Houses of the Empire
- Thread starter Hoyce
- Start date
Jovunn
Adept
I am incapable of liking this enough. ::mashes like button::
Two questions:
1. For those of us whose characters may presently or formerly possess ties to a house by means of occupation (i.e. "I am/was a soldier" or "I fish reel good"), do we need to clear that association with plot?
2. Would a PC be more likely to belong to the major patron houses proper, or the minor houses? I wasn't quite sure how the distinction worked based on reading the packet.
Thank you! This is so exciting!
Two questions:
1. For those of us whose characters may presently or formerly possess ties to a house by means of occupation (i.e. "I am/was a soldier" or "I fish reel good"), do we need to clear that association with plot?
2. Would a PC be more likely to belong to the major patron houses proper, or the minor houses? I wasn't quite sure how the distinction worked based on reading the packet.
Thank you! This is so exciting!
Hoyce
Artisan
First of all, thanks for the kind words!
1. There are a few things to keep in mind here. The first is that nearly all houses have uses for people of all occupations. House Heinlein, the house of healiers, has people who are warriors, people who fish (since their seat is a port town) people who farm, etc. So you can be a fisherman without being connected to House Anglen (the Fisherman house) or a farmer without being connected to House Verger. The Houses have industries under their authority which means they are the ones who deal with the sale and export of such things and get paid on all the commerce to that industry. It’s a little confusing and complex, but the gist is you can more or less have whatever craft/occupation/skillset you want and be assured that the house you want to be part of will have a use for you. The house is more the team you played for regardless of your skills. The second thing to keep in mind is that each house divides up the jobs and/or territories amongst their own vassal lords and such, so the High Lord of House Anglen doesn’t directly oversee the day to day of ever fishing boat he’s responsible for, he has lesser lords for that. This is explained a little more in the noble portion of the Player’s Guide (Coming soon!) but in short this means that there are tons of Lords out there answering to any given Highlord or Overlord, so there is room in character histories and future plots for some to be created and/or worked in.
The DL;DR answer summary is: it depends on how high your association went. “I worked as a schlub for house X and answered to some foreman” = You do not need to clear it. “I answered directly to Lord So-and-So” = you may need to clear it, but you’ve got a lot of room, “I answered directly to Highlord/Overlord Namington” = You’d better clear it.
Hope that makes sense.
2. Either is possible, as even Overlords do retain some day to day maintenance of their holdings. But the above axiom of “the higher my connections go, the more likely I need to ask permission” holds. Please also keep in mind that the closest connection your average person in the world has with nobility is a name or, at most, having seen one from afar. They have functionaries to interact with people beneath their station. You can have been working for a lord all your life and never even seen them.
1. There are a few things to keep in mind here. The first is that nearly all houses have uses for people of all occupations. House Heinlein, the house of healiers, has people who are warriors, people who fish (since their seat is a port town) people who farm, etc. So you can be a fisherman without being connected to House Anglen (the Fisherman house) or a farmer without being connected to House Verger. The Houses have industries under their authority which means they are the ones who deal with the sale and export of such things and get paid on all the commerce to that industry. It’s a little confusing and complex, but the gist is you can more or less have whatever craft/occupation/skillset you want and be assured that the house you want to be part of will have a use for you. The house is more the team you played for regardless of your skills. The second thing to keep in mind is that each house divides up the jobs and/or territories amongst their own vassal lords and such, so the High Lord of House Anglen doesn’t directly oversee the day to day of ever fishing boat he’s responsible for, he has lesser lords for that. This is explained a little more in the noble portion of the Player’s Guide (Coming soon!) but in short this means that there are tons of Lords out there answering to any given Highlord or Overlord, so there is room in character histories and future plots for some to be created and/or worked in.
The DL;DR answer summary is: it depends on how high your association went. “I worked as a schlub for house X and answered to some foreman” = You do not need to clear it. “I answered directly to Lord So-and-So” = you may need to clear it, but you’ve got a lot of room, “I answered directly to Highlord/Overlord Namington” = You’d better clear it.
Hope that makes sense.
2. Either is possible, as even Overlords do retain some day to day maintenance of their holdings. But the above axiom of “the higher my connections go, the more likely I need to ask permission” holds. Please also keep in mind that the closest connection your average person in the world has with nobility is a name or, at most, having seen one from afar. They have functionaries to interact with people beneath their station. You can have been working for a lord all your life and never even seen them.