IOT Developmental Thread

Race
There are many stereotypes attributed to the races of the world, and it just so happens some of them are true. While any race is capable of anything, they are slightly better at some things. This choice does not indicate that the colony is only made up of that race, but rather is just the dominant race.



Dwarf: Short and wide, and with long, bloody racial feuds with orcs, dwarves have gained a reputation of being a race of warriors. While dwarven warriors have earned their reputation, most dwarves are still better describes as hard working, inventive, and good natured. Most dwarven kingdoms have their past deep in mountains, and their affinity with stone and metal working continues to this day.
- extra +5 ore production of mines
Elf: The elves' past is unknown and widely argued, but to most they come across as otherworldly and distant. Elves tend to be isolated and cold towards other races, but those who are friends with an elf can attest that their friendship is one of the strongest bonds that could ever be forged. Elven empires of old were born out of forests, and elves still have an affinity for wood working.
- extra +5 wood production of lumberyards
Gnome: Gnomes are similar to elves in that they seem apart from the rest of mortal races, but they are far from their unsocial cousins. Gnomes share the high spirits of the similarly sized halflings, but also have a reputation of being eccentric, or outright mad, as an entire society.
- lucky, random bonus each turn
Halfling: Halflings are short of stature and generally physically non threatening, but they are known for making up for this with endless enthusiasm and good humour.
- bonus to gold production.
Human: Regarded by the rest of the races as blundering and ignorant, humans do little to convince otherwise. Despite this, they have managed to spread themselves across the world enough to be considered the dominant race of this world, and few Humans won't take the chance to remind any who listen of it.
- bonus to Morale change.
Orc: Most orcs are known as simply savage hordes that are constantly raging against the rest of civilisation. The cousins of these wild orcs are physically similar, but live in much the same way as the rest of civilised races, but are also always having to face their bestial ancestry.
- bonus to combat.

Tradition
Traditions reflect the cultural and policies of the mother country, which the colony also adopts. A tradition is fixed, unless ties to the mother country are cut and the colony becomes independent (this will not be fun, expect a bloody fight and probably economic ruin). Each tradition will change a colony’s starting equipment and bonuses, along with how the mother country will interact with the colony.

Barbaric: colony starts with slaves, extra weapons, and some militia. More slaves are captured in combat, and slaves each generate 1 wood and ore in addition to gold. Medium military skill.
Imperialistic – The colony begins with a larger population, and a larger store of food. Higher immigration rate. Medium military skill.
Industrialistic – The colony begins with larger store of wood and ore, and a camp (to be placed in addition to the starting town, adjacent or one tile away). Production structures produce an extra 10 resources. Low military skill.
Magocratic - The colony begins with a larger store of mana, and some apprentices. Magic users produce double mana, and magic users are more powerful in combat. low military skill.
Mercantile – The colony begins with a larger store of currency and two cargo ships. +10% tax rate, may sell resources at the buy price on the overseas market. Low military skill.
Militaristic – The colony begins with extra weapons, some militia and regulars. Soldiers fight better. High military skill.
Necromancy - The colony begins with undead slaves (slaves that are capable of being used in combat). A portion of killed enemies are turned into undead slaves. Medium military skill.
Theocratic – The colony begins with higher Morale, and a temple. Morale change increased, and temples increase Morale by an extra .1. Population growth increased. Medium military skill.

Leader
Leaders are a hero that is in charge of the colony. If the hero dies or otherwise unavailable, the leader can be changed to another hero. Doing so without reason will result in a heavy Morale loss. Leaders give a bonus to their colonies, depending on their class. The starting leader will also change starting stats.

Bard - +.25 to Morale change. Starting leader - +.5 Morale
Barbarian - +1 gold from slaves. Starting leader - +25 slaves
Cleric - +25% natural growth rate. Starting leader - +50 population
Fighter - +.5 to military skill. Starting leader - 50 militia with spears
Necromancer - bonus to undead slaves’ combat. Starting leader - +25 undead slaves
Ranger - bonus to effectiveness of bows and crossbows - Starting leader - +50 bows
Rogue - +5% tax rate. Starting leader - +500 gold
Wizard - magic users produce +1 mana. Starting leader - +10 apprentices

Heroes are special units that can be used in four ways: as Ministers, Captains, in Events, or sending them on personal quests. In each role they will have a different effect. Ministers affect the colony itself, Captains affect battles, each class of Hero has different ways of affecting Events, and personal quests will allow for quicker xp growth and gaining special items. Heroes level up, to maximum of 10 levels, increasing their performance at each task. Races have no different stat effects on heroes, and are purely for storytelling and events.

Heroes gain xp whenever they are used. Generally, they will gain the most from personal quests, followed by combat (depending on the size and difficulty of the battle), then minister or event activities. When sent on a personal quest, heroes will be unavailable for a number of turns (anywhere from 2~4) while they go about on their own business, before returning with substantially improved xp and whatever goodies they managed to gather on their adventures. Where they go and what they do is out of the player’s control, and may even affect both the player’s or other players’ factions (negatively or positively).

When a hero levels up, they gain stat points equal to the new level to be spent on any viable stat (hp/attack/defence/magic if applicable). Every two levels (lvl2/4/6/8/10) heroes may choose a feat (found from the list below the hero list), either a class specific feat, or a general feat.

Additional heroes may be recruited as you gain prestige and PP (see prestige section below in the Rules for more info).

Hero classes:

Bard

Base stats: HP: 5 / Attack: 2 / Defense: 2 / Magic: N/A
Weapon/Armour use: swords, spears, light/medium armour
Minister: increases production of all resources by 1% per level.
General: increases military score of company
Events: Bards can best handle situations that require diplomacy or persuasion.

Barbarian

Base stats: HP: 7 / Attack: 20 / Defense: 3 / Magic: N/A
Weapon/Armour use: all melee weapons, light/medium armour
Minister: reduces food consumption by 1% per level.
General: Can fly into a rage, increasing attack by 10%*lvl, though may damage him/herself and allies.
Event: Events that require shear damage output with no regards for collateral damage are the Barbarian's specialty.

Cleric

Base stats: HP: 5 / Attack: 2 / Defense: 2 / Magic: 1
Weapon/Armour use: swords, spears, all armour
Minister: increases natural growth by 1% per level.
General: recovers some casualties regardless of win or loss.
Events: Clerics have a great depth of knowledge in regards to Religion and healing.

Fighter

Base stats: HP: 10 / Attack: 4 / Defense: 5 / Magic: N/A
Weapon/Armour use: all weapons, all armour
Minister: trains (5 per level) military troops to the next rank.
General: Increases the rank of 10*level of friendly troops to veteran during combat, or increases skill of veterans if no lower ranks are available.
Events: Events requiring extreme hardiness or violence are best directed towards the Fighter.

Necromancer

Base stats: HP: 2 / Attack: 1 / Defense: 1 / Magic: 10
Weapon/Armour use: none
Minister: gain 5*lvl undead slaves every season.
General: Increases the effectiveness of undead slaves in combat.
Events: Necromancers have insight into the nature of death and the powers that cling to it.

Ranger

Base stats: HP: 6 / Attack: 3 (6 ranged) / Defense: 3 / Magic: N/A
Weapon/Armour use: all weapons, light/medium armour
Minister: gain +5*lvl food and wood per settlement in a forest
General: greatly increase army’s military skill when in forests
Events: Rangers have great knowledge of the wilderness, and the creatures in it.

Rogue

Base stats: HP: 3 / Attack: 4 / Defense: 2 / Magic: N/A
Weapon/Armour use: swords, crossbows, light armour
Minister: increase tax by 1% per level.
General: directly targets enemy heroes or high danger targets in combat.
Events: Rogues are adept at any situation involving sneaking, stealing or other forms of skullduggery.

Wizard

Base stats: HP: 2 / Attack: 1 / Defense: 1 / Magic: 15
Weapon/Armour use: none
Minister: +10*lvl mana.
General: Increases the rank of 5*lvl of magic users in army.
Events: Wizards are useful in any situation that requires great analytical intellect or knowledge of the arcane.

Feats
General Feats
Forester - increased attack/defense when in forests
-> Forester II - further increase
Mountaineer - increased attack/defense when in mountains/hills
-> Mountaineer II - further increase
Steppe Roamer - increased attack/defense when in flatlands
-> Steppe Roamer II - further increase
Sea Legs - increased attack/defense when on ships
-> Sea Legs II - further increase
Dungeoneer - increased attack/defense when underground/in ruins
-> Dungeoneer II - further increase
Urban Crawler - increased attack/defense when in settlements
-> Urban Crawler II - further increase
Weapon/Armour Use - allows use of selected weapon/armour. To use heavy armour, must be able to use light and medium
-> Weapon/Armour Proficiency -> doubles the effectiveness of a single weapon/armour type
Bard Feats
Party Favourite - increases attack/defense of fellow heroes when in combat
Ballads of Battle - when minister, increase Morale by .1*military skill
Poems of Prestige - when minster, increase Morale by .1*prestige level
Barbarian
Better Safe - remove damage done to self/allies in combat, in exchange for reducing rage attack power to 8%*lvl
Better Sorry - Increase rage attack power to 12%*lvl in exchange for increased damage to self/allies
Don’t Ask Where - When minister, +1*lvl slaves per turn
Cleric Feats
WIP
Fighter Feats
WIP
Necromancer Feats
WIP
Ranger Feats
WIP
Rogue Feats
WIP
Wizard Feats
WIP

Your colonists are your main resource, as well as your main means of advancing and improving your settlements and military. Every colonist requires one food a season to survive, or they will die. Colonists begin as Untrained, and can be trained into one of three Paths: Civilian, Military, and Magic-Users, each with three ranks. Civilian ranks are Skilled->Professional->Expert, and are mostly used for building structures and settlements. Military ranks are Militia->Regular->Veteran, and are used to wage war. Magic-user ranks are Apprentice->Adept->Mage, and are used to build some structures, as well as wield magic in combat. Untrained colonists will arrive through immigration, while higher ranks must be trained using structures if Civilian or Magic-Users, or combat if Military. Higher ranks can also be hired from overseas with gold, though it is generally more efficient to train your own colonists.

Slaves can be captured, bought, or sold. They require no food, and will produce one gold a season. Slaves may not be used in combat. You will receive a Morale penalty for having a high slave population compared to your regular population, and risk slave revolts. Necromantic colonies have access to undead slaves, who require no food, produce one gold a season, can be used in combat, and do not have an effect on Morale.

Food, wood, ore, mana and gold are the core resources that your colony needs.

• Food is consumed every season, and if your colonists don't eat for a season they will die. To produce, you need to construct a farm (if on open terrain or hills), hunting lodge (if in a forest) or fishing docks (if bordering water). The amount of food produced depends on the terrain, the most productive to least productive is: Grassland with river->grassland->plains->forests/hills. Mountains produce no food.
• Wood is needed for the construction of almost all structures and settlements, as well as some weapons. Wood is available in a limited amount on map tiles that have trees, with forest tiles having a much higher amount of wood than single tree tiles. Lumberyards are needed to gather wood, with more lumberyards gathering more wood. Once the wood supply of a tile is depleted, the forest will be removed, leaving a scarred terrain that allows the construction of farms, though at the same productiveness as hills.
• Ore is needed for the construction of defensive structures and settlements, as well as for some government structures and weapons. Ore is available in a limited amount on map tiles that have hills or mountains, with mountains containing larger amounts of ore. Mines are needed to gather ore, with more mines gathering more ore. Once a ore supply is depleted, the mines will become useless.
• Mana has various uses: it can be converted 1:1 with food, wood or ore, or can be used to cast spells. Spells are generally used in combat (more info on mana and spells in combat below in the warfare section), though you are free to experiment as you see fit. Mana is produced by Magic-Users, with Apprentices producing one mana, Adepts producing two mana, and Mages producing three mana. Mana may also be by constructing Syphons on maps tiles that contain Places of Power. Once a Place of Power is drained, it will be removed from the map.
• Gold is needed for purchasing goods on the market and hiring higher ranked colonists that you may not be able to train. Gold is gathered through taxation, certain structures, selling resources, and looting.

Some map tiles may have Star Remnants, which have various unique properties. Star Remnants are immobile, and have various powerful special effects. Generally, you will need to build a settlement on a tile with a Remnant to gain any bonuses, and if you lose the settlement you will lose the bonus.

One turn is equal to one season, the seasons being the normal spring, summer, fall and winter. Different seasons affect food production, as well as events.
- Spring has normal food production, and a chance of flooding along rivers or landslides near mountains.
- Summer has normal food production. Chance of typhoons.
- Fall has a larger food production from the harvest season.
- Winter has no food production from farms, and armies will suffer from attrition if they stray further than one tile away from settlements. Chance of avalanches in mountains.

Combat is decided by the stats (hp, attack, defense) of the troops, heroes and equipment dedicated to a battle, modified substantially by terrain, faction morale and faction military skill. The type of terrain will generally decide the effectiveness of defenders, with the best terrain for defending to worst being Mountains, followed Forests/Hills, and lastly Flat Land/Grassland, with amphibious operations being an added difficulty on top of the terrain type.

While your troops and heroes can try and punch dragons to death, they will fair much better if armed and armoured. Troops and heroes may carry one weapon, and one set of armour.

Blacksmiths allow the construction of:
Spears: Cost 1 wood, 1 ore / Attack: 1 Defense: 0 - Cheap weapons that provide a balance between attack and defense. Gain a bonus against mounted enemies.
A level 2 Blacksmith allows the construction of:
Swords: Cost 5 ore / Attack: 1 Defense: 1 - Weapons that favour a strong defense.
Axes: Cost 5 ore / Attack: 2 Defense: -1 - Weapons that favour a strong attack.
Bows: Cost 2 wood / Attack: 1 Defense: -1 - Fairly cheap ranged weapon, relies on melee-armed troops for defense.
A level 3 Blacksmith allows the construction of Crossbows]/u]: Cost 5 ore / Attack: 3 Defense: -1 - Powerful ranged weapon, relies on melee-armed troops for defense.
A level 4 Blacksmith allows the construction ofMastercraft weapons, which cost double the base cost of a weapon. Mastercraft weapons have one additional Attack point, and may be enchanted (see Magic section below).

Armourers allow the construction of:
Light Armour: Cost 2 ore / Defense: 1 - Cheap and light armour that can be worn by Militia or higher ranked units.
A level 2 Armourer allows the construction of:
Medium Armour: Cost 5 ore / Defense: 2 - Adequately protective armour that can be worn by Regular or higher ranked units.
A Level 3 Armourer allows the construction of:
Heavy Armour: Cost 10 ore / Defense: 3 - Highly protective armour that can be worn by Veteran units.
A Level 4 Armourer allows the construction of Mastercraft armour, which cost double the base cost of a set of armour. Mastercraft armour has one additional defense point, and may be enchanted (see Magic section below).