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Dedication
Tis book is dedicated to the people o the RPG blogging community.
community. Te arguments put orward in the community about
elegance o design, importance o player agency, neutrality
neutrality o gamemastering, and a host o other topics have had a proound
impact on my thinking. Te design o the roleplaying side o this book was strongly inuenced by these ideas.

Furthermore, the
Furthermore, the RPG blogging community represents the do-it-yoursel spirit that is an undercurrent to ever ything that I have
done. Some things must be done without the support o the RPG industry.
industry. Some things are worth doing even
e ven i they are not
protable. It
It is important to remember that we are human beings, not currency robots.

Game on!
Except as otherwise identifed, all written portions o this book and Statecrat logo ©2010 Greg Christopher,
Christopher, all rights reserved. All artwork in this book is in the public domain. Te
mention o, use o, or reerence to any company, trademark
trademark or product in this book is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright in question.
question. Tis book is not or sale. Download a
ree copy
copy at errantgame.blo
errantgame.blogspot.com.
gspot.com.
What is Statecrat? Winning the Game
Statecrat is a Grand Strategy Roleplaying Game designed to simulate Statecrat is about having un, not accumulating wealth and power. Te
international
international relations during the early modern period, roughly 1500 to 1900 game is designed so that it is oten not in your best interest to take the
A.D. Te game can also be used to simulate earlier periods o history i you most conservative and sae path. Your reward or taking risks and being
wish, although some o the game concepts (like Casus Belli) may not be ostentatious is Prestige. Tis is your barometer o success in the game. I
entirely appropriate or the time. you are accumulating large amounts o Prestige
Prestige,, you have probably been
contributing to the un o everyone in the group. Tere are also opportunities
In Statecrat, the players take on the mantle o a ruler rom history, called a to spend Prestige to accomplish even more amazing things in the game.
Sovereign. Te Sovereign is represented using a character design similar to
those in traditional roleplaying games. Sovereigns
Sovereigns will be good at some things I you want to crown someone
and bad at others, just like rulers in real history. Te character design is set up the winner o the game, you can
in a way that encourages real lie behavior, including recklessness and short- use Prestige to do so. Simply set a
sightedness,
sightedne ss, to create an experience akin to actually commanding nations timerame or play, such as starting
rom history. in 1492 and playing until 1792.
Whoever has accumulated and spent
Each Sovereign is in control o a nation or country called a State. Te State
State is the most Prestige at the end o that
representedd using some basic mechanisms that provide tax revenues, soldiers,
represente timerame is the winner. However,
ships, and other resources or your Sovereign to use in pursuit o their goals. you will most likely not be concerned
You can use a printed or a digital map as a guide to represent the world you about having a “winner” by the time
are shaping, but you are not required to do so. Each Sovereign eventually you reach 1792. Winning is ancillary
dies and you move on to a new Sovereign, passing down a variety o things to enjoying the game. You cannot lose
including the most important measurement o your success in the game; at Statecrat either. I your State is
Prestige. So even i you manage to totally wreck your economy and end up totally destroyed, you can move into a
under the heel o your most bitter rival, you can choose to pass on not to your new State with a new Sovereign. You
direct heir but to a distant cousin and take up the throne o a dierent State. are never eliminated rom play.

One o the players does not control a specic Sovereign, but instead takes on
the role o the Gamemaster (GM). Te GM is in charge o ru nning all the
States in the game that are not controlled by players, as well as pirates and
What do you need to Play?
rebels. Te GM also has a lot o tools at their disposal to shape and inuence
Statecrat uses six dierent types o dice; our-sided dice (d4), six-sided dice
the game to make it more enjoyable or the players. GMs can introduce events
(d6), eight-sided dice (d8), ten-sided dice (d10), twelve-sided dice (d12), and
to stir up chaos, like civil wars and religious conicts. GMs can use Prestige
twenty-sided dice (d20). However, since the game is designed to be played
as a carrot to send players o to the ar reaches o the globe in search o glory
on an internet orum or using e-mail to distribute game inormation, you can
and honor. You do not have to rely upon poorly coded AI. Te GM brings
simply use online die rolling sotware or this. I you choose to play at a table,
realism and lie to the rest o the world in a way that a computer cannot hope
it will be tricky to keep everything secret and you will need physical dice.
to ever achieve.
The Sovereign
& The State
Te Sovereign:
Each player in Statecrat controls a bloodline o political rulers called
Sovereigns. A Sovereign lives one lietime, hopeully an exciting and u llling
one, but like other mortals they all victim to the ravages o time and damage
to the body. When their current Sovereign dies, the player moves on to a new
Sovereign. Troughout the game and across the lives o many Sovereigns,
you will track a variable called Prestige. Tis is the ultimate measure o your
contribution to the game as a player and you should make every attempt
to accumulate more Prestige. Each Sovereign is merely a vessel to u se in
achieving the goal o maximizing your Prestige. We will talk more about
exactly how to do that very shortly.

Tis section will walk you through how to create manage your Sovereigns.
Each one has eight Attributes and seven Measures which serve or the basis
o roleplaying and or interacting with the game mechanics.

Attributes:
Attributes: Attribute ests
ests
Attributes are tested requently
requently during play by rolling a 20-sided die. I the
Attributes dene the abilities o
Attributes Attributes
the Sovereign to accomplis
accomplish
h tasks. die result is lower than the attribute, the test is a success. I the result is lower
Acumen Ability to Manage than the attribute being test, then the test is a ailure.
Tis aspect o the Sovereign is
completelyy random and represents
completel Authority Ability to Inspire
the hand that ate has dealt or you. Fertility Ability to Procreate Many rolls are also aected by several potential modiers. Tese modiers
Do not worry about whether your are applied to the attribute, not the die result. Tus i you are making an
Fortune Te Favor o Fate Authority test with a +2 bonus and you have an Authority o 12, you make
Sovereign is good or bad based on
Grace Ability to Charm the tests as i you had an Authority
Authority o 14 instead.
whether they can succeed or ail
at tasks. Ultimately, you are not Guile Ability to Deceive
rewarded based on your ability to Strategy Ability to Wage War Opposed Rolls
succeed or ail, but i you succeed or An opposed roll is when you are competing against another player or the
Vigilance Ability to Anticipate GM in the action you are undertaking. In these cases, simply succeeding
succeeding is
ail spectacularly.
not enough. You must succeed by a larger margin than your opponent. I you
Each attribute has a value rom 3 to 18, determined by rolling three six-sided needed to roll a 14 or less and you rolled a 10, your margin o success is 4. I
dice and adding the results together. You will need to make seven rolls to get your opponent only succeeded by a margin o 2, you are victorious.
a value to assign to each attribute. Rolls must be assigned to each attribute in
turn as rolled, not assigned by the players to whatever attributes they wish. I you wish to attempt something not covered by the game rules as writte n,
the GM may allow you to test an attribute to determine the action’s success.
Attributes
Attributes (continued):
Acumen
Acumen is the administrative skill o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure
o their ability to make organizations unction properly.
properly. Acumen not only
represents good money management skills, but also the ability to eectively
utilize the work o subordinates. Sovereigns
Sovereigns with high Acumen have more
efcient governments, make more money, and keep their armies better
supplied in the eld. Acumen is used or Growth and Decline rolls every year
and the amount o supplies available
available to your orces on the battleeld.
Authority
Authority is the social presence o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure o
their ability to maintain loyalty even in the ace o disagreement. Authority
Authority
represents both the personal charismatic presence o the individual but
also the ability to manipulate others so that they are serving your interests
by pursuing their own. Sovereigns with high Authority have more loyal
ollowers, more political stability, and ewer rebellions against them. Authority
is used or the annual Control roll and in keeping the loyalty o military orces
that might otherwise rebel against your rule, either due to your own nancial
insolvency or the nearious bribes o others.
Fertility
Fertility is the natural strength o your reproductive system. It is only tested
in one instance, at the death o the Sovereign, to determine i there are eligible
heirs to continue ruling the state.
Fortune
Fortune is the natural luck o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure o
their ability to come out on top when the chances are against them. Fortune
represents your raw talent or survival in the ace o adversity
adversity.. Sovereigns with
high Fortune have better luck when exploring the world or new regions to
colonize, manage
manage to emerge rom the jaws o deeat unscathed, and just tend
to have longer lietimes. Fortune directly aects your rate o Vitality loss over
the years and rolls made when personally commanding armies to avoid injury
and death on the battleeld.
Grace
Grace is the charm and inuence o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure
o their ability to get others to see things rom their perspective without
resorting to the use o coercion. Grace represents a lightness o social presence
as well as a talent
t alent or seduction. Sovereigns with high Grace have more riend
riend
and allies, as well as an easier time negotiating peaceul solutions to disputes.
Grace directly aects success at converting the populace to your religion,
claiming titles, extracting inormation via royal marriages, and increases the
pain a Sovereign endures when reusing generous peace terms that you oer.
Guile
Guile is the cunning and treachery o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure
o their ability to deceive and manipulate others. Guile represents talent or
manipulating and using others in pursuit o your own ends. Sovereigns with
high Guile have an easier time acquiring secret inormation and enjoy the
company o spies, thieves, and pirates. Guile directly aects your success in
many argeted Actions, such as Inltrate and Piracy.
Strategy
Strategy is the military prowess o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough measure
o their ability to make decisive tactical decisions on the battleeld. Strategy
Strategy
represents both tactical and strategic competence in military aairs o every
kind. Sovereigns with high Strategy have a better chance o winning
w inning battles,
both on land and sea. Strategy directly aects all combat rolls.
Vigilance
Vigilance
Vigilance is the awareness and perception o your Sovereign. Tis is a rough
measure o their ability to take the initiative and move to deend beore
they are even attacked. Vigilance represents the ability to anticipate, to put
complex data together,
together, and to see the overall picture. Sovereigns with high
Vigilance
Vigilance tend to position their armies in advantageous locations on the
battleeld and succeed when making tactical retreats. Vigilance directly aects
the detection o enemy orces on the march, whether your army can take up
an advantageous Position beore a battle, the ability to retreat rom combat
successully, and deends against argeted Actions.
Measures:
Measures are the changing aspects o the Sovereign’s lie. Tey are uctuating values that change requently as a result o your decisions. In many ways, measures
represent the your Sovereign’s personality and how they are perceived. Measures are not rolled against, however they can be spent to accomplish some actions
and they can be lost or gained as a result o certain behavior.
behavior.
Gold Measures Prestige
Gold represents the total amount Prestige is a measure o the greatness o the player. Prestige accumulates
Gold Te reasury
o money available in liquid orm to rom only one source; the GM. Te GM awards Prestige when you engage
be spend on other expenditures at Honor rust o Your Peers in great roleplaying. Brilliant successes
successes on the battleeld, the signing o great
the Sovereign’s discretion. It is the Manpower Human Resources treaties, the construction o great colonial empires, dramatic betrayals, and
accumulated result o ax Income Prestige Legacy o Greatnes
Greatnesss any other exceptional act should result in the awarding o Prestige, regardless
over time. Wars and diplomacy are o the negative consequences
consequences that might result. A great ailure can be as
Religion Your Faith
two ways to quickly relieve yoursel spectacular as a great success. Prestige
Prestige is ully
ul ly inherited by the player to their
o gold. Te GM will give you a Vitality Lie Remaining next Sovereign. It can sometimes
sometimes be taken away i you cannot pay a price in
starting value or this condition the traditional way and it must be used to uel some diplomatic actions. It It can
based on the scenario design. accumulate to any value without limit. YourYour rst Sovereign begins play with
10 Prestige.
Honor
Honor is a measure o the dignity o the Sovereign. Keeping
Keeping your word, Religion
deending your allies, and living up to your treaty obligations will raise your Religion is a measure o the religion that the Sovereign enorces in their
honor.. Failure to do so will reduce it. Whenever issues o trust arise, such
honor State. All
All Sovereigns inherit the religion o their predecessors when they
as when writing a diplomatic agreement, your honor will be tested. Honor are created. Tere are opportunities or Conversion to bring parts o your
cannot be greater than 20 or less than 0. Your rst Sovereign begins play with nation in line with your aith, just remember to prepare to deal with the
10 Honor to represent the neutrality o opinion on their behavior. consequences i the people reuse. Religion is also aected by special rules,
such as the Papacy. You can change your personal religion at any time, but
When a Sovereign dies, their heir inherits hal o accumulated honor, you will lose 2d6 Stability doing so.
rounded down. Tis is the classic assumption that the apple does not all
ar rom the tree. You may notice that this rule will result in a gradual loss Vitality
o honor over time by your amily i you take
t ake no actions to raise it. Tis is Vitality is a measure o the lie remaining in your physical body. Roll 1d8
because honor is something that must be continually maintained. I the player when creating the Sovereign to get the initial Vitality value. Every year, you
moves to a new State, honor is reset to 10. must make a Fortune test to determine i this measure alls. I you ail the
roll, lower your Vitality by 1. It is possible to lose Vitality in other ways, such
Manpower as deeat on the battleeld. Tis measure cannot be negative. I vitality is
Manpower represents
represents the current pool o available men to recruit into the reduced to zero, the Sovereign dies and a new one must be created.
military. It is the accumulated result o Recruitment over time. It will decrease
when you raise new military orces. Te maximum amount o manpower you Even with a positive Vitality, no Sovereign can cheat death orever. I you are
can have is equal to ve times your Recruitment. lucky enough to survive long enough to experience it, lie will end on your
80th birthday.
Te Conditions o the State:
Te State represents the political entity which is controlled by the Sovereign. It provides all the resources at the Sovereign’s disposal and the means through
which those resources can be used. Te State is managed through a set o Conditions. Initial values are always determined by the scenario design provided by the
GM. As the game unolds, this data will change signicantly
signicantly with the ebb and ow o gameplay
gameplay.. Conditions are transerred seamlessly to new Sovereigns.

Conditions Centralization
Tis condition determines how much autonomy is possessed by lo cal
Capital Location o the Governmen
Governmentt
government ofcials, expressed
expressed as a value rom 0 to 10. A setting o 0
Centralization Degree o Autonomy Delegated to Local Authorities represents perect eudalism where the central government controls nothing
Decay Degree o Economic Decline save the military orces and diplomatic services. A setting o 10 represents
Investment Percentage o ax Income Invested Internally perect absolutism where the central government makes all possible decisions.
Most States lies somewhere between those positions.
Readiness Military Mobilization and Combat Preparedness
Preparedness
Recruitment Annual Military Recruitment Centralized States
States have a stronger role in economic development and can
Stability Degree o Internal Harmony grow economically at a rapid rate. However, this comes at a political cost.
ax Income Annual ax Collection Highly centralized states create dissatisaction in their so cieties and are
vulnerable to political instability.
Capital
Every State has a designated capital g
Positive Modier to Growth rolls
city. It represents a xed point on g
Negative Modier to Control rolls
the map that must be deended to g
You can change by one unit every ten years at a cost o 1d6 Stability
retain control o your State. Even
Even
though combat and land ownership Decay
is abstracted to a great degree in Tis condition is the accumulated result o economic decline. NoNo State
Statecrat, the Capital represents remains on top o the heap orever. Decay is a kind o drag eect that will
one particular piece o land that slowly bring down your State over time. I you are able to grow at a aster rate
you need to monitor. Te territories than you decay, then your State will become strong and prosperous. I you are
around your capital can never be not, your State will all by the wayside.
ceded by a treaty.
g
Accumulates rom Decline rolls over the years
Te capitals o other States may become vital in your eorts to deeat them g
Subtractedd rom ax Income every year during tax collection
Subtracte
militarily or annex them completely. Te mere chance that your Army may be
on the verge o capturing an opponent’s capital can quickly bring them to the
peace table. I your capital alls into enemy hands, your rule can come to an
end rather quickly.
Investment Recruitment
Tis condition determines how much o tax income is invested internally, Recruitment represents the annual addition to the pool o available men or
expressed as a percentage rom 0% to 100% in 10% increments. A setting the military. Every year, this value is added to your Manpower to represent
o 0% represents no investment at all and a setting o 100% represents all the growing population under your control. Some nations have more people
income being spent on investment. Most States lies somewhere between at their disposal than they can aord to put on the battleeld while others
those positions. Tis policy represents a trade-o between money today and have so ew men that they must resort to mercenary orces to make up or the
growth or the uture. shortall. Te degree to which your recruitment value compares with your
ax Income value will determine your capacity in this regard.
g
Positive Modier to Growth rolls
g
You can change by 10% every year at a cost o 1 Stability Stability
Stability represents the current
Readiness condition o State loyalty, expressed
Tis condition determines how much money is being spent on combat as a value rom 0 to 10. A value o 0
preparedness,
preparedne ss, expressed as value rom 1 to 3. Readiness is tracked
tracked separately represents the most chaotic situation
or naval & land units. You can have a high degree o naval readiness while short o complete state collapse.
having a low degree o land readiness. Starting
Starting land and naval readiness is A value o 5 represents average
average
determined by scenario design. loyalty o the population to the
State. A value o 10 represents the
A value o 1 represents minimal preparedness. Your
Your military units exist strongest imaginable loyalty to the
almost exclusively on paper. While at this setting, your military orces cannot State. A large number o diplomatic
engage in combat and will automatically retreat i engaged. However, you only and military outcomes lower your
have to pay hal the normal Upkeep cost o all your units. Stability. Any incurred loss that
would lower Stability below 0 instead
A value o 2 represents average preparedness. roops
roops are engaged in regular triggers a rebellion, as described
training with all o their equipment, ships are on deensive patrols, and under Foment. Every year, there is an
everyone is prepared or war. While at this setting, your military orces annual Control roll that can improve
unction normally. the situation or slide urther down.

A value o 3 represents extreme preparation or war. roops are prepared ax Income
or oensive operations, magazines are in place, supply wagons have been ax Income represents the taxes collected annually. Every year, this value
requisitioned,
requisitioned, ships are in orward
or ward combat positions, and everyone is ready reduced by Decay, then reduced by your Investment condition, and the
to open re at the slightest provocation. While
While at this setting, your military remainder is then added to Gold. Tis process is called tax collection.
orces unction at a +5 bonus to all Combat Rolls. However, you have to pay
double the normal Upkeep cost o all your units. For example, i you have a ax Income o 120, 20 points o Decay, and an
Investment
Investment o 60%, then you will add 40 to your Gold each year.
g
You can change by one unit every season at no cost, however changes require
a ull season to take
t ake eect Ex: 120 - 20 = 100 * (100% - 60%) = 40
Example o Sovereign Creation: Charles I: King o England
Example Attribute Assignment:
Roll 1 : 6 + 5 + 3 = 14 Roll 5 : 5 + 2 + 5 = 12
Roll 2 : 2 + 2 + 6 = 10 Roll 6 : 5 + 6 + 2 = 13
Roll 3 : 4 + 5 + 4 = 15 Roll 7 : 4 + 4 + 2 = 10
Roll 4 : 3 + 2 + 3 = 8 Roll 8 : 2 + 6 + 3 = 11

Example Measures:
Gold : GM gave out 120 based on scenario design
Honor : All rst Sovereigns begin with a value o 10
Manpower : GM gave out 70 based on scenario design
Prestige : All rst Sovereigns begin with a value o 10
Religion : Te English people may be Protestan
Protestant,
t, but Charles is Catholic
Vitality Roll : 5

Example Conditions:
All Determined based on Scenario Design provided by GM

Attributes Measures Conditions

Acumen 14 Gold 120 Capital London
Authority 10 Honor 10 Centralization 5
Fertility 15 Manpower 70 Decay 0
Fortune 8 Prestige 10 Investment 40%
Grace 12 Religion Catholic Readiness 2
Guile 13 Vitality 4 Recruitment 40
Strategy 10 Stability 6
Vigilance 11 ax Income 85
Lie and
and Death o Sovereigns:
Sovereigns:
Eventually a Sovereign’s Vitality will run out. Death claims us all. When
this occurs, you must make Fertility test. Tis is the only time in the entire
game when you will test this attribute, but it is o v ital importance to the
stability o your dynasty. Add a +1 bonus to this test or every ve years o
power enjoyed by your sovereign in their lietime. I you succeed on the test,
you become your Sovereign’s eldest child and seize power. Play continues
normally. I you ail this test, you experience a Succession Crisis.
Succession Crisis
A succession crisis is an invitation or other States to intervene in your
dynastic transition. Te death o a Sovereign without a clear successor creates
an opportunity or any other Sovereign with the slightest claim on your
throne to do so. Any State with which you share a Royal Marriage can make
a Claim against you or hal the normal cost, rounded down. Tis may result
in the loss o control over your State. In that case, you must change States as
described to the right.
Once any claims have been resolved, you may roll up a new Sovereign and
play continues normally.
Changing States
You will likely have worked hard to improve the State which you are ruling
and you probably have a lot o diplomatic agreements in place. However,
sometimes things do not go as you wanted them to. Perhaps your State is on
the verge o collapse or has been reduced to a low political status that you are
unwilling to accept. Perhaps you simply yearn or a change o pace. Perhaps
you are being orced to change States due to a succession crisis. Whatever the
case, you may choose to abandon your current Sovereign lineage and move
to a dierent State which you do not currently control. You become a distant
cousin o your Sovereign that has risen to power elsewhere.
You will need to negotiate with your GM about which alternative State
you would like to play. Preerably, you should have these discussions beore
your Sovereign actually dies, so you do not waste a lot o valuable game time
discussing it. In general, you should be moving to a State with less power and
resources than your current one. ItIt should also not be a State that you have
been overly generous with in the past, nor should it be a State that is too ar
away rom the rest o the players. It should be a viable State, but with a lot o
work necessary to bring it up to speed as a great power.
For example, you may eel that England is no longer a State that you want
to play. You still want to play a naval-oriented nation, but England is getting
too complex or you to enjoy. You talk to the GM and decide that Denmark
is a good transition State or you. It has a similar style o play to England,
but it is both militarily weaker and has a smaller economic base. When
your Sovereign dies, you inorm the rest o the group that your cousin has
inherited the throne o Denmark and you are now the King o Denmark
instead o the King o England. From that point on, England would be ruled
by a Sovereign under GM control.
Becoming A General
A nal path beyond death is to take up serv ice under another monarch as a
General. Tis should probably be negotiated beorehand so that there is a
smooth transition.
Economics
Te Flow o ime:
Seasons
Statecrat is a game that is played out over very long periods o history
history.. Te basic unit o game time is the Season, which represents the Spring
natural weather cycles o the year
year.. Te Season is primarily a unit o accounting and perorming actions in the Spring instead o the Fall
Summer
usually does not occur
o ccur any dierently.
dierently. Te one exception to this is Supplies, which can be prooundly impacted by weather. Most actions
that occur during a Season are related to unit
u nit movement and combat. Most economic activity is resolved on an annual basis. O course, Fall
diplomatic activity will occur at all times. Winter

Order o Seasonal Activity: Loans:

• Pay Upkeep on all Military Units It is possible that a Season may begin and you lack the unds to pay or your
• Submit Movement orders or all Military Units in secret to GM military.. So make up or this shortall, you can take out loans rom capital
military
• Resolve Combats that occur markets, which in this time period means primarily banking amilies. Tese
• Calculate Supplies and remove units lost to Attrition markets will loan out money in increments o 100 Gold with an interest rate
determined by the GM based on an assessment o how risky you are based
Activity that can occur at any time: on your previous nancial management.
management. Te standard starting interest rate is
• All diplomatic activity, including argeted Actions 5% per year. Interest
Interest is paid every year out o your Gold. I you cannot pay the
• Funding o Explorers loan interest with available gold, you must take out another loan to pay or it.

You can repay the loan principle at any time to te rminate the loan.
Order o Annual Activity:
• Resolve the entire Winter Season rst
• Accrue Gold Bankruptcy:
• Accrue Manpower I you eel that you can no longer aord to pay the amount o interest that
• Make a Growth roll you owe, you can deault on all your debts instead o pay. Tis is called
• Make a Conversion roll (optional) Bankruptcy. When you declare bankruptcy, you must make an Authority
• Make a Control roll test with Decay applied as a penalty. I you ail this test, the GM may have
• Make a Decline roll some armies and navies under your control rebel against your command. Te
• Make a Death roll degree to which this happens is based on your margin o ailure. Armies
Armies that
• Pay interest on all Loans rebel in this manner unction as i they have just been created by Foment.
• Begin Spring Season Navies that rebel in this manner become Pirates.

Even i you succeed on your Authority test and retain control o your military,
military,
declaring bankruptcy always causes 2d20 Decay. Bankruptcy is a powerul
blow to even the mightiest o empires and a bellwether o decline.
Annual
Annual Calculations:
Gold:
At the end o every winter season, a State gains Gold equal to ax Income
multiplied by Investment.
Manpower:
At the end o every winter season, a State gains Manpower equal to
Recruitment.
Te Growth Roll:
Every year, you make an Acumen test called a Growth roll. For every 10%
spent on Investment that year, you get a +1 bonus to this test. I the test is
successul, raise your ax Income or Recruitment by the margin o success.
You may elect to not make a Growth roll, instead using your economic
growth to create a Colony in an undeveloped part o the world that you have
already explored.
For example, i you had an Acumen o 12 and 60% investment, you you would
make a roll as i you had an 18. With a die result o 11, that would be a
margin o success o 7. Tis would raise your ax Income or Recruitment by
7 or you could have built a Colony in newly discovered Madagascar.
Madagascar.
Te Conversion Roll:
Each year you have a chance to convert a portion o your populace to your
own religion. Tis process increases control over your populace, but at a steep
nancial cost. Te conversion process involves making a Grace test. I you
succeed by a margin o 5 or more, you gain 1 Stability but lose an amount
o ax Income equal to the margin o success. I I you succeed, but not by 5
or more, you lose ax Income equal to the margin o success but do not gain
any Stability in the process. I you ail, nothing happens except in the case o
extreme ailure in which the GM may decide that a religious uprising occurs,
creating an army as described under Foment. Tis roll is entirely optional.
Te Control Roll:
Each year,
year, you may gain or lose avor in the eyes o your populace due to the
accumulation o minor slights or kindnesses. Te Control
Control roll is an Authority
test to represent this shit. I you succeed on the test by a margin o 5 or more,
your Stability improves one step (e.g. rom 3 to 4). I you ail by a margin o
5 or more, you lose one point o Stability. I you are in between these two
extremes, nothing o importance really changes.
Te GM can apply penalties to this roll i you have a large portion o religious
minorities within your State. For example, the Ottoman Empire should suer
a penalty or controlling lots o Orthodox Christians and not Sunni Muslims.
However, over successive Conversion rolls the GM should reduce this penalty.
Te Decline Roll:
Te Decline roll is an Acumen test you must make a roll every year to
determine the change to your nation’s ortunes that occurs rom the normal
passing o time. For every 10% that was not spent on Investment that year,
you get a -2 penalty to this test. I you succeed on the test, you lose Decay
equal to the margin o ailure. I you ail the test, you gain Decay equal to the
margin o ailure.
Te Death Roll:
Te Death roll is a Fortune test. Failure reduces your Vitality by 1.
Exploration:
All States have access to knowledge about what is called the Known World. Spreading Map Knowledge:
Tis may be an actual map that the GM maintains and updates or the group wenty years ater being discovered, the other Sovereigns are inormed that
as a whole or it may simply be the ability to ask the GM questions about what new land has been ound. Tey are not given the exact lo cation or the ability
is going on in the world at the moment. At the start o the Age o Exploration to build Colonies in the area, but they are aware that the lands exist. Tis
scenario or example, the Known World is limited to the European continent, allows them to make directed attempts to discover them with Explorers
the shoreline o North Arica, and a portion o the Middle East. Everything that should usually succeed, subject to GM judgment. Fity years ater being
beyond this area are considered unexplored. Te players have no inormation discovered, a location is added to the Known World.
about it at all. Te only way to acquire inormation
inormation about the regions beyond
the Known World is through exploration. As States explore these areas over
time, they will become common knowledge and eventually appear in the
Colonies:
Colonies can be built using Growth rolls. Each attempt to build a colony
Known World.
triggers a Fortune roll against a difculty set by the GM based on the
suitability o the terrain. Te presence o land units in the area may result in
Finding New Lands: a bonus rom the GM. I you ail this roll, the colony is lost. Building colonies
A Sovereign who wishes to explore the world beyond their current knowledge in Western Australia is signicantly harder than in Cuba.
can commission an Explorer to venture into the unknown. Te player simply
declares their desire to do so and a rough cardinal direction in which to travel, I this Fortune test succeeds, it is ollowed by a Discovery roll. Te GM will
such as West or Southeast. Te GM will quote them a price in Gold to do so. inorm you o a number o dice to roll based on the inherent wealth o the
area you are colonizing. For example, 3d6 might be a value or a colony in
I the Sovereign is willing to pay the price, the GM will make a secret Virginiaa while a colony in Greenland may only net 1d4. Te result o the
Virgini
Fortune roll on behal o the player.
player. Based on that roll and their judgment, Discovery roll is added to your ax Income. Once a colony is built, the area is
a ew seasons later the GM will provide the player with inormation
inormation on considered a part o your State.
what new lands were discovered by their explorer. Sometimes
Sometimes this may
include knowledge o new oreign states. For now, the player can keep this
inormation to themselves or share it as they wish, however it is the only
record o what lies beyond the Known World. Te GM will not inorm other
players about what has been discovered.

Undeveloped parts o the world, such as the Americas, can be developed as

Undeveloped
Colonies though Growth rolls. Until the knowledge o the region spreads into
the Known World,
World, these developments can remain secret (unless revealed
through espionage or a royal marriage). Multiple Sovereigns may have secret
knowledge o the same locations or oreign States and not even realize it.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy:
Te majority o gameplay will typically be spent engaged in diplomacy
diplomacy.. A
large portion o this will be conducted in secret by sending secret messages to
the GM or other players.
Maintenance o Honor:
Honor is gained rom upholding treaties. It represents your word in the eyes
o the internati
international
onal community.
community. Relations between Sovereigns and States is
highly dependent upon trust and reliability
reliability.. A Sovereign needs to b elieve that
their ally will come to their deense, that terms o treaties will b e upheld, and
that they can depend upon certain things to occur that have been promised.
I you do not stand by your word, you will not be trusted. Te GM and other
players will use your Honor as a measure o your truthulness. You You can gain
Honor by taking actions that are expected o you. YouYou can lose Honor by
ailing to take those actions. Oten, there is no middle ground to tread. You
must stand up or yoursel or be viewed as a coward. o o ail is a better ate
than to have never tried.
Te Papacy:
I appropriate or the time period, the Papal State is a State which is always
under GM control unless annexed by a player. Te Papacy can coner Fidei
Deensor status on a single Sovereign at a time. Fidei Deensor is a Latin term
meaning Deender
Deender o the Faith. Te Sovereign who has this status gets +2
on their Conversion rolls and +1 to all combat values while engaged in battles
against States o a dierent religion.
Te Papacy can also Excommunicate Catholic States that are acting against
the expressed will o the Pope. Tis causes the loss o 5 Stability and the
Papacy
Pap acy will not discourage war against that State until the Sovereign dies.
Further, the Papacy can declare a Crusade against a non-Catholic State o
their choice. All Catholic nations
nations are considered to have a Casus Belli on that
State while the Crusade lasts. Te Pope can end the Crusade at any time, but
it cannot last longer than 10 years. O course, i the targeted State is annexed
then the Crusade will end naturally.
Casus Belli:
Casus Belli is a Latin expression meaning the “cause or war”. It implies that
there are reasonable and unreasonable causes or war, legitimate
legitimate grievances
that justiy war, and ingrained with a concept o honor and respect between
States. I
I you have a Casus Belli, you can declare war on another nation at a
much reduced Stability cost. You
You typically gain a Casus Belli against someone
who violates a treaty they signed with you or when someone commits some
act o espionage against you. Te GM can also grant a Casus Belli to any
Sovereign that they eel has a legitimate grievance against another State that
would not normally be granted by the game mechanics.
o protect their personal honor, any Sovereign with a Casus Belli should
declare War in an attempt to right the wrong that has been done to them.
Tis represents a social obligation to redress grievances, thereore a Sovereign
declaring war with a Casus Belli will receive 2 Honor and all Stability losses
rom declaring war are ignored. Failure to declare War within a year o
receiving the Casus Belli will result in the loss o 1 Honor and 1 Stability,
because no one respects a coward. Te Casus Belli is removed immediately
ater use and rendered unavailable or uture declarations o war.
Annexation:
I you control a State’s Capital, you may attempt to Annex that state. Tis
involves an opposed Authority test against the other Sovereign. You may only
make one such attempt per year. I successul, you will lose Stability based on
GM judgement o the relative size o the territory being annexed.
At the time o annexation, any portions o that nation under your control
are immediately transerred
transerred to your ownership. Any
Any portions that you do not
yet control either declare their independence as new States, subject to GM
judgment, or also transer
transer to your ownership.
ownership.
For example, you may annex Great Britain, but i you do not control their
American colonies
colonies they might reuse to join you, instead choosing to orm
their own new State; the United States o America.
reaties:
reaties are the method o ormalized diplomatic relations. A treaty must be actually written out and ormally signed by all parties involved to be valid. Once
signed, the GM is the sole arbiter o what is a violation o the terms. I a treaty is v iolated, the GM will then reduce both Stability in the State and the Honor o
the Sovereign by the amounts listed in the reaty Conditions chart as a penalty or violating the treaty. I the State lacks the Stability or Honor to pay the ull
price or the violation, excess is taken out o Prestige. Violating
Violating secret treaties is not a public disgrace and thus carries no mechanical costs, however it absolutely
destroys any trust extended rom the parties to the treaty.

reaty Conditions: rea

reaty
ty Con
Condit
ditions
ions Viola
Violatio
tion
n Pena
Penalty
lty (St
(Stabi
abilit
lityy & Hon
Honor
or))
Sovereigns are ree to write treaties using any language they wish, so long Coalition 1d6
as that language does not violate the rules o the game. Tese conditions
conditions Deense Pact 1d6
may include requirements to use argeted Actions against specied States
Exchange 1d6
(or to abstain rom them). However, the conditions listed here have specic
consequences to violation. Any
Any terms that are agreed to by the players Military Access 1
are subject to GM judgment regarding what specic game obligations are Non-Aggression Pact 2d6
involved and how they aect Honor, Prestige, and Stability. Peace 2d6
Protectorate 2d6
Coalition:
A Coalition is when more than two States enter into a collective agreement Royal Marriage 1
to wage war against a common enemy. Tis enemy must be specied in the
treaty. One State in the coalition is designated the Coalition Leader and
the Sovereign o that State negotiates with the chosen enemy on behal
o the entire coalition. Te treaty may provide stipulations that limit the
ability o the Coalition Leader to negotiate, however they cannot demand
active oversight by the Coalition members. For example, the treaty in a war
to restore a State that has been annexed by the enemy may speciy that the
Coalition Leader cannot sign a peace treaty that does not restore that State.

Te treaty does not immediately result in war when signed, nor does it
provide a Casus Belli. Each member must declare war separately. Te timing
o these declarations and size o orces committed may be specied in the
treaty. Te coalition automatically dissolves once a Peace treaty is signed.
Members may leave the Coalition at any time, including to avoid signing a
peace treaty that the Coalition Leader has secured, however this is considered
a violation. When the Peace is signed, the coalition members vote on whether
or not the Coalition Leader lived up to their promises. I the majority agrees,
the Coalition Leader is awarded 3 Honor.
Deense Pact: Non-Aggression Pact:
A Deense Pact is a bilateral agreement involving two States. Each State must A Non-Aggression Pact is a bilateral agreement involving two States. Te
make a reasonable attempt
attempt to come to the deense o the other i a third party terms stipulate that each State will rerain rom taking any oensive action
declares war on either o them. Once signed, both parties will always have a toward the other. Certain targeted actions that are exposed can sometimes
Casus Belli to declare war on anyone attacking the other. Stipulations can be be considered violations o these terms (e.g. Destabilize). A Sovereign who
added to limit application (e.g. will not b e orced to ght against France).
France). I upholds the treaty even when greatly tempted, subject to GM judgment, will
violated, the other party to the treaty gains a Casus Belli on the violator. receive 1 Honor. A great temptation might be the other Sovereign suering
major deeats in an ongoing war and presenting an easy target. I v iolated,
Exchange: any other State that also has a Non-Aggression Pact with the violator gains a
An exchange is the immediate transer Casus Belli on them.
o land ownership, money, military
units, or manpower between two Peace:
states. Stipulations may be amended A Peace term in a treaty ends a War. Violation o any other conditions
to the treaty that control the return attached to a Peace treaty are considered violations o the Peace as well and
o these resources. For example, a render the entire agreement void i violated.
State may give another State several
military units to assist in a war with Tere may be times when you are making what you eel are reasonable oers
the stipulation that they are return o peace that are being reused by your opponent out o stubbornness. You
once peace is signed or i the lending can attempt to override the Sovereign and appeal to their population instead.
State is itsel attacked, provided they Inorm the entire gaming group that you are going to make generous terms
survive the war intact. Te exceptions and lay out those terms in public. Te other players then vote by submission
to this is manpower, which can never o a secret ballot to the GM whether they believe you are oering generous
be returned, and mercenary units terms or not. Anyone involved in the war is not given a vote, including
which can never be traded between the player oering the terms. Te GM always gets their own vote as well,
States under any circumstances. regardless o their involvement in the war.
Since the exchange is generally done
immediately, the only way to violate I a majority believe the terms are generous considering the degree o your
this treaty is to ail to l ive up to any victory on the battleeld, the GM inorms the player being oered the terms
stipulations added. Note that you can that they are generous and reusal will carry a penalty.
penalty. Te player being
only exchange land that you own. oered the terms can either accept them or reuse them, however reusal
results in Stability loss equal to hal your Grace attribute. Tis represents
Military Access: the internal dissent against the Sovereign caused by reusing generous oers.
Military Access
Access is the right o one State to move military units through Te GM will also award Prestige and Honor to the generous Sovereign in
regions belonging to another State. Tis may be limited to only naval access proportion to the actual generosity o the act.
to ports or resupply or only land access or armies i desired. Access
Access may also
be urther limited to specic lands, such as allowing another States to only
move troops through Normandy.
Protectorate:
A Protectorate is a bilateral agreement involving the domination o one State
by another. Te dominating state is called the Suzerain and the dominated
state is called the Vassal. Te Vassal is not able to sign reaties without
the consent o their Suzerain. Any Any declaration o War on the Vassal is also
considered a War on the Suzerain. Tis eect does not work in reverse and
the Suzerain may be engaged in a war without involving the Vassal. Tis
treaty condition is almost always attached to some orm o Exchange as well,
such as a regular monetary payment. Te only way to escape rom this status
is via the terms o a treaty or by the Vassal
Vassal declaring war on the Suzerain,
which costs an additional 2 Honor beyond any other Honor loss that occurs
rom the violation
v iolation o related treaty conditions. However,
However, you will probably
gain a lot o Prestige i you can break ree o your vassalage.

A Sovereign may release a piece o land as a new State that begins play as
a Protectorate. Tis costs 1 Prestige, 1 Honor, and 1 Stability per region
released in this manner, since it implies that you lack the power to govern
the territory properly by yoursel. However, it can be useul or managing
religious issues. For example, Austria may eel that Protestantism is hurting
their Stability in the long term, so they release Bohemia as a vassal. Te exact
In come loss or perorming this action is up to the GM.
ax Income

Royal Marriage:
A Royal Marriage is a bilateral agreement to a marriage involving one
inuential member o the ru ling elite rom each nation. Tis provides each
side o the agreement with an advocate inside the other nation to ensure their
views are presented more accurately. Each State receives a +3 bonus to any
attempt to Destabilize, Foment, Inltrate, or Inuence the other. Whenever
a secret treaty or discussion takes place that involves one State, but not the
other, the GM may allow the uninvolved Sovereign to make a Grace test,
perhaps with a penalty or really secret inormation, to learn what happened.
Te only way o violating
v iolating this condition is by declaring war on the other
State. Doing
Doing so is an egregious oense o honor and causes double the Honor
loss rolled instead o the same amount ( Stability loss occurs normally).

Te act o signing a Royal Marriage results in a gain o 1 Honor to both

Sovereigns. When
When ormed, a Royal Marriage receives a random Vitality value
that alls as i it were a Sovereign. When it ends, both sides gain 1 Honor.
argeted Actions:
Sovereigns can take argeted Actions at any time, though they cost resources ar
arge
gete
tedd Act
ctiion
onss Disc
Discov
over
eryy Pe
Pena
nalt
ltyy (H
(Hon
onor
or))
to perorm, usually either Stability or Prestige. I you lack the ability to pay Claim -
the cost, you cannot perorm the action. For example, you probably will not
be able to declare War on anyone at 0 Stability nor can you make a Claim Destabilize 1d6
with zero Prestige. Foment 2d6
Inltrate 1
Some actions carry a risk o being caught. I you are caught perorming these Inuence -
actions, you lose Honor equal to the amount listed in the chart to the right.
Te State being targeted will also receive a Casus Belli against you. Any costs Piracy 1d6
paid to take actions is not returned i the action ails. Other eects may be War Special
listed in the descriptions.
Destabilize:
Claim: Destabilize is an attempt to reduce Stability
A Claim is an attempt to grab the title o a deceased Sovereign or yoursel or in a target State. Tis is done by declaring
one o your amily members. Whenever a Sovereign dies, you can claim that your intent to the GM via a secret note.
someone else is the true inheritor o their State, either yoursel or someone in Be sure to list your Guile and the amount
your royal line. Multiple Sovereigns can make claims against the same State. o Prestige you are paying on your note.
Te GM will announce there has been
I you are claiming the title or yoursel, you must pay an amount o an attempt to destabilize that State and
Prestige determined by the GM, based on the strength o the title you are ask the Sovereign how much Prestige
attempting to claim. For example, making a claim against Spain should cost they are willing to spend to stop the
more than Portugal.
Portugal. I you are making the claim on behal o one o your attempt. Te GM will then make a Guile
amily members, you only need to pay hal this amount. However, the amily test on your behal against the opposing
member will be rolled up by the GM and their newly rolled Grace will Sovereign’s Vigilance, adding spent Prestige
be used in the next step o the process. I you are making a claim during a to the attributes as bonuses. Results are
Succession Crisis, you only have to pay hal the normal amount o Prestige adjudicated as indicated on the below table:
required, rounded down.
Destabilize Roll Results Outcome
Once a list o claimants is assembled, they must all make an Grace test. Ater Both tests succeed, Deender loses Stability equal to
dice rolls are made, any Sovereign may pay Prestige voluntarily to support one but the defender has a the dierence between the two
o the claimants, adding
adding the same amount to the claimant’s Grace as Prestige lower margin of success margins o success
paid. Tese payments can be made multiple times as a kind o bidding war. In Attacker succeeds, Deender loses Stability equal to
the end, the Sovereign with the highest margin o success is allowed to Annex Defender fails the attacker’s margin o success
the targeted State. All other claimants gain a Casus Belli on the inheritor. All other results Nothing happens
Foment:
Foment is an attempt to raise a rebel army inside another State to topple their
government. You must pay an amount o Prestige equal to ten minus the
Stability o the target State, though you can choose to pay more. You must
urther make a monetary payment in Gold to give to these rebels. Tis is done
by declaring your intent to the GM via a secret note. Be sure to list your Guile
and the amount o money and Prestige you are paying on your note.
Te GM will announce there has been an attempt to oment rebellion that
State and ask the Sovereign how much Prestige they are willing to spend to
stop the attempt. Te GM will then make a Guile test on your behal against
the opposing Sovereign’s Authority, adding spent Prestige to the attributes.
I their margin o success is at least twice yours or you ail your test, the GM
will reveal you were making the attempt.
I you are successul, the GM will roll up a new Sovereign and purchase an
army or them using the money you have provided. Tis army will then be
placed in an appropriate location (never the capital) by the GM and unction
as any other army.
Tey are immediately declared a new State with their capital located within
the initial lands that they control. Other Sovereigns can being diplomatic
relations with them, including exchanges to assist them in their war. Tey are
automatically
automatica lly at war with their ormer owner and do not have to declare war.
Te new State has Conditions determined by the GM and Gold equal to the
remaining unspent money.
Inltrate:
Inltrate is an attempt to acquire inormation rom a targeted State. Tis
is done by declaring your intent to the GM via a secret note. Be sure to list
your Guile and the amount o Prestige you are paying on your note. Te
next time a secret treaty or discussion takes place that involves that State, but
not the inltrating State, the GM will roll a Guile test against the deending
Sovereign’s Vigilance to learn the secret inormation. I
I successul, the GM
will reveal the inormation. I their margin o success is at least tw ice yours
or you ail your test, the GM will reveal you were making the attempt. You
receive a number o chances to learn inormation equal to the amount o
Prestige paid. Once you have used up your chances, the GM will no longer
make tests or you. O course, you can re-inltrate by spending more Prestige.
Inuence:
Inuence is an attempt to aect the decisions o any other Sovereign. Tis
represents the personal appeal
appeal o the Sovereign to their peer. At any time and
with respect to any decision in the game, you can declare that you want to
inuence another Sovereign. Express how you would like to see the decision
made and declare how many points o Prestige you are willing to pay to
the Sovereign i they change their mind. Tey may propose a compromise
solution or wrangle over price or duration o the eect.
For example, England’s Sovereign may see that France is declaring war on
the Netherlands, yet wish to stop it. Tey oer 5 Prestige to France to not
declare war on the Netherlands, either now or or the next 10 years. France’s
Sovereign could counter, asking or 7 Prestige to hold o or so long. Tey
might agree upon 6 in the end.
Once an agreement has been reached, the Prestige is transerred. I the terms
o the agreement are ever violated, subject to GM judgement, double the
original amount o Prestige is removed rom the violating
v iolating Sovereign and the
amount paid is returned to payor.
Piracy:
Piracy is an attempt to cause mayhem in a sea using pirates. You must pay 1
Prestige per attempt. You must urther make a monetary payment in Gold to
outt the pirate eet. Tis is done by declaring your intent to the GM via a
secret note. Be sure to list your Guile, the amount o money you are paying
on your note, and what general area you wish to cause piracy in (ex. Greater
Antilles in the Caribbean or the Western Mediterranean).
Te GM will announce there has been a surge o piracy in this area and ask
the Sovereigns with regions neighboring that
that area i they are willing to spend
1 Prestige to discover the source o the attempt. I
I so, the GM will then make
a Guile test on your behal against the opposing Sovereign’s Vigilance. I a
deending Sovereign’s
Sovereign’s margin o success twice your total or more. Otherwise,
they learn nothing.
Te GM will construct a eet o pirates using your money and place that
eet in the area. While present, the pirate eet reduces the ax Income o
all States neighboring that
that area by an amount equal to the number o ships
in the pirate eet. Any navy can engage the pirates as any other hostile naval
orce and thereby remove the penalty.
War:
War is the most extreme diplomatic action available. Declare war in ront
o the entire game group and speciy the target o the declaration. Te GM
will then determine the total Stability and Honor loss rom violating any
applicable
applicab le treaties. I the nal costs cannot be paid, Prestige is paid instead to
make up the dierence. A Casus Belli may negate these losses.
Te GM will then give all States that would be obligated to join the war
the chance to do so. I two treaties contradict,
contradict, such as when a State with a
Non-Aggression Pact with another State declares war on a third State that
has a Deense Pact with the other State, the Sovereign must make a choice
o which treaty to honor. Penalties or violating the other treaties are then
applied. Let this serve as a stern warning to avoid signing too many treaties
that could potentially overlap.
Once war is declared, you may move your armies into land controlled by your
enemies and engage in combat. Any opposed navies that meet at sea engage in
combat. Tis condition remains in eect until ended by a Peace.
Military Units
Military Units:
Wars must be ought with orce o arms. Military units represent these
orces. Tere are two types o units; Land and Naval. Te only real dierence
between the types rom a mechanical perspective is that they operate in
mutually exclusive spheres. Obviously, naval combat can only occur at sea
and land combat can only occur on land. Other than this distinction, the two
types operate identically in the game.

A group o land units moving around on the map is reerred to as an Army.

A group o naval units moving around on the map is reerred to as a Navy.

Te number o actual soldiers per unit is let to the GM and may change
over the course o play, usually increasing in size over time. In the early
medieval period, a single unit may represent only a ew hundred men. In the
Napoleonic
Napole onic period, a single unit may number in the thousands. Te exact
ratio has no real bearing
b earing on the game mechanics and is purely or adding
avor to the game experience
experience..
Recruiting Units:
Units are created by a recruitment process takes two seasons to complete (e.g.
units constructed in the Spring will be ready at the start o the Fall season).
Each unit costs 2 Gold and 2 Manpower. Tis price must be paid at the
beginning o recruitment.
Mercenaries:
I you lack the manpower to create land units but have excess money to
spend, you can purchase Mercenaries on the international market. Each
mercenary unit costs 5 Gold to recruit. Te number o Mercenari
Mercenarieses that
you can purchase and the amount o time it will take or them to relocate to
your desired location are let to the GM. Mercenaries charge double Upkeep,
so be prepared to pay signicant sums to keep them in the eld. Note
that the doubling eect o Mercena
Mercenary ry status is applied ater the Readiness
modication. Naval units cannot be raised in this manner.

Additionally,, the creator must speciy to the GM a city in their territory

Additionally
where the units are being constructed. Obviously, or naval units this must
be a coastal city
city.. I the city is captured by the enemy beore recruitment is
complete, the attempt ails but any Gold and Manpower paid is still lost.
Upkeep:
At the start o every Season, you must pay 2 Gold per unit in Upkeep. For
example,, i your entire armed orces consisted o 12 units, you would have
example
a total upkeep o 24. Tis value is modied by two actors; your Readiness
condition and whether a unit is a mercenary.
Privateers:
Naval units that you have already recruited by normal methods can be
converted into Privateers to attack enemy shipping lanes. Privateers unction
as i they were Pirates in terms o damaging the tax incomes o other States
with their presence in neighboring areas and in operating under GM control.
However, your naval units can only be converted into Privateers during
wartime and they return to your control when the war is over. Privateers are
most useul when you have a sizeable eet that you do not w ish to risk in
direct naval battle with the enemy, but that you would like to use to harass the
enemy as much as possible instead.
Military Leadership: Military Intelligence:
By deault, all Armies and Navies are led by generic unnamed Ocers. Once per year, a player may tell the GM they want to look into a particular
Until these ofcers engage in a combat, they do not have any attributes. At region, make a Guile test, and the GM will tell them what they believe is
the beginning o their rst battle, the GM will roll two attributes or them, going on in that region rom a military standpoint. Tis inormation will not
assigning them in the order rolled to Strategy and Vigilance. Tese values be perect, but it can be u seul. No unit can remain completely
completely hidden rom
will then be used or the combat. Ofcers use a 1 or their Acumen when view unless it is outside o the Known World.
calculating Supply or their orces. While engaged in combat, the decision to
retreat or keep ghting will be let to the GM. Once the combat is over, you Awareness:
Awareness:
can choose to remove the ofcer rom command or keep them in place. Ater Whenever a large amount o units is recruited, a large amount o units is on
every battle, the GM rolls makes a Fortune test on their behal using their the move, or there is a major battle, the GM will inorm other players that this
Sovereign’s’s attribute.
Sovereign attribute. I they ail this roll, the ofcer is killed. I their orce is is occurring. Complete secrecy during the time period covered by the game
destroyed, they are killed automatically without a roll. is essentially impossible. You cannot hide an army o 100,000 men marching
through an area. However, this inormation
inormation will not be 100% accurate.
Alternatively, you can appoint a General or Admiral to command an Army
or Navy respectively, i you have a player to take that character. Tese
commanders roll up a ull character as i they were preparing a Sovereign,
Field Intelligence:
A General, Admiral, or Sovereign
however unlike a Sovereign they can assign their two highest rolls to Strategy
can acquire active intelligence about
or Vigilance i they so choose. Tese commanders can make decisions to
the surrounding areas when they are
retreat or keep ghting when that issue arises in combat. Additionally, these
commanding rom the eld. Tis can be
commanders use their Acumen to assist in providing Supply or their orces.
highly accurate, but is limited in geographic
Like a generic ofcer, they must also make a Fortune test ater every battle to
scope. Once again, it involves making a
determine i they are injured in battle. Tey use their own Fortune instead
Guile test and the GM will tell them what
o yours and even i they ail this test, they only lose 1 Vitality . I their orce
they believe is going on around them.
is destroyed, they are not killed automatically like an Ofcer. Instead, they
merely make the standard Fortune test or a lost battle.
In act, while commanding rom the
eld, a Sovereign may have a much
A Sovereign may choose to award a General or Admiral their own State as a
better grasp o what is going on in their
reward or excellent service. Tis may even b e negotiated beorehand to secure
immediate vicinity compared to other
service in the rst place. Tis new State must be released as a Protectorate.
parts o their nation. Tey may receive
Normal Prestige and Stability costs or releasing a Protectorate do not have
delayed reports rom subordinates with
to be paid in this instance. Te General or Admiral then leaves the service o
updates on the homeront. For example,
their ormer Sovereign to become a Sovereign in their own right.
a French Sovereign that has invaded Italy
may receive a report rom Paris in the Fall
Finally, the Sovereign can command armies personally just as i they were a
Finally,
inorming them o an English army landing
General or Admiral. However, this does place them at risk o being injured or
in Aquitaine earlier that Summer.
killed using the same rules.
Military Movement:
All movement orders are submitted to the GM in secret. Armies can generally
move up to 500 kilometers every Season. An army may only be able to move
hal as ar, or perhaps even less, through Deserts & Jungles. Navies can
generally move up to 5,000 kilometers every Season. Te maximum distance
you can travel and what region you ultimately reach is up to the GM.
Naval
Naval ransport:
ransport:
Naval units can carry a number o land units equal to hal their number. Tus
a Navy consisting
consisting o 6 naval units could carry up to 3 land units. Land Units
can only board and disembark while in a coastal city.
Devastation:
When an Army stands essentially unopposed in enemy territory, they can
choose to devastate it. Tis is an Strategy test with the number o land units
in the Army applied as a bonus. I successul, the enemy State is temporarily
denied ax Income equal to the margin o success or the next 2 annual tax
collections. Additionally
Additionally,, the Sovereign o the devastating army gains hal
the amount stolen in Gold. Tis represents the process o essentially stealing
everything you can carry with you.
Te GM may impose a maximum amount that can be gained rom
devastating a particular area, regardless o the roll result, based upon the
inherent value o the region. For example,
example, no one can loot the Scottish
Highlands or vast sums o money. It just isn’t there or the taking.
Supply:
All units are dependent upon Supply to unction. Supply represents the
availability o essential materials such as gunpowder, shot, ood, water, and
horses. Units
Units without access to these things can suer casualties simply out o
hardship. I
I the GM eels that your army is operating in a manner that would
result in supply shortages, they can call or a Supply roll. Tis is an Acumen
test subject to a modier provided by the GM representing the challenge o
the environment. For example, an Army operating in Champagne would have
a much easier time than one in Algeria. Due to the unorgiving nature o the
sea, naval orces should roll or supplies on any trip o signican
signicantt distance.
Land orces should generally only roll when operating in enemy territory or in
extreme physical environments like deserts.
I you ail the Supply roll, your orce takes casualties equal to the margin o
ailure. Tus a General with an Acumen
Acumen o 15 could roll a 19 on the test, and
with no modiers ail it. Tis would cause that Army to lose 4 units. I you
succeed on the Supply roll, your orce takes no losses.
Te below chart is provided merely a guidepost or you and the GM, not the
last word. Circumstances dictate supply
supply.. An army taking reuge in a burned-
out snow-covered Moscow could experience a penalty o epic proportions.
Example Supply Modiers
Spring +0
Summer +1

Fall +2
Blockades: Winter -3
A Navy can blockade the ports o an enemy by positioning themselves in the
adjacentt seas and declaring their intent to blockade. Tis is an unmodied
adjacen Plains +2
Strategy test. I successul, the enemy State is temporarily denied ax Income Forests & Lowlands +1
equal to the margin o success or the next tax collection. As with devastation,
the Sovereign o the blockading orce gains hal the amount stolen in Gold Mountains & undra -3
and the GM may also impose a maximum amount to be gained. Any navy Deserts, Islands, & Jungle -5
attemptingg to leave port while under a blockage is automaticall
attemptin automaticallyy detected and
the blockading navy always gets the Weather Gauge in such an engagemen
engagement.t. Surrounded by Enemies -10
Battle Adjudication:
Contact: Retreat:
It is possible that two armies or navies may cross paths during movement. Beore the battle even begins or at the end o each round o combat, either
I the GM eels like contact is likely between two orces, they will have each commander may decide to retreat rom battle. Tey make an opposed
orce make a Vigilance test. Use the below table to determine results. Vigilance test against their opponent (the Position bonus applies to this roll).
I the orce remaining on the eld succeeds on this test by a higher margin
Contact Roll Results Outcome
than the retreating orce, they inict pursuit damage on the retreating orce
Highest margin o success gains equal to the dierence between the two margins.
Both tests succeed:
Position bonus equal to dierence
Each orce notices the other
between the two roll results A retreating orce moves to a nearby location o their choice. I they have been
One test succeeds: I they choose to initiate, successul
successul trapped, such as by pushing them to the tip o a peninsula (or inlet in the case
Successul orce can choose to orce gains Position bonus equal to o naval units), the orce is destroyed and all units are removed rom play.
either initiate or avoid combat margin o success rolled.
Neither test succeeds: An Army that remains ater a battle can keep their Position bonus result as
Nothing occurs
Forces do not notice each other long as it remains in the immediate area. It can use this bonus against any
army that attacks that area in the uture.
One side o the combat may enjoy a Position bonus rom their Contact Roll.
Tis represents making the best tactical choices on where the battle takes
place. Tis bonus applies to all combat rolls made in the coming battle. I a
navy has a Position bonus o +5 or greater
greater,, they have the Weather Gauge.
Having the Weather Gauge means that you are upwind o the enemy Navy
and can choose to engage in battle or not. When you have the Weather
Gauge,, your opponent cannot retreat rom battle and must ght to the death.
Gauge

Combat:
When two or more armies make contact, a battle occurs. Battles are broken
into Rounds o combat. Each round, each commander makes a Strategy
test and adds the number o units in their orce as a bonus, along with any
relevant Position bonus and any other modiers (e.g. Readiness).

Margins o success are compared and the dierence is applied to the army
with the lower result as casualties, meaning
meaning that many units are killed in
action. One ourth o the dierence is applied to the army with the higher
result as casualties. Nobody escapes combat unscathed. Casualties are
removed rom the battle beore moving on to the next round.
Gamemastering
Te Role o the Gamemaster:
Te primary job o the GM is to adjudicate the rules in a air and neutral
manner. Tey are responsible or keeping the game moving orward in
time, including
including everything rom calling or movement orders every season
to overseeing tax collection.
collection. Te GM is also responsible or maintaining
maintaining
the unplayed States and Sovereigns in the game in a believable and realistic
manner. Finally, there are some mechanisms by which the GM can proactively
intervene in the game itsel.
ime Management:
Te GM can conduct their tasks within whatever real time intervals that
are appropriate or the group. ypically this involves setting a regular ow o
time, such as 1 day o real time to turn in your military movement orders or
the season via e-mail. Te game is designed to be played over the internet, so
i you want a game with a aster or slower pace, make your own adjustments.
adjustments.
A Season can technically be resolved in a matter o seconds, i everyone is at
peace and all military units are in supply. However, you may want to build
in some time or people to discuss basic matters and make proposals to one
another. No matter what timetable you are using, a player should have the
right to ask or a temporary stoppage so that they can conduct emergency
diplomacy.. Te GM must be careul not to let this right be abused as a
diplomacy
method o stalling.
Setting Diculty:
Te GM is given the task in some instances o imposing a penalty to reect
difculty.. In these instances, the range o possibilities is so large that it is
difculty
impossible or us to set a standard in every case.
For example,
example, the GM can set a difculty penalty or a piece o secret
inormation to be learned through a Royal Marriage. Te range o potential
secret inormation is massive. Tus, the GM must rely upon their judgment
to determine how likely it would be or someone to get access to the secret
inormation that is being discussed.
Representing other Nations:
Te GM is responsible or all Sovereigns and States that are not run by a
player, as well as pirates and rebel armies. Te GM can simply set whatever
Conditions they desire in one o their States, they can create Armies and
Navies in any unit amounts that they w ish, and they can kill Sovereigns
under their control whenever they like. Tey are ree to do essentially
anything they want within these States, so long as it is realistic and serves the
purpose o the game.
In general, these entities should be passive and relatively unambitious unless
threatened by unusual circumstances. Te game is about the rise and all
o the States played by the players, not a vehicle or a GM’s power trip. Te
GM has an ethical duty to run the game so that it is enjoyable to everyone
and thus should rerain rom abusing their power or their own amusement.
Forces under GM control should generally be used as obstacles, boundaries,
and pawns or the players to interact with, not as serious rivals to their
existence.. Tere can be exceptions i you have the consent o the players.
existence
Te Papacy:
Te GM can use the Papacy and its signicant nancial backing to inuence
player politics and to encourage religious strie between Catholics and other
religions, particularly Islam and Protestantism.
Protestantism. Te GM can use the threat
o Excommunication to discourage Catholic players rom taking actions that
the Papacy rowns upon, such as declaring war on peaceul Catholic minor
powers. Te GM can also use the declaration o Crusades to encourage
the players to work towards common goals. In general, it should minimize
conict among Catholics and encourage it with other religions.
Beore Protestantism,
Protestantism, the GM should use their power to slightly annoy
the players, while being careul not to threaten player autonomy. Ater
Protestantism,
Protestan tism, the Papacy should become supportive and useul to keep
Catholicism strong.
As with everything
every thing under GM control, exercise appropriate
appropriate restraint.
Giving Out Prestige:
Te goal o every game should be to have un. Te ability o the GM to give out Prestige is the most powerul tool they have to accomplish this goal. You should
give Prestige to players that engage in the kind o play that makes the game more un, even i that play hurts their Sovereign or State. Te guidelines below exist
or you to use when making decisions about your own game.

Great Tings to Give Prestige For: Prestige Rewards:

Rewards:
g
Acting on impulse, even when it is to your detriment Te GM can use Prestige Rewards to encourage exciting gameplay. A Prestige
g
Doing something unexpected and surprising everyone Reward is inorming the players ahead
ahead o time and you are going to be
g
Doing something extremely sneaky and not getting caught granting Prestige or accomplishing
accomplishing a particular task. Te details o the task
g
Stunning betrayals
betrayals that have been planned or a long time are let to the GM’s imagination, but must be ully disclosed in advance to all
g
Aggressive deense o your Sovereign’s Honor the player. Te player who accomplishes the task rst gets the reward added
g
Good roleplaying o your Sovereign to their Prestige.
g
Recovering lost territory because it is rightully yours
g
Coordinating a complex treaty involving many terms and/or multiple states Ideas or Prestige
Prestige Awards:
Awards:
g
Accomplishing Challenging asks or the glory o having completed them g
Discover a Sea Route around Arica
g
Attempting
Attemp ting something despite high risk because it is daring and bold g
Discover the Americas
g
Letting an opportunity pass despite low risk because it is weak and cowardly g
Get a colony in the New World built up into a developed region
g
Conquer a particular oreign State (ex. Aztec Empire)
g
Conquer a particularly difcult-to-invade region (ex. Malta)
g
Drive a Religious Enemy out o an area (ex. Moors out o Spain)
g
Consolidate political control
control over a large area (ex. Uniy Italy)
g
Discover a ar-o location (ex. Discover Australia)
Australia)
g
Build a rading Post in a difcult location (ex. Shanghai)
g
Control trade over a large area (ex. India)
g
Accomplish a seemingly impossible goal (ex. Liberate Israel)
g
Become the rst Protestant State
Events:
Events represent
represent the most powerul and unique way that the GM can shape
and inuence the game. Te GM should come to the table with a number o
events prepared ahead o time. Tese events represent a potential situation
that could occur in any country, or example a political scandal involving
prominent elites. An
An event that would only make sense or a ew o the played
States, such as only Islamic States, would be inappropriate because everyone
gets a chance to receive the event. Many GMs will want to create their own
custom events to make their game more interesting. However, you can just as
easily rely upon the template events ound in the Events chapter.
Every event should be either positive or negative. I
I there is a high level o
ambiguity about whether the event would ultimately be helpul or hurtul,
you should probably not use it. When a player learns o the event, they should
be able to instantly discern whether they would want the event to occur to
them or not. emplate events are sorted in this way or easy reerence.
echnology:
Te advance o technology throughout the game is handled by events. Each
event represents a chance to acquire a technological advance rst, beore
your opponents can adopt it. It coners a temporary bonus o some kind to
represent the leading edge that your State enjoys in this eld. echnology
events are always positive and they share some common characteristics.
g
echnology always grants some kind o specic eect, such as a bonus to
combat rolls on open plains.
g
echnology eects always last or specic number o years. Ater that time,
the technology is assumed to be spreading to other nations and thus no
longer coners any special advantage.
g
echnology events are bid upon with Gold instead o Prestige.
g
echnology events take away all the Gold bid rom all players, in the same
way that a negative event takes away Prestige.

Introducing Events:
Events: Global Events:
Te GM is ree
 ree to introduce an event at any time in the game. Introducing
Introducing an Certain things occur in history that
event in the midst o a moment o extreme uncertainty,
uncertainty, such as a ew seasons instantly change things or everyone,
into a major war, could add an extra layer o tension to the bidding process. not just a single recipient. Tese
Te GM inorms everyone that an event is up or bidding and reads the events are based upon the period o
event description out loud to the group. Players should submit the amount history you are dealing with, but the
o Prestige that they want to bid to the GM. Even i they are bidding zero, clearest example is Protestantism.
players should still submit that to the GM. Martin Luther will nail is 95 theses
on the church door in 1517. Tis
I the event is positive, the players are bidding Prestige to RECEIVE the changes the religious climate in
event. Te event occurs or whichever player bids the most Prestige, with Europe permanently. From that
ties broken by an opposed Fortune test. Only the winner actually loses the point on, a Sovereign could convert
amount o Prestige they bid. to Protestantism, albeit at a social
cost. When these events occur, the
I the event is negative, the players are bidding Prestige to AVOID the event. GM will inorm the entire table
Te event occurs or whichever player bids the least Prestige, with ties broken about the nature o the global event
by an opposed Fortune test. All players lose the amount o Prestige they bid. and what it means or the game
going orward.
Scenarios
Scenario Design:
Te GM is responsible or providing the scenario or the game. A scenario is
the starting point o the game and denes the xed elements rom which the
players to make their early choices.

Starting Date:
Tis is the year in which play begins. For example, 1492 A.D.

Primary States:
Te GM should choose a number o States and present present them as
recommended choices or the players. Placing a player in each o these States
is essential to having a quality game. For example, the Age o Exploration
scenario suggests a choice rom England, Spain, France, and Portugal. Tese
nations exempliy the colonial eorts o Europe during this time rame. In
the scenario design, the GM should provide a listing o all the details or each
State, such as their starting military orces and Conditions.

Alternate States:
Te GM may designate certain States as possible alternative choices to
the primary selections. Tese States may be inuential in the aairs o the
primary states or they may be minor States that present a more challenging
game. I you have additional players who wish to join in the game, they can
choose rom these States.

Late Emergence States:

Te GM may designate certain States as not existing yet, but as uture
possibilities. Tese States emerge during play and represent a possible choice
or a player in the uture. For example, the Netherlands revolts rom Spain
during the late 1500s. A player
player may choose to start the game as a General
i they know they can move to one o these States later on. Unlike alternate
alternate
States, descriptions
descriptions are not provided or these States in the scenario templates
templates
and must be drawn up by the GM when the time arises.
Age
Age o Exploration:
Exploration:
Starting Date: 1492 A.D. Alternate States: Austria & Venice
Primary States: England, Spain, France, & Portugal Late Emergence States: the Netherlands & Brandenburg-Prussia

England Spain France

Measures Conditions Measures Conditions Measures Conditions
Gold 55 Capital London Gold 120 Capital oledo Gold 85 Capital Paris
Manpower 20 Centralization 4 Manpower 45 Centralization 2 Manpower 52 Centralization 1
Armies Decay 0 Armies Decay 0 Armies Decay 0
London 5 Investment 60% Castile 18 Investment 30% Paris 15 Investment 40%
Calais 2 Readiness 1 Naples 5 Readiness 2 Gascogne 8 Readiness 2
Navies Recruitment 12 Navies Recruitment 25 Navies Recruitment 34
Bristol 3 Stability 7 Cadiz 15 Stability 5 Brest 3 Stability 5
London 8 ax Income 34 Naples 4 ax Income 54 Marseilles 12 ax Income 60
Diplomacy: Ireland is a Vassal, Diplomacy: Royal Marriage with Portugal, Diplomacy: Deense Pact with Scotland & Venice,
Royal Marriage with Spain Deense Pact with Portugal Brittany is a Vassal, Royal Marriage with Savoy

Portugal Austria Venice

Measures Conditions Measures Conditions Measures Conditions
Gold 35 Capital Lisbon Gold 72 Capital Vienna Gold 150 Capital Venice
Manpower 12 Centralization 3 Manpower 34 Centralization 4 Manpower 15 Centralization 6
Armies Decay 0 Armies Decay 0 Armies Decay 0
Lisbon 1 Investment 80% Vienna 12 Investment 50% Venice 10 Investment 70%
Sao ome 3 Readiness 2 Flanders 4 Readiness 2 Crete 2 Readiness 2
Navies Recruitment 8 Navies Recruitment 30 Navies Recruitment 18
Lisbon 4 Stability 9 Stability 6 Venice 22 Stability 8
Sao ome 6 ax Income 28 ax Income 43 Crete 4 ax Income 48
Diplomacy: Royal Marriage with Spain, Diplomacy: Holy Roman Emperor, Diplomacy: Deense Pact with France,
Deense Pact with Spain Royal Marriage with Hungary Royal Marriage with Genoa
Events
Event Design:
Te GM is responsible or providing events during the game. An event
provides an opportunity to add interestin
interestingg avor to the game and take things
in new directions i play stagnates.

ypes:
Tere are our types o events; Global, echnologies, Positive, and Negative.

Year:
For most events, this is a recommendation or when to implement the event.
For Global events, this is an exact year in which this event will occur.

Description:
Te GM must read this text aloud to the players when introducing the event.

Efects:
Whoever receives the event (in the case o Global events, everyone) will
experience the listed eects when the event occurs. Te exact eects should
NO be read to the players beore the bidding process.

I IS VERY
VERY IMPOR
IMPORAN O REMEMBER
REMEMBER
HA HE EVENS IN HIS CHAPER
ARE PROVIDED
PROVIDED AS
AS EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES AND HE
GAMEMASER IS SRONGLY ENCOURAGED
O WRIE HEIR OWN EVENS!
Example Global Events: Example echnolog
echnologyy Events:
Te Conquest o Mecca: Heavy Cavalry:
ype: Global ype: echnology
Year: 629 A.D Year: ~ 100 B.C.
Description: Muhammed has conquered Mecca with the armies o Islam. Description: Armorers are developing heavy mail that can be used on horses
Tis is the beginning o a new era o religious ervor. as a orm o barding. When combined with a heavily armorer rider, this
Efects: Any Sovereign can convert to Islam i they are willing to pay the price. allows you to eld a new kind o soldier with unparalleled combat
combat strength.
Islamic religious events can also occur now. Efects: You gain +5 to all Combat rolls. I you do not have a Position bonus,
reduce your opponent’s bonus by 2 to represent the ability to charge through
Te Great Schism: an arrow bombardment. Tis eect remains exclusively yours or 50 years.
ype: Global
Year: 1054 A.D Long Distance Sailing Ships:
Description: Due to growing irreconcilable dierences,
dierences, the Eastern and ype: echnology
Western churchs o Christianity have split into two distinctive groups. Year: ~ 1450 A.D
Efects: All Christian Sovereigns must choose between Catholicism and Description: Shipwrights are beginning to experiment with long-distance
Orthodox. Catholic and Orthodox religious events can also occur now. ocean-crossing ships capable
capable o exploring previously inaccessible
inaccessible parts o the
world. Tis has resulted in new designs such as the Caravel and Carrack.
Te Black Death: Efects: You can send explorers and colonists over considerable distances,
ype: Global such as rom Europe to the Americas or around the tip o Arica. Tis eect
Year: 1348 A.D remains exclusively yours or 40 years.
Description: Te Black Plague has been unleashed on Europe. It will kill
roughly hal o Europe’s population and leave chaos in it’s wake. Gunpowder Weapons:
Efects: All European nations lose a quarter o their ax Income
Income and hal o ype: echnology
their Recruitment. Year: ~ 1500 A.D
Description: Invent
Inventors
ors are beginning to experiment with using gunpowder to
Te Reormation: propel bullets over considerable distances. Although in an inant stage now,
ype: Global this technology will become a centerpiece in the uture o warare.
Year: 1517 A.D Efects: You gain +5 to all Combat rolls. I you have a Position bonus, add
Description: Martin Luther has posted his 95 theses on the church door +2 to that bonus to represent the shock eect o ring into incoming troops.
in Wittenburg, Germany. Tis has triggered an unraveling o Catholic Tis eect remains exclusively yours or 25 years.
intellectual authority.
Efects: Any Sovereign can convert to Protestantism i they are willing to pay
the price. Protestant religious events can also occur now.
Example Positive Events: Example Negative Events:
Rising Prosperity: Economic Contraction:
ype: Positive ype: Negative
Year: Any time Year: Any time
Description: Your land is prospering under your wise leadership. Harvest Description: Your land is suering through hard times. Harvest yields are
yields are increasing, the people are happy, and lie is good. Tere is a alling, the people are unhappy, and the value o coinage is alling. Tere is a
palatable sense that things are going very well and the uture outlook is good. palatable sense that something is wrong and the uture outlook is poor.
Efects: Reduce Decay by 3d20. Efects: Increase Decay by 1d20.

Colonial Dynamism: Civil War:

ype: Positive ype: Negative
Year: Any time ater 1450 Year: Any time
Description: Your people are yearning or colonial expansion. Tere is a Description: Your people are deeply divided over many issues. A prominent
strong desire to go out into the world and nd new lands and peoples. military leader has used this as an excuse to rebel against your authority.
authority.
Efects: Reduce all exploration costs by hal. Gain a +5 bonus to all Discovery Efects: A General takes roughly hal o the State’s military and declares
rolls and all Fortune rolls made in conjunction with colonial development. himsel the true heir to the throne. Give
Give a random portion o Sovereign
S overeign’s’s gold
is transerred to this general. Use your judgement to pick a General that is a
Fortunate Inheritance: reasonable distance rom the Capital, you don’t want to cripple the Sovereign
ype: Positive instantly. I one doesn’t exist at the proper distance, eel ree to create one and
Year: Any time provide them with newly recruited orces.
Description: Te Sovereign o a nearby State is near the end o their lie. It
has been recently discovered that you have a strong supportable claim on the Independent itle:
itle:
title or yoursel. ype: Negative
Efects: Annexati
Annexationon o a nearby minor State o the GM’s choice without Year: Any time
Stability loss. Description: One o your lesser land titles has unortunately allen to an
individual with only partial ealty to your State. Tis individual has chosen to
Policy Shit: assert their independence rom your rule.
ype: Positive Efects: ake a modest portion o the State and give it to a new title holder.
Year: Any time Roll up a new Sovereign or the new State, which
which enters play as a vassal o the
Description: A stubborn local political gure who had been standing in your Sovereign receiving the event. Alternatively, take an existing vassal and make
way has met an unortunate end. Tis has made it possible or you to make them completely independent.
some internal political changes without opposition.
Efects: Gives the Sovereign their choice o one o the ollowing; +1 Stability,
Stability,
+1 to Centralization, or shit Investment by 20% in either direction without
Stability loss.
Player: ______________
______________ Soverei
Sovereign:
gn: __
_____
______
______
____
_ State:
State: __
_____
______
______
______
____
_
Birth:: ______
Birth __________
____ Death: _____
__________
_____

Attributes Measures Conditions Casus Belli

Acumen Gold Capital State End Date
Authority Honor Centralization
Fertility Manpower Decay
Fortune Prestige Investment
Grace Religion Readiness
Guile Vitality Recruitment
Strategy Stability
Vigilance ax Income

Public Inormation Military Forces

Coalitions Commander Type Units
Deense Pacts
Military Access
Non-Aggression Pacts
Protectorates
Royal Marriages
War
Excommunicated
Crusade argets
echnology Bonuses