Hi Lord Hatham, As I understand it, it is certainly allowed mechanically, though the responses of other players/NPCs to your actions may tend towards certain norms.

From your perspective, yes you haven't "taken sides", but from their perspective, they may interpret your actions as having taken a certain political or social stance. You can certainly build a community in which you try to build a certain culture, but how others see that culture is based upon their own worldviews.

Typically communities are more acceptive of things that fit their cultural norms. If people act in ways that approach the fringes of those norms, it becomes less and less likely that they will accept it.

I suppose it really depends on how exactly you'd like to build your "tribe". If it isn't too far from social norms, then it may be considered "eccentric" or "strange", but not threatening to their way of life, or a nuisance. NPCs are much easier to predict than players in that way, as they have a prescribed set of rules they follow - though I would hope CoE is complex enough to have quite individualized NPC personalities.

Keep in mind, you may have access to tribes that already operate as you'd like. The Erishe, who won't be discovered at launch, are a nomadic people who live in the drier climates and travel in caravans.

Anyway, I wish you luck in your venture. It sounds fun and I'm sure you'll find a way to bring it about in CoE.

I agree with Jon. It does sound very fun and I think Elyria will prove to be a great platform for this. Even if you find some resistance, I believe you'll find somewhere that accepts your play style and leaves you alone for the most part. Fighting off an entire unaccepting nation might prove impossible though, so I suggest learning where you'll be left alone the most by players which is also likely to change over time. It proves a very interesting challenge and I love this idea. Please share journals of your travels! I also wish you the best of luck.

Well, if you don't take sides in a conflict (like you're a count and a nearby duchy rebels against the king), you could potentially lose your position, which is something to keep in mind.

OTOH, being neutral isn't always a bad thing either. The Dras, for example, when they have to elect a new king, seek to elect the least partisan member of the electing committee (made up of the dukes), so neutrality and staying away from extremes tends to be more beneficial from that standpoint.

Personally, my focus is going to be on keeping my community together and my count from getting annoyed with me, while maintaining neutrality elsewhere. If need be I'll side with whoever looks like they'll win any intra-kingdom conflicts to protect my position.

I do wish you luck in your endeavors as well.

There are two tribes that are nomadic in nature, but neither are starting tribes.

However you can still be a nomad or a wandering champion or adventurer or traveling merchant. You don’t need to engage in politics.

And who knows, maybe you find some people along the way that you like to support, or not.

The world will be big enough that you will probably find a quite spot to do pretty much what you want but you will still be under the laws of the kingdom you are inside. So if you start killing visitors or tax men then you will likely get a visit from armed men asking difficult questions.

Find a noble who is willing to let you have your rp and things will go better but I'd still bet on them wanting some sort of payback.

I’m fine with people roleplaying in my county, even if you want to be a criminal, but of course that doesn’t mean their actions won’t have consequences.

Just like how irl you can do what you want, but if you upset someone, you may get an undesirable reaction out of them.

Hello everyone,

Thank you all for your wonderful responses. I appreciate it. This is all fantastic and informative, and I wanted to further clarify a few things.

By tribe I meant something along the lines of Bedouin-esqe RP. A group of folks, affiliated by familial or business ties (or both) who travel from place to place seeking a permanent home. We'll be mobile: migrating between seasons and what not, following a tribal structure with an emphasis on familial loyalty and honor, all of course within the confines of the Elyrian universe. I have already prepared a few detailed outlines of what the societal structure of this tribe will be like, along with norms, customs and beliefs. It's great fun!

I suspect that there will be those who welcome us, and those who do not. That's all part of the fun. In the world of politics and human interaction, nothing is free. That we are all well aware of, as is the tribe itself. That's going to be one of the fun and unpredictable parts of the RP. We may find a home, settle it, and grow, or we may be destined to roam from place to place until we find a land that nobody wants and turn it into our own little paradise.

There will be a lot of unknowns with this kind of RP, much like there is with nomadic cultures. Today is here, tomorrow is not guaranteed, and yesterday gave us wisdom. But, some nomadic tribes grow, settle, and turn into empires, while others wither away or remain irrelevant. Who knows what'll happen to my little tribe.

I definitely suspect that local nobility will want something in return should they allow us to settle. Hopefully our negotiating skills are up to par, otherwise, we'd better keep our walking shoes on.

Traveling caravans will definitely be a thing in COE, and I think they should be able to organize into an entity (a COE guild?) with contracts which should enable you to make rules about your culture.

In November there were Vardo wagons as one of the items in the promotion which would help support your proposed lifestyle.

I would think that you would have little trouble passing through the world on the major trade routes through locales that are used to and support/safe guard merchant travel.

There will be countless bands of roving "gypsies" I imagine.

You would just have to be darn good at keeping within the laws of the towns you may travel through. There might be laws that prohibit some of the deeds or even vagabond lifestyles.

I still believe in this as an amazing idea in helping develop the world; RP roaming caravan. Like a melting pot of stories.

Posted By Drevash at 1:31 PM - Tue Mar 19 2019

You would just have to be darn good at keeping within the laws of the towns you may travel through. ....

Or darn better at not getting caught.

;-)

Thank you all so much for your input and support. I certainly wasn't expecting a positive reaction. Generally, I've found that RPers tend to shun these "do it yourself" RPs where it's just a group separate from anyone and everyone doing their own thing. This is kind of a personal project for me since I have a Bedouin heritage and have deep familiarity with tribal customs and lifestyles.

This RP tribe will mirror the Bedouins to some degree, although there will be some variation in lore since this is Elyria, not the Arabian or Sahara desert. The tribe itself will be lead by a single family, the 'Al Tuyour' family, which is itself lead by its patriarch, whose name i have not decided on. Comprising the tribe itself are the "Seven Families" who pledged their loyalty to the Al Tuyour family in exchange for status within the tribe. Each family will have it's traditional roles, with some specializing in warfare, others blacksmiths, trade, carpentry, weaving/clothiers, etc. There is of course more to this, but I won't bore anyone with the details.

However, I've started putting together the entire culture of the tribe itself, which I have not yet named. There will be rituals, traditions, and certain innovations on Elyrian spiritual beliefs specific to the tribe, mainly in the form of a deep connection with the Earth given the tribal and nomadic lifestyle. It will be a very deep and meaningful RP, and as you can imagine, will take a lot of time to put together correctly. Of course the tribe will have its own set of "laws," which are really unspoken rules and traditions (like never harming a guest, etc.) that they abide by. I'm sure there will be plenty of 'conflict' when it comes to how these traditions measure up against the laws of various Kingdoms and Counties.

But that'll be part of the adventure. The type of human dilemmas we've all faced. Lastly, the tribe will have a single goal: to find a permanent home and grow into something greater.

Hopefully this sounds interesting; if there's interest, let me know. We're still looking for the Seven Families.

Just thought I'd share a [proposed] version of a popular tribal poem/song:

Song of the Warrior

O you brave warrior, Who built his tent in the sky, Set your crops among the mountain tops, And rest your crest upon the clouds;

Seek peace in your heart in my rivers, Feel the warmth of my embrace in the sun, Feel my divine guidance in the light of the crescent, And let my love make you conquerors;

Let my noble steed take you to your destiny, And may the fires of my wrath not touch you;

For when my call is heard, And your sword is the tip of my justice, I shall guide you to your greatness, Among the light of your forefathers.

Let not your hearts' desire for vengeance corrupt you, And may justice be your companion in battle, For if you do not forsake your cause, Your cause shall not forsake you.

May you come and go in peace, And may your sword be the fire of your victory.

-UNKNOWN [TBD]

There's still more that I can do to make it better, but yeah :).

Posted By LordHaytham at

The thing about this type of RP is that I enjoy the ability to not have to choose sides; we can be nice, or mean, to anyone we like. However, I'm not sure if that's something that's "acceptable" in Elyria, or whether the Lore allows for it.

It's hard to day whether it's acceptable or not, because that always depends on the nobles who own the area. I believe there will be many, many people such as yourself. Largely I think you'll be fine, especially if you're clever with your placement and communicate with the community who will soon be your neighbours.

Good luck and happy RPing :)