Political Changes Royalty 2/8/05

[GM_Chris]

Royalty

Requirements for Forming and Maintaining Royalty

Royalty are born in a slightly different fashion than Houses and Guilds. Just as Guilds support Houses, Houses can support Royalty. The difference is that individuals not associated with an organization can choose to support Royalty directly. Therefore, Royalty does not need the support of two Houses and thus Allegiance can come from individual sources to start and maintain if necessary. As with Guilds and Houses, the points needed to maintain Royalty is less than required to start (See Chart on page #).

The Benefits of Being Royalty

Hero Points
Each level of Royalty gives the player a special floating Hero Point that they can either use for themselves or hand out to others. For example, a fourth level Noble would have four floating hero points to utilize. These points work exactly like regular hero points (see page #) with one exception: they do not accumulate from event to event. In other words, if not used during the course of the event, they are lost forever. At the next event, the fourth level Noble will have Four Hero Points to spend once again. In other words, you cannot save up these hero points like you can regular ones.

Armies
One of the prime benefits of being royalty is the availability of "Military Points". In general, military points symbolize not only the size but the effectiveness of a standing army. A force with 75% more military points may be the same size but be better trained or equipped. The maximum number of military points a Royal can have is either equal to their allegiance point total or the maximum allowed per level as described below, whichever is smaller. When a character becomes a first level Royal, they are given 100 military points. To gain more military points (up to their maximum), they must spend 1 commodity of their choice per 2 military points they wish to gain. This can only be done between events. The maximum number of military points that may be gained between events is also dependent upon the royal’s level and is listed in the chart below. If a royal’s total allegiance falls below their military point total, the excess military points are lost. In addition, maintaining the army costs 1 commodity per 50 military points.

level......... start......... maintain... max MP.... max MP between events
1.............. 400.......... 300.......... 300.......... 70
2.............. 525.......... 400.......... 475.......... 100
3.............. 650.......... 500.......... 650.......... 150
4.............. 775.......... 625.......... 825.......... 200
5.............. 900.......... 750.......... 1000........ 300
6.............. 1150........ 1025........ 1500........ 400
7.............. 1400........ 1300........ 2000........ 500
8.............. 2000........ 1700........ N/A.......... 600

A royal may use military points to perform actions such as repelling attacks from outside forces, attacking other armies, guarding trade routes and borders, reducing the time required to create or destroy structures, performing special plot related missions, or be readied to serve at the royal's side. In most cases, the royal may decide how many military points to commit to each action; however, if an action has a set military point cost it will be listed in the actions description below. Once an action is complete, the military points return to the Royal's pool for future use. Some actions, such as attacking or defending a location, may result in the permanent loss of military points. These Military Points must be regained between events through the expenditure of resources.

Military Actions

Defending an Area
To defend an area a royal can commit any or all of their military points. These points are then committed to defending the given area from attack. Some areas that are defended may give an amount of bonus or penalty military points. For example, defending an open plain may result in a penalty whereas defending a fortress may result in a substantial bonus. Redeploying military points committed to defense takes a minimum of 1 hour plus travel time to redeploy. During this time, the royal may cancel his redeployment but suffers a loss of 10% of the military points committed

Attacking another Force
To attack another force or army a royal can commit any or all of their military points. These points are then committed to the attack until the outcome of the battle is determined. It takes 1 hour after the points are committed to muster troops. During this time, the royal may cancel his action but suffers a loss of 10% of the military points committed.

Aiding a Trade Route
A royal may commit military troops to patrol and defend a trade route. This increased safety improves the yield of the trade route. For every 10 military points the royal spends, there will be a 1% increase to the yield of that trade route. In addition, a royal may spend 50 military points to increase the likelihood of a beneficial random event. Military points must be committed to a trade route for one event before the benefit is received.

Hindering a Trade Route
A royal may commit troops to hinder trade routes. For every 10 military points the royal spends, there will be a 1% decrease to the yield of that trade route. In addition, a royal may spend 50 military points to increase the likelihood of random event negatively impacting the trade route.

Developing a Trade Route
A royal may commit military points to found a new trade route. The royal must commit these military points for two events before any trade routes can be created. The royal must commit military points for an additional event after the first trade route has been established in order to ensure its safety. The royal receives no direct resources from the trade route created and a guild who uses the trade route must still pay an appropriate number of resource points. The cost to develop a new trade route is 100 military points plus 25 per base food resource gained, 50 per base shelter gained, 75 per base cloth gained, 100 per steel gained, 100 per mystic gained, and 100 per hide gained.

Collecting Tribute
Military points may be used to collect tribute or to raid a settlement. For every 50 military points the royal commits they may receive 3 food, 3 hide, 2 shelter, 2 steel, 1 mystic, or 1 cloth resources. These resources come from the resources the settlement has available for trade, therefore impacting the resource number for any trade routes stemming from that settlement. Military points must be committed to this action for one event before the benefit is received after which they function exactly like trade routes for the duration of time the royal has military points committed to the action.

Aiding in Construction
A royal may commit military points to aide in the construction of a structure. The structure must still be built by one or more craftsmen of the appropriate level. The military points committed to construction represent unskilled workers. The maximum amount of military points that can be committed and their effect on the build time will be determined by the GM staff.

Readying Troops to Serve
Troops may be readied to serve a royal during an event. Military points used to ready troops must be spent by the royal at check-in. The royal is then given tags for each troop readied. These troops can be used during the event as the royal sees fit; however, every troop must be physically represented by a player before it can step on the field. Readied troops that are not currently represented are considered to be out of play. The base troop that the royal can ready costs 10MP and 1 food, 1 "Stuff", and 1 steel or Hide. The troop will swing 1, have 9 life, 6 armour (including combat reflexes) and all the basic warrior skills. (Advanced Troop Cost to come.)

In order to represent a troop, a player must change from their normal character into a "Troop Character". The royal should provide a costume to the player that distinguishes them as one of their troops. This change is completed as per the disguise skill on page $$. While a player is physically representing a troop, their character is considered out of play. The player representing a troop is then given the appropriate troop tag by the royal. If the troop is killed, the tag must be destroyed. The player playing the troop may then remove themselves from the combat area, wait 5 minutes, and then return as another troop providing that the player has another troop tag. In special circumstances, determined by the GM staff, a "respawn" point may be defined for troops. Instead of waiting 5 minutes, the player simply returns to the respawn point and then can return to the battle as long as they have another troop tag available. All readied troops also have an upkeep cost that is paid in resources. Any troops that are readied and not upkept at check out are destroyed. The types of troops available, the skills they poses, and their military point cost are listed in the chart below.