A Union of Ice and Fire (Brainstorming, OOC)

[United Democracy of Scientists]

This will be for discussion related to creating a Game of Thrones themed roleplay for the SLU. 

So here's some ideas that should be thrown (throne?) around to begin:
(I'm sorry that was terrible)

• Will this take place in Westeros, or will it take place in an analogous form of the SLU?
• Should the technology level be at that of Westeros?
• Will we keep our factions customizable/based on our nations, or will we take on the identities of the different houses of Westeros?
• How should NPC's  and non-player factions be implemented ?
• Should the White Walkers be implemented?
• Who will moderate this RP?
• How much control should the moderator have? 
• What would be the crossing point between a major political move such as the Red Wedding, and breaking the game?
• How do we know it when someone wins the Game of Thrones? How do we know when someone loses?

[Avaerilon]

That was so bad it was good.  (rofl)


All right, I'll be able to give this my full attention when I come back from York later on today, but here's a brief bit

• Either sounds good to me; a fantasy version of the SLU "mucked-about" with could work as well as Westeros. Or, we could even create a new world/plane of existence if we wanted. 
• Yes
• Either would work, though I think it would be more fun to create our own factions, leaving everyone truly guessing about everyone's real allegiances, etc.
• I think we can draft a set of basic patterns for them to follow to give us guidance on how they'll be used throughout the story- the factions, certainly. I think NPC characters can be used responsibly by anyone in most ways, so we could leave that up to discretion.
• I like the idea, myself
• How about you and me? This is your idea, so you have automatic dibs over moderation, and I'm knowledgeable about RP strucutre and good conduct
• Enough to ensure nothing gets unreasonable (e.g. godmodding like- "a million dragons rain-down upon Player 2's capital and kill everyone and Player 2 is dead and can never get back up the end.), while allowing players enough freedom to play the game (geddit?!?!) as they see fit within the rules; to this effect, we'll have to formulate the ground rules so everyone knows what's ok and what's not
• I think it might be down to mutual consent between the players involved- i.e. asking if one could murder half the family for the purposes of the story, promising the chance for real revenge later. Or, we could simply play it safe this first time (yes, I'd like to see more of these :D ) and not have anything akin to the Frey's bloody betrayal of Good King Robb 
• We'll work on this later as per above

[United Democracy of Scientists]

Thanks for the reply. Here are my thoughts:

• If we used the SLU, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to use the current map for the RP. Fantasy wars don't cohere well with large stretches of ocean, and half the region is a series of islands in the official map. You're the one who knows how to make quality maps, so it'd be completely up to you if you'd like to draw out a more continental version of the SLU. Otherwise, there'd be no shame in using Westeros and Essos.
• Then prepare for very bloody battles. >:)
• Agreed.
• That sounds good. Let people interact with non player entities as they please, but keep it under the scrutiny of the moderators, as with everything else. NPC faction behavior could be determined by the moderators, I guess. It would just need to be someone who has enough knowledge about the ASOIAF universe to know how that faction would react in that situation. For instance, if you pester a Dothraki Khalassar too much, expect to go out like Viserys.
• Then winter is indeed coming.
• I'll be a moderator, and I'll let you on too if you'd like. Like you said, you're an expert on RP. Plus, you're the one I'd trust most not to be a biased moderator. That's something which could become a major issue when moderators play. 
• It all has to fall within reason. Deus ex machina style victories over opponents are something which will have to be very subjectively judged by the mods. A big tip off for it not being legit would be if there was no previous build up or foreshadowing, and there are no drawbacks. When Stannis wiped out Renly's faction via shadow baby, it caused him to lose a large chunk of his lifespan and become physically weaker. Or when the Lannisters won the Battle of the Blackwater. They were saved at the last second by Tywin's forces, but those forces were already present, and not shoved into existence just to save the Lannister faction.
• I think that major plays should be allowed as long as they are not a result of abuse of the system, as seen above. One of the defining things about ASOIAF is that no one is safe from being wiped out in a major play. It just has to fall within the natural flow of the narrative which is driven by the choices that the players make. The Red Wedding was a result of Robb making an error, and the Lannisters taking proper advantage of it. The same thing should apply here.
• The way I see it, you haven't lost the game until every member of your house is dead or you have surrendered your claim to the throne and have stepped out of the political spotlight. The Mad King was killed and the Targaryens were exiled during Robert's Rebellion, but they later become a major player again via Daenerys. Meanwhile, you haven't won the game until every other faction has either bent the knee or has been destroyed.

[Newhalla]

Some of my thoughts

• Perhaps a new map, somewhat based on the existing game of thrones map. 
• Well the technology in Game of Thrones is not set to a particular time period. But more important is the prevalence of magic.  Magic is pretty rare in ASOIAF compared to other fantasy settings.
• If we decide to do our own houses. Will everyone start equally powerful? and how big can our houses be? 
• Sound good to me.
• I'm not sure about the White walkers/Others, why not just focus on the battle for the iron throne. 
• UDS and Ave sounds good enough.  
• As long as an entire house is not wiped out.
• As long as there is an iron throne, there will be a game. Kinda like King of the Hill. It can go on forever. 

[Chameliya]

My valuable contribution

• I haven't read or watched Game of Thrones
• You guys are using a lot of words that I do not know
• Oh my God, this sounds cool!
• You better be ready when I obliterate you guys
• Turtles

[Avaerilon]

Formed some ideas about the world it could take place on- I'm thinking a new world that has parallels with Westeros and the SLU, but a number of different features that make it stand-out. I've even made-up some of its history in my mind, but I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on what the world should be like before launching into a long account of ancient empires, wolf-riding barbarians and swashbuckling southerners.

[Chameliya]

Can we incorporate an exotic desert-y kingdom as well? Quite RP-ing a desert queen. Think Arohi-Cleopatra crossover.

[Avaerilon]

I had a mind to do so in the far south, yes ;)

[Avaerilon]

Ok, UDS and Newhalla- what kind of history would you be looking to have in terms of this RP for your own houses (and/or people)? I did envisage giving Newhalla a sort of Viking-esque history, but I wouldn't want to do anything that people didn't like the sound of.

[Avaerilon]

An alpha-stage draft map, showing what I have in mind. Scanned then converted from .pdf file.

Everything here is rough-work and just something for me to base the beta and then final versions of the map off. Borders are HIGHLY approximate and simply serve as possible indicators, et al.

Click here for le map.

[Chameliya]

Looks good. I like being separated from you lot by the sea. That'll be very useful for defending my kingdom.

[Deleted]

I'd like to join. Would I need to know about the GoT universe?

[Avaerilon]

Not necessarily. It's possibly not going to be set anywhere involving Westeros (the lands in which most of SOFAF/GoT happens), but having an idea of the kinds of events that take place, the style, etc. might help. Even just taking a glance over a wiki introduction would see you right.

[Chameliya]

I'm getting quite excited about this now. Can't wait. Already got loads of ideas about how I'm going to play this. Mwahaha...

[Avaerilon]

All right, I have a few ideas about the various factions:

Jasminia wants to go for a Cleopatra-esque setting, and having a desert in the south makes sense to me. I imagine this faction would be the traditional enemies of the rest of the map, but isn't beyond making alliances at all. They're probably going to be rich and well-versed in trade.

With Newhalla gone, my idea for a Viking-type faction to be the traditional enemies of my own seemed to wither but thanks to Zunwentania stepping-in, I'd like to know if the idea appeals to him. I'm thinking these guys not only have good shock infantry, but are also competent sailors, and though they like warring with their western neighbours, they recognise the threat of things like whatever our equivalent of the White Walkers would be.

UDS, I believe, is the faction that is either already on the iron throne, or is about to try and grab it. I'm thinking of something along the lines of the Lannisters meet the Holy Roman Empire. Large, mostly flat area of land, trying to fill the void of the old empire.

My own I see being the descendants of the oldest people, often whispered to have elvish blood in them. Once mighty, the'r power has waned over the years considerably, butt hat might change one day. Liking their walled cities and hill forts, these are people who could be compared to the Romano-British.

Just some ideas :P

[Kanoria]

Could I add my faction as a small federation of reluctant participants in the whole thing, who are focused on ritual and live on a series of very very small islands webbed together with strong bridges, and with a great interest in gaining advantage through understanding the other factions? I would need to steal an archipelago from somewhere on the map...


P.s. I don't mind starting subservient to another faction.

[Avaerilon]

Well, there is an unclaimed spot on the alpha map north of Jasminia. I'm sure we could work something out :)

[Kanoria]

Does the faction idea sound good though, Ava?

[Avaerilon]

What would their approach to the other factions be, exactly?

[Kanoria]

Infiltrate, understand, scheme, send home reports, scheme some more. Leak some information to another faction. Scheme. Scheme. Scheme. Go home and think about it. Repeat. Build more bridges, become indispensable to other factions due to specialist skills (such as building bridges. And gradually try to take more and more minor decisions out of the hands of the other factions, and govern in their stead. They would have fortifications, but almost no army, and a society that allowed rising and falling, but harsh punishments for traitors and failure.

[Avaerilon]

All right, the sneaks, assassins, information mongers, et. al. A sort-of Florence, if you will. Sounds like it cold work to me!

[Kanoria]

Very much a son-of-Florence type of schemer faction, I might include some of the 'everyday-decadence' as well.Perhaps somewhat like house Ordos in the Emperor: Battle for Dune model (subtly different from the book form :P). Not sure about which rituals to give them yet, but the idea is quite young still :).

[Chameliya]

Well I'll be keeping an eye on you. A purge or two'll keep you in check. Can't have you jumped-up bridge builders getting any ideas.

[Avaerilon]

Just don't mess with the descendants of the original inhabitants of Ceredos... some say there's a bit of elf still there...