Rules and Mechanics
This quest uses a modified version of the CK2 system. Stats are:
Diplomacy: Your ability to persuade others and make people like you
Martial: Your ability to lead troops in battle; affects skill in combat
Stewardship: Your ability to manage money, organize, and complete projects
Intrigue: Your ability to lie and scheme, as well as see through lies and deceptions
Learning: Your knowledge, intelligence, and creativity
Occult: Your closeness to the magical, mystical forces of the world and knowledge of their secrets.
I will be doing all rolls myself. Generally, rolls will use a 100-sided die.
If the roll meets or exceeds the target number, the action succeeds. A roll of exactly 100 will trigger Special Very Good Consequences. A roll of exactly 1 will trigger Special Very Bad Consequences.
Managing Your Domain
As a feudal lord, you have lands. You take care of those lands, and the people who live there pay you taxes: it's a contract. Every in-game year, you can launch projects to find information, solve problems, or improve your lands.
Each project will be associated with a stat, and for every stat you will have an Advisor. You may launch two projects per stat each year. There will be a roll to determine whether projects succeed or fail, and to what degree: 1d100+King's stat/Hand's stat, whichever is higher+Advisor's stat. For example, if the roll just barely reaches the threshold, perhaps a project will succeed but cost more than expected.
50 or more under the DC = Critical Failure
20-49 under the DC = Failure
19 or less under the DC = Bare Failure
10 or less over the DC = Bare Success
11-40 over the DC = Success
41 or more over the DC = Great Success
80 or more over the DC = Critical Success
Every year you will also have some free time to work on personal projects, such as improving your skills or hanging out with friends. For obvious reasons, you cannot assign council members to these projects.
Heroes
You will have lots of people hanging around your court (because I fill my stories with too many characters), and they can't all be advisors. Never fear! Your allies can still make themselves useful as Heroes: every turn, you will get to choose between a few special options for them. These options may boost your projects, increase characters' stats, or unlock new events, among other things.
Combat (Physical and Mental)
'Combat' refers to any confrontation between two characters, even on places not normally recognized as a battlefield. A character (one who expects to go into combat, anyway) will have a Physical Combat Score and a Mental Combat Score. They will also have a certain capacity for Wounds and Strain.
Mental Combat: Arguments, manipulation, illusions, curses. If you could theoretically nullify something by being really stubborn, it counts.
Strain: An active mind, good mental health, and a strong will all help someone endure mental Strain. Strain is also used to cast spells.
Physical Combat: Attacks with blade, fist, or fireball.
Wounds: Physical conditioning, good health, luck, and good equipment all help someone endure physical Wounds.
To attack, a combatant rolls 1d100 + Combat Score +/- any situational modifiers. If the result is above 60, the attack partially succeeds (half a Wound or an incidental benefit). If the result is above 80, the attack succeeds fully (one Wound, or the success of a ploy). Any result above 100 is a critical success (two Wounds, or one Wound and a beneficial change to the situation). That's right – this is not a roll-off system. It is perfectly possible for combatants to pull off a mutual kill. It is meant to be quicker and deadlier than a roll-off.
With that being said, combat will not always proceed to a deadly point. Characters are perfectly capable of surrendering. Combatants can have many goals besides the destruction of the opponent. Sometimes all you want is to convince someone their views are wrong, which can be accomplished with one or two good arguments.
When Wounds are full, a character dies. When Strain is full, there are two possible results:
-If the character is a mage, and used that Strain to cast a spell, they experience a Breaking Point. After they rest and recover from the Breaking Point, they are
Exhausted, taking a -15 penalty to all rolls, for three days.
-If the Strain was filled by any other cause, a character simply becomes
Exhausted, taking a -15 penalty to all rolls, until they reduce their Strain to 0.
Strain recovers at a rate of 1d3 per good night's rest. Wounds recover at a rate of 1 per week.
Skinchangers and their companions
An animal companion, in addition to other bonuses, usually gives a character more capacity for Wounds. This is because humans and their animal companions share a Wound pool. Thus, taking a Wound may be realized in the narrative as a blow to the human or to their animal.
Magic
The magic system in this quest is based on the adage that "magic always has a price." Spells are powerful, but you can't cast too many of them at once, and most people only know a few. Spells all have a cost, (usually) in Strain. Often they have other requirements too, like a long ritual, or a material sacrifice. A mage who fills up all their Strain experiences a Breaking Point. These are exciting individualized penalties such as bleeding from the eyes or becoming unable to tell the difference between hallucinations and reality. These can be cured with time and rest. A mage can continue to cast spells after Breaking by taking Wounds instead of the Strain the spell would usually cost. This can kill them.
Going into Breaking Point is usually a bad idea, and it always takes a toll on the body, mind and soul. Strain is restored at a rate of 1d3 per good night's rest. However, one remains
Exhausted, taking a toll of -15 on all rolls, for three days after reaching Breaking Point. Certain characters can gain advantages from it in certain situations, however. It is even possible - albeit, quite reckless - to base your magic build around it (See Ravana Reyne for an example).
So what is this quest all about?
I envision this quest as having 3 fields of focus: 1) Your family and the people around you 2) The land and factions of Westeros 3) The quest to find out what to do about the magical apocalypse right around the corner. Of course, these fields all overlap. You will draw your councilors from the people of Westeros and send them out to solve problems on your behalf. The kingdom is going to have to be prepared for the magical changes that are coming, one way or another. And your loved ones are going to have plenty of opportunities to get involved with all the magic stuff.
On a final note, this is my first quest, as well as the first writing I've posted online in quite some time. I will make mistakes, but it's my hope that you all will bear with me and we can write a wonderful story together!
