Hey guys,
I have these players who like to get into character and really live for their development, so it came to be that most of them found a woman/man to love, have "fun" with and eventually marry.
Now my baron has thrown a real nice wedding, spend a lot of money on it and invited a lot of NPCs (including Varn).
He asked me recently if the CHA bonus of his new-found wife helps with the Kingdom-phase-thingie, and i was inclined to say yes. They are having troubles finding a High Magister, and the -4 penalty is weighing heavily on their Income phase (-4 AND no bonus)...
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Mine was that it was okay, on certain conditions:
° She doesn't actually count as "Leader is present" for the whole "You have to spend one week per month in one of your cities."
° She does have to have a say in certain matters (council).
° ...
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Not sure if I understand the question completely.
If she is filling a leadership role, then she fills the leadership role. Meaning she does count in all counts. Remember that just because someone is married to someone doesn’t mean they have control over them. (Don’t get me started on that one, lol.)
The non-PC leadership roles were MEANT to be filled by NPCs. Whether they are spouses or not. Whether they are named NPCs or just Bob Schmob picked out from the kingdom. There is a line in there (I believe it is in the Foreward in book 2), where just Bob Schmob or whatever could be picked to be your Magister or whatever, and give a +1 to the role, avoiding a vacancy penalty and whatnot.
So having your PC’s spouse fill that role would not be a problem whatsoever. Again, these roles were MEANT to be filled by NPCs.
Now, if you’re asking if anyone OTHER THAN the Ruler can have their spouse “fill in” for them while they’re off adventuring--say, if your PC is the Magister and he ends up spending less than the required week in the country--then, no. His wife can’t just step in and be a “fill in” Magister while he’s out.
If you’re asking if the Ruler’s spouse can fill both Co-Ruler role and another leadership role in the kingdom, then absolutely not. She’s already filling a role, and you can only fill one. She can EITHER be the Magister OR the Co-Ruler. HOWEVER, you can swap her as often as you like from month to month as-needed during the Improvement Phase, Step 1 “Select Leadership.” Depending on where you need her each month. (In other words, just because she’s married to the baron doesn’t mean she has to be ruling with him, she could be her own woman and be the Magister on her own.)
However, if you’re having a lot of trouble with the vacancy in Magister, I suggest leaving her as Co-Ruler and having Bob Schmob step in and give a +1. :D
Simply put:
° I have Bob Shmob in "Spymaster slot"
° Magister: vacancy (they haven't tried to find anyone, shame on them)
° Baron = PC1
° Baroness (NPC) => Bonus?? Coz it says "When two pc's are married" (or something)
Peace!
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Simply put:
° I have Bob Shmob in "Spymaster slot"
° Magister: vacancy (they haven't tried to find anyone, shame on them)
° Baron = PC1
° Baroness (NPC) => Bonus?? Coz it says "When two pc's are married" (or something)Peace!
Ah, in that case…!
As the AP is written, they could simply “fill” the Magister slot with a nameless NPC and get a +1. Now, in *your* game, you may want there to be more to it than that, and require a more involved thing for it, to RP the recruitment, etc. But as it’s written, they could just “fill it” and be done with it. (And if you want to read that specifically, I just looked it up and confirmed it to be in the Forward in book 2, where James talks about the named NPCs.)
As for the Baron’s wife, you could do a couple of things with her.
On the Kingdom sheet, there are actually twelve slots (11 roles, but “Ruler” has two slots):
Ruler:
Ruler:
…
Magister:
…
The PC in the first Ruler slot gives his CHA bonus to Economy/Loyalty/Stability (one, two, or all three, depending on kingdom size). His wife, IF SHE IS FILLING THE 2nd RULER SLOT, also grants her CHA bonus to the kingdom in the same way! Economy/Loyalty/Stability (one, two, or all three, depending on kingdom size).
However, during Improvement Phase, Step 1 (Select Leadership), they can appoint her to INSTEAD be the Magister. In that case, she would grant either her INT or CHA to the kingdom’s Economy (just like any other Magister would). IF SHE IS FILLING THIS ROLE, then she is NOT filling the 2nd Ruler slot during this month.
The thing is, though, every month, they have the choice, during that Select Leadership phase, to have her fill the role of the “Baroness” or the role of the “Magister.” There is also no penalty for leaving the 2nd Ruler role vacant, so they can leave her as Magister for as long as they want, and when they find somebody, have them step in, and then she can take her rightful place next to her husband ruling the barony.
Hey guys,
I have these players who like to get into character and really live for their development, so it came to be that most of them found a woman/man to love, have "fun" with and eventually marry.
Now my baron has thrown a real nice wedding, spend a lot of money on it and invited a lot of NPCs (including Varn).
He asked me recently if the CHA bonus of his new-found wife helps with the Kingdom-phase-thingie, and i was inclined to say yes. They are having troubles finding a High Magister, and the -4 penalty is weighing heavily on their Income phase (-4 AND no bonus)...
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Mine was that it was okay, on certain conditions:
° She doesn't actually count as "Leader is present" for the whole "You have to spend one week per month in one of your cities."
° She does have to have a say in certain matters (council).
° ...
I think Queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Freddy Mercury was one of the greatest rock & roll performers of all time.
Karui Kage:
I know, but I was wondering if you could let it be filled by an NPC. Seeing as in the book it says "Two characters can fill this role if they become married, in which case the two rulers can jointly command the kingdom."
Two characters = 2PC, or can it be 1PC and 1NPC?
jtokay:
Roleplaywise, this character has no affinity to magic, and with her flamboyant attitude...
They just have to find someone to fill the slot, but they are okay with it.. "It adds to the challenge", I heard ^^
Oh, and they have a running magus tower, with some students of the arcane crafts.. However the only one who *could* fill in the role is a bit reluctant.. He is afraid he will let the baron down, and needs more encouragement, but the only thing he hears is "Okay, when you're ready" :P
I will let it play out.
My verdict (and thanks for the help you guys):
----------------
Queenie gives her bonus, but High Magister is going to be a quest for them.
(For some reason, they don't want to ask Old Beldame :P )
The Baroness in my game is still unmarried, but my take on it would beto allow it, but, if it is just some random NPC they marry, I wouldn't allow that NPC to have a Charisma bonus of more than +1. If the PC marries a named and statted NPC in the AP, you can use their stat bonus. If they just say they are trying to marry someone with the highest Charisma possible I would warn them against metagaming and remind them people don't walk around with their Charisma scores stamped on their foreheads, and that physical beauty is just one component (and probably not the most important) of Charisma.
In short, it is logical to allow it, but try to prevent abuse of the system by not granting a large bonus that isn't really earned.
Thanks both! :)
My players sure aren't the type that would meta-game. In fact, the baron-player accidentally read "The Varnhold Vanishing" title in one of the books in the store, and told me about it instantly. I even worked with this in-game (premonitions all around, most for their backgrounds (money/dragons/family) and him with seeing Varnhold empty). The baron is suspicious, but after 2 years of nothing happening (we're still in book two) he is starting to forget it :)
The girl he is marrying isn't one of the pre-made chars from the AP, but he did put a lot of effort into finding her (his mother(npc) gathered 5 possible ones, and he spent a lot of in-game time getting to know all of them) so I did let her give a +2 CHA bonus. Not coz she's sexy/dreamy, but she's exotic (from down under) and quite... Flamboyant :D
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Karui Kage:
I know, but I was wondering if you could let it be filled by an NPC. Seeing as in the book it says "Two characters can fill this role if they become married, in which case the two rulers can jointly command the kingdom."
Two characters = 2PC, or can it be 1PC and 1NPC?jtokay:
Roleplaywise, this character has no affinity to magic, and with her flamboyant attitude...
They just have to find someone to fill the slot, but they are okay with it.. "It adds to the challenge", I heard ^^Oh, and they have a running magus tower, with some students of the arcane crafts.. However the only one who *could* fill in the role is a bit reluctant.. He is afraid he will let the baron down, and needs more encouragement, but the only thing he hears is "Okay, when you're ready" :P
I will let it play out.My verdict (and thanks for the help you guys):
----------------Queenie gives her bonus, but High Magister is going to be a quest for them.
(For some reason, they don't want to ask Old Beldame :P )
Yes, you can definitely fill the married role with an NPC. Lily Teskertin is partially introduced to fill just that kind of niche if the player is interested (though granted, her Charisma isn't the greatest, it's still a bonus).
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…I did let her give a +2 CHA bonus. Not coz she's sexy/dreamy, but she's exotic (from down under) and quite... Flamboyant :D
This makes perfect logical sense. Even if you came from robot-world where GMs don’t get hand-waving choices and have to play by all the rules, it fits perfectly in the framework presented!
James Jacobs already provided for random NPCs to provide a +1 bonus, so you’d get at least that. And the standard NPC stat block is: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8. So you say she’s “flamboyant,” so CHA would be an obvious option for her 13 or 12 stat. Let’s assume she’s human, and there’s that +2, so a 15 or 14 stat, and lookie there! A normal, non-heroic NPC with a +2 to CHA! Woohoo! :D
Plus, we don’t live in robot-world, and you’re the GM, so…woohoo again! :D