Pocket Kingdoms and Little Empires a Napoleonic Wargame OOC

[Jagged]

It’s been awhile since I wrote a thread much less tried to pull off a group thread, but that being said one can’t be a writer or a gamer with out actually going out and playing. Literotica offers everyone a wonderful opportunity to do both, and I feel it is time for another large scale wargaming thread. So I’m pulling ideas and concepts from a variety of games and asking you to join me in a game of conquest and empire building.

The Basic Concept

You begin the game as the military leader (or head of state if you wish) of a small late 1700’s nation at the dawn of a great age. You’re surrounded by one neutral power, one enemy power, and one potential allied power. This to give each player some breathing room, but nobody’s capital is out of reach. You will also receive one small distant colony for you to develop. Each nation will have roughly the same military and industrial base, and players decide how much the wish to be involved by their leadership role. There are of course other options and I’m open to other ideas. That’s why I love writing here, the interaction with people.

As the title implies I want to do this on a small scale. These countries are small compared with historic counterparts. For example if you field a force of over 100,000 soldiers you’ve just made history. I want to combine the spirit of a table top wargame with the fun of roleplay. You’ll be on the field of battle, the deck of a ship, and in the halls of power. Your character’s personality and relationships matter.

This is for Creative People who like to Write

Breath life into a fictional nation, give it a culture and heroes all its own. Perhaps you want to be French, British or one the many other nations that occupied Europe in centuries passed. That’s great, but the new country your take on history. I love reading what people create, and their ideas when it comes to alternative history. This is a game of writing and creativity. We shall create a new world together, and than fight for it.

So are you a hero…a villain…a conquer or a statesman? Perhaps even all four depending on histories’ prospective. Ask questions please and let me know you’re interested.

 

[Jagged]

In other threads I’ve used this profile with great success, and people like using it as a tool. I think it helps flesh out the character, and gives other people a prospective about who their character is dealing with in the thread. Also the more information you put into it the more stuff you get from me as a part of the game. That’s right the more things you do in life the more stuff you collect. Basically trappings your character has acquired while pursing their interests.

Character Bio:

Name:
Gender:
Age: (18 min as per Lit)
Nationality:
Ethnic Background: (European, Colonial, Far East etc…)
Physical Description:
Personality:


Skills: (Skills you would have learned by the start of the game. You can specialize)

Career Path: (Jobs you have had over the years. In the passed this has ranged from one to three careers. After I read it I assign more skills and items)

Family Background: ( I read and it gets you items, contacts, assets, and more skills.)

Please don't feel confined by this, it will change based on the character you will have, and I will be posting more history, but this idea had to be put to paper or at least online. It is meant to be a starting point.

 

[Jagged]

Rebels, Rogues, and Mercenaries

Perhaps you don’t wish to lead a might nation. After all it involves long hours, brutal work conditions, and those annoying assassination attempts.

Rebel
So why not start a rebellion, after all who would make a better king than you? Perhaps you wish to start a new fledging democracy or break away from established monarchy. Things could be made even more interesting if you’re operating in another player’s nation. So start street fighting and handing out leaflets or take up arms with a band of guerillas.

Rogue
To you the rules of a civilized society are there to be broken. You’re unprincipled, deceitful, and an unreliable person to those who aren’t fair minded. You’re the one everyone loves to have at the party, because you’re a rascal. Some might call you a scoundrel, but you’re the one that makes things run. One day you’re a spy, another you’re an arms dealer, and yet another you’re the trusted friend of the monarch. You might end up rotting in a prison somewhere, but only if they can catch you and that won’t happen. You’re not in it for the revolution or imperial glory; you’re in it for yourself.

Mercenary
Your profession really hasn’t changed much over the centuries; there will always be wars, and kings and generals will always need people to fight them. Patriotism is for those who wish to die poor and that isn’t going to be you. Perhaps you’ve organized a group of professional soldiers selling your services to the highest bitter. Maybe you’ve been hired out by your home country, or maybe you’ve donned the uniform of another nation who has filled your purse with gold. You’re the professional soldier who thinks more about gold than glory.

 

[Jagged]

Many views, but no questions yet. I would like to make it clear people can have multiple characters, so they can handle different tasks including interacting with other players.

 

[haremfaery]

Name: Lady Sophia Dumonde

Gender: female

Age: Sophia says that is an impertinent question. She looks mid-twenties and does what she must to keep her youthful appearance.

Nationality: She considers herself a citizen of the world.

Ethnic Background: European mother (Dutch perhaps or maybe French) and Middle Eastern father.

Physical Description: She has dark auburn hair and deep green eyes with flecks of amber. She is slightly taller than the average woman and her bearing can make her seem even taller. Her figure is womanly without being too much. Some have said she is built like a thoroughbred. Her skin is ivory with no freckles. Her middle eastern heritage would allow her to tan in the sun if she would spend any time outside without a parasol. She is a handsome woman. Some say beautiful. Although she frequently is not the most beautiful in the room, she is the most interesting, intriguing...and this makes her seem more desirable.

Personality: She does not suffer fools. In general, she has a rather low opinion of men which makes her very good at spying and doing what needs to be done to get the information she needs. She is adept at using the honey trap. She comes across cool, calm and collected. Refined in her manner. She has a temper that she keeps a lid on. Surprisingly, she is invited to all of the parties and welcomed in society. One would think she would be shunned. However, she knows too much about too many people and has the King's ear. It's possible she is his sometime lover.

Skills: She speaks a few languages fluently, English, French, German, Russian and Arabic and/or Turkish. Quite accomplished in the bedroom. Very intelligent (for a woman, the university educated man might say).

Career Path: She married money and a title, and then, alas, her much older husband died. Some of her detractors said she killed him, but there was no evidence so say he died of anything other than internal bleeding from a nasty fall off his horse while hunting. Think of her as a Mata Hari type. She passes information she garners to the appropriate authorities. For pay. She does not do anything that won't give her some sort of gain. She might be a double agent, we'll have to see how things play out. (I guess this makes her a Rogue of sorts)

Family Background: Her past is vague and there are many stories whispered about her. That she was born in a brothel in the east. That she was a concubine in a harem before she escaped. That she was married to a Russian noble who treated her worse than a slave and she killed him for it and fled to Europe. She married well and now is in control of her late husband's estates, lands and money.

I'm not sure what country to put her in, it can depend on where other chars are. But I would be inclined to say France.

 

[Jagged]

I like her very much....and gives me a few ideas. I will post a reply along with a number of other useful facts for others wishing to join the fun.

"Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive le sacré mercenaire"
(Long live death, long live war, long live the cursed mercenary)

 

[Jagged]

Suggested Starting Points

Taking a page from one of my favorite games here are some options for starting points. You will only begin with one territory under your control (or residing in one), but when you acquire the rest you can be crowned Emperor. While these other territories do have ties to you in one form or another you shouldn't assume they will just come over to your side. Some wish to be left alone, some might wish to join another empire, and some seem themselves as potential emperors as well. It's all about blood and iron people.


French Empire (Paris, Gascony, Netherlands, Brittany, Marseille, Burgundy)

British Empire (London, Wales, Ireland, Yorkshire, Scotland)

Russian Empire (Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Livonia, Smolensk, Ukraine, Poland)

German Empire (Prussia, Berlin, Saxony, Rhine, Bavaria)

Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece)

Austrian Empire (Trieste, Galicia, Vienna, Bohemia, Hungary)

Neutral/independents:
Italy (Switzerland, Venice, Rome, Naples)
Spain (Barcelona, Madrid) as well as Portugal
Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland)


http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic833367_md.jpg



*haremfaery
French Empire (Paris, Gascony, Netherlands, Brittany, Marseille, Burgundy)
Any of these sound good for your home base? Let me know I'm already laying out your character in my mind.

 

[haremfaery]

Then I am sure Sophia is based out of Paris. She has no designs to be an Empress, but whoever is King in France, she is working for him. If she turns out to be a double agent, it would be any other territory except Russia. She hates the Russians.


@Jagged
Are you already laying out my char in your mind, or laying my char?

 

[Jagged]

Character Feed Back

Name: Lady Sophia Dumonde or

Countess Sophia Bogdanov of Le Rêve Springs.

This relatively small estate located a short carriage ride outside of Paris was given to your late husband as a reward for his service to the French Empire in foreign campaigns prior to it's disunification. He changed sides during the invasion of Poland, and rallied thousands of anti-Czar supporters to France's aid. Later though when France's alliance with the German states ended and they needed to retreat he abandon these supporters to the wrath of the Russians. This included a large number of your friends in the region.

The estate has ample resources, and while it is small that is only in comparison to the other wealth nobles around you and Paris itself. A small village on the outskirts of your land provides the manpower to run your estate, and you have the added bonus of being so close to the capital. You have many acres of good farm land, woods filled with game, and good grazing land. Your husband had a good number of prize horses looted from other nobles in Poland and they now reside on your land. The main house is nothing impressive, but it is sturdy and in good repair. There are rooms filled with loot from the last campaign, and the servants haven't even begone to unbox it all. As the name implies there is a spring on the property that produces some of the best tasting water in the region. It is excellent for beer making, so good in fact besides using it yourself it is shipped in barrels to other brewers. You make wine, but you're one of the few estates that makes both spirits.

Gender: Female
Age: Sophia says that is an impertinent question. She looks mid-twenties and does what she must to keep her youthful appearance.
Nationality: She considers herself a citizen of the world.
Born in the Ottoman Empire in the Kingdom of Montenegro. Over the years you have acquired a dozen passports from almost as many nations. Each lists your age as within the range mentioned, and with several different names.

Ethnic Background: European mother and Middle Eastern father.

Your mother Anne-Marie Cuattrin a native of the French Netherlands and was an artist, musician and traveler. Always eager for adventure she traveled with a group of gypsy performers into the Ottoman Empire. There she performed, studied, and explored the rich culture. While staying with friends in Podgorica the capital of Montenegro she began a 13 month affair with a Turkish noblemen who showered her with gifts and kept her as his mistress. Though he died fighting in Romania against the Russians before you were born he did remember you and your mother in his will.


Physical Description: She has dark auburn hair and deep green eyes with flecks of amber. She is slightly taller than the average woman and her bearing can make her seem even taller. Her figure is womanly without being too much. Some have said she is built like a thoroughbred. Her skin is ivory with no freckles. Her middle eastern heritage would allow her to tan in the sun if she would spend any time outside without a parasol. She is a handsome woman. Some say beautiful. Although she frequently is not the most beautiful in the room, she is the most interesting, intriguing...and this makes her seem more desirable.

Personality: She does not suffer fools. In general, she has a rather low opinion of men which makes her very good at spying and doing what needs to be done to get the information she needs. She is adept at using the honey trap. She comes across cool, calm and collected. Refined in her manner. She has a temper that she keeps a lid on. Surprisingly, she is invited to all of the parties and welcomed in society. One would think she would be shunned. However, she knows too much about too many people and has the King's ear. It's possible she is his sometime lover.


Skills: She speaks a few languages fluently, English, French, German, Russian and Arabic and/or Turkish. Quite accomplished in the bedroom. Very intelligent (for a woman, the university educated man might say).

-Two sets of Erotic Gypsy Tarot cards (They're marked so one can direct the reading as she likes towards love or sex)
-Five Belly Dancer Costumes
-Three Leather outfits for the bedroom complete with whips, gloves, and boots
-Six erotically illustrated books on sex from the far East
-Three book shelves filled with books on the romance languages and culture.
-Four sets of silk sheets
-Fifty Five volumes on history, art, politics, and other topics the University of Paris will never miss.
-Twelve bottles of erotic massage oil
-Five trunks of erotic masks, body paint, and undergarments
-Three custom made bedroom sets

Career Path: She married money and a title, and then, alas, her much older husband died. Some of her detractors said she killed him, but there was no evidence so say he died of anything other than internal bleeding from a nasty fall off his horse while hunting. Think of her as a Mata Hari type. She passes information she garners to the appropriate authorities. For pay. She does not do anything that won't give her some sort of gain. She might be a double agent, we'll have to see how things play out. (I guess this makes her a Rogue of sorts)

-One set of books on the fairly new science of Forensics
-One well trained white mare with riding gear
-One pair of dueling pistols
-One two barrel hunting musket with special site
-Twelve sets of clothing and shoes with concealed compartments for smuggling small items.
-One Contact, You are a personal friend to the King's mistress.
-One Contact, one the royal court's top couriers often shares the contents of his message porch with you, and is one of your lovers.
-One Contact, the head bartender at The Queen's Inn located in Paris regularly feeds you information from the diplomats who drink there.
-Four secret caches of money for you to discretely hide money in and around Paris
-Three scrolls in Turkish depicting and describing different methods of assassination.
-Three carriages with hidden compartments for storing weapons, and hiding objects.
-Twenty bottles of wine with concealed compartments or hidden lock picks
-Thirteen throwing knives
-One easily concealable telescopes
-Detailed maps on every French territory including it's frontiers
-Fifty Soldiers including four officers and one sergeant major. Dressed as French Voltigeurs the unit is made up of mostly Polish irregulars who are pro-French. They're loyal to you, and they're currently patrolling the estate as well as doing manual labor.
-Six bedroom hunting lodge on the property where your husband drank, gambled, and kept his peasant mistress.
-One set of good lock picks
-One small sugar plantation in French held Venezuela.

http://graffletopia.com/images/previews/455/original.jpg?1250609516

Family Background: Her past is vague and there are many stories whispered about her. That she was born in a brothel in the east. That she was a concubine in a harem before she escaped. That she was married to a Russian noble who treated her worse than a slave and she killed him for it and fled to Europe. She married well and now is in control of her late husband's estates, lands and money.


Family Background Gear:

-Four impressive Persian rugs
-Eight Arabian Stallions from your father's family lands
-Two light cavalry pistols
-Two Kilij sabers (perhaps one of the sharpest blades in the world)
-One large desert tent
-One book shelf of art books
-Six trunks of formal clothing
-Partnership in Chateau Le Ciel an upscale brothel in Paris which specializes in women from Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. The impressive facility also has a Turkish bath, and tables for gambling among visitors.
-You're one of three partners in the trade Galleon The Falcon based out of the French Netherlands.
-A small collection of painting gathered by your mother through her travels around Europe.
-A small fortune in Russian State gold bullion
-Two Oriental silk robes

 

[Jagged]

Okay one character, and you all see what I provide to your creation, and we're even beginning to setup one kingdom.


What do I need to do to bring more people on board. I need leaders on all levels, more spies, soldiers, and adventurers. This is a combination of great wargames from the roleplayer's prospective. We couldn't do this on a table top game that's for sure.


I look forward to seeing your posts...I enjoy playing with haremfaery, but it's a big world.

 

[removed110513]

Name: Ivan Visotsky
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Nationality:Russian
Ethnic Background: He is secretly a Jew
Physical Description: Strong, muscular, and quite the handsome fellow. He is tall for a Russian, numbering over 6ft 5". He has dark, dark brown hair, and slightly tanned skin. He is built for cold weather, so he has hair all over his body. He has caught the gaze of many a woman, and has used his attractiveness too reach his goals.
Personality: He rarely entirely shares his opinion, for he wishes to hide the fact he is a Jew. If he brought up that fact, he would lose his throne. He became Tsar while in his early teens, but took control quickly, and has kept control with an iron fist. He tries to give all of his subjects equal rights, but is finding it extremely hard to do. He is okay with ding just about anything to reach his goals, from assassination to seducing.
Skills: Can speak, read and write Russian, English, and French. Has some skill with weapons, and is a excellent strategist. He is skilled in geography, as well as public speaking.
Career Path: Was raised in a palace, and hasn't done much else then learn. He while his older brother was still alive, he pursued to become a soldier, but then when his brother died of fever, he had to give it up.
Family Background: Part of the Romanov Dynasty, his mother was a Jewess, but hid this fact from his brother and father. Only he knew it, and he swore to follow in his mother's footsteps.

 

[Jagged]

Well done sir, but before I make my reply I would like to know what part of Russia you rule?

The Russian Empire is beneath the surface waiting for someone to grab the reigns of power. Please choose one the following territories to be your home base...

Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Livonia, Smolensk, Ukraine, Poland


And welcome aboard.

 

[removed110513]

Well then, I choose... St. Petersburg

 

[Jagged]

Well then, I choose... St. Petersburg

Okay I will get to work on your profile.

 

[JakeDare]

Name: Khandi De Arthac

Gender: Male

Age: 42

Nationality: English

Ethnic Background: European

Physical Description: Khandi is slight of build and could be called diminuative. He wears boots with heels allowing him to be a bit taller. He covers himself in silks and satins as well as lace. By all accounts a dandy, with an atmopshere of perfume that precedes him, he is a controller of people. Most of the great houses have at least one of his spies on thier staff

Skills: He speaks French, German and Russian


Family Background: It is said that Khandi appeared one day and before that on one had heard of him. He tells people that he sprung full grown from Zeus's forehead simmilar to Athena and he says that he is much prettier that Athena and dresses better.

 

[Jagged]

Well boys I will update that stuff tomorrow...things got busy the last two days.

JakeDare...Ah you're playing a rather flaming spy master if I read your brief post correctly.

 

[JakeDare]

I should warn you Jagged, you may be the GM but Lord Khandi has a hair trigger and refutes your refering to him as "flaming" He is a lord of massive proportions and if you continue to insult him he will demand "satisfaction" on the Field of Honor....aka his bed and his gun is always cocked.


Your friend Jake Dare

 

[haremfaery]

LOL, I love Khandi already. I'm tempted to bring in my sultan and his retainer from a novel I'm working on...a slightly different version of 12th Night.

Is Khandi an equal opportunity lover or is he only interested in men? Sophia could always dress as a soldier for him a la Catherine the Great. Seems they are in the same line of work...but are they playing for the same team?

 

[JakeDare]

Harem

As much as I would like to speculate on Lord Khandi De Arthac's sexual orientation it would be ungentlemanly for me to do so. I can assure you the Lord De Arthac not only plays for the other team but also our team as well, there is too much talent in Lord Khandi's to confine him to any one side in intermural activities.

When asked to play one of the roles in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers the other male leads abdicated and the play had to be renamed 18 Brides for Lord Khandi (Seven wasn't enough).

So do not worry dear friend, remember there will "Always Be An England" as long as lord Khandi has one testicile left to repopulate the entire isle (and commonwealth with).

Your Dear Friend In Coorispondence

Msr Jake Dare at your service

 

[haremfaery]

Oh Mr Dare,

I think I'm in love I see I shall have to step up my game greatly in order to spar with you and your characters.

Now I really do think I need to bring Vincent into the thread. I do need to work on him/her for the novel. I still can't decide is he/she should be cross-dressing for safety's sake and then get stuck in the role, or if she should just be a pretty young man.

Lady Sophia is looking forward to meeting Lord Khandi.

In anticipation,

Harem

 

[Jagged]

Time alludes me today, but after reading such interesting correspondence I know I must increase my efforts. This will be very interesting game those far. At least two spy masters of rival nations, and one potential Tsar of mother Russia. Most interesting indeed.

 

[ThinkerLover]

Name: Msr. Paul-Henri Renier

Gender: male

Age: 40

Nationality: French/Prussian

Ethnic Background: Western European

Physical Description: In almost all features, unnotable. Black, straight hair cropped close to the scalp, worn under a powdered wig. Lean but not particularly muscular but with a very cunning stare. Piercing gaze and very intense, angular face.

Personality: Ambitious, yet charming. Of very few intimate friends but an intense listener with connections among papist and heathen, black and white, revolutionary and loyalist. He is the quintissential politician, always the first with a witty joke and a persuasive voice. A natural leader.

Skills: An eloquent orator. A skilled hunter and sportsman with a tenacious love of golf and tennis. A skilled chessmaster and educated mathematician. Well-read in classic and contemporary literature, philosophy and music. An above average marksman and well-versed leader. A scarcely adequate dancer but a decent violinist and painter. Fluent in French, German and English.

Career Path: Paul-Henri avoided military service in Feance by attending school in Prussia, where his father sent him to school to train to become an officer in hopes he would find clerical work ultimately and avoid the battlefield that His fathr had seen too much of while serving. Having completed his studies there, Paul-Henri returned to Paris to enlist in the army but found himself fallen on hard times when his mother fell ill to small pox and even an officer's salary would not suffice. Laboring dilligently He was able to pass the bar and enter into work as a barrister where he earned a good living executing the estates of aristocrats. Well-connected in the aristocracy, he found himself with frequent occasions to invest and create wealth with information on markets available to wealthy clients. Having amassed serious wealth, Paul-Henri soon found himself one of thr wealthiest and influential men in Paris. Now, with Revolution brewing, Paul-Henri sees an opportunity to make a nobleman of himself and begins to conspire how he can play an important role in the new government. With Napoleon's distrust of him, though, it was obvious the future was not bright for Paul-Henri's ambitions. When his mother died, his father lost all hope of joy and drank himself in a sorrowful grave. Nothing left to connect him to Paris, Paul-Henri sells his estates and seeks out a new life in Austria where his old military school connections and fabulous wealth afford him new opportunities to pursue a life in politics.

Family Background: His father a retired officer and a mildly successful dye merchant and his mother the heiress of a disgraced aristocratic family that had been stripped of it's title and lands by the crown some generations ago. He had three older sisters but Paul-Henri was the only child to survive to adulthood.

 

[removed110513]

Welcome ThinkerLover! Glad there is another leader joining us, not another spy!i would be upset if I were the only leader in the game.

 

[ThinkerLover]

Welcome ThinkerLover! Glad there is another leader joining us, not another spy!i would be upset if I were the only leader in the game.

Me, too! We should step up recruiting efforts. So I've never actually done this before. Whats the fastest way to get caught up to speed on gameplay? Is it pretty open? Do you need any help with artwork or creative stuff - I am pretty diverse in that kind of thing.

Edit: woops - replied to you thinking i was replying to Jagged, at first.

 

[removed110513]

, well, I'm just as confused as you as to how this works. All I know for sure is that we have characters, and we use them to make choices, or something of the sort.