Aspiring Emperor Quest General Pastebin #10

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Aspiring Emperor Quest General Pastebin
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This pastebin will contain general gameplay information. Descriptions that have been posted, explanations of any gameplay mechanics the players can be expected to know and many other things will be here.

As of the Thread XXIII edition (this one), the NPC List and all sections that relate to the holdings of Talon's/the player's empire have been moved to the NPC List and Empire Pastebin respectively. Use the masterlist linked below to find those.

Pastebin Masterlist: http://pastebin.com/6Su7M3fh
Past Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Aspiring%20Emperor%20Quest

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OTHER EDITIONS
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This is the Thread XXIII edition of the general pastebin of AEQ.

A master pastebin with links to all editions for all bins is below.

http://pastebin.com/6Su7M3fh

NB: All content added since the most recent edition has a #NEW# tag above it. Use Ctrl+F to find new content this way.

IMPORTANT: Several sections of information formerly contained in this pastebin have been moved to the Empire Pastebin or NPC List. Check the master bin linked above to find them.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Basic Quest Rules/Mechanics
2. FR Point Rules
3. Date Tracking
4. Provincial Information
5. PC Stats and Skills Explanation
6. D20 Probabilities

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1. BASIC QUEST RULES/MECHANICS
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1. Please quote the post you are voting against or rolling against.
2. If a chance is posted next to an option, it is giving you a guide to what the DC of the roll that option will immediately lead to. If that option wins the vote, a new post will be made with the corresponding DC. See Section 8 below for a correlation of probabilities of success and DC.
3. Rolling involves at least three posts correctly rolling a D20 and quoting the post with the DC requirement. If there are less than three rolls after some time, the QM may roll the remaining dice. If more 1s are rolled than 20s, a Dramatic Failure occurs and if more 20s are rolled than 1s, an Exceptional Success occurs. Rolling equal to or above the DC is otherwise a success - if one 20 and one 1 is rolled, it also counts as a success.
4. Voting is on a plurality basis and will end after 10-15 minutes depending on activity. If a tie-breaker is needed, the QM will roll a die to resolve it and that will be final. Votes may cut off at any time and may not be public.
5. There are contentious voting rules, for where a vote attracts an oddly high amount of votes and the vote itself appears to be contentious. The QM will either discard some very suspicious votes (the rare option, unless there's blatant trolling) or declare a new vote with harsh rules. This new vote requires voters to quote the QM's new post on one line and post with a number (e.g. 1) with no other text at all (no greentexting etc) on another line - do not add anything else to the post. All votes not adhering to these rules will be discarded. Voting will last 5 minutes from the first vote.
6. Combat and other major challenges can sometimes appear to have much too high a DC, but this is because you can sometimes get additional chances. E.g. if you fail the first roll, you can still win the fight on a second. Also, some challenges might require multiple successes in a row to be won.
7. There is HP, MP and Fate Point tracking behind the scenes. NPCs also have an invisible respect meter. Screwing up combat or conversation will lower HP and respect. Using sorcery/powers uses MP. HP regenerates over time and also with magic, MP regenerates over time but respect must be built up again if lost. Fate Points are burnt if something occurs that would end the quest. I may also present an option to the players to burn a Fate Point if they screw up something big (like, say, pissing off an Archmage by accident). Generally, burning a Fate Point will have dire consequences - a major NPC might take a mortal blow intended for the PC, or you may lose a lot of respect from other NPCs. The number of Fate Points changes over time.
8. All bonuses from actions/sorcery etc are incorporated into a DC. There are some calculations taking place behind the scenes.

#NEW# Added these rules. They are considerably more fleshed out than in the original thread.

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2. FR POINT RULES
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Current FR Points: 3
Maximum FR Points: 3
Used FR Points: 0

After any roll takes place, any player can request for an FR point to be used if the result was anything other than an exceptional success (Nat 20). Currently, only one player needs to make the request but that may change to require confirmation before calling a vote. Once a request has been made to use an FR point, a vote will be called to confirm whether to use the point or not under contentious voting rules. If an FR point is used, its usage will be reflected in the narrative of the post about the results of the roll.

The effect of using an FR point is to make the result of a roll into an exceptional success (Nat 20) or just a regular success if the original roll result was a dramatic failure (originally Nat 1). The narrative around using such a point will involve tapping deeply into Talon's astral power in order to bend reality. Although there are no outrageously negative effects in using an FR point (unlike with Fate Points) there may still be lesser and more long-term consequences to the narrative (which may not be negative).

Currently, you do not know how to regain FR points. Rest assured regaining them is not trivial and they should not be burnt lightly. Your FR point pool will not restore to maximum at the start of a new thread or arc but only through the narrative mechanism that will be introduced later.

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3. DATE TRACKING
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Events are listed chronologically.

#NEW# Added new dates to catch up to current thread.

Quest Start Date: March 27th, 1952 (midnight)
Harrowmont Captured: March 27th, 1952
Vitrian Siege Repelled: March 29th, 1952
Mier (Province) Conquered: April 10th, 1952
Undine's PoP Claimed: April 17th, 1952
Fort Locke (in Olmm) Conquered: April 29th, 1952
Olmm (Province) Conquered: May 2nd, 1952
Darlesian Siege of Niorte (in Olmm): May 21st-22nd, 1952
Vitrian Siege of Castle Gimbon (in Vale): June 4th, 1952
Infiltration of Vitria (city): June 16th, 1952
Conquest of Vitria (city and nation): June 16th, 1952
Current Date (Thread XXIII Start): July 13th, 1952

ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION DATES

Underground area finish date: July 15th, 1952 (Bartom only)

OTHER DATES

Caitlyn's Birthday: December 11th
Annual Harvest Taxation: Final two weeks of March
Quarterly Accounts Reconciliation: First week of January, April, July and October

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4. PROVINCIAL INFORMATION
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///4.1. Notes

This information is being presented in this format in the interests of abstraction and to limit the amount of detail players must be aware of. It is important to note that the scale of the quest is increasing, such that trying to involve each major town and castle in a province would be too unwieldy - each hex on the region map is more than 2,500 square miles, containing a dozen castles and a dozen towns each on average.

As such, resources (except major ones and location specific ones) can be assumed to be present (e.g. food) and conquest of provinces is based more around routing the enemy military presence and seizing major landmarks, and then following through with occupation and force projection within the territory (i.e. put men in said landmarks and have them start collecting taxes, enforcing the law etc). Similarly, unless the players have a particularly brilliant idea, it can be assumed economics will be handled normally with player interaction taking place at a high level (e.g. taxation levels). This quest is about being an emperor, not the lord of a manor or a bureaucrat.

///4.2. Legend

Name: The province name. This corresponds with the name of the hex on the map.
Owner: The name of the faction controlling this province.
Control: The level of control the owner has. The lower it is, the lower their ability to collect taxes, enforce tarriffs and catch dissidents. Related more to military presence (and size) than governance.
Order: How unruly the residents of this province are. The lower it is, the more likely they are to revolt or refuse to pay taxes or provide labour.
Population: The approximate number of people in this province.
Military Presence: How large the military in this province is.
Military Experience: How experienced the military in this province is.
Resources: Any major resources available in this province. If a location already has this, it will not be repeated here (e.g. cities containing mage towers).
Notable Locations: A list of castles, cities and towns of note in this province with a description. Generally, these must be captured (or the enemy routed from them) to take control of the province.

MILITARY REFERENCE

Note: Provinces controlled by the players only have military referring to the active garrison, not the standing army of the player (which may or may not be in a province). This is to prevent having to constantly update the map/list every time a redeployment happens.

Very Low = <1,000 troops
Low = <2,500 troops
Moderate = <5,000 troops
High = <10,000 troops
Very High = >10,000 troops

Very Weak = Conscripts
Weak = Green soldiers
Moderate = Regulars
Strong = Veterans
Very Strong = Elites

#NEW# Updated map.

///4.3. Quest Map

Map Link: http://i.imgur.com/yn1Ufsn.png

///4.4. Darlesian Region Information

NB: Some regions have been left off this list as they are not currently relevant. They will be added if they become relevant.

#NEW# Control and order increased. Military presence increased.

Name: Harrowmont
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: High
Order: High
Population: 200,000
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Very Weak
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
	Harrowmont (Fortress) - a large but decrepit fortress containing a Source. Reasonably close to the north of the province and against some bluffs. In the midst of reconstruction.

- - - - -

#NEW# Control increased.

Name: Mier
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Moderate
Order: Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Very Low
Military Experience: Very Weak
Resources: Extensive mine network; high quality quarries
Notable Locations:
	Curton - an odd fortress-town that lines the area bordering the Marnn mountains and much of the mine network there. Despite the seeming size of the fortress, the walls are not stone and the populace is relatively small - it is simply long to protect the mines.
	Toulon - a large trading town on the main road to Vitria, Toulon has some high quality smiths and other manufactures.

- - - - -

#NEW# Control increased. Military presence remains 'Very low' as deployment is of standing army not garrison.

Name: Olmm
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: High
Order: Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Very low
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: Mine network; quarry
Notable Locations:
	Fort Locke - a small fortress that overlooks the mines and quarry of the province.
	Niorte - the largest town in Olmm. It lies close to the southern border, on the highway to the RSK ports. It was the largest town in the former Darlesian territory and has high walls and a sturdy castle.

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#NEW# Control increased. Order decreased as Vitrian nobles are unhappy with your recent decisions.

Name: Vale
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Moderate
Order: Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Weak
Resources: Small mine network; quarries
Notable Locations:
	Argyle Estate - House Argyle is the largest non-ruling house in Vitria. They maintain a sprawling estate with a large castle - one of the few remaining areas in Gauron with serfdom.
	Castle Gimbon - a castle built by Vitria at the same time as Harrowmont - it was much less ambitious and is better maintained. Even so, its age and quality shows and it will not the hold the pass through to Vitria very well. Gimbon Valley is the only way to Vitria that doesn't involve travelling through much of Vale itself.

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#NEW# Order decreased as Vitrian nobles are unhappy with your recent decisions.

Name: Port Temby
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Moderate
Order: Low
Population: 280,000
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Weak
Resources: Large port and fishing piers; mage tower
Notable Locations:
	Port Temby (town) - a large port town that handles a lot of trade and fishing. A lot of trade with the RSK takes place here.

- - - - -

#NEW# Control increased due to recent large presence of standing army.

Name: Craol
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: High
Order: Low
Population: 460,000
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: Fishing piers
Notable Locations:
	Trembin - a large fortress-town that borders Taour and Farun territory, Trembin is made for large musters and for defense. A sizeable part of the Vitrian military is always here in case of attack.

- - - - -

#NEW# Updated owner (as it was wrong last time)

Name: Vitria
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Moderate
Order: Very Low
Population: 700,000 (220,000 in city)
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
	Vitria - an enormous port city. After Vitria was freed, the extravagant nobles had much of the city rebuilt in western fashion - tall, winding spires and bridges between towers hundreds of metres in the air. The city itself is not walled but the design makes it highly defensible nonetheless.
	Gimbon Falls - Gimbon Castle's sister fort, Falls is smaller but was built recently. It is positioned so that it can be bypassed on a march to Vitria but it enables easy mustering and protects arable land in the hills. As such, bypassing it could make for supply chain difficulties.

- - - - -

#NEW# Control and Order increased. Military presence and experience decreased as troops have been moved to Crece.

Name: Darlesia
Owner: Taour
Control: Low
Order: Very Low
Population: 600,000 (250,000 in city)
Military Presence: Low
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
	Darlesia - A city in ruins, once a great capital. The vampires are no doubt tearing down much of the city and trying to maintain order. It unknown what the true state of this city is.

- - - - -

#NEW# Control increased. Military presence and experience increased as troops have been moved from Darlesia.

Name: Crece
Owner: Taour
Control: Moderate
Order: Low
Population: 440,000
Military Presence: High
Military Experience: Strong
Resources: Small mine network; quarries
Notable Locations:
	The Wall of Lesia - The Marrn range stretches into this province, making movement of large armies difficult except through two large valleys. One borders Coventry and is guarded by a powerful mage fortress, the other is guarded by this wall. Built more than a century ago and still maintained, Lesia spans almost four miles with tall, thick magically reinforced stone and has a large fortress in the centre.

- - - - -

Name: Taour
Owner: Taour
Control: Very High
Order: High
Population: 840,000 (340,000 in city)
Military Presence: Moderate
Military Experience: Strong
Resources: N/A
Notable Locations:
	Taour - A relatively new city, Taour is named after its predecessor city that was razed to the ground in the first mage rebellion. It is built tall and dense, with large underground areas and grassy areas lying on top of a hundred metres of buildings below. The structure of the city likely represents the social structure of the populace.

- - - - -

Name: Raupe
Owner: Taour
Control: High
Order: Moderate
Population: 480,000
Military Presence: High
Military Experience: Moderate
Resources: Salt mine
Notable Locations:
	Castle Dalrec - named after the vampire who had it constructed, this castle and the town surrounding it aren't actually part of Taour land. An independent vampire lays claim to it and so far has had their claim upheld.
	Hiien - despite its extraordinary size, this town is clearly not a city. It is instead a huge blood harvesting station of humans for the rulers of Taour. It is heavily guarded - probably the most heavily guarded site in Taour aside from the city itself.

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5. PC STATS AND SKILLS EXPLANATION
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///Their Role: Stats and skills are used in calculating DCs behind the scenes. Modifiers are incorporated into DCs (as there is no functional difference between applying a modifier and changing a DC).

///Stat Range: A commoner might have STR 0, a soldier STR 1, a strong soldier STR 2. STR 3 is around normal human peak, but exceptional humans can get to STR 5 in this world without becoming magical. The same applies to all stats, with the exception of MAG and RES. They are magical in origin so don't have normal limits.

///The Stats:

The physical stats are relatively clear-cut. STR is raw physical power, SPD is a combination of speed, dexterity and agility, END is hardiness (and affects HP), INT is more about wits, perception and planning ability than magical ability.

MAG is a combination of raw magical power and magical talent but isn't always used for magic use. The Knight PC doesn't use his MAG to fight in melee, even if he's using sorcery a lot. He might use it if he's doing something trickier, like using barrier-break in a fight. It's possible to do powerful things with magic with a low MAG stat, but you might be countered by dedicated mages.

RES is a mixture of magical countering ability and sheer willpower. You don't necessarily need to use magic to shrug off some magics. Again, END might be used in some cases rather than RES - not getting incinerated by a fireball might be END or SPD rather than RES.

///Skill Levels:

Skills go up exponentially as you improve them. Sorcery II lets you do much better things than Sorcery I. Level IV is the highest a skill or ability will typically go.

///Levelling Up Stats and Skills:

In order to level up stats and skills, you must actively use them. The actions you choose to take will earn you between 0.5 and 3 points for the stat or skill (with stats earning more than skills generally) - some actions may earn points for more than one stat or skill. The amount of points required to increase a stat or skill doubles each level, with skills requiring more than stats (as they top out earlier). There may also be ways to increase your stats and skills without using time later in the quest, but they will have consequences.

///Learning New Skills and Abilities

This can happen either from plot events or from interacting with NPCs about what they can teach you. Not all new abilities and skills may be that useful, but they will be added to the character sheet regardless.

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6. D20 PROBABILITIES
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This is just for fun.

Dramatic Failure = 12.9% (Chance of rolling more 1s than 20s)
Exceptional Success = 12.9% (Chance of rolling more 20s than 1s)

[NB: Success chance include possibility of dramatic failure and exceptional success.]

///Chance of Success

DC1 = 87.1%
DC2 = 87.1%
DC3 = 87.1%
DC4 = 87.0%
DC5 = 86.8%
DC6 = 86.3%
DC7 = 85.6%
DC8 = 84.4%
DC9 = 82.8%
DC10 = 80.7%
DC11 = 78.0%
DC12 = 74.6%
DC13 = 70.4%
DC14 = 65.5%
DC15 = 59.7%
DC16 = 52.9%
DC17 = 44.9%
DC18 = 35.9%
DC19 = 25.7%
DC20 = 14.2%