YLC's new game - Title in works!

Yes, I am back, and during my time away I've come up with a new game - with a little help from ATPG :bow:

It will take place a few years into the future, where the world has fallen not under the sway of any nation, but rather the Syndicate - a group of business men who hold 75% of all resources on earth. They are held together by their powerfully charismatic leader, and in their employ are thousands of mercenaries who enforce the will of the Syndicate. The world is in a relative peace...

...until the Syndicate's leader is assassinated by a group of extremists bent on overthrowing the Syndicate and reestablishing the power of nations and in their eyes that of democracy. Without their leader to hold them in line, those of the Syndicate - powerful, ambitious, cold men - turn on each other in a bid for it all. Only one will be the victor - or will there be a victor at all?

The game will consistent of two basic roles - Executives and Mercenaries, and in a 1:3 ratio. From there, there are several subroles, so beware! not everyone is quite what they appear to be, and not everyone is out for quiet the same things.

An Executives primary goal is to get rid of all the other Executives - to be the last one standing. They do this by either hiring Mercenaries to steal other Executives "Assets" and "Investments", and thereby remove another Executives ability to generate money, or by having another Executive assassinated. If an Executive is assassinated, his Assets become up for grabs by any party.

Executives earn money through two ways - through Assets and their Savings. When starting, each Executive will have the same number of Assets and generate the same amount of money, and will have the same amount invested. Capturing new Assets, and spending money on investing will increase the amount of money they earn per turn. Assets are spread throughout the map and supply the largest amount of money. Assets can be invested in, and this will increase the amount the Asset will generate, as well as possibly reaping new benefits. Each Executive will also have Savings, which will reflect their earned/saved money. Each turn, they gain 10% of their Savings as income. Beware though, this too can be stolen from!

A Mercenary's primary goal is to accumulate the most money. If your a Merc, greed is your goal, not the elimination of fellow Mercenaries - although this may be an unfortunate consequence of getting that pile of money. A Mercenary start off with a basic sum of cash that they can customize themselves with to better fit the role they wish to fill. However, if a Merc wants more money, they have two options - one, form up into a PMC of 3-5 people, or work for a Merc on an agreed upon sum.

A PMC generates $100 for each member of the PMC, multiplied by their level of experience.

An Executive however can offer much more to any Mercenary through jobs - such as attacking or seizing someone elses Assets, assassinating other Executives, stealing from Saving's, fulfilling a Bounty, or anything else the Executive and Mercenary/s agree upon. However, the Mercenary isn't obligated, once the contract is completed and the money spent, to do the job exactly as the Executive asked. If a Mercenary wants, he can simply take the money and run, or only partially complete the job and lie about it - it's up to the Exec to keep his Mercenaries loyal.

Mercenaries each have a experience level from 1-10, and they gain experience based upon level of success when completing a job. More experienced Mercenaries will be more successful, and are more reliable. Mercenaries may also buy equipment to enhance their abilities, chances of success, or add new abilities entirely, and also have the option of buying "Back-up". Back up temporarily boosts their experience level to make them more successful and significantly less likely to die, but at a steep price.

At any time, a Mercenary may retire - he will then completely cash out on everything he owns, and will obtain an ending based upon the amount of money he has.

Okay, thoughts? I have a few other elements, such as Mercenary loyalties (the ability or inability to permanently buy a Mercenaries complete loyalty), levels of success/victory, Corporate Alliances, etc, but I wanted to hear peoples level of interest in the game or thoughts about it first. Also, suggestions for a title are most welcome!

Rules Established so far

Executives
When a player receives an Executive Role PM, they may send a PM stating their business name to the host. If not, the host will select one for them.

Each Executive role starts with 100K, in their Bank Account and the ability to earn 10% each turn from their Bank Account. They also start with 3 Assets, each that generate 5k apiece. All assets earn the same amount, unless Invested in.

An Executive is allowed to ask the the GM to post a "want add" during the day, or night write up. Want adds are completely anonymous, and the Executive may say whatever he wishes to, with a limit of 25 words.

For the purposes of resolving "Seize" actions, a Executives Bank Account can be stolen from. However, only 10% will be stolen for each participating Mercenary if the action is successful.

An Asset earns 5k, but for every 10k a Executive invests in it, the asset generates 5k more. An Asset can be invested in up to 4 times.

All Executives primary goal is to be the last Executive standing, or to have the most money by the end of the game. All Executives have personal goals, which will be described in their role PMs. All Executives will receive a Mercenary Role Cover PM. An Executive can participate in a Mercenary action, but he does not enhance a Mercenary groups chance of success.

Mercenaries
When a player recieves a Mercenary Role PM, they must send the host back their "Callsign". A callsign must be composed of one or more of the following - weapons, equipment, nationality, and any specific titles they wish to give themselves. A Callsign will be reflected in any write up they are involved in.

All Mercenaries have the following abilities, and each ability has a minimum payment -

Sabotage: Can Roleblock a Mercenary or Asset - 2K minimum
Guard: Can Protect an Executive, Mercenary or Asset - 5k minimum
Assassinate: Can Kill an Executive or Mercenary - 5k minimum
Seize: Can steal an Asset or from a Bank Account - 3k minimum
Inquiry: Can Investigate an Executive or Mercenary - 1k minimum
Conceal: Can Protect an Executive or Mercenary from Investigation -2k minimum

Sabotage functions just like a standard roleblock. Roleblocking a Mercenary prevents their participation in an action, while roleblocking an Asset prevents the owner from gaining money from it.
Guard protects any target from Sabotage, Assassinate, and Seize actions. When a Mercenary is specifically targeted, factor in his own Guard skill to determine success.
Assassinate allows the attempted killing of either a Mercenary of Executive. Any Executive who is assassinated has all Assets turn neutral (Assets are now known but must be taken with "Seize" actions) and his Bank Account is locked.
Seize allows the attempted taking of Assets or Bank Account money. An Asset must be targeted - you may not simply target a person to seize an asset - and the same applies to Bank Accounts. If seizing a Bank Account, only 10% can be taken per participating Mercenary.
Inquiry allows one to investigate an Executive or Mercenary. The first inquiry will only reveal role, but a second inquiry will reveal assets and number, as well as amount in Bank Account if the target is an Executive, and will reveal level, best skill, and PMC affiliation if Mercenary. A third inquiry reveals last turns dealings as well as personal goals.
Conceal protects from Inquiry's. An overly successful conceal will also reveal who is inquiring.

All Mercenaries start at Level 1 and progress in level based upon number of successful actions.

Level 1: Starting Level
Level 2: 1 successful action, +.5 to abilities
Level 3: 2 successful actions, +1 to abilities
Level 4: 4 successful actions, +1 to abilities
Level 5: 6 successful actions, +1 to abilities

Every Mercenary may buy "Training" for each ability up to 3 times. Each time they do so, it adds +1 to that specific ability. Training has the following costs -

Sabotage Training: 4k, 6k, 9k
Guard Training: 12k, 18k, 27k
Assassinate Training: 10k, 15k, 22k
Seize Training: 6k, 9k, 13k
Inquiry Training: 2k, 3k, 5k
Conceal Training: 4k, 6k, 9k

Every Mercenary also has personal goals, which will be described in their role PM.

Action Resolutions
Any uncontested actions are instantly resolved as successes. Actions that are contested, are resolved based upon the total skill level of those involved, and those with higher total skill level are deemed the victors, and their action is a success. However, in the event of a tie, those involved will then compare their RPS throw, which must be sent in with any action. Actions without an RPS throw will be ignored. Their RPS throw must consist of a first and second throw, in case of a further tie. Players are then paired off against each other based upon closeness of skill, starting from highest to lowest, and those that win their throw will be calculated into the final total, to determine the victor.

Due to this, it is possible for partial victory - you do not gain anything but half a success however for partial victories. A partial victory is achieved by winning your own throw, but losing the action, or by tieing completely, in which case both sides have partial success.

Example: Mercenaries A, Z and E will assassinate Executive B - Merc A has 3 skill for Assassinate and Z has 5, while E has 2. However, B, C and Y are protecting Executive B, and their skill is 2, 7 and 1 respectively. They tie, and must now be paired off to determine who has won or lost. Z and C square off, and C wins. However, A and B compare and B loses, while Y loses to E. However, Executive B is protected, because C's 7 skill tops the 5 skill A and E have combined.

PMC

Minimum 3 people, no maximum limit. Host must be PMed the following - the formation of the PMC, PMC name, and those currently in the PMC. You may submit anything else you wish to about your PMC, such as equipment and methods, and I will try to incorporate that into the write-ups.

PMC's gain 1000 x total level of all involved in PMC. Thus, 5 Level 5 members equals 25, or 25000 that the Captain can give out. He is not obligated to give any specific amount to anyone within the PMC and can keep the PMC's base earnings all to himself.

Captain - Self appointed leader of a PMC. A Captain acts as a voice to his other PMC members, and provides money to the other PMC members. If a Captain is involved in an action where he among the group holds the highest level, then he adds a +.5 bonus to those working with him.

I have been speaking with YLC about the game and let me tell you folks something-

You will love this game. I have pitched a few ideas for it. The idea is not only solid, but the execution I believe will knock your socks off.

This will be the best kind of strategy, diplomacy, and group carnage ever. And it won't be like Capo where there's obviously good and evil, it's all about your personal goals and there's no morality to it.

Just ambition.... and wealth.... and death.

Tell me you're interested, because I am.

This game does indeed sound awesome, wasn't keen on this part:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by YLC

Mercenary loyalties (the ability or inability to permanently buy a Mercenaries complete loyalty)

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Would be pretty annoying if you were a mercenary and a lot of the element of choice was taken away. I will definitely be in though.

Heh, that part was actually an idea of mine. But, it is a pitched idea that can be easily pitched without impacting the game too much. I agree.

Have you pitched this idea before YLC? It seems somehow familiar. I know we discussed a few game concepts way back when.

There is a game I played when you guys were but small folk, called Syndicate Wars.
I played it on my 486 PC which didn't work much until I got my Dell Dimention XPS400Mhz Pentium II with 128MB RAM in 1998.

Syndiacte Wars is a nostalgic name and could lure out the oldies like myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Askthepizzaguy

This will be the best kind of strategy, diplomacy, and group carnage ever. And it won't be like Capo where there's obviously good and evil, it's all about your personal goals and there's no morality to it.

Just ambition.... and wealth.... and death.

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This part does sound very interesting. Count me in.

In theory, the Syndicate games sounded awesome to me, but in practice I always had a really hard time with the UI.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sigurd

Have you pitched this idea before YLC? It seems somehow familiar. I know we discussed a few game concepts way back when.

There is a game I played when you guys were but small folk, called Syndicate Wars.
I played it on my 486 PC which didn't work much until I got my Dell Dimention XPS400Mhz Pentium II with 128MB RAM in 1998.

Syndiacte Wars is a nostalgic name and could lure out the oldies like myself.

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Yes, I did, a bit prior to my failed Dark Vacuum game. The primary focus of the pitch was to find out if it was to "mafiaish".

Will be updating with more solid rules and structure later tonight/morning.

Not to sound offensive or anything, but... will you finish this one?

Your track record for finishing large games is not exactly perfect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chaotix

Not to sound offensive or anything, but... will you finish this one?

Your track record for finishing large games is not exactly perfect.

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Yes, I know, don't remind me. But I can't just give up and admit defeat, and if I feel I am faltering, I'm not going to call it quits, I'll just ask if a dead player or non-participant can help co-host.

If you feel hestitant, and don't wish to sign up, I can't stop you.

If you say you'll see it through to the end, then I'm with you, YLC. The game concept looks excellent, and I'd hate to miss it. :bow:

I'd be honored to have you :bow:

Also, what do people think of the name "Blood, Money and Power"?

I like it, and whoever came up with that name deserves riches and power beyond his wildest dreams.

Blood, Money and Betrayal would be so much better.

Well Dark Vacuum was very good. So of course I will be looking forward to this. :yes:

Dividends and Destruction

Hostile Takeover

Masters of the Universe

Adventure Capitalism

Blood Money

They're all rubbish, btu at least I can say I tried :shame:

This sounds pretty freaking cool.


I can be coutned in :o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Subotan

Dividends and Destruction

Hostile Takeover

Masters of the Universe

Adventure Capitalism

Blood Money

They're all rubbish, btu at least I can say I tried :shame:

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Actually Blood Money was considered at a point, and Dividends and Destruction is quite original - however, it's shortened to D&D. Not sure if thats a good thing, lol.

I'll gladly join this like I did with your other games, if only to see what interesting twists you'll add this time around. :yes:

Subotan, Masters of the Universe... Really? :clown:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnhughthom

Blood, Money and Betrayal would be so much better.

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Blood, Money, and Power,
Blood, Money, and Betrayal.

There's a theme here, and great minds think alike. Your game should be named something like this, YLC.

I like Blood, Blood, and BLOOD.

This game just sounds amazing, and if it's half as intriguing as your last game I'm sure I'll like it.

Thread has been updated to reflect more concrete rules. If you have any suggestions or critiques, please make them. If anyone would like to help with the personal goals, please PM me.

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...babe_0003a.png


Must include this or something similar.

Two title I came up

Power Corrupts

Next Society

But Blood Money and Power sounds nice.
I'll definitely join if time allows.

Corporate Responsibility?

I'll definitely join.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Askthepizzaguy

https://i205.photobucket.com/albums/...babe_0003a.png


Must include this or something similar.

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I think this is the best one so far.

:grin:

Added info regarding PMC's (almost done with the rules). Requesting someone skilled with Photoshop to make banners (and anything else they may want to) for the game.

Now, should we add a poll for the name?

Title Idea:
Yuppies, Laundry & Corruption


Definitions:
Yuppie - an acronym for "Young Urban Professional", a term often used pejoratively with connotations of selfishness, materialism, and superficiality.
Laundry - The manipulation of money obtained in a wrongful manner.
Corruption - lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain. impairment of virtue and moral principles

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beskar

Title Idea:
Yuppies, Laundry & Corruption

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https://i189.photobucket.com/albums/...udidthereb.jpg