Territory
Overview
Each nation in the Empire is divided into a number of territories (which are further divided into regions). Each territory has its own distinct history and culture as well as being important for politics, magic, and war. Your choice of territory can have a big important on your character throughout the game so it's worth spending some time picking a territory if you can.
Each territory is sub-divided into regions; each represents a significant area of similar land. A region could be a large forest, many square miles of rolling hills, the area around a town or fortification, a marsh, an area of plains or farms or any number of other combinations of terrain and important features. A region might be large enough to contain a dozen villages, or represent the environs of a single large castle, or part of one of the great cities of the League.
Home Territory
- Every character has a home territory where their personal resource is located.
- Home territory is defined during character creation.
- Your home territory changes if you gain a personal resource in a different territory.
Every character in Empire has a home territory - which is the territory where your personal resource is located. The decision is part of character creation. Every character has a free choice of which territory within their nation will be their home territory. Most characters are part of a group of some sort - a chapter, noble house, family, Marcher household, hall, spire, vale, or what have you - and it is recommended that all members of a group have the same home territory. Doing so helps to give your group a sense of collective identity and shared goals.
Your character might be from another part of the Empire, and you can detail this in your background, but once you start play your homer territory is used to determine how you are affected by magic rituals, curses, or occurrences in the game world. In some nations, it also effects the way you can take part in Senator elections - some nations determine who can vote or stand as a candidate in which election based on home territory.
Home territory is selected from a drop down menu during the last stage of character creation, If you make a mistake, an e-mail can easily sort that out. After you start playing your character, however, changing your home territory is a little more complicated - it costs money, and if you have upgraded your personal resource you may lose out - so ideally you want to get your territory right before the game begins.
Resources
- A personal resource must be located in a specific territory
- Personal resources are not affected until all the regions in a territory are lost
Resources controlled by characters are located in a territory (even military units and fleets have barracks or a home port). Although individual regions or the territory may be controlled by the barbarians, this does not affect the players with resources in that territory. If the entire territory falls into barbarian control - if the Empire loses control of all regions in a territory - then the production of all Imperial resources in the territory is reduced.
The Empire identifies where your character lives based on the location of their resource. If you change your personal resource for a resource in a new territory, the Empire assumes that you live in the new territory for purposes such as voting eligibility.
Campaigns
- A campaign involves all the armies in a territory
- Whoever controls more than half the regions in a territory controls the territory
A military campaign takes place across a whole territory over the three months between events and it incorporates all the armies present in that territory. The movement of Imperial armies is defined by the territory they move to, and the outcome of a campaign is determined by the armies present in a territory.
Territories are divided into regions based on their geography and military significance. The winning side in a campaign will often gain control of a region as a result of their success. If the Empire controls more than half of the regions in a territory, then the territory is considered to be under Imperial control. If a barbarian power controls more than half the regions then they control the territory. If no single power controls more than half the regions, then nobody controls the territory.
Regions
- Armies can move anywhere in a territory
- Armies may gain control of regions as a result of victory in a military campaign
- It is twice as difficult to conquer a region that is not adjacent to a region in the territory that you control
- Regions have special qualities that affects some rituals and some plot opportunities
An army can move freely within a territory as part of the orders issued by the general in command. However experienced generals should note that it is twice as difficult as normal to conquer any region that is not adjacent to another region in that territory that you control.
A region may have one or more special qualities that describe the terrain and the presence of notable geographic, magical, or historical features. These qualities are vital for some rituals but they can also affect opportunities available to the Imperial Senate.