[CENTER]A new age in counter-terror was about to begin. The disparate security organizations of the world had proved unable to contain the motley of merciless criminals. NATO, the executives of the civilized peoples, called for a bold, unyielding and unilateral apparatus. They formed a bureaucracy. One contrived in secrecy and forged with the fire from Olympus: no accountability. Thus began the global jurisdiction of the Quango Terricide Ubiety, thankfully forever after known as QTU.
[LEFT]This experimental forum game is something I’d like to do as my swan song of sorts for Quarter to Three. It is not a vampire (or mafia) game, but secrecy and questions of trust should be fundamental to the play. It will allow for every forum member who wishes to join to play and run for as long as enough members are interested. The players themselves will have most of the freedom to define their roles based on the choices available to them. I will be serving as the Gamemaster (GM), but the game will be dictated by rules with little improvisation or interference by the GM. All of the game rules will be specifically defined, however not all of the rules will be publicly posted. The rules will also evolve and change over the course of the game. Death in the game will be permanent, but barring that, forum members may play as long as they wish and may even take time off.
[CENTER]Summary
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The game will basically consist of actions taken during a game round, which will be an in-game Day. The series of game Days will be separated into Episodes which will generally signify the ultimate success or failure of a master plan. The game has a playing field that consists of 500 real world locations. Players will each have eponymous characters which are defined by abilities and an inventory of items. One way to join the game is to simply PM me with the starting location of your choice.
There will be two teams, QTU and Terror with which players may be affiliated. Affiliation may grant access to other abilities restricted to a particular team. It is not necessary for players to work towards their affiliated team’s goals. There is also a third state of being unaffiliated, or a free agent. Most player characters will start the game as free agents. Players may renounce their affiliation and forfeit associated abilities to return to free agency.
Identity is a key game mechanic. It is simply a player’s forum username. Due to the open admission of the game, the questions of who is in the game and what is their role are often critical to making game decisions. A player character cannot change their identity (using alternate usernames in this game will bar you from playing.) A character’s identity is known simply by the revelation that a forum member is playing the game, however their role can change over the course of the game. Be very wary of who you discuss your game involvement with in private messages (PM) and non-forum related communication.
Location is another key mechanic. A location is any city in the provided list of 500 major real world cities around the globe. All player characters will have a current location. Most actions require a location. Any action taken against another player character requires the location of that target character to be known.
Abilities are assigned to each character. A group of General Abilities will be assumed for every player character. General Abilities will allow any player to perform certain actions during a Day. They include actions such as traveling to another location, exchanging an item with another player character, or broadcasting anonymous messages to certain locations. Special Abilities will be limited to certain players. They may be granted by obtaining certain items, or they may be assigned to the character itself. These abilities may give players additional options for actions, give characters resistance to certain actions, or some other unique opportunity. The QTU team will have a headquarters which will be in a specific location. Up to twelve QTU players may ‘staff’ the HQ. All of the players in the HQ will have access to a number of Special Abilities.
An in-game Day serves the function of a game turn in which each player may execute one or more actions. To perform actions, players may PM the GM with the relevant information or alternatively post their daily actions in the game thread if desired. Actions are categorized as Fullactions, Quickactions, and Special actions. One Fullaction may be performed per day. Performing a Fullaction will end the Day for the player. A Quickaction may be performed prior to a Fullaction. A second Quickaction may be performed in substitution of a Fullaction. Performing a second Quickaction will end the Day for the player. Special actions will be described on a case by case basis. Initially, a game Day will equal two full real time days to allow for timezones and let players become adjusted.
Day = Quickaction + Fullaction or 2nd Quickaction
During the game players may elect to encrypt their sent broadcasts, posts, messages, etc. If a player character possesses a code book item they may apply the corresponding monoalphabetic substitution cipher to whatever text they desire. Only the pre-assigned and GM controlled cipher keys can be used for the game. Players creating their own ciphers, whether monoalphabetic substitution or otherwise, for use in any communication relating to play, may be forced to leave the game. A controlled number of cipher keys will exist in the game and each will be described by a color name. Code Book items will be colored to the corresponding cipher key, i.e., A Red Code Book will grant the owner access to the predesignated Red cipher key. Any public message that includes encrypted text will have the corresponding cipher color prefixed to the ciphertext. Any player is free to attempt breaking encrypted messages. This java applet should be very helpful to the encryption breaking process. Code words, ambiguous or unrelated words used to identify characters, locations or actions, will not necessarily be regulated by a GM.
Posting in the game thread of any kind is considered game activity. Some players will be able to post in the game thread without any additional consequences, but most players risk having their location and/or affiliation exposed by the media if they post in the game thread. Any QTU agent at HQ may post freely without revealing the location of the HQ. This may create an effect of ‘working in a fishbowl’, where QTU agents are free to organize, plan and announce, but while monitored by terror agents and free agents. Additionally QTU agents in the field will generally not risk revealing their location by posting. Free agents and Terror agents who interject the game thread may at the GM’s discretion have their location and affiliation revealed either in immediate breaking news or in the next day’s news headlines. Forum members that have not formally joined the game, who interject the game thread will automatically be assigned a location and considered an active player. This is not necessarily a punishment.
Now that I’ve scared everyone into being tight lipped, I’m going to ask that some of you express your interest in playing (if anyone) at some point. I will semi-randomly select a few for the initial roles from those that express interest. The others will be left to enter the game on their own. The game probably won’t be starting for another week at least, but it is almost ready to go. If someone wants to run another vamp game or if a number of potential players want to hold off longer, this can wait. There is a bit to digest. I’m posting this now so that people can consider what this game might be like to play and how best to approach it. More detailed rules and definitions will follow. As GM, I will never tolerate players disputing my rulings or attempting to negotiate the rules. However, I do want to be open to suggestions and revisions. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the concept and hopefully clarify any questions that I think should be clear. There are a number of rules that either aren’t completely explained or will only go into effect later in the game or haven’t even yet been made, so don’t worry if I don’t fully respond to all suggestions. I am reading and would like input from anyone, whether or not they plan to ever play the game.
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