Olympia PBM =========== Rules of Play Olympia, its rules, documentation and game text are Copyright 1992 by Richard Skrenta. All rights reserved. Overview -------- Olympia is a computer moderated fantasy simulation. Characters, monsters and other entities move, battle, explore and study in the Olympian world. Each turn players submit orders for their characters. After the simulation runs, Olympia will send reports on the outcome of these orders, encounters with other characters, and end-of-turn statistics to the players. Olympia is set in a low technology fantasy world. Characters do not have fixed races or goals. They may study whatever skills they believe will be useful and pursue goals as they find them. An aspiring heroic fighter may purchase weapons, study combat and slay monsters. Business-minded individuals may study the art of trade and commerce and create a profitable trading empire. The study of magic could furnish tools to advance other dark plans. Game Mechanics -------------- Each player begins with the control of one character and a sum of gold, the Olympian currency. Characters may hire subordinates, study skills, purchase items at market, build things, and of course explore. Each turn a player submits orders for all of the characters under control. These include the initial character, known as the player character, and subordinates, which belong to the player character's faction. The Olympia program will execute orders for characters in parallel. Each order may take no time or many game days to complete. As many orders will be processed for each character as game time allows. Orders not completed by the end of the turn may continue into the next. Olympian turns run about 30 game days. Some Example Orders A set of orders for a new character 503 could be: entity 503 form 500 "Feasel the Wicked" unstack study combat 30 done work study combat 10 buy 10 buy 18 20 explore This character would first hire a subordinate "Feasel the Wicked." Hiring a follower costs 500 gold, and 500 additional gold is given to Feasel when he is hired. His instructions are to unstack from the player character and to study combat for the rest of the month. The player character, after hiring Feasel, would perform menial labor for wages, then study combat for 10 days, then purchase a longsword (item #10) and 20 units of pipeweed (tobacco, item #18) at market, and finally explore the province for hidden features. Next turn, commands for both characters would be sent in: entity 503 study combat 10 study trade 10 move 1001 entity 1081 study combat 30 attack 502 Note that Feasel's number (1081) is reported after the FORM command is run, so it won't be known until the first turn report is seen. Locality -------- The world is broken up into distinct locations known as provinces or regions. Each region is an entity. All characters, monsters and other entities within a location are considered to be in the same place, although a character may not necessarily be aware of of the other units nearby. Each province may have other features which are also entities. These include exits, castles, towers and monster lairs. Since all units and features in a location are considered to be in the same place, travel is not necessary to access these interior features. For example, if a unit were stacked with the a castle in an ocean port region it could it could unstack and immediately join a stack with a ship in port. No movement takes place other than the stacking operations. Likewise, units stacked under one feature may attack units stacked under another feature or other units located in the province. Interior features such as castles may provide protection to units stacked with them. Castles and towers may be built (at considerable cost) by enterprising units. Castles are large and may house many fighting units. Towers tend to be smaller but also are cheaper to construct. Monster lairs come in many varieties. Often the monster itself will be found stacked directly underneath the lair guarding some treasure. The lair provides protection for the monster, which must be slain or captured to get the treasure. Certain features of a region may be hidden and require exploration before they appear on the turn report. However, they can usually be referred to be their entity number, and once referred to will become visible. Combat ------ Resolution of combat is based on many factors comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the engaged units. Skills, weapons, terrain, weather and luck all combine to determine the outcome of battle. Units will choose the best weapons and armor available from their inventory to fight with. If a man had a choice between a longbow and a javelin, he would choose the longbow for the higher attack value. However, if it is raining and the bowstrings are wet, he would choose the javelin since the bow would be ineffective. Winning tends to have a positive effect on loyalty, while losing diminishes loyalty. If one of the parties flees before combat takes place then there are no declared victors or losers, and loyalty modifications do not take place. The winning stack will receive some amount of booty from the loser. This tends to be higher if the losing stack was completely destroyed. If the losing stack merely fled and escaped, the booty will be money and possessions left behind in haste or found on dead men. The loser's stack may either be completely destroyed or some part of it will flee to a neighboring province. Additionally, some members of the loser's stack may be captured and held as prisoners. Units will flee when their damage exceeds the parameter set with the SET FLEE command, or when they are extremely outnumbered. The default is to flee when 50% damaged. Note that only the stack leader's fight-or-flee rating is consulted during battle. A capable military leader can rally the troops, and encourage them to fight against great odds. Building up your Faction ------------------------ New units are created with the FORM command. FORM will create a new unit with one member and assign a name to it. FORM is the only way to create a new unit of followers. The RECRUIT and IMPRESS commands add men to an existing unit. They will not create a new unit. For example, if you wanted to make a gang of ten thugs, you could issue the following orders: form 500 "Gang of Thugs" recruit 9 done This would create a new unit known as the "Gang of Thugs", give it 500 gold, and issue one order to the new unit: try to recruit nine men. Gang of Thugs may not find nine willing new recruits, but if enough men are available up to nine would be hired. 501> form 500 "Gang of Thugs" Created Gang of Thugs [1058]. 1058> recruit 9 Gang of Thugs [1058] found only two men available. Both were hired. The FORM command will report the new unit's number. The next turn orders for the new unit are included as a separate entity section: entity 501 ... entity 1058 recruit 7 study combat 30 Units must be paid each month or their loyalty will drop. Unit maintenance costs have a small fixed overhead plus a per-man charge. The costs tend to rise with the unit's skills. Untrained groups of men are the cheapest to maintain. Low loyalty may cause men or units to desert, and will make them more susceptible to persuasion. Disheartened men may also fight poorly in combat, take longer at construction tasks, etc. Stacks ------ Units can be joined together into groups by stacking them. A unit issues the STACK order naming the entity to stack beneath: entity 1058 stack 501 Here Feasel [1058] issues an order to stack under Osswid [501]. Osswid [501], player character, armor 3, stack over: 1) Feasel [1058], armor 1, lightly armed Note that the order of units in the stack depends on the sequence of STACK commands issued. Entity numbers have nothing to do with stacking order. The last unit to STACK will always be on the bottom of the stack. Units may also stack with region features such as towers and castles. The fortification is always on top of the stack. If Osswid issues the STACK 2101 command, he and Feasel will stack beneath entity #2101, the Tower of Darkness: Tower of Darkness [2101], tower, stacked over: 1) Osswid [501], player character, armor 3 2) Feasel [1058], armor 1, lightly armed The unit stacked directly beneath a fortification or ship is the "owner" of that feature. For instance, Osswid has control of Tower of Darkness since he is stacked directly beneath it. He may make use of the inventory of [2101], change its name, or work to increase its fortification level. Other units cannot control Tower of Darkness while Osswid remains stacked beneath it. He would need to be killed or displaced before another entity could stack in his place. Therefore is it important to keep a garrison stacked beneath towers, castles and ships to preserve ownership of them. Abandoned region features may be claimed by the first entity to STACK with them. Stacks are convenient for moving groups of units. The stack will move as the stack leader moves. The stack leader is defined as the top most character unit in a stack. Thus, Osswid is the stack leader above even though he is beneath Tower of Darkness since the tower isn't a character. If Osswid issues a MOVE order, both he and Feasel will leave the tower and travel. Similarly, if Osswid issues a STACK order, Feasel will remain stacked beneath him. If Osswid wanted to travel alone he would need to UNSTACK before moving. This would leave Feasel in control of Tower of Darkness. Ships are a special case of region fortifications. Units may stack with a ship just as they stack with towers or castles. However, if the stack leader of a ship issues a MOVE order across an ocean link, the entire stack including the ship will move. Thus if Osswid and Feasel are stacked under HMS Pinafore and Osswid MOVEs to the Gulf of Drassa, both the ship as well as the characters stacked beneath it will move. Carrying Capacity ----------------- There are four modes of travel: stacked with a ship over an ocean link walking over land riding over land in small boats over a river link Travel limits across ocean links are determined by the size of the ship. For other modes of travel, the number of oxen, horses, men and small boats the stack possesses determines whether the stack is overloaded. weight capacity ------ -------- man 100 150 horse 200 250 ox 1000 2500 small boat 100 500 For river travel, the weights of all possessions except small boats are compared against the total capacity of the small boats. For walking, the weights of all possessions not including men, horses and oxen are compared against the sum of capacities of the men, horses and oxen. For riding, the weights of all possessions including men but not including horses are compared against the total capacity of the horses. Riding is not possible with oxen. Examples: One man with one boat: weight capacity travel? ------ -------- ------- walking 100 150 yes riding 200 0 no river 100 500 yes One man with one boat and 100 weight of plate mails: weight capacity travel? ------ -------- ------- walking 200 150 no riding 300 0 no river 200 500 yes One man with one horse and 100 weight of plate mails: weight capacity travel? ------ -------- ------- walking 100 400 yes riding 200 250 yes river 400 0 no Guilds ------ Each character in a faction may join one of several Olympian guilds. Guilds specialize in the learning and teaching of skills. A guild usually has a designated leader known as the guild master, and many members. Number Guild Skills ------ ----- ------ 3101 Warriors' Guild leadership, combat, archery 3105 Guild of Thieves stealth, observation 3106 Guild of Magicians various magic, summoning 3108 Academy of Engineers shipbuilding, construction 3110 Beastmasters' Guild equestrian 3111 Traders' Guild trade 3113 Performers' Union entertainment 3125 Order of the Curators lore research Members of a guild may stack with towers flying the guild's standard and study skills which the guild offers at an accelerated rate. Study under a guild is more expensive; the guild master receives the extra funds, which may be used for for upkeep of the guild's towers and promotion of the guild's business. A character is only permitted to join one guild. Even if banished from his guild, a character may not join another. A fee of 500 gold must be paid when the character joins the guild. Guilds jealously guard their secrets; a traitor to a guild may expect switch and decisive retribution from the guild membership. An example guild tower: The Archives [3225], tower, guild [3125], teaches lore research, stacked over: 1) Osswid [501], player character, lightly armed Note that The Archives tower is a separate entity from the guild entity. It is a normal tower, but is displaying the guild's standard ("guild [3125]"). Members of the Order of the Curators may stack with this tower and study lore research at twice the normal rate, paying 150% of the normal cost. Guild membership may offer other benefits, including extra commands and reports. These benefits vary from guild to guild, and are described in the guild's lore. Maintenance Costs ----------------- Each months every unit (except player characters) is assessed a maintenance cost. This amount will be deducted from the unit's inventory. The funds go to provide upkeep for the unit, including food, miscellaneous items, and the unit's "wages". If maintenance costs are not paid, the unit's loyalty will drop. Units with sufficiently low loyalty may desert, or switch to another player's faction, given incentive. Maintenance costs rise as the skills and power of the unit increase. A highly skilled trader who earns thousands of gold pieces each turn for his master will demand more pay than an unskilled menial laborer. Maintenance costs also rise with the size of the faction, reflecting the extra bureaucracy necessary to coordinate many men and units. Maintenance costs for new units with a few members and low skill levels should be around 40-100 gold. Olympian Calendar ----------------- Olympian months vary slightly in the number of days they have. The calendar has two months for each season, for a total of eight months per Olympian year. Season Month Days Name ------ ----- ---- ---- Spring 1 30 Fierce winds Spring 2 32 Snowmelt Summer 3 35 Blossom bloom Summer 4 35 Sunsear Fall 5 35 Thunder and rain Fall 6 32 Harvest Winter 7 30 Waning days Winter 8 28 Dark night Command Summary --------------- denotes a required parameter, [n] an optional one. time ASSIST [days] days ATTACK [mode] 1 BUY [max price] 0 CANCEL [w|p|r] - DECLARE 0 EXPLORE 7 FORGET 0 FORM "unit name" 1 * GET [have-left] 0 GIVE [have-left] 0 JOIN 0 IMPRESS [number of men] 7 LOOK 0 LORE 7 MESSAGE 1 * MOVE [dir|loc...] varies PASSWD - PAY [have-left] 0 PERSUADE [amount of gold] 7 POST 0 * PROMOTE 0 RECRUIT [number of men] 7 RESHOW 0 SELL [min price] 0 SET