Reme has fallen!The words run around the old world like wildfire.
Reme has fallen!
Impossible, cry generals!
Impossible, cry kings!
Impossible, cry priests!
Reme has fallen!
The heathen Igitians conquered it. They slew the cardinals. They crushed the relics. They filled the churches with blackpowder and burned the city to the ground, then sowed the fields with salt and poisoned the wells. A hundred years reperation would not be enough. And even if, by some miracle, the city should be rebuilt, it would not be enough. The knowledge that there is even the possibility that the gateway to heaven should be crushed by heathen armies is enough. The damage has been done.
The unifist church is a lie. Perhaps even all of Luthianity
The bond between all countries of the old world- even those beyond, the political catalyst, the source of divine right, the military co-ordinator, the unifist church- destroyed. Can the old world even survive without the church?
The Kings are heathens!From the north: Prince Eric II of Northland, heir to the throne, is no Luthian! He worships the Norse god Thor and his pantheon!
From Celtice: King Richard is ending the inquisition! No longer will druids of the Celtic faiths be chased and purged by the king's men. Though still illegal and prosecuted, the king will not search for them with proper Unifist fervor!
From the Holy Remen Empire: The Protesting church is risen! In dribs and drabs the rulers of the fiefdoms convert to Protestism, claiming the Unifist church corrupt and outdated! The fall of Reme can to them only be evidence that they are correct.
Whilst it is worrying indeed that these claims of heresy even exist, what worries more is that not all men shout out in anger when they hear them. Some consider it acceptable, or even right, to stray from the Lord's path.
The Crusade has ended!No man can blame them; there is no honour in battle any more; a peasant with a knowledge of blackpowder can beat the most valiant knight in armour. Besides, with no Reme, who can command them? What are they even fighting for, if Reme itself no longer exists? The banners of the ecks are taken down. The knights return home to rule their fiefs, and perhaps never go to battle as knights again. The peasants return to their fields. The priests retreat and pray to God for answers to what has happened, and why.
The men who fought because fighting is what they know, however, do not have lives to return to. They must train in guns and cannon if they do not wish to become obsolete all together. Even now they plan retaliation, not out of honour, or faith, but out of a wish for a purpose, a goal in life. These are a new kind of solider. Professional soldiers, as adapt and focussed at their 'jobs' as a real artisan.
The New World beckons!To the far west, across the great ocean, lie new, untainted lands, where mystical spices grow and fantastic beasts roam. The journey is long and hard, but already explorers have gone and returned, each with tales of lands unclaimed, waiting for a nation to fund an expedition to settle there.
And Africa, though the north is firmly in Islemic grip, is rich in spices and gems for those who will risk the natives to search for them. Already small settlements, no more than a rest stop for ships, litter the ivory coast, and each small pit stop has the chance to become the gateway to the riches of africa.
Further east, around the coast of africa, lies the far east. The silk road, though well traveled, is dangerous and long, and only few items come along it to europe. But each cargo of silk and spices flares the imagination, and now that a new, faster, sailable way has been revealed, avoiding all need to pass Islemic lands, who knows how fast the trade shall grow?
It is the year of our lord 1500. Reme has fallen, and the world is changing. For better or worse, is yet to be decided.BY YOU!
Yes, you, dear forumgoer, can affect the course of an already mangled history!
'But how can I, a lowlife from earth prime, 21st century, affect this world?', I hear you cry!
Well, don't be stupid! This is not a real place or time! It is all my imagination! And this is a FORUM GAME.
You can 'join' my 'forum game' and 'affect' this 'world' by your 'actions'.
Exact mechanics of this affecting: Chance, good roleplaying, and my whims!
You may join as any of the following:
A)A single influential figure- not a ruler of a nation or the leader of an orginization. This option requires the least work but also offers the least rewards (in terms of history-affecting-powers). As one guy you must select one interest which interests your guy. You can pick whatever you like, but a basic list is: Warfare, Technology, Politics, Religion, Exploration, Commerce. You also require a name and a starting position (for list of regions, see below)
Example of who you could join as:
Name&title:Some Rich Explorer Guy, the Rich Explorer.
Interest: Exploration
Current position: Kingdom of Iberia
Description: S.Guy has always been fascinated by exploration. As a child he would hike in the mountains of his native Iberia, mapping them as he went. When he was 16 his father let him join him on his mercantile ventures, and Guy learnt to sail, navigate, and barter. He became a successful merchant, his love of exploration driving him to ever further markets for ever more exotic goods. With the discovery of the New World Guy finally decided to sell his assets and invest in an ocean-going carrack and enlisted himself as an explorer to King Alfonso of Iberia. Now he prepares to sail the seas, in search of new lands.
B)An influential organisation. Be the power behind a guild, military organisation, religious group, or whatever you can come up with! This option allows for lots of history affecting whilst also allowing lots of freedom. An organisation may have one to two interests. It may be based in one region or spread out, although it requires at least one region where it has sufficient influence to build an HQ. As an organisation religion may have affect, so choose yourself at least one tolerated religion (no atheists in 1500!) and a level of involvement in religion (from 1-5). Also required: a name.
Example of an organisation:
Name: Defenders of Reme (DoR)
Interest(s): Religion and Reme
Religion: Unifisim (5)
Regions of Influence: Reme Region (HQ), high. Latinia Region, medium.
Description: The Defenders of Reme consist of survivors of the fallen Reme and highly devout Unifists, which includes both warriors and priests. They have taken it upon themselves to rebuild the city of Reme and protect it and what it stands for in the coming age of darkness. The Crusaders, after driving off the Igitians, gladly left them in charge of the ruins. The DoR now seek to have a new Pope elected and the college of cardinals reformed, and to prevent Unifism collapsing after what they see as naught but a test for the faithful. That may prove to be simple in comparison to getting people to remain faithful to Unifism.
C)A nation! Control a nation, Civ style, in this age of turmoil. This option does hem you in a little qua free choice, as you can only join as an existing nation, ruled by an existing leader, in an existing geographical position, with existing policies. Well, it's not that bad, actually. You can modify your chosen nation a little, or even a lot if you can provide a good case for why your version of the alternate nation is better. Any nation not player controlled will be AI'd.
I shall provide a list of regions and a brief summary about them. (Note: Geography corresponds almost exactly with that of earth prime)
Northland: Scandanavia. I'm not sure how much of it, but most of it. Basically vikings and their ilk.
Leader: King Eric II, to old to really have a personality any more. Soon it will be the heir: Prince Eric III. Forwards-looking and rebellious.
Religion: Fairly Unifist (60%). Some Protesting and a fair chunk (25%) Norse. The current king is Unifist, but he is old, and his heir is -allegedly- more 'old school'
Politics: Good relations with the Holy Remen Empire. Trade with the Cossaks (russia). Complicated politics with Celtice, currently neutral. Tensions with Gaulland.
Military: Their Longships are feared on the high seas still, despite not being able to carry many cannon at all. Their warriors are toughened by cold and harsh terrain, and tough fighters for it, but lacking in cavalry. Gunpowder is not used much in northland, but that could easily be changed- the Cossacks are willing, eager, to sell them blackpowder weapons in exchange for european goods.
Celtice: Britain, but then where the normans got their asses handed to them in 1066. So none of that fancy pants french influence!
Leader: King Richard II. Young and charismatic. Celtice-first policies. Going into middle age is mellowing him.
Religion: Devoutly Unifist (75%). However, Protesting, Celtic, and Norse have small followings. The crown is Unifist and other religions are illegal, but King Richard II seems to be becoming more tolerant.
Politics: The only reason they are not at war with Iberia is because of the recent crusade. Relations with Gaulland are ok. Complicated politics with Northland, currently neutral.
Military: The mighty welsh longbow is still in great use, as it has a greater range than all handheld firearms. The mounted Knight was never very popular in Celtice (not being hyped up by the normans after their conquest on account of how they never conquested), so its decline has not affected them. Infact they have taken to guns with such eagerness that they have mounted them, giving them a great, original military advantage.
Gaulland: France... just, france. You know. France. In the middle ages. Joan of arc and all that.
Leader: King Philip II. Traditionalist. Military interest.
Religion: Devoutly Unifist (80%). Some expanding protesting influence and a little lingering rural celtic. Religion is just an assumed part of life, like breathing.
Politics: Relations with Celtice are ok. Tensions with Northland. Relations with Iberia are ok. Complicated politics with the Holy Remen Empire, currently neutral. Tensions with Latinia.
Military: Knights. What's wrong with knights? A knight is faster and better trained than a crossbowman or -heaven forbid- a musketeer! The Gaulland armies consist of troops who are high on morale but low on technology, with lots of knights. But for how long this will last is questionable.
Iberia: The entire Iberian peninsula. That's spain and portugal.
Leader: King Alfonso. Pretty damn Unifist indeed. Also interested in exploration.
Religion: Pretty Unifist indeed (70%). A smidgen of Original and some judaic colonies. Also the south retains an annoying Islemic faction (15%). Unifism is promoted fiercly
Politics: Relations with Gaulland are ok. The only reason they are not at war with Celtice is because of the recent crusade. Relations with Latinia are Good. They are at war with North Africa, but there is little happening.
Military: Good all-round armies, with experimentation occuring with gunpowder. Their ships, though not the very best, are of an excellent quality.
The Holy Remen Empire: Germany, dutchlands, austria, that sort of thing. Pretty much all of western europe not part of another country.
Leader: The Landraad, a council consistent of the leaders of the city states and fiefdoms of which the empire consists. Although
arguably it is merely for show, with city states even going to war with each other on occasion. The council is not interested in
running the country, preffering personall power. Mildly commercial.
Religion: Fairly Unifist (65%). But Protesting originated here and it's following is growing (15%). Also some pagan (norse&celtic)
and some Original influence. Some judaic colonies.
Politics (with non-empire people, inter empire politics I will ignore): Complicated politics with Gaulland, currently neutral. Good
relations with Northland. High tensions with Latinia. Relations with the Cossaks are ok. Tensions with the Hellenics (greeks)
Military: Focus on infantry, and willing to modernise. Archers armed with crossbows are trained to kill armoured cavalry and the
armoured cavalry are un-armoured and trained to avoid crossbows and musketeers. A few units of musketeers in the works.
Latinia: Italy. Consistent of city states. Not one country, but counted as one region. City states can be counted as regions as well, though.
Leaders: Typically rich merchants, rather than hereditary kings. Interests vary but mostly commercial. All of them unifists.
Religion: Unifist.
Politics: High tensions with The Holy Remen Empire. Relations with Iberia are Good. Tensions with Gaulland. High Tensions with Hellenics. At war with Igit (egypt).
Military: Varies. Gunpowder is widely used.
City states of note:
Reme. Now ruined. Nevertheless, holding the region is a symbol. Perhaps something could be done to repair it, slowly.
Military: In it's day, it had a highly trained infantry class.
Vinece (venice). It is said that the arsanell of Venice can produce a war galley every week, and this is true.
Military: The mass-produced galleys are not shoddy, but it is the finely built war galleys, with banks of cannon and reinforced hulls that truly inspire fear into enemies of vinece, and are rightly called the most mighty ships on the sea. Unfortunatey, vinecian vessels are designed for use on the meditereanen only, but ocean going vessels are also produced, and the art of perfecting them is always underway.
Other nations:
Cossacks: Russia. Divided states, lots of gunpowder weapons due to [mongolian] influence. Original.
Turks: Need good name plz. Horse archers who have decided to make a nation. Uh, sure, turks. That's going to happ- hey what are you doing to byzantium? Islemic
Igit: Egypt. Islemic fanatics. Cannon and guns are what they do. And they do it well.
North africa: Islemic. Moors. Horse archers and stuff.
Hellenia: Greece and the balkans. Not one nation. Mostly original, but also some Unifist. They get conquered, that's what they do.
The Holy Land: The latest crusade was to protect this nation. Actually all crusades are. Tries to be Unifist, but also has large islemic and original influence.
'Holy shit, Nuke. That is one giant wall of text!' Yes it is my friends! But don't worry you will be elaborating upon it by yourself a lot until you know it all by heart! That is, infact, mostly the point!
'So Nuke what is actually the point?' Make an entity and further its goals, thereby creating a history!
'Nuke I want more details on the actual friggin gameplay rather than pointless backstory!' Hmmn. Get the fudge out of this thread.
Haha. More seriously:
Turns will last, say, a week. They will usually represent 2 years of game time. In each turn you can do three things:
1)
Roleplay (Pure): Make up details about the world. Unless I rule otherwise all this will be considered cannon.
2)
Minor actions: Attempt to do some minor action which could fail but does not have game-shattering implications. You may do a certain amount of these per turn and they will fail or succeed based on a luck. Your skill roll against the action difficulty roll. Say, a merchant tries to make money in city X. If the merchant is a noob merchant his skill might be only D4. If he is an experienced merchant it might be a lot higher, D10, say. If the city is a hub of trade in which even the beggars are clothed in silk it might have a difficulty of D3, but if the city is ruled by monopolies and in a lull of trade it might be, say, D12. Bonuses to rolls are constant, like a merchant with a cargo of rare spices gets a +2 bonus to his rolls. Negative bonuses are also possible. Like a city which has issued a law promoting trade loses a constant 1 from its difficulty. Your skill at different skills will be told as well as any bonuses, and you can discover what the difficulties of certain actions are. You may perform a limited amount per turn, which varies.
3)
Major Actions: Change the world! Sack Reme, for example. These actions will succeed based on my whims entirely. If you want to increase the chance of success, bribe me... with good gameplay! If I like you, because your roleplaying is frequent, balanced, and fun to read, and you properly seperate your knowledge from that of your entity, and such, you may find your victories more common. One major action may be undertaken per turn per player. Ofcourse, the major action of a nation will be more major than that of a single guy.
'Sweet were do I sign up?' Right here.
'Ok one more question: Magic?' Oh, go on then, just a little. But not too much.
PS: Any questions feel free to ask!
EDIT: Questions!
What is with the strange names?
All on purpose! They are silly mutations of real world names for the purpose of not offending people and suchlike! It should be pretty easy to figure out all the real names though. If you think you have a better new name for a place please tell!
Has X been invented?
If you want! If you think that the invention or device you want in the game is reasonable for the level of technology, then feel free to add it and it's inventor to the world! You can add things to history and the present as you wish; The world has the bones of history and culture only, letting the player fill in details as they wish!
Your rules are vague! Please expand upon them, make them more structured!
I will do so in the section below this titled RULES: CLARIFICATIONS AND STRUCTURE!
What is X called in the Remen world?
If I haven't named it, whatever you like! No all to silly names, though, please.
This random name generator is quite useful if you need a name for something and can't think of one!
RULES: CLARIFICATIONS AND STRUCTURE!
Turns
Turns will last probably a week each. They may be longer or shorter depending on if I am busy or not busy. But a week should be plenty most of the time.
At the turn change the results for all actions of the previous turn will be given, along with any NPC actions. Changes to the world as result of these will be given. The length of the coming turn will be given (probably 2 years, but if I feel this is not enough later I may change it). Finally, effects and notes about the coming turn will be given.
Creating the world
During the game you may, nay, should endeavour to define the world. Describe the lands you travel through; describe the look of your orginisations halls, what arms their men bear, tell us of the royalty of your nation, of the names of its cities and how they are built. Describe everything new; new actions, new things, new concepts. Take the basic world and colour it in with details!
If you need a gameplay reason: Because good roleplay will make me like you which will increase your major action's success rates!
Actions
Minor Actions
Each turn you may undertake a number of simple yet failable action (simple and easy actions can be roleplayed as succeeding). This will be based on a skill you posses against a difficulty rating. Normal skill is D6; normal difficulty is D5. Both 'die' will be thrown, and if the skill roll is higher than the difficulty roll, the action succeeds. Lower, and it fails. Equal, and it sort of fails/succeeds/does nothing depending on the situation. Also, 'winning' by a larger margin increases the level of success of the action. Static bonuses/penalties are acquirable for both sides.
Note: Minor actions are the most ruley things in the game, but they are not the most important!
Skill levels. Note that these are only guidelines.
Individual character: D6Interest, D3 for 2 related skills
Example: A slick-tongued merchant, dealing in curiosities: D6 commerce, D3 politics, D3 technology)
Organisation: One interest: D8 interest, D4 2 related skills. Two interests: D6 both interests, D3 two related skills. Representatives (armies, priests, spokespeople, ect): One interest: D6 interest. Two interests: D4 both interests.
Example: The Vinecian League, sending vessels far and wide to bring things back to vinece, by violence if necessary: D6 Commerce, D6 Exploration, D3 politics, D3 warfare. Their trading fleet on the Ivory Coast has D4 Commerce and D4 Exploration.
Country: 36 Ds to spread around the standard 6 interests (see title), with max D8 and min D4, based on the countries policies. They can raise representatives of all six skills with D(country skill - 2).
Example: ExampleLand, the backwards military nation with strong religious feeling. D8 warfare, D7 religion, D6 commerce, D6 politics, D5 exploration, D4 technology. Their armies have D6 skill, their priest D5, their traders D4, their diplomats D4, their explorers D3 and their engineers D2.
Difficulties. Note that these too are only guidelines.
Normal tasks are D5. These are, for example:
Individual political: Fix a diplomatic error to restore some relation between two factions, one of which you represent.
Organisation religion: Remind people of the virtures of a supported religion, preventing people from converting away, when luring forces are not unduly strengthened. (um. you would have to describe it better than that, but you get what I mean)
Country exploration: Increase influence in a mapped part of the new world.
Easier tasks may be D4 or D3- D2 will probably never happen. Examples:
Individual warfare: Lead an army against a weakened foe.
Organisation commerce: Raise taxes on members to generate capital.
Country Technology: Apply an improved technology, like improving crossbow design or steel making process.
Hard tasks are going to be D6 to D8. Examples:
Individual Religion: Convert Islemics to Luthianity peacefully, by strength of your conviction.
Organisation Technology: Utilise a radical technology throughout your organisation.
Country Warfare: Recruit an army from a demoralised population.
Bonuses and penalites. These are barely even guidelines
Minor bonuses are small things that give small bonuses to skills. Examples:
Individual (all):Great wealth. Whilst all powerful individuals are rich, some are even richer, to the point where they have more money than they need to support their lifestyle. This excess can be spent for a one off +1 bonus to any skill.
Organisation (religious): Relic. The bone of a saint, a splinter of the Ecks, any relic lends weight to religious actions. Two +1 bonuses to religion skill.
Country (exploration): A mighty vessel. Capable of sailing headfirst into a storm and with enough room in the hull to sail for a decade without stopping (as it were), this vessel will make exploration easier, to the tune of +1 to one exploratory campaign. You might want to use it for a major action though. Just saying.
Minor penalties are also applied to skills, although you cannot choose to use them, they are automatic. Examples:
Individual (commerce): Poverty. Ok, you aren't a beggar, but what merchant doesn't already have a fortune? You can make money, but it won't be as easy as you think. -1 to your next commerce action.
Organisation (politics): Bad hype. A recent screwup has made people less glad to see you. It will blow over, but trying to expand your organisation or make deals with nations might be harder. -1 to political actions for the next 2 turns.
Country (warfare): Rusty weapons. Your armies are ill equipped, and your armouries are worse. -1 to military actions until you make new weapons, buy new weapons, steal new weapons, or in some way acquire new weapons!
Major bonuses/penalties come from big screw ups, or big successes. They are just below skill changes in value. Examples:
Vast fortune! You are so rich you have money coming out of your ears! You can buy anything, hire anyone, commission everything! For whilst the money lasts you receive +2 to all actions (lasts one turn due to where has all the money gone?)
Crushing defeat! No one wants to join a war with results like yours. -2 to recruiting-type actions and -1 to all military actions till your next decent victory.
And so on.
Difficulty bonuses/penalites are applied by the entity in control of the action in question. Examples:
Trade encouraged: The government of this city has lowered taxes and such like, making trade easier. -2 difficulty to commerce actions in the city
Flooding: Mother nature has decided to flood the lands you seek to act in, making it a little harder to do so. +2 to dificulty rates in the region.
Acceptance: Organisations round here are open to new ideas; -1 difficulty to technology and religion actions.
Inter-Entity minor actions, like an organisation doing politics with a country, are harder to work with. In a case of direct conflict, like two armies clashing, both sides skills are used, and the highest side 'wins'. Example:
Two merchants are competing for a market. Both are D6 in commerce skill. Both throw their D6s, and the higher one beats the other.
Indirect conflict, like a single preacher infiltrating a country, the 'attacked' entity does a free minor action, which depending on it's success will modify the difficulty of the 'attacker''s action. Example:
An Islemic preacher is infiltrating a Unifist country. Exampleland has D6 religion, and Islem is pretty feared round there, so the action is easy (D4). Alas (say), the action fails 3 to 4, the priesthood failing to get the message of Islem being evil across properly. This does not affect the difficulty of the preacher's action, which remains high- D7. The preacher has D6 religion skill, and beats the action 5 to 3, converting a bunch (5%) of people to Islem, and increasing sympathy for Islem.
When both sides want the action to succeed it is the same as indirect conflict but success on the 'defender's part will lower the difficulty for the 'attacker'.
Skills and what they are good for. GUIDELINES
Politics and related skills: Politics. Influencing of opinions.
Warfare and related skills: Recruiting armies and fighting battles. Leading armies and fighting duels for individuals.
Religion and related skills: Converting people and unconverting people. Also rousing fervor.
Commerce and related skills: Setting up trade, making money from trade, generating resources to trade.
Technology and related skills: Inventing new things, probably not (do major actions for this). Applying new technologies, convincing people new technologies are a good idea, building complex things.
Exploration and related skills: Sailing to far away lands, walking to far away lands, acting in far away lands.
Major Actions
World-changing actions, or at least actions that have never been done before, or preparation therefore. What constitutes a major action differs per entity. To an individual, going to a new country might be a major action, whereas to a nation, invading another country is. Major actions fail or succeed based on my whims, not on the throw of the dice. This does not mean they will always succeed, as they will work as I judge they are most likely to work. So tell me more about them than '[X] does [Y]'. Tell me how X does Y, what Y is exactly, why X thinks he can do Y. And then I will tell you how and why X failed or succeeded at Y and what Z resulted from this.
What is a major action and what isn't I leave up to your common sense. If you are not sure if an action would count as major, you can always ask.
I'll finish this tommorow. It's pretty damn long already!
Turn one will last 2 years, from spring 1500 to spring 1502!
Turn one effects:
In the next 5 turns
half of all Unifist peoples will convert to a different religion (assuming no other effects.. effect it). If another Luthian religion is present in the region they will probably convert to one of them. If there is no other religion available they will become [REGIONNAME] pagans.
Due to the political turmoil all political skill and difficulty scores are HALVED for the next three turns. This will make politics a lot more unpredictable!
Notes: The igitians have been beaten. There is no threat from them now.
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Topic: Fall Of Reme: of Politics, War, Religion, Commerce, Technology and Exploration. (Read 10918 times)