D20 Nations?

[WinterSolstice]

The D20 ruleset is built to codify "characters"....but is there a possibility that it could also accurately represent "nations"?

"stats" such as Strength and Dexterity would be replaced by Economy, Culture, Military, etc...

I realize it's farfetched and I have NO idea how it'd be implemented, but is it possible or has it already been done?

[Maerok]

d20 Risk!

I haven't heard of anything like this but it sounds like it could work. I doubt anyone would like it as a tabletop, but it would provide a framework for something online.

Skill ranks work for advancement of tech/aspects of nation, feats add entirely new paradigms.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

The biggest issue is that a nation doesn't run from a single will, ever. Even a dictatorship has factions working under the surface to supplant the dictator. And at the extreme, a democracy is run from the will of many. To contrast, a PC operates under one single will, unless they have a multiple personality disorder.

[SurlySeraph]

It could work, but unless you want to put a ton of effort into it, it would have to be really abstract. I think homebrewing something entirely new wouldn't be much more difficult.

[Acco Spoot]

I've delved into the utterly insane idea of trying this myself a good... dunno, a good 12 times now since 1996 (hmmm, once a year, what an insanely odd coincidence) I'm also on Nationstates, so if this is gonna go through I'd love to help out.

[Ascension]

Personify the nations and you can do it with regular D&D or d20 Modern.

[cdawg]

i think its elegant. i dont think anybody would ever want to PLAY as a nation, per se, but if youre creating a game that deals with lots of different countries and battles between them, etc, it could definitely be a clever, creative, and efficient way to keep track of their current standing in relation to one another. its a good idea that you should file away for future use

[Athaniar]

The World of Warcraft campaign setting does this for cities.

[imp_fireball]

The D20 ruleset is built to codify "characters"....but is there a possibility that it could also accurately represent "nations"?

"stats" such as Strength and Dexterity would be replaced by Economy, Culture, Military, etc...

I realize it's farfetched and I have NO idea how it'd be implemented, but is it possible or has it already been done?

Why not invent something and rather then replacing already well mathimized stats; how about you incorporate them into the main idea of leading a nation?

It's actually quite easy, say every trained soldier is a level 1 warrior: if the soldier is human and was once a peasant, ie., they might each have 8 - 14 strength say (mathematical range). If the soldier was brought up in a militaristic family but is a rookie (level 1 warrior again) their strength could range all the way up to 18.

Barracks cost money in currency (service charge) and require land and resources (wood, stone, clay, building materials, etc.) which need to be harvested by hired workers or slaves depending on how you rule (level 1 commoners, rogues, whichever might be engineers or manual labourers, etc.).

Veterans would be higher levels, associates even higher and (depending on the way you rule) you'd be the highest level (or simply the one placed in the position of leader if you have powerful vassals, say).

D&D 3.5 already has a feat called 'leadership' but it requires your character to need +6 BAB, and is only ever helped by charisma. However, it only works in acquiring 'followers', which are npcs that might help you ground out your domain (or just work for you for free).

In short: Yes, it's been done. Many times.