THE RULES
SECTION ONE: GENERAL INFORMATION:
PLAYERS: So long as there is a blank space upon the map there is room for another brave empire to rise. This game starts with a blank map. No nations or pre-established empires. It all starts with you working from the start and climbing to the top. Over time nations will pop up on there own that can be considered neutral. Until a player picks to be that nation, it will be played by me. I will also start my own nation (I want to play in my own game instead of just being at the sidelines and coaching), a note of advice. I had a god complex so don’t tick me off ^^.
STORIES: Stories are widely optional. However, if u choose to right one I will read it, and as long as it is thought out and decent, you may find you get a boost. Stories can directly affect your nation or empire in a political of militaristic way or it can be some random thing that has a large impact, your choice.
UPDATES: When I update is a little sketchy, usually I will do so every week, if I’m on vacation the time may be set back, or if the players are able to organize and send in orders before schedule then I may due so a bit earlier. So you don’t have to worry, I’ll get the updates in and, luckily I have so much spare time that hopefully most of the updates will be a bit earlier then scheduled.
ORDERS: To give me orders you can either post them or you can PM them to me, though, I strongly suggest you PM them to me unless you want a seriously ass whooping. Players will give me their orders for the turn, mostly concerning their military or economic situation. You can also post some random stuff and if I find it interesting enough I’ll make something about it, possible worth your while.
NUETRAL (NPCs): not necessarily neutral, however they will not likely attack unless you are a real ass to them. I will be playing these neutral countries when they pop up, but if it makes u happy I won’t play them well, however, keep in mind that they will not just fall down if you declare, they will fight and unless you can take them out or make peace, they’ll be just as likely to invade you in a war.
BARBARIANS: Barbarians may turn out to be a bigger threat to you then any empire can be. You can conduct diplomacy with these beasts but you can never really expect them to keep to these pacts. Most NPCs will come to being as Barbarians settle cities and become civilized. Barbarians will always be a threat though, so stay calm if you find the barbarians attacking. The Only way to take these vicious monsters with their numbers and brute force is through your trained and civilized soldiers. Barbarians can be the end of you.
MAP: The Map will start out blank, but as the first turn ends, hopefully nations will line the map. Normal cities are Black circles, Capitals are Economic Centers and have white borders, and Economic Centers will have red borders. Fortifications are black squares; rebellions are white and may be spread out within your borders. All uncivilized areas are white, except for those with major concentrations of barbarians which are a shade of gray. Every turn the map will likely change, so with this good luck.
SECTION TWO: NATIONS
NATON TEMPLATE:
Nation Name:
Capital:
Player:
Ruler: (Optional / You make an emperor, king or etc. just for the hell of it)
Government (Efficiency):
Economy: X (Y)
Technology Level:
Religion:
Education:
Army (Quality):
-Infantry :
-Cavalry :
-Seige :
Navy (Quality):
-War Ships:
Culture:
Confidence:
Projects:
Nation Background:
GOVERNMENT:
Monarchy, Republic, Despotism, Tribal Council. Every Nation must have a Government. Governments can be changed but depending on how you go at it, the consequences may hurt. If you simply try to switch, you may be hit by an uprising, but if you are crafty and take some turns and put some eco into the whole things, you may find that it can be less expensive then facing the rebels.
Note: Let’s say that you want to be extra creative and create a whole new form of Government, PM me about it and I’ll decide and if I like it I’ll see what I can do. Also, there are some advantages or Disadvantages to your government type. While a Representative Government (with a Senate) goes well with the people’s feelings towards the government, you will find yourself lacking total rule and can be overruled which can hurt. A Totalitarian Government however, has the advantage of you having the last word, and if you work hard enough, you can reduce people’s sour feelings about your government if you are able to twist facts to your advantage.
In brackets you find the Efficiency of your Government; this is represented 1 – 10. The higher Efficiency levels mean you have less corruption and the people are happier with your rule. But the lowers mean that corruption runs rampant and the people are gonna be planning to stab you in the back. You can increase efficiency but investing 1 eco point to improve efficiency by 1. You can only improve efficiency by 2 each turn. The Max. Is 10.
Also, if u change Governments, depending on your process, the efficiency map drop. But like states earlier, if u take time and invest some eco into it, hopefully your government will retain some of its efficiency.
ECONOMY:
This is you income stat. Represented as X (Y). X is directly equal to the number of economic centers you have in your empire, (Y) is the number of eco points you have stored up or didn’t use the previous turn added directly to your treasury. Your Economy may prove more important then any amount of military power can. A strong economy can be the deciding point in any confrontation.
X equals to the number of eco. Points you can use per turn. You can spend these anyways you want, towards your Government Efficiency, the Army, Projects or anything else that may come to your mind. Unspent points will be transferred to (Y) and stored in your treasury.
(Y) is your treasury, this is the total amount of your stored up economic points. Your treasury can increase in a number of ways, you can be in a war and pillaging enemy territory, you can be raiding enemy cites, you could be receiving ‘tribute or protection money’ from an enemy or NPC. You can store these up for an emergency or you can spend them as you wish, but unlike X, you don’t automatically gain points to replace the spent.
You can increase your economies income by investing Eco Points into cities (Black dots, you cannot found an eco center) if the conditions are right and you invest enough, the City may turn into an Eco Center. (A historical example may be St. Petersburg, Peter spent much time turning this city into a new capital despite all the set backs) Sometimes the City may just not have what it takes to be an Eco Center, but other cities may only need two or three points to become productive. There are others ways to make an eco center.
A city placed at a strategic point of Trade between nations can become Eco Centers with little or no investment. However, you might have to improve your diplomatic relations with these countries for it to happen, a city in a strategic trade point is useless if the other nations can’t or won’t allow their merchant ships to trade with the city.
The easiest way, however, to gain an Eco Center is by war. Conquering enemy centers will quickly give you results unless the enemy decides to raze the city rather then let you enjoy its usefulness (The burning of Moscow)
You can spend Eco Points on anything you want to. You can fund rebels, intelligence services, propaganda, army training. If you can think it, I’ll make it happen.
TECHNOLOGY LEVEL:
Civilizations are founding by strong leaders and powerful armies, but they survive as new knowledge and technology spreads about the empire. The Game progresses slower then most other NES. Every turn is one month, I do this so, well, it’ll never end ^^. Also, I hate when 1 turn is worth 10 years and only one real battle is fought. So Technology will develop slow, very slow, at least this allows you time to adapt to the changes.
Technologic Advances are represented in periods, following a certain number of periods you may enter a new age. Certain periods allow new things to be built in cities and new units to be trained or siege equipment to be built. I have no list of periods or ages but since it’ll be such a slow progress I’ll come up with things as I go along.
RELIGION:
In Imago’s NES I didn’t see much on religion, so im gonna try and make it more important. As time goes on, civilizations will gain their own beliefs, for the most part, almost all empires start with pagan or animal based religions. You can use religions such as Islam or whatever, or you can have some fun and make up your own. The impact of religion will be rated on a 1-10 scale; this shows how important it is to your rule. If your people see you as a god they will connect you with the religion and this will make it less likely for revolts.
For now I don’t have much on religion, but I hope it gains momentum in the game and I will improve it. If the idea is dead in the water I might just throw it out.
EDUCATION:
The education of a nation has a different effect then that of the NES before me. Education will still be rated 1-10, this stands for the quality of education your subjects have. You cannot simply invest 1 eco point to improve education, you have to do it over a series of times and build things in cities.
While it is true that a higher education helps you get to a new period/age faster, it also effects the government in the way the people see it. Nations with higher education may be further away from religion, they might also have a higher idea of how politics work and, since no longer ignorant of how the government works, may be more likely to revolt.
Also, if your neighbors have a higher level of knowledge and have close ties with your nation, ideas might spread and the people may be rather ticked about being kept in the dark, thus a revolt is just as likely.
MILITARY (ARMY/NAVY):
Military is the backbone of a nation. Without strong armies to conquer of defend, you may be left high and dry. For this game, there are two branches, Ground (Divisions)/ Navy (Squadrons). By spending 1 Eco point you can train 5 Divisions on land or 5 Squadrons at sea, depending on the units.
Army Divisions are also split into branches. Infantry, Cavalry and Siege. This helps in balance. This is because these 3 cores have had the biggest impact on history. Before they were just called divisions as in Novus Ortus, now im separating them. Also, depending on resources you can raise unique Divisions such as War Hounds or Elephants. You can have specials.
Naval Squadrons are more basic, at the beginning they are only two branches (1 being optional) War Ships and Specials. Naval Warfare, while not simpler then that of ground warfare, is simple for the beginning. But as time progresses you build things such as Trade Ships if you want to have a huge trade empire.
If you want, you can raise army or naval quality by investing 1 point into training or better ship construction. You can only raise you quality by 2 per turn. If you double the size of your military divisions or naval squadrons, you will lose a quality point, which are also on a scale of 1-10.
Unique Units are the Elites of your armies. This doesn’t mean that an elite version of a Catapult is the best idea for a UU; sometimes a UU can be a spy core which will help you gain information on an enemies order. Each nation only gets 3 unique units per Age. Choose carefully, though many times a UU may not be enough the deciding point, they are always a great thing to have.
Military Campaigns and battles can be decided on more then pure number of troops. Sometimes, for what may be an extended campaign, it’s a good idea to invest some economic points for a supply train, logistics can be a major factor. Also, seeing as how I’ve chosen to play turns by months, this opens a new door. Sometimes it’s a good idea to wait before you attack, after all, only an idiot with invade Russia in the dead of winter. You may be hit in an area suffering drought, plague a monsoon or flood. An Armada nay be hit by a storm and completely demolished. Of course, I’ll be as far as I can in deciding this stuff, im not a bad person after all, I’m just a communist ^^.
In times of emergency, Conscript Divisions or “Green-wood Squadrons” can be called up. Conscripts are basically untrained peasants protecting their homeland. “Green-wood Squadrons” are ships constructed quickly, most likely from bad wood that can hit the seas to help the better War Ships. These Irregular Divisions are basically quality-less, however, Conscript Divisions can become regular divisions after fighting battles and gaining experience in war. “Green-wood Squadrons”, however, are more likely to just rot away during the middle of the war or a short time after. Only use these in emergencies, calling up to many Conscripts can cause revolt.
CULTURE:
Again, this is a 1-10 scale. Like education, you cannot simply up your culture with a single Eco Point, you have to spend points to build structures such as temple (By the way, a single eco point can fix up a whole town culture wise, but you got to do this to a lot of cities)
Culture also has a strong influence of revolts and revolution. A culturally strong neighbor can hurt you without a declaration of war. The stronger a culture, the happier the people.
Culture can also help you assimilate new lands without invading it. Sometimes Barbarians may become amazed at your culture, maybe even enough to make peace and join your empire. You can also have a culture boost if you have other countries influence in yours, barbarian culture can be very well in upping your status.
CONFIDENCE:
I’m really tired of typing about these 1-10 scales, so from now on when I say its represented by a scale, you better no what it means. Confidence is not upped by builds or points, but by strong leadership. If you win a lot of wars then the people’s confidence is strong, if you are a great diplomat, confidence is high.
However, if you are poor in these qualities then the people will learn to rely more on themselves then the government for help when the time comes. This means that they are less likely to accept conscription and might even revolt to create their own empire.
PROJECTS:
A project is not necessarily huge structures or great wonders, but something that impacts your people directly. A Reform or a Memorial falls into this category. Projects are not something that can be finished quickly, they will take many turns but the effects can be marvelous. One Eco Point must be invested each turn to keep work on the project going.
NATION BACKGROUND:
To create an Empire, something had to happen, explain the significant event that caused the founding of your empire. Tell me a story my friends, be creative. Don’t give me some BS; give me something original or at least well organized.
