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Political system and council agendas


Wits

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The set of stories I’d like to GM next will begin with a council meeting of our covenant. I decided to use the official debate rules for the session, and expand on them slightly for our purposes. Read below for the first draft of the system. Suggestions and improvements are welcome.

 

Every council meeting has an agenda that details the issues that the covenant’s magi have submitted and that the Pharaoh (Antonius) has accepted. Agenda items are submitted either as Announcements, which are just presented and not decided on, or as Ordinary Issues.

 

Ordinary issues are automatically passed and binding if no one present in the council announces otherwise. Before an Ordinary Issue is passed, however, any member may announce its promotion into an Issue of Consequence. This is then passed or rescinded by a majority of votes. Furthermore, the Pharaoh may at will promote into an Issue of Significance any issue that is related to the covenant's political system, safety, or resources. Issues of Significance are decided by a majority of members rather than votes.

 

Votes (relevant for Issues of Consequence) are allotted in the following manner:

 

1 Vote: Junior Magi

2 Votes: Senior Magi and Journeymen

3 Votes: Elders and Covenant Archmages

5 Votes: Pharaoh

 

If someone requests an issue for promotion, a debate ensues.

 

The debate always has two sides, pro and contra. Before the debate, everyone in the council room may declare that they wish to argue for one of the sides. Alternatively, they may remain in the audience. If no one steps up to argue one side of a promoted issue, the side with debaters automatically wins.

 

Those audience members who have votes must declare whether they are initially supportive of the pro or contra side, or whether they are initially indifferent. The initial votes on each side are then summed up (see votes, below). After this, the vote totals are compared against each other. Each debater on the initially losing side must deduct 1/3 of the difference from all their attack and defense totals, rounded down.

 

The debate proceeds according to the following rules:

http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/ArMDynDebate.pdf

http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/DynInteractionTable.pdf

 

Debaters may step down at any time. The debate ends when all debaters on either side have stepped down or are Speechless, or after 5 rounds. If the pro side wins, the issue is passed and binding. If the contra side wins, the issue is rescinded. The rescinded issue may be submitted in a modified form as the final agenda item if someone so wishes. The Pharaoh decides whether it is accepted onto the agenda.

 

At the end of a debate, debaters retain ½, rounded down, of the political fatigue they incurred during the debate as long-term fatigue. They must thus make the appropriate deductions to their rolls if they choose to participate in subsequent debates. They cannot be rendered unconscious in this manner.

 

[Quick version: 1/3 of the initial difference of votes is deducted from each debater’s communication + intrigue, after which the totals are summed up. Each side rolls one d10 for each debater and sums the rolls up. The side with the highest total wins, and all debaters take a level of long-term fatigue.]

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(This is the agenda of the first meeting:)

 

The recipient of this letter is hereby invited, as a Magus of the the City of Ivory and Jade, to the yearly council meeting that is the covenant's supreme governing organ. The meeting shall take place ten diameters post noon on the final day of the hermetic season of Winter in the council chamber of the Temple of Ivory and Jade. Additions to the agenda may be submitted before the meeting or as its final agenda item.

 

The following items have been submitted thus far.

 

Ordinary issues:

 

1) Slaying the remaining magi of the marched Waddenzee covenant and forcefully repossessing their property, including but not limited to their airborne vessel, for the benefit of the City

(Archmagus Karvith)

Responsibility: Junior magi (assault); Senior and older (support); Pharaoh (coordination)

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment; two pawns of vis to assaulting magi for serious mortal peril

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within one season

 

2) A long-term strategy for the suppression of rebellious activities among City populace

(Pharaoh Antonius)

 

2a) Mentem magic: The final solution

(Archmagus Octavianus)

Responsibility: Karvith Torin (procurement), Octavianus (casting); other magi as necessary

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within three seasons

 

2b) The good life: Comfort, luxuries and safety for the docility of the heart

(Archmagus Karvith Torin and Junior magus Dirk Tigurina)

Responsibility: Octavianus (magical); Junior and Senior (practical); Pharaoh (coordination)

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within four seasons

 

2c) Hunt down perpetrators

(Journeyman Pistrello Esposito)

Responsibility: Pistrello Esposito, other magi and grogs as necessary

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the responsible magus

Timeframe: Within two seasons

 

2d) An Aegis of greater worth

(Pharaoh Antonius)

Responsibility: Octavianus; other magi as necessary

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within two seasons

 

2e) Dealing With the Hyperborean Spirit

(Junior magus Dirk Tigurina)

Responsibility: Karvith; other magi as necessary

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within one season

 

2f) Octavianus Dealing With the Hyperborean Spirit

(Archmagus Octavianus)

Responsibility: Octavianus; other magi as necessary

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within one season

 

3) Wizard's Communion for a community of wizards

(Archmagus Octavianus)

Responsibility: Junior Magi

Costs: NA

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: NA

Timeframe: Within six seasons

 

4) Acquiring and constructing the Bracelet of Babel

(Pharaoh Antonius)

Responsibility: Junior and Senior magi

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within six seasons

 

5) A rescue party for Calpurnia

(Senior Magus Baruch)

Responsibility: Junior and Senior magi

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: Responsible magi entitled

Timeframe: Within four seasons

 

6) Taitale’s offer: Sound tractati on philosophiae, teaching, and magic lore in exchange for longevity ritual

(Senior Magus Baruch)

Responsibility: Karvith

Costs: Covered

Reward: On pain of loss of vis allotment

Proceeds: To the covenant

Timeframe: Within six seasons.

 

7) The promotion of Silas to the rank of Senior Magus

(Archmagus Karvith)

 

8) Ramon’s proposal of joining the covenant

(Pharaoh Antonius)

 

Announcements:

 

Introducing an apprentice

(Archmagus Octavianus)

 

A humble request for a truthful account of private affairs of consequence to the covenant

(Archmagus Octavianus)

 

Taitale is available as a boat chauffeur for vis compensation

(Senior Magus Baruch)

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2c) Extinguish the flame of Apollo

 

Sounds like a direkt vote to get lost of Dirk and the High Priest spirit came with him even if he try to channel the Hyperborean religion present to a more covenant friendly way.

 

3) Wizard's Communion for a community of wizards

 

Need a longer timeframe given that we only have one Labnote of this spell and some Junior Mages wasn't introduced into Muto and Vim magic.

If Baruch don't know the spell then its 5 people who need to learn the spell (Aiden is the only sure person who have it) means its at last 5 saisons we would need to learn it not given any complications like a mage don't have enough Vim+Muto to learn a lvl 15 spell from a Labnote.

So the Requirment should be within 8 Saisons.

Beside if I remember right Wizard's Communion only work with Formulatic non Ritual spels but the Aegis is a Ritual.

If we Rule that it works with the Aegis its a great spell as our Penetration of the Aegis go up but if not the spell is next to useless as you need to get 2-3 Mages in one place working together just to have a bit beter penetration in a single Formulatic spell.

 

4) A rescue party for Calpurnia

 

First there two times the 4) so you need either renumber or giva them 4a) and 4b)

Second Calpurina have the Blant Gift so I'm not sure if the junior mages who haved the gauntlet with her ever will vote for her rescue even if it got bether after they learned the Parma Magica.

Third Didn't she say she dont want to be rescued?

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A few clarifications:

 

Wizard's communion does work with ritual spells, or at least doesn't say otherwise, but does state that it's a mercurian remnant. I think the consensus on the forums seems to be it does work on rituals, although there's the usual fighting over interpretation concerning other stuff. I think the whole deal is much clearer than they make it out to be: the main use of the spell is to affect penetration (which is far from useless,btw). Why Octavianus wants you to learn it you don't know, but obviously he expects that people can do it in 4 seasons (he's had another copy of the lab text made). If a magus thinks they can't pull it off (Makara is the only possibility since he's stats aren't up), they should probably ask Octavianus to amend his submission or argue against the issue in council.

 

The system I'm proposing is such that if a vote passes, the person who is mentioned in the issue description is responsible for putting it to force during the mentioned timeframe. If they don't, they lose their vis allotment for the year during which the timeframe ends (unless something else is proposed in the "rewards" section). As such, it doesn't matter if the young magi don't want to rescue Calpurnia if the others force them to. I think Nyaa said he has calpurnia's rescue mission prepared.

 

On a general level, I emphasize that the point of the political system is precisely to resolve conflicts among the magi. It wouldn't make much sense playing it out if there weren't differences of opinion, would it? If Dirk wants to prevent Pistrello from attacking the Apollonians, he can try to argue against him. He can even try to lobby beforehand with the older magi (we can play that out here if you want) so that they are initially opposed to it, granting Dirk a bonus in the debate, or maybe even persuading someone to argue the case with him. [i'll edit the rules to make the votes numbers count more - the modifier is too small right now]

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Ohh and Wits I think you have to pick a different NPC for 2c as a Harmonist would first try other ways bevore even suggest to go to war.

If Pistrello was a Wildernist sure then this would come from him as they see it as Human are spreading to fare and War is the answear to this.

Beside wouldn't the comple Aggenda Point 2 not already happening 1 year earlyer?

Because by now I think that the loyality problems are drastical less unless there was new stirring and then Dirk and the High priest probably would learn about this first.

So personal I think the complet Hyperborean thing should either handled as a sperate adventure where Dirk learn about new problems or we playing the 1216 Voting as in this year was the peak of the rebell movement.

 

Anyway here is the Counter agenda to 2c) By Dirk

2c) Alternative

Fighting a war against our own covefolk for garanted will destroy the loyality of the other covefolk.

So how about we fight the roots of the loayality problems?

One of the loyality probles is mentioned in 2e as a mad Spirit corupted the religious leaders of the quarter.

I already work on the Religious side to calm things down but there undelying problems we should take care of.

Many of the rebels mentioned that they are unhappy of the wretched condition of the buildings and streets so maybe we should put some workforce to at last patch the streets up so childs dont fall to dead with just a wrong step.

Especial if we manage to put the people to work there who are the most rebellious it would remove theyr time for other actions and also make them look bad if they dont give theyr best efford to fix what is the reason of theyr revolt.

Timeframe Start within the next 2 Saisons and making it a ongoing efford to improve the general condition of the streets and buildings.

 

2e)

Improve the Sealing of the cave where the mad spirit of a Hyperborean Priest is locked in who haved strongly influenced on to many famous people of the Hyperborean Quarter.

Best done by a mentem specialist!

Because there seals of Tremere mages there to imprisson the spirit we have to be carfull and simply destroying the place might set this vew hunderd years old spirit free.

Also there texts in the cave might prove usfull for research.

But we absolut need to stop the coruptining influence of the spirit now or any other actions we take might be in void!

Timeframe 1 Saison at most

Be warned the corupting influence have a extrem penetration at the cave that even get fare beyond what we have with our Aegis!

(As player I know it have a penetration of over 40 as this is the resistence the High Spirit have against Mentem Magic)

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