Bay 12 Games Forum

Alosia is one of the superpowers of this world, with millions of people and hundreds of cities.  And it's a new power, one that has suffered from centuries of occupation, division, warfare, and tension.  But you were one of the first generation of people to not know that, and to grow up in the new nation.

Things are still poor, and much of the country is rural and less developed, but the future is bright and there are the beginnings of a new culture, one of optimism, hope and love.

Civic Duties: Medium.  Lower-level education is mandatory, as is some kind of civic service, but plenty of deferments are available for students, rural farm workers, only children.. it's only one step away from a volunteer army, really.

Civil Rights: Low, but increasing.  The secret police still exist, but new laws and budget cuts have restricted their capabilities.  There are also some newer policies supposedly allowing for more freedom of instruction and free thought during schooling.  Some cities have had their curfews reduced, and travel permits are now significantly easier to get.  A few places have even reappeared on the new maps.

Still, things are fragile, and it takes someone young like you to trust that the new direction will last.  Many times have held hope before, and those times have passed like a hummingbird through a lit room.

The Terpis Union is the world's other superpower.  And foremost one, really, no nation can touch it's long history, deep culture, and commitment to the high ideals of scientific advancement, freedom, and peace.  Still, as always, new changes bring new threats, and the combination of Alosia and new ideas have made the path forwards less clear.

The country is rich, very much so, and varies from less-developed hinterlands to the greatest cities in the world.  Many people come hoping to achieve the opportunities here which were granted to you by your birth.

Civic Duties: Low.  As part of the commitment to freedom, most people only have the slightest interaction with the state and its functioning.  Jury duty, a volunteer army, and thoroughly civilian police are all hallmarks of the nation.

Civil Rights: High, but threatened.  Unrest following various civil tensions, calls for punishment of various corrupt civil and business leader, and occasional strikes and demonstrations have become more common.  As has certain actions taken in response.  There have been occasional shootings, and rumors of the arrest of various civil leaders.. most of which, but not all of which, have been false.  Things are still largely safe and peaceful, but between Alosia and the inevitable conflict caused by the clash of generations, who can say things will stay this way?

The South Seas Federation is smaller than either superpower, consisting of a loose alliance between many smaller nations, who have joined together for mutual protection.  None of them are terribly rich in any specific strategic resource, or possess any advantage large enough to make them either a target or an ally.

Still, there are benefits to being unimportant enough to avoid notice.  The variety of lifestyles within the South Seas is unmatched, with the richest of the rich living atop spires in the jewel-cities of the desert, to the hardy whalers surviving the southern seas.  Anyone can make a living here, it is said, for anything and everything is in demand.

Things aren't that joyous for everyone, however.  There exists a significant underclass, several overcrowded cities, and rural folk who are only a few generations away from the feudal serfs who went out of style centuries ago elsewhere.  There are the inevitable tensions between the various nation states, not to mention the various political, military, and business leaders who live with few limitations on their own power.. save for their own, less visible clashes.

Civic Duties: Low to Medium.  This varies significantly depending on where you live, as lifestyles everywhere in the South Seas vary.  But in general, you are free to do what you wish, provided you can pay the fare, be it in labor, money, or talent.

Civil Rights: Low to Medium.  As little is demanded from the private citizen, so is little given to one.  The courts are often packed, the officials are often on the take, and cozying up to the local authorities is often the price of doing business.  On the other hand, there is nothing nearly as organized as a surveillance state, and there is no one power.. travel can be the universal cure to your problems, and a horrible situation might be cured by a quick boat ride, if a permanent one.

The Commonwealth is in a unique position, similar to that of the South Seas.  For centuries their mountainous and barren lands were overlooked by the greater powers, having nothing they desired and being full of quarrelsome tribes, who were mostly kept in check by their own internal disunion lest they attack the outside world.

These days, however, everything is different.  Rich in titanium, rich in cobaltite, rich in nickel, rich in chromium.  The key metals of modern civilization are available here, in quantities sometimes matched but rarely exceeded.

So modern Berghan is modestly wealthy, always balancing between the two powers, sometimes favoring one side, sometimes favoring the other side, and always looking first to its own protection.  There are cities, there are modern industries, and modern infrastructure, but things are never really safe, after all.  The culture that of modesty and restraint, the people are more calm than happy, and the leadership is capable.. but stressed.  Life for the young in Berghan can be very fun, but everything is just a bit stiffer than it would be in a truly happy place.

Civic Duties: High.  You are expected, like everyone else, to spend at least two years service in the armed forces.  There are exceptions, but only available to a very few people, who are often taking alternate service.  Taxes are also high, along with occasional threats of rationing.

Civic Rights: Medium.  There are restrictions, between occasional censorship and various controls intended to limit the ever-changing numbers of foreign and domestic agents.  Although most people are free, most of the time and in most ways, you know that the overall situation is monitored.  The long arms of the state are certainly capable of swooping in and cracking down.

Name of your organization:
Perk:
Starting Base Location:
Flavor Text:

Name:
Mad Science Machine:  (eg, Hyperbolic Time Chamber)
Origin of funding:
Flavor text:

During 'Purchase' turns..
Your Income comes in and Upkeep is paid.  Performance reviews are done every second month (every four turns).  Results from actions happen.

You may..
Buy from the market/black market.
Construct as many buildings as you like and can afford.
Conduct research.  Each project requires one lab, and one 'lead scientist'.  This can be a mad scientist who has agreed to visit you and work on something, or it can be one of your lead scientists.  All orgs start with one, and more will come up for purchase or hire pretty often.
Manufacture something.  You can use a schematic produced by your research to build into something new.

In general, research will cost 20 per turn, per project, and you'll get updates as to how the project is going and how long it's going to take.  Most things will be some level of possible, but it might take a while to finish.  Stuff that's way out there you may only get spinoffs or related items, but in general, research will be pretty reliable and you will get what you want.  Also, reverse-engineering things you own. can be done, to make a schematic of it, which can allow you to build more copies of it.  It will still cost 20/turn, and may take more than one turn.

Kaiju parts are researched in a Kaiju lab, upon which they are turned into little bits that can be used to make new designs better.  This costs 20 and requires a lead scientist.  Some Kaiju parts like brains and hearts need other research or can be used whole.

During 'Action' turns..

Updates on research projects are given.
Special offers/events may happen.

Actions may be taken in the game world, such as responding to kaiju threats.
Items may be built this turn, but no construction of buildings may be done, or purchases made.  Something finished this turn can be used this same turn in a mission.

During 'Purchase' turns..

Income comes in and upkeep is paid.  Upkeep is ONLY paid if your mad scientist was away from home sometime during the last month, either working somewhere else on a research project or taking action out on the game world.  Being away for either of the two phases counts.  Do note that delivering your project to someone will require a turn, as mad science projects require special handling.

Purchases may be made on the general market/black market.
Conduct research.  Research on your own projects in your own base is free.  Research elsewhere is paid by the host.  Yes, this includes your fellow mad scientists, who will cost 20/turn if they work for you.  You, yourself, may only work on one project a turn, which is defined as being in one lab doing one thing.

During 'Action' turns..

Actions may be done on the game world, such as responding to a kaiju attack.

During either turn, research may be done on one of your projects, or a building may be constructed or upgraded.  And items may be delivered to customers.
Some special events or offers may occur.

Mad scientist research is powerful but less predictable than work done by lead scientists in organizations.  There will be some sort of result every turn, so multi-turn projects are done by leaving the thing in the laboratory and continuing work on it in future turns.

Do note that each mad science project requires one lab zone to hold it.  Starting a new project requires either an empty lab or discarding the project inside the current one.  It is also possible to use something that you acquire in some way (either through purchases or some other method) as the base material for a new project.  So if someone gives you a tank, you can mad science it up, and end up with something very powerful.

However, you cannot replicate a project.  Each project has to start either from scratch or from something you put in the lab to work on.  This is how the multi-turn projects work.. the result of the last turn is stored inside your lab, and you improve on that one for the results of the next turn.

Kaiju parts can also be turned into usable materials in an empty lab.  Do note that an agent of a mad scientist, as the building named after this, will be returning with pre-processed kaiju parts for you, not raw ones.  Kaiju materials and such are one of the few things that don't require a lab to be stored in.

All upkeep costs are 20% of the construction cost.
A 1 turn construction building will finish the turn after construction is started.

Base, the central core for each base.  This building is mostly a placeholder, and doesn't actually serve any function.  Upkeep cost is 10

Barracks, cost 50, time 1 turn.  May store one Infantry Unit.

Small lab, 50, 2 turns
Medium lab 100, 3 turns
Large lab 150 4 turns

These are buildings for doing research.  One project may be done per each lab.  The size differences are the sizes of the projects that can be worked on..  small size for infantry equipment and small trucks,  medium size for vehicles up to the size of a helicopter or a tank, Large for vehicles up to the size of a large four-engined airtransport or bomber.  Larger sizes than this must be researched first.

As a special note, biological organisms will require one size larger of a place to be researched or manufactured.  Small size is anything up to the size of a housecat.

Note that a larger lab will not complete a project any more quickly.  Labs, (and workshops), may be upgraded to the next larger size for 100 and one less turn than to build a new one, assuming the next larger size has been researched.

Small workshop 50, 1 turn
Medium workshop 100, 2 turns
Large workshop 150, 3 turns

These are workshops for building equipment and gear.  After a project is designed, it must be built in one of these.  Build costs are per unit, and there are no staff fees.  Workshops can be upgraded for 100 and one less turn, similar to laboratories.

In addition, workshops and laboratories may be constructed to be capable of using Exotic Materials, which are earthly materials with rarity and superior properties.  Please list if you are doing so explicitly when constructing a new lab/workshop.  Construction costs will be triple the normal costs, and both an exotic lab and workshop are necessary for producing projects that use said materials.  Performance of the equipment will be significantly enhanced.

Medium Hangar 25, 1 turn
Large Hangar 50, 1 turn
Huge Hangar 75, 2 turns
Giant Hangar 100, 2 turns

Hangar space is required for vehicles larger than small size.  One space is necessary per vehicle, although a workshop counts as a storage space of the same size, albeit at greater cost.  Hangars can be upgraded for 50 and in one turn.  These do not require research.

Airstrip 50, 2 turns
Large airstrip 100, 4 turns

Airstrips are for deployment of aircraft.  For nearly all missions, air transport will be required to bring your forces to the point of battle.  An airstrip may launch any number of medium aircraft.  A large airstrip may launch any number of large aircraft.  Greater sizes may be researched.  Upgrades to an airstrip will cost 100 and take 4 turns.

Kaiju Lab 100, 4 turns

Kaiju labs are for research of kaiju parts, which usually leads to consumables that can be used in future projects.  There may be other effects as well.

Listening Post 250, 2 turns.
Intel Hub 100, 1 turn

Provides additional information in each turn's intelligence briefing.  The blue Intel hubs can only be built by Intel-based organizations.

Firing Range  250, 2 turns.
Proving Grounds 100, 1 turn

Provides additional information as to the effectiveness of equipment and gear.  Also gives more information in after-battle debriefings.  Red proving grounds for players with military perks.

Stores 0

Placeholder building representing storage space for small items.  May be upgraded as part of base security upgrades.

Base Security:
Internal Checkpoints, 100, 1 turn
Storage Vaults, 100, 1 turn
Hardened Perimiter, 150, 2 turns

These buildings provide enhanced security that provides some protection against unfriendly action.  They will not provide protection against Kaiju.  Also, each of these is considered a security system, and so only one copy of each is needed.

If a building is damaged through.. events, it may be repaired during a purchases turn at a cost equivalent to its upkeep.  It will be functional in the meantime, but further damage to an unrepaired building may lead to its destruction.

Lastly..
High Energy Physics Lab.  500, 4 turns.

This building is the equivalent to a mad scientist's Mad Science Machine, and will accelerate all research done by this organization.  Only one may be built per organization.

In general, more buildings may be researched than the ones listed above, although I reserve the right to shuffle names for bookeeping purposes.  For organizations, any number of construction projects may be done simultanously.

If an organization wants to remove a building, simply give orders to demolish it during either phase.  It will be removed from the base list at no cost, and upkeep will no longer be paid for it.

Mad scientists work significantly different than organizations.  They may construct a single building in either turn of each month, in place of doing some other action.

Also, all mad scientist construction projects take only one turn.

Here's the starting list of buildings.  Note that new buildings can be researched, although names may be translated a bit for bookkeeping purposes.  When a building is researched, it occupies the lab until built, either in your base or somewhere else.

Command Dome.  Free.  This is where you, the mad scientist, lives, and is your private quarters.  Upgrades..
Igor, 100.  Allows a second Lab Zone to be constructed.  Max of one.
Minion, 400.  Allows additional Lab Zones to be built, one per each copy.
Communication Chamber.  250.  Allows for additional intel to be gathered.

Small Lab Zone: 100.  Mad Scientists don't need workshops as all constructions by them are considered prototypes, and the research project will create one of the objects as well.  Your current project will be stored inside the lab zone.  Researching new buildings requires the zone to be empty.

Each scientist can only have one Lab Zone at a time, unless other upgrades are unlocked first.
Can be upgraded to the next size for 100.  Sizes larger than Large must be researched first.
Do note that biological organizations require one size larger of a lab.  Small labs can accomodate organisms up to the size of a housecat.

Mad Science Machine.  First, 200.  Second, 600.  Additional ones cost 400 more than the previous one.
Each of these makes everything you produce just that much more awesome.

Agent's Lair. 100
Allows for recovery of Kaiju parts from a battlefield, like an Infantry Unit.

Base Security Upgrades:
Trap Chamber. 100
Reinforced Hallways. 100
Mercenary Barracks. 150
In addition, a lab zone may be reinforced for an additional cost of 100.  Any other non-lab zone building may be reinforced for 250.  These reinforcements will not increase upkeep.

Security buildings are really security systems, and only one copy of each is available.  Additional ones must be researched before being built.  These provide some additional protection to escaping mad science projects.

When a mad science project escapes, it may damage some buildings in your lab.  The buildings will continue functioning normally, but they will provide less security to keep future projects from rampaging.  Any building may be fixed for a flat cost of 10 units each, and any number of buildings can be fixed in one turn, if your turn is spent repairing buildings.  If you do something else only one building can be repaired per turn.  A building that is not repaired and damaged again may be destroyed and need to be rebuilt.

If a mad scientist wishes to demolish a building, simply give orders for it to be demolished during either phase.  This costs no money, and does not take your action like research or construction.

These are the items considered relatively available, and anyone can buy these with cash and storage space.
If you desire something different from what's listed, please ask for it.. it is by no means a complete list.

Upkeep costs are 20% of the listed purchase price.

Small Arms.  Infantry weapons, all infantry units are considered equipped with these.  Not really relevant against Kaiju.
Rocket Launchers.  Mortars, ATGM launchers, RPGs, small infantry explosive weapons.  Infantry units will also be equipped with these.  Slightly more relevant against Kaiju.
Infantry Platoon.  Medium,  50.  Equipped with contemporary body armour, small arms, and rocket launchers.  Important for collecting debris from the last Kaiju battle and recovering wreckage or damaged vehicles.  May be relevant in anti-Kaiju warfare with sufficiently good equipment.  Will have a truck available at the destination for battlefield transport.  Can equip a third item in addition to its existing two weapons.
Technical, Machine Gun.  Small,  25.  Basically a truck with a heavy machine gun on the back.  Quicker and more maneuverable than infantry.  Much less surviveable.  Mostly irrelevant in anti-Kaiju warfare, but doesn't require its own hangar.
Technical, Grenade Launcher.  Small, 50.  Basically a truck with a good sized automatic grenade launcher on the back.  Quick, maneuverable, utterly vulnerable, but with a bigger punch than the standard.
Artillery Piece.  Small, 50.  Basically a large cannon on a motorized carriage, but not very fast or maneuverable.  Slow, but packs a bigger, longer-ranged punch than many things.

MRLS.  Medium, 150.  An armored vehicle with a large number of portable rocket launchers strapped to the top of it.  Less tough than a tank, and slightly less maneuverable, but quite well armed.
Tank, Obsolete.  Medium, 150.  An older model tank without the very latest of protective armour, but still quite tough, relatively quick, and well armed.
SAM launcher, 200.  A mostly-unarmored vehicle with a modern portable radar system armed with surface-to-air missiles.  No Kaiju have been seen to fly, but this might still prove useful.
Tank, Modern.  Medium, 250.  A newer, turbine-powered model with improved armour and increased accuracy.

Helicopter, transport.  Medium.  75.  Carries 1 Small.
Helicopter gunship.  Medium.  250.  A helicopter armed with fairly small air-to-surface missiles and an autocannon.
AC-130.  Large, 250.  A large aircraft mounting several medium and one large caliber cannon.  Pretty slow and vulnerable.
Air Transport.  Large, 150.  Carries 2 Medium non-aircraft.  *The first one belonging to an organization is free.*
Combat Jet.  Large, 500.  Last-generation.  Armed with anti-air and anti-ground munitions.

Large Transport ship, 100.  A 'small' (for a ship) civilian transport vessel.  Carries 2 Medium units.  Slow.
Huge Transport ship, 250.  A 'medium' (for a ship) motor vessel.  Carries 2 Large units.  Slow.

Stuff may be exchanged between players at any time.  Cash is tranferred instantly and can be used immediately.  Consumable items such as Kaiju bits and consumable equipment may also be transferred instantly.  Deployable equipment, such as infantry platoons, tanks, mad science projects, etc, can be sent at any time, but will not arrive until the next turn.  There is no transfer cost.

If an item requiring storage space is bought from the black market, delievery may be deferred.  Upkeep will be paid on whatever was bought, but it won't be delivered to you until a space is available.  Items bought this way may not be used until they arrive.. unlike stuff built by an organization, it cannot be used the same turn it arrives.  It must show up at the preceding purchase phase to be used in the action phase later that month.

Selling stuff isn't generally allowed, with the exception of Kaiju materials.  Mad scientists may do things during Action phases with their current projects that could possibly bring in money.

Kaiju materials can be sold during either phase at rates of:
10 for Kaiju skin, Kaiju Muscle, and Kaiju Guts.
20 for specific organs.
30 for brains or other specialized organs, such as the organic lasers on the spider-kaiju.

The size categories, at least those currently discovered are..

Small: A motorbike.
Medium: Truck, Small Helicopter.
Large: Four-engined aircraft.
Huge: Small ferryboat, Assault-class battlemechs.
Giant: Submarine, modern frigate

Boats are a bit different from normal deployed units.  They do not require transportation to get to the battlefield, however, they are geographically limited in where they can operate from.  When designing or receiving a boat, it will have a 'speed' class, that indicates where it can operate.

A fast boat can operate like a normal deployable unit, sent out during the action phase to any part of the world.

A medium speed boat can be sent during the action phase to a nearby region.  To send it to any part of the world requires it to be sent out during that turn's purchase phase.  During the action phase it can only arrive at a fight in an adjacent region.

A slow boat cannot be sent out to any location in the world during the same month.  It can fight in the local region if deployed during the action phase, and in adjacent regions if sent out during the purchase phase.  It can also be chosen to rebase to a different region, assuming it arrives there at the end of the month.

No deployment restrictions apply to mad scientists.  They just somehow get whatever item they have to the destination on time, somehow.  Because they're mad.

Slow and medium speed transport vessels are available for purchase.  Fast ships are generally not available, save for certain small missile-armed attack craft.

When you research, you are researching either a unit, a building, or a consumable item.  In general, if you want something it can be developed.

Units are what gets deployed to the battlefield.  They do the shooting that makes the kaiju fall down.  When an organization researches a unit, the org recieves a blueprint that can be used to create copies of that unit in a workshop.  When a Mad Scientist researches a unit, the mad scientist gets a single, prototype unit that is irreproduceable, although can be reverse engineered.

Buildings are things you build in your base/bases.  They can unlock new abilities for a player, provide passive beneficial effects, or other considerations.  They might not fight for you, but they change what the situation is for you as a faction.  When a mad scientist researches a building, a sort-of fully-functonal prototype copy of it will be created in the laboratory, that must then be built for a price either in that mad scientists base, or some other organization's base.  This can require kaiju parts if kaiju parts were used in the research.  When an organization researches a building, the organization recieves a blueprint where copies of the building can be built by that faction, in any of its bases.

Consumable items are things you attach to units.

In general, most units can use up to two attachments, one intended to improve its weapon, and one intended to improve it in a non-weapon manner.  If a unit is not armed, only a nonweapon attachment may be used.  If a unit is only a weapon, that is going to be carried by something else, only a weapon attachment may be used.

Units may be designed with the ability to use more attachments, or to have 'slots' that allow for the carrying of more weapons and or armour or either.  Infantry have three of these slots which can be used to attach equipment intended for infantry.  Most other units have no extra space.. unless designed to do so.  Certain armoury units can be modified in a workshop to have their 'weapons' removed to create a unit with a mounting point for a new weapon.  Technicals and tanks are options for this.

Modifications may have limits attached to them in terms of how powerful a unit they can be applied to, or what kinds of units they function with.  Modifications that add attacks, like weapons, can only fit in units that are specifically designed to have weapon mounts.  These are always sized, too.

There is a third kind of modification:  Payloads, such as chemical or biological weapons, or improved explosives, or white phosphorous.  These can be applied to any unit that has weapons capable of delivering a payload, which is most of the default armoury, and many units designed by players.  These are noted by having a varying effect dependant on the amount of said payload that a unit can deliver, being greater for things like artillery shells and jet missiles than things like infantry rifles or rocket launchers.

When a faction builds a modification, they recieve a blueprint that can be used to make copies of this mod at a workshop.  When a mad scientist builds a modification, a (usually) singular prototype modification is made which can then be given to a single unit.  If a payload is made by a MS, a certain quantity of it will be made, and more can be made as long as the project lasts.

There are several ways to accelerate or boost research.  Most of them stack with each other, because they do different things.

Research boosters like a Mad Science Machine and a High Energy Physics lab basically give you more bang for your buck, either making your results better or finishing your project early.  They don't give you any new abilities, but let your project accomplish more, or let you do a big project in less time.  You cannot research more research boosters.

Kaiju parts add powers and abilities to your project.  This will make it significantly more powerful in the short run, but it isn't a completely controllable effect.  Basically they're chunks of 'research' you can throw into your project at will.  Be careful, though, when you add chunks of kaiju bits to your project, you will need kaiju bits to make copies of that project in the future.

Use of "Exotic Materials".  When these are used, your product will be significantly more powerful, albeit in a way that doesn't really correspond to simply spending additional research time on a project.  It can make powerful projects much more quickly than research that doesn't take advantage of these.

No more ways to boost research are possible.  If you want to speed up your project, you may do things like:

Make it larger.  It's much easier to make a powerful weapon or a sturdy unit if you allow your resarchers more space.  It's much easier to make a 100mm cannon that hits like a tank cannon than an infantry rifle that hits like a tank cannon.

Restrict what it can do.  If it can be employed only on one, specific unit, there will be shortcuts that can be made than if it's supposed to be useful for everything.  Or, it could add an issue, such as limiting battlefield ammunition or having short range.

Lastly, an organization may reverse engineer existing units.  This costs as much as normal research, and may take several turns for certain units, but will result in a blueprint produced for a unit you have a copy of.  This can work much quicker than ordinary research, but you must have a copy of the original item.

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