Robert Can't
Éponine
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Until I see our home again I will not drink of worthy blood. Until I see our home again I will forgo the bonds of family. Until I see our home again I will fight my Queen's enemies. No more will I seek aught but gold glory or death. Until I see our home again I will carry out my Queen's commission.
You are a long way from home, on the very edges of the map. You've sailed far from all you know in the Evenfall Kingdom to the not entirely charted waters of the Southern Sea. Feel free to join
Until I see our home again I will not drink of worthy blood. Until I see our home again I will forgo the bonds of family. Until I see our home again I will fight my Queen's enemies. No more will I seek aught but gold glory or death. Until I see our home again I will carry out my Queen's commission.
In the west are the rich shores of the Oronsathy Coast hiding a deadly interior of sprawling savannas. The catfolk of this country may roam in nomadic tribes but they are indefatigable and organised. Stories tell of giant birds the size of men prowling the rocky hills and cattle the size of ships the sail the open grasslands in an eternal migration. However there is a reason the Queen has interest here, the Sapphire Isles are renown for their precious stones and early explorers have returned from the interior with diamonds larger than their heads. Riches await any who could brave these lands.
In the east a wholly different continent lurks, dubbed New Savony by its first explorer. Lush with thick vegetation it hides many secrets and many treasures. Great reptiles roam those lands and the local populations have domesticated many of the smaller ones. These people are fierce and willing to defend their treasures with monstrous force but you'll be lucky if you even live to see them - for here you will find horrific diseases which are only made worse by the sweltering heat and oppressive humidity. Food and people will rot alike - poisonous plants and vicious animals will accost you at every corner - but you will press on for in these jungles lies such great treasure as you can not imagine.
You have taken the Queen's commission and sworn to renounce all of normal life to come out here with your loyal band of soldiers - men and women who have given up everything for a chance at gold, glory or death. Establish your fort and carry out your duty, drink deeply of the blood of your enemies for here you will find all three - gold, glory and death.
Welcome to another Robert Can't game brought to you by me, Robert Can't. In this Ixalan inspired IOT you will lead a band of vampire conquistadors into a hostile new frontier. Game play will be similar to that of recent Fallout games hosted here - you will have a group of soldiers under your control and you will build forts, upgrade them, explore for treasure, and fight the enemies of the Queen (or each other, because nobody wants to be the group with the least treasure). I'm aiming for a regular and quick update schedule with a focus on character and narrative as seen in previous games I've run.
You will play as the leader of your band and will sometimes want to role play into thinking what would benefit your character as opposed to the greater good. You've already taken the Queen's commission which means you have vowed to forgo fresh blood unless it is that of the enemies of the Queen who reside on these lost shores, until such a time as you have uncovered sufficient treasure to pay your way home. To have already made this choice you have clearly been motivated by a deep greed, ambition or love of your Queen. Whichever it is the only way you can find satisfaction is by uncovering great treasures from these lands.
Forts
You start the game by establishing your fort somewhere on the shores of the Oronsathy Coast or New Savony. This will be the base of operations from which you can begin your quest for blood gold and will also be where the ships will come to pick up your treasures (if you survive). Over the course of the game you can establish new forts on the coast or in the interior to secure resources or to act as staging grounds for further expeditions. A Fort requires at least 5 soldiers in its garrison to be maintained, any less than that and it and any stored goods will begin to decay.
Here is a list of potential improvements you could build in your forts.
Spoiler :
The Fort
A base of operations with a large wooden wall or palisade, required to build further upgrades.
Storage Capacity: 400
Population Capacity: 50
Cost to Construct: 20 Wood, 25 Tools
Barracks
A place for your loyal soldiers to rest their heads
Increases population capacity by 10
Cost to Construct: 25 wood, 5 tools
Trading Station
Sometimes you will find friendly locals, with those ones you might wish to trade with them before you drink their blood.
Cost to Construct: 10 wood, 5 tools
Chapel
From here a chaplain might be employed to give out the sacraments of blood. You may have taken the commission but you can still drink from the sanguine chalice.
Cost to Construct: 15 tools, 5 precision tools, 75 wood
Shipwright
Only those forts that have become most prosperous may ever see themselves building their own small ships, but therein lies great opportunity.
Cost to Construct: 50 tools, 250 wood
Warehouse
Where will you keep all the treasures that you have accumulated? In the warehouse of course!
Increases Storage Capacity by 100
Cost to construct: 100 wood, 5 tools
Armourer
The locals will use every weapon in their arsenal to kill your loyal soldiers. You must be prepared.
Cost to construct: 50 tools, 10 precision tools
Blacksmith
The Queen's ships may bring us the supplies we need to survive, but if we are to prosper we might need to begin to make our own.
Cost of construction: 50 tools, 50 wood
Mine
Be it for gold, for jewels or for anything else a mine is the best way to get things in the ground to be not in the ground.
Cost to construct: 250 wood, 50 tools
Other buildings will be added as they become relevant
You will notice that several times various goods were mentioned as being required for things, well here is now a list of some of the goods you may find yourself looking for.
Spoiler :
Food
Needed to survive, gained by fishing, gathering or trading.
Wood
Comes from trees, used for basic construction. Can be gathered by your soldiers.
Stone
Extracted from the ground, used to build stone walls or other important buildings. Probably not that easy to find just lying around on a beach.
Iron
A catch all term for useful metals that are not gold. This is used in tools and weapons and can be extracted by a mine, could also be traded for (or stolen, I suppose).
Precision tools
Good luck making these on some horrific beach on a distant island where even the plants are trying to kill you. they can be gained from the Queen's ships though.
Armour
Also weapons but it all comes under one title. This is what your soldiers have to make sure they don't die to stabby things. Each solider comes with a set fresh off the Queen's ships and that is probably where you will have to get any more you might want.
Treasures!
These are what you are here for, they come in all sorts of types so get excited!
Needed to survive, gained by fishing, gathering or trading.
Wood
Comes from trees, used for basic construction. Can be gathered by your soldiers.
Stone
Extracted from the ground, used to build stone walls or other important buildings. Probably not that easy to find just lying around on a beach.
Iron
A catch all term for useful metals that are not gold. This is used in tools and weapons and can be extracted by a mine, could also be traded for (or stolen, I suppose).
Precision tools
Good luck making these on some horrific beach on a distant island where even the plants are trying to kill you. they can be gained from the Queen's ships though.
Armour
Also weapons but it all comes under one title. This is what your soldiers have to make sure they don't die to stabby things. Each solider comes with a set fresh off the Queen's ships and that is probably where you will have to get any more you might want.
Treasures!
These are what you are here for, they come in all sorts of types so get excited!
Vehicles
This is how you are going to get around the watery bits. Useful for speedy travel.
Note on capacity and crew: Each person takes up 5 capacity, this includes minimum crew. Hold space can not be used to transport soldiers.
Spoiler :
Raft
Good for travelling with heavy objects, probably not much else.
Capacity: 5 per wood
Min Crew: (varies)
Canoe
Good for travelling to places. Can be used to assist the process of moving a raft along a river.
Cost: 50 wood, 1 tool
Capacity: 25
Min Crew: 1
Dingy
This one has a sail. Maybe its good for fishing or small expeditions over water. It can also navigate the shallows and rivers.
Cost 150 wood, 5 tools
Capacity: 50
Min Crew: 1
Small Boat
This boat has a sail and might even have a deck. It could be used to travel distances by the sea and is a good way of carrying heavy things quickly.
Cost: 300 wood, 30 tools
Capacity: 100
Hold Space: 30
Min Crew: 3
Bigger Boat
Like the small boat but bigger.
Cost: 600 wood, 50 tools
Capacity: 250
Hold Space: 250
Min crew: 3
Queen's Ship
How did you get one of these? Did you steal it?
Capacity: 2000
Hold Space: 2500
Min Crew: 20
Good for travelling with heavy objects, probably not much else.
Capacity: 5 per wood
Min Crew: (varies)
Canoe
Good for travelling to places. Can be used to assist the process of moving a raft along a river.
Cost: 50 wood, 1 tool
Capacity: 25
Min Crew: 1
Dingy
This one has a sail. Maybe its good for fishing or small expeditions over water. It can also navigate the shallows and rivers.
Cost 150 wood, 5 tools
Capacity: 50
Min Crew: 1
Small Boat
This boat has a sail and might even have a deck. It could be used to travel distances by the sea and is a good way of carrying heavy things quickly.
Cost: 300 wood, 30 tools
Capacity: 100
Hold Space: 30
Min Crew: 3
Bigger Boat
Like the small boat but bigger.
Cost: 600 wood, 50 tools
Capacity: 250
Hold Space: 250
Min crew: 3
Queen's Ship
How did you get one of these? Did you steal it?
Capacity: 2000
Hold Space: 2500
Min Crew: 20
Expeditions
Its not all about the fort. In fact you will probably not find any treasure by sitting in your fort and dossing about. Instead you must go on expeditions! To go on an expedition indicate how many people you are taking with you, where you want to go, how you are travelling and what you are taking with you. Bear in mind each person has capacity to carry 5 in weight and each person consumes 2 in food (Do not fear too much though as food can be hunted and gathered along the way). Each expedition consumes 5 wood per week for firewood. Beasts of burden can be useful if you can get your hands on some and will also increase the speed of an expedition.
Each week you will progress a certain amount on your expedition and be confronted by events that have potential to be positive or negative. You uncover more of the map by doing this and it is up to you when you want to turn back and make the journey back to the fort. Be aware though that it may take as much time to get back to the fort as it did to get out there and any treasure you gather will have to be safely transported back.
The Queen's Ships
Every few months a Queen's Ship may show up to gather your treasures and exchange them for recruits, weapons and other useful goods. Try to make sure if you hear that a ship is coming that you will be back at your fort with all your treasure in time.
Actions
Actions are what you will be ordering your soldiers to do in a given week. Each week you assign how many soldiers are performing an action in a given place.
Hunt, Fish and Forage: Each soldier assigned to do this can make 5 food. Some things can make this easier such as having a suitable boat.
Acquire Lumber: Wood is needed to build the warehouses to store all the gold. 5 can be gathered by each soldier assigned to that duty. Each expedition consumes 5 wood per week for firewood.
Scout: Avoid nasty unexpected encounters, more easily find treasure, increase speed of your expedition. The more soldiers you have scouting the better you will be in all these aspects..
Heal: Wounded soldiers slow down the party and also might die. Assign someone to have a chance of them getting back on their feet.
Construct: Each building or vehicle costs 1 week of 1 soldier's labour for each tool. So to build a warehouse with 5 tools it could take 1 soldier 5 weeks or 5 soldiers 1 week.
Make Tools: For when you need tools. (requires blacksmith) Convert iron to tools at a ratio of 5:1 with a single worker able to make 10 tools a week.
Make Armour: For when your tools aren't good enough (requires armourer) Tools to Armour at a ratio of 5:1 with a single work able to make 2 sets of armour a week.
Things you might say (Or already have said):
Spoiler :
So we're vampires right? What does that mean in this world?
It means your drink blood in order to sustain your life. Immortality is probably out of your grasp but youth for a few bonus decades is nice. You can't turn into a bat and you can walk in the sun and that. Garlic isn't going to do you harm and neither are stakes (in fact well placed ones may save you from charging animals). In this world Vampirism was bestowed on the first vampire by an Angel descended from a different plane. After taking the gift the first vampire united the Evenfall Kingdom and since then a long line of monarchs has ruled from the capital in Savony.
Blood comes in three general categories: worthy blood, enemy blood and divine blood. Worthy Blood being blood given freely by a subject or friend, enemy blood being that which is feasted on after vicious combat, and divine blood being from the ever full chalice first brought down by the Angel. Blood from which is found in the chalices of the church and distributed during holy rites.
Drinking the blood of the living that is not freely given is generally considered very bad - don't do it or someone (or some angel) will be dispatched to come and get you.
A lot of this stuff seems super expensive and would take hundreds of turns to get. Pls fix this.
You actually start the game very well off with a band of fully equipped soldiers eager to strike out into the unknown. This is not a settlement game this is an exploration (In the steal the gold sense of exploration) game. You can trade the treasures you find for the resources to build the improvements and I don't imagine your fort will be seeing many upgrades until you have at least completed one treasure seeking expedition.
Conquistadors are problematic.
Not if they're vampires! They you know they are the bad guys.
In seriousness though if you find colonialism related games offensive it might be a good idea to give this one a pass. I understand some people are more affected than others by this sort of content so this is here as a sort of content warning: there will be blood, spilled in battle and drunk by vampires, there will be exploitation of cultures based on standard western fantasy tropes (Specifically those riffing on Mesoamerican culture) that will be considered by some to be problematic. If this is you then this probably isn't the game for you.
So what are naming conventions like?
I will be leaning towards Iberian sounding or general vampiric sounding names for any NPCs but I am not going to constrict anyone else. The Evenfall Kingdom spans across a huge continent that probably includes the linguistic rip offs of most earth languages as needed.
Do we have to drink human blood to survive?
No but as you go longer without it your increased physical and mental strength will being to diminish.
Have there been wars and conflicts in the Evenfall Kingdom recently?
Yes, the Evenfall kingdom has been in constant wars to unite the continent that it sits on and these only ended about 5 years ago.
Who were these wars fought against?
A number of kingdoms on the continent including ones populated by orcs many of which have gone on to become pirates in the southern seas.
Are there pirates?
Yes, orcish and human refugees.
Other things you might say will be updated as you say things.
It means your drink blood in order to sustain your life. Immortality is probably out of your grasp but youth for a few bonus decades is nice. You can't turn into a bat and you can walk in the sun and that. Garlic isn't going to do you harm and neither are stakes (in fact well placed ones may save you from charging animals). In this world Vampirism was bestowed on the first vampire by an Angel descended from a different plane. After taking the gift the first vampire united the Evenfall Kingdom and since then a long line of monarchs has ruled from the capital in Savony.
Blood comes in three general categories: worthy blood, enemy blood and divine blood. Worthy Blood being blood given freely by a subject or friend, enemy blood being that which is feasted on after vicious combat, and divine blood being from the ever full chalice first brought down by the Angel. Blood from which is found in the chalices of the church and distributed during holy rites.
Drinking the blood of the living that is not freely given is generally considered very bad - don't do it or someone (or some angel) will be dispatched to come and get you.
A lot of this stuff seems super expensive and would take hundreds of turns to get. Pls fix this.
You actually start the game very well off with a band of fully equipped soldiers eager to strike out into the unknown. This is not a settlement game this is an exploration (In the steal the gold sense of exploration) game. You can trade the treasures you find for the resources to build the improvements and I don't imagine your fort will be seeing many upgrades until you have at least completed one treasure seeking expedition.
Conquistadors are problematic.
Not if they're vampires! They you know they are the bad guys.
In seriousness though if you find colonialism related games offensive it might be a good idea to give this one a pass. I understand some people are more affected than others by this sort of content so this is here as a sort of content warning: there will be blood, spilled in battle and drunk by vampires, there will be exploitation of cultures based on standard western fantasy tropes (Specifically those riffing on Mesoamerican culture) that will be considered by some to be problematic. If this is you then this probably isn't the game for you.
So what are naming conventions like?
I will be leaning towards Iberian sounding or general vampiric sounding names for any NPCs but I am not going to constrict anyone else. The Evenfall Kingdom spans across a huge continent that probably includes the linguistic rip offs of most earth languages as needed.
Do we have to drink human blood to survive?
No but as you go longer without it your increased physical and mental strength will being to diminish.
Have there been wars and conflicts in the Evenfall Kingdom recently?
Yes, the Evenfall kingdom has been in constant wars to unite the continent that it sits on and these only ended about 5 years ago.
Who were these wars fought against?
A number of kingdoms on the continent including ones populated by orcs many of which have gone on to become pirates in the southern seas.
Are there pirates?
Yes, orcish and human refugees.
Other things you might say will be updated as you say things.
How to sign up
Character Name: Name
Fort Name: Also a name
Fort Location: Point to it on the map if you do not have access to something like paint feel free to describe a location you want to go for. If you just can't be bothered to use it then take a moment to consider if you really be bothered to play if you can't be to draw a dot on a map.
About Me: tell us a bit about your vampire, what are they like and what has motivated them to take up the commission. This will be used to determine the SPECIAL TRAITS everyone will start the game with.
The more here then the better because is like details. If you want to draw a picture go for it, if you want to write a treatise on the early childhood of your character that if fine too, and if you just want to write 2 sentences then don't worry, you're under no pressure.
Updates: Updates will be small and regular with one expected every few days. If I haven't got orders from you in that time I will assume that everything will continue on as in the previous turns. If you haven't resolved an event I can do that automatically for you.
Every player who is currently on an expedition will be getting at least one event per update.
The map will also show expedition progress.
Map
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