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[Weirdsound]

(A multiplayer game in the spirit, if not quite the mechanics, of Haspen's Spamkingdom line of forum games)

Oh no!

King Awesomus of Bestland has lost yet another drinking contest. Usually this is not a noteworthy occurrence, but this time his opponent was The Evil Sorceress Maudiven, and the stakes were quite high!

Per the bet, the king, his family, and his entire castle has been shrunken, sealed away in a bottle, and stashed away in the foul sorceress’ lair. This concerns you, as you happen to be one of of Awesomus’ Loyal Dukes.

Perhaps you wish to mount a rescue, vanquish Maudiven, free the king, and restore order to Bestland. Or perhaps you view this as your opportunity to seize the moment, and claim the throne for yourself. Either way, the Sorceress has taken steps to complicate things for you!

The land has been magically shuffled! The keeps and castles of Bestland remain in the same locations relative to each other, but everything else has changed dramatically! The maps will have to be completely redrawn. Furthermore Maudiven has tampered with fate itself; Any action undertaken by the highborn population of Bestland and/or their vassals is now decided by a single six sided die and a deck of 54 cards!

How to Join:

To join as a Duke:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Post that you wish to join, and give me the name of both your bloodline and your duchy, and the color you wish to represent your holdings on the map. Also provide a few short sentences describing the castle/palace in which your bloodline lives. I will take the first five applicants who seem to know how to English gud.

Further character creation will occur during the first Providence Phase. You start with three castles and a quarry.

To join as a lesser Character (Available Soon):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

At any time after the first Providence Phase has concluded, anybody not yet playing the game may request to take control of any Count, Unlanded Vassal, or Wandering NPC in play by posting a backstory and physical description for that character. The backstory and physical description you write should not conflict with that character’s given personality, or any fact about that character established prior to you taking control if it. If the character you choose does not yet have a name, give it one. You will be put in control of your lesser character assuming you can English.

Joining as a Count means you may have less control over your actions. Joining as a Wandering NPC means you do not have a clear path to inheriting a duchy. Joining as an Unlanded Vassal is a middle ground that provides more control over your actions than you would have as a count, and perhaps some path to inheriting your duchy if something happens to the Duke.

[Roboson]

Duke Robert Oboson of the Oboson bloodline. For generations the Obosons have dwelled in the Hilltop Manner, an exquisite abode of stone and dark wood with wide sweeping rose gardens and lofty spires. The Oboson bloodline has always been associated with the color purple.

[Doubloon-Seven]

Duke Arnold P. Drauningshire of the Drauning bloodline is associated with the color teal.. The Draunings have always lived in the island-castle of Shalesbury, a sweeping edifice of white-plastered stone. Its banners fly high from the battlements of towers, and beyond the castle walls lay tranquil ponds and gardens- as well as, of course, a number of halls housing the Duke, his family, and all the rest of a castles requirements.

[Pavellius]

Duke Samuel Strognar Sr. of the Strognar bloodline lives in an imposing granite fortress at the summit of a steep, wooded hill. Great red banners hang from its sheer walls, bearing the family crest: a lion's head with a tower shield clamped in its maw. Three dozen guardsmen watch vigilantly from atop the walkways that connect the fort's four mighty towers, and smaller squads constantly patrol the surrounding woodland. Except for these guards, no one but the duke and his family has ever stepped foot in the stronghold's mighty halls.

[Taricus]

Duchess Sybille Emanhild of the Emanhild Bloodline, commonly associated with the colour navy and being the rulers of the Duchy of Talis. The Emanhild stronghold, named Stahlheim, is a veritable fortress. Sitting on a hill next to a large river, the castle is particularly difficult to assault.

[Weirdsound]

All these entries look good so far. You four are in.

Do note, I didn't actually ask any of you to name your Duke. That part of character creation will happen once the game starts. If we get our final Duke in the next hour or so, We can get on with that tonight even.

If you didn't explicitly name your Duchy, I will assume it to be named the same as either your bloodline or your castle, whichever strikes me as cooler.

[nuclearwhale]

The Bodacious Bloodline resides in Castle Halfpipe, a stark, grey citadel with the majority of it's courtyards dedicated to perfecting the art of skate. Their family color is a totally kickass shade of dark grey, representative of the concrete, on which their blood spills in the pursuit of their art.

[Weirdsound]

The Bodacious Bloodline resides in Castle Halfpipe, a stark, grey citadel with the majority of it's courtyards dedicated to perfecting the art of skate. Their family color is a totally kickass shade of dark grey, representative of the concrete, on which their blood spills in the pursuit of their art.

Nice. You are in. Game starting shortly...

[Haspen]

PTW!

[Weirdsound]

Rules of the Game - Volume 1:

A turn of gameplay is called a year, and consists of four phases that pass in the following order:

Preperation → Action/Providence → Reaction → Fallout

The game starts on the Preparation Phase of Year 1.

Year 1 - Preparation Phase:

The following events happen every preperation phase in the following order -

1: Each duke has the opprotunity to add any card banked as wealth in a keep under his/her control to his/her hand. Nobody has any banked wealth yet, so lets skip this...

2: Each duke is dealt five cards from the deck. Now we are talking! Lets do this!

Cards Dealt to the Halfpipe Duchy, as played by nuclearwhale:
Jack-o-Hearts
5-o-Clubs
Queen-o-Clubs
6-o-Diamonds
5-o-Diamonds

Cards Dealt to the Duchy of Talis as played by Taricus:
4-o-Spades
King-o-Hearts
6-o-Spades
10-o-Clubs
7-o-Diamonds

Cards Dealt to the Duchy of Strognar as played by Pavellius:
9-o-Spades
8-o-Clubs
Queen-o-Diamonds
King-o-Spades
3-o-Spades

Cards Dealt to The Shalesbury Islands as played by Doubloon-Seven:
2-o-Clubs
Ace-o-Clubs
9-o-Clubs
8-o-Spades
4-o-Hearts

Cards Dealt to The Duchy of Oboson as played by Robson:
King-o-Diamonds
5-o-Hearts
8-o-Diamonds
9-o-Hearts
Jack-o-Spades

Year 1 - Providence Phase:

A providence phase replaces the action phase of the first year, of any year following the death of a duke, and on any year following a year during which a Joker was discarded. During the providence phase, Dukes may bestow titles and plan constructions in any order they choose.

Titled Character Creation -

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You may use the following two Entitlement Actions to create new (and hopefully loyal) nobles during the Providence Phase -

Name Count: While your duchy possess an unoccupied castle, create a count by shuffling a card into the deck to represent the new count’s character. The new count is automatically placed in charge of one of your unoccupied castles. Name this character if you wish to do so.

Name Unlanded Noble: Create a new unlanded vassal by shuffling the following two cards back into the deck: One 10 or Jack of any suit to empower the new noble, and one card of any suit and value to represent the new nobles character. Name this character if you wish to do so.

---

The above actions both call for a card to be chosen or shuffled into the deck ‘to represent the created character.’ When this happens, follow the instructions below:

First, look at the value of the card to determine the created nobles’ trait:

2 - Land Manager. This character has an additional 2 inventory slots for food, and gains +2 to all rolls to build or work at mills.
3 - Alchemist. This character has an additional 2 inventory slots for chemicals, and gains +2 to all rolls to build or work at guilds.
4 - Foreman. This character has an additional 2 inventory slots for materials, and gains +2 to all rolls to build or work at quarries.
5 - Commander. This character has an additional 2 inventory slots for might, and gains +2 to all rolls to build or work at camps.
6 - Investor. If made a count, and this character’s castle hits during the Fallout Phase, this character gains a unit of wealth in an empty inventory slot. If this character’s duchy cashes in resources to bank wealth during the reaction phase, or a bank in this character’s duchy hits, this character gains +1 on their next roll.
7 - Explorer. This character has an additional inventory slot, and gains +1 to all exploration action rolls.
8 - Defender. When this character challenges to break a siege during the Reaction or Fallout Phase, or is defending against the assault of a siege that has successfully trapped them, all resources stored at the besieged location are treated as might.
9 - Diplomat. Gains +1 to any roll used for friendly interaction with nobles from outside this character's duchy and/or NPCs of the human race.
10 - Warmonger. When this character marches, the first negative random event from Military Travel each year is ignored. When this character engages in battle, their side’s lowest roll is raised to a 4.
J - Determined. If this character loses a battle, is affected by a negative world event, or has their duke affected by a negative world event, they gain +2 on the next dice they roll.
Q - Verile. This character may use any non-joker card with a value of 9 or higher to attempt the ‘babymaking’ action. This character gains +1 to all rolls to save against death.
K - Administrator. If made a count, this character’s castle has three extra inventory slots. This character gains +1 to all rolls made to act at a friendly castle.
Ace - Multi-talented. Reveal cards from the top of the deck until you have seen two cards that are neither aces, jokers, nor the same in value to each other. This character gains the traits corresponding to the value of each card.
Joker - Magical. Reveal cards from the top of the deck until you have seen one that is neither a joker nor an ace. This character gains the trait corresponding to the value of the revealed card, as well as an additional secret magical bonus.

Then, look at the chosen card’s suit to decided the created character’s personality using the table below:
 
(For multi-talented nobles, use the suit of the original Ace to determine personality)
(For magical nobles, use the suit of the card revealed from the deck to determine personality)

Hearts: Benevolent personality. When acting on their own accord, benevolent nobles do what is best for nature and the common man. Benevolent nobles may be disloyal towards cruel masters.

Diamonds: Adventurous personality. When acting on their own accord, adventurous nobles prefer to explore and take risks. Adventurous nobles are rarely disloyal, but are prone to behaving stupidly for the sake of glory and adrenaline.

Spades: Selfish personality. When acting on their own accord, selfish nobles tend to take action with the intent to improve their own condition and position. Selfish nobles may be disloyal towards dukes who constantly demand their resources, or appear weak enough to overthrown.

Clubs: Lawful personality. When acting on their own accord, Lawful nobles tend to take action in accordance to the law of the land and the spirit of their duke’s agenda. Lawful nobles may be disloyal towards dukes who strike them as unpredictable or unstable.

Construction Planning -

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Construction Planning Actions

Plan Road: Shuffle any non-joker back into the deck to plan a road between two constructions you control. All roads must be connected to a castle, either directly or via an existing road. The material cost of a road increases with its length. Roads are used to block the construction options of your rivals, while expanding your own. They also provide bonuses to marches and explorations that follow them in part or in full.

Plan Mill: Shuffle any heart back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a mill. The material cost, hit range, and storage capacity of a mill increases with the value of the card used to plan it. Mills produce food a unit of food, which is useful for mitigating negative events, when they hit.

Plan Camp: Shuffle any spade back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a camp. The material cost, hit range, and storage capacity of a camp increases with the value of the card used to plan it. Camps produce a unit of might, which is used to win battles, when they hit.

Plan Guild: Shuffle any diamond back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a guild. The material cost, hit range, and storage capacity of a guild increases with the value of the card used to plan it. Guilds produce  a unit of chemicals, which are often used to maximize the impact of positive events, when they hit.

Plan Quarry: Shuffle any club back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a quarry. The material cost of a quarry is always 1, but construction may fail if no stone is found. Hit range and storage capacity of a quarry increases with the value of the card used to plan it. Quarrys produce a unit of material, which is used for construction, when they hit.

Plan Village: Shuffle any non-joker card back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a village. Villages always require 2 material units to construct. A village hits on any card that shares the value of the card shuffled back into the deck when it was planned. A village provides one unit of food when it hits for hearts, one unit of chemicals when it hits for diamonds, one unit of might when it hits for spades, and one unit of material when it hits for clubs. If a village hits for more than one resource, the duke who owns it chooses which one is yeilded.

Plan Castle: Shuffle two face cards (Kings, Queens, or Jacks) of the same value into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a castle. Castles always require 7 material units to construct. Castles only function when owned by a count or duke. A functioning castle hits on the card representing its owner, or one card higher or lower of the same suit. A functioning castle provides its owner their choice of a single unit of Might, Food, Material, or Chemicals when it hits. A functioning castle has three storage slots for any resource, and two storage slots reserved for might.

Plan Bank: Shuffle a joker back into the deck and choose a legal site on which to build a bank. Banks always require 7 material units to construct. A bank hits on any ace or king. A bank provides one unit of random wealth when it hits. A bank has four storage slots reserved for wealth, and one storage slot for any resource.

A legal site is any discovered site that meets the following criteria:

1: The site does not yet contain a completed construction
and
2: You can reach the site by drawing a straight line from a castle you control without intersecting another player’s road or construction
Or
3: You can reach the site by drawing a straight line from a construction you control that is connected to a road without intersecting another player’s road or construction.

Multiple players can attempt to construct something on the same site, but only the first to complete their project may reap the fruit of their labor.

Special Rules for the First Province Phase -

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Each player must begin by performing the special ‘Create Duke’ action, which is almost identical to the ‘Create Count’ action. As Dukes never act during the fallout phase, and cannot betray themselves, do not assign yours a personality; You may RP your Duke however you wish. You must give your duke a name, and you may give them a backstory if you wish.

Assume you have the legal sites to plan and construct whatever you wish during the first Providence Phase, as I have not drawn up the map yet.

Hints for the first Providence Phase -

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-You start with three empty castles. 1 must be given to your Duke. If you don’t fill the other two by creating Counts, they will be easy pickings.

-During the first Providence Phase, you may plan construction projects without having to worry about finding a legal site. You will not have this opportunity in the future, so using all your cards on construction planning may be a valid strategy.

-Construction projects (other than quarries) planned with a high card will be more powerful, but will require more material to build. As gaining materials may be slow at first, it might be best to plan your initial projects with low cards.

-Cards you don’t use will be discarded. I won't spoil exactly what discarded cards do just yet, but I will give a few hints: Discarding Kings is bad. Discarding Queens is good. Discarding Jacks, Marriages (King + Queen of the Same Suit), or two of a kind pairs make interesting things happen. Discarding a Joker will force another Providence Phase to occur. Everybody shares the same discard pile, and has a chance of being affected by cards discarded by others.

-Discarded cards also cause buildings to ‘hit’ and provide resources. You all start with a quarry that will hit and provide building material if anybody discards a 2-9 of Clubs. If you discard a card of the same suit and adjacent value to a count or Duke you create, that count's castle will hit and provide a resource of your choice.

The Providence Phase will end once everybody has posted their Providence Phase Actions, which must include a single use of the 'Create Duke' special action (see the special rules spoiler). Game Start!

[Taricus]

Create Duchess (Name: Sybille Emanhild) with King-o-Hearts
Create Count with 10-o-Clubs
Create Count with 7-o-Diamonds
Plan Camp with 6-o-Spades
Plan Village with 4-o-Spades

[Weirdsound]

Create Duchess with King-o-Hearts
Create Count with 10-o-Clubs
Create Count with 7-o-Diamonds
Plan Camp with 6-o-Spades
Plan Village with 4-o-Spades

The create duke action requires a name. Please confirm you still want Duchess Sybille Emanhild.

[Taricus]

Whoops, fixed.

[Pavellius]

Make camp with 9-o-Spades
Make Duke Samuel Strognar Sr. with 8-o-Clubs
Make Countess Monica with Queen-o-Diamonds
Make Count Kristov with King-o-Spades
Make village with 3-o-Spades

Just wondering, what does the babymaking action do?
Also, it seems noble trait number 9 is missing.

[Weirdsound]

The babymaking action creates heirs, which you may mold or trade as you see fit. If a count or duke controls an heir who is of age when they die, that heir automatically takes up their parent's title. Without an heir, a dead count's castle is unoccupied and vulnerable until at least the next Providence Phase. Without an heir, a dead duke's game ends.

Fixed the missing 9 slot. Feel free to re-do your turn if you wish to use your 9 differently.