In the west of the vast continent of Eä lies Wolfsbach, a staunch kingdom ruled by the venerable King Joaquín of the ancient House Soria. To her east another kingdom lies, Ornathor, somewhat equal in splendor and might, ruled by King Calvin Rockhopper. But the crown does not sit easily upon any head- fulfilling the desires of one's vassals is difficult, and keeping the peasants in line is even more vexatious. In the end, each king sits alone, solitary on his throne as the wolves howl about his keep.
Wolfsbach Vassals:
Wilhelm Jakob Grimm, Lord of Gruen
Tristan de Nomikos, Lord of Chordessa
Ronald Molier, "Lord" of Zadoxia
John Bython, Lord of Bython
Mary Sinclair Cardon, Lady of Vallorn
Maediss Dvipalone "the Just", Lord of the Ironmoors
Sofija Volentskij, Lady of Paraphine
Hrodebert Burgholme "the Lame", Lord of the Marches
Ornathor Vassals:
Borndos II Parcival, Lord of Saint Panderstead
Reginald Quincy Tyrannus, Lord of the Crossing
Michelle Glasnost, Lady of Glasnost
Leif Hrimthusar, Lord of Roken
Elizabeth von Hart, Lady of the Estate
Kallias Durante, Lord of Goldrun
Rokrick Myre, Lord of the Widow's Tower
Andrus Portyr, Lord of Mournweald
Summary:
The Solitary Throne is a mix of turn-based strategy and roleplay. The rules are fairly simple and there is very little math involved.
The closest thing I can think of to the Solitary Throne is crusader knights. The rules of the game changes a little over time and comes in several variants, one where there is only 1 kingdom, one when there are 2 or more kingdoms and one where there is 1 or more kingdoms and some small external factions. In each kingdom, there are 2 roles to be had. You are either a king or one of his lieges. Now both the king and the lieges can have Holdings and Armies but there is a limit to how much they can have in total. Holdings generate income and give special abilities while Armies win (or lose) battles but cost money to maintain. There are only few kind of Holdings and armies to keep things simple. Now, here is what the game is really about: Who gets to be the king.
The king can write laws and depending on his laws, he should be able to away holdings and armies from lieges as well as he could set taxes on his lieges to fund the royal coffers. Of course, the lieges could refuse the king's demands and could even rebel against their king. Rebellions would call for battles. In battles, all the lieges in the kingdom would have to pick sides (although they could also remain neutral), but once they did pick a side on a turn, they cannot change sides until next turn. Now, this is important because wars have length. The more castles there are on each side, the longer wars can get while siege engines can shorten wars. Once everyone announced who they are with and the war "expires", a battle takes place where the combined armies clash to see who wins. The winning side can then enforce demands on the losers, including taking away their holdings and can even throw in jail, exile or execute their opponents, or even elect a new king if need be. Lieges could also wage war on other lieges with similar rules if the king doesn't get involved. The winners side must always have consent on how they divide the loot and what they do with the losers. If they can't agree, then they must fight against each other to see who wins or forfeit enforcing any of their demands.
The Goal of the game is to become as powerful and influential as possible... and to survive. Over time, new challenges may face the kingdom(s) we speak of, such as foreign invasions, plagues and religious unrest. Technological and cultural development will be simulated in the game and new options for buildings will open up over time...
Time
...is divided into turns. Expect updates about every day, which by default stands for a year, though under select circumstances time may dilate as needed, such as during major political developments and wartime.
The world
...is divided into provinces. Each province counts as a single holding. Provinces come in several types and can be upgraded and modified in ways I shall soon explain. Buildings in a province do not counts as individual holdings. Armies can always get to the battlefields and it doesn't matter which holding is where. This applies during trade as well. Any liege can buy and sell stuff with any other liege (or the king). This may change in the future if there is demand for more strategic gameplay. The roleplay takes place in a fictional world akin to medieval europe. If you really want to bring in fantasy elements, a little is fine but it should have no effect on how the game is played.
Starting Stuff:
By default, all lieges have:
- A rural estate (a holding (or a province, you get to name it).
- A Man-at-Arms battalion (an army).
- 500 Nobles (currency)
While the king has:
- A Castle holding with a Royal Palace building
- 2 rural estates
- A Pikeman Battalion.
- A Cavalry Battalion.
- 5 plots of flatland (on which rural estates can be built), 2 Iron hills (on which Iron mines can be built), 3 Forested hills (generate a little income from forestry, but is mostly useless (for the time being).
- 2000 Nobles
Hand limits:
The lieges (and kings) by default can have up to 5 active holdings at the same time. Holdings can be active or passive. Passive holdings don't count towards the hand limit but don't generate income or expenses. You still own them regardless and you can switch holdings on and off every turn.
Armies however always count as active and the only way to get rid of them is to disband them, sell them to another liege or to lose them in battle.
Some buildings and development of culture and technology can increase hand limits.
Buildings at holdings do not contribute towards hand limit, you can still raze 1 of your own buildings every turn if you see the need for it.
Money and Resources:
Nobles are the currency of the game while Iron and horses are 2 other things of importance to be had. Resources are always gained at the start of turns and can be spent in the same turn you got them. There are more resources such as luxuries, stone for construction, and so on, but they are essentially "secondary" resources, and generally not nearly as valuable as the stuff of warfare or hard currency.
Army Training/disbanding:
All battalions have a training and an upkeep cost, along with a building prerequisite and training time. You have to pay all the training costs when creating the unit. Units enter the game after turns equal to the training time has passed since the turn the costs were payed (If a unit has a training time of 3 turns and it was purchased in turn 1, it will enter the game on turn 4). Units have to receive their upkeep costs every turn or else they will be forced to disband. When you disband a unit, you get back 50% of the gold costs of training and 100% of the horse and Iron invested. Each battalion represents, on average, about a thousand men.
War length and battles.
The Default length of a war is 0 turns. This means that the battle will take place at the end of the turn the war was declared in. If castle owners take part in a war, they can choose to make it last more turns. If War length is 1 turn, then the battle will take place at the end of the turn after the turn war was declared in, hence allowing time for everyone to prepare. Siege engines can reduce war length, but war length cannot be lower then 0.
Battles are simple. Upon the beginning of a battle, I will set the stage for the engagement, and then both sides may deploy their forces. All players may state their orders, which will be resolved in order of precedence based on their Lord's Intellect. Casualties will be stated, and thus a winner declared depending on the course of the war. Battles may come to draws, if neither side gains a distinct advantage over the other.
There are several modifiers in battle. If a military commander with the appropriate trait leads one side or another's army, they may choose to fight at a different sight of battle, or allow two lieges to redeploy their forces after battle lines have been drawn. Additionally, if the side on which the war was declared on (AKA, the defender) has a castle, then the battle may be conducted at the castle if the defenders choose not to sally forth. Such defensive fortifications can have a large impact on the conduct of a battle.
Holding, building and army types
LAW & Demands
Law and demands are an important part of the Roleplay. Any kind of law can be written by anyone and demands can also be issued by anyone, but no one is obliged by the rules to follow them. You are free to refuse demands and break laws and the only way to enforce laws and demands is by defeating your opponents in battle.
Sharing facilities
Lieges can allow other lieges to use their training facilities, though obviously both lieges cannot utilize said facilities simultaneously.
Culture
The more culture generating things are in kingdom, the further culture progresses there. There are 8 tiers of culture, the results for unlocking a new tier will not be always known in advance. Tiers are reached at a level of Culture that is hidden.
Tier 1: Civil law, +1 Hand limit for everyone in the kingdom. Dirt Roads may be constructed.
Tier 2: Nobility, +1 Legitimacy for all Lieges and +2 for the King
Tier 3: Knighthood, Unlocks a new heavy unit and allows Lieges to throw Feasts.
Tier 4: Code of Chivalry: Increases the Fervor of all Lords by one. Allows the recruitment of Priest agents.
Tier 5: ???
Tier 6: ???
Tier 7: ???
Tier 8: ???
Science
The more science generating things are in a kingdom, the further science progresses there. Science can spread to other kingdoms as well. There are 8 tiers of science, the results for unlocking a new tier will not be always known in advance.
Tier 1: Latin. +1 Latin Text at Royal Palace. Allows construction in Forested Hills (2 Build Slots).
Tier 2: Crop Rotation. +100 Nobles income from all rural estates.
Tier 3: Standardized Texts: Allows Lieges to conduct a Census; enables the collection of living taxes, and the construction of a Village Well.
Tier 4: Simple Machines: Allows the draining of Swamplands, and the construction of Alpine Holds. +100 Nobles per year from Workshops.
Tier 5: ???
Tier 6: ???
Tier 7: ???
Tier 8: ???
Faith.
Faith is different. The mechanics of faith are not revealed, but its usually better to have more faith then less.
Traits
Every liege and king can have a trait from the following list:
- Military planner: If elected as commander for one of the sides in a battle, that side may use Military Commander bonuses.
- Architect: All buildings cost 10% less Nobles in this liege's provinces.
- Scholar: Generates 1 Science for the Kingdom. +1 Intellect
- Artist: Generates 1 Culture for the Kingdom. +1 Authority
- Priest: Generates 1 Faith for the Kingdom. +1 Fervor
- Explorer: May set out the seek out new land. Expeditions cost 2000 Nobles each and takes 3 turns.
Lieges and Skills and Time
As the years pass, Lieges may grow in skill or valor, but they also grow older. Eventually, time lays low all men- be ready for that day, and ensure you have an heir ready to take your place.
Four main measures effect Lieges and Kings:
Legitimacy: A mark of a man or woman's right to rule as viewed by those around them. For every one Legitimacy, a Liege gains +1 Hand Size; if the Legitimacy of a Liege rises higher than his or her King's Legitimacy, strife may break out in the Kingdom.
Authority: How much impetus the words of a Liege hold on the world around them, and thus their ability to command men. For every one Authority, a Liege may command an additional military unit. Authority also effects their chances of attracting a Knight-Errant to their lands, and the favor of the Liege with the nobility.
Intellect: A man without a cunning mind is simply a fool for others to take advantage of. For every one Intellect, a Liege gains 50 Nobles in base income. Intellect also effects the likelihood of a Liege gaining a beneficial trait, the order of deployment in battle, and the favor of the Liege with merchants and educated men.
Fervor: Passion burns in the hearts of all folk, the favor of the Almighty and the unshakable moral certitude of a man doing right. For every one Fervor, a Liege gains a 10% chance to foil enemy plots against his person. Fervor also effects the Liege's personal combat skill, as well as the favor of the Liege with the clergy and the peasantry.
The Legitimacy, Authority, Intellect, and Fervor of each Liege will be announced upon their acceptance.
Issue: Over time, a happy couple may bear offspring! I will announce any such births, as well as their known abilities. For every son over the age of 16, a Liege may administrate an additional Holding. Family members also contribute to the family in various ways- sons over 16 may duel and joust, daughters are useful for marriage alliances, and for every combined 5 Authority, Intellect, or Fervor of your extended family, your Liege operates with an effective +1 to the relevant statistic. Family members may also gain traits over time, and sons or daughters not of age can slowly increase their own stats through school, being squires/ladies-in-waiting, and so forth.
END OF RULES
Liege Application
- Code: Select all
Liege name:
Liege's appearance: - preferably image -
Liege's house (ex: house connington):
Liege's starting province (your starting rural estate, give it a name and describe what it's like):
Liege's character (what he is like):
Liege's short bio: - optional -
Liege's trait:
Is your Liege married?
Would you like to be a King?
Anything else:
All hail Harkback Union for his clever RP ideas. Most of this OP is blatantly stolen from his A Game of Crowns. I blame him for all grammatical and textual mistakes and oddities.
