Current Rules

Getting Started:

Every player starts out in control of a small interstellar Empire which will be placed on the galactic map:
Surroth: http://www.mediafire.com/view/7z3jqu28cdhlfdb/Surroth_Sector.JPG
Auriga: http://www.mediafire.com/view/lnqqaahh4ynzhj2/Auriga_Sector.JPG
Pandora: http://www.mediafire.com/view/04b1ui6admjm6fp/Pandora_Sector_Current.JPG
Typhon: http://www.mediafire.com/view/yvw667aws3h7tp5/Typhon_Sector.JPG
Dominatus: http://www.mediafire.com/view/946t7ad21hon34s/Dominatus_Sector.JPG

Nation Creation:

In this game creating your nation will be easy and straightforward

All players start with 25 points they can spend on national traits: These traits give boosts to specific aspects of your fleet corresponding to how many points you put into them:

Current traits:

Firepower

Speed

Shields

Armor

Stealth

Accuracy

Sensors

So what are these points for?:

These represent two things for your people:
First: Your starting baselines in technology fields. A player with more points in shields for example will have better shields than someone with fewer points. This goes for all technologies and their fields.

Secondly: Technology will progress as the story/game evolves both through new technologies discovered in the galaxy and also through players cooperating or designing their own technologies for review. So that being said these points represent your "affinity" with that field....a player with a higher affinity towards weapons (firepower) will have an easier time developing weapons and potentially develop them faster than a player with a lower firepower rating.

Template for your nation:

Besides the points you'll have to give at least a brief rundown of your faction. You can add as much or little detail as you like so long as it's clear to other players and the Moderators what your species/Empire is.

Name of nation:

Name of Species: (can have multiple races)

Type of government:

Culture: (a brief idea of what your race is like)

History: (a brief history)

Nation Points: (this is the 25 points and where you placed them.

Military Points: (these are determined by what worlds you control)

Fleet: (total fleet strength)

Deployments: (where your ships are stationed)

Expanding your Empire

You'll start with a few systems/worlds under your control which will give you your initial pool of total points.
To expand to new systems you'll designate a star system you want to travel to at which point either Ceslas or myself will roll to see if it's an occupied system or not. If it's occupied and you want to take it we'll allow you guys to write a few story posts to take the system.

If it's not occupied you can found a colony....depending on the world type is how long it takes the colony to develop and become a functional world.

World Types

World type________Points Value____________Time to colonize:

Asteroid belt:________10 points________1/2 month 

Moons:________20 points_______1/2 month

Gas Giant________40 points________1.5 months
Ice world:________50 points________1 month

Barren world:________50 points________1 month

Molten world:________50 points________1 month

Small Terran:________100 points________1.5 months

Medium Terran:________200 points________1.5 months

Large Terran:________300 points________2 months

(Special): (these are the definite type that would be occupied)

Hiveworld:________500 points________2 months

Homeworld:________600 points________2.5 months

Ancient world:________800 points________3 months

Colonization

Every player will start with 6 colony ships in their empire. These colony ships are counted as civilian craft (see rules regarding civilian ships) and therefor do not cost points. However they take 3 in game months to build and take up 20 points worth of shipyard production (while not taking up 20 points in count against the points pool).

Once a colony ship arrives in a system it then sets down on the target planet and sets up the initial colony with the time involved in that colony maturing. Note the colony vessel is "consumed" upon use as it uses its own mass to help produce a planetary colony.

Military Points

So...points are not "generated" in phases...they are a solid number representing the industrial/financial support capacities of a world. So if you have 3 worlds worth 400 points you'll have a total cap on your present fleet strength of 400 points. So you can build up to 400 points worth of ships for your Empire.

Shipyards

When the game begins you will start with shipyards equivalent to the points value of your Empire (the points spent on shipyards do not take away from your military points).
So for example as a starting player if I have the above 400 point starting faction I can have 400 points of starting shipyards; if I want to put them in one yard I can if I want to spread it out among other yards I can.
As the game/story progresses you can build new shipyards or expand existing ones; this is done by 100 points...for every 100 points on a shipyard's expansion it takes 1 month to compete. So a 300 point shipyard will take 3 months for example or expanding a shipyard by 100 points will take 1 month.

Building ships

Ships are going to be built at shipyards; a shipyard can build multiple vessels of the same size as long as they have the points available.
Example I can build 10 frigates or 10 corvettes but not 10 frigates and 10 corvettes even if the yard has the points available.

Armies:

Much like Navies armies will be based on the points your Empire is worth. They will draw from a separate but equal points pool to that of your fleet: For example if your Empire is worth 4000 points you can have both a 4000 point fleet and a 4000 point army.

Troop transports:

Much like civilian ships troop transports will be lightly armed and armored and built separately from your normal shipyards as well as not taking points.
(special note) Cruiser class ships can carry a division; battleships 2 divisions and titans 4 divisions maximum.

Starfighters:

Same as armies...at the moment starfighters are not going to require points so long as players don't go overboard with them.

Fighter Formations:
Flight = 4 fighters
Squadron = 3 flights
Wing = 3 squadrons.

What about civilian ships?

You can make merchant fleets for fluff...I greatly encourage it! Building merchant ships will not require your official points shipyards as you can assume these are being constructed at civilian yards.

You may have armed merchant ships however a good approach to this is take the size of your merchant ship compare it to a warship of similar size and cut the firepower by 10.

Time

How does time progress?
1 in game month = 2 RL weeks
1 in game year = 6 RL months

Research

How does research work?
As the game progresses you will be able to submit new tech/ship/weapon ideas in a thread which will be reviewed by both your fellow players AND the moderators of the game. This allows not only for joint ventures but also for players with less tech creativity to get some help in designing new ships/tech/weapons if they would like it.

Research Time:
This will be determined depending on what you want the tech to do and what your affinities are as well as any affinities from players you are cooperating with.

Joint Ventures

This story will encourage players/participants to go in on joint ventures for ship designs and tech designs. This can benefit a player with a lower affinity rating in a certain field by partnering with a person with a higher affinity allowing for some faster research or better results.

FTL and travel times

No matter the name for the hyperdrive a player chooses the average player ships will have a maximum FTL speed of 5ly (or one hex) per RL day.
There are few exceptions to this including if you have a gift unit which explicitly states a faster FTL or in the case of The Authority where they posses a more advanced drive.

Passage of time

Note on time:
Any build/colonization times mentioned in the rules section are measured in GAME time not RL time