Tycoon: First Draft

[SilentScope]

In this game set in the far future, the entire galaxy is run by tycoons, business magnates and moguls that have managed to gain themselves political power by using economic power. These people has gained monopolies in certain areas, such as trading, fighting, manufacturing, drug smuggling, etc. They now run businesses with much wealth.

And if you have money, you can buy whatever you want. You can buy yourself fame. You can buy yourself a planet, complete with a puppet government. You can even buy yourself a philosophy, and promote it, trying to affect the galaxy by using ideology.

Of course, this is all known in secret. Influence peddling can be rumored, but there is no actual proof that it ever happens, and besides, the journalists who makes these accusations always "disappear" rather quickly. Foolish humans believe that the companies have no stake in their government. Smart humans realize that many governments are either subverted or controlled by these companies, maybe even founded by them. These smart humans end up either running these companies...or end up dead.

You have a web of lies and intrigue, where planets get contested by rivaling companies, vying for the support of the planetary governments. Usually, the competition is merely covert, as the companies seek to muscle in and try to force the leaders to do what they say. However, there are instances where a company was able to maintain full control over a planet, but the other companies would be unwilling to let the company go. Therefore, the private confrontation ends up becoming public. Entire wars may be traced to a feud between two companies wanting to grab the same planet, to expand their sphere of influence. Feuds die hard with these companies.

This sounds like a dystopian future game. It is. For the most part. But unlike other games, you are running the show, and your decisions decide the fate of those who are living under your sphere of influence...

Players work as the Board of Directors of a small and growing company (meaning, large company in our standards). Their goal is to become a mega-corporation and crush their adversaries, by virtue of being a great power-broker...or by virtue of smashing them into itty-bitty bits. Your players must work together, fighting enemy companies and taking over planetary governments, with that one goal in mind. During the game, they will be tempted with the decisions that several mega-corporations face before...should they exploit the population? If they do, the people's opinion of you drops...but their profit margins will go up.

This is a Science-Fiction RPG, maybe following the Simulationist route with lots of stats to track the Corporation's track to sucess and conquest, inspired by real-life corporations. This is the first draft. Please read this and tell me any improvements. Thanks.

http://gmftp.paranoia-live.net/Silent/Tycoon.pdf