As all now know, Sam wrote Cataphracts, and then introduced voting and roles for non-commander players in Over/Under. I am still waiting for the write-ups about how that game played out with extremely keen interest.
I've been thinking a bit about lower-upkeep player roles in a Cataphracts game. Having now played in two games and spoken with the Phlox server crew about them quite a bit, this is something that comes up a lot. For some people (myself included) the real-time investment is a huge positive about the system, and for others it's a source of stress.
This very loose post comes by way of the 'lots of players with low impact' Fairy class I wrote recently, and the older and way more fiddly At Your Order! rules.
All the following assumes that normal Cataphracts armies are running around pursuing their goals and politicking as usual.
In addition:
Metabolic Vehicles
A Metabolic Vehicle is like a cross between a settlement and an army. It is mobile, and manned by Crew, who are controlled by human players. Crew are not humans and you can't usually replace them if they die. A Vehicle has a limited number of Crew bodies that can be invested with the spark of intelligence (read: given to a player as a character).
The Vehicle has a single Commander, who is the only person on the crew who speaks with the DM and gives orders that are translated into movement and other actions on the strategic map. The Commander is elected by the Crew aboard the vehicle.
The rest of the Crew have nothing to do with the DM. They can:
- Argue amongst themselves about what the Vehicle should be doing. Any Crew member can announce an election for a new Commander at any time (requiring at least half the crew to ratify before actually going forwards, to prevent spamming and abuse). If successful, the Commander role switches.
- Man modules on the Vehicle, which give it certain bonuses and in some cases allow for basic functionality, like movement on the map.
- Withdraw their labour if they feel like they aren't being listened to, or for any other reason.
A Vehicle has its own objectives - each is like a mini-faction of its own. All Vehicles without exception want to grow in size by consuming other Vehicles and, eventually, settlements (those books were like a billion times better than the execrable film).
A vehicle has:
- A size (which starts between 1 and 3).
- A speed, given in army marching speeds.
- A number of Crew bodies (something between 5 and 10).
- Various means of defending itself, generally batteries and sometimes small integrated armies, detailed below.
- Modules that do various things when crewed.
A Vehicle can house 100 troops inside it per vehicle size, who move with the vehicle.
A Vehicle under attack by an Army counts as a settlement, with fortification equal to its size. Vehicles have small, non-human defensive forces on board (a single detachment of 200 light infantry as standard, with modules that can expand this). If they are captured or defeated by enemy armies, they are destroyed. Vehicles rely on their mobility and their batteries to avoid this fate.
Batteries are modules that need to be manned - they count as siege equipment, and inflict losses on attacking armies directly instead of contributing to combat power, like troops do.
When two Vehicles attack one another, they fight a battle as normal, but both defender and attacker apply their fortification bonuses. The victor can destroy a number of modules on the enemy vehicle equal to the difference in the battle rolls, of their choice. If those modules were manned, those crew roll for being killed or captured. If the losing Vehicle cannot move after its modules are destroyed, begins to be eaten by the victorious Vehicle.
While eating another Vehicle, the victor must remain in place. I takes 1 week to metabolise 1 point of vehicle size, which is then added to the feeding Vehicle; if you want to add all 4 size points after a kill, you have to stay in place for a month doing this. If the process is interrupted for any reason, and the victorious Vehicle moves on, the losing Vehicle might be able to escape.
From the DM's POV, a Vehicle is an underpowered and unaffiliated army with different logistics needs, the ability to democratically elect its commander, and a suite of abilities that can change as crew slot in and out of modules. The Commander is responsible for letting the DM know what the Crew are doing as it becomes relevant.
Basically an army that soaks 10-20 players, all of whom have a stake in how the army behaves.
MODULES TO COME
The Chorus
The second low-player-input 'class'. Members of the Chorus are civilian non-combatants who are attached to normal Player armies. They must be fed as normal by their commanders, and otherwise move automatically with the army, taking no part in its decisions.
All member of the Chorus have access to a dreamscape channel, which no one else can see. You cannot speak in the dreamscape; instead you post images from a pre-existing set of around 50. These images are something like a Tarot deck, and each has a series of open-ended interpretations associated with it, written up in a list and given as prep documentation to the members of the Chorus.
Some of these will be straight forward: 'North' 'Disaster' 'Betrayal' 'The Sea'. Others will be less so.
All members of the Chorus have access to the Dreamscape, whether or not they are part of the same faction or army. Whether the dreamscape becomes a useful tool or not depends on how they make use of it.
There are specific combinations of cards, that, when played in sequence in the Dreamscape, function as spells. None of the Chorus start with this knowledge - it can be found in the world, in settlements, towers, libraries, etc., and eventually also by discovering the other things that live in the Dreamscape.
Spells require various things to function: loot, corpses, sacrifices, etc. The Chorus will need to negotiate with their commander to acquire these things.
There is also a second world map, which, again, only the Chorus can see (and in this case, only members who have found specific spells allowing them to see it). This map is completely black and featureless. Finding the spells to illuminate it and move through it will have serious repercussions for the real world map, and the commanders moving around in it.
From the DM's POV, there can be an arbitrarily large number of people in the Chorus trying to send coded messages to each other in the Dream, and also trying to decode what the others are saying, feed these back to their commanders, etc. It's only when spells start happening that the DM has to get directly involved with individual members of the Chorus, and all spells are gated by resources that commanders have to agree to dole out, so this process should flow neatly into the usual play procedures.
Developments in the Dreamscape happen simultaneously for all Chorus members with access, removing the need for the DM to micromanage who has access to the information.
From a Commander's POV, they have a loose gaggle of freaks following them around, who give dire warnings and speak of portents, and eventually start asking for money and people to kill in horrible ways. This is also the only way to get access to magic.
DREAM-SENDING TAROT CARDS TO COME
SPELLS TO COME
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