FAQ
Roleplay information.
Faction goals: Are listed in your faction forum. They may change as the game progresses.
Diplomacy: Should be done in character! Please do limit the amount of out of character (OOC) discussion. Obviously we cannot prevent this but you will find that the NPC heads of your faction won't agree to OOC actions.
NPC interactionYour NPC: Each faction has an NPC elector. This is the only NPC your faction may contact. You faction is representing the interests of your elector and will conduct the diplomacy with other factions on his behalf. They can then relate your offers to their NPC and so on. Your NPC will not always agree with your schemes if it conflicts with their own or is OOC. They want to win! You may be able to change their schemes however you must persuade them.
You may contact your NPC twice a turn in the appropriate thread in your forum. Please try to spread the roleplaying out as we will need time to repond to each roleplay. If they are left till late in the turn then they may not get a response in time for that turn. It's up to you how to do the contacting. T & G veterans will be used to writing them 'letters' but if you wish to talk to them face to face that's fine too. Your NPC can move around the map or stay static. If you move him with a player then he can talk face to face. If you leave him then you can write him letters etc. There's probably a joke about writing him letters in the snow there..
You will find an 'introduction thread' in your faction forum which is a short RP with your NPC. Take the time to interact with him before you start.
Being contacted: Occasionally under certain circumstances you may be contacted by other NPC's. These roleplays will differ depending on the importance of the NPC in question and will be explained when experienced.
Events: Occasionally you may be given a choice at the beginning of a turn based on the events of the last turn. For example, you may take a town and want to decide what to do with the elector living there. These events will influence how the Empire views you and how you are represented in the court.
How the elections predicted to end: There will be a chart every turn to show how the vote is likely to go at that moment in time. It is the 'Political Map'. The Political Map will initially be quite similar in coloruing to the main map. However when you declare for a candidate that isn't your own (has to happen for some factions!) it will change on that map.
Ar Ulric: Is the head of the Ulrican religion. He will not become directly involved in the 'voting negotation process' (polite way of saying civil war) unless a candidate is doing something highly distasteful. Whilst Ulrician values dislike the weak there is a difference between weakness and extermination. Ar Ulric legally has the right to refuse to crown an Emperor. However he would have to be able to back up such an action with more than just words... Ar Ulric maintains a courier corps who are neutral during the 'voting negotiation process.' These men of the White Wolves are used to deliver notices to factions or towns and hurting them is heavily frowned upon should you be caught.
Integration: Are you a von Altenberg supporter? Do you want a wife from his family? OK! Want to be the von Julich brother of von Kerpens wife? OK! Integrating with the story line is actively encouraged. I want you to be invested in this story! But please ask the GM's first in a thread in your forum. We'll do our best to accomidate you but if you're trying to post the most awesome character ever then it's best to check with us first! Similarly remember, you're the minor nobility trying to become major nobility. You have time to grow and become wealthy during the campaign!
Can the NPC's die?: Yes. Yes they can. Though there are no assassins to hire like last time. (It's civilised you know) and they can move around the map. (and that is something you might want to speak to them about in your first contact- are they going to accompany you or stay at home? etc)
Mechanical informationReporting: Unlike previous campaigns there is no requirement to actually play games of Warhammer to report. Similarly there is no bonus for reporting that you 'won', 'drew' or losed your battle. Their is similarly no requirement to write "fluff battles" or pieces of fiction in order to report. (However we strongly encourage writing fluff because this is above all a roleplay campaign and fun. You will find it a far better experience should you do so.)
Instead you can report one move per turn on the reporting website.
http://trueds.nl/EoW/site/homeMoves will then be completed at the end of the turn. There will then be a day of downtime* where we organise the turn end and complete the moves.
*Could be two days depending on how many people turn up.
Supply and armies: Your armies have cunningly decided to have what is pretty much a civil war in the depths of winter. Unfortunately that means that supply and ensuring your men are fed has suddenly become much more important than previous campaigns.
Similarly whilst the win/loss/draw mechanic has gone it has been replaced by another. This is army effectiveness. As the campaign progresses your army will change how well it performs. There is a mathematical code behind the strength of your report however we will not be going into details regarding it. We don't want a war based on maths and trying to decode it will not help you and is a waste of time. You have been warned! You will instead get a report of how your underlings believe your army to be in shape. (Powerful, Strong, Weak, Demoralised etc)
Here's an example of how it works:
Turn One: Army level - Powerful - Your army has not been involved in any battles or starvation.
Turn Three: Army level - Strong - Your army has taken two towns with overwhelming force involving your allies. It has taken casulties and will now be reporting at a slightly lesser strength.
Turn Five: Army level - Weak - Your army attempted to assault a town which was defended by another faction and lost. It has now taken significant casulties and should not attack for a turn to regain its strength or indeed should retreat to a stronger holding. Stronger locations replenish armies faster. More people/better forges/more morale = stronger replenishment.
Turn Seven: Army level - Capable - Your army spent two turns at a town under your control. It has been replenished by the citizens and can now fight at a capable level.
And so on. It's worth mentioning again that whilst there is a mathematical code it doesn't dictate the campaign. Two players who do the exact same moves for three turns may end up with dfferent strength levels. Someone has to go first over the walls or hold the flank! You can volunteer yourselves to go first if you like, if not it will go arbitrarily.
What's to stop us from sitting on one location forever?: Unfortunately the Empire of Middenland is a landlocked location and only has access to a limited amount of supplies during the winter. The more armies that stay in one location the less effective that location will become at replenishing it. Similarly locations will run out of supplies eventually and you can effectively starve your own locations. Towns aren't expecting thousands of hungry soldiers to home and feed. It's important to remember hungry people are unreliable voters..
It's a legitimate tactic to play defensively. But remember kids - many of whom are older than me... It's a boring one and you may be mocked by Pandas.
Regions: Regions are the map squares that are labelled 'Region' (Cunning I know). These are the areas you need to hold to besiege a major settlement.
Locations: Locations are the sites that do not have 'Region in them' They are the vast majority of the areas on the map. You may simply attack towns and villages.
All of the seats of electors are surrounded by Regions. These are the fortresses and major population areas in the Empire and will need to be besieged by taking the region before they can be taken. If you control the Region you may attack the location.
Movement: On the map you will see a red line. This red line indicates a 'road' that your army may move along. You may only move from one region to another each turn. For movement purposes an attack on a location from a region also counts as one move. Alternatively you may remain static.
What happens when two armies pass each other on a road?: They fight and one side wins. The losing side will be pushed back to the location they came from and count as defending it. They will obviously be less effective as they have lost in the field and taken casualties. It is possible for players to be captured by opposing armies or indeed killed should they enter a particularly unfair fight. Should you lose the region to the attack and the defence you will attempt to retreat to friendly territory if you can. If your cut off then we will approach you with your options. There will be no warping around the map this time!
Can the NPC's die?: Yes. Yes they can. Though there are no assassins to hire like last time. (It's civilised you know) and they can move around the map. (and that is something you might want to speak to them about in your first letter - are they going to accompany you or stay at home? etc)
Does our NPC have an army?: Yes. It's you silly sausage!
He's called you in to fight for him. (This also means that should you persuade your faction you could even make your character the captain of your NPC's guard. Which I think is quite neat as an idea.)
Political Map: Every turn you will see a political map appear showing how everyone is likely to vote. Naturally alliances can shift so it will change quickly.
Is it possible to kill the current electors and replace them with new ones who favour you?: The only votes that are hereditary are those of the primary electors. I.E the ones you support (+ Ar Ulric, Riccardi and von Plauen)
So with that said it would be perfectly reasonable to lop off the heads of those who don't support you when you capture a town and replace them with someone more 'malleable.' People of strong moral fibre - such as yourselves I imagine.
That said - Do think it through and check who it is you're killing. There's a lot of integration in this campaign so if you kill the random elector you might find out he's related to someone important. Which won't go well for you. Similarly if you decapitate 10 electors you suddenly might find that the others resist you more. Or less! It's also worth noting that if your faction does give the votes to players in your faction you have to trust that they vote how they say they will..