Disagree with you about income levels btw as the game is not balanced 'historically' in that way, but then that's neither here nor there.
I am so very glad to have another player interested in Wales!
I have previously listed my reasoning behind the income levels I suggest in other posts. But in short it is based on the suggestions by Professor John Davies when he states that any united Wales would be based on one of the four basically equal regions of Wales: Gwynedd, Powys, Deheubarth, Glamorgan. As an authority, Davies suggests that these regions should be basically even, and in our gaming environment Wales should not be
artifically improverished or an easy push over for England. Free Wales encompassed two-thirds of modern Wales, or
7 of the 11 provinces of the current map by Kurak. It was not until 1283 that Wales was conqured against a forceful and united England.
I feel very strongly against making Wales artifically poor, making it an easy target for an artifically strong England. If a certin province should be improverished at the start of the game to represent it impoverished at the start of the scenario, it can be made so without reducing the base income.
From my perspective, the base income should be:
Principality of
Gwynedd: 7. Gwynedd at 3, Ynys Môn and Perfeddwlad at 2 each. (Conversley, Ynys Môn could be 3 and Gwynedd 2)
Principality of
Deheubarth: 7. Ystrad Tywi 3, Dyfed and Ceredigion 2. (Conversly, Dyfed could be 3 and Ystrad Tywi 2)
Principality of
Powys: 5 (or 4). Powys proper 3, Maelienydd 2 or 1. (and of corse it would or should have claim on Perfeddwlad to possibly expand there for another 2, making it 7!)
Principality of
Glamorgan: 7 or 6. Glamorgan 3, Gwent 2. Brycheiniog as 2 or 1.
As for names:
I agree that names like Ceridwen are artifical for the period and incorrect, and I object to names more appropriate for the Early Middle Ages (with many archaic forms) finding their way into the naming list for the High Middle Ages. Like you I object to
Map and
Merch, as these were highly stylaized archaic forms used in high court poetry of the Bards, but had been an issue in earlier debates.
If you would suggest a naming list I would welcome that, prehaps we can be on the same page here.
And for the
generic dynasties I
strongly disagree with using
ap in front of the generic dynasty name because most often a generic dynasty member is
female, and all the forms in the generic dynasty name are the male form of
'son of so-and-so'. This is jarring to my eyes. In the generic dynasties for the DVIP:Wales expansion and for the DVIP I have suggested using local cantrefi, comparable to a lordship, as a generic dynasty name list, specific for each principality (mostly for Gwynedd and Powys though). This follows the precident in Europe, where a 'dynasty' name would follow a lordship. This looks
very appropriate in the corse of a Welsh game to me.
An example would be a generic character named
Angharad Llŷn, or
Angharad Rhuddlan, or
Angharad Arfon, or
Angharad Meirionydd. As I am sure you know, this would translate to
Angharad of Llyn,
Angharad of Rhuddlan, and
Angharad of Arfon, or
Angarad of Meirionydd (of corse dropping the
o for
of). Rather then a generic name like
Angharad ap Tewdwr, which is technically Anghared
son of Tudor,
completly objectionable and game-breaking for me.
Other Welsh cantrefi and lordships that may serve as generic dynasties for Gwynedd may be found on
this map , and for Powys
here, both of which my friend James Francom created for Wikipedia. Rhion created this map for
Deheubarth which is great as well.
However I have also suggested more Anglisized generic naming list for those regions that are exposed to greater Anglo-Norman influence, especially in the later scenarios when local cantrefi and commotes were replaced by Norman baronies. For instance, I have suggested names like
Ellis for South and West Wales provinces, and
Meredith, and
Griffith, all of which are completly modern Anglicised surnames. Additionally, this would work when there is a character that has the first name in pure Welsh such as Gruffydd and Maredudd or Llywellyn, whom also has a generic last name based off the same first name: thus a
Gruffydd Griffith or
Maredudd Meredith, or
Llywelyn Llewellyn.
This is the same decision Jord an I reached for DVIP for Scotland, when we list more Anglicised names for Lowland Scotland, and more Gaelic names for Highland Scotland, to cover all scenarios best. Sometimes the same surname may be found within the same duchy, but Gaelic in one province and Anglo-Scottish in another.
Other sources of plausable Welsh surnames might be the Welsh monastic communities, or
clas, such as
Penmon,
Pentraeth both on Ynys Mon,
Llancarfan for Glamorgan, and
Llanbadarn for Ceredigion. Many many important Welshmen... and their decendent families, came from these communities. Undoubtedly, had the Norman invasions not devistated Wales, these communities would have formed the basis for many Welsh towns.
This reasoning may may introduce an artifical mechanic to the naming list, but Welsh surnames is an artificial concept well into the Early Modern period. I have found no other satisfactory template that would cover all possibilities for our needs, and this is the balance I have determined best given the tools we have to work with.
