Character Types and their Bonuses

[DM-Kitch]

The types of players are as follows with respective examples.

The Ruler: King Valdamar the Third of Nareth (Lawful Evil Human) has been King of the Biacan Republic since his father's death approximately 12 years ago. He inherited the throne a little early, at the age of 13, but since his time as King, he has brought success, failure, and most importantly, reform to the way of the island. He holds many policies regarding his rebellious peers, but the greatest of these policies insists upon military dominance on the border, and firm, unquestioned control over the Law holdings. Everything else may come and go as it pleases: granted the Guilds and Temples the right to freely contest one another for the very valuable holdings in the Republic.

The Guilder: Enkil Adarus of Dominion Guilds (Chaotic Neutral High Elf) is a peculiar creature. His aims are rightly aligned as the name suggests: he is a supporter of Desseux, and generally is in alignment with the Praetor in Berilia. However, he also knows the power of the gold coin among humans, and he is keen on cultivating this power while Humanity is at its peak. He enjoys the thrill of risk, and so, after securing an understanding with his competition in Gallic, the DG has turned his aims on the stubborn state of Colbourne, and has brought ample amounts of influence and gold into Colbourne to, if necessary, force their way into the growing markets.

The Temple: Xargox (Neutral Evil Orc) has spent all of his life dedicated to the entity known as the Overlord. He has toiled away the endless hordes of Goblins, Ogres, and Orcs that have come to pay tribe in Narcus Orcii in the Jayn Heartlands, and he knows that until the day comes that he is replaced in martial combat, his head severed and his body burned upon a pyre, he will continue to preach worship and submission before the Overlord's will. Even as other Orcs preach the power of their dead and foolish deity Gruumsh, Xargox will continue to call ignorance upon their words and bring the truth and the mighty to be known.

The Mage: The creature known only as the Dragon (True Neutral Black Dragon) has been a plague upon the civilized world since the time of the Elven Dominion. Even the elves who could live peacefully within his forested realm in Doska have found death and destruction at the clutches of his acidic breath. Even they, the esteemed children of his peers, have not found it within themselves to know peace, and because of that, the Dragon shall forbid all he deems unworthy to dwell within his lands. Since the coming of the Biacan Union to the far northern shores, he has waited with all patience for the day they let their guard down. That shall be the day that fire rains from the skies upon these foolish half-bred elves and humans.


All of that being stated, each of the character types have their own playing bonuses, which are listed as follows:

Noble: Change and affect conscript and muster rules. Maintain a hero unit.
Guilder: Contest, Rule, Create Holdings and Trade Routes as a Character Action. Ply Trade generates more income.
Priest: Agitate, Ceremony as a Character Action.
Mage: Cast Realm Spells, Create Ley Line as a Character Action.


I am looking for some thoughts on the rules pertaining to the bonuses of each of the classes, and willing to hear any suggestions that anyone wants to put forwards. This game is nothing if not experimental.

[dessel]

Not being a technician of the rules, I will limit the scope of my comments, as they come to my mind. Will start with the Noble. The Character seems very focussed on war, which suggests a fighter. What would you think of possibly mixing this with some diplomatic effects, or create an alternate noble, say Noble Warolord and Noble Ruler or something along those lines.

I guess that ultimately, especially when considering that most of the realms are cash strapped, high scale warfare remains quite rare, save maybe from the Horror, conflicts between Groups of Political entities (say the Empire vs. another realm) and when political upheaval engulfs a region. Maybe one Noble sub-class would be more focused on skirmishing stuff (assuming the bonuses you mentioned) and what about another sub-class giving equally strong diplomatic bonuses (when dealing for instance with highly-powered NPCs, or even able to take actions tying up PCs into this and that). It is very sketchy, but can you figure out any sense out of those two cents?

[DM-Kitch]

Given that the mixture of prospective players that I have received has been broad-ranged across the DnD playing world when it comes to editions, I have been attempting to keep the basic construction of characters fairly simplistic. To begin sub-classing means that each of the classes will need to be subclassed, which, while allowing diversity, will gear more alterations to the game. Personally, I can see myself expanding it in the future, but not until my player base fills up a little more and I have less NPC's to focus on when it comes to actions each week as well as reactions.

Now, when it comes to matters like diplomacy, I generally assume that a diplomatic check can be made by any regent, because, generally speaking, most regents are considered educated in some way or another. While this may not include formal teaching, like what you would find in most human lands, even tribes have a form of specific-styled raising for the future leaders of their clans/tribes/etc. Because of this, leaders are generally smart, and because many Mages are nobles, just like many nobles may also be Priests, I have generally stayed away from allowing one diplomatic bonus over the other.

The reason I have geared Noble/Rulers the way I have is not geared towards war directly, but instead I have given them an administrative edge that the other classes lack. You can alter your populace with greater ease with lower repercussions, and the ability to save yourself money and gain fame by personally leading your soldiers has given the rulers the chance to have massive bloodlines, whereas landed regents cannot get that ability. (Remembering epic deeds done to impress the people can gain bonus Regency)

[dessel]

Okie. I am a staucnh supporter of keeping the rules simple!