The players will be in the roll of dragons, each dragon having effectively complete control of the element they represent. There are six elements in total, covering the traditional fantasy set. These elements will permanently shape the development of your civilization and your roaming character, so I hope the players choose wisely. The six elements are Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Life and finally, Death. A player who is a Dragon will be able to swap between Dragon and Avatar forms. In Dragon mode, they'll be the shaper of a civilization, able to use their powers for both benevolently and malevolently to further their goals. They'll have an inventory like in any other Roll to Dodge, aswell as active abilities. I plan to have two separate tabs, one for civilization traits like population and one for the player's own stats, such as spells and the like. From an in universe perspective, a dragon is huge and nigh invincible. They are the size of eight houses in a cube and can sweep aside entire nations in a weekend. Slaying, or even wounding one, is completely unheard of. The only beings possible of harming a Dragon is a Drake (More on these guys later), and they'll be throwing themselves under the bus in the attempt. A siege weapon might harm a Dragon ever so slightly, but you can imagine the fountain of endless fury you'll most likely be opening in the process. In Dragon form, the player has a vast amount of strength to use, capable of bulldozing mighty citadels quickly, darting around at above the speed of sound and generally being invulnerable.

In Avatar form, things don't really change. The focus is instead of being on the nation, is now on the individual. The player changes form into a human being, with their appearance usually being linked to their dragon form, ie, a dragon with purple scales will usually have purple eyes or wear purple clothes. They are no less invincible than their Dragon form, instead, they've simply changed shape. They won't usually wear normal armour, since it's an inconvenience, after all, why wear steel when you are effectively immune to any weapon the human kingdoms can field? The player will describe their base avatar form when creating their character, describing their looks, build and preferred clothes. Avatar form will allow the player to take a ground level walk around the map, allowing the player to take a look inside a city and get a feel of how the people in the city live and also allowing them to talk to NPCs. They can, if they try, to get the town to swear fealty to them directly or just flat out subjugate the city. Or, if you feel like it, raze it to the ground. It'll be possible for the player to join tournaments and the like to get special equipment and resources for their civilization, as well as doing other deeds. They'll still be a walking death machine, but slaughtering people is up to the player. Here are a few examples of the strength of a player in Avatar form. These tasks below are effectively effortless for them.

1. Ripping a hole in a portcullis with your hands or tearing a full steel gate apart.
2. Tearing a full oak tree out of the ground and using it one handed as a mace.
3. Snapping a steel sword.
4. Punching a hole in stone walls a metre thick.

And many more. The player however, must restrain their strength as they, at game start, only have three stamina points and they recharge by one point every two turns. Things like those above, however, aren't actually energy intensive, but the abilities I'm going to mention in a moment, are. They'll also have an extra set of abilities available for them to use while in Avatar form, but their Dragon form abilities will be locked out and can't be used. Here are the abilities for the players in Dragon form.

Fire : Inferno : A fiery breath capable of vaporizing flesh and liquifying calcium. No armour can protect you from the sheer intensity of a fire dragon's breath, and a man would be foolish to even try. They can melt a variety of ores with this breath and if they tone it down a little, melt ice or cook food. In several seconds. The display of such an ability will put fear into the hearts of even the most bravest of warriors, who'd rather flee the field of battle than be cremated along with the rest of their equipment, or if the fire dragon is feeling particularly malevolent, baked.

Earth : Crystalline Shot : The Earth Dragon can bring forth a rain of sharp crystalline spears with it's breath. These spears can punch through the strongest armour as if it was paper, firing at them with the force of a cave in. They can use this ability benevolently, creating the crystals and lowering them gently, aswell as shaping them into a variety of geometric shapes. These crystals typically turn to dust after a few years and are almost impossible to shape, rendering Dragon Crystal goods highly valuable.

Air : Hurricane : A Dragon unleashing Hurricane might not look as showy or as powerful as the other Dragons, but it is just as deadly. Hurricane brings forth a font of wind so powerful as to turn a man to something resembling strawberry jam, turn most materials into a dust or simply blow you miles away from the field. It's not unknown for Hurricane being used from above to blow a man straight into the ground like a nail being hit by a hammer. This force can be used kindly to shift large weights quickly, or to hold up a cavern ceiling if there is a cave in, for instance.

Water : Tsunami : The water Dragon can unleash an ocean of water upon it's foes, creating a gush of water so fast and so heavy that some men are simply crushed, a mercy as they die a quick, relatively painless death. Those who survive drown quickly as the water whirls around them and into their lungs, drowning them as they clutch for their throat or run to try to get some air. In deserts, an ability that can be a curse can also be a blessing, allowing the water Dragon to create an oasis of water for their followers to drink, or allowing them to control a huge blaze.

Life : Rapid Growth : Rapid Growth is truly a horrific way to die, as being struck by it can cause all manners of torturous death. It can cause the rapid growth of plant life directly under your skin, bursting forth like a chick hatching from an egg, or the expansion of existing muscle and bone to grow, creating agonising chaotic bulges of flesh to burst out from within. However, if the Life dragon is using it in kindness and not in anger, they can heal even the most grievous wounds, including restoring sight or lost limbs. Reviving the dead, however, is outside their domain, as a dead individual passes from the domain of Life and into the domain of Death.

Death : Entropic Breath : Entropy, unlike the other abilities, is rather clean. When a person is hit by it, they effectively start disintegrating, turning into dust in under a second before being blown across the world by the wind. It even destroys the soil below it, not even microscopic life can survive it's power. In the rare instances that the Dragon of Death is feeling generous, they can revive the dead. That which death takes, death can also return. They typically save such power for the most devout of their followers or for a loved one.

The use of active abilities will consume a stamina point. In Avatar form, however, the players have separate abilities. These can be both blessings and curses for the people around you.

Fire : Flaming Blades : The Avatar of Fire can ignite the weapons of the soldiers around them with the heat of a fire, causing them to glow red with heat. Soldiers embued with flaming equipment gets a plus two when it comes to battle rolls, letting them rip through opponents like flame consuming a dry forest.

Earth : Masterful Craftsmanship : The Avatar of Earth can create the most marvellous equipment imaginable, being one of the finest crafters in the entirety of the cosmos. All sorts of metals and ores will obey their overlord on the crafting bench, allowing them to create Rare Quality equipment

Air : Clear Skies : The Air Dragon can use their dominance of the skies to clear them, forcing a perfect roll for agriculture. While they can't make it rain, they can clear the skies of all clouds and create the ideal weather for agriculture. This lets them easily set-up and maintain food stocks.

Water : Oceanic Shield : The Water Dragon can take control of the very water vapour in the air and force it together to create a barrier, completely impenetrable to human hands. The shield will normally follow the Water Dragon around if desired, creating a mobile barrier. It is very much possible to create a large dome over a city to protect it from a besieging army.

Life : Regenerative Aura : The Life Dragon can focus their control of Life into a a battlefield wide aura of regeneration, vastly increasing human resilience to unprecedented heights. Wounded soldiers will not die from their injuries and their attrition rate is instead inverted into a regenerative rate, meaning that if a soldier is wounded, instead of dying from his wounds he will heal back to full health in the time of the battle.

Death : Necromantic Aura : While similar to the Regenerative Aura, the Necromantic Aura has a much different purpose. Instead of regenerating the living, it resurrects the dead. A percentage of the dead for each battle turn is added to the Avatar Of Death's army. They can turn an enemies own numbers against them, provided they can cause enough casualties.

Drakes are the smaller relatives of Dragons. Where as a Dragon is the size of eight houses in a cube, a Drake is the size of a single house. They are still much more powerful than a wild Wyvern, the dragon like creatures that are what the realms of man think a dragon is. They'd be surprised if they actually saw a Drake or true Dragon in person, but parties that set out to slay these tend to never return. Each Dragon has room for two Sworn Drakes who are effectively, the Dragon's right and left hands. They'll serve as body guards, military commanders and adventurer to a Dragon. They'll have similar elements to their lord, so Drakes sworn to the Dragon of Air can be Storm, Wind and Gas for instance. They'll also have their own Avatar form with their own abilities, decided by them.

Drakes are, however, controlled by human beings. No one can be a Drake till all six Dragon slots are filled, after which each Dragon player will have two slots for Drakes, giving the game a maximum number of 18 players. For a Drake to join, they must first ask the Dragon player they wish to join for permission, then give me the character sheet for me to once over before introducing them to the game, assuming all goes well. They'll then appear in game with their own inventory, skills and more to help the civilization they have joined claim victory. They can be stripped of their elemental powers by their Dragon lord at any time if they are displeased, and if a Drake is heavily wounded they too have the ability to teleport back to the capital, however, this will only go through if their Dragon gives them permission to do so.

Avatar form renders you effectively invisible to regular humans, they won't know a difference unless you show one by using your abilities. However, Drakes and Dragons can sense if another one of them is hiding in Avatar form, usually down to a group of individuals unless they are masking their power, in which case they can nail it down to around 1/4 of a city and then they'd need to home in on foot or from air on the individual. It's much easier for a Drake to hide from a Dragon than visa versa, since a Drake has much less power to hide. Drakes are also capable of defecting from their Dragon lord, but expect heavy repercussions for doing so, since you'll be instantly stripped of your elemental power and reduced to pure physical combat.

The nation that each of the players form is of upmost importance; it is the incarnation of that Dragon's will upon the world, and as the realm strengthens, so does it's Dragon. As the realm grows, the power of it's Dragon will grow exponentially. Inferno, for instance, could turn into Incinerate, capable of boiling titanium and just outright disintegrating steel into oblivion. The very heart of the nation is the capital, named by the Dragon upon founding. It is here that the Dragon will make it's home and it also contains the Recall point that allows it's Drakes and Dragon to return to when heavily wounded. The Dragon or Drake can't teleport to the Recall point while the capital is being attacked, so they'll need to make a last stand. If the Dragon dies in defense of the city, the Recall point and indeed, most of the capital, will die with them, as Dragon, Realm and Capital all share a bond. If one dies, the others die with them. Brickwork will come undone, metals will collapse and life will wither. The only possible way to kill a Dragon is with another Dragon. The killing Dragon, however, gains the elemental power of the slain Dragon, inheriting it's elemental control. So if Fire kills Earth, Fire will get the power over Earth.

The bond between Drake and Dragon is also close, so it can be expected that both would feel when the other is under attack, wounded or dying. If the Dragon is slain but a Drake survives, that Drake keeps their current powers as they have not been stripped away and are indeed, protected from such as a hold out, usually with whatever remnants of the Realm survive. They can be expected to attempt to avenge their Dragon lord. It is also possible, however, if the Drake is in the same city and the proper rituals have been done beforehand, for the Drake to inherit the power of the dying Dragon. This must be prepared earlier and would probably take three turns to properly setup the ritual, and even then it'd only work for five turns; the Drake would only recieve those powers if the Dragon died within that turn number. This allows the Dragon to pass on their ability and Realm-Bond safely. The Drake would rapidly grow in size and strength over several turns, with the Realm-Bond strengthening too.

At the start of the game, each Dragon will only have around 250 followers with them. These are distributed as following.

100 manual labourers,
50 craftsmen,
50 researchers,
50 soldiers,

However, since the Death and Earth Dragons have undead and constructs respectively, they'll have different starting people.

Death will have,

100 Ghouls,
25 Skeletal Artificers,
25 Fleshsmiths,
50 Liches,
50 Bone Guard,

While Earth will have,

100 Golems,
50 Fabricators,
50 Architects,
50 Combat Constructs.

As you can imagine, Death and Earth don't start with, or need, food. If they choose to get human followers, however, they'll need those resources to sustain them. They also have different population growth mechanics. Death would need to attack nearby settlements for corpses and lives to turn into usable people while Earth must forge their units. However, Earth has high individual unit health and strength thanks to them being made out of metals, but it takes a fair amount of time for a new individual to be built. Death can create all together new types of creature by stitching together corpses according to their current needs, creating all sorts of suffering abominations.

At the end of every post, there will be a strategic map that the players can look at to see their position on the world. The map will have a number of features on it, including rivers, fields of crops, cities and more. At the game start, there will only be the large scale feature shown, like mountains, forests and rivers and other important things. As the player wanders the area they have selected to start in, they will discover these things. Dragons and Drakes can move three tiles per turn and can see everything in the tile surrounding them. Armies move two tiles per turn, except the Earth constructs, which can only move one tile per turn. Here's the map I'm gonna go with.



Bare in mind it's extremely, extremely and extremely work in progress. The first version should have coast lines, better looking rivers and more. Unfortunately, the wierd ripping look near the hex grid can only be removed by hand since the generator I found online thought it was a good idea to add lines.

Equipment comes in an RPG style quality system that is colour coded. The worst gear is white quality while the best gear is orange. The modifiers on the gear get larger the better the gear, or they might get spread over multiple things.

Here's an example.
Steel Chainmail Wing Guards - Damage to wings reduced by 1 on the combat die.
Deadly Steel Claws - +2 to minimum and maximum claw damage.
Fearsome Conquerors Dragon Helm - Damage to head reduced by 2, enemy rolls reduced by -1.
Eradicating Spiked Tail Mace - Attacks with tail have +4 minimum and maximum damage.
Soulslayer - Avatar Sword, minimum and maximum damage in Avatar form by +3. Killing enemies increases this by an additional +2 and provides an increase to all friendly units on the battlefield by +1 minimum and maximum damage.