Ars Exaltavi Domain Creation

The players of Ars Exaltavi will largely determine the flavor of the game via constructing their domain. This isn't necessarily a kingdom, it's merely something that they own as a group and communally own, and represents their overall standing - materially and socially - in Creation.

Characters bring fifteen (15) Construction Points to the table. They may purchase up to ten (10) more, at a cost of two bonus points each.

Setting

These determine the time and place of the group's escapades, and who they're near.

Year

The year of the campaign largely determines the strength and promptness of the intervention of Dragon-Blooded. Since starting later means the plans of other enemies are advanced, this costs no points regardless of when you choose to set the game.

• 764: Until the the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the Bronze Faction was often aware of Solar Exaltations before they even occurred, and responded accordingly. At least one person in the group - if not the entire group - is known and agents are already on their way. Normally, the Bull of the North dies early in this year.
• 765: The response of the Wyld Hunt is fraying slightly, and resources are somewhat diminished. A response is still certain, however, though it may take longer.
• 766: If the Solars keep their heads down, a response can be avoided. Resources are in marked decline, and no warstriders or other major artifacts are available to the Hunt except in extreme circumstances.
• 767: Response is sluggish, if it occurs at all.
• 768: Standard starting year. Little response from the Realm, but others have had an additional four years to plan and act.

Place

Where you are. Again, most of these do not cost or grant points, except for beginning in the Blessed Isle - which gives a decent boost, 'cuz that implies a lot of pain about to happen. Being Mobile be

• Blessed Isle: -50 points, +250 xp to all characters. If discovered, which is almost certain, the characters are looking at starting an unusually unified Realm Civil War very early.
• Mobile: 5+ points. You have a skyship, a teleporting fortress, a ship that sails across both land and sea, and possibly under...

Otherwise, pick one of the following. The implication is that the group will have an emotional connection to an area of their

• Ocean: Yarr! You work off of a boat. Ninja-Pirates, maybe.
• Scavenger Lands: You are based somewhere inside the great river basin that flows into the Yanaze.
• East: This covers the heavily forested region far to the East.
• Southeast: The jungles and mountains of the Southeast, from the Bayou of Regret to Rathess.
• South: Lots of sand.
• Southwest: The jungles and other fun areas down here. Autocthonia may be saying hello.
• West: An island, or part of one.
• Northwest: Covers the northern islands of the West, out to the areas controlled by the Varajtul Cannibals.
• North: A little frozen place to call home.
• Northeast: Halta, Linowan, and a few others.

Static Only

You don't deal with any of this if you're Mobile. Note that, for these purposes, being stuck on the surface of the Ocean counts as 'static'.

Proximity

Choose your enemies! If starting in the Realm, skip this section. Otherwise, continue. Each of the following choices implies you will be facing them as enemies at one point or another. Also, only so much bad news can fit into a single spot before "An enemy of my enemy is my friend." starts to take over, so there is a limit of -50 points from this.

No bonus is given for being near purely mortal kingdoms. They are chaff.

• Autocthonia: -25 points. You are next to the Seal of Eight Divinities (if in the Southwest), or are next to some other opening to Autocthonia that is going to be bad news. Some day.
• Realm Satrapy: 0 to -10 points. You border one of the 'allies' of the Realm, or are within it. This is worth a number of points depending on the strength of Imperial interests in the region as well as the general attitudes of the people towards Anathema. A strong interest with a potentially friendly populace will balance out, while an initially hostile populace with a strong Realm interest can net up to 10 points. If 'Place' is Ocean, this covers the strength of the Realm Fleet currently assigned to hound you.
• Deathlord: -3 to -25 points. You operate near, or perhaps within, a Deathlord's territory. This is never a good thing, though that Mask of Winters fellow sure seems nice. If you chose Ocean, this implies you have a port of call near the Silver Prince's realm, or another seafaring Deathlord.
• Exalted: -1 to -20 points. Dragon-blooded or another solar (or a circle) have set up shop nearby, and don't like you.
• Lunar: -1 to -25 points. This implies a fellow that 1: Does not like Civilization, 2: Does not like Solars, or 3: Both. You can have multiple Lunar opponents, but the 50 point limit still applies (and they really, really hate you...). If Oceanic, you have angered a seafaring Lunar.
• Raksha: -1 to -5 points. You are near one or more freeholds. They like to make things interesting, and the threat they pose will effectively scale with you - the more reality you lend them, the more powerful they become.
• Spirits: -1 to -10 points. An elemental or god has chosen to go a little too far regarding affairs in the mortal realm.
• Yozis: -1 to -5 points. You are near a powerful cell of Yozi worshipers, though this may not be public knowledge. Their tactics may be open, underhanded, or both, but always a problem, and chances are they have god-blooded among their ranks.

Features

Features of your land. This may cover a number of things, typically your demesne (or demesnes), and the material value of your land.

• Size: 5 points per Unit, or 1 point per Ship. A 'Unit' is about 50 square miles, and can hold one demesne. A ship is a ship, though presumably a good one, with a crew of 50 (and doesn't worry about the following). Players should only start with a handful at most.
  • Shadowland: -4 points per Unit. Your domain is within a Shadowland. In addition to problems of ghosts both hungry and annoying, you have half the normal number of heroic mortals available to you, and the automatic value they get from Natural Resources is halved. Fertility is rated at -2, for no points, and cannot be raised. Starting demesne ratings are reduced by one point, which may be bought back.
  • Fertility: -2 to 2 points per Unit. This governs how lush and fertile your domain is. At the low end of the scale, it's a desert or wasteland, where only the hardiest of people survive. At the high end, it is thriving with life, both wanted and not.
  • Population: 0 or 1 point per Unit. If zero, population is sparse: (120 + Fertility*40) people per Unit. If one, the region is populated - multiply result by 50. There is one Heroic Mortal for every 50 people inside your domain (or per 100 inside a Shadowland), and one Heroic Mortal in 20 is highly talented (a god-blooded, powerful thaumaturge, etc).
  • Demesne: -1 to 6 points per. Each Unit is assumed to have a 2-dot demesne, uncapped, by default (1-dot inside a shadowlands). For -1 point, it's reduced by one dot. For 1 point, it's increased by one. Players are free to group demesnes into 0-3 ratings as desired. A Unit with a 4-dot demesne costs 3 points, and one with a 5 dot demesne costs 6. A single 6 dot demesne may be purchased for 15 points.

• Natural Resources: 0 to 28 points. While, technically, there is no limit to the number of resources that your domain may hold, you do want to be able to defend them. A certain minimum level of resources is assumed, though the type can vary. The following applies annually. Note that I use 16 dirhams to the talent for the following.
• ○○○○○○○○○○ - 0 points: The base assumption of resources results in about two jade obols worth of goods per person (about 60 silver dinars). Everyone in the party and under their rule gets this automatically - it's a cost of living and basic production thing. This represents a fairly nice life and a good standard of living - at least outside a shadowland. If players want a higher quality of life for their peasants they will need to devote resources to it.
• ●○○○○○○○○○ - 1 point: 16 jade obols worth of goods (one mina, or about 500 dinars) per year.
• ●●○○○○○○○○ - 3 points: 128 jade obols worth (1 bar, or 20 dirhams) per year.
• ●●●○○○○○○○ - 6 points: 1,024 jade obols worth (1 jade talent, or 5 silver talents) per year.
• ●●●●○○○○○○ - 10 points: 8 jade talents or 40 silver talents annually.
• ●●●●●○○○○○ - 15 points: 64 jade talents or 320 silver talents annually.
• ●●●●●●○○○○ - 21 points: 512 jade talents or 2,560 silver talents annually.
• ●●●●●●●○○○ - 28 points: 4,096 jade talents or 20,480 silver talents a year. Players will need to determine just what sort of thing is represented by this wealth. While true of the above, this goes well beyond a massive, rich mine.