More clarification- this time on combat and magic
Combat and Magic
Combat
Combat: Mechanics
Obviously in a NES a lot of the actual combat results will simply be decided by the moderator. As much as possible the moderator will attempt to avoid all bias but of course, its best to put a few systems in place to take the decision making process out of the moderator’s hands and into the hands of the ‘fictional NES world’.
The best and easiest way to do that is to provide clear, accurate and tactically sound combat orders. If you write, “attack the Kappa outpost at province X with my two wizards and a swordsmen”, don’t expect such great results- your generals have failed to provide precise orders and the moderator will have to come up with the details (which may not suit you and which will always be weaker than anything you come up with). If you write much more detailed orders involving flanking manoeuvres, spells used, supplies, scouting and counter-scouting, the use of informants, the use of terrain, the use of weather, then you can expect much better results. You’ve also provided the moderator with some ideas to write about in the update.
Another mechanism used to avoid moderator bias is dice. Whenever a unit is involved in combat the moderator rolls a dice and the results represent how well that unit performs. Obviously this is just a base line. If you attack a peasant militia with a high priest and six demons then no matter how poorly you roll and how well the peasant militia rolls, that peasant militia is going to lose.
Combat: Unit Quality
A really great way to increase your chances of winning a fight is to increase the training of the units involved. Improvements like a barracks, a hunting lodge, or a target range will increase your unit quality. Unit quality is a measure of training, officer quality and morale.
The difference between a unit with a quality of 1 and a quality of 2 is approximately 16.5%. So if two units of peasant militia face off and each has a quality of 1, then there is a 50/50 chance of either winning (all other factors being the same), but if one unit has a quality of 1 and the other of 3, then the win/lose ratio is closer to 33/66.
Combat: Unit Weapons and Armour
Certain units can equip armour and weapons. You will have to build the armour and weapons just like a unit (though typically they are much cheaper then a unit) at weaponsmiths and armourers. These almost always require some resource (leather armour requires the leather resource, bronze weapons require the bronze resource) and not all units can equip all weapons and armour. Many of the light infantry, for example, cannot wear bronze armour because it is much too heavy whereas the heavy infantry units can. Leather armour can be worn by both light and heavy infantry as well as by recon units (for example).
You may also find (or make) magical weapons and armours. The first one of these is the ‘Patrian Spear’ originally found and used by the Grigori but which is now wielded by the Amurite ‘Shield of Kylorin’ unit.
There is no set mechanism to determine the effect of armour and weapons in combat and the moderator will have to exercise some judgement.
Combat: Movement
Originally I wasn’t going to use combat movement but I’ve since decided to adopt it. Recon, infantry, missiles, priests and mages all have 2 movement points. Artillery has one. Mounted units have 4.
It costs 1 movement point to move from one province to another.
Roads can decrease the costs of movement. If you move from one province to another along simple dirt roads the movement cost is only .66. Better roads will allow faster movement.
Moving onto a transport ship reduces the movement points available to a unit to zero. That unit can still leave the ship in the same turn however (but will have to stay at its point of landing).
Similarly, moving off of a transport (even if that unit started the turn on a transport and thus has all its movement points left) will reduce it movement to zero (and thus it has to stay at its landing point). The exception is if the unit unloads inside a friendly city with a harbour (or better) in which case unloading costs 1 movement point.
Combat: Re-supply and Reinforcements
You cannot recruit or replenish wounded units or provide them with new armour or weapons (or other gear) outside your territory. If you need to recruit or replenish your troops you need to return to your own lands first.
Once you get the technologies that allow 'supply trains' and 'forward base camps' you can re-supply form neutral or enemy territories with these units/fortifications in them.
Magic
Magic: Casters
There are three general classes of spell-casters.
- Sorcerers, Mages, Wizards: these are direct spell casters. They shoot lightning bolts, hurl fire, heal the injured, curse enemies with entropy spells, etc.
- Conjurers, Summoners: these are casters who summon creatures from other planes (the god's vaults or the aether itself) to fight for them or otherwise serve them. Generally their magic is slightly weaker than a sorcerers but they also usually have much less chance of getting hurt because they fight with 'disposable units'
- Disciples, Priests, Acolytes: these are spell-casters who derive their power from the god they serve. Depending on the god in question their power can vary enormously. A priest of Agares is likely to have significant combat and summoning abilities but little healing or buffing ability. Conversely a priestess of Sirona may be useful to have during peace-time for her effects upon culture and stability but provide little benefit beyond some light healing during combat. All priests will be detailed and determined in conjuction between the player and the moderator as the need arises (with balance being the most important issue).
A sorcerer's or conjurer's power comes from their ability to access mana and their spells are limited by the types of mana available to the player's civilization.
A priest's power comes from their god and is not affected by the civilization's mana (except that the appropriate mana type will generally strengthen all the world's priests associated with that mana type (ie- all priests of Tali are strengthened by any single civilization gaining air mana).
Magic: Mana
Multiple sources of the same mana type do not have any effect beyond having a single source thereof.
Mana cannot be traded.
Regardless of if a mana type comes from its people (ie- starting mana) or a mana node, it will cause some sort of passive effect. These are listed here:
- Metamagic: strengthens Oghma’s followers, libraries, academies (others) produce a bonus point of research
Elemental Magic
- Fire: strengthens followers of Bhall, civic change costs reduced (costs are reduced by 1 point of stability and 5 gold)
- Water: strengthens followers of Danalin (if there are any), increases navy military quality by 0.5.
- Earth: strengthens followers of Killmorph, silver, gold and gem mines produce 1extra gold.
- Air: strengthens followers of Tali, increases missile military quality by 0.5.
- Ice: strengthens followers of Mulcarn, halves all stability effect modifiers (no half points)
Divination Magic
- Spirit: strengthens followers of Sirona, all cultural improvements (monuments, sports arena, others) generate 1 research point.
- Law: strengthens followers of Junil, capital produces 1 point of authority (max is now 4 instead of 3)
- Sun: strengthens Lugus’s followers, enemy has decreased chance of success for espionage missions
- Mind: strengthens followers of Mammon, markets, harbors and ports (others) produce 1 bonus research point.
- Life: strengthens followers of Sucellos, cost to heal any damaged unit decreased by 33%.
- Creation: strengthens followers of Amathaon, each province has a turn by turn chance of 1/36 of developing a new resource
Necromatic Magic
- Chaos: strengthens followers of Camulos, increases all military qualities by 0.25.
- Death: does not strengthen any followers, all civilizations in the world (except you) lose 2 stability.
- Entropy: strengthens followers of Agares, all civilizations in the world (except you) lose 4 stability.
- Shadow: strengthens followers of Essus, espionage missions are 1/6 more likely to succeed
- Dimensional: strengthens followers of Ceridwen, you now have a new unit military quality trait: summoned units. This mana increases the military quality of summoned units by 1.
Alteration Magic
- Body: strengthens Aeron’s followers, infantry unit quality increased by 0.5
- Enchantment: strengthens followers of Nantosuelta, city-based industrial improvements (smithies, others) produce 3 extra gold
- Nature: strengthens followers of Cernunnos, hunting improvements of all types produce 1 extra food and 1 extra gold.
- Force: strengthens followers of Dagda, any nation who breaks a publicly declared pact, alliance or agreement which you are a part of, including yourself loses 4 stability (has to be public and in thread and pretty official looking).
Magic: Casting Capacity
Every sorcerer, conjurer, or priest-type unit will have a ‘casting capacity’. This represents how many and how powerful of a spell that unit and cast during one turn. A sorcerer or conjuring adept has a casting capacity of 1. So too does a novice acolyte. That casting capacity of 1 can be used to cast 1 ‘circle 1’ spell in that turn.
A summoner, conjurer or priest has a casting capacity of 3. They can cast either 3 ‘circle 1 spell’ (which costs 1 casting capacity each) or 1 ‘circle 2’ spell (which costs 3 casting capacity).
Casting capacity does not carry over from turn to turn. You either use it or lose it.
Stronger units and a nation’s unique units will have greater casting capacity. These will be listed for each unit.
Magic: Spells and the ‘Spell Circle’
Each spell is associate with a ‘spell circle’, either 1st circle (comparatively weak), 2nd circle (stronger spells), or 3rd circle (strongest spells).
A 1st circle spell costs 1 casting capacity to cast. A 2nd circle spell costs 3 casting capacity to cast. A 3rd circle spell costs 9 casting capacity to cast.
Magic: Spell Books
Each nation has a spell-book. These are the list of specific spells that that nation’s casters has access to. When you learn the technologies that make casting available you automatically gain 1 (or more if you are the first to that tech) spells which YOU (the player) designs (with the moderator acting to balance that spell). Each spell must be related to one mana type (and not to two or more).
Once your nation knows a spell, then all casters of that spell-type can now cast it (if they have the casting capacity). So if you invent a circle 1 summoning spell, call bears- a circle 1 nature summon, then all of your summoning units can cast call bear by spending 1 casting capacity. If you had a unit with 3 casting capacity (a conjurer), then they could cast ‘call bear’ there times in one turn because they have a casting capacity of 3 and the spell costs 1 casting capacity.
New spells can be designed and cost 10 research points (rp) and 5 gold for a first circle spell, 30rp and 15 gold for a 2nd circle spell and 90rp and 45 gold for a 3rd circle spell. You can teach an ally a spell from your spell book (which then becomes available to all of that nation’s casters) but they will need to spend the money to implement it (though not the research points).
All spells are public knowledge once they are used (even if used in an isolated fashion). If you want to keep your spell-book secret then you can’t use the spells you are hiding.
