Palace Intrigue Scenario for use with Egyptian Harem figures...Arise Again!

[Samnite308]

Fantastic thread Sir Barnaby!  I thought this link on the Harem conspiracy against Ramses III is a great source - useful not only for a historical guideline but also for names of the conspirators, their positions and the plot itself.  Ramses' mummy actually shows that he had his throat slit by the assassins, but after assassinating pharaoh the plot to put a minor wife's son on the throne must have unravelled.  Its likely pharaoh was lured into an area where the conspirators were able to get him away from his bodyguards - but Ramses III in spite of his old age was tough old warrior, he had defeated the Hittites and crushed invasions by the Sea-peoples and Libyans.  Perhaps he was able to yell out or injure one of the assassins - bringing his guards to his aid.  It would have been a chaotic situation after the blow had been struck and the conspirators would have been desperate to kill Ramses IV, Ramses III's legitimate heir 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem_conspiracy

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Thanks for the link, Mike. That will help a lot.

Apologies for the drop in development posts. My computer at home kacked it and I was away at "Hot Lead", in Stratford, ON on the weekend. (A great little con, BTW!)

I'll try to post my latest iteration and ideas later today.

Howard

[SBRPearce]

This sounds like a great game.

A suggestion: A player needs to have doubles of a specific character's card to control them. This would mean that the deck of Secondary Character cards would need multiple cards for important figures, but it would also mean that a player with, say, the "Abbyssinian Guard Corporal" card can't be absolutely sure that said figure is loyal to them... When a player decides to activate a given Secondary, the other players will groan and discard any cards they had towards controlling that person - unless another player has doubles and just hadn't gotten around to bringing their secret toady into play...

There would have to be some mechanism available for swaying lesser characters whose loyalty isn't firm. Perhaps some sort of "moral ascendancy" or 'operational momentum" counters players gain as their plots succeed - since palace staff and courtiers are always checking to see which way the wind is blowing, and angling to end up on the winning side whatever happens...

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Yeah, those are good ideas. I've been thinking about the "Bribe" cards I suggested and was thinking maybe instead of "Brivbe a Eunuch" etc they would be generic and you would need a certain number to bribe different figures, with a different number for each.

Also there could be "Seduction" cards that would work in a similar way. Example: A player could move his Courtesan past a eunuch guard using one or more Seduction cards (possibly depending upon his Alert status - higher = harder) move up behind her target - one of an opposing player's characters - at which point he plays his "female assassin" card and attacks. He would swap out the courtesan figure for the female assassin figure at this point.

[Samnite308]

I think a compilation of rules, scenarios, historical or even fiction-based characters from palace intrigue settings, plot hooks, maps etc. would make an excellent resource booklet, both for skirmish and role-playing type games.  I know from experience a great deal of preparation goes into these type of games, but they are very rewarding and a lot of fun 

[Penfold]

Love the idea of it and to that end went it and ordered the lot from the Indiegogo campaign...already thinking of adding a roman Consul ( love the Julius Caesar from Warlord games ) but was thinking...need a Hengist Pod type with large feather helmet..any ideas ?

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Don't know about the feathers but some companies make Lanista figures as part of their gladiator ranges. Maybe they would do? And I think Foundry does Roman civilians.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

I think a compilation of rules, scenarios, historical or even fiction-based characters from palace intrigue settings, plot hooks, maps etc. would make an excellent resource booklet, both for skirmish and role-playing type games.  I know from experience a great deal of preparation goes into these type of games, but they are very rewarding and a lot of fun 

I agree. That is the goal.

I had a thought today about how to help the referee control all the non-alighed or neutral figures. Remember the card deck from Risk which has symbols on it which players combine to get reinforcements? There could be a deck of cards to control the movement of Neutrals. Each card could have three slots. Each slot would indicate a character or character type to move and how far, and possibly the direction. So each turn the referee would draw a card (or maybe more than one) and move the figures as shown.

When the alarm goes then certain characters would also react in pre-programed ways. ie. Guards to the source of the fighting, servants flee away in panic, etc. Maybe the cards specify movement dependant on alert level and other circumstances. They could specify actions like - stop and question low ranking character figures. "Papers. Papers, please..." etc. or "Who goes there?" etc.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Wow! You have laid a lot of fantastic groundwork. That table set up could also be used for pulp games of the lost tomb variety or Conan games in Stygia. The only thing I'm not so sure about for me personally, is using Ronin as a basis for the rules. I'm thinking maybe song of blades and heroes as it's so well fleshed out and even has a dungeon delving supplement. In any case, most of what you've described is fairly generic and could be overlaid on just about any good skirmish set.

I just picked up the new Roman street gang version of Song of Blades and Heroes: "Song of Shadows and Dust". It looks workable. I have tried SB&H in the past (I think I have 2 or 3 of the first publications). Or had, as I am pretty sure the PDF's were lost in two computer crashes ago. 

I especially like the variable actions bit.

I've worked out how to do turn initiative as well. Each player has a character card that they drew to determine who was who at the start. They should also have a stat sheet b/c that way the cards can be turned over to the GM to use as initiative cards. He should also have 1-3 "Neutral" cards, on which he would activate some number of Neutral models. I think what he would do is each time a Neutral Initiative card came up he would then draw a Neutral movement card (as I suggested in my last post, or the one just previous).

[Patrice]

Um... just a thought:

Perhaps you could distinguish between two different things:
1) the intrigue, scenario, diplomatic game etc; and
2) the rules that players like/want to use.

If you concentrate on (1) and allow players who will read your scenarios to use any rules they like (2), your scenarios will probably create more interest than if you embed a compulsory rules sytem with them. Of course, YOU need to choose a rule system that you like for your own games, but if the context + settings are good enough (and they are already promising) they could work with any skirmish ruleset that other groups of players may favour.

(...but I'm biased I use my own rules)  

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Yes, I agree. All the tactical system has to do is 1) allow for non-combat actions and 2) allow for some sort of magic (which maybe is covered by 1) in addition to it's usual combat related stuff.

I mainly wanted to respond to Alex's earlier post.

Also, many rules are Red vs Blue and don't allow for multiple factions, therefor I thought an initiative system had to be implemented. For use in non-tactical parts of the game as well as combat. Also, the non-player figures have to be accommodated.

So, regardless of the initiative used by a particular ruleset it might be necessary to abandon them in favour of one more suited to the game. IMO.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Resurrecting the thread...Imotep! Imotep! 

I am really looking forward to fitting the new figures from drive "iv" into this!

[chirine ba kal]

May I add to this thread? I use these wonderful figures in my Tekumel campaign; these are all of the people you'd find around the palace or the clan house. The servants, guests, residents, family, clients, allies, enemies, and all the usual hangers-on, ne'er-do-wells, and Usual Suspects that are such a feature of urban life on Tekumel. We've run quite a few games where Something Happens, and then there's a chase with all the human obstacles getting in the way or jumping to conclusions and getting involved. Do you want me to add this kind of thing to this thread, or do a new one in the 'Fantasy' section?

- chirine

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

Both! 

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

I've been trying to decide where to go with this thread. I think I laid a pretty good framework the last time. Ideally I should actually come up with a pdf of cards. (I'm working on that).

In the meantime, I think perhaps a look at what the latest figures add might be in order.

This latest Indiegogo drive - number 4 - adds the following figures:

1. Pharaoh, High Priest and Nobleman (David Soderquist)
2. Queen Nefertiti and Attendants (David Soderquist)
3. Senet Game with Two Players (David Soderquist)
4. Egyptian Female Guards I (Spears) (David Soderquist)
5. Egyptian Female Guards II (Bows) (David Soderquist)
6. Egyptian Female Guards III (Melee Weapons) (David Soderquist)
7. Exotic Pets I (Leopard, Baboon, Crocodile) (Andy Pieper)
8. Nubian Guards and Hyena Handler (Micah Nichols)
9. Egyptian Concubines with Weapons (Brother Vinni)
10. Tomb Robbers (two males, one female) (David Soderquist)
11. Egyptian Undead I (Tim Prow)
12. Egyptian Undead II (Tim Prow)

Note that I snagged this list from Dark Fable's forums (are you a member yet?) and it appears in a slightly different order on the campaign front page.

There is also a free figure for previous backers - how cool is that!:

Pharaoh's Champion reward figure - free to returning contributors

And, so far, with 22 days lefts, we have achieved 195% of the total, unlocking the first few stretch goals.  Note that I say "we" as a fellow backer. I am not associated with Dark Fable except as a contributor and a fan. 

Unlocked rewards:

concubine variants set
overseer
hunting dogs
sitting leopard

Still to reach are the following Locked rewards:

Egyptian vampires
skeletal lion
children
Ammut the devourer
More Female Guards (inc Officer)
More Skeletal Guards
Tomb Raiders II

So what do all these figures offer to the game?

Well, first off, there are a couple of significant characters that were missing including Pharaoh himself. The High Priest and courtier will be useful as secondary characters one can control.

The Senet Game is useful as scenery in the harem I think. It might also be possible to work into the game, possibly as a distraction. It might be played on a character before the real action starts, forcing them to take time out to play a game. ie. lose a turn.

The female guards, the hyena handlers and the exotic pets add "muscle" that can be deployed once the action starts. I think it would mean expanding the scope of the table to include more adjacent barracks and other areas.

The female guards are a bit of a fantasy element so they need not necessarily be used. If used I suppose they could be some special unit - the "Queen's Guard" or raised by some warlike Princess, perhaps? But not part of the Palace proper, I think. They would have to be brought on either after the real action starts as reinforcements or infiltrated into the palace before hand. (Using a "Bribe a Guard" card...)

The Hyena Handlers might conceivably be patrolling the garden or on duty in the Throne Room or at it's entrance. I don't think they should roam the palace, though maybe they could patrol the corridors. If they did I think they probably have a set routine and so are NPC guards who have to be bribed or otherwise subverted. If they are running patrols then the Referee should move them each turn possibly disrupting the players plans, especially if some areas are off-limits and could end up with the character under arrest! A loose hyena could be a problem to all, especially if it's handler is slain...

The exotic pets should be added with care, perhaps in the garden. Or maybe they are not needed at all. They would be used individually, of course, assigned to particular characters perhaps. An attendant could be assigned to each one and have some control over it. Possibly limited control...

The armed concubines will prove useful once the action starts either as those that have gathered weapons to defend their Lord or Lady, or possibly as Assassins revealed at last!

The Tomb Robbers might serve as burglars or another group of assassins. I actually have another scenario that they might be useful in as well, but I think I'll start another thread for that! 

The undead add another fantasy element. Possibly not of use in this more mundane Palace Intrigue game, they will feature in my next scenario... 

Of the currently unlocked rewards, they add more characters for players to control, and likewise more pets to possibly aid or get in the way.

The unlocked goals are all useful in different ways which I will discuss later, and possibly in that other thread...