[Banestorm] Caithness civil war and Orcslayer

[sjard]

I'm gearing up for a Banestorm campaign set in Caithness, mostly centered around the brewing civil war (which seems to have been brewing for 20+ years at this point). So I have pulled out all the resources I personally own for the setting. Banestorm, Fantasy second edition (for 3rd edition), Tredroy, Harkwood, and Orcslayer.

Some of the sources list orcs as being near mythical critters in Caithness, and yet others (the more generalized setting books) don't seem to give the impression that they're all that rare in the less populated areas.

Anyhow, I'm considering using Orcslayer somehow as a setup (altering the location, so not Castle Defiant most likely) with maybe one Barony making a deal with the devil in the form of aid from orcs and others, even though this will likely turn around and bite them in the end.

Any suggestions on further plot complications?

[sjard]

Additionally, there will be players new to GURPS involved, so I'll be starting fairly simple, probably 200 points, Basic Set, Low Tech, Banestorm, and Magic (possibly just the magic from the Basic Set).

[davidtmoore]

#1. How about cells of techno-rebels? One of baronies is quietly courting engineers with black-powder weapons and other TL4 technologies in exchange for support in a tentative later uprising further east, which is part of the reason the other barony is recruiting orcs (to throw in the way of the guns)?

In turn, the Ministry of Serendipity/Michaelites/Order of the Stone are discreetly active in the area to unearth the rebels and destroy the evidence of guns.

#2. Dark Elves masquerading as original-recipe elves, supposedly here at Lady Bronwen's invitation but looking for evidence of evil humans colluding with the hated orcs?

#3. A candidate for the near-mythical title of "chief of chiefs" among the orcs is as horrified at the idea of local chiefs making deals with human lords as the human kings are, and has half-orc agents in the area?

[Captain-Captain]

Blythe made that deal and will suffer for it.

[sjard]

I'm actively trying to avoid the whole Underground Engineer and MoS thing, at least for the time being. The play group will consist of about seven players, six of which are totally unfamiliar with Yrth as a setting, and only three or four who are familiar with GURPS.

For the Orcslayer thing, I'm not doing the Castle Defiant part, but more updating the concepts to a more current timeline. Perhaps try to tie in the concept that an orc attack is somehow instigated by one faction or another, to either weaken in preparation for the general opening of hostilities, or to trick hesitant/unaligned Baronies into believing that the attacks were caused by one side or another.

Note: At this point, the PCs haven't even been built yet, and I don't know which of the three possible groups they'll choose to align with, Royalists, Rebels, or Unaligned. So how things ultimately go remains to be seen, I'm just mining ideas right now (character build session is Saturday).

[sjard]

Additionally, any ramifications I may not have thought of regarding reducing the lifespan of the extremely long lived non human races.

I'm considering reducing the life span of Dwarves to 150 years average, and Elves to 200 years average, etc.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by sjard

Note: At this point, the PCs haven't even been built yet, and I don't know which of the three possible groups they'll choose to align with, Royalists, Rebels, or Unaligned. So how things ultimately go remains to be seen, I'm just mining ideas right now (character build session is Saturday).

If I was doing this, I would probably pick one of those three options and present it as the campaign pitch (or do a prospectus where the potential players can vote on them). You can still do that by show of hands at the creation session if you want them all to be on the same side and don't care what side that is.

[davidtmoore]

I disagree. I'd tend to throw them in and see which way they go. Choosing a side is the best part of political RP. Gives the players scope to debate among themselves which way they'll go, too.

More Possibilities:

- Megalans trying to swing a more Megalan-friendly leader, or a more anti-Megalan leader in hopes of provoking a fresh war.
- Sahudese diplomats just... watching. Not doing anything much, just interested. (Sub-plot: Rebels assassinating the Sahudese in the hopes of making the Royalists look bad.)
- Dwarves, similar lines to the Sahudese. Also incensed at the idea that humans are working with orcs.
- Order of the Stone generally monkeywrenching things, as they value Caithness itself more than the king or any of the factions.

Implications of long lives: one of the big ones is that still relatively-young dwarves and elves will remember and had dealings with people the current crop of Caithnesser nobility regard as near-mythical, including Old Peredur himself. A faction trying to invoke Peredur's memory in support of their cause might attribute values to him that a dwarf who knew him might publicly dismiss because he knew the man.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

I disagree. I'd tend to throw them in and see which way they go. Choosing a side is the best part of political RP. Gives the players scope to debate among themselves which way they'll go, too.

Depends on the group, I guess. Mine has a wide array of RL political views and one or two players who aren't as great at fire-walling as the others, so I try to keep the debates about society OOC, but I can see where this could be a fun approach for a group where everybody would enjoy IC political debate without derailing the game.

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Implications of long lives: one of the big ones is that still relatively-young dwarves and elves will remember and had dealings with people the current crop of Caithnesser nobility regard as near-mythical, including Old Peredur himself. A faction trying to invoke Peredur's memory in support of their cause might attribute values to him that a dwarf who knew him might publicly dismiss because he knew the man.

The same thing happens IRL right now between people who worshipfully invoke the name of the president the US had thirty years ago and those of us who actually remember the guy.

[davidtmoore]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Depends on the group, I guess. Mine has a wide array of RL political views and one or two players who aren't as great at fire-walling as the others, so I try to keep the debates about society OOC, but I can see where this could be a fun approach for a group where everybody would enjoy IC political debate without derailing the game.

Horses for courses, naturally. :)

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

The same thing happens IRL right now between people who worshipfully invoke the name of the president the US had thirty years ago and those of us who actually remember the guy.

Absolutely! (We get the same over here, of course, with the many narratives of Thatcherite Britain :s ) The difference is one of scale; someone who looks younger than you who remembers a king from before your father was born is probably a bit offputting.