A fourth age

[HoneyBadger]

Anybody is free to use any of my ideas, especially if they're willing to give me credit, but even that isn't really necessary, since I'm usually influenced by 10 different things, myself. It gives my ego a warm fuzzy though

[Omnirizon]

concept:

A nation based off the Haitian politics and folklore from 1500 - 1700. The concept is a little odd, as it would be largely comprised of mages and assissins with the Heretic ability, similar to Pyth; inspiration for these is obviously the African slaves in Haiti, especially the voodoo and other folklore. Other commander recruits would be weak priests and mounted commanders, as well as stealthy 'mulatto' mounted commanders who aren't heretics. All heretic troops are stealthy and most use poison of some sort.

I know this sounds odd, but keep in mind that Haiti was a French colony with very little French. It was separated from the crown and courts, and no French actually wanted to spend time there. Slaves then were treated with brutal violence by whatever sadist landlords would want to be there, and the only people that wanted to be there were the ones who found some pleasure in this. Additionally, without much French presence, slaves were able to roam freely and often obtain freedom by simply running away to a neighboring town; along they way they would steal clothes, pistols, and a horse so that they could ride into town. Doing this they would hope to convince the townspeople that they were a freeman who could afford these things. Additionally, the lack of French meant the few whites there would often take African mistresses, and birth many mulatto children, who were often in a torn position between white master and black slave. voodoo formed as a means of resistance among the slaves, and largely involved the parodying of French Catholicism. Slaves would often sacrifice animals, place them in a coffin, and have white priests perform rights on the slaughtered animal (the priest wouldn't bother opening the coffin, because it was just a slave, and would be fooled into doing what was essentially an unholy act by their own standards). voodoo was also a means of slaves 'fighting back', even if they were only fighting the spirit world. totems and dolls were a large part of this in the religion, of which the 'voodoo doll' is a somewhat overdrawn cliche. herbalism was also a very integral part of the religion, and voodoo practitioners were supposed to be able to make deadly poisons from herbs, although it is likely the toxicity of their concoctions came not from the herbalism, but from arsenic, which was often supplied to them by free blacks. ritual dancing was also part of voodoo, and blacks would often leave plantations at night to participate.

I want these types of themes to figure into this nation. the only way i can think of doing it is as a 'heretic' nation. that seems somewhat paradoxical, but it was pulled off with Pyth, so it is what I would like to do with this nation. i've tried to begin drawing up some commanders, starting the the more powerful voodoo mage priests. however, i will need to pull out my books on haitian history and look up some details and get some ideas for names.

[TheMenacer]

I think a fourth age would be pretty nice, not only because who can complain about having more stuff to blow things up with, but because I think it'd help define the nations a little better. There're a bunch of nations floating around the early ages that I don't think really fit the mold, like Maverni and Tien'Chi that don't boast the tech to be in later ages, but don't have the mythical feel of the other EA nations. Granted, they have the same high-powered, capitol-centric mages of the other EA nations, but ultimately those awesome mages are just regular dudes with higher numbers than their later incarnations.

EA nations that I think really fit the mold have things like nonhuman recruitables, with bonus points if they aren't just some other species, but something really mystical in origin. They should just overall have a real feel of the uncanny about them, that this was a time far in the past where magical crap rubbed shoulders with the common man on a daily basis. Humans should have low level access to magic at best unless they're really above and beyond their fellow man, perhaps as unique hero units. An age slipped between early and middle would be something like those largely magical nations having fallen, giving primitive humans the opportunity to scavenge their secrets, and then the remaining two ages are as they already are, increasing levels of technology with decreasing levels of magic.

Edit: Roughly I'm thinking the progression should be
Magical Beings with the occasional mortal thrown in ---> Mortals with tons of magic ---> Mortals with less magic ---> Mortals with very little magic at best

[HoneyBadger]

How about a nice mod option (please, devs?) to create whatever set of "ages" we want? You could have LOTR Middle Earth ages, some weird age mod where everything is set in space, and provinces are really planets, or whatever you dream up.

[JimMorrison]

OMG I want to do a space battle game. I may just have to learn how to mod now, that seems so exciting.

[Trolim]

Alright, my thoughts for a fourth age nation; the bastard child of Ulm and Marignon.

Model: the 30 Years War and the wars in and around the Reformation.

Guns? Well, maybe an armor-nullifying 1/3 turn fire arquebus, -1 precision and medium-range.

Some Ulm-style heavily-armored units- but armor is starting to be reduced in the face of firearms. Truckloads of pikemen. Zweihanders. Landsnecht with 1-shot pistols.

Fitting with the reformation theme (priesthood of believers,etc), most of these units have a recruit-anywhere sacred version. Same statistics, except maybe +1 morale. Balance it by raising the costs to recruit. "Devout Zweihander", "Devout Arquebuser", etc.
"In the turmoil and bloodshed of the coming of the new god, devout followers and fanatics are to be found in all walks of life in Ulm."

Should be a capitol only sacred- maybe stealthy troops that work with the spy/assassin?

Fanatic/Ranter- lvl 1 priests with stealth and spy.
Theologians- lvl 2? priests with random level 1 (100% FAES+ 10% FAES) magic. Close to old age. Research bonus or penalty? (Bookish, but do they have a research-hindering attitude?)
Natural Philosopher- Capitol-only mages. 2 levels of random magic (100% chance FAWEN times 2+ 10% FAWESN, research bonus). Immune to drain scale.
Capitol-only spy/assassin.
Capitol-only cannon. Hellaciously expensive. 1% chance of exploding each time they fire (which is only 1/3 rounds)

Heroes:
Melancthon- With a misshapen head and a weak body, he is the greatest of Ulm's theologians, and a powerful earth mage to boot.
Maxwell Oldtown- Genius inventor. Stat him like the maker of the maze but young and with a research bonus.
Götz von Berlichingen- Mercenary knight with the iron hand. Just a tough, skilled guy with good leadership. Maybe awe and an iron-hand zero-range attack.

[HoneyBadger]

Space battles, Dom3 style, would be a hell of a lot of fun.
For instance, instead of water nations and land nations, you've got, say, normal space and hyperspace, with some nations able to cross between the two. Each province would be a planet, and gems would be substituted for rare resources, like anti-iron. Units become ships, space monsters are easy, sites would need some extensive reworking, but the maps themselves I would think would be a lot of fun to design (round "provinces", instead of mountains, asteroid fields, forests become organic infestations or Gaia-type planets, whatever). Forged items...I dunno how they'd be handled, but instead of regular helmets, armour, etc. you'd have various weapon and defense systems, special abilities, whatever. Spells become futuristic special technologies, summoned units become special projects. Stealth is pretty self-explanatory, but seduction becomes computer override.

It would ofcourse be a huge amount of work for one person to design, but the possibilities are wide open, and a space scenario, done well, could probably outdo MOO2.