Cyclone

A New World: Fate of Albion (RP will be remade; see OOC for details)

Reserved

A New World: Fate of Albion (RP will be remade; see OOC for details)

In the dead of night there were fifteen falling stars that streaked across the sky. The lands to the east saw the lights above the sea, and those here in Albion watched as they streaked over the mountains and across the fair plains. Far to the west, the lights were even spotted by those brave adventurers that tried their fortunes at settling the world.

Never in living memory had such a shower been seen; the superstitious pointed to the sky and foretold impending doom and death. The wise men of the old ways consulted their tomes and cast their spells to decipher whatever sign the heavens had seen fit to show, whereas the skeptics, men of these new times, struggled to explain the phenomenon through science and logic. The apathetic just laughed and sat by as they always did.

Those fifteen meteors were fitting, for they marked the coming of the year 1500. Today is the turn of a century, and with it, an era. Magic has began its decline and now as its practitioners dwindle in number, so too does their power seem to fade away from this world. In place of magic have come a great many new and terrifying things: gunpowder, steel, and industry. All manner of wondrous new innovations come from the eastern lands; the Commonwealth has united those lands of the rising run under one banner and sparked a golden age of technology and science.

Today also marks a monumental day for the Commonwealth: the fortieth birthday of Wladyslaw III, Divine Emperor and First Citizen. As his days grow numbered, he seeks ensure that his name is glorified and remembered. Many whisper that he looks to Albion in the west, wanting to bring those divided lands under the Commonwealth's great banner to establish a lasting legacy of his reign.

But the nations of Albion have their grand ambitions too; five years ago the New World was discovered by pirates and explorers, and in these past years there has been a scramble to chart the western lands and claim their riches.

So just as the New World lies seductively in the west, a new world of a different sort comes from the east to take Albion by storm and bring about a technological revolution; it is be an age of industry and steel, of science and philosophy, and it that will shake Albion to the core. This era could see Albion and its ancient civilizations fade into dust and irrelevance, or it could be a golden age in which declining states could rise to rule the world. What will happen? Only time can tell.

---

OOC Information and RP Details

First and foremost, we have a Discord channel. Feel free to jump in and say hello!

Plot information:

Most recent map of the world

Conflicts brew from many sides. The Commonwealth is of course a looming threat that has cast Albion in its shadow; with each passing year, its influence over the continent grows. As colonialism begins to take root, conflicts over the western lands will no doubt arise. Even in Albion there is conflict between magic and technology and between the different faiths.

Game Mechanics

The RP will be broken into loose "turns". Each turn will represent one month of time IC. You are allowed to perform multiple action on each turn; the point isn't to restrict action so much as keep a consistent flow of time and help us keep track of how long certain actions (like raising an army) have been going on for.

Rules:

Though not an exhaustive list, here's some important rules to keep in mind:

1. Good grammar and some effort please. I've labeled this RP to be Mid/High Casual and will thus expect the effort of at least a few paragraphs per post.
2. On the topic of posts, going inactive for a long time without at least telling us will result in us having to terminate you from the RP and go through the effort of either writing your nation out of the story. It probably also means having someone else control it when needed. That's all a big hassle, so please don't make the commitment of joining this RP unless you're ready to keep it.
3. If you feel it necessary to keep your secrets, plotting against nations and the like can be done in PMs instead of on the OOC. I'll ask that you include me though, just so that I can keep in the loop as GM.
4. Regarding technology level, let's try to keep things near the early Renaissance time period for the nations of Albion, at least for the beginning of the RP. I am willing to allow certain fantasy materials like mithril or adamantine so long as they aren't ridiculously powerful.
5. At the bottom of each IC post, add a small summary placed inside of a hider. This becomes very helpful when trying to look back or for those that are struggling to keep up with the RP.

FAQ
Can I still join?
Yes, here's the nation sheet template. Ask me for some rolls, fill that out, and then we'll go from there!
Update: The map has now just about ran out of room which complicates things. We can still accept more players but you may have to ask our map guy TheArhive to part the seas add some land onto the map, or otherwise you could perhaps be a nation native to the New World.

Nation Sheet Template

Name: (Feel free to make some giant fancy wordart for YOUR GLORIOUS NATION'S EQUALLY GLORIOUS NAME)
Flag/emblem/symbolism: (optional; feel free to give picture or description)
Demonym: (What are your people called? The English? The Bwitish? The Fwench? The 'muricans?)
Description: (A summary of your nation goes here; basics on what's going on and what the country is about. Traditions worthy of note go here, recent history, unique traits,...)

Government: (Your rolls gave you a general guideline, but feel free to elaborate and go into as much detail as you like here)

Economy: (Just describe the major industries, activities and how they are organized. What are notable exports and imports? What is your nation lacking? Your rolls should help you figure this out)

Religion: (If present, more than one?)

Geography:
(Jungle, grassland, mountains, etc. Be sure to identify where on the map you are, preferably by posting a clip of the region you wish to occupy, keeping in mind the relative size of your territory as was given in your rolls. We may have to move you around to make it work.)

Population: (Was given in your rolls)

Demographics
(Makeup of your population; info of the different species of your people, further subdivided into ethnic groups if you like, maybe even mention linguistics)

Notable Locations
(Give us some info about your capital, other important cities, maybe where your forts and colonies (if you have any) are located)

Personalities of Note
(Your ruler, perhaps your highest military officers, generally just use this space to help us keep track of your POV characters)

Institutions:
(Major non-military institutions of the nations, such as legislative bodies, guilds, religious sects)

Military:
Organization: (Professional/militia/levy/..., doctrine, tactics, equipment, though the latter can be put underneath as well, etc.)
Troop Total: (Keep reality and upkeep in mind, e.g. 3% of your population as full-time professional soldiers would be a whole lot. Many seemingly unrelated factors can go into this, including abundance/lack of food and your nation's wealth)
Army:
Navy:
Other: (Such as siege equipment, internal security, important mercenaries, spies, etc.)

Other:
Special traits, remarks, boons and flaws(Here is your chance to decide something unique and important about your nation without basing it on the rolls I gave you. You may have 1 big strength that makes you special, 2 big strengths and 1 big weakness, or 3 big strengths and 2 big weaknesses. Ask if you're having trouble coming up with something)

Some credits:

Credits to Chenzor and several of the other guys in the Civilizations RP Discord chat. They gave me the motivation to try making this RP and they helped me iron out some of the ideas.

Credits also to Sini's An Age of Empires RP from a few years back. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from that RP (however brief it was) and might copy his rolls mechanic.

And lastly, we have @TheArhive to thank for making our map, and @Archetype Zero for making the banner at the top of this post.

The New World - OOC IS UP

With regret, I must withdraw my interest from this NRP. I simply don't have the free time to do it justice right now. I wish you good luck and many exciting stories, because this game has promise.

@Skylar

Unfortunate to see you go, but thanks for letting us know!

The New World - OOC IS UP

Got a strawpoll for you guys to help me decide whether to use turns.

strawpoll.me/12747176

The New World - OOC IS UP

lul democracy

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

<Snipped quote by Double Capybara>

Firefox...eugh...

My Hider

@Vec

firefox 4 lyfe

Civilization - New Lands, New Glory! V. 2.0

The Iceborn

---

H) Expand Military

Dag walked through Dagshall and witnessed the work being done. More boats were already being built in the new shipyard, and in time the palisade would be complete even though the work was slow for now. The question then became what they should do next.

Dag hadn't had to think hard about that question before just now, but in truth there weren't so many pressing things to do. After all their hard work since arriving on this new land, Dagshall had just about everything that it needed.

But then the high chieftain found himself near the shrines to Kjorn and Father Frost and realized what it was that they were missing. Right now the Iceborn stood on their own for all that Dag knew; he couldn't claim to know the machinations of gods, but they hadn't appeared to the tribe or sent them any signs, after all. The Iceborn needed the gods, so that would have to change.

Father Frost was of the aloof and mysterious sort that was wont to come to you rather than the other way around, but Kjorn - ah, there were ways to get the war god's attention. One such way was for a man to tread alone into the wilds and fell a mighty bear. More often than not, they could then wear the beast's hide to become bear-skins, or berserkers, and then Kjorn would see their might and bless them with great strength and his favor. Indeed, the Iceborn had no great champion and Kjorn had no berserker, so perhaps it was time that Dag called for a hunt.

He proclaimed that the tribe would need a berserker and all the young men knew what that meant. For every one that was eager for the chance, here were another three that were either indifferent or outright afraid at the prospect of being chosen to run into a forest and hunt a bear on their own.

But Dag already had a chosen man in mind: his own son, Sigdar. Sigdar was brave and strong; Dag thought that the boy had as good a chance as any, and if he was triumphant then it would bring glory upon Dag too. so Sigdar was taken by boat upriver to the logging camp, and then with no supplies and nothing save a spear and hunting knife, he entered the deeper forest in search of a bear.

Iceborn

-The Iceborn are building more boats
-Work on the palisade continues
-Dag sends his son out into the woods to kill a bear, become a berserker, and earn Kjorn's favor.

-Yngvar and his crew still haven't got back yet.
-Daddy Frost is still silent

The New World - OOC IS UP

@Taeryn

The mythical list of governments

1. Your nation is ruled by a theocracy. Perhaps you have a secular king is nothing more than the puppet of a powerful church, or perhaps your king is the head of the religion and acts as more of a high-priest than an administrator. Or perhaps the clergy rule as an oligarchic caste. In any case, deus vult!
2. Your nation is ruled by that shine of gold and silver. In a society where money is power, the wealthy elite form a plutocratic government. Bloodline is still important (because of course a person born into a wealthy family is worth more than some pauper!) but your ancestry becomes irrelevant the moment that you run out of coin. At least there is some degree of social mobility in that a poor merchant can perhaps work his way up into the elite; in more traditional and aristocratic countries, rising up might not even be possible.
3. Your society is a feudal monarchy. Quite typical, there is a king who inherited the throne from his father, and then there are all manner of other aristocrats: dukes and barons and knights all swear fealty to one another in exchange for control of land, all in a complicated system of legal obligations...
4. Your nation is ruled by one great emperor with functionally unlimited power. Beneath him is a large bureaucracy, but under this imperial system there is a meritocracy. Your magistrates and administrators have been tested and found competent; therefore, they earned their position unlike some noble that simply inherited it from his father.
5. Your nation is ruled by the sword, and the cogs of its "political system" are oiled with blood. Though they might put it more eloquently in order to conjure an image of legitimacy, your nation is quite frankly ruled by whatever warlord(s) are currently at the top of the food chain. This chaotic military dictatorship has the potential to perhaps transform into something more like a monarchy, but for now birthright means nothing and the man with the most soldiers at his back is always the man that lays out the law.
6. Your nation has this strange thing called democracy. Get this: the people actually vote to elect their rulers, and a ruler might only reign for a fixed period of a few years! Of course, there's probably countless slaves, women, and poor people that don't partake in this political process, but your republic is still quite radical and progressive for its time.
7. There might have once been some semblance of true government, but now it's either gone or reduced into a mere puppet. The true rulers of your nation are the crime lords; gangs, guilds of assassins and thieves, and/or smuggler cartels run the show in your "nation".
8. Your nation is still a tribal society. The various chieftains or patriarchs of their clans rule individual settlements, and there may or may not even be a central figure that all the others owe fealty to. If there is some sort of high king, he probably wields much less power than a feudal king and your tribes are probably mostly autonomous. Tribes also have a tendency to develop rivalries, so there's a good chance that the occasional bit of infighting cripples your nation as a whole.
9. Your nation is effectively a magocracy - that is to say, it is under the rule of magi. Whether this just means that one mighty wizard in a great tower effectively rules as a dictator or that there is an entire ruling caste of magic-users is up to you, but make sure to include unicorns.
10. Your country is in something of an anarchy. There is no central government to speak of, probably because it recently crumbled. For now you're in quite the quagmire and regions might be tempted to splinter off and form their own new nations. But hey, at least this gives you the opportunity to reestablish order and found a new government of your choosing!

The New World - OOC IS UP

Could you reroll my government? Ive been perplexed at how to make the above work in a way I could pull of decently - though knowing my luck it'll be something even more bizarre but if so I'll just have to make it work..

Or mix the two, who knows?

@Taeryn

If it's literally only the government type that you want to change, I'll let you pick whichever one you want. At the end of the day government is mostly just flavor and I understand why you don't want the weird tribal thing.

Otherwise we can reroll your entire demographics section, reroll your entire sheet, or you can try to trade your set of rolls for someone else's.

The New World - OOC IS UP

<Snipped quote by TheArhive>Hm, if the Commonwealth is larger than us then how in the blue hell we aren't conquered yet?
They are more advanced, they are bigger and they are in the colonizing biz earlier than us.
Heck, why they haven't colonized the New World yet?
If we're so inferior then we don't really have a place in this whole imperialism idea aside from playing second fiddle and hoping we earn a few crumpets from the bread of the Great Commonwealth.
Combined we're the equivalent of Japan at best and more likely something even less.

At least if our continent is bigger than the Commonwealth with combined military might enough to challenge them we can reason away why the Commonwealth don't literally own the entire world yet.

@Willy Vereb

Question roulette? challenge accepted

1.) The Commonwealth hasn't always been this big and has only recently achieved the size that it has
2.) Albion's combined might is greater than the Commonwealth's
3.) Other factors go into play here; just because one nation is a superpower doesn't mean it conquers everything in sight. An overseas invasion is difficult and there needs to be a good reason
4.) The New World was only recently discovered; the Commonwealth very well might look into it *cough cough spoilers* but for now they have a leg down because they're more distant. Also keep in mind that not every nation would have charts of the New World, and those that do might not necessarily have good maps
5.) Boy just trust me on this

(and yes I know I told you some of this on PM already, but it bears reiterating here for the benefit of others to read)