Post by Bob (DM) on Jan 31, 2014 3:31:13 GMT -5
CLANS
The land of Zaidan-Tai (“Tai” is Japanese for “great”, and thus the name means Great Zaidan, or Zaidan the Great) has a unified culture, but no political unity. It is governed by a large number of related warrior clans, each of whom controls its own territory. While there is no central government, per se, there is a sense of national unity. In order to recreate this in Birthright terms, I have devised a variety of categories to define the status of the clans and the relationships between them.Major Clans
These clans control one or more provinces and are the rulers of the land. They come in two categories: Paramount & Tributary.
Paramount Clans
These five clans are recognized as the leading clans of each of the five regions. While they do demand and receive tribute from the lesser clans in the region, they are not really the same as the standard Birthright liege lord; they are closer to the Chinese warlords who held their positions through superior force rather than any right of birth. While the tributary clans are their vassals, they are at the same time their immediate rivals for local supremacy, biding their time for an opportunity to replace their liege as the Paramount Lord. In effect, the relationship can be viewed as somewhat akin to a protection racket.
Tributary Clans
These are very much like the normal NPC vassals found in any Birthright campaign; however, there are some very important differences. While they are bound to their local Paramount Lord by an Investiture: Vassalage agreement, this vassalage is more a recognition of the Paramount Lord’s superior might than anything else. They are required to pay tribute in both RP and GB (usually 10% after maintenance) and are expected to support the Paramount Lord when called upon but they are not required to do so (i.e. some sort of Diplomacy is generally required to cajole them into doing so). However, refusing is usually considered a hostile act and can be expected to lead to punitive military action on the part of the Paramount Lord – assuming he has the power to do so, of course.
They have 3 actions per round, can have lieutenants of their own, and can also have tributaries and subjects of their own as well. Tributaries can be expected to pay for their own actions and assets out of their own resources, however, once again, the PC must use an action (usually Diplomacy, though Dispatch and Decree can also be used, depending on the circumstances) in order to get them to expend those actions the way the player wants them to.
Subject Clans.
This term is used to denote those minor NPC positions that lack the resources to act independently and are thus effectively controlled by the PC regent, by virtue of them being either traditional retainers of the main clan, or minor cadet branches of it, or simply because their holdings are in a province controlled by the major clan. In the absence of some outside influence (i.e. a bribe from a rival PC), they can be expected to do as they are told. In game terms, they are sort of like the traditional Lieutenants inasmuch as they allow the PC to take an additional action, but there are some important differences.
First and foremost is that, unlike Lieutenants who provide only the single extra action no matter how many of them there are, each subject clan provides an additional action. However, the subject clan must pay for their actions out of their own resources. Should a player wish to cover the costs, the PC must transfer GB or RP to the subject clan first. In addition, unlike with a regular Lieutenant, the PC must expend some sort of action to instruct the NPC subject to do something. Usually, a simple Dispatch action (a free action) or Decree action will suffice, however a Diplomacy action (or a Court Session) could be used to plan out a series of actions for the subject to take in advance.
Secondly, they collect GB and RP independently and maintain their own treasuries. They pay a 50% tribute in both GB & RP to their ruling clan.
It is important to note that just like the major clans; these minor clans may have a member holding some position of power or authority in a sect as well.
TEMPLE DOMAINS
Temple domains have two co-regents who share a common pool of GB and RP; however they collect as separate domains. Together they get 6 Regent actions (don’t worry; everybody does in one way or another).Each Temple domain represents a network of shrines (Bunsha) named after the head shrine, all of which are dedicated to the sect (Shuha) of a pair of deities made up of one goddess and one god who hold complimentary opposing portfolios – a sort of Yin/Yang thing. The Goddess is always considered the senior of the two.
Each holding represents an individual shrine (you can name them if you’re really bored) each of which is headed by a Shrine Maiden (Yuta) who is responsible for the running of the shrine, its upkeep, etc. and a Spirit Master (Kunnushi) who is responsible for all religious duties (In game terms, the High Priestess usually controls all of the sect’s manor holdings and the High Priest controls all the Temple holdings). The Shrine Maiden and Spirit Master of the head shrine (i.e your regents) are the High Priestess (Jokyoko) and High Priest (Koso) of the entire sect. The High Priestess is technically considered the senior of the two; however given how much more power the High Priests generally have, this is usually purely a matter of precedence and protocol.
Temples do not have Heirs in the normal sense, as vacancies are technically filled by the majority opinion of the appropriate heads of the individual shrines, and can be any blooded person (the exception to this is the Sea & Land sect whose Shrine Maiden is always chosen from among the Isshii clan and is automatically the head of that clan and the ruler of Masaki). Your regents are assumed to have enough influence to be able to control this process (i.e. appoint an Heir of their choice), although low Stability or Prosperity, some events, or even rival regents can sometimes interfere with the actual transfer of power to the desired person.
Agendas & Clan Loyalties
The Shrine Maiden and the Spirit Master are considered a team who share resources, etc. And have a common set of agendas as the heads of their sects. However, as both are members of one of the noble clans or merchant families, and will have a degree of loyalty to that clan, and vice versa, which is reflected in game terms as a bonuses to interpersonal actions such as diplomacy, etc. While the primary loyalty of both will be to the sect, it can be expected that situations that can cause a conflict between these two loyalties will arise. Do keep in mind, however, that these conflicts of loyalty work both ways.
A Note on classes.
Since the Shrine Maiden controls the Bunsha’s manor holdings it is important make sure she has a class that can collect RP from Manor holdings and she also has to have at least one level of Priest (or Druid for the Wood & Stone sect), because she is required to do the Investiture of an incoming Spirit Master. Similarly, the Spirit Master should have some levels in a class that can collect RP from temple holdings and requires at least one level of Priest (or Druid) for the same reason as does the Shrine Maiden. Beyond that, while it is usually the High Priest who has the most Priest/Druid levels, this is not required as both regents have equal access to the Temple holdings for spell casting purposes.
GUILD DOMAINS
Guild domains consist of associations of several different extended merchant families, each of which makes up a faction within the domain. The lesser factions function exactly like any Subject clans (i.e. they can take 1 regent action but have to pay the base costs out of their treasury).Each faction is headed by an Oyabun ( this term effectively means “Boss”, but it actually translates directly as “Foster Parent” which reflects the familial nature of the factions), who can be either male or female. Each association is headed by the Oyabun of the dominant faction, who is the Director of the association.
Each of the Directors uses a different title which translates as “Director”. The titles used are as follows: Daoyan (Sanchowa Renritsu), Incho (Daien Renmai), Kancho (Kinboshi Rengo), Riji (Kurowashi Domei), Shocho (Baizoryo Teikai), Shugi (Nanhoshi Kuniai), Zuren (Shidoho Kigyo Rengo). Since each title is unique, it is common to refer to them solely by their title, thus the Director of the Daien Renmai is referred to as “the Incho”, that of the Baizoryo Teikai as “the Shocho”, and so on.
The directorships are generally hereditary in the dominant family, however, there is nothing preventing one of the minor factions from making a play to become the dominant faction and seizing the directorship.
Each faction, including the Director’s, pays a “tribute” (50% after maintenance) to the association to provide a pool of GB and RP available for the Director, which he is expected to use to advance the interests of all the factions, not just his own.
SOURCE DOMAINS
The wizards’ domains consist of their sources, which they control, and several minor merchant families who are bound to them by tradition. These merchant houses control various Guild and Trade holdings and function just like Subject clans.Pearls of Power
Each of the three wizards possesses a magical pearl of the appropriate colour (Blue, red, or yellow) which is rumoured to be what allows them to tap into their source holdings and cast realm magic. While the truth of this remains to be seen, it is generally accepted as "known" that this is so.