Midnight-Blue766
The filidh that cam frae Skye
Imagine if you will, a infinite variations of Earth as we know it. In one Earth, the Nazis won the Second World War, ushering in an age of bloodshed and suffering never before seen in history. In another, Imperial China never declined as a power; this is a world where the Son of Heaven rules an empire stretching across Asia. In yet another, the Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, and man traversed the heavens centuries before Apollo 11.
However, the world that this tale shall take place in was one where man (or any other sentient creature) never evolved. In this world, woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers still wander the tundras of Lapland and Siberia. Where great cities such as Shanghai and London are in real life, only meadow, forest and swamp is in the Virgin Earth.
However, this pre-human paradise has come to an end. In a bizarre phenomenon which historians centuries afterwards would simply call "The Event", nations across the multiverse, from the past, present or future, saw a great flash of light in the sky. When the flash dimmed to the point that one can see again, the inhabitants of those nations found themselves in this Virgin Earth where man had never tread.
You are the leader of one of those nations. What path will you choose? Will you lead your nation into a new age of peace and prosperity, or will your hands be soaked in the blood of millions, of the tears of countless slaves?
The Rules
Note: all rules are subject to change, so please keep an eye out for them.
House Rules
1. Do not flame, troll, or personally insult any other player OOC or IC. At all. You may comment on certain things negatively, but don't take it further than that.
2. Stay on topic. Make sure all comments are relevant to the fictional world of the current IOT and have nothing to do with your personal religious/political beliefs.
3. Your posts should actually consist of something relevant to your nation and not just one-liner comments. Do not spam.
4. Long diplomatic discussions belong to the realms of Social Groups or visitor and private messaging, not the Game Thread.
5. No powergaming. By definition, powergaming is making your country surpass every other country by all terms including armed forces, technology, etc.
6. The GM is supreme. He reserves the right to change game rules, ignore or modify orders, impose restrictions on players, disband player nations, and so on.
7. Above all else, RESPECT THY FELLOW FORUMERS.
I'll usually warn players first if they break the rules. If they break the rules repeatedly, then I'll apply this:
1st Strike: Player is suspended from the game for one turn.
2nd Strike: Player is suspended from the game for three turns.
3rd Strike: Player nation dissolved, and the player banned from ever rejoining.
I reserve the right to ignore this policy for players who really piss me off, and kick them out of the game instantly.
Inactive players (AWOL for more than 3 turns) risk facing the Wrath of the GM (WoG) ie having their nation disbanded. These players can rejoin the game, but their old territories won't be restored to them; they'll start off with 10 claims like every new player.
Joining the Game
To join the game, first choose a nation name and colour to represent your realms. Perhaps tell us a bit about your nation; your government, policies, history, and so on. Claim any ten provinces on the map, with the condition that they either have to be contiguous or on the coast of the same sea territory. Claim "chains", where the claims form a "chain" where each territory claimed borders a different sea territory that already borders a claimed territory, are generally acceptable, but I will have to look at each nation individually in order to see whether they are acceptable. Generally, a claim like Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany are okay, while claiming Iceland, Florida, Guyana, and Liberia would be unacceptable. To clarify, here is an example of a nation that is allowed and not allowed:
Since Britain and Normandy both border the Manche, this claim is allowed.
Claims like this are generally acceptable as long as they are reasonable.
Because Portugal borders the Coast of Iberia, but not the Manche or Bay of Biscay, this claim is not allowed.
The Map
Capitals
Capitals are represented on the map by a small city icon. Capitals are important as they are used to determine which provinces are blockaded and which ones are not. Provinces which are connected by land to the capital are not blockaded, while those that aren’t are. See below for details.
Updates
This IOT is a turn-based game. Each turn ends and a new turn begins with an Update. Updates occur 24 hours after half the players have sent in their orders. Any player who have not sent in their orders by this point will be PMed.
Roleplaying
Roleplaying is the essence of IOT. It’s how your nation develops. It’s how alliances are formed and broken. Roleplaying is very encouraged. Feel free to inhabit your nation with whoever or whatever you want. Steampunk? Okay Daleks? Sure. Ponies? Sure. Magic? Fine. Steampunk Dalek Ponies that use magic? Why not? Just don't make your naton too OP.
Settling
You can spend IC into settling other territories. 1 IC can be spent settling 1 region. You may settle any territory that is connected to your existing borders or that is on the coast of a sea zone that you already either "own" or border. You CANNOT expand this way in wartime.
Scotland, having a coast on the North Atlantic Ocean, is allowed to settle Iceland and Greenland, but NOT Baffin Island
Stability
Stability is an important concept in this game. It will limit your size and how much territory you can claim.
Every nation has a Stability level (SL), which is 10 at the start of the game. For every 100 territories you claim, your SL will go down by 1. Starting from SL 9, you will begin to lose some of your income. Starting from SL 5, parts of your nation will rebel in addition to the above, and you will lose part of your armies and infrastructure. A chart of stability and their full effects can be seen here.
For every 2 IC you invest into Stability, you increase your SR by .01. However, this is rounded downwards, so if you have an SL of 8.73, you will be still count as having SL 8 for economy purposes.
Industrial Capacity
Industrial Capacity (IC) is the backbone of your economy. With it, you can settle territories or build units with them. Each territory produces 1 IC. You can also invest in Infrastructure, which costs 2 IC, which grants you 1 IC. For purposes of blockading and rebellion, 1 territory is assumed to produce Total Economy/(No. of territories/No. of infrastructure).
Terrestrial(?) Warfare
Armies cost 5 IC to build, while Navies cost 10 IC to build. Navies are used to take control of sea zone, as described below.
Armies only attack countries that are are connected to your territory or are on the coast. You'll need to have at 1 navy per army if you are to attack the latter.
Armies compete against each other by adding them up and rolling a number on the RNG. For example if there is a conflict between 10 and 20 armies, I will roll a number between 1 and 20, with >10 being a victory for the first faction. A casualty roll will then be done, determining how many armies are lost for each side. Any army not used to attack defends.
Naval Warfare
The world's oceans are divided into a number of sea zones. You may send in a fleet to "claim" a sea zone. You have the right to decide who and who doesn't access the sea zone. Note, however, that navies are stored in a pool instead of being shown on the map. You can only claim sea zone that are either bordering territories that you own or are adjacent to sea zones that you own. Of course, you can go out and invade other people’s sea zones, just like you can with territories on land. Ownership is represented by a small flag in the zone in question that belongs to the player that owns it.
If you block a sea zone to somebody, then they cannot settle any territory that borders it, and they cannot gain income from provinces that they already own that are bordered by it. However, provinces with are directly connected to the blocked nation's capital will not lose income.
England and the Netherlands own the Manche and North Sea respectively. They each have the final word on who is and is not allowed to access these sea zones.
France blocks La Manche to England. Because Cornwall, Sussex and Corwall are on the same landmass as the English capital, England can still gain income from them. However, Normandy and Picardy, which are separated from the capital by la Manche, lose their income.
Venice blocks the Adriatic, Sea of Crete and the Tyrrhenian Sea from Aragon. Although Southern Italy and Catalonia are on the same contient as Spain's capital, they are unconnected to the Aragonese capital and thus do not give income to Aragon. However, because Sardinia borders the Balearic Sea in addition to the Tyrrhenian, it still gives income to Aragon.
Amphibious Invasions
In order to conduct an amphibious invasion, you must make sure that you have 1 navy for every 5 armies that will conduct the invasion. If you do not own the sea zones that the target provinces border, you must at least own a sea zone that borders the sea zone bordering the target provinces. First, if you do not own the sea zone which the enemy territories border, there must be a naval battle conducted first in order to gain naval supremacy. This phase is skipped if you do in fact own that sea zone or if it is neutral. Then, an ordinary land battle commences to gain control of the coastal territories.
Trade
Provided that either of them are not blockaded, any nation can send IC, Armies or Navies to another country.
WMDs
Since the countries are from a wide variety of timelines, WMD is a catch-all term for any weapon of mass destruction, whether it be nukes, orbital bombardment, clockwork viruses, etc. To start a WMD program, invest any number of IC into your program and there is an n% chance (n being how much IC is invested into the program) of it being successful in the next turn.
WMDs, once completed, cost 20 IC to build and can be targeted at any territory. WMDs revert the territory it is targeted at to neutral, although there is a 10% chance that the target will turn into impassable and unclaimable wasteland. If 50% of the territories of the world are wasteland, the game ends and everyone loses.
Victory:
Victory is achieved in the following ways:
Military: Have 1000 armies and at least 50% more than your closest rival.
Domination: You and your allies control every province.
However, the world that this tale shall take place in was one where man (or any other sentient creature) never evolved. In this world, woolly mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers still wander the tundras of Lapland and Siberia. Where great cities such as Shanghai and London are in real life, only meadow, forest and swamp is in the Virgin Earth.
However, this pre-human paradise has come to an end. In a bizarre phenomenon which historians centuries afterwards would simply call "The Event", nations across the multiverse, from the past, present or future, saw a great flash of light in the sky. When the flash dimmed to the point that one can see again, the inhabitants of those nations found themselves in this Virgin Earth where man had never tread.
You are the leader of one of those nations. What path will you choose? Will you lead your nation into a new age of peace and prosperity, or will your hands be soaked in the blood of millions, of the tears of countless slaves?
The Rules
Note: all rules are subject to change, so please keep an eye out for them.
House Rules
1. Do not flame, troll, or personally insult any other player OOC or IC. At all. You may comment on certain things negatively, but don't take it further than that.
2. Stay on topic. Make sure all comments are relevant to the fictional world of the current IOT and have nothing to do with your personal religious/political beliefs.
3. Your posts should actually consist of something relevant to your nation and not just one-liner comments. Do not spam.
4. Long diplomatic discussions belong to the realms of Social Groups or visitor and private messaging, not the Game Thread.
5. No powergaming. By definition, powergaming is making your country surpass every other country by all terms including armed forces, technology, etc.
6. The GM is supreme. He reserves the right to change game rules, ignore or modify orders, impose restrictions on players, disband player nations, and so on.
7. Above all else, RESPECT THY FELLOW FORUMERS.
I'll usually warn players first if they break the rules. If they break the rules repeatedly, then I'll apply this:
1st Strike: Player is suspended from the game for one turn.
2nd Strike: Player is suspended from the game for three turns.
3rd Strike: Player nation dissolved, and the player banned from ever rejoining.
I reserve the right to ignore this policy for players who really piss me off, and kick them out of the game instantly.
Inactive players (AWOL for more than 3 turns) risk facing the Wrath of the GM (WoG) ie having their nation disbanded. These players can rejoin the game, but their old territories won't be restored to them; they'll start off with 10 claims like every new player.
Joining the Game
To join the game, first choose a nation name and colour to represent your realms. Perhaps tell us a bit about your nation; your government, policies, history, and so on. Claim any ten provinces on the map, with the condition that they either have to be contiguous or on the coast of the same sea territory. Claim "chains", where the claims form a "chain" where each territory claimed borders a different sea territory that already borders a claimed territory, are generally acceptable, but I will have to look at each nation individually in order to see whether they are acceptable. Generally, a claim like Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany are okay, while claiming Iceland, Florida, Guyana, and Liberia would be unacceptable. To clarify, here is an example of a nation that is allowed and not allowed:
Since Britain and Normandy both border the Manche, this claim is allowed.
Claims like this are generally acceptable as long as they are reasonable.
Because Portugal borders the Coast of Iberia, but not the Manche or Bay of Biscay, this claim is not allowed.
The Map
Spoiler :
Capitals
Capitals are represented on the map by a small city icon. Capitals are important as they are used to determine which provinces are blockaded and which ones are not. Provinces which are connected by land to the capital are not blockaded, while those that aren’t are. See below for details.
Updates
This IOT is a turn-based game. Each turn ends and a new turn begins with an Update. Updates occur 24 hours after half the players have sent in their orders. Any player who have not sent in their orders by this point will be PMed.
Roleplaying
Roleplaying is the essence of IOT. It’s how your nation develops. It’s how alliances are formed and broken. Roleplaying is very encouraged. Feel free to inhabit your nation with whoever or whatever you want. Steampunk? Okay Daleks? Sure. Ponies? Sure. Magic? Fine. Steampunk Dalek Ponies that use magic? Why not? Just don't make your naton too OP.
Settling
You can spend IC into settling other territories. 1 IC can be spent settling 1 region. You may settle any territory that is connected to your existing borders or that is on the coast of a sea zone that you already either "own" or border. You CANNOT expand this way in wartime.
Scotland, having a coast on the North Atlantic Ocean, is allowed to settle Iceland and Greenland, but NOT Baffin Island
Stability
Stability is an important concept in this game. It will limit your size and how much territory you can claim.
Every nation has a Stability level (SL), which is 10 at the start of the game. For every 100 territories you claim, your SL will go down by 1. Starting from SL 9, you will begin to lose some of your income. Starting from SL 5, parts of your nation will rebel in addition to the above, and you will lose part of your armies and infrastructure. A chart of stability and their full effects can be seen here.
For every 2 IC you invest into Stability, you increase your SR by .01. However, this is rounded downwards, so if you have an SL of 8.73, you will be still count as having SL 8 for economy purposes.
Industrial Capacity
Industrial Capacity (IC) is the backbone of your economy. With it, you can settle territories or build units with them. Each territory produces 1 IC. You can also invest in Infrastructure, which costs 2 IC, which grants you 1 IC. For purposes of blockading and rebellion, 1 territory is assumed to produce Total Economy/(No. of territories/No. of infrastructure).
Terrestrial(?) Warfare
Armies cost 5 IC to build, while Navies cost 10 IC to build. Navies are used to take control of sea zone, as described below.
Armies only attack countries that are are connected to your territory or are on the coast. You'll need to have at 1 navy per army if you are to attack the latter.
Armies compete against each other by adding them up and rolling a number on the RNG. For example if there is a conflict between 10 and 20 armies, I will roll a number between 1 and 20, with >10 being a victory for the first faction. A casualty roll will then be done, determining how many armies are lost for each side. Any army not used to attack defends.
Naval Warfare
The world's oceans are divided into a number of sea zones. You may send in a fleet to "claim" a sea zone. You have the right to decide who and who doesn't access the sea zone. Note, however, that navies are stored in a pool instead of being shown on the map. You can only claim sea zone that are either bordering territories that you own or are adjacent to sea zones that you own. Of course, you can go out and invade other people’s sea zones, just like you can with territories on land. Ownership is represented by a small flag in the zone in question that belongs to the player that owns it.
If you block a sea zone to somebody, then they cannot settle any territory that borders it, and they cannot gain income from provinces that they already own that are bordered by it. However, provinces with are directly connected to the blocked nation's capital will not lose income.
England and the Netherlands own the Manche and North Sea respectively. They each have the final word on who is and is not allowed to access these sea zones.
France blocks La Manche to England. Because Cornwall, Sussex and Corwall are on the same landmass as the English capital, England can still gain income from them. However, Normandy and Picardy, which are separated from the capital by la Manche, lose their income.
Venice blocks the Adriatic, Sea of Crete and the Tyrrhenian Sea from Aragon. Although Southern Italy and Catalonia are on the same contient as Spain's capital, they are unconnected to the Aragonese capital and thus do not give income to Aragon. However, because Sardinia borders the Balearic Sea in addition to the Tyrrhenian, it still gives income to Aragon.
Amphibious Invasions
In order to conduct an amphibious invasion, you must make sure that you have 1 navy for every 5 armies that will conduct the invasion. If you do not own the sea zones that the target provinces border, you must at least own a sea zone that borders the sea zone bordering the target provinces. First, if you do not own the sea zone which the enemy territories border, there must be a naval battle conducted first in order to gain naval supremacy. This phase is skipped if you do in fact own that sea zone or if it is neutral. Then, an ordinary land battle commences to gain control of the coastal territories.
Trade
Provided that either of them are not blockaded, any nation can send IC, Armies or Navies to another country.
WMDs
Since the countries are from a wide variety of timelines, WMD is a catch-all term for any weapon of mass destruction, whether it be nukes, orbital bombardment, clockwork viruses, etc. To start a WMD program, invest any number of IC into your program and there is an n% chance (n being how much IC is invested into the program) of it being successful in the next turn.
WMDs, once completed, cost 20 IC to build and can be targeted at any territory. WMDs revert the territory it is targeted at to neutral, although there is a 10% chance that the target will turn into impassable and unclaimable wasteland. If 50% of the territories of the world are wasteland, the game ends and everyone loses.
Victory:
Victory is achieved in the following ways:
Military: Have 1000 armies and at least 50% more than your closest rival.
Domination: You and your allies control every province.
I want my capital in South Florida.... I called it Bermuda for reasons in the other thread 
.
