So there are draw backs okay, so weapons are going be able research like new Armor, or tactics?

caliban22 said
So there are draw backs okay, so weapons are going be able research like new Armor, or tactics?

Research will offer a variety of things, but it will not be the end-all of the game. The techs will offer things that will certainly help in a large variety of ways, but they are not there to determine your nation's shape, only to add bonuses.

I appreciate that it sounds like the system will not be restrictive and that it's merely to add some concrete elements rather than limit the flavor and such we create?

Raptorman said
I appreciate that it sounds like the system will not be restrictive and that it's merely to add some concrete elements rather than limit the flavor and such we create?

Correct. You could lead a race of compassionate Elves for example, who want to win over Earth as peacefully as possible, and just because you research human appeasement and human enslavement doesn't mean you have to somehow add in the fact that your Elves are looking after some whilst shoving others into the mines. I had to give the squares names, and I thought it looked better rather than me just writing "20% human loyalty" but hey ho. Maybe I should just do that instead, it might make things clearer than if I wrote a separate list detailing them.

How goes the ooc creation process?

Just finishing up the tech trees, then I'll be onto the army building and population mechanics. Most of it is already written out, I just need to transform it from my mad ravings into legible form.

Awesome. I'm just looking forward to seeing the sheets and such so I can start working on it.

Playing as Humans

Human players, and NPC nations, will start off at a disadvantage due to the races of Gorika having access to magic. However, they grossly outnumber the Gorikans, and already have established naval assets (for those countries with access to the sea, that is). Their tech tree is aimed at negating the Gorikan’s magical advantage, as well as improving the masses of their armies to better cope against their superior foes.

Whilst the Gorikans must deal with subduing the humans that they rule over, the Kings and Lords of Europe need not worry about such matters. As far as the commonfolk are concerned, the Devil has sent forth his legions to reap the souls of the innocent, and all stand behind their leader in this difficult time. The High Elves slaughtering the Pope has only stiffened public resolve, giving a King, Sultan or Emperor more or less free will over civil matters without fear of reprisal.

Playing as Gorikans

Gorikan players have the early game advantage. The humans, whilst universally hostile to them, are terrified and paralysed by their arrival. The magic borne by the Gorikan races, ranging from flinging fire balls to shooting spears of ice, will not only deal out casualties to early human armies, but it will also rout them easily.

However, your people are the last of their kind, and the majority of them have perished on your home planet. Your base adult population starts at 50,000 strong, with only 10,000 eligible to form an army. You will find yourself able to cut through the early human masses, but mid-late game will require you to utilise the humans you rule over to bolster your forces. You will also face human rebellions, if you are not quick to quell them with garrisons or other means.

Bolstering your magical powers or increasing your population via the tech tree are sure fire ways for a Gorikan race to go solo, but it is a narrow tightrope to walk. For every human felled, ten more rise up to replace them. Perhaps it will be best to live with them? To forge alliances with the human nations, convert to their religions and use these newly found friendships to wage war against your enemies. Merge your blood with the feeble race of men, to create a lesser but unpredictable half beed – attainable through the tech tree.

Ultimately the choice is yours, but always remember, yours is a dying race, and numbers are not on your side.

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I'll frequently post new parts of the OOC here, so you can monitor my progress.

I don't know what order you're building the OOC in, but i'm interested in seeing what magical abilities are on offer.

MECHANICS

Recruitment:

Human nations can replenish their professional losses by 2,000 per season, to the Gorikan’s 1,000. Replenishment halts when a nation reaches its troop cap.

Human militias, used by both native and Gorikan nations, are replenished at a rate of 5,000 per season.

Units replenished are taken from the race’s available adult population.

Players will specify how many, and of what they are recruiting. This is a loose rule, that will be overseen by me. For example, I’d allow someone to say “I want 2,000 knights” because horses are a wide resource. However, if they said, “I want 2,000 catapults”, I’d probably step in and lower the number to something nearer to 20 to reflect the difficulty of making them.

Custom units are of course allowed, and if they feature special abilities, this should be made clear to me. I will likely lower the number created to negate any over powering. An example would be someone creating an elite type of soldier, which is supposed to be superior to the ordinary one.

Gorikans do not have access to home-grown militias.

Troop Cap:

Human nations start with the following caps:

Professional soldiers (Knights, men-at-arms, archers etc): 15,000
Militia (Spear/bow/sword/horse levies): 20,000

Gorikan nations start with the following caps:

Soldiers: 10,000

Caps can be expanded in two ways:

1) Tech tree
2) Conquering land

Human nations will gain +10.000 to their professional cap, and +15,000 to their militia cap, per land. Gorikans will gain +5000 to the soldier cap, and +15,000 to their militia cap.

Population:

Both Gorikan and Human population increase 10% per season.

Human populations will be bigger than the Gorikans.

Gorikans must watch the “happiness” of their human subjects, which will fluctuate from time to time. Can be countered by the tech-tree, or by placing garrisons on troubled regions.
Once a population falls below 10,000, it is considered to be decimated.

Army Types:

There are two forms of armies in this game. Professional, and Militias.

The two cannot be combined, but can take part in the same battle. In this case, the militia would engage first, with the professional army engaging what remains of the enemy. In the event of someone having a stack of armies, the professional troops and militias would be totalled to give two figures.

Militias suffer penalties on the battlefield, when pitched against professional armies.

Players can form as many armies as they wish, so long as the numbers of troops do not exceed the cap limit.

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That's all I can do for now, I'm afraid. Need to go and get stuff done, but I promise to keep working on this as much as possible.

May I join too? -hopeful face-

Hey question. So only humans get Militias?

caliban22 said
Hey question. So only humans get Militias?

Not by the sounds of it. Everyone gets militias. Humans just get more.

I'm going to guess that some of the mechanics may be subject to change based on the specifics of the races used? This is just an example but a race that reproduced very quickly might well have a faster population growth.

I guess I'm interested.

I'll be bringing in naga/drider hybrids, assuming my attention holds.

EDIT: Is there magic in this? Or rather, how does it work? Is there a limited spell list or are we allowed to use some creativity?

Raptorman said
I'm going to guess that some of the mechanics may be subject to change based on the specifics of the races used? This is just an example but a race that reproduced very quickly might well have a faster population growth.

I had a good time to think about this RP, sitting in my favourite smoking chair and sipping whiskey because sometimes it's good to pretend I'm some deeply vexed philosopher, and I've come to realise something.

What I want is for people to bring forth their imagined races, and play them out. For them to do that, the mechanic systems that would have otherwise suited a traditional D&D race-set will limit them. I do not want this. The strength of this RP will be the amount of enthusiasm players have for it, and I believe that enthusiasm will come from having less restrictions as possible on what they dream up.

With this in mind, and seeing that everyone is veering towards the races of Gorika, I will close down the human side of the RP to players, rendering Earth's nations under my full control.

The mechanics for each of your races will be decided upon their publications, including their population numbers, population replenishment rate, army caps, battlefield advantages, disadvantages and everything else. Meanwhile, the major human NPC nations will follow the mechanic system I have already put in place, although it will be liable to change to reflect the strength of the Gorika races. The idea is that I want you to be able to beat the nations of Earth, but not wholesale white wash them, so their strength will be relative, I think.

So with this said, I will right away get to creating the nation entry sheet, so that you all may fill it in and get it back to me. In the mean time, I will get to work on the other parts of the RP. Hopefully we can have it up by tomorrow, hopefully. I don't want to rush it though, I've done that before, and ended up having to constantly revisit parts of the RP whilst it's in progress - this can get messy.

Xaxl said
I guess I'm interested.I'll be bringing in naga/drider hybrids, assuming my attention holds.EDIT: Is there magic in this? Or rather, how does it work? Is there a limited spell list or are we allowed to use some creativity?

There will be a magic section in your nation sheets, and from that, I will allocate bonuses/drawbacks to your race to reflect the kind of magic they use.

NewSun said
Not by the sounds of it. Everyone gets militias. Humans just get more.

This was the original plan. The Gorikan races are the remnant, the last of their peoples, and so would not have the numbers to draw upon to defeat the forces of Earth out right. Therefore they would need to draw help from the human population, whom they could win over or enslave.

This should be enough to get your started. If there's anything missing here, please shout it out and I'll take a look. If there's any questions, again gimme a shout.

The more information you can give me, the better. However, don't feel that you HAVE to provide me with a mini wiki, I know time is an issue for some people.

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Starting Country: Get an Atlas if you’re not sure what the country is you’re looking at!

Name of Nation: Can keep the original country name.

Race Name:

Race Leader: Name, rank/title

Race Leader Physical Description:

Race Leader Significant Traits: This is for when your race leader is a special being. For example, if you had a nation of wasp-like drones, your leader may be the Queen who upon dying, would render the rest of her kind mindless.

Race Physical Description:

- Male Appearances: : (If applicable)

- Female Appearances: (If applicable)

Use of Magic: (Not required, if your race does not use it, then remove this section. Describe what your race does with it and how widespread it is amongst the population. However, remember that your best wizards/mages/sorcerers/etc have remained behind on Gorika to close the portals. The magic users available to you will be “lesser” spell casters.

Life Span: How long do they live for on average?

– Male Lifespan: (If applicable)

- Female Lifespan: (If applicable)

Reproduction Rate: Are they like rabbits? Or are they like the rare Snow Leopard? Describe how quickly their population is able to replicate. Include how long it takes for them to reach “adulthood” in Earth years. I.e, a human would be16-18 years of age to be considered an adult.

Society: What kind of society do they operate?

Religion: What kind of Gods/God do they worship?

History: Can be brief, or long. A rich history may present with additional bonuses (or disadvantages).

Significant Racial Traits: List here anything you feel should be mentioned. For example, if your race cannot swim, or if they require a certain diet to thrive.

Preferred Fighting Methods: Describe the tactics your peoples employ on the battlefield. Do they rely upon the heavy use of magic? Do they make good use of guerrilla warfare tactics? Are they at their best when amassed into a horde? Do they use finite tactics like flanking, tight formations and other complicated manoeuvres? Give me a feel for how your army would fight.

Seafaring Capabilities: Is your race experienced at sea? Do they use ships, or do they swim?

Other Information: Anything that has been missed, and you feel needs a mention.

Thinking of changing the focus from Europe, to the whole world.

Or would it be best to remain in Europe?

If needs be, we could add additional theatres later on in the game, if it lasts that long.

You will all get your very own tech tree, which will be PM'd to you at the start of the RP. This will allow for them to better reflect the kind of people you lead.

Added religion to the nation sheet.