Finished due to RL situations.
Ok, same song, new dancefloor. I hate leaving Civ III hanging but I read my last few posts and couldn't get back into it, not without all the notes I worked up getting to that point. So we're going to start with a new Civilization! No Spore-esque evolution, I'll save that for a Civ V if I do it.
I'll update it as the muse strikes, aiming for at least once a day for the first couple of weeks (though don't hold me to it).
I'm going to stick to the "five-votes-and-you-get-a-character-route", as that seemed to work well the last time. There will be a maximum of 20 slots open for characters; if a player dies and there are people who have voted 5 times and are waiting for a character, then they get priority.
Players will start with 3 Standard Actions, and 1 Finest Hour, as per the usual. Also, have some copypasta:
As last time, Standard Actions are basic actions that get a sentence or two "of note" in the write up for each month (keep me honest if I forget, thanks) with a 20% chance for
Something Interesting to happen.
Finest Hours are as usual the game changers. One Standard Action has a 25% chance to regenerate every 3 months (flat, so I roll on .03, .06, .09, and .12), and you can stockpile up to 15. The original Standard Action is a 20% chance of
Something Interesting happening or being mentioned. Each Bolster adds 25%, for a total of 95% if three people add their Standard Actions to the pile. If something is Bolstered, it cannot have a Finest Hour tacked onto it. One might run concurrently, but as something separate that might succeed or might fail. And no, one character can't use more than one Standard Action in a month.
At Midsummer, each character has a 50% chance to regenerate another Standard Action (so one at 25% and one at 50%). If you run out of actions, the regeneration chance at the next one increases to 50% and will remain there until you regenerate at least one action.
At Winter's Meet, each character has two 50% rolls to regenerate Standard Actions (and a third roll is made if both of those fail and you're still at 0 actions), and a 25% chance to regenerate a Finest Hour. You can stockpile up to three of those (but cannot use more than one in an action). You can't trade in Standard Actions to get Finest Hours (or vice versa).
Any time
Something Interesting happens as the result of a Standard Action or Finest Hour, a d100 roll for something "
Mysterious" also happens, geared to be in theme with whatever it is that is interesting. Mysterious events have an equal likelihood of being positive or negative (50/50 on d100, 51+ is positive). If the roll for a Mysterious happening is successful, the Mysterious Aspect rating drops by 70 and a second d100 is rolled for the exact kind of Mysterious Event. One roll per action, until something happens. This means no more than one Mysterious event in a month, and there will never be more than three running at the same time.
For each Mysterious Event in play or in effect (whether a quest plot or otherwise), the aspect rating drops by another 5 per month if the value is positive. So the more you have, the lesser the chance of another one popping up.
► Show Spoiler
Mysterious Potential (d100):
1: "Boss" encounter, engineered to be a potential TPK
2-5: Nonmagical Discovery (veins of ore, new trade routes, a dungeon, etc)
6-10: Divine Omen, Vision, or Nightmare (aka Fun With Ol' Mags)
11-20: New Questplot, 75% nonviolent in nature ("A day in the life of the tribe" or Comedy Relief)
20-40: Wandering NPC, Animal Migration, etc
41-49: Magical Occurance (my excuse to mess with your heads)
50: Nothing Happens, but no more Mystery rolls for the month, either.
51-59: Nonmagical Occurance (invention, etc)
60-80: Environmental Effect (heavy to extreme weather, new plants/animals discovered, etc)
81-89: New Questplot, 75% violent in nature (monster invasion, tribal attack, etc)
90-95: New Questplot, Aspect Oriented (aspect rolled randomly)
96-99: Magical Discovery (new magic source, magic item cache, etc)
100: Something completely Unexpected which makes Pinkie Pie's randomness and fourth-wall breaking seem tame
I will be using Random.Org's random number generator on its front page to roll the percentages, same as the last time.
http://www.random.org/
Civ III had the EXP pot cap a bit low, so I'm going to double it. The experience pot caps at ((average level of Aspects +4)* 14); you receive a Perk
once per four Aspect Levels once each even numbered level and may earn more through other means but you'll have to discover those on your own. Experience that overflows the pot goes into a "stored potential" pool that can be used to buy additional actions at Winter's Meet.
As last time, Experience will be divided among different Aspects, with each Aspect having three specific trees. This is copypasted from the last Civilization:
Food And Water: Naturally, the better the food/food preparation methods, the bigger the bonuses to personal HP, skills, etc. Stacks with the Personal Aspect. It's divided into the
Basics Tree, the
Gourmet Tree and the
Culture Tree. Basics deals with food preparation/cleanliness, Gourmet for new and untested dishes and Culture for dealing with other civilizations' foods.
Home and Family: Home and Family is effectively the morale of the people. The higher the morale, the better the bonuses given by "good" Mystery rolls. More Home and Family means bigger population increases every Winter's Meet. It's divided into three trees:
Home Defense, Family Circle, and
Loyalty. More Home Defense means more goblins leaving their homes for the frontlines, Family Circle increases population, and Loyalty is self-explaining (so no Thaco / Kills a Werebear situations).
Village Defense: Just as it sounds, but no keep is invulnerable and no king rules forever. The three trees for this one are
Outer Defenses, Inner Sanctum, and
Last Stand. Those are pretty self-explaining.
Dungeoneering: This is the skill of your explorers to Find Cool Stuff ranging from dungeon complexes to treasure hoards, as well as disarm traps, figure out puzzles, and Kill Big Things. It's divided into the
Mazefinding, Lootseeking and
Dungeon Combat trees. Mazefinding deals with both navigation to and within dungeons, Lootseeking is finding hidden Shinies, and Dungeon Combat is just that.
Warfare: This is a general term for big group battles. If you run across other clans of Things that go on the warpath, this Aspect determines success or failure. It has the trees of
Group Tactics, Single Tactics and
Magic Tactics. Pretty self-explaining.
Tactics: Every level of this and you get a new (relatively minor) "trick up your sleeve" which can be used to boost one of the other Aspects. The first level might be a Social Tactic, the next a Warfare one. Tactics earned are -randomly- chosen and always increase EXP rate of other Aspects, stacking exponentially. You stand to make out like guildmaster thieves if I roll several of the same Tactics in a row.
Technology: It ain't no Great Metal Dragon, but it's the next best thing. More technology skill means improved tool use. It's divided into the
Tool Tree, the
Trap Tree, and the
Blueprints Tree. Tools are goblin-sized or smaller; Traps are just that and Blueprints are for the big things (Slingapults, Sentries). If it needs Blueprints, no matter how scaled-down it gets, it will always need Blueprints.
Personal: This Aspect deals with personal goblin stats. Increases here improve goblins as a whole (including the Players!). Think of these as "unclassed levels". It doesn't have Trees; just that your individual goblin stats improve. You can trade in 4 Aspect Levels for one G.A.P. (no more than 5) but remember your traditions... heh heh heh.
Social: Self-explanatory. High Social means more Bob McFreds and better interaction results. Its three trees are
People, Language and Goods. Pretty self-explaining.
Spiritual: Exactly as it sounds. The higher the value the more extreme the omen or magical event that you could cause or defend against, and the more attention that Ol' Mags pays you. It's divided into the
Divine Focus Tree, The
Smite Tree and the
Healing Tree. Divine Focus deals with attention to/from deities, Smite for long range spiritual attacks (nightmares, visions, etc), and Healing is self-explaining.
Sorcery: The Magic side of things. Casters start at Level 0, and gain one level of spells at Level 4. After that, it's (Aspect Level +1) in levels gained before a new spell level is achieved (Aspect Level 4, 9, 15, 22, 30, 39, and 50). Its trees are
Spell School, Ley Line and
I.M.E. Spell School opens specializations, Ley Line regenerates magic faster and opens new sources, and IME grants individual potential powers.
The Mystery Aspect: This is the "luck and strangeness" aspect. The higher this value, the more mysterious/magical/lucky things that may, can, or will happen. Can go negative, caps at 200, drops by 70 if a Mysterious Event happens and increases by anywhere from 7 to 15 per month. I'm actually allocating EXP here this time; every level taken will increase the Mystery roll by 1 (this is before Perks).
Level costs for the Aspects increase every (Value of previous level + (7 + Aspect Level)) EXP; the first level is 7 EXP, then it resets to 0, the second is (7 + (7+1)) EXP [15], the third is (15 + (7+2)) or 24, the fourth is 34, and so on up until 210 EXP, then it's every 210 thereafter. For the curious, the exact EXP numbers are 7, 15, 24, 34, 45, 57, 70, 84, 99, 115, 132, 150, 169, 189, and every 210 thereafter.
Perks came awfully slow last time, so I'm going to set it so that every
Even level gets a Perk.
Two Aspects are Primary (1 EXP per month, 2 at Midsummer, 2 at Winter's Meet)
Three are Secondary (.5 EXP per month, 1 at Midsummer, 1 at Winter's Meet)
The rest are Tertiary (.25 EXP a month, .5 at Midsummer, 1 at Winter's Meet)
At Midsummer, you can trade in Standard Actions and Finest Hours to the EXP pot (Standard Actions are 4 EXP, Finest Hours are 7 EXP).
The "pot" for EXP spending increases by 2d3+1 every month, with a 20% chance to increase by 50% of its current total at Midsummer. You can spend EXP at Winter's Meet.
You begin with 30 levels to distribute, with no more than six in any one Aspect. Anything getting more than one Perk at the start will get one perk per month until you're caught up.
*does a bad Spy voice* Gentlemen.
===================================================================
The Time Period: 985.06
Incoming Situations:
Statues and The Dead:
► Show Spoiler
oh hey they have a willowed smiley now?
Heh.
Cast of Characters (Players):
► Show Spoiler
Soon, grasshopper...
Cast of Characters (Living NPCs):
► Show Spoiler
Soon, grasshopper...
Known Knowledge:
► Show Spoiler
Things That Matter: Boobs.
Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind (but still explorable): My butt after lunch at Mcdonalds.
Things that Don't Matter or are Flavor Footnotes: Thunt.
Societals:
Random.org Rolls made:
► Show Spoiler
Mystery Aspect increase (7-15): 0
Mystery event roll (0): 00 (Not for a while!)
Experience Pot increase: 0. Not rolling yet until the first Will You month happens in the next post.
Towns and Villages
► Show Spoiler
Unnamed Home Village: 150[/b]
2/3 are adults (99)
Population increases by 70% per year (Base 70% + 0% [Home And Morale] +/- 20% [random deviation]; 7% die due to old age starting in 990.06)
80% of 99 adults (80) are Fit To Fight
65% Warriors: 52 Melee Swarmers
25% Ranged: 20 Shortbowmen
10% Casters (8): 4 Arcane (Level 0), 4 Divine (Level 0)
Goblins have 3 HP, an AC of 12 and a -1 to damage on average
The Poorly Locked Chest (and other assorted Treasure Chests):► Show Spoiler
(Starting Supplies to be determined on landing point)
The Aspects and Experience:► Show Spoiler
Experience Pot: 0 (Caps at 56; average level is 0 +4 = 4, *14 = 56, increases by 2d3+1 per month)
Food And Water: Level 0, 0/0
Home and Family: Level 0, 0/0
Village Defense: Level 0, 0/0
Dungeoneering: Level 0, 0/0
Warfare: Level 0, 0/0
Tactics: Level 0, 0/0
Technology: Level 0, 0/0
Personal: Level 0, 0/0
Social: Level 0, 0/0
Spiritual: Level 0, 0/0
Sorcery: Level 0, 0/0
Mystery: Level 0, 0/0
Caster Level 0, no Specialties, Forbidden Schools or Extra Weirdness
Current Questplots: 0/3:
The Situation:
Maglubiyet, looking for a new place to enrich (or infest, depending on your point of view), has plopped down a village's worth of goblins on a (mostly) unexplored continent. You know most of the major landmarks/borders, and have the choice of where to settle. The tribe has no "positions of power" filled currently... there is no chief, witch doctor, shaman or anything; Ol' Mags is content with letting the group hash that out on your own.
The first thing that needs to be done is that a location needs to be selected for the new landing point, which also has no name currently but you're sure you'll come up with one. There are sixteen locations to pick from:
► Show Spoiler
Location 1: Seiru Desert
A very reddish-brown desert strewn with boulders that sometimes roll of their own accord, the land is covered in natural Earth magic (+20% Sorcery EXP rate) in a comfortable climate (+10% Home and Family EXP). The two rivers (the Blade and the Silk) are very fertile (High fish/food population) and there are no rival civilizations in the area to challenge your dominance. The downside to this location is that there is a low amount of wildlife / small game, there's multiple Wild Magic / Chaos Magic zones that cause magic to do whatever the hell it wants to, it is divinely barren (-50% Spiritual EXP rate) and it is infested with goat-headed humans simply known as Beastmen... who have several tribes of Minotaurs as allies.
Location 2: Erwendi Badlands
A black, blasted volcanic land, where a volcano that was about to blow got stoppered up by a visiting asteroid. There are no resources here to speak of, necromantic taint poisons the land from the mass extinctions that happened here, what civilizations were here have de-evolved into barbarism and hostility, and on top of that there are not one but four known liches ruling their own little pockets of this bleak, rocky hell. If you choose here, the EXP pool gain rate increases by 50% and the cap increases by another 50%. Personal EXP will also be boosted by 25%.
Location 3: Fragitani Hills
The grasslands and cliffs of the Fragitani Hills are the home of the halflings. Well, until a human kingdom sprang up and assimiliated them into their society; now the people are a human/halfling mix. They keep to themselves but it is known they have some of the best illusionists on the continent. There are multiple abandoned dungeons and ancient halfling villages throughout the area, the place is rich in Minerals and Small Game (+5% Home and Family, +5% Food and Water EXP), the northern cliff face has an excellent spot for ambushing passing ships at the dwarven docks that remain there and there is a Brass Dragon known to be in the area that might be swayed to your side.
Unfortunately, the peace is shattered by the multiple hostile humanoid groups moving into the area for its resources, the very Short growing/harvesting season, and the constant threat of a Hill Giant/Naga army incursion from the south, coming up from the Great Dank Hole (a giant sinkhole stretching nearly a mile deep)
Location 4: Light Forest
The Light Forest is a very very peaceful spot. It is divinely rich (+20% Spiritual EXP) and has multiple magical creatures and wildlife for study. There are multiple large amounts of resources (wood, animals, quartz, garnet, and gold being the most populus) and there aren't any rivals here that would steal the wealth. On the downside, while it divinely rich it is also magically barren (-50% Sorcery EXP), it is watched by the deities as a place where an eventual end-to-all-ends may take place, it is HEAVILY faerie-infested (sprites, satyrs, the very occasional centaur family), and multiple adventurer groups of all levels come here to try their luck.
Location 5: Shadowed Forest
What is light is also in shadow. The Shadowed Forest is more animal and wood rich than the Light Forest, and while there aren't any civilizations here as well, it is home to elementals with a strong "taint" of nature on top of their basic makeup. The Shadowed Forest cannot be mapped (small villages of 400 or less will remain invisible or undetectable), and the magical ambience of the forest allows one's IME to be strengthened to the point it might have an effect on the surroundings, literally. The forest is -dangerous-, with multiple plant varieties that eat warm blooded things, and a possible insect civilization far below ground. On top of that, it's open to the Underdark, and also carries a strange curse: Those who are born here may never leave.
Location 6: Purple Mountain
Purple Mountain is named for the purple tinge of nearly everything here, from the water to the light. It's got multiple mines of iron, gold and amethyst, the stone here would make dwarves drool with greed at its density (+20% Home and Family, Village Defense), there are multiple Giant Hawk / Gryphon nests which could be tamed or hunted for their magical potential, and there is at least one known Planar Gate that leads to the Elemental Planes. If you could control THAT, you could control far more. The downside to living on the
treeless mountain is that it is otherwise resource Poor (little water, wood, or game), it is supernaturally weak (-15% Spiritual/Sorcery EXP), it is very tectonically active (multiple earthquakes) and there are both dwarves and drow living under the mountain.[/list]
Location 7: Boggle Swamp
The Boggle Swamp is named for its innate Confuse-aura; those who find their way in usually are unable to find their way out without magical aid. Those who live in the swamp seem to be immune to the effect, but such a gift does not come without its drawbacks. While it is avoided by most of the southern lands and there are multiple dungeons to explore, there are very hostile dwarves in the northern mountains and the place is wildlife-poor. While there are mineral-rich veins of bloodstone, ruby, emerald, mithril and even Crimson Jade to be found and there are at least two Lost Civilizations in the area, the place is also an Underdark Bastion where creatures from the depths are at least 50% stronger. On top of that the entire swamp is magnetically charged and any metals weigh three times as much here.
Location 8: Bloodgrass Grasslands
The Bloodgrass Grasslands are a fertile land (+20% Home and Family EXP, Food and Water EXP) that is both resource rich (Wood, Farmland, Pure Water, Small Game) and spiritually strong (Divination spells are 90% stronger). It is also the only place on the continent to find Bloodgrass, a very valuable nutritious trade-good which has a wide range of uses in alchemy and healing. Naturally because of this, the multiple hostile human and humanoid tribes want to fight the two human kingdoms in the area for control of the Bloodgrass trade when they're not fighting off the Bloodgrass Souls (souls who died harvesting the plant). The entire place is tectonically active with earthquakes, multiple fissures and sinkholes.
Location 9: Black Rockstone Plains
The Black Rockstone Plains are literally named, with multiple plateaus of flat black rock that looks like it's all one piece instead of being several giant slabs. The area is very elementally pure (+30% Village Defense and Warfare from using purest, strongest stone) and is also necromantically resistant (no Undead can be made within its borders). On top of that, the area is steeped in lunar magic; 1 in 50 births are natural Lycanthropes, weighted heavily towards rats but can be any animal. It's an active geological area, with lots of hot springs, small mines, fissures, and uninhabited caverns. The place is "owned" by gnolls (numbering in the thousands) on the surface and Troglodytes (numbering in the dozens of hundreds but not near the Gnoll population) underground. Finally, the place is wildlife and resource poor due to the high populations of gnolls. Every now and again an intense chaos magic vortex or wild magic zone will manifest on the surface.
Location 10: Alethri Forest
This is the homeland of the Elves. What they can't bribe, they'll assassinate, what they can't stealth kill, they'll war with. There are multiple benefits to living here, as it is magic rich (+30% Sorcery EXP), resource rich (Multiple strong woods, naturally-enchanted woods) and has the purest Water on the continent. 1 in 50 born is an Ecomancer, "asking" nature for spells. The downsides to all this power of course is that there are, well elves. Not only are the elves permanently hostile, but so is the wildlife and the three dragons (may be more). Maglubiyet has declared this area forbidden and forsaken; if you choose to live here, you do so without His aid.
Location 11: Ferros Flare Swamp
The Ferros Flare Swamp is a firepit, the natural "hell" of the continent. While mineral rich in diamonds and silver (along with a special kind of obsidian that is liquid at room temprature) and no civilization rival would live here, there -are- multiple hostile Orc, Kobold, and Hobgoblin Tribes, very aggressive and very evil. The extremes of temprature (especially at night) make life very hard to live here (-20% Home and Family EXP), and the strong geologic activity causes firespouts, earthquakes, and fire storms. It's got very little workable wood and even less clean water and untainted wildlife, but if you do decide to live here you'll get an alliance to start with (fire-immune trolls).
Location 12: Jezzel Forest and Grasslands
A resource rich land filled with multiple hotspots of various gemstones (Citrine, Aquamarine, Gold), it is also wildlife-rich as well as having several breeds and flavors of -Stega roaming the northern mountain area. It's a quiet, temperate climate (+10% Home and Family EXP), but as it's so quiet normally it is also home to the majority of sentient creatures: Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, Humans (at least 3 kingdoms of the latter). Finally, not only do those born here have greatly reduced Constitutions (-3 to -5), but more than half of all who are born here are "Destiny Fated" --- which basically means their destiny is decided for them at birth and they will not escape it.
Location 13: Yugumuca Grasslands
The Yugumuca Grasslands are known continent-wide to be the most fertile plains on the continent (Double Population Growth). The natives are friendly (multiple friendly tribes of other Humanoids) while it is also a place for natural weather mages to gather and it is also a holy land (1 in 500 born is a Hallowed Paladin). Naturally, someone controls the area already, a very very powerful human kingdom that is constantly at odds with the elves. There are also multiple hostile armies from outside the Grasslands trying to seize the land, and while fertile it is also elementally weak (-50% elemental effects). There are also large amounts of evil meat eating
Sabre Toothed Jaguars Savannah Horned Lions making life miserable.
Location 14: Goddaro Mountains
Not much is known about the Goddaro Mountains. Long ago they were shielded from Divination Magic, rendering attempts to see inside the mountain range near-impossible. What is known is that the area is teeming with dungeons and mazes all over the place, and that the area is a natural gathering spot for energy related to the four elements (specialties in elemental magic at 50% bonus). The mountains are home to the Mimiga, a race of were-rabbits wise in the ways of golem crafting and item enchanting. Between the hostile tribes of ramtaurs, rhinotaurs, lizard men, yuan ti, troglodytes, and at least one dragon, it's a wonder that they're still around given the place is very resource and mineral poor.
Location 15: Citoxe Desert
The Citoxe Desert is the "god took a shit on it, added chaos magic, and watched what grows." land. Any oasis, whether natural or man made, has random traits/magic talents, and any who are born here are immune to all known poisons. Food grown here lasts twice as long and you don't have to eat as much to survive. It also grants Mutations to those who are born here, from bigger hands to extra arms to more than one head to prehensile tails to something as exotic as a breath weapon (those with Mutations are cut off from Maglubiyet, and not by His choice, either). Unfortunately it IS a desert, and sitting over a volcanic hotspot at that. It has very few resources and even less water, and hostile animals tend to be bigger, stronger, smarter, and possibly sentient. Blinker's a nobody compared to what might be here.
Location 16: Chitucal Plains
Finally, there are the Chitucal Plains. An extremely fertile (+25% Population Growth per year), wildlife-rich land, it is ignored by most of the continent at large despite having a giant
abandoned stronghold smack in the center of it. Getting there isn't easy (multiple hostile humanoid tribes), a small human kingdom has sprouted close by the stronghold, it is spiritually barren (-20% Spiritual EXP) and has an extreme Wererat population (they are hostile, no peace possible).
So where are you going, and how are you spreading your levels out? All positions of power will be filled in at Winter's Meet; this first vote for where to settle/level allotment does
NOT count towards the 5 votes needed for characters (that... starts with the next post).