[Conflict: Eridani] Colony Creation

[ElliottBelser MKII]

Lo, All!  I'm trying to pare down a wicked keen world into something useful for an RPG.  Help me sort out what's cool and my own and what's just filching from other fine games.  I tend to be a magpie (Ooh!  Shiny mechanic!  *yoink*) but at least I have an idea of why I think these ideas are shiny and how to use them.

My design goals and favored agenda is Narrativist.  I think the question I'm asking in "Conflict: Edriani" is what war means to you, if indeed it has a meaning, with a slight War Is Hell undercurrent.  Question: is including that undercurrent kosher?

"Conflict: Edriani" is a roleplaying wargame in a space fantasy universe.  The players control squads of psychic negotiator Mecha soldiers from the Confederation Space Force; consider them a mix of the Psi Corps from Babylon Five, the Mobile Infantry from Starship Troopers, and western gunfighters.

They go from their carrier in Epsilon Eridani to hot spot colonies in the Eridani Cluster of star systems - Colonies that lost a war of independence with the Confederation - trying to secure vital resources and protect the colonists (or is it protect the colonists and secure vital resources?) from the invasion of the Draconian Empire. 

These aliens from Sigma Draconis are bent on controlling the Eridani Cluster's vital resources and care little for it's people, but they aren't stupid or uncommunicative: they're using the bruised pride of the colonists agains the Confederation, trying to convert them with honeyed words and psychology rather than laser guns and plasma swords, whenever possible.

Part of the game will involve taking the right colonies, on a map the GM makes before the campaign, and spending resources effectively between adventures.  You'll have to balance expenditures of Raw Materials, Industry, Population and Morale in order to build more ships and such so you can finally end the campaign with a no-holds-barred assault on the alien mothership.  You start with some of each, but you'll need more - and the only way to get more is by having adventures in Colonies.

So to do this, I need colonies!  I figure a GM will need to ask the following questions to create one.

First, I have a Ladder of How Doomed The Colony is, inspired by the Hiearchy of Sins from Dogs in the Vineyard.  If "inspired" is too kind a word and another, say 'thievery' is more apt, let me know.

-The WAR DISRUPTS NORMAL LIFE. 
-This creates an INJUSTICE, either because of 'enterprising' NPC's or because of circumstance.
-Injustice creates a WEAKNESS, military or psychological or both.
-The DRACONIANS ATTACK when weakness becomes apparent.
-The attack leads to a TRAGEDY.
-The tragedy leads to a LOSS OF WILL TO FIGHT.
-The DRACONIANS INVADE.
-Dissenters in the colony are SILENCED. 
-And continue to be.

You figure out how screwed the colony is based on proximity to the Alien Mothership.  And then you ask the following questions:

- What does the colony provide and in what form?  (That is, does it provide Materials, Industry, Population or Morale, and why?)
- What weakness in the colony can the Draconians exploit?
- What does the Confederation want in this colony?
- What does the Confederation Space Force want in this colony (it must be different from what the Confederation wants)?
- What do the prominent Colonists want?  Ask until you have several colonists at cross purposes.
- What does the Emperor of Draconis want?
- What does the Imperal Navy want? (You know the drill.)
- If the Space Force doesn't intervene in X between-adventure turns, what will happen next?

For example, Son Goku space station.

While a rich source of Helium 3 fuel (Raw Materials) due to it's proximity to a gas giant, it's food is running low.

The WAR DISRUPTED shipments of food to the station.  The corrupt administrator Michael Greene is hoarding food for the Confederation officials in charge, clear INJUSTICE.  This causes Ji-Li Tam, a leader of the fuel refiners, to strike for food, taking most with them; not only is this disunity a WEAKNESS, but the mecha aren't fully fueled, a military WEAKNESS.  The Draconians used this opportunity to ATTACK by zapping the relief freighters and a few hydroponics bays.

Confed wants the people on board to survive.
Space Force wants the fuel, period.
Michael Greene wants Tam to get back to work and not to be reprimanded for protecting his own.
Tam wants justice and bread, dammit.
The milita leader wants fuel for his f**ing Mecha.
The Emperor wants the fuel.
The Navy wants to deny Confed of the fuel.

Comments?

[Thunder_God]

I have to ask, how much of Birthright the computer game is of influence?

You have two modes to this:
1) a get-down DitV influenced mode.
2) A strategy board game.

Each one is fine and seems fine to me. I wonder about making each game interesting and having the pieces "on the board" as it were.
The Draconis can't attack everyone, they also have X points to do things, and them not willing to push it where there's no weakness shows more of a cold-war of conversion than overt-war. Etc.
What happens if you don't spend resources right? You get fucked over on the RP level? If you don't RP well, you get screwed on the resources level?
I'd also add a "If the "Dogs" come and do "X", result is "Y"". Each faction supported and other suppressed will result in something else being taken out of balance. Dogs towns are small, you're talking about messing with whole planets here, unless there's only one colony per planet. Etc.

Also, a bit unclear on who is who. Too many factions with too similar names.

[ElliottBelser MKII]

I know not of the Birthright of which you speak.

The factions are better named Solar Confederation, Space Force (the Confed military), the Eridani colonists, the Draconian Empire, and the Imperal Navy (the Draconian military).  Note that the civilian leaders may want different things than the military ones!  This is deliberate overlap.

If you don't spend resources, you are screwed in RP, and if you don't RP well, you don't get resources, that's right.  Without your input, the GM will make sure that resources are randomly spent on your side: and you need to roleplay the "we're running out of fighter and mecha parts, better take a colony with Industry" part as well.  You've got doglike levels of authority, and can say, "We need a transport full of infantry to take this colony!" and (roll to?) negotiate for one.

The GM should have a pool of Screw Confed dice or points they can use to create threats.  They can assign them to make colonies slide futher down the scale towards Invasion, and then must spend dice on fully Invaded colonies to Silence Dissenters each turn.

There are 12-15, maybe 15-20 colonies per campaign.  There may be multiple ones at a given planet.

The ramifications should be complex, but partially determined by the GM.

It may be better represented as a cold war with brief hot flashes.  You're sent to the important flashpoints.

[Thunder_God]

Birthright is a setting-world for DnD, in the computer game you had a kingdom which you controlled in a turn-based strategy game manner.
You had a monarch and adventuring party you send on missions that were second-person(?) dungeon-delve hack-and-slash.

Kinda like the new DnD strategy game set in Eberron.

[Larry L.]

Hi Elliott!

I haven't been following the previous threads, but I like your premise.

My question is, why does the GM build the colonies before the game? Why not make the colony creation part of the gameplay, and everyone participates?

This might not be something you're interested in, because it would shift the focus of your game quite a bit, but when I saw "space colonies" and "Narrativism," that's what came to my mind.

[Thunder_God]

Hi Elliott!

I haven't been following the previous threads, but I like your premise.

My question is, why does the GM build the colonies before the game? Why not make the colony creation part of the gameplay, and everyone participates?

This might not be something you're interested in, because it would shift the focus of your game quite a bit, but when I saw "space colonies" and "Narrativism," that's what came to my mind.

I like this idea, on one hand you have:
Player: I want to find a Colony with Resource Y.
GM: Ok, let's use FakeName Colony!

On the other hand though, if you want a wargame, you need to know what there is, strategically wise. Also, setting up DitV Towns works better if done beforehands, IMO.

[ElliottBelser MKII]

I think what will happen is going to be you create all of them to the Silenced level and then pick a level they start at by allocating points, now that I think of it.  Also, the GM will allocate points of the four Resources to each colony according to rules.

You can't player-fiat warmachines and allies into assistance, you must bring them if you want them. Crap or normal weapons are okay to player fiat, plus you start with MECHA.  But every mech you lose costs you resources, at least one Material, Industry, Population, AND morale.  THIS GOES BOTH WAYS.  The Dracs must send thier own agents for opposition, although this is partially represented by the Level Of Screwed.

[ElliottBelser MKII]

Aaaand my friends helping me said that this is too DitV like to suit his taste.  So perhaps everyone will have a hand in creating them...

Wait.  I want characters to have quantifiable Motivations.  They suggest ways that these motivations will come up in any given Colony?