Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
"Wear your masks in proud submission to Him, the Qara-Kâhin! You are not men while you wear His face! You are legion! You are Ghūl!"
~ Qara'yön, 1.18
A Rusichi TW 1.1 RPG Black March
If you wish to join, please send me the desired name of your character, a quote from your character, a portrait of him, the name of his Beylik, and the standard for his Beylik.
Your character's name and appearance is preferably steppe-turkic. However, he can also be Arabic, Roman, or Russian. When I have your character's name, quote, and picture I will assemble a portrait similar to these examples {1}{2}{3}. When creating a Turkish name for your Beylik, please use Google Translate. To see examples of the types of Beylik standards which are associated with the Qara-Suu, please see these examples. {1}{2}{3} I would suggest looking up "Tribal Tattoos" in Google Images for inspiration. I only need your beylik's image. I will incorporate it into a standard.
We will be playing with a heavily modded version of the Ruischi 1.1 M2TW mod, so all these things will be appearing in game. Please take time and consideration when choosing how you would like your avatar and beylik to be represented.
The Campaign
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
"The bigger you are, the more you are hated. The smaller you are, the more your actions go unseen. Humility is a dagger in the night."
~ Qara'yön, 6.72
Last year's breakaway hotseat, Lords of the East, gave rise to one of the most nefarious and feared factions ever conceived at the Org and in M2TW: The Qara-Suu Khağanate. Now you have a chance to play the Northern Ghūl as they conquer Europe and race against the clock in preparation for another steppe menace coming from the east—perhaps even more powerful than they.
***
The year is 1197. Nearly 7 years have passed since the Rajput Empire, the last remaining nation with enough power in the Middle East to oppose the Khağanate, crumbled in the face of the Ghūl onslaught. Unfortunately, with the defeat of the Rajputs, Nasreddîn Tasköprülüzâde, the Qara-Kâhin and Prophet of Tengrii, passed away. His successor, Tegin Savalat, soon inherited the throne. But how does one succeed a prophet?
For 6 years Tegin consolidated his power in the east. Egypt became annexed, The Omani Admiralty fled for foreign shores, and the last of the Rajput Imperial bloodline was hunted down and exterminated. In Baghdad, the puppet Caliph was forced to declare Nasreddîn a prophet and add to the Qu'ran a new book: the Qara'yön (The Black Path), God's new plan to establish heaven on earth—with the Khağanate at its head. Those who did not submit were annihilated. Entire cities were wiped out. Atop the bodies of his own people, Tegin has established the foundation for a lasting empire.
Now, with his power firmly rooted, perhaps it is time to look West—to the quaking kingdoms of Europe. Their lands are ripe with harvest. Their cities rich in coin. Still, the blasphemous Pope refuses to bow and, indeed, a lesson seems to be in order. Yet, word has come from their neighbors, the Qara-Qhitai: another empire is on the rise. There is a force stirring in the eastern steppes that has some amongst the Qhitai very nervous.
But no matter. That threat lies on the Qhitai borders and it is their concern. For now, the time to invade Europe has come. Tegin has sent word. The northern Beyliks and their masters have answered the call. The Black March has begun...
How to Play
Detailed Rules to Black March
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
This section has yet to be made. I can tell you that we will be playing with a heavily modified version of the Rusichi 1.1 M2TW mod and that the rules will be similar to most RPG's here at the Org.
Participants
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Regular players may post in the Black March Library story thread.
Regular players may post in the Black March Council Chambers.
Players and Factions List:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Thanatos Eclipse
Zim
AAR writers.
Regular players are encouraged to write AARS in the Black March Library at their leisure.
Guest AAR writers who are not regular players are free to post AARs at their leisure in the The Library, but must first contact me via PM to gain permission.
Guest AAR writers will be given credit for all AARs they write in the The Library.
Regular guest AAR writers will be given special consideration as backups should a regular player drop or cannot be reached.
GM Responsibilities
I (Quirl) am, of course, the GM.
Every 5-10 turns I will post a turn update on the development of the game.
Every 5-10 turns I will update the campaign map featured in this post.
Hotseat campaign and admin-control allow me to control AI factions for the purposes of RP and gameplay.
I reserve the right to enforce the rules of this game.
On any issues of concern that might arise during gameplay, I reserve the right to either cast a vote for its solution or make a judgment call on my own (though, I will certainly be open to any and all advice on such issues).
Rules
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Campaign Rules. Below are the rules for this game as set by the Campaign.
We will be playing on the Long Campaign rules.
Battle Timer is off.
Show CPU moves is on.
Autoresolve will be off (meaning that you may fight battles on the campaign map).
GM Rules. Below are the rules for this game as set by the GM.
Using spies to open the gates of settlements is prohibited. You can, however, open the gates of forts.
Cheats are not allowed.
Admin-enabled is on to allow me to access the saved games of missing players and to switch factions between player and AI control.
After completing your move, please upload your save game file and send a PM to the next player in line to alert them that it is their turn. Also, please announce in this thread that you have finished your turn.
When saving your game, please save it as "BM-turn number-next player up."
Players are requested to compete in good faith and with positive sportsmanship at all times.
Any concerns for the development of the game must be taken up with the GM before posting in the main thread. I will be particularly harsh regarding this rule due to frequent problems experienced in the past while GMing.
“Grudge play,” or players who compete with obvious and/or malicious grudges against other players, will not be tolerated.
It is requested that while in the Lords of the East Council Chambers you stay IC (in character) and post all OOC (out of character) comments in “spoiler tabs,” marked above as “OOC:” Role playing will not be heavily enforced in this game, but please respect other players who wish to role play as well as compete.
Destroying buildings inside a settlement under siege is prohibited.
A player must hold a settlement for at least 3 turns before being able to destroy any buildings inside.
Ships docked inside a blockaded port must break the blockade in order to leave the port.
When sieging settlements, there are certain restrictions on siege equipment:
Balistas may only siege forts.
Catapults may siege everything without ballista towers.
Trebuchets may siege everything.
There are certain restrictions on the number of unit cards a ship can transport at a time. These restriction are limited to single vessels, not entire fleets:
A single ship can only transport 2 non-siege unit cards at a time.
A single ship can only transport 1 siege unit card a time.
No exploits. The following exploits are banned.
Re-loading of save game to play the turn again in a different way, or to create a different outcome.
Surround and destroy exploit (relating to agents, also to armies or ships engaged in battle. An escape route of at least one tile must be left.)
Deliberately setting up tribute deals which will result in a faction going more than 20k in debt.
Deliberately exchanging territories for the sole purpose of gaining a free garrison.
Deliberate manipulation of the diplomacy system in order to break a siege, or achieve any other unrealistic in-game outcome.
Merchant fort/army exploit
Attacking ships which are docked in port is prohibited.
Deliberately sallying out to rob the attacking player of the "occupation options" screen (sallying out with a 1:4 chance of victory or less is forbidden).
Requirements
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
We will be playing with heavily modded version of the Ruisichi Total War 1.1 mod. This version of the mod is compatible with Kingdoms and installs in a separate folder, allowing vanilla to still be played. Be aware that you should also have the 1.3 patch for your M2TW game.
Each turn should be completed within 48 hours upon private retrieval and/or public posting of your move’s save game file.
Extensions can be granted in extenuating situations at the discretion of the GM.
After 48 hours with no contact from a player the GM will skip the player's turn. To avoid this, please arrange a sub should you expect to miss your deadline. Passwords can be reset afterward if you wish to keep your faction information private.
If by the third turn a player cannot be reached over private PM or any other means, that player runs the risk of being permanently replaced by another player.
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Looks AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm definately in :)
two ideas for additions to the rules:
1. a player must hold a settlement for 3 turns before they can destroy any buildings in it (not including the ones occasionally destroyed by looting of course)
2. ships must break a blockade to leave port
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Originally Posted by Thanatos Eclipse
Looks AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm definately in :)
two ideas for additions to the rules:
1. a player must hold a settlement for 3 turns before they can destroy any buildings in it (not including the ones occasionally destroyed by looting of course)
2. ships must break a blockade to leave port
Like 'em. Done and done.
I'm debating on whether or not I'd like to make this an RPG or hotseat. If it were an RPG, players would role play generals for a single faction. If it were a hotseat, players would control beylik factions within the Qara-Suu.
The advantage to a hotseat is that, personally, I consider them more fun--plus, players can actually fight against each other. The disadvantage would be that autoresolve would have to be enforced as well as there being limited players (in an RPG, you can have just about as many players as you want).
EDIT:
Maybe I should take a vote on this? What do you guys think?
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
By the way I should say this looks totally awesome.
Due to my RL time constraints I probably won't join as a full-blown player at the start but I'm talking with Quirl about a way to be involved and will no doubt join the game properly at some stage later.
I have to get over my hatred of the Qara-Suu first...poor Freddie B, poor Baldwin. It still pains me to recollect the butt-kicking those ghul gave my noble crusaders.
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Originally Posted by phonicsmonkey
By the way I should say this looks totally awesome.
Due to my RL time constraints I probably won't join as a full-blown player at the start but I'm talking with Quirl about a way to be involved and will no doubt join the game properly at some stage later.
I have to get over my hatred of the Qara-Suu first...poor Freddie B, poor Baldwin. It still pains me to recollect the butt-kicking those ghul gave my noble crusaders.
Ha ha! Well, there may be other alternatives... ;)
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
I've been continuing to mod this game. Currently, I'm thinking I may make each individual beyliqs independent factions (with the name "Qara-Suu Khaganate (name of beyliq)". Players will be able to fight battles in map against AI. Probably, all faction will start as vassals to an "overlord" faction (Probably a faction named after the current Qara-Khagan, Tegin Savalat, or something)...
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Sounds promising. So would the goal then be to become powerful enough to beat the "overlord" and take his place. Or maybe to promote a little more clan unity the contest can be over some honored position (some grand military leader or trusted advisor?) that bestows certain benefits upon whatever leader/faction currently holds it. This could encourage growth into ai territories and stabbing the stronger compitition in the back when their not looking ;)
I mean it sounds like your intintion is for the main goal to be expanding and preparing for a coming invasion (mongols?), but what's going to keep the healthy competition going till then? :P
Last edited by Thanatos Eclipse; 05-09-2011 at 09:01.
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Exactly what I was thinking my man. :)
I was thinking I would have multiple objectives. One or more objectives would encourage unity amongst the Beyliqs. One or more would encourage individual gain. The Mongols would be there to ensure unity for at least the beginning. After that, it'll depend on the players. ;)
Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
You may not need to make these objectives explicit if the rules are correctly framed. For example in V&V there is no explicit objective to gather money and power but the structure (whereby we each have our own individual lands, budget and property) implictly promotes it. What gets measured gets managed as they say...
I fully plan on still going through with my Black March game.
I ran into RL problems last year while making it, but the mod files are still there. Haven't yet decided if it would be best to make it a hotseat or RPG, however. Currently, I'm participating in an RPG right now, but afterward I'll be launching this again...
I fully plan on still going through with my Black March game.
I ran into RL problems last year while making it, but the mod files are still there. Haven't yet decided if it would be best to make it a hotseat or RPG, however. Currently, I'm participating in an RPG right now, but afterward I'll be launching this again...
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Let me know what you guys would prefer, and any suggestions you might have. I'm playing Nightbringer's LotD RPG to actually get some experience in them, considering I've actually never done one before. Not sure how I'll mod the game to function, but any input or suggestions would be great (you're the guys who will actually be playing, after all).
I think the choice of hotseat or RPG will be driven in how many players you get interested. It's an ambitious idea for an RPG which might need a decent group to get it started and rolling. That would be my preference though.
You might like to consider what kind of an RPG you would like it to be. The rules are usually driven at least in part by the historical setting. For example the LotD game is set up to be more freewheeling to reflect the political uncertainty in Hungary at the time the game starts, whereas the rule set for the upcoming TWS2 game is more structured, with an influence system governing in-game decision making on certain issues. Some games include players voting on IC decisions, others do not.
I was thinking about centering it around making one's Beylik (territory) the most prominent Beylik in the Qara-Suu (or perhaps by becoming Khagan). Exactly what goals would have to be met to achieve "prominence" over others or to become Khagan isn't yet clear to me. But for sure, the inevitable invasion of the Mongols would force players to cooperate... for a time.
Being that it's the Qara-Suu, I'd expect players to be generally roleplaying some pretty shady characters. So I'd expect the game to be fairly cutthroat and full of intrigue...
Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
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Re: Black March - An Upcoming RPG for the Qara-Suu Khağanate
Originally Posted by Thanatos Eclipse
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