Design your own Civ VI civ

To be honest, it seems completely op. No other civ has the option to nullify a victory type. Imagine playing a game with random civs as Alexander; obviously you're going for a domination victory, but you can't because one of the random civs is Switzerland.

 

Although the ability does nullify one victory condition, it is hard to say its op. Op would be a civ with a nearly guaranteed victory, which this civ obviously does not have. With the border settling restriction and not being able to declare war, this civ can quite easily be crippled by, e.g., forward settling or bad initial position.

 

Here's my new version for Portugal, with not one, not two, not three but 4 different leaders, each representing a different type of bonus : for Culture and building, GP generation, Navigation and exploration, and spy and diplomacy.

Leader 1 : Denis of Portugal

LUA : The singing peaceful farmer : Production for districts and its buildings is 10% faster when Portugal is not at war. Districts provide +1 point for Great Writers and Great Musicians.
LA : Songs of Love : Likes civilizations that maintain a satisfied population and produce a lot of culture.
Historical Notes : Denis of Portugal was the greatest king of Portugal in the pre-navigation era. His reign was very peaceful, especially for his time standards, and he travelled aroung the country to deal with judiciary affairs himself. He also built a lot of manufactures, created the first portuguese merchant fleet to trade with England, France and Flanders and planted pine trees to prevent the destruction of soils because of the sand. Thus he was known as the farmer king. But he was known as the the troubadour king, since today we possess 137 chants made by him, and wrote hunt or poetry treaties. Here's an example of one of his chants. I dare to say, he was one of the best Kings of his time.


Leader 2 : John I

LUA : Illustrous Generation : Every government card generating points for Great People have its points doubled. He can create the UU Count Crossbowman, which is the same as the crossbowmen but with +2 movement.
LA : Avis Revolution : Likes Civilizations that produce Great People. Dislikes civs that produce none.
Historical notes : John I was the first king of the Avis dynasty, and protected and garanteed the independance of Portugal from the crown of Castille, since John I of Castille was married to the last descent of the Burgondy dynasty, claiming the portuguese throne for himself. He also conquered Ceuta in north Africa, and established the oldest alliance traty still available, the Windsor Treaty with England. But he is also known for his children : Duarte, that became the next portuguese king; Afonso, the first duke of Braganza and the most powerful man in Portugal at the time; Pedro who travelled throughout Europe and was considered as the most knowledgeable prince of his time; Isabela, who became the duchess of Burgondy, and made and entertained the wealthiest and most prestigious court of Europe at the time, governing the Burgond territory herself when her husband was out; Henry the Navigator, which I don't need to present; Fernando, who became a martyr in the war against Morocco, dying while detained in Fez and is considered as a beatus; John, who was the constable of the country and one of the most influent men of the country. Thus, his children were considered the "Illustrous generation".

Leader 3 : John II

LUA : Through the Cape of Storms : Discovering new Civilizations and City-Sates generate a random Eureka or Inspiration. Naval units are 10% cheaper to build.
LU : The Perfect Prince : Likes Civilizations that make demands and don't use spies. Hates civilizations that ignore demands and use spies.
Historical notes : After the navigation policies fell behind during the reign of Afonso V, John II used all of Portugal's wealth and energy to reenact them, and during his time, Bartolomeu Dias passed the cape of Storms, John renaming it the Cape of Good Hope. It was him that started the portuguese golden age. But before the light, there was darkness. The nobility had powerful influence in the country, and king was very bind to them. John II hated the conspiracies of the court, and took drastic measures, among them, taking away privileges and lands from the nobles who started to conspire against the king. This was the only excuse John needed to execute some of the most influent nobles, like the powerful Fernando, duke of Braganza, despite being his brother in law, and stabbing himself the duke of Viseu who was also conspiring himself. He was called the perfect prince because he was the closest machievellian prince to have been found.

Leader 4 : Marquis of Pombal

LUA : The emissary minister : Gains a spy and an envoy for every peace deal made with a Major civilization. All warmonger penalties are nullified if Portugal has not conquered a city during a war (only on formal wars). May build the Caçador, a UU that has a high defensive bonus on forest and jungle tiles.
LA : The Tavora Affair : Hates civilizations that use spies on him.
Historical notes : Before his time as a prime minister, he helped solving the almost impossible solving dispute between Maria-Theresa of Austria and the Papacy, proving his imense skill as a diplomat. He became the prime minister of Portugal during Joseph I reign, and after the terrible earthquake that wrecked Lisbon, he took matters into his own hands, and chased the false prophets, prevent people from leaving and rebuilding the whole city in a way that it wouldn't be destroyed again by another earthquake. He also made the first sismic surveys, asking the inhabitants of Lisbon a series of questions that could help identify when an earthquake would occur. Portugal was technologically behind, and he caught up with the rest of the continent, while building manufactures and chased his enemies, the nobility and the jesuits. He also executed some conspirators, like Tavora family.


UA : Explorer's age : Building a harbor generates a free ship and a free trader. Naval units get the Explorer promotion, which allows them to build a feitoria in a coastal tile.

UU : Carrack : Replacing the Caravel, the Carrack has +1 move and is stronger than the regular Caravel. When stationed in a Feitoria or a Harbor, it provides +2 amenities and +2 gold.


UI : Feitoria : A fort improvement that can be built in CS and Civs territories (only one per CS and Civ and in coastal tiles). Units can heal in it and the surrounding tiles like in portuguese land and units can be bought from there. 30% defensive bonus for defending units in the tile and the surrounding tiles.

 

OK, for Israel's Independence Day, I have decided to get back and present the design of my Israel civ (which actually has nothing to do with modern Israel, as it focuses, as it should be, on Ancient Israel, just like the Greek and Egyptian civs in the game).

Civilization ability: Holy Land - Ancient and classical era units can be purchased with faith. Bonus to combat strength for units fighting within Israel's borders, or near them.
Unique unit: Slinger of Benjamin - Replaces the slinger, and is as strong as an archer.
Unique infrastructure: Gath (wine press) - Replaces the granary and provides +1 amenity.

Leader 1: Solomon
Ability: Wisest of All Men - Holy Site buildings provide extra faith, each unique luxury resource provides +2 gold.
Agenda: Solomon's Mines - Likes leaders who trade with him, dislikes leaders who refuse his trade offers.

Leader 2: Salome Alexandra
Ability: Sanhedrin - Gain one more economic policy card slot. Melee units are slightly weaker, but Salome receives two instead of one when training them.
Agenda: Fortified Towns - Likes leaders who invest in fortifications and/or siege units, dislikes leaders who do not fortify their cities and do not build siege units.

City list:

Spoiler :

Yerushalaim - capital for both leaders
Hevron
Yericho
Beith Lehem
Be'er Sheva
Shiloh
Beith El
Shechem
Giv'on
Lachish
Gezer
Hatzor
Meggido
Pnuel
Beith She'an
Ta'anach
Tirzah
Yaffo
Dor
Akko
Dan
Ziklag
Shomron
Yokne'am
Eshtamoa
Beith Horon
Gath Rimmon
Arad
Ramoth Gil'ad
Ramah
Mitzpah
Tzippori
Yavne
Tveria
Tzfath
Lod
Gamla
Giv'a
Geva
Kedesh

 

I really like the idea of having colonial trading posts in other civs and CS, but there needs to be a benefit to the civ you're building it in. Otherwise you're just stealing their tiles and gaining a potential advantage in invading their continent later . Why would I possibly allow a rival Portugal to build a Feitoria in my empire? It should provide a gold or other bonus to the host.

 

Then I ask myself, do i want to play a civ that can be crippled so easily? probably no, way too annoying. going to war is such a central and core concept, i don't think i could abstain from it.

One way to solve this is excluding Switzerland as a requirement to win domination victory (i.e. you don't need to conquer Switzerlands capital, which is ironic, since Switzerland has (de jure) no capital anyway...)

 

OK, another civ design, which also has to do with Israel, actually. It is the Nabataeans.

Civilization ability: Incense Route - +1 gold for trade routes passing through desert tiles.
Unique unit: Camel Cavalry - Replaces the heavy chariot, has +1 movement in desert tiles, and is a ranged unit.
Unique infrastructure: Cistern - Replaces the aqueduct and can be placed on any tile around the capital.

Leader 1: Obodas
Ability: God of War - Receive faith from killing enemy units.
Agenda: Revenge Seeker - Will seek to liberate cities taken from him, respects leaders who liberate their own conquered lands, holds a grudge against leaders who hold lands previously owned by Nabataea.

Leader 2: Aretas
Ability: Philhellen - +1 culture for each trade route to another civilization or city state.
Agenda: Conqueror of Damascus - When in war, does not pillage commercial districts, and aims to conquer cities with strong economies, likes leaders who maintain many foreign trade routes, dislikes leaders with few foreign trade routes.

City list:

Spoiler :

Raqmu - capital for both leaders
Hegra
Avdat
Mamshi't
Nitzana
Beidha
Azza
Bosra
Suada
Halasa
Wadi Ainounah
Aila
Punon
Humeima
Shivta
Salcah
Adraa
Madaba
Sia
Teima
Nemara
Rabba
Dhiban
Dharih
Qasrawet
Moa
Rehoboth
Tannur
Dumair
Ma'an
Gadara

 

That's the goal : having a civ that is literaly parasiting you and if it declares war against you, it already has a base where it can buy troops to attack you, or if you declare war on them, you have to deal with that base first ! It benefits them and you either declare war to chase them, or live with that plague

 

I'm reluctant to read through 368 posts, so:

Has anyone suggested the leader Rufus T. Firefly of Freedonia? Hail, hail Freedonia! Go watch the Marx Bothers' film Duck Soup if you don't know about it. It's really silly.

 

I don't know, it doesn't seem like good design to make a civ with an ability that's annoying to without much you can do about it. There's already stuff like forward settling for that.

Whatever it says about me, I have read all those posts, and I don't believe anyone has. If you have any additional questions, there's a search button at the top of the page.

Zulu
Unique Ability: Impi

• Anti-Cavalry Units can form Corps without the need for any civic.

The term Impi didn't refer to a specific part of the Zulu army, but rather of group of soldiers of any size. I had the ability idea first and then looked for a name, and this turned out to be a perfect fit. This ability allows the Zulu to form powerful melee units early in the game and overwhelm unprepared opponents.

Unique Unit: Ibutho (Spearman)

• 30 Combat Strength (vs 25)
• Only +5 vs. Mounted (vs +10)
• +5 Combat Strength vs. Melee

A regiment of Zulu warriors was actually called an Ibutho, which takes up the duty of being the name for the Zulu unique unit. Their abilities are based on their wielding an Iklwa, a long bladed short spear introduced to the army by Shaka Zulu. It brings them closer to Swordsman while loosing some of its Anti-Cavalry bonus, though its higher strength balances this out. It also has a bonus against melee units, such as swordsman, or British infantry.

Unique District: Ikhanda (Encampment)

• As with all unique districts, the Ikhanda costs half as much to build as the Encampment
• Allows training of Corps and Armies without a Military Academy

The Ikhanda allows the Zulu to take full advantage of their Impi ability while granting a nice little advantage in warfare throughout the game. They are able to form Ibutho Corps more quickly and more easily with the Ikhanda, and the ability to build the district quicker means the Zulu can get their cities into full wartime production much quicker than their rivals.

Leader: Shaka Zulu
Capital: Kwa-Bulawayo

Leader Ability: Bull Horn Formation

• +1 Movement to all land melee units (Spearman, Warriors, etc)
• Land Melee Units receive +5 combat strength when attacking.

Shaka Zulu's military reforms are famous across the world, and a cornerstone of them was the Bull's Horn formation, where experienced warriors went right at the enemy while two prongs of young, energetic troops would pin them down in a "horn" shape, either formation being fueled by a third body of soldiers when necessary. Zulu warriors were also famous for allegedly being able to run 50 miles in a single day. Regardless of whether or not that's true, this ability lets the Zulu do what the Zulu do best, rush their opponents early with overwhelming force and speed.

Agenda: Mfecane

• Will try to control all of his original continent. Dislikes civs who own so much as a tile of his home continent.

Mfecane ("Crushing") refers to a period of widespread chaos and warfare in South Africa, brought about by Shaka Zulu's conquests of nearby kingdoms. An expansive warlord, Shaka will bring about great chaos in his pursuit of crushing all rivals for his local territory.

 

What a great idea of making the Zulu to be the first civ to actually make anti cavs useful. The Greek failed at it, and no others have yet tried it, maybe the Zulu can do it?

Maybe the bonus against melee would instead be to eliminate their +10 bonus against Ibutho? If the melee units have +10 combat strength and Ibutho have +5, Swordsmen still have a 36+10=46 combat strength against the 30+5=35 combat strength of Ibutho, and the Swordsmen would just wreck these guys. Even forming corps to get a combat strength of 30+5+10=45 would leave Ibutho at a disadvantage.

 

I think this is too extreme. Maybe not the whole continent, but the vicinity of Shaka's borders would be better. As the Zulu expand, they get closer to new territories, and want to conquer them.

 

Another civ design. This time, the Uzbeks.

Civilization ability: Silk Road - +1 gold, + 1 culture and + 1 science for every trade route to another civ or city-state.
Unique unit: Nuker - Replaces the knight, and has both a melee and a ranged attack.
Unique infrastructure: Aryk - Replaces the aqueduct, and provides +2 food in addition to housing. (Ideally, the Madrasa should be the Uzbek UI, but the Arabs already got it)

Leader 1: Shaybani Khan
Ability: Unifier - Units receive a boost to combat strength in enemy territory adjacent to or a few tiles away from Uzbekistan's borders.
Agenda: Book of Victories - Will try to attract as many great writers, will be always willing to pay gold to patronize them, and dislikes leaders who do not share his love for literature.

Leader 2: Abdullah Khan
Ability: Avaz Ghazi - Gain great scientist, great merchant or great writer points when conquering a city.
Agenda: Glory of Bukhara - Will invest heavily in both the military and science, does not like civilizations with weak armies that also do not invest in science.

City list:

Spoiler :

Toshkent
Buxoro - capital of Abdullah Khan
Samarqand - capital of Shaybani Khan
Xiva
Fargʻona
Andijon
Qo‘qon
Shahrisabz
Jizzax
Navoiy
Qarshi
Namangan
Termiz
Beruniy
Kattaqo‘rg‘on
Zarafshon
Qorasuv
Qorako‘l
Nukus
Urganch
Xo‘jayli
Afrosiyob
Asaka
Kogon
Kosonsoy
G‘ijduvon
Marg‘ilon
To‘ytepa
Mo‘ynoq
Nurota
Rishton
Urgut
Vobkent
Sherobod
To‘rtko‘l
Guliston
Baxt
Yangiobod
Bekobod
Chirchiq

 

INCANS

Civ Ability - Hill People

Infantry units use one movement point crossing Hills on their home continent.

Unique unit - Huaraca

Requires Iron Working. Does not require resources. Production cost: 75. Ranged Strength: 20. Melee Strength: 25

Unique infrastructure - Terrace Farm

Worker improvement. Requires Engineering. Must be built on Hills.
Provides +1.0 Food. Additional +1.0 Food for each adjacent Mountain. Additional +1.0 Food if on a Fresh Water tile after researching Civil Service. Additional +1.0 Food if on a non-Fresh Water tile after researching Industrialization.

Starting bias - Mountains

Leader - Pachacuti

Leader bonus - Earth Shaker

Gains the Great Andean Road Unique Infrastructure. Gains an additional Economic policy slot when Monarchy is discovered. +8 Combat Strength when attacking City-States on their home continent.

Leader unique infrastructure - Great Andean Road

Worker improvement. Requires Machinery. Must be built adjacent to a Mountain on their home continent. Functions as a Modern road. Also provides +1 Gold for adjacent segments.

Leader agenda - Son of the Sun

Tries to become Suzerain of all City-States on his home continent. Hates civilizations that are directly competing for the allegiance of these City-States.

 

That seems sort of weird, but the War Cart has something like that, so I suppose it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Those are some compelling calculations, but Shaka's Bull Horn Formation ability would lead to a net advantage when attacking.
On that note, there was another Zulu idea earlier in the thread which suggested the Zulus get additional Flanking bonuses. I do like that idea, but I'm not sure if the +5 bonus is better overall. Do you recall the scale of Flanking Bonuses in the game?

I personally do not agree. I also think such an agenda would be pretty plain. An AI like Shaka would have a pretty high aggressiveness rating, which would lead him to display such behavior naturally.

 

Making it apply to the whole continent would be weird. It is not like Shaka wanted to conquer Egypt or something.

 

If Shaka wasn't assassinated he might have kept going until he reached Egypt

 

Right, for some reason I did miss the leader ability when making these calculations. The flanking bonuses are normally +2,+4,+6,..., that is, +2 for each unit surrounding the enemy unit. While the increased flanking bonuses synergize the +1 movement, it would, however, conflict the corp forming ability in terms of military strategy. For example, if the Zulu would have a double flanking bonus, on one hand with separate units flanking an enemy they would have +8 combat strength and double HP and on the other hand they could get +10 combat strength of the corp.

 

I'll admit it's a bit strange and inaccurate, but Agendas usually are, and I think it's a very fitting one.

Perhaps because it's technically, technically, technically separate from the Civ package. I think you raise a good point though, and since the idea of early Ibutho Corps was basically the cornerstone of the design, it's probably better to go with the bonus to attacking.

 

Bohemia

Leader: Charles IV
Leader Ability: Praga Caput Regni (Every Campus, Commercial Hub and Theater Square built in Bohemian capital Prague have double effects (this affects their buildings as well). Every district built in Prague provides double ammount of great people points.)
Leader Agenda: The Great Builder (Likes civilizations with developed cities with districts and high amount of improved tiles. Dislikes civilizations with cities without districts and with high amount of unimproved tiles.)
Civ Ability: In heart of Europe (Cities founded inland provide +2 housing, every inland bonus, luxury and strategic resource has double yields (doesn't double the amount of resources, but yields like gold, food or faith.)
Unique Improvement: Hrad (Czech term for Castle) (Replaces Fort. Can be build with Castles tech. Gives +8 defence power rather than +4, after discovery of Flight, it will give player +5 tourism.)
Unique Unit: War wagon (Replaces knight. If attacked, gives additional damage to the attacker. Damage caused to War wagon is reduced to 3/4.)