Thinking about starting a new game, something along the lines of St Peter's Throne but set in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, problem is after reading on the Commonwealth's government it would be hard to set up and figure out offices and dealing with things like Librium Veto. If anyone has an idea on how this could work please post them, I really like this idea and I want to get it going.
Well, I know next to nothing about the PLC's government, but that's never stopped me from prattling on before. I suppose part of this depends on when you want to run the game, whether it's just after Nihil Novi or the Liberum Veto, the War of Polish Succession, the dying days between the Partitions, or some other time period. ^_^
Liberum Veto: Any player of a deputy can veto a legal action taken through the Sejm by simply posting "Nie pozwalam!"/"I do not permit!" or some variation therein. Depending on the era, the players could also call a "confederated sejm" from a part or all of the deputies of the National Sejm or put in a vote to turn the National Sejm into a confederated sejm for that particular session, which would basically bypass this by adopting a policy of majority vote instead - the reforms in the dying days of the Commonwealth largely were passed through such confederated sejms, most famously the Great Sejm from which the Constitution of 1791 arose. This also wouldn't block actions taken outside the Sejm, of course, though bypassing the legal institutions of the state could have consequences from other players who need to protect their own power base...
Konfederacja/Confederation: Players 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. The same principles behind this are those that governed confederated sejms. Officially only proscribed in 1717, confederations continued to operate in defiance of the state, largely because the state lacked the power and authority to prevent them. Famous confederations include Targowica (which opposed the 1791 reforms and led directly to the Second Partition), Dzików (which was the exact opposite, pushing for reform in 1734 during the War of Polish Succession), Tarnogród (which opposed the absolutist tendences of the Saxons), or the Confederation of Warsaw of 1573 (which succeeded in ensuring that religious tolerance would become the rule for the Commonwealth); as one can see from their varying aims, they're a weapon that cuts both ways, but almost always against either the crown or another confederation.
Offices: I'm not sure what the major issue is - maybe the lack of turnover? Senior offices seem to be typically voted for life, though they may change positions if nominated to a separate position. For Senatorial offices, you have the Grand Marshals, Grand Chancellors, Grand Treasurers, and if we have willing players in sufficient quantity Deputy Chancellors and Court Marshals for both Poland ("the Crown") and Lithuania, as well as various Voivodes and Castellans, all of whom serve in the Senate along with the Bishops of the Commonwealth (fun fact - while there was no formal law against it, no non-Roman Catholics were been nominated to the senatorial offices since 1668). The position of Voivode or Castellan cannot be held in common with any ministerial post after 1565, and the Chancellery is rotated between secular and ecclesiastical candidates. 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." The solution to this was to force them to make them or their family render an accounting of their disbursements should they leave the post (typically for promotion to a more-respected ministerial holding, since they couldn't just be sacked) or die and, if necessary, repay any missing funds, but again, with enough money, they could always doctor the paperwork or simply bribe the members of Parliament for a vote for absolution to make it unnecessary to present the paperwork in the first place. The Senate as a whole votes on fund disbursements and has veto rights over not only the crown, but also the Chamber of Envoys. Basically, in-game, the Marshal governs the king's court, the Treasurer is expected to disburse funds to permit the Sejm's edicts, and the Chancellor is expected to oversee it at home and abroad.
The Hetman is non-senatorial (nor is it a permanent position before 1581), but has wide-reaching powers as an independent military force seconded only to the King as commander-in-chief - in addition to the usual separation between the Crown and Lithuania, they also have powers of foreign contact with the Turks, Russians, and Tatars, as well as undisputed control over administrative and judicial law in the military. While the army is funded by the state, the Hetman does not receive an additional salary (I assume corruption is a "perk" of the job). A Hetman, like most such positions, maintains the title for life or unless successfully indicted on a charge of high treason, which can have unfortunate consequences if the commander of the Commonwealth's army is incompetent. This is basically just giving someone the professional and mobilized forces of the army in addition to their own forces they can raise, not to mention supervision of the Cossacks, but they do not receive the Royal Army, Royal Guards, troops mobilized by cities and towns, and only indirect control of any levies raised.
The Senate Marshal is probably one of the very few offices that isn't held for life, governing over sessions of the Senate, and the Sejm Marshal is much the same for the Sejm. Just paperwork posts to keep the legislature in good working order with primarily the power to suggest (but not dictate) the subject of the meeting, but never underestimate a secretary, for he who holds the minutes controls the day.
Any positions not filled could be made "empty suits" - there's someone there that can be influenced by other players, but otherwise doesn't act out in any notable fashion.
