Play@YSDC

Setting: Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, January 1857

The days of the British East India Company's rule over South Asia are coming to an end. But it is the start of a a new year, and the troubles that are about to spring forth are only vague rumors and distant stories slowly filtering to the teeming populace of Calcutta, the administrative heart of British rule on the subcontinent. The soldiers of the EIC are proud of their victories over the Sikhs (who in return seem to respect their conquerors, especially the British officers and the fierce fighting skills of the average Indian sepoy) and the company's political control is spreading outwards, to the northwest. This control, both political and economic, emerges in the recently conquered province of Oudh and then beyond, including the lands that will eventually become Punjab province. Peace, it seems, is being achieved through unification and pacification.

For the young British officials employed by what is affectionately known as "John Company" it is a chance to make a fortune before one day returning to England with money in one's pocket and a substantial financial investment in India's growing commercial development. The so-called "fishing fleet" is due to arrive, bringing with it a score of young women from Britain, hoping to score a husband among the many bachelors on India service. The sounds, the sights and smells of their arrival on this foreign soil is nearly overwhelming, as it seems ever so much more crowded and less sophisticated than the rapidly industrializing Britain they have just left. But in the 1850s, Victorian pluck and courage allows for adjustment and what passes for acceptance to quickly appear. India is a mystery, and a welcome one, for so many Britons wishing to escape the coal and soot of the factories, as well as the oppressive tyranny of the clock on their daily lives, now spreading across the "Green and Pleasant Land" they have only departed.

You are the young East Indian Company officials or Company soldiers, or perhaps their spouses or fiancees, who are assigned as staff members to a newly appointed District Commissioner for the recently pacified region of north India the British are calling the Oudh. Destiny is calling, as is adventure and mystery. Are you willing to participate in this call to your duty as well as the lure of potential profits beyond even your wildest beliefs?
............
I plan on starting this game by 15 November if there is enough time to build sufficient interest.

My last campaign "The Season of Our Discontent" is located in the Hall of Fame. I think its time to start something new, and in the relatively under played time of the Indian Mutiny (1857-1858). Kali cults and the Thuggee still linger in the more remote areas of the countryside, as do ancient Islamic mysteries brought by the Mughals centuries ago, now covered in dust and left forgotten in palace libraries or abandoned madrassa. Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet still remain remote distant areas, little explored by the British authorities, but full of exotic mystery that tempt many travelers.

Are you intrigued enough to give this game a shot?

Sounds great

I'd be up for this too. It's good to see this era get some more attention. I've read and enjoyed The Season of Our Discontent, so I know this is going to be good. I'll be away for the weekend of November 18-20, but I'll have more free time after that.

I hope to have five or so players (that usually works, due to attrition and player burnout) at the start. I don't envision the game taking more than a year or so to finish (which seems to be quick these days).
Hopefully I'll be able to grab up two or three more interested players before the middle of November.

Count me in.

This is set about 30 years before the Season of Discontent so I could bring in a younger Major Michaels, if you like? (Probably not a Major though - more likely to be a lieutenant?)

Cheers,

Phil.

Phil,

I don't see why not. Yes, he'd likely be a lieutenant at best, perhaps even a newly commissioned ensign (still an official rank until 1871).
We will have to decide whether he is a British Army regular or one of the remaining EIC presidential army officers.

One year is about the minimum for a play-by-post game, if it moves quickly. I managed to finish The Terror Out of Time in just under a year. Space Oddity has been running for over two and a half years, though it moves slowly. It's actually moving faster now that there are fewer players. It goes more slowly when you have multiple PCs doing different things in multiple threads and sometimes even working at cross-purposes. Now there are only three PCs, and two of them are working together. And Zombie Apocalypse has been running for over five years and four months. We're just starting the second day of game time. I see players come and go from my games all the time. Zombie Apocalypse can continue indefinitely as long as I have at least one player. Space Oddity and my Doctor Who/Call of Cthulhu campaign, currently progressing swiftly through its second adventure, each have a "linchpin" character who is key to the story, but I made certain that the players who were playing them knew what they were getting into and could commit before we started. Philulhu is playing one of them in Space Oddity. It would be difficult to find a replacement for either of these characters, and I wouldn't want to have to run them as NPCs.

I would be interested, provided you're happy with a PbP newbie. I've been interested in trying different play methods for a while now, as my real life group are restricted to once per month. I have played and run CoC before.

Mark
(I saw your ad on YSDC. If you'd like to semi-verify that I'm not just going to disappear, my YSDC username is markhepworth, with a small but hopefully reliable looking number of posts)

Lammomedes wrote:Phil,

I don't see why not. Yes, he'd likely be a lieutenant at best, perhaps even a newly commissioned ensign (still an official rank until 1871).
We will have to decide whether he is a British Army regular or one of the remaining EIC presidential army officers.

Excellent stuff. I've got the book Redcoats somewhere, so I'll get on with my research (I've also got a number of Flashman books, but I'll try not to use him as inspiration too much!)

Cheers,

Phil.

Oh! Oh! Dibs on Flashman then!

I'm joking, I'm thinking more like Daniel Dravot or Peachey Carnehan, brave rogues.

I am also interested, if you are alright with playing with a complete newbie :p.

I've been trying to get into this game for a while, but you can't really find a group of like-minded people easily.

It looks like with the following people who have already expressed an interest that I have a pretty good list of players or potential players:
Collector
Mr. Handy
Phil
Markh
Gaffer
Seon

I am more than willing to have a bunch of new players, because we were all newbies at some point. Having played with or acted as keeper for Gaffer and Phil, and seen a lot of Mr Handy's work around the site, I am sure the new players couldn't be in better company.

Gaffer, either of those latter two archetypes are fine, just no Flashman, or Carry On up the Khyber stuff. <grin>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_in_the_Great_Game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_On..._Up_the_Khyber

If anyone is interested about the situation in India during the Mutiny period, I can recommend the following source material:
David Gilmour, The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj (2005)
Richard Holmes, Sahib: The British Soldier in India, 1750-1914 (2006)
Lawrence James, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India (1997)
Margaret MacMillan, Women of the Raj: The Wives, Mothers, and Daughters of the British Empire in India (2007)
Stanley Wolpert, India, 4th edition, 2009

Those are all books I am using in the college course I am teaching currently: The British Raj and Its Legacy, 1858-1947: Britain and South Asia--the Intersections of Many Cultures.
I do have a more extensive bibliography if anyone is interested in other topics and titles, along with some potential movie sources. If you have a chance, I do recommend trying to catch at least these two movies if you have the ability to track them down: The Deceivers (1988) and Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005). The first stars Pierce Brosnan and is about a local EIC district commissioner investigating the Thuggee and Kali cults in the 1830s/1840s, while the later is a westernized Bollywood film about one of the original Indian sepoys at the center of the Mutiny.

Since we have 6 or so players, I'll see about getting our own forum set up and start posting some of the preliminary information I have for background and character generation.

I think I will play as a criminally-minded EIC agent.

Thanks, Lammomedes! I frequently have new players join my games, and I can help out if anyone has any questions.

I can also set up a new board for you, or Raiko can do it. We will need a text blurb describing the game (similar to the ones you see for the other games on the site's home page). I could use what you have in your initial post, but that seems as though it would be a bit long.

I might play the fiancee of one of the officials or soldiers. Margaret MacMillan's book would be very helpful there, but I don't have all that much time to do background research.

Excellent, an excuse to buy another Richard Holmes book. I've got Redcoats somewhere, too. I'll avoid the temptation to find the box with Flashman in though

How about playing Michaels (I don't know whether I ever gave him a first name?!) as a young ensign in the British Army? He may not always see eye to eye with his John Company counterparts.

Cheers,

Phil.

Philulhu wrote:How about playing Michaels (I don't know whether I ever gave him a first name?!) as a young ensign in the British Army? He may not always see eye to eye with his John Company counterparts.

Cheers,

Phil.

Sounds good to me.

markh wrote:Excellent, an excuse to buy another Richard Holmes book. I've got Redcoats somewhere, too. I'll avoid the temptation to find the box with Flashman in though

The Holmes book is quite good, full of detail if you are a military historian, but also accessible to a general audience despite its 500 page tome like heft.

Mr. Handy wrote:Thanks, Lammomedes! I frequently have new players join my games, and I can help out if anyone has any questions.

I can also set up a new board for you, or Raiko can do it. We will need a text blurb describing the game (similar to the ones you see for the other games on the site's home page). I could use what you have in your initial post, but that seems as though it would be a bit long.

I might play the fiancee of one of the officials or soldiers. Margaret MacMillan's book would be very helpful there, but I don't have all that much time to do background research.

Okay, playing the fiancee of one of the soldiers or a Company official is fine. Don't worry about the background research, its just for those who are interested in immersing yourself. To be honest, the Wikipedia page on the Indian Mutiny isn't that bad from a historian's viewpoint.

Here's the edited blurb:
Calcutta and the Oudh, 1857: The days of the British East India Company's rule over South Asia are coming to an end. But it is the start of a a new year, and the troubles that are about to spring forth are only vague rumors and distant stories slowly filtering to the teeming populace of Calcutta, the administrative heart of British rule on the subcontinent. Peace, it seems, is being achieved through unification and pacification. For the young British officials employed by what is affectionately known as "John Company" it is a chance to make a fortune before one day returning to England with money in one's pocket and a substantial financial investment in India's growing commercial development. The so-called "fishing fleet" is due to arrive, while the sounds, the sights and smells of this foreign soil is nearly overwhelming. But Victorian pluck and courage allows for adjustment and what passes for acceptance to quickly appear. India is a mystery, and a welcome one, for the young East Indian Company officials or Company soldiers, or perhaps their spouses or fiancees, who are assigned as staff members to a newly appointed District Commissioner for the recently pacified region of north India the British are calling the Oudh. Destiny is calling, as is adventure and mystery. Are you willing to participate in this call to your duty as well as the lure of potential profits beyond even your wildest beliefs?

Hopefully that isn't too long?

Seon wrote:I think I will play as a criminally-minded EIC agent.

Corruption seems to be the standard for the day. Outright criminality, perhaps not so much, for who are you going to steal from? Poor Indians?
But someone who has some less than legal and ethical skill sets are always welcome, especially when a little breaking and entering are necessary.

I was actually thinking of being a corrupted judge, lawyer, or police officer.

Could you give me some information about the justice system in 1850s India? I cannot find a good source in the web.

Now that we are alone, let me tell you a little secret. Look down from this window there. Do you see that man? The nice-looking old fellow with a cane? He's the gentleman who takes care of the Indian Revenue Collection agents. A couple of years back, 4 of his agents beat an old man to death after he couldn't meet the demand. They said that the old man was hiding the due tax somewhere in his land. He was, after all, known to be a miser by everyone in the village. They said that an arguement erupted between them and the terrible old man. They said that they shoved the old man once and he fell to the ground. Smashed his head on a rock and died. A total accident! Or at least, that's what they said anyways. Who else is to deny them?

Do you know what happened to them? All of them were found guilty for murder. Got dragged kicking and screaming all the way to Burma. One of them was married. He had 2 beautiful daughters and a son. Terrible stuff, eh?

Now here's the interesting part. Those Indians claimed that that nice gentleman over there told them to do it! Beat the old man up! They give up sooner or later, the mansupposedly said. It took the case straighout of the Hindu and Muslim courts into the Supreme Court. The Company Official was implicated after all. They investigated the claim and found that nothing whatsoever corroborated the men's words. The nice gentleman was found innocent. I know because I defended him in that trial. Besides, who could believe the words of murderers?

That's long but not too long; my blurb for Space Oddity was about the same length. I've set up the new forum under Gaslight.

Set a thief to catch a thief is an old adage, innit? Even poor people can afford bribes, of course, they're just smaller.

I'm thinking of an old soldier (around 40 years old), Queen's service in the Crimea and maybe one or two other dust ups, probably sapper or artilleryman. He's come to India to make his fortune with the Company, maybe working as a Commissary's assistant.

Arthur Dodgson's the name, but you can call me Dodger, everyone does.

Mr. Handy wrote:That's long but not too long; my blurb for Space Oddity was about the same length. I've set up the new forum under Gaslight.

Thanks! However, I don't have the ability to start a new topic. Hmmm...am I missing something?
It's been a while since I have run a game from the start.
Do I have to invite players to post on the game boards, or are the selected players who said they want to play free to do so?

Also, as of tomorrow (Sun, 10/23 EST), I'll move all all my conversations over to the background section of the new game.
The game is still not supposed to start until Nov 15, as I have some work related projects that need to get done first. Also I need to perform a wedding before then (I am legally empowered to marry people, and some former students of mine asked me to perform their service) the weekend of Nov 4th. But I will try to post and answer questions as necessary.

Gaffer wrote:Set a thief to catch a thief is an old adage, innit? Even poor people can afford bribes, of course, they're just smaller.

I'm thinking of an old soldier (around 40 years old), Queen's service in the Crimea and maybe one or two other dust ups, probably sapper or artilleryman. He's come to India to make his fortune with the Company, maybe working as a Commissary's assistant.

Arthur Dodgson's the name, but you can call me Dodger, everyone does.

Sounds fine Gaffer. Since the Crimea is only just over, it makes sense for someone who has seen a bit too much combat to get a job with John Company.

I know that Raiko has been making changes to the board, but you should still be able to post new topics. You need to click on the New Topic button (there's one above the announcement and another below), which appears even when you're not logged in, though you most log in to post. What happens when you click on it? Does it tell you that you don't have permission to post new topics?

Players should just be able to start posting in the new forum. However, anyone who has just joined the board or made their first post in the last couple of days is restricted to the welcome/recruitment area until someone adds them to the list of Validated Players. Any Keeper can do this, including you.

I'll be away on the weekend of November 4-6 too, at the Metatopia convention in Morristown, New Jersey. It's centered around game designers, and there will be a lot of playtesting there. Kenneth Hite will be there too.

Mr. Handy, I think the problem is that there isn't a post reply or post new topic button.
I know the button should be to the left of the search box, but there is no such button either at the top or bottom of the page.
Hmmm

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That is strange. I see the New Topic button on that forum whether I'm logged in or not. You should definitely let Raiko know about that. He'd have a better idea of what's going on than I would.

In the meantime, as a workaround, I can post new topics for you. All I need are the thread titles. I can even change the author to you, and you should be able to edit them freely. I can also make certain threads Sticky or Announcement if you wish.

I'm happy with a few weeks to ruminate over character ideas, and do some reading.

My initial idea comes from reading 'White Mughals' a few years ago, about the surprising number of Brits who "went native". Was that still fairly common in the 1850s?

Strange. I, like Lammomedes, could not see the New Topic button in that forum. Now I can see it. Perhaps the problem has been resolved?

Edit: nvm. The new topic button actually DISAPPEARS if you login.

I tried administering the forum and noticed that it did not copy permissions from anywhere. I tried copying permissions from the Gaslight parent forum. Try again and see if the New Topic button appears.

markh wrote:I'm happy with a few weeks to ruminate over character ideas, and do some reading.

My initial idea comes from reading 'White Mughals' a few years ago, about the surprising number of Brits who "went native". Was that still fairly common in the 1850s?

I'll have to check, but the numbers who went native drop dramatically after the Mutiny. However, at the point, it is likely that there are still a few white mughals or their descendents still around.

Seon wrote:Strange. I, like Lammomedes, could not see the New Topic button in that forum. Now I can see it. Perhaps the problem has been resolved?

Edit: nvm. The new topic button actually DISAPPEARS if you login.

Mr Handy, like Seon, I have the same issue. If I am not logged in, there is a New Topic button, but I can't post a new topic. If I actually login as Lammomedes, the new topic buttons disappears. I'll send off a message to Raiko to see what is going on.

Also when I log out, click on the New Topic button, then it asks me to sign in. When I sign in, it sends me back to the board, but says I do not have permission to post to that topic. I am guessing that somewhere the permissions are seriously screwed up.

I just changed the permissions again to copy them from Bad Company, the other new Gaslight game. I know the Keeper is able to post new topics there. If that doesn't work, I don't know what will.

Sorry about the problems, I think everything should be working now.
I've been following this thread and did take a quick look at the new forum after Mr Handy created it, as I was concerned that the new settings might cause problems, but I didn't notice anything wrong at the time.

@Lammomedes: If for some bizarre reason you still can't create topics then please PM me and I'll create all the threads you need. At a push you could use my test thread to get started, your moderator role should let you edit the first post.

I'll delete that test thread as soon as you've managed to create your own threads.

@Mr Handy: unfortunately I found when I was reorganizing things that the "copy permissions from" button only works for brand new forums, or maybe for forums that don't have any permissions. It seems to have no effect if a forum already has permissions set up.

I've setup the Gas Light forums to have the same settings as the other eras now, they were slightly different as I tweaked them earlier than the others (when I set up Bad Company).

I'm planning to get in touch with PoC to see if he'll help me make a few more changes so that this doesn't happen again.

Raiko and Mr. Handy: I can create my own threads, so it seems to be working now.

Hey everyone, I am going to move things over to the new forum, so post there.
If you can't post for some reason, let me know and I will see if I have to add you or if I have to have one of the admins do something.
But an initial post saying you can post would be welcome. How about restating the idea for a character you want to play and I can discuss how we can develop things for a common link or set of links between characters when the game starts in mid November.