Building a World (prelude to Steampunk RPT)

[$tormin]

In 1473, a young inventor named Leonardo da Vinci discovered a means of powering and operating independent clockwork constructs. With the secret backing of several lords, da Vinci created an army of Clockwork war machines which he used to carve an empire.
Now, nearly a century later, almost all of the old empires and nations have fallen into individual warring city states run by either powerful inventors or men strong enough to hold such inventors to their will.
A state of near constant warfare between the great cities continues unabated. The people suffer, the land is despoiled by factories and strip mines feeding the vast war machines... Will you work to end the wars, heal the lands or will you profit from these times?

Map of Europe (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=europe1400hy9.jpg)

The purpose of this thread is to flesh out the world before we start the Steampunk RPT and to create/balance the skill system.



Now, what skills would be essential?

This is a link to the Tacharis skill system for example and modification.
http://www.guforums.com/showthread.php?t=6698


First modification will be removal of references to the more traditional fantasy setting, such as the dragonriding skill.

Combat Skills:
Basic: Poor accuracy with common small arms. Poor ability for melee. Unable to use exotic weapons of either type.

1 point
Small Arms: Allows reasonable accuracy with the use of small arms such as pistols, riffles, shotguns, bows and muskets. Also allows for field maintenance of said weapons.
Exotic Firearm (specific): Allows the use of uncommon small arms such as mortars, artillery, repeating crossbows and other unique, heavy or very rare weapons. Also allows for field maintenance of said weapons.
Marksman: High accuracy boost at long range (requires: Small arms or Exotic Firearm (specific) Only works for weapons covered by the pre-req)
Martial Arts: Training in unarmed combat. Includes wrestling, boxing and karate-like skills.
Melee Weapons: Trained in the use of common melee weapons such as Swords, shields, blunt weapons and two handed weapons.
Exotic Melee Weapons: Allows the use of uncommon melee weapons such as spiked chains, whips, and other unique or very rare weapons.
Armored Combat: Removes accuracy and evasion penalties when using armor heavier than heavy leather/light studded.
Driving/Riding skills:
Basic: Can ride trained horses or other similar trained riding animals over non-extreme terrain with no difficulty.
1 point
Vehicle (specific): Allows driving exotic vehicles such as Steam Trucks or Walkers. Counts as having Advanced Driving for rough terrain or difficult driving conditions.
Flight: Training in the control and operation of flying vehicles such as Gliders and Zeppelins.
Advanced Riding: Allows "trick" riding, advanced speeds in dangerous terrain and other situations where a skilled animal/beast rider is required.
Standard skills:
1 point

Animal Handling: Able to deal with out of control, untrained or poorly trained animals. Allows training of non-magical animals within reason. Some animals are inherently untrainable.
Jack of Trades: Slight ability in three skills (not including skills with pre-reqs). Can bind a wound but cannot set a bone, can jury-rig a fan belt from another material but it will not last long or be effective, slightly increased ability with weapons.
Acrobatics: Much more athletic than most, you can perform feats of agility that others simply cannot. Some very difficult or dangerous feats require other skills, for example jumping from a vehicle you are driving to a horse at speed over rough terrain also requires Advanced Horsemanship and/or Advanced Driving to have reasonable chance of success.
Luck: Sometimes you are just a lot more lucky than others.
Strength: Allows greater than normal strength. Higher damage with melee/unarmed and can carry more as well as being able to take more punishment.
Speech craft: Improved negotiation abilities and bargaining skills.
Stealth: Improved ability to hide oneself whether the terrain is favorable or not. Improves ability to move unnoticed if not directly observed.
Wealth: Begin with a larger amount of money than normal.
Leadership: Inspire and command your allies and cower your foes.

Tiered skills-
1 point each, requires previous level to be purchased.

Healing-
First Aid: Allows field medical treatment including field sutures and setting broken bones.
Advanced Medical Treatment: Allows for simple surgery in field conditions, such as removing bullets or other projectiles from areas such as the stomach where it could be deadly for one untrained to do so. Allows for more advanced medical procedures in non-field conditions. (Requires: First Aid)
Medical Specialist (specific): Brain surgeon, Heart surgeon etc. In hospital conditions allows for advanced procedures for surgery and treatment of specialized areas. (Requires: First Aid AND Advanced Medical Treatment)

Invention/Engineering- The ability to design, create, repair or modify machines, weapons or vehicles. 3 tier skill.
Tier 1 Apprentice- Modification and repair of simple finished devices. Assisting more skilled people in creation.
Tier 2 Journeyman- Can modify, build and repair more complex devices. Can design simple devices.
Tier 3 Master- Has all abilities of previous levels but can create the most complex devices such as the mechanical brains of clockwork robots. Can reprogram disabled independent constructs as well.

[Soria]

I need to think on this meself, but as alway $tormin' looks good.

[Rookie]

I like the setting idea. kudos.

How many points were you thinking of giving each player?

And my history is a little vague on this period, what will the weapons be like (given it is an alternate history world)?

[$tormin]

Ideas to expand on this list welcome.

Common vehicles

Train- Steam powered vehicle that runs on steel rails. Usually comprised of a separate engine vehicle and several cargo cars.

Steam Truck- Steam powered transport for goods and soldiers. Normally twice the size of modern large pickup trucks. Some versions are armed with either heavy caliber guns or a steam cannon.

Clockwork Soldier- Usually 6ft to 15ft in height, powered by powerful gears. Normally independent and capable of minimal levels of planning and improvisation. Normally armed with large caliber riffle or flamethrower. 4 hours of combat operation or 20 hours of non combat operation (such as marching) per windup. Humanoid and non-Humanoid versions exist.

Steam Cannon- Long-range powerful artillery but slow re-fire rate. Usually mounted on independently driven carriage or truck.

Zeppelin: Lighter than air craft comprising mostly of an armored section containing bags of lighter than air gas. Steam powered and usually armed. Often used as transport and artillery platforms.

Ornithopter- Steam-powered flying vehicle with flapping or spinning wings/rotors.

Ironclad- Steam powered warships with heavily armored hulls. Rare versions are equipped with legs for overland movement.

Steam Tank- Steam powered tracked vehicle with heavy weapons and armor.


Common Weapons


Guns- From standard smooth or riffled bore muzzle-loaded guns to flintlocks. Guns are generally at an early 18th century stage.

Bombs- Grenades, charges detonated with fuses or iron cased explosives dropped from aircraft or attached to clockwork machines.

Recoilless Gun- Rocket propelled grenade launcher used for taking out armored vehicles and clockwork soldiers.

Clockwork Plate Armor- Heavy armor with clockwork gears built into it that boosts the strength of the wearer at the cost of speed and mobility.


As for the number of points, I was thinking 5 or 6. Depending on what gets added/taken away before the start of the game it might be adjusted upward.

[Gumblackwood]

I have some ideas. Feel free to veto them if anything's overpowered.

First off, alongside a basic riding skill, there might be a basic driving skill, meaning that any character can jump into a vehicle and get it moving. That being said, that person probably can't get an ornithopter off the ground or get a steam tank over a ditch.

I was originally going to say that I felt horses and other riding animals would be useless, but thinking on it I actually see them being quite handy in a number of situations.

I think that knowledge of a particular vehicle would confer some mechanistic and repair knowledge of that specific vehicle as well as actual skill in driving or piloting it.

Another skill, Clockwork, could be a practical understanding of the specific requirements of building or maintaining clockwork soldiers and mechanisms. This might be divided into two skill levels as well, first being an ability to build and repair clockwork from normal parts and advanced being the ability to build and repair from unusual parts and design new clockwork creations. I'm not sure $tormin would want us inventing new weapons all over the place, so maybe only the first level of the skill is available.

On to vehicle and weapon ideas.

"Ants" - 6-legged clockwork constructs usually used to carry an artillery team through terrain not suitable for other platforms (like up the sides of mountains or just plain out of reach of most of the battle). Carries more than a normal artillery team, but can't be replenished as easily.

a few different versions of ornithopters, which I see as very limited in range, lift and operation, but faster than zeppelin craft:

Autothopter- A clockwork ornithopter. Small and not nearly as complex as clockwork soldiers, though much more expensive, they are incapable of carrying or wielding most weapons, so most are used to deliver explosives much more accurately than with artillery. This is often at the expense of the clockwork, destroyed in the explosion. Most effective use found has been against large zeppelins, as even a decent shot at one will bring it down short of its target.

"Needle" ornithopter- One-manned ornithopter used for quick reconnaisance or small bombing raids.

Dual Ornithopter- A small transport ornithopter capable of carrying three or four passengers, but able to get in and out of the battlefield much quicker and easier than zeppelins of similar size.

You also mention gliders in the flight skill but not as a vehicle. I think glider packs or similar this would be nifty as a sort of paratrooper-like means of deploying soldiers far outside the normal military reach. I imagine them launching en masse out of zeppelins towards a destination.

Weapons:

Bombs and grenades- even with focus of warfare tech on steam and clockwork construction, most of Europe, with the advent of muskets and rifles, probably has some knowledge of saltpeter and the explosive process, but things like machine guns are still well beyond the scope of the firearms of the time. Small bombs could be very handy to ornithopter and zeppelin pilots and a must against tanks, clockwork and other vehicles. Larger steam bombs (requiring their own exotic weaponry status) are probably also useful for sabotage and other destructive acts.

Flintlocks are a conceivable form of pistol I imagine.

That's some things I can think of at this time. I may get back to this later.

[$tormin]

Basic Driving: You are going to have to convince me to put this in. I feel that even after a century, vehicles will be rare and entirely the domain of the military and inventors.

Clockwork skill: Invention is going in as soon as I work out a balanced description.

New Vehicles: Most of those are only slight variations on already listed vehicles. I was trying to keep my list as broad as possible. Different inventors/rulers will have several variations.
A new class of legged transports between Steam Truck and Clockwork Soldier is needed though. Missing Gliders is an oversight that will be corrected.

Weapons: Bombs missing is an oversight, will be corrected. Guns is being changed to include all common types.


Thanks.

[Rookie]

Ah, so "American Revolution" type weapons then?

Sounds good so far.

The steam cannon idea reminds me of the cannon made by the Mythbusters...

[$tormin]

Its pretty much exactly like that since the mythbusters episode was about the one da Vinci designed :D

[Gumblackwood]

if I recall correctly the Mythbusters cannon didn't work very well. Not sure if I managed to watch that whole episode though.

[$tormin]

They made the final version which shot the stone ball several hundred yards at less than 1/3rd of the pressure they were hoping to get (they fired early cause they got tired of waiting for pressure to build up).
Steam cannons don't work great in real life, but then again Leonardo da Vinci didn't build robots and take over a kingdom either ;)

[Soria]

True that... hmmm.. So tinkering is a skill... Would that fix weapons as well?

[$tormin]

Invention/Engineering would allow repairing weapons, but if someone with the weapon use skill tried basic repairs that would be fully allowed too since they are familiar with the weapon.


Mind going over this skill for utility and balance checking before I add it to the list?

Invention/Engineering- The ability to design, create, repair or modify machines, weapons or vehicles. 3 tier skill
Tier 1 Apprentice- Modification and repair of simple finished devices. Assisting more skilled people in creation.
Tier 2 Journeyman- Can modify, build and repair more complex devices. Can design simple devices.
Tier 3 Master- Has all abilities of previous levels but can create the most complex devices such as the mechanical brains of clockwork robots. Can reprogram disabled independant constructs as well.

[Rookie]

Best part about the testing was that they had their cannon pointed at the San Fransisco skyline :D

If certain skills have tiers (like the invention/engineering) we're probably going to want a few more than 5 or 6 points? Somebody could easily spend 3 points to become a master inventor/engineer, but then not have anything else going for their character except they can make some mechanical brains for the robots. And if somebody wanted a "techy" character, they probably want to be able to do a bit more than just make stuff, unless they choose to give a character that limitation?

[$tormin]

The thing is, I don't feel the game would do well if everyone had enough points to be a master inventor or doctor and still be super effective at everything else. 5 points would allow someone to go Tier 3 inventor, Small arms (Rifle) and Wealth... and they would still be very able to contribute to the group.

Tier 3 skills would be handy but not essential. Tier 3 inventor could reprogram Dr. Mongstiens killer robot scorpion army but Tier 2 could figure out an easy way to disable them and Tier 1 would be able to give good advice on how to destroy or cripple individual machines.

Tier 3 Doctor could save a Baron from a near assured fatal wound and get his gratitude and backing on the party's plan to destroy an evil lord's flying zeppelin carrier. Tier 2 would mean that unless the player wished to die, all non instant kill wounds would be fixable. Tier 1 would be able to keep everyone patched up until they could get better medical help.


By the way, would adding Flesh Constructs similar to the monster from Frankenstein and self-aware clockworks as player races be too silly?

[Gumblackwood]

By the way, would adding Flesh Constructs similar to the monster from Frankenstein and self-aware clockworks as player races be too silly?

Hadn't even thought of that, but either of them fits. Might even try to fit some of that into a character bio I've been forming.

I'm fine with the 5 point system. I imagine a mechanic character would probably take 2 tiers in invention, a couple more in various vehicles, and maybe one in a weapon skill or something else. The brainiac character would take the 3 tiers in invention and live with that limitation on additional skills.

[Rookie]

By the way, would adding Flesh Constructs similar to the monster from Frankenstein and self-aware clockworks as player races be too silly?

When the basic idea starts with "In 1473, a young inventor named Leonardo da Vinci discovered a means of powering and operating independent clockwork constructs. With the secret backing of several lords, da Vinci created an army of Clockwork war machines which he used to carve an empire." you kind of roll with it :) sounds good to me.

And you've made your point very well. And also, extra characters should make people happy. They can have a "tech" character and a "blow 'em up" character if they really wanted to i suppose.
Also, how are we going to handle extra characters? In the Age of Frost i think we had a system where you had one main character and every one you made after that was a supporting character with fewer points to spend? i think that sounds right. If not it might be something worth considering?

edit: thought of something. Maybe we could have the main character have the maximum number of allowed points, and each character made after that subsequently gets fewer points to spend? Just thought i'd toss it out there.

[$tormin]

I am pretty tired right now so I will look on this tomorrow and clear it up. There are balance issues with the three "Race" options which I hopefully will be able to work out while keeping them as different as possible.
Note: I will probably be nixing anyone using an Independant clockwork as a "henchman".

As for henchmen, I am thinking of allowing a max of 1 per player and they have 2 fewer skill slots than a player would, as well as banning the use of tier 3 skills on henchmen (why would they work for you if they were the top of their professions?)
Note: Henchmen would be different from hirelings, which would be like hiring mercenaries for a specific job.


Races:

Human- Basic human. Non-European and characters characters outside their nation should note that they will usually face problems with populations distrustful of foreigners.
Skill points: 5
Drawbacks: None
Advantages: None


Flesh Construct- Created from corpses (or more gruesomely from pieces of the still-living) flesh constructs are inhumanly strong horrors from the labs of the most demented inventors. Self determining flesh constructs are extremely rare, such usually being destroyed before they can turn on their masters or escape.
Damaged or imperfectly created brains of these creatures mean that Flesh Constructs have fewer skill points than humans.
Skill points: 4
Drawbacks: People will fear and try to destroy you. Possibly you will also have a former master out for your destruction. Cannot go higher than tier 2 on any tiered skill.
Advantages: Free Strength feat. No natural healing but can be repaired by a tier 2 or higher inventor with knowledge of Flesh Construct creation.

Independent Clockwork- One-in-a-million chance. True artificial intelligence. Just because someone built you didn't mean you had to obey them though and whether you made a break from a creator unaware of your ability or escaped from the possibly of being "recovered" by people who wanted to destroy you to find out how it happened...you are free. Of course you need help since your gears wind down fairly quickly without any assistance or your coal burner needs refilling.
Skill Points: 2 (plus special. See advantages)
Drawbacks: Nearly everyone is going to want to cut you up to see how you tick.
Advantages:
1.You can be removed from any current body and placed into any appropriate construct (such as a new Clockwork Soldier's body) by any tier 2 inventor. After 1 hour of being in control of a new body you have its full abilities, losing abilities from the previous body. For example, if placed in control of a clockwork flying machine, you gain the ability to control it as though you had skill points in Piloting.
2. Given 5 days of high intensity training you can learn a new skill inherent to yourself with the option to drop another skill. You cannot have more than 2 skill points independently of your current body.

[$tormin]

Well, its getting time for me to start populating Europe and carving it into little empires.
I will be using this map (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rptmapsn6.png) to show the locations of the various micro nations, city states and wastelands. If anyone has ideas of such to add to the map feel free to post them.
Include information such as a vague location, name, name of ruler/ruling family, description of the land and how its ruled, etc.

[Rookie]

I'm thinking a big area carved out of southern Europe that would be da Vinci's ever expanding empire. The rest of Europe would be trying to resist so there might be halves of countries and pockets of resistance within?

Just an idea.

[$tormin]

http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rptmaphk1.png Map. Will update as I progress.

Major Nations:

1.Da Vinci
In the years after the death of the Great Inventor, Da Vinci's heirs realized that they could neither match their predecessors invention ability or maintain the empire growth that he started as others across Europe copied and improved the devices that made the Da Vinci empire possible. Instead, they solidified their hold on what they had gained and build it to become the greatest nation on Earth, attracting many of the brightest from around the world.
Leadership: Alessandro Da Vinci, titled Emperor. Monarchy with elected advisory council.
Military: Average. High ratio of constructs vs humans but equipment is usually a decade or more out of date. A fast internal transport system allows quick response to attack.
Diplomacy: Uneasy borders with Papal State. Frequent skirmishes. Good to uneasy relations to other European nations.


2.British Empire

Twenty years ago the British Empire was the most powerful nation in the world but a succession of poorly waged wars have seen its weakening of military might and political influence. Latest and largest blow was when the Admiralty attempted to sail 3/4th of the Royal Navy up the Rhine to secure Baron Tobenkoff's Black Fortress in retaliation to the assassination of the nine people in most direct line of royal ascension.
Leadership: Queen Elizabeth I . Monarchy.
Military: Below Average (rebuilding)
Diplomacy: Poor to hostile relations to all other European nations.


3.Normandy
Despite being a breakaway province of the British Empire, Normandy maintained good relations with its former parent nation until the resent war between Britain and Tobenkoff where Lord Vedmhinn refused to assist the British in the ill-fated assault on the Black Fortress.
Normandy's primary source of power is its gigantic air force including several titanic Zeppelin carriers.
Leadership: Lord Inventor Karl Vedmhinn
Military: Formidable. Extensive use of large aircraft and development of new tactics has allowed this kingdom to hold its own against even mighty opponents. Modern equipment and a balanced force between Constructs and Manpower.
Diplomacy: Truce with Tobenkoff, hostile relations with British Empire. Neutral to all others.


4.Baron Tobenkoff
A true genius at invention and leadership, Tobenkoff has managed to create the most powerful empire in the known world at this time, rivaling the rumored Iron Lords of the Far East. Strategic procurement of territories have amassed a large supply of wealth, coal and high grade iron which fuels Tobenkoff's war machine.
Leadership: Baron Henrich Tobenkoff rules his con quested territories in a hard but fair manner, knowing that he does not have the resources to carry on his current wars and put down constant rebellion. Local rulers are allowed high levels of autonomy under the oversight of Tobenkoff.
Military: Extreme. Massive amounts of money and resources have gone into making the most powerful military known. Heavily balanced towards Constructs, including a mobile steam citadel known as the Black Fortress.
Diplomacy:


5.Papal State
Following the Failed Crusade against the Da Vinci the Papal State was forced to reach an agreement for its continued survival as an independent nation. Following Da Vinci's death and the following contraction of his empire the State grew into much of the area, stopped by Da Vinci's current borders to the West and the Alpine States to the North.
Leadership: Pope Gregory XIII. Theocratic Monarchy elected by the priesthood.
Military: Strong but poorly led. Higher ratio of manpower over constructs.
Diplomacy: Uneasy/hostile to Da Vinci. Neutral to Alpine States. Unknown ties with Tobenkoff. Neutral/friendly with all other states.

[Gumblackwood]

I have a few suggestions:

(6) Kingdom of France-
France has one of the largest untouched agrarian cores among the nations of Europe. Despite near-constant military pressure from Normandy, Castile, Tobenkoff and Britain over the last century, France has managed to keep its borders relatively stable.
Leadership: Ostensibly the country is ruled by the monarchy, but its current king, Louis III is mentally unstable and spends most of his time throwing lavish parties and killing peasants for fun. The king's advisors do most of the hard work.
Military: France has heavily fortified borders, but the real might of the nation comes from its spy network, run by the king's closest advisor Pontif Chereax. The spy network has been instrumental in strategically placing mobile forces and surprise tactics to repel invaders.
Diplomacy: Treaties with Alpine states and truces with Britain and Castile. France has spies in most western European states. Ties to the papal state including a cardinal with some lawmaking capabilities.

(7) Kingdom of Castile (Spain):
Quickly adopting the technology of DaVinci, Castile's monarchy repelled the Moorish occupiers of the penninsula's southern and eastern coast. Most peasants call the newer nation Espana or Spain. Deadlocked with France over control of the mountainous region between their countries, the Castile kings and queens began to focus instead on naval strength and the removal of Moorish influences from within the country, including torture and killing of suspected heretics.
Leadership: Queen Isabella II loves involvement with naval strategy and hopes to build the greatest armada in the world. The Inquisition is still strong in Castile, constantly on the loojout for foreign heretics. Oligarchs have risen in power in many ports as well, rich from contractual plunder of coastal nations.
Military: Castile has one of the stronger naval forces in the world and uses it to constantly fight with the Islamic nations of northern Africa. The monarchy frequently hires privateers in return for some of their plunder.
Diplomacy: Truce with France, treaty with Portugal, close ties to the papal state through their inquisition.

(8) Portugal
Leadership: Monarchy
Military: Conquistadors and privateers are constantly being sent out to explore and conquer the coast of Africa. Naval power not quite as strong or organized as Castile.
Diplomacy: Treaty with Castile allows for concentration on naval power.

(9) Alpine states
The area from Burgundy to Austria is made up of a loose confederacy of nations left over from the collapse of DaVinci's empire. Some of the states are peaceful or rebuilding, others are constantly pushing against incursions from Tobenkoff.
Leadership: the Alpine states are ruled individually, sometimes by monarchs, but more often by councils governing some specific valley's village. Councils of the states' leaders meet frequently to discuss laws and strategy.
Military: The militaries of each nation are allied into one cohesive force. Most units choose clockwork walkers for movement due to the rough terrain of theirs and surrounding nations.
Diplomacy: The Alpine nations have been able to avoid open conflict with other nations except for the expansionist Tobenkoff, who has taken several of the confederacy's original nations.

(10) The Bohemian States
Many of the nations that lie to the east of Tobenkoff's empire are individually fiercely nationalistic and independant, and are only collectively known by any name. Tobenkoff has found many of them to be easily conquered, but terrain and strategic alliances have kept him at bay from the largest, Bohemia and a few states protected by it.
Leadership: Count VonHofen has been the strongest leadership role of the Bohemian states, turning castles that were once decorative into true fortresses and forging alliances against Tobenkoff's military might.
Military: While the allied forces of Bohemia, consisting of a formidable zeppelin fleet and fortresses lining the mountains, have been strong enough to keep Tobenkoff at bay, they are not nearly strong enough to push back.
Diplomacy: Open war with Tobenkoff currently stuck along a mountain range in Bohemia. VonHofen seeks allies constantly, but has not recently had much success.

(11) Moldavia-
Europeans don't particularly like to speak of what goes on in Moldavia or any of the states that it had taken over as its empire expanded over much of the southeastern continent. Tales of lifeless bodies being reused to create a vast army are the most frightening. Still, the nation forms a buffer between the fierce Ottoman Empire and Europe.
Leadership: Prince Varisputin has declared himself king of the nation of Moldavia, excercising dominance over whatever forces make the constant army of flesh constructs.
Military: Moldavia's forces rely heavily upon an army of repulsive flesh constructs as well as other vicious acts. The military sows fear and despair worse than even Tobenkoff.

I think that's a pretty good list, comments please.

[$tormin]

Very nice. Feel free to put those on the map where you feel they should go.

[$tormin]

Here is a sample example of a character sheet. This is about the bare minimum you will want to put in. Name, skills, physical description and immediate history. If you want to fill in more feel free. If you want a character to be a mystery to the others, fill in as much as you feel is needed and PM me complete copy of the characters bio.

Erwin Thompson
Skills:
Small Arms: Rifle
Exotic Firearms: Steam Cannon
Invention Engineering: Level 2
Healing: Level 1

Profession: Mercenary
Description: Tall, red haired male. Bare hint of British accent.

Erwin was a general systems mechanic in the Royal Navy during the failed assault on the Black Fortress five years ago when his ship was destroyed. Escaping into the countryside he managed to avoid patrols and joined a small band of traveling adventurers. Since then he has moved from group to group exploring Europe and hiring out to those who are willing to buy his skills.

[Gumblackwood]

Sorry I haven't managed to get to adding anything to the map. 13 hour workdays can do that. Maybe I'll have time this afternoon. I've got a couple other ideas I'll flesh out as well.

[Gumblackwood]

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/2208/rptmaphk2lx3.png updated map (let me know if anything's wrong, this is the first time I've used Imageshack)

Some more nations I added

(12) The Ottoman Sultanate-
An Islamic Empire that has been pushing into Europe since crusaders withdrew from the Middle East at the start of the Renaissance and DaVinci's time. They are kept in check by Moldavia and Aegea, but keep a constant threat on the horizon should either falter.
Leadership- Sultans watch over vast tracts of the empire's land, but in turn owe loyalty to a military/religious tribunal centered in Mecca.
Military- The Ottomans have the knowledge of steam and clockwork, but not the resources of European, Asian or even African nations, so they make due with a limited zeppelin and steamship fleet acquired through trade. Still, the Ottomans have carved their empire through the success of their skilled and fierce armies. Only the concerted efforts of Serbia and Aegea and the seemingly unbeatable army of Moldovia have kept the Ottomans from any serious land grab into Europe.
Diplomacy- Hostile relations with bordering Europeans, but some trade with more distant countries seeking exotic items.

(13) Realm of the Teutonic Order-
Territory originally conquered by germanic countries before the time of DaVinci, the Realm has often served as the seat for crusades and conquerors into eastern countries and the middle east. With the rise of secular Tobenkoff, the Teutonic Order lost its center, but has claimed independence.
Leadership- Duke Archibald is a religious and military leader of the order. Many of those immediately below the Duke actually command and ride with crusaders all over Europe.
Military- The armies of the Teutonic Order enjoy the freedom of movement through much of Europe, as they are not seen as a conquering force. Commanded individually, the cavalries they are known for can be armed with anything from lances and swords to rifles and steam tanks. Currently the more agressive units of the Teutons are allied with the Serbs and Aegeans fighting Moldovia and the Ottoman Empire.
Diplomacy- Some Units of the Teutonic Order are lightly armed, and are frequently used as escorts for diplomatic parties all over Europe. For this reason, Teutonic knights are welcome even in aggressive nations like Tobenkoff. To reinforce the notion that his Order does not serve Rome, Archibald has ordered that his knights stay out of the Papal state. Also, disgusted by Moldovia and the spread of Ottoman rule into Europe, the Teutonic order has openly declared war on both nations and has been instrumental in the successes of Serbia and Aegea.

(14) The disputed lands of Luxemburg-
One of the larger conquests of Tobenkoff, Luxemburg and some of the surrounding nation states still remain some of the most resistant to his rule. Frequent uprisings claiming rule by France or independent alliance with the Alpine states have to be put down by Tobenkoff's military might.
Leadership- With the only military presence in the area, Tobenkoff is undeniably the ruler of Luxemburg, but often the country can seem ruled more by anarchy. Resistance forces follow a new leader almost weekly.
Military- Subterfuge is the choice tactic of resistance fighters, while Tobenkoff's armies will often respond with complete devastation.
Diplomacy- Some resistance movements have sought outside aid, but France does not want to join the conflict with Tobenkoff while their borders are secure and the Alpine states are busy fighting their own battles.

(15) Serbia-
Squeezed by the aggressive Moldovia and Ottomans, Several nations that were once part of DaVinci's empire have allied with the aid of the Teutonic Order to repel the invaders.
Military- Serbian forces consist mainly of the leftovers from DaVinci's reign, older versions of much of the equipment standard in other European countries. The old has still been useful and has slowed the advance of both enemies.
Diplomacy- Soured ties to DaVinci mean that new equipment has not been forthcoming. Aegea has been a close ally and concerted efforts recently repelled Ottoman holdings that separated the nations.

(16) Aegea-
A strong naval power and biggest threat to the Ottoman empire in Europe. Despite large losses of land on the European continent, the Aegean navy has just recently made a surprise attack on the Black sea straits and taken a land holding there allowing for attacks on Istanbul.
Leadership-
Military- It remains to be seen if the Aegean navy's victory will diminish the potency of the Ottomans in Europe. The Aegean military is not of a size for empire building, but the Aegeans have seen a great deal of support from other nations.
Diplomacy- Military cooperation has done wonders for the alliance between Aegea and Serbia despite ethnic conflict between the two.

that should do it for now.

[$tormin]

If it's possible, mind attaching numbers to the descriptions for quick reference? Otherwise its looking great.
If there are no suggestions on balancing the skills and races we can probably start this by the weekend.


BTW, I started writing a short story in this 'verse to give some flavor and an idea of how things are from a human point of view (since we are discussing national politics and game rules). I was interrupted by someone pulling me away from crafting to go raid <grumble>
Edit: Scratch the story. Got like a tenth of the way in it and saw it wasn't going to work.

[Gumblackwood]

ok, so no story, can we just start in with the characters then?