EMPIRE2!-CWBG-VI-Save-The-Hufflepuffs!

[WaylanderX]

If Empire was to be restarted, I would be interested in joining. I'd be going a bit more low-key than my previous attempts though (Prowess....). I don't know the current state of the game, so joining as a new player might not be the wisest idea (Starting off as a mini nation amongst giants is going to end badly, like always). Alternatively, I am open for options people suggest to make the game more interesting.

Also, hello to everyone, and long time no see!

P.S. If anybody is interested in reading/providing feedback on a fantasy novel, I'm in the process of writing one. Some feedback folks are appreciated, so if you're interested, poke me.

[Zayuz]

Hey Zayuz! Quick question. Did the unit losses cancel themselves out here with the -2 to losses? If not may I volunteer Mary to take those losses since it wasn't specified? Sorry Mary! (Not sorry.)

Defense Roll: 14
Military: 10 (Queen Raena, Ranger Caedmoor, Avonlea Commander)
5 Summer Courts Land Units
5 Stormlands Land Units
5 Avonlea Land Units
+6 from tech (Coldblood Alloy, Coldblood Arrows, Splint Mail, Lances, Medics and Mystics, Plated Mail, )
-2 Combat Losses

Total: 45

0 Units lost to size
2 Units lost in battle

I think they were already counted! Queen Raena actually lead the defense, so she takes one of the losses. Because the other two leaders contributed equally I would suggest a D2 be rolled to decide where the loss goes.

Never mind, found a more final solution.

I second this idea for when the time inevitably comes.

Are the polls still up? This is an ending I would vote for.

Posting this here as well for the benefit of people who might miss it in the IC.

Spoiler: An Ultimatum to the Crystal Union

Show

People of the Crystal Union.

Long have our peoples existed as uneasy neighbors, each of us tacitly accepting the presence of the other as a fact of life. We have clashed over territory, over trade, and over faith. But even in our darkest moments, the Aeldir never doubted that the leaders of the Crystal Union acted in the best interests of their people. That is no longer the case. Your rulers, your church, and your protectors have all fallen under the sway of their greatest foe. Where once there was peace, your mad queens have ushered in war. Where once there was a legacy of proud royalty, your new overlords build their power on a foundation of murder, betrayal, and theft. Where once the Crystal Union inspired hope and friendship, it inspires dread. Now you move to attack us without provocation or cause, declining even a declaration of war before the pursuit of mad ambition. This tragedy is one we cannot abide, but it is one we would see ended. If the following demands are met, no further blood need be spilled:

• Lord Summer Egan Maelog will be returned unharmed to the Rose Demesne alongside his panoply.
• The leaders of the Crystal Union, Queen Zellevera, Queen Paige, and Niran Olygricht will surrender themselves and their advisers to the Rose Demesne to face justice for their crimes.
• The Crystal Union will surrender the territories of Ellosis, Reinein, Lenthe, Folnen, and Alithis to the Dukes of the Grey Drieduch, that they might prosper under the true defenders of the Eternal Soul.
• The Crystal Union will surrender the territories of Arendar and Golyater to the Hagiarchy of Besina.
• The Crystal Union will surrender the territories of Mizalna and the Veylands to the Kingdom of the Stormlands, in recompense for their cowardly and unprovoked attack.
• The Crystal Union will surrender the territories Portent and Alammus to the Kingdom of Koya.
• The remaining territories of the Crystal Union will surrender to the oversight of the Rose Demesne, that their vacant thrones might be filled with wise, able leaders to wash away the stain of the past few years.

This war will not end in victory for your regicidal leaders. It can only end in their defeat, but their defeat need not be your own. The people of the Crystal Union have a choice - to embrace the darkness that would snuff them out or to light candles against the night. These demands we send to your leaders, not in the hope that they will acquiesce, but in the hope that you will rise up and force them to become a reality. This is the moment of your salvation, and to turn it away is to invite the apocalypse of our wrath.

Very well put Dark! Zellevera would not accept this, but if I was still tracking rebellions that way I should this would inspire much conflict. Never let it be said that an offer to surrender was not made.

If Empire was to be restarted, I would be interested in joining. I'd be going a bit more low-key than my previous attempts though (Prowess....). I don't know the current state of the game, so joining as a new player might not be the wisest idea (Starting off as a mini nation amongst giants is going to end badly, like always). Alternatively, I am open for options people suggest to make the game more interesting.

Also, hello to everyone, and long time no see!

P.S. If anybody is interested in reading/providing feedback on a fantasy novel, I'm in the process of writing one. Some feedback folks are appreciated, so if you're interested, poke me.

Few comments on my part, but it is good to see you back. We're teetering on the edge of E3 and QB and I as well as maybe a select few others got to talking about it E3 would be the most likely and most profitable route. E2 is pretty big to GM, especially as a single person. (Groups should cap at five players! Not.. I, how many do we even have? I have NPC actions to do so I won't bother counting. )

Also if you're writing fantasy you either need to add dragons or impressive navy battles. There is nothing in between.

[WaylanderX]

Few comments on my part, but it is good to see you back. We're teetering on the edge of E3 and QB and I as well as maybe a select few others got to talking about it E3 would be the most likely and most profitable route. E2 is pretty big to GM, especially as a single person. (Groups should cap at five players! Not.. I, how many do we even have? I have NPC actions to do so I won't bother counting. )

Also if you're writing fantasy you either need to add dragons or impressive navy battles. There is nothing in between.

Hehe, as of now, I've implemented neither, but the second one would be more likely to happen.

And to be honest, 5 players would be a bit small, hehe. Reading a bit back on the prior comments, it would seem some comments were made about bringing forward the more political side of Empire. I wonder if there is a way to bring that forward more without breaking the exploration completely. Maybe an idea to make rapid expansion more difficult or give less benefits? Just storming here.

[moossabi]

EDIT: Can I retroactively change my attendance action for the event that wasn't mechanically an actual event to have done all that stuff with a mook at the ball?

Question overlooked b/c it was on the last page.

EDIT: I spent the action to attend, and since LW's council was pretty much a sub-event of the ball I'll just consider it valid unless stated otherwise by the GM team.

[PepperP.]

Hi guys! Here is this month's podcast as promised. We discuss the pros and cons of continuing E2 vs beginning E3 and play How do you pronounce that?

We also had a player request for us all to take the 16 personality quiz. Feel free to take it as well and reveal your personality type if you wish. As always, thanks for listening and for your support!

Aed & Pepper INFP-T The Mediator.

Dark ENTP-A The Debater

Zayuz ENFJ The Protagonist

QuintonBeck INTJ-A The Architect

[HalfTangible]

Did this a while back, got INTP

EDIT: Got INTP-t (Logician)

[Ionbound]

Huh. Apparently I am also INTP. Does that make you my rival, HT?

[HalfTangible]

Huh. Apparently I am also INTP. Does that make you my rival, HT?

Of course not!

'Rival' implies you're on my level.

(kiddin')

[BlazingAegis]

“THE LOGICIAN” (INTP-T)

Sensing a theme.

[moossabi]

Apparently I'm an advocate (whatever that means)

[HalfTangible]

Spoiler: Podcast, E3 and E2

Show

Regarding a potential E3:

I think it might be interesting to do an area like Europe or the Roman Empire at its height. The main penninsula of Europe, a massive sea that the Empire surrounds, some foreign nations biting at the heels of the empire but too far removed to actually defeat... etc etc

And while (as said earlier) it might be a different sort of game, I think we could look into having our players act as factions within a larger Empire (a la Roman or the Ottomans), rather than as entire nations. Dynastic noble families with ambitions for power would vie for control of the Empire's resources, meaning you'd only need two tables: one that would list who owned what region (and thus which resource) and a second to denote who was recieving the resource from the Emperor. We could have border skirmishes that obviously wouldn't lead to genocide, because that's not how you handle a rival noble family. You could even do that foreign resources thing brought up in the chat maybe? A player joining in would be a new rising star, a player leaving would be that faction taking a less active role in politics.

I also had an idea for a religious faith when it looked like E3 was originally gonna start involving a sun god and a mortal woman who became the moon and... long story, but the point is that the Emperor would be a reincarnating being a la the Blazing Avatar, so different players could take turns at their house giving birth to/playing the new Emprah?

I dunno, I'm spitballin'.

Regarding fixing E2:

A bigger GM team seems like our best bet. From the outside looking in (and I could be very very wrong) the round opener seems like it's the biggest drain on the GM's energy, because it's massive and comes every two weeks without fail. Trade routes are massive affairs but they don't get changed that often once established, and most of that change doesn't actually take place until the round starts. It would probably help Zayuz if the different sections were split among different people. At the very least we could do that for the exploratory area or the military fluff?

Or the group could start writing things up a couple days before round close, when things are basically locked in, and send them to Zayuz? Then he could put them into a round opener, and remove them if they're cancelled before the round closes?

Again. I'm just spitballing.

[woolli264]

INFP-T "Mediator"

[WaylanderX]

ENFP-T -- The Campaigner

[Mary_Sue]

Hi guys! Here is this month's podcast as promised. We discuss the pros and cons of continuing E2 vs beginning E3 and play How do you pronounce that?

We also had a player request for us all to take the 16 personality quiz. Feel free to take it as well and reveal your personality type if you wish. As always, thanks for listening and for your support!

Aed & Pepper INFP-T The Mediator.

Dark ENTP-A The Debater

Zayuz ENFJ The Protagonist

QuintonBeck INTJ-A The Architect

Really interesting podcast. Gave us a lot to think about.

I happen to be a Protagonist ENFJ-A like Zayuz.

[Elemental]

I happen to be a Protagonist ENFJ-A like Zayuz.

But Mary, we can't have two protagonists! I mean, who's supposed to be the main character now?


Also, on the podcast, I found the proposed idea for E3 fascinating, but I also believe it's far better to continue with E2 for the time being.
Even so, I'd like to share some thoughts about it. While I like the colonisation idea, I'm also kind of attached to the idea of an HRE stand-in. Half Tangible raised an interesting suggestion wherein players play as factions rather than states, which I think would resolve a lot of the issues regarding regions. Just let everyone point to a spot on the map where their family's castle or the city where they have their primary residence is and go from there. Some people would want to not play a noble family and go for some other sort of faction (I know I'm kind of interested in playing a religious faction), and that's okay, just change primary residence to headquarters and we're done. Of course, the colony/overseas trade post idea can be folded in as various groups vie to control foreign markets.

[HalfTangible]

But Mary, we can't have two protagonists! I mean, who's supposed to be the main character now?

Well a protagonist can be the antagonist of someone else's narrative. So we can have more than one.

[Zayuz]

Really interesting podcast. Gave us a lot to think about.

I happen to be a Protagonist ENFJ-A like Zayuz.

The two percent! - You and I gotta team up for E3, by the time we're through the world will have run out of problems to solve. Reaction Gif!

[Mary_Sue]

The two percent! - You and I gotta team up for E3, by the time we're through the world will have run out of problems to solve. Reaction Gif!

I would love that!

Incidentally, I went to find a reciprocal gif and got caught looking at random gifs for far too long! Haha.

[DimpleLoamsdown]

Hi guys! Here is this month's podcast as promised. We discuss the pros and cons of continuing E2 vs beginning E3 and play How do you pronounce that?

We also had a player request for us all to take the 16 personality quiz. Feel free to take it as well and reveal your personality type if you wish. As always, thanks for listening and for your support!

Aed & Pepper INFP-T The Mediator.

Dark ENTP-A The Debater

Zayuz ENFJ The Protagonist

QuintonBeck INTJ-A The Architect

Hey QB! I am the T version of your A.
Personality type: “The Architect” (INTJ-T)
Individual traits: Introverted – 81%, Intuitive – 73%, Thinking – 51%, Judging – 54%, Turbulent – 67%.
Role: Analyst
Strategy: Constant Improvement
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vladimir Putin and Gandalf the Grey are also Architects.
Isn't that pretty neat?

[woolli264]

Hey QB! I am the T version of your A.
Personality type: “The Architect” (INTJ-T)
Individual traits: Introverted – 81%, Intuitive – 73%, Thinking – 51%, Judging – 54%, Turbulent – 67%.
Role: Analyst
Strategy: Constant Improvement
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vladimir Putin and Gandalf the Grey are also Architects.
Isn't that pretty neat?

Hey! That's pretty neat!

[QuintonBeck]

Hey QB! I am the T version of your A.
Personality type: “The Architect” (INTJ-T)
Individual traits: Introverted – 81%, Intuitive – 73%, Thinking – 51%, Judging – 54%, Turbulent – 67%.
Role: Analyst
Strategy: Constant Improvement
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vladimir Putin and Gandalf the Grey are also Architects.
Isn't that pretty neat?

G dang Dimple, that is pretty neat.

[Kythia]

ENFP - The Campaigner. Took tests like it a few times and always get the same. Individual scores were:

Extrovert - 100%
Intuitive - 65%
Feeling - 83%
Prospecting - 79%
Assertive - 97%

[PepperP.]

INFP-T "Mediator"

Yay mediator buddies!

[woolli264]

ENFP - The Campaigner. Took tests like it a few times and always get the same. Individual scores were:

Extrovert - 100%
Intuitive - 65%
Feeling - 83%
Prospecting - 79%
Assertive - 97%

Lol Willy Wonka

[m9p909]

Soooo, did anyone else get executive(ESTJ) or is it just me?

[Kythia]

Some thoughts on the podcast:

Rebel Leaders:
I think its not so much that those rules are forgotten, just that they're unattractive. There's been great discussion on how unfriendly the game can be to new players, the Rebel Leader allows you to have no regions, a small army and less actions and the people who just wiped you out still exist - compared to simply starting afresh with the regular number of actions (and a bonus five in their first turn) and better than average stats. It's a less attractive option than simply starting again by an order of magnitude. There's no real reason I can see that anyone would actually want to do that.

Recruitment:
There's a finding new players sub-forum in here, we should just have a permanent thing in there. I was thinking it might be useful to have a two or three paragraph summary of each polity in the first post to give new players some idea of where to start. I'm willing to start that up if people want?

[HalfTangible]

Some thoughts on the podcast:

Rebel Leaders:
I think its not so much that those rules are forgotten, just that they're unattractive. There's been great discussion on how unfriendly the game can be to new players, the Rebel Leader allows you to have no regions, a small army and less actions and the people who just wiped you out still exist - compared to simply starting afresh with the regular number of actions (and a bonus five in their first turn) and better than average stats. It's a less attractive option than simply starting again by an order of magnitude. There's no real reason I can see that anyone would actually want to do that.

Well, a lot of the bigger, older, more established nations have a lot under their belts that 10 actions isn't gonna make up for. So if (for example) Primus were to get wiped out, they would still have Moonsilver Weapons, Dead Drops, Spy Network and the like (albeit no techs with resource requirements). That's a lot less important for Rebels for newly created polities (like the Izele) for obvious reasons. The Silver Horde came back and is gonna have territory next round (thank you Nemeria) but they aren't the typical case.

There's also the matter of fluff. A lot of people get really attached to the cultures and peoples they establish, and want to see them continue in some fashion.

You raise a good point, though. A rebel's already lost almost all of their advantages by losing their territories, losing an action on top of that is... rather punishing.

Recruitment:
There's a finding new players sub-forum in here, we should just have a permanent thing in there. I was thinking it might be useful to have a two or three paragraph summary of each polity in the first post to give new players some idea of where to start. I'm willing to start that up if people want?

Dark did a recruitment thread a while back that summarized the various powers of the world and their current political turmoils ("In the far east, blah blah blah, etc etc"). But I'd say you're right; we need to do this more.

[Kythia]

There's also the matter of fluff. A lot of people get really attached to the cultures and peoples they establish, and want to see them continue in some fashion.

I think this is....eh. The people and cultures I established, using myself as an example, do still exist and will continue. They'll be rebelling soon, for example. Those stories don't end just because I'm no longer curating them. I mean, sure I get the desire to be involved in that continuation but the sheer fact of continuation doesn't require a player to continue with them. I dunno, this may be a faintly semantic point.

[BladeofObliviom]

There's also the matter of fluff. A lot of people get really attached to the cultures and peoples they establish, and want to see them continue in some fashion.

One might say that the argument of an action tax being levied as a cost for player enjoyment may not be the best possible argument for it.

This will likely be reviewed in the GM rules thread, though I make no promises that action will be taken.

[Zayuz]

I'd like to kindly request we didn't put out any recruitment, actively searching for more players will make each round opener even more work than they are currently, even if I'm cutting back on NPCs and players are going.