The Queen's Justice

Here’s the player briefing for The Queen’s Justice, the game I’m running at Chimera 2012. It’s set around the era of the French Revolution, but in a fictional European country.

In keeping with my epiphany about con games after Chimera 2011 this briefing fits on one A4 page and character sheets will also be one A4 page, to keep reading to a minimum.

[size=150]The Queen’s Justice[/size]

The Queen’s Justice is set in 1784 in Ussland, a fictional kingdom in Western Europe. Queen Beatrix rules Ussland with absolute authority from the Palace of Ivory in the north of the country, using her soldiers and a network of informers to root out dissidents. Most of the Queen’s subjects are impoverished, although her soldiers are well fed. The nobility, who are said to be blessed by the “Great Heavens”, live lavishly. Ussland is isolated from its neighbours. Travelling abroad is considered defection and is punishable by death, as is communication with foreigners who are all deemed to be enemies.

The highest court of law is the Queen’s Justice, whose members travels to areas of unrest and act as inquisitors, judges, and executioners. Their decisions are held to be infallible and they frequently mete out the death penalty for obstruction. The arrival of the Justice brings a state of fear and paranoia in which people frequently inform on their family members and loved ones.

The Queen’s father King Ulbert overthrew the previous rulers to take power. He is said to have ascended to godhood on his death, ruling from the Great Heavens through his daughter. It is assumed that on her death Queen Beatrix will also be worshipped as a divinity, and her son Prince Hendrik, who leads the Queen’s Justice, will assume the throne. The rulers King Ulbert overthrew were adherents of the Xamite religion, a Christian sect with a strict moral code. The Palace of Ivory now forbids Xamitism, which it calls the Unspeakable Cult. The Queen’s Justice is often called to the south of Ussland from which the Xamites once ruled, to deal with cultists.

It is rumoured that a rebellion against the Queen is brewing among the commoners. Poems written under the pen name Everyman are circulating that speak of a new Ussland without nobility, where everyone is considered equal and food is shared. The Queen’s Justice has been dispatched to a boarding house in the middle of the country that has been identified as a rebel meeting place, to crush the revolution before it takes hold. The game begins with the arrival of the Queen’s Justice at the boarding house with a company of soldiers.

[size=120]Rules[/size]

Punching: some strong characters can knock people down for one minute with a mimed punch.
Melee weapons: anyone can knock people down for five minutes with a foam weapon.
Guns: point gun at target and either fire a cap or say “bang” to fire. Takes 10 seconds to reload.
Being shot: if you are shot you are down, and will die after one minute unless a surgeon helps.
Being “down”: you are only capable of pained speech and dragging yourself along the ground. If you are attacked again with a weapon while down you die immediately.
Being restrained: while down or unresisting you can be restrained. You need help to escape.
Maiming: while restrained you can be permanently wounded with any weapon.
Other: if you are unsure what rules should apply for an action, improvise a believable outcome.

Hey Ryan will you be providing the cap-gun muskets and rifles? Or if not, any ideas where to get good looking ones?

While flintlock musket and flintlock pistol cap guns would be ideal, it’s a matter of best attempt as always. Some less-period cap gun, or a flintlock gun that’s not a cap gun (and you say “bang” when you fire it) will be perfectly good too. Whatever you use it will fire one shot and then require reloading, so you’ll either physically load another cap into the gun or count to 10 before firing again. I’m not necessarily expecting a bloodbath, but if there’s a gun on the wall in Act One…

I don’t have any guns to provide. You can often get a regular cap gun from a $2 shop, they might look more appropriate for a Western larp but they’ll do. Actually, if you can get a “pirate” or “US civil war” or “frontier” cap gun those will be perfect, as those are flintlock periods. I’ve also seen nicer, more expensive flintlock cap guns at First Scene on Dominion Rd. But the chances are you’re not going to happen upon a “French Revolution flintlock cap gun”. :wink:

Here are some example pics of period-ish cap guns, although like I said anything will do fine:

Civil war pistol cap gun:

Civil war musket cap gun:

Pirate pistol cap gun:

As an added bonus, if you buy a pirate cap gun you can use it at pirate larps. :wink:

Thanks to everyone who has filled in the questionnaire so far. It’s very cool getting such a wide range of responses, makes casting so much easier.

If you’ve been assigned to this game but haven’t received my email with the link to the questionnaire then let me know.

Go Paddy, it’s ya burthday.

The Queen’s Justice is at 20 players and has been cast:

THE QUEEN’S JUSTICE
Justice Prince Hendrik (M) the Queen’s son - Bryn Jones
Justice Lady Amelia de Groot (F) scion of an ancient Usslander noble family - Hannah McKie
Justice Chancellor Florence Jansen (E) recently ennobled chief of Treasury - Derek Tomes

THE ROYAL FOOT, UPRIGHT COMPANY
Captain Carlo (M) commanding officer, said to be seeking ennoblement - Anthony Doornebosch
Sargeant Saskia (F) second in command, a hard taskmaster - Stacey Nylund
Zavia (E) a brash young soldier - Joshua Eyre
Brooklyn (E) cold soldier with a sadistic streak - Andrew Hart

STAFF AT THE BOARDING HOUSE
Merel de Winkel-Peters (F) proprietor of the boarding house - Elizabeth Read
Wout de Winkel (M) husband of Merel, a drunk - Gary Freedman
Roos de Winkel (F) daughter of Merel and Wout, engaged to Hubert de Wolff - Beth Strom
Adolf Oonk (M) the cook, used to work at the Palace of Ivory - Jonathan Ferris
Margriete (F) the cleaner, assumed to be the illegitimate daughter of Wout - Sarah Lyne
Finn (E) the servant - played by the gamemaster - Ryan Paddy

RESIDENTS AT THE BOARDING HOUSE
Jan ‘Théophile’ Seger (E) a poet and courtier in the Palace of Ivory - Mike Curtis
Ryker Wallis (M) a staunch coal miner, brother of Lijsbet - Matt Swain
Lijsbet Wallis (F) a kindly music teacher, sister of Ryker - Diane Davenport
Hubert de Wolff (M) a well-read book-binder, engaged to Roos de Winkel - Jon Ball
Jaap Kerkhof (E) a cranky barber-surgeon - Reuben Strom
Dirk de Meester (M) a poor itinerant sharpener of knives, husband of Katheline - Scott Kelly
Clara Zwart (F) orphan niece of Dirk and Katheline - Zanni Yeah
Madam Brummelstroot (F) a courtesan who is frequently visited by well-to-do men - Ellen Boucher

(I was going to pm you, but other people may be thinking this too)

I’ve been talking a little to Diane (playing Lijsbet, my IC sister) about creating some shared background and we’re keen to do so; how much leeway/rope will we have to hang ourselves with? How much stuff can we make up?

Cheers Ryan :slight_smile:

Good question. Which is code for “I’m not sure how to answer that”.

I’m still writing the characters. As you say, your material could end up contradicting the backstories I write. So the safest option would be to wait until you get the character sheets and then add your stuff. That should work fine, so long as you try not to give away to each other any info that your characters may not know about each other.

If you’d like to collaborate sooner, let me know by email and I’ll help out on a case-by-case basis. This will involve giving each player who wants to do this a brief overview of their character, so you know what not to contradict. You can then send any additional material you come up with to me, and I’ll try to ensure your character sheets don’t contract your material.

Sounds like a deal. Diane and I’ll bounce a few ideas around and send you an email (sometime :wink: )

Cheers
Matt

Just a note on gear.

The nobles have the option of carrying a pistol. The soldiers would ideally have muskets, although the captain and sergeant might have pistols. However, I’m aware that sourcing musket props could be tricky and more expensive so it might end up that everyone has pistols. The nobles and captain would ideally have the more ostentatious weapons.

As mentioned above, cap-guns that look like flintlock guns would be ideal, however whatever you can find will be fine.

Hi Ryan,

As the proprietor of the house, what sort of level of society am I? just trying to think of costuming ideas… it feels all too soon, and I’m a bit stressed!

Thanks,

Liz

Hey Liz,

Merel de Winkel-Peters is a relatively well-off peasant. There isn’t much of a middle class or “bourgeoisie” in Ussland, but she’s about as close as you get to it. They might look something like this:

So I’d suggest a bit more colour and slightly fancier clothes than the average peasant, without being ostentatious. Maybe a coloured or patterned dress, a shawl, some kind of headwear like a hat or bonnet? I wouldn’t go in for big underskirts, that’s more for the nobles and courtesans. If you’re finding it hard, just go with whatever is easy for you from things you already have or can borrow, it’s not worth getting stressed about in my opinion.

The other characters who could be dressed a bit bourgeoisie are Wout de Winkel, Roos de Winkel, Hubert de Wolff and Hendrik Gruter.

Average peasant men and women might look more like this:

Whereas the nobility might look more like this:

But these images really are just for inspiration and ideas, they’re not guidelines or expectations. If it’s fun for you to do costume then go crazy, if it’s a hassle then just do whatever’s easy. In the end it’s about the roleplay not the costume.

I’ve got a similar question. I’m playing Lijsbet Wallis and have made my costume already. However, I’m thinking it might be too upper-class (it mostly consists of a red dress/overcoat with a fitted top and a fuller skirt with some bustling). A couple of adjustments can take it down a notch, but I’m just not sure which status-level I’m aiming for. Any guidance?

Off-topic comment: eeeeeeee, what an awesome dress!

Thanks Ryan! I’ll think on this :slight_smile:

[quote=“Aiwe”]

Off-topic comment: eeeeeeee, what an awesome dress![/quote]

LOL! Thanks! Although it’s probably not as pretty as its description (it’s actually a bedsheet with a couple of extra stitches thrown in) :blush: I’m in love with bustles though so it was a perfect specimen to practice on. Perhaps its origins will add to the “peasant” quality.

Lijsbet is from a poor background, so if you wanted to take it down a little you could.

But like I said, go with whatever is easy for you. You’ve already got it done, so go with it. If you feel it’s a little too dressed up we can rationalise how she came by this outfit somehow IC if that makes you more comfortable with it. No biggie.

[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]
Lijsbet is from a poor background, so if you wanted to take it down a little you could.

But like I said, go with whatever is easy for you. You’ve already got it done, so go with it. If you feel it’s a little too dressed up we can rationalise how she came by this outfit somehow IC if that makes you more comfortable with it. No biggie.[/quote]

No worries, Ryan. I had a back-up plan and Lijsbet will definitely be looking peasanty now! The previous costume can be just as easily used for a different game. I think it was the music teacher detail that was throwing me off as I was having trouble seeing a music teacher coming from the lower classes.

Ah right. She teaches music in a public school. Which mostly means teaching peasant kids patriotic songs and marches for the glory of Ussland. :wink:

If she was a private music tutor for the nobility then she’d definitely be more bourgeoisie, so understandable that you interpreted it that way.

Universal schooling wasn’t present in pre-revolutionary France and most other European countries of the time, where education tended to be run by the church for the privileged few. But it’s a feature of the monarchy of Ussland, ever since they overthrew the Xamites. Everyone up to the age of 20 gets a couple of hours a day of indoctrination… I mean, education. A room in the boarding house where game takes place is used as a schoolroom for all the local youth. I picture it as old school teaching, lots of rote learning of the official history of Ussland and such, and caning for those who can’t remember things.

lol-Sounds like my childhood :wink: Thanks for the details! Glory for Ussland, huzzah!