AbNESVI - Development thread

[Abaddon]

Tribe Name: Azawakii
Cacique Name: Hoemtep
Population: Petite (2)
Magic: 1/0
Magic Users: Hoemtep
-Magic Spells: Fireball (1MP)
Armed Men: 2,000
Military prowess : Pathetic
Quality of Life: Dirt Paths

Tribe Name: Please name your Tribe
Cacique Name: The leader of your people

Population controls the limits of your nation, an how much economic power you have. To increase your population level, you either have to settle a new town, or capture one from your neighbours. It costs 3EP and 1MP to settle a new town. The various levels are shown below. The first number is the economic points you recieve at that level. The second number is how many towns you need to be that size:

Tiny (1/1)-Petite (2/3)-Small (3/6)-Medium (4/10)-Large (5/15)-Huge (6/21)-Gargantuan (7/27)-Monstrous (9/34)

Magic:

The amount of magic points you are generating each turn, and how many are stored. You gain one MP for every turn a totem is under your control and is undisturbed by others. To construct a new totem you must sacrifice one town of your towns, and write a decent/gory story about it

Magic Users:

To wield magic, you need people trained in the art. They cost 1MP and 1EP, and will take 3 turns to be trained. From then on they can wield any of the magic spells already learnt by your tribe, as well as creating one of their own.

Magic Spells:

This lists any spells a tribe has learnt along with their costs. Greater description will be found in the opening posts.

Armed Men. It costs 1EP to train and equip a mob of 1000 men.

Military prowess costs 1EP to raise the training level of 1000 men. You can only train to Great level, the higher levels come with battle experience. You can raise the entry training level of your tribe by paying EP equal to your tribes size. The various levels are:

Mob-Pathetic-Poor-Tolerable-Normal-Better-Good-Great-Mighty-Juggernaut

Quality of Life

A good quality of life is invaluable, aiding everything from army movement to culture cohesiveness to government efficiency. Various things will effect your tribesmen's quality of life level, if it is below tolerable, you will not be able to settle a new town. To upgrade, total cost is equal to the number of towns you have. The different levels are:

None-Poor-Pathetic-Barely Tolerable-Tolerable-Improving-Good-Great-Excellent


Tributary Tribes

Tribute tribes will be required to forfeit 1EP per turn to the the tribe which they owe it too. In return the nation recieving tribute is automatically at war with any nation that attacks the tributary. A tribute state may elect not to pay its master causing an automatic war to occur between the two tribe. A master tribe can elect to release a tribute tribe with no further consquences past the cancellation of all obligations held by both parties.

The Map:

Spoiler :

 

[Luckymoose]

I voted No but I will play.

 

[Abaddon]

NATIONS:

Tribe Name: Telak // dldnjstjr
Leader Name: Il'man
Colour: Dark Green
Magic User: Il'man
Magic Spell: Growth: 1MP grows 1 acre of trees and foilage in matter of minutes.

Tribe Name: Jorise // Charles Li
Cacique Name: Hath'raman
Colour: Blue
Magic User: Jol'yular
Magic Spell: Summon, 1 MP to summon 2000 imps for combat (lasts 1 turn)

Tribe Name: Gaakt Vur // DarthNader
Cacique Name: Drikdarok
Colour: Brown
Magic User: Knorgh
Magic Spell: Shield - Invulnerability for 30 min, unable to be dealt damage.

Tribe Name: Trollzkin // Deon
Cacique Name: Chief Deon'Khai
Colour: Red
Magic User: shaman Zul'Bash
Magic Spell:Voodoo: Spirit ward [1 MP]: cast on enemies: decreases morale and luck, has a small chance to inflict wounds. cast on allied warriors: increases morale and luck, has a small chance to increase regeneration.

Tribe Name: Mesaqoo // Ninja Dude
Cacique Name: Kimtumeh
Colour: Aqua
Magic User: Shaman Izawau
Magic Spell: Tidal Wave: Massive wave hits whoever the caster wants. (Must have large source of water available and a reachable target)

Tribe Name: Tartes // Milarqui
Cacique Name: Mikael
Colour: Dark Green
Magic User: Tonai the Fire-Freezer
Magic Spell: Freeze: it throws a ball of pure coldness that, in contact, freezes the objective. In living beings, the temperature drop might kill them. (1 MP)

Tribe Name: Carquas // Vertinari118
Cacique Name: Arkui
Colour: Grey
Magic User: Boyez
Magic Spell: Wolfen taint-This spell allows the caster to activate the tainted blood of several nearby Carquas changing their minds into those of wolves, morphing their bodies to become more wolf like eg. nails grow into claws, teeth grow longer and jawbone grows outwards forming a small muzzle.

Tribe Name: Ashbreik // lord_joakim
Cacique Name: Iandaar
Colour: Something un-pinky.
Magic User: Sakuvar
Magic Spell: Blood Enforcement - 1MP: Sacrifices an individual, but traps the soul and essence in this world, instead granting the strength to the sacrificer. This empowers the sacrificer significantly. (The effect never ends. Non-magic users may perform the sacrifice if the mana is provided by a caster.)

 

[DarthNader]

I love all the fantasy NESes being birthed. I fell like I am playing D&D again.

 

[Abaddon]

Spells:

Fireball: 1MP Toasts a 50m ball, fires in line of sight. If you can see it, you can hit it.
Flood: 1MP Dumps a 50m ball of water where ever you wish
Bravery: 1MP Fills your warriors with a fervor for 30 minutes, they will bezerk for you
Feast: 1MP Creates enough glorious food to feed 1000 men
Buzz: 1MP Will create an excrusiating buzz in the ear of a target, visual contact needed
Growth: 1MP grows 1 acre of trees and foilage in matter of minutes.
Summon: 1MP to summon 2000 Imps for combat (lasts a few hours)
Shield: 1MP Gives a small group of men invulnerability for 30 min. Caster must remain close.
Reanimate: 1MP revive 1 person
Counter Spell: 1MP counter target spell
Redirect: 1MP randomly alters target of spell
Spirit ward: 1MP Cast on enemies: decreases morale and luck, has a small chance to inflict wounds. Cast on allied warriors: increases morale and luck, has a small chance to increase regeneration.
Tidal Wave: 1MP Massive wave hits whoever the caster wants. (Must have large source of water available and a reachable target)
Freeze: 1MP Throws a 50m ball of pure coldness. For living beings, especailly near the centre, the temperature drop might kill them.
Animation: 1MP Animates 75 figurines of dried mud so that they can work/fight for the tribe
Teleportation: 1MP Allows the caster or someone else to teleport up to 1 mile in distance. Larger masses go shorter distances.
Hatred: 1MP Charges the emotion of a group of people. Depending on their mental stength it effects each differently.

 

[Vertinari118]

Same as the above but I am slighty peeved due to all the competition. Anyway yes I would play Abby.

 

[Adrogans]

Sure, Why not?

 

[Abaddon]

Sure, Why not?

Your RL seems as jinxed as mine, fingers crossed we will survive this NES

 

[Adrogans]

True, I have been kinda all over lately. Though right now its not bad, just stressful.

 

[Jason The King]

More details are needed.

 

[Abaddon]

More details are needed.

We are going to be restricted to an island. I will be picking a RL one (Jamacia) so that everyone knows the terrain etc. Because of this, the scale of your tribe will be considerably smaller than usual nesing, also the number of units available will be quite restricted.

There will be lots of NPC tribes, all going about their own business too.

Life is basic, tribal. The timeframe will not see much major tech advancment.

However, there is magic. Magic can be manipluated, stored, etc.

There will be a rock/paper/scissors style of magic. I'm guessing earth/air/fire/water?

Important locations on the map will be the source of magic, its use is obtained once captured and developed.


...thats in my head so far

 

[sp1023]

DOODZ I IS INZ!

On a more serious note, even though you can't mod for toffee, you were the first guy to teach me about war, and I can't really miss your NESes.

 

[Ninja Dude]

I don't know if it should really be rock/paper/scissors when it somes to magic. I think it would be kind of cool to be creative and use spells depending on the circumstances. I don't want to constantly spam Fireball at my enemy. I want a little freedom, like hurling a giant fireball into a lake, causing steam to rise and make it difficult to see. Or creating quicksand to help set up an ambush.

Also, I'm not so such I like the whole idea of just controling a tribe. But I guess I could get used to it. However, it would limit our ability to customize. And if Europeans arrive while we're fighting, then that would just be craaaaaazy.

 

[Fuschia]

It all depends on how you manage the magical element of the game, so I'd probably wait an update or two before joining, and even then I probably won't.

This is mostly because I read way, way too much high fantasy, so my standards when it comes to this sort of thing tend to be out of proportion with what is actually reasonable. For instance, I don't find the earth/air/fire/water idea to be not even remotely interesting or, in the odd realism of magic, realistic.

That being said, I would be more than willing to toss you a few ideas as to how to flesh out the magic portion of the NES, even if I don't end up playing.

 

[Abaddon]

That is good. The magic part of things is the weakest developed of the rules so far (perhaps I should read stratego's guide?)

I imagine magic as something you can charge up, and unleash when needed in battle.

 

[skizzik]

Hey I would like to join too, this NES seems different but interesting.

 

[Abaddon]

Hey I would like to join too, this NES seems different but interesting.

Thats my aim

Does anyone have a suggestion for different "schools" of magic?

 

[skizzik]

The Elements alone seem vary Basic.

It should include "Dark" and "light" magic

 

[Abaddon]

Magic through Inanimate Objects: Stones, amulets, figures, statues, and other inanimate objects were often used, either as magical things in and of themselves or to compliment other magical forms, such as having magical words written on them or being used in a magical ceremony. The use of heavenly objects, such as the use of the sun, moon, stars, and planets, in magic also fall under this category. In general, there were two types of inanimate objects that were used, portable and non-portable. Non-portable magical objects could include guardian statues or particularly large objects on which magical words were written, such as large stones or walls. Portable magical objects include stones, amulets, and smaller figurines and statues. While these were usually carried on the person, others, such as curse or voodoo dolls would be left in one location. The main principle operating through these objects is the principle of relation. For example, in ancient Egypt the dung beetle was a popular figure for magical amulets because of its association with the sun (because it was only observed to move during the hottest part of the day and because its ball of eggs looked similar to the sun in shape and from it life arose).

On this island there will be important totems for you to control

 

[Fuschia]

To fit magic into a NES easily, you can do one of two broad things: you can restrict access to magic through the use of individual magic users, or you can offer a limited/restricted and easily measurable resource, area, or activity that is the source of magic.

In my opinion, the second one is generally both more interesting and, just as importantly, negates the importance of individual magic users, at least when it comes to statistics and updates.

Considering that religion tends to play a rather large part of any NES that deals with magic, this is often a decent, if somewhat difficult, method of both restricting access to magic and ensuring that magic is somehow "different" from one group of people to another.

However, also considering that this takes place upon a single island, and the general difficulty of measuring piety or religious activity. Essentially, it would devolve back into measurement by individual.

My suggestion is that you come up with either some sort of resource or specific sorts of areas that can be controlled to draw on magic, much as one would draw on the economy in a normal NES. Change it up a little and allow for certain effects to be done only with certain resources/locations, and you have everything you need. Let the players and you come up with interesting ways to use things, and use your best judgment to decide what tops what.

Even more specifically, I would say that placing magic in specific areas would probably be best, as it would allow you to set a definite, difficult to change limit on the amount and sorts of magic that could be used. Just make the areas impressive, and tie the sort of area to the sort of magic that can be performed, and it all works out.

Also, I would suggest you allow the players to invent their own ways to actually use the magic; that is, the actual ritual and mystique surrounding magic should be particular to each tribe although, obviously, a lot of things are going to be nice and stereotypical.

That's about all I can think of along that venue. I can be even more specific if you like, though.

EDIT: Also, make sure that magic is NOT restricted simply to hurling spells at other people. Actual physiological changes to one's tribe, effects on the weather, the construction of shelters, etc., are all legitimate and interesting uses of magic. Essentially, magic should be a potent aid to both economic and military might, a sort of meta-resource that can be used to do, at least in theory, pretty much anything, assuming you had the right amount and sorts of magic to use.