Mortal Followers

The second of the two realms is the mortal realm. As this game focuses heavily on mortal flocks, there are several rules and methods for them. Each group, nation, or other population base is essentially handled as a single character with statistics and conditions just like an individual character can have, only these apply to the group at large rather than to merely one person.

Mortals have the following base Statistics:

• Population - the number of people, of all races, within the group
• Production - the amount of wealth or material goods that are produced in a Divine Week
• Culture - the respect with which other groups view this group
• Faith - the level of belief the group has in its patron god
• Military - the size of the group's military forces

With the exception of Military, all basic statistics for a newly created group start at 1.

Population

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Population is rated on a scale of 0 to 10, with every group starting at a Population of 1 (or lower if desired...). A Population of 0 does not mean that there are no members in the group, merely that they do not have large enough numbers to create a noticeable impact on the region. Actual population is determined by multiplying the Population rank by 10000. Groups split from an existing group (such as when settling a new region) start with a Population of 0.

It is possible for Population to exceed 10; however, this requires direct divine influence. Certain divine actions and artifacts can force Population above 10 for one Divine Week. At the end of the week, the Population decreases to 10, unless more AP is spent to maintain the higher Population levels.

Populations above 10 are determined in a fashion identical to those in the standard range.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, a group's population grows to fill the Population level rather quickly. This is due to the "time differences" between the point of view of mortals and that of deities. If a Population level is raised from 3 to 5, the actual population can jump from 27000 to 50000. Sudden changes in a groups' Population usually do not have immediate mechanical effects and so are assumed to take place "immediately."

Production

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Production is how much wealth or material goods a group produces each Divine Week. These Production points may be spent on many things, including building and expanding cities, creating new technology, and raising and maintaining Military. Unlike divine AP, Production does not roll over from week to week. Any Production not used by the end of the week is either wasted, decays, or is converted into personal wealth. In any case, it becomes unavailable for use.

Production is determined by several factors. At it's most basic, certain Terrain features and Improvements (discussed in the next section) create potential Production. To actually obtain these points, you must have Population to work. An amount of Production is gathered each week to a maximum of Max Production or Max Population, whichever is lower. A region with 5 Population and 8 Production only receives 5 Production in a week.

Unlike Population, Production is determined at the same time as AP Rollover, i.e. only once a week. Production points are then spent essentially as if it was AP for mortals. Unless Production is spent for upkeep, a group always produces at least 1 Production, even with a Population of 0.

Production may be transferred from one region to another; however, this costs 1 Production per region beyond the first in transport costs. Two adjacent regions may share at no cost; however, if the Production passes from one region, through another, and into a third, it costs 1 Production to transfer it. If Region 1 transfers 3 of it's Production to the adjacent Region 2, and then Region 2 transfers 3 of it's Production to Region 3, the transport cost is still incurred. Reflavoring the text on how the transactions take place does not decrease the cost.

Everything that Production may be spent on can be found in the Mortal Actions section.

Culture

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Culture measures how much pride and patriotism a nation has as well as reflecting the general quality of life. Culture is a purely mortal measure that divine actions rarely influence. While groups can attack each other directly through the use of Military assault, they also have other options, such as diplomacy, propaganda, and espionage. Culture is effectively a measure of how internally coherent a group is and how well they resist the incursion of another culture. Culture is measured on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest.

When one group attempts to influence another through non-military means, the group initiating the action has a modifier of (Target Culture) - (Aggressor Culture). This means that groups with high Culture will always be more influential on their neighbors than groups with very low Culture such as an unruly tribe of barbaric orcs. This doesn't necessarily mean that the orcs can't overrun a highly Cultured nation with numbers of ferocity, because Culture does not influence Military in any way.

Faith

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Faith is a reflection of the beliefs of a group about their patron deity or pantheon. Each group has one specific god or divine alliance (pantheon) which they revere above all others. Faith can not be directly increased and must be grown, for only "true" belief counts towards Faith. High Faith represents strong beliefs and convictions about their religion and chosen god or pantheon while a loss of Faith represents their turning to the worship of other gods.

Faith is measured on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest. At its most basic, Faith is a measure of defense a group has against the actions and beliefs of opposing gods. Actions taken both by their patron deity and other gods can affect Faith both positively and negatively.

Should a group's Faith ever reach 0, any god may spend AP on Guide Populace to convert them to his followers with a Faith of 1. If a group is converted in this manner, all improvements built to increase Faith are torn down as the new religion replaces the old.

Military

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Military is covered extensively in the Wars and Conquest section, but we provide some basics here as an introduction.

Military is raised at the expense of Production, which is needed to maintain the Military. Each unit of Military reduces Production by 1. This means that a region which has 6 Production and 4 Military actually only has a Production of 2. A region may never support more Military than it has Production, i.e. Production may never be dropped below 0 by Military. If a region has 6 Production and 7 Military, then that Military is lowered to 6 when Production is determined.

When raised, Military consists of basic troops which provide only minimal benefit in battle. By expending Production, you can increase the abilities and training of these troops. The ways in which troops are advanced is covered in the Wars and Conquest section.

Sample Nation

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The following is a sample nation designed using the previous rules to better illustrate how they work. While this write up is very basic, it will be expanded in the following sections to fully demonstrate how things work in relation to one another.

The Great Republic of Dapperdan

Population: 9 [1(base) + 4(Population Improvements) + 2(Terrain Features) + 2(Monolith)= 9]
Production: 4 [1(base) + 4(Production Improvements) + 2(Terrain Features) = 7 - 3(Military Upkeep) = 4]
Culture: 7 [1(base) + 2(Culture Improvements) + 2(Terrain Features) + 2(Monolith)]
Faith: 3 [1(base) + 2(Monolith)]
Military: 3/5 [Offense: 3(Military) / Defense: 3(Military) + 2(Military Fortifications) = 5]

Because of the cities and other improvements within the region controlled by the populace of Dapperdan, the people have grown to a Population of 9 (~90000 people). This enables them to do a few things.
First off, the player of Dapperdan decides that he needs some defense, so he wants to raise 3 Military. Though he would normally get 7 Production from his lands, Production is reduced to 4 because of the Military. He wants a bit more defense, so he spent some Production on Military Fortifications to provide for this defense.
Dapperdan has spent some time investing in education and theater as well as cultural festivals, giving the people great national pride and increasing Culture to 7. Should they initiate a diplomatic action with a neighboring country who has a Culture of only 4, Dapperdan will receive a +3 modifier to their actions (7 - 4 = 3).
While Dapperdan has done some to defend the nation and done much to create a strong culture, the inhabitants have generally neglected the worship of their patron deity, probably because he has had his focus elsewhere. Their relatively low Faith of 3 means that, while they have some faith in their patron god, another god can come in and really rattle them, possibly even converting them completely should their patron god not come to their aid.

Racial Traits

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Each race can one Racial Trait from each type of trait. Traits within the same type are mutually exclusive, meaning a group can't have two within the same type at the same time. The Trait that a group has is the most prominent trait of that type for the group. Even if a group seems like it should qualify for two within a type, you must choose the one which best represents the group.
The only available Racial Traits are as follows:

Lifestyle Traits:

• Nomadic - Essentially Hunter/Gathers or a nomadic tribe. Can't take advantage of agriculture or cities.
  • May use any advancements specifically designed for Nomadic life.
  • Currently may use Tier 1 advancements, though may not be flavored as permanent structures.
• Tribal - The first step towards civilization.
  • May use Tier 1 advancements.

Regional Traits:

• Arboreal (Forest Dwellers) - Gain benefits from Forest terrain.
• Arctic - Gain benefits from Glacier terrain.
• Jungle - Gain benefits from Jungle terrain.
• Subterranean - Gain benefits from Cavern terrain.

Social Traits:

• Shamanistic - +2 Faith, -1 Culture.
• Militaristic - +1 Military, +1 Culture, +1 Military Defense if a Military Improvement is present.

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Core Game Rules