The Don's Guide to Role-Playing

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    • there will be some changes in this guide while some that will conflict it like these:
      Functions of the state:
      Diplomacy and other communications outside your kingdom, declaring peace, war and trade pacts. the problem will arise that during the medieval period the only way for other kingdoms to know whats happening inside another kingdom is by using spies, declaring war and peace is unheard of in the medieval period, war and peace is known in their respective realms but other parties will not know unless spies and rumors. Medieval politics will be filled with deception, lies, and intrigue, where alliance can easily broken and most kings and noble lords are self centered warlords filled with rivalry (depending on the character used)

      the function of the state will be more spying than actual talks.

      Events and scenarios:
      this category will be filled with war, alliance openly shared between others. to apply a degree of realism in the game no one should post articles on the newspaper since no one know what the others are doing without spies. to keep others informed private communications in-game will be anonymous tips, but even those can be lies. the medieval times were sometimes called the dark ages for a reason.

      Balance of power:
      the balance of power is non-existence, the promises of kings is only good if they mean it. some players can choose to desert or betray their allies if its beneficial and can elevate there standing. you can say that chivalry binds a knight to a lord, and a lord to a king, but this relationship of loyal servant-master does not apply between kings. this will depend if the character being used is loyal to others, but if the character is ambitious and/or greedy than backstabbing is not a crime but more of a "political maneuvering" if you must. rivalry runs rampant even if two parties allied each other, the alliance is more of convenience than an actual alliance.

      Essentially the most important facet of RP in the medieval setting is the personality of the character used, if there loyal, ruthless, and other traits that can shape how they act in-game.
      "Victory needs no explenation, defeat allows none"
      -imperium thought of the day

    • Firstly, the balance of power is not an artificial standard of balance towards which everyone will work. Everyone will try to make themselves stronger, but to make one stronger, the others have to be weakened, and as everyone tries to do the same, they will hold everyone else in check, creating a balance, until one player or one faction becomes too strong to be contained like this. When this happens, diplomacy and alliances will change, until a new balance is found. This is true for all games played within the scope of realistic actions.

      Secondly, the news paper is more like a collection of official declarations. And even in the medieval times, state declarations were made. But since these declarations are meant to be circulated inside a nation only, they can be framed accordingly, without addressing other nations. They can address only the people of the same country. Such notices are easily procured by the people of other countries as well.

      Thirdly, communication in the medieval period is indeed a difficult thing. But it would be perhaps unnecessary to cancel all communication with other states, as in the game, you are given a degree of knowledge with regard to other states anyway. You can set a standard on this as you may please, but a complete cancellation will be unnecessary.

      Of course, war will be more common in this period. That shouldn't be a problem.
      "Om Namah Shivaya....Aham Namah Shivaya"

    • Essentially, everything applies from SP1914 to here, and from here to 30K. Role-Play is at its heart, Role-Play. If you feel that you must adapt anything, then adapt.


      The core of this is applicable to any game.