OK, so here's the basic format for stats that I'm looking at:
[Nation Name] - [Player]
Culture: Same as usual
Income: (in the range of 500 to 25,000*)
Expenses: Usually military upkeep, but also special projects
Military: (number of men and ships you have under arms)
Manpower: (number of men you can have in your military)
Description: Same as usual
Such as:
Annua - NPC
Income: 500
Military: 500 militia, 25 ships (Upkeep: 100 + 250 = 350)
Manpower: 5,000 men
Culture: Hamakua, Small
Description: A tiny branch of the larger Hamakuan culture, Annua is an island nation with few ties to the mainland. Perhaps, given recent events, this is fortunate.
Baharr - Toltec
Income: 750
Military: 500 militia, 50 ships (Upkeep: 100 + 500 = 600)
Manpower: 5,000 men
Culture: Arta Xorti, Strong
Description: The main island of the Arta Xorti was named Dinyart, and the Kingdom there was called Baharr. The center of Arta Xorti culture, it was also regarded as the easiest place to gain Iehor, or Enlightenment. Then the split happened, and the farmers drove out the fishermen; the fishermen now live on a periphery of islands.
Bahra - Luckymoose
Culture: Bahra, Average
Income: 1,500
Military: 1,000 militia, 500 noble horsemen (Upkeep: 200 + 500 = 700)
Manpower: 15,000 men
Description: A people descended from the desert nomads, they finally came to settle on the fork of this river, and while most still tend the herds, some have come to regard farming as a more honorable profession. Constantly raided as a source of slaves for the nations downriver, they turned from raided to raider, attacking their neighbors and selling the captured. After the Sesh conquered their nation, they thrived in the united empire; when it broke up, they managed to snatch a large part, and look well off.
Farou - Lord_Iggy
Culture: Farou, Good
Income: 10,000
Military: 10,000 militia, 1,000 professionals, 20 ships (Upkeep: 2,000 + 2,000 + 200 = 4,200)
Manpower: 35,000
Description: The Farou are a free people; militantly so. The descendants of a slave revolt in Hu’ut, they have managed to build a thriving nation in Helsia, which remains opposed to slave-holding nations everywhere. They have already conquered several minor slave-holding states. Moreover, their inventive and industrious workforce was the first to develop iron-working in the world.
Hu’ut - lord_joakim
Culture: Hu’ut, Strong
Income: 15,000
Military: 25,000 militia, 1,000 professionals, 15 ships (Upkeep: 5,000 + 2,000 + 150 = 7,150)
Manpower: 75,000
Description: A powerful nation, if not a rich one, Hu’ut went through a vicious civil war between the Magio and Dha cults, with the former and the god Hu’atbka finally triumphing. This rather mirrored their rise as a nation, where they bludgeoned their way to becoming the most powerful nation on the Had River, though incoming barbarian invasions and crop failures are starting to chip away at that lead. Trade, even within the nation, is dominated by foreigners, which has led to distrust against the people of the major trading states, while they harbor a strong sense of enmity towards the Farou.
These five should give a nice indicator as to the range of stats.
Do people want more detail? Government types? Quality of Life? Technological level (for that, really, I could just put an asterisk (*) next to your nation name if you were in the iron age, since there are only two options)?
Is there something particularly confusing here?
For the record, prices will go something like this:
.2 "gold" for every militia. 1 for every nobleman (he mostly pays for himself). 2 for professionals. 10 for every ship (come to think of it, that might need to be upped).
To launch a major campaign, I'd recommend something like 500 gold per 1,000 men per turn, to keep it fully supplied, though that might be a little high.
Chartering a colonial expedition might be something like 1,000 (prices vary depending on size and distance of colony, as well as the experience your nation has at starting them. You can inquire with me to be sure, or just assign however much you think appropriate and I'll bank the excess).
In order to let smaller nations do some of the things larger nations do, you can bank "gold", and conversely you can also deficit spend if you are a developed nation (those in the iron age and in the center of the cradle, mostly). Deficit spending just means that I'll keep track of your debt next to your income level; you have to repay it at some point, otherwise you can expect economic collapse. When is some point? That's where the fun begins... Let's just say whoever you "borrowed" (i.e. foraged i.e. stole) from will get pretty angry after a few turns.
Also, I'm going to get really sick of "gold" really quickly, so if people want to make currency names, I'd be more than happy to keep track of that. Even if you want to make weaker/stronger currencies, I can work out exchange rates fairly easily.