+~---------------------~+ { Conquest } +~---------------------~+ ~+ A Table That May Contain Traces of Contents +~ =-=-------------------------------------------=-= I. A Short but Sweet Introduction II. A Brief History of Events -=- A. Playable Factions and Races i. Terrans ii. Martians iii. Carmanathii iv. Wengu -=- B. NPC Factions and Races i. Maur'kan ii. Shofenti iii. Kriggara iv. Patoelian -=- C. Vague Overview -=- D. Vague Timeline III. Rules -=- A. Tech Tree i. The Tech Tree Itself ii. Superscience iii. Australium -=- B. Workers i. Robots and Slaves: The Black Market -=- C. Soldiers and Combat Units -=- D. Fleets -=- E. Bases and Colonies i. Resources and Materials ii. Worker Production iii. Combat Unit Production iv. Fleet Production v. Economy and Trade vi. Buildings -=- F. Units i. Infantry ii. Armor iii. Air iv. Navy -=- G. Combat i. Ground/Planetary Combat ii. Fleet Combat iii. The Combat Screen -=- H. Planetary/Universal Exploration i. The Rim ii. Discovering a New Planet iii. First Contact iv. Colonization -=- I. Terrain i. Grassy/Hilly/Rocky ii. Trees/Foliage iii. Mountainous iv. Bodies of Liquid or Ice v. Desert/Beach -=- J. Morale -=- K. NPC Relations -=- L. Tables/Lists/Appendices i. Australium Production Bonus Rates (per Sample Use) ~+ A Short but Sweet Introduction +~ =-=------------------------------=-= Oi. Obviously if you're reading this, you know me, so I'll skip the niceties and get straight to the point. You're here and reading this because you want to commandeer a faction and explore the stars, yes? If not, turn your sorry arse around and stop reading. Still with me? Good. A'right, here's the deal. This game is a sort of molded mashup of a retro-styled space exploration game, a Roleplaying game, and a Brikwars forum game, an epic scale Space Drama played out by a few bold players (possibly you) and a Storyteller (probably me). Your Storyteller directs all of the action, and has the final say over rules debates and questions, while the bold Players make most of the magic happen. Here's where you come in. As a player, you take the reigns of an intergalactic race, complete with a home planet and all. From there, you PM your Storyteller, who then executes your orders and posts them along with everyone else's, as well as any random events and the consequences of your actions. In the end, most everything that happens in-game is based on your decision... ... So the question is: who will you be? ~+ A Brief History of Events +~ =-=-------------------------=-= ~-+-~ Playable Factions and Races -+ Terran The Terrans are a proud race, grounded in tradition and the legacy of space exploration brought on by Louis Armstrong and the like. On Earth, they have formed an elitist multi-national government that encompasses North and South America and the majority of Europe and Eastern Asia called the Terran Alliance of Nations (TAN). Their inherent dislike of the Martians is such because they go against the "pattern." While not entirely dictatorial, there are a great many personal liberties that are frowned upon, if not outright illegal. It hasn't yet reached Orwellian proportions... but it might. Still, the standard of living is high, and the standards of space exploration have been steadily growing for the Terrans over the past decade. -+ Martian The Martians are Terrans that defected from the Terran Alliance of Nations some forty years ago, to create a new sovereign nation on Mars, called the Martian Conglomerate. This new nation was very strictly tied to the foundations of democracy; the main reason for ther defection from Terra was the growing sense of dictatorship. While still a new nation, much of their technology has drastically changed over the course of the last four decades. Martians tend to be paler and slightly smaller than your average Terran, due to life on a full-blown colony; cramped, unsafe, and generally sunless due to the gaseous atmosphere. -+ Carmanathii The Carmanathii are a young race of long, slender extraterrestrials who recently fought for and won their freedom from the shackles of slavery under the Kriggara. Their technology and advancements are just beginning to bud, and most of their current technology is almost directly derived from Kriggaran slave ships. Still, they are an incredibly clever race of beings, and one that has survived hardily through nearly a century of harsh slavery. -+ Wengu The Wengu are a relatively primitive race of sentient plant-like beings that has existed for nearly 2 billion years. They are acclimated to cold, harsh environments, and can survive for an incredible amount of time in a vaccuum. They are more traditional than they are new age, and many of their combat tactics and army-based units are unconventional in modern terms, but surprisingly effective. ~-+-~ NPC Races and Factions -+ Maur'kan The Maur'kan are a race evolved directly from insects. They developed on a temperate tropical planet, and hold very active and short lives. They are incredibly productive during their 8-10 year lifespan, however, and with the advent of technology their empire greew quite quickly, outproducing many of the known third-world empires in a matter of a few years. -+ Shofenti -+ Kriggara -+ Patoelian ~-+-~ Vague Overview -+ Human History Up to the year 2034, Human history had been a fairly predictable affair, with the exception of various minutiae. Technology progressed steadily, the flow of resources decreased, and the population multiplied like rabbits. In 2034, several major events took place. First and foremost, war exploded between all of the nations, stretched tensions sparked by the lack of global resources and the ridiculous population levels. World War III had begun. Some dozen years later, the war ended with a total wipeout, leaving nothing but the Canadian government standing on splintered stilts due to a monopoly over fresh spring water. In light of this, the previously major European, Asian, and North and South American governments formed the Human Alliance of Nations (H.A.N.) in order to maintain world order and to carefully rebuild what was lost during the Third World War. Space travel had a limited scope at this point, but the H.A.N. immediately made a push; funding the first major project to put a colony on the most hospitable planet available. Over the next two or three years, Mars became a hotspot of human activity. Unfortunately, this idealized dream wasn't so quick to please. Civil unrest broke into riots in the Martian Colonies, due to a combination of squalid conditions and unfair treatises and laws from the H.A.N. on Earth. Within a matter of months, the colonists on Mars had formally detached themselves of the "Earthers"and formed a sovereign nation in space. The H.A.N. adjusted its name accordingly; they became the Terran Alliance of Nations. Martians refer to themselves with a smug sense of pride, but the governmental system is barely holding itself aloft. The population is just small enough and the technology advanced that the Martians could feasibly enstate a true Democracy; each Martian citizen gets an individual vote on matters of federal importance. On Earth, the newly christened T.A.N. had created a haphazard mish-mash of world governments in order to appease all those involved and prevent any one nation from abceding from the Alliance, and thus personal freedoms had mostly been overturned in favor of what they called a "Democratic Dictatorship," a system in which qualified citizens have the right to vote every decade on a new Alliance Catalyst, the term given to the powerful figure in place at the top of the federal food chain. Both Terrans and Martians are struggling fledgling world-nations, and both are just now coming to the realization- nearly a decade since the split (current stardate 2062)- that working together would be beneficial to both. -+ -+ ~-+-~ Vague Timeline ~+ Rules and Other Such Minutiae +~ =-=-----------------------------=-= ~-+-~ Tech Tree -+ The Tech Tree Itself -+ Superscience -+ Australium Finding Australium during mining operations or on intercepted trade ships or whatnot means great things for your global resource. Not only do production rates go up 25%, your resource harvest rate across the board increase 50% for 1-3 rounds (based on the size of the Australium sample you uncovered). ~-+-~ Workers Workers (or Colonists) are the workforce of your bases and fleets. They come in groups of 40, and up tofive of them may remain in a single square at once (effectively providing a unit of 200 workers in that space). Most buildings require a certain amount of Workers to be garrisoned within them in order to provide their bonuses, productive capabilities, or research. -+ Robots and Slaves: The Black Market There are alternate versions of workers available in the game if you unlock the tech/find the Black Market. Robot workers take no food,but are prone to break down during Power shortages. Slaves take food, but if morale is low they may rebel, shutting down or even destroying key buildings in your colony. Be careful! ~-+-~ Soldiers and Combat Units As we saw with Workers, ground units are divided into groups of 40, and combat units are no different. Up to five units may occupy any given square. ~-+-~ Fleets Fleets are the backbone of your space capabilities. Fleets provide army transport between worlds/moons, heavy firepower, and a way to explore the stars. Maintaining a fleet is highly expensive process, but depending on your motives can be well worth the resource drain. ~-+-~ Bases and Colonies -+ Resources and Materials As a base, your means of production and maintenance are trifold; Power, Resources, and Food. Power is a neccessity to run most buildings. If you don't have enough power, random buildings may shut down until the sufficient power is restored. Resources are the generic building components, used across the board for production of buildings, units, ships, etc. Resources are collected through mines. Food is needed to keep your workers and combat units going. Each turn, a unit (worker or combat) uses up 1 unit of Food, unless otherwsie statedby the unit (robotic workers, for example, do not require food). -+ Worker Production Workers are produced through your Colony Base. There is only one variety of Worker available, at least until you unlock the Robotics path on the Tech Tree or engage in trade on the Black Market. -+ Combat Unit Production Combat units are produced at a variety of buildings, usually tailored to that unit's type (a Manufactory produces Armored Units, while a Barracks produces Infantry, for example). -+ Fleet Production Fleets are produced at Shipyards. -+ Economy and Trade You can boost your economy through trade with NPC and Player races, and the terms are negotiated between the players or the NPC race in question. -+ Buildings Buildings are your main resource in Star Conquest. They produce your units, provide the three Resources in the game, and introduce bonuses and certain tracks along the tech tree. ~-+-~ Units -+ Infantry Infantry units are generally cheap and all-purpose units, but not terribly good at any one thing. -+ Armor Armored units are slightly expensive, heavy, and slower than Infantry units, but can pack a big punch against most things. -+ Air Air units are highly expensive, but are incredibly good at taking on both Infantry and Armor with little worry of effective retaliation. -+ Navy Take Armored units. Put them on water. ??? Profit. ~-+-~ Combat -+ Ground/Planetary Combat Ground combat in Star Conquest is based on three basic stats: Armor, Power, and Strength. Armor is how protected the unit is. This value is calculated in relation to other unit archetypes (a unit can have high armor against air vehicles, but low armor against infatry, for example). Power is how high the unit's attack is, again calculated in relation to unit archetypes. Strength is how large the unit is, from a minimum of 5 to a total of 200. This acts as the unit's "health". -+ Fleet Combat -+ The Combat Screen The combat screen is a simple way of seeing the outcome of your combats. It is displayed with the fighting units on either side, and compares the Unit Strength before and after on both sides. It then declares the victor, and any morale adjustments that take place because of the fight. ~-+-~ Planetary/Universal Exploration -+ The Rim The Outer Rim is really a generalized area that signifies the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. It is a wide, unexplored belt of space that denotes the true limits of current space travel technology. While technology has advanced far enough for people to be able to see these planets, they are still unexplorable without incredible monetary expenses. -+ Discovering a New Planet New planets are discovered all the time, by all the races... however almost none of them are visited, whether due to a lack of funds or interest. The ability to explore is an aspect of the game that's very wide and unkown. Anything can be found. The Storyteller of any given game is encouraged to have a list of unexplored planets and their properties, and to randomly choose one to detail whenever one of the players touches down on it. -+ First Contact This scenario of racial relationship is a double-edged blade; it could spark a trade relationship that leads you into your golden age as a player, or it could signify the death of your empire. These are tedious occasions, and have a history of causing both war and peace. -+ Colonization On the occasion that one finds a new, reasonably hospitable planet, one can colonize it for a resource boost. -=- H. Terrain -+ Grassy/Hilly/Rocky This "tile" of terrain grants no bonuses or penalties. -+ Trees/Foliage This terrain grants bonuses to ground defense, but penalties to attack. -+ Mountainous This terrain grants a slight penalty to defense, but a bonus to attack. Impassable to buildings and non-infantry ground units. -+ Bodies of Liquid or Ice These are impassable for all ground units, but for units that can go into and under water, it counts as normal ground. -+ Desert/Beach Ground units take penalties to attack and defense on this terrain. -+ Buildings Buildings always grant at least a small bonus to defense. -=- I. Morale Morale is an important part of the way your colonies function. High morale has chances to increase your production rates for short periods, and even your unit's Power in combat. Low morale can cause penalties to the same, and workers may even revolt against you, shutting down or damaging key productive facilities in your colony (slaves are more prone to this than workers, but it is not beyond reason). It's a good idea to keep a close eye on your morale in-game (it can be found in the menu tray at the top of the game screen). -=- J. NPC Relations NPCs in the gameworld can provide excess trade relations, but keep in mind that each functions just a sovereign alien nation would; some are untrustworthy and others are totally reliable and nonhostile, and it will almost never be as it seems on the surface. Any foreign relations should be carefully treaded. -=- K. Tables/Lists/Appendices -+ Australium Production Bonus Rates (per Sample Use) +-------------------------------+ |As. Sample | Bonus Rounds | +-------------------------------+ |10 kl | 1 round | +-------------------------------+ |50 kl | 2 rounds | +-------------------------------+ |100 kl | 3 rounds | +-------------------------------+