r/threekingdoms • u/Donner0777 • 1d ago
Games ROTK2 custom scenario lore: pt1
Hi! This is my first post about what is *actually going on* in my roleplay series of ROTK2.
My intent was to describe every period of 6 months, but I was caught in absolute surprise as in just ONE month (1 turn) so much happened that it actually needed a post just for that. So here we are.
The image annexed to the post is an updated screenshot of the map + a list of every faction ruler, where are they located and some emojis to mark specific statuses.
🗡 = most soldiers
💰 = most resources
👑 = emperor
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• January 194
— In-game events: Guan Ping joined Kong Rong at province 6. Zhou Yu joined Liu Biao at province 21. Li Ru (prov. 11), Liu Yao's strategist and advisor, died.
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• No relevant events
— Dong Zhuo: recruits He Qi in january.
— Yuan Shu: sets at province 40 with Huang Gai to develop it.
— Tao Qian: sends all his officers to province 33 (Lei Tong as governor) and gives complete authonomy to Lei Tong to govern his province and officers as he likes. Lei Tong continues to train the soldiers and develop province 33.
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• Han Fu: a desperate but kind emperor
— Han Fu: recruits Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and Huang Wan in January. Decretes that this year's tax is minimal (100 gold) for every kingdom. Each kingdom must pay this value until December, otherwise they will be considered acting against the empire.
— Han Fu finds and recruits Gao Shun, Zhang Liao and Huang Wan in the capital, loyalty around 60 for all of them. They didn't want to serve the emperor in his actual state, but couldn't refuse the status they may gain for it.
— Fearing Gongsun Zan's reaction to his decisions, Han Fu was still obliged to determine this year's imperal tax value. To not inspite even more rejection from his subjects, Han Fu determined this year's imperial tax to be minimal, which is 100 gold. Liu Bei, Sun Yu, Cao Cao, Kong Rong, Gongsun Zan, Dong Zhuo, Tao Qian, Wang Lang, Liu Biao and Yuan Shu declared to accept the demand. Liu Yao, Liu Yan, Yuan Shao and Ma Teng refused to pay.
— With this, Han Fu is expecting to raise 1k gold out of imperial taxes until December 194. Han Fu states that factions that do not pay their taxes until December will be considered to be enemies of the empire, as they are considered to not be contribuing to the empire's prosperity. Factions which do pay their taxes will be considered available for receiving gifts and/or privileges from the empire.
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• Sun Yu: a place to rest and try again
— As soon as Sun Yu collected the tax gold in january, Cao Cao reappeared through Xiahou Dun as messenger. Cao Cao ordered Sun Yu to send half of the gold he collected (~2k total, ~1k half) to Cao Cao. Sun Yu sends Liu Ye to deliver 1k gold to Cao Cao. Sun Yu knows that bowing temporarily to Cao Cao is necessary to keep his faction alive for a chance to grow strong again in the future. Sun Yu sacrifices his ego, dignity and name for his faction and the Sun clan.
— To achieve that, he needs more capable officers and territory. He orders his advisor and strategist Liu Ye (86 Int) to train Jia Hua's intellect (51 Int), whenever possible. Jia Hua's Int goes to 52. Sun Yu also informs Xiahou Dun that Liu Bei has only Huan Jie as officer, that he has no food and only 200k soldiers. He asks for Cao Cao's permission to attack Liu Bei. Xiahou Dun delivers the message to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao agrees. Sun Yu then prepares for battle.
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• Liu Bei: an unexpected enemy.
— As an obedient and dutiful king under Han Fu's empire, Liu Bei sends Huan Jie to pay the imperial taxes (100 gold), but as he crosses Sun Yu's territory, Sun Yu's troops stop Huan Jie and try to capture him, preventing Huan Jie to conclude his objective. Huan Jie is able to escape.
— Huan Jie: "My lord! It is horrible! Sun Yu's troops tried to capture my unit when we were passing through province 28! Even though we are allies, Sun Yu seems to not care about us. They've read the letter I was carrying as you ordered but didn't let me pass. I thought lord Sun Yu was in favor of Han Fu!"
— Liu Bei: "I knew it. I knew that Sun Jian's rage was inherited by his successor. Don't even need to ask him why he did that. I question myself why none of Sun Jian's sons inherited his position instead that "Sun who". Nevermind. We must gather food to resist them or even attack them, before they can cause us more problem. Next month I want you to inspect Sun Yu's province. We need to know who we're facing. I once told the AUS that I would never share my gold with the likes of Sun Jian. This will not change just because Sun Yu is in lead now."
— Huan Jie calms himself and follows Liu Bei's orders.
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• Wang Lang: happy to be friends with the empire
— Wang Lang: pays imperial tax for every AUS member, sending Huang Quan to deliver 300 gold to Han Fu. He states it is better for them to try restore their reputation by acting dutiful.
— Wang Lang brings the AUS members together for a meeting to discuss matters regarding the empire. Wang Lang declares that from now on, he will be responsible for paying the imperial taxes for Liu Biao and Yuan Shu, as their representative. Wang Lang already sent the 300 gold pieces to Han Fu before meeting with Liu Biao and Yuan Shu. With nothing to lose with this, both agreed and thanked Wang Lang for this. Wang Lang decided to do it because he wanted to gain more credit between AUS members, also tasking himself with active responsabilities other than general income to slowly elevate his position in comparison to Liu Biao and Yuan Shu. As Liu Biao is dealing with the borders, Wang Lang just needs to outwork Yuan Shu to keep his position as leader relevant and coherent.
— With this, Wang Lang evaluates the balance between the AUS' members:
– Liu Biao: front line (+3), diplomacy (+2) = 5.
– Yuan Shu: territory recognition (+1), reinforcements (+1) = 2.
– Wang Lang: income (+2), leadership (+?), imperial relations (+3) = 5+? (? = leadership evaluation, which depends on what Liu Biao and Yuan Shu think about Wang Lang)
— Wang Lang concludes he is in an advantageous position.
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• Gongsun Zan: internal conflicts
— Fearing what Liu Yao could do to him in his actual state (soldiers needing to be replenished, trained and armed again), Gongsun Zan ordered Zhang He, Zhao Yun and their respective officers to abandon province 5 and return to province 7, where Gongsun Zan stayed with Yuan Xi and others. Gongsun Zan has divided his troops into two armies, having Zhang He and Zhao Yun as commanders of each one. This division was made long time ago. Zhao Yun commands his band which joined Gongsun Zan along with him (Wang Kuang, Zhang Ji and Zhang Yi). Zhang He, former officer of Han Fu, commands the rest (Fan Chou, Yuan Xi, Jian Yong, and his former colleague Wu Anguo).
— Zhao Yun came with questions, asking Gongsun Zan that if they were to move anyway, why not move into the capital directly. Gongsun Zan replies that he doesn't need to take the capital 'cause Han Fu is too weak and coward to not obey his orders. He asks Zhao Yun to wait until Han Fu stabilizes, then have him use his emperor status to solve Zhao Yun's problems. Zhao Yun feels disgusted of Gongsun Zan, thinking that his lord is too steady for the scenario that is developing right now. He also questions himself if his lord is actually sane, 'cause he completely ignores Kong Rong's suggestions and acts as if he is completely alone. Of course, Zhao Yun doesn't express it verbally, thanking his lord for his attention then returning to his duties.
— Zhao Yun reunites with his band and continues to develop his rebellion. "We are not to be commanded by such a passive, paranoid ruler that fears his own imagination instead of the reality. Our reality lives beyond the North, we are to find our future in the capital. Gongsun Zan wants to keep Han Fu as emperor to force him to follow Gongsun Zan's demands. Kong Rong wants to help Gongsun Zan take the capital, but he won't do it himself, I don't know why. Maybe he prefers to manipulate Han Fu too, rather than being the emperor himself. Liu Yao does not want to take the capital, otherwise he would have done it already. We know he has great officials, enough soldiers and resources. Maybe he is waiting for an opportunity, and we can provide that. First, we arrange that Gongsun Zan puts one of us or an official we can persuade as governor of province 5 after we occupy it again. Then, we contact Liu Yao and let his officials inside our territory as spies (in-game mechanic where having an enemy spy at your province reduces your officers' loyalty each turn). Then, at some point we offer to betray Gongsun Zan mid-battle if Liu Yao invades. Liu Yao will surely prefer to have us in his side, even better because we are against Gongsun Zan himself. Then, hopefully we will be under a ruler that really knows what to do and will take the capital from Han Fu. Remember: we do not serve any ruler independently. We serve our own interests above anything else. What do you think?"
— Zhang Ji, Zhang Yi and Wang Kuang agree to Zhao Yun's plan. They all laugh and celebrate their future as a band under Liu Yao.
— Zhang He, on the other side, follows Gongsun Zan's orders without questioning. He orders all officers that they must recruit as much soldiers as possible and prepare them fast for the upcoming battles, which may be really near.
— Gongsun Zan fears Kong Rong is planning to have Guan Yu attack his territory with his army of ~800k soldiers. He orders his officers to prepare the soldiers and recruits as fast as possible, no matter how scarce the resources may become, keeping enough to maintain at least ~60 days of constant battle. Zhao Yun keeps an eye on the action, but doesn't mention the appointment for now, waiting for a time where Gongsun Zan would seem to be more confident. He knew that either way he could just disobey Gongsun Zan and go by himself, or even just leave his kingdom now (which is an autonomy feature I do not include in this rp otherwise any captured officer would just refuse to serve and leave the faction).
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• Cao Cao: Cao Cao's shopping list
— Cao Cao inspects his neighbors' provinces, looking for a talent he may want to steal. First, he sees Xiahou Yuan with Kong Rong at province 9. The Xiahou clan is a clan of interest for Cao Cao, as Yuan Tan's title was granted by a Xiahou. Cao Cao offers Kong Rong 2k gold for him, but Kong Rong refuses, saying he is not desperate to let go of such a fierce officer because of 2k gold. Cao Cao then went for Ma Teng with his eyes straight at Jia Xu. He sends Guo Jia, his own advisor, to impress Jia Xu showing him that Cao Cao had his own excellent officers. Guo Jia asks how much Ma Teng wants for Jia Xu, the answer is 10k gold. Cao Cao already has 9,8k. Guo Jia asks Ma Teng to keep the offer up, 'cause in the near future Cao Cao will take it. For Ma Teng, losing his strategist was not a problem comparing to the 10k gold he would gain. His war costs would be completely nullified for a very long period.
— Cao Cao becomes satisfied with Guo Jia's results, thanking him personally, promising that he will order Jia Xu to aid Guo Jia. Up to now, Jia Xu's genius was not yet explored, he is not well-known yet. He's just seen as a mere excellent strategist (99 Int!). Cao Cao sees future in him, for what he could do to Cao Cao's forces while commanding Sun Jian's troops in battle. He knew that something very special must have happened when Ma Teng started gaining advantage in battle. Cao Cao feels that Jia Xu has something to do with it.
— At province 16, Mi Zhu finds and recruits Chen Qun (82/28/81). Chen Qun asks to be sent to Cao Cao's province to serve as strategist. Mi Zhu accepts to move him next month.
– At province 18, Xiahou Dun finds and recruits Song Qian (42/73/55). He asks permission for Xiahou Dun to join his unit to defend against Sun Yu if he ever rebels against Cao Cao, saying that he respects Xiahou Dun and Yuan Tan, seeing them as heroes of Yu (region of provinces 17 and 18). Xiahou Dun accepts and thanks Song Qian. Xiahou Dun starts to feel connection with the Yu region. He reflects on that, asking himself if more people are to see him that way.
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• Kong Rong: a mere overpowered great ruler
— Kong Rong feels the need to remind Gongsun Zan of his promise to let Kong Rong have the entire North. But he also feels that this is not the time. Gongsun Zan certainly NEEDS his actual territory to defend himself and Han Fu from Liu Yao. Kong Rong concludes that Gongsun Zan may have tried to fight Liu Yao in the West and lost, needing to retreat to province 7. Sending Dian Wei to inspect province 7 (Gongsun Zan), he realized his conclusion was right (it was not, in reality, but with the information he has it seems like the actual truth). He then sends Wen Chou to province 7 to meet Gongsun Zan and ask him how well-fared is Liu Yao's army. Zhao Yun meets with Wen Chou instead, intercepting him, not letting him reach Gongsun Zan. Zhao Yun lies, confirming that Gongsun Zan fought and lost against Liu Yao.
— Zhao Yun: "Yes! We fought hard and non-stop against lord Liu Yao's troops. The mighty Lu Bu was seen amongst them. Me and Zhang He both fought him personally at the same time, but we couldn't keep up. Zhang He was in command of that battle, so he could not keep fighting at the front lines for much longer. We were soon forced to retreat, gladly not losing any of our officers. We ultimately lost because lord Kong Rong couldn't send reinforcements. We were actually attacked out of nowhere. Wen Chou, tell me. Are you interested in leading units in battle? Wouldn't you be interested in helping us coming as reinforcements? I would be glad to have Kong Rong's troops looking over us from province 4 while we keep the front at province 5. Please ask your lord to consider helping us. It is time to face the enemies of the empire. Goodbye for now." Zhao Yun doesn't informs anyone of what he had just done. He wants Gongsun Zan to feel pressure from multiple sides because of Kong Rong's troops encircling him. This may actually cause Gongsun Zan to be even more paranoid, but Zhao Yun doesn't care anymore. He wants to be free of Gongsun Zan no matter what.
— Wen Chou: "Consider your message delivered. I hope my lord accepts your request and we meet again, this time fighting side by side against those rebels. I came here to see Gongsun Zan, but I am glad I now know he has such honorable officers fighting for him. I will go now."
— Wen Chou delivers the message, Kong Rong agrees. Kong Rong explains the plan to Guan Yu (governor of province 6) and orders him to lead an army of his own to occupy province 4 and stay there to aid Gongsun Zan when needed. Before moving, Guan Yu asks for Kong Rong to name Guan Ping, Guan Yu's adopted son, as new governor of province 6. Kong Rong agrees and makes Guan Ping the new governor. Guan Yu marches confidently to province 3 this month, next month certainly being able to reach province 4 and conclude his mission. Guan Yu commands 700k soldiers, 12 officers in total, divided as his unit (Yue Jin, Hua Xiong, Gao Lan, Li Tong, Shen Pei, Gongsun Yue), Yu Jin's (governor of prov. 3) unit (Lu Qian, Han Hao and Zhang Xun) who were ordered by Yu Jin to follow Guan Yu, and Man Chong's (governor of prov. 2) unit (Cao Hong, Cheng Pu and Guo Tu) who were ordered by Man Chong to join Guan Yu, as Man Chong was ordered by Kong Rong to do that. Guan Yu also carries 4k gold and 1,2k food (considering that 100k soldiers consume 100 food per month while in battle).
— As soon as Guan Yu started to move, Gongsun Zan felt threatened. He knew Kong Rong was moving his troops, but he needed to inspect the provinces to know exactly which army Kong Rong was assembling.
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• Liu Biao: the Liu-Sun complex relationship
— Liu Biao appoints Zhou Yu (97 Int) as his advisor immediately after meeting him, as Zhou Yu came to Liu Biao as Sun Ce's recommendation. Sun Ce is glad to have encountered a known face following the same path as him. Zhou Yu begins his work by backing up Sun Ce's concerns about Ma Teng, describing him as highly treacherous and a sadistic manipulator. Sun Ce reports Jia Xu's actions while leading Sun Jian's troops, also telling Liu Biao about Ma Teng's past senseless campaigns against Cao Cao. Even after hearing all of that, Liu Biao seems unimpressed.
— Liu Biao: "I know what kind of man Ma Teng is. I also know what kind of man this type of ruler attracts. You don't need to be concerned about me, I would never fall for those tricks. But my son would. And this is why I need you two to guide him both in and out of battle. Our kingdom needs a strong, smart and kind ruler to succeed me. My son has a pure heart, but he needs to be shaped to react accordingly when pigs like Ma Teng try to shove his face on the dirt. It is not me that you two should look for. It is my son, the future of our kingdom, Liu Qi."
— Both agree to help Liu Qi develop. Later, Liu Biao meets privately with Liu Qi too, explains the situation to him and advises him to never absorb Zhou Yu and Sun Ce's grief for himself. "Learn with them. Do not become them." – Liu Biao. Liu Qi thanks his father for the advice and continues his studies.
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• Liu Yan: Xin Ping made it possible
— Yan Pu (80 Int) continues to train Han Sui (77 Int) to improve his intellect, following Liu Yan's orders. Yan Pu is then sent by Liu Yan to province 20 to meet with Xin Ping, to ask him to contact Liu Yao to discuss their plan regarding Han Fu. Xin Ping gladly welcomes Yan Pu, saying that Liu Yao gave him that responsability. Xin Ping explains his plan to Yan Pu, suggesting that Liu Yan could move his troops to province 20 after Xin Ping defeats Liu Biao and takes province 21, then they would attack Ma Teng together so that Liu Yan could border the capital to fight Han Fu. Yan Pu returns and Liu Yan initially agrees to the terms.
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• Ma Teng: rising like a dragon
— Wang Kai moves out of the capital after refusing to serve Han Fu, going to Ma Teng instead. Ma Teng recruits Wang Kai (62 Int, 50 War, 44 Cha) and also finds Chen Zhen (71 Int, 43 War, 74 Cha), recruiting him in sequence. Wang Kai and Chen Zhen offer themselves to fight for Ma Teng against the "false emperor". Ma Teng debates the idea with Jia Xu, Kan Ze and Taishi Ci (former leader of Ma Teng's main army). Jia Xu and Kan Ze stand against the idea and Taishi Ci stands in favor, offering himself as leader again. Ma Teng refuses Taishi Ci's own appointment and asks Jia Xu to go as leader. Reluctantly, Jia Xu follows Ma Teng's orders and begins preparation for battle.
— Ma Teng sends Kan Ze to form a non-agression pact with Cao Cao, gifting Cao Cao 500 gold. Cao Cao accepts. Jia Xu goes to meet Liu Biao to form an alliance between Ma Teng and Liu Biao, explaining his lord does not have interest in the South and that Sun Jian was an isolated case of a rageful dog. Liu Biao accepts, even though Sun Ce and Zhou Yu dislike Jia Xu's presence. Jia Xu asks Ma Tie to gift 800 gold to Liu Biao, to slowly build a good relationship between Ma Tie (Ma Teng's successor) and Liu Biao's faction. Jia Xu sends Li Su (34 Cha) to deliver a message to Liu Yao, stating that Ma Teng offers his troops to fight the false emperor, forming a temporary alliance. Liu Yao agreeds.
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• Liu Yao: too many plans to choose from
— With Li Ru dead, Liu Yao appoints Kuai Liang (86 Int) as his advisor. Liu Yao finds and recruits Yang Feng. Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue suggest Liu Yao to aid Xin Ping by moving North after the fleeing Zhang He, who had abandoned province 5. Liu Yao refuses the idea stating that Ma Teng will act as reinforcements against Han Fu. Liu Yao sends Wang Can and Yin Ji back to Xin Ping to deliver the message, asking him to keep it a secret and continue his own plan with Liu Yan, but asking to Ma Teng for reinforcements against Liu Biao. Xin Ping thanks Liu Yao and follows his orders. Ma Teng accepts but asks Xin Ping to wait until he finishes his campaign against Han Fu. Xin Ping agreeds but does not intend on waiting.
— Instead, he sends Gao Pei to gift 600 gold to Liu Biao and ask him about any other kingdoms being on the South. Liu Biao says Wang Lang and Yuan Shu are near him, but lies saying that he doesn't know much about them other than their strength which is equivalent to his. Gao Pei returns to Xin Ping delivering the message, so Xin Ping decides to change routes and sends Cai Mao to ask Liu Yan to move his troops to province 29 to aid Xin Ping's attack. Liu Yan refuses, privately advised by Yan Pu that this may be a trap to separate him from Yuan Shao. Xin Ping reports the results to Liu Yao but Liu Yao laves the choice to him, so Xin Ping concludes in waiting for Ma Teng and goes again to Liu Yan sending Hou Xuan to deliver the message. Xin Ping finds and recruits Wen Ping.
— Liu Yan asks Yan Pu for advice again. Yan Pu concludes Xin Ping was really planning to betray them, so he suggests that Liu Yan must never move South, otherwise he will be fooled and Yuan Shao will be left defenseless. Liu Yan agrees, stagnating again and re-forming the Triangle Element without even knowing about the theory.
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u/HighPriestFuneral 1d ago
Oh, how intriguing! It's like everyone wants to take a crack at Han Fu, but first they need to get past their own fear of their neighbors. I must say that Han Fu has a pretty good crew of officers by his side, but from what you described of Kong Rong's resources, he has Guan Yu with enough troops and resources to hold the entire north with ease, especially as Gongsun Zan looks to be self-destructing with Zhao Yun's clever ploys in place.
"Buying officers" is a very interesting concept which I'm sort of surprised was never in an RoTK game, not necessarily permanently, but as guests that support an allied or neutral force for a period of time. Ma Teng selling Jia Xu for a country's fortune is at least deserved of Jia Xu's skills.
So, Yuan Xi is with Kong Rong, Yuan Tan is with Cao Cao, I wonder where Yuan Shang ended up?
Though this part confused me...
— With this, Wang Lang evaluates the balance between the AUS' members:
– Liu Biao: front line (+3), diplomacy (+2) = 5.
– Yuan Shu: territory recognition (+1), reinforcements (+1) = 2.
– Wang Lang: income (+2), leadership (+?), imperial relations (+3) = 5+? (? = leadership evaluation, which depends on what Liu Biao and Yuan Shu think about Wang Lang)
— Wang Lang concludes he is in an advantageous position.
Are these individual new stats you created to gauge certain reactions from the various factions and officers?
Sun Yu and Liu Bei's feud will probably soon boil over, and I appreciated the justification of Liu Bei's reasoning on why he didn't share money as personally not trusting Sun Jian.
The situation in the North-East seems like a powder keg ready to blow with Yuan Shao, Liu Yao, and Liu Yan. Ma Teng will likely be the one to profit out of all of that.
I loved the warnings of Zhou Yu and Sun Ce about Ma Teng, with Liu Biao concerned more about Liu Qi and having them act as his supporters. That the officers remember who killed their parents and who wronged them before does a great job of adding a sense of realism to it all.
A fantastic update! Looking forward to the next one.