Game overview

The game is set in a powerful Empire that is surrounded by hostile barbarians on all sides. The Empire has grown in power and size for centuries but has experienced a decline in recent decades with territories along the borders being over-run by barbarians. Around a fifth of the territory the Empire controlled at its height has been lost to a series of incursions that an Empire focused on internal politics was ill equipped to repulse.

The Empress has recently been slain, leaving the collective player base as the most powerful individuals in the Empire. Their challenge is to restore the Empire to its former glory by regaining the lands that have been lost and to secure its future.

The Empire is formed from nine culturally distinct nations. Each nation has its own culture and customs but they are politically and legally unified. Although the players are all fundamentally on the same side there is rivalry between nations, with players competing with each other to lead the Empire and achieve their own goals.

Events represent the moments when the powerful and significant members of the Empire come together to shape its future. These are times when characters can take bold actions - there will be votes in the Senate and the Synod, opportunities to practice powerful magic, chances to make your fortune and battles to be fought that will determine the outcome of the Empire's military campaigns.

Look and Feel

The inspiration for the setting is drawn from the late Byzantine period to the early Renaissance era. In creating the visual styles for the nations we have been inspired by some of the images from the The Lord of the Rings movie, the Assassins’ Creed and Dragon Age computer games, HBO Borgias and the Game of Thrones television series, the Starz Camelot series and even the BBC Merlin series.

The setting and the style of the game has also been influenced by modern fantasy literature, especially the highly political worlds of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera and Joe Abercrombie's The First Law.

The game is not a historical setting; history is just one of the starting points that has been used to create the distinctive looks and the culture of each nation. We want players to create characters and wear costume that fits the setting and their part within it. To help with this wiki includes extensive information about each nation, the costumes that are appropriate and advice on how to create the right look. The goal is for everyone involved to be ambitious and work together to create a game that looks stunning and sets new standards for immersion.

The Nations of the Empire

The Empire is formed from nine culturally distinct Nations. Nations exist to provide the players with their primary source of identity - in the way that players in other fest systems are Malathians, Greeks or Lions, our players are Higborn or Navarri. The game is organized logistically along Nation lines, with camps laid out for each Nation. Nationalityhas no rules impact on a character’s skills or abilities because we want to encourage players to choose these factors purely for their aesthetic and setting considerations rather than for reasons of optimization.

Nations are not politically independent, but they have a cultural identity that is identifiable and reflected in their dress, customs and attitude. The Empire has a single set of laws that applies to each citizen, and each Nation elects senators to represent its political interests as well as generals to direct its armies in service to the Empire.

The Senate

Political control of the Empire is primarily through the Senate. Each Nations selects its own senators, who serve for fixed terms. Senators vote on motions and make decisions that affect the Empire directly. The debates and business of the Senate is facilitated and administered by our NPC Civil Service and the Speaker. The Speaker’s role will be to chair and officiate meetings of the Senate.

In the absence of an Emperor or Empress, the Senate is largelly in charge. Creating an Emperor or Empress is the responsibility of the Senate, but is not easy and we do not envisage it happening in the early part of the campaign. Even with the Throne occupied, the Senate continues to have a vital role in shaping the future of the Empire.

The point of the Senate is to provide a focus for political conflict between characters. It gives PCs the levers to control the Empire - but in uptime, rather than in downtime. .

The Synod

The Synod is a political body and meeting place for the faithful of the Empire. It serves as the moral conscience of the Empire, but also possesses potent political powers supported by the Imperial Constitution. Membership of the Synod is open to all priests of the Imperial Faith with a congregation (represented by a personal resource), but a priest who is part of the Synod cannot simultaneously be a Senator or General.

The Synod has legal powers tsuch as the ability to veto certain decisions of the Senate, to call Imperial Citizens before it to answer questions about their actions, and ultimately to dismiss senators and generals it deems to be corrupt. They are also the only body able to intercede with the Judiciary to plead for clemency for convicted criminals.

The Military, the Bourse and the Conclave

The Military will be a political arena for characters who are engaged in war and conflict with the Empire's enemies. A position in the Military will give a character influence over the wars the Empire fights as well as the battles that take place at each event. All three of these political structures will rival the power of the Senate and the Synod.

The Bourse is an arena for characters who are interested in trade and commerce. A position in the Bourse allows characters control of valuable resources that can be used to influence the economic development of the Empire.

The Conclave is a political arena for the powerful wizards in the Empire. Positions in the Conclave will be associated with magical prowess and power and characters involved in the Conclave will be able to shape the magical destiny of the Empire.

The Civil Service and Judiciary

The Empire has an efficient and orderly civil service; these will be primarily played by our crew. Their job is to support the game by making the game systems run more efficiently (e.g. managing meetings in the Senate, holding trials for accused parties). The Civil Service will make it possible for us to recognize what players are doing, and ensure that their actions and decisions are reflected in the game world. The Civil Service will allow us to have a wide range of logistical functions carried out by NPCs, without having those NPCs be in charge.

The Judiciary will exist to enforce the law. This will allow us to present a body of Imperial law to the players (which they change through the Senate). It will also make breaking the law meaningful and credibly dangerous, as well as keeping the resulting trials short and interesting. Trials are notoriously dull in LRP, and law enforcement is usually arduous at best. PCs will be involved in the legal process, gathering evidence and arresting suspects but trials will be conducted and judged by our NPCs.

Eternals

The world of Empire is known to touch six other planes of existence. These are home to powerful magical entities called Eternals who are interested in the human world. Players can meet the Eternals in the Hall of Worlds, and negotiate and deal with them there.

The Eternals are powerful but they are not gods. Their power is themed. Their role in the game is to make the game world feel more magical and fantastic; to provide dramatic non-combat moments for players by interaction in the Hall of Worlds; and to act as a source of plot through their machinations. Magical characters will bargain and deal with the Eternals, and their actions may well be significant in the Conclave.

Lineage

Human PCs may choose one of five different lineages. Lineage represents Eternal blood in a character’s ancestry. The degree of Eternal blood varies, the more obvious and dramatically non-human a player’s phys-rep then the more Eternal blood they have.

Each lineage will have a list of roleplaying and physical “Trappings”, to give guidance on how to play the lineage. The more of the Trappings the player adopts for their character the more “Eternal” and less human their character is. Lineage has no impact on a character’s skills or abilities, but will affect the way other Eternals interact with a character.

Barbarians and Orcs

The role of the barbarians is to serve as opponents to the Empire. There will be several distinct Barbarian powers: tribes, nations or kingdoms as appropriate. The primary requirement of barbarians is to look cool in massive numbers in battles, to provide immersive, exciting, dramatic combat encounters, whilst allowing for a full range of interaction when it is appropriate.

Most of the Barbarians powers that surround the Empire are orcs, not humans. Other species exist in the world. Players will encounter representatives of these powers over time.

Players will be able to play Imperial Orcs. Imperial orcs are orcs who have been brought into the Empire decades earlier; as such, they are completely politically assimilated and are totally loyal to the Empire. Imperial orcs have their own unique culture, effectively they are a nation of their own, although they do lack territory and the political power that the Nations wield.