German Confederation RPG/AAR
Alright, here it is, the introduction to my the German Confederation AAR. The first post of the game should happen fairly soon, but I wanted to make a post to just kinda of flesh out the ideas of game and give people a little time to get a character/family up and running before the big festivities
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The Confederation of Northern German States or the German Confederation, as it is usually called, began as a loose knit collection of states in Northern Germany. Among the most important of the early Confederation where Brandenburg, Pommerania and Saxony.
The history of the Confederation can be traced back to 1448 when the first Northern Alliance was formed to check the growing power of the Habsburgs of Austria, as well as incursions into the Holy Roman Empire by forces as diverse as Poland, the Danes or even the French.
Throughout the years the Alliance grew stronger, and drew closer together due to a series of well placed political marriages. By the 1480's the coalition of states had become a mainstay in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, and Europe.
However, it was during the period of 1480-1490 that the Alliance began to consolidate into a distinct political entity. The ascention of Fredrick the Wise to the thrones of the three main states caused shockwaves throughout the entire Empire. Fearing the consolidation of power in the North, the Emperor and his allies made war against these lands.
The war would last for three years, and end in only a moderate victory for Fredrick over the Emperor, who was forced to recognize the former's claims and accept him as an elector, in exchange the Alliance gave Austria a small tribute as compensation.
No sooner had the war with Austria concluded than the Prince was forced to turn to internal difficulties as a rebellion lead by several leading noble families who also feared a consolidation. Rather than ravaging the coutnry side, once again, the Prince turned to diplomacy making several concessions to these forces; including the formation of a Diet to oversee the power of the Prince as well as make the princedom an elected position, much in the way of the Imperial title.
By 1492 the Confederation had begun to consolidate into the form it would take in later years. Decentralized with an emphisis towards the nobility of the realm, it still would prove a growing power inside the Empire and Europe.
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GOVERNMENT:
Prince: The Prince is elected by the members of the Diet. He is the most powerful member of the Confederation's government, but is not all powerful. The Diet can over turn his rulings with a 2/3rds majority, and must also concent to any and all taxes brought upon the land.
Diet: The Diet is a motly crowd composed of Nobles, Merchants, Bishops and anyone else of importance to German society. It is modeled, loosly, off of the English Parliment as well as the Imperial Reichstag. They are given the power to elect the King, veto any laws passed with a 2/3rds majority, and must accept any tax proposals. The Diet may pass proposals for laws, but such laws do nto become law without the concent of the Prince.
Capital: Fredrick chose the old Saxon capital to be his place of residence due to the long history of the city, as well as his own personal love for the region. His Saxonphilia is one of the reasons put forth for the initial rebellion of the nobels early in his reign, as they feared a loss of power for Brandenburg and Pommerania.
Make Up: As stated above, the Prince rules the Confederation with limited power from his capital in Saxony. The Diet, which meets there as well, was a compromise formed from Nobility which feared the Confederation turning into "Greater Saxony", a loss of rights and privliges, as well as greed.
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RP: Ok, there you have it, a rough history of the German Confederation. Now, you ask, how do you play? Its easy! Simple make a character; most will chose to be a part of the Diet, but you might wish to create a character who is a beurocrat, a diplomat and so forth. The only restriction is that it can't be a position already taken or give you to much athority over others without others concent(an exaple would be, from the Italy AAR, if you want to be Pope you'd ahve to either be elected or gain the permission of the players) other than that, feel free to create create create.
By the way, the Diet is a very informal body unlike a Certian Italian Senate, and certian cities may gain more representation in it than others so, don't be to concerned over choosing where your character is from. The point here is to have fun.
The Prince: The Prince is elected for a life time term by the members of the Diet. The first two or three Princes I will control dirrectly until we have things set up a bit better. However, after that, it will be an elected position that will go along with Role Play as well as the roll of the dice.
Anyone who is elected to the position of Prince will have some control over the way the game is played by telling me how to manage policies and such things.
Since the term is life long, I'm not going to set a limit on how long your character can live, but remember that at this time period long life spans where uncommon, even for nobles, and so a 20 year reign should be _VERY_ uncommon.
------------------
Ok, well there you have it. Feel free to begin to set up some characters and stuff. The first update should come tomorrow, and will just show the first few years of Fredrick's reign from 1492 onwards. Lets all have some fun with this.
Alright, here it is, the introduction to my the German Confederation AAR. The first post of the game should happen fairly soon, but I wanted to make a post to just kinda of flesh out the ideas of game and give people a little time to get a character/family up and running before the big festivities
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Confederation of Northern German States or the German Confederation, as it is usually called, began as a loose knit collection of states in Northern Germany. Among the most important of the early Confederation where Brandenburg, Pommerania and Saxony.
The history of the Confederation can be traced back to 1448 when the first Northern Alliance was formed to check the growing power of the Habsburgs of Austria, as well as incursions into the Holy Roman Empire by forces as diverse as Poland, the Danes or even the French.
Throughout the years the Alliance grew stronger, and drew closer together due to a series of well placed political marriages. By the 1480's the coalition of states had become a mainstay in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, and Europe.
However, it was during the period of 1480-1490 that the Alliance began to consolidate into a distinct political entity. The ascention of Fredrick the Wise to the thrones of the three main states caused shockwaves throughout the entire Empire. Fearing the consolidation of power in the North, the Emperor and his allies made war against these lands.
The war would last for three years, and end in only a moderate victory for Fredrick over the Emperor, who was forced to recognize the former's claims and accept him as an elector, in exchange the Alliance gave Austria a small tribute as compensation.
No sooner had the war with Austria concluded than the Prince was forced to turn to internal difficulties as a rebellion lead by several leading noble families who also feared a consolidation. Rather than ravaging the coutnry side, once again, the Prince turned to diplomacy making several concessions to these forces; including the formation of a Diet to oversee the power of the Prince as well as make the princedom an elected position, much in the way of the Imperial title.
By 1492 the Confederation had begun to consolidate into the form it would take in later years. Decentralized with an emphisis towards the nobility of the realm, it still would prove a growing power inside the Empire and Europe.
---------------------------------
GOVERNMENT:
Prince: The Prince is elected by the members of the Diet. He is the most powerful member of the Confederation's government, but is not all powerful. The Diet can over turn his rulings with a 2/3rds majority, and must also concent to any and all taxes brought upon the land.
Diet: The Diet is a motly crowd composed of Nobles, Merchants, Bishops and anyone else of importance to German society. It is modeled, loosly, off of the English Parliment as well as the Imperial Reichstag. They are given the power to elect the King, veto any laws passed with a 2/3rds majority, and must accept any tax proposals. The Diet may pass proposals for laws, but such laws do nto become law without the concent of the Prince.
Capital: Fredrick chose the old Saxon capital to be his place of residence due to the long history of the city, as well as his own personal love for the region. His Saxonphilia is one of the reasons put forth for the initial rebellion of the nobels early in his reign, as they feared a loss of power for Brandenburg and Pommerania.
Make Up: As stated above, the Prince rules the Confederation with limited power from his capital in Saxony. The Diet, which meets there as well, was a compromise formed from Nobility which feared the Confederation turning into "Greater Saxony", a loss of rights and privliges, as well as greed.
----------------------------
RP: Ok, there you have it, a rough history of the German Confederation. Now, you ask, how do you play? Its easy! Simple make a character; most will chose to be a part of the Diet, but you might wish to create a character who is a beurocrat, a diplomat and so forth. The only restriction is that it can't be a position already taken or give you to much athority over others without others concent(an exaple would be, from the Italy AAR, if you want to be Pope you'd ahve to either be elected or gain the permission of the players) other than that, feel free to create create create.
By the way, the Diet is a very informal body unlike a Certian Italian Senate, and certian cities may gain more representation in it than others so, don't be to concerned over choosing where your character is from. The point here is to have fun.
The Prince: The Prince is elected for a life time term by the members of the Diet. The first two or three Princes I will control dirrectly until we have things set up a bit better. However, after that, it will be an elected position that will go along with Role Play as well as the roll of the dice.
Anyone who is elected to the position of Prince will have some control over the way the game is played by telling me how to manage policies and such things.
Since the term is life long, I'm not going to set a limit on how long your character can live, but remember that at this time period long life spans where uncommon, even for nobles, and so a 20 year reign should be _VERY_ uncommon.
------------------
Ok, well there you have it. Feel free to begin to set up some characters and stuff. The first update should come tomorrow, and will just show the first few years of Fredrick's reign from 1492 onwards. Lets all have some fun with this.