Rule a Nation

One of the most popular things to do in Nations and Empires is to try to rule a nation. Although some of the maps make it seem like there is only one nation, the Zekresh Empire, there are actually many nations in the game. Some provinces (notably Helmarie and Aatan) declared independence, but imperial maps do not always indicate this since the Empire still considers them to be rebellious provinces.

There are about a hundred sizeable nations and many smaller tribes that are ruled by the Zekresh Empire but still retain their own language, culture and in most cases, their own traditional leaders who are separate from the Imperial officials who rule them. Any of these nations could rebel and declare independence. There are also many more nations and tribes outside the Empire who have never been part of the Empire and are completely independent. They tend to be primitive, though.

You can attempt to gain political power in the game however you want to. The most common method is to apply to the Lord Chancellor of the Zekresh Empire to be appointed Ulor (governor) of a province. This is a position of considerable power. Players have used such positions to build up the power of their provinces or to declare independence and turn their provinces into independent countries.

Other possibilities would be to apply for some other position such as a lesser position in an important province or a higher position in the Imperial government. It is easier to get appointed Ulor of a province if you have prior experience in some level of provincial government, especially as Ulor Ekanor (Lieutenant Governor), an advisor to an Ulor, or as some other provincial official such as treasurer, captain of the guard, or a provincial minister. Holding such a position, even briefly, can also allow you to see how another player handles the responsibilities of being an Ulor.

Another option would be to join the Zekresh Imperial Army or Navy and attempt to rise through the ranks. Another option would be to request a character who is a member of the royal family and attempt to make yourself the Emperor.

Or you could be a chief or other traditional leader of a nation or tribe inside the Empire or outside the Empire. National and tribal leaders inside the Empire tend to have no legal authority under Imperial law and to gain real power it may be necessary to lead a revolt. On the other hand, traditional national and tribal leaders are often in the best position to lead successful revolts.

You could also play as a religious leader, either of the Zekresh official religion or of the traditional religion of some other nation or tribe or you could be the leader of a new religion with fast growing cult following. You could even have a character whose followers believe him to be a god, but that can be difficult to live up to. (And no, that doesn't mean your character actually is a god.)

Or you could play an extremely wealthy landowner, merchant or banker and try to gain influence that way. Another possibility would be to play as a leader of an organized crime group, secret society, Slythian assassin cult, bandit gang or ship full of pirates and attempt to gain power that way.

For those who wish to rule one of the conquered nations that has become a province of the Zekresh Empire or any other province, you should send a written request to the Imperial government. If your character can't read or write, hire a scribe to write it for you. Send it by Imperial courier to the appropriate Zekresh Imperial official. The Emperor makes Ulor appointments, but that is a formality. Send requests for appointment as Ulor of a province to the Lord Chancellor. You can do this either by posting your letter in the appropriate forum or e-mailing it to nationsandempires@yahoo.com.



You Could Declare Independence

The easiest path to ruling an independent country in Nations and Empires is to become governor of a province of the Zekresh Empire and then declare independence.

The people of most provinces of the Zekresh Empire are nations that have long been ruled by the Zekresh Empire, but are now dreaming of independence and freedom. If you wish, your first move can be to declare your province an independent nation, change its name to whatever you want your nation to be called, and cut all ties to the Zekresh Empire.

The empire is so decadent, corrupt, incompetent and weak that they are may not even send troops to try to bring you back into the empire. If they do, most Zekresh generals will order their troops to stop attacking you if you pay them a reasonable bribe. On the other hand, you may not wish to declare independence right away. You can build up your strength first as a province of the empire. Or, you can remain in the empire and attempt to take it over, make yourself the emperor and implement reforms to change the empire from its current pathetic state into whatever you want it to be. And you can change the name of the empire, too.


Make Friends and Allies

There are others players, lots of other players. Other provinces have and will continue to separate from the empire and become independent nations. Other players will try to sit on the Zekresh imperial throne. Maybe you can make them your allies. Maybe they will be your enemies. It depends on how you handle diplomatic communications with other players.


Ruling Your Nation

Ruling a province or a country in the game can be almost as simple as the game Nation States at www.nationstates.net where all you do is review the issues once a day or once a week and pick from among several choices of actions you may take. In Nations and Empires, your advisors will ask you to make decisions and they will suggest several options for you to chose from if you want them to. If you do not want the game to be any more complicated than that, it won't be. But if you want more from the game, you can have it. The game has extremely realistic and detailed political, economic and military simulation components.

You can access all this if you want to. For example, you don't have to choose only among the options your advisors suggest. If you don't like any of their proposed solutions to a problem, you can make up any proposed solution you can think of and choose that option instead. Also, you can get a new advisor if you don't like the advice the old one has been giving you. Or you can have more than one advisor. And you don't have to wait for your advisors to bring an issue to your attention. You can take action on any issue you can think of at any time.

This immense flexibility exists because Nations and Empires is really not a computer game. It is played over the internet, but the game is run by live game administrators or gamemasters, not by a computer program. There is custom computer software used to make the game work, but such software is a tool the administrators use to run the game. There is no computer program running the game. This allows the players to come up with and implement innovative ideas and strategies that could work in real life, but would be impossible in a pre-programmed game run by a computer.

If you want to, you can pay attention to the internal politics that goes on in your own nation or any other nation or between nations. If you want to, you can assume direct command of your military forces in wartime and play Nations and Empires as a war game. Or you can leave such details to your generals and not worry about it. If you want to, you can obtain detailed economic statistics on your nation and attempt to implement your ideas on how an economy should work. Or, if you want to, you can ignore all that, focus on the most important decisions and have your advisors handle all the boring details. Players who get involved in the details do not necessarily gain any advantage by doing so. They simply choose to play the game in a more complex way.