The game is set in an alternate history 13th century. It is alternate history because, while I'm very attached to the real world's geography, languages, religious history, etc, to code a recognizable historical game that properly reflects all the differences between regions and realms is a massive, massive undertaking. So, all the factions in the game will have a similar structure, at least for the time being.
Also, I'm interested in a fairly wide spread of historical periods and phenomena -- the Reformation, the exploration of the New World, the rise of Sikhism in India, Cossacks -- that I'd like to mix into the game at some point.
The factions all represent religious/civilizational blocs, similar to what "the Holy Roman Empire" meant in the 16th century or the Middle Kingdom meant to the Chinese in, say, the period of Warring States: a common framework for legitimacy. Within the civilizational blocs you will find vassals and independent states.
The factions are:
1. The Holy Catholic Empire (what the HRE would it have been, had it won the Investiture Controversy and moved to Rome. Latin is the language of rule.)
2. The Orthodox Ecumenical Empire (what the Byzantines would have been, had they remained militarily strong in Anatolia and also been recognized -- even nominally -- as suzerain over the Russian states, perhaps because a Russian dynasty is now ruling Constantinople. Greek and Slavonic are the languages of rule)
3. The Caliphate of the Prophet (what the Umayyads would have become, had they survived the Abbasid empire and not imported slave soldiers en masse. Arabic is the language of rule.)
4. The Middle Kingdom (what China would have become, had the militarism of the Tang not been 'tamed' by the neo-Confucianist bureaucracy of the Sung. Chinese is the language of rule.)
5. The Universal Khaganate (what the Gokturks would have become, had they responded to the Muslim incursion by forming a strong state with a strong religious identity -- in this case, an amalgamation of Tengriism and Tibetan Buddhism, which coexist similarly to how Shintoism and Buddhism coexist in Japan. Old Turkic and Mongol are the languages of rule)
6. The Dharmic Protectorate (what the Cholas would have become, had they been able to maintain a naval presence in southeast Asia and also extend their power into the Ganges, and had other kingdoms turned to them for protection from the armies coming across the Khyber. Sanskrit is the language of rule.)
You might notice that this alternate history removes or weakens a lot of unique insitutions -- the supranational Latin church, the powerful Chinese bureaucracy, Islamic Mamlukage. This is intentional. I don't want to code a separate social structure for each society, at least not at first.
More details about the setting will follow, including specific details of the alternate history. My "point of departure" from the actual historical timeline is around 700 AD, and will mostly be based on the pace of the Islamic conquests -- which, since they occurred in the geographical middle of the Old World, affected everyone else around them.
The historiographical underpinning of this alternate history will be that some kinds of external challenge can cause societies/civilizations to organize themselves more efficiently -- jerk them out of their complacency, in other words. Too much of a threat can destroy them, of course.
One other theory is that large, multi-ethnic civilizational blocs allow the spreading of ideas. In this alterate universe, medieval Europe and China are much more aware of each other than the real equivalents would be. (This makes life much easier for game design, as I don't need to simulate geographical ignorance.)
Some kinds of technological development, however -- like metallurgy, or the production of useful gunpowder -- required vast amounts of trial and error by small communities of urban artisans. These extremely precise, complicated techniques would not necessarily be transmitted throughout empires, so while this alternative universe might be a few centuries ahead of the real world in terms of ideas circulating, it is technologically in about the same place.
RELIGION:
This is an age of faith. Material self-interest, the quest for status, and personal rivalries all play a part in this epoch's politics, but the broader questions -- who should rule whom? what makes a king legitimate? how should society be organized? -- are all framed through a religious frameworks. Some people truly believe that there is a divine plan for the world, and that it is their task to implement it. Others are secret skeptics, or simply assume that Heaven only wants what is best for them. But everyone knows that if you want to argue for a certain policy, your ultimate justification must be that Heaven wants it so.
Ultimately, the game will treat religion in some detail. I envision this alternative 13th as being similar to what Europe was in 1500 -- dissatisfied with the status quo, and on the verge of a great upheaval.
A few basic religious concepts, to make sense of the religious labels (when they are implemented).
* Canon -- This is the basic set of texts or assumptions about the universe and God. For example, all forms of Christianity in the game ultimately fall back on the Old and New Testaments. Hinduism comes in many, many forms, but all (for game purposes) fall back on a few basic assumptions about karma and dharma.
* Community -- This is any group of people that consider themselves of one faith, and exclude others. For example in the game, two groups of Christians may both have the same canon, but consider each other schismatics and heretics. This tendency is much stronger in the medieval era than it is today. Examples: the Catholic and Orthodox churches, Shiism and Sunnism. (These groups would not necessarily think of each other as heretics today, but they tended to do so then).
* Theology -- This represents disagreements within a community as to how religion should be interpreted. If relations between two theologies get very hostile, one might break off -- or be declared apostate -- and form a new community.
Game examples:
Puritanism
Puritanism's primary focus is corruption or incorrect belief within their community, and "collaboration" with rival faiths. They often mistrust established clergies. They tend to be militant and disciplined and tend to be very effective holy warriors, but also very disruptive to the social order.
Historical examples:
The "Catholic Kings" Ferdinand and Isabella, Savonarola of Florence
The al-Muwahidun, or Almohads
The Byzantine iconoclasts
Han Yu and the Emperor Wuzong in the Tang dynasty
Establishment
The default theology. They tend to look very askance at any religious doctrine that might cause difficulties for the authorities. God couldn't really want us not to borrow at interest?
Historical examples:
Most rulers in most places
Devotional
They believe in bringing piety to the masses. They are not terribly obsessed with doctrines, and willing to accept all kinds of heterodox behavior if it ultimately strengthens faith. They frequently have a touch of mysticism, and rulers often worry if devotional preachers will start proclaiming themselves messiahs, declaring the kingdom of heaven on earth, or other disruptive behavior.
Historical examples:
The Franciscan movement
Sufis
Buddhist Boddhisatva-focused movements, ie, "Pure Land"
Hindu Bhakti movements
Humanist
They want to use religion to create a more rational, tolerant social order. If any scripture or practice would seem to contradict this, well, then it must have been misinterpreted.
Humanism tends to be more attractive to the educated and wealthy. The poor often want strong faith in a fearsome God, as they see it as a check on their rulers and a guarantor of ultimate justice against their oppressors.
Historical examples:
The Renaissance humanists
The Muatazilites. Akbar the Moghul.
Minority
A minority theology values survival above all else in a hostile environment. They foster strong internal bonds of solidarity, rarely proselytize outside their community, and go out of their way not to antagonize rulers. Sometimes they develop esoteric doctrines that they keep hidden from outsiders.
Historical examples:
Medieval Judaism
Medieval Zoroastrianism
Allawism
Yazidism
Nestorianism
Druze
Copts in Egypt
* Dominant religion -- This represents the religion of the ruling classes in any given province, and the faith that is used to legitimize authority there. It is usually -- but not necessarily -- the majority religion.
* Religious undercurrents -- This represents the most powerful religious tend in the province. It can be a theology or a restive religious minority. Restive minority faiths don't have theologies in a province, as they tend to be more unified in the face of the dominant faith.
* A note on Buddhism and eastern religions in general -- Theologically, eastern religions could be quite different from the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) in the Middle Ages as they tended not to claim an exclusive monopolgy on truth. They were often almost as intolerant towards any doctrine that they perceived as subversive, but they did recognize that one could have multiple religious allegiances -- a Buddhist who also respected the Emperor's Mandate of Heaven, and respected general Confucian values.
For this reason, Buddhism is treated as a theology under Tengriism and Chinese heaven-worship. Confucianism is also a theology ("Establishment") because it didn't really tackle questions about the universe, but questions about human society.
Theravada Buddhism in India and south Asia is however treated as a separate faith, because it was a separate way to justify who should be king, and thus more of a direct challenge to the social order.
* A note specifically on Chinese religions -- "religion" in China in this period is usually used to refer to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and were seen to be at the same time competitive and complementary. (This painting is illustrative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_tasters)
In the game, however, the Chinese "religion" is actually the set of shared assumptions about the cosmos: ie, that there is a Heaven, and that it gives and takes away legitimacy to rule China and surrounding areas via the Mandate of Heaven.
The three ways (or variations of them) are incorporated into the theologies, or at least the most politically meaningful ones. For example, Confucianism is basically the establishment theology -- although if you want to dabble a bit in Buddhism or Daoism, no one would mind. The White Lotus movement, which is technically Buddhism but posits a universal mother goddess and much else, is a devotional movement.
I take a basically functional approach to this -- rather than parse out Chinese theology, which is dizzyingly complicated, I focus on the offshoots that inspired revolts.
A note on polytheism:
Polytheism in some ways defies easy categorization. Unlike monotheisms that take doctrine seriously, different polytheisms from the same region can easily merge into each other. You worship Thor and I worship Perkunas? No problem, we'll just agree he's the same deity with different names. Or, if that doesn't work, they can both be gods. There's always room for one more.
However, while in theory there's no reason that the central African Ogun and Thor can't be co-gods, in practice a devotee of each would probably consider the other foreign and weird. So, I am lumping certain kinds of polytheism together -- for example, Baltic, Finnish and Norse polytheisms -- if it seems to me that it would be pretty easy for a devotee of one to marry a devotee of the other. While these pantheons aren't necessarily any more similar than other European polytheisms, there are enough common features (ie, sacred groves) that for game terms make this the easiest course. In the alternate history, Scandinavia has developed much along the same lines that Lithuania did until the 15th century -- there is a polytheism-dominated warrior caste, but Christian missionaries have had some freedom of action as long as they don't insult the old gods, and have made converts at all levels. In the game, the Norse and the Baltic aristocracies are assumed to have intermarried a fair amount, thus merging their pantheons.
Pantheisms that recognize multiple manifestations of the gods are also considered polytheisms. Ie, the more abstract, intellectualized Hindu tradition is technically pantheism or monotheism: all gods are God. But in practice, people worship different deities.
Polytheisms/pantheisms in the game include:
Norse/Baltic/Finnish polytheism
West African (aka Sudanic) polytheism
Hinduism
Chinese polytheism (incorporates Mahayana Buddhism)
Shinto
Turkic polytheism/Tengrism (incorporates Lamic Buddhism)
Societal aspects:
Latins: Small, mobile families. Decentralized administration (ie, families tend to inherit local authority).
Orthodox: Large, immobile families. Centralized administration (ie, local authority through appointment).
Muslims: Large, mobile families. Decentralized administration.
Khanate: Large, mobile families. Decentralized administration
China: Large, mobile families. Centralized administration.
India: Large, immobile families. Decentralized administration.
Partial list of major deviations from the actual historical map around 1250
Also, I'm interested in a fairly wide spread of historical periods and phenomena -- the Reformation, the exploration of the New World, the rise of Sikhism in India, Cossacks -- that I'd like to mix into the game at some point.
The factions all represent religious/civilizational blocs, similar to what "the Holy Roman Empire" meant in the 16th century or the Middle Kingdom meant to the Chinese in, say, the period of Warring States: a common framework for legitimacy. Within the civilizational blocs you will find vassals and independent states.
The factions are:
1. The Holy Catholic Empire (what the HRE would it have been, had it won the Investiture Controversy and moved to Rome. Latin is the language of rule.)
2. The Orthodox Ecumenical Empire (what the Byzantines would have been, had they remained militarily strong in Anatolia and also been recognized -- even nominally -- as suzerain over the Russian states, perhaps because a Russian dynasty is now ruling Constantinople. Greek and Slavonic are the languages of rule)
3. The Caliphate of the Prophet (what the Umayyads would have become, had they survived the Abbasid empire and not imported slave soldiers en masse. Arabic is the language of rule.)
4. The Middle Kingdom (what China would have become, had the militarism of the Tang not been 'tamed' by the neo-Confucianist bureaucracy of the Sung. Chinese is the language of rule.)
5. The Universal Khaganate (what the Gokturks would have become, had they responded to the Muslim incursion by forming a strong state with a strong religious identity -- in this case, an amalgamation of Tengriism and Tibetan Buddhism, which coexist similarly to how Shintoism and Buddhism coexist in Japan. Old Turkic and Mongol are the languages of rule)
6. The Dharmic Protectorate (what the Cholas would have become, had they been able to maintain a naval presence in southeast Asia and also extend their power into the Ganges, and had other kingdoms turned to them for protection from the armies coming across the Khyber. Sanskrit is the language of rule.)
You might notice that this alternate history removes or weakens a lot of unique insitutions -- the supranational Latin church, the powerful Chinese bureaucracy, Islamic Mamlukage. This is intentional. I don't want to code a separate social structure for each society, at least not at first.
More details about the setting will follow, including specific details of the alternate history. My "point of departure" from the actual historical timeline is around 700 AD, and will mostly be based on the pace of the Islamic conquests -- which, since they occurred in the geographical middle of the Old World, affected everyone else around them.
The historiographical underpinning of this alternate history will be that some kinds of external challenge can cause societies/civilizations to organize themselves more efficiently -- jerk them out of their complacency, in other words. Too much of a threat can destroy them, of course.
One other theory is that large, multi-ethnic civilizational blocs allow the spreading of ideas. In this alterate universe, medieval Europe and China are much more aware of each other than the real equivalents would be. (This makes life much easier for game design, as I don't need to simulate geographical ignorance.)
Some kinds of technological development, however -- like metallurgy, or the production of useful gunpowder -- required vast amounts of trial and error by small communities of urban artisans. These extremely precise, complicated techniques would not necessarily be transmitted throughout empires, so while this alternative universe might be a few centuries ahead of the real world in terms of ideas circulating, it is technologically in about the same place.
RELIGION:
This is an age of faith. Material self-interest, the quest for status, and personal rivalries all play a part in this epoch's politics, but the broader questions -- who should rule whom? what makes a king legitimate? how should society be organized? -- are all framed through a religious frameworks. Some people truly believe that there is a divine plan for the world, and that it is their task to implement it. Others are secret skeptics, or simply assume that Heaven only wants what is best for them. But everyone knows that if you want to argue for a certain policy, your ultimate justification must be that Heaven wants it so.
Ultimately, the game will treat religion in some detail. I envision this alternative 13th as being similar to what Europe was in 1500 -- dissatisfied with the status quo, and on the verge of a great upheaval.
A few basic religious concepts, to make sense of the religious labels (when they are implemented).
* Canon -- This is the basic set of texts or assumptions about the universe and God. For example, all forms of Christianity in the game ultimately fall back on the Old and New Testaments. Hinduism comes in many, many forms, but all (for game purposes) fall back on a few basic assumptions about karma and dharma.
* Community -- This is any group of people that consider themselves of one faith, and exclude others. For example in the game, two groups of Christians may both have the same canon, but consider each other schismatics and heretics. This tendency is much stronger in the medieval era than it is today. Examples: the Catholic and Orthodox churches, Shiism and Sunnism. (These groups would not necessarily think of each other as heretics today, but they tended to do so then).
* Theology -- This represents disagreements within a community as to how religion should be interpreted. If relations between two theologies get very hostile, one might break off -- or be declared apostate -- and form a new community.
Game examples:
Puritanism
Puritanism's primary focus is corruption or incorrect belief within their community, and "collaboration" with rival faiths. They often mistrust established clergies. They tend to be militant and disciplined and tend to be very effective holy warriors, but also very disruptive to the social order.
Historical examples:
The "Catholic Kings" Ferdinand and Isabella, Savonarola of Florence
The al-Muwahidun, or Almohads
The Byzantine iconoclasts
Han Yu and the Emperor Wuzong in the Tang dynasty
Establishment
The default theology. They tend to look very askance at any religious doctrine that might cause difficulties for the authorities. God couldn't really want us not to borrow at interest?
Historical examples:
Most rulers in most places
Devotional
They believe in bringing piety to the masses. They are not terribly obsessed with doctrines, and willing to accept all kinds of heterodox behavior if it ultimately strengthens faith. They frequently have a touch of mysticism, and rulers often worry if devotional preachers will start proclaiming themselves messiahs, declaring the kingdom of heaven on earth, or other disruptive behavior.
Historical examples:
The Franciscan movement
Sufis
Buddhist Boddhisatva-focused movements, ie, "Pure Land"
Hindu Bhakti movements
Humanist
They want to use religion to create a more rational, tolerant social order. If any scripture or practice would seem to contradict this, well, then it must have been misinterpreted.
Humanism tends to be more attractive to the educated and wealthy. The poor often want strong faith in a fearsome God, as they see it as a check on their rulers and a guarantor of ultimate justice against their oppressors.
Historical examples:
The Renaissance humanists
The Muatazilites. Akbar the Moghul.
Minority
A minority theology values survival above all else in a hostile environment. They foster strong internal bonds of solidarity, rarely proselytize outside their community, and go out of their way not to antagonize rulers. Sometimes they develop esoteric doctrines that they keep hidden from outsiders.
Historical examples:
Medieval Judaism
Medieval Zoroastrianism
Allawism
Yazidism
Nestorianism
Druze
Copts in Egypt
* Dominant religion -- This represents the religion of the ruling classes in any given province, and the faith that is used to legitimize authority there. It is usually -- but not necessarily -- the majority religion.
* Religious undercurrents -- This represents the most powerful religious tend in the province. It can be a theology or a restive religious minority. Restive minority faiths don't have theologies in a province, as they tend to be more unified in the face of the dominant faith.
* A note on Buddhism and eastern religions in general -- Theologically, eastern religions could be quite different from the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) in the Middle Ages as they tended not to claim an exclusive monopolgy on truth. They were often almost as intolerant towards any doctrine that they perceived as subversive, but they did recognize that one could have multiple religious allegiances -- a Buddhist who also respected the Emperor's Mandate of Heaven, and respected general Confucian values.
For this reason, Buddhism is treated as a theology under Tengriism and Chinese heaven-worship. Confucianism is also a theology ("Establishment") because it didn't really tackle questions about the universe, but questions about human society.
Theravada Buddhism in India and south Asia is however treated as a separate faith, because it was a separate way to justify who should be king, and thus more of a direct challenge to the social order.
* A note specifically on Chinese religions -- "religion" in China in this period is usually used to refer to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and were seen to be at the same time competitive and complementary. (This painting is illustrative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_tasters)
In the game, however, the Chinese "religion" is actually the set of shared assumptions about the cosmos: ie, that there is a Heaven, and that it gives and takes away legitimacy to rule China and surrounding areas via the Mandate of Heaven.
The three ways (or variations of them) are incorporated into the theologies, or at least the most politically meaningful ones. For example, Confucianism is basically the establishment theology -- although if you want to dabble a bit in Buddhism or Daoism, no one would mind. The White Lotus movement, which is technically Buddhism but posits a universal mother goddess and much else, is a devotional movement.
I take a basically functional approach to this -- rather than parse out Chinese theology, which is dizzyingly complicated, I focus on the offshoots that inspired revolts.
A note on polytheism:
Polytheism in some ways defies easy categorization. Unlike monotheisms that take doctrine seriously, different polytheisms from the same region can easily merge into each other. You worship Thor and I worship Perkunas? No problem, we'll just agree he's the same deity with different names. Or, if that doesn't work, they can both be gods. There's always room for one more.
However, while in theory there's no reason that the central African Ogun and Thor can't be co-gods, in practice a devotee of each would probably consider the other foreign and weird. So, I am lumping certain kinds of polytheism together -- for example, Baltic, Finnish and Norse polytheisms -- if it seems to me that it would be pretty easy for a devotee of one to marry a devotee of the other. While these pantheons aren't necessarily any more similar than other European polytheisms, there are enough common features (ie, sacred groves) that for game terms make this the easiest course. In the alternate history, Scandinavia has developed much along the same lines that Lithuania did until the 15th century -- there is a polytheism-dominated warrior caste, but Christian missionaries have had some freedom of action as long as they don't insult the old gods, and have made converts at all levels. In the game, the Norse and the Baltic aristocracies are assumed to have intermarried a fair amount, thus merging their pantheons.
Pantheisms that recognize multiple manifestations of the gods are also considered polytheisms. Ie, the more abstract, intellectualized Hindu tradition is technically pantheism or monotheism: all gods are God. But in practice, people worship different deities.
Polytheisms/pantheisms in the game include:
Norse/Baltic/Finnish polytheism
West African (aka Sudanic) polytheism
Hinduism
Chinese polytheism (incorporates Mahayana Buddhism)
Shinto
Turkic polytheism/Tengrism (incorporates Lamic Buddhism)
Societal aspects:
Latins: Small, mobile families. Decentralized administration (ie, families tend to inherit local authority).
Orthodox: Large, immobile families. Centralized administration (ie, local authority through appointment).
Muslims: Large, mobile families. Decentralized administration.
Khanate: Large, mobile families. Decentralized administration
China: Large, mobile families. Centralized administration.
India: Large, immobile families. Decentralized administration.
Partial list of major deviations from the actual historical map around 1250
* The Mongols are still a small part of the khanate, which is largely Turkic-dominated
* China is mostly under the control of a single dynasty
* Most of Anatolia and the Black Sea region are still under Byzantine suzerainty
* Russia has been spared devastation by the Mongols. Moscow is already the most powerful state in Russia.
* The Holy Roman (aka Catholic) Empire holds most of Italy
* The Caliphate is still a fairly strong empire with a hold on Egypt, Syria, and Iraq
* Northern India with the exception of Punjab is largely still Hindu-controlled
* The Thais have already defeated the Khmer empire
* There is a separate Malay state that holds much of the Malay peninsula and Sumatra
* There are no English holdings in France
* Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, Scotland, Aragon, and quite a few other kingdoms are duchies owing nominal fealty to the stronger regional power
* China is mostly under the control of a single dynasty
* Most of Anatolia and the Black Sea region are still under Byzantine suzerainty
* Russia has been spared devastation by the Mongols. Moscow is already the most powerful state in Russia.
* The Holy Roman (aka Catholic) Empire holds most of Italy
* The Caliphate is still a fairly strong empire with a hold on Egypt, Syria, and Iraq
* Northern India with the exception of Punjab is largely still Hindu-controlled
* The Thais have already defeated the Khmer empire
* There is a separate Malay state that holds much of the Malay peninsula and Sumatra
* There are no English holdings in France
* Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, Scotland, Aragon, and quite a few other kingdoms are duchies owing nominal fealty to the stronger regional power
