ME Games Ltd
Office A, 340 North Road, Cardiff. CF14 3BP, UK
Tel: +44(0)29 2091 3359 (10am - 6.30pm) - Fax: +44(0)29 20625532- Email: me@MiddleEarthGames.com
Middle Earth PBM Fourth Age, circa 1000 Nation Design Sheet
Your Nation Details & Regional Placements (Sheet updated 21/12/05 vers 1.05):
Your Full Name: ______________________________________ MEPBM Customer Account Number: __ __ __ __ __ __
Please complete the Regional placements, Alliances (those players you are joining with and/or discussed the game set-up with) and Allegiance along with your nation send in those details first (SNAs, Characters , Armies and PCs would be useful as well for speed – you can modify that with your second set-up if need be). You will then be requested to send in your PCs, Characters, Armies and SNAs within one week after we contact you with your Region and Allegiance so be ready.
You will be able to contact team-mates that have designated as joining with (but only them!) but note you have ONLY ONE WEEK to get your full Set-up in after we have contacted you with your region (and allegiance if you’ve specified multiple allegiances). If not you lose your set-up deposit, removed from your account at the Regional placement and your position will be offered to another player.
Nation/Realm Name: The__________________________ (5-17 characters) Allegiance:___________________ (Good, Neutral, Evil)
If Good:_(Dwarves, Elves, Men) If Evil: (Non-human, Men)
Are you joining with friends? If so who are they? __________________________________________ Game Number (if known) ____
Joining with friends is defined as having interacted with other players before hand so that you have disclosed information about your plans etc.
Region Region Name Allegiance (FP, DS, Neutral, Neutral Team, Any, Kingdom)
1
2
3
(4th optional)
Regions: Lindon, Angmar, Mirkwood, Northern Wastes, Lorien, Eregion, Dunland, Rohan, Rhovanion, Rhun, North Mordor, South Mordor, North Harad, North Khand, South Khand, South Harad plus Any (Region). A total of 17 regions. Arnor and Gondor are out of bounds for all except the Kingdoms at game start. If you desire to play a Kingdom just put North or South Kingdom in the region and we’ll contact you if there’s a clash (ie too many Kingdoms).
Special Nation Abilities: (maximum (4) four, see Special Nation Abilities List)
LIST NUMBER DESCRIPTION (SHORT) FOR CLARIFICATION COST
Artifacts (quantity) Each is selected at random and secreted at your capital. (3,000 each; if two or more selected, one is free!)
Transports (quantity) Each will appear anchored at the capital, if possible. (250 ea)
Warships (quantity) Each will appear anchored at the capital, if possible. (250 ea)
War Machines (quantity) Will appear in your army, is possible. (200 each)
Hidden PopulationCentre (#1-4) Population centre #1-4, see Population Centres (6,000 for one, and only one, population centre)
Individual VictoryCondition (#1-7) Victory condition #1-7, see rulebook, pages 7-8. (This selection is optional and without cost) 0
TOTAL COST (20,000 limit)ð
Your Army Details:
Army commanded by character #1-8: (see Characters) ____________ï (This Character must have Command skill!)
COST FOR 100 TROOPS QUANTITY COST FOR 100 TROOPS QUANTITY COST FOR 100 TROOPS QUANTITY
Heavy Cavalry (3000) _ _ _ _ _ 00 Light Cavalry (1500) _ _ _ _ _ 00 Heavy Infantry (2000) _ _ _ _ _ 00
Light Infantry (1000) _ _ _ _ _ 00 Archers (1000) _ _ _ _ _ 00 Men-at-Arms (500) _ _ _ _ _ 00
(Note: add all troop types) Sub-Total + Sub-Total (12,000 limit)ð Total Cost
Your Population Centre Details: (Note you must choose 1st, 2nd and tertiary hexes)
POP CEN NAME (5-17 CHARACTERS) PRIMARY HEX SECONDARY HEX TERTIARY HEX IMPROVE TO FORTIFY WITH PORT/ HARBOUR GOLD COST
1 Capital:
2 M Town:
3 Town
4 Village:
5 Camp:
? (region):
? Camp (3k):
? Camp (3k):
TOTAL COST (8,000 Limit) ð
COST TO IMPROVE TO: COST FOR ADDITIONS OF:
Major Town ð City 8000 Castle 8000
Town ð Major Town 7000 Fort 3000
Village ð Town 5000 Tower 1000
Camp ð Village 4000 Harbour free
Camp (New) 3000 Port 2000
Ports/Harbours:
· If you have one or more Harbours then gain 1,000 gold to spend on PC improvements to your set-up and gain 1,000 gold to spend on start-up for the purchase of Navy related SNAs and Ships.
· If you have one or more Ports you get 3,000 gold to spend on PC improvements and gain 2,000 gold to spend on start-up for the purchase of Navy related SNAs and Ships.
Fortification: Each capital (or another PC of your choice) gets a Fort for free. You are still able to add to a PC’s fortifications as shown below with the Cost taken from your PC set-up as normal. A PC upgrading from a Fort to Castle or Keep gains no discount.
Your Characters’ Details: (Note you must choose 8 characters)
Indicate King with a K next to the skill gained, Prince with a P, and Racial bonus with R next to it.
NAME (5-17 CHARACTERS) GENDER (M OR F) COMMAND RANK AGENT RANK EMISSARY RANK MAGE RANK LIST OF SPELLS BY SPELL NUMBER (IF MAGE RANK >=10) STEALTH RANK GOLD COST
1K
2P
3
4
5
6
7
8
TOTAL COST (6,000 + King, Prince and racial bonus) ð
NATION: Indicate choices and select from the following items to customise your nation/realm. Nation names must fit the game setting else a random choice will be made. Select your allegiance. A choice of Neutral allows for a change of allegiance later in the game (see Order #175), while a choice of Good or Evil permits access to some Special Nation Abilities. Nations starting Evil may have armies (and characters) of Non-humans (Goblins, Orcs and Trolls) or Men: nations starting Neutral will have Mannish armies (and characters), and these will not change, even if allegiance does; nations starting Good may have their armies (and characters) of Dwarves, Elves or Men. All races will have special allowances in characters created (see Characters). Only Non-Neutral races may place starting Population Centres in the mountains. Allegiance will also determine the artifacts available to your nation. All ships (warships and transports) will appear anchored at your capital, assuming it has a harbour or is located in a shore hex, otherwise the ships will be forfeit, without cost. You have 20,000 Gold to spend toward all the items/choices below; unused Gold will be added to your nation’s starting Gold reserves of 25.000 Gold. Your nation’s Tax rate will start @ 40%. Refer to pages 8-13 in the rulebook for further details on designing your nation.
SPECIAL NATION ABILITIES LIST: (The abilities listed below are NOT considered cumulative)
Note if any of the FP/DS pick the +20% Kidnap/assassinate SNA, then the option is then offered to the other allegiance to pick it. If more than one player picks this SNA for an allegiance then it’s randomly determined who gets it.
Cost # Description
9000 1 Scout/recon at double normal skill rank.
4000 2 Scout/recon at +20 to normal skill rank.
3000 3 Scout/recon at minimum 50 (all characters) - Dwarves only.
2000 4 Challenge rank bonus (a character special ability) more likely for new characters.
8000 5 Stealth rank bonus (a character special ability) more likely for new characters.
1000 6 Armies lose no morale for force march.
1000 7 Armies w/o food gain 1-2 morale while stationary, lose 1-2 moral while travelling; troops lose 1-2 morale
while force marching, lose 2-5 morale while force marching w/o food.
8000 8 Buy/sell orders receive 20% market adjustment.
7000 9 New emissaries start at rank up to 40 (Order #734).
3000 10 New mages start at rank up to 40 (Order #737).
8000 11 New agents start at rank up to 40 (Order #731).
3000 12 New commanders start at rank up to 40 (Order #728).
1000 13 All new troop recruits start at training 20.
1000 14 All new troop recruits start at training 25 - Elves only.
1000 15 All new HI recruits start at training 30 - Dwarves only.
100 16 All new MA recruits start at training 25.
1000 17 Build ships at 1/2 timber cost.
2000 18 Build ships at 1/3 timber cost - Elves only.
3000 19 Build fortifications at 1/2 timber cost.
2000 20 New armies start at morale 40.
8000 21 New armies hired at no cost.
100 22 Uncover secrets at minimum 40 (all characters).
4000 23 Can learn lost “weakness” spell.
8000 24 Can learn lost “conjure mounts” spell.
2000 25 Can learn lost “conjure food” spell.
3000 26 Can learn lost “conjure hordes” spell - Dark Servants only.
100 27 Can learn lost “fearful hearts” spell - Dark Servants only.
100 28 Can learn lost “fanaticism” spell - Dark Servants only.
2000 29 Can learn lost “summon storms” spell - Dark Servants only.
4000 30 Can learn lost “teleport” spell.
20000 31 Kidnappings/assassinations at +20. - Non-Neutrals only, maximum 1 nation for FP/DS allowed
100 32 Navies can travel open seas w/o fear of storms or becoming lost.
1000 33 Navy warship strength at 4.
2000 34 Navy warship strength at 5.
ARMY: Select the quantity of troops and the troop types for your starting army. This army will start at your capital. Indicate the character # (1-8, see Characters) that you wish to command this army. Moral, Training, and Weapon/Armour ranks will be equal to the Command rank (minimum 30), of the commanding character, except for Archers and Men-at-Arms where the weapon/armour ranks will be as normal (see Orders #416-420). Troops can only be assigned in increments of 100. You have 12,000 Gold to spend toward these troops, unused Gold will be added to your nation’s starting Gold reserves.
POPULATION CENTRES: Select your choices for the locations of your population centres. Secondary and Tertiary choices will be used in instances of capital location conflicts and invalid capital selections. Remember, each of your three capital selections must end up at least four (4) hexes from any other nation’s capital.
All PCs must be placed within the region allocated, choosing 3 different locations as normal as separate as possible. If you miss the deadline (of ONE WEEK after we have sent out the Region and Allegiance for you) we’ll locate your PCs to the best of our ability within that region – no changing allowed afterwards. Note you are welcome to put Any for locations and we’ll organise a suitable placement, but they can’t be changed afterwards.
All your population centre choices (capital and otherwise):
A) must be no more than three (3) hexes from your capital, and
B) must be at least six (6) hexes from Hex 1108 and Hex 2924 (North/South Kingdom capitals), and
C) must not occupy a hex controlled by the North/South Kingdoms (2227, 2438, 2527, 2715, 2927, 3024, 3124,
3221, 3423, 2924, 1407, 1409, 1609, 2119, 2121, 2212, 1108) and
D) must not occupy hexes 0916 and 1323 (‘not available’ at game start).
E) must be in the same Region as your Regional choice.
If none of the hex choices are available, or they are invalid, or none are provided, then a random selection (with the best fit we can do) will be made close to your capital. Names must fit the game setting else a random choice for the name will be made. Except for your capital Loyalty (which will start at 75), Loyalty will be equal to the highest Emissary rank (minimum 30) of the characters created (see Characters). You will start with four (4) population centres, and can create up to two more, or you can improve (by one level) any population centres that you can, or you can add upgrades to any population centres that you can. Note also that Port/Harbours must comply with minimum population centre levels (see Orders #530-535). You have 8.000 Gold to spend on these improvements/upgrades; unused Gold will be added to your nation’s starting Gold reserves.
For example: to improve your Major Town (capital) to a city would cost 8000; to improve your Village to a Town (5000) and put a Tower at both Towns (1000 each) would cost 7000; to add a Camp (3000) and put a Fort at your Town (3000) would cost 6000.
In addition:
Each nation gets an ADDITIONAL Major Town as part of their set-up. Furthermore, to encourage placement of PCs in a more “realistic” manner, the following rules apply:
· If all your Townsized (including Regional pcs) or bigger pcs are placed on a road you may upgrade any village to a town or a camp to a village and in either case gain an optional Tower . *
· If all your Townsized (including Regional pcs) or bigger pcs are placed on a on a non-Mountain hex you may upgrade any village to a town or a camp to a village and in either case gain and an optional Tower. *
- Note: the new town must obey the rules of being on the Road (if you’ve got the road bonus) and not being in the Mountain if you’ve got that bonus.
In addition, if your set-up is placed in the following regions you gain a pc of the appropriate size to your set-up.
· Angmar, Northern Wastes, Eregion, Rhovanion: 1 Major Town
· Mirkwood, Rhun: 1 Town
· Lindon, Lorien, Rohan, Dunland: 1 Village
· North Mordor, South Mordor, North Harad, North Khand, South Khand, South Harad: No change
Eg, if you started in Rhovanion and placed all your starting Towns, Major Towns and Cities on roads in the plains, forest and hills and rough, you would start with : 3 Major Towns, 2 Towns, no Villages and 1 Camp with the opportunity to upgrade a village to a town if you choose to upgrade a camp to a village with your 8000 gold (this is before you purchase any extra PCs with your 8000 gold).
Regional Set-up
Each player MUST chooses at least 3 regions from the following regions (unless you are choosing Any (Region); a first choice, a second choice and a third choice (if no choices are given then you are assumed to desire Any region):
Lindon, Angmar, Mirkwood, Northern Wastes, Lorien, Eregion, Dunland, Rohan, Rhovanion, Rhun, North Mordor, South Mordor, North Harad, North Khand, South Khand, South Harad plus Any (Region). A total of 17 regions. Arnor and Gondor are out of bounds for all except the Kingdoms at game start.
Regions
Map courtesy of Mike Mulka
http://middle-earth.darkfortress.us , the regional map is at the bottom of the page.
Capital insurance is no longer a part of the game. All nations (ie non-Kingdom) start with 25,000 gold in their treasuries. Choosing regional placement “Any (1,2 & 3)” indicates that you are happy to be placed in any region and gain 10,000 additional gold to your treasury (instead of the bonuses modifications below for choice). Note there is a maximum of one player of each allegiance in any region. (Neutral Team count as separate to Neutral, and have the same rules for placement as Aligned nations). You cannot choose regions that members of your team have chosen (ie people that you have discussed the game with and/or joined up with).
· If you get your 1st choice, you lose 3000 gold from your starting treasury.
· If you get your 2nd choice, you don’t gain or lose any gold.
· If you get your 3rd choice, you gain 3000 gold.
· If you get your “4th choice”, the GMs have contacted you because all three of your choices are invalid, then you gain 6000 gold.
Maximum of 2 nations in any region. This money is added to your initial gold that start in your treasury.
Eg: I send in a FP set-up. I stipulate Rohan, South Harad and South Mordor as my 3 starting locations. Rohan is over-subscribed as FP so I then get bumped to South Harad. As it’s my second choice I don’t gain or lose any gold from my treasury. The GM then would get in touch with me and I’d then send in my set-up PCs in that region.
Eg2: I send in Any (1,2,3) as my choices. This gains me 10,000 gold (added to my treasury) and after the GM has allocated regions he gets back to me informing me that my set-up is to be placed in the Rhun area and so I send in my set-up PCs for that region.
CHARACTERS: Select the name, gender, skills and ranks for all of your eight (8) starting Characters; ‘Male’ is the default gender and blanks for skills will be treated as zero (0). Each Character must have a minimum of 30 total points in skill ranks, in multiples of 10, with no single skill rank exceeding 60. Stealth (which is not a skill) rank is limited to 10. Names must represent unique Character ID’s (first 5 letters) and fit the game setting else a random choice will be made. Name must be at least 5, and no more than 17, letters in length.
In addition the following rules for character creation apply; create your initial characters (30 [or 20/20] rank minimum) as above , modify them for Royalty then add the Racial bonus:
Step 1)
Rank Old Cost New base cost: Com Age Em Ma
10 200 200 400 300 100
20 300 300 500 400 200
30 400 400 600 500 300
40 600 600* 800 700 500
50 1000 1100 1400 1300 1000
60 1500 1700 Not available (2000) 1900 1600
- also cost for 10 stealth.
Each race gets a 600 point discount on their 1st 60 (or 50 for evil non-humans) point racial-type character. Ie Dwarves can get one C60 for 1100, Elves can get one M60 for 1000, Non-humans can get one A50 for 800 and Men can get one E60 for 1300.
Step 2) Royalty:
Characters 1 and 2 are now designated as King and Prince character (Queen or Princess) respectively. You get an additional 1300 Gold to spend on your King character and 800 Gold to spend on your Prince character. This gold must be spent on a single or multiple skills that they don’t presently have, maximum of 10 stealth is allowed as normal.
Step 3) Racial Skill Modifiers:
After completing all of the above, you can SELECT a single character to receive an additional skill bonus.
Good: Dwarf – One character without Command rank gains 10 Command or one character without Agent rank gains 20 Agent. Human - One character without Command rank gains 10 Command, Elven - One character without Mage rank to gain 30 Mage and 3 spells as normal.
Evil: Human - One character without Emissary rank to gain 30 Emissary or 10 Command Rank bonus to any character. Non-Humans - One character without Agent rank to gain 20 Agent.
Neutral: Human - One character without Emissary rank to gain 30 Emissary or 10 Command rank bonus to any character.
At least one character must have Command rank. Assignment of Command rank (see Armies) and Emissary rank (see Population Centres) could affect other aspects of your nation. With the assignment of Mage rank, you may also select 1 spell for each 10 points of Mage rank. Spell prerequisites must be observed in your selection listing (see Order #705) and no ‘Lost List’ spells can be selected, unless the appropriate special Nation Ability is chosen (see Nation). If no spell numbers are provided, or any spell number is invalid, then random choices will be made. all characters will start in your capital. The first character listed below should/will be considered your ‘primary’ character, and one character listed below will start with a random Character Special Ability. You have 6.000 Gold to spend toward the character skill ranks; unused Gold will be added to your nation’s starting Gold reserves.
Example: Step 1) Character set-up and bonus gold from Race.
NAME (5-17 CHARACTERS) GENDER (M OR F) COMMAND RANK AGENT RANK EMISSARY RANK MAGE RANK Total Gold Cost STEALTH RANK
1K Aragorn 40
2P Arwen F 30
3 Elrond 40
4 Celeborn 60
5 Galadriel F 60
6 Legolas 40
7 Amroth 30
8 Cirdan 40
TOTAL COST 6,000 not including King, Prince and racial bonus
Example: Step 2) Royalty
NAME (5-17 CHARACTERS) GENDER (M OR F) COMMAND RANK AGENT RANK EMISSARY RANK MAGE RANK Total Gold Cost STEALTH RANK
1K Aragorn 50 (K) 40 30 (K)
2P Arwen F 30 40 §
3 Elrond 40
4 Celeborn 60
5 Galadriel F 60
6 Legolas 40
7 Amroth 30
8 Cirdan 40
TOTAL COST 6,000 including King, Prince but not additional racial bonus
Example: Step 3) Any single one of my characters could then have the additional racial bonus if suitable.
Eg to above I could add 30 Mage rank (as I’ve created an Elvish set-up) to say Cirdan for free.
Set-up Rules; For Neutrals:
Two regular Neutrals can join the game the game without being Neutral Team (ie they are allowed to change allegiance). Doesn’t include Kingdoms.
Neutral Team – we just mention that X players (X = number of players who’ve joined as a Neutral Team, could be all 8/9 of them for example) have joined as a Neutral team. One of these can be a Kingdom
Split of nations: 8/8/9 or 9/9/7 (FP, DS, Normal Neutrals). If there are Neutrals teams then we increase this to for example 7/7/7/4 (4 = Neutral Team) as an example (showing all the permutations seems to awkward as it depends on the number of Neutral Team players we have).
