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[NUKE9.13]

Welcome, foolish mortal, to You Are King II: Tales of the Storm Coast!

Despite the misleading title, this is actually just a checkers tournament.

If you are reading this post for the first time, it means that you have decided to open a thread with over 2000 posts in it. I like your style, kid.
Anyway, I imagine the idea of reading the entire thread is quite daunting. Don't worry! You don't have to. It helps, but if you read the end-of-season summaries (bottom of this post), and read the last few pages, you should be able to get an idea of what is going on. Although perhaps not why it is going on. Allow me to explain:

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. Its a roleplay heavy affair, with simple mechanics to keep things balanced. The most basic mechanics are basically RTD ones; complex things that rely on chance/skill will have a die thrown for their success by an impartial authority. There's loads of other rules, but you can ask about those in the OOC thread, or read the wikia page on the rules.
Things are all over the place. You can basically do whatever you want- be a merchant, a noble, a warrior, whatever. People interact and we get a semi-coherent story/world going on! Woo!

There is a dedicated OOC thread which exists for discussing the rules, things that are happening, and asking to join the game. Find it here: here

You should post in the OOC thread before posting in here. This thread is for the game only.

Also, there is an IRC thingy, maybe?
/server irc.freenode.net
/join #YaK

GMing in this game is a complex thing. Many actions can be resolved without GMs doing anything- a lot of stuff is 'just' people talking.
Actions that require rolling, NPC interactions, or just a description, are resolved by one of three people:
-Me (co-GM)
-CyberGenesis (head-GM)
-Taricus (ruler of Ligoria)


Map of the world:

Spoiler: Really big. Zoom out a few clicks to view (click to show/hide)

Play is centered roughly around the purple city state of Ligoria, although this is not fixed; the tides of war and politics may shift players as much as borders.

For reference, the (outdated) world map, showing the basic shape of the world:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And my shitty MSPaint edit to one segment of that map, which was used as a basis for future maps:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A list of seasons (with summaries of the season that preceded them):
-Summer 415a
-Autumn 415a
-Winter 415a
-Spring 416a
-Summer 416a
-Autumn 416a
-Winter 416a
-Salt & Pepper. Wait, no.

[NUKE9.13]

So you want to join You Are King II

Are you insane?

I kid, I kid.

This helpful guide might help you on your epic quest to join this daunting forum game.

Step 1: Be sure you know what sort of game this is.
This is a roleplay-heavy game. Less min/maxing, more acting like your character would act. There is no way to 'win' and the mechanics are simple, but you are expected to interact in a sensible manner with people and not make your story be just about you; tie it into the stories of others and the story of the world at large.
The game is set in a low-fantasy early renaissance world. There are two non-human races; Hacturi (Lizardpeople) and Elvs (Human subspecies. Long-lived and crazy). Gunpowder exists. Early firearms (arquebusiers) exist, but are not widely used. Knights and such are on the way out. Magic exists, but is rare, highly dangerous, and rightly feared. The gods do not intervene in the world, and their existence is uncertain.

If this sounds like fun to you, continue to Step 2. If you would rather not have to strain your think-muscles with politics and subterfuge, maybe try something else.

Step 2: Check up on the state of the world.
The world is crazy. It is created by the players as they play. There was some background lore which carried over from YAK 1 and there was a map. Everything else- made up on the spot. And constantly growing and changing. So trying to describe the state of the world- bit of a never-ending task.
Check out the list of current locations on the wiki- just skim through that. That's where stuff happens.
Skim the list of current players on the wiki. That's who is making stuff happen.
Read the end-of-season summaries (at the bottom of the first post). That what has happened.
Read the last page or two of the thread. That's what is happening.
You now have a vague impression of what the world is like. If a particular aspect interests you, you can ask about it in the OOC thread.

Step 3: Think up what sort of character you would like to create.
So you have a vague impression of what sort of game this is, and know sort-of what sort of world is going on. Ok. Now, where do you fit in? Where do you want to fit in? You can be anything, basically. Preferably something interesting, but also plausible. When you have a vague idea, suggest your character idea in the OOC thread. Get feedback. Perhaps the feedback is 'are you sure?' or 'we have ten of those'. If so, maybe you should consider changing your idea.

Step 4: Refine your character.
You have your vague idea, you have feedback maybe on your idea. Now flesh it out. Name your character. Give him a background. Give him a personality. Go back and change the personality to something less Mary-Sue-esque. You will need the following information:

Code: [Select]

Name: A durrrr
Description: Appearance, age, obvious traits
Background: Where is he from, what does he want, how is he going to get it.
Starting resources: You have a budget of 3 ducats. Assign as follows:
A boat: 2 ducats.
A regiment: 1 ducat
Upgrades: Cost varies; see upgrades.
A major skill/power: 1 ducat. Ex: is a skilled general, engineer, assassin, whatever.
Money: 1 ducat/ducat. A ducat is a lot of money. You can do a lot of things with money. Post the proposed character in the OOC thread. Receive feedback. If someone with the appropriate authority says it is ok (Taricus, me, CyberGenesis), you can jump right in.

Step 5: Jumping right in.
Right, yeah. Once your character has been Ok'd, you can post in this thread with your character's introduction. Go looking for trouble; people should be tripping over themselves to offer you plot hooks, and you will soon find yourself tangled in a web of politics and intrigue. This is what we call 'fun'. You will probably find that it is 'fun' in the DF sense of the word. By which I mean, !!Fun!!

One last thing: If you join in winter, upkeep for that year is paid already.

[NUKE9.13]

Rules! As many as I could find, possibly out of date, possibly conflicting, who cares, rules!

The rules can also be found on this wiki page, which is probably alot more accurate.
From the first post of the original YAK:

Spoiler: Original Rules (click to show/hide)

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 Armies
Unless 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.



Taxes
Taxes 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.



Battles
Defence 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.

Spoiler: Guidelines to the King for Balanced Play (click to show/hide)

If you create a foe for yourself or others to fight, land or rewards should equal either 1 ducat/year or 3 ducats instantaneously per unit of military strength the foe has.  Be sparing with this; use it if I am not being an active GM.

Any action that will have a definite increase in Taxation power should have an increased difficulty of +1 per ducat/year to be gained, i.e. -1 to your roll.
Any action that will have a definite increase in military strength should have an increased difficulty of +1 per unit of military strength to be gained, i.e. -1 to your roll.

Sacrificing ducats should reduce the difficulty of a roll by 1/ducat spent on an action, e.g. spending 5 ducats to improve the conditions in a town would give you a +5 to your roll (before penalties).
Risking armies should reduce the difficulty of a roll by 0.5/unit of military strength, if the action was not originally a battle, e.g. sending 6 armies to coerce peasants not already part of an uprising will grant you a +3 to your roll (before penalties).

Otherwise, critical failures should result in the loss of at least 1 ducat or 1 regiment (unless battles), whilst great successes (but not overshoots) should result in the gain of at least 1 ducat/regiment.  I leave it up to you to determine other success/failure values, unless I should intervene.

Spoiler: Miscellaneous New Rulings (click to show/hide)

The game evolves as we progress and so we acquire additional rules.  All/Most are mentioned below.

No dynastic inheritance by the same player.  By all means get someone else to play your brother/sister/cousin/daughter/slave, but don't just reincarnate as your next of kin should you die.

Inheritance:  You may designate players to inherit your estates or wealth (if you have any) to pass to them on your character's death.  You should do this before you die.  It is up to the King as to whether the law respects that inheritance (if within the kingdom's reach) but otherwise it will be respected.  Regular soldiers can transfer their loyalty in this way, but not personal guards.  You may not pass inheritance on to your next character in this way, and if I see anyone pass their estates on to a patsy who then gives it straight to their new character they will suffer the wrath of fate for playing the system.  If you deliberately play a character who is next-of-kin to another player's character, you will automatically inherit unless the player designates a different heir.
NB:  You can inherit the kingdom this way.  Whether the nobility respect that inheritance is a different matter.  Wars of succession have been known to happen this way.

Trade Potential:  Provinces now get an extra stat that applies to the whole province; trade potential.  This represents the potential ducats to be gained from trade to and within this area.  Building and expanding markets/ports uses up trade potential.  Once trade potential is used up, markets/ports can only get more profitable by taking tax away from other markets (or by taking trade potential from another region).

The base TP of a region may depend on various factors (such as population, geography etc) but every resource the owning kingdom has access to will increase the TP of a region by 1.

Urban Potential:  Town growth is now limited by the number of resources a region can produce.  With 0 Resources, a total of 2 Tax can be derived from the towns in the region.  Each additional Resource adds +3 to the total tax limit in the region.  Manufactured resources count towards this limit.

New towns nominally have a base tax of +2, so their base difficulty is -2.  Some outposts might be founded at -1 difficulty with a base tax of +1.  The difficulty of improving a town thereafter is equal to its present tax rate/2 but limited by resources (see above).

Mines and other such affairs to either count as an improvement to towns (urban industry) or as one-off events.  In this case, setting up a mine to (say) search for ores or other geological resources would be a one-off event.  Success would garner you a cash bonus, resource revealing or both.  Failure might cost you.  Base difficulty for that task would be -2 (-1 for ducat bonus chance, -1 for searching for the first resource in a region).  If a region has no resources of note (like Eelspine), finding the first resource is at a -1 difficulty.  The difficulty increases by -2 for each successive resource to be found.

Military Labour:  Put more soldiers into the effort (+0.5 to roll per regiment) to simulate using your troops as manual labour rather than leaving them on guard duty or spend ducats (+1 to roll per ducat).

Colonising Unsettled Regions usually has a difficulty of -1 per parcel of land attempted to be claimed.  Some harsh regions (such as high mountains) may have higher base difficulty.

Fortifications add structural bonuses to defending armies.  Fortifications increase in order; Walls, Forts, Castles and so on provide defensive bonuses of +1, +2, +3 etc.  The difficulty to create a structure is equal to its defensive bonus.  Upgrading a fortification (say from Keep to Castle) is as difficult as building it anew, but does not require as many engineers to construct (see specialists).  A fortification always requires Defense Level - 1 total engineers invested to construct.

Terrain Defense Bonuses apply to whole provinces in general and provide bonuses to any defending army in the region.  Bonuses tend to be +1 for hilly or heavily forested terrain and +2 for mountainous or swampy terrain.

Asymmetric Warfare Ruling:  If an army can successfully beat its opponent by 5 or more (i.e. the equivalent of rolling 6 vs 1 on an even battlefield) then the victors do not lose a regiment from the fight.  The defeated still lose 2 regiments as normal.  This should allow small armies with terrifying defences to hold out rather than be wiped out in three rounds of attrition by an army that can spare the men.

Player vs Player Combat:  In the event two characters go at each other with weapons, rolls will be as per battles; opposed rolls with the winner highest.  Each character starts with three hitpoints and will lose a hitpoint on a lose or draw (winning a roll, you don't lose a hp).  Having a shield or armour (include it in your preparations) counts as a +1 and having a weapon counts as a +1.  Having guards also counts as (only) a +1.  Other modifiers may be applied by me or the King, depending on who is doing the combat rolls.  First to zero hitpoints is dead or incapacitated (and thus at the victor's mercy).  Beating your enemy's roll by 5 means you inflict 2hp damage instead of 1hp.
Meat Shields:  To stretch combats like this out, having 3 guards gives you a bonus 3hp that you can lose in a fight instead.  Of course, every time you lose one of those hp you'll lose a third of your guards.  Having 2 guards grants a bonus 2hp, 1 guard grants an extra hp.  I'm going to rule that even if you have a whole platoon of guards around you, you can only effectively have up to 3 bodyguards in a given combat.

Player Training/Research:  Players can engage in training or research projects (1 project/year max) such as duelling training, leadership training or mechanical or alchemical research.  These projects require 100 points to complete and as a rule of thumb successes give 10-30 points, overshoots deduct 10 points and critical failures deduct 20 points.  When the project is eventually completed, the player character will usually receive a +1 to rolls relating to whatever skill or knowledge they have acquired.  Such training or research will often have other costs such as Ducats or special tasks attached.

Specialists:  We'll incorporate more of these as we go, but specialists will be a 'people-resource' representing specialised trades.  The first specialists are engineers, needed for building siege weaponry.  You will need to train specialists or hire them from abroad.
Engineers:  Needed for building siege weaponry instead of land parcels, used up on a one-per-unit basis.  I'm ruling that you can't build anything more than a wall in terms of defensive structures without expending an engineer for each level of structure above that.  (Though improving an existing structure would reduce the cost by as many engineers as were already 'invested'.)  Engineers can also be used to construct gunpowder or build and man temporary traps.  Engineers spent to produce units are returned if the unit is voluntarily disbanded (but not if it is destroyed).
Sailors:  Needed for shipbuilding.  Ports produce 1 Sailor/year.

Gunpowder:  Provided you have access to a technology, engineers can be diverted to producing gunpowder instead of being expended.  Any engineers left at the end of the year will produce 1 barrel of gunpowder each, which is stored.  Gunpowder barrels can be used to create one-shot traps (+1 to a single fight, max bonus +1) or provide a +1 bonus (per barrel) to mining-related rolls.

Traps:  An engineer unit can be spent to build and man traps in a specific location at the cost of 1 Ducat.  The traps can be used in a single fight to provide a +1 trap bonus (attacking or defending), after which the engineer unit is released for re-use.  The traps can be reset at the cost of another 1 Ducat.

Spoiler: Units (click to show/hide)

Unless otherwise stated, 1 manpower is equivalent to the manpower provided by 2 parcels of land.  A better way to think of this is that 1 parcel of land provides 0.5 manpower per year.

The base unit for all land regiments is the Infantry Regiment, hired at a cost of 1 Manpower and 1 Ducat, with an upkeep of 1 Ducat/year.  Each unit has two upgrade 'slots' - a unit can be trained up after hiring (or at the same time as hiring) by paying the upgrade cost and it will gain the benefits of the new upgrade.  Upkeep costs will usually increase as well.

Personal guards are automatically hired as Infantry Regiments, with the first personal guard regiment having a -1 Ducat discount to hire and all PG regiments having a -1 manpower discount to hire (but only 1 hire per year).  Thus, hiring cavalry personal guard would actually require 1 manpower to recruit, as the cavalry upgrade has a +1 manpower requirement.

No unit can have more than 2 upgrades, though it might be possible to research expensive upgrades that are simply more powerful than their predecessors.  Replacing an upgrade (when both slots are full) requires the full upgrade cost for the new upgrade be paid.  There is no refund for the upgrade it replaces (except for specialists, who are released as they would be on a unit disband).

Base Units

Infantry Regiment:  Str 1.  Basic land unit.
Hire Cost:  1 Ducat, 1 Manpower
Upkeep:  1 Ducat/year

Siege Tower:  Str 0.  Basic siege unit.  +1 Str vs walled fortifications.
Hire Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  0.5 Ducats/year

Light Warship:  Str 1.  Basic naval unit.  Can transport 1 Unit.  Unless otherwise noted, transported units cannot fight as part of naval battles.
Hire Cost:  1 Ducat, 1 Sailor
Upkeep:  1 Ducat/year


Land Upgrades

Heavy Unit I:  Str +1.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat/year

Cavalry:  Str +1.  +1 Str on plains, steppe or open fields, or when defending a hill (but not where also defending a walled fortress).  Without access to the Horse resource, a maximum of 1 Cavalry regiment can be recruited per kingdom per year.
Cavalry troops conver +1 to Tactics rolls involving them.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat, 1 Manpower  (After the first unit/year, requires access to Horses.)
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat/year

Ambush:  +2 Terrain bonus when conducting attacks or defence using only Ambush-capable troops.  Terrain bonuses are normally provided to defenders of hilly, mountainous or heavily forested regions - terrain bonuses overlap, they do not stack.  Ambush-capable troops can get the terrain bonus when attacking, however.  Note that this bonus applies to the stack as a whole, not to individual units.
Ambush troops confer +1 to Tactics rolls involving them.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducats
Upkeep:  +1 Ducats/year

Raider:  Can conduct hit-and-run raids on markets, ports or settlements with a chance of avoiding a fight.  On a simple 1d6 roll of 4+ Raiders may avoid combat and withdraw after the raid with collected loot, unless the defenders also possess Raider-capable troops or Scouts.  In this event a battle involving only the raider-capable troops/Scouts will take place.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  (No additional cost.)

Pike/Reach:  +3 Str vs Cavalry-capable units.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat/year

Scout:  Confers ambush immunity (combat vs stacks including scouts negate the +1 terrain bonus enjoyed by Ambush units).  Can defend vs raids, but not otherwise raider-capable.  On a simple d6 roll of 3+, can escape from any combat before battle starts.
If used to boost a scouting check (i.e. the whole unit is split up and deployed for scouting) provides a +2 to the RtD scouting roll, but on a natural 1 enough scouts are captured or lost that the unit is destroyed.
Can pass through enemy territory undetected on a simple d6 roll of 4+.  Does not confer this benefit to non-Scout units.
Can be used to counter-scout (find and eliminate other scouts) within an area, adding a -1 penalty per Scout unit to enemy scouting checks, but these units cannot be used for anything else.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat

Archer:  +1 Str when defending.  Additional +1 Str when fighting on hills or mountains (attacking or defending), or when defending walled fortifications.
Special:  Archer units are naval combat-capable, but due to the high movement of naval combat lose their defensive bonus from archery.  Other bonuses can still remain in effect.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat  (Requires access to High Quality Wood.)
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat

Disciplined:  +1 Str when defending.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats

Berserker:  +1 Str when attacking.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats

Tactician:  +2 to Tactics rolls involving this unit.  A skilled captain commands this regiment.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats


Siege Upgrades

Catapults:  Str +1.  +1 Str vs walled fortifications, +2 Str defending walled fortifications.
Upgrade Cost:  1.5 Ducats, 1 Engineer
Upkeep:  +1.5 Ducats/year

Ballistae:  Str +1.  +1 Str defending walled fortifications.  Str +1 vs cavalry, ships or siege.
Upgrade Cost:  1.5 Ducats, 1 Engineer
Upkeep:  +1.5 Ducats/year


Naval Upgrades

Heavy Ship I:  Str +2.  (Carracks are a heavy ship.)
Upgrade Cost:  2 Ducats, 1 Sailor
Upkeep:  +2 Ducats/year

Offensive Drill:  +1 Str when attacking.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats

Defensive Drill:  +1 Str when defending.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats

Tactician:  +2 to Tactics rolls involving this unit.  A skilled captain commands this regiment.
Upgrade Cost:  0.5 Ducats
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducats

Oar Banks:  +1 Str when attacking.  +1 to Tactics rolls involving this unit.  Banks of oars for higher ramming speed during attacks and manoeuvres.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  +1 Ducat/year

Sea Raider:  On a victory or draw, sea raider units capture the Sailor specialist that was crewing the ship (if multiple specialists were crewing the ship due to upgrades, potentially all the Sailors can be captured), any non naval combat-capable units being transported (i.e. anything not able to fight in a sea battle) and any Cargo Goods being transported.  Each Sailor, Cargo Good or Unit captured takes up 1 Transport space on the ship.  If insufficient space exists, excess loot is left to the mercy of the sea.
Sailors not intended to be used in recruiting new ships and Units that the new owner does not desire to pay upkeep for can be sold as slaves for a return of 1 Ducat each.  Cargo goods are typically worth 1 Ducat each, but this may vary.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  +0.5 Ducat/year

Cargo Hold:  Adds +1 Transport space to a ship.  Transport space is used to ferry units or cargo across the sea.
Special:  This upgrade can be taken twice.
Upgrade Cost:  1 Ducat
Upkeep:  No additional cost/year.

From the fifth post of the original YAK:

Spoiler: Even More Rules! (click to show/hide)

Tactical Movement

It may be advantageous in battle to specify using certain units to attack others whilst leaving other units behind, or else to split enemy forces to take them on piecemeal.  Attempting to pull off tactics more complex than a straight charge or holding position as a clump of forces whilst the enemy attacks requires a Tactics roll.  Given the simple success/failure nature of Tactics rolls, these are handled with a simple d6 roll rather than RtD rules.

The base success threshold for any Tactical manoeuvre is 3; i.e. roll 3+ on a d6 to succeed.  Each tactic added to the manoeuvre increases the success threshold, making it harder to pull off but allowing you to combine multiple tactics.  Unit or PC bonuses (e.g. from Training) can provide bonuses to the Tactics roll.  Enemy tactical bonuses decrease the tactics roll.  Failure usually has consequences related to the attempted manoeuvre.

Flank the Enemy:  Attempt to attack your enemy from the sides or rear at the risk of getting caught exposed.  On a success, +1 to the battle roll.  On a failure, -1 to the battle roll.
Difficulty: +2

Split the Enemy:  Split the enemy into two or more portions to engage each part separately.  On a success, can engage fractured army according to own disposition.  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: +1, additional +1 for each unit in the enemy army that will not be engaged by your own troops.
Special:  Split the Enemy is always checked first, independent of any other tactics combined with it.  On a success, any tactics combined with split the enemy are rolled for each fraction of the enemy engaged.  On a failure, all combined tactics are rolled vs the full enemy army with an additional +1 difficulty.

Negate Terrain Bonus:  Attempt to gain the high ground.  On a success, enemy terrain bonus negated.  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: +2, but see special.
Special:  If this tactic is combined with a successful attempt to split the enemy, the difficulty is reduced to +1 for the main body of the enemy army and +0 for any other fractions.

Force Rout:  Try to get the enemy to rout with a potentially reckless charge.  On a success, if the fight is a victory (not a loss or draw), destroy 3 enemy units instead of 2.  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: +2

Conserve Forces:  Hold your men back just enough to avoid unnecessary losses.  On a success, if the fight is a victory (not a loss or draw), lose no units from attrition (normally 1 unit lost).  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: +2

Scale/Breach Walls:  Try to reduce the effectiveness of the enemy defences by breaching or scaling the walls.  On a success, -1 to enemy structural defence bonus.  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: Equal to the defensive bonus granted by the structure.

Capture Unit:  Aim to capture a unit instead of outright destroying it.  Unit must be one of the two weakest units in the fight.  On a success, named unit (or if not valid, second-weakest unit) is captured on a victory (any other units that would normally be destroyed are destroyed as normal).  On a failure, -1 to battle roll.
Difficulty: +3


Offensive/Defensive Flipping and Fleeing a Battle

A side may only flee a battle automatically if it has advantage.  Whoever won the last round of combat has advantage (in the event of a draw, advantage is retained, and in the event of a draw on the first round the attacker has advantage).  A side without advantage can try to flee anyway, but will only succeed if the opposing side opts not to chase them.  If the opponent does opt to chase them, the flee attempt fails and the opponent becomes the attacker (gaining any unit bonuses to attack and losing any unit bonuses to defence, including terrain and fortification bonuses) whilst the would-be fleeing party becomes the defender.

The default position of armies is to let fleeing enemies run and to flee once they lose a battle.  Standing battle orders can be given to the contrary.  Be warned that fleeing may destroy your attack advantages, but chasing will destroy your defensive advantages.  It may thus be in the interests of a berserker army to remain on the attack as much as it possibly can, even in potentially ruinous circumstances, whilst a disciplined force in good fortifications might elect to relinquish the opportunity to chase the enemy lest it be lured into a trap.

Running out of space, oh boy oh boy. This is going to be fun.
Part of the second post in the OOC thread:

Spoiler: The Game in Brief (click to show/hide)

Contrary to the suggestion game implied by the 'You are' title, You are King is a large multiplayer game in which only a very few players are actually Kings.  Players take on the role of individual citizens, noble or otherwise, in a developing world managed in fair part by the players themselves.

New characters start out with almost nothing, but by swearing fealty to a King (or striking out on their own as an independent) they can rise to the position of Dukes, Merchant Princes or even Kings themselves.  In You Are King, a player character can...

+ Raise an army
+ Seize or be granted land
+ Become a merchant or craftsman
+ Rebel and overthrow the existing King
+ Become a King themselves
+ Pretty much anything else within reason!

Spoiler: Setting & Theme (Read this!) (click to show/hide)

The region around the Kingdom of Elbreth (the original player kingdom) is culturally and technologically on the cusp of the Dark Ages.  Gunpowder is unknown in this part of the world (or any other), but architecture, engineering and the natural sciences are closer to Western Renaissance levels.  Culturally, a Western Medieval theme is considered appropriate.

Although this is a fantasy, high fantasy elements have been reined in to avoid the risk of Tolkeinism.  The GM has ruled that there is only one other sapient species, the hatcuri, who live far off the map to the south.  The GM has come up with a good reason for why this is the case.  With the exception of one bloodline of particularly long-lived humans (sometimes called 'elves'), this is it as far as fantastic races go.  No orcs, thankyouplease.  You may only apply to join as a human or hatcuri.

Magic exists by common consent of the players, but is rare and forcibly balanced (albeit like a centrifuge) by the GMs.  There are some fairly iron-cast rules regarding the use of magic that any would-be mages should read.  Magic of any kind is rare and largely feared in this part of the world, and for damned good reason.

There are a number of religions in the world, and the area around Elbreth is split between semi-pantheistic folk religions and a small number of conflicting monotheistic religions.  Monotheistic followings of note include Cyclicism and Suulian Orthodoxy, both of which preach the existence of a supreme deity but which differ in their precise teachings.  Many characters will refer to 'the gods' rather than 'God' though, giving nod to the prevalence of the old folk faiths in much the same way as Real Life renaissance poets would often credit 'Jove' and other Saturnelian deities even in a Christian world.

Spoiler: Time & Turn Progression (click to show/hide)

Play takes place over years of game time, with the original turn starting in the year 312.  At the start of each year earnings and tax income are accrued, upkeep/wages are paid and several abilities such as raising personal guard regiments are reset.

Each year is split into four seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  To prevent the early 'time-travel' issues that arose with doing events out of order, events take place within the season the game is in and when a new season is declared cannot be back-dated.  This would seem fairly obvious, but has proved a necessary rule to implement.  Some actions (generally travel) take place over more than one season.

Within a season time is somewhat fluid, but order of events should be respected.

Spoiler: Adjudication (click to show/hide)

The main GM (currently Iituem) makes dice rolls, is the final word on any rules disputes and is completely impartial.  He also controls any NPC factions, though not exclusively.  Any player who is a King (i.e. ruler of a state that has been declared by the main GM to be a Kingdom) can also act as a GM within his Kingdom, rolling dice and making rules judgements.  He cannot usually roll for himself or actions that involve his own forces, since his impartiality would be in question; another King (also not involved) or the GM must roll for him in these situations.  Kings can roll for events occurring outside any player Kingdom, so long as they are not directly involved in/have a direct stake in the outcome.

In essence, part of the responsibility of being a King is to take some of the load off the GM.  This helps us support a larger playerbase, to boot.

[NUKE9.13]

More rules!
From the first post of the OOC thread (regarding magic/religion):

Spoiler: Important Notes (click to show/hide)

Regarding Magic

As part of the rules rewrite, a magic system will be assessed and parts of that have already been displayed in Locanil's spirit summoning rolls; a division of spells into different parts (in that case Summoning, Binding and Banishing) where any part has the power to go wrong.  This will keep the variability of magic in place, especially given that a different thing can go wrong at each step with differing consequences.

Also coming with the rules update will be a theme and setting post, in which the role of magic is noted; I am determined to keep this game relatively low-magic.  You are King is very much a game of politics and subtlety as much as it is open warfare and adventuring, and this works better with most characters staying mundane.  Wizards should be rare and dangerous, and tempting as it might be to make everyone a wizard we as the GMs will want to make it painful enough to play one to discourage most from trying.

The same goes for demons and other high-fantasy elements.  The introduction of magic led to some dangerous expectations and assumptions about what 'goes' in the gameworld, with one player stating that "this is a fantasy" and therefore assuming that druids and dire wolves could be taken as read.  Medieval/Reformation/Renaissance Europe should be your guideline here, not Dungeons and Dragons.  By common consent of the players, magic exists, but it is not the focus of the game.

Prevalance of Magic

I'm going to rule that magic and magic-users range from uncommon to very rare (depending on region and type of magic).  Here, a court wizard might be a big thing.  Elsewhere, every minor nation might have one.  Magic will often have a social cost besides its material and fatigue costs.  All forms of magic are essentially limited by these three factors:

Efficiency/Cost:  If it was easier to summon vegetables out of the air, nobody would farm.  If sustained light sources were easier to make and to make available than candles, chandlers would go out of business.  Farmers and chandlers exist, so it becomes apparent that there are some things (most things) that magic cannot do as well as mundane methods, assuming it can do them at all.  Alternately it may be the case that magic can do these things as easily or even easier than by mundane methods, but the associated costs or consequences (see Power Source) may be too great for it to be worthwhile.  It may be easier for a Summoner to 'create' fruit out of thin air than to farm it, but there's no guarantee that it will remain fruit once he stops concentrating.  Magic excels at doing things that simply aren't possible yet (or at all) through mundane means.

Power Source:  This ties partially back into costs, but the idea is that all magic requires a power source to work.  This might take the form of ingredients and reagents that are charged with whatever force powers spells and expended in the course of casting.  It might be that you can only access an otherwise free and available power source in a certain area or at a certain time (or when the stars are in alignment).  Or it may be that the power source comes from living entities (or not-quite-living ones), that to power your spell you may need to drain the life force from another, or to summon and bind a demonic spirit to power it.  Power sources limit where and when magic can be applied and bring additional costs and consequences to its use.

Social Cost:  Part of the social cost of magic depends upon the costs or consequences of its use.  If you can heal someone back to full health, but the power source comes from draining another person's life force to death, this may not sit well with the population.  Dragging the dead back into the world of the living for information or service might similarly not sit well with people.  You might skip all these messy power source issues by using the relatively clean, renewable source of bound demons to run your spells - but there's always the fear they'll break loose and lay waste to the world of the living.  Another part comes from the fear of the strange or different; even if your wizards are only constrained by the need to gather and perform spells at midnight in the deep forest, that's still strange occult behaviour.  People have historically been lynched for less, and in any case such figures might be treated with suspicion or ostracised for being clearly different.  A third, less obvious part of the social cost of magic comes into play on the occasions when magic can do a job as well as or even better than a mundane source.  If a mage rolls into town who can forge perfectly balanced steel swords with a wave of his wand, the Armourer's Guild is going to take some very sharp steps to drive him out of business (and out of town) before he can cut in on their trade any further.


Magic with lesser costs, more benign power sources and more socially acceptable practices are more likely to exist in the world on a merely uncommon level.  Wizards who summon vast demon-led skeletal armies through the blood sacrifice of peasants on the night of the full moon are going to be understandably rare.  Players intending to play wizards might do well to consider the Abilities, Costs, Consequences, Power Source and Social Cost of the style of magic they use.

Divine Intervention

The gods, such as they are, are ineffable.  In other words, if divine intervention happens it happens within the dice roll and as such is out of my hands.  It is as likely as it is in the Real World, which is to say that it might be happening but the effects are so subtle and so good at masquerading as chance that you will never know.

Gods aren't important.  Religions are important, and those don't need magic to support them.  (And if they do, then it's the sort of magic wizards draw on.)  You might find the occasional Holy Grail type artefact whose powers are ascribed to divinity, but it's plausible it could have been created by a wizard.  Or not.  Once again, you will never know.

From the second post of the OOC thread (some of it is up a post due to OUT OF SPAAAACE):

Spoiler: Raiding & Slaving (click to show/hide)

Raid/Looting Clarification:  It is not normally possible to loot open land or the tiny, 'invisible' villages that dot the landscape.  Towns, markets, ports, temples and other significant structures may be looted or raided.

Raiding:  Raiding is conducted as part of a raid by a Raider or Sea Raider unit on a significant structure, or by a normal unit on a defenseless structure.  It yields 1d6 ducats, taken from the structure owner's Treasury (if any remains in the Treasury) or else from the tax provided by the structure.  A structure may only be raided once per season.

Looting:  Looting requires the structure to have been captured by a hostile force.  Looting steals the entirety of the following year's tax income from the structure (or any remaining tax income, if it has been previously raided).  If whatever structure the owner's Treasury is located in is looted (usually the capital city's fort) then thalf the Treasury will be looted as well - the remainder is assumed to be distributed elsewhere.

Looting Businesses:  Businesses in a captured town or market can be looted like any structure - their income for the following year is stolen.

Dismantling Businesses:  Businesses can be dismantled by enemy soldiers that capture a town, or by their owner, for half their value (i.e. the ducats invested to bring it to its present Size).  Since this is highly wasteful, most owners will attempt to sell their business when they no longer require it, but raiders may be interested in the higher returns than mere looting will allow.

Private Citizen Treasuries:  Citizens that own a town, market or business are assumed to have their Treasuries located within said towns/markets/businesses, or else within the capital/largest/best defended structure (capital takes precedence, best defended in second place).  Other citizens are presumed to either carry their Treasuries with them or leave them in whatever town they have a house/residence in.  Technically speaking, this does mean that if said town is captured or they are captured, they can be robbed of their Treasuries.

Players may opt to leave their Treasuries in other, more secure locations.  This may provide a niche for characters looking to start a business based around a well-defended vault.


Capturing Slaves

Slaves can now be captured as part of a raid attempt.  A raider may choose to raid slaves or ducats.  Slaves are drawn from any surplus manpower in the province - if there is no manpower remaining, slaves cannot be taken.  Slavers may opt to take slaves directly as manpower (pressganging them) or as commodities.  On a successful raid, 1d6/2 (round up) manpower is stolen.

If they are taken directly as manpower, the province's available manpower count decreases on a success and the slaver's personal available manpower increases accordingly.  If they are taken as proper slaves, each point of manpower stolen is converted into one shipment of the Slaves trade good.  Unless a province deliberately operates slave pens to breed fresh slaves (i.e. it has the Slaves resource) this is the only way to obtain the Slaves trade good.  It may not be obtained from normal trading at ports.

The Slaves trade good may not be converted back to manpower - breaking the spirit of the slaves also breaks their viability as a military force.  A province owner may convert manpower deliberately into Slaves, but this will likely cause some uproar and potentially outright rebellion amongst the populace - provided any are left to revolt.

Spoiler: Sieges (click to show/hide)

Siege Rules

A walled fortification of any kind can be held as part of a siege.  Non-walled sites, even towns or markets, cannot be held unless they have some sort of fortification to besiege - defenders must either flee them or fight until there are none left or the foe is defeated.

A siege happens when an attacking force rather than attacking camps outside the area controlled by the fort and prevents transit in and out of the fort.  An attacking force of any size can attempt this.  If a fort has unrestricted access to a port (either because the port is not held by enemy troops or because the fort is situated in a port) then both land and sea must be blockaded for a siege to take effect.

Once a siege is underway, the defenders will slowly starve and deplete whatever rations are left in the fort.  Unless the fort has recently been besieged, forts start with a number of provisions equal to the fort size (i.e. 1 unit for Walls, 2 for Forts, 3 for Castles etc.).  Every regiment within a fort will consume one shipment of provisions per season.  If the defenders should end a season without sufficient provisions, they must either surrender or immediately attack the besieging forces (and try to flee).

Whilst besieged, defenders may upgrade regiments present in a fort but may not recruit new regiments there, although regiments can be recruited outside the fort if messengers can get through.  Getting a messenger out requires a successful Scouting check (that is, a Scout unit can be used to improve its chances and Scout units can be used to oppose it) that succeeds on a roll of 3 or better.  Unless allies exist outside who will pay for recruitment, messengers must also carry the Ducats used for recruitment with them - so capturing a messenger will put those Ducats in the hands of the captors.

Merchant adventurers can try to smuggle provisions into the fort from other provinces - any edible staple will do, and the market will pay full military+staple demand bonuses for it.  The defending government may also pay a bonus at their discretion.  Smuggling goods past a siege requires a successful smuggling check (as smuggling contraband), following the usual smuggling rules.  It is possible for merchants to try to bribe NPC officers in the besieging army to help as they would bribe customs officials.  Other than breaking the siege, this is the only way to bring fresh provisions into a besieged fort.

SPELLCASTING RULES HAVE BEEN SACRIFICED TO THE ALLMIGHTY LORD OF 40000 CHARACTER LIMIT. If you want to play a game-breaking wizard, you can begin paying off the karmic debt by looking up the rules your gosh-darned self (they're in the second post of the OOC thread)

Spoiler: Businesses (click to show/hide)

Businesses

The most reliable way to make money aside from trade or land ownership is to invest in a business.  Businesses require a fair amount of capital to start up but yield regular income every year thereafter.  At year's end, every business receives a number of ducats equal to the business' Size.  Be aware that many states can and do tax businesses, so you may well receive less than the full amount you were expecting.

Industrial businesses are based around the production of goods and resources, such as lumber mills, farms, workshops and glassworks.  Expanding an industrial business costs 3 ducats per unit of Size.

Commercial businesses are based around trade and money, such as retailers, banks, moneylenders, caravaneers, warehouse and shipping operators.  Expanding a commercial business costs 3 ducats per unit of Size.

Service businesses are based around the provision of a professional service, such as doctors, barbers, lawyers, scribes, masons and clergymen.  Expanding a service business costs 4 ducats per unit of Size.

The total size of all businesses in a province is limited by that province's Business Potential, split into three types; Industrial Potential, Commercial Potential (distinct from Trade Potential) and Service Potential.  When the total sizes of businesses in a sector reaches the Potential Limit, businesses can only expand at the cost of other businesses; i.e. by competition.

During competition, a business owner pays to expand his business by 1 Size as usual.  Every business owner in the province rolls a d6.  If any business owner rolls less than the expanding businessman, the business with the lowest roll (if tied, the business with the highest Size of those tied) loses 1 Size and the expanding business gains 1 Size.

Monopolies may be granted by province authorities to certain businesses.  A monopoly grants an impressive +3 to competition rolls but greatly reduces the efficiency of trade and production.  Trade Monopolies reduce the Trade Potential of the region by 2, Service Monopolies reduce the Urban Potential by 2 and Goods Monopolies reduce both Urban and Trade Potential in the region by 2.


Business Abilities

The three different Business types (Industrial, Commercial and Service) have ancillary benefits on top of their guaranteed annual income.

All Industrial businesses are capable of producing trade goods, provided they can afford to meet production costs.  A business may produce any trade good that the province has listed as a resource for four increments less than the base price (to a minimum of 1 increment).  Businesses may produce as many goods in a season as they have Size (i.e. ducats/year).

Unless goods produced by industrial businesses are stored in a warehouse or shipped elsewhere for sale, they will be sold to the general market at the end of the season (depending on the die roll this may result in a profit, breaking even or in the case of extraordinary circumstances a loss).


Commercial businesses that reach Size 4 can extend credit for up to 1 year.  The maximum amount of credit they can extend is equal to the value of their business (i.e. 3 times the Size).  Credit allows characters to spend more money than they physically have available.  Any credit still outstanding after 1 year must automatically be paid back by the business - liquidating part of the business if necessary to meet the demands of their creditors.

Commercial businesses of Size 8 or above can offer loans of up to 5 years under whatever conditions they deem appropriate.  The maximum loan they can extend is four times the value of their business.  If loans are not repaid after 5 years (possibly if the debtor goes bankrupt or defaults, or if they agree to an extension) then the business must repay at least one quarter of the loan every year thereafter until the loan is repaid in total.  For this reason, such businesses are strongly recommended to demand collateral on loans.


Service businesses of Size 3 or above can sponsor the training of specialists of any kind.  Such sponsorship costs 1 Ducat and the business may sponsor a total number of specialists per year as it has Size.  The specialists are trained after 1 season.

Spoiler: Specialists (click to show/hide)

There are several different types of Specialist available in the game.  With the exception of Sailors, all Specialists may be hired by kingdoms at a rate of 2 ducats (arriving in 1 season) or 3 ducats (arriving immediately), to a maximum limit described below.  Again with the exception of Sailors, 3 specialists of the same type may be expended to produce an Academy - this Academy will then produce 1 Specialist/year thereafter.  Multiple Academies may be constructed, or existing Academies expanded at the same 3:1 ratio.  Academies must be constructed in a town and may be destroyed or captured when the town is.

All specialists may be stored until used without penalty.  A nation may only hire as many specialists of each type per year as it has provinces under its control (i.e. a nation with 3 provinces could hire up to 3 engineers, 3 spies and 3 missionaries in the same year).

Sailors may not be hired directly but will appear annually at a rate of 1 per port in the kingdom.  Sailors are required to construct ships of any kind.  When a ship is voluntarily disbanded, the Sailors are returned to the recruiting pool.  Sailors can also be captured by sea raider units during the destruction of a ship; these may be employed as normal or sold as slaves for 1 ducat.

Engineers are required to construct siege engines.  When siege engines are voluntarily disbanded, Engineers are returned to the recruiting pool.
Gunpowder: Engineers may be assigned to produce gunpowder, during which they cannot be used for the rest of the year - each assigned engineer will produce 1 barrel of gunpowder at year's end.
Traps: Engineers may be expended to provide a single +1 Trap bonus to one fight (attacking or defending) at the cost of 1 Ducat.  When the fight is over the engineer is released, though if no friendly units escaped the battle they will defect to the victorious side.

Spies are used in Espionage (see below).  They have a chance of surviving missions to be re-used.

Missionaries are used to convert provinces to a given religion.  This takes the form of an RtD roll at base -2 difficulty, during which the Missionary is expended.  Additional ducats may be used to increase the Missionary's chance of success (on a 1d:+1 basis).  Missionaries may also be used to counter a conversion attempt, increasing the difficulty of the conversion attempt by -3 (-1 for each additional ducat spent).  Counter-missionaries are expended during the attempt as well.  If successful, missionaries convert the province to the faith of their sponsor.

Missionaries are always expended on use, as the missionary is either defeated/killed/resigns or stays behind to guide his new flock.

Spoiler: Espionage (click to show/hide)

Espionage
Espionage may be conducted directly using players (in which case it is treated more or less like any adventure) or from afar by use of the Spy specialist.  Note that Spy specialists may be used to counteract player spy actions as well, though the GM should adapt the rules accordingly.  All spy rolls are conducted blind; i.e. the roll and modifiers are not shown to the player, only the result.

When conducting NPC spy missions, a separate roll must be made for the success of the mission and the detection of the mission/capture of the spy.  Both rolls will be given a Target, a number to roll at or above for success.  Results are typically as follows:

Success Roll
3 less than Target:  Mission fails, spy automatically captured.
Less than Target:  Mission fails.
Target or greater:  Mission succeeds.
3 more than Target:  Mission succeeds, spy escapes.

If the spy's capture or escape is guaranteed, pay attention only to the evidence results for the detection roll.

Detection Roll
Target -2:  Spy captured, either talks or sufficient evidence to identify the perpetrator.
Target -1:  Spy captured but does not talk, mission detected but not the perpetrator.
Target:  Spy escapes, mission detected but not the perpetrator.
Target +1:  Spy escapes, mission undetected.

On the successful escape of a spy, he goes into hiding and becomes available again at the start of the new year.  So-called 'cold' spies should be kept track of as well as active spies.

Spies may conduct various missions, split into general and specialist types.  Some missions require a successful infiltration of a particular part of the enemy administration to be successful.  Infiltration missions cannot be conducted redundantly (i.e. having 2 men in a nation's Treasury provides no extra benefit) but other missions can be attempted multiple times.  When players conduct missions of this type they should generally have costs in line with those of the NPC mission, but variation either way should be allowed to account for fortune and good preparation.  Any mission will expend 1 Spy in its use in addition to any other costs.

NPC espionage missions are the only action players are permitted to submit to a GM or King by PM.


General Missions

Establish Smuggling Ring
Undermine the enemy nation's ability to tax merchant traders.  NPC sales tax halved and +2 to player merchant smuggling efforts.  If successful, this mission cannot be conducted again in the same province until the smuggling ring is broken.  Unless removed by a successful purge, the ring will last for 1 year.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detection: 4

Purge Administration
If you suspect one of the branches of your administration has been infiltrated by a spy, inquisitors may be sent to identify and purge the culprits.  If successful, the infiltration will be cleared.  If unsuccessful, you will still believe the infiltration to have been cleared.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detection: N/A
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Fund Bandits
Sponsor highwaymen in an enemy province, interrupting trade.  Bandits provide a share of the loot.  Every additional 2d spent will raise another bandit regiment.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detection: 3

Fund Privateers
Sponsor pirates near an enemy coast, interrupting trade.  Privateers send back a cut of the take.  Every additional 4d will raise another privateer ship.
Cost: 4d  Success: 3  Detection: 3

Counter-Spy
Station a spy in a province to guard against enemy infiltration.  Provides a -2 malus to success & detection for one enemy operation, but the spy is destroyed therafter.  Spies stationed in the capital will protect against infiltrations.  Alternately, a spy may be employed to provide a -1 malus to success & detection for one enemy operation anywhere in the nation (the spy is still destroyed thereafter).  This nation-wide malus overlaps with the province-specific malus of the same type; they do not stack.
Cost: 0d  Success: N/A  Detection: N/A
NPC spies only.  Spy may not be removed once placed.

Assassinate Private Citizen
Perform an assassination attempt on anyone who is not a part of the government or nobility of the nation the attempt takes place in.  Will cause 2 NPC assassins to attack the figure at the next available opportunity with a +1 Weapon and +1 Armour advantage, and they will attempt to get a surprise attack as well.  An additional 3d will supply them with a one-off poison advantage to deal 1 extra hp of damage on their first hit.
The detection roll for this attempt determines whether or not the assassins leave any evidence as to their employers.
Cost: 2d  Success: N/A  Detection: 4 (Special)
Deduct 1 spy if used to assist player.  Spy used up on attempt.


Counter-Espionage

Infiltrate Spy Ring
Infiltrate an enemy spy network.  Provides a -1 malus to all enemy spy efforts (success & detection) and allows any other counter-espionage missions to take place.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detect: 4
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Create Security Breach
Provides an ideal opportunity to conduct a mission.  On a success, provides a +2 bonus to the success and detection roll of the next espionage mission attempted.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 3

Support Rebels
Provide arms and funding to rebels in a province, who will rise up and attempt to take over the province.  They will have their own demands but be friendly to their sponsor and willing to co-ordinate attacks.  Additional funding may be supplied; every 2d added will be used to raise an additional infantry regiment on a success.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 3

Assassinate Enemy Spies
With the espionage network infiltrated, the identity of enemy spies are known.  An assassin attempts to track down and eliminate enemy spymasters.  Cold and active spies may both be targeted, though active spies will be targeted first.  On a success, eliminates 2 enemy spies.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Interfere with Academies
Disrupt training programs for specialists.  Reduces the number of specialists of a certain type produced in the following year (excluding sailors).  On a success, reduces specialist graduation by 2 the following year.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 4


Commercial Espionage

Infiltrate Treasury
Successfully put a man in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's office.  1 ducat/province will be stolen out of the annual tax collection, half of which will be diverted to the sponsor country.  This effect can be suppressed.  Required for further commercial espionage missions.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detect: 4
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Embezzlement
Attempt to steal a large amount of ducats from the target country.  1/5th of the treasury or 10 ducats (whichever sum is larger) will be stolen on a success; half will be diverted to the sponsor country.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Crash Commodity Market
Destroy demand for or interfere with production of a specific commodity.  Either raises or lowers the commodity price in a target province by 3 increments (sponsor's discretion).  Effect lasts for 1 year.  Cannot be conducted twice successfully on the same commodity in the same province in the same year (i.e. completing the mission twice will not result in a cumulative +/- 6 increments).
Cost: 5d  Success: 3  Detect: 3

Limit Trade
Reduce the willingness or ability of the public to spend.  Reduces the Market Allowance of a province by 10 ducats.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 3

Inspire Commercial Animosity
Create public sentiment against merchants of a particular guild or nation (or even against a specific merchant).  Merchants trading at this port suffer a +1/-1 penalty to trade checks when buying/selling goods.  The animosity lasts for 1 year.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4


Naval Espionage

Infiltrate Admiralty
Successfully infiltrate the chain of naval command.  The upkeep cost of every ship under the nation's command increases by 0.5d/year.  This effect can be suppressed.  Required for further naval espionage missions.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detect: 4
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Interfere with Shipbuilding
Limit the ability of the target nation to build new ships.  Destroys Sailor specialists or reduces Sailor recruitment in the following year (sponsor's choice).  On a success, destroys 2 sailors or reduces sailor recruitment by 3 the next year.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Cripple Naval Morale
Spread harmful rumours about the competency of the admiralty.  Provides a -2 morale penalty to the next naval engagement the victim takes part in.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Uncover Naval Disposition
Steal documents revealing the full disposition of the enemy's navy.  Reveals the location and composition of all the target's ships at this time.
Cost: 4d  Success: 4  Detect: 4

Scuttle Ship
By means of careful sabotage, rig a ship to sink.  Can only be conducted whilst the ship is in port.  On a success, the ship will be destroyed.
Cost: 2d  Success: 4  Detect: 5

Suborn Captain
Bribe a captain to switch sides.  Can only be conducted whilst the ship is in port.  On a success, the ship's allegiance will change to that of the sponsor.
Cost: 3d  Success: 5  Detect: 6

Control Admiralty
Blackmail, bribe, turn or simply replace the Admiral or key members of his staff.  All naval engagements thereafter suffer a -1 penalty from sabotage.  This counts as an infiltration and must be deliberately purged.
Cost: 3d  Success: 5  Detect: 6
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.


Military Espionage

Infiltrate General Staff
Successfully infiltrate the chain of military command.  The upkeep cost of every regiment under the nation's command increases by 0.5d/year.  This effect can be suppressed.  Required for further naval espionage missions.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detect: 4
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Assassinate Engineers
Target key military engineers and remove them from the field.  On a success, destroys 2 engineers.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Cripple Military Morale
Foment discord and insubordination in the ranks.  Provides a -2 morale penalty to the next military engagement the victim takes part in.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Uncover Military Disposition
Steal documents revealing the full disposition of the enemy's military.  Reveals the location and composition of all the target's regiments at this time.
Cost: 4d  Success: 4  Detect: 4

Poison Regiment
Poison the food or water supplies of an entire regiment.  On a success, the regiment will be destroyed.
Cost: 2d  Success: 4  Detect: 5

Suborn Commander
Bribe the commander of a regiment to switch sides.  On a success, the regiment's allegiance will switch to the sponsor.
Cost: 3d  Success: 5  Detect: 6

Suborn General Staff
Replace, suborn or blackmail key members of the General Staff.  All military engagements thereafter suffer a -1 penalty from sabotage.  This counts as an infiltration and must be deliberately purged.
Cost: 3d  Success: 5  Detect: 6
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.


State-Level Espionage

Infiltrate Government
Infiltrate the general bureaucracy.  Reduces the available manpower of the country by one quarter (rounded down).  This effect can be suppressed.  Required for any further government espionage.
Cost: 1d  Success: 3  Detect: 4
Deduct 1 spy if conducted by a player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Counterfeit Currency
Introduce large quantities of false coins into circulation to devalue the country's currency.  Incurs a debt of 5 ducats to the target country at year's end, deducted before upkeep is paid.  Can put the target country's treasury into negative figures.
Cost: 2d  Success: 3  Detect: 5

Assassinate Clergy
Eliminate members of the clergy, limiting the amount of figures available to spread the faith.  On a success, destroys 2 Missionary specialists.
Cost: 3d  Success: 3  Detect: 4

Assassinate Noble/Bureaucrat
Perform an assassination attempt on a noble or government figure of the nation the attempt takes place in.  Will cause 2 NPC assassins to attack the figure at the next available opportunity with a +1 Weapon and +1 Armour advantage, and they will attempt to get a surprise attack as well.  An additional 3d will supply them with a one-off poison advantage to deal 1 extra hp of damage on their first hit.
The detection roll for this attempt determines whether or not the assassins leave any evidence as to their employers.
Cost: 4d  Success: N/A  Detection: 4 (Special)
Deduct 1 spy if used to assist player.  Spy used up on attempt.

Assassinate Ruler
Perform an assassination attempt on the ruler of the nation the attempt takes place in.  Will cause 2 NPC assassins to attack the figure at the next available opportunity with a +1 Weapon and +1 Armour advantage, and they will attempt to get a surprise attack as well.  An additional 3d will supply them with a one-off poison advantage to deal 1 extra hp of damage on their first hit.
The detection roll for this attempt determines whether or not the assassins leave any evidence as to their employers.
Cost: 8d  Success: N/A  Detection: 5 (Special)
Deduct 1 spy if used to assist player.  Spy used up on attempt.

[Taricus]

The nation of Ligoria, it's only city fortified well due to its location. It's terrain is a fair mix, with some forests on the inland areas with grasslands being more prevalent towards the coast. The climate fairly standard for the region. The city, Talama, is unusual in that it also has an arena of a larger size than cities. The only natural harbour ins the one the city is above, due to the cliffs around the peninsula, with a fair few of the dockworkers homes being carved into the cliffs. Talama's palace itself is known for it's lush greenery integrated with into it's design, making for a work of architecture of a decent quality.

Laythe Ralia, the new Queen, ascended due to a very bloody spate of political violence, which ended the previous ruler's reign and life, and whatever reason that got Laythe to do so is no longer able to be questioned. Her reign has already lasted a year without incident, nor with anything being changed drastically, though that will change...

Ligoria is about average in terms of wealth, not being gilded and opulent, but not run down and half empty either, and more of it's income comes from exports, rather than being a center of trade.

Laythe herself is not your regular woman either, standing at about 175-185cms (About 5'9" to 6'1" to those using imperial measurments) and usually clad in fine steel plate armour and a thick regal blue cape that goes down to the knees. Laythe carries around A Karabela, and a heavy lance is kept in the armoury for incidents that call for it. She has no living direct relatives.

[ashton1993]

Kawakai Zuskish'k, a hacturi, had never known her mother, when she was just a yearling she'd been left outside the great temple of Ratusitetas where the sacred sisters would practice their magic to assist their emperor, never quite gaining an understanding of what magic was she would look at the world of technology and see magic, she'd roll a barrel down the hill seeing it get faster and faster, when she later apologized to the brewer her excuse was "I was practicing magic so I can be a priestess some day". Soon her tinkering began to look like magic not just too her but everyone around her, she could make a bright flame flicker orange then blue and green with a careful mix of chemicals, each slightly separated from the other. A dead frog would hop when she tweaked a needle in it's brain and randomly flail if another needle was pressed. Her mockery of magic continued into her teenage years at which point she was removed forcibly from the temple and traveled the hactur lands.

She would sell trinkets and do whatever was necessary to survive; her first contract had been making a dead noble appear alive by essentially turning him into a puppet with mechanical pistons inside him moving his dead corpse, even his eyes would move, and whilst the dead host seemed well to the unobservant his eldest son forged his will so that he could inherit all the land and titles his father possesed and keep it all from his other brothers and sisters. Kawakai thought this would be the last such job but she was by far wrong, time and time again she would succumb to the promise of payment and morbid curiosity to perform some heinous crime, tired of the lizardmen's ways she sought refuge far away and after hearing of a voyage to human lands brought her way onto a ship's voyage by lending her skills as a mechanic, perhaps the Hacturi's more fleshy warm-blooded cousins would live in a less cruel society. Secretly she knew but not on a concious level it was more than likely the human's would be just as cruel as her society and worst of all - it was a society in which she'd thrive.

[kytuzian]

Oli'c S'dfa Azin'ou is the Son of the Azin'ou Ik'li Jios'fasd, leader of the druids of old, who were the last to practice earth magic after the Suulians invaded, and narrowly escaped holy "cleansing". As such, Oli'c S'dfa is in command of a small ragtag band fleeing from religious persecution, numbering five druids, including himself, and three other men who still follow the old ways. They come with little equipment, but are determined to start their religion anew, and have plenty of criminals to please the gods.

Oli'c S'dfa himself is short at just 5 feet 5 inches. He has some muscle, but very little, and is thirty-five years old. He carries a staff in his hand nearly all the time, and usually has a crossbow nearby. While he can fight, most of his military skill lies in tactics.

[Shootandrun]

Kathos is the son of Bael Thunderblade and the grandson of Jarod Thunderblade.

His grandfather, Jarod, was a duelist (the best of the mirish coast) and later a noble in Elbreth before he decided to leave King Erik's lands, fleeing the king's madness. He bought some lands in the north and decided to stay independant from the different city states. He was a good general and a cunning man, and soon his lands were big enough to make him one of the most powerful nobles outside of the city states. He died at the age of 67 seven during his last duel.

Bael was different. He was honorable, but he was not a fighter and he lacked ambition. Seven years after his father's death, some of his neighbors attacked his lands in an attempt to become more powerful. Their armies were destroyed by Bael's troops, but the lord did not launch a counter attack. He did not want to go at war once again. He spent his next years trying to become once again friendly with the other nobles. He tried to forget. He wanted to live in peace. And while Bael sent diplomats and messengers, his enemies were getting ready to go at war against him once again. Bael discovered the truth too late, and he did not have the strenght to face his mistakes. He gave a simple order to his lieutenant: "Hold the caslte." Later that day, he sent his son far away with a regiment, a young officer named Adrian and a few ducats. Bael Thunderblade died three days later, while his enemies were storming the castle walls.

Fourteen years later, Kathos Thunderblade arrived in Ligoria. No one knew anything about his past or his intentions, but it was said by some that he wanted to find a place in Ligoria's nobility.

[micelus]

Retycl Jementeten. The Emperor's ambassador to the human lands. Were Retycl told that even 10 years ago, he would have laughed till his mouth was dry, and yet it here he was leading the expedition to this place called the Storm Coast. Why had he wanted to go?

He had come to show the greatness of Hatcur. No. It wasn't only that, it was...his family. His family were administrators. A common and honest occupation, and yet there was always someone who would insult the family for their work. Not fast enough, too many mistakes, mudblood...His family had endured the insults hurled by those of higher station to survive. Perhaps that's why he had left the elegant spires and canals of the Emperor's seat of Ratusitetas to work in that country estate. So far from family and home. Perhaps he that's why he had wanted this mission, so that his family would forever be respected among the elites of society.

Or perhaps it was because of everything Locanil told him about. These strange cities and those who would worship demons. An adventure to the lands beyond civilization. Retycl still did not know.

But he shouldn't be daydreaming, he decided. There was still many things to do before making landfall. Messages to write, people to ready,supplies to be watched, and the human ways to be studied. That was another thing that interested him, humans reacted to things differently. When he had heard Locanil say that humans sound the same laughing or crying, Retycl had wondered how they could tell the difference.

Time to move. Retycl was in his hold were he conducted the business of the day. Writing down messages and making sure everything went well. Well that was more of the captain's job but he briefed Retycl everyday. Still, he did have a task. He recited these human speeches every day for many hours. Boring, manual work. He should have brought Locanil along with him, but the scholar had said he was busy.

After what was perhaps hours, Retycl left his cabin and went on deck. The ship was built in the Feregeski style. It was light, fast, but small. Still enough space to fit Retycl's guard and those like-minded hatcuri who had come to see these human lands. Kawakai Zuskish'k was one of them. The records said that she was an expelled apprentice from one of the temples turned mechanic. It was obvious why she had wanted to leave; a new beginning and an outlet for her skills. She would useful, if she played her cards right.

There was only one more thing to do, wait for the ship to reach the city-state Ligoria. Locanil had told him something about it once, if only he could remember...

Set sail for Ligoria and make a meeting with it's ruler.
 

[Taricus]

Set sail for Ligoria and make a meeting with it's ruler.

You manage to arrive in Talama unscathed and with everyone alive, you soon get a courier to get a message to the queen.

[3] She accepted the meeting, though it does impart several conditions onto you. You may not bring any guards or weapons with you, and you may only bring one servant with you. And that you, under no circumstances, piss the queen off. Queen Laythe seems to have had a rough streak recently, and isn't in the best of moods either. You do get directions to the palace at the very least though.

[kytuzian]

Now that they had arrived in Talama, the band of druids needed to search for some other earth god worshipers.

Search the streets for Earth god worshipers, or people who wish to convert.

[Dwarmin]

'Tala' went over her things again-face paint, false documents, poison pen, forgery kit...everything was ready. She slipped a thin dagger onto the white strap on her leg under the skirt. Perfect. Then she adjusted her makeup. Time to make a first impression!

Gain entrance into the palace guest quarters proper-using my new identity, of course...

[micelus]

Both ships had arrived in the city of Talama without a problem, and right now Retycl was on his way to meet with the queen of this place. She was suspicious though, no guards or weapons and only one servant. If he had brought Locanil along, none of that would have mattered, but oh well.

The mechanic was staying on the ship for now, so Retycl brought with him a young hatcuri scribe instead. Baroktycl he was called. Not useful for combat, but he could write down everything of this conversation without much problem.

Retycl and his retainer arrived at the palace without much problem. The people did look at him strangely and some of them seemed scared, but some of the old men and women didn't care one way or another and a few of them smiled at him. Perhaps Locanil had spent some time here socializing with them? Locanil hadn't told him everything.

Once at the palace, Retycl was escorted by the queen's guard to the throne room to meet with this ruler. Suspicious, paranoid, a new monarch. That's what Retycl could see in her actions. That or she was getting really old.

Finally, Retycl arrived at the throne room and kneeled to this queen, waiting for her response. The scribe followed suit a second after.

Go to the Queen's palace and meet with her. Bring a scribe along. Once at the throne room, kneel and wait for the queen's reply.

[Ardas]

Nikephoros sat alone at his table in a tavern, barely touching his ale. At 37, he felt as if he had 2 lifetimes' worth of stories and troubles. War was not an easy craft, and you never know your day and hour.
But so far he managed to evade his meeting with eternity. Maybe gods had some plans for him or maybe he was just too tough to kill. But he simply could not figure out what to do next. He had his own warband, probably sired some bastards that he will never see and caused enough problems in this miserable place called Storm Coast. Maybe it was time to quit, find a quiet place.....

"Hey, I heard that them folks in Talama got a queen now!"
" A queen? Probably some tart thats just warming up the seat for her uncle or something."
"No, no she apparently had to claw her way to the throne. They say she is pretty tough, tougher than some men even."
"Now i've heard everything..."

A queen huh? Sounds like something may happen, knowing the succesion and the nobles in the Storm coast this thing might escalate just enough to find a little coin for his men and himself. Whatever this may be, this will be the last job, Nikephoros thought to himself.

Leave men behind in the border settlement and head for the capital.

[Elfeater]

Look for a job my regiment of mercs can do