Hypnos
L'Empereur
Birth of Civilisation:
Overview:
Birth of Civilisation is a nation building game based around creating and establishing new civilisations and cultures within a real world environment in order to create a dynamic alternate history that stretches from the classical era all the way to modern times. Players initially take on the role of tribes and city-states in 1000 BC and from there, grow their nation however they see fit, shaping its culture and history to their own designs. The game itself is turn-based, with each turn representing a different amount of time having passed, as the game grows closer to the present, turns will grow shorter, and there will be a larger focus of geopolitics. Upon each turn, players post an update on their nation, including important pieces of history and the technology that it has developed. Strong world building can cause your nation to enter a golden age, however be warned, that poor management and administration can also lead a nation to ruin!
Starting the Game:
The first thing to do before joining the game is to fill out a brief character sheet that outlines your nation (as shown below), perhaps the most important part of which is deciding a starting location. Starting nations must begin within the green area of this map:
However if you are joining later in the game you may be allowed to begin elsewhere.Starting nations must only control a maximum of six provinces at the start of the game, though they will be able to grow at a later date.
Nation Name: (What is your nation called?)
Government: (Tribe, Tyranny, Republic. etc)
Population: (How many people live in your nation. Please be reasonable)
Capital: (Where does your government operate from?)
History: (Brief overview of the formation of your nation)
Culture: (Brief overview of your people and their traditions)
Religion: (What kind of deities, if any, does your nation believe in?)
Location: (Six provinces are allowed for a starting nation. If possible, please provide a map)
Other: (Any other details you’d live to add)
Mechanics:
Golden and Dark Ages:
In order to encourage strong worldbuilding, players who build up strong lore and history around their nation can be awarded with a golden age by the GM. A golden age can give one of several benefits including: expanding to six additional territories rather than three, researching seven cultural technologies instead of five, doubling their normal population growth rate, or a wartime miracle (as decided by the GM.) Alternatively, if a nation shows itself to be in disarray, either through mismanagement, poor administration or continued war, then it can be declared in a dark age. There are many possible maluses that could occur as a result of this including: not being able to expand, being able to research only three cultural technologies and lowered population growth.
Expansion:
Once per turn, a nation is allowed to expand to three new provinces that are either adjacent to their current territory, or over an easily traversable body of water, this is the land that your nation can effectively administer. Nations can lay claim to larger amount of land, however it will not be theirs mechanically until they officially expand to it. In their turn, a player must give an RP justification as to how they gained this land, this can be anything from conquest, to an important marriage with a local or noble, or even just the peaceful submission of the local populous. If a nation is in a golden age, they can choose (as a singular boon) to expand to six provinces rather than the usual three, however if they are in a dark age, their malus could be an inability to expand at all.
War and Conflict:
Whilst ‘Birth of Civilisation’ may be a game, roleplay is of primary importance and as such, when you enter conflict with another player nation, it is recommended that you first decide amongst yourself OOC how you’d like the conflict to end. If, however, there is a disagreement that cannot be worked out amongst the players you may then contact the GM to give an impartial judgment on how the war is most likely to pan out. If you believe the GM to be biased on the matter, then they shall select another, uninvolved party to work it out in their stead. Most conflict will not lead to total annihilation, but they can lead to the transferal of vast amount of territory, and losing a war could lead your country into a dark age or a crisis. Whilst there is no direct limit on how large your army can be, it is recommended to be reasonable, as a nation with an army too large may find itself without anyone to man the fields, causing a dark age.
Crises:
Similar to dark ages, except more random. A crisis can be thrown at any nation with the intention of encouraging roleplay. Crisis can vary from a natural disaster such as a volcanic eruption, to a massive plague affecting multiple nations, or an adventurer attempting to seize control of a country. Crises shall be used to keep things fun and stop countries from stagnating and having nothing to do.
Technology:
Birth of Civilisation uses a very loose tech system, that roughly follows this tech tree from the game Civilisation IV. At the beginning of a new era, which shall be announced by the GM, new vital technologies are unlocked by each nation (at the start, everything above classical is available for use) unless specifically stated otherwise. However more specific technologies are considered Cultural Technologies and must be researched separately. For example, whilst every nation has access to horseback riding, war elephants would have to be researched separately and would be unique to the nation who researched them (at least for the time being.) Every turn a nation can research up to five cultural technologies (three in a dark age and seven in a golden age) which they can use to distinguish themselves from other nations. However cultural technologies can be traded, or spread through natural means, and if your nation has links to another then they may be able to gain access to your cultural technologies over time.
Population:
At the beginning of the game, a nation’s population should be typical of a city state of the time (namely, very small) and most nations will have a similar population, however population growth will not occur at the same speed. Each turn, a population modifier will be chosen to reflect the population growth rate of the period, this will be the rate at which every nation’s population grows, however it is not static. This modifier can be increased or decreased by a nation through their RPing. A nation that focuses on agriculture is likely to find its population growing much faster than one which focuses upon warfare.
Turns:
The game will be split into several turn which each represent a different period of time, during these turns, a player is expected to post an update on their nation detailing what happens to it during this time, the technologies that it develops and notable changes that it undergoes. Wars and conflicts are expected to be resolved during a turn (within the early game at least) as they each represent a long period of time after which a conflict is likely to be resolved. At the end of a turn (usually after a week, however turns can be much quicker depending on the posting speed of the players) a brief update will be posted on each nation by the GM, this will usually just include any crises or bonuses that have occurred as developing a nation will be left mostly up to the player.
History:
History should be what takes up the bulk of a post, this is where a player will detail the important events that have happened to a nation during the turn. It is important to note that turns occur over longer periods of time so players should not be afraid to have large events happen within their nation’s history merely due to the possibility of a malus. Strong world building will be rewarded so players should be advised to ‘go nuts’ with their nation and have fun and interesting things happen to them. No one wants to read about a perfect nation in which nothing happens.
Overview:
Birth of Civilisation is a nation building game based around creating and establishing new civilisations and cultures within a real world environment in order to create a dynamic alternate history that stretches from the classical era all the way to modern times. Players initially take on the role of tribes and city-states in 1000 BC and from there, grow their nation however they see fit, shaping its culture and history to their own designs. The game itself is turn-based, with each turn representing a different amount of time having passed, as the game grows closer to the present, turns will grow shorter, and there will be a larger focus of geopolitics. Upon each turn, players post an update on their nation, including important pieces of history and the technology that it has developed. Strong world building can cause your nation to enter a golden age, however be warned, that poor management and administration can also lead a nation to ruin!
Starting the Game:
The first thing to do before joining the game is to fill out a brief character sheet that outlines your nation (as shown below), perhaps the most important part of which is deciding a starting location. Starting nations must begin within the green area of this map:
However if you are joining later in the game you may be allowed to begin elsewhere.Starting nations must only control a maximum of six provinces at the start of the game, though they will be able to grow at a later date.
Nation Name: (What is your nation called?)
Government: (Tribe, Tyranny, Republic. etc)
Population: (How many people live in your nation. Please be reasonable)
Capital: (Where does your government operate from?)
History: (Brief overview of the formation of your nation)
Culture: (Brief overview of your people and their traditions)
Religion: (What kind of deities, if any, does your nation believe in?)
Location: (Six provinces are allowed for a starting nation. If possible, please provide a map)
Other: (Any other details you’d live to add)
Mechanics:
Golden and Dark Ages:
In order to encourage strong worldbuilding, players who build up strong lore and history around their nation can be awarded with a golden age by the GM. A golden age can give one of several benefits including: expanding to six additional territories rather than three, researching seven cultural technologies instead of five, doubling their normal population growth rate, or a wartime miracle (as decided by the GM.) Alternatively, if a nation shows itself to be in disarray, either through mismanagement, poor administration or continued war, then it can be declared in a dark age. There are many possible maluses that could occur as a result of this including: not being able to expand, being able to research only three cultural technologies and lowered population growth.
Expansion:
Once per turn, a nation is allowed to expand to three new provinces that are either adjacent to their current territory, or over an easily traversable body of water, this is the land that your nation can effectively administer. Nations can lay claim to larger amount of land, however it will not be theirs mechanically until they officially expand to it. In their turn, a player must give an RP justification as to how they gained this land, this can be anything from conquest, to an important marriage with a local or noble, or even just the peaceful submission of the local populous. If a nation is in a golden age, they can choose (as a singular boon) to expand to six provinces rather than the usual three, however if they are in a dark age, their malus could be an inability to expand at all.
War and Conflict:
Whilst ‘Birth of Civilisation’ may be a game, roleplay is of primary importance and as such, when you enter conflict with another player nation, it is recommended that you first decide amongst yourself OOC how you’d like the conflict to end. If, however, there is a disagreement that cannot be worked out amongst the players you may then contact the GM to give an impartial judgment on how the war is most likely to pan out. If you believe the GM to be biased on the matter, then they shall select another, uninvolved party to work it out in their stead. Most conflict will not lead to total annihilation, but they can lead to the transferal of vast amount of territory, and losing a war could lead your country into a dark age or a crisis. Whilst there is no direct limit on how large your army can be, it is recommended to be reasonable, as a nation with an army too large may find itself without anyone to man the fields, causing a dark age.
Crises:
Similar to dark ages, except more random. A crisis can be thrown at any nation with the intention of encouraging roleplay. Crisis can vary from a natural disaster such as a volcanic eruption, to a massive plague affecting multiple nations, or an adventurer attempting to seize control of a country. Crises shall be used to keep things fun and stop countries from stagnating and having nothing to do.
Technology:
Birth of Civilisation uses a very loose tech system, that roughly follows this tech tree from the game Civilisation IV. At the beginning of a new era, which shall be announced by the GM, new vital technologies are unlocked by each nation (at the start, everything above classical is available for use) unless specifically stated otherwise. However more specific technologies are considered Cultural Technologies and must be researched separately. For example, whilst every nation has access to horseback riding, war elephants would have to be researched separately and would be unique to the nation who researched them (at least for the time being.) Every turn a nation can research up to five cultural technologies (three in a dark age and seven in a golden age) which they can use to distinguish themselves from other nations. However cultural technologies can be traded, or spread through natural means, and if your nation has links to another then they may be able to gain access to your cultural technologies over time.
Population:
At the beginning of the game, a nation’s population should be typical of a city state of the time (namely, very small) and most nations will have a similar population, however population growth will not occur at the same speed. Each turn, a population modifier will be chosen to reflect the population growth rate of the period, this will be the rate at which every nation’s population grows, however it is not static. This modifier can be increased or decreased by a nation through their RPing. A nation that focuses on agriculture is likely to find its population growing much faster than one which focuses upon warfare.
Turns:
The game will be split into several turn which each represent a different period of time, during these turns, a player is expected to post an update on their nation detailing what happens to it during this time, the technologies that it develops and notable changes that it undergoes. Wars and conflicts are expected to be resolved during a turn (within the early game at least) as they each represent a long period of time after which a conflict is likely to be resolved. At the end of a turn (usually after a week, however turns can be much quicker depending on the posting speed of the players) a brief update will be posted on each nation by the GM, this will usually just include any crises or bonuses that have occurred as developing a nation will be left mostly up to the player.
History:
History should be what takes up the bulk of a post, this is where a player will detail the important events that have happened to a nation during the turn. It is important to note that turns occur over longer periods of time so players should not be afraid to have large events happen within their nation’s history merely due to the possibility of a malus. Strong world building will be rewarded so players should be advised to ‘go nuts’ with their nation and have fun and interesting things happen to them. No one wants to read about a perfect nation in which nothing happens.
