Gnomes: The Next Generation

[appleciders]

In the beginning, the gnomes lived their lives in the yard. Massive cities of hundreds of gnomes thrived in bushes, in trees, under the patio, and even built underground and within the walls. Hundreds of ants and bees were taken captive and made to serve their gnomish masters. Life in the yard had reached a high point before the plague.

The plague, brought in by the nomadic gnomes from the east, ripped through the POWARS, then spread up through the Twin Lakes community and from there into the rest of the yard. Hundreds of gnomes died and the cities were abandoned as gnomes fled their homes. Hundreds more died as they were exposed to the elements and predators outside of their cities. The plague and the fear of it kept gnomes out of cities, living as solitary nomads as they sought to protect themselves from the plague.

Now, months later, after all but the memory of the plague has faded, gnomes are returning to their cities. Many of the great artifices and constructions of the past are in ruins, and the knowledge of the great gnomish thinkers has been lost. Still, cities seem to represent the best hope for a new life, even as generations of solitude have ingrained a deep distrust of other gnomes, especially those of other tribes. As new cities rise on the broken foundations of the old, one thing only seems sure- the old days of trust and amiability between tribes are over.

POWARS: Bipolarbear
Population: Gnew York: 90 gnomes
Workforce 84, Military 6
Beasts: 2 bees
Gnome Soldiers (Gnew York): 4 Twig Gnomes, 2 Sappers
Food Supply: Adequate (Acorns)
Military Rating: 37%
Loyalty: 52%
Happiness: 50%
Density of Population: 45%
City Improvements and Details: Gnew York (arboreal):
Special Units: Sappers
Technologies: Bee Taming
Trade: None

Twin Lake Gnomes: Gamecube64
Population: Laketown: 108 Gnomes
100 Workforce, 8 military
Beasts: None
Gnome Soldiers (Laketown): 5 Spear Gnomes, 3 Sling Gnomes
Food Supply: Inadequate (Seeds)
Military Rating: 46%
Loyalty: 54%
Happiness: 34%
Density of Population: 36%
City Improvements and Details: Capital City: Ruined barracks
Ruined storehouse
Special Units: Sling Gnomes
Technologies:
Rope Making
Trade: None

Wall Gnomes:
Population: Brickbane: 100 gnomes
93 Workforce, 7 Military
Beasts: 1 ant
Gnome Soldiers (Brickbane): 6 Spear gnomes, 1 Walluminati
Food Supply: Inadequate (Seeds)
Military Rating: 67%
Loyalty: 46%
Happiness: 35%
Density of Population: 50%
City Improvements and Details: Brickbane (Built into Wall):
Special Units: Sling Gnomes, Flail Gnomes
Technologies: Rope Making
Trade:

Clay Gnomes: Foolish_icarus
Population: Caivgridde: 79 Gnomes
74 Workforce, 5 Military
Beasts: None
Gnome Soldiers: (Caivgridde) 5 Spear Gnomes
Food Supply: Adequate (Table scraps)
Miltary Rating: 41%
Loyalty: 28%
Happiness: 52%
Density of Population: 53%
City Improvements and Details: Capital City (Subterranean): Collapsed Granary
Ruined Road to Bush Gnomes
Scratchiary
Special Units: Axe Gnomes, Flail Gnomes
Technologies: Scratch-Remembering
Rope Making
Pebble Axes
Trade: None

Trash Gnomes: NPC
Population: Trash City: 120 gnomes
105 Workforce, 15 Military
Beasts: 3 ants
Gnome Soldiers: 9 Spear Gnomes, 8 Sling Gnomes
Food Supply: Good (Compost Pickings)
Military Rating: 63%
Loyalty: 41%
Happiness: 15%
Density of Population: 40%
City Improvements and Details: Trash City (Above Ground):
Special Units: Flail Gnomes
Technologies:
Rope Making
Ant Taming
Trade: None

Barbecue Gnomes: NPC
Population: BBQ City: 49 gnomes
45 Workforce, 4 Military
Beasts: None
Military: 2 Spear Gnomes, 2 Throwing Spear Gnomes
Food Supply: Adequate (BBQ leavings, seeds)
Military Rating: 79%
Loyalty: 45%
Happiness: 45%
Density of Population: 16%
City Improvements and Details: BBQ (Above Ground): None
Special Units: Throwing Spear Gnome
Technologies: Throwing Spears
Trade: None

Bush Gnomes: NPC
Population: Karthago: 105 gnomes
100 Workforce, 5 Military
Beasts: 2 ants
Gnome Soldiers: 3 Spear gnomes, 2 Ant Scouts
Food Supply: Inadequate (Forage Parties)
Military Rating: 24%
Loyalty: 50%
Happiness: 64%
Population Density: 45%
City Improvements: Karthago (Above Ground):
Special Units: Ant Scouts
Technologies: Ant Taming, Ant Riding
Trade: None

Nomads: General Ludd
Population: Camp: 61 gnomes
56 Workforce, 5 Military
Beasts: None
Gnome Soldiers: 5 bow gnomes (3)
Food Supply: Adequate (Hunting, Seeds)
Military Rating: 50%
Loyalty: 20%
Happiness: 54%
Density of Population: 61%
City Improvements and Details: Temporary camp, can be easily moved
Special Units: Bow gnomes
Technologies: Grass weaving
Archery
Trade:

Population: This is the total number of gnomes in your colony. The Military stat shows how many gnomes are currently in your military. Workforce is the number of civilian gnomes you can use to carry out your orders. You must assign jobs to gnomes to carry out any orders you give. (i.e., 25 gnomes gather food from the table, 10 gnomes arm themselves with twigs and raid another colony, etc.) The more dangerous their task, the more of your gnomes will be killed in the process. Gnomes assigned to military ventures will remain in the military until ordered to do otherwise. Gnomes that remain in the military long-term will become better and better soldiers, but removing them from the military and returning them to the general populace will nullify these advantages. Your population grows or shrinks each turn based on the added Young gnomes are born, raised, and become adults over the course of a turn, so they don't need to be worried about.

Beasts: This stat tracks the beasts of the yard that your gnomes have captured and tamed. This can range from the common local ants and bees to larger animals like lizards, dragonflies, or snails, or even (for the very ambitious and daring) birds, mice, or maybe even that menace of a cat. You are limited only by what might be in a yard and the number of Gnomish lives you are willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals.

Gnome Soldiers: This stat keeps track of what gnomes you have in your military. These will remain in the military until you order them to leave. At first, only Twig Gnomes, armed with sharpened twigs, will be available, but other troop types will become available at player request. Simply assign some gnomes to research whatever you want (ant cavalry, carved-acorn boats, fire-hardening of twigs, anything you can think of) and if enough gnomes were assigned to it, that unit will become available to you. In addition, items you acquire (Toothpicks daringly raided from the pantry, lighter fluid swiped from the bottle kept near the barbecue, anything that might be in a yard or a house) can be given to your gnomes, for them to research with.

Military Rating: This number represents your gnomes' confidence in you as a commander, the equipment they have, their level of training, their experience in battle, the length of time your soldiers have spent in the military, and other factors that might affect their proficiency in battle.

Loyalty: This represents the likelihood of your gnomes revolting against you. More loyal gnomes will also be more productive. Anything below 25% runs the risk of revolt.

Happiness: This represents your gnomes general level of happiness. This represents all gnomes under your command, including any slaves should you decide to take them. Happier gnomes are more loyal and slightly more productive, although you can keep a high loyalty rating while having a low happiness rating if your gnomes are afraid of you.

Food Supply: This shows any resources you control that represent a source of food. You can exploit these more fully by assigning gnomes to gather from them, or researching something that might improve your gnomes ability to gather these resources. The higher your population, the greater your need for food. Your population will not grow if your food supply is below adequate, and will grow only slightly if you have an adequate food supply. Food supplies above adequate greatly encourage growth.

Density of Population: This respresnts how crowded your cities are. Crowded cities will grow more slowly. Underground, arboreal, or otherwise spatially-limited cities will house fewer gnomes and grow crowded more quickly. Each city has its own population density statistic.

Military Units:
Each different type of gnome soldier has different abilities, and will fare differently against other gnome soldiers. In addition, different types of gnome soldiers require different amounts of other gnomes to train them (Essentially, more elite gnome soldiers are more expensive). For example, 100 gnomes would train 50 Spear Gnomes. The other 50 gnomes would then be returned to your workforce for the following turn. This is because not all gnomes are suited for every type of military service, and those that fail training are returned into daily life.

Twig Gnomes: 1 Gnome per soldier. Twig Gnomes are the basic, inexpensive foot soldiers. Their twigs are not sharpened, and are wielded like a staff. They are extremely poor offensively, and only average on defense. Their main advantage is cheapness and mobility. Twig Gnomes are available to all Gnome nations.

Spear Gnomes: 2 Gnomes per soldier. Spear Gnomes are the next step up from Twig Gnomes. Spear Gnomes are armed with strong, sharpened twigs, and are better trained than Twig Gnomes. Spear Gnomes are still poor in a charge, but are good defensively and are particularly strong against ant cavalry or any other form of gnome-carrying animal. They are also relatively mobile. Spear Gnomes are available to all Gnome nations.

Throwing Spear Gnomes: 2 Gnomes per soldier. Throwing Spear Gnomes are armed with several short, specially weighted spears that can be thrown with reasonable accuracy. Throwing Spear Gnomes are excellent at short range, but are ineffective at medium range due to the heaviness of the spears. They are poor in hand-to-hand combat, but are mobile enough to avoid it most of the time. Throwing Spear Gnomes are available only to nations with Throwing Spear technology, which may be researched by any nation.

Sling Gnomes: 2 Gnomes per soldier. Sling Gnomes are armed with a small sling that can be used to throw small stones at enemy troops. These gnomes deal less damage than Throwing Spear Gnomes, but have longer range, carry much more ammunition and are extremely mobile. They are not accurate enough at long range to pick off individual gnomes, but can shower a tight formation of troops with missiles very effectively. Sling Gnomes may be trained only by nations possessing Rope Making technology.

Bow Gnomes: 2 Gnomes per soldier. Bow Gnomes are eqipped with a short bow fashioned from a twig and a woven grass string, and a quantity of arrows. While having long range, these arrows don't deal as much damage as a thrown spear or a slung pebble. Bow Gnomes are very poor in hand-to-hand combat. Bow Gnomes may be trained by any nation with Archery, which in turn may be researched by any nation with Grass Weaving or Rope Making.

Flail Gnomes: 3 Gnomes per soldier. Flail Gnomes are equipped with a large pebble tied to a short length of rope, which is in turn tied to a short length of twig. While allowing almost no defensive capability, Flail Gnomes can break through enemy formations with frightening ease. Flail Gnomes also excell at pillaging and looting. Flail Gnomes may be trained only by nations with Flail Gnome technology, which in turn may be researched only by nations possessing Rope Making technology.

Legionaires: 4 gnomes per soldier. Legionaires are armed with both a long, hand-to-hand spear and several throwing spears. This allows them a versitile method of combat, keeping enemies at a distance with long spears while throwing spears can attack. Legionaires have limited mobility due to the quantity of their weapons, but are a deadly combination of range and defensibility. Legionaires may not be researched, but the ability to train them may be purchased from any nation possessing it.

Light Auxiliaries: 3 gnomes per soldier. Light Auxiliaries are armed with both throwing spears and slings. Light Auxiliaries are slightly less mobile than other ranged units, due to their more plentiful weapons, but can deal death at both short and medium range. They are extremely weak at hand-to-hand combat. Light Auxiliaries may be trained by any nation possessing both Rope Making and Throwing Spears.

Axe Gnomes: 3 gnomes per soldier. Axe Gnomes are excellent hand-to-hand fighters. They are good both defensively and offensively, making them very good all-around soldiers. Possessing no armor, Axe Gnomes are highly mobile and can break through lines of enemy troop effectively, but are poor against ranged troops. Only Gnome nations possessing Pebble Axe technology can build Axe Gnomes. Pebble Axe technology may not be researched, but purchased from any other nation possessing it.

Advanced Axe Gnomes: 4 gnomes per soldier. Advanced Axe Gnomes also carry a small number of throwing axes with them. These throwing axes can be used to weaken an enemy's lines just before the Axes Gnomes engage. This makes the Axe Gnomes more effective. Any nation possessing both Throwing Axes and Pebble Axes may recruit Advanced Axe Gnomes. Axe Gnomes already in existence may be trained into Advanced Axe Gnomes at the reduced cost of 1 gnome and one Axe Gnome.

Ant Scouts: 2 Gnomes and 1 ant per soldier. Ant Scouts are unarmed Ant Riders that can be used to explore or scout for enemy troops much more effectively than foot troops. Being unarmed, they are one of the fastest units around, but have no means of attack save trampling with their mount. Ant Scouts may be built by any nation possessing Ant Riding, which may be researched by any nation with ants.

Ant Cavalry: 3 Gnomes and 2 ants per soldier. Ant Cavalry are highly mobile ant riders armed with spears. While weak defensively, Ant Cavalry are excellent at breaking enemy formations and chasing down routing troops. They also do well at raiding, using their mounts to carry off large quantities of whatever is to be stolen. Ant Cavalry may be researched by any nation possessing Ant Riding.

Sappers: 2 gnomes per Sapper. Sappers, or Combat Engineers, are not a fighting force in themselves, but a construction force. These Sappers are experts at building and maintaining defensive structures, and can operate sophisticated defensive machinery, like the POWARS vats of boiling honey. Any nation may recruit Sappers.

Special Police Force Gnomes: 2 Gnomes per SPF Gnome. SPF gnomes are masters of subtlety and espionage. They can influence public opinion, incite riots, spy on enemy gnomes, "remove" irritating revolutionaries, even attempt assassinations. They are ineffective in battle, but are better trained than average gnomes at diplomacy and other missions outside the colony. Any nation may research SPF gnomes, but must come up with a particular name for their police force (i.e., NKVD, FBI, KGB, Swiss Guard, CIA, MI5, Praetorian Guard, whatever).

Officers: 1 Gnome Soldier per Officer. Officers are highly trained and experienced leaders that disarm themselves and serve in a higher capacity than actual combat. They serve as tacticians and intermediaries between the soldiers and the leaders of gnome colonies. Armies with Officers can perform more complicated maneuvers with greater success, and are less likely to fall into ambushes. Officers also raise the morale of troops, which decreases the chance of a rout. Any nation may recruit Officers, but only from the ranks of their armies, and only from soldiers with several weeks experience.

Military Entertainers: 1 Gnomes per Entertainer. These Entertainers raise the morale of troops. Any nation may recruit Entertainers.

[appleciders]

Map:
src=http://apolyton.net/upload/thumb/60276_Gnomes-S.PNG>

Explanation of Map:
Black Dot = City
Brown Dot = Anthill
Yellow Square = Beehive
Large Grey Dot = Lawn decoration. Your gnomes regard these as relics.
Brown Line = Gnome-built road
Blue Square = Bird feeder

[appleciders]

Alright then! Gnomes: The Next Generation has returned! A few changes to note:

Unlike the previous GnomeNES, no rigidly defined territories are marked on the map. Any resource, artifact, or city can be interacted with in basically any way you can imagine. The further an object is from the city the gnomes are working from, the higher the rate of attrition among the workers. Resources a long distance from the city may be more trouble than they're worth.

The method of growth for cities has changed. No longer do you need to order gnomes to breed- they'll handle that on their own. Rather, you simply order all of your gnomes to go about their respective projects, and the growth of the colony will depend on the density of your city, your food supply, and other events at your city.

At the moment, the Nomads and Bush Gnomes are NPC. These nations were originally controlled by General Ludd and Lord Nuclear, who will, naturally, have first dibs on them. If the nations are not claimed within a week, I will allow them to be claimed by other players. The Trash Gnomes and BBQ Gnomes are not playable factions. If any new player wants a nation, they can either wait a week and see if the Bush Gnomes or Nomads are indeed open, or else I can create a new nation for that player.

Finally, please consolidate your orders down into one post- that makes my life much easier when updates roll around.

Otherwise, we're open for business!

[appleciders]

The reunification of the POWARS in their arboreal Gnew York has revealed a broken society- the great craftsgnomes who built the railings and platforms have perished, and only two of the great bees have survived their captivity in the yard. A small expedition revealed that Toppelopolis has been mostly destroyed by a branch broken in a windstorm. Still, all is not lost- the descendents of the ancient Sappers have retained the theoretical knowledge of the great arboreal engineers. One single gnome has tended bees for his entire life, and knows stories from his grandfather of the great bee-hunts where the great beasts were captured. The POWARS are prepared to regain their lofty pasts.

The gnomes of the once-great Laketown have reassembled on the shores of the lakes where their ancestors fished for tadpoles. Great speeches, lasting for seconds on end, from the descendent of the great King, have led the Twin Lake Gnomes to swear a return to greatness. The knowledge of Rope Making has survived the plague, and the Twin Lake gnomes have returned to their ruined city and settled within the ruined barracks and storehouse.

The return to Brickbane by the Wall Gnome clan was much quieter, as the disrepair in the city brought a sobering sense of nostalgia to the gnomes gathered there. Fata City and the C.A.C. had been wiped off the face of the lawn almost entirely, so Brickbane has become the rallying point for the entire Wall Gnome nation. The Wall Gnome people have retained the knowledge of Rope Making, and so a true hope of rebuilding the intricate network of ropes that bound Brickbane into a livable city remains.

The return of the Claykin people to the subterranean lairs in Caivgridde met with a pleasant suprise- the rudiments of scratch-remembering had been passed down from an ancient Scratcharian, and a few scraps of scratched leaves in the partly-collapsed Scratchiary held the secrets to both Rope Making and the near-legendary Pebble Axe technology. While the Claykin people, unused to the outdoors, suffered more than other tribes, this piece of scratch-remembering provides an excellent chance for a strong return for the great city Caivgridde.

The Trash Gnomes were the only tribe not driven to homelessness by the plague- a strong dictatorial king took the tribe under a firm hand and ruthlessly ejected all gnomes who showed signs of infection. The king also used this power to remove any dissenters to his rule, ensuring his absolute power. Still, the Trash Gnomes took great losses in the plague, and the gnomes who are left are unhappy with the king, though far too scared to challenge his rule.

The Barbecue Gnomes have abandoned their settlement by the flowerbed and have returned to their traditional home near the barbecue. While very few in number, the Barbecue Gnomes have retained their traditional militarism in order to survive and are strikingly fierce warriors. They have kept their signature throwing spears as an intergral part of their culture and are the only gnome society that possesses it.

The Bush Gnomes have returned to their capital at Karthago and begun the laborious task of rebuilding- the city was nearly completely destroyed. The news is not entirely bad; two separate gnomes have received the ancient skill of Ant Riding from their ancestors, and it is expected that the labor provided by these ants will greatly assist in bringing Karthago back to prominence.

The Nomads, already used to a life on the move, left the yard entirely after the Plague began ripping through the POWARS. As carriers of the Plague, it affected them less severely, though the Nomads were a small tribe to begin with. Their traditional grass weaving and archery skills have been retained and will prepare them for a prominent role in the future power struggles in the yard.

[General Ludd]

I think I will return with the nomads.

[bipolarbear]

Know Your Roots

[General Ludd]

Infact, here is the first turn for the nomads.


The elders of the nomad tribe held a secret council to discuss the future of the tribe. Given the turmoltuous political climate of the yard, and the fear of the nomad tribe being blamed for the plague, the elders have decided that it is time for the tribe to adopt a strong leadership that can ensure the safety and wellbeing of the nomads.

It has been announced that a grand tournment shall be held, in which every nomad will take part in. Gnomes will face each other in one on one combat, untill their openent yields or is slain. The tournment will continue untill one gnome emerges victorious over all others. That gnome will be made warlord, and leader of the tribe.

[General Ludd]

Question: Does grass weaving assume the ability to make clothes/armour and nets with grass?

[bipolarbear]

I always assumed that we all had clothes, sort of like how the Smurfs all managed to acquire diapers and silly hats.

Diplomacy
The P.O.W.A.R.S. that be would be more than happy to sell some bark armor to the Nomads in exchange for grass weaving lessons.

[appleciders]

Clothes, sure. Cloth armor? You could sure try, although it might not be very effective. Probably wouldn't hurt at all, though. Nets have never been tried before- it would take some experimentation to find out.

[General Ludd]

I remember how the techs are managed now.

[bipolarbear]

Originally posted by appleciders
Clothes, sure. Cloth armor? You could sure try, although it might not be very effective. Probably wouldn't hurt at all, though. Nets have never been tried before- it would take some experimentation to find out.

How about skinning other gnomes (or a cat ) to make leather?

[appleciders]

Yuck!


If forced to consider such a proposition, I would say that no part of a gnome can be harvested, 'cause it's icky. If you want to try that with animals in the yard, you're welcome to, but you should remember that the gnomes are not exactly at the top of the food chain here, and will take losses accordingly.

[bipolarbear]

I can't become a gnomish Hitler? What about hair? In the siege of Carthage during the Third Punic War the Carthagineans harvested hair to string their bows with (though I can't remember how effective that was).

[appleciders]

I thought gnomes are bald. Anyway, I suppose you could harvest gnome parts at the extreme cost of happiness and loyalty among your gnomes.