The Young Eagle - A Napoleon Quest

"Ability is nothing, without a little opportunity."

-Napoleon Bonaparte

The year is 1792, France is a kingdom embroiled in a revolution, and you are a young officer caught up in the chaos. Where others are content to simply weather the storm, however, you have no interest in just surviving - you are a man of destiny, and it's time to seize that destiny.

Thrust into the fires of revolution, as a monarchy becomes a republic and every corner of Europe is embroiled in conflict, it's time for Napoleon Bonaparte to rise and shape the world for centuries to come. But will you be the revolution's savior, or crush it underfoot?

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This is a character quest based, as you probably guessed, on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. As the Quest begins, Napoleon is a 22 year old officer in the French military, currently AWOL in Corsica, where he's about to experience his first taste of conflict. Though these elements of his character will be fixed, voters will be able to alter some elements of his backstory in chargen. Likewise, voters will be able to influence Napoleon's beliefs and some elements of his personality, either to shift them towards or away from who he was historically.

In terms of the timeline, the quest is focused on the early portion of Napoleon's career, from 1792-1800.

I'm a first time QM, so please forgive any amateurish mistakes on my part, and don't hesitate to provide feedback.

Rules:
Generally what you'd expect. Please be civil to each other, and patient with me. Feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions.

Mechanics:
(Thanks to Plausbius & Magoose for inspiration on mechanics)

Success or failure of actions in game rely on d100 dice rolls. Turns will generally last 3-4 months in game, but during military campaigns, election cycles, character interactions or other events, will be shorter.

Attached to the base d100 rolls are modifiers, generally based on Napoleon's stats/traits, though situational modifiers might also provide a bonus or malus to rolls (A heavy rainstorm, for instance, would provide a malus to any roll that revolves around musketry).

Stats:
Stats are some of Napoleon's inherent qualities and skills, used in rolls. The stats used in this quest are:

Valor - Physical and strategic prowess, used in personal combat and/or battle
Intellect - A mix of raw brainpower, as well as education. Useful for administration, lawmaking, etc.
Charisma - Your ability to lead others, and project an image of yourself to the masses
Charm - Similar to charisma, but focusing on interpersonal relationships between you and other individuals and small groups. Also governs your sense of decorum and ability to 'fit in' to whichever social environment you're currently visiting.
Subterfuge - Your ability to keep secrets, make plots, and comprehend the Byzantine power games that happen behind closed doors. If the situation calls for it, this stat governs your ability to physically sneak around and go without notice, as well.

If Napoleon has 5 points in a stat, rolls using that stat will be granted a +5 modifier. This stacks - if you increase the stat to ten, the modifier will be +10. Increase it to 15, it the modifier will be +15, etc.

Traits:

Traits are skills and facets of Napoleon's character. Acquiring new traits and upgrading old ones are how Napoleon's stats are increased, as well as providing specific bonuses to certain types of rolls (an artillery officer trait provides a modifier for rolls that involve artillery, for instance). Besides increasing numbers, they can have narrative benefits as well, and will influence the way Napoleon acts and carries himself.

Traits are gained and upgraded by studying or performing an action. Likewise, at various points in the quest, readers will be able to choose one of a number of traits.

Destiny Points:
Destiny points grant a guaranteed success to one single roll. You start the quest with a single point - be frugal with it, as they don't replenish easily. More points will be gained after certain significant accomplishments, or when questers complete a goal in a particularly creative, humorous, exciting or otherwise interesting way.


Reputation:
Reputation is how you are seen by people in general. The ranks go from 0 to 20. Reputation can be positive or negative. High positive reputation means everyone loves and reveres you. High negative reputation means everyone hates but fears you. Changing your reputation from positive to negative or vice versa is possible, but will lower the rank. You will be suspected if you were originally wicked but now seem to be "nice". Similarly, being loved but then performing wicked acts would betray peoples' trust, decreasing reputation rank.
You'll have a different reputation among different groups. For example, winning victories against Austria will make you beloved in Paris, but despised in Vienna. Being a staunch radical republican will make you a hero to Jacobins, but anathema to royalists, etc.

Reputation Ranks:

0: Unknown
1-4: Notable/Unsavory
5-7: Noteworthy/Unfavorable
8-10: Recognized/Disliked
10-13: Popular/Unpopular
14-17: Acclaimed/Detested
18: Sensational/Hated
19: Generational/Reviled
20: Revered/Anathema

Army Wealth:
You can only spend Army Wealth on Army Actions. You replenish 10 Army Wealth, up to 15, every turn while within France. Spending personal money on supplies may endear you to your troops, but may also leave you in debt. Likewise, you could potentially embezzle army funds to increase your private wealth - just don't get caught!

Morale:

Morale is dictated by five key components:
1. Supplies: The rations, clothing, equipment, and other supplies used to keep your army functioning.
2. Training: How skilled and disciplined your soldiers are.
3. Focus: Your army will fight like hell in France, or if you are close to an objective that will mean victory and glory. Always plan out a plan of attack, and always have a goal in mind. Otherwise, an aimless army may fragment and become disillusioned.
4. Manpower: Outnumbering your enemy always helps in keeping morale high.
5. Casualties: In battle, people die. That is a fact of life. However, keeping people alive with field medics, hospitals, and rotating units through the battle will keep them fresh. Tending to the wounded goes a long way.

Morale goes from 0 to 100, with armies routing at 0, causing non-hero soldiers to panic, flee or surrender. Long-term factors (Supplies, Training, and Manpower) will be affected by your strategic choices in Standard Turns. Short-term factors (Focus, Casualties, and Manpower, as well) are affected by battles, and can rapidly lower due to attrition and other factors. D100s will be rolled to determine the losses in morale in combat.

Disease:

Preventing Diseases: Dictated by three things
1. Freshness: Bad food and other problems caused by low supplies are bad for keeping troops healthy.
2. Water: Never ever lose it. Humans don't live long without water. Clean water is even more important.
3. Weather & Climate (W&C): Winter…desert…tropics, even. Extreme conditions will impact your soldiers terribly if not prepared.

Disease starts at 0 and increases to 100 by up to 1d15 each turn, affected by the three factors above (Freshness, Water, W&C). Each category that is below ACCEPTABLE increases Disease gain by 5 to the maximum roll. Staying at 70-100 Disease gets you a Disease roll each turn using Disease as the DC. Failing that roll gets you some Bad Stuff.


Critical Rolls:

Natural Crits occur at 95-100, while Natural Fails are 1-5. You can negate a Nat. Fail if a bonus is applied to the roll, just be reasonable in application of points (don't cheese).

Crits add another d100 to the roll and can explode (add another roll if that d100 results in a 95-100, and so on), so that's fun.

Artificial Crits are rolls that are boosted over 100 with bonuses, and can be rerolled only once more.

Natural Crits can keep exploding if you're lucky.

Crit bonuses are arbitrary and subject to my own machinations, but we'll think of some cool stuff if they occur.

Omakes
Omakes are welcome. Each grants a bonus of +10 to +20, depending on how delicious the Dice Gods find them.
They will be used on a opt-in basis, with bonuses added to a single action, increasing related rolls on that turn, whether full or mini-turn.
Max bonuses on one action: +50

(Character Generation has some narrative flavor based on Napoleon's early life, but the quest really starts next post, in 1792. As for Napoleon's traits, Man of Destiny and Mathematical Genius are acquired automatically.)

Birth of the Eagle (Character Generation):

"I bow only to God."
- Napoleon Bonaparte, to a teacher.

"[Napoleon] has always been distinguished for his application in mathematics. He is fairly well acquainted with history and geography ... This boy would make an excellent sailor."
- An Examiner at the Brienne Military Academy

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1779 - Autun, France:

One night you, a nine year old Napoleon, stare out from the window of your dorm room at the monk-run school at Autun. You've been sent to your room without dinner, after a beating, for suggesting that only God has the authority to tell you what to do.

Gained Trait - Man of Destiny

You look southwards, imagining the island of your birth. Your father, Carlo, is His Majesty's representative on Corsica, and intends for you to learn French, seeing the future of the Family Buonaparte in France, rather than on their Corsican homeland. As the monks have taught you this strange tongue, you've come to see yourself:

Choose One:

[]As a Corsican, through and through - Try as they might to beat the 'backwards, almost pagan' Corsican manners out of you, the monks have failed to subdue the love you hold for your homeland. You'll learn French, and you'll live in France, if that's what fate has in store, but deep in your heart you think of yourself as Corsican, with an accent to match.

[] As a Frenchman - Corsica has its charms, but only by seeing the vastness and refinement of France have you realised how small your home island is, how backwards it is. The future, your future, is clearly in France, and that's how you'll identify yourself.

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1784 - Brienne Military Academy, France:

You barely manage to navigate your way through a throng of cheering, rabid teenagers, as you make your way out of the gates of the Military Academy. You're 15 years old, brimming with pride and anticipation as you finish your education. From now on, you'll be a man, studying at the prestigious Ecole Militaire in Paris, with a position in the French military all but guaranteed once you've passed.

At the school, you learned the basics of military discipline, tactics and strategy, as well as the essentials common to all schooling, such as literacy and mathematics. In the latter, you've proven to be especially brilliant, even the most hostile instructor forced to admit that you've some kind of instinctive knack for it.

Gained Trait - Mathematical Genius

Apart from these subjects, Brienne offered a few other courses. You participated in all at one time or another, but one of them stood out to you, and you spent a lot of time practicing:

Choose One:

[] Fencing - You figured that as a future military man, it made sense for you to learn to fight. You're a fine fencer, with an understanding of timing and footwork that's left you graceful as well as deadly. (+5 Valor, +3 Charm, Gain trait - Fencer)

[] Hunting - You're a noble, which means you're allowed to hunt in His Majesty's forests, to a certain point. You've spent countless hours in the woods outside Brienne, musket in hand, learning patience as you stalk your prey, before finally striking. (+5 Valor, +3 Subterfuge, Gain trait - Chasseur)

[] Languages - As a soldier, and a nobleman, there's no telling where the winds of war and marriage might take you. You've poured your energy and time into perfecting the French you learned at Autun, and speak it with perfect grammar and no accent. With French down, you've also learned another language. (+5 Intelligence, +3 Charm, Gain Trait - Linguist, Choose one extra language besides French and Italian to be fluent in)

[] Classics - Brienne has an extensive library, and you made use of it. You practically devoured the works of Homer and Virgil, as well as the biographies of Alexander and Caesar. Stories of ancient kings and leaders have taught you a little about how to lead, and made you a touch more refined. (+5 Charisma, +3 Intelligence, Gain trait - Classicist)

[] Political Science - Overblown stories of history bore you. What interests you is the real world, the way power really works, and the kinds of things that go on behind the closed doors of Versailles. Your copies of Machiavelli's The Prince and Plato's Republic are worn from frequent cover to cover reads, and you constantly have to refrain from annoying your friends with cynical remarks. (+5 Subterfuge, +3 Intelligence, Gain Trait - Cynic)

[] Poetry - Though some might label poets as effeminate, you've found the works of Moliere and Fontaine both beautiful, and useful. No other art form has taught you how to use words to evoke exactly the emotion you want others to feel, and the ladies love it. Well, at least you think they do. There's not exactly a lot of girls at the Academy to test that theory. (+5 Charm, +3 Charisma, Gain trait - Poet)

[] Business - Your family is, to put it bluntly, dirt poor. Business isn't exactly an honorable profession for a noble, but even on Corsica you've seen the bourgeois grow fabulously wealthy through sound investments and global trade. If this whole military thing doesn't work out, maybe coin could be a better way of achieving your destiny than lead? (+5 Subterfuge, +3 Charm, Gain Trait - Businessman)


Your time at Brienne didn't leave you unchanged. These were your formative years, and even as a young man, you realise to some extent that they had a lot of impact in shaping who you'll be for the rest of your life. In your first year at the Academy, you:

Choose One:

[] Became the target of bullies - Determined not to let them victimise you, you learned how to brawl, and how to fight off your enemies even when they gang up on you. Hell, you kind of prefer when they come in a group, now - the more the merrier, you say as you crack your knuckles. (+5 Valor, Gain Trait - We happy few!)

[] Befriended some rich boys - Having friends in high places has its perks, and the Academy of Brienne is a good place to get them. Wealthy merchants, generals, members of the court - they all send their sons to get the privilege of a military education. Some call you a brown noser, but you can't argue with the results - rubbing shoulders with the rich opens doors, and nets you a fair amount of coin. (Substantial bonus to starting funds, Gain Trait - Connected)

[] Befriended some poor boys - Sure, the snobs might look down upon you, but that in itself can be valuable. You've gotten to know Brienne's lowest social strata, the boys without fancy names or bank accounts, whose parents were only barely able to send them here in the first place. They treat you as one of their own, now. That's not too helpful in an absolute monarchy, but if some sort of Revolution were to break out... (+5 Charisma, Gain Trait - One of us!)

[] Broke Curfew all the time - Students at Brienne were heavily restricted from leaving the walls of the Academy, with a strict curfew put in place at night. You saw this as a challenge, and flaunted the curfew, sneaking out almost every night to experience the delights of the nearby town. After a few embarrassing failures, you learned the principles of stealth, and managed to breeze past the sentries like a ghost. (+5 Subterfuge, Gain Trait - Stealthy)

[] Read Romances - Generally, romance novels are considered the domain of women, but you don't care - if anyone has a problem with you reading them, you'll kick their ass. You love romance - saucy ones, wholesome ones, tragic ones, you don't care. You have an intuitive understanding of what people find appealing and attractive, and on your better days come off like a romantic hero yourself. (+5 Charm, Gain Trait - Debonair)

[] Studied your ass off - Other students may have laughed at you for keeping your nose stuck in books all the time, but you remembered that you'd been sent here for a purpose. To achieve your destiny, you needed to learn as much as humanly possible. (+5 Intelligence, can take a second school subject, gaining another trait, but not the stat points.)

[] Wrote to your family - You have a large family, but you made a point to keep constant correspondance with every one of them, from your mother Letizia, to your older brother Joseph, all the way down to your baby sister Caroline, and all the siblings in-between. Even with the Meditteranean keeping you apart, your letters have welded your family tightly together as a unit. You're deeply loved by your mother and siblings, and every one of them is fanatically loyal to each other. It's not an exaggeration to say that any one of them would die for you. (Max Relationship with every member of the Buonaparte Family, Gain Trait - Family Man)

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1795, Ecole Militaire, Paris

"Garde-à-vous!" You holler at the top of your voice - which is currently dry and hoarse. You stand in the square of the prestigious Ecole Militaire, a group of military men at your back, as you engage in the ritual of graduation. Graduating this school means you've been found worthy of leading other men into battle, and as such, the ceremony involves guiding a group of soldiers through drills. A lot of drills, you muse, as you stand on aching legs and try to keep your eyes open.

To be fair to yourself, you note that you've had plenty of work to wear you out over this last year. Your father's death shortly after your graduation from Brienne meant that you didn't have the funds to complete the two-year course. So instead you decided to complete it in one year. It was a gruelling experience, but you displayed your determination, and completed twice the work as all your classmates in half the time, your days spent moving directly from one class to another, and your nights spent studying and trying desperately to get enough sleep to function. Given the timeframe, you had no time for other subjects, or recreation, as you had back at Brienne. But it paid off in the end. You're 16 years old, and a graduate. Or at least you will be if you can keep from falling over for a few minutes more.

"Cadet Buonaparte. Approach." A stern voice comes from the center of the square, where a stern looking man in an immaculate wig and gleaming white uniform examines your tired, withered form. "I, and my associates on the board of L'Ecole find you to have satisfied every prerequisite for graduation from this school. Congratulations." The man reaches out his hand, and you gratefully take it, shaking his hand. Around you is polite smattering of applause, and you almost forget to let go of his hand - it's not every day you meet the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution, recently returned from his victory tour of the former 13 Colonies.

"You're hereby promoted to sous-lieutenant in the army." Lafayette announces, and you thank whoever's looking out to you that France abolished the sale of commissions - no way in hell you could afford to buy one. The war hero is handed a piece of paper by an aide and reads it. "Let's see which regiment you're assigned to. Ah, it's-"

Choose One:

[] Le Regiment D'Armagnac - A regiment of the line. You'll become an infantryman. Good, we're not fancy, but no army functions without us. (Gain Trait - Foot Slogger)

[] Le Regiment De Saxe Hussars - A Hussar regiment, eh? Good luck commanding those Germans, they're a rowdy bunch. (Gain Trait - Cavalier)

[] La Fere Regiment D'Artillerie - An artillery regiment, hmm? Yes, with your mathematics scores, that makes sense. (Gain Trait - Gunner)

[] His Majesty's Ship of the Line Magnanime - Wait, what? Merde! Someone screwed up the paperwork again. You're not a sous-lieutenant in the army at all, you're a midshipman in the navy! Sorry to lose you, Buonaparte. (Gain Trait - Seaman)

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Afterwards, like a horde of rampaging animals, the graduates exit the premises of L'Ecole, carried by a wave of exultation into the city, eager to waste their first payment as officers of the French military on drink or more intimate pleasures. You're far, far too tired for either, but as you slowly stumble towards your lodgings, you can't help but notice a few of your comrades meet up with sweethearts, holding hands and exchanging kisses.

Choose One:

[] Would absolutely be among them if you weren't so tired. You're a sucker for a pretty girl. (Napoleon will have the option to initiate romances with female characters)

[] Find your gaze drifting more towards the men. (Napoleon will have the option to initiate romances with male characters - though political marriages with women are still available)

[] Eye up the beauties of both genders. (Napoleon will have the option to initiate romances with characters of either gender.)

[] Find your gaze drifting away from men and women alike. You're happy to see your comrades are enjoying themselves, but such attractions mean nothing to you. (No romance will occur in the quest - though political marriages will still be available)


(As I mentioned before, this is my first quest, so please feel free to let me know if I've missed anything. Please vote by plan. Not quite sure how long the deadline for voting should be - is three days reasonable?)