Game of Thrones

Introduction

A Song of Ice and Fire is a fantasy series written by George R.R. Martin. The series is often referred to as Game of Thrones in reference to the first book, entitled A Game of Thrones, or the television series of the same name. I will not go into detail about the series here, but suggest instead you read the novels and watch the television series, as both are quite excellent.

This Diplomacy variant is based on the houses, people, places, and happenings of the series. Each player plays as one of the 7 Great Houses that are featured most prominently in the novels.

Variant Rules

1. The regular rules of Diplomacy apply, except where amended below.
2. The game begins in Spring 298 AL (Aegon's Landing). The terms Spring, Summer, Fall, Autumn, and Winter will continue to be used to avoid confusion despite the fact that in this universe seasons are actually longer than years. And so the player of House Stark can frequently remind everyone that Winter Is Coming.
3. There are 30 supply centers, so the victory criterion is 16 supply centers at the end of any Autumn retreat season.
4. Houses may build in any unoccupied center under their control (chaos builds), representing the ability to call new bannermen upon assuming a new lordship.
5. A House's armies are represented by its emblems, its fleets by its boats with sails marked with its emblem, and its supply center ownership by its sigils.

The 7 Great Houses

House Baratheon (Stag)

The youngest of the Great Houses, born during the Wars of Conquest. Its founder Orys Baratheon, was rumored to be Aegon the Dragon's bastard brother. Orys rose through the ranks to beomce one of Aegon's firecest commanders. When he defeated and slew Argilac the Arrogant, the last Storm King, Aegon rewarded him with Argilac's castle, lands, and daughter. Orys took the girl to bride, and adopted the banner, honors, and words of her line. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned stage, black, on a golden field. Their words are Ours is the Fury. House Baratheon starts with a fleet in Griffin's Roost and armies in the Kingswood and Storm's End.

House Greyjoy (Kraken)

The Greyjoys of Pyke claim descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes. Legend says the Grey King ruled not only the western isles but the sea itself, and took a mermaid to wife. For thousands of years, raiders from the Iron Islands - called "ironmen" by those they plundered - were the terrors of the seas, sailing as far as the Port of Ibben and the Summer Isles. They prided themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms. Each island had its own "salt king" and "rock king". The High King of the Isles was chosen from among their number, until King Urron made the throne hereditary by murdering the other kings when they assembled for a choosing. Urron's own line was extinguished a thousand years later when the Andals swept over the islands. The Greyjoys, like other island lords, intermarried with the conquerors. The Iron Kings extended their rule far beyond the isles themselves, carving kingdoms out of the mainland with fire and sword. King Qhored could truthfully boast that his writ ran "wherever men can smell salt water or hear the crash of waves". In later centuries, Qhored's descendents lost the Arbor, Oldtown, Bear Island, and much of the western shore. Still, come the Wars of Conquest, King Harren the Black ruled all the lands between the moutains, from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush. When Harren and his sons perished in the fall of Harrenhal, Aegon Targaryen granted the riverlands to House Tully, and allowed the surviving lords of the Iron Islands to revive their ancient custom and chose who should have the primacy among them. They chose Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke. The Greyjoy sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field. Their words are We Do Not Sow. House Greyjoy starts with an army on Harlaw and fleets on Great Wyk and Pyke.

House Lannister (Lion)

Fair-haired, tall, and handsome, the Lannisters are the blood of Andal adventureres who carved out a mighty kingdom in the western hills and valleys. Through the female line they boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes. The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are Hear Me Roar! House Lannister starts with a fleet in Lannisport and armies in the Crownlands and Casterly Rock.

House Martell (Sun)

Nymeria, the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, brought her ten thousand ships to land in Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, and took Lord Mors Martell to husband. With her help, he vanquished his rivals to rule all Dorne. The Rhoynar influence remains strong. Thus Dornish rulers style themselves "Prince" rather than "King". Under Dornish law, lands and titles pass to the eldest child, not the eldest male. Dorne, alone of the Seven Kingdoms, was never conquered by Aegon the Dragon. It was not permanently joined to the realm until two hundred years later, and then by marriage and treaty, not the sword. Peaceable King Daeron II succeeded where the warriors had failed by wedding the Dornish princess Myriah and giving his own sister in marriage to the reigning Prince of Dorne. The Martell banner is a red sun pierced by a golden spear. Their words are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. House Martell begins with a fleet in Sunspear and armies in Godsgrace and Yronwood.

House Stark (Direwolf)

The Starks trace their descent from Brandon the Builder and the ancient Kings of Winter. For thousands of years, they ruled from Winterfell as Kings of the North, until Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, chose to swear fealty to Aegon the Dragon rather than give battle. Their blazon is a grey direwolf on an ice-white field. The Stark words are Winter Is Coming. House Stark begins with a fleet in White Harbor and armies in Karhold and Winterfell.

House Targaryen (Dragon)

The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon, descended from the high lords of the ancient freehold of Valyria, their heritage proclaimed in a striking (some say inhuman) beauty, with lilac or indigo or violet eyes and hair of silver-gold or platinum white. Aegon the Dragon's ancestors escaped the Doom of Valyria and the chaos and slaughter that followed to settle on Dragonstone, a rocky island in the narrow sea. It was from there that Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys sailed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. To preserve the blood royal and keep it pure, House Targaryen has often followed the Valyrian custom of wedding brother to sister. Aegon himself took both his sisters to wife, and fathered sons on each. The Targaryen banner is a three-headed dragon, red on black, the three heads representing Aegon and his sisters. The Targaryen words are Fire and Blood. House Targaryen begins with a fleet on Dragonstone and an army in Pentos.

House Tyrell (Flower/Green)

The Tyrells rose to power as stewards to the Kings of the Reach, whose domain included the fertile plains Dornish marches and Blackwater Rush to the shores of the Sunset Sea. Through the female line, they claim descent from Garth Greenhand, gardener king of the First Men, who wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom. When King Mern, last of the old line, perished on the Field of Fire, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to Aegon Targaryen, pledging fealty. Aegon granted him the castle and dominion over the Reach. The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a grass-green field. Their words are Growing Strong. House Tyrell begins with a fleet in The Arbor and armies in Highgarden and Oldtown.

Map Notes and Rules

General Clarifications

• All game territories are marked by their name. Any territory or island that is not marked with a name (such as Tarth and Skagos) is not a playable territory in the game.
• All coastal territories have one coast except Beyond the Wall, Castle Black, and Braavosi Coastlands, which each have a west coast and an east coast, and Harrenhal, which has a north coast and a south coast.
• Empty supply centers are signified by a large black dot; owned supply centers are signified by the owning House's sigil covering the black dot.

Rivers

• Westeros has many rivers running all over, and many borders between territories approximate the locations of these rivers. However, all but the following three rivers have been removed from the map for the sake of clarity:
• The Trident
  • The Trident and its forks are drawn in dark blue to signify that it is not navigable. That is, Riverrun and the Kingsroad cannot be occupied by ships at all, and the Riverlands only have a west coast (bordering Ironman's Bay).
  • The Green Fork (northernmost) is the border between the Riverlands and the Kingsroad. The Red Fork (southernmost) is the border between the Riverlands and Riverrun. These borders are like regular land borders.
  • The point where the forks of The Trident come together is impassable completely, meaning the Riverlands do not border Harrenhal and Riverrun does not border the Kingsroad.
• The Blackwater
  • The Blackwater is drawn in light blue to signify that is is navigable, making it possible for fleets to move inland towards God's Eye, and vice versa. Therefore, all of the territories that border The Blackwater can be occupied by a fleet.
  • The Blackwater acts as King's Landing's border with the Kingswood, the Stormlands, The Reach, and Stony Sept, and as the border between the Crownlands and Stony Sept. These borders are like regular land borders.
• The Mander
  • The Mander is drawn in light blue to signify that it is navigable, making it possible for fleets to move inland up to Highgarden, and vice versa. This means that Highgarden can be occupied by a fleet, and fleets can be built there.
  • The Mander acts as the border between the Searoad and Horn Hill. This border is like a regular land border.

Island Supply Centers

• There are 6 island supply centers: Dragonstone, Great Wyk, Harlaw, Pyke, Shield Islands, and Tyrosh.
• Island supply centers may be occupied by armies or fleets. An army or a fleet may be built in a home island supply center, provided other build rules are followed.
• Armies may move between any of Great Wyk, Harlaw, and Pyke without assistance from fleets. Any army wishing to move elsewhere, or to move at all from Dragonstone, Shield Islands, or Tyrosh, must use a convoy.
• Fleets occupying island supply centers may convoy an army through them, but the army may not land in the island supply center.
• Note that The Arbor is not an island supply center; it is a coastal supply center that happens to only border seas.

Mountains

• The mountains on the border between Blackmont and Sandstone mean that movement between these two territories is not possible.

King's Landing

• As the seat of the Iron Throne and capital of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing is more important than a normal supply center. Therefore, it can supply two units, and is counted as two supply centers when determining if the victory criterion has been fulfilled.
• At the beginning of the game, the power in King's Landing is split, and it supplies the Baratheon army in the Kingswood and the Lannister army in the Crownlands.
• No House may build in King's Landing. House Baratheon and House Lannister may instead build, for the rest of the game, in the first neutral supply center they capture. If they first capture more than one at the same time, they must specify during the winter of assimilation which they will be choosing as a future build site.
• The supplies of King's Landing must be assimilated one at a time. Therefore, if a House that has no ownership of King's Landing occupies it at the end of an Autumn, it assimilates only one supply center. If the House wants to assimilate the other, it must ensure that it has a unit in King's Landing at the end of the following Autumn.
• If a House which controls neither of King's Landing's supplies occupies it at the end of an Autumn, and King's Landing's supplies are split between two houses, the occupying house must specify from which House they are taking supply in King's Landing.

List of Territories and Abbreviations

• Land Supply Centers
  • Beyond the Wall: BtW
  • Braavos: Bra
  • Casterly Rock: Cas
  • Dornish Marches: Mar
  • Flint's Finger: Fli
  • Godsgrace: God
  • Griffin's Roost: Roo
  • Highgarden: Hig
  • Harrenhal: Hhl
  • King's Landing: Kin
  • Lannisport: Lan
  • Moat Cailin: Cai
  • Myr: Myr
  • Oldtown: Old
  • Pentos: Pen
  • Riverrun: Run
  • Sandstone: San
  • Starfall: Sta
  • Storm's End: End
  • Sunspear: Sun
  • The Arbor: Arb
  • The Eyrie: Eyr
  • The Twins: Twi
  • White Harbor: Whi
  • Winterfell: Win
  • Yronwood: Yro

• Island Supply Centers
  • Dragonstone: Dra
  • Great Wyk: Wyk
  • Harlaw: Har
  • Pyke: Pyk
  • Shield Islands: Shi
  • Tyrosh: Tyr

• Other Land Territories
  • Barrowlands: Bar
  • Blackmont: Bmt
  • Braavosi Coastlands: Coa
  • Castle Black
  • Crownlands: Cro
  • Deepwood Motte: Mot
  • Horn Hill: Hor
  • Karhold: Kar
  • Kingsroad: Krd
  • Kingswood: Kwd
  • Mountains of the Moon: Moo
  • Prince's Pass: Pas
  • Riverlands: Riv
  • Salt Shore: Sal
  • Searoad: Srd
  • Stoney Sept: Sep
  • Stony Shore: Sto
  • Stormlands: Str
  • The Dreadfort: Dre
  • The Fingers: Fin
  • The Neck: Nec
  • The Reach: Rea
  • Westerlands: Wes

• Other Sea Territories
  • Blackwater Bay: BwB
  • Blackwater Rush: BwR
  • Blazewater Bay: BlB
  • Bay of Crabs: BoC
  • Bay of Ice: BoI
  • Bay of Seals: BoS
  • East Summer Sea: ESS
  • God's Eye: Eye
  • Ironman's Bay: IrB
  • North Narrow Sea: NNS
  • North Sunset Sea: NSS
  • Redwyne Straits
  • Sea of Dorne: SoD
  • Sea of Myrth: SoM
  • Shipbreaker Bay: ShB
  • South Narrow Sea: SNS
  • South Sunset Sea: SSS
  • The Bite: Bit
  • The Golden Sound: TGS
  • The Narrow Sea: TNS
  • The Shivering Sea: TSS
  • The Stepstones: Ste
  • West Summer Sea: WSS