BlindKitsune's page

Militia probably, not unlike the local Traitor militia that's been brewing in enemy-held settlements. So... extra manpower, extra firepower but a little shaky/brittle and likely to shatter if they're beaten up too much.

But yes, extra units.

Ah, that... is actually freak coincidence.

I do have a record of how fast everything can move, and after my pet traitor (who is out to kill the lot of you) decided where he was deploying and Team Imperial started landing he decided which units he was going to send over to attack you.

It just so happens that his reinforcement units arrived north and south of your growing beachhead within a day of each other (well, mostly) and since he didn't have any armor in the Maxarpa-Ardent area it's changed the dynamic a little.

Though those units did have to come from somewhere else, which is why Misra and Iskandariya are sprouting loyalist insurgents.

Where else you served or lived, two or three if there are more.: Two years ago, you were 'invited' to stay for over a year at Casterly Rock. Though no overt mention was ever made of it, you suspect there may have been the beginnings of negotiations between your father & Lord Tywin Lannister that you be betrothed to his youngest son Tyrion. It was during this time that you became far better acquainted with exactly how dangerous a human being Lord Tywin truly was. It was also during this time that you finagled your way into martial training alongside Tyrion himself. It succeeded in keeping the two of you out of your respective fathers hair without raising too much of an uproar. Unfortunately, once you returned home, what had before been a simple vague disapproval on your father's part that you focused so much more of your time on books and the minutia of maintaining households, businesses & even military companies than a young lady's more 'appropriate' pursuits had frosted into an icy, implacable disdain.

This is good, though it probably led to some more tenseness and ill-feeling on Tyrick's part after what happened when Tyra was 'invited to stay' at Casterly Rock for a few years. On the other hand I can't see Tywin caring all that much.

Fear of Lannisters is fine, and if you've had some training beside Tyrion (and perversely I can see a Lannister Master at Arms goading Tyrion that even a girrrrrrl is better with a blade than he is) then you may have some form of casual friendship with the Little Lion.

At least two characters in the area you have a grudge with.: Is this a grudge that I hold against them, or a grudge that they hold...

Either one-way, the other, or both. A good example of the former is Jon Snow and Catelyn Stark; even though he bears no particular grudge against her, her hostility towards him definitely has an impact on his life. An example of the other is Viserys Targaryen and Robert Baratheon, who definitely hate and fear one another.

Often negative relationships can be at least as powerful or interesting as the positive from a roleplay standpoint.

Oh, and your evil idea is fine ;)

I'll put up the Discussion thread in the next day or two, and if everyone's ready I'll aim to start the gameplay (and roleplay) on Sunday.

Without playing by the rules or knowing them is very frustrating. Everything seems arbitrary and an exercise in futility.

I'm sorry you feel that way Jene; I'm trying to make it work as 'realistically' as I can, with giving orders to your troops and having them try to execute it as well as they can - which feels more like a roleplay to me than a war game - but this is the first time I've tried to run something like this so if there's a way you think I could run it better I'd be very happy to hear it.

What could I be doing better?

1) Yes, the city-fighting withdrawal through Maxarpa bought enough time to beg/borrow/requisition enough local transport to get them out.

2) You don't have contact with them at the moment; the big blackout may be over but there seems to be a lot of communications chaos in the area, several units are still shut down and some commanders are resorting to runners. There are reports of them fighting side by side with some of the Magellan Rifles two hours ago, but no one seems to know where they are now.

3) A combination of packed dirt and paved in a fairly wide-spread network; it only starts getting complicated as the ground gets rugged and you go up into the hinterland. The locals appear to use a lot of water transport for their ores here in the east, where possible.

Fantastic, Tyresa! :)

Good stuff Tenro.

Purchased Castle-Forged weapons (that is, not produced by an in-house weaponsmith which we don't have as yet) start at twice the cost of normal weapons so should be affordable.

The others costs look fine; unfortunately while you might be able to find a Valyrian stiletto/dagger (unusual to find them crafted that way as it may be) during play, there is only a system for starting with one with the Benefit of Heirloom and either Heir or Head of House. Also because it's breathtakingly expensive in the sense of common day wealth.

Other things to spend your money on could well include trade goods (tangibly) or investing them in your trading enterprise elsewhere. Describe what sort of thing you'd like to have and how much you'd like to invest in it, and I'll let you know what you have. Mostly a wine trader I see? Possibly an investment in vineyards, warehouses and staff so the trade can keep on going in your absence?

Excellent bio information!

Tyvorst, can you give me the text of Heir as you read it?

In my copy I'm looking at Heir on page 83 of the Game of Thrones edition (right under Head of House) and it reads:

You are the heir to the lordship of your house. Should anything happen to the head of house, you exchange this quality for the Head of House quality. You must secure permission from your Narrator as well as your fellow players before you can select this quality. Only one member of your group can have this quality at a time.

No objection to the +1 bonus, but I'd like to know if I'm houseruling it in or if it's printed somewhere I'm missing.

Excellent bio information, I enjoy the relationships and the minor enmities with Ser Hamish and Gastros. I'll record the details on their sheets!

And another thing...

Lord Titus Algood died in 296, and could easily have remarried in 291-292. That would make for a fascinating history with the young Lord Algood now as well.

Titus was not a nice person.

EDIT for Crunch:

Well in that case you're fine, but consider whether you want to put 2B into Notice - there's not much point putting in 1 purely for Keen Senses.

I'll do it, don't worry. I'm in a groove, lol!

Abilities you appear to have spent 250 exp out of a total of 210 for your age bracket. I'm also going to say absolutely no more than 2 Status for poor Tyresa; she's not going to have equal status to the true-born scions of House Ghaele. Happily taking Status back to 2 would bring her exp in line with her age category at 210, so you needn't make any other changes in her abilities if you don't want to.

Happily since your Status is 2, you roll 2d6 for your starting wealth instead of 4d6 and can keep that lucky roll. ^^

Volantis does speak Valyrian, and that's the correct version of the language for the city. Excellent choice! I just wanted to make sure you included it in your backstory.

Looking at the ages so far, we have characters who are 34, 33, 32, in their late 20s, 18 and 14. So, going back to your concepts and your personal histories now that you've had a chance to do your Crunch (Snake Charmer, feel free to wait on this until you've had a chance to Crunch out) let's see if we can weave a few more strands into the tapestry of House Ghaele's recent history.

Write at least a brief personal history around the following dated events, bearing in mind that it is "now" 298 AL, trying to cover where you've picked up any unusual abilities, specialities, benefits or drawbacks, as well as the questions I'll pose at the end.

Oooookay, that was longer than I expected so I've spoilered it to reduce page clutter. No I don't expect you to reference every event that happens during your character's life, these are just things you might be aware of - except for the Stark children being born, who are mostly just there to give you a better idea of how old the Ghaele children are. Consider cross-referencing this to this to get a sense of when the other locals were born. Putting everyone else in would have cluttered things well past the point of being useful.

So yes, please write at least a few paragraphs on your personal history including:

• Where you were born.
• When you took service with/arrived at House Ghaele (if applicable).
• Where else you served or lived, two or three if there are more.
• At least two characters in the area you have a grudge with. No more than one of these should be PCs, since we don't want the group to be too disfunctional.
• At least two characters in the area you have a lasting friendship with. If possible, at least one of these should be a PC.
• The most dangerous (physically or socially) situation you've been in.
• An instance highlighting each of your Benefits or Drawbacks if possible.
• Any romance? If inter-PC, I'm probably looking at Tyresa being involved unless we have some more-than-brotherly companionship or Iolanda has been unusually precocious. Note that while I fully intend to fade-to-black any squishy bits, this is Westeros and different degrees of love, intimacy and seduction (air quote as necessary) are a core element in the story - and indeed, the rules system.

(No I haven't had the opportunity to make the extra NCs you've requested yet, but I will get on that soon!)

Alright that's done so I'll check out the new character submissions! Thanks for the rapid response people.

Thoughts on Maester Lucen:

Arright, on to Tenro's Crunch!

And Irnk kindly put Iolanda in while I was writing this, so let's have a quick look at her!

It looks like Crunch is mostly decided on, or at least we're getting there and we all know who we are. While Snake Charmer is working on his, I'll get a few points and questions together to support structuring your bios and we can work out how our stories weave together, who we know well and who we don't really like all that much.

Day 7 - The Hammer Falls - Culara IV

Indomitus Jubatus - Firmianus - Communication Good

Mass production of the requisite paper fliers will take time; a rough draft of the copy is currently being discussed by a committee of Administratum and Ecclesiarchy officials aboard Blue Gamma with a view to beginning production in the next day or two. Adjunct Nyall reports that the enginseers have found no obvious avenues to infiltrate the local vox networks or to listen in on them, although supercharging the vox networks aboard the Cruisers will allow short messages to be broadcast across the planet on all receivers - or, alternatively, to block all vox communications for up to half an hour without irreparable damage to the machine spirits. Arch Traitor Davias' vox signal has been pinpointed to Culara Prime; the communications intensity in and out of the hive city suggests that the war is being run from a supreme headquarters there, likely the Governor's palace. There is a growing faction among the junior staffers advocating a secondary planetfall to seize the central hive and decapitate the traitors' war effort while most units are embroiled in the east.

At this point there are no known loyalist insurgents in proximity to the Imperial bridgehead on Culara. There are a sharply limited number of spare weapons available in the transport squadron which can be landed with munitions as supply drops instead of landing them within the perimeter held by the Imperial Guard. Insurgent contacts on the ground are extremely in favour of this idea and vow that this will allow them to strike a blow against the Lord Governor's tyranny. They do reluctantly note they are presently too underequipped to seize the local GOWs so request as stealthy a delivery as is practicable.

A squadron of Avengers sweeps in a spread wing formation west across the Gulf of Sighs, with a high escort of Thunderbolts watching over them. They have been flying for almost an hour before they are vectored away by the flight controller, and have yet to sight any enemy shipping in the area. Further to the east a squadron of Marauders descends on the western side of Maxarpa to support the Imperial defense, with the other squadron of Thunderbolts flying escort. There they run headlong into three squadrons of Cularan aircraft strafing Maxarpa and both attacks rapidly devolve into a dog fight. Initially the Marauders and their escorts are getting the worst of it, with three craft spiraling down from the sky to crater amid the fighting on the ground. When the other two Imperial squadrons join the fight the Marauders make an effort to break free of combat but instead the furball drifts northwards without separating. This time the Imperials have the upper hand and another four craft smash to the ground, mostly local. While neither side rules the skies, by the end of the day most of the Cularan craft are damaged and powering unsteadily off to the south west.

The orbital bombardment by two of Rapier squadron proves devastatingly effective, if not in the way its mission planners expected or planned. Rather than reinforcements, the concentrated lance fire from two Sword-class frigates strikes two Cularan formations falling back out of Hive Ardent, scattering them in disorder southwards into the hinterland. Unfortunately this is not without issue, and though one frigate evades GOW-fire coming up from the planet, Dallos' Riposte is gutted end-to-end by a direct lateral hit and has lost power, going into an uncontrolled spin that leaves it well within weapons range from the planet. For now the Cularans seem content to leave the wreckage in orbit, and Admiral Doheri is organizing shuttlecraft to try to rescue surviving crew and critical components for the Imperial Navy. A delegation from the Adeptus Mechanicus would doubtless be appreciated, if available.

Maxarpa Sector - Kimes, Yorke - Communication Off the grid

All through the night General Kimes' staffers worked hard on patching together the biggest most powerful adhoc vox-broadcaster any of them had ever seen, backed by a ruthless winnowing through the Sentinel-tenders available on-planet. Early in the day an attempted enemy air strike on Imperial positions in the town was intercepted by two Imperial squadrons, while the lead elements of the 83rd Magellan Rifles begins to land in the northern landing field. Predictably the new dawn also brings with it a renewal of the assault from the PDF, pressing hard against the Harakoni strongpoint in the Administratum Quarter. Backed by artillery the PDF grind their way into the town, eventually breaking into the central fortress after focused artillery smashed down one of the fortified walls. This time the seasoned drop troops are ready, and fall back from the attack before they could be overrun - the PDF take some time to move after them despite their aggression, as all communication in the area is blotted out through incredible waves of pulsing static that made grown troopers on both sides turn off their vox units in self defense.

By this point Captain Abrechtssen has the regiment's Sentinels collected around him and is picking his way out around the northern flank of the PDF and through the Naval Battalion, reassuring them that the blackout is friendly action and that the Magellan Rifles will see to local area security as they land. Construction appears to be ahead of schedule, according to the last runner that makes it around the 8th's advance through Maxarpa. The signal jamming lasts another hour before something breaks with a whiff of smoke in the midst of the construction; the technicians take the chance to dismantle it and pull the machinery out of Maxarpa to safety. Under Kimes' personal leadership the drop troops try to reestablish a defense line in and around Maxarpa's eastern outskirts, but the PDF appear to have regained contact with their artillery and have renewed their push against the Warhawks and the Rifles, some of whom are being dropped to the east with reports that their landing zone has come under fire. By sunset the Warhawks have been driven south and east, clear of wartorn Maxarpa and the woods to the east. There is some contact with the 83rd to the north who also appear to have been flung back into the woods by a large armored formation that swept across the construction site and seized the wreckage of the supply depot. Large clouds of smoke from the north seem to indicate that brave heroes of the Imperium stayed behind to fire the large cache of munitions, using some of the heavier construction equipment to take out a number of tanks before being ultimately wiped out. The battered Naval Battalion has fallen back behind the front line to recover in safety, but the half-constructed spaceport now lays in enemy hands. Scattered drops across the day have ensured that Imperial forces in the sector have an adequate (if low) level of supply and they remain combat effective, though they lack reserves.

Torton Sector - Rodriguez - Communication Good

The 9th Culara may be exhausted, bloodied and shrunken but they still move out earlier than the 821st Penal Legion; marching back east through Torton while the Penal troopers fight a furious rearguard action against tanks and elite troopers driving up from the south. The 5th PDF is slow to rejoin the fight, but by the time the Legion's fighting retreat passes east of Torton, the 9th is concealed in battalion-sized formations in the woods to the north. The enemy - a large combined arms formation - appears to be faster and more maneuverable than the penal troopers, and forces them to move along at a punishing pace without the scope to slip any elements away in hiding to north or south.

There was an total vox blackout for some time today, as a massive interference signal cut out all vox communication for an extended ninety minute period as the 821st was beginning to move out of Torton. The chaos slowed your withdrawal, but seemed to delay the pursuit even more which saved your command from being cut off. They don't appear to have sent any scouts out to spot the 9th Culara, and when the signal returned they made vox contact to confirm their concealed positions. Unfortunately resupply cut out early in the day, and the Penal Legion is beginning to run very low on munitions and food. They are reluctant to send out foraging parties, and are requesting urgent advice on where to draw more ammunition and equipment from.

Ardent Sector - Arvitus, O'Hern - Communication Patchy

The ground shakes and the earth moves; because of the congested urban nature of the sector it takes some time for O'Hern to gather the Longspears and the Highlanders and prepare to renew the assault. At that point long streaks of fire descend from the sky to the south of Ardent and are answered by pinpoint streaks and plumes of smoke. At that moment every vox set in the Sector starts to pop and let out ear-bleeding screeches that set chaos loose through the regiments. The Lanbat Rifles move onto the Spaceport, the pipes wail and the heavy regiments begin driving west into the city - then halt in surprise as a Cularan assault wave comes out of the buildings, thirty thousand strong and backed by hundreds of tanks.

The fighting is fierce and rapid-flowing, and though the Cularans are more heavily equipped, fresh and almost fanatically aggressive the superior numbers of Imperials and their anti tank weapons wear down the attack barely a third of the way back across the spaceport. The battleline is utterly confused and both sides draw back a little to reorganize by a kind of unspoken agreement as the sky darkens and communications are reestablished across the field. Among the Imperial camps a rumor sweeps the field of a lone trooper's heroism in destroying no less than three enemy tanks with his or her own hands and so turning back an attack that seemed set to split the Imperial lines and drive all the way to the central spaceport control tower. There are wildly varying details between most different accounts, but one point on which all agree is that the anonymous trooper in question is a Krieger; one of the recently-annihilated 66th Death Korps.

The Emperor protects His own?

Less gloriously all supply cut out mid-morning, with no further resources being delivered by the supply dump north of Maxarpa. It is unclear why this should be so, but munitions supplies are running dangerously low across the front. Unless heavier weapons or at the very least a large supply of munitions can be brought to ground, things are likely to go... poorly for the Imperials on the morrow.

Max benefits is a solid number - no more than that, no matter how many destiny points you have (or earn) to spend on them.

I have a couple of thoughts on the maps and will message you more thoroughly later today once I've caught up on things. Thanks for being our Ghaele Cartographer!

On the whole I'm against making choices in chargen to mitigate a penalty you're taking - if you have a penalty, then be penalized by it and exploit the roleplay possibilities involved.

You can keep the Breeding 1B if you like, I'd thought it was more of a reference to your own breeding but your reading of the specialty is correct.

As a compromise let's leave him with 1B in Run, and put the other one into something else; Resilience, Strength or Courage as you please.

One vote for double-drop and one for single-drop and supplies at Maxarpa; I rolled off and the Lord General decided to favor the single-drop option for the 84th Magellan Rifles and start building up the dump at the Maxarpa landing site again.

Unlikely to finish writing this up before going out with friends tonight, but I'll get it done as soon as I can (work and sleep allowing) and we can get this back on the road. ^^

Thoughts on Tyvorst:

Abilities add up to 220 exp, 10 more than he has at this age bracket. Good focus toward fighting and warfare, which may be useful if (Seven forbid) someone dares to break the King's Peace.

Gear the Courser is a good choice, but why does he have a Stot? Possibly a Rounsey instead unless you have a particular reason?

Thoughts on Belneiros:

Why 1B on Breeding? Who were his parents?

Your shopping looks fine to a casual eye, and your derived stats add up well.

Actually I'm taking a 'break' from mass character creation and House design to push forward Fire from the Sky, so I'll put orbital bombardments to one side and have a look at what you've got. :)

I'm writing up the update now, but I noticed we don't yet have a consensus on where today's supplies are being landed. Unless I hear otherwise I'll assume we're going with landing the 84th and the Rough Riders (and hence, no more supplies).

However while units can live off the land for some time, combat efficiency is likely to drop - still more as Imperial units run out of munitions.

Snake Charmer, I was seeing Tyra as coming back from Casterly Rock pregnant but without a little one. Since her daughter is your character, decide how old you'd like her to be and I'll key your mother's return to Goodby Knoll to suit.

I've already created a Master-at-arms at Goodby Knoll, but I could make a couple of named men-at-arms and possibly a bard. Unfortunately Goodby Knoll isn't large enough to draw a Septon/a, though if you are able to expand it into a Keep/Hall then House Ghaele should have enough wealth to build a Sept within the outer wall.

Tyvorst, why does being Heir give you an extra Status die? I can't see anything on that in the book, and Head of House only grants an extra +2 to the result.

As you can see I've been doing a little character creation myself today, filling in some of local society in the area. I've been focusing mostly on the aristocracy today; while I'll fill in some more known local NCs, they're less likely to be known to everyone in the area.

Can I ask if any players have a special request for particular characters to be created, to supplement their character concepts? I don't mind 1 or 2 per player character, but if you're asking for 4 or more please clarify how they're likely to interact with you and the most important ones to create first in case I can't do it all at once.

Thanks again!

Dramatis Personae (NC)

House Holdings

Defense
Goodby Knoll (Tower), Ashen Tor (Ruined Tower)

Influence
Tyvorst Ghaele (Male Heir, 18)
Irnk's (Eldest Daughter, ??)
Jyana Ghaele, NC (Younger Daughter, 13)
Trystane Ghaele, NC (Younger Son, 10)

Land
Hills, Mine (Iron), Goodby Knoll, Tower
Plains, Coast, Port
Plains, Ruin (Ashen Tor), Hamlet

Power
Goodby's Lance (Cavalry, Green)
Gauntlet of the Knoll (Garrison, Green)
Ghaele Borderers (Scouts, Trained)
Ghaele Sea Guard (Warships, Green)
Ghaele Seamen (Sailors, Green)

Wealth
Maester, Mine (Iron), Port, 26 remaining

House Fortunes
+9 (net)

That's the one!

Start on page 43, and when you're thinking about your concept, I've managed to fit a port in on the coast in Ghaele lands. There isn't much of a settlement there, but it's a place to ship our mined wealth away when the roads are being unfriendly.

I haven't added up the dice yet, but am I right in assuming his healing is at the default 2?

18 means he was 10 at the Harrowing and 8 when the ironmen swept down the coast and burned the fleets.

3 when Robert took the throne (so it really is a case of "When is Daddy coming home?").

18 I see, barely over the line into Adult!

Should be interesting to see how old Irnk's character and Tyresa are; at this point there are two sons and two daughters of House Ghaele, the younger two of which are NCs.

I like it Daniel, I've linked it into the Campaign Info now (via some imgur rehosting!) under the description of the insignia.

We have a silver gauntlet on a green escutcheon, all on a field of orange and this seems like a good representation of that (originally I imagined the escutcheon being smaller, but this works better with the charge imho).

We have two voices calling for some kind of coastal domain so I'll see what I can do; should have that information up later today, although I doubt we'd have much in the way of a fleet. If we have a warship with a unit of sailors onboard, that's likely to eat up at least half our power but I'll play with the numbers and see what we get.

Default status is 2 unless you're notably more (or less) important.

Welcome to the thread, Irnk! It's good to see another female character concept, and despite the fact that Derz is writing up a male heir as we speak I think that House Ghaele could certainly use a female blue-blood to set off both Tyvorst and Tyresa.

From a roleplaying standpoint, the internal 'family' dynamics could be fascinating. Once we have some more of the stats established, I'm going to ask a few more in-character questions about how everyone's characters feel about one another.

I'm really happy with how well-rounded our House is getting people, thanks so much! :)

Local Houses

House Marbrand of Ashemark

House Marbrand of Ashemark is one of the main noble houses from the Westerlands. Their seat of Ashemark is located in the hilly area near where the Tumblestone begins. Despite a history wracked by hardship, in recent generations the fortunes of the House have improved as its Lords gained the favor of House Lannister. Recently took part in the destruction of House Spence of the Rylls.

House Daggerell of Halcyon Hall

An increasingly powerful minor house, the Daggerells have been sworn to House Marbrand since before the Conquest. With extensive holdings along the River Road, the Daggerells have made much of their wealth through promoting trade with the Riverlands and keeping the King's Peace (or their version of it). Crime is unusual in Daggerell lands, and the punishments severe.

House Sandamel of Marbrook Tor

Aaron Sandamel was a sellsword captain who distinguished himself in service to House Marbrand during the Harrowing of the Rylls. In the wake of House Spence's fall, Damon Marbrand found himself in possession of extensive extra lands infested by bandits and with no particular loyalty to his House. Nothing if not pragmatic, he raised Captain Sandamel to knighthood and established him as a landed knight sworn to House Marbrand.

House Algood of Algood Hall

A minor house with a storied history, House Algood traces its origins back to the Age of Heroes. Devout and moral followers of the Seven, the Algoods were on good terms with but never took advantage of the Laughing Lion's generosity. They are distantly respectful to their current liege lord, though they do not enjoy his favor.

House Wyckling of the Vines

Jared Wyckling is a welcome guest at any tourney or social gathering in the Westerlands, in part due to his warm and genial nature and in part to his open-handed generosity when it comes to his House's special wealth. While connoisseurs may argue that it isn't up to some of the finest Arbor gold, the Wycklings are proud of their vintages and the high regard it brings their house.

I'm not sure where you drew that from Deiros, but my information has "Masterly House" as being the Northern (Old Gods) equivalent of a Knightly House in that they need to get justice from a higher authority instead of being able to rule on their own estates.

There seems to be an impression that we'd like there to be more influence (particularly from Derz as the heir) so as promised I'll sink our last two dice into that resource and try to get at least 6 points.

Influence 1/2: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Influence 2/2: 1d6 ⇒ 2

That raises the Influence to 38, which isn't quite enough to reach Max Status 5 but does open the possibility for some well-spent Glory points raising the House's profile in the days ahead.

For now though (looking at page 67 in the Game of Thrones edition) House Ghaele is classed as a minor house but not quite a powerful minor house.

Welcome back everyone, it's good to see you here.

I'm not going to try to match you in american war history Arvitus, but I like that you're drawing some parallels here. ;)

At this point it looks like I should be able to push things forward tomorrow, but a few points I'd like to clarify:

1) What is Jene's Torton sector up to?

2) Confirming it's the Rough Riders that are being dropped today?

3) In view of the fact that many (most) commands were shorted in their supply yesterday and the supply dump was mostly drained down overnight to fix this, should today's supplies continue being landed in the same place (that is, the dump north of Maxarpa)?

Wow, really? In my copy of the Game of Thrones edition it seems to say that Status 6 is appropriate to the Lord of a major house. Going by the status ranks in the abilities section as well as the House Creation section, our Lord would have Status 4 and his notable heir(s) would have Status 3 - so don't worry, you'll still have some experience left for other areas.

Well pointed out though; we seem to have a good assortment of characters without much overlap (though Deiros, I might lean toward your sworn sword concept rather than the steward; we already have a Maester being created, as well as a merchant-type).

I've had a little work drama today, but should be fine to post up plenty of useful information tomorrow for background and as we create our Player and Narrator characters.

Unless there are other people waiting to share their concepts, let the character generation begin!

Either now, or (if you want to see more of the NCs around the House) in 12 hours or so. :)

Excellent Derz, I was just beginning to worry that everyone wanted to play smallfolk.

Tyvorst's sounds like a good concept, and probably a good character to have Status 3. Realistically anywhere from 17 to 24 would be plausible for the life stage you're describing, and would mean that if (Seven forbid) some form of war breaks out in the next few years he'd be plausibly left to manage the House while his father does his duty to his liege with his men at arms.

It also means while he was probably aware of the War of the Usurper he wouldn't have been involved in it. Up to you whether he took up arms at the Harrowing, as 8 years ago could have him in just about any role.

Would Tyvorst be an anointed knight?

That sounds well reasoned; I wanted to be sure there was a reason he might travel with a party of House Ghaele's other agents to pursue their ends, but it sounds like you've already thought this through.

Question for GM:

1. Where is Goodby Knoll in relation to Lannisport?

I'm keeping its exact location a little amorphous until we've purchased our land and power holdings, but it's broadly north and east of Lannisport.

If we have a coast holding I'll consider whether we want some sea power (though a warship and sailors tend to be fairly expensive) and it would be somewhere along the coast south of the Crag.

If not, it will probably be closer to the River Road (or on it, if we end up purchasing a road holding).

We should know by the end of the day or so, and I'll look into finding someone to make a map for me.

Why does your character serve House Ghaele?

We may have lost Firmianus, so if you could take over air/space operations from the ground it would be good.

I'm hoping we haven't lost Arvitus as well, or Jene - otherwise we might have to look at dividing the different sectors among remaining players, and possibly trying to recruit a few more.

Luckily our pet traitor won't be escaping me any time soon.

Besides, he thinks he's winning. ^^

I could probably do that.

I've been keeping a running tally on everything's effective strength so that when players check (like you did with your Warhawks) I have an answer I can give, but I could give more abstract impressions regularly on the campaign info tab.

It... may prove to be a moot point though as we seem to have lost most of our players over Easter.

I'll give it till the weekend, but if it's just you, I and a fairly terse O'hern then I will probably pull down the curtain.

Good ideas, people! Interesting to see that most people so far are looking at less noble folk.

I'll look into putting up another NC later today (and a little information on the Houses nearby), but for now I have a few points to get you thinking on your characters:

1. How old am I?

What might they have seen and experienced over the years - and how long have they been with House Ghaele?

2. Do I travel?

The story is likely to move around for some of the time, though always (usually) arcing back to Goodby Knoll. Would your character be likely to travel with a group dispatched to act on the House's behalf, or tend to remain back at the tower? Why?

3. Where do my skills lie?

What are you good at doing? When something comes up that's outside your usual skill area, what would your personality encourage you to do?

@ Deiros: I think the thinking was to include those bonuses in the house history process. Write a piece of the house's history and then roll a dice for a resource. Except there weren't many takers as far as creating the house history.

Of course, I may be wrong, in which case, hand me my d6.

Snake Charmer is right; since we're still in the recruitment stage and don't have a final set of players as yet, I decided to weave the initial adjustment rolls into the process of making the House History both as a 'reward' for the writers who would be more committed to playing the House they'd helped to create.

Taking it as writ, the rules suggest doing it before any House event rolls are made, and I didn't want to halt the creation process while we waited for each dice roll's aim to be chosen and rolled. We do have four rolls incorporated already (which is pretty standard for a House Creation process), and depending on how things play out I may allocate another 2-3 rolls to the chosen characters who have the biggest stake in the House's fate.

Thanks for the paragraph Daniel, that will fit well in Ghaele's history (and I'll put it there now)!

For your little history piece, could you write a short 5+ line paragraph about how House Ghaele improved their influence and wealth in a time of developing what they had rather than fighting someone else.

Maybe they established new iron mines and made a contract with someone to sell it?

Maybe the Lord made a prestigious marriage with a daughter of a more powerful house?

That sort of thing, thanks.

Either of those could work, Snake Charmer. If we go with the first one, just remember that Tyra is a contemporary of Lord Tyrick's (although we can edit away her later legitimate family if she becomes a PC).

Funnily enough the character I made in case you were running this was a bastard as well. ^^

Let's see what else people have in mind, and get an idea of what will fit best together.

Lord Tyrick Ghaele (NC)

How old is the lord?

Tyrick is fifty four years old at the start of play, being born in 244 AC.

Did he participate in any wars (War of the Ninepenny
Kings, War of the Usurper, or Greyjoy’s Rebellion)? If so, for whom did he fight? Did he distinguish himself in these wars?

Tyrick rode out in the War of the Ninepenny Kings and Greyjoy's Rebellion, but in neither case saw any action. During the War of the Usurper he led the Ghaele banners in the Lannister host that rode to (and sacked) King's Landing. On a smaller scale, he led a mixed force fighting for the Lannisters at the age of seventeen in the Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion as part of his father Gregor's determined effort to prove his loyalty to the young Tywin. While he did not distinguish himself with martial skill, his stubborn defense of the Tumblestone crossing kept a Reyne commander from fighting his way clear of the destruction of his House.

Years later at the Harrowing of the Rylls, he showed no less determination than his liege in shattering Ser Spence and his bandit-knights, ending their reign of terror along the River Road.

What is his relationship with his liege?

Mixed. He finds Lord Tywin cold and remote even to those who surely have proven themselves many times over, but on the other hand his liege has won his respect many times over the years. The one recurring point of anger for him is the poor care of his sister Tyra during her time as a hostage at Casterly Rock.

Does he have any extended family?

While his mother Lady Avrys is old now, she still lives at Goodby Knoll. Equally his sister Tyra, her bastard child, husband and the legitimate children she has had since then.

His younger brother is also living although he has served House Farman of Faircastle in recent years.

What was his relationship with his father?

Good, fairly close. The Old Lord took him into his confidence at an early age and they discussed many of his plans together. Perhaps because of this he had less deep respect for his mother than some noble sons, seeing her instead as a dependent of the House (though of course one he cares for).

Does your lord have any rivals or enemies? Any strong
allies?

Houses Daggerell and Algood are both rivals to House Ghaele, if not precisely enemies.

House Marbrand is House Ghaele's closest friendly House, although they haven't been allies since the Harrowing of the Rylls.

When I've been doing the other Houses in the area (like I said, I do love the House Creation rules) I've been house ruling that all units are Green or Trained (because the Westerlands haven't really had a war worthy of the name in recent memory).

Scout and Knightly ideas are good ones, and I like your thoughts on the others. Definitely agree about Tywin Lannister and the good wine! It was a good level of experience really since it meant we could plausibly be directly under the Lannisters or one more rung down.

Keep up the good thoughts! I'm putting together a NC in the Official Recruitment Thread, and then taking a step back to let y'all brainstorm in peace.

We now have a recruitment thread as well, for character concepts and, eventually, creation.

House Ghaele is a proud and ancient House, born of the wars between the Kingdoms of Rock and Reach before Aegon's Conquest. The family's noble history was very nearly blotted out of existence before it could begin after a bout of spring sickness eliminated its senior line, but over four and a half centuries since the House's history has been spotted with figures both glorious and ignoble. In the last two generations alone under Gregor and Tyrick Ghaele the House has become a valued vassal to Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock, as outside the Westerlands war wracked the land.

Robert's Rebellion ended fifteen years ago. Since the last Targaryens were overthrown, King Robert I Baratheon has reigned in the heart of the Crownlands, from the Red Keep. With Queen Cersei Lannister by his side and three healthy children to come after him, a new royal succession has been established to rule over the Seven Kingdoms. Yet though the King's Peace rules supreme, the game of politics and succession continues between the noble houses of Westeros and even in the peaceful heart of the Westerlands not all is exactly as it seems...

We've been doing House Creation over here, but we have enough pulled together at this point that I feel it's a useful point to start working on a group of character concepts for the players in this game.

I'm going to put as much of the House Information as I can into the Campaign Info thread (along with the House Resources and combined House History we've been putting together) but I'll put together some Narrator Characters here over time that I'd like to use (though not all of them necessarily have to be if Player characters end up being made that might tread on their toes) to help fill out the House and maybe help inspire your concepts.

What is the game?

After some discussion in the other thread (see above) we're looking at a game where the player characters are members of or sworn to House Ghaele of Goodby Knoll in the Westerlands, a vassal house to the Lannisters. We're using the Green Ronin Asoiaf rules, so please do have a copy of the core book (hard copy or pdf) or a pretty good knowledge of its contents.

Bear in mind that unlike most RPGs I've tried, combat in this ruleset and setting is not common in most periods and can be extremely (extremely) dangerous to all those concerned. Characters who can fight would definitely be useful, but not everyone should write concepts along this path.

What are you after from us?

For now? Character concepts. Who would you like to play in a (moderately minor) noble house of the Seven Kingdoms? Assume that the Lord and his Lady are off limits as NCs, but I'm open to concepts for male heirs between 30-11 years old and daughters in a similar age range.

We have the House Influence for one heir of notable Status - if it's a woman, then that probably means we have no male sons of the blood. If it's a man then there may be other sons of less status but still noble blood.

Please don't assume I only want to see noble character concepts, I'm just spending more time on them because there are a few more restrictions on them in this situation.

Overall I'm looking for 5-6 character concepts that fit together well, probably no more than 2 of them being actual blood members of House Ghaele. Don't worry about actually making your characters yet system-wise, although names and short bios would be appreciated to help get a feel for them.

Please feel free to ask any questions you like; I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Very well, direct sworn bannermen of House Lannister of Casterly Rock it is.

I've written most of our collected history into a cohesive document, with a placeholder for Daniel's paragraph/anecdote/thing about the House between our line taking charge of it and the Dance of Dragons.

I've written up the unclaimed passages, so I've finished the house history rolls here. The House Resources are:

Are there any holdings people would like to suggest before I pull them all together?

At this point I think Defense will be a Tower called Goodby Knoll (on a low hill of some kind, could be a Hills or Plains area) and a ruined Tower at Ashen Tor, built on the Horst lands won by Lord Barrick, broken during the Harrowing of the Rylls and probably restorable with a few more Defense points.

That's... a lot more clever insight than I had, to say the least.

At first glance it all seems to hold together well, but I'd like to think it over and consider any other implications before I give it the nod and risk having orbital vox arrays igniting locals on the ground. ;)

That's excellent reasoning though, and thank you very much for sharing it with me.

It's fine Irnk, we've worked out most the House events and background although I haven't done the holdings yet.

I'm doing up the background history as well, although I've left a spot for the infrastructure event Daniel is writing up.

One question I wanted to ask is, our influence is at 34 which is enough to either be sworn to the Lannisters directly at the moment or to be sworn to their local 'major vassal', House Marbrand.

Which would people prefer?

Actually I was going to do the last one wasn't I?

Let's see what House Ghaele has been doing during the past fifteen years, shall we?

3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 5) = 17 Conquest (now in a new number).

Why am I completely unsurprised? ^^

I'm writing this one up, so I'll give 1d6 to Lands to bolster whatever we manage to conquer.

Bonus Lands +: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Defense -: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Influence +: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Lands +: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Law -: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Population +: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Wealth +: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Ah, that explains it!

I didn't think there was much difference between the two, but in that case I'll go and track down a copy of the newer edition.

Happily that took me all of walking across the room and asking if I could borrow it, so I'm back now. ^^

Looks like in the new one they've redone the table so it isn't alphabetical any more (though they still haven't fixed Decline vs Descent).

You rolled it, so we'll go with Ascent and I'll stick to the new book from this point onwards.

Great Conquest story, did you want to add a d6 to a House Resource for your services to House Ghaele?

Influence: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Lands: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Power: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Wealth: 1d6 ⇒ 1

This probably took place during the long rule of generous-but-weak Lord Tytos Lannister, where the light hand of the Lord Paramount allowed lesser Houses in the Westerlands more independence and freedom to prosper (or not) on their own.

And a new event around the time of Robert's Rebellion!

3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 1) = 8

Scandal! (oops)

Influence: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Lands: 1d6 ⇒ 1
Power: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Can't wait to hear what House Ghaele did this time...