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[Game On!] Infinitum - Turn 5 - OH SHHHH
HeavyVillain
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Infinitum
From a project originally created by Philip Stein, Ryan Morning, and Vincent Further
The Situation
This is X-Com meets the Cthulu Mythos meets the zombie apocalypse. Your overall goal? Beat the Threats at their own game. Some might say that it's a slippery slope and you'll become that which you most fear. But you think there's a plus side to one day having your own personal cosmic civilisation that scares the shit out of eldritch abominations.
The Enemy
The Threat, the Chaos, the Enemy... whatever. They're bad. Either they're actively evil or their thinking is just so utterly alien and their behaviours so utterly destructive that they might as well be.
The year is... sometime in the future, and this is a planet very similar to but not quite like our homeworld. Huge and densely populated, but too far away to call for help from its mother star system. Damn the lack of FTL travel!
In the wake of the terrifying attacks and inexplicable anomalies, various groups come forward in order to maintain calm, push back the enigmatic Enemy- and reap the benefits.
The System
The game is played with each player controlling one of these groups. Each group has four attributes (Resources, Authority, Warfare, Knowledge) that each have three specialisations:
Resources are purely tangible while Authority is the opposite. Warfare and Knowledge are a little of both; superior training and weaponry, smarter researchers and better technology, and so on.
Wealth is funding, Workforce governs staff, and Materials are literal supplies; consumables for maintenance and construction. A high Workforce is always a good thing, but many of the best projects require varying values in Wealth and Materials.
Reputation represents your track record while Diplomacy your actual skill when it comes to understanding the socio-economic climate and persuading outside NPCs (non-player... companies?) to do what you want them to do. Leadership is your faction's capacity to control and instruct their own assets.
Melee governs survivability up close and personal; an operative's capacity to deal and avoid damage when toe-to-toe with an opponent. Firepower decides ranged supremacy, in both the actual destructive capabilities of a weapon and the users' skills in putting it to best use. Defence is resilience against all forms of attack.
Science is the understanding of scientific artifacts, while Supernatural relates to psionics and cosmic weirdness. Strictly speaking indestructible robots and mind-popping psionic attackers are both reality-defying supernatural wonders, but for the sake of the terminology the former is analysed via Science and the latter through Supernatural; think of it as ineffable technology versus magic, same end result but different names. Tactics is the ability to analyse any situation and make the best of it- a specialisation that is always of benefit.
Quickstart
All challenges are resolved via 1d10 + attribute + specialisation.
All your statistics are depletables- if a city block is pulverised by a Transdimensional Apocalypse Squid, you can wave goodbye to some Wealth and Reputation right there as you deal with the collateral. If one of your squadrons came across a Transdimensional Smaller But Nasty Squid, there's a chance of losing Workforce if the fight goes awry, and the subsequent loss of moral could eat away at your Leadership.
Your PC (player company? Let's go with that) levels up via the completion of tasks and the acquisition of resources and knowledge. Usually it'll be a single upgrade to an attribute or specialisation appropriate to the finished mission, but sometimes it might be a universal bonus that you can put towards any of your stats.
When creating your faction, you are allowed six points to spend on the four attributes, and a further six to spend on the twelve specialisations. At the PC creation stage no individual statistic may go beyond 5, but the total bonus to a die roll is not limited (i.e., with an attribute at 5 and a specialisation at 5, the total modifier would be +10 as might be expected). Although negative values are possible in the system they may not be assigned to stats at this stage.
Detail:
Territory
The game will start with each player having a local territory, and the game board will have an additional territory per player. Movement is entirely abstract, and so the distance between territories is irrelevant.
Assignments
You may investigate/take action on one local event (an event in your own territory) per turn, and you may research one artifact/subject per turn. Your third action can then be put towards another piece of research or a local investigation, or a non-local investigation.
Emergencies
An emergency is any attack or anomaly where you don't have the luxury of preparation. When a fire elemental starts to make people spontaneously combust, it's not wise to spend hours debating the merits of bringing along several firetrucks. You'd just do it.
Missions
Missions are the opposite: they're prolonged assignments where analysis and consideration are encouraged, if not essential. Authority to squeeze factions for information, and then maybe Knowledge tests to monitor and research the competition.
Studying a mission will let you know what specialisations will be challenged, which stages will be the hardest, and what the consequences and rewards of completion are likely to be.
Global Events
Global Events are... well, global events. Little things like an announcement that a shady crime syndicate is willing to help out and, say, allow a faction to swap a point of Reputation for a point of Wealth, or maybe even allow the recruitment of a character. These are universal and available to everyone (or maybe just the highest bidder) rather than being restricted to territories.
Characters
You might be lucky enough to get a special unit, who you can assign to any of the tasks in your turn. Commanders increase Authority, Operatives increase Warfare, and Researchers increase Knowledge.
Economy
Players may trade their attributes/specialisations at will, representing the sharing of resources, technology, staff, etc. This has to be consensual and pointed out to the GM. You can't not honour an agreement.
Collaboration
If two players both try to investigate the same event, the player that rolls highest (after modifiers) gets to do so. Of course that might just mean that they'll be the first to start losing Workforce...
Exigency
Where have I heard that word before? When making a check, you may choose to treat the dice as if it rolled a ten, but you immediately lose a point in the appropriate attribute- i.e., the modifier will be one point lower for all future checks and the check you invoked the Exigency in.
The game will start with each player having a local territory, and the game board will have an additional territory per player. Movement is entirely abstract, and so the distance between territories is irrelevant.
Assignments
You may investigate/take action on one local event (an event in your own territory) per turn, and you may research one artifact/subject per turn. Your third action can then be put towards another piece of research or a local investigation, or a non-local investigation.
Emergencies
An emergency is any attack or anomaly where you don't have the luxury of preparation. When a fire elemental starts to make people spontaneously combust, it's not wise to spend hours debating the merits of bringing along several firetrucks. You'd just do it.
Missions
Missions are the opposite: they're prolonged assignments where analysis and consideration are encouraged, if not essential. Authority to squeeze factions for information, and then maybe Knowledge tests to monitor and research the competition.
Studying a mission will let you know what specialisations will be challenged, which stages will be the hardest, and what the consequences and rewards of completion are likely to be.
Global Events
Global Events are... well, global events. Little things like an announcement that a shady crime syndicate is willing to help out and, say, allow a faction to swap a point of Reputation for a point of Wealth, or maybe even allow the recruitment of a character. These are universal and available to everyone (or maybe just the highest bidder) rather than being restricted to territories.
Characters
You might be lucky enough to get a special unit, who you can assign to any of the tasks in your turn. Commanders increase Authority, Operatives increase Warfare, and Researchers increase Knowledge.
Economy
Players may trade their attributes/specialisations at will, representing the sharing of resources, technology, staff, etc. This has to be consensual and pointed out to the GM. You can't not honour an agreement.
Collaboration
If two players both try to investigate the same event, the player that rolls highest (after modifiers) gets to do so. Of course that might just mean that they'll be the first to start losing Workforce...
Exigency
Where have I heard that word before? When making a check, you may choose to treat the dice as if it rolled a ten, but you immediately lose a point in the appropriate attribute- i.e., the modifier will be one point lower for all future checks and the check you invoked the Exigency in.
Moving on...
If you read through all that and you know me, you can probaly guess that it was salvaged from an old OP.
I haven't hosted a game of this in forever but the best part is that it's really really easy to Gm creatively.
Couple of things I should mention-- theres no PVP! There's competition but no active destroying of each other. And while this isn't a core rule its a house one Ive always used: a faction is considered to have been destroyed once every single Attribute is at -5 or less. Really damn hard for that to happen, but I think it feels better than having players who are virtually indestructible
This will be an RP game like most pbps, but everyone can feel free to include OOC stuff and their dice rolls in spoilers.
Anyway lets have an example scenario so people get a feel for it.
Bob starts his turn and is informed of anevent in his local territory and his Knowledge is high enough that he's told its a Tentacle Beast by the ever snarky GM, which he knows from prior encounter to need Supernatural analysis. So he makes a supernatural check and explains hes using one of his actions to check out the beast.
If he's rolling good enough he might contain it and observe it on the spot. If not, uh oh. It attacks and may force him into Melee combat if a Tactics check cant salvage things. Fortunately Bob put most of his points in Warfare and melee so the narration explains that his operatives beat the crap out of the tentacle monster and bring it back ready to be researched next turn.
Incidentally I really recommend putting at least one point in Workforce, Defence, or tactics. Everythings useful but theyre the broadest specialisations......
I think I want to play! How to sign-up?
Great! You can make a faction (6 points in attributes and 6 points in specialisations), pick a color that your faction will be listed in, and decide what you want to be called and what you want your local territory to be called:
Villain Inc.
The Generic District
Resources +4
Authority 0
Warfare +2
Knowledge 0
Firepower +5
Tactics +1
Anything else- backstory, motivation, whatever- is optional :P The story has always been collaborative per-campaign from the outset depending on the players' preference. So far, Im thinking the classic staple of the core government being massive and having a great army but still calling on these private companies/cults/gangs/mercenaries/heroes whatever the hell you want to be-s helping out a month after the events started... because theyre way out of their depth.
HeavyVillain on
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One of the better things we ever RP'd was deciding that one player (who had got a massive Workforce and Leadership bonus from befriending a high-flying super-rich businessman) was, in fact, running a series of strip clubs. How else could you explain everyone going to them to swap their Wealth for bonuses to Workforce/Leadership?
Soon afterwards Villain decided to send in a photon wraith to start chewing on everyone. So we all transferred our Firepower to one nominated player who hunted it down and blew it to hell. I always imagined a couple of hundred rifles and cannons tied together and heaped on a wagon and just sort of pointed in the wraith's vague direction...
And for players... 2-5. Too many just holds everything up
SET VAL LOC = The Axiom
SET VAL Resources = 1
SET VAL Knowledge = 5
SET VAL Knowledge.Science = 5
SET VAL Knowledge.Tactics = 1
PRINT "Hello, world!"
WAIT
Location: The kether sector
Resources +2
Knowledge +3
Warfare +1
defense +1
Supernatural +3
tactics +1
workforce +1
Lazarus is a relatively new company formed to conduct research on the various anomalies that have occurred. They hope that through this research they may better understand the cosmic threat, and possibly create a effective way of fighting it.
Edit: added a bit of background.
Incorporated
Location: Downtown Corporate Sector
Resources = 2
Authority = 0
Authority.Leadership = 1
Warfare = 4
Warfare.Defense = 2
Knowledge = 0
Knowledge.Tactics = 3
Basically your ex-military professionals that know how to clean up the scum of the universe. :P
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
...don't answer that.
Aurora Amalgamated
City Outskirts
Resources +1
Authority +4
Warfare +1
Knowledge 0
Workforce +2
Firepower +2
Tactics +2
A.A. was a modest company generally viewed as being a money-bleeding failure because of the crackpot schemes of its long-dead founder- until the anomalies started happening, validating the company's stance on the percieved cosmic threat and the particularly strange PR statements that came with it.
Although still recovering from various financial difficulties, they're owed a great deal of goodwill since it turns out they were right all along.
THEY NEVER FORGET
Anyway one more player and we can start a traditional 10territory game
Let me look at things for a bit.
Envira Corp. Woodlands District
Resources 2
Authority 2
Knowledge 2
Materials 2
Diplomacy 2
Science 2
"For a brighter, more sustainable future!"
Envira Corp. prides itself on being the most naturally-minded company on the planet. Envira Corp. incorporates green, renewable, and biological solutions to problems of all varieties, including the new menaces that have arisen. Envira Corp. - living in harmony with nature!
Envira Corp. denies all rumors of extreme biological experiments, chemicals in the water, and bizarre accidents on its premises.
EDIT: We already have a superior scientist... Stats modified to step on less toes.
everyones stats are currently hosted here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tUNkqyvyrfYH1dwsZ7ipSDA&output=html
Tradtion states I should make an image and post it every turn but I am TOO LAZY. Turn 1 wont be too far off I reckon
[territories edited out due to outdated]
side note: simulacrum's stats on the spreadsheet are off.
he was pretty overpowered for a second there :P
SPACE MYTH SYSTEM RETURNS?
Is it too late to get in on this event
(I am not sure what Space Myth is but if Phil pilfered from some existing system i wouldnt be surprised)
I am gonna go sleep now and we can still be open for positions for new factions- assuming we don't double the player count in the next 8 hours or anythin
just bear in mind that the more players we have, the shorter your response windows will b
I'll have to be hassling eveeryone to complete their turn so we can continue and all that
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
[strike]Youll all be killed by wraiths in the first turn[/strike] it'll be a nice slow start so you can get a feel for things!
If I'm too late, no problem, just put me in for a reserve spot.
Formic Solutions
Location: The Hive
Resources 4
Authority 0
Warfare 1
Knowledge 1
Wealth 3
Workforce 1
Firepower 1
Tactics 1
Financed by a mysterious individual referred to as The Hivemind whose identity is known only by his Board of Directors, Formic Solutions is a recently incorporated company that seeks to eradicate all threats to humanity. The true motives of The Hivemind remain shrouded in mystery, though the company does seem genuinely interested in putting an end to the menaces that have begun to threaten mankind. FS is actively courting professionals in the fields of warfare and research to increase their ability to combat these menaces, but their secretive nature often causes issues with communication, both within and without the company.
current territories will be:
1. The Axiom
2. The Kether Sector
3. Downtown Corporate Sector
4. City Outskirts
5. Woodlands District
6. The Hive
7. Slums
8. The Coast
9. The Government Superscraper
10. Duke's District
11. Suburbs
12. Wasteland
Ferocious undead with the heads of goats that speak with the sounds of violins dying, rampaging across the land and driving people just insane enough to open the doors and let them in.
Not that I've given this much thought...
just expect the government (namely me) to eat people alive for inactivity
I'll have to be more creative seeing as ed was around for the begininng and will have a vague idea of how things work
In other words, if you all die blame him!
Location: Duke's District
Resources: 1
Knowledge: 1
Warfare: 4
Materials: 1
Workforce: 1
Leadership: 1
Melee: 1
Defence: 1
Tactics: 1
Crushestro Inc. is a [STRIKE]criminal[/STRIKE] totally legitimate organization that seeks to [STRIKE]crush you all[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]make money[/STRIKE] defend humanity for entirely altruistic reasons.
Really just as long as they have something to crush, and the resources to crush it with, they're good.
"This is the Government. We'd like to congratulate you on your work but we won't because we're yet to see any results."
"Try harder."
And with that the communicators goes quiet. Another day another calamity...
Or dozen.
1. The Axiom - Reports of Strange Floating Orbs
2. The Kether Sector - Crazed rioters smashing public property nearby
3. Downtown Corporate Sector
4. City Outskirts
5. Woodlands District - Crazed rioters trying to set the trees alight
6. The Hive
7. Slums - Strange Humanoid Sighted
8. The Coast - Crab Creatures Sighted
9. The Government Superscraper
10. Duke's District - Bloodstained Freak Eating People
11. Suburbs
12. Wasteland - Gigantic Creature Sighted
13. The Gardens - Reports of Strange Floating Orbs
14. The Ruins - Gravitational Anomaly Sighted
15. The Rift
16. Sewer Works
Global Events!
The Banker's League and Credit Foundation are holding talks. Maybe those of you who are good with words should spend an action and try and get more money out of them.
And I wouldn't worry ronrab, there's so much crap to do here I doubt we'll be waiting on just you!
Alright well we'll need to deal with those RED WORDS first but my first action is a no brainer. I make an Authority check [URL="[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2476208/]1d10+4=8[/url]"](1d10+4 = 8)[/URL] on the Banker's League in order to get more funding.
With the ease (and smugness) that comes naturally to them, Aurora Amalgamated's crack team of lawyers and accountants and PR workers and brown-nosers heads to the Banker's League and Credit Foundation in order to make their case.
Most notably that they were discriminated against for years despite the fact that they rock, and that it's about time they got what they deserved.
The Rift
Resources +1
Authority +1
Warfare +2
Knowledge +2
Supernatural +3
Wealth +2
Diplomacy +1
A secretive organisation that spends its time, energies and resources investigating sites with odd characteristics, looking for something lost to them.
Throwing my hat in for a late game entry
Speaking of which, I'd like to look into that. Do I need to roll anything for that?
Also, Gumpy, best company name ever. Thank you.
Action 1/3:
Despite AA's best efforts the Banker's League isn't impressed. From the reports youre getting, they're not interested in supplying you with more money.
MundaneSoul:
And damn, I was hoping that'd work. I might invoke Exigency and sacrifice a point of Authority in order to try again with a value of 13, but I'll think about it.
Or should I wait for that observe roll first?
The Octagon gate that separated the interior of the Rift from the rest of the world opened, the eight different parts of the door withdrawing into the heavy walls around it. A party emerged, half made up of armoured figures, the other half made up of robed individuals. They made the journey towards the ruins, hoping to uncover secrets and clues that would direct them in their quest.