Agents Of Empire/Mechanics II
Overview
Here's what's new in part 2 of the game. If not mentioned, everything from the old mechanics and economics pages are still in effect.
Regions
Instead of individual hexes, planets are now divided into regions (the colony planets have ten regions each).
Exploration
Regions can be unexplored, or explored rank I through IV. To explore a region from rank N-1 to rank N, it takes a rank-N explorer 6 turns (or two rank-N explorers 3 turns, or a rank-N*2 explorer 3 turns). Exploration locates features of interest, which can be things like potential mine spots or things of interest to characters.
Type
Regions have a type: natural, mining, refining, factory, or mercantile, and a rank in that type (I through IV). The rank of a region can be no higher than the exploration level. Each type has a cost per level (to raise it from I to II, say, or convert a natural region to a rank-I of that type) and a kind of thing it can consume to produce another kind of thing each turn, as follows:
| Type | Cost/Level | Consumes | Produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mining | 10 | nothing | 3 units of raw materials per rank |
| Refining | 20 | 3 units of raw materials per rank | 1 unit of processed materials per rank |
| Factory | 25 | Processed materials | Cargo ships, military units, explorers, luxury goods (subtype), useful devices (subtype) |
| Mercantile | 30 | Cargo ships, military units, explorers, luxury goods, useful devices | Mega-credits |
Natural regions produce nothing, but might be good for tourism or settlement or other uses.
Mining regions can produce any combination of raw materials, but everything produced must be a type found in the region.
Refining regions must have a type specified on creation, and at least one of the raw materials in each group of three must be of that type. The processed material has a rank equal to the number of types of raw materials used in its creation.
Factory regions are used to create finished goods. The region must have a type specified on creation (cargo ships and military spacecraft; intra-system ships and military air units; explorers and military ground units; luxury goods of some subtype specified to the same degree as research institutions; useful devices specified ditto) and can only produce things of that type. To produce an item of rank N and list cost C:
- The region must be at least rank N
- Floor(C/(N+5)) units of appropriate rank-N processed goods are required (two rank-(R-1) processed goods may be substituted for one rank-R good)
- If the item is a luxury good or useful device, you can decide on N and C as part of deciding what the item is.
Example: A rank-2 cargo ship costs 33 mega-credits. Thus it requires a rank-2 factory region to produce, and requires floor(33/7) = 4 appropriate rank-2 processed goods to produce.
Note: Rank 1 and 2 explorers and military ground units can still be produced by just paying the cost in mega-credits, as before. Also, these rules replace the requirements to have a barracks, explorer's academy, shipyard, etc for creating higher-level units (but specialist and duo-specialist units still require an appropriate research institution).
Mercantile regions are used to sell finished goods. A mercantile region of rank N can, each turn, sell things with total list price of N*20 mega-credits, and individual list price of no more than half the total. Goods are sold at the list price.
Activity
In addition to features found by exploration, regions have ongoing activity -- unrest among the population, disease, native uprisings, festivals, gold rushes, etc. Putting a diplomat in the region can help reduce unpleasant activities.
Fame, Fortune, and Flattery
The colony worlds now track a Fame score and an Influence score. Fame is raised by starting new fashions, holding parties, and winning astro-polo tournaments. It is useful in spreading rumors, starting trends, and changing popular opinion. The initial fame of the colony worlds is 10.
Influence is raised by blackmail, bribery, supporting other people's bills, and making politically-advantageous deals. It is useful in getting bills passed and also in influencing other Houses outside the political process. The initial influence of the colony worlds is 10 (having spent much of their previous total on the tax bill).
Research
Research is going to be revised somehow. TBD.
Character Activity
Characters can act once per turn, as before. However, players can do at most one adventure per (real-time) week; characters' other actions can be training, assistance with House activities, or hedonistic self-indulgence.
Cut off!
While the wormhole is gone, the colony worlds must be self-sufficient: each explored region requires one unit of Food a turn, or the citizenry will suffer. Furthermore, they have no access to cash: however, units of raw material can be spent to purchase things, with each resource unit being worth 2 to 4 mega-credits, depending on its relevance to the thing being bought.
