An upcoming ASOIAF game (Ideas & Suggestions)

[Lumine]

Evening!

As you know, over the past couple of years there have been a few games based on ASOIAF and GOT, which have been quite fascinating an entertaining. So far, we've roleplayed the War of the Five Kings on its early stage (Clash of Kings) and late stage (The Lion and the Rose), the time before Aegon’s Conquest (Century of Blood) and the time period before Robert’s Rebellion (After the False Spring).

While I am busy saving my semester and hosting Swords of Damocles, I’d really like to host another of these games once I have the time (I’m hoping in a few more weeks) and I have been laying the groundwork for it, with three different ideas I’m interested in trying. So this thread is to gauge whether there are people interested in playing, whether you have any suggestion and what do you think of the three alternatives:

So far, I’ve come up with:

Fire and Blood (129 AL): A period we’ve never explored before, it’s the historical Dance of the Dragons, of which we have a lot of detail thanks to The Princess and the Queen. Players will choose between Aegon and Rhaenyra Targaryen and the Lords of Westeros as both sides of the civil war take form, the war already begun at the start of the game. The innovative part of this one is a potential dragon system, in which the historical dragons are given stats and players have dragon battles with the characters they control.

The Death of Kings (282 AL): While 281 AL was covered in After the False Spring, I’ve always been fond of Robert’s Rebellion and I think the actual war would be fun to roleplay, starting after Jon Arryn, Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark rebel against the Iron Throne. The idea would be for players to choose between rebels (Baratheon, Stark and Arryn) and loyalists (Martell, Tyrell, and Jon Connington as Hand) as they try to win the war. Every turn a new house would be playable (such as Greyjoy, Tully, Lannister, Frey and so on), to simulate the late entries to the war.

The Iron Throne (298 AL): The Iron Throne is familiar ground, covering the War of the Five Kings once again as a remake of Clash of Kings. Whereas we’ve covered this before it was with the prototype to the game system that’s been tested in the other games, and it had a bit of an unrealistic ending. Since we have a lot of information here (and many things we’ve learned since Seasons 4, 5 and 6 of GOT game out), it also has potential. I could also consider an alternate history approach to this one, changing a few events at the start of the game (Viserys Targaryen surviving, a different outcome in KL to King Robert’s death, and so on).

What do you think?

[Lumine]

Well, 7 to 1 /1 seems sort of clear. It seems it will be The Iron Throne after all.

[Lumine]

How do you play?

Word to the wise, don't believe everything you hear from other players (including me ).

Yes, well, chronic backstabbing is one of the hallmarks of these games, with quite a few epic examples of betrayal (including King's Landing blowing up and killing half a million people). I'd recommend reading over The Lion and the Rose as a good example as how we play, but the idea is for players to interact with each other, make decisions to crisis, lead their armies (this is crucial) and handle intrigue in order to survive.

I do plan on changing the gameplay this time, I'm toying to make a week of RL time into a month IG and eliminate formal three-month turns, but I have to consider whether it will work. Additionally, I will be borrowing the "special abilities" idea from Badgate and X, and repeating the guest POV idea from The Lion and the Rose.

Important:

I want to give the game a different feel based on the background, so I'd like to see the possibility of changing the outcome of a few events in A Game of Thrones or Season 1 to give us a different storyline. For example, I'm considering having Viserys Targaryen survive and never meet Khal Drogo, or having Ned Stark survive or even win (temporarily) the power struggle in King's Landing.

Would people prefer an altered storyline or everything being as it was on the book+show at the start of the War of the Five Kings?

[Lumine]

I support as much variation from the original scenario as you are willing to do Lumine. Make us actually have to think (in and out of character) about what our objectives should be and what to do to succeed with them instead of running on book/show autopilot.

All of those being good points, and part of my concern with an exact roleplay of the war as we know it. While at the time I wasn't too keen on the The Lion and the Rose storyline, in retrospect making those changes to the storyline made for a fascinating world to explore, and indeed the story turned a lot better than Clash of Kings. So there's two issues: One, that without the war having started the game runs the risk of becoming stagnant, and two, that with a scenario that is exactly like the one we know we run the risk of being too predictable.

So indeed, I will be making changes to the storyline.

Well here's my idea:

A lot of that actually works pretty well! I'll borrow a few ideas, actually.

[Lumine]

Attending to Blair's suggestion (which also has a lot of merit), here's two suggestions:

The Iron Throne, Plot 1:
(Late A Game of Thrones, Early Clash of Kings)

In King's Landing:
-Renly proves more effective on his pitch to Ned, including rumours of Melisandre and Stannis embracing the Lord of Light to cast doubt on Stannis's chances. Ned, Renly and Littlefinger stage their coup aided by the Goldcloaks, turning into a battle across the Red Keep. Joffrey is killed, delivering a heavy blow to Ned's reputation for honor. With Stannis in Dragonstone, Ned, Littlefinger, Varys and Renly all have agendas of their own.

Across Westeros:
-The war on the Riverlands continues unabated, with Jaime Lannister scoring victory after victory against the Tullys. As Tyrion rejoins the main camp and Tywin, the Lannisters learn of the disaster in King's Landing, although they still have two large field armies in order to fight. In Pyke, Balon Greyjoy recieves the news of Robert and Joffrey's death with interest, as his fleets are ready to sail. In the Vale, Lysa Arryn is steadfast in her decision not to involve herself on politics, although her vassals (many of them now outraged at the death of Robert's son) are of a different opinion altogether... and with Ned seemingly committing treason and Catelyn away, Robb Stark has gathered the North's forces and must make important decisions.

In Essos:
-Viserys still threatens Daenerys in Vaes Dothrak, but is smart enough not to do it armed. He finds himself exiled from the city and manages to reach Qohor, where he acquaints himself with the local magister and, more importanty, with the Tattered Prince. Joined by a mutual dislike of Illyrio (as Viserys believes he's been betrayed), both close an alliance. Aided by the Tattered Prince reputation Viserys gathers his own army of sellswords and hears of Robert Baratheon's death. Across the Dothraki Sea, Khal Drogo has died and Daenerys has hatched her dragons, but it will a long, long time she reaches civilization...

In General:
-In this scenario we have an ongoing war between the Tullys/Starks and the Lannisters, further complicated by the events in King's Landing. Joffrey's death (with few people knowing of his actual character) is likely to turn people against Renly or Ned, making for a complicated scenario between at least three possible Kings in young Tommen, Stannis and Renly himself. And there's the sheer angst of Ned now being a "kingslayer...".

The Iron Throne, Plot 2:
(Based on late A Game of Thrones)

In King's Landing:
-The game starts as King Robert dies with a preliminar turn in King's Landing, pitting the city players (Cersei, Ned, Renly, Littlefinger and Varys) against each other on the immediate succession. Once that turn is ended and someone has established control of the capital we then open the game to the rest of Westeros, and we go from there. Take note that this is extremely open ended.

In Essos:
-Technically same, although we can also roleplay the possibility of Khal Drogo taking a different route and surving along with Viserys, allowing us to explore the idea of a Dothraki invasion.

[Lumine]

I would have to say no to the White Walkers. I don't mind if they show up in a game, but making them the focus of a game is a bad idea (see the issues with the last part of The Lion and the Rose). Not to mention that a game after the war means world building from scratch, not to mention half the cast would be dead and no one would be in a condition to fight.

Same with the Red Wedding, too far into the War of the Five Kings, too little a change to make a difference in the larger strategic picture.

[Lumine]

I would have to say no to the White Walkers. I don't mind if they show up in a game, but making them the focus of a game is a bad idea (see the issues with the last part of The Lion and the Rose). Not to mention that a game after the war means world building from scratch, not to mention half the cast would be dead and no one would be in a condition to fight.

Same with the Red Wedding, too far into the War of the Five Kings, too little a change to make a difference in the larger strategic picture.

Maybe the Night's Watch sends a message at some point asking for support.

Of course, what I mean is that it won't be the main point of the game (if it happens).

[Lumine]

So, should we post another poll for options 1 or 2 or is there a third option people would like to push?

[Lumine]

So, should we post another poll for options 1 or 2 or is there a third option people would like to push?

Well I think as you are the game moderator, this is your choice in the end!

Actually, you're right, xD

Hell, we'll be going with option 1. The game will not start for some time, but the Sign Up & Rules thread will be up tonight, so be prepared (and yes, Windjammer, you can have the Tyrells).

[Lumine]

So, should we post another poll for options 1 or 2 or is there a third option people would like to push?

Well I think as you are the game moderator, this is your choice in the end!

Actually, you're right, xD

Hell, we'll be going with option 1. The game will not start for some time, but the Sign Up & Rules thread will be up tonight, so be prepared (and yes, Windjammer, you can have the Tyrells).

Wouldn't it make more sense that people would blame Renly for killing Joffrey since he never really had Ned's honorable reputation.

Perhaps, perhaps... not everyone will look at the events the same way, and I dare say a lot will depend on the players.

[Lumine]

Also, do not post on the sign-up thread until I'm done posting the material.