The Strategos
Thanatos
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,175
On a slightly different note, what do people think of the following as a ruleset?
Spoiler :
Game Background:
This game is set in the Year of Our Lord 1450 in an alternate world where Catholic Church became less centralized as a result of the Council of Basel. Reading the complete background is not required, as I have tried to make the nation backgrounds give you enough information for playing the game. However, for those who are interested, the complete timeline can be found in the following areas:
Chapter 1 Description of Council of Basel/Florence
Chapter 2 Aftermath of Council of Basel, Anti-Ottoman Crusade Begins
Chapter 3 Anti-Ottoman Crusade, 1443-1444
Chapter 4: The Italian Wars of 1442-1446
Game Philosophy:
The philosophy behind this game is that there are more things to do in a country besides go to war. As such, internal politics and spending can be just as important as external wars. If, however, you find internal politics boring, you are free to ignore them, as long as you understand there may be consequences to those actions. To reward focusing on internal affairs, I will devote a large part of the update to internal intrigues and other non-war goodness, so that the player feels they are being rewarded for their internal play. To balance it out, so that players arent writing books for orders, I will not penalize any person for sub-par military orders. The only things absolutely needed in military orders are the beginning positions of your armies, their movements, and your war goals. Your generals will figure everything else out. My overriding principle throughout is that people will not be penalized for the length of their orders, though they may be penalized for the content of their orders.
Stats
States Name:
Available Spending:
Culture:
Nobles Opinion:
Commoners Opinion:
Army (Leadership/Troop Quality):
Navy (Leadership/Troop Quality):
Available Spending
The economy of the world was indelibly marked by the series of plagues that left few untouched. As a result of the massive death tolls, production, especially of food, started to outstrip demand. This caused the standard of living to slightly rise, as prices became low enough that even the poorest could afford their basic necessities. Because of the lowered prices, agriculture and land, the previous standard of wealth, became less important.
Faced with such a relative abundance, the people moved towards a culture of consumption. The demand for luxury items soared among the nobility, and to a lesser, but still significant degree, among the fledgling middle class. To furnish the luxuries to feed this growing demand, cities became more important, as they were the places that attracted the skilled artisans as well as the places where trade occurred.
This consumption culture, however, was not limited to private instances of the display of wealth, it also took on a civic nature in the form of patronage. Cities spent vast sums of money on art, architecture, books, music, statues, and other luxuries in order to show their superiority over rival cities. Important figures donated vast sums of money to public works to show their power, influence, generosity, and loyalty to the state. Rival royal courts sought the best in order to provoke the jealousy of their peers.
This consumer mentality served to revitalize the economies that had been ravaged by the plague, creating an increased demand for skilled labor and brave men willing to make the dangerous journeys to bring home foreign goods. There are, however, other factors at play. Local lords exert their own power of their lands, taking what they perceive as their rightful share from state taxes. Meanwhile some state officials, through corruption or lack of skill and knowledge create a noticeable drain on the economy. The wise statesman must take all of these factors into account if they wish to build a strong economy.
The following is a sample, though not exhaustive, list of some things that you may want to consider spending money on. Some of these things will have some kind of upkeep expense to them, which will be automatically deducted.
-Patronage: Throughout the world, artists, scientists, philosophers, and scholars all exist thanks to the patronage of the state. Through their patronage, the state gains marvelous works that impress nobility and commoners alike. But impressing upon others the magnificence of the state is not the only reason for patronage. Libraries, scholars, alchemists, explorers, and others benefit from patronage, and can prove themselves useful to the state in many ways. These clients, however, are loyal only to the coin the state provides them, so if the sovereign cuts back on his patronage, or a nearby sovereign spends more on patronage, the client will quickly move away, taking his valuable skills with him.
-Infrastructure: Roads, harbors, sewers, and other things make up a nations infrastructure. These projects, however, take money to build and maintain.
-Education: Sure, peasants dont need to be very educated to do their job properly, but there are many jobs that do require an education, such as governmental positions or many middle class jobs. Though much of that education is run privately or by the church, state sponsored education may prove useful to the state.
-Bureaucracy: If you expect your government to run in any centralized manner, one will need a bureaucracy. Expanding or otherwise improving the bureaucracy may take more spending in the short term, but pay off in the long term with a more efficient government.
-Projects: Projects, as used here, are simply anything that you want to spend money on that you dont feel fit under any of the other categories. Simply describe it, and explain how long you feel the project should take until completion, pay for it, and let me worry about the rest.
-Military: There are two branches of the military, navy and army. Navies consist of two types of war-craft, ocean going vessels and galleys. In times of war, additional craft can be temporarily gained through converting merchant craft for military purposes.
Armies are made up of feudal levies, mercenaries, and standing troops. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, feudal levies are cheaper and more numerous but are the worst troops, mercenaries are professional and relatively cost-effective, but can be unreliable and are a limited commodity. Standing troops are more reliable but can vary in quality and are the most expensive. Another aspect of the militaries is their commanders. For countries that rely on only mercenaries, this is unimportant, as they also hire the commanders of the armies, but for nations that use feudal levies or standing troops, the nations supply their own commanders.
Culture
Culture, as described by this stat, covers both how your own citizens feel about the grandeur of your state, as well as how outsiders look upon the grandeur of your state.
Nobles Opinion
While there may always be various minor schemings and plots in the kingdom by the nobility, this stat describes the nobilities view of you as a whole body.
Commoners Opinion
While various areas may hate your guts, while others may worship the ground you walk on, this stat measures neither, but instead, the commoners view of you as a whole body. This stat, on the whole, is much less important to worry about than the nobilities opinion, because, well, theyre commoners and who really cares what they think? On the other hand, when the time comes when the commoners opinion does matter, it will matter a lot.
This game is set in the Year of Our Lord 1450 in an alternate world where Catholic Church became less centralized as a result of the Council of Basel. Reading the complete background is not required, as I have tried to make the nation backgrounds give you enough information for playing the game. However, for those who are interested, the complete timeline can be found in the following areas:
Chapter 1 Description of Council of Basel/Florence
Chapter 2 Aftermath of Council of Basel, Anti-Ottoman Crusade Begins
Chapter 3 Anti-Ottoman Crusade, 1443-1444
Chapter 4: The Italian Wars of 1442-1446
Game Philosophy:
The philosophy behind this game is that there are more things to do in a country besides go to war. As such, internal politics and spending can be just as important as external wars. If, however, you find internal politics boring, you are free to ignore them, as long as you understand there may be consequences to those actions. To reward focusing on internal affairs, I will devote a large part of the update to internal intrigues and other non-war goodness, so that the player feels they are being rewarded for their internal play. To balance it out, so that players arent writing books for orders, I will not penalize any person for sub-par military orders. The only things absolutely needed in military orders are the beginning positions of your armies, their movements, and your war goals. Your generals will figure everything else out. My overriding principle throughout is that people will not be penalized for the length of their orders, though they may be penalized for the content of their orders.
Stats
States Name:
Available Spending:
Culture:
Nobles Opinion:
Commoners Opinion:
Army (Leadership/Troop Quality):
Navy (Leadership/Troop Quality):
Available Spending
The economy of the world was indelibly marked by the series of plagues that left few untouched. As a result of the massive death tolls, production, especially of food, started to outstrip demand. This caused the standard of living to slightly rise, as prices became low enough that even the poorest could afford their basic necessities. Because of the lowered prices, agriculture and land, the previous standard of wealth, became less important.
Faced with such a relative abundance, the people moved towards a culture of consumption. The demand for luxury items soared among the nobility, and to a lesser, but still significant degree, among the fledgling middle class. To furnish the luxuries to feed this growing demand, cities became more important, as they were the places that attracted the skilled artisans as well as the places where trade occurred.
This consumption culture, however, was not limited to private instances of the display of wealth, it also took on a civic nature in the form of patronage. Cities spent vast sums of money on art, architecture, books, music, statues, and other luxuries in order to show their superiority over rival cities. Important figures donated vast sums of money to public works to show their power, influence, generosity, and loyalty to the state. Rival royal courts sought the best in order to provoke the jealousy of their peers.
This consumer mentality served to revitalize the economies that had been ravaged by the plague, creating an increased demand for skilled labor and brave men willing to make the dangerous journeys to bring home foreign goods. There are, however, other factors at play. Local lords exert their own power of their lands, taking what they perceive as their rightful share from state taxes. Meanwhile some state officials, through corruption or lack of skill and knowledge create a noticeable drain on the economy. The wise statesman must take all of these factors into account if they wish to build a strong economy.
The following is a sample, though not exhaustive, list of some things that you may want to consider spending money on. Some of these things will have some kind of upkeep expense to them, which will be automatically deducted.
-Patronage: Throughout the world, artists, scientists, philosophers, and scholars all exist thanks to the patronage of the state. Through their patronage, the state gains marvelous works that impress nobility and commoners alike. But impressing upon others the magnificence of the state is not the only reason for patronage. Libraries, scholars, alchemists, explorers, and others benefit from patronage, and can prove themselves useful to the state in many ways. These clients, however, are loyal only to the coin the state provides them, so if the sovereign cuts back on his patronage, or a nearby sovereign spends more on patronage, the client will quickly move away, taking his valuable skills with him.
-Infrastructure: Roads, harbors, sewers, and other things make up a nations infrastructure. These projects, however, take money to build and maintain.
-Education: Sure, peasants dont need to be very educated to do their job properly, but there are many jobs that do require an education, such as governmental positions or many middle class jobs. Though much of that education is run privately or by the church, state sponsored education may prove useful to the state.
-Bureaucracy: If you expect your government to run in any centralized manner, one will need a bureaucracy. Expanding or otherwise improving the bureaucracy may take more spending in the short term, but pay off in the long term with a more efficient government.
-Projects: Projects, as used here, are simply anything that you want to spend money on that you dont feel fit under any of the other categories. Simply describe it, and explain how long you feel the project should take until completion, pay for it, and let me worry about the rest.
-Military: There are two branches of the military, navy and army. Navies consist of two types of war-craft, ocean going vessels and galleys. In times of war, additional craft can be temporarily gained through converting merchant craft for military purposes.
Armies are made up of feudal levies, mercenaries, and standing troops. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, feudal levies are cheaper and more numerous but are the worst troops, mercenaries are professional and relatively cost-effective, but can be unreliable and are a limited commodity. Standing troops are more reliable but can vary in quality and are the most expensive. Another aspect of the militaries is their commanders. For countries that rely on only mercenaries, this is unimportant, as they also hire the commanders of the armies, but for nations that use feudal levies or standing troops, the nations supply their own commanders.
Culture
Culture, as described by this stat, covers both how your own citizens feel about the grandeur of your state, as well as how outsiders look upon the grandeur of your state.
Nobles Opinion
While there may always be various minor schemings and plots in the kingdom by the nobility, this stat describes the nobilities view of you as a whole body.
Commoners Opinion
While various areas may hate your guts, while others may worship the ground you walk on, this stat measures neither, but instead, the commoners view of you as a whole body. This stat, on the whole, is much less important to worry about than the nobilities opinion, because, well, theyre commoners and who really cares what they think? On the other hand, when the time comes when the commoners opinion does matter, it will matter a lot.
