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EmailTop

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Email-top campaign - Asalon Four

Wiki page

This page is for system-related stuff. For actual info on the campaign, refer to AsalonFour.

Basic Info

This is an EmailTop game, a roleplaying game for two groups of players, one PBEM (play by email) and one TT (tabletop). It is a sci-fi game using the SkillTwenty system.

The PBEM need to create their factions by Wednesday July 16 (exact details, i.e. stats, aren't as important as the faction concept). Additional information (plot specific stuff) will be given to the PBEM players before the first session. PBEM sessions are one week long from Friday to following Wednesday, and will start on Friday July 25. PBEM players aren't required to do anything in any given week (so is perfect for players who are interested in doing some roleplaying but with no set time available for doing so).

Tabletop sessions will be on Thursdays, and the first session was run on Thursday August 14.

Setting

Far future sci-fi.

Once he burst free from the constraints of his own solar system, mankind spread out to dominate the stars. The Empire is a human-dominated collection of planets and species. Their policy is simple: everyone and everything should be under Earth control.

Asalon Four is a frontier planet with a single major settlement, Asalon City. Weak Imperial control means that its effectively under the control of the planet's powerful factions. Almost every citizen on the planet belongs to one of the factions.

Asalon Four is a harsh, karoo-like planet. Vegetation is scrub-like. Agriculture is difficult but possible, mostly relying on cattle and goats. Farming implements and other basics are manufactured in the city in simple factories, but most other items including all luxuries have to be imported.

Factions

PBEM players, fill in details here. Examples: a criminal faction, military (possibly pirate) faction, religious faction. It would be nice if these were connected thematically but its not essential. The factions should be opposed to one another, though if we have more than 2 pbem players then temporary alliances are always possible.

Each factions should have 3 subgroups to do the faction leader's bidding. Example for criminal faction - burglary group, terrorist group, troubleshooting group. Most of the action in pbem turns is dictating what you instruct your 3 subgroups to accomplish for you. Thus when creating your subgroups, think ahead to the sort of orders you can give them. A subgroup that's just going to sit around not accomplishing very much is not worth having. Note that the faction's members are divided into these 3 subgroups. The subgroups represent the 'executive' members - those who actually get stuff done for you.

The players should email me (Tim at mailto:lawrance@maths.uct.ac.za) their faction info, with information on the faction leader and the three subgroups. What should be posted here is the sanitized version and need not include subgroup info for example.

Create the faction leader using the SkillTwenty system described below (which admittedly needs to be fleshed out). He/she should not be posted here but emailed to me instead.

Summary, what needs to be done:

• Faction name and basic description including the leader's name (posted to the wiki)
• Faction leader (created using SkillTwenty) with description
• Faction (or, more specifically, leader) motivations
• Faction members (people under the control of the faction) - this should be a significant portion of the population.
• 3 Subgroups - What they are and what you expect them to be able to do in your turns (not to limit the type of instructions you can give, but to give the GM an idea of what you expect their capabilities to be).
• For each subgroup: a subgroup leader (or very important person in that subgroup) created as an important person in SkillTwenty; and a typical group member created as an ordinary person in SkillTwenty.

Xenocologist Faction (David Seaward - mailto:kwill@mail.com)

The Xenocologists ("Greens") are a major colony faction led by the
charismatic Warden Rastnif-Smythe, who created and chairs the Planetary Infringement Retribution Subcommittee.

Their political and moral standpoint is that the colony should not
encroach on the natural ecology of the planet. As well as popular support, especially amongst non-Terrans, they have a strong influence
over colony policy through the local arm of the Xenorangers (a xenocology enforcement agency).

The Haupt Consortium (Andrew Moore - mailto:Bathoz@ananzi.co.za)

Trade is the life-blood of any frontier town. Whether it's memories
of home or an urgent shipment of food because of the lastest crop failure, you need to go offplanet to get it. This is where businessman
Julian Haupt and his 'associates' come into it. Haupt owns the local starport as well as controlling most of the shipping on and off the planet.

The Company's plans revolve around making the planet as fiscally viable
as possible, while making sure they get their cut. The Haupt Consortium's percieved strengths are their friendship with the Governor and the ability to effectively control access to anything that cannot be manufactured on the
planet.

Royalists (Jeremy Norton - mailto:powerplay@webmail.co.za)

The royalists take their name from the Hotel around which they are Based, The Royal Hotel and Casino and the status of their leader the charismatic Prince Avi Shiman, The exiled crown prince of New Persia(or so he claims). The Royal is Luxury defined, A place where hard fronteir's men mingle with corrupt dignatries and
officials. The only enrance requirment being money - And the Royalists work hard to releive them of it. any legal Pleasure can be found at the Royal, and for those Illegal ones It is said even they can be had If one know's who to ask.

Party

Possibly an imperial group, out to investigate something. Depends a lot on the pbem factions, so we'll sort those out first.

System

SkillTwenty - on a seperate wiki page.

---

Comments

d@vid May 7 2003

draft of proposed game with interaction between tabletop players and play-by-email players; why? because I want to roleplay, dammit!

these are snips from an email so they're a bit rough and ready, note I despise the generic fantasy setting, a different genre with the same basic setup will be used; comments at the bottom please

Setting

Jem and I play opposing mafia boss dragons, each with a gang
and corner of the city under our "protection"; we get a points pool to spend on resources like gangsters, hideout, businesses,
and so forth

Jemdragon and Davdragon had (unknowingly) both employed the
party to take out their biggest enemy (each other); the party pulled an ingenious double-cross and scored a large amount of
treasure, unfortunately for them the dragons found out and they're now on the run from two angry bosses with many grunts
at their disposal

the game would involve the party coming up with a plan (general
goal of the campaign, done during character creation, not in the game) basically unknown to the dragons (with some indication so
that we don't twiddle our thumbs while they trot off to the opposite end of the world); once character creation reaches a
certain point, and the game begins, further communication between the dragons must take place through the GM, so we
basically have three antagonistic parties in play, subject to offers of treaties etc (although the dragons know the party to
be untrustworthy, and despise each other, of course :)

---

Draft EmailTop Resource System

D&D assumptions for no real reason, modify as appropriate (basically decided by the system and power level of table players)

this is basically character creation for the bosses;
all game balance issues are decided by GM fiat (I want to take a lower level boss for more points, I want
to create a resource not listed, etc)

basically, as long as one player's 5 point mook is
equivalent to another's, it doesn't matter what the 5 point mooks are (a 1 point mook with a 4 point weapon
= a 5 point mook with regular weapons = a 2 point mook with loyalty and 2 professional level skills)

I have avoided rolls (eg, businesses generating 1d4
points per day) so that the game between bosses is purely strategic

I think it would be nice for the GM to let the
pbem players know what the effective (public) point cost of the table party is

it is obviously up to the pbem characters to produce
the color and flavour for their gangs, locations etc (without going overboard in excrutiating detail)

1) Name, weight, eye colour...
Each boss is basically equal as an individual character, created under the system (or taken from the Monster
Manual), these details and any variations are submitted to the GM.

2) Public summary
What everyone knows about the boss and his gang (is he a green or gold dragon, does he control the docks or
the inner city, are his mooks mostly orcs or hobgoblins, what (in)famous things has he done?). May specify
restrictions (known only in underworld, by other boss, by table party).

3) Each boss starts with a pool of 200 loot points to spend.

(maybe this should be gold, with value should be based
on value of items in books, but I don't want to get too complicated or rely on books too much, we've had bad
experiences with buying out of them! that said, after typing all this up, if we go D&D (pref not please) that
might be a simpler option)

MOOKS
1 point per CR of mook +1 for loyalty (mook is more trustworthy and dependable, ie more difficult
to con/bribe) +1 per point of stat modification (increasing intelligence, strength etc)
+1 per professional-level skill (ie, special skill at high rank) +X for weapon modification

HIRED MOOKS
specialised skills call for a hired mook this mook costs 1/5 CR points per day

BRIBES
bribes cost double an NPCs? CR (or point cost) per day

LOCATIONS
2 points per location +X per flaw inflicted on visiting PCs? (hotter, acid atmosphere etc)
+1 per two traps +1 per danger (lava pits)

BUSINESS (ie, PROFIT GENERATOR)
a business requires a location 5 points per business that generates 1 point of profit per day
(a 10 point business generates 2 points per day, two 5 point businesses also generate 2 points per day)

a business requires an at least an equivalent number of mooks to run, point
for point (a 10 point mook could run two 5 point businesses)

+1 or -1 profit at a particular business at GM's discretion (due to
significant events caused by other PCs?, destruction of a location obviously reduces all associated businesses to generate 0 profit)

SPECIAL
+1 extra per magical thing (magic is expensive)

• 1 per flaw on a thing (ie, exploitable weakness)
  1 per secret (a secret may be attached to a thing or not, a secret is

difficult to find out)
X per vehicle owned 1 per CR of monsters owned (just a monster mook really)
2 per extra dirt on other table/pbem PCs? (x5 for a secret) x2 for a unique (un-perfectly-forgeable) item
+/-X per GM minimum requirements (spies must be loyal, guards must be stupid)
+1 to double effectiveness (speed, see below)

LOOT
leftover points or points earned are in-gameworld cash/gold/goods/treasure

4) Points may be spent after the day they are earned. A
maximum of 20 points may be spent per day, subject to GM fiat (ie, common sense: you can't buy what isn't there,
you can't buy a duplicate of a unique item)

Doing stuff amounts to spending points (hiring a mook,
creating/buying a thing, buying dirt), which takes one day (you hear about a plague at noon and begin a new
underground location, it is ready tomorrow at noon). Extra costs halve this time (ie, double effectiveness;
if you spend two extra points the underground location is ready in six hours).

Other things may require rolls, the GM rolls and tells
you the final outcome (ie, at the end of the day); you describe how that outcome came about in the course of
the day.

The emphasis should be on big public events, cause
they're interesting and will hopefully draw table players in (Hmmm, shootout rules for gang war? Nah,
Tim can wing it)

---

Tim (May 8 2003)

Setting

Far future, ?? is a frontier planet far from real Imperial control, where the opportunities are endless - great fortunes can be made or lost, and a hero can really make his name out here. It has only one major settlement, ??, and while the Imperial governor resides in his luxury space station, the city is under control of (n) major factions.

PBM players are the leaders of the planet's major factions. They are, quite naturally, at odds with each other. Each PBM player should design their own character, plus identity and goals of their faction.

TTop? players together make up a gang (hero-gang, assassin-gang, troubleshooter-gang, etc.) not affiliated to any one faction. Together the TTop? players should decide the identity/goals of their gang, and then each player designs their own character, a member of that gang.

Still to be answered... Connection between the 2 player groups - how to make sure PBM actions have an effect on TTop? actions and vice-versa? Something that can't really be resolved by a system, but rather by a campaign structure. It would have to be kind of artificial, but then what campaign isn't?

Aside: Simplified D20 system for use in this campaign

I admit that I like the D20 system - but it seems needlessly completed. Feats, talents, classes, levels, saves ... they should all go. So I want to cut it all and replace with a nice simplified version for any-setting roleplaying (for use by the TTop? players in this campaign, and for PBM players to design their characters but not really for use in the playing of the PBM 'campaign').

Proposed rules

6 abilities STR,DEX,CON,INT,WIS,CHA created by usual D20 methods (25 point buy recommended for 1st-level equivalent characters).

Large number of skills (some can be subdivided, eg. craft) each keyed to an ability. Choose 3(?) specialty skills. Characters have a number of skill points to spend (42, say). They can buy ranks in whatever skills they choose, max ranks equal to skill points/6 in a specialty skill, max ranks half of that in a non-specialty skill). Most skills can be used untrained (i.e. 0 ranks).

One important skill is Dodge. Your DC to hit (i.e. AC) is as if you take 10 on a Dodge roll (i.e. 10 + dodge ranks + dexterity + misc bonuses(e.g. armour) ). Also important are weapon skills. These are generally broad groups of weapons (e.g. Personal Firearms).

And that's it. What's missing are special abilities, spells, psionics, mutant powers or whatever. No easy way to incorporate that, is there?

---

d@vid May 11

simplified D20 (which is a very cool idea) or GURPS I think, possibly depending on what we can get our hands on... as long as we're working off a common reference

setting wise I like this new frontier Alpha Centuari idea; I will be getting dylan's Space Cowboy setting so let's use that

you may be interested to read about Topos at http://www.lostthoughts.org/phpwiki/index.php/Topos which is a wiki based pbm (pbw?) game (but let's stick to pbem for now)

for a cohesive campaign (where pbem players and tabletop players actually interact), some kind of setup is a must; 'snot artificial, it's neccesary

---

d@vid May 11 too

tim and I have discussed this a bit f2f and clarified things a bit more than my recent incoherent post :)

the real crux was getting a game that the pbem players and tt party could really interact with and with each other

the current idea is a edge-of-the-empire planet with a single colony with colony faction leaders run by pbem players and the tabletop party an independent group from the empire; general theme space cowboyish (pending the getting on paws of dylan's recently auctioned space cowboy sourcebook! nota bene: this sounds like the weird space aliens and zap guns knob is turned all the way up)

the main idea is that there will be a strong story for the tt players to involve themselves in ("mystery to solve") that involves each of the factions (and faction leaders); this way the GM doesn't so much hold the cards as spread them amongst the factions

no clear idea as to whether faction-creation or mystery-creation should come first: tim suggested basic faction-creation first to generate ideas, but all this well in advance of tt party creation (ie, the party are going to be given a specific "mission" and players create their party around that mission)

one thought was that in future such a campaign might need two GMs?, one to run the pbem side, and another to run tt (pbem GM is basically a secretary I suppose) -- but we'll see how it goes

hmmm... De Profundis should I buy it? see BuyingDilemma

---

Tim (May 12 2003)

PBEM turns

During the f2f encounter, we also resolved a simplified form of accomplishing things in the pbem turns. Firstly, we want to keep rulesy stuff out of the email game, so rather than worrying about resource points, etc., each factions gets to have 3 significant subgroups to accomplish their goals (see examples at top). The GM may have to step in to balance these subgroups between facions, but this is all done at character/faction creation time.

Now, a pbem player, in his email will issue instructions to these subgroups to tell them what to do (for the day/week/whatever). This may be a specific simple task - follow the player party around, or a vague challenge - get me 100 000 galactic credits by next week so I can pay some bribes, or whatever. The GM will tell you the consequences of the orders following the tt session.

In addition to issuing orders, a pbem player should also describe his own actions. For example, a religious faction's leader is Father Charisma. Charisma's player is worried that one his faction followers (congregation) is harboring the player party against his will, so in his sermon that turn he prophecies the fire and brimstone destined for those who harbour fugitives/imperial agents.

Describing your own actions can be fairly detailed. Not: I will do this and this; but: I do this and this, and this is what happens, etc. Ie. use a bit of directorial power. This is of course subject to fiat as it depends on actions of other players (pbem&tt), but pbem players shouldn't be afraid to describe consequences of their own personal actions as long as its not directly connected to the other players (pbem&tt).

So, a typical turn describes your own actions, the orders you issue to your subgroups. It may also consist of general things, such as a change in long-term plans or a change in your subgroups.

---

d@vid May 12 2003

sounds groovy, I assume all pbem communication goes via the GM? but in any case, what the fnord is ryan "pimp" kruger's email addy? ANSWER: unknown - I'll ask him (Tim)

will have a faction description for tomorrow :)

---

Tim May 19 2003

More on SimpleD20? (now SkillTwenty)

I'll write out the full set of rules soon, but meanwhile let me just introduce the concepts of the three 'levels' of characters.

You get hero characters, important characters and ordinary characters. Hero characters are created using the full set of rules.

Ordinary characters simply have one high stat (12), one low stat (8) and three specialty skills (rank 4). Present them as Thug (+Str, -Int, Melee Weapon(knife), Intimidate, Toughness).

Important characters have two high stats (12 and 13), one low stat (8) and three specialty skills (rank 6). Present them as Mean Mike (+Str, +Dex, -Int, Ranged Weapon(standard firearm), Intimidate, Defence).

---

NurmRas October 2003

IRC ?

Yea I know this is a post to a reaaly old topic, but hey this is the Wiki! You might be able to use IRC in a few of your sessions when the tt players might actually meet the pbem players. Not sure how this would actually work, but would most likely end up with the GM having an irc client open on a PC during the session. Would have to be organised with pbem players, but would be interesting anyways.

d@vid Oct 10 03:

a neat idea; in this particular instance my idea was for players who are not always-onna-web at convenient times (like, er, me!) which isn't really irc conducive

there's a whole bunch of people who rp on irc on magicstar I think - the nice thing about doing it with far flung people-you-actually-know is coherent play (ie, you all have the same goals and not one hack-n-slasher and one adjective-ridden storyteller, etc)