PreNutraNESIV: Now With Less Abandonment Issues

Which NES should I run?

  • Gimme Fantasy!

    Votes: 13 48.1%

  • Gimme Scifi!

    Votes: 14 51.9%
  • Total voters
    27
nutranurse

nutranurse

Unlikeliest of Slash Fics
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
2,077
I have gone with the fantasyNES though I know that it is a bit against popular opinion. For the reason why see this quote:

Running a NES is not a democracy. Its a tryanical dictatorship. Its the only governing model that works.
-Immaculate​

So in the interest of me keeping myself interested I will go with what my gut tells me (something I rarely do) and moderate a fantasyNES! Furthermore, to ensure that I will be interested thoroughly I am going to keep this NES a Pre-NES until I am 100% confident that I am happy with the NES' mechanics and lore; to that end I will be releasing incremental "Previews" of the NES and will alter accordingly depending upon (potential) player feedback.



Staring Map
Spoiler :
nesmapstart.jpg
 
I am fine with both, but I would rather have a fantasy NES.
 
First one to... hmm.... 8 wins!
 
Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! Sci-fi! :)
 
Fantasy would be more interesting to me..
 
I don't care about sci-fi and fantasy - I do care that the gameplay of the fantasy sounds nicer than the scifi.
 
usirhavemisleadme

allpowertothelordofthesea
 
:~C He would have been featured in the fantasy NES. But let me post the ruleset for the scifines!

If a bunch of people are dissatisfied with it I'll post the fantasy ruleset.
 
I'd go for anything, honestly (though fantasy is what I voted for, for clear sentimental reasons). :p Re-make the poll and make Glorantha an option. ;)
 
Based off the polls, comments, and my own flighty dedication I have come to a decision! More tomorrow! When I'm sober.
 
I'll play either (but I voted for fantasy) :)

They both look great! :D
 
PREVIEW I: Getting Down the Not-So-Basic-Basics​

NutraNES: FantasyNES (Yeah I went with fantasy!)

Gameplay

Turns
Spoiler :
Each turn marks the passing of 2 years.

Making Sense of the Stats
Spoiler :

Council Overview
In the Council Overview section all the role-capable characters (VIPs) are listed as are their aims, assumed loyalties, area of expertise, and prominence stats. The player's monarch stats are always listed above that of their advisers/adversaries.

  • Chieftainess Zarleb the Short/Martial Warlord/80%/100% [Unify Zanzanzan Region] (Goblinoid, Abnormally Small, Sanguine Warrior, Sadistic, Chosen of the Zanzanzan Priestesses)


    Here you have the monarch's stats. It, and all character stats, are ordered by the following template:


    Name/Area of Expertise/Prominence/Assumed Loyalty [Aims & Ambitions] (Traits, Traits, Traits)


    What we can tell in this case is that the player's character/monarch, Zarleb the Short, specializes in bashing skulls and is at home on the battle field (Martial Warlord). She is fairly prominent within her realm and is known outside of it too, and she is absolutely loyal to her own cause (insane monarchs can be disloyal to themselves, actually). She is a Goblin, and a freakishly small one at that. She makes up for it, however, with her thirst for blood that borders insanity. She also recognized to be the 'Hero of Ages' as was prophesied by the Zanzanzan Priestesses--something which probably helps swell her ranks of Goblinoids, Orcmen, and other such dwellers of the mushroom jungles.

  • Na'zal/Domestic Minister of Terror/45%/50% [Quell Andkaraa's Insurrection & Govern the Region] (Newtkind, Unscrupulous, Despot, Amateur Mystic, Ardent Zanzanzanist)

    Here we have Na'zal, a Newtkind politician whose modus operandi is terror in all forms. Note that he is focused on the domestic part of the kingdom, meaning that he is most likely best kept at home where he can carry out the more boring things such as conducting censures, reorganizing the bureaucracy, and burning down orphanages. He is aided in his domestic tasks by his unrelenting, tyrannical nature that tends to result in things going his way. He also has ties to the old Zanzanzan religion and considers himself to know something of its ancient magics (though has demonstrated none of it). What is most troubling about Na'zal is the fact that he cannot be entirely trusted (50% assumed loyalty) and should he become more prominent there may be an insurrection to deal with!

  • Mardin/Warrior-Priestess/75%/65% [Unify Zanzanzan Region] (Goblinoid, Ruthless, Ardent Zanzanzanist, Anointed Priestess, Sanguine)

    In Mardin the Warrior-Priestess we see the ability for characters to have synergy between one another. First off, her common goblin blood makes her keener to Zarleb (and the player's!) plight, while also sharing Zarleb's love of war. To demonstrate this their aims/ambitions even match up, meaning the player stands a substantially better chance to see the goal completed since they have multiple characters supporting the cause. However, Mardin should still be viewed with a great deal of caution: notice her 65% loyalty and her 75% prominence. She is almost as beloved by the population as the player's leader, but yet is not nearly as trustworthy. What's more worrying is Mardin's sympathies truly lie with the Zanzanzanists--which coincidentally includes the disloyal Na'zal--and should the player act against the old religion they may see their two VIPs unite against them!!!

Kingdom Overview
In the Kingdom Overview I will list the stats pertaining to the player's realm, such as the realm-type, basic city stats, and important foreign treaties/domestic policies. Also listed is the player's agricultural production (AP) income/upkeep as well as the player's gold production (GP) income/upkeep.

  • Dominion of Zaanzazaa
    Decentralized Noble Goblinoid Principality

    The first thing in any Kingdom Overview will be the kingdom's name followed by its descriptive type. The name stems from the player's noodle while its type is determined by the player's actions in the NES. Types are always laid out in the following structure:

    Centralization Amount; Societal Focus; Racial Dominance; Government Style

    Centralization Amount ranges from Nomadic-Decentralized-Centralized and each level has its own bonuses/penalties. Nomadic realms tend to be much larger in size, though lack very many cities and incur a small penalty to their AP and GP production. However, nomadic realms field very large armies that can be drawn at the drop of a hat and these armies tend to be very experienced due to the petty tribal skirmishes that make up the day-to-day life of a nomad. Players will most likely have a very hard time enforcing their will without the backing of all the VIPs in the realm as well as a great deal of GP/AP to back up their actions. Nomadic realms also tend to sport many VIPs due to the many opportunities for these characters to rise to prominence.

    Decentralized realms are not the 'middle-ground' just because they occupy the central position on the scale. These realms vary greatly in size, though tend towards being larger due to their ability to eat up more lands and still govern them due to the extra independence of minor lordlings. Their AP receives no penalty, but their GP takes a small hit to represent the unavoidable corruption that exists in a decentralized realm. The armies of a decentralized realm tend to vary in size due to the ability for each lord to muster up their own private army at the call of the monarch, so more powerful VIPs will see more powerful armies. Players do not need to interact with many cities, only a few key individuals who control the outlying regions of the realm. Thus, how well the player can control their kingdom is highly dependent upon their relationship with the various VIPs. Decentralized realms have many VIPs initially, though to generate more there generally has to be some sort of bloody revolution that sees the creation of new provinces within the kingdom (either that or a great deal of noble patronage on the player's part).

    Centralized realms are more-or-less totally in the player's control. The ruler of a centralized realm actually has 4 actions as opposed to the normal 2, though they have few VIPs to support them. These realms generally are smaller in size unless the player has systematically built up an amazing bureaucracy/system of governance or has an utterly remarkable ruler. Due to their generally small land size, the armies of centralized realms tend to reflect this and number less than the other realms; however, the player's concentrated effort sees these armies possessing a higher discipline than normal. Centralized realms are also the only realms capable of housing a professional standing army. The AP and GP of a centralized realm sees a small boost due to the realm's inherent efficiency. VIPs are few and far between in a centralized realm, however, as the ruler probably had to kill a few important people to get himself to such a powerful position. Any VIPs of a centralized realm is either devoted to the player's ruler or utterly disloyal.

    Societal Focus is the next part of the government type and represents just what social class possess the most power in the realm. The focus can either be Noble, Ecclesiastic, or Popular to represent the traditional divide of Nobility/Priests/Everyone Else. Note that these divides are just stock divides and are further modified by whatever fluff the player creates. In fact, I encourage players to think outside of the box and alter castes to fit their own visions. Doing this will result in new societal focuses being created.

    Noble focused realms are ruled by elite members of society whose status is determined solely by blood. As a result land tends to pass down through families and the realm tends to be stabler than others, resulting in a stability bonus for the player. However, should civil unrest occur expect it to be very dire. Noble focused realms also earn a small bonus to their AP to represent the vast swaths of land the nobility have lesser-born people farm so they (the nobility) can eat, drink, and be merry. VIPs in noble focused realms also tend to be nobles (surprise!), which sees them having a higher likelihood for combat-oriented traits, though they also run higher risks for health defects. Noble focused realms tend to produce armies with a visible difference in quality. The high-class troops tend to have equally high quality, while the low-class troops tend to be cannon fodder.

    Ecclesiastic focused realms are ruled by priesthoods (whether this is a council of priests or local priests is determined by the centralization/decentralization/nomadic factor) who can stir up the whole realm with a single holy word. As a result these realms tend to be very unified in cause should everyone be of the same religion and face an external religious threat, resulting in a small stability boost. However, these realms also tend to be very oppressive (regardless of the religion) and incur a penalty to weariness score, having a lower limit than normal. The success of an Ecclesiastic realm depends greatly upon the success of its religion (and the tenets of the religion), including the religion's global/local unity and strength. Players can expect high times when the people think heaven is on their side and can expect a very sadistic moderator in the opposite situation. Armies fielded by Ecclesiastic realms vary in quality and discipline, but have remarkably high morale to represent the religions zeal propelling the people to war. VIPs in Ecclesiastic realms either come from the established priesthood (which can see a variety of traits evolve as these are the individuals who can risk being worldly) or from the ranks of utter zealots.

    Popular realms are not exactly ruled by the 'people'. They are ruled by whatever 'other' class the player has empowered, be they merchants, scholars, or farmers. Regardless, Popular realms see boosts in both AP and GP to represent the focus being on those individuals who produce AP and GP. These realms see a small penalty to their stability and weariness scores to represent the downfalls to giving the larger classes a larger say in politics. Furthermore the VIPs of Popular realms are the most varied set of people on the planet and this tends to result in many interesting inter-factional situations. Armies fielded by Popular realms have no real 'type', but they do tend to be larger than normal when mustered.

    Racial Dominance is perhaps the most important part of the descriptive type because it represents what race is in power as opposed to what race is most numerous. I cannot stress enough the effects of a kingdom's racial dominance because it also tends to set the kingdom's ruling class' outlook on everything. Furthermore all races confer various bonuses and penalties to the whole realm, but I will list these alongside the race's description, which will come in a later section. I must stress again that the Racial Dominance represents the ruling class based upon race. Reals with no racial dominance are deemed Egalitarian and bear no bonuses or penalties whatsoever.

    Government Style comes in all sorts of styles that will be detailed in a later section, partially because they are pretty important and partially because I do not want to fill up this section with that much text. Who knew that four simple words would demand such a long set of explanations. :lol:

    So let's apply all of this information to the example I have provided above: Decentralized Noble Goblinoid Principality

    The Dominion of Zaanzazaa is hardly held by any one person, so its name is certainly misleading! As a decentralized realm of noble goblin princelings the player can expect to deal with a great deal of petty infighting. Goblins are a very cantankerous race and are keen on arguments, subterfuge, and arguments. This combined with the concentration of power in the hands of dynasties will see that these arguments stretch back hundreds of years! The good thing to all of this is that the player does not have to care as much--goblins squabble all the time and tend to resolve their spats on their own. Goblins also tend to be so concerned with petty infighting that the player can rest assured that their monarch VIP will have a much higher prominence than the other VIPs at his command. He cannot, however, trust them very much to carry out the tasks he assigns them exactly as he describes them.

  • Economics: 15(5)/6(2)

    The Economics of a kingdom represents its AP income (AP upkeep)/GP income (GP upkeep). AP income is generally generated by villages, while AP upkeep is generated by cities, fortifications, and retinues (or standing armies in the case of centralized realms). Conversely, GP income is generated by cities, while GP upkeep is generated by retinues (or standing armies), fortifications, and realm infrastructures (both physical and government).

  • Zaa'k/Zaa'k


    This is the player's capital and national focus. Think EUIII here: the capital is the realm's political nexus, while the national focus is the area the player is concentrating most on. Unlike EUIII this gave is not being played with strict provinces so the player can define their national focus to be as wide (a whole region) to as narrow (a single city) as they want. National focuses also act as the place where they have their 'eyes and ears' so to speak, so keeping a focus on a key border region may be a good idea! Capitals can only be cities and changing them incurs a stability hit and a GP cost.


    In the example above we see the player is focusing on the capital, meaning that Zaa'k will receive both GP bonuses for being the focus and capital. Also any actions relating to Zaa'k have a higher likelihood of being successfully completed as the player defines them.

  • Zaa'k/3,586 (5.25%)/1.75GP(3AP)/Goblin (Lizardkin, Ghast)*
    [*]Metotl/2,240 (5.50%)/2.25GP(2AP)/Lizardkin (Goblin, Ghast)*


    What we have here are the cities currently under the control of the Dominion of Zaanzazaa, Zaa'k & Metotl. These stats are ordered in the following layout:

    City Name/City Population #(Population growth modifier)/GP Income(AP upkeep)/Major Race (Minority Races).

    City Name is very self explanitory and if I have to explain that then please seek some help. The City Population & Population Growth Modifier require a bit more explanation. City Population effects the city's GP Income and AP upkeep; for every 1,000 citizens the player earns .5 GP and costs 1 AP to maintain. Population Growth Modifier has a base of 3% and adds .25% for each additional associated village. Furthermore Rivers add 1% and races add various %'s to the growth rate.

    Major Race denotes what race is the dominant population of the city and thus what racial bonuses the city receives in full. In parenthesis next to the major race are the city's top two Minor Races which add 1/4th their bonuses to the city. Cosmopolitan cities have a myriad of bonuses going on, but also run the risk of more violent race riots occurring.

    *The GP Income of these cities may not match up exactly because there are other factors at work increasing/decreasing the city's income. I will explain these later.
  • 45%/+2


    Above we have the realm's Stability/Weariness. Stability measures the realm's relative crime rates and quality of life. Rarely will this be at 100% and on average 60% is a very stable kingdom.


    Weariness represents the strain on your economy and morale that wars and wide-sweeping change produce. Weariness has a soft cap, this cap representing just how much guff the population will take before saying enough is enough. This cap is determined by a number of behind-the-scenes factors and the player's cap will not be revealed to them.

  • 4 Villages (Zaa'k)
  • 3 Villages (Metotl
    -------
    7 Villages Total


    Villages are not named unless they grow into an urban center (a city), instead they are listed numerically and by what city they are attached to. Each village provides a base of 3AP which is further modified by terrain and race.

  • Garrmok Fortress (2); Zaan Keep (1)


    These are your fortifications, which are things such as fortresses, castles, or any other defensive settlements outside of your cities. They are listed with their name first and their Fortification Level in parenthesis next to that. Fortifications house supplies which can be used by the surrounding population to arm themselves should they need to defend their homeland, creating a stronger defensive mustered army. Likewise fortifications provide a place for people to flock to in dire times, leading to less population reduction when your realm is ravaged by war.

    For each fortification level the player can store 2AP that he can reclaim at anytime. However, during war if the fortification is occupied by either the player's population or the enemy soldiers these AP run the risk of being consumed/pillaged.

Military Overview
This overview includes details on the player's armies, generals (VIPs), units, and approximate muster force. Before I go on I must make clear that there are three kinds of armies: Retinues, Standing, and Mustered. I will begin with Retinue-based armies, which are small bands of semi-professional soldiers who are tied to specific VIPs. Retinues are generated in one of two ways: VIPs independently will draw up their own forces (which is a bit alarming, though it costs no GP on the players part) or players may scour his realm for warriors to attach to himself/a trusted VIP (which costs GP, but at least you know who you are giving the troops to!). Retinues are generally expensive to recruit and maintain in terms of GP/AP, however they are a great deal better than your average mustered troop and have the chance to become Unique Units. Also they can always be interacted with and trained to be better!

Standing armies are different from retinues in that they are tied to no single character, but to the nation (though they still run a very small risk of falling under the sway of a VIP). Their GP/AP cost is also substantially less than a Retinues, but they are less likely to upgrade into Unique Units.

Mustered armies, or levies, will be what make up the bulk of any force. Players are told an approximate Manpower of their nation (which is based upon a myriad of factors including stability, weariness, race, government type, number of villages/cities, etc.) and players can draw upon this manpower to form an army of more or less peasants. Players may enact either a 1/4th Muster, 1/2 Muster, or a Full Muster. Each approximately draws the respective amount of troops from the players manpower while reducing the AP & GP incomes of the player's villages & cities by a scaled amount.

A 1/4 Muster sees a 1/4 penalty on the AP of villages (so an elven village, which has an AP Income of 3.25 will have an AP of 2.45 rounded down to the nearest fourth, so 2.25AP). A 1/2 Muster has a 1/2 penalty on the AP of villages (so the same elven village now has an AP Income of 1.65, rounded down to 1.5AP) as well as a 1/4th penalty to a city's GP Income (so an elven city with a population of 5,230 that normally has a GP Income of 2.5 will have an income of 1.75GP when rounded down). At a Full Muster villages still only incur a 1/2 penalty on their AP Income, but cities cease to produce GP at all to represent the realm's movement from a peacetime economy to engaging fully in a war.

So why would a player want to take such huge hits to their economy? Well a 1/4th Muster only draws on countryside levies, which generally produces less-adept troops. A 1/2 Muster calls on both rural and urban population, which sees a few more well-armed units at the ready. A Full Muster will take roughly 2/3rds of the country's fighting population away from their regular lives and will produce the largest and best equipped (compared to a 1/4th Mustered Army) army the player can levy. However, this is all relative to the realm's culture, government type, racial composition, and a slew of other factors. For instance, a 1/4 Muster in an Orcish Nomadic Realm will still see a fairly powerful army being drawn up due to the propensity for violent conflict among orcs and doubly so for nomads.

  • Chieftainess Zarleb the Short's Grand Army (110%)
    4,000 Goblin Spearmen/15%/Bloodied/8AP (Retinue)
    1,000 Lizardkin Archers/25%/Green/2AP (Retinue)
    500 Chozen O' Zarleb (Spearmen)/45%/Adventurers/1AP, 2GP (Unique Retinue)
  • Mardin's Zealous Zanzanzanists (75%)
    2,000 Goblin Spearmen/15%/Bloodied/4AP (Retinue)
    10,000 Goblin ZanzanZealots (Peasant Mob)/10%/Green/5AP (Unique Muster)


    Above we have the player's armies. They follow this format:

    Leading VIPs Name-Fluff Name (Morale)
    Unit Amount, Race, Unit Type/Discipline/Experience/Upkeep

    The Morale of an army is determined by a combination of recent events, racial synergy, and leading VIPs traits. Morale is on a scale of 10% (Broken) to 100% (Steadfast), though in some cases, such as with Zarleb's army, the morale score may break this barrier. The morale of an army has the largest effect on how long its troops will stay to fight, or even stay at all. It is good to keep this high.

    The Unit Amount, Race, and Type determine several things: for every 500 troops the player must pay 1AP in upkeep; certain races fight better in certain circumstances, such as goblins in swamps or goblins working alongside lizardkin; and unit types roughly determine the unit's fighting style.

    Discipline measures a unit's ability to carry out orders in the heat battle and keep formation. The average discipline for an untrained unit is 20% and 50% for trained units. Anything above this denotes a particularly hardy unit.

    Experience also measures the unit's ability to carry out orders, but also represents how intuitively the unit knows what to do during a fight. For normal unit this goes from a scale of Green-Bloodied-Veteran and for Unique Units this runs from Adventurers-Heroic-Legendary.

    Unique Units bear a special mention because, well, they are unique. Above we have two examples: Zarleb's Chozen O' Zarleb and Mardin's ZanzanZealots. Zarleb's 'Chozen' are the typical unique unit: a normal type of unit, in this case a spearman, which has risen to the lofty realms of legend. They are     de facto stronger and more capable than most units, however they incur a pretty hefty GP upkeep to keep themselves running. The ZanzanZealots are a bit more curious since they are a mustered unit. Under certain circumstances a muster may yield temporary unique troops who are particularly invested in the upcoming war. The ZanzanZealots represent the bubbling religious zeal of one of the realm's religions, which may later come to bite the player in the rear should their violent faith continue to gain footing.



Sample Stats (Without All The Explanations)
Spoiler :
Council Overview
  • Chieftainess Zarleb the Short/Martial Warlord/80%/100% [Unify Zanzanzan Region] (Goblinoid, Abnormally Small, Sanguine Warrior, Sadistic, Chosen of the Zanzanzan Priestesses)
  • Na'zal/Domestic Minister of Terror/45%/50% [Quell Andkaraa's Insurrection & Govern the Region] (Newtkind, Unscrupulous, Despot, Amateur Mystic, Ardent Zanzanzanist)
  • Mardin/Warrior-Priestess/75%/65% [Unify Zanzanzan Region] (Goblinoid, Ruthless, Ardent Zanzanzanist, Anointed Priestess, Sanguine)

Kingdom Overview
  • Dominion of Zaanzazaa
    Decentralized Noble Goblinoid Principality

  • Economics: 15(5)/6(2)
  • Capital/National Focus: Zaa'k/Zaa'k


    Cities
  • Zaa'k/3,586 (5.25%)/1.75GP(3AP)/Goblin (Lizardkin, Ghast)*
    [*]Metotl/2,240 (5.50%)/2.25GP(2AP)/Lizardkin (Goblin, Ghast)*


    Villages
  • 4 Villages (Zaa'k)
  • 3 Villages (Metotl
    -------
    7 Villages Total

  • Fortifications(Level): Garrmok Fortress (2); Zaan Keep (1)
  • Stability/Weariness: 45%/+2

Military Overview
  • Chieftainess Zarleb the Short's Grand Army (110%)
    4,000 Goblin Spearmen/15%/Bloodied/8AP (Retinue)
    1,000 Lizardkin Archers/25%/Green/2AP (Retinue)
    500 Chozen O' Zarleb (Spearmen)/45%/Adventurers/1AP, 2GP (Unique Retinue)

  • Mardin's Zealous Zanzanzanists (75%)
    2,000 Goblin Spearmen/15%/Bloodied/4AP (Retinue)
    10,000 Goblin ZanzanZealots (Peasant Mob)/10%/Green/5AP (Unique Muster)


edit: Looks like I forgot to throw in the small part on religion. Now, I know it looks like a crap ton of stats, but it's really not! I just want to explain them as thoroughly as possible. The most time-consuming thing about this NES is figuring out AP/GP incomes/upkeep, and that is mostly done on my part (and it's easy math compared to what I'm doing in Astronomy, so, yeah).

Really, it all comes down to the lore and figuring out what races I want to include and if I just want to make my own up. I also may scale back a bit on the modifiers and such and err on a simpler side. Goblins, Elves, Lizardkind, Orcs, etc. are not officially in the game (yet). I am just using them here for examples of how I see the system working.
 
Your'e the MOD, you are the ones who deals with stats, so whatever is easier for you!

Looks very nice!
 
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