Happy 2024, all.

Apologies for the delay on this Developer Diary – there are a lot of irons in the fire as we got back into things after the holidays.  Embrace the chaos!

I am Ian Fischer of C Prompt Games and today we are going to talk about National Spirits in Millennia.

Role of National Spirits

The concept of player authorship is central to a lot of our design.  In Millennia, the National Spirits system does some heavy lifting to support that goal.

Ages, which change the baseline rules of the world and alter the Units, Technologies, Goods, and Capital Buildings involved in the game, provide a way for the world to change for all of the Nations involved, based on the direction they steer history.

National Spirits are similar in that, like Ages, they provide new and different tools to the player, but these are more focused on how one Nation decides to face the challenges presented by the world all of the Nations are in together.  We really like the idea of players getting to decide what their Nation is about and we think it makes sense that Nations can develop differently when history moves in different directions.

As an aside on that….  We know from early playtesting feedback that a lot of players come in expecting pre-made Nations that they need to figure out how to put to the best use.  Millennia has a different arrangement -- we treat Nations as cosmetic things.  You don’t pick Spain because of the bonuses Spain has, rather you pick Spain because … well, because you like Spain – you want Spanish location names, Spanish symbology, you like the idea of “being Spain.”  For Millennia, no Nation (aside from fairly minor starting bonuses and the cosmetic elements) is different from any other at the start of a new game.

But … where you take your Spain as history unfolds and you make decisions about how to approach things – Nations grow to become very different from one another as the game develops.

Basic Structure of National Spirits

National Spirits are grouped into four sets, based on the Ages when they are first available – two, four, six, and eight.  As soon as a Nation enters an Age where a National Spirit choice is available, they can make a selection from the corresponding set.  (There is no cost.)

Only one National Spirit can be selected in each of the Ages when they are available (so a Nation ends the game with four different National Spirits).

The National Spirits available are not exclusive -- more than one Nation can have the same National Spirit.  However, National Spirits that have not been selected gain a bonus when other Spirits are adopted, meaning that less popular options are offset by additional rewards.

All National Spirits are associated with a Domain, with the exception of Government (so: Exploration, Warfare, Engineering, Diplomacy, and Arts).  Governments are their own unique system and there are no Government National Spirits.

In addition to the content offered by National Spirits, selecting one also causes a Nation to earn additional Domain XP in the related Domain -- if you take a Warfare Domain National Spirit in Age 2, say Raiders, you will earn additional Warfare XP every turn.

This can change the way you think about National Spirit selection in certain circumstances.  Usually, you’re focused on what the National Spirit itself has to offer but, on occasion, the extra Domain XP each turn or the bonus Domain XP for picking a less-popular National Spirit can enable different strategies.

Once selected, each National Spirit presents a set of bonuses called Ideals.  There are seven Ideals in a National Spirit, organized into tiers.  You must unlock at least one Ideal of a lower tier to gain access to the next tier.  Ideals have a cost in the Domain XP of the National Spirit’s Domain.  So, Raiders mentioned above, a Warfare Domain National Spirit – it has Ideals with Warfare XP costs.

The final tier of each National Spirit is a special Ideal called a Legacy.  Legacies are cheap, they cost only one Domain XP, but they have a requirement related to the National Spirit.  For example, Theologians, an Age 4 National Spirit, has a Legacy that unlocks when you achieve 40 population following your state religion.  Legacies reward Social Fabric points and are one of the easier ways to get these, so they can be quite valuable.   

Anatomy of a National Spirit – Khans

Any easy way to think about National Spirits, at a conceptual level, is as a kind of “reputation” – what is a Nation known for?

Common examples we use to illustrate this are things like Spartan Warriors, Swiss Banking, Silicon Valley, or Egyptian Pyramids.

As those examples suggest, that means National Spirits are substantial.  What you select will have a lot of impact on your strategy as Ideals provide major bonuses and unique capabilities.  The design here is less “your stuff is a little better than everyone else’s stuff”, more “you’re the only ones that have this at all.”

In general, National Spirits provide Ideals that have value in different spans – things that are only good in the era when you first get the National Spirit, things that can be valuable for a bit longer, and things that have utility for the remainder of the game.  However, there is some shifting there, with certain National Spirts that are strong “now” (and only “now”) and others that have less immediate but more consistent, ongoing value.

The one we’ll look at in more detail here, Khans, is more of a “now” National Spirit.

Khans is an Age 4 Warfare Domain National Spirit.  Thematically, this National Spirit allows you to pursue a direction inspired by the Mongol Empire – you want to unleash your own Genghis Khan on the world.

As soon as Khans is selected, it spawns a special Unit – the Khan.  Your Khan is powerful, with a high Tactics score (and free, instant), but only around for 50 turns, so make the time count.

In the first tier of Khan Ideals are Khan, which causes Barbarian neutrality, and Horseback Archery, which spawns Horse Archers.

So, pretty quickly, a Nation with Khans is doing some different things – the only ones with a Khan leader, the only ones with Horse Archers, the only ones not being attacked by Barbarians.

The next tier of Ideals builds on this with Incite Conflict, which gives you a new Domain Power that allows you to, essentially, put the Barbarians to work for you.  You can leave it at that – just allowing the Barbarians to pester your enemy, or you could get Uniter of Tribes and give your Khan the ability to treat any Barbarian Camp (ones there on their own or created by you) as a way to add more Horse Archers to your growing Army.

Since you only get the one Khan, Keshing is also a solid pick, making the Khan harder to kill and also providing a Unit Ability that allows spawning Horse Archers at the Khan’s location (convenient when you’re out fighting and have a limited number of turns to wait for Units to arrive after training back in a home Region).

Since you’ll likely have a lot of Horse Archers, Composite Bows, is useful for making them deadlier.

Finally, Call to War adds a unique Culture Power to the set available to you, allowing you to spawn two more Horse Archers at each Region.

Collectively, the intent is to deliver a “Genghis Khan experience” -- you have a powerful and unique military leader, you have a feel of uniting the tribes, your armies are different from the other armies of the era, you can move quickly and push militarily, you don’t have the most powerful Units of the era but they’re strong and you can get a lot of them.

Thanks!

Khans may seem like it provides a powerful set of bonuses, and it does, but so do the seven other National Spirits available in Age Four.  Each of these, like Khans, provides a set of Ideals that deliver a unique experience and strategic options.

As you can probably gather, the depth of the different National Spirit options creates a lot of replayability, both individually and when considering strategies built around using a set of complimentary National Spirits.

The modular approach, which allows us to look at each National Spirit as its own special thing instead of having to consider all of the different options as branches on one (huge) tech tree, is very powerful – Millennia delivers a lot of fun, unique gameplay through this system.     

We hope you have enjoyed this overview and look forward to the time (soon!) when you can try it out yourself.  (And, as usual, if you like what you’ve seen of Millennia, please wishlist us.)