Advice/Help Skeleton nation!....Sounds awesome...now what :'c

[Princeps]

Hey so I just got into nation roleplay and there's this one rp where fantasy is allowed. "I thought neat! Time to choose a race~" And I realized that I would really love to try out a skeleton populated nation!....But I believe that such a race is a bit overpowered and so I came to you guys looking for guidance!
What buff/debuffs Do you guys find suitable for such a race?
Also while we are here~ what buildings do you think such a nation needs?

Thank you for your time!

 

[Idea]

Well, for starters I think it would be nice to have a bit more info on the world itself, and potentially other nations. Undead like skeletons have some advantages like a lack of vulnerable organs or of a need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep, but on the other hand they are traditionally not that powerful as foes out of the assumption that they vulnerable to "blunt damage" to use the RPG term, and that they can't just up and reform at will. But there are also more powerful versions that can reform, and sometimes even retain abilities from when they were alive, such as a dragon skeleton being able to fly or even breathe dark flames.

The exact nature of that world works, as well as the expected power level of nations should inform one on what attributes of skeletons to use. If magical spells are a thing, then some necromantic or curse-based school is likely to be in the skeleton's domain, and if there is no such thing, you could just have liches that master other kinds of magic. If the setting has less spells and more just fantastical races, then perhaps the skeletons could have some kind of inherent miasma. This kind of question is also important towards knowing exactly how to grow the number of skeletons (does any enemy that dies potentially add to your number, or do you need specific necromantic spells, or be in contact with the miasma or be in the territory) as well as the sustainability of the skeletons (skeletons lack a need to eat normal food, but in many settings this is replaced with a need to supply themselves with magic to stay undead, like draining vitality from the living or some source of mana). The power level is more straightforward though, if you're facing a nation of dwarves whose advantages are knowing a lot about rocks and smithing good, then you probably want the weaker version of skeletons that are vulnerable to blunt force and don't really put themselves back together, whereas if your foes are mighty dragons that can conjure storms to invoke more of their kin, you'll want an army that raises the dead quickly and has access to a lot of dark magic stuff.

Once you know what kind of skeletons you get, then you can start thinking about what their kingdom/nation might be like. Off the top of my head, you'd likely want facilities to help with whatever method of raising new skeletons they have. Some facility or perhaps a mobile squad that would deal with injuries they can't repair themselves, perhaps bolting a broken femur into place to keep the warriors effective in battle instead of shambling clumsily. And lastly facilities to produce armor and weapons. Especially for the weaker types of skeletons, armor would be very important to prevent that blunt damage vulnerability. Facilities in general would probably be geared towards benefiting night-time assaults, as skeleton's lack of need for rest makes attacking at a time the living are resting a good strategy.

 

[Princeps]

Well, for starters I think it would be nice to have a bit more info on the world itself, and potentially other nations. Undead like skeletons have some advantages like a lack of vulnerable organs or of a need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep, but on the other hand they are traditionally not that powerful as foes out of the assumption that they vulnerable to "blunt damage" to use the RPG term, and that they can't just up and reform at will. But there are also more powerful versions that can reform, and sometimes even retain abilities from when they were alive, such as a dragon skeleton being able to fly or even breathe dark flames.

The exact nature of that world works, as well as the expected power level of nations should inform one on what attributes of skeletons to use. If magical spells are a thing, then some necromantic or curse-based school is likely to be in the skeleton's domain, and if there is no such thing, you could just have liches that master other kinds of magic. If the setting has less spells and more just fantastical races, then perhaps the skeletons could have some kind of inherent miasma. This kind of question is also important towards knowing exactly how to grow the number of skeletons (does any enemy that dies potentially add to your number, or do you need specific necromantic spells, or be in contact with the miasma or be in the territory) as well as the sustainability of the skeletons (skeletons lack a need to eat normal food, but in many settings this is replaced with a need to supply themselves with magic to stay undead, like draining vitality from the living or some source of mana). The power level is more straightforward though, if you're facing a nation of dwarves whose advantages are knowing a lot about rocks and smithing good, then you probably want the weaker version of skeletons that are vulnerable to blunt force and don't really put themselves back together, whereas if your foes are mighty dragons that can conjure storms to invoke more of their kin, you'll want an army that raises the dead quickly and has access to a lot of dark magic stuff.

Once you know what kind of skeletons you get, then you can start thinking about what their kingdom/nation might be like. Off the top of my head, you'd likely want facilities to help with whatever method of raising new skeletons they have. Some facility or perhaps a mobile squad that would deal with injuries they can't repair themselves, perhaps bolting a broken femur into place to keep the warriors effective in battle instead of shambling clumsily. And lastly facilities to produce armor and weapons. Especially for the weaker types of skeletons, armor would be very important to prevent that blunt damage vulnerability. Facilities in general would probably be geared towards benefiting night-time assaults, as skeleton's lack of need for rest makes attacking at a time the living are resting a good strategy.

The world itself is still under development but so far the center of the map is one giant lake, the immediate corners are completely covered by green plains and forests and the extremities are either mountains with lakes or deserts (the further away from the lake you go).
Magic is a thing yes! The setting is more focused on fantastical races though.

Thank you for your insight! It was a great help and offered me stuff to work with.

 

[Cosmo]

I think one of the best things to do is reach out to the GM and share ideas. They will likely have a better grasp on the world and so be the 'first line' when it comes to balancing. In my experience, Nation Builder GMs love to talk shop especially if its to help someone build their nation or help their idea flourish. But moving past that, depends on the kind of skeletons you want/what they do.

What is maintaining them? Is it a curse/ancient spell? It is just the location they are at is overflowing with magic causing the dead to rise? Is it a coven of lichs that has slowly grown overtime? Are they just a natural phenomena of the world like any other and those that do not wish to become skeletons simply cremate themselves? How did they 'come to be', as it were, helps a lot in knowing where they are going.

Balancing depends a lot on the above. Because what kind of 'skeleton nation' you have in mind is going to decide how it is balanced. A nation that is run by a coven of lichs that keep raising new dead is going to be vastly different then a nation of skeletons that exist because of some ancient curse [One will have a much easier time making more skeletons while the number of skeletons in the other is finite]. A big thing to decide is.. Are all the skeletons sapient or just a few? Are they kind of like Tomb Kings from Warhammer Fantasy where the lowly 'dregs' are all but mindless, with sapience increasing as you climb the hierarchy until you get to the nobility which retain their intellect? Or are they like WoW's Forsaken where they keep, to some level or another, the same level of intelligence as they had in life?

So, for recruiting new units:

1. Is it a cursed nation and so new skeletons awaken here and there but that is the only way they are made and so are very finite?
2. Is it a skeleton nation built by lichs or other mages where they can freely make more, but if those few, extremely valuable, lichs/necromancers die the nation falls apart?
3. Is it some other idea you had?

^ The above is very important to know before you can really look at balance.

As for buildings, depends on what you intend to do! Sapient skeletons that are all individuals will be a bit different then hordes of mindless undead led by some sapient ones.

For instance, if they are sapient skeletons, then you can have a lot of fun with it and still build things like farms and vineyards, both to trade, but also to consume [As fine dining was part of their life, and so you could do a fun thing where it is still in their culture to meet for fancy dinners even if nothing is truly consumed in their unlife. Doing it more for the atmosphere and 'going through the motion' then sustenance]. Desire for shiny objects would still exist, so the desire to accumulate wealth through trade would mean they'd end up building a lot of the same. You'd still have farmlands even if you're not growing food, because again, you could trade [And in this time period, much of the farming was sustenance farming, so food was valuable] and you could grow cotton or hemp and still have weavers as sapient skeletons probably won't enjoy walking around showing their boney bits. So you could really build a society of very vain skeletons that love shiny things, fancy clothes and fine dining, making up for what they lack in flesh in some giant skeleton masquerade.

If they aren't sapient, save for a controlling minority, then you will probably only be building things like forges, lumbermills, quarries, things that can directly link to military use.