1. Timescale
Each turn represents ten years in time. Each player represents a single state. A state is defined as a unit which is defacto independent.
2. Characteristics of a State
Each state has the following characteristics: Territory, Economy, Military, Government, Religion, Culture, Happiness, Stability.
2. Territory
The game map is divided into provinces. Every province is controlled by a state. A fully settled state is worth the economic value displayed on the province map. Each province also has a religion and a culture. Territories may be ceded to another state or granted full independence at any time, which if they do not match the state's religion or culture will improve happiness according to their proportion within the state.
3. Economy
Each state derives income from the territories it controls. The income for a state may be represented as the sum of all province values multiplied by up to three modifiers plus government traits. Income may be spent on: Military, Increasing or maintaining stability, Cultural or religious conversion, or colonization. Income does not carry over from turn to turn.
4. Military
Military is the armed strength of the state. An economic investment of 10 in the military will normally yield 10 military strength.
5. Government
Each state has a government. Governments may only be changed via revolution, at the discretion of a senior partner in a vassalage, or via reform. Government may only be reformed if the government shares a word between the two, ie, from Liberal Democracy to Social Democracy because they both share the word "democracy"; each reforms incurs a stability and happiness hit of one. Each government has a certain trait that provides benefits and/or penalties.
Tribal governments must be briefly noted since they operate rather differently from other states. They have a military modifier of x5 (capping at 60), but they only have a stability of 2, cannot profit from defensive wars, and cannot form alliances; they have no happiness counter. To move from a tribal state to a normal state, they must either border a civilized state and convert to their religion, conquer 3 civilized territories, or invest half of their income for a turn for a 1/50 chance of becoming civilized. On becoming civilized, all territories held by the tribal state at that time become fully settled.
6. Religion and Culture
Religion and culture have no special characteristics, but each state has one. Changing religion or culture incurs a stability hit of 1 and a happiness hit of one, unless it was already the majority in the states territory. Converting religion or cultures entails investing into that territory it's full economic value (it may be paid in installments, but it will not be processed until that is fully paid), and then taking either a 1/20 chance for religious conversion or a 1/40 chance of cultural conversion.
Every territory not matching the religion or culture of the state detracts from the maximum happiness of the state according to it's proportion (thus if a territory is 1/4 of the states economic power and has neither the correct religion nor the correct culture, maximum happiness will be brought down by 25%).
7. Happiness
Happiness is a measure of the satisfaction of the people with the government. It goes from 5 being the happiest to 1 being Revolution. When happiness hits one it will trigger a revolution, in which all wrong culture provinces are set free and if wrong religions are in the majority, change the state religion. Once a revolution occurs, the player must change the government to a different one. Once a revolution occurs, happiness is reset to 5. A revolution instantly triggers national uprisings, if applicable.
At one political happiness, the player may choose to trigger a civil war instead, which will reset happiness to 5 without requiring a government, but cause the player to have the Economic Crisis modifier and a stability hit. Feudal Monarchies and Despotic Monarchies must take civil wars before Enlightenment is researched.
Happiness is divided into political happiness, national happiness, and religious happiness. Drops in national and religious happiness trigger an independence war or a religious war depending on which drops to zero.
Happiness is determined semi-randomly, plus happiness hits taken by decision and events.
8. Stability
Stability is a measure of the power of the central government, 4 being the most stable and 1 leading to the collapse of the central administration. A stability hit causes stability to drop by 1. At 2 Stability, the Anarchy modifier comes into effect. Tribals are not affected by Anarchy, and have their stability and happiness reset when they civilize.
For a single province state, falling into one stability incurs a 50% penalty on their income, which can only be removed by improving stability.
9. Modifiers
All modifiers cause a 25% decrease in economic power. They are cumulative with each other but not with stability, so for example if you are operating at 50% economic power then the 25% reduction is to the remainder, not 75%.
Anarchy is not eliminated except through increasing stability.
Economic crisis may in addition to civil war be gained through a 1/10 random chance. It has a 1/2 chance of being eliminated per turn.
Pestilence, representing both famine and plague, has a 1/10 chance of being eliminated per turn and a 1/20 chance of being gained.
10. Interregnums and Personal Unions
All Monarchies have a 1/50 chance per turn of having an Interregnum. That causes a stability hit and a happiness hit. In addition the player may not declare war for the rest of the turn. All Feudal Monarchies have a 1/20 chance of entering into a Personal Union. This gives the player full control over that state, which however remains a separate state. It may be Annexed by the player if they take a stability and happiness hit. A civil war or revolution automatically terminates the personal union.
11. Technology
The player will automatically gain new technology if they have an acceptable government type at the time the new technology becomes available. if they do not, then they do not gain the new or any subsequent technologies until they change their government. Every technology they fall back on incurs a 25% penalty to military strength.
12. Diplomacy
Diplomacy is primarily the domain of the players. In addition to PU, three other types of diplomatic relationship require recognition by the game, which is to say the must be officially declared in game to be valid. These are, Alliances, Satellite states, and wars.
Finally a state can choose to give Subsidies to another state, constituting no more then 25% of it's income. Subsidies may only be given to a single state at a time.
13. Alliances
Alliances represent a mutual obligation to come to war for one another. It involves adding the respective military strengths of both partners in a war together, and concurrently making them both liable for defeat or victory according to their contribution.
14. Satellite States
Satellites can be acquired by diplomacy or event. The junior partner pays 25% of their economic power to the senior partner, and may not leave the relationship except by consent of the senior partner (winning a war against them counts as consent). Satellites may be annexed for a stability hit and a happiness hit. The senior partner can also change the junior's government type if they choose.
15. War
War is calculated automatically by the ratios of military strength between combatants. If the two sides are within 25% of one another, then the war operates on a 1/3 chance of either victory, defeat, or white peace. If one side has 25% or more, the it operates on a 1/2 chance of victory, 1/4 chance of white peace, or 1/4 chance of defeat.
Victory has a 1/10 chance of allowing 100% in conquests (ie, full annexation), 1/10 for 75% or 1/10% for 50%. 1/4 25%, and 1/4 for 10%. If the defeated state is a single province, then only 50% or higher is required for annexation. Converting them to a satellite requires only 50% or higher. Percentages are calculated based on the proportional value of their provinces. Capital provinces (those marked with a black dot) may not be annexed unless their is no other choice. Annexations must be contiguous. Annexation over water are not allowed unless the player does not share a land border.
Only one war may be started per continent, per alliance. Allies will only be called into wars on different continents following Enlightenment.
16. Colonization
Any state held by a tribe which is conquered by a civilized state is considered to be uncolonized; it has an economic value of only 1 until it is colonized (states with a value of only 1 are considered to be automatically settled once annexed). To colonize, the player must pay for the value of the province (this may be done in installments, although it will not increase value until it is fully paid for). Once that is done, it functions as a normal province and is never considered uncivilized again.
Uncivilized areas are marked with a red dot on the map.
17. Religious Wars
If a religious minority is in a wrong culture area, then hitting zero for religious happiness will trigger a national uprising. If the religious minority is from the primary culture, is greater then 33% but less then 66%, then hitting zero lowers political happiness by 1 and resets religious happiness to 3. If it is from the primary culture and greater then 66%, then it will seek to change the state religion. Any others have no effect.
Appendix:
Contains a more thorough description of government types and technology changes.
