Verona 1568 The game is about power politics and the dynamics of a City mix of Renaissance/Enlightenment, city systems, dueling and intrigue, and so forth Each session of the game represents a key point within a five-year period. (After all, a city in constant rivalry and turmoil would quickly crumble to ruin. These moments are the times when day to day activities become secondary to some point of crisis and conflict, and the tensions of the city come to a head. Note: this is not to say that there is a 5 year cycle of conflict. Some sessions might be more closely spaced, or there may be a decade (or more) elapsed between sessions. But events that transpire in a game probably have roots in the past couple years, and the aftermath will be felt in the City for the next couple years.) (Some of this is an extension of ideas from a play-by-post multiplayer game from some years back) Blood and death - characters and NPCs ought to get killed off on a regular basis. The game can be run as a player v player system, with each player representing their own interests, and little in the way of traditional RPG group dynamic, or it can be run with the players as nominal allies on one side, and a GM running the setting and the opposition. It may be organized to run with a GM, who manages the challenges and backstory of the game, or it may be rotating, with different players taking turns moderating while the rest go through a turn sequence. Adventures should be based within the City and focused on activities of the City. This is not a game of heading into the wilderness and exploring mysterious caves or the like; it is about the dynamics of things within the City. Characters' strength comes from their allies, followers, families, and connections within the City, not just their own individual abilities, so they will be strongest when they are in the City with access to their power base. Exile - a character, or a member of a Family, may be sent into Exile (including being appointed as an ambassador to another State, leading a trade delegation or other exploratory activity, going to war (on behalf of the City or the overlord of the City), or being banished from the City for crimes real or imagined). The exiled character has no meaningful activity within the session(s) during their exile. On the other hand, characters who get jailed typically end up dead not long after. (In relatively rare instances, the scenario for a session may specifically involve the ramifications of a character's Exile, such as a trade delegation has returned from a far off place where an exiled character made a trade trip. Transitions Multiple PCs - it may be useful for a player to establish and play the role of more than one character. A father leading a son For balance, each player should be working with an equal number of characters. Family line - a PC who is married may have one child added to the family per session. Characters who have lived for at least 3 sessions (at least age 15) may become active PCs. While laws of succession apply to noble families, the control of the player's faction will typically be a patrilineal line All of an extended family is controlled by the player controlling that family. Females who marry into another family become part of that family's lineage, and are thereafter controlled by the player for their husband's family. Marriages between families are typically an alliance that gives each side a favor from the other. Inspiration sources: Romeo and Juliet - that William guy Verona maps - https://www.raremaps.com/maps/medium/27285.jpg - http://www.mapcruzin.com/free-maps-italy/verona_1913.jpg Blood Royale - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Royale Birthright - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_(campaign_setting) A note on misogyny - the setting for this is based on periods of time where women were largely constrained to subservient roles, rather than being the agents of their own destiny. Female PCs should be allowed to be active and dynamic within the game. Women's roles are often made them pawns of the men who controlled their lives. We certainly do not endorse this, and we encourage players to find as eglaitarian a setting as they can manage. Each character builds their strength in a number of ways. Family - connections to a noble family (disadvantage; being connected to a family that is not in power) Business - a family business such as a trading house or an ongoing concern. A business with fixed assets (a glassblower, for instance) is a transferrable and inheritable asset. Children will have an ability to carry on with the business Guild - businesses that do not have fixed assets are not inheritable, but there may nonetheless be a family history. Guilds include craftsmen such as masons, as well as soldiers Church - those in favor with the Church may be able to weild additional power Characters are not just individuals, but are representatives of their networks, either the noble family they belong to, or a family business, or may be a succession of heirs over the course of the campaign Favors - One of the strongest tools available to all characters are the favors granted by other (NPC) factions of the City. These may be able to be called upon to muster active support for a particular thing a player wants to accomplish with the help of that group (or, alternately, to blunt the use of that group by another faction which is trying to do something detrimental to that player). Most favors are specific to an individual, though sometimes, a connection between two groups will last for a long period of time. After a favor has been called, the disposition of the group towards the individual or group to whom the favor was granted will need to be re-determined. Results will range from "We are still close allies" to "This settles us and we are free of this burden" and all steps in between. SKILLS are *NOT* automatically transferred from parent to child; the idea of "a family of spies" or the like is not typical. While a family may be involved in a trade, and the business is passed down from parent to child, the ability to operate it will vary from generation to generation Settings - court intrigue; a masked ball; the council of the City; the court of the City's leader (king, doge, prince, etc.) Players are the representatives on the council of the City. They are all powerful members of the community. For each game session, the council elects a Prince (one of the PCs). Functionally, this person is the GM for the subsequent adventure, but also plays the role of the ruler of the City. Being the Prince is double-edged. As the Prince, the player is able to weild considerable power. But, since the player is playing the Prince, they cannot play their own character's role, and therefore, the ability to gain favors, and to be involved in other beneficial activities will be constrained. There should be a number of smaller factions in the City. At the beginning of the game, each player creates several organizations or groups that make up the various power bases of the City. She creates one faction for each other player in the game. Players will need to have some discussion and coordination during this phase (or allow duplicates to be factions withing a larger organization. The player who creates each of these groups has a Fovor from that group, but they are allies of the faction of the player for whom they are formed. (eg if Alice creates the Weaving Guild for Bob, the Weavers are one of Bob's supporters and are under Bob's control, but the Weavers also owe Alice's faction a Favor) Each player also develops two other groups. One is an ally of the Prince, in the same fashion as the organizations created for the other players, but that group does not have a favor or any connection to the player's faction. The other group each player creates should be one that is opposed to the City in some way (a Thieves Guild, a group of foreigners, a political opposition, a competing branch of the Prince's line, etc.) There are also 2 general population groups for each player in the game. The Prince also has one faction of City Guards for every 3 players (or fraction) in the game. * use the factions as cards like a deck, drawing one at a time to give different players actions in the course of the session ? * any neutral faction is controlled by the Prince. * each supporting faction has only one action they may make per turn/session