This is the latest draft of the map, those big dark lines are railroads. It also has mountains cities and rivers in it. I plan on doing a digital trace of this and creating multiple maps for different things. It's going to take forever (2days). I can't start any RP until this is finished for two reasons.

1) Elections, laws, and background events. This RP is about domestic and international intrigue, wars, romance (if you want to), and business, but all of that starts with who what where and why. Politicians have to be elected by counties, countries need borders or resources to fight over, businesses need infrastructure and stores. All of that starts with a map.

2) so people can tell what the heck is happening. Keeping track of even basic events is impossible without context. These maps show where and sometimes why things happen.

1864152
What software are you using to trace it?

1865002 Deviantart Muro, unless you have any suggestions.

Id also take suggestions on just about anything right now.

1865106
Gimp might work, but only if you want to. It's free, if that counts for anything, and it's basically just like Photoshop save for a few features. But if you know how to use Deviant Art Muro better, then I'd say just stick with that.

So railroads are already set up, could a company build more if they wanted to? To go with that, is it possible to buy land here?

As for resources, what kind are we talking here? And how much of the industry and government effects it(Seeing as how they're being fought over)?

1865178 A resource is population, with magic now storable and flexible, the more sources of magic you have the better. Others are metals, farmland, and popularity. "Securing" land that are rightfully part of your country or "Securing" your borders are pretty good ways to gain support if, the war is won without too much loss, and if it doesn't take too long. Long wars destroy your popularity faster than anything.

Right now I was hoping players would bid to run the current ones, This might cost them attribute points some how.

1865225
So magic is a source of power, channeled through crystals? Okay... Fair enough. How will these resources be maintained and run over a period of time? If not taken care of properly, can owning or securing them backfire?

Here's an idea, you have four basic stances a character can take; Politics, The Military, Business, and Religion. Maybe attributes should be based off what your skills are pertaining to that, and if that were to be the case, you can gain attributes, or upgrade existing ones, when achievements in your stance is made. And just as well, you have a very good chance of losing your attributes, along with popularity, income, and general resources(anything that's perishable, like energy, materials, or food) if you misuse your resources. However, you can spend your attributes to gain access to certain skills that might be helpful, or even hurtful, in some situations.

1865316 I wouldn't take food into account, but I would factor in population's food as a measure of popularity/economy.

Again, these are business ponies, officers, and diplomats.

and that was kind the idea. Characters plot, grow, gain, lose, and just sometimes have bad luck. Attributes can be permanent except for special cases. Easy to change, or permanent (say, physical looks and family history, your rank/job, and how popular/rich/respected in the military)

1865338
I suppose... (Le random question incoming...)Just where are they getting their food anyway? What's a Scandineighvian's diet consist of?

But that leads me into another question, which was brought up first by Moxy, in a way. How can one player use their skills to affect another? If I wanted to, had the resources necessary, as well as the money, could I kill someone else's character? you said good looks were an attribute, or at least an idea for one, could I hire someone to bash their face in and make them a bit less pretty, taking away that attribute?

I was assuming that that was the newspapers goal anyway though, tell what's happened, and how they affect everyone. How about a stock exchange, investing some money into another company, they use that money to either grow or end up getting bankrupt, which would not only affect them, but you, as an investor, as well.

Also, have you put any thought into what the character sheet might look like yet?

1865428 you can plot and stuff to lead them into a financial, political, or some other kind of ambush, you can slur them to make them less popular (but you risk they doing the same to you, and you being more vulnerable to slurs from others) you can run adds to promote yourself, buy parts of a business (stock markets have been around since the industrial revolution and this take place shortly after what would be ours tech wise), (food is a negligible expense at this level of play), you can try to assassinate others, but with the prevalence of small defensive spells most attacks are sure to fail and have a serious chance of getting you in trouble (like hanging offense trouble).

you could pass laws that benefit one business over another (but risk losing popularity), you could negotiate with other nations for support in exchange for a favorable view or hurt those backed by certain nations by damaging diplomatic ties with them (could gain or lose popularity). You might get the revenue service to harass a certain political enemy if you run it, or help a friend get out of jail free if you have the power. Everything is tradable everything is usable. Everything is a trade off.

1865539
Yes... Of course everything is a trade of, and a lot of it ends up being not much more than a gamble, and it depends on how much you're willing to put on the line. I just wanted to make sure, that everything, and I do mean everything, is free game, as long as you're willing to accept the consequences of your actions.

1865578 there is a probability curve and it is affected by just how much you are risking. The bigger the plot or plan, the more you have to do before hand to tip the odds in your favor before attempting.

1865587
Collection, Planning, Execution, Profit. Nothing ever succeeds unless there's a good amount of thought put behind it. Aiming high will cost you a lot of heartache, but taking it one step at a time, while being much slower and drawn out, has its end game benefits.

My biggest fear right now is that one part of the RP will get all the attention, while another may go completely unused, and thus unimportant. While it may be inevitable, I'd like to avoid it if at all possible.

1865622 I plan to make players use every part by designing a system that has to have every part to to anything but the basics, say declare war for example.

1865650
That might be a turn off for some though. But of course, if you can execute it well then I'd say go for it

1865665 the biggest problem is getting them to be something besides military.

1865703
Yeah, most everyone so far is at least affiliated in the military in some way. Perhaps you should have some starting incentives for joining another part of the game play. I know I'm not going to be in the military, whatever character I might be.

1866149
Would you like to take this discussion into our private group then?

1866159 ((maybe, *wink* but you'd have to start it))

1866167
*kiss* Alright then

1865703

pfft, I don't know about you vikinga, but I plan on avoiding the military side of things completely, if at all possible, BUSINESS & MONIES FOR THE WIN!

1867029 YES!