Okay, things got much more hectic in the lead up to Christmas and making all these options was a rather more daunting prospect than first hoped. So it's not done yet, but it is being worked on!
There are ... a lot of options being put on offer here. Enough that we probably need to rationalise and prune a couple for the sake of your sanity
Sartier lay a little distance south of the equator. A land of hot dry summers and rainy winters, where the fertile land grew abundantly, and the forests surged, while clouds gathered around the mountain peaks at the centre of the island. It was a land of magic and Knights, influenced over the centuries in both by mighty Memphrabi, land of Scholar-Lords and the God-King of Tallow.
From the central mountains the great Barossa River cuts a course through the lands of mercantile Carlisle and warrior Raleigh, down to the lands of the Tellar, the pinnacle of Sartierian Chivalry. Nearly fifty thousand souls called the walled city of Harper home, with far more growing their living from the surrounding patchwork of farms and villages that spread ever outward.
Harper was filled with broad, shallow roofs, arranged on the east bank in large, well-ordered estates, and in sprawling masses of winding streets and clustered dwellings on the west. The mighty spires of the Songweaver's Guild rose up from the east bank, its bright colours and gleaming heights a beacon of hope to peasants across the river. The river docks constantly bustled with activity between, for all they were old and increasingly in disrepair. Women and men worked the docks, feeding goods to the market bazaars.
Much could be found in those bazaars. Despite not boasting the exotic wonders of the Etelan markets, the plenty of the Gambier markets or the sinister services that could be procured in the markets of Capo's Carentan, the breadth of what was available remained notable. All you would need could be found in these markets, under large, fraying shadecloths. Through the working day the merchants and craftsmen would head to their work, to the bazaar over the lunch hour, back to work, and then finally off to the public houses as the sun set.
Though the peasantry is poor, a culture thrived among the shaded overhangs and layers of stretched linen over laneways. Poets and street painters busied themselves on corners and in alleys, and theatre troupes plied their trade upon primitive sets. A lot of the sentiments were political, and the mood was not complimentary. Relations between Etela and Harper had been good before the usurpation of power, and none of the local peasantry felt particularly impressed to now live in the political centre of the island. Outright dissension was rare, though the city seethed beneath the feet of the noble class. If the height of the troubles can be survived, then time could heal much, and new prosperity even more, but for now there were dark tensions hidden beneath the poet and the pint.
Across the river the tremendous bulk of the Barossa Citadel sat in the centre of the east bank settlements. It was a mighty compound encircled by low, broad walls with crenellations and battlements. The raised mounds on which the buildings were formed were so old as to defy memory of their origin, whether man-made or natural. Successive generations of Tellar nobility had built up the Barossa Citadel to become what it was now, the second mightiest stronghold in all Sartier, only bowing to the Great West Citadel of Etela. Rings of smaller walls contained drill yards and barracks, and in the centre a sprawling estate that housed the family members of the Tellar, and in which the council met.
Thousands bustled about this great stronghold in the middle of spring, including hundreds of soldiers, the dozens of nobles of the Court and Minor Houses, and the ten council members. The meeting to decide the course of the summer would start shortly.
Great House Tellar, Turn 1, Summer
You survey the gathered Councillors and wonder what else will come up. Your conversation with the Symphony had been both relieving and frustrating, but at least you're coming into this reasonably well-informed now. The well-used and antiquated room seems much less spacious with ten bodies packed in and around the table.
Your mother, in her capacity as the Court Songweaver, gives you a small smile before her gaze falls on Andres; the curve becoming a straight line very quickly. The Lumens, May and Juan, are deep in hushed but heated conversation. As Exchequer and Tariff Chief, they usually pose a united front or say nothing if one disagrees with the other, but you imagine that takes an awful lot of premeditated argument and the meeting was called rather hastily this time around. Charlie, always Charlie to everyone, never Charlotte, is your somewhat remote cousin both by blood and personality. She carefully avoids making eye contact but it looks like she's got a bee in her bonnet about something. And the spymistress, who is busy looking distinctly nonchalant considering the circumstances. Patricia Frunkle is remarkably adept in her capacity considering her origins from the peasantry but nonetheless, there were more likely candidates for the position in the wings and with the right background to boot. She better have something good today; this sort of situation should be a spymistress' bread and butter. And previously Aunt Luna Reynolds, Antonia's Vice-Marshall. You still haven't figured out how to address her on a personal level so you've been sticking with "Vice-Marshall."
The Symphony's ink-stained secretaries are also present, those positions being a good training ground for the up and coming talent of the realm. At the moment, that's Tina Loskaria and Lily Reynolds, both fervently waiting to observe and make notes as needed. Tina's nearing the end of her tenure with your father. You idly wonder if there's any truth to the rumours about the two of them, as you wait for the Council meeting to begin.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Your aunt gets to her feet and calls the meeting to order. "Thank you all for convening on such short notice. We have a lot of ground to cover today."
Mechanics
You have nine agents you can assign, as well as four influence points.
You have 82,000g in your Treasury, and expect an income between 40~50k gold crowns during the turn.
Some actions will be marked as not requiring an agent - most of those options will require at least one of your free influence points to carry out. It is strongly recommended you save at least one or two influence points, as these points also serve to provide interrupts between turns if necessary.
Because of the agents and the need for plans to synergise, this is strictly plan voting.
To vote, select the action, and then add the agent you wish to assign underneath.
If you assign multiple agents to an action, they will function as multiple dice, the higher result wins. If you assign multiple agents to a multi-discipline test, we will split the two disciplines between the agents so they can test against their stronger trait.
You will notice base chances are rather low, but don't stress too much. Each action benefits from:
A Bonus (relevant stat / 3) from the relevant Symphony
A Bonus from the relevant Councillor
The full relevant stat from the agent assigned.
Your magic actions are particularly low for two reasons. Firstly, magic itself tends to have a high average among people who actually focus on it than other stats. Secondly, you are House Tellar and you have your eyes set higher than other mortals.
Your available agents are listed below.
Agent Rundown
Name
State
Best Stat
Best Value
Second Stat
Second Value
Evelyn Tellar
Healthy
Magic
34
Diplomacy
31
Juan Lumen
Healthy
Stewardship
28
Diplomacy
19
Luna Reynolds
Healthy
Combat
33
Martial
30
May Lumen
Healthy
Stewardship
24
Diplomacy
20
Monica Reynolds
Healthy
Magic
48
Martial
28
Dominic Rios
Healthy
Martial
31
Diplomacy
27
Carmen Rios
Healthy
Diplomacy
26
Combat
24
Theo Raleigh
Healthy
Combat
39
Magic
29
Hamid Hulland
Healthy
Intrigue
37
Magic
28
Stat
Councilor
Bonus
Martial
Luna Reynolds
10
Stewardship - General
Juan Lumen
10
Stewardship - Trade
May Lumen
8
Diplomacy
Evelyn Tellar
11
Intrigue (Non-Justice) Actions
Patricia Frunkle
10
Magic Actions
Rita Hulland
14
Justice Actions
Charlie Tellar
8
.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy had been the first topic up for discussion, and unsurprisingly, was one of the busiest dance cards. There was much to do, and few who could be trusted to the work. Some matters would have to wait. One thing that couldn't wait, alas, was the recent arrival of a Vincennes emissary, who was demanding aid against the Dale. Some response would have to be given straight away.
On more hopeful matters, there were proposals to start talking overseas to different nations, introducing themselves as the new rulers of Sartier, to go meet representatives of the Army and Navy, and a few other matters. But the one that Evelyn put the most passion into, and recommended to the council, was the matter of one noblewoman who had been captured by a Bladesinger during the bloody raid on the House Raleigh town of Oslan Dell. She believed that arranging for her release could kick start some good will with House Tarrant and maybe be the key to turning things around.
Action
(1/1 Turns Remaining) (Non-Agent Action) Missing An Opportunity - An emissary from Marlingtay by the name of Kayli Vincennes arrived at Court recently, lobbying all who would lend her an ear for House Tellar to exploit their newfound influence to push the weight of Sartier behind the Vincennes and against House Dale. After a heated Council meeting, Antonia delivers a message to Kayli:
[ ] - (Default) Not Right Now, Honey [No relations change but green-lights further Dale-Vincennes agitation, no extra options yet]
[ ] - This Fence Looks Good for Sitting [Requires 1 Influence, -1 Relations with Vincennes, +1 Relations with Capo, Dale, unlocks new options for bringing both sides to the peace table, prompts Capo neutrality in Dale-Vincennes matters]
[ ] - Make Love, Not War [Requires 1 Influence, unlocks new options to explore more coercive, interventionist peacemaking, -3 Relations with Vincennes, -3 Relations with Dale, +1 Relations with Capo]
[ ] - We Got Yo' Back [Requires 1 Influence, +3 Relations with Vincennes, -4 Relations with Dale, -2 Relations with Capo, Capo intervention almost assured, unlocks options for direct intervention on behalf of Vincennes]
Meet the Neighbours - Sartier is the smallest of the major nations and until its role in defeating the Teuv onslaught was seldom thought about. With a new era being ushered in, perhaps it would be a good time for introducing yourselves as the new rulers and start making friends? (Antonia, Evelyn)
[ ] - Khironex, the Serene Bell, rules over a nation of mariners and merchants, which could be useful to someone trying to bolster their economy.
[ ] - Memphrabi, the Scholar Lords, here are powerful and may have much wisdom to share.
[ ] - Kabilee, the Horse Lords, who live and die in the saddle. You doubt you'll break the Kabilee-Tarrant contract, or even if that would be a good idea, but they can be powerful allies.
[ ] - Renmi, the densely populated large island to the north. Subjugated by Teuv, they may be a canary in the mine when it comes to Teuvian plans.
[ ] -Tellarvangelists - Sometimes it's more important to be feared than loved. Sometimes it doesn't matter if they like you, as long as they respect you. But most often, getting other Houses to like you is pretty important.
-[ ] Write in which House (Great or Vassal) you would like your agent to attempt to make a diplomatic outreach to. [Effects depend on House and agents]
In the Navy! - The Royal Navy is sticking with their Sonissimman benefactors for the time being. Perhaps you should send someone to have a chat and figure out what the issue is.
(Pick one)
-[ ] To the Balan Cloister naval base in Etela, home of the Arsenal and where the bulk of the Royal Navy's major players operate from. It gets to the heart of the matter, but going to Etela could be risky with the way they're feeling right now. [60% base chance, 500g, unlocks new options, ??% chance of hostile action]
-[ ] To the Valeigh Cloister naval base in Arbalen, where the Royal Navy normally maintains the bulk of their fleet, though much of this force has now withdrawn to Etela. But there are still well-informed officials here who you may be able to talk to. [30% base chance, 500g, unlocks new options, 30% chance of -1 relation with Vincennes]
[ ] - Meet the Symphony Guard! - The Royal Army has been turned over to your control, but you have seldom had a chance to deal with them. It is time to foster links to the Royal Army and find out what they might like going forward, and what they might require in terms of new bases. [Unlocks new Royal Army options]
[ ] - Turning The Other Cheek - You have become aware that during the skirmishing with Sonissimmo, the Bladesingers of Raleigh captured a young noblewoman of the Etelan Court and are still holding her prisoner. Obtaining her safe and secure release would surely help spread some goodwill.
-[ ] In the same battle, the raiders of House Tarrant captured a Bladesinger by the name of Kaylee Tarleigh, who is very popular among the commoners of Dyelin. While the nobles of House Raleigh may not thank you for it, if you could secure her return, it would do wonders for commoners who have been seething since the skirmishes started.
(These will improve the odds of the Putting Yourself In Their Shoes actions)
[ ] - Make Him An Offer He Can't Refuse - The House Tarrant horse-embargo is infuriating and unacceptable. They're also on the opposite side of Sartier, making them difficult to strike back at without a risky naval campaign. But perhaps House Capo could be persuaded to ramp up the pressure on them? [30% base chance, 10,000g, sparks Antilles raids on Tarrant, success here may force Tarrant to the negotiating table]
(2/2 Turns Remaining) (Non-Agent Action) Butcher's Bill - Minor Houses Yap and Chang, unlucky enough to be on the border with House Sarba, and are thus bearing the brunt of the hostilities. They have handed House Raleigh a bill for 5,000g to cover damages and 15,000g the cost of mobilising for six months. House Raleigh have in turn handed it to you.
-[ ] Twenty thousand crowns? They must be mad! Ignore this silly demand. [-1 Relations with Raleigh] (Default option)
-[ ] The damages are a fair enough claim, but it is a Minor House's duty to mobilise when battle calls, that is for them to pay. [-5,000g, +1 Relations with Raleigh]
-[ ] Men and women of Alstair and Innspool died as a consequence of your ambition, it is only right that you pay. [-20,000g, +3 Relations with Raleigh]
(Requires Agent)-[ ] We cannot be expected to pay this bill, but perhaps someone with the right touch can smooth these problems over. [40% base chance, -250g, +1 Relations with Raleigh]
[ ] - The number of fully professional units that each House can keep is controlled by an ancient treaty to limit competition. With the Teuv threat looming, perhaps this treaty should be rewritten to increase the allowed regiments. (Chance will increase as the Teuv threat increases. [-20% base chance, 1,000g, 4 Influence]
Research
[ ] - Do You Have the Notecards? - Sometimes a kind word can open doors that brute strength can not. For that matter, sometimes Antonia yelling very angry things at a door can get it to open just as easily. At the moment, diplomacy in Harper is quite ad hoc, and outside of Evelyn you'd say that only Dominic Rios is particularly good at it. Both Antonia and Andres are interested in seeing if something can be done to improve how Tellar approaches the subject. [20% base chance, 2,000g, small diplomacy dice bonus, unlocks new options]
Putting Yourself In Their Shoes
[ ] - House Tarrant is embargoing the sale of horses, especially warhorses, outside of greater Etela. Surely there is a peaceful way to end this. [???% chance, new options unlocked]
[ ] - Investigate what might be done to mend fences with House Sarba. [???% chance, new options unlocked]
[ ] - House Timbre's new tariffs are wreaking havoc in Gambier's Merchant Quarter. Surely someone could convince Laurent Timbre that this is only hurting Sartier. [???% base, new options unlocked]
[ ] - You've heard rumours that "Faithless as a Tellar" is doing the rounds of the Court at Etela. That's not a good sign. You need to find some intermediaries to help try and normalise relations with the Sonissimmo. It won't be easy, but Sartier cannot stand with two of the Great Houses so riven. [???% base, new options unlocked]
Marshall & Vice-Marshall
As much activity as the Diplomatic agenda had entailed, there was rather less available for Antonia and Luna to report upon. Though the Royal Army was on their ledgers, it would take time to integrate their command structure and make use of them. The Royal Navy, on the other hand, seems altogether too happy staying with the Sonissimmo.
Antonia has been recommending increasing the size of the House's fleet, while Luna has been talking to all and sundry about improving care for wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Peasants they may be, but militia soldiers are still peasants that cost multiple gold crowns to train and replace.
Action
You're in the Army, Mister Brown - Antonia and Luna don't agree on much these days, but they do agree that having more troops to call upon would be useful. Luna has helpfully pointed out that you can support two more regiments from the gentry, and the treaty allows one more fully professional regiment.
[Agent required to commence recruitment, but freed up after first turn as the Regiment's new officers take over training]
[ ] - Inner Guard [Professional slot, 12,000g / 2,000g upkeep, Super-Heavy Spears/Swords, 3 turns]
[ ] - House Spearmen [Professional slot, Medium Spears/Axes 7,750g / 2,000g upkeep, 3 turns] X - House Cavalry [Semi-Pro slot, 11,600g / 1,400g upkeep, 3 turns] (Unavailable, no warhorses)
[ ] - House Longbows [Requires agent Spellsword trait, Semi-Pro slot, Light Longbows 23,500g / 2,000 upkeep, 4 turns]
[ ] - House Men-at-Arms [ Semi-Pro slot, 5,250g / 1,000g upkeep, 2 turns]
[ ] - Harper Militia [Medium Spears, 2,000g / 125g upkeep, 1 turn, Militia]
[ ] - Harper Archers [Skirmish Bows, 3,000g / 1250 upkeep, 1 turn, Militia]
[ ] - Harper Longbows [Skirmish Longbows. 5,250g / 125g upkeep, 2 turns, Militia]
A Shield of Our Own - Although the Royal Navy represents the strongest naval force in Sartier, all Houses maintain at least a couple of their own. Evelyn has been campaigning to expand on the six ships Tellar currently maintains, and would like to get new hulls in the water post haste. Unfortunately, your own shipyards on the west shore of the Barossa River aren't up for this sort of work, which means you'll need to place orders with…
(Agent only required to handle the first turn contract negotiations, released after that)
[ ] - … House Carlisle's shipyards at Gambier. You'll pay full price but at least Carlisle will appreciate the extra work for their Merchants, and the fact you're taking more responsibility for the sea. [Gain +4 House Triremes, 4,000g / 1,000g upkeep, +1 Relations with Carlisle, 2 turns]
[ ] - … the House Vincennes Shipyards. They're offering a discount as a sweetener in the hopes of enticing you into helping with their port expansion. [3,000g / 1,000g upkeep, 2 turns]
Antonia has spoken to the council about the need to coordinate with the Vassal Houses on recruitment matters. All of Greater Harper needs to be ready for trouble in these heightened times.
[ ] - Write in policy (For example, step up recruitment, or recruit light forces, heavy forces, to expand the militia, or even to stop recruitment) [Stewardship/Martial Test, success chance depends on policy, 1 turn]
Research
[ ] - Calling Florence Nightingale - Not all casualties are lost. Wounded soldiers can be healed and returned to the fray in due course. Fewer dead mean fewer widows, widowers, and orphans, fewer pensions to pay out, more experience retained and better morale for all. Perhaps it is time to look into options for keeping your forces alive better? [40% base chance, 3,000g, unlocks new options, 1 turn]
[ ] - It Cost How Much!? - Having the majority of the country's levy raised for war has provided everyone with a sharp reminder of how expensive it can be to summon the militia and levy the populace in war time. It was bad enough for you, having to put up nearly 20,000 crowns to support them for nearly six months, but with your Minor Houses as well it came to three times that. Surely something can be done to reduce the ruinous expense of mobilising. [40% base chance, Martial test, 2,000g, unlocks new options, 1 turn]
[ ] - But It's So Big and Blue - Seapower has never been that high on the priority list of Sartierans, but perhaps it is time to invest some thought into how Tellar can change that. [50% base chance, 2,000g, unlocks new options, 1 turn]
Executive, Exchequer & Tariff Chief
The watchword of Andres' presentation was, "lack". They lacked income streams to offset the Royal Army, they lacked the ability to support the Royal Navy even if they could talk the Navy around. They lacked the infrastructure, the trade routes, the ability to support trade-routes. The first steps clearly lay in a lot of brainstorming, as well as getting the ball rolling on bringing Harper's infrastructure back into line with the rest of Sartier.
Andres was loudly and passionately advocating getting the roads fixed first up, while Juan was particularly insistent on convincing Carlisle to cough up some support for the Royal Army. May Lumen, on the other hand, was furiously arguing in favour of research into trade options.
Action
Roadworks Next Twenty Leagues - The infrastructure in Harper lags behind all the rest of Sartier. While it had been merely embarrassing in the past, now that Harper is expected to be the international face of the nation, it is simply unacceptable. Andres is more energetic and hopeful than he has been in years, and everyone in the council agrees. Work needs to begin to drag Harper into line with the rest of the nation. To start with, things need some long overdue repairs. (All options must be completed in order to increase Infrastructure to Level 2).
[ ] - Over time the main roads that connect the city of Harper and the settlements of the Minor Houses, have begun to suffer from neglect. If you could renew these important paths, far more traffic between the settlements of Harper would be possible. [40% base 8,000g/turn for 3 turns, reduce by one turn per extra Influence you add to the project, as it helps you gain buy-in from minor houses to contribute]
Complete - Guard Posts along the roads between the major settlements need to be repaired after falling into disrepair over many years. [40% base, 12,000g, 3 turns] (Auto-completed with Law & Order trait)
[ ] - There have been calls recently to rebuild the riverside dock facilities along the Barossa River. Rebuilt piers, repairs to the cargo cranes, clearing out some of the slums that have started to intrude onto the docks, all would do wonders for improving the productivity of the river docks. [40% base chance, 6,000g/turn for 4 turns, small increase in trade income for all settlements on the Dyelin]
[ ] - The granaries of Harper are old and decrepit, and hardly fit for purpose. They'll need to be rebuilt to be properly useful again. [50% base chance, 3,000g/turn, 5 turns]
[ ] - Luna wants to establish a courier system that can help distribute messages faster and more reliably. [20% base chance, 3,000g/turn, 3 turns, improved responses to attacks]
[ ] - Vincennes is seeking help to expand their main Trade Harbour in Marlingtay and they were looking for some assistance from their Liege House. [70% base chance, 4,000g, 2 turns, +1 Relations with Vincennes, Increase in trade for Vincennes]
[ ] - The Lumens are telling Andres that the answer to the House's financial straits is to draw down on House Carlisle. Surely they can be convinced that it is in everyone's best interests to back the House through these perilous times? At the least, with Tellar's new influence, there are a few things that can be done to bring in extra income. [???% chance (improved by other pro-Carlisle actions, 2,000g, ??? results, 1 turn]
Research
Read the Manual - Almost every other House already has better infrastructure. Perhaps it would be a good idea to send someone to another House to study? [60% Base chance, 2,000g, improves "Roadworks Next Twenty Leagues actions, better base chances, moderates failure states, 1 turn]
-[ ] Write in House to study (chance of improved relations)
[ ] - As much as Juan and May try, the House as a whole lacks a good grounding in the meat and bones of money-making. Truth be told, if it doesn't involve Knights or Songweaving, it is often hard to keep a Tellar noble's attention. But nonetheless, some strides must be made to improve the understanding of the matters that make a treasury vault fat or lean. [30% base chance, 4,000g, unlocks new options for finding out how Tellar can into economics, 1 turn]
[ ] - Trade - Trade is something that other Houses seem to have a lot of, and you don't. May Lumen is crying out for help in finding possible ways to open up trade. [40% base chance, 2,000g, unlocks new options for trade revenue, 1 turn]
[ ] - Logistics - You're told that when they went and tallied up the expense of the six-month confrontation and realised that across Sartier something on the order of half a million gold crowns had been paid to raise and maintain the levy, Juan and May Lumen had gone and gotten blind drunk. After getting over their hangovers, they started brainstorming ideas for savings in the industries that support your levy. [40% base chance, Stewardship test, 2,000g, unlocks new options, 2 turns]
[ ] - Bridging the Gap - In Harper the inequality between rich and poor is more dramatic than elsewhere. Sonissimmo used to frequently chide them over this. Perhaps some research is in order? [55% base chance, 2,000g, unlocks new options for beginning to improve your Gentry Level, 2 turns]
Justice
Charlie was in quite a state when it came time for the Council meeting. While the other Councillors typically knew at least something of the business of their counterparts in other provinces, a Justice was very much an insular worker and she had much to catch up on.
Her most pressing request was for assistance with the surveys of the various regions. Antonia especially wanted a survey of Greater Carentan. Some of the things she had heard about going-ons in the Mist had her seriously concerned.
[All Actions below are Intrigue tests unless otherwise noted]
Action
Taking over the Case Load - Traditionally the duties of the ruling Great House have included a certain responsibility for backing other Houses up on law and order, particularly when it came to bandits, uprisings, and Teuvian influence. The Tellar Justice, Charlie Tellar, knows that she has a lot to catch up on and wants resources to help her survey the other provinces to find out how they are going. (This will give you a spot check on the Commoner Mood and Teuvian Influence of the provinces, as long as you pass the action the information should be accurate Base chances boosted by 'Maestro of the Hunt' and 'Law and Order']
-[ ] Survey Greater Harper, your home and vassal provinces. Things in Harper itself are mostly fine, and Carlisle is okay, but there are some rumours about the other two. [50% base chance, 0 Influence, 1 turn]
-[ ] Survey Greater Carentan, home of Capo and its vassals. Antonia has heard some dark and alarming rumours as to the extent of trouble in these lands. [40% base chance, 1 Influence, 1 turn]
-[ ] Survey Greater Etela, home of Sonissimmo and its vassals. Up until now there have been few problems, but massive upheavals are unpredictable by nature. [20% base chance, 2 Influence, 1 turn]
[ ] - Call a Summit - Charlie Tellar wants to host a summit of all of the House Justices, Great, Vassal, and Minor to discuss the keeping of the peace. [Automatic success, 3 Influence, will create a Summit mini-turn with an agenda to be determined]
Search & Destroy - When you have identified a significant source of civil unrest, sometimes it is best to just storm the gates and eliminate the threat. Pick the threat and the forces you want to use:
X - (No clear threats currently identified)
(Option made available now thanks to Law and Order trait)
[ ] - Andres has been catching worrying rumours that Harper already has the nascent heart of a rebel army, a group called the Yellow Banner, who wishes the end of Tellar rule. From what he has heard, they are years away from any true attempts at an uprising. However, hard facts are difficult to come by. It is time to do some focused digging. Whoever these people are, the peasantry are being careful not to betray them. Would that they were so careful not to betray their rightful lords! [35% base chance, 3,000g, 1 turn]
Research
(Non-Agent Action) [ ] - Exit Interview - Charlie Tellar would like a chance to talk to Ethan Sonissimmo, the Justice of that Great House. He hadn't been in the job long, but he still would have had a better idea of what was happening on a Sartier-wide perspective than anyone else. And, if it goes well, perhaps it will reassure the Sonissimmo that this takeover was meant in good faith. [45% base change, 1 Influence, Test on Charlie Tellar Diplomacy (14), fail states mean she's likely to be attacked]
[ ] Did You Get My Memo? - Andres has long wanted Patricia Frunkle and Charlie to work more closely together, feeling Frunkle's agents can provide many clues to potential unrest. Both women are interested in looking into it further. [30%, Diplomacy-Intrigue test, unlocks new options]
Spymistress
Patricia is feeling the pinch from the recent arrival of Hamid Hulland, an elderly man who can call upon years of experience and intrigues. To her credit, she has pushed this distraction aside and continued to do her duty. She has presented a number of options for the council to pursue. In particular, Patricia would like to look into new security measures.
Action
[ ] - Let's Network - Use one of your agents to go visit another Court and look for a potential recruit, or failing that, a commoner who works at the Court.
-[ ] Write in with target House, and any details regarding targeting [???% base chance, chance to recruit Foreign Agent]
[ ] - Infiltrate Tranquility - Even before your current difficulties with the Royal Navy, your problems with the pirate lords of Tranquility were already long, severe, and varied. Perhaps agents could be placed in that shattered land to provide warning of large developments. [Base chance 25%, Increased chance of getting a turn's warning for any major Pirate incursions]
[ ] - Two Can Play At That Game - When spies are suspected, Patricia Frunkle can be ordered to perform a sweep through the Court at Harper, looking for signs of disloyalty. [???% base chance, chance of locating disloyal court members, if any exist]
Patricia Frunkle is pushing for council resources to expand the web of spies she can call upon. As a result, the council is dispatching an agent to establish more assets in...
[ ] - write in any Great or Vassal House [Improve economic detail, asset details, chance of intercepting hostile actions]
[ ] - The Royal Navy is altogether too fond of the old regime, and it is certainly a danger to your continued hold on power. Perhaps you should look into the matter and see what your spies can tell you about the Navy and their intentions. [Unlocks new options]
[ ] - The Cure for Stupidity - When all else fails, sometimes you can take a more … direct route to problem solving. Patricia is no stranger to wet work, and if your target is in Harper lands she can handle problems herself. If someone further afield is in dire need of a knife, Patricia relies on a commoner in her employ named Daisy Connor. A handler will need to be provided, however. (Ask for Patricia's estimates for chances and costs)
-[ ] Target in Harper [Target dependent base chance and cost, 1 Influence, no Agent required]
-[ ] Target elsewhere [Target-dependent base chance and cost, Agent required]
Research
[ ] - Loose Lips - Even before the entire order of Sartier was turned on its ear spies were trafficking themselves about with wild abandon. You are sure it will only get worse from here. Patricia wants funding to research ways to keep the Barossa Citadel clear of intruders. [40% base chance, 2,000g, unlocks new options]
[ ] - Follow the Money - Patricia Frunkle has long known that you can learn just about anything by knowing where the money goes. She'd like to spend some time looking into ways to better equip her agents to track that. [25% base chance, 4,000g, unlocks new options]
[ ] - The Professional - Daisy Connor, the commoner woman who handles much of Frunkle's wetwork, would like funding to start research into the more underhanded applications of Spellsword techniques. [40% base chance, 4,000g, multi-discipline test, unlocks new options]
[ ] - Gifthorse Dentistry - So just why did House Capo decide to back you as opposed to trying to claim power for themselves? It certainly wasn't out of a sense of pure altruism. [Base chance ???%, 4,000g, ??? results]
Court Songweaver
Rita Hulland is excited by the prospect of leveraging the newfound authority of the House to establish magical research on a scale never before seen. As one of the foremost mages of this era, she feels she can accomplish much with a little funding and resourcing. House Tellar being a land of Songweavers both plentiful and powerful, many other strong performers have come to her looking for patronage to set-up magical research.
Rita is particularly attached to the idea of a research camp in the Chiming Forest.
Action
Rita Hulland is campaigning to establish research bases in areas where the ley lines of power run deep and strong. Of course, these are not easy places to establish a camp.
[ ] Chiming Forest. The enchanted woods of the Chiming Forest have been a by-word for the bizarre and incredible. Since the defeat of the Teuv that has only grown, as parts of the forest become misted and tales of strange monsters floating among the trees begin to circulate. [20% Base Chance, 12,000g, Stewardship/Magic test, 4 turns]
[ ] Capo Mists. The mists in the warm northern part of the island are plainly unnatural. The strongest areas correspond to regions with many of the tallest tales and most bizarre happenings. [20% Base Chance, 15,000g Stewardship/Magic test, 4 turns]
-[ ] … Jointly with the Capo - If you approach the Capo openly, there's a good chance they'd be perfectly happy to join you in this endeavour. Their Court Songweaver, Luke Capo, is not quite Rita's equal, but he's still a fine mage with much to offer. [Replace above costs with: 40%, 6,000g, Diplomacy/Magic test, 3 turns, research shared with the Capo]
[ ] Mountains hold many veins of magic in their granite grasp, and setting up camp in some of the abandoned old mines of central mountains could be very rewarding. [35% Base chance, 15,000g, 4 turns]
[ ] Greater Etela Mists. Sure, they hate you and you'll have to do your best to fly under the radar but … Maybe with the right agent to set it up, it could work? [-5% Base chance, 15,000g, Stewardship/Intrigue/Magic test, 4 turns] *Normalise relations with the Sonissimmo in order to improve base chance.
[ ] Balan Harbour, Etela. Many strange water phenomena have been reported in the harbour, and Rita is dying to get some traction for a research mission there. Ideally before the
Sonissimmo scholars realise what is sitting under their noses. [-5% Base Chance, 20,000g, Diplomacy/Magic test, 4 turns]
Research
[ ] - When the Beating of Your Heart... - The Vincennes Fortis Drums are mighty artifacts of magical power. But how are they made? Rita has long wanted a chance to investigate the Drums and how they are made. [15% base chance, 2,000g, 2 Influence, 2 turns]
(Non-Agent Action, once per year, starts ongoing research) Some talented Songweavers are asking you to bankroll their research into Songweaving. This sets up ongoing research into topics that have a chance to return a discovery each turn. These may generate small improvements, such as a reduction in the casting requirement, or an incremental improvement in yield. Or it may even generate a new song or hymn entirely!
[ ] Georgie Hulland (Mg 33) is interested in conducting research into support songs. [Base chance -20%, 10,000g startup, 2,000g per turn upkeep, currently a 27% chance of an incremental improvement to a support skill, 5% chance of a major breakthrough]
[ ] Monica Reynolds (Mg 48) wants funding to conduct independent research into battlefield songs. Of course, with this sort of research, you need a lot of space and resources. [Base chance -30%, 30,000g startup, 5,000g per turn upkeep, currently a 32% chance of an incremental improvement, 2% of a major breakthrough]
[ ] Your young relative, Alice Tellar (Mg 25), would like an opportunity to conduct general research. [-10% base chance, 15,000g startup, 3,000g per turn upkeep, currently a 29% chance of an incremental improvement in a random field, 15% chance of an interesting development]
[ ] Natalie Tellar (Mg 12, C 36) is very interested in learning how to develop and improve Spellsword techniques. [Base chance -30% Magic+Combat test, 20,000g startup, 4,000g per turn upkeep, currently. 29% chance of an incremental improvement in a random field, 2% chance of a major breakthrough]
Minor Houses
Entreaties for aid had come from three of your six vassal houses, from Rios in the west, Hulland in the south, and Reynolds in the east.
[ ] - One of your immediate vassals, Minor House Rios, hasn't operated their own navy before, but with the current instability they are looking to start. They are reaching out to you to see if you can spare an advisor to help them start up. [-200g, +2 Triremes for Rios, +1 Relations with Rios]
-[ ] - Subsidise the construction. This will allow Rios to build a larger force and also make the shipwrights in Gambier happy with you. [-1,000g, Additional +2 Triremes for Rios, +1 Relations with Rios, 30% chance of +1 Relations with Carlisle]
(Non-Agent Action) House Hulland hails from Cape Sous, the far south of Sartier, and they are starting to feel anxious about Tranquility becoming overly friendly. Recently you have been asked, through Rita Hulland, to have a regiment of Tellar troops shifted down to reinforce Cape Sous.
-[ ] Send a regiment of House Men-at-Arms to reinforce. [1 Influence, +1 Relations with House Hulland, additional forces in place in case of Pirate attacks]
[ ] - The Reynolds of Billfarthing, from whom some of the members of your Court hail, are floating the idea that with Tellar help, they could greatly expand their shipyards. This will let your Minor Houses build their own warships, though it would take further expanding before they can manage the higher-quality warships your major houses uses. [60% base chance of success, 2,000g per turn, +3 Relations with House Reynolds, 6 turns, shipyard berths increase to 6, Agent available after 2 turns]
Court Maintenance
Not too much had happened at court yet, as all the provinces are still reeling from the dramatic power shift that had gripped Sartier. Kayli Vincennes had arrived from Marlingtay on what was clearly a diplomatic mission, and soon Tina Loskaria would go back to her home in Carlisle and be replaced. Hopefully she would have good things to say about her time in Harper...
(Non-Agent Action) Replace a Councillor - Sometimes a candidate for a council position comes along who is just clearly the right person for the job. A Symphony is free to chop and change councillors as they will, but should be wary about spreading ill-will if they do so wantonly.
-[ ] Replace Patricia Frunkle with Hamid Hulland. Patricia is happy to step down as long as she isn't discarded from the Court. It is believed she will join Daisy Connor in forming Hamid's striking arm of assassins.
-[ ] Write in: Councillor to be replaced, replacement courtier (must be part of your court, at least 16, not senile, requires 1 influence]
Invite to Court - If you have a specific character you would like in your court, send them an invite.
-[ ] Write in name to invite, chances depend on target
(Non-Agent Action) Some people are just rotten influences. They connive, they lie, they cheat, and they sow dissension behind the scenes. When you identify someone like this, often the best course of action is to expel them.
[ ] Inform a person they are no longer welcome at your Court. [Success automatic. Write in who is to be expelled. May be consequences depending on the person; e.g., expelling a noble may sour relations with their House]
[ ] - Help Wanted - Tina Loskaria has served faithfully for eight years as Secretary to Symphony Andres, and never in the way that people have been not so subtly hinting at. Her role is part-gopher, part-assistant, but mostly an understudy position for a Minor House scion to learn from a big player. A young noble can learn a lot of the ropes of governance by observing a more seasoned noble. Former Secretaries tend to head back to their Minor Houses to assume Council positions among their own families at around twenty-five, which Tina's just turned. She'll be headed home soon and someone will need to replace her. It is time to start looking for replacements. Andres may be hoping for someone more… compliant. [Automatic success, Get a head start on finding replacement candidates from within Harper]
-[ ] Assign an agent to conduct a search in another province (Write in province)
Personal
Evelyn
Pick one option only
(Evelyn only, free action) [ ] - What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor? - Sea-Bellain Alice Ruger, perhaps something can be gained by renewing acquaintances with an old friend? Last you heard, Alice's mother, Bell Holly, was getting close to retiring back to the shore, which would leave your old friend in command of quite the fleet. And perhaps it would also be nice to go start a good bar fight again! [90% flat base chance, sends a letter to Alice Ruger]
(Evelyn only, free action) - Backup Plan - While your dad and aunt certainly don't plan on getting bumped off, you never know when something could befall them. Both are no strangers to battle and, tough as they are, fortune can claim anyone, and if either dies it dissolves the Symphony and you will have to take their place. Problem is … You have no clue who would join you to form the Symphony. Maybe you should start looking ahead of time? (Can be reused as you become more acquainted with more courts)
[ ] - Not Quite Moestorm - Believe it or not, you're now probably the most eligible Bachelor in all of Sartier. You haven't been particularly interested up till now, and to be truthful, you've spent more energy on dueling than dating. [Start putting feelers out for potentially interested candidates]
[ ] - Looking For Kindred Spirits - As the inheriting line, it is up to you to pick a Symphonius to join you in ruling Harper. However, it doesn't have to be a husband, or a brother, or a friend, or cousin or, well anything else. All it has to be is someone reliable, talented, trustworthy, who won't freak your populace out, make people worry about flight risks, have dark secrets, and whom you can trust to lead half of your House. That shouldn't be too hard to find, right? [Start putting out feelers for non-marriage candidates]
[ ] - Preparing to Take the Next Step - Truly elite Songweavers are few and far between. Tellar is blessed to have two in their court: Monica Reynolds, and your mother, Rita. You would like to add a third: yourself. But it is a long and arduous road to the top. You would like to ask your mother to help prepare you for the challenges of reaching the true heights of the Songweaving craft. [50% base chance, starts the path of upgrading from Veteran Songweaver to Elite Songweaver]
Current Relations
Carlisle: Fair
Raleigh: Fair, some resentment over last season's skirmishing
Vincennes: Very Good
Capo: Very Good
Antilles: Good
Dale: Good
Sonissimmo: Furious
Tarrant: Poor, well down on historical highs
Sarba: Fair, but well down on historical highs
Timbre: Poor, well down on historical highs
In particular here though, I wanted to give a range of ways to attack a problem so people can pick their play style. So you have aggressive options and diplomatic options for a few different scenarios. I ... Wouldn't recommend trying to carrot and stick within the same scenario though (don't send the Antilles to attack Tarrant while also trying to send diplomatic overtures).
Short list of questions, sorry if this is a bother
When we have a magic/stewardship test, what does that mean, as opposed to magic-stewardship, or magic+stewardship?
Why do we need a spellsword to recruit house longbows, but not any other type?
Are the justice options all intrigue by default?
Several of the shipbuilding options require an agent but have no success chance. Are these auto successes?
Better to ask stupid questions than make assumptions.
[X] Free – Missing an Opportunity
-[X] Make love not war [-1 Influence]
This will require us to make it up to our vassals somehow, but a strategic marriage seems the best way to deal with this problem. Or at least stop them killing each other for a few years. We can make it up to Vincennes by helping to expand their shipyard (which we want to do anyway).
[X] Free – Butcher's Bill
-[X] Fair Claims. [-5,000g]
We don't have the money to pay out of pocket for everything, and besides, that sets a dangerous precedent. Paying for a fraction of it we can afford though. Just.
[X] Evelyn Tellar – Putting Yourself In Their Shoes
-[X] House Tarrant
Doubling down on House Tarrant to try to end the incredibly damaging embargo (see below as well). We need to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. We could play hardball, but I'd rather try to patch up relations than destroy them further.
[X] Theo Raleigh – Turning the Other Cheek
-[X] Bladesinger As Well.
This shows that we're prepared to deal in good faith. Hopefully this will help to create the impression that we're prepared to let bygones be bygones and help us with our actions in other areas. The bonus to 'Putting Yourself in Their Shoes' is just icing on the cake.
[X] Dominic Rios – Do You Have the Notecards? [-2,000g]
We're going to need to resort to Diplomacy to do things in the future, it's just the way of things. So we should start trying to solve the problem now, or at least get an idea of how we can solve it better in the future.
[X] Carmen Rios – A Shield of Our Own
-[X] House Carlisle [-4,000g]
-[X] Vincennes [-3,000g]
We can't trust the Royal Navy, we might not ever be able to trust the Royal Navy. So my solution to this problem is to leverage the fact that with Evelyn we have one of the only naval specialised characters in Sartier at the moment and to just create our own navy. Yes, it'll be expensive, but maintaining the Royal Navy would be too, and by creating it ourselves we can trust this navy. As for why Carlisle, it's only a thousand gold more, in return we get a noticeable improvement to our Carlisle relationship. Which should help us in the long run economically somewhat.
[X] Luna Reynolds - It Cost How Much!? [-2,000g]
Deploying troops is expensive. We need it to be less so, especially on our current budget. Our speciality is hitting problems until they go away, which is a bit useless if we can't hit our way out of problems because we don't have the money for troop deployment.
[X] May Lumen – Vincennes Harbour [-4,000g]
With the Make Love Not War action the Vincennes are going to be pissed, this will help make them less so. That it strengthens our vassal and increases their trade is just an added bonus. It's not even that expensive.
[X] Juan Lumen – Read the Manual (House Carlisle) [-2,000g]
This was originally going to House Carlisle for a loan, however our financial position is not nearly so precarious as I originally believed. It's painful and limiting, sure, but its not completely impossible. Lets instead find out what our best House for money is doing about its infrastructure so we can blatantly copy them learn from their example.
[X] Hamid Hulland – Gifthorse Dentistry [-4,000g]
This feels like something we should establish here and now, so its not hanging over our heads for the rest of our time. Get it out of the way now and we can set Hamid to doing his actual job in future turns.
[X] Free – Exit Interview [-1 Influence]
Its a 75% chance of success, which is less than I'd like, but if it succeeds it'll go some way to fixing our issues with Sonnissmo and it gives us a good overview of any problems if it does succeed. We shouldn't trust it absolutely though, Sonnissmo do suck at intrigue.
[X] Free – Replace a Councilor
-[X] Replace Patricia Frunkle with Hamid Hulland
There's not really any reason to not do this. Its free, gains us an extra influence for next turn, and a 2 bonus to any intrigue roll.
[X] Free – Minor Houses – Send House Hulland a Regiment of Men At Arms [-1 Influence]
This doesn't really cost us anything, its a free action and it generates a good deal of goodwill from our vassals. The troops might even be useful in the event of a pirate attack!
[X] Monica Reynolds - Chiming Forest [-12,000g]
Give Monica what she wants. You never know, it might even be useful. Magic is our thing though, we should make a point to exploit it as much as we can. I don't know about the funding actions, if anyone wants to chime in on that please feel free.
[X] Free – Magic Reasearch – George Hulland [-10,000g]
Included now that I've found out that we can afford it as long as we don't go too overboard. Honestly, I'm more inclined personally to go for Alice Tellar's 'interesting options', but this is more certain. And cheaper.
[X] Free – Evelyn – What Do We Do With The Drunken Sailor
Let's use those connections we got through our backstory. This should help us to deal with the lack of the Royal Navy, and buy us enough time to develop our own alternative.
Total Cost: 45,000g; 3 Influence
Yes, I'm very tired right now. I'll have a better analysis/explanation when I wake up again, I'm happy to answer an/all questions on my plan.
Right, so let's start fighting some fires and researching some tires.
And wow, this took forever to put together.
[X] Missing An Opportunity
-[X] This Fence Looks Good for Sitting [Requires 1 Influence, -1 Relations with Vincennes, +1 Relations with Capo, Dale, unlocks new options, prompts Capo neutrality in Dale-Vincennes matters]
Middle of the road. Won't make the Vincennes happy, but we want to stay away from encouraging them, and push the Capo to do the same.
[X] - Turning The Other Cheek – Theo Raleigh
-[X] Bladesinger (These will improve the odds of the Putting Yourself In Their Shoes actions)
See Putting Yourself In Their Shoes for reasoning on this one.
[X] Butcher's Bill
-[X] The damages are a fair enough claim, but it is a Minor House's duty to mobilise when battle calls, that is for them to pay. [-5,000g, +1 Relations with Raleigh]
Go for the middle response. I'd rather not send us into the red, but 5000 g isn't that bad overall, and making Raleigh happy is good, especially as we will probably damage our reputation with them with Turning The Other Cheek.
[X] - Do You Have the Notecards? – Dominic Rios [20% base chance, 2,000g, small diplomacy dice bonus, unlocks new options]
MOAR DIPLOMACY. Need every bonus we can get on these actions. Focusing here early will pay off further down the road.
[X] Putting Yourself In Their Shoes – Evelyn Tellar
-[X] House Tarrant [???% chance, new options unlocked]
I really want to get this Tarrant thing sorted ASAP. It would be a big feather in our cap, and might help with the economy. Besides, Sonissimmo sees us doing right by their Vassals, they'll likely start to back off.
[X] A Shield of Our Own – Carmen Rios
-[X] Carlisle [Gain +4 House Triremes, 4,000g / 1,000g upkeep, +1 Relations with Carlisle, 2 turns]
-[X] Vincennes [3,000g / 1,000g upkeep, 2 turns]
Go with Carlisle for the approval, and start building up our Navy.
[X] - It Cost How Much!? – Luna Reynolds [40% base chance, Martial test, 2,000g, unlocks new options, 1 turn]
I don't think we need to expand our forces at the moment, and getting our costs down is a priority.
[X] – Vincennes Harbour Expansion – May Lumen [70% base chance, 4,000g, 2 turns, +1 Relations with Vincennes, Increase in trade for Vincennes]
Improve our shipbuilding, get more trade, and help keep the Vincennes happy.
[X] Read the Manual – Juan Lumen [60% Base chance, 2,000g, improves "Roadworks Next Twenty Leagues actions, better base chances, moderates failure states, 1 turn]
-[X] House Carlisle
Anything we can do to boost our Stewardship chances, and possibly make Carlisle happier into the bargain.
[X] - Exit Interview [45% base change, 1 Influence, Test on Charlie Tellar Diplomacy (14), fail states mean she's likely to be attacked]
Might as well go for this. I really like the idea that this could be a start to mending things with Tellar.
Try to work this out as early as possible. Paranoia sees a knife at our backs. I really, really don't want to find out that they supported us just to watch us crumble and step in to take things over for themselves, but I'd rather determine whether they intend sabotage now than later.
Our Advisor wants it, and it's not politically divisive. I'd wait on the other options until we have a firmer footing in Influence and such.
[X] Georgie Hulland (Mg 33) is interested in conducting research into support songs. [Base chance -20%, 10,000g startup, 2,000g per turn upkeep, currently a 27% chance of an incremental improvement to a support skill, 5% chance of a major breakthrough]
Might as well take a swing at it, even though the chances are appallingly low. Get it started early and hope things work out right.
[X] House Hulland
-[X] Send a regiment of House Men-at-Arms to reinforce. [1 Influence, +1 Relations with House Hulland, additional forces in place in case of Pirate attacks]
Not much cost on this action, although it might be worth dropping if we're worried about maintaining our Influence pool.
[X] Replace a Councillor
-[X] Replace Patricia Frunkle with Hamid Hulland. Patricia is happy to step down as long as she isn't discarded from the Court. It is believed she will join Daisy Connor in forming Hamid's striking arm of assassins.
[X] - What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor? [90% flat base chance, sends a letter to Alice Ruger]
Costs:
Butcher's Bill: 5000 g
Do You Have the Notecards?: 2000 g
A Shield of Our own: 7000 g, 2000 g upkeep
It Cost How Much!?: 2000 g
Vincennes Harbour Expansion: 4000 g
Read the Manual: 2000 g
Gifthorse Dentistry 4000 g
Chiming Forest: 12000 g
Georgie Hulland 10000 g startup, 2000 g upkeep.
Total Cost: 48000 g, 4000 g upkeep
Income: 40~50k g - 48000 g = Maybe somewhere in the black? (Curse you, low Stewardship! ) At least we won't dip into our coffers too much.
Missing An Opportunity: 1 Influence
Exit Interview: 1 Influence
House Hulland: 1 Influence
Influence Cost: 3
Turn 1 Starting Influence: 4
Remaining Influence: 4-3=1
Agents available next turn: 7 (Monica Reynolds (3 turns) and May Lumen (1 turn) unavailable)
Missing An Opportunity: Automatic
Turning the Other Cheek: Automatic
Butcher's Bill: Automatic
Do You Have the Notecards?: 20 + 8(Antonia Diplomacy:23/3) + 11(Councilor:Evelyn) + 27(Agent Diplomacy)= 66%
Putting Yourself In Their Shoes: ??? + 8(Antonia Diplomacy:23/3) + 11(Councilor:Evelyn) + 31(Agent Diplomacy)= 50 Bonus to Roll
A Shield of Our own: Automatic
It Cost How Much!?: 40 + 11(Antonia Martial:34/3) + 10(Councilor:Luna) + 30(Agent Martial)= 91%
Vincennes Harbour Expansion: 70 + 9(Andres Stewardship:26/3) + 10(Councilor: Juan) + 24(Agent Stewardship)= 113%
Read the Manual: 60 + 9(Andres Stewardship:26/3) + 10(Councilor:Juan) + 28(Agent Stewarship)= 107%
Exit Interview: 45 + 8(Antonia Diplomacy:23/3) + 8(Councilor:Charlie) + 14(Agent Diplomacy)= 75%
Gifthorse Dentistry: ??? + 8(Antonia Intrigue:24/3) + 10(Councilor: Patricia) + 37(Agent Intrigue)= 55 Bonus to Roll
Chiming Forest: 20 + 10(Andres Magic:29/3) + 14(Councilor:Rita) + 48(Agent Magic)= 92%
Georgie Hulland: -20 + 10(Andres Magic:29/3) + 14(Councilor:Rita) + 33(Agent Magic)= 37%
House Hulland: Automatic
What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?: 90%
Any action that doesn't have a percentage chance to success (such as Turning the Other Cheek) is an automatic success, correct? We just need an agent assigned to it to actually get it done, but the Agent's stats don't matter... or will there be a die roll to see to what extent they succeed?
If an action takes multiple turns and has an agent attached to it, that agent is going to be out of our ability to use for the duration of the project, correct? Otherwise it's noted, as with the Reynolds action.
Those base chances for Magic research are really low. Is that the chance of starting up that particular set of research, and then the base chances afterwards are the chances of them succeeding in providing something?
For the contract negotiations under the ship-building action, is that a Martial or a Stewardship test?
How does the Councilor Bonus to actions work? I was forced to leave those blank in my analysis.
As a related question, can you look over my projected chances for success and see if I did them right?
Does Influence regenerate on its own, or is it a set pool that we have to restore through other actions?
unlocks new options for finding out how Tellar can into economics
Those base chances for Magic research are really low. Is that the chance of starting up that particular set of research, and then the base chances afterwards are the chances of them succeeding in providing something?
The start-up automatically succeeds. What happens from there is that you have ongoing research being conducted, and each turn you have those chances of incremental improvements, for as long as you continue to pay the upkeep cost.
If an action takes multiple turns and has an agent attached to it, that agent is going to be out of our ability to use for the duration of the project, correct? Otherwise it's noted, as with the Reynolds action.
Neither, it's an automatic success, you just need someone (trustworthy, hence an agent) to commence action. As for who gets sent, well, different actions can have other things happen along the way... however for the contract negotiations, these things are pretty straightforward, so you just need someone who can sign in your name.
I was forced to leave those blank in my analysis.As a related question, can you look over my projected chances for success and see if I did them right?
Surprisingly actually, it wouldn't. So I've included the Hulland Research option.
In other developments I did an accounting of the costs of my budget and found that we weren't in quite so precarious a financial state as I believed so I've cut out going to Carlisle for a loan in favour of looking at what Carlisle are doing with their infrastructure and figuring out how we can ape it.
I've also included sending House Hulland some troops, because it only costs one Influence and we've got some spare this turn.
On the situation over with Vicennes I could be persuaded over to Fence Sitting if someone could present a quality argument in favour of it.
Well, we'll keep this going until we can get a few votes in to split the difference between the plans. Also @Macchiato and I will have the writing side-thread up before we close the vote.
Kinda confused that there are people willing to make plans but no one simply voting on the plans? ...
Happy to answer anyone's questions about what's going on and where we want to take this quest.
Personally, I'd say before we get any plans seriously started, we need to try and summarise what's going on and what do we want to do. What immediate problems do we need to get on top of? What are our priorities, what do we want to achieve, and how much of it do we have room for?
In other words, we, hah, need to plan what sort of plan we want.
So, out of the Diplomacy section, I'm inclined to treat the Vincienne/Dale issue, House Raleigh and sucking up to the Khironex as priorities. We pissed Raleigh off with our chargen choices and we want to patch that up, but it can simmer for a turn. I'd say pushing Vincienne and Dale to patch things up with Make Love, Not War might be a decent option - ultimately, we want to end that feud as part of stabilising our internal situation. Khironex is lower priority, but ties into stabilising our internal situation; good trading partners are a boon to a developing nation.
Militarily, our army can probably bide for a while. Our problems are sea power and the expenses of the royal army as an extension of our infrastructural problems, so It Costs How Much?! is definitely important, but we should also consider some method of protecting our shores from the ongoing threat of Tranquility. That means we either want to double down on Diplomacy to try and sort out the Royal Navy issue, or commission ships of our own. I am inclined towards the latter to start with, possibly from both Carlisle and Vincienne. They're both fairly cheap options compared to our budget, and keeping Carlisle sweet on us is worth doing.
As far as Statecraft goes, there's a lot here that's important. Basically anything that mentions 'trade' is worth considering to give us more of a budget to work with, so I suspect we need to pick out the absolute essentials from everywhere else, and sink everything that's left into this.
Justice... We can probably skimp here a bit. The Yellow Banner will need seeing to sooner rather than later to send a message, but they don't seem critically urgent. Otherwise, Exit Interview is probably worth earmarking for the message it sends to Sonissimo. Everything else looks like it will keep while we find our footing.
Intrigue wise, Gifthorse Dentistry is high on my list. Knowing why Capo backed us means an easier time keeping them sweet on us, means better national relations, means an easier time all 'round. Otherwise, Two Can Play At That Game, enhancing our spy ring or Follow the Money are all worth consideration. We know Tellar has a Piety problem, so sinking some foundations to combat that early is worth doing.
Magic I don't know about. There's a lot of possibilities here, but we've got a lot on our plate.
The rest... Agh. It's late, I'll deal with it later. But, again: What are our priorities, what do we want to achieve, and how much of it do we have room for?
Hmm. Between the two plans so far I think I prefer FriedIce, as I have to agree, I'd rather build up the Tellar navy right now than one of our vassals' immediately, considering Evelyn is great at it and we need to prepare for the Tranquility to get awfully active with pirates soon, given the lull and the lack of support from the Royal Navy. In addition, I think it's worth pointing out we should try and avoid recruiting more regiments until we get our discounts back from the trade deals we made, or do we still have the special rules Surfeit of Iron and the skinning one too while the trade deal is in effect?
Yes, those rules are still in effect for you and Raleigh, and are built into the pricing offered for the units. They've just been extended to Capo & Co.
Argh... I knew I had forgotten to put something up in my vote post, ie an overview beyond the explanation in between my plan's parts. Note to Aegir: If you're posting a plan mainly for discussion, actually put discussion in it.
Alright, Diplomatically, my plan focuses on trying to make headway in bleeding off Sonissimmo's anger towards us, rather than focusing on the outside. As much as I wanted to go talk to Khironex, that would require Evelyn, our best diplomat, to be off elsewhere while the situation in Sartier is still unstable. As such, I focused on minimizing the damage and starting to repair the situation more towards status quo on Sartier.
We may want to push for Vincennes and Dale to patch things up, but that's definitely a long term goal. If we try and push things now when we're limited in influence, money, and trust, that could backfire really badly. For now we should try and rise above the issue while we start looking for alternatives. Because, honestly, I'm all for not stirring that pot by pissing them off while we're still trying to get ourselves oriented.
On that tack, my plan doubles down on trying to get Tarrant sorted out ASAP. Given that they're embargoing everybody not a Sonissimmo vassal, this goes beyond just helping us. It also shows the Sonissimmo that we're dealing in good faith, that this wasn't (purely) a power grab for power's sake. Given that we don't really have any options to start making Sonissimmo happy on the table at the moment, undercutting their anger by doing right by their vassals is a good place to start on that. It helps that we have a bonus to take advantage of in that regard at the moment.
Khironex will keep. I'd rather spend some time getting our own house in order before we go gallivanting across the sea. And to see how this personal letter action turns out.
In terms of the Butcher's Bill, that's a relatively cheap option that gets us approval with the people that are likely to be unhappy with us taking their hostage. We don't have the resources to start taking on the whole debt without diving into our treasury, but the lesser amount isn't much of a strain.
Beyond those, improving our diplomatic ability sounds like a good idea, so Notecards seems rather obvious.
In the Martial section, I would agree that building ships, especially from Carlisle, would be a good plan, and honestly, I would be willing to drop the Cost research for it if people preferred that. We could always take the Cost research next turn while the boats are finishing up, but our vassals and minor Houses are looking to get their own ships, which is why I didn't consider it absolutely vital.
As for Stewardship, rather than jumping straight in, I figured that it would be worth making a single turn's study of other established infrastructure and possibly making Carlisle happier into the bargain before we kicked off anything there. Surprisingly enough, our budget wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be, so it seemed to be worth the effort to study up and make our actual attempts more efficient. It will affect all infrastructure building actions that we undertake, so it should pay off fairly quickly.
The other alternative would be to move that Agent onto researching trade options, if people like that better. I would hold off on going to Carlisle until our relationship is above "Fair".
For now, there isn't much in Justice that I find to be a priority, although I do like the idea of Exit Interview to be worth it. It could definitely get us valuable information going forward, and help us focus our efforts better in the subsequent turns.
In terms of Intrigue, I agree with friedice that the priority should be on figuring out what Capo's game is. I really, really don't want to leave that present lying for a long time before we hear it ticking. As an aside, I'm actually not sure it's worth replacing Patricia with Hamid. As a Councilor he'd only give a +12 bonus rather than her +10 to Intrigue options, and it might keep him from being an agent. I'd rather have a good bonus to all Intrigue and a really good Agent than a slightly better bonus with no Agent. @OneirosTheWriter, if we do promote Hulland, will he still be an Agent?
In terms of Songweaver things, it's best to get the "free research" started early. Honestly, the costs aren't that burdensome, it's just the startup that we are really worried about, and this is actually a relatively spendthrift turn otherwise, so it's worth splurging here.
I went for all of the minor house's actions, given that they are relatively low cost and provide pretty good benefits overall. Rios gets us in better with Carlisle, gets us more ships, and costs a grand total of 1,200 g for all that. House Hulland costs us nothing but influence, and wards away pirate attacks while we get our fleets up to snuff. And finally, Reynolds gets us more shipbuilding ability in the future, on top of improved relations. I honestly don't see any downsides with these options.
And finally, for the Personal Action, the letter. I was tempted by the Songweaving upgrade as well, but the potential for this to synergize with future Khironex actions was too much to pass up. I wouldn't start looking into marriage until further down the line, personally.
Alright, so there's my plan described. Feel free to let me know if you have things that you think I should change to make it better.
tl,dr; focus on getting Sartier in order, making Carlisle happy, undercutting Sonissimmo's grudge, and improving our ability to expand going forward.
I actually largely agree with @Imrix's analysis about the important things to focus on, with a single exception. In my opinion the biggest Diplomacy issue we currently have is that we're unable to govern Sartier because a third of the country are absolutely furious with us. Patching up this relationship should be our main focus. The House Tarrant horse embargo is incredibly painful and needs to stop, as does the new Timbre tariffs on goods, to say nothing of the fact that we need to pacify Sonnissmo. Somehow.
After that I'd rate our main issues as:
Stopping the Vicennes feud.
Fixing relations with our vassals (if we go with Make Love Not War on the above then not a single one of our vassal houses will have an opinion of us higher than 'Fair')
Money.
Making more of it
Spending less of it when we do stuff, like send military expeditions
Keeping rebellion in line and hunting down Teuv influences
Creating diplomatic relationships with other countries, to foster trade and to join together against external threats (The Khairnex are the low hanging fruit here).
Dealing with external threats, like the Teuv or Pirates.
Dealing with, or sidestepping, the issue with the Royal Navy.
This is the general thing I worked off when creating my plan. I can trace every action that I took to solving one, or more, of these problems.
If anyone can see anything they think should be included then I'm happy to hear feedback.
@Aegir I just went through and compared our two plans and there's only two real differences. You're picking 'This Fence Looks Good For Sitting' for the Vicennes feud instead of 'Make Love Not War'. In my opinion, if we're to fix this conflict for any decent amount of time (I'm hoping for dealing with it for a generation, but I'll take five-ten years) then we're going to have to take an interventionist attitude to the peacemaking instead of just forcing them to sit down with each other. You have to remember, this feud was explicitly compared to Israel-Palestine in its difficulty to fix, we're not going to be able to do that by half-arsing it.
The other key difference is you've spent two actions on making the Minor Houses happy that could go elsewhere. The Minor House actions are definitely worth doing, at some point. But not right now, in such quantities. If you spent the House Rios action on commissioning ships from Carlisle we get the same number of ships, under our direct control, and the certainty of a +1 to our relationship with Carlisle (instead of only a 25% chance). Its a bit more expensive but we have (surprisingly) got the money. In the same vein, if you spent the House Reynolds action on building up Vicennes's port then we get a similar outcome (a better port in our realm) in half the time, for the same amount of money and giving a relationship boni to Vicennes instead of Reynolds. This is important because no matter what we do we're going to be pissing off Vicennes this turn by interfering in their feud.
