message 0538

• "Starchase": Rules discussion

>From: Onno Meyer <Onno.Meyer@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1993 10:27:22 +0200 (MET DST)

> 	Onno, I like the game rules. Normally I detest boardgames, but
> of course, anything even slightly connected with Cherryh gets a thumbs-up
> :-)
> 			Lesley

Those were rules? I think there has to be a lot of work until we can
speak of rules. 
> 
> The map is more than likely stylized since it is a
> children's game.  Possibly a picture of the station or
> world.  I wonder if the different stations have different
> number of storage slots?  Any idea about the names of the
> various stations?  Perhaps there is some way to learn about
> new null points so that you can take short cuts?
>
Somewhere there is a listing - I think in ML.
 
> Perhaps in addition to "food", "spares & machines",
> "luxuries", "raw materials", and "recycling parts" we could
> also have "biomass" and "Azi" without making this too
> complex?
>
I assumed biomass = foodstuff, and I didn't even think about adding
population. Perhaps it is an idea, but only for the "advanced edition".
 
> > Stations, a limited number of goods and ships and money are distributed
> > to the players, based on a list that gives the distributions based on 
> > player numbers.
> 
> How many players should there be?  Does the range of 2 to 8
> sound good?
> 
I would say more than 2 to make alliances and diplomacy possible,
and 12 stations have to be distributed equally among them: 3,4 or 6.
Of course it would be possible to add some Alliance stations or to
ignore some Union stations.

> > Every turn starts with a "station" phase. If a station has food, it will
> > consume one lot of food. Otherwise, it will not produce anything for this
> > turn. In the second turn without food, a station dies. It is auctioned
> > between the other players. 
> 
> As in when you loose your station, the other players can bid
> to take it over?
>
That was my idea - it could stay dead, too, but that would limit the
game board pretty fast. But there has to be some punishment for
such carelessness. 

> > If the station has parts&machines, it will consume one lot of them.      
> > Otherwise, it will not produce anything, but there is no time-limit.
> > If a station is producing, it can turn a number of lots of raw materials
> > or recycling goods (2 lots recycling goods equal one lot raw materials)
> > into luxuries, machines or food (that may be the players decision or be
> > dependent on the station).
> > Luxuries can be spend to increase production. Happy workers work better.
> > To keep the game interesting, every station should have at least
> > one item it has to import.
>
I forgot: Stations produce raw materials and recycling goods. Every 
station produces recycling stuff, and some have mines. Foodstuff
has to come from somewhere, too. To get biomass only from Cyteen 
could be unbalancing.
 
> Are all stations initally in existance, or can players build
> additional stations?
>
I imagined station in existance, distributed equally among the players.
But there is room for an "advanced edition".
 
> > The next phase is the "ships" phase. The players throw dice for every 
> > ship, and that is the number of jumps that ship can make. Whenever
> > two ships meet or whenever a ship arrives at a station, the two can 
> > transfer goods if the recipient has sufficient storage capacity.
> 
> I'm wondering if a player moves all of their ships before
> the next person gets to move, or if each player gets to move
> one ship at a time.  Another possibility is that each player
> gets to move one ship one jump at a time.  I suspect that
> the first case is true since this *is* a children's game.
> 
> Then again we could make this a slightly higher level game.
> (yes, I'm talking about really making this game...)
> 
> Turn order could be something like:
> 	1) feed stations.
> 	2) set production for turn.
> 	3) determine range for ships.
> 	4) move ships up to max number of jumps.
> 		a) trades as desired.
> 		b) combat as desired.

Hey, I didn't think about that at all. If we play on a map of the Union,
there would be a fleet to stop this, instantly.

> 	5) order ships.
> 	5) receive ships and production
> 
> > At the end of the turn players can order new ships that must be paid
> > on order and will be delivered n turns later. Ships can be sold anytime
> > to the "bank", for half the original price.
> > The number of ships is limited by the supply of counters for each player.
> 
> Different size and abilities for different prices?  I'd
> suspect that you might have choices like the following:
> 
Perhaps in the "advanced edition", but not in a childrens game.

> 	1) small merchant ship, lightly armored, slow,
> 	   1 cargo unit.
> 	2) medium merchant ship, lightly armored, slow,
> 	   3 cargo units.
> 	3) large merchant ship, lightly armored, slow,
> 	   6 cargo units.
> 
> 	4) small merchant ship, better armor, fast,
> 	   1 cargo unit.
> 	5) medium merchant ship, better armor, fast,
> 	   2 cargo units.
> 	6) large merchant ship, better armor, fast,
> 	   4 cargo units.
> 
> 	7) small warship, fast, no cargo.
> 	8) medium warship, fast, 1 cargo unit.
> 	9) large warship, fast, 2 cargo units.
> 
I assumed the players represent trading companies, not governments.
You're talking about a wargame.
>
> Depending on the number of points you can go to I'd suggest
> a slow merchant ship gets 1D4 for movement, a fast merchant
> get 2D4 for movement, and a warship gets 2D4+2 for movement.
>
That depends on the time you assume for a "turn" of the game.
I would add a "+4" to each of these numbers to make ranges
less random. Perhaps we should kill the dice completely, but
they are mentioned and this seemed the most reasonable place
for them.
 
> Other ideas would be lots of null points that can be
> discovered and claimed by various players.
> 
How can you claim jumppoints? You would have to defend them,
and that's a wargame again.

> > At any time in the game, players can trade cargo, ships, stations or
> > whatever (pay somebody not to trade with a third player :-) ). The
> > price is negotiated between the players. Remember, even if cargo can
> > be sold anytime, players must meet to deliver it.
> >
> >  Onno
> 
> Matt
> 
Onno again.