Dawn of Man: Interactive History
The year is 1,500 Before Christ.
For thousands of years, humans have lived in scattered tribes, living off the land and moving whenever they ran out of resources. But now - humans are settling down in city-states, forming countries, setting up organized governments and civilizations. Agriculture, the wheel, writing, all these inventions make civilization possible.
But human progress has its dark side. Tribes - and now cities and countries - have begun to clash violently, not just for food but for territory, for women, or even out of sheer pride. And to make things worse, magic is in the air; while magic has naturally bettered people's lives, it has also been used to wreak havoc and in war.
Player List:
Yours Truly: The Kingdom of Lacedaemon (Sparta)
IH Team: Me
Map:
I need to blank this out.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Note: When claiming land for your factions, please claim a reasonable amount of land for a Bronze Age faction.
Faction creation:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
First, please apply here and pick a province on the game map. Then, create a faction thread in the Diplomacy section. You can build your faction to be whatever you want it to be and craft its history from nothing - just be realistic (this is 3000 BC, after all) and please don't build a
Mary Suetopia. You can also raise your starting army there. All factions start out with 100% economy and 0% Faith. Please keep track of your own military, Faith and economy.
When creating a faction, be sure to include
at most three royal family members/government ministers if you don't have a monarchy/whatever the rulers and important court figures of your civilization are called.
To expand your faction, claim a region (be reasonable now) and build a city there (-10% econ, 1 turn). You can name the city whatever you want or even leave it nameless.
Your initial decisions will be based on the kind of faction you have - for example, a theocratic monarchy will get a different set of questions than a nomadic tribe or a merchant oligarchy.
Important things to have in your faction thread:
-Flag (optional, actually, but it'd be nice
)
-Government
-Three royals/ministers/whatever your leaders are called
-Military stats
-Buildings (note: all factions automatically gain Wooden Walls for their capital, free of charge)
-The present turn's econ (everyone starts at 100%, subtract whatever you've recruited & built from this)
-'Faith Meter' (everyone starts at 0%, change this as you build Faith structures)
-Brief history & cultural description (I don't need you to write a novel, but please don't write a pamphlet either
)
Military rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Soldiers are purchased in units of 100 each.
Unit types:
Light infantry - slingers, scouts, javelineers etc. - 1% of your econ
Heavy infantry - swordsmen, macemen, axemen etc. - 1% of your econ
Spear infantry - spearmen, pikemen etc. - 1% of your econ
Archers - self-explanatory - 1% of your econ
Light cavalry - scouts, mounted militia etc. - 5% of your econ
Heavy cavalry - nobles, shock troopers etc. - 5% of your econ
Chariots - the tanks of the Bronze Age, a combination of horse archers & heavy cavalry - 10% of your econ
Siege engine - rams, catapults etc. - 8% of your econ, 2 turns
Siege ladder - self-explanatory - 1% of your econ, 1 turn
Bireme - 2% of your econ, 2 turns
Trireme - 4% of your econ, 2 turns
Quadrireme - 6% of your econ, 3 turns
Quinquereme - 10% of your econ, 3 turns
Training:
Militia - 1 turn - 0% econ
Regular - 2 turns - 2% econ
Elite - 4 turns - 4% econ
Fortifications:
Wooden Walls - 1 turn - 5% of your econ
Stone Walls - 3 turns - 10% of your econ
Great Stone Walls - 6 turns - 15% of your econ
You may occasionally be approached by a mercenary captain. Mercenaries come in all kinds and sizes - some may be small bands of charioteers, others masses of barbarian light infantry and archers. You may even have a mercenary Magus turn up at your court at some point. Of course, their price will vary widely as well - the aforementioned barbarian horde may ask for a small sum of gold or some land to settle in, while a dark sorcerer may demand a huge sum of gold or the construction of a Dark Cathedral.
Movement rules: Armies move at a pace of 1 province/RL day, unless you have attached a character with an ability/Artifact to allow faster movement to that army. (these rules will not apply to units on Quests)
When going to war, please avoid gangbanging - the tactic of bringing a massive alliance network into a war against one faction. Two-on-one is fine, three-on-one will need some work to justify, and four-on-one or more is unacceptable. Gangbanging factions will suffer penalties.
Economic rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Like the BG games, your economy will be measured with a percentage. All civilizations begin at 100%. Training units, constructing religious buildings and the effects of magic will knock that down; meaningful economic reforms, trade with other civs, the development of infrastructure and certain magical spells can raise that.
Your economy will naturally strengthen every turn, unless of course you are struck with magic or something else that harms your economy, such as a rampaging enemy army.
Note that trade will always increase your econ by 5%. However, you can be blockaded, and if either side cancels the trade agreement then both sides lose this bonus.
Lastly, note that it is not advisable to have your economy fall below 50%, at which point you will begin to suffer from shortages and riots (which will, of course, only get worse the further away you fall from that 50% mark).
What affects your economy's growth at the end of every turn:
5% - capital
1% - every other province you have
1-5% - meaningful economic reform (coinage, tax reform etc)
2% - infrastructure development (once per province only)
5% - per trade agreement
Faith rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Every faction starts out at 0% on their 'Faith Meter'; the construction of churches or temples raise this. At 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, you get bonuses.
You start out with your historic religion (Pagan, mostly), and can change it if you wish. However, your existing religious buildings will be destroyed and your faith will become the opposite of whatever it was before.
Of course, you can choose not to align with any god and instead rely on your own human strength and ingenuity.
Faith buildings:
Temple=5% faith, -5% eco, 2 turns
Large Temple=10% faith, -10% eco, 4 turns
Awsome Temple=20% faith, -20% eco, 10 turns
Espionage rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Why bother sending hundreds or thousands of men to their deaths, when the war you are involved in can end with only one life taken? Espionage can allow you to open city gates just before a siege, damage the enemy's harvest, poison their water supplies, provide intelligence on their movements or take out their leaders.
These characters come in two flavors: spies and assassins. Spies can sneak into enemy cities and open their gates when your army arrives, knock out between 1% and 10% of their economy and find enemy armies or characters. Assassins, as you can guess, are used to kill enemy characters - or, perhaps, mythological beings.
Both spies and assassins require 4 turns' training time and 10% of your economy. Mercenary spies and assassins may randomly approach your court, but like other mercenaries, their price will vary wildly.
RP & Quest rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
In the RP subforum, you can roleplay whatever you want concerning your faction - court intrigues, assassination & spying missions, etc. However, please keep diplomacy to the diplomacy subforum. Naturally, you will be expected to refrain from Godmoding - controlling someone else's characters.
To go on a Quest to kill, capture, negotiate with or drive out a mythological being, first you must organize a 'band of adventurers' - a 100-strong unit of soldiers. You can pick multiple types of units, including Magi, for this warband.
Next, please open a thread in the RP subforum. From there, we will start your adventurers' journey...