Oh heck, a bunch of comments all in one, mostly because I've been really busy with work and guests. Sigh.
At 12:43 AM +0100 7/1/02, Tim Ellis wrote:
>Just a few thoughts arising from a question as to the competence or
otherwise of some of the Clan ring posited for the Stormsteads ring.
I tried to made clear in my post that started (well, developed) this thread that I thought it was OK for the the two "less experienced" Ring members to be there, but it might be a good idea to explain why. Maybe one of them was put forward by a bloodline; maybe there aren't that many people who can fill the role; maybe more qualified candidates refused -- this is good material. If the player characters have an "inexperienced" Ring member as a patron or ally, there are a lot of good hooks for adventures -- the characters have to succeed in a mission or cost their patron his/her position, the characters are hampered by followers of a more experience but less-well connected would-be Ring member, etc. PCs with something to prove and a lot to lose are fun, after all....
>The ring serves the Clan as a whole, and anyone (providing they can
>round up sufficient support) can ask that a ring member stand down and
>be replaced (Another situation that KoDP players will doubtless be all
>to familiar with!).
>--
As a couple of people have pointed out, this may be too democratic. I think the Ring positions are filled by the Chief, probably with significant input from the Rings, but it's the Chief's choice. In the end, the clan probably has no real tool besides booting a Chief who makes unpopular appointments -- "replace X as Ernalda, or we'll replace you...."
T.M. Ellis also says:
>We always thought there would (or at least could) be one Ring member
>from Swenstead - what >happened, of course is that John and I each
>went away and worked on half the ring, and each came >up with a
>"local" ring member.
OK, and this can be changed in anyone's game (as you point out), but it seems odd for a new, "generic" stead. Still, not a big deal.
>As we'd decided on a ring containing the 4 providers, it seemed
>logical to me that the fishing representative should be local, given
>our siting and ancestral link to the white rapids daimone. In the
>meantime the questionaire threw up a helerite shrine, and John wrote
>up a ring member tied with that. We adopted the Ernaldan approach
>(There is always another way) and adapted the descriptions to allow
>both to stay rather than making them fight it out for supremacy
>(violence is always an option).
Fair enough. Although I thought that Swen was not all that long ago -- several generations, obviously, but not "ancient history" for the clan. Was his taming of the daimon the start of fishing as a major Provider for the clan, or was there a previous fishing connection?
Charles Corrigan discusses ratings and fame. I had once suggested something similar, along the lines of:
Masteries Likely to be Known within: 1 Bloodline, Stead, Town 2 Clan, City, Small Cult 3 Tribe, Small Kingdom, Province, Big Cult 4 Kingdom, Culture 5 World (or as close as makes no difference)
It's worth noting that fame can be affected by the character's attitude (the local hermit might have 10w3 in prophecy, but not be known outside of the stead he lives near, or a Boastful 10w2 guy might be known through the clan as a tough guy, even though his Close Combat, say, is only 5w. Of course, he may soon be known as a blw hard, but that's the price of fame.....
Peter Larsen
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