das
Regeneration In Process
AFSNES I The New Dawn
The ruleset for the NES Proper.
POST NOT WITHOUT MY MANDATE!
Setting
The setting of this NES is an alternate Earth, where history had diverged from the ancient time and already reached the 8th century AD (according to the Sumerian calendar). It is hard to pinpoint a clear point of divergence, but the balance of power in the early Iron Age Mediterranean was shifted decisively westwards; while Ancient Greece and Phoenicia had failed to get anywhere near their historic heights for this period, the Iberian civilisation of Tartessos rose to a position of predominance. Even though it eventually defeated local competitors, in the Eastern Mediterranean other great powers emerged and eventually turned to the sea: the Mesopotamian-influenced Nilotic empire of Karung, the wealthy Anatolian realm of Paphlagonia, a belatedly-ascendant and increasingly authoritarian Hellas and the Ashaist theocracy of Watchur all took their turns striving for naval hegemony and often clashing with the other Mediterranean powers, especially Tartessos. Watchur was the latest and the most successful of all those, in the terms of territory conquered; under a series of strong kings, it had risen from the ruins of the Nubian Empire in former Karung to total Mediterranean hegemony and varying degrees of control over all the coastal regions, often advancing further inland. The latest Tartessian state the Arganthine Dominate too was crushed by Watchurian might. However, during the 6th century AD, the Watchurian Empire had collapsed; central authority degenerated, warlords rose to local dominance and barbarian invasions of Slavs, Germanics, Berbers and Arabs had swept it aside. Nonetheless, a strong legacy remained in the shape of Ashaism, which remains predominant in the Mediterranean. Guided by the Eminent One in Arecomos, the assorted Ashaist successor states remain in control over many important regions. Other religions compete with it, especially in northern Europe: the Ibero-Celtic religion of neo-Tigranism is at the foundation of several northwestern states, numerous Germanic states remain true to their old ways under the influence of the Scandic religious revival, followers of the old god Belenu are still supreme in Liguria, Indic religious influences led to the rise of Slavutianism amongst the Slavic tribes and Akkadian missionaries managed to spread Agade Dag, their religion, into several kingdoms and city-states in southern Europe.
The rest of the world is very different as well. The survival of Avyaktaragan city-states (the shards of the Indus Valley civilisation located in the Gujarat and the whereabouts) resulted in particularily grand changes; the mercantile, coastal Avyaktaragans established colonies and trade routes all over the Indian Ocean, spreading the Paramatmanistic Indic culture far and wide. This civilisation diversified as it expanded; the Ascendancies (hegemonies), such as Nyayana, Somnath and Sunda, had established powerful and prosperous empires, the former briefly achieving factual hegemony in India itself, while the Bahulatvan city-states saw a prolonged flourishing of political, religious and mathematical thought. The 6th century AD Dark Age struck here too, but not nearly as harshly as in Europe: the most important effect was probably the destruction of the Nyarnan Empire, though Nyayana itself merely submitted to the new hegemon of northern India the Huna-ruled Sitivasas Empire. In the western Indian Ocean, the vacuum was partially linked by a huge, though heavily decentralised, Coalescence of Bahulatvan city-states, while in southern India, the long-flourishing Prasannan Empire reached its zenith, establishing a vast colonial empire to the east.
The Middle East saw after a prolonged period of on-and-off warfare between countless empires, hordes and rebel factions the rise of two major religions: Agade Dag in Sumeria and Ashaism in Nubia. Both eventually became the chief guiding powers behind the respective mightiest successor states of those two ancient civilisations Watchurs hegemony in the Mediterranean has already been described, but the Neo-Akkadian Empire arose earlier and, as of the 2nd century AD, was at its zenith, in control over most of the Middle East and Central Asia. Barbarian and Nubian invasions, as well as local rebellions, greatly weakened Akkad, but it had managed to survive through everything, with a great amount of continuity thanks to the Agade Dag temples. Though now ruled by an Arabic warlord, the Akkadian Empire is once more pretty much hegemonic in the Middle East, which, however, has been generally destabilised by the often-violent Turkic and Arabic migrations prior to and during the Dark Age and is yet to come into any truly stable state.
East Asia has become largely unrecognisable. The Huang He valley civilisation had faltered, to be eventually overran by the Xiongnu Empire and its successors and replaced by the Turkic Sardar culture. However, two other Chinese civilisations by now very much diverged have in the meantime reached great prominence. Luoyang, with its mix of Mohism, Legalism and Paramatmanism, had initially flourished in the Chinese Mesopotamia, but later moved to the shores of the South China Sea, where its successor kingdom of Nan is still doing fairly fine after the chaos of the Dark Age that destroyed the greater Luoyangese Empire. On the eastern shores, Xishan or Zhongshan saw the development of a mercantile, republican philosophy in theory and shades of merchant oligarchy (with periods of imperial dictatorship) in practice; in ancient days a supreme naval and colonial power, Zhongshans civil wars and abundance of enemies eventually led to its downfall, though not before a zenith during which it dominated much of China. Briefly conquered by Luoyang (an ally against Xiongnu, but an archnemesis aside from that), Zhongshan too was hurt by the Dark Age, but reemerged eventually as the Republic of Guangling, with a rebounding economy and an enlightened culture. Further inland in the Chinese Mesopotamia, a somewhat ragtag Ba Empire emerged, its destination most uncertain. And around the Chinese area there existed the Sardar states, the highly-xenophobic island theocracy of Jomon, the thalassocratic Avyaktaragan kingdom of Ayutamradvipa and the mighty land empires of the Khitans in the north and the Tibetans in the west.
Lastly, the New World saw a far more influential Zapotec culture reach its peak in the 5th century AD, unifying much of Mexico and Central America and establishing trade outposts far to the south, so as to allow contact between the Mesoamerican and Andean civilisations. Though since then both the Zapotec and the Moche empires had succumbed to natural disaster, rebellion and barbarian invasion, their civilisations eventually revived under various successor states that have now improved upon Zapotec advances in agriculture and naval technology.
As the world recovers from the Dark Age and new technological advances spread, a new dawn approaches. A new cultural renaissance is in the works, the trade network is on the rise once more and ambitious rulers and nobles prepare plots and campaigns. The winds of change are blowing and the windwheel of history is turning; as plans collide, chaos approaches. In such a time, nothing is certain, but much is within your reach; see if you can ride out the waves and leave a mark on history.
Introduction
Much as predicted, I have relapsed into my modding habit, and after some thinking and discussion decided to start an Advanced Fresh Start NES, which should combine some of the good traits of an advanced (i.e. historical or althistorical) NES and a fresh start NES. The idea is to start it like a fresh start, and then comparatively quickly advance it to a more advanced (preferably late Middle Ages, but well know when we get there). That will happen in a separate thread, with its own, more ill-defined rules. The following rules will apply for the NES Proper set in that particular setting.
Players, stories, orders, NPCs, barbarians, updates, map, countries.
Players - no limit, no constraints, although those players that had nations (be they originals or successor states of those they created) at the end of the pre-NES will ofcourse be able to claim them. Veterans and fresh victims alike are welcomed to join in; my only request is true commitment. Dont join if you dislike the rules or dont have enough time or have any other such problems.
Stories - not necessary, but very encouraged. They help build up flavour and might have some real and felt influence on the NES itself, though it would be more subtle than the bonus system. Rest assured that I will read them and will at least try to find some way to fit the superior ones in.
Orders - orders are to be PMed, preferably but not necessarily in list format. You can put anything you want to do with your nation there, but you must put such stuff as spending orders, diplomacy (basically, the concise terms of all and any diplomatic agreements you signed, if you want them to go into effect) and military deployments/movements there. It is preferable for orders to be, above all, clear and concise; detail can be useful, but excessive detail is often annoying I really dont want to know what cunning secret passwords your spies are supposed to be using. Military tactics should usually be covered by doctrine (see accordingly named section below). As for specific strategy, it is very important that you are, once again, very clear as to what do you want to do exactly; in this, a map might help greatly, though it is not necessary. Lastly, given that we have 5 years in a turn, giving precise dates for some of your actions might be useful.
Also early orders are greatly encouraged, last-moment orders will be punished, last-moment additions and corrections might or might not be too late.
NPCs - as they're NPCs (Non-Player Controlled nations), I'll play them. Most of them might be expected to be comparatively passive and apathic but I make no promises and given the right situation these NPCs might prove as vigorous, dangerous and treacherous as PCs themselves. Underestimate them as you would underestimate any sleeping giant (or midget).
Barbarians - the usual - these barbarians occupy wide areas all over the world, and are light gray on the map. They have no stats, and are chiefly divided into a multitude of tiny tribes (however, I will give you the names of the main ethnic groups; within those there is usually more cultural interaction, at the very least), though short-term tribal leagues are possible (also, some of those might evolve into civilized states if given the right conditions, whether on their own or under the guidance of a player). It is possible to try and communicate with them, but that's rather unlikely to work, due to the aforementioned decentralization; so its probably better to order the diplomats to try and influence the barbarians to do one thing or another. Note that success isn't at all guaranteed... Also, there will be dark gray barbarians. These are more organized and civilized, they represent the more coherent tribal federations or even protostates, and its easier to communicate with them; often these will break up after a while, but it is also possible for them to suddenly become civilized without any warnings. Barbarians are sneaky like that.
Updates Due to various complications I will have to adapt more flexible deadline days; these will be posted as they become apparent. The exact time of the deadline remains same as usual, however: 15:00 GMT. Updates will cover five years each and consist of domestic events, international events, military events, random events (really random now - a random number of random countries will get random - positive, negative or neither - effect, that will probably be rather more complex than previously), "special bonuses" (stat-related awards for all sorts of things - like early orders, best order sets, best stories, and whatever I think of) and ooc (OOC comments and death threats). Also I will PM secret reports to some people as part of the update.
Map - I will use the standard CFC World Map. The main map is the political one, updated with every update. Each nation will have its own colour, used in all the owned, controlled and occupied territories. Thick borders will mean normal borders between nations; thinner borders will separate nations from their more autonomous regions and vassal states. Black circles will mark the cities cities with white lining are national capitals, cities with red lining are trade and/or manufacturing centers (historically those were usually the same), cities with blue lining are key religious and cultural centers. A city that is both a capital and a religious centre is, in all the probability, a trade centre as well. None of these special cities influence stats directly, but their significance still is as great as it is obvious. Barbarian colours have already been discussed; the rebel colour is white, unless said rebels are as organized and as serious as to gain a colour (and stats) of their own.
During the BT stage I will also use a Civilised Zones map, which shows differing levels of development in the world - red areas are areas of old civilisation, where there are many past traditions and institutions to build upon; green areas are areas of new civilisation, neither helped nor burdened by past developments quite as much as the old civilisations; and white areas are still barbaric. Obviously all of this will change greatly over the course of the BTs towards the NES setting itself, by which time I suspect a large portion of the world would be in some degree of contact with and influence by civilisation. Still, I will post a beginning CZ map, which I probably wont update barring particularily epic changes.
Lastly, there shall be an army map updated with every update as well, depicting the approximate end-turn positions of major armies and navies (the former abroad (as opposed to owned, controlled or occupied territory) and the latter everywhere shall be in the colour of their nation; otherwise, black or white, whatever fits best with said colour). Their approximate numbers will also be given on the map. This should generally help both me and the players keep track of things, while not revealing particularily secret or detailed information; indeed, this should allow some of the classical disinformation tricks to be performed like never before.
Countries - pick a NPC, create your own (but first, give me some vital info so that I can give you stats; also, it will be preferred if you start countries in dark gray barbarian areas, as these areas have higher nation-forming potential) or start a rebellion (though I'd advise you to consult me about these first, to avoid people starting unviable, doomed uprisings as they tend to do). Also, if you want to take an existing country, please read your nation background, and try to avoid acting out of character; that doesnt mean that your ruler cant be an anti-traditionalist reformer, but that does mean that he would face about as much trouble because of it as his historical analogues did. Note, once more, that certain nations will be considered "reserved" for the players that had them at the end of the pre-NES. Another note: rebel movements don't have stats before they take over some territory.
NATIONAL TEMPLATE
Nation Name
Capital:
Ruler:
Government:
Culture:
Technology:
Army:
Army Description:
Army Cap:
Navy:
Navy Description:
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade):
Area:
Infrastructure:
Bureaucracy:
Population:
Education:
Living Standards:
Confidence:
Projects:
Colonies (Autonomy/Income/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background:
The ruleset for the NES Proper.
POST NOT WITHOUT MY MANDATE!
Setting
The setting of this NES is an alternate Earth, where history had diverged from the ancient time and already reached the 8th century AD (according to the Sumerian calendar). It is hard to pinpoint a clear point of divergence, but the balance of power in the early Iron Age Mediterranean was shifted decisively westwards; while Ancient Greece and Phoenicia had failed to get anywhere near their historic heights for this period, the Iberian civilisation of Tartessos rose to a position of predominance. Even though it eventually defeated local competitors, in the Eastern Mediterranean other great powers emerged and eventually turned to the sea: the Mesopotamian-influenced Nilotic empire of Karung, the wealthy Anatolian realm of Paphlagonia, a belatedly-ascendant and increasingly authoritarian Hellas and the Ashaist theocracy of Watchur all took their turns striving for naval hegemony and often clashing with the other Mediterranean powers, especially Tartessos. Watchur was the latest and the most successful of all those, in the terms of territory conquered; under a series of strong kings, it had risen from the ruins of the Nubian Empire in former Karung to total Mediterranean hegemony and varying degrees of control over all the coastal regions, often advancing further inland. The latest Tartessian state the Arganthine Dominate too was crushed by Watchurian might. However, during the 6th century AD, the Watchurian Empire had collapsed; central authority degenerated, warlords rose to local dominance and barbarian invasions of Slavs, Germanics, Berbers and Arabs had swept it aside. Nonetheless, a strong legacy remained in the shape of Ashaism, which remains predominant in the Mediterranean. Guided by the Eminent One in Arecomos, the assorted Ashaist successor states remain in control over many important regions. Other religions compete with it, especially in northern Europe: the Ibero-Celtic religion of neo-Tigranism is at the foundation of several northwestern states, numerous Germanic states remain true to their old ways under the influence of the Scandic religious revival, followers of the old god Belenu are still supreme in Liguria, Indic religious influences led to the rise of Slavutianism amongst the Slavic tribes and Akkadian missionaries managed to spread Agade Dag, their religion, into several kingdoms and city-states in southern Europe.
The rest of the world is very different as well. The survival of Avyaktaragan city-states (the shards of the Indus Valley civilisation located in the Gujarat and the whereabouts) resulted in particularily grand changes; the mercantile, coastal Avyaktaragans established colonies and trade routes all over the Indian Ocean, spreading the Paramatmanistic Indic culture far and wide. This civilisation diversified as it expanded; the Ascendancies (hegemonies), such as Nyayana, Somnath and Sunda, had established powerful and prosperous empires, the former briefly achieving factual hegemony in India itself, while the Bahulatvan city-states saw a prolonged flourishing of political, religious and mathematical thought. The 6th century AD Dark Age struck here too, but not nearly as harshly as in Europe: the most important effect was probably the destruction of the Nyarnan Empire, though Nyayana itself merely submitted to the new hegemon of northern India the Huna-ruled Sitivasas Empire. In the western Indian Ocean, the vacuum was partially linked by a huge, though heavily decentralised, Coalescence of Bahulatvan city-states, while in southern India, the long-flourishing Prasannan Empire reached its zenith, establishing a vast colonial empire to the east.
The Middle East saw after a prolonged period of on-and-off warfare between countless empires, hordes and rebel factions the rise of two major religions: Agade Dag in Sumeria and Ashaism in Nubia. Both eventually became the chief guiding powers behind the respective mightiest successor states of those two ancient civilisations Watchurs hegemony in the Mediterranean has already been described, but the Neo-Akkadian Empire arose earlier and, as of the 2nd century AD, was at its zenith, in control over most of the Middle East and Central Asia. Barbarian and Nubian invasions, as well as local rebellions, greatly weakened Akkad, but it had managed to survive through everything, with a great amount of continuity thanks to the Agade Dag temples. Though now ruled by an Arabic warlord, the Akkadian Empire is once more pretty much hegemonic in the Middle East, which, however, has been generally destabilised by the often-violent Turkic and Arabic migrations prior to and during the Dark Age and is yet to come into any truly stable state.
East Asia has become largely unrecognisable. The Huang He valley civilisation had faltered, to be eventually overran by the Xiongnu Empire and its successors and replaced by the Turkic Sardar culture. However, two other Chinese civilisations by now very much diverged have in the meantime reached great prominence. Luoyang, with its mix of Mohism, Legalism and Paramatmanism, had initially flourished in the Chinese Mesopotamia, but later moved to the shores of the South China Sea, where its successor kingdom of Nan is still doing fairly fine after the chaos of the Dark Age that destroyed the greater Luoyangese Empire. On the eastern shores, Xishan or Zhongshan saw the development of a mercantile, republican philosophy in theory and shades of merchant oligarchy (with periods of imperial dictatorship) in practice; in ancient days a supreme naval and colonial power, Zhongshans civil wars and abundance of enemies eventually led to its downfall, though not before a zenith during which it dominated much of China. Briefly conquered by Luoyang (an ally against Xiongnu, but an archnemesis aside from that), Zhongshan too was hurt by the Dark Age, but reemerged eventually as the Republic of Guangling, with a rebounding economy and an enlightened culture. Further inland in the Chinese Mesopotamia, a somewhat ragtag Ba Empire emerged, its destination most uncertain. And around the Chinese area there existed the Sardar states, the highly-xenophobic island theocracy of Jomon, the thalassocratic Avyaktaragan kingdom of Ayutamradvipa and the mighty land empires of the Khitans in the north and the Tibetans in the west.
Lastly, the New World saw a far more influential Zapotec culture reach its peak in the 5th century AD, unifying much of Mexico and Central America and establishing trade outposts far to the south, so as to allow contact between the Mesoamerican and Andean civilisations. Though since then both the Zapotec and the Moche empires had succumbed to natural disaster, rebellion and barbarian invasion, their civilisations eventually revived under various successor states that have now improved upon Zapotec advances in agriculture and naval technology.
As the world recovers from the Dark Age and new technological advances spread, a new dawn approaches. A new cultural renaissance is in the works, the trade network is on the rise once more and ambitious rulers and nobles prepare plots and campaigns. The winds of change are blowing and the windwheel of history is turning; as plans collide, chaos approaches. In such a time, nothing is certain, but much is within your reach; see if you can ride out the waves and leave a mark on history.
Introduction
Much as predicted, I have relapsed into my modding habit, and after some thinking and discussion decided to start an Advanced Fresh Start NES, which should combine some of the good traits of an advanced (i.e. historical or althistorical) NES and a fresh start NES. The idea is to start it like a fresh start, and then comparatively quickly advance it to a more advanced (preferably late Middle Ages, but well know when we get there). That will happen in a separate thread, with its own, more ill-defined rules. The following rules will apply for the NES Proper set in that particular setting.
Players, stories, orders, NPCs, barbarians, updates, map, countries.
Players - no limit, no constraints, although those players that had nations (be they originals or successor states of those they created) at the end of the pre-NES will ofcourse be able to claim them. Veterans and fresh victims alike are welcomed to join in; my only request is true commitment. Dont join if you dislike the rules or dont have enough time or have any other such problems.
Stories - not necessary, but very encouraged. They help build up flavour and might have some real and felt influence on the NES itself, though it would be more subtle than the bonus system. Rest assured that I will read them and will at least try to find some way to fit the superior ones in.
Orders - orders are to be PMed, preferably but not necessarily in list format. You can put anything you want to do with your nation there, but you must put such stuff as spending orders, diplomacy (basically, the concise terms of all and any diplomatic agreements you signed, if you want them to go into effect) and military deployments/movements there. It is preferable for orders to be, above all, clear and concise; detail can be useful, but excessive detail is often annoying I really dont want to know what cunning secret passwords your spies are supposed to be using. Military tactics should usually be covered by doctrine (see accordingly named section below). As for specific strategy, it is very important that you are, once again, very clear as to what do you want to do exactly; in this, a map might help greatly, though it is not necessary. Lastly, given that we have 5 years in a turn, giving precise dates for some of your actions might be useful.
Also early orders are greatly encouraged, last-moment orders will be punished, last-moment additions and corrections might or might not be too late.
NPCs - as they're NPCs (Non-Player Controlled nations), I'll play them. Most of them might be expected to be comparatively passive and apathic but I make no promises and given the right situation these NPCs might prove as vigorous, dangerous and treacherous as PCs themselves. Underestimate them as you would underestimate any sleeping giant (or midget).
Barbarians - the usual - these barbarians occupy wide areas all over the world, and are light gray on the map. They have no stats, and are chiefly divided into a multitude of tiny tribes (however, I will give you the names of the main ethnic groups; within those there is usually more cultural interaction, at the very least), though short-term tribal leagues are possible (also, some of those might evolve into civilized states if given the right conditions, whether on their own or under the guidance of a player). It is possible to try and communicate with them, but that's rather unlikely to work, due to the aforementioned decentralization; so its probably better to order the diplomats to try and influence the barbarians to do one thing or another. Note that success isn't at all guaranteed... Also, there will be dark gray barbarians. These are more organized and civilized, they represent the more coherent tribal federations or even protostates, and its easier to communicate with them; often these will break up after a while, but it is also possible for them to suddenly become civilized without any warnings. Barbarians are sneaky like that.
Updates Due to various complications I will have to adapt more flexible deadline days; these will be posted as they become apparent. The exact time of the deadline remains same as usual, however: 15:00 GMT. Updates will cover five years each and consist of domestic events, international events, military events, random events (really random now - a random number of random countries will get random - positive, negative or neither - effect, that will probably be rather more complex than previously), "special bonuses" (stat-related awards for all sorts of things - like early orders, best order sets, best stories, and whatever I think of) and ooc (OOC comments and death threats). Also I will PM secret reports to some people as part of the update.
Map - I will use the standard CFC World Map. The main map is the political one, updated with every update. Each nation will have its own colour, used in all the owned, controlled and occupied territories. Thick borders will mean normal borders between nations; thinner borders will separate nations from their more autonomous regions and vassal states. Black circles will mark the cities cities with white lining are national capitals, cities with red lining are trade and/or manufacturing centers (historically those were usually the same), cities with blue lining are key religious and cultural centers. A city that is both a capital and a religious centre is, in all the probability, a trade centre as well. None of these special cities influence stats directly, but their significance still is as great as it is obvious. Barbarian colours have already been discussed; the rebel colour is white, unless said rebels are as organized and as serious as to gain a colour (and stats) of their own.
During the BT stage I will also use a Civilised Zones map, which shows differing levels of development in the world - red areas are areas of old civilisation, where there are many past traditions and institutions to build upon; green areas are areas of new civilisation, neither helped nor burdened by past developments quite as much as the old civilisations; and white areas are still barbaric. Obviously all of this will change greatly over the course of the BTs towards the NES setting itself, by which time I suspect a large portion of the world would be in some degree of contact with and influence by civilisation. Still, I will post a beginning CZ map, which I probably wont update barring particularily epic changes.
Lastly, there shall be an army map updated with every update as well, depicting the approximate end-turn positions of major armies and navies (the former abroad (as opposed to owned, controlled or occupied territory) and the latter everywhere shall be in the colour of their nation; otherwise, black or white, whatever fits best with said colour). Their approximate numbers will also be given on the map. This should generally help both me and the players keep track of things, while not revealing particularily secret or detailed information; indeed, this should allow some of the classical disinformation tricks to be performed like never before.
Countries - pick a NPC, create your own (but first, give me some vital info so that I can give you stats; also, it will be preferred if you start countries in dark gray barbarian areas, as these areas have higher nation-forming potential) or start a rebellion (though I'd advise you to consult me about these first, to avoid people starting unviable, doomed uprisings as they tend to do). Also, if you want to take an existing country, please read your nation background, and try to avoid acting out of character; that doesnt mean that your ruler cant be an anti-traditionalist reformer, but that does mean that he would face about as much trouble because of it as his historical analogues did. Note, once more, that certain nations will be considered "reserved" for the players that had them at the end of the pre-NES. Another note: rebel movements don't have stats before they take over some territory.
NATIONAL TEMPLATE
Nation Name
Capital:
Ruler:
Government:
Culture:
Technology:
Army:
Army Description:
Army Cap:
Navy:
Navy Description:
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade):
Area:
Infrastructure:
Bureaucracy:
Population:
Education:
Living Standards:
Confidence:
Projects:
Colonies (Autonomy/Income/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background:
or bad (“inferior ships”
