The Way of ActionYou each play as an evolutionary clade of fauna, and you make it evolve, speciate and survive.
Each one of you will have a three votes to use each round. You can use this vote to;
●Suggest a new mutation, adding a
new feature to one of your creatures.
(There is no limit on how much a
species can change in a turn. Go nuts)
●Improve upon a faulty, vestigial,
or insufficent feature, which gets a
+1 in dice points due to it already
having a base to develop on.
●Speciate, either creating an offshoot
or splitting a species into two sister
species, both distinct from the parent
one. The number of species created may
be three if this action is supported. (More
about this in the
Speciation section.)
If a player evolves sexual, or any other type of resource-intensive way of reproduction, they gain a special roll they can add to any vote they want. It is fittingly called the Sexual Selection bonus-penalty, and operates as a 7-sided dice, with its number ranging from 3 to -3. It can either be a blessing or a curse, and must be used every turn once unlocked. Its result will be applied onto the previously selected normal vote.
The DicesThe degree of your personal votes success is determined by a 5-sided dice I will roll. Values of the said rolls are;
5=Better than expected. The addition/
modification adds an small extra
perk along with the intended feature.
Significant increase in the species'
fitness.
4=Just as you asked. No more, no less.
An increase in the species's
fitness.
3=The vote is successful, but the
feature comes out as mediocre, and
doesn't adds, or substracts anything.
Little change in fitness.
2=The votes effects are more harmful
than beneficial, but not to a major
degree. A minor decrease in the
species's population.
1=Maladaptation. The feature/
modification proves to be defective
or harmful, causes a significant
decline in the species' population.
This dice upper caps at 5 in normal circumstances. A sexual selection modifier can knock it to either 0 or 6, with the appropriate circumstances. This effect applies to... very special developments.
But just because you got a 5, doesn't necessarily means you get the benefits. For example, evolving eyes is useless if there is no nervous system to control and use it. Or a jaw won't work without muscles, which will work very inefficently if there is no respiratory and/or circulatory systems around. It's a ladder of progression, you first need the supporting systems to get more complex things in your range of efficency.
PopulationsThe state of your species' population is indicated as both an abstract population number, and the wildlife status symbols used worldwide, and their success will be signified by their population status.
OV/>100: Overpopulated. This species
is a threat to the natural balance of
the ecosystem due to its overwhelming
abundance.
LC/100-51: Least concern. This species
enjoys their high and healthy
population counts. Not in any direct
threat.
NT/50-31: Near Threatened. Not quite in
danger, but could be in a better
situation than it is.
VU/30-16: Vulnerable. This species is at the
limit from enough, to not enough.
Needs to get better at survival a bit.
EN/15-6: Endangered: The danger of
extinction is close to this species.
Needs to adapt to whatever is
causing its decline.
CR/5-1: Critically Endangered: It's at the
edge of going extinct. Something
must be done, and quick, or else...
EX/0: Extinct. This species has no living
members. If you hit this, you lose
this speciss entirely. If it was your
only/last, then you have to branch out
of someone else.
Speciation, and HabitatsThe concept is simple; you use a vote to make a new species in your clade, either separating one off as a sidebranch, or splitting a species into multiple different ones.
Habitats are a simple concept as well. In each habitat there are a varying amount of space for species. These habitats will change with time, GM intervention, or with event dice rolls.
Evolving photosynthesis is fine. But if you become a plant, you lose control of that branch and that evolutionary line becomes part of the background. This can be used to kickstart stuff, if one so desires.
EventsThings such as geological or cosmological events will also be rolled once every round. Three dices will be rolled, one for the strength, one for the effect, and one for the amount of time event will apply. Strength dice is 100-sided, Temperament dice is 7-sided, and Timeframe Dice is 20-sided. The values are;
Strength dice:
0-50= Nothing happens.
51-75= Minor event.
76-90= Major Event
91-100= Very Major event.
Temperament dice:
7= Awsome stuff
6= Good stuff
5= Convinient stuff
4= "Meh" stuff
3= Inconvinient stuff
2= Bad stuff
1= Awful stuff
Timeframe Dice:
0-10= A single Turn
11-14= Two Turns
15-17= Three Turns
18-19= Four Turns
20= Permanent Effect
The EnvironmentThe game takes place on the only patch of shallow water in an otherwise panthallasic world. It is not a volcano, but a tectonic plateau that was lifted up to the sunlight. Algea exists in the water, and bacterial mats as well. Nowhere else exists on the planet.
On this plateau, peas live. Small clumps of unspecialised cells, that flow around and digest the bacterial mats under them.
Summary: A cluster of unspecialised cells a half a centimeter in diameter. It eats detrius off of rocks.
Nervous System: It has no nervous system.
Senses: It has no senses.
Locomotion: Celluar movements.
Digestive System: It has no digestive system.
Respiratory System: It has no respiratory system.
Cardiovascular System: It has no cardiovascular system.
Reproductive System: It splits into two once large enough.
Habitat: The seamount floor.
Modifiers: ...
MiscellaneousVote realistically and openly. Just saying "circulatory system" or "limbs" is not enough. Is the circulatory system open or closed? How many and/or what kind limbs are to be added? You must specify these. Little explanations will be enough, but you can go into some detail if you wish. Just not in excess, please.
You can join anytime you want. Unless all spots are full, which is unlikely.
I am planning to keep a maximum species cap of around 30-35. Assuming each player having 5 species, that makes 6-7 player cap. I may increase to 40 if the situation calls.