The Dance of Death - Sign Up and Rules Thread

[Lumine]

The Dance of Death

Crusades, Hordes and Kingdoms in the Early XIII Century

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The Year is 1212.

There is a near-permanent state of warfare and intrigue.

Old Empires crumble under the pressure of younger realms and bold princes, different faiths collide in a sea of spilled blood, the feudal system continues to evolve as richer, larger cities rise, and across the forgotten Asian steppes the horse-lords prepare for conquest.

France and England continue their mortal struggle over the vast dominions of the late Henry Plantagenet.

In the Holy Roman Empire Otto IV has to contend with the hostility of the Pope and the rise of a new challenger.

The remnants of the broken Byzantine Empire wage war against the Crusaders and their own kin.

Salvaged by a Crusade the Kingdom of Jerusalem holds, but faces the might of Sultans and Caliphs.

Within Spain the Reconquista enters a decisive period as the Christian kingdoms face the Almohads in battle.

Bitter crusades are fought in Occitania and in the North of Europe, and the military orders hold great influence.

And in the Far East, Emperors and Khans face the might of the Mongol Hordes.

It will be up to you to survive in this challenging, rapidly-changing world of intrigue.

Can you do it?

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Basic Rules:

1. Turns: We will follow the Dynasties and Empires model (applied in BoP/SoD, and in the Concert/Encore duology) as players play turns of a year (with mid-turn updates), react to ongoing crises and events and post their policies, moves and reactions to what other players do. The Game starts on the first months of 1212 and history is, of course, considered to have gone as it did before that.

2. Messages: Secret messages between the players must include the GM, all of them. Assuming conversations take place off the forum I will insist on recieving some sort of summary of what is being discussed, in order to follow the events in a proper manner. There may or may not be a Discord server for the game depending on player interest.

4. Historical Events: By now players know my strong preference for the dice system, but there will be a small degree of involvement for the random number generator on a number of factors and potential events that might increase unpredictability in the game. There will be Special Events, giving players a specific number of days to react to the particular situation. Players are encouraged to propose events to simulate as well.

5. Stats and Warfare: The stats for each player will be focused on "Popularity", "Legitimacy" and "Economic Status". It has been decided to further simplify war from Dynasties and Empires (professional armies do not exist and the numbers for Feudal Warfare are notoriously unreliable), and go with the original notions of "Balance of Power", in which you will take military decisions and factors will affect warfare, but will be kept mostly behind the scenes. Even more than in D&E, war will be very costly.

6. Game Over: Game Over can come in three ways: Being deposed by another player (Invasion scenario), being deposed in a coup or revolt (Revolt Scenario) or having your dynasty die out or lack an heir to continue playing (Dynasty Scenario). Having your monarch die even by enemy action won't be by itself a Game Over and the player will retain preference to continue playing said nation should he wish to do so. Potentially, the death of a monarch under a complex succession scenario could trigger a war for the succession of that throne.

7. Players, Nations and Simulation: NPC countries will be simulated as always, but the amount of information I can provide will be very limited, to represent both the limited amount of information reasonably available to the character being played and to avoid giving too much of an advantage to players as GM. Questions such as "What does NPC Nation want in return for this?" or "What would happen if I did X" will either not bring an answer or a very limited one.

Players and Countries:

First Tier: Experienced Players Only:

(Only players experienced and skilled on these games)

Kingdom of France: King Philip II Capet (Windjammer)
Kingdom of England: King John I Plantagenet (GoTfan)
Holy Roman Empire (Germany): Emperor Otto IV Welf (NewTennesseanPolitician)
Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan (Dkrol)
Holy Roman Empire (Sicily): King Frederick II Hohenstaufen (Kalwejt)
The Papacy: Pope Innocent III (Garlan Gunter)

Second Tier: Open Countries:

(Nominally open to all players)

Empire of Nicea: Emperor Theodore I Laskaris (YPestis)
Kingdom of Denmark: King Valdemar II Estridsen (JacksonHitchcock)
Kingdom of Jerusalem: Queen Maria I Montferrat (Sawx)
Ayyubid Sultanate: Sultan Al-Adil I (Kingpoleon)
Republic of Venice: Doge Pietro Ziani (Gorguf)
Latin Empire: Emperor Henry I of Flanders (King Saul)
Jin Dynasty: Prince Wanyan (Ishan)
Almohad Caliphate: Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir (Dereich)
Kingdom of Aragon: King Peter II Barcelona (S019)
Khwarezmian Empire: Shah Mohammed II (SJoyce)
Bulgarian Empire: Tsar Boril I Asen (Devout Centrist)
Kingdom of Castile: King Alfonso VIII Ivrea

Third Tier: Semi-Open Countries:

(Open if previous nations are taken, but discouraged as they may not be that relevant)

Sultanate of Rum: Sultan Kaykaus I (NyIndy)
Abbasid Caliphate: Caliph Al Nasir
Qara Khitai Empire: Kuchlug Khan
Kingdom of Norway: King Inge II Gille
Kingdom of Sweden: King Eric X Eric
Kingdom of Scotland: King William I of Dunkeld
Kingdom of Portugal: King Alfonso II of Burgundy
Kingdom of Leon: King Alfonso IX Ivrea

Special Tier: The Crusaders:

(Playable by special request - PM - outlining plans or intentions)

Northern Crusade: Albert of Buxhoeveden
Albigensian Crusade: Simon of Montfort
Templar Knights: Grand Maester Guillaume de Chartres

[Huey Long is a Republican]

If possible, I would like Otto IV. (I've studied HRE history extensively, so I'll hope to play it cautiously and carefully)

[Orwell]

I will continue my strange interest into the Kingdom of Denmark if you are good with that Lumine.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

Could I take the Hohenstaufens?

[Lumine]

All granted!

[GoTfan]

I would play as England, but I probably wouldn't count as experienced enough

[DKrol]

Woo!

[YPestis25]

Basileus Theodore I Laskaris please!

Super excited for this!

[Lumine]

All granted!

[Kingpoleon]

I’ll take the Ayyubid Sultanate.

[Joe Biden 2024]

Could I have Venice?

[Lumine]

Could I have Venice?

Sure!

[Wikipedia delenda est]

I know this will sound crazy, but I have to drop out at this ridiculously early stage. I know how absurd it is to drop out on the day I joined, before the game even began, but unforeseen circumstances came up and I just won't be able to play, at least for now. I might be able to join the game later on, though.

[Orwell]

I know this will sound crazy, but I have to drop out at this ridiculously early stage. I know how absurd it is to drop out on the day I joined, before the game even began, but unforeseen circumstances came up and I just won't be able to play, at least for now. I might be able to join the game later on, though.

That's unfortunate you're a great player

[S019]

With Wallace dropping out, can I have Sicily

[King Saul]

Could I have Latin Empire,please ?

[NyIndy]

Could I get the Sultanate of Rum?

[Lumine]

I know this will sound crazy, but I have to drop out at this ridiculously early stage. I know how absurd it is to drop out on the day I joined, before the game even began, but unforeseen circumstances came up and I just won't be able to play, at least for now. I might be able to join the game later on, though.

So sorry to hear that, Wallace! I strongly hope nothing is wrong with RL, best of luck!

Could I have Latin Empire,please ?

Could I get the Sultanate of Rum?

Granted!

With Wallace dropping out, can I have Sicily

Apologies, but I'll have to reserve that one for a more experienced player. Is there a different character/nation which appeals to you?

[Orwell]

If I qualify as more experienced, I could try my hand as King Frederick. I have taken tenous nations before, mainly as Queen Regent Mariana of Spain in Wallace's King & Country game, playing as King Christain II of Denmark in your game Dynasties & Empires(my personal favorite), and playing as King William I of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Spamages Encore of Europe. There is a lot of room for conflict and playing as King Frederick could prove as an interesting game or one that is over quite quickly, but if a more experienced candidate would appear I would be happy surrendering Frederick and going back to King Vlademar.

[free my dawg]

Deus Vult.

Jerusalem

[Garlan Gunter]

Argh very torn between Innocent, Latin Empire and Aragon

...Latin Empire it is! Really up for this

[Lumine]

Deus Vult.

Jerusalem

Welcome!

Argh very torn between Innocent, Latin Empire and Aragon

...Latin Empire it is! Really up for this

Apologies, King Saul took the Latin Empire. The Papacy and Aragon are free though.

I'll leave Frederick open just in case there's a more veteran player there, but if not, JacksonHitchcock can claim it.

[Garlan Gunter]

Gotta admit I’m a bit tempted by Freddy but feel mean barging out JH, and also unsure about my reliability re time

I’ll take Innocent then!

[Lumine]

Gotta admit I’m a bit tempted by Freddy but feel mean barging out JH, and also unsure about my reliability re time

I’ll take Innocent then!

Wonderful!

This will be open through the weekend as I do extra research and set things up (I'm drawing the map essentially from scratch and it is a pain). Hopefully, we start on Monday.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Wish I knew earlier about this...

I guess Sicily is still available, so I'd take it if I fit the definition of "experienced player".