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.

[Lumine]

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.

[LLR]

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

[/]

Wish I could play, but I don't have nearly enough time on my hands

[NeverAgain]

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

[Enduro]

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

[leonardothered]

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.

[DKrol]

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

[Lumine]

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!

[Dereich]

I am a Very Serious Person, so naturally I choose Angela Merkel.

[GoTfan]

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

[Lumine]

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.

[GoTfan]

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.

If not, I'll take Canada, Austria or France.

[ASPN]

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

[GoTfan]

What other key countries are available?

[leonardothered]

What other key countries are available?

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

[leonardothered]

Also I see it being very fun trying to balance Trump's unpredictability with attempting to make his presidency successful.

[Lumine]

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.

[Spamage]

I'm definitely down to be the China.

[Lumine]

I'm definitely down to be the China.

Just what we needed, welcome, Spamage!

[GoTfan]

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.

[Lumine]

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!

[GoTfan]

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?

[Lumine]

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)