Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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frapet

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Welcome to a game of chairs (in the absence of a throne).


A political intrigue/Nation roleplay set in an alternate universe of the Witcher series.

It will take place in the Northern Kingdoms, a plethora of smaller states each ruled by their own King/Queen/ Stadholder or whathaveyou. In recent history the Nilfgardian Empire has crept up on the borders of the Northern Kindom, annexing and conquering all that lies south of the great Yaruga River. Presuming that the Nilfgardian lust for power would not end there the Norhtern Kingdoms entered an uneasy alliance, halting the fighting amongst the states to form a united military front. Under the guidance of the Wilem Vandenbreght’s; the Stadholder of Vrystad Tarugerdam, they fought off Nilfgaard, managing to keep the Yaruga as a natural border. The Emperor of Nilfgaard subsequently ordered a ceasefire and terms were negotiated that would allow for trade across the Yaruga and the Great Westsea.

Two generations have passed since the great war with Nilfgaard and the origination of the Northern Alliance. The most notable passing of late being that of Dirk Vandenbreght Consul of the Northern Alliance. A title that governs the appointment of military commanders of alliance armies, protection of the major trade routes and the appointments about them. Though not a hereditary position the Vandenbreght family has produced all Consuls so far and it was assumed that the title would pass to Dirk Vandenbreght’s eventual son after his death. Dirk’s demise has thwarted that assumption and next in the hereditary line would be Grenn Vandenbreght, Dirk’s brother and black sheep of the family.

Grenn Vandenbreght is the leader of a renowned/notorious mercenary company called the Grey Company he has fought for the highest bidder in wars over the north and even done contracts for Nilfgaard in the border regions below the Yaruga, which had him fighting against rebels that were actually sympathetic to the Northern Alliance. Few see him to be a fit candidate for the role of Consul but he has made his way to Tarugerdam where the next consul will be chosen. He assumes the title hereditary but nonetheless the representatives of each member of the Alliance must come to cast the vote.

With that vote there is proverbial blood in the water, Each Northern Realm has send a representative in order to reaffirm alliances, get the better of trade deals and so on, but most importantly to elect a new Consul. Rumours are spreading of armies mobilizing in Nilfgaard and so this position cannot fall into the hands of just anyone…


That is the premise of the roleplay, the added oddities of the Witcher world is a heavy discrimination of non-humans, mainly Elves and Dwarves, who mostly live amongst humans. In cities this most often results in Non-human ghetto’s. The Elves have come to rebel against this the most with insurgents groups called ‘Squirrels’ targeting humans when they can (though if you want to form a non-human nation that is a possibility, think on how it relates to the human ones, why it’s in the Alliance and confer with me). Ironically Witchers themselves play only minor roles as hunters of near extinct monster breeds that largely keep to their own affairs. Sorcerers and sorceresses are trying to form the outcome of major political events and it is usually a custom to have one at court. they are at the same time however considered meddling, dishonest and scheming folk that are best kept at bay, that is why they are not allowed on Alliance meetings and so on. They only serve as advisors and even that starts rumours amongst the populace of unnatural conspiracies, spells and other witchcraft that belongs at the stake. Last up is Nilfgaard, an Empire that stretches to the south of the Yaruga that resembles the real world Holy Roman Empire. They are well organized and the rule of their Emperor Emhyr var Emreis seems absolute. The persecution of witches is stronger in these lands and those that are allowed to operate do so by the training of the State University and at the behest of the Empire. Non-humans are slightly more sympathetic towards Nilfgaard due to the creation of small non-human vassal states within the Empire, and in the previous wars and skirmishes the Elven “Squirrel” units were fighting a guerrilla for Nilfgaard. After the war they were left to fend for themselves.

That about sums it up, but feel free to ask any questions or make things up yourself! Couse that will be a central part to the roleplay: The creation of your own state!

Each player is a representative for that state but you can fully imagine that state yourself. In order to help you along and ‘balance’ it somewhat the nation creation will follow the following set of rules.

Each nation is measured by these factors: location, wealth, strength, leverage.

A base statline of 1,1,1,1 is given to each nation and to make yourself stand out you get one point to spend. So far that seems dull, but I will also allow to trade in stats, so taking a 0 in any might give you a +1 somewhere else.

Most factors are interpretable in multiple ways. Location can be a very defensible position like a mountainous region but can also refer to the position in relation to trade routes or resources. Wealth is most straightforward one in this but one can think about where the wealth comes from and the vulnerability of it. Strength can come in different ways, is it just a large populace that can be drafted into levies or does your state have a trained standing army (something that would be relatively rare in our setting), does it have a large navy or a strategic number of fort emplacements? Leverage is the most obscure one out of everything, but a very important one, what do you have to trade at the negotiating table, this will most probably have very strong ties to the other factors but can be completely unrelated as well, you might for instance have information about the death of the former Consul or already have strong ties with the nobility or traders of Tarugerdam.

In short be creative!

Let me know what if you are interested or if you have any questions!
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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Samdragonx The croo broom wielder

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@frapet

question: Do we get access to harnessing the power of the monsters as "natural defenses/hazzard/natural offense/asset" with witchers as counters to such creatures? :o
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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@Samdragonx having a set of hills that are known for being monster infested at your borders is something a nation could use. High costs for keeping your trade routes populace safe though :p
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by pandapolio
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Sounds interesting
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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Samdragonx The croo broom wielder

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@frapet
You've caught my attention with that comment.
I would need money from a harbor or something... considering that it should ensure most of the natural defenses to remain when our trade routes aren't being assulted. It would also mean I'm having a hard time cultivating soil outside of walls or witcher watch... forcing high populated area's and thus, big cities. Resulting in gossip games of the powerfull, a generally easy death sentence: "exile", great thieves, great danger in anything that involves travel. But if the monarch(me, the gracefull, the first) is harsh, competent and keeps the bars open, it could be done, I guess. xD

Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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Haha @Samdragonxindeed that, good to see you already going a direction

@pandapolio nice to see more interest!
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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Bumping this we can start with 2/3 players (inc. me) and have the other representatives be npc, but I preffer some more players!
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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Well.. If we do not recieve the extra player, We could always throw some serious dice(d10 + d100) in the mix with about 100 different actions on a list?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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we could but we are talking about substituting about 2-3 nations. thats awefully random, we could also upscale the strength of our nations.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by pandapolio
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Bump
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Metamore
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Sounds interesting, one problem for me: I don't know anything about the Witcher 😓
Would this story be self-contained, and/or only inside the lore you've already described, or do you plan on having it expand into the rest of the World? If the latter, are there any specific places or events I should read up on, or would it be a lost cause?
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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The easiest way to get to know the witcher is by playing the games. But essentially, the need to know details are the following.
-Witchers are monster hunters. They drink toxic potions to deal with(i.e. heal) themselves.
-Monsters from all sorts of mythos hide in the wild and/or people's houses (though they are primarily focussed on european mythos).
-Gwent is a card game in the witchers world.(here you might pick up things even more vague than my description.)
-The people all have pretty poor character.(Just in case you were wondering)
-Kings and queens are basically at a constant state of war.
-Elves and dwarves do live among humans, though their numbers are significantly less and they therefor form a rebel/guerilla faction.
-Mages are often feared/hated. There's a council of mages that seeks political power, but ultimately never seems to achieve it.
-There's various kingdoms, but really.. If you know the names Nilfgard(Southern kingdoms), Temaria(northern kingdoms), Skaal(oversees western kingdom) and "Scoia'tael"(<=elves and dwarves from everywhere), you've got the biggest players down.
Hope it helped.
Here's a link if you really want to read up on things(As I'm certain i oversimplified things for the sake of time-constraint.)

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Kingdoms
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Metamore
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Thanks for the run down, I'll be sure to check out that link!

Oh and I completely forgot that I have seen some gameplay of Gwent from a YouTuber, so I suppose I do know a modicum more than nothing about The Witcher :p
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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@Metamore much of what was already said (thanks! @Samdragonx) the story will be selfcontained however, all knowledge is only concerning Nilfgaard and the general poor character indeed that has humans be quite the bastards towards their non-human citizens. what in the books and game are Temeria and so on is what we will create ourselves. The great evil to the south I have named Nilfgaard again, and you could read up on that. other than that there is not much to tell yet ^^

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Nilfgaardian_Empire for nilfgaard.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Metamore
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Hey there, I've been thinking of a lot of ideas for a nation, the culture that gave birth to it, and its history during The Usurper's reign, and why they joined the Northern Alliance. Is it cool if I run them by you tonight in PM to make sure it all works for your story, and to pin down what my stats would be?@frapet
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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@MetamoreOfcourse cool!
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by frapet
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Only one more needed for a game start!
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Metamore
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Bump!
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Samdragonx
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Bump!!
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