I'm a People Person...

One of the aims of my little experimental campaign is to get a bit of drama and flavour into the Kingdom of Aschenbach, so I felt I’d need to work out a few personalities. I’m hoping this’ll make things more memorable, provide excuses for wars, and add some trauma to battles when a beloved commander is scythed down by canister fire.

I’ve a terrible tendency to overcomplicate things, so I’m not developing any hard and fast rules on personality traits. Basically, I’m going to weigh up what sort of person they are and then roll a dice to decide on their actions, chances decided as I see fit. For the male family members, this will come into it’s own on a battlefield as they command units. For the female characters, more on the diplomatic side.

Personality is being decided entirely through C S Grant’s system in the book ‘Wargame Campaigns’, with a dice roll made for intelligence, health, morality and command attributes. I also rolled to establish some random ages , genders and number of children for everyone (plus some tweaking to make it all logical – no children two years younger than their parents, etc.) I was slightly doubtful about such a random system, but the results have been quite good.

Top of the pecking order is the Konigshaus von Krumper, with the elderly king Otto von Krumper and his queen Helga. Sadly, cruel fate has saddled the state of Aschenbach with a senile, useless king that has to be tended on by his loyal wife (18 years his junior – some royal adantages just never leave you!). Bedridden and with one foot already in the grave, thankfully the family von Krumper have three children to take over – the regent and heir-apparent is the Kronprinz Gerdt v. Krumper, mature at 32 and a bit foolish, but a well-meaning sort. His sisters are Emily (also rather sickly, but an extremely clever plotter – a power behind the throne, manipulating her brother, no doubt) and the younger Prinzessin Gerta, a clever 20-year old and probably the hottest marriage prospect on the international stage.

So, I’ve got what I was really looking for – an elderly ruling generation on the way out the door, and a new up-and-coming generation set to take over and get their way by military force! To keep them company though, I’ve also included two other senior families of nobility to potentially marry their way into the top job – or just fight for it, of course.

The Herzog[Duke] David v. Kleintrink and his wife Anna are another part of the older generation, and thoroughly reckless and dishonest with it. However, their children are a completely different matter. The Graf Erich v. Kleintrink is incredibly clever and shamelessly immoral, and the Grafin Maria v. Kleintrink is apparently a notorious beauty and extremely noble in her conduct (obviously trying a bit too hard to be the polar opposite of her brother!)

Last is the Herzog Hermann v. Zaub, one of the foremost intellects in the land. This elderly fellow turned out to be a genius, but sadly his command abilities are dire. Obviously his intellectual exertions are expended on witty epigrams and such, rather than anything of direct military value. His wife was described as a shameless schemer, and also ‘a beauty’. However, clocking in at 61 years, I think we can safely assume her man-eating days are over and that it’s all just personality now! Their single child is the Graf Hans v. Zaub, a weak and stupid figure but hugely loyal to his gifted father (now there must be a disappointed father…)

So, that’s the Aschenbach nobility to date. I don’t want to get too into the hereditary detail as otherwise this’ll turn into a medieval-style campaign. The whole idea is simply to provide character, and some excuses for wars as different factions back successions to various dukedoms. Personality interactions will also be handled with a light touch, as said above. To guard against immortality, I’ve also knocked together a random number generator on Excel to give a creeping percentage chance of death as you grow older, or of giving birth if you’re female and young.

Following soon will be a map for Aschenbach, plus an army roundup – then we’re on the arch enemies, the Rheinstadt der Luftberg.