Sibling Rivalry - Details
Thanks for the replies. Jason has invited us to drop by at after 2pm this Saturday.
To give you some background on Sibling Rivalry, the game is set on a large continental landmass that is unified by a monarchy currently ruled by King Robert Barlow. Twenty-five years ago, King Barlow was one of the leaders of a civil rebellion against the Mad Dragon King Rhaegar, whose increasingly unstable behaviour was leading to the inevitable genocide of his population. The war was settled when Rhaegar immolated himself in an insanely misguided attempt to physically transform himself into a dragon. Barlow's succession to the throne was contested, but eventually decided upon after several magnanimous concessions were made by the Barlow family in exchange for fealty. However, King Barlow's leadership has been marred for years by political criticism and scandals, and there are some who say that a warrior-king is not of any use in a time of peace.
Lord Edward Stark, one of the other leaders of the civil rebellion against Rhaegar, returned to his ancestral home in the Northlands immediately following King Barlow's ascension to the throne. To this day, King Barlow considers Lord Stark one of his closest friends due to the instrumental role that Stark played in the military campaign twenty-five years ago. Since then, Lord Stark has fathered many children, both legitimate and illegitimate, and has accepted all of them into his home. The player characters will take on the role of these children and be assigned the status of a legitimate or illegitimate heir by random assignment. The story begins four days before King Barlow arrives in Stark Keep with an important task for Lord Stark..
Character Creation:
Since much of the character creation will depend on your status as a legitimate or illegitimate child, we'll complete character statistics tomorrow. However, to give you guys an understanding of what your potential characters would be like, all of the legitimate Stark children are being raised and educated to one day succeed as Lord Stark's heir. Those who do not will still be married in politically fruitful marriages, and are required to have a keen understanding of the economic, political and martial disciplines. As a result of their refined upbringing, all legitimate Stark children receive bonuses to their social skill statistics.
Lord Stark's reign is not democratic. As a legitimate child of Lord Stark, you have command over every person and element on your family's land. Lord and Lady Stark are distant parents. Much of your upbringing has been left in the hands of trusted family retainers. The Northlands, the area that the Stark family manages, has a number of lesser lords that pay tribute to the Starks. They are your kinsman, and the Starks report directly to the royal Barlow family of The Midlands.
The Northlands are a cold and somewhat desolate area. The people are stoic and used to many hardships. The primary agricultural produce of The Northlands are garden and greenhouse vegetables, sheep, reindeer, fish, wool, furs and skins. Compared to The Midlands, your home is considered to be culturally backwards. Many of the sons and daughters of the north dream of one day moving to The Midlands and living in comfort and finery, but Lord Stark, in his own subdued way, clearly takes pride in the ascetic resilience of his people.
The illegitimate children, by contrast, live a more common life. Although they still receive a similar education to their legitimate brothers and sisters, they live with an assigned foster family on a year-to-year basis. What this means is that one family living in Stark Keep temporarily takes charge of a Stark bastard for one year, before giving him or her to another family in the next. While a Stark bastard may be the foster son or daughter of a merchant one year, the next they may be assigned to a farmer. All families living in the Stark Keep are entitled to send their children to free education if they wish it, and it is common for many of the children to attend classes in the morning before helping their parents with a trade during the afternoons and evenings. The Stark bastards share some of their classes with the legitimate Stark children. As a result of their hard and varied upbringings, all illegitimate Stark children receive bonuses to their attribute statistics.
Lord Stark is known to sometimes personally check up on his illegitimate children, and his face is not unknown to his bastards. However, Lady Maryanne Stark is notoriously unkind to her husband's illegitimate children. Some have correctly deduced that she despises any reminder of her husband's past dalliances with other women.
In the north, is it not an unsavory practice to name illegitimate children as heirs to the Lordship. As such, Lord Stark has determined that if for any reason his legitimate heirs are unable to succeed him, his bastards will be next in line. This has caused some ire to his nephews and nieces, who resent being placed below his illegitimate children in the line of succession.
See you all tomorrow!
To give you some background on Sibling Rivalry, the game is set on a large continental landmass that is unified by a monarchy currently ruled by King Robert Barlow. Twenty-five years ago, King Barlow was one of the leaders of a civil rebellion against the Mad Dragon King Rhaegar, whose increasingly unstable behaviour was leading to the inevitable genocide of his population. The war was settled when Rhaegar immolated himself in an insanely misguided attempt to physically transform himself into a dragon. Barlow's succession to the throne was contested, but eventually decided upon after several magnanimous concessions were made by the Barlow family in exchange for fealty. However, King Barlow's leadership has been marred for years by political criticism and scandals, and there are some who say that a warrior-king is not of any use in a time of peace.
Lord Edward Stark, one of the other leaders of the civil rebellion against Rhaegar, returned to his ancestral home in the Northlands immediately following King Barlow's ascension to the throne. To this day, King Barlow considers Lord Stark one of his closest friends due to the instrumental role that Stark played in the military campaign twenty-five years ago. Since then, Lord Stark has fathered many children, both legitimate and illegitimate, and has accepted all of them into his home. The player characters will take on the role of these children and be assigned the status of a legitimate or illegitimate heir by random assignment. The story begins four days before King Barlow arrives in Stark Keep with an important task for Lord Stark..
Character Creation:
Since much of the character creation will depend on your status as a legitimate or illegitimate child, we'll complete character statistics tomorrow. However, to give you guys an understanding of what your potential characters would be like, all of the legitimate Stark children are being raised and educated to one day succeed as Lord Stark's heir. Those who do not will still be married in politically fruitful marriages, and are required to have a keen understanding of the economic, political and martial disciplines. As a result of their refined upbringing, all legitimate Stark children receive bonuses to their social skill statistics.
Lord Stark's reign is not democratic. As a legitimate child of Lord Stark, you have command over every person and element on your family's land. Lord and Lady Stark are distant parents. Much of your upbringing has been left in the hands of trusted family retainers. The Northlands, the area that the Stark family manages, has a number of lesser lords that pay tribute to the Starks. They are your kinsman, and the Starks report directly to the royal Barlow family of The Midlands.
The Northlands are a cold and somewhat desolate area. The people are stoic and used to many hardships. The primary agricultural produce of The Northlands are garden and greenhouse vegetables, sheep, reindeer, fish, wool, furs and skins. Compared to The Midlands, your home is considered to be culturally backwards. Many of the sons and daughters of the north dream of one day moving to The Midlands and living in comfort and finery, but Lord Stark, in his own subdued way, clearly takes pride in the ascetic resilience of his people.
The illegitimate children, by contrast, live a more common life. Although they still receive a similar education to their legitimate brothers and sisters, they live with an assigned foster family on a year-to-year basis. What this means is that one family living in Stark Keep temporarily takes charge of a Stark bastard for one year, before giving him or her to another family in the next. While a Stark bastard may be the foster son or daughter of a merchant one year, the next they may be assigned to a farmer. All families living in the Stark Keep are entitled to send their children to free education if they wish it, and it is common for many of the children to attend classes in the morning before helping their parents with a trade during the afternoons and evenings. The Stark bastards share some of their classes with the legitimate Stark children. As a result of their hard and varied upbringings, all illegitimate Stark children receive bonuses to their attribute statistics.
Lord Stark is known to sometimes personally check up on his illegitimate children, and his face is not unknown to his bastards. However, Lady Maryanne Stark is notoriously unkind to her husband's illegitimate children. Some have correctly deduced that she despises any reminder of her husband's past dalliances with other women.
In the north, is it not an unsavory practice to name illegitimate children as heirs to the Lordship. As such, Lord Stark has determined that if for any reason his legitimate heirs are unable to succeed him, his bastards will be next in line. This has caused some ire to his nephews and nieces, who resent being placed below his illegitimate children in the line of succession.
See you all tomorrow!