"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." - Mark Twain
Humanity. The first humans started to exist in 200,000 B.C.E in the Horn of Africa, before rapidly spreading throughout the rest of the world. Despite this, however, It took them 165,000 years to truly become ready for civilization. The Neolithic Revolution, which revolutionized the ways in which Homo Sapiens acquired food allowed for the first villages and towns to be created, but it would not be about 1,000 years after this in which these towns and villages began to band together and create the first Civilizations. It is the dawn of time, where civilizations will be founded, rise, fall, fracture, and die. In the lands of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, the towns and cities that formed upon rivers begin to rise to prominence under their first politically advanced leaders, and it is now, in the twilight of prehistory, in which this RP is set.
So, if you could not tell, this is a Civilization RP. What entails in this is an RP in which players will be able to found and control their own civilizations, which will continue to grow, develop, and flourish as time progresses. Of course, for those of you who know me, I'm not exactly known for recycling ideas. This will not be like many of the other civilization RPs out there for a number of reasons, mostly for what I find wrong with them, how I want to fix them, and how I think that it will provide for a more fair and immersive civilization experience. All of this will be detailed below. The RP will take place beginning in 3,500 B.C.E, just prior to the founding of the founding of the first historically recorded civilization, and end in 1991. I might extend the timeline depending on the popularity of the RP, but that will be a long time coming.
Gameplay concepts:
(Note: For those of you who participated in my previous RP of a similar subject matter, "On a Subject of Birth", some of this may be familiar.)
This is an obvious, important part of these RPs. Obviously, certain time periods had many more things happen in them than others, i.e Modern Age vs. Bronze Age, and therefore the Modern Age would have fewer years per "turn" than the Bronze Age. The timeline is as follows:
Bronze Age: 3500 B.C.E > 1200 B.C.E - 200 years per turn.
Iron Age: 1200 B.C.E > 600 B.C.E - 100 years per turn.
Early Antiquity: 600 B.C.E > 300 A.D - 100 years per turn.
Late Antiquity: 300 A.D > 700 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The Low Medieval Age: 700 A.D > 1200 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The High Medieval Age (Duuuude...): 1200 A.D > 1500 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The Age of Discovery: 1500 A.D > 1700 A.D - 25 years per turn.
The Enlightenment Age: 1700 A.D > 1825 A.D - 20 years per turn.
The Industrial Age: 1825 A.D > 1925 A.D - 10 years per turn.
The Modern Age: 1925 A.D > 1955 A.D - 2 years per turn.
The Atomic Age: 1955 A.D > 1991 A.D - 2 years per turn.
The way that time progresses in this RP is analogous to real life - There is a reason why I'm starting it during a period of time in which many of is have quite a bit of spare time - Because this RP will go by RL days. For example, every twenty four hours, two hundred years pass by in the Bronze Age. In the same way, every twenty four hours, one hundred years would pass in the Iron Age. It is up to you as the player to keep up with these dates - it really isn't that demanding. It will be tracked by EST, and if you miss your post in the 24 hour window, it is assumed that you did nothing during that time period.
Bronze Age: 3500 B.C.E > 1200 B.C.E - 200 years per turn.
Iron Age: 1200 B.C.E > 600 B.C.E - 100 years per turn.
Early Antiquity: 600 B.C.E > 300 A.D - 100 years per turn.
Late Antiquity: 300 A.D > 700 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The Low Medieval Age: 700 A.D > 1200 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The High Medieval Age (Duuuude...): 1200 A.D > 1500 A.D - 50 years per turn.
The Age of Discovery: 1500 A.D > 1700 A.D - 25 years per turn.
The Enlightenment Age: 1700 A.D > 1825 A.D - 20 years per turn.
The Industrial Age: 1825 A.D > 1925 A.D - 10 years per turn.
The Modern Age: 1925 A.D > 1955 A.D - 2 years per turn.
The Atomic Age: 1955 A.D > 1991 A.D - 2 years per turn.
The way that time progresses in this RP is analogous to real life - There is a reason why I'm starting it during a period of time in which many of is have quite a bit of spare time - Because this RP will go by RL days. For example, every twenty four hours, two hundred years pass by in the Bronze Age. In the same way, every twenty four hours, one hundred years would pass in the Iron Age. It is up to you as the player to keep up with these dates - it really isn't that demanding. It will be tracked by EST, and if you miss your post in the 24 hour window, it is assumed that you did nothing during that time period.
Each civilization will have one "army" per fifteen provinces that they have (You will still have just one if you have fewer than fifteen), obviously not representing the actual army structure of the civilization, but as a representative or symbolic kind of thing. This army will be able to go to any province of yours, but until the Industrial Era, armies will only be able to move through the provinces one at a time. For example, one cannot go from Constantinople to Rome in one turn. Or two. You are free to move this army to whatever province you like in your territory, but you MUST keep a record of where it is at all times. This is in anticipation for possible conflicts in the future, so we all don't end up saying "You can't move your army there in one turn! OMG! I'm quitting!".
When two armies meet in one province, they will immediately commence battle, even if the two countries are not necessarily at war with each other. This will remain this way until the Age of Discovery, which is when I think it would be suitable and believable enough that international diplomacy between nations has been efficiently enough established that the nations know when they are or aren't at war with each other. An important note, though, is that these armies aren't necessary for conquering unoccupied provinces, only provinces owned by other players.
When two armies meet in one province, they will immediately commence battle, even if the two countries are not necessarily at war with each other. This will remain this way until the Age of Discovery, which is when I think it would be suitable and believable enough that international diplomacy between nations has been efficiently enough established that the nations know when they are or aren't at war with each other. An important note, though, is that these armies aren't necessary for conquering unoccupied provinces, only provinces owned by other players.
Within RPs such as these, the question of what to do with events that happened historically that are outside the sphere of influence of the players of said RP always is a point of contention. Take, for example, the rise of the Huns in the fifth century A.D. There is little any player could do to stop Attila rising to the throne within the Huns and going on a conquering spree, directly causing the Migration period. In Civilization - An Epic Tale, certain historical events judged by the OP and approved by the Co-Op will occur, and will usually affect most players. Things like the arrival of the various waves of Steppe People into Europe, starting with the Sarmatians, and ending with the Mongols, the Great Plagues (i.e, the many different waves of the Black Death), etcetera will all effect the players in various ways.
However, certain historical events, say, the rise of Alexander the Great, would not necessarily happen, because he is the product of Macedonia, a subset of the Greek Civilization. If a player controlled Macedonia at the historical point in time in which Alexander would rise, it would not occur.
Random events.
Fairly obvious, but let me go into a little detail. This mechanic will be a mechanic employed at the beginning of each IC "day", or whenever the OP starts, in this case, at 12:00 AM EST every day. Out of these random events, some will be not-so-random, for instance, the rebellion of a culture in a conquered province, or a civil war, pretender, etcetera. Some of them, however will be completely random, such as the outbreak of a plague, or a restless people invading into an area that would provide the player with a challenge and fierce barbarians to combat, other than the historical invasions.
However, certain historical events, say, the rise of Alexander the Great, would not necessarily happen, because he is the product of Macedonia, a subset of the Greek Civilization. If a player controlled Macedonia at the historical point in time in which Alexander would rise, it would not occur.
Random events.
Fairly obvious, but let me go into a little detail. This mechanic will be a mechanic employed at the beginning of each IC "day", or whenever the OP starts, in this case, at 12:00 AM EST every day. Out of these random events, some will be not-so-random, for instance, the rebellion of a culture in a conquered province, or a civil war, pretender, etcetera. Some of them, however will be completely random, such as the outbreak of a plague, or a restless people invading into an area that would provide the player with a challenge and fierce barbarians to combat, other than the historical invasions.
There is often debate over how accurate Eurocentrism is, especially in the early days of civilization. In fact, there is very good evidence and it is widely accepted that, until the Christian Reformation started by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century, China dwarfed Europe in technology. Despite this, however, this RP will be highly Eurocentric, while not necessarily through the same means as it did historically, Europe will end up as the dominant continent at the end of the RP.
One may ask, "But why? I wanted to play as a North American Civilization who can build really architecturally advanced clock towers in the middle of the Bronze Age!" Well, no. This Rp is Eurocentric for a few reasons, and mostly for gameplay reasons, rather than any historical outlook reasons. The only locations in which a civilization may begin, depending on the age, up until the Medieval Age (So, Bronze, Iron, Early Antiquity, Late Antiquity, Migration Period.), will be exclusive to Europe, and only the Mediterranean/Middle East until Late Antiquity. This is mostly to provide empires with provincial or territorial contention, and to encourage conflicts over territory, something I often find lacking within these RPs.
One may ask, "But why? I wanted to play as a North American Civilization who can build really architecturally advanced clock towers in the middle of the Bronze Age!" Well, no. This Rp is Eurocentric for a few reasons, and mostly for gameplay reasons, rather than any historical outlook reasons. The only locations in which a civilization may begin, depending on the age, up until the Medieval Age (So, Bronze, Iron, Early Antiquity, Late Antiquity, Migration Period.), will be exclusive to Europe, and only the Mediterranean/Middle East until Late Antiquity. This is mostly to provide empires with provincial or territorial contention, and to encourage conflicts over territory, something I often find lacking within these RPs.
The evidence that those who lead a nation played a large part in shaping the history of the nation is no doubt a truth, especially so in Ancient times. Each player will start with a customized leader that will be assigned statistics of their choice. However, once that leader dies (By determination by OP), his son (If there is no qualified son, either a daughter, a cousin, or a high ranking noble would suffice.) will take over, and have randomly determined stats ranging from 1-6 in three categories, Military, Administrative, and Diplomatic.
The Military category is employed when a civilization is at war or battles another civilization. If higher, it will allow the leader greater leeway in the battle, with a higher chance of him winning, or, if losing, minimal casualties. It also assists in the putting down of revolts and the lessening the risk of civil wars. The lower the score, the opposite.
The Administrative category is employed in places like the running of the country and the assimilation of others into your culture and/or your religion. A higher administrative rating means that the nation will be more successful in conquering and pacifying neighbouring provinces, as well as having a higher income rate and a larger degree of freedom from revolts. The lower the score, the opposite.
The Diplomatic category determines how successful one is in international and internal diplomacy. A higher rating lowers the chances of a civil war, makes the people happier, and increases overall stability, while externally it will be easier to please others and be more successful in forming alliances in the future. The lower the score, the opposite.
The Military category is employed when a civilization is at war or battles another civilization. If higher, it will allow the leader greater leeway in the battle, with a higher chance of him winning, or, if losing, minimal casualties. It also assists in the putting down of revolts and the lessening the risk of civil wars. The lower the score, the opposite.
The Administrative category is employed in places like the running of the country and the assimilation of others into your culture and/or your religion. A higher administrative rating means that the nation will be more successful in conquering and pacifying neighbouring provinces, as well as having a higher income rate and a larger degree of freedom from revolts. The lower the score, the opposite.
The Diplomatic category determines how successful one is in international and internal diplomacy. A higher rating lowers the chances of a civil war, makes the people happier, and increases overall stability, while externally it will be easier to please others and be more successful in forming alliances in the future. The lower the score, the opposite.
Another thing that irks me in Civilization RPs is that no one ever faces collapse or failure on a grand scale, despite the fact that this was common throughout history, and most empires did, at one point or another, face said collapse, dating all the way back to Babylon, and going through all the Egypts, the Hittites, The Achaemenids, the Alexandrian Kingdoms, Rome, The Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, the list goes on. And that's only Europe.
In this RP, there is no guarantee of survival. Unless, of course, you win it through blood and marriage. While this is all part of the historical accuracy of the RP, I do understand how it could be frustrating if you do end up losing. Thusly, I will allow those who have lost thier civilization to the sands of time to reapply, myself included.
The mechanics of said failure are fairly simple - for every predetermined period of time in each respective stage of the RP, Bronze Age to the Modern Age, (The period of time will change per stage of history, of course.) civilizations will experience what I call Decay and Deprivation. In essence, this means that your civilization is stagnating and becoming decadent. D&D will be reduced by a number of means - having a brilliant ruler (2 categories of 5+), certain combinations of policies, or certain technologies that could be researched. If none of these are employed to combat D&D, its cumulative effect will begin to cripple empires in the form of rebellions, civil wars, reduced rates of income, tech research, combat ability, and happiness, all of which are valuable to your continuation as a civilization. Eventually, if one goes through five stages of D&D without being able to reverse it, (If you reverse one, it will go back to zero. But if you have stage two D&D and reverse it, it will only go back to one - You can only reverse D&D once per ruler.) their civilization will collapse into different warring states, signalling the end to their civilization. Think of the Huns after the death of Attila - The Sabirs, Utigurs, and Kutrigurs who were all individually conquered. However, if a civilization adopts an organized religion, it would mean that they lose one stage of D&D, as the moral code would help bring the broken nation together, stronger than before.
On a related note - another thing that I find wrong with many Civilization RPs is the RoE - Rate of Expansion. Often in the Bronze or Iron Age people will hold empires that are geographically larger than Rome without any penalties - People often seem to forget that, despite the size of the Roman Empire, and how rapidly it rose, Rome faced rebellions and civil wars as if they were daily occurrences. Thusly, there will be a cap on the amount of provinces that one can hold based on their government type and technology. Furthermore - The amount of province acquisition will change with the ages - In the Bronze Age, each civilization will only be able to acquire one province at a time. Starting in Early Antiquity, it will change to two, then in Late Antiquity, Three, and so on.
In this RP, there is no guarantee of survival. Unless, of course, you win it through blood and marriage. While this is all part of the historical accuracy of the RP, I do understand how it could be frustrating if you do end up losing. Thusly, I will allow those who have lost thier civilization to the sands of time to reapply, myself included.
The mechanics of said failure are fairly simple - for every predetermined period of time in each respective stage of the RP, Bronze Age to the Modern Age, (The period of time will change per stage of history, of course.) civilizations will experience what I call Decay and Deprivation. In essence, this means that your civilization is stagnating and becoming decadent. D&D will be reduced by a number of means - having a brilliant ruler (2 categories of 5+), certain combinations of policies, or certain technologies that could be researched. If none of these are employed to combat D&D, its cumulative effect will begin to cripple empires in the form of rebellions, civil wars, reduced rates of income, tech research, combat ability, and happiness, all of which are valuable to your continuation as a civilization. Eventually, if one goes through five stages of D&D without being able to reverse it, (If you reverse one, it will go back to zero. But if you have stage two D&D and reverse it, it will only go back to one - You can only reverse D&D once per ruler.) their civilization will collapse into different warring states, signalling the end to their civilization. Think of the Huns after the death of Attila - The Sabirs, Utigurs, and Kutrigurs who were all individually conquered. However, if a civilization adopts an organized religion, it would mean that they lose one stage of D&D, as the moral code would help bring the broken nation together, stronger than before.
On a related note - another thing that I find wrong with many Civilization RPs is the RoE - Rate of Expansion. Often in the Bronze or Iron Age people will hold empires that are geographically larger than Rome without any penalties - People often seem to forget that, despite the size of the Roman Empire, and how rapidly it rose, Rome faced rebellions and civil wars as if they were daily occurrences. Thusly, there will be a cap on the amount of provinces that one can hold based on their government type and technology. Furthermore - The amount of province acquisition will change with the ages - In the Bronze Age, each civilization will only be able to acquire one province at a time. Starting in Early Antiquity, it will change to two, then in Late Antiquity, Three, and so on.
Starting in Late Antiquity, governments of Civilized and Uncivilized nations both began to differentiate as political thought and science developed. As the governments differentiated, bonuses and penalties became clear of each different government type. Below are the lists of governments that a civilization will be able to adopt starting in the Late Antiquity Stage.
Uncivilized
Tribal Federation – The Tribal Federation is a government that represents a group of tribes of similar culture that have united under one banner through diplomacy, not conquest. The Tribal Federation, like all of the Tribal Governments, gives a -5 to province threshold, but significantly decreases the threat of civil war within their nation. Furthermore, as the tribes have been united diplomatically, and not through intimidation, newly conquered peoples would sooner rebel than listen to their new overlord, meaning that there is also an increased chance of non-civil war rebels.
Tribal Hegemony – The Tribal Hegemony represents a numerous amount of tribes, similar in culture or otherwise, having been united under a single banner through military conquest. As with all Tribal Governments, Tribal Hegemonies receive a -5 to Province Threshold, and are more susceptible to civil wars. However, due to the fact that they have united militarily and most often use intimidation to ensure that their subjects remain in line, non-civil war rebels occur less frequently.
Despotic Tribe – The Despotic Tribe is the tribe that has, under one ruler, usually hereditary, expanded into other lands. While the Despotic Tribe suffers a lot more from internal conflict and non-civil war rebels, the Despotic Tribe, due to its expansionistic nature, only has a -2 Province Threshold, rather than most other tribes who have a -5 or more.
Elective Tribe – The Elective Tribe is a tribe that has expanded its borders either militarily or diplomatically. Within the Tribe, each successive ruler is elected by a group of nobles from all of the tribes inside the domain. Due to the inclusive nature, revolt is reduced across the board, but as the administration is more focused inwards, rather than outwards, ensuring the next ruler’s capabilities, the Elective Tribe’s Province Threshold is -7 rather than -5.
Tribal Empire – The Tribal Empire, the uncivilized version of the Imperial Government, simulates a tribe that has gotten large enough to warrant the basic extended administration. All bonuses or penalties regarding the revolt are shaken off, and a +10 Province Threshold is allowed for Tribal Empires. This government type can only be assumed after a Tribe has reached 35 Provinces, well over their overextension limit. If the nation in question is anything other than a Despotic Tribe or Tribal Hegemony, a civil war will occur upon the adoption of the government type.
Civilized
Despotic Monarchy – The Despotic Monarchy, similar to the Despotic Tribe, is a form of government where the ruler is a king that rules with absolute authority with a basic bureaucracy that executes his orders throughout the land. As this is the most basic type of government for civilized nations, there will neither be any bonuses or penalties applied.
Feudal Monarchy – The Feudal Monarchy is an evolution of the Despotic Monarchy where the former bureaucracy has been turned into a group of aristocrats ruling their own lands in service to the king. Due to this decentralization, the Feudal Monarchy government type allows for a +3 province threshold, but has an increased risk of revolt from the nobles, if the king isn’t good enough, or the king seems particularly tyrannical.
Elective Monarchy – Akin to the tribal equivalent, the Elective Monarchy is a hybrid between the Despotic and the Feudal. The Aristocratic upper class is not landed; however, they all have a vote for who would be the next king. The Elective Monarchy, due to its inclusiveness, is hailed as a popular form of government among the aristocracy, and will decrease the likelihood of all revolts, but also decreases province threshold by -5.
Aristocratic Republic – Akin to Pre-Imperial Rome, the Aristocratic Republic is a form of government where the upper class controls the nation, and usually there is no clearly defined head of state. An oligarchy rules the nation, and multiple branches are either elected by the aristocracy, or appointed by the ruling body. This form of government allows for little interior civil wars, but the assimilation time for conquered provinces is +1, and the province threshold is -3.
Merchant Republic – The Merchant Republic is a kind of government in which a wealthy select few “families” base themselves in a single city, where they would run a large commercial, usually maritime empire, conquering territories out of the interest of trade, not expansion. The merchant republic is popular with most of the people within the nation due to the wealth flowing through the country, reducing revolt risk across the board, but due to the nature of the commercially-focused government, assimilation will take +1 turns.
The City State – The City State is a form of government which is usually very democratic in nature. Usually within the cities’ borders, the nation practices either direct democracy or utter tyranny. The rest of the nation is usually either governed in an extremely decentralized fashion, or practically completely ungoverned at all. With the city state, all technologies will take half the normal time that they do to research, and your people will be happy due to the relatively high amount of liberties granted, but due to the poor administration, the City State’s province threshold is -10, and assimilation time for all provinces is +1.
Imperial Government – Ave, Imperator! The Imperial Government is a type of government that is only applicable to nations that have forty provinces or more. The Imperial Government, in short, occurs when a nation’s borders grows too large for the administration that it possesses, and must undergo an administrative and political reform to make the government more efficient. The Imperial Government reduces the risk of non-civil war rebels breaking out, and adds an additional +20 province threshold to your nation; however, the Imperial Government may only be transformed into peacefully by the Despotic or Feudal monarchies. The other governments, Elective Monarchy, Aristocratic Republic, Merchant Republic, and The City State all must undergo civil wars in order to attain the Imperial Government.
Uncivilized
Tribal Federation – The Tribal Federation is a government that represents a group of tribes of similar culture that have united under one banner through diplomacy, not conquest. The Tribal Federation, like all of the Tribal Governments, gives a -5 to province threshold, but significantly decreases the threat of civil war within their nation. Furthermore, as the tribes have been united diplomatically, and not through intimidation, newly conquered peoples would sooner rebel than listen to their new overlord, meaning that there is also an increased chance of non-civil war rebels.
Tribal Hegemony – The Tribal Hegemony represents a numerous amount of tribes, similar in culture or otherwise, having been united under a single banner through military conquest. As with all Tribal Governments, Tribal Hegemonies receive a -5 to Province Threshold, and are more susceptible to civil wars. However, due to the fact that they have united militarily and most often use intimidation to ensure that their subjects remain in line, non-civil war rebels occur less frequently.
Despotic Tribe – The Despotic Tribe is the tribe that has, under one ruler, usually hereditary, expanded into other lands. While the Despotic Tribe suffers a lot more from internal conflict and non-civil war rebels, the Despotic Tribe, due to its expansionistic nature, only has a -2 Province Threshold, rather than most other tribes who have a -5 or more.
Elective Tribe – The Elective Tribe is a tribe that has expanded its borders either militarily or diplomatically. Within the Tribe, each successive ruler is elected by a group of nobles from all of the tribes inside the domain. Due to the inclusive nature, revolt is reduced across the board, but as the administration is more focused inwards, rather than outwards, ensuring the next ruler’s capabilities, the Elective Tribe’s Province Threshold is -7 rather than -5.
Tribal Empire – The Tribal Empire, the uncivilized version of the Imperial Government, simulates a tribe that has gotten large enough to warrant the basic extended administration. All bonuses or penalties regarding the revolt are shaken off, and a +10 Province Threshold is allowed for Tribal Empires. This government type can only be assumed after a Tribe has reached 35 Provinces, well over their overextension limit. If the nation in question is anything other than a Despotic Tribe or Tribal Hegemony, a civil war will occur upon the adoption of the government type.
Civilized
Despotic Monarchy – The Despotic Monarchy, similar to the Despotic Tribe, is a form of government where the ruler is a king that rules with absolute authority with a basic bureaucracy that executes his orders throughout the land. As this is the most basic type of government for civilized nations, there will neither be any bonuses or penalties applied.
Feudal Monarchy – The Feudal Monarchy is an evolution of the Despotic Monarchy where the former bureaucracy has been turned into a group of aristocrats ruling their own lands in service to the king. Due to this decentralization, the Feudal Monarchy government type allows for a +3 province threshold, but has an increased risk of revolt from the nobles, if the king isn’t good enough, or the king seems particularly tyrannical.
Elective Monarchy – Akin to the tribal equivalent, the Elective Monarchy is a hybrid between the Despotic and the Feudal. The Aristocratic upper class is not landed; however, they all have a vote for who would be the next king. The Elective Monarchy, due to its inclusiveness, is hailed as a popular form of government among the aristocracy, and will decrease the likelihood of all revolts, but also decreases province threshold by -5.
Aristocratic Republic – Akin to Pre-Imperial Rome, the Aristocratic Republic is a form of government where the upper class controls the nation, and usually there is no clearly defined head of state. An oligarchy rules the nation, and multiple branches are either elected by the aristocracy, or appointed by the ruling body. This form of government allows for little interior civil wars, but the assimilation time for conquered provinces is +1, and the province threshold is -3.
Merchant Republic – The Merchant Republic is a kind of government in which a wealthy select few “families” base themselves in a single city, where they would run a large commercial, usually maritime empire, conquering territories out of the interest of trade, not expansion. The merchant republic is popular with most of the people within the nation due to the wealth flowing through the country, reducing revolt risk across the board, but due to the nature of the commercially-focused government, assimilation will take +1 turns.
The City State – The City State is a form of government which is usually very democratic in nature. Usually within the cities’ borders, the nation practices either direct democracy or utter tyranny. The rest of the nation is usually either governed in an extremely decentralized fashion, or practically completely ungoverned at all. With the city state, all technologies will take half the normal time that they do to research, and your people will be happy due to the relatively high amount of liberties granted, but due to the poor administration, the City State’s province threshold is -10, and assimilation time for all provinces is +1.
Imperial Government – Ave, Imperator! The Imperial Government is a type of government that is only applicable to nations that have forty provinces or more. The Imperial Government, in short, occurs when a nation’s borders grows too large for the administration that it possesses, and must undergo an administrative and political reform to make the government more efficient. The Imperial Government reduces the risk of non-civil war rebels breaking out, and adds an additional +20 province threshold to your nation; however, the Imperial Government may only be transformed into peacefully by the Despotic or Feudal monarchies. The other governments, Elective Monarchy, Aristocratic Republic, Merchant Republic, and The City State all must undergo civil wars in order to attain the Imperial Government.
On the subject of Rome and provinces - There is no doubt that primitive administrations can only manage so much land - We're not Russia here, nor Canada, nor the modern United States. Revisiting Rome - Lets remember that even under its greatest Emperors faced crippling overextension. There was a reason that the empire fell. Overextension is a concept in which a nation or civilization owns too much land for its primitive administration to manage it properly. Just as it existed in real life, it so too does exist in this Civilization RP.
The way overextension will work is simple - You may only have a certain number of provinces that are based on your government type and whatever stage it is in the RP. For example, you may only have ten provinces starting in the Bronze Age, but that would be upgraded to twelve in the Iron Age, twenty in Early Antiquity, and so on. Republics will initially have less of a provincial threshold, but will vary as time goes on, and will provide other benefits.
The penalty for being overextended is as simple as its calculation - It adds to your D&D, as mentioned above . The more overextended you are, the more it adds, not to mention the increased risk of civil wars and rebellion that will be added upon the already existing risk to ensure that your overextension is kept down by you, the player.
When one conquers a province, they often assume in these RPs that they simply gain the territory, no strings attached. This shouldn't be the case, because people often forget that the people within these territories that they conquer are their own people on the most part who want their own government that supports their own culture. So, from this point onwards, we should differentiate between conquered territory vs. what should be called "core" territory, which is territory in which your culture and your people are the primary population in.
Obviously, since we're all relatively small right now, this assimilation will take awhile, but that's what it's designed to do. In conquered territories, there will be an increased risk of rebellion, especially if you're overextended. Cultural assimilation will take time, but less so as eras or stages progress. So, right now, I will say that three RL days, or six hundred years, is required for a territory to be fully "assimilated" into your culture. Technologies will be put into teh tech tree, i.e "Cultural Meshing" (Think what the Romans did) that would speed the process up.
Starting in the Iron Age and going until Late Antiquity, if a nation receives a ruler with at least two level 5 stats, and the third stat being no lower than 4, the kingdom MAY get a random event which allows them to quadruple the amount of provinces that they are able to conquer in a a single turn. Rebellions are much more scarce, and the empire loses all the D&D it may or may not have accrued through the ages. This is called a Golden Age. In these ages, empires are designed to become large and powerful, but only to an extent. When the ruler dies, if his heir is not up to par, a single stage of D&D is added, rebellion chance is greatly increased, and civil wars become much more serious. Civil Wars, in this large state, may result in a general/pretender/other claimant actually rallying troops to his command, claiming a large swathe of your territory, and going to war with you until there is a victor. This rebel will be played by an OP or a Co-Op in the battles thread. If an empire is large enough, there may be the possibility that the state may fracture into more than one claimant, eventually fracturing entirely, leading to the controller of the country having to choose one of the factions that have come out of the fractured empire. To simulate the relative vulnerability of these kingdoms against foreign threats, as well as to put pressure on the player to reunite, the pretender factions will be able to be conquered by other players jsut as they were unoccupied provinces, but act as NPC-controleld factions to the player whose civilization they are associated with.
The way overextension will work is simple - You may only have a certain number of provinces that are based on your government type and whatever stage it is in the RP. For example, you may only have ten provinces starting in the Bronze Age, but that would be upgraded to twelve in the Iron Age, twenty in Early Antiquity, and so on. Republics will initially have less of a provincial threshold, but will vary as time goes on, and will provide other benefits.
The penalty for being overextended is as simple as its calculation - It adds to your D&D, as mentioned above . The more overextended you are, the more it adds, not to mention the increased risk of civil wars and rebellion that will be added upon the already existing risk to ensure that your overextension is kept down by you, the player.
When one conquers a province, they often assume in these RPs that they simply gain the territory, no strings attached. This shouldn't be the case, because people often forget that the people within these territories that they conquer are their own people on the most part who want their own government that supports their own culture. So, from this point onwards, we should differentiate between conquered territory vs. what should be called "core" territory, which is territory in which your culture and your people are the primary population in.
Obviously, since we're all relatively small right now, this assimilation will take awhile, but that's what it's designed to do. In conquered territories, there will be an increased risk of rebellion, especially if you're overextended. Cultural assimilation will take time, but less so as eras or stages progress. So, right now, I will say that three RL days, or six hundred years, is required for a territory to be fully "assimilated" into your culture. Technologies will be put into teh tech tree, i.e "Cultural Meshing" (Think what the Romans did) that would speed the process up.
Starting in the Iron Age and going until Late Antiquity, if a nation receives a ruler with at least two level 5 stats, and the third stat being no lower than 4, the kingdom MAY get a random event which allows them to quadruple the amount of provinces that they are able to conquer in a a single turn. Rebellions are much more scarce, and the empire loses all the D&D it may or may not have accrued through the ages. This is called a Golden Age. In these ages, empires are designed to become large and powerful, but only to an extent. When the ruler dies, if his heir is not up to par, a single stage of D&D is added, rebellion chance is greatly increased, and civil wars become much more serious. Civil Wars, in this large state, may result in a general/pretender/other claimant actually rallying troops to his command, claiming a large swathe of your territory, and going to war with you until there is a victor. This rebel will be played by an OP or a Co-Op in the battles thread. If an empire is large enough, there may be the possibility that the state may fracture into more than one claimant, eventually fracturing entirely, leading to the controller of the country having to choose one of the factions that have come out of the fractured empire. To simulate the relative vulnerability of these kingdoms against foreign threats, as well as to put pressure on the player to reunite, the pretender factions will be able to be conquered by other players jsut as they were unoccupied provinces, but act as NPC-controleld factions to the player whose civilization they are associated with.
One thing that I've noticed in many Civilization RPs is the fact that people frequently make OOC plans and defensive pacts during the early ages which are meant to last all of eternity, which tends to promote solidarity and peace rather than conflict. Let me remind you that Bronze and Iron Age Europe lacked much of what we would consider "diplomacy". Sure, there were things like Client States, vassals, etcetera, and perhaps the occasional declaration of friendship between two or more civilizations. There were rarely, if ever, an alliance between two or more independent nations until Late Antiquity.
Therefore, let me reiterate, Defensive Alliances WILL NOT be able to be formed until the Late Antiquity. Coalitions, which are, in essence, Offensive Alliances, will be able to be formed in Early Antiquity. Past Late Antiquity, alliances will be able to be formed freely. However, this is not a license to form any UN-type thing, like I've experienced in the past, where basically civilizations divide up the map and live peacefully, happily ever after. That won't happen here. Until 1948, there will be no forming of any continental organization that does such a thing.
Therefore, let me reiterate, Defensive Alliances WILL NOT be able to be formed until the Late Antiquity. Coalitions, which are, in essence, Offensive Alliances, will be able to be formed in Early Antiquity. Past Late Antiquity, alliances will be able to be formed freely. However, this is not a license to form any UN-type thing, like I've experienced in the past, where basically civilizations divide up the map and live peacefully, happily ever after. That won't happen here. Until 1948, there will be no forming of any continental organization that does such a thing.
As much as it may frustrate some, there is no doubt that, until the Enlightenment, religion played an important part in the daily lives of people, from the nobility to the peasants. There is also, no doubt, however, that there is a clear distinction between the monotheistic and polytheistic religions that appeared in the world at different times, the first monotheistic religion appearing (debateably) in 1500 B.C.E. In this RP, every civilization MUST take a polytheistic religion when they sign-up, of their choice and design. As the game progresses, at points in time analogous to when real religions were founded, random civilizations will be given great prophets - not dissimilar to the ones in Civilization V: Gods and Kings. When this Great Prophet arrives, the leader of the civilization that he arrives in will have the choice of adopting the religion as the state religion, and getting to customize and tailor it to his own grand design (provided it doesn't resemble any RL religions), or casting it down.
Either way, the religion will spread rapidly through the populace of the civilization in which the Great Prophet was born, until rebellions or other events make it dangerous for the king to hold on to his monotheistic beliefs. While it makes little difference to be polytheistic or monotheistic in the beginning, starting in Late Antiquity, both Polytheists, who will become known as Pagans, and Monotheists will get bonuses, pagans gaining military bonuses and monotheists gaining tech bonuses. At this point, Monotheists will be able to send out missionaries into Pagan realms, which may get the ear of pagan rulers, who will have the option to convert or jail these prophets. In a similar fashion, pagan rulers may call missionaries to their capital to decide the future monotheistic religion of their country if they so desire. By the High Medieval Age, however, pagan bonuses will be invalid, and monotheists will gain both military and tech bonuses, and will be increasingly effective against pagans in war.
Finally, using the same probability calculator as the great prophet calculations, certain religions will get a Reformer, one who desires to separate from the current religion for whatever reason. These Reformers will appear in a nation which follows said religion, and will convert some subjects to their reformed religion, and rulers of said civilization will get the option to convert to the reformed religion, and will have a free reason to invade nations of the original faith.
Below are the dates in which Great Prophets will appear*:
1600 B.C.E - First Great Prophet - Analogous to Judaism
1100 B.C.E - Second Great Prophet - Analogous to Zoroastrianism
0 A.D - Third Great Prophet - Analogous to Christianity**
600 A.D - Fourth Great Prophet - Analogous to Islam
1100 A.D - First Reformer - Analogous to Hamza ibn-Ali ibn-Ahmad
1600 A.D - Second Reformer - Analogous to Protestantism
* - These civilizations will be selected randomly using a probability simulator.
** - I know Christianity was not founded in 0 A.D, but since we won't ever actually hit 33 A.D, it's a better option.
Below are the following modifiers for Pagans:
Late Antiquity: (300-700 A.D)
Below are the following modifiers for Organized Religions:
Late Antiquity: (300-700 A.D)
Either way, the religion will spread rapidly through the populace of the civilization in which the Great Prophet was born, until rebellions or other events make it dangerous for the king to hold on to his monotheistic beliefs. While it makes little difference to be polytheistic or monotheistic in the beginning, starting in Late Antiquity, both Polytheists, who will become known as Pagans, and Monotheists will get bonuses, pagans gaining military bonuses and monotheists gaining tech bonuses. At this point, Monotheists will be able to send out missionaries into Pagan realms, which may get the ear of pagan rulers, who will have the option to convert or jail these prophets. In a similar fashion, pagan rulers may call missionaries to their capital to decide the future monotheistic religion of their country if they so desire. By the High Medieval Age, however, pagan bonuses will be invalid, and monotheists will gain both military and tech bonuses, and will be increasingly effective against pagans in war.
Finally, using the same probability calculator as the great prophet calculations, certain religions will get a Reformer, one who desires to separate from the current religion for whatever reason. These Reformers will appear in a nation which follows said religion, and will convert some subjects to their reformed religion, and rulers of said civilization will get the option to convert to the reformed religion, and will have a free reason to invade nations of the original faith.
Below are the dates in which Great Prophets will appear*:
1600 B.C.E - First Great Prophet - Analogous to Judaism
1100 B.C.E - Second Great Prophet - Analogous to Zoroastrianism
0 A.D - Third Great Prophet - Analogous to Christianity**
600 A.D - Fourth Great Prophet - Analogous to Islam
1100 A.D - First Reformer - Analogous to Hamza ibn-Ali ibn-Ahmad
1600 A.D - Second Reformer - Analogous to Protestantism
* - These civilizations will be selected randomly using a probability simulator.
** - I know Christianity was not founded in 0 A.D, but since we won't ever actually hit 33 A.D, it's a better option.
Below are the following modifiers for Pagans:
Late Antiquity: (300-700 A.D)
- Combat bonus against non-pagans
- Resistance to missionaries in your lands
- Reduced technology spread
- Combat bonus against non-pagans
- Further reduced technology spread
- More vulnerable to non-pagan invasions
- Combat melus against non-pagans
- Triple reduced technology spread
Below are the following modifiers for Organized Religions:
Late Antiquity: (300-700 A.D)
- Faster technology spread rate
- Superior at conversion
- Small combat bonus against pagans
- Further enhanced technology spread
- Missionaries even more effective
- Combat bonus against pagans
- Even more enhanced technology spread
There is no avoiding it. At one point or another, I will ensure that players will face off against each other at some point in their history. Combat will take place in a separate thread from the rest of the IC actions. When a battle is to start, the OP will dictate the terrain of the battle, and the two or more civilizations fighting will commence in their IC thread. Unlike the rest of the IC, however, these battles do not adhere to the 24-hour policy. Instead, the battles thread will be sort of timeless - the events around it will go on as normal until the battle is solved, the belligerent nations being unable to post otherwise until the battle is resolved. The battle will be decided by an unbiased mediator, usually either me or a Co-Op.
Historically, technologies did spread quickly across the world after their initial discovery, particularly practical ones like bronze working and the wheel. To represent this in the RP, once a technology has been researched and gained by ¾ of the active players it enters the realm of General Knowledge and is "discovered" by all players. Thus, with eight active players, a technology enters General Knowledge when the sixth player discovers it. All players can then benefit from the advance represented by, for example, Bronze Working. It is hoped that this will alleviate the need for every single society to keep reinventing the wheel and more accurately represent the spread of technology through the world.
A partial exception to this is the writing tech stream, by which I mean those technologies beginning with Alphabet and proceeding through the development of writing and literature. Even if another nation has a written language, that writing system must still be adapted to your tongue (look at the extra letters added to the Roman alphabet to write Czech or Norwegian, for example).
While they will enter the list of "General Knowledge" technologies, Writing technologies will remain exempted from General Knowledge pool transmission. Instead, they will be transmitted through either self-directed research (you can still spend time developing your own Alphabet and Writing and so on) or by contact. Beginning the turn after you make contact with a civilisation that has a written code, their writing system can be adapted for your use. To represent this, one tech per turn (beginning with Alphabet) transfers to you alongside your other tech research, until you reach the end of the writing techs in the General Knowledge pool. You need to make contact with a culture having a proper Writing system for this; Alphabet by itself is not sufficient.
A partial exception to this is the writing tech stream, by which I mean those technologies beginning with Alphabet and proceeding through the development of writing and literature. Even if another nation has a written language, that writing system must still be adapted to your tongue (look at the extra letters added to the Roman alphabet to write Czech or Norwegian, for example).
While they will enter the list of "General Knowledge" technologies, Writing technologies will remain exempted from General Knowledge pool transmission. Instead, they will be transmitted through either self-directed research (you can still spend time developing your own Alphabet and Writing and so on) or by contact. Beginning the turn after you make contact with a civilisation that has a written code, their writing system can be adapted for your use. To represent this, one tech per turn (beginning with Alphabet) transfers to you alongside your other tech research, until you reach the end of the writing techs in the General Knowledge pool. You need to make contact with a culture having a proper Writing system for this; Alphabet by itself is not sufficient.
The last important thing that one needs to know about this RP are the strategic locations. Strategic locations are parts of the map that hold great value - Gibraltar, Constantinople, etcetera. Holding these strategic locations will mean that you will gain bonuses associated with said location, and these bonuses stack. It should be noted that civilizations cannot start in these locations, nor anywhere four provinces in any direction from a strategic location. Strategic locations are marked in red on the map.
Below is stated the Strategic Location bonuses:
Below is stated the Strategic Location bonuses:
- One strategic location - Extended income(Better army), happiness(Slower accumulated D&D), and technology spread.
- Two strategic locations - Along with compounded effects of above, more efficient trade.
- Three or more strategic locations - Along with above, more efficient missionaries, double technology spread.
With that taken care of, hopefully everybody was proactive enough to read it thoroughly, and here is the application and map!
Map- Remember - only Mediterranean and Cradle of Civilization locations for now. Ignore NA, it still needs work.
Empty map - DO NOT use this for adding/claiming land. This map is for reference to strategic locations and locations of large cities. Credit to Steampunk Mars for doing the greyed-in city locations.
Tech tree - Up to Early Antiquity - Note - Teh rest that is noted "see ____ tree", it pertains to Late Antiquity only.
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[b][u]Application[/u][/b]
[b]Nation name:[/b]
[b]Type of government:[/b] (Most of you will be Tribal or Despotic Monarchies.)
[b]Leader's name:[/b]
[b]Leader's statistics:[/b] (There are three categories, Military, Diplomatic, Administrative. You have nine points in total to assign to him.)
[b]Name of Culture, Language, and a brief description:[/b]
[b]National Symbol:[/b]
[b]Briefly Describe, in a paragraph, your nation's religion:[/b]
[b]Map Claims:[/b]
![([url=http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r737/Great-Albion/Hawkoftheabeikh_zps447da76b.png]Image](http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/Great-Albion/media/Hawkoftheabeikh_zps447da76b.png.html){kind=link}