Empire3! Rules and Administration

[Aedilred]

EMPIRE 3!
Gods, Kings & Adventurers
A Community World=Building Game by Morph Bark

Running on Giantitp since January 2014!
Empire 2 since September 2015 by QuintonBeck, and Zayuz since August 2016!
Empire 3 since December 2016 by Aedilred

Current OOC: OOC Thread I
Current IC: IC Thread
Current Dice Rolling: Dice Thread I


~ ~ The Rules ~ ~

Below in all the spoilers are the rules, with headers describing their general contents. This first post should contain all the information necessary to get started and play Empire! The second post shall contain the more complicated and in-depth rules, many of which are only used by the GMs but are publicly available for purposes of transparency. Others concern more acute areas of play and may be relevant to some, but not all players.

Starting Up

The Basics

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In EMPIRE! you start play as the ruler of a country. You perform actions to improve your ruler, the state, and your position in the world through alliances, trade, marriage, research, and war. Once your ruler dies of old age, disease, accident or murder their heir takes over, becoming your new ruling character controlling the state.

Your Ruler

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All player characters have the following attributes:

• Diplomacy
• Military
• Economy
• Intrigue
• Faith

These attributes have a score of 1 to 10, reflecting the ruler's personal abilities and the governmental institutions they maintain to support them.

When a new player starts, they roll 1d4 for each attribute, and then assign the rolls as they wish. They may assign a bonus of +1 to any two separate attributes.

You can make your rolls in this thread once approved. If you roll more than one 1, you may reroll any 1s beyond the first for your very first ruler. If you have more than two 1s after the reroll, those subsequent 1s become 2s (you are still left with two 1s). This option to reroll is only available to newly joined players so as to avoid a terrible first ruler.

Changing Rulers
Changing rulers is a non-action. If your current character dies, or abdicates, their designated heir takes their place. In the case of the heir being raised and tutored by the previous ruler their stats are rolled in order with 1d4 for their attributes, receiving a +1 bonus to any stats their predecessor had a score of 4 or higher in, or a +2 bonus to their roll for any attribute their predecessor had an 8 or higher in.

If the new ruler was not raised by the previous ruler, they roll stats as a new player's first ruler with flat d4s and two floating +1 modifiers. Unlike rulers who were children of a previous ruler, the rolls may be assigned freely to the various attributes.

Regents, those who rule in the place of a designated heir should they be too young to begin rulership themselves, roll attributes as non-related rulers. Unlike legitimate sovereigns, Regents cannot perform special 10 actions or resolution actions but can perform special 5s.

Rulers must be changed the round prior to the round in which you wish to use their attribute scores. The round in which a ruler is changed the previous ruler's scores will still be in play although bonuses accrued by their actions will be applied to the new ruler for the subsequent round.

Please note any changeover of ruler and link the rolled stats for your incoming ruler in your IC post in which the changeover occurs and the new ruler first comes into play.

Creating a Region

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Describing Your Region
When a player enters the game, they first must claim a region and describe it in fluff.

Terrain: Describe the physical features of your selected region, with at least one major landmark or more at the player’s discretion. Players are encouraged to divulge a bit more on general landscape, the populated and underpopulated areas of the region, and/or the names and locations of towns or cities within the region.

People: Describe what the people in the region generally look like. What do they wear? What race are they? What is their culture like? What do they do in their daily lives? It might be a good idea to see what your neighbours’ people are like, because yours and theirs may be similar in some ways, or at least have some interesting interaction possibilities or history. A region might have the same general type of people as a region neighbouring it and similar culture can exist beyond a single region.

Resource: Describe one resource that can be abundantly found in the region as well as at least one resource the people will have to import from outside out of necessity or desire. You can have something that doesn't exist in the real world as a resource, such as special metals like mithril or adamantium, or things that would be great for alchemy or chemistry or certain technologies, but to start using these may require advances to be made in-game.

A resource in your starting region begins play at [Great] quantity. The import necessity will not be automatically satisfied; you have to find a way to acquire that resource through a deal with another player, seizing foreign trading posts, or discovering distant lands to extract tribute from. If the resource requirement of a region goes unmet for too long there may be revolts or rebellions.

There are three trading posts in your region, of which your ruler controls one at the start of the game. The other two are vacant. Feel free to describe and name the trading posts in your writeup.

You can trade resources with other players. The mechanics of trade are discussed under Base Mechanics.

Religion: Religion can be very important in EMPIRE! When a player enters the game, their people and rulers are either adherents of the Shishiyan Church, or are followers of minor, unorganised religions. More information about the state of religion at the start of the game is given in the World section. Gaining the support of organized religions can be helpful or have unusual effects. Players can introduce their own religions with a special action if they have a Faith score of 10, raising an existing spiritual cult to official status, creating a new schism of an existing religion, or creating something entirely new.

Your region contains three Religious Centres at the start of the game. These could be major temples, monasteries, universities, sacred groves, or any number of other religious hubs which have influence over the region. In your writeup, note whether each of these is under the control of a particular religion, or whether they are currently not occupied at all. They do not all have to belong to the same religion, although for obvious reasons if different religions own holy sites within the same region this might have an impact on the rest of your writeup.

Rounds

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Each round will take two real-life weeks and will be the equivalent of 3 years in-game.

During each round you have a default of five actions you can spend doing things. If players haven't posted actions by the end of that round, their round is considered wasted. Rounds close and open on Sunday. Because of the possibility for abuse, any action posts that are edited after the round closes will be ruled completely invalid unless proof can be provided (i.e. datestamped screenshots or equivalent) that the actions are unchanged from before the round closure.

Actions do not take effect until the end of the round. Armies raised in a round can therefore not be used until the next round, attribute increases are only added at the end of the round, newly acquired technologies cannot be used until the round after they were introduced, etc.

Actions

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Actions are the major things happening in your state over the course of the three in-game years each round covers. Is construction happening on a massive monument to a god or ancient king? Are armies being raised to answer the call of their sovereign? Perhaps your state is hosting or sending its finest diplomats to an international event to mingle with world leaders? If you want your state to do something and have an impact on the world, use an action. There are a few specially defined actions discussed below.

Special actions are actions you can only take when your ruler has at least a 5 or a 10 in the attribute in question. Special actions are limited to a single-use 5 and a single-use 10 per attribute per ruler. Special actions need not be used immediately upon attaining a 5 or 10 but may be held (or never used) at the discretion of the player. A 10 special may be used as a second 5 special if desired by the player but will count as a full use of the 10 special action.

Resolution actions can only be used when you have a 10 in the given attribute, and apply to a single dice roll. This represents expenditure of a great deal of money, resources and other capital on a single venture. You automatically roll the maximum possible on that roll; however, the attribute in question is reduced to 1 for the next round of play. Resolution actions may be used an unlimited number of times per ruler, though only once per round.

All actions take effect at the end of the round (unless they have an effect that is delayed even longer). So, for instance, if you set up a trade route for another resource, you will not have the resource until the following round. If you pursue an investigation, the results will be announced in the round opener for response in the next round.

Projects: Some things may take more than one round to complete. These are called ‘projects’, and take multiple actions to complete. Some take only two actions, like making the roads a little better between cities. Some are ‘Great Projects’ that take 5 actions, like making a road network between all your towns, cities, fortresses and bordering states. Building a great wall, renovating a large port city, or gathering the books to create a massive library are examples of 5-action Great Projects.

Other players may assist with completion of a project or Great Project. Great Projects have no mechanical effect by themselves, but can be used as justification for technologies and in order to introduce more dramatic locations for events.

Sub-actions are where a single action can be taken that has the effect of several other actions. The most common occurrence for this is at events, where a player can perform several diplomatic actions such as betrothals or treaty signings for the cost of one action.

In general, unless specified otherwise in the rules, if an action must be rolled for or has a mechanical effect, it probably can't be a sub-action and will take a full action of its own.

Secret actions are actions which are known only to you and the GM. Such actions need to be sent to the GM for verification, otherwise they will have no effect. Secret actions count towards the Intrigue attribute for the purposes of increasing scores, and will use this score in determining success. Only one secret action can be taken per round. Special actions (5s and 10s) cannot be secret unless using the Intrigue attribute’s special actions. Other players cannot investigate what you have been/are doing with your secret actions directly (e.g. “[Intrigue] Investigate Kingdom A’s Secret Action”), but the results of a secret action may be investigated and your hand in them discovered. Secret actions can be countered if correctly, or mostly-correctly, deduced by an opposing state. Secret actions are always full actions, rather than sub-actions or non-actions, and count as Intrigue actions for purposes of increased attributes. Moving armies and attacking other players with military units can not be secret actions.

Non-actions are anything that a player does in their turn that does not cost an action. A player can take any number of these, some of which may have a mechanical effect. Changing rulers is a non-action, as is allowing foreign troops passage, and resisting conversion attempts.

Non-actions take effect at the end of the round along with regular actions.

Increasing Attributes

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For every two actions spent in an attribute in a single round, they receive a +1 bonus to their ruler’s score in that attribute, starting from the following round.
The bonus will be applied to whichever ruler the player is using the following round for purposes of attributes, even if that is not the same ruler who took the actions that resulted in a bonus.

Every turn once a player has completed their actions they list at the end of their post what attributes they increased. e.g 2 Military Actions, 2 Diplomacy Actions, and 1 Intrigue Action = +1 Military and +1 Diplomacy.

A ruler's score in any attribute cannot increase beyond 10.

Please note clearly at the end of your post in the IC thread which attributes you increase so that it can be identified and noted in the tables.

New Player Bonus Actions

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For players joining after the close of Round 2 an additional action will be granted and one extra action again for every 2 round closes after the end of Round 2 to a cap of 10 bonus actions after the close of Round 20. These actions and their attribute increases will all take effect at the same time as your regular round actions at the end of the round. These bonus actions may not affect other regions or players. They represent some of what your realm has been up to prior to entering the world stage.

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The Attributes

Diplomacy

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A higher Diplomacy score will help mitigate or solve any potential rebellions in any lands you hold and influences the chances of NPCs agreeing to proposals you offer.

Actions
Forming alliances, arranging marriages or betrothals for your character or their relatives, changing laws or imposing order on an unstable region, are broad purposes of Diplomacy. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of lawyers, politicians, and nobility would fall under Diplomacy. Diplomacy represents a state’s political acumen and skill at negotiation.

Diplomacy 5 Special: Cultural Identity
If you have a score of 5 in Diplomacy, you can spend an action to create a “Cultural Identity” for your state. A Cultural Identity will grant an increase in die size (2d6 to 2d8) on a specific set of rolls chosen by the player that are not related to Military actions. A particularly agnostic or faithful Faith focused state might adopt an identity granting a bonus to Faith rolls resisting conversion attempts. A cutthroat Economy focused state might adopt an identity that granted its bonus to rolls to buyout trading posts.
A Cultural Identity lasts until it is changed by a subsequent Diplomacy 5 action or until the end of a state if it is made permanent with a Diplomacy 10 special action.

Diplomacy 10 Special: Permanent Cultural Identity
If you have a score of 10 in Diplomacy you may choose to make your existing Cultural Identity, created by an earlier Diplomacy 5, permanent. The Diplomacy 5 Cultural Identity may be introduced in the same round it is made permanent with a Diplomacy 10 action. A Permanent Cultural Identity stays with a state until the end of the state or until specifically replaced by a subsequent Diplomacy 10. A state can support as many Permanent Cultural Identities as it can establish.

Diplomacy 10 Special: Diplomatic Unity
If you have a score of 10 in Diplomacy and the requisite regions you may choose to unify holdings that you control into a more distinct entity through legal means.

• [*If you control four or more regions you may declare yourself a Great King. Great Kings have a sixth action per round. You lose the title (and the action) if you ever control fewer than 4 regions. A player may form a Great Kingdom if they are already a Merchant Prince or Holy Land, but do not gain additional actions from doing so, although they lose the restriction on their sixth action.

[*]If you have 12 or more regions (including vassals)you may declare yourself an Emperor. Emperors have a seventh action per round. You lose the title (and the action) if you ever control fewer than 12 regions (including vassals)

Economy

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A higher Economy score will help in establishing prosperous trade routes and invigorating local output beyond its standard measure.

Actions
Establishing trade, extracting more complex resources, or improving the basic standard of living within a state are broad purposes of Economy. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of economists, merchants, or the wealthy would fall under Economy. Economy represents a state’s general wealth and the vigour of its economic activity. Some things like education and construction that may not fall into other branches would fall into this category as well.

Economy is used to buy out or take over trading posts (see Trade rules).

Economy 5 Special: Upgrade Resource Quantity
If you have a score of 5 in Economy you can spend an action to upgrade a region’s resource quantity and establish a control of the associated new trading post. A region can support up to three trading posts equivalent to the region’s resource quality of [Minor], [Good], or [Great]. You do not need to own the region to improve a resource’s quantity.

Economy 5 Special: Upgrade Resource Quality
If you have a score of 5 in Economy you can spend an action to change the resource into a more complex version of itself , e.g. Wood to Ships. You must own the region to use this Economy 5 special action. Doing so will reduce the number of trading posts in the region by 1.

Economy 10 Special: New Technology
If you have an Economy score of 10, you are able to introduce a new technology in your regions. This requires that you already have prerequisite technologies and any resources that are necessary for a technological creation either through trade or as a Minor, Good, or Great Resource in one of your regions. This action can only be done once per ruler.
The use and bonuses of technologies are generally determined on a per-country basis. However, some technologies may specifically apply only to certain regions.

Prerequisites can be technologies or resources.
Economy 10 Special: Economic Unity
If you have a score of 10 in Economy and the requisite trading posts you may choose to elevate your state’s status into a more recognizable entity through economic means.

• If you control ten or more trading posts, you may take the title of a Merchant Prince. Merchant Princes have a sixth, Economy only, action per round. You lose the title (and the action) if you ever control fewer than 10 trading posts. Rulers with Holy Lands may declare themselves Merchant Princes, in which case they gain no new actions, but may choose whether their sixth action is Economy or Faith.

Faith

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A higher Faith score will help in enforcing religious doctrine and resisting the destabilizing influence of foreign faiths as well as granting boons to the especially devout.

Actions
Holding religious gatherings, defining divine law and truths, or dealing with the heads or priests of your religion or those of others are broad purposes of Faith. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of holy men, pilgrims, and religious leaders would fall under Faith. Faith represents a state’s piety and adherence to a higher power and associated teachings.

Converting People
Each region contains three Religious Centres. These may be shrines, churches, schools, universities or even religious groups in their own right. A religion’s influence in a given region is represented by its control of these centres.

A player may attempt to take control of a Religious Centre either in their own regions or in those controlled by other players. Roll 2d6 and add your Faith score plus any relevant bonuses. If the owner of the region wishes to try to stop the conversion, they should also roll 2d6+Faith and any relevant bonuses. If the converting player rolls higher, they take control of the religious centre.

If a player is trying to convert a centre in their own region, or the region’s owner does not wish to oppose their conversion, they may still face opposition by the existing owners of the centre. A conversion will be successful if it rolls higher than 12 (plus any relevant bonuses to resist conversion).

Opposing conversion is a non-action, but the player must specify that they are doing so in their actions post and make the roll.

Players may attempt to wipe out followers of a religion in their region through use of military force by launching a Religious Purge. If doing so, roll 2d6 and add Military score plus any relevant bonuses. If the result is 12 (taking into account any defensive bonuses) or higher, the religion loses control of that religious centre, but control does not pass to the conquering player. The religious centre is left vacant until converted, and the region may become unstable due to the violence of the action. Note that Religious Purges are Military actions, but are listed here since they concern Faith.

If you do not wish to have a certain holy order in your region you may attempt to replace it with a competing holy order, or exterminate the holy order through military means. To remove a Holy Order militarily a ruler must spend an action to attack the holy order destroying it and causing unrest in the region.

Faith 5 Special: Holy Order
If you have a score of 5 in Faith you can spend an action to establish a regional holy order. These could be warrior priests bound to righteous crusade, a monastery for wise and reflective monks, or a distinguished collection of devout nobles committed to their faith’s cause. A region can only support one holy order, however a holy order may be established in any region, even those you do not directly control, if you already control two Religious Centres in that region. Holy Orders may only be established by organised religions.
A Holy Order counts as an additional religious centre for purposes of achieving Unity. If a Holy Order is present in a region it gives a +4 innate defensive bonus to all other centres in that region which share its religion should anyone attempt a conversion or purge against those centres. Holy Orders cannot be converted, but can be exterminated in a purge or replaced by another Faith 5 action.

Faith 10 Special: Organise Religion
You may use a Faith 10 Special action to establish your faith formally. Your ruler establishes a new church separate from the authority of existing religious heads. This may be a schism with an existing organised religion, or a new faith of your own devising. Your ruler is treated as the head of this new faith by default, although you may designate another character as the head.

In each region you control, one Religious Centre is automatically converted to the new faith. These will normally be taken from those owned by your ruler’s former faith, although if that religion controls no religious centres in a region, the one converted to the new faith will be determined randomly. Holy Orders are not converted and remain faithful to their existing religion.

Although rulers may only take one Faith Special action in their reigns, they can combine the organisation of a new faith with a miracle in a single action, in which case the miracle is the event which triggers the establishment of the new religion.

Faith 10 Special: Miracle
If you follow a recognized religion, you may request a miracle from the power that you worship. The miracle must fit with their theme and portfolio.
Miracles can bless holy orders, uncover new or enhance existing resources, create holy artifacts of power, and so on. A Miracle may grant individual characters increased abilities or strength, such as immortality or reincarnation or a bonus in certain types of rolls involving that individual. A Miracle may be used to create a “Blessing” which grants a bonus to a selected roll type for regions containing a Holy Order of the religion used to create the Blessing.

Faith 10 Special: Religious Unity
If you have a score of 10 in Faith and your faith controls sufficient religious centres, you follow you may choose to elevate your state’s religious standing to a more respected place through faithful means.

• 20 or more religious centres belonging to the religion your state follows allow you to declare your region a Holy Land. Holy Lands may take a sixth, Faith only, action per round. You lose the title (and the action) if there are ever fewer than 20 religious centres owned by your ruler’s Faith. Merchant Princes may declare themselves Holy Lands, in which case they gain no extra actions, but may choose whether the sixth action they take each round is Faith or Economy.

Military

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A higher Military score will help in conquering or subjugating those in the world who can only be expected to listen to might or in defending yourself from those who view you in such a light.

Actions
Raising a unit of troops, utilising their services, or constructing fortifications are broad purposes of Military. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of strategists, soldiers, and conquerors would fall under Military. Military represents a combination of fighting prowess and tactical knowledge possessed by a state.

Training Military Units
You can raise one military unit in one action. These units function as the standing armies and navies of your state although are not specifically defined in makeup or number of active fighting men and women. A single unit is generally considered to be equivalent in combat effectiveness to about 1,000 regular human troops, and these terms are used interchangeably throughout the rules, even if for fluff reasons the actual units in a particular state or a particular engagement are somewhat smaller or larger.

The maximum number of troops you can raise is 10 units by default, plus 1 per additional region beyond your capital that you control. If you lose enough territory that you no longer have enough regions to support the number of troops you have raised, your army total will be reduced to the maximum you can currently support.

Military Actions
A state’s military can be used in a number of ways:

Troops may be used to invade other regions. Using troops to invade or conquer a region requires a distinct action per region being attacked. Defending one's own regions requires a distinct action per region. In order to attack or defend a state must possess at least one applicable military unit.
Where players defend against an invasion, the battle is settled with an opposed Military roll on 2d10, with each side adding the number of units they have deployed and any relevant technologies. The rules for battles are described in detail in Advanced Military Rules.

Players may use their military to sack trading posts. Rules for this are described in the section on Trade.
The military may be used to suppress or exterminate unwanted religious groups or holy orders in a Pogrom. Rules for this are described in the section on Faith.

Military 5 Special: Recruit General
If you have a Military score of 5, you may recruit a general to lead your armies. Generals are secondary commanders who may lead armies in the absence of your ruler, using their own Military score. A general enters play with a Military score of 5+1d5, although this value will never increase. There is no limit to the number of Generals a state may have in play, but they may be lost in battle and, like all people, are susceptible to ailments and the ravages of age. To deploy a General, the player must indicate that they are doing so, and which battle they are commanding, in the relevant actions post.

Military 5 Special: Military Specialization
If you have a Military score of 5, you can introduce a Military Specialization. A Military Specialization grants a player an increase in die size (2d10 to 2d12) in certain types of military endeavors. Such endeavors might include, caravan guards to defend trade routes from attack, raiders granting a bonus in the conquest of trading routes, stalwart defenders granting a bonus on defense in their homeland or other appropriate specializations. A military specialization lasts until it is replaced with a subsequent Military 5 or made permanent with a Military 10. A country can only support one Military Specialization at a time.

Military 10 Special: Military Technology
If you have a Military score of 10, you have the ability to introduce a new military technology in your regions. This requires that you already have any prerequisite technologies and any resources that are necessary either through trade or through native ownership. This action can only be done once per ruler.
Military technologies include technologies such as weapon/armor design and smithing, fortifications, cavalry, military vehicles, beasts of war, and other technologies utilized by the military.
Prerequisites can be technologies or resources.

Intrigue

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A higher Intrigue score will help in staying ahead of your fellow states through subterfuge and investigation, or countering such attempts made against yourself.

Actions
Spying on a neighbor, monitoring rumors and communication, and plotting or foiling a scheme are broad purposes of Intrigue. Great Projects intended to draw the attentions of spies, saboteurs, and detectives fall under Intrigue. Intrigue represents a state’s spy craft and investigative ability related to other states’ actions.

Investigation
The actions of competing states, both subtle and overt, may at times give rise to mysteries or plots that can only be accurately unraveled by those trained in avoiding detection.
Investigation of a political event involves a check (2d6+Intrigue). The degree of success the investigation meets with will be dependent on the result, and it may be that the investigators meet with only partial success or fail altogether if the roll is not high enough. Note that some investigations may be simply impossible if you have no leads or evidence to go on in-character. A sufficiently high roll on an Investigation action does not guarantee a positive result if there is no basis for the action in the first place.

Assassination, Kidnapping, and Theft
Players may attempt to assassinate each other’s characters. If the target is a named character, make an opposed roll against your target’s Intrigue score, including all relevant bonuses. If the target is not a named character, make an opposed roll against half the Intrigue score of the target, including all relevant bonuses. If the assassin’s roll is higher, the target is killed. In the event of a tie, the target survives, though may be wounded or otherwise inconvenienced.

Kidnappings function as assassinations, except that the target is taken alive rather than killed. Defences against kidnapping attempts receive an automatic +2 bonus due to the greater difficulty of abducting rather than killing them.

Players may attempt to steal technologies, artifacts and other items of value from other players. These function as assassinations, except that in the event of success the item is stolen. In the case of technologies the thief duplicates the technology without depriving the owner; in the case of unique items, the item itself is taken and the previous owner no longer possesses it.

States which are frequent victims of assassination, kidnapping or theft attempts will naturally become more wary. If you target the same state in successive rounds with the same type of Intrigue action, they gain a +2 bonus to their defence roll. This bonus is cumulative if attempts are made over three or more rounds, but only applies to attempts made by the same perpetrator.

Intrigue is also used for Raids (see Trade rules).

Intrigue 5 Special: False Flag
If you have an Intrigue score of 5 you can choose to perform a False Flag operation. A False Flag Operation simulates a conversion or buyout action in the name of another state. False Flag operations can be used to “frame” other states without their knowledge or agreement, or could be done with the agreement of the benefiting party as part of a wider deal.

To use the False Flag action, choose a religious centre or trading post belonging to another state, and a third state to which you wish to transfer ownership. Roll 2d6+Intrigue and bonuses to take over the religious centre or trading post. This is opposed as normal by the centre’s current owners, using their Faith or Economy scores plus relevant bonuses. If you are successful, control of that centre or trading post passes to the third state you named, or their religion, if applicable.

Intrigue 10 Special: Sabotage
By use of an Intrigue 10 action, your agents infiltrate a trading post or religious centre and destroy it, rendering it unusable for the foreseeable future.

Choose a trading post or religious centre. The trading post or religious centre is destroyed and removed from the game. It cannot be used again unless it is reinstated by a player taking an action to create a new trading post or religious centre in that region.

[Aedilred]

Base Mechanics

Contested Rolls

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The base mechanic for contested rolls, something that is a key point in any dice-based game with multiple players that aren’t necessarily working together, is very simple.

You roll 2d6 and add the relevant attribute score for the action, and then add any relevant modifiers. There are usually no fractions, but in general any fractions are rounded up. Your opponent does the same, or the GM does so on their behalf, with whoever rolls higher being successful.

Military battles function a little bit differently, due to the large numbers that can get involved. In their case, roll 2d10, add the Military score of your ruler (or half their score if they aren’t personally leading the battle) and any other relevant modifiers. Players do not make military battle rolls personally and all such rolls will be made by the GM at the end of the round, though players should still note all the relevant bonuses in their actions post.

Target Numbers

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Often players will find themselves having to roll against a target number. The relevant roll is 2d6 + relevant attribute + other bonuses from technologies or the like. If they equal or beat the target number, the roll will succeed.

Target numbers for some different actions (with the relevant attribute in brackets) are:
Converting a religious centre to your religion when unopposed (Faith): 12
Buying out a trading post when unopposed (Economy): 12
Claiming an abandoned region in one round (Diplomacy): 18
Claiming an abandoned region in two rounds (Diplomacy): 12
Stabilizing a region the round after conquest (Diplomacy): 10
Stabilizing a region in unrest (Diplomacy): 12
Stabilizing a region in rebellion (Diplomacy): 14 Note: The rebels will still need to be defeated for the stabilization to take effect
Maintaining an occupation (Diplomacy): 12 (+2 for each successive round)
Exploring for overseas colonies (Economy): 14
Colonising discovered overseas regions (Diplomacy): 12

Trade Rules

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Every region in Empire contains one resource. Some of these resources will be everyday mundane resources like wood, iron, or goats, while others may be fantastic resources unavailable in the real world like mithril, griffons, or giant bear-dogs. The resources of a region will have three categories of quality which determine how many trading posts a region can contain: Minor, Good, and Great. A player’s capital region will begin with a Great resource of their choosing. A Capital Region will also start with a resource requirement that will need to be fulfilled through trade with another region.

Non-capital regions will have their details revealed following the closing of initial signup and submission of player-controlled Capital Regions including their resource and quality. These resources will be sure to incorporate the resource requirements approved by region submissions. Non-capital regions will not have resource requirements however regions or holdings may occasionally demand a resource be delivered within a limited time frame for a reward or to avoid consequences.

The primary mechanic through which trade will be conducted will be through claiming trading posts for a region’s resource. A region can support up to three trading posts for a single resource corresponding with the Minor, Good, and Great quantities (one, two, and three respectively).

A player begins with control of one of their three trading posts within their capital region. The other two trading posts are unowned. A player may attempt to take over a trading post in any region regardless of distance, coastal connection, or other geographical limitations.

The number of trading posts in a region can be increased with an Economy 5 special action to upgrade resource quality. Any player may perform this action so long as they control at least one trading post in the region in question. The nature of a region’s resource can be changed with an Economy 5 by the player who owns the region. Doing so reduces the quantity of the resource by one and removes one trading post.

Players may attempt to gain control of trading posts in regions belonging to other players in a Buyout or Takeover action. Roll 2d6+Economy and any relevant bonuses. If the roll equals or exceeds 12, the trading post is successfully acquired. If another player already owns the trading post in question, make an opposed roll with both players using Economy and relevant bonuses.

A trading post can be Sacked as a Military action. Sacks may not be secret actions and will always be considered to be opposed by the current owning player. If successful, the trading post is considered vacant.

Trading posts may be Raided using an Intrigue action. Raids may be conducted secretly or openly, but will always be considered to be opposed by the current owning player. A successful Raid passes control of the trading post to the Raiding player.

Overseas Colonies and Holdings may contain multiple resources which shall be treated in the same manner as regional trading posts.

Country Relationships & Ways of Expansion

The Map

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The starting continent will be displayed on the map at the beginning of the game and will be reposted in every round opening post. All available regions will be visible to players.

As the game proceeds it may be necessary to expand the explored area of the map to allow space for new players to join the game. This will proceed at the GM’s discretion.

Players may attempt to explore beyond the boundaries of the map (see Overseas Colonies) but the fruits of these explorations will not be displayed on the main map. It is assumed that any foreign realms close enough to be visible on the map but as yet unexplored are either already known about, unsuitable for colonisation, or both.

Region Acquisition: Conquest and Claims

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At the start of the game all available land on the continent will be visible on the map. Although many of these regions will be owned by other players, the remainder can be acquired through conquest or claim.

Region Acquisition: Conquest
When conquering a region, a player spends a Military action to send at least one unit to conquer the region in question. Conquest will be treated as a military conflict meaning the GM rolls 2d10 in the round opener, plus any relevant bonuses from commanders, troops and technologies. Conquering a region will always leave it unstable in the following round.

Other players or NPCs may oppose the conquest, either because they wish to acquire the region themselves, or because they own the region in question. This is dealt with in detail in the Advanced Military Rules.

Region Acquisition: Claims
Regions may only be claimed if they are made explicitly available for claiming. In order to claim a region, you must first possess a claim. Players will accrue claims to other regions naturally during play, through intermarriage with the ruling family, diplomatic agreements or through religious conversions.
You have a valid claim if:

1. Your ruler, a member of your ruling family, or other significant personage in your state, is descended from a former ruler of the region in question.
2. The target region used to be part of your country (during play, not simply background fluff).
3. Your state has a fabricated claim created prior to the attempt to claim the region. Openly fabricating a claim on an unclaimed but militarized region will prompt the stationed troops to attack a nearby region in the following round. Secret Action fabrications will not suffer this effect. An Intrigue TN of 12 is required to successfully fabricate a claim.

The GM will rule on the validity of claims on request. Players with legitimate but very weak claims may suffer a penalty on the claim roll.

Pressing a claim is a Diplomacy action. If a claim is successful, the region falls under the claiming player’s control, together with any troops stationed there. Multiple players may press claims on the same region in the same round.

A roll of 12 is a partial success for a claim, and allows the player to continue to press their claim the following round. If in the second round the claim is not contested by other players, the region is claimed automatically. If a player rolls a 12 in the first round but does not press their claim in the following round, the claim is forgotten and subsequent attempts to claim the region must roll again.

A roll of 18 or higher is an immediate success on a claim and the region falls under the claimant’s control at the end of the round.

If multiple players have a claim to the region, some of them may forfeit their claims and support other claimants instead. For each player who does this, add +2 to the roll of the claimant they support.

Players with territories neighbouring the region in question may add their support to a claimant. Add +2 if a neighbouring player supports a claim. Only one bonus from neighbouring players is counted.

In the event there are multiple claimants for a region more than one of whom wishes to claim it, they should all roll, with the claimant who rolls highest being successful, provided they meet the target number. If none of the claimants roll an 18 or higher in the first round, the claim may still be contested in the second round, in which case the player who rolls highest in the second round successfully claims the region.

Colonies

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As the game develops, some states may wish to spread their influence to lands beyond those already familiar to them, to search for new resources, or new people to convert to their faith.

To search for suitable lands, a player should take an Exploration action. They will require specialist technology in order to make such a roll, otherwise the explorers will be automatically lost - drowned at sea, parched in the desert, or the like. An Exploration roll is 2d6+Economy.

If the score is at least 14, suitable land has been identified for establishing a colony. The level of success on the roll will affect the quality of the land found and how closely it matches the explorers’ intentions and desires.

Colonies found in this way will not be added to the main map and players may generally write them up as they choose (although such regions will still be subject to GM approval). It is helpful if players give an idea of the sort of land they are looking for when they take their exploration action, so the GM can adjust the discovery text appropriately.

Colonies have resources and religious centres in the same way as mainland regions. The initial quantity of these will be established when the region is discovered. These can be converted, taken over and destroyed in the same way as in other regions. Unlike mapped regions, colonies can contain multiple resources, and more than three trading posts or religious centres.

Players may attempt to take over these colonial regions with a Colonisation action, where they send settlers to establish a permanent presence. To establish a colony, roll 2d6 and add Diplomacy and any relevant bonuses. On a roll of 12 or higher, a colony is successfully established. A player may not use Economy or Faith special actions in a colonial region until they have established a colony there.

Players may attempt to conquer colonial regions, either from the natives or from other players. This is treated as a normal invasion using the Military rules; however, due to the distances and dangers involved, each unit sent on such missions has a 50% chance of being lost in addition to other chances of loss.

Once a player has established a colony, they may take further actions to expand the colony's area of influence, or to attempt to discover a different region for colonisation. To explore further, make another Exploration roll as above. It is easier to expand an existing colony than to discover a new one, and exploring for new colonies will become successively harder the more existing colonies a player has - and the more colonies are in play in total. Expanding a colony may lead to more trading posts or religious centres becoming available.

Vassals and Lieges

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The countries which rule over other countries, or Lieges, do so in two primary ways: either by agreement from the natives, or by takeover through conquest, colonization or presses of claims. The following rules deal with the former, in which the natives of a region strike an agreement with a more powerful state. To become a Liege, you must already have a Great Kingdom.

In this kind of relationship the larger, more powerful country is called the Liege and the smaller one the Vassal. Liege and Vassal states commonly share borders or both have a coast on the same ocean. Liege and Vassal states do not have to share borders in this manner, but not sharing borders will allow the lands that lie between them to block transport of resources and troops. To become a Liege state a country must have a Great Kingdom. Great Kingdoms can have any number of vassals.

Vassals may use one of the Liege’s scores in place of theirs, once per round. This cannot be used for Special actions or Resolution actions.

A vassal can only form a Great Kingdom if their Liege has formed an Empire. Great Kingdom vassals can have vassals of their own. These vassals of vassals may use one of the scores of their direct Liege or their ultimate Liege (the Emperor/Empress). They may still only do this once per round.

Existing states may choose to cooperate in the formation of an Empire. At least one state must have an existing Great Kingdom to qualify for advancement to Empire status. Each participating state must spend a Diplomacy 10 action towards the creation of the Empire with a Great Kingdom involved party becoming the Emperor and other participants allowed to form a Great Kingdom with their Diplomacy 10 if meeting the other prerequisites for the title.

Once a player has formed an Empire, any time they switch to a new ruler, that ruler gains extra attribute bonuses. For each vassal that an Empire has, including vassals of vassals, they receive one +1 bonus to their attributes at character generation, assigned by the Emperor player.

Players with Empires may take seven actions per round.

NPCs

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NPC states are run by the GM rather than by players. For practical reasons, NPCs will be kept to a minimum, but there may be occasions where NPCs enter play. These NPCs are treated as players for the purposes of diplomacy and other interactions.

Advanced Military Rules

Using Military Units

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You can use a Military action to direct the movement of your troops into foreign regions. Using troops to invade or conquer a region requires a distinct action per region. Defending one's own regions requires one action per region being defended. To attack or defend requires at least one applicable military unit.

Due to the importance and complexity of military actions, players who wish to deploy troops against other players are encouraged to take their actions as early in the round as possible so that other players have a chance to respond appropriately. If you are invading another player, you should also notify them by PM in case they miss your actions post. The GM may impose an early deadline, for war actions only, in rounds with lots of fighting. Players who spring “surprise attacks” (or indeed “surprise defences”) on foes at the end of the round may be penalised.

If your troops have to pass through multiple regions to reach their ultimate destination, specify the route they are taking. If you do not specify, you may suffer penalties.

Units cannot go through countries that aren’t allied or don’t specifically allow it, so if your troops have to pass through a neutral country to reach your intended target and they don’t want to let you through, you’ll have to fight them first. If the regions you’d have to go through do not have units, you can march through with no resistance. States fighting in the same battles on the same side are assumed to grant passage through their lands to each other’s armies automatically, unless stated otherwise. In other cases, allowing foreign units passage is a non-action but must be specified in that round’s actions post.

When one of your armies clashes with that of another player or those of an NPC, both sides roll 2d10 and add their leader’s Military score and the armies’ size (+1 per unit of 1,000). Either side gets a bonus if they have a relevant military technology.

Allies can help attack or defend a region they have army units in. If a battle takes place between more than two armies, the allied army generally uses the highest Military score available to them or whichever player’s ruler leads the army. If an alliance wishes to use a different character to lead the battle, this must be specified in the military actions. All sides must take an action to participate in the battle. Each side must each make a Military check (2d10+Military score+number of units under their command in that region+applicable bonuses). This check will be made on their behalf by the GM.

If you are fighting more than one battle in a round, you have to decide which one your ruler is leading. All other battles your country is involved in, but your ruler is not leading personally, only get half the ruler's Military score as a bonus. Generals created by the Military 5 special action can be assigned to lead secondary armies. If a player does not specify which commanders they are using, it is assumed the ruler will lead the first army listed and that unnamed commanders will lead the remainder.

If you win the military conflict you drive them out of that region or rout their forces. If you are the invader, that means you seize control over that region. You will probably have to take action to stabilise it.

In the event of a tie, the defender retains control of the region, but the attacker is not driven out and has gained a foothold in the region. If the attacker decides to press their assault in the following round, they gain a bonus of +2 to the battle roll on top of any other bonuses from technologies.

Players’ capital regions cannot be conquered completely. If an invader defeats a defender’s army in their capital region, they occupy it. During an occupation, the conqueror has some control over the region, but the longer they maintain their presence the harder they will find it and they are advised to reach a settlement with the occupied ruler.

Calculating Losses

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The loser of a battle loses a number of units equal to half the difference in roll results, rounded up. If the results were 11 and 6, that means the loser loses [{11 – 6}/2, rounded to the nearest 1] units, so 3 units. The winning side will have 1d4 x 10% of the base losses of the losing side (rounded to the nearest 1).

If there is more than one participant on one side of the battle, the first unit is lost from the leaders, the second unit from the largest contingent (if different), the third unit from the next-largest, and so on until all losses are accounted for. The leaders of the battle (those supplying the Military scores) have a 50% chance of losing an additional unit, unless they were the only participant on their side of the battle.

The larger an army is, the harder it is to manage and supply, and some troops may desert, or die from unsanitary conditions. Each participant on either side has additional 50% chance of losing troops when their army exceeds 2, 4, 6 and 8 units and at each interval of 2 units thereafter. These losses are calculated after any loss deductions for technologies.

The further an army travels, the more chance troops will be lost en route, from exhaustion, desertion, disease or other mishap. For every 5 regions traveled through an army has a 50% chance of losing an additional 1 unit, calculated after loss deductions for technologies. Any island region not accessible from a nearby coast is considered to be be five regions away from the nearest coast (determined by the GM) for purposes of ocean travel distance losses.

If no units remain on one side, their leaders are killed or captured by the other side.

If a General is commanding the army, they may be among the casualties, even if the battle is won. The GM will roll 1d10 and subtract the number of units lost by the army they are commanding. On a result of 1 or less, the General is lost. However a General will always survive on a natural roll of 10 provided there are still units remaining in the army.

Enemy Overrun

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Overrunning enemy armies

Overruns may occur when an army attempts to move through a region and finds its path blocked by enemy troops numbering less than 5 units. If the resulting battle would be won without the dice needing to be rolled, the result is determined automatically. The losing army is destroyed. Casualties are otherwise calculated normally.

Casualties are calculated for the winners based on number of casualties suffered by the losers, taking into account relevant technologies. If the attacker was attempting to move through the region and found itself intercepted, and won the battle, it may continue its progress and fight again in the same round. If the army was marching through the region and was defeated, its progress is halted and the region in which the battle took place is not considered conquered. Additional losses for travel and army size are calculated per army per round, rather than per battle.

Other Rules

Technology

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Technologies are created with use of an Economy 10 or Military 10 special action.

Some technologies are assumed to be known universally. For instance, everybody knows how to construct buildings, tame beasts of burden and forge steel and do not need specific technologies to do so. However there may be technologies which represent advanced techniques in these areas.

You can get new technologies in three ways: invent it with an Economy or Military 10 Special Action, trade for it with a friendly player, or steal it.

Stealing a technology is an Intrigue action. Specify which technology you are trying to steal and from which player, and make an opposed Intrigue check against that player. If you roll higher, you acquire the technology. If the theft is a secret action, the GM will roll for the other player.

Technologies usually give players who own them an advantage, whether by giving them a bonus on certain rolls, or allowing them to perform some actions they would not normally be able to or perform such actions more frequently than usual. They can be traded with other players at events or stolen with an opposed Intrigue roll. Technologies may be traded in the same round they are introduced by the inventing kingdom.

Once you have a technology it is yours for good. Technologies are assumed by default to be spread to all regions in your kingdom. If one of your regions is conquered, it is assumed the technological secrets were removed in the retreat.

Some technologies, mainly military ones, fit into a certain “slot”, listed on the table. This is a broad family of technologies that have a similar application. Technologies in the same slot do not stack with each other, as they become redundant. If you possess more than one technology in the same slot but with different bonuses, you need to specify which one you're using.

Some technologies have a prerequisite, and more advanced technologies may have more prerequisites. More prerequisites is not necessarily a good thing as it could incite more interest in interfering with trades relating to the prerequisite. If you want to claim the benefits of a technology you must have those prerequisites available in the round you want to use it. These prerequisites are specified in the technology list and may include other technologies or specific resources.

The use and bonuses of technologies are determined on a per-country basis. However, some technologies may specifically apply only to certain regions, and technologies that require multiple resources require all those resources to be available within the same country. If these prerequisites are not met, the technology will not function.

Where a technology requires a given resource, it might be possible to adapt the technology to use a similar, but different, resource. This can be done with an Economy 5 action and the player attempting it must possess both the “new” resource and the technology in question.

All aspects of creation, adaptation and ongoing management of technologies are at the discretion of the GM, and technologies that seem to be unbalanced or otherwise inappropriate will be restricted or prohibited. Players are advised to discuss technologies they wish to introduce with the GMs in advance.

Occupation

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Capital regions cannot be conquered. However, if a player has only their capital region remaining and suffers a defeat there to an invader, they become subject to an Occupation by that foreign army.

During an occupation, the foreign army maintains a degree of control over the region and keeps a close eye on the ruler and the ruler’s associates. An occupying player can prevent the occupied player from taking any actions associated with one attribute for the duration of their occupation. This attribute cannot be Intrigue. They should specify each round which action type they are preventing.

The longer an occupation lasts, the more likely the inhabitants are to rise up against the occupying foreign forces. In each round of an occupation, the occupying player must take an occupation action and roll 2d6+Diplomacy to attempt to maintain control over the region. Initially the occupier needs to roll 12 or higher but for each successive round the occupation is maintained the target number will rise by 2. If the occupier fails the roll, they are ejected from the region at the end of the round.

A player may voluntarily end an occupation at any time, or forgo their option to prevent the occupied player taking actions. This is a non-action on the part of the occupier.

Inactive Players, and Leaving the Game

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Since your capital region cannot be conquered, players will never be obliged to leave the game through losing wars or other hostile actions from other players.

If a player does not post actions for two successive rounds, they are considered to have left the game through inactivity. The GM will send a private message to the player in question before declaring them inactive. Their regions, including their capital region, will become unclaimed and may be taken by other players through claim or conquest.

Sometimes a player can be only temporarily absent. If a player does not post actions during a round, but others are using actions to make and confirm deals with the temporarily absent player, and the GM knows about it beforehand, then the action holds without the absent player having to spend an action on it.
A player who is invaded in a round where they do not post actions will automatically defend themselves with all the forces at their disposal. However such players will not take other military actions or non-actions, whether to respond to pleas for aid from allies or allow foreign armies passage through their lands.
If a player doesn’t post during a round, they receive one bonus action in their returning round. If a player has communicated their intent to take an absence, this additional action will be provided for every round missed by the player.

If a player knows they will be unavoidably absent for a number of rounds but intends to return, they can notify the GM in advance so that their country doesn’t become automatically inactive. If such a player doesn’t return when they said they would, they will be treated as inactive two rounds after the indicated return date, as with other inactive players.

We heartily welcome new players, as well as returning ones.

[Aedilred]

Reserved for additional rules bloat.

[QuintonBeck]

Regions, Kingdoms, Rulers, Religious Centers, Military Units, Trade Posts, Cultural Identity Tables