From: tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) Description: Kingmaker variant events New Events for Kingmaker c. 1994 Thomas Barnes Here is a list of Kingmaker events that I have come up with. Most of them are new ideas that allow for a lot more backstabbing in the game. When I have included a card that can be held until needed, I have also included a card that counters the effect of that card. I am not sure how these variants will play. I have posted them here in order to get feedback from people. ROYAL MARRIAGE - A royal heir gets married. Roll randomly to see which heir it is (ignoring Edward VI and Margaret). That heir must immediately be moved to the nearest friendly or neutral cathredal town. The bishop of that town (if in play) must also go to that town. Other nobles of the faction can also attend, but they must stay outside of the town in the square that the town is in if the town is neutral. DEADLY AMBUSH - You lure the enemy into a trap. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows one ambush attempt to draw two cards rather than just one (or roll twice and choose the better roll) to determine which nobles are killed in the ambush. ASSASSIN - You arrange to have a noble of your choice killed. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows you to "ambush" a single noble no matter where he is without having to risk any nobles in your faction. When the card is played, draw two event cards. If the noble you have named as the target of the assasin appears on either of the cards he has been killed. If you are using the advanced rules for killing nobles, a 2 or 12 kills the noble. BETRAYAL - You subvert the defenders of a town or castle. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows you to capture a hostile or neutral town or castle automatically if there is only a garrison defending. If there are opposing nobles in the town or castle this card is ineffective. SIEGE FAILS - The attacker's siege is ineffective. This card may be held until needed. When played, it causes a a besieging force to give up the siege and leave the square that the town or castle is in. The besieging force must immediately move to an adjacent square. ESCAPE - One noble and his force escape from a lost battle. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows a noble to avoid being killed in an ambush, siege, battle, or event. The noble is immediately moved to an square adjacent to the square where the battle or seige occured. WAR WITH FRANCE - A war starts with France. Burgundian Crossbowmen and French Mercenaries go home. Constable of Calais to Calais. Marshal to the Continent. Treaty with France cancelled. NOBLE DIES - A random noble dies from accident, old age, or natural causes. Draw one card from the event deck and look at the nobles killed section. The noble at the bottom of the list dies and his card is returned to the crown deck. (If the advanced rules are being used, a roll of 2-7 saves the noble). BRIBERY - You bribe a unit of mercenaries to desert their employer. This card may be held until needed. When played, it causes the smallest unit of mercenaries in an opponent's faction to go home, as if the appropriate event card had been drawn. PRETENDER - A new claimant to the throne emerges. Replace one eliminated Royal counter on the board to represent the new claimant. If no Royal counters have been eliminated, then create a new Royal counter to represent the new claimant. The pretender is neither York nor Lancaster, and so all other royal heirs must be eliminated before the pretender can be the last remaining heir. The pretender has strong local support in one area of the country, roll a die to see which area his support is in. 1) Cornwall/Devon - 20 troops 2) Wales - 20 troops 3) Between the Trent and the Tees - 10 troops 4) North of the Tees - 20 troops 5) Within 4 squares of Lynn - 10 troops 6) Within 4 squares of Plymouth - 10 troops These troops move with the Royal heir and are added to the strength of any noble force he is with or any garrison of a town he is in as long as the heir is in the proper region of the country. The pretender appears in the largest or most central neutral (unoccupied) fortified town in the region where he has support. If no town is available then he appears in a neutral castle or an unfortified town. The pretender can be eliminated as if he had been killed by the use of the "Pretender Revealed" event card. PRETENDER REVEALED - The Pretender is revealed as a fraud. All non-Lancastrian and Non-Yorkist pretenders to the throne are proven to be of common birth, and lose their noble and common support. This causes any pretenders in the game to be removed from play as if they had been executed. If there are no pretenders in play, then the card has no effect. This card may be held until needed, and it may be traded. (forcing the faction that holds the pretender to "buy off" any faction that gets a hold of the card.) ROYAL BIRTH - A new legitimate claimant to the throne emerges. Replace one eliminated royal counter on the board to represent the royal infant and his regent. If no royal heirs have been eliminated, create a new royal heir counter to represent the new heir. Roll randomly to see which house the new heir belongs to. The new heir is last in line to inherit if his is Yorkist, and he is just before the Beauforts to inherit if he is a Lancastrian. Roll randomly to see where the heir is placed: 1) Cornwall/Devon 2) Wales 3) Between the Trent and the Tees 4) North of the Tees 5) Within 4 squares of Lynn 6) Within 4 squares of Plymouth The new heir appears in the largest neutral (unoccupied) fortified city, royal castle, or unfortified town in the region in that order of priority. INFLUENCE HEIR - The player's faction woos the heir of an opposing noble to their faction. This card may be held until needed. It may be played on the turn in which a noble of an opposing faction is killed due to a siege, event, battle, or ambush. The noble's heir immediately joins the faction of the player who holds the card. This means that the player gets the noble card rather than the noble card going to the crown deck. All titles, troops, towns, offices and ships held by the noble are lost though and are returned to the crown deck or chancery. If the advanced rules on killing nobles are used, the player who holds the card only gets the noble if the noble actually dies. If the player who owns the noble makes the roll to see if the noble survives, the gambit fails, and the card is discarded. Noble castles that belong to the turncoat heir that are occupied by other nobles of the faction may be besieged immediately by them. If the nobles aren't strong enough to besiege the castle, they are expelled from it and are placed outside of the castle in an adjacent square. SPY - A spy opens the postern gate of a town or castle, allowing your forces to take the place more easily. This card may be held until needed. When played, it halves the effective number of troops defending a town or castle, including troops belonging to a noble. TURNCOAT - One noble of an opposing faction joins your faction. This card must be played immediately against another player. That player must immediately give you one noble from his faction with all of that nobles cities, offices, and titles, but without his ships and mercenaries. The affected player gets to choose which noble he will give up. This card can't be used against a player that only has one or two nobles in his faction. If the turncoat noble is in a stack with other, newly opposed, nobles, he is immediately placed in an adjacent square. If newly opposed nobles occupy cities or castles owned by that noble, they may besiege the town immediately. If they cannot besiege the town they are expelled from the town or castle into an adjacent square. OUTLAW - A noble has been found guilty of treason and must flee the country. This card must be played immediately. Draw one event card. The noble at the bottom of the list has been found guilty of treason and must flee to the Continent or Scotland. (Since the charges are, presumably, valid, no refuge card is needed to enter or stay in either of these countries.) The outlaw loses any titles, cities, or offices that he held, but he may retain any mercenaries or ships he holds. He cannot attend Parliament. He can enter no English city unless he successfully besieges the town. His counter can be stacked with no other noble of his faction. His personal retinue of troops fights at half strength to reflect poor morale and the financial difficulties the outlaw faces. The outlawry can be removed by a majority vote in the house of Lords or by use of the King's Pardon card. ILLNESS - A noble is stricken with a chronic illness. This card must be played immediately. One event card is drawn, and the noble at the bottom of the "nobles killed" section has been afflicted with a serious wound or chronic illness. He must move to the nearest friendly city or castle and stay there for 1-3 turns. While he is there he can't move, fight in open battles, or ambushes, attend Parl- iament, or attend to events that affect him. He can name a substitute of equal or lesser power to act as his proxy to deal with events that he can't personally deal with. He can also fight in a siege or town battle if the town or castle he is in is besieged. SHIPWRECK - a ship is destroyed. This card must be played immediately. One ship at sea is immediately destroyed. If there is more than one ship at sea, roll randomly to see which ship is sunk. If there are nobles on board, roll for each to see if they survive. 1-3 they survive (and are placed on the nearest non-port coast square), 4-6 they drown. TREATY WITH SCOTLAND - King to Scotland The sole king goes to Scotland to sign a treaty with the Scots. This event card cancels the "Scots Raid" event as long as the treaty is in effect. Any towns and castles lost to the "Scots Invasion" event are returned. The King's faction also gets unlimited access to Scotland. The treaty remains in effect until one of the following events occurs: a) the king dies. b) a "Scots Invasion" event. c a "French Seige" event. d) a "War in France" event. e) a "War in Europe" event. BANDITS - You hire thugs to ambush a hostile noble. This card may be held until needed. It may be played against one stack of noble counters that are not in a town or castle. The effects of the bandit ambush are like a normal ambush, except that you don't need to risk any of your own nobles. WAR IN THE LOW COUNTRIES Flemish Crossbowmen go home. Marshal to the Continent. SHIP LAUNCHED - A new ship is built. A ship is produced in a random port. If a ship has been previously destroyed, that ship is returned to play. If a ship hasn't been destroyed, then another ship counter and card is created and put into play. The new ship must immediately be assigned to a noble in your faction. If the noble is lost, the new ship dissappears. The card is not returned to the crown deck. STRIFE ON THE BORDER - Bandits capture one town on the Scots border. Roll a die to see which town is captured: 1-2 Carlisle, 3-4 Berwick, 5-6 Bamburgh. The bandits won't attack a town that has nobles in it. Ignore this event if the town the bandits attack is defended by nobles. The town is treated as hostile until recaptured by siege. The garrison of the town won't assist the bandits, so this is a siege against 50 troops. BASTARD CLAIMANT - A bastard child of one of Royal princes emerges as a contender for the crown. The bastard claimant has strong local support in one area of the country. Roll to see which area his support comes from: 1) Cornwall/Devon - 50 troops 2) Wales - 50 troops 3) Between the Trent and the Tees - 20 troops 4) Within 4 squares of Lynn - 20 troops 5) Within 4 squares of Plymouth - 20 troops 6) North of the Tees - 50 troops Roll randomly to see whether the bastard is Yorkist or Lancastrian. He is last in line of succession behind all legitimate heirs, except for the Beauforts. He appears in the largest fortified town, royal castle, or unfortified town in the region where he has support (Neutral towns or castles). If one of the royal heir counters has been eliminated from the game, return that counter to the game to represent the bastard. If no royal heir have been eliminated, create a new heir counter to represent the new heir. The bastard's troops move with the heir, they add to the forces of any nobles he is stacked with, and add to the garrison strength of any fortified town or castle he is in. ESCAPE FROM SIEGE - A noble and his forces slip through a siege. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows a single noble card and any mercenaries he holds with a single royal heir to break out of a besieged castle or town. The escaped noble and royal heir are immediately placed in a square adjacent to the besieged castle or town. The noble's troop strength can't be counted by the defenders as part of the defending force, but if the noble's name is drawn as one of the nobles killed during the siege, he has been killed in the breakout attempt. An unescorted royal heir can also use this card to break out of a siege. The effects are identical, but unless royal heir is the senior Lancastrian or Yorkist heir he stays in the adjacent square he moved into until he is captured by a noble faction. EVADE BATTLE - Your force avoids the enemy. This card may be held until needed. When played, it has the same result as the "Bad Weather Delays Attack" combat result against any open battle or ambush. FORCE BATTLE - Your forces engage the enemy in spite of hardships. This card may be held until needed. When played, it cancels any "Bad weather delays attack" combat results or the "Evade Battle" event card. INSPIRED DEFENSE - Your garrison is unusually effective in defending a town or castle. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows the garrison of a town or castle to either double its effective troop strength, up to a maximum of 400 men, or fight as a force of 100 men whichever is more. (The maximum doubling allows 400 men total. So, a noble with a force of 200 men in a castle with a garrison of 100 men would have a total defense strength of 400 men, rather than doubling the total to 600.) HEROIC LEADERSHIP - A noble in your faction is unusually inspired in battle. This card may be held until needed. When played, the effective troop strength of one noble in a stack is either doubled for one battle or siege, or fights as a force of 50 men, whichever is more, up to a maximum of 400 men. So, a noble with a force of 250 men would only get his force increased to 400 men, not 500. MERCENARIES DISBAND - A random unit of mercenaries disbands and is removed from the game. This card must be played immediately. One randomly chosen unit of mercenaries currently in play is removed from play and is discarded. It is NOT returned to the crown deck. ROYAL COURT - The king holds court. The sole king holds a royal court at the nearest friendly or Neutral Royal castle or cathedral town. All officers of the King's Household (Steward, Marshall, Admiral, Treasurer, Chancellor of England) must attend, other nobles may attend with them. Officers of the King's household will be admitted to a neutral or hostile castle or town, other nobles must stay outside of the town or castle in the same square. Officers in noble factions hostile to the king's faction will be expelled from a hostile town on the turn following court without the opportunity to besiege the town. All nobles and royal heirs will be expelled from neutral towns on the turn after the court. The King's Peace exists in the square where court is being held on the turn of the court. ROYAL HEIR ILL - A royal heir is injured or suffers from a chronic disease. This card must be played immediately. Roll randomly to see which heir is affected. The heir must move to the nearest friendly or neutral castle or town and stay there for 1-3 turns until he has recovered. He can't move during this time. If he is the senior Lancastrian or Yorkist he can't fight in an open battle or attend Parliament. He may fight in sieges though. He can't attend to events that affect him, but he can name a proxy of equal or lesser power to act in his stead. If the sole king is ill, Parliament cannot be called until he is well. Any events that require the king to move from the place where he is are ignored. BAD ROADS - Foul travel conditions prevent travel. This card may be held until needed. When played, this card cancels the effects of the "Free Move" card or halves the movement rate of one stack of noble and/or royal heir counters. A stack may always move at least one square if it normally would be able to do so. In spite of the name, this card can be used against ships as well. ROYAL HEIR KILLED - A royal heir is killed in battle. This card may be saved until needed. This card must be played before a battle, seige, or ambush has been resolved, but after it has been declared. When played, if an enemy noble that participated in the battle is determined to have been killed, a noble heir stacked with that noble is killed instead. If there is more than one royal heir, roll randomly to see which one it is. If the advanced rules on killing royal heirs are used, then the heir is killed automatically, and all nobles roll randomly (as normal) to see if they are killed. LOYALTY - This card negates the effects of "Spy", "Mercenaries go home", "Betrayal", "Influence Heir", "Turncoat" and "Mutiny" events. It may be held until needed. COUNTERSPY - This card negates the effect of "Spy", "Betrayal", and "Mutiny" events. It may be held until needed. LARGESSE - This card negates the "Peasant Revolt", "Revolt in Wales", and "Revolt in Ireland" event. It may be held until needed. MEDICINE - This card allows one noble or royal heir in a plague afflicted town to automatically survive the plague. If the advanced rules are used on killing nobles and royal heirs, no roll is needed. FAMINE - One area of the board is struck by Famine. Roll to see which area is affected: 1) Cornwall/Devon 2) Wales 3) North of the River Trent 4) South of the River Trent except Devon, Cornwall, and Wales 5) North of the Tees 6) Ireland and the Continent All troops fight at half strength in the famine-stricken area unless they moved into the area from an unaffected area after the famine event was drawn. Units that moved through the afflicted area but didn't end their movement there are unaffected. Garrisons in the affected areas fight at half strength. FINANCIAL CRISIS - One mercenary unit or ship of the player's choice must be discharged. It is returned to the crown deck. SCANDAL - A social scandal weakens the effectiveness of a faction in parliament. This card may be held until needed. When played, it reduces the number of votes a faction has in both the house of Lords and the House of Commons by 5 votes for that session of Parliament. INFLUENCE - Effective politicking enhances the effectiveness of a faction in parliament. This card may be held until needed. When played, it increase the number of votes the faction has in both the house of Commons and in the House of Lords by 5 votes. Alternately, it negates the effect of the "Scandal" card. ECCLESIASTICAL DISPUTE WITH LAITY - A conflict between the clergy and the secular nobles breaks out. This card may be held until needed. When played, the bishops "go on strike" and no king may be crowned for one turn. LOCAL SUPPORT - A random royal heir gains strong local support for their claim to the Kingship. This card must be played immediately. One random royal heir immediately gains the following number of troops as a personal retinue when in a given area. 1) Cornwall/Devon 60 troops 2) Wales 60 troops 3) Between the Trent and the Tees 30 troops 4) Within 4 squares of Lynn 30 troops 5) North of the Tees 60 troops 6) Within 4 squares of Plymouth 30 troops These troops are added to any noble forces or garrison the royal heir is with as long as he is in the proper area. If the heir is killed these troops are lost. The troops have no effect if the heir is alone and outside of a fortified town or a castle. LOSS OF SUPPORT - A royal heir, pretender, or bastard claimant lose their local support. This card must be played immediately. One claimant to the throne with local support loses that support and his forces disappear. RUSE IN BATTLE - A clever battle plan turns the table on a superior force. This card may be held until needed. When played, the result of an open battle is the opposite of the result obtained from the event card. (So a "majority victory" would result in the smaller force winning.) The use of this card must be announced before the battle is resolved, but after it has been declared. The attacker can't change his mind about the attack once the card has been played. This card has no effect on the nobles killed results or the "bad weather delays attack" result. SICK TROOPS - Sickness hurts the effectiveness of your force. This card must be played immediately. It causes all the nobles and troops in one randomly chosen stack of your counters to move at half speed and fight at 2/3 normal strength (round down). PLAGUE IN A ROYAL CASTLE - Plague strikes a random royal castle. Roll to see which one is affected: 1) Dover 2) Pevensy 3) Carisbrooke 4) Windsor 5) Wallingford 6) Bamburgh PLAGUE IN A ROYAL CASTLE - Plague strikes a random royal castle. Roll to see which one is affected: 1) Kenilworth 2) Harlech 3) Caernarvon 4) Conway 5) Beaumaris 6) Rhuddlan, Fotheringhay PLAGUE IN A CASTLE - Plague strikes a random noble castle. Roll to see which ones are affected: 1) Pleshy, Kimbolton, Raby, Chillingham, Tickhill 2) Leeds, Castle Rising, Masham 3) Farnham, Rockingham, Helmsley 4) Arundel, Warwick, Wressle 5) Wingfield, Belvoir, Wakefield 6) Framlingham, Tattershall, Conisborough PLAGUE IN A CASTLE - Plague strikes a random noble castle. Roll to see which ones are affected: 1) Alnwick, Ogmore, Denbigh 2) Okehampton, Llanstephan, Newcastle 3) Compton, Usk, Tutbury 4) Corfe, Ludlow, Richmond 5) Berkeley, Stokesay, Appleby 6) Chirk, Cockermouth, Douglas EMBASSY FROM DENMARK - King to Whitby EMBASSY FROM CASTILLE & LEON - King to Dartmouth FORTIFICATIONS - You build fortifications around a previously undefended town. This card may be held until needed, but may only be played on a friendly or neutral unwalled city that has no opposing counters in its square and no hostile castles or fortified cities in any adjacent square. This card turns the town into a fortified city with a normal garrison. This card has no effect on castles or fortified towns except to counter the effects of the "Destroy Fortifications" event card, in which case the castle or fortified town is rebuilt to its original strength. DESTROY FORTIFICATIONS - You destroy the fortifications around a fortified town or destroy a castle. This card may be held until needed, but may only be played on a friendly fortified city or castle that has no opposing counters in its square and which has no hostile castles, fortified cities or counters in any adjacent squard. This card turns a town into an unfortified city with no garrison or destroys a castle, turning the square that it is in into an open or road square. The castle remains destroyed or the town undefended until the "Fortifications" card is used to rebuilt it. Events pertaining to the newly unfortified town are still played. Events pertaining to the destroyed castle are ignored. PLAGUE IN AN UNFORTIFIED CITY - Plague breaks out in an unfortified city. Roll to see which ones are affected: 1) Whitby, Ravenser, Ashby, Tewkesbury, Rochester, Mitford Haven 2) Preston, Boston, Lichfield, Abingdon, Barnet, Brecon 3) Towton, Grantham, Eccleshall, Newbury, St. Albans, Cardiff, Bodmin 4) Wakefield, Caister, Bury, Salisbury, Maldon, Taunton 5) Rotherham, Thetford, Royston, Chichester, Darmouth, Bath 6) Beverley, Burton, Daventry, Rye, Penzance, Wells. BUILD CASTLE - You build a new castle in the location of your choice. This card must be played immediately. It can only be played on an open, woods, or road square that has no hostile forces in that square, and no hostile castles, towns, or forces in any adjacent square. The new castle is treated as a noble castle, with a normal garrison. Once built, the castle must immediately be assigned to a noble in the player's faction. If the noble is lost, the castle is lost with him. Events that affect a noble castle in an adjacent square also affect the new castle. RIOT - A riot occurs in which the supporters of your faction are driven out of a town. This card must be played immediately. A random city controlled by your faction revolts and becomes neutral. Any nobles in that city may attempt to fight the rioters (treat as a siege vs. the garrison of the town). If they can't or won't besiege the town they are expelled and are placed outside of the town in the same square. That's it. Please feel free to give commentary or post your own favorite events. Tom. From: mab@dst17.wdl.loral.com (Mark A Biggar) Description: Re: Kingmaker variant events >ROYAL MARRIAGE - A royal heir gets married. Okay, but historically all the other heirs (except Edward VI) are already married (including Margaret to Henry). >DEADLY AMBUSH - You lure the enemy into a trap. Note that when you ambush and are playing the advanced rules (i.e. using the dice table) your get a choice. You may try to roll 2,3,4 against one member of the ambushed party OR you may try to roll 2 against each and every member of the ambushed party. I assume that your card just allows rolling twice for every applicable target. Thus the changes of killing the target in the single target case rise from 16.6% to 30.5%, not quite twice but still significant. In the target everybody case it rises from 2.7% to 5.5%. With out this card there has to be 8 people in the ambushed party before the changes of killing anybody using the second option equal the chances of killing the single target using the first option. With the card this drops to 5. So, you must play the trade off differently. >ASSASSIN - You arrange to have a noble of your choice killed. The second expansion card set (found in General vol 20 #4) already contains a card called "Assassination", which kills the bottom Noble on the next card drawn, who is poisoned by his butler for non-political reasons. I don't know if this may cause you to want to change the name of this card. >BETRAYAL - You subvert the defenders of a town or castle. Good one, I think I'll add it to my game. >SIEGE FAILS - The attacker's siege is ineffective. Does this counter the previous card? >ESCAPE - One noble and his force escape from a lost battle. How is this different for a "King's Pardon" card? >WAR WITH FRANCE - A war starts with France The second expansion card set already has "War on the continent" with similar effect. >NOBLE DIES - A random noble dies from accident, old age, or natural >causes. See "Assassination" above. >BRIBERY - You bribe a unit of mercenaries to desert their employer. Good one. >PRETENDER - A new claimant to the throne emerges. Another good one, this could really mess things up in the endgame. >PRETENDER REVEALED - The Pretender is revealed as a fraud. Good companion to the above card. >ROYAL BIRTH - A new legitimate claimant to the throne emerges. Also a great endgame wrecker. >INFLUENCE HEIR - The player's faction woos the heir of an opposing noble >to their faction. Nice and limited. >SPY - A spy opens the postern gate of a town or castle, allowing your >forces to take the place more easily. Is this canceled by the "Siege Fails" card above? >TURNCOAT - One noble of an opposing faction joins your faction. Similar to the "Vacilating Noble" card in the First expansion set. >OUTLAW - A noble has been found guilty of treason and must flee the >country. Ouch, but see "Excommunicated" from the second card expansion. >ILLNESS - A noble is stricken with a chronic illness. Like using a Writ the Proxy should be of equal or greater power than the Noble, office or title called to the event or you haven't responded with enough force. >SHIPWRECK - a ship is destroyed. See "Gales at Sea" in the first expansion set and "Mutiny" in the second. >TREATY WITH SCOTLAND - King to Scotland Also broken by and repairs the damage done by the "War with Scotland" card from the second expansion. >BANDITS - You hire thugs to ambush a hostile noble. That's what Talbot is for. >WAR IN THE LOW COUNTRIES See "War on Continent" above. >SHIP LAUNCHED - A new ship is built. Useful >STRIFE ON THE BORDER - Bandits capture one town on the Scots border. See "War with Scotland" from second expansion set. >BASTAD CLAIMANT - A bastard child of one of Royal princes emerges as a >contender for the crown. A non-pretending pretender. >ESCAPE FROM SIEGE - A noble and his forces slip through a seige. Okay. >EVADE BATTLE - Your force avoids the enemy. Okay. >FORCE BATTLE - Your forces engage the enemy in spite of hardships. Okay. >INSPIRED DEFENSE - Your garrison is unusually effective in defending a >town or castle. To similar to "Siege Fails" most of the time it has exactly the same effect. Also do you play by the two turn seige rules? >HEROIC LEADERSHIP - A noble in your faction is unusually inspired in >battle. Okay. >MERCENARIES DISBAND - A random unit of mercenaries disbands and is >removed from the game. Okay. >ROYAL COURT - The king holds court. A mini-parliament without voting. >ROYAL HEIR ILL - A royal heir is injured or suffers from a chronic >disease. Again see Proxy discussion above. >BAD ROADS - Foul travel conditions prevent travel. Maybe it should disallow road movement as well? >ROYAL HEIR KILLED - A royal heir is killed in battle. Okay. >LOYALTY - This card negates the effects of "Spy", "Mercenaries go home", >"Betrayal", "Influence Heir", "Turncoat" and "Mutiny" events. Should include "Vacilating Noble" as well. >COUNTERSPY - This card negates the effect of "Spy", "Betrayal", and >"Mutiny" events. Okay. >LARGESSE - This card negates the "Peasant Revolt", "Revolt in Wales", >and "Revolt in Ireland" event. Okay. >MEDICINE - This card allows one noble or royal heir in a plague >afflicted town to automatically survive the plague. Okay. >FAMINE - One area of the board is struck by Famine. How long does it last? >FINANCIAL CRISIS - One mercenary unit or ship of the player's choice >must be discharged. It is returned to the crown deck. Okay. >SCANDAL - A social scandal weakens the effectiveness of a faction in >parliament. Okay. >INFLUENCE - Effective politicking enhances the effectiveness of a >faction in parliament. Okay. You may want to limit this so that it can't be used to vote yourself the winner using the optional victory condition rules. >ECCLESIASTICAL DISPUTE WITH LAITY - A conflict between the clergy and >the secular nobles breaks out. See "Heresy" in second expansion set. >LOCAL SUPPORT - A random royal heir gains strong local support for their >claim to the Kingship. Okay. >LOSS OF SUPPORT - A royal heir, pretender, or bastard claimant lose >their local support. Okay. >RUSE IN BATTLE - A clever battle plan turns the table on a superior >force. Maybe this should just move the results one odds class in the smaller forces favor. >SICK TROOPS - Sickness hurts the effectiveness of your force. How long does it last? >EMBASSY FROM DENMARK - King to Whitby >EMBASSY FROM CASTILLE & LEON - King to Dartmouth Okay. >FORTIFICATIONS - You build fortifications around a previously >undefended town. Okay. >DESTROY FORTIFICATIONS - You destroy the fortifications around a >fortified town or destroy a castle. Okay. >PLAGUE IN AN UNFORTIFIED CITY - Plague breaks out in an unfortified >city. Okay. >BUILD CASTLE - You build a new castle in the location of your choice. Okay, but maybe it should take longer then one turn? >RIOT - A riot occurs in which the supporters of your faction are driven >out of a town. Okay. These are pretty good and would make the game much more interesting. -- Mark Biggar mab@wdl.loral.com From: tbarnes@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes) Description: Kingmaker Variants? Yes, it's time for the recurring thread, POST YOUR KINGMAKER VARIANTS! Here's a couple of my own to get the ball rolling. They haven't been play tested, so feel free to make snarky or positive comments if you think that they're really stupid or really great. Death - A noble dies of natural or accidental causes. Draw event cards until you find a card with a "Nobles Killed" section. The noble at the bottom of the list dies as if he had been executed or dies in battle. All offices, ships, and mercenaries he held are returned to the crown deck. Royal Heir Dies - A royal heir dies of natural or accidental causes. Roll randomly among the surviving royal heirs to see which one dies. That heir is removed from the game as if he had been executed. If there is a new royal heir due to a Royal Birth (see below) event, then the new heir dies. Royal Birth - A new royal heir appears. If a royal heir has previously been eliminated from the game, that counter is returned to play. If more than one heir has been eliminated the lowest ranking heir is returned to play. If no heirs have been eliminated, create a new royal heir counter to represent the heir and his regent. Roll randomly too determine whether the new claimant is York or Lancaster. The new claimant is the lowest ranked heir within that family. Deadly Ambush - You lure the enemy into a trap. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows an ambush launched by the player during the current turn to be three times as deadly as normal. Three "noble's killed" event cards are drawn and any nobles on those cards are killed in the ambush. Medicine - An effective treatment allows you to avoid the plague. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows one noble or royal heir to avoid the effects of Plague. Escape - You escape from a lost battle. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows one noble or royal heir to escape capture or death during a seige or open battle. Following a lost battle or seige, the escaped noble is placed in a square adjacent to the square where the battle was fought. Influence Heir - You subvert the heir of a dead noble to your cause. This card may be held until needed. When played, it allows you to take the card of a noble that has been killed during the current turn from another player and add it to your faction. If using the advanced rules on reappearance of nobles, don't bother rolling dice. The noble automatically joins your faction. The heir appears in the castle owned by his family, or if the castle is occupied by hostile (or formerly friendly) nobles, he appears in the square adjacent to the castle. If there is more than one castle, the owning player has the choice of placement. . The noble heir has no ships, titles, or mercenaries. If the other nobles of the faction the noble was formerly allied with are in a castle owned by that noble, they occupy it, and the noble heir can only regain the castle by seige. Delay - One noble gets lost on the way to the battle and takes little part in the fighting. This card may be held until needed. When played, it causes a random enemy noble and his forces to fight at half strength in an open battle. Heroism - One noble shows inspiring heroism and leadership and is exceptionally effective in battle. This card may be held until needed. When played, it a causes a random noble in your stack and his force to fight at increased strength in an open battle or during one turn of a seige. This strengthening is counted as an extra 50 men or a doubling of the noble's force, up to a maximum of a 600 man effective total strength (so if a noble has 400 men he doesn't get an effective strength of 800 men, he gets a strength of 600 men instead. Powerful, but not impossible to beat.) whichever is more. I've got more which I will post later. Tom.