TWS2 RPG Discussion Thread

[Zim]

TWS2 has been out for a while now and I've been wondering if it would be suited for an rpg. ETW never generated much interest (although we did discuss it).

TWS2 does have some points in its favor.
-It's a setting that's both very far away from previous rpgs but one which many people have an interest in.
-Being able to build your own generals (and agents) would be great for rp purposes.
-One of the most immersive TW games since the original
-A difficult AI that would pose a legitimate challenge on the campaign map(especially if we went high with the difficulty)
-Credible mid-late game challenge in the Realm Divide, something that's been created artificially in other rpgs
-Smaller setting with clear goals (and some nice side goals, like capturing the black ship)
-Issues like religious conversion and dealing with Nanban ports add to IC conflicts

Some obstacles, most of which have turned out not to obstacles at all:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Smaller setting with clearer goals. Less of a sandbox with only the islands of Japan to fight over, less diversity of opponents.
-Takes a while to get to a size that would give a decent number of general avatars (although with the skill trees for agents they might do well as characters)
-DLC. If I have the Ikki pack and someone else has the new one that adds units, are our saves incompatible with eachother and with someone with neither? This is an issue for standard succession games as well. Save games are compatible.
-Most of us here in the Throne Room seem to play mostly games from the RTW/MTW2 era, in the latter case partly because it's the only one to work for hotseats. How many of us own TWS2? Quite a few, it seems

[GeneralHankerchief]

I'd definitely be in, for one. TWS2 vanilla, no DLCs if that matters, but I don't believe it does (don't quote me on that).

[Zim]

I was worried the DLC might make a difference as far as savegame compatibility. We could test it if there's someone around who has some dlc content.

I've been avoiding getting any for fear of messing up mod versus mod so that's three of us with vanilla TWS2 at least (assuming Phonics were interested).

[phonicsmonkey]

I'm in! I don't have any DLCs..

[Cecil XIX]

The reason Empire and Napoleon have no presence here has a lot to due with their poor reception, I'd imagine. I don't think a game using Shogun 2 would have that problem.

The biggest problem is that Shogun 2 gives you the fewest generals of any TW game to date. I think allowing characters to roleplay as agents is essential in this regard. My experience is that agents don't die as often either, which is helpful. Another thing we should consider is allowing players without avatars to fight battles as Captains, or whatever they're called. I don't know if their names change as constantly as they did in RTW/M2TW, but if they did it would probably be best to see who's interested in playing a Captain, then choosing randomly since they'd be no IC info to base the decision off of. Alternatively, if people were roleplaying characters that didn't exist in game, we could send them to the captain as a sort of military liaison to justify having them play the battle.

There's a benefit that's almost as big though: The game let's you choose the heir! This gives the succession disputes the chance to be deadly serious, which would be a lot of fun! Another thing to consider it is giving the four commissioners powers in the rules, and allowing the Daimyo to appoint commissioners even if there aren't enough generals in the game. The bonus the commissioners give suggest their powers:

• Commissioner for Warfare - Recruits military units
• Commissioner for Supply - Directs reinforcements
• Commissioner for Finance - Determines tax rates and exemptions
• Commissioner for Develop - Approves all construction

We have to fine tune the balance of power between them and the Daimyo, but I think it could really pay off.

Anyway, I'd certainly jump into a Shogun 2 RPG as soon as it was announced.

[Zim]

I hadn't even thought of that (Phonics and my generals die so often in Mod vs Mod I'm guessing neither of us has gotten to use all of the titles at once ).

Who would determine how to divide koku between military and construction purposes? Maybe the Daimyo?

[phonicsmonkey]

I hadn't even thought of that (Phonics and my generals die so often in Mod vs Mod I'm guessing neither of us has gotten to use all of the titles at once ).

Who would determine how to divide koku between military and construction purposes? Maybe the Daimyo?

Or the chief metsuke?