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Message: <blockquote data-quote="thefutilist" data-source="post: 9459061" data-attributes="member: 7044566">To go a bit deeper into how I do it, I'll flesh out the bandit situation.THE BANDIT SITUATIONThere's the Dukedom of Ald and the Dukedom of Creep and they're on the verge of what may be a devastating war. The rules of the land means the first born son gets the right to succession and the privileges that go with that. There's no bastards but being born to a commoner is still a cause for great shame to everyone.The cast is:Duke Ald: In his youth he was in love with a common woman and they had a child. Unable to bear the shame the Duke said he'd deny it all and cut all ties. Now he's older and ashamed of his shame, he'd do it differently now but...he's already had another son that's he trained (Stern) and Stern has had heavy burdens placed on him and he's a genius general in addition to that.Stern: A son of Ald. Being a noble has been hard. It has privileges but when Ald is your father it's the duties that come first. Stern isn't likeable but he's fair. He's also a great general.Goldheart: The dashing son of Ald and a highway man, leader of the Forgotten sons. He's been robbing the Nobility and causing all sorts of trouble. His plan is to rob enough people that he's known as a bandit king and then reveal himself to everyone and demand his father give him his dues. Also beloved by the commoners for being dashing and sticking it to the nobility.Baron Strict: Loyal to Ald. Has the most men under his command. A great supporter of Stern and a hater of Goldheart.Baron Elan: Likes the daring of Goldheart but the laws are the laws I suppose.Lunis and Lampan. Ex cold hearted killers. They've recently adopted Dagger, a war Orphan and are possibly rethinking their priorities. They're loyal to Baron Strict who's been good to them. They've seen the horrors of war and found a way to profit through violence but if they did that now, what would Dagger think of them?Play begins with Baron Strict sending Lunis and Lampan out to find and kill Goldheart (although bringing him back to be hung would be even better)ROLE PLAYING ITSo I'd treat the above as fixed stuff. If I was playing this with Apocalypse World for some reason I'd also give stats to things. Say Duke creep has a 6 point heavily armed and armoured gang when fully rallied. Ald has 7 points of which 3 come from Strict and nobles loyal to them, 2 from Ald and 2 from Elan and loyal nobles.To make it even more fixed I might do up a few clocks.What's worth pointing out is that the more stuff you begin with the less room you have. So knowing what to begin with and what to provide wriggle room for is probably a skill. I'm trying to create the broad strokes of the priorities here but I'm also holding stuff about the personalities of the various cast in my head and treating that as more or less 'real'.I'm purposely not introducing any twists unless they're listed above. Even if I have to invent stuff it will be as much in line with the previously established fiction as I can make it using the procedure I listed a few posts ago.To go back to the broad strokes and priorities of the cast. I think it's having those fixed that allows this style to work because of how much constraint it puts you under. You get a sense of the situation as a whole and it becomes bounded, you're not going to purposefully add to it in any plot relevant way.</blockquote>

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