Ammon Kush: The Skeleton Coast.

[HoneyBadger]

EDIT-please read! I've got enough finished on this one, that I've decided to go ahead and finish it myself, so it's officially no longer a Placeholder-Nation, and now joins the glorious ranks of a definite project. Procrastination aside, I should have it done sometime before Christmas, but should I disappear from these hallowed forums for an entire year, it's free-graphics included-for anyone to do whatever you like with them. By then, they'll probably need updated, anyway...

Based on historical Nubia with Egyptian elements (difficult to separate the two!), strong elements-especially names of heroes and creatures-taken from Charles R Saunders' 'Imaro' trilogy (as a direct homage, since the somewhat ill-fated series deserves a bit more popularity-hopefully Mr. Saunders won't mind.), as well as biblical Ammon, the Hyksos people, the Mali people, and with minor Greek elements.

It should be noted, by the way, that the Nubians at Nabta Playa constructed one of the first megalithic archeoastronomical devices (think Stonehenge as a calendar/star-charting device), approximately 1000 years before Stonehenge was built-it's from this that I draw their links to the night sky.

I've done some editing recently, to make these even more politically correct, as well as slightly more aesthetically pleasing:



I am still working on this and my other mods, but that's a little like saying the ocean hasn't dried out yet...

This is an LA Nation that started out EA, but I couldn't find a purpose for it to exist in EA. So I'm adapting the original concepts into the LA, to present a fairly evil Nation of Undead and Demons, which are defending their homeland against the *other* evils of the Late Era.

The idea is that this mod represents a pre-colonial, pre-(and in some sense, post)-apocalyptic "new world" (in this case, a mythical Africa), who's residents are engaged in not only expanding their empire, but also protecting their lands from would-be despoilers, and improving their primitive technological base through the application of human ingenuity, as well as some bizarre ancient artifacts that have survived for unknown millenia.

Description: Ammon Kush: A vast, rich land of endless greenery ruled over by fell and terrible giants, has suffered predation from the hands of despotic kings and would-be conquerors for thousands of years. Ancient Sauromatia conquered parts of it, and held them for a time, leaving their gods and legends and ruins behind. Arcoscepalie and old Ermor both fought wars against the squabbling kingdoms of the Ammon Giants, but were driven out by the many dangers of the proud and savage land. Never before has all the Ammon Kush been united under a single ruler-it's people are too disparate and too different, the giant kings of Ammon too proud and hostile to one another to work together-but now the danger is too great. Evil walks the land in numbers never seen, and the choice for every Nation is "Ally and be strong, or fall and be forgotten". So all the peoples of Ammon, driven by desperation, have come together and embraced a new way, resting all their hopes of glory, freedom, and simple survival on their faith in the Awakened God.

Desire: To create a Giant-centric Nation that can hold it's own in the Late Era, *without* advanced weaponry/armour, unbeatable PD, or over-the-top creatures/sacreds.

Starting Army:
10 Damaw
10 Damiw
Zaty.
Nubian Scout.

PD: 1-20 = 2xDamew, 1xZaty. 21+ = 1xDamaw + 1xDamiw, 1xQore

Starting Sites: (Note-Ammon Kush will get more starting gem production than any other LA Nation. This is meant to be both a benefit, and an attraction to other Nations, since with Ammon's weak PD and starting army, they'll be very vulnerable to rushes, unless they choose the powerful but costly Banefire Engine Pretender. To compensate for the bonus, they also start with a site that increases Misfortune, making it more difficult for them to recruit their very powerful heroes and multiheroes.)

Nabta Playa. 2 Astral
Onyx Pyramid. 1 Death
The Mines of Zinj: 1 Air, 1 Earth, 1 Fire.
Skeleton Coast: 1 Water, 1 Death, Increases Misfortune.

Units:
Blemmyes: Hp. 20 Size. 3 Str. 18 Att. 8 Def. 8 Prot 2 (2) Mv. 12 (3) Mor. 99 MR. 8 Weapons: Fist, Bite. Armour: None. Mindless. If GoRed, Blemmyes have 0 Leadership.
Gold: 40 Res. 1

Daku.
Firstform: Hp 16, Size 2, Str 16, Att 9, Def 9, Prot 6 (6), Mor 9, MR 7,
Mv 16(2), Prec 6. Weapons: Trample, Bite. Armour: None. Patrol bonus (2), Berserk (0).
Waterform: Hp 16, Size 2, Str 16, Att 9, Def 12, Prot 6 (6), Mor 9, MR 9,
Mv 9(1), Prec 6. Weapons: Bite Armour: None. Berserk (0). Amphibious, Self Healing.

Medjay: Hp. 14 Size. 3 Str. 14 Att. 12 Def. 12 Prot. 6 (3) Mv. 10 Mor. 30 MR. 12 Weapons: Bronze Battleaxe (Dmg. 5) Armour: Leather Kilt (Prot. 5), Bronze Shield. Undead, Sacred. Defensive Bonus (2)
Gold: 60 Res. 9

Ka Guardian: (Capital Only) Hp. 15 Size. 3 Str. 15 Att. 14 Def. 14 Prot. 10 (3) Mv. 10 Mor. 30 MR. 15 Weapons: Bronze Khopesh (Dmg. 6) Armour: Ancient Bronze Armour (Prot. 7), Ancient Bronze Helmet (7), Bronze Shield. Undead, Sacred, Defensive Bonus (6).
Gold: 90 Res. 18

Damaw. Stats:
Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 10 Def. 11 Prot. 2 (0) Mv. 10 (2) Mor. 9 MR. 9 Prec. 10. Weapons: Spear, Sling (25 ammo).
Armour: Kurta (Prot 2), Keffiyeh (Prot 2).

Damew.
Stats: Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 10 Def. 10 Prot. 2 (0) Mv. 10 (2) Mor. 9 MR. 9 Prec. 10. Weapons: Mace. Armour: Kurta, Keffiyeh, Buckler.

Damiw. Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 10 Def. 8 Prot. 2 (0) Mv. 10 (2) Mor. 9 MR. 9 Prec. 10. Weapons: Tabar Zin. Armour: Kurta, Keffiyeh.

Irtjet.
Stats: Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 11 Def. 12 Prot. 6 (0) Mv. 12 (3) Mor. 11 MR. 10 Prec. 10. Weapons: Assegai. Armour: Bronze Cap, Keffiyeh, Adarga (shield).

Hykso.
Stats: Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 12 Def. 10 Prot. 6 (0) Mv. 12 (3) Mor. 12 MR. 10 Prec. 10. Weapons: Scimitar
Armour: Bronze Cap, Keffiyeh, Adarga (shield).

Pitati.
Stats: Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 10 Att. 10 Def. 10 Prot. 6 (0) Mv. 12 (3) Mor. 11 MR. 10 Prec. 10. Weapons: Short Bow, Jambiya (Dmg. 2). Armour: Bronze Cap, Keffiyeh.

Tjemeh.
Stats: Hp. 10 Size. 2 Str. 11 Att. 12 Def. 12 Prot. 13 (0) Mv. 10 (2) Mor. 12 MR. 10 Prec. 8. Weapons: Sarissa
Armour: Full Bronze Plate, Full Bronze Helmet, Thurios (shield).

Ammon Warrior-Huge purple skinned giants (standard Jotun size) with strange amber eyes, who have allied themselves with Kush. Ammon Giants tattoo themselves from the tops of their heads to the bottoms of their feet in bright purple dyes, the tattoos displaying fierce beasts, their family lineage, and their personal deeds. They also file their teeth into razor-sharp fangs. Warriors arm themselves with two massive maces carved from solid stone, and helmets and armour crafted from the heavy bones of large animals and unlucky humans that they've eaten. Ammon Giants are the spawn of ancient demons, and can be damaged by holy magic.
Hp. 36 Siz. 4 Str. 21 Att. 12, Def. 12, Prot. 14 (6), Mor. 12 MR. 12 Mv. 16/2. Prec. 10 Weapons: Stone Mace (Dmg. 5), Stone Mace (Dmg. 5) Armour: Bone Armour (Prot. 8) Skull Helmet (Prot. 9) Ambidextrous (4)
Gold 55, Resources 15. Gluttony (4) Darkvision (100) Berserk (0) Demon.

Oryx Guard.
Firstform: Hp. 4 Siz. 4 Str. 21 Att. 15, Def. 14, Prot. 17 (6), Mor. 12 MR. 12 Mv. 16/2. Prec. 10 Weapons: Sling, 6 ammo. Armour: Bronze Brigandine (Prot 13) Skull Helmet (Prot. 9), Bronze Shield. Ambidextrous (4)
Gluttony (4) Darkvision (100) Demon.
Secondform: Hp. 36 Siz. 4 Str. 21 Att. 15, Def. 14, Prot. 17 (6), Mor. 50 (berserk) MR. 12 Mv. 16/2. Prec. 10 Weapons: Bronze Mace (Dmg. 7). Armour: Bronze Brigandine (Prot 13) Skull Helmet (Prot. 9), Bronze Shield. Ambidextrous (4)
Gluttony (4) Darkvision (100) Berserk (0) Demon.

Commanders:
Nubian Scout

Zaty (commander)
Ammon Kandake (Ammon High Priestess)
Qore (Priestess)
Ammon King.

Ammon Ophiuchi: Mage-priests of the Ammon Kush, and followers of the Old Ways. Huge (standard Jotun sized) purple skinned, heavily tattoo'd warrior-shamans with strange amber eyes, they arm themselves with an enormous magical bone rattle that causes Decay to whatever it strikes, scale armour made from human skullbones, and a full helmet fashioned from the skull of a wildebeast. Instead of left arms, they have 2 huge black asps which do deadly poison damage. They have Death1/Nature1/Holy1, Regeneration (5%) and Healing (5) and are considered to be demons.
Hp. 45 Siz. 4 Str. 26 Att. 15, Def. 12, Prot. 15 (6), Mor. 15 MR. 16 Mv. 16/2. Prec. 10 Weapons: Death Rattle (Dmg 5, Magical, Decay), Asp Arm (2 attacks, Dmg 3 No Str. Armour Neg. Strong Poison.) Armour: Bone Scale (Prot. 8) Beast Helmet (Prot. 10) Sacred.
Gold 350, Resources 25. Gluttony (4)
Poor Leader, Average Undead Leader.

Ammon Bana-Gui. (mage)

Summons:

Gorgops: Size 5, waterform trampler (better in the water than on land), Patrol Bonus (5), Berserk (5) Fear (5), Recuperates damage/Regenerates in the water.

Hibi: amphibious spirit.

Izingogo. Blood Summons animal.

Tuyobene. Undead. Sacred. Lifedrain Bite, Stealth, Regeneration +10, Recuperation, No Need to Eat, Darkvision 100%, Cold Res 100%, Poison Res 100%. Bronze Glaive, Buckler, Nzappa Zap.

Tuyobene Tyerkao. Mounted commander of the Tuyobene.

Nandi. Ground Sloth.

Ophiuchus: Unique summon. The Ophiuchus is the essential spirit of a constellation in the night's sky, worshipped and feared by the Ammon Giants. This is a giant being of shadow, it's body defined by bright pinpricks of light, like a starry night sky. Wrapped around it's wrists, it holds the twin heads of a ghostly amphisbaena. It gains considerable power in darkness (+10) and is immortal and etherial. It has Fear (+3), Astral 5, Nature 3, Death 3, Stealth (30). It also has Healing (100). It can attack twice in one round with the amphisbaena, each head doing armour-piercing magical damage and deadly poison.
Hp. 120 Siz. 6 Str. 20 Att. 20, Def. 20, Prot. 0 (0), Mor. 30 MR. 20 Mv. 15/3 (fly). Prec. 15 Weapons: Amphisbaena (2 attacks, magical, deadly poison, damage 15 no Str.). Gold 0, Resources 0. Thaumaturgy 9, Astral 6, 1/50 Astral Gems.

Mashataan. Horror Commander.

Irimu Tsavo. Blood summon: 2 headed lion-demon weirdness.

Vembi. National Horror.

Iron Viper.

Heroes:
Imaro
Mwami Ruanda.
Thutanas.
King Alara.
Sundiata Keita.

Multiheroes:
Mangabaan: Immortal, Size 3, HP. 30 Str. 24 Prot. 20, Holy 1, Earth 4, Superior Leader, Fire Res 50%, Cold Res 50%, Poison Res 50%, Shock Res 50%. Sacred. 2 Magical Fist attacks (x3 vs demons).
Cloud Strider
Erriten Sorceror
Bahindhya Snake Charmer
Mawambututssi.

Pretender: Banefire Engine (aka absolutely the latest in home security systems).
Unique. Hp. 150 Siz. 6 Str. 25 Att. 16 Def. 8 Prot. 24 (24) Mor. 30 MR. 18 Mv. Immobile, no Teleport. Prec. 16 Weapons: Moon Bite x 4 (double damage to magical beings), Banefire Strike. Armour: None. Inanimate, NNE, 100% Fire Res. 100% Poison Res. Fear (0) Banefire Aura. Heat Aura (5) Patrol Bonus (30). Darkvision (100%). Ambidextrous (4). 4 misc slots.
Earth 1, Death 1. Dominion 1. Cost: 250.

[HoneyBadger]

Reserved for graphics.

[Aezeal]

lol you are flooding the boards with nations

[HoneyBadger]

Yeah, I've been wanting to make some more for a while now, but the time consuming nature of the graphics was always a major obstacle (Either in the case of the poor graphics of F'Thaqqua, or the-most likely-lost graphics of my Mountain Kings mod). So I decided not to bother with the graphics at all, or the more technical aspects of the DM file, and concentrate on making the nations I wanted to make, minus the hassles associated with completing the modding process.

That way, I can do work, bit by bit, and by the time I do have a personal computer, I can compile everything at my leisure, since I'll have everything done but (maybe) the graphics, the balancing, and the actual DM file.

[HoneyBadger]

Thought I'd give this a bump, since it'll probably be the next nation I do graphics for.

[JaghataiKhan]

More nations is always a bonus. Also, you might want to add a human Warrior King (Tchaka) and Impis as well.

What about adding a fully Hindu nation comprised of Humans serving the shiny divine guys? Or a nation of Khazar and\or Armenian heritage? That would more or less cover the planet, bonus if anyone can make a nation of North American Natives, with many tribes united under Iroquis, with a few Cherokee and other tribes I forgot their names.

[Sombre]

Foodstamp made a Haida Gwaii nation which covers some degree of native North Americans I believe.

[HoneyBadger]

This is Kush/Nubia (very Egypt-flavored), not Zululand, so no Tchaka, no Impis. Maybe I'll do a Zulu nation someday.

Zanzibar I'm already determined to eventually do (LA of Aksum, probably), unless someone beats me to it-should be pretty easy, since it can draw from general African, Islamic/Persian, and Ethiopian themes, as well as it's own culture.

I want to do Central Africa (Kanem-Bornu), maybe with the Sao as the EA (possibly another giant nation, probably reptilian in nature, with dinosaur summons, which would mostly be based on speculation), Congo as MA (pygmies and dinosaurs!), and Mali as LA.

Other African possibilities include the Songhai and the Dahomey, and maybe a nation based on Tsodilo, in Botswana. And ofcourse something could be done with Madagaskar.

Khazar/Armenia might be fun. I wanted to try to do a Jainist nation, but I don't know where to begin.
I also want to do a nation based on the Sea Peoples-that will possibly be the MA of Kush-if time and will allows.

And I'd like to see a deep ocean nation. Right now we've got Atlantis-coastal, Oceania-main ocean, and R'Lyeh-which also appears to be coastal. Leaving the trenches untapped. And maybe the reefs. I've got a few ideas for both of those.

And at some point, I hope to do a somewhat generic Native American nation with giants, based on the North East tribes (I'm going to call it 'Kwnesho Kwnee' after a road I used to live on). I'd also like to see an undead Native American influenced nation-I've got some ideas for that one.

Haida Gwaii is an excellent Native American nation already, though.

I'd love to see a good Laos/South East Asia nation, and atleast one islander nation.
And someone really ought to do something for Wales, maybe Scotland. The Isle of Man is also a possibility.

We don't have anything for Australia/New Zealand yet, either.

I'm hoping you'll do Turkey.

[Squirrelloid]

Sorry for being somewhat off-topic, but I wanted to comment on where you saw potential existing for more nations.

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

And I'd like to see a deep ocean nation. Right now we've got Atlantis-coastal, Oceania-main ocean, and R'Lyeh-which also appears to be coastal. Leaving the trenches untapped. And maybe the reefs. I've got a few ideas for both of those.

Atlantis is deep ocean - read their EA fluff, its right there in the manual/nation selection info.

Rlyeh also seems to be predominantly deep ocean, or at least ambiguous.

And of course Oceania has Coral King as a hero - which implies reef. Oceania is in general coastal - this 'main ocean' has no referrent. What do you think that is?

I think the general Ocean ecology is fairly well-tapped. Which isn't to say that different Ocean races occupying some of those same ecologies but with different concepts couldn't work. Although it could be rather hard to do...

(FWIW, the ocean is actually divided into shelf (coast), slope (bathyal), and abyssal plain with a few specialized ecologies - eg, Hadal depths (trench). Abyssal plain is so low energy that I can't imagine a civilization actually living there, not to mention there isn't much exciting about it - its just a wide swath of muck. Which leads me to conclude that Atlantis is either Hadal (up from trench habitats) or lower bathyal. Rlyeh is probably upper bathyal - nestled in a gorge that cuts into the continental shelf (a gorge is explicitly the location of EA, and since the star impacts there, thus of all eras, and you don't get deeper than upper bathyal and still have gorges). Oceania is obviously our shelf power.

I suppose you could argue for an open-ocean power, except you can't build fortresses there... Or really have a civilization at all...)

And someone really ought to do something for Wales, maybe Scotland. The Isle of Man is also a possibility.

Seriously? We're already overloaded with gaelic nations. Marveni, Man, Eriu/Tir Na Og, Fomoria. Gaelic nations are the *last* thing we need more of. Especially since the mythological material for, eg, Wales/Scottland is really incomplete, and the king Arthur material is in use by Man already - making it as 'Welsh' as you're going to get with the source material.

Ok, i take that back. Greco-roman nations are the last thing we need more of, followed closely by gaelic nations.

--------

What seem to really be missing (though I do not have exhaustive knowledge of the existing mods) are:
-Islamic/Arabian nation, easily 3 eras here.
-Persia, easily 3 eras here
-Steppes horse tribes (Huns, Mongols, etc...), probably 2 eras (incl. Samarkand here).

Pacific Islanders seem to have a good mod, at least in development (don't recall how finished it is), which would be the other major hole.

That gets us at least nominal coverage of central asia and mesopotamia (which is actually woefully undercovered - Abysia is the only Mesopotamian nation, and only represents Sumer/Babylon - and then only mildly).

After those big blank areas are filled in, some other possible nation themes:
-Finnish, based on the Kalevala. Yeah, its european, but its different enough from all its neighbors and well documented enough you could squeeze an era out of this.
-MA Bogarus, likely based primarily on Nart's Saga. Russia only getting one era is kind of sad. They should at least have some MA representation. Nart's Saga represents the Caucusus, and so is at least sort of pushing into/towards Asia.
-Possibly a Mayan and/or Incan nation (although it could be hard to differentiate from Aztec-inspired Mictlan)
-Islamic Spain. Separate enough politically and culturally from the islamic empire historically to justify a separate existence - 1 era.
-Georgia (ie, the former Russian republic), focusing mainly on the Prester John legends. One era. Possibly combine it with Crusader States history.

But these are all sidelines.

I'm not sure how much more you can do with Africa for nations. Nubia was actually a really good choice because it has abundant history due to its middle eastern ties. But as you move farther south you end up with tribal societies that never really formed nations until they were imposed upon them, with the sole exception of the Zulu (who could make for a cool LA nation if there's enough diversity of material), and who have no recorded history.

Zanzibar, Mali, and other parts of N. Africa (saharan and mediterranean) are mostly part of a greater islamic nation/empire historically, and could easily represent specialized troops of such a nation from an appropriate time period. Civ IV made the reach of making Mali a playable civ based solely on the era of Timbuktu as a center of research and islamic culture - and what they were doing was fishing for African nations to de-eurocentrize the game, a noble goal but the source material is thin.

Similar to Africa, N. America is hard to represent because what few nations there were left little evidence of their culture behind. And one could certainly argue that N. Am is better represented than it has any hope of being, with LA Atlantis being very much an Inuit-inspired nation.

At the end of the day you can only have so many nations that amount to 'unarmored or poorly armored people with crude weapons'. Yes, they have different mythologies, but you end up with a lot of nations that are basically the same with variant summons and slightly different national mage paths. You also get at most one era out of many of these. Not to mention Mictlan seems to have stolen liberally from other american traditions - eagle warriors would have been one of the most thematic units for a possible N. Am. nation, and have nothing to do with the Aztecs.

Basically, cultural breadth is good, but go where the source material is.

(Edit: If I do a mod, it'll be the Islamic one. I have ideas. I need to figure out how to do artwork).

[HoneyBadger]

Actually, Haida Gwaii would really qualify more as a Canadian nation.