Anbennar: A Fantasy Total Conversion for Victoria 3

[jay10101]

The Mages' Peace is over.


For a hundred years the Mage-Emperors of Anbennar enjoyed blissful ignorance to the changing world, clinging to the days when magic was the divine right of kings made manifest.


When they finally realized the threat new technology posed to their rule, it was already too late. The dawn of artificery, the great equalizer, was upon them, and a single black bullet proved that beneath all the wards and spells that mages are just flesh and blood – and from the wound spilled forth the crimson torrent of revolution.


That was twenty-six years ago. The Blackpowder Rebellion failed, the dream extinguished by foreign powers and traitors within. Its failure left Anbennar a formless shadow, existing only through compromise settled by those who seek to keep our nation stagnant and weak, given shape only through their contradictory whims. They feared a united Anbennar, yet they feared the chaos of a broken one even more.


Most of all they fear us. They are terrified that we will shatter their thrones, ushering in the dawn-light of a new age that will disperse their shadowed rule.


True heirs of Anbennar, there is still hope.


The false parliament must be ousted. The boy emperor put to the torch like the rest of his ilk.

The Blackpowder Rebellion must rise again, for all it takes is a single spark to cover the world in powder-smoke and ash.


Anbennar will rise from her smoldering wreck, resurgent and glorious, and our dream of a free tomorrow will be realized.

Europa Universalis IV’s top fantasy total conversion mod is coming to Victoria 3


Anbennar is all about what comes after your usual D&D medieval fantasy time period, asking the pivotal question:

what happens after the age of sword and sorcery?

​

Anbennar is a fantasy setting I created back in 2014, which has since then become a very popular fantasy mod for EU4 and has grown from just me to a massive worldbuilding project with over a hundred contributors around the world. Highly inspired by worlds like D&D's the Forgotten Realms as well as Dragon Age and The Witcher, we will be bringing Anbennar to Victoria 3 and the 19th century, moving the inspiration to settings like Eberron, Dishonored and Carnival Row.


In the Europa Universalis IV mod, we explored the equivalent years of 1444-1821 and how events like the advent of gunpowder and colonialism affected a fantasy world. In the Victoria 3 mod, we’ll be doing the same, exploring the future of the Anbennar setting and the issues and events of the 1800s-1900s.


Like reality, Anbennar’s 19th century will be marked by rapid change. Specifically rapid social and technological revolution:

• The Blackpowder Rebellion challenged the old ways - not only of monarchs and the divine right to rule, but also the idea of magic and the very real concept that some people are very much born special and can incinerate you with a thought. Expect a second Blackpowder Rebellion in the horizon. How will the venerable elves react, I wonder, to this call for liberty and equality? Is it a folly, a “phase” unique only to humanity’s short life and ambition – or is it here to stay?
  

• The commonfolk could not have ousted the mages of Anbennar without artificery, and in Anbennar we’ll see the industrial revolution with a fantasy twist. Expect far greater technological changes than vanilla, zeppelins, yes, sentient robots, even better, crazy inventions and resource wars for the magical power source that is Damestear that may or may not require you going onto other planets and planes of existence to get more of it? Yes, please. We’re not going steampunk, we’re going magitek.
  

Cannor, our Europe equivalent​

Left to Right: Moon Elf, Dwarf, Half-orc, Hobgoblin, Goblin

(Elven ear models courtesy of Elder Kings 2 Team)​

Feature List

• A lore-rich fantasy world set in 1836-1936 era, going from D&D’s Forgotten Realms, Dragon Age and The Witcher to something a bit more Eberron, Dishonored and Carnival Row
  
• Play as fantasy races from elves, halfling, dwarves and more – and see how the changing times of the 19th century raises new challenges to those societies
  
• Adventurers Wanted revitalized – adventurer pops travel around the world to take part in quests (which are workable buildings), and naturally topple a government or two
  
• Industrialization with a fantasy spin: try and survive using traditional magic or utilize Artificery (magitek) to revolutionize the world of Halann (and beyond…)
  
• and more!
  

More Screenshots

Terrain by Biegeltoren

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WIP World Map - we plan to use all that extra space for other planets and planes

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WIP closeup of Aelantir, our Americas equivalent. Thought lost and destroyed by the elves who fled to Cannor, it was rediscovered during the EU4 timeframe

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Gawed and Gerudia is no more, instead ruled by the Northern League and its capitalist magnates - a power at the forefront of industrialization​

The boy emperor Artur-Laurens rules over Anbennar, yet another last scion of the House of Silmuna​

The Empire of Anbennar's starting laws, plus some custom laws for the mod​

Baronites offer a special take on the Landowners, keeping their revolutionary origins in supporting parliament​

Adventurers are a staple in any fantasy setting - read the blurb on the screenshot for more info!​

Through the Adventurers Wanted! quest system, temporary buildings can represent quests and dungeons, which can cause trouble for a state - though can yield boons and unique resources​

Fulfilling Anbennar's Original Vision

Bringing Anbennar to Victoria 3 is very much a homecoming for me.


Anbennar started back in 2014 with the premise: "what if French Revolution, but against mages?". From that spawned the original setting name Blackpowder Rebellion, named after the event itself. Eventually, I found myself going further and further back to explore the deep history and lore that could have caused this single event, and from that Anbennar as we know today was born.


Since then, Anbennar has grown considerably. It's now a massive worldbuilding project with a passionate community that not only fleshes out the world together, but makes the world liveable through the mod. It's been covered in news sites like PCGamer, played by your favourite YouTubers and streamers, and even showcased by Paradox itself in a Dev Clash way back when. It's even had fan art, a novella worth of fan fiction and even D&D games being played!


But with Victoria 3 out, we can finally bring Anbennar back to its original promise, that original vision for the Anbennar setting that started this whole crazy thing.


I truly believe that we have something special with the Anbennar IP. Its focus on being a fantasy world that we can follow through time and history is something we don't see enough of fantasy these days, let alone fantasy settings set in the 1800s. But with Paradox games we can not only see what a fantasy world looks like, but actually play and live through history.


Anbennar already has four hundred years of playable history thanks to the EU4 mod, so what's a hundred more?

So much work couldn't have been done without Paradox's support in their early modder access, but Anbennar is still very much a passion project and hobby for many of us so we don't have an expected release date. However, I hope this announcement has gotten you excited for Anbennar and the potential of Victoria 3!


If you're interested in helping out (especially 3D modellers!) or just want to find out more about Anbennar, check out the EU4 mod or the Discord alongside the other links below.


Thanks for reading!


JayBean



Links

• Discord
  
• Reddit
  
• Twitter
  
• Lore Wiki
  
• EU4 Lore Primer
  
• Anbennar for EU4 Mod
  
• Patreon
  
• Merch Store (get some sick drip)
  

Contact: anbennar@gmail.com

 

[Lord Lambert]

Let's goooo! So hyped for this!

 

[karasis65]

I am very happy to see this!

 

[MasterPaw]

Tellum

 

[ChicagoZohan]

As soon as I started reading about Vic3 I started thinking about how perfect it would be for Eberron. Awesome to hear that you will be drawing on Eberron for inspiration.

 

[Oilbird]

Very excited to see a fantasy mod, can't wait to check it out!
Bit of a tangential question since there's no better place to ask yet, but is there a way to make a pop of a certain culture more productive at certain jobs? Like dwarves with mining.
The kind of knowledge I hope to pick your brains (and code) for once I have my hands on the mod

 

[Teutonic_Thrash]

ITS HAPPENING!

 

[Runite Drill]

I'm looking forward to writing the OST for this

 

[Warlord Skorr]

Obsidian Legion rules the Serpentspine confirmed!?

I look forward to seeing how the more out-there races like the Harpies, Ogres, and Kobolds are represented, especially law-wise.

 

[Duarte]

NOOOOOOO GAWED MY BELOVED!!! What did they do to you!!

Guess i know what my frist campaign will be!

 

[lookingfor]

It's even had fan art, a novella worth of fan fiction and even D&D games being played

So where could I find fan fiction and D&D games about Anbennar?

 

[Twiggly_the_Gnome]

we will be bringing Anbennar to Victoria 3 and the 19th century, moving the inspiration to settings like Eberron, Dishonored and Carnival Row.

We’re not going steampunk, we’re going magitek.

Excellent!

Bit of a tangential question since there's no better place to ask yet, but is there a way to make a pop of a certain culture more productive at certain jobs? Like dwarves with mining.

I think I remember a dev saying the best way to do something like that was through a custom building. So you'd have a dwarven iron mine, distinct from a standard iron mine, that required the dwarf tag as a qualification for employment.

 

[Bananabus]

About this whole going to other planets and planes things. Are they always just temporary visits to gather resources and the like or will it be possible for certain types of people to full on settle in these other worlds?

 

[ajokitty]

How do you plan to represent the different races?

I see a law mentioning them.

Will pops belong to different races?

 

[pheonicia]

So where could I find fan fiction and D&D games about Anbennar?

I would check the discord and ask there since that's the most likely place.

 

[jay10101]

Very excited to see a fantasy mod, can't wait to check it out!
Bit of a tangential question since there's no better place to ask yet, but is there a way to make a pop of a certain culture more productive at certain jobs? Like dwarves with mining.
The kind of knowledge I hope to pick your brains (and code) for once I have my hands on the mod

We will not be doing other races being better than others, what we can possibly do is to have a trend towards specific profession (e.g. if halflings could choose between being a farmer or labourer pop, they would pick labourer)

Excellent!



I think I remember a dev saying the best way to do something like that was through a custom building. So you'd have a dwarven iron mine, distinct from a standard iron mine, that required the dwarf tag as a qualification for employment.

The idea of custom building like "dwarven iron mine" is not a sustainable approach as it means duplicating A LOT of buildings for every single race

 

[jay10101]

How do you plan to represent the different races?

I see a law mentioning them.

Will pops belong to different races?

Yes, a "racial trait". A trait just the same way European Heritage is a trait

We will also have other traits just the same way there is a Francophone trait for all french-speaking and french-influenced cultures

This means that a Moon Elf culture will have a trait to represent they are elves (shared with other elven cultures like sun elf), but also a Cannorian trait to unify them with Cannorians

-

As for the law, the current idea is the races tolerated in your law will be counted in vanilla's discrimination calculations. If they aren't tolerated they will always be discriminated

This means you'll be able to accept elves in general, but they will still have to go through discrimination calculations aka if you'll be able to accept Cannorians elves (moon elf) but not Bulwari elves (sun elf)

 

[Twiggly_the_Gnome]

The idea of custom building like "dwarven iron mine" is not a sustainable approach as it means duplicating A LOT of buildings for every single race

Is this because of the number of races you have, and the prospect of each getting their own "thing"?

 

[Pedro1509]

You modders are amazing, the game is not 5 days old and you already made a alternate overhaul with a DEDICATED MAP! You folks give me so much hope, thank you,from the bottom of my heart.

 

[Muckknuckle]

I'm excited to get a job in the Dragon Attacks Factory!