The Throne of the Autokrator
Welcome all to my first attempt to create a forum game, as the title should tell you this game will be set in everyones favorite mideval empire. I took the idea from RedNomNoms "Saint Peter's throne" (and who's format I have also taken ). I will be the game moderator and you the players will be members of the Byzantine nobility or bureaucracy. You, the player, shall navigate your character through the shady world of Imperial Byzantine politics.
The game begins on January 1st 1068 with the coronation of Romanos IV as Basileus. This a time of great turmoil for the Empire as the Seljuk Turks invade from the east and the nobles and officials plot against each other for the Imperial throne. Will you take the ancient throne of Ceasar and Augustus and bring the Roman Empire back to its former glory?
Rules of the Throne of the Autokrator
How to Join
Anyone can join at anytime.
All people who join must be either a noble or a court official/eunuch. For the first Basileus, Romanos IV, who ever signs up first get the choice of being the emperor. Also there is Michael VII, the junior emperor to Romanos, he will also be playable but on a first come first serve basis like Romanos. After the emperors are assigned other characters will be created, historical and non-historical players may be used.
To join use the following format.
Name:
Birth Year:
Dynasty:
Field: (Must be noblity or bureaucrat)
Biography: (Short background story for your character)
Once you create your character you automatically get a small landed estate, this will serve as your starting income. You can buy more estates and gain a salary for postions in the court. All postions are appointed by the emperor. Postions include the commander of a Theme (Imperial administrative district) or a postion at court.
If a player's character dies, the player is welcome to create a new one. Players are strongly encouraged to create a family for their character, so that when their character dies, a family member can succeed them. Players who do this will get some on the income, wealth, and influence carried over from their last character as 'inheritance.' Every character has a 5% chance of dying at 55, and increases 1% every year they are older than 55.
How the game works
The Byzantine government is famous for it's complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy but for the sake of simplicty and to keep the game running smoothly I will try to make the system less complex. For the Themes I will be using duchies of Crusader Kings 2 to represent the Themes of the Empire. The Themes are the provinces of the Empire and where the troops are raised from when the Empire is at war. As the commander of Theme you are free to do as you wish inside the Theme, this includes corruption and provincal improvements.
The Emperor
Obviously the most important person in the game, the Emperor/Basileus is the in theory absolute ruler of the empire, in practice the empeor must be careful not to push the nobilty towards revolt or plot to despose the emperor in a coup. The emperor has many duties such as appointing the commanders of the Themes, appointing officals to postions of power, and in general leading the empire either on the battlefield or in Constatinople. The postion of junior/co-emperor is of less importance and he has much less power then his senior counterpart, but he is also recogonized as the heir to the empire should the Emperor die, this makes his postion very important for the emperor and the other characters.
Imperial Powers
The Emperor's powers include the ability to appoint and dismiss officals and Theme commanders for any reason. However to sieze wealth, estates, or to imprison characters the Emperor must have a legitimate reason, such as treason or other crimes. The Emperor also has the power to excommunicate any character from the Orthodox Church but to do so he must inform the Patriarch. The Patriarch is an NPC, so the Emperor must PM me giving the name of the character and the reason for excoummunication. If a character is excommunicated he may appeal to the Patriarch to let him back into the church. If a character is excommunicated his influence stat will drop very low and will remain that way until he is readmitted to the church. The emperor also has the power to grant honorific court titles to anyone he wishes, these titles increase a player's influence stat. The Emperor may also, if the postion is vacant, appoint his co-emperor who is the heir to the Imperial throne, normally the Emperor wants to reserve this title for his successor but in some cases the other players can force the Emperor to appoint someone else to the postion.
The Imperial Court
The court is the heart and soul of the Empire, this is where the Emperor resides along with his family and the most important officals in the empire. It is from here the Emperor may issue edicts and laws. Now the main postions of power that characters can hold are as follows, also the Emperor is free to appoint and dismiss at anytime for any reason.
Protasekretis- This postion is mainly secretarial, his duties are to make sure the orders of the Emperor and other officials are carried out, he also process requests to the Emperor and who can gain an audience with the Emperor.
Megas Domestikos- The commander in chief of the Imperial Army, below the Emperor, his duties include preparing the army for war, and raising troops from the Themes, during times of war he is free to raise troops from any Theme he sees fit, he can also contract mercenaries for the Imperial army but he must make sure there is money in the Imperial treasury to pay for the troops. The Megas Domestikos may also use money from the treasury to expand the number of troops in the Themes but to do he must first gain premission from the Emperor and the commander of the Theme.
Megas Droungarios- The commander in chief of the Imperial Navy, his jobs are similar to that of the Megas Domestikos, but in respect to the Imperial Navy.
Sakellarios- One of the most important postions in the Empire, he is in charge of the Imperial treasury and the Imperial tax system. If the Imperial treasury is low on funds he may request a loan from moneylenders to do this however requires the premission of the Emperor.
Praetorian prefect- The minister in charge of justice and the courts, his duties are to ensure the Imperial courts are running smoothly and to prosocute those who have commited crimes against the Emperor and the Imperial government
Stats
The Throne of the Autokrator has three stats: Income, Wealth, and Influence. Wealth is measured in Nomisma, and represents a character's material's worth. Income is measured in Nomisma per year, and represents the income from estates or income a character gains from salaries from the postions the character holds. Influence is measured in clout, and is representative of the sway, friends, and favors a character accumulates over time.
So what do you do with your money? Well you can use it to to buy more estates, bribe officals to further your own agenda, make imporvements to the Theme you are commanding, and virtually anything in between.
Estates
Estates are farms owned by players and they are the basis of income for players. Estates are divided into three sizes, small, medium, and large, the larger the estate the more income it produces. Estates can be upgraded into larger sizes to produce more income.
Small Estate: Produces 3000 Nomisma per year of income, costs 5000 Nomisma to purchase, costs 6500 Nomisma to upgrade to medium estate.
Medium Estate: Produces 5000 Nomisma per year of income, costs to 10,000 Nomisma to purchase, costs 15,000 Nomisma to upgrade to a large estate.
Large Estage: Produces 10,000 Nomisma per year of income, costs 30,000 Nomisma to purchase.
Orders
Orders cost wealth to carry out, and plots use influence to increase their chance of success. If you are low on wealth, you can spend Influence on orders, but not vice-versa. If you plan to do this, note it in your orders.
Every character gets one personal order per turn. This can be anything, though you may want to make it useful. For instance, if you are short on wealth, getting favor from a noble or an offical would be smart so you are granted more land. If you are looking to carry out a plot, meeting with other noble families and currying their favor would be a good idea. This should be limited to a single action, and should take up no more than four lines in the message box.
In addition to their personal order, all players get an an administrative order. This is used to carry out their duties for the Empire, such as being a diplomat, or drilling troops, etc. The (Senior) Emperor and has one of these, and he is to use it for administering the Byzantine Empire (i.e. if he wants to improve the army, build specific buildings, etc.) The administrative order can have multiple actions in it so long as they are related, and should take up no more than six lines in the message box.
Note that the personal order is for actions that help your character, and the administrative order is for doing the duties that a character is tasked with doing by the Imperial Government or other organizations. You can use an administrative order to help yourself, but you must make it reasonable (i.e. the Sakellarios can raise the salaries of the Imperial Council).
Finally, the (Senior) Emperor gets an additional Imperial order on top of his administrative and personal orders. This is used to do Imperial actions such as excommunications, appointing Theme commanders, appointing (or dismissing) Imperial officals, etc. The Imperial order can have as many appropriate actions as the Emperor wishes in it, and it will have no limit for length.
Orders should have a subject of “TTA - Your Character’s Name, Current Year”. So, for example:
To: Imperator1993
Subject: TTA - Basileus Romanos IV, 1068
Message text:
Personal Order:
Lots of fun stuff.
Administrative Order:
Even more fun stuff.
Imperial Order:
The most fun stuff.
Plots
Plots are group covert efforts, for example assassinations of any character (even the Emperor). These will be treated as a special kind of order. Players are free to secretly plot, gather influence, etc without GM approval. When the plot leader feels he is prepared to act, he must send me a PM detailing the plot goal, its plan, and those who back it. Any requests for NPC support (such as the Turks, other noble familes, etc) can be directed to me. Once I confirm the people that back the plot, it will be considered an order. A plot serves as the player’s personal order for the turn he decides to launch it, as well as for all those backing the plot. The greater the combined influence a plot has, the more likely it is to succeed. Note that any assassination of a higher-ranking Imperial offical, or the Emperor himself, will need a very powerful plot backing to succeed.
Updates, Events, and War
There are three types of updates. These will contain the results of orders, events, and other important happenings. The first type of update is a Main Update. It will cover a year in-game, and will contain the results of all the orders sent in, among other events that happen that year. The second type of update is a Mini Update. It will highlight or cover a specific event during the year. The final type of update is an Imperial Update, which will be updates relating to the Emperor and the Imperial court in general (This includes attempts on the Emperors life or coups against the Emperor).
Events are significant happenings (such as a war, a new ruler in another land, a natural disaster, or an unexpected benefit) that will usually cause a headache for the Emperor, though sometimes will bring him joy. The majority of TTA will be player-driven, but the events will provide the substance for you as a player to create this content.
In the event of war, the Megas Domestikos will use his administrative order to determine general strategy. He may raise armies from the Themes and appoint there commanders to lead the armies, army commanders will be given a special war order for determining their armys objectives in combat. I will write up mini updates for major battles, and perhaps if you are a commander of the one of the armies you will be noted in such a mini update for commendable service to the Emperor of Rome.
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