Serpenteye
First Post
Links to the other pages of the 5th IR:
1st recruitment thread:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=105726
1st ooc-thread:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=109539
____________________________________
The Rules of the 5th IR
Above all else the IR is a game about power.
Power is, after all, the ability to affect the world around you. There are many different expressions of power. A brilliant speech or diplomatic negotiation can in the right circumstances guarantee your victory. Propaganda and manipulation are vital tools to control your own population, NPC-factions and even the other players. Role-playng is an essential tool for achieveing true power. But there is much more to the game.
Industry, technology, war, magic, divinity and infiltration are the other tools at your disposal. They benefit your faction in different ways, and though you need not master them all they will all be relevant to the outcome of the game.
The Turn
The IR is divided into turns. Each of them is three months long and roughly represents a season.
1. At the beginning of each turn you send me, Serpenteye, an email at ecaf99@hotmail.com where you let me know how you will allocate your power that turn.
2. Tell how many Power Points you put into industrializing your respective provinces, how much you spend on Technology or Magic and how much you reserve for Infiltration or the Military in your email.
3. List how you allocate your military Power Levels. If you are upgrading any of your Regular armies to Elite, and if you’re turning any of your Elite armies to Epic this needs to be in the email.
The DM needs this information to know just how powerful you are going to be during the Turn.
When all player emails have been received and the DM knows how each faction is going to invest its power for the Turn, it's time for the game to begin.
If you do not send the DM email before each Turn they will allocate your power in a way that they think is in accordance with the nature of your faction in a way that they believe it will benefit them. The DM does this for NPC-factions, but you may find that it is less optimized than what you had in mind.
Industry
Industry is the backbone of the IR. The combined Industrial Capacity (IC) of your provinces determines how many Power Points you get to spend each season (3-month turn) of the game. The IC of the province itself is not reduced by spending these power points, but is renewed at the beginning of each turn.
IC represents the productive aspects of technology, your smithies, factories, farms, all the hard work of the vast majority of your population.
The IC of a province is tied to two factors:
* The amount of power you invest into the province directly, at the beginning of each turn, determines the maximum amount of IC the province will give you next season. 1 power point invested gives you ½ points of IC, 10 PP invested gives 5 IC, etc. (½PPI + PPT = PPnt)
PPI = Power Points Invested
PPT = Power Points per Turn (from IC only)
PPnt = Power Points Next Turn
* The maximum level of Industrial Capacity in a province is limited by the population of the province multiplied with the tech-level of your faction +5 divided by 200'000. A province with a population of 600'000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 5 has a maximum IC of 60. A province with a population of 23'000'000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 20 has a maximum IC of 5750. ((Population x Tech Level+5)/100'000)
Technology
You all begin with a level of technology roughly equivalent to what Europe had the year 1500. In the prologue to the IR you were all given access to blueprints, schematics and copies of more advanced technology but for now you lack the infrastructure required to manufacture most of the inventions. You know - or can rather easily find out - how to put this infrastructure together, how to manufacture the factories you need to make the components to make the factories to make the components to make the factories to make the components and the factories required to make a car or a tank, or an airplane. But doing all that takes time and effort.
The Technological Arms Race
Technology is complicated, but in the IR it’s rather simple. You create the infrastructure needed to apply your technologies in increments by spending Power Points. You need to spend 50 PPs to advance your entire faction one level in technology.
You have the option of spending more Power Points, as many as you like to advance accordingly. The levels of technology are equivalent to the highest common levels of technology according to the following table:
1: 1500
2: 1600
3: 1650
4: 1700
5: 1725
6: 1750
7: 1775
8: 1800
9: 1810
10: 1820
11: 1830
12: 1840
13: 1850
14: 1860
15: 1870
16: 1880
17: 1885
18: 1890
19: 1895
20: 1900
21: 1905
22: 1910
23: 1915
24: 1920
25: 1925
26: 1930
27: 1935
28: 1940
29: 1942
30: etc…
At every 4th level of technology all your military units, except for militia after level 4, garners an increase in their attack and defense values of +1 and +1. The strategic mobility of your units increases gradually, but this is a minor effect compared to magic.
Technology also has an impact on your maximal industrial capacity.
Maximum IC =((Population x Tech Level+5)/100'000)
War
The roll of a die decides conventional warfare.
Combat Turn One (First Half): First the DM rolls one d6 for the attacker, then for the defender.
If the attacker’s modified roll is higher than the defender’s, the attacker damages the defender.
If the attacker and the defender have equal Power Levels in the battle, the attacker inflicts damage on the defender equal to 1/10th of the defender’s original strength in the battle.
If the attacker has more Power Levels in the battle, they will inflict damage in proportion to their relative numbers. If he has 1.5 times as many Power Levels he will inflict 1.5 times more damage than usual. If he has twice as many Power Levels as his enemy, he will inflict twice as much in damage.
Combat Turn One (Second Half): After the DM has rolled for the attacker they will then make the same rolls for the defender, and so on.
The defender will then become the attacker and his current strength will be used for calculating damage. This cycle of violence continues until either side has been defeated.
Armies consisting of mixed kinds of PLs are added together when determining the amount of damage they inflict and recieve, but still apply their modifiers separately. (Don't worry if you don't understand this. I'll make sure it's balanced.)
Armies
There are four different categories of armies: Militia, Regular, Elite and Epic Armies.
Militia armies are recruited directly out of your common population.
They are 1-3 level characters of NPC classes, barely trained and nearly useless individually, but in great enough numbers they can be a terrible threat.
Militia can be conscripted or recruited for no direct cost. You don’t have to pay any Power Points to create Militia armies, and they are the one kind of army you can raise after the beginning of a Turn. Up to 25% of all of the population in a province can be turned into militia at the beginning of a Turn, up to 10% of the population can be mobilized when the Turn has already begun.
10,000 soldiers of a Militia army are the equivalent of 1 Power Level.
Militia attacks with a modifier of –4 and defends with a modifier of –3.
They do not benefit from improvements in technology beyond LVL 4 in the Technological Arms Race (1700 AD in Earth terms) - they are simply too numerous and untrained for you to be able to equip them with quality weapons.
Militia Power Levels can be demobilized at the beginning/end of a round and the surviving warriors can be put back into the industrial economy.
Regular armies are your usual professional soldiers.
They have adequate training and equipment and are PC-classes and monsters of levels (or ECLs) of 2-6.
At the beginning of the game they may be vulnerable against hordes of militia but they will later be able to sweep them aside with ease. One PL of regular armies costs 1 Power Point to create.
(You do not create Regular PL out of Militia PL. You can create Regular armies directly out of your the Power Points you get each turn.)
They attack and defend with a modifier of +0/+0. They benefit fully from improvements in technology.
Regular PLs can be demobilized at the beginning/end of a round and the surviving warriors can be put back into the industrial economy. You then regain all the Power Points you spent on creating the surviving Regular PLs.
Elite armies are experienced and educated soldiers.
They are well-equipped adventurer-classed characters, or monsters, of levels 7 to 16.
They are deadly opponents who benefit fully both from improvements in technology and from advancement in the Magical Arms Race.
They can be recruited from the ranks of your Regular armies, at a cost of 10 Regular Power Levels for one Elite PL. (The cost reflects losses in training, the high cost of training and the high cost of their equipment)
Alternatively they can be recruited from your regular armies at a reduced cost in lives, but increased overall price. This way it costs 10 PPts to upgrade one Regular PL to Elite.
They attack with a modifier of +4 and defend with a modifier of +3.
They have complete strategic mobility; they can Teleport all over the planet instead of the mundane means available to lesser armies.
Elite armies cannot be demobilized.
Epic armies are the toughest, most skilled combatants on the planet.
Your PCs are all Epic, but few others are in the beginning of the game.
They are nearly untouchable by Regular PLs and can slaughter Militia without concern. They are as far above Elites as the Elites are above the Regulars.
Epics are the only ones who can research High Magic in the Magical Arms Race and they benefit fully from both Magic and Technology.
Epic PLs can only be recruited from your Elite armies, at a cost of 10 Elite PLs for 1 Epic PL. In other words 1 Elite PL is as expensive as 100 regular PLs, but they may very well be much more valuable than that depending on your play-style.
Alternatively, they can be recruited from your Elite armies at a reduced cost in lives but a severely increased overall cost. This way it costs 100 PPts to increase one Elite PL to an Epic PL.
They attack with a modifier of +8 and defend with a modifier of +7.
Epic armies cannot be demobilized.
You can only upgrade a given group of PLs one grade at a time. For instance you can upgrade your regulars to elite or your elite army into an epic one, but not your regular army into an epic army in a single turn.
If you use the alternative rules you have the possibility of creating higher classes of PLs quicker, but for an increased cost.
Modifiers:
* Technology gives a bonus to all units (except for militia after level 4) of +1 for both offense and defense every four levels in the Technological Arms Race (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and so on). These bonuses are cumulative.
* A significant degree of Clerical or Druidic magic in a faction gets a modifier of +1 to defense for Militia, Regular and Elite Power Levels, and a modifier of +2 to defense for Epic Power Levels. This applies also for those parts of factions who have a significant degree of such magic even if the faction as a whole would not qualify.
* High level magic gives many bonuses to factions that have access to it:
Magical Arms Race Level: 10th Level Magic 11th Level Magic 12th Level Magic 13th Level Magic
Elite Armies +3/+3 +5/+5 +8/+8 +16/+16
Epic Armies +5/+5 +9/+9 +16/+16 +32/+32
* Factions that lay claim to the personal attention of deities have many bonuses:
Power Level of the Deity: Demigod Lesser Intermediate Greater Over
Bonuses to Offense and Defense of all forces: +1/+1 +2/+2 +4/+4 +8/+8 +16/+16
*A deity gains considerable personal bonuses as well, though they are not comulative with those from the paragraph above:
Power Level of the Deity: Demigod Lesser Intermediate Greater Over
Bonuses to Offense and Defense +2/+2 +4/+4 +8/+8 +16/+16 +32/+32
* Fortifications give bonuses to forces not facing enemies who have access to higher level High Magic than the defender. A unit fortified in strongly defendable terrain gains a bonus of +1 to defense. A unit in an extremely sturdy fortification in strongly defendable terrain raises that bonus to +3. Extremely strong fortifications on very good terrain or underground may well be unassailable for a Regular PL. The rule shows the most usual modifiers, the rest are up to DM fiat when it comes up.
* Morale has an effect upon offense and defense. A demoralized army has a modifier of –2 to offense and defense. A routed army has a –4 modifier to defense and cannot attack at all.
* Undead units gain modifiers. Against factions who do not have access to divine magic from a deity of at least Lesser status Undead gain a bonus of +2 to their defense. Against factions who have access to divine magic from deities of at least Intermediate status Undead units receive a modifier of –2 to defense.
* Dead Magic Zones are disastrous for units that rely upon magic. Elite units get a modifier of –2 to defense and attack and Epic units get a modifier of –4 to defense and attack. This applies to all Elite and Epic units.
Units who would normally gain bonuses from High Magic, Clerical or Druidic Magic or the personal attention of a Deity do not gain access to any of their respective bonuses in a Dead magic Zone, nor does a Deity themselves.
Note: Like bonuses do not stack.
Morale
When an army faces an enemy it believes it cannot defeat it will sometimes become demoralized. It will fight at a reduced efficiency and will attempt to retreat from the battle. If it cannot retreat in order it will rout, surrender, or fight to the death.
Magic
Magic is the most powerful force on Oerth. It can destroy whole continents, remake them anew, transform your people into godlike beings, and turn your enemies into ash.
Magic is more expensive and harder to get than technology.
Everyone starts out at the same general level of magical knowledge.
All factions have access to every 0 to 9th level arcane spell in the SRD. Psionics has a similar role to arcane magic, and the two are therefore technically interchangeable with each other for the intents and purposes of this game.
Many factions, but not all, also have an equivalent knowledge of Clerical or Druidic magic. Druidic and clerical magic gives modifiers to the defense of your units and increases your population-growth.
For the purpose of this IR, High Magic of dissimilar flavors has similar in-game effects. A faction whose flavor specific magic is druidic can achieve similar ends as one whose magical flavor is of powerful conjurations, excepting in the nuances of the actual effects.
Elite and Epic PLs represent most normal magic items.
Artifacts are considered Epic PL, as if they were characters or armies.
High Magic
In the 5th IR, Epic magic works a bit differently than in normal D&D. Most importantly, there are no Epic level spells as listed in WOTC’s Epic Level Handbook. No spells can be meta-magicked above 9th level.
Instead there are 10th, 11th, 12th,and 13th level spells. These higher levels of spells are not a mere linear continuation of the normal spell levels but approximations of enormously powerful magic beyond the normal abilities of the spellcasters of Oerth. They are vastly more powerful than normal 0 to 9th level spells, and they are usually not cast by individual spellcasters but by the combined magical skill and puissance of the casters of an entire faction.
No PC faction has the power to cast 10th level spells at the beginning of the 5th IR. That ability has to be researched and invested into by spending Power Points.
Magic of such extreme power and difficulty is beyond the grasp of most people. Only your Epic PLs can be used to research the Higher level spells, and they are permanently spent by doing so. No magic has the power to bring them back to life.
A non-High Magic Anti-magic Field does not work against an High Magic spell.
The Magical Arms Race
Magic is researched in a similar manner as technology, though both the price and the rewards are much higher.
After spending 30 points of Epic PLs in the Magical Arms Race your faction gains the power to cast 10th level spells. After investing a total of 120 Epic PLs in the Magic Arms race you gain the power to cast 11th level spells. 12th level spellcasting requires an expenditure of 500 Epic PLs. 13th level spells cost 1000 Epic PLs.
This represents the dangerous and volatile nature of the research. High Magic, when it has not been fully mastered, is extremely unpredictable, and the smallest mistake can be lethal or crippling. No faction can research High Magic without a massive loss of Epic lives and magical equipment.
Once you have put PLs into magical research the points stay there, they are cumulative. The only way to wipe out the points is to utterly destroy the faction.
Factions cannot cooperate in researching High Magic. They cannot trade Magic (or technology) with other factions or individuals. If they still wish to do so they must permanently merge their factions, a process which will be fraught with political difficulties and dangers (and which I personally discourage).
The number of 10th through 13th level spells that a faction can cast per turn depends on the amount of Epic PLs the faction has available to cast them. Naturally, a greater number of casters enable a faction to cast a greater number of spells.
The Spell-progression is as follows:
Epic PL Units 10th Level Spells 11th Level Spells 12th Level Spells 13th Level Spells
20 1 0 0 0
80 2 0 0 0
140 3 1 0 0
200 4 2 0 0
260 5 3 1 0
320 6 4 2 0
380 7 5 3 1
440 8 6 4 2
500 9 7 5 3
As you can see you need to spend a lot of Epic PLs to cast the Higher level spells, but you also have to have a lot of Epic PLs to cast them. There is a trade-off between quantity and quality.
It is possible for multiple factions to cooperate in casting High Magic spells, if they both know how to cast spells of that level. For that purpose, and that purpose only, they can add their Epic PLs together if they should so wish.
So now I have ultimate power. So what?
There are three aspects of higher-level magic: destructive, defensive and creative.
Tenth Level Spells Can:
* Destroy an area the size of Celene utterly, wiping out all life (except for a few lucky Epic PLs) and destroying the very bedrock itself.
* Devastate an area the size of Nyrond, destroying most life but leaving some stronger structures only badly damaged and most Epic PLs alive.
* Affect an area the size of the Empire of Iuz (at the start of T1), causing widespread death and destruction but leaving most common people alive.
* Counterspell almost any 10th level magic.
* Enhance a number of individuals permanently. It can give them enhanced ability scores, natural, extraordinary or supernatural abilities. The lesser the number of people affected, the stronger the effect. In game terms it increases your Elite PL by 100.
* Restore the damage caused by a 10th level spell in an area one degree smaller. It can restore the damage to an area the size of Celene that was devastated by a spell that affected an area the size of Nyrond, for example.
11th level spells are even more powerful
The Rain of Colorless Fire would probably be a 12th level spell or perhaps several lower level epic spells cast simultaneously in a pattern. It destroyed an area the size of the Kevellond league utterly and permanently, that fits into the rough hierarchy of spells.
13th level spells are vastly more powerful than even 12th level spells. No 13th level spell has ever been cast since the original creation of the Multiverse. (It is only a fluke fluktuation in the cosmic/multiversal energies that make it possible for the people of Oerth to research 13th level Magic in the first place)
Infiltration
Few rulers have complete and utter control over their countries. There’s always someone who’s either powerful enough to flaunt the laws openly, or cunning enough to do so unnoticed. Either way, not all the production of a territory falls into the hands of the lawful ruler.
Most territories in the IR have Partial Ownership. Usually it’s a minor NPC faction that keeps some of the revenue of the territory out of the ruler’s hands. It can be a Thieves Guild, a church, a merchant-guild or a powerful corporation. It can be a rebel-force, a mages guild, or just a bunch of unorganized disloyal citizens. In some other cases the cause is more sinister, because you can infiltrate and undermine each other.
Espionage
To place a spy in a territory you have to spend 1/20th of the IC-value of the territory in PLs as a one-time expense. Once you have placed a spy you will gain information about important occurrences in the territory or organization you have infiltrated. Your target has a small automatic chance to discover that there is a spy in their territory, and if they don't find out they can nevertheless conduct a routine search for a cost of 1 PL. Once they know there's a spy they have an option to find and remove it, for a cost of 1/20th of the IC-value of the territory.
You can insert a spy in an enemy army, but you cannot further infiltrate any group of PLs.
Cost to place a Spy in a territory: IC/20
Cost to place a Spy in an army: PL/20
Cost for routine searches to locate Spies: 1 PL
Cost to remove a Spy from your territory or army: IC/20 or PL/20
Subversion
The first level of subversion gives you 5% of the political power over a territory. This level, and every following level of control, entitles you to an equivalent share of the IC (and turn-based Power Point output) of the territory.
Cost to subvert a territory: IC/10
Each additional level of successful subversion: +PL = IC/4
It costs 1/10th of the IC-value of the territory in Regular PLs to establish the first level of control. To establish a subversive control over a territory, both parties make an opposed modified d20 roll.
It works the same way for the following levels of control. The cost of going from 10% to 25% control over a territory is an additional 1/4th of the total IC-value of the territory. The cost of 50% is another 1/4th of the IC-value and 75% and 95% and 100% costs another 1/4 of the IC respectively. For every attempt to increase your control there’s an opposed roll of d20.
The cost, in Regular PLs, of completely subverting a territory under the course of several Turns (assuming the IC of the territory doesn't change in that time and that nobody else is trying to subvert your control) is 10%+25%+25%+25%+25%+25%=135% of the IC value of the territory, assuming the attacker succeeds on all his rolls.
The cost of infiltration represents both the monetary expenses and losses in operatives, it is therefore we use Regular PLs for infiltration.
The "legal owner" of a territory uses the same mechanism to increase his control over his territory as the "attacker" does.
Modifiers:
* The Infiltrator Trait reduces the costs for all Infiltration and Subversion attempts by half.
* The Alien Trait gives a cumulative bonus of +5 to the opposed roll both for defending his influence and expanding it in a territory where he has a greater percentage of control than any other faction. The alien trait is possessed only by the most perverse of aberrations and strangest of creatures.
* The faction that controls a greater percentage of a territory than any other faction in that territory has a cumulative bonus of +5 to the opposed roll both for defending his influence and expanding it.
* 10th and Higher level Magic render a faction immune to infiltration and subversion from factions with lesser degrees of magical knowledge.
10th level High Magic gives a +2 to the opposed rolls to expand a factions influence in a territory. 11th, 12th and 13th level High Magic gives a bonus of +4, +6, and +8 respectively to rolls for expanding the influence of the faction in question.
Immunity to infiltration means that a faction that gains access to High Magic can immediately purge all the influence factions with lesser knowlege in magic has in territories that are under that factions control. Under control means that the faction has a higher degree of control over that territory than any one other faction.
War, Subversion, and Infiltration
Conquering a territory by war will randomly remove or reduce the influence of infiltrators in the territory and give the conqueror a controlling percentage of the territory. Depending upon the conqueror’s general policy towards the conquered population, new organizations may arise.
Divinity
Hard times are coming to Oerth.
The World of Greyhawk is under siege from both the outside and within, and no one knows when a violent death might descend upon them. In times like these many people will turn to the gods, crying out for help, for salvation. But the gods will not hear them -for the gods are gone.
Will the power of the faith of the people of Oerth waste away in desperation and fear, or will new Deities arise to give succor to mortal man's weakness? The people will surely need Gods to look after them in this time of crisis. There is power to be had for those who are strong enough to ascend.
There are no hard-coded rules for attaining divinity, but the people tend to love a winner. Be successful, charismatic, and fulfill the spiritual needs of your population and perhaps the people will begin to worship you as a divinity.
Trade
Factions can not trade knowlege of Magic. Nor can they trade the applications of their technological infrastructure. They can not directly aid each others in researching High Magic or technology.
You can however engage in all other kinds of exchanges, which I will rule on by a case for case basis. Sometimes there's a price beyond what you'd expect.
Population
The labor force of your economy functions as the recruitment pool of your army. Every territory has a population. A territory without population is of very limited use to anyone, naturally. Take care of your population, it is very hard to replace.
The IR is divided into 3-month turns, natural population growth won't be very significant for any race unless the IR lasts a very long time. Magical means can perhaps be researched, but let's leave that to after the game has begun.
Definitions
*Power Level (PL) is a measure of disposable power that can be used at an immediate notice during the Turn. It represents your armies, magical items and cold hard cash. It's not tied to the territories, but to your faction as a whole. It is what you use to make war, Infiltrate, research High Magics and bribe your allies and enemies.
*Industrial Capacity (IC) is the measure of the productive capacity of the territories. It represents the value of your factories, mines, farming and so on. In other words, the aspects of your wealth that cannot be liquidated on a short notice but builds the foundation of your productive economy. At the end/beginning of each Turn it decides how many Power Points (PPts) you can spend in your template.
*Power Points exist only between Turns, it is what your IC turns into and it is what you spend on technological research, industrialization, creation of armies and such.
It is also what you use to upgrade your armies to the next highest level of PL in the Alternative method described in the chapter about War.
Addendum 1:
It would be best if everything but the most secret of plans eventually found their way to the IR-threads, for the sake of making it a good read, but you don't have to post your semi-IC conversations and negotiations on the board.
I only really need to be told what you have agreed to and with whom and only if you believe you need me to know. If I don't know something I'll do nothing about it and if that's what you want that's what you'll get.
Generally I'd have to say your PCs are powerful and cunning enough to find ways to talk to each others without spies finding out about it (unless you want them to find out about it, or are being sloppy). But as soon as you put anything into motion, as soon as it goes from talk to action, you will have to tell me or it simply will not happen.
1st recruitment thread:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=105726
1st ooc-thread:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=109539
____________________________________
The Rules of the 5th IR
Above all else the IR is a game about power.
Power is, after all, the ability to affect the world around you. There are many different expressions of power. A brilliant speech or diplomatic negotiation can in the right circumstances guarantee your victory. Propaganda and manipulation are vital tools to control your own population, NPC-factions and even the other players. Role-playng is an essential tool for achieveing true power. But there is much more to the game.
Industry, technology, war, magic, divinity and infiltration are the other tools at your disposal. They benefit your faction in different ways, and though you need not master them all they will all be relevant to the outcome of the game.
The Turn
The IR is divided into turns. Each of them is three months long and roughly represents a season.
1. At the beginning of each turn you send me, Serpenteye, an email at ecaf99@hotmail.com where you let me know how you will allocate your power that turn.
2. Tell how many Power Points you put into industrializing your respective provinces, how much you spend on Technology or Magic and how much you reserve for Infiltration or the Military in your email.
3. List how you allocate your military Power Levels. If you are upgrading any of your Regular armies to Elite, and if you’re turning any of your Elite armies to Epic this needs to be in the email.
The DM needs this information to know just how powerful you are going to be during the Turn.
When all player emails have been received and the DM knows how each faction is going to invest its power for the Turn, it's time for the game to begin.
If you do not send the DM email before each Turn they will allocate your power in a way that they think is in accordance with the nature of your faction in a way that they believe it will benefit them. The DM does this for NPC-factions, but you may find that it is less optimized than what you had in mind.
Industry
Industry is the backbone of the IR. The combined Industrial Capacity (IC) of your provinces determines how many Power Points you get to spend each season (3-month turn) of the game. The IC of the province itself is not reduced by spending these power points, but is renewed at the beginning of each turn.
IC represents the productive aspects of technology, your smithies, factories, farms, all the hard work of the vast majority of your population.
The IC of a province is tied to two factors:
* The amount of power you invest into the province directly, at the beginning of each turn, determines the maximum amount of IC the province will give you next season. 1 power point invested gives you ½ points of IC, 10 PP invested gives 5 IC, etc. (½PPI + PPT = PPnt)
PPI = Power Points Invested
PPT = Power Points per Turn (from IC only)
PPnt = Power Points Next Turn
* The maximum level of Industrial Capacity in a province is limited by the population of the province multiplied with the tech-level of your faction +5 divided by 200'000. A province with a population of 600'000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 5 has a maximum IC of 60. A province with a population of 23'000'000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 20 has a maximum IC of 5750. ((Population x Tech Level+5)/100'000)
Technology
You all begin with a level of technology roughly equivalent to what Europe had the year 1500. In the prologue to the IR you were all given access to blueprints, schematics and copies of more advanced technology but for now you lack the infrastructure required to manufacture most of the inventions. You know - or can rather easily find out - how to put this infrastructure together, how to manufacture the factories you need to make the components to make the factories to make the components to make the factories to make the components and the factories required to make a car or a tank, or an airplane. But doing all that takes time and effort.
The Technological Arms Race
Technology is complicated, but in the IR it’s rather simple. You create the infrastructure needed to apply your technologies in increments by spending Power Points. You need to spend 50 PPs to advance your entire faction one level in technology.
You have the option of spending more Power Points, as many as you like to advance accordingly. The levels of technology are equivalent to the highest common levels of technology according to the following table:
1: 1500
2: 1600
3: 1650
4: 1700
5: 1725
6: 1750
7: 1775
8: 1800
9: 1810
10: 1820
11: 1830
12: 1840
13: 1850
14: 1860
15: 1870
16: 1880
17: 1885
18: 1890
19: 1895
20: 1900
21: 1905
22: 1910
23: 1915
24: 1920
25: 1925
26: 1930
27: 1935
28: 1940
29: 1942
30: etc…
At every 4th level of technology all your military units, except for militia after level 4, garners an increase in their attack and defense values of +1 and +1. The strategic mobility of your units increases gradually, but this is a minor effect compared to magic.
Technology also has an impact on your maximal industrial capacity.
Maximum IC =((Population x Tech Level+5)/100'000)
War
The roll of a die decides conventional warfare.
Combat Turn One (First Half): First the DM rolls one d6 for the attacker, then for the defender.
If the attacker’s modified roll is higher than the defender’s, the attacker damages the defender.
If the attacker and the defender have equal Power Levels in the battle, the attacker inflicts damage on the defender equal to 1/10th of the defender’s original strength in the battle.
If the attacker has more Power Levels in the battle, they will inflict damage in proportion to their relative numbers. If he has 1.5 times as many Power Levels he will inflict 1.5 times more damage than usual. If he has twice as many Power Levels as his enemy, he will inflict twice as much in damage.
Combat Turn One (Second Half): After the DM has rolled for the attacker they will then make the same rolls for the defender, and so on.
The defender will then become the attacker and his current strength will be used for calculating damage. This cycle of violence continues until either side has been defeated.
Armies consisting of mixed kinds of PLs are added together when determining the amount of damage they inflict and recieve, but still apply their modifiers separately. (Don't worry if you don't understand this. I'll make sure it's balanced.)
Armies
There are four different categories of armies: Militia, Regular, Elite and Epic Armies.
Militia armies are recruited directly out of your common population.
They are 1-3 level characters of NPC classes, barely trained and nearly useless individually, but in great enough numbers they can be a terrible threat.
Militia can be conscripted or recruited for no direct cost. You don’t have to pay any Power Points to create Militia armies, and they are the one kind of army you can raise after the beginning of a Turn. Up to 25% of all of the population in a province can be turned into militia at the beginning of a Turn, up to 10% of the population can be mobilized when the Turn has already begun.
10,000 soldiers of a Militia army are the equivalent of 1 Power Level.
Militia attacks with a modifier of –4 and defends with a modifier of –3.
They do not benefit from improvements in technology beyond LVL 4 in the Technological Arms Race (1700 AD in Earth terms) - they are simply too numerous and untrained for you to be able to equip them with quality weapons.
Militia Power Levels can be demobilized at the beginning/end of a round and the surviving warriors can be put back into the industrial economy.
Regular armies are your usual professional soldiers.
They have adequate training and equipment and are PC-classes and monsters of levels (or ECLs) of 2-6.
At the beginning of the game they may be vulnerable against hordes of militia but they will later be able to sweep them aside with ease. One PL of regular armies costs 1 Power Point to create.
(You do not create Regular PL out of Militia PL. You can create Regular armies directly out of your the Power Points you get each turn.)
They attack and defend with a modifier of +0/+0. They benefit fully from improvements in technology.
Regular PLs can be demobilized at the beginning/end of a round and the surviving warriors can be put back into the industrial economy. You then regain all the Power Points you spent on creating the surviving Regular PLs.
Elite armies are experienced and educated soldiers.
They are well-equipped adventurer-classed characters, or monsters, of levels 7 to 16.
They are deadly opponents who benefit fully both from improvements in technology and from advancement in the Magical Arms Race.
They can be recruited from the ranks of your Regular armies, at a cost of 10 Regular Power Levels for one Elite PL. (The cost reflects losses in training, the high cost of training and the high cost of their equipment)
Alternatively they can be recruited from your regular armies at a reduced cost in lives, but increased overall price. This way it costs 10 PPts to upgrade one Regular PL to Elite.
They attack with a modifier of +4 and defend with a modifier of +3.
They have complete strategic mobility; they can Teleport all over the planet instead of the mundane means available to lesser armies.
Elite armies cannot be demobilized.
Epic armies are the toughest, most skilled combatants on the planet.
Your PCs are all Epic, but few others are in the beginning of the game.
They are nearly untouchable by Regular PLs and can slaughter Militia without concern. They are as far above Elites as the Elites are above the Regulars.
Epics are the only ones who can research High Magic in the Magical Arms Race and they benefit fully from both Magic and Technology.
Epic PLs can only be recruited from your Elite armies, at a cost of 10 Elite PLs for 1 Epic PL. In other words 1 Elite PL is as expensive as 100 regular PLs, but they may very well be much more valuable than that depending on your play-style.
Alternatively, they can be recruited from your Elite armies at a reduced cost in lives but a severely increased overall cost. This way it costs 100 PPts to increase one Elite PL to an Epic PL.
They attack with a modifier of +8 and defend with a modifier of +7.
Epic armies cannot be demobilized.
You can only upgrade a given group of PLs one grade at a time. For instance you can upgrade your regulars to elite or your elite army into an epic one, but not your regular army into an epic army in a single turn.
If you use the alternative rules you have the possibility of creating higher classes of PLs quicker, but for an increased cost.
Modifiers:
* Technology gives a bonus to all units (except for militia after level 4) of +1 for both offense and defense every four levels in the Technological Arms Race (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and so on). These bonuses are cumulative.
* A significant degree of Clerical or Druidic magic in a faction gets a modifier of +1 to defense for Militia, Regular and Elite Power Levels, and a modifier of +2 to defense for Epic Power Levels. This applies also for those parts of factions who have a significant degree of such magic even if the faction as a whole would not qualify.
* High level magic gives many bonuses to factions that have access to it:
Magical Arms Race Level: 10th Level Magic 11th Level Magic 12th Level Magic 13th Level Magic
Elite Armies +3/+3 +5/+5 +8/+8 +16/+16
Epic Armies +5/+5 +9/+9 +16/+16 +32/+32
* Factions that lay claim to the personal attention of deities have many bonuses:
Power Level of the Deity: Demigod Lesser Intermediate Greater Over
Bonuses to Offense and Defense of all forces: +1/+1 +2/+2 +4/+4 +8/+8 +16/+16
*A deity gains considerable personal bonuses as well, though they are not comulative with those from the paragraph above:
Power Level of the Deity: Demigod Lesser Intermediate Greater Over
Bonuses to Offense and Defense +2/+2 +4/+4 +8/+8 +16/+16 +32/+32
* Fortifications give bonuses to forces not facing enemies who have access to higher level High Magic than the defender. A unit fortified in strongly defendable terrain gains a bonus of +1 to defense. A unit in an extremely sturdy fortification in strongly defendable terrain raises that bonus to +3. Extremely strong fortifications on very good terrain or underground may well be unassailable for a Regular PL. The rule shows the most usual modifiers, the rest are up to DM fiat when it comes up.
* Morale has an effect upon offense and defense. A demoralized army has a modifier of –2 to offense and defense. A routed army has a –4 modifier to defense and cannot attack at all.
* Undead units gain modifiers. Against factions who do not have access to divine magic from a deity of at least Lesser status Undead gain a bonus of +2 to their defense. Against factions who have access to divine magic from deities of at least Intermediate status Undead units receive a modifier of –2 to defense.
* Dead Magic Zones are disastrous for units that rely upon magic. Elite units get a modifier of –2 to defense and attack and Epic units get a modifier of –4 to defense and attack. This applies to all Elite and Epic units.
Units who would normally gain bonuses from High Magic, Clerical or Druidic Magic or the personal attention of a Deity do not gain access to any of their respective bonuses in a Dead magic Zone, nor does a Deity themselves.
Note: Like bonuses do not stack.
Morale
When an army faces an enemy it believes it cannot defeat it will sometimes become demoralized. It will fight at a reduced efficiency and will attempt to retreat from the battle. If it cannot retreat in order it will rout, surrender, or fight to the death.
Magic
Magic is the most powerful force on Oerth. It can destroy whole continents, remake them anew, transform your people into godlike beings, and turn your enemies into ash.
Magic is more expensive and harder to get than technology.
Everyone starts out at the same general level of magical knowledge.
All factions have access to every 0 to 9th level arcane spell in the SRD. Psionics has a similar role to arcane magic, and the two are therefore technically interchangeable with each other for the intents and purposes of this game.
Many factions, but not all, also have an equivalent knowledge of Clerical or Druidic magic. Druidic and clerical magic gives modifiers to the defense of your units and increases your population-growth.
For the purpose of this IR, High Magic of dissimilar flavors has similar in-game effects. A faction whose flavor specific magic is druidic can achieve similar ends as one whose magical flavor is of powerful conjurations, excepting in the nuances of the actual effects.
Elite and Epic PLs represent most normal magic items.
Artifacts are considered Epic PL, as if they were characters or armies.
High Magic
In the 5th IR, Epic magic works a bit differently than in normal D&D. Most importantly, there are no Epic level spells as listed in WOTC’s Epic Level Handbook. No spells can be meta-magicked above 9th level.
Instead there are 10th, 11th, 12th,and 13th level spells. These higher levels of spells are not a mere linear continuation of the normal spell levels but approximations of enormously powerful magic beyond the normal abilities of the spellcasters of Oerth. They are vastly more powerful than normal 0 to 9th level spells, and they are usually not cast by individual spellcasters but by the combined magical skill and puissance of the casters of an entire faction.
No PC faction has the power to cast 10th level spells at the beginning of the 5th IR. That ability has to be researched and invested into by spending Power Points.
Magic of such extreme power and difficulty is beyond the grasp of most people. Only your Epic PLs can be used to research the Higher level spells, and they are permanently spent by doing so. No magic has the power to bring them back to life.
A non-High Magic Anti-magic Field does not work against an High Magic spell.
The Magical Arms Race
Magic is researched in a similar manner as technology, though both the price and the rewards are much higher.
After spending 30 points of Epic PLs in the Magical Arms Race your faction gains the power to cast 10th level spells. After investing a total of 120 Epic PLs in the Magic Arms race you gain the power to cast 11th level spells. 12th level spellcasting requires an expenditure of 500 Epic PLs. 13th level spells cost 1000 Epic PLs.
This represents the dangerous and volatile nature of the research. High Magic, when it has not been fully mastered, is extremely unpredictable, and the smallest mistake can be lethal or crippling. No faction can research High Magic without a massive loss of Epic lives and magical equipment.
Once you have put PLs into magical research the points stay there, they are cumulative. The only way to wipe out the points is to utterly destroy the faction.
Factions cannot cooperate in researching High Magic. They cannot trade Magic (or technology) with other factions or individuals. If they still wish to do so they must permanently merge their factions, a process which will be fraught with political difficulties and dangers (and which I personally discourage).
The number of 10th through 13th level spells that a faction can cast per turn depends on the amount of Epic PLs the faction has available to cast them. Naturally, a greater number of casters enable a faction to cast a greater number of spells.
The Spell-progression is as follows:
Epic PL Units 10th Level Spells 11th Level Spells 12th Level Spells 13th Level Spells
20 1 0 0 0
80 2 0 0 0
140 3 1 0 0
200 4 2 0 0
260 5 3 1 0
320 6 4 2 0
380 7 5 3 1
440 8 6 4 2
500 9 7 5 3
As you can see you need to spend a lot of Epic PLs to cast the Higher level spells, but you also have to have a lot of Epic PLs to cast them. There is a trade-off between quantity and quality.
It is possible for multiple factions to cooperate in casting High Magic spells, if they both know how to cast spells of that level. For that purpose, and that purpose only, they can add their Epic PLs together if they should so wish.
So now I have ultimate power. So what?
There are three aspects of higher-level magic: destructive, defensive and creative.
Tenth Level Spells Can:
* Destroy an area the size of Celene utterly, wiping out all life (except for a few lucky Epic PLs) and destroying the very bedrock itself.
* Devastate an area the size of Nyrond, destroying most life but leaving some stronger structures only badly damaged and most Epic PLs alive.
* Affect an area the size of the Empire of Iuz (at the start of T1), causing widespread death and destruction but leaving most common people alive.
* Counterspell almost any 10th level magic.
* Enhance a number of individuals permanently. It can give them enhanced ability scores, natural, extraordinary or supernatural abilities. The lesser the number of people affected, the stronger the effect. In game terms it increases your Elite PL by 100.
* Restore the damage caused by a 10th level spell in an area one degree smaller. It can restore the damage to an area the size of Celene that was devastated by a spell that affected an area the size of Nyrond, for example.
11th level spells are even more powerful
The Rain of Colorless Fire would probably be a 12th level spell or perhaps several lower level epic spells cast simultaneously in a pattern. It destroyed an area the size of the Kevellond league utterly and permanently, that fits into the rough hierarchy of spells.
13th level spells are vastly more powerful than even 12th level spells. No 13th level spell has ever been cast since the original creation of the Multiverse. (It is only a fluke fluktuation in the cosmic/multiversal energies that make it possible for the people of Oerth to research 13th level Magic in the first place)
Infiltration
Few rulers have complete and utter control over their countries. There’s always someone who’s either powerful enough to flaunt the laws openly, or cunning enough to do so unnoticed. Either way, not all the production of a territory falls into the hands of the lawful ruler.
Most territories in the IR have Partial Ownership. Usually it’s a minor NPC faction that keeps some of the revenue of the territory out of the ruler’s hands. It can be a Thieves Guild, a church, a merchant-guild or a powerful corporation. It can be a rebel-force, a mages guild, or just a bunch of unorganized disloyal citizens. In some other cases the cause is more sinister, because you can infiltrate and undermine each other.
Espionage
To place a spy in a territory you have to spend 1/20th of the IC-value of the territory in PLs as a one-time expense. Once you have placed a spy you will gain information about important occurrences in the territory or organization you have infiltrated. Your target has a small automatic chance to discover that there is a spy in their territory, and if they don't find out they can nevertheless conduct a routine search for a cost of 1 PL. Once they know there's a spy they have an option to find and remove it, for a cost of 1/20th of the IC-value of the territory.
You can insert a spy in an enemy army, but you cannot further infiltrate any group of PLs.
Cost to place a Spy in a territory: IC/20
Cost to place a Spy in an army: PL/20
Cost for routine searches to locate Spies: 1 PL
Cost to remove a Spy from your territory or army: IC/20 or PL/20
Subversion
The first level of subversion gives you 5% of the political power over a territory. This level, and every following level of control, entitles you to an equivalent share of the IC (and turn-based Power Point output) of the territory.
Cost to subvert a territory: IC/10
Each additional level of successful subversion: +PL = IC/4
It costs 1/10th of the IC-value of the territory in Regular PLs to establish the first level of control. To establish a subversive control over a territory, both parties make an opposed modified d20 roll.
It works the same way for the following levels of control. The cost of going from 10% to 25% control over a territory is an additional 1/4th of the total IC-value of the territory. The cost of 50% is another 1/4th of the IC-value and 75% and 95% and 100% costs another 1/4 of the IC respectively. For every attempt to increase your control there’s an opposed roll of d20.
The cost, in Regular PLs, of completely subverting a territory under the course of several Turns (assuming the IC of the territory doesn't change in that time and that nobody else is trying to subvert your control) is 10%+25%+25%+25%+25%+25%=135% of the IC value of the territory, assuming the attacker succeeds on all his rolls.
The cost of infiltration represents both the monetary expenses and losses in operatives, it is therefore we use Regular PLs for infiltration.
The "legal owner" of a territory uses the same mechanism to increase his control over his territory as the "attacker" does.
Modifiers:
* The Infiltrator Trait reduces the costs for all Infiltration and Subversion attempts by half.
* The Alien Trait gives a cumulative bonus of +5 to the opposed roll both for defending his influence and expanding it in a territory where he has a greater percentage of control than any other faction. The alien trait is possessed only by the most perverse of aberrations and strangest of creatures.
* The faction that controls a greater percentage of a territory than any other faction in that territory has a cumulative bonus of +5 to the opposed roll both for defending his influence and expanding it.
* 10th and Higher level Magic render a faction immune to infiltration and subversion from factions with lesser degrees of magical knowledge.
10th level High Magic gives a +2 to the opposed rolls to expand a factions influence in a territory. 11th, 12th and 13th level High Magic gives a bonus of +4, +6, and +8 respectively to rolls for expanding the influence of the faction in question.
Immunity to infiltration means that a faction that gains access to High Magic can immediately purge all the influence factions with lesser knowlege in magic has in territories that are under that factions control. Under control means that the faction has a higher degree of control over that territory than any one other faction.
War, Subversion, and Infiltration
Conquering a territory by war will randomly remove or reduce the influence of infiltrators in the territory and give the conqueror a controlling percentage of the territory. Depending upon the conqueror’s general policy towards the conquered population, new organizations may arise.
Divinity
Hard times are coming to Oerth.
The World of Greyhawk is under siege from both the outside and within, and no one knows when a violent death might descend upon them. In times like these many people will turn to the gods, crying out for help, for salvation. But the gods will not hear them -for the gods are gone.
Will the power of the faith of the people of Oerth waste away in desperation and fear, or will new Deities arise to give succor to mortal man's weakness? The people will surely need Gods to look after them in this time of crisis. There is power to be had for those who are strong enough to ascend.
There are no hard-coded rules for attaining divinity, but the people tend to love a winner. Be successful, charismatic, and fulfill the spiritual needs of your population and perhaps the people will begin to worship you as a divinity.
Trade
Factions can not trade knowlege of Magic. Nor can they trade the applications of their technological infrastructure. They can not directly aid each others in researching High Magic or technology.
You can however engage in all other kinds of exchanges, which I will rule on by a case for case basis. Sometimes there's a price beyond what you'd expect.
Population
The labor force of your economy functions as the recruitment pool of your army. Every territory has a population. A territory without population is of very limited use to anyone, naturally. Take care of your population, it is very hard to replace.
The IR is divided into 3-month turns, natural population growth won't be very significant for any race unless the IR lasts a very long time. Magical means can perhaps be researched, but let's leave that to after the game has begun.
Definitions
*Power Level (PL) is a measure of disposable power that can be used at an immediate notice during the Turn. It represents your armies, magical items and cold hard cash. It's not tied to the territories, but to your faction as a whole. It is what you use to make war, Infiltrate, research High Magics and bribe your allies and enemies.
*Industrial Capacity (IC) is the measure of the productive capacity of the territories. It represents the value of your factories, mines, farming and so on. In other words, the aspects of your wealth that cannot be liquidated on a short notice but builds the foundation of your productive economy. At the end/beginning of each Turn it decides how many Power Points (PPts) you can spend in your template.
*Power Points exist only between Turns, it is what your IC turns into and it is what you spend on technological research, industrialization, creation of armies and such.
It is also what you use to upgrade your armies to the next highest level of PL in the Alternative method described in the chapter about War.
Addendum 1:
It would be best if everything but the most secret of plans eventually found their way to the IR-threads, for the sake of making it a good read, but you don't have to post your semi-IC conversations and negotiations on the board.
I only really need to be told what you have agreed to and with whom and only if you believe you need me to know. If I don't know something I'll do nothing about it and if that's what you want that's what you'll get.
Generally I'd have to say your PCs are powerful and cunning enough to find ways to talk to each others without spies finding out about it (unless you want them to find out about it, or are being sloppy). But as soon as you put anything into motion, as soon as it goes from talk to action, you will have to tell me or it simply will not happen.
I remember reading a 12, and that was too good to be true, so it's good I checked again.
