Commission
Overview
The Senate has the power to commission important projects or great works of construction that will benefit the Empire. Any Imperial citizen can make use of mithril, weirwood or white granite they have purchased to improve a resource they own. But regardless of how much wealth they possess no citizen can recruit their own army or simply order the construction of a great work - this requires the power of commission.
Senate motions that involve commissions must set a budget allocated from the Imperial treasury to fund the construction. It is not uncommon for the budget allocated to be zero - a sign that the Senate will allow a commission to proceed but does not wish to support it - but it cannot require funds be provided to the Imperial treasury in return for permitting a commission to proceed.
Some commissions automatically result in the creation of a new Imperial title - for example raising a new army causes the creation of a new Imperial general - creating this title is an integral part of the commission and does not require a second motion to be considered by the Senate.
Costing
Any commission that is proposed by a senator will be costed by the civil service, so that the Senate can make an informed decision on whether to pass the motion. The civil service use extensive ledgers of known costs based on the desired outcome - so they can cost any request for something that has been built before - or a variation thereof - provided the citizen makes clear what they want the commission to do. Where the desired outcome is not stated or not clear then the costing takes longer as the civil service are forced to guess what the proposer wanted.
Most costs are defined in terms of the number of wains of mithril, weirwood and white granite which are required to complete the construction. Costings will also state any ongoing upkeep costs as well as the time required to complete the construction.
It is possible to request something that has never been constructed before, but such a construction may not be physically possible and the costing is likely to take much longer, as much as a year. The civil service have to do extensive research to look into the practicality of the request and use day magic to make predictions of the materials required.
The civil service try to provide costings to any citizen who requests them, but if they are unusually busy then they will prioritize requests for costs which are linked to a motion that has actually been proposed.
Improvements and Repairs
In addition to new commissions, the Senate may also pass motions to upgrade or improve existing commissions. In the cast of armies and fortifications they can also pass motions to expend the resources needed to return the army to full strength or repair the fortification. These motions follow the same processes used for new commissions.
Oversight
If the Senate passes a commission, then the member of the Senate that proposed the motion is then responsible for overseeing the project. Any funds allocated from the treasury are given directly to the proposer to use for the completion of the commission. The citizen remains responsible for the commission and legally empowered to authorize it, even if they lose their position in the Senate during that time. The only way a commission overseer can be changed is if the citizen dies or is excommunicated; only then is Senate legally permitted to pass a motion to assign one of their number to complete the project.
A character can go about spending their funds as they see fit, and can delegate some or all of the responsibility to others, but they are ultimately considered to be responsible for ensuring the project is completed.
Known Commissions
The following pages describe the current library of known commissions distilled from the ledges maintained by the Imperial civil service. We will maintain this list with any new commissions that develop in play.
Military Commissions
Civilian Commissions
Creating a New Commission
If a new commission is being created then there are several important details that need to be included. Commissions normally need to be based in a specific region in a territory. The commission will need a name - and if there is a new Imperial Title associated with the position then that will need a name also. If there is a new Imperial title and it bears any particular duties or responsibilities then this is particularly important information.
Sinecures, ministries, and great works are all effectively classifications for different types of structure that the Senate can commission. It is very helpful to provide as much flavour and detail on how a new commission works as possible. While these in-character details do not affect the rules that are important for the campaign and can influence plot developments involving the commission.
We will provide help or advice on creating these details on request. In particular, players are welcome to email Profound Decisions to discuss new commissions they are seeking to have created. If essential details are omitted then we will either try to contact the character that proposed the motion to create the commission to get details from them or else we will make up the missing facts.
Opportunities
Opportunities are seeded into the game from plot. Opportunities are usually commissions; often they will circumvent or exceed the regular play balanced rules for determining the outcome of a commission.
A commission opportunity must be proposed by a senator to be voted on as any normal commission, but it may provide the ability to do something at reduced cost, or in a way that could not normally be achieved. The nature of the plot will normally dictate what benefits the opportunity provides, as well as what information is available on those benefits.
Administration
Any character who has used the power of commission, should put the documents representing the wains of mithril, weirwood and white granite that they are committing to their project in their bag that they hand in at the end of the event. They should then email Profound Decisions with a note indicating what work the materials are to be used for - please do not include a note when you hand in your wains as it is impossible to process these notes at the point where your bag is processed.
Further Reading
- Saga - a category that contains summaries of significant events in recent history