Hellas Asunder

[m_1512]

Like many would know, Stig and we were considering and discussing a Macedonian game before. However, for various reasons, we deduced that the game wouldn't be that interesting or fun. So, after considerable talks, we have decided that instead of developing what we want, we are going to develop what you want.

Then, my idea went to the early idea we had about a Greek game. Hence, this idea will be set in 433 BC, a year before the Peloponnesian war. By vote, Athens will be the playable faction.

Athens
Government: Democracy presided by elected archon. The Assembly (senate) holds all power, and every player has a chance to have a turn on the throne.
Military power: Naval superpower. Specialized on amphibious attacks.
Nation status: Hegemon empire with numerous client city-states.

Spoiler for Province Map: 

[m_1512]

Forum Structure

Hellas Asunder
------ Metropolis Athenon (The City of Athens)
------ Kosmos Arkhaios (The Ancient World)
------ Makhon Pedia (The Battlefields)
------ Bibliotheke (The Archives)

Economy

Basic Income All citizens, regardless or properties or positions held, will earn a basic annual income of 3,000 drachmas. This income may change on factors occuring during course of game, but you'll be informed beforehand. You can augment this income by using the following means or sources of additional income. Agriculture You can buy estates (cultivable land) and slaves to work in them to add to your income. The income shall be determined by how many slaves are allotted to each. You can purchase both land and slaves in the Agora (forum). The price of slaves shall vary according to the situation in the game. For example, winning a recent war gives the nation a supply of prisoners and slaves. Hence, so should the price of slaves reduce. Small estate: A small estate costs about 1,200 drachmas to purchase. It may be staffed by twenty five slaves, and you may have only maximum five estates. Large estate: A large estate will cost you 2,500 drachmas to purchase. It may be staffed by fifty slaves, and you may only have a maximum of three estates. Also, you'll need to have three small estates for every one large estate. Huge estate: A huge estate will cost 5,000 drachmas to purchase. It may be staffed by a hundred slaves, and you may own only two huge estate. Also, you'll need to have two large estates for a huge estate. Palatial estate: A palatial estate will cost 10,000 drachmas to purchase. It may be staffed by two hundred slaves, and you may own only one. Also, you'll need to have two huge estates before you purchase this. Note: Since an estate requires slaves to work on and generate income, the income shall be influenced by how the percentage the estate is staffed. For example, if a large estate is only staffed with forty slaves instead of the complete fifty, you may only claim 80% of the income from that estate according to the staffing. Production: All estates have a production of a default crop. There is no risk involved in this, but neither any bonus income. However, you may try to produce another resource to increase the income, bearing a certain risk of loss. You have to specify this clearly in your home thread and notify the moderators in the main forum too, before doing this. Grain: Default crop produced. No risk, no bonus. Fruit: You may choose to produce Fruits in your estates, to either make or lose bonus 15% of your estate income. (Chance of success - 75%) Grape (for wine): You may choose to produce Grapes in your estates, to either make or lose bonus 30% of your estate income. (Chance of success - 50%) Livestock (for meat): You may choose to produce Livestock in your estates, to either make or lose bonus 50% of your estate income. (Chance of success - 25%) Trade Trade is restricted to trading via sea, and to the resources available in the other ports. Trade occurs in the process of your ships leaving from Athens to the destination ports and back, in the entire turn. You may either commission the building of trade ships in the shipyard thread, or purchase or hire existing ships from other players if they are willing. Each ship may only trade in a single destination for a single commodity. The necessary rolls and calculations for this are made in the beginning of the next turn. For example, in 430 BC, you send a ship to trade in Syracuse, the rolls and income calculation is done in the beginning of the year 429 BC. To trade with a city, the following must be true. The city you are trading with is a coastal one, or has access to a port. The city, or the faction holding it is not hostile towards Athens. The city is not blockaded during war or has been barred from trading with Athens. Trade Goods: The goods available for trade in a city is classified into three types. Each type has a specific bonus for a successful trade, and risks of loss too. The following are the types available. This list is mentioned under each trading city in the thread dedicated to trade. For every turn, you must clearly mention where you want to send your ships to trade what resource. Not mentioning is considered as intention to not trade for that year. Following is the classification of the goods. Basic commodities: Safest commodity to trade in. Basic profit with minimal risk. Luxury commodities: Considerable profit from goods, however with increase in risk. Exotic commodities: High profits from these goods, but with highest possible risk. Risks: There are two kinds of risks, and how it influences trade - natural calamities and material (man-induced) risks. Natural calamity risk apply equally to any type of good you trade in. Material risk apply to luxury and more in exotic goods trade. If you trade only in basic goods, only the natural calamities roll is done. For others, rolls are made for both the risks one after the other. Mines and Quarries To further bolster your income, you may invest in mines. All mines in Athenian territory belong to Athens and cannot be owned by any person. You may invest monetarily in the mines for a turn, to draw profits in the next turn. However, there will be risks too of losing the investment too. A roll will be first made to determine the success or failure of the previous turn's mining activities. Then the profits will be calculated. Marble: 1-6 from D8 to succeed Cost: 600 drachmas Profit: 2D6 * 150 (mine value) Copper: 1-5 from D8 to succeed Cost: 800 drachmas Profit: 2D6 * 200 Tin: 1-4 from D8 to succeed Cost: 1,000 drachmas Profit: 2D6 * 250 Iron: 1-3 from D8 to succeed Cost: 1,200 drachmas Profit: 2D6 * 300 Silver: 1-2 from D8 to succeed Cost: 1,400 drachmas Profit: 2D6* 350 Gold: 1 from D8 to succeed Cost: 1,600 drachmas Profit: 2D6 * 400 Mine value is the most basic output of a mine. However, mines can be upgraded and the value increased. The upgrades are expensive and can either be carried our by the state of any individual or a group. Every mine in any region starts off as a basic mine. Small mine (level 1) - 15,000 drachmas to upgrade, +25% to mine value Medium quarry (level 2) - 30,000 drachmas to upgrade, +50% to mine value Large mine (level 3) - 45,000 drachmas to upgrade, +75% to mine value Extensive mines (level 4) - 60,000 drachmas to upgrade, +100% mine value Other notes - Farm income will be rolled for basic crop every turn by the moderators, by default. It is your duty to post in the moderation thread if you want to attempt other crop production. Only then will the moderators do rolls for your production. Crop choices apply to all your estates in a region. - The same holds for the trade and mining investments. If you do not want to invest in trade and/or mining, you need not take any action. If willing to invest, please post it in moderators thread. - You may not exceed the cap for number of estates that can be owned. However, do note that this cap only applies to that region they are in. For every other region controlled by Athens, you can build till the allowed limit. - You may only invest in one mining resource per turn. But the same above rule applies here. You can invest in one resource per region for every turn. The mining upgrades are also region wise.

Military - Armies

Raising Armies Manpower By this concept, the regular army of Athens is not usually just levied from a existing and fixed body of men or recruited with monetary payments. Rather, the armies that can be drawn depends on the availability of able-bodied and the state of the armory. Please note again that here, army refers to the armies of the province and state, and not personal troops of characters or mercenaries. In simple terms, an army may be raised from a region depending on its manpower. The manpower here is the amount of people that can be armed for wars in any region. This number can increase or decrease region-wise during the course of the game, depending on situations. The cap on this is 40% of the manpower in a single turn, i.e. you may only call to arms only 40% of manpower without any negative effects. Once a number is called to arms, it is deducted from the manpower and added only after the army is dispersed. However, the army raised also needs to be armed, paid, and fed to be able to fight. Arms and Equipment Here, arms refer to the weapons, armor, mount, and any equipment a soldier carried. When an army is raised, weapons and armor has to be commissioned to equip the army. These arms are however sent to the armory of the main city, whichever region they belong to. The soldier type is also decided by the nature of arms they carry. Hoplite equipment: Mainstream infantry of the Greeks, comprised of the free citizens and rural subject of city-states. They are basically heavy infantry able to fight in phalanx formation. Equipment: Bronze armor, hoplon shield, spear, xiphos blade. Cost: 15,000 drachmas for 1,000 men Hippeus equipment: Mainstream cavalry of the city-states, comprised of citizens of comparative higher standing. Equivalent to the Roman equestrian, they were citizens able to provide their own war horse. Equipment: Bronze armor, cavalry shield, lance, kopis blade. Cost: 12,000 drachmas for 1,000 men Peltast equipment: Light infantry who can also fight skirmishes by hurling javelins into the enemy ranks. Very effective against slow moving troops, but no match for heavy armed soldiers. Equipment: 3-5 javelins, pelt armor, shield, short blade. Cost: 8,000 drachmas for 1,000 men Slinger equipment: Equipment: Sling, dagger. Cost: 3,000 drachmas for 1,000 men Wages These troops fought as duty for their state and do not require wages. Feeding the army They army that is raised will have to be fed. In territory controlled by Athens and allied territory, the army will be fed by the local populace. For neutral regions, you will have to purchase supplies for the army. In hostile regions, you may either purchase supplies or go foraging or raiding to feed the army. Note that this all depends on the skill of the general in this trait. Further, there is a cap depending on the region on how much soldiers can be sustained when living on it. This cap does not apply to an army on its home region since the soldiers are a part of that population. Calling to arms To raise an army from a city or region, the magistrate or archon ruling it can give a call to arms. Note that you can only call to arms 40% of the manpower safely in normal situations. During emergencies, you can simply waive this limit. Raising an army takes 3 days (RL time). This time includes equipping the men, mustering them, and the general practice before they go to war. In emergency, armies can be raised in a single day, however, the troops will be less efficient than normal ones. Mercenaries You may hire mercenaries for your campaigns in exchange for money. The benefit with mercenaries is that they provide for their own arms. Each mercenary company has a contract period for which they will serve your command. You may extend the contract for another consecutive term. For every extended term, the cost of the contract is increased by 25%. However, mercenaries will constantly ask for annual wages. In case of defaulting of payment, a D20 roll will be made to decide any of the following outcomes. Mercenary politely appeal to you for their wages - No loss incurred, and men wait for your word. Roll: 1-4. Mercenaries lay down the arms and return to their homes - Loss of contract. Roll: 5-8. Mercenaries take the default as their loss and wait for some change next time - Negative rolls to battles. Roll: 9-12. Mercenaries pillage the country-side to make up for their loss - Peasant rebellion possible, Assembly may even deploy state troops to put down your army and seize the arms. If deployed near foreign border during peace time, they will pillage foreign villages - Complaints against you to the Assembly and foreign troops may also put down your troops and seize their arms, war also imminent. Roll: 13-16. Mercenary attack treasury of local city or Athens, whichever near - treasury looted completely. Roll: 17-20. Personal Armies You may recruit men for serving your family as personal army. The starting cap for personal army for everyone is 500 troops of any type you wish. However, like regular armies, these men will also have to be armed, accommodated, fed, and paid. Arms and Equipment Same as for regular armies. Wages Personal armies will have to be paid too. The annual wages for personal armies is 10 drachmas per man. The sum will have to be paid from personal vaults. In case of defaulting of payment, a D20 roll will be made to decide any of the following outcomes. Troops politely appeal to you for their wages - No loss incurred, and men wait for your word. Roll: 1-4. Troops lay down the arms and return to their homes - Loss of the recruits but no equipment loss. Roll: 5-8. Troops sell their arms to collect their dues and return home - Loss of equipment and recruits. Roll: 9-12. Troops pillage the country-side to make up for their loss - Peasant rebellion possible, Assembly may even deploy state troops to put down your army and seize the arms. If deployed near foreign border, they will pillage foreign villages - Complaints against you to the Assembly and foreign troops may also put down your troops and seize their arms, war also imminent. Roll: 13-16. Troops attack your treasury - you treasury looted completely, death of character at their hands also possible. Roll: 17-20. Accommodation Apart from wages, you will need to provide accommodation to your troops. Till the cap of 1,000 troops, the soldiers are considered to be provided in your personal lands. For more than 1,000 troops, you will need to upgrade your lands with the following structures to accommodation structures. Small barracks: Houses 2,500 troops Cost: 5,000 drachmas Large Barracks: Houses 5,000 troops Cost: 7,250 drachmas Huge Barracks: Houses 7,250 troops Cost: 10,000 drachmas Small Fort: Houses 10,000 troops Cost: 12,250 drachmas Large Fort: Houses 12,250 troops Cost: 15,000 drachmas Fortified Estate: Houses 15,000 troops Cost: 17,250 drachmas Feeding the army Same as for regular armies.

Military - Navies

An Overview At the time of Xeres' invasion, when Athenians had consulted the Oracle, they were told that they would find haven behind the wooden walls. A general correctly guessed that the walls mentioned are the actual floating walls, that is their navy. Ever since then, Athens has boasted a fine naval tradition. In game, Athens will also start with a strong navy compared to a decent army. However, what is good can also be perfected. Warships may be commissioned by the orders of the assembly and paid for by treasury, or privately by players. It is entirely up to you which ship you privately commission and what you do with it. Trade ships will take 5 days to build and warships 7 days. You must post in the Piraeus thread to commission the building. The Ships Following are the ships and their costs, with their variations. Bireme Warships: Medium ships with two deck for rowers. They have slight bulk and armor and decent fighting abilities. The following are the variations that can be built for biremes. Tower: Ships with a tower built on the deck from which marines fire flaming arrows/javelins on enemy ships to set them alight. Cost: 20,000 drachmas Composition: 100 rowers and 20 marines (peltasts) Ram: These Ships have a powerful hull for ramming other ships into pieces. These are specially heavy built than other variations to put power into the ram. Cost: 22,000 drachmas Compositions: 100 rowers and 20 marines (swordsmen) Trireme Warships: Heavy ships with three decks for rowers. They are bulky with solid armor and good fighting ability. The following are the variations that can be built for triremes. Tower: Ships with a tower built on the deck from which marines fire flaming arrows/javelins on enemy ships to set them alight. Cost: 30,000 drachmas Composition: 170 oarsmen and 30 marines (archers) Ram: These Ships have a powerful hull for ramming other ships into pieces. These are specially heavy built than other variations to put power into the ram. Cost: 32,000 drachmas Compositions: 170 oarsmen and 30 marines (hoplites) Transport: These ships are built for sturdiness to safely ferry troops to their destination. Cost: 25,000 drachmas Capacity: 300 troops per ship (It is understood that 150 of the troops will man the oars in turns) Other notes - The costs include the cost of building, manning, and arming the ships. - The upkeep for these ships is 15% of the total cost. - Like the costs of unit equipment, the above costs may change in the course of the game. However, you'll be notified of this before this happens.

Diplomacy and National Infamy

Diplomacy Diplomacy will be the interaction of characters, representing either self or the state, with other states leaders or factions. As a turn from relying solely on random rolls to determine diplomatic courses, diplomacy here will depend on both this new system and rolls. This system will make it possible for every individual to influence diplomacy to the extent that even the said individual may be able to utterly frustrate the Assembly's plans in this area. According to the new system, the other state's stance and how they will react initially to your proposals is based on the infamy rating. However, you will have equal opportunity to change it to your benefit by roleplay. That said, this is just one of the additions to the dimensions of role-play. National Infamy This system will be based on the actions of Athens, as a whole including both government and people, to determine their renown or infamy in the world. This will be tracked and maintained by the moderators using the below meter in a thread. -100|||||||||0|||||||||100 Engaging in acts considered dishonorable (according to norms of that era) will increasing infamy, while honorable acts will increase renown. Also, please note that actions here means actions with considerable impact and not petty stuff to being down the opinion.

The State of Athens

The Government Athens is governed collectively by the Assembly, who deliberates and votes on all important and by the elected officials to govern Athens and it territories. Although a true democracy, Athens has seen numerous coups and despots who seized power but eventually lost the power after demise or ousted by opposition. Athens primarily a hegemon, derives its power and might from the Delian league, their client states in essence. These states pay tribute either in form of money or military service. Due to experience of coups, Athenians have deep mistrust in giving absolute power to a single person and hence, all officers who hold any power are always subject to review at any time by the Assembly. If proven to have misused their power, they are removed and ostracized. More on Ostracism below. Athens and Attica is governed by the Archon, an official elected by the Assembly. If any other city or territory is added to the state, new Magistrates are elected to govern that city and its surrounding vicinity. However, the major decisions has to be ratified by the Assembly. Also, there was no system of payments or salary for the officials. Like the state army and navy, the officials served for the honor of the offices. Institutions and the Offices Ecclesia (Assembly of Athens): The Assembly or senate of Athens where all citizens could participate by choice. The Assembly voted on all important decisions and elected the high offices of Archon, Magistrates, and Strategos. The Assembly also voted on laws and important decisions concerning the state. Archon (Chief Magistrate): Governor of Athens and Piraeus and rural Attica and chief of all magistrates of any other city under Athenian state, if any. Elected by the Assembly for every two weeks, unless ostracized (removal from office, and banishment if necessary) by the Assembly for a reason. Strategos (Military Commander): Strategos or Strategoi (plural) were the military commanders of the armies, navies, and garrisons of Athens. Like the Archon, they were elected by the Assembly for every two weeks, unless ostracized by the Assembly for a reason. The number of serving Strategoi required is also decided by the Assembly. Magistrate: Governor of any other city under the rule of Athens. Elected by the Assembly for every two weeks, unless ostracized by the Assembly for a reason. Ostracism Ostracism was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often used preemptively. It was used as a way of neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state or potential tyrant. Crucially, ostracism had no relation to the processes of justice. There was no charge or defense, and the exile was not in fact a penalty; it was simply a command from the Athenian people that one of their number be gone for ten years. The person nominated had ten days to leave the city. If he attempted to return, the penalty was death. Notably, the property of the man banished was not confiscated and there was no loss of status. After the ten years, he was allowed to return without stigma. It was possible for the assembly to recall an ostracised person ahead of time. Ostracism Procedure The procedure for ostracism in the game is fairly simple. A person has to be nominated for ostracism in the assembly, with the clear specification to the terms as simply removal from office or even banishment. The assembly will vote on the ostracism nomination and decided by a simple majority vote. Game wise, the person is to leave Athens and cannot participate in any event happening there. This is not the game over for the player however. Upgrades The Assembly can also order upgrades to be made to Athens, Attica, or any other Athenian territory. The cost of that upgrade shall be determined in roleplay and the time for the upgrade shall be given by a moderator using logic (how long would it take back then?). Expeditions The Assembly can also call for expeditions to increase the territory of Athens. Expeditions can be either conquest or colonizing regions by Greek citizens. The expedition will be carried out by any person(s) nominated by the archon for the mission. Conquest will involve capturing a city or region and annexing it as part of the state. Colonizing will be settling citizens on a region and developing a town or village into a city as regional capital for the Greek colony. Private expeditions covered in the next section.

Favor Rating

Aristocrats and Democrats Athenian society back then was divided into two main classes. The aristos were wealthy individuals or families who indulged in trade and served the high offices as they had no dire need of payment for the offices. The demos or common people included the rest of Athenians like farmers, craftsmen, and other minor trades. Although there was no political antagonism between the two classes, having the favor of each provides you with some benefits. Favor of aristos provides you primarily monetary benefits such as loans and they can provide you with horses for your private armies. They also provides you benefits to your trade income. Favor of demos provides you with other benefits such as faster commissioning of special equipment like ships, or soldier arms. But the chief benefit of favor is that they will support you in times of strife or if you instigate a rebellion. Aristos support will mostly involve mercenaries and demos support would rebelling people. In game, this will be tracked in the form of points. The points will accumulate or be deducted by actions of the character in the game. Points when applied to receive a benefit will be deducted. Points are also tied to a family and can be carried forward.

Family Legacy

An Overview In the game, your character will accumulate multiple bonuses and benefits during roleplay. To ensure that all these investments are not wasted, I've introduced this concept. Here, all the bonuses your character accrues by roleplay, building structures, or certain actions shall be attributed to the family or house the character belongs to and shall be carried forward to the next one after the character dies. Please note that this will apply to only natural and adopted heirs of the character. It will not apply to any unrelated character you may make your main character. I've listed some of the ways you can gain such bonuses. Public Buildings You may commission special buildings or structures to be built in Athens. Athenians historically did this to beautify and increase the magnificence of the city. There is no income from them, however the family or families commissioning them get bonuses depending on the type of the structure and the size of structure. The bonus is determined by the kind and the magnitude by the size of the structure. You (or your partners if you have them) make up whatever you want it to be called, if multiple people fund it then they split the points roughly. The costs and build times for the buildings are listed below. Small building - costs 10,000 drachmas and takes a turn to build Moderate building - costs 25,000 drachmas and a turn to build Large building costs - 50,000 drachmas and a turn to build Grand building costs - 75,000 drachmas and two turns to build Epic monument costs - 100,000 drachmas and substantial roleplay, and three turns to build Sacred monument - same cost and build time, but requires serious roleplay as this monument is built in the Acropolis For example, commissioning a small shrine to Ares will grant troops fighting under your command a small offensive bonus. If the structure is commissioned by you and other players, the points are simply divided roughly. Public Events You may also host several events such as holding a feats, or throwing games in honor of a God for bonus or benefits. Since this is a short lasting event compared to buildings, the bonus will be mostly for favor of people or short term bonus. The bonus is determined by the kind and the magnitude by the size of the structure. You (or your partners if you have them) make up whatever you want it to be called, if multiple people fund it then they split the points roughly. For example, throwing games in honor of Ares will give you favor of demos and short term offensive fighting bonus for your troops. But in event of a feast, it will simply provide favor of the aristos. Expeditions You or other players collectively may send expeditions for conquest of cities. You will have to furnish these expeditions from your own pocket(s). The expeditions can only be for conquests and not for settling Greeks. You are however, not immune from the consequences from declaring war, and might even drag the Athenian state into the war by your actions. If the expedition is a success, you have the option to either declare the city and region as hereditary magistracy for your family or hand the city to the Assembly for a grand reward. If you choose to hand over the city, you may ask your character to be nominated magistrate for life as an honor.

Religion

Patron Gods In ancient Greece, every city had a patron God to which the city gave a special place of honor and reverence. In game, you may declare a patron God for the city. This would involve a holy place of worship, anything from a shrine to a temple or even monument, in the city or region's sacred place. In case of Athens, the sacred place was the Acropolis and Athena the city's patron Goddess. You may announce this whenever you conquer a region or set-up a colony. Having a patron God gives the city certain bonus. The following are the bonuses for each. Hera - Goddess of Matrimony Population growth bonus Poseidon - God of Seas Naval warfare bonus Apollo - God of Light and Knowledge National infamy bonus Athena - Goddess of Wisdom Defensive warfare bonus - army Ares - God of War Offensive warfare bonus - army Dionysus - God of Celebrations Population happiness bonus Hermes - God of Commerce Naval trade bonus Demeter - Goddess of Harvest Region productivity bonus Hephaestus - God of the Forge Arms and equipment manufacture bonus Please note that the patron God bonus only applies to the region the city belongs to and to the troops or units of that city or region. Temples and Monuments Apart from patron Gods, players may commission shrines, temples, and monuments in honor of any of the above Gods. Although not the same bonus as patron Gods, these acts of reverence will grant your character family special bonuses.

Battles and Wars

Battle Moderation This short guide is to assist moderators in setting up and moderating a battle. All battles progress in three phases from moderation point of view - Preparation or setting up, Battle orders from the players, Execution and rolling the outcome of the orders. I will try and cover them briefly below. Preparation In this stage, the moderator for the battle shall draw out the battlefield, depending on where the player(s) decide to give battle in the game. You will need to start a thread featuring the battle map (even a picture of the battlefield will do), and list the deployment zones (where each player's armies stand in that picture). Also, do mention and roll for any unpredictable event, like rains, chill weather, and any factor that can influence the battle. In the event of the siege, also mention as clear as possible the defenses of the city (for NPC). For player sieges, the defenses are always present in the city thread. Battle Orders and Outcomes Battle orders are given by the player turn-wise. To prevent undue advantage from the absence of a player in a player vs player battle, you may ignore any orders posted out of turn. Once legitimate orders are posted, you may do the necessary rolls and post the outcome of the maneuver. Orders do not need confirmation normally. However, in the situation that a particular battle order isn't clear, you may contact the player about this to prevent confusion. Once the battle orders are posted, clear and legitimate, you may post the outcome. This continues till the battle ends and the conclusion of the battle can continue roleplay wise if the players wish to. Battle Rules Battles occur when two armies meet with the intent to fight. The armies can be of player against NPC or player against player. A moderator will set up the battle thread, and you may start roleplay from the prelude and into the battle itself. During you turn, you post battle orders for your troops. The outcome is taken care by the moderators. Since we decided to do away with traits this time, the outcome will completely depend on your strategy, creative roleplay, all aided by certain modifiers. The modifiers will include bonuses to your troops from both their region and your character commanding them. In certain situations, the mods will perform rolls to ensure that the outcome remains fair and unbiased. You may choose to have your character lead the battle from a distance or bring him into the fight. In those times, it was considered brave and glorious deed to fight alongside troops, and even more so on foot. For this, the character will be given 25 hitpoints by default. All relevant modifiers such as armor, bonuses etc. will be added to this number. The same hold good for player vs player combat, both given 25 points and their relevant modifiers. However, it is important to note that roleplay clarity still takes precedence. If your character is wearing any armor or carrying special item, you have to mention it so the moderator will notice it. Rolls will be done in the above for certain situations. This covers both normal injuries like a stab in the shoulder and rare injuries such as an arrow hitting your character in the eye or on the hand. Lastly, do note that your character when fighting personally is exposed to being slain. But this would not be common as a general will always be accompanied by some men while fighting. Capturing Cities Whenever you capture a city, and the region if the city is the center of administration of that region, you will have several options that you or everyone (via the Assembly) can exercise. Please note that the action you take will influence national infamy. Annexation You can annex the city and the region in your name or in name of Assembly (you will have to hand it over later in this case). However, there are several things you can do here. Occupy - You enter the city peacefully and take over the governance. But do note that you are letting your opponents and potential rebels walk free and plot in their homes. You also get some little money from the leading citizens for your kindness. Loot - Same as above but you loot the treasury and all valuable artifacts which adorn the city. You get money from the city, and the artifacts you can choose to sell to other cities or send them to adorn Athens. Enslave - You occupy the city, and enslave and sell all possible rebels and opponents, and perhaps even people victims of vicious rumors and accusations. You get the money from the sale of the enslaved. Exterminate - You leave nothing to chance, and order the slaughter a part of the populace, or anyone that stands in the way of your troops. Here, the spoils include money from the treasury and citizen's homes, and the artifacts. Raze - There is no chance here. The entire city is razed to the ground. You also decide to either keep the artifacts or destroy them. You will get spoils from the treasury and the wealth of the entire former populace. Make Client State Instal a friendly regime and make the state a client state subject to the will of Athens. Athens becomes Hegemon of that state. You may also demand annual tribute from them. Treaty Dictate terms and conditions for the state. This is not elaborated further, as creative roleplay will be appreciated.

Characters and Misc Rules

Characters The following are the character rules. While they are not written rigidly and as mere guidelines, any abuse of such which spoils playing experience for others will be dealt strictly. - Each player may have up to five active main characters at any time. The characters can be of a single family (natural or adopted) or different ones. However, bonuses can be carried forward only within the family. You can also relate your characters to other players' characters after discussing it with them. - Since we have done away with traits, you are given liberty to design your own characters, including describing their personal attributes. We kindly request players to try make characters as realistic as possible. - Of the five active characters, only 2 can hold offices. Please note that the two offices cannot be of equal standing, one has to be lower than the other. - Characters may commit suicide by poison, which was the common way. - A death roll will happen when a character turns 70 and each year with a 50% chance of death and after with increasing odds (5% per year). - You need not register any auxiliary characters, and can introduce them and take them out at your discretion. However, auxiliary characters will accrue no income or any bonuses, and cannot hold offices or important positions. However, they can act on behalf of your main characters. Childbirth Rules The procedure is the simplest. Simply post in the Physician thread, requesting the childbirth roll. The moderator will do the roll and post the outcome. The rolls would be for first the wife’s (or mistress’s) survival, second the survival of the child, and last the gender of the child. The odds are mentioned below. No-Assistance Wife’s survival: 8/20 Child’s survival: 6/20 Mid-Wife (The most basic assistance) – 500 Wife’s survival: 12/20 Child’s survival: 10/20 Priest of Artemis or Askelpos (Average) – 1,500 Wife’s survival: 14/20 Child’s survival: 12/20 Experienced Physician (Renowned) – 3,000 Wife’s survival: 17/20 Child’s survival: 15/20 Assassinations There would come a time when a player would wish to murder another character. There are two ways of how they could it. They could either assassinate them with the help of a professional assassin, or finish them off personally. In the second one, you can acquire help from another player too if both agree. But this is a murder which all of the Hellenic world could potentially hear of. It would be prudent to use the professionals unless you opt for the second way, provided you are confident that your character would get away with it. Secret Assassination To order this, follow the simple steps. Contact a moderator (via PM the best), Pay 5,000 drachmas, State you intent (you must have a valid, IC reason to kill someone. “They looked at me funny” or “I don’t like them” are not valid reasons), The mod will then roll a D20 to determine the outcome and post it in a relevant thread. D20 Rolls: The following are the rolls and their outcomes. 1-5: Capture of the assassin before they even reach the target. The assassin’s employer’s identity is revealed to the target, who may decide what to do with the information. 6-10: Assassin misses the target and escapes successfully. Although the target is not eliminated, the identity of the one who tried to have the target killed remains secret. 11-15: Death of the target and the capture of the assassin. Although the target is dead, their heir may decide what to do with the identity of the assassin. 16-20: The assassin gets in, does his job, and gets out with incident. The target is dead and nobody knows who did it. Open Assassination Simply follow the steps. Be in the same thread, you and your fellow conspirators, Post intent along with the reasons (valid ones), State how you intend to perform the assassination (stabbing, poison, etc.) In certain cases, target will be able to defend themselves Moderator rolls to decide outcome. Modifiers Each character (not including auxiliaries), will provide a +2 or -2 bonus depending on whoever they’re helping. The character (meaning target or assassin, not helpers) with the higher strength will receive a +1 and the character with lower strength will receive -1 bonus. Special items such as weapons and armor may also provide bonuses depending on their quality and so forth. Special Items In game, characters can purchase special items that will grant them specific bonuses, just like traits. However, these only apply when the character is mentioned as carrying these items.

[NotYetRegistered]

Athens would probably be best. Lots of interesting events there.

I'm a bit worried about the wars, though. Are you guys planning on Greek city-states being able to annex each other or at max just being able to install friendly regimes and extract tribute?

[m_1512]

I'm a bit worried about the wars, though. Are you guys planning on Greek city-states being able to annex each other or at max just being able to install friendly regimes and extract tribute?

Well, I was hoping to reveal this in the rules but I might as well explain now. We are actually planning to go further than this, and you'll be able to do both. In addition to annexing or making a client state, you'll be able to actually found minor settlements and play to raise it into cities. Completely unorthodox in RPG games, but I reckoned it might be fun to play.

[Ace_General]

I would personally rather go Macedon........ Can I play Phillip or the Persian satrap of asia minor or something to give you guys an interesting rival

[Lucius Malfoy]

I would personally rather go Macedon........ Can I play Phillip or the Persian satrap of asia minor or something to give you guys an interesting rival

How about I give you a...



How about for once you draw within the lines and actually just be a part of where everyone else is going.

So for Athens, be an Athenian/Greek. If Sparta, be a Spartan/Greek. Not be someone on the far side of the continent or across the sea.

[Celsius]

How about I give you a...



How about for once you draw within the lines and actually just be a part of where everyone else is going.

This is acceptable.

[Zeus Almighty]

This is acceptable.

Aye

[emotion_name]

Yay, something non SciFi ish, or based on a historical period i know nothing about!

Anyways, i voted for Athens!!

[Ace_General]

I dunno, I never liked athens, they seemed like some of the biggest douchebags in the ancient world, like a giant dick-ish Frat, sorta like how Macedon was the insane southern football team that was like "We will F some people up, have an orgy, get drunk, and find more people to F up and conquer till we reach the end of the world"

[Celsius]

As Athens is more democratic than both Sparta and Macedon, as well as being overshadowed by the 2 in terms of military and strength. The struggling city-state that must overcome it seems.

But not everything can be compared to college-like life.

[Ace_General]

As Athens is more democratic than both Sparta and Macedon, as well as being overshadowed by the 2 in terms of military and strength. The struggling city-state that must overcome it seems.

But not everything can be compared to college-like life.

Wait, what time period are we gonna play this game?

[Celsius]

I'm guessing 430 BC........

Hence, this idea will be set in 430 BC, a year before the Peloponnesian war.

[Ace_General]

I'm guessing 430 BC........

Looks interesting

We should win the war if we encourage slave revolts, dont slaughter neutral cities, or randomly decide to invade Sicily and lose like 1/2 of our military manpower

[Celsius]

Let's let the game get out of development before we start with strategies.

[m_1512]

I would personally rather go Macedon........ Can I play Phillip or the Persian satrap of asia minor or something to give you guys an interesting rival

Here is the thing whenever someone has such a request. If we make an exception here, people will want an exception everywhere. I do hope you understand this.

Yay, something non SciFi ish, or based on a historical period i know nothing about!
Anyways, i voted for Athens!!

It is very straightforward, really. Just do a basic read up on wiki, and we'll be working to make and keep the rules and stuff pretty simple and understandable.

I dunno, I never liked athens, they seemed like some of the biggest douchebags in the ancient world, like a giant dick-ish Frat, sorta like how Macedon was the insane southern football team that was like "We will F some people up, have an orgy, get drunk, and find more people to F up and conquer till we reach the end of the world"

Well, the bags that you refer to happened to be most advanced civilization, naval superpower, and first democracy. The only reason for the debacle of Peloponnese war was simply wrong decisions and "no-brainer" mistakes.

As Athens is more democratic than both Sparta and Macedon, as well as being overshadowed by the 2 in terms of military and strength. The struggling city-state that must overcome it seems.
But not everything can be compared to college-like life.

They are actually strong, in naval and amphibious warfare. Not to mention the wealth factor due to trade.

I'm guessing 430 BC........

I am considering shifting back 2 years to give time for players to settle in.

Let's let the game get out of development before we start with strategies.

We don't mind really, if you wish to have fun here. Just as long as doesn't get out of control.

[Zeus Almighty]

Is that a cartoon Katt Williams?

[Celsius]

It's "A Pimp named Slickback" from the show "The Boondocks". Oddly enough, he is voiced by Katt Williams.

[Nesimî]

This reminds me to read Thucydides's thingy. Will play.

[Dirty Chai]

Athens all the way.

Democracy will be the best way to go, mostly because I relish the idea of long debates and indirect decisions.
I will say right now, I vouch to be an aristocratic whistle-blower.