LORDS OF KALENSZRAC|MIDDLE AGES|POLITIC AND COMBAT|ALTERNATE TIMELINE RP|MAGIC EXISTS|VERY MUCH A WO

[Divine Master]

Basically, I have next to no plot or anything planned. I would appreciate help.


You are a Lord of one of the fiefdoms of Kalenszrac, and command thousands of men, wield powerful magic and have enormous political influence.


Are you loyal to your King, and content to remain in your place, guarding the kingdom from threats? Or are you scheming, plotting and backstabbing to try and claim the ultimate prize-the throne?


Sheet: 


name


age


gender


crest (emblem)


weapons


magic powers


passive powers


Political influence 


backstory


motives


aims (eg. Are you scheming for the throne?)


i have no no limit on posts, or abilities, but don't go stupidly overboard. As a wise man once said:


"I'll know the line when I see it"


any help would be welcomed, and the rules on my other RP (War of the Eclipse) also apply here.


I will probably use a RNG for some stuff, modified but many complex zings I'm not saying, but includes passives, backstory, abilities etc.

 

[Divine Master]

I just want to add something. This is going to be complex. There will be no Roget or wrong, only shades of grey. Literally. 

 

[Mr Foxx]

What kinds of magic powers? Do only you have them, or do you have a wizard guild of some kind?


Are these passive magic powers just for you, or extended to your army?


Is there a basic story for the King?


What do you mean by political influence?

 

[Divine Master]

There's a few wizards guilds, and there are quite a lot of wizards/witches but you are some of the most powerful ones.


They could be either, but very powerful abilities can't be extended to your army. Use your judgement. I'll know the line when I see it.


Yes, but it will be revealed as the RP goes on. That's one of the main points. Get into the Kings inner circle, either to try and assassinate him and take his place, or to become a powerful and trusted advisor, or anything else you can think of. All you know is the Kings name, and his appearance.


Political influence=political pull. Basically, how much political strength you have.

 

[Fgkun]

Magic should definitely no be accessible to everyone. I take the the geography of the kingdom and history are somewhat of a blank slate decided by the people themselves, right? Also, this probably needs events and outside influences to keep it alive and offer opportunities.

 

[RatFlail]

What cultural style are you going for here? While it's important to tweak it for something new, a style can give your players ideas on how to fit into your kingdom. Examples: Western Middle Ages, Islamic Caliphate, Chinese Middle Kingdom, Evil Versions of the aforementioned.

 

[Fgkun]

Based on the term "fief" I am going to theorize it is western. And I don't think it can be said that anyone is strictly good or evil.

 

[RatFlail]

Based on the term "fief" I am going to theorize it is western. And I don't think it can be said that anyone is strictly good or evil.

In fiction, there is a good vibe and an evil vibe for most cultures. While there's always a spectrum, it's important to establish if you're basing it off evil or good.


For example, a Mordor-style kingdom will be different from a Gondor-style kingdom.


Evil can be fun to play, although I prefer banal evil to OMG evil. However, its nearly impossible for the concepts to coexist in the same kingdom without some intricate explanations.

 

[Fgkun]

Then again, a kingdom does not need to limit itself to evil or good. Any actual kingdom from real life can't be classified and is much deeper and more interesting than a kingdom that is only defined by its alignment. As for explanations: If you are the lord of your fief, you have power over it and only you can define your fiefdom how you like it. Look at the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Every nation is independent enough.

 

[Grey]

That's a matter of tone, though.  Tolkienian High Fantasy tends to divide whole cultures and nations between good, bad, and possibly neutral, with their leader having a strong impact but often, if removed, restoring the nation to its default 'alignment.'


Whereas in something more like GRRM's world, it's about as morally ambiguous and complex as real life, with the only true evil being supernatural.  And even then, I have some doubts.


See also; feudalism is inherently unjust and unethical but you do the best you can with what you have.


It sounds like OP wants more ASoIaF than LoTR, which is going to require a ton of work and would probably have few alignment-defined cultures.


I don't have any immediate advice, though - everything in the tutorials I posted for Divine Master in the other thread applies even harder here.

 

[RatFlail]

 Kingdoms are not limited to a strict binary system, but it's important to establish where on the spectrum your kingdom is. Even though most kingdoms are strong-arm states, without some cultural commonalities any such kingdom is on shaky ground at best. A common concept of good and evil is probably one of the most essential requirements for stability.


For a real world example, look at the Jewish Kingdom's constant rebellion against the Roman Empire, versus the relative stability of the rest of the Empire. The rest of the Empire was polytheistic, so they could adapt to the requirements of the Emperor as a divine ruler. Among the Hebrew monotheists, however, any acknowledgement of the Emperor as divine ran strictly counter to their faith, so the nation was never truly pacified. This difference in what was acceptable as good kept disputes going for thousands of years. Only recently have some been willing to entertain the concept of multiple ideas of good.


But as Grey stated, it depends on how much work you want to do with explanations. And knowing the basic idea on the kingdom's values makes it easier to make suggestions.