Warlords of China
With the collapse of the Qing dynasty in the early 1900s, the new Republic of China slowly began to push in reforms to replace the old feudal system. However weakness within the government coupled with endemic corruption in the armed forces crippled the RoC's ability to enforce these reforms beyond the capital of Nanjing. As a result, dozens of warlord states rose across the country as different provincial governors and generals carved out their own petty kingdoms. These warlord states vary in origin organisation, from military dictatorships and cliques of weaker warlords, to ancient feudal houses holding on to land their families have owned for centuries.
You are one of these warlords, fighting with every trick in the book to maintain your new place in the world. Be your weapon the pen, the sword, marriage or cold hard cash, you will wield it for the glory of your family and in defence of your place as a Warlord of China.
So basically this will be a casual semi-NRP, with more focus on politics, day-to-day life and combat than your average NRP. Interaction between player characters will be more important than geopolitics, at least for the most part; think Crusader Kings II, 1900s China. The setting will advance over time of course, possibly implemented by a system of timeskips. The scenario end date (if we need one) will be either 2000, or upon the unification of China if/when that ever happens. So WWII will be a thing, including the Japanese invasion.
Each player will have one main character (their warlord), several side characters (their family and retainers) and a separate sheet for their province/warlord state. Players are also welcome to play as a lower-ranked retainer in someone else's state, as a lesser warlord or military commander.
Foreign influence will be conducted by the GM (myself) and any co-GMs; so no, you can't play as the USA. The chances of any Chinese forces moving abroad is slim, but if a warlord were to gather enough support... well, who knows?
Well, that's about the gist of it. I'm adding more to the concept as I go and plan to have a full alternate timeline written up in time for an OOC, but ideas and suggestions are welcome.
Anyone interested?
