Two Entities stood face to face, though whether either of them had faces to begin with was a question that no mortal could answer.
One of the two was arguing for the creation of a war between republics, with historically-accurate equipment and weapons mimicking the 'World War 1' era of the metatemplate 'Earth'. The other suggested a more audacious creation, where 'magical' 'warstriders' would be utilized by opposed kingdoms. The debate grew more and more heated.
"The merit of historical accuracy cannot be denied. More rigid physics allow for more complex engineering."
"The limitation to metatemplate 'Earth' physics will stifle the creativity of the engineers. Historical accuracy limits development paths."
The unthinkable happened. One of the Entities grew frustrated, and threw the first strike, an array of dimensional shear cutting through superstrings and destroying a thousand worlds. It was the equivalent of an insulting slap. The other Entity looked back, incredulous.
The Entities separated, and their battle truly began, in the typical mode of their species.
This is an Arms Race where you make the rules. Each player may join one team and only one team - either Red Faction or Blue Faction.
Please join whichever team has fewer active players, for balance's sake.
Once you've joined a team, only view that team's thread and this thread, since that's basically required for an arms race to work.
This is the Red Thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=182403.0).
This is the Blue Thread (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=182404.0).
Honor system.
You'll both be creating your Entity's means of waging war, as well as manipulating the rules of the game itself.
The game operates in three phases, the Shift Phase, the Design Phase, and the Battle Phase.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift to make to the game mechanics, and the Shift with the highest number of votes is resolved once the Phase ends.
During the Design Phase, each team votes on one Design used by their Entity, and the Design with the highest number of votes is created once the Phase ends.
During the Battle Phase, war is waged automatically, and the team with the most effective and relevant Designs wins, making Progress.
These Phases proceed in order, Shift -> Design -> Battle -> Shift -> Design -> Battle, and so on. Progress shifts each Battle.
If a given team manages to maximize their Progress, they win the game permanently.
During the Design Phase, each team votes for a Design to create, a creation that will aid their Entity in waging war.
Entities do not wage war personally, because that is anathema to their existence. Instead, they create a faction of pawns and use those to fight. You may Design new pawns and new equipment for those pawns. You may also use a Design to modify or improve an existing Design your team possesses.
Of course, a Design isn't guaranteed to be exactly what you ask for. Once a Design is finished, 2d6 is rolled and summed, and the results are based upon your roll.
2 or less: Your Design goes incredibly poorly. Experience is still gained, but the Design is non-functional.
3 or 4: Your Design goes poorly. It functions, but with significant flaws, or falls short of what you asked for.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9: Your Design goes adequately. It functions, and that's all that can really be said about it.
10 or 11: Your Design goes well. It functions, and exceeds the mark by a significant margin.
12 or more: Your Design goes incredibly well. You'll likely gain results far beyond what was originally planned.
Situational bonuses or penalties will be applied based on the level of ambition of your design.
+4: Extremely unambitious
+2: Unambitious
+0: Minor development
-2: Major development
-4: Extreme development
I will apply these bonuses and penalties arbitrarily according to how I see your Design. If you believe I've massively misinterpreted what you were asking for, you may appeal.
Currently, there aren't any 'resources' that a Design uses, but not all Designs are created equal. Based on complexity, scale, and ambition of the Design, a usage level will be assigned. A usage level represents to what frequency your Design is present in the battles that occur between the factions your teams are a part of. This also roughly corresponds to quantity, if that makes sense for the Design.
Full Usage: Your Design is omnipresent in the battle between your Entity's factions, up to the extent that it is useful.
Partial Usage: Your Design is significantly present in the battle between your Entity's factions, but more availability would still be useful.
Low Usage: Your Design is scarcely present, but it may still be making a difference if powerful enough.
Single Deployment: Your Design is one-of-a-kind. It'll only make a difference if it's really special.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift. A given Shift describes an alteration to a specific game mechanic, or the addition of a new one. A Shift does not describe the strict mechanical details of the change, but rather the general effect of it. The moderator will implement the specifics.
Once the Shift Phase ends, each team's voted Shift is resolved, changing the game itself.
Shifts are public, and described in the core thread.
Shifts that discriminate between teams, are too complex by the moderator's standards, or are too grand in scale or scope, will be altered beyond what was intended. This will be focused on making them more reasonable.
During the Battle Phase, there is no vote, the moderator simply writes out the results of the battle between the factions when they have the time to do so. These results will attempt to reflect the Designs that exist on either side. Currently there is no terrain, merely an endless expanse of blank, grey granite, upon which the factions wage battle. Gravity exists.
An even match or draw will produce no change in Progress.
A significant advantage for one faction will produce a 10% change in Progress for that faction.
A major advantage for one faction will produce a 20% change in Progress for that faction.
At the start of the game, each faction has 50% Progress. Depending on the results of the Battle Phase, Progress may change by 0%, 10%, or 20%. If it changes, one faction will lose Progress and the other will gain Progress.
If a faction ever reaches 100% Progress, that faction's team wins permanently.
At the start of the game, each faction / team starts with the
Pawn,
Knight,
Rook, and
Gate Designs.
A humanoid construct made of fragile metacrystal. Colored according to the color of the faction it belongs to. Moves at a slow walk, but exists in great numbers. Simple intelligence, may follow simple directions and move in simple formations. Wields a metacrystal spear that does minor damage. Full Usage.
A humanoid construct made of fragile metacrystal, plated with plates of thin durable metacrystal. Colored according to the color of the faction it belongs to. Moves at a brisk walk, and may sprint for short durations. Complex intelligence, may follow complex directions, but cannot move in formation due to lack of coordination. Wields a metacrystal sword that does moderate damage and may parry melee attacks. Partial Usage.
A humanoid construct made of durable metacrystal. Colored according to the color of the faction it belongs to. Moves at a brisk walk, and may communicate at short to moderate distances. Complex intelligence, may direct other constructs and share information. Emits short-ranged energy beams that deal severe damage, and may be aimed precisely, but fire slowly. Low Usage.
A tall ring of metacrystal, energy humming within. Colored a deeper version of the color of the faction it belongs to. Immobile, unintelligent, but may be controlled by other constructs. Slowly fabricates other constructs according to the controller. Can only assemble another Gate in segments which have to be painstakingly assembled. Disassembly is impossible without breaking it. Low Usage.
During the first three Design Phases, each team shall produce two Designs instead of one, and during the first two Battle Phases, Progress shall not change.
All the rules in this section cannot be Shifted. The section itself is similarly immune.
These rules are ultimately collated, updated, and implemented by me, the moderator. I reserve the right to make changes as needed or to make the game more fun.
If you're an asshole to your fellow players, and continue to do so after receiving a warning, you may be stripped of your vote until you improve. So please do not be an asshole.
I will probably be biased in favor of cooler and more interesting designs. Metacrystal is a generic material, energy is a generic energy. What your Designs do is more important than how they work. Internally coherent Design logic will still be helpful.
If you don't like how something works, go ahead and Shift it. The world is your oyster. A good start would be implementing combat theatres, if you need an idea to work with.
Shift Phase 0000:
The Red Entity hears the voices of their fragments, and stretches their power over the battlefield. The expanse of blank, grey stone Shifts and enters a state of uncertain flux. What was a simple battlefield soon becomes relatively far more complex, as the terrain shifts at every Battle Phase's end.
Battle Phase rules updated.
The Blue Entity listens, considers, and acts. Their power seeps into the sediment of the design process, and adds a new uncertainty. What shall happen if the war-tools of the dominant faction suddenly fall into the hands of the current lesser competitor?
Design Phase rules updated.
It is now the Design Phase.
As a reminder, for the first three Design Phases, each team gets two Designs instead of one. The first (decide which is first however you please) Design each team makes will receive a +1 roll bonus, as well, as both teams decided a Shift before the soft deadline.
The game operates in three phases, the Shift Phase, the Design Phase, and the Battle Phase.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift to make to the game mechanics, and the Shift with the highest number of votes is resolved once the Phase ends.
During the Design Phase, each team votes on one Design used by their Entity, and the Design with the highest number of votes is created once the Phase ends.
During the Battle Phase, war is waged automatically, and the team with the most effective and relevant Designs wins, making Progress.
These Phases proceed in order, Shift -> Design -> Battle -> Shift -> Design -> Battle, and so on. Progress shifts each Battle.
If a given team manages to maximize their Progress, they win the game permanently.
During the Design Phase, each team votes for a Design to create, a creation that will aid their Entity in waging war.
Entities do not wage war personally, because that is anathema to their existence. Instead, they create a faction of pawns and use those to fight. You may Design new pawns and new equipment for those pawns. You may also use a Design to modify or improve an existing Design your team possesses.
Of course, a Design isn't guaranteed to be exactly what you ask for. Once a Design is finished, 2d6 is rolled and summed, and the results are based upon your roll.
2 or less: Your Design goes incredibly poorly. Experience is still gained, but the Design is non-functional.
3 or 4: Your Design goes poorly. It functions, but with significant flaws, or falls short of what you asked for.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9: Your Design goes adequately. It functions, and that's all that can really be said about it.
10 or 11: Your Design goes well. It functions, and exceeds the mark by a significant margin.
12 or more: Your Design goes incredibly well. You'll likely gain results far beyond what was originally planned.
Situational bonuses or penalties will be applied based on the level of ambition of your design.
+4: Extremely unambitious
+2: Unambitious
+0: Minor development
-2: Major development
-4: Extreme development
I will apply these bonuses and penalties arbitrarily according to how I see your Design. If you believe I've massively misinterpreted what you were asking for, you may appeal.
(NEW) At the end of each Design Phase, I will roll a d6 Reversal Die. If the die lands on 6, the Designs made by each faction during that Design Phase will be transferred to their opposing faction.
Currently, there aren't any 'resources' that a Design uses, but not all Designs are created equal. Based on complexity, scale, and ambition of the Design, a usage level will be assigned. A usage level represents to what frequency your Design is present in the battles that occur between the factions your teams are a part of. This also roughly corresponds to quantity, if that makes sense for the Design.
Full Usage: Your Design is omnipresent in the battle between your Entity's factions, up to the extent that it is useful.
Partial Usage: Your Design is significantly present in the battle between your Entity's factions, but more availability would still be useful.
Low Usage: Your Design is scarcely present, but it may still be making a difference if powerful enough.
Single Deployment: Your Design is one-of-a-kind. It'll only make a difference if it's really special.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift. A given Shift describes an alteration to a specific game mechanic, or the addition of a new one. A Shift does not describe the strict mechanical details of the change, but rather the general effect of it. The moderator will implement the specifics.
Once the Shift Phase ends, each team's voted Shift is resolved, changing the game itself.
Shifts are public, and described in the core thread.
Shifts that discriminate between teams, are too complex by the moderator's standards, or are too grand in scale or scope, will be altered beyond what was intended. This will be focused on making them more reasonable.
During the Battle Phase, there is no vote, the moderator simply writes out the results of the battle between the factions when they have the time to do so. These results will attempt to reflect the Designs that exist on either side. (NEW) The terrain of the battlefield shifts randomly according to the Terrain Table at the end of every Battle Phase. For the first Battle Phase, the terrain is an endless expanse of blank, grey granite.
Gravity exists.
An even match or draw will produce no change in Progress.
A significant advantage for one faction will produce a 10% change in Progress for that faction.
A major advantage for one faction will produce a 20% change in Progress for that faction.
(NEW)
At the end of every Battle Phase, the battlefield's terrain will shift into a new state according to the results of rolling 1d6 on this table.
1: A sandy desert with many dunes and a few sparse oases, small lakes of freshwater.
2: A grassy plain, mostly flat. The height of the grass varies from patch to patch. As there is no sun, the grass will quickly die.
3: A dense forest composed of generic, tall trees.
4: A rocky expanse of many small mountains. The passes and trails will be difficult to maneuver, but potentially exploitable.
5: A moist, muddy swamp with a few generic mangrove trees. Possibly difficult to navigate.
6: A vast sea dotted with small, barren islands.
At the start of the game, each faction has 50% Progress. Depending on the results of the Battle Phase, Progress may change by 0%, 10%, or 20%. If it changes, one faction will lose Progress and the other will gain Progress.
If a faction ever reaches 100% Progress, that faction's team wins permanently.
Metacrystal and You: A Short Generic Materials Primer
You may have noticed that your starting Designs mention metacrystal. Metacrystal is a generic material. Essentially, its properties are arbitrary, but the further you push it, the greater the expense and complexity of your Designs will be. Your faction's Entities would rather minimize their direct involvement in this conflict, as per the Arms Race rules (who's heard of an engineer personally joining the fighting in an Arms Race, outside of finale-type turns?). As such, the Designs you create are transmitted to your Rooks, which then operate your Gates to create them.
The bad news is, this makes Designs using materials that aren't metacrystal a bit difficult.
The good news is, you can Shift the game. If you want more things to work with than metacrystal, all you have to do is Shift that.
The other good news is, you're entirely capable of Designing better means of production. The 'Rooks-control-Gates' means I described are just what you have access to right now. That can change.
Shift Phase 0001:
The Red Entity grinds gouges into reality, gouges which split into cracks. The Menagerie exists (has always existed) to collect the strange and mundane creatures which fall from these cracks. Now, though, as the Menagerie is overflowing, its extradimensional keepers have been forced to consider alternatives to keeping every crackborn creature.
The keepers of the Menagerie have decided that some of the Menagerie's creatures may be sold to any individual or faction willing to feed and care for them. In a sunless realm, however, where the most life to be found is shifting, starving plantlife, this may pose something of an issue.
Alongside a lack of capable negotiators.
Fortunately, it looks like the Blue Entity has taken the time to solve half those problems.
Mercenaries rules updated.
The Blue Entity drills into the metaphysics of this plane, and partitions existence into its primordial elements. No, not iridium, cobalt, and sodium. Six primordial Core Elements revolve around the Neutral Element that is Metacrystal. Fire burns, Water flows, Earth stays steady, Air is omnipresent, Electricity leaps, and Natura grows.
These elemental roots give new possibilities to the Designs that could exist, but their power is not unlimited. To make an animate construct using the Core Elements, it must either be fully alive by grace of Natura, or have within it a powering, bolstering metacrystal core.
An unexpected surge of energy flows, and both factions find themselves in possession of the Elemental Gate design, to facilitate the use of the new Core Elements.
Design Considerations rules updated.
It is now the Design Phase.
As a reminder, for the first three Design Phases, each team gets two Designs instead of one. While the majorities weren't quite as solid this time around, both teams still got a Shift selected before the soft deadline, so the +1 bonus to the first Design remains present.
The game operates in three phases, the Shift Phase, the Design Phase, and the Battle Phase.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift to make to the game mechanics, and the Shift with the highest number of votes is resolved once the Phase ends.
During the Design Phase, each team votes on one Design used by their Entity, and the Design with the highest number of votes is created once the Phase ends.
During the Battle Phase, war is waged automatically, and the team with the most effective and relevant Designs wins, making Progress.
These Phases proceed in order, Shift -> Design -> Battle -> Shift -> Design -> Battle, and so on. Progress shifts each Battle.
If a given team manages to maximize their Progress, they win the game permanently.
During the Design Phase, each team votes for a Design to create, a creation that will aid their Entity in waging war.
Entities do not wage war personally, because that is anathema to their existence. Instead, they create a faction of pawns and use those to fight. You may Design new pawns and new equipment for those pawns. You may also use a Design to modify or improve an existing Design your team possesses.
Of course, a Design isn't guaranteed to be exactly what you ask for. Once a Design is finished, 2d6 is rolled and summed, and the results are based upon your roll.
2 or less: Your Design goes incredibly poorly. Experience is still gained, but the Design is non-functional.
3 or 4: Your Design goes poorly. It functions, but with significant flaws, or falls short of what you asked for.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9: Your Design goes adequately. It functions, and that's all that can really be said about it.
10 or 11: Your Design goes well. It functions, and exceeds the mark by a significant margin.
12 or more: Your Design goes incredibly well. You'll likely gain results far beyond what was originally planned.
Situational bonuses or penalties will be applied based on the level of ambition of your design.
+4: Extremely unambitious
+2: Unambitious
+0: Minor development
-2: Major development
-4: Extreme development
I will apply these bonuses and penalties arbitrarily according to how I see your Design. If you believe I've massively misinterpreted what you were asking for, you may appeal.
At the end of each Design Phase, I will roll a d6 Reversal Die. If the die lands on 6, the Designs made by each faction during that Design Phase will be transferred to their opposing faction.
Both sides have full access to metacrystal, a generic material with arbitrary properties. The further it's pushed, however, the greater the expense and complexity of your Designs will be. It's viable to categorize a specific type of metacrystal with specific properties as <type> metacrystal, for example fragile metacrystal or durable metacrystal. (NEW) Metacrystal is the Neutral Element.
(NEW) Designs may also incorporate one or more of the Core Elements - Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Electricity, and Natura. Designs utilizing the Core Elements tend to be more complex and difficult to create than metacrystal-only designs, and while the creation of lifeforms using Natura is entirely possible, such lifeforms will need sustenance. Natura also resists the other Core Elements being used in the same Design as it, though it will tolerate metacrystal.
It will be extremely difficult to create an animate construct utilizing the Core Elements that is not either wholly biological using Natura, or possessing of a metacrystal core.
The Core Elements may be pushed in concept somewhat, for example materializing metal using Earth, but this increases Design difficulty.
It is trivial to create lumps of edible meat, plantmatter, and flows of drinking water in large quantities by utilizing an Elemental Gate, but this is an active task and requires supervision.
There is still no sun, so creatures that do not rely on perception metacrystal (found in construct eyes) may be at a disadvantage. Assume an atmosphere of elemental Air, at least.
Not all Designs are created equal. Based on complexity, scale, and ambition of the Design, a usage level will be assigned. A usage level represents to what frequency your Design is present in the battles that occur between the factions your teams are a part of. This also roughly corresponds to quantity, if that makes sense for the Design.
Full Usage: Your Design is omnipresent in the battle between your Entity's factions, up to the extent that it is useful.
Partial Usage: Your Design is significantly present in the battle between your Entity's factions, but more availability would still be useful.
Low Usage: Your Design is scarcely present, but it may still be making a difference if powerful enough.
Single Deployment: Your Design is one-of-a-kind. It'll only make a difference if it's really special.
(NEW) Designs of living creatures will require food and water, which will limit their usage level as some production has to be devoted to their upkeep. Increasing production of food and water will increase upkeep.
(NEW) The Menagerie is an extradimensional plane controlled and kept by its keepers, who will offer exotic and normal non-sapient beasts to any faction that is able to comfortably take care of their upkeep and does not abuse them. 'Abuse' contains use of beasts outside of normal operating parameters. A beast of burden may be used for carrying supplies, a war wyvern may be sent to devour your opponents' Pawns, but any such beasts must be well fed, given reasonable medical attention, and not treated as simply sacrificial.
All Menagerie Designs have some food-based upkeep.
Mechanically, each faction may make one Mercenary Request per Design Phase to one Mercenary faction, of which there is currently only the Menagerie.
A 1d10 roll is then made, with a threshold set based on the difficulty of the Mercenary Request. A +4 bonus is applied if a (specialized very complex) intelligence negotiator / diplomat construct is available, a +2 bonus is applied if a (very complex) or (specialized complex) intelligence construct is available, and a -2 penalty is applied if none of the above are available. If the roll exceeds the threshold, a the faction making the request gains a new Design based on the request. Failure may aggravate the relevant Mercenary faction, making Mercenary Requests to them temporarily impossible, or having far worse consequences.
The Reversal Die may transfer Mercenary Designs.
During the Shift Phase, each team votes on one Shift. A given Shift describes an alteration to a specific game mechanic, or the addition of a new one. A Shift does not describe the strict mechanical details of the change, but rather the general effect of it. The moderator will implement the specifics.
Once the Shift Phase ends, each team's voted Shift is resolved, changing the game itself.
Shifts are public, and described in the core thread.
Shifts that discriminate between teams, are too complex by the moderator's standards, or are too grand in scale or scope, will be altered beyond what was intended. This will be focused on making them more reasonable.
During the Battle Phase, there is no vote, the moderator simply writes out the results of the battle between the factions when they have the time to do so. These results will attempt to reflect the Designs that exist on either side. The terrain of the battlefield shifts randomly according to the Terrain Table at the end of every Battle Phase. For the first Battle Phase, the terrain is an endless expanse of blank, grey granite.
Gravity exists, (NEW) as does a breathable atmosphere.
An even match or draw will produce no change in Progress.
A significant advantage for one faction will produce a 10% change in Progress for that faction.
A major advantage for one faction will produce a 20% change in Progress for that faction.
At the end of every Battle Phase, the battlefield's terrain will shift into a new state according to the results of rolling 1d6 on this table.
1: A sandy desert with many dunes and a few sparse oases, small lakes of freshwater.
2: A grassy plain, mostly flat. The height of the grass varies from patch to patch. As there is no sun, the grass will quickly die.
3: A dense forest composed of generic, tall trees.
4: A rocky expanse of many small mountains. The passes and trails will be difficult to maneuver, but potentially exploitable.
5: A moist, muddy swamp with a few generic mangrove trees. Possibly difficult to navigate.
6: A vast sea dotted with small, barren islands.
At the start of the game, each faction has 50% Progress. Depending on the results of the Battle Phase, Progress may change by 0%, 10%, or 20%. If it changes, one faction will lose Progress and the other will gain Progress.
If a faction ever reaches 100% Progress, that faction's team wins permanently.
A tall ring of metacrystal, energy flowing within. Colored a deeper version of the color of the faction it belongs to. Immobile, unintelligent, but may be controlled by other constructs. Very slowly performs complex fabrications of the Core Elements, quickly performs very simple fabrications of the Core Elements. Cannot produce metacrystal, but if a metacrystal core created by a Gate is provided, it may make use of said core. Making a new one requires painstaking assembly of metacrystal components made by a normal Gate. Disassembly is impossible without breaking it. Currently provides 2 / 2 sustenance upkeep. Low Usage.
It is now the Design Phase.
Soft deadline for Design Phase 0001 is 8 PM Central time, Saturday March 9th.
Hard deadline for Design Phase 0001 is 8 PM Central time, Sunday March 10th.