The Frozen Crusade: Teutonic Order PBM

Sign-up thread is here, reserve your avatar now! Rules are going to be posted soon, borrowed heavily from KoTR.

Goal: Hold 45 regions including Visby, Vilnius, Novgorod, Kiev, Poznan, and eliminate Lithuania.
300 turns. Initial Enemies - Lithuania, Rebels

Generals List: Name Command-Chiv/Dread-Loyalty/Authority-Piety
Hochmeister Gunther 6-4c-5a-4 - Zim

OrdenMarschall Maximillian 4-0-5l-4 - Elite Ferret

Dietrich 1-1c-5l-3 - Warluster

Hans 1-2d-5l-3 - gibsonsg91921

Karl Scherer - deguerra

Athalwolf von Essen - RoadKill

Agents
Johannes - Priest, 2 Piety
Wilhelm Guiskard - Bishop, 2 Piety
Ortwinus, Bishop - 4 Piety
Leopold, Merchant - 2 Finance

Admirals
Michel - 0 Command
Friedrich - 1 Command - icejuggernaut

Settlements are allocated according to a House in the beginning of the game according to global location. Newly conquered settlements are allocated to a House by the Hochmeister.
South - Prussia
Marienburg - Fortress, Capital of Teutonic Order and Prussia
Thorn - Castle
Konigsburg - Large Town

North - Livonia
Riga - City, Capital of Livonia
Dunaburg - Castle
Pernau - Town
Windau - Castle
Arensburg - Town

Avatars come on a first come, first serve basis. Generals join a house chosen by the Hochmeister, fight the battles of their avatar, roleplay their character in IC stories and speaking in the Council, and vote. Agents and Admirals do all of this except fight battles.

Each player's avatar has a political rank.

Elector
The Elector is the standard level. All players, except Hochmeister, are Electors. They gain no influence bonus due to rank. Electors speak in the Order Council, propose and vote for Edicts, can run for or vote for OrdenKanzler (KOTR Chancellor).

Count
A Count is a General avatar that receives feudal land from their Duke. They set the build queues and tax levels of their settlement. They also gain +1 influence, essentially an additional vote for each Edict, Charter Amendment, or Chancellor run.

Duke
The Duke is the head of the House, either Prussia or Livonia. They grant land to Generals of their house to make them Counts, giving their subjects additional influence and power in exchange for loyalty. They may remove land at any time. They also administrate ungranted land. The original Dukes are chosen by the Hochmeister, but the position is hereditary - Dukes choose their heir. Dukes have +2 influence.

OrdenMarschall
The OrdenMarschall has no additional powers except +3 influence. They inherit the position of Hochmeister. A new OrdenMarschall is then chosen by the game, picking the General with the highest Command.

Hochmeister
The Hochmeister has no votes except a tiebreaker. He allocates land and generals to Ducal Houses, picks who guides Western Crusading Heroes (picks the player who controls his battles), and do not belong to a House. Can assume post of OrdenKanzler without a vote for one term only. They may be reelected, but must be voted for. He can call an Emergency Council Session as well if he is unsatisified with the OrdenKanzler.

OrdenKanzler
The OrdenKanzler is the most powerful person in the game. Upon election, he plays the game for 10 turns following edicts, build queues, tax levels, and the rules. When generals are in a battle, he notifies the players by PM and by posting in this thread. The players then take turns picking up the save and fighting their battles, and then reuploading the save. He does not have to build anything in a settlement, but if he does, he must follow the queue.

Every 10 turns, the game is paused and Council convenes for three real-life days. They propose and vote upon Edicts and Laws and elect an OrdenKanzler.

A sample edict:

Edict ex.xx - The OrdenKanzler shall declare war on the Novgorod Republic.

The edict would require a seconder, e.g. "I, Hochmeister Gunther, second Edict ex.xx." At the end of the the Session, there is a one-day voting period and it would need a majority vote (influence taken into account). If there is a tie, the Hochmeister breaks the tie with his vote. Edicts only last for the session.

A sample Law:

Law ex.xx (a different set of numbers than the edict) - The influence of a Duke shall equal +200000.

The Law would require two seconders and pass a 2/3 weighted vote after the session. The Hochmeister breaks ties.

If a player wants to run for OrdenKanzler, they should announce their candidacy and give a brief description of their platform. Whoever gets the most votes running for OrdenKanzler wins. As Kanzler, they play the next 10 turns until the next Council Session, following edicts, rules, build queues, and tax levels. They also delegate the battles to the players.

Ex. Battle

Ulrich McJohnJohn:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You have assaulted the walls of Krakow. Destroy them utterly and sack the city.

Stevey MacJibbly:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You are to fight the Russians. Attack them and attempt to capture their general at all costs.

The players would post in this thread that they have the save and upload the new save to patrons/pbm when they are done, and tell the next person to play their battle. First come, first serve. You have 48 hours to fight after the Kanzler posts the battle list.

Rules subject to change for a while as I figure everything out.

in :)

edit-I'll take the Hochmeister if no-one else wants him

u can be kanzler or anyone if they want, i don't have that kind of constant time.

If anyone wants to suggest any rules changes or notes any flaws, now is the time.

I shall take Maximilian, or if anyone wants him, then Dietrich.

Whichever it is, I'll run for Kanzler. :yes:

okay then Zim can be Kanzler seeing as Gibson has listed himslef as Hans and I'll take the OrdenMarschall

You can still be Hochmeister, Maximiliian is the Ordenmarschall. :yes:

Kansler and Hochmeister are seperate, I think, like Emperor and Chancelor in KOTR.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elite Ferret

okay then Zim can be Kanzler seeing as Gibson has listed himslef as Hans and I'll take the OrdenMarschall

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Edit: Or I ca be Hochmeister and Kanzler for a term. Either way is good for me. Heck, I'd be happy to take Dietrich.

okay. lets wait a while for this to gain members before we start up. get to know the rules, etc. we'll start with a council meeting in a few days and then get going. i'll update the playlist - EF is maximillian and Zim is Dietrich?

i'll be hochmeister if no one wants to be, but it's an important position that we'll have to start off the game filled.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gibsonsg91921

okay. lets wait a while for this to gain members before we start up. get to know the rules, etc. we'll start with a council meeting in a few days and then get going. i'll update the playlist - EF is maximillian and Zim is Dietrich?

i'll be hochmeister if no one wants to be, but it's an important position that we'll have to start off the game filled.

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Dietrich is fine with me. I like chivalrous characters. :yes:

Is my Kanzlership unopposed? :clown:

P.S. Ok, Hochmeister renounces his House, so that leaves the other three as possible Dukes. Any votes on which guy is Duke of each House?

Then I'll switch to Hochmeister.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zim

You can still be Hochmeister, Maximiliian is the Ordenmarschall. :yes:

Kansler and Hochmeister are seperate, I think, like Emperor and Chancelor in KOTR.

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no but, like in KotR, the Hochmeister can take the position of Kansler once during his reign and, like in KotR, this is usually taken at the beginning of the game rather than have a vote with just 3 players.

Got it. Gibson, are you taking your right to take the Kanzlership? Or shall it come down to a mighty 3 man vote? :clown:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elite Ferret

no but, like in KotR, the Hochmeister can take the position of Kansler once during his reign and, like in KotR, this is usually taken at the beginning of the game rather than have a vote with just 3 players.

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I think I'll pass on being Kanzler - maybe during the summer I'll have more time. Right now, I can do all the administrative stuff but I don't have time to actually play the game.

Ok, is everyone ok with Dietrich being Kanzler? Or should Gibson and I switch (if he's ok with it)?

You can be Hochmeister and I could be Hans.

Remember the administrative duties you have to perform - naming Dukes of each House (while I strongly suggest Maximillian for Livonia and Hans for Prussia, this is really up to you), and everything else the Hochmeister has to do. I'll start the councils using a Diet Speaker-esque character, similar to econ21 in KOTR.

We'll switch then, and Gunther's first act at the diet will invoke his power to take the first Kanzlership.

I'll take a look at the starting game for the Order. If I remember correctly, Maximilian is the only person in Livonia, so he's a shoe in for Duke. Hans will be the Dread Duke of Prussia itself.

Since Diets last a while, the first one can also be used to allow any more new players to introduce themselves and get involved. :thumbsup:

Are there any more positions left? I would like to play.

Dietrich is still open. :yes:

Dietrich 1-1c-5l-3

There should also be a few adoptions over the upcoming turns. Since there are no real "families" for the Teutonic Order, the Hochmeister (me, Gibson and I are switching avatars) gets to assign people to their House.

Dietrich starts in the south, but so do the Hochmeister and Hans. If you would prefer to be in the Livonian (northern) House with Elite Ferret, I don't think it would be a problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Warluster

Are there any more positions left? I would like to play.

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I'll take Dietrich.

But could Dietrich be in Livonia?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Warluster

I'll take Dietrich.

But could Dietrich be in Livonia?

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Certainly. I can move him up there with the console, or just have him march/sail that direction.

Ok guys. Should I take it that there will be an equivalent to the KOTR's Imperial capital, which is under control of the Hochmeister himself? Marienburg is the capital for the faction, and could be used for that purpose. On the other hand, I'd hate to Take the prussian House's best castle, when the Livonians have more settlements and Riga.

Konigsburg would also work, it's nicely situated in the center of the Order's territories.

Just march him there, we can say he was in Prussia helping with campaigns but will be returning home.

Playlist updated, and welcome Warluster!

We will be ready to start soon. I'll have a brief period of time for more people who may want to join as electors and for anyone to suggest rules, but after that I will start relevant threads.

Ok. :yes:

Now that all general avatars are assigned, shall we start the Diet?

I'll start it now.

The thread looks great, Gibson! :2thumbsup:

As the first Kanzler, I guess I'm starting the game (not now, after the Diet of course). What difficulty should I use? VH/VH? Maybe H/VH?

Let's go H/H so we don't scare away new players. H/H is no walk in the park. If you think that's too easy I'm open to H/VH, but campaign difficulty doesn't have to be more than H, that just makes the diplomacy terrible.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gibsonsg91921

Let's go H/H so we don't scare away new players. H/H is no walk in the park. If you think that's too easy I'm open to H/VH, but campaign difficulty doesn't have to be more than H, that just makes the diplomacy terrible.

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That's fine. I think H/VH would be better, since the AI doesn't get bonuses on higher battle difficulties (except when buring siege towers :furious3:) .

What difficulty is KOTR on, anyway? I suspect that with all the micromanagement, this will be a bit easier than SP.

Yeah, let's go with H/VH. I think that's what KOTR is on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gibsonsg91921

Yeah, let's go with H/VH. I think that's what KOTR is on.

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Sounds good. :2thumbsup:

Just one more thing: How centralized is the Order going to be? I understand that the Hochmeister can assign Houses, since there are no family members that makes sense. What about other stuff? Do we vote to attack a settlement in the Diet? Is the Order's capital Houseless and under control of the Hochmeister, like Rome was in KOTR?

Well, at the start there is nothing barring the attacks of enemy settlements except for the penalties of the Hochmeister, etc. Legislation can be put into effect that prevents things like that.

Also, as of now, the capital of the Order is Marienburg, which is also the capital of Prussia, but that is also subject to change by the Hochmeister.

might join up at some stage. should point out though that CAs german is terrible. its Ordensmarshall and Ordenskanzler, with an extra "s" and no capital in the middle of a word!

haha yeah. i made up the Kanzler, but i based it off of CA's so i wasn't sure how to pull it off. join now! we're sure to get adoptions by turn 2. we also need people for the council as seconders and voters.