Two hundred years ago, in the shadow of the mountain at the center of the world, your ancestors fought a great war against the dragons.
Your ancestors lost.
The dragons ate every warrior who marched against them. They ate every magician who supported the warriors. Then they ate everyone else.
The only survivors were those who had remained in the south, outside the land called Dragon Pass. For two hundred years, Dragon Pass was nothing to you but a death sentence, a haunted boneyard, an enemy camp.
But civil war in your ancestral lands forced your clan to find a new home. A few heroes dared to explore the forbidden land to the north. That these heroes returned at all was amazing. That they returned to tell you that the dragons are gone and that Dragon Pass is nearly empty, open for the taking — this is a gift from the gods.
Your clan is part of the second wave of resettlement of Dragon Pass. You number some eight or nine hundred souls: mostly farmers and children, some warriors, a few nobles and magicians and god-talkers. You seized land not far from the holy mountain called Kero Fin, the mountain that gave birth to your chief god, the god of Storm named Eunae.
You are not the only clan that came north. As many as twenty other clans or splinters of clans separated themselves from kinfolk and carved homes in this new frontier. Like you, they are Eunaen. Your relations with these clans, for good or for war, determine whether your clan starts up a path of glory or drifts forgotten with the spirits who haunt this ancient land.
Who will be the one to rise above the rest, start a tribe, and unite the peoples of Dragon Pass under one king?
King of Dragon Pass is a strategy/role playing game made by A Sharp, released in 1999 on DOS. It’s one of my favourite games of all time and I highly recommend you play it through GoG or any mobile device app store if you like strategy games with random events.
Anyways, I’d like to run a game similar to KoDP here on the forums. The game will run much like a game of KoDP would. You select actions for your tribe and random things happen that you have to deal with. Eventually, the goal is for one of the players to prove themselves worthy of becoming the king of Dragon Pass. I’m looking for four players for this venture.
Lore and InfoKing of Dragon Pass is a fantasy setting that takes place in a time of tribes, cattle raids, and religious sacrifice. In order to keep the game challenging, I’ve elected to replace the pantheon with my own, but keep many of the customs the same. On that note, I give you the altered introduction to the game:
There once was a time when gods and people walked the earth together. Your clan traces its ancestry back to those times. Your clan history begins when you joined the forces of the storm god Eunae. Back then, Eunae was simply one of many upstart, rebellious gods bent upon conquest of the world. Eunae's unique contributions at that time were personal honor and a close kinship to the other deities who seemed to be on the winning side.
After many tribulations, adventures and discoveries Eunae proved himself worthy of marrying Aet, the Earth Mother. The two of them created the Marriage Ring and established great harmony in the world through this sacred bonding. Our clan took part in the wedding ceremony. Most clans either whooped with Eunae or learned a secret from Aet. A few clans stood with Begnar, God of War and the Hunt, as an honour guard.
Eunae's struggle to remake the world was just beginning, and many other gods joined him in it. Orlanth undertook many wars of conquest. Other more peaceful deeds were just as important.
Eunae succeeded in remaking the world, and thus began the golden era called the Storm Age. Eunae's son, Vingkot was a famous warlord during this time. Most of the people in the area were among his followers. Many people who would not have survived joined his tribes. He was a great organizer and helped the many scattered people form into new clans and tribes. Your clan was one of those aided by King Vingkot. After you proved yourself robust and capable of survival, Vingkot placed a remnant people under your protection. They were the Nalda Bin, or "Stick Farmers." You had a choice whether to make them into thralls (slaves) or adopt them as members of your clan.
The foes of the Vingkotlings were many, and our people fought hard against them.
The Storm Age ended in disaster when the gods and creatures of Chaos came and destroyed nearly everything. Eunae and his allies fought hard against them, but Chaos almost always won. Catastrophes shook the world, such as the Sun Fall, the Rain of Blood, and the terrible Laughing Tsunami. In this era many gods died, and many new ones rose to prominence. The Darkness got so bad that even Eunae and his companions had to abandon humans to their own destiny. Only a few deities, either small or weak ones, remained at all. The world stagnated and died. Our clan was diminished to a ragged handful of hardy survivors.
Heort the King was the leader who emerged amid the turmoil of the Darkness. The combined efforts of Heort and his companions helped set the world in order again. He created the laws that we follow to this day. One of the great distinctions which Heort discerned among his clans was that some of them tended towards either peace or war, while others maintained a balance between these two principles.
Finally, the sun rose again. While the rest of society worked to find food, or just otherwise survive, the First Priests worked to re-establish links with the ancient deities. Thanks to this new harmony between people and deities, the world was slowly improved. Once the awakening process had begun, it got easier and went quicker as the gods helped wake each other up.
Things have been different since the Dawn, thirteen hundred years ago. Orlanth and the other gods retreated from the world, leaving it to mortals. We can still contact the gods through ritual and sacrifice, or enter their realm by re-enacting the great stories about their deeds, which contain great magic. But they no longer walk beside us. When we settled in a new place we marked this great change in the world by naming our land, not after a god, but after a mortal like ourselves. We named it Heortland, in honor of the king who taught us how to survive during the Darkness.
About six hundred years ago, a dragon approached us, in either its own form or that of a human with a dragon's soul inside it. The dragons had always been hostile, or at the very best, utterly uncaring. Orlanth has always been the dragon-slayer. After an appropriate debate, we had to choose whether to believe the dragon, to cooperate and learn what dragons know, or to refuse the dragon and maintain neutrality, or to actively oppose the dragon's plans.
Most of the people who said "Yes" to the dragons moved to Dragon Pass, a land to the north of our home, Heortland. We stayed in Heortland, and it was a good thing, too, for a little over two hundred years ago, the dragons rose up and ate everyone who lived in Dragon pass. They ate the Orlanthi along with all the other foolish human dragonfriends. For a long time, no humans went to Dragon Pass; everyone was sure the dragons would eat them, too.
Recent events in Heortland made us think twice about the abandoned land of Dragon Pass. A generation ago, an usurper who called himself the Pharaoh came to Heortland and started a civil war. Our clan was one which broke into disputes, sometimes violent, about whether to support the Pharaoh or not. In the end, our group of dissidents decided it would be better to risk the dangers of Dragon Pass than to stay and kill our own kin, which is the greatest sin an Eunaen can commit. The dissidents unable to live under the Pharaoh would come northward to Dragon Pass. People of similar beliefs from other clans had already made the same decision, and settled lands there.
Our new clan made the dangerous trek to Dragon Pass and selected a place to live. Like the other Eunaen refugees from Heortland, we settled in Quiviniland, a mountainous area in the southeastern quadrent of Dragon Pass. We would call these lands our home, or tula. Tradition required that we make a formal land claim.
That’s the history of your people. At generation, you’ll be allowed to make several decisions concerning the history of your clan. That’ll be covered in the
Gameplay section. Here’s the altered pantheon of the game:
The Five and Five
The Old Gods
Eunae, the Scion: God of storms, skill, and knowledge. Takes the form of an aged man holding a scroll.
Aet, the Earth Mother: Goddess of earth, family, and agriculture. Takes the form of a pregnant woman holding a sickle.
Begnar, the Reaver: God of spears, war, and the hunt. Takes the form of an aged warrior, clad in blood red leather and holding an iron spear.
Misra, the Cow Mother: Goddess of cattle and wisdom. Takes the form of a strong old woman holding a shepherd’s staff.
Wisp, the Trickster: Goddess of night, death, and trickery. Takes the form of a woman with talons for hands and black eyes.
The Young Gods
Morgane, the Healer: God of the day, life, and honesty. Takes the form of a severely burnt man in white robes.
Baxter, the Glib: God of laughter, travel, and trade. Takes the form of a handsome young lad wearing a blue cloak.
Hourlaw, the Judge: God of blood, law, and revenge. Takes the form of a man with an ox’s head, wearing black furs and carrying a stone hammer.
Bade, the Relentless: God who fights against Chaos. Takes the form of a giant dark skinned warrior wielding two swords.
Pixius, the Brave One: Goddess of the bow, heroics, and adventure. Takes the form of a lean young woman in brown furs holding a bow.
Minor Gods
The Good Drake: Minor god of valuables and monsters. A drake that protects the five and five’s treasures.
The Chained Minotaur: Minor god of protection and oxen. A minotaur that guards the Gates of Unmaking.
The Trout: Minor god of agility and fish. A trout that swims the various rivers of the world, taunting fishermen.
Magm, the Horse: Minor god of speed and horses. A horse that travels the lands, delivering messages.
The Boar: Minor god of the wild and wildlife.
Ysus, the Coo Bird: Minor god of celebration and birds.
Ancestors: Not gods, but great men and women of your ancestry.
And finally, I give you the myths of Eunae. Eunaens sometimes venture into the realm of the gods to reenact these myths, so as to gain the god’s favour. Note that these are not complete, as it is part of the game to rediscover these myths through sacrifice.
Making of the Storm Tribe: Eunae forges a tribe to fulfill his destiny. He must overcome various trials, and settle disputes in order to create the Storm Tribe.
Eunae Lifts the Curse: Eunae is cursed by other gods and loses his knowledge. He must embark on an epic quest to rekindle the fire in his mind.
Aet Keeps the Secret: Aet is told a great secret by Adiron, and she must keep it from her allies and even her husband until Adiron returns.
Misra and the Minotaur: Misra is taunted by her son, the Minotaur, who had always rebelled against her. She defeats the Minotaur in a series of contests, binding him to her service.
Begnar Challenges Eunae: Begnar is unsatisfied with his lot and challenges Eunae to a duel. They fight for days, and Eunae is defeated. Begnar takes his place as King of the Storm Tribe. Soon, though, he learns the difficulty of being a king, and lets Eunae reclaim the throne.
Wisp and Morgane: Wisp, jealous of the Young Gods, tricks Morgane and burns his flesh with unholy magic. Morgane lives, but is permanently scarred. Eunae punishes Wisp, giving her over to the Chaos God Mveunin. Wisp returns, a twisted shell, old and deformed.
The Frowning God: Baxter uses his glib and skill of trade to make the Frowning God smile for the first time, and even laugh.
Hourlaw Seeks Revenge: Hourlaw, a young but stern god of law seeks revenge for his dead daughter. He kills the Chaos God Sark, but is forever transformed by the experience.
Pixius and the Small Gods: Pixius roams the land, challenging the minor gods to various contests to prove herself worthy of a place among the Storm Tribe.
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff you need to know... Just ask and I'll be glad to add to the lore.
GameplayEach
turn lasts one
season. A player will submit a series of
actions during each turn. You can either submit two
major actions, three
minor actions, or one major and one minor action. Here’s an exclusive list of actions you may take:
Actions[m]Reorganize the Ring: Replace members of the ring. I want a young female thane of Hourlaw to replace X./ I want three females and three males, each of a different god.
[M]Have a Feast: Cheer up your people and impress your neighbors by holding a feast. Have a grand feast and invite all our neighbors!/ Have a small feast for the ring.[spoiler]
[m]Give Gifts: Try to improve the mood of the different classes. Give 30 cows worth of good to everyone./ Give 50 goods, mostly iron, to the weaponthanes.
[m]Recruit Farmers: Attract new farmers from various places with promises of land, cattle, sheep, goods, or anything else you would offer. Adopt farmers from Heortland with promises of silver./ Recruit wanderers and vagabonds into the clan as farmers with promises of land and cattle./ Recruit cottars from our tribe with promises of sheep.
[m]Recruit/Dismiss Weaponthanes: Increase or decrease the amount of weaponthanes in your clan. Do note that weaponthanes eat twice as much food as carls, need a horse, need one cow worth of goods annually, and three cows worth of goods at recruitment . Recruit 6 more weaponthanes from promising carls, and offer them one cow worth of goods as incentive./ Recruit 10 more weaponthanes from outside the clan./ Dismiss three weaponthanes, and give them parting gifts worth one cow apiece.
[m]Increase/Decrease Crafters: Crafters are farmers that make goods which are traded with other clans, and they often make a profit. If you explore your tula (your territory) the explorers will sometimes find valuable crafting material. Make 5 farmers into crafters, set them to make simple items./ Make 2 crafters and make them work on iron items.
[m]Increase/Decrease Hunters: Hunters get food, explore your tula, warn against invaders and fight in the fyrd (the militia) as bowmen, and provide some goods. Turn 20 hunters into farmers.
[m]Free Thralls: Children born from thralls are born free, so you can only gain thralls through conquest (or some events). You may choose to free your thralls. Free all my thralls./ Let 5 thralls choose to stay as cottars or leave the tula.
[m]Balance Cropland/Pasture/Wildlands: Your tula is divided into these three types of land. Cropland is used for wheat, barley, and rye. Too much cropland means overworked farmers, too little means less food. Pasture is land reserved for sheep, cattle, and horses. Too many pastures means slow conversion back into wildlands, and higher risk of cattle raids succeeding against you. Finally, wildlands are for hunters and pigs. Less wildlands means less pigs and less fruitful hunting. I want to convert enough wildlands into croplands to put all my farmers to work./ I want to turn 20 pastures into wildlands.
[m]Slaughter Animals: If you need food quick, you must slaughter some of your animals. 5 sheep= 3 pigs= 1 cow= 1 horse= 1 food. Slaughter 200 of my pigs and 10 of my cattle.
[m]Balance Crops: You may balance the percentages of wheat, barley, and rye you grow. Wheat is riskier, but higher yield and a good trade commodity. Barley is dependable, a fine source of food, and is made into beer. Rye is the most dependable, but its yield is lower than the others and isn’t as tasty.
[M]Send Emissary with the goal of…
Call on Favour: If a clan owes you a favour, you can call on them to give you cattle, food, information, magic, goods, or anything else within reason. I want the Jeredings to give more than the customary amount of cattle. I want to call upon the Blue Jays to give me information on the myth Making of the Storm Tribe.
Demand Tribute: If the target clan is markedly weaker than you, or you’re feeling ballsy, you can demand tribute from them. I want the Brown Boars to pay me 50 cows every year./ I demand 30 cows worth of goods from the Anzarni every season.
Propose Alliance: If you are good friends with the target clan, there’s a good chance they’ll declare an alliance with you. I wish to propose an alliance with the Hillhavens, with promises of lucrative trade.
Resolve Feud: Depending on how badly they’re losing or winning, an opposing clan may call a truce. I wish to end the feud with the Boskovi.
Note that you may choose the leader of the diplomatic party, the composition of the guards (in thanes and footmen), what gifts they’re bringing, and what treasures the diplomat wields or carries.
[M]Send merchant with the goal of…
Establish a Route: If you want to trade regularly with a tribe, you must formally declare a trade route. I want to start a trade route with the Eagles.
Buy/Sell: You may sell any number of things to the target tribe, with the goal of gaining something else. I want to send Ansive to the Arnoring clan with intent to sell food and goods for cattle and horses.
Note that you may choose the leader of the caravan, the size of the caravan, the amount of guards (in thanes and footmen), and what treasures the trader wields or carries.
[m]Increase/Decrease Patrols: Dictate how many weaponthanes you want patrolling the inner and outer areas of your tula. I want 6 thanes on inner patrols and 8 on outer.
[M]Build Fortifications: Construct defenses for your tula. That includes anything from a ditch to a stone wall. I’d like to build two watchtowers, one on the north side and one on the south, to watch for Jereding and Brown Boar attacks./ I want a spiked pit to be dug in the mountain pass leading to the Orladnast tula.
[M]Cattle Raid: Send a few of your thanes and footmen to sneak into a nearby tula and steal some cattle. The more you send, the more you get, but there’s a higher chance of detection. Note that in this society, a cattle raid is not seen as a hostile action, but more of a test to see if one clan is worthy of having many cattle. I want to send four weaponthanes and eight footmen to the Osgosi tula for a cattle raid.
[M]Raid: Send a large force to attack enemy clans. You usually raid to plunder, but you can also raid with the goal to capture captives, destroy buildings, or just kill as many as you can. You can also call on allies or on favours to aid you in battle. I send 20 weaponthanes, 140 footmen, and 20 auxiliaries to raid the Blue Jays, with the intent to seize their land.
[M]Sacrifice to a God: You may sacrifice to any god for any number of things. I sacrifice ten cattle to Eunae to learn the secrets of his myths./ I sacrifice 30 goods to Wisp so that she may curse the Squat Oaks./ 5 thralls to Aet for a better harvest.
[M]Build/Expand Temples: Bulding a temple to a god is a sign of great respect. You can decide how much to spend on the temple construction and what kind of blessing you wish for it to bestow. The tiers are 10/50/100 goods for each level of temple. Each level supports one blessing. Also note that temples have a maintenance cost of 4 goods/1 cow/5 sheep at level one, 10/3/10 at level two, and 20/7/20 at level three. I want to build a temple to Eunae, with the goal of receiving a blessing of knowledge upon our nobles./ I wish to expand my temple to Wisp for a blessing of subtlety to my cattle raids.
[M]Heroquest: If you know enough about a certain myth, you may send a thane into the realm of the gods to reenact the myth. The reward you get for this depends on the type of heroquest. Be warned, horoquests are often dangerous, but the rewards are great! I want Roard to embark of the Begnar Challenges Eunae heroquest./ I want my strongest adherent to Pixius to embark on the Pixius and the Small Gods heroquest.
[M]Explore: end a party to explore the lands of Dragon Pass. Exploring your tula is beneficial and safe, while exploring the far reaches is very dangerous, but might hold something fantastic. I send my most agile warrior to explore my tula, along with seven weaponthanes and ten footmen./ I want Baknam to explore the nearby mountains with three weaponthanes and seven footmen.
[0]Query: This takes up no time, you simply as a question of your ring or someone specific. How many weaponthanes should we have?/ Who should we raid?/ Is it time for a heroquest?
[F]Pass: If you really can’t think of anything to do, then you may pass your turn.
[~]Other Actions: You can do whatever else you want, the list isn’t all inclusive. They’re just the options you can select in the actual game. The more creative, the better. Have a clan-wide dance festival to reassure the carls./ Have a tournament to determine the strongest fighter./ Use magic to create a treasure.
After actions are taken, random events occur. These can be
personal events,
clan-wide events, or
global events. Personal events are events that happen to one person, usually someone on your clan ring. Clan-wide events are events that concern the whole clan. Global events concern every clan in Dragon Pass.
SeasonsSea: Planting season. Good time to explore and send missions. Raiding is not advised, as the fyrd is composed of the farmers that are supposed to be sowing crops.
Fire: Great raiding season, the crops can be left to themselves.
Earth: Much like Sea season. Crops must be harvested, so stick to more passive actions.
Dark: The winter is bitter cold, and the snow drifts are strong. A time to rest and listen to the gods.
Storm: An unpredictable season. The snow is melting, but a storm could come at any time. Raiding and exploring are possible, if a bit dangerous.
Sacred Time: Sacred Time is a season that takes place during the last two weeks of the year. It is the time when your clan performs sacred rituals to prepare for the year to come. The most important thing about the Sacred Time is allocation of magic.
MagicYour clan gets a certain amount of magic every year to allocate to the various aspects of life. This is a numerical value. You may save some magic to use later in emergencies. Every year at Sacred Time you allocate your clan magic to the following categories.
Children: Improves the fertility of women. (Aet)
Crops: Improves the yield of all crops. (Aet)
Diplomacy: Aids emissaries you send to other clans. It also helps your traders and nobles maintain the clan’s good name with the other clans of Dragon Pass. (Baxter, Hourlaw)
Health: Speeds the recovery of sick and wounded clan members. (Morgane)
Herds: Increases the fertility of all your herds: sheep, pigs, horses and cattle. (Misra)
Hunting: Increases the yield of your hunters. (Begnar)
Mysteries: Greatly increases the chances of success when you sacrifice to the gods for Mysteries; this bonus decreases each time you sacrifice for Mysteries in a given year. (Eunae)
Quests: Greatly aids the first heroquest you perform in the coming year. Generally not worth spending magic on unless you plan to heroquest, but if you fear that circumstances might force a quest, you might want to play it safe and allocate magic to Quests. (Pixius)
Trade: Helps numerous aspects of trade, including the strength of your clan market and the number of trading partners you can support. (Baxter)
War: This ritual gives your clan luck in every battle you fight during the year. This War magic is not effective unless your warriors go raiding occasionally. (Begnar, Bade)
How much you can allocate per category is determined by your clan type and your ring member’s affiliation.
At the start of the battle you have several choices. You may use magic for aid, sacrifice to gods (mainly Begnar and Eunae), employ treasures, choose your tactics, and choose your objective. Here’s the breakdown:
Allocating Magic: You simply choose how much magic you wish to commit to the battle.
Sacrificing: You may choose to sacrifice to several gods, depending on what you want. Do note that sacrificing takes time, time that your adversary might use to strike first.
Employing Treasures: You may use any relic or artifact that’s applicable to the situation.
Choosing Tactics: The four tactics offered in the DOS game are Skirmish (Uses missile weapons to damage the enemy), Maneuver (Try to trick the enemy, thwarted by charge), Charge (Full out attack the enemy without wasting any time), and Evade (Counter a charge). You may use any of these, but I encourage you to be more creative.
Choosing Objective: What you want to accomplish. Some examples include: plunder, kill as many of the enemy as possible, flee, burn down fortifications, take captives, and drive the enemy off.
Battle is composed of two phases, the initial clash and the melee. During the initial clash, the two sides’ tactics are compared. Whoever wins that exchange gets a bonus in the next phase: the melee. During the melee, the strength of the two sides’ magic, forces, and thanes are considered. Whoever wins the melee wins the battle, and gets the loot.
GM: You are raiding the Peluski. Their patrols spotted your forces, and your 23 weaponthanes and 187 footmen are facing 16 weaponthanes and 145 swordsmen.
Player: I spend 3 magic on the battle, and sacrifice to Pixius for heroics. I intend to charge them with superior numbers, with the intent to kill as many as I can.
GM: There was an extended clash. Your forces fell into a trap set by the enemy, but your forces rallied. Their magic was stronger, but your warriors were braver. You drove the Peluski from the battlefield, chasing down the cowards. You captured 14 cows and 8 horses, along with 10 cows worth of loot.
Your auxiliaries kept 6 men from dying, and bandaged up 14 others. No weaponthanes were killed or injured, while 4 of the fyrd died and 9 were injured. The Peluski lost 7 weaponthanes and 20 of their footmen.
Clan Name:
Clan Specialty/Quirk: What makes your tribe special? Do you raise fierce hunting alynxes? Do you favour pigs over cattle? Do you have any special traditions?
Clan History: (Refer to the introduction spoiler)
What did your clan do at Eunae’s marriage ceremony?
1.Our men and women donned gleaming armour and stood guard with Begnar to protect the celebrants from Eunae's many enemies.
2.Our men whooped with Eunae and drank the Eight Known Drinks, so that their heads would hurt during the ceremony.
3.Our women withdrew with Aet and learned a List of Names, which they promised not to repeat to the men.
Our earliest Famous Event was: Something distinctive about your clan’s history, an invention, a great hunt, a battle.
When Eudae places the wayward family under our protection we:
1. Took them in a adopted family.
2. Made them into thralls.
Who was your clans most hated foe? An enemy, human or not, that your people despise. Could be a troll warlord, and elf chieftain, a king from another culture.
After Heort unified the peoples of the land, you became a:
1. War Tribe
2. Balanced Tribe
3. Peace Tribe
Who was the first god your clan helped awaken? Choose any one of the major gods, or your ancestors.
When the dragons came, how did you react?
1. With overt hostility.
2. With neutrality.
3. We dealt with the dragons peacefully.
Where did you settle?
1. As Close as we could to Kero Fin, to be closer to that holy place.
2. Near the Quivin Mountains. There's sure to be some kind of valuable metal within...
3. Next to a river, so that our crops would flourish.
4. Close to a friend, so that we may trade.
5. Close to an enemy, so that we may raid.
6. Wherever land was available.
How much land did you mark when you got to Dragon Pass?
1. Enough land for our people and herds, no more.
2. More land than we needed, to grow into.
3. Lots more than we would probably need.
4. Huge tracts, far more than we needed.
As the four of you will be competing, I don't think it'd be very logical to let you see each other's clan stats. As such, I'll be giving you each a google doc link that'll be updated with the turns. As an extension of the privacy, you'll be sending any action involving subterfuge or hostile actions towards your opponents through PM (if you wish). Also, all information and actions related to Heroquests will be sent through PM as well.
