AFSNES I RULES
AFSNES I A Name Still Contemplated Upon
The ruleset for the NES Proper.
POST NOT WITHOUT MY MANDATE!
Setting
Setting to be created in the process of several BT turns, for a broad meaning of BT (Boring or Broad Times; the point is that these turns over a lot of time, speeding things up considerably and in this case providing us with a particularily large jump start while still hopefully creating enough detail and involvement. See another ruleset on which I am/should be working right now).
Introduction
Much as predicted, I have relapsed into my modding habit, and after some thinking and discussion decided to start an Advanced Fresh Start NES, which should combine some of the good traits of an advanced (i.e. historical or althistorical) NES and a fresh start NES. The idea is to start it like a fresh start, and then comparatively quickly advance it to a more advanced (preferably late Middle Ages, but well know when we get there). That will happen in a separate thread, with its own, more ill-defined rules. The following rules will apply for the NES Proper set in that particular setting.
Players, stories, orders, NPCs, barbarians, updates, map, countries.
Players - no limit, no constraints, although those players that had nations (be they originals or successor states of those they created) at the end of the pre-NES will ofcourse be able to claim them. Veterans and fresh victims alike are welcomed to join in; my only request is true commitment. Dont join if you dislike the rules or dont have enough time or have any other such problems.
Stories - not necessary, but very encouraged. They help build up flavour and
might have some real and felt influence on the NES itself, though it would be more subtle than the bonus system. Rest assured that I will read them and will at least try to find some way to fit the superior ones in.
Orders - orders are to be PMed, preferably but not necessarily in list format. You
can put anything you want to do with your nation there, but you
must put such stuff as spending orders, diplomacy (basically, the concise terms of all and any diplomatic agreements you signed, if you want them to go into effect) and military deployments/movements there. It is preferable for orders to be, above all,
clear and concise; detail can be useful, but excessive detail is often annoying I really dont want to know what cunning secret passwords your spies are supposed to be using. Military tactics should usually be covered by doctrine (see accordingly named section below). As for specific strategy, it is very important that you are, once again, very clear as to what do you want to do exactly; in this, a map might help greatly, though it is not necessary. Lastly, given that we have 5 years in a turn, giving precise dates for some of your actions might be useful.
Also early orders are greatly encouraged, last-moment orders will be punished, last-moment additions and corrections might or might not be too late.
NPCs - as they're NPCs (Non-Player Controlled nations), I'll play them. Most of them might be expected to be comparatively passive and apathic
but I make no promises and given the right situation these NPCs might prove as vigorous, dangerous and treacherous as PCs themselves. Underestimate them as you would underestimate any sleeping giant (or midget).
Barbarians - the usual - these barbarians occupy wide areas all over the world, and are light gray on the map. They have no stats, and are chiefly divided into a multitude of tiny tribes (however, I will give you the names of the main ethnic groups; within those there is usually more cultural interaction, at the very least), though short-term tribal leagues are possible (also, some of those might evolve into civilized states if given the right conditions, whether on their own or under the guidance of a player). It is possible to try and communicate with them, but that's rather unlikely to work, due to the aforementioned decentralization; so its probably better to order the diplomats to try and influence the barbarians to do one thing or another. Note that success isn't at all guaranteed... Also, there will be dark gray barbarians. These are more organized and civilized, they represent the more coherent tribal federations or even protostates, and its easier to communicate with them; often these will break up after a while, but it is also possible for them to suddenly become civilized without any warnings. Barbarians are sneaky like that.
Updates - Updates come on WedNESdays (unless I say otherwise), yet the orders have to be sent in for Tuesday. Where I live the deadline for orders is 20:00, GMT should be 15:00 (that is, at any rate, the way it has always been how will it work out with my schedule by the time I launch the NES is unknown). Updates will cover five years each and consist of domestic events, international events, military events, random events (really random now - a random number of random countries will get random - positive, negative or neither - effect, that will probably be rather more complex than previously), "special bonuses" (stat-related awards for all sorts of things - like early orders, best order sets, best stories, and whatever I think of) and ooc (OOC comments and death threats). Also I will PM secret reports to some people as part of the update.
Map - I will use the standard CFC World Map. The main map is the political one, updated with every update. Each nation will have its own colour, used in all the owned, controlled and occupied territories. Thick borders will mean normal borders between nations; thinner borders will separate nations from their more autonomous regions and vassal states. Black circles will mark the cities cities with white lining are national capitals, cities with red lining are trade and/or manufacturing centers (historically those were usually the same), cities with blue lining are key religious and cultural centers. None of these special cities influence stats directly, but their significance still is as great as it is obvious. Barbarian colours have already been discussed; the rebel colour is white, unless said rebels are as organized and as serious as to gain a colour (and stats) of their own.
During the BT stage I will also use a Civilised Zones map, which shows differing levels of development in the world - red areas are areas of old civilisation, where there are many past traditions and institutions to build upon; green areas are areas of new civilisation, neither helped nor burdened by past developments quite as much as the old civilisations; and white areas are still barbaric. Obviously all of this will change greatly over the course of the BTs towards the NES setting itself, by which time I suspect a large portion of the world would be in some degree of contact with and influence by civilisation. Still, I will post a beginning CZ map, which I probably wont update barring particularily epic changes.
Likewise I intend to include a religious map, and possibly an ethnocultural one as well, for the beginning of the NES Proper. Same as above about updating them, ofcourse.
Lastly, there shall be an army map updated with every update as well, depicting the approximate end-turn positions of major armies and navies (the former abroad (as opposed to owned, controlled or occupied territory) and the latter everywhere shall be in the colour of their nation; otherwise, black or white, whatever fits best with said colour). Their approximate numbers will also be given on the map. This should generally help both me and the players keep track of things, while not revealing particularily secret or detailed information; indeed, this should allow some of the classical disinformation tricks to be performed like never before.
Countries - pick a NPC, create your own (but first, give me some vital info so that I can give you stats; also, it will be preferred if you start countries in dark gray barbarian areas, as these areas have higher nation-forming potential) or start a rebellion (though I'd advise you to consult me about these first, to avoid people starting unviable, doomed uprisings as they tend to do). Also, if you want to take an existing country, please read your nation background, and try to avoid acting out of character; that doesnt mean that your ruler cant be an anti-traditionalist reformer, but that does mean that he would face about as much trouble because of it as his historical analogues did. Note, once more, that certain nations will be considered "reserved" for the players that had them at the end of the pre-NES. Another note: rebel movements don't have stats before they take over some territory.
NATIONAL TEMPLATE
Nation Name
Capital:
Ruler:
Government:
Culture:
Technology:
Army:
Army Description:
Army Cap:
Navy:
Navy Description:
Economy (Base/Manufacturing/Trade):
Area:
Infrastructure:
Bureaucracy:
Population:
Education:
Living Standards:
Confidence:
Projects:
Colonies (Autonomy/Income/Militia/Loyalty):
Nation Background:
Government
Government - is your form of government, in some detail (like "Decentralized Feudal Parliamentary Theocratic Monarchy", though I hope to make it shorter).
If the country is parliamentary - or has some other body or person with some control over your actions - there will be a possibility of some or all of your orders being overridden, if they disagree with it. Which is why argumentation for your actions can be quite important; that said, it might be possible to bribe, blackmail or coerce the "controllers", or just kill them at worst. I do hope I don't need to explain why that is in most cases ill-advised... Also ill-advised are sudden, radical changes in governments and various hasty reforms, especially if they do not make sense at all, for instance due to being completely anachronistic. So perhaps its better to think twice, and maybe consult me about the likelihood of this sort of things. Because in real and NESing history, many empires were doomed by overeager reformers out of touch with the real state of affairs...
Also note that if your country is decentralized (it should be easy enough to figure out from the government form), it will be harder to introduce empire-wide reforms; also, there is greater chance of disintegration should things go badly. Know that centralisation efforts are likely to incur some serious opposition in a traditionally-decentralised state, whether from the masses or from the local political elite.
Culture
Under this stat I will list the major cultures, their "strength" (as in, unity and devotion), the minorities and the foreign cultural influences, plus any other useful information. Do note that religions are part of this as well.
I don't think there's much of a point listing all the things that this will affect; it should be easy to guess it all by yourself, so I'll just say that yes, this is an important stat. Also, you can't influence it directly, i.e. by investing eco. points, but your actions - and other things - will ofcourse affect this stat's fluctuation.
Technology
I will use a very different variation on the level system. In the miscellaneous section of the stats, the general features of the assorted technological levels that coexist in the game world (like the European Renaissance, the Andean Bronze Age and such) as opposed to historical equivalents will be listed. In the stats, the technological level to which the nation in question belongs will be mentioned; and after it, the significant deviations from the given norm, whether good (superior firearms) or bad (inferior ships) will be listed. Things will be more flexible this way, and the stats themselves more informative while also concise. That, in any case, is the idea.
Technological development can be simply ordered, but it will usually require funding, as well as physical feasibility, for it to actually get anywhere. Education levels obviously help as well.
One cannot trade technology as such, but one can supply a different nation with products of superior technology, or one could send advisors and scrolls and other such help to help said nation reach your level.
Military
Pretty much the usual number-based military; we have regiments on the land, ships on the sea. Each stat-growth (i.e. 1 eco. point) could raise 5 regiments or build 10 ships; they come into action within the turn, but probably not immediately.
What will you have in the military exactly (including the training of your units) is covered in the army and navy description stats, which contain most of the relevant military information that would be in plain sight. You can change many things about your military most of the stuff that will be listed there though it will require effort, money and time. Things like combat experience will obviously grow by themselves given the right conditions. Mass recruitment will tend to cause troubles to the military structure as a whole, especially in the fields of organisation and equipment, though proper preparations might prevent this.
For more specialized units, you have one UU per nation. These are managed like the other troops, but in the stats they are listed separately, and should have some single particular strength (like city assaults); technically there can also be others, but one must have a clear priority. As for the weaknesses, they usually draw from the strengths themselves; city assault specialists will naturally do rather badly in the open field. Please note that it is also usually presumed to be an elite unit. You can switch UUs at any point; what will happen with the old UUs will depend on a lot of things. A warrior caste elite, for instance, is likely to rise up in bloody rebellion, while professional army specialised infantry might simply reintegrate with the rest of the troops, though obviously losing in morale, as well as general quality.
Logistics are important; you'll probably have to invest at least one eco. point per major campaign, in order to get your troops properly supplied. Without this, they will have to live off the land, a system with too many disadvantages to mention especially if you have a large army in place.
Speaking of large armies, every nation will have an army cap, dependant on population size, social base for the military and other such factors. Raising an army (including UUs and levies) beyond that is possible, but will invite troubles, most notably those of economy and confidence. And the further you keep (or even grow) your army beyond the cap, the worse things will get. For obvious reasons this does not apply to the navy.
Technically your troops can move quite far - after all, each update is five years. Still, its valuable to take things like infrastructure, geography and starting positions (given as of the end of the last turn) into account... Its quite hard to predict how far you might get, so use your brains for that. By the way, also note that as its hard to control your commanders, your plans might not be carried out; maybe they'll even be radically changed, most often due to a radically altered situation. Consider this a warning.
Irregulars and militias will exist, but not in the stats (except for the colonial militias); usually if they do exist they will be mentioned in the update. As they're virtually impossible to use as regular troops and as they never do have that kind of organization, its a bit pointless to put them up in the stats.
Levies, a.k.a. conscripts, will be in the stats. How many you may raise per turn depends on a variety of factors, so here, again, you'll probably have to ask me... Still, 30 thousands is a pretty good average for most nations. Do note that levying too many troops will be detrimental to the economy and the confidence, and that the levies are generally very incompetent, although they're good cannon fodder and can be used for garrisoning. Also note that in invaded provinces and besieged cities, a certain amount will be levied automatically.
To make life easier for all of us, there will be a military doctrine system. A military doctrine covers the basic tactics and possibly strategy and other such things, like occupation policy of a military; all players will be required to write ones for their nations at the beginning of the NES Proper and I will write them for the NPCs. These doctrines will be kept secret; I will have them all stored away in a special document (but it is best if you keep your own doctrine somewhere nearby as well). This way, you would be able to refer to this general doctrine as opposed to writing out your tactics on every occasion. You could always make changes to your doctrine, or deviate from it from specific operations (it will be best to point out which). Likewise, if you dont give any tactics for an operation I will be able to assume that your troops follow standard doctrine.
Economy
The economy system has been reworked once again. The level system is still gone; instead, a one-word appraisal of the economys general status (along the lines of Growing, Static or Recessive) is given, followed by brackets in which the income you receive from assorted sectors of economy is listed. Base is the basic income (i.e. from taxation, agriculture and internal commerce), Manufacturing is the income from manufacturing and industry, usually tied to cities and Trade is the income from external commerce. This is somewhat simplified, but not excessively so.
You cannot raise economy
as such, but you could do things to the effect of raising it, though probably with other consequences as well. You could invest in the construction of more manufactories, or sign trade agreements, or raise taxes, or really just about anything, though particularily intricate schemes tend to be particularily prone to backfiring. There will often be some kind of bankers from whom you could take loans and suchlike as well. Other factors will influence the fluctuation of stats here as well, obviously.
There is a lot of things you could spend your money on. You could raise most level-based stats (but pay attention to Area or Population!), pay for logistics, invest in all kinds of things (including economy-raising measures; basically, your investments are various schemes to influence one or several stats, especially those that are not level-based), pay for projects and so forth. Finally, you can bank money, but its value will gradually degrade due to inflation (i.e. youll lose 1 banked eco. point per turn when you have more than 1 banked and unused), and corruption might also prove a problem.
You cannot grow a level-based stat beyond the last level. Thats just silly. If its any consolation, they will naturally degrade over time, allowing you to grow them back up again.
Area
Area is a Size stat overhauled. It now means specifically the territory size of the nation in question (NOT including the colonies and the occupied, non-integrated areas) and, apart from other things, is used for calculation of the amount of eco. points needed to raise Infrastructure and Bureaucracy. Now, level-based size stats had a lot of problems with them, so instead it is now number-based, allowing for greater precision. The number is the amount of eco. points you need to pay simple enough, I believe.
Infrastructure
Roads, bridges, boats - all things used for transportation of goods and men - are listed under infrastructure. The higher is your infrastructure, the easier it is to move your (or enemy) troops across your territory; it also influences things such as Trade, Military Cap and Culture.
Infrastructure: None-Dirt Paths-Pathetic-Barely Tolerable-Tolerable-Improving-Good-Efficient-Very Efficient-Great-Excellent
Bureaucracy
One system of civil service or the other dependant on your government type is inevitable in any complex society; while central leadership concentrates on truly grand affairs of state, those below manage much of the everyday routine, as well as help (or hinder) the implementation of the central governments programs. So as a certain mustached Georgian said, cadres decide all, and while good bureaucrats might not save an empire with bad central leadership, the best ruler can be undone by rotten ones.
Bureaucracy: None-Ineffectual-Corrupt-Incompetent-Blundering-Tolerable-Improving-Competent-Efficient-Great-Brilliant
Population
Why, ofcourse the people matter! Where did you think recruits and taxes come from? Fun aside, this is the Population stat, and it is much like the Area stat it shows the population size of the nation itself (not including non-integrated and colonial territories), it is number-based and is used to calculate the amount of money you spend on Education and Living Standards per the same formula as before. Also, it naturally influences your economy, your military cap and your levying capabilities.
Education
Education is education is how educated your people are. This obviously influences the speed and feasibility of technological progress, as detailed under Technology. If you reach the Enlightenment levels, the chances of jumping to a whole new age will be increased considerably, though this would automatically degrade your education by two levels.
Education influences other things as well most noticeably, a less educated population would be less open to both reformism and revolutionary sentiments, while a more educated one is likely to demand such things if even slightly discontent with the situation; leaps in education can therefore be particularily dangerous, as they are known to revolutionise a population. It is best to take this stat into account; with a very educated population, reaction would rarely be the path to go, but likewise enlightened reformism in an Illiterate country would usually be just plain stupid if not backed up by force.
Education: None-Dumb-Illiterate-Tolerable-Literate-Educated-Well Educated-Perfect-Academic-Enlightenment
Living Standards
Theyre back! Living Standards are very tricky, but generally higher living standards decrease dissent, make revolts less likely (your people will have more to lose) and maybe even help you out with economy and education. However, there is a peril involved if your high living standards fall, whether due to economic woes or war or simple neglect, people will be angry and desperate, and a lot of other problems will come. Basically, it can be rather spoiling.
A fairly educated nation with low living standards surrounded by nations with higher living standards will have a lot of problems also.
Living Standards: None-Slums-Very Low-Low-Barely Tolerable-Tolerable-Normal-Higher-Very High-Splendid
Confidence
This is the degree to which the people trust or mistrust, love or hate you and your government. Its effects shouldn't be hard to explain, really - a more loyal people will take up arms in your defense, a less loyal people will take up arms to overthrow you. As not even Fortune is as fickle as public opinion, this will fluctuate wildly depending on your (perceived or real) successes or failures, and on the propaganda as well - both yours and that of your enemies.
It cannot be grown by eco. points directly.
Confidence: Lynching-Hateful-Resentful-Barely Tolerating-Tolerating-Respecting-Admiring-Loving-Nation Personified
Projects
Local equivalent of wonders, but is more often some sort of a particularily large project or program as opposed to some huge building. You can do just about anything with it, but it is advisable to contact me for specifics first; usually it will simply influence one or several stats in some desirable way, but if you want some other kind of effect, it is best for you to contact me. A long-term bonus like superior amounts of troops per eco. point could be tied to either a fixed amount of turns or to some in-game condition (like a Janissary system) that will have its own repercussions and that might be caused to cease to function, in which case the bonus will disappear; such things are also what you should talk with me about first. Anyhow, most projects will have their own unintended consequences, good or bad. It is most advisable to describe a project to me in detail other than simply list the intended effects; i.e. explain how exactly you intend to get there with this.
To start a project, you need to invest 1 eco. point. After that, it will progress on its own, but you can speed it up by investing an extra eco. point (speeding it up by one turn); you can invest a maximum of 2 eco. points per turn. Innovative solutions aside from that can also speed things up (for instance, you can have your engineer UU help build a grand fortification system, or just throw slaves at a problem), but its no guarantee.
You can make it secret, but in that case you'll have to remind me about the effects every so often.
Colonies
Colonies, in this case, are major and effective overseas possessions (i.e. bigger than single trade outposts or forts); they have separate, though much simplified, stats and a fair (though varying) degree of autonomy ensured above all else by the tyranny of distance. That degree, along with other related things, is mentioned in the government stat; naturally, it can be dictated by the colonys owner, but this can lead to trouble. The income a colony brings in will depend on many factors (such as resources, investment and population), but particularily in settler colonies it is likely to start out at zero but grow overtime, especially with additional investment. The militia stat represents the amount of militia regiments that could be raised to fight off an invasion or to rebel against you. You could use militias in aggressive campaigns, but usually that wont work too well, especially far from home. You could also place your troops in the colonies, ofcourse, though they might be some complications in that case as well, especially if you dont pay for the logistics. Lastly, a colonys Loyalty is basically the same as Confidence (it even uses the same levels!
), only for the colony specifically.
You need to pay 1 eco. point to establish a colony; note that this would not necessarily be successful, so you might need to invest more over time to set the colony up properly.
Nation Background
To better fit in as the ruler of your country, you will have a brief history of each country. I will update these occasionally (that is to say, on significant occasions). It is advisable that you role-play.
Intelligence
It works like this: you can PM me questions that I will answer (not necessarily truthfully, and probably in an ambiguous way), or add espionage/intelligence orders to your order sets, with the stuff that you want done (both sabotage and other such stuff, and normal information gathering; I will send secret reports after the update, with the results of your operations). Do note that your spies are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, - they aren't even omnipresent, most of the times. The latter can be partially fixed by gradual infiltration and construction of a spy network. Eco. points are not necessary here, but they might be very helpful.
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The above is not necessarily the final version of the stats - actually, I definitely will add some more stuff in the end and in the Setting section - but is pretty much finalised; still, constructive criticism, comments and questions are welcomed. The precise working of a lot of stats will probably not become apparent before the NES proper itself, though; I promise that I have a lot of great ideas for their implementation and that I will try to follow through with them.
I'm thinking of starting the "pre-NES" pretty soon, btw, though I cannot promise extreme regularity in updates. Still, we might as well start soon, especially seeing as I do happen to have
some time and this would be a pretty good use for it.
