I've found that any system for something like this that is created by a group and run by that group tends to be more engaging than something that's already got rules. For instance, I'm going to be drawing up a trading system for my next campaign, where Resource X costs Y gold in Nation Z, but sells for 1.5Y Gold in Nation A. That kind of thing. Not that it's particularly groundbreaking or anything, but it's something that I'm going to tailor to MY world, so it's going to have a bit more flavor.
So if you're the DM, set up a system. Feel free to steal from other books or settings (as long as you're not selling anything) for reference, but I'd say tweak it heavily so that it's YOURS. If you're a player, express an interest with the DM.
it relies on five 'formulas'
happiness = productivity (lower cost for items)
confusion = disloyalty (lack of confusion = loyalty)
feelings of unity = low crime
safety = smaller cities, larger rural areas
extreme (large OR small) amounts of resources = greed
I rank all of these on a % scale. Doing some things impact some of these 5 scales
eg, higher taxes, that get spent on buying soldiers, results in :-happiness, -confusion, +safety
after that, I find a way that those effects are visible, in the above example, I would migrate people into farming areas, since they feel safe away from the cities. This would result in base resource prices going down, and secondary ones going up.
now, this works for a town, but it might also work for a larger country. My players may do streetwise checks to find out the % for ONE category/day. DC is 10+ 0.5 per % that the scale is away from 50.
I hope you like it!
Please post the rules either here or under the homebrew forum
.Just make sure that is the kind of game your players want.
Be careful letting players become the rulers of countries though. Basically it puts an end to any credible excuse for adventuring. The king doesn't disappear for 2 weeks to go dungeon delving
Just make sure that is the kind of game your players want.
There is no adventuring if only because the objective of the game is different; to build kingdoms. There is a fair amount of roleplaying though (which is my group's strength).
So, without further delay, at the behest of MatthewSwift, the rules (though they are still a little under construction):
Rules of Civilization
• Before the first turn, your civilization has already discovered and utilizes one discovery.
• Six resources points are gained at the start of the first turn.
• Four resource points are gained automatically at the start of each subsequent turn.
• Resource points may also be gained, at a rate of one per and to a maximum of four per round, from Tools and RP-producing Heroes.
• When a Tool or a RP-producing Hero is created, the resource point produced each turn must be keyed to a specific 1 RP action.
1 RP Actions – General Actions
• Nourish Settlement - Add +1 to the population of a settlement.
• Tame Beast – Domesticate a beast for use in war or for general use.
• Tame Land – Expand the borders of your territory, revealing what lies beyond
• Construct Fortifications – Create fortifications or improve existing fortifications for a single settlement (maximum of +3 per settlement).
• Teach Populace – Teach your people to utilize a discovery.
• Dispatch Emissary/Caravan – Send a representative of your people to speak with members of another civilization to trade or for diplomacy.
• Build Roads – Build a road between two civilizations or amongst your own settlements.
1 RP Actions – Military Actions
• Recruit Army – Recruit an army (may recruit a number of armies equal to half your total population, rounded down).
• March Army – Move one army to a designated settlement or a specific spot. This action may only be used if the route is along a road.
• Aid/Attack Kingdom – Instigate a battle between one of your armies and an opposing army or settlement.
• Construct Siege Engine – Add a battery or catapults, ballistae and the like to an army (providing a permanent +1 combat bonus). May be used, with the Aid/Attack Kingdom action, while outside a settlement with fortifications, to reduce that settlement’s fortification value by one.
• Equip Army – Add a unit of tamed beasts to an army or equip the army with superior armor/weapons/spells etc. (provides a permanent +1 combat bonus, may be used twice)
2 RP Actions – General Actions
• Build Settlement – Build a small settlement with a population of one. Must be adjacent to or within your own borders.
2 RP Actions – Military Actions
• March Army – Move one army to a designated settlement or a specific spot. This movement does not have to be along a road.
3 RP Actions – General Actions
• Hire Hero - Hire a renowned adventurer capable of producing RP or granting a +1 combat bonus. Must be attached to an army to provide the combat bonus.
• Create Tool – Create a tool capable of producing RP or granting a +1 combat bonus. Must be attached to an army to provide the combat bonus.
• Discovery – Make an important discovery. When you make a discovery, your own civilization automatically knows how to utilize it.
Examples of discoveries include Agriculture, Writing and Language, Bronze Working, Masonry and Construction, Animal Husbandry, Mysticism, Pottery, Horseback Riding, Warrior Code, Ship Building, Magic Use, Code of Laws, Music, Trade, Paper, Polytheism, Mathematics, Engineering, Iron Working, Feudalism, Monarchy, Glassblowing, Navigation and Mapmaking, Currency, Literature, Monotheism, Astronomy, Invention, Machinery, Medicine, Philosophy, Republic, Leadership and Tactics, Sanitation, Economics and Banking, Printing Press, Scientific Method, Chemistry, Gunpowder, Explosives, Metallurgy, Physics, Steel, Steam Engine, Industrialization, Democracy, Railroad, Biology, Assembly Line, Communism, Rifling, still in progress...
4 RP Actions – General Actions
• Grant Nobility - Grant one of your subjects a minor title. This minor noble is beholden to you and may take actions (gains 2 RP per turn).
• Build Colony – Build a small settlement with a population of one. May be built anywhere. Provides a bonus RP that may be used for any action (only 2 colonies total, per civilization, may be built and only after your total population reaches 30).
Rules of Battle
• A battle may be fought between two armies in the open, an army and a settlement garrisoned with an army, or an army and an undefended settlement.
• When the Attack Kingdom action is used, roll a D20. Add any subsequent combat bonuses and compare to the defense value of the defending army or settlement.
• An army’s defense value is simply ten plus any combat modifiers it has.
• A settlement has a defense value of ten plus its fortification value, plus one for each army garrisoned within it.
• If an army attacks another army and its attack roll, plus bonuses, is greater than the defense value of the defending army, the defending army loses one of its +1 bonuses (equip, siege engine, hero etc.). If it has no bonuses, it is instead destroyed.
• If an army attacks another army and its attack roll, plus bonuses, is less than the defense value of the defending army, the attacking army loses one of its +1 bonuses (equip, siege engine, hero etc.). If it has no bonuses, it is instead destroyed.
• If an army attacks a settlement that is garrisoned (or not) with an army and its attack roll, plus bonuses, is greater than the defense value of the settlement, the settlement loses one population point or one army garrisoned within (defender’s choice).
• If an army attacks a settlement that is garrisoned (or not) with an army and its attack roll, plus bonuses, is less than the defense value of the settlement, the attacking army loses one of its +1 bonuses (equip, siege engine, hero etc.). If it has no bonuses, it is instead destroyed.
• If a settlement is reduced to a population of one and is not garrisoned, the attacked army may use an attack kingdom action to either destroy the settlement or occupy it. If a settlement is reduced to a population or one and is garrisoned, battle commences between the garrisoned army and the attack army.
• Your capital automatically gets a +1 to its defense value.
• Your armies get bonuses depending on what type equipment they utilize. Bronze Working, Iron Working, Feudalism, Gunpowder, Rifling, Automatic Weapons, Mechanized Warfare etc. A cumulative +1 bonus is gained if your army possesses equipment further along the list than your opponent’s.
Enjoy! Any questions and comments or anything to add to it are welcome!
Edit: Added a parenthesis
discoveries should be more defined before I could use this with just anyone but with my group and more than likely yours this is a pretty sweet setup. Couple this with some sort of large combat sim and you have some epic gaming coming your way. well done.
There were rules for running dominions in basic D&D (blue and green box) including a system to simulate the clash of armies. With some adapting, this is still usable.
This information should also be in the Rules encyclopedia, which was a reprint of the first four D&D boxes (but not the immortal rules in box 5).
The DMG of 1st Edition AD&D had also information about that, but I prefer the old D&D rules - they are simple and easy to use, unless you look for something really involved.
The combat, too, is a bit lacking. The first game that helped my descent into nerd-dom was WHFB, so I have a bit of a soft spot for large-scale tactical games. Something like that might not be free-form enough for the game though. Maybe a set of 1-RP actions to initiate different battle strategies?