Many years ago, long before we were "officially" Mr. and Mrs. we were involved in a game that has long been one of my favourite games of all time. This game was based on some real games, some popular, some not so much. It had a healthy dose of originality though, and it was an authentic game experience for all of us.
Thus, Galactic War was born.
Its parents were "Star Fleet Battles" and "Master of Orion". Its game play was very much an exercise in LARP, although strictly speaking it was a table-top RPG. There was even tactical "space combat" for those of us that craved that particular challenge. It really had something for everyone. Mrs. Blood-and-Glory even played! It was truly a marvel of the modern age!
It was played every Sunday at the local game club/shop. There were 25 races in the original version, played by 23 teams, with 3 races played by the game referee (GM). Although the names and maps and even to some extent the basic racial info was based (albeit loosely) on the Star Trek Universe, it was definitely NOT a Star Trek game. There were definitely other influences: Star Wars; Battlestar Galactica; and Sid Meier's Civilization, to name but a few. I imagine there were other influences in the creation process; however I did not create this game originally, so I cannot speak to those not-so-obvious other sources.
It was an instant success, and spawned a series of repeat games - unfortunately for me, what made the game such a success in its maiden voyage was lost on subsequent incarnations. I never forgot that first game though, and over the intervening years I have made several attempts to recreate that success, including joining the 2nd version of the game (which was dismal compared to the first, btw).
My early attempts at recreating this game were simply to provide the "original" version rules to the interested persons, explain the basic concepts and the "clear-as-mud" rules revisions, and then off we went. Something was lacking however.
Later attempts involved some rewriting of the existing rules, and some modification of the game play. This version never made it to fruition, as I was never really happy with what I had achieved.
The latest version (dubbed GW-5) is nearly unrecognizable from the original. The original rules still remain in the folder and binder in which they sat after the conclusion of the first game. I had adapted several "computer-based" game ideas and incorporated some original ideas of my own, and armed with this desire, and of course my "creative genius" (don't laugh), I set out to capture what I enjoyed most about this game, but on a much larger scale. I decided on a PBE format.
What was I thinking???
It started out as a basic enough formula:
Modified by the original spirit of Galactic War. To my eyes it looked like a recipe for success.
Looks are deceiving, aren't they?
Which brings me to this purpose of this post. I have (finally) arrived at a configuration that I think may in fact work as a PBE-RPG game. I have even accounted for the possibility of tactical (rather than strategic) combat, but that is for another day. It is not quite ready for public consumption, but I am interested to find out if there are any among you, our dear readers, who may be interested in participating. I will of course require beta-testers, but the beta won’t be very long, and then I will be onto the full game.
I would be very appreciative of any assistance that you can offer - beta testers will contacted by email with details. All materials will be provided, and there are only a few simple concepts to understand. Anyone familiar with the "Conquest" genre of games will be right at home, at least initially. LOL
Email me at
BETA if you would like to participate as a Beta Tester.
Email me at
PLAYER if you would like to participate as a Full Player (when available).
Thank you all in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you.
~Cheers,
Scott
Lie? Me? Never! The Truth is far too much fun!
