Empires of Steel and Steam

[jmatthew]

After a lull of not doing anything for this game, I finally worked out the unit movement and combat rules. I'll type them up from my anal orifice and post them later. Literally, the only thing I have left to do is create all the technology cards. Unfortunately, this is also the largest, most daunting task....

[IVhorseman]

Awesome! Show us!

[mgb519]

http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/120301

[Keldoclock]

That comic is a massive soup of , and it's beautiful.

[jmatthew]

That made me lawl.
It just reminds me of anytime anyone was requesting/ offering "wood" in Settlers....

[jmatthew]

Updated 5/3/12. Check out the post at the top.

[IVhorseman]

Fuck the fuck yeah. What do you need help with?

[jmatthew]

At the moment, not really too much. I have around 15 pages of notes in a Google doc. I have most of the finer aspects of the gameplay worked out; but I do still need ideas for event cards.
The event card deck will be a single deck that all players may purchase cards from (random draw), and will have titles in the style of old-timey news headlines. They'll be things that most frequently have some sort of cost associated with them and either target a foe to hinder them, or yourself or an ally to aid you. They're the least thought-out aspect of the game so far, but here's the ideas I have anyway:
Resistance Victorious!/ Coup Seizes Control!
(These cards are functionally the same, but one targets only oppressive/ neutral governments and the other only benevolent/ neutral)
The card has a fairly steep base cost in Wealth, which increases based on the number of government buildings the targeted faction owns (late game the card will be more devastating, but much more costly), and forces the target to discard their current system of government and choose a new one. (You may choose to play these on yourself if you really want to.)
Seeds of Rebellion
This card has a cost in Population, rather than wealth. Basically, when you play this card you pay the population cost and target another player (or yourself if you really want to). It does nothing immediately, but any round after the current one you may play a Resistance/ Coup on the targeted player at half the cost.

Those are the kinds of ideas I'm looking for... Obviously the deck will also include some generic economy boosting/ hindering cards as well, but I need ideas for more... unique.... events....

[Silverdream]

How about

Massive Earthquake Hits!
Which would damage production/population/resources.

Drastic Drought
Kills off a portion of the population.

Record Breaking Crops
Adds to population/money.

[mgb519]

Blitzkrieg!
The player can select up to two adjacent armies to have a double movement phase and an attack bonus.

[jmatthew]

I like these ideas so far! Keep 'em coming! Also, what about having the earthquake instead force a player to choose one of their buildings of any type to remove from the board? That way, one resource's generation is being severely damaged until they can rebuild....

[IVhorseman]

I like these ideas so far! Keep 'em coming! Also, what about having the earthquake instead force a player to choose one of their buildings of any type to remove from the board? That way, one resource's generation is being severely damaged until they can rebuild....

That sounds like it'd be pretty damn fun!

Giant Krakken Spotted! The player may place The Krakken into any water tile. Anything there is immediately destroyed, and the tile is impassible until the end of the game (or the krakken is slain if there'd be an easier mechanic to do that)

[Silverdream]

International Heist!
Each player loses x money.

Otherworldly Outbreak
Every player without a technocracy has a portion of population killed off.

Pirate Pyre!
All pirates can either choose to take a blow to finances, population or destroy a building.

[mgb519]

Cthulu Spotted!
Everyone loses the game instantly.

Fix'd.

Scientific Breakthrough!
Research an extra technology.

[jmatthew]

I just thought of a new type of card that will be shuffled randomly into the event card (which I'm calling "Headline Cards", I've decided) deck--Omens and Cataclysms. They'll have the same card backs as the Headline cards, so you won't know when they're coming. Basically, Omens are played as soon as they're drawn, with they player who drew it drawing a replacement card. Omens remain face-up on the table until they're dispelled (each will have different dispelling conditions, usually requiring something from more than one player). When a player draws a Cataclysm, he checks its conditions (which will involve at least one specific omen being out and sometimes other things happening, like each player being at a specific civilization level or having a certain amount of technology). If the Cataclysm's conditions are not met, it is simply shuffled back into the Headline deck. If, however, the stars are right, and the cultic chanting has continued for some rounds, mighty Mechacthulhu might just rise and start tearing some shit up (or things to that measure). Basically, the Cataclysms will change the game entirely when they come out. Stalwart players, of course, can prevent them by nipping nasty omens in the bud, but the Coven and the Nautilites will both have some sort of faction bonus based on the number of Omens that are out. The College will be particularly adept at getting rid of them though.

Examples of Omens would be The Planets are Aligned (lasts a set number of rounds), Cultic Chanting in the Night, The Sky is Bleeding, Disappearances at Sea, Dark Birds Circling, etc.
Cataclysms will include things like Mechacthulhu, Flooding of the World (changing the map into a bunch of islands in one fell swoop), Invaders from Another World, and (one of my favorites) the Wrath of the Forgotten Gods, which will end the game immediately as the world is destroyed and all players lose, no matter how far ahead anyone was.

What do you think?