"King Adalmar II of the House of Northall peacefully ascended his father's throne in the year of our Lord 817. The chroniclers of his reign note it as one of harmony and contentment. His Grace was well known for his charity and piety, founding Colleges at Innsmouth and Edmundton and rebuilding the North Chapel at Kingsbury Abbey. In the year 819 he took Elise of the House of Ordoth, daughter of the Duke of Forlinger, as his Queen. She would bear him two sons, the Princes Edmund and Osbert, neither would ascend the throne.

King Adalmar II and his sons fell victim to the spring sweating sickness that struck the capital in the sixteenth year of his reign, leaving no clear heir. Thus the Kingdom of Westar was plunged into one of the darkest periods of its great history, the Anarchy of Adalmar."

The King and his sons are dead. The plague that swept through the capital is past and in the chaos of its wake four principle claimants to the throne of Westar emerge. Godfrey of Innsmouth, cousin of the former King through the female line and a powerful courtier, has seized the capital and crowned himself. Across the great river Wasser to the east, the Prince of Taratio gathers his own armies and those of his Bordian allies to press his own more senior claim of decent. In the wild north of the country the old Lord Howard of Northall, a remaining cadet branch of the Northall dynasty, hosts his bannermen and the local nobility in preparation for revolt. And most worryingly of all, across the Western Strait is the King of Blancia, Raynaud de Alecion, he remembers his grandfather's attempt to take the Kingdom of Westar almost a hundred years previously, not through right of descent - but by right of conquest.

The board is set and the pieces are in motion. Between them these men shall unleash a tide of blood across the country. They will do it for their pride, they will do it for their honour, they will do it for their greed, and most of all, they shall do it for power. Kings will rise and fall, men will die, and the fate of nations hangs in the balance.

But you will have no say in it.

You are not a King, nor even a great Lord. You are a mercenary, either one step above a common peasant, or so disgraced a noble it might have been better for you to be born that way. You have the dubious honour of serving in one of the Kingdom's oldest Free Companies, the Band of Fortune, or as it is better know: The Band of Fools.

Many years ago they were a powerful and respected fighting force numbering over a thousand. Now they are but a shadow of their former selves, barely being able to muster a quarter of their previous strength. The relative peace of Adalmar's reign meant that the mercenary companies that did not leave Westar atrophied. With work scarce they became little more than glorified thugs and many even turned to banditry when hard times struck. But now this new war has made their services back in demand, and some in the company still hold onto a notion of the glory and the wealth that could be theirs if they play cards right in the coming conflict.

So welcome, brothers and sisters in arms, to the Band of Fools!

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1 - The Kingdom of Westar, controls all continental lands to the West of the river with the two large lakes.
2 - The Kingdom of Blancia
3 - The Principality of Taratio, controls lands between rivers to the north and south.
4 - The Noble Merchant Republic of Bordia
5 - The Kingdom of Ragmark, controls lands to the northeast of the longer of two lakes.

---

Right then, some OOC stuff to go at the bottom here.

First of all, this is reboot of an RP that a good IRL friend of mine ran and I helped with that never really got the run that it deserved. I've changed a bunch of the story/setting, but still, if any of you still remember Danimal from oldguild, tip your hat to him.

Secondly, planning to play this as a nebulous 'High-Casual' level RP, which for me means I expect advanced levels of spelling/grammar/writing, but I don't care if you only post a paragraph or two to keep things ticking along. On the subject of keeping things ticking along, I am not a fast player, if you need posts every other day then this probably not for you.

Thirdly, this is very Low-Fantasy. No magic (although your characters might believe in magic), no non-human races, no ridiculous anachronistic stuff for a period equivalent to the High/Late Medieval. In terms of tech levels, I'm thinking late 13th - 14th century. If you don't know what this means or really want to do something you're not sure about, PM me, we can chat. I also want the realism to extend into how these wars will be fought, there will be a lot of sitting around at sieges, people dying of dysentery, and marching in the rain - not just heroic battles.

And finally, even if you aren't interested leave me a comment or some feedback on why etc. Its been a long time since I GMed (at least 5 years?) so I'm relearning things a little right now. I made this because there's a recently been a shortage of RPs I'm interested in, but I still want to give it a proper go, and getting some pointers would help with that.

Thank you for reading.

This sounds good. I am now interested in this. You have been informed.

~Places interest on the ground~

Alright. You asked why we might not do this, and quite honestly, this sounds fabulous. Buuuuuuuut. I have an aversion to people dying of dysentery (I play far too many Oregon Trail-related games) and I- honestly, I'm rather terrible at ambient conversation (which would probably happen during a siege). Also, I like to play the one manipulating the war and giving out titles, not the one actually fighting. HOWEVER!! I respect you a lot for throwing this idea out there, and for even doing something like this, because a lot of people wouldn't. So I thank you. This would be something I would love to read as a story, and it seems very well formatted. There you have my two cents on the matter. Basically, a ton of personal pref, and not issues with the RP.
@Kassarock

...people dying of dysentery...

I'm up for some good ol' trench foot and dysentery!

Interested.

As you have aided me, so shall I aid you my friend. I shall join you in glorious battle for nothing but my loyalty as your friend.

Also the bitches.

@POOHEAD189 Oh shit I'm actually getting hyped for this now.

@Mattchstick@Excal@Patryk@LordofthePiesThank you all for showing interest, I'll probably get working on an OOC tomorrow/the next the day so people can start thinking about characters.

@Winterwake Does that like count as interest? Or are you gonna wait and see?

Interested.

This is exactly my kind of thing. It pains me to say but despite my interest I've got too much else going on right now to give this the attention it deserves. Sorry!

@Winterwake Ah no worries dude, I know the feeling.

@POOHEAD189 Oh shit I'm actually getting hyped for this now.

It's gonna be fukken lit.

@Kassarock

"Lances, horses, shiny plate and purple dye. My grandfather put it all in a moat. Why should I?"

"Pray for rain, pray for snow, pray for luck... but trust your shovel and your crossbow."

Howdy.

Whoops, it appears I have dropped my barrel of interest all over this roleplay. Actually, it looks good. I think I'll leave it here.

With regards to the company, are they organised around Lances (man-at-arms, squire, page, couple of other lighter combatants) or are we just going to be disorganised occasionally-mounted infantry? Late Medieval -> Early Modern military history is a hobby of mine.

Secondly, planning to play this as a nebulous 'High-Casual' level RP, which for me means I expect advanced levels of spelling/grammar/writing, but I don't care if you only post a paragraph or two to keep things ticking along.

Gotta love how the first two High-Casual requirements are correct spelling and grammar, since that's special anymore.

Thirdly, this is very Low-Fantasy. No magic (although your characters might believe in magic), no non-human races, no ridiculous anachronistic stuff for a period equivalent to the High/Late Medieval.

This is straight-up the best selling point for me.

In terms of tech levels, I'm thinking late 13th - 14th century.

Oh snap, can we be longbow archers? Those guys were hardcore. Punching holes in chain mail armor at 300+ yards. Plus, they had a reputation of not having formal military training, and were borderline hired mercenaries, as I've been informed.

My experience with RPs and video games (and games in general) has led me to prefer aggressive close-range combat, but picking off game and scouts at range sounds fun too. Depends on what other people decide to be, I suppose.

With regards to the company, are they organised around Lances (man-at-arms, squire, page, couple of other lighter combatants) or are we just going to be disorganised occasionally-mounted infantry? Late Medieval -> Early Modern military history is a hobby of mine.

I've been thinking about that and it probably would make sense to have general kind of thrust in our troop composition/deployment, at the same time though I want to see what people want to play as well. I was thinking a small core of relatively disorganised mixed cavalry with infantry and ranged support? Something like a 50/100/100 split. Not massively historical I know considering the small size, but if we do well during the campaign the Company may grow and get more formalised.

The other option is that people who don't fit the companies troop composition could potentially play as members of other friendly units.

Oh snap, can we be longbow archers? Those guys were hardcore. Punching holes in chain mail armor at 300+ yards. Plus, they had a reputation of not having formal military training, and were borderline hired mercenaries, as I've been informed.

My experience with RPs and video games (and games in general) has led me to prefer aggressive close-range combat, but picking off game and scouts at range sounds fun too. Depends on what other people decide to be, I suppose.

Yeah longbows can and will be a thing. However, there is a debate about how battlefield longbows are used. Very little period art shows it raised for the volley, a lot of historians think it was designed to be used as the enemy closed in to maximise penetration.

And just a general note to everyone about tech and/or historical accuracy, I am not going to be super strict, only where I think it matters. For example since its 13/14th century, as low ranking mercenaries we will not be wearing full suits of white plate armour. However, don't care if you want to wear a Barbute or a Sallet etc. even though those helmet styles don't become fully realised helmet styles until the 15th century.

Right, lots of interest, I should get working on that OOC...

I'd suggest most people with questions on weapons, armor, or tactics with them to look at the article I wrote (and @Kassarock the GM peer reviewed) a few months ago.

Medieval Arms & Armor
First post is Melee Weapons
Second is Ranged Weapons & Armor

<Snipped quote by Trivval>

I've been thinking about that and it probably would make sense to have general kind of thrust in our troop composition/deployment, at the same time though I want to see what people want to play as well. I was thinking a small core of relatively disorganised mixed cavalry with infantry and ranged support? Something like a 50/100/100 split. Not massively historical I know considering the small size, but if we do well during the campaign the Company may grow and get more formalised.

The other option is that people who don't fit the companies troop composition could potentially play as members of other friendly units.

Historically, 250 is a pretty good size for your small/average company. Only the truly massive would top 1500. There was an excess of soldiers due to the crusades / 100 Years War, and they all fought in their small squads and would band together in smaller companies. After all the majority of locales didn't need massive numbers of troops.

Not every man-at-arms was nobility, but the typical 'squad' of guys (lance) was based around the man-at-arms who would pay the dudes that fought with him. Pretty much all infantry was mounted but wouldn't be mounted in combat. So in recounts of battles you'd see things like "50 Good Lances" or whatever. The free companies used to be pretty democratic about what they did, John Hawkwood (leader of the famous White Company) was elected.

A suggestion therefore could be that people apply as a lance with the man 'Man-at-arms' being your primary character and you've got a small host of hanger-on NPCs that you can do whatever with. Your 50/100/100 split seems fine, typically you'd see a 1/1/1 ratio or a 1/1/2 with most archers being infantrymen in their own right because they primarily used crossbows.

An interesting thing to note about most mercenaries in this era would go out of their way not to fight. This era was the birth of military science, you fought to outmanoeuvre your opponent and fight their ability to wage war, rather than that fight for valor, physical courage or chivalry. Why risk uncertain fortune - defeat, capture, death all could mean you wont get paid. It's all very cool stuff... but now I'm lecturing.

The free companies used to be pretty democratic about what they did, John Hawkwood (leader of the famous White Company) was elected.

An election may or may not be our major opening plot point...

A suggestion therefore could be that people apply as a lance with the man 'Man-at-arms' being your primary character and you've got a small host of hanger-on NPCs that you can do whatever with. Your 50/100/100 split seems fine, typically you'd see a 1/1/1 ratio or a 1/1/2 with most archers being infantrymen in their own right because they primarily used crossbows.

Yeah I'm aware of the lance system, but wasn't sure if I wanted to introduce it as a game mechanic, don't want to force people to have to make a bunch of NPCs just to play. It might be more of a background thing.

An interesting thing to note about most mercenaries in this era would go out of their way not to fight. This era was the birth of military science, you fought to outmanoeuvre your opponent and fight their ability to wage war, rather than that fight for valor, physical courage or chivalry. Why risk uncertain fortune - defeat, capture, death all could mean you wont get paid.

As I said, we will doing a lot of not-fighting. We may even change sides a few times...