The Empire of Man is a colossal construct that ecompasses billions of individuals. Over the last millennia, its precise form has waxed and waned considerably. Presently, the Empire is operating under a system of feudal patronage and governance, and its social hierarchy and distribution of rights and powers reflects that.
The Emperor:
The Emperor is elected from among the ranks of the Landsraad, the assembly of highborn lords of the Empire. An absolute majority is required in order to win the seat (51%), which is from then onwards usually held for life. When elected, the Emperor forfeits their previous name and takes up a new Imperial title. The Emperor holds a range of powers, which include the following:
Manages the National Treasury, which is separate from his own personal treasury.
Taxes the Empire. Feudal taxes are set and defended/opposed by the Landsraad. Taxes from Republican sectors are subject only to Imperial authority and can be set by the Emperor.
Manages, leads, and pays the Imperial Army. He sets its orders and who it attacks. Its commanders (besides the Emperor) are decided in the Landsraad.
Manages, leads, and pays the Imperial Apparatus. The Apparatus is the bureaucratic and administrative umbrella of the massive Empire.
May appoint Ministers within the Landsraad.
May condemn a vassal or citizen with a crime. The Landsraad can challenge this, and can vote to overrule it (51%+ needed) and/or can run a trial. Note: If condemned without opposition, the Emperor can legally attack the offending individual with the Imperial Army.
Negotiate and represent the Empire diplomatically and nationally.
May raise a new noble house. The Landsraad can challenge this, and can vote to overrule it (51%+ needed).
May promote Freyma to a higher rank. The Landsraad can challenge this, and can vote to overrule it (51%+ needed).
The Freyma:
The Freyma are the noble born lords of the Empire. Freyma is a general descriptor for anyone ranging from a Baronet all the way up to the Emperor itself. All feudal members of the Freyma are constitutionally enabled to participate in the Landsraad, a parliament of electors. This excludes the Republican merchant lords, who forfeited their voting rights in exchange for large degrees of autonomy from Imperial governance. There is a feudal ladder of rank which relies on both Prestige and patronage.
Archduke.
Duke - held by the overlord of a Duchy.
Count - held by the overlord of a County.
Viscount.
Margrave - held by lords of the Marcher systems - is used as a rank suffix by Marchers of higher rank.
Baron.
Baronet - a Freyma lacking a system of their own.
Commoners:
Commoners form the bulk of the Empire’s population. Locked into the feudal system, many will live out their lives as menial labour toiling for the benefit of their liege lord. Others will grow to become the powerbrokers that are the Freyma of tomorrow.
Gentry - the bridge between the Freyma and commoners. Often they are tasked with controlling regions of planets on behalf of the system’s lord.
Keshiks - a prestigious class of Citizen, defined by their service in the Imperial Army. This status also extends to close family. One of the most frequently elevated to Freyma.
Freemen - The basic class of commoner.
Slaves - The remnants of alien species, without rights and used as chattel, free labor.
Ministerial Positions
These are all voided at each Imperial Election, leaving the new Emperor to appoint a Government of his choice.
Emperor:
The Emperor is elected by the Grand Assembly by majority vote and has, in theory, unlimited authority. He alone appoints and dismisses Ministers, save for the Lord Admiral which is elected by the Landsraad. He may dismiss and appoint any of his Ministers and banish Freyma from the Landsraad, though rarely does as this may anger them and imperil his rule. He may summon armies and fleets to do his bidding. He may exercise any power that his Ministers have without their consultation, as by Constitution their powers are granted by him to exercise in his name.
First Minister:
The Head of Government and responsible for daily administration of the Empire. Sits as the Chairman of the Landsraad and may summon or dismiss it to discuss any issue he deems fit, but cannot himself alter the composition of it. May suspend, for a period of up to 1 year, any Minister or member of the Landsraad, for any reason. After the year, the suspension must be lifted or the Emperor or Landsraad must agree to a removal.
Lord Treasurer:
The Chief Supervisor of the National Treasury and responsible for scrutinising the Emperor’s finances. The National Treasury and Imperial personal account are technically distinct entities, although past Emperors have sometimes blurred the line. Corruption (such as putting the National funds into the personal account for hoarding) can and should be tried by the Landsraad. The Lord Treasurer can request the Emperor disclose his personal finances to the Landsraad for scrutiny at any time. Consequently, the post is usually awarded to the Emperor’s closest allies. More radical members of the Landsraad believe the position is self-defeating due to this and are calling for the Treasury to become a Landsraad appointed ministry.
Warden of the Marches:
The most senior military figure in the Marches, the holder of this position automatically assumes overall command of any Marcher forces mobilised to engage rebel or other hostile forces marauding in the Marches. In theory a Warden title can be made for any region of the Empire, though only the Marches has a permanent Warden post.
Lord Admiral of the Empire:
The holder of this position is in overall command of any Imperial forces about the Emperor’s business. In times of general war or insurrection, all Wardens, and thus all local forces, are subordinated to him in an act known as the War Provision. The last time this happened was during the Tetrarchy. [War Provision: Manpower, Cost, Upkeep of Imperial Army, -25%]
Lord Master of the Apparatus:
The ‘Apparatus’ is the Empire’s term for the secret service and information gathering services of the Government. The holder of this position controls the Empire’s Spy network and may summon anyone in the Empire for an ‘undocumented discussion’ about any issue he deems appropriate. He may also detain said individuals for up to 1 year without stating a cause, requiring the agreement of the Lord Justicar for longer periods. [Imperial Apparatus: +5 max Spies. Spy hire cost -50%]
Lord Justicar:
Head of the Empire’s judicial system, the holder of this title may issue arrest warrants and may summon any Lord to answer to accusations of treason or wronging another Lord. He may issue any punishment he deems appropriate if the offending Lord is found guilty. By tradition, a Lord convicted of Treason is, at best, sentenced to death and at worst, his entire House is stripped of their status and their lands granted to another House. For wronging another Lord, compensation of some form is usually mandated. The Lord Justicar oversees any Trial requested by the Landsraad.
Non-Ministerial Positions:
In addition to the above Ministerial posts, other posts exist and may be activated or deactivated as the relevant Minister desires.
Warden of Mars:
The Head of the Palace Legion, 10 battalions of hand-picked Elite Keshik whose sole duty is the security and defence of the sprawling Imperial Palace Complex on Mars. These troops have 150 Attack/Defence stats and never leave Mars (Terra system). The Imperial Palace Complex is heavily fortified with +4 to defence rolls, and may serve as a fall-back point for defeated defenders if Mars falls, enabling the Palace to continue resistance even if the planet itself is occupied.
Warden of Sol:
The Head of the Golden Fleet, a force comprising of: 3 Battleship class, 5 Cruiser class, 4 Light Cruiser class, 4 Destroyer class in orbit of Mars. A Keshik Captain-General is sometimes appointed to run it, though many Lord Admirals have commanded it directly as their own Flag Squadron. These vessels never leave Terra.
The Lords Treasurer, Justicar, Master of the Apparatus and Admiral of the Empire may appoint deputies with whatever delegated powers and remit they deem appropriate.
The Landsraad, Voting and Policies
Located on Mars, the Landsraad is a gathering of all of the Freyma of the Empire - all feudal noble houses are represented, even those who have not been granted a system of their own. This is an important distinction, as those merchant systems that refused to ratify the Vox Domini and adopt feudal status are not technically represented. Republican lords may attend and speak in the Landsraad, but this is a courtesy extended to a guest and nothing more; their resolutions are non-binding and they hold no vote. In general terms the Landsraad is designed to give voice to the Empire’s systems, and provide a counterbalance to the Emperor’s singular prerogative. The First Minister sits as the Chairman of the Landsraad.
The Freyma of the Landsraad also have a distinct set of powers and duties that act as a counterbalance of power to the Emperor. When acting in unison, the Landsraad can be a powerful force capable of curtailing Imperial excesses. In the majority of cases, infighting and and politicking give the Emperor a far stronger position than it would appear on paper.
Elects Emperors. Emperor nominees who succeed a parent/relative as primogeniture inheritance win the election when there is no majority nominee (51%+).
May impeach Emperors on grounds of tyranny, criminality, and corruption. Majority vote (51%+) needed.
May try/condemn a citizen/individual or domain with a crime. Trial needed.
Sets the tax (5%, 10%, 15%) placed on feudal overlords that is paid to the Emperor and the National Treasury. It is the same for all affected lords, unless the Landsraad specifically gives specific lords a different tax rate.
Sets size limits and geographical placements of the Imperial Army, and elects commanders (besides the Emperor) for it. The Emperor can veto a candidate. If the Emperor vetoes a candidate, then the Landsraad must get a majority vote (51%+) to overrule the veto.
Enforce peace upon and between its members, with majority vote, unless one of the warring parties is at war because they were condemned as criminals.
Implement 1 Imperial Policy per year (feudal sectors may refuse to implement them individually)
Landsraad policies, laws, and resolutions have no bearing on Republican sectors, which are only subject to direct Imperial authority.
May vote to raise a new noble house, or veto one the Emperor has raised (51%+).
Votes to appoint the lord of newly discovered or conquered systems.
Many lords no longer attend the Landsraad on Mars in person, and instead either send proxies or appear via hologram. For Freyma many weeks travel from Mars, long-range holograms enable them to balance their local duties with their political responsibilities. Despite this, attending in person enables the speaker to project a certain gravitas that would otherwise be lost; Mars is a hotbed of political intrigue, Imperial drama and trend-setting fashion. Those lords who spend more time there can expect to be better connected than a warlord on the Periphery.
Voting:
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, voting in the Landsraad is carried out through simple absolute majorities - if a motion can garner 51% of the participating vote, it passes or is approved. The options for responding to a vote are “Support”, “Oppose” and “Abstain”.
In order to account for the hypothetically hundreds of NPC lords that would also be participating, they are considered to vote in the same ratios as players. Effectively, they don’t matter. Despite this, persuasion rolls may be made prior to a vote being opened to try and convince NPC system lords to take your position - this will gain you one extra vote.
Policies:
Policies are like Doctrines, but on an macro level for the entire Empire. By voting through a Policy, the Landsraad is adopting a particular stance or philosophy on an issue, which can affect how National Treasury funds are spent.
WIP.
Systems of the Empire
The Empire is divided into a number of administrative groups to ease management. These groupings serve to reinforce the Empire’s feudal system of patronage and vassalage.
System:
The smallest administrative unit. A collection of planets, moons and satellites in orbit around a star - the territorial extent of a system is considered to be the range from the star itself to the edge of the Oort Field and its gravitational sphere.
Domain:
A cluster of systems placed under the feudal control of a capital and overlord. Domains are generally either a County (ruled by a Count) or Duchy (ruled by a Duke), depending on their size and importance. Vassal systems pay taxes to their overlord, who in turn pays taxes to the National Treasury.
Sector:
Sectors are the largest groupings inside the Empire, and can contain several domains. Under the Feudal system, the importance of sectors have waned. There has been some debate about their return, with proposals awarding overlordship to Archdukes or Imperial Princes.
Grand Duchy of Terra:
Capital: Terra.
Vassals: Kepler, Macarb, Orion, Procyon.
Duchy of Castor:
Capital: Castor.
Vassals: Cyngi, Helix, Goliath, Patru.
Duchy of Delpha:
Capital: Delpha.
Vassals: Aquilae, Bastion, Dabot, Krak.
Duchy of Metropolis:
Capital: Metropolis.
Vassals: Gumpalt, Manticore, Osmo, Porteno.
Duchy of Nova Terra:
Capital: Nova Terra.
Vassals: Alzar, Igol, Spica, Thrax.
Duchy of Regulus:
Capital: Regulus.
Vassals: Majoris, Mira, Tiamat, Varth.
County of Dorsum:
Capital: Dorsum.
Vassals: Acamar, Altam, Vici.
County of Durdane:
Capital: Durdane.
Vassals: Corelia, Jalta, Solaris.
County of Mizar:
Capital: Mizar.
Vassals: Eta, Kzin, Maddar.
System Generation and Characteristics
Systems have a number of characteristics that then define their statistics. These impact the three core variables that are tracked by each system. Those variables are:
Manpower: The total sum of military resources your system can produce for your army and fleet.
Manpower Regen: How fast your system can replenish military resources.
Income: The base number of Crowns your system generates through tax each year.
For Imperial systems, these characteristics are generated when someone places a formal claim on a system, or attacks an NPC system. Hostile or unsettled systems are generated the first time they are encountered / entered.
When a player’s own system is generated, they may change one of the following three rolled characteristics to another of their choosing. As an example, you could change the type of World, but would then have to abide by the dice for population and wealth.
1-4 - Tiny: -15% manpower, -10% manpower regen, -10% system income.
5-8 - Small: -5% manpower, -5% manpower regen, -5% system income.
9-12 - Balanced: No modifier.
13-16 - Large: +5% manpower, +5% manpower regen, +5% system income.
17-20 - Massive: +15% manpower, +10% manpower regen, +10% system income.
Productivity and Wealth - D20
1-4 - Impoverished: +10% system income, -10% trade income.
5-8 - Poor: +5% system income, -5% trade income.
8-12 - Solvent: No modifier.
13-16 - Wealthy: +5% trade income, -5% system income.
17-20 - Opulent: +10% trade income, -10% system income.
The following characteristics are faction-specific. Only Custodians are able to run alien slave colonies, while Magnates reserve the privilege of an Imperial blessing to use penal labor.
Alien Slave Colonies - D20
1-3 - Small Slave Colony: +5% system income, +5% trade income.
4-7 - Medium Slave Colony: +10% system income, +10% trade income.
8-10 - Large Slave Colony: +15% system income, +15% trade income.
Custodian systems also have a 50% chance of containing Alien Ruins. If this succeeds, roll a D4. This many ruins are acquired.
Penal Labour Operations
1-10 - Small Penal Colony: +5% system income, +5% trade income.
11-20 - Large Penal Colony: +10% system income, +10% trade income.
The following characteristics are pre-determined and distributed based on geographic features of the game map, or the discretion of game moderators.
Pre-Determined Characteristics
Capital of the Empire: +25% manpower, manpower regen, system income.
Capital: +10% manpower, manpower regen, base income.
Asteroid Field: Battleships, Cruisers and Supercarriers suffer a -25% penalty to attack and defence.
Mineral Rich Asteroid Field: +15% to system income. Battleships, Cruisers and Supercarriers suffer -25% penalty to attack and defence.
Nebula: -15 to detection rolls when ambushing.
Fuel Rich Nebula: +15% to system income. -15 to detection rolls when ambushing.
Gas Giant: +15% to system income.
Movement, Exploration and Colonization
Movement:
In MU, movement will be determined based on two systems, a normal hex map and through the Warpgates. They will be described as follows.
Normal Hex Movement:
If you are moving just one hex at a time, then the following movement times will apply per each hex.
Normal Hex: 3 hours
Nebula Hex: 4.5 hours
Asteroid Hex: 6 hours
So if you are moving through 5 normal hexes and 2 nebula hexes, your move time will be 15 hours (normal) + 9 hours (nebula) for a total of 24 hours travel time.
In addition, since we do have numbered hexes available on our map, you must state your starting hex number and your end hex number when posting your movements. Moderators will be assuming that you are moving through the quickest route possible between two hexes. IF that’s not the case, then you will need to provide more information.
Warpgate Movement:
In addition to just moving hex by hex, we also have movement between two Warpgates where your fleet will basically move at a much quicker rate between the two particular gates.
When traveling via a Warpgate, travel time per hex between the two Warpgates will be 1 hour per hex. This is explained in the following bullets with the limitations/restrictins of Warpgate travel.
For example, between Terra and Durdane, there are a total of 5 hexes separating them. If you travel along the Warpgate between Terra and Durdane, then your travel time will be 5 hours.
The 1 hour move time per hex is only if you are moving between two Warpgates. Using the Terra and Durdane systems example again, if you are just moving from Terra to the Procyon system, then your travel time will be 10 hours since you are NOT moving through the Warpgate even if our map states that a spacelane goes through the hex between Terra and Procyon
Warpgate movement is only between two specific systems which are clearly labeled in our map.
Movement Modifier Due to Fleet Composition:
The composition of your fleet can have an effect on how quickly it can move through a hex. The ship with the lowest speed in your fleet (not what the average speed of your fleet is) will determine how quickly you move.
3 or lower = Move at 100% rate (normal hex movement is 3 hours)
5 = Move at 125% rate (normal hex movement goes down from 3 hours to 2.4 hours)
8 = 150% rate (normal hex movement goes down from 3 hours to 2.0 hours)
10 = 200% rate (normal hex movement goes down from 3 hours to 1.5 hours)
So if you have a fleet of ships, most of which have a speed of 8 but you have one ship that moves at a speed of 5, then your fleet can only move at a 125% rate, not at a 150% rate on a normal hex. A calculator has been developed to make these modifications (among other things) easier to work out.
This speed boost does apply to warpgate movement as well.
Loading and Unloading of Troops:
Realistically, it takes time for a land based army to be embarked onto a fleet of warships and transports to move in between two systems. As a result, if you are going to redeploy your armies between two areas, the following times will be added to your movements.
Friendly Systems: 6 hours to embark or disembark.
Hostile Systems: 12 hours to embark or disembark.
So if you are loading your troops onto your warships and then unloading them on a hostile planet, the total time that you need to add will be 18 hours (6 for your own friendly system, 12 for the enemy hostile one).
Fleet Position, Ambush and Detection:
We have the benefit of having numbers assigned to each hex position, allowing us to have a great deal of accuracy regarding where fleets and armies will be located. As a result, we have a more sophisticated system regarding how two fleets can meet.
A fleet can be stationed on one particular hex. That fleet will have a detection radius of two hexes around its own hex in which it can engage an enemy fleet or let it sail by. A stationary fleet that is positioned inside an Asteroid Field or Nebula may also attempt to ambush the enemy fleet by taking a Detection Roll.
Roll: Chance = (Fleet Attack+Defence)/20). d100, with Chance as detection chance.
Example: Two Behemoths. (400 + 400)/20 = 40. Therefore 40/100 chance of detection.
A successful ambush results in a +4 to the ambusher’s attack roll.
Exploration:
When travelling through unknown territory, vessels will reveal a radius of two hex grids around them. Specialised Exploration Ships will instead reveal a radius of three hexes around them.
If a system is discovered, the location is added to the map, physical characteristics are generated and the relevant character credited as the discovering explorer. The player who reveals the location of a system is also bestowed with the honor or naming it (subject to Moderator discretion).
Colonization:
Unsettled systems may be colonized by expending a single Colonization Force. The system receives a trade resource, and a standard generation roll for both population and prosperity/wealth. A newly settled system will always begin with a population value of Tiny, but may be increased by 1 tier each week by expending a new Colonization Force, until the rolled value is met. This represents how hospitable the new system is, and the population ceiling its ecology can support.
In the event that you are colonizing a conquered alien system, there are two distinct routes. For a Custodial lord, follow the standard characteristic rules for generating a slave colony and alien ruins. For any other type of lord, the aliens are either shipped away and sold into the care of Custodial lords, or systematically exterminated - depending on preference. Non-custodial lords receive D10 alien ruins, due to the destructive nature of their actions.
Last edited by Honors Bastion; January 31, 2015 at 09:20 AM.
Noble characters who rule a capital system will adopt the rank of that domain, i.e. a Duchy confers the rank of Duke and a County the rank of Count. All other vassal systems confer the rank of Baron. Non-landed Nobles receive the title of Baronet. Freemen gain the rank designated in their own chapter.
All Lordly Houses are granted a starting income of their system income, plus modifiers. Freeman Professionals have their starting income specified in their own chapter. Any class with unspecified income is considered to start with 20,000 Crowns with an annual income of 20,000 Crowns.
Planetary income will be set at a standard rate of 100,000 crowns before income modifiers are applied to it. In order to give some variation among the planets, there will be some characteristics rolled for each planet that will diversify all of the planetary stats. The moderators will only be rolling the planetary traits once an actual player has chosen that planet or it has been conquered/encountered during the process of the RP.
All planets start at 1,000,000 manpower with a 10% (or 100,000 manpower) yearly replenishment rate. Note that manpower replenishment cannot decrease below 5% due to modifiers.
Standing Forces (those with Free Upkeep) can total no more than 50% of your manpower (this would be 500,000 max assuming you have 1 million as the base rate). Note, your space and land forces use the same cap. If you spend 400,000 manpower on your fleet, you will only have 100,000 manpower left for your army.
Character and Roleplay Rules
Main Characters:
Players take on the role of human characters and may have up to eight main characters - these are defined as characters with traits and income. Players may control as many as two noble houses. Players may not control more than one house of any single faction. Also included within the eight main character slots are any non-lordly characters that you choose to RP as.
Auxiliaries are defined as supporting characters that do not have traits or income of their own, i.e. the child, wife or husband of your main character lord/lady. An auxiliary character may be promoted to a main character at moderator discretion, providing you have enough free main character slots to accommodate it.
Systems:
Characters may only rule one System each. If a player acquires more than one System, they must appoint a non-landed character to rule it. This may be one of your own auxiliaries promoted to become a Main Character, provided you have enough main character slots remaining. If you do not, the system must be granted to another player or NPC as a vassal.
Financial Conduct:
Characters may not pool income: every character has their own bank account and cannot provide gifts to others except where Moderation approves it for suitable RP justification, such as bribery.
Any money changing hands must have a fully explained and justifiable ingame reason. For example, giving large sums of money to another player's character simply because you like the player will not be tolerated.
This is a source of great potential abuse. Moderation will not show any leniency in these matters. Unless you're handing over money to someone else for a rock solid reason (e.g. paying another player's character for services rendered), seek permission. If you're at all unsure, seek guidance. The amount of money will also be taken into account: no one pays 500,000 Crowns for a Condotierri to call a rival silly names.
You are warned here and now that we have, in the past, reset player's finances to 0 because of the scale of their mismanagement. We will not hesitate to do it again under similar circumstances. If you are unsure, seek guidance.
In your bank thread, it must be clearly labelled where all incomes are coming from and where all expenses are going to. Unlabeled or poorly explained figures are liable to be deemed fraudulent.
Aging:
Characters age 1 year each week. Death rolls begin at 80, initially with 2/20 odds of failure. Each 5 year period adds +2 to the roll (e.g. at 85 the roll is 4/20, at 90 the roll is 6/20).
Casualty Table:
1-4 - Killed: 1-2 is killed outright, 3-4 is mortally wounded.
5-10 - Wounded: There will be a further roll to see what type of wound (see below).
11-20 - Unharmed: You survive your ordeal unharmed.
If it is rolled that you are wounded due to an ordeal there shall be another roll under this category to see where the wound is. This roll will only give you a general area, after that it is up to you to RP the specifics.
1-5 - Head wound: you have taken some sort of wound to the face or head. -1 Charisma or -1 Administrator (may enter negative value).
6-10 Arm wound: you have taken some sort of wound to the arms or hands. -1 Duel (may enter negative value).
11-15 - Leg wound: you have taken some sort of wound to the legs or feet. -1 Duel (may enter negative value).
16-20 - Torso wound: you have taken some sort of wound to the back, stomach, chest area. -1 Duel (may enter negative value).
Note that if taken prisoner, you are entirely at the mercy of your captor. They may inflict what wounds they wish upon you, in the name of extracting information or simple wanton cruelty.
Heirs and Wills:
Following the death of your main character, their system, assets and funds will be passed on to their eldest child. Should this character be an auxiliary character, they will be promoted to a main and go through regular character generation. Note that the title associated with a system is the one it started with - the capital of a county will pass on the title of count, while a vassal system will pass on the title of Baron.
Alternately, you may also post a will within 24 hours of the death detailing a different arrangement. In the event that you do not have enough main character slots, didn't have any pre-existing auxiliaries or didn't leave a will, a succession crisis emerges. A succession crises will also develop if a member of the Landsraad contests the will by condemning it. Succession crisie are settled by the Emperor, who decides who is to receive the contested bequeathment.
Factions and Doctrine
Factions
There are a variety of different Lords that inhabit the Empire, each having developed a unique identity over the centuries. These 'factions' do not represent political groupings, in so much as particular philosophies and privileges that have been adopted by noble houses over the years.
Custodian: Custodial Lords are those freyma who have been Imperially sanctioned to guard and breed slave colonies of conquered alien species. They are also permitted to partake in a heavily regulated trade in sterilized slaves.
+1 Counterspy. +15% system income. Enables slave colony characteristic.
Magnate: Magnates are industrialists and manufacturers, forming a core component of the Empire’s economic output. A significant number of Magnates have secured Imperial charters to make use of penal rehabilitative labor.
+1 administrator. +10% ship sale commission, +10% system income. Allows penal labor characteristic.
Marchers: Marcher Lords tend to be the most junior of Freyma, generally being senior officers of the Imperial Army that have been granted holdings on the Imperial periphery. Marchers are the Empire’s first line of defense and attack, controlling heavily militarized frontier systems.
+1 Admiral or General trait. +10% manpower, +5% regen.
Merchant Republicans: The Empire’s semi-autonomous Merchant Republics are an unusual anomaly, bucking the feudal system that governs the rest of the Empire. Answerable directly to the Emperor, their comparatively liberated societies allow for a flourishing mercantile class. May speak in the Landsraad, but hold no votes.
+1 Trader. +1 trade fleet. +5% trade income. +3 to wealth/prosperity on system generation.
Technocrats: Over the Empire’s long history, much has been lost, both culturally and technologically. While some see history as irrelevant navel-gazing and research as a frivolous indulgence, technocrats believe that the fate of humanity is inexorably tied to science.
+1 Academic. +10 research points per year.
Doctrine:
Doctrines represent the mechanics of how a lord wishes to governs their system. They are the methods by which these leanings are enforced on the local populace - whether through propaganda campaigns, stimuli incentives, laws or prohibitions.
Agrarianism: +5% manpower regen. [Incompatible with Desert or Lava World]
Commercialization: +10% trade income.
Corruption: -15% to base system income. Grants access to Black Market, generates a Black Market Trade Resource.
Industrialization: +10% to system income. [Incompatible with Garden World]
Militarization: 10% manpower.
Militant Prometheism: +1 to attack and defence rolls against aliens.
Police State: +1 Counterspy.
Traits
Traits are not gained by ageing as we have seen in other RPs. Traits are gained by deeds.
New characters may start with 2 points for every decade they have lived, and may not allocate more than +4 in any trait regardless of age. This limit does not count traits added by characteristics/faction/doctrine - as an example, a lord from a Merchant Republic could invest 4 points in Trader and gain one further point from his faction bonus. You may start with any traits that you wish, but will not gain anymore once the RP has begun unless you earn them.
Military
Admiral: +1 to fleet battles. Trait awarded for winning a fleet battle where you do not outnumber the enemy by more than 1.5 to 1.
General: +1 to Land Battles. Trait awarded for winning a battle where you do not outnumber the enemy by more than 1.5 to 1.
Mercenary Contractor: -2.5% to Mercenary hire costs. Trait awarded for every 2 mercenary companies hired.
Veteran Navigator: -2 when subjected to fleet detection rolls, +2 when making fleet detection rolls. Trait awarded for every successful ambush on an enemy fleet or planet.
Guerilla Warfare Expert: -1 to SOS roll, +2% to loot from raiding/piracy. Trait awarded for each raid that gains more than 30,000 Crowns in loot.
Civil
Academic: +1 to archaeology success rolls and reverse engineering. Increased by successfully reverse engineering an expedition’s finds.
Administrator: +2.5% to System income or if a Merchant, asset income. Trait awarded for appointment as Lord Treasurer, or if economic power is wielded for significant political or personal gain (as decided by the Moderators).
Charisma: +1 to rolls when attempting to convince AI characters of something. Trait awarded if an AI character is successfully convinced to vote for your position in the Landsraad, and for every 3 AI Lords convinced to take your side militarily or politically.
Trader: +1 trade fleet for every 2 levels. Trait awarded if trade is wielded for significant political or personal gain (as decided by the Moderators).
Espionage
Spymaster: +1 to Spy rolls conducted by or for this character. Trait awarded if information gained is wielded for significant political or personal gain (as decided by the Moderators).
Counterspy: -1 to Spy rolls against that character. Trait awarded if a spy or character is captured trying to make a roll on you.
Duelist: +1 to Duel rolls. Trait awarded for every 2 serious duels won or for foiling an assassination attempt. Sparring, showing off or otherwise jovial duels do not count. Moderator discretion.
Assassin, +1 to Assassination rolls (applies only if the character is doing the deed himself). Trait awarded for every successful kill.
Marriage
Marriage in the Empire is conducted for a number of reasons, ranging from love to political arrangement and everything inbetween. When a union is proposed between two houses, there is no automatic legal position on which suitor takes the other’s name. Instead of a strict male or female based inheritance of house and name, traditionally the suitor of the weaker house takes the family name of the stronger.
Consequently, negotiations over who should take what name can be intense and usually form the largest part of the pre-nuptial discourse. There are a number of occasions where stronger houses have conceded and allowed one of their offspring to take the name of a weaker house in order to secure political concessions. This is thought to be a leftover cultural artifact from one of the earlier Meritocratic eras of the Empire.
Childbirth
Childbirth is considerably safer in the present day than it has been during most of humanity’s history. The chance of death for the mother is at an almost historical low, while birth defects are screened at conception and usually circumvented. One D20 birth roll can be requested each year:
1 - Mother and child dies.
2 - Mother dies.
3 - Child dies.
4-10 - No pregnancy.
11-17 - Child born.
18-20 - Multiple births (roll again, max total 3 children).
Roll another D20 for each child to determine gender: 1-10 male, 11-20 female.
The Prestige System
Prestige is a general gauge of how well known, influential or powerful someone is. There are many ways to accumulate prestige, whether that be through military conquest or lavishly flaunting wealth. Conversely, it can also be lost through military defeats, political embarrassment or financial discomfort. Prestige points can be 'traded in' for social advancement, to an extent. Characters also start the game with a pre-set number of points, which may vary based on their rank.
It is important to note that participation in the prestige system is not required, and may be ignored at a player's discretion. As an example, if you wished to have your lord promoted from a Baron to a Viscount, you could either, a) amass the requisite amount of prestige through your actions, or b) lobby many voting members of the Landsraad and try to secure their political patronage for an actual vote on the matter. Important note: you cannot cherry pick when you do or do not want to track this system. You must either keep permanent track of your prestige, or not use the system at all.
Starting Values
Ranks are divided between Commoners and Freyma. You cannot promote yourself from a Commoner to a Freyma using prestige alone - nor could you secure the rank of Emperor simply by spending points; both are the domain of the Landsraad and will need to be secured through roleplay alone. On the left is the default amount of prestige that each rank begins the game with. On the right is the additional amount you would need to spend in order to purchase a promotion. You may not purchase a promotion if doing so would take you below the base prestige required of your current rank.
Commoners:]
0 - Freemen: +30 to Gentry.
20 - Keshik: +10 to Gentry.
30 - Gentry: Landsraad approval required for promotion to Baron.
Freyma:
35 - Baronet: +15 to Baron.
50 - Baron: +15 to Viscount.
65 - Viscount: +15 to Count.
65 - Margave: +15 to Count (retains Margrave as a suffix to title, i.e. Ducal-Margrave).
80 - Count: +20 to Palatine.
100 - Palatine +20 to Duke.
120 - Duke: +20 to Archduke.
140 - Archduke.
170 - Emperor.
Gaining and Losing Prestige
Game moderators may also add or subtract prestige at their discretion, based on game events.
Gaining:
+1 for winning a duel against a commoner.
+1 for surviving an assassination attempt.
+1 for every Charisma trait point.
+1 each week end there is more than 500,000 Crowns in your treasury.
+1 for every 3 battleships or supercarriers in your personal fleet.
+2 for winning a duel against a freyma.
+2 each week end there is more than 1,000,000 Crowns in your treasury.
+2 for successfully trying/condemning a citizen/freyma/domain through the Landsraad/Emperor.
+2 for successfully passing a motion on tax/policy in the Landsraad.
+2 for informing the Empire of a system’s discovery.
+2 for marrying into a house of higher rank than your own. [Freyma only]
+3 for winning a land/space battle.
+5 for being granted or settling a system.
+5 for marrying into a noble house. [Commoner only]
+10 for capturing a system.
+30 for being crowned Emperor.
Losing:
-1 for losing a duel against a Freyma.
-1 each week end there is less than 100,000 in your treasury.
-1 for each building ruined, seized or sabotaged.
-1 for every 3 battleships or supercarriers lost in battle.
-1 for marrying into a noble house of lesser rank than your own. [Freyma only]
-2 for every week with no display of wealth; modifier increases by 1 for every rank of count and upwards. [Freyma only]
-2 for losing a duel against a commoner. [Freyma only]
-2 for each week end there is less than 50,000 in your treasury.
-2 for unsuccessfully trying/condemning a citizen/freyma/domain through the Landsraad/Emperor.
-2 for failing to pass a motion on tax/policy in the Landsraad.
-3 for marrying your noble house to a commoner. [Freyma only]
-3 for losing a land/space battle.
-10 for losing a system.
-20 for having your noble rank reduced by the Landsraad/Emperor.
-100 for being impeached as Emperor.
Persuasion
When a player wants an AI character to do something (support a vote in the Landsraad, vassals providing military assistance or paying taxes, etc), they must conduct a roll that will determine whether this AI character agrees or not. The base roll is 10/20.
Positive modifiers:
+15 if the character is bound to your House by marriage.
+10 if you are the character’s Overlord.
+1 for every rank you are above the character.
Charisma trait of the character making the request.
Moderator discretion, examples…
Character has reason to like or trust the character making the request.
Character is being blackmailed with something, which may alter their willingness.
Character is under threat on their life or position, or their family is, which may alter their willingness.
Character has reasons beyond the immediate conversation to agree or disagree with your request.
Negative modifiers:
-15 if character is being asked to fight against legally protected Imperial subjects (i.e. non-condemned).
-15 if character is being asked to betray a House their family is married in to.
-10 if character is being asked to betray their Overlord.
-5 if character is being asked to betray the Emperor/ess. -5
-1 per 2,000 Crowns taxed.
-1 for every rank you are below a character.
Moderator discretion, examples…
Character has reason to dislike or distrust the character making the request.
Character is being blackmailed with something, which may alter their willingness.
Character is under threat on their life or position, or their family is, which may alter their willingness.
Character has reasons beyond the immediate conversation to agree or disagree with your request.
Freemen Professions
Condottieris
Starting Up
Condottieri are the masters of the darker arts of modern statecraft. Very often Lords of the aristocracy or the masters of vast charter guilds will not want to sully their own hands and reputation with this line of work. Consequently, there is always a demand for those with the Condottieri's particular skillset.
A Condottieri starts as a Freeman with a purse of 40,000 Crowns. After this, the position carries no wage in of itself. If a wage is agreed with an employer, the sum is paid regularly each week until the agreement is renegotiated or voided by either party.
Nearly all of the actions a Condottieri can take can have their chances of success improved through establishing bases, purchasing assets or importing specific goods through smugglers. Consequently, a well prepared agent who has laid the groundwork for an operation will always fare better than one who hasn’t.
Bases and Hideaways
The most experienced of Condottieri have found it is beneficial to maintain a wide network of concealed safe houses and hideaways throughout the Empire. This ensures they have the flexibility to operate in a range of systems at optimal efficiency.
It takes 2 days for a base upgrade or asset to be deployed. Note that if this base is constructed in a system other than the employer’s, detection rolls must be made each week. For each level of the base, and each asset applied to it, the detection roll increases by 1.
Level 1 Base = Base.
Costs 10,000.
Allows up to 1 asset.
Level 2 Base = Safe House.
Costs 20,000.
Allows up to 2 assets.
Level 3 Base = Operations Center.
Costs 30,000
Allows up to 3 assets.
Level 4 Base = Command Center.
Costs 40,000.
Allows up to 4 assets.
Assets and Upgrade
Assets for Condottieri function slightly different than those for other character types. Instead of being arranged into levels and trees, they represent a range of upgrades and tools a cunning agent can use to specialize their operations in a particular system.
Note that Condottieri assets and upgrades are applied directly to a particular base, with each also increasing said base’s detection roll by 1. This means that if the base is detected and destroyed by the system owner, all of the assets contained within will be lost! Assets only provide a bonus to the Condottieri itself, and only when they are working in the system they apply to.
Every asset costs 10,000 Crowns.
Blackmailed Staff: +1 to spy rolls in the system.
Anti-Encryption Malware: +1 to spy rolls in the system.
Dead-Drop Letterboxes: +1 to spy rolls in the system.
Hacked Passwords: +1 to spy rolls in the system.
Informant Network: +1 to counterspy, -5 to rebellion rolls in the system.
Network Monitoring: +1 to counterspy, -5 to rebellion rolls in the system.
Profiling: +1 to counterspy, -5 to rebellion rolls in the system.
Counter-Intelligence Squad: +1 to counterspy, -5 to rebellion rolls in the system.
Underworld Contacts: +1 to sabotage rolls in the system.
Compromised IDs: +1 to sabotage rolls in the system.
Detailed Schematics: +1 to sabotage rolls in the system.
Diversionary Alarms: +1 to sabotage rolls in the system.
Partisan Recruitment: +10 to rebellion roll in the system.
Propaganda Press: +10 to rebellion roll in the system.
False Flag Incitement: +10 to rebellion roll in the system.
Underground Comm Network: 10+ to rebellion roll in the system.
Abilities
Coordinator
When their services are engaged by an employer, Condottieri can act as a capable spymaster or wetwork coordinator. In light of this, the Condottieri may employ up to 5 spies who report directly to them - this also means their employer is reliant on them to pass on timely and accurate information as they receive it.
Spies purchased by a Condottieri have a 25% discount.
Up to 2 Special Forces Teams may be purchased by the Condottieri with a 25% discount.
Assassins and Hitmen purchased by a Condottieri have a 20% discount.
Condottieri receive a natural +2 to Counterspy rolls within their employer’s system, and +1 to all spy rolls elsewhere.
If a spy or enemy Condottieri are captured, the chance of them revealing their employer through torture rises from 25% to 50%.
Saboteur
Very often it’s highly desirable that a rival is distracted by a debilitating hacking attack, a dirty bomb or some other nefarious act of hindrance or terror. Condottieri are able to directly target buildings that have been constructed by other characters. This action costs 15,000 Crowns to undertake, with -1 being subtracted from all rolls for each tier of the building you are sabotaging (level 4 = -4, for example).
The Condottieri must first infiltrate the facility they are attempting to sabotage. This is done with a standard Spy roll.
To determine the outcome of the sabotage, roll a D20, with the following results:
1-5: You are captured by the owner of the building you were sabotaging.
6-15: Your attempt fails, but you flee before you can be captured.
16-19: You succeed in damaging the building, leaving it unusable until half its value is paid in repairs.
20: You succeed in destroying the building, removing it from the game altogether.
If you are successful, you must take another spy roll roll with a -5 modifier to determine if you can successfully escape.
Provocateur
One of the most difficult but deadly tasks a Condottieri can be assigned is the instigation of a rebellion in another system. In of themselves, most systems are relatively stable, with the populace well adjusted to their lot in life. In order to manufacture actual disorder, an external agent will have to take strenuous measures to aggravate and exacerbate existing concerns and resentments.
An attempt to incite sabotage will cost 50,000 Crowns and must be accompanied by appropriate roleplay to warrant the action. For example, “because I wanted to” doesn't cut it. As ever moderator discretion applies in these cases, with positive or negative modifiers potentially being applied based on roleplay.
Rebellion rolls are also affected by the ruling character’s Prestige value. Compare their current prestige with the base value for their rank. For every point they are below their rank base, add that value to the Rebellion Score. For every point they are over their rank base, subtract that value from the Rebellion score. As an example, a Count with a Prestige of 60 would have +20 added to any Rebellion Scores made against him. If the ruling character is an NPC or not using Prestige, it is assumed to be a neutral value and no modification is made.
When inciting, the Condottieri must first take a standard spy roll. If successful, roll a D20 on the table below:
0-50: Nothing happens.
51-60: Absenteeism: Many industries shut down as minor demonstrations crop up in your cities. -20% to total income.
61-70: General Strike: Mass demonstrations break out system-wide and workforces grind to a halt. -30% to total income.
71-80: Civil Unrest: Strikes and demonstrations are hijacked by a violent minority. -10% manpower, -40% total income.
81-90: Riots: Violent mobs take to the streets - troops must be deployed to quash the madness. -20% manpower, -50% total income. Roll a D3 - this many garrisoned land units are destroyed in the clash. +5 is added to the next attempted rebellion roll.[
91-100: Revolt. A full blown rebellion has erupted! Insurgents are coming for your blood!
If you are successful, you must take another spy roll with a -5 modifier to determine if you can successfully escape.
In addition to those through assets, rebellion score modifiers may also be introduced via the presence of characteristics or black market goods. Black Market modifiers apply if the system produces that black market resource, or if there is a smuggling fleet actively bringing it into the system. Consequently, savvy Condottieris may wish to contract the services of said smugglers to ease their progress:
-5 from Wealthy characteristic.
-10 from Opulent characteristic.
-15 from Police State doctrine.
+5 from the presence of a Penal Colony characteristic of any size.
+5 from Large Population characteristic.
+5 from Poor characteristic.
+10 from Massive Population characteristic.
+10 from Impoverished characteristic.
+10 from Corrupt doctrine.
+10 from the presence of a Slave Colony characteristic of any size.
+10 from Hacked Electronics black market trade resource.
+10 from Banned Documents black market trade resource.
+10 from Unregistered Firearms black market trade resource.
+10 from Explosives black market trade resource.
Revolt Rules
There are different forms of revolt, which are determined by your traits and the system’s characteristics. In the event that your system is susceptible to multiple types of revolt, a moderator will roll to decide, with each type receiving equal weighting.
Civil revolt - this is a rebellion of the working classes and commoners, usually in protest against the lords and ruling classes. For a tiny or small population roll 1 D20; for a balanced population roll 2 D20; for a large or massive population revolt roll 3 D20. That many Planetary Militia troops are spawned. In the event that the rebels defeat any garrisoned soldiers - or there aren't any garrisoned - the planet falls and becomes a rebel settlement.
Slave uprising - this is a rebellion of any enslaved aliens, usually in a bid for freedom or escape. For a small slave colony roll 1 D20; for a medium slave colony roll 2 D20; for a large slave colony roll 3 D20. That many Alien Auxiliaries are spawned. In the event that the rebels defeat any garrisoned soldiers - or there aren't any garrisoned - the planet falls and becomes an alien settlement.
Prisoner Riot - this is a rebellion of prisoners inside a penal colony, usually in order to make a bid for freedom. For a small penal colony roll 2 D20; for a large penal colony roll 4 D20. That many Marauder Bands are spawned. In the event that the rebels defeat any garrisoned soldiers - or there aren’t any garrisoned - the planet falls and becomes a rebel settlement.
Coup d’etat - a rebellion of the aristocracy and merchant cartels, usually in a bout of opportunism when the current incumbent looks weak. If your character is present in the system (assumed to be in their home) a Hitman will make an attempt on their life. Roll 2 D20. That many Line Infantry are spawned. In the event that the rebels defeat any garrisoned soldiers - or there aren't any garrisoned - the rebel aristocrats will attempt to impose a new NPC lord and swear fealty to the Empire. If the Emperor refuses to recognize this appointment, the system will become a rebel settlement.
Detection
A Condottieri operating in a system other than his employer’s will face the ever present risk of detection, capture and even execution. At every week’s end, they will have to take a detection roll.
Initially this roll starts at a 2/20 chance of detection. +1 is added to this value for every level of your Base, and each asset you have assigned to it. Your detection also increases by +2 for every action you have taken against the system that week. Subtract the value of the Condottieri's spy traits, and add the value of the system lord (or his Condottieri's) counterspy traits.
If the Condottieri is detected, they have a 50% chance of being captured. If they have a base in the system, it is automatically destroyed by detection. A captured Condottieri is at the mercy of the lord who captured them. There is a 5/20 chance they will divulge their employer's name, and 2/20 chance of escape each week.
Merchants
Getting Started
A Merchant starts as a Freeman itinerant trader with a purse of 25,000 Crowns and 1 default Trade Fleet. This position receives no weekly income other than what is earned directly. Initially your home thread will be located aboard your own vessel in the Spacelanes section.
Trade Fleets
Merchants access the trade system in the same way other Lords do. You will need to gain the permission of two lords to ship goods between their systems; your income will be the combination of both resource’s value. Note that the owning lords may impose a tariff upon your fleets for the privilege, up to a maximum of 15% each.
Because you could be losing up to 30% of your profits to taxes each week, it is important to shop around and try to find a system lord who is offering competitive rates. Alternately, should you succeed in persuading an NPC lord to allow you to trade in their system (natural 50% chance), the offered tariff percentage will be the result of a D20-5, with -1 for every two points in Persuasion.
If you choose not to ask for permission and trade without paying tariffs, you are considered to be a smuggler by way of tax evasion. While smuggling untaxed goods, take a detection roll at the end of each week before drawing income. There is a 10/20 chance of being caught; if caught, you are fined for 60% of the route's value, which is split between the lords of the two systems you are trading between.
Only one of your trade fleets can trade between two systems. As an example, you could not have two fleets trading between Terra and Durdane for double the profit.
Commercial Chartering
Formally centralizing your enterprises into a chartered guild allows for greater growth and local integration. If you decide to charter, you must seek out a lord who is willing to grant you a writ of commerce - you will then be based in their system and take a formal name. You must also choose a trait which governs the type of guild you wish to run. This trait may be altered at the end of each week, after your income has been settled and any relevant rolls made:
Sole master - you retain a tight clutch on the company’s leadership and earnings. The fruit of your labor is yours alone. No modifier.
Private Confraternity - you have shares issued to a select few private investors who in turn expect to see a return in due time. At the end of the week roll on the Conf. Shares table to check for effects. Enables the guild suffix ‘PCo’.
Public Association - you’re floating on a public investment ledger with equally public Associates. The possibility for profit is boundless, but shares can be a fickle mistress. At the end of the week roll on the plc Shares table to check for effects. Enables the guild suffix ‘PAs’.
You may also build a guild HQ once you have secured the permission of the lord who rules the system. Upon building your HQ, you will also be able to build Local Branches in other systems. After chartering, all of your trade routes must end in a system that contains your HQ or a Local Branch. The system you are chartered in (HQ) then also gains the bonus’ associated with any resources you trade to that system. Consequently, it is very advantageous for system lords to try and attract guild HQs.
In order to change the system your HQ is chartered in, you must demolish the old HQ or downgrade it to a Local Branch. Guild upgrades will be retained despite the relocation, however you will have to rebuild your HQ building at its new site from level 1. Assets/Buildings are also retained, but you will not be able to buy more or replace lost assets until you have upgraded your HQ back to the relevant level.
Note that players who attempt to site a guild HQ in one of their own systems in order to mine trade resource bonuses will be rapidly disabused of this notion by game moderators.
Level 1 HQ - Planetary HQ.
Costs 40,000.
May own up to 3 level 1 assets.
Allows you a home thread , titled "Guild HQ of [guild name], [Location] System.
Level 2 HQ - System HQ
Costs 80,000.
+1 trade fleet.
May own up to 6 level 1 or 2 assets.
Level 3 HQ - Sector HQ
Costs 160,000.
May own up to 9 level 1, 2 or 3 assets.
Level 4 HQ - Galactic HQ
Costs 320,000.
+1 trade fleet.
+1 trade trait.
May own up to 12 level 1, 2, 3 or 4 assets.
Assets and Guild Upgrades
Assets and Buildings
You must have at least one asset of the previous level before acquiring one of the level above it.
This is tree-specific: You cannot buy a level 2 Refinery without a level 1 Harvester.
Assets don't "upgrade": if you have a level 1 Harvester and buy a level 2 Refinery, you have both a level 1 and 2 asset, not just a level 2 Refinery. You may need to delete your level 1 Harvester once you buy the level 2 Refinery if you're at your limit of ownable assets.
You may decommission lesser assets once you have moved up. If you have a level 1 Warehouse, and buy a level 2 Distribution Center, you are regarded as being on level 2 of that tree. You can disband your level 1 assets and continue to purchase level 2 items.
There is a 1 week cooldown between purchases: your buildings start working for you the moment you buy them (and their incomes can be added to your vault at the turn of the year), but you must stay on the tier you are on for 1 year before moving up. (e.g. you cannot buy a L1 Harvester and then immediately purchase a L2 Refinery in the same year).
You must restart from level 1 on the tree if, for any reason, you lose all your assets in that tree. For example, if you own 4 level three Manufactories, and all 4 are lost, you are considered "ruined" and must start from level 1 Harvesters to rebuild your company. See "Risk and Shares" for more detailed information.
Level 1
20,000 to acquire.
7,500 per year income.
Nebula / Asteroid Harvester (requires fuel rich nebula / mineral rich asteroid field)
Magazine Press.
Warehouse.
Local branch office.
↳Enables the opening of trade routes to new systems.
Level 2
40,000 to acquire.
15,000 per year income.
Refinery.
Tabloid Publisher.
Distribution Center.
Level 3
80,000 to acquire.
30,000 per year income.
Manufactory.
Broadcast franchise.
Spaceport.
Level 4
160,000 to acquire.
60,000 per year income.
Industrial Colony
↳+15% to system’s base wealth, +25% to this asset’s income. You establish a city filled with your factories and your employees, all a testament to your power and wealth.
Local media monopoly. [1 per system]
↳+1 to owner's spy rolls in the system. Each week roll 1 D4 - the owner may add or subtract this to the system’s Rebellion score. Your media outlets dominate the airwaves in this system. The only discourse is that which you allow.
Orbital trade center.
↳+15% to system trade income, +25% for your trade routes going into or out of the system. Your own space station monitors the trade lanes, making a pretty sum from mooring fees and stock trading.
Guild Upgrades
Level 1 - Planetary HQ
Basic Additions: 20,000 to acquire.
Guild Enforcers - 3 Escort Frigates and 1 marine battalion now accompany each of your convoys, and will have to be fought off by prospective pirates.
ISA Registration - by registering with the Imperial Spacelane Authority, you gain access to the ISA alert channel and gain the ability to post public bounties on pirates.
Fleet Overhauls - your fleet of trade fleets is inspected with the older, less efficient vessels being junked and replaced. +5% total income.
Level 2 - System HQ
Enhanced Additions: 30,000 to acquire.
Guild Fleet - 4 Escort Frigates, 1 Flak Frigate, and 1 marine battalion now accompany each of your convoys, and will have to be fought off by prospective pirates. [Replaces Guild Enforcers]
ISA Insurance - in the event of piracy, your goods are indemnified to an extent. 15% of losses to piracy are credited back to you.
Economy of Scale - you purchase trade goods in vast quantities in order to pick up the best deals. +10% total income.
Level 3 - Sector HQ
Extensive Additions: 40,000 to acquire.
Privatized Lane Security - Your convoys are now protected by 4 Destroyer Escorts, 1 Flak Destroyer and 2 Marine Regiment in order to repel boarders. Pirates will need to fight through the defense ships and win a boarding attempt. [Replaces Guild Fleet]
Imperial Contract Liaison: Hiring the services of an Imperial Contracts Office retainer can ease the passage of certain legal treatises. May hire Mercenary forces directly.
Infrastructure Investment: A network of ‘friendly’ port officials and exclusive suppliers ensure your trade network runs smoothly. +15% total income.
Consolidated Convoying - Leveraging your extensive mercenary contacts, you consolidate your fleets into huge convoys and provide them with 3 Marine Regiments, 1 Flak Cruiser, and 4 Escort Cruisers each. *2 losses to piracy if defeated.
R&D Lab - the coin of tomorrow is hidden inside the minds of today. May research technology and reverse engineer. +20 research points, +10 research points to system owner.
Judicial Sponsorship - Judges and the ISA tend to look for ways to help their largest benefactors. ISA will match any legitimate bounty you post, doubling its value. Judges have a 10/20 chance of dismissing smuggling (tax evasion) charges against you as 'fabricated'.
Risk and Shares
Every merchant must take risks and suffer losses. For every asset every year do a 2/20 roll for loss, e.g. to a rival’s hostile buyout, pirates, economic recession, etc. There are unique rules for building tiers for Merchants:
You can only buy higher level assets if you have an asset on the same level or one below that level. For example you must own a L2 or L3 building to buy L3 buildings, and you must own a L3 asset to get the L4 version. If you own a L4 asset you can buy anything from L1 to L3, though.
This is tree-dependent. They need to be assets of the same tree.
Thus you are presented with a risk: you can upgrade all of your assets to Level 3, for example, and make a lot of money. If you lose your L3 assets, however, you will have to start over from level 1. It may be prudent to avoid centralizing all your assets to protect from seizure or to keep some lower level assets around. You'll make a little less money but will have some insurance.
All is not lost. You can see that these assets have no build time: Merchants buy things, they don't build. If you've lost all your higher level assets, but have coin to spare, you can pay the L1+L2+L3 cost to "powerlevel" up the tree in one swift movement. If you decide to do this, you do not keep the L1 and L2 version of the assets: this is a fast-track back to higher levels for those with the coin to do it, getting you an asset on level 3 allowing you to purchase more level 3 assets at normal cost. Again, this is tree-dependant.
Shares:
If you operate a company that functions through shares - a Ltd or plc, you will need to take a roll on the appropriate table at the end of each week. Shares can bring enticing dividends, but have also ruined more than one trader in their time. Some factors can affect how this goes.
+1 if you have upgraded your HQ that week.
+1 if you have purchased a level 4 asset that week.
+1 if you have more than 100,000 in your treasury at the time of the roll.
+2 if you have more than 500,000 in your treasury at the time of the roll.
-1 for each pirate attack your trade fleets has suffered.
-1 if an asset is lost or seized.
-2 if you have less than 100,000 in your account.
-3 if a level 4 asset is lost or seized (stacks).
-6 if your HQ is lost or seized (stacks).
Ltd: roll a D10
1: Stock crash! -25% total income. A fatal lack of confidence from your investors has led to many dumping their shares on you.
2-3: Market Uncertainty. -15% total income. Your investors are worried about your current direction and ask that you consider carefully.
4-6: Status Quo. No modifier.
8-9: Reassured investors. +15% total income. Your investors are quietly pleased with your progress.
10: Excellent progress. +25% total income. A resoundingly successful year!
plc: roll a D20
1: Stock crash! -60% to total income. Perhaps it was your fault, perhaps it was the market. Either way, the public think your shares are toxic.
2-5: Market Slide. -30% to total income. Things aren’t looking good as people panic sell your shares.
6-9: Market Uncertainty. -15% to total income. A gloomy prognosis as the trading day ends with you in the red.
10: Status Quo. No modifier.
11-14: Positive Trend. +15% to total income. A green line on the finances chart makes the directors happy.
15-19: Speculative Trading. +30% to total income. Investors believe you’re on the verge of achieving amazing things and want to see what they can gain.
20: Runaway Success! +60% to total income.
Pirates
Starting Up
“Pirate” is a general term used by the Empire to refer to “any person being in illegal ownership of a spacecraft, any person using a legally owned spacecraft for an illegal endeavour, or any person employed on a spacecraft engaged in illegal endeavour.” Consequently this covers a wide spread of activities, ranging from hijackers to raiders and smugglers.
A pirate starts as a Freeman with a purse of 25,000 Crowns and either one Corsair pirate ship or one smuggling fleet. You also gain +1 Guerilla Warfare Expert or Trader trait. This position receives no weekly income other than what is earned directly. By default, pirate clans start with 0 manpower and 0 manpower regen. This is boosted through the construction of Dens, upgrades and assets.
Bases and Turf
Pirate clans expand by establishing Dens in any system they wish to try and claim as their turf. These Dens can then be used as recruitment centers for their clan and local distribution points for illegal contraband. It is important to note that a system can only contain a Den from one pirate clan. If someone else got there first, you'll either have to ask them to move, force them to move or find somewhere else.
The first Den you build is designated as your HQ, allowing it to be upgraded to tier 4. Standard Dens may only be upgraded to tier 2. It takes 2 days for a Den to be built, and 2 days to apply any upgrades or assets to them. If you wish to change the location of your HQ, you will need to downgrade your existing HQ to tier 2 and discard any upgrades it can no longer support. Note that every HQ or Den will be subject to a detection roll at the end of each week. For each level of the Den and each asset applied to it, the detection roll increases by 1. A system lord can elect to stop detection rolls for pirate clans in their space.
You should track all of your other Dens and upgrades applied to them in a home thread in the Spacelanes subforum, as well as your finances, manpower statistics and any forces in your employ.
Level 1 Base = Den.
Costs 40,000.
Allows up to 1 Den upgrade.
+2,000 Manpower.
+2% manpower regen.
Level 2 Base = Gang Hideout.
Costs 80,000.
Allows up to 2 Den upgrades
+2,000 Manpower.
+3% manpower regen.
Level 3 Base = Clan Base.
Costs 160,000
Allows up to 3 Den upgrades.
+4,000 Manpower.
+5% manpower regen.
+1 Smuggling Fleet.
Level 4 Base = Underworld Palace.
Costs 320,000.
Allows up to 4 Den upgrades.
+8,000 Manpower.
+10% manpower regen.
+1 Smuggling Fleet.
Assets and Upgrades
Note that Pirate assets and upgrades are applied directly to a particular base, with each also increasing said base’s detection roll by 1. This means that if the base is detected and destroyed by the system owner, all of the assets contained within will be lost! Assets only provide a bonus to the system the Den is located in (save for manpower regen, which is universal).
Each asset is 20,000 Crowns.
Bribed Port Officials: -1 to detection rolls for Smuggling Fleets in this system.
Freight Transfer Front Company: -1 to detection rolls for Smuggling Fleets in this system.
Corrupted Judges: 50% chance of fine for smuggling untaxed goods being reduced by half.
Underworld Laboratory: +3 research points per week. May Research and Reverse Engineer.
Criminally Populist: +2% manpower regen if Poor, +4% manpower regen if Impoverished [Requires Poor or Impoverished characteristic]
Pirate Ships and Crews
Pirate clans or confederations can buy a range of different vessels to service their needs, at a cost of Crowns and manpower. Imperial authorities have given pirate ships several standard class assignments which cover an eclectic mix of vessels, referring more to tonnage and armament than any common design or engineering philosophy. No particular facilities are needed to build these ships. Pirate fleets tend to remain small and mobile to avoid detection, but a single clan may contain several different splinters operating concurrently.
Piranha - Generally retrofitted and up-armored versions of the cargo ships they hunt, a Corsair is roughly analogous to a naval frigate.
Hammerhead - Rarely seen, the Payara is an apex vessel, utilized only by the most powerful and resourceful pirate clans. The equivalent of a Light Cruiser.
Bullshark - Marks the elevation from pirate to warlord. Sightings invite immediate, brutal reprisals from Imperial Authorities. The equivalent of a heavy cruiser.
Orca - Sometimes used as a mobile hideout, Orcas are extremely unusual in that they are jury-rigged carriers. Very roughly equivalent to an escort carrier.
Marauder Bands - Groups of convicts and thugs, used as enforcers planetside and boarding teams during raids and hijackings.
Attack: 20. // Defence: 20. // Space Used: 10.
Manpower: 250. // Cost: 2,000. // Upkeep: 500.
Smuggler Fleet - Your max number of smuggling fleets is determined by your trading trait and clan den. Fleets may be purchased up to that limit. Smuggling vessels are either trade ships that have concealed compartments for contraband, or small and speedy freighters that try to avoid detection.
Manpower: 500. // Cost: 50,000.
Smuggling
Smugglers access the trade system in much the same manner as other character classes. A trade route is announced between two systems, and the combined value of both trade resources is earned as an income at the end of each week.
Unlike Merchants, smugglers also have the ability to ship Black Market commodities, and a much better chance of getting away with shipping untaxed cargo. You may also elect to operate legally and gain the permission of a lord to ship their commodities and then pay the relevant tariffs. If you wish to do this, see the Merchant rules on trading.
Black Market goods lose 50% of their route value if you are shipping to a system you don’t have a Den constructed in; you lack the local contacts and infrastructure to properly distribute. You may strike an agreement with other pirate clans to use their Dens for the purpose of distribution - this will then earn you 75% of the route’s value, with the other clan taking the remaining 25%. If your clan controls all of the sale points and monopolizes a particular Black Market resource, you gain a +50% bonus to shipping it.
Piracy
The traditional and most well-known avenue for a pirate to pursue: get a ship with guns, find a ship with less guns and something valuable in it, go take what you think should belong to you.
When raiding, first you must specify and travel to your target in the Movement thread. This can be a system, or with the relevant technology, a point along a warp gate connection. Once you arrive there, open a new thread in the Spacelanes subforum where you can act out your raid. To determine the target you are intercepting and robbing, look at the trade routes going through the system (this can be found by clicking on the warp gate connections). A roll is made with an equal chance being granted to finding nothing, a generic NPC convoy and any other traders or smugglers using the route. AI Lords are assumed to operate two Trade Fleets. As an example:
A raid is conducted on Terra (you're feeling bold). Terra has two trade fleets. Fleets from Sirius, Procylon and Mizar also travel through the system, as well as two fleets from the Merchant company Fortune PAs. One Smuggling Fleet from the rival Bludslasha Clan also operates in Terra. Add in the NPC convoy and the chance of finding no-one, and there is a 1/10 chance of rolling any of the above.
Obviously this means that the more traffic there is in a system, the higher the chance of you encountering something that can be looted. It is the raiding player's responsibility to work out how many trade routes are present in an area - if a moderator finds these to be incorrect, you may have your raid failed or worse! Bear in mind that lords and merchants may have selected upgrades which give them their own convoy protection. Upon discovering who your target is, you may retreat without engaging if you feel the odds are stacked against you.
You may choose to split your forces into multiple ‘splinters’ to attack several of the system’s routes at once; a splinter must contain at least 1 ship. This is potentially far more lucrative, but also considerably raises your chance of detection. Note that if one splinter is detected and faces battle, the other splinters will be busy with their own affairs and will not be able to reinforce them! If you choose to proceed with the raid, make the following D20 roll for every route you're attacking, with a +3 modifier for each additional splinter you’re deploying:
1-2 - The raiders are seen as they’re making an approach, alerting local defenders and allowing them to intervene. A battle will be rolled before the raid can happen.
3-8 - The victims get an SOS call out as the attack is underway. Defenders arrive after the raid has happened.
9-18 - The victims cannot send an SOS.
19-20 - The victims are taken completely by surprise. +10% loot.
If the defenders are warned, the system's lord may choose to dispatch D2*[number of ships in your raiding party] to intervene. The speed of the ships will determine whether a battle is fought. The raiders may withdraw (either before the raid or after depending on when the defending ships arrive), and the attackers may only engage them with ships that match the slowest ship in the raiding fleet. The raiders are obliged to give battle to any ships that can therefore engage them.
Loot is D20*2% of the raided Trade Fleet's revenue. If the Fleet hit is player-owned, the player loses the Trade Income they would have otherwise gained as a result.
Raiding of AI territory will only be done sparingly: they are not cash cows free to farm as you please. Excessive raiding of AI territory as a means of manufacturing money will be halted.
Raiding Pirates cannot move for 12 RL hours after the timestamped raid post. If an SOS message was sent, an alert is automatically generated and sent to the ISA Alert Channel. During this time window, hunters in the same hex may request a detection roll on the raiding force with a +20 modifier. If the detection succeeds, they may engage the raiders in battle (see above).
Hijacking Ships
As well as the standard rules for capturing ships that are defeated in battle, pirates may attempt to steal ships that lords have mothballed for storage. Mothballed ships are kept in free-floating storage facilities and may be located by stationing a Spy or Den in the system. This is a particularly audacious move, and is almost certain to garner a bounty from both the offended lord as well as the Lord Justicar / Imperial Spacelane Authority.
When infiltrating the storage sector, you will need to fight off any guard ships that have been assigned. If you defeat the guard detail (or there wasn’t one), make the following D20 roll:
1-5 - The raiders are seen as they’re making an approach, alerting local defenders and allowing them to intervene. A battle will be rolled before the hijacking can happen.
6-15 - The guards get an SOS call out as the hijacking is underway. Defenders arrive after the raid has happened.
16-19 - The victims cannot send an SOS.
20 - The victims are taken completely by surprise. +5 to hijacking success.
If successful, choose the ship you wish to try and hijack and roll a D20 with a 10/20 base chance of success. The following modifiers are applied:
Each Marauder Band: +1.
Destroyer: -2.
Light Cruiser: -4.
Heavy Cruiser: -6.
Carrier: -8.
Battleship: -10.
If the defenders are warned, the system's lord may choose to dispatch D4*[number of ships in your raiding party] to intervene. The speed of the ships will determine whether a battle is fought. The raiders may withdraw (either before the hijacking or after depending on when the defending ships arrive), and the attackers may only engage them with ships that match the slowest ship in the raiding fleet. The raiders are obliged to give battle to any ships that can therefore engage them.If defeated, or you retreat without giving battle, you lose your new ship and the attempt is abandoned.
If you failed the roll to hijack the ship, you may either begin the attempt again from the beginning, or abandon the attempt. A hijacking will also raise the detection chance of any Dens in the system by +10 at the end of that week.
Turf Wars
Only one Pirate Clan can have a Den in a system at any time. Due to this, it may be necessary to declare war on a rival clan and clear them out of a system in order to proceed. Dens may be garrisoned by Marauder Bands. When attacking a rival Den, you must clear out any of their ships that are also in the system, then defeat any garrisoned Marauder Bands - roll a single flank fleet and then land battle as appropriate. If both of these are successful, or there was no garrison present, their Den is considered to be destroyed and can be removed.
Detection
All of your Dens are subject to a Detection Roll at the end of each week. This roll starts at a 2/20 chance of detection. +1 is added to this value for every level of your Den, and each asset you have assigned to it. Your detection also increases by +5 for every action you have taken against the system or its lord that week, i.e. raiding the system, or raiding one of that lord's Trade Fleets elsewhere in the Empire.
At the end of the week before drawing income, each Smuggling Fleet conducting illegal activities must take a detection roll of 5/20. If a roll is failed while a Fleet is carrying contraband, it is impounded and the Fleet is lost. If a roll is failed while a Fleet is carrying untaxed cargo, it is fined for 60% of that route's value and the Fleet is released. If a character is roleplaying as being aboard a Fleet that is impounded, roll on the Casualty Table. If wounded, you are captured by the detecting Lord.
Last edited by Honors Bastion; February 06, 2015 at 12:27 PM.
General Information:
All planets can be upgraded with some additional buildings that provide a specific benefit to the system's owner. Buildings are arranged into building trees with three types of buildings in each of them arranged into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 categories. In order to purchases a building of a higher tier, you must have already purchased and built the previous tier of that building. Players are not obligated to fully construct an entire tier and may pick and choose where to stop in the tree as they wish.
Building Slots:
Each planet initially has 15 building slots available to it with no limitation on what type of building that you can construct. An additional 3 slots can be obtained by purchasing the administration tree for a total of 18.
Build Times:
Buildings take 4 days to build and take effect on the first new year that arrives after their construction finishes (eg, anything built friday-sunday will be ready for the next friday)
Building Cost Per Tier:
Tier 1: 30,000 Crowns.
Tier 2: 60,000 Crowns.
Tier 3: 90,000 Crowns.
Dedicated Training Facilities (Tier 3): Decreased recruitment cost by 10%, reduced upkeep by 10%.
Orbital Defenses:
Orbital Weapon Platforms (Tier 1): +2 to space battle rolls in your system.
Sensor Arrays (Tier 2): +5 detection. Allows for detection rolls that are made when a fleet enters your own system to also be made 4 hexes around your system, and in systems directly connected by a warp gate.
Orbital Garrison (Tier 3): Provides a small defense fleet of 1 Heavy Cruiser, 2 Escort Cruisers, 2 Destroyer Escorts, and 2 AA Frigates. This fleet cannot be moved out of the system.
Planetary Defenses:
Planetary Fortifications (Tier 1): +2 to all land battle rolls in your system.
Household Guard Quarters (Tier 2): Provide 2 Light Armor Battalions and 4 Assault Battalions to aid in planetary defense. They cannot be removed from the system defense.
Planetside Industrial Warfage (Tier 1): Enables the construction of basic warships (frigates, destroyers, and the escort carrier) within the system.
Orbital Construction Scaffold (Tier 2): Enables the construction of medium warships (all cruisers and the fleet carrier).
Orbital Military Shipyard (Tier 3): Enables construction of heavy warships (battleships and super carrier).
Mech Suit Production Facilities:
Light Mech Suit Factory (Tier 1): Enables recruitment of Light Mech Suits Units.
Heavy Mech Suit Factory (Tier 2): Enables recruitment of Heavy mech Suit Units.
Mech Suit Thruster Factory (Tier 3): Attaches thrusters to Mech Suits to allow them to be deployable in space combat.
Light Escort (Tier 1): 3 escort frigates and 1 marine battalion are assigned to protect each of your trade fleets. All NPC planets are assumed to have this building built for them.
Medium Escort (Tier 2): Your escort fleets are upgraded to 1 Destroyer Escort, 2 Escort Frigates, 1 AA Frigate, and 1 marine battalion.
Heavy Escort (Tier 3): Your escort fleets are upgraded to 1 Escort Cruiser, 3 Destroyer Escorts, 1 Flak Destroyer, and 2 marine battalions.
Civil Industries:
Subsidized Businesses (Tier 2): +10% system income.
Subsidized Industries (Tier 2): +10% system income.
Nationalized Industries and Businesses (Tier 3): +20% income.
Research Type Building:
Planetary College (Tier 1) - Grants 10 research points per year
System Academy (Tier 2) - Grants an additional 10 research points per year.
Domain University (Tier 3) - Grants an additional 20 research points per year.
Administration:
Imperial Contracts Office (Tier 1): +1 to your building cap. Allows you to hire mercenary companies.
Imperial Consulate (Tier 2): +1 building cap. Grants a 20% discount to hiring mercenary companies.
Governmental Palace (Tier 3): Grants +3 prestige yearly due to fear. +1 building cap.
Items
There are many different things available to the wealthyindividual that can be purchased for their own benefit. Each item may be purchased only once unless otherwise stated.
Assassin [Black Market]: Armed with poison, this Assassin is the cutting edge of professional lethality - deadlier than a mere Hitman, Assassins have spent a lifetime discretely honing their dark skillset.
Cost: 100,000. // Effect: +4 to assassination rolls, -4 to capture rolls.
Colonization Force: Embarking onto massive Ark ships, or fleets of retrofitted transports, tens of thousands of Imperial citizens can be recruited for new colonization projects. For many who live lives of limited opportunity and boundless poverty, the frontier holds an allure that comes from fresh starts and the blossom of hope.
Cost: 100,000. // Manpower: 50,000. // Effect: Upon being expended, generates colony.
Duelling Instructor: A permanently employed master-at-arms, equipped with veritable armory of training equipment for both ranged and melee combat. This enables their employer to regularly practice their sword arm against a seasoned foe without the pressure of competition or onlookers.
Cost: 30,000. // Effect: +2 Duels.
Expedition: Expeditions can be used to unveil the secrets of the past - both lost human technology from time immemorial, or alien artifacts from conquered or extinct species. Recent years have seen a great resurrection of interest in archaeology as a science, with many academics flocking to participate in expeditions while that interest (and funding) lasts.
Cost: 30,000. Effect: May conduct Archaeology.
Exploration Ship: Exploration ships are specially decked out with suites of sensor banks and scanners, specially designed to detect new systems and inhabitable worlds. Exploration Ships are considered a near essential component of deep space charter fleets.
Cost: 50,000. // Attack: 15. // Defence: 100. // Anti-Air: 15. // Speed: 7.
Effects: Reveals 3 hex grids around every hex is passes through.
Hitman [Black Market]: Thugs, cutthroats and murderers, Hitmen are the hired muscle that can make an enemy disappear. Illegally contract a hitman to murder someone for you.
Cost: 50,000. // Effect: +2 Assassination.
Personal Shield Pack: A discrete static shield - usually a belt - that will deflect objects that are travelling over a specified velocity. Highly unlikely to save a life in of itself, but it may deflect or weaken an attack sufficiently to avoid a critical injury. Character must be noted as wearing it for effects to apply.
Cost: 30,000. // Effect: -2 to non-poison Assassinations. +1 to Casualty Table rolls.
[Cannot be purchased until Improved Defensive Systems 1 is unlocked].
Physical Conditioning: Through regular courses of ‘enhanced medication’ the buyer’s muscles and organs can be kept well-tuned and fit beyond their years and without requiring dedication of lengthy time periods to exercise. Since no permanent technological alterations are made to the sanctity of the human body, this is one of the few personal enhancement options not explicitly barred by Promethean Creed.
Cost: 30,000. // Effect: +5 hp in duels.
Special Forces: Though every Lord commands hundreds of thousands of soldiers and fleets of warships, they’re trained to fight on battlefields, not in the far more difficult art of personal protection against concealed threats. A 6-man team of the Lord’s most dedicated, skilled and best equipped soldiers can be intensively trained to engage in, or guard against, such threats.
Cost: 50,000. // Effect: +3 to Assassination when assisting. -3 to Assassination if protecting. If they fail to carry out or prevent an Assassination/abduction, the unit disbands. May have a maximum of 2 teams.
Warp Gate [Technocrat]: Warp Gates are an essential technology to the Empire's continued survival, allowing for the mass transit of troops and the free flow of trade and traffic. Warp Gates were originally scavenged alien technology and have been operated with a limited level of understanding since their discovery. Many of the key principles of their construction and maintenance have been lost due to a lack of expertise. Much to the intense displeasure of the other Freymaa, the Technocrat Lords have seized on this opportunity and now monopolize the field.
Cost: 50,000 per hex. // Effect: Construction takes 3 days per hex. Allows for the construction of new warp connections. Connections must start and end in a system. Each relay booster may only be purchased when the previous one is complete.
Overlords, Vassals and Taxes
The Empire is largely organised into a system of fiefs known as Domains. Each Domain has an assigned capital which is usually ruled over by a Count or Duke. This ruler is considered to be an Overlord, with the other systems in that Domain being their subordinate vassals. The one exception to this are Merchant Republics who can be considered to have Imperial immediacy and answer directly to the Emperor.
In practical terms, there are two obligations expected from a vassal: taxes and military service. For the purposes of these obligations, Merchant Republics are not considered to be vassals.
Overlords are taxed directly by the Emperor, and must pay a percentage of their wealth to the National Treasury. Overlords in turn may tax their vassals in order to offset the cost. Game moderation will intervene in the event that NPC vassals are being used as cashcows.
If an Overlord is to take military action or go on campaign, he may request the assistance of his vassals. Conversely, Overlords have a responsibility to extend protection to their vassals and will be expected to defend them militarily. AI vassals will always leave 50% of their ground forces on their home planet as a defence force, with the other 50% and their entire fleet available for operations elsewhere.
Vassals are not required to support their Overlord in political matters or Landsraad votes, but many consider it expedient to do so. Offending the Freyma who determines how much tax you pay can be shortsighted.
When making demands of an NPC vassal, make a Persuasion roll.
Disobedience, Corruption and Recourse:
A Vassal that refuses to pay tax or provide requested troops could be considered to be disobedient. An Overlord that vastly overtaxes or ignores pleas for protection could be considered corrupt.
The primary method of recourse is the Landsraad, and the offended party may attempt to Condemn the one they feel has wronged them. This may result in a trial and punishment being assigned.
In the most extreme cases, a successful Condemnation will result in all legal protections being stripped from the offender, opening them up to attack and conquest.
Trading and Trade Resources
Trading:
Trading is conducted using Trade Fleets. By default, each system receives 1 free Trade Fleet; further Fleets can be gained through through certain building upgrades, the Trader trait, or the Merchant Republic faction. Each system also has a trade resource assigned to it. By default this resource does not earn anything, but you do receive the bonus it provides. For lords and other legal traders, trade routes are established by contacting another lord and negotiating access to their own trade resource. Once an agreement is reached, your Trade Fleets will begin importing and exporting both commodities, enabling you access to the income and bonuses of both resources.
As an example, if a lord has three Trade Fleets, they could earn 4 x 30,000 (1 x 40,000 from your own resource and 3 x 40,000 from your Trade Fleets importing goods from other systems). As mentioned, however, you can only claim trade income if trade is happening: you cannot trade with no one and still claim your own trade good's income.
Trade Resources: worth 30,000 income.
Fuel: -10% space unit upkeep. Having ready access to ample fuel supplies reduces the cost of operating your fleets.
Slave Labor: +10% system income. Not having to pay for menial labor jobs means more profits for your system.
Precious Metals: -10% to space unit recruitment costs. Having ready access to valuable metal nodes makes it cheaper to construct warships.
Targeting Sensors: +1 to attack rolls for fleets. An advanced institute for warfare produces sensors that are a step above industry standard, making warships equipped with them better able to calculate firing solutions.
Consumer Goods: +10% trade income. A well-developed service economy creates a more productive workforce in this System, increasing tax revenues.
Electronics: +1 to detection and spy rolls done by you, -1 done against you. An advanced electronics industry in this System allows for export of highly sensitive equipment.
Luxury Goods: +2 prestige per year, +1 wealth/prosperity on system generation.
Foodstuffs: -10% upkeep on land units. Having ready access to ample food supplies makes it cheaper to maintain your land forces.
Heavy Machinery: -10% building cost.[/FONT]Construction and industrial machinery is in wide demand anywhere something needs building or producing.
Side Arms: -10% land unit recruitment cost. Having your own domestic arms producers allows you to equip your armies at a cheaper price.
Medicine: +2 to death rolls.[FONT=Arial]Antibiotics and other life preserving medicines are always in demand.
Black Market Resources: worth 40,000. Also your head.
Banned Documents: Manticore, Porteno
Counterfeit Currency: Maddar, Solaris, Tiamat.
Crayzi (narcotic): Acamar
Explosives: Bastion, Gumpalt.
Hacked Electronics: Helix, Osmo, Varth.
Human Slaves: Kzin, Lagash.
Ink (narcotic): Dabot, Eta, Patru
Smash (narcotic): Kepler, Kruger.
Unregistered Firearms: Algol, Aquilae.
Research
Every week, each system earns a bounty of 10 Research Points which can be saved and eventually spent on a particular branch of technology. This bounty can be substantially increased through certain building upgrades or through the Technocrat bonus.
Technology comes in four different tiers, of increasing potency. When a player has enough points, they may select a technology to unlock it from that tier. You do have to use your research points immediately but are allowed to store them for later use. The following points are required to unlock each tier:
Once you decide which technology to unlock, you must post publicly in the Research thread which tech that you are unlocking. For bookkeeping purposes only. This is not considered an announcement and anyone who uses this as one will have their techs reset and possibly even have a research penalty imposed upon them (techs cost twice as much to unlock)
For the Tech Owner:
There are three options for dealing with discovered technology - keeping it solely for yourself, sharing it with specific others (perhaps for a fee) or gifting the new knowledge equally to all the Freyma of the Empire. If you share your technology, all of the partners who receive that knowledge will be able to research that technology for half its normal research point value. While some technologies can give you a distinct advantage over your rivals, sharing them also makes for an excellent political or diplomatic bargaining chip. The most powerful technologies may even be banned or confiscated by the Emperor!
For other Players:
Techs can be stolen due to the actions of a spy or Condotierri. Once stolen, you can then research that tech at half of the research points cost. However, process will be monitored closely by a moderator and you must discover that a player has a particular tech through the following methods.
A technology’s discovery is considered to be “unknown” by anyone but the researcher(s) until the player(s) who owns that particular tech either 1) announces the news of the discovery publicly, 2) tells another person privately and it is only known by that person (public announcements can only be made if you have the tech actually researched) or 3) makes public use of the discovery, i.e. recruiting an unlocked unit or using the tech in battle. Only then can you send an agent to steal the tech.
Once a particular tech has been unlocked by more than 75% of all player Lords (absolutely no NPCs), then the tech can be researchable at half the original points cost.
You must keep a list of techs that you have researched and the amount of research points that you currently have up to date in your vault thread. Be specific when you acquire a tech or research points. If there is any confusion, moderators do reserve the right t9o reset your techs and your tech points back to 0.
You do not have to join in on this process if you do not want to. It is purely up to you.
Archaeology
In order to search for artifacts, a patron must assemble an Expedition (see Items) which must be led by a player character - a lord, freeman or other hired agent. In order to shuttle the expedition around, the party must be carried by a ship with sufficient cargo space.
Ruins may be found directly by the player through exploration (for example, in long abandoned or rebel systems around the galaxy’s periphery). Alternately they may be announced by game moderators as a random event and revealed on the map.
Upon an expedition arriving at a site, a thread is opened in the Spacelanes area where the involved player(s) can roleplay their activities. Moderators will proceed with a D20 success roll on the following table when sufficient progress has been made:
1-4 - Catastrophic failure: Ancient ruins can be immensely dangerous, either due to long dormant traps or extensive structural instability wrought by the ravages of time. The expedition is destroyed and the leading player character(s) must make a roll on the wound chart with a +3 modifier
5-8 - Failure: After thoroughly exploring the ruins, nothing new or useful is found. The expedition returns home frustrated.
9-12 - Slight Insight: The expedition finds some curious objects that bear further scrutiny. +5 research points.
13-15 - Significant Insight: The expedition finds numerous interesting artifacts that demand further study. +10 research points.
16-18 - Sensational Insight: The expedition’s recovered artifacts promise a paradigm shift! +15 research points.
19-20 - Treasure Trove: The expedition stumbles across a cache of gold or cultural artifacts. Selling the find earns the expedition D20 * 3,000 Crowns.
Reverse Engineering:
While it is possible to superficially learn about a recovered artifact by studying it externally, you have to pull it apart to fully explore its secrets. There is however always the risk that in doing so you could inadvertently destroy your prize. Reverse engineering costs 3,000 and takes 2 days to process.
There is a 10/20 chance of destroying the artifact, in which case you lose all of the research points you earned. If you succeed, you double the number. So an expedition which resulted in Sensational Insight would then double its points from 15 to 30. The Academic Trait influences this roll and is extremely useful in shifting the odds towards success.
You may also outsource your reverse engineering to another party, although this does mean entrusting your artifact - and its research points - to the hands of another. If the reverse engineering player succeeds - and elects to share their insight - both players receive the full bounty of doubled points.
Terraforming
Terraforming:
Terraforming is the process of transforming the existing terrain and biomes of a planet into something that is more hospitable, bringing potential new benefits to your people. However, the process of Terraforming an entire planet is an expensive and difficult process and one that should not be done unless you feel prepared to deal with all of the potentially cataclysmic consequences of doing so.
Initial Terraforming Costs:
500,000 crowns – the cost of Terraforming the planet
500,000 manpower – the manpower needed to Terraform the planet
For each year afterwards until the process is completed, your income and your manpower replenishment rates will be reduced to 50% of their base levels (50,000 income and 5% manpower replenishment) although all modifiers will still be allowed to go into effect.
Improved Terraforming:
The costs of terraforming is very high but it is possible to reduce the cost of doing so by having your researchers unlock new technology.
Tech 1: Grants the ability to terraform.
Tech 2: Completion time reduced to 3weeks, all costs decreased by 10%.
Tech 3: Completion time reduced to 2 weeks, all costs decreased by 25%.
Tech 4: Completion time reduced to 2 weeks, all costs decreased by 50%.
Terraforming Limits:
At most, a planet can only be terraformed a maximum of 2 times. Any further attempts will not yield any other positive results and in fat may cause your planet to degrade down a tier.
Last edited by Honors Bastion; February 07, 2015 at 09:30 AM.
IV. Military Rules - Armies, Units, and Mercenaries
Army Composition
Every planet/House is given a "Standing Military" that is free of upkeep and recruitment costs (but still consumes manpower when created) composed of no more than 500,000 manpower. This amount is shared by both your Army and Navy so use your cap wisely. If you have 400,000 manpower already devoted to your fleet, you can only devote 100,000 manpower to your army.
If you wish to hire any additional forces to supplement your army or fleet, you must purchase them (assuming you meet the required building requirements for certain units), paying for the manpower and recruitment costs initially and the upkeep costs afterwards.
Manpower:
Manpower represents the amount of men who are available for military service within your planet system. Initially, before all bonuses are applied, you start with an initial manpower level of 1,000,000 men. In most cases, you will automatically consume 500,000 manpower at an Rp's start to create your Standing Military. This will leave you at 500,000 manpower.
Each new year that passes, your manpower, before modifiers), will increase by 10% of the base manpower level (again, 1,000,000) or 100,000 men. So if you are at 500,000 men, the next year you will be at 600,000 men assuming the only thing you spent manpower on was your Standing Military. This is the basics to how manpower works.
In order to keep everything in one place, you must keep track of your manpower levels within your vault thread. Failure to do so may result in moderators resetting your manpower levels and resetting your total military force.
Fleet and "Standing Military" Restrictions:
No more than 40% of your Fleet can be composed of Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Fleet Carriers, or Super Carriers. This restriction applies to both your Standing Military and any other forces that you have combined.
Beyond this restriction, you are free to build your fleet however you wish but generally, a balanced fleet is usually better than a scattered one. Additionally, just spamming the smaller warships to increase your fleet side may have other side effects.
In addition, while you can have certain ships like battleships and carriers in your "standing military", you cannot build new ones to add to your fleet until you meet the building requirements to do so. Also, some other units, like both battleship and heavy cruiser variations cannot be in your "standing military" at all due to tech restrictions at the start of an RP. You must have the tech to use them and once you do, you are allowed to swap your ships to them.
Land Units: Terrestrial units can only be used in planetary environments, unless otherwise explicitly stated. Terrestrial units must be embarked into a ship with sufficient cargo space in order to be transported to another system.
Infantry:Infantry are a vital component of any modern Freyma’s forces, as they are the most efficient way to garrison planets and police the populace. They are also the cheapest and most plentiful units that can be deployed to the field.
Abilities: Steadfast. +2 to attack rolls if 40%+ of opposing flank is armour.
Armor: Armored units are the fighting vehicles of Imperial forces. Ranging from light scout cars all the way up to massive war-walkers, armored units excell in throwing enemy lines into disarray and creating beachheads.
Abilities: Armored Fist. +2 to attack rolls if 40% of the flank is Armored Units.
Support: The Support wing provides specialisation and specific niche services to the table. The most effective fighting forces in the Empire make use of support components to complement their main fighting forces.
Abilities: Boarding. +1 to post-battle ship capture roll for every surviving ship carrying a Marine Regiment. Can't be deployed in land battles.
Space Units
Battleships
At the center of any conventional war fleet, you have the battleship, a massive warship armed with the largest and most powerful guns ever created by mankind but they come at a price.
A Behemoth is the standard variation of a battleship, favoring neither offense nor defense but a balanced arsenal. They are the primary type of big-gunned warships seen through the galaxy.
A Dreadnought is a battleship variation that trades off having stronger armor in return for less firepower. Many who advocate the use of Dreadnoughts say that it is better to have a warship that can survive a naval engagement then one that can enter a battle and not come out.
Cannot be purchased until Space Armor 2 is unlocked.
A Leviathan is the opposite of a Dreadnought, favoring increased firepower at the expense of some armor. Their advocates state that a battleship that it is better to have a warship that can tear the enemy to pieces compared to something that just sits there, soaking damaging and not be able to give it back.
Cannot be purchased until Space Weaponry 2 is unlocked.
Heavy Cruisers
A step below the battleships in terms of firepower and armor are the Heavy Cruiser type of warships. They are considered to be the poor man’s battleship meant for systems who are incapable of meeting all the requirements necessary to keep a true battleship running.
A Battlecruiser is the Leviathan of the Heavy cruisers sporting more firepower at the cost of less armor. It appears that he Leviathan advocates have won out here.
A Fast Cruiser is the speedier version of the heavy cruiser, sacrificing some armor in exchange for more powerful engines. These ships are the perfect vessels to serve as the flagship of any fast assault fleet.
Cannot be purchased until Space Engine 2 is unlocked.
Light Cruisers
Light Cruisers are the type of warships that lie between their heavier counterparts and the smaller destroyers. They are the first type of warship to primarily serve as the escorts for the larger ship in your fleet although they still do manage to boast decent armor and firepower but with more anti-aircraft capabilities and being able to move faster than the bigger warships.
Escort Cruisers are the standard variant of light cruisers. They have decent armor and decent firepower and are equipped of decent anti-air defenses but they do not excel at anyone task.
Missile Cruisers are a variant of the light cruiser that favors enhanced offensive capabilities due to their use of missile batteries at the expense of weaker hulls. They were initially designed to serve as the heavy hitters in anti-piracy fleets before they slowly rose in prominence in the modern Imperial Navy.
Flak Cruisers are a variant of light cruisers that were designed to serve solely as a support role for the battleships and heavy cruisers. Though their armor remains the same as the escort variant, Flak cruisers have weaker main guns in exchange for more anti-aircraft capabilities, as their name suggests, these warships sport many more flak batteries to provide a deadly spray against hostile aircraft.
Below the light cruisers exist the destroyer type of warships. Destroyers in all of their variants serve the same role as the light cruisers but with just half the ability of an actual light cruiser but in exchange, you get to have destroyers for everyone light cruiser.
Although aircraft have long been an important weapon in mankind’s arsenal in planetary engagements, in the confines space they were rarely used before the creation of the carrier style warships and aircraft that could withstand the many dangers of open space. Carriers are a unique warship in that they have no direct attack power of their own, instead relying on the strength of their aircraft to deal damage to the enemy. This however can be a double-edged sword as the weapons of a carrier’s aircraft must strike at the most vulnerable areas of a warship to be effective. A hit anywhere will probably do nothing whereas a shot from a conventional warship would at least do some damage even if it’s a minor one.
Escort Carriers are the smallest type of carriers, being roughly equivalent to a light cruiser in size and role. They are primarily a support warship as they do not have the aircraft capacity to be a true game changer on the battlefield.
Fleet Carriers are the middle child of carrier types having only double the capacity of an escort carrier but not even close to that of a Super Carrier. Their increased hanger bay size allows them to provide more offensive capabilities to a war fleet moving them from a support role to a full capital warship.
Super Carriers are the top dogs of carrier world having a massive aircraft capcity due to their huge hangers. This would make snese as Super Carriers are roughly equivalent to battleships in size. This increased aircraft capacity allows Super Carriers to possibly serve as the sole offensive power of a war fleet, replacing battleships as a result.
Frigates are the final type of ship in the Imperial Navy serving a multi-purpose role among all of their variants.
Flak Frigates are primarily cheap anti-aircraft platforms providing a large amount of protection against hostile aircraft relative to their smaller size. This comes at a cost though as Flak Frigates basically have nothing else to offer.
Escort Frigates are the standard variant of the Frigate class with weak weaponry, armor, and anti-aircraft ability in addition to having some ability to transport land armies from planets to planets.
Assault Frigates serve an odd role compared to their counterparts. They were designed to be an aggressive warship designed to use the Frigates increased speed to help with boarding operations during a naval engagement.
Minelayer Frigate as their name suggests lay mines around a planetary system. That is their only roll as none of their other qualities will serve them well in a battle.
Attack: 10// Defense: 20// Anti-Air: 5//Speed: 8
Manpower: 2,000 // Cost: 5,000. // Upkeep: 1,000.
Minesweeper Frigates do the opposite job of a minelayer. They clear systems of minefields and just like minelayers, serve no other roll.
Attack: 10// Defense: 20// Anti-Air: 5//Speed: 8
Manpower: 2,000 // Cost: 5,000. // Upkeep: 1,000.
Transport Frigates are the main transport craft of the Imperial Navy, They are useless in battle as they are only equipped with just enough firepower, armor, and anti-aircraft to chase off weak pirate ships.
Aircraft are special weapons of war that behave differently than other military units. They can be deployed in both land and space battles and they have different stats depending on which type of warfare they are deployed in. Aircraft are unique in that they must be deployed from either Hangers that are located on a particular planet or from carriers. Without either one of these, aircraft cannot be deployed and are a waste of your resources. However, with either of those, Aircraft can be a valuable weapon that can help turn the tide of battle.
Air Superiority Fighters
Land Stats: Attack: 20// Defense: 30// Anti-Air: 150
Space Stats: Attack: 20// Defense: 0// Anti-Air: 55
Manpower: 500 // Cost: 1,000. // Upkeep: 200.
Multi-Role Fighters
Land Stats: Attack: 60// Defense: 30// Anti-Air: 90
Space Stats: Attack: 45// Defense: 0// Anti-Air: 30
Manpower: 500 // Cost: 1,000. // Upkeep: 200.
Bombers
Land Stats: Attack: 150// Defense: 30// Anti-Air: 20
Space Stats: Attack: 55// Defense: 0// Anti-Air: 20
Hired space vessels can be put into mothball in orbital storage yards when not needed, reducing their crews and leaving them in storage in return for a reduced cost to maintain. Mothballed ships take on the following characteristics:
- Cost 20% of their normal upkeep.
- Cannot move from where they are stored or take part in battles.
- Take 48 RL hours to reactivate (restored, tested, taking on stores, etc).
- Must spend the ship's value in manpower to reactivate (assigning a crew to man the ship).
- While mothballed, attempts at theft may be made on the vessels, and players may station warships as guard ships.
- If the player loses control of the space in the system (eg an enemy fleet is present with no friendly fleet to contest it), the enemy fleet may elect to re-activate your mothballed ships for their own use.
Titans
A Titan is a massive warship that is meant to serve as the culmination of human ingenuity and technological prowess. These massive warships are equipped with the most powerful guns ever known to humanity giving them immense killing power against other warships. However, as a result Titans have a great weakness against the smallest weapons of warfare, aircraft. Titan’s are equipped to destroy other warships and as a result, the majority of their armament is useless against aircraft. What little AA capacity that a Titan has available to it is so spread out and so limited in number that they might as well not even be there, giving aircraft free reign to strike where ever they wish.
- Has very a low anti-air value and aircraft are given a +10 modifier when attacking Titans
- Attack: 2,500 // Defence: 2,500 // Anti-Air: 100 //Speed: 3 // 150,000 Manpower Consumed // 120,000 Upkeep.
In order to construct a Titan, the following requirements must be met, although not necessarily in the following order.
Acquiring the Necessary Techs
To even be able to do anything regarding Titans, you must first unlock the prerequisite techs.
Amass the necessary resources to produce the Titan.
- A Titan requires a massive amount of resources to be used in its construction. These resources must be acquired from other players either through trade agreements or direct purchases. This means that no NPCs can be involved with the only exception beign that there is no player currently in the RP who has a specific trade resource.
- The number of resources acquired through trade agreements is limited to how many trade routes that you have.
- Direct purchase of a resource will require a minimum payment of 25,000 per resource. Players may demand a larger payment if they so wish.
- If your trade partners discover that you are using their resource to construct a Titan, they have a right to either terminate their trade with you or require you to pay the same 25,000 fee to keep trading for their resource.
- The 25,000 fee is a one time payment per attempt to build the Titan. If you were forced to stop construction of the Titan for any reason, those resources that you acquired for the Titan are considered to be consumed and you must reacquire them again.
- Resources acquired through smuggling will not be considered usable resources.
- Players must acquire Fuel
- Players must acquire Super Heavy Machinery
- Players must acquire Side Arms
- Players must acquire Slaves
- Players must acquire Precious Metals
- Players must acquire Electronics
- Players must acquire Targetting Sensors
Construct a Titan Shipyard
- Titans are massive warships that are so large that they cannot be built within the ordinary confines of even the largest shipyards that are designed to produce battleships and supercarriers. Any prospective builder of a Titan must build a new shipyard within in the confines of the space around his or her system in order to construct a shipyard.
- The shipyard will cost 200,000 crowns to construct and it will take two full weeks to build and it will consume 3 of your building slots
- In addition, in order to build the Titan shipyard, all previous shipyard levels must already have been built within your own system as it is not possible for a system that has no shipbuilding facilities available to them to jump immediately to this massive project.
Constructing the Titan
- The actual cost of the Titan is an additional 400,000 crowns on top of whatever else has been spent on acquiring the necessary materials and building the shipyard.
- Construction time will require a minimum of two weeks and it is subject to other RP modifiers (If the Empire is at war and a full mobilization is order, construction will slow due to workers being sent off to fight)
- During the construction period, the Titan and its shipyard will be vulnerable to attack by pirates and raiders as well as the fleets of other lords.
- If the Titan is damaged in a raid, then its construction will be delayed by a week to represent the time needed for repairs it be made.
- The Titan Shipyard and the Titan that is currently being built can be destroyed in an attack. The destruction of either will force the player to restart the entire process.
- To prevent its destruction, players must protect the Titan Shipyard with their military forces and if necessary, obtain allies via RP to help with the protection.
Notes:
- All funds for the Titan must come from one player and one player only. The only exception to this is if the player manages to Rp with the Emperor/Imperial Council/Landsraad to obtain additional funding.
- This will be the only source of outside support. No other players can get involved in funding the Titan and this includes Corporations (who must fund their own Titan if they want one).
- Creating a Titan will not be an easy process and players who wish to attempt to create one must accept that they are making a long term commitment to something that may take two or three months in real life if not more to come to fruition if at all. If you do not have the time or the effort to commit to building a Titan, then don’t even try to build one at all.
- This entire process was designed specifically as a challenging RP path that could spark other types of RP in this game. The actual likelihood of a Titan ever existing is extremely low.
- The minimum cost of the weapon is at least 720,000 crowns before you include the costs of acquiring the necessary trade resources which can easily raise the required costs by at least an additional 100,000 crowns based on the assumption that you have one of the resources and have 3 trade routes available to you.
Last edited by Honors Bastion; January 29, 2015 at 10:20 AM.
In order to conduct an assault battle players must post the following information: Total troops attacking (in real numbers, for example if 10 Armoured Legions are landing, state 500,000 Armoured Troops), and total Attack/Defence values. The defender must post the same for defending troops.
Attack/Defence values must apply to the numbers you provide: if half a Legion is landing, post half of the full Legion Attack/Defence score. It is not the job of the Moderators to work out fractions.
When attacking forces land on a planet, they attempt to seize important military and civil administration centres to take control of planetary functions. When battle commences, do the following rolls:
If the attacker's warships are engaging in planetary bombardment, a +1 to the Attacker roll is granted for every Battleship in orbit up to a maximum of +5, and any Battleships that engage in bombardment are locked in the planet's orbit for the duration of the battle.
[Side 1 Attack Score]/[Side 2 Defence Score] = Side 2 losses in %.
[Side 2 Attack Score]/[Side 1 Defence Score] = Side 1 losses in %.
The side with greater losses is the loser. If the planet's defenders win, the attacking forces retreat to their transport ships and return to orbit. If the attacking side wins, the defending forces are dismantled and sent away as POWs, their equipment used for the attacker's benefit or destroyed.
A planetary battle rages for 3 RL days from the time the troops are ordered into the assault. If reinforcements arrive during this time, the battle will be re-rolled with these new troops and a further 3 days' battle will rage. This encourages attackers to secure dominance of space and keep their fleets to control the system during the planetary assault.
Space
In order to conduct a space battle players must post the following information: Total ships in the fleet, total Capital Ship attack/defence, total Screen attack/defence.
When two fleets engage each other, they split into Left, Centre and Right Squadrons and engage their opposite foe (eg Side A's Left fights Side B's Right) . For each section, do the following rolls:
If there are aircraft present in each fleet, their attack score shall be calculated differently then in normal warships:
[(Total offense of all participating Aircraft of Side 1 on that flank x .1 x D*20) – (Total Anti-Aircraft of Side 2 on that flank)] x (D*20)
This will be added to the attack score of the fleet.
If a fleet does not have at least 1 Screen per Capital Ship, subtract 20% off their defence score as their own Screens cannot adequately protect all their Capital Ships.
[Side 1 Attack Score]/[Side 2 Defence Score] = Side 2 damaged in %.
[Side 2 Attack Score]/[Side 1 Defence Score] = Side 1 damaged in %.
The side that has lost the least in damaged ships (in Capital Ship % terms) is the victor, and the losing fleet will attempt to withdraw.
Post Battle Rolls
Damaged ships are capped at 50% of the fleet. After the battle, do the following d20 rolls and round normally (down if <5%, up if 5%+):
Disabled ships: d20*2.5% of the Damaged Capital Ships and d20*2.5% of the Damaged Screen Ships are now Disabled. Any Damaged ships rolled as Disabled are left on the field of battle and cannot retreat with their fleet.
Salvageable ships: d20*2.5% of the Disabled Capital Ships and d20*2.5% of the Disabled Screen Ships are now Salvageable. Any Disabled ships rolled as Salvageable become part of the victorious fleet as Damaged ships.
Any Disabled ships that are not rolled as Salvageable are beyond repair and are counted as destroyed entirely.
In addition, every enemy character undertakes a capture roll, 5/20 chance of being taken prisoner.
Therefore, the worst outcome of a battle is for a fleet to leave 25% of their ships behind as Disabled, and for the winning fleet to recover half their Disabled ships and half the enemy Disabled ships (12.5% of the total fleets).
Example
A fleet of 10 Battleships and 10 Destroyers loses a battle. They hit the 50% damaged cap meaning 5 Battleships and 5 Destroyers are "Damaged".
d20*2.5% Disabled rolls for both Capital and Screen come out at 5 and 15, meaning 12.5% of the Capital Ships and 37.5% of the Screens are now "Disabled". This means 0.625 Battleships are Disabled and 1.875 Destroyers are Disabled, which is rounded up to 1 Battleship and 2 Destroyers are Disabled.
d20*2.5% Salvage rolls for both Capital and Screen come out at 11 and 19, meaning 27.5% of the Capital Ships and 47.5% of the Screens are now "Salvageable". This means 0.275 Battleships and 0.95 Destroyers, rounding to 0 Battleships and 1 Destroyer.
The winning fleet has captured 1 enemy Destroyer, and it is counted as "Damaged" in their own fleet.
Post Battle Movement
The losing fleet will retreat to the nearest friendly planet. The winning fleet will remain in the field.
Any ships that are "Damaged" cannot fight in any future battles unless they stay in orbit of a planet for 48 RL hours. Players must decide whether to send part of their fleet home to repair and leave a weakened fleet in the field, or retreat their whole fleet to a planet and wait for repairs.
Raiding
Warships in any System may engage in raiding, which attacks local trade lanes, outposts and asteroid facilities.
When a target is struck, 2 d20 rolls:
SOS Call:
2/20 chance the raiders are seen as they’re making an approach, alerting local defenders and allowing them to intervene. A battle will be rolled before the raid can happen.
8/20 chance the victims get an SOS call out as the attack is underway. A battle may be rolled after the raid has happened.
8/20 chance the victims cannot send an SOS but do put up a fight. No battle.
2/20 chance the victims are taken completely by surprise. +10% loot.
If defenders arrive on the scene, the speed of the ships will determine whether a battle is fought. The raiders may withdraw (either before the raid or after depending on when the defending ships arrive), and the attackers may only engage them with ships that match the slowest ship in the raiding fleet. The raiders are obliged to give battle to any ships that can therefore engage them.
Loot is d20*2% of the System’s trade revenue. AI Lords are assumed to operate two trade lanes. AI Merchant Lords are assumed to operate three. If the System hit is player-run, the player loses the Trade Income they would have otherwise gained as a result.
Raiding of AI territory will only be done sparingly: they are not cash cows free to farm as you please. Excessive raiding of AI territory as a means of manufacturing money will be halted.
Raiding warships cannot move for 12 RL hours after the timestamped raid post.
Occupied Territory
If a System is occupied, taxes may be levied from it depending on the strength of the occupying garrison. Each Legion stationed on the planet allows for 5% of the base tax revenue of the planet to be collected in the New Year. No trade revenue may be collected. Legions must be present in the System for the full duration of Friday (in your own timezone) to count towards the garrison. Legions arriving on Friday itself cannot be counted, they must be in the System before 00:01 on Friday. Legions leaving before Friday ends (00:00 on Saturday) cannot be counted.
Spying
Players may hire up to 5 spies and assign them to watch individual characters, not entire Houses. The Imperial Appointment of Lord Master of the Apparatus provides +5 to max spies, which applies only as long as the holder remains Lord Master of the Apparatus.
Spies are hired and operated by entire Houses, not individual characters, though players are free to have the Spies report to whomever in the House they please. Spies gain the +Spy benefit of whichever character they report to as long as that character is alive and not imprisoned.
Spies cost 20,000 to hire and 4,000 in upkeep.
A Spy must make an infiltration roll in order to get close to their target. They have a 50% chance of succeeding, a 25% chance of failing and a 25% chance of getting caught while trying.
Once a spy has infiltrated the character’s staff, they are regarded as always following from afar, allowing their handlers to know where their targets are, but nothing more. This does not apply to military movements, as a spy on an enemy warship is subject to the very strict and controlled communications systems on military vessels. A spy that wishes to relay the position of an enemy fleet must make their yearly roll to do so, and may also relay the composition of the fleet, but not the destination.
In order to pass more valuable information to their handler, the spy must make a roll. He has a 25% chance of relaying important details (specifically who his target met, the topic they discussed and the general outline of the agreement they reached [eg, cooperate against the Lord of New Terra]), a 25% chance of relaying vague details (specifically who the target met only), a 25% chance of gaining no information at all (though in following from afar you still know where he is), and a 25% chance of being discovered and caught.
Capturing Characters
If a player character is attempting to be captured, a roll must be done on a d20. Make an Assassination roll, but the result is the character being taken alive rather than murdered. Note that the Hitman and Assassin buyable in the 'Items' section cannot be used to capture a character.
This does not apply to space conflict. Please see the rules for fighting a space battle to determine whether a character is captured.
Assassinations
An assassination is rolled for when one character makes an attempt on another character’s life. For all assassinations, a justified, in-game motive must be provided. Attacking with a gun or knife requires no prior preparation, attacking with poison requires that it be purchased on the black market, and sending a hired assassin requires that one be contracted from the black market.
The base chance depends on the circumstances:
- In the Assassin’s home, or an area so controlled by the attacking party that they can be regarded as the owners, the base chance is 16/20.
- In a secluded area that is not regarded as the above, it is 12/20.
- In an uncontrolled public space with onlookers, it is 8/20.
- In a controlled public space (regarded as somewhere that would feasibly have guards that could intervene, like the Imperial Council chambers, on a Warship, in an agreed meeting place where both parties have entourages, etc as per Moderator discretion), it is 6/20.
- In the would-be victim’s home, or a place so controlled by them that it can be regarded as being owned by them, it is 4/20.
The chance may be increased via purchases made for the benefit of the Assassin, or by the presence of conspirators (+1 per conspirator)
The chance may be decreased via purchases made for the benefit of the would-be victim, or by the presence of allies who would reasonably intervene (-1 per ally). If the victim or ally has a Duel skill, half that skill (rounding DOWN) will be applied as a negative modifier to the Assassination success chance. This illustrates the increased difficulty of killing a man who is experienced in defending himself, or who is with friends who are experienced in defending themselves.
The chance may be further modified at Moderation’s discretion.
If the Assassin fails, 10/20 chance of capture, modified by any modifiers present above. If Captured he may be interrogated, with the Counterspy trait of the interrogating character providing a +modifier. 5/20 chance he reveals the House he was hired by (Assassins always know, they have their contacts...), 5/20 he reveals only the faction (eg, ‘It was some Slaver! That’s all I know!”), 5/20 he reveals nothing, 5/20 he dies under interrogation.
Scouting/Detection Rolls
Roll: Chance = ([Total Fleet Attack and Defence Score]/20). d100, with Chance as detection chance.
Example: Two Behemoth Battleships. Total Defence Score = 1,600. Therefore 80/100 chance of detection.
Scouting: Destroyer and Light Cruiser Squadrons can be dispatched up to 3 hexes in front of their fleet. They will scan every hex and 1 hex within the vicinity of every hex that they pass through for deployed ships, friend, neutral or foe. If they themselves are detected, d10 with 5/10 chance of withdrawing back to the fleet (therefore cancel any further systems still to be scouted), if caught by defending Destroyer and Light Cruiser Squadrons the scouts are destroyed. If they are detected, the direction they came from is known. Bear in mind that if they are scouting 7 hexes ahead, they undertake 5 detection rolls as they must pass through the same 2 hexes system again on the way back, though to the enemy it therefore looks like they came from a different direction if caught on the third roll.
Detection: Modern sensor technology is always passively scanning the surrounding System, taking in vast amounts of data for traffic control, law enforcement, census purposes and local defence. Any fleet entering a System is subject to a detection roll (this can be waived as circumstance dictates, like passing through friendly AI territory).
If a fleet enters a System undetected and attacks a fleet or planet in that System, they will get +5 to their attack roll as the enemy is taken by surprise.
Duels
Surviving in the sentimental cultural leanings of mankind, the gentlemanly sport of duelling with swords continues to exist in the Empire today, though duels to the death are technically illegal. In the modern Empire, a Duel is most often used to settle perceived insults, as a show of prowess, as evening entertainment amongst the gentlemen and, perhaps most practically, as a way to prepare oneself against assailants in a world where assassination of the aristocracy isn’t so uncommon as to be entirely discounted as a threat.
A Duel is conducted with Health and the Duel stat, with items and traits being used to augment each.
Two rolls are conducted, one for each participant, with the difference between the two numbers being the health deducted from the participant with the lower roll. Items, stats, and any Moderation-decided modifiers are added to the rolls before the health deductions are made.
Everyone starts with 20 health before items are considered.
Last edited by Poach; January 28, 2015 at 12:55 PM.