Riots in Lowenheim (4)

In our last post, we rolled for an event, and the result was "An omen is seen in the sky. Good or bad? What is it?".

I was first thinking about the archetypical comet, but then of course we have the Great Conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter a few days (December 21) from now. Apparantly, Johannes Kepler himself also predicted conjunctions and linked them to certain events in history, e.g. the star of Bethlehem. So it seemed only fitting the omen in the sky as seen from Lowenheim is the great conjunction!

Now to decide whether it's a good or bad omen. Since we want to stage a wargaming campaign, with potential sources for conflict, the omen probably should be bad. But let's roll a D10. 1-7 is bad, 8-10 is good ... the result is a 5. A bad omen! Let's say the omen will foretell that strive and unrest will arrive in the city as the result of raising the taxes by the Landvoogd ...

Let's also introduce a character who saw this omen and interpreted it. Inspired by the planetary conjunction and Kepler, I want to use my Gerardus Mercator figure. But it's going to be Johannes Mercator, a combination of Gerardus Mercator and Johannes Kepler.

Now, how I generate some personality statistics? Ever since roleplaying games, we have zillions of ways to generate characters and give them abilities and traits, and there have been plenty of suggestions in wargaming rules as well, albeit focused on military commanders and generals. But let's use the system from the venerable Tony Bath, as described in Setting up a Wargames Campaign:

So rolling a few D6's, we get:

• General Disposition: 3 - Average
  
• Morals: 3 - Drink & Women
  
• Generosity: 5 - Open-handed
  
• Loyalty: 6 - Totally Loyal
  
• Appearance: 5 - Handsome
  
• Popularity (this is computed as the average of all of the above): 4 - Popular
  
• Intelligence: Outstanding Intelligence (I rolled this as the maximim of 2D6, since our charcater is a scholar)
  
• Activity: 3 - Average
  
• Martial Aptitude: 2
  
• Political Aptitude: 2
• (Martial and Political Experience also were handled seperately by Tony Bath based on games played).

We still need an age, so let's roll 8D10, which can give a range from 8 to 80. Total rolled 35.

So we have Johannes Mercator, a fairly young scholar, popular with the ladies, rather generous, loyal to the city council and the Landvoogd, but not so politically smart. Sounds like a real professor! :-)

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It was a few months after the Landvoogd raised the city taxes. Johannes Mercator was in his study, when he predicted there would be a grand conjunction of the planets Saturn and Jupiter. He redid his calculations, and he was certain - the conjunction should take place a few days from now. Surely this was a bad sign, and he knew when it happened he would be summoned to explain the sighting.

 

Johannes when he predicted the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction.

Finally the did come. Johannes went outside and make a careful drawing of what he saw in the nighttime sky. Lots of people on Lowenheim witnessed it as well, and there was amusement, mingled with a light panic.

Johannes Mercator outside his tower and house, looking at the sky.

The conjunction as drawn by Johannes Mercator
(source: actual drawing by Johannes Kepler of a Saturn0Jupiter conjunction)

The Landvoogd summoned Johannes and demanded an explanation of what the omen signified. Johannes told him that raising the taxes would lead to unrest, and that there would be conflict in Lowenheim!

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Now we can update the table of events for week 2. Obviously, event #10 is removed, and we go over the others whether they all still make sense, but we add some details here and there based on the developing story. New = coloured.

1. The Landvoogd makes an important announcement as a result of the planetary conjuction seen in the sky. What is it? What is the result on the morale of the inhabitants of the city? [1]
   
2. A trade caravan arrives. Who is the trader? What does he or she hope to sell or trade in Lowenheim? What news does the caravan bring? [1]
3. The people living in the slums are starving. They form a mob and will go looking for food. Why now? Where will they look for food? Who is the leader of the mob? (==> skirmish wargame) [1]
4. The guards (along with the tax collector) go out collecting the new taxes, but a fight ensues. In what quarter of the city? Why is there a fight? (==> skirmish wargame) [1]
5. The Magician's guild feel their old rights of living in the city are endangered. Why? Who is their leader? What's the connection between the magician's guild and the history of the city? [1]
6. One of the scholars living in the city makes a strange discovery that is of some importance. Who is he or she? What discovery? How will it affect the city? Good or bad? Physical discovery or new knowledge? [1]
7. One of the animals escapes from the Magician's zoological garden. What is the animal? Where does it go to? Intelligent or stupid? Rampage or not? What are the consequences? (==> skirmish wargame) [1]
8. A murder takes place in Lowenheim. Who is the (important?) victim? Will there be a trial? What's the judicial system in Lowenheim? [1]
9. A drunken party assembles on the streets outside one of the inns (why?), starts shouting and destroying things. The city guard has to come in and restore the peace. (==> skirmish wargame) [1]
10. Johannes Mercator is now even more popular than he was before. What are his plans for the future? Wjat does he want to gain from the current situation? [2]
    

 So, let's roll a D10 to see what will happen in week 2. We roll a 5: The Magician's guild feel their old rights of living in the city are endangered. Why? Who is their leader? What's the connection between the magician's guild and the history of the city?

Lots to think about during the coming days ... but something immediately comes up. The magicians are angry and worried because Johannes Mercator gets the credits for predicting the omen ...