I've been trying to run this one for a while, but the timing hasn't worked out yet. (A long-term houseguest moved into my server room; the job made me travel, another server got started; two daughters get roles in the Nutcracker and need ridiculous amounts of rehearsal shuttling........ oh, and the dog ate my homework.) But despite my promises I've kept most of the details to myself. I'd like to give plenty of advance notice for this server and I'd like to give people a fair opportunity to see who's interested in some leadership roles, so It's time that I started sharing some of those details.
In all cases, I will attempt to follow my philosophy of fewer rules equals better rules for those who just want to log on and play. Most special circumstances will be handled server side with either server settings or DB edits. (Yes, Herr Burt loves you. He's willing to DB edit his little perfectly manicured fingers right down the point where their polish gets chipped.) However, I plan to let there be several ways for players to earn extra points for their side if they want to deal with special server-side rules. Since these rules are built to allow you to accomplish role-playing things, rather than preventing players from doing cheesy things, then they should be completely transparent to the casual player.
The setup
Economic War takes place after the general war, when empires have exhausted themselves and large tracts of unpatrolled "neutral" space has opened up between their borders. There is a lot of surplus military equipment to be had for anyone with a little scratch, and there are a lot of opportunities for piracy. Every pirate worth his eyepatch sees a chance to expand his interests. Every overlord sees his chance to take over the entire underworld.
The only question is: who gets to be Jabba ,and who has to wear the bikini and live on the leash?
Important Note: Before anyone panics, it is important as you read the details below that you remember the nature of piracy vis a vis imperial control. A pirate is able to contact the blackmarket to resupply at *any* supply point. Contiguous territory and lines of supply matter far less to cartels than they do to empires, (unless you are trying to meet a specific secret VC) so don't worry if your cartel ever begins to look like a patchwork quilt.
Phase One
Each player logs on as a cartel member. No empires are available for play. On the empire side, the map shows the postwar borders of the eight Great Powers. On the Cartel side, the map shows the territories controlled by the eight most profitable cartels. (We can assume that numerous minor players have already suffered their night of the long knives and there are only the eight major players left.) Each faction will struggle over the thing that matters most to pirate: money. The success of each cartel will be judged by the territory it controls (payoffs) the economic monopolies it can establish (black markets) and the amount of net prestige it earns (cash on-hand. How are you going to keep yourself adequately supplied with luscious green women if you don't have cash on-hand?)
Phase Two
The struggle continues, but the eight cartels will be reduced via DB edit to the most successful four. Those that fall behind will have their accounts edited to place them into one of the four remaining factions. The weakest of the eight will be merged with the strongest, the second weakest with the second strongest, and so on. In addition, during Phase One each faction will have been given the option to have started one of several special projects. Those projects will now come into play. This might be a special ship, a change in the map, or another special opportunity.
Phase Three
The final showdown. The four remaining faction will be reduced to two via DB edit. Again, the weakest will be merged with the strongest, and the second weakest will be merged with the second strongest. Hopefully this process will have resulted in a balanced two-faction game for phase three. And then we let the bloodshed begin in earnest.
Just a few sneak peeks from your Uncle Herr Burt. Watch this space.
-Herr Burt
Topic: Economic War: Early Campaign planning details (Read 3569 times)