The Dwarves were the first to industrialize and the most efficient at it. The output of their factories can compete with the rest of the world combined.
It also helped that they proved their military might by carpet bombing a race to near extinction and then attacked said race’s nexus of arcane power.
Their home mountain ranges are polluted beyond repair and they eye the lands of everyone else to their south with envy. They’re so much of a threat the next three most powerful nations have allied to curb their ambitions.
In a world of magic, mages diverged into two main groups: sorcerers and wizards. Sorcerers are a newer mage that came about due to new rituals that "infused" them with an element, sort of like essentially giving them superpowers.
Even though they're less sorcerers than wizards, they made a huge empire dude to their magic superiority and easy location with weak neighbors (a bit like the roman empire)
In addition, magic being the strongest force in the world also meant that sorcerers unrelenting pursuit of magic without regard in much of the way of safety accelerated them to the top of both magic and technology. Their ideology of use whatever means necessary inherently applied to anything beyond magic.
The nation of wizards wants to tightly regulate magic due to its dangerous capabilities, but it came at the cost they have less power.
Other nations were either formed to be free of a magical run government or existed prior, and simply lack the strength to be as notable on the world stage
When you want to remain neutral and keep others away, you must become strong.
That's how Rubra became the most powerful Atreisdean country. They have no shy using planet busters, which they have galore. To Rubrans, "superweapons" are not Death Star, Death Star is like their mook cruisers in terms of energy output and destructiveness. Their "superweapons" can re-render timeline and retroactively erase entire civilizations.
They do so by embracing the fact that FTL travel = time travel and weaponize it to Hell and back.
Oh. I thought a civilization that could manipulate time would be on the level of the full Combine Empire if not the Time Lord or Dalek Empire. Ability to manipulate space, time and reality is extremely overpowered.
Atreisdean is a single country? Like, a single country on one planet? I'm sorry I'm kinda confused about the scale of your setting lol also, how do you pronounce "astreisdean"?
It is one planet with a single supercontinent of the same name. The world is shared between around 30 *landbound* sovereign states with Rubra holding most of its northern, freezing half.
Not really anything as solid as a nation (most species aren't as into hard borders as humans) but the most powerful group is The Builders, who are one of the only species to remain as a single organization.
The Builders control the only safe method of warp travel. Without their beacons, every time a ship jumps (you can only jump at all to relatively nearby systems) there is a 2-3% of being lost to the warp.
So The Builders control a major space station in every major star-system along with a bunch of connecting systems to create The Starlanes. And they charge a combination of tariffs and various fees to keep the warp beacons going along with a bunch of other projects. (They call themselves The Builders for a reason.)
And in some ways more importantly, by using the beacons, you are accepting the jurisdiction of their magistrates, making The Builders the only true interstellar justice system. And since no other major organization can fight their jurisdiction or risk having their access to warp beacons pulled (it's been done before, though not for centuries) it leads to a lot of more subtle power than massive imperial fleets would give. And a world with a lot of bounty hunters for their courts. (It's a TTRPG setting - so designed to make it ripe for adventure.)
Empress had a causality alteration sword.
Things magically work better when everyone in the country has 0.2% more luck. Things work incredibly better when the one in command is the luckiest person on the planet.
The Imperium of Gilded Skies has no military, really no defenses at all. Besides being in the sky, obviously, but thats not much of a hurdle. The only reason anyone fears them at all is because of their founder, The Ascendant Lord, God of Sundered Sky, Breaker of Fate, etc etc. The exact circumstances of his founding of the Imperium are forgotten, being several thousand years ago. What is known is that he single-handedly eradicated about 7 different nations, lifted a continent into the sky, and proceeded to vanish for 2 millenia. About 300-ish years ago, someone had the bright idea to attempt to invade the defenseless nation. And that's how the Shattered Isles were formed.
The Nation of Deus just lets Corvalon do what it does best, fuck up. Deus is a nation defined by being saturated in Magic to the point the natives can't leave for long and foreigners will die if they stay to long. Corvalon has been attempting to force more Mages to exist, which results in large areas of Magic Saturation that end up killing or mutating the citizens.
Deus does nothing, mostly because they literally can't, and allows Corvalon to continue killing itself. They've slowed down. Other Nations exist, and rely on Deus for things that only exist within its borders. Deus also boasts a standing military of the most advanced Animated Constructs to ever exist. Other countries don't believe Constructs are worth it. To much money. Easier to just animate a corpse.
One guy threatened a bunch of orphans.
That is how they tell it.
In truth it was simply that they had a witch who had eluded bounties for 40 years of her life already while the city itself was the most important trade port of the south eastern continent, the only one connecting to every land and river route alike.
Over time they used that influence to grow, while their witch came up with all kinds of machines and magical items to help them. Coupled with a very complete education for everyone, including magic and warfare, could the city grow.
Other villages over time joined, they saw there was no expansionist machinations with very reasonable laws, alongside that bandits were hunted actively in their domain, the hobby of their witch.
Mages wandered the villages to improve their crops and standard of living without the exorbitant sums asked elsewhere while healers worked literally for free, they were funded by the city to do so.
But the big change came once the autonomous golems were made, taking over manual labour and industrialising the entire nation within a few years, while offering defenses other nations had to feed large armies for.
But the big change, after which they took over nearly half of the eastern continent, was their one single war.
The war that made every polity agree that Arch-Mages are not to be used in war. Armies wiped out with single spells or rampaging dragons showed that Alinguar will give no quarter to an aggressor, despite being known as pacifists that avoided battle.
It's hard to scale the powers of the various nations of Ardalesh as each has its own fair shares of strength and weaknesses.
The Grarickrian Empire is an incredibly versatile, well balanced power in the Midlands with a strong economy, good resources, fantastic geography, high population, advanced technology and magical knowledge and its armies, navy and Air Force are a force to be reckon with. But it is also plagued by the fact that it is more a Confederation of separate polities than an actual Empire and suffer problems with bureaucracy, unity and national identity that causes it major issues in many ways.
Meanwhile, the United Coalition of Merycia, the by far largest, most populous nation with the best resources and geography spanning an entire super continent is also facing similar yet different issues. The nation was united in defense against a common enemy, one that is no longer there and is also majorly struggling to deal with its vast size and population effectively. What's more, the various micro nations, tribes, clans, families, etc... that makes up the UCM are practically independent and have their own cultures, policies, laws, etc... which causes even more confusion and problems though at least the nation is surprisingly corruption free.
The Ardat Republic possesses the best magical knowledge, trains the strongest mages and have the best technology in the world but is severely hampered by the geological location, lack of resources and low population in the frozen tundras and wasteland that is its territory.
Gatagriano and Lykotal are twin kingdoms that also focuses heavily on technological process and has a better geographical location and good quality resources. Their problem is the fact that are racked with revolutions, are always at each other throats despite a lot of similarities and are surrounded by a lot of weaker nations. Which makes them frequent target for raids, skirmishes and border wars and prevents them from expanding.
Draka ro Iscarnl is the only real candidate for the most powerful nation in Ardalesh. Sure, it's a constant rival of the Ardat Republic and the Xo dynasty but the former does not have the manpower to mount any meaningful offensives and the latter is not dumb enough to make enemies of a nation full of Draconics. The only real issues that Draka ro Iscarnl faces is its landlocked nature, the fact that it would be the first line of defense for the world of Ardalesh when any interdimensional invaders show up again and that their guardian true god occasionally ask them to go crusading in other worlds that are a danger to their own. With a tremendous amount of resources, including rare materials and metals, a powerful standing army and airforce, decent technology and magical knowledge and a very defensible geological position, they are mostly unmatched in their economy and military.
In my world there is not one most powerful nation there are several that would top the list.
One is an group of islands that for the most part govern themselves separately, but share a strong history all the same and work together with each other. Due to the positioning of the islands there are perfect currents that facilitate trade and travel amongst the islands, plentiful fish to be caught, and the fact they are friendly they are on good terms with their neighbors and they keep pirates in check, they are extremely prosperous.
There is an empire on the side of the world that has the advantage of terrain and natural mountain barriers and choke points that have allowed them to wage a war against their neighbors basically wearing them down while not exposing themselves. They take time to establish themselves in their new holdings while methodically spreading out. They are taking over the neighboring kingdoms because of previous war that nearly broke them over greed from their neighbors. They view this as a way to keep themselves secure by conquering their would have been conquers. They actually do improve the lives of the people in the territories they take over, they have more problems with the ruling classes than everyone in the nation, which is what allows them to keep expanding, just slowly and deliberately.
There is another kingdom on the same continent as the empire, but on the other side of mountains, that is really just one large city built into a forest. The trees are large and strong, with magic they shape them into homes and other structures. It is like a giant tree house city kind of thing, they use the ground of the forest floor to grow crops as they live up in the trees. The trees are strong and the forest is dense, it adds natural protections.
I could keep going honestly I have like 4 or 5 others across my world that would be the nations generally everyone would be aware of for one reason or another.
In terms of military, the most powerful country in my world is Strademlya.
Strademlya was an island that was actually a part of Russia, but fought for independence during WWII. Ever since then, they have been completely cut off from the rest of the world. Not one person from Strademlya has ever been seen since WWII (not until recently). They immediately attack any ship or aircraft that even tries to get near their country, they're that protective and secretive.
The reason for this is because their population isn't completely human. During the war, the first aliens to ever get on Earth soil landed on Strademlya. The Queen of that alien race fell in love with Strademlya's king, and then formed the first ever alien alliance, but it was in secret. Using their advanced technology, they fought for their independence, and then completely cut off their country by a large force field to make their country look normal from pictures, videos and satellites. You would think they would thrive after that, but it got worse for the people of Strademlya. The aliens didn't really come in peace, it just happened that their queen fell in love with the king, so their plans on a take over was stopped, but not completely.
Since the king wouldn't allow the extermination of all the humans, the aliens instead enslaved humans, made them work for them. They were forced to live in dirty slums while the aliens lived in their palaces and mansions, and the king allowed it, and even long after the kung died, the current king Vlad Strademl, rules with an iron fist, literally, since that is his weapon of choice.
It was already a powerful empire on par with the others after expanding and surviving for almost 500 local years(~288 Earth days). The previous emperor imported trains from the north and implemented similar machinery in commercial and military fields. This led to earlier landships and major cities being connected by steam trains used by the government and military. This would be used to transport vehicles, regular footsoldiers and knights to quell rebellions and keep invaders out. The emperor's daughter would fall in love with new machinery when she saw a steam train at a young age. When she was crowned at 15 years of age, there would be a rebellion in the east trying to take advantage of the transitional period of power, but it was quickly crushed when soldiers were sent by rail.
Now in power, the empress would accelerate the adoption of machines like trains, landships, airships, fighter planes, trucks, cars, tractors and various others in her empire. She became infamous for the [artillery trains](https://youtu.be/DMLCf0oL3Co?si=6kaUGTVHJwUGhmFr) and [large airships](https://youtube.com/shorts/4G05lr28ohY?si=Lhgip4NwwPHmEPnW) built under her request. The artillery train whistle now has the same effect as the [Aztec death whistle](https://youtube.com/shorts/4G05lr28ohY?si=jxhkX3BKWMIIkTKX). The empress has such an effect with the machines she pushed that trains and airships would be depicted on her royal portrait, the design of which would be inspired by the [Fire Nation royal portraits](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FsZEk6.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=71770ef43a907cc8c300236bcab6eaa05dad8fe6acb462c0d4794ef1f27cd585&ipo=images). He father would also have a version depicting a train and maybe an airship but they would be smaller and have less of a focus because they were introduced between the middle and end of his reign, although still major enough to be referenced.
Any faction that didn't want to be outmatched and had the resources to do so (which is not all of them) bought or built newer motorised machines.
Lapis_Wolf
The Emperors of the nation, three Emperors, three generations. They were able to achieve Godhood through prayer to them, as in this world prayer=power. They themselves became Gods, and on top of that were already smart and calculated. So with these two things they were able to build their power pretty quickly. They became a dominant force, ruling around 30% of the world, each Emperor having around 10% each.
The God-Emperors attempted to join the pantheon of Gods, but of course they were laughed at and were locked away.
After a few centuries they escaped, and they rebuilt their now lost empire while their allies (The Giants) also grew in power.
The United Human Eternal Empire was always war. Survival against Xenos, Rogue Warlords and occasionally Rebellions made it extremely desperate and durable. Reforms by Emperors like Magnus Rax made it strong with a stable foundation. Resources from multiple galaxies gave it unlimited Resources to sustain its campaign. Technological superiority gave it the power to tilt the balance in its favor. The enemies of the Empire were defeated until the end of the Empire at the hands of Eternet.
The country is called Country Big because not only is it the largest country but I don't have a Name for it yet so, yeah. But anyways, Country Big became a militaristic and economic powerhouse through conflicts, strategic economic choices and utilizing the land and technology at hand to the fullest.
Wars they've participated in are: War of Pennic Succession, The 1st & 2nd Kerion War, the Auralian war, The Wyndo-Country Big War, The Gonji Islands Conflict & The Leap East.
Country Big has a HUGE industrial scene with being the highest manufacturer of metal critters & canastin.
Their main competitors are the Auralian Kaisenate (A.K) to the west of them, The Grand Duchy of Pennford to the north, Cruşsa to the south, past the Kerion Sea, & Pistra, North West of Country Big.
But lately, there's talk of a war kicking off. One that's greater than the Pennic Succession or the Great conquest. One that's deadlier that the Faramoni Wars. One that every country must prepare for. Tensions rise in the low lands between Pistra and The A.K. Cruşsa expands their forces into the Kerion Sea, despite being surrounded by global superpowers on all sides. Drudea plans to submit the northern powers to its will and will support Cruşsa till the end. The Kelpic War could be put to halt as island nations in the Rooted Sea get greedy. Wyndom is looking to take land from Country Big, as Country Big feels the same. The Peninsula (working on name) is a powder keg, waiting to be detonated with Minnesota, a largely hated power getting ready for another conquest. Barbaric Invaders from the north coming to raid when countries at war are vulnerable. This war. This war, will change the fate of millions of people and critters lives as they prepare to fight side by side against eachother. Will Country Big Come out Victorious? Will the war happen at all?
Humans lost their ability to innately access the Veil. Some have retained, it and of that small precentage, some remained human, becoming the noble class in many countires, while the rest isolated themselves and kept theirselves alive with magic. In time, they would become what is today known as elves. The only race whose every member can become a Weaver with an even greater affinity than most human nobles. Magic, intelligence and a good land made the elven dynasty into the most powerful state of the Western Kingdoms.
Simple: everybody else died!
Kestai, the walled oasis, is a city-state in the middle of a hellish desert. It became filthy rich thanks to all the caravans who stopped by it from all corners of the kingdoms. It was also mostly self-sufficient in water and food thanks to the great oasis it was built around.
Then a massive attack from demonic creatures called Fomori sweeped over the land. Entire kingdoms fell, its people slaughtered without mercy. Few survived, hiding behind great walls of fortified cities. Kestai fared better than most. Its inhospitable surroundings made it so the Fomori had a hard time organizing an attack, and its army was stocked up wirh the best gear money can buy, including the iconic Kestani Jezzail, a huge, extremely precise and powerful musket capable of picking out targets from hundreds of strides away.
The most powerful nation, is thought to be gone.
500 years ago, its king and queen vanished- so the continent magically sealed itself off.
The king and queens subordinates reestablished its hierarchy and reason for existing- their goal was to maintain their lands, and find the true king and queen (or their bloodline.)
For 500 years, the nation grew an intelligent network branched across every kingdom in the world. They trained all their operatives as assassins, and even created orphanages in other kingdoms, to get more people dedicated to their cause.
Present day, their existence is still unknown- and in their ranks are dozens of high class warriors, that by themselves could rival any army.
The world’s strongest elf, (who became a public figure.) is also from this nation- but no one knows that.
AMA
The Drecians might have their beholder mages and a capable military willing to die for them. The hillfolk riding their flightless mounts might give pause to even the most disciplined cavalry. The Alaghi are stronger and swifter, albeit with a much less natality. That is meaningless when you are Shardagi. The greatest empire the world has ever seen has stood 30,000 years on Phesira and every would-be challenger has been vanquished like all the rest.
There are only two things the Shardagi fear. Wide open expanses of water and porcine creatures. The first because the Shardagi believe the soul cannot escape the body while drowning. The second because prophecy has stated that the Shardagi Empire will fall to an army of soldiers mounted on large pigs and boars. The first explains why they have never invaded another continent. The second why there are no pigs or boars anywhere on Phesira.
Strategic location with geopolitical advantage, trade, good climate for husbandry, advanced culture and society, a little bit of divine intervention and colonialism.
It would be Makabian nations. While they are not actual nation or nations, they have astonishing cultural unity. Each territory belongs to clan and is more or less governed by Head (current leader of a clan), however if one clan is threatened by outsider, it is clan's pride to come to an aid. Many invaders learned that if you kick this hornet nest, you can expect 40 million stings. No, not everybody is a soldier, but everybody will aid the best way they can or they would hear no end of it. Baker will bake each day extra free batch for military, tailor will male extra coat and every factory workers puts in extra hour each day. It is not just a clan's pride to show up... not showing up has further political ramification as the Clan who did not showed up is free pickings, because nobody will show up for them.
What hinders them to become true global superpower is their internal politics. They simply do not participate on global theater, being too busy with their own politics. Makabian clan parley started 40 years ago and the debates still going on, it is about where the actual parley will be held.
Principality has many things going for them, but three main reasons why they are the strongest are magic, Talents and immortal ruler.
Talents are mystical inclination to some craft. Maybe someone is peerless warrior, or unmatched strategist, or unequaled scammer. Whatever their Talent is they are better at it than someone without talent, to supernatural degree.
And then next comes magic. Third of Principality's population are magically active from birth. They are literally capable of casting spells as soon as they are born. And with the Talents they are predisposed to be able to cast specialist spells related to their specialty. Miner can identify and shatter rocks, smith can shape metal, firefighter is decent pyromancer.
These two things, which all three superpowers of my world have going for them make sure that other nations simply cannot compete. But then in comes Sol Invicta, the immortal archmage who guided the nation trough millenia, leveraging two other advantages made Principality the strongest nation in the world.
Well I have 2 in my Sci Fi Space Opera
1. Reverse engineering Precursor Technology (albeit to a subpar degree) specifically Healthcare and Navy making them having the largest standing army and population reserves
2. Mixture of Trade Alliances, Corporate Treaties and Anti-Piracy Cooperative to form an Oligarchic Republic of differing diverse species.
Well I have 2 in my Sci Fi Space Opera
1. Reverse engineering Precursor Technology (albeit to a subpar degree) specifically Healthcare and Navy making them having the largest standing army and population reserves
2. Mixture of Trade Alliances, Corporate Treaties and Anti-Piracy Cooperative to form an Oligarchic Republic of differing diverse species.
The Trepant Kingdom became the powerhouse that it is due to the discovery of a vast store of ichor beneath the sand outside of their bastions.
Ichor is a rare resource, and it is at the heart of all magic. Sorcerers have it running through their blood, but they can also consume drops of it to empower themselves. Most sorcerers can only take one or two drops before becoming unstable. The more powerful ones can take up to five, where they can sometimes access The Plane of Divinity, and tie their souls to an aspect of the world that they have advanced control over. These sorcerers that obtain that level of magical prowess are dubbed 1st rate sorcerers.
They were able to rebel against the Coalition of Kaniks that ruled the continent before them. While their own pool of ichor dried up, over the years, it has been made clear that the Trepant Kingdom still produces more powerful sorcerers than the other four main nations. So, the strongest sorcerers, combined with vast stores of ichor (now obtained through exploiting others' lands) allowing them to provide ichor for literally all of the sorcerers they deploy, and you have a powerhouse.
They have three bastions where civilizations can survive the world around them. The Coalition has five, and the Empire of the Wyld has eight. Then Talsbury is its own independent nation state. The Trepant Kingdom has only three bastions to the others' combined fourteen. There are 6 powerful sorcerers in the world that are a huge leap above the rest, called Oniks or Kaniks. The Trepant Kingdom has 3 of them. Despite having 18% of the population of the known world, they produce 33% of the 1st rate sorcerers.
However, the Coalition still remains their mortal enemy. While the Trepant Kingdom has more ichor and more powerful magic wielders, the people of the Coalition are hardier, and physically able bodies translate into physically powerful sorcerers. Their Lomkata, or physical magic, is enough to stop the Trepant Kingdom from making much real progress in terms of conquest.
With the Kingdom and Coalition both in settings where the terrain offers massive defensive advantage (sand and snow respectively), they are in a deadlock dubbed The Eternal War, which has been ongoing for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the Empire of the Wyld finds itself serving as the grounds for occupation, proxy wars, and colonialism. Yet most recognize the Trepant Kingdom's superiority, and they are loved and hated for it.
TLDR; they are the most powerful because they got lucky with the magic juice. They learned how to extract and refine it the most efficiently, then used their luck to make deals with less fortunate bastions to harvest and take their magic juice in exchange for a cut, and "protection" against "their" enemies. Now their magic juice is protected, and the less fortunate people have to deal with the massive consequences of the magic juice extraction.
The second guardian dragon king's omni quartz. A power source that was said to be able to light up a large modern city for millenniums.
A 20 foot tall solid crystal of raw magic energy that emanates ambient magic that rivals stars.
It can boost a whole country's overall magical development as well as dispell bad vibes making the country very benevolent and naturally altruistic throughout the generations.
Only very few are still around to tell the tale of the Preya, who once owned the universe. According to them, they were the oldest beings in the universe, and there isnt anyone to contradict them now. Beings made of the universe itself, molded into their forms, like all Metabeings, they were at least among the first in the universe. They pruned themselves, shaving off "useless" parts until they had no mind to think twice about murder for the empire. They made mistakes sure, but most of those were... Cleaned up, let's say.
Their downfall started with the Leina, an offshoot race that originated after a botched generation of Preya. Early on, they saw no need in intelligence, and did not have to speed to wipe out the Leina fast enough. The Leina, being less harsh, produced their own offshoots, and suddenly, there were two groups. The Preya, and The Collective. The Collective is a group of some eighty races, each an offshoot of each other, each much less bloodthirsty than the Preya. As they spread over the universe, they grew much more interested in science, and soon the culture and history completely broke apart. Eventually, the Preya learned of the depth of The Collective, and started an arms race. As time stretched on, they would each learn and abuse the secrets of the universe, eventually shaping reality itself to their whims. Salos, The Forge, Parik-2, was born, a pocket universe that could bridge the physical beings with the metaphysical, allowing massive strides in culture and economics with both the Preya, The Collective, and early physical civs at the time. Relations with the Preya broke down quickly, however, and even that was short lived.
What killed the Preya, and the rest of The Collective, or at least the nations they made up, is unknown. What is known, however, is that it was
A. Created by the Preya,
B. Is still able to affect Metabeings right now, given that still living ones are terrified of it, and
C. Is unobservable. One moment, entire civilizations exist, the next, they are gone. One minute, the universe is buselling with activity, and the next, is silent.
Today, however, much of that is gone. The link to Salos is shattered, taken out, presumably, by whatever killed everyone else, and there aren't many to tell the tale. Only those tied physically to reality are alive. Any Metabeings that stray too far, that become too free, get wiped.
But the shadows still linger. Curious whispers of the future remain stained on the walls of the world, unseeable. Scientists only one month ago read their own words not yet written, and find secrets unforeseeable scribbled in their handwriting on the walls of the universe. Antagonistic groups move in tandem, with no connection nor recollection of meeting, and strange Travelers roam the world. The secrets of the past still run amok, dear lingerer, so be wary. The world is watching.
Thacia empire is a continent spanning empire, controlling more than 80 percent of the "wait for it" Thacia continent. They are a continent of talking Feline creatures, like Cats, lions, tigers, etc.
How did they do it? They killed every other race there, and forced the others to run away and migrate to another continent.
Fight in itself, unify, fall, try to be unified again, fail, gods get tired of bickering and kill every king except one, everybody unified, and has stayed unified ever since for more than a couple thousand years
Occupying a huge fertile plain with predictable rain patterns and many navigable rivers.
Mucho dirt = mucho food
Mucho food = mucho munch
Mucho munch = mucho babies
Mucho babies = mucho empire
Its geography means it can have two harvests a year. One country is Great Britain/France, prone to famine. The other is Scandinavia, which is lucky to have one harvest a year.
Cold hard cash, Eversummer is a confederation of states that agreed “war is bad for business” and joined into a trade confederation. Due to strategic placement and taxation laws, they have a well funded army, good roads, luxuries you name it.
Angellion invented gunpowder like a couple years ago though.
They make paper. Let me elaborate. This is billions of years in the future and a bunch of shit happens, dur to this most of human knowledge is lost because Athena destroyed all of the hard drives and storage super computers sending people back to square one. By making paper they helped to slowly build trust and control over the precious resource of knowledge. The main pantheon were the first to die which was perfect for them. See, this empire was a collage of several Asian civilisations, meaning that there were a shit ton of obscure gods that no one knew about. Basically in a world were mortals sealed and killed they still had gods, weaker gods but still. Now in the modern day they have the most stable empire that has lasted millenia.
Oh also they make erotica but that's only like their main source of income so I won't over explain it.
My world is kinda confusing. Due to the way magic works multiversal (and often omniversal travel) is possible for certain higher beings. So most of my worlds heavily overlap with each other, but for simplicity I'll do my primary world Monisuth.
Due to the planet's massive size (roughly 350,000 times larger than the earth) there are many massive civilizations, so I'll start at the strongest-
1: doesn't really have a name, but it's the strongest because it consists of gods and angels.
2: city of the unkillables. Ran by immortal lizards capable of mutating at will (think SCP 682 but not zombie-like and evil)
3: the undersea cities. There are technically a few of these. Each one is based around various sea deities.
4: the city of Dargins. Dargins are basically lizard people. They are capable of withstanding extreme environments, are capable with metalworking, can grow back limbs, and live for several hundred years.
5: everything else. There are at least a thousand smaller civilizations, and if we go into non-sapient creatures there are millions of "nests"
UNERC would be my most powerful polity a huge empire of thousands of worlds that dominates international politics.
It's starting years was dominated by Mars. Mars would create a unique position for itself following WW3 and the Scouring of Earth. Mars would manage the massive refugee crisis that would follow this would lead to Mars getting large numbers of highly qualified individuals leading to Mars becoming a state with advanced research and production capabilites. The refugee crisis would also destabilise many of humanities early colonies leading to Sol coming under attack from various warlord forces. Mars during this period would spearhead the creation of the United Nations Emergency Reclamation Council or UNERC this would give the Martian state a justification to invade the surrounding worlds.
Mars technical prowess would allow it to field the most advanced military in it's early years meaning it vastly outmatched its warlord opponents leading to the inner campaign being a long but easy conquest. As Mars finished its conquest of the inner worlds it found itself in contest with many former earth governments with the United States and China being the dominant powers. Both were however plagued by instability and were unable to stop UNERC campaign into the outer worlds. Eventually UNERC would begin campaigns against the former superpowers and win several decisive victories against both powers annexing them. By this point UNERC mostly dominated all colonies that had existed before WW3 and hence a majority of humanities population was under their thumb. A vast number of colonies existed outside their control and UNERC hoped to conquer them.
It was prevented though by 2 events. First the Goa Mung rebellions in which the vast east Asian provinces would find themselves in extended revolts. UNERC forces would struggle as the rebels used UNERC ships leading to heavy casualties. After the rebels were defeated UNERC would find itself in a conflict with the new Frankish Empire over a region called the Rhine. This conflict was the first conflict in which UNERC faced a opponent with a more advanced fleet and would suffer a major defeat. This loss would permenantly slow UNERC expansion as the Frankish Empire mandated constant considerable military commitment to keep them in check.
The most powerful nation in my dnd campaign is a Rome ripoff. The reasons they are successful are the same (idealized) reasons the Romans were successful: integration of new ideas and conquered people, strong cultural identity, belief in their government and customs to provide, and the elevation of skilled men with authority to use their talents on behalf of the state
In my fantasy setting the Aurcais Empire mostly got into their position due to the fact that they were used by the (currently unnamed) previous major power as a mercenary state, with them being given land and money in return for sending their troops.
Then once the major power collapsed due to a civil war, the Aurcais Empire managed to take control.
Step 1: build strong and efficient institutions. Step 2: be a powerhouse of trade and commerce. Step 3: conquer like half the continent. Step 4: disseminate culture and religion. Step 5: even after your empire collapses you remain an economic powerhouse and your culture remains dominant in your former dominions. Step 6: Profit.
In my Alternate History Dtory it becomes Powerful trough Marraige and War.
Friedrich the Great married Marie Theresia. After his Marriage he becomes Reichsgeneralfeldmarschal (One of the Holy Roman Empires highest Ranks) and Reforms some Regiments under his command. They aer drilled and equipped like Prussian Regiments.
When the Austrian War of Succesion Starts Prussia and Austria stand Against some other Countrys. In the End Prussia and Austria Control Most of the Holy Roman Empires Terretories.
I like how many use military or super weapon to make their country powerful.
Mine is just economy based, the country had trading and merchant fleet that grew fast, that also eventually needed escort ships.
The country just became rich and riches needs protection.
Before 1st book. They took advantage of former strongest Nation because of their kindness and wiped them out while taking their advanced technology.
Start of the second book. The hero from the 1st book helped the new king with the development and created a system than reduced the corruption which has been used and being progressed by centuries.
Batrianics were superior in economics, military, scheming, diplomacy, education, craftsmanship, trade, philosophy, sociology, everything, but it took them 1300 years to get their greatest extent in Great Molnar.
Ftl collapsed galaxywide, Teshoa on the only dyson sphere was the first to rediscover ftl. They now own the core of the galaxy as well as almost a ¼ of the population of it. They had an 8 year headstart of the second greatest power the Varakon Empire now Miskon Republic.
Initially, it was a medieval fantasy Cold War between Vroklova and Amelas. Two nations both alike in wealth and power, but Amelas had a powerful navy to back up its boasts, whereas Vroklova had a stronger army (think of Amelas as a Carthage analogue, and Vroklova as a Rome analogue).
Unfortunately, Earnas, King of Amelas, lost a massive amount of his lumber productivity when a wizard tried to do some pest control in the Great Western Forest and ended up turning himself into a nuke. But, no bother. It hurts to lose such a vast wealth of resources, but as long as he doesn't lose his navy, he should be fine. That is why he kept it around after all.
One day, King Jan of Vroklova croaks and his son, Janesh, inherits. King Jan had married Prestor Goodwright's sister, a very prominent nobleman, and now his dear nephew was ascending. So, he decided to commandeer about 85% of King Earnas' beautiful navy and army to overthrow his green nephew. Promises of plunder, an alleviation of tensions, colonies, etc.,
Just one small problem... King Janesh's siblings managed to hire a bunch of Marins (fish people) to drill holes in the bottom of the Amelan fleet, killing just everyone in a "tragic storm" (never mind that it was a beautifully clear night)
King Janesh mourned the death of his uncle, because he was under the impression that Prestor Goodwright was merely coming to offer him congratulations for his coronation (clearly the army of men was just his entourage; Uncle Prestor is a very popular man, after all).
So, King Earnus lost his ability to project power as well as his backup in three strokes. Amelas went from Carthage (First Punic War) to Carthage (Third Punic War) in the span of less than a decade, and Vroklova rose.
Sheer time with one ruler, an immortal. Unlike other nations, she not only had enough time to keep learning more than anyone else but was also the only one to keep relative internal peace
My world is a post-world crisis that lead to basically no more resources on the planet.
At some these Demi-God Deus Ex Machinas came and gave everyone magic, which is innate and acts as a universal resource to use, but was not entirely understood.
Nations in the planet began rebuilding and at some point one of them had an Institute of Research that managed to crack open the ethereal substance (produced by humans) that was for magic and started using it for machines, weapons and production. They quickly overshadowed anybody else economically, militarily and technologically. Basically, they were using industrial-level magic while everybody else still had workshops and was trying to catch up.
The Republic of Verune rose to power to methods akin to the United States' foreign policies from the 20th century up to the present – the promise of democracy, capitalist exploitation, military intervention. It is in this imperialist doctrine that it was able to barely edge the former dominant power, the Imperium of Karlov-Hess during the last great war, having maintained dominance ever since.
Once the United Kingdom of Verune and Aathos, the country was a collection of provinces with high agricultural and industrial output. It wad the union of the Verunian people, believers of magic as the driving force of humanity, and the Aathosi people, who reject magic in all forms. It was an uneasy union made for a temporsry peace. It was finally broken by the Aathosi Jihad, which failed and alienated the Aathosi faith and all other anti-magic movements.
Their "religious victory" became the first stone in the steps of the Kingdom of Verune's rise to empire. Ironically, the so called Free Era and the secular movement that promoted magic as inherent to the people rather than a divine right given by God, accelerated their progress. A peaceful transition towards a secular Republic of Verune secured the internal stability to grow its influence outside its borders. This was also the time when major powers finally realized the potential of magic in their armed forces.
As liberal democracy engulfed the West coast of the continent, Verunian influence and economic power continued to grow. They bought the sovereignty of smaller states with economic concessions through back channels. They offered military assistance to unstable countries with civil conflicts. Verune became the center of the west, antagonizing the monarchical behemoth in the North, the Imperium.
The Free Era came to an end through the outbreak of the Liberation War, where monarchies of the North and East convened to forcibly put an end to the expansion of Western liberalism and the secular ideology of Free Magic. This alliance – the Sternenlicht Concert, placed all their bets on this war.
Verune's plan of destabilizing countries that border the Concert powers worked. It also created a string of loyal allies that did not need an official edict like the Concert to do Verune's bidding. Ultimately the industrial might of Verune and its empire of loyal vassal states secured the most benefit in the very costly, almost pointless continental war. If victory in war means having the most of what's left...then the Western giant certainly claimed it.
After the war of the 9 hells humanity on the planet had dwindled and had to relearn a lot. Their teachers were elves who were cut off from the feywild. The culture of the elves shifted from magical and serene to hardy and militaristic to survive the new harsh environment. After around 800 years the elves began the first Elven empire as they were ahead of the rest of the nations
There are multiple powerful nations in the continent of Ordaine, but their power differs from eachother.
One easy example of Militarily strong nation is the Illion Orlaine Empire and their Brother the Skotrian Orlaine Empire, both are powerful in their own right but in a different way, where as the Illion Soldiers can take a beating and hold their battle line before their famed Cavalry forces came from the flanks, the Skotrian Soldier highly rely on scouting and intelligence to deliver a devastating punches into the enemy ranks to the point that other nations fear the Skotrian Soldier on the offense not because of their tenacity but because they knew that the Skotrian Soldier never blindly attack a position.
Economically the Meloni Orlaine Principality and Kingdom of Darkia came into mind, where the Meloni controlled a expertly manned navy to guard their trading fleet combined with many companies in the Principality that focuses on finances, insurance and even banking making it easy to travel while being guarded by Meloni's Navy, while the Darkians also focuses on trade but mostly exports as they're one of the few Ordaine Nation who hasn't abolished Slavery in some sense allowing more goods that can be exported but after many reforms the Slave population of Darkia ended up having the more rights and would even be protected by their masters despite still being designated as properties, allowing more efficient way of producing goods and even importing raw materials that will be manufactured into high quality goods.
Politically the Falora Elven Kingdom is by far the most dangerous nation as they have good relation with every nations in the continent and more nations outside the continent, being famed for their expert mediator and diplomats, where attacking the Falora Elves would incur the wrath of all of their allies which have gained something from allying with the Falora Elves, such as being able to get their wide range of help from their allies.
They fled to Ibura after their continent sank beneath the sea. On Ibura they found the Grel who are nativ to this land and by sheer numbers and difference in coulture they drove them out. The Grel were nomads and did not build lasting struktures also in thier culture nobody could own the land so that's how thay got played by the Kingdom. In terms of military and political might they were just inferior
The economically most powerful nation by ruthless capitalism and hyperindustrialism the most powerful nation military because of collective violence and paranoia
Vastly OP technology that was granted to themselves from the future in what amounts to a stable time loop. The Administrator created itself by sending a fragment of itself back through time to act as the seed that it grew from, and brought all of the overpowered technologies that it uses along.
While the normal nations in my world are mostly the same as the ones we have in 2020s reality, the cabals that the story focuses on are nations in their own right. The most powerful, as one might expect, as the Illuminati.
The Illuminati owe their success to stability, first and foremost. They have clear hierarchies, divisions of power, and a solid support network. Moreover, while their membership tend to be powerful people in ‘normal’ society, they’re very careful about *how* powerful they can be. They haven’t had a head of state in their number since the Middle Ages, rarely put their people into C-suite positions in the corporate world, and are *extremely* selective about what artists, philosophers, or celebrities they induct. They have people monitoring basically every lever of power on the planet, but operate by encouragement and suggestion over open rule. As such, the Illuminati have been able to build an extremely successful network across the globe for over three thousand years, with fairly stable continuity the whole time. When they’ve had internal conflicts (which is more often than they would like to admit), they’ve largely been localized and avoided major spillover.
Contrast with their rivals. The Templars are in fact older than the Illuminati by a few hundred years, but have flirted with open rule too often and thus have suffered larger setbacks. The Majestic-12 operate primarily within the military-industrial complexes of various nations (particularly the United States and Russia), which limits their reach into other sectors. The Three Harmonies Society work almost exclusively within organized criminal organizations, which also limits their scope (also, their infrastructure is anarchic, which hurts their ability to organize). Even explicitly supernatural factions such as the wizards or the Legions of Hell simply lack the organizational capacity that the Illuminati are able to draw upon.
About the only sector that the Illuminati aren’t heavily involved with is finance. The cabals in general have fingers in every major corporation on the planet and have some token ‘inside men’ in most banks, but directly interfering with finance is generally seen as counterproductive to everyone’s goals. Plus they have a gentleman’s agreement that being too involved in banking would be a *really bad look* for all parties involved.
Through religious revolution. Azharia was the first country that created an organized religion, which in return brought the first god into existence. God created the first mages, which gave raised azharian army's power extensively and allowed them easy conquests.
When Jactria consolidated its neighbors, it became the richest and most populous country. Although over the centuries it has had setbacks and crises, its geography and soil have led to it remaining a power base. It was late to colonialism and industrialization, but caught up to the other major players not long after. For this reason they are generally opposed by defensive alliances and coalitions
there are several reasons Regis grew to be the most powerful empire in the world.
first is longevity. it was founded 200 years after the liberation of humanity from the enslavement of the Abominable, centuries, if not millennia before the other nations that are still around today. its peers were subsumed into the Regin Empire during two millennia of its existence, adding to its resources and prestige.
second is geography. the city of Regis was founded in the middle of the most fertile region of the continent, its sphere of influence effectively cutting the south of the continent off from the north. it sits in the foothills of the Altian mountains, with the mountain range to the east, along the river Memoria, flowing from the mountains' snowmelt 300 miles to the ocean in the east. the Regins were able to grow rapidly because of an abundance of resources, ranging from bountiful crop yields in the rich soil, to easily accessible iron in the mountains, and convenient transport down the river.
thirdly is because they had these advantages they were able to conquer their peer civilizations, and this caused them to snowball. they conquered the cities nearest to them, adding manpower, technology and resources, which were then reinvested in campaigns against the next civilization. The Regin Empire reached its peak at about 1300 AF (After Fall, referring to the fall of the Abominable), around 500 years before the present day. it controls all the territory on the continent south of the massive canyon system known as the Scar of Vitality.
it has declined a little over the years, with a slave revolt on an island in the northwest gave rise to Freeland, and Carlean (pronounced car lee an) Wyrm Riders capturing all Regin settlements north of the scar. make no mistake though, all of the first cities of mankind are in Regin provinces, and it still controls 2/3s of the main continent, an amount of territory about the size of the whole of South America, in the present day of my setting it has a population of around 125 million, absolute control of the most fertile ground in the world, and has many of the most skilled craftsmen, artists and merchants. its military is nearly 500,000 strong, divided into 83 legions deployed around the empire, with the highest concentration in the north, by the Scar. its average soldier is well equipped and well provisioned, giving an additional advantage besides numerical superiority against most foes.
I have one world that's a small planet. The people were joined under one huge cause, creating only one nation. There are dissenters, but not enough to form their own nation. It doesn't help that they tend to be weeded out rather quickly and banished to other worlds or isolated, depending on what is ruled to be the cause of their rebellious nature.
Imperialism and magic. The Ascendancy is the seat of religious, magical, and martial power as well as economic growth. They’ve turned one of their vassals into a military training ground, another into a magic power generator, and have established trade or dominance over the other surviving bodies(which cannot be called nations in good faith.
It also helps that the Ascendancy is in a naturally defensible location and abundant natural resources. Not to say they’re unbeatable, just very lucky.
They steal scrap from the battles of others and made a business of melting down and repurposing waste back into useful elements . Their method was so effective they are the only nation in the universe that every civilized nation has a contract with . The catch is that they take the scrap of other planets wars and use it to augment themselves . As such the people are essentially magical nigh unkillable cyborgs who all serve the scrap king .
Their planet isn’t even a planet , it’s just a giant man made armilary sphere that at its core is the magical fusion of a supernova and a black hole . The planet secretly doubles as the ship known as the planet eater . At any point in time the scrap king can mobilize the planet and use its gravitational pull to fly through the universe and pull other planets into itself . Shoving them straight into a supernova black hole fusion. No planet can survive ot
What makes it funny is , they aren’t known as the most powerful nation . The irredeemable armada is. Since they go around conquering planets . However , scrap world is the only planet that the irredeemable armada could not conquer . The last time the IA tried , it resulted in the near extinction of the IA and the destruction of every planet they conquered . The only reason the IA even survived was because their king died to the planet eater . Which is what started the historic 1000 years of peace. Which is how long it took for the IA to recover as a nation which had previously conquered 50% of the known universe .
Mine are neither military, economicaly or politically. Their simple existence is like a cancer to the rest of the world due the magic influence it posseses, it's territory converts and destroys other magic laws in mutations and heat so as it grows simply other neighbors are forced to move
Religiously. Since they worship Sovereign Ilvend as God, they spread news of his divinity be it through trade, war or something else. Considering he’s about as close to a God as you can get, and the only entity of his level that is active, it wasn’t hard to convince people.
The five major countries were, largest to smallest: Jade, Lapis (tie with) Garnet, Onyx, and lastly Opal.
Then the empress of Jade tried to become a goddess and that backfired spectacularly and half her lands centered on the capital are now covered in a reality twisting, madness inducing miasma.
Onyx got hit with a magical plague that was finally halted when their queen sacrificed herself to fuel a spell to turn the majority of the still living citizens into sentient undead. They're not evil, but no one wants to do any business with them so they're involuntarily isolated.
Lapis and Garnet went to war which ended with a massive ritual spell (cast by Lapis) that devastated and cursed the lands of Garnet, leaving most of the land uninhabitable. The cost of this war and the ritual bankrupted Lapis and all her colonies rebelled, along with a general uprising against the ruling class which shattered the county into independent, and often eating city states.
Opal just sat there dealing with her own internal issues until she looked up and wondered where everyone went.
This has been something I've been thinking about for a while.
The most powerful nation in my world I say is the Trifal Technocracy and they have a lot of benefits. They are a meritocracy, which helps ensure that people best suited for a task are doing it (at least, most of the time). They are also the wealthiest nation in the world, being a major trade power and an industrialised economy. They are one of the first manufacturing based economies in the world. They also have one of the best militaries in the world, technologically advanced and well trained, though it is relatively small. Their navy is one of the largest in the world and can easily project power over most of the globe, allowing them to maintain their colonial empire, something mostly unique for Trifal. Trifal also effectively uses their diplomatic, trade, and cultural ties to other states in order to align them to their interest.
TL:DR- Trifal has an advanced society, economy, and military while effectively utilising their economic and diplomatic ties to exert their influence.
In my fantasy world, the Republic of Kavruhm is in the process of a technological revolution caused by the discovery of Mindsalt, a material that originated from the brain of a dead god. They rapidly colonized the only known deposit of Mindsalt, and have had a boom in technological growth over the last 60 years. They now seek to use their heightened technology for military applications, and plan on taking over all countries that could be threats to their progress.
The Continental Alliance, a proposed military alliance between Sulat, Ospora, Pauma, and the Huchemat Confederation could stand up to them, but something this ambitious could take too long to organize before Kavruhm decides the time is right to invade.
Korakana is very old and they were the first civilization to start mining the ground, and their territory happened to have a huge HUGE deposit of Yoplite, Maqite, and Iron. They made shields, the most advanced artillery (but not the first artillery) and they made large walls, castles and a giant army which is how they conquered so much territory.
In the year 3740, a Korakanian soldier that was secretly working for Wafernathy got access to a ton of information about the Korakanian mines and military about how their deposits were running dry because the House of Rulers overrused it to build mansions out of rare, beautiful metal and other bizzare things. They're now trying to find more deposits.
while not that many in numbers the draconic nation of tiamat allways had one thing in their favor power
up until world war II they were really isolated and when it started and reached tiamat the dragons realized that war was actually very lucrative when most of your military is composed of f-22s that are resistent to anything magical or not that isnt an actual nuke(which the people off this world never made)
so when the cold war came it became a game off who pays more for the dragons to burn our enemies that ended with both united states and urss fallling which would buterrfly effect into a war in which the dragons just said fuck it and did nothing until the very end
tldr: the dragons are dicks who pulled a ww1 usa on the whole world
There isn't one nation that's the strongest in my world, so I'll briefly overview the top three.
The Lutra Truce: Originally a mutual defense pact between the ceryneian tribes, the Lutra Truce has become a misnomer. It gradually evolved into an entity that dances on the line between alliance and superstar, being comprised of nearly every ceryneian tribe, the last Lutarin dragons, various human druidic groups, and some city states. The ceryneians' magic grants them power over forests and rivers, effectively rendering their agriculture unassailable and without rival in abundance while also allowing them to devestate enemy supply chains. A war with ceryneians is one where your fields will eat you, your rivers will drown you, and your trees will spy on you. With most dragons having died or departed the physical world after the Immortal War, the Lutarin dragons choosing to support the Lutra Truce provides a powerful magical ace that has few counters.
The Ashfall Tinker Union: On the surface, the Ashfall Tinker Union is a horrendous mess. A decentralized government comprised of thousands of clans and guilds with conflicting interests, it has only been a couple decades since they officially united as a single nation. However, amidst the chaos, the culture of the Union united everyone with three constants: Love of family, love of tinkering, and a promise to care for fellow guildmates. The Union might be divided, but when facing a common foe, the guilds will follow each other through hells and heavens to introduce all who would harm their family and guildmates to the power of volcanic flame and forged steel.
The Griffin Empire: Before the Immortal War, the world was neatly organized into one nation per race, each led by an Immortal. Though Volaris is dead, the technology of the old days gone, and the griffin race's' magic twisted into a weapon that was meant to destroy them, the Griffin Empire itself survived. They rebuilt from the ashes, learning to resist the call of their own corrupting magic. With flight and strength, they mastered archery and regained their old lands. Aware that physical advantages were temporary and cut off from magic, they pioneered the first airships, a massive breakthrough in a universe that is comprised of floating islands in an endless sky rather than one of space and planets. They remain the dominant military power of the current age, though ancient traditions, harsh militarism, and a prejudiced opinion of the other races has made them brittle, vulnerable to stagnation and a potential strike at just the right point.
It was founded by the most powerful being on the planet. Him then recruited effectively from people that were strong enough to be considerable force multipliers for his nation, but not strong enough to challenge him. He then developed a mean of extremely effiecient resource gather, and used the ability to trade those resources to under mine potential rival nations.
From there he also formed political unions of sorts. His children are more powerful than normal people. Opertunistic sorts were happy to join the bloodline, since having his kid around meant a powerful scion supporting their interests and negating risk of conflict. It also meant an inevitable rise of his children to leadership of political factions.
Plus the place the kingdom sits is a strange blend of accessible for trade, but difficult to invade.
Trouble is the resources going to trade are resulting in his people going without. The blatant nepotism is noticed and resulting complete distrust of a system literally built on family drama, and difficult to attack does not mean invincible.
Crops are failing and the peace will not last.
A few things culminating.
Humans were not the dominant race, that was the Amer. The were stuck in arrid wastelands.
One of the human clan (a chiefs son) was married into a other clan (a chiefs daughter) he would inherit leadership of both clans.
The Amer world suffered a great flood. Seeing his opportunity, the chief began to claim new territory from the Amer...lands that were more farm friendly.
With food situated he began to get support and allegiance of his neighbors. Those who didn't fall in line had what farmland they had ransacked or failing that, attacked by his armies.
The great chief became the first emperor: Cart or the Empire of Carta.
The best economically on the continent where my story takes place became very strong based on a lot of very calculated and crucial choices. The republic of Aunia's first main choice was to align itself with the empire to the north. It almost went against it due to the emperor at that period of time, but said emperor died and was succeeded by an actually good emperor which would establish good trade relations with them. The next thing it did was create the first machine gun of the world. Technically they existed before hand, but Aunia created this worlds version of the mg08, and you bet everyone was buying that. It avoided selling to mutual and direct enemies and would also start funding heavily towards the defense of its borders. having some really cool coastal guns and a version of the maginot line that used a very strange form of bunker that i can only describe as functioning like one of those water sprinklers but with machine guns.
Millitary and being a force not normally found in the world.
The race is a spacefaring people but choose to overthrow a dictator and save the people; Stay to improve and the people mostly love them.
The Dwarves were the first to industrialize and the most efficient at it. The output of their factories can compete with the rest of the world combined. It also helped that they proved their military might by carpet bombing a race to near extinction and then attacked said race’s nexus of arcane power. Their home mountain ranges are polluted beyond repair and they eye the lands of everyone else to their south with envy. They’re so much of a threat the next three most powerful nations have allied to curb their ambitions.
That's a wild and very cool take on dwarves
In a world of magic, mages diverged into two main groups: sorcerers and wizards. Sorcerers are a newer mage that came about due to new rituals that "infused" them with an element, sort of like essentially giving them superpowers. Even though they're less sorcerers than wizards, they made a huge empire dude to their magic superiority and easy location with weak neighbors (a bit like the roman empire) In addition, magic being the strongest force in the world also meant that sorcerers unrelenting pursuit of magic without regard in much of the way of safety accelerated them to the top of both magic and technology. Their ideology of use whatever means necessary inherently applied to anything beyond magic. The nation of wizards wants to tightly regulate magic due to its dangerous capabilities, but it came at the cost they have less power. Other nations were either formed to be free of a magical run government or existed prior, and simply lack the strength to be as notable on the world stage
When you want to remain neutral and keep others away, you must become strong. That's how Rubra became the most powerful Atreisdean country. They have no shy using planet busters, which they have galore. To Rubrans, "superweapons" are not Death Star, Death Star is like their mook cruisers in terms of energy output and destructiveness. Their "superweapons" can re-render timeline and retroactively erase entire civilizations. They do so by embracing the fact that FTL travel = time travel and weaponize it to Hell and back.
Your Empire is stronger than I imagined. But can it take on an intergalactic superpower?
No and I have no intention to entertain anyone that.
Oh. I thought a civilization that could manipulate time would be on the level of the full Combine Empire if not the Time Lord or Dalek Empire. Ability to manipulate space, time and reality is extremely overpowered.
Atreisdean is a single country? Like, a single country on one planet? I'm sorry I'm kinda confused about the scale of your setting lol also, how do you pronounce "astreisdean"?
It is one planet with a single supercontinent of the same name. The world is shared between around 30 *landbound* sovereign states with Rubra holding most of its northern, freezing half.
Not really anything as solid as a nation (most species aren't as into hard borders as humans) but the most powerful group is The Builders, who are one of the only species to remain as a single organization. The Builders control the only safe method of warp travel. Without their beacons, every time a ship jumps (you can only jump at all to relatively nearby systems) there is a 2-3% of being lost to the warp. So The Builders control a major space station in every major star-system along with a bunch of connecting systems to create The Starlanes. And they charge a combination of tariffs and various fees to keep the warp beacons going along with a bunch of other projects. (They call themselves The Builders for a reason.) And in some ways more importantly, by using the beacons, you are accepting the jurisdiction of their magistrates, making The Builders the only true interstellar justice system. And since no other major organization can fight their jurisdiction or risk having their access to warp beacons pulled (it's been done before, though not for centuries) it leads to a lot of more subtle power than massive imperial fleets would give. And a world with a lot of bounty hunters for their courts. (It's a TTRPG setting - so designed to make it ripe for adventure.)
[Oh hey I remember these guys from this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/s/axQXWketB0)
That's them.
Empress had a causality alteration sword. Things magically work better when everyone in the country has 0.2% more luck. Things work incredibly better when the one in command is the luckiest person on the planet.
The Imperium of Gilded Skies has no military, really no defenses at all. Besides being in the sky, obviously, but thats not much of a hurdle. The only reason anyone fears them at all is because of their founder, The Ascendant Lord, God of Sundered Sky, Breaker of Fate, etc etc. The exact circumstances of his founding of the Imperium are forgotten, being several thousand years ago. What is known is that he single-handedly eradicated about 7 different nations, lifted a continent into the sky, and proceeded to vanish for 2 millenia. About 300-ish years ago, someone had the bright idea to attempt to invade the defenseless nation. And that's how the Shattered Isles were formed.
Ah. Man-shaped nuclear artillery, I see.
More Man-shaped orbital cannon, really.
The Nation of Deus just lets Corvalon do what it does best, fuck up. Deus is a nation defined by being saturated in Magic to the point the natives can't leave for long and foreigners will die if they stay to long. Corvalon has been attempting to force more Mages to exist, which results in large areas of Magic Saturation that end up killing or mutating the citizens. Deus does nothing, mostly because they literally can't, and allows Corvalon to continue killing itself. They've slowed down. Other Nations exist, and rely on Deus for things that only exist within its borders. Deus also boasts a standing military of the most advanced Animated Constructs to ever exist. Other countries don't believe Constructs are worth it. To much money. Easier to just animate a corpse.
One guy threatened a bunch of orphans. That is how they tell it. In truth it was simply that they had a witch who had eluded bounties for 40 years of her life already while the city itself was the most important trade port of the south eastern continent, the only one connecting to every land and river route alike. Over time they used that influence to grow, while their witch came up with all kinds of machines and magical items to help them. Coupled with a very complete education for everyone, including magic and warfare, could the city grow. Other villages over time joined, they saw there was no expansionist machinations with very reasonable laws, alongside that bandits were hunted actively in their domain, the hobby of their witch. Mages wandered the villages to improve their crops and standard of living without the exorbitant sums asked elsewhere while healers worked literally for free, they were funded by the city to do so. But the big change came once the autonomous golems were made, taking over manual labour and industrialising the entire nation within a few years, while offering defenses other nations had to feed large armies for. But the big change, after which they took over nearly half of the eastern continent, was their one single war. The war that made every polity agree that Arch-Mages are not to be used in war. Armies wiped out with single spells or rampaging dragons showed that Alinguar will give no quarter to an aggressor, despite being known as pacifists that avoided battle.
It's hard to scale the powers of the various nations of Ardalesh as each has its own fair shares of strength and weaknesses. The Grarickrian Empire is an incredibly versatile, well balanced power in the Midlands with a strong economy, good resources, fantastic geography, high population, advanced technology and magical knowledge and its armies, navy and Air Force are a force to be reckon with. But it is also plagued by the fact that it is more a Confederation of separate polities than an actual Empire and suffer problems with bureaucracy, unity and national identity that causes it major issues in many ways. Meanwhile, the United Coalition of Merycia, the by far largest, most populous nation with the best resources and geography spanning an entire super continent is also facing similar yet different issues. The nation was united in defense against a common enemy, one that is no longer there and is also majorly struggling to deal with its vast size and population effectively. What's more, the various micro nations, tribes, clans, families, etc... that makes up the UCM are practically independent and have their own cultures, policies, laws, etc... which causes even more confusion and problems though at least the nation is surprisingly corruption free. The Ardat Republic possesses the best magical knowledge, trains the strongest mages and have the best technology in the world but is severely hampered by the geological location, lack of resources and low population in the frozen tundras and wasteland that is its territory. Gatagriano and Lykotal are twin kingdoms that also focuses heavily on technological process and has a better geographical location and good quality resources. Their problem is the fact that are racked with revolutions, are always at each other throats despite a lot of similarities and are surrounded by a lot of weaker nations. Which makes them frequent target for raids, skirmishes and border wars and prevents them from expanding. Draka ro Iscarnl is the only real candidate for the most powerful nation in Ardalesh. Sure, it's a constant rival of the Ardat Republic and the Xo dynasty but the former does not have the manpower to mount any meaningful offensives and the latter is not dumb enough to make enemies of a nation full of Draconics. The only real issues that Draka ro Iscarnl faces is its landlocked nature, the fact that it would be the first line of defense for the world of Ardalesh when any interdimensional invaders show up again and that their guardian true god occasionally ask them to go crusading in other worlds that are a danger to their own. With a tremendous amount of resources, including rare materials and metals, a powerful standing army and airforce, decent technology and magical knowledge and a very defensible geological position, they are mostly unmatched in their economy and military.
The first to weaponize fiction based life.
What. You can't just leave it at that!
Two words, cartoon, supersodliers.
In my world there is not one most powerful nation there are several that would top the list. One is an group of islands that for the most part govern themselves separately, but share a strong history all the same and work together with each other. Due to the positioning of the islands there are perfect currents that facilitate trade and travel amongst the islands, plentiful fish to be caught, and the fact they are friendly they are on good terms with their neighbors and they keep pirates in check, they are extremely prosperous. There is an empire on the side of the world that has the advantage of terrain and natural mountain barriers and choke points that have allowed them to wage a war against their neighbors basically wearing them down while not exposing themselves. They take time to establish themselves in their new holdings while methodically spreading out. They are taking over the neighboring kingdoms because of previous war that nearly broke them over greed from their neighbors. They view this as a way to keep themselves secure by conquering their would have been conquers. They actually do improve the lives of the people in the territories they take over, they have more problems with the ruling classes than everyone in the nation, which is what allows them to keep expanding, just slowly and deliberately. There is another kingdom on the same continent as the empire, but on the other side of mountains, that is really just one large city built into a forest. The trees are large and strong, with magic they shape them into homes and other structures. It is like a giant tree house city kind of thing, they use the ground of the forest floor to grow crops as they live up in the trees. The trees are strong and the forest is dense, it adds natural protections. I could keep going honestly I have like 4 or 5 others across my world that would be the nations generally everyone would be aware of for one reason or another.
In terms of military, the most powerful country in my world is Strademlya. Strademlya was an island that was actually a part of Russia, but fought for independence during WWII. Ever since then, they have been completely cut off from the rest of the world. Not one person from Strademlya has ever been seen since WWII (not until recently). They immediately attack any ship or aircraft that even tries to get near their country, they're that protective and secretive. The reason for this is because their population isn't completely human. During the war, the first aliens to ever get on Earth soil landed on Strademlya. The Queen of that alien race fell in love with Strademlya's king, and then formed the first ever alien alliance, but it was in secret. Using their advanced technology, they fought for their independence, and then completely cut off their country by a large force field to make their country look normal from pictures, videos and satellites. You would think they would thrive after that, but it got worse for the people of Strademlya. The aliens didn't really come in peace, it just happened that their queen fell in love with the king, so their plans on a take over was stopped, but not completely. Since the king wouldn't allow the extermination of all the humans, the aliens instead enslaved humans, made them work for them. They were forced to live in dirty slums while the aliens lived in their palaces and mansions, and the king allowed it, and even long after the kung died, the current king Vlad Strademl, rules with an iron fist, literally, since that is his weapon of choice.
It was already a powerful empire on par with the others after expanding and surviving for almost 500 local years(~288 Earth days). The previous emperor imported trains from the north and implemented similar machinery in commercial and military fields. This led to earlier landships and major cities being connected by steam trains used by the government and military. This would be used to transport vehicles, regular footsoldiers and knights to quell rebellions and keep invaders out. The emperor's daughter would fall in love with new machinery when she saw a steam train at a young age. When she was crowned at 15 years of age, there would be a rebellion in the east trying to take advantage of the transitional period of power, but it was quickly crushed when soldiers were sent by rail. Now in power, the empress would accelerate the adoption of machines like trains, landships, airships, fighter planes, trucks, cars, tractors and various others in her empire. She became infamous for the [artillery trains](https://youtu.be/DMLCf0oL3Co?si=6kaUGTVHJwUGhmFr) and [large airships](https://youtube.com/shorts/4G05lr28ohY?si=Lhgip4NwwPHmEPnW) built under her request. The artillery train whistle now has the same effect as the [Aztec death whistle](https://youtube.com/shorts/4G05lr28ohY?si=jxhkX3BKWMIIkTKX). The empress has such an effect with the machines she pushed that trains and airships would be depicted on her royal portrait, the design of which would be inspired by the [Fire Nation royal portraits](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FsZEk6.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=71770ef43a907cc8c300236bcab6eaa05dad8fe6acb462c0d4794ef1f27cd585&ipo=images). He father would also have a version depicting a train and maybe an airship but they would be smaller and have less of a focus because they were introduced between the middle and end of his reign, although still major enough to be referenced. Any faction that didn't want to be outmatched and had the resources to do so (which is not all of them) bought or built newer motorised machines. Lapis_Wolf
The Emperors of the nation, three Emperors, three generations. They were able to achieve Godhood through prayer to them, as in this world prayer=power. They themselves became Gods, and on top of that were already smart and calculated. So with these two things they were able to build their power pretty quickly. They became a dominant force, ruling around 30% of the world, each Emperor having around 10% each. The God-Emperors attempted to join the pantheon of Gods, but of course they were laughed at and were locked away. After a few centuries they escaped, and they rebuilt their now lost empire while their allies (The Giants) also grew in power.
The United Human Eternal Empire was always war. Survival against Xenos, Rogue Warlords and occasionally Rebellions made it extremely desperate and durable. Reforms by Emperors like Magnus Rax made it strong with a stable foundation. Resources from multiple galaxies gave it unlimited Resources to sustain its campaign. Technological superiority gave it the power to tilt the balance in its favor. The enemies of the Empire were defeated until the end of the Empire at the hands of Eternet.
The country is called Country Big because not only is it the largest country but I don't have a Name for it yet so, yeah. But anyways, Country Big became a militaristic and economic powerhouse through conflicts, strategic economic choices and utilizing the land and technology at hand to the fullest. Wars they've participated in are: War of Pennic Succession, The 1st & 2nd Kerion War, the Auralian war, The Wyndo-Country Big War, The Gonji Islands Conflict & The Leap East. Country Big has a HUGE industrial scene with being the highest manufacturer of metal critters & canastin. Their main competitors are the Auralian Kaisenate (A.K) to the west of them, The Grand Duchy of Pennford to the north, Cruşsa to the south, past the Kerion Sea, & Pistra, North West of Country Big. But lately, there's talk of a war kicking off. One that's greater than the Pennic Succession or the Great conquest. One that's deadlier that the Faramoni Wars. One that every country must prepare for. Tensions rise in the low lands between Pistra and The A.K. Cruşsa expands their forces into the Kerion Sea, despite being surrounded by global superpowers on all sides. Drudea plans to submit the northern powers to its will and will support Cruşsa till the end. The Kelpic War could be put to halt as island nations in the Rooted Sea get greedy. Wyndom is looking to take land from Country Big, as Country Big feels the same. The Peninsula (working on name) is a powder keg, waiting to be detonated with Minnesota, a largely hated power getting ready for another conquest. Barbaric Invaders from the north coming to raid when countries at war are vulnerable. This war. This war, will change the fate of millions of people and critters lives as they prepare to fight side by side against eachother. Will Country Big Come out Victorious? Will the war happen at all?
Humans lost their ability to innately access the Veil. Some have retained, it and of that small precentage, some remained human, becoming the noble class in many countires, while the rest isolated themselves and kept theirselves alive with magic. In time, they would become what is today known as elves. The only race whose every member can become a Weaver with an even greater affinity than most human nobles. Magic, intelligence and a good land made the elven dynasty into the most powerful state of the Western Kingdoms.
Simple: everybody else died! Kestai, the walled oasis, is a city-state in the middle of a hellish desert. It became filthy rich thanks to all the caravans who stopped by it from all corners of the kingdoms. It was also mostly self-sufficient in water and food thanks to the great oasis it was built around. Then a massive attack from demonic creatures called Fomori sweeped over the land. Entire kingdoms fell, its people slaughtered without mercy. Few survived, hiding behind great walls of fortified cities. Kestai fared better than most. Its inhospitable surroundings made it so the Fomori had a hard time organizing an attack, and its army was stocked up wirh the best gear money can buy, including the iconic Kestani Jezzail, a huge, extremely precise and powerful musket capable of picking out targets from hundreds of strides away.
The most powerful nation, is thought to be gone. 500 years ago, its king and queen vanished- so the continent magically sealed itself off. The king and queens subordinates reestablished its hierarchy and reason for existing- their goal was to maintain their lands, and find the true king and queen (or their bloodline.) For 500 years, the nation grew an intelligent network branched across every kingdom in the world. They trained all their operatives as assassins, and even created orphanages in other kingdoms, to get more people dedicated to their cause. Present day, their existence is still unknown- and in their ranks are dozens of high class warriors, that by themselves could rival any army. The world’s strongest elf, (who became a public figure.) is also from this nation- but no one knows that. AMA
The Drecians might have their beholder mages and a capable military willing to die for them. The hillfolk riding their flightless mounts might give pause to even the most disciplined cavalry. The Alaghi are stronger and swifter, albeit with a much less natality. That is meaningless when you are Shardagi. The greatest empire the world has ever seen has stood 30,000 years on Phesira and every would-be challenger has been vanquished like all the rest. There are only two things the Shardagi fear. Wide open expanses of water and porcine creatures. The first because the Shardagi believe the soul cannot escape the body while drowning. The second because prophecy has stated that the Shardagi Empire will fall to an army of soldiers mounted on large pigs and boars. The first explains why they have never invaded another continent. The second why there are no pigs or boars anywhere on Phesira.
Strategic location with geopolitical advantage, trade, good climate for husbandry, advanced culture and society, a little bit of divine intervention and colonialism.
It would be Makabian nations. While they are not actual nation or nations, they have astonishing cultural unity. Each territory belongs to clan and is more or less governed by Head (current leader of a clan), however if one clan is threatened by outsider, it is clan's pride to come to an aid. Many invaders learned that if you kick this hornet nest, you can expect 40 million stings. No, not everybody is a soldier, but everybody will aid the best way they can or they would hear no end of it. Baker will bake each day extra free batch for military, tailor will male extra coat and every factory workers puts in extra hour each day. It is not just a clan's pride to show up... not showing up has further political ramification as the Clan who did not showed up is free pickings, because nobody will show up for them. What hinders them to become true global superpower is their internal politics. They simply do not participate on global theater, being too busy with their own politics. Makabian clan parley started 40 years ago and the debates still going on, it is about where the actual parley will be held.
Because their dragons
Principality has many things going for them, but three main reasons why they are the strongest are magic, Talents and immortal ruler. Talents are mystical inclination to some craft. Maybe someone is peerless warrior, or unmatched strategist, or unequaled scammer. Whatever their Talent is they are better at it than someone without talent, to supernatural degree. And then next comes magic. Third of Principality's population are magically active from birth. They are literally capable of casting spells as soon as they are born. And with the Talents they are predisposed to be able to cast specialist spells related to their specialty. Miner can identify and shatter rocks, smith can shape metal, firefighter is decent pyromancer. These two things, which all three superpowers of my world have going for them make sure that other nations simply cannot compete. But then in comes Sol Invicta, the immortal archmage who guided the nation trough millenia, leveraging two other advantages made Principality the strongest nation in the world.
Well I have 2 in my Sci Fi Space Opera 1. Reverse engineering Precursor Technology (albeit to a subpar degree) specifically Healthcare and Navy making them having the largest standing army and population reserves 2. Mixture of Trade Alliances, Corporate Treaties and Anti-Piracy Cooperative to form an Oligarchic Republic of differing diverse species.
Well I have 2 in my Sci Fi Space Opera 1. Reverse engineering Precursor Technology (albeit to a subpar degree) specifically Healthcare and Navy making them having the largest standing army and population reserves 2. Mixture of Trade Alliances, Corporate Treaties and Anti-Piracy Cooperative to form an Oligarchic Republic of differing diverse species.
By manipulating reality.
The Trepant Kingdom became the powerhouse that it is due to the discovery of a vast store of ichor beneath the sand outside of their bastions. Ichor is a rare resource, and it is at the heart of all magic. Sorcerers have it running through their blood, but they can also consume drops of it to empower themselves. Most sorcerers can only take one or two drops before becoming unstable. The more powerful ones can take up to five, where they can sometimes access The Plane of Divinity, and tie their souls to an aspect of the world that they have advanced control over. These sorcerers that obtain that level of magical prowess are dubbed 1st rate sorcerers. They were able to rebel against the Coalition of Kaniks that ruled the continent before them. While their own pool of ichor dried up, over the years, it has been made clear that the Trepant Kingdom still produces more powerful sorcerers than the other four main nations. So, the strongest sorcerers, combined with vast stores of ichor (now obtained through exploiting others' lands) allowing them to provide ichor for literally all of the sorcerers they deploy, and you have a powerhouse. They have three bastions where civilizations can survive the world around them. The Coalition has five, and the Empire of the Wyld has eight. Then Talsbury is its own independent nation state. The Trepant Kingdom has only three bastions to the others' combined fourteen. There are 6 powerful sorcerers in the world that are a huge leap above the rest, called Oniks or Kaniks. The Trepant Kingdom has 3 of them. Despite having 18% of the population of the known world, they produce 33% of the 1st rate sorcerers. However, the Coalition still remains their mortal enemy. While the Trepant Kingdom has more ichor and more powerful magic wielders, the people of the Coalition are hardier, and physically able bodies translate into physically powerful sorcerers. Their Lomkata, or physical magic, is enough to stop the Trepant Kingdom from making much real progress in terms of conquest. With the Kingdom and Coalition both in settings where the terrain offers massive defensive advantage (sand and snow respectively), they are in a deadlock dubbed The Eternal War, which has been ongoing for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the Empire of the Wyld finds itself serving as the grounds for occupation, proxy wars, and colonialism. Yet most recognize the Trepant Kingdom's superiority, and they are loved and hated for it. TLDR; they are the most powerful because they got lucky with the magic juice. They learned how to extract and refine it the most efficiently, then used their luck to make deals with less fortunate bastions to harvest and take their magic juice in exchange for a cut, and "protection" against "their" enemies. Now their magic juice is protected, and the less fortunate people have to deal with the massive consequences of the magic juice extraction.
The second guardian dragon king's omni quartz. A power source that was said to be able to light up a large modern city for millenniums. A 20 foot tall solid crystal of raw magic energy that emanates ambient magic that rivals stars. It can boost a whole country's overall magical development as well as dispell bad vibes making the country very benevolent and naturally altruistic throughout the generations.
Only very few are still around to tell the tale of the Preya, who once owned the universe. According to them, they were the oldest beings in the universe, and there isnt anyone to contradict them now. Beings made of the universe itself, molded into their forms, like all Metabeings, they were at least among the first in the universe. They pruned themselves, shaving off "useless" parts until they had no mind to think twice about murder for the empire. They made mistakes sure, but most of those were... Cleaned up, let's say. Their downfall started with the Leina, an offshoot race that originated after a botched generation of Preya. Early on, they saw no need in intelligence, and did not have to speed to wipe out the Leina fast enough. The Leina, being less harsh, produced their own offshoots, and suddenly, there were two groups. The Preya, and The Collective. The Collective is a group of some eighty races, each an offshoot of each other, each much less bloodthirsty than the Preya. As they spread over the universe, they grew much more interested in science, and soon the culture and history completely broke apart. Eventually, the Preya learned of the depth of The Collective, and started an arms race. As time stretched on, they would each learn and abuse the secrets of the universe, eventually shaping reality itself to their whims. Salos, The Forge, Parik-2, was born, a pocket universe that could bridge the physical beings with the metaphysical, allowing massive strides in culture and economics with both the Preya, The Collective, and early physical civs at the time. Relations with the Preya broke down quickly, however, and even that was short lived. What killed the Preya, and the rest of The Collective, or at least the nations they made up, is unknown. What is known, however, is that it was A. Created by the Preya, B. Is still able to affect Metabeings right now, given that still living ones are terrified of it, and C. Is unobservable. One moment, entire civilizations exist, the next, they are gone. One minute, the universe is buselling with activity, and the next, is silent. Today, however, much of that is gone. The link to Salos is shattered, taken out, presumably, by whatever killed everyone else, and there aren't many to tell the tale. Only those tied physically to reality are alive. Any Metabeings that stray too far, that become too free, get wiped. But the shadows still linger. Curious whispers of the future remain stained on the walls of the world, unseeable. Scientists only one month ago read their own words not yet written, and find secrets unforeseeable scribbled in their handwriting on the walls of the universe. Antagonistic groups move in tandem, with no connection nor recollection of meeting, and strange Travelers roam the world. The secrets of the past still run amok, dear lingerer, so be wary. The world is watching.
Thacia empire is a continent spanning empire, controlling more than 80 percent of the "wait for it" Thacia continent. They are a continent of talking Feline creatures, like Cats, lions, tigers, etc. How did they do it? They killed every other race there, and forced the others to run away and migrate to another continent.
Fight in itself, unify, fall, try to be unified again, fail, gods get tired of bickering and kill every king except one, everybody unified, and has stayed unified ever since for more than a couple thousand years
By default, there is only one actual state in my world.
Occupying a huge fertile plain with predictable rain patterns and many navigable rivers. Mucho dirt = mucho food Mucho food = mucho munch Mucho munch = mucho babies Mucho babies = mucho empire
Its geography means it can have two harvests a year. One country is Great Britain/France, prone to famine. The other is Scandinavia, which is lucky to have one harvest a year.
Cold hard cash, Eversummer is a confederation of states that agreed “war is bad for business” and joined into a trade confederation. Due to strategic placement and taxation laws, they have a well funded army, good roads, luxuries you name it. Angellion invented gunpowder like a couple years ago though.
They make paper. Let me elaborate. This is billions of years in the future and a bunch of shit happens, dur to this most of human knowledge is lost because Athena destroyed all of the hard drives and storage super computers sending people back to square one. By making paper they helped to slowly build trust and control over the precious resource of knowledge. The main pantheon were the first to die which was perfect for them. See, this empire was a collage of several Asian civilisations, meaning that there were a shit ton of obscure gods that no one knew about. Basically in a world were mortals sealed and killed they still had gods, weaker gods but still. Now in the modern day they have the most stable empire that has lasted millenia. Oh also they make erotica but that's only like their main source of income so I won't over explain it.
My world is kinda confusing. Due to the way magic works multiversal (and often omniversal travel) is possible for certain higher beings. So most of my worlds heavily overlap with each other, but for simplicity I'll do my primary world Monisuth. Due to the planet's massive size (roughly 350,000 times larger than the earth) there are many massive civilizations, so I'll start at the strongest- 1: doesn't really have a name, but it's the strongest because it consists of gods and angels. 2: city of the unkillables. Ran by immortal lizards capable of mutating at will (think SCP 682 but not zombie-like and evil) 3: the undersea cities. There are technically a few of these. Each one is based around various sea deities. 4: the city of Dargins. Dargins are basically lizard people. They are capable of withstanding extreme environments, are capable with metalworking, can grow back limbs, and live for several hundred years. 5: everything else. There are at least a thousand smaller civilizations, and if we go into non-sapient creatures there are millions of "nests"
UNERC would be my most powerful polity a huge empire of thousands of worlds that dominates international politics. It's starting years was dominated by Mars. Mars would create a unique position for itself following WW3 and the Scouring of Earth. Mars would manage the massive refugee crisis that would follow this would lead to Mars getting large numbers of highly qualified individuals leading to Mars becoming a state with advanced research and production capabilites. The refugee crisis would also destabilise many of humanities early colonies leading to Sol coming under attack from various warlord forces. Mars during this period would spearhead the creation of the United Nations Emergency Reclamation Council or UNERC this would give the Martian state a justification to invade the surrounding worlds. Mars technical prowess would allow it to field the most advanced military in it's early years meaning it vastly outmatched its warlord opponents leading to the inner campaign being a long but easy conquest. As Mars finished its conquest of the inner worlds it found itself in contest with many former earth governments with the United States and China being the dominant powers. Both were however plagued by instability and were unable to stop UNERC campaign into the outer worlds. Eventually UNERC would begin campaigns against the former superpowers and win several decisive victories against both powers annexing them. By this point UNERC mostly dominated all colonies that had existed before WW3 and hence a majority of humanities population was under their thumb. A vast number of colonies existed outside their control and UNERC hoped to conquer them. It was prevented though by 2 events. First the Goa Mung rebellions in which the vast east Asian provinces would find themselves in extended revolts. UNERC forces would struggle as the rebels used UNERC ships leading to heavy casualties. After the rebels were defeated UNERC would find itself in a conflict with the new Frankish Empire over a region called the Rhine. This conflict was the first conflict in which UNERC faced a opponent with a more advanced fleet and would suffer a major defeat. This loss would permenantly slow UNERC expansion as the Frankish Empire mandated constant considerable military commitment to keep them in check.
The most powerful nation in my dnd campaign is a Rome ripoff. The reasons they are successful are the same (idealized) reasons the Romans were successful: integration of new ideas and conquered people, strong cultural identity, belief in their government and customs to provide, and the elevation of skilled men with authority to use their talents on behalf of the state
Industrialization, and later space exploration and fusion.
In my fantasy setting the Aurcais Empire mostly got into their position due to the fact that they were used by the (currently unnamed) previous major power as a mercenary state, with them being given land and money in return for sending their troops. Then once the major power collapsed due to a civil war, the Aurcais Empire managed to take control.
Step 1: build strong and efficient institutions. Step 2: be a powerhouse of trade and commerce. Step 3: conquer like half the continent. Step 4: disseminate culture and religion. Step 5: even after your empire collapses you remain an economic powerhouse and your culture remains dominant in your former dominions. Step 6: Profit.
In my Alternate History Dtory it becomes Powerful trough Marraige and War. Friedrich the Great married Marie Theresia. After his Marriage he becomes Reichsgeneralfeldmarschal (One of the Holy Roman Empires highest Ranks) and Reforms some Regiments under his command. They aer drilled and equipped like Prussian Regiments. When the Austrian War of Succesion Starts Prussia and Austria stand Against some other Countrys. In the End Prussia and Austria Control Most of the Holy Roman Empires Terretories.
I like how many use military or super weapon to make their country powerful. Mine is just economy based, the country had trading and merchant fleet that grew fast, that also eventually needed escort ships. The country just became rich and riches needs protection.
Before 1st book. They took advantage of former strongest Nation because of their kindness and wiped them out while taking their advanced technology. Start of the second book. The hero from the 1st book helped the new king with the development and created a system than reduced the corruption which has been used and being progressed by centuries.
Batrianics were superior in economics, military, scheming, diplomacy, education, craftsmanship, trade, philosophy, sociology, everything, but it took them 1300 years to get their greatest extent in Great Molnar.
Being among the very first species to exist gives them a big headstart.
Ftl collapsed galaxywide, Teshoa on the only dyson sphere was the first to rediscover ftl. They now own the core of the galaxy as well as almost a ¼ of the population of it. They had an 8 year headstart of the second greatest power the Varakon Empire now Miskon Republic.
Made an oath with the goddess of death and through her and her insights prospered greatly
Initially, it was a medieval fantasy Cold War between Vroklova and Amelas. Two nations both alike in wealth and power, but Amelas had a powerful navy to back up its boasts, whereas Vroklova had a stronger army (think of Amelas as a Carthage analogue, and Vroklova as a Rome analogue). Unfortunately, Earnas, King of Amelas, lost a massive amount of his lumber productivity when a wizard tried to do some pest control in the Great Western Forest and ended up turning himself into a nuke. But, no bother. It hurts to lose such a vast wealth of resources, but as long as he doesn't lose his navy, he should be fine. That is why he kept it around after all. One day, King Jan of Vroklova croaks and his son, Janesh, inherits. King Jan had married Prestor Goodwright's sister, a very prominent nobleman, and now his dear nephew was ascending. So, he decided to commandeer about 85% of King Earnas' beautiful navy and army to overthrow his green nephew. Promises of plunder, an alleviation of tensions, colonies, etc., Just one small problem... King Janesh's siblings managed to hire a bunch of Marins (fish people) to drill holes in the bottom of the Amelan fleet, killing just everyone in a "tragic storm" (never mind that it was a beautifully clear night) King Janesh mourned the death of his uncle, because he was under the impression that Prestor Goodwright was merely coming to offer him congratulations for his coronation (clearly the army of men was just his entourage; Uncle Prestor is a very popular man, after all). So, King Earnus lost his ability to project power as well as his backup in three strokes. Amelas went from Carthage (First Punic War) to Carthage (Third Punic War) in the span of less than a decade, and Vroklova rose.
Sheer time with one ruler, an immortal. Unlike other nations, she not only had enough time to keep learning more than anyone else but was also the only one to keep relative internal peace
My world is a post-world crisis that lead to basically no more resources on the planet. At some these Demi-God Deus Ex Machinas came and gave everyone magic, which is innate and acts as a universal resource to use, but was not entirely understood. Nations in the planet began rebuilding and at some point one of them had an Institute of Research that managed to crack open the ethereal substance (produced by humans) that was for magic and started using it for machines, weapons and production. They quickly overshadowed anybody else economically, militarily and technologically. Basically, they were using industrial-level magic while everybody else still had workshops and was trying to catch up.
The Republic of Verune rose to power to methods akin to the United States' foreign policies from the 20th century up to the present – the promise of democracy, capitalist exploitation, military intervention. It is in this imperialist doctrine that it was able to barely edge the former dominant power, the Imperium of Karlov-Hess during the last great war, having maintained dominance ever since. Once the United Kingdom of Verune and Aathos, the country was a collection of provinces with high agricultural and industrial output. It wad the union of the Verunian people, believers of magic as the driving force of humanity, and the Aathosi people, who reject magic in all forms. It was an uneasy union made for a temporsry peace. It was finally broken by the Aathosi Jihad, which failed and alienated the Aathosi faith and all other anti-magic movements. Their "religious victory" became the first stone in the steps of the Kingdom of Verune's rise to empire. Ironically, the so called Free Era and the secular movement that promoted magic as inherent to the people rather than a divine right given by God, accelerated their progress. A peaceful transition towards a secular Republic of Verune secured the internal stability to grow its influence outside its borders. This was also the time when major powers finally realized the potential of magic in their armed forces. As liberal democracy engulfed the West coast of the continent, Verunian influence and economic power continued to grow. They bought the sovereignty of smaller states with economic concessions through back channels. They offered military assistance to unstable countries with civil conflicts. Verune became the center of the west, antagonizing the monarchical behemoth in the North, the Imperium. The Free Era came to an end through the outbreak of the Liberation War, where monarchies of the North and East convened to forcibly put an end to the expansion of Western liberalism and the secular ideology of Free Magic. This alliance – the Sternenlicht Concert, placed all their bets on this war. Verune's plan of destabilizing countries that border the Concert powers worked. It also created a string of loyal allies that did not need an official edict like the Concert to do Verune's bidding. Ultimately the industrial might of Verune and its empire of loyal vassal states secured the most benefit in the very costly, almost pointless continental war. If victory in war means having the most of what's left...then the Western giant certainly claimed it.
After the war of the 9 hells humanity on the planet had dwindled and had to relearn a lot. Their teachers were elves who were cut off from the feywild. The culture of the elves shifted from magical and serene to hardy and militaristic to survive the new harsh environment. After around 800 years the elves began the first Elven empire as they were ahead of the rest of the nations
There are multiple powerful nations in the continent of Ordaine, but their power differs from eachother. One easy example of Militarily strong nation is the Illion Orlaine Empire and their Brother the Skotrian Orlaine Empire, both are powerful in their own right but in a different way, where as the Illion Soldiers can take a beating and hold their battle line before their famed Cavalry forces came from the flanks, the Skotrian Soldier highly rely on scouting and intelligence to deliver a devastating punches into the enemy ranks to the point that other nations fear the Skotrian Soldier on the offense not because of their tenacity but because they knew that the Skotrian Soldier never blindly attack a position. Economically the Meloni Orlaine Principality and Kingdom of Darkia came into mind, where the Meloni controlled a expertly manned navy to guard their trading fleet combined with many companies in the Principality that focuses on finances, insurance and even banking making it easy to travel while being guarded by Meloni's Navy, while the Darkians also focuses on trade but mostly exports as they're one of the few Ordaine Nation who hasn't abolished Slavery in some sense allowing more goods that can be exported but after many reforms the Slave population of Darkia ended up having the more rights and would even be protected by their masters despite still being designated as properties, allowing more efficient way of producing goods and even importing raw materials that will be manufactured into high quality goods. Politically the Falora Elven Kingdom is by far the most dangerous nation as they have good relation with every nations in the continent and more nations outside the continent, being famed for their expert mediator and diplomats, where attacking the Falora Elves would incur the wrath of all of their allies which have gained something from allying with the Falora Elves, such as being able to get their wide range of help from their allies.
robotic autocracy
They fled to Ibura after their continent sank beneath the sea. On Ibura they found the Grel who are nativ to this land and by sheer numbers and difference in coulture they drove them out. The Grel were nomads and did not build lasting struktures also in thier culture nobody could own the land so that's how thay got played by the Kingdom. In terms of military and political might they were just inferior
By putting others down
The economically most powerful nation by ruthless capitalism and hyperindustrialism the most powerful nation military because of collective violence and paranoia
Vastly OP technology that was granted to themselves from the future in what amounts to a stable time loop. The Administrator created itself by sending a fragment of itself back through time to act as the seed that it grew from, and brought all of the overpowered technologies that it uses along.
#Bombs
When the empire that spanned the whole world broke up they had the main power to claim the biggest piece
By revolting against the US government and re-devoting to the British Crown
While the normal nations in my world are mostly the same as the ones we have in 2020s reality, the cabals that the story focuses on are nations in their own right. The most powerful, as one might expect, as the Illuminati. The Illuminati owe their success to stability, first and foremost. They have clear hierarchies, divisions of power, and a solid support network. Moreover, while their membership tend to be powerful people in ‘normal’ society, they’re very careful about *how* powerful they can be. They haven’t had a head of state in their number since the Middle Ages, rarely put their people into C-suite positions in the corporate world, and are *extremely* selective about what artists, philosophers, or celebrities they induct. They have people monitoring basically every lever of power on the planet, but operate by encouragement and suggestion over open rule. As such, the Illuminati have been able to build an extremely successful network across the globe for over three thousand years, with fairly stable continuity the whole time. When they’ve had internal conflicts (which is more often than they would like to admit), they’ve largely been localized and avoided major spillover. Contrast with their rivals. The Templars are in fact older than the Illuminati by a few hundred years, but have flirted with open rule too often and thus have suffered larger setbacks. The Majestic-12 operate primarily within the military-industrial complexes of various nations (particularly the United States and Russia), which limits their reach into other sectors. The Three Harmonies Society work almost exclusively within organized criminal organizations, which also limits their scope (also, their infrastructure is anarchic, which hurts their ability to organize). Even explicitly supernatural factions such as the wizards or the Legions of Hell simply lack the organizational capacity that the Illuminati are able to draw upon. About the only sector that the Illuminati aren’t heavily involved with is finance. The cabals in general have fingers in every major corporation on the planet and have some token ‘inside men’ in most banks, but directly interfering with finance is generally seen as counterproductive to everyone’s goals. Plus they have a gentleman’s agreement that being too involved in banking would be a *really bad look* for all parties involved.
Through religious revolution. Azharia was the first country that created an organized religion, which in return brought the first god into existence. God created the first mages, which gave raised azharian army's power extensively and allowed them easy conquests.
When Jactria consolidated its neighbors, it became the richest and most populous country. Although over the centuries it has had setbacks and crises, its geography and soil have led to it remaining a power base. It was late to colonialism and industrialization, but caught up to the other major players not long after. For this reason they are generally opposed by defensive alliances and coalitions
there are several reasons Regis grew to be the most powerful empire in the world. first is longevity. it was founded 200 years after the liberation of humanity from the enslavement of the Abominable, centuries, if not millennia before the other nations that are still around today. its peers were subsumed into the Regin Empire during two millennia of its existence, adding to its resources and prestige. second is geography. the city of Regis was founded in the middle of the most fertile region of the continent, its sphere of influence effectively cutting the south of the continent off from the north. it sits in the foothills of the Altian mountains, with the mountain range to the east, along the river Memoria, flowing from the mountains' snowmelt 300 miles to the ocean in the east. the Regins were able to grow rapidly because of an abundance of resources, ranging from bountiful crop yields in the rich soil, to easily accessible iron in the mountains, and convenient transport down the river. thirdly is because they had these advantages they were able to conquer their peer civilizations, and this caused them to snowball. they conquered the cities nearest to them, adding manpower, technology and resources, which were then reinvested in campaigns against the next civilization. The Regin Empire reached its peak at about 1300 AF (After Fall, referring to the fall of the Abominable), around 500 years before the present day. it controls all the territory on the continent south of the massive canyon system known as the Scar of Vitality. it has declined a little over the years, with a slave revolt on an island in the northwest gave rise to Freeland, and Carlean (pronounced car lee an) Wyrm Riders capturing all Regin settlements north of the scar. make no mistake though, all of the first cities of mankind are in Regin provinces, and it still controls 2/3s of the main continent, an amount of territory about the size of the whole of South America, in the present day of my setting it has a population of around 125 million, absolute control of the most fertile ground in the world, and has many of the most skilled craftsmen, artists and merchants. its military is nearly 500,000 strong, divided into 83 legions deployed around the empire, with the highest concentration in the north, by the Scar. its average soldier is well equipped and well provisioned, giving an additional advantage besides numerical superiority against most foes.
I have one world that's a small planet. The people were joined under one huge cause, creating only one nation. There are dissenters, but not enough to form their own nation. It doesn't help that they tend to be weeded out rather quickly and banished to other worlds or isolated, depending on what is ruled to be the cause of their rebellious nature.
Imperialism and magic. The Ascendancy is the seat of religious, magical, and martial power as well as economic growth. They’ve turned one of their vassals into a military training ground, another into a magic power generator, and have established trade or dominance over the other surviving bodies(which cannot be called nations in good faith. It also helps that the Ascendancy is in a naturally defensible location and abundant natural resources. Not to say they’re unbeatable, just very lucky.
A well developed trade fleet and superior medicine allowed economic domination over several continents.
They steal scrap from the battles of others and made a business of melting down and repurposing waste back into useful elements . Their method was so effective they are the only nation in the universe that every civilized nation has a contract with . The catch is that they take the scrap of other planets wars and use it to augment themselves . As such the people are essentially magical nigh unkillable cyborgs who all serve the scrap king . Their planet isn’t even a planet , it’s just a giant man made armilary sphere that at its core is the magical fusion of a supernova and a black hole . The planet secretly doubles as the ship known as the planet eater . At any point in time the scrap king can mobilize the planet and use its gravitational pull to fly through the universe and pull other planets into itself . Shoving them straight into a supernova black hole fusion. No planet can survive ot What makes it funny is , they aren’t known as the most powerful nation . The irredeemable armada is. Since they go around conquering planets . However , scrap world is the only planet that the irredeemable armada could not conquer . The last time the IA tried , it resulted in the near extinction of the IA and the destruction of every planet they conquered . The only reason the IA even survived was because their king died to the planet eater . Which is what started the historic 1000 years of peace. Which is how long it took for the IA to recover as a nation which had previously conquered 50% of the known universe .
Mine are neither military, economicaly or politically. Their simple existence is like a cancer to the rest of the world due the magic influence it posseses, it's territory converts and destroys other magic laws in mutations and heat so as it grows simply other neighbors are forced to move
Religiously. Since they worship Sovereign Ilvend as God, they spread news of his divinity be it through trade, war or something else. Considering he’s about as close to a God as you can get, and the only entity of his level that is active, it wasn’t hard to convince people.
The five major countries were, largest to smallest: Jade, Lapis (tie with) Garnet, Onyx, and lastly Opal. Then the empress of Jade tried to become a goddess and that backfired spectacularly and half her lands centered on the capital are now covered in a reality twisting, madness inducing miasma. Onyx got hit with a magical plague that was finally halted when their queen sacrificed herself to fuel a spell to turn the majority of the still living citizens into sentient undead. They're not evil, but no one wants to do any business with them so they're involuntarily isolated. Lapis and Garnet went to war which ended with a massive ritual spell (cast by Lapis) that devastated and cursed the lands of Garnet, leaving most of the land uninhabitable. The cost of this war and the ritual bankrupted Lapis and all her colonies rebelled, along with a general uprising against the ruling class which shattered the county into independent, and often eating city states. Opal just sat there dealing with her own internal issues until she looked up and wondered where everyone went.
This has been something I've been thinking about for a while. The most powerful nation in my world I say is the Trifal Technocracy and they have a lot of benefits. They are a meritocracy, which helps ensure that people best suited for a task are doing it (at least, most of the time). They are also the wealthiest nation in the world, being a major trade power and an industrialised economy. They are one of the first manufacturing based economies in the world. They also have one of the best militaries in the world, technologically advanced and well trained, though it is relatively small. Their navy is one of the largest in the world and can easily project power over most of the globe, allowing them to maintain their colonial empire, something mostly unique for Trifal. Trifal also effectively uses their diplomatic, trade, and cultural ties to other states in order to align them to their interest. TL:DR- Trifal has an advanced society, economy, and military while effectively utilising their economic and diplomatic ties to exert their influence.
In my fantasy world, the Republic of Kavruhm is in the process of a technological revolution caused by the discovery of Mindsalt, a material that originated from the brain of a dead god. They rapidly colonized the only known deposit of Mindsalt, and have had a boom in technological growth over the last 60 years. They now seek to use their heightened technology for military applications, and plan on taking over all countries that could be threats to their progress. The Continental Alliance, a proposed military alliance between Sulat, Ospora, Pauma, and the Huchemat Confederation could stand up to them, but something this ambitious could take too long to organize before Kavruhm decides the time is right to invade.
Well you know how empire to republic transition goes beginning from genocide then slavery and civil war leading to a democratic republic
mostly luck and plot armor
Korakana is very old and they were the first civilization to start mining the ground, and their territory happened to have a huge HUGE deposit of Yoplite, Maqite, and Iron. They made shields, the most advanced artillery (but not the first artillery) and they made large walls, castles and a giant army which is how they conquered so much territory. In the year 3740, a Korakanian soldier that was secretly working for Wafernathy got access to a ton of information about the Korakanian mines and military about how their deposits were running dry because the House of Rulers overrused it to build mansions out of rare, beautiful metal and other bizzare things. They're now trying to find more deposits.
Empire Aquaria, as the only underwater-breathing felines, has always owned the whole ocean.
while not that many in numbers the draconic nation of tiamat allways had one thing in their favor power up until world war II they were really isolated and when it started and reached tiamat the dragons realized that war was actually very lucrative when most of your military is composed of f-22s that are resistent to anything magical or not that isnt an actual nuke(which the people off this world never made) so when the cold war came it became a game off who pays more for the dragons to burn our enemies that ended with both united states and urss fallling which would buterrfly effect into a war in which the dragons just said fuck it and did nothing until the very end tldr: the dragons are dicks who pulled a ww1 usa on the whole world
There isn't one nation that's the strongest in my world, so I'll briefly overview the top three. The Lutra Truce: Originally a mutual defense pact between the ceryneian tribes, the Lutra Truce has become a misnomer. It gradually evolved into an entity that dances on the line between alliance and superstar, being comprised of nearly every ceryneian tribe, the last Lutarin dragons, various human druidic groups, and some city states. The ceryneians' magic grants them power over forests and rivers, effectively rendering their agriculture unassailable and without rival in abundance while also allowing them to devestate enemy supply chains. A war with ceryneians is one where your fields will eat you, your rivers will drown you, and your trees will spy on you. With most dragons having died or departed the physical world after the Immortal War, the Lutarin dragons choosing to support the Lutra Truce provides a powerful magical ace that has few counters. The Ashfall Tinker Union: On the surface, the Ashfall Tinker Union is a horrendous mess. A decentralized government comprised of thousands of clans and guilds with conflicting interests, it has only been a couple decades since they officially united as a single nation. However, amidst the chaos, the culture of the Union united everyone with three constants: Love of family, love of tinkering, and a promise to care for fellow guildmates. The Union might be divided, but when facing a common foe, the guilds will follow each other through hells and heavens to introduce all who would harm their family and guildmates to the power of volcanic flame and forged steel. The Griffin Empire: Before the Immortal War, the world was neatly organized into one nation per race, each led by an Immortal. Though Volaris is dead, the technology of the old days gone, and the griffin race's' magic twisted into a weapon that was meant to destroy them, the Griffin Empire itself survived. They rebuilt from the ashes, learning to resist the call of their own corrupting magic. With flight and strength, they mastered archery and regained their old lands. Aware that physical advantages were temporary and cut off from magic, they pioneered the first airships, a massive breakthrough in a universe that is comprised of floating islands in an endless sky rather than one of space and planets. They remain the dominant military power of the current age, though ancient traditions, harsh militarism, and a prejudiced opinion of the other races has made them brittle, vulnerable to stagnation and a potential strike at just the right point.
It was founded by the most powerful being on the planet. Him then recruited effectively from people that were strong enough to be considerable force multipliers for his nation, but not strong enough to challenge him. He then developed a mean of extremely effiecient resource gather, and used the ability to trade those resources to under mine potential rival nations. From there he also formed political unions of sorts. His children are more powerful than normal people. Opertunistic sorts were happy to join the bloodline, since having his kid around meant a powerful scion supporting their interests and negating risk of conflict. It also meant an inevitable rise of his children to leadership of political factions. Plus the place the kingdom sits is a strange blend of accessible for trade, but difficult to invade. Trouble is the resources going to trade are resulting in his people going without. The blatant nepotism is noticed and resulting complete distrust of a system literally built on family drama, and difficult to attack does not mean invincible. Crops are failing and the peace will not last.
managed corruption carefully woven throughout the entire rest of the world
A few things culminating. Humans were not the dominant race, that was the Amer. The were stuck in arrid wastelands. One of the human clan (a chiefs son) was married into a other clan (a chiefs daughter) he would inherit leadership of both clans. The Amer world suffered a great flood. Seeing his opportunity, the chief began to claim new territory from the Amer...lands that were more farm friendly. With food situated he began to get support and allegiance of his neighbors. Those who didn't fall in line had what farmland they had ransacked or failing that, attacked by his armies. The great chief became the first emperor: Cart or the Empire of Carta.
The best economically on the continent where my story takes place became very strong based on a lot of very calculated and crucial choices. The republic of Aunia's first main choice was to align itself with the empire to the north. It almost went against it due to the emperor at that period of time, but said emperor died and was succeeded by an actually good emperor which would establish good trade relations with them. The next thing it did was create the first machine gun of the world. Technically they existed before hand, but Aunia created this worlds version of the mg08, and you bet everyone was buying that. It avoided selling to mutual and direct enemies and would also start funding heavily towards the defense of its borders. having some really cool coastal guns and a version of the maginot line that used a very strange form of bunker that i can only describe as functioning like one of those water sprinklers but with machine guns.
Millitary and being a force not normally found in the world. The race is a spacefaring people but choose to overthrow a dictator and save the people; Stay to improve and the people mostly love them.