What game would you like to see?

**cfmonkey45** · May 18, 2018, 03:38 PM

Here's the link to my ruleset for The Roman Struggle.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wRCuVCpoIXrv1Mfq0XFjviigJLa3tkyHPWD0FUjOX-s/edit?usp=sharing

Game is pre-structured to begin circa 109 BCE, with about 5-10 turns followed by a time warp. The idea is that we can quickly go through and establish a background with the Marian Reforms/Jugurthine War, then timewarp to the Social War and the Marian-Sullan Civil War. Then we could move towards the Catilline Conspiracy and the First Triumvirate, then to the Second Triumvirate and establishment of the Principate. Note: this doesn't follow a set script and it can be free form. I will use historical characters as an example, but there is no reason why we can't have fictional or player-made characters. Player creation gives players a budget based on their age to create their family gens. Older characters give more player points, but are more likely to die between timewarps, which means that heirs become important.

At the conclusion of each phase, points are added up, with bonuses to most prestige/aucturias points, along with the most money/battles. Following the timewarp, each player is given a certain amount of money based on what their estates would have likely produced in income during that period (so a separate start), or they can restart with a new character/family. This allows for the game to avoid getting stagnant and allowing new players in and old players who have died off to start without continuity issues. If you restart with a new family (likely after getting your old family eliminated), you basically get the net value of your old character back in character points. I think this will likely eliminate rage quits, and will encourage other players to take risks that make the game more interesting. Obviously, all IC ties to your prior character are wiped clean. For RP reasons, your new family will have risen to prominence from relative obscurity. It might be that your Patrician Family was an otherwise obscure Senatorial backbencher, or as a Plebeian, you rose to become a Novus Homo.

So for example, you would start in Phase 1 with a player like Gaius Marius representing the Populare Faction. They would survive until Phase 2, the Social War and Sulla's dictatorship. However, their IC characters die (Marius of old age and the Marius the Younger in battle). So the player then takes over the Julii under Gaius Julius Caesar. The Caesarian player does well in Phase 3, but gets assassinated by other players. To avoid being eliminated from the game, they take over another character. However, let's say that Octavian is already taken, so they instead take Agrippa, who is a new character.

The each phase would likely have certain objectives. Phase 1 would be to solve the Jugurthine War. However, they can be resolved ahistorically, so Sulla could have established the Principate, or Catilline might have succeeded. Or Octavian decides to step down like Sulla after a series of constitutional reforms. Or perhaps the Liberatores prevail against the Second Triumvirate. Or even Antony and Cleopatra succeed in carving out their empire and topple the Republic.

Lastly, I wanted to have it where each elected position (Censor, Consul, Praetor, Aedile, Quaestor) would be responsible for some aspect of modding for that turn. Aediles would be responsible for making RP posts about festivals, buildings, minor event moderation. Sacerdotes/Pontiffs would be responsible for Temple posts. Quaestors and the Censor would be responsible for Payday through a spreadsheet. Praetors and Consuls would be responsible for legislation being proposed in Assemblies, and having them brought before the Senate for approval.

Failure to maintain consistent moderation posting would result in reprimands from the Censor/Senior Magistrates.That way, we have clearly defined expectations from the player and mod base. More complicated things, like Battle Moderation, can be done for specialized moderators to eliminate game lag.