RFK Mechanics

> ***"Scientia potentia est"***
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## Introduction

**Rise and Fall: Kingdoms** wouldn't be itself without unique mechanisms at work in order to create an entire genre of its own. Though many of these are conceptual and existing mostly in name only, there are a few that directly affect gameplay. Whether you are a King, official, subject, or simply an observer/newcomer curious about RFK, you should know the mechanics in order to understand how the gameplay is affected by it.

## True Power

**True Power** is a nominal resource which is essential to the gameplay. Limited in quantity, True Power is initially distributed evenly between three Kingdoms. Overtime, it may be split into between more splinter factions, or combined when True Power is appropriated from one Kingdom to another. If you're part of a Kingdom, the general goal is to gather up all the True Power under one banner. If this were to happen, the particular season of RFK will be concluded with the one Kingdom as the victor.

Aside from achieving victory, True Power has another important function: Without a certain quantity of True Power, your Kingdom will collapse and become non-existent. On the flip side, having a certain amount of True Power will allow for the creation of a new Kingdom to join in the landscape. As you manage to gain more True Power, the prestige of your Kingdom increases giving it more benefits such as revenue increase and leaving more room for losses. Additionally, you'll be able to unlock new titles of your Kingdom.

See more on True Power.

## Pointage System

RFK also works with a **Pointage System**. Used by figures with a certain level of authority, the points are used to interact with a multitude of RFK actions. At the current moment, two types of points are planned and a third may also come to play in the future.

### Kingdom Points

**Kingdom Points**, also known as **KP** is used generally for domestic purposes around the Kingdom. KP is obtained either through converting $100 IG currency, or through converting **2 War Points (WP) to 1 KP** (*Ratio stays the same during Warfare/Peacetime*). The usage of Kingdom Points is further divided into its different purposes. View a full list of KP usages here.

### War Points

**War Points,** also known as **WP** is used to create, control and manage military assets as well as making tactical decisions. Tying hugely with Strategus, War Points are absolutely needed in order to survive RFK. WP is obtained through the conversion of KP to WP, with a ratio of **1 KP to 5 WP during peacetime** and **1 KP to 2 WP during warfare.** As such it is imperative to stock up on WP before war actually occurs, lest you face the difficulty of creating more WP at double the usual price. View a full list of WP usages here.

## Factions

**Factions** within RFK come in many shape and form all which are led by players who manage to claw their way up on that position. Differing faction classifications come with differing traits, playstyles, and limitations. Currently, there are 5 classifications of factions within RFK:

* **Kingdoms**
* **Noble Houses**
* **Orders**
* **Guilds**
* **Mercenary Companies**

Note that while it is possible, there are limitations to having multiple positions as a Faction Leader. You may have to give up one position for another in case you are met with the choice between one or another type of faction:

View a full list of the current factions here.

### Kingdoms

**Kingdoms** are by the far the most powerful type of faction, having virtually no limitations on what they can do in comparison with other faction types. It is also easily the most hardest classification to obtain for yourself as you will need to contest the current King upon the throne via **Rebellion**, or to stand up against other so-called Claimants in **Claimant Wars**. Kingdoms can be destroyed through the loss of a sufficient amount of "True Power" which no longer classifies them as a type of Kingdom or in case of **Tributaries**, an order to disband and reintegrate into the Kingdom. A leader of a Kingdom is known as a **King**.

See more on Kingdoms.

#### Domestic Policies

**Domestic Policies** are a series of perks that Kings must choose from when initially creating their Kingdom. Perks cannot be changed again unless the Domestic KP Action "Reform Domestic Policies" is used. Among the selection of perks, you'll need to pick one between two.

See more on Domestic Policies.

### Noble Houses

**Noble Houses**, also simply known as Houses, are a type of faction which dedicates itself to a designated "Noble". Noble Houses are formulated when a King within a Kingdom appoints an individual as a Noble and hence form a House around them. Houses have a variety of abilities, notably that being of the manipulation of their own POIs, the ability to formulate (but not actively control) their armies, supplementing their host Kingdom with additional revenue at no cost to anyone, and the ability to lead out a special type of Rebellion known as a "Coup d'état." Houses can be destroyed if they do not resist an order of disbandment, or if they fail an attempted coup d'état. Notably, Houses cannot be taxed of their revenue. A leader of a Noble House is known as a **Noble**.

See more on Noble Houses.

### Orders

**Orders** are similar to Noble Houses in several notable ways. Similar to a Noble House, they are appointed either by a King or Noble and are able to control their own POIs and formulate and manipulate armies (to a greater extent if appointed by a King). However, unlike Noble Houses, Orders cannot lead out a Coup d'état. Additionally, they are also not able to resist an order of disbandment and can have their revenue taxed. Kings may consider Orders a more safer and watered down alternative than Houses, without the additional benefits that Houses provide. However, drawbacks include any defeats an Order takes tally up on the Defeat Tally. A leader of an Order is known as an **Order Master**.

See more on Orders.

### Guilds

**Guilds** are vastly different from Houses and Orders, focusing instead on the economic aspect rather than military. Guilds are officially recognized once they receive a charter by either a **King**, **Noble House,** or **Mercenary Company** allowing themselves to set up a Guildhall within a capital/fief/keep. Guilds are allowed to set up multiple Guildhalls in multiple areas as a fail-safe should their charter in a particular area be revoked and their assets seized. Guilds capitalize on their ability to charter and create **Caravans**, which aside from Guilds, only Kingdoms can create. In addition to caravans, Guilds have access to several other assets, such as being able to set up Espionage Centers, etc. Guilds can theoretically never disband from outside interference, but cannot operate without a chartered Guildhall. A leader of a Guild is known as a **Guild Master**.

See more on Guilds.

### Mercenary Companies

**Mercenary Companies** are a quasi-faction, literally centered around an army, or a company of soldiers. Being a leader of a Mercenary Company is by far the most strangest and unique experience out of all the playstyles. The capabilities of a Mercenary Company involves an independent army able to freely move within the Strategus board (unlike Nobles, who have severe limitations on their armies). Said independent army can be chartered by a Kingdom to operate for them in the battlefield. The results of losing a Mercenary Company in a battle will not affect the Defeat Tally for the hosted Kingdom, but any victories incurred by a Mercenary Company will lead to the a tally in the Defeat Counter for the opposing side. Mercenary Companies can be created via a neutral player with 35 KP, or whatever equivalent the currency has to offer for it. It is important however to be chartered to a Kingdom, for without a home a Mercenary Company cannot replenish its supplies or troop count, lest they managed to save up enough to establish an independent Keep (*or otherwise raid the countrysides and antagonize Kingdoms*). Mercenary Companies can only be vanquished via utterly destroying them in a battle in addition to any existing Keep they may have. A leader of a Mercenary Company is known as a **Condottiero**, or simply Mercenary Leader.

See more on Mercenary Companies.

## Warfare

**Warfare** is an inevitable circumstance that all Kingdoms will face in the path of conquest and domination over the map. Notable changes from peacetime will subsequently occur for Kingdoms in the state of war, and armies may engage foreign assets in Strategus. During warfare, battles will be waged until a decisive victory is made or otherwise surrender being accepted. Upon the conclusion of a war, it will subsequently be listed in the lore and the Timeline, which may detail things such as background, battles that occurred, and opinion pieces from Scribes.

See more on Warfare.

### Strategus/Turn System

**Strategus** is a feature that will be implemented into RFK, where multiple players with certain levels of authority take turns to manipulate troops and figures on a virtual board depicting the action behind RFK. Strategus is quite large, and deserves more than a short summary in RFK Mechanics.

See more on Strategus.

### Battles and Sieges

With the manipulation of Strategus, **Battles and Sieges** will occur respectively upon the map. These are certain events which have several requirements and conditions for battles. Additionally, sieges are also a type of game mode that'll be unique to RFK featuring time limits, lives, and certain objectives that must be reached.

See more on Sieges and Battles.

### Rebellions

**Rebellions** along with Claimant Wars are a potential pathway to Kingship, where a group of vassals rise up against their monarch in an attempt to seize power for themselves. There are two forms of rebellions:

* "Standard" Rebellion
* Coup d'état

A **Standard Rebellion** is available to everyone, where an elected figurehead spearheads a rebellion against a Kingdom. A series of battles will occur between the Kingdom and rebels, whomever reaches the defeat count first loses. In the case of the rebels achieving victory, they will steal a portion of True Power, enough for them to make a small Kingdom of their own.

A **Coup d'état** completely differs from a Standard Rebellion, that being that the rebel forces instead contest directly over control for the current throne. Along with the objective being different, a **Coup d'état** requires a Noble to lead out armies within Strategus against the armies of the King, mirroring standard warfare between other kingdoms. A **Coup d'état** will fail if the Noble faction reaches their defeat count, or if the host Kingdom is otherwise overtaken by a foreign force first.

See more on Rebellions.

### Claimant Wars

**Claimant Wars** differ from Rebellions as there is no current ruler for a Kingdom. Instead, multiple candidates or **Claimants** vie for the throne in a series of battles. Claimant Wars are fairly rare as Kings are generally reluctant to surrender their position or otherwise step down from the throne. Note that if there is only one Claimant, naturally they will receive the throne.

See more on Claimant Wars.

## Lore

Many of you are probably familiar with RP servers having a lore which serves as a backdrop to the server gameplay, where certain actions and abilities are focused, if not constrained by the lore already present and created by lore writers. However, unlike those servers, we at RFK are instead presenting a different way of treating lore, namely in the form of **history**. Rather then an intricate world that that players will rediscover and explore, we are instead opening up a way for players to forge and create the lore themselves, via their thoughts, perspectives, and the inevitable action with, for, and against each other. **In short, lore in RFK will be regarded as "history".**

See more in Lore.

### Scribes

Scribes are those who choose to record events that happen within RFK and then spice it up with their own perspective/thoughts. Similar to historians, **Scribes** will be encouraged to write their own retelling over certain events that they deem fitting to be recorded. If you wish to become a scribe, start with writing out narratives full of your personal perspective and style. Being biased is not discouraged, it is actually **encouraged** as you can choose to fulfill what often happens in the history that we often look at today. If you accidentally (or even purposefully) embellish or write misinformation, an example being listing a certain amount of soldiers fielded on the battle incorrectly, it's okay! Along with fan created lore comes **Server Records,** basic official information that generally is limited to statistics and certain outcomes.

You can view recognized Scribes in Notable Figures.

### Timeline/Calendar System

RFK will have a Timeline that will constantly be updated as notable events within RFK occur. As you can imagine, the Timeline is closely related with the Lore, and any events recorded will also have anecdotes to a certain Scribe's perspective/records on said event.

See more in Timeline.

## Map

RFK has a custom map totaling 4000 x 4000 as its borders. The map will closely interact with Strategus, namely in the form of terrain movement and Points of Interest (POI).