Cities:
As has become a recent trend in my IOTs, you will notice that this map has no provinces. Rather, they are replaced with cities, which you will either construct or conquer from other nations. These are the main units of the map, and provide for a bit more flexibility in borders than the traditional provinces of IOTs. With the exception of nomads, all nation types rely on cities as their primary generation of income and military.
Cities each have their own distinct populations, and, unless you’re nomadic, are the locations your military will be based out of. They are extremely expensive to construct, but their worth will increase with population and infrastructure. It is possible to raze cities that you have control of.
Base cost of cities is 1500. Cities generate 50, + 20 per population point.
Nation Types:
In this game, your nation will be one of four types, as determined by your starting position:
Island nations are the trading powers of the known world. Based out of the Caribbean islands and surrounding areas, they receive major bonuses to their trade and to their naval tech, making them powerful traders and colonists, but suffer in infrastructure tech and army capability, and so are poor aggressors. They may only be founded in the blue zones at game-start.
-Army and Infra techs cost 350
+Naval tech costs 200; +5% bonus from trade revenue
Coastal nations are defensive powerhouses. Operating out of the coastlines of the central and southern portions of the map, these countries receive infrastructure and tech-progression bonuses, making them great for players who love to focus on a more diplomatic take, but suffer expansion penalties, leaving them poor choices for colonial-minded players. They may only be founded in the green zones at game-start.
+250 cost for all techs; +7% tax revenue per infrastructure level; +10% tax revenue per infrastructure unit
-Cities cost 2000
Mainland nations are built with a military in mind. Situated within the heartlands of Mexico and Colombia, mainlanders receive major bonuses to their military capabilities and smaller ones to their infrastructure, allowing them to attack with major armies from within their heartland. On the other hand, they suffer from poor navies and instability, making them more suited to vast networks of tributary states than far-flung colonial conquests. They may only be founded in the red zones at game-start.
+Army and Infra techs cost 200
-Naval tech costs 350; stability penalties
Semi-Nomadic nations are designed to be peaceful expansionists, though at the expense of their infrastructure and population. Situated north of Mesoamerica or in the Amazon, these nations receive bonuses to their stability and minor ones to their trade, allowing them to maintain far-flung and diverse nations, but suffer in terms of their population growth and infrastructure, making it difficult for them to mount or resist invasions – it’s far easier for them to negotiate or avoid conflict entirely. They may only be founded in the orange zones at game-start.
+Stability bonuses; +3% trade revenue
-Population growth penalties; 350 infra tech cost
Nomadic nations are a rather unique bunch. Unlike the other nation types, nomads do not operate out of cities, and can easily move vast distances, making them difficult to conquer. In addition, they receive the most major military bonuses in the games, making them a threat to even mainland nations. As such, these are ideal for players who enjoy war, and not much else. However, their lack of navies or self-derived income sources force them to continually raid their neighbours for tribute and vassal-creation, else they collapse entirely. They may be founded anywhere at game start, and are the only nations that may be founded in the brown zones. If a nomad nation manages to gain control of a city, they may choose to convert to a nation type appropriate for the area. They will then lose all nomad bonuses, and will then operate as whatever nation type they have transitioned to.
+Army upkeep costs 40; Army tech costs 200
-Cannot found cities or use navies; Cannot research naval or infrastructure techs; starting funds are 1500
After game start, new players may pick a nation of type either derived from the zone it is founded in, or of same type as the culture of the area they are founding their nation in (e.g., if a mainland-style culture has been spread into a green zone, a new player in that area may choose to start as a mainland or as a coastal nation). More on culture may be found later on.
Population & Culture:In this game, population – and its growth – is most directly tied to your military capability and the spread of your culture. While you can do very little to directly influence your population growth, cities in Mesoamerica, the Andes, and the Caribbean proper will tend to grow fastest, and those in the far northwest of North America will grow the slowest. On the other hand, you have much more direct control over where populations of any culture within your territory can go – you can direct your own people and the foreigners within your lands to new locations, either within your nation or in its nearby surroundings, and you can even forcibly expel populations entirely, though this comes with the risk of revolts and hostile nations forming outside your borders.
Your culture, like your nation type, will carry a unique benefit and penalty (which I will decide from your description of your culture in your OP). Having foreign cultures in your territory tends to increase your instability, though if they’re more thinly spread, they’re less likely to revolt.
Economy:
Your economy comes from three primary sources: Trade, taxes, and any tributaries (or other diplomatic actions) you have.
Taxes are set city-by-city, and, in connection with the city’s infrastructure level, will generate funds automatically.
Tributaries are set up with the intent that they will provide you a certain amount of soldiers and a certain portion of their taxes, in return for you defending and/or not invading them, though poor relations and overtaxation can result in tribute states attempting to break away or avoid paying.
Trade routes are set up between two cities, either by land or by sea. Terrestrial trade routes are rather costly construction projects, while naval ones are conducted through the ships of the two trading cities.
Terrestrial route costs will be determined by the GM on a case-by-case basis.
Without a trade route of either type connecting it to your capital in some way, a city will not be able to provide taxes or trade to you.
Trade is conducted by setting a tariff percentage, and sending an army or ship to trade between two cities. This tariff will deduct from the city’s wealth before taxes; internal taxation is derived from the wealth after trading has been completed. Trade is conducted city-by-city, and if you don’t want people taking from your city’s wealth, than you will need to find either a diplomatic or military solution to stop them.
Military:
Your military is split into two branches, your army and your navy.
Your army can be established by setting any population-unit within your borders to fulfill the role, and then basing them out of a city. Keep in mind that, unlike other portions of your population, you need to pay upkeep on your armies. Armies are directed by sending them to attack specific cities, or other armies and populations.
Armies have a base upkeep of 50
Your navy is derived from your ports; while it doesn’t take from your population, your limit is based upon the number of ports you own, and you also have naval upkeep costs.
Navies have a cap of 3 per port city, plus one additional one for every other naval tech level that city has.
Navies have a base upkeep of 30
Military units set to conduct trade cannot attack or defend cities in the same turn.
Infrastructure:
Infrastructure measures the level of development of your cities, and is measured city-by-city through their cost. Higher infrastructure levels generate more revenue and give cities better defensive capabilities. These effects compound.
Each infrastructure unit increases a city's revenue by 7%
Each infrastructure tech level increases a city's revenue by 5%
Infrastructure has a base cost of 500
Technology:
Technology is a city-based investment, and comes in three flavors: Army, Navy, and Infrastructure. All technology bonuses are applied automatically to the city they are researched in. The first turn a city researches a technology, only that city will have it. From there, however, it will spread along trade routes to all trading cities with a lower technology in that category, one level at a time.
All technologies have a base cost of 300 per level
