Pozdrowienia, and welcome Commonwealth in Chaos. My third attempt at running a forum game, like my past game Throne of the Autokrator, its also based on RedNomNoms, St Peter's Throne. The setting is the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and it will be character based. The game starts after the death of King Jan III Sobieski, players will play as members on the Polish nobility navigating the tumultuous political climate of the Commonwealth in the 18th century, dealing with foreign powers wanting to take the lands of the Commonwealth, and facing the Commonwealth's increasingly obsolete form of government.
Government of the Commonwealth
The government of the Commonwealth was a mix of, democracy, oligarchy, elective monarchy and constitutional monarchy. The King/Grand Duke historically was very limited in his powers, the best way to describe the situation of the King in the saying 'The King reigns, but doesn't govern', in the age of absolute monarchies this was an oddity and helped contribute to the downfall of the Commonwealth. Most of the authority at the central level came from the Sejm or the parliament of the Commonwealth. In the Commonwealth being a member of the nobility or the Szlachta gave you a large say in the government of the Commonwealth.
Members of the Sejm could also use the power of Liberum Veto. With this power one member of the Sejm could say "Nie pozwalam!"/"I do not permit!" and this could veto and action taken by the Sejm. While this allowed for great freedom for the nobility it historically crippled the government of the Commonwealth. The nobility could also organize themselves into confederations, effectively voluntary organizations of mutual military support under a charter (act of confederation) led by a marshal in pursuit of some political aim. For Sejm offices, you have the Grand Marshals, Grand Chancellors, Grand Treasurers, for both the Crown (Poland) and Lithuania. There are also the various Voivodeships, the administrative divisions of the Commonwealth, governed by the Voivodes. The position of Voivode or Castellan cannot be held in common with any ministerial post. The Marshals are responsible for the security of the king, have oversight over the king's law including presiding over their own court (sentence to be passed immediately, no appeals), and also control audiences with the king and apparently ministerial salaries as effective governors of the court. The Chancellors are responsible for foreign and internal affairs, but receive no salary - they're expected to subsist on their own land's earnings. The Treasurers are responsible for the flow of cash, the state of the Treasury, and the minting of coins (a royal prerogative), but also receive no salary - once again, they're expected to subsist on their own land's earnings, but when you work with money on a daily basis, it's always easy to make a little bit "disappear.
Rules of Commonwealth in Chaos
How to Join
Anyone can join at anytime.
All people who join must be either as a noble. At the beginning there is no King it is up to the nobility to elect a new King.
To join use the following format.
Name:
Culture:
Birth Year:
Biography: (Short background story for your character)
Once you create your character you automatically get a small landed estate, this will serve as your starting income. You can buy more estates and gain a salary for postions in the court. All government positions are appointed by the Sejm and all military commands and governorship's are appointed by the King. Government positions include, Marshall's, Chancellors, and Treasures.
If a player's character dies, the player is welcome to create a new one. Players are strongly encouraged to create a family for their character, so that when their character dies, a family member can succeed them. Players who do this will get some on the income, wealth, and influence carried over from their last character as 'inheritance.' Every character has a 5% chance of dying at 55, and increases 1% every year they are older than 55.
Stats
Commonwealth in Chaos has three stats: Income, Wealth, and Influence. Wealth is measured in Czerwony Złoty, and represents a character's material's worth. Income is measured in Czerwony Złoty per year, and represents the income from estates or income a character gains from salaries from the positions the character holds. Influence is measured in clout, and is representative of the sway, friends, and favors a character accumulates over time.
So what do you do with your money? Well you can use it to to buy more estates, bribe officials to further your own agenda, make improvements to the Voivodships you are governing, raising a private military force, and virtually anything in between.
Estates and other holdings
Estates are farms owned by players and they are the basis of income for players. Estates are divided into three sizes, small, medium, and large, the larger the estate the more income it produces. Estates can be upgraded into larger sizes to produce more income. Holdings also can include, Banks (usually for Jewish characters), Manufacturing (textiles and ironwork), and Ports (includes river ports).
Small Estate: Produces 5000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 7500 Czerwony Złoty to purchase, costs 8000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to medium estate.
Medium Estate: Produces 9000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs to 10,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase, costs 15,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to a large estate.
Large Estage: Produces 15,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 30,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase.
Small Bank: Produces 30,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 60,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 75,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to medium bank.
Medium Bank: Produces 75,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 125,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 145,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to large bank.
Large Bank: Produces 100,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 200,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase.
Small Manufacturer: Produces 75,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 100,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 120,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to medium manufacturer.
Medium Manufacturer: Produces 125,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 200,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 210,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to large manufacturer.
Large Manufacturer: Produces 175,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 300,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase.
Small Port: Produces 40,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 90,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 100,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to medium port.
Medium Port: Produces 80,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 130,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase. costs 145,000 Czerwony Złoty to upgrade to large port.
Large Port: Produces 120,000 Czerwony Złoty per year of income, costs 160,000 Czerwony Złoty to purchase.
Orders
Orders cost wealth to carry out, and plots use influence to increase their chance of success. If you are low on wealth, you can spend Influence on orders, but not vice-versa. If you plan to do this, note it in your orders.
Every character gets one personal order per turn. This can be anything, though you may want to make it useful. For instance, if you are short on wealth, getting favor from a noble or an offical would be smart so you are granted more land. If you are looking to carry out a plot, meeting with other noble families and currying their favor would be a good idea. This should be limited to a single action, and should take up no more than four lines in the message box.
In addition to their personal order, all players get an an administrative order. This is used to carry out their duties for the Commonwealth, such as being a diplomat, or drilling troops, etc. The King and has one of these, and he is to use it for administering the Commonwealth (i.e. if he wants to improve the army, build specific buildings, etc.) The administrative order can have multiple actions in it so long as they are related, and should take up no more than six lines in the message box.
Note that the personal order is for actions that help your character, and the administrative order is for doing the duties that a character is tasked with doing by the Imperial Government or other organizations. You can use an administrative order to help yourself, but you must make it reasonable (i.e. the Treasurer can raise the salaries of the government officials).
Finally, the King gets an additional Royal order on top of his administrative and personal orders. This is used to do Royal actions such as appointing military commanders and appointing (or dismissing) Voivodes, etc. The Imperial order can have as many appropriate actions as the King wishes in it, and it will have no limit for length.
Orders should have a subject of “CIC - Your Character’s Name, Current Year”. So, for example:
Plots
Plots are group covert efforts, for example assassinations of any character (even the King). These will be treated as a special kind of order. Players are free to secretly plot, gather influence, etc without GM approval. When the plot leader feels he is prepared to act, he must send me a PM detailing the plot goal, its plan, and those who back it. Any requests for NPC support (such as the Russians, other noble families, etc) can be directed to me. Once I confirm the people that back the plot, it will be considered an order. A plot serves as the player’s personal order for the turn he decides to launch it, as well as for all those backing the plot. The greater the combined influence a plot has, the more likely it is to succeed. Note that any assassination of a higher-ranking Royal official, or the King himself, will need a very powerful plot backing to succeed.
Updates, Events, and War
There are three types of updates. These will contain the results of orders, events, and other important happenings. The first type of update is a Main Update. It will cover a year in-game, and will contain the results of all the orders sent in, among other events that happen that year. The second type of update is a Mini Update. It will highlight or cover a specific event during the year. The final type of update is an Royal Update, which will be updates relating to the King and the Royal court in general (This includes attempts on the Kings life or other actions against the King).
Events are significant happenings (such as a war, a new ruler in another land, a natural disaster, or an unexpected benefit) that will usually cause a headache for the King and the Sejm, though sometimes will bring him joy. The majority of CIC will be player-driven, but the events will provide the substance for you as a player to create this content.
In the event of war, the Grand Marshals of the Crown/Lithuania will use his administrative order to determine general strategy.I will write up mini updates for major battles, and perhaps if you are a commander of the one of the armies you will be noted in such a mini update for commendable service to the King of the Commonwealth.
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russian (German)
