Westeros Blog: Planning the Future

[Westeros]

Now that we’ve gone through the death of Daeron II and the coronation of Baelor I, we’d like to invite players to participate in helping us figure out what sort of future events—small or large scale, short term or long term—they’re interested in seeing take place on the game, and being a part of. We’d love your input! We already have some ideas and plans sketched out, but we’re always happy to develop more. We’re not necessarily looking at individual personal plots (though we’d be glad to hear about those, too), but just ideas for things you’ve thought before, “That was cool,” or “That would be cool.”

Bear in mind that we are bound by canon in regards to some things—Baelor will not be dying before his allotted time—so there are limits to what can be done. However, there’s a vast swathe of history out there yet to be made, and we’re looking forward to exploring it with you. On a related note, Dorne’s going to be the most wide-open area in terms of larger-scale events, and it’s an excellent place for those who want to have a somewhat freer hand in terms of plans and plotting. It won’t be a free for all—we still do know certain things—but it’s even less written about than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms.

Please feel free to contact us via e-mail at [email protected], or via +mail on the game, with your ideas, suggestions, and questions about future plans on the game. Or check the http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/forum/16-blood-of-dragons/”>BoD forum, where this post will be archived, and start discussing it there.

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[The Dark Griffin]

I have raised an idea on the game, but the forum might be a better place to discuss this. One potential medium- to long-range story arc I would like to see is political unrest in the wake of the defeat in Dorne and the ascension of King Baelor. With 40,000 dead, the treasury in bad shape, disillusionment among the lesser nobility and the smallfolk, and a beloved monarch dead, it seems to me that the climate in the Seven Kingdoms is ripe for upheaval. Perhaps the smallfolk blame the Great Houses for their evil counsel in influencing King Daeron to go to war. Jealous nobles, angry or resentful that they have not received their due after the failure in Dorne, may seek to discredit those close to the new King, or to deflect blame, or to simply take advantage of the moment of instability to expand their influence through conspiracy. A charismatic demagogue or religious figure could whip up the mob to demand 'equality' or 'rights' or seats for smallfolk on the King's Small Council. Maybe even a pretender, claiming that rumors of the Young Dragon's death are exaggerated, could pop up. Who knows? These are just ideas off the top of my head, but I think there could be some interesting long-term plots.

[Luthor Rivers]

I'm with Almer on the unrest idea. We have a disasterous war, a weak king, and an empty treasury, pretty much the perfect recipe for that sort of thing.

Some bare bones thoughts on what might happen because of that situation:

- Smallfolk risings, like Almer suggested.

- Ironmen begin raiding (seems to be the first sign of a weak king in Westeros)

- Dornishmen begin raiding the Marches again (figure that could involve both Dornish and Westerosi PCs)

- The various lords begin taking more power on to themselves and ignoring the king's laws.

- Old feuds like the Brackens and the Blackwoods strike up again with no one to stop them.

- Growing distance between the nobles and the king. And I think that's canon for this era too, after King Baelor has one of his lords wash a leper's feat?

- The building of Baelor's Sept. With an empty treasury, the king deciding that he wants to build this, would be a huge problem, plus with the added complications of the religious angles involved.

And that's what I've got for now.

[Reyna Tyrell]

I have been mulling over the idea of a tourney at Highgarden, and Almer's suggestion of unrest or renewed Iron Islands aggression could play into this well, since we'd all be on site, as it were, for Something to Happen. Very open to suggestion!

[Linda]

We're going to wait a while before addressing the comments more specifically, to see if we can get some more posts in. However, we can make a few general comments:

1) It may be something of a misreading of the situation to assume that Baelor will inherit any ill-feelings that ended up being harboured against Daeron. He'll be weak, yes, and plenty of people will see the opportunity to influence him and to grab more influence, but unrest may not be the right word right now.

2) While a lot of smallfolk will have died in Dorne, they did not get invaded themselves and it is Autumn, so they do have a) lots of work to do and B) a relatively good situation resource-wise. We have some thoughts on how the smallfolk may become more restless a bit down the road, but right now they are probably not grumbling all that loudly. It tends to be when their livelihood gets threatened and when armies have pillaged their villages that they're pushed to the brink. And right now they're probably liking the idea of a good, almost saintly king.

3) We're not opposed to plots in other areas as such, but they need to be carefully considered since it may essentially split the playerbase over three areas if not everyone in King's Landing has a reason to participate.

More or less violent unrest may be more likely in Dorne, where the smallfolk and the nobles have been pushed very hard, whereas in King's Landing we see it more as a political play at court where people try to carve out room for themselves under this new king. Baelor's mild manners may definitely lead to old feuds rekindling and new ones appearing, but that's after he's had a chance to show himself as king.