[HEADING=1]Rules[/HEADING]
This section will cover the aspects of covert actions, faction communication, combat, looting treasures, and player death/inactivity.
[HEADING=2]Covert actions[/HEADING]
Covert actions are actions/tasks that you wish to execute in such a manner so that other players will not know your involvement (in theory!). As the name suggestions these actions are covert - send them to me via PM.
Covert actions are done in the background of regular roleplaying. Only the results of a covert action will affect the flow of the game, unless something goes wrong and you get caught out murdering someone in their sleep or something like that. For the sake of organisation, covert actions will take place in rounds.
At the beginning of the game the first round of covert actions will start. It will be filled by everyone receiving information and orders from their factions. You can choose to do something in secret or abstain, it's your choice. You will be informed when a covert round is starting and be given a deadline, you must PM me your desired course of covert action before the indicated time expires. Once the deadline passes I will collect all of the covert actions that were sent to me that round and either write a narrative of them all happening at once or play them out over the course of the next round, depending on circumstances and whichever option would be more interesting. It will be done this way because I'd like to keep my sanity intact--with this system I only have to worry about covert actions a few times a week rather than constantly.
You may only perform
one covert action per round. This is important. Some boons or weaknesses might change this, but unless stated otherwise you can only do one. Choose carefully!
[HEADING=2]Contacting your faction[/HEADING]
Contacting your faction while on the expedition requires you to use your covert action. They're after all scattered through various solar systems--whatever method you have of contacting them (and you do have one, right?) probably takes some effort to use, and you have to keep it hidden from everyone else. However, there are times when it needs to be done.
You may contact your faction to perform the following actions:
Gather intelligence. You can ask your faction if they'll do some legwork/trawl the digital space to get you some information. You can gather intelligence on a specific player, faction, rumor, or whatever else springs to mind. Each player has an Intelligence score and a Counterintelligence stat for this purpose. You will not be informed of what your stats are, but you can make educated guesses from your Boons/weaknesses and/or specialist talents. When you make a gather intelligence action, I will roll some dice. Depending on the results of the roll you might get the information you sought: or you might receive either misleading or incorrect information, or none at all.
Report mission success/failure. You will be congratulated/berated, and either rewarded or punished. You may choose not to do this, but if you fail to report a mission success or failure and your faction hears of it, there might be unpleasant consequences. If you succeeded at an important mission, you may receive a reward as well, which can be anything from money to a resupply to a promise of greater assistance later on.
Reinforce You can ask for your faction to send some muscle your way to help out in a fight or provide a distraction. These shadowy generic figures can only provide such assistance in planets and settlements or other such places where they can easily get to, blend in and then disappear. As NPCs they can execute simple tasks (guard, follow, watch, fight..etc) and not complex tasks such as healing, hacking, infiltrating. That said, if you have access to certain boons/weaknesses you may be able to enlist greater help from these NPCs.
Please note that it does not take a secret action for your faction to contact you, only for you to contact them.
[HEADING=2]Combat[/HEADING]
There are three types of combat in New Horizons: Minor, Major, and PvP. Minor and Major are players vs the environment, while PvP is player vs player.
Minor combat is when there isn't any chance that the players could lose the combat. For example, if the Expedition comes across a biker gang armed with knives and clubs who immediately attack, there is no way the Expedition could lose that. The bikers would get cut down by plasma, zapped by tasers, shield bashed in the face. You can narrate this type of combat without any input from the GM, except for things like "The remaining enemies flee in terror." The players expend very minor amounts of resources (grenades, healing, etc) and then pat themselves on the back before moving on. Most combat will be of this type.
Major combat is another beast altogether. Major combat is any combat where the players have a high chance of being defeated. Monster attacks, hordes of hostiles, or assaults by Champions/leaders are examples of major combat. In major combat, all players involved PM me their actions (Example: "I try to sprint for the end of the collapsing bridge and shoot the Demon at the same time"). I then roll dice and determine how well that works for you. When I know whether you live or die, I tell you (Example: "You reach the end of the bridge before it collapses, and your wild shot puts a hole in the demons's chest"). Then you narrate your epic struggle in the thread for everyone else to see. Play continues like that until combat ends.
Major combat is very distinct from Minor combat actions. In minor combat, you can do whatever you like and be absolutely sure it will succeed. In Major combat, on the other hand, you will tell me what you want to do and I will roll dice to determine to what level you succeed. You might complete half of the action you wanted to, or less, or not at all.
Player vs Player combat is when players are fighting each other. Since none of the players knows the tricks that any of the others have up their sleeves, PvP can't work like major combat does, with each player writing their perspective of the battle. There are some similarities--every player involved sends me a PM with what they want to do, and I then roll dice to determine the outcome, but there the similarities end. With player vs player combat the action is narrated by the GM (me).
In PvP combat, both sides are trying to complete an action at once. In most cases, this is not possible (the usual scenario is both parties say, "I shoot him and dodge if he tries to shoot me"). The key is to remember that both actions happen at once: no "taking turns" here. I will roll dice to determine not only to what level your action succeeds but how much your opponent manages to do as well. So what you say you want to do is not necessarily what you
will do, because your opponent is trying to kill you as well.
In all versions of combat it pays to be clever or awesome. In minor combat, if you do something incredibly stupid, you'll get hurt. In major or PvP combat, doing something stupid will get you killed, and doing clever things will get you bonuses (i.e if you can stack the odds in your favor, it will help).
[HEADING=2]Treasures[/HEADING]
New Horizons is a game of exploration, among other things. During your adventures, you will delve into ancient ruins, encounter ancient cultures, and introduce anyone who gets in your way to a lot of firepower or compassion (who knows what you will do). Along the way, you will acquire treasures. Whether it's an ancient relic from a long lost civilization or the magical heart of an entire empire, your faction wants you to claim as much of the wealth that is out there as you can, in their name. And at the end of the day, who's going to notice a few small items skimmed off the top, eh?
When there is a treasure hunt occurring--that is, when multiple players are competing for the same treasure--the rule is simple: whoever returns to the The Unknown is a game of exploration. During your adventures, you will delve into ancient ruins, encounter ancient cultures, and introduce all and sundry to the marvels of the modern age. Along the way, you will acquire treasure. Whether it's the sacred idol of some tribe of cannibals or the magical heart of an entire empire, your faction wants you to claim as much of the wealth of the Unknown as you can, in their name. And at the end of the day, who's going to notice a few small items skimmed off the top? Man's gotta eat, you know.The Unknown is a game of exploration. During your adventures, you will delve into ancient ruins, encounter ancient cultures, and introduce all and sundry to the marvels of the modern age. Along the way, you will acquire treasure. Whether it's the sacred idol of some tribe of cannibals or the magical heart of an entire empire, your faction wants you to claim as much of the wealth of the Unknown as you can, in their name. And at the end of the day, who's going to notice a few small items skimmed off the top? Man's gotta eat, you know.
When there is a treasure hunt occurring--that is, when multiple players are competing for the same treasure--the rule is simple: whoever returns to the Reclaimer or the designated drop-off point with the treasure wins. At that point it is assumed that you have a secure hiding place of some kind to store your ill-gotten loot. This rule holds true unless you are being actively watched/pursued by someone, in which case you have to shake them before you can claim the treasure.
[HEADING=2]Death and Inactivity[/HEADING]
Character death is something that is going to happen. People are trying to kill you, after all, just as you're out to get them. Similarly, there are going to be periods of time (sometimes very long ones) where certain people won't post at all. Occasionally, people will just vanish, never to be heard from again. In these cases, the character will either be killed (if I am fairly certain that the player won't be returning to the game) or made to vanish. If a character is vanished--that is to say, is removed from play without being killed off "on screen," as it were--then the player may rejoin the game when/if they get back online. If that player is you, all you have to do is drop me a PM and I'll say find a way to bring you back.
The death of an active player is a whole different story. It will happen, so be careful. There are only two rules for death: First, be aware that it may not be permanent. Certain boons allow characters to return from near-death or actual-death experiences. Second, your character's secrets die with them. No telling living players who killed you, no telling anyone your faction or your mission or where you hid your secret weapon or which cup was poisoned or anything that might be of any conceivable use to a living player.
Unless, you know, they can talk to the dead. In which case, chat away.
[HEADING=1]Guidelines[/HEADING]
These are general guidelines for playing in New Horizons. Read through them so you'll know what to expect and what is expected of you.
Posting
Whenever you post in the thread, please post at least a short paragraph. Single-line posts are unacceptable. I do not want a saga worthy of a Song of Ice and Fire but I want players to put some effort into your posts.
Secrets
Your character sheet--bio, boons and weaknesses, allegiance, specials skills & equipment--is secret. The other players will only know details about you if they're obvious (your race, for instance), if you tell them, or if they receive information on you from their faction. Information from your classified character sheets will be used to create rumors for the other players to worry over, but other than that everything is a secret. You will have to figure out who your fellow players are while at the same time trying to defend yourself from the hazards of unknown space and trying to complete your missions.
New Horizons
This game is not so much about what you know as what you don't know. Information given to you might not be complete, or might be utterly false. The only things you can trust are those you've experienced with your own senses, and not even then if you have been laced with a powerful hallucinogen. You will have to act stealthily, cautiously, and subtly, always worried about what you don't know, always trying to figure out events so they make some kind of sense.
Over the course of the game two unknowns will make themselves known to you. One is the obvious one: the mysterious wormhole and the worlds that lie beyond
The other unknown is your fellow players, and that is the most dangerous one of all.
