So, after reading the American Election Megathread and debating on political matters with some friends, I came up with an interesting idea for a RtD game: 2 factions, Liberals and Conservatives, each with two sub-factions, Moderates and Extremists, trying to compromise and solve a major problem. After a moment of contemplating what that major problem should be, I came up with the answer:
Aliens.Premise
The United States Congress has just received startling news. A transmission has just been picked up by the Department of Defense, originating from outer space. After 3 hours of work, the nation's expert cryptographers have managed to decode the message. It is short and simple:
Hello, America. We are coming. Expect us in 1/3 of a rotation after you receive this message.
An emergency joint session of Congress was called. Much speculation was made about the "1/3 of a rotation". Finally, the Vice President realized what it meant.
Of course! It means 8 hours! The Earth rotates once every 24 hours, so 1/3 of a rotation is 8 hours! Minus the 3 hours that have passed since we received the message, so we only have 5 hours left!
And so, Congress must now decide how to handle the message. Is it genuine? Are there actually extra-terrestrials coming to visit America? If so, what are they planning on doing once they arrive?
Factions
This game will feature two factions, the Conservatives and the Liberals. Within each faction exists two more sub-factions, the Moderates and the Extremists. Each faction and sub-faction have different characteristics, as described by the following character sheets:
This is America! We're not no sissy rainbows-and-unicorns country like Canada! We stand up for what we believe in, the American Way! No matter what we do, we must look out for ourselves above everything else! If that means going to war with those aliens, then so be it!
+2 to combat rolls
-2 to non-combat rolls
As Americans, it is our duty to defend our liberty against all threats. If the aliens are hostile towards us, then we must return the hostility. However, we may be able to forge a positive alliance with the aliens, if it can help us. Otherwise, we should send them away.
+1 to combat rolls
-1 to non-combat rolls
America is a great nation, devoted to watching out for our neighbors. With this new development, we have found new neighbors in the aliens that sent the message. We must do what we can to help them, even if it hurts us in the short run, for it will surely benefit us in the long run. And, we need to remind ourselves that America was built on the foundation of tolerance. Our new neighbors will probably be nothing like us. We must not let our differences come between us. We do not need another war.
+1 to non-combat rolls
-1 to combat rolls
The aliens are coming. We don't know anything about them, so we are completely unprepared. We should just go on with our lives, and let whatever happens happen. If the trauma of alien encounters proves to be too much, we have plenty of medicine for that. Remember, peace, love, and America!
+2 to non-combat rolls
-2 to combat rolls
The Game
Rolls will be done with a standard d6. The effects are as follows:
1: Hilarious Failure
2: Complete Failure
3: Partial Failure
4: Partial Success
5: Complete Success
6: Hilarious Overkill
Rolls less than 1 and more than 6 are possible due to status effects such as the intrinsic boosts from the factions. The effects of those rolls will be determined when they happen.
Each turn is
1 hour half an hour in-game. That means you have
5 10 turns before the aliens supposedly arrive.
There will be 6 spots in the game. 3 spots will be Conservatives, and 3 will be Liberals. Of those 3 spots, 1 will be an Extremist spot, and 2 will be Moderate spots. Though it is not required, I heavily encourage players to be in-character according to their respective factions. It will certainly be more entertaining that way.
Player List:
Extreme Conservative: Noodlerex
Moderate Conservative: NRDL
Moderate Conservative: RTD
Moderate Liberal: Imakuni
Moderate Liberal: Scelly9
Extreme Liberal: MonkeyHead
I have no plan for this, other than the introduction that I have laid out here. That means the players will have a large part in determining how this game will go. It keeps things interesting.
The way I have described the various factions is not meant to be perfectly accurate to the actual political factions in American government. I opted for entertainment value over accuracy in many places.
Click the link in the first spoiler at your own discretion.
If you don't choose what faction you want to be by the time you enter the game, you'll be automatically put in as the faction of the person you are replacing.
Dragor13
Geen
CatalystParadox (Extreme Liberal)
borno (Moderate Conservative) (retired)
