Nation Building BeckonCall's Fantasy Nation-building RPG thread

[SpiralErrant]

As a trading folk who's stock is usually put at great risk during raids I see Tyren having no issue in looting attackers for all their corpse is worth.... GIVE ME THINGS!


Times like this I think I should have made a warrior culture, seeing those mud elves with skulls and trophies all like "Yeah that dude knows what's up"

 

[KamiKahzy]

I'm a habitual hoarder when it comes to games that will let me do so, with Bethesda as my primary enabler.


For me loot is all about the uniqueness and functionality of it. I'll be happy with a great many things as long as I feel they make sense for the scenario or I can glean some type of use out of it. But I'm also happy with straight up monies because who doesn't love a giant pile of treasure they can have on call? I think the most valuable things for me though are items that have a story tied to it. Trophies, monuments, heirlooms, books, relics, hand crafted items, anything that has significance beyond its face value. I like being able to look back at the things I've earned and remember the moments that lead up to its capture or retrieval. In fact this means that I enjoy new characters as loot too! Especially if they're interesting characters, I rather enjoy building up alliances like that. (No I totally don't have a pokemon mindset when it comes to NPCs what are you talking about??)


As for my rats they are very adept at picking bodies clean of valuables. In their society you can't afford to waste anything, so everything is either recycled or repurposed in some form. And I do mean everything.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Would captured individuals be a part of this "loot"? Idk if any of our factions have a history with it, but slavery goes rather hand in hand with colonizing.

 

[Beckoncall]

As a trading folk who's stock is usually put at great risk during raids I see Tyren having no issue in looting attackers for all their corpse is worth.... GIVE ME THINGS!
Times like this I think I should have made a warrior culture, seeing those mud elves with skulls and trophies all like "Yeah that dude knows what's up"

You've already undergone radical changes for your people -- if you wish to adopt new traditions, now may be as good as any. If you truly intend to pay the Gnolls back in heads, perhaps there will be some thought about craft and talisman with some of what remains?

 

[SpiralErrant]

You've already undergone radical changes for your people -- if you wish to adopt new traditions, now may be as good as any. If you truly intend to pay the Gnolls back in heads, perhaps there will be some thought about craft and talisman with some of what remains?

It is a strange time for them (makes me wonder how things would have gone if I'd gone with my human nomads idea) but they're just not a head taking bunch. Wearing animal skins from a hunt is one thing but I think of most Tyren as seeing themselves as their own version of civilized, something that they'll be aching to shove in the haughtier factions' faces once the battle stuff ends and it's justifiable to get the farm and luxury guilds up and running. I mean we covered it a while ago but most of them are richer than they've ever been since coming to the new land.


The most savage of the bunch is undoubtedly Orm and he makes active effort to try and be gentle with others.

 

[SpiralErrant]

@Beckoncall Real talk for a moment, kind of on that subject: This RP has made joining new nation builders really difficult. Some of the events have helped inspire the creation of a bunch of other cultures but every time I see a new RP to possibly use them in I think "Nah I wanna keep them in reserve in case Beck does a new colony RP in the future."

 

[KamiKahzy]

That sounds like a personal problem there @SpiralErrant.

 

[Beckoncall]

Would captured individuals be a part of this "loot"? Idk if any of our factions have a history with it, but slavery goes rather hand in hand with colonizing.

This is s a very interesting question -- some mud-elf captives were already taken when the exiles pulled their fallen from the field in the first clash... I will say that the Imperial Oriental Company had quite a fond vision of slavery and it's place in the colony, but it doesn't look like they fared too well from it...


Slavery and indentured servitude should be addressed... but that will likely come up when the loosest semblance of government manifests -- or will become inevitable to confront when some party or another picks up the practice.


It may be justifiable to make captives do forced labor for the colony, at least during the war... that idea still has yet to fall out of fashion even these days.

 

[KamiKahzy]

It may be justifiable to make captives do forced labor for the colony, at least during the war... that idea still has yet to fall out of fashion even these days.

Indeed, just look at North Korea.

 

[Beckoncall]

@Beckoncall Real talk for a moment, kind of on that subject: This RP has made joining new nation builders really difficult. Some of the events have helped inspire the creation of a bunch of other cultures but every time I see a new RP to possibly use them in I think "Nah I wanna keep them in reserve in case Beck does a new colony RP in the future."

Real talk back I have this to say: If you join other nation builders I hope they do not take you too far from the one we already have going. I wouldn't expect it, but I certainly couldn't run another game next to this one. That said, It will likely be a WHILE before I run another nation building RP -- so if you have cool ideas you want to try, experiment and maybe you bring a refined/modified version into another game.


This game stands to evolve in one of two ways:


1) There is a current map and threats and mysteries aplenty here. If the current area is pacified and the colony becomes self-sustaining (and the forecast extinction event known as "THE CULL" can be circumvented) -- then the game may cease open-ended after a small # of years... at the present pace and scope, we are in season 1 of at least 8 seasons (The colony is expected to be annihilated if it cannot unravel/solve/confront the mystery of the cull by winter of the second year after arrival.) So... maybe the end is mastering the region and an epilogue of what happened to the colony on the basis of what happened during the game. Considering we're just moving into Year 1 season 2, The game will surely have been long, rich and satisfying even just on the scale we have.


2) The alternative to the above (Win by pacification of the region) is that if the players (be they same or different from now) wish, once the borders of the present map are secure, I would then make a larger zoomed out map of similar sized regions, and the scale of the game would change... a lot would stay the same, but the scope would be different. It would be less the scope of "Can we make this ruin safe? Can we control this forest?" to "Can we eliminate enemy sovereignty in the neighboring regions? Can we tame vast tracts of wilderness with our own offshoot settlers? Independence from the Empire of Muurdaan and perhaps taking war to them would be an aspect of this direction, if it was not already addressed in the above scenario.


And there are always 3rd options yet unknown.


That being said @SpiralErrant : The next fantasy nation-builder I'd run would probably have a theme that would not be fit for conventional race/faction ideas... other nation builders, if I did theme would likely be:


1) Wholly undersea based. Think fantasy world Atlantis trying to reclaim former glory from beasts and races of the deep....


OR


2) An Evil nation builder where the characters are "Bodysnatchers" -- think possessing spirits, manipulative demons, dopplegangers, Abberations like John Carpenter's "The Thing" and cursed artifacts like "The One Ring" -- Imagine a bunch of these creatures and items got together and decided to take over the world (or maybe the Underdark to keep it more evilly/monster themed) -- by controlling the minds of powerful mortals or beasts and using their followers/powers/young/etc... to grow greater and greater in influence.


and less likely:


3) A kind of nation builder where every turn was a lifetime of a leader. You'd have good ones and bad ones but the main thing was to have a distinct city/culture/nation rise out of your dynasty based on the collective of all the choices you'd made. Things would change dramatically quickly based on what you did with the hand people were dealt as far as each Scion's talents and foibles, and how tradition and past success/failure shape the future.


4) An Alien Invasion Sim -- or more of a "Nation Destroyer" -- The Tremendous Ship of your mother brain activates various forces of fighting slaves/scientists/abominations and the objective is to conquer the "earth" (or whatever planet) gaining the most glory for your group, and maybe to overthrow the mother brain by slipping your bonds or whatever.


So IF there is another Nation building RP *AND* you are still desiring/able to participate after this one, that's likely what you'd be looking down the barrel of. I doubt won't normal nation building ideas would fit either.


TLR - Nothing we need worry about for the forseeable future, mate... but you can bet your ass I'd come knocking for you spiral if I ever needed a player for anything. Besides... all these ideas are kind of cool, I don't want them to steal energy away from the current RP.

 

[KamiKahzy]

@Beckoncall


Here's something else to give you an idea of the kinds of things that I value for treasure. When I was taking those quizzes on Pottermore to find out what house and wand I was supposed to have there were two questions that ask you to choose between an array of items presented to you.


The first question asked me to choose a box from among three, and I chose the one that sounded like it had an animal inside because I wanted to know what the animal was and I wanted to make sure it didn't suffocate.


The second question asked me to choose from an array of artifacts. Among the seven items I was torn between choosing an ancient scroll, a perfectly cut gem, or a worn out looking bottle. I eventually chose the bottle because even if it didn't have a djinn inside (which I guessed it might), it was a thing that was made from hand and likely has history to it, and I was sure it was pretty to look at as well.


If anybody here hasn't taken those quizzes yet or signed up for Pottermore I would suggest you do, even if you don't like the Harry Potter series. The quizzes are actually very cleverly written and do a very good job of deciding what house and wand suit you best. I haven't had a single friend tell me they were unhappy with their results after the quiz was over. And in case anyone was curious, I got a Hazel wand with a unicorn hair core, which basically means my wand is both incredibly loyal to me and sensitive to my emotional state.

 

[Prince Vaethorion]

@Beckoncall Looking back at the many decades of role playing I have participated. There are some personal items that I was fond of. One was in D&D a figurine in the shape of a bull that turned into a living stone bull when you rubbed it. Another was a wrist cross bow that hid under my sleeves. In Traveller I had two derringers on a spring hidden up my sleeves, also I had once a molecular thin blade that could cut through anything. One DM humored me and allowed me to have the Bow from the D&D. In top secret I had a cigarette case gun with silencer. In Boothill I had sawed off shotgun/elephant gun. I guess I like weapons and pets.


I am open. As long as loot allotment is fairly distributed and somewhat personalized I like it. Clearly treasure is always nice, magical items, weapons.


Clearly the Troll horde in Hobbit is a splendid example of finding treasure.


[media]



[/media]
Like anything, if one found that horde all the time it would not be novel. Like anyone I think I like all loot. I like loot won in battle, loot found in caves, found in ruins, found in dungeons, in castles, hidden in towns, bought loot and of all varieties. Clearly, historical items with a story are cool. Helm of such and such, items with names, items from fallen heroes, crafting new items. The sky is the limit. Armor is cool. The usual treasure one finds in the many games I imagine most of us have played.

 

[Prince Vaethorion]

This is s a very interesting question -- some mud-elf captives were already taken when the exiles pulled their fallen from the field in the first clash... I will say that the Imperial Oriental Company had quite a fond vision of slavery and it's place in the colony, but it doesn't look like they fared too well from it...
Slavery and indentured servitude should be addressed... but that will likely come up when the loosest semblance of government manifests -- or will become inevitable to confront when some party or another picks up the practice.


It may be justifiable to make captives do forced labor for the colony, at least during the war... that idea still has yet to fall out of fashion even these days.

I guess it's personal but High Elves are not advocates of slavery, but do tolerate underclasses since they are superior to all other races (in their minds). They are not advocates of forced labor either since that is basically slavery. Perhaps sparing their lives and compensating them to do labor is acceptable. If they were to become a threat then they would be killed. Initially, I was hoping that the Mud Elves might be allies against the Gnolls. However, Dark Elves make unacceptable allies. Half Elves however (perhaps not this primitive) could be looked at as potential allies, since the Prince disdains Gnolls.

 

[Prince Vaethorion]

That would be AWESOME! and I'll try to up my format game as well... in case you didn't follow with spoilers prince -- look at Kami's characters in his overview...there is basically a "spoiler" button for each one, which shows or hides each character. In the case of your overview it would be VERY useful, because people would only see the illustrations that were pertinent to the person or item they were reading about!

I tried to do that interdependently when I first posted and it came out a mess. I did not know what I was doing.

 

[Prince Vaethorion]

I'm simply awaiting the results of the battle with baited breath.

Me too!

 

[Prince Vaethorion]

This was mentioned in the OOC and I don't remember clearly. But, walking from the Platz to the Tyren settlement takes up the better part of a day if my memories hold true.

Thanks, Yes, the High Elves I sent were meant to be a part of the battle with the gnolls and represent the Prince in the meeting of the heads of factions. They were meant to come immediately back, especially if the distance was not that far.

 

[KamiKahzy]

@Beckoncall


Actually Beck if I had to narrow down the one thing I find most fascinating about loot (and stories in general) is a sense of discovery. Some of the coolest moments I've found in this story is when you pull out something new and exciting that I wasn't expecting. Like I honestly didn't even notice that the beach ramp was shaped like a foot when I saw it on the map, but once I read it I looked back and was like "HO DAMN!" Then when you revealed that the tropical island is actually on the back of a sea beast, or that there was a mountain of bones lying beneath one of the redwoods and that there's a tribe of feral elves worship some avatar of death, or when the whole freakin' mountain range to the north is actually a giant shelf of gravel and loose rock, or that insanity that happened in the marsh when the Tyren went 'splorin, or when you unveiled the fertility goddess and what she was capable of when she was properly venerated. It's stuff like this that makes me want to explore ever nook of this landing zone you've set up for us and uncover its secrets. Because I'm starting to think we've barely scratched the surface of the mysteries that are haunting this place after all the magical mayhem that's been wrought over the centuries.


So yeah, just keep throwing out cool things and I'll be a happy camper.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

^ I love it when seemingly common/boring things are much more than what they seem

 

[KamiKahzy]

How's everyone doing this weekend?

 

[Beckoncall]

Friggin' great. If I had typed as much as I'd decided had taken place you'd all have gone blind by now. My weekend has somehow been relaxed, I'll have chores on sunday. I expect when I finally get off the friggin' pot with the next post things will start pumping again. Give me an hour or two before PMing me or anything or it might throw me off my game. I found some VERY interesting media stuff I hope to incorporate as well, and lets just say @Elendithas might have thrown a considerable wrench in the works with how I envisioned things going.... xD

 

[KamiKahzy]

Couldn't have been that big of a wrench. I saw that move coming a mile away honestly. They're Aymaran, what else are they going to do but charge?

 

[Elendithas]

Let's be honest here. What self-respecting Aymaran is gonna agree to a parlay?

 

[KamiKahzy]

Certainly no self respecting Aymaran, that's for sure.

 

[Heyitsjiwon]

Well, it's certainly a surprising move for both the enemy and us

 

[KamiKahzy]

Well frankly I don't know what ya'll are talking about, I'm just on a boat about to get some R&R at a tropical island. Beach party!