How to mark a Character of Lineage

[Beruin]

Here's a little taste of our description of the Duke of Alamie that I and my co-DM wrote up for our players. He's just a duke. Now imagine what a Prince or the Emperor would really have. (yeah we have that too )

Well, go for it, I'd like to taste more..
I must admit I sometimes have difficulties coming up with a memorable description for NPCs, esspecially when I have to prepare several at once or when describing them on the fly, so write-ups like this are always welcome.

If you don't mind sharing your work, I'd really like to see some more descriptions, maybe as attachments or so

How do you present these write-ups to your players? Do they get them as hand-outs or do you read them the description when they meet a particular NPC? In the latter case, I guess that some of my players would become irritated by the length of the write-up.

As a sidenote, IMC Duke Alam would commit a serious social blunder when wearing sable as this fur was traditionally reserved for the Imperial family, as was the colour scarlet. This traditon is still held up, though I'd guess that both Darien Avan and Aeric Boeruine have clothes embroidered in scarlet and lined with sable hiden away in a secret compartment of their closets, reserved for the day when they are ready to make public their claim to the Iron Throne

[Jaleela]

In our campaign, Purple is the imperial color, and the source of the color is rare, thus making it too expensive for all save Sovereigns and pretentious, social climbing, uppity merchants ;-) , and is reserved for the Imperial family. Crimson cloth of gold or silver might be reserved for Royalty, courtly garments made of red fabric might be reserved for Royal orders of knighthood and the clergy. Ermine is also our choice of Royal or Imperial fur. Sable being for Earls/Counts, and lower. These clothing laws change over time and the Sovereigns can change them at the drop of a hat so that they can fine people for breaking the law.

In our campaign, giving a woman a striped hood in Oesorde is a mortal insult if she is not a member of the "profession". It implies that the woman might be involved in infidelity. If she is not involved in an affair or is not a prostitute, don't be surprised if a feud results.

How do you present these write-ups to your players? Do they get them as hand-outs or do you read them the description when they meet a particular NPC? In the latter case, I guess that some of my players would become irritated by the length of the write-up.

I, or the co-DM would read/describe a scene. The long write-up from the previous post, would actually be given in bits and pieces and would be woven in for the players benefit. The information presented is more like a reference sheet for the DM so that they can pick and choose the elements that make up the encounter. My campaign is very role playing oriented. Dice rolls rarely factor into it, so story telling and set dressing is important to convey a mood.

I choose mannerism or facial expressions to convey a lot. For example something small like this might be good for a first time impression if the PCs are the 20th group that day to ask Duke Carilon for patronage or if the PCs were on a mission for the Duke and he found out that they failed before they had a chance to tell him about it:

"...the chamberlain announces you and moves into the great hall. You follow, stepping from the polished marble floors onto a plush Khinasi carpet; its bright, geometric designs stretch all the way to the dais. The buzzing of the courtiers that fill the massive hall, dies down as they move toward the edges of the carpet and stare at you in silence as you pass. Before you, perched on an impressive gilded, intricately carved throne that sits beneath a canopy of black cloth of gold, is an equally impressive Carilon Alam, Duke of Alamie. He is clothed in a somber blue silk damask gown trimmed with sable at the neck cuffs and hem, a golden collar of the Order of the Pegasus stands out in striking contrast. He speaks hushed directives to one of his servants of the body, when his eyes suddenly fix on you. Never taking his eyes from you, Alam makes a slight sweeping motion with his hand. The servant bows deeply and fades into the shadows. Slowly Alam’s head pivots toward you, the gold ducal crown that rests on his sable hat, reflects the sunlight that streams from the windows harshly into your eyes. As he straightens his posture, from beneath the brim of his hat, unblinking gray eyes regard you with no particular favor. They flick from you to each of your companions, much like a cat regarding its prey..."

I think that if you want to add flavor and the PCs want to get a good idea of what these people look like and what some of their signature mannerisms are, they might have to sit through an initial description. After that, the players would only be "subjected" to lengthy descriptions if they are in a specific place or meeting someone for the first time.

When Role Playing a diplomacy action, you might meet a host of regents, but some might stick out more than others.

The player who runs Aerenwe hosted a "Viewing of the Leaves". The player had never hosted a major event like this before it was a Festival and contained a few bits of Diplomacy for other PC and NPC regents, so we pulled out the stops as the entourage of the Prince of Diemed, the Duchess of Roesone, the Count of Ilien, the Duke of Oesorde arrived for the event and the players character rode out to meet them. I'll post that description to you offline as I don't want to detract from the thread with my campaign information.

We can probably post our game references that we've written since they don't really map to one specific game edition (2e or 3.5, etc...) if people are interested.

[Beruin]

We can probably post our game references that we've written since they don't really map to one specific game edition (2e or 3.5, etc...) if people are interested.

I'd definitely be interested, and thanks for your detailed answer

[Jaleela]

You're welcome.