(IR) Announcing a New Strategic Roleplaying Campaign of Epic Proportions!

[Knight Otu]

Then, if I should be permanently incapacitated, your conquests will be preserved for an eternity. The current status quo could hardly be satisfactory for any of you, 'cause though you are powerful your enemies are equally so.

Who said anything about "permanently incapacitated"? Not me, certainly. The cult of Ashardalon doesn't waste important resources like that.Mind control and vampirism are great, aren't they?

 

[Serpenteye]

Who said anything about "permanently incapacitated"? Not me, certainly. The cult of Ashardalon doesn't waste important resources like that.Mind control and vampirism are great, aren't they?

It's good to know that I still have some friends.


Anyhow... Here's a little sample of what I'm working on right now. Critique away! (It's not finished.) I'm not at all sure about the specific numbers, not to mention the spelling, but this should give you some insight into my fevered mind.

The Rules of the SerpentEye IR

Above all else the IR is a game about power (and having fun while gaining and losing power). The object of the game is power and the means to the end is power. There are many different expressions of power. A brilliant speach 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-playing is your most vital and decicive tool to acheive 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.


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 this, but gives at the beginning of each turn yet more Power Points for you to spend. It represents the productive aspects of technology, your smithys, factories, farms, all the hard work of the vast majority of your population.
The IC of a province is tied to three factors.
*The amount of power you invest directly into the province at the beginning of each turn deternimes the maximum amount of IC the province will give you next season (And, cumulative with your future investments, the amount of IC it will give you in future turns).
1 power point invested gives you ½ points of IC, 10 PP invested gives 5 IC, etc.
*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 divided by 100’000.

A province with a popluation of 600’000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 5 has a maximum IC of 30. A province with a population of 23’000’000 inhabitants and a tech-level of 20 has a maximum IC of 4600. (You still have to spend PPs to get the ICs)


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 blue-prints, 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. Technology is complicated, but in the IR it’s rather simple.
You create the infrastructure needed to apply your technologies in increments, linearly, 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, and advance accordingly. The levels of technology are equivalent to the European (and, when later applicable to the North American) level of technology according to the following list;

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: 1944
31: 1946
etc.

Every 4th level of technology all your military units (except for militia) gains an increase of their attack and defence-values by +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.


War

War is the continuation of diplomacy with other means. If you can’t get what you want by talking to your fellow faction-leader don’t be afraid to beat them up until they surrender. Killing is the easiest thing in the word, it’s staying alive that’s difficult.

Conventional warfare is decided by the roll of a die. A number of factors can affect the outcome, but at its heart the system is random. First I roll one d6 for the attacker, then for the defender. If the attackers modified roll is higher than the defenders the attacker damages the defender. If the attacker and the defender have as many Power Levels in the battle (the base measure of military strength) the attacker inflicts a damage on the defender of 1/10th of the defenders original strength in the battle. If the attackers are more numerous than the defenders (has more PLs in the battle) they will inflict damage in proportion to their relative numbers. If he’s 1,5 times as numerous he’ll inflict 1,5 times as much damage as if the numbers were equal.

When I have rolled for the attacker I will then make the same rolls for the defender. The defender will then become the attacker and his current strength will be used for calculating damage. And so it continues, back and forth, until either side has been defeated.

There are four different categories of armies; Militia, Regular, Elite and Epic Armies.
* Militia is recruited directly out of your common population. They are 1-3 level characters of NPC classes, barely trained, nearly useless individually, but in great enough numbers they can be a terrible threat. Militia can be conscripted or reqruited 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.
One PL of Militia is equivalent to 10’000 individuals. 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 Armsrace (1700) (they are simply too many for you to be able to equip them with quality weapons).
Militia PLs 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 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. They attack and defend with a modifier of +0/+0 and 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, or big and scary monsters, of levels 7 to 16. They are deadly opponents who benefit fully both from improvements in technology and from advancement in the Magical Armsrace. They can only be recruited from the ranks of your Regular armies (they need XPs, you know), at a cost of 10 Regular PLs for one Elite PL. They attack with a modifier of +4 and defend with a modifier of +3.
They, as well as Epic PLs, also have complete strategical mobility; they can Teleport all over the planet whereas Regular and Militia PLs have to travel by mundane means.
Elite armies cannot be demobilized.
*Epic armies, or more appropriately individials, 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. Epic PLs are as far above Elites as the Elites are above the Regulars. They are the only ones who can research the Higher Magics in the Magical Armsrace and they benefit fully from both Magic and Technology (though Technology is less significant for them than for the lesser catagories of PL).
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. They attack with a modifier of +8 and defend with a modifier of +7.
Epic armies cannot be demobilized.

Other Modifiers:
*Technology gives an equal bonus to all units (except for militia) of +1 for every four levels in the technological armsrace. These bonuses are cumulative.

*A faction that has access to Clerical or Druidic magic gets a modifier of +1 to defence for Militia, Regular and Elite PLs, and a modifier of +2 to Epic PLs.

*A faction that has access to 10th level magic gains a bonus of +2 to attack and defence for its Elite armies and a bonus of +4 to attack and defence for its Epic armies.

*A faction that has access to 11th level magic gains a bonus of +4 to attack and defence for its Elite armies and a bonus of +8 to attack and defence for its Epic armies.

*A faction that has access to 12th level magic gains a bonus of +8 to attack and defence for its Elite armies and a bonus of +16 to attack and defence for its Epic armies.

*A faction that has access to 13th level magic gains a bonus of +16 to attack and defence for its Elite armies and a bonus of +32 to attack and defence for its Epic armies.

*A faction that has a Demi-Deity gains a bonus of +1 to defence and attack for all its PLs.
*A character that is a Demi-Deity gains a personal bonus of +2 to defence and attack.

*A faction that has a Lesser Deity gains a bonus of +2 to defence and attack for all its PLs.
*A character that is a Lesser Deity gains a personal bonus of +4 to defence and attack.

*A faction that has an Intermediate Deity gains a bonus of +4 to defence and attack for all its PLs.
*A character that is an Intermediate Deity gains a personal bonus of +8 to defence and attack.

*A faction that has a Greater Deity gains a bonus of +8 to defence and attack for all its PLs.
*A character that is a Greater Deity gains a personal bonus of +16 to defence and attack.

*A faction that has an Over-Deity gains a bonus of +16 to defence and attack.for all its PLs.
*A character that is an Over-Deity gains a personal bonus of +32 to defence and attack.

*A unit in a forticication in a strongly defendable terrain gets a bonus of +1 to defence and attack against an enemy that doesn’t have access to 10th or higher-level magic.
*A unit in an extremely strong fortification gets a bonus of +3 to defence and attack against an enemy that doesn’t have access to 10th or higher-level magic.

*A demoralized army gets a modifier of –2 to defence and attack.
*A routing army gets a modifier of –4 to defence and cannot attack.

*Undead PLs gains a bonus of +2 to defence against factions who do not have access to Clerical Magic from a deity of at least Lesser status.
*Undead PLs gains a modifier of –2 to defence against factions who have access to Clerical Magic from a deity of at least Intermediate status.

*Units who fight in Dead-Magic Zones do not get any benefit from any kind of Magic, Elite PLs get a modifier of –2 to defence and attack and Epic PLs get a modifier of –4 to defence and attack.

Note: Like bonuses do not stack. The bonuses for deities and High Magics are not cumulative.


When an army faces an enemy it believes it cannot defeat it will usually become demoralized. It will fight at a reduced efficiency and will attempt to disengage and retreat from the battle. If it cannot retreat in order it will either rout (break apart), surrender, or fight to the death.


Magic

Magic is the most powerful force on Oerth. It can destroy whole continents, and remake them anew. It can transform your people into godlike beings, and turn your enemies into toads. Magic is however expensive, and harder to get than technology.
You all start out at the same level of magical knowledge. All your factions know 0 to 9th level arcane spells. Many factions also have an equivalent knowledge of Psionics of Druidic magic. Psionics have a similar role as arcane magics and the two are therefore technically interchangable with each others, a matter or role-playing of no concern to the rules. Druidic and Clerical magic is another matter, it gives bonuses to the defence of your units and increases your population-growth.
Though your factions begin at the same theoretical level the differences within your factions is immense, as was shown in the chapter about War. What will be discussed here is the race for Higher levels of Magic and the power of the Higher Level spells.

In the IR magic works a bit differently than in normal DnD for characters in the Epic levels. First of all, there are no Epic level spells. Secondly, spells can not be metamagicked above 9th level. Thirdly, there are 10th level spells, 11th level spells, 12th level spells and 13th level spells. These Higher levels of spells are not a mere linear continuation of the normal spell-levels. They are vastly more powerful than normal 0 to 9th level spells and they are not (usually) cast by individual spellcasters but by the combined magical skill and willpower of the casters of an entire faction.
...
...
...

 

[Rikandur Azebol]

It's good to know that I still have some friends.

Anyhow... Here's a little sample of what I'm working on right now. Critique away! (It's not finished.) I'm not at all sure about the specific numbers, not to mention the spelling, but this should give you some insight into my fevered mind.

Chmm ... I think that Iuz have a lot of Regular armies from the beggining, ie Orcs and Hobgoblins for example ... Chmm, from the other side ... they might just be big amount of Militia, undisciplined bunch. Legion of the Black Death is surely Elite army, tee hee. And if Iuz himself isn't Epic, then nobody is. I can see devastation coming to my enemies.

So ... Acererak will invent Arcane, Wolf-god would lend a hand in getting rid off the Theocracy of the Pale, Iuz will make peace truce with Furyondy. With his over +70 Diplomacy it should work.
I guess that citizens of my land grew fat and lazy without their's god tender attention. We will change that. From where get this 22 lvl of technology, to make USSI ? United Soviet States of Iuz, by the way.

And as for spells, in Brightright were spells requing Resouces and Whole Guild of Mages/Big Churches full of Devotees, called Realm Spells They were like regular magic, but appllied to numerous units. For example Arcane Spell "Invisibility" affects one guy, isn't it ? Realm version of this spell may affect one unit of infantry. I think it may simplify whole magic system more than devising these uber lvl spells and High Magic, and be a lot safer.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Cool.

That's my initial reaction. I have no idea about the balance of it.

How would guerilla warfare work? I.e, some random poor shmuck of a patrol gets hit by a fullisade of Javelins in the middle of the night, or the local barracks gets hit with a flaming flask of oil, all done by everyday citizens or irregular units. The only way to respond is by disrupting their own work force....

See, no sane Militia (or regular) unit will face a better-equiped or better-trained or better-manned force in the open and try to wipe it out, whereas harrassment and general inconvience are excellent options.

The other things I disagreed with a little was the Militia not benifiting from technology- as I understand it, the reason the arquebus was so popular was that it was cheap (no wood or craftsmanship involved, like the crossbow or longbow) and simple to use (even more simple than the crossbow, by some accounts), even if it was less accurate, less reliable and maybe even less powerful. Which meant you could mass produce them and shove them in the hands of peasants after a week or three of training.

Even if they only hit on a natural 20, several hundred Commoner 1's with primitive firearms would be a little frightening)

 

[Paxus Asclepius]

Well, militia progress up until 1700's-equivalent tech; it's true that after that point, improvements are in the form of more work-intensive weapons such as rifles and breech-loading weapons, which are too expensive to give to untrained troops.

A concern for game balance: numerical superiority has, as written, no effect on whether a group of individuals can inflict damage on an opponent, merely how much is inflicted if it does work. This means that ten million regular troops cannot ever kill a single epic individual; unless they are allowed to merely bypass him and continue on into the targeted region, that means there's no reason ever to use sub-epic combatants as defenders.

 

[Eluvan]

Well... no point to use them against epic combatants, no. Makes sense to me. Would you throw an undisciplined rabble in the way of an Archmage? Not if you have any sense.

Can we get some info on how Infiltration will work? Pleeeeeease?

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Could we get a new player list, with e-mail for covert contact? I mean, we could just use the spoiler tag, but covert contact is best if people don't know it's even happening.

-Thomas, who is certainly isn't considering alliance with those not actively engaged in plunging the world into darkness and suffering.

 

[Serpenteye]

Chmm ... I think that Iuz have a lot of Regular armies from the beggining, ie Orcs and Hobgoblins for example ... Chmm, from the other side ... they might just be big amount of Militia, undisciplined bunch. Legion of the Black Death is surely Elite army, tee hee. And if Iuz himself isn't Epic, then nobody is. I can see devastation coming to my enemies.

You would start out with a rather big army, though some of your territories won't be very productive and your population won't be quite as high as some of the other factions (because of the climate and general brutality of the regime ). Your Militia will not be quite as weak as everybody elses because of your divinity. You'd do well pursuing industry, but war might be a better option before your richer neigbours catch up to you.

So ... Acererak will invent Arcane, Wolf-god would lend a hand in getting rid off the Theocracy of the Pale, Iuz will make peace truce with Furyondy. With his over +70 Diplomacy it should work.
I guess that citizens of my land grew fat and lazy without their's god tender attention. We will change that. From where get this 22 lvl of technology, to make USSI ? United Soviet States of Iuz, by the way.

Stalinism is a way of life, not a technology that needs to be laboriously researched and applied. You can proclaim yourself a communistic state any time you like. It will take some time to build the gulags and develop the cult of personality, but you already have quite a head-start, being a Demi-God already.

And as for spells, in Brightright were spells requing Resouces and Whole Guild of Mages/Big Churches full of Devotees, called Realm Spells They were like regular magic, but appllied to numerous units. For example Arcane Spell "Invisibility" affects one guy, isn't it ? Realm version of this spell may affect one unit of infantry. I think it may simplify whole magic system more than devising these uber lvl spells and High Magic, and be a lot safer.

Hmm, I think Xael would prefer to be able to eventually melt continents... Industry is powerful so magic has to be equally so to balance your factions against each others and make for some difficult choices for you.

Cool.

That's my initial reaction. I have no idea about the balance of it.

Thanks .
Some of the numbers may change here and there if it seems unbalanced when I've put everything together.

How would guerilla warfare work? I.e, some random poor shmuck of a patrol gets hit by a fullisade of Javelins in the middle of the night, or the local barracks gets hit with a flaming flask of oil, all done by everyday citizens or irregular units. The only way to respond is by disrupting their own work force....

See, no sane Militia (or regular) unit will face a better-equiped or better-trained or better-manned force in the open and try to wipe it out, whereas harrassment and general inconvience are excellent options.

The other things I disagreed with a little was the Militia not benifiting from technology- as I understand it, the reason the arquebus was so popular was that it was cheap (no wood or craftsmanship involved, like the crossbow or longbow) and simple to use (even more simple than the crossbow, by some accounts), even if it was less accurate, less reliable and maybe even less powerful. Which meant you could mass produce them and shove them in the hands of peasants after a week or three of training.

Even if they only hit on a natural 20, several hundred Commoner 1's with primitive firearms would be a little frightening)

It's an advantage of Militia, especially in defence, that they can spread out and harass a more powerful but less numerous enemy.
Guerilla warfare works much like normal warfare. The Guerilla counts as the attacker, thereby getting a chance to do damage first, and uses local numerical superiority to inflict heavy damage on their target. I won't roll every single combat, of course, but I will roll guerilla warfare province by province. Only a part of the Regular or Militia forces of the enemy will be targeted at any given time, giving the guerilla an advantage of numbers.
Guerilla forces are however vulnerable against Elite of Epic forces, who can use divinations to track them down. They will count as the attacker against a fraction of the Guerilla forces in the province at any given time, and will be an effective way of rooting out an insurrection although it will take them much valuable time.
Elite or Epic forces can also be used as guerilla forces, but that's considered the norm and works exactly like normal warfare.

Well, militia progress up until 1700's-equivalent tech; it's true that after that point, improvements are in the form of more work-intensive weapons such as rifles and breech-loading weapons, which are too expensive to give to untrained troops.

Exactly .

A concern for game balance: numerical superiority has, as written, no effect on whether a group of individuals can inflict damage on an opponent, merely how much is inflicted if it does work. This means that ten million regular troops cannot ever kill a single epic individual; unless they are allowed to merely bypass him and continue on into the targeted region, that means there's no reason ever to use sub-epic combatants as defenders.

They are allowed to try to bypass just about anything, in the case of Epic opponents that might just be to smart thing to do. It is very difficult for millions of 1st level commoners to do any damage to a 32 HD Dragon, or 20th level Archmage or a high level fighter with millions of GPs worth of magical equipment. That's DnD.
However, it's very expensive to create Epic PLs. It takes a lot of time and PPts to do it, and if you want 10th level spells you will have to burn plenty of Epic PLs do get it .
Besides, you need a quantity of troops to occupy and keep the peace in a conquered territory. Sure, you can terrorize and threaten the people with annihilation from Epic forces if they don't behave, but it's probably more effective to keep troops on the ground. (oot: Just think of the situation in Iraq. The American military could keep the peace by nuking the country to death, but that would damage their reputation and keep the country permanently unproductive. They need troops (Regulars) on the ground to try to keep the peace and eventually possibly get a return on their investment. It works the same way in the IR.)

Well... no point to use them against epic combatants, no. Makes sense to me. Would you throw an undisciplined rabble in the way of an Archmage? Not if you have any sense.

Can we get some info on how Infiltration will work? Pleeeeeease?

Exactly. The best way to fight Epic PLs is by using a greater number of Epic or Elite PLs yourself. It's DnD.

And Yes.

Could we get a new player list, with e-mail for covert contact? I mean, we could just use the spoiler tag, but covert contact is best if people don't know it's even happening.

Sure you can. Just Copy-Paste my player list, fill in the latest claims, and get everybody to fill in their E-Mails.
I'll do it, but you might get it faster is you work together .

 

[William Ronald]

If I had world enough and time...

Serpenteye, I will likely be very busy during the next few weeks working on some of what I have had to put on hold. So, I probably won't be able to join in -- however, I will try to observe in between working on my homebrew setting, fiction, work, and a few necessary household projects. I will send an e-mail out to some of our past IR members. (I have to try to balance my time out, so now that I know I will be busy, I will have to remain an observer. Essentially, I had to put everything but grad school work on hold for the past few months.) However, I will send out an e-mail and I did ask some people to stop by here.

An IR requires a fair amount of commitment, and I can't be sure if I can post everyday as a few good things are in the works. So, since I wonder if I can truly give this game the attention and effort it deserves, I am a bit reluctant to commit.

As things stand, you might want to list the possible factions for people and work on getting a commitment. (You may need a while to get more people to make a commitment. It is nearly December, and several people are likely busy with the holidays. A key question is how many countries and factions are there in the game, as this can determine a minimal number of players that you need.) You might want to decide how long you will run the game. One of the problems in the 3rd IR was that some people left because of lack of time. So, perhaps pacing is important.

As for diplomacy, PCs interacting with other PCs always have an advantage: free will. So, people may well rely on their judgements than die rolls. Perhaps one thing that people should keep in mind is that alliances often are based on mutual interests -- so, I would suggest the players to look for what they might have in common.

So, as I wrap up this post, I would like to suggest that everyone here who will play try to contact some other EN Worlders to join in. While I will be busy with a few things, I will watch this with great interest. Perhaps a key thing for everyone to remember is that together people can accomplish much more than they can singularly.

 

[Rikandur Azebol]

You would start out with a rather big army, though some of your territories won't be very productive and your population won't be quite as high as some of the other factions (because of the climate and general brutality of the regime ). Your Militia will not be quite as weak as everybody elses because of your divinity. You'd do well pursuing industry, but war might be a better option before your richer neigbours catch up to you.

Increase Divine status then, but Priority will be industrialisation. And hiring some Demons who can understand my "vision".Or die in pain.

I cannot wait to strenghten my grip over empire ! Until I will squezze all juices out of it. And brutal regime is neccesary, people can be ruled trough fear only ... I don't want to have any democratic swamp here !

Besides, my caring embrance over my people is good from evolutionary point of view ... Survival for the strong, weak die !

Stalinism is a way of life, not a technology that needs to be laboriously researched and applied. You can proclaim yourself a communistic state any time you like. It will take some time to build the gulags and develop the cult of personality, but you already have quite a head-start, being a Demi-God already.

Tsk, tsk ... what stalinism ? Iuz-ism if anything.
First of all, pacify Orcs and increase number of Demons at my disposal. Do Demons count as "normal" race or they are incapable of increasing their numbers ? Melt some troubles in neighbourn countries ... just to buy time. I think that diplomatic exchange might be good headstart. Hate politics.

And I think of something more along the line with another form of socialism, this one devolped by degenerate madman with funny litte moustache.

Hmm, I think Xael would prefer to be able to eventually melt continents... Industry is powerful so magic has to be equally so to balance your factions against each others and make for some difficult choices for you.

Divine magic, Divine magic, Divine magic and for good meansure a bit of Divine magic. There are rules how to increase my Divine status, yes ?
Chmm ... missionaries all around the world to increase "divine energy" cap and hire some spies in the Greyhawk city ... just to know things not only from the Boneshadow. I don't trust them.

Are ther any helpful Greayhawk citizens around ?

And velcome Venus !

P.S. Dear DM ... Can I change Iuz ? I think that distribution of feats need some improvement ... tinkering, some of them are illogically distributed ... Need to work over them a bit. And I think about simplified rules for deities, all this rambling about divine "ranks" is making me confused. God isn't a class to have lvl's isn't it ? And should I transform him to 3,5 edition ?