Domain Power and Trade Routes

[Lawgiver]

Does the regency generated by theif regents count in the realm's Domain Power? The rules state that Domain Power is:the sum of all holdings' levels plus the ratings of any provinces they rule. Trade Routes are technically not holdings, but the regency they generate is included in Table 14 which lists Classes and Regency generation. Survey says?

[Mark_Aurel]

It will all be made clear in due time. :P

[warlord_nabron]

Yes, the level of a Trade Route contributes to the Domain Power of a Thief Regent's domain, according to Table 14: Classes and Regency in the "3. Collect Regency Points" section of text (can't recall the page number). Thief regents are limited in RP collection by their bloodline scores, just like other characters.

Domain Power is only really used to determine how many RPs a domain generates for its regent, though -- if Darien Avan starts setting up guilds and establishing trade routes between their respective provinces, they don't add to his domain power.

This is off-topic a bit, but if you're going to compare two domains, do you think its better to go by domain power or the domains' domain design point values from the appendix in the back of the book?

[Mark_Aurel]

To be technical, you are mistaken - Domain Power is stated on page 40 to consist of holding and province levels; trade routes are neither, though a thief regent collects RP from them. Logically speaking, you should be correct - domain power should be a strict measurement of RP generation.

If I was going to compare two domains, I'd compare their RP and GB production capacity - especially GB.

[warlord_nabron]

So, then, do you entirely ignore the table on pg 41 when calculating domain power in your campaign?

A priest who controls 14 levels of guild holdings and 14 levels of guild holdings would have a domain power of 28 then, eh? Oh well, whatever floats your boat.

[Mark_Aurel]

Que? What's with the asinine assumption you're making? All I did was point out that, by the book, you are wrong. That doesn't mean that that's the logical way to play it.

[Lord Eldred]

It seems to me that anything that benefits the Regent either in RP or Gold Bars should be calculated in Domain Power. RP and GB give a domain its power!

[Green Knight]

Trade routes should perhaps not generate regency for anyone. After all, it is simply the same fellows who run the guilds that are merely moving some stuff about to increase profits. Trade routes are an asset, not a holding or province and that excludes them from generating RP IMO. I use this approach, as otherwise guilders seem to get the most GBs AND the most RPs.

If trade routes absolutely needs to generate regency, by all means include it in the domain power. Otherwise the BL strengt/domain power balance rule thingy get screwed.

[Lawgiver]

Orginally posted by Lord Eldred
It seems to me that anything that benefits the Regent either in RP or Gold Bars should be calculated in Domain Power. RP and GB give a domain its power!

Personally the entire concept of Domain Power has SERIOUS SERIOUS flaws. If I'm a 3rd level fighter and own 200 holding levels of Sources I have a domain power of 200 and yet generate zero income and zero regency for a domain turn... But if you take the same 200 holding levels and place them in the hands of someone like Caine and its a whole different ballgame.

[Raesene Andu]

There is one thing to consider though. A 3rd level fighter with 200 levels of holdings isn't going to hold onto them for long. A weakling like him is going to be the target for every assassin in Cerilia. People will leave someone like Caine alone because of his magical skills and reputation, but a young, inexperienced regent can be expected to be challenged by those around him, even vassals and formerly loyal allies of his predecesor.

Certainly any powerful regent will have a large number of body guards and a huge army, but he will also have more attempts on his life and may face blood challenges by those who seek to claim his bloodline.

One other thing, I don't know anyone that can claim 200 levels of holdings. Even prince Avan, the most powerful of Anuire's regents only has a bloodline strength of 70. Certainly a powerful bloodline, but nowhere near 200...

The idea is to tailor the game to suit the level and power of your players. I wouldn't allow anyone to start with that sort of strength, but over time they might get to that level. But if they do, then they would have faced hundred of challenges, battles and assassination attempts, and their enemies may also have grown in strength. While some of the NPC regents may start with low levels but high powered domains, PC regent should not. After all, the NPCs are born into noble families that have spent centuries building up their empires, thus they have vast holdings, but a lowly PC regent usually runs one of the smaller, younger realms (ie: Roesone, less than 200 years in existance, compared to 2000 or there abouts for Avanil).

[blitzmacher]

[Personally the entire concept of Domain Power has SERIOUS SERIOUS flaws.]

Maybe I don't use domain power right, but I have always used Domain Power as the maximum amount of RP's that can be generated for that regent due to their class type, not the total amount of RP's generated from every holding, just what is allowed for the regent in question. Then that total can be compared to their bloodline strength to see how much RP's will be gained.

[Lawgiver]

Orginally posted by Raesene Andu
There is one thing to consider though. A 3rd level fighter with 200 levels of holdings isn't going to hold onto them for long. A weakling like him is going to be the target for every assassin in Cerilia. People will leave someone like Caine alone because of his magical skills and reputation, but a young, inexperienced regent can be expected to be challenged by those around him, even vassals and formerly loyal allies of his predecesor.

two words: Hypothetical example

I was making a point that if Domain Power reflects the power a regent weilds its flawed in this case. The fighter (regardless of level or bloodline strength) has a "powerful realm" in terms of Domain Power, but since he collects 0 RP for these sources and has no knowledge of how to use them his Domain Power is actually -- ZEEERO!

Please don't go into a disertation on how the fighter could sell or trade his 200 sources to wizards for tributes, etc. Its the principle of the rules not the situation that I'm talking about.