Yeah I did and you guys wouldn't let me kill everyone. Even the Emperor was opposed to me sacrificing everyone to Shargash. Nice suit though.
> I was at the first Moonson LARP and it wasn't at all known to me
> that that the Emperor was chosen in the LARP ... Perhaps now that
> the LARP has been played a few times, everyone knows the score,
> but I certainly didn't at the time. I didn't even know we could
> launch a coup until I tried it. No-one had advanced knowledge of
> what was going to happen or was possible until it happened.
>Acutus' character sheet states:
>SECRETS
> * The Mother's Guard sold the Empire to the highest bidder during
> the Wars of the Proxies.
Yep, remember that.
> * To take the City of Glamour in a coup, it is necessary to hold
> the Citadel of Halfway, the Senate House, the Temple of Truth,
> the Imperial Treasury and the Gate of Four Beasts.
Yep, remember that.
>GOALS
> * If the opportunity arises, sell the Empire to the highest bidder.
> Through the Wars of the Proxies, the Mother's Guard was unshake-
> ably loyal to the True Emperor. While others followed proxies and
> pretenders, the Mother's Guard chose the rightful Emperor and
> stuck by him. The Prefect and men would always know him as the
> true Moonson recognised their loyalty by generous donatives of
> Imperials. The claimant who paid the most was without a doubt the
> true emperor!
And that.
>I guess this proves what I said earlier today re: clarity of writing. No
>matter how obvious you think you've made something, some people will always
>fail to see what you're getting at.
Yes. I read all three points, naturally enough. I concluded that:
a). The Mothers Guard would sell their loyalty. b). That a coup might happen and as a guardsman I knew of ways to interdict it c). That I could get rich quickly from a potential coup as long as I chosethe right side.
What I didn't know was the _I_ could launch the coup _myself_ to put _me_ on the throne. To me, the info you provided seemed to indicate that someone with a claim to the throne might do it, not someone who had no legitimate claim.
I remember Phillip of Burgundyy words In Blackadder one:
"I go now to claim the throne that _isn't_ mine by right!"
This info also didn't tell me explicitly nor even with imlication that the Mothers Guard were loyal to _me_ and would follow me in a coup. On the contrary, the info provided gave me the impression that they were loyal to the Emperor or whoever paid them the most, which wasn't going to be me as I had no money.
Which is how I felt when I launched the coup, but I figured, what the hell, it might start a war which would be amusing at least and feed Shargash.
>(Though it's possible that this gap in
>Martin's knowledge was exacerbated by his not talking to other players
>enough, etc.
I talked to everyone on my list, all day. I tried to organise a coup. I had no real power. I was also strongly discouraged from launching the coup on the grounds that I had no "mandate" from the moon.
>Some people just don't enjoy freeforms very much, and it's always a pity to
>discover this).
I enjoy them fine, as long as they
I liked Moonson but felt very limited in what I could do as Acutus. I had no really strong allies and if I joined a faction it would be as a follower rather than a leader. I tried to create my own faction but had no power backing as there were many "natural" factions with powers already built in. For example there was no Dara Happan faction which I could have joined nor were there many rabid Dara Happans to form into a faction. In fact, I felt that parochialism was of low importance to most characters. The LARP presentation of the Empire seemed to show very few centrifugal forces but I was not everywhere at once so it probably did, I just didn't see it.
I did enjoy Malan more, simply because I got to do more, but everyone is different and tastes vary.
>I don't think LoM would have been as enjoyable if *everyone* had started the
>game knowing that Moonson would die and need to be brought back during its
>course (and indeed knowing the game mechanics underlying this situation),
Though almost everyone at later cons knew this. I agree though with the initial suprise and the problem of giving away too many game mechanics.
>which is why very few characters knew that this was possible or likely to
>occur as the game began. Acutus was in fact one of the better-informed
>players in this regard.
Fair enough. My point is that I was informed but my information led me to think in one direction, rather than considering the throne for myself. I would contend that due to the way the character is written it never occured to the writers that Acutus might end up as Emperor. He is written as one of the supporting cast, not the lead. He didn't get a mandate from the moon or other indications that this was not so.
Martin Laurie
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