New NESes, ideas, development, etc

Sure thing. There's a big post on it a few pages ago.

Interesting facts: The Caribbean is called "The Hesperides," and Florida is "Tartessos". One of the first Asturian explorers to chart the New World was a real classicist. But more on that later!

Very nice. The Tamil state could be the Chera dynasty, if you wanted something in the similar vain as the Cholas. Minor nitpick: like 90% of that is in Rajputaba, not Maharashtra

An empericist tradition in Asia is a very interesting idea. At least in India it's something that off the top of my head could arise from an equivalent of the Kerala School. For China, I could see something like the Kerala School transplanted to southern China and fusing with Confucianism or some such doing it. I'd love to play as Nevayani and develop it further.

Wow. I thought I said Rajputana. Meh. The area between Gujarat, Delhi, and the Thar.

I'm glad it meets your approval. I was thinking there'd be a system of kings and sub-kings but monastic input would be far greater politically speaking. We can talk about it.

FfH5e NES is ready to go

I've started a new fresh start-ish NES here

Hello everyone, I was looking for some thoughts and input on the rules I have worked out for Stage II of NDNES. This stage will still allow people to play as Gods, but other roles will be available. Gods themselves will also have their stats tweaked. There newly proposed rules are as follows:

God Rules and Stats

Name/Player Name
Annual Actions:
Description:

Given that we are slowing down the pace of the NES considerably and moving towards yearly updates, we cannot have Gods using the traditional system any more (Or else we would run into people raising up continents even other year). Instead, a new point system will be introduced to allow much more subtle but consistent action on the part of the Gods, while still enjoying the wow-factor of being an all-powerful deity at times

Points will be divided into Weak/Medium/Strong. A weak point is on par with producing an decently talented mage, blessing a mortal with unusual strength, or increasing fertility in a small area. Weak points are basically minor miracles or events that could potentially be attributed to dumb luck or mistaken for the works of a different deity. Medium points will be undeniable proof of divine intervention. Examples would be smiting a particular mortal with a bolt of lightning, creating a magical item, or appearing as a vision to a holy man. Medium points will be what drives forward many plans and plots, although they still pale in comparison to old “Minor Actions”. Strong points are almost equivalent to the Minor Actions of Stage I, allowing Gods to birth new races, vastly change the climate of a limited area, or created a massively powerful magic item.

In a given year, the average God can expect about 3 Weak Points, 1 Medium Point, and 0 Strong Points. Accomplishing extraordinary goals, suddenly amassing tons of followers, or otherwise gaining power from elsewhere could potentially result in gaining a Strong Point.



Country Rules and Stats

Name/Player Name:
Government:
Leader/Governing Body:
Factions:
-Faction Descriptions
Annual Income:
Annual Expenses:
Military:
Military Description:
Cultural Breakdown:
Description

Name: Self explanatory. This will be the name of a given country, accompanied by the player in control of it.

Government: What type of government controls this government. Given the wide variety of races, the prevalence of magic, and the utter chaos in this world, types of government can vary quite a bit.

Leader/Governing Body: Who is in charge of this country?

Factions: Rarely will everyone in a country be on the same page. Factions represent large and/or influential groups within a country who may or may not be happy with the direction things are going. Factions can lend their support and offer to fund a war they deem as just, or actively conspire to bring destruction to a decaying empire. Each faction will be given a short description to give you insight into their power, level of cooperation, and values.

Annual Income: Another rather self explanatory stat. As of right now, there aren’t many commonly used currencies, so we’re just going to go with an arbitrary number to represent wealth. This income is how much money the government or administration of a country bring in; a relatively prosperous country with low taxes might be considered rich, but its income will reflect the fact that it has not really tapped into that wealth for spending purposes. Income can be banked, although vast stores of wealth lend themselves to being the target of adventurers, beasts, and corrupt government officials alike.

Annual Expenses: In order to maintain the current state of affairs, this is how much your government must pay each year. The most obvious and consistent cost here will be military upkeep, although public works like schools, roads, and other state-sponsored activities can eat up part of the budget.

Military Costs are as follows:

5 Infantry : 1 “Gold”/year
1 Cavalry: 1 “Gold”/year
10 Levies: 1 “Gold”/year
1 Ship: 50 “Gold”/year
1 Siege Train: 500 “Gold”/year

Click to expand...

Military: The military in this stage will be based off of End of Empires, with the bulk of many armies consisting of Infantry, Cavalry, Levies, and the occasional Siege Train. However, given the fantastical nature of this NES, there will also be units like dragons, magi, and other such forces on the battlefield that warrant separate stats. These troops will have their upkeep listed separate from other troop types. However, the quality and makeup of certain troop types still isn’t uniform across all nations. States ruled by giants may have infantry that is mostly made up of giants, while levies and cavalry comprise of humans and half giants. For fine details like this we move onto….

Military Description: This is a more qualitative stat than the hard numbers of the Military stat. Situations like the one mentioned above would be mentioned here. What type of magi are popular in this state? How skilled are the infantry in this country? Are the levies comprised entirely on the undead?

Cultural Breakdown: This will be a mishmash of the cultures, religions, and races found in this country. It is likely that not all of the mortals in a country have the same religion, or that they are even of the same race. This helps give a quick snapshot of the demographics of a country.

Description: Link to appropriate wiki page.

Figured I’d use Vasheroth as an example, although some numbers and costs might not be finalized. I took some liberties with numbers here; this isn’t necessarily canon and Jeho can point out any mistake I made if he wants to



Group Rules and Stats:

Stage II will allow players to assume control of a group smaller than a country, should they so choose. This could be a guild, a cult, or a band of mercenaries! Players are welcome to be creative with this and to discuss with me any questions they might have about a potential Group they wish to play as. A solid rule of thumb: if it doesn’t control enough land to be visible on the map but has more influence than a party of adventurers, then it probably qualifies as a Group. For individual characters and parties of adventurers, see rules for Individuals.

Name/Player Name
Leader or Governing Body
Holdings
Membership
Annual Income
Annual Expenses
Military (if applicable)
Military Description (if applicable)
Group Description

These stats are largely identical to those of a country, with the exception of Holdings and Membership. Other than these two different stats, read everything like it would apply to a country.

Holdings: Lands, buildings, and estates under the control of this group. A guild may have facilities in several cities, while a group of mercenaries might control a single fort on the frontier. Some groups might not even have holdings!

Membership: Describes what kind and how many people are within the group at the moment. Keep in mind that this is all relative; a group of cultists might consider dozens of members to be an all-time high, while a prestigious mercenary company might need several thousand troops and camp followers to consider themselves up to snuff.

For this example, I will take the Order of the Adamant, since they are a decently well known group:



Individual Rules and Stats

Name/Player Name
Age
Possessions
Followers
Description

Name: The name of a character

Age: The age of your character. Certain beings might find this stat rather inconsequential if they are immortal or very long lived.

Possessions: A character’s possessions will be listed here, obviously. This include their wealth, any land or holdings they possess, horses, exotic pets, ect. It must be of significance though to be listed here. A character’s wealth will also be included in this stat.

Followers: If a character is a member of a small party, has a family, or even just a dedicated partner, they will most likely be indicated under this stat.



It should be noted at you can be almost anything as an Individual; I will permit beings of any race or social status, so long as you show a genuine interest in staying in character. Yes, this includes playing as magical beasts, mundane peasants, and traveling magi. If playing as a non-sentient being, don’t expect to have many possessions or followers. However, you will still be updated on...whatever you’re doing.

Thoughts?

Interesting stuff! Would a player who controls a god only control that god, or is there an opportunity to play multiple characters?

Players will be allowed to play on two "tiers." So no, you won't have to give up your beloved Gods, nor will new players necessarily miss out on being a God.

If I choose two particular tiers of control (let's say a nation and a god), can I also create groups and individuals but relegate them to NPC status?

Dreadnought said:

If I choose two particular tiers of control (let's say a nation and a god), can I also create groups and individuals but relegate them to NPC status?

Click to expand...

They will probably just be limited to either Faction status, or just be notable figures without stats. Otherwise, stats could quickly balloon if everyone is making 5 NPCs beneath them. But still, I could see stats for NPC groups if they are especially powerful. Thanks for giving me something to think about!

What about an game where you pick your own map plot and create your nation from the bottom up based on 1850's or so life? Military, Economy,etc....

A true nation RP type of game?

To the extent that anyone's interested, I recently launched a psychological horror/survival themed game, A Calm in the Storm. The thread is hosted on the IOT subforum, but the game itself is played somewhat like an RPG (though much more heavily narrative-and-context driven, no stats or anything like that) in a chatroom. Flexible for different timezones; I already have players from three continents.

I have created a character driven high fantasy game, over yonder in IOT forums, here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/pre-game-last-days-of-weissen.609489/

Last Days of Weissen is about being an adventurer in the doomed human kingdom of Weissen, wrecked with internal struggles, abandoned by its allies, and under threat by demons amassing in the North. Ruleset is much inspired by likes of Fallen London and NDNes, with each character being granted one major action and two minor actions to conduct missions and initiatives, with likelihood of success being determined by your four major stats.

More explanation and rules may be found in the above link.

Putting together a low maintenance fantasy game that's probably closer to an NES-style game, but I'll probably run it on the IOT forum for the extra traffic. Here's some rough notes and maps.

Lost Lands
The Apocalypse is now. The eastern seas broil and churn, with waves as high as mountains sweeping entire islands under the dark surf. The south disappears under the grinding advance of a continent-wide sheet of ice. In the west the earth itself is torn asunder, plains turned to canyons, and mountains bursting into flame and ash. The forests and grasslands of the north stripped bare by howling gusts of wind, the soil dried and cracked until only decaying dust and sand is left. The people of the world that have not already died flee, pressed on by the advancing destruction behind them.

And so they reach the end the world, the Lost Lands, a sea untouched the Apocalypse, and the civilisations that preceded it. The Apocalypse halts at the eastern channel, the northern badlands, the western hills and the southern mountains. Some say the gods hold the Apocalypse back, others claim the Lost Lands are protected by a wellspring of natural magic, while others still hold that they are already dead and these lands are either heaven, hell, or somewhere else.

Races
Dozens of races make up the sentient peoples of the world. Whether all the world’s peoples are the same species or not, remains a divisive subject, with some taking personal offense when compared to others they may deem less ‘dignified.’ It is true that all races are able to interbreed, though only for a single generation. This could be some divine rule dictating that the races are not to mix, or it could be a property of natural magic, or even the same natural process that keeps mules from procreating. In any event, many races are similar enough that individuals could pass for one another if you don’t look too closely.

Magic
Magic is an undeniable and unavoidable part of life in this world, though some do try their best to avoid it. Almost anyone can do magic, if they put in the time and effort. Some compare magic to playing an instrument. Most people are capable of playing an instrument, though not all are capable of making music, and even fewer can make a living off it. The similarities stop at one point though – instruments don’t inevitably kill their user. Every use of magic slowly, or not so slowly, cripples and eventually kills the user, in proportion to the strength of the magic being used. Magic is not a one-way street, every action has a reaction, and the vast force of that reaction is on the body and mind of the user. Many a young wizards have perished after casting their first fire spell, and an untold number of would-be witches lay buried in the woods having tried to feel the life-web of a forest. Indeed, the most powerful magic users are those who use magic selectively, only in small amounts and with great care.

What is magic? That’s up for debate. Where does it come from? That one too. What can magic do? Who knows? Some believe magic is sent from the gods and channeled through mortals. Others say magic is the force connecting all the spirits of the world, whether they are trees, rocks, or cakes, and mortals can tap into that energy if they respect it. Still others see magic as a natural force, like the downward flow of water, and can be harnessed and wielded by mortals with proper technique. Whoever is correct, the sight of priests healing the sick, sorcerers devouring trespassers with shrubbery, or mages creating intricate works of art without lifting a finger, magic is used by mortals of all walks of life. As long as they are content with a painful and short life.

Signup
You have 5 points to spend on your countries starting stats, with 5 being the highest they can start at, and 1 being the lowest for Government, Society and Economy (representing being weak or unstable), and 0 being the lowest for Army and Navy (representing non-existence).

Government - 1
Society - 1
Economy - 1
Army - 0
Navy - 0

Race: When creating your race, have one positive and one negative attribute. You can either choose from the list of example attributes, or choose your own. Races are all humanoid, and in general only differ from humans in one or two noticeable ways. Remember, all races must be able to cross-breed. If you think your race may be too fantastical, check with me. You race will also be used for other NPC countries, or possibly other players.
Country Name: The official name of your country. Also include a demonym, and a shortened name for your country if its title is more than 3 words.
Government/Leader Name: Give a basic explanation of how your country is governed, and who the head of state is. Try to make a 1~3 word title for your government type.
Religion: Describe the religion of your country. Starting NPCs will likely share your religion, or a denomination of it.
Society/Culture: Describe how your country’s society is structured, and what the culture of your people is like.
Economy: Describe your country’s economy, such as what its staples are.
Army: Describe your country’s army, such as organisation, composition and tactics.
Navy: Describe your country’s navy, such as organisation, composition and tactics.
Legends: Create 2 Legends, given them a Name, Age, Occupation and a brief description of them. Starting Legends will be of your country’s main race. Older legends will be more at risk of dying, but are also more experienced and powerful.
Capital Location and Name/Migration Route: Show where your country’s capital will be settled, as well as its name, and the migration route your people took to reach it. In general, try to choose the route of least resistance, as in if your people arrived from the north desert, they should settle in the north, rather than trek around the entire bay to settle in the southeast. Feel free to give names to areas or landmarks along your migration route.
Language(s): The language or languages of your country. Also include some sample people and city names.
Background: Any additional history, details or background on your people, religion, government, or legends.

RULES
Orders
Sending orders is done by listing your three priorities. Your First Priority will receive most of your country’s attention, and is best used on something that will require a huge amount of effort, or something that simply must be accomplished as soon as possible. The Second should be used for projects that are still fairly wide ranging, but do not require the focus of your entire country’s ability. The Third Priority should be used for smaller initiatives, or objectives that you are fairly confident you can achieve without putting in extreme effort.

Your ability to succeed at your priorities is determined by your stats. For example, if you are trying to expand your military, having a strong economy will help outfit the new troops, while have a weak government or unstable society will undermine your attempts to recruit new soldiers.

The better explained your attempt and processes to achieve the priority are, the better the results will be. Simply saying ‘improve economy’ will be less successful than an explanation of how you are going to improve your economy, and in what ways.

In addition to your three priorities, each of your Legends can be given a task. This can either be an independent task for them to fulfill, or you can get them to assist in one of your priorities, improving the chance and degree of success. For example, a warrior Legend could be tasked with assisting your First Priority, an invasion of your neighbouring country. Or, you could task your warrior taking a small party of adventurers and scouting out some unexplored mountains.

Stats
Country Name
Head of State
Government: Cohesion/Type – Brief description of government structure. Issues facing government.
Society:Stability/Races/Religions – Brief description of society. Issues facing society.
Economy: Strength/Equality – Brief description of economy. Issues facing the economy.
Army: Size/Equipment/Skill – Brief description of the army. Issues facing the military.
Navy: Size/Equipment/Skill – Brief description of the navy. Issues facing the navy.
Legends: Name, Race, Age, Occupation - Description

Maps

I'm interested in this! Your ruleset is actually similar to an idea I had for a tribal NES.

So we could have robust, small, squat people and tall, elegant, pointy-eared people, all being technically the same 'race'?

Not so much the same 'race.' The idea is all the races are very closely related, possibly even the same species, or at least the same genus, though evolution might be a bit wonky with all the magic and weirdness going on.

EDIT Pre-game thread posted here

Coming soon - NESopoleis

What is NESopoleis?

A political simulation set in ancient times, where humans have mastered bronze and are just now beginning to settle into settlements larger than villages.

It is primarily inspired by Nesse/Nessos, since the main focus is taking a tribe/village/lineage/family/faction and using it to build up a great nation with others. The fun of NESopoleis is that the focus is on a group of culturally related but geographically separated city-states, so you can be a despot or a democrat, work with other players or accumulate NPC followers to your personal kingdom. There will be advantages to both styles, but the goal is to accommodate both the cooperative and the power-hungry players. Rather than being about one city, the NES is about the rise and fall of cities and alliances through the years, and the great people who build and lead them.

Another influence would be Ninja's GodNES, since gods and mythical creatures are lurking on the boundaries of creation, although it resembles the later phases of that game in which divine intervention is rare, and supernatural forces cannot be harnessed easily by humans (although they may play an important role).

How do you play?

Players play a LINEAGE, not a city or a kingdom. The lineage can be something like a tribe with common customs, a legendary family of politicians, or even a guild of philosophers or a school of artisans. The lineage can even be as small as a single individual, if you wish to play a true character-based game. It does not have to be bound by ties of blood (like a lineage could be a political faction who elects its next leader, or a king who adopts his best general as heir,) although many will be traditional families.

There will be a lot of minor NPC factions of various types, mostly farming, hunting, and herding tribes at the start of the game. You will need to win over some of these factions, gain and keep their loyalty to bolster your own power or achieve your objectives. Usually NPC factions will be passive and respond to the players, but there will be some exceptions (like tribal raids and rebels).

The game is not zero-sum, so you can "lose" in various ways (lose a war, lose an election, have your people depose you, become exiled, have your lineage leader killed) and have your lineage succeed by going to succeed elsewhere, or simply waiting for your political fortunes to change. Different branches of your lineage can spread to different areas and you can switch between them if you please in later phases of the game. Primarily your lineage is however you choose to define it.

Turns will be relatively quick in the early game. All PC factions will have between 1 and 3 ACTIONS. These actions will fall into a series of clear categories, like (expand, settle, migrate, build, pray, attack, defend, lead, intrigue, etc.) Within those one-word actions you can elaborate as much as you want on how to achieve the action, but you must focus on that thing. Most factions will only get 1 action, but you will be able to get up to 2 bonus actions per turn by writing stories or creating detailed background info (like drawing a map of a new town or writing a religious song). As your factions specialize and become more advanced and powerful, new actions may become available based on your skills.

Outside of the actions, the actual running of the governments, their rules and such is entirely up to the players. They can design their governments however they want, although they're also responsible for making sure they actually work. If they set up a constitution that calls for regular elections and a variety of elected positions, they'll need to make sure they actually happen and that the positions are filled. Since actions are limited, leaders will need to DELEGATE tasks to other factions, NPC or PC, which requires earning and keeping their trust.

If you want to run the military in another player's (or NPC's) city, or even specialize in construction, philosophy or religion, you can do that. Or if you wish to rule over vast swaths of land as a tribal warlord, bringing terror (or guardianship) to the sedentary states, that is also possible. Mobile factions like nomads, traveling merchants or mercenary groups are also available to play at different stages in the game. The focus will definitely be on emergent gameplay, and rely on player creativity. And over the centuries you'll have the opportunity to try out new roles if you wish (move from politics to military to religion to trading and so on).

In the end, the hope is that we'll have an exciting laboratory for political ideas, intrigue, and great fun. I think it will succeed or fail based on the ability of the players to contribute to the texture of the worldbuilding. The game (at least this phase of it) will end if one or several lineages unites the entire NESopoleis region under their uncontested supremacy.

Thanks to the quick and simple action-based order format, turns will proceed quickly, hopefully on a weekly basis. Updates will be short and to the point; most of the detail in the storyline of the NES will come from player-made contributions.

When will the game launch?

Early May!

Got a map yet?

Here's a very rough draft (still needs river valleys, more topography, and redrawn coastlines):

I am a simple man. I see a NES I join.

...introducing Homework NES! Where you do things that are definitely not Thlayli's grad school assignments.

Some theoretical stats for lineages and NPC's:

Lineage Stat:

Lineage Name/Leader/Player: Pooneans / Xantho Poonea / Thlayli
Population: 1500
Assets/Specialties: Poonberry farms, levy skirmisher band (-300)
Relationships: Rivalry with the Scari hunter tribe. Alliance with the Tuulo fisher tribes. Loyal to the town of Kati-Kati.

State Stat:

State Name: Kati-Kati
Leader: Nissia Tuuloi
Factions: Tuulo Tribe (strong/leader), Scari Tribe (medium/neutral), Pooneans (medium/loyal)
Population: 4000
Assets: 1000 levied light skirmishers, food surplus
Relationships: Sworn enemy to the Kingdom of Elcyna. Trading relationships with the Tako amber traders. Pays small tribute to Jhum warlords when they demand it.

And my Axe!! Nesse is something I'd like to re-run someday. But I'd rather play this instead.

Down for some city building and bloodthristy politics.