As per request from David I'm gonna go over how the Universe is set up.
The Galaxy is pretty big. Each House has their own territory within that galaxy. They have their solar systems, they have their planets and they have their own absolute sovereign rights within that territory. No one else can come in and tell them what to do on their land, as it were. That means that what's legal in one isn't necessarily legal in all. In some, like the Zhang and the LaJoie territories slavery is outlawed while the Campbells still practice it.
One of the reasons why the Imperial House was set up was that while each House can pretty much do what it wants to do in its own turf, things get murky when they try to trade between these places. That's what the Emperor is supposed to do. They are supposed to define the relationship between the Houses. So what can be traded, what the tarifs are, what the relationships happen. The Emperor is the judge and ombudsman that helps the houses settle their differences and can enforce any edicts as are deemed necessary.
There is a capitol planet where the Empire rests. Each House sends representatives there to push their interests to the emperor and keep an eye on each other. Factions takes place on that planet.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
DCG - Faction 3 - LaJoie House
The third of the three original Great Houses is House LaJoie. House LaJoie may not have had the largest army, or the most influence but what they had was the most money. They had found various deposits of precious metals on the various worlds that they controlled which allowed them to gain wealth faster than the other houses. Then, instead of sitting on it, the LaJoie family used it to help others with interest. They started forming banking organizations, and they are the only family that has territory all over other Houses territory. All banks are considered to be LaJoie property.
The LaJoies are quite happy to stay in the background and fund those who they want to see succeed, or those who might bring in the most profit to them. Sometimes these goals were at odds, but ultimately it was the LaJoie's who ended up being the deciding factor in many conflicts as they simply stopped funding the people who they didn't want to win. This behaviour is what caused the Campbells and the Zhangs to include House LaJoie in their discussions and it was House LaJoie that caused the Zhangs to come into power first.
When the civil war between the Zhangs and the Campbells happened the LaJoie's were split. There were those that saw increasing the number of Great Houses as a good thing, it gave them more people to trade with who could work on a grander scale, and there were those who thought that more Houses would mean that there were more people to watch out for in the future. Ultimately the first faction won out and they helped the Zhangs defeat the Campbells and then because there really was no other choice the leader of the inclusive faction of the LaJoies, Henriette, become the next Emperor. Her first edict was to welcome the newer houses into the fold. There were only two that had survived which were House Aan and House Ndebele.
The reign of Henriette LaJoie was very short. While the Emperor is able to get a lot of gifts and bribes from the various houses who are looking to influence the arbiter one way or another, there is also a large head ache that comes with this type of power. The LaJoie's had to raise an army, and pay them, for the length of the Lajoie tenure, which was only three generations at 75 years. Then and there the Lajoie's decided that the last thing they wanted was the Imperial Stewardship. Let the others play with games of power, they would control the purse strings behind the throne.
Over the years House LaJoie has been known as the hedonistic House. They have the money to afford what they want and the money to cover up any indiscretions that might come to light later. Love Affairs, Dueling, High Romance or Secret Passions usually have their root with the LaJoies. Some within dislike this reputation that the House has and do their best to live in austerity, but there are enough young LaJoie's running around the place who like to fulfill what they view as their role in society that there is a great tension developing between the generations.
The LaJoies are quite happy to stay in the background and fund those who they want to see succeed, or those who might bring in the most profit to them. Sometimes these goals were at odds, but ultimately it was the LaJoie's who ended up being the deciding factor in many conflicts as they simply stopped funding the people who they didn't want to win. This behaviour is what caused the Campbells and the Zhangs to include House LaJoie in their discussions and it was House LaJoie that caused the Zhangs to come into power first.
When the civil war between the Zhangs and the Campbells happened the LaJoie's were split. There were those that saw increasing the number of Great Houses as a good thing, it gave them more people to trade with who could work on a grander scale, and there were those who thought that more Houses would mean that there were more people to watch out for in the future. Ultimately the first faction won out and they helped the Zhangs defeat the Campbells and then because there really was no other choice the leader of the inclusive faction of the LaJoies, Henriette, become the next Emperor. Her first edict was to welcome the newer houses into the fold. There were only two that had survived which were House Aan and House Ndebele.
The reign of Henriette LaJoie was very short. While the Emperor is able to get a lot of gifts and bribes from the various houses who are looking to influence the arbiter one way or another, there is also a large head ache that comes with this type of power. The LaJoie's had to raise an army, and pay them, for the length of the Lajoie tenure, which was only three generations at 75 years. Then and there the Lajoie's decided that the last thing they wanted was the Imperial Stewardship. Let the others play with games of power, they would control the purse strings behind the throne.
Over the years House LaJoie has been known as the hedonistic House. They have the money to afford what they want and the money to cover up any indiscretions that might come to light later. Love Affairs, Dueling, High Romance or Secret Passions usually have their root with the LaJoies. Some within dislike this reputation that the House has and do their best to live in austerity, but there are enough young LaJoie's running around the place who like to fulfill what they view as their role in society that there is a great tension developing between the generations.
Friday, September 4, 2009
DCG - Faction 2 - Campbell House
The Campbell House was one of the original three Great Houses that founded the empire. They believed that it was their right, as in the right of the great houses, with all the resources available to them to lead the lesser houses. In part it was the rule, but the other idea was that they wanted a certain level of control to prevent any other players from moving up the ladder. There was a wish that they could do it on their own, but the Zhang and the LaJoies were too big to be handled without a large war that would devastate everyone.
Then things didn't go as well as they had hoped. While making the arrangements necessary to build the Empire the Campbells did their best to instill a sense of ownership to the process. They desired to lead the Empire for many years and Asa Campbell believed that he could deal with all the rules that were put in place to try to check the dynasties and made sure that when one fell the whole Empire didn't tumble with it. However, when it came time to choose the emperor Zhang Hui was chosen instead of Asa Campbell. This pricked Asa's personal sense of honor, but to complain now would undermine the entire enterprise and when the time came to take the Power from the Zhangs it would be a house of cards and it would crumble at the first sign of wind.
The Campbell House spent the next 130 years living out Asa's personal insult. They were abrupt with the rest of the other Houses and kept up their desire to be the next in line of the three for the throne. They did it through their influence as the largest of the Great Houses, they did it through blackmail and backroom deals and through peddling their influence through out the other Houses. Buying a person there with cash, with threats in another place when needed. It was all set for when the Zhangs would fall, and the Campbells would see that they did. Then Zhang Hui did the unthinkable, he wanted to add some of the up and coming smaller houses to the ranks of the Great, to allow them to be considered for the Imperial Throne. That was too much for Adrienne Campbell. This must have been an attempt by the other Greats to push the Campbells out of their rightful place. This started the first "civil" conflict between the Zhangs and the Campbells, with the Lajoies witnessing on the sidelines.
It was a brief conflict with the Zhangs coming out on top more often than not when the LaJoie's did something to end it quickly. They sided with the Zhangs which caused the Campbells to backdown rather quickly. Fighting a losing war on two fronts wasn't their ideal situation. However, they did call for the Zhangs to be replaced and that's what the Lajoies were made the Imperial house by general decree for "saving the Empire."
The Campbells, affronted by the fact that they were not made the next Imperial House mixed with the new Great Houses (since the LaJoie's upheld the decision to add new houses) caused them to retreat into their own territory. They have been absent for the past 500 years. Their estates being cared for by staff, but the whole family stayed within a self imposed exile in their own little section of space. Some thought that they had vanished, and tried to grow at House Campbell's expense only to meet a strong and dedicated military force destroying any attempt to encroach on their space.
Now, in the year 650 IHE there is activity in the old Campbell dwellings. It seems that a diplomatic ship is coming to the Capitol to take command of the Campbell holdings. What it brings nobody knows but who ever comes will be cloaked in absense and legend.
Then things didn't go as well as they had hoped. While making the arrangements necessary to build the Empire the Campbells did their best to instill a sense of ownership to the process. They desired to lead the Empire for many years and Asa Campbell believed that he could deal with all the rules that were put in place to try to check the dynasties and made sure that when one fell the whole Empire didn't tumble with it. However, when it came time to choose the emperor Zhang Hui was chosen instead of Asa Campbell. This pricked Asa's personal sense of honor, but to complain now would undermine the entire enterprise and when the time came to take the Power from the Zhangs it would be a house of cards and it would crumble at the first sign of wind.
The Campbell House spent the next 130 years living out Asa's personal insult. They were abrupt with the rest of the other Houses and kept up their desire to be the next in line of the three for the throne. They did it through their influence as the largest of the Great Houses, they did it through blackmail and backroom deals and through peddling their influence through out the other Houses. Buying a person there with cash, with threats in another place when needed. It was all set for when the Zhangs would fall, and the Campbells would see that they did. Then Zhang Hui did the unthinkable, he wanted to add some of the up and coming smaller houses to the ranks of the Great, to allow them to be considered for the Imperial Throne. That was too much for Adrienne Campbell. This must have been an attempt by the other Greats to push the Campbells out of their rightful place. This started the first "civil" conflict between the Zhangs and the Campbells, with the Lajoies witnessing on the sidelines.
It was a brief conflict with the Zhangs coming out on top more often than not when the LaJoie's did something to end it quickly. They sided with the Zhangs which caused the Campbells to backdown rather quickly. Fighting a losing war on two fronts wasn't their ideal situation. However, they did call for the Zhangs to be replaced and that's what the Lajoies were made the Imperial house by general decree for "saving the Empire."
The Campbells, affronted by the fact that they were not made the next Imperial House mixed with the new Great Houses (since the LaJoie's upheld the decision to add new houses) caused them to retreat into their own territory. They have been absent for the past 500 years. Their estates being cared for by staff, but the whole family stayed within a self imposed exile in their own little section of space. Some thought that they had vanished, and tried to grow at House Campbell's expense only to meet a strong and dedicated military force destroying any attempt to encroach on their space.
Now, in the year 650 IHE there is activity in the old Campbell dwellings. It seems that a diplomatic ship is coming to the Capitol to take command of the Campbell holdings. What it brings nobody knows but who ever comes will be cloaked in absense and legend.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
DCG - Faction 1 - House Zhang
Joe, who is desiging the look of the cards (interestingly enough he's got his own company and he does this design stuff too) wanted a run down on all the houses so he could get a feel for them. I figure why not just let everyone know what's going on with them so that there's a little bit of material already there.
The Zhang house was one of the first three founding houses. They are the only house to have been the Emperor twice in the past four hundred years with their last pass as emperor being only just 75 years ago. They are known far and wide as people who propose peace and stability instead of open conflict. It's why they were drawn to the idea of the Imperial Ruling House accord that started the current timeline. They were drafted in -8 IHE and were signed on 0IHE which marked the start of the Imperial House. The Zhang house was chosen to lead the Empire during that time and led for 150 years.
That dynasty fell when Zhang Hui introduced new great houses to the original three. War broke out between the Zhang House and the Campbell House. Ultimately this led to the ascention of the LaJoie House which upheld the Zhang decision. In part this was done because the LaJoies felt that if they ignored the Zhang Hui edicts then other emperors would ignore that which they didn't see fit their reign. It created the precedent that anything a previous emperor had done couldn't be rescinded, modified certainly but nothing ever left the books of law.
The last Zhang Dynasty was much shorter than the first Dynasty. It only lasted two generations as Zhang Yi died childless, she had decided that she didn't want to have children, and so the Imperial House fell to the current Nasra House. In keeping with being first they were the first House to lose their Dynasty through a lack of successors. Yi felt that dynasties that were in power for too long frequently feel to corruption and the loss of the house through a peaceful process would be less damaging financially to the family than if they lost it through war.
The Zhang House, being one of the founding houses, is not known for anything in particular. They do a little bit of everything, from running trading ships to making weapons to manufacturing products to arts and culture. In fact, if there is one thing to be said, the Zhang House has more artists in their space than any other. That doesn't make them weak, far from it. The Zhangs have the most skilled military minds in all the galaxy. They're known for being able to take victory away from the hungry jaws of defeat using unorthodox and sometimes insane tactics.
This skill will be put to the test as the Ndebele House feels that they need to expand their territory a little bit and their first target is the Zhang House. There is a solar system with a couple of high resource planets that have yet to be fully explored by the Zhangs and the Ndebele want, almost need these resources to keep their militarism and their expansion going.
The Zhang house was one of the first three founding houses. They are the only house to have been the Emperor twice in the past four hundred years with their last pass as emperor being only just 75 years ago. They are known far and wide as people who propose peace and stability instead of open conflict. It's why they were drawn to the idea of the Imperial Ruling House accord that started the current timeline. They were drafted in -8 IHE and were signed on 0IHE which marked the start of the Imperial House. The Zhang house was chosen to lead the Empire during that time and led for 150 years.
That dynasty fell when Zhang Hui introduced new great houses to the original three. War broke out between the Zhang House and the Campbell House. Ultimately this led to the ascention of the LaJoie House which upheld the Zhang decision. In part this was done because the LaJoies felt that if they ignored the Zhang Hui edicts then other emperors would ignore that which they didn't see fit their reign. It created the precedent that anything a previous emperor had done couldn't be rescinded, modified certainly but nothing ever left the books of law.
The last Zhang Dynasty was much shorter than the first Dynasty. It only lasted two generations as Zhang Yi died childless, she had decided that she didn't want to have children, and so the Imperial House fell to the current Nasra House. In keeping with being first they were the first House to lose their Dynasty through a lack of successors. Yi felt that dynasties that were in power for too long frequently feel to corruption and the loss of the house through a peaceful process would be less damaging financially to the family than if they lost it through war.
The Zhang House, being one of the founding houses, is not known for anything in particular. They do a little bit of everything, from running trading ships to making weapons to manufacturing products to arts and culture. In fact, if there is one thing to be said, the Zhang House has more artists in their space than any other. That doesn't make them weak, far from it. The Zhangs have the most skilled military minds in all the galaxy. They're known for being able to take victory away from the hungry jaws of defeat using unorthodox and sometimes insane tactics.
This skill will be put to the test as the Ndebele House feels that they need to expand their territory a little bit and their first target is the Zhang House. There is a solar system with a couple of high resource planets that have yet to be fully explored by the Zhangs and the Ndebele want, almost need these resources to keep their militarism and their expansion going.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Fan Expo 2009
Fan Expo used to be the con that we did because it was in downtown Toronto. It wasn't really a con you did because it offered anything in particular that was useful. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit. The first year I went it was great and then for the next 3 it was progressively worse and worse. It wasn't a case of if something would go horribly wrong but when it would go horribly wrong.
This year was different. This year there was stuff that went wrong but it wasn't that big a deal actually. It allowed me to relax and have a good time and this year it was possible to have a good time with games at Fan Expo. I've written about last year here and that wasn't pretty, but that was last year. Let me tell you about this year.
First of all there was a lot more organization when it came to the games that were being played. There were actual slots and actual events that were being run on time and full of people. That was a first, usually you just sat down because no one had an idea of what the hell was going. It wasn't a good thing no matter what anyone told you. You couldn't plan anything because you had to keep checking the room to see if something was being played. If you're in Toronto, I most heartily suggest joining TAG because they're an awesome group of people who can get things organized and done. They've got lots of people playing games with lots of meet ups so that you can get to know people and hang out. Seriously good times.
Secondly the big SNAFU that happened this year was that only the LARP I submitted got listed. Really I thought that was a good thing becaues I had made the conscious choice taht I wasn't going to do much at the con. This just reinforced it. I didn't get angry, I just saw it as a chance to unwind and it was an opportunity I couldn't afford to squander. It meant that I got to hang out more with Jess, Malcolm and Pieter. I did some panels, which I'll get into later, and I actually got to play some Battletech. This never, ever happens to me and it was fun. Infantry for the win.
Third, the panels were pretty fun. The first one on Friday had too many people, it was me, Jess, Malcolm, Pieter, Jason and ... and ... one of the guys from Polymancer. I'd like to remember their names but I tend to lump them all together for some reason in my head. I think it was Andrew, but I'm not 100% sure of that. Anyway, it was an okay panel but there certainly were too many people. Especially for a writing panel because writing is just one of those things that we all can talk about and have talked about at length. Since all of us could talk about it at length we did and it ended up being a lot of talking over each other.
The second panel I ended up doing was the "How to publish your own RPG" panel. It was supposed to be Malcolm, Polymancer and I doing the panel but there was a schedule bug which said that the panel was at 12:00 but also at 4:00. We did it at 4:00 because that's when the room was available. Malcolm was expecting it to be at 12:00 so he checked in with his family to make sure that he could go, and if he couldn't he just wouldn't show. He said goodbye and didn't show. Which was fine because there was at least me and someone else. Then there was the fact that Polymancer packed up and left by 3:00 pm. That meant the panel was just me.
Fun.
It was though, strangely enough. We started out on the right foot where I was pretty sure no one had a clue who I was and that was fine and I think we had a good time. There were no videogame questions. I got to throw in a couple of references to gender and race issues which was nice. Someone recorded it and asked if it was okay to throw it up on Youtube. I didn't see why not so we'll see if and when that gets up there.
Anyway, good con all around. Small things could have been better but those are little things that are going to be in any show.
Good con, good times and now let's get back to work.
This year was different. This year there was stuff that went wrong but it wasn't that big a deal actually. It allowed me to relax and have a good time and this year it was possible to have a good time with games at Fan Expo. I've written about last year here and that wasn't pretty, but that was last year. Let me tell you about this year.
First of all there was a lot more organization when it came to the games that were being played. There were actual slots and actual events that were being run on time and full of people. That was a first, usually you just sat down because no one had an idea of what the hell was going. It wasn't a good thing no matter what anyone told you. You couldn't plan anything because you had to keep checking the room to see if something was being played. If you're in Toronto, I most heartily suggest joining TAG because they're an awesome group of people who can get things organized and done. They've got lots of people playing games with lots of meet ups so that you can get to know people and hang out. Seriously good times.
Secondly the big SNAFU that happened this year was that only the LARP I submitted got listed. Really I thought that was a good thing becaues I had made the conscious choice taht I wasn't going to do much at the con. This just reinforced it. I didn't get angry, I just saw it as a chance to unwind and it was an opportunity I couldn't afford to squander. It meant that I got to hang out more with Jess, Malcolm and Pieter. I did some panels, which I'll get into later, and I actually got to play some Battletech. This never, ever happens to me and it was fun. Infantry for the win.
Third, the panels were pretty fun. The first one on Friday had too many people, it was me, Jess, Malcolm, Pieter, Jason and ... and ... one of the guys from Polymancer. I'd like to remember their names but I tend to lump them all together for some reason in my head. I think it was Andrew, but I'm not 100% sure of that. Anyway, it was an okay panel but there certainly were too many people. Especially for a writing panel because writing is just one of those things that we all can talk about and have talked about at length. Since all of us could talk about it at length we did and it ended up being a lot of talking over each other.
The second panel I ended up doing was the "How to publish your own RPG" panel. It was supposed to be Malcolm, Polymancer and I doing the panel but there was a schedule bug which said that the panel was at 12:00 but also at 4:00. We did it at 4:00 because that's when the room was available. Malcolm was expecting it to be at 12:00 so he checked in with his family to make sure that he could go, and if he couldn't he just wouldn't show. He said goodbye and didn't show. Which was fine because there was at least me and someone else. Then there was the fact that Polymancer packed up and left by 3:00 pm. That meant the panel was just me.
Fun.
It was though, strangely enough. We started out on the right foot where I was pretty sure no one had a clue who I was and that was fine and I think we had a good time. There were no videogame questions. I got to throw in a couple of references to gender and race issues which was nice. Someone recorded it and asked if it was okay to throw it up on Youtube. I didn't see why not so we'll see if and when that gets up there.
Anyway, good con all around. Small things could have been better but those are little things that are going to be in any show.
Good con, good times and now let's get back to work.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Mile High Dragon is a go!
Hey everyone!
Mile High Dragon is good to go! It's currently available at drivethrurpg.com and rpgnow.com!
It's only 10.00$, it's fully searchable, has an index and has enough bookmarks to let you hop freely between sections. Check it out!
Mile High Dragon is good to go! It's currently available at drivethrurpg.com and rpgnow.com!
It's only 10.00$, it's fully searchable, has an index and has enough bookmarks to let you hop freely between sections. Check it out!
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