Dance of Shiva Rule Set
In this set of NES rules each nation has four top level stats: Population, Economy; Culture; and National Confidence that will determine much of a player's success as the games progresses. Players cannot spend to directly increase these stats. Each is improved by other spending choices selected by the player. For example, the National Confidence stat is determined from the Education, Infrastructure, Agriculture and Civil Leadership levels. Each stat is represented by a number; the higher the number the better. The details of how each is calculated will be explained later.
Key Stats:
Population: This approximates the number of people in your nation when compared to other nations. A larger population means more trade and higher costs to improve things like Education and infrastructure. Improvements in Agriculture and infrastructure can influence how quickly your population grows. Population also affects the size of your standing armies.
Economy: this is the number of Economic Points (EP) a player has to spend in a turn; it is calculated from five other stats and special events (Domestic Econ + Trade + Net Econ Freedom + Wealth Transferred – Total Army Upkeep – Events). Unspent EPs may be banked up to a total of 12.
Culture: culture represents how influential a nation is with neighbors and colonies. A high culture score will result in a nation having a strong influence on its neighbors that have lower scores. A low culture score can make a nation subject to the outside influences from strong cultures. It is calculated from Education level + Religion + the number of religious centers (RCs)
National Confidence: this score will contribute to a nation’s domestic economy. A high national confidence will mean more EPs to spend and less chance of your nation being influenced by other nations or going into revolt at bad news. High national confidence means a stable nation and strong local economies. It is calculated like so: Civil Leadership + Education + Infrastructure + Agriculture.
Players cannot spend EPs directly on any of the stats listed above. Spending in the areas listed below will influence the four primary stats.
National Stats:
Spending:
Players can spend EP in a variety of ways. They are listed below. Each stat level has a number associated with it; some are positive and some negative. These numbers are what go into calculations for the primary stat scores.
In most cases it will take 1 EP per population point to raise a nation to the next higher level. Only one level change per turn is permitted. Many improvements may be paid for over consecutive turns if desired. Those are indicated by a 0/5 notation to the right of the current stat. The second number may not be a five, but will be your current population level.
As a nation makes progress, there will be times when it outgrows its current infrastructure or tops out its education levels. When that happens players will be told and infrastructure will be reset to (0) or Education to (+1). War and other events could also create unexpected changes in stat levels.
Civilian Leadership measures how well you run your nation and its adjoining conquests. Civilian Leadership will influence both Culture and National Confidence scores. It
costs 3 EP to raise this stat one level. Levels: Corrupted (-2); Incompetent (-1); Poor (0); Average (+1); Good (+2); Very Good (+3); Excellent (+4).
Military Leadership Good plans and high leadership scores will create victories. It costs 3 EP to raise this stat one level. Corrupted (-2); Incompetent (-1); Poor (0); Average (+1); Good (+2); Very Good (+3); Excellent (+4).
Colonial Leadership is the effort you put into running your colonies well. Colonial Leadership will affect the amount of wealth that is transferred from colonies. Each time you create a new colony, this stat drops by 1. It can be raise by spending
1 EP per existing colony. Nations begin at level zero (0). This stat cannot go higher than +3
Education is how well a nation’s people are schooled and the degree to which a scientific approach is applied to the study of things. It affects both National Confidence and Culture. Levels range from (-2) to (+5).
Changes cost your population level in EP.
Infrastructure is everything related to roads, bridges, harbors, storehouses, water, sewer etc. The higher a nation’s infrastructure level, the better your nation’s National Confidence and Domestic Economy. Levels: None (-1) through a (+5). Infrastructure changes cost your population level in EP. Colonial populations are not included in this calculation. If a country grows substantially in size its infrastructure level may decrease.
Changes cost your population level in EP.
Agriculture: is all about farming and animal husbandry. Improvements here affect your National Confidence and encourage population growth. Levels here range from (-1) desert to (+5) rich, skilled farming tradition.
Changes cost your population level in EP.
Religion represents how well organized and pervasive a set of beliefs is in a nation. Religion affects Culture and can have a secondary effect if the population gets fanatical about their beliefs. In its early levels Religion will have a neutral or positive effect on culture and not have any fanatical influences, but once a nation reaches the level of State Religion, if Religion gets any stronger hold, fanaticism begins to creep in. In the levels list, the first number is the level of fanaticism and the second the impact on Culture. Levels: Altars ( 0,0 ); Shrines ( 0,0 ); Temples (0,+1); Secular (0,+2); State Religion (0, +3); Religious Education -1, +2); Converting (-2,+3); Jihad/Inquisition (-3,+4);. Radical changes in religion can disrupt the social order of a nation. Other events can also affect the Religious culture stat.
Changes cost your population level in EP to move in either direction
Armies & Navies:
Armies & Navies are used to fight wars, quell rebellion and threaten other nation. Troops are bought with EP at the rate of 1 EP for 5 standing divisions or any type squadron and 1 EP for 8 divisions of Mercenary or Professional Army troops. Troops are bought at the prevailing quality level and appear at a nation’s capital unless otherwise designated. Ships appear at the port nearest to the capital. The type of troops and how long they are available for will be determined by time period and technology levels. Prior to the establishment of standing armies in Europe, armies will be bought for campaigns and go away after the war (or turn) is over. Hired armies will need to be paid for every turn you want them available. The list of “Troops in use” show what types of units are in your army. Unless you specify otherwise a mix is assumed. If a player has a particular war plan that is based on a specific unit type, then they should say so in the orders and those preferences will be used to resolve battles.
Purchasing troops in times before standing armies is just like buying standing armies; the difference is that mercenaries and professional armies for hire have to be bought (or re-bought) every turn they are wanted. Standing contingency orders can be used to shift spending from other projects to recruitment at some predetermined level if an unexpected war starts in a turn. Mercenary and hired professional troops will usually be professional or veteran quality and cost less than standing army troops
(8 divisions vs. 5 for 1 EP). A standing order might read: “If war breaks out, recruit 16 divisions. Take the EP from….” Ships that are bought are permanent and will not disappear at the end of the turn.
Army/Navy Quality Levels represent the preparedness and skill levels of a standing army.
3 EP will improve the quality level of your existing army and all new recruits in a turn. You must designate whether you wish to improve land unit quality or naval unit. Existing units automatically upgrade when you improve levels. Land Unit Levels: Rabble, Warriors, Conscripts, Recruits, Professional, Veteran, Elite. Sea Units Levels: Pirates, Recruits, Professional, Veteran, Elite. Veteran status can only be achieved after a significant war and Elite status can only be awarded by the mod; it cannot be bought. Repeated defeats can lower quality levels as well as Army Confidence.
Standing Armies & Fleets exist until they are destroyed in battle or disbanded by the owner. The exact composition of them is determined by the player in their orders on a given turn and can change from turn to turn within the limits of what kinds of troops or ships are allowed.
Army Confidence is largely determined by success in battle.
It cannot be purchased with EP. The more victories an army has, the higher its confidence will be. High confidence will also increase the potential for future victories especially if the enemy has much lower confidence. EP cannot be used to increase Army confidence. Levels: None (0), Poor (+1), Average (+2), Improving (+3), Very Good (+4), Excellent (+5).
Standing Army/Fleet Upkeep takes effect once a nation has a standing army and represents the costs of having large armies or armies stationed overseas.
Standing army costs are 1 EP per turn (for more than 20 divisions). If a nation has more than 40 divisions, it will cost an additional EP. Fleets cost 1 EP for more than 15 Squadrons and 2 EP for more than 30. Stationing troops overseas is an expensive operation and contributes to Army Cost as well. Overseas means the troops (divisions) of a nation stationed in a place not directly connected to the home country by controlled land. The total number of divisions stationed overseas is divided by 10 to determine the EP cost of those troops. This is added to other army costs to determine the total cost of all armies. Overseas costs begin in the turn the army is sent overseas and must be paid that turn. Colonial troops raised and stationed overseas do not count as overseas for Army Costs consideration. Troops at war in an adjacent nation are not overseas. Overseas costs, eliminates the need to fund military expeditions separately.
Your Economy:
Your economy and hence the amount of EP you have to spend, is calculated from your domestic economy, your trade and your population. Larger populations increase both trade and your domestic economy. Military upkeep and other events may affect it, but the most important constituents are the ones names previously. Trade represents the flow of goods between domestic economies. Your domestic economy contributes to the world economy. A weak, war-torn domestic economy will contribute little to trade and will reap few benefits from rich foreign nations. A strong domestic economy will “consume” more trade than a weak one and hence will benefit more from trade.
The world has been divided into 10 regions defined by Voyages of Discovery (VoD) and Overland Trade Routes (OTR). Each of those areas has an economic value based on the EP generated by that region. If a nation has trading contacts in a region then it benefits through trade with that region. A nation’s Trade stat formula adds up the values of all the economies that have contact with the nation. The economic value of a region fluctuates from turn to turn and produces some percent of its maximum potential value. This represents the rise and fall of economic output over time. War can affect this percent.
The World Economy is the total of all Domestic Economies at their current production levels.
Domestic Economy: This represents the amount of internal trade and consumption going on in your nation.
This is a calculated stat and it feeds your top level Economy and the number of EP available for spending. It is calculated (Population + National Confidence – Gov Control) / 3.
Economic Centers (EC) represent centers of domestic prosperity and production. Each one will increase your domestic economy by 1.
ECs are automatically generated by increases to your domestic economy. Anything that decreases your domestic economy can also reduce the number of ECs you have. EC cities have a blue ring around the outside. When your economy calls for a new EC, you will be notified and get to place and name the city.
Trade Centers (TC) represent important cites that affect ones trade. One TC adds one point to a nation’s Trade stat.
TCs cost 4 EP to create, reasons supporting the expenditure must be provided. Wars, conflicts and revolutions can delay or interrupt the creation of a TC. Colonial Trading Posts can be upgraded to TC status or a city can get the upgrade. Capturing a TC will add it to the captor’s TC list for as long as it is held. War and other events can reduce a TC to a regular city. TC cities have a red ring around the outside.
Religious Centers (RC) are like TC, except that they add to culture. They also
cost 4 EP and can be created in cities, EC or TC. Reasons or a story need to be provided. A single city could be the nation’s capital, a TC and an RC. Should it be captured, the losing nation would lose the influence of all three. Capturing an RC of a different faith does not provide any benefit to the captor. If the RC is of your faith, then you get a new RC. A nation with secular as its religious state cannot build or benefit from RCs.
Trade: this stat represents your nation’s economic connection to the rest of the world.
This stat is calculated from the number of connections you have to other centers of economic prosperity, your population and the number of TCs. It also contributes to your overall economy and available spending.
Voyages of Discovery and Overland Trade Routes: (VoD/OTR) are the way nations explore the world and find places to establish Trading Posts and Colonies.
VoD cost 3 EP and only one may be funded in a given turn. VoD represent the mapping of unknown coastlines and perhaps contact with the local residents. A VoD may not carry explorers. They could be sent the following turn to establish a new Trading Post. When Explorers are used to open overland trade routes, it represents sending them into “unknown” lands to make contact with the locals to establish trade connections. Explorers can explore both backward undeveloped regions like central North America and well developed regions like central China and central Europe. When discovered, new VoD and OTR are added to the lists in the stats and trade benefits may ensue.
Explorers cost 1 EP. Explorers can only explore from a known place into an unknown place. Voyages of Discovery require an appropriate type of ship for exploring the oceans. Here are the possible VoD and OTRs:
List of VoD & OTR:
A nation may buy or sell the results of any VoD or OTR to another nation for whatever price both agree on. For a VoD to be useful it must be connected to another VoD that is closer to the home nation. For instance, buying the West Coast of S. America VoD would not be useful to Spain until it had made the East Coast of S. America VoD. Nations cannot send explorers to land unless they have made VoD to that part of the world. VoD and OTR are not necessarily successful; some could yield partial results or ships could be destroyed on either the outward or return legs of the journey. Once a VoD has revealed new lands, then Explorers may be sent to build Trading Posts.
Circumnavigation of the world may be attempted in a single turn for 4 EP:
--From Europe traveling west once ESA is known or traveling east once IP or ANZ is known
--From Asia traveling west once ESA is known or traveling east once WNA or WSA is known
--From the Americas traveling east or west once IOS is known
--From Africa traveling west once ESA is known or traveling east once IP or ANZ is known
The final route taken and lands discovered will be up to the vagaries of fate. A skilled captain and crew will improve the odds of success.
Explorers and Colonists are unit types related to building a colonial empire. They cost 1 EP each. Explorers are built and sent out at the same time in a player’s orders. They are sent to explore an identified area that you already know exists. They carry with them the makings of a Trading Post or in the case of developed areas, trading contacts. Explorers can travel over land or water. Explorers will “discover” an area of land. Later explorers can expand that area and set up new TP in a chain. A TP can be upgraded to a TC with appropriate supporting reasons and payment of 4 EP. Military force may be needed to set up and defend a TP.
Sometimes a player will want to establish a colony on foreign soil. Colonies require more land than a Trading Post. That land must be either given by the current owner or taken by force. Sending colonists costs 1 EP and lowers the nation’s Colonial Leadership level by one (zero becomes -1 etc. Colonial Leadership may be improved in subsequent turns. Once an area is colonized, then in a subsequent turn, any trading posts in that colony may be upgraded to TC at the rate of one TC per turn. Explanations/stories are required to support changing a TP to a TC.
Trading Posts (TP) are the first stage of colonization. They are automatically established when a nation sends an explorer unit to make new contacts. TP are usually subject to permission of the resident player or NPC, but may be established by force of arms. TP may be upgraded to a TC for 4 EP plus reasons or story in any turn after it’s is set up, if both nations agree. Military force can be used to influence a nation to agree.
Colonial Empires
Colonies are a nation’s overseas sources of economic growth. They are established by Explorers and Colonists. The success of a colony may be determined by its location and activity of neighbors, but players do have some control on how a colony contributes to their economy. Colonies have three stats: # of colonists sent, the accumulated wealth stockpiled in a colony and the untapped resources of the colony that can be converted to wealth. The mod will determine the area of a colony and how many colonies are in an area based on the resources of the area and the stories by the player.
Colonial Leadership has a direct effect on how much wealth is transferred from a colony to the home country. A nation’s culture level will determine how quickly local people are assimilated into the ruling culture and their tendency to rebel. A strong culture in a land of weakly cultured people may help enlarge the colony quickly without war. The nature of the terrain of a colony can affect how quickly land is absorbed and what resources are available and how quickly those resources can be converted to wealth.
Colonies may be started in any place not controlled by another player, in an NPC nation with permission of the ruler if you have a trading post there; in an NPC nation after conquest of some territory and after you set up a trading post via an explorer; in a grey area of the map after conquest or where you have a trading post; and in an area conquered by conquistadors (no TP needed).
How to create a colony:
First, discover new lands by way of a VoD. Once you know of land suited to colony formation, you can send an explorer to establish a trading post, or you can use conquistadors to conquer the new land and establish a TC through their victory, or you can send an army to conquer the land and then send an explorer to set up a TP.
Once a TP or TC is established, in the next turn, you may send colonists to establish the colony. The mod will determine the area of a colony and how many colonies are in an area based on the resources of the area and the stories by the player.
A nation’s culture level will determine how quickly local people are assimilated into the ruling culture and their tendency to rebel. A strong culture in a land of weakly cultured people may help enlarge the colony quickly without war.
Every colony, when founded, gets three stats: number of colonists in the colony, a wealth value and a resources value. The first number is a running total of the number of colonists sent to this colony; the second number, wealth, is the number of EP that can be shifted from the colony to the home nation in the next or subsequent turns. The third number is the current resource value of the colony; it represents undeveloped wealth.
Investing in Colonies
Investing EP into an existing colony will do one of three things:
1. EP spent adding colonists (
1 EP each) will increase the land area of the colony and may increase the colony’s resource number. No more than 1 group of colonists can be added to a colony in a turn.
2. The posted resource level of a colony is the number of resource EP that can be converted to wealth.
One EP spent on resource development will produce some multiple of EP increase of new resources. No more than 1 EP per turn may be spent developing resources
3. If a colony has a resource value,
for 1 EP those resources may be extracted and converted to wealth. The rate that resources are converted into wealth is determined by the Mod, but usually it will greater than 1:1 ratio. Converting resources to wealth reduces the resource value. No more than 1 EP per turn may be spent converting resources to wealth.
Adding territory to a colony by conquest may increase the resource value of a colony. Stories and reasons given by players will influence the resource values of colonies. Over time as technology and needs change resource values may increase above any initial caps. Resources in a colony may become completely depleted over time.
Wealth Transfers from Colonies to Home Nation:
In any orders after the orders that established a colony, the home nation may transfer some or all of a colony’s current wealth home (as EP) that will be added to the nation’s stats at the end of the update (i.e. it cannot be spent in the turn it is ordered to be sent home). When that transfer takes place, the wealth stat for the colony is reduced by the number of EP transferred. The number of EP transferred from a colony is changed by the value of the nation’s Colonial Leadership value. If Colonial Leadership is -1 then, 1 EP is taken from each wealth transfer made from each colony. If a nation’s Colonial Leadership is +1 then 1 EP is added to each wealth transfer made from each colony. The Colonial Leadership value represents the level of corruption etc. that exist in a colony. It costs 1 EP x the number of colonies to raise the level of Colonial Leadership by +1.
If a colony is conquered in a turn (that means the port city, trading post or other significant city is captured) then the wealth and resources of the colony are no longer available to the original home nation. Any wealth transfers scheduled for that turn do not take place. Contingency orders will not work to get the accumulated wealth out. The captured wealth is now controlled by the conquering player.
Example: Portugal establishes a colony in Ghana; it has an initial value of 2/5 (wealth /resources). The next turn Portugal spends 1 EP to develop resources there and the colony’s value changes to 2/9 (2/5+4=9). The following turn, Portugal spends 1 EP to convert some of those resources into wealth and the values change again to 6/5 (2+4/9-4). Then in a following turn Portugal brings 4 of those wealth EP home for spending and the colony’s value is now 2/5. This example assumes that Portugal has a colonial leadership value of zero. If it were -1 then when 4 EP of wealth were sent home, only 3 EP would arrive. If the Colonial Leadership value was +2 then 6 would be transferred.
Summary of the effects of the colony creation process:
1. Every colony needs a name. Players may assign the name. The name will be listed in a nation’s stats.
2. Each colony a player establishes will reduce their Colonial Leadership stat by 1.
3. Every time wealth is shifted from a colony to the home country, the value of colonial leadership is added to or subtracted from that transfer.
4. It costs 1 EP x the number of colonies to improve colonial leadership 1 level.
5. TPs located in a colony can be upgraded to a TC for 4 EP and thus add further income to a nation’s economy. TCs will not reduce the resources or wealth of a colony. A colony though does not need a TC to transfer wealth.
6. Armies based in a colony do not count as “overseas” for army upkeep purposes as long as they are at peace. But if those troops attack an existing player or NPC nation from that colony base, then overseas upkeep must be paid to support those efforts in that turn.
There are some limitations and restriction on Colonies. Explorers and colonists may be sent to any grey areas on the map (excluding Europe) and establish TPs and colonies in those areas. Colonies and TPs may be set up in colored areas of the map (named nations) by conquest or agreement. Colonies must have a reason for existing and being valuable. The mod will be the final arbiter of what constitutes a colony. Nations must have a VoD that includes the coastline of the area to be colonized and explorers or Conquistadors must begin the process of settling grey colored areas. Only European nations may buy conquistadors (see below).
Economic Freedom will be an important factor in driving the pace of change in a nation. The more economic freedom, the faster the pace of change and the more new discoveries a nation will make. But it brings a price. The more economic freedom in a nation the greater the possible unrest if stability is upset or the government gets too controlling. Similarly, if a very controlling government is in charge, adding economic freedom may create instability and unrest as the people clamor for more freedom. Economic freedom can bring economic bonuses to a nation. Players will characterize their nation’s level of economic freedom from none to high. Changes can be made any time, but may cause unintended side effects. The scale is a 0 to +5 scale where 0 is little to no economic freedom and +5 is lots of freedom. Players may only move their level of economic freedom by one level (in either direction) each turn.
It costs 3 EP to change this stat.
Government control represents how repressive and controlling your government is. Players may move Government Control one or more levels in either direction in a given turn, but a move of more than one on the scale per turn may cause unexpected side effects. Stories, reasons, etc. may mitigate these side effects. More repressive governments will slow the pace of change and technological advancement in a nation and perhaps stir rebellion should opportunity appear. The scale is from 0 to +5 where 0 is least repressive (a republic or democracy) and +5 most repressive.
It costs 3 EP to change this stat.
A nation’s government control level will affect the domestic economy (a higher number reduces it). A nation’s net economic freedom level will affect available spending. If government control approaches zero unrest or other ill effects may occur.
Stories are encouraged. If in a story, you create a named sea captain or general, then I will track that personage though the game and they could gain status and skills to become “great”. This “greatness” will improve their successes in voyages and war. Of course, they can also die during such endeavors and will die after some number of years anyway. Nations can have only one named sea captain and one named general at a time.
Projects are possible, but less important than in an Ancient Age game. Let me know what you want to do and the effect you are looking for, and I will let you know the cost and time.
