King Simulator 2013

[selmiak]

but be realistic, every big nation is built on debt and our people still don't know us...

> initiate big party for the new king

this can easily be combined with a census btw

+1
I'm so much more interested what happens then than I want to advice people to handle the money task, all this will happen anyways, not that we could influence stock trade outside of our kingdom, but maybe we should invest in heros, these are alway the most interesting part of adventures, except when the game focuses on an antiheros, but, hey, we are the king baby!

[WHAM]

You dismiss your council so that they may each pursue their personal tasks for the time being, aside from Sir LANCELOT, whom you request to accompany you for a while longer. Meanwhile you order the JESTER to permit another audience.

Clatter of heavy steel plate fills the throne room once more, as a young but strong knight leads a group of other equally heavily armored knights into your throne room. Each of the men is equipped with a fierce looking battleaxe as well as a heavy tower shield. Lancelot gives an approving nod at the display.



"King of Grimdark, I, Sir Kevin of Axemont, and my fifteen HEAVY KNIGHTS, seek to serve you and your kingdom. Our price for a year's upkeep is a mere THREE GOLD PIECES."

Man of few words this fair-haired Axemont, it seems.

LANCELOT steps closer to you: "My King, I have heard fairly little of this AXEMONT, and this worries me. He and his men seem well armed and armored, but they are also young and inexperienced, eager I am sure, but not nearly as well-trained as my knights. I bet that the worst of my knights could defeat sir Axemont himself if given the chance. Hiring them would allow you to set one of us guarding the castle and town while the other would partake in an expedition, but on the other hand, we need more men and even young knights are expensive.

I would rather suggest we hire someone cheaper and with more men. We could even have the JESTER hire a CRIER to spread the word that we seek more able-bodied men to defend the realm. I'm sure we could find more suitable warriors that way."

You get the feeling that Sir LANCELOT does not think very highly of Sir AXEMONT. You wonder what would happen if one had to serve under the other.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Three options I can think of:
   Ask AXEMONT to test his men in training pits with a tourney bladed (wooden or dull) weapons against LANCELOT's men
        - But with this option there is a chance of injury, death, or heavily damaging both parties armor - also LANCELOT doesn't seem to like them, so I'm not eager to hire them.

   Ask LANCELOT if he's willing to TRAIN, with his choosing, of any able bodied TOWNSFOLK that OFFER their services to be GUARDS
        - This way LANCELOT has it his way and we'll know these people will follow LANCELOT. Also TOWNSFOLK have something to lose (their family and friends) if the battle goes sour, they're less likely to run than hired swords.

   SUMMON ROBINA THE RANGER, keeping the company of LANCELOT
        - We still need archers on the walls to defend the perimeter.


I vote for the middle option, check the cost of it, then later choose the last option.

[Radiant]

   SUMMON ROBINA THE RANGER, keeping the company of LANCELOT

Tell Axemont we'll consider his offer, then compare him to the competition of Robina.

[selmiak]

our military advisor and hero should see these kind of things and should know what he's talking about. So I'm interested in what the king himself thinks on these men. And as we are the king and have no other info than lancelots word we should really see them fight. So Ryan's first options sound the most promising. And of course we want to see what our military advisor really can do or if he is just talking to not lose his position. We should tell both leaders that the winner will either be the only swords we hire (lancelot wins) or the winner commands over the loser (Axemont wins).
So either we don't hire these mere 15 men for way too much gold and do ryan's number 2 or we can also negotiate anew with lancelot if he and his men lose and maybe have both armys for 3 goldpieces each and send some of them to hunt dragons and bring in more gold and treasure.

And we should ask the jester for our royal wizard or alchemist or both. This is sure interesting to know what he has in stock for us. Some potions that can make negotiation with fartraveled merchants easier or firework weapons to support the guards or equally magic stuff.

[miguel]

Ask LANCELOT if he's willing to TRAIN, with his choosing, of any able bodied TOWNSFOLK that OFFER their services to be GUARDS

+1

[Tibatonk]

Meh, not happy with any of our options here.

-Hiring KEVIN and his men:

Since they are HEAVY KNIGHTS, they seem to be better suited for war-like situations than for exploring. Meaning, if we hire KEVIN, we would probably be better off sending LANCELOT on missions and keeping KEVIN around to defend the city. But since LANCELOT is much more experienced, as well, he would also make a much better MILITARY ADVISOR. And as mentioned before, it seems a rather good idea to NOT send our MILITARY ADVISOR out on errands.

-LANCELOT's advice: Hire CRIER to spread the word that we seek more able-bodied men to defend the realm.

That seems a decent enough method to enlarge our number of GUARDS and general KNIGHTS, and certainly should be considered. But will we find another HERO this way? And if yes, how long will it take? Can we really afford another couple of days of not having a roaming HERO at our disposal?

-Hire ROBINA and her ARCHERS:

While we definitely will need ARCHERS in the long run, particularly if we're ever gonna be involved in a war, I can't see much use for them, right now. Nor would a RANGER seem to be much help as a HERO. He (or, in this case, she) would probably be much less respected as an emissary than a SIR WHATEVER OF WHEREVER would be. And I can't see a RANGER slaying a DRAGON, either.

-Ask AXEMONT to test his men in training pits with a tourney bladed (wooden or dull) weapons against LANCELOT's men:

Seems a surefire way to actually lower morale, somehow. If LANCELOT loses, he will be unhappy for sure. Particularly since we are basically testing his advice this way. If KEVIN loses, well... we won't have gained anything.

So, in conclusion: Having LANCELOT train TOWNSFOLK as GUARDS seems a necessary and useful option. Therefore:

Ask LANCELOT if he's willing to TRAIN, with his choosing, of any able bodied TOWNSFOLK that OFFER their services to be GUARDS

(Edit: But going with Baron's idea for now)

But: Where to get a HERO from? And soon?

Idea: Create our own HEROES, we're the king, after all. Schedule two tournaments for the next day. One which every experienced KNIGHT, including LANCELOT's men, can enter. Another one which every ordinary CITIZEN who signs up to join our new TRAINING PROGRAM can enter. The winners of both tournaments will be KNIGHTED by us and named HEROES of the realm. Should be a good incentive for people to sign up for training and will leave us with two HEROES, one experienced and one probably rather loyal to us. Only thing would be to figure out how much to pay them, but I guess our MILITARY ADVISOR could help us with that. Shouldn't be too expensive, though, since neither off them will bring any men. Downside: We won't know who we'll get beforehand and we'll be stuck with whoever wins.

And a question that came to mind while writing the above: LANCELOT's men, as well as KEVIN's men, are considered KNIGHTS. Is this merely a description of their military function and fighting style, or does this actually mean they are KNIGHTED? And if they are KNIGHTED, what does differentiate them from HEROES?

[Baron]

I'm not going to hold Sir Kevin's inexperience against him, but I'm also not above exploiting his youthful eagerness.  I mean, we can't exactly have this guy idling his thumbs, resentful at us, with all that muscle behind him.  No, we need to harness his loyalty without needlessly spending cash.  Tell him he has to prove himself before we can accept his offer:

>> SEND SIR KEVIN & COMPANY TO SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH; AND SHOULD HE BE SUCCESSFUL WE WILL HIRE (AND TRAIN) HIM AND HIS MEN

The Jester has already been sent to permit the next audience, so we've missed our opportunity to queue jump the audiences for now.

I've also added Sir Kevin of Axemount to our KING SIMULATOR 2013 WIKI GLOSSARY, and was quite pleased to see that our good Selmiak and Ryan Timothy have filled in all the blanks I had left.  Capital job, good sirs!

[Ghost]

>> SEND SIR KEVIN & COMPANY TO SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH; AND SHOULD HE BE SUCCESSFUL WE WILL HIRE (AND TRAIN) HIM AND HIS MEN

Definite +1 on that.

[Tibatonk]

>> SEND SIR KEVIN & COMPANY TO SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH; AND SHOULD HE BE SUCCESSFUL WE WILL HIRE (AND TRAIN) HIM AND HIS MEN

+1 (hopefully not insulting the guy and turning him against us)

[NightHawk]

We could make better use of Sir Kevin's troops by having them escort a trade convoy to Turbanistan.

[Crimson Wizard]

Suddenly, my two cents gold coin pieces .

And I can't see a RANGER slaying a DRAGON, either.

Remember Bard the Bowman!

[Radiant]

>> SEND SIR KEVIN & COMPANY TO SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH; AND SHOULD HE BE SUCCESSFUL WE WILL HIRE (AND TRAIN) HIM AND HIS MEN

+1

Also, I would still like to SPEAK TO ROBINA next (with LANCELOT present) and see what she has to offer. It strikes me that a team of rangers would be excellent at exploring the countryside.

[miguel]

Because the heroes are both present and Ryan and Baron ideas sound smart I suggest we chain both commands like this:

Quotes from Baron and Ryan:

    >> SEND SIR KEVIN & COMPANY TO SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH; AND SHOULD HE BE SUCCESSFUL WE WILL HIRE (AND TRAIN) HIM AND HIS MEN
    >> Ask LANCELOT if he's willing to TRAIN, with his choosing, of any able bodied TOWNSFOLK that OFFER their services to be GUARDS

In case you support my choice don't forget to quote it and "+1"(support it) before WHAM makes another round.

[WHAM]

"Sir Kevin, your offer interests me, but I already have knights at my disposal, and thus I need to evaluate your abilities before agreein on hiring you to serve the realm. I order you to venture NORTH in search of STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST, and only upon your success will I hire you and your men."



Sir Kevin frowns and gives you a hurt look.

"King of Grimdark, my men and I do not serve you yet. Either you will hire us and we will serve you accordingly, or you do not and we will go elsewhere. We are knights, not some rabble eager to prove their worth to an upstart King, and we shall not do your bidding unless we are compensated!"

There is rebellious muttering amongst the knights, and several are gesturing to one another as if they intend to storm out and leave right away.

"King of Grimdark, I am a patient man, but not all of my men are. I will offer our services to you once more; will you hire us?" -Sir Kevin demands.

[miguel]

Oooops...

> Say "It's -will you hire us, MY KING-, to you!"
> Say "My Military Advisor tells me that your "gang" lacks experience, Sir Kevin! You go on a quest and prove yourself and I'll hire your services!"

[Ghost]

We are knigts

And tightly knit at that

[NightHawk]

> Hire Sir Kevin and order him to escort the southern merchant back to Turbanistan mapping the trade route as they go.

[Ghost]

> Hire Sir Kevin and order him to escort the southern merchant back to Turbanistan mapping the trade route as they go.

This could work. Shame no-one wants me to initiate the short-term dragon-slaying, so yeah: +1 this!

[Radiant]

> Hire Sir Kevin and order him to SEEK OUT STRANGE STONES, EXOTIC WOODS OR THE BONES OF SOME EXOTIC BEAST TO THE NORTH.

Because we shouldn't abandon our plan for necessary further expeditions just because we have a minor setback.