I will be GMing a PBF game of Twilight Impering 3rd Ed. with both Shattered Empire and Shards of the Throne expansions. The rules as written will be followed (including the latest FAQ) except where noted below. The GM will have final say for any rule disputes.
Players will be selected in a biased manner. (This is being done to insure the highest odds of getting players that will stay active for the duration of the game.) People I personally know to be active get first priority, followed by people vouched for by people I personally know, followed by everyone else. If you are in the last group, actively participating in the pregame rules discussion over several days is a good way to establish some forum participation credibility.
GALAXY CONSTRUCTION
The GM will draw random tiles and create a “fair” (to the best of my ability) map to play on. (I would deal out tiles according to the rules and place for each starting location as if I was playing there, then make tweaks to the finished product to insure balance.)
METHOD OF PLAY
The game will be played using Vassal on the Vassal forums. A thread will be created there when the game is ready to begin. Until then, all discussion should be done here.
For those of you not familiar with Vassal, it is a program that was made with the intent of live online play for a large variety of games. However, it does support forum play and will be used to see the state of the game in substitute of a web site.
Players will submit turns the same as a standard PBF game – forum post outlining the turn with no need to attach Vassal files. I will then update the Vassal file and post it. You will be responsible for downloading the updated files to see the state of the game. I’m using Vassal because I think it will be easier on my end to run the game rather than coding a web site from scratch. (Vassal forums because they allow uploading of that file type.)
Unfortunately, because it is optimized for live play, there are many ways in which cheating is possible if the GM does not exercise great care. I will be assuming control in such a way that there will be no need for an honor system and cheating will not be possible. All variables will be under my control, and no one else will have unfair access. Most variables (action card deck, political card deck, objectives deck, ect) will be handled in a separate master file that no players will have access to. In the files players will have access to these decks will be removed from the play area.
All action and political cards on Vassal other than the name of the card are blank. It is expected that you have copies of the base game and both expansions to play in this game. I will not tell you what cards do.
EXPECTATIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS
Players are required to complete their turn within 24 hours of their turn coming up. Exceptions will be made when properly communicated. This includes holidays, vacation, waiting on pertinent PM communication relevant to the current action, or any other reasonable need for extension. Just be sure to communicate with the GM.
In the case of extended absence, a deputy to take turns for you is recommended.
Please do not ask for a place in this game if you are not committed to keeping up with necessary activity.
While on the topic of time, players have 24 hours from the use of an action card to sabotage. If we need to roll back the game, we will. All actions made before a roll back are at the risk of those posting the action.
OPTIONAL RULES
From base game: leaders
From Shattered Empire: variant strategy cards, race specific-technologies, artifacts, shock troops, the wormhole nexus, tactical retreats, custodians of Mecatol Rex
From Shards of the Throne: preliminary objectives, flagships, mechanized units, mercenaries, political intrigue
To be voted on by participants: space mines, facilities
HOUSE RULES
All public objective cards will be used when making the objective deck. The game will be to 10 points (not really a house rule, but good place to state this).
When a political card is drawn a player will also be given a trade good for each political card (this includes the initial two cards). Political cards may not be spent as trade goods.
In the last status phase of the game (in which a player reaches 10 points), other players with lower initiative may win if they can score more points. Example: Naalu has 10 VPs, N’orr has 11 VPs and the production strategy card, and Saar has 11 VPs and the technology strategy card – N’orr wins because while he claimed objectives after Naalu he has more points and while he is tied for points with Saar he has the higher initiative.
Other house rules may be proposed by players and can be voted on before the game starts – at least 4 votes in favor of a rule are required. The GM’s vote counts for 7.
