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[notquitethere]

Raise costing 3 actions would be okay but for most species it would lock you out from raising until the late game-- there is already something of balancing offset in that forests can produce population for bountiful, whereas mountains are unproductive.

The idea of mining is interesting, but there's have to be some reason to do it other than just removing a mountain-- as most of the time when you have a mountain it's good to keep for yourself.

[Naturegirl1999]

Maybe Mining is another way to get Population?(underground plant harvesting?)That might cause more balance issues though

[notquitethere]

Maybe one action to build a Mine, every season after that it give +1 action, but it reduces the defense by one. This would also give non shaker players more incentive to take mountains.

[Naturegirl1999]

Maybe one action to build a Mine, every season after that it give +1 action, but it reduces the defense by one. This would also give non shaker players more incentive to take mountains.

+1
This sounds good

[SHAD0Wdump]

Helluva game. Things being that close really explains why my intuition on who would win was completely baffled.

[notquitethere]

I'm really pleased it was close. It makes me feel good about balancing. Some good balancing elements:

- having players go in order of population allows players to catch up and knock back players who are running ahead.
- capping cities by population means the builder heresy isn't too powerful and makes harvesting necessary (except for bountiful)

[notquitethere]

Here's an amended ruleset:
- Added in mining
- I've added another heresy which interacts with mining
- amended some species, added a few more
- Given a few more heresies powers to deal with mountains.
- Beefed up Doge's Men (now called Dogekin) to mean they're not instantly countered by draining
- Nerfed Swine while making them synergise with other population raising heresies.

Let me know if any of this is obviously broken.

Heretics of Hexland 5
A game of colonisation for 3-6 players

Sign-ups open for a turn-based colonisation game in a fantasy world. Each player controls a rival expedition from a civilisation of their making. Each expedition is made up of one species that is beholden to a heresy. These civilisations vie for control of Hexland. If you want an idea of what this looks like, check out the last game. Think of this as a mixture of Civilisation, Small World and Diplomacy.

Game basics: The aim of the game is to achieve the most victory points. Victory points are typically gained by expanding and conquering hex tiles. Doing this requires actions; a player can take as many actions as they have population. Thus, the game is about expanding, while protecting one's ability to grow their population through harvesting crops.

Spoiler: Civ Creation Sheet (click to show/hide)

Civilisation Name: [this can be whatever you like]
Colour: [Choose your preferred colour for your civilisation's borders]
Heresy: [pick from the list below. This gives you a special action.]
Species : [pick form the list below. This changes the way one rule works for you. You can pick the same heresy or species as someone else, but not both so have a look at what other people have picked.]
Population: 2 [This starts out at 2 unless something else says otherwise.]
Population Range: 1-2 [Unless stated otherwise, you have population minimum of 1 + the number of cities you control, and a population maximum (cap) of the number of 1 + territories + cities you hold, so 1-2 at the beginning.]

Spoiler: Heresies (click to show/hide)

1 - Heterodox
The tolerant Heterodox embrace diversity and cultural interchange, believing that the truth is a prism that splits enlightenment into many beams.
Favoured Terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +2 points for every civilisation alive at the end of the game.
Co-opt - For this turn only, gain the species power of any other species currently in play.
Season: All (can only be used once per season)
Cost: 1 action
Mimic - For this turn only, gain the favoured terrain of one other civilisation currently in play.
Season: Any (once a season only)
Cost: 1 action

2 - Shaker
They like to sit and tremble in awe at the world.
Favoured Terrain: Mountains
Victory Bonus: +1 point for any mountain tile you own
Stonestep - Expand into an unclaimed mountain tile.
Season: Summer, Fall (once per season only)
Cost: 1 action plus the defense of the tile minus 2 (ordinarily, 1 action)
Raise - Convert a non-mountain land tile you own into a mountain.
Season: All
Cost: 3 actions.

3 - Aquatic
They worship the dead Leviathan, and foresee the waters reclaiming all land.
Favoured Terrain: Lakes
Victory Bonus: +1 point for any owned lake tile
Deluge - Channel as many rivers as you like around one land tile that you own. Deluge can only be done once per turn.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action
Marshland - Turn any land tile you own or neighbour that is surrounded completely by both rivers and ocean tiles into a lake. This allows lake tiles next to oceans (usually impossible). If the tile is already a lake, turn it into an ocean tile instead.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action

4 - Levellers
They believe the Final Age will be ushered in only when all the world is completely levelled, one vast empty wasteland.
Favoured Terrain: Desert
Victory Bonus: +1 point for any owned desert tile
Scorch Earth - Convert a non-mountain land tile you own into desert.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action
Tremor - Convert a mountain that you own or neighbour into a desert. Any construction on the tile is destroyed.
Season: All
Cost: 4 actions

5 - Bountiful
They believe that the world is already a paradise and they intend to keep it that way.
Favoured Terrain: Forest
Victory Bonus: +1 point for any owned forest tile
Forage - Gain +1 population from a forest tile. Cannot be used more than once on the same tile in the same season.
Season: Summer only.
Cost: 2 actions
Fecund - Convert a plains tile you own or neighbour into a forest tile.
Season: All
Cost: 2 action

6 - Arid
The Arid, survivors of doomed battles with the Leviathan, hate the ocean and call upon arcane powers to eradicate it.
Victory Bonus: +1 for any owned non-ocean and non-lake tiles that were ocean or lake tiles at the start of play.
Favoured terrain: None
Reclaim - Change a neighbouring or owned ocean tile into a desert tile.
Season: All
Cost: 2 actions
Shore up - Remove all rivers bordering a single owned tile.  This counts as an improvement action.
Season: Summer, Winter
Cost: 1 action

7 - Vile
These ne'er-do-wells have dedicated their life to destruction and suffering.
Favoured Terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +3 point for every time a civilisation is wiped out.
Sacrifice - Reduce your population by one (down to your minimum population: if you have three cities and five population, you can only sacrifice once). Gain two additional actions for this turn only.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action
Enslave - Conquer a hex and gain +1 population at the end of your turn instead of losing population.
Season: Summer and Winter
Cost: 2 actions + defence of the terrain

8 - Builder
The Builders seek to urbanise the world, turning all in a citadel pointed towards eternity.
Favoured Terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +1 point for any city tile you own.
Tower - Build a city on a land tile (of any kind) you own. Your population must exceed your minimum population to Tower. This action can only be performed once per turn. A tile cannot be Razed and Towered in the same turn.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action
Industrious Improve - Take one Improve action.
Season: Spring, Winter
Cost: 0 actions (once per season only)

9 - Hollow
The Hollow know that they are nothing but their own rejection of what repulses them. One day everything wrong will be outside of them and they pave their way towards this.
Favoured terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +1 victory point for every tile in the longest contiguous chain of tiles with fortifications on them, regardless of tile ownership.
Raise the Wall - Fortify two adjacent tiles that you own.
Season: Spring, Winter
Cost: 1 action
Memory of Wholeness - Place a fortification on any tile on the map which previously had a fortification.
Season: All
Cost: 1 action

10 - Flame
The bright Flame heretics burn quick and hot, never saving for tomorrow what they can use for today, they relish the unwanted wasteland that spreads in their wake.
Favoured terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +1 point for each unowned desert on the map.
Strip Mine - Dismantle a mine that you own and gain +3 actions. If you strip mine the same mountain twice, it is abandoned and converted into a desert at the end of your turn.
Season: Winter, Spring
Cost: 1 action
Brutal Raid - Raid and Raze a neighbouring field or plains tile at the same time (i.e., the tile turns to desert and is no longer owned by anyone, you gain +2 actions for razing and +2 actions if that tile had a field on it). You cannot conquer a tile on the same turn as you brutally raid it.
Season: All
Cost: 2 actions

11 - Apostate
These are the heretic's heretics, splinter movements that have strange beliefs and little coherence.
Favoured Terrain: None
Victory Bonus: None
Apocryphal Dogma - When you choose Apostate, pick two actions belonging to any other heresies (say, Brutal Raid and Deluge). These are your actions and they have the same restrictions as normal.

Spoiler: Species (click to show/hide)

1 - Human: Start with population of 3, a population cap of 3 and a minimum population of 1.
2 - Doge-kin: River lines adjacent to your tiles give +1 defence when defending and cannot be drained.
3 - Ents: Forests do not offer a penalty to expanding.
4 - Beetleswarm: Whenever your tiles are conquered, attacker loses one more population than usual (usually two population).
5 - Spiders: Can Improve all year round.
6 - Monkeys: Can Raid fortified tiles (including using raid-based heresy actions).
7 - Antmen: Antmen fortifications give +2 defence to the tile.
8 - Vultures: -1 action (minimum 1) required to conquer desert tiles and desert tiles give +1 defence when occupied.
9 - Djinn:  Can Grow on desert tiles.
10 - Merfolk: Ocean tiles that you don't own have 0 defence when expanding or conquering.
11 - Parakeetkin: Can Grow in forests.
12 - Trolls:  Mountain tiles are +1 defence when occupied and -1 defence when expanding.
13 - Swine:   Once per turn when you gain population, gain an additional population.
14 - Letterbeasts: Can expand in Spring.
15 - Impossibulls: Can cease to exist: on any of your turns you may take your victory score. All tiles you occupy are now uncontested and you leave the game.
16 - Poults: When you build a city on a tile with a field, the field is not destroyed; when you build a field on a tile with a city, the city is not destroyed.
17 - Ghosts:  Ignores fortifications and city defence when conquering and fortifications aren't destroyed on conquering.
18 - Grue: You may build mines on your favoured terrain.
19 - Mucklings: You may Harvest in summer.
20 - Mabblers: Once per turn, one of their Heretic actions costs one less action to play (minimum 0).

The game takes place over five years, after which the New Age will begin, as all heresies agree. Each year is made up of four seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter), and each turn takes exactly one season. (So each player gets 20 turns in the game). On your turn you may take a number of actions equal to your population number. Increasing your population mid-turn doesn't give you additional actions for that turn. You have a maximum population equal to 1 + the number of tiles you control + the number of cities you own. You have a minimum population equal to 1 + the number of cities you own (your population can't be forced beneath this number).

On your first turn, pick a coastal embarkation point that is on land and not next to a tile owned by another player. Embarking doesn't cost an action.

Spoiler: Actions Explained (click to show/hide)

Types of Actions
All actions cost 1 action unless otherwise stated.
Grow: Place a field in a plains tile. If there is a city on this tile, it is destroyed.
Harvest: Remove a field. Gain +1 population.
Expand:  Take over a neighbouring uncontested territory. This costs +1 extra action per defence of terrain (rivers are ignored).
Conquer: Take over a neighbouring contested territory. This costs +1 extra action per defence of terrain. Both the conquered region and the conquerors lose 1 population, to a minimum of 1. All fields and fortifications in the conquered hex are destroyed.
Dismantle: for one action do one of:
Remove from a tile you own one of: a fortification, a city.
Convert a field you own into a plain without harvesting
or Abandon a territory you own, turning it into a neutral territory.
Raze: Turn an owned plain or field into a desert, this tile ceases to be in your ownership at the end of your turn. Any city or fortification present is destroyed. Gain +2 actions for this turn only.
Raid: Turn a field tile you neighbour into a plains tile. Gain +2 actions for this turn only. A fortified tile cannot be raided. You cannot raid then conquer the same tile in the same turn.
Improve: Change a tile or river line or create a terrain feature, as follows:

Drain: Remove a single river line that borders a tile you own. If a lake tile has no river tiles next to it, it turns into a plain. Deforest: Turn a forest tile you own into a plains tile. Build City: Build a city on plain or favoured terrain you own. To do this, you must have a population number greater than your minimum population. If you build on the same tile as a field or mine, that field or mine is destroyed. Fortify: Increase the defence of a tile you own by +1 (a tile can only ever be fortified once, and conquered terrain loses its fortifications) Irrigate: Turn a desert tile that you own into a plain if it is bordered by a river line . Channel: Create a river line on a border of one of your tiles that joins an existing river line. A river line cannot form the border between any tile and an ocean tile. If a non-mountain tile is completely surrounded by river lines, it turns into a lake.

Mine: Build a mine on a mountain tile. Gain +1 action for each mine you own at the start of your turn. Building a mine destroys any city or field on a tile.

Actions for Each Season
Spring   -   Grow, Improve, Raze, Raid, Dismantle
Summer - Conquer, Expand, Raze, Raid, Dismantle
Fall   -   Harvest, Expand, Raze, Raid, Dismantle
Winter   -   Conquer, Improve, Raze, Raid, Dismantle

Spoiler: Playing, winning & turn sequence (click to show/hide)

The winner is the player who's civilisation has the most victory points at the end of the game among the players who are still alive. Victory points are calculated as the number of land territories owned, plus any bonus points given by the player's heresy.

In any given round, players take it in turns to act. The turn order is decided each season in order of population number (lowest first), with ties broken by species+heresy order (heterodox humans first, apostate ghosts last; in case of tie, the lower species wins). A player has a number of actions equal to their starting population (if they increase their population during a turn, it doesn't give them more population to use that turn). If their population is decreased earlier on the season, they will have less actions, but this won't reset the turn order until the end of the season.

E.g. The Purple Nation has five population, the Red Civilisation has four population, and the Yellow Domain has three population: In winter Yellow goes first and conquers two Purple territories. They both lose two population. Even though Purple now only has three population (and only thus only three actions), they will still act after the Red, as the turn order is set at the start of the season.

Spoiler: The Map and Key (click to show/hide)

When selecting a tile to act on, just give its number (e.g. Expand to 12, raze 43, build city on 28).

Terrain types
Desert
Colour: Beige
Defence: 0

Plain
Colour: Light green
Defence: 0

Forest
Colour: Dark Green
Defence: 1

Lake
Colour: Light Blue
Defence: 1
(If a non-mountain tile is completely surrounded by rivers, it turns into a lake. If a lake tile has no river lines bordering it, it turns into a plain)

Mountain
Colour: Grey
Defence: 2

Ocean
Colour: Dark Blue
Defence: 3
(Oceans do not count towards terrain victory points. An ocean tile that is surrounded by land turns into a lake tile. An Ocean tile cannot be fortified. Ocean tiles do increase population cap like any other tile.)

Terrain Features

City
Shape: Three towers in the colour of the civ
Defence: +1
(Cities add +1 to the base population of a civ. E.g. a civ with three cities can never fall below population 4, no matter how many times they're raided or no matter the number of conquests they are a part of.)

Rivers
Colour: Light Blue
Defence: +1 when conquering civilisation has to cross the river to enter the hex
(Rivers are in between borders)

Fortification
Colour: Same colour as the controlling Civ.
Shape: Shield symbols, the number of which represent the strength of the fortification (usually 1)
Defence: +1

Field
Colour: Yellow
Shape: Crosshatched square
Defence: 0

Mine
Colour: Same colour as the controlling Civ.
Shape: archway
Defence: -1 (lowers the defence of the tile it is on to a minimum of 0)

[Naturegirl1999]

I will play as Flame Beetleswarm

Spoiler: Flame Beetleswarm heresy actions and species buffs (click to show/hide)

Flame
The bright Flame heretics burn quick and hot, never saving for tomorrow what they can use for today, they relish the unwanted wasteland that spreads in their wake.
Favoured terrain: None
Victory Bonus: +1 point for each unowned desert on the map.
Strip Mine - Dismantle a mine that you own and gain +3 actions. If you strip mine the same mountain twice, it is abandoned and converted into a desert at the end of your turn.
Season: Winter, Spring
Cost: 1 action
Brutal Raid - Raid and Raze a neighbouring field or plains tile at the same time (i.e., the tile turns to desert and is no longer owned by anyone, you gain +2 actions for razing and +2 actions if that tile had a field on it). You cannot conquer a tile on the same turn as you brutally raid it.
Season: All
Cost: 2 actions
Beetleswarm: Whenever your tiles are conquered, attacker loses one more population than usual (usually two population).

[notquitethere]

If/when I start a new game, you certainly can. There's some synergy with Djinn & Flame, in that Flame's actions leave deserts which could be expanded into and farmed... but there's some dysergy in that you get victory points for deserts you don't own, and you can only farm deserts you own.


Worth pointing out that I've changed how fields work: fields now act just like improvements (cities etc), they don't change the basic land type as before.

[Naturegirl1999]

If/when I start a new game, you certainly can. There's some synergy with Djinn & Flame, in that Flame's actions leave deserts which could be expanded into and farmed... but there's some dysergy in that you get victory points for deserts you don't own, and you can only farm deserts you own.


Worth pointing out that I've changed how fields work: fields now act just like improvements (cities etc), they don't change the basic land type as before.

Ok, I will change species, I want to try Flame still. Thank you for the clarifications

[notquitethere]

I had this idea of running similar game set with a map of 5 sided tiles, maybe call it 'Petitioners of Pentland', but I dunno how readable the map would be / whether the extra strategic considerations would be worth the hassle of making a ruleset that worked with mismatched borders.

Spoiler: Pent Map (click to show/hide)

[notquitethere]

I couldn't help myself. I threw together a successor game similar to Heretics of Hexland, called Pentagonal Perdition. In the game you take on the armies of competing gods, conquering and transforming the heavens. The core mechanics are basically the same, except you pick two godly domains instead of heresies and species, and instead of transforming an island, you're making a formless plain habitable for angels, devils, fae and oozes.

[notquitethere]

One more slot still needed for Pentagonal Perdition, a game very much like Heretics of Hexland.