Well, this is turning into a very interesting campaign, courtesy of the DM.
When we created our characters, little did we know that we wouldn't be working together, but pitted against each other for control of the empire!
Each of us is playing as a member of a high-ranking noble house, or other organisation of similar power (thieves' guild, assassins' guild, etc.). None of us know for sure which member of each house is being controlled by the other players (i.e. whether the player character is the ruling lord or lady, or the next-in-line, or one of the others, or even a bastard daughter or son), or which organisations are actually under the complete control of the DM. The throne lies vacant, the capital city is a spy-infested snakepit, alliances are constantly forming, dissolving and being re-negotiated, and foreign powers are eying the situation carefully, in order to take advantage of the divisions. In essence, it's quite the crapsack world - the uncompromisingly pure and noble would struggle to survive a gaming session, but it's full of opportunities for those with more flexibility. And, to top it off, there are rumours of some ancient evil reawakening, with reports of occasional signs beyond the boundaries of the empire (I'm guessing something like Age of Worms/the Worm-That-Walks, but that's metagaming a bit...).
My character is at 9th level at the moment and is doing well, despite - or because - of the fact that I have yet to make a single attack roll! I've rolled damage dice for coups-de-grace, but no attack rolls as yet. I'm guessing some of the other players, who sounded like they were looking at more martial-oriented characters, have made hundreds of such rolls, yet control smaller forces... It's interesting playing as the chessmaster once in a while, rather than one of the pawns.
