Restless Minds & Empty Hearts

[Crezth]

1921! THE WORLD HAS COLLAPSED! Breaking, breaking! The Great War has heralded destruction and disadulation! The Great Empires have collapsed, and now nations bitterly struggle against one another and their own people in the quest for supremacy! Who will triumph? Who will persevere? Who will survive this world of restless minds and empty hearts?

Spoiler MAP :

Spoiler CURRENT CLAIMS :

JOIN AND CREATE A NATION

You may join and create a nation by identifying EIGHT (8) territories on the map as your own. Give a flag, a name, and select your government style to acquire special bonuses!

EACH territory is ONE use of the fill tool, EXCEPT for regions connected by DOTTED LINES - these count as a single territory altogether. Note in Scotland that the isles are not connected by dotted lines. THAT MEANS SCOTLAND HAS FOUR TERRITORIES! Simple, non?

You can take overseas territories as long as you have coastal territories and can connect them across the ocean. There may be unique challenges and opportunities for an overseas empire.

GOVERNMENT

You can specialize your government to represent your nation's political culture or philosophy.

Select ONE government.

Governments

Empire - ONE EXTRA territory claim per turn.

Theocracy - Unity increases +1d6% each turn.

Stratocracy - Military technology is twice as effective.

Dictatorship - Gain +5 Political Capital each turn.

Plutocracy - Finance growth per turn is +4d6-4% instead of the normal default.

Thalassocracy - Form Trade Deals for free and pay less maintenance on them.

Meritocracy - Expertise is twice as effective and receive free random Investments each turn.

Democracy - Instead of rebellions, lose Political Power. High Unity gives better bonuses.

Communist - Productivity is +25% effective.

Gestalt - No Unity or Political Power, but +20% Economic Power.

Totalitarian - May not form Trade Deals and no Expertise, but +20% Military Power.

Player's Guide​

EXPANSION & EMPIRE

You may claim 4 new territories per turn.* EACH territory you claim will reduce your Finance score by one divided by the number of territories you already have.

Based on your UNITY score, it's possible that your territories may become sites of rebellion. If this happens, the territory will be indicated on the map, and mentioned in the update. Rebellious territories do not produce RESOURCES and reduce your FINANCE score, so do be careful!

*As the game goes on the number of free claims per turn will decrease. In order to expand you will need to use a Political Power. You can bank claims and use them later.

POLITICS AND UNITY

You have POLITICAL CAPITAL and UNITY which determine how much power potential your government has and how united in support the population is behind it.

Unity - This exists on a scale from 0 to 100, with 50 being the middle. Above 50, Unity will provide positive bonuses to Political Capital and Finance growth. Below 50, Unity will provide penalties to military strength, and gives an increasing chance of rebellions occurring each year. Unity is lowered by bad things happening to your nation and increased by good things.

Political Capital - Political Capital is an absolute resource that is banked. When it sits in your Bank, this helps reduce the effects of negative Unity. You start with 100 PC and you gain +10 PC per turn. At 200 banked PC, the effects of negative Unity are totally suppressed. You can SPEND political capital to obtain special bonuses:

Spoiler POLITICAL POWERS :

EACH of these powers can be used for 50 political capital.

• Drill the Army. Gain +1 Army Quality for each Force Strength you have. You may not use this power when you're at war.
• Mass Conscription. For one turn, gain the effects of having as much Force Strength as you do Resources. Does not cost Resources.
• Fix Interest Rates. If your Finance score is lower than 100%, gain twice as many Finance points as normal this turn. If you get more than 100% Finance this way, it will cap out at 100%.
• Fund Research Grants. For one turn, double the Economic Power you invest into Expertise.
• Levy New Taxes. Gain 100% of your max Resources, rounded up, as banked Economic Power, which can be spent immediately.
• Political Rally. Raise Unity by +2d6+3%.
• Round-Up. End a rebellion instantly.
• Open Settlements. Gain 5 extra territory claims. (Claims can be banked.)
• Issue Debts. Gain +1 Political Capital for every Finance percentage point you choose to convert. You may only use this power if your Finance score is above 100%, and this power does not cost Political Capital to activate.

ECONOMICA

Nations' economies are measured in three terms: Productivity, Resources, and Expertise. Combined these impact your Economic Power (EP), which you use to build units, conquer new lands, and make construction. In order to improve these you must perform the Investment action thus listed.

Resources - The number of territories you control contributes Resources to your Economic Power. Each territory produces 1 resource which yields 1 economic power. Investment - Acquire new territories!

Productivity - Productivity is a special score that indicates how much work is done by the peoples. Investment - You can invest Economic Power into Productivity directly. This will improve your Economic Power at a rate determined by the total size of your economy: for an 8 EP nation, an 8 EP total investment into productivity will increase net EP by +12,5%.

Finance - Finance, or financial liquidity, grows turn to turn with population, expansion of economic activity, and soforth. However, it shrinks when you expand or are damaged in war. The Finance score therefore represents the AVERAGE wealth of all your provinces. Investment - Finance increases by +2d6% each turn, randomly rolled for each country. It starts at 100% for everyone. Expanding will reduce finance by an amount proportional with your total extant resource base (known as inflation), however overall you will still experience economic growth when this occurs due to the natural change.
Wealth - A sub-stat called Wealth is the total finance score multiplied by your resources. Savvy!

Expertise - The skill of your professional and bourgeoisie class. This makes your economy more attractive to traders and investors. The more Expertise, the more you benefit from TRADE DEALS and the more effective your investments are. Investment - You can invest Economic Power into Expertise. This improves the bonuses you get from Trade Deals based on who you're trading with.

Banking - You may bank as much EP as 200% of your yearly income. Beyond that, surplus EP is invested into Productivity automatically.

TRADE DEALS

You can form a TRADE DEAL with another nation, providing both of you with a bonus to EP and Financial growth. The bonus is scaled based on the EXPERTISE and WEALTH of both nations. Higher-WEALTH nations will receive a larger EP bonus in absolute terms, however higher-EXPERTISE nations will receive a bonus to their FINANCE growth rate per turn.

Fret not about inequality. If you have lower WEALTH than your partner, your PRODUCTIVITY investment efficiency will increase. If you have lower EXPERTISE than your partner, your EXPERTISE investment efficiency will increase.

You cannot form a trade deal with a nation more than 8 provinces away unless you both have coastal territory. However, if you are at war, your coastal trade routes can be pirated or cut down.

Trade Maintenance

It costs Political Capital to form and maintain Trade Deals. When forming a Trade Deal, a fee of 10 Political Capital is instantly applied (unless you are Thalassocracy). If the Trade Deal is canceled by either party or destroyed in war, the fee must be paid again for the Trade Deal to be reformed. Furthermore, Trade Deals cost maintenance of Political Capital for each turn they are effective, at the following rates:

Gestalt, which lacks Political capital, instead pays Military Power for Trade Deals: each Trade Deal a Gestalt entity makes reduces their Military Power by -5%, a penalty that is reduced by Expertise.

MILITARY

To build up your MILITARY, you will enslave your ECONOMY to support military interests. By default every nation has a token security force which does not require extraneous expenses. However, building a truly fearsome military machine is expensive.

Military Power - Total MILITARY POWER, which determines how good you are at fighting and conquering and killing and all that fun stuff, is equal to Force Strength by Military Readiness. The more of both or either, the better.

Force Strength - You can increase your Force Strength by 1 by reducing your net RESOURCES by 1. This change comes into effect the following turn. Always if you have RESOURCES, you can increase Force Strength at will; you can also lower it to get those RESOURCES back. Note that RESOURCES lost this way do NOT improve your finances and they affect your basic income, meaning that a very large army can totally choke your economy.

Military Technology - In case building a big army is less your interests and you need a smaller, more focused army, consider INVESTING in military technology - like investing in your productivity or expertise, this offers a scaling bonus to Military Power, with the bonus being stronger based on the global average of military technology.

Army Quality - The army quality indicates the drill, professionalism, skill, experience, and discipline of your men-at-arms. This cannot be improved with spending but can be improved with political powers or by fighting, and decays or settles (over time) back at 100%.
Military Readiness - The military readiness is the aggregated modifier from your military technology and army quality. It is multiplied by force strength to give Military Power. Savvy!

Military Units

As your Force Strength increases, you also gain the ability to specialize your military for certain goals of warfare. For each Force Strength you have, you may designate a Military Unit with certain special skills and abilities. These do not cost additional income to maintain, but they do have an Investment cost associated with them. You may scrap a Unit and replace it with another different kind at will; if your Force Strength decreases, you must identify Units to scrap until the total number of Units you have is equal to your Force Strength, or else your Military Power will suffer a Disorganization penalty.

The Units, their costs and abilities, follows.

Spoiler MILITARY UNITS :

An explanation of the stats-
Offense: The power of this unit when it is performing offensive operations like invasions and attacks.
Defense: The power of this unit when it is performing defensive operations like area denial and holding ground.
Dispersion: The inherent ability of this unit to occupy space in order to counteract enemy units' superior mobility or greater numbers, which can result in being surrounded and overcome for units with thin dispersion.
Mobility: The inherent ability of this unit to move.
Suppression: The power of this unit for suppressing partisans, rebels, and conducting occupations.
Cost: The EP investment cost to add this Unit to your Force Strength.

Enlisted

Offense: LOW
Defense: MEDIUM
Dispersion: HIGH
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: LOW
Cost: None

The ENLISTED is the DEFAULT UNIT: every Force Strength that is not used for other Units is, by default, an Enlisted. The Enlisted is a simple and honest warrior, a conscript veteran of the Great War or a career regular, who possesses no supernatural power or awesome technology, but is brave and able to fight. No greater test of a soldier's mettle is the engagement of the eldritch, the perverse, and the terrifying, and the Enlisted embodies this wholly.

Kommando

Offense: HIGH
Defense: LOW
Dispersion: LOW
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: MEDIUM
Cost: 2 EP

The KOMMANDO is a master warrior: a true professional and tactical genius, the Kommando was baptized in the fire of the Great War, lurking in the dead of night and learning all of the vital tactics of attack, infiltration, offense, and exploitation. The Kommando is highly trained and deeply experienced, and is truly threatening to even the most sophisticated of defensive lines.

Cavalry

Offense: MEDIUM
Defense: MEDIUM
Dispersion: HIGH
Mobility: HIGH
Suppression: HIGH
Cost: 2 EP

The CAVALRY is a career soldier, devoted to the vocation of soldiery and war. Perhaps an officer, perhaps a distinguished sergeant, perhaps a trained fighter, the Cavalry is master of the horse and is elegantly proficient at the finer arts of war. All-around decent, the Cavalry is a dependable soldier and the backbone of a disciplined and distinguished army.

Artillery

Offense: MEDIUM
Defense: HIGH
Dispersion: LOW
Mobility: LOW
Suppression: LOW
Cost: 2 EP

The ARTILLERY is a wielder of big guns and serious ordnance, having learned soberly the terrible might of overwhelming fire in the Great War. The Artillery is highly capable of area denial and heavy bombardment, threatening enemies within its line of fire with heavy ordnance and devastating firepower.

Pancerny

Offense: HIGH
Defense: MEDIUM
Dispersion: HIGH
Mobility: HIGH
Suppression: MEDIUM
Cost: 5 EP
Armored

The PANCERNY is an armored war-wagon, an automobile with tracks or wheels mounted with heavy guns. The Pancerny is fast and the ideal option for bringing a large amount of firepower to bear upon a location as quickly as possible. Capable of complex maneuvers and offensive operations, the Pancerny's combination of mobility and firepower is its best offering.

Warmech

Offense: HIGH
Defense: HIGH
Dispersion: MEDIUM
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: HIGH
Cost: 5 EP
Armored

The WARMECH is a walking machine, sometimes piloted and sometimes operating on rudimentary automation, and capable of wielding a versatile array of heavy weapons while being heavily resistant to damage as well. Augmented with a Warmech, a man can become a metal warrior and conquer the battlefield with grit, steel, and smoke.

Dæmon

Offense: GODLY
Defense: MEDIUM
Dispersion: MEDIUM
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: HIGH
Cost: 5 EP
Terrifying

The DÆMON is an eldritch curse of nature - a beast, a devil, some other nameless horror, where they come from no one is quite sure. However, the mastery of occult rituals and arcane science has allowed for these strange creatures to be bent to serve the will of their masters - and no where greater do they excel with their bloodthirsty, rapacious fury than on the battlefield, where their dark and twisted nature terrorizes friend and foe alike.

Behemoth

Offense: GODLY
Defense: HIGH
Dispersion: LOW
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: HIGH
Cost: 10 EP
Titanic, Terrifying

The BEHEMOTH is a massive monster, a creature of unimaginable proportions, towering meters above the average man and striding mountains like they were foothills. Be they summoned, unearthed from ancient slumbers, or visitors from a world beyond our own, the sheer gigantic power of Behemoths renders them an unholy force, requiring the power of a small army to bring them down.

Titan

Offense: GODLY
Defense: GODLY
Dispersion: LOW
Mobility: LOW
Suppression: HIGH
Cost: 12 EP
Armored, Titanic, Terrifying

The TITAN is the height of Warmech engineering, a striding metal colossus armed with tremendous armaments and piloted by a small division of soldiers. By itself, a Titan can devastate a whole region, blast fortresses to smithereens, and lay waste to entire armies. To face a Titan is to stare at the technology of destruction in its greatest and most terrible form.

Flotilla

Combat Stats: Standard
Two Flotillas can fight off a Leviathan; three Flotillas can defeat a Leviathan decisively.
Cost: 5 EP
Seaworthy, Ocean-Bound

The FLOTILLA is the primary instrument of waging war upon the sea: battleships and cruisers armed with heavy guns, sailing the waves to protect commerce and spread the influence of the nation wide and far. Flotillas do not fight land-based armies, but they can bombard ports and blockade shipping, allowing them to destroy enemy Trade Routes when left unopposed.

Leviathan

Offense: GODLY
Defense: GODLY
Dispersion: LOW
Mobility: MEDIUM
Suppression: GODLY
Cost: 20 EP
Armored, Seaworthy, Titanic, Terrifying

The LEVIATHAN is the mightiest machine in human engineering, a flying monstrosity that soars into the air and rains destruction upon the ground with horrible might. A single Leviathan can terrorize an entire continent, and when unchallenged in the skies reigns supreme as the master of war.

TACTICAL & FLAVOR NOTES

Spoiler :

Long distances inhibit military effectiveness
Larger armies tend to win.
There are flying machines such as zeppelins and aeroplanes.
Large battle-machines are devastating, but expensive. A superior military force can totally subjugate and annihilate you if you are unprepared.
Some prefer to indulge in occult arts, magicks, and demon-summoning to make up for deficiencies in battle-tech.
The world is brave and new and smells of ash. Go forth and fear nothing - fear is the mind-killer!

SALLY FORTH​

 

[inthesomeday]

The People's Confederacy of Dixie
Communist

(Later)

 

[TheGryphonPrince]

Heavenly Kingdom

Theocracy
More to come later.

 

[Seon]

Nachtverband Rhein und Sachsen

Democracy

We peered into the skies in one starless night. We do not know what we expected to find--the Kaiser was terrified, but he continued to look through the amber telescope, and we followed suit. We never quite understood what the old Emperor was looking for, and why exactly filling the dykes of Belgium with blood of the Frenchmen were essential for the safety of our once great nation, but we obeyed. Not because we did not understand that this was madness, but because we did not know what else we could do.

It was not enough. It was never going to be enough. We realized that too late. We did not know what exactly happened, but one fateful day, sun was extinguished over Berlin. The parliament took control of the apparatus of the state even as the masses stormed the Emperor's palace. The maddened masses hung the Kaiser and his family's corpses from the Gate. This was essential for the formation and success of our new nation--the hanging of the Kaiser, not the takeover of the Imperial administration.

Now we have returned to stability. Our astronomers continue to peer into the gaps between the stars in the night sky. We will not have another Emperor to hang should the sun be extinguished once more.

 

[Nuka-sama]

Whoops

 

[Ophorian]

The Union of the Pacific
Pacifica

Government
Meritocracy

Capital
Portland, Council of Oregon

Leader
Chief Administrator John Oliver

History
Though the peoples of the Pacific Coast have traditionally been insulated from the threat of war by the ocean to the west and the mountains to east, this was not to last. The sundering of the world and the collapse of global order poisoned the waters and lay waste to the mountains of the West that protected the Pacific. Banding together against the mighty war machines of the Eastern Americas, the people of the Pacific united in defense of their homeland, and prevailed, but at great cost. As the war machines lay smoking in the valleys carved through the mountain ranges that once protected the Pacific, their peoples looked to the ones that head leapt to their defense. The brave soldiers that put themselves in the line of fire. The engineers that constructed mighty bastions to stem the tide. The scientists that crafted instruments of defense. The orators that rallied the people to arms. Society rebuilt around these men and women, the ordinary folk that rose to the occasion and to the defense of their home and their kin. Society became a celebration of diversity, of the best and brightest from every field that came together to beat back the monsters at their door. Organized into local, regional, and provincial councils, the Union of the Pacific reformed into a compassionate but structured meritocracy, where power and influence is available to all those with the passion and talent to seize it.

​

 

[Gurra09]

Belarusian Democratic Republic
Biełaruskaja Demakratycznaja Respublika

Capital: Minsk
Government: Dictatorship (Republic)
Chairman of the Rada: Jan Sierada
National language: Belarusian (written in Latin script)
Regional and minority languages: Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Swedish, Russian, Yiddish
Anthem: Wajacki marsz

Jan Sierada, Father of the Nation, lead the Belarusian people to freedom in the Great War. He liberated the Baltics and the islands of the West Sea. Long may his Chairmanship last! Victory for the Rada!

Claims:

 

[Decamper]

Commonwealth of Scandinavia
Stratocracy

More later

 

[Ailedhoo]

I will join as Persia
It will be a empire



Will put details in later.

 

[tobiisagoodboy]

Kaiserreich Brazilien

Goverment : Democracy (Parliamentary Monarchy)
Leader : Kaiser Otto Frederico Pedro von Wittelsbach-Braganza
Capitol : Rio de Janeiro

History:
During the first brazilian Empire, tens of thousands of germans migrated to Brazil, mostly from the region known as Palatinate. Many of them were liberal revolutionarys, who fled Germany after the failed revolution of 1848/49.
Now, when the Brazilian Republic collapsed after the Great War, the german immigrants, who had mostly lived in their own communities, found a leader during the great troubles. A Wittelbacher prince, accompanied by thousand loyal soldiers from Palatinate, fled towards Brazil. Otto Friedrich Peter von Wittelsbach was a young and charismatic leader, who managed to unite the German communities behind him.
Inspired by liberal ideas and humanism, they also reached out to the stil marginalized Afro-Brazilians, who soon become enthusiastic followers of this new "Kaiser". Finding additional allies in the numerous Italian communities, the Kaiserreich soon managed to unite most of the important Brazilian regions.
The young Kaiserreichs strongest opponents were the former plantation owners, who tried to defend their old priviliges, but soon the well trained soldiers of the Kaiserreich broke their powers.
Since then, the Kaiser and his goverment had done the best they could to unite the people, esspecially the portugese speaking majority of the country.

 

[Crezth]

Enjoyin' the signups, lads. I've "Liked" your post if your signup is complete and has been accepted. If I haven't liked your post yet that means you are missing a detail, such as country name, territory claims, or government type.

I'll take a bit of time, no more than 2-4 days, to finalize the set-up and make underway with the first update, which I hope to post Sunday. The more lethargic of you will still be able to join in future turns with the potential for bonus claims (more on that later). Thank you for your interest and let's have fun.

 

[christos200]

United States of America

Government: Democracy
Capital: Washington DC
President: Calvin Coolidge

Claims:

Spoiler :

 

[Robert Can't]

​

Extract from Sceptered Isles - Harvey Williams 1942
When things went wrong we were on the wrong side of the world to stop them from going wrong. We were on the wrong side of the world to help, and we were on the wrong side of the world for anyone to care. Our Islands had been, forever, on the wrong side of the world. Things changed though and what we would achieve following the collapse would dwarf anything our people had done before. We built the idea of a nation - not a colony, federation or dominion - but a nation, united in its outlook. In that desperate year of 1921 New Zealand had a restless mind and an empty heart.
Together we put that mind to the task. It would be a challenge looking back over the last couple of decades not to agree that we managed to create something truly amazing - the heart of New Zealand, the heart of a Nation.


The New Zealand Times - 7th May 1921
Parliament Reopens!
Following the elections of last week George Sidney's Liberal Party has gained the Queens permission to form a Government. A statement put out by the party office has announced the composition of the Cabinet. With key roles including Harry Sadgrove as Minister of Finance, John McKenzie as Minister of Native Affairs and Wallace Wilson as Minister of Defence. Also of note is that Harvey Williams will be continuing on as Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet, as senior civil servant he will be as if not more influential than the politicians in the planning and execution of policy.



New Zealand - Meritocracy
Claims map to come when I'm back at my primary computer

 

[Robert Can't]

​

What they Did in the Shadows - George Sidney
It became a joke you heard very often back in the early days of our Government, but 1921 was the only year it was considered a joke. When the outgoing James Caswell met with me the day after the election he tried to impart to me just how little power he had - just how little power I was going to have. He told me that it was really Williams and Harcourt who run this country. I didn't know how right he was.
By the end of the year it was clear to all of us in the government as well as the populace at large that Parliament's role had been reduced to advisers for the civil service. New Zealand is a nation of contradictions. We are a monarchy, accepting the Queen as head of state, but on top of that we are democratic, an elected parliament passes legislation. I'd say there is another layer after that though, we live in a society controlled by the civil service, some would call that a meritocracy - I called it a mess.

 

[Civ'ed]

Kampuchean Empire

Capital: Phnomh Penh
Emperor: Sisowath

 

[gay_Aleks]

State of Bulgaria
Държавата България

Lurker's Note: A better translation would be probably "Българската държава", which is "the Bulgarian state" but the current translation makes me wanna die ok

 

[Traveller76]

Dominion of East India
Government: Democracy
Capital: Bangalore

 

[J.K. Stockholme]

Kingdom of the Pyrenees (informally, the Pyrenees)​

Government: Plutocracy
Capital: Andorra

Background:

The small realm of Andorra endured a shocking transformation in the twilight years of the Great War, when the mighty empires of old were beginning to crumble. The kingdom's traditional ruler, the Bishop of Urgell, was unceremoniously forced out by a foreign pretender to the throne. The exact details of the coup and ensuing years of conquest under the new king remain a mystery, but apparently the takeover was backed by a powerful group of capitalists from a variety of mountainous regions of Europe (particularly the Alps and Transylvania). The new regime immediately declared war on the faltering French and Spanish governments and captured a vast region around the Pyrenees with an army that, by all accounts, appeared out of nowhere and became infamous for its deadly nocturnal raids on the settlements that refused to surrender to the regular army. Today the kingdom is nominally a parliamentary monarchy - but it is clear to all observers that neither parliament nor the monarch have any real power - the Pyrenees is a state founded by capital, for capital.

Spoiler Territorial Claims :

 

[Crezth]

Rules have been updated regarding a new government form - Thalassocracy - and Political maintenance costs for Trade Deals. Additionally, rules have been updated with information on Military Units, which you will be able to build to augment the capabilities of your Military even further.

 

[Immaculate]

Iglesia de Señora de las Sombras​