Warlords of Antiquity (RTD map game)

[♞Rogue General♞]

Warlords of Antiquity
A Roll to Dodge Map Game

Throughout the known lands people are restless,
Empires of the past are crumbling,
this vacuum of power
seen as an opportunity for conquest

Factions vie for power,
Pirates plunder the seas,

Which leader will rise from the chaos
and unite the people under one banner?

Which Warlord from antiquity
will forge the next great Empire?

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In this game of conquest set in 272 BCE, players control the decisions of their nation and may engage in diplomacy, warfare, and skullduggery to achieve victory! This is a turn-based map game similar to European Wars and Rise of the Republic.

Victory Condition: First player to own 100 regions wins the game.


MAP (Turn 20 snapshot):
There are 20 playable factions in the game. I recommend opening world map image in a new browser tab for clarity. You will also be able to zoom in.

The Regions on this map will be filled with different colors depending on which faction/country owns it.



Google doc link for your convenience (CLICK HERE)


Rules

Rules (The Basics)

Turns Turns This will be a turn based game, where each turn is 24 hours. All players will post their moves once per day, and the GM (me) will post an updated Map every 24 hours with the result of attacks/movements/new territory conquered/etc. You can win the game by owning 100 regions. Please note: if a player does not post a move in time (in the 24-hour window) he/she will basically skip that turn. How to Join, and NPC-controlled Factions How to Join, and NPC-controlled Factions To join the game, you need to choose a faction. Select one from the list below: Aorsoi Confederation - Available Arverni - Available Athens - Available Baktria (NobleWoman) The Boii (Morticia Iunia Bruti) Carthage (High Fist) Egypt (Abdülmecid I) Epirus- Available Gallaeci - Available Getae - Available Iceni - Available Macedon- Available Parthia - Available Pergamon - Available Pontus - Available Rome (Lord of Cats) Scythian Confederation - Available Seleucid Empire - Available Sparta - Available Suebi (crispy_kiko) Simply comment here with the faction you'd like to play, and I will add you to the game. Scroll up to the "Map" section to see the factions on the map. NPC-controlled Factions Any faction not controlled by a player will be NPC-controlled instead, in order to maintain map balance. New players can still join at any time! When a new player joins the game, they can choose any (one) NPC-controlled faction to take, and that faction will be given to that new player. Factions controlled by the NPC: Cannot win the game! Cannot perform Assassination or Rebellion missions against non-NPC players Can engage in diplomacy Plays passively (cannot attack a non-NPC player unless attacked, or an alliance requires them to declare war) In a war with Players, NPCs will first prioritize retaking their lost territories first, and only afterwards will begin taking nearby enemy (Player) regions. (Rule added turn 13) In essence, you may ally yourselves with NPC factions and even coordinate attacks together against other NPCs. And you can expect NPCs to defend themselves and make defensive alliances amongst themselves. They will not war with a real player, unless they are attacked or an alliance requires them to declare war (more on diplomacy later, under "Advanced Rules"). Additionally: A player can only switch factions if their current faction owns less than 5 regions. An NPC-controlled faction with 75 or more regions cannot be taken over by a player because it is too close to the 100 region victory condition. Again, NPC-controlled factions cannot win the game. Basic Map rules Basic Map rules Scroll to the top of this post if you need to refer to the map (or check out this google doc). Regions will be colored in as the game progresses depending on which faction owns it. A white area of 14 pixels or bigger with black borders around it is considered a "region". A white area smaller than 14 pixels is considered part of the nearest region to it. Mountains The thick black lines are mountain ranges, and are impassable. If you want to attack a region on the other side of the mountain, you will have to go around the mountain. Sea zones There are 14 24 sea zones. Sea zones are labeled, and separated by black lines. (Map updated on turn 9) How to attack To attack a region on a map, simply color in that region with your faction's color (using MS Paint or any other software), and post the map. Alternatively, you can just say something like “Attack the northern regions of my empire”, or “Attack Crete” and that is also fine. Depending on your dice rolls (more on this later) you may or may not be successful in capturing a region. I will post the updated map at the end of each turn. Starting region Your starting region is your capital. You will find out how to build structures (cities, fortifications) further down below. Prestige Prestige Your faction's Prestige is a big factor in the game. The more Prestige your faction has, the more Moves you will be able to perform each turn. 1-25 Prestige: 1 move per turn 26-60 Prestige: 2 moves per turn 61-65 Prestige: 3 moves per turn (65 is the maximum Prestige) All factions start off with 1 Prestige at the beginning of the game. Your Prestige can increase (or decrease!) depending on what actions you take in the game. Throughout the rules you will see specifically how much Prestige you gain or lose by certain these actions. Moves and Dice Rolls Moves A player can do a certain amount of Moves per turn. The amount of moves allowed is determined by that player's “Prestige”. Things that count as "Moves": Moving your Capital (New players, meaning players that have played for less than 5 turns, can move their capital for FREE) Attacking a Region (by land or sea) Attacking a Sea Zone Building something (Great City, Fortification) Moving/attacking from one sea zone to another Diplomatic actions (making alliances, declaring war, etc.) are FREE. You do not need to use Movement points on those. Dice Rolls For each Move you wish to perform, the GM (me) will roll the dice to see how successful you were. All dice rolls are public and will be performed using https://rolz.org, so there can be no cheating. I will post the link to the Dice Room with every turn so it is public record. Only some Secret Agent dice rolls will be kept hidden, and even those will be revealed once the game ends. Regions and Invasions Regions and Invasions Map for reference Land Battles You can only attack a region that you are in contact with (meaning, one of your regions is touching the enemy region that you want to attack). The GM will roll a virtual 6-faced dice (https://rolz.org) to see how successful you were in your attack: For invading player-controlled regions: [0] = Crushing Defeat (You are unable to attack this region next turn)(-2 Prestige) [1] = Clear Defeat (-1 penalty for your next attack on this region. Penalty expires after the next turn.)(-1 Prestige) [2] = Average Defeat [3] = Close Defeat (+1 bonus for your next attack on this region. Bonus expires after the next turn.) [4] = Pyrrhic Victory [5] or [6] = Victory (+1 Prestige) [7] = Heroic Victory! (+2 Prestige) [8] = Legendary Victory! (+3 Prestige) Rebels are easier to defeat than other players (white-colored regions are rebel regions). For invading rebel controlled regions: [0] = Crushing Defeat (You are unable to attack this region next turn)(-2 Prestige) [1] = Clear Defeat (-1 penalty for your next attack on this region. Penalty expires after the next turn.)(-1 Prestige) [2] = Close Defeat (+1 bonus for your next attack on this region. Bonus expires after the next turn.) [3] or [4] = Pyrrhic Victory [5] or [6] = Victory (+1 Prestige) [7] = Heroic Victory! (+2 Prestige) [8] = Legendary Victory! (+3 Prestige) A victory means you conquer the region, and depending on what you rolled, maybe you even got a Prestige bonus! If you got a 0 or 1 against another faction, the enemy has a chance to counter-attack! (but rebels regions can only attempt counterattack if you get a 0). The GM will roll the dice again to see if the counterattack was successful (counterattack has a 50% success rate): [1, 2, or 3] = Counterattack fails. You are safe. [4, 5, or 6] = Counterattack is successful, and the enemy takes YOUR region that you attacked from. (If you attacked by sea because you controlled a Sea Zone, you no longer control that Sea Zone) Counter-attacks are disabled for the first 5 turns of the game. This is to prevent players from being eliminated due to early unlucky rolls. Sea Zones and Sea Battles Sea Zones and Sea Battles Sea zones are labeled, and are divided by black lines on the map (Ex: Agean Sea, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay, etc.). Map for reference Any faction bordering a sea zone can attempt to build a fleet. Building a fleet takes a move, with the result being 1 to 3 no fleet is built and 4+ a fleet is built. If you roll a 7 or higher when building a fleet, you will receive a colossal fleet instead of a normal fleet. Colossal fleets will perform sea battles using 8-faced dice instead of 6-faced dice. If you own one or more cities in the sea zone, you will get a +1 bonus for building fleets there. A fleet enables the faction to attack regions from that sea zone as well as attempt to build another fleet in an adjacent sea zone. A faction can only have 1 fleet patrolling 1 sea zone (a faction can have as many fleets as there are sea zones). Instead of building a fleet, you may move a fleet from one sea zone to an adjacent sea zone. This takes a move and the result is a guaranteed success. If two factions that have fleets in the same sea zone begin a war, a battle is immediately fought between their fleets. A faction can attempt to build a fleet in (or move a fleet into) a sea zone patrolled by an enemy fleet, but if successful it will result in an immediate battle. Sea Battles To attack from a sea zone you need a fleet there. Once you own a fleet in a sea zone, you may launch attacks from it as if it were any other region. Unlike battles for land regions which takes a single dice roll, Sea Battles will take 6 dice rolls: 3 for each side. Dice rolls for each side are added up, and whichever side has the highest sum wins the battle. The defeated fleet is destroyed. Additional bonuses/penalties for sea battle depending on previous dice rolls: Spoiler Alert, click show to read:  During offensive naval battles your dice rolls are averaged. If your average is 7 you gain +2 Prestige. If your average is 5 or greater you only gain +1 Prestige. If your average is 3 or greater (and you failed to conquer the sea zone), +1 to your initial battle roll in this sea zone next time (bonus expires in 1 turn) If your average is 2 or less, -1 penalty to your initial attack roll in this sea zone next time. (penalty expires in 1 turn) If your average is 1 or less, the enemy will also launch a counterattack. Logistics and other Bonuses Logistics wins wars. As reminder, sea battles take three (3) dice-rolls for each side, instead of the usual single dice roll for land battles. For each Great City you have touching a particular sea zone, you get +1 for all three sea battle rolls within that sea zone. For each Fortification you have touching a particular sea zone, you get +1 for your initial sea battle roll within that sea zone. Learn how to build Cities and Fortifications below under "Advanced Rules". Your Capital and Losing All Regions Importance of Capital region Normally it takes a Move to change your Capital from one region to another. New players (those who have played less that 5 turns) can change their Capital without using a Move. If you lose your capital region you will lose 3 Prestige. However, if your capital is taken by another player, or you lose it due to rebellion, you can assign a new capital without using a move. If you don't assign a new capital you lose 3 Prestige every turn. Losing all of your regions A player who loses all his/her regions to another player will be able to make a revolt once every two turns in the province they last owned. The GM will roll to determine the results of the attempted revolt. A player who doesn't have any regions in 4 turns will be eliminated.

Advanced Rules

Fortifications Fortifications A fortification is a defensive structure. Build it at strategic regions (such as choke points) to better defend your empire. There are 4 levels of fortifications: 1. Fort 2. Castle 3. Fortress 4. Citadel The type of defensive structure you build depends on the dice roll: [0] = Nothing is built [1] = Nothing is built [2] = Nothing is built [3] = Nothing is built (+1 bonus if you attempt to build a fort again within 1 turn) [4] = Fort (+1 defense when region is attacked) [5] = Castle (+2 defense when region is attacked) [6] = Fortress (+3 defense when region is attacked) [7] = Citadel (+3 defense when region is attacked, enemy Agents have -1 penalty when conducting missions in this region) For every 15 regions you own, you can BUILD one fortification: 1-15 regions: 1 fortification 16-30 regions: 2 fortifications 31-45 regions: 3 fortifications 46-60 regions: 4 fortifications and so on... Additional Notes on Fortifactions: If you CAPTURE an enemy's fortifcation you can make use if it, and it will not count towards your fortification build limit. A region cannot have both a Fortification AND a Great City. Fortifications cannot be built in your Capital, and you cannot build 2 fortifications in the same region. It takes 1 move to destroy a fortification, if you wish to move it elsewhere. If your fortification is located on a coast, during sea battles you will receive +1 to your initial combat roll within that Sea Zone. This bonus can stack. Posting your turn: If you want to build fortifications, please indicate which region you want to build it in. Great Cities Great Cities Constructing a Great City is a massive undertaking. But it will provide you a faction-wide buff and improve your reputation. Once completed, a Great City generates +1 Prestige for your faction each turn! You need to a total of 10 Build points to fully construct a Great City. If you want to build a Great City, please indicate which region you want to build the city in. It takes a Move to start the construction (or continue construction). The higher dice-roll you get, the more build points you get for this turn. Great City completion status: [0] = No progress is made [1] = +1 to Build points [2] = +2 to Build points [3] = +3 to Build Points [4] = +4 to Build Points [5] = +5 to Build Points [6] = +6 to Build Points [7] = +7 to Build Points When you reach 10 build points, your Great City is completed and will now generate +1 Prestige per turn. If you don't finish building the City in a given turn, you need to spend another Move to resume building it. Your build progress is saved between turns. Note: You can postpone construction of the Great City for as many turns as you want, without penalty. But you will only get the +1 Prestige bonus once the City is completed. You can build 3 Great Cities in total: 1 city if you have 1-25 regions. 2 cities if you have 26-50 regions. 3 cities if you have more than 50 regions. However, if you capture a city from an enemy you will get bonuses from that city, but it will not count towards your 3 city build-limit! Additional benefit of Great Cities: If your City is a coastal city, you will get +1 bonus on all sea battle rolls within that Sea Zone. This bonus can stack. Building or capturing a Great City also grants you a random faction-wide bonus, called an "Edict". Read more below! Invading a rebel-controlled Great City (Rule added on Turn 21) A rebel-controlled city is a Great City which no faction currently owns. If a faction invades a "rebel" Great City, they must specify whether they wish to "Liberate" or "Conquer" it when they post their move. "Liberate": If invasion is successful, this will return the City back to its original owner (meaning the faction that built the city). If the original owner happens to be an NPC, that NPC will become a client state of the gifting faction (only if the 2 factions are at peace with each other, and neither is already a Client State). See Advanced Rules > Client States for more info. "Conquer": If invasion is successful, the invading faction keeps the city for itself. Choosing this option is considered a declaration of war against the original owner of the city (i.e. the faction that built the city). Edicts Edicts Edicts give you faction-wide buffs. For each Great City you construct (or capture), an Edict is immediately passed. The GM rolls the dice to see what Edict you get: [1] = Royal Guard: Your capital has +1 defense when attacked, and enemy Agents have a -2 penalty when conducting Missions in your capital. Additionally, you are able to move your capital for FREE (meaning you don't have to use a Move) once every 10 turns. [2] = Advanced Espionage (Double-Agent): Your Agents get +1 bonus when sent on Spy missions. [3] = Advanced Espionage (King-slayer): Your Agents get +1 bonus when sent on Assassination missions. [4] = Advanced Espionage (Revolutionary): Your Agents get +1 bonus when attempting to incite rebellions. [5] = Maritime Supremacy: During sea battles, you get +1 to all rolls. You get +1 when attempting to build fleets. Additionally, once every 5 turns you may move a fleet from one Sea zone to the next without using a move. [6] = Drillmaster: Every 5 turns, you are able to do 1 extra move. (Ability is not automatically activated. If you want to use this buff, you must explicitly say so in your turn. Example: “Build a fortification in Sparta, and with my extra move from Drillmaster Edict, attack North.”) Changing Edicts You can "Renovate" a Great City if you don't like your current Edict. Renovating a City only takes 5 build points (as opposed to 10 for constructing a new city). Once the renovation is complete, you will get a different Edict base on the dice-roll. You cannot have duplicate Edicts. If you own multiple cities, each city will be guaranteed to give you a different Edict. Destroyed/Demolished Cities BE WARNED: If another player captures your region that has a Great City, your Edict will be removed! The player who captured your City will get a new Edict (GM rolls dice to see which Edict is passed). You can also demolish a Great City. Demolishing a Great City takes a move. This can be used as a tactic to prevent an invading enemy from benefitting from the city. To rebuild a demolished city, it will take the full 10-build points again. Secret Agents Secret Agents Secret Agents are well-versed in the art of espionage. As the leader of a nation you may sometimes need to employ an Agent to do your dirty work. You unlock the use of a Secret Agent once you build or conquer your first Great City. Once unlocked, Secret Agents can perform certain missions for your faction. See the mission types below for details. The number of Secret Agents your faction has access to depends on how many Great Cities you own: 1 Great City = 1 Secret Agent 2 Great Cities = 2 Secret Agents 3 Great Cities = 3 Secret Agents 4+ Great Cities = 4 Secret Agents Secret Agent Missions There are three types of missions a Secret Agent can perform: 1) Spy 2) Assassinate 3) Incite a Rebellion 1) Mission Type: Spy Secret Agents can spy on enemy regions. If successful, you will get a bonus if you attack the region in the same turn. After performing a spy mission, the agent cannot perform any type of mission the next 2 turns. A 6-faced virtual dice (https://rolz.org) is used to determine the outcome of the Spy mission: [0] = Legendary Failure: (-1 penalty to your next spy mission, -1 penalty for attacking this region this turn.) [1] = Epic Failure: (-1 penalty to your next spy mission. If the region is owned by another Faction, -1 penalty for attacking this region this turn.) [2] = Failure: Your agent gains no valuable information. [3] = If spy mission was in a region owned by a Faction, the mission fails. But if spy mission was in a rebel-controlled region, mission success (+1 for attacking this region this turn). [4] = Success: Your spy has uncovered info that will help you in your attack against this region (+1 bonus if you attack this region this turn) [5] = Success: Your spy has uncovered valuable info that will help you in your assault (+1 bonus if you attack this region this turn) [6] = Success: Your Agent managed to waltz right into the enemy General's tent, and steal detailed plans! (+1 bonus if you attack this region this turn, +1 bonus if you decide to perform another spy mission in the next 3 turns) [7] = Success: Your Agent knows the enemy like the back of his hand! (+2 bonus if you attack this region this turn, +1 bonus if you decide to perform another spy mission in the next 3 turns) To perform a spy mission, post it along with your turn. Example: “Send a Secret Agent to spy on the region of Carthage, and attack the region by sea” or “Send an agent to spy on the rebel region north of our empire, and attack the region by land” etc... 2) Mission Type: Assassinate Secret Agents can also assassinate important enemy figures, causing chaos among their ranks. To perform an assassination, PM (private message) me which faction you would like to target. After performing an assassinate mission, the agent cannot perform any type of mission the next 5 turns. The GM will roll a 6-faced virtual dice (https://rolz.org) to see how successful your Secret Agent was in his assassination mission: [0] = Legendary Failure: (-2 Prestige, -1 penalty to your next assassination attempt. Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [1] = Epic Failure: (-1 Prestige, -1 penalty to your next assassination attempt. Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [2] = Failure: (-1 Prestige. Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [3] = Failure: Your agent fails the mission but learns from their mistake. No one will know it was you who sent the agent. (+1 for your next Assassination attempt.) [4] = Success: (-1 penalty to one enemy move this turn) [5] = Success: (-1 penalty to all enemy moves this turn) [6] = Success: (-1 penalty to all enemy moves this turn, +1 bonus if you decide to send an assassin again in 6 turns) [7] = Success: (-1 penalty to all enemy moves this turn, -1 penalty to one enemy move next turn, +1 bonus if you decide to send an assassin again in 6 turns) NOTE: If a player is targeted by multiple assassination missions in a given turn (and the assassins succeed), the -1 penalties do NOT stack. Only the first assassination will cause the -1 penalties. After that, the targeted player will lose prestige in accordance with this chart: [4] = Success: (-1 Prestige to target) [5] = Success: (-1 Prestige to target) [6] = Success: (-2 Prestige to target) [7] = Success: (-3 prestige to target) 3) Mission Type:Incite a Rebellion Secret Agents can incite a rebellion in other factions. If successful, the targeted region will fall back into rebel control, and the region will be colored white. To incite a rebellion in a region, send me a private message (PM) and tell which region you want to target. After attempting to incite a rebellion, the agent cannot perform any type of mission the next 5 turns. A virtual 6-faced dice (https://rolz.org) is used to determine the outcome of the mission: [0] = Legendary Failure: (-2 Prestige, -1 penalty next time you attempt to incite a rebellion. Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [1] = Epic Failure: (-1 Prestige, -1 penalty next time you attempt to incite a rebellion. Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [2] = Failure: (-1 Prestige, Everyone will know that it was your Secret Agent.) [3] = Failure: Your agent fails the mission but learns from their mistake. No one will know it was you who sent the agent. (+1 for attempting a rebellion in 6 turns.) [4] = Success: The targeted region now belongs to rebels. [5] = Success: The targeted region now belongs to rebels. [6] = Success: The targeted region now belongs to rebels (+1 bonus if you decide to incite a rebellion in 6 turns) [7] = Success: The targeted region now belongs to rebels, and in the chaos that ensues, a nearby enemy region also falls to the rebels! (+1 bonus if you decide to incite a rebellion in 6 turns) You cannot incite a rebellion in a faction that has 3 or fewer regions. Final notes on Secret Agents: If your agent is revealed while they are conducting an Assassination or Rebellion mission against an Ally, you will lose an additional 3 Prestige. In any given turn, a maxiumum of 2 Secret Agents in your faction may perform the same type of mission. For example, if you have 3 Secret Agents you can perform 3 missions, but only 2 of the missions can be Assassinations. The third mission must be either a Spy mission, or an attempt to incite a rebellion. Diplomacy Diplomacy Diplomatic actions can have a positive or negative affect on your faction's Prestige. Back-stabbing, breaking alliances, and general skulduggery is allowed... but be warned that it will cause Prestige penalties. On the other hand, entering into alliances and other "positive" diplomatic actions will increase your Prestige. Some terms to know before we proceed: Ceasefire: A temporary pause in military action between 2 warring factions. No military actions can be taken against a faction if you have a ceasefire with that particular faction. Secret Agents can still be used. Players must negotiate how many turns the ceasefire lasts. Players cannot declare war with a faction they have a ceasefire agreement with, or they will lose 15 Prestige. The 2 factions are automatically at war with each other when the ceasefire expires. Peace Treaty: An agreement between 2 warring factions. This treaty immediately resets the 2 factions into a "neutral" stance towards each other. If you declare war on a faction within 10 turns of signing a Peace Treaty with that faction, you will lose 15 Prestige. Declaring war on a faction after 10 turns of the Peace Treaty have passed is allowed, and you will not get any penalties. Non-aggression pact: An agreement between 2 neutral factions. They agree to not engage in hostilities for a certain number of turns. Alliance: Allied factions have Military Access over each other. This means that when allies share borders, one ally can “travel” through the other ally's territory and attack an enemy region on the other side. The following list shows the bonuses (or penalties) a player gets for each Diplomatic action. Diplomacy with Neutral Factions: Establishing an Alliance: [+3 Prestige] if with another player, [+2 Prestige] if with NPC faction. Both players involved in alliance get this bonus (not NPCs though). If you were allied with a faction previously but later broke your alliance, you are allowed to become allies with them again. However, you will NOT get the +3 Prestige bonus the second time. Also, after your first 5 alliances you will no longer gain prestige for establishing additional alliances. Attacking a neutral faction, without declaring war in the previous turn: [-5 Prestige] (rule removed) Establishing a Non-Aggression Pact for "X" number of turns, where "X" is a number agreed upon by the 2 Faction leaders: [No Prestige Effect] Diplomacy with Allied Factions: Terminate an Alliance using diplomacy = [-5 Prestige] (only the faction that terminates the alliance gets this penalty) Refusing to join a defensive war: [-5 Prestige] (Defensive war means that your Ally was attacked by another faction. If your ally was the aggressor, you are not obligated to join the war and you will not get any penalty for refusing to help) (Rule removed on turn 25. Replaced with rule below...) Refusing to join an ally in a war: The alliance is terminated. [-8 Prestige] (Rule added turn 25) Diplomacy with Hostile (at war) Factions: Announce a Ceasefire until ___ turns ( fill in __ with the number you agreed on with the other faction) [No Prestige Effect]. While a Ceasefire is in affect, both factions cannot perform military actions against each other, or declare war on each other. Breaking a ceasefire results in [-15 Prestige] penalty. Announce a Peace Treaty [No Prestige Effect]. This treaty immediately resets the 2 factions into a "neutral" stance towards each other. If you declare war on a faction within 10 turns of signing a Peace Treaty with that faction, you will receive a [-15 Prestige] penalty. Declaring war on a faction after 10 turns of the Peace Treaty have passed is allowed, and you will not get any penalties. Oath-breaking Penalties of violating diplomatic norms: Betraying an alliance (attacking your allies without breaking Alliance first) = [Your Prestige is reset to 1] Violating the terms of a Non-Aggression Pact or Ceasefire: [-15 Prestige] Casus Belli “Casus Belli” is an act or situation that can be used to justify war. If you get a Casus Belli on another faction, you will get a Prestige bonus if you declare war on them. You can even get a Casus Belli against an ally! If this happens, you will receive no penalty for breaking the alliance, and in fact you will gain certain bonuses if you decide to declare war on them. There are 2 ways to get a Casus Belli: 1) A player fails in an assassination attempt against your faction, and is revealed. 2) A player fails when trying to incite a rebellion in one of your regions, and is revealed. If either of those 2 events occur you will gain a Casus Belli against the opposing faction, and if you declare war on them in the next 2 turns, you will: Gain [+2 Prestige]. All military actions that you take against them for the next 3 turns will receive a +1 bonus. Note: You cannot gain a Casus Belli on a faction that you are already at war with. Gifts You can gift up to 3 regions every 5 turns. If you send a gift to a faction that you are at war with, the gift must be part of an Ceasefire/Peace Treaty agreement. You cannot gift a region if your faction has 5 or fewer regions. Gifts can be a part of other negotiations, such as Alliances. The 3 region limit every 5 turns still applies. To negotiate Alliances, Non-aggression pacts, Peace treaties, etc, you may communicate privately or publicy with the owner of another faction to establish an agreement. But to make the agreement official you must publicly announce it on the main game thread. Diplomacy with NPC Factions You may also conduct diplomacy with non-Player controlled (NPC) factions. Players may spend "Prestige" to try to persuade/bully an NPC faction to do something. The amount of Prestige you need to spend depends on how many cities you own: - 0 or 1 city = costs 1 Prestige - 2 cities = costs 2 Prestige - 3 or more cities = costs 3 Prestige GM rolls dice to determine outcome. Rolling a 1-3 means your persuasion attempt fails. 4-6 means your persuasion attempt is successful. What can you bully er, persuade an NPC faction into doing? - Declare war on another NPC faction - Attack a specific region - Build a fleet (rule added: turn 21) - Trade a region with you - Sign a peace treaty or a 5-turn ceasefire/non-aggression pact with you or another NPC - Establish an alliance with your faction or with another NPC - Force them to break an alliance (-1 to persuasion attempt) NPC Diplomacy: Rule clarifications Rule clarifications - Persuasion attempt does NOT cost a Move! It only costs Prestige. If you have a large amount of Prestige saved up, you can try to persuade multiple NPCs in a single turn. - Once any faction convinces an NPC to do something that action is locked in. The NPC won't change their mind regarding that action for the current turn. - NPC factions may attempt diplomacy with each other. This costs them Prestige, just like it does for player-controlled factions. GM rolls dice to determine outcome. - To persuade an NPC to attack a specific region/sea zone, they must already be at war with the owner of that region, and they must be able to attack it this turn - You cannot ask NPCs to trade capitals, cities, or fortifications - NPC factions cannot break a peace treaty or ceasefire - NPC factions cannot gain or lose Prestige due to any diplomatic actions they take (or actions they are bullied/persuaded into taking). - NPC factions will always join their allies in war, unless they've signed a Peace Treaty/Ceasefire/Non-aggression pact with the opposing faction. - NPC factions cannot declare war on an ally, unless war breaks out between 2 of their allies and they are forced to choose sides. If an NPC is forced to choose sides in this manner, they will remain loyal to their oldest allies (meaning, whichever faction was allied to them for a longer duration). - NPC factions cannot be forced to break an alliance on the same turn the alliance was created. - NPC factions cannot be forced to sign a peace treaty or ceasefire within the first 2 turns of a war. (I.e, they must be at war for at least 2 full turns before they consider any form of peace). Client States Client States You can force a non-Player controlled faction (NPC faction) to become your Client State, thus making them subservient to you. This will grant your faction powerful bonuses. It will also guarantee your protection to the client state. Overlord Benefits For each Client State that is subservient to you, your faction (the Overlord) gains: +1 Prestige per turn A free Edict The ability to dictate the Client State's military and construction moves (for free) once every 5 turns. Both overlord faction and the Client State gain military access with each other (meaning they can "travel" across each others territory to attack an enemy region on the other side) Overlord also gains full control of the Client State's foreign policy. When a faction becomes a Client State, any treaties they've previously established become null and void. The client state's diplomatic status with other factions is reset. Whoever the Overlord is allied with will now become the client state's allies, and the Overlord's enemies become the client state's enemies. A client state cannot establish alliances, declare war, or sign ceasefire/non-aggression/peace treaties with other factions. The overlord faction now manages these decisions; Client States will declare war with whoever the overlord faction declares war on, make peace with whoever the overlord faction makes peace with, and so on. Overlord Responsibilities There are many benefits to being a King of Kings, but this power comes with certain responsibilities. Since a Client State cannot conduct diplomacy on its own accord, they rely on the Overlord faction to ensure its safety. If a client state is attacked, the Overlord faction is expected to help protect it. Client States understand that wars are unpredictable. They will tolerate their fleets being destroyed, territory taken, and even their capital being captured... if any (or even all!) of these tragedies occur they will still remain loyal to their Overlord. But the one thing they cannot overlook is the loss of their original Great Cities (meaning any city they originally built). If a Client State loses control of their original city (or cities), they will expect their Overlord to help them reconquer it. If the city is not reconquered & returned to the client state within 3 turns, the contract with their overlord is considered broken, and 2 things will immediately happen: The Client State breaks free: it is no longer subservient to the overlord faction. It is now a fully-independent faction once again, and its diplomatic status with all other factions is reset to neutral. The (former) client state is then immediately put into a state of war against any faction that controls any of its original cities. How to acquire a Client State Step 1: Acquire a Great City that was originally built by an NPC faction. Step 2: Inform the GM that you wish to return the City to its original NPC owner, in exchange for that NPC becoming your Client State. If that NPC is currently at Peace with you, and is not already a Client State, this diplomatic move is successful. You have now acquired a Client State! There is no dice-roll or luck involved in creating a Client State. If you meet the requirements above, you can turn an NPC into your client state. To avoid a Matryoska "nesting doll" situation of client states within client states (though entertaining it might be): Client States that are subservient to an Overlord cannot have clients states themselves. If an NPC "Overlord" suddenly becomes a "Client State" to another faction, the former-Overlord immediately loses control of all its client states (meaning they become independent factions again).

Bonuses

Bonuses At the end of every turn, the GM will average all the dice-rolls you got from Military and Building moves. Depending on the result, you may get a bonus next turn: [0] = No effect [1] = No effect [2] = No effect [3] = No effect [4] = No effect [5] = +1 bonus to 1 Dice-roll next turn [6] = +1 bonus to 2 Dice-rolls next turn [7] = +1 bonus to 3 Dice-rolls next turn *Dice-rolls for determining counterattack outcome, and rolls for passing Edicts are not counted. * Bonus +1 can only be used for military and building moves (secret agents are not military).

Achievements

★Achievements A player receives rep from all other players if they are the first to obtain an achievement. They will also receive a title in the game, depending on the achievement unlocked. King of Kings: Own 3 client states. - Naval Dominance: Own a fleet in 12 sea zones. Rome (3/12) Great Builder: Build 3 cities. Baktria, Boii, Carthage, Egypt, Rome, Suebi built 1 city. Cultured: Maintain control of 4 cities for 1 full turn. Baktria, Boii, Carthage, Egypt, Rome, Suebi control 1 city. Great Conqueror: Conquer 4 foreign capitals. - Proficient Diplomat: Maintain alliance with 5 NPC factions for 1 full turn. Baktria (1/5), Rome (1/5) Political Saboteur: Persuade NPC factions to break alliances using diplomacy (3x). - Puppeteer: Persuade NPC factions to declare war on each other using diplomacy (5x). - Respected Strategist: Persuade NPC faction to conquer a region, and they succeed (5x). - Indomitable Spirit: Fight to the death (your faction is destroyed). - Supreme Warlord: Own 100 regions (win the game) - Current faction standings (Google docs link)

Join the Game

Ready to join? Post a comment here saying which faction you want to play, and I'll add you to the player list. Choose a faction from the list below:

• Aorsoi Confederation - Available
• Arverni - Available
• Athens - Available
• Baktria (NobleWoman)
• The Boii (Morticia Iunia Bruti)
• Carthage (High Fist)
• Egypt (Abdülmecid I)
• Epirus- Available
• Gallaeci - Available
• Getae - Available
• Iceni - Available
• Macedon- Available
• Parthia - Available
• Pergamon - Available
• Pontus - Available
• Rome (Lord of Cats)
• Scythian Confederation - Available
• Seleucid Empire - Available
• Sparta - Available
• Suebi (Kingdom of Suebi)

Current faction info here: Google Docs link

New players joining the game are also highly recommended to fill out this simple template after choosing a faction. It's not required, but makes the game more fun with roleplay:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Faction name:
Government type:
Faction Leader: (not your TWCenter username, but the name of Monarch/Tribal leader of your faction)
Name of Capital:
Official currency:
Official languages(s):
Official religion(s):
Additional lore/history/description (optional):

The game has started, but new players may still join at any time.

Social group for Diplomacy or rules discussion here: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/group.php?groupid=2280

[Lord of Cats]

Hey Rogue,

I'm interested in joining. I'd like to be the warlord of Scythia.

Best,
Cats

PS: I have a rule change suggestion. Perhaps eliminate the fleet rules and treat the sea zones as simply passable borders?

[♞Rogue General♞]

Hey Cats, really good to see ya

Added you to the game, you are now Warlord of Scythia.

Is it ok if I just simplify the fleet rules instead? I like the idea of giving players the option to protect their coastal regions with patrolling fleets. Any ideas on how we could preserve that patrolling aspect while simplifying fleets overall?

[Lord of Cats]

Yeah, it's good to see you too, Rogue.

Regarding the naval rules: Perhaps we should treat the sea zone as a region that can be conquered? It would be outlined in the owning faction's color, and ownership means the region is being patrolled. But if a rival faction wants to take a region on the other side of the patrolled sea region, it can attempt to traverse the sea rather than attempt to conquer the sea. The traverse attempt would require an interception roll. If intercepted, the attacker is automatically defeated. The idea is that the attacker/traverser is trying to sneak past the numerous fleets of the defender/owner with one fleet and if caught it would be overwhelmed.

What do you think?

Best,
Cats

[♞Rogue General♞]

Yeah, it's good to see you too, Rogue.

Regarding the naval rules: Perhaps we should treat the sea zone as a region that can be conquered? It would be outlined in the owning faction's color, and ownership means the region is being patrolled. But if a rival faction wants to take a region on the other side of the patrolled sea region, it can attempt to traverse the sea rather than attempt to conquer the sea. The traverse attempt would require an interception roll. If intercepted, the attacker is automatically defeated. The idea is that the attacker/traverser is trying to sneak past the numerous fleets of the defender/owner with one fleet and if caught it would be overwhelmed.

What do you think?

Best,
Cats

Alright I've removed fleets and added the following:

Rules (The Basics)

Invasions, Regions, Sea Battles & Sea Zones Invasions, Regions, Sea Battles & Sea Zones Map for reference Land Battles You can only attack a region that you are in contact with (meaning, one of your regions is touching the enemy region that you want to attack). The GM will roll a virtual 6-faced dice (https://rolz.org) to see how successful you were in your attack: [0] = Crushing Defeat (You are unable to attack this region next turn)(-2 Prestige) [1] = Clear Defeat (-1 penalty for your next attack on this region. Penalty expires after the next turn.)(-1 Prestige) [2] = Average Defeat [3] = Close Defeat (+1 bonus for your next attack on this region. Bonus expires after the next turn.) [4] = Pyrrhic Victory [5] = Average Victory (+1 Prestige) [6] = Clear Victory (+1 Prestige) [7] = Heroic Victory! (+2 Prestige) [8] = Legendary Victory! (+3 Prestige) If your final score is 4, 5, 6, or 7 congratulations! You have taken the region, and depending on what you rolled, maybe you even got a Prestige bonus! However if you got a 0, 1, 2, or 3, you were not able to take the region, and maybe even got an Prestige penalty. If you got a 0 or 1, the enemy has a chance to counter-attack! The GM will roll the dice again to see if the counterattack was successful (counterattack has a 50% success rate): [1, 2, or 3] = Counterattack fails. You are safe. [4, 5, or 6] = Counterattack is successful, and the enemy takes YOUR region that you attacked from. (If you attacked by sea because you controlled a Sea Zone, you no longer control that Sea Zone) Sea Battles Sea Zones can also be conquered. Sea zones are labeled, and are divided by black lines on the map (Ex: Eastern Mediterranean, West Mediterranean, Black Sea, etc.). To attack a sea zone and thus "control" it, you may attack it like you would any other region (i.e. you must own a region or sea zone touching it). Once you control a sea zone, you may launch attacks from it as if it were any other region. Unlike battles for land regions which takes a single dice roll, Sea Battles will take 6 dice rolls: 3 for each side. Dice rolls for each side are added up, and whichever side has the highest sum wins the battle. Traversing the Sea Instead of attempting to conquer a Sea Zone, you may instead choose to simply traverse the sea to attack a region on the other side. If the sea zone is not controlled by a hostile player, you may traverse without issue. However, if the sea zone you wish to traverse is controlled by a faction you are at war with, you have 2 options: 1) Option 1: Attack the sea zone in an effort to wrest control of the seas for your own faction This uses a Move. If you are successful, your faction will now control the Sea Zone, and you may now launch attacks from this sea zone. 2) Option 2: Attempt to traverse through the sea zone to attack a region on the other side, trying to sneak past the enemy ships that are patrolling the area. This uses a Move. GM rolls dice. Rolling a 1, 2 or 3 means your ships have been intercepted, and your move fails. 4, 5, or 6 means you successfully sneak past enemy ships. Bonus from Logistics Logistics wins wars. As reminder, sea battles take three (3) dice-rolls for each side, instead of the usual single dice roll for land battles. For each Great City you have touching a particular sea zone, you get +1 for all three sea battle rolls within that sea zone. For each Fortification you have touching a particular sea zone, you get +1 for your initial sea battle roll within that sea zone. Learn how to build Cities and Fortifications below under "Advanced Rules".

So now there is risk & reward for coastal cities. I've also reworded/clarified NPC-controlled faction rules and changed the Maritime Supremacy Edict to better fit the new Sea Battles.

What do you think?

[Lord of Cats]

Hey Rogue,

I'm good with these naval combat rules. Given how large the sea zones are (threatening numerous land regions by the owner), making naval invasions more difficult than the straightforward land invasions makes sense.

Cheers!

[♞Rogue General♞]

Hey Rogue,

I'm good with these naval combat rules. Given how large the sea zones are (threatening numerous land regions by the owner), making naval invasions more difficult than the straightforward land invasions makes sense.

Cheers!

Btw we've got new players! I emailed NobleWoman and she wants to play as Baktria, and one of my friends (new to TWC) is joining as Suebi.

[NobleWoman]

Hi!!!

I am joining in...Good to be back.

Will be taking the reins in Baktria.

@GM--I will be posting my initial moves thru email to you. Please do the needful including working the map, as I am facing tech issues at the moment.

Thanks
NW

[crispy_kiko]

Hey everyone! I am the new player that Rogue mentioned joining as Suebi. Excited to learn and get started!

-Crispy

[♞Rogue General♞]

Welcome aboard Crispy! And great to see you again, NW

I've got another friend thinking of joining. He's reading through & digesting the rules first though.

My goal is to start this game in the next couple days.

---

In the meantime, I encourage everyone to fill out this simple template for their Faction and post it here. Note: This is for roleplay purposes only, and will not affect the gameplay in any way. Don't overthink it!

Faction Overview template
Faction name:
Government type:
Faction Leader: (not your TWCenter username, but the name of Monarch/Tribal leader of your faction)
Name of Capital:
Official currency:
Official languages(s):
Official religion(s):
Additional lore/history/description (optional):


Feel free to add more fields/description if you like. Again, this info is purely for role-play purposes and does not have an impact on gameplay. It can be as serious or as silly as you like.

For inspiration, take a look at player signups in a previous game:

Silly example from a funny dude (click to expand)

A more serious example (click to expand)

Additional examples (thread)

Post your answers here when you're done, and I will incorporate it into the game. Again, game has not started yet but we'll begin soon. Stay tuned!

[Lord of Cats]

Scythia

Politics
Faction Name: Confederation of Scythian Tribes
Government Type: monarchy with a tribal council
Faction Leader: Queen Tamyris the Headhunter
Name of Capital: Gelonus. It's a village along the great river.

Economy
It's primarily based on raiding and distribution of the spoils.
Official Currency: horses

Culture
"Ride or die!" Scythians love riding, fighting, and partying. They cover themselves in black tattoos to indicate how many enemies they've slain.
Official Languages: Scythian
Official Religions: Scythian Paganism. Shamans will enter a trance to speak with the gods.

Military
Armament: composite bows with iron-tipped arrows, iron scale armor, iron helmets, lassos, iron-tipped lances and spears, and iron-bladed axes.
Land Units: horse archers, light lancers, heavy lancers, foot archers, war dogs, axmen, and spearmen. They're organized into warbands led by warchiefs.
Naval Units: missile boats, ramming boats, and boarding boats. They're rowed by oarsmen.

[NobleWoman]

​KINGDOM OF BAKTRIA

Government type: Elected Monarchy


Faction Leader: King Diodoros


Name of Capital: Heliopolis


Official currency: Denarius


Official languages(s): Greek and whatever else the people can manage to speak...


Official religion(s): Greek gods


Additional lore/history/description

The Baktrians are a warlike people, with their only aim being to conquer, annex and defeat enemies. Infantry, cavalry and mounted units, as well as a general spattering of militias, mercenaries and native troops make up our army.

[Abdülmecid I]

Glad to see some of the old faces back and a big thanks to Rogue General for taking care of the game! If this is alright with you, I can make a public announcement in our Discord channel, in an effort to bring more players.

Meanwhile, here's my faction:

Egypt (Ptolemaic dynasty)



Government: Meritocratic monarchy (the closest relative to the Pharaoh is considered the most worthy of the kingship)

Faction leader: Chrysippus I the Myopic

Name of capital: Alexandria (not for long, Chrysippus' ego is as great as his vision is poor)

Official currency: Chrysippics (for the explanation, see above); denominations: Gold=10 silver=10 bronze.

Economy: Altruistic redistribution (the Pharaoh gathers taxes and levies from his subjects and, in return, he allows them to live)

Official language: Sign language [besides being myopic, Chrysippus is also mute and a tad lame (in the literal sense of the word!)]

Official religion: The deified Ptolemaic dynasty, to which Chrysippus I has totally not artificially inserted himself after Ptolemy III was accidentally devoured by a crocodile. Also the Greek and Egyptian pantheon and especially Sobek, because Chrysippus loves his crocodiles, adorable animals really!

Other notables:

• Sosibius the Lifebelt*/Chubby, the Grand Vizier of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Chrysippus' best buddy and the former crocodile-keeper in the court of the late Ptolemy III.
• Craterus the Magnificent, the Undefeated and the Indomitable, the Scourge of the Nubians and the Impaler of the Libyians, the Terror of the Seleucids and the Roaster of all kinds of Bedouins, Generalissimo of all the kingdom's armed forces, Grand Admiral of the Pharaonic Fleet and also Chrysippus' beloved 4-years old son.

Faction colour: black (it's actually purple, but Chrysippus is also a bit colourblind).

Lore: Under the last Ptolemies (to whom Chrysippus definitely belongs and whoever says no is welcome to join Ptolemy III inside Big Crockie's belly) our Egyptian kingdom has faced serious difficulties. Chrysippus the Omnipotent aims at addressing these difficulties by nationalising the wealth of his loyal tax-payers and reinvest it into productive endeavours, including recruitment of mercenaries and the establishment of an effective police force tasked with maintaining public serenity. Our ultimate goal is to liberate the neighboring peoples from themselves and give them the inviolable right of joining our kingdom and donating their valuables to the king.

*Serious note: Sosibius actually means life-saving and is regularly used in Greek to refer to life-belts.

[♞Rogue General♞]

@Abdülmecid

Its been a while, so great to see you! Glad you could join and yes please do make a discord announcement. More the merrier!

And... I look forward to the adventures of Chrysippus and "Big Crockie"

[Lord of Cats]

Hey Rogue, after reading the rules more thoroughly I have a couple questions.

The rules say NPC factions can engage in diplomacy with player factions. Is it possible for a player faction to create alliances with NPCs? Is it possible for Scythia to create an alliance with five NPCs on the first turn, for example?

Given that a faction starts with 1 region, and an enemy counter-attack could result in the loss of the region, perhaps there should be a grace period wherein no counter-attacks occur in the first 5 turns of the game?

Best,
Cats

[♞Rogue General♞]

Given that a faction starts with 1 region, and an enemy counter-attack could result in the loss of the region, perhaps there should be a grace period wherein no counter-attacks occur in the first 5 turns of the game?

Makes sense to me! Added to the OP: "Counter-attacks are disabled for the first 5 turns of the game. This is to prevent players from being eliminated due to early unlucky rolls"

The rules say NPC factions can engage in diplomacy with player factions. Is it possible for a player faction to create alliances with NPCs? Is it possible for Scythia to create an alliance with five NPCs on the first turn, for example?

Yes, you may ally with NPCs. No, it won't be possible to ally yourselves with multiple NPCs on turn 1, because there will be a cost. The short of it is, it will cost anywhere between 1-3 Prestige to try to persuade/force an NPC faction to do your bidding There is a dice-roll to determine if your persuasion is successful.

I was gonna post the full text of the rule proposal here but it might be better to keep that discussion in it's own social group. Here it is (link), feel free to discuss on that page so we keep this thread for Moves only. I'll update this main thread with the new diplomacy rules when it's finalized.

[♞Rogue General♞]

Happy July 4th everyone! I'll start the game tomorrow, July 5th at approximately 8am EST.

Also, NPC diplomacy rules have been updated. Read it under "Advanced Rules" > "NPC Diplomacy".

[♞Rogue General♞]

WARLORDS OF ANTIQUITY - Game Start
272 B.C. (Turn 1 begins)

Throughout the known lands people are restless,
Empires of the past are crumbling,
this vacuum of power
seen as an opportunity for conquest

Factions vie for power,
Pirates plunder the seas,

Which leader will rise from the chaos
and unite the people under one banner?

Which Warlord from antiquity
will forge the next great Empire?

The Map

For map legend click here.

The Factions

Diplomacy

No Current Treaties

---

OOC:

Players may now post their moves!

New players may join the game at any time. Simply choose one of the unclaimed factions below to start playing:

Current players

[Lord of Cats]

Arise, Scythia!

Queen Tamyris the Headhunter, aged 28, is the warlord of Scythia since her husband, King Ara the Cunning, was slain in battle. Ara managed to secure a homeland for the Royal Scythians between the Sea of Maeotis in the southeast and the Varu (Great) River in the northwest. The Royal Scythian tribe claims lordship over all Scythians, and the surrounding Scythian tribes do pay tribute to them, but direct rule hasn't been established yet. Ara was killed fighting one of the tribes who refused to pay tribute, but Tamyris avenged him by wiping out the tribe and collecting the head of their leader.

Now the sole leader of the Royal Scythians, Queen Tamyris summons the council to discuss their next course of action. The council comprises warchiefs and shamans. The council fluctuates between 12 to 18 members as new warchiefs who have proven themselves are admitted and warchiefs who plot against Tamyris are killed. They meet at the royal yurt and the shamans perform the ceremonies asking Papaios, the Sky Father, and Api, the Earth Mother, and Kolaxias, the God of War, to bless this council. Beer flows freely and the air becomes smokey as pipes are passed around.

Tamyris says the Greek settlements on the Tauric Peninsula will agree to pay tribute if the pirates in the Dark Sea are destroyed. She suggests building warboats to conquer the sea. Many warchiefs oppose the plan, saying Scythians know how to ride horses not boats. A shaman says he has seen a vision of Scythian horsemen galloping across the waves. Tamyris quickly asserts that this means the gods want them to conquer the sea, and asks if her warchiefs are afraid of water. Roaring and cheering, all the warchiefs deny they are cowards and declare they will kill these pirates.

Scythia's Move
Scythia will conquer the Black Sea.

[Abdülmecid I]

Chrysippus assembles all his officers and troops in the court room. It's a bit cramped, even the courtroom is not large enough to accommodate 14 different people, but Sosibius, in one of his usual manifestations of brilliance and initiative, alleviates the situation by holding Generalissimo Craterus in his arms.
The spatial problem solved, Chrysippus clears his throat and addresses the soldiers: "Gentlemen (and boy), our homeland needs you. The seditious tribes of the Nile delta mind their own business, instead of paying taxes to the Pharaoh. Head westwards, where Ra settles after shining over our beautiful country and liberate the hell out of these clowns.

Egypt's move: Chrysippus is struggling a bit with the four cardinal directions. Westwards actually lies the Libyan desert, so Sosibius takes the initiative and attacks the eastern region instead (painted pink):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: