Basics
A new turn starts every Saturday/Sunday. A turn doesn't represent a fixed amount of time. Instead, we move the date forward when things are quiet — usually a few months per turn, including any turns that passed when things were more active.
For stats, we use a lot of what's called the Triangular Number. The
Triangular Number (TN) is 1+2+3+4... up to the number you're looking for. So the first Triangular Number is 1, the second is 3 (+2), then 6 (+3), then 10 (+4), then 15 (+5), etc., so TN(3) would be (1+2+3 = 6). The
Reverse Triangular Number (RTN) is the opposite of this: RTN(6) would be 3, while RTN(5) would round down to 2.
Stats
Power [¤] is granted through owning territory. Almost every province can offer up to 3 Value, with tighter control offering the holder more. Your Power is the RTN of this total.
Power is a cap rather than something that's accumulated. 1/4 of all spent Power recovers every turn, rounded up. The same applies in reverse as well.
Wealth [ƒ] is generated by merchant players when they sell goods. All wealth is directly or indirectly generated by merchant players' trade routes, although realms always manage to find a way to take a cut of their own.
Wealth accumulates every turn. 1/10 of all unspent Wealth is lost to
Inflation every turn.
Things that you can spend Power or Wealth on will be followed a number in braces with the purchase and, if there is one, upkeep price per turn. (e.g., [ƒ10/1])
Trade
Centers of Trade
A
Center of Trade (CoT) handles trade for the surrounding provinces. The Level of a CoT is the RTN of how many good demands are satisfied.
A province will attach itself to the CoT with the lowest
CoT Distance, which is determined as follows:
• Base (along a river): 0
• Base (along a coast): 1
• Base (other land link): 2
• Base (seazone): 3
• Other Modifiers: +X (shown on the CoT map)
Trade Basics
Trade takes place when merchant players move goods between
Centers of Trade (CoTs). All buying/selling for the CoT and its surrounding provinces are gathered in this one spot.
Goods cannot be stored between turns: If a good wasn't bought and sold then it's assumed it simply wasn't produced for lack of a buyer. The profit made through trade is generated per-turn for as long as the route is active.
Trade Routes
Merchant players each have a
Home CoT where they're based. All of their trade routes need directly or indirectly link back to this CoT.
A
Trade Route is a link between two CoTs. All of a player's trade routes must somehow link back to a player's
Home CoT, although all goods don't need to be transported there.
Trade Routes are formed using
Fleets over seazones or
Caravans over land. The RTN of the distance between the CoTs is how many units are needed to move one
Shipment (for naval routes, 3 river provinces count as one seazone). Every Shipment lets the player move 5 goods both ways.
Buying goods is free, but you can only buy goods if you also sell them. Only excess, locally-produced goods can be bought: If a CoT produces 2 more Silk than it demands, those 2 Silk are the only ones that can be bought.
Warehouses [ƒ50/10] offer a way to form longer routes: Rather than selling the goods at the end of a route, players can store up to 20 goods per warehouse for other routes to carry. With permission, a warehouse can be used by any player.
Goods are bought/sold on a first-come, first-served basis. If you want to kick a buyer/seller out to make room for your own trade route, you're going to need to turn to the local realm to do it for you.
Goods, Demand, and Price
Goods fall into three categories: Basic Goods, Specialized Goods, and Manufactured Goods. Every province demands one of every basic good, and the CoT itself additionally demands one of every good per CoT level. Manufactured goods are unique in that they require demand for some other good(s) be met, otherwise the industry may collapse.
A CoT can consume up to twice what it demands, although this will hurt the price of the good in the CoT: The price-per-good can drop to as little as 60% in a saturated market. An additional 5% is also added to the buying price per CoT level.
Realms and Trade
Realms can impose any restrictions they want on trade mechanics within their realm: Tolls for passing through a province, a tax on goods bought/sold, etc. The GMs may require an event in some cases to handle the reaction of the realm's subjects, and we'll need to keep things managable on our end, so you should be sure to check with us before trying to implement anything.
Warfare
Units
A unit cannot be used on the same turn it is raised except in defense, which occurs automatically.
Levy [¤5/1] The basic combat unit for realms.
Fleet [ƒ50/5] The basic combat unit for warfare at sea. Merchant players can also use these for trade.
Mercenary [ƒ10/1] Career soldiers capable of warfare on land and at sea. Merchant players commonly employ these to protect their trade routes from pirates and raiders.
Caravan [ƒ20/1] Included for completeness, this is a trade-only unit for moving goods over land.
Occupation
Occupying a province requires Levies: The TN of the enemy province's value is the number of units required (so 1/3/6 Levies). Occupying armies will not participate in combat except to defend the actual province they're in. An army in hostile territory without enough Levies to occupy it will be lost at the end of the turn.
An occupied province generates no Power or goods, and trade routes cannot pass through it. Provinces also cannot link to a CoT through an occupied province.
Military Orders
Land orders are fairly simple: You give a region you wish to attack and/or defend, and your units will attempt to do so. The main restriction is that you cannot pass through hostile territory (fully neutral provinces are fine), and moving overseas requires a transport. The maximum distance an army can move in one turn is about the length of Italy.
Naval units that aren't attached to a trade route can be ordered similarly to units, just in seazones instead of provinces. Orders can include transporting Levies (1 Fleet/1 Levy), engaging enemy fleets that enter a certain area, or targetting trade routes. The maximum distance a fleet can move in one turn is about the length of the Mediterranean.
Deploying to/from Trade Routes
When a merchant player wants to deploy a unit to/from a trade route, it takes a full turn. This cannot be done on the same turn the unit was created, but units can be shuffled between trade routes at will. Freed units always appear at the home CoT.
Combat
Combat takes place in rounds. For each round, 2d6 are rolled. Rolls greater than 7 favor the attacker, rolls below favor the defender, and 7 is considered a tie. The RTN of the strength difference is added to the more powerful side's advantage, and a side with mercenaries present gets an extra point toward their advantage as well. Regardless of advantage, a 2/12 is always a winning roll.
If a side wins a round, the size of its advantage determines the number of losses it inflicts, up to 6 units. If a 2/12 is rolled, 10 losses are inflicted and combat immediately ends. Combat continues until one side has won two more rounds than the other.
In the case where it matters which unit is lost (e.g., multiple players or unit types are involved), the loss is distributed randomly.
Raiding Trade Routes
When a trade route is attacked, the mercenaries guarding that route act as defenders; if there are no mercenaries then a combat roll is made against zero units. Any defending losses are always applied to the route's trade units. This continues until the defender wins a single round.
