Game in the Brain

The terms Courtier or Power broker are not appropriate in the islands of Ma’ai, this is because brokering power is the salt and rice of almost all of the elite and persons of interest.

The power bases are grouped in the following in order of Influence: The Imperial government, The Landholders, The Church (aka “the Cura”), Middle Class (aka “the Illustrados”) and the masses. In each of the power base, there can be found appropriate brokers that facilitate interactions between these Powers.

Role: The role the archetype serves in his community, family, and for himself.

Education: The concerns the types of education and not just the subjects of education.

Professional Skills:

Primary: Key skills that are required to be 95% competent

Secondary: Complimentary or Support skills, around 85% to 65% competent.

Key Power Groups.

La Imperia (The Empire).

Source of Power: Authority from Imperial motherland.

Enforced: Imperial Authority, Resources and Force

Imperial Bureaucrat.

Role: Bureaucrats of the Imperia, run the affairs of state and enforce law and order of the colony for the heads of state in the Imperial Motherland. In this position they are very autonomous as they have few superiors to answer to and possess a monopoly of Imperial authority.

In brokering power, bureaucrats have the law on their side. They can legitimize a shady action or contest other legitimate actions. It is up to them how to implement Imperial Laws and Ordinances thousands of miles apart oversight.

Their various governing roles are in managing affairs and assets of state. Some are tasked to make the colony generate more revenue for the Motherland, and they are given the authority to grant funds for capital investment, spend on public infrastructure, and appoint local officials.

Education: Ideally, they are as well educated as the Aristocrats, but that is not always the case. Many of the top Bureaucrats are educated military officers who are retired or have chosen to move away from front line command.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Manipulation and/or Intelligence Gathering

Secondary: Socializing, Bureaucracy, Law, Scholarly Studies, Managing Imperial Assets, Soldiering, Mlitary Logistics, and Command Ability.

Imperial Officers.

Role: Officers more involved in brokering power instead of battle command or enforcing law and order have one major advantage over other power brokers, and that is the free access to force of arms.

Control of an armed force allows the officer to add his own power and influence in the negotiation table, when brokering a deal. His ability to offer security or a subtle threat is a decisive advantage in many cases.

Education: Military Officers are trained in the Academy, in an Officer track that puts them immediately in a position of leadership and command. They have a more rudimentary education when it comes to civilian affairs, like the education of the Principalia. Their education focuses in Character building, Command Ability, Soldiering, Leadership, Military Intelligence Analysis, and Combat Proficiency.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Manipulations and/or Intelligence gathering,

Secondary: Socializing, Leadership, Military Logistics, Soldiering, Combat Command, and Combat Ability.

La Principalia (Land Holding Families).

Source of Power: Wealth and Status

Enforced: Resources and Allies

Principalia (The Aristocrats)

Role: Many socialites are aristocrats, because the aristocrat begins with the many attributes needed to become a succesful power broker. They move in the right circles, they are connected and, often enough, related to the right people, their Family have formidable resources and influence of their own, they have a reputation and sometime prestiege and occupy a social station with the most opportunities.

Education: Aristocrats have access to the best education in Ma’ai. They often have the resources to take the 40 day sea voyage to the Imperial Motherland in comfort and ease.

Their unparalled access to education allows them access to various histories, literature, and sciences. The Landholder families with many sons often choose medicine or law for those who are far in the line of succession, while some sons would rather choose a military career at the chance to make their own fortune.

The education of Aristocratic women usually fall in household skills like: managing the estates and servants, socializing, cooking, baking and handicrafts. Women who do not wish to learn household skills best hope to pursue Liberal Arts and Humanities.

Languages are very important as a sign of station and education, especially the languages of the Imperials neighbors. Many are multi lingual as they are able to travel and indulge in the many luxuries of the west.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Socializing, Politics and/or Manipulation.

Secondary: Intelligence Gathering, Managing Family Assets, sometimes Medicine, Military Command, Scholarly Studies, Law or Bureaucracy.

“Matrona” (the Matriarchs)

Role: Matriarchs typically manage the family assets and household, plan the financial security of their children and family, tend to the family’s image, make connections and alliances and sometimes make the executive decision for the dynasty.

Education: they have the same education as an aristocrat, but as a woman much of the focus is in lady-like pursuits.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Socializing and/or Managing Household and Assets.

Secondary: Intelligence Gathering, Politics, Manipulation, Negotiation, Savoir-Faire, Socializing, Intelligence Analysis: Rumors and Politics and/or Managing Household and Assets.

Padre de Pamilia (Patriarchs)

Role: Patriarchs are at the heads head of the family. They manage the more difficult and risky or the male-dominated part of the family assets. They provide the means by which they protect the dynasties with either man-power, connections or contributions. They usually make the strategic plans and executive decisions that further the family’s agenda.

Education: They have the same education as Aristocrat but with more experience.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Strategy or Politics

Secondary: Socializing, Manipulation or Leadership, and Business Management.

The Eklesia (the Church).

Source of Power: Religious Authority

Enforced: Political Will, Resources

Salve (the Priests)

Role: The Salve is the Spiritual leader of the community. His job is very difficult and he has access to church authority, man power and resources to carry it out.

In his many roles: He acts as mediator in grievances between parties as a confessor and spiritual guide. He manages the morale of the community through social events, religious rituals, prayer, traditional festivities and targeting individuals problems that affect the community. He is also tasked to enforcing the Church’s authority, by reporting threatening activities or thoughts that would lead to question it. He is also an enabler, adding religious approval to a course of action. Sometimes he is able to control a community by allowing his approval to influence the parties who are in charge of it.

Deacons, Novices and lay ministers, active lay persons imbued with the Salve’s authority are usually tasked handle many of the non-priority duties of the Salve.

Education: Literacy, Religious Ritual, Theology, Church History, Public Speaking and Literature are prerequisite. Some are schooled in music a also a very useful tool.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Manipulation and/or Community management.

Secondary: Intelligence Gathering, Socializing,

Prayle (Friar)

Role: A member of a mendicant order, their religious duty is in the service of the community. Although, in Ma’ai they serve the Church as bureaucrats and managers of Ecclesiastic Estates.

Education: Literacy is an important prerequisite. Theological knowledge is secondary and falls in the range of basic to competent in many cases, and few are exceptional.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Managing Ecclesiastic Assets and/or Manipulation

Secondary: Socializing, Manipulation, Intelligence Gathering,

The Illustrados (the Enlightened Middle Class):

Source of Power: Collective Resources and Skill

Enforced: Collective Resources and Skill

Iskolar (The Scholar).

Role: They are a treasure of theoretical knowledge. They work as councilors and advisors, offering their expertise and insight to those who can use it. They are able identify opportunities and risks in their area of expertise and are able to aid in the formulation of a strategy and contingencies.

Scholars spend a full time effort continuously accumulating knowledge. They are the more recent incarnation of sages or old, except for their expertise in modern sciences and empirical processes.

Education: Some are educated abroad in the motherland without the same comfort of the Principalia and at the great sacrifice of their families, many are educated locally in the local universities or colleges and sometimes are able to travel and study later in their education and usually pay their own way.

Their education is between the Pricipalia’s access and that of the Broad Knowledge of History, Places of interest, and Peoples. They are usually multi-lingual, capable in public speaking in both the Local and Imperial language.

Some are skilled in many other western languages, while some who are part Xao, are skilled in the far-land, mainland, and lowland dialect. A rich knowledge of Classical and Contemporary Literature of both local and imperial culture is common.

Professional Abilities:

Primary: Teaching, Intelligence Analysis, and/or Strategy

Secondary: Scholarly Studies, Basic Management, Mercantile, and Self-Sufficiency skills.

Negosyante (The Entrepreneur).

Role: They make up the ranks of the growing middle class. They are the estate-less few who are able to turn out a profit even when they have so little going their way.

Negosyante’s are adaptable, innovative, and highly skilled, they have to be in order to make a good living without the capital the Principalia possesses.

Education: Some are literate enough to get by and some are as educated as the Iskolars. Most of them are self educated and with many practical skills.

Professional Skills:

Primary: Leadership, Management and Manipulation,

Secondary: A Trade-worthy skill, Socializing, Intelligence Gathering, Mercantile, Self-Sufficiency and Strategy.

The Reformer.

Role: They are men or women who fight for a cause, they can fight for with support of others or with own resources. Reformers check the balance of power and prevent the powerless from eventually reaching a level of unrest that is beyond manageable.

They sometimes act as mediator between the upper and the lowest classes, but sometimes they are caught up at being an outsider from the two and being perceived as lumped up together with the other party.

Some Reformers write propaganda trying to acquire much of the coveted rights and opportunities of the upper class.

Irregardless of what course of action they take to change the status quo their reasons can be as varied as Altruism to pure Vanity to just brokering power.

Education: Similar education as the Negosyante or Iskolar.

Professional Skills:

Primary: Manipulation, Leadership, Charisma, and/or Literature

Secondary: Scholarly Studies, Basic Management, Basic Mercantile, and Self-Sufficiency skills.

The Artists.

Role: they provide points of interests for those who have little else to do with their power. Artists typically earn their patronage from the wealthy Principalia. Their service is to make beautiful things to be flaunted, adored and brokered.

Artists involve both artisans and performers, both who are mostly enjoyed by those who can pay their price.

Education: They a variety of educations, just like the Negosyante.

Professional Skills:

Primary: Performance Skill, Acting, or Artisan Skill

Secondary: Socializing, Sycophantics, Diplomacy, Negotiation, Art Appreciation, Client Psychology (Taste), Mercantile, Selling, Self-Sufficiency Skill.

Ang Massa (the Masses).

Source of Power: Their Collective numbers

Enforced: Their Collective numbers

Proletariat Representative.

Role: These are men or women who have become first among peers. They sometimes command respect or force, have the sympathy, or have their ear, of a small struggling community.

They are usually representative of a Power’s influence over a community or the other way around, the Representative of the community to the Power. They usually hold

Education: They have various degrees of literacy. Familiar with many of the personal histories and traditions of the locals.

Professional Skills:

Primary: Manipulation, Socializing, Diplomacy, or Leadership

Secondary:Community Management, Combat Ability, Self-Sufficiency Skills.

After writing this. I can’t believe how much I’ve diverged from Fantasy towards Realism. This is not so much as material of a game but more of a guide to how it was in 19th century Philippines.

Elements of the Game:

Appearance. Communicating Status is important in the Subtle Games of Intrigue, Manipulation and Diplomacy. Appearance is not just aesthetics but the kind of person one can appear to be at a glance. There are many visual cues that the culture of Ma’ai has adopted from its Imperial Lords and they are important in order to communicate with those in power. In this subtle and complex game, appearance is the very first move in a series of calculated moves.

Private Circles, Memberships. Characters are not meant to exist in a void. When the Player fills up his PC’s role, he also establishes the circles the character is part of. These are the default and starting connections a PC may have in the start of the game, these are also the potential connections PCs will have when they move to different social spheres through out the game.

School or Education, Social Class, Home town, Profession and Peers can be summed up by a few key words. It is through these key word the GM can quickly fit appropriate connections by which the PC may approach an adventure.

Parties, Fiestas, and Other Social Events and Venues. The simplest and newest connections are made in social events. It is the excuse to walk up to a total stranger and strike a conversation. Outside these events or venue, such an act would immediately trigger a response of suspicion and a negative reaction.

PCs can usually find the first piece, in a string of pieces, of an adventure. Players get to role play and explore different ways of creating connections with limitations and strengths of their PC.

Gossip, Slander, Misinformation. Gossip doesn’t exist in a void, there is a clue or a hint of truth in it, it is also one of the most continuously active tools of brokering power, regardless if the parties involved wish it or not.

Those who will want to use gossip in information gathering must consider the following points: Source, Familiarity with the Parties involved, and Context. All three points are crucial in deciding the credibility of the information gleaned and how much resource would be used to act on it.

Slander and misinformation are other iterations of gossip. Everyone privy to gossip have their own value assignment to it. In this value assignment, skilled manipulators can use gossip to create misinformation or damage their opponent.

Gathering information, requires the appropriate Social Navigation skill (in GURPS: Streetwise, Politics, and Sociology to name some; ideally not an influence skill).

In order to processes this information the PCs should have their own Intelligence Analysis skill appropriate to the subject matter. (In GURPS Intelligence Analysis: Politics, Warfare, Underworld are examples; using other less specialized skill will incur a -4 default penalty).

Sponsorship in Marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations. The objective of these rituals is to make one a co-sponsor to the welfare of a mutual relation. This creates an undeniable connection to the participants involved. The participants are connected to each other in a way they can exchange favors in the context of religious social obligation.

These sponsors are usually called God parents and to each other they are “Com’pare” and “Co’madre” (translating to Co-father and Co-mother).

Marriage Alliances. When marriage alliances come to mind, people tend to imagine two equally powerful factions merging. In reality, this is not always true, although the appearance of this is key in a marriage alliance.

Marriages are made to consolidate and to further power, not just to ally it. An unbreakable contract, because there is no form of divorce and annulment requires the backing of the Church and sufficient reason, marriage is a very powerful tool in dynasty craft.

To the family heads who have the daughters. It would be a terrible underestimation to consider daughters as merely a prize to be won. But to the most cunning Matriarchs daughters are a way to secure a powerful male ally.

In Imperial Society men are given every opportunity to climb the ladder of success, but they do this with few lasting allies. Men have a harder time establishing powerful alliances for long from just out of mutual gain and rapport. Daughters and Sisters allows a dynasty to have the pick of the best men to be had, and a surer way to keep them loyal to the family.

Grants of Land, Offices, Authority, Funding. Brokering Power often results to Power for the broker and not just compensation. Grants of Land, Offices, Authority and Funding are ways to establish loyalty and not just paying for a service. Grants are not without its strings, they can be returned to the authority that gave it, as a way to enforce loyalty or as punishment for failure.

PCs typically aspire for such grants as it allows them to move up in power, but they can also award it in order to retain valuable and skilled individuals who he can be very useful.