The Far Colony Matrix Game

The Opening Setting

The initial setting of the game is the human society on board the ramship Magellan and in the Atlas moon system. The Magellan entered the Fennen system (named after Captain Hendrik Fennen, first Captain of the Magellan) only about five years ago. The potential future of humans in the Fennen system is still in doubt. Though the beginnings of stable settlements have been forged in the orbital stations around Chenoir (where biotechs are assembling the prefab birthlabs carried in the ramship's holds) and Gagarin (currently humanity's sole source of refined metals and chemicals), they are a long way from self-sufficiency. The aging hydroponic labs on Magellan are still responsible for feeding all of humanity.

Humans know of the two sadurtha civilizations insystem, one on Newhome and one in the Creutzen moon system. However, they have not made real contact with either of them. There is little doubt among human scientists that the Creutzen civilization is aware of the human presence, but it is possible that the Newhome civilization is still unaware. The Isolationists (see below) are afraid of uncontrolled contact with the sadurtha, and generally oppose establishment of a colony on the surface of Newhome. However, the Colonists are already planning an initial expedition to Newhome.

The Factions

The Steering Committee and the society it controls is divided into three powerful factions. The Industrialists and the Colonists are the most powerful, but are so evenly matched that the Isolationists often serve as a swing vote between the other two. The Industrialists favor the creation of a strong, resilient economy in the Atlas moon system, to the exclusion of a colony on Newhome. Colonist policy is to work towards the establishment of a Newhome colony as quickly as possible, reasoning that human survival is best guaranteed on the surface of a terrestrial world. Though in part this means embracing the same means (industrial development in the Atlas moon system) as the Industrialists, the goals are very different. The Isolationists are fundamentally different from both of the other factions. They are primarily led by second-generation colonists who fear the possibility of contact with the sadurtha. While Isolationist leaders do not believe that the sadurtha are a military threat to humanity, they feel that contact with sadurtha society represents a threat to the stability of human culture.

Basic Rules

The core rules for the Far Colony Matrix Game are the standard matrix game rules, as presented in Appendix B (and modified as is common practice and as noted below). Several modifications to the core matrix rules are detailed below.

Arguments

Each faction must make four arguments per turn. Of these arguments, two must be "I DECLARE" arguments.

Argument Strength

The standard argument types have the following strengths:

Argument     Base Strength
I Declare         +2
Yes, And          +1
Yes, But          +0
No, Actually      -1

The increased strength of the I DECLARE argument is intended to promote more varied arguments, and to partially avoid the problem of rounds devolving into long, convoluted single arguments.

Voting

Each faction starts a turn with a given quantity of votes. Voting is done after all arguments have been made. Votes are made in closed ballot. More than one vote may be cast for an argument or a modifier.

After arguments have been resolved, the voting strengths of each faction are modified, according to the table below:

Circumstance                               Modifier
End of turn                                1d-4 (minimum 0)
Per favorable I DECLARE argument passed    +2
Per favorable I DECLARE argument defeated  -1
No favorable I DECLARE arguments passed    -2

In summary, if a faction is lucky, it's strength will increase. If a faction is successful at advancing I DECLARE arguments favorable to its aims (as determined by the referee), it's strength will increase. If a faction's arguments are defeated, it's strength will wane quickly. However, no matter how low a faction's strength may sink, it may never have a strength of less than 2 votes.

Game Length

The game will last for eight rounds. The first round begins five years after the Magellan decelerated into the Fennen system. Each round lasts for thirty years. At the end of the game, 240 years of human history will have elapsed.

Referee Powers

The referee is responsible for overseeing the game. The referee has the power to declare any argument invalid. Any player whose argument is declared invalid has one chance to rephrase or restate the argument to answer the referee's criticism. If the referee approves the modified argument, the game proceeds normally. Otherwise, the argument is lost to that faction. If the argument was an I DECLARE argument, it counts as a defeated argument for purposes of vote calculation.

Special Rules

Forbidden Arguments

Some arguments are forbidden at certain stages of the game. In particular:

Any argument involving technology not possible at TL8 (exception: arguments involving the sadurtha FTL drive are permitted after turn five).
Any argument involving contact with the aliens is not permitted prior to turn three.
Any argument involving contact with Earth or with aliens other than the sadurtha is not permitted.
Arguments that create conditions of apocalyptic warfare are not permitted. The human race must survive until the end of the game.

Alien Contact - Turn Two Voting Modifications

On turn three, arguments relating to alien contact become valid. Because of this, the balance of power among the factions changes. At the end of turn two, the Isolationist faction gains an additional three votes, while the Colonist and Industrialist factions each lose one vote.

Faction Shift

As human civilization advances, the original three factions of Industrialist, Colonist and Isolationist will first change become less applicable to the advancing situation. On turn five, the original factions will be replaced by the Planetside, Orbital and Explorer factions. Players will control new factions selected by lot. The drawing will be conducted by the referee prior to the first turn.

The Planetside faction represents the colonists living on the surface of Newhome. The Orbital faction is composed of the orbital colonies in the Atlas moon system (primarily at Chenoir and Gagarin). Both of these factions split the populations of the orbital stations around Newhome. The Explorer faction is numerically smaller than either of the other two, but is composed of the crews of the new FTL ships, the inhabitants of the stations outside of the Fennen system, and the prospectors investigating the Fennen system proper.

The voting strength of these factions will be based upon the voting strengths of the original factions at the end of turn five (after modifiers):

Faction      Initial Strength
Planetside   (1/2) * (Colonist + Isolationist)
Orbital      (1/2) * (Industrialist + Isolationist)
Explorer     (1/2) * (Colonist + Industrialist)

Special Developments

The First Expedition

During the first turn, the Colonist faction will send an expedition of 150 people and three scramjet interface craft to Newhome. This colony will survive, but will not flourish. When the second colony expedition arrives (probably around turn two or three), the survivors of the first expedition will be there to welcome them.

The Sadurtha Drive

Though it is very likely that one or another of the factions will trade with the sadurtha to obtain their FTL drive soon after alien contact arguments become allowable on turn three, it will automatically be obtained in exchange for the human genome on turn five if it has not already been obtained.