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?