the paths. This income is collected every in-game year (every real week). Path of the Royals Holy Roman Emperor/King of the Romans: 7,500 Reichmarks, King: 5,000 Reichmarks, Electors: 4,500 Reichmarks, Prince: 4,000 Reichmarks, Prince-Archbishop: 3,000 Reichmarks, Duke: 2,500 Reichmarks, Margrave: 2,000 Reichmarks, Count: 1,500 Reichmarks, Prince-Bishop: 1,200 Reichmarks, Baron: 1,000 Reichmarks, Governor of Imperial City (city state): 1,000 Reichmarks Aristocrat/Nobleman: 500 Reichmarks. Path of the Royals Imperial Knights: 1,500 Reichmarks, Marshal (Armee) and Admiral (Marine): 2,000 Reichmarks, General (Armee): 1,000 Reichmarks, Captain (Armee) and Captain (Marine): 800 Reichmarks, Ritter (Non-commissioned Officer): 500 Reichmarks. Path of the Church Cardinal: 3,500 Reichmarks, Archbishop: 2,000 Reichmarks, Bishop: 1,500 Reichmarks, Priest: 800 Reichmarks, Theological Academic: 100 Reichmarks. Path of the Quill Court Councilor of the Empire (Law): 2,000 Reichmarks, Magistrate (Law): 1,000 Reichmarks, Imperial Diplomat (Politics): 1,000 Reichmarks, Man of Letters (Science): 1,000 Reichmarks, Doctor of Law: 500 Reichmarks, Doctor of Politics: 500 Reichmarks, Doctor of Science: 500 Reichmarks, Scholar of Law: 250 Reichmarks, Scholar of Politics: 250 Reichmarks, Scholar of Science: 250 Reichmarks, Academic: 200 Reichmarks. Path of the Gold Imperial Charter: 4,000 Reichmarks, Merchant Republic: 3,500 Reichmarks, Tradesman: 3,000 Reichmarks, Merchant: 2,000 Reichmarks, Local Merchant: 1,000 Reichmarks. Tax Incomes The tax income works like this. Every region has productivity tiers. The income is derived from a formula involving these tiers. Tax then can levied as you wish, in fractions (1/3, 1/6 etc.). Refer the map for the province tiers. Base value: The basic or average yield from the lands. Tier value: The additional yield of a land. The formula is given below. Production = Base value + (D20 * Tier value) Base value – 500 Tier I (Very high yield) – 2,000 Tier II (High yield) – 1,000 Tier III (Average yield) – 500 Trade Incomes Trade income includes the income from NPC sales made by a merchant. The NPC trade income varies for individual and for Guilds. Base value: The basic value which is decided by the in-game rank of the player. Profit of a Good: Selling price – Cost price. The formulas for NPC trading are given below. Individual Income from a good = (Intelligence/10) * (Base value * Profit of that good) Guild Income from a good = (1.25 * Number of members) * (Intelligence/10) * (Base value * Profit of that good) Base value for Local Merchant – 500 Base value for Merchant – 1,000 Base value for Tradesman – 1,500 Base value for Trading Enterprise – 2,000

[Hobbes.]

Looks very interesting!

[Barry Goldwater]

Seems interesting, I'd be down for this.

[Pericles of Athens]

I'd play if I have the time..

[Dave Strider]

I might be up for it. PM me when it starts

[Okmin]

Still in

[carricanta]

Unfortunely i have no time to play, m´lord. Sorry!

[ForteS]

I'm in.

[Major Darling]

Mhmm

[m_1512]

Updated.

[Watercress]

Looks lovely, sign me up

[Narf]

Support, though, I don't have time to play.

[DiddlyDark]

This effectively summarizes my response.

[Gandalf.]

Win.