Fantasy Nation Roleplaying - Discussion

Discussion in 'Roleplaying Forum' started by Wolfsbane, Jul 30, 2013.

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  1. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    I note that the Tiberium empire and Vortigern were each formed 500 years ago. Perhaps they were at war then?

    Together they seem to be the superpowers.

    As far as my nations diplomacy:

    Pelagia - natural enemies of Mammon, otherwise neutral.

    Zwergland - would favour Tibernium over Vortigern in war.

    Mu - natural enemies of Tibernium Empire, otherwise neutral.
     
  2. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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    Vortigern has existed as a united nation for 500 years, but the realm is older than that. I don't think they've been at war with Tibernium YET, but a conflict of interest in both Zwergland and Mu might just change that.

    Vortigern is furthermore on the brink of civil war between the east and west. An international conflict could be its worst nightmare, or its sweet saviour.

    So, diplomacy:

    Vortigern on,
    Pelagia: Damned pirates! Cursed cannibals! Get off our property!
    Mammon: Well, we guess they're good for business. But they're strange, and far away.
    Helvetia: The toll is ok. Really, it is. Just as long as they keep selling us weapons and mithril.
    Nihildris: Strange foreigners, but as long as they keep to themselves they're ok.
    Ur: Who? Oh, the little monsters making machines for Mu. Yeah they're... something. Not a threat, at least.
    Mu: On the far side and strange as fuck, but it really is useful being able to hide away sensitive and/or valuable stuff. Really useful.
    Zwergland: They're all that stands between us and that growing behemoth in the south. This is where we draw the line.
    Tibernium: Foreigners from a country as big as ours that keeps growing in size? Houston, we've got a problem.

    Ur on,
    Vortigern: Ignorant backwater imperialists. You can keep your snow.
    Pelagia: Never heard of 'em. Or perhaps once, from one of the mercenaries.
    Mammon: They buy our stuff and bring us food. We're cool.
    Helvetia: We're talking about the people guarding our borders. Yes, we trust them.
    Nihildris: Never heard of 'em.
    Mu: They keep buying our shit, and lots of it, so as far as we're concerned we're friends.
    Zwergland: Their understanding of metallurgy is fascinating. We should invite them over.
    Tibernium: They're very many and very near. They don't like Mu, but that's ok, 'cause we don't want to get squashed.
     
  3. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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  4. Ruda

    Ruda Active Member

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    Seeing as people choose different ways to describe diplomatic relations, I'm gonna borrow the (slightly modified) relation modifiers from Civilization. This is how Mammon feels about:

    Pelagia (Furious)
    This war spoils our relationship! (-8)
    You declared war upon us! (-3)
    You declared war on our friend! (-1)
    We are upset that you've fallen under the sway of a heathen religion. (-4)


    Vortigern (Friendly)
    Years of peace have strengthened our relations. (+2)
    Our trade relations have been fair and forthright. (+4)
    Our open borders bring our people close together! (+2)
    We appreciate the years you have supplied us with resources. (+4)
    Our mutual military struggle brings us closer together. (+4)

    ---
    We are worried about the size of your military. (-2)

    Helvetia: (Pleased)
    Years of peace have strengthened our relations. (+2)
    Our trade relations have been fair and forthright. (+4)
    Our open borders bring our people close together! (+2)
    We appreciate the years you have supplied us with resources. (+4)

    ---
    You threatened to initiate a trade embargo against us. (-4)

    Nihildris: (Annoyed)
    Years of peace have strengthened our relations. (+2)
    ---
    You threaten our trade monopoly (-8)

    Ur: (Cautious)
    Our trade relations have been fair and forthright. (+4)
    ---
    You guys are a bit odd. (-1)

    Mu: (Friendly)
    We appreciate the years you have supplied us with resources. (+4)
    You shared [strike]your technological discoveries[/strike] the secrets of immortality with (some of) us (+like a whole fucking heap!)

    ---
    We don't quite trust you. And you smell. Yech! (-10)

    Zwergland: (No relation)
    Haven't met.

    Tibernium: (Cautious)
    We care for our motherland. (+2)
    Years of peace have strengthened our relations. (+2)
    Our trade relations have been fair and forthright. (+4)
    We appreciate the years you have supplied us with resources. (+4)

    ---
    You failed to protect us! (-8)
     
  5. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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    Looking good!

    Do you guys want to keep discussing stuff or should we get started with making characters?
     
  6. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    Let's keep up the momentum and move on.

    The only other thing I would mention is that Mu will give generous credit to the enemies of Tibernium.

    Also, immortality and a line of credit to a Kahn who can unite the tribes and invade the empire.

    I was going to play it as neutral but, in character, an empire of paladins is an unacceptable risk to Nahgrek's plans for eternity.

    P.S. Also, Pelagian hobbits don't have granaries of corpses. They are rarely seen, until they fall out of the trees and eat you like piranhas. There is no word in hobbit for "leftovers".
     
  7. Ruda

    Ruda Active Member

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    Momentum, eh?
    I still want to hear from Yuki and werozzi before beginning with the characters.

    But I can say that I've got four different ideas for now. A merchant washed ashore on Pelagia trying to reason with hobbits (could be a short living one), an immortal merchant lord (due to meddling with Mu), who's a member of the council, a traditionalist centaur wishing to continue the old ways and an evil ambitious little bastard who wants to unify the centaurs and tear Tibernium apart.

    I'm not sure whether I should have greek or mongol names for my centaurs. I'm leaning towards greek as forcing two different views together could merge into something partially unique.

    What do you guys think?
     
  8. werozzi

    werozzi Member

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    I truly forgot about this...
    But now that I've done it, I'm ready for the RP.
    I've got the idea of an alchemist lord on a diplomatic mission to Ur, or Lady Murneen Nilheetha during one of her social research trips either to Pelagia or Mu.
     
  9. Yuki

    Yuki Well-Known Member

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    Mammon: Mmh, delicious tariffs... You're the best!
    Mu: That boy ain't right...
    Nilhidris: We've heard of them.
    Pelagia: The reason we avoid the coast.
    Tibernium: The first Emperor was quite well-liked by the Helvetians. We would consider ourselves supporters, should it be to our benefit.
    Ur: They like our materials and our mercenaries, but not our magickal crafts. They also respect our claim to the mountains.
    Vortigern: Scary...
    Zwergland: BFFs! Because of a common national focus on crafts and technology, this relationship can be described as part scientific partnership, part friendly rivalry. We have shared many techniques with them as they have with us. Our cultures and languages even show mutual influences.
     
  10. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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  11. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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    Cool!

    So, moving on to characters. I think we should go with Rudas suggestion, namely:

    1. A character from your nation in your nation.
    2. A character from your nation is someone else's nation.
    3. A character from someone else's nation in your nation.

    You can (and should?) play out all three alternatives. You don't have to overdo your character, just give us the basics.

    Oh! But I forget; Zanza has yet to share Tiberniums diplomatic view with us. Well, he can do that while the rest of us start preparing characters.
     
  12. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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  13. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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  14. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    Tibernium Empire feels the same as your nations do.
     
  15. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    Or perhaps I'll go first then.

    1. Nahgrek the First, meddling in politics with a crystal ball and a checkbook.

    2. A Zwergen geologist/diplomat seeking a secure source of rare elements in various nations.

    3. An Urish IT guy working for the First Bank in Mu.
     
  16. Ruda

    Ruda Active Member

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    These are just short presentations of characters that I've actually fleshed out a little bit more, but seeing as I can't (or can I?) use them all (and haven't picked a character from another nation yet) I want the assistance of you fine people regarding which ones I'll use, before I refine them any further.

    Mammon.
    Perouse - An intrepid merchant washed ashore on Pelagia. Themes: Either survival horror or humorous adventures.
    Faustus - Junior council member, "sold his sole" to Nahgrek the First in exchange for UNLIMITED POWER. Themes: Intrigue galore.

    Centaurs.
    Chiron Khan - Leader of a peaceful tribe. Ambition: They want to remain small and relatively self-sufficient.
    Pholus Khan - Leader of a mercantile tribe. Ambition: They want to acquire wine, and lots of it.
    Nessus Khan - Leader of a warlike tribe. Ambition: They want to rape, pillage and burn.

    The problem with the centaurs is that I really want all three tribes in the story to enhance the feeling of them being a divided people. All three should have important roles if (and only if) they managed to carve a nation of their own from the (what would be) ruins of the Tibernium Empire. Most tribes resemble Nessus' tribe, but I considered his to be the most powerful. Chiron and Pholus are oddities.

    As for my foreign character, I'm thinking a mercenary serving in Mammon. However, I want to know more of how you describe your nations' populace before beginning with one, so as to not create an abomination of what you've intended.

    Finally, ytzk, aren't you going to include a Pelagian character?
     
  17. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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    All cool characters.

    I like the divided centaurs.

    I guess I ran out of space for Pelagian characters. I was thinking of an ex Mammon pirate living fat in Port Broken Rock. If you want to play Pelagia just remember it's one thousand languages, ten thousand warring nations, one hundred thousand cannibals and a million territorial headhunters. Oh and lots of demons. You can sail in and do business if you have enough cannons, but you can't really walk more than a hundred metres without being killed. I suppose there might be a few chances at a humorous adventure, but I imagine it as mostly survival horror. Mercenaries from there are diverse but generally cheerful, competent and ruthless.

    Also, Faustus can have the standard undeath contract: serve (forever) or die (eventually). He might also get youthful appearance and some magic tricks, as long as it were profitable for Mu.
     
  18. Zanza

    Zanza Well-Known Member

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    In case anyone forgot I won't be able to contribute to the story from this point on. Good luck, can't wait to read it.
     
  19. Wolfsbane

    Wolfsbane Well-Known Member

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    Cool characters so far!

    I've been thinking a little about what I want to play, and this is what I've come up with so far:

    1. A knight of the blood in Vortigern travelling as an escort to a diplomat in the service of Tyrande des Sobers, who is on a mission in Koenigsburg.
    2. A diplomat from Vortigern in the service of Annfreit des Donner on a mission in Mu.
    3. A Helvetic mercenary stationed in Ur.

    Pretty basic, but with the chance of starting up some neat political intruige regarding a possible upcoming war and/or civil war.

    What do you think of that?
     
  20. ytzk

    ytzk Well-Known Member

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