–⊙– Mnemosyne: Discussion & Interest –⊙–

[Humabout]

Declare interest in and discuss Mnemosyne here and declare your interest!

–⊙– Mnemosyne: Rules –⊙–

[Raelifin]

Looks like I'm not the only one who got the itch to run a PbP! :D

[Magnus Pym]

This looks cool. What kind of "alien race" can I play?

[Mason]

Certainly an intriguing premise. Would be interested to read more. Nice soundtrack too.

[Rhamnousia]

Hmm. I'm definitely interested in this. If possible, I'd definite suggest you check out at least an issue or two of the Prophet relaunch, since it's basically Conan in space and definitely fits with the whole scifi-pulp theme you've got going on. Though it's even further from being realized, I'm also reminded a lot of Numenera. In a good way.

I've also got a few questions, which you're under no obligation to entertain. What sort of scale do you plan on working with? Will these tribes be fully-realized civilizations like the races in Underdeep, or are we looking at more party-sized groups? Do you have concrete ideas on what races will be on the roster or will we be able to add our own input (within reason, of course)? Will there be neutral factions or settlements to deal with?

Basically you've proposed a game based on one of my favorite sorts of scifi.

[Humabout]

Wow, really glad to see the warm reception!  I was afraid it might be too quirky or weird.  Thanks guys!

I haven't yet come up with any "races" so to speak and am totally down with people suggesting/creating their own.  Races don't have to be fully fleshed out, as I'm not imposing the need to roleplay on anyone, but it's nice if they have a flavor, for sure.

Scale will be at least as large as Underdeep - you can build up your towns, build roads to speed up travel between them, send messages to other players with aerographs, expand on the remnants of the Great Canals to syphon off some life-giving water, etc.  I expect populations (not army sizes) to grow pretty big, if resources can be found to support them.  Heck, if you can settle a canal that's still got water, you would probably be able to build up a multi-million citizen civilization, assuming no one kills you trying to take your water.

I wasn't planning on including any neutral parties or NPCs to interact with.  There may be a tribe here or there to raid while you grow, or you might come under attack by someone trying to take your water, but that will largely be randomized and rare.  Expect any natural resources to already belong to someone, though, and someone armed.

Post any other questions or comments you have, please!  I'll respond to them all as I get time!  (A side note: I'll be away this weekend, but I'll catch up on Monday.)

[Rhamnousia]

Hmm. As a strategy game, are you aiming for pure Warhammer or will there be a touch of Civilization: will the emphasis be on competitive warfare or will there be the possibility of (and benefit to) pursuing a less-violent route as, say, traders?

[Humabout]

Well, I'm not going to institute any sort of auction house or market system in the rules.  Anything you want to do trade-wise would be up to you as a player.  War is definitely costly, so those who are able to exist without having to raise and maintain large armies will likely grow far wealthier than their neighbors.  How those neighbors react to large sums of unprotected wealth may vary, depending on how people roleplay their people.  I guess I'm trying to say that I'm down for either approach, but whether or not other people take advantage of any weaknesses is out of my control as a GM.  As the GM, though, I'm not going go bitchslap you for playing the merchant prince.

All of that said, so far, the only tradeable things I've planned for the game so far are Food, Water, Money, and combat elements (squads of soldiers, airships, artillery, etc.).  My initial intent, based on the Underdeep poll results was to minimize the amount of economy present and do my best to support wargaming and city-building.  Roleplaying and politicking support doesn't really require rules, so have at it if you want to (most seem to).

If you want more economic options, I'm open to ideas, but I really wanted to keep the complexity down, rules-wise.

[Humabout]

Just posted initial info about economics in the game and added a track to the game's soundtrack.

[Raelifin]

What sort of map are you envisioning? Hexes? Arbitrary divisions (a-la underdeep)? Coordinate-based?

[Humabout]

As much as I'd freaking love to do this with vectors, I think that'd drive people away, so I'm planning on sketching out something on a hex grid.  Each hex would get relevant information regarding terrain, resources, and, other features.  I haven't settled on a scale for hexes yet, but the map should be several turns across, and may see additions as people build up and achieve more advanced toys, like flyers (which will more closely resemble naval units than aircraft in operation).

I must admit that I am toying with giving each starting player their own map to play on at first, with distances between the maps being arbitrary, so that everyone isn't too on top of each other should they get some fast transport.  Then again, cramming people together could lead to more interesting RP opportunities and for bloodshed.

[Steerpike]

I probably won't have time to play in this, sadly, but I'm very interested to watch it develop (along with Raelifin's very intriguing game), having now spent a lot of time thinking about/designing/running a forum game.  A couple questions I'm curious about:

1) The kinds of genres Mnemosyne seems to be channeling - pulp SF, sword and planet, dying earth, planetary romance, etc - sometimes have an elemental of the supernatural, sorcerous, or psychic/preternatural.  You mention Warhammer 40k, for example, which has Daemons and the Warp, psykers, telepathic aliens (Tyranids), ghost-like entities (Eldar Wraithstones etc), and alien gods (C'tan).  In Barsoom Martians are telepathic, some of them can conjure illusions, and there's the obvious teleportation of John Carter; similar works sometimes feature astrally projecting heroes and the like.  Dune, which this reminds me of too, has lots of vaguely mystic stuff, from the Bene Gesserit with their Voice to the Mentats to the Weirding Way to the precognition of Guild Navigators.  Do you plan on having possibilities for mystical powers, psychic abilities, magic, or similarly preternatural/supernatural stuff, or are you assuming a more "hard SF" universe without that sort of thing?  If the former, will there be actual mechanics for those sorts of abilities?

2) How advanced are you imagining technology in this world?  Is the only powerful tech found in the form of relics from ancient civilizations (if that), or can players develop advanced technology?  If the latter, how advanced are you picturing?  Computers?  Firearms?  Sentient machines?  Biotechnology?  Motorized transport?  Or just like, steel weapons or something?

3) It seems like you're emphasizing player freedom a great deal in this setting, which is very interesting - for example you mention that people can develop their own races.  Are you going to allow for players to develop their own units as well, or is everyone basically bound to the same set of units that get "reskinned" according to species/tribe?

4) Along similar lines, how much leeway do people have in the construction of their race?  Like, could a player decide "I'm playing a race of gigantic sentient termite-creatures the size of houses who live in subterranean colonies" or "I'm playing a race of vaguely slug-like asexual fanatics whose slime is naturally poisonous to other creatures" or "I'm playing a race of malignant trees whose fruit contain a mind-controlling chemical that makes others my slaves"?  Could they play as a space-faring civilization whose ship crash-landed on (or colonized?) Mneomysyne, as in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri?  Trans-dimensional invaders (the Combine :P)?  Even plain old humans?  Or is it more that you play as different flavours or subraces of the same species - Red Martians, Green Martians, Black Martians, etc - with comparable social structures and capabilities, allowing for greater balance at the tactical level?

5) Will there be other hazards like disease, predators, weather, or natural disasters (dust-storms, earthquakes, fires, droughts)?  Or do you think this kind of thing would be too frustrating for players?

Just a few to start :).

[Humabout]

Omg!  Lots of awesome questions!

1)  I've actually scratched on some paper somewhere "Psychic priests!" so I'm going to have to say definitely on the mystical stuff.  I'm too big a fan of barsoom, wh40k, and even people like Heinlein, to ignore such stuff.  So I'm thinking psychic powers, and maybe some other weirdness.  In terms of units, this is factored into their indivudual Strength scores and special classes, but as far as out-of-combat powers go, I haven't tackled that yet.  I may look into stealing some mechanics from you there.

2) I'm picturing relatively advanced technology, but in a pulpy way.  Barsoomian flyers instead of airplanes, "aerographs" instead of radios and such.  I'm sort of pegging overall tech levels (with the pulpy scifi addons) pegged around Spanish-American War to WWI range.  I'm definitely avoiding actual space travel (although see #4).

3) I'm actually quite cool with player-developed and customized units, even in-game.  I've already put together a spreadsheet for designing and pricing out units.  Of course, I will float out there some generic units that any army should have, and to which people can compare their units.

4) I had started this with barsoom strongly in mind, but I'm not married to "flavors of the same species," but at the same time, in those books, there were constantly weird and different martians the red men didn't even know existed.  So I'm good with giant termite-like creatures, subterranean horrors, or (definitely) interdimentional aliens.  With unit pricing based on capability and nothing else, any weird advantages and such should just result in pricier units.

5)  I definitely think weather should be included, and I intend to roll it randomly.  As bad weather can affect both combat and travel times, it'll be worth mentioning and should occassionally be included as almost a kind of mobile terrain, so to speak.  Predators could be random encounters or things to slay to keep people interested between roleplaying/scheming/politicking/etc.

Keep the questions coming!

[EDIT]
I'm trying to get the combat stuff up as quickly as possible.  Much of this will depend on how much time I can muster, but I'll do my best.

[Humabout]

Quick update:  Movement and Combat rules are 90% up.  Once I have that mess going, I'll start putting together the basics of individual units for everyone, and eventually link to a spreadsheet for designing your own units, should you be interested.

[Raelifin]

Do slow air units move faster on roads?

Edit: Your weather effects are in miles/day rather than hexes/turn.