Design your own Civ VI civ

[TheSpaceCowboy]

This is a further refinement of my Outremer idea:

Outremer
Leader: Godfrey of Bouillon



Civilization Ability: Penitential Warfare
Gain Faith when killing units from Civilizations that follow a different religion and capturing cities following a foreign Religion.

Leader Ability: Crusader King
Ancient Walls, Medieval Walls, and Renaissance Walls all have one relic slot each and require less production to build in occupied or ceded cities.
Upon capturing the a city following a foreign religion, gain one relic.
If Outremer has founded a religion, that city will instantly begin emanating 100% religious pressure for Outremer's religion instead.

Unique Unit: Crusader
Replaces Knight. When first deployed, joins one of the following Military Orders (unique promotion):

Knight Hospitaller: This unit heals itself on kills and heals all adjacent allied units each turn
Knight Templar: This unit gains Gold on kills and Great Merchant points when pillaging​

Unique District: Sepulchre
New units appear at the Sepulchre instead of the Armory, and receive a bonus to attack based on the number of relics in the city.
If the city has walls, the Sepulchre can launch a ranged attack, similar to an Armory. This attack receives additional ranged strength for every relic in the city.

Replaces Holy Site. Half the cost of a Holy Site, and does not count against the district limit.
Must be built more than one tile away from the City Center or an Armory.
+2 Great Prophet points per turn, and adjacency bonuses for desert tiles and religious Wonders.

Associated Project: Council of Clermont
Generates Great Prophet points and Faith prior to founding a religion
Generates Great general Points and Faith after founding a religion

Agenda: Advocate of the Holy Sepulcher
Loves Civilizations that have gifted or traded Outremer a Relic and loathes those that hoard a Relic to themselves


Bonus: City-State Idea!
Malta
Suzerain Bonus: Upon receiving their first promotion, ground units (artillery, cavalry, melee, ranged) are inducted into the Military Order of Knights Hospitaller.
This promotion does not heal the unit, nor does it end its turn.
(When leasing Malta's military, all of its own units will be Hospitallers as well)

 

[IgorS]

We already have Valletta as a city-state.

 

[AnonymousSpeed]

The Israel look very interesting with its heavy faith focus. Im not sure making Aurangzeb a leader of India is a good idea, it would be better to make a Mughal civ for him like what they did with Alexander and Macedon.

His agenda should make him dislike civs that build wonders as he would consider such things a waste. He should have very low probility at building wonders. He should also dislike civs that don't follow his religion.

Maybe, but I decided to stick with India instead of a separate Mughal civ. I thought the combination of Dharma with Jizya was pretty interesting. I also considered having wonders be a part of his agenda, but I felt that would be stepping on Qin's territory.

Here is my ideas for the Otttoman civ:

The Bazaar is pretty broken, which is kind of obvious because it's a unique Commercial Hub, but still. It may lose the river bonus, but more than compensates with a much better district adjacency bonus.

I also find that Janissary's replace musketmen rather strange, given their unique build requirement. It seems like a good time to take advantage of the fact that Civ6 unique units don't have to replace anything.

I don't personally like Millet converting faith into other resources or disabling the Ottomans from a religious victory. It sort of intrudes on Kongo's territory, and while their dominant religion wasn't founded under their empire it was still a religious enough empire that it seems weird to disable faith like that for them. Spain didn't found Christianity or even Catholicism in any context, nor did Poland, yet those are still civilizations focused somewhat on religion.

Mehmed II conquering capitals is an idea I've seen before, and it's one I actually like. However, I think the execution borrows a little heavily from Pericles, and the agenda is a little weird partly because it covers too many aspects and partly because it'll leave him most upset with civilizations not near him.

I personally don't think culture is really the route to go with the Ottomans, and I feel that culture is the main focus of this, but I feel that it also trying to do gold with the Bazaar and the odd religious things and the military things all at once prevent it from being really focused as a set of abilities.

The Huns
This isn't a full civ yet, but more of a gameplay idea. Basically, the idea of the Huns is a civilization focused entirely on pillaging everything in site. They lack the ability to create infrastructure, but can take anything they need from other civs by killing their units and pillaging their stuff.

 

[Phrozen]

It works if the civ isn't the Ottomans but instead the Turks and Attaturk is the leader.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Ottoman was quite multireligious and as far as I know was not all that much into religious conversion. I mainly think my Ottoman design is militaristic in nature because the main way to get several religions would be by conquest. The extra gold and bazaar allow it to maintain a large army and the culture allow it to quickly advance in civics even without theatre squares and great works. Janissary is a tricky unit, even a bit of a disadvantage due to the requirement but it would work well with the Ottoman strategy of conquest.

 

[RFormica]

Now, I am making this mod, but I just want to know what everybody thinks of this idea:
Civilization: BOHEMIA
Civilization Unique Ability: Basel Compacts
-Triggers a culture bomb when a new religion is founded by any civilization
Civilization Unique Improvement: Hrad
-Replaces Fort, and unlocks earlier. Can be built by Builders and Military Engineers. Provides greater defense than a regular fort. Faith, Gold and Production bonus when adjacent to a City Center or another Hrad.
Civilization Unique Unit: Knight of the Red Star Cross
-Replaces Medic, and unlocks in the Medieval era - much earlier than a regular medic.
Leader: OTTOKAR II
Leader Unique Ability: Prussian Crusades
-Units gain +5 Strength when fighting units from civilizations that follow a different religion. Gain Faith from defeating enemy units.
Leader Unique Agenda: Iron and Golden King
-Likes civilizations that have high faith, control large amounts of territory, and follow his religion.

 

[Amrunril]

Now, I am making this mod, but I just want to know what everybody thinks of this idea:
Civilization: BOHEMIA
Civilization Unique Ability: Basel Compacts
-Triggers a culture bomb when a new religion is founded by any civilization
...

Others (@Kimiimaro) can probably comment better on how well these abilities fit Bohemia. I'll just note that the civ ability needs some clarification, as culture bombs in Civ VI need to be centered on a specific tile (unless what you mean by culture bomb is something different than what Poland and Australia have). It's also worth noting, from a balance perspective, that whereas Poland and Australia's culture bombs can be repeated many times, this ability can trigger a maximum of five times on a standard sized map.

 

[RFormica]

Others (@Kimiimaro) can probably comment better on how well these abilities fit Bohemia. I'll just note that the civ ability needs some clarification, as culture bombs in Civ VI need to be centered on a specific tile (unless what you mean by culture bomb is something different than what Poland and Australia have). It's also worth noting, from a balance perspective, that whereas Poland and Australia's culture bombs can be repeated many times, this ability can trigger a maximum of five times on a standard sized map.

Originally I was going to make it trigger a Eureka moment, but I think that's pretty underpowered too.

How about doubling the treasury? (like Big Ben)

 

[Kimiimaro]

I'll comment that soon. Here you can look on my concept of Bohemia.

Btw. Ottokar II is a great choice!

 

[RFormica]

Oh, and thanks for the free ideas, everyone!

 

[Kimiimaro]

Now, I am making this mod, but I just want to know what everybody thinks of this idea:
Civilization: BOHEMIA
Civilization Unique Ability: Basel Compacts
-Triggers a culture bomb when a new religion is founded by any civilization
Civilization Unique Improvement: Hrad
-Replaces Fort, and unlocks earlier. Can be built by Builders and Military Engineers. Provides greater defense than a regular fort. Faith, Gold and Production bonus when adjacent to a City Center or another Hrad.
Civilization Unique Unit: Knight of the Red Star Cross
-Replaces Medic, and unlocks in the Medieval era - much earlier than a regular medic.
Leader: OTTOKAR II
Leader Unique Ability: Prussian Crusades
-Units gain +5 Strength when fighting units from civilizations that follow a different religion. Gain Faith from defeating enemy units.
Leader Unique Agenda: Iron and Golden King
-Likes civilizations that have high faith, control large amounts of territory, and follow his religion.

Ok, here comes my comment!

First of all, let me say that I'm really glad to see Bohemia as a potential mod. It was an important country in the Central Europe and this would actually be the first Bohemian mod.

However, there are some things I think that don't very suit Bohemia as a Civ.

First of all, I think that you're making it too religious focused. I know that it's quite known for Jan Hus, the Hussites and for being one of the places where the Thirty Years' War, a great religious conflict, started, but let's not forget that the current Czech Republic is one of the most Atheist countries in the world (which was mostly caused by Communists, but that's something that doesn't exactly belong here so I'm moving somewhere else).
The Civ UA is quite strange to me. Basel Compacts sort of settled peace between Hussites and Catholic Church by allowing them communion under both kinds, but I'm afraid it wasn't very important in Czech history, since the Battle of Lipany where radical Hussites were defeated is accepted as the real end of Hussite wars. I'm afraid that I don't understand what Basel Compacts had to do with gaining lands or founding new religion. Also, as @Amrunril said, the culture bomb means that lands around some tile are immediately gained if you build there something (fort/encampment if Poland, pasture if Australia). I don't understand how it would work and in which city it would work. Also, I think it would be a very underpowered ability, since there is only limited number of religions Civs can founded (2-7), if you're not playing on the biggest map types, you're never going to fully benefit from this.
Hrad looks good, but I would personaly add a late game tourism bonus to it, since the Czech Republic is quite known for its large number of ornate castles.
Although Knight of the Red Star Cross looks like an interresting UU, it would be one of the most underpowered UU's in game, simply because lots of people (me included) don't even bother with building Medics, regardless of era. You can check my statement about people not building Medics in the Support Unit Elimination Thread, where they ended up being the third worst support unit in game (right after AA Gun and Mobile SAM). I think the Hussite War Wagon is much better UU for Bohemia, since they were important part of Hussite strategies and helped them win lots of their battles.
Now let's get to the leader. Once again, Ottokar II is a great choice, but he was more a conqueror and diplomat than a king caring about strenghtening the position of the kingdom than a king mostly concerned about religion. Also, Philip II of Spain already has a bonus against fighting units of the other religions. Also, I don't think that participation in the Prussian Crusades is very known fact about him - actually, we didn't even learn that at school. As I said, he is more known for being a diplomat and conqueror who extended territory of Bohemia to the Adriatic Sea and made Bohemia the strongest country in the HRE and actually one of the strongest countries in the whole Europe. Also, he is known for making Bohemia very wealthy country (that and his conquests are facts that he is called "the Iron and Golden King"). Also, I read that he was a great builder - he founded about thirty cities during his life. I would definitely give him some ability that gives him bonuses in war and maybe some bonus about cities¨or economy. Also, I would rather use "The Iron and Golden King" as a name of his ability.
And about his agenda, I'd put there something with army and/or territories or something with conquest, maybe something with being rich and influental. He wasn't known for being especially pious king, so I'd remove the faith and religion from his agenda.

But that's just an opinion from a Czech - it often happens that we're unhappy with something

 

[RFormica]

First of all, I think that you're making it too religious focused. I know that it's quite known for Jan Hus, the Hussites and for being one of the places where the Thirty Years' War, a great religious conflict, started, but let's not forget that the current Czech Republic is one of the most Atheist countries in the world (which was mostly caused by Communists, but that's something that doesn't exactly belong here so I'm moving somewhere else).

Yes, it is, but this is mostly focused on the extemely devout, Catholic Bohemia of medieval times. There would be a different civilization for the Czech Republic.

The Civ UA is quite strange to me. Basel Compacts sort of settled peace between Hussites and Catholic Church by allowing them communion under both kinds, but I'm afraid it wasn't very important in Czech history, since the Battle of Lipany where radical Hussites were defeated is accepted as the real end of Hussite wars. I'm afraid that I don't understand what Basel Compacts had to do with gaining lands or founding new religion. Also, as @Amrunril said, the culture bomb means that lands around some tile are immediately gained if you build there something (fort/encampment if Poland, pasture if Australia). I don't understand how it would work and in which city it would work. Also, I think it would be a very underpowered ability, since there is only limited number of religions Civs can founded (2-7), if you're not playing on the biggest map types, you're never going to fully benefit from this.

I wasn't quite happy about the Civ ability, either. There really isn't a "peace" factor, so it's kind of hard to make something like the Basel Compacts. Maybe something like gain a few amenities in a city when two religions have been in it for 10 turns? Kind of specific, but hey. (Also probably hard to do)

Hrad looks good, but I would personaly add a late game tourism bonus to it, since the Czech Republic is quite known for its large number of ornate castles.

I'll add that.

Although Knight of the Red Star Cross looks like an interresting UU, it would be one of the most underpowered UU's in game, simply because lots of people (me included) don't even bother with building Medics, regardless of era. You can check my statement about people not building Medics in the Support Unit Elimination Thread, where they ended up being the third worst support unit in game (right after AA Gun and Mobile SAM). I think the Hussite War Wagon is much better UU for Bohemia, since they were important part of Hussite strategies and helped them win lots of their battles.

While reading about Bohemia, I was confused if the Hussites should be their own civilization, or at least something like Greece. After hearing from this, I guess they aren't! I think that the Wagenburg or a War Cart would be good.
And also, I think that people would be building a lot more medics if they were unlocked 3 eras before they should

Now let's get to the leader. Once again, Ottokar II is a great choice, but he was more a conqueror and diplomat than a king caring about strenghtening the position of the kingdom than a king mostly concerned about religion. Also, Philip II of Spain already has a bonus against fighting units of the other religions. Also, I don't think that participation in the Prussian Crusades is very known fact about him - actually, we didn't even learn that at school. As I said, he is more known for being a diplomat and conqueror who extended territory of Bohemia to the Adriatic Sea and made Bohemia the strongest country in the HRE and actually one of the strongest countries in the whole Europe. Also, he is known for making Bohemia very wealthy country (that and his conquests are facts that he is called "the Iron and Golden King"). Also, I read that he was a great builder - he founded about thirty cities during his life. I would definitely give him some ability that gives him bonuses in war and maybe some bonus about cities¨or economy. Also, I would rather use "The Iron and Golden King" as a name of his ability.

So gold/culture bomb instead of faith bonus? Sounds good.
NOW I can use my culture bombs.

But that's just an opinion from a Czech - it often happens that we're unhappy with something

I can be there in an instant if someone decides to make an alternate for America. I have a few problems with Firaxis' deisgn as well.

Thanks!

 

[Kimiimaro]

Yes, it is, but this is mostly focused on the extemely devout, Catholic Bohemia of medieval times. There would be a different civilization for the Czech Republic.

I don't think that Czech Republic is a good idea - it's about 20 years old state A Czechoslovak Civ led by T. G. Masaryk would be better.

I wasn't quite happy about the Civ ability, either. There really isn't a "peace" factor, so it's kind of hard to make something like the Basel Compacts. Maybe something like gain a few amenities in a city when two religions have been in it for 10 turns? Kind of specific, but hey. (Also probably hard to do)

That would still be underpowered. You know, I'm currently thinking about some religious bonus that wouldn't be underpowered. I'll probably share my idea later.
Also, there is still an opportunity to create "In the Heart of Europe" UA that doesn't have to focus on a religion

While reading about Bohemia, I was confused if the Hussites should be their own civilization, or at least something like Greece. After hearing from this, I guess they aren't! I think that the Wagenburg or a War Cart would be good.
And also, I think that people would be building a lot more medics if they were unlocked 3 eras before they should

Hussites indeed shouldn't be a Civ, mostly from the fact that they were a group of people that was mostly active for some 15 years.
And about Medics - I don't think so. There is no need for a Medic if you think before you act and then you come with some nice strategy.

So gold/culture bomb instead of faith bonus? Sounds good.
NOW I can use my culture bombs.

Culture bomb could give some sense, since he also used diplomatic marriages to gain some lands, but it would still have to spread from some specific tile after some condition would be satisfied. However, let's think of some military bonus for him. He was "the Iron and Golden King", after all.
And have you thought of some bonus for settling new cities instead of the culture bomb? I tried to think about that, since it's true that he founded about thirty cities, some of which became very big (for example: Kalingrad (yes, that currently owned by Russia), České Budějovice or Kutná Hora)... I thought of giving his cities a free builder or some bonus towards building City-Center buildings.

 

[RFormica]

Culture bomb could give some sense, since he also used diplomatic marriages to gain some lands, but it would still have to spread from some specific tile after some condition would be satisfied. However, let's think of some military bonus for him. He was "the Iron and Golden King", after all.
And have you thought of some bonus for settling new cities instead of the culture bomb? I tried to think about that, since it's true that he founded about thirty cities, some of which became very big (for example: Kalingrad (yes, that currently owned by Russia), České Budějovice or Kutná Hora)... I thought of giving his cities a free builder or some bonus towards building City-Center buildings.

So... Maybe:
-Extra combat strength when fighting (idk what)
-Free builder upon settling cities; extra production for builders
-Something like gain +15 combat strength within 10 turns of founding a city, etc.
-Others?

 

[Kimiimaro]

So... Maybe:
-Extra combat strength when fighting (idk what)
-Free builder upon settling cities; extra production for builders
-Something like gain +15 combat strength within 10 turns of founding a city, etc.
-Others?

I wouldn't mix the combat bonus and the city founding bonus to influence each other. Doing them like two abilities in one would be better.

 

[Amrunril]

Haida

Unique Ability: Land’s Bounty: +1 Housing from Camp and Fishing Boat improvements. All luxury and bonus resources that provide food provide 1 additional food.
This ability allows the Haida to construct large population centers without necessarily relying on large scale agriculture. It also encourages them to look at the map differently than other civs, with more emphasis on resource access and less (comparatively speaking) on good farming locations.

Unique Infrastructure: Crest Pole (Monument Replacement): Each city that constructs this building gains the benefit of an additional pantheon belief of your choice. You may select beliefs claimed by other civilizations but must select a different belief for each city.
As one of the most iconic examples of Pacific Northwest art and culture, I wanted not only to include totem poles but also to give them an ability more distinctive than a simple faith/culture boost. This design highlights the unique character of individual poles, and, like the civ ability, it encourages Haida to look at the map differently than other civs. Furthermore, it allows the creation of cities with unique specialties, whether in utilizing specific resource types, building units/wonders, generating great people or even serving as strategic healing positions.

Unique Unit: Sea Canoe (Galley Replacement): This unit cannot be seen except when adjacent to it. Traders plundered by this unit are transferred to your control rather than being destroyed, unless they would exceed your trade route capacity.
While I didn’t give the civ a primary military focus, the UU was a good opportunity to reference the coastal raiding culture (I also took inspiration from the fact that a masted ship appears over the horizon sooner than a flatter ship like a canoe). It acts as something of a hybrid between Melee and Raider class naval units, and the trader ability allows the Haida to invest in an early fleet with less impact on their economic development than other civs would face.

Leader Ability: Architectural Craftsmanship: Gain .5 culture per adjacent forest tile for each of your granaries or district buildings that provides housing. Upon entering the modern era, gain tourism as well.
This ability further references the Pacific Northwest artistic tradition to create a culture civ with a distinctly different focus than Great Artist civs like Russia and Kongo or wonder civs like France. The housing specification is primarily a way of limiting the number of buildings it applies to without individually listing them, but I think it does generally reflect the sorts of buildings you might expect to be more decorated, and it adds a very subtle push towards housing/tall cities and towards building encampments.

 

[Zaarin]

@Amrunril Overall, I like it, but I have two suggestions. First, I'd change "totem pole" to "crest pole." I know, they're popularly called totem poles, but no totems were involved--a totem being an animal that a group of people supposedly descend from; PNW crests were much more akin to a medieval coat of arms--I don't think anyone speculated the Welsh descended from dragons, after all. I love the ability you attached to it, though. Second, the Haida were more traders than raiders (it was the "Washington Indians," as the Tlingit call the Coast Salish and Wakashan, who chiefly did the raiding and slaving); perhaps make the sea canoe cheap, fragile, available from the start, and able to go on ocean tiles. Since the Haida were traders, maybe work in some bonus trade routes for them from some other source--perhaps for every city center adjacent to the coast, which would incentivize placing settlements in the same place the people of the PNW did pretty much without exception.

 

[Amrunril]

@Amrunril Overall, I like it, but I have two suggestions. First, I'd change "totem pole" to "crest pole." I know, they're popularly called totem poles, but no totems were involved--a totem being an animal that a group of people supposedly descend from; PNW crests were much more akin to a medieval coat of arms--I don't think anyone speculated the Welsh descended from dragons, after all. I love the ability you attached to it, though. Second, the Haida were more traders than raiders (it was the "Washington Indians," as the Tlingit call the Coast Salish and Wakashan, who chiefly did the raiding and slaving); perhaps make the sea canoe cheap, fragile, available from the start, and able to go on ocean tiles. Since the Haida were traders, maybe work in some bonus trade routes for them from some other source--perhaps for every city center adjacent to the coast, which would incentivize placing settlements in the same place the people of the PNW did pretty much without exception.

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and changed the Totem Pole name. As for the raiding/trading, I went with this design primarily because it was something that would fit in the unique unit slot, and I thought the infrastructure and civ/leader ability slots were relatively full, but it would definitely be possible to create a different version of the civ (or an alternate leader) with more of a trade focus.

 

[Morningcalm]

Re: the Haida idea, I see the leader bonus, but what leader would you suggest?

 

[IgorS]

Koyah and Cumshewa seem to be the only options for the Haida.