Peace Through Strength - (Sign Up/Rules/Commentary Thread)

[Lumine]

Peace Through Strength:

The World of Brexit, Trump, ISIS and beyond:

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Welcome to 2017.

Through the world major changes take place in politics and geo-strategical considerations shift considerably. In the United States, the election of Donald Trump signals a new path for the US and potentially crucial consequences for the rest of the world. In the UK, Theresa May attempts to chart the hard course of brexit, while in the European continent Angela Merkel continues her struggle to keep Europe together. In China and Russia, the respective leading parties and leaders attempt to secure their hold on power, and aggresively expanding their influence across the world. And across Africa, the Middle East, Ukraine and countless places conflict points arise as groups like the Islamic State challenge what used to be the established order.

It is a world in which almost everything can happen as countries advance into uncharted territory. And now, it's up to you to change or stay the course. You will take over as the leader of your nation and you will try to lead it to the top. Of course, should you fail or become too unpopular, you might lose elections, face revolution, go down in a civil war, or, in the ever-present danger of the XXI Century, see the world go up in the flames of nuclear war...

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Basic Rules:

1. Turns: Same as ever, six month turns will represent the early (January-June) and late (July-December) parts of a given year, in which players will react to ongoing crises and events and post their policies, moves and reactions to what other players do. If we enter World War III, the game enters a special mode, much slower, in which we play by months or even weeks on account of the speed of current warfare.

2. Historical Context: All events as of January 1st, 2017 remain the same, and we begin playing with Donald Trump in office as President of the United States. From there on events will most assuredly change, as we're into uncharted territory.
 
3. Messages: Secret messages between the players must include the GM, all of them. I will not acknowledge moves or negotiations I am not aware of, so be careful with that.

4. Historical Events: A mixture of dice and random number generator will work out to determine events as they go. There are no historical events to simulate per se, but we will see similar events to our history emerge in the game. Each year, we may also have the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize or the Person of the Year if relevant, prizes that any player can win to boost his public profile and prestige.

5. Stats: As of now, they consist of Popularity (roughly related to approval rating), Economic Performance and Government Stability. The war system of the past has been abandoned to the more vague system of the first game, to make for a less unnecessarily complex game.

6. Game Over: Game Over can come in four ways: A.- (All) By getting defeated in war and then deposed by the enemy. B.- (Democratic Nations) By losing a significant election. C.- (Monarchies/Dictatorship) Losing a Revolution/Civil War. And D.- Dying as a result of a nuclear blast (grim, I know). Assassinations, voluntary resignations and ending one's term in office (with no electoral defeat) will not count as Game-Overs, and you will continue with the successor if your party or movement won. In case of a game over for a player who led a nation that still exists (or has changed leaders via elections), said nation will be offered to another player first.

7. Players, Nations and Simulation: I will simulate all NPC countries, but will do so in simple manner. The objective is not to come up with a 100% accurate and realistic world, but to strike a balance between gameplay and something "realistically" ahistorical. We will also be simulating a simplified version of the United Nations in which you can present motions and even make proposals in the Security Council level, with the China, US, UK, France and Russia players granted veto power. If we have a good deal of European players, we will also simulate the European Union.

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The Cast:

Game Moderator - Lumine

President Donald Trump - Leonardo (conditional)
President Vladimir Putin - Dr_Novella
General Secretary Xi Jinping - Spamage
Prime Minister Theresa May - Dkrol
Chancellor Angela Merkel - Dereich
President Emmanuel Macron - GoTfan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi - dfwlibertylover
 
President Recep Erdogan - NeverAgain
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - LLR
Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - Enduro
Supreme Leader Mahmoud Shahroudi - Kalwejt
Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un - X

World Map:

[Lumine]

Technically all countries (and rogue states) are open, but I won't start the game if some crucial countries are not filled. I would encourage you to go for the world powers or for those countries which are bound to be involved in conflict points.

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I will be playing as his beautifulness President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey.

I'll play as Israel. If that means I have to be Netanyahu, so be it.

Welcome, gentlemen! We'll have quite a fun Middle East.

I want to be a villain. Can I play ISIS?

Sure thing!

I'd probably want to be a minor power but if we need people I'll take the US. How in character do we have to be in terms of world leaders though as it may affect my choice.

Good to know, Leonardo, the game would really need the US. I'm happy to allow a good degree of creativity, just as long as players don't go overboard (like making Trump a raging leftist, or Putin bringing back the Tsar in a constitutional monarchy, or stuff like that).

I think I'd like to be Ms. May, please.

Prime Minister, welcome!

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Can I play Australia. Yeah I'm a nut for my own country, plus I'd like to make Turnbull a decent leader.

Hmmmm... Not sure, Australia, while relevant, is certainly less relevant than many other potential nations. If most of the powers or nations in conflict zones are taken I'll allow it, if not I'm afraid it will have to be a different country.

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Hm, I'm seeing a lack of Russia wrecking things. I shall fix that haha.

Fantastic!

What other key countries are available?

China will need to get taken. I'd love to play as North Korea and cause havoc

Well, I'd say a rough list of what countries would make the game interesting would be:

World or Main Powers:

US - Tentatively taken
Russia - Taken
UK - Taken
Germany - Taken

China - Open
France - Open
India - Open

Regional Powers:

Japan - Open
Brazil - Open
South Korea - Open
Italy - Open

Conflict Countries:

ISIS - Taken
Israel - Taken
Turkey - Taken

North Korea - Open
Pakistan - Open
Iran - Open
Philippines - Open
Ukraine - Open
Syria (Assad) - Open
Saudi Arabia - Open

Of course there are countries which are more relevant or better developed than some of these choices (Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, South Africa...), I just think they wouldn't get to do as much as the other countries would.

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I'm definitely down to be the China.

Just what we needed, welcome, Spamage!

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I'm definitely down to be the China.

Just what we needed, welcome, Spamage!

I'd be good to take France. Especially with their Presidential Election coming soon.

Good!

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I'm definitely down to be the China.

Just what we needed, welcome, Spamage!

I'd be good to take France. Especially with their Presidential Election coming soon.

Good!

How would the election be handled?

Hm. Probably easier if I allow you to pick the winner and start playing as Hollande's successor, if the other players don't mind. Either that or playing in the first turn as Hollande and then continue as the winner (which is sort of unnecesary).

So you'd have to choose between Macron, Le Pen or Fillon (Melenchon or Hamon only if you really want to go that route)

[Lumine]

Aye, it's a fairly plausible development. I'll post a full story on that at the beginning of turn one, but in short Fillon will continue to implode and refuse to withdraw, and Macron will (narrowly) defeat Le Pen on the second round.

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Can I take Prime Minister Modi of India?

By all means, welcome, Prime Minister!

Count me in, although I'm unsure who I want to play as.

If I can do an annoying conditional thing, give me Italy or North Korea if someone takes the other of those two (or Russia if Dr_Novella wants to play as someone else instead).

We'll be starting tomorrow night, so there's stillt ime to choose. North Korea would possibly be fun though (or Russia as well).

I'm not entirely sure how to play this just yet. Can I start playing as a nation after a few turns to make sure I know what I'm doing?

Dereich's explanation is ideal, frankly. I would also encourage you to start playing (perhaps as a smaller but still relevant nation) and learn on the move, as several players have done with rather good results. If not, sure, you can always join the game after a turn is over.

[Lumine]

I'm thinking Saudi Arabia/Iran. I really like playing Muslim countries with oil

Fantastic!

[Lumine]

Personally I'd prefer Saudi Arabia, due to King Salman still having more room to evolve one way or the other, unlike such an oldtime hardliner like Khamenei. If Lumine feels Iran is more needed, though, I'm fine with this.

I'm not allowing more Middle East players after you for the moment (to give space to other areas of conflict), so in that sense I think having an Iran makes for a more balanced and engaging scenario in the sense that said player will face diplomatic conflict with Israel and the US far more easily than Saudi Arabia itself. In any case, you've more than earned the right to have a choice, you can select your own preference.

[Lumine]

Well, I think you're right about the balance thing. I'll take Iran. I just wonder whether I'm a new Supreme Leader or old one.

Well, if you want to play a new one we can have Khamenei step down and you play as a new Supreme Leader. I should say though that I have no idea on possible successors, so if you want to play a new one I'm open to suggestions.

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Well, I think you're right about the balance thing. I'll take Iran. I just wonder whether I'm a new Supreme Leader or old one.

Well, if you want to play a new one we can have Khamenei step down and you play as a new Supreme Leader. I should say though that I have no idea on possible successors, so if you want to play a new one I'm open to suggestions.

Out of those who aren't terribly old or "young" Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi seems like a possibility, an establishment figure but with some "moderate" inclinations. I can't evision myself playing either as a total hardliner or all-open reformist.

Or maybe Rafsanjani, assuming he's still alive ITL.

Shahroudi will be fine. We'll make it so Khamenei died on January 2017, and he was selected as his successor as a compromise choice.

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Can I reserve North Korea?  In the event, that I am able, I mean.

Certainly.

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Oh, son of a bitch, I missed it again.

It's still open, I believe.

It is! Sign-ups for turn one are up until tomorrow evening.

[Lumine]

Also, I'm writing turn crises to be ready, so those of you who haven't confirmed your countries please do so ASAP (particularly those interested in the US, North Korea and possibly Italy).

[Lumine]

Which Countries are still available?

Hmmm... Italy needs to be confirmed, beyond that I would recommend Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Spain amongst the more stable relevant ones, and in the realm of those in conflict or potential conflict zones the Philippines, Pakistan, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and Ukraine.

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Both welcome, gentlemen! I think we've just about hit the number we can reach to make the game still manageable, so I'll leave it up to Dr. Cynic to be the last entry for the turn if he wants to.

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Well, what's left? Canada? Australia? I'd like to pick up a nation whose internal politics I'm familiar with. Would either of those work?

Canada will be! Turn will open in a few hours.

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Turn One is open, have fun! (I may be without internet from Wednesday to Sunday, if that is the case I'll let you know the end date for the turn soon)

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Am I able to veto Japan's declaration?

No, that's just for Resolutions for the Security Council. As a declaration, it's up to Japan and only Japan.

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Are we playing month by month in this? (Instead of season to season in SoD?)

No, six month turns. Otherwise the game would move too slowly.

If we reach World War Three (which I strongly suspect some of you are eager to start), we'll enter a special mode playing week by week.

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I just found this! Is there still room?

Not for this turn, but these games tend to have openings rather quickly! I'd advise you to stay attentive until we have a vacancy (mostly because 16 players is already unprecedented, and demands a lot of time from me)

I'll put myself on reverse if there's an opening- this game looks really fun, and Lumine is masterful with these

I hope you'll able to join later!

I wish to sign up as Justin Trudeau. If France becomes empty, I will take them instead.

Sorry, Kingpoleon, Trudeau is taken. I'll be attentive on France if it ever becomes empty.

What if, with all the UN resolutions, we propose them to Lumine and he puts them up for a vote the following turn in a list? At present it seems a bit chaotic and hard to keep track of who is voting for what.

I'll make a thread for voting.