Major NPC Nations
Current Season: Spring 1200 A.D
Red = Kingdom of England
Light Blue = Kingdom of France
Dark Blue = Kievan Rus
Dark Yellow = Ayyubid dynasty
Purple = Basilieon ton Rhomaion Played by So Bored
Bright Yellow = High Domain of Nillanor
Orange = Holy Roman Empire
Gorikan Nations
Dark Grey = The Empire of Vyrndar
Light Green = The First Hastin Empire
Black = Isarimer Hunting Grounds
Light Blue = Mayelin Sanctuary
Sand = Sav Omoz
Light Brown = The Vrael Evermind
The world of Gorika was dying, and none knew the reason. The land cracked beneath the feet of those who lived upon it; entire nations crumbled into fissures, and the seas boiled as the planet’s core sought to escape its prison. The skies sent forth volleys of corrosive rain down onto the inhabitants of Gorika, devouring those who were not fortunate enough to live under the protection of hastily erected magical forcefields.
Knowing their doom, the grand multitude of Gorika’s races gathered together on the last barely surviving continent, even as the very ground they stood on slipped into the abyss, and there, despite centuries of war, they allied themselves against the unstoppable force of nature. Thousands of wizards, mages and sorcerers merged their power as one, and vied to match the Quiet One’s strength by achieving a Godly feat of passage.
Calling to them the chaotic energies erupting from the planet’s surface, this gathering magical practitioners were able to force open a series of portals, through which their kin could escape. They paid a heavy price, however, as to keep the destruction from following those they were saving, they had to remain behind to ensure the portals were closed. This selfless sacrifice is known to all as ‘The Great Giving’.
The portals bypassed space and time, appearing instantly on planet Earth. This was never the design of their creators, whom lacking adequate preparation, had simply projected them towards a random star far from their dying home world.
The skies above Europe were torn a sunder, as unseasonal storms boiled from seemingly nowhere, striking the ground beneath them with forks of malevolent lightning. The Atlantic Ocean, reeling from the sheer power wrought by the gateways connecting Earth and Gorika, was whipped into producing gigantic waves. These destructive walls of water crashed across Spain and Great Britain, threatening to submerge them entirely, but withholding at the last second. Earthquakes racked France and Germany, bringing towns and cities to their knees. Millions perished in these catastrophes, and entire Kingdoms were toppled by their enormity.
The portals appeared randomly, all over Europe. The first of Gorika’s refugees to emerge, were the High Elves of the now non-existent Realm of Quandier. Appearing outside of the very walls of Rome, they were heavily sickened by the tolls taken on their bodies from traversing the gateways. Pope Innocent III, proclaiming that Hell had spewed forth its legion, ordered the Catholic nations of Europe to rally their armies for the ‘end times’.
Markward von Anweile, the Holy Roman Emperor’s defacto ruler of a recently defeated Kingdom of Sicily, descended upon the High Elves with an army of twenty thousand men.
… We came upon them at dawn, many of us mounted upon beast, and we fell upon them with lance and sword. They were a strange peoples; shorter than we, with long white hair, pale angular faces and piercing eyes of sapphire. They pleaded with us in an unknown tongue; but we heeded not the words of the devils, whom had surely come to claim our souls. For the greatness of God, we put them to the sword without question. Men, women and children all. Some resisted, and their weapons were of a strange quality, but they bled the same as us and soon victory was ours… – Makward Von Anweile, the Massacre of Prince Thalas’ column.
Other portals soon opened however, pouring into the world a multitude of various beings. Some were as helpless as the High Elves at Rome; others, like the Orcs of Blackspire were not. Normandy burned as the Orcish Warchief Brakkar Fellblade led his warbands across the vast expanse of the Norman countryside, pillaging and slaughtering as he went. The English fought back with Arthur of Brittany leading the charge. After a bloody battle outside of Caen, Brakkar was finally brought to heel, but not before he had put the greater part of the region to the torch.
As the human Kingdoms and Empires fought a war of genocide against the ‘demon spawn of Hell’, Gorika’s refugees started to rally. Realising they had happened upon a hostile world, those who were fortunate enough not to appear in the face of the enemy from the moment they stepped from the portals, established themselves as armies with the objective of securing a foothold from which their people could continue to congregate safely.
The second High Elf column, appearing outside of Rome, and seeing the remains of their massacred kinsmen, quickly stormed the city. After a fierce melee upon the city’s walls, and a brutal engagement in the streets, the High Elves overcame the Papal army with the heavy use of lesser magic. After seeing fireballs launch from the hands of their adversaries, it was not long until other native forces within the city’s immediate bounds retreated north and south to the safety of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Pope was held responsible for the murder of the High Elven prince and his peoples, and was burned alive for ‘crimes against the innocent’; an ironic end to a man of such standing. With Rome secured, and the human population subdued under the boots of the High Elven occupiers, the way was clear for the rest of their kin to safely make passage through the portal; thus allowing them to establish the first Gorika kingdom on Earth. Other races from Gorika started to follow suit; despite early native victories, they were able to forge their way through the hostile world, and lay claim to areas of land which they would later call home. The Colliding of Worlds was in full swing…
You lead the last of your kind in a hostile world. Secure yourself a foot hold, driving away the native humans who see you as a Devil to be put to the sword. Divulge in diplomacy with your agressors, to see if you can sway their minds to accept you as an ally – or drive home your military advantage and enslave them to bolster your cause.
Will the light of your people die out in this alien landscape? Or will it thrive, and consume all that it sees?
Major NPC human 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 establish naval assets (for those countries with access to the sea, that is). As the RP progresses, mankind will adapt and evolve to counter the Gorikan threat; this includes learning magical arts from captured enemies, and fashioning their armies to better deal with the extra-terrestrials.
Minor NPC human nations are left grey on the world map. They will be significantly weaker than the major nations, making them ripe for the taking by the Kings of Europe and the survivors of Gorika.
They will be under the control of myself, allowing for me to create a very animated world. All diplomacy and battles with them will be resolved by me. They will not stand unitied against the races of Gorika however, and their borders will contract and expand as King turns on King in a bid to capitalise on the chaos.
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 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. 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.
The High Elves were the first of the races to create the portals that saved the remains of Gorika’s inhabitants. This they did out of benevolence, and at great cost to themselves. However, some of the more aggressive races of Gorika were able to forge their own portals, whilst others attacked High Elven citadels and commandeered the gateways to Earth that had already been established.
They are considered to be the oldest known race on the planet, and their history is deeply intertwined with the lore of ancient warring Gods. As a result, they are largely revered – and feared – by all of the Gorikan races.
From their bastion in Rome, they are attempting to assemble the last of their great mages. Given time, they will be able to unlock Earth’s magical potential, allowing for all races capable of bearing magic to draw on greater powers.
They will issue quests to all nations, asking them to secure certain regions and to retrieve artefacts from enemy hands. Each completed quest bears a reward.
Recruitment:
Human nations can replenish their professional losses by 2,000 per season. Gorikan race replenishment will be set by me following the publication of the player’s race.
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 be trusted to maintain their army replenishment, following the rate at which it is set. However I will step in if someone abuses this trust, and decides that 2,000 fire breathing dragons the size of a bus can be summoned/created In one season. The best way to deal with powerful units, is to use common sense. The bigger and stronger they are, the less you should be able to raise in a season.
Gorikans do not have access to home-grown militias.
Troop Cap:
Major NPC 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 nation troop caps will be set by me following the publication of the player’s race.
Caps can be expanded in two ways:
1) Tech tree
2) Conquering land
Major NPC human nations will gain +10.000 to their professional cap, and +15,000 to their militia cap, per land. Gorikans cap increases will be set by me following the publication of the player’s race.
Population:
Human population increases 10% per season.
Gorikan population increase will be set by me following the publication of the player’s race.
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.
Creating an Army:
Players will state at the head of their IC posts the armies they have in the field. These are called army cards, will be concealed in hiders for the sake of neatness, and will look like this:
Army Status Cards
When detailing units in your army, you will see the ‘bonuses’ section. Include here any significant information, but be warned, abuse of this will lead to me ignoring the bonuses if you fail to balance them. Your average soldier will not have any bonuses, but your better or special troops will. As above in the example, you can see that the Levies have no bonuses, because they are basic troops, but the Glade Watchers are elite and therefore have bonuses.
Players can form as many armies as they wish, but the total number of troops must not exceed the cap limit. So if your cap was 10,000, two armies of 5,000 would be okay, but an army of 5,000 and an army of 6,000 would be exceeding the cap by 1,000.
Special Actions:
In certain situations, you can attempt to use special actions. The sky is really the limit in creativity, but their success will be dice rolled. Usually a 50/50 split on success or failure. Examples include:
- Hiding units that have ‘stealth’ as a bonus, so that they can cut off the enemy retreat following your victory. They would be removed from the battle, but the enemy’s ‘pursued losses’ would be greatly increased.. If the roll failed, they would be found out and have to face the full force of the enemy by themselves prior to the battle starting.
- Assassinating a King/Lord/Sultan. Sending in an elite section of your army to sneak into a city, and remove the nation’s leader, would impair the morale of their army in any imminent battle. Failure would result in the loss of the units sent.
Battle Mechanics:
There are a series of rolls to determine the outcomes of battle. This will be made by me. You will then need to take the results and elaborate on them in your IC posts – definitely the most entertaining part of the RP in my opinion.
Before commencing a battle, I will permit the sending of scouts to gauge a nation’s military.
I use simple six sided dice, to keep the system simple and brief.
Phase One: Casualty Roll
This dice roll determines your initial losses in the battle.
Phase Two: Special Event/Disaster Roll
This dice roll determines whether or not your army is blessed with success, or wrought by disaster in the field.
Phase Three: Victory or Defeat
Victories are decided by the gap between the opposing armies’ casualties. The bigger the gap, the bigger a defeat or victory.
It is here that an army’s/race’s modifiers will be brought in to play, to total up the casualty figures.
Desertion Roll
If an army is badly beaten, it will roll to see how many of its troops desert.
Rout Roll
A badly beaten army must roll to see if it routs or retreats in an orderly fashion.
Pursued Roll
A routing army is pursued by the victors, and a roll is made to decide how many are cut down.
Morale
Armies start with 100% morale. Losses and defeats lowers this morale. It will creep back up over time, or can restored by victories and territorial gains. At the end of the battle result, you will be told by how much your army’s morale has dropped, or increased.
Morale factors in to the combat effectiveness of your army, and adds losses at certain levels.
Following the battle, I will post the raw dice data and the result in the IC. You will be informed what the aftermath is. For example, whether the retreating army was able to make it to the safety of a city, or whether or not you have captured the territory.
Army Size Difference
Armies that are significantly bigger than their enemies will take less casualties in the battle. Armies that are significantly smaller than their armies will take more casualties. This is to balance the system, and to prevent ‘Thermopylae Syndrome’.
Seafaring:
Navies are effectively your armies, but made seaborne. Races that are amphibious will be able to jump right into the water and start going off to their destination. Races that are land-based will need to halt for two seasons to prepare ships to carry them. Once the ships are made, they will be free to travel the seas.
Naval battles will be resolved the same as army battles, however depending on the types of races involved, certain modifiers will be removed/added to reflect their seafaring capabilities.
Army Movement:
Land armies can move one territory per season.
For navies, there is a line on the map to give you a rough idea how far they can travel. I will rebuke you if I feel you’ve sailed too far.
Siege Weapons:
Siege weapons modify your army rolls thusly:
Per 10 siege weapons = -1% to enemy defence bonus | +5% enemy casualties on open battlefield.
Defending a City:
If you feel that your forces are best served by defending, then you can IC them falling back to either a city or a prepared defensive location. Doing so gives you the following bonuses:
+10% to enemy casualties and -10% to your casualties.
However, if the enemy decide to lay siege, your army will run out of food stuffs in 6 seasons and will not be able to move whilst besieged.
Furthermore, the besieged army’s replenishment will freeze, and you will be unable to build the force up or replace its losses until the siege is lifted. You can however sally forth from your defences and attempt to break the siege.
If the 6 seasons is up, then your army surrenders or is destroyed. Either way, they’re gone.
Attacking a besieging army will total the defending forces, with the relief force, into one army for the dice rolls.
Nation Status:
Your nation status will be at the bottom in a hider in the first OOC post. This will be administered by me, and it is up to you to watch for changes. Information included will be:
- Population total.
- Population replenishment rate.
- Army cap.
- Army replenishment rate.
- Nation/Racial traits.
- Religion %
- Human population total.
- Human religion %
- Human contentment.
- Alliances, ceasefires and wars
Seasons:
A game turn is an Earth season. They last around 48 hours in the real world, which I think is adequate time for everyone to post during that turn. I will announce in the IC the start of a new season.
When a new season begins, you may replenish your troops and move your armies/navies.
Different seasons will add modifiers to battles or armies depending on which part of the map they’re based.
Tech Trees:
Each race will be given their very own tech tree via PM. Techs are researched at a rate of seasons, and provide your nation with bonuses and unit cap extensions. To research a tech, simply tell me which one you want to go after, either through the PM or in the OOC and I’ll set it in motion.
Researched bonuses will then be added to your battle modifiers or nation statuses automatically by me.
Templates:
For those of you new to Titanpad, DO NOT edit the text. Copy it into your word processors or else it’ll break the template for everyone else. If you happen to do this by accident, then let me know and I’ll right it.
For creating Armies:
Army Card Templates
Remember these have to posted at the top of your IC post. This makes it easier for me to find them.
Nation Sheet Template
Post in nation sheet thread.
Going AFK:
If you up and leave without a word said, I reserve the full right to neutralise your nation. If you’re going somewhere, or won’t be around etc, within the 48 hour season period, then let me know either via the OOC or with a PM.
Neutralised players will be named and shamed, and their regions will revert to human control.
I am tired of people thinking it’s okay to just f**k up an RP because they can’t be arsed to get up and write something. If you commit to RP, you commit to the players as well, and any unmentioned absence that goes beyond 48 hours may well result in neutralisation. This might sound harsh, but seriously, it’s a huge problem on this guild.
If you need to leave the RP because your life is “busy”, then that’s fine. Let me know, and there will be no hard feelings.
If you’re going away for a long time, then we will try to reach an arrangement so that you can return to the RP.
Gorikan Nation Statuses
Here you will find the information you need in order to replenish armies accurately, and to manage your nation. Also included, are your racial bonuses/disadvantages, your population levels, human contentment and religious information.
The First Hastin Empire
The Empire of Vyrndar
Isarimer Hunting Grounds
The Mayelin Sanctuary
Sav Omoz
The Vrael Evermind
