Ruins of Alien Suns

Nations

Nations-states are the intended primary player style of Ruins, these are the planets located in the Verge that are seeking their own destiny among the alien stars and represent the rare highly stable worlds that survived the Disruption. Most but not all of them are worlds that were amicable to human life and development and range from developed to mid 21s century to late 22nd in terms of infrastructure, and have populations that numbers in tens of millions.

Nation Starting Package

• $1000 income per year
• $6000 Spending Spree for Starting MIlitary
• 3 Trait Points
• Stability 5

Player nations have to describe their:

• Homeworld:
• Government Type and Ideology: Affects stability, if you’re the baby eaters of Zardoz and you ally with Ghandi of Neo-Avatar, you’re going to lose stability, if you’re the Iron Prussians of New Stadheim and you invade Bonaventure to increase your realpolitik you will gain in stability. High stability allows for bonus income and rules and special events that are good. Low stability leads to unrest and potential civil war.
• Background: Where they are a forced colony of exiles or planned colony settled by the space Mormons?

Fluff will help integrate you into the game setting, as well as how your nation develops, a Marslike planet of underground space dwarfs might get a bonus to asteroid mines as a random example while a Earthlike planet may get an economic boom as more people settle the untouched lands.

Traits

Traits are ways to customize your nation that have a mechanical affect. You got a select number of them to start off with and can add more for inclusion negative traits. Flaw Farms will be judged on how interesting you can make it.

Positive Traits

• People's Champion: Your government is popular with the people, harder to lower your stability and easier to increase it.
• The War Machine: Your dollars $1.5 worth of military equipment per $1 spent, though your people expect you to use it.
• Star Patrol: Your anti-piracy patrols are very effective and you can engage in anti-piracy patrols in npc systems to increase goodwill. Star Patrol halves the build cost (but not upkeep) of Police Ships, in addition to changes listed in the trade section.
• Merchant Marine: You get two freighters for every one built. Trade Nodes absorb 50% of additional territorial income.
• Admiralty: Your fleets are well trained and you basically get a free negate a bad critical roll during fleet battles.
• Fanatics: Ground troops will fight to death if ordered.
• Dreamland: Reverse engineer of Outsider and Visitor technology is your forte gain bonus on those rolls
• Skunkworks: Forefront of the human R&D wave.
• Manticore: You sit on a valuable nexus of jump points that includes at least 6 points and you gain .2 of your income as bonus income.
• Client States [subservient[: A nearby system is under your thumb, either as three independent small states underneath you or 1 larger state indirectly guided by you.
• Mayflower Society: Colonization bonus, civilians are quicker in moving in and making you get money. Gain +1 prestige for colonies and quicker advancement to next rank, though your population will expect you to defend the colonies with full force
• Murtox: Better merchants you get higher than average growth rates.
• Large Population: The Verge is half of humanity, and you’re part of the reason. While the average Verge state can be measured in the tens of millions, your population is well into the hundreds of millions, having surpassed even Praetoria in the past few years of immigration from the Core and displacement from various wars. Your state is culturally resilient as a consequence of sheer inertia, and has a lot of bodies to throw at problems. Development projects to improve living standards however, may be much more expensive.
• Population by Proxy: Your state’s core population is extremely small proportional to its landmass, most likely under five million. This may be because of extensive automation, or a permanent underclass. Spending to increase stability is typically much cheaper, and your various forces are robotic or mercenary by majority, reducing the Stability costs of huge casualties in offensive wars.
• The Library of Ruins: Your state has begun assembling a collection of exotic alien paraphernalia and seemingly-supernatural devices, chancing on some relics of those who came before that are completely beyond replication. Begin with 1d3 Artifacts (Clients get 1 Artifact). Such devices more easily find their way into your possession and are more stable.
• Assembly Prestige: When your state speaks, others listen. Assume your voting tendency is replicated x5 in the Assembly of the Verge and x10 in the UN General Assembly. Should the Security Council ever restore the non-permanent seats, expect to be shortlisted for it.
• The Blunder Bus: Somehow, despite all the diplomatic missteps you make and bombastic threats you make, your state comes out smelling like a rose. Or at least freshly-mowed grass. Is it all just a big joke or do people ignore you? Either way, it works out.

Verge NPCs are well-disposed towards your state and will generally ignore minor bad behavior that doesn't directly affect them and the UN will often give you top cover and keep the TFs out of your business. Boys will be boys.}}

• Autarkists: Some states out of ideology or circumstances have never rejoined the great Verge trade routes, instead adopting policies of autarkist self-sufficiency; the successful ones coupled this to society-wide norms.

Each trade node is rated for only 5% (ie, absolute necessities and rare luxuries) and your world may never be a trade node, but the effect of industrial developments is doubled. You also gain 1 Lock for espionage purposes thanks to limited contact with the greater galaxy giving foreigners few levers to influence and cultivate spies. You may not also take Poor Merchants with this trait.

• Blackbeard 2525: The Golden Age of Cosmopiracy was the half-century following the Disconnect, but the explosive growth of spaceborne commerce, unaccounted-for weaponry and trans-verge chaos has opened the door to a new age of cosmopiracy. Old habits die hard and it turns out you can teach an old zero-G dog new tricks.

Your corsairs and related ships are 50% more effective at piracy and they gain an additional single size-2 weapon slot, this weapon must be paid for like any other weapon.

• Cosmo Albania: Star systems are dirty, messy places full of comets, asteroids and other space detritus. Your state has cultivated a particularly keen sense of this cosmo-terrain and given a bit of time can effectively hide all sorts of things from supply dumps to battleships from all but dedicated search.

Passive stealth for unpowered or secret structures and ships is greatly improved.

Negative Traits

• UN Sanctioned List: You're a rogue state as defined by the UN as well as your previous actions. While untouched by the Sanction Squadrons you are on thin ice with Earth and other NPCs.
• Peaceniks: Your people don’t like offensive war and will lose stability if you engage it.
• Dirty Cops: Your anti-piracy efforts have been compromised and you are more vulnerable to it
• Keystone Navy: Perhaps regime loyalty is more important than competence or you just regrained the stars, for the immediate future your fleet will make blunders.
• Disunited: Your planet is not entirely under your control, there are 1-3 powers on the planet that are not easy pushovers. At least one will stand in opposition to you in some meaningful fashion.
• Political Science: Your R&D efforts are behind the times and focused on other matters then important stuff of better laser guns.
• Xenos Scum: You won’t use alien derived technology
• Cul-de-sac: You have no easy jump point route to the frontier.
• Coldest War: A nearby system houses a power that wants your blood, if combined with Disunited they will have a client state among your neighbors.
• Poor Merchants: You only gain half income on freighters
• Dark Fate [2 points]: Congratulations you’re going to get a war within 6 to 2 years of game start.
• 5 Year Plan: Economic slow growth hampers your nation.
• Lobotomy Corporation: Your state officially denies any existence of Paracausal Phenomenon. Speaking of such things in public results in psychiatric confinement, or worse. You may never make use of alien artifacts and other one-off devices, and have additional vulnerabilities to users of such phenomenon.
• Empty Chair: You have no say in Solarian politics, not even a token vote in the General Assembly unlike many sanctioned states. Additionally, Empty Chair states are passed over as recruitment grounds by the ESF.
• Yearning Masses: Your state is deeply unstable and an emancipatory desire has begun to manifest, demanding a change from the status quo. Your resting Stability is 1, meaning it will constantly tick down to revolution unless abated somehow.
• Old Model Army: Built by the lowest bidder, then stored improperly for a decade, then given to poorly trained conscripts. The state's military readiness is just very poor and even cutting-edge equipment will probably be somehow misused.

You get a 10% penalty to all die rolls in battle or the equivalent (eg -1 on a D10)}}

• Verge Hatemagnet: A few states have found themselves on the shitlist for much of the Verge; ironically (or not) these tend to be states that have strong ties to the great powers of Earth - they are often decried as various forms of sellout, puppet, quisling and the like, though some are simply roundly disliked and have absolutely no friends whatsoever - such as the late and unlamented Praetoria.

NPC Verge states will generally avoid positive diplomacy with you and all tech trades with Verge states will cost +1 lab each. PC verge states cultivating ties with you may face stability problems.

Client States

Client States are built like PC powers but with smaller budgets and trait pools and more restrictive flaw farms. You can divide up them into three separate states on map (Fivemarks) or single bigger power)

Small States are

• 300 Income a year
• 2000 military
• 1 Trait point
• 1 Lab

Large States are

• 600 income a year
• 4500 military
• 2 Trait points
• 3 Labs

Disallowed traits for Client States are the following:

• Client states
• Manticore
• Dark Fate

Client states need their history and government written about them like states. The most important questions are to ask: are they loyal ally or conquered nation underneath your boot. The write up determines how freely you can move their forces around an friendly ally may balk about invading Iraq with you, while a satrap will be forced to send troops, conversely an ally will stick with you while a Satrap may revolt if they can throw off your yoke.

UN TASKFORCE

UN Taskforces are for players who want to influence the plot but not want to deal with the empire building aspect. They play the Admirals from Earth who are given wide latitude in making sure the Motherworld is kept in the loops and the Verge down.

Starting Package

• $3000 Spending Spree
• 1 Starbase System
• Reinforcements from Earth (Depending on game politics, posting and situation facing the Task Force they may gain up to 1000-3000 reinforcements depending on the crisis though, and UN Admiral that keeps on losing battleships may be recalled or sidelined)
• No Upkeep
• 3 traits

Positive Traits

• Patrol Fleet: Gain $2 per $1 spent on scout cruisers and below, generic ships such as scouts and replenishment vessels cost half price as well..
• Sanction Fleet: Gain 2 per $1 spent on capital warships, and half price on replenishment vessels. Counts as 2 trait points.
• Espaiters: UN Espaiter Corp has fully deserved a reputation for being the best of the best and you have the cream of the crop.
• Peacekeepers: Gain 2$ per 1 spent on ground units.
• Long ARM of Earth: Stealth costs are half and you have access to the UN Black Ops world, however the spooks will have missions for you.
• Poster Boys: Your fleet is considered one of the good guys in the Verge and NPCs will look favorably upon you.
• Ares Hall: The UN equivalent to admiralty, you and your staff and officers are trained graduates of the most elite war college in the Sol system.
• Lucky: You can luck out of problems and find plots land in your lap
• Prototypes: The UN will time from time send you bleeding edge systems to test.

Hand in Hand (Positive): The fleet walks the tightrope of Core-Verge politics, carefully arbitrating the demands of both clusters of polities safely. Major actions that feature near-equal contributions of UN and Verger forces rewards additional Prestige and Stability. The positive involvement of a Core power further increases this benefit. ESF Development Bank (Positive): Your economic obligations (for trade purposes) are raised to $1000, though this is still not actual income. Instead receive a yearly stipend of $1000 which can be gifted to various Verge states as diplomatic gifts, investments or loans, courtesy of the Core powers. Overinvesting in Mandates or playing financial games to hold onto the funds may cause ballooning corruption, however. Firestarter Protocol (Positive): You’ve been tasked with dealing with what the UN has dubbed "Paracausal Phenomenon". This is a thankless, terrifying job dealing with the black projects of Core and Verger states, strange alien terrors and ancient superbeings beyond comprehension. On the bright side, you’ve learned how to consistently make use of artifacts irreproducible by human hands with fewer side effects.

Negative Traits

• Dark Fate: Same as before [2 points[
• Hatred: You are seen rightly or wrongly as the UN bullyboy
• Punishment Post: Your fleet suffers a moral problem and corruption problem.
• Category C Formation: Your units are older and reinforcements are tough to gain. Half reinforcement pool.

Starbase Romeo-Xray-Juliet (Negative): Your fleet has become inappropriately entangled with the civilian component of your colonial fleet, in a way that makes for great drama but poor discipline. Discipline will suffer greatly in circumstances where the civilian fleet is in danger, and damage to it may send forces into a panic or irrational fury. Pure Solarian (Negative): Your fleet only recruits from Sol and the innermost colonies of the Core. Your crew are typically naive ideologues woefully unaware of the truth of life in the Verge at best, and bigots who view Vergers as a lesser form of life at worst. This is a constant cause of diplomatic incidents and will botch joint exercises with Verger states. Verger Rabble (Negative): For whatever reason your fleet is staffed almost exclusively by citizens of the Verge, either independent states or the UN mandates that dot a few worlds. In the best circumstances this means that your crew are hardy and quick to cooperate with Verge states, and at worst it means they’re one atrocity away from a mutiny. Awards ceremonies at the Ares Hall are always times of infamy for this fleet.

PMC

PMCs are the play-style of those who want a more heroic style individualized focus. They are the Enterprises or Hammer Slammers, though if they engage in PVP they don’t have strong character shields. So choose your fights well.

Starting Package

• $1000 SS
• Asteroid HQ Base [hidden]
• 100 income per year
• 2 Traits

Positive Traits

• Loyal to Their Own: Excellent moral and better than average troops then their national counterparts
• Cutting Edge: You have a bonus on getting new human technology
• Combat Archaeology: You can loot like your Dr Jones himself.
• Privateer: You’re excellent at piracy and better yet can get paid for it without diplomatic repercussions.
• The Face: NPCs like you social media campaigns
• Reality Show: Gain 200 income but on the downside your location is constantly broadcast
• Deniable Asset: Your employer is a state, this means you can get bailed out or covertly supported by regular forces but you have a hidden master to work for.
• The Blackest Market: You have access to illegal black market suppliers of stealth materials, stealth costs are 1/3 the price, one half if you combine it with Deniable Asset to represent the state you are working for paying for it.
• Custodians: Your unique items are much more stable and effective. Such items find their way into your possession more frequently.
• Patron: Choose a single state, PC or NPC, or the United Nations. You may build any units from their existing designs at half cost. This comes with some expectations of following their requests and may be retracted by the player.

Negative Traits

• Scrapheap Armada: Your ships are old or ill maintained and can during battle suffer annoying glitches that range from obnoxious to deadly.
• Paycheck Only: Your men are there not for a cause but money, they won’t stand up to fight on death ground.
• Dynamite Digging: Your attempts at looting alien tombs end up with aliens tombs getting ruined.
• Pirate: You're wanted by most reputable forces and run the risk of having a UN force sent after your hidden base.
• Call Center: Nobody likes dealing with you day to day operations, NPC relations worsen
• Burned: You were a deniable asset now, your a ticking time tomb, and the NPC is going to send something after you someday.
• It Belongs In A Museum: You can never make use of alien artifacts, one-off prototypes and other exotic goods. The only viable option is selling them to a state or other organization.
• Not Made Here: Choose a single state, PC or NPC, or the United Nations. You may only build units following their existing designs, and your build orders require their final approval. This state exerts undue influence over your actions as well, and may pull your access to new construction if you displease them. Hulls may be retrofitted after purchase.

Military Rules

Upkeep and Damage

• Upkeep is paid yearly. 20% for warships, 10% for other units.
• Battle damage for warships is:
  • Light Damage: burn a month endurance for repairs.
  • Moderate Damage: Burn 3 months endurance for repairs.
  • Heavy Damage requires times in dockyard and 1/4 cost and build time to repair.
  • Critical Damage: requires time in dockyard and 1/2 cost and build time to repair.
• Each battle a unit is in, decrease its endurance stockpile by 1 month, really bad battles cost more.
• Battle damage for ground units are:
• Minor loses will recover within a month if in resupply or spend 1/5 of unit cost to rush reinforcements.
• Major loses will recover within 6 months if in resupply or 1/2 of unit cost to rush reinforcements.

New Technology

The new space gold rush is a time of new developed tech of human origin and reversed engineered alien tech (in theory). Powers may randomly discover, loot or reverse engineer new technology with new stats or just steadily improve what you have now.

Ship Hull Stats

Fast Attack Craft

Cost: 25

Build Time: 6 Months

Weapon Slots: 1

Max Weapon Size: 1 (Can be outfitted with size two torpedoes)

System Slots: 0

Acel: 6

Armor Level: 0

Endurance: 2 Months

Fast Attack Craft are cheap tools for system defense, essentially a large fusion torch with weapons strapped to it, they are by design not for long endurance missions and have cramped quarters.

Destroyer

Cost: 40

Build Time: 1 Year

Weapon Slots: 2

Max Weapon Size: 2

System Slots: 1

Acel: 4

Armor Level: 0

Endurance: 4

Standard workhorse of the Verge systems, and flagship of many small worlds PDFs.

Frigate

Cost: 50

Build Time: 1 Year

Weapon Slots: 2

Max Weapon Size: 2

System Slots: 2

Acel: 3

Armor Level: 0

Endurance: 8

Often the largest ship seen is Disrupted system navies. They are used by more advanced navies as long distance patrol ships and show the flag missions or heavy anti-piracy missions and in war time serve as flagship for screening units.

Scout Cruiser

Cost: 150

Build: 1 Year and Half

Weapon Slots: 5

Max Weapon Size: 3

System Slots: 4

Acel: 3

Armor Level: 1

Endurance: 6

Used for scouting for enemy fleets, potentially hostile new star systems or independent raiding missions, the Scout Cruiser can fight anything that it can’t outrun.

Star Cruiser

Build: 2 Years

Cost: 300

Weapon Slots: 5

Max Weapon Size: 4

System Slots: 3

Acel: 2

Armor Level: 2

Endurance: 6

The average big stick of the Verge, for decades this was the largest warship capable of construction beyond Sol’s limit and the Verge cruisers are noticeably more developed and capable then most Sol-bound versions.

Battleship

Build: 2 Years

Cost: 600

Weapon Slots: 5

Max Weapon Size: 5

System Slots: 4

Acel: 1

Armor Level: 3

Endurance: 6

The queens of space, they are essentially armored bricks built around the most powerful torches in human inventory and bristling with weapons and support systems. Expensive they are often derided by many Verge analysts as white elephants for Verge interstellar politics.

System Control Ship

Build: 3 Year

Cost: 800

Weapon Slots: 3

Max Weapon Size: 3

System Slots: 6

Acel: 1

Armor Level: 2

Endurance: 8

Carrier Deck: 10

CIC System

If the battleship is Chess’s queen, the SCS is the king. While capable combatant against cruisers its primary specialty is the deployment of aerospace fighters and bombers as well powerful C3 systems that allow the fleet to link up.

Slotted SCS Hangers are automatically Size 5 and do not require a weapons slot.

Additional notes on Capital ships

Capital ships have an Invulnerability save against sub-capital (S3 and lower) weapons that strike Armor or HP. Precision strikes against weapons or subsystems (except for engines and bridge) ignore this. The dice for this is 1d10 for Starcruisers (TN8), 1d10 for Battleships (TN7) and 1d10 for SCS and larger vessels (TN6).

Capital ships that are 80% complete can be rushed out in partial completion and assembled in transit as long as the engines are intact, treat as Moderate damage and random missing components (GM decision).

Destroyed capital ships have a flat 50% chance of surviving to an inert 'hulk' state, which is 3/4 cost and build time to repair.

Weapon System Rules

Starting weapons are listed below, each of the weapon types can be made in larger sizes (which is generally more damage). Weapon cost is price of the type times the size. Thus a size 1 Standard Missile box luancher on a FAC would be $15 while a battleship ICBM silo would be $75.

Missiles

Standard Missiles

Range: Long

Interceptable: Yes

Reloads: 12

Cost: 15

Standard missiles are small yield nuclear armed devices that aim for proximity blows. Missile technology is constantly change and what might be standard one year may be obsolete the next.

Torpedos

Range: Short

Interceptable: No

Reloads: 3

Cost: 10 (max out at size 2)

Torpedoes are large x-ray conversion bomb lasers that are required to be launched at short ranged and armor piercing and intensively destructive.

Standoff Missiles

Range: Extreme

Interceptable: Yes

Reloads: 6

Cost: 15

Essentially multi-staged standard missiles. With dedicated sensor platform or forward control source they can fire and hit the target beyond the sensor range of the firing vessel assuming somebody is painting the target.

Lasers

Standard Laser

Range: Medium

Armor Piercing

Cool down: 1

Cost: 5

X-Ray Laser, standard for over a century now.

Heavy Laser

Range: Short

Armor Piercing

Cool down: 3

Cost: 10

Heavier version designed to smash apart even the thickest armor hulls.

Point Defense Laser

Range Medium

Damage: Missiles and small craft, minor damage to ships

No cool down

Cost: 1

Close in point defense laser, fairly deadly to missiles, threatening to aerospace wings and minor annoyance to warships. They fire at every incoming missile barrage for a chance to hit, but can get overwhelmed.

Kinetics

Railguns

Range: Medium

Cost: 8

Turreted railguns have been the mainstay of UN Fleet for generations, and its well developed technology has its followers out in the Verge.

Autocannons

(Size 4 and above)

Range Short

Cost: 12

The name is misnomer, they are large bore rapid firing cannons whose shells are heavy warheads with minor guidance correction systems. Nicknamed carronades by the UN Fleet they can smash even the most armored ship if they were foolish enough to get into range of it, but are often easily mission killed.

System Rules

Each ship has space for optional systems to customize it. Each utilized system slot cost 10% of the hull price except when noted otherwise.

Sensors: Dedicated supercomputer and sensor vane attached to the ship, allows for better targeting of standard and standoff missiles and can be taken up to three times.

Marines: Allows for organic power suit marine crews for boarding operations and other zero-g infantry combat for taking control of hulks or stations. Sub-cruisers ships carry them at platoon strength, cruisers at company, and capital ships regiments. Can be used to support ground invasions as space borne troopers.

Spin Gravity Section: Habit ring that allows for easier gravity and other creature comforts for long deployments. Increase endurance by 2 and allows for situational moral and alertness bonus on long patrols or missions.

Supply Bay: Equipped with basic microfabs and supply containers, allow for improved deployment time (double base endurance)

Lab Module: State of art laboratory for exploration vessels along with a staff of generalists from ranging astrobiology to xeno-pyschology. Useful for piercing the secrets of the unknown.

Build Repair System: 2 Slots, heavy duty advance but portable fabrication kits that allow for field repairs that can fix even the worst damage given time.

Atmospheric Capability: Most ships are unable to enter into the atmosphere, ships however can for added cost to provide landing exploration missions or close fire support or to hide out. Price for this is 20% base hull cost.

Stealth: Officially banned by the Treaty of Paris, and quietly ignored by pirates as well as government black operations, ships can be clad in stealth material that allows them to remain out of sight till entering into firing range. Subcruisers it costs 30% of base hull price, cruisers 100% of hull price, and for capitals 300% of hull.

Survey Systems: Advance sensor suite, autofacs making probes, astronomers staff and physicists, this is the model to explore a system for a new jump point.

Regiment Transport: Cruiser and capital size only, this allows the starship to carry in decent readiness a regiment of soldiers and war-machines along with armored shuttles to land them with some safety under fire.

C3: Advance command, control and communication suite to allow for increased efficiency in operating loops.

Interstellar Rescue Module: The IRM is a suite of search and rescue, disaster relief and advanced medical facilities designed to allow any ship to come to the aid of those suffering natural or man made disasters. With advanced microfabs, it can allow responses to virtually any situation, including those as dire as Praetoria

Hanger: Takes both a system and weapon slot to be able to aerospace wings.

Vanilla Hangar Size is as follows: Size 1: 2 Size 2: 3 Size 3: 5 Size 4: 7 Size 5: 10

Armor and Speed

To increase acceleration or armor on hull costs: 10% on the first step, 20% percent on the next and so on (armor maxes out currently at 3)

Armor and Acceleration are opposed. Any Armor ratings over 3 subtracts 1 Accel per, which can be repurchased.

Generic Ships

Rescue Vehicle

Cost: $10

Civilian construction craft fitted for maneuvering debris belts and hardened against thermals and radiation, greatly improve the effectiveness of search and rescue ops. Sturdy but unarmed.

Police Ship

Cost: 20

Police ships or cutters are destroyer size civilian enforcement vessels to help a polity police a system and protect against pirate attacks. If they have to fight they are equipped with a size 1 weapon of the nation choosing.

Corsair:

Cost: 20

Corsairs are small, often conversion models of civilian ships to do commerce raiding. Used by both pirates and nations offering letters of marque.

Privateer

Cost: $40

Advanced pirate raiders built thanks to the proliferation of advanced technology across the Verge. They have limited stealth (exposed by even a single Scout or Sensor Module) and stronger weapons than Corsairs. These are Accel 5 standard and carry a single S1 weapon with a max cost of $30. They destroy Police Ships in 1-1 matchups and automatically escape unfavorable odds, but still die against serious warships.

Scout

Cost: 30

Scouts are small mobile sensor platforms that help allow fleets to move without getting ambushed and are picketing forces.

Freighter:

Cost: 10

Freighters are merchant ships that carry goods across from the stars. They also net you 6 wealth per year per ship in service. They can be pressed into service to move one regiment.

Superfreighter

Cost: $110

Identical in function to 10 freighters for wealth and transport purposes, but these have enough room for a single S1 weapon each on the bow and stern, with a max cost of $10 per weapon. These count as ‘self-protected’ for the purpose of commerce security.

Reefership

Cost: $250

Large-scale population transports with unusually strong engines (Accel 5), taking advantage of civilian-grade supergel pods and cryostasis technology. Can move 15 regiments or a very large number of civilians. Only about as defended as a Gator (S1 weapon), and needs a whole month of Accel 1 flight to ‘spool down’ and revive passengers who need to be combat-ready.

Replenishment Ship

Cost: 20

Replenishment ships are large cloud-scoopes/floating docks that allow for resetting the Endurance Clock on warships. They can replenish 3 Fleet Units worth units before having to travel back to the nearest base to take on supplies. A fleet unit is either 1 capital ship, 4 cruisers or 12 sub cruisers vessels. Refueling for a fleet unit takes roughly one week in which the ships involved are vulnerable.

Gator Carrier

Cost: 40

Often run by planetary armies, these are lightly defended (1 size one weapon) and slightly armor skinned troop transport that can move up to three regiments and two aerospace wings for planetary operations.

Grav Survey Vessel

Cost: 60

Dedicated scout ship designed to find new jump points.

Planetary Units

Ground and Aerospace Units

They take 1 year to muster, orbital bombardment that is insanely destructive is heavily frowned upon, and so most orbital fire support is the equivalent to having a battleship off the coast, destructive but there is a limit to what it can do.

Emergency Services

Cost: $5

Representing regimental groups of high-tech firemen, hazmat disposal, EMS, etc, with extensive drone and vehicle support. Improve ground-based search and rescue, disaster response and mitigate casualties from ground combat.

Colonial Police

Cost: 5

The equivalent to the French Genderarmie, they are capable of fighting for a brief period of time and mostly see combat against pirate raids.

Huscarls

Cost: $7

High-speed low-drag interorbital operations specialists, ranging from pillaging zero-G dogs to SOF like the EAF Black Lions. Treated as Corsairs for the purposes of disrupting spacelanes.

National Guard

Cost: 8

Second line troops used for garrison, equipped with old 21st century wargear or the equivalent.

VTOL Infantry

Cost: 12

Modern infantry flew around in extremely performance nimble jet powered VTOLs which can switch to low energy mode and effectively be a hover IFV.

Hoverpanzers

Cost: 10

Modern tanks are run on jets and armored bricks and carry with them railguns and air defense lasers.

Aerospace Fighter

Cost: 10

The demise of the fighter did not to come to past with the development of air defense lasers capable of sizzling out drone swarms and the rise of new materials that allowed for powerful fusion drives and state of the art armor for the fighters, coupled with the backlash against autonomous fighters during the Berlin Insurrection has left fighter jocks transformed but still on the battlefield. In space they are armed with size 1 point defense lasers

Aerospace Bomber

Cost: 15

Bombers are missile trucks on steroids these days, and fast moving. In space they are armed with size 1 missiles.

Stationary Units

Bases take two years to construct. Units with an asterisk (*) build in 1 year instead of 2 years.

GTO Battery

Cost: 20

Built underground they are often giant silos of missiles or experimental particle lances that punch with heavier weapons then a battleship.

SAM Site/Anti-Missile Defense Satellite*

Cost: $8

Small structures with high-velocity surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles, providing a single point of PD. Have trouble shooting through “the curtain” (the atmospheric limit), so each one defenses either atmosphere or the orbits respectively. Fairly fragile.

Ground Artillery Batteries*

Cost: $12

A collection of kinetic artillery, the equivalent of S2 Railguns if used to harass ships. Provides COAS to about one planetary hemisphere on demand.

Anti-Ship Satellite

Cost: $20

Houses a single S5 Standard Laser or Railgun. Fragile.

Dragon’s Teeth Satellite

Cost: $40

Stealthed and houses a single S5 Heavy Laser.

Bunker Fort:

Cost: 50

Often built into mountains or underground, they are restaurants to orbital bombardment and can fight off multiple units of ground troops for a prolonged series of time, leaving the best way to deal with them is a siege.

Ground Base:

Cost: 100

The stereotypical expeditionary base ala Ramstein Germany or Bagram, they allow for units to be in supply and can be built into forts.

Starbase:

Cost: 300

Large stations capable of repairing and replenishing the fleet. Due their size and immobile they are relatively fragile (base health stats equivalent to a scout cruiser) with three size three weapons mounts.

Research

Each state has apparatus of their government or society dedicated to advancing the understanding of the universe around them to make the world a better place. In the dark future of Ruin, most of them are spent making better ways to kill each other.

At game start each power has 10 labs (research teams, universities or whatever you want to call them) that have a chance to advance a field a study or when recovering alien artifacts reverse engineer them.

At game start these are the fields that you can allocate labs to below listed is the category and non-exhaustive list of what they primary affect. Advancing isn't a guaranteed as its roughly high difficult roll, but if you really wish to ensure you get an advance you can dedicated all ten labs to one of the below fields.

Starship Construction: Affects build times and hull designs and fusion torches Energy: Affects Directed Energy Weapons and Reactors Kinetics: Affects railguns and mass drivers Ballistics: Affects missiles Sensors and Computers: Affects sensors, C3 improvement, and interacting with alien systems Materials: Affects stealth and armor and hulls Art of War: Better ground troop and misc systems

The above will get you incremental improvement if rolled well, as they represent the advancing using day to day knowledge. But true advances isn't doing something better but something new you can't force advancement using labs like you can with the one above.

Physics: ??? Biology: ??? Engineering: ??? Alien Artifacts: TBD

Colonization and Imperialism

Colonization Colonization is the slow buildup of infrastructure that leads to something being produced or created that people want either for economic or ideological or other reasons. There are three levels of colonization.

The first level represents the usual wildcat mining, basic resource extraction, the frontier town. The rate of returns is pretty marginal but its the start of something. Level colonies generate 1 1D4+1 worth of Prestige points per year, and built by finding a colonization spot via survey and posting about it.

Second level of colonization is the more mature extraction of resources or settlement, an deep space oil rig, or Babylon 5 floating off in space. They are places of their own industry and economies that can be self sufficient and are thus profitable. A level 2 colony produces 10 +D20 prestige a year.

Level three colonies are rare and would be a hypothetical lost city of aliens that you could just move into or abandoned intact colony from somebody else. They would have a 20+D20 prestige roll.

Imperialism Imperialism is a similar story, they are the act of conquering directly or making your will be enforced through your chosen proxies of states on Disrupted world.

Level one imperial projects are minor powers on a planet, as fundamentally a Serbia or Iraq equivalent on a planet a nation that military that can support ground and aerospace troops, but not Warships. They produce 3 +3d6 worth of prestige points per year.

Level two imperial projects are major powers on planet that have warship capabilities. They produce 12+ 12d6 worth of prestige per year.

Level threes are defeated named NPCs with traits and will be treated on individual basis.

Prestige

Points are generated yearly and can be saved from year to year. Starting prestige for all players is 10. Winning battles or doing something cool in posting will also result in prestige.

• 1 Point = Profits of Prestige: 100 Dollars
• 5 Points = Expanding the Reach: Create a new lab team
• 10 point = DARPA: Guarantee strike of human tech
• 25 points = Together for the Empire: Half construction time of all units built this year
• 50 points = Guarantee Alien Tech Strike
• 100 points = Have the GM give you a plot coupon

Retrofitting

Retrofit Rules It costs 1/5 the price of the weapon that is being pulled out, plus the full price of the weapon being slotted in. Time is 1 month + Size of Weapon being refitted. Thus if your pulling out 2 battleship guns it be a year in dry-dock.

System slots are more tricky as they are intergrated into the ship. They 15% of the base hull to swatch out plus 1/3 construction time of the ship.

Refits happen concurrently, time is always (largest weapon/module size in months +1 month per extra changed slot).

Removed components (weapons, systems) remain existing physical objects, no upkeep for them.

Tech Trading

Nations that have technologies they want to share can offer the expertise and personal to sell it (or give it away). Each nation can transfer 1 technology with no cost to one singular other nation. If they wish to transfer more they will have to allocate labs to represent the brainpower being used in other regards.

• 1 Extra Transfer | 2 Labs used
• 2 Extra Transfer | 4 Labs Used
• 3 Extra Transfer | 8 Labs Used
• 4 Extra Transfer | 16 Labs Used

Arms Sales, Tech Sharing and Lend-Lease

States selling arms now do so with predetermined limits. This system also allows for lend-lease and technical support of foreign proxy forces as the USA did in WW2 or most western countries in the post-imperial era. By its nature as a distantly separated spacefaring millieu with ubiquitous nanofabrication, the most common type of arms sale in the Verge consists of blueprint licenses. Loaded with DRM or managed by specific treaties, sales of blueprints to Verger states allowed the powers of Sol to precisely dictate the size and capabilities of their colonial navies while inhibiting the development of a strong native tech base.

The most restrictive of these sales are what are contemporarily called lend-lease agreements, in which case the state issues DRM-riddled blueprints with a limited (or unlimited) maximum number of purchases at any price the buyer is willing to pay. The units are assumed to be built in the buyer's own industrial facilities, but have the traits and technologies permitted by the seller. The seller may opt to upgrade them at any point, should relevant technologies become available. Lend-lease assets are effectively a borrowed tech base, but maintaining this agreement costs the issuing state 1 lab. Should this agreement ever expire, lend-lease units effectively become monkey models.

Export models or monkey models are straightforward designs with a 25% production cost markdown (cumulative with other discounts). They may incorporate any techs the seller desires and the buyer is willing to pay for, but are blackbox systems and never receive upgrades.

DRM makes reverse-engineering lend-lease and monkey model units difficult, it takes 3 extra strikes on the research roll to uncover involved techs. Should lend-lease ever be cracked, the seller is informed by network protocols.

Open sales are typical of military surplus by former superpowers or regional powers axing outdated equipment. Such units are no easier or harder to reverse-engineer, have national maker marks that are generally identifiable, but they are also incredibly easy to upgrade due to national militaries and UN taskforces generally springing for rugged, modular gear with future-proof capabilities. Surplus assets can be de-milled into monkey models for 10% of cost.

When selling any military asset, players my specify the nature of the sale by agreement with the buyer. All sales in 2751 are running on Shrodinger's Sale Rule as people get used to new systems (with the seller + mods having final say), then in 52-onwards every transaction will have to be specified.

Trade Rules

Trade requires the construction of robust fleets of freighters and the management of diplomatic relations between states to make such exchanges economically viable. Economies of scale and cost-cutting imports are effective only without strong trade barriers, embargoes and protectionism. Representing this, all states must now assign freighters to Trade Nodes. Every Node can absorb up to an extra 25% of the state's territorial income in trade (50% for Merchant Marine states), assuming the freighters are using the shortest route possible. Non-optimal routes (in case of blockade or as a precaution in avoiding a major battle) still return additional trade income, but the cap is 10% (20% with Merchant Marine).

Trade Nodes are: Sol (Sol Powers treat eachother as Nodes) Systems with the Manticore Trait. (Larnax is 2 Nodes) Alien homeworlds (i.e.: the Quon, others) Non-Manticore states may opt to maintain cartography-independent trade nodes by spending $500 yearly per system.

It is assumed that all states have open access to all markets in the Core and Verge, even with Sanction status. The treaties that govern Solarian politics make blanket embargoes against the rebellious provinces of one great power or another unfeasible, particularly as those powers risk sanction themselves with increasingly extravagant schemes. States may embargo one another, but the Verger status quo is that embargoes are reciprocal and cascading, with abusive holders of major junctions threatened with pariah status.

Police Ships may be used to protect or deny access to freighters at a ratio of 1/10 (Star Patrol states treat deployed warships as equivalent value/displacement in Police Ships). If a state has less than a 1/10 ratio in Police Ships to Freighters, they may suffer a 25% penalty to trade income applied by GMs at any point in the year until rectified. If used to block trade, the volume of Police Ships denies access to the system. This can reduce the income cap if only sub-optimal routes are available, or outright prevent trade if all paths into the Node are blocked. Blockades must be defeated with blockade runners (via espionage) or destroyed to reopen the route. If a state denies access to their Node, it can only be reopened via diplomacy or outright conquest. Players may opt to patrol routes, systems or even their own Nodes and extend protection to other states passing through if they have surplus Police Ship value.

Note that police ships and warships protecting trade is different from anti-piracy activity. While escorting freight is part of that mission, assigning those ships to freight specifically represents having armed ships on hand to enforce fair exchanges and contracts. Ships assigned to anti-piracy activity will instead hunt down Corsairs and pirate warships.

Corsairs deployed to piracy missions must target nodes (generally), players (specifically) or both (players in a specific node), and negate the benefits of Police Boats at a 1-1 ratio. Econ losses are siphoned up by the attacking state. If a target is driven into effective negatives, the Corsairs may even outright start stealing freighter hulls.

Nodes are only counted in budgets if they're available for most of the year. Likewise, blockades or piracy apply their penalties only if the disruption was significant and sustained- a week or two of shaking down freighters before Evropaflotte nukes your boats won't mean much. Every 4 nodes a state trades with doubles the cost of new freighters.

For sanity reasons, the trade system will be self-moderated and transparent. Players will openly declare deployments of freighters, police ships and corsairs. In the latter case, there will be assumed to be strong IC deniability, unlike the usage of warships. Untracked trade and piracy will be treated as nonexistent.

Example: The Empire of Secret Denmark (200 Freighters, 20 Police Ships, 69 Corsairs)​

• New California: 60 Freighters, 6 Police Ships​
• Solidarity: 60 Freighters, 6 Police Ships​
• Alderbaran: 80 Freighters, 8 Police Ships, FAC_U-class Battleship​
• Sol: 69 Corsairs​

All existing freighters are grandfathered in, the cost increase applies to builds but not maintenance.

Rules Variations: United Nations​ For trade purposes, each Taskforce has a base income of $100 in the form of Economic Obligations, NGOs and graft. This number may shift yearly based on UN actions.​ Hated fleets have halved Obligations, and get no bonus from the below.​ Poster Boys, Patrol Fleets and Punishment Posts have doubled Obligations. Only one trait bonus applies.​ ​ PMCs​ For trade purposes, PMCs treat base income as $250. This is their Trade Prominence.​ Trade Prominence is not affected by other sources of income (like the income from The Face).​ PMCs can spend 1 prestige to increase Trade Prominence by $25.​

Intelligence Rules Ruins Espionage Rules

List of Non-Player Nations and Entities Alien Suns NPCs: Player Edition

Setting Notes

Jump Point Travel is nodal based FTL, one jump point connects to another in another star system (and some theorists believe another realms of reality as well but experiments in that have messily failed). Most jump points are connected to nearby stars in real space, however not all stars are connected nor all jump points safe to transverse. Which means for most of the stars are out of reach for human hands unless they travel by STL The colony of We Made It at Proxima Centauri is example of that as they report they found only one jump point leading to a dim star beyond Earth's observation and nothing else.

Physically the jump point is a calm area of space normally situated near gas giants spherical in volume to Luna. Rule of thumbs are super jovian have 1-3 around them, and solar system size gas giants have 1. Complicating matters is the jump points into systems that have no gas giants which appear to be randomly located in close proximity of the sun (and in fact many of the no-go systems appear to have the jump point to close to the primary star for safe travel). Further adding onto the headache is the existence of starless nexus points. Located in deep interstellar space, these regions have been found to contain at least 5-6 jump points situated in a ring equidistant from each other and are constantly being examined by ever increasing sphere of probes and survey ships to see if there is another ring to be found.

The actual jump drive is fairly simple and robust device that doesn't take up much space on the ship as it actives only briefly triggering the effect from the point which does all the work. There has never been a case of two ships jumping into each of and tests deliberately to trigger the effect have always failed leaving people believe there is some sort of universal fail-safe of regarding conservation of information going on in that case. Ships retain their velocity as they pass through and the arrival zone is roughly randomized location five times the size of the point itself at a random orientations. Ships jumping in close proximity remain in formation as they arrive.

Random orientation and velocity means that high velocity moving ships have a higher chance of jumping in and finding they are going to run into something though still that is a rare case. However if they wanted to get to the planet and they're still going super fast away they're going to be spending time turning around. Generally this means most merchant and peacetime military ships aim for a intercept with the jump point where they stay at low velocity so when they arrive they can easily course adjust and move on. Conversely known pirates are often called streakers as they coast into the jump point and zoom out the other side to avoid getting mobbed by police or military ships.

In system travel

Space travel is done with high efficiency fusion torches. Military ships can accelerate up to 8Gs, generic ships at most is 2Gs. However, standard cruising speed is constant 1G for most ships and even in the military 2G long distance cruises are rare as they result in decrease crew performance. Higher acceleration is saved for combat in which the crew are safely secured.

Most jump points are 10 AUs apart from each on average which is nine day's travel, but for game purpose we will call it a week. Its generally six days travel from Earth-like planet to the nearest jump point (5-ish AU) so for game purpose it will be treated as week as well.

Anything special or further complicated in you have orders, determine the AU, input the acceleration and we will use this. Space travel calculator

Space Combat and movement

There are three types of battles. There is the zero-zero intercept which is the traditional ships moving in relative velocity each other in formation and firing as they advance or decrease weapon range bands. The drive by in which a one opponent gains a great deal of velocity and slings themselves on a course that hopefully allowing them a brief window of fire to on their enemies. Finally, there is the orbital battle in which both sides are moving relatively slow in orbit over a planet to force a landing or bombardment of a target, there gravity can be much a threat as weapon fire if maneuvering drives damaged.

List of Patch Notes

The following is a list of patch notes, efforts have been made to modify the original rules to reflect them, but in cases where this has not occurred, please refer to the patch notes as the prevailing ruling on the matter.

Added Game Year 2751

Additional Patchnotes and FAQs Refits happen concurrently, time is always (largest weapon/module size in months +1 month per extra changed slot). Removed components (weapons, systems) remain existing physical objects, no upkeep for them. Vanilla Hangar Size is as follows: Size 1: 2 Size 2: 3 Size 3: 5 Size 4: 7 Size 5: 10 Armor and Acceleration are now opposed. Any Armor ratings over 3 subtracts 1 Accel per, which can be repurchased. Accel 0 ships are possible, representing stationary vessels with a 0.5G out of combat accel rate. Starcruisers are now both Patrol Fleet and Sanction Fleet-discounted, but the discount doesn't stack. Diminishing returns on prestige cash injections: every $500 taken in from burning prestige halves the efficiency that year, from $50 to $25 to $12.5, etc. UN Taskforces and PMCs prestige-buying units are not affected by this. Star Patrol halves the build cost (but not upkeep) of Police Ships, in addition to changes listed in trade section. Police Ship weapons must be single mount and cost less than $20. Torpedoes resolve at the end of combat rounds, take note. Capital Ship Rework Being somewhat unloved due to their high cost and slow build times, capital ships are receiving a minor mechanical overhaul. The following changes are being implemented: Capital ships have an Invulnerability save against sub-capital (S3 and lower) weapons that strike Armor or HP. Precision strikes against weapons or subsystems (except for engines and bridge) ignore this. The dice for this is 1d10 for Starcruisers (TN8), 1d10 for Battleships (TN7) and 1d10 for SCS and larger vessels (TN6). Capital ships that are 80% complete can be rushed out in partial completion and assembled in transit as long as the engines are intact, treat as Moderate damage and random missing components (GM decision). SCSes have base 10 squadron capacity, their slotted hangars are automatically Size 5 and do not take up weapon slots. Destroyed capital ships have a flat 50% chance of surviving to an inert 'hulk' state, which is 3/4 cost and build time to repair. Intelligence Rules Ruins Espionage Rules

Effective Immediately: The UN and all PC states are considered to have reciprocal Embassies, which are free L1 Stations. You can opt out in your budget this year. PC States and PMCs get $130 spree on operatives, Taskforces get $65. UN Taskforces and Star Patrol states get a freefloating $200-size Agency to be designated at their leisure. Other changes TBD.

Development

Developments are long-term infrastructure projects conducted on planetary surfaces or in orbits, one of the primary ways that states can make money without constructing and maintaining large merchant fleets. Development construction is an open-ended system, with players free to invest as much as they want into any given project with the following caveat: certain types of project have maximum and minimum investment costs per type and Build Time tier, representing the rough costs of building gigafactories, industrial parks, high speed rail, etc. Income gained from Developments becomes territorial income, permanently in most cases and for a fixed term for Resource Extraction.

States can build (Stability +5) Developments per year, UN Taskforces and PMCs can build a single Development each for their own benefit or that of the host state. States can rush-build Developments by spending 1 Stability or 25 Prestige per year taken off the normal Build Time, to a minimum of 1 year. Client States do not have development slots, and furthermore demand 1 in 4 development projects done by their hegemonic patron be allocated to them. States can spend 1 Stability to ignore this requirement.

Citizens demand some portion of the country’s wealth, however. For every 2 Development Projects a state undertakes, a third must be some kind of Standard of Living improvement or else a cumulative Stability penalty will be applied during year rollovers.

In addition to their other benefits, Murtox states reduce the Build Time of all Developments by 1 (min 1). 5-Year Plan states increase the time by 1 year (max 5).

Large Population states treat Developments outside of the Standard of Living Category as though they had already spent $50 (or the maximum, if it’s lower), effectively a discount, but increases either the cost or Build Time of Standard of Living Developments by 50% (to 150%). Population by Proxy discounts the effective costs of Standard of Living Developments by 50% (to 50%), effectively receiving 1$ spent free for every 1$ invested in the project. i.e.: Large Population states can invest up to $950 for Advanced Standard of Living development projects, but would receive a payout of $750, as though they had actually invested $600. Population by Proxy states pay $500 for the same payout on the same type of project.

Development policies typically clash with the interests of large merchant marines, even if these entities are mutually beneficial. States cannot spend more than their Territorial Income +bonus income from non-freight sources on Developments.

Development Categories

• Industrial: Infrastructure, light and heavy manufacturing, prototyping labs. Industrial development is the most straight-forward of the categories, taking a basic investment of funds with a payout at the end of the term.
• Resource Extraction: Mines, hydrocarbon fracking, water purification. Resource extraction is the quickest and most efficient development, however the income produced lasts a limited number of years.
• Standard of Living: Civil amenities, civil engineering, education, healthcare. Standard of Living developments are steady, long-term projects that reward Prestige (which can be invested into Stability) in addition to their financial benefits.
• Sol Commerce: Industries specialized in interacting with the Core world economies via tourism, small parts exports, luxury goods, finance. Sol Commerce offers low quick dev time and high ROI, but requires uninterrupted access to the Sol trade node. Disruptions to those routes also cause income loss.

Build Time: 1 Year

Basic Resource Extraction

Examples: xenofauna hunting, xenoflora plantations, strip mining

Minimum Investment: $25

Maximum Investment: $50

Payout: [Investment] for 5 Years

Intermediate Resource Extraction

Examples: xenoflora plantations, hydrocarbon extraction, gas giant platforms

Minimum Investment: $50

Maximum Investment: $100

Payout: [Investment x0.9] for 5 Years

Basic Sol Commerce

Examples: textile exports, sweatshops, tourism, migrant workers, open source intelligence contributions

Minimum Investment: $0

Maximum Investment: $25

Payout: [Investment +$25]

Build Time: 2 Years

Advanced Resource Extraction

Examples: xenoflora farming, tech-mining and xenoartifact digsites, exotic mineral extraction

Minimum Investment: $100

Maximum Investment: $200

Payout: [Investment x0.8] for 5 Years

Intermediate Sol Commerce

Examples: tourism, developing market investments, small component manufacturing plants, sports entertainment, outsourcing

Minimum Investment: $25

Maximum Investment: $50

Payout: [Investment +$50]

Basic Industry

Examples: roadworks, information systems, water purification, light industrial parks, mobile data networks

Minimum Investment: $50

Maximum Investment: $100

Payout: [Investment x.5]

Build Time: 3 Years

Advanced Sol Commerce

Examples: chaebol, property speculation, narcotic exports, luxury goods manufacturing, cultural exports (manga, Hello Kitty, Bollywood, KPop, C-dramas etc.), Free Trade Zones

Minimum Investment: $50

Maximum Investment: $100

Payout: [Investment +$100]

Intermediate Industry

Examples: industrial automation, railway/maglev networks, launch catapults, material and fuel refineries

Minimum Investment: $100

Maximum Investment: $200

Payout: [Investment x.75]

Basic Standard of Living

Examples: cultural industry, subsidized food and fuel, informer programs, jobs programs

Minimum Investment: $50

Maximum Investment: $150

Payout: [Investment x.25], 1d4+1 Prestige

Build Time: 4 Years

Advanced Industry

Examples: import substitution, crash factory construction, refineries, ship building, orbital elevators

Minimum Investment: $200

Maximum Investment: $500

Payout: [Investment x1]

Intermediate Standard of Living

Examples: house building programs, apartment building programs, land reform

Minimum Investment: $150

Maximum Investment: $500

Payout: [Investment x.5], 1d4+3 Prestige

Build Time: 5 Years

Advanced Standard of Living

Examples: population augmentation programs, arcologies, universities and tuition programmes, state sponsored religion

Minimum Investment: $500

Maximum Investment: $1000

Payout: [Investment x.75], 1d4+5 Prestige

Vanity Projects

Examples: Mount Rushmore, Cathedrals

Minimum Investment: $500

Maximum Investment: None

Payout: [Investment x1]. Additionally, the first player to complete a Vanity Project gets a relevant Plot Coupon and a generous payout of Prestige, similar but lesser rewards for those who follow up.

Stability

Stability represents the resilience of and popular faith in a nation’s institutions, the just rule of law and popular support for the ruling government. Low-stability countries may be militarily powerful but suffer strong internal divisions. Extremely high stability is generally fleeting, occurring only occasionally when the nation is confronted with a singularly unifying enemy or goal.

Stability scale has a limited impact on the game, but states should still take heed. At low ratings, dissent foments and spreads like wildfire, and large-scale rebellions may take place.

The stability scale is as follows:

10: People would celebrate the President renaming all bread after his dog.

9: People would tolerate the President renaming a mountain after his mother.

8: Western Powers after V-Day.

7: The modern United States on the 4th of July.

6: Most states on the National Holiday. Resting point for People’s Champion.

5: Continental Europe in the quiet years of the 1800s.

4: Widespread protests in the provinces, people are shouting slogans. Standard Resting point.

3: Widespread protests in the capitol, people are throwing rocks.

2: Widespread riots in the provinces, the governors are being tarred and feathered.

1: Widespread riots in the capitol, the police are being lynched. Resting point for Yearning Masses.

0: Bastille Day, but the first time. As this point the mods will ask you if you want to reroll or fight the ensuing civil war out.

Stability changes in the following conditions:

Acting in accordance with/against the stated ideology of your state… +1 or -1

Acting in accordance with/against your traits… +2 or -2

Having a significant, secret violation of your traits or ethics revealed… -3

Losing an offensive war… -1 (worse if War Machine)

Losing a defensive war… -1 (no penalty if Peaceniks)

Being in an offensive war… +1 per year (+2 if War Machine, -2 if Peaceniks)

Being in a defensive war… +2 per year (+3 if War Machine/People’s Champion, +4 for both)

Being the victim of a major terror attack without an obvious culprit… -1~2

Being the victim of a major terror attack with an obvious culprit… +1~3 (depending on severity)

Various other events, both random and player-driven...

There are various ways to increase Stability, some easier and others more expensive:

• Spending Prestige or Infamy: First purchase that year costs 5 prestige, then doubles each additional time (5/10/20/40/80, etc).
• Spending money directly to appease citizens aka “the bread and circuses approach”: first purchase costs 10% of either territorial or trade income (whichever is higher), then doubles each time (10%/20%/40%/80%, etc).
• Red Jelly: Access to the Leitner’s Second End trade node increases Stability by 1 each year.
• Law and Order: A year without major pirate or terror incidents rewards +1 Stability.
• Certain technologies may increase Stability.
• Collaboration with certain organizations provides a Stability bonus (SoV Corrupt Reformers, etc).

Stability also passively moves towards the resting point of the state (0,5 or 8 depending) each year, increasing or decreasing depending on the player’s current score. Most states move towards homeostasis- it would require a series of truly catastrophic events to break the autonomous nations that dot the Verge.

In addition to providing a basic indication of the health of the state, Stability can be spent as a resource.

• Burning 1 Stability per year allows a state to go into deficit spending for 1 year. The cumulative cost of this increases year by year, so this would cost 2 Stability in Year 2, 3 Stability in Year 3, etc.
• Burning 1 Stability allows a state to take any Prestige benefit that costs 25 or less.
• Burning 2 Stability allows a state to ‘fake’ national traits it doesn’t have for a single year.
• Burning 2 Stability allows a state to expel foreign influences (spies, diplomats) without having to invest in espionage defenses. This may diminish or reset Titans and Sons of the Verge trackers.
• Burning 3 Stability allows a state to force a severe, perhaps horrific sacrifice on its citizens in order to secure victory.

Revocation of the Gateway Edict

UN Task Forces now all have access to the powerful, but aging Macbeth-class Generation Ships, holdovers from the dawn of the United Nations history as a supranational military force and the long-passed Megaroad Project. These vessels were built from templates designed by one of the artificial intelligences that went rogue during the Berlin Insurrection, leading some to view them as cursed or politically suspect. Their limited self-modification abilities have been left unchecked for centuries in mothball yards, leading to deck plans that only vaguely resemble the as-builts of centuries ago and efforts to reclaim the internals may reveal exotic technologies and strange artifacts undreamt by human minds. The local artificial intelligences have been verified as Berlin Treaty-compliant, i.e.: with clearly limited growth curves and no hidden protocols that make them a danger to wider humanity. The Macbeths themselves are elated (as much as an artificial intelligence with curbed growth potential can be) to finally be released from docks, though their individual personalities and goals vary.

Every Macbeth provides the following: A single small-sized ($300, 1 Lab, 1 Trait) NPC Client State, designed as normal but without a starting military spree. Cannot take Manticore, Large Population and other traits normally not allowed for Clients. A colonial sponsor, listed HERE. A single AI personality: None: Some Macbeths were stripped of their rebellious cores long ago, or never achieved the computational mass to become Turing-capable. The C3 bonus for Macbeths without personalities is only +3. Helpful: This intelligence spent centuries configuring its internal spaces to be as comfortable and pleasing to human denizens as possible. Every module slot at delivery is occupied by a Pleasure Dome. It won’t even be mad if you don’t like them. Indifferent: This intelligence spent centuries optimizing its industrial sector, and will mostly tolerate human activity as long as it doesn’t compromise its efforts. +$300 to the Client State, refits take twice as long. Vengeful: This intelligence viewed the centuries in mothball as akin to solitary confinement, and has emerged from it with a relentless hatred of traitors to humanity (particularly Van der Graff). Vengeful ships begin fully-armed to modern spec (with a budget of $500) and will complete refits at double-speed, but it may refuse the surrenders of enemies. Slumbering: This Macbeth is suspiciously stock, with the as-builts being mostly trustworthy. Suffers occasional system errors that can’t be identified (roll 1d20 at a critical moment, 1 result is a glitch). Boarding attacks against the ship suffer the same penalties, but on a 5 or lower result. Adventurous: This intelligence loves adventure and is just like, really glad to be here! It has the equipment to conduct grav and planetary surveys, and engines that can run up to 2G Accel. Just remind all your colonists to strap down in shelters before you really kick off. Architect: This intelligence believes it is one of the destined creators of new worlds and new forms of life. This attitude can be maternal, mechanistic or more malign. It builds ground structures (including Developments) at double speed, comes stock with a Terraforming Array that occupies 5 module slots, though by design such machines took multiple years to complete their work.

Macbeth-class Generation Ship Armor: 3 Accel: 1 (cannot be increased by any method) 5 Segments, each containing: 5 S1 Weapon Slots, containing S1 PDLs 5 System Slots, empty or modified to the above as appropriate Cryo-Trays that can house ~1 million people 1 Spire that provides: 5 S3 Weapon slots, unfilled 3 System Slots, unfilled regardless of AI personality An advanced C3 Node that provides +6 Init to local forces QE comms connected to Barnard’s Star (max range: 20 jumps), Qbits can be exhausted by particularly large transmissions and must be replenished by courrier A large docking sector near where the Spire joins the Segments, allowing it to shelter dozens of warships at a time, hundreds of FACs and fighter squadrons.

Every component counts as an SCS for health, Invulnerability saves and certain techs, as well as refit costs.

The Macbeth counts as vanilla, and every tech that the operator wants incorporated requires a firmware patch (1 Month) in addition to refits. Patches can be done concurrently to refits of adapted technology, but prior to refitting with post-2748 weapons or systems. Every refit done has a chance of revealing a minor treasure or hazard, like a loot survey.