About joining the game

[VemuKhaham]

If you've read the title, let me say right now that it's still not possible to join. No, but I do have a word about it, because I felt it would be unfair if I said this when joining does become an option to all. By then, it would be too late.

I wished to say that all who regularly have offered their aid during the creation of this game will be given priority when it comes to joining, if they want to of course.

This is done just to make sure that their hard work will not go unrewarded. I thought it's the best if I say this beforehand, even though it's not even sure if there will be too much people wanting to join, just to be sure I won't dissapoint anyone too much.

I still don't know where the capacity will be, but I figure that about 8 would be the highest I could manage. This number is not sure though.

It is the fairest solution I could think of. I will keep you informed here if needed.

[VemuKhaham]

All right everyone,

now that I've finished the bulk of the rules, and you all have had some time to get acquainted with what this will be like, I'm now officially

!CALLING FOR PLAYERS![/b]

Because of their hard work and great cooperation, I have, as promised, decided to give, IF of course they wish to, both Kman and Fangor a joining guarantee. I noticed that they were not the only ones to have helped, and I thank all others greatly, but I had to draw a line somewhere and decided to take the most regular and active helpers.
Also, the rules aren't finished yet, and I still appreciate any help from anyone who will give it, even though from now on aiding in the construction won't give you a guaranteed spot anymore.

But don't despair, cause if you wish to join there'll be 7 open spots for the game. (5 if both Kman and Fangor choose to join) As always, it's first come, first serve. I will accept the first pm's coming my way, stopping whenever the spots are filled. I chose 7 cause I thought 8 would be too much for me, and 7 was an unequal number, making for possible in-game dilemma's (with teams and such), and seemed like the max I could handle.

If you sign up, do note that this game'll be for the long haul, as there isn't necessarily a campaign with an ending in it. I (and the other players probably) would dislike seeing other players leave a week after the start.
Also note that this game could take more work from the players then most other games on these boards, mostly because the kingdom administration will largely have to be done by the players. (If I were to do all this for all the players combined PLUS what I do as GM, I would certainly get a hearth attack soon)
Therefore, I ask for commited players.

The rules are not finished yet, and it might take another while before they will be, but I decided to open call now because I wished to establish the players group some time before the start. Players then still have enough time to think about their kingdoms, their leaders and all that they wish to build and create. I myself still have some questions specifically asked towards the players, and I have to know who to ask it to.

Also, I must earnestly say beforehand that once the game starts, it will be in an experimental fase. The rules have never been tried. I have done the best I can and ask for you to shed your keen and critical eyes over it as often as you can spare them, but I figure that, once the game gets going, most unbalanced and flawed rules will be spotted and fixed.

Also, it won't be a game that will run every day except for weekends. I figured that would be too fast in multiple ways. I guess it will be sort of like this: monday, wednesday, friday. Three posts a week. It will also decrease the amount of work it'll be. Don't mourn if you're a diehard: between these days you might find yourself handling things that do not always require my posting, such as diplomatic interactions, managing or working on flavouring up your kingdom. If your up to it, there's always something you can do.

Anyway, now that I feel like I've sufficiently informed you on what is to come, PM me if you're interested to join. Of course, if you have questions, ask.

[Fangor the Fierce]

Vemu,

I have to speak up, hopefully to alleviate any concerns from others wishing to join. I have a proposition for you. How about starting this campaign with 7 players. Continue the campaign for let's say, two months. That should be enough time to sort out most quirks that may arise, and smooth out more rules.

Then, once those two months or so are done, that campaign ends. You will have a better understanding of how you want to run the game, and what the players expect. That way, you can then start again, from the beginning, with those 7 players having first dibs on the spots. Also, if one of those players finds that the game is not for them, or that the administration part is too much of a hassle, they can then bow out, and let someone else, who has been following along with the trial period to join in and play.

It is just that some would be hesitant in joining, as they have no idea what to expect from this type of campaign.

How does that sound? Anyone else have any comments?

[VemuKhaham]

that sounds like a fair idea. It deals with a lot of problems I had concerning the fact this is a first time go. All right. Here is the deal:

Current sign-up will be handled pretty much the same way as it was in my previous post. However, the sign-up is now for a short "prologue-game" to FKo, that will last only a short time, probably not more then a month or two, like Fangor suggested.

I have yet to think of what this prologue-game will mean exactly, but it will be primarily designed to go through all (or at least most) of the rules and aspects of the game. This way, it doesn't only give us the ability to root out inconsistent rules and such, but the players get some sort of a tutorial beforehand that will prove quite useful I think.

When this prologue-game has ended, and all the players decide to stay, we can still decide to go on with the current game or start anew. But if some decide to leave, a new sign-up call will be held for the new vacant spots. This means that those who join the prologue game have guaranteed spots in the real game should they wish to continue.

Between the ending of the Prologue-game and the beginning of the real game might also be quite some time, to give players an opportunity to prepare their plans, design their kingdoms flavour and such.

The prologue-game will began as soon as soon as the rules are complete and I have all preparations done. I hope that in the meantime people will join for the prologue and start brainstorming on their kingdom so that we may soon begin after I am ready.

PS: as the prologue-game will not last very long, please remember that if you plan on designing a lot of flavour stuff beforehand it might be better to wait for the real game to put your best ideas into. It would be very sad if you have to throw away your best ideas then and start from scratch.

Ok. Sign-up for the prologue-game has begun!

[VemuKhaham]

Ok, I got a good question through PM, and because I think the answer will benefit more people I thought it would be wise to post it here. The question that precedes this answer was about the regular posting between player and GM, and what it would be like. It could help some of you decide better if this game is something for you. My answer to the question was the following:

---

Everytime I will post the regular post, it will at least include the following things:

The PC's story - This one will deal with the more personal affairs of your character, the king/emperor/whatever you like as title. It will include any adventures he might make personally, or just visits by NPC's, etc. It will be handled much like the other D&D games here on the boards, just a little smaller probably, and the amount of stuff in this part depends on the activeness of the PC himself (some kings just have a tendency to sleep, eat and pee on their thrones, while others are always abroad). If a king is present at a battle, he will take command of his forces, and these battles will be held as part of this section of my posts. They will sometimes take place on the Battlefield board, but that's only when you face another player in battle. NPC foe's don't need to be fought there if they are encountered. Remember though that most of the battles will not be battled by you, cause you are only one person. It saves work as well. Imagine a grant scale war with multiple battles taking place over a huge frontline...

Events and news - All that reaches the royal ears, but through indirect sources. Riots, outcomes of battles you did not attent as king, outcome of espionage and scouting missions - in short, anything that you do not do in person, but that your followers tell to you. Always keep in mind that not everything in this section will be objective, and some things might never even be mentioned, simply because of varying circumstances; you here it from your followers, not from the GM.

Administration each turn - This one will largely be the task of the player, as it needs no interference by the GM, cause it handles itself. The major part of this will be resource administration, but besides this there are several other minor things like morale of any armies that are currently active abroad and such. The rules on most of these things are quite complete now, but I believe this part will not be too much work. It's like updating the char sheets when you use up your spells, ammo, hp etc. in a big battle.

Decision-making - armies need to move overland and do so by your directions. Cities need to be founded and will be done where and when you command it. Scientists need to be directed into which areas to research, and do so at your will. Sometimes, very specific things you will wish to do, like sending out a spy, or going for a diplomatic mission. Diplomatic missions with other players will be held in their apropriate board like battles, and need no interference of the GM probably. Most of this will be done by the player of course, but this category primarily entails optional things to do, not things that need to be done each turn. The GM will, in the next post, react to these decisions and tell you whether or not there were any complications or such.


From what I have now, I believe this'll be the regular exchange of posting between GM, player, and other players as well. If you now feel overwhelmed of the amount of work (I don't imply you have to of course ) I think I can safely assure you that it won't be that much. Remember, it's a game that won't be updated every day, but only thrice a week, and the amount of work you put into it also depends on how active as a player you are: some players will be moving around with troops and warring others continuesly, but you might as well be a very peace-loving kingdom. Depends on taste, and the amount of time you have.

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Hope this helps illuminate the fogs surrounding FKo a bit. Questions? Just ask.

[Toptomcat]

Can my king be a Marshal?
www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b

[VemuKhaham]

yes, he could be. Just remember the difference of the king's role in large-scale combat and small-scale battles. In small-scale battles it will just be like casual D&D, and your king could be a rogue, a sorcerer, a marshal or a dwarven defender, so to speak. In large-scale combat, I'm not yet entirely sure what he will be able to do, but it won't be the same as a normal D&D character with the D&D rules, cause it won't be implementable. I think that it would be kinda cool to be able to play the hero on the battlefield, and I strife to have that, but on the other hand, I will have to make rules for that too. I've thought about this before, and everytime I do I get two scenes in my head of the LotR-movies, if you've seen them, one with Sauron swooshing all the soldiers away with his mace like they're dust in the opening scene of FotR, and the other of Theoden clashing his sword against the spears of his men before going into battle and eventually being slayn by the lich king. I want THAT to be possible. I want the risk of dying when participating in a battle as the king to be compensated greatly, and I want to strife for such kind of an epic feel to it. So I'll try to work something out.

So in short, you could be a marshall, but remember the difference between different battle-categories.

[VemuKhaham]

Alright, I'd just like to get everybody up-to-date with things a little, as well as add one thing.

Currently, I have three players who have signed up for the prologue-game, and therefore also have guaranteed spots for the real game. These players are:
- Japic
- Fangor
- Kman

There are still four open spots, so if your interested, you can still pm me.

To those who have already joined up: if you want, you may go ahead and start a thread of your own in the kingdom administration boards. If you do so, make the title of the thread something like this:

name of country - open/closed

in which open means anyone may visit and check out your thread, and closed means other players are not allowed to visit it. I would encourage players to keep this one closed for other players, as it'll serve the game best in my opinion. However, that's MY opinion.

In this thread you may start building your kingdom. If I were you, I'd start building the prologue-kingdom, not the kingdom you will use in the 'real' game. Of course, you needn't put to much detail in the prologue-kingdom since it won't last as long.

Leave open the first post for a kingdom sheet, and use the second post as the stats of your PC (the king). The PC stats you may make just like you make any other char sheets on these boards. I will make a kingdom sheet when I have finished the rules, and it will allow you to keep track of resources and such more easily. Of course, when you find new ways of improving my version of the kingdom sheet, you may always edit it later.

Anyway, build your kingdom and PC if you want. Building your kingdom essentialy means writing down any ideas you have, as well as things like race, alignment etc. Also, if you want, you may make a wishlist of what you would like to see as your starting position, and I will try and meet your requests as best as I see fit. For example, a wood elf folk might wish to start in or at least near woodlands.

Remember that this is just a test kingdom. If you ever need any help, just ask, and I'll see what I can do.

When creating your PC, make a 10th-level character of any class. Don't add any magical equipment, but besides that you are free to buy any type of weapon, armor, tool etc, even mw, as long as its not magical or made of a special material. As kings you will be strong characters, so we use a point-buy of 36points.

Remember, when building your kingdom, that when the game starts, you are still VERY small. You will start as a bunch of nomads who are going to settle down. There won't be any real cities yet. History will be written as we play, but a little background is always nice. Also, the prologue-game will have nothing to do with any of the storyline of the campaign I have written in the FKo rules guide, as this one will be reserved as an option only for the 'real' game.

If you wish to, you may also already start creating your best idea, so that it doesn't loose its momentum, as you already have guaranteed spots in the real game anyway. Do this in the same way as with the prologue-kingdoms.

I hope that everything's clear. Good luck when building kingdoms.

[Fangor the Fierce]

Ok, 10th level? What classes and PrC's are usable? Are you sticking with core rules, or anything goes? Multi-Classing potional?

[VemuKhaham]

yes, 10th level, and any core class is good, even ones like cleric and such (while divine magic works different in this game, the PC is an exception to this rule). PrC's are also generally allowed, as long as they just pass my approval first, which you'll normally get, unless the flavour text requires something to be the case that can't be in my world etc. Multi-classing is not a problem. If you want anything from other sources, just let me have a look at it first.

[VemuKhaham]

Kman, Fangor, Japic: just wanted to say I had a look at all your opening posts and it looked marvelous. Everything is approved if that was even a question.

For all the others on the forum:
I'm still looking for players. I'm hoping to get seven players, so currently there are still four open spots. I hope to get at least five in. So again, calling for players!

[VemuKhaham]

To the sign-ups: you may create both a Conversation Room thread and an Arena Room thread on the appropriate boards. Make the title like this:

Conversation Room: [Kingdom Name] - Open/Closed

Arena Room: [Kingdom Name] - Open/Closed

In this, the open/closed means the same thing as it does with the kingdom thread itself.

[Japic]

Hey Vemu, when it comes to our Kings, I have a question. You said we were allowed to buy any weapons we'd like, but no magical weapons.

Does that apply to all magic items..? For instance a ring of this, or a cloak of that. Versus a human bane greatsword or something. And then what about armor, or other magic items completely unrelated to combat?

Then lastly I have to ask how much starting gold we get to spend on the King.

The NPC gear value table (p 127 DMG) says 16,000 gp; whereas the Character Wealth by Level table (p 135 DMG) says 49,000 gp.

Thanks for your help.

[VemuKhaham]

no magical equipment or equipment made of special materials. Besides that, you're free to buy whatever you wish, from weapons to armor, from torches to thieves tools. MW stuff is allowed.

I do this because I figure most kings will not be hard-pressed in collecting basic equipment, even masterwork, seeing the position that they're in. Magical stuff is much more rare in this world, and it will be quite unique stuff too.

So, I won't give you exact gp limits. Just buy whatever you can reasonably carry as a PC - so don't go overboard and buy swords for an entire army either.

Hope that's clear enough.

[ranger]

The SRD doesn't have the point buy score listed. Can someone list them please. I do not want to guess and end up wrong.

Is bardic magic considered arcane?

Thanks.

[VemuKhaham]

kmansadventures.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&n=1&thread=9

Follow this link, it'll get you to the forum FAQ, which includes the point buy costs.

Bardic magic will be considered arcane. When in small-scale battles as a bard you would be exactly the same as any bard in any normal D&D campaign, but when you're in large-scale battle, the same rules that go for other arcane casters will apply. I'm gonna work on those rules soon. Hope that helps.

[VemuKhaham]

All right everyone, I'm happy to say we're now at 5players total, a good number to start out with. I still haven't closed sign-up, cause I would allow 2 more, but from now on sign-up can close at any time, probably when I'm beginning to design the "prologue game" more detailed.

The player list is:
Fangor
Japic
Kman
Ranger
RikandurAzebol

To the new guys: you're free to build up your kingdom like the others and post it, of course. However, I hope your both aware that first we're going to do a short game to test and get the hang of the rules and such. For more info, check earlier in this thread. Anyway, I thought I'd make sure your aware so that you can regard it when making your short-game-kingdom and your real-game-kingdom: don't put your best shot in the short one, I would say.

Anyway, to all players: welcome aboard!

[VemuKhaham]

Just to clarify: leadership feat is scrapped from the game. You needn't take it to be able to have cohorts and such: you're the king after all, and you may have as many cohorts with you as you have serving you.

HP you may all roll yourselves. I think I can trust all of you.

[ranger]

I think I am about done with my Character. Do you want us to publically post them or can we mail them to you privately? I have no problem posting it publically, I would prefer to send it privately though. Either way your call.

If we can send it privately, can I get an address to send it?

[VemuKhaham]

whatever you prefer: if you wish to post it privately, you can do it in a Private Message. You can simply do that by clicking on my username to the left of this post, and then selecting: send this member a private message. The rest explains itself. Or if you want to mail it, you can do so to [e-mail]

I'll then see if it contains things that are problematic or wrong, and I'll give you my approval. You can then still post it in your kingdom admin thread. I would prefer to have all information on the different kingdoms there though; it'll be more easily obtainable and organised in that case. If the issue is that you don't want other players to look at it, you can change the status open/closed in the title to closed.