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Game concept "Faction" (simulation, strategy, RP, Thief, Assassin, GTA)
Sky
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Registered User regular
Faction
Game Idea
I. Concept
This is a bare-bones schematic for a particular game playing style I am envisioning. Many of the concepts are based on Koei’s “Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII†strategy game.
A “Tycoon†simulator, but using a 3D world that the player’s avatar can interact with in various ways. The principle “tool†are NPCs, which will have various values and loyalties that affect how they interact with the player and her/his requests.
Think of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet†as a game world, where you start out in fair Verona as an unknown and can decide which “house†you wish to join. Once you join, the house will have it’s own hierarchy and reward system, allowing the player to work towards rising in prominence within the house and even taking it over.
The player can choose to follow any sort of gameplay element they favor, or all of them, so sneaking around and stealing or killing are viable options, organizing militant groups to protect or enforce your authority, or even creating secret societies that help a player carry out their will.
II. Story
You start out as an orphan, or young teen kicked out of your parents home, and find yourself in a large city full of possibilities. (Medieval setting, no magic)
You can choose any different faction to join, or harass.
This includes the authority of the city (the Prince), one of the major noble families (a “houseâ€), a mercantile group (“guildâ€), a group of thieves and thugs (“bandâ€), or start your own group.
As you play, various missions will be presented to the player and s/he can follow through on them in various ways. The more elaborate the solution, the more elaborate the rewards since most of the objects in the game world can be interacted with and relocated. This also includes buildings which have secrets and crawl spaces.
Ultimately, a player can assume control of a group and make themselves be the ultimate authority in the game world.
II. Gameplay
A. Affinity.
Affinity is the relationship between two things.
A player develops affinity between her/himself and the various groups within the game. There is personal affinity and group affinity. You can add to the affinity for a group by wearing the “colors†of that group. This also affects the way NPCs interact with you. Some may lie or cheat you if they are opposed to your group.
Fear is another trait similar to, but somewhat independent of affinity. A player can cause NPCs to “fear†him by killing other NPCs that are aligned with that NPC’s group(s).
A player that kills a lot of NPCs will develop a “Reputation†that can cause NPCs to fear the player and either avoid or not want to deal with. Reputation reflects whether a player follows thru on missions, how violent/aggressive they are, etc.
Strong enough affinities also allow characters to form “sub-groups.†This means that one or more other characters considers a principle their “leader†and will often participate in actions related to that main character. If a character is considered a sub-leader, s/he may be able to bring their followers along on missions. This can lead to the formation of new groups. This is also how secret societies can be formed.
Wearing “group colors,†will assign to you affinities based on that group you belong to. And any actions carried out while associated with the group will positively or negatively affect the affinity to the group.
Possible to dress up as another group and carry out “smear campaigns†against those groups.
“Willpower†could be a character stat, and the value of this could determine how “staunch†in loyalty a character is. Thus, if captured, an NPC could be “pressured†into revealing information, but the NPC’s “Willpower†has to be overcome before information can be revealed.
Having weak will power allies means they will easily turn on you or give up information to other characters.
B. Groups
There are many groups interacting within the game. Each has it’s own tier systems of rank and reward, and each has different abilities they can access.
To form a group, the player has a wide range of possibilities for how to organize their group, the group’s “goals,†and even the economy of the group.
A player decides to form a group; House, Guild, Band, Secret Society.
Key terms are: Base, Vault, Colors, Symbols, Calling Cards, Faction Charter.
Base: actually a type of messageboard system where the player and NPCs can post messages, orders, and completion of missions. If an enemy accesses the Base, they can know all sorts of secret information about the group. The Base could be set on the player him/herself. It is essentially an object the character accesses for information.
Vault: Where money can be stored and withdrawn. The members of the group can access the vault directly, or go through an NPC designated as the vault-keeper (i.e. accountant, clerk). If accessing directly, the NPC, if unloyal or has strong affiliations to other groups, could take more money out then it’s fair share.
Colors: This can mean actual clothing colors, or a particular clothing item worn. Each group usually has a color scheme representing itself. If the character is an “unknown†to the NPC, the NPC will automatically assume the affiliation of the character based on the colors it wears. This can also be used to carry out “smear campaign†missions where the character wears the colors of an opposing group and commits an act that places blame upon the opposing group.
Symbol: A symbol is an object that represents affiliation to a particular group. It can be a physical item, a pattern attached to an item (like a badge sewn to clothing, or production mark on a weapon), or even a mark placed upon a character, such as a tattoo, brand, scar. The symbol can either be publicly displayed or kept hidden, and is meant as a means of establishing the loyalty of the character to a group, an identifier.
Calling Card: When a character commits an action (example killing someone, robbing a place, destroying property), the character can leave a “calling card†behind which is either an action or item that designates who perpetrated the act. The more elaborate the act, the more “prestige/respect/fear†the group/individual receives. Items, however, have to be stockpiled and may cost money. (Example, a character leaves a rose on the corpse of a kill, stabs a dagger through a body part of a kill, leaves a giant “Z†on the wall of a building robbed.)
House: Represents a noble heritage (does not matter if true or not) and the standard hierarchy is: Head of the Family, Family Members, Agents, and Thugs/Servants. The player can make the base of the House a building, and use a particular room to be the Vault. The player then decides the guard schedule and arrangement, how the economy of the house functions, etc.
Guild: A mercantile organization with a primary goal of making money. Hierarchy: Leader/Council, Manager, Agent, Clerk, Laborer. Usually involved in production and/or transport. Management skill affects efficiency.
Band: A militant group. Consists of Leader and soldier, and any other ranks the leader seeks to establish. Can be autocratic or democratic. Kept together based on loyalty and/or salary. Can either have a base (hidden or exposed and guarded) or be “Roaming.â€
Secret Society: Usually consists of individuals already associated with other groups, but secretly allied to a particular leader. (Question on whether a “cause†can be the goal of the group.) Often relies on the use of symbols to represent affiliation. Effort can be made to conceal symbols.
"Faction Charter" lists out who can enroll in your faction, what they
are to wear, the ultimate goal of the faction, and even sets out positions
and salaries available
C. Information “Bitsâ€
Actions cause a “result†and that result translates into a kernel of information, which I call “Bits.†So if the player attacks a character, a “bit†is created. “Cause†of the action is determined based on the affiliations of the NPC and the player, the location, and other information.
The result is that if the NPC is attacked by the player, the NPC will either stay and fight, flee and seek aid, flee till the NPC “feels†it is safe then stop, etc.
If another NPC witnesses the attack, it will react according to a number of factors. The NPC attacked and the player belong to different groups, belong to the same faction, one or both are not recognized as part of any particular faction to the NPC, etc.
Based on what the witness NPC recognizes, it will respond in a number of ways. If the witness and the victim are of the same affiliation, the witness will seek out help. If the witness and player are of the same affiliation, the witness will watch the event unfold and if the player either begins losing or is defeated, it will seek aid for the player. If the witness does not recognize the victim and the player, it will seek out an authority to deal with the problem (the nearest soldier/guard).
The information bit of the player attacking the NPC will be carried by the victim forever and affect any future interactions with the player. The witness NPC, if it must report what it saw, will take that bit and share it with other NPCs, which in turn will share it with others.
The bit may cause leadership to issue orders as a result, too.
D. “Ordersâ€
Can be “Standing†or “Accomplish.â€
Standing Orders have no particular limit, but can issued in such a way that whenever stimulus A is presented, action B will be enacted by the character. Example: If any Capulet sees a Montague, the Capulet will seek out the nearest ally and then attack the Montague. Afterwards, the Capulet will continue doing whatever it was initially doing.
Accomplish Orders are begin-end tasks that the character makes as the primary goal.
“Patrol†is another type of order where the character establishes a route the character is to follow (checkpoints). It is both an execute order and a standing order.
An order can either be assigned to a particular NPC, assigned to a “labor pool†(i.e. a squad) and it will have each member of the pool perform the action, or it could even be a “first come, first to serve,†where the first available NPC will carry out the action.
E. Schedules
NPCs will have set schedules they will follow each game day. This affects the economy of the game world, and allows for characters to perform certain operations and actions as a result.
F. Combat
I am of the opinion that simply fighting will generate experience, or cause some sort of reward, to the player. So the more a character fights, the more it develops “skills†related to how it is fighting.
“Knocking Out†is an option that allows a character to take another character prisoner. Taking prisoner can result in hostage release negotiation with the prisoner’s faction.
III. Scenarios
The initial idea that led me to the game concept was recreating a mafia situation in a game world, where a player could assume the role of a Don, and exist as both a member of the community, and secretly controlling people aligned to a particular secret group.
Based off of this, a player could work for a House (regardless of the position within) and have a Secret Society that carries out the player’s will without revealing who they answer to. The player could have “lieutenants†who exist out in the world at large and do not reveal their affiliation with the player’s Secret Society. However, the lieutenants have Agents and Thugs who openly show allegiance to the SS (or they be instructed to not reveal the name of the group, but to simply display a color or symbol).
This “mob†will protect certain areas, exhort money from businesses, steal from competition, and attack opposing groups designated by the leader.
So the player could watch as an Agent reports to the Base, receives orders to collect “protection money,†goes to a location and recruits two Thugs to escort the Agent on it’s mission. The Agent goes to a business and speaks to the NPC assigned to the business and receives money. The Agent leaves the shop for the next destination, and a rival group is spotted and standing orders are to fight. The Agent organizes the two Thugs and the three fight the enemy.
Another scenario.
The player joins the Capulets and begins as a servant/errand boy. Given simple missions like fetch-quests, kill rats in the cellar, etc. After a while, the player is elevated to “Thug†rank, and is expected to patrol areas and when an Agent, Family Member, or Leader orders it, will perform the action assigned. After a while, the player will assume Agent rank.
After that, the player can either excel at service and be rewarded, convince a Family Member to marry, or convince the Leader to adopt into the family. Once part of the family, the player then becomes assigned to a position in line for the leadership of the House.
The player could then hire assassins to start killing family members.
Another scenario.
The player forms a Band in the city and recruits un-employed (and un-affiliated) NPCs into the group and gives Standing Orders to rob targets of opportunity, but not anyone affiliated with Capulets or Montagues. All money robbed is given to the vault (player) and a percentage is returned to the robber. The player instructs members to keep their affiliation secret, but to openly acknowledge what group they are a part of and who their leader is. This assigns a “fear/respect†value to the player.
After a while, someone is attacked and robbed, and that NPC is affiliated with the Capulets. The Capulets retaliate and begin targeting and attacking members of the thief’s group. The player decides to order all the members to leave the city and meet outside the city gate. There, the player goes into the forest and finds a location and establishes a new Base, assigning the value of “Secret Base†and “Keep Hidden†is made a standing order to the band. So if a non-member is spotted near the Base, that intruder will be attacked and driven away.
The player can issue orders for the members to “keep watch†over a stretch of road and attack any targets of opportunity and loot NPCs knocked unconscious or any goods left behind.
The player can begin differentiating members, having Thieves be the basic troop type, Bruisers be stronger members who outfit armor and carry weapons and train their fighting skills, Lieutenants who bring management and leadership skills to small groups, Captains who command several groups. Eventually, the player can make the Band more militant, outfitting members with body armor and weapons, and begin launching raids against buildings and caravans.
After a while, the player may be able to amass a small army and try to take over a settlement for her/himself.
Other ideas:
Missions:
1. Thug:
a. Muscle man
b. Escort duty
c. Guard
2. Agent
d. Business man
e. Move goods
f. Emmissary
g. Assassin
3. Officer
4. Lieutenant
The "Faction Charter" lists out who can enroll in your faction, what they
are to wear, the ultimate goal of the faction, and even sets out positions
and salaries available. So you choose to have a "secret" faction, with the
purpose of serving "you," uniform is "discreet" or "none" (maybe "badge" or
"code word"), enrollment is based on "leader's interview" and allowed thru
"secret recruitment" (so any members you can order to go out and recruit
people, will do so without mentioning who they serve), and positions
available are "lieutenants," "agents," "spies," "guards," and "thugs."
What you decide to do is to set up a militaristic group. You hire some
agents and thugs who had served Lord Montague as your own personal
lieutenants, agents, spies, guards, and thugs. The lieutenant is your second
in command, and you have him sit in your townhouse with the orders of
"acting like a merchant." You have guards protect the house, who don't allow
any entry by anyone, unless business related. You have spies wander around
town seeing who is doing what. You have agents go on recruiting campaigns
where they find people with "no allegiance," "allied to Montague, but likely
to be turned," and "allied to Prince, but likely to be turned." These
individuals are brought to you so you can decide to recruitment them, or if
they turn on you, kill them. You have the thugs set about on different jobs,
improving their abilities and skills so they become better fighters and
possibly agents and spies.
While all this happens, you continue to serve the Montagues and
systematically eliminate the agents and thugs that belong to other "family"
in the Montague faction. Once they are significantly weak, you can lure the
"family" members to secret locations and have them killed. Hopefully, no one
will "spy" your actions and lord Montague won't suspect you, and eventually
you are the sole "family" member left. And thus you are the sole heir to the
Montagues. You can then setup lord Montague and kill him off, thus gaining
everything for yourself (properities, titles, wealth, employees).
Hey, now you can make the secret faction public and combine the two. You
are now the sole power in Verona, except for the prince. Take him out same
way you did lord Montague, either thru an open conflict or by subterfuge. In
the end, you rule Verona as the new prince. You now have a score or more
positions you can create and things to do to garner wealth, power,
influence. Hire "merchants" to sell goods, at prices you can set (to
establish strangleholds on products). Get "soldiers" to man the walls and
gates and man your armies. Employ a "sheriff" to catch criminals. Fund
"schoolmasters" to run different schools, such as for education children, or
really for teaching your own men how to fight. Hell, even employ
"prostitutes" as spies.
You now rule a city, have a small army, and are gaining and losing money
like mad. Want more? Raise an army and attack your neighbor for money, or
settle in and rule them as well. Get more and become a king. Conquer more
and name yourself emperor.
But let's say before that happens, another prince attacks and overwhelms
the forces defending your city. You are overrun, and just before the enemy
can penetrate the citadel that holds the throne room where your "center" is,
you get there, grab what you can in wealth and items, and flee (either
fighting your way out or sneaking out thru a secret passage).
Now you have money, but no land or people to serve you. You decide to
stage a counter movement against the guy who took you out. In the woods
outside of your city, you establish a new "center." Recruit a few guys, and
go about recruiting "anyone willing" including guys for "any price." With
the new raiding band, you break into the city and loot the treasury.
Game Idea
I. Concept
This is a bare-bones schematic for a particular game playing style I am envisioning. Many of the concepts are based on Koei’s “Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII†strategy game.
A “Tycoon†simulator, but using a 3D world that the player’s avatar can interact with in various ways. The principle “tool†are NPCs, which will have various values and loyalties that affect how they interact with the player and her/his requests.
Think of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet†as a game world, where you start out in fair Verona as an unknown and can decide which “house†you wish to join. Once you join, the house will have it’s own hierarchy and reward system, allowing the player to work towards rising in prominence within the house and even taking it over.
The player can choose to follow any sort of gameplay element they favor, or all of them, so sneaking around and stealing or killing are viable options, organizing militant groups to protect or enforce your authority, or even creating secret societies that help a player carry out their will.
II. Story
You start out as an orphan, or young teen kicked out of your parents home, and find yourself in a large city full of possibilities. (Medieval setting, no magic)
You can choose any different faction to join, or harass.
This includes the authority of the city (the Prince), one of the major noble families (a “houseâ€), a mercantile group (“guildâ€), a group of thieves and thugs (“bandâ€), or start your own group.
As you play, various missions will be presented to the player and s/he can follow through on them in various ways. The more elaborate the solution, the more elaborate the rewards since most of the objects in the game world can be interacted with and relocated. This also includes buildings which have secrets and crawl spaces.
Ultimately, a player can assume control of a group and make themselves be the ultimate authority in the game world.
II. Gameplay
A. Affinity.
Affinity is the relationship between two things.
A player develops affinity between her/himself and the various groups within the game. There is personal affinity and group affinity. You can add to the affinity for a group by wearing the “colors†of that group. This also affects the way NPCs interact with you. Some may lie or cheat you if they are opposed to your group.
Fear is another trait similar to, but somewhat independent of affinity. A player can cause NPCs to “fear†him by killing other NPCs that are aligned with that NPC’s group(s).
A player that kills a lot of NPCs will develop a “Reputation†that can cause NPCs to fear the player and either avoid or not want to deal with. Reputation reflects whether a player follows thru on missions, how violent/aggressive they are, etc.
Strong enough affinities also allow characters to form “sub-groups.†This means that one or more other characters considers a principle their “leader†and will often participate in actions related to that main character. If a character is considered a sub-leader, s/he may be able to bring their followers along on missions. This can lead to the formation of new groups. This is also how secret societies can be formed.
Wearing “group colors,†will assign to you affinities based on that group you belong to. And any actions carried out while associated with the group will positively or negatively affect the affinity to the group.
Possible to dress up as another group and carry out “smear campaigns†against those groups.
“Willpower†could be a character stat, and the value of this could determine how “staunch†in loyalty a character is. Thus, if captured, an NPC could be “pressured†into revealing information, but the NPC’s “Willpower†has to be overcome before information can be revealed.
Having weak will power allies means they will easily turn on you or give up information to other characters.
B. Groups
There are many groups interacting within the game. Each has it’s own tier systems of rank and reward, and each has different abilities they can access.
To form a group, the player has a wide range of possibilities for how to organize their group, the group’s “goals,†and even the economy of the group.
A player decides to form a group; House, Guild, Band, Secret Society.
Key terms are: Base, Vault, Colors, Symbols, Calling Cards, Faction Charter.
Base: actually a type of messageboard system where the player and NPCs can post messages, orders, and completion of missions. If an enemy accesses the Base, they can know all sorts of secret information about the group. The Base could be set on the player him/herself. It is essentially an object the character accesses for information.
Vault: Where money can be stored and withdrawn. The members of the group can access the vault directly, or go through an NPC designated as the vault-keeper (i.e. accountant, clerk). If accessing directly, the NPC, if unloyal or has strong affiliations to other groups, could take more money out then it’s fair share.
Colors: This can mean actual clothing colors, or a particular clothing item worn. Each group usually has a color scheme representing itself. If the character is an “unknown†to the NPC, the NPC will automatically assume the affiliation of the character based on the colors it wears. This can also be used to carry out “smear campaign†missions where the character wears the colors of an opposing group and commits an act that places blame upon the opposing group.
Symbol: A symbol is an object that represents affiliation to a particular group. It can be a physical item, a pattern attached to an item (like a badge sewn to clothing, or production mark on a weapon), or even a mark placed upon a character, such as a tattoo, brand, scar. The symbol can either be publicly displayed or kept hidden, and is meant as a means of establishing the loyalty of the character to a group, an identifier.
Calling Card: When a character commits an action (example killing someone, robbing a place, destroying property), the character can leave a “calling card†behind which is either an action or item that designates who perpetrated the act. The more elaborate the act, the more “prestige/respect/fear†the group/individual receives. Items, however, have to be stockpiled and may cost money. (Example, a character leaves a rose on the corpse of a kill, stabs a dagger through a body part of a kill, leaves a giant “Z†on the wall of a building robbed.)
House: Represents a noble heritage (does not matter if true or not) and the standard hierarchy is: Head of the Family, Family Members, Agents, and Thugs/Servants. The player can make the base of the House a building, and use a particular room to be the Vault. The player then decides the guard schedule and arrangement, how the economy of the house functions, etc.
Guild: A mercantile organization with a primary goal of making money. Hierarchy: Leader/Council, Manager, Agent, Clerk, Laborer. Usually involved in production and/or transport. Management skill affects efficiency.
Band: A militant group. Consists of Leader and soldier, and any other ranks the leader seeks to establish. Can be autocratic or democratic. Kept together based on loyalty and/or salary. Can either have a base (hidden or exposed and guarded) or be “Roaming.â€
Secret Society: Usually consists of individuals already associated with other groups, but secretly allied to a particular leader. (Question on whether a “cause†can be the goal of the group.) Often relies on the use of symbols to represent affiliation. Effort can be made to conceal symbols.
"Faction Charter" lists out who can enroll in your faction, what they
are to wear, the ultimate goal of the faction, and even sets out positions
and salaries available
C. Information “Bitsâ€
Actions cause a “result†and that result translates into a kernel of information, which I call “Bits.†So if the player attacks a character, a “bit†is created. “Cause†of the action is determined based on the affiliations of the NPC and the player, the location, and other information.
The result is that if the NPC is attacked by the player, the NPC will either stay and fight, flee and seek aid, flee till the NPC “feels†it is safe then stop, etc.
If another NPC witnesses the attack, it will react according to a number of factors. The NPC attacked and the player belong to different groups, belong to the same faction, one or both are not recognized as part of any particular faction to the NPC, etc.
Based on what the witness NPC recognizes, it will respond in a number of ways. If the witness and the victim are of the same affiliation, the witness will seek out help. If the witness and player are of the same affiliation, the witness will watch the event unfold and if the player either begins losing or is defeated, it will seek aid for the player. If the witness does not recognize the victim and the player, it will seek out an authority to deal with the problem (the nearest soldier/guard).
The information bit of the player attacking the NPC will be carried by the victim forever and affect any future interactions with the player. The witness NPC, if it must report what it saw, will take that bit and share it with other NPCs, which in turn will share it with others.
The bit may cause leadership to issue orders as a result, too.
D. “Ordersâ€
Can be “Standing†or “Accomplish.â€
Standing Orders have no particular limit, but can issued in such a way that whenever stimulus A is presented, action B will be enacted by the character. Example: If any Capulet sees a Montague, the Capulet will seek out the nearest ally and then attack the Montague. Afterwards, the Capulet will continue doing whatever it was initially doing.
Accomplish Orders are begin-end tasks that the character makes as the primary goal.
“Patrol†is another type of order where the character establishes a route the character is to follow (checkpoints). It is both an execute order and a standing order.
An order can either be assigned to a particular NPC, assigned to a “labor pool†(i.e. a squad) and it will have each member of the pool perform the action, or it could even be a “first come, first to serve,†where the first available NPC will carry out the action.
E. Schedules
NPCs will have set schedules they will follow each game day. This affects the economy of the game world, and allows for characters to perform certain operations and actions as a result.
F. Combat
I am of the opinion that simply fighting will generate experience, or cause some sort of reward, to the player. So the more a character fights, the more it develops “skills†related to how it is fighting.
“Knocking Out†is an option that allows a character to take another character prisoner. Taking prisoner can result in hostage release negotiation with the prisoner’s faction.
III. Scenarios
The initial idea that led me to the game concept was recreating a mafia situation in a game world, where a player could assume the role of a Don, and exist as both a member of the community, and secretly controlling people aligned to a particular secret group.
Based off of this, a player could work for a House (regardless of the position within) and have a Secret Society that carries out the player’s will without revealing who they answer to. The player could have “lieutenants†who exist out in the world at large and do not reveal their affiliation with the player’s Secret Society. However, the lieutenants have Agents and Thugs who openly show allegiance to the SS (or they be instructed to not reveal the name of the group, but to simply display a color or symbol).
This “mob†will protect certain areas, exhort money from businesses, steal from competition, and attack opposing groups designated by the leader.
So the player could watch as an Agent reports to the Base, receives orders to collect “protection money,†goes to a location and recruits two Thugs to escort the Agent on it’s mission. The Agent goes to a business and speaks to the NPC assigned to the business and receives money. The Agent leaves the shop for the next destination, and a rival group is spotted and standing orders are to fight. The Agent organizes the two Thugs and the three fight the enemy.
Another scenario.
The player joins the Capulets and begins as a servant/errand boy. Given simple missions like fetch-quests, kill rats in the cellar, etc. After a while, the player is elevated to “Thug†rank, and is expected to patrol areas and when an Agent, Family Member, or Leader orders it, will perform the action assigned. After a while, the player will assume Agent rank.
After that, the player can either excel at service and be rewarded, convince a Family Member to marry, or convince the Leader to adopt into the family. Once part of the family, the player then becomes assigned to a position in line for the leadership of the House.
The player could then hire assassins to start killing family members.
Another scenario.
The player forms a Band in the city and recruits un-employed (and un-affiliated) NPCs into the group and gives Standing Orders to rob targets of opportunity, but not anyone affiliated with Capulets or Montagues. All money robbed is given to the vault (player) and a percentage is returned to the robber. The player instructs members to keep their affiliation secret, but to openly acknowledge what group they are a part of and who their leader is. This assigns a “fear/respect†value to the player.
After a while, someone is attacked and robbed, and that NPC is affiliated with the Capulets. The Capulets retaliate and begin targeting and attacking members of the thief’s group. The player decides to order all the members to leave the city and meet outside the city gate. There, the player goes into the forest and finds a location and establishes a new Base, assigning the value of “Secret Base†and “Keep Hidden†is made a standing order to the band. So if a non-member is spotted near the Base, that intruder will be attacked and driven away.
The player can issue orders for the members to “keep watch†over a stretch of road and attack any targets of opportunity and loot NPCs knocked unconscious or any goods left behind.
The player can begin differentiating members, having Thieves be the basic troop type, Bruisers be stronger members who outfit armor and carry weapons and train their fighting skills, Lieutenants who bring management and leadership skills to small groups, Captains who command several groups. Eventually, the player can make the Band more militant, outfitting members with body armor and weapons, and begin launching raids against buildings and caravans.
After a while, the player may be able to amass a small army and try to take over a settlement for her/himself.
Other ideas:
Missions:
1. Thug:
a. Muscle man
b. Escort duty
c. Guard
2. Agent
d. Business man
e. Move goods
f. Emmissary
g. Assassin
3. Officer
4. Lieutenant
The "Faction Charter" lists out who can enroll in your faction, what they
are to wear, the ultimate goal of the faction, and even sets out positions
and salaries available. So you choose to have a "secret" faction, with the
purpose of serving "you," uniform is "discreet" or "none" (maybe "badge" or
"code word"), enrollment is based on "leader's interview" and allowed thru
"secret recruitment" (so any members you can order to go out and recruit
people, will do so without mentioning who they serve), and positions
available are "lieutenants," "agents," "spies," "guards," and "thugs."
What you decide to do is to set up a militaristic group. You hire some
agents and thugs who had served Lord Montague as your own personal
lieutenants, agents, spies, guards, and thugs. The lieutenant is your second
in command, and you have him sit in your townhouse with the orders of
"acting like a merchant." You have guards protect the house, who don't allow
any entry by anyone, unless business related. You have spies wander around
town seeing who is doing what. You have agents go on recruiting campaigns
where they find people with "no allegiance," "allied to Montague, but likely
to be turned," and "allied to Prince, but likely to be turned." These
individuals are brought to you so you can decide to recruitment them, or if
they turn on you, kill them. You have the thugs set about on different jobs,
improving their abilities and skills so they become better fighters and
possibly agents and spies.
While all this happens, you continue to serve the Montagues and
systematically eliminate the agents and thugs that belong to other "family"
in the Montague faction. Once they are significantly weak, you can lure the
"family" members to secret locations and have them killed. Hopefully, no one
will "spy" your actions and lord Montague won't suspect you, and eventually
you are the sole "family" member left. And thus you are the sole heir to the
Montagues. You can then setup lord Montague and kill him off, thus gaining
everything for yourself (properities, titles, wealth, employees).
Hey, now you can make the secret faction public and combine the two. You
are now the sole power in Verona, except for the prince. Take him out same
way you did lord Montague, either thru an open conflict or by subterfuge. In
the end, you rule Verona as the new prince. You now have a score or more
positions you can create and things to do to garner wealth, power,
influence. Hire "merchants" to sell goods, at prices you can set (to
establish strangleholds on products). Get "soldiers" to man the walls and
gates and man your armies. Employ a "sheriff" to catch criminals. Fund
"schoolmasters" to run different schools, such as for education children, or
really for teaching your own men how to fight. Hell, even employ
"prostitutes" as spies.
You now rule a city, have a small army, and are gaining and losing money
like mad. Want more? Raise an army and attack your neighbor for money, or
settle in and rule them as well. Get more and become a king. Conquer more
and name yourself emperor.
But let's say before that happens, another prince attacks and overwhelms
the forces defending your city. You are overrun, and just before the enemy
can penetrate the citadel that holds the throne room where your "center" is,
you get there, grab what you can in wealth and items, and flee (either
fighting your way out or sneaking out thru a secret passage).
Now you have money, but no land or people to serve you. You decide to
stage a counter movement against the guy who took you out. In the woods
outside of your city, you establish a new "center." Recruit a few guys, and
go about recruiting "anyone willing" including guys for "any price." With
the new raiding band, you break into the city and loot the treasury.
Sky on
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I'm gonna hazzard a "no".