The Will of the Senate - out of character thread

[TinCow]

Ok, brief summary:

This will be a PBM where the entire body of participants contributes to the on-going campaign, whether playing the current 'round' or not. We will all be members of the 'Senate' and will generally decide what will happen through debate and voting on the forums. There will always be a single 'Consul', elected by majority vote in the Senate, who will be responsible for playing the actual game itself. He will serve for a 5 year term (20 game turns, using the 4 turns per year mod) and his actions will be reported back to the Senate regularly.

Each Senator will represent an actual Roman family member present in the game. You will know your traits, family connections, etc. All battles will be auto-calc UNLESS the general of the army is the current Consul. In addition, if a Senator's in-game family member is involved in a battle, the Consul will pass off the save game to that Senator for that single battle. Essentially, you will control everything involving the family member that represents YOU in the game. Using politics you can negotiate with other Senators and with the Consuls to get postings to the best cities with the best academies, to be assigned leadership of legions or even to be the next Consul yourself. Alternatively, you can sit back and simply aggitate as a member of the Senate... passing legislation (requirements that the Consul must try and fulfill) and otherwise politicing as you please without needing to play any turns. When your character dies, you will be assigned a new one when one becomes available (probably instantly).

We're still working out the finer points, but that's the gist of it. Oh, and it will be played using the Rome: Total Realism mod and some other sub-mods.

[flyd]

This sounds like a great idea, I'm in, lower house.

Comments on rules. I'm for the manifesto idea, but also senate directives, or missions, and at least one senate session during the consul's term. But I'm not sure that we should slow the player down. Instead he could play at any speed, while providing regular reports. The senate would not be in session, and there would be no formal deliberation. But once the consul hit the middle of his term, he would pause. Senate would enter session, deliberate things, and perhaps issue directives. Once they're done, the consul would continue.

Additionally, the senate speaker would perhaps have the ability to call an emergency session at any time, should something come up, which would, possibly pause the game again while the senate is in session, or would perhaps not. Perhaps the speaker would have two types of emergency session to call. I haven't quite made up my mind on this part.

And thirdly, there could be certain actions which the consul could not undertake without the permission of the senate, like starting a war, for example, but also possibly other things like forming an alliance, or even getting a ceasefire.

[Mount Suribachi]

And thirdly, there could be certain actions which the consul could not undertake without the permission of the senate, like starting a war, for example, but also possibly other things like forming an alliance, or even getting a ceasefire.

Definately!

[Avicenna]

My proposal: We start off at war with the Greeks. I say take the 2 rebel settlements first and then drive Pyrrhus' army off Italia and send them man himself to an early grave. After that, Taras and Croton should be lightly defended, and then taking Rhegion allows us to concentrate our efforts on whoever we want: the Carthaginians in Sicily or the Gauls in Cispaline Gaul.

Anyone up for a vote now?

By the way, could we disallow younger members to join the senate? Also, unless they're closely related to the most influential member or the faction leader, we shouldn't allow any randomer to join the senate. I've played 2 RTR Roman campaigns, and Decius Laevinius always seems to turn out as a bit of a useless waste of space with almost no positive traits whatsoever. We should have a minimum of, say, 1 influence and 1 in command or management to join the senate, unless well-connected.

Also, if we follow TinCow's suggestion of one week's deliberation and voting, I don't think I'll be on for long enough, unless I just take command for a few short years of 1 week each. I'll also be unable to take command if attacked, so my character should be auto'ed unless I've stated that I'm in a holiday.

[Mount Suribachi]

By the way, could we disallow younger members to join the senate? Also, unless they're closely related to the most influential member or the faction leader, we shouldn't allow any randomer to join the senate. I've played 2 RTR Roman campaigns, and Decius Laevinius always seems to turn out as a bit of a useless waste of space with almost no positive traits whatsoever. We should have a minimum of, say, 1 influence and 1 in command or management to join the senate, unless well-connected.

I disagree completely! See, we're arguing like Roman Senators already!

Membership of the Senate was by birthright, not by ability. Being an in-bred, stupid, arrogant buffoon shouldn't bar someone from the Senate, indeed some Patricians would regard them as virtues suitable for the Consulship! Half the fun for me would be the role-playing of all the different avatars, good and bad. Birth, breeding (and money) are much more important to a patrician than ability. If we get a moron as Consul, so the better as far as I'm concerned

As for age, whilst 30 was the minimum age for membership of the Senate (though there were exceptions, eg Julius Caeser), I think for gameplay purposes, limiting avatars under 30 to the upper house is a good comprimise between historicity and fun.

Finally, war with Greece. Well, I'd have to wait till I see the state of the game at the start, and see which traits my avatar has before I decide on that. The Roman Senate was notoriously mistrustful of wars and foreign adventures - costs money you know!

[econ21]

Good to see some new faces here - welcome, FLYdude and shifty157.

Let's pencil in RTR Platinum with the Metropolis mod for now, so people can install that and try it out solo. I'd like use to elect a First Consul by Friday, so he/she has the weekend to play. People can table proposals like Tiberius has done to prompt discussion. I'll gradually formalise things so that we have some direction by the end of the week.

Based on the discussion so far, proposed new/ammended rules:

(1) Declarations of war, alliances and ceasefires require a Senate vote.
(2) Family members under 30 are restricted to the Uppper House unless there are exceptional circumstances (ie the Senate votes to waive the rule in a particular case).
(3) There must be an mid-term session of the Senate during the 3rd year of a Consuls reign.
(4) The Consul should provide regular reports - e.g. annual. The pace of reports may be specified by the Senate.
(5) The Speaker can summon an emergency session of Senate at any time (ie a pause in play). The Senate is always open for deliberation (ie pontificating!) but only votes at a full session.
(6) The Senate can modify all game rules by a 2/3 majority.

Also, I've been thinking about involving Senators with avatars more in the game. Fighting out their own battles is the biggie, of course. And players will want to lobby for command, over strategy etc to this end. But for governors, I think they should be allowed at each Senate session to set their own taxes and construction priorities (we'll leave training units to the First Consul). The First Consul may deviate from those instructions with reason (e.g. he has to balance the books) but of course there may be a political price.

I'm going to PM some of the other active PBMers to see if they want to join in. I'd like to start calling the Senate to order over the next few days.

EDIT - LATEST RULES ARE ON SECOND POST OF THIS THREAD AND WILL BE CONTINUOUSLY UPDATED:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...29&postcount=2

[Mount Suribachi]

Technical question. I d'loaded and installed RTRPE last night. I got it to boot up, past the intro to the menu screens. But every time I tried to start a battle or a campaign I got a CTD.

I think it might be because I'm not using a "clean" install - I copied my RTW folder, which includes things like bug-fixer. I did this cos I couldn't figure out how to manually install a fresh copy of RTW, all the CD wanted to do was let me uninstall my original install.

So how do I do a clean install of RTW without deleting my original install?

Oh, and I thought BI was meant to include a mod-switch so you could play numerous mods on 1 install?