Ships with black sails manned by marines corrupted by the taint of vampirism traverse the desolate and dangerous oceans and hunt the living for sustenance and sport.

Brave explorers, protected by the power of faith and steel both, embark on multi-year voyages into the great unknown in the name of profit and faith. Forging an empire of gold and spice.

Hubris mixed with magic leads to sin, and sin leads to disaster as the barrier between worlds is sundered in the name of knowledge. Now an endless twilight settles on the world as the youkai emerge to displace the living who meddled with things best left alone.

In the frozen north, the Gjallarhorn has sounded, and Fjalarr has crowed. Now elf and dwarf forge the Fimbulwinter, the gates of Valhalla have opened, and giants come to Midgard intent on the world's burning. Ragnarok has come at last.

Under a gibbous moon, stygian waters roil and bubble as from the unknowable depths, loathsome monsters emerge from the spaces in between. Tenebrous beings once of this world, but now set apart, they have now inherited the desolation of the subaqueous realms and under a masquerade of fey beauty; hide squamous horror. Now eager to claim the mortal realms on behalf of their unnamable master.

The Fourth Age Mod is a total conversion mod-pack of the Late Age of Dominions, intended to answer the "What if?" question of what a post-LA age would look like if Illwinter decided to add one to the base game.

Pulling inspiration from the very early age of the sail, the renaissance, and the late middle ages, the Fourth Age is intended to include themes of exploration, renewal, and colonialism in contrast to the grim-darkness of the existing Late Age.

Technology has progressed (mostly) to circa 1400-1650 when compared to real-life standards, though due to engine limitations and balance considerations gunpowder weapons will be drawn almost purely from the beginning of that range (specifically the 1522 siege of Rhode as an inspiration for army compositions and weapon use as the 'normal' peak). Of course, there are exceptions and there cannot be themes of colonialism without the hapless natives to subjugate, and so some nations will be much lower in technology and explore parts of the world that thus far have been ignored or neglected by Illwinter themselves; including native Americans, Africans and other parts of the world. While in real life these tribal peoples were fairly defenseless in many cases versus invading Europeans with superior armor and armaments, magic may make such encounters much less one-sided for foreign invaders.

The mod-pack is still currently under development by a team of 9~ active modders, and with so many cooks adding things to the pot, balance, for the time being, is unfortunately extremely variable. However, the long term goal of the official Fourth Age compilation is for balance comparable to vanilla Dominions 5 (as imperfect as that might be) and that any of the accepted mod nations could be slapped into an otherwise purely vanilla LA game and not be notably stronger or weaker than the majority of the other factions.

More specifically, the Fourth Age is being balanced around the assumption of 10-14 player games, with gem settings at 40, and all other values being standard.

Check out the Fourth Age Nations Page to learn more about the diverse nations lineup currently in the mod

Download the latest version of the mod from the Fourth Age Discord Server! Here you will also find individual channels for each nation as well as various discussions on the mod pack.

The Fourth Age mod already has almost thirty nations in various stages of development, from fully playable and finished to those barely past the brainstorming stage, and as such we are no longer actively looking for new nation concepts or modders to work on the official project. However, independent mod nations intended to be compatible with the eventual 4A mod-pack are more than welcome to be made (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery after all!) and those of exceptional quality or interest may eventually be invited to join the main roster if they advance the story of the mod as a whole.

For those still interested in helping out with the mod-pack as a whole; spriting, nation reviews, and playtesting help is also always appreciated!