❧ Antiquity to Modernity ☙

What is AM?

Antiquity to Modernity (AM for short) is a grand campaign on Discord. You take a nation and its ruling family from the ancient world toward the modern age, one session at a time — building cities, making friends and enemies, arranging marriages, and sometimes marching to war. Staff keep things fair when stories collide.

A character bot helps run the campaign. It builds character sheets with stats, traits, and family lines, keeps track of marriages and bonds, and can draw a family tree for a whole house. Treat everything it generates as a starting point to build your roleplay on.

RP Requirements

Bare minimum

Every piece of RP must carry three things:

• Reasoning — the reason or cause for the event (the why and/or how).
• Description — what occurred (the what).
• Effect — the impact, effect, or result (the consequence).

Advanced

More writing gives you far more detail, and quality detail is rewarded. Strong RP includes:

• Context — what happened leading up to the event, and how prior events shaped it.
• Rationale — why this person would make this decision.
• Immediate impact — the immediate reaction to the event.
• Long-term effects — what future impacts can be expected.
• Controversy — was there resistance? How was it dealt with? What compromises were made?

War RP

Justification

Every war needs a justification: why you are going to war, what your war goal is, and where that goal comes from (your claim). Together these make up your casus belli, and the war is built on them.

Mobilisation

You must RP your mobilisation: how many were mobilised, and how that number connects back to your justification — the reasoning behind your nation's commitment.

Attrition

After an action, each army gives a short summary of its supply situation (two sentences is fine), with a justification for why it is the way it is. If supply is bad, the army must take time to recover or find an action that replenishes it faster. Failing to do so brings a universal debuff at staff discretion — and at breaking point, mutiny or forced surrender.

State exhaustion

States cannot support long wars. To extend a war past initial defeats or settlement captures, you must justify the preparations your state made. If preparations were insufficient, expect a bad event, forced surrender, or rebellion depending on severity.

War commissions are mandatory

The Warfare System

Results of actions apply once unless stated otherwise. All bonuses are presented in d20. A region is the land surrounding a fortified hold or major city, extending until the land is closer to another hold or city. The Marching Rule is integrated; the roll-and-paint system is gone completely. If there is no army, there is no skirmishing or battling.

Everything below applies to both land and naval warfare — armies and navies are equivalent; simply exclude what obviously doesn't apply at sea.

Minor battles & skirmishes (d20×3)

Smaller engagements between armies, usually involving a small, light force from each side. They damage the enemy or hold them in place while the slower main army maneuvers. The more maneuverable force, or the force with more firepower, has the advantage. Results are stackable if unused and carry into future battles.

Major maneuvers (d20×3)

Crossing mountains, passing near fortifications, crossing large rivers, and retreating from or passing by a nearby enemy. Bonuses depend on the terrain and the enemy's ability to intervene.

Versus terrain

Versus fortification

Versus army

Pitched battles (d20×5)

The true battles that decide campaigns. The army that made the most of maneuvering and skirmishing gains bonuses on top of its general and army advantages — better positioning and logistics pay off. The winner runs essentially uncontested while the loser flees for a period matching the severity of the loss; in that downtime the victor can besiege, fortify, recuperate logistics, and more. Losing usually means abandoning the region, and retreating too close risks pursuit penalties.

Sieges (d20×5)

Fortified holds cement control of a region and are essentially the prize — the war goal. If the attacker captures one, a surrender is very likely forced and the surrounding land ceded. Sieges are also the costliest fights: the defender starts with a guaranteed bonus from fortification quality and advancement, which erodes as supplies dwindle, siege weapons are set up, and the walls come down. In practice most sieges end through surrender, intimidation, or negotiation rather than long assaults — and unfortified settlements require good in-session RP to capture.

Standing advantages

Fortification Upkeep

Every 100 years (two sessions), a commission detailing the maintenance and/or modernization of a fortification must be completed to keep its bonus. Otherwise it loses 1 point for every 50 years (one session) thereafter, until it becomes a regular +2 fort.

• Modernization is required when new siege equipment becomes widespread.
• Maintenance is needed regardless.
• Excessive fortifications may cause military or economic debuffs; fewer but more meaningful fortifications may grant bonuses.

The Commission Channel

The commission request channel is the central hub for campaign requests: roleplay assistance, moderation support, bonus approvals or removals, and anything else you run into.

How to use it

• Ping a commissioner or staff member so your request is noticed; someone will respond as soon as they're able.
• Provide supporting evidence where it applies — screenshots, chat logs, or timestamps make disputes far faster to resolve.

What you can request

• Roleplay assistance: clarification on scenarios, story elements, or character development; resolving RP conflicts or disputes; deadline extensions or adjustments.
• Bonus approvals and adjustments: approval for new bonuses, removal or modification of stale or unbalanced ones, and clarification on how bonuses apply in specific situations.

Regions, Cities & Alliances

Regions & cities

• Land claims are based on regions tied to major cities.
• Every claimed region needs justification.
• All created cities must have actual in-RP relevance.

Alliance commissions

• All alliances require commissions, stating why the alliance exists and what obligations and limits it has.
• Anyone can request staff review of an alliance — even one both nations agree to.
• If staff rejects it, a completely new commission must be made.

Staff Authority & Arbitration

Punishments

The arbitration forum

A staff member opens an arbitration channel when they find lore details that might be fail-roleplay or otherwise objectionable. The accused defends themselves and their lore in a fair setting. Only staff can create posts in this forum, directed at any roleplayer — including other staff. While discussions should stay between relevant parties, everything is publicly visible for the sake of transparency.