arya126
Squad Leader
The Death of Liberties: The Civilization Kings of Pennsylvania
In 1783 the thirteen colonies won their freedom from Great Britain. However, they were far from united.
In 1787 a great conference of delegates from across the colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss the possibility of revising the Articles of Confederation. Many proposals were brought forth. The main two proposals were the New Jersey Plan, essentially a revised Articles of Confederation, and the Virginia Plan, essentially what our government is today.
In 1788 the delegates were back in their home states attempting to sway the many conventions one way or another. The south, led by Virgina, accepted and ratified the new constitution. The north, led by Boston, adopted the revised Articles of Confederation. Pennsylvania however went its own way and rejected both forms of government, deciding to go its own way, a decision that will forever be questioned by historians.
In 1814 amidst a vastly different War of 1812, after the British had marched on DC and Baltimore they continued north to Philadelphia. But instead of sacking the city, they instead occupied it, continuing to occupy the rest of Pennsylvania as the rest of America watched on, saying Pennsylvania deserved every bit of it for fracturing the colonies. However Britain didn't annex Pennsylvania, but instead set up a neo-feudal system (lets stretch the imagination here), with a King in Philadelphia and a Duke Pittsburgh, and various nobility underneath the both of them. Thus they were admitted into the Commonwealth as a vassal reminiscent of ages past.
In 1820 Pennsylvania was as stable as could be under noble rule except for one thing: the nobles were foreign. And so the native elites rose up and usurped the titles of nobility, sending the King, the Duke, and the assorted nobility under them home to Britain. Britain, surprisingly, ignored this. However the natives decided to elect one of their own to the throne as that system had works fairly well in practice except for the foreigner parts. Many in Pennsylvania feared the New England Confederation to the north, as well as the United Southern States to their south.
And here we are in history. This shall be a game of Civilization Kings, albeit with a dramatic departure from the time periods of previous games run by Sonereal. We are clearly stretching alt history past its breaking point, however lets just do a 'what if' here and suspend the disbelief for a bit.
The Kingdom of Pennsylvania at this point has several questions, not the least of which is who shall be King? Everyone who signs up as a 'Great House' shall have a vote. Once the King is chosen, he can hand out the available titles, which shall be somewhere around 2 duchies and some associated counties, all of which will be relatively poor in the beginning. The time period and geopolitical situation leaves KP with a variety of options. Could it attack its neighbors and possibly gain New Jersey and Delaware, hoping to acquire more coastal territory and then look inwards? Will it attempt to industrialize early and risk the social upheaval in favor of a powerful national industry? Will the crown expand west into the 'territories', that is, the land owned by the USA in the Ohio Valley etc. that was never incorporated into one of the three colony states (only the original 13 colonies are part of the KP, NEC, and the USS)? Will the crown centralize its power with a royal army and navy like the rest of the world, or will the nobles he appoints decide to seize power for themselves and rule Pennsylvania in a truly feudal style?
However I must point out that you shall not be playing a nation state, but that of what is essentially a feudal kingdom in the enlightenment. To you, what is important is not your country, but your dynasty. Fight to put a member of your dynasty or even yourself on the White Throne in Philadelphia. Acquire lands in europe, or enrich yourselves with trade. Marry into influential families in the NEC and USS and attempt to establish feudal systems there as well, or simply put them on your puppet strings.
The possibilities are endless for you.
And if you are unlucky enough to not be given a title at the beginning? Gain your fame in a military venture, immigrate to another court such as in europe to attempt to curry influence and perhaps estates there, become a merchant, open a university that will one day be as famous as Oxford.
Stats:
Well here is the brainstorming, less in concrete part.
National stats, meaning comparing KP to the USS and NEC and europe, will likely consist of whatever is in the royal navy and army, a vague economic indicator, a tax on your vassals, etc. These are the stats of the country as a whole.
Dynasty stats will likely consist of how many levies/regular units any particular great house can call upon. The King can have his own arms men at the expense of his own wealth in addition to his royal army (since the army might not always support him in internal disputes) as well as the power to call upon the levies of his demesne and his vassals.
Then each character will have stats. They will be basic, including but not necessarily limited to martial, diplomacy, intrigue (those are the big 3), wealth and retinue. The big 3 will be semi-hereditary in what might be called the Crusader Kings approach. Somebody with high martial and low diplomacy is likely to pass that on to his kid (although their guardian during childhood can affect this). Wealth is based on their income, whether from business ventures or their estates, with the former proving more valuable in the short term economically. Retinues would be the warriors one might have following them that need to be paid of course.
Will you industrialize Pennsylvania and confirm your hegemony of what might have been the 48 states? Will you go backwards in time internally and oppress the masses, seeking to preserve the power of the nobility for as long as possible? Or will you seek to be the bankers of america, and become rich off trade?
All of this is possible, but one thing is certain:
The Death of Liberty.
