OT: The ambiance and setting (part 3)

[Endoperez]

I don't think it's a good idea to draw to many comparisons between real-world history and Dominions history. Gath shouldn't become Jews. Especially if there's any chance to have a Vampire Count named Adolf have anything near important position in the Ulm. And please, no rape in the backstory.

Regarding geography: just make it random. Have few neighbour-dependent quests that only appear if, say, Ulm and Marignon start next to each other. Even if you don't go that way, don't take it too seriously. The closest we're going to get is the Map That Will Never Be, and it will never be.

If you want to be serious about I, I suggest having MA Marignon without inquisitors influence France-equivalent while LA Marignon with diabolists/inquisitors influence Spain-equivalent.

Also, I don't think humans and giants ever breed with each other. The humans of Gath came from elsewhere (humanbreds, sibyls of Arcoscephale, some were close to Man, etc), and the giants grew smaller because the Nephilim bloodline became ever more and more diluted.

[Omnirizon]

Originally Posted by Endoperez

I don't think it's a good idea to draw to many comparisons between real-world history and Dominions history. Gath shouldn't become Jews. Especially if there's any chance to have a Vampire Count named Adolf have anything near important position in the Ulm. And please, no rape in the backstory.

Regarding geography: just make it random. Have few neighbour-dependent quests that only appear if, say, Ulm and Marignon start next to each other. Even if you don't go that way, don't take it too seriously. The closest we're going to get is the Map That Will Never Be, and it will never be.

If you want to be serious about I, I suggest having MA Marignon without inquisitors influence France-equivalent while LA Marignon with diabolists/inquisitors influence Spain-equivalent.

But I thought Gath was the Jewish tribes...

Random geography is a great idea. What could be done is have nations appear in clusters, so nations appropriate to be close together are always close together, but no static geography necessary. Unfortunately, I've never written a random map generation program; I wonder how dominion's works (now THAT'S getting into copyright issue). What is most likely to happen is static geography in the early stages of game development when there's also only a very few nations, and a randomizer added once there's a better fleshed out game. That will make the Map That Will Never Be, to be; too much initial ambition is what kills these things you know.

are you suggesting that Mari be stretched to fill the role of two historical entities?

[MaxWilson]

Originally Posted by Omnirizon

But I thought Gath was the Jewish tribes...

No, Gath is the Israelite tribes before they were enslaved by the Assyrians and lost to history. For instance, they've got Benjamites (yay!). That is, Gath seems to be the northern kingdom of Israel, whereas Jews come from the southern kingdom of Judah which had only a couple of tribes and was never destroyed quite so thoroughly.

Gath has approximately the same relationship to modern Jews that Inca has to modern Mexicans.

-Max

[Omnirizon]

Originally Posted by Endoperez

If you want to be serious about I, I suggest having MA Marignon without inquisitors influence France-equivalent while LA Marignon with diabolists/inquisitors influence Spain-equivalent.

the spanish state was only forming going into the early modern period, so what you suggest here is really pretty accurate, Endo.

Mari appears to be more a signifier for the continental western Holy Roman Empire, which was more of a nation than any collection of feudal states in what is now Spain or France. However, the theme of separation from a church identity and the beginning of the creation of nation-states under the sovereignty of a monarch is _the_ historical marker of the early modern period that I'm wanting to work with.

To that effect, I really need a France. A single 'Mari' with a little 'Man' picking up the northern continental slack while covering Britain works for pre-modern times, but there has to be a state which is basically annexes of bits of Man, Mari, and Ulm; because that's what France is and that's what it was doing right in this time period. It is too significant to ignore for a game that wants to utilize history (specifically the historical bricolage already picked up in dominions) _and_ be in the early modern period.

What is needed is a name. Historical events combined with the narrative already started in Mari can fill in the details.

[Endoperez]

Originally Posted by Omnirizon

What is needed is a name. Historical events combined with the narrative already started in Mari can fill in the details.

If you're using Man as a name for Man, Chelm is free.

[Omnirizon]

Originally Posted by Endoperez

If you're using Man as a name for Man, Chelm is free.

I was just about to go with Carcassonne. It'd be nice to draw from names in dominions though. I was actually wondering if I dug through the flavor texts surrounding Man, Ulm, and Mari if I'd find anything.