[Illuminated One]

I will upload the mod when all nation slots are full (I don't want to add 70*x units into the game).

Hmm, you are right about the 3 provinces.
The main reason I chose that and the boosted resources is that you don't get a starting army (and no starting commanders), which hurts resource hungry nations alot. Still I think it's better to start with one province now.

The point about the income reduction and the large upkeep is that you don't have to buy researchers.
100 gold at start is higher than the upkeep that you pay, but if you account for not having to buy researchers every turn and getting labs up asap you have quite some breathing room.
I've made short tests with Mictlan (w9f6 bless, bad scales), Ulm (e9n4 bless, ok scales), Marverni (minor rainbow bless, good scales), Niefelheim (e9n8 bless, ok scales) and no nation had crippling gold problems. Niefel struggled a bit and might get boosted later.
I can't test all nations, especially not in the later stages, hence this game. If something turns out to be out of balance I'll fix that later, but I'll have to start at some point.
I'd really be glad if you still tried.