A Superhero and Supervillain Arms race like game based on that old Helmacon game.
Hero Thread:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=178121.0Villain Thread:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=178120.0Discord:
https://discord.gg/fDF5NgW8K2In this game you will help control one of two opposing factions, either a Association of Heroes, or a Cabal of Villains. (Renamed, ideally) You will recruit other super powered and highly skilled individuals to your faction, research fancy new gadgets and gizmos, and build massive secret (or not so secret) projects to accomplish your goal.
The game will deviate significantly from the original arms race formula. Instead of two constant fronts there will be a whopping twenty areas (I may cut down on them if they turn out to be too much, but I have a general plan to mitigate such issues.) that are always open to both sides. It will be up to you to choose who to deploy to which area, and the team you choose will help determine weather you keep the city safe or rob it blind. Succeeding in an area will provide a onetime boost in reputation and money. You will need to succeed again next year for another round of resources. The resource system will be expanded upon later in the game.
The other major deviation is the characters themselves. Instead of a large (and largely nameless) army, you will have a much small group of persistent characters. Each character will have several stats, and sometimes a power set. Stats can naturally change as the hero gains experience, but this process can be forced with the right tech or enough money. The different types of stats are as followed.
Lv 0: This person has no idea how to fight. Expect wind milling, hair pulling, and autistic screeching.
Lv 1: This person has a basic idea of combat. They can throw and take a punch and use things like pocket sand and sneak attacks to gain an upper hand.
Lv 2: This person has familiarized themselves with basic martial arts and weapon use. They know how to handle themselves in a fight.
Lv 3: This person has mastered several martial styles. They are fast, precise, and deadly. They move with a natural grace on the battlefield.
Lv 4: This person has gone beyond mastery, they hold an unparalleled skill and at least a few secret techniques. If they are trained to use other weapons, they integrate them seamlessly with their martial style. They do not miss a strike unless they intend to.
Lv 5: This is perfection of martial style. They play a perfect game every time, perceiving and reacting optimally at every moment. This level can usually only be obtained by some sort of power and makes an individual extremely dangerous. They will destroy you if you face them.
Lv 0: This person is just as likely to hurt themselves with a gun as an enemy.
Lv 1: This person understands the concepts of ranged combat. They can fire a gun or throw a knife, but don’t expect them to hit anything.
Lv 2: This individual knows how to fight at a range. They can use suppressive fire as a tool, and reliably hit shots.
Lv 3: This person is a crack shot. They can peg a moving target at range and use their weapons to support other assets on the ground. They are accurate, reliable, and expedient.
Lv 4: This person can end a fight before it begins. They know exactly how to engage a target at range and keep them there. They have an excellent sense of positioning of themselves and their allies and will use their skills to control the flow of battle as well as eliminate targets.
Lv 5: Usually some freakish supernatural perception, this person never misses a shot. They control a battlefield without being in it, will exploit any opportunity presented to them. Keep your head down, and pray for support.
Lv 0: This person is a bit challenged. They will likely need guidance on the battle field to be effective and should not be left alone with small objects.
Lv 1: These meat heads prefer a direct approach. They understand the flow of battle and positioning of forces but will be slow to detect a greater scheme. They prefer to leave the heavy thinking to the tech guys.
Lv 2: These guys have reached a Socratic level of knowledge, in that they are aware of the many things they do not know. Given time they can puzzle out a problem, and they may sense a trap before having walked into it.
Lv 3: These individuals make an effort to know things. They analyze a situation beforehand, and to some degree during as well. They have a working knowledge of many things, and usually a specialization or two as well. They are beginning to understand a greater game.
Lv 4: The chess master, the savant. This person has a razor-sharp mind. They can outplay you on the battlefield, and if left alone for too long will develop game changing technology. They are always positioning for the next engagement, always thinking three steps ahead. Beware.
Lv 5: A perfect, seamless mind. They remember everything they experience, and a few things they don’t. They read people like books and bend the natural world to their will. This level of intellect is not usually obtainable, granted by special powers or strange technology. Left alone, this individual would change the course of the world to suit their needs.
Hit points is how tough a character is. At half hit points, a unit is injured, and will need to spend time to recover. At ¼, they are gravely wounded, and will require additional time to recover. If they get below 10 and survive, they will likely be forever disfigured in some way, and may gain a trait alongside it.
Hit points will range anywhere from 100 to 1000
The amount of damage done to a character is determined by weapon/power strength. The combat stats work as modifiers on the chance to hit.
Recourses:Money: Used to fund/modify projects and research. Money is gained when successfully defending a city (or robbing it) and can be gained in a variety of other ways as well. Money can be converted to influence at a slight loss if necessary.
Influence: Used to fund/modify projects and research. Influence is gained when successfully defending a city (or terrorizing it) and can be gained in a variety of other ways as well. Influence may also be needed to gain access to other things. Influence can be converted to reputation at a slight loss if necessary.
Reputation: Reputation is unique to each unit. Reputation will modify recruitment results and may allow a character access to various other things as well. Recruitment is the only action for which the modifier will be constant. 100 reputation will give a modifier of (1.0) to the roll. You can spend as much or as little reputation on a recruitment roll as you like. Recruitment can sometimes be as straightforward as just picking someone, or finding clues to the whereabouts of an NPC who is favorable to your cause to meet and potentially recruit.
Projects/Research will have a baseline Money and Influence cost. This is the actual cost of procuring materials and paying for labor. Influence is for either getting the research/project approved, or keeping it a secret, depending on the nature of it. Additional money/influence beyond the baseline will provide modifiers to the roll. Paying the full cost of the project/research again will give a +1 modifier. Each additional +1 will require you to double all currently invested funds/influence. Rolls can not be modified outside of the 1-6 range.
Charecters:Each character will have a character sheet that lists their stats. An example is provided below.
Name: John Doe
Gender: Male
Appearance: This character dresses in a white spandex suit, with a gold dot in the middle. His skin is not visible under his uniform. He is of average height.
HP: 250/250
Powers:
Flight
Laser vision
Stats:
Combat, Melee: Lv 3
Combat Ranged: Lv 2
Intellect: Lv 3
Traits:
Punisher: He may lose initiative in a round in order to make a pun.
Milk toast: This hero gains reputation slower than his counterparts due to a lack of memorable personality.
Relationships:
Jane Doe – Interesting Foe, He has fought this character before and is now curious about them.
Specializations:
Aerial combat – This character gets a bonus when fighting in the air.
Equipment:
Heat resistant suit – This suit reduces damage from heat.
Laser goggles – These goggles focus this character’s laser vision, increasing chance to hit and damage dealt by a small amount.
Each character can perform one action per turn. This can be one of the aforementioned Project/Research/Recruitment actions, or it could be attacking or defending a city. The intellect trait will modify research and project actions. Large projects may require more than one turn of attention from a character. They can be pulled off of the project/research at any time, but another character attempting to take over the project will have extra difficulties for the first turn they work on it. Barring special events, you will only have one character per project/research. No doubling up.
Projects:The project and research phase will take place before the standard deployment phase. You can start 1 project or research per turn, with no maximum to the number you can have active at once. Whatever you choose as your project or research during said phase will have a money, influence, and time given for it, and will become open for assignment. A character can be assigned to work the project/research during the deployment phase. Once a project has been worked on for an appropriate amount of time, it will receive a roll with appropriate modifiers
from the character that performed the last research action to determine the result.
Maps and areas:Cities & GovernmentsAllfshys – The Capital of Pren Gwyn. It is a temperate place with calm sea's near it, yet is always bustling with activity. While a large industrial town, it recently has been trying to gain more tourism through the construction of a number of resorts and history museums, especially those of military history, as of late due to a slump in the local economy. Even then, it's ports still manage to stand busy as ever.
Casnewydd – Smaller than Allfshys, yet far more industrial. Despite the many past wars with Pren Gwyn's southern neighbor, the industry and ports of Casnewydd stand tall and still act as a major trade and production hub. Further, it serves as the gateway to the North East from the south of King Cadigans land by both road and rail, only furthering it's importance.
Creiggwin – Mainly a military port that once was the staging ground for transporting large numbers of soldiers to the north of Autanrum Island, it's importance in such manners has declines significantly with the island being ceded in the peace deal and the likelihood of future wars starting now reduced due to foreign influence. As such, it has gone through a bit of a slump much like Allfshys, but much worse.
Pentrefsiapaneaidd - Originally a mining town, the city has become a tourist destination for most who live in Pren Gwyn, and a decent chunk who don't. The city is a bastion of Asian minorities in Pren Gwyn, and everything from Chinese and Japanese to Filipinos and Indonesians live there, to the point that in the city, they aren't exactly a minority. The city is fairly prosperous due to this tourism, and rich in culture, though it has a slight issue with organized crime in certain places.
Großerthron – The Capital of Schwarzes Holz. It is what can best be described as a prosperous bread basket, with a significant amount of land surrounding the city dedicated to farming and agriculture. Likewise, most of the factories inside the capital are dedicated to processing the raw produce of the many farms into canned food, cheese, milk, lunch meats, and much more. Most famous however, is the local beer.
Kalterhafen – The city best known for it's extensive shipyards and still is responsible for most of Schwarzes Holz naval production. When not producing warships, it's slipways often have cargo ships, passenger liners and smaller personal ships being made. Despite this, it often relies upon imports of steel and machinery parts from it's own port somewhat ironically, though otherwise, it's harbor facilities are the greatest in Schwarzes Holz
Blitzsperre – An industrial center that during the war shifted production to aircraft. Most famous for producing many heavy fighters and bombers, all starting with the Rohesde ZBg.I A1/15 "Drachen" all those years ago... The city is mainly dedicated to the production of Aircraft, and has the iconic Brunhilde von Bothmer International Airport, named after the famous ace and eventual commander of the Airforce.
Messerbeißer - A major refinery city that has dedicated itself to the conversion of all the wealth extracted from the nearby mountains and hills into proper alloys and refined metals, and likewise has a large industry for turning that material into cars, appliances, and many other things. It is one of the most important industrial towns in the Empire, and so long as the mountains contain wealth, the city will march on. Though a spree of crime has struck the city of late...
Shiroigake – The Capital of Shirohon. One of the most badly damaged in the massive civil war that erupted in the north, the city practically had to be rebuilt in it's entirety after the civil war finally came to a close, with the Shirohon Southern Forces and the godking's sister claiming victory over the communists who managed to defeat the democratic rebels, noble traitors, and her brother's loyalist forces. Regardless, the city has been repaired after the long war, and mostly recovered, but some scars still exist, and the city is mostly a place of culture and arts.
Hamati – The northern city that was the heart of Suekata Takano's Communist forces, much like the capital, it needed to be rebuilt after it was taken, though to a far lesser extent simply due to the significantly less time that the city had proper major military battles take place in it. It is primarily dedicated to steelworking and many other factories and industry. Though, the city has hardly recovered economically, and suffers from a high amount of crime.
Minami no Kaigan – One of the cities a part of the Shirohon Southern Territories. Naturally, it wasn't harmed in the slightest in the civil war like the rest of the south. And as such, it is often a place where refined goods go to get processed, usually from Hamati. Similarly, due to local resources in the mountain, produces power for the entire island it is situated on. Unlike Hamati, the city is actually quite peaceful and doesn't have any sort of crime issues.
Matsu no Kishi - Another city of the Shirohon Southern Territories, it is one of the strongest centers of trade and cooperate business in the entirety of Arnot. Likewise, due to it's fair weather and the nearby mountains along with it's works of art, it also is a common resort and tourist spot, and has many commercial shops for said tourists to waste their money on.
Nowhendport – The Capital of Nemorland. It is a large city mainly defined by it's shipyards and the natural gas power that it uses to power both it and the surrounding area's. One of the cities most noteworthy features is the major naval base and a few museum ships in it's harbor, such as the Earspoon that served during the first Nemor-Sothweg War, and is the only Scout Cruiser preserved in the world.
Primebrook – A major boating and fishing location, full of fine hotels, restaurants, and beaches. It often has a lot of tourist activity in the summer, both eager to go to the beaches of the sea or the large lake. However, even in the winter and other seasons many come for the various casinos that exist. Without the tourists, it has a good fishing industry. It also has plenty of nice parks and even an old star fort that is open to the public, and that fort is also a bit of a tourist destination.
Forwit – A large city on the second most important island in Nemorland. It mainly produces electricity, and mines the fuel for the powerplants that produces that electricity. Specifically Nuclear power. Needless to say, due to the rise of meta humans, police were called so often to the power plant that the local government actually hired security personnel to prevent people from trying to go into the reactor to get superpowers. Yes, you theoretically may get powers, but you are just as likely to get yourself killed or get a horrible mutation...Or just get cancer and radiation poisoning like when things were normal.
Dorwich - The main commercial center of the island that it resides upon, Dorwich is a fancy city with tall buildings and many offices, a well built up port, and most importantly, a lot of stores and restaurants. Of interest is that it is also home to the main training facilities of the Nemorland Air Force. The air base near it was once for the Army branch of the Airforce before it became it's own branch. This needless to say causes a decent amount of noise pollution, not that that's really a problem...
Skógrholm – The Capital of Sothweg. Its royal palace long since converted into where the politburo conducts their governmental affairs. Like most cities in Sothweg since the Revolution, the city is dedicated to production, both of the armies arms and equipment, and other more civilian goods, like machine parts, factory equipment, and so forth. It mainly is supplied from the mining towns to the north to fuel its industry
Ravnfjord – The heart of the Peoples Navy. Ravnfjord is where many ships slide off the slip way to be added to the navy, though the majority of the ships that have been made are submarines rather than surface vessels. Even so, the city isn't purely dedicated to the Navy alone, and has a fairly good industry for cargo ships and fishing. It also is a key port and rail link for the transport of food across Sothweg.
Gullhyrndrburg – Gullhyrndrburg is a city that is dedicated to war. Other than the raw materials refined to be shipped to the other cities of the Republic, the city is basically a massive training ground for everything from the basic soldier, to pilots, to sailors, to even secret agents. That last part isn't entirely verified, but the official hq for the Sothweg Intelligence Network exists here. Regardless, it is a fairly no nonsense place. Then again, basically all of Sothweg is.
Járnsmiðrvik - Unlike the other cities of the Socialist Sothweg Republic, the focus on science and research is paramount in this place. Their work is mostly secluded in the hills while the lower area's produce the engines and hulls for varying vehicle prototypes. Of course, nothing much ever comes of this place, then again, sights of strange unidentified flying objects nearby are common, and that would be what Sothweg would want outsiders to think so their research could go unimpeded...
General InformationThe game is set in the mid 60's in the lands of some nations that may be familiar to those who have played my past games. For some strange reason, recently, a very small portion of the worlds population have slowly but surely started gaining strange powers, and these Meta humans are swiftly becoming an interest to the governments of the world, who are reacting to them in vastly different ways. Naturally, in part due to the nature of this game, expect Spy fi logic to exist with a decent chunk of the equipment and gadgets, and other such things that aren't 1 to 1 accurate to real life science or law...Also, for the first bit of the game, expect to deal with the actions of 'neutral' npc's a lot.
Also do not look at either sides starting hero's or villains unless you intend on joining that side or merely watching.
Your starting choices are going to be noticeably better than your immediate recruits. This is ok. All characters will get better as they gain experience, and you will have opportunities and your own research to improve them.