Those of you who follow Rollers Block may recognize this as the sixth incarnation of a grand strategy game that I've been poking at forever. It has long outstripped its RTD roots, so I figured this was an appropriate time to kick it up a forum.
The most active "main" players are Patricians, head of a prestigious noble house whose support is crucial to The Empire
tm. The Empire
tm is situated on a small island on another world, and has recently discovered the magical means to create a Bridge to this new world, a world full of natural resources and all kinds of good things, as well as waves upon waves of hostile
Gnoll tribes. The PCs have received an Imperial Mandate to colonize and exploit the new world, and are allowed to claim land and resources as their own provided they pay tribute to the Emperor.
The PCs aren't just given free reign by The Empire
tm, however- some lands are claimed in the name of the Emperor himself, and there are Imperial forces available to help defend the citizens. The Emperor has grown old and weak- more importantly, he lacks an Heir to the throne. The twisted old man sees competition in the new world as a way to determine who should be Emperor. Periodically, The Emperor sets tasks for the Patricians- those who complete those tasks the best gain the Favor of the Emperor. The Patrician with the highest Favor of the Emperor at the time of his death receives the allegiance of the Imperial Forces- not that this is likely to deter the other Patricians from trying to take the throne for themselves! A Patrician loses when his Character is killed, and no Heir exists to continue the House. The game is over when one Patrician controls the Imperial City and controls more Regions than the other claimants combined, or when all Imperial factions have been defeated.
Random waitlisters may also "Guest Star" as rampaging Megabeasts or Warlords. Megabeasts normally have an objective of some kind, with a side of World Burning thrown in. Warlords are typically Gnolls, though in some cases they may be renegades from other factions (Imperial or otherwise.) They function as a faction much like the Patricians, but with some differences- they cannot colonize new regions, they have limited recruitment options, and they are hostile to any Imperial-aligned side. They often have higher maintenance costs and Warlords may have certain obligations imposed on them by their Horde.
The world is grouped into regions, much like a Risk board. Regions have a base production based on the terrain type, and have a number of Improvement Slots which can be used to boost production or provide other bonuses to the slot's controller.
Mountain terrain is impassable to most units, and cannot be colonized; Explore actions targeting a Mountain do not consume any Pop, but instead require an extra Coin. It may spawn with a Mountain Pass feature, which randomly connects two adjacent regions and allows movement, if not colonization. Mountainous regions sometimes have valuable resources that are difficult to acquire, but usually they exist only to get in the way. They are smaller than most other regions.
Hills terrain is rugged and unsuitable for serious farming, but is ideal for Mining and is often home to valuable resources. Hilly regions are average sized.
Arid (Desert/Tundra) terrain is desolate and difficult to colonize, as few Improvements can be built there. Armies in Arid terrain require an additional 1 Coin and 1 Food in maintenance to survive. Arid terrain is average sized.
Plains are the preferred settling places of most citizens in the Empire, suitable for a wide variety of purposes. Plains tend to be large, sweeping regions.
Swamp terrain is boggy, marshy and unpleasant. It is possible to farm there, but the things you usually find in swamps are dangerous and evil. Swamps are small regions.
Water terrain, like Mountains, cannot be colonized. However, it does have free Improvement slots which represent habitable coastlines of neighboring regions. Water terrain is impassable unless there are allied Shipyards built on it. Water terrain forms large regions.
Imperial Favor represents how well the Emperor likes the House, and has several uses. It is most important in determining who the Imperial Forces align with upon the death of the Emperor, but also factors in how the Emperor acts while still alive. Finally, players with the highest Favor act first, with Population as a tiebreaker and, if it comes down to it, a roll-off. Favor is gained by owning entire Regions and completing Imperial Mandates, and is lost by ignoring the wishes of the Emperor, failing a Task assigned by the Emperor, and losing Regions to non-Imperial forces. When Favor is less than 0, Bad Things happen.
Population is how many citizens owe the House allegiance. Population consumes Food, and produces Coin in the form of taxes. Population is also required to train military units. Population grows by 1 per turn as long as Food is positive and the Pop Cap has not been reached. The maximum Population you can have is determined by Improvements.
Food is how much food is produced under the direct control of your House. It is expressed as X/Y (Z) where X is the amount of food currently stockpiled in granaries, Y is the maximum amount of Food that can be stockpiled (base of 10,) and Z is the rate at which food is stockpiled. Food is necessary to maintain your Population, and as such is a valuable strategic asset. If you do not have enough Food to feed your people, Pops starve to death, and if the difference is great enough, so do Regiments (who are more likely to go brigand than starve.) Food is produced by certain Improvements and Resources, drained by Pop and Random Events, and can be directly traded between players like Resources.
Coin represents the wealth of the House. Most actions require Coin, and Coin is required to maintain a standing military. Coin is produced by Pop, Improvements and Resources, and drained by military, player action, and Imperial Tribute. Of course, Random Events can mess with this most thoroughly.
Assets are the Improvement Slots owned by the House. They commonly increase one of the other stats, and may be required for certain buildings/units/actions. Resources granted by an Improvement are never consumed- control of a resource represents control of the supply of that resource, and as long as the supply is maintained the benefit is conferred. That supply line can be mucked with by enemy action or Random Events, however.
The Armies stat is a summary of your forces in the field, including size, leader, and location. Armies have a maintenance cost of 2 Coin, plus 1 Coin per Regiment in the Army.
Characters are historically significant figures who are associated with the House, including the relatives and heirs of the Head of House. Characters usually have a Coin upkeep cost, though family members do not, and some Characters have more exotic requirements.
Characters enter the game slowly of their own volition, though random events may cause them to spring into being. To start, they are in an unclaimed Character Pool, from which any House may attempt to recruit them. Characters join the faction which makes them the best offer- factions make offers by offering higher wage (maintenance cost) than any other faction. If two offers are equal, the Character joins neither faction. Once they exist, they have their own life and relationships- they might stay with one House their entire life, leave or be cast off as the result of Events and/or player action, or they might bounce from faction to faction as a mercenary.
In general, players should have the freedom to do what they want (results determined by standard d6,) but there are many common actions that have established costs and effects.
Explore- Players fund an organized exploration effort to any unexplored region for 2 Coin and 2 Pop. The exploration returns knowledge of what is in that region, and builds a Settlement under the control of that Player. Players may Explore only once per turn.
Military Management- Players order their armies to march or fight- most armies can only move one region per turn, but there is no specific limit on the number of attacks/moves a player can make in one turn.
Region Management- Players pay Coin to construct an Improvement, or use the ability of an existing Improvement (e.g using the Barracks to train a new Regiment.)
Diplomacy- Players can initiate diplomatic action, often for trading purposes. Players may treat with whomever they like, though if they consort with enemies of the Empire there may be Imperial Censure. Treaties within the Empire are enforced by Imperial might- breaking a treaty may result in heavy fines or even confiscation of territory. The Emperor normally does not care what arrangements are made between the Patricians and outside forces, but he never approves of dealings with Gnolls and reserves the right to bring Patricians into line with Imperial Foreign Policy as it changes.
Improvement Slots represent the workable land within an explored Region. Claims are on a per-slot basis, so multiple factions can occupy a single region; nothing prevents friendly factions from sharing regions the entire game. Houses do prefer to own entire Regions, however, as that increases Imperial Favor.
Farm- Can be built on Plains or Swamp for 5 Coin. Provides +1 Food per turn.
Tract Farming- Replaces Farm, costs 10 Coin. Provides +2 Food per turn.
Cash Crops- Costs 10 Coin, gives access to a particular type of resource.
Settlement- Built as part of the Explore Action, increases Population Cap by 2, Provides +1 Coin per turn. Has 2 HP- Each time an enemy would attempt to Pillage this Improvement, they gain no Coin and instead reduce HP by 1. Improvement is pillaged if reduced to HP 0
Town- Replaces Village, costs 10 Coin and 5 Pop. Increases Population Cap by 4, Provides +2 Coin per turn, has 3 HP
City- Replaces Town, costs 20 Coin and 10 Pop. Increases Population Cap by 8, Provides +4 Coin per turn and provides +1 bonus to Defending Army if they control entire Region, has 3 HP
Market- Costs 10 Coin. Provides +3 Coin
Forum- Replaces Market, Requires Town or City, costs 10 Coin. Provides +5 Coin
Mine- Can be built on Hills for 5 Coin, provides +2 Coin per turn
Shaft Mine- Replaces Mine, provides +4 Coin per turn
Training Ground- Costs 5 Coin, allows recruitment of One Imperial Legion per turn
Barracks- Replaces Training Ground, Requires Town or City, Costs 10 Coin. Works as a Training Ground, but also acts as free defense of a Region by fighting invading armies as if it were an Army with Power 2
Garrison- Replaces Barracks, Requires City, Costs 20 Coin. Works as Barracks, but fights invaders as if it were an Army with Power 4
Guard Towers- Costs 5 Coin, provides +1 Power to any allied Army in the Region.
Walls- Replaces Guard Towers, Requires Town or City, Costs 10 Coin, provides +2 Power to any allied Army in the Region. Has 2 HP
Fortifications- Replaces Walls, Requires City, Costs 20 Coin, provides +4 Power to any allied Army in the Region. Has 3 HP
Dock- Can be built on any Tile adjacent to a Water Region for the cost of 10 Coin. Provides +1 Coin per turn, allows Tile Improvements to be built on the Water Region directly, and allows one Army to sail to any Region adjacent to the Water Region. Attacking from the sea incurs a -2 penalty to the attack.
Shipyard- Replaces Dock, costs 10 Coin. Provides same benefits as Dock, but extra fleets allow passage of up to 3 Armies per turn. If attacking from the sea, each extra fleet not carrying an army reduces the penalty by 1.
Fishing Village- Can be built on any Tile adjacent to a Water Region for the cost of 10 Coin. Provides +1 Food per turn.
Monument- Costs 10 Coin, provides +1 Imperial Favor
Colosseum- The Emperor loves his blood sports! Requires Town or City, Costs 30 Coin, provides +5 Imperial Favor
Wonder- It's big and pointlessly expensive, but it glorifies the Emperor! Requires City, Costs 50 Coin, provides +10 Imperial Favor
An Army is a group of Regiments lumped together, that moves around on the world map. Armies have a maintenance cost of 3 Coin, plus 1 Coin per Regiment in the Army. The base size limit of an Army is 3 Regiments. Armies are greatly improved by having commanders of some kind, particularly a General. If the General of an Army is killed, then command defaults to a junior General attached to the Army- if no such commander exists, there is a 3/6 chance a young officer keeps the army together (becoming a Character,) otherwise the Army falls apart, with some Regiments deserting and the rest retreating to the nearest friendly city. Armies have Power, which reflects how capable they are in combat. The basic Regiment of the game is the Imperial Legion, which grants 2 Power to any Army they belong to.
Generals are a particular type of Character who help Armies fight- while any Character can act as commander of an Army, only Generals are good at it, able to field larger Armies. Generals have a Logistics score which determines the size of their Army, as well as the Special Abilities of any Character that may have an effect on their performance in or out of battle. Every time a General (or any Character) survives Combat, they roll 1d6- on a 6+ they gain a positive trait, and on a 1 they gain a negative trait. Generals who win get a +1 to this check.
Desertion is what happens when an Army falls apart, whether it be a leaderless Army, a Regiment who can't be paid or fed, or some other adverse scenario. Roll 1d6. On a 1, the unit becomes a Brigand and terrorizes a Tile, preventing it from producing resources. On a 2-3, the unit gives up military life entirely, joining the nearest friendly faction as an unassigned Pop. On a 4-6, the unit's morale holds and it keeps fighting the good fight- this means it stays with its current faction, joining the pool of loose Regiments or joining the nearest friendly side.
Armies are based in particular Regions, and can move One Region per turn. Regions can comfortably house one friendly army at a time- this number can be increased by Improvements or General abilities. Armies beyond that, as well as Armies that are in hostile territory incur extra maintenance costs as it becomes difficult to supply them. Armies attack by moving into a hostile region that has an enemy army to defend it- if there is no defending army, the region is occupied by the attacker.
Combat itself is very simple; First, any special abilities of the Generals or the Region's improvements activates. Then, each army rolls Xd6, where X is that army's Power. Every 6 that is rolled destroys an enemy Regiment. Units with the lowest Power are destroyed first, barring special abilities.
If all the defenders are dead and the attacker has units left, the attacker takes control of the Region. If the defender is victorious and has more units than the attacker, the invasion is thwarted and nothing special happens. If the attacker does not win, but still has more units than the defender, then the Region is Contested. This means that the invading army remains within the Region, the Region produces no resources for that turn, and the attacker may designate one Improvement Slot to pillage, plundering Coin and possibly destroying the Improvement.
House JordainImperial Favor: 1
Population: 5/5(5)
Specialists: None
Happiness: 5
Food: 20/20(-5)
Coin: 10
Resources: None
Characters:
Patrician Monk of House Jordain:
Personal Bodyguard,
Head of House,
Logistics 3,
Farmer I'm actually kinda happy with this for a change, though Characters and their acquisition/attributes needs to be expanded a bit, and I'd like to make Regions a little more interesting in terms of terrain. And usually every time I poke at this, I later decide I hate the combat and do everything over, but hopefully that won't happen this time.
Feedback appreciated!
Author
Topic: Gaming Block (Game Discussion Thread) (Totally Not Roller's Block) (Read 418572 times)