Feudalism

Frame · Power relations social

Land, loyalty, obligation – power flows through personal bonds of loyalty between superiors and subordinates.

Design question – In your game there are feudal bonds – protection for loyalty, land for service. How stable is this system – and what happens when a vassal rises up?

Reference example – Crusader Kings: vassals receive land and owe loyalty, troops and taxes in return. Mount & Blade: accepting a fief as a mercenary and thereby becoming bound to a ruler.

Associations

• Typical Activities – Ruling, Serving, Rebelling, Expanding territory

Coherence

Activities: Ruling, Serving, Rebelling, Expanding territory. Mechanisms: Area Control (fiefs), Loyalty Track, Tribute/Tax, Inheritance, Betrayal. Ludic Organisational Structures: political order (the feudal system), economic order (agrarian economy), social order (estate). Ludic Social Structure: asymmetric (the liege has different options than the vassal); nested (vassals have their own subordinates).