Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Call for plots

Logistics of my projected 1713-1714 Catalonia campaign are experiencing some technical difficulties -although I expect we'll have them solved in a few days. The matter is that, after some play-testing, it was realized that a good logistic support would be needed to run the campaign, so that a gaming friend offered himself to adapt the whole to a CyberBoard gamebox, and this is to become quite hard to do -more than expected.

This is why I've been, in the meanwhile, developing in my blog some chained short tales, which are intended to bring some individual characters to life. However, there is no aim to derive my campaign into a merely narrative story (on the other hand, I'd be noticeably uncapable for such a huge enterprise, due to my English language knowledge shortages!) Inversely, I'm planning to simultaneosly develop that campaign in several fronts, so that it potentially becomes an inspiration source not only for miniature wargaming scenarios, but also for roleplaying and/or pulp gaming. The campaign rules are to conduct bigger armies moves, while the already created individual characters stories will be growing and mixing, either by narrative speculation or with the aid of Mythic GME tables -kindly provided by a Valencian reader, roleplay gamer. An ambitious plan, no doubt. In spite of its magnitude, I believe this all may be appropriately guided if done without any hurry, delecting oneself at every step by itself.
So that it is still possible that my Galatea Principality birth's date might still delay a little bit --and even more delayed might be its chronological encompassment to the rest of EvE Imagi-nations!

In the end, I'd like to ask for a couple of things to all those of you that might be interested in plunging a bit into your own Imagi-nation's recent History through mine. If any of you would somehow involve your own country's History in my Defiant Principality's birth struggle, please let me know your plot suggestions, whatever their nature:

1 - For example, you might will to introduce one of your imagi-nationals into my ever-developing storyboard, with some specific mission you would imagine.
2 - Another way of inter-connecting Histories might be getting the country as a whole openly involved in the campaign, in this or that sense -however, I admit this one to be a bit too compromising for you, depending on tje involvement degree!
3 - Finally, I'd love to contact players running Spain, France, Britain and Austria proxy Imagi-nations, in order to *consult* to them eventually arising issues that might concern their respective Imagi-nations --or simply to discuss and agree eventual interactions produced during the campaign.

Last but not least, I've started drawing some cartography of my Imagi-nation, as you can see by the image attached, specifying the imaginary names I'm to be using. Following Jean Louis suggestions, I'm in the job of assigning mythological names to each of the Crown of Aragon states: ie Galatea for Catalonia, Pyrene for Aragon, Hesperia for Valencia and Gymnesian for the Balearic Islands. Other names already chosen too are Scylla for Sicily, Arborea for Sardinia, Gallia for France, Brittany or maybe Albion for the UK, and Eiberia for Spain (Castile). Otherwise, cities and towns will be probably assigned their actual Roman, Greek or Pre-Roman names, or closely similar ones.

6 comments:

OIIIIIIIO said...

Contact the Direktorat...OIIIIIIIO

Soldadets said...

Just posted a response to your comment on my "Defiant Principality" blog. If I manage to find your e-address (I'm a little novice at all this stuff), I'll be sending you an e-mail. Otherwise, please take a look at that comment response :)

MurdocK said...

When in doubt about an opponent or a plot ... blame Stagonia.

OIIIIIIIO said...

....it's good to have a scapegoat - everyone needs one...why not blame Stagonia? They are in leauge with the Ordo after all...

OIIIIIIIO

abdul666 said...

Small scale 'Pulp' / swashbuckling adventures can nicely complement traditional military campaigns, spicing (!) everyday life in your Country between major battles. Even in a purely 'rationalist' setting you can add now and then a little 'paranormal' atmosphere if some characters *believe* in the supernatural, and interpret as such purely 'normal' events.


Peace is sometimes jeopardized by mere misunderstandings: the neutral and welcoming Presipality of Monte-Cristo is a place of choice for unofficial contacts clearing up such misunderstandings. Alternatively, when peace is threatened by fanatical warmongers it can be preserved by a deterring alliance of peace-loving countries: again Monte-Cristo is a perfect place for the preliminary exchanges preparing such -purely defensive- alliance.

abdul666 said...

Don't worry too much about dates / chronology: time is as elastic as space in the 'EvE' avatar of the Multiverse! From the WSS to sometimes after the SYW -, it's all 'generic' Lace Wars times.

Religion can be at the origin of minor subplots. Huguenot refugees make a good proportion of the Galatean population, while I suspect that some of the 'old Catalans' are -as everywhere in Spain- devout fundamentalist Catholics. Now, in France, during the Wars of Religion and until late in the 17th C. (even by the time of the War of the Quadruple Alliance!), French Catholic extremists called for and actively supported -even joined- Spanish intervention / invasion to restore the 'True Faith'. Without going that far, and without a fundamentlist uniformed militia parading openly in the streets, one can imagine an underground ultra-Catholic / pro Castille movement, perhaps along the lines of the devout extremists of the 'Pacte des Loups / Brotherhood of the Wolf' movie (highly recommended, btw).

Young Galatea may be locally in a state of semi-chaos, and powerful landlords may be tempted to behave as semi-independant rulers / warlords with their private retinues / rogue barons: if despotic, a local Zorro-like masked popular hero can defend the oppressed?
And don't forget the potential network of the Gypsies...

Tiny, demilitarized, peaceful Monte-Cristo is perfectly neutral and unaligned. Like Switzerland in later times, it aims to provide a genial location for discret contacts / underground diplomacy preliminary to overt / official meetings. Then, if reason is not enough to prevent war, Monte-Cristo firmly believes that peace, or at least 'Cold War', can be preserved by the building of mutually deterring alliances, and if necessary uses its underground diplomacy to encourage their creation.
Now, while the Presipality is officially neutral and non-interventionist, some hints suggest that, exceptionally, the (all female) Service is not above some discret, anonymous interference (the "murderous attempt foiled by an unidentified maid" commented here could be an exemple?).