[Fire Emblem] The Gathering Storm

[PhoenixFlame]

Hello boys and girls! I've been wanting to run a Fire Emblem table RPG game on NPF for some time now, and only recently managed to get a working mapgen and statistic calculator to make that a reality. Before continuing, note that this game, should it run, will be a relatively unforgiving tactical wargame based on the Fire Emblem series of games, particularly during the mechanical era of Geneology of the Holy War and Thracia 776. Having played the english GBA games or the Tellius series is not required, but would be beneficial, though I will be giving a relatively expansive intro for players new to the series. And now, for the curtains...

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Nadorian Calendar, Year 398AW-

The Continent of Nadoria has been completely rebuilt in the nearly four centuries since the great war between the original seven holy crusaders and the dark lord Rachesis and his army of sorcerors. In the years after the war, each of the warriors went their seperate ways, returning to their homelands in triumph to rebuild and, in most cases, rule. From these sprung the current six nations of Nadoria, the main power-players on the world stage.

In the north, the republic of Welas was founded by the hero Saxon, a loose hedgemony of independant states, the various dukes and dutchesses of Welas have, in peacetime, taken to bickering and power-plays amongst one another, particularly since the republic relies heavily on trade along it's border with the northern sea, and piracy is an excellent and wholly deniable way to hamper the income of your detractors. The Wels as a whole are a free-spirited people, and excellent sailors and mercenaries.

Bordering Welas' east, and the eastern sea, lies the Empire of Vendalior, named so after it's founder Vendalior, the Black Knight. By far the largest and most militarially potent of the nations of Nadoria, it has in the past been seen as a warlike and imperialistic society by many. Currently ruled by Emperor Vidgar, considered by many to be an enlightened man, Vendalior has seen a recent resurgency of diplomatic relations with it's neighbors, whom in the past have been tenuous. Vendalior's mountains are home to wyverns, and the nation in general boasts the best armored units and wyvern riders on the continent.

To the south, bordering Vendalior and the southern seaboard, is the Magocracy of Cenia, founded by the beautiful Lady Seline, the greatest sage of the original crusaders after the war. Cenia is unique, in that it's nobility and ruling class are entirely formed of magi, a phenomenon originally due to selection and more modernly, through bloodlines. Cenia is moderately reclusive, content to remain inside it's borders and practice it's arts among it's own people. Currently, Cenia is undergoing a period of strife after the presiding archmage died of disease without naming an heir. Naturally, they produce excellent mages.

The southwest of the continent is home to the desert of winds, and home of the nomadic tribes that spawned the crusader A'tuad, also known as the wind lance. They have few cities, and a poorly understood system of goverment from the point of view of outsiders, being primarially clan-based and jointly ruled by the warlords of the major clans. The nomads of the winds have few cavalry units, but those they have are of infamous quality. Their dancers and bards are also highly respected.

The Kingdom of Makeen borders the desert's north and the western edge of Nadoria, and is a verdant land home to the Crusader Malvina, the first pegasus knight. Makeen is a traditionally stalwart heartland nation, producing an excess of food (Some of which is exported to the southern desert tribes in exchange for the rich deposits of metal found there) and in general being one of the more stable nations of the continent. It is home to it's native Pegasi, which are unique to Makeen.

Last but not least, central of the other five nations is the Kingdom of Caledonia, and the starting point of our story. King Athas has ruled excellently for the last fourty years, solidifying Caledonia's borders and securing peace with neighboring Vendalior and Welas via miltary alliance with Makeen, and academic trade with Cenia. The kingdom has not seen war for decades thanks to Athas' charismatic personality and shrewd demenour, but now he ages, and it comes time for him to name his son as successor to his throne.

Yet, unknown to all of them, a force of ancient times threatens to plunge the continent into a war it has not seen for centuries.

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Required Characters-

The Prince and Princess of Caledonia, whom will serve as the campaign's lords.
At least one of the Prince's knights.

Suggested Characters-

One of the prince's childhood friends, perhaps a Duke, Margrave, or Marquess of one of Caledonia's provinces.

An emissary from Cenia, probably a magic class, maybe with room for his/her bodyguard.

The prince (or princess, likely a pegasus knight) of Makeen, come to witness his friend's coronation.

Various wellwishers from Caledonia's common classes, milita units, or other soldiery-types or Welasan mercenaries whom will inevitably get drawn into the obvious attack on the capital city.

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Of course, anything works, provided it can be drawn into the story. You're probably asking, how does this system work? What classes are there? How do I build my character?

Glad you asked. I'll upload the PDF of the tabletop ruleset for FERPG in my next post, but basically, I'll run this as the videogames would, there'll be bits of roleplaying and mingling between tactical maps and combat that will, in theroy, unfold into a relatively expected, but entertaining storyline. I will handle dicerolls and statistics, so you technically don't even need to know what you're doing, but are encouraged to do so that your character might survive long enough to be interesting.

In the tradition of Fire Emblem, there are no character sheilds. Anyone can, and likely will, die if they find themselves in a situation where being killed is a likely outcome. This is of course, a tactical roleplaying game. To alleviate this somewhat, characters reduced to 0hp for the first time will be severely wounded and removed from the field, but appear in the next chapter. Subsequent wounds are fatal, except in case-by-case circumstances.

Any interest before I go dumping my plans in detail?