Rules and Algorithm (Merveilles du Monde Map Game)

Hello and welcome to the '''Merveilles du Monde Rules Page’’’! Any question you may have can be answered on this page. Anything from basic game rules to war algorithms will be laid out in their totality. If you have a question that cannot be answered on this page, please consult a moderator for assistance. By playing this game, you agree to follow all rules. Your enjoyment as well as others’ enjoyment of the game is contingent on these rules. Fortunately, these rules are lax and there mostly to maximize smoothness in moderation and gameplay.

Basic Rules

 * 1) Original Clause: You must be plausible ''to your best ability’’. Not everyone is perfect, but we strive for the events of the game to make sense so we can keep the game interesting and fun for everyone. Lack of plausibility creates silly butterfly effects at best and very frustrating situations for many players at worst.
 * 2) Homework Clause: Do a bit of research for your nation. Especially since we're starting in a time period not everyone is familiar with, a bit of research into your nation is essential. Go ahead and get familiar with how your nation is run, their beliefs, their climate, and what they're good/bad at. Don't feel like you have to go overboard with this; while meticulous research can teach you some new stuff, not everyone has the time to do this. Use your own discretion.
 * 3) Heraldry Subclause: ATL heraldry (flags, coats of arms, banners, etc) must be introduced and mentioned in the game. Implying the heraldry was used prior to the 1295 PoD is especially not allowed.
 * 4) Playability Clause: You can play any nation, city-state, or culture group you wish, within reason. If it's on the map, you can play it! If you want to play something that isn't on the map (especially in the case of city-states or culture groups), ask a mod and provide a source ‘’’and’’’ a map (if the latter is applicable.) Do not just send me a map.
 * 5) Don’t Switch Your Nation All the Time Clause: You are allowed one free switch at any point. After this, you may only switch your nation once every hundred in-game years. If you are vassalized or taken over, you may switch at any time.
 * 6) Don’t Be an Asshole Clause: If you have a problem with another player, you are expected to settle it by yourselves. Instigating drawn-out arguments, metagaming, and otherwise throwing a temper tantrum will not be tolerated. If a compromise between players cannot be reached in a timely manner, a compromise will be made for them.
 * 7) Don’t Let it Become a Thing Subclause: Players that develop OOC feuds over MdM will be banned for one week. Repeat offenders are subject to further action, up to and including removal from the game.
 * 8) Backhand of God Clause: Negative mod events are going to happen to you and you’re going to have to roll with them. They keep the game fun and interesting. There will be no official appeals to mod events. You may complain about them on Discord and a moderator may or may not do something about it, depending on the circumstance. Excessive complaints fall under clause 5.1.
 * 9) Metagaming Clause: Metagaming, that is using real-life knowledge to influence your actions in game when your nation has no way of knowing about it, is prohibited. This includes working with a nation simply because the nation is run by your friend rather than any in-universe reason.
 * 10) Meatpuppeting Clause: Recruiting IRL friends is allowed and encouraged. However, recruiting them to give you some sort of advantage is not. Players found to be meatpuppeting will be warned or asked to switch nations.
 * 11) And the Rest is History Clause: Do not ask mods for events that would give you some advantage or another person a disadvantage. Do not ask them to ‘even out’ a side in a war or give someone a revolt when you want.

Era-Dependent Rules

 * 1) Vassal states (or client-states, protectorates, puppets, etc) are separate nations that are beholden to another country. Players may post as both host nation and the vassal state in the case of an NPC vassal.
 * 2) A player may play as a client state of another nation, even if that nation is NPCed. The host nation is responsible for the actions of the client state and may elect to reign the vassal state in the vassal acts outside the host nation’s interests.
 * 3) A vassal state may only be achieved through diplomacy or through warfare. ‘X vassalizes Y’ turns are not acceptable. The forms of diplomacy and means of securing the state as a vassal must be roleplayed.
 * 4) A powerful-enough state will more than likely not accept attempts at peaceful vassalization and likely cannot be held in check. Vassals that grow too powerful or otherwise ambitious may grow rebellious.
 * 5) Vassals, under certain circumstances, may be annexed entirely. Appropriate reasons would include extreme cultural similarities/ties, too much dependency on the host nation, being defenseless against their liege, and otherwise being unable or unwilling to stop annexation. ‘X annexes Y’ turns are not acceptable. If a large number of your vassals in the same area or culture are unhappy, do not expect a peaceful annexation.
 * 6) In the case of a personal union, a merger between the two nations may be possible given sufficient time and plausibility. Mergers will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
 * 7) Vassal rules 1.1 through 1.3 apply to personal unions.
 * 8) Culture groups/tribes existing outside the definition of ‘states’ or conventional countries can be played. Rather than the territory being filled in on the map, only its borders will be colored. These borders can overlap.
 * 9) Cultures/tribes can migrate to new lands or leave old lands behind. In this case, the map will play against you. Migration into another culture group’s land may require an algorithm. If one is needed, a moderator will contact you or do one for you.
 * 10) Nomadic or stateless groups can settle down and form a state, in which case they will be treated as any stated entity. Forming a state may result in initial rebellions, minor fragmentation near your borders, and border disputes with other nations.

Colonial Rules

 * 1) A colony cannot be secured through direct warfare with its host nation and vice-versa.
 * 2) In general, avoid all-out colonial wars, given that these ‘Old World Wars’ were fairly rare. In the event of colonial warfare, an algorithm for each theater will be needed.
 * 3) A nation without access to a coastline cannot colonize. Owning an enclave port to circumvent this is prohibited.
 * 4) Colonies can only grow via ships from the Old World until 1550.
 * 5) Expansion of colonies should follow the coastline or a river inland.
 * 6) Areas can be claimed for colonization and a tentative border will be drawn. Claims can overlap. Wars over claims are allowed, though only in the case of claim violation.
 * 7) Claims can be approved or rejected by the Pope or other powerful figures.
 * 8) A list of colonizers will be made available as time progresses. Nations can be added to this list given enough time, progress, or need to colonize. They can also be removed. Attempting to colonize without being on this list will result in a warning. If you do secure a colony through warfare while you are not a colonizer, you still need mod approval to be a colonizer.
 * 9) The creation of a large amount of colonies for the purposes of algo spam is prohibited.
 * 10) In the event of a colony expanding into lands occupied by a tribal player, their borders will overlap. Over time, the tribal player’s borders may shrink until the overlap is eliminated. Warfare may be needed to maintain these tribal borders. However, these tribes will never completely leave the area without warfare from the colonizer.

NuAlgo
Algorithms and military engagements will be determined by three factors: sides/location involved, tactics, and chance. This will be separated into rounds: Preparation, movement, and battle. In preparation rounds, the state of the sides involved as well as the battleground itself will be analyzed and turned into modifiers for each side. The best way to ensure that your preparation score is as high as possible is to regularly post. The tactics round is where you detail what your nation does. This can be in your turn or DMed to the moderators. This plan of action will be rated on a scale of one-to-ten. We are looking for plausibility, well-thought out tactics, and good writing!

Lastly, in the battle round, we will take these modifiers and tack them onto the average of three dice rolls: one for forces of nature, one for attack, and one for conclusion. Highest number is the victor and the mods will determine what happens based on the difference between the scores.

Advantage/Disadvantage
There may be certain circumstances in which a player must roll at an advantage or disadvantage. When you roll at an advantage, you roll one extra time and we will discard your lowest throw. However, rolling at a disadvantage means you must roll an extra time and your ‘’highest’’ throw will be discarded. A nation can expect to throw at an advantage if:
 * They are facing a significantly lower-tier nation in battle.
 * They have a great general on their side.
 * They achieved a 95 or higher on any of their throws on the previous turn (without modifiers)
 * They are launching a surprise attack (to be judged by moderators).
 * They are/were the parent nation fighting against a revolt.

Likewise, a player will roll with disadvantage if:
 * They are facing a significantly higher-tier nation in battle.
 * They achieved a 5 or below on any of their throws on the previous turn (without modifiers).
 * There is a natural calamity taking place in the affected region.
 * They are experiencing invasions from more than two fronts.
 * They are experiencing an economic depression.

Modifiers
Population: Population Density: Infrastructure: Economy: Troop Level: Government: Motive: Morale: Leader/Commander:

Note: Modifiers in italics are possible only through the player choosing that specialty.

Population

 * Less than 10 times that of enemy: -15
 * Half or less than half of enemy: -10
 * Less than that of enemy: -5
 * Similar populations*: 0
 * Greater than that of enemy: 5
 * 2 or more times that of enemy: 10
 * More than 10 times that of enemy: 15


 * ’’Similar populations mean neither side has equal to or greater than 10% more population of its enemy.

Population Density
The following is the average number of your country’s people per square kilometer in a 300 km distance or shorter from the battlefield. As these numbers are hard to come by, especially for some time periods, use your best guess if you cannot find a source. Mods will change this as needed. As world population increases, so too will the numbers.
 * ’’’>2 people per sq km (Wasteland):’’’ +10 off/-10 def
 * ’’’2-5 people per sq km (Very Rural):’’’ +15 off/-5 def
 * ’’’5 - 10 people per sq km (Rural):’’’ +10 off/+5 def
 * ’’’11 - 30 people per sq km (Somewhat Urban): -5 off/+10 def
 * ’’’31 - 50 people per sq km (Urban): -10 off/+15 def
 * ’’’51 people - 70 people per sq km (Metropolis): -15 off/+20 def

Infrastructure (Attacking)

 * ’’'Nearby allied light infrastructure:''' +2
 * ’’’Heavy Infrastructure (Nearby fortifications, some towns and cities):‘’’ +5
 * ’’’Blockade established:’’’ +5
 * ’’’Captured light infrastructure:''' +7
 * Siege weapons (requires a turn to build): +10
 * ’’'Captured fortress:''' +10

Infrastructure (Defending)

 * ’’’Basic Infrastructure (Roads, etc if nat’l score is more than twice opponents’):’’’ +5
 * ’’’Blockade established:’’’ +5
 * ’’’General Infrastructure (Minor fortifications, some towns):’’’ +10
 * ’’’Heavy Infrastructure (Nearby fortifications and cities): ‘’’ +15
 * ’’’Fortress:’’’ +20

Economy
+1 for every turn spent developing the economy in the last 15 turns. This is meant to act as an incentive to regularly post. You may receive penalties through mod events or actions from another player. Alternatively, you may receive a mod event that positively affects your ecomomy. '''MOD NOTE: To avoid confusion, in the event of a mod event causing economic bonuses or penalties, the number by which the economy changes must be specifically stated. No number posted means no change in the algorithm.''' These penalties or bonuses will remain for 5 turns, after which they expire. In the case of merchant republics, they will last 10 turns. Sometimes, you will deal with an event that will penalize you for each year it continues. These events require an appropriate response or they may continue or spiral out of control. Here are some typical penalties you can expect:
 * Embargoing major power: -1 per turn until resolved.
 * Currency debasement: -1 per turn until resolved.
 * Paying tribute: -1 every five turns.
 * Economic disruption nearby (war, plague, etc): -2 per turn.
 * Economic disruption within home nation (plague, ransacking, drought, guild infighting): -3 point penalty.
 * Severe currency debasement: -3 per turn
 * Destruction or crippling of a nearby powerful nation: -3 point penalty.
 * Embargo by major power: -3 per turn.
 * Severe damage to major city: -4 point penalty.
 * Naval blockade of major port: -4 per turn.
 * Loss of major city: -10 point penalty.
 * '''Loss of capital city:" -25 point penalty.

Likewise, you may encounter the following bonuses:
 * Gift from other nation: +1 point bonus.
 * Tribute from tributary: +1 point every five turns per tributary.
 * Prosperous trade with nearby nations: +1 per turn.
 * Pillaging another country: +1 point bonus.
 * Prosperous long-distance trade route: +2 per turn.
 * Gold rush: +3 per turn.
 * Plundering important enemy city: +6 point bonus.
 * Plundering enemy capital: +12 point bonus.

Military
You have 10 points per 10,000 troops on the battlefield. To calculate your maximum troop levels, please refer to the following:
 * Feudal Nations: 0.0075 times population
 * Democracies: 0.05 (until 1870) 1.5% Post 1870 (Peacetime)
 * Dictatorships: 0.04 (until 1870) 2.0 % post 1870 (Peacetime)
 * Absolute Feudal Monarchies: 0.01 times population
 * Absolute Monarchies: 0.024 times population (cannot be achieved until at least 1620)
 * Parliamentary Monarchies: 0.015 times population.
 * Revolutionary Republic: 0.12 times population (not achievable until the mods allow for the enlightenment to take hold enough for these)
 * Enlightenment Empire 0.10 (same as above)
 * Parliamentary English Empire 0.10 (same as above)
 * (most of these are soon to be replaced with conscription laws)
 * Nomadic Hordes: 0.01 times population
 * Non-feudal Nations: 0.015 times population
 * Naval-concentrated, non-feudal nations: 0.01 times population

Government

 * ’’’Disorganized/Scattered Tribal Confederation:’’’ -20
 * ’’’Unhappy Republic/Chivalric Order:’’’ -15
 * ’’’Unhappy Empire:’’’ -10
 * ’’’Unhappy Feudal State/Iqta/General Monarchy:’’’ -5
 * ’’’Organized Tribal Confederation (Older Than 25 Years): -15
 * ’’’Content Feudal State/Iqta/General Monarchy:’’’ 5
 * ’’’Content Empire:’’’ 10
 * ’’’Content Republic/Chivalric Order:’’’ 15
 * ’’’Horde:’’’ 25

Motive

 * ’’’War of aggression:’’’ -10
 * ’’’Dynastic dispute:’’’ -5
 * ’’’Asserting hegemony:’’’ +/- 0
 * ’’’Defending hegemony:’’’ +5
 * ’’’Reclaiming long lost territory:’’’ +5
 * ’’’Defending border:’’’ +5
 * ’’’Religious dispute:’’’ +5
 * ’’’Defending Mandate of Heaven (China only):’’’ +10
 * ’’’Defending core territories:’’’ +10
 * ’’’Reclaiming recently lost territory:’’’ +10
 * ’’’Defending against existential threat:’’’ +15
 * ’’’Holy war:’’’ +20

Morale

 * Army in desertion: -20
 * Vassals unhappy: -10
 * Recent defeat: -5
 * Recent victory: +5
 * Recent pillage (if attacker): +10
 * Last stand: +20

Siege
-3 to defender for each year a siege continues. If the attackers are forced to retreat from the siege, this score recovers by +6 each year until resetting to 0. This includes being completely repelled or leaving less than 5,000 people in an offensive siege.

Battle Round
Each player will be expected to detail their plan of attack on the talk page. Moderators may not tell you what to do, but they may tell you if what you are doing is completely impossible, metagamey, or otherwise unacceptable. During the scoring of the algorithm, the moderators will compare your battle plan against that of your enemy and judge it on a scale of 1-20.

The Math
Outcome of d100 + modifiers = what happens.