Here's the ruleset:
Pretenders
Your Pretender is the divine being that leads your nation.
Pretender design is a very important step in the participation to the NES.
Pretender design is made by sending me a proposal from which we can work details.
The main elements of the proposal are the following:
-What is the physical aspect of the pretender (is he an 10 foot tall angel, a crone, a dragon...)?
-Does he start in Chaos (weaker faith, better chaomancy, weaker economy) or in the World?
-Does he have particular magic powers, and how did he acquire them?
for instance, a dragon would breath fire because he comes from Chaos, an angel might have a magic flaming sword given by the Pantocrator, a faun may have an aura that impresses all animals...
-Who is his prophet and what powers does he wield?
-Does he have strengths, weaknesses or limitations?
-What kind of kingdom does he rule?
this part is most important. Chaos pretenders will control at most a keep, a small town, with an income around of 40 gold. World pretenders will control larger realms with an income around 100 gold.
-What are the inhabitants of the kingdom?
are they human, lizardmen, a mix of several races? Are they a republic, a monarchy, do they have secular leaders or are they a theocracy directly under the power of the Pretender?
-What kind of armies does the pretender command?
what kind of soldiers are there in the realm? Longbowmen? Slingers? Legionaires or axe-wielding barbarians? Do they use horse, chariots or other mounts? Is this a standing army, mercenaries, conscripts? How are they paid? How are officerss chosen, what is the chain of command?
-What is the pretender's religion?
you must spread your faith. Who does that, and how? Are there churches, temples, sacred places, pilgrimages, taboos? Priests or druids, inquisitors? What values do you preach?
-Does the Pretender dominion spread some kind of effect?
faith in your pretender can change the land, for instance increasing fertility or warmth, or bringing bad luck and turmoil...
-Most importantly, where are you, what is the layout of the land?
for pretenders starting in Chaos, you are on the border of the World. For those starting in the World, are you near Chaos or deep inside the World?
is the land around you a vast forest, is your realm plains, desert, are there cities or only small towns, what about mountains, lakes, seas?
N.B. Map may be tweaked to accomodate starting locations if you wish, particularly near the borders or chaos lands.
Based on this initial proposal, we will work out a pretender design.
The more concessions, the greater the power. It's possible to start with more followers (thus more Faith and money), better chaomancy, more initial gold, more physical might, better armies... in exchange for a hostile dominion, a more limited choice of troops...
Regarding Chaos, remember that starting in Chaos allows you to have more magic powers, but these don't work at all in the world and Chaos is fickle, random and dangerous, and you must maintain the stability of your capital. Starting near Chaos means you can tap into its power while starting in the stable World, but you're also near the creatures that can spawn our of chaos. Starting inside the World means you have less access to magic, but are safer from attacks of otherworldly being due to distance.
Nation choice is free. I will favor vastly people with human followers over non humans. This will not be balanced. Humans are the dominant race in the World. Elf-lovers can play elves, but remember only mortals provide faith, so a pretender with immortal elf followers would earn zero faith. I will also slightly favour nations with a background I can relate to, particularly in terms of units. This includes nations from the Dominions game lore.
Be warned that the nations of Ermor and C'tis are present in this world, whether player-controlled or not, just because I like them.
Magic
Pretender gods can use physical might to impose their power. They can also use magical powers to achieve feats and miracles.
Magic comes in three kinds that are known to the sages and loremasters. Sages know about magic, but they know little, if truth be said. In reality, only successful mages know how magic works, but they keep their secrets to themselves, jealous of their powers. Therefore, the three sources of magic are known, but how to master and use them remains unclear. The three magics are known as Theurgy, Chaomancy and Sacrifice.
Theurgy is the magic of faith. The faith of mortals for their gods empowers these beings. Anyone worshipped by enough followers can harness this faith to exert power. The worshipped one can become immortal, or be called back from the dead. One can become physically mighty and one's shape can change to become in accordance with the faithfuls' beliefs. One can perform Miracles. All this requires is followers and faith. However, it is a magic that may be hard to master and constraining to keep, for the prayers can force a pretender god to cause a miracle and spend this mystical energy according to his believers' will. In fact, ignoring prayers is running the risk to lose worshippers. Theurgy is also limited in range, and performs well only in the presence of worshippers.
Chaomancy is the magic of Chaos. It can no longer directly operate inside the World. Foolhardy wizards can, however, venture into the lands of Chaos and try to control its power, weaving spells to transform themselves, their servants or their tools. A powerful Chaomancer may even turn Chaos lands into lands similar to the World, and carve himself kingdoms out of the void that surrounds the world. Chaos is a source of power, but it is fickle and unreliable. A kingdom carved out of Chaos can crumble in days if the wizard who maintains it fails to control the power at a crucial moment. But Chaos also allows the carving of items of awesome power, and is the birthplace of dragons and other mighty beings which can be controlled by resourceful mages.
Finally the magic of Sacrifice is the most powerful. It is the one that the Pantocrator used to protect the World from the destructive effects of Chaos. The magic of Sacrifice is such that its effects cannot be undone by either Chaomancy or Theurgy. It is not as constraining as Theurgy, as it is unlimited in power. It is not constrained by the presence and unpredictability of Chaos. Its only limit is what the wizard is ready to sacrifice. To reap real power, a mage has to sacrifice something of value, and the greatest the value, the greatest the power he can reap. There are few people, however, who are ready to sacrifice what it takes to achieve powerful magic.
Technically, Faith is recorded and known. It is directly linked to the number of worshippers and the ardor of their faith. Each Pretender god has a Faith stat which is expressed along this scale:
* (0) Extinct (your pretender god loses the faith of his followers, and loses all powers and most likely life)
* (1) Puny (can't do much beyond maintaining your own life)
* (2) Weak (the pretender god can either boost its physical shape or perform minor miracles in its vicinity, affecting single individuals)
* (3) Average (the pretender god can gain tremendous physical strength or perform miracles affecting small areas (small towns) or groups of individuals)
* (4) Strong (the pretender god can attain extraordinary physical might, being almost impossible to defeat by conventional armies except in huge numbers, or perform miracles affecting vast areas to the scale of entire cities)
* (5) Wondrous (the pretender god can attain almost unbeatable physical might or perform miracles affecting small regions)
* (6) Divine (the pretender god can attain almost unbeatable physical might or perform miracles affecting whole nations)
Players start with Weak faith, or Puny if they start in Chaos instead of the World. Starting with Strong faith, it is possible to stabilize Chaos lands and integrate them in the World.
Chaos magic can take whatever shape the wizard can think of. It is all-powerful but fleeting. Any effect can be attained, but it's impossible to control exactly what or how it will be attained. Chaos magic can best be used to summon creatures, craft items, and keep lands outside Chaos in the shape one wants them to keep. A wizard in the lands of chaos must decide how to spend his energy, expressed in percentage of his whole power. Using 100% of his power prevents him from doing anything else. If a wizard uses less than 80% of his power, he can move around freely. Keeping a castle or small town from changing and turning into something else requires 20% of an average wizard's power for a turn, in order to be guaranteed to succeed. Changing the same amount of land into something else requires 60% of a wizard power to be sure to reach the effect wanted, provided one only desires mundane results. Spending more gives more control or secures the effect will last longer. Spending less may succeed, fail, or do absolutely nothing, depending on sheer luck. Note that maintaining chaotic lands through chaomancy requires being in a chaotic land, even a far one, for chaos magic does not work in the World. However, Faith or sacrifice can be used to achieve the same end, but how much power exactly is needed is not known.
Skilled chaomancers can get better results than unskilled chaomancers.
The scale of chaomancy is a 5 figure scale:
1 (inept), 2 (weak), 3 (average), 4 (skilled), 5 (master).
Players start with weak chaomancy, near average if they start in Chaos lands.
Chaomancy level can increase through practise and through alchemical reseach in chaos lands, but the latter is very expensive (prices undisclosed). Note that a chaomancy of 3 has about the same power as theurgy of 3.
Sacrifice isn't rated. It all depends on what the wizard wants to sacrifice, and details won't be revealed, but one can't get directly more with a sacrifice than what one sacrifices.
Now that the various ways of causing magic to happen and the power levels have been described, let's check the effects:
First, your pretender is the one who can do most of the magic. He is limited to one magic action (spell or item-forging) per turn, plus one physical action (movement, battle, impressing people with his presence...). You can discard the physical action for a magic action, however. Keeping chaos from changing yoru chaos lands doesn't count as an action.
For your pretender, you're free to do whatever you like in terms of enchantments and global spells. Want to cast a fireball upon an enemy city? If you have enough power, you can do it. However, be careful. I'll warn you if you overstretch your limits. Using all your faith will not only weaken you, it will also weaken your realm. People will die as their life energy is drained into your spells...
Heroes can forge magic items or perform ritual spells. Heroes can use their own chaomancy or sacrifice, or can use their pretender's chaomancy or faith. They can, for instance, forge items in the Chaos while the pretender is somewhere else. They can also cast summoning spells. Always beware the reliability of chaomancy, however, and remember that sacrifices don't work without a cost. Remember that using too much of your Faith may cause the death of some of your worshippers.
Magic items exist, but a single item requires a magic action to forge, so you will have a hard time equipping whole units with magic swords, you'll have to rely mostly on individual champions. On the other hand, magic items are usually very powerful.
Finally, battle magic requires spells to be learnt and trained, in order to be able to summon magic powers quickly in stressful situations. This means that battle spells are limited in amount, and each wizard will only master a few. The power of the same spell will increase in power with the magic power of the caster. A wizard will start will three spells. More spells can bee researched at the cost of either 1 year of work between wizards who exchange their spells (2 wizards use one action during one year and teach each other one spell), or 1 year of work and 16 gold for 1 wizard to research a new spell.
More detailed spell effects:
Magic level / %of power needed to prevent a town from changing in Chaos / example spell
1 50% magically light a candle
2 30% charm a nearby individual
3 20% enhance the productivity of a small town
4 15% raise magical city walls
5 10% enchant a whole region
6 5% enchant nation
Heroes
Heroes are an important part of the NES.
They are the leaders of armies and the wizards of the land.
No army can move without a hero to lead them.
Some heroes can also cast major spells or craft magic items, and also use their powers on the battlefield.
Heroes have various traits, like giving troops under their command better morale, being powerful fighters, having magic skills...
Each player will start with two heroes. One is the Pretender god himself. The other hero is the Pretender's prophet, usually a human of great skill.
More heroes can be obtained as the NES progresses. Some can be summoned by magic, some can be mercenaries for hire. Some may join prosperous nations or Pretender gods with many followers. Some may join lords in peril as brave adventurers. Getting a hero to join your nation will be an achievement and help you strongly on the path to gaining more worshippers.
It is possible to gain heroes through stories, but that will be a lengthy process, over several updates, it will not happen with just one story. A story depicting how an anonymous soldier in update 1 becomes an officer in update 2 and a general in update 3 may get you a hero at update 4 (but if everyone writes the same story then it may not - I'll trust you to be imaginative).
Heroes are limited to one magic action (spell or item-forging) per turn, plus one physical action (movement, battle, impressing people with his presence...). You can discard the physical action for a magic action, however. Keeping chaos from changing your chaos lands doesn't count as an action.
Economy
Lands provide money. The amount of money varies. Cities, towns, bring money based on the population. Countryside brings little or no money but allows towns to exist by providing food.
Units cost money to buy and upkeep.
Units can be bought on one turn and defend immediately but can only be deployed on the next turn. They can be disbanded, but what they do in that case may depend on military doctrine (go back home or become mercenaries...)
Militia will be raised immediately to defend towns and cities. The quality and number of militia depend on the faith in the leader, amount of population and mostly money invested in training it and military doctrine.
A 5000-inhabitant town can bring about 10 gold per turn.
A 25000-inhabitant city can bring about 60 gold per turn.
Generally, a town or city will require a farming population around it about 4 times its size in order not to starve. Much less so if it's got a harbour. More as the city grows more.
All these figures are subject to variations depending on economic and magical projects, etc. In particular, mines, workshops, can increase revenue. Harbours, and to a lesser effect, roads, can also increase revenue through trade. Also, income depends on random factors like weather, good or bad harvests, and is generally hard to predict exactly, so it will vary from turn to turn even if conditions seem to remain the same.
Military units cost a straight price to buy and 1/3rd of that to upkeep, multiplied by a factor depending on your military doctrine. More expensive armies are likely to be more efficient than cheaper ones, but that's not necessarily true.
Light infantry: 12 gold (upkeep 4)
Heavy infantry, light cavalry: 18 gold (upkeep 6)
Heavy cavalry, chariot, elephants: 24 gold (upkeep 8)
Armies
Armies are comprised of units.
Some of these are magical, and their strength and power vary widely.
Most, however, are mundane, and classified among the following categories:
Light infantry (archers, slingers, javelineers...)
Heavy infantry (legionaries, pikemen, halberdiers...)
Light cavalry (mounted javelineers, horse archers...)
Heavy cavalry (cataphracts, knights...)
Chariots
Elephants
Heroes
Other units can exist, stuff like gryphon-riders or whatever one may think of, particularly if these come from the lands of Chaos.
Units will be described as heavy infantry, etc. Although a player can describe them in more detail, for instance say his light infantry uses crossbows rather than longbows, all the units of one class will be the same for a given player, and will have roughly the same power. I don't want to have to handle 4 different types of heavy infantry per player, as it soon becomes impossible to manage. If you are unsatisfied with your armies, you can perform military reforms which will affect all units of the kind which you try to better.
Note that all players may not be able to build all kinds of units. For instance, elephants are very rare. Some places may not have horses, etc.
In terms of numbers, an infantry unit is typically about a hundred soldiers. Cavalry is about thirty soldiers. Chariot units are about ten units, and elephants are 3 animals. However, actual numbers vary depending on equipment and training. Soldiers will be taken from the country or city population, depending on the kind of soldiers.
Units are grouped into task forces, which can only perform non-defensive actions when under the control of a hero. A hero can control only one task force at any time.
Units will be able to move a few hundred kilometers per year at most on land. This is heavily dependent on whether they are in friendly terrain or not, whether there are roads, whether they have to forage, etc.
Heroes vary a lot. They are uncommon, unique units. Some of them may be like Conan, a mighty warrior worth a dozen men by himself, likely to help troops in battle and boost their morale but not going to win the battle by himself. Some of them may be wizards. These use one or more of the three kinds of magic, and are quite limited in the spells they know. Each wizard comes with his own battle spells but can learn more if spending time and research.
Stats
Sample stats:
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Public stats:
Nation/Player/Pretender name
Color:
Total population: approximate population numbers (always wrong by several %)
Gold: banked + (income-upkeep)
Faith:
Chaomancy:
Military: Quality/upkeep modifier
Armies: Description of recruitable units
Dominion: Special effect if any
Heroes: Name (location if public)
Projects: Project (progress)
Samplis/NPC/Mrs. Crony
Color: Yellow
Total population: 19000
Gold: 50 + (97-32)
Faith: Weak
Chaomancy: Weak
Military: 1/1
Armies: LI (peltats, slingers) HI (phalangites) LC (horse archers) E (elephants)
Dominion: Better growth rate (+0.001)
Heroes: Mrs Crony (Samplia city), Don Benvenuto (unknown).
Projects: Ciudalia market (30/50)
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Private stats:
Heroes: Heroes (very short description) (known spells) (commanded task force)
Leaderless armies andd garrisons
Private projects and spells
Notable facts
Heroes:
Mrs Crony (crone) () (none)
Don Benvenuto (prophet and assassin) (none) (Burlamuerte regiment: 1LI, 1HI, 2E - near Samplia)
Leaderless armies and garrisons:
Samplia city guard(1 HI)
Private projects and spells:
Inquisition order (secretly find and eradicate heretics and priests of other faiths in kingdom) (20/100).
Notable facts:
0% Chaos in owned territory.
Hero Dandelion (1 story so far, available in 2 updates at 1 story/update)
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