I've been toying around with this idea for a while now, and I thought I'd try and do an RP about it. My idea is that we are all lords in a monarchy, except in a futuristic sci-fi setting. Basically, the story would begin with the adoptive son of the king killing the son of an arch-duke (basically the second highest rank in the royal line.) The duke wants the king to turn his son over to pay for his crime, but the king's honor forbids him. This leads to a split in the kingdom as all of the lords and bannermen side with either the king or the duke, quickly leading into a civil war.
As far as the setting goes, I'm thinking loose sci-fi. Cities mostly resemble their real life counterparts, but there's still things like hovercrafts and mechs for the knights and lords. Like medieval times, there is a clear divide between social castes. The peasants work in the factories while the nobility lounges in their mansions. I'd like the RP to be about even parts combat and diplomacy between the different houses, a little bit of intrigue and betrayal. We could each take control of a member of a certain house, or if their aren't many people, everyone could control their own house like a standard diplomacy RP.
Like I said above, the story mainly centers on the civil war between the king and the arch-duke. The adopted prince would be the primary antagonist, an ambitious young lord whose father's death has left him in total control of his house. The three main houses would be House Elecam (the king's family,) House Lane (the prince's family,) and House Calhouen (the arch-duke's family.) There will also be other major houses in the RP, but these three are the central figures in the war. Each house also has bannermen, houses of lower nobility who serve the higher lords.
During combat, there are the standard levy or volunteer infantry, as well as career soldiers call men-at-arms. These play out just like a real life army. They have tanks and guns and rockets and all the good stuff. many lords prefer to go into combat in Avatars, heavily armored mechs ranging from nine to fourteen feet tall. They have a wide array of different weapons that can be re-outfitted and customized.
Diplomacy can take place in many different forms. The general method of communication between lords is via tele-com. They basically just skype one another. The main purpose of diplomacy in the RP would be to win smaller houses to your side. Say a house has a legitimate obligation to serve both the king and the arch-duke. They would likely remain neutral, and it would be up to the RPers which side they take.
I'll probably have a character of my own, but I'm mainly going to take on the role of GM and a few key characters like the king and arch-duke.
I'll edit my post if I think of a way to explain this better. Until then, any takers?
