I'd like to thank everyone for the offers to be parts of their nations, but I think I'll stick with the single isolated nation (For now).
Also, I have read through the interest check, and am making my way through the nations, and I was wondering what other material would be good for me to read/ what would be good for me to know. And again, thanks for letting me join late.
If you can find time to read the whole IC, that'd be a HUGE boon. If not, I'd advise reading the summaries you can find at the bottom of most of the IC posts. That should put you up to speed.
Do note that we're leaving the evolution phase presently and preparing to transition into a more "We're in the present" form of RP. We'll later have another evolution phase when we get bored of the current technological era.
EDIT: As for "Good to know" stuff... Well, I'll come up with that later. Diplomacy's a bit of a tangled web.
Yeah, no problems. Welcome. For an isolated, pre-contact nation, it may make sense to be closer to Zaqir, but it won't be long before you face the full force of their military might!
On the other hand, @Shorticus is right. If you fancy having a go at the Grogar once you've caught up on all this copious reading we're punching out, I for one would not mind. I'm already managing three virtually independent states as it is, I don't need to run the NPC Feinar barbarians and especially not the Grogar! :D
@Joegreenbeen Here's a sheet to fill out. Sorry it took me a while to do this.
For others, it is a hybrid of the existing Nation Summary Sheet.
New World Peoples
Across the vast oceans, tucked far away from the raging forges of Uthein and the beating drums of the Zaqiri training grounds, rests a multitude of peoples that live in backwards simplicity. Their technological and cultural advancements have been successively stalled by the prevalence of tradition. They are a proud and conservative bunch, but alas, they are vulnerable to the designs of the Central Nations. Only time will tell if they maintain their freedom, or if their ways ( and indeed their lives!) are wiped from the face of Setera.
Though let us not forget, that there is always a chance that something as great, or indeed greater, than ourselves may lurk in the lands yet unknown.
Flag/Banner
Name of Peoples/Nation
Races:
Name of Species: i.e Orcs, Skaven, Humans, Gorillaraptors etc Genetic Compatibility: A bit gross, but what other races can they mate with? If anyone? Physical Characteristics of Males: Male appearance. If applicable. Physical Characteristics of Females: Female appearance. If applicable. Physical Characteristics: If your race is one of those self-sexing types. Ignore if it's not. Life-Span: Diet: Herbivore, Omnivore, Carnivore etc. Racial Attributes: Resistances to certain climates, elemental weaknesses - anything important that your race can or cannot do. An example would be a fish race struggling to breathe on land, or dolphin-people only being able to communicate telepathically. Age: How long have they existed for? Humans were around for 200,000 years, and only started building cities 6,000 years ago. This is a benign detail, aimed it giving a little colour.
Repeat as necessary.
Tribe/Nation Information
Lightning Summary: In one paragraph, summarise your nation. This is to provide any new players a brief idea of what your nation is, and what it's about.
Example - "Jalsador is a single city state, but a regional maritime power, with an emphasis on securing trade to all nations that are willing. It maintains a small professional army, but its true strength lies in its navy. It is led by a King, and has a proud history of acting on the right side of morality. It is inhabited by a mixture of humans and turtle-like humanoids."
Place on Map: Use a hider to keep things neat. Draw your nation/tribe's location and territorial holdings on the world map. Keep it away from the central landmass, where the more established nations are. Also, if possible, label where your key settlements are.
Population:
Race A
Race B
Race C
Main State Religions:
Religion A
Religion B
Religion C
Technology State:
Stone Age - Reliance on stone and bone for tools and weapons; primitive structures, primitive forms of writing or none at all, hunter-gatherer life style, no large cities.
Early Bronze Age - First big city is just starting to be established; peoples are moving into agricultural hubs. Bronze has just started to see its first instances of use, but is not widespread.
Exotic Super Power - Blessed with technological delights such as iron, steel, large cities and advanced cultures; however the nation must be extremely different from the Central Nations to warrant the word "Exotic". Exotic Super Powers (ESP) are those have have arisen under different circumstances, and so, their cultures and practices need to reflect a big break from the Central Nations. Only one of these allowed at any one time.
State Government:
Name
Type
Names of leaders or prominent individuals and their roles within government.
Brief History: Cover the events of your peoples, as briefly as you wish, over the past 500 years. This can be summarised by bullet points, or a few paragraphs - choice is yours. It will just give the other players an idea of where they've come from and what has shaped them.
Infrastructure Summary
Capital City:
City Name
Known For: I.e Centre of learning
Other Major Cities:
City A
Known For: I.e Iron Production
City B
Known For: I.E Trade Hub
City C
Known For: I.E Religious Centre
Transportation Network Summary: What are the main forms of travel employed by your nation, when transporting goods? Horse and cart? Carried by hand, and on foot? Sea routes? And what kind of condition are your trade routes in? Are they roads paved of stone? Are they waterways full of hazardous reefs? Are bandits and pirates a problem?
Military Summary
Standing Army Size:
Crisis Army Size: (The most individuals you could plausibly call up to serve, and equip, in a time of crisis on a short term basis)
Outline of Military Tactics and Doctrine: I.e emphasis on tightly packed spear infantry, loose unit guerilla tactics, focus on individual combat, use of missile weapons, use of cavalry and support wings. Etc, etc. How your army fights, in a typical situation, basically.
Navy Size:
Heavy Ships - Large war galleys, or in that ilk.
Medium Ships - Balance of power and speed. Ships of the line.
Light Ships - Fast, but lacking combat power. Used for raiding and harassing.
Crisis Navy Size: After converting all merchant and civilian ships into makeshift war ships, how many vessels could you feasibly float in a time of crisis?)
Outline of Naval Tactics and Doctrine: Your ships, their advantages and weaknesses, their weapons and use of tactics, etc, etc.
Industry and Trade Summary
Nation's Natural Resources: What kind of natural resources does your nation have access to?
Goods Available for Trade: Anything and everything your nation is able to trade with others. Examples include processed iron, lumber, food, mercenaries, silk, salt etc etc
Trade Pacts: Nations you start the RP trading with.
Estimated National Income Through Trade: % of annual income.
Through Their Eyes...
Character Name:
Character Gender:
Character Race:
Character Age:
Character Appearance:
Character's Role Within Nation:
Character Background Info:
Other:
Leaders: Monarchs, Emperors, Prime Ministers etc
Government Officials: Prominent members of government who do not necessarily dictate the direction of a nation, but may have a hand in influencing it.
Generals: Leaders of armies who are not necessarily linked to the running of state, but rather, the leading of armies. Commanders, Lords, Princes, Admirals, Captains - that kind of role.
Scientists/Inventors: Individuals whose research and experiments are likely to procure ground breaking results in the very near future. Could for example, be someone on the verge of figuring out how to harness gun powder in an effective form.
Explorers: Individuals who have accumulated enough wealth, or who have been sponsored by rich benefactors, to set sail beyond the great seas to lands yet unknown. Think Christopher Columbus.
Soldiers: Individuals of great skill and renown (or not?), who have made their living in the trenches or on the sands of some Gods forsaken arena, but whose story might bring grit to the tale of an entire Empire.
Common Folk: Every day citizens and subjects, or slaves, who may yet one day be of some significance to the history of your nation.
So, since we're nearing the end of the ancient era, what are the upcoming ages going to be? Or is that a secret?
Not secret, I just haven't decided. However, here's what I had in mind:
Exploration Era - Colonisation is in full swing, as the Central Nations strive to out perform their rivals in terms of resources. Gunpowder is entering its early stages of utilisation, with cannons and muskets making their first appearances. Full plated armour is common, and so are related works with similar complexity.
So IRL I guess we'd see it go from 400 A.D to 1400 A.D as far as tech is concerned.
However, there'll be a full consultation on this prior to the next evolution phase. Also, what happens during the character driven phase might influence what shape the Exploration Era takes.
1400 is a little early for the age of gunpowder. Primitive cannons, I believe, were invented, but not even arquebuses were introduced yet.
I read that early muskets/hand cannons were in use by as early as the 1300's, but maybe it was only sporadically? Like, some super camp Lord was like "Boyfriend! I want me chummies to use BOOM STICKS if ya know what I mean? Hahahah- Hey! Hey, is that Geralt? Good heavens, look at the state of that tonsure!" etc etc
But yeah, like I say we'll have a little masturdebating session to set the playing field at a level that suits all parties. I think in this situation, democracy is the only real way to go - so you'll get to have your say then :)
They'd look something like this. Wikipedia dates this particular drawing to 1405.
Heh, yeah I see what you mean.
Well, we'll see where we get ourselves by the end of the character driven phase, and then we'll all have a good old talk about it.
Personally though, I'd like to see us get into the kinda time where gunpowder was just starting to be a thing, but where armoured melee infantry still ruled the day. But yeah, we'll see what happens.
Still in this! Have to write up two (kinda separate) nation sheets, but I'm almost done. Should we set a goal of being onto our IC posts by the end of the week?
Still here. School got busy. The new sheet's in the process of being filled out, but I'm focusing on finishing some stuff for the RP I'm running before wrapping it up.