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[mastahcheese]

Moon Wu stood up from his chair, leaving his book open on the table.
As he waited for the ink to dry, to let him turn the page to continue writing, he paced over to his window, overlooking the countryside.
At last, there was peace in the land.
But what had it taken to get this far?
Wu turned back around and walked back over to his desk, and turned the page, before sitting down to continue his book.

The Art of War

IC Thread

This may sound like a feudal warfare game, but it's more than just that. It's an attempt at being a simulator of the entirety of being a feudal lord, complete with oppressed peasantry, meddling nobles, external threats and internal sabotage, and of course, war.

The eventual goal of the game is to reach the state mentioned in the preface. Peace of the land.
This, of course, will never happen until all who oppose you lay in a bloody heap at your feet, one way or another.

This will be the OOC thread and sign-ups thread, so the actual gameplay won't be taking place here, just everything else.

Since this game is intended to get somewhat complicated, I would seriously advise you to join only if you're willing to take things at least marginally seriously. This isn't going to be MEGA SERIOUS or anything, and humor is always welcome.
But I swear to god, if you try to summon an army of scythers, it WON'T WORK.

At first, many aspects of the game may seem confusing, as I may even outright leave you uninformed of how things work. You can assume this to take effect for the majority of cases, actually. Don't worry, most of the game will either be self-explanatory, inherently intuitive, or something that an NPC will try to help you out with. They won't hold your hand for you, though, or at least, if they do, they'll be sure to brush the germs off on their robes afterward.

In any case, I'll let you guys discover how the game runs as you go along. After all, you aren't playing as people who have been in power for the past 40 years, you're playing as people who, as a whole, have no damn idea what they're doing.

Another thing you know, each "turn" in-game represents a season. A full year takes only 4 turns. Each season, there will be a random event to hopefully introduce more conflict to the game. (For the first 10 turns, there will be 2 events per turn to help kick things off.)
I won't tell you what any of these do until they happen.

Creating your character, and noble family

The exact person you play as isn't really going to be that important, as they'll likely die. Just throwing that out there.
Your family, however, is going to stick with you for a rather long time.
One rule you do know: if you die, you can only resume play as one of your offspring, barring special circumstances.
If you run out of living heirs, you lose. So try to keep that from happening.

Spoiler: Sign-up Sheet (click to show/hide)

Family Name: (Also known as your last name, this will be carried on by your noble family, and will determine the name of your starting city, county, and pretty much everything you own. Choose wisely.)

Family Crest: (Your Coat-of-Arms. Try to be creative and original in detailing what this looks like. It may affect more than you think. Also keep in mind that this is the medieval era. Nobody knows what a gun is, or an atomic bomb, or anything silly like that.)

Lord's Name: (The given name of the Lord.)
Lady's Name: (The given name of the Lady.)
(Please place a ">" in front of the gender you wish to play as.)

Starting Traits:
(Select 3 traits from the Traits spoiler. You must take 2 positive traits, and 1 negative trait.)

Starting Skill:
(Specify a particular skill that you are trained in. There's no list to choose from, just whatever you want. Keep in mind that you're a noble, so being something like a blacksmith doesn't exactly make sense, but you can still choose it if you insist.)

Spoiler: Traits (click to show/hide)

Positive / Negative

Strong / Weak
Agile / Clumsy
Tough / Feeble
Genius / Dim-Witted
Focused / Absent-Minded
Courageous / Cowardly
Fervent / Faithless
Charismatic / Withdrawn
Fortunate / Unlucky

After you've created your character, the other member of your family (your main character's spouse) will then have their own traits randomly rolled, and you'll have the start of your noble lineage, which should hopefully survive to supper.

In order to assist you in figuring out how to drive your nation into the ground, you will also begin the game knowing some advisors.
These consist of your Military Advisor, Internal Affairs Advisor, Foreign Affairs Advisor, and Economic Advisor.
Note that these characters do not simply exist as info dumps. They represent people under you, that are entirely vulnerable to assassination, bribery, untimely demises, corruption, incompetence, and generally disliking you.
You can assign more advisors as you will, they will simply be drawn from your county's population.
Each advisor (and NPC noble-class characters in general) will have a single positive trait, plus another trait that may be anything.

Important Notice:

In order to better simulate being an uninformed lordling, this game will primarily run through spoilers.
Please don't open spoilers that don't pertain to you, or spoilers posted by other players. If you want to find out what someone is up to, you'll have to get some in-game scouts and spies to tell you, and hope they don't get caught and executed.
But of course, you wouldn't let that happen, would you?

Alright, I think that about sums it up. The game map will be posted when I make the IC thread, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Spoiler: General Rules Compendium (click to show/hide)

Economy and Interal Affairs:
Gold: Every season, you gain an amount of gold equal to 10% of your Civilian Population from each territory. Assuming standard Tax rates.
You will also lose an amount of Gold based on your Upkeep. For every 1% you have in Upkeep, you wll lose 1 Gold for every 100 people in your Nation. Your standard Upkeep is 0%
You can form Trade Routes, which genreate 20 Gold per season. This requires a land or coast connection, and for both sides to agree.
You can Construct a Bridge over River regions to form a land connection. This takes 100 Gold and a season to build. You may only have one Construction Project active in a Territory.
You can Construct a Logging Camp in a territory if there is a Forest in it. This provides 10 Gold per season, and costs 50 Gold and a season to build. You may only have one Construction Project active in a Territory. If there is a forest that lay within multiple territories' boundaries, they are all considered to be valid, and all territories can construct logging camps.
You can Construct a Mine in a territory if there is a Mountain in it. This provides 20 Gold per season, and costs 100 Gold and a season to build. You may only have one Construction Project active in a Territory. If there is a mountain that lay within multiple territories' boundaries, they are all considered to be valid, and all territories can construct mines.
You can Set Up Fishing Boats in a territory if it borders a Coastal Region. This provides 15 Gold per season, and costs 75 Gold and a season to build. You may only have one Construction Project active in a Territory.
Population: Every season, the Civilian Population in each territory increases by 10% of the current Civilian Population.

Policies: You may issue Policies to change some of the effects of your Territories.
Civilain Training Policy: Reduces the penalties suffered by Civilain Class Units. Increases Upkeep by 3%
Entertainment Policy: Enacts some form of service to keep the populous entertained. Increases Civilian Happiness. Increases Upkeep by 2%
Scholarship Policy: Makes the research of new Technolgies House Funded. Gives an increased chance to discover new Technologies. Increases Upkeep by 2%

Territorial Improvements: These are structures that provide some form of benifit to the territory they are in. They follow all the normal rules for buildings.
Granary: Costs 75 Gold to build. Increase the Population Growth rate by 2%
Mill: Costs 100 Gold to build. Increases Happiness.
Church: Costs 100 Gold to build. Increases Loyalty.
Fortress: Costs 150 Gold to build. An impressive defensive structure.
Academy: Costs 125 Gold to build. Doubles the number of House Units derived from drafts in this territory.
Drydocks: Costs 100 Gold to build. Permits construction of fleets simultaneously to drafting/training of armies.

Military:

Armies:

There are three Ranks of Military Units:
Civilain: Freshly conscripted soldiers. They take penalties to combat, particularly Morale based actions. You may obtain Civilain Class Units by Issuing a Draft, which converts 10% of the Civilain Population of a Territory into Civilian Class Soldiers. This takes a season to perform.
Military: Soldiers with proper equipment and training. Standard Units that take no penalties. You can obtain Military Class Soldiers by converting Civilain Class Soldiers. This costs 1 Gold per Soldier, and a season. You may also hire Mercenary Soldiers at the cost of 2 Gold per Mercenary hired. Mercenary Soldiers take a season to form, but do not count against the limit of Military Actions per Territory. In addition, Mercenaries take a penalty to Morale unless you pay them 1 Gold per Mercenary when ordering them into battle.
Noblity: Unique Units with the best equipment and training they can afford. You can aquire Noble Class Soldiers by Hiring them. This costs 5 Gold per Soldier hired this way. Before hiring them, you must either seek these units out, or hold an event to hire them. If you sent out runners to seek them out, there will be no extra Gold cost, but the number of Units you may hire will be few. If you hold an Event, there will be a larger number of Units to hire, depending on how much Gold you spend on the event. You will also recieve Noble Class Units unique to your own Family House. These Units are obtained for free when assembling an army, and no action must be stated for them to arrive. They will be few, however.

There are three Levels of Military Units:
Recruit: Fresh Soldiers with little to no actual combat experience. Has no effect.
Veteran: Soldiers that have seen battle before. Any Soldier that is present during a decisive victory (One that ends in the death of a player character, or the end of a prolonged conflict) will be promoted to Veteran Level. They gain bonuses to Combat, particuraly Morale.
Elite: Soldiers that have fought through countless battles. Any Soldier that is present during a decisive victory (One that ends in the death of a player character, or the end of a prolonged conflict) in which Veteran or Elite Level Units are utilized by the enemy will be promoted to Elite Level. They automatically succeed at any task involving Morale.

There are also many Classes of Units, such as Archers, Infantry, Cavalry, etc. But I will not be going over them in detail at this time.

Navies:

Boats: Can traverse Rivers and Coasts. Can carry 20 Soldiers. Costs 5 Gold per boat, and 1 season.
Ships: Can Traverse Coasts and Oceans. Can carry 100 Soldiers. Costs 20 Gold per ship, and 1 season.
There is a possibilty of Unique Flag Ships that follow their own rules.

Foreign Affairs:

Scout/Spy Missions:

Intel: An Intel Mission is one in which information is attempted to be gained, and returned. It costs 5 Gold per Intel Mission.
Counter-Intel: A Counter-Intel Mission is one in which information gained by an enemy is prevented from being returned. It costs 5 Gold per Counter-Intel Mission.
Sabatoge: A Sabatoge Mission is one that attempts to undermine another nation, either through damaging a physical structure, or causing the loss of research. A Sabatoge Mission against a structure (Such as a Bridge or Mine) will cost half the cost of the Structure (rounded up), and destroy it. Sabatoge against research will reset the breakthough chance back to the start, and then apply a penalty to it. This costs 10 Gold, plus 2 for each season the target had been at work on it.
More to come as they become relevent.

Research:

Naturally, people need to adopt new technologies in order to best their opponents.
I won't give a list of technologies to research, you'll have to ask what it possible.
The way research actually works is that after you've set aside a goal and been informed of the difficulty and costs, research increases your Upkeep by a certain amount. Rather than producing any sort of "research" resource, there is simply a chance every season that there will be a breakthrough or not. (Invention is a crapshoot in this game. Who knew.) This chance increases as time goes on.
There is also a very small chance that you will passively learn a technology that someone else has already discovered, with the chance based on proximity to the territory that knows of it. This costs nothing, and represents the flow of information from place to place. Researching a Technology that someone else has already discovered is considerably easier, for this reason.

[Dorsidwarf]

Pterosaurs Tooth Wagon.

[mastahcheese]

Pterosaurs Tooth Wagon.

For the love of Krishna, tell me this is in the wrong thread.

[Stirk]

Pterosaurs Tooth Wagon.

For the love of Krishna, tell me this is in the wrong thread.

That is probably "Reserved".

But more logical.

[adwarf]

Spoiler: The Haerun Family (click to show/hide)

Family Name: Haerun

Family Crest: A drawn longbow whose arrow's point is a small sun on a blue background.

> Lord's Name: Dalun
Lady's Name: Vivian

Starting Traits:
Genius
Charismatic

Absent-Minded

Starting Skill:
Archery

[Lucus Casius]

Spoiler: House Skleros (click to show/hide)

Family Name: Skleros

Family Crest: A peregrine falcon nesting upon the battlement of a high tower.

>Lord's Name: Alexius
Lady's Name: Theophano

Starting Traits:
Genius
Focused
Withdrawn

Starting Skill:
Logistics

On the Skleros

SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM.

The Skleros are the last remnant of a great and ancient empire spanning the southeastern river valleys, whose cities burned and towers fell in an age long vanished, when the ground shook and fire rained from the sky.  From the destruction the Skleros crawled, forming bricks and mortar from the ash and rubble, and using them to rebuild a facsimile of their homeland.  Little remains of it now, for the ruins were cannibalized by desperate men in need to shelter and old records were burned for warmth in a winter that endured for the entire decade which followed.  Little save the family, and the legacy they preserved and built upon, until shining domes and proud arches characterized their land once more.

In the dark days after the empire's fall, the Skleros fought tooth and nail to preserve what little they could from rampaging barbarians and opportunists who pillaged the dying land, taking the old militias and trained peasants from the old world and reforming them into the legion used today.  This they used to subdue the countryside and build roads throughout their lands, linking the few remaining towns worthy of the name that they might be better protected and better fed while crushing and enslaving those who still fought.  It was a task taking many years until the modern Sklerian Theme emerged, safe from the ravages of wild men, and it is only in recent days that that expanding to reclaim the old empire's boundaries rather than simply staging expeditions to pacify the countryside, or sending their forces out to defend other nations lest they be overrun by barbarians which might ultimately try to crush the Theme itself, became a feasible goal.  Still, it is not untrue to say that dreams of reunification have always dwelled in the minds of the Skleros, or that none have attempted it despite the inevitable failure, leaving their roads as records of their journey to unite the old lands before they were driven back by the barbarian hordes.

It is unsurprising, then, that the Skleros place so much emphasis on knowledge both military and philosophical, holding tightly to the latter in peace and expanding the former in war.  Their art pays tribute to local pagan gods while exalting the fires that give them life and food and iron while still bringing death on the old empire.  Their stories speak of great heroes who will one day bring the world to order, ending the darkness and chaos of this age.

Summary
Architecture - Easily recognized for the use of concrete or bricks in the familiar domes and arches.  However, they are perhaps more familiar for their dedication to building complex, durable road networks to link their holdings, and skill at rapidly constructing fortifications along these road networks.
Culture - The ease of transportation within Skleros holdings leads to a rapid exchange of news and goods, resulting in a fairly large urban population compared to many, fed by the outlying farmlands and fishermen.  The use of unpaid labor by wealthier members of the populace, gathered during military campaigns, frees many longterm citizens of Skleros lands to participate in the discussion of the arts and philosophy during times of peace.  However, while cultured they are by no means soft--the citizenry of Skleros holdings earn power and recognition through participation in their lord's military, leading military parades to become a fabulous show and resulting in highly complex drilling techniques which have developed into a sport in some areas.  In addition, enforced gladiator games between both willing participants and captured slaves, races both on foot and on horse, and the public execution of captured criminals or particularly dangerous enemies are considered a rare but delightful spectacle when available.
Faith - Tolerates a variety of faiths, primarily from the pagan traditions of pacified locals.  The faith practiced by house Skleros, however, is best described as most similar to a highly-corrupted variant of Zoroastrianism, taken from the old traditions of their homeland.
Military - Unlike many armies, the forces of the Skleros place more emphasis on their professional heavy infantry than noble cavalrymen.  These infantry can be divided into two types--those primarily utilizing a heavy javelin and large shield with a short sword as a sidearm, and those carrying a pike meant for thrusting or bracing as opposed to the javelin.  These infantry are typically armored in a segmented metal cuirass, with a steel exterior and soft iron interior.  Typically, a Skleros infantry brigade will have six lines, two of each of these, javelin followed by pike followed by javelin followed by pike followed by javelin followed by pike.  These are divided into three sets of two, with each pike line paired with one javelin line.  Women are permitted to serve in some capacities in the military, but are traditionally barred from service in the heavy infantry, and thus tend to be relegated to less glamorous work in logistics or an auxiliary fighting branch, such as slingers or light infantry.  Only a particular class of the minor nobility under Skleros typically provide heavy cavalry, and light cavalry is drawn from non-citizen forces along with other auxiliary groups.

[Stirk]

Well I am thinking about joining, but have some questions first. It is your fault for saying we could ask!

1. What is the setting? Medieval you said, but medieval where? The title and opening sound like it is an Eastern setting, though the coat of arms sounds more like a western concept. Is it a real world location, or a fictional world? I could probably wait for the map to help answer this, but I actually have to get up tomorrow and should probably get some sleep.

2. I forgot because I made one so long -_-

[Glowcat]

Application:

Family Name: Linshi Dynasty

Family Crest: A profile view of a mountain lion stalking underneath the canopy of three trees

Lord's Name: Linshi Peng
> Lady's Name: Linshi Chun

Starting Traits: Focused, Fortunate, Withdrawn

Starting Skill: Stewardship

[mastahcheese]

1. What is the setting? Medieval you said, but medieval where? The title and opening sound like it is an Eastern setting, though the coat of arms sounds more like a western concept. Is it a real world location, or a fictional world? I could probably wait for the map to help answer this, but I actually have to get up tomorrow and should probably get some sleep.

The Coat of Arms in to help me differentiate between players, along with setting up starting information. But the setting as a whole is probably a tad closer to Eastern settings, but really it's a mix.
It's totally fictional. No correlation to anything real.

[Elephant Parade]

Oh man, another game where I can govern by random chance. I'll post a sheet tomorrow. Elephantia and the Great Die will claim victory!

[wipeout1024]

Family Name: Tanshin

Family Crest: A rose, which has thorns coming out of it and surrounding the rose.
Lord's Name: Donrun
>Lady's Name: Sachiko


Starting Traits:
Agile
Charismatic
Faithless

Starting Skill:
Seduction

[Haspen]

PTW with possible joining.

[Stirk]

*Snaps fingers*

Pterosaurs Tooth Wagon.
PTW

I am an idiot.

[Haspen]

Family Name: Tan-Seong

Family Crest: White chrysanthenum silhouette resting on three circles filled purple on black background.
Lord's Name: Seo-jun
>Lady's Name: Gyuri

Starting Traits:
Focused
Genius
Weak

Starting Skill:
Law

[Orange Wizard]

Spoiler: Signup Sheet: Peredur Family (click to show/hide)

Family Name: Peredur

Family Crest: Golden winged sword, pointing down, on a green background

> Lord's Name: Eogan
Lady's Name: Brenna

Starting Traits: Fortunate, Genius, Cowardly

Starting Skill: Running away