Favour System: Favour is entirely at the King's discretion.
Roll to Dodge: Anything subject to the hands of chance is determined by a 1d6 die roll. Standard RtD rules apply: 1 = crit failure, 2 = failure, 3 = minor success, 4 = success, 5 = great success, 6 overshoot with consequences. Modifiers may be applied to rolls in specific circumstances as described below.
Caveat: Only natural 1s and natural 6s count as crit fails/overshoots, in the event of modifiers. Otherwise unnatural 1s or lower are just failures and unnatural 6s or higher are grand successes.
Game Years: Game years pass when the GM (that is, I) say so. Time is otherwise fluid, but when a game year passes armies are recruited, taxes are collected and other events may occur. The king does not need to wait for a game year to pass in order to take actions but the king can always declare he is willing to "wait for year's end", at which time I will (if around) pass a year. Otherwise a game year will pass when I feel like it.
Deposing the King: The king can only be deposed by advisors/nobles commanding
military strength. At game start, the king is the only player with military strength (his strength is that of the Royal Army). Players granted 'noble' status by the king have the right to raise their own troops. Non-nobles can declare independence and raise an army as per the troop raising rules below, but will probably earn the ire of the king for doing so.
Once an alliance of players has equal or greater military strength to the King and all his supporters, they may stage a
coup. The pretender who declares his opposition may make a 1d6 roll, adding to that roll the difference in strength between his forces and those of the king. The king may then make a 1d6 roll to oppose the pretender army (without modifiers). If the king's roll is equal to or greater than the pretender's roll, the king retains his seat. If the pretender's roll is greater, the king is deposed and the pretender becomes the new king. The pretender then gains the power of the Royal Army in addition to any troops of his own.
Regardless of whether the coup is successful, all players involved will lose 1 military strength from their armies (per player). Thus an unsuccessful coup may leave the Royal Army at an advantage (if it is the single largest army). If there are sufficient armies to attempt another coup, another coup may be attempted immediately.
Declaring a new Kingdom: If allied independents have enough clout, they can declare independence. This requires them to own at least five parcels of land
within the same province. Declaring independence is instantaneous, and whoever the independents elect instantly becomes king of the new Kingdom and has all the powers of the original King (pertaining to the new Kingdom). It is very likely that the old king will attempt to destroy the new kingdom once created.
Annexing a Kingdom: Simply continue to crush the opposing kingdom with military might until they either have no armies left to oppose you, or you/they are willing to broker a peace settlement. Diplomacy may then ensue. Alternately, you may capture every last parcel of land the kingdom possesses, de facto annexing the kingdom. You will also gain the Treasury of the former king in this manner.
Military Strength: Military strength represents armies, powerful sorcerers, the aid of church healers, siege engines or anything else that would confer a military advantage. The main way military strength is gained is by raising armies, though military strength can be gained by events or completing challenges set by the GM or king (see 'guidelines to the king').
Raising ArmiesUnless otherwise noted, all regiments/units provide
one military strength each.
Personal Guard: Every player that is either granted 'noble' status or declares independence can raise one regiment per game year as their personal guard. Raising a personal guard regiment takes no time and happens instantly. If the regiment is killed it cannot be replaced until a year has passed. If the regiment is not killed, a noble/independent can continue to increase the size of his personal guard by one regiment per year, subject to maintenance. Recruiting regiments of the personal guard
after the first costs 1 ducat/regiment. The first personal guard regiment is always free, being composed of loyal retainers and kinsmen. This regiment still requires upkeep (see below).
Land: At the start of the game, all land belongs to the king. The king may grant land to subjects, or it may be taken by independents in battle (see Battles). Each parcel of land allows
half a regiment to be recruited per year by the owner, i.e. you need two parcels of land to recruit a regiment, minimum. (Half-regiments do not carry through, so you cannot just recruit a regiment every two years.) Land also provides tax (see Taxes). Recruiting regiments from land costs 1 ducat/regiment.
Other: Other methods may be suggested by players to recruit military units, such as training an elite corps of knights. These may or may not have success, and will be up to the king (or independents) to enact.
Upkeep: Every mundane infantry regiment (other regiments or military units may have separate costs) costs 1 Ducat to sustain per game year. This is deducted at the end of the game year, should the regiment still be intact. If there are insufficient ducats, excess regiments are disbanded. Other regiments might have other upkeep costs, but as a general rule each unit of military strength will cost 1 ducat/year to sustain.
Provinces: All armies exist in a physical location somewhere in the world. Armies therefore need to declare what province they are in. This is important because if raids or attacks happen in a province in which there are no opposing armies, no battle can happen and the attacker automatically succeeds.
TaxesTaxes are the lifeblood of the kingdom. Taxes are necessary to maintain the armies of the nation. Taxes can also be used to give bonuses to RtD attempts (see Guidelines to the King). Taxes are taken in Ducats.
Taxes from Land: Every parcel of land owned by the kingdom provides 1 Ducat/game year in tax. This represents agricultural yields, land revenues or whatever else that serves the basic foundation for land taxation. Land owned by the king's subjects (nobility is not a requirement) or seized by independents will pay the ducat of tax to the player directly, though the king is free to demand however much of the tax from his vassal. Note that land can be seized in battle.
Taxes from Trade: Ports and markets provide a variable amount of ducats/game year in tax, depending on trade and relations with other countries. These are paid to whomever owns the market/port. Seizing a market/port in battle also brings 1 parcel of land (the land on which the market/port rests). The king may gift the port/market to a vassal without also gifting the land upon which it rests.
Taxes from Industry: Towns provide a variable amount of ducats/game year in tax, depending on the development of the town. These are paid to whomever owns the town. Seizing a town in battle also brings at least 1 parcel of land (the land on which the town is built) though larger towns may stretch over multiple parcels, all of which will be seized during a capture. The king may gift the town to a vassal without gifting the land upon which it rests (essentially granting the right to take rents).
Other Taxes: The king may attempt to raise extraordinary taxes, such as war taxes. These may have ill effects, such as causing peasant riots. It is also possible to gain other sources of revenue not listed here.
BattlesDefence of the Realm is of the utmost importance to a King. During any battle, the King and his supporters will want to choose how many regiments or other units of
military strength (see above) to send out to fight. All battles consist of a pair of opposed rolls from either side - 1d6 plus the full military strength of the army being brought to bear. If one side beats the other's score, the battle is a victory for that side; the victor loses 1 point of military strength (i.e. a regiment is killed) whilst the defeated loses 2 points of military strength. If both sides get even scores, the battle is inconclusive and both sides lose 1 point of military strength.
When regiments are killed in battle, the leader of the side they were on (if a player) gets to choose which regiments were killed. If an NPC, the King may choose.
King Heath and his nobles are fighting the Polar Ice Trolls. The Polar Ice Trolls have brought three tribes to the fight (strength 3) whilst the King has brought the Royal Army (strength 3), his own personal guard (strength 1) and the guards of four of his noble supporters (strength 1 x 4). The extreme cold of the polar regions grants a -1 modifier to the king's strength (GM decision), leaving the King with a military strength of 7 and the trolls with a strength of 3.
Trolls roll 3 on d6, giving a result of 3+3 = 6.
King rolls 4 on d6, giving a result of 4+7 = 11.
The king is victorious, slaughtering two of the troll tribes at the cost of 1 regiment of a noble's personal guard. The king, not favouring Lord Ochita, decides that his guard was the regiment sacrificed. The king could choose which of the troll tribes were wiped out (being NPCs), but there is no real distinction between them.
The GM has not said otherwise, so the trolls retreat and fight no more - the king receives 4 parcels of land by driving the trolls out of the valley.
As well as costing troops, battles in distant locations may prevent troops sent there from defending other positions. In the above example, King Heath had better have left some of the Royal Army back home, or else he might not be able to get the rest of the Army back before pretenders seized his throne whilst he was away!
Battle Modifiers: Some things can grant modifiers to battles taking place - in the above example, the frosty terrain granted a penalty to non-trolls fighting in the region. It is possible for kings to build fortresses and the like to give bonuses to defenders in certain locations. This is up to the king.
Capturing Open Land: Capturing land that is not a market, port or part of a town requires a successful attack on whatever party owns it (which might be an enemy country, rebels or even the King himself). If a victory is secured in battle, 1d6 parcels of land are captured by the victors. If the land is undefended, no victory is needed - ownership can be claimed simply by moving the army into that region. You still can only claim 1d6 parcels at a time, due to the need to pacify the peasants.
NB: If no open land remains (i.e. land that is not covered by a market, port or town) you can only capture markets/ports or towns.
Capturing Markets/Ports & Towns: Capturing markets and ports requires a successful victory in battle (or moving into the market/port if undefended) and will grant ownership of both the market/port and one parcel of land. The same rule applies for towns, except that the owner gains as many parcels of land as the town covered.
NB: Capturing markets/ports and towns in battle leads to looting and pillaging. Any market/port or town captured in this manner loses 20% of its base yearly revenues from looting. If you want to take these structures intact, make a diplomatic settlement.
Raids: If you are unwilling to capture, you can raid a market, port, town or other taxable structure (but not open land) instead. On a success, you steal 1d6 Ducats from the Treasury of whomever owned that structure. If the owner's Treasury is empty, money is stolen from next year's tax revenue. If that is empty, raiding the structure yields no benefits. You do not gain ownership of the structure with a raid.
Defenceless Targets: Targets may be considered defenceless if there are either
no armies/defenders in that target's province at the time an attack is conducted or the armies present in that province and unwilling/unable to defend the target. Attacks on defenceless targets always succeed, though this does not necessarily protect you from retaliation.
The Royal Army consists of:
3 infantry regiments (str 1x3)
Total Royal Army Strength: 3
The nation has a total Tax revenue of:
15 Ducats/year.
It is unknown before the kingdom is created how this tax revenue is divided between land, markets and towns.
It is unknown before the kingdom is created how many parcels of land the kingdom possesses.
The kingdom's current treasury stands at:
12 Ducats.