Re: Of Kings and Queens and other such things

[Gorm of Berra <gormofberra@mindspring.com>]

Poster: Gorm of Berra <gormofberra@mindspring.com>

Jim Trigg wrote:

> Not to be a wet blanket, but let me point out that this is pure speculation
> until and unless the BOD can be convinced to change Corpora.  Corpora
> mandates that royalty must be selected through a single-combat tournament,
> and a BOD policy further restricts it to heavy weapons.

<Gorm sticks his neck WAAAAAAAAAAAAY out with the following>

Before beginning, let me say that I am NOT convinced that the current
system is broken, I have nowhere near enough experience to decide that. 
I am merely offering my opinions on what appears to be an interesting
proposal, which deserves a serious look, and I am trying to find a way
to help bring this proposal to a level of "completeness" where it could
be seriously considered on it's merits.

I just looked through the on-line versions of the Corpora and policy
decisions, and found no sentence saying "Crowns will be decided by
single combat heavy weapons tournaments".  I did find several sentences
which implied that combat was the structure, but no one sentence laying
it out specifically as single combat with heavy weapons.

Of course, I may have missed it, and also I may very well be viewing an
incomplete version. 

However, a thought occurred to me.  Let's assume for a moment that the
"Crown finals" must be done with heavy weapons combat, but not
necessarily single person.  Would anything prevent something like this:

Over the series of events being discussed, there are three contenders
Sir Arglebargle, Lord Skinsosoft, and Master Fred.  

the standings going into Crown Tournament are:

Master Fred:  	600 pts
Sir Arglebargle 500 pts
Lord Skinsosoft 200 pts

So we now have a grand melee of 130 fighters.  Master Fred gets to
command 60 of them, Sir Arglebargle gets 50, and Lord Skinsosoft gets
20.  Bring your fighters out on the field, and let's make a King.

This would satisfy the "heavy combat for Crown list" requirement.  It
would break the "single combat" requirement, should one exist.  It would
also create the "decisive battle" that would emulate the historical Wars
of Succession, where the issue was decided frequently at one final
battle.

Potential Advantages of this:

1.  Better replicates the historical Wars of Succession
2.  Would allow for a King and Queen who were not necessarily Heavy
Weapons fighters
3.  Would allow more people to participate in the making of a King and
Queen
4.  Would reward "well roundedness" in A King (or at least in his
followers)

Potential Drawbacks:

1.  Is different from SCA tradition
2.  May conflict with Corpora
3.  Political maneuvering could very easily ruin the fun for some folks
4.  Could end up with a King and Queen who could not lead the Atlantian
Army at Wars
5.  Would need to come up with a fair and equitable way of judging A&S
"King Points"


I don't know that I would support this plan if it came up for "formal"
discussion, but it at least has the merits of being a discussable
point.  PLease feel free to pick nits.


Gorm of Berra
gormofberra@mindspring.com
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