Kingdoms: Main Page

Overview

Kingdoms is a fantasy game set in the fae realm of Arcadia, where two opposing brother-kings clash in a highly formalised contest of warfare and intrigue to determine who will rule. This is the Game of Succession, which only one brother can win.

Kingdoms is based around the imagery and structure of a game of chess, but does not use the rules or the board of that game. Instead, the contests are based on preparation, player creativity and an element of luck!

As a roleplaying game, Kingdoms is designed with a one-GM / four-player format in mind, with each Game of Succession typically lasting 3-4 sessions of a few hours each. It is heavily structured, and explicitly a player versus player game. It is designed to be most rewarding for players and GMs with strong imagination and the ability to roleplay and maintain multiple roles and characters, but also rewards smart strategic and tactical thinking.

This is, however, a game of narrow focus and finite length, probably most enjoyable the first two or three times you run through it! Also, it is unashamedly different from most rpgs in that the goal here is to win and to defeat the enemy players. As such, its not for everybody and probably not something you'll play forever. Still, I hope you decide to give it a go!

Premise

For one thousand years the High King rules over Arcadia, just as his father did before him, and his father's father before.

Now though, the millennium draws to an end and the High King is sacrificed on the Altar of Seasons, as tradition demands. At the very moment the High King dies, his Queen bears him two twin sons.

Watch now as the sons grow in the adulthood. As has always been, one turns to Light and the other to Darkness. The Seelie Prince of the White Domain becomes a man of honour and nobility, beloved by his subjects. The Unseelie Prince of the Black Domain rules his thralls through fear and strength.

Now they reach their eighteenth birthday, and as is traditional each receive a bride from the opposite court - a sorceress who balances light with darkness and darkness with light.

As they take their Queens they change from being Princes to Kings, and a Court assembles around them.

But there cannot be two Kings in Arcadia, so each raises Eight Armies, and war is declared. This war is dubbed the Game of Succession, and like each generation before them the two Kings must battle - brother against brother - till only one is left standing and only one remains to rule for the next millennium.

Rules of Engagement

This section provides all the information you need to play the game.

• Overview of the Game System
• The Sixteen Pieces
• Spring - Growth
• Summer - War
• Autumn - Harvest
• Winter - Intrigue

The Court

This section explores the different Pieces in more detail.

• King - The Lord and Liege
• Queen - The Sorceress
• Rooks - The Ministers
• Knights - The Warmasters
• Rook - The Manipulators
• Pawns - The Eight Armies

The Realm

This section is background information on the world and the game setting, and also includes additional resources for players and GMs.

• Arcadia
• Events
• Neutrals and Outsiders
• Playing The Adjudicator

Credits

This is a complete roleplaying game, originally created on the rpg.net wiki by Asklepios.

More by Asklepios:

• Xia
• Age of Dragons
• Do Not Go Gentle
• Legends
• Texas