ITT: we create the 8 states of a continent spanning union.
These were all distinct countries, republics or otherwise, before unification (peaceful or otherwise).
For these states, what kind of
>technology they rely upon,
Biological? Diesel? Admixture?
>type of government
Communist, Republic, Monarchy, Theocracy. etc?
>economic system
Capitalist, Command, Nationalized Industrialism, Socialism, Syndicalism?
>culture
Are they a riff on something that exists in history/media? What's the core concept?
>[x/8], generaLocation
Which of the 8 members of the Union they are. No two can occupy the same slot. Dictates the order they joined the Union in.
>Will post map next.
>>44253102
Oh, I am _interested_.
So, how about a medium sized, industrialized republic at the Left/Middle coast.
They used to be a socialist leaning democracy that forbade someone that holds or ever held a political position to possess more than the country average. The state worked as a heavy regulator at the market by keeping necesseties like power, transporation and basic commodities firmly in it's grasp.
Their culture is an industrialized form of traditional Hungary, with lot's of colours and gratuitous amounts of Tamburica music.
>>44253560
So, what are their natural resources?
>>44253102
Union as in very tight alliance, rather than a total union a la the USA?
>>44253624
Left/Middle seems to have some densely forested areas and a chunk of the mountains, or at least their forelands. Wood, coal and metals seem logical for a more industrialized country. I'm more of a cultures guy, honestly, I don't know a lot when it comes to resource distribution and what zones should provide oil or coal. If it's supposed a Dieselpunk setting, some way to get that would be sensible for a country that has some advances in that aspect, though.
>>44253735
How about lots of wood and oil, allowing them to use it to a big extent, but scarcity when it comes to metals? So they basically have to build as much as they can with wood, since metal is expensive and precious and thus reserved for the parts that absolutely HAVE to be metal.
Would go great with the whole hungarian thing.
>>44253114
Temeritus- a heavily militarized socialist democracy settled into the swamps and jungles of the Twin Lakes region. Their primary source of wealth is agrarian exploitation of the floodplains two large rivers under their control, lumber from the jungles and forests they own, fishing from the coast and lakes and what few resources they can manage to pull in from the mountain regions they control. Frequent corporate sabotage, legislative battles, and a dangerous ecology make their exploitation of the mountain regions difficult. They however are master Guerilla fighters and have a powerful fleet of ironclad ships and war ready airships. They are highly isolationist and their heavily regulated business laws reflect this.
call me a jerk for claiming a spot on the map but I figured someone had to do it.
>>44253735
Well, if they're densely forested with mountains, perhaps their transport requirements are different.
Do you think they use zeppelins and / or some other flying machine?
On the subject of transport, I was wondering. What situations are there in which canals are a superior choice to railways when one has access to dieselpunk technology?
>>44253896
in general? Whenever you don't feel like cutting through the local terrain with rails and prefer digging. It's one part aesthetic one part practical choice for your region. Take >>44253886 for instance, two massive inland lakes, not one but 3 rivers that span most of their territory and two lakes well positioned to give it's owner access to the central mountain ranges. These people would be more likely to set up man made islands and have ferries and shipping (in the classic term) than railways.
Plus jungles and swamps would make maintaining a railway a bitch. If your Republic is in among all those rivers on the left they're also more likely to use ships and boats and airships in the mountains. You'd see railways more in regions without easy thoroughfares though most states would probably have a couple railways for official shipping to other nations.
>>44253896
Canals are useful because they don't need much power at all - a few horses or guys can move shit with no fuel (or infrastructure that fuel needs) at all.
They're also good for getting shit from a lot of little places to central hubs, and they are pretty simple even with heavy loads.
And boats may be able to use existing rivers as well, which are also common places for settlements and factories that use water for power
The downsides being that they're pretty slow and take a lot more building (though again, the building is simple)
>>44254081
Well, going of what >>44253821 said about the idea of scarcity of metal, I wondered whether canals might be used in some parts, one reason to be to save metal which would otherwise be used on railway tracks.
Glastan Skor
>technology they rely upon
Diesel, probably
>Type of Government
Mixture of Fascism and Theocracy, socialist elements. Ruled by a dictator, kept in power by the will of the gods,the strength of the military, and tacitly by the support of the people - if they start getting angry, it is considered a sign of the gods being displeased with the current lord. The next ruler is selected by a council of priests and military personnel.
>Economic System
Strongly dirigiste - the state exerts control and restrictions over investment, with focus on military and social development. Informally, there is also a strong focus on charity.
>Culture
Based on the crusader states, especially the Hospitallers. Compulsory military training necessary for citizenship, but also a strong focus on helping the weak as part of the religion that is zealously followed. This religion, with strong emphasis on purity, work ethic, discipline, pride, and honour, is probably the only thing that has stopped it descending into a corrupt and incompetently managed shit-hole permanently, but it has certainly had many, many dalliances with that state of affairs.
As a necessity, the military is highly interventionist - this varies from French Foreign Legion levels to full-on Crusades to 'help the helpless' whether help has been requested or not. and 'keep the peace' through violent methods. Some of these efforts have succeeded well, sometimes they have led to further suffering down the road, sometimes they've caused far more harm than good.This is partly a thought experiment in trying to make a 'good' fascist state. I presume the religion also promotes having massive numbers of children to replace people lost in interventions. Might not be the greatest place to be a woman.
Hope I haven't taken too much map
OP went for a walk, great to see some banter.
>>44254081
Eerie canal all the way.
>>44254190
Interesting.
Maybe the religion is actually a Civil Religion a la what Revolutionary France was trying to pull off?
I imagine there could be some border disputes. We can imagine what players mark here as what the states consider to be their rightful bounds.
We could have some Alsace-Lorraine up in this and make borderegions that combine cultures.
>>44253643
Worth considering. I'd imagined it somewhere on the level of Game of Thrones, where the Federal State holds theoretical power but leaders must effectively curry favour and deal make to prevent usurpation of secession.
I have no desire to play Word of God, however, merely mediate transitions and disputes--what do the rest of y'all think of such a system?
>>44254131
Left-Middle to Up also has a shitton of rivers, so making heavy use of that, transporting the precious metal and downstream towards the sea seems logical.
Meschetels
>Technology
More and more, the agricultural economy of Meschetels is relying on newfangled steam engines and the like. Powering these is a fuel derived from squip, one of the cash crops of Meschetels. The fuel is used to fuel machines similar to those seen elsewhere.
>Government
Meschetels is governed by a constitutional monarchy. The Archduke is the head of state and still wields considerable social power, however the Prime Minister elected from the House of Speakers provides a balance. Sitting opposite to the House of Speakers, is the Ducal House, a body made up of the noble landholders. The Ducal House holds little actual elective power, but are a strong voice representing tradition and tend to hold more sway with the Archduke than the House of Speakers does.
>Economic System
The economic system is largely driven by agriculture conducted on land held by noble landlords. Seeing the necessity of progress, the noble class in the past elected to weaken itself by allowing "new money" technologists and inventors to buy stakes in their land to improve production. Almost of Meschetels' economy is geared around agricultural export; though squip fuel is easy to produce within Meschetels, it is less efficient than coal or other fuels and thus has little export value.
>Culture
Think turn of the century England, except rather than clinging to the old system, the aristocracy has managed to perpetuate the old landlorship system by allowing shares to be bought and sold by common folk/modernizing agricultural practices.
>[x/8], generaLocation
They were the second state to join the union, seeing the immediate value of a permanent ally and trade partner, Meschetels got in while the getting was good.
>>44254406
forgot pic, fug
>>44253886
>>44254190
The Temeritan National Animal is the Hellcat, a creature somewhere in between a bobcat and a puma. It's widely known for it's cry, and the rather terrifying tendency of it's group to work together in fractious prides. Often groups will form anywhere from 3 to a Dozen cats. As the national symbol of the nation they are widely protected and hunting them is illegal, and in possession of their fur coats, fangs, and other pieces of the animal's body can lead to life in prison or execution.
This has lead to extreme tensions with Glastan Skor as the local religion has one saint's day celebrated with a hunt of the animal in question. This has lead to more than a few Glastan's winding up in prison, being executed, or enacting machiavellian schemes so they can display a Hellcat pelt on their wall.
If it weren't for the natural barrier of the local mountains and their neighbor's territories it's rather likely the two nations would be at war, if not for the Hellcat's hunting grounds then for the perceived insult to the Glastan's religion and Temeritan national pride.
>>44254372
Edited map to fit in new one.
I'd imagine Glastan Skor was probably about 4th to join the union,after negotiating for rights to act as peacekeepers.
>>44254468
The hellcats are a menace to polite society and innocent farmers and must be culled regularly, dammit!
>>44254511
Oh fucking Christ.
>>44254530
Thanks, I'd just fired up GIMP to do that meself.
Working on a dieselpunky tabletop wargame. Watching this thread closely.
Latuk
>Technology: Diesel
>Government: Syndicalism
>Culture: Latuk is only nominally a state because its modern-day population is large enough to warrant representation. Originally founded by prospectors, the feuding factions of claim sites have been replaced by an industry devoted to weaponized submarines used to hunt the krakens, giant whales, and other colossal beasts that haunt the cold northern waters. The population is wealthy by comparison, but in this modern age of convenience, an uncomfortable climate is too large a tradeoff.
>Economomomics: Latuk maintains a brisk trade in precious metals, oil, and other sought-after commodities. In return, they are known as expert submarine-builders, and their engines can be found in the navies of many other nations.
Rolled 17, 66, 45 = 128 (3d100)
>For shits and giggles
Dice 1: Prevalence of underwater oil
Dice 2: Prevalence of desert oil
Dice 3: Prevalence of oil in mountainous regions
We've got 5 so far.
>>44253560
Voyvosak (I believe) - socialist leaning democrat republic
>>44253886
Temeritus - A militarised socialist democracy
>>44254190
Glastan Skor - An interventionist theocratic fascist military dictatorship.
>>44254406
Meschetels - Aristocratic constitutional monarchy
>>44254614
Latuk - Syndicalist fishermen
>>44254406
The national flag of Meschetels.
>>44254743
Dope.
>>44254694
I thynk things are shaping up nicely. When I do Dieselpunk I tend to be way more stereotypical, I'm glad to see Anon coming together with quality fluff.
>>44253886
right let's try this more true to form
For these states, what kind of
>technology they rely upon,
Electricity fueled by Hydroelectric dams, while Diesel is in use where electrical technology is unfeasible for use they make use of some rather impressive batteries. The problem being that the minerals they require for these batteries are in the central mountain range and are hard to access.
>type of government
A socialist Democracy, a single law making body simply known as "The Table" with "Hands" who can serve no more than ten years as a legislator. The Table is counteracted by "The Club" the law enforcing body of the country which itself is broken down into subdivisions including the military, intelligence community and civilian law enforcement. Finally there is "The Helm" which refers both to the country's executive leader and the group of people who hold vital positions such as those in charge of disaster relief organizations, social welfare, oversight commodities and various administrative duties. To serve in The Helm one must have served in The Table or in The Club for at least five years. Corruption is not unheard of but tends to be of a fairly minor matter and attempts by lobbyists to repeal legislation restricting monopolies and various other economic abuses are so far unsuccessful.
Communist, Republic, Monarchy, Theocracy. etc?
>economic system
Highly regulated market, free enterprise is allow as long as it doesn't compromise the environment, welfare of the people, or national values. Companies that grow too large are regularly nationalized, held for a couple years, and then their assets are sold on the open market.
>culture
You serve the state so that it may serve you, you are guaranteed food, shelter, healthcare, and education. Luxuries are sparse but the people are fed and healthy.
>>44254615
Eh, enough oil for Voyvosak in the mountains to work.
>The inhabitants of Voyvosak are a deeply religious, but also musical people. Travellers might often encounter one of the innumerable work songs often performed by the labourers of the country.
>>44254694
>Voyvosak (I believe) - socialist leaning democrat republic
Yeah, sounds good.
Rolled 88, 86, 100 = 274 (3d100)
>>44254615
Rolling for Glastan
>>44254816
Well, we're not going to run out of glistening women anytime soon.
King's Corner
>Technology: Diesel(Primarily drawn from the desert)
>Government: Aristocracy
>Culture: King's Corner is the remnants of the ancient state of Narkentia, which the Union defeated and conquered around a generation ago. While the aristocracy of Narkentia was left intact, the aristocracy as a whole, and the aristocracy as individuals, were forced to swear oaths of fealty to the Union to retain their offices, and Narkentia was absorbed as a unit of the Union, but its culture is still distinctly apart from the other states. Officially, the King graciously sought to join the Union to avoid a costly war, and gave up all his holdings southeast of the Sapphire Sea in order to achieve this peace.
>Economomomics: King's Corner was once a primarily agrarian realm, but the discovery of oil fields in the northwestern deserts have lead to a major boom in industry rather than the traditional reliance on fields and vineyards for income. King's Corner's economics, and its politics, are wildly in flux as a result of this.
>>44254511
He who harms the Hellcat harms the State! He who harms the State is your Enemy! All Loyal Citizens Will Report Poachers Or Face Punishment!
>>44254615
looks like the main oil wells will be in Desert Countries and fought over in the mountain regions.
>>44254406
Meschetels finds itself mediating disputes between Glastan and Temeritus more than it would like. This however grants it the dubious boon of being seen as a neutral observer in conflicts between the two nations (thankfully they're usually legal disputes, though the odd skirmish between workers or industrial sabotage does pop up) and grants them no small amount of authority when it comes to dealing with both sides on matters both legislative and fiscal.
Rolled 49, 40, 34 = 123 (3d100)
>>44254615
>>44253886
right so, how crazy are we going with the tech? I like mechs so I was thinking deiselpunk mechs but that's negotiable. At the very least I want some tesla coils and airships because pew pew.
>>44254694
Casarian Kingdom
Technology: Mainly diesel and airship related
Government: City-State Aristocracy
Culture/History
Previously poor and backwards, the invention of the diesel engine and the discovery of flight catapulted the Casarians into an age of rapid expansion and prosperity - with the discovery of oil in the mountains the value of the kingdom that had gained most of its income from taxing trade between Vuyvosak and Temeritus trebled overnight.
The development of airships - in many cases pioneered by Casarians - made the mountainous terrain much less of a problem, and many cities boast substantial air fleets.
The new found wealth and aerial innovations allowed the Casarians to conquer a route to the sea, taking territory from the Voyvosakians, before either country had joined the Union.
The legitimacy of the "new territories" has come into question now Casaria is a member of the Union - many think the treaty that won them from the Voyvosakians was unfair, not least the Voyvosakians
Econommomomics:
Formerly gaining most of its income through taxing trade, now the oil industry and manufacturing (particularly tools, airships and armaments) dominate the economy.
Thematically a mixture of Scotland and Germany
>Amarenta
>technology
Canals, mostly
>type of government
A council of guilds, trade unions and workers' collectives
>culture
Their culture is based on waterfaring. The massive lake to their west has traditionally played a large part in their lifestyle and traditions. Their cities are big on wooden buildings as that is the most easily available and traditional resource. The towns and cities near to the lake are often connected to it by canals and feature waterways through the town itself, facilitating trade and transport.
>economic system
Completely private businesses are outlawed. Most work gets done by guilds and workers' collectives that often compete against each other.
>>44255465
There's our 8!
>>44253560
Voyvosak - socialist leaning democrat republic
>>44253886
Temeritus - A militarised socialist democracy
>>44254190
Glastan Skor - An interventionist theocratic fascist military dictatorship.
>>44254406
Meschetels - Aristocratic constitutional monarchy
>>44254614
Latuk - Syndicalist fishermen
>>44254881
King's Corner - Transitioning Aristocratic Monarchy
>>44255376
Casarian Kingdom - Aerospace minded Centralized City-State Aristocracy
>>44255465
Amarenta- Riverine Syndicate
>>44255880
H'oh boy.
Maybe we should begin to get an idea of the tech and the bio, to give ourselves constraints to work within fluff-wise.
>Mechs and Tanks
Pretty standard fair. Do we want fuckhueg bandeblades or/And spider walkers mucking about, or smaller scale (Leman Russ and Terminators to keep the analogy going)?
>Aerial
Conventional with non-igniting hydrogen, some bullshit thing we come up with to help them fly, or just "le flying battleship with propellers" one sometimes finds in Dieselpunk?
Methods of achieving lift will probably depend on the faction, availability of diesel, and various predilections. The bio-inclined may even build scaffolding on the backs of giant flying not!Dragons.
>Bio
I'd say zany creatures are a-go, but with some basis in being an animal of some kind.
Are we OK with sentient that are abhuman? What if someone's up to some freaky shit and makes slizardmen abominations?
What kind of relationships would we expect between these nations. Similar governments and common religions are usually good starts. Cohesion is also an important factor--Latuk may have a hard time putting together a cohesive, nuanced foreign policy due to its very nature.
I believe some land in the borders remains unclaimed. Perhaps there's some contest no-man's land?
Also,
>the Nature of the Union
How tight is this group? What's the ruling body? Is there a governing document or is it some "living constitution" bullshit British Parliament styL?
>>44256161
Suggestion for a rough idea of the airships.
Rolled 53, 73, 63 = 189 (3d100)
Latuk flag
This was the only thing they could get everybody to agree on
>>44254615
Rolling
>>44256161
I like my hybrids so I'd say native beastfolk, emphasis on beast. Various unethical breeding/modifying programs in place shades of The Island of Doctor Moreau. Beastfolk are neither good nor evil, just are some countries will have them as citizens and soldiers some will exploit them like native americans and other tribal cultues. (never mind the human tribal cultures)
I'd say go balls to the wall on the mechs and the airships and what have you. Just not really address what keeps them afloat that's not the point here, same with spidertanks and what have you.
I say make the unclaimed borders contested land owned by non-union groups who are growing increasingly desperate to keep their land. The area near Meschetels and Temeritus for instance could have one of the last really large populations of Hellcats so for cultural reasons Glastan keeps invading and the government of Temeritus could be trying to maintain it's isolationist doctrine while at the same time preventing "benevolent intervention" from Glastan.
by nature make the Union somewhat fractured so the nations involved fight, but they fight quietly as they unified to put an end to a warring states period in the first place. So more industrial sabotage and paratroopers less marching armies.
>>44255465
Individual people self-employed are not banned.
>>44256161
>Mechs and Tanks
I would rather we didn't have humanoid mechs or spider-tanks.
>Aerial
I don't really care how it's done as long as there is some line of reasoning. Doesn't have to be watertight in the realms of possibility.
>Bio
I'd rather not have sentient non-humans. If we're going to have them, I'd rather they be very alien or that there be only traces of their presence to be found.
>Union
I'd prefer a Union without any single governing non-abstract document.
Pictured: Casarian Mech
>>44256524
Fuck, why didn't it upload. Trying again.
Pictured Temeritan soldier with bleeding edge machine rifle.
Deplovia is the name given to a territory that steadfastly refuses to join the union. It is rich with useful resources but lacks the technology to exploit them. They are a Ethnically Temeritans but are an extreme religious faction that takes the Socialist Democracy's isolationist ideals to an absurd extreme. This has lead to dozens of petty warlords moving in with modern technology, suppressing the locals and setting up petty fiefdoms.
Just what needs to be done is a subject up for debate and is not helped by the Fractitious Nature of the Union's constituents.
The Great Delta is the region between the eastern coast of the Sapphire Sea and the northern borders of Voyvosak, Casaria, and Temeritus. Rather than being an integrated unit of the Union, it is owned and administered directly by the Union's military, and contains a very large percentage of the military-industrial complex for the union. Geographically, it's primarily wetlands and flood plains, and it contains several critical populations of bats, whose guano provides nitrates critical to the chemical and explosive industries. The Great Delta is, however, incredibly sparsely populated, due to the difficult conditions of building and farming in the region.
Can I get in on this, or is fluffing only for the nations?
>>44258595
Pretty sure that area was already taken...
>>44258677
no go nuts.
we have like 8 nations, a whole continent, military conflict, ethnic groups and nonsense like that.
>>44258691
not that guy but you could just scale back the great delta to include that one nation that's in that region.
>>44256161
It's pretty easy to justify the airships. Floatstone. It's used in Warbirds, which is a great dieselpunk skylands game.
It floats when it's solid, sinks when it's melted, and tends to form the floating core of armored flying ships.
Because it's capable of allowing ships as large as carriers and as small as barges to fly--though they aren't super maneuverable--things like conventional early-to-mid 20th century bombers aren't actually used in the setting, except for specialist courier ships.
>>44261079
change it to a crystalline substance that shatters and loses functionality when damaged and I'm sold. Kinda like mass effect drives but for dieselpunk.
>>44258595
THIS IS WHY WE FOUGHT AT HIGHRIDGE!
KEEP LATUK FOR LATUK
NO ARMY BUT OURS
There are many knightly orders in Glastan Skor, from the famed Knights Ambulancer to the Order of the Ramparts and the Sisterhood of the Blooded Dragon, all with their own celebrated histories, but few can even come close to the Order of the Golden Cross' staggering number of successful interventions - a fact made all the more surprising by their relatively low numbers.
The Order has some of the highest recruiting standards of any of their brethren, and uses this to act as a precision strike force, a hot lancing needle, as opposed to the bonesaw of so many of their brethren orders.
