[Interest Check] Merchants and Monarchs

[Olligarchy]

Ok, based on the situation/feedback, I'm tentatively planning for a game where all of the players are Venetian patricians: Most of the interest was in playing as a merchant, and with the proper EURPG starting up I don't want to split the more realm-based players between two games. In fact, we may even make this a single-thread game to keep things simple.

There will be a slight bit of alternate history: I'm thinking we'll be starting in 1000 AD, but the Great Council will already be formed. Patricians will also be fairly independent to start, so players have to actually work to enforce any laws they come up with — think Holy Roman Empire, but with everyone sharing a city. All trade will also be dependent on players, so there won't really be a silk trade until players' trade routes reach Asia. This is obviously ahistorical, but it's a lot easier than running NPC trade, keeps the players at the center of things, and makes exploration a bigger part of the game.


I'm also working on a map of Venice so players can battle over influence within the city. So that will be fun.

So, will all players start on the micro/patrician scale, or does one start on macro/doge level or will this be more focused in internal politics?

 

[Schlieffen]

So, will all players start on the micro/patrician scale, or does one start on macro/doge level or will this be more focused in internal politics?

Kind of a combination of the three. All players start as patricians, but these patricians are fairly independent when the game starts: A player can keep their exploration secret and negotiate with cities on their own, and the Great Council and Doge don't really start with a lot of power other than having a little bit of legitimacy: Actually enforcing any laws comes down to the players' resources. The rules for owning territory are also not limited to just the Republic itself — it's entirely possible for a powerful enough family to claim a province as their own.

I suspect the power of the republic will grow rather quickly, to a point: It gives a way for players to work together, both to organize with each-other and to deal with more powerful players/threats. How things actually unfold will be up to the players, though.

 

[Olligarchy]

Kind of a combination of the three. All players start as patricians, but these patricians are fairly independent when the game starts: A player can keep their exploration secret and negotiate with cities on their own, and the Great Council and Doge don't really start with a lot of power other than having a little bit of legitimacy: Actually enforcing any laws comes down to the players' resources. The rules for owning territory are also not limited to just the Republic itself — it's entirely possible for a powerful enough family to claim a province as their own.

I suspect the power of the republic will grow rather quickly, to a point: It gives a way for players to work together, both to organize with each-other and to deal with more powerful players/threats. How things actually unfold will be up to the players, though.

Sounds perfect. Will get to working on background fluff for 1000 AD start then!

Do you want historically accurate, or will historically plausible be enough?

 

[Schlieffen]

Especially within Venice itself, plausible will be more than enough for this first game. I mean, the earliest usable map I could find for the city of Venice is from 1800, so it's not like I can be too strict on this.

 

[Cloud Strife]

So when do we get to sack Chioggia? Hahaha.

Also, if you want to have the game in the EURPG forum since you have edit privileges there, i'm thinking we can sticky your post so it doesn't get lost in the clutter. Do you need an Announcements thread as well or are you going to just use one thread for everything? Or are you going to run it in this forum?

 

[Schlieffen]

Also, if you want to have the game in the EURPG forum since you have edit privileges there, i'm thinking we can sticky your post so it doesn't get lost in the clutter. Do you need an Announcements thread as well or are you going to just use one thread for everything? Or are you going to run it in this forum?

Oh, I wasn't about to make a mess by trying to run two games in the one forum. For this first iteration I was thinking of just having a normal one-thread game, with the thread acting as the Grand Council where the various patricians are gathered. If we realize we need more space or decide to add realms in the next game then I might ask for access to the other RPG subforum or something.

 

[Schlieffen]

Status update: Work woke me up with a phone call on Sunday, and it's been fun ever since.

The first pass at the rules is done: I'll need to go through the numbers, but I think things will work out fairly well. The trade goods are also in place; now I just need to split up Venice and the game's starting point.

 

[Schlieffen]

Sadly, I have to put this one on hold for a while: Work is kind of in overtime mode after some colo work ended up delaying work without delaying the corresponding deadlines, and while I'm actually really close to being done with the setup work, I really don't want to risk starting a game when I'm not confident I'll have the time to run it.

My apologies to anyone who was interested; hopefully interest will still be around when things calm down on my end.

 

[BlackCrown]

(Lurker Post)

I understand how old this thread is, but I would also be highly interested in playing when your work calms down.

 

[Schlieffen]

...work calms down? That's actually a thing?

I doubt I'll be able to start anything for at least the next month or two, but I'll hopefully have time to run something at some point.

 

[Imperator1993]

I'd be interested, though more as a king then a merchant

 

[Ironhide G1]

I'm interested- this is a cool idea!