Noble Houses

These are used to represent the powerful Noble Houses of the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Within each great nation there may be one or more Noble Houses vying for overall control of the kingdom. A player’s own dynasty represents one of these Noble Houses and it possible to run a Noble House alongside a standard Open Nation.

Founding Noble Houses

Noble Houses (NH) are founded in one of two ways.

1. Whenever a marriage is sought from within a player’s own nation or an independent province a Noble House will be founded in the province or city providing the spouse. If a Noble House already exists and can provide a bride, then this Noble house can be used. Founding a Noble House this way will generate a base NH site in the province or city and give a Noble House an initial Status value of 3 within the kingdom. The ruling dynasty will gain an influence of 3 in the Noble House. Any subsequent marriages increase this status and influence by one.
2. An existing ruling dynasty can split off its Royal Family from the nation’s stats and run this as a Noble House. Money can be siphoned off to the Noble House and the Noble House can be used to prop up an ailing kingdom. The initial Status of the Noble House in the kingdom is set to 6 while the kingdom will have an Influence of 10 in the Noble House. NOTE: This is termed an ‘Affiliated’ Noble House. If the Affiliated Noble House has a BL of 1 or greater and the player wants to sue its leaders, then it will be run as a second chargeable position.

In both cases the QRs, Tech Level, Tech Points, Religion and Religious Strength are the same as the source kingdom. A Noble House is assumed to have a default Tax status of “Census”. Unlike Religious Orders, it not possible to denote BL, Infra or any other capability to the Noble House. Only Gold can be transferred freely. The transfer of NFPs is possible but will suffer the reduction imposed on such transfers.

Noble House Leaders

Noble Houses can have all leaders available to Open Nations except when the Noble House is associated with the ruling dynasty of an Open Nation. In this circumstance, the Noble House cannot have a King or Heir leader.

The ruler of a Noble House is called its Patriarch (or Matriarch).

Transfer of Family Members from and to a Noble House

Any family member can be transferred between a Noble House and the Open Nation associated with that house with the following exceptions;

· A King or Heir of an Open Nation cannot be transferred to a Noble House

· A Patriarch or Heir of a Noble House can only be transferred to an Open Nation if they are taking up an equivalent or higher position in the Open Nation

· Princes can be transferred freely as long as they retain a Prince position.

Family members included with the Open Nation are assumed to travel with the King.

Family members included in the Noble House are assumed to reside at the House Seat (or whichever is classed as their Homeland region if it does not have a Family Seat).

Noble House Sites

Noble Houses operate much like Religious Orders inasmuch as their presence is felt through a network of sites. Each of these sites provides the Noble House with GP and NFP depending upon its size:

Status	Code	Tax	Control?	NFP?	Build	Cost
Noble Manor	nm	0.1	Yes	No	both	5gp
Noble Fief	nf	0.2	Yes	No	both	10gp/1nfp
Noble Demesne	nd	0.3	Yes	Yes	both	15gp/2nfp
Noble Keep	nk	0.4	Yes	Yes	both	30gp/5nfp
Noble Seat	ns	0.5	Yes	Yes	both	100gp/10nfp

♦ A Noble House cannot build any site unless it has at least Low Status in the hosting nation. Should the required Status no longer be in effect, the site will degrade a level each turn until it is of a size compatible with the existing Status. This restriction does not apply to independent provinces or cities

♦ A site can only be increased one level per turn.

♦ Each Noble House can have only one House Seat at any time.

♦ Noble Houses are not affected by Agro Point production / consumption unless they control statuses that require Agro to support them.

House Manor: a small presence in the locale, being a city building or small keep in a region.

House Fief: a modest collection of House locations in either city or region. Exemption from some local taxes.

House Demesne: a major House location from which the local house hierarchy administers nearby possessions.

House Keep: a significant grant of land, property rights or exemption from taxation makes these locations focal points for the house. Serve as centres for the recruitment,

induction and training of House members.

House Seat: the location of the House’s nerve-centre from where the House is administered. It is here that the House’s University and government functions are situated.

Noble House Control Status

Again, like Religious Orders, the Noble House traces a chain of administrative control through its sites to create a Control Web. If any site is isolated from the others, it will degrade one level, eventually to be rendered useless. Action Range is the critical stat in maintaining control over a far-flung Noble House. The CCR (BL + Admin) defines how extensive the effective Control Web is, defining the maximum number of (AR) Action Point links. Thus the effective Line of Control is not infinite.

It is possible that an House will have sites/regions/cities that can trace a Line of Communication to the House Seat but are outside the effective Control Web and so are liable to revolt or degrade.

♦ Each Keep must be within (AR) Action Points of the House Seat - or another Keep or regions or cities controlled at Tributary or better by the House able to trace

an unbroken line of control to the House Seat.

♦ Each region or city controlled at Tributary or better by the House must be within (AR) Action Points of the House Seat - or an House Keep or regions or cities controlled at Tributary or better by the House able to trace an unbroken line of control to the House Seat.

♦ Each Demesne must be within (AR) Action Points of the House Seat - or an Keep or regions or cities controlled at Tributary or better by the House able to trace an unbroken line of control to the House Seat.

♦ Each Fief must be within (AR) Action Points of the House Seat - or an Keep, Demesne, or a region or city controlled by the House at Tributary or better able to trace an unbroken line of control to the House Seat.

♦ Each Manor must be within (AR) Action Points of the House Seat - or an Keep, Demesne, Fief or a region or city controlled by the House at Tributary or better that can trace an unbroken line of control to the House Seat. If, in tracing Action Range, there are insufficient Action Points to pay the terrain cost of a given region Action Range cannot be traced into that region, but no further. You do not have to pay an extra 1 AP to enter a City in the region.

Example: A Noble House with an Action Range of Two has an Keep in Thessaly and a Manor in Epirus. The Action Point cost is five (1 base +2 for the type two mountains + 2 for Epirus itself. The HE is unable to trace the control web into Epirus from its location in Thessaly, so the HM will degrade.

Note that Noble Houses are as susceptible to a reduced tax rate due to insufficient Infrastructure to cover their Size as any other nation. In addition, any Infra shortfall can impact upon the houses' sites, degrading them to lower levels until sufficient Infra exists to cover Size. Unlike Religious Orders, Noble House Leaders are susceptible to revolt Checks if beyond the Command Control Range of the House Seat. Furthermore, House Leaders treat regions of nations where they have Status as “controlled” for movement purposes.

However, once that Leader creates a Control Status, it must be within the effective Web of the House, or any House Leader at the location at the end of the turn will be checked for revolt. If they revolt they may attempt to establish their own dynasty and take control of other sites within Action Range of themselves, if those locations are also outside the effective Control Web. If the House Leader does not revolt the site will degrade.

When n House Leader revolts under other circumstances they may set up their own dynasty with whatever resources are to hand.

If a House Leader sets up their own Noble House then the parent House loses 1 BL and 1 Infra to the rebel.

Noble House Status

For Noble Houses it is essential that they maintain a high level of Status in their host nation unless their lands become forfeit by the controlling dynasty.

Status is the mechanism by which many of a Noble House’s activities are moderated. Status is rated on a numerical scale of 1 to 10 and it plays a significant role in a wide range of actions (e.g. the establishment of House sites, effectiveness of certain Leader action, etc). For Noble Houses a priority will be the establishment and maintenance of high levels of status across the lands containing and adjacent to their Seat. Through having a high Status in a nation, the influence of the House is stronger. This can allow it greater freedom of action. It can counteract the efforts of kings and religious Leaders to influence or control them.

For those kings and religious Leaders, a House’s high status in your lands can have benefits. With a high status, the House generates additional troops at no build or support costs. House Leaders can fight alongside your own commanders.

A low House status in your lands limits these benefits – but it also prevents the House exploiting its Status for nefarious ends.

Over time, as a consequence of player activity, Status levels will rise and fall.

The Noble Houses will know its Status Level in each nation via a running record maintained in the Tithes section of the stat sheet. Other nations will have a less precise idea.

Increasing / Decreasing Status

The level of Status enjoyed by a Noble House in any nation can be the result of conscious action or happenstance. It can be increased or decreased through direct player action, or consequent to certain activities or events taking place outside the nation. This is, in effect, to account for the effect on the House’s reputation as a dependable and upstanding family. Of course, as in history, it may not remain so forever….

Rather than list all the factors considered in adjudging the Status level (where would be the mystery/fun/unease of that?), the brief list below will serve as a guide to the kind of events that can affect the Status. A + or - sign next to the event or action indicates whether it can increase Status, decrease it or work either way:

♦ Marriage between House and Nation

♦ King grants formal Status in his nation (+)

♦ King withdraws support of House (-)

♦ Number and type of Noble House sites in a nation (+)

♦ House pays Tithe to the nation (+)

♦ “Blown” espionage actions by Nation against House (+)

♦ “Blown” espionage actions by House against Nation (-)

♦ Army led by House Leader wins victory (+)

♦ Army led by House Leader defeated (-)

♦ Execution of specific Leader orders (+ / -)

♦ Takes up arms against host nation (-)

♦ Imperial Size matches or exceeds any Host nation (-)

The Importance of Status

As Nations exploit individual Leader abilities to further their ends, a Noble House is largely driven by the quality of its Leaders and the standing or reputation it has in the lands where it has a presence.

Status affects the ability to establish sites, which in turn affects the prosperity of the Noble House and its ability to raise valuable troops. It modifies the effectiveness of other activities undertaken by the House. It can even affect the speed at which House Leaders make their way through co-religionist lands. From the House’s perspective, the higher the Status the better. Consider high Status as the House having the ear of the King, his sympathies and a ready ear open to them. A low Status meaning the opposite i.e. the King is not enamoured of the House or is suspicious of them and their motives (surely not!). An important consideration here is the relationship between a host Nation and the Noble House. The influence a Nation has in a Noble House can be used to gain the support of that House

Status Levels

The term Low, Medium and High Status is used throughout the Noble House rules and it is defined as;

Low Status: Status is currently between 1 and 4

Medium Status: Status is currently between 5 and 7

High Status: Status is currently between 8 and 10

Noble House Actions

Noble Houses can conduct all the normal Leader, Espionage and many Religious actions. In addition, to reflect the special nature of such entities, several upplementary actions are made available to them.

Note that some of these actions (e.g. Reduce Status) are also available to non-House Leaders attempting to act against an House. Where available, these are indicated in the respective entry:

Found Noble Manor

Code FNM

BAC 2 Leader AP or IOC, 5 GP per attempt

Stat Charisma

Results Must be founded within (AR) Action Points of a higher status Noble House site. The House must have status in the host nation or the site must be an independent Province or City.

Found House Fief

Code FHF

BAC 3 Leader AP or 1 IOC, 10 GP and 1 NFP per attempt

Stat Charisma

Results Must be founded within (AR) Action Points of a higher status Noble House site. The House must have status in the host nation or the site must be an independent Province or City.

Found House Demesne

Code FHD

BAC 6 Leader AP, 2 NFP and 15 GP per attempt

Stat Charisma

Results Must be founded within (AR) Action Points of a higher status Noble House site. The House must have Medium or High Status in the host nation or the site must be an independent Province or City.

Found House Keep

Code FHK

BAC 10 Leader AP, 30gp and 5 NFP per attempt

Stat Charisma

Results Must be founded within (AR) Action Points of a higher status Noble House site. The House must have Medium or High Status in the host nation or the site must be an independent Province or City.

Found House Seat

Code FHS

BAC 6+ House Patriarch AP, 100 GP, 10 NFP

Stat Charisma

Results This action must be successfully completed by a Patriarch intending to create a Noble House. A specific city or region for the House Seat must be designated as part of this action, which is created if this is successful. The House must have High Status in the host nation or the site must be an independent Province or City.

Move House Seat

Code MHF

BAC 10 Leader AP + cost of movement to new site, 20NFP + 50GP

Stat Charisma (modified by Administration)

Results In the event it is deemed opportune to move the House’s headquarters (or it is forced to flee…), the House Seat may be transferred to another location. It must be re-established at a House Keep. The erstwhile House Seat is then reduced to a House Keep.

Note that if moving the House Seat entails crossing a Sea Zone, then shipping with sufficient Cargo Capacity must be available to move the uprooted seat. The Cargo Capacity required is:

Cargo = (BL + Infra) × 10

Furthermore, if the Treasury (i.e. Saved GP) is to be similarly moved, each 50GP requires 1 Cargo Capacity. When moving the Seat, it does so at Infantry speed (all those wagons and carts prevent a lightning flit).

If the House Seat is destroyed then this counts as the destruction of the capital (see section 10.1.4) and does not require a Move House Seat action. On the same turn that the House Seat is destroyed, a new House Seat is declared in the most appropriate House Keep. All remaining BL and Infra points are moved to this new location. You may include a conditional order with your turn(s) indicating the location of the ‘backup’ House Seat or the GM will choose the new location for you.

Increase House Status

Code IHS

BAC 4 Leader AP+, or 1 Intel action

Stat Charisma

Results Acts very much in the manner of Diplomacy (DP) actions. In this case, the House’s current Status in the nation is the main determinant, modified by the conducting Leaders’ Diplomacy and Charisma skills are taken into account. These can act to either increase or decrease the chance of success. This order is also available to non-House Leaders attempting to encourage the House' activities in their lands.

Decrease House Status

Code DHS

BAC 4 Leader AP+, or 1 Intel action

Stat Charisma

Results The converse of the Increase House Status order. This order is also available to non-House Leaders attempting to discourage or restrict the House's activities in their lands.

Summon House Aid

Code SHA

BAC 6 AP

Stat Diplomacy

Results This action is available to non-RO Kings (and primates) attempting to gain the active support of the House in pursuit of national aims. Most commonly, this will take the form of trying to rally military support from the House. The success of this order primarily depends on the Status the House has in that nation and the nation’s. The higher the Status, the better the chance of support. If successful, it provides extra troops to the king equal to:

Units = (House troops in nation) + (2 × Status level)

This represents the Houses' existing troops based in the nation plus additional forces called up from the ranks of the Houses' administrators etc. on the initiative of a local House Leader. These troops are summoned to serve the House which is then bound to use them in support of the Open Nation. They remain in service until the event which precipitated the call for House Aid is moot.

The units raised are a mix of the prevailing types appropriate to that Culture (as per the usual local Native Army breakdown). These units do require support costs to be paid by the House.

Note If the war is being conducted against nation’s where the House also has Status, there’s an excellent chance the Noble House will refuse to become involved. If it does, its Status in the nation against which war is being waged is reduced.

Negotiate/Renegotiate Tithe

Code RNT

BAC 6 AP

Stat Diplomacy

Results: A Noble House can be called upon to tithe up to 50% of its income to the host nation. By using this action the King of the host nation is calling upon the Noble house to provide him with funds. Conversely, the leader of a Noble House can attempt to lower the tithe by running this action.

Noble Houses and Trade

Noble Houses are able to conduct trade.

For Land Trade to operate, a valid land route must be traceable from the House's Seat to the Capital/Homeland of the trade partner. In respect of this, contiguous controlled regions encompass any wherein the NH has a site of at least Fief or above in status.

For Sea Trade to operate, the NH must fulfil the usual route requirements. At a minimum, they must have a Demesne in the base Port City. Note too that Noble House merchant shipping needs to share the available Basing Capacity of the port city.

Effects of Dynastic Failures on Status and Influence

In the event of a Dynastic Failure in either the Noble House or the Open Nation hosting the Noble House, a random reduction in the Status and Influence levels are applied.