WickedThought

A tyrant of a game. A demon of a game. A ruthless bastard that demands blood. You must slit your wrist and give it what it wants. Demanding sacrifice every time you open the box.

Diplomacy is a game you should never play with your friends. It requires a level of mistrust most people are uncomfortable with, calling for degrees of betrayal any sane person would find reprehensible.

A game every serious gamer should play at least once. At least. Because this is where grown-ups play.

There is a curse on the game. I’m serious about this. No hyperbole, no exaggeration. No metaphor to illustrate my point. I mean, there is a real curse on the game. It destroys friendships. Wrecks marriages. Disrupts offices who decide to play it “on the side.”

You cannot play Diplomacy “on the side.” It consumes your every waking moment. Pushes you beyond your ethical and moral limits.

You must win.
You must win.
YOU MUST WIN!!!

Because of all this, I refuse to play Diplomacy with my friends. I love my friends and despite what I would like to believe, I know The Curse is stronger than any friendship. Stronger than any manmade bond. It laughs at my hubris and shows me, with ruthless precision, how wrong I am.

I will not play Diplomacy with my friends.

Now… as to how all this relates to Houses of the Blooded…

I think games like Vampire, L5R, and Houses fall under the shadow of the Curse. Because the games require a level of mistrust, most gamers just aren’t comfortable with that. Gamers already have an inbred quality of insecurity (no matter how small), and games like these pick at that. They find it like a chigger find the soft part of your skin and it just starts digging. And it won’t stop until it finds blood.

So, as a player, I must warn you. Houses is a game that feeds on your insecurity and mistrust. You may not be comfortable with that. You may not have the Courage to face it.

You have been warned.

The first half of a loooooooooooooong discussion with Sam Chupp on lots of different stuff including Cat, D&D, narrative control and Houses of the Blooded.

Check it out!

Nothing annoys me more than game designers hammering words into their game. You know. The guys who use “Viritlity” instead of Strength. Who use “Adroitness” instead of “Dexterity.”

It ain’t Verdure, it’s Strength. It ain’t Circumspection, it’s Wisdom. It ain’t Luminosity, it’s Intelligence.

Now, I took some liberties with 7th Sea, but I felt “Brawn,” “Wits,” and “Panache” were pretty good fits for a swashbuckling world. You read ’em, you know exactly what they are.

Nobody knows what “verdure” is except that asshole over there masturbating with his thesaurus.

Meanwhile, I’m over here with Houses of the Blooded trying to find a different word for “success.” Trying to find a different word while I stay away from the crazy man in the corner.

See, in Houses, you don’t ever “succeed” at a roll. Well, I mean, if you roll 10 or higher, you “succeed.” You succeed in that you get to say whether your character succeeded or not. If you “fail,” (roll nine or less) the GM says whether your character succeeds or fails.

So, calling this “success” and “failure” is not only wrong, it’s misleading. I needed a new term for it.

Going through my edits for the Risks chapter, I came across a word that fit exactly what I needed. Now, the Risks chapter says this:

“If the sum of your roll is equal to or greater than ten, you have Privilege. You determine if your character succeeds or fails.
If the sum of your roll is less than ten, the GM has Privilege. He determines if your character succeeds or fails.”

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

Ven scholars know how a noble gains title. He takes it. But what does it mean to be a count or a baron or an earl?

If a ven demonstrates he is able to maintain a large enough amount of land—a barony—he may appeal to a higher lord for the right of title. He appeals to a Baron—one who has demonstrated he can maintain land—and asks for the right to be knighted. To carry the title. If the Baron feels the ven’s request is fair, he bestows the title of Knight upon the ven, granting him rank and privilege.

A Knight must then go out into Shanri and conquer land in the name of his liege. By conquering land, the Knight forces others to swear fealty to his own name, or he may win the favor of other knights through less violent means.

Eventually, a Knight has vassals of his own: those who have sworn fealty to him out of respect, love or fear. When a Knight has these followers, he brings them before the Senate and declares himself a Baron, offering his fealty to any Count who may take it. (A Baron may have a specific liege in mind, but the ceremony of announcement is a ritual that should not be disregarded.)

If the noble claim of Baron is not accepted by any Count, the Knight remains a Knight. The Senate rejects his claim of Baron.

Likewise, when a Baron has enough Vassals who have sworn fealty to his name, he may go before the Senate and make the claim of Count. And a Count make the claim of Marquis. And the Marquis make the claim of Duke.

You can find the rules for noble progression—how a Baron can become a Count, a Count become a Marquis, etc.—in the Seasons chapter.

Bold Lords

The Ceremony of Progression—that’s when a noble comes before the Senate and declares his title—is a time-honored tradition. Not something to be taken lightly. But when a noble comes before the Senate and no other noble accepts his claim, he is expected to accept his rejection quietly. With dignity.

But there is another tradition. When no noble comes forward to claim the ven as his own, some nobles simply claim the title. Take it by throat and make it theirs.

The ven must admit a grudging respect for such nobles who do so. Daring. Unafraid. Bold.

The term q’valrux means “bold nobility.” Those who come before the Senate and claim their title regardless of what others may think or say. A kind of announcement: “This is mine, and if you disagree, try taking it from me.”

Of course, a q’valrux has no higher liege to protect him. If some other noble comes to mess with a bold Baron, he cannot call for help from his Count. He has no Count to call upon. Those who make the bold claim must have the Strength to do so. Cunning to do so. Have the Courage to do so.