Xenophobia - New PBEM 4X Sci-Fi Game

[X-Elinie/RiD (Niels)]

Hello

I've been developing a game for some time now, and I am about ready to test out the domain level play elements.

I need a few players who will each be given a domain and be tasked to 4X their way to global domination.

The setting is a post-apocalyptic future Earth, as in; the apocalypse happened some time well into the future.

Tactical combat will be "realtime", meaning you declare actions that will take effect as soon as the character is ready to do them. To begin with, tactical combat will be abstracted and handled on the strategic level.

On the strategic level the game will also be continuous and real-time, although in-game time will not follow RL-time and we may jump in time to keep things interesting.

There will be no initial contact between the player domains, there will be wilderness and NPC domains to be explored first. Initial encounters will be interesting. 

Most plays and movements will take place on the forum. There is no real need to hide from the other players and it might be fun to read. - Good writing skills and inter-character interaction will be rewarded. The unseen bonus of "GM-likes".

Xenophobia is full of monsters, mutants, pure human zealots, alien grays, up-lifted critters, runaway replicators, unfettered AI's and vault worlds.

If you are interested and can commit to a few posts per week you can apply by mailing me here: xenophobia.gm@gmail.com

Applications should include:

Your level of experience with RPG's
Your level of experience with PBEM in particular
Your expected level of availability, i.e. once a month, once per week, daily, constantly online and checking for mail/posts

Please also include a description of the type of domain you'd like to play.

I will try to respond quickly to applications, to confirm they have been received, who and when I can take on a new domain will be an ongoing process though.

The game is under development and you should take the attitude of alpha tester and expect some things and rules to be adjusted as they impact reality. - Indeed, some rules will be written as prompted by in-game need.

There is no magic in the world, but there is science advanced to a level where it resembles magic and pseudo-science to spice things up.

It should not influence your time to play ROE to participate here.  - While there is a fairly hefty mathematical model running, it is behind the scenes and an ongoing process. No heavy DO to submit.

[X-Elinie/RiD (Niels)]

I wrote a short story that is set in the Xenophobia world, I guess it is the early background for an NPC somewhere. Well, here it is:

Its morning. It has to be. There is light outside, and its coming in through the cracks in the wall. Stupid wall.

Noises too. There the whinney of the millers of horse. Skittish old thing. The miller should retire him.

The women are talking. That means they are at the well still. Can nap a few more minutes.

Ugh. Smith got his furnace hot. Is hammering away now. Can't sleep in this racket.

Someone is kicking the metal door to my shack. It must be Trina. I decide its time to get up after all.

Stupid pants. I get to the door and open it. Its not Trina. Some big guy is there. He is not looking happy. Fuck.

"Who the fuck are you?" I demand.

He decides to hit me in the face. I don't even try to dodge. Its no use. I have seen his two cronies behind him, they have a rope.

I'm falling backwards. The world is graying out. If I'm unconscious, this will hurt less. I hit the floor and I am out.

I wake up. The taste of blood is in my mouth. I test my teeth with my tongue, they seem fine. I'm tied up. Figures.

Its dark. I'm not blindfolded. Its night time. I notice the crackle of a fire somewhere behind me and realize that we are not in the village any more. This is unexpected.

"I think he is awake Tom." Male voice, hoarse. He toes me in the back and I reward him with a confirming grunt of pain. He spits some foul smelling chew herb right in front of my face. Jackass.

"Yup, he's awake alright." Hoarse voice says. I already hate that guy. He walks away, I can hear the other two getting up and they converse in lower voices.

Suddenly the world jerks around and I can barely breathe. The bastards has yanked the rope around my neck, sending me rolling towards them by my throat. Who am I kidding. I hate all three of them.

"Look at him go!" cackles the other one, not hoarse. Youngish fellow, pale yellow hair. Maybe the son of the guy who hit me in the face, and who is pulling the rope in now. Dragging me to within arms length. Breathing seems a forgotten luxury and when he bends down and loosen the coil, I don't heave for air but just let it in slowly.

"Freak!" sneers the hoarse one. He is ugly too. Looks like he's been hung but someone failed to finish the job. Probably his idea to tie me like I am. Who is he to call anyone freak?

"Thats enough Clarence." The third man, Tom, finally speaks. His voice is a cool baritone. Its a voice that can command, persuade. Its instantly likable. Bastard.

"So," Tom says, looking at me. "You are the one called '8', right?" - I don't reply. Just glare at him.

He goes on. "Of course you are, with hands like that. You must be. I'm betting if we pulled off them boots of yours, your feet would show too. That not so?" Apparently this is funny as hell. Clarence and the kid are guffawing all they can.

This is usually where the beating starts. But this seems... different. The man, Tom, seems to be reading my mind for he says; "Relax Eight, we just wanna ask you a few questions. Then you'll be on your merry way."

I say nothing.

"You see, Eight. I'm Lawman, and this here outback is my territory. By the power of Damp county, I'm empowered to seek out criminals and misfits and bring law to this forgotten corner." He speaks in a calm cadence, his blue eyes locked with mine, his mustache barely moving.

"There was a disturbance up in Damp City some three months back. A lot of people wound up dead or wounded." He bends down further. Even his teeth look perfect. "They say a man with 8 fingers did it."

I'm surprised. It shows. "Relax son. I know you didn't do it. No, what I want from you is something else." He narrows his eyes. "But I'm betting you don't know the answer." For a second his hard eyes soften. Just a second. Pity. In a flash I know what he is talking about. Tracking their quarry, they heard about the weird kid in Chato. - These men are looking for someone they think might be my father.

I'm not sure what happened next. I have never known my father. Never known anything but Chato. Never known anything but scorn, ridicule and random abuse. And in a few sentences, this man has told me that there are others. Like me. And that he is hunting one that might be my father. And he pities me.

I am screaming in rage. The rope tying my hands is suddenly not there any more and I am straddling Tom, pounding his head into the rocky soil.

I stop. Then I stop screaming. I am hoarse and swallow, trying to find some moisture in my mouth. There is the taste of blood, not mine. Shit.

The pale haired kid is lying against a big rock some few meters away. His legs are bent the wrong way. There is no movement.

Clarence appears to be dead too. Either that, or he doesn't mind that his face and right arm is burning in the campfire.

I get up. This is not good. Lawmen will be missed. I look around and recognize where I am, in the hills above Chato, south trail. People come here often. I look down on the distant lights of Chato. My breath slowing to ragged gasps. There is nothing in Chato. Nothing.

A scent on the wind makes me turn to the bushes. A fragrant flower that only blooms in spring, on the north side of the mountains. "Trina?" I ask the dark. I can hear a half-sob from the bush and Trina steps out.

"I followed them out of the village. In case... in case they roughed you up so bad you needed help" I can't face her. Her hair is down, upset by the shrubs. I reach out, picking the ribbon off her shoulder, before it can fall. She takes it. For a second both her hands hold mine. She has been crying. I realize I am staring at her face and tear my self away.

She composes herself, tying the ribbon back in her hair. "You're a real idiot you know?" She begins walking over to the corpses. I stand. Stunned.

Trina rifles through their pockets, removing stuff and throwing them on her kerchief spread out on the ground. She pulls Clarence out of the fire. I wince. The smell is overpowering. It smells way too good for what it is.

I walk over and pick up a water bottle. Clean my mouth and face. I'm staring into the night again. There are others like me. I have a father.

Trina steps up to me. "Here." She says. Her voice is flat. She is holding out a backpack. From one of them. "You have to run. You have to leave Chato. Leave Damp county."

I take the backpack, and she hands me my own belt from my shack. My knife is there, my only valuable possession. Earned by weeks of hard work for Smith. "You can't take any of their weapons, they all carry a print. They would be traced." Her voice is wavering just a little and reality is sneaking up on me. My throat feels like a lump got stuck there.

"I have packed their coins, some food..." She stops. She is about to cry again. "You watch that temper of yours, ok? - Don't get yourself killed." She puts a hand on my chest. hiding her face against my shoulder. I disappear in her scent.

She is gone. Running towards Chato.

The campfire is almost out. The bodies are no longer spread around, but somewhere over the edge of the steep side of the track.

[DM B]

So that's what you've been doing - having fun while I've been working

Sounds very interesting. Evocative name for the setting.

[X-Elinie/RiD (Niels)]

Yup, I must admit to that charge. I also cancelled all other campaigns I was playing, this project has been in the drawer for long enough. Time to give it a spin.

I've played parts of the plot as a D&D variant, had a campaign running more than a year in traditional pnp style. I've gone through all the stuff I liked and didn't like from several systems and distilled it into this. Well, not so much distilled as expanded vastly on the number of variables, then packaged them back down to components to be used at the table in fairly fast paced action.

I also need outside input to prompt me to get it published on my website and put the rules into a format mortals can read and relate to.

And the name, much to my surprise there is no other game or enterprise using that particular word. I find it fantastic; there is so much meaning and concept distilled into just that one word... From individuals to cultures, in times of great stress humanity tends to turn things into "us" and "them". :-)