Politics in Year of the Phoenix

or 'There Are No Blue States In 2197'

With the U.S. Presidential election a month away, now is an appropriate time to discuss politics in Martin Wixted's Year of the Phoenix role playing game.  The Phoenix boxed set comes with a 17” x 22” 'Map of Amerika' which I don't particularly care for.  So I crafted my own version and the results of my efforts can be seen above.

The “United Provinces of Eastern Russia” consists of eighteen provinces, more or less based on former U.S. States and Canadian provinces.  Connecticut has been renamed New Minsk and Alaska is now Aleyeska (similar to Alyeska).  The mid-Atlantic region south of Pennsylvania is called Tidewater and Richmond (your humble host's stomping grounds) is the administrative center of Eastern Russia.  Lake Geneva is the provincial capital of Wisconsin, Wixted's not-so-subtle dig at TSR.  Each province is run by a Deputy-Governer.  The Deputy-Governers are elected democratically; however, there is only one political party – Communist.

There are five other Zoviet satellites in North Amerika as well as several Free States.  There is much unclaimed wilderness.  Astute observers will note that the Atlantic Ocean is now the Atlantis Ocean.  This is how it appears on the original map.  Although the phrase “Atlantic Ocean” is used in the Adventure Guide, that book contains another map that shows the “Atlantis Ocean.”  I'm assuming this is an intentional renaming by Wixted; I have, however, corrected Artic to Arctic.

Wixted imbues his setting with a tremendous amount of detail; he even has a population/ climate and linguistic maps for North Amerika.  (The linguistic map seems to have an error; nothing in the provided background suggests why Spanish would be prevalent in New England and the Canadian east coast.)  Page 14* consists of an operational unit diagram for the Zoviet occupation forces – the North American Strategic Direction.  ('Nasties' – derived from N.A.S.D. – is “foul language” slang used by Amerikans to refer  to Russians.)

In a 'sidebar' on page 11, Wixted provides the following information:

          The Peoples' Province of Eastern Russia [sic] is in a state of flux.  Until last year, the military had unlimited power over any Deputy.  But that has been steadily changing.  Deputy-governors [sic] and Deputy-Mayors have been challenging the absolute power of the military, and have been somewhat successful in curtailing operations within their own province.
          Characters may be able to exploit this internal unrest.

With regard to the 'Free States,' Wixted supplies details such as how they govern themselves, their view of Zoviet rule, current actions against Zoviets, how strangers are treated, etc.  Here are the nine Free States listed in the Adventure Guide (in alphabetical order):

• Allouettes:  French Canadiens.  “Currently regrouping.”
• Creole Country:  “Cajun/Creole inhabitants of the swamps and land around Louisiana, East Texas, Southern Arkansas.  Includes several Indian tribes.”
• Dixie:  “Simplistically described as a revived Confederacy.”  Dixie is a theocracy in  Year of the Phoenix.  The area of Dixie is quite large considering they only have a population of 1,000.
• King Country:  “The majority are Black and Oriental holdings.  Most minorities who fled from Zoviet oppression have wound up here.”
• Maple Leaf Confederation:  “Union of northern New England and Canadian maritime provinces.”  Possibly fluent in Spanish.
• Mormons:  “Largest passive Free State, located around the Great Salt Lake.  Manufactures most of the Amerikan flags.”
• Native Amerikan Alliance:  “Indians from numerous reservations in the Pacific Northwest...who avoided much of the cataclysm's effects due to their relative isolation.”  Their view of Zoviet rule is – “Typical treatment by white man.”
• Nonnewaug Resistance:  “Located on the former Staten Island, they keep the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World safe until the flag of freedom once again shines from sea to shining sea.”  This 'tribe' is featured in one of the introductory scenarios.
• Star-six Country:  “Remnants of civilian and military population of Aleyeska.  Takes its name from the 6th Light Infantry Division and their star shoulder patch.  Strong martial spirit and traditions help them persevere through the harsh conditions.”

*  All page references in this post refer to the Adventure Guide.

Character Creation in Edge of the Empire (Part II)

Last week, we discussed species, careers, specializations, and skills in Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars:  Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game (Beta) – particularly with regard to character creation.  This week, we continue with our effort to define Saun Dann in game terms.

Beginning characters have experience points (XP) to allocate among various abilities.  Although called 'experience points,' they define a background for the character.  'Beginning' experience points function just like experience points awarded for participating in adventures except in one respect.  Only during character creation can experience points be used to improve characteristics.  Because of this, we should first and foremost consider applying experience points to Saun Dann's characteristics.

Saun Dann should have greater than average Cunning.  Increasing Cunning to 3 costs 30 points.  We could spend another 40 points to increase Cunning to 4, but perhaps we should consider another characteristic.  Among the skills he currently has, three are associated with Intellect – Astrogation, Knowledge (Outer Rim), and Mechanics – so it might be wise to invest in Intellect.  Thirty points brings Saun Dann’s Intellect to 3.

Saun Dann has fifty XP left to spend.  Let's look at talents.  Each specialization's talent tree has twenty available talents; some are duplicative of one another and can be purchased multiple times.  The twenty talents are arrayed in five rows of four talents each.  Talents have a cost based upon the row in which they reside.  Each talent in the top row cost 5 XP.  Each row adds an additional 5 XP; talents in the bottom row cost 25 XP.  A character can purchase any 'top row' talent in his or her specialization, but additional talents must be 'linked' to a purchased talent.  The various links between talents make talent trees resemble flow charts and the links may be structured so that a character may need to follow a labyrinthine path to 'reach' a desired talent.  For example, the Slicer specialization of the Technician career offers two (stackable) 'Technical Aptitude' talents.  One instance is in the top row and costs 5 XP.  The other instance is on the second row and costs 10 XP; however, the most direct path to the second row instance would require the character to spend over 100 XP in purchasing the 'prerequisite' talents on that path.

Let's have Saun Dann buy three of the four top row talents on the Explorer/Trader tree.  At five points each, that's 15 XP.  These three talents are:  Know Somebody, Wheel and Deal, and Convincing Demeanor.  For every rank of 'Know Somebody,' Saun Dann can (once per adventure) reduce the rarity of “a legally available item” he attempts to purchase.  For every rank of 'Wheel and Deal,' Saun Dann obtains “10% more credits“ when “selling goods legally.“  For every rank of 'Convincing Demeanor,' Saun Dann removes a setback die from “Deceit or Skulduggery checks.“

The remaining top row talent is 'Smooth Talker' and it seems kind of bogus to me.  If Saun Dann were to obtain this talent, he would choose a skill from among Charm, Coerce, Negotiate, or Deceit.  For the sake of example, let's have him choose Deceit.  When making a Deceit check, Saun Dann may “spend“ a 'Triumph' result to gain an additional number of successes “equal to ranks in Smooth Talker.“  It seems that 'Smooth Talker' is only useful with multiple ranks.  There is one more 'Smooth Talker' talent in the Trader talent tree and it does not appear in any other trees.

Saun Dann has 35 XP left.  He could acquire one of the other two Explorer specializations for 10 XP or he could acquire a specialization from another career for 20 XP.  However, there are no other specializations which would seem to be necessary for our conception of Saun Dann.

What about some more skills?  Well, as of yesterday's update, Surveillance is no longer a skill.  This would seem to reduce the efficacy of the 'Street Smarts' talent and the good people at Fantasy Flight have not yet given a substitute career skill to the Scout specialization.  Of course, this doesn't have anything to do with Saun Dann; I'm just griping.  Oh, I don't care about the Surveillance skill, but if Fantasy Flight is going to get rid of something, they should address all of the repercussions.  So, for Saun Dann, how about a Gambling skill?  Sorry, no Gambling skill in EotE-B.  Hello, Fantasy Flight!  How did Han get the Millennium Falcon?  How did Lando get Bespin?  It seems to me that gambling has a place in the Edge of the Empire milieu.  Well, 'Perception' and 'Cool' are both career skills for Saun Dann, so purchasing one rank in each would be a total of 10 XP.

Going back to the talent tree, Saun Dann can buy an additional rank of 'Wheel and Deal' for 10 XP and obtain the 'Grit' talent for another 10 XP.  (Grit improves Strain Threshold.)

Saun Dann has 5 XP left, but he can just have them “carry over into the game“ like it says on page 64.

Cataclysm

Hans Hofmann     Cataclysm     1945


Last week I indicated that Year of the Phoenix (hereinafter Phoenix) is a post-apocalypse game.  The rules refer to the apocalypse at issue as the ‘cataclysm.’  According to Chapter 10 of the Adventure Guide:

          North Amerika was engulfed in a cataclysmic disaster over a century ago.  The exact nature of it is uncertain (letting the gamemaster tailor the facts to fit his or her campaign), but the results are all around.  World population is drastically reduced, culture has been altered, and the Zoviets rule North America.
          Two different versions of a possible holocaust (the Third World War) are included:  one at the beginning of this chapter, and the other at the end.  The first one stipulates that everyone knows what happened, while the latter assumes that portions of the world entered a 'Dark Age,' from which they are only now emerging.

The section on slang indicates that ‘Zoviet’ is the “[e]volution of the twentieth-century term, ‘Soviet.’”  ‘Amerika’ is “a rebel word, to distinguish themselves from the America the Zoviet government represents.”  Yes, the first paragraph of the quoted section above begins with “North Amerika” and ends with “North America.”  I assume that author Martin Wixted intended a consistent spelling.

In the ‘full-disclosure’ version of the cataclysm, the entry for the year 2007 begins:

          Testing of a new Ion Propulsion engine by Japan American Corporation in space leads to disaster for Earth as the magnetic effects wipe out many computer systems monitoring life support, water, sewage, and power use.  The polar ice caps begin to melt as Earth is ripped asunder.  The Van Allen belt disrupts the Ozone Layer, admitting vast quantities of ultraviolet radiation.  Earth's fault lines convulse and nuclear power plants around the globe suffer chain-reaction meltdowns.

The geographic upheaval of the cataclysm affected the continents in terms of coastlines and ecology.  A map of ‘North Amerika’ will have to wait for a future post, but I like to think that Wixted was inspired by the original Gamma World map when creating his setting.  Otherwise, here is a portion of the world map from the back of the box:

Most of the rest of the map is covered by a text box; however, for those interested, Australia seems to be Non-Zoviet.

Among the more drastic changes, page 7 of the Adventure Guide says...

          The North American continent settled, dropping many areas below sea level.  These areas were eventually reclaimed when the nuclear winter increased the polar ice caps...
          The great Mojave desert has all but disappeared, thanks to the shift in the weather and the increased size of the Great Salt Lake...
          No new mountain ranges sprang up as a result of the cataclysm, but most have changed in height to some extent, with several volcanoes active along the Northern West Coast.

Anyway, “The Soviets are hurt badly be the catastrophe, but gamble that the rest of the world is completely helpless.”  Despite the fact that “the comparatively undamaged Asiatic Conclave surges into Russia,” the USSR makes gains in Europe and successfully invades North America.  Nuclear weapons are used and “Disease begins its insidious spread as radiations sickness [sic], rabies, and cancer tear through the innocent populace.”  By the time 2197 rolls around, the Soviets Zoviets still occupy much of Europe as well as the (former) United States and Canada.  Also, the Asiatic Conclave “remains a deep thorn in the Russian side.”

The ‘Dark Age’ version of the cataclysm consists of flavor text on page 17 of the Adventure Guide on a graphic that is intended to represent a tattered document.  Beneath the document, the bottom of the page reads, “Discovered near the Blasted Heath, and translated by Sister Emmanuel Luth.”  ‘Blasted Heath,’ the slang section tells us, “Refers to any radioactive zone.  Originally meant a specific radiation-soaked area in the Southwest.”

The document is titled “St. Augin's Book of Days:  The Third World War” and consists of seven numbered, biblically-styled passages (20-23 and 57-59).  One supposes that “The Red Death,” “the Thing,” and “Evil” are synonyms for communist forces.  In passages 20-23, God commands “the ruler of the greatest nation which opposed the Thing...to go forth and end this plague.”  The ruler and his “war chiefs” travel “across the great sea” whereupon the ruler “led the holy crusade across the length and breadth of the land...”

The last three passages tell us...

          On the twelth year of this task, it is written that God again came unto him.  In his vision the Lord spoke thusly, “Great soldier, your faith is steadfast, and your mission here is finished  Return now, to your homeland, and bear all of life’s misfortunes well.”  “It shall be done as you command,” the man spoke, and returned home.
          Ill was his heart at the words of God, and his foreboding was not misguided.  The Evil One had indeed fled from sight – and had struck at the ruler’s own family, rending their home asunder.  The ruler fell to his knees in dismay, crying, “Lord my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
          God heard his plea, and pitied him.  “It is your holy quest to destroy this Evil, to seek it out wherever it lurks and rid it from the face of the earth.  Once the world is again pure, you may live in freedom.  Your flock is gone, so that you may well heed my message and raise a new people who must obey my word or perish.”  The ruler accepted this mission and went forth into the daylight to fulfill the Holy Word of God.

Sort of like The Book of Job meets Twilight: 2000.

Wixted provides one last bit of ‘flavor’ regarding the cataclysm.  In the slang section, there is an entry for ‘By the Day of Great Blood.’  It is defined as “An oath to swear upon, ‘By the Day of Great Blood I do swear to uphold this treaty.’  Refers to unspecified past event, having to do with the cataclysm.”

Character Creation in Edge of the Empire (Part I)



Art by Howard Chaykin

Contrary to the “Part I” in this post's title, last week we began to create a character for Fantasy Flight Games' Edge of the Empire (Beta) roleplaying game.  Specifically, we sought to define the beloved Saun Dann in game terms.  In our efforts, we managed to get as far as 'Obligation.'

The next step is 'Selecting a Species.'  Saun Dann is – of course – human.  Other options for player characters in EotE-B include Bothan, droid (class four), Gand, Rodian, Trandoshan, Twi'lek, and Wookiee.  The names of all species, except for droids and humans, are capitalized.  The eight species are differentiated from one another in terms of characteristics, derived attributes, starting experience, and special abilities.

EotE-B characters have six characteristics:  Agility, Brawn, Cunning, Intellect, Presence, and Willpower.  A value of 6 is the ceiling for characteristics and no characteristic can be increased beyond a value of 5 during character creation.  Not surprisingly, humans provide the standard against which other species are compared.  Humans have a default value of 2 for each characteristic.  Other species vary from this by having a value of 3 for one characteristic and a value of 1 for another; for example, Wookiees have a Brawn of 3 but a Willpower of  1.  Droids are the only exception to this pattern; they start with a value of 1 in each characteristic.  I am pleased to announce that – as of yesterday’s update – Gand now have a default Presence of 1 instead of a default Intellect of 1.  This means your humble host will forgo his planned hunger strike.

The derived attributes influenced by one's species are 'wound threshold' (ability to withstand physical injury) and 'strain threshold' (ability to withstand mental/ psychological injury).  Wound threshold equals a given species-defined number plus Brawn.  Strain threshold equals a given species-defined number plus Willpower.  For humans, wound threshold is 10 + Brawn; strain threshold is 10 + Willpower.

Humans have 110 starting experience points (XP).  Most speicies have 100 starting XP; Wookiees and Trandoshans start with 90 XP.  Droids have 175 XP but – remember – they start with low characteristics.  To appreciate the utility of starting experience, we must skip ahead to careers and specializations.

EotE-B offers six careers:  Bounty Hunter, Colonist, Explorer, Hired Gun, Smuggler, and Technician.  Each career has three specializations; for example, the Colonist career has the specialization of Doctor, Politico, and Scholar.  Players select a career and a specialization within that career for their characters.  Each career has eight 'career skills.'  Upon choosing a career, a character receives one rank in four career skills.  Each specialization has four skills that are considered career skills for a character with that specialization.  Some specialization skills might overlap with the skills offered by the career.  For instance, 'Skulduggery' is a Smuggler career skill and it is also one of the four skills associated with the Smuggler specialization of Thief.  Anyway, characters receive one rank in two specialization skills.  Also, each specialization has a 'talent tree.'

Characters can use starting experience to purchase and/or improve skills.  For career skills, a rank costs 5 XP times the rank to be attained.  Each rank must be purchased separately and no starting character may have more than two ranks in a skill.  For example, if a character possessed one rank in a given career skill and wanted to have two ranks, it would cost 10 XP; getting a third rank would cost an additional 15 XP.  Non-career skills cost 10 XP times the rank to be attained.

Characters can gain additional specializations with experience.  According to yesterday's update, purchasing a specialization within the character's career costs 5 XP times the total number of specializations the character has, including the specialization to be purchased.  Buying a specialization outside of the character's career costs 10 XP times the total number of specializations, as above.

Characteristics can also be improved with experience.  According to page 64, increasing a characteristic costs...

Ten times the purchased rating in experience.  Each rating must be purchased separately.

The catch is that experience points can only be used to improve characteristics during character creation.

Let's get back to Saun Dann.  We know he is a Trader, which happens to be a specialization of the Explorer career.  Saun Dann gets one rank in four Explorer career skills, specifically Astrogation, Pilot (Space), Knowledge (Outer Rim), and Charm.  From the Trader specialization, we choose Deceit and Negotiation.  As a special ability, humans have “one additional rank in each of two different non-career skills…”  It would likely be effective for a character to have a combat skill; however, so as to be true to Saun Dann's concept, we choose Mechanics and Streetwise.

Next week, we shall invest Saun Dann's experience points.  Until then, may the Force be with you.