Injecting French "colour" into KotF

[econ21]

This first post is updated to record where we are in terms of choosing the right French/French flavoured words for some key game concepts.

For most concepts, players are free to use either Anglicised or French names - the latter are given in brackets.

Four starter Houses:

Burgundy - capital: Dijon; home of the Burgundians
Lorraine - capital: Reims; home of the Lorrains
Aquitaine - capital: Toulouse; home of the Aquitains
Bretagne - capital: Rennes; home of the Bretons

Parliamentary terms

We meet in a Council of the Realm (Conseil du Royaume).
All nobles are Councillors (Conseillers).
Every session, the day to day running of the Kingdom is overseen by the Seneschal.
We propose edicts (edits) as our laws
We live according to the rules of our Charter (charte)
We can ammend the Charter by issuing proclamations

Feudal ranks

Faction leader is the King (le Roi)
Faction heir is the Dauphin. Other sons of the King are Princes.
Then we have:
Duke (Duc)
Baron
Count (Comte)
Knight (Chevalier)

Original post:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now we have settled on France as the faction, it might be helpful to think about what that implies for the terminology etc used in the game.


Naming the Houses

We start off with five provinces: Toulouse, Dijon, Rennes, Paris and Rheims.
So the obvious allocation is that Paris stays royal (it's central and the capital) while the Houses are formed round the other four Houses:

Dijon - SE
Rheims - NE
Toulouse - SW
Rennes - NW

If we go for that, what should we call the factions? And what do we call the people of that faction?

I propose:

Dijon - Burgundy; Burgundians. Stretches a little east, but evocative. Yes, there is a rebel province of that name, but presumably we have aspirations so I am not sure it matters too much.

Rheims - Bretagne or Brittany; Bretons.

Toulouse - Gascogne or Gascony; Gascons. Stretches a little west, but evocative. Possibly not as prominent historicall as some of the other names for other Houses, but does the trick for me.

Rheims - Campania or Champagne; Campanians. Champagne may be the better name than its alternative Campania, but I can't get over the wine associations. Champagne seems to have been quick important in medieval French history, but unfortunately for us had a Count, not a Duke. Lorraine is a possibility, but is stretching things a bit.


Castles vs cities

There is a potential problem with Toulouse being the only castle - that may advantage the faction with that starter province. We could make Toulouse royal and Paris the basis of a House, but that just feels all wrong to me. What I suggest instead is that the Prince be made head of the Toulouse House - he may be a less partisan Duke than most.


The Dukes

Aside from the King and Prince, there are only two family members and they are both very young (one year old or so). There exist 3 other non-royal generals. Presumably they should be the other three Dukes (along with the Prince). Do we have rules for them to "stewards"? Because I think they should be supplanted by family members when they come of age.

What are we going to do about adopting into the family? The fourth branch of the family tree has not been opened. I would prefer we let it be filled by a child rather than an adoptee. (then the Houses may start off more equal). What do people think?


The Senate

What terminology shall we use for:

The Senate- National Assembly? (Senate or Parliament are also possibles)
The Chancellor - Seneschal? Chief Minister?
The Speaker - President? (do we have a speaker in the rules? I guess the King takes that role)
Senator - Deputy?
Edicts? Laws? - I'd keep with edicts as the term seems to cover both policy decisions (invade Britain!) as well as legislation proper.
Constitution? Charter?
Constitutional Amendments? Charter Amendments?


French or Anglicised names?

To what extent shall we use French vs Anglicised terms? I'd be inclined to leave it to individual players, but it would be interesting know what others prefer as we will probably coalesce around the majority usage. I've emboldened my subjective preference, which is generally for the French version with some exceptions. I'd probably draw the line at including French accents etc, as my keyboard is not set up for them.

King or Roi? vive le Roi!
Prince or Dauphin?
Duke or Duc?
Count or Comte?
Knight or Chevalier?
Battle of or la battaille de?
Brittainy or Bretagne?
Gascony or Gascogne?
Champagne or Campania? - just can't get over the wine associations
Burgundy or Bourgogne? - I prefer the Anglicised for some reason

and if we go for French names, "le" or "the"?


Any other issues?

Anyone think of any other issues to do with injecting French colour and feel into our game?

[Cecil XIX]

Naming the Houses

Sounds good.

Castles vs. Cities
Didn't only Swabia and Bavaria start with castles in KotR? I'm pretty sure we can get by with militia early in the game, especially if a house has six units of bodyguards.

The Dukes
Like KotR right? That seems like a good idea.

[KnightnDay]

Instead of the senate, maybe Assembly of the Second Estate. The States-General would have been members of all three estates, and since we are playing members of the nobility, that would put us in the middle category, clergy and commoners comprising the other two.

[woad&fangs]

Iirc, Dauphin was not used until the 1300s to identify the prince.

[_Tristan_]

As for House names, I think we should rather go like this :

Rennes = Bretagne

Toulouse = Navarre

Reims = Either Champagne or Lorraine. The latter would particularly work if we include Metz into the realm fast.

Dijon = Bourgogne seems fine.

As for titles, Seneschal sounds fine for the title of Chancellor

As for the assembly, the assembly of the second-estate was established much latter. At the time, such a thing didn't truly exist but a Conseil Royal (royal Council) or Conseil du Royaume (Council of the Realm) or High Council (Haut Conseil) would be the nearest thing we would have with the members dubbed Conseillers (Councillors).

Edicts should be Edits
Constitution would be Charte (the term constitution didn't appear until the French Revolution).

Amendments should be Proclamations.

[Zim]

I think it might be a good idea to keep to the Anglicised rank names (people had problems with the ranks in LOTR...) but like Seneschal for the rank of Chancellor.

I like Tristan's House names.

I'm not too bothered about holding Dukeships until an FM comes along. I set up the rules to exclude starting RGB Dukes from the requirement to join their new parents' House if adopted. As far as I'm concerned even if adopted into the family tree they would be the heads of their own influential families. I'm open to it being convinced otherwise but at the moment I don't think making several starting players sort of dukes while waiting on fms to come of age adds much to the game, and having all the Houses headed by direct children of the King seems a little off rpwise (granted, Medieval History is not my strong point. Perhaps it isn't so odd). Of course, the Prince will head one of the Houses.

Perhaps discussion of starting House rules (as opposed to things like their names that are more "color") should be done in the rules thread...

[econ21]

Tristan, what words do you think would be suitable as names for the local people of Navarre, Champagne and Lorraine? Like in Kotr, we would talk of Swabians, Austrians etc. I'm assuming Bretons and Burgundians are ok for the other two areas you mentioned.

[_Tristan_]

Navarre would be Navarrais (Navarrians if you want it anglicized) and Either Champenois or Lorrains (the latter being easier for you english speaking people I think)
And Bretons and Burgundians are fine for the purpose of the game.

[_Tristan_]

Btw, Rheims should be called Reims (there has never been an H in it)...

I personally do not care the level of Frenchizing we do, it will always sound English to me...

Anyway, if anyone wants their stories, etc reviewed for the French put in them, I'll gladly oblige...

[econ21]

I like Tristan's House names.

But will it be Champagne/Champagnois or Lorraine/Lorrains for the House centred on Reims? My preference is Lorraine, I think - both because I think Lorraine was a larger political entity for most of the period (although less loyal to the King) and because of the modern day association of Champagne with the wine.

EDIT: Are you going to edit the settlement names in game, Tristan?

[Ibn-Khaldun]

EDIT: Are you going to edit the settlement names in game, Tristan?

Players who have a settlement can rename it when ever he wants and to what ever he wants.

(2) Can set the build queue and tax rate for their settlement and all unallocated settlements under their control. Can destroy any building in their settlement and all unallocated settlements under their control. Can rename any settlement under their control at any time.

[_Tristan_]

It depends on what people would like... There's not much editing to do aside from Reims/Rheims as stated above. And this can be done in-game by double-clikcing on the city's name in the building/recruitment scroll.

I think we should go for Lorraine/Lorrains rather than Champagne if it has so strong associations for you. But what about Burgundy ?

[_Tristan_]

Reflecting a bit more on the Houses' names, Toulouse could perhaps be Aquitaine although it would need to unite with Bordeaux to fully bear its historical name much as Reims will have to get Metz before fully becoming Lorraine...

This would give us

Bretagne (Rennes)/ Aquitaine(or Navarre) (Toulouse)/ Bourgogne (Dijon)/ Lorraine (Reims)

[econ21]

But what about Burgundy ?

I am not a wine drinker, so Burgundy does not cause me problems. The association with Charles the Bold is much stronger for me.

[_Tristan_]

Some would argue that Champagne is also a wine but I'm just teasing...

[econ21]

Some would argue that Champagne is also a wine but I'm just teasing...

I know it's just it is such a famous wine.

It strikes me that an analogy would be a "Macdonalds" faction in a Scottish game. Although that analogy does show the weakness of my case, as such a clan would be quite a good pick historically.

[ULC]

Btw, Rheims should be called Reims (there has never been an H in it)...

I personally do not care the level of Frenchizing we do, it will always sound English to me...

Anyway, if anyone wants their stories, etc reviewed for the French put in them, I'll gladly oblige...

Thank you

Reflecting a bit more on the Houses' names, Toulouse could perhaps be Aquitaine although it would need to unite with Bordeaux to fully bear its historical name much as Reims will have to get Metz before fully becoming Lorraine...

This would give us

Bretagne (Rennes)/ Aquitaine(or Navarre) (Toulouse)/ Bourgogne (Dijon)/ Lorraine (Reims)

I agree with Aquitaine instead of Navarre because of Navarre's heavy association with Spanish culture. Also, IIRC, the Aquitainian Dukes were quite independant. I would also go with Lorraine, simply because of the stronger association with Lotharingia.

And these also set goals for the Houses right out of the gate, and make them richer.

I know it's just it is such a famous wine.

It strikes me that an analogy would be a "Macdonalds" faction in a Scottish game. Although that analogy does show the weakness of my case, as such a clan would be quite a good pick historically.

I demand fries with that.

[_Tristan_]

Thank you

You're welcome

[econ21]

I prefer my original suggestion of Gascony to Aquitaine - it covers a similar area, but Gascons are so much cooler sounding than Aquitainians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gascony

Apparently the Duchy of Gascony and that of Aquitaine were united in 1058.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Gascony

Personally, my preferences are based on colour and flavour - I know we are going to be doing violence to the historical nuances by playing M2TW in the first place.

[TheFlax]

Anyway, if anyone wants their stories, etc reviewed for the French put in them, I'll gladly oblige...

Ditto for me, although I am not a real Frenchman from France.

As for the House names, I have no preferences really. I guess with sound go with the names that sound best or are the more evocative.

[ULC]

I prefer my original suggestion of Gascony to Aquitaine - it covers a similar area, but Gascons are so much cooler sounding than Aquitainians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gascony

Apparently the Duchy of Gascony and that of Aquitaine were united in 1058.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Gascony

Personally, my preferences are based on colour and flavour - I know we are going to be doing violence to the historical nuances by playing M2TW in the first place.

Whats interesting, is that each House has the ability to harken back to Kingdoms of Old - Gascony/Aquitaine = Visigoths
Bourgogne = Burgundians
Bretagne = Not sure, but there is definite Celtic, Roman, and Norse history to look back to.
Lorraine = Lotharingia

I know I am not necessarily thinking strait, very tired and will be going to bed soon, but I throw my 2 cents in for Aquitaine instead of Gascony, simply because Aquitaine retained significantly higher political relevance throughout the medieval era compared to Gascony which was subsumed by the Duchy of Aquitaine.

[econ21]

...I throw my 2 cents in for Aquitaine instead of Gascony, simply because Aquitaine retained significantly higher political relevance throughout the medieval era compared to Gascony which was subsumed by the Duchy of Aquitaine.

Scratch what I just said, I agree with Aquitaine now. I dare not say it because Tristan is around but silently I was worried about Aquitaine because I thought it was English for most of the period. However, I have just read this:

The Valois Kings of France, claiming supremacy over Aquitaine, granted the title of Duke to their heirs, the Dauphins.

from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Aquitaine

This dovetails perfectly with my suggestion in the first post that the Prince be made Duke of Toulouse - it's the only castle in France at the start, so it seems fitting it should go to the Prince.

EDIT: One interesting feature is how the proposed names imply natural geographic ambitions:

The Aquitanians will want to take English held Aquitaine back.

The Burgundians will want to take rebel Burgundy province back.

The Lorrains will want to take German Alsace-Lorraine back.

The Bretons will want ... to be left alone? to take Great Britain? ... you decide ...

[Ibn-Khaldun]

...
Bretagne = Not sure, but there is definite Celtic, Roman, and Norse history to look back to.

Bretagne - the home of mighty gauls called Asterix and Obelix!

[KnightnDay]

The Valois line started almost 150 years after the point we are starting the game. So I'm not so sure the precedent is there.

[AussieGiant]

Like econ's structure, like Tristan's names.

Jees a bit of reading after nearly two days.

[econ21]

I've updated the first post to reflect where I think we are at.

There's been no discussion of it, but out of Tristan's three possible council names - Conseil Royal (royal Council) or Conseil du Royaume (Council of the Realm) or High Council (Haut Conseil) - the middle one sounds best to me. It catches the decentralised feudal vibe more than Royal and the council can't be that high if we are letting every recruitable bodyguard in...

[woad&fangs]

I also like "Council of the Realm".

The names for the four starting houses sound good to me.

[Ignoramus]

Hi guys, I'm finally back after 5 days without internet access.

I like the house names, but I'd also consider naming them after families.

Possibly: Capet, Valois, Plantagenet, and Bourbon, with Capet getting Dijon, Valois Reims, Plantagenet Rennes, and Bourbon Toulouse?

[Zim]

Always thought Lorraine, Burgundy, and Brittany were three of the coolest factions to play in EU3, Aquitane is also good.

I like the Houses proposed by Ignoramus but think geographically themed Houses will work better, as I'm not sure Houses would have much chance of falling along those family lines (which is actually too bad, it would be neat...).

Anglicized names with proper names in brackets works well, I think, given some of the issues with the Greek names in LOTR.

Honestly, I think my input here isn't much needed. I'll take any completed system that lacks any major problems.

I want to thank Tristan for keeping us at least sort of almost authentic (or some reasonable facsimile thereof), a difficult task considering we're playing this in MTW2.

P.S. I rather like Burgundys, although I must admit I've only had Spanish ones...

[AussieGiant]

There was a major issue with immersion across the board in LotR because the names were too hard to remember and spell.

Apologies to Tristan in advance, but we need to keep that in mind before going too Francaphone, as I believe he is the only French speaker amongst us.