Sini

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

The idea of NPC states brings up the question: what are we going to do with any empty spaces on the map? Make NPC nations that we can do whatever we want to? Expand all our existing nations' territories so that there is no empty space? Leave it for someone who decides to join later on?

@Cyclone

Ideally, as @Cold stated, the entire continent (which is NOT the only landmass on this world, see the OP IC-info) would be filled out with a patchwork of player ran states. Up to recently it seemed there would have been no problem, due to the massive interest this RP received. Unfortunately a few people have backed out, or have simply not followed through with their stated interest. That's a pity, particularly since it took me time to roll for them. Such is life, I guess.

And how will the passage of time work?

@Cyclone

Passage of time will go how we want it to go. Like I said, I do not want this to be a competitive brawl of people pummeling their chests and screaming they're the best (that only happens at night, in my bed). This means that time is not as tight as otherwise. The story progresses at the pace we set it. Everything is relative.

For instance, someone goes to war yeah (I assume this is the biggest concern)? You talk to one another about the campaign. Do you know he/she is coming? How many there are? Where they will show up? Time isn't as relevant here in its absolute sense. Collaborate, 'set a date'. When you read a novel, events do not always transpire chronologically either. What happens before or after is what's important.

Speaking of low Fantasy: @Sini, have you checked out the Compendium yet?

@Terminal

It's already up in the OP at the bottom. Please do not add to it before having it sanctioned. I don't want giant hydras suddenly tossing around mountains or something. :)

1) Is there only one land mass on the entire planet?

2) If we get sufficiently far into the RP, will gunpowder be making an appearance?

@ClocktowerEchos

1. See above and the IC information segment. No, there are other continents, but nobody knows if they still exist or where they are.

2. No. I simply feel it would not fit with the setting. Steampunk NRPs are there for this. The equivalent superweapon is something like Greek fire (wildfire) but that is something I would like to avoid as well.

Did I get any and all questions? :)

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

<Snipped quote by Sini>

Ill like to roll anew, just to say. I have a nice idea of a nations leader. need those stats to build it though.

@Song Book

This looks like an economically strong nation, a few wealthy city-states that have banded together for reasons of security and trade. You've got a lot of corrupt people. Your army seemingly consists of some elite troops, militia and mercenaries.

ESSENTIALS
Regionally Dense Population (Population - 3,000,000) - Considerable amount of manpower for economic and military purposes, but it also means that the social infrastructure is under increasing strain. Educational costs and civic projects tend to be expensive.

Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing adequately, though there is much room for improvement. There are little limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a lack of funds or resources, tech limits. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people, and there is a degree of criticism in what can go wrong, even if it hasn't gone wrong yet.

Urbanisation - Heavily: Your nation consists of many cities. Community sizes range from a few hundred to several thousands.

Technology - Slowly Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of the expertise to modernize the economy. Metallurgy is limited to bronze and some iron products.

Domestic Political Stability - ethnic violence in cities

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, some marshes

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Moderate deposits of metals and minerals.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately silver and salt.

Unique Materials - precious stones, textiles (linen, lace, some silks), perfumes

Agriculture - crop and cattle based, slight food surplus that is increasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - inferior army, decent navy, bad infantry and cavalry ratio (10:1)

Military Recruitment - Rotation system, strong mercenary contingent (4 regulars to 1 merc)

Reliability - Levies are of excellent quality, generals play politics

Military Size - mid-sized, relative to population: requires reasonable upkeep, harder to equip/supply quickly.

Military Technology - Slow Modernisation, your nation lags behind, you are dependent on what you can buy, pillage or otherwise take from others, but have certain fields of expertise.

Military Training and Morale - Badly Trained; High Morale, levies have medium morale but are bad at following orders

Military Leadership - somewhat competent; Corrupt; Decadent

Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered decently sized but inexperienced

Siege Equipment - Outdated but effective, seasoned corps of sappers

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES (also, come up with one of each your own)
Pro: A little money here and there: The Merchants leave aside a little ‘bribe’ money with which to get through those pesky little legal roadblocks and expedite trade, oh nothing illegal of course, just some sharp-edged coin to cut through the red tape, like getting into cities and getting the choicest stalls. You have a lot of money. Grease a couple of palms, for a little coin to grease a few palms can get you preferred status as the chosen customers of more than a few merchants. After all, they’ve all got such incredibly large families to feed.

Con: Mercenary Muscle: Your nation relies heavily on mercenaries and hired hands. And they are only as loyal as their pay check. The problem with a nation full of mercenaries is what happens when an enemy nation simply decides that they’re going to offer your men more than you do. There is nothing quite so terrible as half of your army packing up and joining the bad guys.

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

"medicinal" drugs is my unique resource but I'm sure your quacks can convince some fools to buy their inferior goods ;)

EDIT: I meant priests, of course.

@Cold

That and you could be an all-out narco-state.

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

IF I'm allowed to i would like to take a roll.
Ive been looking at this rp for a while, and it looks interesting I'm just not that good of advanced rp'r.
Saying so that means i will only post once in a while.

@Song Book

Glad you're interested, same goes for you @Dedonus.

I'll either assing you the rolls of someone who has retracted their interest, or roll anew. Choice is yours. Heading to bed now, so you'll get something tomorrow :).

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

Anybody want to take a guess at what inspired mine, particularly the military?

@Cyclone

Macedon?

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

Nobody said it had to be reformed/organised religion. You can easily just worship a variety of spirits, deities or some such. A religious hierarchy, as we are familiar with it, did not exist until well into the 7th and 8th Centuries.

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

I'm going to formally drop this because I'm lacking the drive or motivation to continue this RP with the rest of you. Best of luck to everyone and perhaps we can collaborate on another project together in the future. Until then, so long.

@ethanjory

Sad to hear this and see you go.

Hopefully until the near future!

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

Can I still join this?

@Pikachu

There you go. Since EthanJ is dropping, I'd say you can have his rolls unless you want an entirely new sheet. In which case: let me know.

ESSENTIALS
Population Density (Population - 6,000,000) -Adequately Populated; Some manpower for economic, public and military purposes, and social infrastructure (housing, roads, public buildings, sanitation) is only under some pressure. Civic projects are affordable.

Economy -Rapid Growth - The economy is performing well according either to design or accident, or a happy coincidence of both, and this situation puts money in the coffers of the nation and confidence in its citizens.

Urbanisation -Semi-urbanised: There are several towns and a few cities present, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants.

Technology -Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of the expertise to modernize the economy. Metallurgy is limited to iron products.

Domestic Political Stability - Widespread Protests Common, particularly in large communities.

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, with some desert

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Moderate deposits of metals and minerals, iron, tin, copper, salt and the like.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominately silver and gold.

Unique Materials - Magnificent furs

Agriculture - cattle based, slight food surplus that is decreasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - land oriented, good infantry and cavalry ratio (4:1)

Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military, large component of mercenaries (3:1 ratio)

Reliability - Racially Homogenous troops are reliable, mercenary components subject to some doubt

Military Size - Large, relative to population: requires considerable upkeep, harder to equip/supply quickly.

Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.

Military Training and Morale - Decently Trained; High Morale

Military Leadership - Semi-Competent; Rose to their positions through experience and battlefield exploits

Military Reputation - Unpopular domestically; considered uncouth but capable by foreigners

Siege Equipment - Undeveloped; Loyal

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

I just added more spoilers to my sheet for organization and explained the general military tactics used. Perhaps I'm putting too much love into this sheet, because it's already taken me a few days and I'm only about halfway done.

@Cyclone

The more love the better. I'm the same.

@Sini

Just curious, how big exactly is Tanis? And by extension about how big do you think Azraca would be? Maybe around the size of Spain?

@Cyclone

Tanis is roughly the size of Europe. Or a better comparison would be the Middle-East. Azraca would likely be a bit smaller than Spain, let's say Portugal twice to stay in the neighbourhood :P.

I thought something while making the economics section of my nation sheet and then looking at other people's rolls. About the "unique resources" thing, does it mean that only that nation will produce dye, incenses, etc. or does it mean they simply make it better? Since if that is the case, I'd like to propose an easy system of grading trade goods:

- Unique Grade

- Quality Grade

- Standard Grade

Also, how big is the list for unique resources? Looking at the rolls it seems to be fairly small seeing as how many peopple either share or flat out have the same unique resources across the board. (Dyes and textiles seem to be pretty common for "unique" resource)

@ClocktowerEchos

I am not against you using this sort of system. The 'unique' part simply points out an exceptional quality. For instance, many nations produce wines, but only one or two have such great wines they are worthy of export. As far as the dyes and textiles go, there are many variants - wool, linnen, furs,...

The rolls simply turned up this way, I mostly compiled the list of 'unique' resources through civilization. However, if you have a better suggestion on a unique resource, I'm all ears (as I stated in the OP). Just explain and give a reason if you feel there is too much overlap with other players. Trade is a mix of fluff and raison d'interaction.

@Terminal
I will read the compendium more in depth when I get home, after I roll for Pikachu. From a first glance I can say it's looking pretty fly.

An Age of Empires [Low Fantasy - Advanced]

@Sini I came up with some different Pros and Cons for my nation and I just wanted to roll them past you.

Pro: United We Stand: Your people are united in cause and motivated to meet your ever-increasing standards. The skilled make gains in their respective fields while the unskilled work to bring those creations and gain a reality.

Con: Overly Ambitious: The ambitions of your nation’s leader permeate through all classes, but sometime some get a bit too zealous. Border tensions are increased as peasants believe they can take land as they wish and trade disputes are more common as merchants say they can set huge taxes on goods. Obviously this doesn’t do diplomatic wonders, but they’re just jealous of your nation’s drive to out do them.

@ClocktowerEchos

These look fine for your two other traits.

Can I still join this?

@Pikachu

Yes, I'll roll for you when I get home.

Hehe, I say Commonwealth but mine's really more of a Monarchy as well, at the end of the day. Sounds cool.

I just realized- I say in my sheet that I'm importing wood: anyone wanna be the other end of that?

@OneEyedChurro

Vathcras has some kickass wood.