Aspiring Emperor Quest General Pastebin #5

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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.

Lorebin: http://pastebin.com/C1rCr1fK
Q&A Pastebin: http://pastebin.com/JNXH2fJt
PC Character Sheet: http://pastebin.com/amF8s7CX
NPC Character Sheets: http://pastebin.com/hTsHw6ZR
Recap Bin: http://pastebin.com/fk6pVsc0
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 latest 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.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Basic Quest Rules/Mechanics
2. Harrowmont
3. NPC List
4. Cabinet Members
5. Date Tracking
6. Current Army
7. Provincial Information
8. PC Stats and Skills Explanation
9. 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) 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.

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2. HARROWMONT
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NB: This section will change over time as the PC changes the fortress.

Description: A large fortress built forty years ago during the heyday of Darlesia. It was initially built to maintain the eastern front of the nation, but the border expanded faster than expected and the castle was abandoned shortly before it was completely finished. A noble from Vitria decided to claim the fortress for himself with the near complete collapse of Darlesia and his excavation team have reportedly discovered a Source. Whether the noble knows exactly what he found is unknown, but whoever takes control of it will have the only functional Source in existence. The fortress itself is large, containing an outer wall, inner wall and a keep. It backs into a cliff side, making it easily defensible once it is repaired.

Very rough map, the boxes are gatehouses: http://imgur.com/47q9Vha

>[X] signifies the area is under your control
>[/] signifies the area is contested
>[] signifies the area is not under your control or contested

OUTSIDE THE WALLS [X] – this is immediate surroundings of the outer wall of the fortress, up to the cliffs. It is currently overgrown.
OUTER WALL [X] – this is the outer wall of the fortress, which stretches downhill into the fields before returning to the cliff side. It is currently highly damaged and provides no defensive bonus.
+ Outer courtyard, lower area [X] – the outer courtyard stretches between the two main gatehouses and is separated into lower and upper areas by some manmade platforms.
+ Outer courtyard, upper area [X] – the upper area consists consists of a mix of the space on top of the platforms and the natural incline.
+ Merchant area [X] – separated from the courtyard by a short wall, there is an area of housing and structures that was clearly intended to be used by merchants. It has its own small gatehouse in the outer wall. It also connects to the noble manors on the other side of the inner wall.

#NEW# Residential area construction is finished as of the start of April 20th, 1952 (i.e. estimated return date from Undine's PoP).

+ Residential area [X] – a tall stone wall with no battlements or rampart access separates the courtyard from the main residential area in the fortress. Fully half the outer area of the fortress is dedicated to this area. This area is connected to both courtyards - the south side contains the gatehouse through the inner wall. Gareth and Bartom have recently reconstructed the housing, roads and other infrastructure of the area and they estimate it can house 6000 people comfortably (if a little cramped - houses are built high).
INNER WALL – this is the inner wall of the fortress, protecting an inner courtyard and the keep. The wall is also highly damaged, but the defenders have hastily erected wooden palisades around larger holes.
+ Inner courtyard [X] – The inner courtyard surrounds the keep, which is itself built into the cliff side. The entire courtyard is paved with flagstones, which are overgrown with moss and weeds, and many are missing making for a treacherous battlefield.
+ Noble manors [X] – the fortress has a dedicated area for three small manors, all of which are in ruin.
KEEP [X] – Harrowmont’s keep is a large, multi-level castle with many rooms and supply stores. The keep interior has been restored to a structurally safe state, but the outside is still in need of repair. The keep itself extends into the cliff.
+ Lower floors [X] – The lower floors include audience chambers, guard rooms and supply rooms for the most part. It is the working area of the keep. Most rooms are empty and dirty.
+ Upper floors [X] – the upper floors are where all the bedrooms and private hearing rooms are. Most rooms are empty and dirty.
+ Underground [X] – vaults and supply stores lie under the keep. Not all of these areas are structurally sound.
+ Source vault [X] – The lowest floor that was recently excavated is a sturdy vault that contains the Source. The Source itself is a large prismatic stone inside a large room on this floor - there is an illusion over the Source to prevent people from seeing its natural form and freaking out.

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3. NPC LIST
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#NEW# Added a note on which NPCs are included here and which are in the lorebin.

///NOTE: This list is only of NPCs currently encountered or current antagonists. Major figures in the world have their own section in the lorebin - when/if these figures become involved in the quest directly, they will be added here.

CAITLYN / SIR LYNN
Sex: Female
Race: 'Natural' Feldragon
Age: 19
Class: Dragon Knight
Title: Sole member of General Talon's Personal Guard
Attitude to Talon: Very friendly; highly respectful and supportive

A young girl with a love of battle and fighting. Dusty blonde hair, 5’ and a small frame but is capable of literally ripping a man limb from limb. Uses a sword almost as big as her and a large shield. She wears a set of chainmail armor with a fully enclosed helmet (which also modifies her voice) and so many people often mistake her for a man (called Sir Lynn). She always seems to have a smile on her face and her voice rings pleasantly even in the thick of battle.

She is a natural feldragon, which appears to mean that the otherwise separate draconic and humanoid forms of her erstwhile kin are combined in her human form. She has a pair of black wings and her sorcery appears to be some form of instictive draconic magic. She appears to be quite happy to fight alongside you and act as your personal guard. Not much in the way of manners, but appears to be wealthy. She would prefer to keep her draconic heritage a secret for as long as possible. Her father is the first feldragon, Tylarne, who is also known as the Font of Eternity. She recently fell into a berserk rage when wounded which may be linked to her dragon ancestry, but is working to control it in the future.

GENERAL ARAIL MALAINE
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 24
Class: Mage-knight / Mage (Adept-rank)
Title: General of Harrowmont
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

Arail is a young and extremely capable soldier. If Darlesia had been in better times, he would have been knighted. As it was, his strength and skill was vital to enabling the nation to hold on as long as it did. Arail is unsurprised by the failure of Darlesia, having matured during its decline. He is interested to see how far the PC can go and is oddly copacetic even during dark times. He has been recently promoted to general in recognition of his capability.

#NEW# Added Arail's replacement captain

MAGE-KNIGHT CAPTAIN CERES NATE
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Age: 26
Class: Mage-knight
Title: Mage-knight Captain, flying knights
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

You don't know much about Ceres apart from the fact she's considered the most capable fighter amongst the Darlesian troops apart from Arail and Lynn. Although she appears to be competent, you haven't yet invited her to your cabinet as you are wary of how overly weighted it is to military affairs as is.

MAGE-KNIGHT CAPTAIN TERRENCE GLYNN
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 41
Class: Mage-knight
Title: Mage-knight Captain, Infantry
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

Glynn is the current head of the infantry mage-knights. He's a gruff and strong-headed. He's probably the most loyal to Darlesia, despite it's fall, but also recognises that the queen would not have abandoned the city and asked Talon to lead the siege without good reason. Has a particular hatred for Taour.

MAGISTER GARETH
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 57
Class: Mage (Magister-rank)
Title: Magister of Harrowmont (no tower)
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

The last remaining magister from the Darlesian mage towers. Gareth is past the prime of his life and saw Darlesia’s fall through that prism. He possesses a love of legends and of heroes and believes that the PC could very well become one. Reasonably talented as a mage, Gareth is widely studied but lacks mastery of any disciplines. He handed over his title of archmagister to Maloric and has summoned an earth elemental familiar called Bartom.

ARMS MASTER CORMANN
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 49
Class: Soldier / Scribe
Title: Arms Master of Harrowmont
Attitude to Talon: Highly respectful and supportive

An old soldier who now takes care of logistics. Not much of a fighter. He is a gruff no-nonsense bloke. Has a lot of respect for the PC and has fought under him before. Didn’t fight for Darlesia.

#NEW# You now know Undine's rough age

UNDINE
Sex: Female
Race: Pure Water Elemental
Age: 50+
Class: Champion / Pure Water Elemental
Title: Champion
Attitude to Talon: Dutiful and extremely loyal; highly respectful and supportive

A pure water elemental that was summoned by the Vitrian mages at Harrowmont - she refused to move until somebody worthy of being her master arrived. Upon seeing Talon, she chose him as her master and has been strongly loyal since. She looks like an ordinary woman - if an attractive one, at about 5'4, with brown hair and blue eyes and always appears to be wearing some form-fitting black clothes. Is apparently young for a water elemental, and has a short temper. According to Maloric, she is one of the four Great Elementals - meaning she is recognised as the most powerful water elemental alive. She believes that is untrue, and may be harbouring an inferiority complex towards her older sisters. Further investigation shows that she misses her older sister, Gnome, but doesn't get along with other two sisters, finding Salamander to be arrogant and Sylph to be flighty.

#NEW# Added his summoning of Salamander

MALORIC REEGAN
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 36
Class: Mage (Magister-rank)
Title: Magister Errant of the Tower of Sacrament; Archmagister of Harrowmont
Attitude to Talon: Confidante; highly respectful and supportive

Talon's oldest and truest friend, Maloric is a sarcastic mage with no small amount of talent. He can be a bit boastful though - his greatest boast being that he could be a grand magister if he merely spent some more time at his tower, though the truth of this is questionable. He is a tall man, at more than 6', and keeps his black hair short with a slight fringe - he prefers elegant and showy black robes. His talent and knowledge in the magical domain is great - his speciality is in magical theory and the direct manipulation of masses of magical energy via evocation. This makes him a talented enchanter, capable summoner (though he loathes using this skill in battle) and highly talented medium-distance battle-caster. He is a stereotypical squishy wizard though, and is nearly useless if a strong enemy closes with him. He now has Salamander as his familiar, and although she appears to be just as interested in you, is still very satisfied - a state of affairs you hope continues.

#NEW# Corrected some outdated comments in this entry (as pointed out on Twitter)

SARAH HAWKINS
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Age: 18
Class: Noble / Mage (Journeyman-rank)
Title: Head of House Hawkins of Vitria; Vassal to Imperator Talon York
Attitude to Talon: Impressed and interested; apathetic

This young girl is the head of House Hawkins of Vitria - one of the four ruling noble houses in the city. Oddly, nobody in your retinue appears to know of when she took this position. She is supposedly a very talented mage and was responsible for funding and pushing for the excavation that found the Source at Harrowmont. She was extremely upset over Undine choosing Talon over herself as a master. She has chosen to swear allegiance to Talon and appears to be rather enthusiastic in her work. Her house is no longer as powerful as it once was but she was still able to lend a small military force and maintains a number of Vitrian contacts.

GENERAL FELIX TARN
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 31
Class: Knight
Title: General of Harrowmont; Knight Errant of the Order of the Diamond Fox
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

The leader of a small group of errants from the multinational knightly order, the Order of the Diamond Fox. He has sworn allegiance to Talon and acts as a general in charge of Sarah's Vitrian forces. He says to be interested in better himself through combat and leadership and has no other apparent motives for involving himself in this war.

ARCANE ARCHER CAPTAIN MATTHEW MOSS
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 40
Class: Arcane Archer
Title: Arcane Archer Captain
Attitude to Talon: Respectful

Formerly one of Glynn's lieutenants and the head of the longbowmen, with the advent of arcane archers he has been promoted to full captain.

#NEW# Added a whole host of NPCs below.

GNOME
Sex: Female
Race: Pure Earth Elemental
Age: 800+
Class: Pure Earth Elemental
Title: Talon's Familiar (?)
Attitude to Talon: Curious; Respectful

The oldest and most powerful elemental alive, Gnome is rather famous. Even you've at least heard the name. She's tall and busty, with brown skin and green eyes which make her an exotic sight in Gauron. She wraps herself up in thick fabric clothes with a high collar up to her nose and wears a pair of large maille-wrapped gauntlets - the maille is of large links each of which appear to have runes engraved on them. She's knowledgable but isn't as willing to share as Undine is and you get a sense that her attitude towards you is considerably less servantile than Undine and Salamander. Unlike her sisters, she has a commanding presence - likely because she has been a servant to mages and they could use a powerful general such as her.

SALAMANDER
Sex: Female
Race: Pure Fire Elemental
Age: 300+
Class: Pure Fire Elemental
Title: Maloric's Familiar
Attitude to Talon: Flirty; Respectful

Undine described Salamander as arrogant, but you find her more forthright. She has a good sense of what she wants and isn't afraid to try to take it. Although she's been somewhat flirty with you, you're not certain whether that's her way of showing interest (as Mal takes it as) or just her way of interacting with people she seems to like. She's not much taller than Undine and of a lither build but despite favouring a metal bikini and plated boots but little else, lacks much in the chest department. She seems very worldly, but at the same time isn't too knowledgable. From the sounds of it, she's been favoured by combat magisters unlike Gnome who is beloved by researchers - you wonder if that's because of personal preference.

VIKTOR OALN
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 47

Viktor Oaln is the head of House Oaln, one of the ruling houses of Vitria and currently the most powerful one. Every description you hear of him has him as a powermonger and he is being aided by the RSK in his venture to conquer the Darlesian region. You know little of the man though, and what sort of tactics and strategies he favours.

ROBIN ARGYLE
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 39

Robin Argyle is the Count of the province of Vale and, although his house is a vassal of House Oaln, a strident opponent of Viktor Oaln's expansionism. Supposedly a family friend of Sarah's, she somehow has convinced him to side with you - apparently although he opposes your ambitions, he trusts Sarah's judgement and wants her to rule Vitria even if it's under you.

TARVISH DORNER
Sex: Male
Race: Dwarf
Age: ??

A dwarven bandit leader you encountered outside Toulon. He was exiled from his homeland for 'greed' as he put it. As it was, he had made a pact with a devil to be able to magically enforce deals. It was this that led to him being exiled and living a life of banditry. You killed him when his attempt to bind you to a pact failed, but not after getting information about Taour.

#NEW# The below section is new

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4. CABINET MEMBERS
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This keeps track of the current members of your cabinet, to simplify matters. The NPCs listed below will be present at war and strategy meetings if they are with you. They will offer advice and your decisions will affect their respect for you more directly. You can add and remove cabinet members as you wish, but you may lose respect depending on the individual and your reasons (e.g. you might remove a captain with no issues once you have three generals, but removing your arms master might be troublesome). Currently, there are no specified positions for cabinet members but their general background is specified - they will simply offer advice suitable to their role and experience.

See the above NPC list for more details on each NPC.

4.1. List of Cabinet Members

EXECUTIVE
Imperator Talon York (PC)
Undine
Gnome

MAGES
Archmagister Maloric Reegan
Magister Gareth

MILITARY
General Arail Malaine
General Felix Tarn
Mage-Knight Captain Terrence Glynn
Arcane Archer Captain Matthew Moss

LOGISTICS
Arms Master Cormann

NOBILITY/BUREAUCRACY/ECONOMICS
Lady Sarah Hawkins

#NEW# The section below is new

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5. DATE TRACKING
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Quest Start Date: March 27th, 1952 (midnight)
Harrowmont Captured: March 27th, 1952
Vitrian Siege Repelled: March 29th, 1952
Mier (Province) Conquered: April 10th, 1952
Current Date (Thread VIII Start): April 16th, 1952

OTHER DATES

Caitlyn's Birthday: December 11th
Annual Harvest Taxation: Final two weeks of March

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6. CURRENT ARMY
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#NEW# Updated from last thread. Troops are no longer distinguished by nationality, and many troops types are being combined as they were functionally similar.

6.1. Current Army

45 Flying Mage-Knights (Vet.)
55 Medium Mage-Knights (Vet.)
150 Archers (Vet.)
50 Arcane Archers (Vet.)
470 Men-at-arms (Vet.)
23 Battlemages (Reg.)
290 Men-at-arms (Reg.)
25 Medium Mage-Knights (Reg.)
140 Medium Mage-Knights (Grn.)
370 Men-at-arms (Grn.)
Satisfactory support and logistics corps

#NEW# I finally added unit descriptions.

6.2. Unit Descriptions

FLYING MAGE-KNIGHTS (FMK)

Flying mage knights are a specialist unit of mage-knights. They are suited to scouting and harassment, and the expense of their equipment means the wearers are typically highly skilled. They typically wear a suit of magical plate with special gauntlets and carry a small weapon. The plate has a flying enchantment on it, with all the requisite control abilities for the wearer (i.e. so they can actually control the thing), and also carries mass-lightening charms - there are usually no other enchantments on the plate due to complexity of the flying enchantment. The gauntlets however, are loaded with spells. The Darlesian spell armament are binding and explosive spells - the knights can swap between the two with a delay of 15-20 seconds and a small expenditure of their current charges (which recover reasonably quickly). The binding spells are suited to restraining movement of enemy elites but the explosive spells are mostly about a lot of damage, despite being slower to cast. Their weapon typically carries a standard magical bolt enchantment, with relatively few charges, and a cutting enchancement.

HEAVY MAGE-KNIGHTS (HMK)

Note: You do not currently have any of these in your army and have not encountered any.

Heavy mage-knights are a recent attempt by the RSK to make anti-mage units. The magical plate is not only made thick and bulky but is loaded with a large amount of enchantments (typically defensive, strength and barriers, with only enough speed and mass-reduction to make the armor usable). Earlier, machined plate could never stand against mages - now heavy mage-knights can wear this (expensive) machined plate and withstand powerful spells and empowered blows. With that said, the focus on defensive enchantment means the wearers move slowly and exhaust themselves quickly. Units of heavy mage-knights are best used as strikeforce units to break combat magister formations or elite shock troops.

MEDIUM MAGE-KNIGHTS (MMK)

The core of any modern army, it is said that every mage-knight is worth five regular soldiers. As it is, they cost a lot more than five soldiers but as morale breaks faster than bodies they make up for it. The equipment of most mage-knights is a suit of magical plate, an enchanted weapon and a shield. The weapon typically has the ability to fire magical bolts and has a large number of charges with a short recharge time. The shield is typically all metal with a mass-lightening charm and some better shields may have limited-charge momentum-nullification barriers (to be used against powerful blows). The plate itself has passive strength, speed and defensive enchantments for the wearer, and typically one other enchantment - Darlesia favoured silence charms whereas Vitria preferred more speed enchantment.

LIGHT MAGE-KNIGHTS (LMK)

Note: You do not currently have any of these in your army and have not encountered any.

When magical plate first started being machined fifty years ago (for the first time since the Golden Age) all plate would fit into the category of light. Now though, the equipment of the light mage-knight is aimed more at making them devastatingly powerful glass cannons. Their plate is loaded with speed enchantments and their weapons with cutting enchantments - the idea is that they close with an enemy unit, deal a lot of damage with their armor-piercing weapons, and then retreat. If caught in a dedicated melee, LMKs will collapse very quickly.

ARCANE ARCHERS

Seeing the uses of enchanted equipment for mage-knights, you decided to start giving it to your archers. Mage-knights have ranged ability, but it is close range and of limited usefulness - by giving your skilled archers heavily enchanted bows and armor to enhance their ability to penetrate enemy armor and strike accurately at a great distance you have added a powerful force to your army. All archers also have a handful of enchanted arrows to enable penetration of heavier armor. As arcane archers are new, there are bound to be ways to further improve them and to better use magic with archery.

ARCHERS

The mainstay of long-range combat outside battle-mages, regular soldiers can be trained to use bows (longbows, crossbows etc are functionally similar for simplicity reasons). Although their arrows have great difficulty piercing magical plate, they still occasionally strike true and are great for weakening morale - and of course, they fell men-at-arms with little difficulty.

MEN-AT-ARMS

Up until fifty years ago, when machined plate returned to warfare, men-at-arms made up the vast bulk of any army. Professional soldiers supplied with mass-produced mundane equipment were the core of any army. Now, men-at-arms are still very common but are playing a back-up role to mage-knights. Mage-knights are responsible for winning battles by breaking through enemy formations or shattering morale but the men-at-arms are still responsible for holding the line otherwise.

BATTLEMAGES

Although magic is very common and most people can cast magic with lethal consequences being a battlemage is of considerable difficulty. It is not enough to simply be able to strike down a foe with magic at range - a battlemage must also be able to cast continuously at longbow range, be able to lay and trigger traps and be able to cast a variety of damaging spells. A failure of a battlemage unit to do any of the above leaves them very vulnerable to enemy soldiers or mages - as such, battlemages are much rarer than their ordinary mage cousins. There is a subtype of battlemage known as the combat magister that is used in a very different manner.

COMBAT MAGISTERS

If a battlemage is to a mage what a mage-knight is to a peasant, then combat magisters are the same again to their battlemage cousins. Exceedingly skilled and experienced warriors, combat magisters field in small tight-knit units and unless a wide-array of magical death to their foes. The Magi League uses them as surprise shock troops, hiding them in regular units only for them to suddenly charge out and obliterate the unit they are facing. A highly skilled magister can destroy a unit of mage-knights at range but a unit of elite combat magisters can shatter the entire core of an army in a few brief minutes. Luckily for the RSK, combat magisters are both rare and difficult to replace so every one they kill is a serious blow to the League.

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7. PROVINCIAL INFORMATION
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///6.1. 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.

///6.2. 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 and how capable (e.g. "Very large; weak")
Resources: Any major resources available in this province.
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.

#NEW# Updated map and colour legend.

///6.3. Darlesian Region Map

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

HEX COLOURS:
Light Blue: Player Territory / Harrowmont
Green: Independents
Yellow: Vitria
Purple: Taour
Tan: Royal Seraphi Kingdom
Blue: Magi League
Orange: Farun (minor royal city)
Grey: Impassable terrain

BORDER COLOURS:
Red: Impassable border except for flyers
Blue: Borders the sea
Black: A regular border

///6.4. 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 has increased slightly (as of estimated time of PC returning from the PoP on April 20th)

Name: Harrowmont
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Low
Order: Moderate
Population: 200,000
Military Presence: Very Low; Moderate
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.

- - - - -

Name: Mier
Owner: Harrowmont
Control: Very Low
Order: Very Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Very Low; 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.

- - - - -

Name: Olmm
Owner: Independents
Control: Very Low
Order: Very Low
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Low; 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.

- - - - -

#NEW# PC now contests this province

Name: Vale
Owner: Contested (Vitria and Harrowmont)
Control: Very Low
Order: Moderate
Population: 500,000
Military Presence: Low; 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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Name: Port Temby
Owner: Vitria
Control: High
Order: High
Population: 280,000
Military Presence: Low; 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.

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Name: Craol
Owner: Vitria
Control: High
Order: Moderate
Population: 460,000
Military Presence: High; 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.

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Name: Vitria
Owner: Vitria
Control: High
Order: Low
Population: 700,000 (220,000 in city)
Military Presence: Very high; Strong
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.

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Name: Darlesia
Owner: Taour
Control: Very Low
Order: Nonexistent
Population: 600,000 (250,000 in city)
Military Presence: High; Strong
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.

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Name: Crece
Owner: Taour
Control: Low
Order: Low
Population: 440,000
Military Presence: Moderate; Moderate
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.

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Name: Taour
Owner: Taour
Control: Very High
Order: High
Population: 840,000 (340,000 in city)
Military Presence: Moderate; 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.

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Name: Raupe
Owner: Taour
Control: High
Order: Moderate
Population: 480,000
Military Presence: High; 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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8. 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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9. 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%