Masters of the Cycle

Well, just as a summery of basic gameplay mechanics.

When you are a playing on the galactic scale, all actions are calculated via adding the race's Stat + their Organization + A Manager.

Unpacking this: The five stats are Hero Potential, Physical, Mental, Social and X. Organizations are essentially skills - so, Starfleet is an Exploration Organization, as an example. Managers are the only part of this that is actually rolled: Your race's Hero Potential is rolled, and each success on the dice pool adds +1 to your manager Rating.

Like in White Wolf, all stats go: 2 = Average, 5 = maximum best ever.

So, lets say that humanity (whose statline is 5HP, 2P, 2M, 2S, 2X) finds a Power Artifact and sets up a research team. The GM checks to see the scale of the artifact and from that determines it will take 20 successes to research. The humans put their Explore Organization on the task (Starfleet), which has a rating of 3 - skilled, but not the best.

They roll their hero potential and get 3 successes. So the total is 2 Mental + 3 for Starfleet +3 for their Manager = 8 for the whole pool. Divide that by two, round up, and you get 4 successes per year.

So, 5 years later, the research team has finished studying the artifact and the GM secretly rolls a dice pool based off the artifact's danger (which the player would not know). If he rolls even 1 success, the player gets to grab tech from the artifact.

...but each success he rolls adds +1 to the artifact's danger stat. And that stat can be anywhere from 1 (broken) to 5 (awake). If an artifact's danger is at 4, it MIGHT indoctrinate everyone around it. If it is at 5, then it is only a matter of time.

Lets say the humans were unlucky and the artifact was awake before they started studying it - that means that within X years, they are all indoctrinated. So, the player sets up the research team and two years later, loses contact and will have to go in to find out what happened...

But if the humans were lucky, and the artifact was at Damaged (2 danger), then they'd have to hope that the GM only rolls one success and brings it up to Quiescent, because that would pose zero risk of indoctrination. If he rolled 3 successes, then it would be awake.

And that would be bad.

Of course, the player might decide to go: "Screw this!" and nuke the thing from orbit when they find it.

Uniformity and connective recursiveness.

For example: The 4 stats all connect reasonably to the same thing, everything is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, and the ways that hero potential is applied to things is kept uniform, so that if you grasp one system, grasping another part should be fairly intuitive.

In the galactic scale, most actions are automatic - so, all you need to do is roll a manager and calculate the time it'll take, then forget about it, allowing you to focus on Espionage (which is based off a renewable pool of points) and Warfare (which is ALSO based off a renewable pool of points) and Diplomacy (which is just...roleplaying.)

In the focused "flash points" of the game (Which is where we zoom in to specific, dramatic events...essentially, if most of the game is like Masters of Orion 2, flashpoints are like Mass Effect), things are run very similarly to White Wolf storytelling systems, so anyone who knows that should feel right at home.

And, just like the rules systems, Flash Points and the Galactic Game interconnect.

Poke a Power Artifact in the galactic scale! Everyone gets indoctrinated! Heroes head in to investigate in a Flash Point. Heroes save the day and manage to retrieve valuable technology, which can then be used in the Galactic scene.

Another major thing I learned: Working while listening to the Mass Effect OST is a good idea.

MOre updates, because I desperately need affirmation that I am not insane.

I am working on the Government, Values and Economic systems that you can choose. I decided to aim for a middle ground of complexity, crunch, and roleplaying by giving everyone 8 options on each, but 4 of each option is locked until the right tech is researched...rather like Alpha Centauri.

For Government, we have...

Starting Choices: Tribal, Feudal, Dictatorship, Democracy
Late Game Choices: Anarchy, Collective, Thought Control, Demarchy

For Economics, we have...

Starting Choices: Planned, Green, Free Market, Slave
Later Choices: Abundance, Enginology, Hypercapitalist, Bionetic

For Values, we have...

Starting Choices: Might, Knowledge, Unity, Spirituality
Later Choices: Ultimate, Singularity, Egalitarian, Power


So, what do these do?

Well, each one has an upside, a downside, and a "how do we get rid of it."

For most governments, that would be a revolution or election, while the others involve passing legislation to change economic policies and so on. But this is only if you WANT to change values. Most people will stick with their values for a while - because...values are how you get XP.

Each Government, Economic System and Value has it's statistical boots and penalties (Free Markets up your Nature Danger Factor, but net you more money, for example), but each one ALSO has roleplaying "triggers", and if you fulfill that trigger in game, you get 1 XP.

I haven't decided what those are yet, but I want each government to have it's own gameplay style, reinforced through XP gain! So, for example, when you take a Democracy, you need to decide when and how elections are played out, and then roleplaying that nets you XP...meaning, to play a Democracy, you might be stuck waffling over important issues because of how voting is turning out, while a Dictator is driving ahead and doing what they want because they can make decisions and stick with it.

Of course, both players would be getting similar XP levels, and the Dictator player would stop laughing when he gets a nasty roll on the Fringe Danger Factor and half his civilization bursts into civil war...

I RAN MY FIRST ALPHA TEST!

First thing I learned?

People are really bad at BASIC ARITHMETIC!

Second thing?

I figured out how the map is generated! It involves grids!

Well, I've realized that it makes WAY more sense to roll a manager for a scout ship, rather than roll a manager for every exploration mission.

Another thing I've found: some builds have a biiiiiiit of an advantage. A good one being Democracy + Free Market, which makes bank. But you'll also be dealing with lots of minor issues - protests, buggy gadgets, ecological clean up issues.

Green economics, curiously, have a BETTER INDUSTRY start than Planned Economics, because they count biospheres as being larger due to their conservationism. But see, the way industry works is it is the mineral content plus the total population of the planet. But population is Planet Size + Biosphere.

So, Earth? Terran planet (5 biosphere), with an Average size (3) has a Max Population of 8 Billion! But with the Green Economics, they'd have a max pop of 9 billion, thus, increasing their overall Industry.

Also, Espionage is a little useless in the early game. but...that...kind of makes sense.

Also, I desperately need to invent some technologies.


..................SO I DID!

HERE IS THE FIRST TIER OF TECHNOLOGIES!


Construction

Orbital Construction
Scout Labs
Holographemics
Creation Foci

Power Generation
Fusion Generation
Efficiency Routines
Enhanced Batteries
Nanocrystalic Structure Research

Chemistry

Life Support
Industrial Superchems
Recreational Superchems
Power Extract

Sociology

Power of One
Ethical Calculus
The Self Doctrine
Meditation Foci

Computers
Exoskeleton Power Armor
I-Arc Foundations
Intelisocial Architecture
Foundations of Consciousness

Biology
Biodomes
Scholastic Revolution
Terramoral
Control Based Biodoctrine

Realspace Physics
Fusion Beam
Class I Shields
Class I Shunts
Stellar Cartography

Hyperspatial Physics
Enhanced DCMP
Miniaturized Hyperdrive
Jump Gate Technology
Teleportation Theorics

YOU GET TO PICK ONE PER FIELD! HARD CHOICES!

Please...stop me...

I keep adding complexities into this game. Spaceship Construction! First, it was just, "Simple, fast rules."

Now, it's, "ELEVEN SHIP CLASSIFICATIONS! 50+ MODULES TO PUT IN THEM!"

Then armies were simple. Now, it's, "CUSTOMIZE REGIMENTS! WOOO!"

but, hey, I finally included my second Rifts reference

JUICER REGIMENT (Crew: 10, +10 BP)


Effect: Creates a regiment of Juicers – chemically enhanced troopers. +30 to Offense, +10 to Defense.

Special Ability: Can activate “juiced” mode – allows them to attack [Physical] times in a year. After this, the Juicers die and their crew value is removed from the army.

Click to expand...