EMPIRE! CWBG XIV: To Heir is Human - To Faith 10, Divine

[Rain Dragon]

I thought that was because it is redirecting the export which is one thing rather than cancelling the export then trading with it which is two.

So, at least in my head it isn't an exception to things take effect at end of round.

[Kasanip]

So I'm total declaring an aggressive war with little to no actual hard evidence of reason for the attack other than my peoples deep seated resentment towards anyone who isn't them...

First I'd like to make a crack about America, because who can resist?
Secondly I was wondering how the world at large feels about such a war, and if I might be disliked or mistrusted, despite the actual hard evidence and lack of deep seated resentment I have, by any of you delightful people.

It's just an NPC anyway...
Please still love me?

Is it desired to make a war?
Because Soommor is a new player, probably it would not be interfered with by me such an NPC situation.
However, of course such a neighbor player character feelings to such an action is dislike and mistrust.

[DimpleLoamsdown]

Hi I am new I would like to become the leader of P7 what should I do? can anyone help me?

[Aedilred]

Hi I am new I would like to become the leader of P7 what should I do? can anyone help me?

Welcome to the game!

P7 is currently in the second round of colonisation by the Kingdom of Kuldran, a NPC; while this is not necessarily a barrier to claiming it as new players have traditionally taken priority over colonisers, it is within about 24 hours of the end of the round. If you were interested, a preferable option might be for you to take over Kuldran itself and thus start with both regions! P7 is still unwritten so you'd have pretty much a free hand when it came to defining it.

[DimpleLoamsdown]

i am new and know basically nothing. sorry. could i ask how?

[Aedilred]

i am new and know basically nothing. sorry. could i ask how?

We're currently enouraging players to take over NPCs; the process for this is basically the same as starting in a new region except obviously a lot of the details are already defined. The region post for Kuldran is here, but P7 has not been defined. The rules thread tells you how to create a region and there are plenty of examples in the same thread as the Kuldran post.

If you'd like to do that, I'd suggest you quote the Kuldran writeup and add any detail or make any minor changes you feel like, and create a region post for P7; post both of them in this thread and we'll take it from there. The current writeup for Kuldran is not hugely detailed nor are there any particularly outré details so it should be fairly easy to get to grips with.

If you don't want to take over all of Kuldran it's probably best to wait for Quinton to see whether taking P7 will be possible at this stage or whether there's a better region somewhere else for you. As has been mentioned earlier in the thread, while most of our current players started with just the one region, given how advanced many of them now are starting under the same circumstances puts new players at a bit of a handicap and many of our new players recently have struggled, so taking over a NPC is a good way to get a bit of a leg-up. (Starting as a vassal is also a good idea, for similar reasons).

[drack]

"Well hey, I'm always game for a nations game. Truth be told I've always preferred fluffing my own nations, but I'm thinking nomads anyways so it should be easy to squeeze in. A nice savage militant nomadic nation of non-humans. So, looking through the chains of threads each linking to five more I find myself unsure of where I should be beginning, where I should make my roles, and with the territories available having changed I wonder where it is that I might begin play? "
Post that was going in the recruitment thread until I noticed folks were pointing people this-a-way.
So dice are here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...Thread-The-2nd
IC is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...-amp-Discovery
OOC is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...aith-10-Divine
recruitment is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...on-NPCs-as-PCs!
and rules are here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...5#post19240925

That sound about right/those threads the right versions?

Lets see, I'd like to start in a rather blank NPC nation that has not been vassaled. Also, where are we in turn order? Turns are 2 weeks and change over on sundays, so is this the middle or tail end of a turn? Also should I assume that I begin immediately, or should I be waiting for other folks before I start as one thread suggested may be the case?

[Mynxae]

Also, where are we in turn order? Turns are 2 weeks and change over on sundays, so is this the middle or tail end of a turn? Also should I assume that I begin immediately, or should I be waiting for other folks before I start as one thread suggested may be the case?

Welcome! I'm somewhat of a new-ish player (6 rounds nearly) myself so I'll let the higher ranking people answer your other questions. The current round is about to end

As my sig says, I control the Ash-Kingdom of Maur, who're dragon-blooded humans who are vassalized to pretty much real dragons... Kind've.

[Snowfire]

Hey drack. How's tricks?

Nomads are something of a special case in that they really don't (and can't) hold regions, instead moving through them. More rules and expertise could be given by Tychris or Rain Dragon. They're still kinda in beta, but I think their rules are pretty stable at this point >.>

[Aedilred]

"Well hey, I'm always game for a nations game. Truth be told I've always preferred fluffing my own nations, but I'm thinking nomads anyways so it should be easy to squeeze in. A nice savage militant nomadic nation of non-humans. So, looking through the chains of threads each linking to five more I find myself unsure of where I should be beginning, where I should make my roles, and with the territories available having changed I wonder where it is that I might begin play? "
Post that was going in the recruitment thread until I noticed folks were pointing people this-a-way.
So dice are here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...Thread-The-2nd
IC is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...-amp-Discovery
OOC is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...aith-10-Divine
recruitment is here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...on-NPCs-as-PCs!
and rules are here http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...5#post19240925

That sound about right/those threads the right versions?

That's right, although since you've found your way here you don't need to worry about the recruitment thread any more really.

Lets see, I'd like to start in a rather blank NPC nation that has not been vassaled. Also, where are we in turn order? Turns are 2 weeks and change over on sundays, so is this the middle or tail end of a turn? Also should I assume that I begin immediately, or should I be waiting for other folks before I start as one thread suggested may be the case?

This is almost the end of the round. At one point we had a waiting list so that new players could join at roughly the same time but that is no longer really a concern. With the very large number of new players over the last week there might maybe be some merit in reviving it but we can probably cope.

In terms of non-vassal relatively undefined NPCs there are probably two principal options: the Voreal Kingdom and Kelldria. The Voreal kingdom (nonhumans) has its capital region defined and its religion is known, but its other regions have not been written up. The Kells (who are human) are slightly different as although only one of their regions has been detailed their people have been detailed extensively. They are also the most NPC of NPCs with a long OOC history before they even appeared in person, and it's only relatively recently that they've been anything other than universally antagonistic, so they could be quite challenging.

Crima is not a vassal and has some undefined regions, but there are a lot of details for the people on the whole and they are in the middle of a very complicated claim scenario.

The Sulvan Primarchy might be another option: it is currently a vassal but doesn't necessarily have to remain so, and although it too has a long history with some twists and turns, two of its regions are awaiting a writeup and its capital region has not been player-run for a very long time. It also would start with some powerful allies.

If you would prefer to start from scratch as a free nomad that might be possible (depending on Quinton's ruling): there was a limit of three player-run nomads which was initially filled but we're now down to one there.

[drack]

Welcome! I'm somewhat of a new-ish player (6 rounds nearly) myself so I'll let the higher ranking people answer your other questions. The current round is about to end

As my sig says, I control the Ash-Kingdom of Maur, who're dragon-blooded humans who are vassalized to pretty much real dragons... Kind've.

Sweet, so if I finish everything up today I'll be ready for a new round in a day or two ay?

Hey drack. How's tricks?

Nomads are something of a special case in that they really don't (and can't) hold regions, instead moving through them. More rules and expertise could be given by Tychris or Rain Dragon. They're still kinda in beta, but I think their rules are pretty stable at this point >.>

Oh you how she goes snow, just rocken-n'-groovin. Prolly GMing a few too many games at the moment and feeling IRL crunch. Hows about you?

Anywho I know they don't get a nation, but it's probably best that I at least start in a territory so I can start negotiating my continued travels through the world ay? Ya know any nice empty ones to kick off from?

Anywho nomads can hold land, just not with the size of tribe that they start with. You know, there's nomadic empires where they get a stable base to go off nomadicly exploring from.

Edits for ninjas:

That's right, although since you've found your way here you don't need to worry about the recruitment thread any more really.

cooleo

This is almost the end of the round. At one point we had a waiting list so that new players could join at roughly the same time but that is no longer really a concern. With the very large number of new players over the last week there might maybe be some merit in reviving it but we can probably cope.

Yup, I'm fine with the challenge of starting on my own without the backing of my own initial coalition. I'm sure that sort of thing comes with time, diplomacy, war, and player-player interactions.

In terms of non-vassal relatively undefined NPCs there are probably two principal options: the Voreal Kingdom and Kelldria. The Voreal kingdom (nonhumans) has its capital region defined and its religion is known, but its other regions have not been written up. The Kells (who are human) are slightly different as although only one of their regions has been detailed their people have been detailed extensively. They are also the most NPC of NPCs with a long OOC history before they even appeared in person, and it's only relatively recently that they've been anything other than universally antagonistic, so they could be quite challenging.

Crima is not a vassal and has some undefined regions, but there are a lot of details for the people on the whole and they are in the middle of a very complicated claim scenario.

The Sulvan Primarchy might be another option: it is currently a vassal but doesn't necessarily have to remain so, and although it too has a long history with some twists and turns, two of its regions are awaiting a writeup and its capital region has not been player-run for a very long time. It also would start with some powerful allies.

Where would I view present fluff/interactions for these nations?

If you would prefer to start from scratch as a free nomad that might be possible (depending on Quinton's ruling): there was a limit of three player-run nomads which was initially filled but we're now down to one there.

Neat-o, looks like I'm finding it at just the right sort of time then.

nomad section mentioned extra benefits of having a nomad in your lands, is that the added production that we can work on their developments for them or was there something else I missed?

[Elemental]

Lets see, I'd like to start in a rather blank NPC nation that has not been vassaled. Also, where are we in turn order? Turns are 2 weeks and change over on sundays, so is this the middle or tail end of a turn? Also should I assume that I begin immediately, or should I be waiting for other folks before I start as one thread suggested may be the case?

So many new players...
Firstly, we are at the end of this round, so the next two weeks are the next round.
Secondly, other people have the full list of NPCs ready to copy paste, but near as I can tell there aren't any in a good position that aren't already vassals or taken over by someone. There are a couple of states that are vassals where it's more or less easy for them to break their vassalage if they so choose if you want to go that route. Alydaxis (lizardfolk) and Sulvan's Fury (dwarves) are both strong states in need of some direction so they're options. I should probably provide the full list rather than my neighbours and current allies.

Spoiler: Here's a list of the NPCs (stolen from Aedilred):

Show

Sulvan Primarchy - Much put-upon dwarves of the north-west, nearly a Great Kingdom
Alzeroth - Human collective government, a distant vassal to the Hurosha Empire
Warriors of Syivine - mysterious warrior nomads in the Kingdom of Ashenia
Kingdom of Stolok - Humans and Frosten, nearly Great Kingdom vassal to Glazfell recently expanded at the expense of the Voreal Kingdom (or rather, its vassals)
Niemida Prefecture - Humans, eastern colony of the Salterri Imperium
Novrania - Island kingdom in the southwest with some mainland possessions, vassal to the Seaborne Confederation
Coalition of the Abyssian Sea - underwater trilobite-people in the southeast, vassal to the Kingdom of the Carmine Sea
Del-taihn Provinces - a small region of sheep-people in the north-west, vassal to Niskovia
Razdis - Dwarves, vassal to Faedas
Grand Duchy of Pavonia - Germanic themed humans in the south, recently subjugated by the Caercian Consortium and now their vassal
North Lyradis - (not quite) half of the Kingdom of Serendel, split off to form its own faction but still a vassal of the Serendels.
Voreal Kingdom - former Frosten imperial power in the far north recently humbled in a war with its neighbor.
Kelldria - xenophobic exiles sulking near the south pole
Sympolemou - Rat-men warriors, vassal to Glazfell
Alydaxis - (mostly) Lizardfolk, Great Kingdom vassal to the Kingdom of the Silver Moon
METAL - Orcs, Great Kingdom vassal to the Tzaltec Empire
Ahmeskharras - Mixed orcs and humans, vassal to METAL
Kingdom of Faelthalas - Single region kingdom with opportunities to expand in the south, vassal to the Caercian Consortium
Tyranny of New Crima - Intense egalitarian mongol metalheads (of sorts) with a Great Kingdom possibility in the south, staunchly independent
Kingdom of Kuldran - Polar northern kingdom, typical kingdom style expanding currently in the north
Thalmann Legacy - Small human kingdom in the southeast
An Nádur - Deerfolk and other variegated demihuman and fae nomads in the south

From that list, I'd say the Voreal Kingdom is probably the strongest non-vassal, but it has a lot of writing up of regions required.


Edit: Being helpful results in ninjas people. Just remember that.

[drack]

So many new players...

Edit: Being helpful results in ninjas people. Just remember that.

I hear ya mate, at first I saw folks had been on the recruitment thread about an hour before I found it so I figured I might get a speedy response. When I didn't get one (immediately) I figured it might be a bit, then I reply to another thread and folks have typed up some nice big replies but they all started at once so they're still coming in.

It makes for a veritable ninja breeding ground ay?
Edit: forgot to mention, just after you posted I edited my post to reply to a ninja.

[Aedilred]

Where would I view present fluff/interactions for these nations?

The current region posts for almost all regions are in the Lands thread; the latest map is here. The one region defined for each of the Kells and the Voreal Kingdom are in this post (along with the two Anavian/Stolok regions). The Sulvan Primarchy's region posts are a little more scattered: the capital is in this post (towards the bottom; only that one region is part of the Primarchy); region 20A in this post, and the other two are as yet undefined. Fresh or revised region posts should probably go initially in this thread, and then be moved over to the Lands thread when they're finished. It doesn't really matter, but since it's fairly common for people to post regions and then not join the game it helps to stop that thread becoming full of dud regions.

nomad section mentioned extra benefits of having a nomad in your lands, is that the added production that we can work on their developments for them or was there something else I missed?

There are few inherent benefits to having nomads in your lands, and there are some desultory penalties (they steal your people!) which maybe could do with being amped up but it's a difficult balance to strike. But having them there means in principle that they can help you with projects, and if you are attacked the nomads can serve as extra troops. Most of the benefits that were considered ended up not being applied, I think, for various reasons.

In practice however it is largely up to player interactions and you might not see much benefit. I think nomads spend so many actions on population recruitment and moving around that they don't have a lot spare to spend on their own projects and the like, let alone their hosts'. I've had nomads in my lands for about twelve rounds and have seen no real tangible benefit from it at all that I recall other than some trades (but I could have had those with almost anyone, had the resources existed elsewhere). But that's possibly because I was rather generous: a more demanding host could probably extract quite a few concessions from their nomads.

[drack]

Why thank ye

Oh yeah, and more questions.

Can nomads make other nations their vassals?

There is mention of ruler stats and stats for other people, how many other people can you get at the start? (other important folks in your nation)

there any rolls beyond the 5d4 & corresponding 4d4s for other folks in nation building while I fluff it before I take actions?

[Aedilred]

Can nomads make other nations their vassals?

Yes, once they form a nomad league. Nomads work in basically the same way as anyone else as far as vassalisation goes, with groups being equal to regions anywhere else.

There is mention of ruler stats and stats for other people, how many other people can you get at the start? (other important folks in your nation)

there any rolls beyond the 5d4 & corresponding 4d4s for other folks in nation building while I fluff it before I take actions?

Only rulers have stats for most meaningful circumstances. Occasionally you'll end up with a situation where more than one of your characters has attributes at any given time, usually because a ruler has stepped down without dying, or because an heir's attributes have been generated in preparation for their taking over the following round. There might be occasions where you want to generate a non-ruling character's attributes specifically but since they're designed for rulers it might not be appropriate to do so.

Even in those cases though the current ruler's attributes are used for pretty much all your actions: a former ruler's attributes would only be used in "unofficial" contexts like Games or duels, or possibly if someone tried to assassinate them specifically.

So the 5d4 generates your first ruler; when they retire or die it's 4d4 for their heir and those are pretty much the only times you need to worry about it.

You can have any number of characters at any time; the only limits are your population limit(!) and how many you can manage to keep track of. Most players who are active in RP threads have several: usually the ruler's family, a few senior advisors or councillors, regional governors, and so on.

[Rain Dragon]

In practice however it is largely up to player interactions and you might not see much benefit. I think nomads spend so many actions on population recruitment and moving around that they don't have a lot spare to spend on their own projects and the like, let alone their hosts'. I've had nomads in my lands for about twelve rounds and have seen no real tangible benefit from it at all that I recall other than some trades (but I could have had those with almost anyone, had the resources existed elsewhere). But that's possibly because I was rather generous: a more demanding host could probably extract quite a few concessions from their nomads.

You let them get away with it! (I am certain it was a bit of both.)

[drack]

So the 5d4 generates your first ruler; when they retire or die it's 4d4 for their heir and those are pretty much the only times you need to worry about it.

You can have any number of characters at any time; the only limits are your population limit(!) and how many you can manage to keep track of. Most players who are active in RP threads have several: usually the ruler's family, a few senior advisors or councillors, regional governors, and so on.

Due to time constraints I guess I'll start with one and build the rest round 2 (or forty some, but 2 for me. )

Hmm, been debating my nation theme, but ya know what? I've had witches on the mind, why not go from there ay?

Now I notice you have tech and such is there room for fluffing militant strength and tech as magic or will that be just a background ideology at the end of the day?

[Aedilred]

Due to time constraints I guess I'll start with one and build the rest round 2 (or forty some, but 2 for me. )

Hmm, been debating my nation theme, but ya know what? I've had witches on the mind, why not go from there ay?

Now I notice you have tech and such is there room for fluffing militant strength and tech as magic or will that be just a background ideology at the end of the day?

Magic is broadly speaking a grey area and is largely handled on a case-by-case basis by the GM(s). There are quite a few magical or quasi-magical resources, for instance, and a number of technologies based off them which would probably be considered magitech. There are also a lot of people around who might be considered to have an intrinsic magic connection (although the nature of the fae/fey is kind of up in the air OOC). However true magic is generally the preserve of Faith and Luck (usually the 10-actions for each).

So having a people that are just for whatever reason "unnaturally" physically powerful would probably be ok: there are a number such examples around the place as things stand. But to create actual warrior-wizards would likely require application of an appropriate action (most likely Luck, as that's what was used the last time someone tried that).

A general presumption for magic that applies setting-wide is that it's not very powerful in isolation, but when it encounters other magic, both sides will build in power. Given the very small number of actual magic users in play, such magical duels are pretty uncommon.

In your shoes and wanting to play a witchcraft-themed country I think Faith would probably be the attribute you'd want to focus on, although arguments could be made for all of them.

[drack]

Magic is broadly speaking a grey area and is largely handled on a case-by-case basis by the GM(s). There are quite a few magical or quasi-magical resources, for instance, and a number of technologies based off them which would probably be considered magitech. There are also a lot of people around who might be considered to have an intrinsic magic connection (although the nature of the fae/fey is kind of up in the air OOC). However true magic is generally the preserve of Faith and Luck (usually the 10-actions for each).

So having a people that are just for whatever reason "unnaturally" physically powerful would probably be ok: there are a number such examples around the place as things stand. But to create actual warrior-wizards would likely require application of an appropriate action (most likely Luck, as that's what was used the last time someone tried that).

A general presumption for magic that applies setting-wide is that it's not very powerful in isolation, but when it encounters other magic, both sides will build in power. Given the very small number of actual magic users in play, such magical duels are pretty uncommon.

In your shoes and wanting to play a witchcraft-themed country I think Faith would probably be the attribute you'd want to focus on, although arguments could be made for all of them.

Well I've got 44331 as my stats, so I'm thinking 4 military, 4 luck, 3 creativity, 3 diplo, and 1 faith originally, though I suppose I could swap creativity and faith, I was thinking less the modern wicca witches and more the old mythological evil wise woman in her hut kind. I'm certainly giving them unusual non-human physiology, though they won't be super-strong generally speaking.

I had sort of figured by the crunch that it was non-magical or maybe super strong on rare occassion, though the mention of fey before made me wonder and then I figured may as well go for it. Beats out the cliche goblin/orc/ect type roaming hoard, plus it looks like a good few others already did that. I imagine my nation will end up like gypsies when all is said and done.

Oh yeah,and how do resources work? Nomad creation rules says I make 3 that are non-location-dependent, I assume these are related to trade, what do they do? Are they of infinite quantity? Do trade agreements with nomads remain even when the nomads leave the area? (no real supply routs when they'd have to be remade every turn or five)

Man though, looking at existing nations that population and skill level/technology gap is a touch intimidating.

[Aedilred]

To deal with the trade questions individually:t

Oh yeah,and how do resources work? Nomad creation rules says I make 3 that are non-location-dependent, I assume these are related to trade, what do they do?

Yes, they're for trade. In many cases they have mainly a fluff effect, but some resources can help increase your population (like food and luxury resources) and some form prerequisites for some technologies.

Are they of infinite quantity?

Resources start out at Good quantity, which means you have three tradeable "stacks" of each to start with (in addition to one that remains with you). They can be upgraded to Great quantity, which takes it up to six tradeable stacks.

Do trade agreements with nomads remain even when the nomads leave the area? (no real supply routs when they'd have to be remade every turn or five)

Yes. So long as there is a route available between you and the region in question the trades remain valid. This is perhaps not 100% satisfactory from a verisimilitude perspective but without tracking trade routes, which would be a nightmare, it's the only real way to do it. When a blockade would force trade to take a very circuitous route I've sometimes taken the view (as trade overseer) that the blockade is effective but most of the time trade can continue over any distance.

Man though, looking at existing nations that population and skill level/technology gap is a touch intimidating.

Note that nomads have a much lower population than static regions anyway: rather less than 10%. The technology gap is likely to be more of an issue if you get into tangles with other people, but a lot of the non-sensitive technologies are not that difficult to acquire if you talk to the right people. The former player of Crima managed to pick up pretty much the entire tech table in his first round by playing different established players off against each other, although replicating that feeding frenzy is likely to be tricky.

[drack]

Is diplomacy usually done in PMs& forwarded to a GM or in public?

[Gengy]

The former player of Crima managed to pick up pretty much the entire tech table in his first round by playing different established players off against each other, although replicating that feeding frenzy is likely to be tricky.

Hey drack! Welcome. I'm the established Underwater Player (as in, the one with only Underwater regions). I've been around 10 rounds, and you don't feel the population gap as much after playing for a while. Getting Techs - like DoomHat did - also is pretty easy. Most people will give you a "care package" as an opening round trade agreement. If no one else does, the Regnum of Praeclarus (my nation) will! We like making friends.

...24 hours from now, I'll also be able to make Vassals (though I realize you don't wish to start that way, and I respect that).

Is diplomacy usually done in PMs& forwarded to a GM or in public?

Little of column A, little of column B. Depends on what kind of diplomacy. If it's trades and such, those must be public in your IC post. If it's future dealings, those can be private until they solidify.

Letting a GM know that something is up - and talking it out with them (probably Quinton Beck) - is still advisable for newer players until you've got a grasp on things.

[drack]

Yup, I'm sure I'll survive one way or another.

Words that sound rather different when you repeat them in a cold ruthless bloodthirsty tone.

Yup, no need to hand out favors, I'd rather earn it myself, and say, mayhaps my resources will become more useful or something to compensate. If not I accept that I'm doing a quite queer and weird nation which will carry it's own advantages and drawbacks which at the end of the day might be just enough to fix me back up. (pop at the moment is 37k with many at 1 million so it'll certainly still be there if ever I do to war, and having some militant emphasis I can't so quickly dismiss the notion...

Anywho I understand what you mean about tech. I'm considering putting less emphasis on it to begin with simply because I know one needs to work hard at it to jealously guard tech at all as it's bound to spread otherwise, so I figure I'll only be worried on that front for a few rounds.

Edit: PM v. public negotiations: So the trades when concluded go public, what about the RP and such?

[zabbarot]

Edit: PM v. public negotiations: So the trades when concluded go public, what about the RP and such?

RP can be as public or private as you like, but too much private RP and people will wonder why you do things with no visible justification. So... balance it.

[Gengy]

Personally, I keep the RP in the Events forums, and also my IC posts for how agreements are worded. In PMs or other such private dealings, I'm not the Regnum, but Gengy.

[drack]

Gotya, I'm probably gonna favor private a bit then since I figure my nation would fit better were it wrapped in a thin veil of secrecy to heighten the mysteries about it, though I believe I will end up with both. Judging by the mass of threads I assume it's common practice to make new threads for certain diplomatic meetings and the like?

[zabbarot]

Gotya, I'm probably gonna favor private a bit then since I figure my nation would fit better were it wrapped in a thin veil of secrecy to heighten the mysteries about it, though I believe I will end up with both. Judging by the mass of threads I assume it's common practice to make new threads for certain diplomatic meetings and the like?

Very common. This is a good way to do private RP. Then later down the line you can 'declassify' you threads when those particular secrets don't matter as much.

[QuintonBeck]

I know you said you wanted to create your own nation, but consider possibly picking up one of our NPC nomads instead and working with the stuff they have since adding more nomads while 2/3 soon to be 3/3 of the original nomads do nothing/go NPC is rather cluttered (and more work for me) There's the Warriors of Syivine who are a matriachal band of warriors who follow the player-run religion of the Doctrine of the Frost which reveres a goddess of winter. They are currently a vassal to the Kingdom of Ashenia but Ashenia has made no demands of them and they've been free to do more or less whatever they want in converting folks and raising big armies.

There's also the An Nadur whose creator player (Rain Dragon) is still around. They're not nearly as militant as the warriors, but they're forming a 4 nomad group this round meaning with a new leader getting to Diplomacy 10 they could form a Nomad League pretty quick. The have some naturalist witch/druid type inclinations already with the ability to wildshape having been Miracled into them. They're also a non-vassal at the moment though they have more filled in than the Warriors.

The Warriors are human and the An Nadur fae, spriggan, and elven but being a nomad means you can travel to places with people you like the look of and recruit them into your horde so it's pretty open to change.

As for RP, it's best done in threads, preferably main RP threads in a round though if it involves a fair number of people or is an exclusive event a separate thread is appropriate. IC PMs for direct correspondences are done but usually the results of those discussions end up in actions if one is pledging public alliance or a trade agreement.

[Aedilred]

Edit: PM v. public negotiations: So the trades when concluded go public, what about the RP and such?

As people have said. Pretty much every round there's an "event" which might be a diplomatic conference, an international games, a coronation ceremony, a grand ball, or whatever, and people attend with their characters and interact there on a PbP basis. Attending an event is also a good way to get a lot of trades, treaty signings, betrothals etc. through as a single action as such things done at an event can all be sub-actions of the attendance. Most of these events are public and are advertised in this thread but there are also private ones which are invitation-only (and usually private OOC as well unless stated otherwise, albeit some earlier private threads are now publicly viewable).

Some players also post short fluff snippets, short stories etc. along with their actions post. If you take a look through the actions thread you will doubtless find a few. That tends to be a way to illustrate certain facets of someone's personality, introduce new characters, explain IC decisions, or just show something you think would be cool.

I suspect that actual roleplay via PM is relatively minimal, if only because a lot of back and forth will clog inboxes in no time, although sending IC letters by PM is not uncommon. For conversations it's usually better to set up a thread unless you're really paranoid about OOC security.

That is, of course, all IC, and a lot of player interaction and diplomacy is OOC, both publicly in this thread and by PM or other private conversation (there are some private OOC alliance threads, and some people are on Skype, for instance). This is usually quicker and easier to coordinate as slogging through agreements IC can be time-consuming; it will depend on circumstances and player preference. But of course doing things for completely OOC reasons is frowned upon so some IC justification to back up any OOC agreements is a good idea.

Secret actions are PMd to Quinton. I guess there's no reason why trades can't be secret, but that means they won't be centrally accounted (as the central record is publicly accessible) and therefore could be missed if they actually become relevant. Trades for technologies being secret probably makes more sense than trades for resources.