Game of Thrones Mod for Bannerlord Discussion

I wanted to start a discussion about what will likely be one of the most popular mods for Bannerlord, a full conversion into the Game of Thrones aka ASOIAF universe. Once its gets launched, I would imagine it also would even drive a sizable amount of sales for Talewords even, I've seen enough people post about buying CK2 just for the GoT mod that it would seem even more likely for Bannerlord.

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With no release date and no clear line of sight on many of the features of our beloved Bannerlord it may seem early to discuss how a mod could deliver the experience but still, I’d love to hear the general trends and desires of our community. I’m going to post my own wall of text and I’d love to read what other people want to see as well. Spoilers below.

Setting

Bannerlord will have a revolving door of lords and ladies dying of wars and sickness. New wars will rage and new vendettas will arise. If we took Bannerlord’s game rules unmodified - the ASOIAF universe would probably look radically different in a short amount of time. I enjoyed playing as Robb Stark, Daenerys, or whoever in a game like Crusader Kings 2 and changing the course of the story. However, I think our ASOIAF experience should be a healthy mix of static and dynamic.

My proposal would be that all key characters remain protected from death (until it's not necessary) and that major conflicts in Westeros to be locked UNTIL the end of the storyline at which point it would embrace being fully dynamic. I think we all want to spend a great deal of time among the characters we know so to maximize this, I think the mod should begin at Robert’s Rebellion. Honestly, I’d start even earlier but I figure most people would prefer to get right to the main story.

Your first generation character would be interacting with a wealth of characters we we wish we could have had more time with from Ned and Robert to Rhaegar and Aerys. The second generation of your family would then be peers of the present storyline characters like Robb Jon Daenerys etc. Plus by the time we’ve reached our main storyline, your character and dynasty will be more invested and a have a greater position to play in the wars to come. Making the passage of time slower in the mod might be good as well for enjoying the canon longer and considering the length of winter/summer. As Davos says, "nothing fucks you harder than time."

War Outcomes

I think we can let wars be won when they had not been in the canon. I’m not really firm on what I think is the best route here but I think there could phases of the game. For instance if you and Robb sack Kings Landing and win the war--for the rest of that “phase” Robb would remain King. However, when the next phase starts we’ll still have to bump him off and get the Bolton’s in charge and subsequently Jon Snow. This way we can enjoy influencing events but still continue the story.

Game Starts at Peacetime with the Mad King

Phase 1 Robert's Rebellion

Phase 2 Crowned Stag

Phase 3 Greyjoy Rebellion

Phase 4 Game of Thrones Seasons 1- 5 - End Results: Roose/Ramsay rule the North, one of the incest spawns still claim and fight for the iron throne (maybe give them bonus troops if they the lost war against one of the baratheons)

Phase 5 Season 6-7 End Result: Jon Snow holds Winterfell, Daenerys holds Dragonstone. The Lannisters hold Kings Landing.

Phase 6 Season 7-8: End Result: However this damn thing ends. Or - we can leave the ending unrestricted which sounds good to me as well. White Walker steamroll everyone, Podrick Payne sits the throne, whatever.

Politics of 7 Kingdoms

One challenge of bringing the 7 Kingdoms under the Iron Throne to a Mount and Blade game is that it has more complexity than the faction system of WarBand and assumedly Bannerlord as well. Assuming we are stuck with their being one “King” with subservient lords, we can have all Lord Paramount plus Stannis be “King” and everyone conforms to certain conditions on what would allow one to declare war on the other, declare independence or even claim the throne. I don’t think we’ve heard anything about conflicts between lords within the same faction which I think should be on the table (of course obviously frowned upon and with consequences). This would keep the game flowing during the story gaps that don’t have major conflicts. Hopefully the game will natively support something like this (for instance Boltons and Hornwoods fighting each other while both still technically being under Stark). If not, perhaps they’d be forced into independent factions until the minor war ends and the belligerents would rejoin the faction. Who knows, just throwing stuff out there. I just don’t think I want the 7 Kingdoms to be in constant open conflict or else it will feel like Calradia but people are cosplaying Game of Thrones.

Diplomacy, Intrigue

This is something I’d like to hear others thoughts on. Personally, I’d love for native Bannerlord to get heavily involved into claims and plotting and even more so for a mod based off ASOIAF. Full CK2.I haven’t put a huge chunk of thought in how this would effectively play out and I can’t say I know everything they’ve said about this subject. I do think it would be integral in keeping the game interesting considering my other thoughts on keeping the game dynamic without it being in constant random war. Minor and great houses alike will plot against each other and from time to time this will spill into open warfare that the Lord Paramount or King has to decide whether he should take a stand on the matter. A war against the iron throne would probably require something like the mega war system from Ck2’s GOT mod where all factions declare their allegiance and even the smaller lords perhaps can choose to switch sides as they sometimes do.

Inheritance

Based off the latest Q&A, it sounds like you can choose any family member to inherit your titles. I’d vote for the mod to implement actual inheritance laws. You could perhaps choose a different member of your house to play as but the lands should go to whoever it legally belongs too. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m jumping the gun on this and this is in native in some fashion but it's definitely something I’d want for ASOIAF. This would feed into the valuable drama that laws of succession inevitably cause.

Punishment - The Night's Watch

I think the Night's Watch has been done very well by existing mods and there isn’t a whole lot to really add. Since our pool of lords will never diminish, banishing them there makes much more sense now too. My computer crashed and burned a few months back so I haven’t been able to play recently but one thing I think that can be added is the player actually being banished to the watch by your liege (if landed) or whoever rules the land you committed crimes in (if unlanded). It would only be after a severe crime and be done by someone above you. If you try and leave, your life is forfeit unless you manage to convince the lord paramount to pardon you (a royal pardon would grant you reprieve in every kingdom however). Crimes that warrant this include murder of a noble, consistent criminal enterprise, plotting against your liege, raiding friendly villages etc. Who knows, maybe another punishment could be losing one of your hands so no more shield or two handers. Stuff like this seems much more feasible now that we aren't locked into one character. Exile from a kingdom (or all 7 even) should definitely be a thing as well.

Book vs TV Show

Just combine the best of both. Ignore aegon/young griff or bring them along with Daenerys’ invasion. Definitely give Valyrians purple eyes. Robb Starks wife? Who cares as long as he gets the knife in his heart. Give me all of Balon’s brothers not just one. Asha vs Yara, eh I hated the name Yara but now it’s grown on me. The longer timespan of the show makes more sense for the game probably.

Flavor

I think holding court, tourneys, feasts, weddings, etc. should definitely be a focus for the mod to capture the ASOIAF feeling. Honestly, I’d really just continue looking to the fantastic GOT mod for CK2 for things I’d love to see. Grand tournaments where lords from all the different Kingdoms all congregate at i.e. Tourney of Harrenhal would be cool as hell.

Miscellaneous

I’d like standard bearers to carry their lord’s sigil as opposed to just carrying the banner of one of the great houses.

Troop type- I’d vote for a conservative use of the really nice looking uniforms that the armies have in the show. They look great and imposing and all, but I also always felt like most of those foot soldiers are just farm boys and they definitely wouldn’t be all in that armor. I guess this would depend on the wealth of the lord anyway.

https://i.redd.it/uxiraxxvl0v21.jpg

Put Littlefinger in the game. He can give some quests during parts of the game and then eventually make him an actual lord in the game during the latter part of the story and don’t kill him like in the show. Maybe even grant him defacto leadership of the Vale after Westeros politics becomes unrestricted. I guess I’m just salty that they wasted his character like that.

Unlanded characters with good stats sometimes join their lieges retinue or the iron throne to serve as honor guard/kingsguard.

Essos should be in the game but it does not need to be dense or heavily focused on. I’d only really care about the geographic area that is already covered in Warband mods. It does have to be there though, I’ll have to flee somewhere and serve as a sellsword after being exiled from Westeros.

The Westerlands and Reach should by default be more productive and wealthier.

Companions - I’d rather not have too many book characters to be recruitable as companions, most of them I’d rather they be lords or companions of the lord they’d be following in the books/show. Some folks make sense like perhaps Bronn but I don’t want Jamie Lannister or Ser Brienne in my party, I want them out there interacting in the world.

Iron Bank - I think their primary function should be in loans not as a place to park to your money. Failing to pay them back resulting in dire consequences would be an exciting feature.

Valyrian Steel - should be difficult to come by.

I definitely want to see House Velaryon and House Celtigar.

Dragons? If we could get dragons into battles that’d be insane. Realistically I don’t see that happening plus I bet no dragons are left at the end of the story any way. If we wanted to give Daenerys a pre-battle Dragonfire event that kills a boatload of the enemy before it actually starts, that would probably be all you need if anything at all.

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The GOT Treatment

While we’ll never get to experience the shock of the Red Wedding or Ned’s death again--Bannerlord’s continuous life cycle and dynasty building would enable the mod to let the player get the same unforgiving and shocking experiences done unto them.

Imagine building a dynasty and going through several generations. You’re soaring at the heights of the great lords and all of a sudden your wedding is turned into a bloodbath and everything is stolen from you. If a mod delivered on the brutal reversals of fortune that Game of Thrones is known for, I’d thank the old gods and the new.

Tl;dr, I really want CK2 GOT but its Mount and Blade. I’ll be an upjumped cutthroat like Bronn who gets granted some small land for my first generation and then a Littlefinger-esque schemer for my next. I'd love to hear what others want to do in their own eventual playthrough.

Also, I wanted to say thank you to all the folks who have contributed to the Game of Thrones content for Warband and those that will continue doing so when Bannerlord comes out. I know I am not alone when I say that your extraordinary work means a lot to this community.

Submitted April 28, 2019 at 10:47AM by illiterate_gamer http://bit.ly/2XUmDbl