Bay City is thriving, and yet a dangerous place to live. Home to many criminal organizations, pursuing the abundant trade from both river and sea, the City has countless stories of both villainy and the heroes who stopped the villains, and a lot of assassinations. When you have an assassin's guild in the hidden places of your city, you never know the next person who will fall.
The City Guard is hopelessly outmatched. Regulars cannot match up against the powerful. There are many powerful fighters, assassins, heroes and even some inventors and mages. Other Cities have faced these problems, and the Elite Orders have begun to found Chapterhouses in Bay City.
The City government is also tired of repairing the damage after heroes break everything. Collateral damage is not OK in Bay City anymore. Which is where you come in. The Elite Orders, and their chapterhouses in Bay City, are the response teams when the City Guards need help. They investigate, remediate and pursue, hunt and destroy the city's foes. They also take a proactive role by working with the City government on missions
Your chapterhouse is the first presence your order has had in Bay City. The rise in crime by powerful individuals and super destructive heroism means the Order has good reason to establish their presence here.
You will have to learn the city: it's geography and society. Both high and low society must be understood. You will have to recruit locals and train them, although you can bring a few members of your order with you, to get a good start.
You will need to develop your Order's unique way, and have a wide variety of capacities among your group. Fighting at City HQ to protect a VIP is very different than stopping a hero who is rampaging through open streets.
You have to pay for all of this by handling both Situations (major efforts to deal with a bigger problem to the city), and ongoing Small Operations (mostly unmentioned day-to-day efforts). Balance both your Chapterhouse's improving roster and the budget.
Fantasy City Guard Elites is a hybrid CK2 style and Character Quest. Your Chapterhouse leader will personally get involved in some of the battling, and at least lead the efforts of your team. You will develop and improve the Chapterhouse's capabilities over the longer term as well.
Fantasy City Guard Elites - Ordo Protectum is inspired by Assassin's Creed, Ninja Gaiden, even City of Heroes and Jax II. Combat is focussed on melee and martial arts, but enhanced by ranged attacks, and some magic and tech, but this is overall a Low Magic, Low Tech setting.
This quest is based on my favorite thing: flipping a premise upside down. Instead of being a character who has to deal with city guards and various elite opposition, you are the opposition that calls even the heroic characters to account for their actions.
I'm trying to keep this story confined to one city, and relying on the CK2 quest mechanics to reign in my story wandering habits.
Notes & Terms
Chapterhouse Snapshot - Story posts about how the Chapterhouse is running overall: recruiting, funding, training, etc.
Situation - These are the major battles / manhunts / pursuits which will have more story detail and quest votes.
Small Operation - These are the regular everyday operations which happen without always being remarked upon. Small Operations provide a lot of the regular funding needed to keep the Chapterhouse running.
Awareness - Espionage is being broken into Awareness / Gossip. Awareness is more helpful against individuals, informing your chapterhouse about significant individuals and their location and movement patterns.
Gossip - The second part of Espionage. Gossip is more useful in determining who is a member of what organization, and plans for organization activities.
Chapterhouse Positions
Chapter Leader - That's you. Controlling the Chapter's development as well as personally involved as the Elite of Elites in battle.
Battle Master - "Marshal". The Battle Master is in charge of day to day training and recruitment, and is 2nd in command during situations after yourself. He / She should be a formidable fighter themselves as well.
Treasurer - "Steward" Tighter rein on spending, and controls large projects like expanding the chapterhouse.
City Coordinator - "Chancellor" - Handles escalations from the City Guards as well as missions issued by City government. Improves response time to City Guard escalation, as well as providing access to better missions.
Scout - "Awareness" - Improves information on heroes, assassins (to some extent), and geographic information, such as where people are in the city.
Bard - "Gossip" - Improves information on criminals, conspiracies and assassin groups. Provides social information, such as who has who's back?
Head Mage (if available) - "Learning" - Researches magic and trains magically inclined members of the chapterhouse.
Head Tech (if available) - "Learning" - Researches tech and trains technically inclined members of the chapterhouse.
Lieutenant - Leader of an individually capable team. Recruit from within, or find good leaders from without.
Order Setup, Part 1
Make a unique Order by choosing two styles. For example: Mounted & Armored would make a traditional Knight,
Pick 2 styles - Plan Voting. Your order will be defined by the fusion of the two.
Styles with strategic advantages will be weaker overall, in other areas, and those with Strategic Disadvantages will be stronger in other areas.
[ ] Armored - Defensive Plodding Style with heavier armor and large shields.
Strategic Disadvantage: Equipping Cost increased.
[ ] Mounted - Fast Moving style with advantages in large open spaces and disadvantages in crowded or interior locations.
Strategic Disadvantage: Equipping Cost increased.
[ ] Scout - Fast Moving yet Weak Style with Awareness action advantages.
Strategic Advantage: Before any Situation, gain a free Awareness roll.
[ ] Bard - Adaptive Combat Style with Gossip action advantages.
Strategic Advantage: Before any Situation, gain a free Gossip roll.
[ ] Subtle Melee - Adaptive and Evasive yet Fragile Melee Focused Style
[ ] Power Melee - Brutal and Reckless Melee Focused Style
Strategic Disadvantage: 25% chance of falling to fall-back when ordered to by superior.
[ ] Monk - Unarmed Martial Arts Style with Reversals and Takedowns
[ ] Sniper - Slow Yet Deadly Ranged Focused Style
Strategic Disadvantage: Cannot Participate in most Indoor Situations
[ ] Dakka - Rapid Fire Ranged Focused Style
[ ] Inspiring - Cohesive Style, Leadership Magic
Magic: Will [examples: Courage / Rally / Charge / Excel]
Strategic Advantage: When leading a Situation involving multiple Orders and/or City Guard units, directly control subsidiary teams as if they were your own.
[ ] Ritualist - Slow Magic, Flexible Effects and Attacks
Magic - Choose Celestial / Life / Earth / Psionic
[This is a Low Magic setting, so effects common in other stories will take a lot of time to channel, or provide a more low powered version of themselves. Definitely not an easy mode choice. If you chose another less combat focussed style, the Order will be incredibly fragile and have a hard time succeeding from the combination. Probably best to choose Armored, Mounted
[ ] Siegeworks - Slow Defensive Tech, Durable and Powerful
Tech - weapons / earthworks / traps / etc
Strategic Disadvantage: Chapterhouse has much higher operational cost to run the siegeworks. Each use of Tech for a situation also costs money.
(Chosing Siegeworks with another slow style will make your Chapterhouse the most slow moving order ever, which will make things difficult.)
[ ] Crazy Tinker - Adaptive Tech (mostly minor effects), Fast and Fragile.
Tech - Macgyver / setting ships on fire through mirrors and other crazy ideas.
Flairs
These don't have any game advantage or disadvantage, but affect the character of the Chapterhouse.
[ ] Generic Chapterhouse
[ ] Valkyrie (Women Only)
[ ] Religious Order / Sect
(extra vote to determine details)
[ ] Social or Political Order
(extra vote to determine details)
[ ] Other (write in)