SouthernKing
crickety cricket
Hi yall! Im SouthernKing. If you dont know me, I am fairly new to this forum; I joined my first NES (Nuke Nes IX: Genesis and Armageddon) in late summer last year, and since then played in ten or so different NESes, some where I have done well, some not so well. This is my first attempt at modding a NES. It is a slight variation of the standard fresh-start NES; instead of a world map in the Bronze Age or earlier, this is a medieval Roman Europe and Middle East start, starting in 750 AD.
I want to make this a simple to play, simple to mod, yet fun NES.This NES should have week-ishly updates, each spanning 25 years at first, and I hope that this NES will at least reach 1000 (update 10) although ideally I wish to see it go much, much longer than that.
Special thanks should go to GamezRule and the players of the beta of this ruleset, which was mainly a test to see whether or not I could mod such a game: mayor, General Olaf, Tycho, Cived, Yoshiegg737, hoplitejoe, Tomorrows Dawn, Mosher, christos200.
SKNES: Architecture of Aggression
The year is 750 AD. Rome, once a grand city of a million, is now little more than an abandoned, run-down hamlet with nothing more special than reminders of a past age and the seat of Western Europes glorified bishop. Its great empire has all but vanished off the face of the earth. Europe is in the cold grip of the Dark Ages. In the east, the dying light of Constantinople is the last enclave of the glory that was Rome. Even farther east, armies march, not in the name of Christ, but in the name of Muhammed. Even in this blanket of night, a new dawn is just over the horizon. A bright future awaits you. Will you seize it?
Joining the Game
You may decide to play as any nation, historical or imaginary; just use common sense. There are already 2 pre-existing nations whose lands will be determined by what other players choose to play as: the Papal States and East Roman/Roman/Byzantine Empire. (However, I believe GamezRule has already confirmed ERE, and one of the beta players I forget who has expressed interest in the Papal State (Beta players, you may replay your beta nation, just reconfirm and state any changes) To join, I just need the following information, in some form, simple or complex:
Nation name/User name: Self-explainatory
Color: You may choose any color, except for the color of the water (to avoid confusion) and grayscale colors. Please note that I am partially color-blind, so if I mix up colors feel free to correct me, you now know why
Starting location: The site and/or name of your capital (it can be historical, if you wish), and what lands you wish to have within your realm. Please keep it realistic however; the only places I really dont want people starting in are Iceland, the Sahara, the Rub-al-Khali, and the far north. The rest of the map, from the Horn of Africa to the Russian steppes to Pakistan to Morocco, however, is yours.
Government and religion: Two things I need are your form of government (either Tribal Government or Despotic Monarchy) and your religion (which can be any religion that existing during this time period, even if it is somewhat ahistorical - such as Hellenic/Roman polytheism surviving into the Middle Ages)
History: What is your nations history up to 750 AD? Are you a Roman remnant, a settled barbarian tribe, an Islamic breakaway dynasty? EDIT: Note that you can mold the area around you to fit your history.
The Stats
The stats show your nations current status; therefore, you should pay close attention to them, as in any stat-based NES. I will also be using them to explain the rules.
Kingdom of Savoy/Mosher
Government: Despotic Monarchy
Stability: 0
Economy: 5/0
Army: 1 Irregular Company
Navy: 2 Galley Squadrons
Religion: Savoyard Christianity (5)
Religious Minorities: Roman Catholicism (2/3), Gallic Animism (2/2), Orthodox Christianity (1/3)
Literacy: 10 (Low Middle Ages)
Influence: 8
Projects: Road Restoration (0/10)
Governments and Rulers: Throughout all of history, having a powerful authority has been the norm, and that did not change even in the Dark Ages. Currently, all nations except the 2 starting NPCs are either Despotic Monarchies or Tribal Federations. Generally, Despotic Monarchies are a united nation under one ruler or king who is all-powerful, and Tribal Federations are many different autonomous groups under the collective rule of a group of people or possibly even one person.
Your government plays a huge role in the running of your country, and how your country will be shaped. With Despotic Monarchies, it is easier to raise quality troops but harder to raise large numbers of troops, while Tribal Federations allow a higher number of soldiers but lower quality. Tribal Federations are also able to add more land faster, while Despotic Monarchies are able to expand economically faster. As time passes, however, you will find that your starting government will grow more and more obsolete, and internal factions within your county will start demanding change.
Another thing that is vital to your nation is Stability, which for the purposes of this NES, is how a combined stat of how much internal problems within your country are affecting your governments authority. Stability in this game is measured on a scale of -3 to +3. If you are a Europa Universalis III player this should seem familiar to you. A country with +3 stability has no internal problems whatsoever, while a country with a stability of -3 has control over its people in name only. As a rule of thumb, if your stability is below 0, then there is the risk of rebellion. However, maintaining +3 stability for extended periods of time will be a massive drain on your nations resources, as almost everything can and most likely will impact your stability.
Economy: Your little states wealth is a mere shadow of what it would have been under Rome. But be glad for what you have, for it is more than most of the rest of the known world. Economy is a measure of your countrys wealth, and the economy stat is shown as two numbers, such as 5/0. The first number (5) is your income per turn, this is basically your usable number of EPs per turn. The second number (0) is what is stashed away in your treasury; this is basically banked EPs that have either been traded or unused. Unused EP automatically gets banked for future use.
Economy is your lifeblood. Without a stable, growing economy, your nation will struggle. But watch out; if your economy outgrows itself and becomes too bloated, you will face severe problems down the road. So be sure to always keep a close watch. EPs can be traded, gifted, or forced to be given up in peace deals. However, since modern banking systems do not exist yet, EPs do not earn any interest of any sort for the time being.
Warfare: This is Dark Age Europe. War is a part of everyday life.
Your army strength is measured in companies. These can vary in number, but on average they are around 1000 men for game start. Since these are long periods of time per turn (25 years for now) this stat measures not the amount of soldiers you have at any one time, but instead the total number of capable soldiers that you can raise; few nations had any semblance of a standing army during this period.
As a general rule for army building, 1 EP will get you:
3 Irregulars Ill-trained, ill-equipped units, poor all-around, but cheap.
2 Melee Good at offensive, but they can be overpowered extremely easily by mounted units.
2 Ranged Good at defensive, even more so in fortified locations, but in the offensive they are near-useless.
1 Mounted Excellent all-around in the open, but near-useless in urban combat.
0.5 Siege They are expensive, unwieldy, and only good for attacking fortified locations, only wealthy and powerful nations can actually afford to use them, but they can speed up advances in dense regions by a lot.
Navies are measured in groups; again the number of ships per group varies greatly. Navies are much simpler, with no real categories; just use historical background here.
To declare war, simply provide a casus belli; a reason to fight; this will determine background stuff, including the wars name. Details on campaigns, including maps, are extremely useful. It may be useful to spend some money on funding your campaign; otherwise your soldiers will be forced to live off the land and morale will drop as fast as a boulder rolling off a cliff. Combat will be calculated using an RNG depending on number, type and other factors of units, and battle casualties calculated using that same RNG roll.
For each age, your nation may have one unique land unit and one unique sea unit; PM me if you are interested.
Religion: Faith determines a lot in this world, and it is all that many are left clinging to for hope; as such, it is an important mechanic in this NES. Under Religion is the religion of your nations rulers, and therefore your nations accepted main religion. The number in parenthesis next to it is the number out of a truly random selection of 10 of your nations denizens that follow that faith; in other words, multiply it by 10 and you get a very approximate percentage of people who are followers of that religion.
Under Religious Minorities are listed those faiths which have a major group of devotees in your nation but are not that of your rulers. In the parenthesis next to each one of these, there are two numbers. The first number is the number out of 10 that follow that faith. The second number is willingness to side with the accepted religion, out of 5: a number of 5 means that this minority is effectively a subsect of the accepted religion, while a number of 1 means that this minority is either outlawed or in open revolt.
At game start, Europe is divided into a multitude of clashing faiths. The south and east are mainly Muslim lands, contested between the Sunni and Shia sects, although Christianity, Judaism, and even Zoroastrianism have managed to eke out an existence. Roman Catholicism, with a nominal power structure vested in the Pope in Rome, has managed to establish some level of dominance over western Europe. In the East Roman Empire, a slight variance of Christianity, defined by the Ecumenical Councils of Constantines time and led by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, has established itself as the permanent religion. Especially in the north, in places where the Roman Empire was never able to reach, the scattered pagan and animist beliefs thrive, but missionaries from the south are slowly but surely making progress.
The Pope (Papal State) and the Ecumenical Patriarch (under the control of the player of the East Roman Empire) are game mechanics. (No other major religion had a spiritual leader of note with power vested in him during this time period.) Whoever controls them can issue doctrines, send missionaries, and eventually even call crusades, all in the name of faith. Their influence within a country varies directly with their respective faiths number of followers within said country.
Literacy and Influence: With civilization committing mass seppuku over the past few centuries, understandably scientific advancement and cultural achievement have declined. You may be able to turn that around.
Literacy represents not just literacy, but scientific knowledge as a whole: it is not proportional to any number, but represents an overall level of advancement. Literacy can be improved not just by building schools and funding monasteries, but by a number of other The ages in this game are something like this:
Post-Classical Age: (0-9 literacy) The advancement of the OTL fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries.
Low Middle Age: (10-19 literacy) The advancement of the OTL ninth and tenth centuries.
Middle Age: (20-29 literacy) The advancement of the OTL eleventh and twelfth centuries.
High Middle Age: (30-39 literacy) The advancement of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Renaissance: (40+ literacy) The advancement of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Being in a more advanced age carries all sorts of bonuses, from combat to influence to economy. Note that due to this being a different world, technology need not advance along a RL path; if you so wish, you can completely alter the advancement of this world.
Influence represents an overall level cultural influence and national prestige; through cultural dominance, a nation can make its mark on history. By making tales of your deeds heard across the continent, you can increase your prestige and thusly your influence. Influence carries many benifits; the greater it is, the more diplomatic clout your emissaries carry in foreign courts or royal tents, the easier it is to increase population as people migrate into your lands, and the easier it is to maintain and increase stability.
Update policy/orders/housekeeping/etc.: The NES will have weekly updates (weekly update deadlines, at the least). I will try to get updates done in 1 or 2 days at the most, depending on what is going on in my life at that time. That number should decrease as this school year begins to wind down.
As for orders: please title them something like "SKNES Nation X Orders Turn 1" so it is easy for me to organize. The deadline will be bolded at the top of the OP and in the last post of the update, so I will not be answering any questions as to "When is the deadline?"
If you are within 36-24 hours of the deadline and I have no orders from you, I will PM you; tell me if you don't want this. If you fail to send orders in three updates in a row, your nation will get perma NPC'd; if you wish to return, you then have to wait until the next update. Same rule applies if your nation is destroyed and/or if you want to switch nations.
A few notes: I will keep polishing up the rules. Any questions, feel free to ask in the thread.
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