Of Bastards and Exiles

Discussion on game mastering Fading Suns. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Amlost
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Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Amlost » Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:47 am

I am looking at a campaign set in Necropolis and it has begun to appear that I am "populating" the city with large numbers of noble exiles and bastards. I realize that this is information that was likely lost/broken up/buried when Prisoners & Exiles was.... Whatever it was that happened to it. I digress.

How do people treat Exiles?
The out of favor of the Noble House(s)?
Exiles from the Emperor?
Enemy's of the League?
Excommunicated of the Church?

In the aftermath of the Emperor Wars I would envision the ranks of the exiles have grown. Bad deeds of the past war have come back to haunt many.

What about the illegitimate children of the war that undoubtedly are continuing to come to age long a decade after the war in ever greater numbers? I was watching Game of Thrones the other day and it brought up the naming issue. History is full of examples and show a diverse set of differences in the upbringing and treatment of illegitimate children.

Looking for any idea's to help.

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Angelman
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Angelman » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:07 am

In the Universal Church book I'm currently writing, the Church (or rather the Doctrine of the Privilege of Martyrs) count bastards as nobles ("highborns") if they are recognized by their family and house. Unrecognized nobles are legally akin to freemen. Adopted children are also regarded as "highborns", even when their lineage is less than blue blooded (there's an interesting case of this in the FS3 setting). This is similar (but less complicated) to family relations in ancient Rome.

Hope that helps :)
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Danos
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Danos » Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:31 am

The way I treat exiles is fairly complicated. Nobles can flee to a rival house, or join the church, or join (gasp!) a guild, or flee beyond the borders. Manitou, Hira, and Hargard are places one would expect to find exiled nobles. If the noble feels wronged by the house but has no stain of sin or dishonor, or DOES have a stain of sin or dishonor, and wants to atone, there are church knight orders for that in my campaign.

If the emperor exiles you, then you need to run beyond the borders. Most such nobles will be caught, but a few can escape via pirates or smugglers to the Vuldrok, Kurgan, or pirate worlds. There is a pirate haven in the Gwynneth system, a pirate haven in the Twilight system, and of course the Vuldrok will take anyone who can stand on their own and fight to protect themselves.

If the church excommunicates you, you need to either have a powerful patron, or flee. Honestly, this is the most nerve-wracking form of exile, because anyone from any strata of society could turn you in. People like this are going to flee to guild controlled space stations, lost worlds, or simply join the Scravers and accept a life of persecution.

Exiles from the league have the least to fear from the authorities, and the most to fear from subtle destruction. Nobles won't give you shelter because the Reeves threaten to call in their debts and ruin the noble. Muster bounty hunters try to kidnap, Scravers send leg-breakers or thugs with SMGs, Charioteers prevent such a person from travelling between the stars, Engineers devise tracking devices and horrible, insideous viral or chemical attacks. And if the guilds work together, the exile has to dodge all of the above plus the threat of Slayers.

As for illegitimate children, it depends on whether the child is recognized or not, whether it was the mother or the father who is noble, and a host of other factors. Children born to a noble mother are noble, even if the mother was unmarried. They might even inherit from the mother if the mother has a fief. Children born to a freeman or serf mother but a noble father have to be recognized by the father or they keep the mother's class. If the illegitimate child is older than the noble's legitimate children, this can thrust them into a succession debate. This is why in the main book it says Bastards won't inherit, they are often disinherited at the same time they are recognized just to protect the legitimate heirs. I tend to say that al-Malik use concubines, so there would be a legal precedent for a noble child who is not an heir.

I tend to use historical examples, a mix of Roman (recognition is all that matters, heirs can even be adopted with no blood ties), Feudal Europe, and ancient Chinese (there were often multiple children by multiple wives and concubines, all were noble, but only one was the designated heir).

Hope that helps.

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Angelman
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Angelman » Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:21 pm

Also, in the real world excommunication is not a death sentence, it is not like a death-sentence fatwa, it is simply a banning against recieving sacrament (i.e. "communion"). In some instances it may include banishing, but that would be very unlikely for an aristocrat, at least in most areas. In short, to be excommunicated does not mean you are fair game for others to murder, although it does mean that since you're denied sacraments you are pretty much given a "condemnation sentence" (i.e. chances are great you'll end up in hell, unless you somehow manage to live a very saintly life and have your sins absolved by divine intervention/miracle).
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Danos » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:07 pm

I run excommunication as more of the Medieval Interdict, which is very much like a fatwa. It means the excommunicated person is damned, so killing them is not a murder under church law, and depending on circumstances may not be a sin. However, the killer may still find themselves in Noble or Imperial court to explain themselves. What it really does is make them fair game for any church militant member, such as Avesti Pilgrims or Brothers Battle, since those clergy would be tried in a church court. And any arrest for a church crime would lead directly to the stake.

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Angelman
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Angelman » Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:08 pm

Cool. Whatever works best in your campaign. There is no reason why something should work/be regarded the same way in 51st century as in 13th century or whatever :)
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Danos » Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:41 pm


Amlost
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Amlost » Mon Mar 19, 2012 11:24 pm

Wow; Thanks for the quick feedback.

I like the feedback. I think I need to scale back the offenses of the exiles who inhabit Nowhere. Especially those on the run from the Church and the League. Changing them from exiles to shunned / better-forgotten may be better anyway.

As for the nobles a few idea's for inhabitants I have considered are below.

al-Malik former Regent - Decrepit and bedridden for the last five years. A sign of failure to the al-Malik, a potential threat to the Hawkwood/Emperor, and of little value to the other houses. Created a small fief on the edge of Necropolis, Nowhere during the Emperor Wars. His son and former right-hand-man now is the most powerful figure in the local exile community.

Hawkwood former Baron of a moon of the Gwynnneth system. Exiled for supplying/trading with pirates during the war. He is now one of the leading owners of non-league industrial property in the Eastway district.

al-Malik former adjunct of the Stigmata garrison - Tricked into assisting in the invasion of Criticorum in 4990. Exiled for his involvement. Writer of the characters "Guide to Rudra." Controls little more then one building in an abandoned section of Rudra.

Hazat Fighter pilot deemed coward - Ran from combat early in the wars. Since trying to redeem himself by creating a local fighter squadron. He looks for combat and dreams of saving the Stigmata Garrison during the next invasion.

Group of Decados Exiles paranoid about that they are being hunted, by diverse former lords/ladies, while in actuality have been forgotten. Deadly and "Neural-Chaotic".

Am I on the right track.

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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Danos » Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:43 am

These sound like suitable internal-exiles, those people being shunted to a backwater but not being actively hunted. You might want to look at the writeup for Artemis in Church Fiefs, they have a number of nobles who were sent to the world for convalescence from serious wounds and then decided not to go back to the war. Might give you some ideas. I do think you need people who are being shunned rather than hunted. If you were populating one of the backwaters on Manitou or one of the spaceports on Hargard, it would be a different story.

Amlost
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Re: Of Bastards and Exiles

Postby Amlost » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:43 am

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't read Church Fiefs in a while and had forgotten about that bit on Artemis. A few deserters of the Garrison here and at Stigmata are a good idea. Need to make sure that I don't overplay the exile part and them more the shunned and better-forgotten of the Regency/Throne & House Courts.


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