This is an idea I’ve had for quite a while and I would like to finally test it.
The Game:You are playing a major nation at the onset of nuclear weaponry and the goal is to become the dominant power of the world. To achieve this, you must use your diplomatic, economic and military assets to further your interests and sabotage those of your enemies. However, if the stakes become to high, everyone might loose.
M.A.D. is a bit like poker, except without the cards. The bets you make are the sole reason for your victory or defeat. Unlike poker however, players are not only allowed, but expected to banter, intimidate or backstab each other. There are no rules for communication about the game. You can openly discuss in this thread, message each other to form a secret alliance or whatever else you feel is necessary.
The Rules:There are six types of chips: Country’s, Economy, Money, Military, Nukes and Spy’s.
Country’s - These represent allied minor nations. They grant an income of 2 Money at the start of the turn and have a betting worth of 5 points.
Economy - The economic capabilities of your nation. You gain an income of 1 Money and they are worth 2 points.
Money - Good old cash. It is gained from Country and Economy’s and is needed to buy and maintain other chips. It has a betting worth of 1 point.
Military - Normal military units. They consume 1 money a the start of the turn, cost 1 money to be bought and are worth 1 point.
Nukes - The argument to end all arguments. They cost 5 money to buy but only consume 1 per turn and are worth 10 points.
Spy’s - The eyes and ears of your nation. They cost 2 money to buy, 1 to maintain and are worth 3 points.
Every player starts the game with 10 Country’s, 5 Economy, 10 Military and 3 Spy’s
At the start of each turn, a player collects the income and must pay his upkeep. If he can't pay all upkeep, he must discard chips until he can.
Afterward s he can buy as many chips as he wants and can afford.
Once this has been done by everyone, the betting phase starts.
The beginner must bet chips worth 5 points to start the turn. The next player must then bet chips with the same or higher worth.
(The order of players will be decided by order of sign up unless the players want to agree to some other turn order.)
Afterward s, every player can raise his bet at any point he wishes to do so by any amount he wishes to. A player doesn’t need to place a bet to remain in the game, nor does a player need to bet as much as the currently highest bet.
The sum of all bets made by players is the pot, which will be won by the players at the end of the turn.
However, not all chips transfer 1 to 1 from bets to the pot.
For every 2 economy’s that have been set, the pot contains 3 and for every 2 Military’s, Nukes or Spy’s, the pot contains only 1 chip of this type.
A player may fold at every time. His already placed bet will remain in play but he cant raise it anymore and cant receive anything from the pot.
The betting phase, and thus the turn, is over once every player except one has folded or all remaining players have unanimously decided how to divide the pot between each other. Afterward s a new turn starts.
The game ends once every player except one have lost all their chips or all remaining players have unanimously agreed upon a victor.
Special Rules:Catastrophes:An important thing to consider during betting are Catastrophes. Every chip of a given type in the bets counts towards a limit. Once this limit is exceeded, a Catastrophe occurs. The effects of these range from annoying to game ending and you should keep in mind how high the stakes already are before placing a dozen armies and a few nukes on top of it.
The limit of a given chip type is determined at the start of the turn by dice-roll and is unknown to the players.
Country’s
Limit: (Number of Players)d6
Catastrophe: broken alliances - All Country’s are removed from the bets and divided evenly among the players. If they cant be divided evenly, the leftover Country’s are placed back into the pot but don’t count as part of the bet of any player anymore.
Economy
Limit: (3x Number of Players)d6
Catastrophe: economic crisis - All Economy chips in the pot are removed from play and every player looses half of the Economy chips he owns.
Money
Limit: (3x Number of Players)d6
Catastrophe: financial breakdown - All money chips are removed from play, irregardless if they are owned or part of a bet or which player they belong to.
Military
Limit: (5x Number of Players)d6
Catastrophe: war - Country’s are divided as per the broken alliances catastrophe but leftover Country’s and all other chips in the pot are removed from play. All players who haven’t folded already loose half of their owned Economy and Money chips. The turn ends.
If at least one Nuke chip is part of a bet by an player who hasn't folded, war is automatically upgraded to nuclear war.
Nukes
Limit: (Number of Players)d6 - d6 (minimum 1)
Catastrophe: nuclear war - All chips in the pot are removed from play. All players who haven't folded loose all their chips and leave the game. If only one player has Nukes as a part of his bet and all other players who haven't folded don't own any Nukes, this player may resume to play but must discard all Military, Nuke, Spy and Money chips and half of his Country and Economy chips. The turn ends.
Spy
Limit: (2x Number of Players)d6
Catastrophe: international incident - All spy’s in bets or the pot are removed from play. Limits for all types of chips are halved for the remainder of the turn.
Forced BetAt any time, a player can call for a forced bet.
All players must either fold or bet chips so that the total worth of their bet is at least that of the bet of the player who called the forced bet.
Be warned that this might easily trigger a Catastrophe.
Anyone interested?
Im planning for 5 players but we might start with fewer or more, depending on the resonance.
List of Players1. | a1s | People's Free Democratic Republic of Southern Dirkastan |
2. | GreatWyrmGold | Great Wyoming Government |
3. | alamoes | Great Socialist Republic of Texas |
4. | Mlamlah | Trenchcoat Monarchy of Panspacia |
5. | Rolepgeek | Socialist States of Southern Slavia |
6. | Ghazkull | Freigardian Confederacy |
7. | Emral282 | Eurocorp |
All slots are taken but you may be able to take over the nation of an inactive player at a later date.