I Invite your Critiques and Suggestions of my Byzantine Nobility for a Tabletop RPG Setting.

I am writing a tabletop game setting set on the eve of the Fourth Crusade in the Byzantine Empire. As part of that process, I am compiling a list of contemporary noble houses with some flavor (idiosyncrasies, allies, rivalries) from which players can choose and which will help guide NPC relationships and factions. I’d like to maintain a semblance of historical accuracy, while at the same time making it an evocative game setting. For example, there was a Seth Skleros blinded and convicted of magic in 1166, so I gave House Skleros an intimidating reputation for sorcery. I also gave the houses mostly ahistorical heraldry and house colors.

My process has been to look at the families in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, individuals on Wikipedia, and then make up the dynamics based on their history. (A member of House A betrayed House B 100 years ago? Boom. That’s a rivalry.)

I’d appreciate your comments on what I’ve come up with, suggestions for changes, etc. You should be able to comment on the Googledoc.

Some explanations of the fields:

Region: The regions where the house is concentrated. I’m using this for NPC generators. You can check out my Thracian Noble generator here. You may notice the Crusader Kings influence.

Bases of Power: One of the mechanics in my game involves the Institutions of Empire which consist of the Emperor, Bureaucracy, Church, Military, and Senate. They’re like elite factions. In my yet-to-be-developed endgame mechanics, you need to win the support of a majority of them to have a chance at taking the throne.

Factions: Lesser groupings of houses with a shared identity or motivations. The overarching dynamics that are at play are urban versus provincial dynatoi, supporters of the Angeloi usurpation vs the entrenched families of the Komnenoi, xenophiles vs xenophobes, etc.

Corrections of my Greek transliterations, particularly of the feminine and plural forms of the names, are also appreciated. I’m an English speaker. I’ve been using the guidance of :

“To feminize family names, convert endings as follows: -es, -is, -on, and -os to -ina -nos to -ne -tes to -tissa -as to -ina (but drop the s first) -ios to - issa”

You can view the Googledoc of Greek Noble Families at this link!