The Mechanics' Guild: An RP(G) Community

[Harkback Union]

Honestly, I find the background concept of Aether Wind to be incredibly interesting.

If it doesn't get chosen, I might actually end up writing my own mechanics for the concept. Suitably abstracted, of course.

Aetherwind is probably has the most cumbersome rules of all the games (and has horrific spelling), rewriting it from scratch would be ideal.
Perhaps we could collaborate on a google document on this one?

[Harkback Union]

Last Colonies was truly excellent.

You only say that because you rushed nukes and rekt everyone.

In all fairness though, I think it had the best rules I ever played. And the coolest map.

I'll take that as a vote for last colonies.

[Plzen]

Honestly, I find the background concept of Aether Wind to be incredibly interesting.

If it doesn't get chosen, I might actually end up writing my own mechanics for the concept. Suitably abstracted, of course.

Aetherwind is probably has the most cumbersome rules of all the games (and has horrific spelling), rewriting it from scratch would be ideal.
Perhaps we could collaborate on a google document on this one?

I have a feeling that a co-operation between us two might not actually be that easy. What few RPs of yours that I've seen makes it pretty clear that we have very different rule-writing philosophies.

It might be better for me to just write it without interference, and hand it over to the community so that I can catch any glaring stupidities.

[Harkback Union]

Aetherwind is probably has the most cumbersome rules of all the games (and has horrific spelling), rewriting it from scratch would be ideal.
Perhaps we could collaborate on a google document on this one?

I have a feeling that a co-operation between us two might not actually be that easy. What few RPs of yours that I've seen makes it pretty clear that we have very different rule-writing philosophies.

It might be better for me to just write it without interference, and hand it over to the community so that I can catch any glaring stupidities.

All right, I'm looking forward to what you come up with!

[Plzen]

All right, I'm looking forward to what you come up with!

I wanted to start with an economics system, and use that to drive everything else. So here it is.

Unpolished ramblings 1: economics

Each player nation has capital and labour assigned to each of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Capital and labour are both tracked by province (so they can be, for example, conquered), but only national totals are used for economics calculations. Production in each sector is dependent on the availability of capital and labour in those sectors (logarithmic mean function, I think).

Production in the primary sector will supply whatever natural resource - energy, ice, or materials (consider adding more?) - is available in that province.

Production in the secondary sector will demand natural resources and produce industrial goods. The interaction between world total supply and demand sets the price of natural resources (in terms of industrial goods), and a corresponding sum is subtracted from the quantity of industrial goods produced. If there is a shortage, this production is further diminished. If a nation embargoes another nation, the first nation's supply of natural resources is not considered for the purposes of setting the price of natural resources in the second nation.

Production in the tertiary sector generates education points (that can be used for research, military leadership, social change, espionage, etc. etc) equivalent to the total production of industrial goods by the secondary sectors of all player nations that player nation has a trade agreement with, multiplied by double the proportion of total world tertiary sector production that the player nation represents (so, for example, if I represent 6% of the world total tertiary sector output, I get income equivalent to 12% of the combined income of everyone I have trade relations with).

Labour will slowly shift to whichever sector has the highest revenue (in terms of industrial goods) per labourer. Capital does not shift. Players may subsidise a specific sector to artificially inflate its production.

A certain portion of the total revenue of a player nation is reserved for the player to spend. The rest is consumed by the populace or automatically invested into new capital in the sector that has the highest productivity per capital.

So to illustrate all this, imagine a simple scenario where there only exists one nation. The variables are as follows:

Primary Sector (assuming same production of all three resources):
Labour 2
Capital 8

Secondary Sector:
Labour 2
Capital 2

Tertiary Sector:
Labour 9
Capital 1

No subsidies to any sector.

The productivity of the sectors are 4, 2, and 3 respectively. The Primary Sector produces 4 of each resource, and the Secondary Sector demands 2, so the price of the natural resources are 0.5*(4*2)^0.5, or 0.25. The Primary Sector earns 0.25*4, or 1 (industrial goods). The Secondary Sector produces 2, and pays 0.5, so its income is 1.5 (industrial goods). Since this is the only nation, it represents 100% of Tertiary Sector production, and it has a trade relations with itself (obviously), the Tertiary Sector earns 3 (education points).

The total national income is 2.5 industrial goods and 3 education points. If the tax rate is 10%, the player will earn 0.2 industrial goods and 0.3 education points to spend in whatever, and the rest will be consumed by the populace or reinvested.

The Secondary Sector has the highest revenue per labour, so labour will slowly shift towards the Secondary Sector. The Tertiary Sector has the highest rate of return on capital, so any new investment will go to the Tertiary Sector.

[Harkback Union]

Interesting... I'm not a fan of <0 numbers though, would use 100% tax rates.

[Plzen]

Interesting... I'm not a fan of <0 numbers though, would use 100% tax rates.

If the State takes 100% of national production, then the people will take 0% of national production, and you will find that starving people with literally no income is not conductive to population growth, national stability, government popularity, or any of the other things that strong nations generally have.

[The Burning Sun]

You know, I was working on this RP based on Sunless Sea that's pretty close to completion...

When I get back from vacation, I'll try and post a short summary of the rules.

[Harkback Union]

You know, I was working on this RP based on Sunless Sea that's pretty close to completion...

When I get back from vacation, I'll try and post a short summary of the rules.

I think I made one of those too, or at least I wanted to.

[Harkback Union]

Interesting... I'm not a fan of <0 numbers though, would use 100% tax rates.

If the State takes 100% of national production, then the people will take 0% of national production, and you will find that starving people with literally no income is not conductive to population growth, national stability, government popularity, or any of the other things that strong nations generally have.

I am well aware of that.

[Harkback Union]

All right, I'm looking forward to what you come up with!

I wanted to start with an economics system, and use that to drive everything else. So here it is.

Unpolished ramblings 1: economics

Each player nation has capital and labour assigned to each of the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. Capital and labour are both tracked by province (so they can be, for example, conquered), but only national totals are used for economics calculations. Production in each sector is dependent on the availability of capital and labour in those sectors (logarithmic mean function, I think).

Production in the primary sector will supply whatever natural resource - energy, ice, or materials (consider adding more?) - is available in that province.

Production in the secondary sector will demand natural resources and produce industrial goods. The interaction between world total supply and demand sets the price of natural resources (in terms of industrial goods), and a corresponding sum is subtracted from the quantity of industrial goods produced. If there is a shortage, this production is further diminished. If a nation embargoes another nation, the first nation's supply of natural resources is not considered for the purposes of setting the price of natural resources in the second nation.

Production in the tertiary sector generates education points (that can be used for research, military leadership, social change, espionage, etc. etc) equivalent to the total production of industrial goods by the secondary sectors of all player nations that player nation has a trade agreement with, multiplied by double the proportion of total world tertiary sector production that the player nation represents (so, for example, if I represent 6% of the world total tertiary sector output, I get income equivalent to 12% of the combined income of everyone I have trade relations with).

Labour will slowly shift to whichever sector has the highest revenue (in terms of industrial goods) per labourer. Capital does not shift. Players may subsidise a specific sector to artificially inflate its production.

A certain portion of the total revenue of a player nation is reserved for the player to spend. The rest is consumed by the populace or automatically invested into new capital in the sector that has the highest productivity per capital.

So to illustrate all this, imagine a simple scenario where there only exists one nation. The variables are as follows:

Primary Sector (assuming same production of all three resources):
Labour 2
Capital 8

Secondary Sector:
Labour 2
Capital 2

Tertiary Sector:
Labour 9
Capital 1

No subsidies to any sector.

The productivity of the sectors are 4, 2, and 3 respectively. The Primary Sector produces 4 of each resource, and the Secondary Sector demands 2, so the price of the natural resources are 0.5*(4*2)^0.5, or 0.25. The Primary Sector earns 0.25*4, or 1 (industrial goods). The Secondary Sector produces 2, and pays 0.5, so its income is 1.5 (industrial goods). Since this is the only nation, it represents 100% of Tertiary Sector production, and it has a trade relations with itself (obviously), the Tertiary Sector earns 3 (education points).

The total national income is 2.5 industrial goods and 3 education points. If the tax rate is 10%, the player will earn 0.2 industrial goods and 0.3 education points to spend in whatever, and the rest will be consumed by the populace or reinvested.

The Secondary Sector has the highest revenue per labour, so labour will slowly shift towards the Secondary Sector. The Tertiary Sector has the highest rate of return on capital, so any new investment will go to the Tertiary Sector.

I had somewhat similar rules commissioned for a civ game, but the OP rejected it and used his nonsensical mechanics instead.

Every civilization would have RPG-like stats, increasing these is the goal of the game.

Land: How much land your civ has.
Agriculture: Defines total population of your civilization
Mining: Represents total Resource extraction in your civilization
Industry: Stands for industrial output
Commerce: Stands for service sector, generates money.
Science: How much technologically advanced one civ's, Industry, Agriculture and military is.
Army: How big an army you have
Navy: How big a navy you have
Airforce: How big an airforce you have
Culture: How much entertainment there is for your people.

And money and happiness, and population supplied/accumulated over time, used to buy stuff or prevent riots.
Population is just your agriculture *3 (or *4, 5, 6 after industrial age)

The following rules govern these stats:
Base growth:
Each civ can increase any of their stat by 1 each turn (whatever you call turns), as long as it doesn't conflict with any other rules. Increasing land is always an option.

Regarding land:
How much land you can have is only restricted by how much there is to conquer. Each 5 province on the map counts as 1 unit of land.
For each unit of land, you can have up to 2 agriculture or 2 mining or 1 agriculture, 1 mining. Basically, (Agriculture + mining) * 2 Cannot be greater then land

Regarding Agriculture.
Agriculture feeds your workers. Each agriculture is needed to maintain up to 3 score in the following categories:
Industry, Mining, Commerce, Culture, Army, Navy, Airforce, so your total (Industry + mining + Commerce + Culture + Army + Navy + airforce) * 3 Cannot be greater then your agriculture.

Regarding mining
No Civilization can have more industry then mining.

Regarding industry
Each civ can use their industry to:
increase their army/navy/airforce/mining/industry/commerce (anything but land, agriculture, culture and science) by 1 for each industry
or
combine 1 industry with 1 commerce to triple its income.
No civilization can have more industry then science.
No Civilization can have more industry then mining.

Regarding commerce
Each unit of commerce makes you 1 money (or 3 if multipliplied with industry). You can carry over money between turns.
You can spend money to maintain armies, buy science, maintain culture to and build wonders.

Science
Limits how much industry you can have. 1 Science allows for 1 industry.
Also, science determine's your civilization's tech level. For each 10 science you have, move up 1 tech level.
If you have more science then another civ, you can buy that other civ 1 science at the expense of 2 money per science donated.
Otherwise, You can buy 1 science for 10 wealth each or increase it with base growth.
Tech levels:
Science 0 - 9:
0 - ancient times. Meh. You can share science by using wealth as default.
Science 10 - 19:
1 - BC tech. Allows you to build 1 wonder at the expense of 20 wealth. Build navies and win naval wars to block off naval trade between civs or to allow you to launch land wars against overseas civs. Allows other civs to use your agriculture/wealth/mining/industry to improve/maintain their score instead of yours.(with your permission).
Science 20 - 29:
2 - Dark age tech. Science cannot be bought with wealth or shared from or to you while you are at this tech level.
Science 30 - 39:
3 - 1500's tech. Culture costs half as much wealth to maintain from now on.
Science 40 - 49:
4 - 1700's tech. Buying science costs just 8 wealth from now on.
Science 50 - 59:
5 - 1800's tech. Industry combined with commerce now quadruples income. Future tech levels are gained after 15 science instead of 10. Agriculture can maintain 4 other scores. You can build a 2nd wonder.
Science 60 - 74:
6 - Turn of the century tech. Airforce. Fighting air wars allow you to destroy 1 score of your opponent other then land, agriculture, science or culture for every 5 airforce you have every turn (even during the air war). Industry combined with commerce now 5x income. Agriculture can maintain 5 other scores. Your civilization can share culture, meaining other civs can rely on your culture to entertain their people, but this costs you 1 extra wealth per civ you share culture to. Sharing culture is different from sharing other scores as both civs get the benifits instead of just one. Future tech levels are gained after 20 science instead of 15.
Science 75 - 90
7 - Interwar/WW2 tech. Industry combined with commerce now 6x income. Science sharing costs just 1 wealth. Agriculture can maintain 6 other scores. Future tech levels are gained after 30 science instead of 15.
Science
8 - Atomic age tech (Nukes?). Industry combined with commerce now 7x income.
9 - Digital age tech. Science sharing is free. Steal tech from any civ on the planet.
10 - Future tech. If you get 50 more science after getting to this tech level, win.

Regarding army, navy and airforce
Each score in these categories cost 1 money per turn to maintain (if you cant pay up, lose score). Dont just Compare them to win land/sea/air wars, instead, during a war, remove 1 score * opponent's tech level - 5 in airwars, 1 in naval wars (minimum of 1) + 2 If your score is less then half of your opponent's each turn from your own side until one sides gets to 0, then that side loses. You cannot have airforce score before tech level 6. You cannot have navy score before tech level 1. You can discarde 10 land army score to gain 1 land (if there is any to conquer).

Regarding culture
Each culture costs 1 wealth to maintain
Each culture entertains 6 population. Having more then 12 unentertained population may result in riot events (you come up with something).
Having 2 times as much entertainment as needed gives you 1 extra science each turn.


Other concepts:
Tech stealing. You automatically gain 1 science per turn if your science score is smaller then your neighbor's by 10.

[The Burning Sun]

So, the Sunless Sea thing...

It's faction based, with players representing one of the several cities on the Sunless Sea. Rather than focus on base building, it's more based around mercantile competition. Each player controls a fleet that they can use to establish trade routes with ports or even seize them for themselves. Furthermore, in addition to the basic currency of the game players also have an Influence rating which represents their fleet's power within their own faction. Influence, though it can be spent on espionage and other largely immaterial endeavors(being essentially the premium currency in a freemium game) must also be carefully guarded, for having too little or too much can lead to...unintended side effects.

Finally, players will also have to contend with the mysteries of the sea they sail. Careful exploration can yield lucrative rewards, while reckless exploitation will most likely doom your sailors to a permanent, watery grave.

[Plzen]

[...] while reckless exploitation will most likely doom your sailors to a permanent, watery grave.

Press on with the sails. New trade routes are rare and lucrative in a way that conscripted sailors are not.

[Excidium Planetis]

Okay, I know I've been saying this for... over a year now, but now I really am almost done with that adaption of Homeworld's rules. I want to keep the complete tech tree hidden from players, so I won't post everything here, but I'd some comment on the starting ruleset. Is it easily understandable? Does it seem balanced or fair? What improvements can be made?

For eight decades, humanity has been locked in a war with the Ennegae, a batlike alien race

An Ennegae

as cruel as they are powerful. At first, defeat seemed imminent, but the fractured human worlds set aside their rivalries and united under a common banner. Together, they drove the Ennegae back, and at one time a human victory was still possible to imagine… yet not anymore.

For years, the Ennegae have defeated human fleets, and begun the assault on human colonies. And now, the worst news of all has arrived. Sol Fleet, once the last line of defense to defend Earth, and then the only human military fleet capable of defending the inner colonies, has been destroyed by an Ennegae fleet in battle at the Arkon system, defending the terrestrial world of Arkon IV. Now, the human worlds are nearly defenseless, and it is only a matter of time before the Ennegae wipe out every last colony.

In desperation, a final starfleet of military and civilian vessels gather at Earth, to make a last desperate strike at the Ennegae: infiltrate enemy space and assault the Ennegae homeworld while their fleets are away…

And now the Rules:

TLDR Rules: You have a ship. There are crew on the ship. Each turn you give those crews orders to do stuff, and they do it. These orders include mining, making stuff, building stuff, and killing stuff. All these things take resources to do, sometimes fuel, sometimes metals, sometimes tools. The goal is to survive. Aliens will eat you if you do not do your things.

Explanation of the stuffs:

The Resources harvested from deep space:

Light Elements: Mostly non-metals and Hydrogen. Used to build life support systems and in provision production.
Heavy Elements: Mostly transition metals, used to build ships.
Rare Elements: Mostly heavy metals. Needed for fancy weapons and technology.

...and then use them to make what they need...

The Goods manufactured on board:

Provisions: Food and medical supplies for your crew. You'll be in serious trouble if this runs out. Each unit of crew consumes 1 provisions every day.

Fuel: Used to Propel most spaceships forward and generate energy for ship systems. Better not run out of this either.

Munitions: Needed for reloading most ship weapons.

Small Arms: Used in Close quarters combat by ship crews. Does not consume munitions. (give 1 small arms to 1 unit of crew to arm them for close quarters battle)

Space Tools and Parts: Used to make repairs and upgrades on ships. (You can assign 1 crew for repair duty with 1 space tools. You can only repair minor damage. Destroyed sections have to be rebuilt from scratch)

Scientific Equipment: Used up during research and construction.

Agricultural Equipment: Used up during construction.

Industrial Equipment: Used up during construction.

...Each Mothership consists of sections. Each section serves some purpose...

Ship sections:

Crew Quarters: Houses 1 unit of Crew or 100 people. Uses 1 energy on average. The ones you start with do not come with crew but you can wake crew up from cryosleep (see later).
-Construction Cost: 2 Light elements, 2 Heavy Elements, 2 space tools, 2 crew for 24 hr or 1 Crew for 48 hours.

Reactor: Powers your ship. Consumes 1 fuel each day you use it to produce energy. Produces 20 energy normally. If you cut back on energy use on your ship, You may save fuel here. If you add many sections to your mothership, You may need another reactor. Your starting Reactor cannot be targeted in ship-to-ship combat unless 11 or fewer ship sections remain.
-Construction Cost: 3 Heavy Elements, 1 Rare elements, 2 Space tools, 2 crew for 24 hr or 1 Crew for 48 hr.

Refinery: Very important section. Refinery has 2 resource collectors that can harvest elements from asteroids and gas clouds. Requires 2 unit of crew and 4 energy to operate at full capacity. Produces up to 2 units of elements each day.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Light Elements, 1 Rare Elements, 2 Space tools, 2 crew for 24 hr or 1 Crew for 48 hr.

Production Facility: Consumes 2 Heavy Elements to produce one of the following: 2 Space tools, 4 Munitions, 1 Science Equipment, 1 Industrial Equipment, 2 Small arms, 1 Transport, 1 Scout fighter, or 1 New resource collector.a Running a production line costs 2 energy and 1 crew for 24 hours. There are 2 assembly lines so up to 2 constructions can be underway at the same time, however, each time you want to produce something different you'll have to spend 2 energy and 1 crew for 24 hours to retool the production machinery. Note that the two lines can be tooled for different things.
-Construction Cost: 3 Heavy Elements, 1 Industrial Equipment, 1 Space tools, 2 crew for 24 hr

Greenhouse: Produces Provisions and soma. 1 Crew, 1 Light Elements, and 5 energy can produce 6 provisions here over the course of 24 hours.
-Construction Cost: 1 Heavy Elements, 2 Light Elements, 1 space tools, 1 Agricultural Equipment, 2 Crew for 24 hr or 1 Crew for 48 hr

Enrichment Plant: Produces fuel from rare elements. Can use 1 rare element and 5 energy to produce 6 fuel each day.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Rare Elements, 1 Scientific equipment, 1 Space Tools, 2 Crew for 24 hr or 1 Crew for 48 hr

Sensor Array: Provides intel about the surrounding sector and transfer research data to other motherships, if you power it with one energy every 24 hours that is.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Space tools, 1 crew for 24 hours-

Engines: Moves your ship around. Consumes fuel to relocate your ship to any other point in the sector within a short period of time. You can save on fuel if you instead choose to travel slowly. Each movement will have a fuel cost depending on distance and time spent, specific to each sector of space we visit.
-Construction Cost: 1 Heavy elements, 2 Rare elements, 1 Light elements, 2 space tools, 3 crew for 24 hours.

Storage: Stores the stuff you have gathered. Up to 50 units. Consumes no energy.
-Construction Cost: 1 Light elements, 1 Heavy Elements, 1 space tools, 24 hours of work by 1 unit of crew-

Research & Development: Conducts research and studies Progenitor artifacts. Each research project costs 1 science equipment, 3 energy and 24 hours of work by 1 unit of crew. Only one research can be underway at a time. You can also study artifacts. This costs 2 energy and 24 hours of work by 1 crew.
-Construction Cost: 1 Light elements, 2 Heavy Elements, 1 science equipment, 1 space tools, 2 Crew for 24 hr

Structural Support: As your mothership grows in size, the amount of reinforcement it will need to survive the rigors of maneuvering and logistics increases in lockstep. Every vessel starts with 20 points of Infrastructure, which means it can have a maximum of 20 Ship Sections. Each Structural Support adds a further ten Infrastructure, and do not themselves cost Infrastructure. Each Structural Support costs one Energy every Day to maintain- this energy cost rises by one for every two additional Support sections, but does not apply retroactively. For example, your first SS will cost 2 HE, 1 LE, and use 1 E per Day. The second SS will cost 2 HE, 2 LE, and use 1 E/D. The third will use 2 HE, 3 LE, and 2 E/D.
-Costs: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Light Element (+1 per existing Structural Support), 2 Crew for 24 Hours

Bridge: Must have for all motherships. Whoever controls this, controls the ship. Bridges also provide 20 Infrastructure, unlike Structural Supports, this does not stack. Consumes one Energy each 24 hours. Cannot be targeted in ship-to-ship combat unless 6 or fewer ship sections remain. Building a second Bridge allows construction of a second flagship.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Light elements, 1 Rare elements, 2 Space tools, 2 crew for 24 hours

Hangar/Docking bay: Launches and receives spacecraft (except for resource collectors, they have their own hangar). Up to 5 transports and/or squadrons of fighter and corvette class ships can reside here. Needs no energy.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 space tools and 24 hours of work by 1 unit of crew-

Flak Cannons (firing time: 3 hours): Completely obsolete in the post-factionalist world. Basic weapons section. Good against small spacecraft and lightly armored targets. Not so much against other Motherships. Consumes 1 energy and 1 munitions when in combat for one hour to deal 1 HP Damage. Cannot be dodged or intercepted.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Space Tools and 24 hours of work by 1 Crew -

Torpedo launchers (firing time: 6 hours): A powerful, but vulnerable, weapon. Fire one torpedo to deal 5 HP damage. Flak cannons and fighters can intercept torpedoes. Torpedoes cost 2 Munitions and 1 Fuel to Produce, can be constructed in 3 Hours by 1 Crew.
-Construction Cost: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Space Tools and 24 hours by 1 Crew

There will be additional Sections unlocked via research.

There are also some unbuildable sections. The most important of these is:
Cryosleep deck: Houses 1000 (or 10 units of) crew. You can awake them at any time just be sure to have enough food to feed them and quarters for them to live in. You can Also put crew back to sleep. The Deck is at 100% capacity at the start. Has its own generator that consumes very little (ergo, no) fuel.

There are also different types of spacecraft available... Small spacecraft reside in a mothership's hangar, others remain in space:

Transports and squadrons of fighter and corvette class craft are in the hangar.

Everything else will be stationed outside.

The Evacuation ships, or motherships built so far are of distinct classes...

Mothership Classes:

Union-Class (All-in-one):
Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
2 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
1 Refinery
1 Enrichment plant
1 R&D
1 Production Facility
2 Hangars
1 Storage
2 Cryosleep decks

Ships and Equipment:
3 Transports
1 Fighter Squadron
20 provisions
16 fuel
2 Small arms
2 Space tools
1 Scientific equipment

Paradise-Class (Agriculture, No Production Facility):
Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
4 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
2 Greenhouse
1 Refinery
1 R&D
1 Hangar
2 Storage
1 Cryosleep decks

Ships and Equipment:
2 Transports
14 provisions
22 fuel
2 Small arms
6 Light Elements
2 Space tools


Camelot-Class (Manufacturing, No Refinery):
Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
5 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
1 Enrichment Plant
2 Production Facilities
1 Hangar
2 Storage
Cryosleep deck

Ships and Equipment:
1 Transport
18 provisions
18 fuel
2 Small arms
4 Space tools
6 Heavy elements


Excelsior-Class (Mining, No Production Facility):
Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
4 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
2 Refinery
2 Hangar
1 Storage
2 Cryosleep deck

Ships and Equipment:
3 Transports
18 provisions
18 fuel
2 Small arms
4 Space tools
1 Industrial Equipment

Silence-Class (Research, No Refinery):
Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
Structural Support
4 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
1 R&D
1 Production Facility
1 Hangar
1 Storage
2 Cryosleep deck

Ships and Equipment:
2 Transports
16 provisions
14 fuel
2 Small arms
2 Scientific Equipment
1 Progenitor artifact
2 Heavy Elements


Kharbarinth-Class (Cargo, No Refinery, No Production Facility):

Sections:
Bridge
Sensors
Engines
3 Crew quarters
1 Reactor
1 Greenhouse
1 Hangar
2 Storage
2 Cryosleep deck

Ships and Equipment:
2 Transports
30 provisions
42 fuel
8 Space tools
1 Agricultural Equipment

Your ship's crew can be good at something from the start.
Crew types:

Space Miners
-Ability: +1 Resource collector capacity in each refinery (so you can assign 3 workers and 6 energy to get 3 unit of elements in the end).
-Extra Starting Equipment: 2 Heavy Elements, 1 Rare Elements, 1 Light Elements (4 EE)

Particle Scientists
-Ability: +3 Fuel produced when refining Rare Elements in Enrichment Plants.
-Extra Starting Equipment: 2 Scientific Equipment (4 EE)

Production Engineers
-Ability: +1 Production line in each production facility that uses no workers (but still uses energy).
-Extra Starting Equipment: 2 Space Tools, 1 Industrial Equipment (4 EE)

Genetic Researchers
-Ability: +3 Provisions or Soma production in Greenhouses (with the same energy and crew invested).
-Extra Starting Equipment: 4 Light Elements

Ace pilots
-Ability: +1 HP damage for all fighter and corvette class spacecraft.
-Extra Starting Equipment: 1 Fighter Squadron, 1 Transport (4 EE)

Merchants
-Ability: None
-Extra Starting Equipment: 1 Transport, 1 Space Tools, 2 Light Elements, 2 Heavy Elements, 2 Rare Elements, 1 Progenitor Artifact (12 EE)

Pirates
-Ability: Every third Flak Cannon takes up no infrastructure
-Extra Starting Equipment: 1 Scout fighter, 1 Small arms, 2 Munitions (4 EE)

While traveling through space, Time will pass...

Time mechanics:

3 hours is the smallest unit of time we measure. Combat takes place in 3 hour periods. Other actions take 6, 12, 24, or 48 hours. Each day, your ship can spend 6 hours of extra time with traveling and fighting without inhibiting progress on 24 hour projects (such as resource harvesting).


Work and Fighting isn't the only thing your Crew can be assigned to...

Additional Crew Orders:

Aside from building sections, working in sections and Fighting in close quarters combat, your crew can also be assigned to:
-Conduct Repairs: 1 Space tool is temporarily taken by 1 crew to repair 1 section in 24 hours (You get the space tools back in this case). In some cases, there may be need for an additional unit of resource or goods for the repairs.
-Scuttle Section: Destroy a section, Gain Back All elements used up during construction. Can be also performed on derelict ships with the help of transports.
-Wake Up/Sleep: Calls crew out of Cryo or places crew back in Cryo. Crew placed in Cryo can do no work that day, and do not consume provisions, nor do they occupy crew quarters. Crew woken up can do work, and consume provisions. They occupy one Crew Quarters.
-Combat: Crew boarding an enemy ship, or defending a ship getting boarded, may attack the crew of other ships. Like in space, combat is conducted in 3 hour phases. Crew have 4 HP. Crew armed with Space Tools deal 1 HP damage each phase, and Crew armed with Small arms deal 2 HP damage each phase.


Finally, Each Mothership can give orders to its spacecraft...

Transports, Fighters, Corvettes, Frigates, Utility and Capital ships:

Transports can transport 8 units of cargo or 2 crew or 4 units of cargo and 1 crew every 3 hours from one ship to another. Fuel cost is 0.5 fuel if the destination is in the same area or half the Flagship fuel cost if the destination is remote. Can Also Help Scuttle remote ships. When Transporting crew, Each crew unit can take 1 unit of cargo as luggage (space tools, Small arms, Provisions). All Flagships can build basic Transports from the start.
- Transport: No Weapons. Transports have 2 HP, a Cargo capacity of 8 (Crew take up 4 slots), and a fuel capacity of 6. Uses .5 Fuel for flights to a destination in the same area, and half of mothership fuel cost for flights to other areas.
-???
-???

A Squadron of fighter class aircraft consume the same quantity of fuel as transports, however, fighters can participate in combat and return to their mothership to rearm in the same 3 hour period. All motherships can build Scouts from the start. Other fightercraft will be unlocked via research.
- Scout: Deals 1 Flak Damage per 3 hours, which uses 1 munitions. Scouts have 1 HP, a munitions capacity of 2 and a fuel capacity of 4. Uses .5 Fuel every 3 hours for flights in the same area, half of Flagship fuel cost for flights to other areas.
- ???
- ???

Corvettes have the same speed of and fuel use of transports, but they carry 6 munitions so they don't have to return from battle, so often. They also use up 2 munitions to deal 2 damage every 3 hours. Corvettes have 4 HP (Hull points)
- Corvette: Deals 2 Damage per 3 hours, which uses 2 munitions. Corvettes have 4 HP, a munitions capacity of 6, and a fuel capacity of Uses .5 Fuel every 3 hours for flights in the same area, half of Flagship fuel cost for flights to other areas.
- ???
- ???

Frigates take 2 hours to get somewhere distant and use up 2 fuel in the process They use half of that when going somewhere close. They all have 12 HP and can Carry 12 munitions.
- ???
- ???
- ???
- ???

Utility ships have speed and fuel use of corvettes. They however have 10 HP. They May or May not be armed.
- ???
- ???
- ???
- ???

Capital Ships... More later.


Alas... There is one more thing I haven't explained...

The Weapons:

Combat takes place in 3 hour periods. Each period you assign your weapons a target (NOTE: Some weapons may take more than one period to fire). In most cases, they will hit and deal damage. Damage is assigned simultaneously.

Tech Tree

There are 3 types of tech. There are the ones that increase efficiency of your existing systems. Second, there are techs that unlock new ships and ship sections to build. Third, there are theoretical techs that are useless on their own but may unlock powerful future techs (efficiency and system techs may also unlock new techs). You never know for sure what future techs will be unlocked. There may be dead-ends in the tech tree too. Also keep in mind that large portions of the tech-tree will remain hidden in the first few sectors.

Now, In case it wasn't cleared out earlier, Each tech takes one functional r&d section for 24 hours, 1 crew for 24 hours, 1 science equipment and 3 energy to research.

THE TREE

---------------M---------------(???)
>----(Quantum Computing)---->(???)
---------------W--------------(???)

---------------M-----------------(???)
>----(Spacecraft Design)---->(???)
---------------W-----------------(???)

---------------M--------------------(???)
>----(Starship Construction)---->(???)
---------------W--------------------(???)

---------------M---------------------(???)
>----(Processing Centrifuge)---->(???)
---------------W------------------(???)

----------------M---------------(???)
>----(Electromagnetics)---->(???)
----------------W---------------(???)

--------------M---------------------(???)
>----(Genetic Engineering)---->(???)
--------------W--------------------(???)

Orange can only be researched by Particle Scientists.
Green can only be researched by Genetic Researchers.
Blue can only be researched by Ace Pilots.
Purple can only be researched by Merchants.
Gold can only be researched by Production Engineers
Red is a Miner specific tech.
Pink is a Pirate specific tech.

Quantum Computing (Theoretical): New advances into building computer systems on an atomic scale have led to the development of faster and more powerful computers. As of yet, there are no applications, but researchers believe that breakthroughs are around the corner.

Spacecraft Design (Efficiency): New construction techniques have resulted in sturdier spacecraft designed to withstand the rigors of space. Fighters, Transports, and Corvettes gain +1 HP.

Starship Construction (Efficiency): Studying the plans for the original flagship classes has led to insight in how to construct more efficient Structures. Structural Support modules use up no Infrastructure.

Processing Centrifuge (Efficiency): As we go further from explored space, we're encountering a lot of celestial bodies that aren't immediately useful, but contain trace amounts of useful elements. Our engineers don't want to waste materials, so we've devised a solution, of sorts. With this upgrade, our refineries will be able to process five junk ore into 1 HE. Retrofitting costs 2 ST for 24 Hours with 2 Crew, but the tools are not used up.

Electromagnetics (Theoretical): Advanced studies of magnetism and electromagnetic field generation are speculated to have a wide variety of useful applications.

Genetic Engineering (Theoretical): While much research has been conducted into genetic engineering, its use on humans has been greatly restricted. With humanity’s fate hanging in the balance, I’m sure that should we survive, we will be forgiven for our crimes...

Also, holy crap, this is 14 pages long.

[The Burning Sun]

[...] while reckless exploitation will most likely doom your sailors to a permanent, watery grave.

Press on with the sails. New trade routes are rare and lucrative in a way that conscripted sailors are not.

Mind you, ships are a good deal more expensive than the bodies manning them.

Really though, it just means that certain areas on the map become a sort of dungeon/raid area, and that you shouldn't send your ships over deep water in large groups.

[Harkback Union]

I decided to go with the AvP thing. I sadly lack the time right now for heavy stuff and the AvP thing is probably the shortest and the most back and fourth (= more fun!). Its Pretty easy to comprehend and comes with ad-hoc rules that minimizes memory use and maximizes flexibility. I'll spawn an OOC thread for it in a matter of minutes!

[Harkback Union]

After 1 year of delay...

[Pac Kindom]

Hello again everyone.

I would like to start a good old-fashioned mechanical roleplay, but I have way too many ideas and leftover games that weren't even tested, so maybe you guys could help me out decide which one to go for: (Low complexity are games with rulebook below 30k characters, Medium complexity is 30k-60k characters, Heavy games have rules over 60k (Can't fit in one post!))

RP NAME - COMPLEXITY - LENGTH - PREMISE - HISTORY

4X Strategy

Spark of/Last/Lost Civilization(s)/Trip Through Time - Light/Heavy(Multiple variants) - 3 months to 1 year - Start out with a small tribe in prehistoric times, explore land, expland your settlements, exploit resources, research techs, fight wars, advance through the ages, that sort of thing... - Was Played... a lot, could use some fine-tuning though.

Last Colonies - Heavy - 3 to 6 months - Start out with the remnants of the human race on an alien planet. This one has SMAC style unit designing, social engineering, secret projects and economics - Was played once, the new (streamlined) version is yet to be played though.

Aether Wind - Heavy - 3 to 6 months - Yet another 4x. This one is pretty detailed on the economics and warfare side, Steampunk solar system setting, inter-planetary war and colonization. - Its test run failed miserably.

Exudus - Ultra-Heavy - God knows how long - Was meant as a follow-up for last colonies. Same as Aether wind but with less steampunk, less bookkeeping and more unit design. Sadly, its unfinished.

Homeworld - Medium - 2 to 3 months - The remnants of humanity voyage through space in search of a new home. Each player is in charge of a mothership that's part of a fleet bound together by a single warp-drive. Cooperative-ish.

Geopolitics

New World Order - Medium - 2 to 3 months - Lead nations through the maelstorm of the XXIth century. Has cool simulation stuff for economics, politics, warfare and global warming, although its a bit random. - Never Played

Character based

Alien vs Predator - Medium - A week (per 'area') - A group of space marines (each marine RPed by separate player) investigate a remote outpost (or something). While at it, they get jumped by aliens (each alien being a separate player). Lots of action. Multiple levels. - Never played.


There is plenty more but I don't have time to list them all.

i go for Last Colonies or Exudus

[Harkback Union]

Hello again everyone.

I would like to start a good old-fashioned mechanical roleplay, but I have way too many ideas and leftover games that weren't even tested, so maybe you guys could help me out decide which one to go for: (Low complexity are games with rulebook below 30k characters, Medium complexity is 30k-60k characters, Heavy games have rules over 60k (Can't fit in one post!))

RP NAME - COMPLEXITY - LENGTH - PREMISE - HISTORY

4X Strategy

Spark of/Last/Lost Civilization(s)/Trip Through Time - Light/Heavy(Multiple variants) - 3 months to 1 year - Start out with a small tribe in prehistoric times, explore land, expland your settlements, exploit resources, research techs, fight wars, advance through the ages, that sort of thing... - Was Played... a lot, could use some fine-tuning though.

Last Colonies - Heavy - 3 to 6 months - Start out with the remnants of the human race on an alien planet. This one has SMAC style unit designing, social engineering, secret projects and economics - Was played once, the new (streamlined) version is yet to be played though.

Aether Wind - Heavy - 3 to 6 months - Yet another 4x. This one is pretty detailed on the economics and warfare side, Steampunk solar system setting, inter-planetary war and colonization. - Its test run failed miserably.

Exudus - Ultra-Heavy - God knows how long - Was meant as a follow-up for last colonies. Same as Aether wind but with less steampunk, less bookkeeping and more unit design. Sadly, its unfinished.

Homeworld - Medium - 2 to 3 months - The remnants of humanity voyage through space in search of a new home. Each player is in charge of a mothership that's part of a fleet bound together by a single warp-drive. Cooperative-ish.

Geopolitics

New World Order - Medium - 2 to 3 months - Lead nations through the maelstorm of the XXIth century. Has cool simulation stuff for economics, politics, warfare and global warming, although its a bit random. - Never Played

Character based

Alien vs Predator - Medium - A week (per 'area') - A group of space marines (each marine RPed by separate player) investigate a remote outpost (or something). While at it, they get jumped by aliens (each alien being a separate player). Lots of action. Multiple levels. - Never played.


There is plenty more but I don't have time to list them all.

i go for Last Colonies or Exudus

We decided to go with another civ thing...
https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopi ... 1&t=394736

[G-Tech Corporation]

So!

I made a new thing, loaded with mechanicky goodness.

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=399556

[Harkback Union]

I'll have some time to host another RP soon, (End of January) but which one?
- 1984-esque character RP
- WW2 Space Opera
- Modern day occult/X-files-esque detectivy RP
ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED
Which one(s) (If any) do you people find interesting?

[Plzen]

-snip-
Which one(s) (If any) do you people find interesting?

The second one seems interesting. Space Opera with sci-fi tech matched with a WWII-era society and aesthetics could be very, very interesting.

[Harkback Union]

-snip-
Which one(s) (If any) do you people find interesting?

The second one seems interesting. Space Opera with sci-fi tech matched with a WWII-era society and aesthetics could be very, very interesting.

Mechanics wise, It would be a mix of grand strategy and personal story lines.
Since that is the only vote I got so far, I'll go with it.

[G-Tech Corporation]

Sounded like a cool idea, Plzen.

[Maljaratas]

APP:
#2424
Nation Name: Maljaratas
Experience: Axis and Allies, Chess, Shogun/Samurai Swords, one of Hark's rps, read the core rules for D&D 3.0 and 5.0
Preferred Level of Detail: Any level is good, though I don't like having to describe/list every single weapon an army uses.
Activity: Generally daily, though I occasionally will go a week without checking.
RP Example: From Hark's Ascent of Mankind. From a different rp.