Long Live the King

Long Live the King is a campaign that can be used in any fictional setting with several neighboring kingdoms, preferably in a rennaisance like time-period, and preferably low-fantasy/low-magic. While there is certainly room for adventure in this campaign and while travel is very likely, this is mainly a political game and therefor the recommended system to use is WOD/d10, but many systems can be made useful.

A suggested/recommended setting to use, is the setting by George R. R. Martin, known as "A song of Ice and Fire", set right after Robert's Rebellion, but in a world where the different Kingdom's did NOT reunite under the Iron Throne, set a few years before the first book (A game of thrones) starts.

The general idea of the game, is that the players assume the roles of characters who are members of the King's inner circle, and in the introductionary presentation of the game, the King dies, leaving an heir who is not yet ready for the throne, leaving the Hand of the King to assume regency.

When the game starts, the characters must immediately work hard, to assure that proper measure is taken, and keep the country afloat through an impending crisis.

Suggested setting
As mentioned above, the recommended setting is set a few years before the start of the book "A game of thrones", in an alternative timeline where Robert Baratheon didn't manage to reunite the Iron Throne.

In the suggested setting, we're starting a few years BEFORE the books do, meaning characters like Robb Stark and Joffrey Baratheon are younger, it's quite likely that younger characters such as Tommen and Rickon are not even born yet.

Basic Geography
There are four known continents in the known world of ASOIAF; Westeros, Essos , Sothoryos and Ulthos. It's important to remember that "Winter" is a strange concept in this universe, seemingly not a regular phenomenon like in our world, winters come and go with many years passing in between, sometimes lasting years as well.

Westeros
Westeros resembles Europe in many ways. It was originally inhabited by Giants and the "Children of the Forest " (probably the ASOIAF version of elves - but it isn't truly known), and many other fabled creatures now not often seen, if not totally extinct. The southern most point of Westeros is Dorne, and it is believed this is where the First Mencame to Westeros from Essos. Westeros has three main religions, the largest presently being the faith of The Seven. This religion appears in the books to be largely fabricated, and shows some semblence to Christianity of our world (a religion built for the convenience of controlling the masses, implementing a lot of already existing holidays to make it convenient). The number seven is extremely important in Westeros, there are (not counting the high Septon who isn't an official member) seven members of the small council, seven kingdoms and in many other instances does the number seven appear. In this religion, seven gods are worshipped, representing different aspects of life. In the north, the Old gods of nature, the original religion of the Children of the Forest, is still worshipped, as it once was through out all of Westeros. This religion appears to be "true", seeing as members of this religion seem to be able to inherit some magical powers, namely Greensight and Skinchanging. The last remaining religion in Westeros is worshipped solely on the Iron Isles, and is the religion of the Drowned God. Whether or not there is any truth to this religion is difficult to say. Westeros is divided into seven Kingdoms, as previously mentioned. From the north to the south, these are The North, The Riverlands(which currently includes the The Iron Islands in vassalage, though this relationship used to be reversed), The Vale, The Stormlands (currently includes the The Crownlands which was never a sovereign nation), The Westerlands, The Reach and finally Dorne. The North stretches farther than what is known, and no one goes exploring there, due to ancient legends and history, as well as the inhospitable climate. It doesn't help that there is a 300 mile long wall of ice guarded by the rough equivalent of the Foreign Legion in between.

Essos
Essos, and it's believed that the First Men of Westeros originally came from Essos. There are many different cultures in Essos, but Essos clearly resembles Asia (though not the Far East/Orient), and perhaps also North Africa to a degree. The Western Coast-Line of Essos holds a collection of City-States known as the Free Cities. Braavosis the largest of the Free-Cities, also being the northern most country on the western coastline, facing Westeros, and their culture seems to resemble Ancient Greek society mixed with Italian Renaissance, especially Venice comes to mind when looking at Braavos. Pentos does not seem that different from Braavos, but is more corrupt and truly a merchant republic, and is just south of Braavos. Myr is due south of Pentos, and nothing special can be said about Myr, apart from Myr being renown for their crafting. Myr seems similar in culture to Braavos and Pentos. Tyrosh resembles Dorne more in culture than it does Myr, Pentos and Braavos and appears the Western most city state of the Essos western coastline. Lys is the southern most of the free-cities, and once more resembles the others greatly, but renown for it's alchemists. Volantis is due east of Lys, with nothing of note to be said about it. Lorath is the least important of the nine free-cities, located just east of Braavos. Norvos   is just a bit south-east of Braavos, and seems to resemble medieval "Russia", or rather the small nations that became Russia. Qohoris the eastern most of the nine Free-Cities, and resembles ancient Persia more than anything else I can think of, with a culture for slavery. The Dothraki (horse people, akin to the Mongols) rule the stretch of grasslands east of the Free-Cities, part of which was where the Kingdom of Sarnor was once found (some of it remains), though the majority of it is known as Dothraki sea, it is however grassland. The Dothraki aren't very organized, and are considered savage tribal barbarians. South of the Dothraki sea, and east of the area known as the Kingdom of Sarnor is is an area known as Slaver's Bay, which is inhabited by City-States that are members of the Ghiscari Empire, consisting of Yunkai, Meereen and Astapor, and these cities are built upon the foundation of slavery and mostly resemble Ancient Persia. South of Essos (West of Slaver's Bay) is a small Island group and a peninsula together known as Valyria which is now mostly uninhabited. The country Lhazar amd the major city state of Qarth are the eastern most well known parts of Essos, beyond that, things become quite fabled and are difficult to make out, but I suspect things will become more oriental. The people Lhazar are predominantly peaceful where is Quarth is a magocracy, ruled by powerful and mystical warlocks. Asshai is probably the eastern most wellknown city, but it's quite mystical already.

Sothoryos
Sothoryos is located south of Essos, most likely being the cause of it's name. It's largely unexplored and covered mostly in dense jungle, likely being quite close to equator. It's plague ridden, full of exotic beasts and holds a number of ruins from former civilizations.

Ulthos
Ulthos remains mostly unexplained, but it's south of Essos, and east of Sothoryos.

Basic History
In ASOIAF, the world, the main focus is on Westeros, and in Westeros they count time from Aegon the Conqueror's landing, and anything before this, is considered BC (Before Conquest), and anything after is AC (After Conquest.

This timeline explains history step for step, but I will offer a brief overlook.

In ca. 12000 BC, the First Men invade Westeros through Dorn, hailing from Essos, and wage war against the Children of the Forest, ending up adopting their religion, and in 10000 BC, the Children of the Forest and the First Men start co-existing after a treaty is signed.

In 8000 BC, the longest winter in history occurs, and strange beings known as The Others attack from the north. The great noble-houses trace their lineage back to this time (such as Starks and Lannisters), and the Wall is established along with the Night's Watch.

In 6000 or possibly 4000 BC, the Andals attack from across the narrow sea. The Children of the Forest didn't have a treaty with these new invaders, and were forced to retreat north, beyond the wall, leaving known country.

in 5000 BC, the Valyrian Freehold rises, the Valyrians being ruled by Dragon Lords, Valyrians themselves seemingly being magical humanoids, very similar to normal humans, except their affinity for controlling dragons, resisting fire/heat as well as the ability to make spell-forged Valyrian Steel, they were also somewhat alien to look at, with violet eyes and platinium hair. The Valyrian Freehold captures and controls most of the well-known parts of Essos. The Valyrian Freehold crumbles when a cataclysmic event destroys Valyria, known as the Doom of Valyria, happening roughly in 100 BC, at which point  the Ghiscari Empire picks up the pieces, though not the Free Cities, hence their name.

in 3000 BC, the Andals have taken over most of Westeros, forming six kingdoms of their own, and brought with them, the faith of the Seven Gods which was now the main religion of Westeros, and these were The Iron Islands, The Westerlands ,  The Reach, DorneThe Vale and The Stormlands. The North was never captured by the Andals, and as such, the faith of the Seven was never instated there, and as such, the Northerners are of the First Men, not decendants of the Andals, as are the rest of the people of Westeros.

In the last 3000 years, there are many minor happenings, none important enough to mention here.

In 1 AC,    Aegon the Conqueror arrives in Westeros, and with his dragons, he captures most of Westeros, Dorne not included at this point, and creates the Iron Throne and King's Landing.

In the following years, many interesting things happen, many not important enough for me to mention here, suffice to say that Dorne is conquored and made part of the seven Kingdoms of Westeros in 197 AC after yet another unsuccessful attempt at annexing it through warfare in 161 AC, and the Dragons that were the sigil of house Targaryen have all died out by the next interesting point in time.

Robert's Rebellion officially begins in 282 AC.

Robert Baratheon was the offical leader of the rebellion against  Aerys II Targaryen, also known as "the Mad King", this war was known as the War of the Usurper due to having the best claim on the throne, as Aerys was distantly related to Robert Baratheon through marriage ties, and it's a known fact that the Baratheons are an offshoot of the Targaryens, established by a Targaryen Bastard who was made the ruler of Storm's End back during the official conquest of Aegon.

Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark grew up together as wards of Jon Arryn of the Vale. Robert came to be engaged to  Lyanna Stark, the elder sister of Eddard Stark. Lyanna Stark was swiftly abducted by  Rhaegar Targaryen ( the heir to the Mad King)  who was apparently in love with Lyanna, evident from him previously naming her Queen of Love and Beauty instead of his own wife, at a tournament, despite her engagement to Robert. Lyanna's father  Rickard Stark   and her oldest brother  Brandon Stark  went to King's Landing for justice, both were executed. When the Mad King demanded that Jon Arryn handed over Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheo both (most likely also for execution), following the execution of Stark's father and older brother, Jon Arryn refused and was the actual instigator of the rebellion against the Mad King. At the same ceremony where Eddard Stark married  Catelyn Tully (who was originally supposed to marry Eddard's older brother), Jon Arryn married her younger sister  Lysa Tully  to gain the support of the Tullys and the Riverlands, and this happened in the early days of the rebellion.

At the battle of  The Trident, Robert slew Rhaegar Targaryen on the battlefield personally with his warhammer. The Lannisters proceeded to murder all the remaining Targaryens in King's Landing when it seemed that Robert was winning, an act that brought them the eternal scorn of the Starks, because two of the murdered children were merely babies. This is to say that they murdered Elia Martell, the wife of Rhaegar Targaryen, and her children. The act itself was carried out by Gregor Clegane, also known as "the Mountain", who also raped her, and killed her children infront of her before killing her. Jaime Lannister personally slew the Mad King, despite being his sword bodyguard as a member of the Kingsguard, earning him the name "Kingslayer". Eddard Stark along with six allies (of whom only one survived) fought the last three remaining loyal members of the Kingsguard at the  Tower of Joy  in Dorne  where Lyanna was kept, Lyanna Stark did however not survive and Eddard has kept the details of her death secret. In the original story, Robert became the king of the Iron Throne, and while he in this story maintainst a claim on it, several years later, he has still failed to garner enough support to reunite the kingdom.

It's the year 290 AC, the Greyjoy rebellion ended with the Iron Isles becoming vassals of the Riverlands, and House Stark taking Theon Grayjoy, the heir to the Iron Isles as a ward and political hostage, Robert Baratheon is still trying to unite the Iron Throne, but Dorne has little to to interest in joining, and the Reach is equally reluctant. The Lannisters, the Starks, the Vale and the Riverlands are all mostly interested in returning under the Iron Throne, but there is much political turmoil, many lords not wishing to rally under a Usurper, and most of the Kingdoms do not want to join unless all seven Kingdoms (or at least a startling majority) return to the fold, as no one wants to see another major war right now. If either the Reach or Dorne would opt to join as well, it seems almost certain that the Iron Throne would be reestablished.

Basic Culture
This is mainly in regards to culture in Westeros.

Sword Culture
In Westeros, the Long Sword carries importance, as does the Greatsword.

The Greatsword, apart from being a rather exotic weapon, was among the Andal Kings a symbol of power, and the it's assumed that when the Targaryens conquered Westeros, that the Lords of the respective 7 Kingdoms were given Valyrian Ancestral blades, all of which were greatswords. These Swords are not carried by their owners, nor often wielded in combat, for purely practical reasons, namely that it requires a large man to properly wield a greatsword, they're difficult to transport and not always the best choice of weapon. Finally, Valyrian Steel swords are so valuable that carrying one on one's person would only make one a target for robbery.

The Longsword is a symbol of nobility, and noblemen do not travel anywhere without a longsword brandished at their sides, how ever, when simply going about their business or travelling within a city or a local region, this custom is not required. Longswords are also always worn to important events.

People of smaller stature will of course not wield longswords, and will instead wield smaller blades more suited to their size, though the design remains roughly the same, even though the blade might be smaller and more elegant.

Knights never go anywhere unarmed, unless they are home or within quarters (roaming a castle for instance).

The broad-sword or arming sword is the most commonly used weapon by professional soldiers, along with the spear.

Litteracy and education
In Westeros, most people are somewhat litterate, and most noblemen are learned to a great extent.

Whores and adultery
In Westeros, bedding a whore is not considered dishonorable, unless one is wed. Even when wed, it's not necessarily frowned upon to visit brothels, as this is a preferred alternative to actual adultery. Homosexual lords forced into loveless marriages often find solace in the arms of male prostitutes, and many lords in general make great use of brothels, considering it common to visit the local brothels when in a new area, just as one would taste the local food, the local women (and/or men) must also be explored to the fullest extent.

Homosexuality
Open homosexuality is frowned upon, but bisexuality, while a taboo is generally accepted. As long as a man marries a woman and produces at least an heir (a son preferably), what ever else they do, is irrelevant.

Bastards
Bastards in Westeros receive a last name depending on their place of birth, in the North, they are called Snow, in the Crownlands they are called Water, in the Vale they are called Stone, in the Westerlands they are called Hill, in the Riverlands they are called River, in the Reach they are called Flower and in the Stormlands they are called Storm. Dorne doesn't have such customs, neither do the Iron Isles. This custom is mainly upheld with noble bastards. A legitimized bastard no longer uses that surname.

Criminals and punishment
In Westeros, most criminals upon receiving their sentence are offered the choice to go to the wall, traitors being the exception, though many traitors are even sent to the wall.. Petty crime is usually punished harshly with floggings, whippings or other such measures, and actual prison sentences are not common. Amputation of fingers or hands and such is not a common practice in Westeros, due to the fact that this would merely serve to create a begger to live in the poor-house, rather people who face such punishment are often sent to the wall instead devoid of choice. Rapists, murdrers, thieves and bandits and the like are all sent to the wall in great number, as most such people face punishment too severe to live with. In Westeros, having caused the death of one's kin is considered a great sin, and is referred to as "kinslaying". Kinslayers are usually called as such. People who are guilty of regicide are called Kingslayers. Due to the religion of Westeros, the number seven has ridiculous importance.

Clothing
Wearing hats is a common thing. In the north, most people favor warm clothes, while in the south they obviously do not. The nobility tend to wear clothes with patterns, made from expensive fabrics in special designs with often rare colors, except in the North were even nobility tend to prefer earth colors and simplistic garments.

Ceremonial armor
Many people outfit a household guard with ceremonial armor to showcase their wealth. Ceremonial armor is typically just as good as regular armor, but with an admirable amount of detail put into the shaping of the armor.

Armor in general
Plate armor is very common in westeros, though fullplate is usually reserved for knights and the household guards of wealthy houses.

Kingdoms
The different Kingdoms are briefly described here, note that not all Kingdoms are ideal choices for the game, some are best left as "supporting cast" in the story, while others make for extremely interesting choices. Especially if the players are fans of the series, they might have some preferences.

The Stormlands
Robert Baratheonof House Baratheonis king of The Stormlands, ruling from The Red Keep in King's Landing, and his current heir is Joffrey Baratheon. The Stormlands have always been ruled from  Storm's End  (a fortress rumored to be magical) prior to the Targaryens building Dragon Stone and King's Landing, and before the Baratheon's took over, a now extinct house brandished themselves "Storm Kings" and ruled the Stormlands from there. The Stormlands have a coast line that runs parallel with the coastline of the eastern continent, making trade their main source of revenue. Naturally this means the Stormlands are also known for their seafaring. It's known that Robert Baratheon, the head of his house, wielded a warhammer, but if this is the ancestral weapon of the Baratheons isn't known. A list of houses can be found  here  If I should compare the Stormlands to a real country, I'd compare them to a loosely united early rennaisance/late medieval Italy.

Stability
Both of Robert's younger brothers, respectively Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone  and Renly Baratheon of Storm's End  have been not-so-secretly gathering support for their causes, a succession war seems unavoidable.

Alliances
Robert Baratheon maintains a close alliance with Eddard Stark whom he grew up with (he was also engaged to Stark's older sister), to Jon Arryn who was Robert's guardian, along with Eddard's, and with Tywin Lannister through marriage.

The Westerlands
Tywin Lannister of House Lannister is King of The Westerlands ruling from Casterly Rock in Lannisport and his current heir officially Tyrion Lannister. A list of houses can be found  here. The Lannisters have a long and proud anscestry, and was in ample competition for the Westerlands in a long time, but ended this once and for all in recent time by when Tywin Lannister eradicated the entire noble-house who held Castamere. The song  "The rains of Castamere"  was composed to immortalize the brutality of Tywin in his youth and can be considered the themesong for the noble house. The westerlands face away from the eastern continent and became rich from natural resources, not trading in exotic wares, rather the Lannisters own a number of goldmines. If I was to compare the Westerlands to a real country, I'd compare them to Medieval France. Casterly Rock was originally owned by house Casterly and the magnificent fortress was built directly into the mountain that overlooks Lannisport, and later an actual castle was built untop of the hollowed out stone. It's rumored that there are still active goldmines under the keep. The castle has never fallen, and the Lannisters trace their heritage back to the man who took the castle from house Casterly. Their ancestral weapon is  Brightroar, which was a  Valyrian steel  greatsword, but it was lost some years ago. It's worthy of mention that Tywin Lannister was hand of the king to the last Targaryen king, for 10 years and that Jaime Lannister, who served as that king's bodyguard in the Kingsguard at the time, murdered the Targaryen king when he threatened to kill Tywin. Robert Baratheon has always held a grudge against Jaime Lannister for denying him that kill, but despite being named the Kingslayer, Jaime was not expelled from the Kingsguard. The motto of the Lannisters is "Hear me roar", but there are many popular sayings regarding the Lannisters, one of the more commonly known is "A Lannister always pays his debts".

Stability
Everyone knows (Tyrion is a dwarf) that it will either be Tyrion's older brother  Jaime Lannister  (better known as the Kingslayer  - The original heir to the Lannister throne, who is indisposed to inherit due to being a member of the Kingsguard )  or one of Tywin's Nephew's who will ascend to the throne. This could result in a succession war. The Lannister's would join sides with Joffrey Baratheon in case of a succession war among the Baratheons, because Joffrey's mother is Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister's twin sister.

Alliances
They are allies of Robert Baratheon. The Westerlands are ideally more suited as supporting cast, but could make for a very interesting Kingdom, with some creativity from the GM's side.

The Reach
The Reach  is ruled by King Mace Tyrell  of House Tyrell  from Highgarden, his current heir is Willas Tyrell. The Reach enjoys enormous stability, and isn't likely to have a succession war. They seem to be inclined to join Renly Baratheon in a succession war however. The Reach is best left as a supporting cast Kingdom, but there isn't anything wrong with choosing the reach, there's just not that much information available on the Reach in general, making other choices more ideal. A list of houses can be found here. highgarden is a tiered and very magnificent castle, taken directly out of the fairytales, but apart from that, there is nothing significant about it. The Reach, or Highgarden specifically is considered the center of Chivalry in Westeros. The Ancestral weapon of house Tyrell is unknown, but their motto is "Growing Strong", and they are extremely wealthy, because of the specific things they produce, among others the finest wines and many exotic fruits that cannot grow in the climate of the remaining countries of Westeros. I find it easiest to compare the reach to the long gone country of Burgundy, which was a major player during the medieval.

The Vale
The Vale is ruled by King Jon Arryn of House Arryn from The Eyrie, and his current heir is Robert Arryn. The Vale hasn't had a succession war in a long time, and isn't likely to have one now. Jon Arryn is married to Catlyn Tully's sister, and Catlyn Tully is the wife of Eddard Stark, this has forced good standing between the Starks and the Arryns. The Vale is another extermely ideal setting of choice. A list of houses can be found here. Jon Arryn joined Robert's rebellion. The ancestral weapon of the Vale is unknown, but their motto is "As high as honor", and their preferred means of execution is by throwing people through a contraption known as "the moon-gate" which is essentially just a trap-door built into the floor of a mountain fortress from a portion of it that allows very, very long free fall. If I am to compare the vale to a real country, I would compare them to a particular city state that during the renaissance made up "Germany", the name currently eludes me. The people of the Vale can be seen as somewhat aloof, not easily picking sides or making alliances, but they are honorable people as seen when Jon Arryn at great personal risk, with very little chance of personal gain revolted to protect his wards.

The Riverlands
The Kingdom of The Riverlands(originally not seen as one of the seven kingdoms because at the time of the founding of the Iron Throne, the Riverlands were controlled by the Iron Isles - this was reversed recently though) is ruled by King Hoster Tullyof House Tully from Riverrun and is a small Kingdom, but it holds the Iron Isles in vassalage, which are in turn ruled by Lord Balon Greyjoy of House Greyjoy from Pyke, and the heir to the Iron Isles would be Balon's son Theon Greyjoy . The current heir to the Riverlands is Edmure Tully, the son of Hoster. The general stability of the Riverlands is threatened by the fact that Lord Walder Frey seems to hold as much power as the Tullys do, also holding an at least equally impressive and legendary fortress known as The Twins, even holding his own honorary title, of Lord of the Crossing, and his heir is Stevron Frey. Walder Fray is over 90 years old, infirm and has survived 8 wives and several mistresses all of whom has born him over a 100 children, many of whom have secured him powerful ties, and in being such a power in the region, Walder Frey threatens to rip the Kingdom of the Riverlands into two camps, the only thing keeping him from seceding through a war would be House Tully's strong military alliances through marriage with the Starks of Winterfell and the Arryns of the Eyrie, both of which were with ruling lords. Another source of instability is the fact that Brynden Tully (also known as the Blackfish) who is the brother of Hoster Tully has remained in bad standing with the King of the Riverlands for a long time now, despite the rest of the royal family not agreeing with this dispute.

The North
Eddard Stark is King of The North, ruling from Winterfell, though he doesn't care much to be King, and would rather return his Kingdom to the Iron Throne. His heir is Robb Stark (short for Robert?). The Stark Ancestral weapon is  Ice, a  Valyrian steel  greatsword, their motto is "Winter is Coming" and their symbol is that of a Direwolf. The Starks maintain a tradition to send one member of their generation to the  Night's Watch  at the  The Wall, meaning  Benjen Stark currently serves there as Eddard's younger brother. A popular Stark saying is, "Ours is the Old Way", and this is the motto of the Graystarks, a Cadet branch of the house. Winterfell was supposedly built by  Brandon the Builder, who was the legendary founder of house stark. He supposedly enlisted the aid of giants to build Winterfell over eight thousand years ago. The North is obviously best compared to Scandinavia as a whole. The Starks are regarded as a very honorable house, and in the North are many feared houses, such as house Bolton of the Flayed man, ruling from the dreadfort, renown for flaying his captives alives, and for being enthusiastic torturers. The Starks have branched off into several cadet branches, such as the Karstarks and the Greystarks, and maintain strong ties in the North, where they exist as a very conservative society, some even still praying to the Old Gods (druidic religion). A list of houses can be found  here.

Stability
The Boltons are rivals of the Starks, and if there is any sight of weakness in the North, they might rise up against their lords.

Alliances
Through marriage, they are allied to house Tully of the Riverlands. They are also allies of house Arryn of the Vale, partially through family ties as Jon Arryn is married to the sister of Eddard Stark's wife, but also in that Jon Arryn is the former guardian of Eddard Stark. Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark grew up together.

Dorne Prince Doran Martell  of House Martell  (in Dorne, the title Prince is used instead of King) rules Dorne from Sunspear, his current heir is Arianne Martell. Interestingly, this means that in case of playing as Dorne, the campaign's name should technically be "Long live the Queen", but seeing as the title "Princess" is formally used in Dorne anyway, I didn't bother thinking of a more clever and all-encompassing title. Deal with it. Dorne is the closest to the Eastern Kingdoms across the Narrow sea, and maintains better connections in that direction. A succession war is unlikely. Dorne could essentially make a good choice, but lack of information regarding Dorne and it's inner workings makes it a poor choice. Dorne is even more sparsely populated than the North, and a list of it's few noble houses can be found here. Dorne was not one of the original seven Kingdoms, but it was one of the original six Andal Kingdoms. As such, it's unlikely that Dorne has an ancestral Valyrian blade. Their motto is "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", referring both to the fact that they were never conquered by the Iron Throne, but instead joined through marriage, and that their family line is unbroken.

Characters
There are a number of character slots available, based on the small council of King's Landing. The following character slots are available:

Hand of the King
The hand of the king is the King's most trusted advisor, and in many cases, this person is the same as their wife, the Queen-Consort, but almost just as often it is a family member, or someone from another trusted family. The Hand of the King is not an immediately playable character, as the Hand of the King will be the acting regent of the country when the game starts. Please note that there is nothing to hinderance for this position ending up with one of the characters in game, but none of the characters should START with it.

Marshal
The military commander of the chosen Kingdom, how ever only of land-forces. In King's Landing, this title is called High-Commander of the King's Guard. The Marshal is likely an older and very experienced Knight, but in some cases, such as with Jaime Lannister, the honor can fall to a younger character. The Marshal is an extremely good choice of character for the group, and should probably be used.

Master of Ships
The commander of the navy and of ship-traffic/naval trade. This character is in all likelyhood an merchant, or head of a merchant house, and not at all a nobleman. Unless for some reason having chosen the Iron Isles or specifically playing as the allies of Stannis Baratheon, there isn't a largely good reason to play as the Master of Ships.

Master of Coin
One accountant to account them all. The title, Master of Coin usually falls upon someone with academical abilities, but usually also someone very wealthy. The master of Coin is not a bad position, but it shouldn't be first choice either. If you end up with four or more players, consider this role before any of the others, for the fourth character, but otherwise, you're better off playing as one of the three primarily suggested roles.

Master of Laws
Equivalent of a Minister of the Justice department. The Master of Laws is a very important position, and the Master of Laws is most likely a former diplomat. The Master of Laws is a very good position to play as, and should probably be among the characters.

Master of Whispers
The spymaster, foreign intelligence, as well as internal affairs. The Spy Master is often a former spy, but they take all shapes and sizes. The Spy Master is also a very good choice for a character, and should likely be found among the characters.

Grand Maester
In lieu of wizards, which aren't a common sight in Westeros, the academical scholars of mystical matters, such as alchemy and herbal healing are organized into the order of Maesters, and they are found in every court. The Maester is probably an unteresting character to play as, and is best reserved as an NPC.

High Septon/Septa
Head of religion in the Kingdom. Religion is remarkably unimportant in Westeros, and as such, it's not unlikely NOT to find the High Septon attending small council meetings, as they would most likely be expected to be quiet anyway. Again, not a good choice for a character.

Game Mechanics
The game will be fairly randomized. First of all, the players must agree on what position each of them get, and what country they want to belong to.

The Country choosen wil determine what noble houses are under the King (the characters can freely choose which noble-houses they would like to belong to, if any), who the current heir is, and so forth.

The King's Death will be determined by a the GM, either by randomly drawing a card, or by his own creativity. The GM will ultimately have to decide whether the death was natural, accidental or if foul play was involved, but knowledge should not be easily reached by the players, as it's important to remember that forensic science is not that well developed at this point in time.

The GM selects at least one major plotter from each house under the Kingdom's rule, and one from within. These major plotters will not be revealed the players, and their ambitions will be somewhat randomized by card drawings, or the GM can again opt to choose their ambitions.

The players may freely choose their own ambitions, and should keep these secret. When the game starts, family relations and the character sheets, and BG's of every character involved in the game should determine starting predispostions.

The players will play as "high society" members, and there is a good likelyhood that they will play as family of nobility or royalty, therefor they will be given an impressive amount of merit points solely devoted to building relationships with the other nobles.

These points can be spent to make alliances (the nature of which needs to be specified) with NPC's from their own house, from the ruling house, from other houses or from houses found in other countries all together, or even different orders or organizations, all of this represented with the ally merit. If it comes to war, lasting alliances is what makes or breaks a kingdom, but an alliance is only a foot in the door, it's never a sure thing.

Sometimes, having a lasting alliance with someone is a bad idea, especially for someone like the Spy Master. No, the key to being a successful spymaster doesn't go through powerful and obvious alliances, it goes through dirt and muck, namely the dirt and much you have on others. The contacts merit represents you having something on someone, or maybe just having made someone inclined to help you. At any rate, someone is willing to do you a lot of favors, mostly information sharing, but this is usually still useful.

Status is alpha and omega in royal courtroom, but the characters in the game are already members of the small council. That doesn't however ensure their status in general. A spymaster could be any successful lowborn orphan, and the master of ships is more than likely just a simple merchant. The Marshal could even be a vastly successful army commander who is nothing more than a hedgeknight in name. Taking status with a certain house (you could also make up your own) will ensure membership among the ranks of nobility, but Status can be found in so many places.

The Mentor merit becomes especially interesting in this setting. Do you want an important character from this setting to have been your mentor? Maybe you studied under Barristan Selmy? Or perhaps you've been walking in the shadow of Tywin Lannister for a decade.

These social merits are extremely important to the game.

Random Events
During the game, a number of random events will occur, these events are similar to "random encounters" in an adventuring game, but it's important to remember that this game suffers from a divided focus, meaning there is a certain measure of adventure, while also a huge amount of focus on intruge and politics.

A random number of random events must happen every session, this number is determined by a single dice roll. Half of these must be "events" and the other half must be "occurences". An occurance is something that happens to an NPC. For istance, a random occurance could be that you recieve news that Lord Something of somethington has fallen from his horse and been severely maimed. It just so might happen that Lord Something is an ally of the players, who is now less useful. He might be an enemy, now less of a threat.

These random events are determined by drawing cards with predetermined events on them, the card will give instructions about how to find a proper receipiant of the event (could be roll a dice, if outcome is 1-3, it's an ally, if it's 4-6 it's an enemy, if it's 7-9 it's a major character, but neither an ally nor an enemy, if it's 10 reroll). These occurrances can also be possitve, for instance, it could be that someone comes into unexpected funds. Anything really.

Meta Aspects
There are several meta aspects in this game.

Time-line
I make "quests" and "plot points" for the game according to a timeline. The timeline runs by months and weeks. Quests and plot-points normally become available to solve/discover ect. at a certain point on the time-line (this can of course change if the characters manage to do something drastic), and very often also has to be solved within a number of days/weeks/months. This way, I can also always keep track of how much time has passed in the game.

Finances
A kingdom has finances to worry about. The finances are divided in several minor categories. Money is measured in golden dragons, a golden dragon is quite much in "A song of Ice and fire", I've decided to use the standard pathfinder currency instead lacking anything better. For reference, see pathfinder prices. Following coins exist: Copper Pennies, Silver Stags and Golden Dragons.

Savings
How much money there is in the treasury. As a bottom-line, there should always be enough gold to pay a fair ransom for all members of the noble family (a ransom usually amounts ot about 300-500 Golden Dragons for someone important).

Income
Monthly income.

Upkeep/permanent expenses
How much money is spent on repairs, food, maintainance, paying staff ect.

Bi-annual income
The peasants only pay taxes twice a year, which means twice a year, quite a hefty bonus is rounded up. That is, if the peasants haven't been raided.

Net gain/loss
The total amount of money made or lost every month.

Popularity
There are three factions within the kingdom to maintain popularity with. Popularity is measured on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is the worst. When popularity drops too far with a faction, it will cause serious drawbacks. They might not only stop supporting the kingdom, they might even start fighting the crown. Such reactions will happen at set values, for instance, we could imagine that Faction A has a determined rebellion value at 40, meaning if the popularity drops below 40, Faction A will then rebel against the crown. At 50 they might stop paying taxes. The three actual factions in the game are; The Subjects (Lords), the Peasants and the Citizens.

Subjects (lords)
The Lords demand that they retain their lordly rights and that they aren't forced to take actions they would not have taken themselves. It will always upset the lords if they are called into war or if taxes are raised, or if they are required to supply troops, even though this is their duty. It will not upset them MUCH however, but any action that threatens their positions of power will affect popularity with the lords. The lords are a bunch of hypocrites. They demand justice and that things are done by the book and by the law, but they will always be displeased when these things come back to haunt them, because they feel like they've been targetted. Everytime a lord is punished, all other lords think to themselves "that could have been me! But I'm not a peasant! I'm not supposed to be punishable! I AM THE LAW!", and as such, it's difficult to maintain a good relationship with the Lords, fortunately, the lords aren't massively touched by minor acts of justice and the like. If the lords however believe that their liege is acting in a tyrannical fashion, they will be VERY quick to voice their concern in a demanding fashion.

Peasants
The peasants are hard to displease, but also hard to gain trust with. The peasants only really demand one thing in return for their taxes; namely protection. If the peasants aren't protected, they will eventually realize they're paying taxes for a service they aren't receiving, and then they will likely refuse to pay taxes. The peasants rely very heavily on their manpower, meaning they will also react very negatively to forced conscription into military service. It will take a lot of mistreatment for the peasants to rise up, as peasants really just want to mind their own business. In a land where the summer lasts for years, peasants are quite rich and keep big stocks of food. Because of the continued summer climate, they can keep harvesting several times in a row, building massive stocks of food, selling to the cities and castles for money they in turn use to pay their bi-annual tax. In return they expect the protection of their liege-lords, and expect to see regular patrols on the roads. The peasants will not react to most affairs in the realm that doesn't outright concern them. Things that could displease peasants include; raising their taxes, decreasing their protection a lot, forceful conscription, denying them access to the cities to sell their products, mistreatment of peasants. Things that would likely please the peasants includes; lowering taxes (even for a short period), adding more security, good treatment of peasants, holding grand markeds and faires giving them ample opportunity to sell their wares.

Citizens
Citizens are mostly craftsmen, labourers and merchants, but in some cases, they're villagers or townsmen who are mostly just more civilized peasants. Citizens live in communities, which means news spread quickly and with an added degree of certainty. This also means, they are very easily affected. Even a minor act of what is regarded as cruelty can result in massive outbursts of civil unrest among citizens, and a minor act of what is regarded as justice or goodwill can result in songs of praise being sung from one end of the country to another. Citizens are easier to claim a tax from, and are taxed monthly.

Military
The country's military might. I've implemented a simple (very simple) large scale army battle mechanic. Note that I hope to avoid using this aspect of the game.

Each side in a battle is looking to amass a battlescore that is higher than the opposite side. Every soldier adds to this battle score. A normal man-at-arms (normal versitile soldier) posing as an infantry man grants 1 point. A well equipped soldier grants 1½ point. A pikeman cancels out the points of opposing cavalry at a 1-to-1 basis. A peasant soldier (conscript) only grants ½ a point. A cavalry soldier grants 3 points (but can only be used offensively), and so does an archer. An arbalist grants 2 points if used defensively, 1½ if used offensively. Siege engines add a massive bonus score, depending on their type. Having a castle or another defensible position also grants a set bonus, depending on whether there are enough men to meet the "skeleton crew" requirement of that particular castle, and what castle it is. Two armies attacking eachother are both counting as using offensive actions, where as if one army is entrenched, and the other is attacking, one is defensive and the other offensive. The commander of an army can use tactics to gain a multiplier for his battle-score. Both commanders roll intelligence+academics (tactics), and the one with the lower amount of successes subtracts those from the one with the higher amount. The winner, is the one left with any successes (if anyone), gaining a 0.5 muliplier per success (meaning he may multiply his battlescore by 0.5 and add the result to his actual battlescore - for every success he gets). Depending on how far the battlescores are apart, the result will differ in how many enemies are routed, how many died and how many are captured.

First playthough - The North
In this playthrough, with 3 players, the players have chosen the North as their Kingdom.

Characters
Victor Karstark as the Marshall

Jayna Manderly as the Master of Whisperers.

And Alexis as master of laws.

Changes
The setting in The North is slightly different than it is in the original ASOIAF universe, this is done to keep some of the aspects that were awesome about the Starks in the books and series. For one, the birthdates of several of the Stark children has changed, so that all of the Stark children have been born. The Direwolves have already been found, despite the game starting in 295 AC, five years after the Greyjoy rebellion. The Iron Throne has not been reformed, but both the Lannisters who rule in the Westerlands, the Starks who rule the North, the Tullys who rule the Riverlands and the Iron Islands and finally the Arryns who rule the Vale have all signed a treaty that says they will unite back under the Iron Throne once Dorne and the Reach also agree to return, and have named Robert Baratheon as a rightful claimant to the Iron Throne due to his ancient relation to the Targaryens (the first Baratheon was a bastard of Aegon who conquered Westeros).Rodric Cassel is the Castellan of Winterfell (the "hand of the king" in the North), and Theon Greyjoy remains a political hostage. In the this setting, the Iron Islands didn't just rebel when the mad king fell, they denied Robert's claim to the Iron Throne, started raiding the riverlands and the North and proclaimed themselves independant. That didn't work out well for them. Dorne andt he Reach however have simply not opted to join again. Dorne is happy as an independant country, and the Reach will not join because until a more favorable opportunity arises. Negotioations have gone back and forth for a few years now regarding the rejoining og the Iron Throne.

Prologue
The Starks were known for their grim appearance. Tall and lean builds and hopelessly grim expressions. Few Starks were remembered as handsome, not because they lacked attractive features, but because of their permanent scowls. Eddard Stark was no different. He was a dutiful man, a skilled warrior trained by Jon Arryn himself, and despite not having his build, he was more than a match for the incredibly strong Robert Baratheon. Eddard was a tactician and an honorable man, a preserver of the old ways, as it was customary for his kind to uphold them. As so many other lords who had lived through a war, Eddard had the choice of growing serious and solemn or slightly sociopathic. All veterans get the same distant look in their eyes when they hear the sound of swords clashing. Lord Eddard never again participated in tournaments after Robert's rebellion. He barely practiced, but once he did it became evident that his fighting prowess camr no longer from his learned skills, but from his experience with shedding the blood of brave men on the battlefield. Barely a few months ago, Robb, Jon and Theon were all taken to watch the execution of a deserter from the wall. None of them had born witness to such an act before, Theon being the oldest was only 16 years old, Robb and Jon both having turned 12. On their way back to Winterfell, they happened on a dead direwolf female, having died in a fight with a stag that didn't survive the fight either. The wolf left behind 5 cubs. It was Jon Snow who proclaimed that there were 5 Stark children, and that there were five puppies, and being the conservative, Eddard took it as a sign and adopted the puppies for his children, of course faith would have it that there was a 6th straggler, an albino, lurkiung close by on it's own, and so even the bastard got a pet monster that day. Not two months later, Eddard Stark was found dead, sword in hand. On a regular patrol through his domain, he and his small escort had been attacked by a larger force, several witnesses had seen it. They were believed to be Wildlings from beyond the wall. A theory supported by several villages having been sacked with no survivors prior to the murder. Ice, the ancestral greatsword of house Stark along with the Crown of the North were both granted to Robb who was crowned King of the North, nicknamed the Young Wolf. Ser Rodrik Cassel is the hand of the King, an old battlehardened northerner, though quite frankly it's a known fact amongst the members of the small council that he was mostly named hand of the king because Eddard didn't know who else to bestow the title upon. Previously, Rodric was the master at arms in Winterfell, and it seems he would rather go back to that, though his nephew Ser Jory Cassel now holds that title.

