GarfunkeL
Racism Expert
Quick links for players:
Technical details of all major bodies in the Sol system
Map of the Sol system, along with detailed information on all currently colonizable bodies
Short guide to Espionage
Research and you - how does it work?
Different types of weapons explained
Various types of missile defence illustrated by talking heads
The starting TECH TREE explained
Maintenance for dummies
All the different methods of production
Sensors and their usage
Shipyards and their complex tasks
*****
*****
So, in a moment of madness, I've decided that I want to waste my free time and start running a community game of Aurora.
How it would work? Well, sort of similar to what the Barbarian (and others) have had in their community games, except not by voting. As the beginning of a normal game of Aurora is quite uneventful, there would be little sense in voting about anything. Instead, encouraged by the excellent fiction written by some Aurora gamers and the fairly successful community game running on their forums, I wanted to try the same.
Firstly, I'll be the GM/SM and the only one with actual game files at hand. I won't participate in the game itself, except for creating the starting premise and then being a referee and perhaps nudging the game toward more interesting directions - like hand-crafting solar systems and perhaps playing an alien Empire. Most in-game events will be handled by the mechanics of Aurora itself aside from special cases in which I'll roll a dice and/or use my judgement.
Secondly, all players wanting to join will take on the role of El Presidente/God-Emperor of a certain Earth country or power-bloc. They will receive a dossier from me that gives them all the required information about their nation - the economic situation, the military forces, researchers and so on. This will be for their eyes-only. Players can then formulate their long-term plans for industry and research, which they will PM to me.
Thirdly, players will also take the role of the Military High Command of the same state. In this role, they will design what sort of units and ships they want built, write a Standard Operating Procedure manual for their own forces and generate strategic plans for operations. They will not be able to micro-manage individual ships or brigades in action. So they can order "70% of ground forces to attack my enemy, attack to be ceased after taking 35% casualties or victory" but not "HMS Victorious will fire two missiles on KMS Hamburg before withdrawing". I'll post an example of a SOP book later. Players will PM their versions to me.
Fourthly, players would be expected to write "year in review" or similar "news" casts, though the amount of information they decide to uncover to other players (and the forum in general) is naturally up to them. They can lie as much as they want. Players can instigate espionage missions against each other and these are not resolved through Aurora mechanics, as they are somewhat lacking. The number of available missions will be revealed later but expect anything that is possible in Aurora and most things that are possible IRL to be in. Players will need to establish a counter-intelligence team inside their own country and the rating of that team is then checked against any hostile intelligence teams with dice rolling deciding the fact. Finally, I will publish an annual "CIA World Fact Book", that details the generally available public information of each country, though slightly obsolete. It will include the rough size of industry and shipyards and research facilities, rough estimate on the sizes of armies and fleets, public stellar information about asteroids, other star systems and jump portals/gates.
Fifthly, diplomacy will be handled entirely outside of Aurora mechanics. Players should not waste talent in diplomatic missions to each other, as such things will be handled entirely by the players themselves. Players can donate ships (but not army units), general technology (but not specific weapon research as the research cost also depicts the necessary industrial tooling for building them), individual equipment (ie few hundred advanced missiles or engines), TN minerals that hey have in storage (but not future production as that would be too much of an hassle for me) and loan out expert teams (geology or intelligence ONLY). In addition to these in-game things, players are of course free to create any sort of alliances or non-aggression pacts between them or share information about anything that they know (or want to lie about). Diplomacy is thus a meta-game that players are encouraged to run through PM's or whatever. Only requirement is that the GM/SM, meaning me, must be informed of any deals. Both (or all if multiple) participants need to PM me with what they have agreed upon.
Sixthly, turns will be monthly ones with exceptions for exceptional events like war breaking out or Priority One messages to leadership from the field. Communications to the ships will be handled as per Einsteinian physics, so either physical jump gates or courier ships will be required at JP's to facilitate communications. Light-speed delay will be factored in if it ever matters. Special daily turns will be played during any crisis moments but again, players are supreme leaders, not tactical or operative commanders. I will run your underlings as per their personal traits and the SOP-books you write.
In the next post I'll write the nations/blocs available and example of a SOP-book.
Technical details of all major bodies in the Sol system
Map of the Sol system, along with detailed information on all currently colonizable bodies
Short guide to Espionage
Research and you - how does it work?
Different types of weapons explained
Various types of missile defence illustrated by talking heads
The starting TECH TREE explained
Maintenance for dummies
All the different methods of production
Sensors and their usage
Shipyards and their complex tasks
*****
*****
So, in a moment of madness, I've decided that I want to waste my free time and start running a community game of Aurora.
How it would work? Well, sort of similar to what the Barbarian (and others) have had in their community games, except not by voting. As the beginning of a normal game of Aurora is quite uneventful, there would be little sense in voting about anything. Instead, encouraged by the excellent fiction written by some Aurora gamers and the fairly successful community game running on their forums, I wanted to try the same.
Firstly, I'll be the GM/SM and the only one with actual game files at hand. I won't participate in the game itself, except for creating the starting premise and then being a referee and perhaps nudging the game toward more interesting directions - like hand-crafting solar systems and perhaps playing an alien Empire. Most in-game events will be handled by the mechanics of Aurora itself aside from special cases in which I'll roll a dice and/or use my judgement.
Secondly, all players wanting to join will take on the role of El Presidente/God-Emperor of a certain Earth country or power-bloc. They will receive a dossier from me that gives them all the required information about their nation - the economic situation, the military forces, researchers and so on. This will be for their eyes-only. Players can then formulate their long-term plans for industry and research, which they will PM to me.
Thirdly, players will also take the role of the Military High Command of the same state. In this role, they will design what sort of units and ships they want built, write a Standard Operating Procedure manual for their own forces and generate strategic plans for operations. They will not be able to micro-manage individual ships or brigades in action. So they can order "70% of ground forces to attack my enemy, attack to be ceased after taking 35% casualties or victory" but not "HMS Victorious will fire two missiles on KMS Hamburg before withdrawing". I'll post an example of a SOP book later. Players will PM their versions to me.
Fourthly, players would be expected to write "year in review" or similar "news" casts, though the amount of information they decide to uncover to other players (and the forum in general) is naturally up to them. They can lie as much as they want. Players can instigate espionage missions against each other and these are not resolved through Aurora mechanics, as they are somewhat lacking. The number of available missions will be revealed later but expect anything that is possible in Aurora and most things that are possible IRL to be in. Players will need to establish a counter-intelligence team inside their own country and the rating of that team is then checked against any hostile intelligence teams with dice rolling deciding the fact. Finally, I will publish an annual "CIA World Fact Book", that details the generally available public information of each country, though slightly obsolete. It will include the rough size of industry and shipyards and research facilities, rough estimate on the sizes of armies and fleets, public stellar information about asteroids, other star systems and jump portals/gates.
Fifthly, diplomacy will be handled entirely outside of Aurora mechanics. Players should not waste talent in diplomatic missions to each other, as such things will be handled entirely by the players themselves. Players can donate ships (but not army units), general technology (but not specific weapon research as the research cost also depicts the necessary industrial tooling for building them), individual equipment (ie few hundred advanced missiles or engines), TN minerals that hey have in storage (but not future production as that would be too much of an hassle for me) and loan out expert teams (geology or intelligence ONLY). In addition to these in-game things, players are of course free to create any sort of alliances or non-aggression pacts between them or share information about anything that they know (or want to lie about). Diplomacy is thus a meta-game that players are encouraged to run through PM's or whatever. Only requirement is that the GM/SM, meaning me, must be informed of any deals. Both (or all if multiple) participants need to PM me with what they have agreed upon.
Sixthly, turns will be monthly ones with exceptions for exceptional events like war breaking out or Priority One messages to leadership from the field. Communications to the ships will be handled as per Einsteinian physics, so either physical jump gates or courier ships will be required at JP's to facilitate communications. Light-speed delay will be factored in if it ever matters. Special daily turns will be played during any crisis moments but again, players are supreme leaders, not tactical or operative commanders. I will run your underlings as per their personal traits and the SOP-books you write.
In the next post I'll write the nations/blocs available and example of a SOP-book.
