VoiD

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD Posted my CS in characters. Will delete or change as needed.

@Brocktree

Good application, accepted. Welcome to the RP!

Forgot to mention to everyone -- if you plan on making your character the lieutenant, please keep in mind that you'll have to be more active than other posters. You'll occasionally have to make decisions as the commanding officer, so you'll have to either post before everyone else on those occasions or be available to collab. If no one ends up taking the Lieutenant role, I'll fill it myself.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@Brocktree I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel to guns of infinity! The magic system was partially inspired by those games, along with some of my favorite books.

You're welcome to make a CS!

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@Andreyich That would be a fitting title. You could use that in conjunction with a Baron/Dominus-level title of land, or eschew that altogether.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD
I'm having troubles finding suitable titles for my lad, would it be acceptable for me to say when his family moved to Constantinople they kept the Norse/Varangian title of "Lendmann?"

@Andreyich

You could, but it would be pretty meaningless to the Empire's court - the Norse were seen as barbarians to even the Frankish kingdoms at the time, so you can imagine their noble titles weren't held in the highest esteem in the Empire. Perhaps this resource will help you?

EDIT: Your family could also be minor landholders, such as this.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD There is a magic option in the CS - this means that Dragoons can also hold magic ranks alongside their military rank? Graduates of the academy are free to assimilate themselves into normal military units?

@BingTheWing

Yes. Recall that the vast majority of magic takes the form of physical "sigils", due to its complexity and exhaustive nature. So normally any form of magic in warfare takes the form of meticulously-created traps. You won't find an all-powerful mage slinging massive lightning bolts across the battlefield - even the Magister Maximus would be hard-pressed to use a minor working more than two or three times a day without the use of sigil-craft.

Typically a single regiment may have 1-3 mages of various ability in its ranks. Magic is uncommon even among the nobility, who are partially bred for magical-talent.

EDIT: While I'm not against it, they would have to lie about their age, and personally I'd prefer if the age of a character doesn't go below 14 without a really good/interesting reason.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD a colour sgt would be more like a sergeant major in modern terms.

Also does that means the empire has no significant Pacific naval presence? What with sailing around the horn of africa.

@Brocktree

You are correct, but a colour sergeant would be the senior NCO for an entire regiment, and thus not suitable as a character for the moment, as we're starting as a Bandon-sized group. By being the equivalent of a lieutenant-colonel I did not mean literally; they would possess a similar level of responsibility in regards to the regiment as a whole, while still technically being outranked by cornets and such.

The Empire does have a significant naval presence in the Pacific due to their colonies in India and beyond, and the main naval base is at Opone, on the horn of Africa. Ships up until this point that were built in the Mediterranean would have to either have sailed around Africa or carried across the Sinai peninsula to reach the Red Sea.

@VoiD
Ah, side question? What happened to Greek fire? I just thought it would be badass for napoleonic battlefields to have someone just pop out with a flamethrower or grenadiers lobbing napalm bombs

@Andreyich

Greek fire has unfortunately been lost to time, though the Empire has repeatedly invested time and effort in recreating it. Such efforts so far have not resulted in a practical application, though.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@Andreyich That sounds like a very interesting character, I'm looking forward to the app :)

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiDAh, alright then. So for a vague outline of a character, would it be okay to say he is from a mostly assimilated Norse/Varangian noble family that despite holding some high title is not THAT wealthy. As a result he joined the Dragoons gaining experience and a promotion to Lance Corporal?

@Andreyich

Generally nobility would seek commissions as an officer -- few of the gentry would suffer the ignominy of serving at the same level as the "common" class, unless they were in abject poverty. If you want to go that route, your character would likely want to keep the fact that he is nobility a secret.

A titled norse/varangian family is perfectly fine, though.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD
Would I be able to have my guy be a colour Sergeant there to act as a drill Sergeant to bully new recruits and such?

@Andreyich

Not as a colour sergeant, as that's the equivalent of a liuetenant-colonel for an enlisted man and I don't want anyone starting at that rank quite yet. However you can still act as a drill "sergeant" as a corporal/lance corporal.

@VoiD hey what is the byzantine empire's major port for the middle east? Or is this a timeline where the Suez was completed early, allowing the aegean to be the heart of imperial naval power?

@Brocktree

The major sea port would be Alexandria, with other notable ports in the area being Tripoli (levant), Omone (horn of Africa), and Suez. The canal is under construction and has not yet been completed. The rebellion in the area five years earlier caused major delays in the construction.

Alexandria is the second largest city in the empire behind Constantinople, and is a major naval base. Crete, Naples, and Venice are home to the other major Imperial naval bases in the Mediterranean.

The Imperial Dragoons — A Flintlock Fantasy RP [Open]

@VoiD Sorry for the onslaught of questions, but for lieutenants and lance-corporals, why are they still RPing at the academy when they already have experience? Will they be doing something else while the new recruits train?

@BingTheWing

The questions are fine! They've actually helped me, too. ICly they've been recalled to the academy to help oversee training for new recruits, as well as fill out their command. So basically they're helping train the men that will soon be in their regiment.

OOCly the beginning at the academy is to set up an easy way to introduce everyone's characters and get them acquainted with each other, and to serve as a trial run of sorts on the type of format I expect the IC posts to have. It also allows me to do some early world building, which is nice :)