Suggestion for a new nation

[fahdiz]

Originally posted by Wauthan:
I'm not sure the whirling dervish is a good choice for sacred unit. Wrong culture perhaps? But then again I know so very little about arabian myths and legends.

Dervishes would be sacred, as they were mystical Sufi dancers. It was considered the pinnacle of holiness at the time, if I recall correctly, to be a great Sufi dancer.

Djinni and Ifreeti would also be sacred in such a culture, by the way. They made sacrifices to the Djinni/Ifreeti similarly to the way the Japanese sacrificed to local spirits for safe travel, good weather, etc.

Just one summoned unit? There a tons of cool mythical creatures to be found in this setting.

I agree. If anything, this should be a rather summon-heavy theme in my opinion, with summons backing up the disproportionately large amount of cavalry.

I also agree with Sandman's suggestion about Fire and Air being the main magic paths for such a nation.

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Sandman:
Really good assassins are a must for this nation as well, although I don't really see courtesans as thematic, not to mention the silliness of her seducing minotaurs, C'tissians, Abysians, amazons and eunuchs.

She'd have trouble seducing minotaurs, since they are size 3, and Eunuchs can never be seduced.

[st.patrik]

tinkthank - I like the idea. A vaguely Arabian nation would be a lot of fun, and there's a ton of stuff to draw from.

I love the idea of dervishes, and of lots of summons. I think the main troops should be horse or camel riders (or both) with light armour, but high defense and high attack rating. I like the idea of stealthy troops - since they aren't big on heavy armours they can move around more quietly and blend in more easily.

Sounds very cool.

[Sandman]

Here are my mage suggestions:

Fakir: 2 air, rides a magic carpet, does not eat.

Magi: 2 fire, 1 air.

The fakir's lack of eating is just a bit of flavor, seeing as how they're able to go without food for long periods of time, and do other feats. Whether his magic carpet can carry other units is an open question.

The magi is a more conventional mage with an middle-eastern sounding name. Depending on the power of the nation, a more poweful archmagi with the usual random pick might be needed as well.

[Alexander Seil]

Giving seduction abilities to cheap units might not be such a good idea...plus, a succubus is a demon and has wings, hence she/it can actually carry a commander (perhaps via teleportation of some sort) to your stronghold. However, here we would have a foot unit marching, perhaps, across the entire map with a seduced enemy commander in tow in just one turn/month.

[SelfishGene]

This nation sounds fun and i agree that there is a great deal of mythology and legend from the Middle East to be drawn upon.

I'm not too certain of the courtesan unit; maybe better would be some kind of 'Harem' unit. Some names of ranks of Ottoman harem women are the "Kadin", whom had born royal children, and the "Odalesques", whom were the more common type.

Harem girls should act as some kind of support unit similar but not the same as the Communicant. They should be something you would want to give several of to every important commander (part of this nation's theme). I'm not certain what they should buff or affect. Maybe +willpower, maybe act as invigoration/take away fatigue.

You could have the harem act act as a kind of 'stable' of diverse cultural origin by giving each girl a small random 'gift' or slightly different attributes (from her native race/disposition), so building a good Harem would be an important part of the theme (something many rulers doted on in RL). Or maybe they could arive as 'presents' from foreign rules, each bearing a small number of gems from their native lands.

And almost forgot; they should be expensive to maintain. Maybe use 4 or 5 supplies, maybe have double maintenance costs, maybe have some province wide effect. Oh, and another idea , is that instead of buying them or having them arive randomly, you could capture them like slaves, although they should be pretty hard to find and rare if they act as a complementary unit - although personally id prefer to purchase them as it seems less libidinous.

Also mirages are often an important element of Arabian legends and environment. Illusion/mirage should be incorperated in some way.

This sounds like it could be fun to play.

[ March 22, 2004, 06:56: Message edited by: SelfishGene ]

[tinkthank]

Thanks so much for all of these excellent replies.

I know the mish-mash I suggested is not reflecting any "real" historical nation, and it is a conglomeration from a bunch of things.

I did want an Astrologer type in there, and I wanted a Sage type in there too, to encompass the Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldoun types etc; I think they should get a capitol-only Sage-type and Astral-user.
Otherwise, Air and Fire: yes. You are right.
Fakir: love it.

As to the Courtesan: d'accord. (And of course I never pictured her being able to seduce undead, Minoutaurs, or whatnot; size 2 humans only. She would and should and must be inferior to the succubus in every way.)

I am kind of attached to the idea of a Dhervish, so would hate to part with that. Lots of summons, sure, but I do want to keep it balanced.
I wanted to have camel riders, but figured: just call them cavalry.
I also pictured a bunch of swarthy scimtar wielders, but maybe that is not so exciting.

Unfortunately, I know too little about modding to be able to do this on my own .... anyone have time to help me over the next few weeks/months?

Well thanks so much for your feedback

PS. Am currently reading "1001 Nights" (the original in an ancient but apparently quite accurate German translation) with my wife -- that itself is a mishmash of Arabic, Persian, and Byzantinian culture. It is great!