[14.0] Game enhancements (Aug 96)
- There is a new version of the world-creation program, which
will make Sea areas more interesting: the average taxation value
of a Sea province will be increased to a little over 1, and the
number of features in Sea provinces is increased by 150%. All
GMs should be using this new program by around August 1.
- The treasures listed in the CHARACTERS section of your turn
report are now described, in terms of their basic usefulness.
- You can now Give gold to another Kingdom in an encounter (this
is covered by the same rule as Giving gold as an Action).
- Magic "Books" which raise your skill level are no longer
limited to level 4.
- Some players have "arranged" battles merely to pump up their
Marshal standing. So, from now on, when piling up points for
"Grand Marshal", the quality of the units destroyed is
considered:
Green: | 0 points |
Average: | 1 point |
Veteran: | 2 points |
Crack: | 3 points |
Elite: | 4 points |
An attacking Garrison army has a -1 modifier on this table.
- Another abuse of the rules: have 2 friendly characters
encounter each other, and cast non-agressive spells, purely to
gain experience. I have now adjusted the program to make such
characters tend to fly into fits of anger, and fight to the
death.
[14.1] Game enhancements (Jan 98)
- Pyrrich victories
There is now a rule that if you win a battle, you won't lose more troops
than your defeated enemy. This rule only applies against "Pyrrhic" victories
to the main course of the battle, not to the pursuit. So, cavalry will still
have the same value.
- Retreats
If a unit is defeated and forced to retreat to another province, it may
not help defend that province in the same phase.
- Diplomatic Furor
This new rule to act against unnatural alliances will apply to all turns
due on January 1, 1998 and later.
"A player can normally ally over a spread of no more than 4
alignments: For example, a Divine player could ally with anyone
from Divine to Neutral, while most other alignments have a
choice: a Neutral player could have an alliance spread of
Divine-Neutral, Neutral-Undead, Good-Pagan, etc. A player may
exceed the 4-alignment spread, but then random "diplomatic
gaffes" and "border incidents" can occur, resulting in a sudden
reduction of diplomatic status to Neutral or Enemy.
Alignments within 2 steps of your own alignment will break during the
gameturn only if both the following conditions are met:
a. The other alignement is 3 or more steps away from your own alignment.
b. Both players are in violation of the allowed 4-alignment spread.
Otherwise, alliances only break down at the end of the gameturn.
The chance of such a breakdown isn't revealed to the players."
This rule has some important consequences:
1. You will only have furors with those alignment(s) furthest
from your own alignments, that you are currently allied with.
If there is more than one such player, which player is decided randomly.
2. Other players may have furors with you that you didn't expect, because
of their own diplomatic over-extensions.
3. There will tend to be 3 main alliance groups: pro-Neutral, pro-Good and
pro-Evil (rather than just pro-Good and pro-Evil.)
4. Several alignements are affected byt his rules. Neutrals won't be able
to play off Good vs. Evil players so easily, but they have the advantage of
being able to ally with any alignment. Druidics and Pagans will be at risk
when allying with the furthest alignment.