I was going to have a more robust mechanics involved (raiding to damage Grain, sea conquest, magic spells and tech levels), but let's keep it simple and see how it goes, aye?
INTRODUCTION:
A Player (maximum of 10?) picks a Land, a Color (Red, Gold, Green, Cyan, Orange, Silver, Purple, White, Teal, that one soft purple velvet I call 'Lavender'), and from there, they need to fulfill their Tribe's destiny and rule the land of Eire!
If any Player gets eliminated, another can take their color, pick an independent State, and try their hand in the fight for the throne.
TURN ORDER:
The turns of all Players are SIMULTANEOUS. Orders can be sent through Personal Messages to the GM (Haspen), or if you're not caring about what people see, in the game thread itself.
For your orders to be valid, they must be bolded using the forum bbcode.
A simple example of a Player's turn:
Defend Donal with 5 Grain.
Invest 5 Grain in Donal.
Attack Reudh with 10 Grain.
You cannot edit your orders once you've send the post! Think twice before posting!!
LANDS:
The Island of Eire is divided into 42 'Lands', each having its type.
Plans: Default type of land, has no icon.
Deep Forest: Thick forest, where beasts lurk in shadows.
Menhir Valley: A magical valley where a Menhir Gate stands.
Each Player's starting Land is called 'Origin Land'. Heart of the chiefdom, its Owner receives +5 Grain bonus when Defending it, to ensure that it won't fall into enemy hands so easily.
TRIBES, PERKS AND DESTINIES:
The peoples of Eire trace their origins to the Four Tribes: Plainsmen, Merfolk, Woodkin and Sidhe. Each of these Tribes provides a Perk:
Plainsmen: Bonus +5 Grain in Origin Land. Can start anywhere.
Merfolk: +2 Grain bonus for each Land bordering the Sea. Must start at the 'coast'.
Woodkin: +5 Grain bonus when Defending in Deep Forest. Must start in a Deep Forest.
Sidhe: +1 Grain bonus to all Attack/Defense rolls per controlled Menhir Valley. Must start in a Menhir Valley.
To obtain mastery over the Island of Eire, Players must achieve one of the following goals:
A) Dominion: Hold 22 Lands in a continuous manner.
B) Communion: Hold 7 Menhir Valleys.
HIGH KING OF EIRE:
A political situation may develop whereas one of the Players might become powerful landlord, holding several core lands of their (former) enemies.
If a Player holds his Origin Land, has 50 Grain or more Total, and holds Origin Lands of at least 2 other Players, they may declare themselves High King of Eire.
This political achievement:
A) Gives them a +5 Grain bonus.
B) Locks them towards Dominion Destiny.
C) Prevents any other Player from becoming High King of Eire.
High King of Eire loses his Status if he no longer fulfills 2 or more requirements for the title. When that happens, they're reduced to the default 'Chiefdom', and any other Player currently fulfilling the requirements can claim the tile of High King.
Multiple declarations case: If 2 or more Players simultaneously declare themselves High King, the title falls into hands of the Player who has the larger Grain score.
INDEPENDENT STATES:
Non-Player Lands will always dedicate themselves to defense of their borders, meaning that 10 Grain will always be spent on Defense.
The independent Lands will never use Grain for Conquests, nor they will Invest Grain to improve their economy. Fools, all of them!
GRAIN AND INVESTMENTS:
Grain is used twofold; to supply soldiers fighting abroad or defending the Lands, or to develop the Land.
If you do not dedicate any Grain to defense of a Land, any opportunistic Player can simply walk their well-fed soldiers into it and automatically take control of the state!
The more Grain you dedicate for defense, the greater chances of repelling the enemy. Same with conquering your neighbours; the more Grain you set aside for the conquest, the greater chances of success.
You can also Invest your Grain in a Land that you control.
For each 5 Grain Invested into a State, the State will provide you with 1 extra Grain, starting from next Turn.
Example: You have 90 Grain, and your Origin Land, Llanc, provides you with 20 Grain. If you invest half of your Grain, 45, into Llanc, this will raise Llanc's Grain output to 29 (20 + [45/5=9] = 29).
There's a finite amount of arable areas and living space in each Land to develop it; the Grain output in any given Land caps at 30.
CONQUESTS, DEFENSE, AND THE DIE OF WAR:
Once you decide to conquer some of your neighbours, you must know that each combat is resolved using a d10 die. You can only Conquer Lands adjacent to the ones you control.
Combat formula is simple: d10 + Grain = your number. If you roll higher than the opponents' defending force, you win and the Land is yours!
Example: You decide to conquer Land of Bain, and dedicate 17 Grain to the task. Land of Bain can afford to dedicate only 10 Grain for defense of its borders. You roll is 6, their roll is 4. 17+6 = 23, 10+4 = 14. Land of Bain loses the fight and its territory are now yours!
If a State is attacked by more than 1 Player at once, the Grain spent on Defense is spread as equally as possible with any leftover spent against the Player with highest amount of Grain dedicated to the conquest.
If a State is defeated by more than 1 Player at once, the control of the State falls into the hands of the Player that dedicated more Grain into the State's Conquest.
Once a State is conquered, inevitably there will be looting, pillaging and destruction at hands of victorious soldiers. The Grain output of the State is thus HALVED, and the new owner of the devastated land will need to re-invest into it.
One must be vary of Devastation mechanic; once a Land's Grain output falls BELOW 5, that Land is no longer able to support Attacks to neighbouring Lands. It can still be attacked (and conquered) by others, but the Land's owner must first invest Grain into it to bring Grain level to 5 or higher.
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