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[Azthor]

Welcome, foolish mortal, to You are King: Chronicles of Nocte!

You Are King is, and I quote, "A surprisingly deep game of politics, intrigue and feudal rule.  Play a noble, advisor or simply a minion of the King and seek royal favour - or risk the role of a rebel or independent and seek fortune at the risk of the King's wrath".

That basically describes it. It's a roleplay heavy affair, with simple mechanics to keep things balanced, and emphasis on player interaction and the use of 1d6s to the best tradition of RtD.

Updates are handled by the following GMs:
- Azthor
- Filiusenox

And to a lesser extent, the following King:
- Ghazkull

OOC Thread

Spoiler: Kingdom (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Continent (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Actions & Posting (click to show/hide)

Descriptions are in standard text.

"Speech is in color"

Actions which need to be rolled are posted in bold.

Spoiler: Land Warfare (click to show/hide)

Unit Battle Rolls

Proportional Rolling: Instead of the old system of opposed d6 + [unit strength] rolls, opposed combat rolls are now done a dX vs dY, where X is the strength of the first party and Y is the strength of the second party.  ]

On the loss of an exchange, the loser must wound or lose a unit.  Only units with more than 1hp can be wounded.  If there is more than one unit in the 'stack' under attack, the loser may choose the victim.  Tactics may rob the victim of this choice, e.g. by splitting a single unit from the rest of the army and placing that under attack.

A critical loss occurs when the victor beats the loser by at least three-quarters of the victor's total strength.  When this happens the loser suffers two points of damage; wounding or killing up to two units.


Combat Stance
An army in general will either be on the offense/attack or the defense.  This stance may be changed each round but generally sides pick a stance and stick to it for most of a battle.  Two offensive armies may engage each other, but at least one army must take an offensive stance for a battle to happen.  Two defensive armies may not engage each other until one attacks.

In the event both armies go on the defensive and are unwilling to flee, opposed rolls will be made to see whose will breaks first and attacks.  Tactician bonuses will apply to the roll, so experienced tacticians have stronger nerves.

Defensive armies gain any unit bonuses to defense and lose any bonuses to attack.  They gain bonuses from owned fortifications and from terrain.  Defensive armies may not pursue a fleeing army.  Fleeing armies are automatically defensive.

An archer unit fighting on walls on a hill defensively has a strength of 5 (1 base, +1 from walls, +1 from hill, +1 from defensive bonus, +0.5 from defending walls, +0.5 from fighting on hills).  A berserker infantry unit in the same situation has a strength of 3 (1 base, +1 from walls, +1 from hill).

Offensive armies gain any unit bonuses to attack and lose any bonuses to defense.  They do not gain bonuses from owned fortifications or from terrain.  Offensive armies may pursue fleeing armies, and fleeing armies may not fight offensively (except in situations such as flanking).

An archer unit fighting on walls on a hill offensively has a strength of 1.5 (1 base, 0.5 from fighting on hills).  A berserker infantry unit in the same situation has a strength of 2 (1 base, +1 from offensive bonus).

Dividing The Army: It is acceptable to divide up your own army into two or more parts, though without a successful split check you will still have to face the enemy as one army - unless they intentionally divide their army as well.  The divided army may fight in separate stances.  This may be advisable, for example, if defending a keep during a siege.  Each round in which the siege engines are not destroyed, the walls deteriorate, but moving the whole army out of the keep would be suicide.  The defending army splits off a section consisting entirely of cavalry and that army sallies forth on the offensive to destroy the siege engines while the rest of the army remains defensive back in the keep.


Tactics

Tactician Units and Tactician Generals: Units no longer convey direct bonuses to tactics rolls.  Only the commanding general conveys his tactical bonus to tactics performed by his side (see Leader Bonuses below).  Units such as cavalry, tactician units and ambushers now reduce the cost or difficulty of specific tactics.

Cavalry units increase the difficulty of an enemy split attempt that involves that unit by 1 (split resist 1).  When involved in a flanking attempt they do not count their own score.  Cavalry with the tactician upgrade decrease the difficulty of flanking by -2 and increase the resistance to splitting by 2.

Tactician units have split resistance 1, and do not count toward flanking difficulty.  They may make reveal attempts.

Ambusher units do not count toward ambush difficulty and partially discount concealment difficulty (full discount out of combat, half cost in combat).  They may make reveal attempts.  They no longer have their old general terrain bonus.

Scout units partially discount concealment difficulty (full discount out of combat, half cost in combat), and may make reveal attempts with a +1 to success.

Tactician Generals convey a bonus to Tactics for all units under their command equal to their skill.  The unit the general is fighting as part of may make reveal checks if they cannot already do so.


Specific Tactics

The effects of some tactics have changed.

Tactics Rolls: You roll d6 against the difficulty of the tactic attempted.  Multiple tactics are rolled separately; you no longer have to attempt to beat the combined difficulty.  You succeed if you roll equal to or greater than the difficulty.
Caveat: If the difficulty is 0 or 1, you must roll greater than 1.
Caveat to the caveat: If the difficulty would be -1 or less (due to the general's Tactics skill) the gambit automatically succeeds.


Split The Enemy: Attempt to split off part of the enemy army to fight them separately.  The difficulty of this tactic is equal to the strength of all the enemy units you are attempting to split, plus their split resistance.  You must decide which units will attempt to fight the split unit(s) in advance, as this will determine failure penalties and the adjusted strength of the target units.  e.g. Splitting pikemen with an infantry unit is only difficulty 1 (base strength), but splitting pikemen that will face a cavalry unit is difficulty 4 (from the pikemen special).

You cannot send all of your units to fight the split units; at least one of your units must still engage the 'main' army.  If there are only two units in the enemy army, you automatically attempt to split whichever unit is harder.  e.g. If the army consists of only 1 cavalry and 1 infantry, you cannot attempt to split the infantry unit - you must try to split the cavalry.  If there is 1 cavalry and 2 infantry, you may attempt to split one of the infantry away.
Caveat: You may attempt to send all of your units to fight the split units, but only if the entire army consists of cavalry.

On a success, the targetted units are engaged separately from the main battle by the units allocated to split them.

If you fail to split the enemy, all units that would have engaged the split forces suffer a -25% penalty to strength and must engage the main army as normal (unless they themselves are split away).

You may split the enemy into as many parts as you like, but the caveat on splitting two-unit armies applies.  The split does not persist beyond one round; you must split the enemy again each round.


Flank: Send part of your forces against the enemy flank for greater advantage.  The difficulty of this tactic is equal to 1 (one) plus the number of friendly units engaging in the flank.  That is number, not strength (so 3 regular infantry have the same chance as three heavy infantry or archers).

On a success, all units that are part of the flank enjoy a +25% strength bonus to combat.  Flanking is an offensive tactic, so all flanking units fight as if on the attack (gaining any offensive bonuses and losing any defensive) even if the main army stance is defensive.

On a failure, all units that are part of the flank suffer a -25% strength bonus to combat.  Their combat stance is not changed.

Flanking must be attempted fresh each round.  Flanking may only be done once per enemy army engaged (to prevent players doing separate rolls for 20 heavy units), but split armies may have a separate flanking attempt for each faction of the enemy army engaged.  e.g. If a split was successful and the enemy divided in two, both friendly armies may make separate flanking checks.


Conceal: The first part of an ambush strategy, units may attempt to conceal themselves in battle.  The difficulty is equal to the number of units to be concealed multiplied by two.

If an army reaches the battlefield first, either by it being home ground or through a successful Logistics check, they may make a conceal check at half difficulty, i.e. difficulty equal to the number of units.  Ambusher or scout units are not counted toward the difficulty when concealing before combat, and during combat they only add 1 to the difficulty each.

Units attempting concealment are automatically counted as being split from the main army (unless the whole army attempts to conceal).  They may not attack other units while attempting concealment, and if they win any exchanges with units attacking them they do no damage.

On a success, the units cannot be attacked by the enemy on subsequent turns until revealed.  If concealed before battle, their presence on the battlefield will not be revealed except on a successful reveal check at or before the start of battle.

On a failure the units remain split for that round and do not conceal themselves.  They still may not attack, so any exchanges they win will do no damage.


Reveal: Attempts to reveal hidden foes.  Only certain units may attempt a reveal check.  The check is an opposed roll vs the hidden party.  Each unit attempting to reveal makes a separate roll vs the hidden units; each successful roll reveals one unit, robbing them of concealment.  Scout units get a +1 bonus to their checks.  If a Tactician general is hidden among the concealed units, he adds his Tactics bonus to the opposed check for all concealed units.

Full success is achieved by beating an opposed roll with the hidden parties.  Partial success is achieved on a draw; the existence of a hidden unit is made known to the revealer, but the unit itself is not revealed.

On a failure, the hidden foe remains hidden and the revealer takes a -25% penalty to strength during their next exchange.

Reveal attempts may be followed by standard attacks or other tactics attempts.


Ambush: Surprises a foe from hiding.  Units attempting ambushing must first be concealed.  Reveal checks are made before ambush checks, so if ambushing units fail an opposed reveal check they automatically fail the ambush check.

On a success, ambushers emerging from hiding gain a +50% strength bonus on their attack.  As ambushing is inherently offensive, any ambushing units count as fighting in an offensive stance.

On a failure, the ambushers are revealed and suffer a -25% strength penalty for exposing themselves.

Only one attempt may be made per round to reveal ambushers (who may then subsequently try and split the enemy).  Not all hidden units need to engage in the ambush, but as only one attempt may be made a certain amount of discretion is advised.



Logistics

Logistics is a new skill for generals and admirals.  Logistics rolls involve army speed and supply lines. The speed of an army is rolled when a general must get to a certain place before a certain date, or catch up with an army, or take besiegers from behind during a siege... At any moment where the army must get somewhere quickly. This can be used for guerilla tactics, defeating enemy armies in detail, gaining a terrain advantage just before a battle (being the first army to get on the hill, for example), or catching up with enemy troops.

Supply is never rolled as long as an army's supply line is secure. A supply line is in theory always secure, unless someone starts messing with it by raiding it or blocking the only way for it to get there. The supply roll determines how long an army can spend without its supply line without starving, in weeks (4 = 4 weeks, 1 = 1 week, etc). An admiral's rolls are calculated in months if he has only a battle fleet, but the roll is divided by two if half of his ships carry troops, and by three if more than three quarters of them are carrying regiments (so a one, in a fleet carrying as many regiment as it can, would result in about ten days of supply without starving).

Logistics rolls can also apply to events of the GM's choosing; an admiral with a bonus in logistics will endure a storm without taking as much damage, and his fleet won't be as scattered, a general's forces won't be as affected by a nasty disease, etc.

If an army is constituted only cavalry, it gets +1 to speed but -1 to supply.  Armies with siege weapons suffer a -1 to speed.

A well organized command can have a general good with logistics taking an army where it needs to be, then letting a good tactician lead a battle. The disadvantage to this, of course, is that it means the two generals have to travel together, which can mean other forces will have less experienced officers.


Leader Bonuses

Armies, or particular sections or wings of armies, may be led by a player general.  That general conveys bonuses from his skills to the whole army, or to any troops under his command.  These bonuses do not nest; if one master general is leading the whole army but a separate local general is commanding a wing of troops under the first general, the commanded wing will either receive the master general's bonuses or the local general's bonuses.

e.g. Alan is leading the army as a whole.  He is a tier 1 Tactician, so he gives a +1 bonus to all Tactics rolls within the army.

Bill is leading a wing of 3 cavalry units.  He is a tier 1 Offensive Strategist and a tier 1 Logistician.  He will give a +1 to logistics rolls for those 3 cavalry units and +10% to the strength of all three units when using an offensive combat stance.

By default, Bill gives his offensive and logistics bonus to the 3 cavaliers he leads, but Alan does not give his tactics bonus.  If Bill elects to be subordinate to Alan, his troops will receive the Tactics bonus but not the Logistics or offensive bonus.

Four skills come to mind for generals; Tactics, Logistics, Offensive Strategy and Defensive Strategy.

Tactics: Each tier of this skill provides a +1 to Tactics checks.
Logistics: Each tier of this skill provides a +1 to Logistics checks.
Offensive Strategy: Each tier of this skill provides a +10% strength bonus to led units while in the Offensive combat stance.
Defensive Strategy: Each tier of this skill provides a +10% strength bonus to led units while in the Defensive combat stance.

For balance reasons, it is very likely that certain players with skills like this that are overpowered may find themselves nerfed.


Siege Warfare and Fortifications

Fortifications such as keeps and walls take many seasons or even years to build, and breached fortifications take a season to repair.  They are generally worth it, as they convey a bonus to any friendly unit in the Defensive combat stance during battle and are a good way to protect valuable locations such as cities and strategic points such as bridges.  Archers in particular become vastly more powerful behind fortifications.

Overcoming fortifications is not easy.  One may bypass them by throwing enough bodies at the wall; if you vastly outnumber your enemy, you can just accept the losses and win.  Another is to destroy the fortifications with siege weapons.

Every fortification has a certain number of hit points (generally 5 multiplied by the defensive bonus it grants).  Siege weapons such as catapults and ballistae will reduce hit points by 1 each round that they are around.  They tend to be poorly defended and easy to destroy, but unless split attackers will have to take on the whole army.  If battle ends before the fort is reduced to 0 hit points, it is repaired to full hit points by the next battle.  If the fort is reduced to 0 hit points it is breached, losing all its defensive bonuses and may be freely attacked.  This includes bonuses to fighting within or on fortifications.

Siege weapons cost 3d, have a defensive strength of 2 (they cannot destroy units and must be defended by standard units - on winning an exchange they are just not damaged) and have an upkeep of 1d/year.  They take one season to build.


Unit Upgrade Adjustments

Heavy I: +1 Base Strength.  +1 hp.
Heavy II requires Iron, Heavy III requires Arms.  Both stack with Heavy I, adding a further +1 Str and +1 hp.
Cost: +1d.  Upkeep: +1d.

Cavalry: +1 Base Strength.  +1 Strength fighting on open plains, or fighting defensively on hills (unless defending a fortification).  Flanking cost 0, Split resist 1.   +1 hp.
Cost: +2d.  Upkeep: +2d.  Requires Horses.

Tactician: Flanking cost 0, Split resist 1, may reveal.  Stacks with cavalry for flanking cost -1, split resist 2, reveal.
Cost: +0.5d.  Upkeep: +0.5d.

Ambush: Concealment cost 0, ambush cost 0.  May reveal.
Cost: +1d.  Upkeep: +1d.

Scout: Concealment cost 0, may reveal, reveal +1.  Confers a +1 bonus to logistics checks to reveal or locate enemy armies (does not stack).
Cost: +0.5d.  Upkeep: +0.5d.

Archer I (Shortbow): +1 Str in defensive stance.  +0.5 Str when fighting on hills or mountains.  +0.5 Str when defending fortifications.  Can fight at sea.  Ranged.
Cost: +1d.  Upkeep: +0.5d.

Archer II (Longbow): +1 Str in defensive stance.  +0.5 Str when fighting on hills/mountains.  +0.5 Str when defending fortifications.  Stacks with archer II.
Cost: +1d.  Upkeep: +0.5d.  Requires Timber.

Archer III (Recurve): +1 Str in defensive stance.  +0.5 Str when fighting on hills/mountains.  +0.5 Str when defending fortifications.  +1 if unit is also mounted (cavalry or other).  Stacks with archer III.
Cost: +1d.  Upkeep: +0.5d.  Requires Timber.

Spoiler: Naval Warfare (click to show/hide)

Naval Combat and Movement

Navies move like armies on a grand scale, using Logistics for movement.  They move much faster than land armies (+3 to logistics rolls versus land armies trying to get to the same location) but can only go where there are major bodies of water (rivers, lakes, seas - or canals).

Basic Ships have been reworked.  A basic 1 ducat ship has Base Strength 1 as before, but it now has 3hp structural (recovering hp after a season, provided it can dock at a city or coastal fort for repairs) and 1hp personnel.  The base strength of the ship is the same for both crew and ramming, divided accordingly by hitpoints.  Basic ships may carry a single regiment of troops, but cargo upgrades can improve carry space.

Structural hitpoints are the condition of the ship itself.  Ships can take up to 3hp of damage in ship-to-ship combat (more with upgrades) before breaking apart, but every hp lost incurs penalties.  Every hp less than 3 forces a Logistics penalty of -1 and a penalty to boarding checks of -1.  It is thus beneficial to send damaged ships to port for repairs if you need the rest of the fleet to get somewhere in a hurry, as Logistics checks are made based on the slowest ship in the fleet.

Personnel hitpoints is the health of the onboard crew.  During crew-to-crew combat, these are depleted instead of structural hitpoints.  If fighting with military units on board, the crew are always the last unit to lose hp/be destroyed.  Ships are captured when their crew have no remaining hitpoints.  They are then crewed by a skeleton crew of the victor, but automatically lose any crew-to-crew combat before they reach a port.  Once a skeleton-crewed ship reaches port, its personnel hp is replenished fully.


Ship-To-Ship versus Crew-To-Crew

Ship-To-Ship is the meat of naval combat and usually centres around either approaching ships for boarding or ramming them to destruction.  Each fleet picks a stance, akin to land-based combat stances; approach, ram or evade.  Combat between ships is resolved as a pair of opposed combat rolls; one offensive, the other defensive.  On victory of an offensive roll, a ship either rams or approaches its target.  It is possible for both ships to miss each other, or both ships to ram each other (even resulting in mutual destruction).  Ships fight with their base strength, plus any modifiers or bonuses to ship combat.

On a ram, the losing ship takes 1hp of structural damage as in normal combat; if the combat would qualify for a critical hit (victor beats loser by 3/4 of ramming strength), 2hp of damage is dealt instead.  Every point of damage gives a -1 penalty to resist boarding.

Once a ship makes contact with another, either by ramming or approaching, either party may initiate boarding immediately.  On a successful boarding roll, crew-to-crew combat may begin.  On a failure or if the would-be boarder chooses not to board, the ships disengage and fresh approach and boarding rolls must be made.

Ships sink when they reach 0 structural hitpoints.  Any crew, units or objects aboard the ship sink to the bottom of the sea and are lost.

Crew-To-Crew combat normally takes place during boarding.  The crew and any loaded military units from the boarding all board the target ship and engage the units and crew there as in ordinary land combat.  Crew fight with the base strength of their ship, plus any modifiers or bonuses to crew combat.  Crew lose personnel hitpoints on damage.

If the fight goes south and the boarders retreat back to their own ship, the boarded can become the new boarders and continue the fight on the former boarder ship.  Crew-to-crew combat only ends when both crews are unable or unwilling (i.e. allow them to leave) cowards.

Crew are always the last unit to receive damage in crew-to-crew combat.  When all the crew of one ship (boarders or target) are slain/incapacitated, that ship becomes unmanned and is instantly taken over by a skeleton crew from the victor's ship.  This skeleton crew cannot engage in boarding actions and instantly surrenders to boarding if no other units are present.  They can sail ships, and if sailed back to a friendly or neutral port will replenish all crew (and personnel hp) immediately.

The first exchange of crew-to-crew combat happens immediately upon boarding.  Subsequent exchanges, if needed, happen after ship-to-ship combat each round during the battle.  During this time the ships are lashed together by grappling hooks and will not disengage.  It is a perfectly viable tactic for other ships to attack the immobile ships (boarder or boarded).  Approach checks versus the immobile ships succeed automatically (allowing for boarders to join the fight), as do ramming checks.  It is quite possible to board an enemy vessel only to find that their support ships have sunk your original vessel to the bottom of the sea by ramming.

If an empty ship is destroyed during crew-to-crew (e.g. via ramming), the former crew and units are stuck on the new ship and must either surrender or fight their way into possession of a new ship.  NPC crews will usually surrender, led crews depend on the player.  If a ship with combatants on it is destroyed, all combatants on either side are lost.


Ranged Crew-To-Crew

Where ranged military units are on board ships, or where crews have shortbows/are archer trained, they may engage in ranged crew-to-crew battles.  These do not require the ships to make contact for boarding.  Where opposing crews both have ranged capability, a standard combat exchange will occur between the ranged combatants.  Where one crew does and the other does not, a one-sided ranged battle will occur in which on victories (but not draws or failures) the ranged troops damage the melee troops but not the other way around.


Crew-To-Ship, Ship-To-Crew

Ranged crew and archers may loose fire arrows at opposing ships at a -1 penalty to attack rolls.  This works as a one-sided ranged battle versus ship-to-ship strength (i.e. base + any bonuses to ship-to-ship combat) in which a victory deals 1hp of damage to the losing ship.

Ships with certain special abilities such as Ampyrian Fire may choose to make their attack versus the crew of an enemy ship rather than the ship itself.  They take a -1 penalty to attack rolls and again play as a one-sided ranged battle (using their ship-to-ship strength).

Where ranged crew attack ships with ship-to-crew combat abilities, combat is resolved as a normal fight dealing appropriate damage to the loser.


Naval Stances

Approach: Approaching the enemy ship in preparation for boarding.  This is the default tactic for ship-to-ship combat and requires no tactics check.  It provides neither penalties nor bonuses to ship-to-ship combat, but on a successful combat roll the ship makes contact with the enemy vessel without damaging the structural hp.

Ram: Attempting to ram the enemy takes no tactics check; it gives one a +1 to checks to ram the enemy ship and a -1 to avoid being rammed or approached.  One may either ram, evade or approach, but only one of the three.  Ramming initiates contact as well as doing damage to structural hp.

Evade: Evading the enemy requires no tactics check.  It gives one a -1 to checks to approach the enemy ship and a +1 to avoid being rammed or approached.  One may either ram, evade or approach, but only one of the three.  Evading ships approach the enemy unless instructed to ram if the opportunity presents.


Naval Tactics

Naval tactics work similarly to land tactics but with some limitations.  Ships may not conceal or ambush, but military units on ships may do so.  Crews may not conceal because they need to run the ship.  Military units and crews may not flank or split, but ships in ship-to-ship combat can.

Boarding: Boarding is an opposed check (with bonuses from a general's Tactics skill) between the crews of two ships that have made contact, minus penalties from ship damage.  On a draw, no boarding takes place and the ships disengage for the next round of ship-to-ship combat.  If no draw, the victor may choose whether to disengage or send his crew and units over to the enemy ship and begin crew-to-crew combat, which lasts until both sides are unwilling or unable to continue fighting (at which point the ships disengage).

Spoiler: Duels (click to show/hide)

Combat

Whenever you wish to kill somebody or even simply attack him, you will generally need to beat him in combat. The system is, at its base, somewhat simple:
Each side has 3 HP. Every round, a 1d6 is rolled for each side; the highest number wins. If the same number is rolled, the dice is rolled again. Winning a round deals one point of damage to the other side, or two points of damage if you beat the opponent's roll by 5 or more. The fight is over when one side reaches 0 HP.

Combat Modifiers

Many things affect combat. These things will give a bonus to one side or the other, influencing the rolls and increasing the better party's chances to win. The modifiers are as below:

Equipment:. Being armed grants you +1, as does being armored. Masterwork weapons give a +2 instead, heavy armor a +2 and -1 to agility, and masterwork armor a +2 without the agility penalty. Bonuses granted by armor and weapons stack with eachother, but not with multiples of the same kind.

Skill: Having the appropriate set of skills can give you from +1 to +3, depending on your proficiency in with your weapon of choice.

Circumstance modifiers: those are rare, and work at the GM's whims. They are generally influenced by things that would probably change a fight's outcome - for example, a poisoned or even intoxicated man will not fight as well as he would in a better state.

Guards: having a bodyguard fighting on your side gives you one more HP per bodyguard, up to a total bonus of 3 HP. There are no further increases past that threshold, so even if you have an entire army fighting with you, the bonus will still cap at 3 HP.

Disengaging

When a side is losing, or attempting to flee from the beginning, it will often attempt to disengage from the fight. To do so, after every round of battle, another opposing roll will be done, and if the fleeing party has the highest number, it will manage to get away. The GM may do multiple opposing rolls to give the opponents a chance to catch up, depending on the situation. These rolls are based on agility.

Spoiler: Traits/Skills (click to show/hide)

Noble: you come from a noble background and possess the rights & obligations reserved to those.

Mage: you are capable of channeling dreaded mystical forces, but face the stigma common to all those such as you.

Weaponmastery (insert weapon here): +1 to personal combat rolls/skill level with the weapon of choice.

Agility: +1 to acrobatic, reflex & movement rolls/skill level

Subterfuge: +1 to pickpocketing, stealth & disguise rolls/skill level.

Charisma: +1 to persuasion & bartering rolls/skill level.

Tactics: +1 to tactic rolls/skill level.

Logistics: +1 to logistic rolls/skill level.

Offensive Strategist: +10%/skill level to army strength when on the offensive.

Defensive Strategist: +10%/skill level to army strength when on the offensive.

Spoiler: Skill Improvement (click to show/hide)

Skills can be trained once a season and proficiency ranges from I to III, each level progressively harder to attain. Training can be done individually or assisted, with varying experience gains:

- 1st proficiency level: 100 experience of any type.

- 2nd proficiency level: 200 experience, out of which at least 100 must be from a trainer

- 3rd profciency level: 300 experience, out of which at least 100 must be from a trainer. The last 100 experience can only be gained by embarking on a personal quest to be conducted by the responsible GM.


Personal training: 6d6, with experience gainss being the sum of the experience value attached to each roll:

- 1 -> -20

- 2 -> -10

- 3 -> +10

- 4 -> +20

- 5 -> +30

- 6 -> -10


Teacher: having a teacher for a given proficiency level increases the experience gains for the season by 50 pts.

A year has 4 seasons, taxes are received and soldiers paid every 2 seasons.

[d] stands for ducat, the unit for a large sum of money in YaK involved in the likes of army recruitment, royal ransoms, the building of castles and the largest of bribes.


The Kingdom of Nocte

Royal Demesne and unassigned lands:
- Capital city of Finster(size 3 -> 3d/2 seasons)
- 15 parcels (19d/2 seasons)

Duchy of Ceadan:
- City of Ceadan (size 1 -> 1d/2 seasons)
- 5 parcels (5d/2 seasons)

Duchy of Blackberry:
- City of Blackberry (size 1 -> 1d/2 seasons)
- 5 parcels (5d/2 seasons)


IRC channel: #YaK4 on freenode.net

Wait for Ghazkull to post before posting in this thread.

[Azthor]

Reserved.

[Azthor]

Reserved.

[Azthor]

Reserved.

[Azthor]

Reserved.

[Ghazkull]

It was a feast in the proper Old Style. Like the Forefathers had. Not some weird southern banquet as it was fashion with many of the lords nowadays. And Logan liked it that way. The Throneroom had been rebuilt into a large Dining Hall, benches and tables stretching from the dais down to the great doors of the hall. Amidst the enclosement, several animals were spitted and grilled over open fires. Most of them were already half eaten, the feast having gone on for a few hours now. On the benches closest to the dais sat a number of less important Dukes and Counts, the rest of the tables filled almost to the Doors with the Named Men who had fought alongside Logan in the Civil War.
There were some great names among them, but they are of no further concern.

Closest to the doors sat some veteran Carls and finally a Wizard by the name of Talasam aswell as a southern Chronicler. The first was there to show tricks for amusement, the second had been invited following the old laws of hospitality. A bit closer to the dais seated between the Carls and the Named Men sat Valerian. Although not invited, he was allowed under the same laws of hospitality.

Among the Minor Lords also a Holy Knight of the Third was seated, so far up as to not insult him but as far away from the dais as possible.
Finally on the dais Logan himself, atop his unkempt hair a golden circlet. To the right of him Duchess Logherhain, her placement so close to the king causing the one or other chuckle and leer among the Named Men and well veiled ironic comments from the Minor Lords. On the outer left was the Duke of Ceadan, between him and the King three other Named Men.

Although Logan hadn't kept back at drinking, he was still stonesober after his fifth filling of mead. Thoughtfully he stroked a red dent in the Oaken Throne, remniscing about the victory over his brother and going through his speech again. Finally satisfied, he waved for the servant used to announce things, apparently a chamberlain as the Duchess had told him, and whispered to him.

The meek man, with his ornate wooden staff ,stood in front of the Dais and hit the ground with a resounding echo several times. The Sound of the Feasting Guests continued unabated. "-e..ng...lence...lease!" The chamberlain could barely be heard about the chatter of the guests. His second try wasn't much better.

Sighing Logan stood up, revealing new clothes befitting of a nobleman but somehow not fitting to him.

SILENCE!

His shout sounded like the roar of a warrior charging into battle and carried well over even to the men in the last benches. Immediately the hall went silent, several of the Minor Lords looking rather shocked. Logan glared into the Feasting Hall for a moment, his piercing gaze looking at no one in particular but giving him the undivided attention of everybody in the large Hall.

Thank you. He continued, far lower in volume although his deep, grating voice could still be heard by every guest.

Now that all of you have eaten and most of you had the one or other drink, i think it is time for a few words. Don't worry i will keep it short. We are here today not only to celebrate the end of the War, the Death of my Brothers and that i have made a dent in the throne, no, we are also here today to divide the Spoils of War and to welcome a New Era.

Many of you have done great and terrible deeds in this war, some of you were my greatest allies, some of you my enemies and a good bunch of you both. roaring laughter from the benches of the Named Men. It was true, many had changed sides after seeing in Logan a more worthy Leader then his brothers.

All those of you who have stood at my side, who have fought with me and for me, who have supported me through this war...all your sacrifices and all your efforts shall now be rewarded.  Cheers from many people from the benches.

To my greatest allies first. Lady Araline. My Packmaster. Laughter from the Named Men, grins and chuckles from the Lords.

My dear Araline, you will of course keep your Old Family Seat, the Duchy of Blackberry, with it's City and the surrounding lands of three parcels. Additionally you will be rewarded two more parcels of land and a seat in my Council. cheers from Aralines vassals.

Furthermore, The Family of Sercynian and Franz, who sadly is ill it seems, will be granted ,along with their Ancestral Seat, also 2 Parcels of Land. a glaringly obvious side blow to Raoul, showing Logan's obvious disdain that Raoul hadn't fought in the Civil War himself.

But not to forget my loyal men. As i had promised each Named Man will be granted 3 Marks of Land! The Hall erupted in loud cheering. 3 Marks of Land while not much for a Count or Duke, was a fortune for a Named Man. The distribution of so much land to his Loyal Men had proven no problem, the protracted Civil War had taken the Lives of many a Landowner and large swathes of land were either without anyone tending to it or were lacking administration.

Finally, while i will talk with anyone wishing an audience this evening, i have prepared some entertainment for the rest of you: From the northernmost Reaches here to entertain you: TALASAM, The Mage!

with that Logan slumped into his chair and emptied a whole horn of mead before turning to Araline.

How was i?


Lady Araline is granted 2 more parcels of land as is Raoul
Fluff Action: each Named Man is granted 3 Marks of Land

Spoiler:  Named Men, Carls and Thralls (click to show/hide)

While Feudalism has been established in Nocte long ago, Old Customs still hold sway. While the Nobles are the official rulers of the land they are largerly reliant on the Goodwill of their Freemen. The Carls. Better armed then levies of Thralls (basically Serfs chained to the land they were granted by the Nobles), they usually have some experience in battles. Carls usually only follow a man into battle who has proven himself worthy, that means either a Noble who has made a reputation of himself or managed to attract a number of Named Men. Named Men are Carls who have abandoned their normal lives and mostly embarked on the Path of the Warrior. The Line between both is thin and blurry, but generally it can be assumed that as soon as Carls bow to your commands upon hearing your name, you are a Named Man. The Named Men are often grizzled Veterans having conducted many a raid and fought in many battles. Expecting rich plunder or land in return from their chosen masters they often bring more Carls and Named Men in their wake. It is not uncommon for Carls and Named Men to defect to the enemy side after they have found out that a famous Warrior or an old friend is their Opponent.

[Dwarmin]

Araline leaned back in her chair, smiling slightly. She ate heartily, and drank more than a little. Cienna Spiced Mead, her usual favorite-and supplied by her own fief, no less, a regional favorite as the King had requested. No fancy Rancora Wines for him, she thought with a wider smile.

It was over. The war was over. It's orderly consumption of life and property had momentarily abated, to her pleasure. Had she not been the veins of it's black heart, after all? She was the one who brought the soldiers to the front, with their weapons, armor and supplies. She brought them back, in coffins or merely shattered husks of who they once were. Back and forth, back and forth. It was all just business, and Araline had never cared not one whit for either side.

Her only true loyalty, she believed, was to Logan himself-the man, personally-and it was a thin one at that. Things changed. People changed. She did not have faith in anything being truly permanent.

Maybe tomorrow her loyalty would shift. Maybe tomorrow Logan would have a change of heart and execute her in the city square. Maybe the massed dead of the war would rise in unholy communion to feast on the flesh of the ungrateful living...

That was all tomorrow, though. Tonight she allowed herself to celebrate...and enjoy her new Kings company.

...

That Logan had seated her so close to him...well, it was good to be somewhere, for once. She took every veiled comment and forced smile from the gathered with a nod and a quip-tonights pleasure was entirely hers. They would not even have noticed her before-the sole daughter of a nearly destitute duke, deigned useful insofar much as her child bearing hips might make a good political token for some arranged marriage. A sad fate, to be sure.

But, her Father had the decency to die before that could happen, and everything had changed. Now they had to stand at attention, and she decided to show grace and mercy, charm and poise. At least in public.

The King began to speak-and handing out the tokens of victory, and she listened raptly-echoing his call for attention with a sharp rap of her eagle headed cane upon the cobblestone floor-the one with the hidden compartments for storing many useful things. Funny old thing. It was her fathers, once. Now it was hers...

She echoed the cheer of the others as the King rewarded those who had supported him.

There was no surprise in her mind as Logan kept his promise to her-expanding and reaffirming her own rule. Araline was rarely surprised by anything. She had already been drawing up plans for the expanded plots, already made the right connections to the minor and impotent family that owned it, already had many contractors and supplies in place. At his very declaration, she subtly motioned for her steward at the back of the room-to go and spread the news, starting the chain of construction and industry.

Then she drained her glass, and thought no more that night upon mechanics and efficiency.

...

That he turned to her first seemed significant.

How was i? Logan asked hesitantly-or perhaps tactfully. His true mind was something of a mystery.

His words, only slightly slurred. She supposed he was like anyone who bore great responsibility with a degree of humility, needing subtle affirmation. And, Araline was uniquely provided by her virtues to give that to him.

"...I think these hounds will give you at least a week before plotting the next civil war, My good King Logan." She responded non-nonchalantly (her voice was loud enough that those around her heard, and laughed-if somewhat bitterly at the black humor of it), before turning her shaded grey eyes to him. For once, regarding him as a woman does a man. A a subject does as a King. He would have to get used to it, after all.

She smiled then, but it was slightly crooked. Why not? Araline was in a playful mood, and her claws were out.

---

Spoiler: The Nation of Rancora (click to show/hide)

A small and bloody kingdom far to the South of Nocte. Known for it's fine exported luxuries-wine, cheese, silk-and it's farfetched court intrigues and long winded revenge plots. Rancoran Ladies are rumored to be trained in dagger fighting and poison use before dancing and etiquette.

[Ghazkull]

HAH! Let's hope so, Aral without noticing he had given her a nickname instead of using her full name with Title.

But on a more serious note, say, you aren't interested in a position in my Council? I don't really want to fill it with all those eyesores my brothers or even my father took in. I could always need you as my Marshal or if you have enough of moving soldiers, there is always the position of Steward...of course only if you want. Of course i would sweeten the deal with another parcel of land.

He gave her one of his broad white grins, which thanks to his many scars and the broken nose was somewhere between a leer and a hideous snarl that usually send most women packing who talked to Logan.

Besides Aral, you know that i have no idea how all this court stuff works, it would be nice to have someone around with a better understanding of all of it.

 

[Ardas]

The young knight was dressed like a young knight would at a feast; fresh clean set of clothes, a brand new belt and a used, but well kept sword. But the face wasn't fresh or the look on it, although his hair was clean and neatly tied behind.
Valerian ate little, drank even less, keeping in mind the thing he was looking to accomplish. A young boy waited outside of the hall with his hammer, since Valerian knew that the king was a man that sought ot test everyone and everything that would serve him. This would be no different.

As soon as the "grand speech" ended and people started talking again and looking forward to seeing the mage. Valerian seized the moment while everyone was waiting and stood up to talk to the king, his blue eyes concentrated on the king who seemed happy to chat privately to Duchess Blackberry.

He walked up and while standing tall, he gave a small bow before he begun.
"You Majesty, allow me to be so bold and request to speak with you. My name is Valerian Vingarde and I have served as one of many men in your hosts, carrying my sword and hammer for you and in your name. My service was steady and I never retreated, sustained an injury greater than some concussion and always sought to avoid unnecessary blood of innocents from being spilled.
I have nothing to my name apart form right to bear arms as a noble and my ability to fight, thats why I wish to request to be your personal defender and armsman, my king.
You are no weakling and have proved to be a valiant fighter, but now that the burden of rule is upon you, allow me to carry arms for you in your stead while you manage our nation. "

He gave a small bow again and resumed to stand there like a trooper on a parade, his chest puffed up and eyes looking in to the distance, awaiting a reply. He was as much soldier as he was a proper knight now, but most of Logan's men were men of the old custom, sworn carls and Named Men, as opposed to the chevaliers and knights of the south from where Vingarde name originated. He did not mind it though, as he was born in Nocte and was raised in most of its customs.

[Ghazkull]

Logan just wanted to quipt a joke about the Position of Queen being vacant when the Knight barged into the talk.

He scowled at the newcomer for a moment before answering.

That is a bold request you have made here young Vingarde. Indeed i have never heard your name, nor did any of my men. cheers of approval from the nearby lords and some derisive comments about the Young Knight.

And certainly i won't allow anyone to carry my axe nor fight my wars for me, while i sit in a comfy chair. So tell me young Knight, how should i find out if you are worthy of being the Captain of my Guard if you have no name? Even more so how would i do this without insulting my fellow Named Men here, each as good a warrior as i am and sporting names which are used to scare little children?

[Ardas]

Valerian ignored the laughs and jeering, still standing stalwartly, but spoke without any hardiness. He tried to remain composed but forward.

"My king, many men go through war with their deeds unseen and unrewarded, for this is expected of them, to carry the burdens of their betters even if they don't admit it. I meant no insult to you my liege, but it is unwise to turn a man away if one knows nothing of him. You might have not heard of me or seen my talent, but I am ready to challenge anyone you would see fit for me to best. even here and now, if you see it fit to give your men some entertainment."

Valerian waited. His gaze or emotionless face were as before, awaiting a reply.

[Ghazkull]

Logan thoughtfully stroked the dent in the Throne for a moment. Then he looked up and grinned.

Fine. Because it is a Victory Feast today and i'm in a good mood, i should work out some entertainment for my people. You will fight me Young Knight. If you win you will be the Captain of my Guard.

Logan accepts Valerians challenge.

[Ardas]

He was slightly taken aback, his blue eyes widening ever so, but the face remained unmoved. He gave a small bow again.

"As you wish, my king. Artis, boy, bring me my hammer!"

The young squire entered the hall and swiftly approached his knight, handing him over his weapon. Valerian always felt a great deal more confident with his weapon than without it, no matter the court etiquette or the boisterous confidence that is expected of the carls.

Valerian obliges the king and prepares himself.

[Dwarmin]

Araline was about to accept-graciously-the position and make some tender suggestions when the brazen Knight came forth.

She knew enough of the Vingarde Family to believe they were little threat to anyone. Just more meat for the Dragon, really. At least he was passingly handsome. He might serve some entertainment after all...that said, she had heard the man was a devil with a hammer or a polearm, and quick as a Helmet snake in a house fire. Still, she had to show confidence for the King.

"Do be quick and thrash him, Logan. Send this impertinent pup back to his betters until he grows some more hair on his nethers." She commented dryly as the King rose from his dented throne-with just the right amount of sauce and swagger to make a mockery an insult, to a chorus of jeers. In the moment, she had forgotten to address the King by his title, as well.

[adwarf]

Talasam looked around nervously at first, numerous people had turned to stare at him and most bore looks of dislike or outright hatred, running a hand through his hair and giving a short shake of his head Talasam pushes himself up from the table. He worked his way past the named men, carls, and the like to the firepits where flames still licked at the bellies of full beasts being roasted over a fire.

Bowing he spoke,
"Your Majesty, if it is your wish then it shall be done."

Turning towards the firepit Talasam thought, 'Whatever gods are out there let this work ....' then focused all his might on the flames before him. He focused on his memory of watching King Logan duel his third brother, and with that he began to try and shape the flames into two likenesses, one of Logan himself and the other of his third brother both at half the size they would have been in real life.

He willed them to exist, and he willed them to reenact that great duel, to recount one of the King's greatest acts, 'Magic don't fail me now, I like my head where it is ....'

Try to create two likenesses, one of Logan and one of his third brother, from the flames of the firepit and have them reenact his great duel.