Epoch: A Grand-Strategy Quest

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Greetings stranger. Take a seat by the fire. You are cold? That is normal in these dark days...
Opening Post
Location
USA



Greetings stranger. Take a seat by the fire. You are cold? That is normal in these dark days. I'm surprised you are even willing to speak with a human such as myself. Your kind is not known for being friendly? Oh? You wish to hear the story of my people? The story of Humanity? Very well then. I shall tell you. My people's journey truly began after the long winter. It was cold much like it is now...but before that it had been much colder. My people had fought back the darkness for nearly a millenia...and we won. Now...now it was time to begin building a civilization. One that would stand the test of time. My people bore the name:

Name of Civilization Vote:
[] [Name] Write-In

Yes...that is what our people came to be called. I was one of the first born among people. How I now sit before you is a story for another time. One which shall become clear as you listen. My people had traversed far during the long winter. When it began to thaw we found ourselves on the continent of:

Continent Starting Point (Will Provide some strengths and Weakness)
[] [Continent] North America
[] [Continent] South America
[] [Continent] Asia
[] [Continent] Europe
[] [Continent] Africa
[] [Continent] Australia
[] [Continent] Antarctica​
We were nomads...and it is on this continent that our story truly begins...​


 
Game Information
Hello, and welcome to Epoch. Epoch is a Sufficient Velocity Grand Strategy Quest. Over the course of this quest, you, the questers, will control the development of a people group from their nomadic lifestyle to the stars. The world of Epoch is a dangerous one. It is similar to our own earth with both subtle and major difference. Those will become more and more apparent as history is revealed. A fair warning, you can lose this game. It is possible that your decisions will cause the eradication of your people. To see your people survive will require critical thinking, some knowledge of history and science, and teamwork. You will not survive this world unless you, the questers, work together as a team to develop excellent strategy. That said, I hope everyone has fun in seeing their people develop and learn. Now...onto the mechanics.

Turn Format

Each turn will cover the span of 6 months. Each turn will have a format that possesses the following:

Great Figure: The Great figure portion of the update will follow the life and decisions of an influential person within your society for a certain length of time. It could be a great ruler, great scientist, a great hero etc. You will direct and influence this person's life. These great figures will possess stats beyond the like of normal humans and their decisions/deeds can either boost or damage your society as a whole.

Technological Update: As part of your civilization's development, you will choose a technology to begin researching. Certain technologies will take longer than others to research. There will also be rolls to determine how much progress is made in working towards such technology. There will be modifiers increasing or decreasing your success regarding technology.

Cultural Update: As part of your civilization's development, you will choose a cultural policy to begin researching. Certain policies will take longer than others to develop. There will also be rolls to determine how much progress is made in working towards such policies. There will be modifiers increasing or decreasing your success regarding policies.

Military Update: A certain portion of your population is capable of providing manpower. From that number, you may recruit military units. Military units take time to train and develop. This is based on the morale of the population and the production level of the city. Certain units require certain technologies and resources to be developed. Certain units will take more time than others. Each time a military unit is recruited from a city, you may choose to build another unit. WARNING: Recruiting military units will apply debuffs to certain modifiers in other areas.

Building Update: Each city has the ability to build buildings. Buildings will take time to develop. Rolls will be made with a production modifier based on the population and morale of the city. Certain cultural policies can also produce boosts to those roll.


Foreign Relations: You are not alone in this world.

Events: Each turn will have an event that will be rolled on a secret table. Events can range from plague to population booms.

Other categories might be added in time.​

Statistics

Population: Population represents the number of people within your civilization.
Manpower: Manpower represents the maximum amount of military units you may recruit.
Number of Cities: Cities are the primary producers of buildings and military units.
Morale: Each City will have a morale that is determined by level of amenities and food.
Amenities: These are goods which contribute to the morale and culture of your people.
Culture Modifiers: These modifiers are added to rolls determining your progress towards development.
Science Modifiers: These modifiers are added to rolls determining your progress towards development.
Production Modifiers: These modifiers are added to rolls determining your progress towards development.

More statistics will be added in time.​

Great Figures:

Great figures will be essentially a story mode giving a human feel to the story. You will choose your character's name, gender, and class. It will be using a modified DnD system to determine outcomes. It won't be quite that complicated, however.


 
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Civilization and Great Figures



Name: The Veles
Civ Type: Nomadic Tribe
Government: Chiefdom
Population: 87
Birth Rate: HIGH(.075 x Pop per year).
Death Rate: VERY High (.075Pop Per year).
Population Growth: +0 Citizens Per Year​


Religious Tradition: Pantheon
Official Religion: ???
Religious Institution: ???
Religious Citizens: 100%
Religious Toleration: 100%​


Elder Lead Tradition
Aristocratic Governments: +50
Democratic Governments: -15
Authoritarian Governments:-15​
Meritocracy Tradition
+25 to Authoritarian Government Policies
+25 to Aristocratic Government Policies
+5 to Morale Mods
-30 Respect for Tradition​
Many Gods
Religious Toleration: High Increase
???
???​

Immediate effect: Each turn, a roll will be made to see if a God or Goddess blesses your people. If they do, another roll will be made determining that God's domain. You will receive a High Modifier to rolls of those domains for 5 years.
Wolf Pelts
+25 to Resisting Cold Weather​
Seafaring Tradition
Automatically Gain Sailing

Water
???
+25 to Ocean​


Hamlet Named: Velesia
Population: 87
Population Capped: 1,000
Health of Population: 50 (Very High Death Rate)
Morale: 65 (Below 50 will see troubles)
Defensive Modifiers: 0
Science Modifiers: 0
Culture Modifiers: 0​


52 Brutes: + 52 Military Mod
18 Canoes: Can Defend from Sea
1 Divine Hero: +50 Mod​


Current Tech: Astrology (489/2000)
Known Tech
Unlocks Canoes and Fishing Boats
Unlocks Farms and Hamlet Settlement


Current Civic: Foreign Trade (1763/2000)


Sex: Female
Class: Elder
Age: 15
Health: Pregnant
Spouse: Jarrix
Children: N/A
Traits:
Desire to learn mysteries (+50 to tech mod)
Sex: Male
Class: Hero
Age: 13
Health: Perfect
Spouse: Vshera
Children
Traits: Divine Hero (Earth)


Status: Assimilated
Status: Alive And Military Strong
Status: Militarily Weak, Friendly
 
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[X] [Name] The Veles

Still a nod but more believable.

[X] [Continent] Asia

People have some good info on why Australia is probs a bad idea.

Edit: Changed Continent vote.
 
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I ask those voting for Australia to consider this.

Australia is hard mode (which is totally fine if y'all want that). Only thing harder is likely Antarctica. I'm not even referring to the deadly animals in Australia...though that could happen. I'm referring to the geology and weather of the map.

It appears this quest happens at the end of the last ice age. If so...most of australia is going to be uninhabitable for several thousand years. Sowe have limited space.
Furthermore, we likely will only be interacting with other Australia tribes. The lack of interaction with other civs could hurt our tech development. Also have to consider the development of immune systems. European diseases hit the aboriginal peoples of australia hard if I remember right.

I'd encourage y'all to read this study.
How First Nations people survived through the Ice Age | Sovereign Union - First Nations Asserting Sovereignty

The theorize that, after the last ice age, the birth rate declined by like 60%...so we also probably won't grow in population as quickly.
 
If we're going to go with Australia, I wonder if Lands of Red and Gold will be applicable. TBH, I think that a mutation like Red Yam would be the only way to establish a civilization.

[X] [Name] The Kolongalu
[X] [Contient] Australia
 
I ask those voting for Australia to consider this.

Australia is hard mode (which is totally fine if y'all want that). Only thing harder is likely Antarctica. I'm not even referring to the deadly animals in Australia...though that could happen. I'm referring to the geology and weather of the map.

It appears this quest happens at the end of the last ice age. If so...most of australia is going to be uninhabitable for several thousand years. Sowe have limited space.
Furthermore, we likely will only be interacting with other Australia tribes. The lack of interaction with other civs could hurt our tech development. Also have to consider the development of immune systems. European diseases hit the aboriginal peoples of australia hard if I remember right.

I'd encourage y'all to read this study.
How First Nations people survived through the Ice Age | Sovereign Union - First Nations Asserting Sovereignty

The theorize that, after the last ice age, the birth rate declined by like 60%...so we also probably won't grow in population as quickly.
Better than Asia, in my opinion. We have isolation on our side, so the annoying 'compete with others the qm shoves in your face' can not happen if we fully unite all on the continent. And actually give us time to build things instead of fight each turn.
 
Better than Asia, in my opinion. We have isolation on our side, so the annoying 'compete with others the qm shoves in your face' can not happen if we fully unite all on the continent. And actually give us time to build things instead of fight each turn.

Err...Isolation isn't a good thing. Historically at least. Isolation is what prevented the people of the western hemisphere from developing immune systems against European diseases.

It's also pretty well accepted that science and technology are more likely to stagnate in isolation that in competition. One of the reasons accepted by most historians as to why Europe became the dominant power as opposed to asia was because, despite china's superior tech at the time, Europeans were competing with each other and forcing each other to grow and develop.

Isolation isn't a good thing.
 
If we're going to go with Australia, I wonder if Lands of Red and Gold will be applicable. TBH, I think that a mutation like Red Yam would be the only way to establish a civilization.

[X] [Name] The Kolongalu
[X] [Contient] Australia

There is a good analysis of australia the author of that alternate fic. Here's a quote:
"The continent of Australia suffers from a dearth of domesticable plants and animals. As pointed out by Jared Diamond (and others), Australia has produced the total of one plant [1] which is become a significant food crop: the macadamia nut. Tasty as those nuts are, the basis of an agricultural civilization they do not make. For this reason, Australia was the only habitable continent where the inhabitants did not develop major farming societies before European arrival [2]. There were other factors which inhibited the development of a farming society in Australia, such as the extreme aridity of much of the continent, and irregular droughts even in the fertile areas. Nevertheless, the lack of domesticable crops and animals was a substantial restriction on the development of farming societies in Australia.

Since farming was not practical, the large majority of Australia's pre-European population lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The population density was quite low in comparison to most of the world, even in the more fertile areas. While estimates of the pre-European population of Australia are considerably varied, it seems to have been no more than a million, possibly less. The demographic effects of European colonisation were devastating; a combination of disease, warfare and other factors reduced the indigenous population to somewhere around 100,000 (again, estimates vary) by 1900. While the population has recovered somewhat since that time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders still form a small minority of Australia's population; about 450,000 or 2.4% of the total population as of the 2001 census.

However, it seems perfectly plausible to find a way to have a much larger pre-European indigenous population in Australia. In nearby New Zealand, the Maori had a farming society based around only one domesticated crop – the kumara or sweet potato. They still supplemented their diet with a wide variety of wild plants and with hunting, but the kumara formed a major component of their diet, acted as a food store, and allowed the establishment of a farming culture.

In Australia itself, there many land management practices and a wide variety of plants which were harvested and sometimes replanted. But due to the various characteristics of these plants, none of them turned into a truly domesticated crop, although there are some recent efforts along those lines. In its native crops, Australia notably has several species of yams, which in other parts of the world were turned into domesticated crops. The Australian varieties (Ipomoea costata and several species of Dioscorea) weren't fully domesticated, although they were certainly harvested and re-used. By a fluke of biology, Australia lacked any species of yams which could be quickly domesticated [3]."
For Want of a Yam
He then develops an alternate history with the development of such a domesticated plant, but historically...it just doesn't happen.

Furthermore, looking at the mechanics of this game...cities play an important role in development. Without agriculture, we are stuck as hunter-gatherers for a lengthy amount of time before we can begin building cities.
 
Err...Isolation isn't a good thing. Historically at least. Isolation is what prevented the people of the western hemisphere from developing immune systems against European diseases.

It's also pretty well accepted that science and technology are more likely to stagnate in isolation that in competition. One of the reasons accepted by most historians as to why Europe became the dominant power as opposed to asia was because, despite china's superior tech at the time, Europeans were competing with each other and forcing each other to grow and develop.

Isolation isn't a good thing.
The stagnation effect from isolation doesn't really happen in these civ quests. The concept isn't truly capable of simulation if every civ is progressing in some form each turn.
 
The stagnation effect doesn't really happen in these civ quests. The concept isn't truly capable of simulation if every civ is progressing in some form each turn.

*coughs*

Systems wise....i'll be rolling a d100 usually of what can be added to production/tech/cultural progress. Your modifiers will be added to that number. You will develop negative modifiers and positives. Mechanically...not only is it possible for you to stagnate. It's possible for you to regress.

If y'all really want to see some of my philosophy behind this game, this book is a classic.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

As QM and a History major, I value historical arguments. :p
 
*coughs*

Systems wise....i'll be rolling a d100 usually of what can be added to production/tech/cultural progress. Your modifiers will be added to that number. You will develop negative modifiers and positives. Mechanically...not only is it possible for you to stagnate. It's possible for you to regress.

If y'all really want to see some of my philosophy behind this game, this book is a classic.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

As QM and a History major, I value historical arguments. :p
Good to know. Still going with Australia, because I see the isolation as a choice we can choose to break when we want to break it, if we can make sea travel possible. The low population cap puts a control of authority that can be ideal, and I really hate the civ quests that go 'prepare for war, prepare for war, prepare for war, city build, stop expanding, prepare for war, shiny grabit to do nothing of value with it, prepare for war...' I'm hoping this Australia civ will be closer to a 'slice of life' feel than 'hostiles threaten you, prep for war, each turn'.
 
[X] [Continent] Asia

Let's be where the action is. I don't want to wait 2000 years to meet other civs.
Adhoc vote count started by Corripere on Jan 15, 2019 at 9:35 PM, finished with 21 posts and 10 votes.
 
Good to know. Still going with Australia, because I see the isolation as a choice we can choose to break when we want to break it, if we can make sea travel possible. The low population cap puts a control of authority that can be ideal, and I really hate the civ quests that go 'prepare for war, prepare for war, prepare for war, city build, stop expanding, prepare for war, shiny grabit to do nothing of value with it, prepare for war...' I'm hoping this Australia civ will be closer to a 'slice of life' feel than 'hostiles threaten you, prep for war, each turn'.

I can totally respect that and understand where you're coming from.

[X] [Continent] Asia

Let's be where the action is. I don't want to wait 2000 years to meet other civs.

The last ice age ended in Australia over at least 16k years ago. While we could learn seafaring and traverse to other civs, its more like 10k years at least before we would develop the tech to make traveling that far fast enough to be worth it.

Asia possesses a much smaller time frame.
 
We need to be on the Old World, thats where all the good shit is at, And i mean animal and crops wise. The Americas are barren of good domesticated animals and the like.
 
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