Edena_of_Neith
First Post
First things first.
Can all of you actually access this part of the ENBoards?
Have all of you found this thread?
Can you tell those who have not posted to this thread, acknowledging that they have found it, that it is here, and show them how to get to it?
THE RULES
RULE ONE - WHEN ARE WE STARTING?
I am going to run this IR, the third IR, starting on the 20th of February, the 20th of this month.
The starting time is set.
The ending time, is not. We can go on as long as people are having fun!
RULE TWO - TURNS AND WHAT THEY MEAN
I am going to run the IR in Turns.
A Turn consists of one thread of 200 posts (after the 200th post, I will ask the moderator to close the thread, and I will start a new thread.)
In Real Life, a Turn lasts for as long as it takes for everyone, including me, to rack up 200 posts on the thread.
In Character, a Turn is one month of time passed on the World of Oerth.
One month.
That will be the default.
There will be cases where a Turn is shorter than that, or longer.
In those cases, I will post the IC time of that particular Turn at the beginning of the Turn.
RULE THREE - WHAT I'M PUTTING AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY THREAD (EVERY TURN, THUS), AND ABOUT THE ARMS RACES
The first post of EVERY turn will be a combination of what were three posts:
# 1: The Main Powers List.
What is that? Well, it is post one on page one of the IR post in General RPG, right now!
You know, the list of powers that goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny? Goes on until you start screaming and wish you could just wipe out half of Greyhawk, if only for the sake of getting rid of all those little countries?!
# 2: The Claims List
Heh, I think you know what THAT is! It is the second post on page one of the IR thread in RPG General.
Why is it going to be the second post in every Turn?
Well, to show you WHO IS CURRENTLY PLAYING WHAT, that's why!
# 3: The Arms Race List
The third part of the (long) post at the start of every turn will be called the Arms Race List.
It will list all of you, first of all, with your base power.
And then it will list all of the Power Level you maniacs have brought onto into the world by calling up assorted demons, devils, eladrin, celestials, elementals, undead, and God knows what else you'll think of.
That will be known as the Planar Arms race.
Then there will be the Magical Arms Race, and again it will list by simple arithmetic all the extra strength you have gained by magical research, or by filching off of Kas (who brought the Arcane Age back to Oerth), or filching off of the Shadow Empire (which brought the Arcane Age from Toril), or any other magical power you gain.
Some of you are seeking out artifacts - if you find them, your power level will increase a lot!
Then there will be the Technological Arms Race.
This IS an IR, after all.
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire have the jump on the rest of you, but I'm sure you'll be building those railroads and factories quickly enough, and loads of firearms, and cannons, and of course perhaps both Technomancy and Empire will hand out their knowhow to you as well!
Again, I'll show any gains you make as an increase in your Power Level.
Finally, there will be the Undead Arms Race.
You maniacs love to start undead plagues, you know that?
It happened in the last IR, and it happened in the aborted IR, and I just know it's going to happen here. You'll have ten billion undead swarming over all of Oerth in no time, I'm certain.
Again, this is expressed as an increase in your power level.
AND JUST HOW WILL I DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOU INCREASE IN POWER IN ANY OF THESE RACES?
I WILL KNOW FROM WHAT YOU POST ON THE IR THREAD, OF COURSE!
If you do not tell me you are starting an Arms Race, I won't give you any points for one!
RULE FOUR - WHAT YOU CAN DO IN A TURN
You like posting. I should know. I have to READ all those hundreds of posts you send, not to mention the e-mails!
Very well, heh.
You can post all you want to the IR thread.
All you want!
(If anyone deliberately Floods the IR, though, I'll be most upset, and extend the Turn to account for the Flooding.)
And just what exactly can you post about?
Here is what:
You can post ...
All the roleplaying posts you want.
All the speeches, all the diplomacy, all the threats, all the uproar, all the WT?s, all of it.
You can post as many questions, either to the other players or to me, as you like.
You can post as many Action Posts as you think your power can possibly get it's dirty way with in one month of game time.
But beware!
If you post too many action posts, and I decide your country could not have committed those actions in one month, you LOSE the actions!! (You can always try again next Turn, of course.)
I get to decide if your power has overstepped the limits of time.
Since I have to read all your posts, I get to decide. Only fair.
- - -
RULE FIVE - LOOK TO MY POSTS, FOR THEY WILL GIVE YOU THE BASICS OF WHAT'S GOING ON, IF YOU GET LOST IN THE MESS OF POSTS
At the end of each Turn, I will post the results of the Turn.
As well as I can.
But much more importantly than that:
I will attempt to post, during the thread, updates and results, just as I did during the last two IRs.
Look for my posts, folks.
If you see 200 posts facing you, and you don't have time to read them, or don't feel like reading them (quite reasonable), or you are intimidated by the gigantic mess of posts ...
LOOK FOR MY POSTS. LOOK FOR MY NAME, EDENA_OF_NEITH, AND READ MY POSTS.
Through reading my posts, you stand the best chance of keeping up with what is going on.
If you are a fast poster, like Melkor, obviously you well know everything going on anyways.
But if you are like Rhialto or Zelda, you cannot come to the computer often, and your time is limited.
LOOK FOR MY POSTS. MY POSTS WILL GIVE YOU A ROUGH IDEA OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
Please remember that I am not a Mage IRL, and I have my faults and failures.
There may be times when I am absent.
I have to sleep, and I have to do things, and I get eyestrain (and eye infections, too, if I don't stop when my eyes are strained.)
I will do the best I can to arbitrate the incredibly complicated situation that exists, but if I make mistakes (or, more likely, omissions) bear with me.
And it is an incredibly complicated situation.
There are 40 to 50 countries involved here.
There are at least four kinds of Arms Races, each based on a different concept.
There is conniving of every sort, changing and shifting alliances, people competing over claims, and a million questions and comments being thrown out.
- - -
RULE SIX - HOW YOU CAN DAMAGE AN ENEMY
You (that's right, YOU) have the ability to alter the Power Level of the Powers shown on the Main List, and the Claims List (hehe.)
If you successfully, for instance, take an enemy country, and you burn it to the ground, and kill the entire population, that country's Power Level is going to drop like a rock.
Thus, it is possible you maniacs could devastate the entire world of Oerth to the point where it has almost no Power Level, for it's been laid waste!
If you successfully take a country, and simply state you are conquering and occupying it, it's Power Level does not change, and now it's yours, and it adds to your total (of course, if the Orcs of the Pomarj, for instance, conquer all the Uleks, then those are no longer elves, dwarves, and halflings ... those are ENSLAVED elves, dwarves, and halflings, or whatever Turrosh Mak - player of the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj - dictates to be the case!)
RULE SEVEN - OERTH'S CURRENT TECH LEVEL, THE BASICS OF THE INDUSTRIAL ARMS RACE
So, you want to Industrialize, do you?
At the start, ALL of Oerth is either medieval or in the Dark Ages (one step further down.)
The only exceptions to this are the Lortmil Technomancy, and the Shadow Empire.
The Lortmil Technomancy has a technological level equivalent to the late 18th century Terran, at the start of the IR.
The Shadow Empire also has a technological level equivalent to the late 18th century Terran, at the start of the IR (yes, they have a very few items better than that, but not enough to make a difference in the IR.)
If you want to Industrialize, you MUST, I REPEAT MUST obtain help from either the Lortmil Technomancy and/or the Shadow Empire.
That is, they must state they are going to help you.
If they do not state on the IR thread that they are helping you, you are out of luck!
(Hehe, GnomeWorks and Melkor are going to love this.)
(Then again, if a realm gets tired of these two powers holding back on them, and attacks and CONQUERS them, then that is another matter - they get the technology and now THEY get to dictate who will and will not get technology in the place of the two powers they conquered!)
If you begin Industrialization, the effects of that will be posted to the Arms Race List (the third post at the start of every Turn), at the beginning of the next turn.
Typically, you will gain THREE POINTS per turn if you have declared an all-out path of industrialization (that may not sound like much, but it adds up.)
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire may continue to industrialize themselves - in fact, they are automatically considered to be doing so.
So they will gain that three points automatically at the start of Turn 2, and every Turn thereafter.
The rest of you, better hope they decide to help you.
Now, here is the kicker.
Any nation that has started industrializing can aid another country, and then that country can begin industrializing itself.
Example:
One Turn 1, the Lortmil Technomancy gives technological aid to Celene, but not to the Uleks.
At the beginning of Turn 2, Celene gains 3 Power Level points for industrialization, but the Uleks get nothing.
On Turn 2, Celene states it is aiding the Uleks (the Lortmil Technomancy scowls, and cuts off aid to Celene over this, but it is too late!)
At the beginning of Turn 3, Celene gains another 3 points (for a total of 6), and the Uleks gain their first three points (for a total of 3.)
There is no upper limit on how many points you can gain from Industrialization.
No limit at all.
Of course, industrialization probably means you are wrecking your country's forests, digging giant holes in the ground, turn the air into a death smog, and turning your lakes into cesspools, but such is the nature of the Industrial Revolution.
RULE EIGHT - THE BASICS OF THE PLANAR ARMS RACE
You maniacs want to gate in the largest numbers of demons, devils, and celestials possible (and elementals!) to help you, right?
And the Shadow Empire wants to bring in legions of shadow beings from the Plane of Shadow.
Etc, etc, etc.
Very well.
If you state you are peitioning the Planars to come help you, they come and help.
ANY POWER MAY SUMMON PLANARS APPROPRIATE TO THAT NATIONS ALIGNMENT (If Veluna summons demons, that won't cut it, and if Ivid summons eladrin, they will leave.)
Two or more nations may summon the same kind of Planars (haha, I have more demons than you do!)
There is no limit to the number of Planars you can summon.
Again, you gain 3 points per Turn in the Planar Arms race.
And again, you MUST TELL ME you are summoning Planars.
If you do not tell me, then next Turn you have no additional Power Level from the Planars.
You must convince me that the Planars will come.
If you say: I summon Planars, that is not enough.
If you say: I summon Planars, and beg the Celestials to save our country from the evil forces threatening us, that is another matter.
If you say to the evil Planars: come and enjoy destroying and pillaging, that is another matter.
Generally, Planars expect a reward for their service. They may not demand one from you outright, but be assured that you will be made to pay, one way or another ... and the method of payment will be chosen by the Planars and not you, in all likelihood!
EXCEPTION TO RULE EIGHT:
If you are playing ONLY Planars - such as is the case with Frigid Spleen, who is playing only the Eladrin - you are under a special rule.
You begin with a Power Level of 9.
You are AUTOMATICALLY considered to be in the Planar Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Magical Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Technological Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Undead Arms Race (there are good spirits as well as evil ones.)
This is an exception. Only those who begin the IR, and who CONTINUE the IR, playing only Planars, may employ this rule.
If the person playing Planars chooses a Non-Planar power in addition to his Planars, he reverts to the rules of everyone else.
He does not get two Planar Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Technological Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Magical Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Undead Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
The same rules above apply to those starting the IR playing only:
Planars (as noted)
Undead
Anything else that could be conjured, and somehow conscrued into causing me to having to declare another Arms Race (such as, say, a Magical Construct Arms Race)
Otherwise, look what would happen:
I start the Planar Arms Race, the Magical Arms Race, the Technological Arms Race, and the Undead Arms Race.
I instruct my Planars and Undead to begin their own Planar, Magical, Technological, and Undead Arms Races.
They, in turn, instruct their Planars and Undead to begin their own Planar, Magical, Technological, and Undead Arms races.
And they in turn, instruct their Planar and ...
RULE NINE - THE BASICS OF THE MAGICAL ARMS RACE
The Magical Arms Race ... ah, isn't it wonderful!
The return of Kas means the return of the Arcane Age to Oerth.
Now, EVERYONE can learn those 10th and 11th level spells.
You can all become little (or big) Netherils!
Again, you must state you are beginning magical research.
Again, if you do not tell me you are beginning magical research, you get nothing the next turn.
Again, you gain 3 points at the start of the next turn, and every turn thereafter, for your efforts.
The Shadow Empire, and Vecna and Kas and their Legions, have the jump on you all in this respect, but it is already factored into their starting Power Level.
They CAN, however (and automatically do) continue their own research, so they automatically gain 3 points per Turn.
There is no limit on how many points you can gain from magical research, for magic has no limit to it's power.
When one of you has gained 50 points from the Magical Arms Race, you may declare you are throwing Karsus's Avatar (you can now throw 12th level spells.)
If you do this, on the NEXT TURN after you stated this, EVERYONE loses ALL of their Power Level from the Magical Arms race for that Turn only.
The following turn after that, things return to normal.
(Of course, if everyone starts throwing Karsus's Avatar every turn, nobody is going have the benefits of their research ...)
RULE TEN - ARTIFACTS
Artifacts
Artifacts are a special case, and beyond the scope of the simple mathematical setup I have given.
An artifact could increase your Power Level by many points, or it could allow you to banish all demons from the Flanaess (and thus, those who have a high Power Level from summoned demons are out of luck, and must start ALL OVER in their Planar Arms Race), and other interesting things.
But before you go searching all over the Flanaess for artifacts, one warning: One effect they may possibly have is to cause your Power (or someone else's power) to have a Negative Power Rating.
For example:
Nyrond conquers the Theocracy of the Pale with the help of the Hand of Vecna, and announces they kill everyone there.
The Theocracy would normally have gone to 0, in Power Level terms.
Instead, the Theocracy goes to negative 5 (and on the next turn, negative 10, etc., to God knows what negative level)
This negative number is deducted from the Power Level of all the nations within a thousand miles of the Theocracy, as the evil seeded there by the Hand of Vecna is now devouring the life force of the very Flanaess.
Can it be stopped? Can it be halted? Well, maybe another Artifact would help ...
Artifacts are wild cards. You don't know what they will do, and I don't know what they will do until I make up my mind about what they will do (the Crook of Rao is supposed to banish all demons ... it will do that, but it might do something else simultaneously ...)
RULE ELEVEN - THE PROBLEMS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOMANCY
Technology and technomancy created on Toril and in Realmspace will work fine, on Toril and in Realmspace.
Technology and technomancy created on Oerth and in Greyspace will work fine, on Oerth and in Greyspace.
Such technology can be given to the Planars for their use (but the Planars do not start their own Technological Arms Race ... your power must continue that.)
Technology and technomancy created on Toril and in Realmspace, which is taken to Oerth and/or Greyspace, DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.
Technology and technomancy created on Oerth and in Greyspace, which is taken to Toril and/or Realmspace, DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.
(Thus, for the past 40 years, the Church of Shade which is now called the Shadow Empire on Oerth had to start from scratch learning technological and technomancical knowhow on Oerth, just like the Lortmil Technomancy had to start from scratch.)
Magic, including Arcane Age magic, works normally when taken from one place to another.
Planars can freely travel from one place to another.
RULE TWELVE - TRAVELLING TO REALMSPACE OR TORIL, AND VICE VERSA
ANY attempt by ANYONE from Oerth or Greyspace, to enter Realmspace or to travel to Toril (no matter how convoluted a route you take, or what spell you use) is met by the Realmspace Border Guard.
The Realmspace Border Guard are the final arbiters of whether those entering go any further, or whether they go back.
If those attempting to enter Realmspace or attempting to go to Toril attempt to fight the Border Guard, the entire 1,000 points of the United Commonwealth of Toril, plus the 500 points of the Eternal Empire, plus the 500 points of Hope Island, plus the 300 points of the Scro Star League, plus anything else I can think of, stands ready to back them up.
Hit and run raids (popping in, dropping a nuke and running) are not possible - the Border Guard is expecting such tactics.
However, the reverse is not true, not true at all.
Anyone from Toril or Realmspace may enter Greyspace, or Gate or teleport to Oerth, as they please.
When they do so, they lose all of their technological and technomancical (I think I have invented a new word here ...) Strength Level, and they are considered to be at:
ONE-HALF for the United Commonwealth (that is, they can throw 500 points at you)
FULL STRENGTH for Hope Isle (they can throw 500 points at you)
ONE-HALF for the Eternal Empire (they can throw 250 points at you)
ONE-HALF for the Scro Star League (they can throw 150 points at you)
Moral of the story:
Don't dis the Torilians.
At least, don't dis the Torilians until you can get away with it.
(The Wanderer, apparently doesn't care, since he is slandering them pitilessly.)
RULE THIRTEEN - THE DETAILS OF LEARNING TO USE 10TH AND 11TH LEVEL MAGIC
10TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody currently can cast 10th level magic except:
Vecna can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Acererak can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Iuz can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Kas and his people can immediately do so on Turn 1.
The Shadow Empire can immediately do so on Turn 1.
The Solistarim can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Anyone these Powers give the secrets of 10th level spells to can begin casting 10th level magic immediately.
A nation so gifted can share that gift, and those receiving the gift secondhand can also cast 10th level magic immediately.
Otherwise, your Power must obtain a Power Level of 5 to be able to cast 10th level magic.
If you enter the Magical Arms Race, you will be able to cast 10th level magic on Turn 3.
If your power can cast 10th level spells, you may announce ALL of the following during your turn:
You can counter someone else's 10th level magic.
You can freely transport your entire army from one area of Oerth to another.
Your ability to destroy all enemies is greatly enhanced, and this will be taken into account in what you say you do.
Your ability to defend yourself against attack will be greatly enhanced, and this will be taken into account in what you say you do.
You can begin to permanently alter the climate of your country.
You can begin to permanently alter the flora and fauna of your country.
You can begin to permanently alter the topography of your country.
You can begin to attempt to permanently alter your people, enhancing them in some way (increases to stats, extra limbs, mutations, psionic powers, innate magical powers, etc.) This kind of alteration could permanently increase your country's base Power Level.
You may attempt to cause a catrastrophe of some sort, like a tidal wave, hurricane, volcanic explosion, earthquake, major (and uncontrollable) forest fire, tempest, blizzard (in the tropics), heat wave (in the arctic), and the like.
The catastrophe can be countered if another power (or the target) with 10th level magic states it is doing so, and you may only target one Power (one person IRL) per Turn with a catastrophe.
Wish spells will not stop your catastrophe.
If your catastrophe succeeds, your enemy will suffer a permanent loss to his Base Strength Total.
11TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody currently can cast 11th level spells, except:
Vecna can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Acererak can do so starting on Turn 2.
Iuz can do so starting on Turn 4.
Kas and his people can do so starting on Turn 4.
The Shadow Empire can do so starting on Turn 5.
The Solistarim can do so starting on Turn 5.
You cannot give out the secrets of 11th level magic until you can use it yourself.
Once given out, it can be used by the nation it is given to, and those that nation chooses to share it with, on the Turn they receive the gift.
All nations that would use 11th level magic must be able to use 10th level magic.
If they cannot, they cannot receive the gift of 11th level magic nor can they share it with anyone else.
Everyone else can begin casting 11th level magic the Turn after they obtain a Power Level of 20.
If you enter the Magical Arms Race on Turn 1, you will be able to cast 11th level magic on Turn 8.
If your Power can employ 11th level magic, you can announce ALL of the following during your Turn:
You can counter someone else's 11th level magic.
You can automatically counter any lesser magic.
Your power to destroy is MASSIVELY increased, and this will be taken into account regarding what you say you do.
Your power to defend yourself is MASSIVELY increased, and this will be taken into account regarding what you say you do.
You can permanently alter the climate of your country totally.
You can rearrange the geography of your country in major ways.
You can rearrange the flora and fauna of your country as you please.
You may bequeath upon your entire population one innate magical power per Turn (anything of 5th level or lower.)
You may permanently alter your entire population, mutating them into something else (you could turn all your elves into avariel, or all your humans into elves, or all your goblins into orcs.)
You may permanently increase your Power's Strength Total by 3 per Turn.
You may inflict a major catastrophe.
Unless countered by a 10th level or higher spell, it automatically succeeds.
A 10th level spell does not stop it, but lessens it's effect.
You can cause a massive tidal wave, regions at the equator to freeze solid, regions in the arctic to melt and steam, violent earthquakes, massive explosions, massive volcanic eruptions, the devastation of an entire region by any kind of force.
The Power you target will suffer a loss of 1/4 of his entire Power Level, rounded up, permanently.
You may only target one Power (one person IRL) per Turn with a catastrophe.
You may attempt to squelch all magic on Oerth for the current Turn.
If you are countered by 10th level magic, you have only a 50% chance of success.
If you are countered by 11th level magic, you fail.
Otherwise, the Magical Arms race is halted that turn (nobody gains any points the next Turn from this Turn's research.)
Planars lose most of their abilities, and this will be noted in what is said and done.
Undead lose most of their abilities, and this will be noted in what is said and done.
If you squelch all magic with your 11th level magic, that is all you can do with it in your Turn.
12TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody can currently cast 12th level spells.
By the time someone is able to use 12th level magic, I may have found some way to adjudicate said magic!
(This is a very difficult thing to adjudicate. It was beyond the scope of D&D except in the Arcane Age setting, which was little played. I am attempting to handle it.)
RULE FOURTEEN - WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL ARMS RACE, AND FURTHER RULES ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL ARMS RACE
Ruling concerning Technology.
Every Turn represents one month in game time, but of course technology is being shared at a prodigious rate, and greedy hands are helping themselves to the best weapons they can obtain.
In the Technological Arms Race:
A Strength Level of 3 indicates your country has primitive firearms.
A Strength Level of 6 indicates your country has very advanced flintlocks, cannon, and is beginning to seriously enter the field of Technomancy.
A Strength Level of 9 indicates your country is now able to produce early 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 12 indicates your country is now able to produce mid 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 15 indicates your country is now able to produce late 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 18 indicates your country is at 1900 Terran levels of weaponry.
A Strength Level of 21 indicates World War One technology.
A Strength Level of 24 indicates early World War Two technology.
A Strength Level of 27 indicates late World War Two technology.
A Strength Level of 30 indicates nuclear weapons.
A Strength Level of 33 indicates ICBMs.
A Strength Level of 36 indicates thermonuclear weapons.
A Strength Level of 39 indicates primitive computer guided weapons.
A Strength Level of 42 indicates your first space shot.
A Strength Level of 45 indicates your first moon landing.
A Strength Level of 48 indicates your first smart weapons.
A Strength Level of 51 indicates you have very sophisticated computer guided weapons.
A Strength Level of 54 indicates you have the war technology of 2002 Terra.
Of course, you want it, and you want it now.
You don't want to wait years for the good stuff, do you?
Well now, be honest ... do you?
Tell me you are not eager to get your hands on those firearms (much less the rest.)
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire both already have late 18th century weapons (and the Lortmil Technomancy also has a late 18th century society to boot.)
If one of these Powers decides to share their technology with you, you gain 3 points in the Technological Arms Race (whether you declared you were in it or not.)
Thus, if you announced you joined the Technological Arms Race, you'd gain 6 points on Turn 1, not 3.
If both of those nations decide to help you, you gain SIX additional points, and a total of 9 if you had already announced you were in the Technological Arms race.
If a Power shares technology with you, you may share it with other Powers as you please.
Any Power you share technology with, gains an additional 3 points of it's own, in addition to their efforts in the Technological Arms race.
This can add up in a terrifying way.
Let us say the Shadow Empire and the Lortmil Technomancy both give technology to Celene.
Celene had announced it was in the Arms Race, so it gains 9 points (3 base, plus 6 from the two Powers.)
Celene announces it is giving technology to the Lendores, and they thus receive an extra 3 points to the 3 they already had for declaring themselves in the Industrial Race.
However, both the Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire had ALREADY given technology to the Lendores, as well as Celene.
The Lendores had already gained their base 3, plus the 6 from the help, for a total of 9.
Since Celene is also helping them, they gain TWELVE points.
Then the Lendores turn around and bequeath what was given to them, to Celene, which now also gains 12 points.
That's the limit. No nation can gain more than 12 points in the Technological Arms race on Turn One, except under the most extraordinary of conditions.
It doesn't matter how many further nations bequeath technology to your power: it can't gain more than 12 points on Turn One.
On Turn Two, this absolute limit drops to 6 points (as higher technology is harder to transport and share, much less build.)
On Turn Three and beyond, you can only gain 3 points per Turn, regardless of how many Powers help you.
Incidentally, neither the Lortmil Technomancy nor the Shadow Empire can ever increase faster than the rate of 3 points per turn. Ever.
They cannot benefit from giving each other technology.
They cannot benefit from others giving them technology.
But of course both of them start with late 18th century technology anyways (the equivalent of 15 points for everyone else) so they have no right to complain.
None of this has anything to do with your CIVILIZATION.
You can be extremely advanced technologically, and very primitive otherwise (remember Dune?)
As a rule of thumb, if you are obtaining vast amounts of help from other nations, and making a massive effort yourself, your country will progress through the Renaissance at a rate equal to 10 times the IRL historical rate.
Which means that, if all the Turns lasted one month, your society would progress through the Industrial Revolution at the rate of about a year's equivalent per Turn.
Thus, since the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution up til now lasted 400 years, it would take 400 turns for your society to reach it's own equivalent of our modern world.
You have the option of using your Strength Total to speed up the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution in your society.
For every 3 points you give up from everything else, you can advance the process by 1 year.
For every 3 points someone else gives you out of the kindness of their heart, you gain another year.
Thus, the Lortmil Technomancy could state it is deploying it's entire Strength Total of 17 to helping the Kevellond League to advance industrially.
The Kevellond League would then be considered to have advanced 5 2/3rds years into the Renaissance.
If the Kevellond League devoted another 21 points to this process, it would advance another 7 years into the Renaissance, for a total of 12 2/3rds years of advancement ... to about the equivalent of 1513 IRL.
Does this sound slow and unreasonable? Consider what you are trying to do, folks.
The Renaissance and Enligtenment, and the Industrial Revolution, and everything up til now, took 400 years!
You are trying to compress hundreds of years of social progress into a few years.
I am allowing that it is possible, if you spend the incredible number of points it would take, but you cannot go from medieval to modern in a few months ... it is just not possible.
There is a payback, however slow it may be, for this activity ... a big payback.
For every 10 years your Power advances into the Renaissance, you gain one point of Base Power per country you are running, permanently.
Large countries, like United Ahlissa, gain more: up to 3 points of power.
Entire peoples, like the Drow of Oerth, gain 4 points.
So, consider the Baklunish Confederation. Zeif, Ekbir, Tusmit, Ket, Yecha, Ull, the Paynims, Istivar, and Garnak. 7 small countries, 1 intermediate sized one, and 1 big one.
A gain of 5 + 2 + 3 points, for advancing that 10 years, for a total permanent gain of 10 points.
That is the reward.
The penalty? You are not using your society's power to commit acts of war, or to defend itself from attack.
If you are attacked during the Turn, I will take this into account.
You must PUBLICLY STATE you are placing Power Level into advancing your civilization, and how many Points you are devoting ... it is not something you can keep secret (that is, e-mailing me with your activity is useless.)
RULE FIFTEEN - HIGH LEVEL CHARACTERS AND NPCS
A character of 30th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 1.
A character of 60th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 2.
A character of 90th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 3.
A character of 120th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 4.
A character of 160th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 5.
If the character has innate magical powers, and huge numbers of high powered magical items (and/or artifacts) his power level can increase further.
By further, I mean by 1 Power Level ... 2 at the absolute most, assuming the most extraordinary of conditions.
Thus Anabstercorian, who is over 90th level 2nd Edition, and has a huge arsenal of magical items (that survived the crossover from Toril) has a PL of 4.
I hope you'all don't bring more than one Player Character apiece into this.
This is a situation where characters can get killed, and I DO NOT WISH to have the make rulings on whether a Player Character survives or not.
The above applies to NPCs.
It applies to the famous NPCs of Oerth.
An NPC who is a demipower, like Iuz, has inherently greater power than the norm, and this places him out of the above scheme.
RULE SIXTEEN - FURTHER RULES CONCERNING THE PLANAR ARMS RACE, AND A COMMENT ON WHAT YOU COULD CONCEIVABLY DO ON TURN ONE WITH ALL THE ARMS RACES COMBINED
Each PERSON playing can only claim 3 Planar Groups for his or her Planar Arms race.
Thus, Iuz could claim the Demons, the Daemons, and the Slaadi.
The Kevellond League could claim the Eladrin, the Celestials, and the Elementals.
Forsaken One could claim the Planar Formians, the Modron, and the Devils.
Valkys could claim the Planar Unseelie, the Elementals, and the Shade.
The Shadow Empire could claim the Shade, the Demons, and the Slaadi.
If two people are sharing a power (ala the Dark Union), then each person gets full credit for his part of the Arms Race.
That is why I have listed Serpenteye and Mr. Draco separately, to show their separate strengths.
The Dark Union would, technically, increase in the Planar Arms race at twice the normal rate, but Serpenteye and Mr. Draco. may decide to break off their alliance.
For the sake of my sanity, and to prevent the tactic above from going wacky, I must prohibit 3 people from sharing any one power.
Thus, the triple claim to Bone March is annulled.
Sorry folks, but one of you is going to have to give up your claim to that country (I believe Mr. Draco, Serpenteye, and Kalanyr are all sharing Bone March currently.)
Otherwise, the Dark Union could claim the benefits of THREE Planar Arms Races in one turn, one each from Kalanyr, Serpenteye, and Mr. Draco (and remember, each person can claim up to three races for his or her personal Planar Arms race.)
I have no problem with an alliance between Kalanyr and Serpenteye/Mr. Draco. Such an alliance could exist within Bone March, even.
But as for the actual claim, only two people can share the place.
- - -
Now, even with those restrictions in place, consider what you can do.
Let's say you claim Kalstrand, and only Kalstrand, at the start of the game.
You start with a Power Level of 2.
2. 2, and only 2!
Now, you declare that you are joining the Planar Arms Race, and summoning elementals, eladrin, and celestials.
You manage to succeed in convincing me you could do that (you give me reason to believe the Planars would actually help you ... you provide a logical explanation for why they would help you.)
You announce you are joining the Undead Arms Race - good undead only!
You announce you are joining the Magical Arms Race.
You announce you are joining the Technological Arms Race.
You are clever, and succeed in getting both the Lortmil Technomancy to help you, and the Shadow Empire to help you, and you get help secondhand from another country.
So, for Turn One, you have a strength of 2.
You survive Turn One. Yay!!
At the beginning of Turn Two, you gain:
9 points for the Planar Arms Race (3 for the Eladrin, 3 for the Celestials, and 3 for the Elementals.)
3 points for the Undead Arms Race.
3 points for the Magical Arms Race.
12 points for the Industrial Arms Race (3 for the help from the Lortmil Technomancy, 3 for the help from the Shadow Empire, 3 from the secondhand help from another nation, and 3 from your own efforts.)
Congratulations ... you start Turn 2 with a strength of 2 + 9 + 3 + 3 + 12 = 29
29 points! That is the equivalent of the starting power of the entire Kevellond League or Empire of Iuz!
They don't call it an Arms Race for nothing ... and that's with all the restrictions I've put into effect.
RULE SEVENTEEN - ENDING A TURN, AND MY ROLE
At some point after 200 posts are on each thread, I will call a Time Out.
After that point, I will not read any further posts placed after the Time Out post.
I repeat, I will not read any posts after my Time Out post.
I will read all the posts up to my time out, adjudicate what happened as needed, then write to that thread the results.
In other words, you will see my rulings on what happened, after my Time Out post.
Then I will ask the Moderator to close the thread.
I will wait a few hours before starting the next thread, because I want everyone to have time to read what I wrote, and see the results of the Turn.
DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT start another IR thread to replace the one I just asked to be closed. Please!
Wait until I start the next thread. Heh, it will start, soon enough ... all too soon, in fact.
- - -
I reserve the right to get involved in the uproar, just like the rest of you.
Indeed, in the last two IRs I represented many powers, and had to speak for them repeatedly, not to mention I deliberately threw as many monkey wrenches into the gears as I could.
So, in addition to whatever you maniacs think up, I will add my share to the chaos, if possible!
Edena_of_Neith
Can all of you actually access this part of the ENBoards?
Have all of you found this thread?
Can you tell those who have not posted to this thread, acknowledging that they have found it, that it is here, and show them how to get to it?
THE RULES
RULE ONE - WHEN ARE WE STARTING?
I am going to run this IR, the third IR, starting on the 20th of February, the 20th of this month.
The starting time is set.
The ending time, is not. We can go on as long as people are having fun!
RULE TWO - TURNS AND WHAT THEY MEAN
I am going to run the IR in Turns.
A Turn consists of one thread of 200 posts (after the 200th post, I will ask the moderator to close the thread, and I will start a new thread.)
In Real Life, a Turn lasts for as long as it takes for everyone, including me, to rack up 200 posts on the thread.
In Character, a Turn is one month of time passed on the World of Oerth.
One month.
That will be the default.
There will be cases where a Turn is shorter than that, or longer.
In those cases, I will post the IC time of that particular Turn at the beginning of the Turn.
RULE THREE - WHAT I'M PUTTING AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY THREAD (EVERY TURN, THUS), AND ABOUT THE ARMS RACES
The first post of EVERY turn will be a combination of what were three posts:
# 1: The Main Powers List.
What is that? Well, it is post one on page one of the IR post in General RPG, right now!
You know, the list of powers that goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny? Goes on until you start screaming and wish you could just wipe out half of Greyhawk, if only for the sake of getting rid of all those little countries?!
# 2: The Claims List
Heh, I think you know what THAT is! It is the second post on page one of the IR thread in RPG General.
Why is it going to be the second post in every Turn?
Well, to show you WHO IS CURRENTLY PLAYING WHAT, that's why!
# 3: The Arms Race List
The third part of the (long) post at the start of every turn will be called the Arms Race List.
It will list all of you, first of all, with your base power.
And then it will list all of the Power Level you maniacs have brought onto into the world by calling up assorted demons, devils, eladrin, celestials, elementals, undead, and God knows what else you'll think of.
That will be known as the Planar Arms race.
Then there will be the Magical Arms Race, and again it will list by simple arithmetic all the extra strength you have gained by magical research, or by filching off of Kas (who brought the Arcane Age back to Oerth), or filching off of the Shadow Empire (which brought the Arcane Age from Toril), or any other magical power you gain.
Some of you are seeking out artifacts - if you find them, your power level will increase a lot!
Then there will be the Technological Arms Race.
This IS an IR, after all.
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire have the jump on the rest of you, but I'm sure you'll be building those railroads and factories quickly enough, and loads of firearms, and cannons, and of course perhaps both Technomancy and Empire will hand out their knowhow to you as well!
Again, I'll show any gains you make as an increase in your Power Level.
Finally, there will be the Undead Arms Race.
You maniacs love to start undead plagues, you know that?
It happened in the last IR, and it happened in the aborted IR, and I just know it's going to happen here. You'll have ten billion undead swarming over all of Oerth in no time, I'm certain.
Again, this is expressed as an increase in your power level.
AND JUST HOW WILL I DETERMINE HOW MUCH YOU INCREASE IN POWER IN ANY OF THESE RACES?
I WILL KNOW FROM WHAT YOU POST ON THE IR THREAD, OF COURSE!
If you do not tell me you are starting an Arms Race, I won't give you any points for one!
RULE FOUR - WHAT YOU CAN DO IN A TURN
You like posting. I should know. I have to READ all those hundreds of posts you send, not to mention the e-mails!
Very well, heh.
You can post all you want to the IR thread.
All you want!
(If anyone deliberately Floods the IR, though, I'll be most upset, and extend the Turn to account for the Flooding.)
And just what exactly can you post about?
Here is what:
You can post ...
All the roleplaying posts you want.
All the speeches, all the diplomacy, all the threats, all the uproar, all the WT?s, all of it.
You can post as many questions, either to the other players or to me, as you like.
You can post as many Action Posts as you think your power can possibly get it's dirty way with in one month of game time.
But beware!
If you post too many action posts, and I decide your country could not have committed those actions in one month, you LOSE the actions!! (You can always try again next Turn, of course.)I get to decide if your power has overstepped the limits of time.
Since I have to read all your posts, I get to decide. Only fair.
- - -
RULE FIVE - LOOK TO MY POSTS, FOR THEY WILL GIVE YOU THE BASICS OF WHAT'S GOING ON, IF YOU GET LOST IN THE MESS OF POSTS
At the end of each Turn, I will post the results of the Turn.
As well as I can.
But much more importantly than that:
I will attempt to post, during the thread, updates and results, just as I did during the last two IRs.
Look for my posts, folks.
If you see 200 posts facing you, and you don't have time to read them, or don't feel like reading them (quite reasonable), or you are intimidated by the gigantic mess of posts ...
LOOK FOR MY POSTS. LOOK FOR MY NAME, EDENA_OF_NEITH, AND READ MY POSTS.
Through reading my posts, you stand the best chance of keeping up with what is going on.
If you are a fast poster, like Melkor, obviously you well know everything going on anyways.
But if you are like Rhialto or Zelda, you cannot come to the computer often, and your time is limited.
LOOK FOR MY POSTS. MY POSTS WILL GIVE YOU A ROUGH IDEA OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
Please remember that I am not a Mage IRL, and I have my faults and failures.
There may be times when I am absent.
I have to sleep, and I have to do things, and I get eyestrain (and eye infections, too, if I don't stop when my eyes are strained.)
I will do the best I can to arbitrate the incredibly complicated situation that exists, but if I make mistakes (or, more likely, omissions) bear with me.
And it is an incredibly complicated situation.
There are 40 to 50 countries involved here.
There are at least four kinds of Arms Races, each based on a different concept.
There is conniving of every sort, changing and shifting alliances, people competing over claims, and a million questions and comments being thrown out.
- - -
RULE SIX - HOW YOU CAN DAMAGE AN ENEMY
You (that's right, YOU) have the ability to alter the Power Level of the Powers shown on the Main List, and the Claims List (hehe.)
If you successfully, for instance, take an enemy country, and you burn it to the ground, and kill the entire population, that country's Power Level is going to drop like a rock.
Thus, it is possible you maniacs could devastate the entire world of Oerth to the point where it has almost no Power Level, for it's been laid waste!
If you successfully take a country, and simply state you are conquering and occupying it, it's Power Level does not change, and now it's yours, and it adds to your total (of course, if the Orcs of the Pomarj, for instance, conquer all the Uleks, then those are no longer elves, dwarves, and halflings ... those are ENSLAVED elves, dwarves, and halflings, or whatever Turrosh Mak - player of the Orcish Empire of the Pomarj - dictates to be the case!)
RULE SEVEN - OERTH'S CURRENT TECH LEVEL, THE BASICS OF THE INDUSTRIAL ARMS RACE
So, you want to Industrialize, do you?
At the start, ALL of Oerth is either medieval or in the Dark Ages (one step further down.)
The only exceptions to this are the Lortmil Technomancy, and the Shadow Empire.
The Lortmil Technomancy has a technological level equivalent to the late 18th century Terran, at the start of the IR.
The Shadow Empire also has a technological level equivalent to the late 18th century Terran, at the start of the IR (yes, they have a very few items better than that, but not enough to make a difference in the IR.)
If you want to Industrialize, you MUST, I REPEAT MUST obtain help from either the Lortmil Technomancy and/or the Shadow Empire.
That is, they must state they are going to help you.
If they do not state on the IR thread that they are helping you, you are out of luck!
(Hehe, GnomeWorks and Melkor are going to love this.)
(Then again, if a realm gets tired of these two powers holding back on them, and attacks and CONQUERS them, then that is another matter - they get the technology and now THEY get to dictate who will and will not get technology in the place of the two powers they conquered!)
If you begin Industrialization, the effects of that will be posted to the Arms Race List (the third post at the start of every Turn), at the beginning of the next turn.
Typically, you will gain THREE POINTS per turn if you have declared an all-out path of industrialization (that may not sound like much, but it adds up.)
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire may continue to industrialize themselves - in fact, they are automatically considered to be doing so.
So they will gain that three points automatically at the start of Turn 2, and every Turn thereafter.
The rest of you, better hope they decide to help you.
Now, here is the kicker.
Any nation that has started industrializing can aid another country, and then that country can begin industrializing itself.
Example:
One Turn 1, the Lortmil Technomancy gives technological aid to Celene, but not to the Uleks.
At the beginning of Turn 2, Celene gains 3 Power Level points for industrialization, but the Uleks get nothing.
On Turn 2, Celene states it is aiding the Uleks (the Lortmil Technomancy scowls, and cuts off aid to Celene over this, but it is too late!)
At the beginning of Turn 3, Celene gains another 3 points (for a total of 6), and the Uleks gain their first three points (for a total of 3.)
There is no upper limit on how many points you can gain from Industrialization.
No limit at all.
Of course, industrialization probably means you are wrecking your country's forests, digging giant holes in the ground, turn the air into a death smog, and turning your lakes into cesspools, but such is the nature of the Industrial Revolution.
RULE EIGHT - THE BASICS OF THE PLANAR ARMS RACE
You maniacs want to gate in the largest numbers of demons, devils, and celestials possible (and elementals!) to help you, right?
And the Shadow Empire wants to bring in legions of shadow beings from the Plane of Shadow.
Etc, etc, etc.
Very well.
If you state you are peitioning the Planars to come help you, they come and help.
ANY POWER MAY SUMMON PLANARS APPROPRIATE TO THAT NATIONS ALIGNMENT (If Veluna summons demons, that won't cut it, and if Ivid summons eladrin, they will leave.)
Two or more nations may summon the same kind of Planars (haha, I have more demons than you do!)
There is no limit to the number of Planars you can summon.
Again, you gain 3 points per Turn in the Planar Arms race.
And again, you MUST TELL ME you are summoning Planars.
If you do not tell me, then next Turn you have no additional Power Level from the Planars.
You must convince me that the Planars will come.
If you say: I summon Planars, that is not enough.
If you say: I summon Planars, and beg the Celestials to save our country from the evil forces threatening us, that is another matter.
If you say to the evil Planars: come and enjoy destroying and pillaging, that is another matter.
Generally, Planars expect a reward for their service. They may not demand one from you outright, but be assured that you will be made to pay, one way or another ... and the method of payment will be chosen by the Planars and not you, in all likelihood!
EXCEPTION TO RULE EIGHT:
If you are playing ONLY Planars - such as is the case with Frigid Spleen, who is playing only the Eladrin - you are under a special rule.
You begin with a Power Level of 9.
You are AUTOMATICALLY considered to be in the Planar Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Magical Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Technological Arms Race.
You MAY enter the Undead Arms Race (there are good spirits as well as evil ones.)
This is an exception. Only those who begin the IR, and who CONTINUE the IR, playing only Planars, may employ this rule.
If the person playing Planars chooses a Non-Planar power in addition to his Planars, he reverts to the rules of everyone else.
He does not get two Planar Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Technological Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Magical Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
He does not get two Undead Arms Races (one for his Planars, and one for his Non-Planars)
The same rules above apply to those starting the IR playing only:
Planars (as noted)
Undead
Anything else that could be conjured, and somehow conscrued into causing me to having to declare another Arms Race (such as, say, a Magical Construct Arms Race)
Otherwise, look what would happen:
I start the Planar Arms Race, the Magical Arms Race, the Technological Arms Race, and the Undead Arms Race.
I instruct my Planars and Undead to begin their own Planar, Magical, Technological, and Undead Arms Races.
They, in turn, instruct their Planars and Undead to begin their own Planar, Magical, Technological, and Undead Arms races.
And they in turn, instruct their Planar and ...
RULE NINE - THE BASICS OF THE MAGICAL ARMS RACE
The Magical Arms Race ... ah, isn't it wonderful!
The return of Kas means the return of the Arcane Age to Oerth.
Now, EVERYONE can learn those 10th and 11th level spells.
You can all become little (or big) Netherils!
Again, you must state you are beginning magical research.
Again, if you do not tell me you are beginning magical research, you get nothing the next turn.
Again, you gain 3 points at the start of the next turn, and every turn thereafter, for your efforts.
The Shadow Empire, and Vecna and Kas and their Legions, have the jump on you all in this respect, but it is already factored into their starting Power Level.
They CAN, however (and automatically do) continue their own research, so they automatically gain 3 points per Turn.
There is no limit on how many points you can gain from magical research, for magic has no limit to it's power.
When one of you has gained 50 points from the Magical Arms Race, you may declare you are throwing Karsus's Avatar (you can now throw 12th level spells.)
If you do this, on the NEXT TURN after you stated this, EVERYONE loses ALL of their Power Level from the Magical Arms race for that Turn only.
The following turn after that, things return to normal.
(Of course, if everyone starts throwing Karsus's Avatar every turn, nobody is going have the benefits of their research ...)
RULE TEN - ARTIFACTS
Artifacts
Artifacts are a special case, and beyond the scope of the simple mathematical setup I have given.
An artifact could increase your Power Level by many points, or it could allow you to banish all demons from the Flanaess (and thus, those who have a high Power Level from summoned demons are out of luck, and must start ALL OVER in their Planar Arms Race), and other interesting things.
But before you go searching all over the Flanaess for artifacts, one warning: One effect they may possibly have is to cause your Power (or someone else's power) to have a Negative Power Rating.
For example:
Nyrond conquers the Theocracy of the Pale with the help of the Hand of Vecna, and announces they kill everyone there.
The Theocracy would normally have gone to 0, in Power Level terms.
Instead, the Theocracy goes to negative 5 (and on the next turn, negative 10, etc., to God knows what negative level)
This negative number is deducted from the Power Level of all the nations within a thousand miles of the Theocracy, as the evil seeded there by the Hand of Vecna is now devouring the life force of the very Flanaess.
Can it be stopped? Can it be halted? Well, maybe another Artifact would help ...
Artifacts are wild cards. You don't know what they will do, and I don't know what they will do until I make up my mind about what they will do (the Crook of Rao is supposed to banish all demons ... it will do that, but it might do something else simultaneously ...)
RULE ELEVEN - THE PROBLEMS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOMANCY
Technology and technomancy created on Toril and in Realmspace will work fine, on Toril and in Realmspace.
Technology and technomancy created on Oerth and in Greyspace will work fine, on Oerth and in Greyspace.
Such technology can be given to the Planars for their use (but the Planars do not start their own Technological Arms Race ... your power must continue that.)
Technology and technomancy created on Toril and in Realmspace, which is taken to Oerth and/or Greyspace, DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.
Technology and technomancy created on Oerth and in Greyspace, which is taken to Toril and/or Realmspace, DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.
(Thus, for the past 40 years, the Church of Shade which is now called the Shadow Empire on Oerth had to start from scratch learning technological and technomancical knowhow on Oerth, just like the Lortmil Technomancy had to start from scratch.)
Magic, including Arcane Age magic, works normally when taken from one place to another.
Planars can freely travel from one place to another.
RULE TWELVE - TRAVELLING TO REALMSPACE OR TORIL, AND VICE VERSA
ANY attempt by ANYONE from Oerth or Greyspace, to enter Realmspace or to travel to Toril (no matter how convoluted a route you take, or what spell you use) is met by the Realmspace Border Guard.
The Realmspace Border Guard are the final arbiters of whether those entering go any further, or whether they go back.
If those attempting to enter Realmspace or attempting to go to Toril attempt to fight the Border Guard, the entire 1,000 points of the United Commonwealth of Toril, plus the 500 points of the Eternal Empire, plus the 500 points of Hope Island, plus the 300 points of the Scro Star League, plus anything else I can think of, stands ready to back them up.
Hit and run raids (popping in, dropping a nuke and running) are not possible - the Border Guard is expecting such tactics.
However, the reverse is not true, not true at all.
Anyone from Toril or Realmspace may enter Greyspace, or Gate or teleport to Oerth, as they please.
When they do so, they lose all of their technological and technomancical (I think I have invented a new word here ...) Strength Level, and they are considered to be at:
ONE-HALF for the United Commonwealth (that is, they can throw 500 points at you)
FULL STRENGTH for Hope Isle (they can throw 500 points at you)
ONE-HALF for the Eternal Empire (they can throw 250 points at you)
ONE-HALF for the Scro Star League (they can throw 150 points at you)
Moral of the story:
Don't dis the Torilians.
At least, don't dis the Torilians until you can get away with it.
(The Wanderer, apparently doesn't care, since he is slandering them pitilessly.)
RULE THIRTEEN - THE DETAILS OF LEARNING TO USE 10TH AND 11TH LEVEL MAGIC
10TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody currently can cast 10th level magic except:
Vecna can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Acererak can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Iuz can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Kas and his people can immediately do so on Turn 1.
The Shadow Empire can immediately do so on Turn 1.
The Solistarim can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Anyone these Powers give the secrets of 10th level spells to can begin casting 10th level magic immediately.
A nation so gifted can share that gift, and those receiving the gift secondhand can also cast 10th level magic immediately.
Otherwise, your Power must obtain a Power Level of 5 to be able to cast 10th level magic.
If you enter the Magical Arms Race, you will be able to cast 10th level magic on Turn 3.
If your power can cast 10th level spells, you may announce ALL of the following during your turn:
You can counter someone else's 10th level magic.
You can freely transport your entire army from one area of Oerth to another.
Your ability to destroy all enemies is greatly enhanced, and this will be taken into account in what you say you do.
Your ability to defend yourself against attack will be greatly enhanced, and this will be taken into account in what you say you do.
You can begin to permanently alter the climate of your country.
You can begin to permanently alter the flora and fauna of your country.
You can begin to permanently alter the topography of your country.
You can begin to attempt to permanently alter your people, enhancing them in some way (increases to stats, extra limbs, mutations, psionic powers, innate magical powers, etc.) This kind of alteration could permanently increase your country's base Power Level.
You may attempt to cause a catrastrophe of some sort, like a tidal wave, hurricane, volcanic explosion, earthquake, major (and uncontrollable) forest fire, tempest, blizzard (in the tropics), heat wave (in the arctic), and the like.
The catastrophe can be countered if another power (or the target) with 10th level magic states it is doing so, and you may only target one Power (one person IRL) per Turn with a catastrophe.
Wish spells will not stop your catastrophe.
If your catastrophe succeeds, your enemy will suffer a permanent loss to his Base Strength Total.
11TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody currently can cast 11th level spells, except:
Vecna can immediately do so on Turn 1.
Acererak can do so starting on Turn 2.
Iuz can do so starting on Turn 4.
Kas and his people can do so starting on Turn 4.
The Shadow Empire can do so starting on Turn 5.
The Solistarim can do so starting on Turn 5.
You cannot give out the secrets of 11th level magic until you can use it yourself.
Once given out, it can be used by the nation it is given to, and those that nation chooses to share it with, on the Turn they receive the gift.
All nations that would use 11th level magic must be able to use 10th level magic.
If they cannot, they cannot receive the gift of 11th level magic nor can they share it with anyone else.
Everyone else can begin casting 11th level magic the Turn after they obtain a Power Level of 20.
If you enter the Magical Arms Race on Turn 1, you will be able to cast 11th level magic on Turn 8.
If your Power can employ 11th level magic, you can announce ALL of the following during your Turn:
You can counter someone else's 11th level magic.
You can automatically counter any lesser magic.
Your power to destroy is MASSIVELY increased, and this will be taken into account regarding what you say you do.
Your power to defend yourself is MASSIVELY increased, and this will be taken into account regarding what you say you do.
You can permanently alter the climate of your country totally.
You can rearrange the geography of your country in major ways.
You can rearrange the flora and fauna of your country as you please.
You may bequeath upon your entire population one innate magical power per Turn (anything of 5th level or lower.)
You may permanently alter your entire population, mutating them into something else (you could turn all your elves into avariel, or all your humans into elves, or all your goblins into orcs.)
You may permanently increase your Power's Strength Total by 3 per Turn.
You may inflict a major catastrophe.
Unless countered by a 10th level or higher spell, it automatically succeeds.
A 10th level spell does not stop it, but lessens it's effect.
You can cause a massive tidal wave, regions at the equator to freeze solid, regions in the arctic to melt and steam, violent earthquakes, massive explosions, massive volcanic eruptions, the devastation of an entire region by any kind of force.
The Power you target will suffer a loss of 1/4 of his entire Power Level, rounded up, permanently.
You may only target one Power (one person IRL) per Turn with a catastrophe.
You may attempt to squelch all magic on Oerth for the current Turn.
If you are countered by 10th level magic, you have only a 50% chance of success.
If you are countered by 11th level magic, you fail.
Otherwise, the Magical Arms race is halted that turn (nobody gains any points the next Turn from this Turn's research.)
Planars lose most of their abilities, and this will be noted in what is said and done.
Undead lose most of their abilities, and this will be noted in what is said and done.
If you squelch all magic with your 11th level magic, that is all you can do with it in your Turn.
12TH LEVEL SPELLS
Nobody can currently cast 12th level spells.
By the time someone is able to use 12th level magic, I may have found some way to adjudicate said magic!
(This is a very difficult thing to adjudicate. It was beyond the scope of D&D except in the Arcane Age setting, which was little played. I am attempting to handle it.)
RULE FOURTEEN - WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN IN THE TECHNOLOGICAL ARMS RACE, AND FURTHER RULES ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL ARMS RACE
Ruling concerning Technology.
Every Turn represents one month in game time, but of course technology is being shared at a prodigious rate, and greedy hands are helping themselves to the best weapons they can obtain.
In the Technological Arms Race:
A Strength Level of 3 indicates your country has primitive firearms.
A Strength Level of 6 indicates your country has very advanced flintlocks, cannon, and is beginning to seriously enter the field of Technomancy.
A Strength Level of 9 indicates your country is now able to produce early 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 12 indicates your country is now able to produce mid 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 15 indicates your country is now able to produce late 18th century weapons.
A Strength Level of 18 indicates your country is at 1900 Terran levels of weaponry.
A Strength Level of 21 indicates World War One technology.
A Strength Level of 24 indicates early World War Two technology.
A Strength Level of 27 indicates late World War Two technology.
A Strength Level of 30 indicates nuclear weapons.
A Strength Level of 33 indicates ICBMs.
A Strength Level of 36 indicates thermonuclear weapons.
A Strength Level of 39 indicates primitive computer guided weapons.
A Strength Level of 42 indicates your first space shot.
A Strength Level of 45 indicates your first moon landing.
A Strength Level of 48 indicates your first smart weapons.
A Strength Level of 51 indicates you have very sophisticated computer guided weapons.
A Strength Level of 54 indicates you have the war technology of 2002 Terra.
Of course, you want it, and you want it now.
You don't want to wait years for the good stuff, do you?
Well now, be honest ... do you?
Tell me you are not eager to get your hands on those firearms (much less the rest.)
The Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire both already have late 18th century weapons (and the Lortmil Technomancy also has a late 18th century society to boot.)
If one of these Powers decides to share their technology with you, you gain 3 points in the Technological Arms Race (whether you declared you were in it or not.)
Thus, if you announced you joined the Technological Arms Race, you'd gain 6 points on Turn 1, not 3.
If both of those nations decide to help you, you gain SIX additional points, and a total of 9 if you had already announced you were in the Technological Arms race.
If a Power shares technology with you, you may share it with other Powers as you please.
Any Power you share technology with, gains an additional 3 points of it's own, in addition to their efforts in the Technological Arms race.
This can add up in a terrifying way.
Let us say the Shadow Empire and the Lortmil Technomancy both give technology to Celene.
Celene had announced it was in the Arms Race, so it gains 9 points (3 base, plus 6 from the two Powers.)
Celene announces it is giving technology to the Lendores, and they thus receive an extra 3 points to the 3 they already had for declaring themselves in the Industrial Race.
However, both the Lortmil Technomancy and the Shadow Empire had ALREADY given technology to the Lendores, as well as Celene.
The Lendores had already gained their base 3, plus the 6 from the help, for a total of 9.
Since Celene is also helping them, they gain TWELVE points.
Then the Lendores turn around and bequeath what was given to them, to Celene, which now also gains 12 points.
That's the limit. No nation can gain more than 12 points in the Technological Arms race on Turn One, except under the most extraordinary of conditions.
It doesn't matter how many further nations bequeath technology to your power: it can't gain more than 12 points on Turn One.
On Turn Two, this absolute limit drops to 6 points (as higher technology is harder to transport and share, much less build.)
On Turn Three and beyond, you can only gain 3 points per Turn, regardless of how many Powers help you.
Incidentally, neither the Lortmil Technomancy nor the Shadow Empire can ever increase faster than the rate of 3 points per turn. Ever.
They cannot benefit from giving each other technology.
They cannot benefit from others giving them technology.
But of course both of them start with late 18th century technology anyways (the equivalent of 15 points for everyone else) so they have no right to complain.
None of this has anything to do with your CIVILIZATION.
You can be extremely advanced technologically, and very primitive otherwise (remember Dune?)
As a rule of thumb, if you are obtaining vast amounts of help from other nations, and making a massive effort yourself, your country will progress through the Renaissance at a rate equal to 10 times the IRL historical rate.
Which means that, if all the Turns lasted one month, your society would progress through the Industrial Revolution at the rate of about a year's equivalent per Turn.
Thus, since the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution up til now lasted 400 years, it would take 400 turns for your society to reach it's own equivalent of our modern world.
You have the option of using your Strength Total to speed up the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution in your society.
For every 3 points you give up from everything else, you can advance the process by 1 year.
For every 3 points someone else gives you out of the kindness of their heart, you gain another year.
Thus, the Lortmil Technomancy could state it is deploying it's entire Strength Total of 17 to helping the Kevellond League to advance industrially.
The Kevellond League would then be considered to have advanced 5 2/3rds years into the Renaissance.
If the Kevellond League devoted another 21 points to this process, it would advance another 7 years into the Renaissance, for a total of 12 2/3rds years of advancement ... to about the equivalent of 1513 IRL.
Does this sound slow and unreasonable? Consider what you are trying to do, folks.
The Renaissance and Enligtenment, and the Industrial Revolution, and everything up til now, took 400 years!
You are trying to compress hundreds of years of social progress into a few years.
I am allowing that it is possible, if you spend the incredible number of points it would take, but you cannot go from medieval to modern in a few months ... it is just not possible.
There is a payback, however slow it may be, for this activity ... a big payback.
For every 10 years your Power advances into the Renaissance, you gain one point of Base Power per country you are running, permanently.
Large countries, like United Ahlissa, gain more: up to 3 points of power.
Entire peoples, like the Drow of Oerth, gain 4 points.
So, consider the Baklunish Confederation. Zeif, Ekbir, Tusmit, Ket, Yecha, Ull, the Paynims, Istivar, and Garnak. 7 small countries, 1 intermediate sized one, and 1 big one.
A gain of 5 + 2 + 3 points, for advancing that 10 years, for a total permanent gain of 10 points.
That is the reward.
The penalty? You are not using your society's power to commit acts of war, or to defend itself from attack.
If you are attacked during the Turn, I will take this into account.
You must PUBLICLY STATE you are placing Power Level into advancing your civilization, and how many Points you are devoting ... it is not something you can keep secret (that is, e-mailing me with your activity is useless.)
RULE FIFTEEN - HIGH LEVEL CHARACTERS AND NPCS
A character of 30th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 1.
A character of 60th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 2.
A character of 90th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 3.
A character of 120th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 4.
A character of 160th level 2nd or 3rd edition would have a Power Level of 5.
If the character has innate magical powers, and huge numbers of high powered magical items (and/or artifacts) his power level can increase further.
By further, I mean by 1 Power Level ... 2 at the absolute most, assuming the most extraordinary of conditions.
Thus Anabstercorian, who is over 90th level 2nd Edition, and has a huge arsenal of magical items (that survived the crossover from Toril) has a PL of 4.
I hope you'all don't bring more than one Player Character apiece into this.
This is a situation where characters can get killed, and I DO NOT WISH to have the make rulings on whether a Player Character survives or not.
The above applies to NPCs.
It applies to the famous NPCs of Oerth.
An NPC who is a demipower, like Iuz, has inherently greater power than the norm, and this places him out of the above scheme.
RULE SIXTEEN - FURTHER RULES CONCERNING THE PLANAR ARMS RACE, AND A COMMENT ON WHAT YOU COULD CONCEIVABLY DO ON TURN ONE WITH ALL THE ARMS RACES COMBINED
Each PERSON playing can only claim 3 Planar Groups for his or her Planar Arms race.
Thus, Iuz could claim the Demons, the Daemons, and the Slaadi.
The Kevellond League could claim the Eladrin, the Celestials, and the Elementals.
Forsaken One could claim the Planar Formians, the Modron, and the Devils.
Valkys could claim the Planar Unseelie, the Elementals, and the Shade.
The Shadow Empire could claim the Shade, the Demons, and the Slaadi.
If two people are sharing a power (ala the Dark Union), then each person gets full credit for his part of the Arms Race.
That is why I have listed Serpenteye and Mr. Draco separately, to show their separate strengths.
The Dark Union would, technically, increase in the Planar Arms race at twice the normal rate, but Serpenteye and Mr. Draco. may decide to break off their alliance.
For the sake of my sanity, and to prevent the tactic above from going wacky, I must prohibit 3 people from sharing any one power.
Thus, the triple claim to Bone March is annulled.
Sorry folks, but one of you is going to have to give up your claim to that country (I believe Mr. Draco, Serpenteye, and Kalanyr are all sharing Bone March currently.)
Otherwise, the Dark Union could claim the benefits of THREE Planar Arms Races in one turn, one each from Kalanyr, Serpenteye, and Mr. Draco (and remember, each person can claim up to three races for his or her personal Planar Arms race.)
I have no problem with an alliance between Kalanyr and Serpenteye/Mr. Draco. Such an alliance could exist within Bone March, even.
But as for the actual claim, only two people can share the place.
- - -
Now, even with those restrictions in place, consider what you can do.
Let's say you claim Kalstrand, and only Kalstrand, at the start of the game.
You start with a Power Level of 2.
2. 2, and only 2!
Now, you declare that you are joining the Planar Arms Race, and summoning elementals, eladrin, and celestials.
You manage to succeed in convincing me you could do that (you give me reason to believe the Planars would actually help you ... you provide a logical explanation for why they would help you.)
You announce you are joining the Undead Arms Race - good undead only!
You announce you are joining the Magical Arms Race.
You announce you are joining the Technological Arms Race.
You are clever, and succeed in getting both the Lortmil Technomancy to help you, and the Shadow Empire to help you, and you get help secondhand from another country.
So, for Turn One, you have a strength of 2.
You survive Turn One. Yay!!
At the beginning of Turn Two, you gain:
9 points for the Planar Arms Race (3 for the Eladrin, 3 for the Celestials, and 3 for the Elementals.)
3 points for the Undead Arms Race.
3 points for the Magical Arms Race.
12 points for the Industrial Arms Race (3 for the help from the Lortmil Technomancy, 3 for the help from the Shadow Empire, 3 from the secondhand help from another nation, and 3 from your own efforts.)
Congratulations ... you start Turn 2 with a strength of 2 + 9 + 3 + 3 + 12 = 29
29 points! That is the equivalent of the starting power of the entire Kevellond League or Empire of Iuz!
They don't call it an Arms Race for nothing ... and that's with all the restrictions I've put into effect.
RULE SEVENTEEN - ENDING A TURN, AND MY ROLE
At some point after 200 posts are on each thread, I will call a Time Out.
After that point, I will not read any further posts placed after the Time Out post.
I repeat, I will not read any posts after my Time Out post.
I will read all the posts up to my time out, adjudicate what happened as needed, then write to that thread the results.
In other words, you will see my rulings on what happened, after my Time Out post.
Then I will ask the Moderator to close the thread.
I will wait a few hours before starting the next thread, because I want everyone to have time to read what I wrote, and see the results of the Turn.
DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT start another IR thread to replace the one I just asked to be closed. Please!
Wait until I start the next thread. Heh, it will start, soon enough ... all too soon, in fact.
- - -
I reserve the right to get involved in the uproar, just like the rest of you.
Indeed, in the last two IRs I represented many powers, and had to speak for them repeatedly, not to mention I deliberately threw as many monkey wrenches into the gears as I could.
So, in addition to whatever you maniacs think up, I will add my share to the chaos, if possible!
Edena_of_Neith
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