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[PbP] [Kingdom] Who put these Crossroads here anyway?

The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
edited October 2014 in Critical Failures
Hello Folks!

I'm here to push and start up a 'Pure' Roleplaying experience in the form of Kingdom, a tabletop RPG from Lame Mage Productions!

What do you mean 'Pure'?
Well, Pure means it is all about the Roleplay. The mechanics of this game are minimal. There are no stats, no dice to roll. There is no GM, and there is no between-session prep. The individual introducing the game is also one of the players.

Lame Mage Productions? They sound familiar.
That's because they are also the minds behind the Timeline Generator 'Microscope', which I am also running on this forum. There are many similarities.

But Brayster, aren't you already running a game of Microscope? Running two different games at once sounds like madness.
This is very true. However, the critical point here is that I am no GM. For D&D and the like, the prep needed to keep the games going would make two different sessions an inexplicable mountain of hard work. But that prep does not exist here, once the rules are covered I am merely another player. The thread will move as steadily/speedily as the players in it.

Anyway, enough of my rambling


What is Kingdom?
Kingdoms Are All Around Us…


Groups are stronger than individuals. In a Kingdom, we can work together
to do great things.

But we may not agree what path our Kingdom should take or what it should
stand for. Can your vision of the Kingdom work with mine? Can everybody
get what they want?

Because if you’re part of the Kingdom, it makes demands on you too. You’re
pressured to do what it thinks is right. The question becomes: do you
change the Kingdom or does the Kingdom change you?


We Make Our Kingdom Together

A “Kingdom” is the game term for the community or organization that is the
focus of our game. Any kind of community works, and we’ll decide what
kind of Kingdom we want to play together. Our Kingdom could be…

… a frontier town in the Old West

… a colony ship crawling towards a distant star

… or the teachers and students of Sunnybrook Elementary School

Each of us will play a character who is part of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is
what ties our characters together. It’s the center of all our lives.


And Watch It Burn

The game is about seeing what happens to the Kingdom and the people in
it. How the characters change the Kingdom and how it changes them.

As players, we all have equal authority to influence the game. It’s up to each
of us to push the Kingdom in directions we find interesting.

What will our Kingdom do? What will it become? Will it burn or flourish? Will
it stay true to its ideals–our ideals–or will it become some twisted shadow
of our dreams?

The Kingdom’s fate is in our hands.


So what do the players do?

Basically, the players are all ranking members of a 'Kingdom'. This kingdom can be a Kingdom in the literal sense, but in reality, it can be almost anything. The Kingdom must be big enough to include 20-30 people, but there is no upper limit, the 'Kingdom' could include billions of people across an intergalactic empire.

The Story will move forward through one of three ways, CrossRoads, Crisis and Time Passes. Crossroads involve the difficult decisions the Kingdom must face to advance, laden with consequences for either choice. The crisis marker indicated how close the Kingdom is to going up in flames. A Time Passes indicates a need to prolong the situation and age up/ change characters.

Players will create characters who will fulfill one of three roles, Power, Perceptive or Touchstone. These three roles (which are changeable as play progresses) will be used in Roleplay scenes, which will help players determine which of the three progression markers should advance.

Each player will make their own character who will push to influence the Kingdom in some way. Each of these characters will have unique bonds with some of the others. They will each also possess one of the three roles, which they will use to influence the outcome of the Crossroad in some way. This can be obvious, a King might hold power, a minister might hold Perceptive and a priest may hold Touchstone. Or it could be less obvious, a weaker king may hold the love of his people (Touchstone), while a mob leader pushed for dramatic change by force (Power).

I will explain all of these things in much greater detail later on, but for now, I am looking to garner interest.


Here's Kingdom in a nutshell:
Crossroads

We’ve got our Kingdom and we’ve
got our characters. Now we’re going
to play to see how our characters
shape the Kingdom and how the
Kingdom shapes them.

As players, we’re going to confront
our Kingdom (and our characters)
with Crossroads: critical decisions
the Kingdom must make, decisions
that may change the Kingdom
forever. Does the Kingdom invade
its neighbor? Does it outlaw the
new religion?

Crossroads are the major arcs of
our game. They are the chapters of
the story we’re making. It’s our job
to make Crossroads that push the
Kingdom and the characters into
territory that interests us. Never
make a Crossroad that doesn’t
interest you! You might even
introduce a Crossroad that your
character dreads, but that you think
would be interesting.


Scenes & Cards

Before we see the final decision the
Kingdom makes about the Crossroad,
we’ll take turns creating scenes and
role-playing them together. We’ll
explore the Crossroad and see what
our characters think and do about
it. We might find out the situation
is a lot more complicated than we
thought.

Each of the three cards on the table
is a countdown. On your turn you
get to pick which to check and
move closer to completion. When
all the boxes on a card are checked,
we’ll pause and play to see what
happens.

When ŠŠ all the boxes on the
Crossroad are full, we play to see
what choice the Kingdom makes
and what the consequences are.
ŠŠ
When all the boxes on the Crisis
card are full, we’ll see whether
the Kingdom survives the Crisis
or is destroyed. Characters may
flee the Kingdom.

ŠŠ When all the boxes on the Time
Passes
card are full, there is a
break in the action when our
characters can rest and reflect.
Months or years will pass.


Roles

Each Role gives you a different way
to influence the Kingdom and the
Crossroad:

ŠŠ Perspective: You can predict
the consequences of picking
different sides of the Crossroad.
It’s your job to show us what’s
really at stake.

ŠŠ Touchstone: You decide how
the people of the Kingdom feel
and what they want. You can
instantly define the Kingdom
and show us how the people
react to what is happening.
ŠŠ
Power: After seeing those
consequences and hearing
what the people want, you get
to decide what the Kingdom
actually does.

That doesn’t seem fair, does it?
Only Power gets to decide what
the Kingdom does? No, it isn’t fair,
but it might be balanced. Power
makes the choice, but Perspective
and Touchstone determine the
consequences.


Challenge & Overthrow

Eventually someone is going to do
something to the Kingdom that you
don’t like. You can do something
about it:

ŠŠ You can Change your Role if
you want a different voice in
the Kingdom or your old Role
doesn’t seem like a good fit
anymore.

ŠŠ You can Challenge another
character to stop something
they do or establish. If Power
arrests someone, bust them out
of jail. If Touchstone shows that
the people are angry, give a
speech to calm the mob.
ŠŠ
But if Challenging them isn’t
enough–if you want to stop
what another character is doing
with their Role entirely–you
can Overthrow them and take
their Role for yourself. Storm
the capitol and take away their
Power.

But be warned: nothing can take a
player out of the game. A character
you usurp just picks a different Role
and keeps influencing the Kingdom
in a different way. Take away
someone’s Power and they might
return as Perspective and predict a
dire future…

Here's a review by someone who played with this games creator: http://synanthropes.com/TCG/2014/01/19/gmotw-kingdom-and-narrow-roles/


I am looking for 3-4 other players, active forumers who are interested in the idea of a Roleplaying game without all the heavy mechanics and dicerolls. I'd like this game to be somewhat active, but I'd like to see how interest works out before determining that.

If you're interested, Sign Up .

I will go into further details about pretty much everything as they become relevant, but I am also open to questions.

Steam: TheBrayster
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The Brayster on
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    edited November 2014
    CROSSROAD!: Will the Order blackmail the Police Department to keep their distance?
    Police Chief Williams and his squad of detectives are investigating one of the junior members of the Order. The nature of the crime is unclear, but with a prohibition of Magic still very much in place, the Order can't afford to let the more narrow-minded elements of the Law get too close, regardless of the guilt of the offender. A forged letter, or conjured photograph could do wonders to keep men silent...


    YES:


    NO:
    Tommy Madison will be arrested* (Auralynx)

    The practices of the Order will be exposed to the Law (The Brayster)


    Progress: - - - - - -


    CRISIS:

    - - - - - -


    TIME PASSES:

    - - - - -


    Player List:

    1) @The Brayster

    2) @Auralynx‌

    3) @Smaggler‌

    4) @Consul Vido

    5) @enlightenedbum

    Reserves:

    The Brayster on
    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    Color me curious.

    Mikey CTS on
    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    fraxfrax Registered User regular
    Very interested.

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    Consul VidoConsul Vido Houston, TexasRegistered User regular
    This sounds intriguing. I would love to be part of it.

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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    edited October 2014
    @frax‌ and @Consul Vido‌, as you guys are new posters, I need to give you guys a warning before I sign you up. I'm looking for this game to be quite active, so I need you guys to be sure you want to be active both in this game and the forum itself as well, preferably. If you guys don't contribute and I have no means of getting in touch, I will have to replace you with other people (This applies to everyone equally, just making sure you know).

    If you are certain this is what you want, I'm happy to sign you guys up.

    And with that out of the way, welcome to the Forum! Be sure to read The Rules , and take a look at both Critical Failures and the rest of the Forums beyond. Don't feel afraid to contribute to/ask questions about the topics you come across, this is one of the friendliest communities there is!

    The Brayster on
    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    This sounds neat!

    Neat enough for me to bug you to expand it to six, even. If the game works for that many, at least.

    enlightenedbum on
    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    Sadly, 5 is the absolute maximum I'd be willing to do at one time (it's 3-5 players). Anything more runs the risk of making rounds especially long, and that's in person. That many people on a forum game risks stagnation.

    Don't count yourself out though, you could still be in, I just need to hear more from frax and Consul first.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    edited October 2014
    Ok guys, just waiting for confirmation from Consul.

    In the meantime, how about we move on to potential ideas for the Kingdom we are going to run. Everything we do centers on the Kingdom, so this is important. A 'Kingdom' is any state/group/organisation etc that can be composed of 30 people through to Billions. It is something that needs to be shapeable, that will have to make serious decisions that will impact the lives of anyone considered a part of it. If you have no particular preference, you are free to tell us anything you DON'T want to see. It's important we play a game we're all interested in.

    Here are a couple of basic genres that the kingdom can fit into: Medieval (including Fantasy), Sci-Fi, Real World, Historical Period.

    I'd like everyone to state what genre they want the Kingdom to fit in. If you have any ideas for a Kingdom, you are free to submit it. I have a long list of 'seeds' for potential kingdoms if anyone would like to see them.


    Personally, I would quite like to play a literal Medieval Kingdom (Fictional, but Fantasy Optional).

    The Brayster on
    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Consul VidoConsul Vido Houston, TexasRegistered User regular
    edited October 2014
    I'm usually lurking on the forums here a couple of times a day during the week, more on the weekends, and I would still very much like to participate if that will be sufficient for me to keep up with everyone.

    However, if you are still unsure, I could move to the reserve list and watch the game for a while to gain an idea of the pacing and posting requirements, possibly joining in later.

    If I'm in, I will cast my vote for either medieval fantasy or sci-fi.

    Edit: I'm very much a fan of "science fantasy" as well, if that is an option.

    Consul Vido on
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    The Illuminati!

    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    If I'm in, I am a sucker for a good story set aboard a colony ship to a new star. So my vote is that, though I'm fine with most settings. Except steampunk. It's a nerd blind spot for me.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
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    fraxfrax Registered User regular
    I was going to suggest 'steampunk', but will defer to the Enlightened. :)

    Genre: Dragon Illuminati, controlling the world from behind the scenes.

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    AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    If I'm in, I am a sucker for a good story set aboard a colony ship to a new star. So my vote is that, though I'm fine with most settings. Except steampunk. It's a nerd blind spot for me.

    Man, where were you for Microscope? :P

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    enlightenedbumenlightenedbum Registered User regular
    Auralynx wrote: »
    If I'm in, I am a sucker for a good story set aboard a colony ship to a new star. So my vote is that, though I'm fine with most settings. Except steampunk. It's a nerd blind spot for me.

    Man, where were you for Microscope? :P

    Oh, OK. I'll withdraw that proposal for some variance then.

    Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
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    fraxfrax Registered User regular
    I think it's different enough from the Microscope game to keep on the table.

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    AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    frax wrote: »
    I think it's different enough from the Microscope game to keep on the table.

    Yeah, y'all do what you like, I was just needling ebum out of phalla-formed habit.

    Put me in the queue if there's another go-around of this, and have fun.

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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    frax wrote: »
    I was going to suggest 'steampunk', but will defer to the Enlightened. :)

    Genre: Dragon Illuminati, controlling the world from behind the scenes.

    So Eberron minus the steampunk elements?

    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    fraxfrax Registered User regular
    Mikey CTS wrote: »
    frax wrote: »
    I was going to suggest 'steampunk', but will defer to the Enlightened. :)

    Genre: Dragon Illuminati, controlling the world from behind the scenes.

    So Eberron minus the steampunk elements?

    Eberron has steampunk AND Dragon Illuminati? Why I am not using this setting?

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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    Ok, so we have a split between Illuminati and sci-fi. (PA really are a sci-fi crowd, huh).

    When I get home from work, I'll link some potential seeds based on these choices, so we can go over some details.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    frax wrote: »
    Mikey CTS wrote: »
    frax wrote: »
    I was going to suggest 'steampunk', but will defer to the Enlightened. :)

    Genre: Dragon Illuminati, controlling the world from behind the scenes.

    So Eberron minus the steampunk elements?

    Eberron has steampunk AND Dragon Illuminati? Why I am not using this setting?

    It is the best D&D setting. Full stop.

    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
    Eh, Dark Sun is better.

    Put me down for Medieval (fantasy) Kingdom if I'm playing.

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    Consul VidoConsul Vido Houston, TexasRegistered User regular
    Illuminati and sci-fi sounds awesome.

    "Things Man Was Not Meant to Know" manipulating events from behind the scenes through proxies, minions and cultists?

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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    I can get behind that idea. What kind of scifi are we talking though? More gritty 40k-style decay, optimistic futurism of Star Trek, or more fantasy space like Star Wars/Guardians?

    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
    What about the dragon Illuminati? I thought that idea had legs. A series of loosely-aligned duchies sworn to a failing king, and the dragon-gods that pull the strings from behind the scenes.

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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    jdarksun wrote: »
    Eh, Dark Sun is better.

    Put me down for Medieval (fantasy) Kingdom if I'm playing.

    Dark Sun is great. Best of the classic settings. But it doesn't have mystical Dragon Illuminati, lightning rail trains, industrialized magic, corporate espionage, noir/Holmesian mash-up mysteries, Godfather-like mafia, James Bond-style spy espionage, courtly intrigue, Indian Jones-style pulp adventure, kingdoms of monsters, a kingdom of the undead, actual Nazis, multi-dimensional Cthulhu-esque threats, magically constructed androids, psychic North Korea, a blasted nuclear strikezone filled with strange mutants, for real conspiracies...

    I love me some Eberron. I regret I never got to sink my teeth all the way in cause my players never made it past heroic levels. It was a buffet of adventure and campaign ideas. Ah well.

    Mikey CTS on
    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    fraxfrax Registered User regular
    jdarksun wrote: »
    What about the dragon Illuminati? I thought that idea had legs. A series of loosely-aligned duchies sworn to a failing king, and the dragon-gods that pull the strings from behind the scenes.

    Not only does it have legs, it has wings.

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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    Ok, the final player list is: Me, @Mikey CTS‌, @jdarksun‌, @frax‌ and @Consul Vido‌ . Sorry the rest of you can't get it, but I most definitely intend to play more that one of these, and you guys will get first dibs next time if you don't get to jump in to this one.

    The tone is up to you guys. I personally am a fan of a more serious style of play for Kingdom, so that the Crossroads can actually provide some party conflict and difficult decisions. (Unless we specifically pick a seed that implies a certain level of comedy and/or silliness, then I'm game).

    Ok, I promised some seeds relevant to our interests. These take a lot of pain out of debating the specifics of a Kingdom before we even start (The 'Personality' of our Kingdom is mostly formed by what we do with it as we play). We're still free to change these to suit our tastes, or come up with new things completely, however I would like to pick one and keep close to it for ease of set up. Each of these contains a couple of fully customisable paragraphs of descriptions and background.


    Illuminati (well, as close as the printed material gets):

    Eye of Osiris:

    Wealth, affluence, culture, grace–they’ve got it all. But they crave something
    more. They crave that serenity that comes from seeing beyond the veil, from
    knowing that their destiny is written in the stars and they are watched over
    by higher powers beyond this mortal coil. That they have a special place in
    the universe. That they are special.

    The Eye of Osiris (or more formally “The Illuminated Order of the Undying
    Eye of Osiris”) is an exclusive fraternity of high-society elite who fancy
    themselves mystics, believers and truth-seekers in the cosmopolitan 1920s.
    Membership is discreet but not secret, per se. At some parties it might be
    quite fashionable to brag that you are one of the few.

    But are they true believers, idle rich who dabble in mysticism to wile away
    the boredom, or charlatans putting on airs to fleece the unwary? Is it merely
    a pretentious social club or a doorway to true power?



    Sci-Fi:

    Battleship Orion:
    The Colonies have been annihilated, but a rag-tag fugitive fleet has escaped
    to start a new life beyond the stars. Can the refugees find a world to call
    home, somewhere far away and safe from the enemies who would destroy
    them? Or will they turn against each other and extinguish the last hope for
    humanity?

    The Kingdom is the entire Fleet, a chaotic mix of civilian and commercial
    starships that were lucky enough to escape the destruction of the Colonies.
    Their sole protector is the warship Orion, the last (known) survivor of the
    mighty Colonial armada.

    Lost in Luxury Space:
    The luxury cruise ship Intrepid Princess suffered a catastrophic hyperdrive
    malfunction, hurling the vessel and all her passengers and crew into
    unchartered space.

    But why let a disaster ruin your vacation? After all, if your cruise ship
    malfunctions and you are lost in space–for months or even years–aren’t you
    technically still on vacation? You paid for a cruise. And until the ship reaches
    its destination, you are a passenger and guest of the cruise line.

    So have a tropical drink, soak up some artificial rays and relax! Swim in the zerogravity
    pool! Dance the (eternal) night away in the Grand Nebula Ballroom!
    Play shuffleboard!

    What about fixing the ship? Finding a way back to civilized space? That’s a
    job for the crew. That’s what they’re paid for.

    The Kingdom is the ship and everyone on board. That includes passengers
    and crew. Successfully finding your way home would, of course, end the
    game and dissolve your Kingdom.

    Partisans of Rigel IV:
    The colonists that came to Rigel IV set out to make a world they could call
    home, but then the invaders came and took their world away from them.
    Now life in the colony goes on, but the people live and work under the
    watchful eyes of their new alien masters.

    But some refuse to kneel. A secret group of partisans continues to fight back
    against the occupation, risking everything to strike the invaders where they
    are weakest. The odds against them are staggering. Can they win? Or are
    they just delaying the inevitable? Will the day ever come when the rest of
    the colonists rise up and cry “For Rigel! For Freedom!”?

    Medieval/Fantasy:

    Banner of the Black Serpent:
    The Banner of the Black Serpent is an order of knights who fought valiantly
    for the realm. As a reward for the blood they shed, they were granted
    lands, strongholds and the right to bear arms in the realm, yet they stand
    beholden to no other lord.

    Now they are an army apart from the normal feudal hierarchy. Do they
    protect the throne that rewarded them? Or do they sell their swords to the
    highest bidder? Do they fight for gold, glory or the honor of the Banner?

    The Kingdom is the order of knights and all their men-at-arms and
    associated servants. Their holdings are inside the realm they fought for
    (a feudal kingdom with a lower case ‘k’), but in play you will explore the
    decisions and fate of the Banner, not the realm around them.

    Dwarf Mountain:
    The dragon is dead. The dwarves have returned to the halls of their
    forefathers, mining and toiling to rebuild and claim glory anew.

    But hard-won gold is hard-kept. There is treasure in abundance, mounds
    of gold and jewels from the dragon’s horde, stolen from the dwarves of old
    and now returned to their descendants. Treasure enough to slake even the
    lust of dwarves… or fire their greed and fear of thieves within and without.
    No doubt even our sworn allies and neighbors secretly covet the riches of
    the Mountain King…


    Eshbal, The Door of Hardship:
    Squatting on the border of the Empire is the fortress-city of Eshbal, the
    famed and feared ‘Door of Hardship’. Its nom de guerre is well-earned: the
    city is both gateway and guardian, protecting the gleaming civilization
    of the Empire from the “barbarian” lands beyond. Its twisted streets and
    magnificent plazas welcome travelers and spices from far-off lands, but its
    looming walls declare in no unclear terms “behold the might of the Empire
    and despair!” It is the sieve that lets in wealth and riches but bars enemies
    like a wall of iron.

    The road that runs through the city and into the heart of the Empire
    bustles with caravans guarded by swaggering warriors, palanquins bearing
    emissaries to or from distant lands, and travelers of all kinds: the haughty,
    the hopeful and the humble. A beggar sitting in the dust will witness a
    thousand miraculous sights pass through its gates before the sun climbs
    to noon. The Empire is a refined culture, united in its worship of the Lord of
    Fire (the one true god who gave His Word to the seven Prophets, but whose
    face has never been seen), but in barbarian lands a myriad of other religions
    and cultures vie for dominance.

    The Kingdom is the city, not the Empire as a whole. The city is ruled by a
    Byzantine bureaucracy of ministers, magistrates and captains, all of whom
    serve the distant Emperor. On paper, no one official rules the city, but
    practice is another matter.

    Other Seeds that could be interesting:

    Banana Republic
    A small county in Central America in the 1950s. Its entire economy depends
    on one crop: bananas. They are harvested at plantations and carried to the
    port where they are loaded on foreign ships and sold in foreign markets
    by foreign companies who pocket the profits. The military, the corrupt
    politicians and the wealthy landowners are paid huge kickbacks to keep
    those profits flowing out of the country.

    Foreign dollars build railroads, better ports, better military bases: everything
    they need to keep the profits flowing efficiently and keep the country under
    control. There is one major city, the capitol, which is also the port where
    exports flow out to fill foreign coffers.

    That foreign money keeps the elite in power. The people? They get next to
    nothing.

    That’s a banana republic. The bananas must flow.

    For the US of A, it’s a win-win: an American company makes a lot of money
    and (with a little help from the CIA) makes sure that the people in charge
    are pro-American, not some Communist beachhead fermenting South of
    the border. But if the Revolution came and the Communists did take over
    and free the workers from the shackles of their oppressors, would they really
    have the people’s interests at heart? Or would it be just another puppet
    regime with someone else pulling the strings?

    The Kingdom is the country and the people who are part of it, from the
    wealthy regime to the poor workers in the fields. It also includes the
    American businessmen in the country and CIA advisors assigned to keep
    the country in friendly hands because they are all committed to the fate of
    the Kingdom and the decisions it makes.

    Lost Legion
    Countless leagues from home, a single Legion stands amidst a sea of foes
    who hunger for Roman blood…

    The Romans came to fight and support foreign kings who swore allegiance
    to the Empire, but those allies have fallen and their armies are scattered,
    leaving the Romans with no friends or safe harbor. Villages and towns that
    gave the Legion welcome and shelter before are twice as vehement in their
    refusal now, all the better to prove that their allegiance is with the victors.

    But even though they are hemmed in by danger on all sides and facing
    overwhelming odds, the might of Roman steel remains unconquered, for
    now. Can the Legion march home, hewing a path through a sea of foes? Or
    must it seek alliance and sow division between its many enemies? Or will
    the once-proud soldiers give in to despair and let their standard fall into
    the mire?

    The Kingdom is this one Legion, originally five thousand soldiers strong, cut
    off from their homeland. It could take years for them to return to Roman
    territory, if they return at all. Your game could be a running battle as they
    march back to Rome or a century-long epic of the colonies the legionaries
    and their ancestors build or conquer along the way.

    Winterhooks' School for Wayward Wizards
    Some say that great wizards are born, not made. But dangerous wizards are
    born too and without guidance they can grow up to be darkly-perilous.

    Winterhook’s is a school to mentor and shape these young magicians, to
    keep their idle hands from becoming a devil’s playground. It is hidden away
    from the mundane world, a mystical sanctuary where students can learn to
    safely master their Art before it becomes their undoing.

    At least that is the claim. A less charitable interpretation would be that it is
    nothing more than a prison to protect the mundane world from the horrors
    these fledgling wizards might become. What is the truth? Is it a school or a
    prison? Or does it start as one and become the other?

    The Kingdom is the school and everyone in it, including the teachers,
    students and servants of both the mundane and far more arcane variety.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    I saw Banana Republic and I was like: FINALLY!!! but then I read it and realized it wasn't a roleplay simulation of retail outlet stores. :cry:

    Mikey CTS on
    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    I see no reason why the 'Kingdom' couldn't be a retail outlet store... as long as it is a big one.

    I'm a personal fan of Banner of the Black Serpent, Dwarf Mountain and Banana Republic myself.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    I will vote for The Eye of Osiris. You had me at 1920s. :heartbeat: I can see a lot of awesome drama and noir tones in a Great Gatsby-like atmosphere.

    I also like the Lost in Luxury Space. Seems like a great opportunity for some dark comedy.

    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    I actually played Lost in Luxury Space when I first picked up Kingdom with a couple of friends, it was the first game we did.

    It was actually HILARIOUS. Those people never made it home, and you'd be surprised how one can gain access to Alcohol when the booze has long run out...

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
    Order of interest for presented seeds:

    Dwarf Mountain
    Winterhooks' School for Wayward Wizards
    Eshbal, The Door of Hardship
    Banner of the Black Serpent
    Battleship Orion

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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    edited October 2014
    Dwarf Mountain is The (end of the) Hobbit meets Dwarf Fortress, and is pretty rad.

    Winterhooks School for Wayward Wizards is totally not Hogwarts, I swear.... Honest. Definitely.

    The Brayster on
    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    Yeah that's why neither of those appealed me. Cause we already know what happened at the of The Hobbit and the end of Galactica. I don't have a lot of interest in revisiting fiction I already know.

    Edit: Also the end of Harry Potter. Basically Dumbledore was a manipulative asshole. The end.

    Mikey CTS on
    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    Well, it's not like we're going to be doing the same thing.

    It's more appealing to themes that people like and saying 'So, you and your friends run 'X', what happens?'. It's merely thematic inspiration.

    But that is fair comment.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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    Mikey CTSMikey CTS Registered User regular
    edited October 2014
    We, of course, wouldn't be telling the exact same stories, but I personal would perfer something fresh.

    But then only ever twelve plots in all of fiction, etc.

    Mikey CTS on
    // PSN: wyrd_warrior // MHW Name: Josei //
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    The BraysterThe Brayster UKRegistered User regular
    I think it's probably best if we all vote for say, two things, then go with whatever comes up most often.

    So I will go with Banner of the Black Serpent and Lost in Luxury Space.

    Steam: TheBrayster
    PSN: TheBrayster_92
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