Enemy of the State - Test Game
This is a test game for a new hybrid nation game of my own invention called Enemy of the State,representing a reckless mish-mash of inspired by a lot of other games, like Secret Hitler, Twilight Struggle, Democracy 3, Fate of the World, and a bunch of our usual forum-based nation games.
The basic premise of Enemy of the State is that a collection of players elect leaders who submit orders for their nation, as usual. However, the twist is that one player is secretly the Nemesis and others are his accomplices, who are working tirelessly towards the destruction of the nation. The Nemesis can submit his own evil orders every turn, regardless of whether he's in government or not. The government can submit any orders it pleases, while the Nemesis is limited to about 75 different possible orders.
Enemy of the State is meant to be difficult (hopefully not too difficult) for the government. There are lots of ways to lose, and the Nemesis will work to sabotage the government at every turn.
This is a test game to check for balance which is going to be played with just two players. There will be no elections (or purges or assassinations) in this test game, and the identity of the Nemesis will be known from the start. A full game would have lots of players, elections, purges, assassinations, and the identity of the Nemesis and his accomplices would be secret. There would also be a "powerful faction," like the church or the army, which would hold sway over the government.
@Gen. Marshall has volunteered to be the Nemesis for this test game, though due to an absurd concept called "time zones" he's probably not around right now.
I need someone to play for the government. The first person to sign up (excepting people on my permanent ban list, of course) gets to play as the government.
Basic Rules
Stats
The Nemesis and The Conspiracy
The Powerful Faction
Constitutional Issues
Win/Lose Conditions
Our IRC channel on Coldfront is #EoTS_Main.
This is a test game for a new hybrid nation game of my own invention called Enemy of the State,
The basic premise of Enemy of the State is that a collection of players elect leaders who submit orders for their nation, as usual. However, the twist is that one player is secretly the Nemesis and others are his accomplices, who are working tirelessly towards the destruction of the nation. The Nemesis can submit his own evil orders every turn, regardless of whether he's in government or not. The government can submit any orders it pleases, while the Nemesis is limited to about 75 different possible orders.
Enemy of the State is meant to be difficult (hopefully not too difficult) for the government. There are lots of ways to lose, and the Nemesis will work to sabotage the government at every turn.
This is a test game to check for balance which is going to be played with just two players. There will be no elections (or purges or assassinations) in this test game, and the identity of the Nemesis will be known from the start. A full game would have lots of players, elections, purges, assassinations, and the identity of the Nemesis and his accomplices would be secret. There would also be a "powerful faction," like the church or the army, which would hold sway over the government.
@Gen. Marshall has volunteered to be the Nemesis for this test game, though due to an absurd concept called "time zones" he's probably not around right now.
I need someone to play for the government. The first person to sign up (excepting people on my permanent ban list, of course) gets to play as the government.
Basic Rules
All players will elect leaders to lead the government. The elected leader will remain in power for a number of turns (years) for his term of office. Every turn, he will get to submit a certain number of orders. They can be anything he wishes, though some may be subject to veto by the powerful faction, or by the Nemesis. After the government issues his orders, the Nemesis will then issue his evil orders. The government can choose to keep the contents of their orders public or private.
I will then evaluate all orders and the next turn will begin.
One turn is one year for RP purposes.
To begin with, the government can issue 2 orders/turn and has 3 policy slots. This is not very many, as will become apparent later. It can issue orders to expand the bureaucracy to increase either or both numbers if State Power (an important stat) is high enough.
Government orders that have recurring effect are called "policies" in EotS-speak. The government can only have a certain number of policies in play at once. Scrapping or modifying a policy requires an order. I will fix the effect of a policy when it comes into. (IE: Suppose a government decides to institute an income tax. I may decide this has the effect of decreasing debt by State Power/10 every turn. I will say this explicitly, and the Income Tax policy will have this effect every turn until modified or scrapped.)
Anything that the government wants to have a recurring effect is a policy. Otherwise, it will only have an up-front effect. Once the government is out of policy slots, you can't play more until you scrap a policy to free a policy slot.
If State Power is equal to or greater than 10 times the current number of policy slots+1, the government can order the number permanently increased. This will also increase debt. If State Power is equal to or greater than 15 times the current number of orders+1, the government can do the same.
(This means the max number of policy slots is 10 and the max number of orders/turn is 6.)
Beware, the Nemesis can occupy policy slots with useless policies that are hard to remove, or even permanently decrease the number of policy slots or orders the government has! However, the government will always have at least one order and one policy slot.
Finances and stat changes are generally simple in EotS. Only orders, policies (or in the Nemesis' case, disasters), change stats. I will occasionally throw out an event. Nothing else does. There is, for example, no automatic debt service.
If I say a policy costs X, that policy will increase debt by X/national wealth, then rounded up. IE: If you have a policy of cost 100, and national wealth is 21, that policy will increase debt by 5. Costs can go well over 100. I will usually warn the government if an order would bankrupt the nation.
Orders will be classified (by the GM, after they are sent) into five categories: Political, Social, Economic, Military, and Diplomatic. The government isn't restricted in any way as to which categories of orders it's allowed to issue in the beginning. However, the Nemesis may block or prevent the government from playing orders in certain categories, at least temporarily, as time goes on. Heavy-handed government policies, like authoritarian government, may also block the Nemesis from playing cards and disasters in certain categories.
Orders can belong to more than one category. From the government's perspective, classification or orders into categories is usually purely bureaucratic and doesn't matter much. It matters more to the Nemesis.
Players who are purged or assassinated cannot run for leader at the next election, and their vote only counts for half at the same.
I will then evaluate all orders and the next turn will begin.
One turn is one year for RP purposes.
To begin with, the government can issue 2 orders/turn and has 3 policy slots. This is not very many, as will become apparent later. It can issue orders to expand the bureaucracy to increase either or both numbers if State Power (an important stat) is high enough.
Government orders that have recurring effect are called "policies" in EotS-speak. The government can only have a certain number of policies in play at once. Scrapping or modifying a policy requires an order. I will fix the effect of a policy when it comes into. (IE: Suppose a government decides to institute an income tax. I may decide this has the effect of decreasing debt by State Power/10 every turn. I will say this explicitly, and the Income Tax policy will have this effect every turn until modified or scrapped.)
Anything that the government wants to have a recurring effect is a policy. Otherwise, it will only have an up-front effect. Once the government is out of policy slots, you can't play more until you scrap a policy to free a policy slot.
If State Power is equal to or greater than 10 times the current number of policy slots+1, the government can order the number permanently increased. This will also increase debt. If State Power is equal to or greater than 15 times the current number of orders+1, the government can do the same.
(This means the max number of policy slots is 10 and the max number of orders/turn is 6.)
Beware, the Nemesis can occupy policy slots with useless policies that are hard to remove, or even permanently decrease the number of policy slots or orders the government has! However, the government will always have at least one order and one policy slot.
Finances and stat changes are generally simple in EotS. Only orders, policies (or in the Nemesis' case, disasters), change stats. I will occasionally throw out an event. Nothing else does. There is, for example, no automatic debt service.
If I say a policy costs X, that policy will increase debt by X/national wealth, then rounded up. IE: If you have a policy of cost 100, and national wealth is 21, that policy will increase debt by 5. Costs can go well over 100. I will usually warn the government if an order would bankrupt the nation.
Orders will be classified (by the GM, after they are sent) into five categories: Political, Social, Economic, Military, and Diplomatic. The government isn't restricted in any way as to which categories of orders it's allowed to issue in the beginning. However, the Nemesis may block or prevent the government from playing orders in certain categories, at least temporarily, as time goes on. Heavy-handed government policies, like authoritarian government, may also block the Nemesis from playing cards and disasters in certain categories.
Orders can belong to more than one category. From the government's perspective, classification or orders into categories is usually purely bureaucratic and doesn't matter much. It matters more to the Nemesis.
Players who are purged or assassinated cannot run for leader at the next election, and their vote only counts for half at the same.
Stats
Stats are divided into the five categories: Political, Social, Economic, Military, and Diplomatic. There are three or four stats in each. Some are good (ie: high is good), some are bad, and some can be good or bad. They're all ranked 0-100 on arbitrary scales.
Five stats, one from each category, will cause the government to lose the game if they reach 0 or 100.
Political
-Approval (government loses if 0)
-Corruption
-State Power
Social
-Health
-Education
-Inequality
-Crime (government loses if 100)
Economic
-National Wealth
-Debt (government loses if 100)
-Unemployment
-Inflation
Military
-Quality
-Quantity
-Military Loyalty (government loses if 0)
Diplomatic
-International Hostility (may keep track of separate West/Comintern hostility)
-Trade Relations
-Foreign Influence (government loses if 100)
Five stats, one from each category, will cause the government to lose the game if they reach 0 or 100.
Political
-Approval (government loses if 0)
-Corruption
-State Power
Social
-Health
-Education
-Inequality
-Crime (government loses if 100)
Economic
-National Wealth
-Debt (government loses if 100)
-Unemployment
-Inflation
Military
-Quality
-Quantity
-Military Loyalty (government loses if 0)
Diplomatic
-International Hostility (may keep track of separate West/Comintern hostility)
-Trade Relations
-Foreign Influence (government loses if 100)
The Nemesis and The Conspiracy
The Nemesis will be randomly chosen from among all players, and he may also have several accomplices chosen by the same method. His sole task to try to make the government lose. His identity is secret. The Nemesis knows the identity of his accomplices, but they don't know his identity, or each other's identities.
Like the government's leader, the Nemesis submits orders every turn (after the government). However, unlike the government, he can't submit whatever orders he pleases. Instead, he has five decks of cards in each of the policy categories. Each deck contains about 15 cards. Many of them are quite power - he can start wars, economic and political crises, and even destroy the government... if he plays his cards right.
The government will be told what the Nemesis played, but not what he drew.
The Nemesis gets a certain number of draws, orders, and disasters. His draws are how many cards he can draw each turn. He gets to choose which decks to draw from. He can draw from the same deck any number of times. He draws a new hand at the start of every turn.
Orders are how many orders he can issue. Disasters are evil policies - cards that have recurring negative effects for the government. Typically, the government will have to meet certain requirements or take other logical action to remove them from play. The Nemesis may also scrap them to make way for other disasters.
Regular cards are shuffled back into their decks at the end of each turn.
Each deck also contains one unique disaster. This card may only be played once, and is removed from the game after being played.
Hint: The Nemesis' most powerful card is a special unique disaster that does not start in any deck. It can be brought into play only by combined action of the Nemesis and the government. Why would the government ever take such action? Well, you'll find out...
To make things interesting, neither the government nor the Nemesis are informed of what cards are in the Nemesis' deck. Both will have to learn as the game goes along.
If the Nemesis is purged, assassinated, etc., he will not be able to choose his cards and will instead topdeck for the next turn.
Once per game, the Nemesis' accomplices may exercise a one-time ability to add a card to the Nemesis' hand. They lose this ability if they are ever purged, assassinated, etc., but regain it if they are elected to the leadership.
The Nemesis wins the game if he becomes Dictator-for-Life by any means.
Like the government's leader, the Nemesis submits orders every turn (after the government). However, unlike the government, he can't submit whatever orders he pleases. Instead, he has five decks of cards in each of the policy categories. Each deck contains about 15 cards. Many of them are quite power - he can start wars, economic and political crises, and even destroy the government... if he plays his cards right.
The government will be told what the Nemesis played, but not what he drew.
The Nemesis gets a certain number of draws, orders, and disasters. His draws are how many cards he can draw each turn. He gets to choose which decks to draw from. He can draw from the same deck any number of times. He draws a new hand at the start of every turn.
Orders are how many orders he can issue. Disasters are evil policies - cards that have recurring negative effects for the government. Typically, the government will have to meet certain requirements or take other logical action to remove them from play. The Nemesis may also scrap them to make way for other disasters.
Regular cards are shuffled back into their decks at the end of each turn.
Each deck also contains one unique disaster. This card may only be played once, and is removed from the game after being played.
Hint: The Nemesis' most powerful card is a special unique disaster that does not start in any deck. It can be brought into play only by combined action of the Nemesis and the government. Why would the government ever take such action? Well, you'll find out...
To make things interesting, neither the government nor the Nemesis are informed of what cards are in the Nemesis' deck. Both will have to learn as the game goes along.
If the Nemesis is purged, assassinated, etc., he will not be able to choose his cards and will instead topdeck for the next turn.
Once per game, the Nemesis' accomplices may exercise a one-time ability to add a card to the Nemesis' hand. They lose this ability if they are ever purged, assassinated, etc., but regain it if they are elected to the leadership.
The Nemesis wins the game if he becomes Dictator-for-Life by any means.
The Powerful Faction
Optionally, there may be a powerful faction, whose members are unchanging and chosen at the start of the game. The powerful faction represents a group with undue influence over the government. Each has veto power over one area of policy. The leader of the powerful faction can issue one order a turn.
It can be one and only one of the following:
The Dynasty:
A particular family or dynasty has a prominent place in politics.
Leader knows all political orders/policies played by the government and can veto Political orders/policies (except assassinations or purges, but including constitutional changes). Random line of succession to the leadership fixed at the beginning of the game. Leaders are the heads of the dynasty and can only be removed by either retirement or death/purge.
Leader can purge other members of the Family by order, one per order (disqualifying them from the line of succession until his death), but cannot otherwise change the line of succession. They can be rehabilitated, one per order, at a later time.
The Church:
The holy mother church holds tremendous over the people.
Leader knows all social orders played by the government and can veto social orders. Leader chosen by Synod (vote of the powerful faction's members), but can only be removed by either retirement or purge/death.
Leader can expel (excommunicate) other members of the Church by order, one per order. Excommunications are lifted on the death of the Leader, but excommunicated players can't vote for his successor.
The Business:
Corporations and businessmen have managed to wrangle vast power in our society.
Leader knows all economic orders/policies played by the government and can veto the same. Leader chosen by vote for a term fixed by the faction and can be sacked by no confidence vote of the faction at any time.
The Military:
The army has a tremendous historical role in our politics.
Leader knows all military orders/policies played by the government and can veto the same (except his own sacking) as the RP head of the nation's armed forces. If he dies or resigns, the government may choose his successor by order. He can also be sacked by order of the government. If he is sacked, the faction members will vote to either support or oppose his sacking. Military loyalty will be decreased in proportion to the number of military faction members who voted to oppose the sacking.
If the government does not choose a military leader whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, a random faction member will automatically be chosen at end of turn.
The Foreigners:
Due to geopolitics, a particular foreign power - probably a superpower - has gained immense sway over our diplomatic policy. Why, we're practically a satellite state over here!
Leader knows all diplomatic orders played by the government and can veto the same. Is a foreign ambassador or consul for RP purposes. Can be sacked by vote of the faction at any time.
The government may choose to expel the Leader, forcing the faction to pick a new one, or expel the embassy entirely, negating the faction's abilities. Both actions will raise Foreign Hostility and may have other effects.
It can be one and only one of the following:
The Dynasty:
A particular family or dynasty has a prominent place in politics.
Leader knows all political orders/policies played by the government and can veto Political orders/policies (except assassinations or purges, but including constitutional changes). Random line of succession to the leadership fixed at the beginning of the game. Leaders are the heads of the dynasty and can only be removed by either retirement or death/purge.
Leader can purge other members of the Family by order, one per order (disqualifying them from the line of succession until his death), but cannot otherwise change the line of succession. They can be rehabilitated, one per order, at a later time.
The Church:
The holy mother church holds tremendous over the people.
Leader knows all social orders played by the government and can veto social orders. Leader chosen by Synod (vote of the powerful faction's members), but can only be removed by either retirement or purge/death.
Leader can expel (excommunicate) other members of the Church by order, one per order. Excommunications are lifted on the death of the Leader, but excommunicated players can't vote for his successor.
The Business:
Corporations and businessmen have managed to wrangle vast power in our society.
Leader knows all economic orders/policies played by the government and can veto the same. Leader chosen by vote for a term fixed by the faction and can be sacked by no confidence vote of the faction at any time.
The Military:
The army has a tremendous historical role in our politics.
Leader knows all military orders/policies played by the government and can veto the same (except his own sacking) as the RP head of the nation's armed forces. If he dies or resigns, the government may choose his successor by order. He can also be sacked by order of the government. If he is sacked, the faction members will vote to either support or oppose his sacking. Military loyalty will be decreased in proportion to the number of military faction members who voted to oppose the sacking.
If the government does not choose a military leader whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, a random faction member will automatically be chosen at end of turn.
The Foreigners:
Due to geopolitics, a particular foreign power - probably a superpower - has gained immense sway over our diplomatic policy. Why, we're practically a satellite state over here!
Leader knows all diplomatic orders played by the government and can veto the same. Is a foreign ambassador or consul for RP purposes. Can be sacked by vote of the faction at any time.
The government may choose to expel the Leader, forcing the faction to pick a new one, or expel the embassy entirely, negating the faction's abilities. Both actions will raise Foreign Hostility and may have other effects.
Constitutional Issues
Okay, so here's the deal. I've had enough of Constitutional conventions for one lifetime (EoE, PttP, etc...), so here's how we're treating the Constitution. You can change the constitution when the government attempts to do so. It proposes an amendment/a new constitution, which all at the same time changes one or more of these issues:
Title of Leader: (President/Prime Minister/Grand Czar/whatever)
Name of Nation: (Republic/State/Kingdom/Anarchy/whatever)
Election Process: (First Past the Post/Top 2 runoff/ranked choice/instant runoff/whatever/none)
Leader Term: (any # of years up to 10/for life)
Term Limit: (any # of terms or years/no limit)
Removal Process Mid-Term: (specify necessary majority/none)
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: (specify majority/impossible)
Opposition Parties Allowed: (yes/no) - if no, the President can disqualify opposition candidates, one player per order
Can Purge/Kill Players: (yes/no) - if yes, the government can purge one player per order
Government Must Reveal Orders: (yes/no)
The players vote on the government's proposed amendment. If they attain the necessary majority of ayes over nays (modified by assassinations and purges), the constitution is so amended.
The government can only call one such vote per turn, but can propose an amendment that changes several of these at once.
Title of Leader: (President/Prime Minister/Grand Czar/whatever)
Name of Nation: (Republic/State/Kingdom/Anarchy/whatever)
Election Process: (First Past the Post/Top 2 runoff/ranked choice/instant runoff/whatever/none)
Leader Term: (any # of years up to 10/for life)
Term Limit: (any # of terms or years/no limit)
Removal Process Mid-Term: (specify necessary majority/none)
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: (specify majority/impossible)
Opposition Parties Allowed: (yes/no) - if no, the President can disqualify opposition candidates, one player per order
Can Purge/Kill Players: (yes/no) - if yes, the government can purge one player per order
Government Must Reveal Orders: (yes/no)
The players vote on the government's proposed amendment. If they attain the necessary majority of ayes over nays (modified by assassinations and purges), the constitution is so amended.
The government can only call one such vote per turn, but can propose an amendment that changes several of these at once.
Win/Lose Conditions
If 50 turns pass without the government losing, they win.
The powerful faction will have its own specific win condition. It usually requires 50 turns to pass without the government losing as well.
The Nemesis and his accomplices' goal is to cause the government to lose the game.
If Approval reaches 0, there is a revolution. The government loses.
If Crime reaches 100, society descends into lawless anarchy. The government loses.
If Debt reaches 100, the nation goes bankrupt. The government loses.
If Military Loyalty reaches 0, there is a military coup. The government loses.
If Foreign Influence reaches 100, foreign powers take over your country. The government loses.
If the Nemesis becomes dictator-for-life, he wins and the government loses.
The powerful faction will have its own specific win condition. It usually requires 50 turns to pass without the government losing as well.
The Nemesis and his accomplices' goal is to cause the government to lose the game.
If Approval reaches 0, there is a revolution. The government loses.
If Crime reaches 100, society descends into lawless anarchy. The government loses.
If Debt reaches 100, the nation goes bankrupt. The government loses.
If Military Loyalty reaches 0, there is a military coup. The government loses.
If Foreign Influence reaches 100, foreign powers take over your country. The government loses.
If the Nemesis becomes dictator-for-life, he wins and the government loses.
Our IRC channel on Coldfront is #EoTS_Main.
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