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Old 10-20-2020, 09:14 PM   #41
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: Ideas for Yrth

In case it matters, I thought I might provide a link to the The Kingdom of Offasmark thread. Basically, think of early Yrth, less than two centuries after the Banestorm started, when Megalos was still a growing power, not a huge, dominant empire. Offasmark is one of the kingdoms that in canon would have been assimilated by the Borg Megalan Empire, but at this point is a decently-sized regional power.

Also, the setting is AU to start with, using various styles of Symbol Magic instead of the standard spell-based system - largely because I find the idea interesting.
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Old 10-21-2020, 09:32 AM   #42
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I'd just turn the No Mana area of the Great Desert into a Very Low Mana area (Thaumatology p58), allowing for spellcasting characters to not be completely useless if adventuring there, just very handicapped.
I find Very Low Mana very useful, and often use it where Low Mana meets No Mana.
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Old 10-21-2020, 10:16 AM   #43
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Default Re: Ideas for Yrth

If you shrink down the great desert a little, you can end up with a connection between Caithess and the orc lands. That has some explosive potential.
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Old 10-23-2020, 06:24 PM   #44
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If you shrink down the great desert a little, you can end up with a connection between Caithness and the orc lands. That has some explosive potential.
Agreed, especially if Derenal (the leader of the revolt against the king) is still alive. He'd sooner see Caithness a wasteland than give up his ambitions. My suggestion about canal building depended on Derenal's death.

Still. a war to defend Caithness against the orc hoard could be epic.

One possibility might involve a mage who used to live on Earth and before they got caught in a Banestorm. This mage would have been a graduate student in English constitutional history with a deep interest in peasant and working-class radical movements. The mage might convince the king that a "House of Commons" might aid in giving his rule additional legitimacy. If Conall knows the mage is a serious scholar and is convinced that a "Parliament" would be an end-run around the rebel lords then you have both a game of political intrigue and an epic war game.
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Old 10-23-2020, 07:01 PM   #45
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Default Re: Ideas for Yrth

This is somewhat pre-this discussion. But not too long before GURPS Banestorm came out, another GURPS GM and I ran the Caithness Civil War more-or-less as a wargame. It ended up being a draw--so the war was not resolved. We thought it was pretty cool when the book came out and it had almost identical results.
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Old 10-24-2020, 12:29 PM   #46
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Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade View Post
This is somewhat pre-this discussion. But not too long before GURPS Banestorm came out, another GURPS GM and I ran the Caithness Civil War more-or-less as a wargame. It ended up being a draw--so the war was not resolved. We thought it was pretty cool when the book came out and it had almost identical results.
It makes historical sense. Caithness is large and has a poor transportation infrastructure. For all the references to England and Scotland, Caithness has more similarities to Russia, Poland, or Italy. That's why I thought a canal linking the Conn and the Smoke would suit the setting.

But Caithness breaking into multiple kingdoms or into the kind of disunity that characterized the Holy Roman Empire, makes a lot of sense. But that would make the conquest of Caithness by Meglos fairly easy.

So, if you want a HRE style Caithness, Meglos needs to be focused elsewhere.
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Old 10-24-2020, 01:59 PM   #47
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It makes historical sense...So, if you want a HRE style Caithness, Meglos needs to be focused elsewhere.
I don't believe we thought of making Caithness similar to the Holy Roman Empire, but we definitely did think about Megalos. An active Caithness Civil War could weaken the nation to what Megalos might see as a golden opportunity for regaining lost ground.

To me, a key difference between the HRE and Caithness is that Caithness is rooted in one culture, whereas the HRE consisted of significantly different cultures.

Megalos, on the other hand, is an empire that absorbed different cultures (some non-human) and its founders purposely modeled it on memories of Earth's Imperial Rome.
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Old 10-26-2020, 09:04 AM   #48
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Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade View Post
I don't believe we thought of making Caithness similar to the Holy Roman Empire, but we definitely did think about Megalos. An active Caithness Civil War could weaken the nation to what Megalos might see as a golden opportunity for regaining lost ground.

To me, a key difference between the HRE and Caithness is that Caithness is rooted in one culture, whereas the HRE consisted of significantly different cultures.

Megalos, on the other hand, is an empire that absorbed different cultures (some non-human) and its founders purposely modeled it on memories of Earth's Imperial Rome.
By similar to the HRE I meant to say that you'd have a strong primary ruler (the King in Caithness and the Emperor in the HRE) and strong lords with little inclination to obey or respect the paramount ruler.

As always the independence of Caithness from Meglos is dependent on Caithness being strong. Especially as the Hosiptalers are nearby and brutal.

If you know about the Teutonic Order, an interesting horror game is set up. Long after the Baltic peasants converted to Christianity, the Teutonic Knights maintained their crusade. For several centuries the knights and their paying guests simply hunted the local peasants for sport. Killing hundreds of people each year for sport. As I said a horror game.

Have the Hospitalers conquer Caithness and decide to keep the war going for sport.
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Old 10-26-2020, 11:59 AM   #49
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Default Re: Ideas for Yrth

The easy distraction for Megalos is for it to have its own internal problems.
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Old 10-26-2020, 01:15 PM   #50
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Default Re: Ideas for Yrth

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The easy distraction for Megalos is for it to have its own internal problems.
Megalos could have its own version of the Crisis of the 3rd century, which basically was a 60-some-years long civil war over who got to be Emperor. The Roman Empire even split into three independent parts.
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