Kol Noth: The City of Ongann
A Solo Actual Play of Ex Novo, Part 2
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Check out the Table of Contents for part 1 and previous games I’ve played as well as other stuff I’ve written.
Last time, I began building a city using the game Ex Novo.
Refugees from a volcano eruption in the north settled in the ruins of the ancient empire of Manu, claiming ancestral connection to the land. It has a singular ruler and three factions, The Rebuilders, a practical, communal group, The Flames of Aroth, a religious fanatic sect that wants to make sacrifices to appease the gods, and The Gold Owners, owners of gold claims from the mountains who most concerned with holding onto their wealth.
The city went through a period of Enlightenment and growth, as well as internal and external conflicts.
We are 7/14 Phases through Development. Let’s continue.
Event: d666 = 316 → Extended Isolation
“Why is the city isolated? Who suffers the most? How does the city fight off the effects of isolation?”
-Remove something. Skip the Natural Growth phase.
The Laefen have truly grown to dominate the seas and stop all traffic to Ongann when they can no longer pay their tribute.
The city becomes isolated from the rest of the world. The poor suffer the most as food becomes scarce. Some citizens resort to delving into the dungeons and tunnels beneath the ruins. Few return.
I remove the district that had the land depression within it, as people die out, leaving behind the remnants of their ramshackle houses and communities.
Event: 554 → Civic Infrastructure is Neglected
“Walls crumble, roads fall into disrepair, bridges collapse. Are the coffers empty? The workers incompetent? Or is this malice and limited to specific districts?”
-Remove a landmark
After this long period of isolation, the city has fallen into disrepair from lack of workers and funds. The stone watchtower loses stones and becomes dangerous to use.
Natural Growth: Add a district
Some dungeon delvers found ancient treasures to pay off the Laefen, ending the blockade and isolation. People immigrate, building a new community around the lake.
Event: 661 → A Plague Scares The City
“Rumors and tales of a disease spread, maybe it already reached the neighboring cities? How do officials and citizens react? Decisively or haphazardly?”
-A faction gains power or remove something.
Officials act decisively, quarantining newcomers until they’re known to be healthy, but many fearful people still turn to religion, thinking this plague could be yet another sign of the gods displeasure.
Flames of Aroth gains power, but not from any of the other factions.
(Optional) Natural Growth: Add a district.
Having acted wise and not currently suffering from the plague, more immigrants come to Ongann and settle.
Event: 536 → An Unofficial Market Is Opened
“A black market, street vendors or back door bazaars. Why does commerce hide from the watchful eye of the authorities? What is sold?”
-Add a resource or landmark
Some of the items found in the tunnels connected to the sinkhole are dangerous or cursed artifacts which the government confiscates if found. A black market develops where these items are hidden and smuggled out to those interested in purchasing them.
I add a resource, artifacts and place two power tokens on it.
(Optional: Natural Growth)
-Add a district
The lake district is attracting more citizens and becomes more densely populated. I add a Citizen Token to it.
Event: 135 → A Siege Is Attempted
“Turning a city into a prison is a time-honored tradition. Who besieged the city? And why? How was the siege broken?”
-Remove a resource or a landmark
The island nation of Witu comes across the ocean and besieges Ongann in an attempt to colonize the area.
The ruins are cannibalized to build walls and repair the walls.
Ongann manages to outlast the siege, as the weather turns cold and Witu is forced to leave.
No Growth this time due to the siege
Event: 233 → Questionable Claims Appear
“Only someone mad or desperate would bring forth a claim to the city’s rule this weak. Why do they still try? And who are they?”
-Add or remove something
Someone comes from across the sea, bringing many immigrants and claiming they alone should rule because they have royal blood from the ancient Manu blood line. They claim that the bad things that have befelled the city is due to the gods displeasure at the lack of a noble-blooded king leading the city. The Flames of Aroth are the only faction that listens.
I add a Faction.
New Manu. Symbol: Great Beast. This group believes that one of their members, supposedly related to the ancient Manu blood line, should rule the city. They repair and rebuild a statue of an ancient Manu king.
Landmark: Manu King Statue
Natural Growth: Add a district
The New Manu group brought many immigrants to the city, so I add a district around the New Manu landmark.
14. Event: 314 → A Trade War Costs Dearly
“A lack of goods, a lack of access or a lack of money. The city loses the war and pays. Who is stuck footing the bill?”
-(Add an external faction). A faction loses power.
Ongann loses a trade war with Niwe, the conflicts with Witu and The Laefen making access across the oceans difficult.
After this fiasco, the Rebuilders lose their power, leaving a power vacuum, with both The Gold Owners and The Flames of Aroth having influence (power token) within the city.
End of Development Phase!
Now we get into the endgame, The Topping Off Phase.
We spend the rest of the citizen tokens, which represents the natural growth of the city, not happening all at once, but representing that it probably grew more than what was shown during the development phase.
I have 8/13 Citizen Tokens on the map, so I get to spend 5. I can only spend them on Districts that are already there, but it could cause Spillover.
I spend 5, increasing Districts to 2 or 3, and not causing any Spillover. Most Districts are at 2, representing fairly filled districts, with the ruins District at 3, representing a very cramped and busy District.
Now we Name a Feature. Every player gets to name a Feature and draw a Landmark. Since I’m the only player, I’ll just add one. It will be a forest in the south-eastern section of the map.
We have finished!
Factions:
-(no power tokens)The Rebuilders, New Manu
-(1 power token)Flames of Aroth, The Gold Owners
Timeline:
-Day of Cleansing
-Gold Found
-Time of Enlightenment
-The Laefen Attack
-Sinkhole Reveals Ancient Tunnels
-Laefen Return and Force Tribute
-Local Conflict Between Rebuilders and Flames
-Extended Isolation
-Civic Infrastructure Neglected
-Plague Scare
-A Siege Is Attempted
-Questionable Claims Appear
-A Trade War Costs Dearly
The Final Map:
We leave Ongann in a state of flux. The Rebuilders who had always been in control have finally lost their power, leaving The Flames of Aroth and The Gold Owners as the most influential factions. The followers of the Flame feel this is finally their moment to lead and begin their plans of ritual sacrifices to appease the gods, while the Gold Owners wish to rule and set up the government in a way that best benefits them. After so many difficult problems, it seems Ongann will turn to the worship of dark gods or the worship of wealth, the government becoming an oligarchy of religious zealots or wealthy mine owners. What will they choose?
This was very fun. Ex Novo is a very good and surprisingly simple game for creating a city. I did find it hard to come up with Landmarks for some reason. That’s one thing about playing any ‘group’ game like this solo. All the ideas have to come from you (or an oracle). You don’t have other players to bounce ideas off of. It’s altogether a different but still very rewarding experience.
The most impressive part is the number of Events and how evocative they are. They really make you consider what’s happening in the city and how it’s developing. The different elements, Districts/Resources/Factions/Terrain/Tokens really work well together mechanically.
One thing I didn’t get and couldn’t find the answer to. Some prompts are in parenthesis () and some aren’t. Are those ones optional? I didn’t find a specific ruling saying they were. I followed them any way.
What’s Next
Next I play “im sorry did you say street magic?”, another city-building game. I’m not sure where in Kol Noth (or perhaps Feor Llen) this city will be, but we’ll play to find out.
Other ideas I have are less game focused and more just around trying to gather the history of Kol Noth into one place as I get closer to finishing all these ‘building’ games, perhaps developing a timeline of the First and Second Era, a founding myth, and a ‘current’ state of the world.
Let me know what you thought of the game and the city, or any other stray thoughts, in the comments.
Thanks for reading.