Starting out.

[Rasmus Juul Wagner]

On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, T E Brightwell wrote:

> > >
> > > Even so, doesn't this make him a bit powerful if he's got all that
> > > regency already at his disposal (keep increasing blood strength
> > > nearly every turn, no worries about size of holdings?)
>
> To the list. (again)
> the advice that I've been getting from all those who've
> responded from my list has been not to worry about my blood strength
> and concentrate much more on the holdings more than anything. This is
> contrary to the impressions I was getting from the other players who
> seem to plan on playing aggressively and increasing their blood
> strengths as swiftly as possible. Does this mean that I'm going to have
> to be constantly watching my back for assassinations etc?

You can increase your bloodline strength with regency every other turn at
most. Doing that effectively halves the RP flow in your realm, but it
makes youre character more powerful.

Take a lot of build actions if you can afford it. Roads, in particular,
are very nice. Then invite guilders and trade routes, and start shaking
them down once they're established.


>
>
> Each player was allowed a choice of magic item for their characters,
> with the provisio that the DM approves of it. From what my character
> knows, the other players have gone for very combat orientated items.
> (Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Dwarven Thrower etc.)
> I was thinking more of, say a ring of human influence? Any
> suggestions on this point? I don't know if there are any nice items
> appropriate for Cerilia. Something with an unpronounceable name?


>
> Finally, is anybody able to pick up on my previous query - if a
> paladin is starting a new game, what types of holdings would he begin
> with. The book says Warriors get Law Holdings and Priests get
> Temples. Where do I fit in???
>

Well, depends on where he's plonked in, doesn't it? Any blooded character
can have any type of holding, except for sources.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If day cycle was a musical style, mine
would be jazz"

Rasmus Juul Wagner
Technical University of Denmark
c958650@student.dtu.dk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Daniel McSorley]

>To the list. (again)
> the advice that I've been getting from all those who've
>responded from my list has been not to worry about my blood strength
>and concentrate much more on the holdings more than anything. This is
>contrary to the impressions I was getting from the other players who
>seem to plan on playing aggressively and increasing their blood
>strengths as swiftly as possible. Does this mean that I'm going to have
>to be constantly watching my back for assassinations etc?
>

Actually, if you concentrate on increasing your holdings, and they on
bloodline, you should come out ahead, at least in my experience. In the
beginning, GB are more of a limiting factor than RP anyway, and a combo of
law/land and temple holdings should go a _long_ way towards putting you in a
good spot.

>Each player was allowed a choice of magic item for their characters,
>with the provisio that the DM approves of it. From what my character
>knows, the other players have gone for very combat orientated items.
>(Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Dwarven Thrower etc.)
>I was thinking more of, say a ring of human influence? Any
>suggestions on this point? I don't know if there are any nice items
>appropriate for Cerilia. Something with an unpronounceable name?
>

>Finally, is anybody able to pick up on my previous query - if a
>paladin is starting a new game, what types of holdings would he begin
>with. The book says Warriors get Law Holdings and Priests get
>Temples. Where do I fit in???
>
The paladin can get RP from law and temples. What your paladin starts
with will depend oh his position. If he is just the heir to that Diem guy
from the RoE book, he should get the land and law that Diem held. If, on
the other hand, he lead a popular revolt with the backing of the church, he
could start off with temples and land but little law, since he had to
destroy Diem's law holdings to take control.
Daniel McSorley
mcsorley.1@osu.edu

[Craig Greeson]

T E Brightwell wrote:

> > How did you finagle Diemed anyway? It's "not recommended for players".
> Strange. Diemed said recommended in the book. (Ruins of Empire I
> think.) Could have been recommended for DM's or something.
> What countries (preferably in Anuire) would you recommend for a
> paladin regent?
You're right, Diemed is listed in Ruins as being recommended for player use.
IMO, it's a perfect place for a paladin regent. However, unless your DM is
planning to change the current religious structure in Diemed, you won't be able
to "introduce" Haelyn's religion there. All of the available Temple holding
slots are already officially taken by the Orthodox Imperial Temple of Haelyn.
This is the first and one of the most powerful groups that worships Haelyn in
Cerilia. Your DM is, of course, free to completely change this.
The church is ancient, very well entrenched, and not at all likely to want the
new king to be trying to take over the religion as well. This presents a great
opportunity for roleplaying and internal intrigue within your domain. Perhaps
you feel the Orthodox Imp. Temple has become corrupt and has lost Haelyn's
values. As a result, you promote another branch of Haelyn's church or you seek
to start your own new splinter group that better reflects your LG, chivalristic
ideals. One word of caution, however. Wait until AFTER the Orthodox Imp.
Temple has invested you with the land's regency before letting it be known that
you don't care for the way they worship Haelyn.
Another top-notch Anuirean realm for a paladin regent to control would be
Elinie, IMO. This is a realm ruled currently by a Khinasi paladin of Avani.
Perhaps the current ruling family could somehow be removed. A new regent who
followed Haelyn could try to promote the traditional patron of the Anuireans
over Avani.

> Holdings. I'm actually a paladin of Haelyn. As a player, I don't know
> who controls the temples in Diemed but the plan is to introduce the
> religion gradually.
This is a bit of a peculiar statement. Is your DM not letting you know who
controls the Temples in the country you've chosen to rule? That doesn't seem to
make much sense, unless you just dropped in from outer space. I can see the
Source holder(s) of the area being unknown, and perhaps even the true holders of
the lands Guilds could be hidden behind some type of front, but not the primary
religion of the land. You may want to discuss this with your DM a bit further
to determine what the religious state of the realm is. Haelyn's temples are not
known for their subtlety, I'm sure they would be quite well known.

[Sythryc@aol.co]

don't know what book you read but mine says Lawful Neutral - Recommended

[T E Brightwell]

To the list,
responding to Craig's comments on religion in Diemed.
When I said I didn't know who controlled the temples in Diemed, I
meant what I said. I've got a sheet at home with some initials on for
each province. One of those must be the temple of Haelyn.
Craig's information does require a re-think on my approach. A well
established religion, firmly set in their ways. Whilst they worked
with the previous regent, how would they take to the appearance of a
paladin regent (of Haelyn) wanting to gain power through the temples?
I can see that my regent is going to have to take things very
carefully or risk a split in the church.
On the other hand, given that this paladin would control nearly all
the law holdings, could he not contest the temples directly? Gain
some sort of control over them straight away?
Thoughts, anyone?

From,
Thomas Brightwell

[Craig Greeson]

T E Brightwell wrote:
> To the list,
> responding to Craig's comments on religion in Diemed.
> When I said I didn't know who controlled the temples in Diemed, I
> meant what I said. I've got a sheet at home with some initials on for
> each province. One of those must be the temple of Haelyn.

FYI, if your sheet shows the initials OIT and GK, those stand for Orthodox
Imperial Temple (OIT) of Haelyn and Guilder Kalien (GK). This is what is
officially presented in the Ruins of Empire book. The Guilder Kalien entry is a
misprint. He actually controls a Guild in Ciliene, not a Temple. The OIT
controls ALL available Temple slots in Diemed. I don't believe this is giving
away any DM secrets. IMO, there is no way anyone in Diemed would not be well
aware of the level of power the OIT has.
> Craig's information does require a re-think on my approach. A well
> established religion, firmly set in their ways. Whilst they worked
> with the previous regent, how would they take to the appearance of a
> paladin regent (of Haelyn) wanting to gain power through the temples?

I would expect they would cautiously welcome a paladin regent of Haelyn,
although that attitude would certainly change if they discovered he wanted to
become the country's spiritual as well as diplomatic ruler. According to the
Book of Priestcraft (again, this is all subject to change by your DM) the OIT is
almost oppressively rigid in its ways. This could certainly be something that a
paladin of Haelyn might wish to change. Perhaps he feels the religion no longer
is relevant to the people because of their evolution over the last 1000+ years.
They would not, however, simply say "Hey, you're right. Why don't we turn over
the keys to the palace to you?"
> I can see that my regent is going to have to take things very
> carefully or risk a split in the church.
> On the other hand, given that this paladin would control nearly all
> the law holdings, could he not contest the temples directly? Gain
> some sort of control over them straight away?

Of course you can do this. In fact, you might be able to gain the backing of
another branch of Haelyn by letting it be known you wished to change the way
Haelyn was worshipped in Diemed. However, I would think your DM would expect
there to be a lawful good reason why you wanted to do this. The simple fact
that your paladin wanted to have the power for himself would go against his LG
alignment, IMO. So, if you take this route, just make sure there is a good
rationalization for your characters actions.

Regards
Craig

[rad smith]

> > the advice that I've been getting from all those who've
> > responded from my list has been not to worry about my blood strength
> > and concentrate much more on the holdings more than anything.

the way i look at it; if your realm produces more regency than you can
handle, try to increase your bloodline every 2 or 3 seasons. if your
bloodstrength is higher than your generated regency, concentrate on
increasing holdings.

> > Each player was allowed a choice of magic item for their characters,

youch!!!

> > I was thinking more of, say a ring of human influence? Any

there are some brutal items that boost your bloodstrength. i forget what
they're called; they're in the book of magecraft. as someone said before,
regency equates to political power. tighmaevril is scary, but paladins
don't generally hunt people down to eat their souls. a medallion of esp
could really help those political negotiations/uncovering plots. you've
hit the nail on the head, though, in not going for a combat oriented item.

> personal strength. War is about politics and economics. Succussful wars

oh yes. especially economics. (who's going to pay for all those soldiers,
after all.) but don't forget espionage, either.


- --
rad

don't you wave those bloody spears at me.

[Sythryc@aol.co]

i think the GK was supposed to be written under the Guilds section for Diemed.
is this true?

[Neil Barnes]

On Mon, 23 Feb 1998, T E Brightwell wrote:
> the advice that I've been getting from all those who've
> responded from my list has been not to worry about my blood strength
> and concentrate much more on the holdings more than anything. This is
> contrary to the impressions I was getting from the other players who
> seem to plan on playing aggressively and increasing their blood
> strengths as swiftly as possible. Does this mean that I'm going to have
> to be constantly watching my back for assassinations etc?

It's the GM's responsibility to make sure that the players are too busy
to increase their bloodline frequently. If the GM lets you sit still,
then he deserves everything he gets.

> Each player was allowed a choice of magic item for their characters,
> with the provisio that the DM approves of it. From what my character
> knows, the other players have gone for very combat orientated items.
> (Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Dwarven Thrower etc.)

I made the PCs randomly roll their magic items. We got some nice
results. It's always unny when the Fighter ends up with a Staff of the
Magi.

> I was thinking more of, say a ring of human influence? Any
> suggestions on this point? I don't know if there are any nice items
> appropriate for Cerilia. Something with an unpronounceable name?

A ring of Human Influence is exceptionally useful. It means that your
soldiers _will_ willingly follow your character into certain death. Of
course paladins get that effect already, so....

> Finally, is anybody able to pick up on my previous query - if a
> paladin is starting a new game, what types of holdings would he begin
> with. The book says Warriors get Law Holdings and Priests get
> Temples. Where do I fit in???

Ask the GM. If you are Duke of Diemed, I'd give you Hierl Diem's holding
and make the OIT a firm ally. But it's up to them.

neil

[Neil Barnes]

On Tue, 24 Feb 1998, Jonathan Picklesimer wrote:
> Don't make a classic blunder and think that waging war is about armies and
> personal strength. War is about politics and economics. Succussful wars
> are waged from the perspective of strong allied political support, and
> lots of material and natural resource wealth.

Check out either Machiavelli or Sun-Tzu for good general advice on
politics and warfare. (They're required reading for Birthright players
really.)

neil