Playtest - Princes of the Earth

Jade Morning and Andrensath's do not have to be redundant.While you both have Craft as Caste ability, if you go for the General and Priest, and he goes for Builder and maybe Bureaucrat or Merchant, they will be very different.


Looks like I'd gonna be the Diplomat and Spy, unless someone else tags the Spy.
 
Gentlemen.


Team_Fortress_2_Spy___Graffiti_by_amygirlgermanpants.jpg



Just kidding.


I might be tempted by a wise Dawn cast general/sorceror. Good with tactics, strategies and all those other things in war people forget about (inteligence, logistics, morale...). Think of Zhuge Liang in Dynasty Warriors or Mitsunari Ishida in Samurai Warriors for his role.


While the Priest General could be the leader who gives orders and inspires the people, I could be the one coming with the cunning plans. (and they will be as cunning as a fox who has taught cunning at Oxford university.)


On another note, I heavily recommend everyone n the team reading this list:


http://www.herogames.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-22741.html
 
So, when is the game starting and what are the character creation house rules?


Also, am I in? :P


phpBB needs a better tongue-out smiley.
 
Patience my friend the game will start soon -> once I'm done with 2 important mods of the system: namely Mass Combat (30% finished) and Mandate of Heaven (10% finished)... should not take me more than 1 week.


I agree with SRC on the list of roles to fill in... but if you don't cover all the base functions, obviously other people will.


Take due note that until he has general of the all seeing sun, a solar will only be a strategist located as far and high as possible from the front line to get an overview of the battle and take decsions, while other exalts participating in battle (soldier) will have Heroic Actions which can alter the course of the battle, and if they are leading units (commander of infantry/cavalry etc etc) they will have access to Unit Heroic Actions, altering even more the outcome of the battle.


As for the players, each of you can take on 2 specialites easily and/or have a broader influence on 1 specialty (I'm thinking War with training charms and Lore with training charms... uber efficient when it comes to upgrading a society).


So for now we got:


SRC: changing moon - diplomat + spy (trade with other dominion will be made with Diplomacy/Manipulation/Charisma+Bureaucracy)


Andrensath: builder (take care of what you mean by that... the most efficient builders are usually sorcerers who can summon demons and elementals to work faster and harder than men) + x


Khantalas: General / Priest.


Midboss: General / Sorceror.


A few observations based on my ST's insight on the dynamics of the game.


1- the more sorcerer you have, the better, xp and training times will have special timing here and we will have long breaks between episodes to represent the seasons and development of the dominion.


2- 2 generals can be on the same tactical staff, but you will loose efficiency in the terrain. I'm afraid that once the game is taken to a certain level, Khantalas DB will be surpassed by Midboss solar, and I don't want any tension to come from this. Unless both of you come to an understanding (there are significant advantages in having a solar as a general and as a unit leader), I would rather have Midboss as the general (mainly because with GotASS he will be able to be general + commander + Hero while Khantalas won't).
 
I could also go with a Midnight, of course.


With War charms.


Omnipresent Overlord Technique included.


I just need a way to vent the insane amounts of Resonance I'll gather.
 
Hmmm renegade deathknight, but easily venting Resonnance through battles... that sounds fun. :lol:


You two decide who's going to be general and who's going to be commander/hero but be sure you have no problems with the subordination it will create.
 
Well, if I am the general, I need vast amounts of creatures of darkness. I'm sure there is a training Charm somewhere that allows me to turn ordinary mortals into creatures of darkness.


There is! Soul-Numbing Prowess!


Of course, it's a very inhuman way of creating an army that I can command with Omnipresent Overlord Technique, but I'm an Abyssal. Renegade or not, destruction and death are my forte.
 
Yeah, we might want first get get fixed on so called party alignment before deciding to pick this ability. Some might have issues with that sort of technique and not entirely be happy with its use.
 
Hmmm I'm not sure that "turniing your soldiers into creatures of darkness" is a good thing considering the presence of a solar and this "benevolent ruler" thing.


But of course you could (de)form a small unit to become CoD... this combination of charms is insane oO


I'd have to rewrite its solar counterpart -> IBKP.
 
The alternative: the highly inefficient Followers background to get war ghosts. 5 dots in Followers gets me a meager 1000 war ghosts to toss around. Plus I need Resources 5 (which I intend to have anyway, but the point stands).


Also, morality is for the weak! We're Exalted, for crying out loud! The mortals are supposed to be our playthings!


...silly high Compassion Exalts.


Besides, have you seen my priestly abilities? One of them allows me to burst the blood vessels of people who do not agree with me.
 
Lets look at it from a strictly pragmatic point of view.


While having such an army would give us short term advantage in battle it has many detrimental effects:


- First good luck runnig a recruiting campaign with this sort of life in the army. Sure, one could run conscription but conscripted troops tend to be less competant and motivated than professional soldiers.


- Secondly, we are painting ourselves as an army of evil if we use that. Our ennemies will have little trouble making us look like the bad guys and this will make friendly diplomatic relation rather problematic. Especially with the whole anathema thing.


- Thirdly, holy shit are we going to have to keep an eye on the army. My experience is that the second this sort of charm goes fut, we are going to have many defections and revolts. And The Unconquered Sun help us if the charm goes wrong in the middle of battle.


- Fourthly, our civilians are not going to be happy with their husbands/sons.... being used this way. Forget the ennemy, it's our people we're gonna have to keep under surveillance.
 
Midboss said:
- First good luck runnig a recruiting campaign with this sort of life in the army. Sure, one could run conscription but conscripted troops tend to be less competant and motivated than professional soldiers.
- Secondly, we are painting ourselves as an army of evil if we use that. Our ennemies will have little trouble making us look like the bad guys and this will make friendly diplomatic relation rather problematic. Especially with the whole anathema thing.


- Thirdly, holy shit are we going to have to keep an eye on the army. My experience is that the second this sort of charm goes fut, we are going to have many defections and revolts. And The Unconquered Sun help us if the charm goes wrong in the middle of battle.


- Fourthly, our civilians are not going to be happy with their husbands/sons.... being used this way. Forget the ennemy, it's our people we're gonna have to keep under surveillance.
Click to expand...
- First, there are always those greatly loyal to the king and country (especially when the king happens to have Charisma and Presence 5), so there will be volunteers for that anyway. It's gonna be hard getting an entire dragon of them, but they can be supported with war ghosts and zombies.


- Second, the Scarlet Empress did it for years and even without the use of the Sword of Creation she had little problem having the greatest empire in Creation. We just need to keep it a secret until we're strong enough to not care (and have converted enough Terrestrials to our cause).


- Third, that's why we keep a spare experienced war ghost to lead the unit just in case.


- Fourth, we castrate them. And pick them from orphans. The way the game is focused on mass combat, we'll have a lot of orphans.


It's not hard for a Celestial Exalt to create unswerving loyalty with the right Charms. That's why I'm a priest-king first and a general second.


Besides, Omnipresent Overlord Technique requires Essence 5. It'll be a good amount of time before requiring creatures of darkness ever becomes an issue.


EDIT: However, if everyone is against the idea, I'll keep away from OOT. It'll remove some of the fun from the game, but I can still live with it.


As long as I have Killing Words Technique.
 
I'm with Midboss. My preferred option would to get Command, Arsenal, Retainers, Resources all at 5, probably spread through the circle so no one character is too gimped by buying up 20 dots of Backgrounds.
 
Khantalas, a renegade abyssal would be more suited as a Spy/Saboteaur type.


If you want to keep your Dragon-Blood, you could be the General at the start, but as we gain XP, you could focus more on the Priest role, and become a unit leader in battles.


It wouldn't be bad to have two Generals, if they can work together.


It should be noted that now that I consider this, it might be best if I focus as Diplomat + Merchant, otherwise I'll have to spread my abilities too far. It might also give me a chance to bring some benefit in combat by moving some dots around.


Andrensath, if you could be the Builder/Sorcerer, which is natural for a Twilight, that would be great.


That leaves the Spy, Lord, and Bureaucrat open. I'd need Bureaucracy anyway, but Solars are better at it than Lunars.
 
I totally agree with midboss, but in favor of Khantalas concept (and I am not saying it should be this one he chooses for this game), a single unit trained in this fashion can lead to really advantageous circumstances in a battle phase: ie, if the general takes command of such a unit within the battlefield, he can be both general, and unit commander for the purpose of Unit Heroic Actions without risking his physical integrity.


All the benefits from being in the first line without any physical drawbacks. That's just awesome. But heh... essence 5.


A special unit of bloodthirsty soldiers (cavalry or light infantry) with the General's stat can really alter the course of battle.


But as you've stated it's not like you're going to have essence 5 anytime soon :lol:


Though the MC mod I am building clearly improves the interest of having essence 4 at chargen for Generals.


All in all: group's decision and ST's validation :)


I'd like an answer on all 5 of you for the governance of the dominion:


Will your circle be serving a Lord (owner of the MoH for this dominion) or will it be the Lord (in which case you might determine the type of regime and titles etc).


I'm creating the forum later on this day. :)


About the Backgrounds of the Army and your personal backgrounds, do not worry, they will be partly given to you by the dominion... I'm not letting the general of an army of Magnitude 6 without at least some retainers...


Though if you want personal backgrounds for personal reasons (private militia answering to no one but you), then you'll have to buy the backgrounds on your own.
 
I'd say unless we get a fifth player who thinks he can take on both Spy and Lord, or some people decide to change their concepts, we'll probably have to have an NPC as the Lord.
 
I was simply pointing out that using that sort of technique in war was going to create more problems than it solves. If PR and population/army morale isn't a problem (such as we're already reconised as Evil inc) it is quite useful. In the case of the (relativly speaking) good guys, it won't work well.


One lesson learnt in history is that it never pays to mistreat the army. More than one king/dictator/warlord... learned this lesson the hard way. The Evil Overlord's list seems to also advise against this.


Also:


Although administrative roles have been more or less fixed, we still have the interesting dilema of who gets to be the boss as it has been pointed out (or at the very least figurehead). I'd personaly rather have one of us be the lord/king/boss.


Although I wouldn't refuse, my character concept isn't really suited for that part. He's more of a advisor/planner type, not a charismatic leader sort.


Edit: there is still time for someone else to join. So we should wait a little to see maybe ?
 
I haven't given that much thought to the specifics yet.


I know I'll have Occult and Lore for obvious reasons (the whole sorceror part). I may take dodge because I favor that sort of defense in combat. Integrity because nothing drives me more nuts in a game than losing control of my character. Haven't got a precise idea for the last one yet.


Any other roles I need to fulfil/assist with ?
 
While I see your concern regarding a whole army of CoD, a small mobile unit of mortals turned into CoD is nothing to be ashamed of... unless it is detected.


Armies always have their lot of psycho killers and death squads... as long as the population is not aware of its existence it's okay. The key thing is not to turn a whole army into those guys, 'cause if you do, then you're going to have a real problem with the army AND the population.


Note on the bossman complex:


I pointed out that the Lord might not be a single person but also a group of individuals (who runs Nexus ? -> the Council of Entities, therefore the whole Council is the Lord). So wether you decide to have a strong and wise leader for some time (a npc king) or share "custody" of the Lordship with him, or are completely on your own (with one of you guys being the Lord or the circle acting as a Lord) is totally up to you...


I have a master of constitutional law (French guy from Pantheon-Sorbonne) so my thirst for knowledge and personal interest on such things as state, administrations, law, government etc etc is pretty extensive... but as I'm no jerk, I'm singularily open minded when it comes to rpgs :lol:
 
On the regime, we could even think of making the dominion a "constitutional monarchy" (executive power elected by the people) or a true democracy (council of representatives), giving you opportunities for elaborate political plots (beware of outside influence and corruption though).
 
Also yeah... creating the forum doesn't mean closing the inscription, it just means...


02emperor350.jpg



Everything is happenning as I have foreseen ! :twisted:
 
Damn, damn, and double damn.


I expressed my interest in the Twilight slot right before the server crash, and completely forgot it must've been lost.


Ah, well, c'est la vie.


I shall watch this game with interest.
 
I thought I was the king. You know, as a Midnight, it is my right of Exaltation to be the priest-king of all before me.


Why am I not the king? Is it because I'm an Abyssal?
 
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