What is RoE (old player perspective)

[X-Roesone/ARR (Robert)]

I'm writing this to give new players an idea about what RoE is, from my experience and perspective, that is.

This game is unlike many BR PBEMS (I've been in more than 30 since 2001) in that you're always facing hard choices, and you're always hating the system (Bjorn in this case hehe) because, the rules and our DM make it so that you feel like a real ruler, always facing more problems than you can deal with and always lacking funds and regency to do it. But this semi-constant state of frustration makes the game so rewarding because the sense of accomplishment, even though the taste is often bittersweet, is great.

For example HA started as a fairly wealthy temple when Daen Wyld invaded Mhoried and usurped the throne. By the end of the war I have lost almost my entire army of skilled veterans, my holdings were diminished, I was at odds with most of the nobles and my treasury was constantly empty. Atop all that, I never got to exact revenge on Wyld personally for all the atrocities he did and wasn't even sure if he died. However, the struggle itself was rewarding, intense and exciting.

So... don't expect, even if you play a powerful kingdom, that you'll be able to stockpile money and regency and trample your neighbors, because you won't. You'll face assassins, usurpers, grumbling underlings, threats, and no matter how powerful you think your regent is, you'll feel weak, underpowered and every NPC will seem omnipotent and omniscient, but the truth is that they aren't.....usually Most of them have good PR and behave as intelligent regents should but the trick is that 99% of the time you'll be barking at the wrong tree and the heavy blow will come from where you least expect it. And when it hits you'll love it..

That, in my eyes, is RoE 

But as Bjorn said... I'm a masochist

 

[X-Bellam & BC/TB (Bobby)]

The flip side is that every nation is kept busy.  As Bellam and the BC, I started with two provinces, as a vassal to Aerenwe, one of the smallest kingdoms around, and Roesone, a nice stable kingdom.  It should have been a cakewalk to remain as I was, and almost impossible to go anywhere, thanks to my small size.

Instead, I found myself as the cross-roads between four warring kingdoms, with some substantial (and only partly publicly known, even after some revelations near the end of the game) internal decisions and opportunities.  By the end, I'd lost half my lands, gained twice as many, changed sides in the largest war the region had seen in years, and become involved in banishing several of the Lost from Anuire forever.  I'd also gone from a diffuse guild spread across 5 kingdoms to one with virtually no holdings outside of Osoerde, but poised to become virtually the only guild in the kingdom.  I was also the second most powerful regent in Osoerde, hated by almost the entire rest of the southeast, and was allied with multiple temples in a spitting contest with Archduke Osoer.  It was exciting as hell the entire way through, and never once did I have half as many actions as I needed to do everything I wanted (not that I had the gold to do that many, either - I may never forget the turn I opened the P&H and discovered that I had an income of 2 GB and a projected expenses of 16.  I almost wept!)

Large or small, every kingdom in that game was kept hopping and had opportunities to be utterly destroyed or uplifted to glory.  That, more than anything, was what impressed me most about it.

[DM B]

I'll chime in...

The game IS about making choices...if players had everything they needed and more there would be no point in playing...nothing to strive for, and no sense of accomplishment.

That said, I'm not a mean DM. Tough perhaps, but not out to get anyone (though it may certainly feel that way sometimes). There real catch you see, is that what YOU want very rarely match what the other players and NPCs want. And so, no matter how well you play the game, you are but one against many. And even if you ARE determined and focused, can your will and determination really hope to contend with the opposing will of so many others?

As for the NPCs they are driven strictly by their alignment, agendas and personal motivations. Some are really good, and some are not so good, but very few are actually bad. AND they "know" they are playing a game...they have to be, or otherwise the player domains would have a HUGE advantage...and so work with the system. They don't meta, but they are ask capable as any human opponent of utilizing the system. After all, RoE II is a strategy GAME, just heavy on role-play.

[X-DM Jon]

Oooh! My fifty cent!

 I was on the very opposite end of Bellam and the HA. Basically noone invaded my territory.

 This meant a strong drive towards fighting on various fronts. I had troops in Mhoried, troops in Mieres, troops in Medoere and a crusading army in the Five Peaks. All very impressive and boy! Did they win it all? Oh yes they did!

 But when you're dealing with people like Robert, who'd rather get in bed with lady schemer numero uno, Marie Cwyllmie, or trying to wrestle at least a few concessions out of Archduke Diem (It actually worked out somewhat with Heirl, Carvaloen was a real dick on the other hand), or getting the ETN away from their fixation with the IHH, or getting the IHH to calm down generally, or generally achieving any of my god damned agendas! I was stymied, stumped and stupefied.

 Funnily enough... The easiest agenda I achieved was defeating the EO, but I had been trying to achieve at least two other agendas at the same time and hence didn't have the time to "change agenda" into "defeat EO". Dumb...

 The end result was all agendas somewhat fullfilled, but not quite. And to top it off, everyone ended up hating good ole Gielbert for his untroubled alliances with evil powers like the Warlock and the Swordmage. He might have weathered it if I'd kept on playing him, but it would be a hard time coming indeed.