Role Play Challenge: Paranoia!

Welcome to my next Role Play Challenge, Paranoia featuring Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia! These challenges are meant to be educational and fun with some special angle on either history, game strategy, or the unique personality of our beloved Leaders! These games usually include specific rules that I generally follow.

Here however, as part of the challenge I am NOT imposing any rules! I am playing a game at emperor level as I would normally play it out, seaking any victory anyway I can, using one of the games strongest leaders with my favorite trait (Organized).

The catch? Well, old Zara may be a great leader but he is Paranoid, and a zealot always fearful of a "Higher Power" initiating their (his/her) wrath on the Ethiopian people! Those who followed those older "Divine Intervention" games can see what is coming!

So what I need is a list (In Spoilers Please!) of players who agree to modify each save (NOT the 4000 BC save please) in world builder. Yes RPC fans, this is YOUR game where you can screw with Old Mad Scientist all you want! Feel free to make any changes, be creative and entertaining, in the spirit of the RPCs! And if old Mad Scientist starts struggling a bit at emperor, well also feel free for a little "Beneficent Assistance" in Zara's time of need! All changes are welcome including techs/map/leaders/troops/diplomacy/religions/wonders etc. The sky is the limit with the following exceptions

1) Changes can only be made in World Builder. Please do not "MOD" anything (I am not sure if you people could anyway, not my thing).
2) Do not put Zara in a completely unwinnable situation (please, no modern tanks against our archers!).
3) Please keep the RPC going with the posted, changed maps and do not spill the beans (Spoilers Please).

Settings are a completely Random Big/Little map (climate and sea level are random).
Emperor level
Marathon Speed

One final Comment! I look for advice and input here, so feel free to offer advice as usual, just don't mention the changes made!

So here is our Paranoid leader!



And the Map



OK, three good food sources! Nice start!

Zara starts with mining and hunting, so I say Fishing/archery to start while building scouts/warriors.

Amazing idea for an RPC! Looking forward to this one. Happy NY Mad btw

Oh boy... Mad Scientist doing an DI game. This is going to be awesome, I know it.

One word of advice to you, Mad: Don't pay attention to deities. They're all jerks at heart.

Settle on the corn, i am sure someone will revard you for that clever move!

I'll take a save! Third I guess?

By the way, it's just going to have one editor per save, right? Previous DIs allowed multiple people to edit the save and it just got messy with conflicting changes and sometimes saving over other's work.

Also, will there be any "quests"? Where mad gets an objective from a deity and later is rewarded/penalized on how he did...

I think we should use the very useful rules from the other DI series. That works well. The Eleven Commandments.

Yay! I can be Mantis, God of Insects again!

NPM

There's probably another seafood to your west. Settle 1SW since it's marathon.

Count me in, i'll dig out the God hat.

... I would like to give the god role a try, but I have no experience with worldbuilder and not always access to it, so I might need the help of some other gods in that aspect.

[

Are we able to edit buildings yields or such...I was thinking along the lines of a Quest that could be set, and reward with a building yield bonus..i.e. +2 for Harbors etc

Be a bit more creative than that, but make the quest fit into the role play he's doing.

One example I could think of is, 'Stealing you way home', he steals X techs for a reward of Y, A tech's for B, and C tech's for D reward..

Paranoia!: Part I

I will hold back on some narration until the next segments until we see some God-Like action here!

We start out by moving out scout a bit to view more of the land



Lot's of sugar there! we can get 1 more in the capital BFC by moving 1 E, but


I settled in place, as Zara puts all his faith in the Civilization God's and their wise initial placement.

After seeing what we passed up,



Zara Immediately starts to curse those god's as they betrayed him! What a prime location we passed up with so many hills and an exrta seafood. For what?? Some measely Sugar tiles that we would capture anyway. Bah, Zara spits on the alters of his former god's and vows to move out on his own.

BUT, he has this sinking feeling that there are MANY out there watching his every move.

After sending his scout all arround collecting maps but no gold or techs (Curse those Goody Hut Gods!!!) he finds



ISOLATION!!! At least so far! Zara is puzzled as he really thought people were watching him. "Where are they, I know they are there!". He swears he hears faint laughter in the distance.....

So what did we exactly do?

Build order: worker/scout/workboat/archer/archer/settler/workboat/lighthouse

Tech Order: Agriculture/Fishing/Archery/Sailing/Bronze Working/Wheel and saved.

Our lone settler we built we dropped on that western coastal desert tile, claiming some seafood and 2 hills producing a decent production city to compliment the capital's lack of it (2 hill don't make a production capital).

After BW, the map



Copper to the NW but blocked by a mountain, and great spot to the south. So the next settler get's some copper I think!

A view of our capital



Note how much early emphasis I placed on commerce. That fast Lighthouse from ORG produced some nice food/commerce tiles!

And the question is what to tech next??



Lot's of options here

Masonry for the GLH which would require ALOT of chopping I think, but has obvious value on the map.

Pottery for cottages and graneries (not much to cottage and we have lot's of food) but it opens up writing for early fast libraries.

AH for horses and pastures. This also unlocks writing.

IW, as we do have ALOT of jungle out there.

So Zara sit's back and laugh's, seeing beuatiful lands for his people to settle and enjoy. Sure there will be a few Barbarian cities to deal with, but the start is simply amazing. And the old Ethiopian Gods? There hell with them, they have not helped them at all, and the power of Zara Yaqob shall stand up to the greatest of them!

IPEX-731BA5DD06 said:

Are we able to edit buildings yields or such...I was thinking along the lines of a Quest that could be set, and reward with a building yield bonus..i.e. +2 for Harbors etc

Be a bit more creative than that, but make the quest fit into the role play he's doing.

One example I could think of is, 'Stealing you way home', he steals X techs for a reward of Y, A tech's for B, and C tech's for D reward..

Click to expand...

I am up for anything here. Just 2 major requests

1) Keep the game somewhat "winnable", unless of course I screw it up myself.

2) Keep changes in spoilers.

The Gods Speak

The stern female voice came to him in a dream.

"Your pride is your downfall, Zara Yaqob. Instead of praising the gods for your people, your lands, and your very life, you laugh in contempt. But what you have been given can be taken, and by mortals with greed in their hearts as large as your hubris!

"Look to your north, now, Zara Yaqob, and see the foul tribesmen led by the fell brothers Ufal and Zora! See their crafty minions in tow, with avarice in their eyes!

"The heavens have moved the earth! The waters have parted, the land has risen, and Ufal and Zora come for you now! Prepare for divine retribution, Zara Yaqob, and pray ... and let the names of the gods be on your lips with your final breath. But if you live, the earthly riches of the tribesmen are yours ..."



Need some help from the peanut gallery here:

@ slobberinbear:



Edit with save will follow shortly.

@ Paulus



Mad, don't use my save, use Paulus'.