[Game idea] GMed hybrid game

[Finalgenesis]

I've recently dug up an old game idea going through my old laptop, and it seems to be a good fit for a forum game with some tweaking and filling out.
I'd like to see if anyone finds the ideas interesting enough to actually play it. Otherwise I'll put it back in hibernation.
Seeing as I'm a forum game noob (though I played all manners of role-playing in rl) I am almost certain there are nuances and unforeseen difficulties to running / playing a forum game I am unaware of. Advice / suggestions / questions are welcomed.

Content:
1. Setting
2. Very brief summary of the game idea
3. The public information for the 7 factions
4. A fictitious faction showing list of perks and powers

*5. Detailed Mechanics (to be added if there are interest and I work it into something readable)

Setting
In another time, another place, the Eternus Imperium which have dominated the Terminus galaxy for over 5 millenia have begun to crumble under burgeoning bureaucracy and infighting.
Meanwhile, the people of Grenar sector, on the fringe of the empire's territory, have seized the oppurtunity to fight off the yoke of the Imperium.
In response, the empire have send a task force to suppress the uprising, capturing the capital planet Toloranii Ka and constructing a formiddable star base to secure the sector.
The pirates have taken to the situation with glee, as gluttons to a feast…
The merchant guild schemes and maneuvers. There are risks and opportunities alike in strife…
And lurking in the dark, an unknown threat looms…

Summary
-The action happens on a grid-like board representing the Grenar sector. There are 5 planets, one in the middle being the capital and 4 other close to the edge on 4 corners.
-The game plays similarly to a board game in flow and complexity. (It was originally made with PBEM in mind)
-There are 7 factions, each with their own set of win and loss condition, multiple factions can win together. Certain combinations of winning factions are mutually exclusive.
-Not all win and loss conditions of all factions are public information. Also for those faction whose conditions are public, there could be hidden alternative winning conditions known only to the faction's senior leadership.
-Each faction have a list of unique powers they can use, and some faction play very differently then others. Powers are generally seperated into three categories: Action, Tactical and Base.
-Tactical powers relate to ships and battles, Base powers relates to your base (Fire the doom ray!), Action are everything else such as intel activities / espionage / policies …etc.
-Details on powers are not public information, Factions begin the game not knowing what the other factions can do (There are exceptions...). Though the powers tend to fit in with the theme of the faction.
-Each faction may select starting perks that can significant change their play style. For example, perks that modify your victory condition or add whole new power(s). Each faction's perk list is unique and private, including which perk a faction picks.
-Each Faction begins the game with certain information, in keeping with its theme. Example, The pirates may start with some info on the merchants.
-For those Faction with a base, you can select any cell except planet cells to place it, base location is private.
-Communication, subterfuge, intrigue is designed to be an integral part of the game (In case you can't tell at this point).
-The game emphasize mind games, or at least that is how I tried to work it. (Liars Game played as an indirect inspiration at the time if I recall.) It can be disastrous to assume anything, such as the winning condition of your supposed "ally".
-This game is not designed to be balanced, and in fact I see no easy way to compare factions.
-There are 5 phases to a turn: Event / public info phase, Communication phase (The biggie), Action phase, Tactical phase, Ship movement phase.
-For forum game purpose, mechanics have been modified to allow all players to submit actions simultaneously each phase via PM to GM, to cut down on "back and forth" and keep the action going at an adequate clip.
-There will be WTF moments, there are some rather interesting powers in the game …
-If you can't handle lots of unknowns (Someone like me for example, who is obsessed with knowing all the mechanics and optimal formula in any given game I play) and some element of randomness (random event, minimal random.orging in combat.) then this game is not for you.

The 7 factions
Empire - Grenar Sector Command
Charged with reclaiming the Grenar Sector, the GSC will stop at nothing to complete its dominance of the sector.
Winning condition: The defeat of Rebellion and ANY 2 pirates, after which it will win when 7th mystery faction is defeated.
Losing condition: Rebellion victory OR loss of all bases and flagship, OR ???
* It's flagship have been sighted in orbit of the capital, being a massive battleship that inspires fear in its populace. No one would dare show any signs of unrest while this ship is in orbit!
* The only faction whose unique ship type is known publicly: The battleship. Its unique power is to blow xxxx up (In case you're wondering).
* One of two faction that can govern a planet. They have a variety of powers over planets, such as controlling import duties or performing genocide / granting amnesty on mutant populations among others.
* Known to have 2 bases, one of which orbits the capital planet (Sector Command HQ - SCHQ). Has the biggest fleet by far in the sector.
* Begins with 2-way communication with the Guild and the Rebels.
* With time, effort and investment the empire can fortify a planet, making liberation impossible until the fortification have been leveled.
* May not raid merchant ships, however they can impound smugglers. (Of course, the merchant guild would never dare to partake in such endeavor...)

Rebellion - Black December
Suppressed and brutalized, the resourceful denizens of Grenar Sector bands together to form the Black December.
Winning condition: 4 liberated planets in play at the same time (Empire will dissappear), after which it will win when 7th faction is defeated
Losing condition: Loss of base AND flagship AND no liberated planet in play at the same time.
* One of two faction that can govern a planet. They have a variety of powers over planets.
* Their base is rumored to be unusual and very difficult to locate.
* Begins with 2-way communication with Merchants and Empire.
* Persistent - as long as there are liberated planet the rebellion can rebuild its base, though weaker then before.
* May raid merchant ships.

Merchant - Grenar Merchant Guild
The Guild is only concerned with maintaining its commercial chokehold in the sector.
Winning condition: Coming to an agreement to the winning faction (either empire or Rebellion). Wins when the corresponding faction wins.
Losing condition: when 30 merchant (*affiliated* smugglers included) ships have been destroyed (raided counts as 1/2 destroyed), OR no agreement with the winning side (Empire or Rebel) when they win.
* Does not have a base, its guild HQ location is planetside on a choosen planet (cannot be same cell as SCHQ) and can never be destroyed.
* Generally the wealthiest faction in the game.
* Must make an agreement and make preparations with either Empire or Rebellion to maintain their chokehold after their victory.
* May only bet on one side at a time, this can change (takes time) and which side the guild is REALLY on at any given time is private info…
* To clarify, Both the Imperium and Rebellion can have agreement with you, but you may only set up arrangements to bet on one side at a time.
* Primary source of income comes guild fees received when inbound merchant ship makes planetfall.
* Merchant ships making landfall on the capital generates a more then usual bonus in credit for the guild. (Unless empire close this port to the guild, or adjust import duties to unreasonable levels at the capital.)
* It is well known that merchant ships targeting the Capital have a higher chance of being intercepted by pirates, though no one is sure why that is.
* Merchant ship may spawn at the start of a turn at the edge of the grid map and make their way target planet. The ship must travel a minimum of 4 cells before landing, calculated with the shortest most direct route.
* Merchant ship can never have the same destination consecutively, They may not spawn within 3 cells of the previous merchant spawn.
* The guild is in charge of protection to member merchants in the sector and has some power over the route, armament and schedules of incoming merchant ship.
* Begins with 2-way communication with Rebellion and Empire.
* The guild fleet is quite significant, larger then any single pirate. Coupled with its abundance of resource (unless the player botch it), they make a formidable foe or ally.
* Begins the game paying 500 cred tithe to the Imperium per turn, this can be changed anytime by the player through pm to GM.

Pirates - Merry Trolls
They are the Grenar's most notorious band of pirates, raiding and pillaging with impunity. Their ultimate goal is not known, or that they even have one.
Winning condition: ???
Losing condition: Loss of base AND flag ship. OR merchant victory
* The biggest band of pirates in the sector, probably has the most ships among the pirates base on activity level.
* Persistent, as long as the flagship stays in play the base may be rebuild given enough time and resources.

Pirates - Outcast
Little is known of their goal, they are composed of mutants shunned by society. Mutants tend to have enhanced psychic abilities.
Winning condition: ??? (You should be able to roughly guess one of them base on public info)
Losing condition: Loss of base AND flag ship, OR 20 genocide token in play.
* In general, the mutant community is known to be split into 2 major camp, those touting cooperative co-existence with humans and those touting mutant superiority / vengeance.
* Persistent, as long as the flagship stays in play the base may be rebuild given enough time and resources.

Pirates? - Minerva
Little is known of this faction, or that they even exist (off the record, they do exist). Are they pirates? Or something else … Conspiracy theory abounds …
Winning condition: ???
Losing condition: ???

??? - ??? otherwise known as the 7th faction
Nothing is known about the 7th faction… (In fact, you shouldn't even know they exist if not for balancing reasons.)
Winning condition: ???
Losing condition: ???
* When the 7th faction wins, everyone loses ! (There could be exception(s))
* This team plays very differently then all the rest.
* This faction has the most complex victory condition by miles.
* This team is very challenging to play but can be very evil…

Note: I've tried to build in some intricacies, one example: The Imperium only needs to defeat 2 pirates, there's nothing to say they can secretly ally with the 3rd pirate, who might have better access to info on their own elk. If you were a pirate and allied with the empire, you never know whether the empire really intend to work with you, or add you to the 2 pirate it must defeat... In fact, if you become exposed and easy prey the Imperium may just munch on you even if it was sincere about allying with you before. My personal preference would be a Machiavelli style of play.
I welcome any input or discussion on this facet of the game.

Fictitious Faction starting info, power and perk list normally available only to the player using this faction

Sample faction - xxx

Additional background info: *Insert story element, motives, objective ...etc here*

Full victory condition: xxx, OR xxx ...etc.
Loss condition (those known to you): xxx, OR xxx ...etc.

Starting intel:
- You are aware that faction xxx have the power to xxx
- It seems that faction xxx may xxx
...etc.

Starting set up:
- 1 base
- 23,999 cred and 11,333 materials
- Income = 3,000 cred per turn, material = 2,000 per turn
- 99 Action point, 99 base point and 99 tactics point per turn. (Not cumulative)
- 10 perk points which must be spend at the beginning of the game, you may convert up to 3 perk points for 5k cred or mat each.

Base Powers (Note: Please be aware these are fictitious power for an example faction, they may or may not exist, some are obvious, others are designed to keep you guessing and sweating.)
Doooom ray (2bp)- Cost 2.5k Mat and 2 base points (bp), destroy target planet. Charge time: 1 turn. Limited to one use every other turn.
Repair (1bp)- repair base up to 100 hull points, cost 2 cr or 1 mat per point. Unlimited usage
Construct (1bp)- , cost 2k cr / 1k mat, one use per turn, add 1 construction token to base. Tokens may be exchanged for ships of equivalent level (5 tokens for lvl 5 ship) during your turn, Completed ship must skip its first ship phase and is docked.
*Super power: Omega field (1bp)- usable once in the whole game, destroy all enemy ships in the same cell as your base.
Comprehensive scan(1bp) - Reveal all enemy ships (including probes) in adjacent and own cell, include type.
…etc

Action power -
Rob a bank - 1 ap, Gain 2,000 credit, 2nd use will give you 1,000 credit in the same turn. 2 uses per turn. Generate +1 bounty token on your faction per use.
Super power: "I am your father/mother" - Usable once per game, target player surrenders.
"All your base are belong to us" - 5 ap, 10k cred, gain control of target base.
Dumbo - 2 ap + 1000 cr, gain access to communication logs of all player in the upcoming comm phase.
Stellar postal service - 1 ap, Choose target player, the next time he communicates in the upcoming comm phase, you may intercept and modify all his messages, or you may delete the message. Destination remains unchanged, unless deleted.
Intel activities - 1 ap and 1k cr. Obtain a random unknown base or action power info on a random player. Starting on the 50th turn, 10% chance to reveal a random unknown victory or loss condition.
double agent - 2 ap and 5k cr. From now on, when target player obtains any sort of intel on you, you will be notified, and you may modify the intel in anyway, in fact, you are recommended to make stuff up.
Fake intel - 1 ap and 2k cr. You may make up a fake power, any player obtaining info on your powers will automatically receive info on your fake power instead. Exception: Oracle or psionic type events or power will see through this deception. The fake power is deleted once info is passed to any player.
Time bubble - gain an extra 2 ap this turn, pay 5k cred. Recharge time: 5 turns
Merchant intel activities - xxxxx
xxxx - xxxx …etc

Ship actions -
Tactical positioning - 1 ap and 1k cr, one use per turn, target ship you control may MOVE again (May not use any other action except move)
Emergency field repair - 1 ap and 1k cr, target ship you control may repair up to 15 hull points, usable only if target ship have not spend any of its move points, skip its turn. If enemy ship occupies the same same, repair 5 hull points only.
Gangbang - 2 sp, 500 cred/ 250 mat, If you have more ships occupying the same cell then the opponent, gain 25% damage bonus for each ship you have more then the enemy. This bonus is applied only to attacks against these same enemies
Donkey punch - 3 sp, 500 cred/ 250 mat, for the next ship phase, if target enemy moves from a cell with your revealed ship into another cell with an unrevealed ship of yours. Your unrevealed ship will ambush enemy ship with a 50% damage bonus with no retaliation.
…etc

Perk list
cost Base
6 * Time Dilation Regulator - action points may be used as base points.
5 * Dooooooooooooooom ray - doom ray has no charge time, cost halved
4 * Star Fortress - Base gains an extra attack and +100 hull.
3 * Sweat Shop - Can use Construct twice per turn. Cost -99%
3 * Eyeball MK1 - Comprehensive scan reveals full stats, including ability and variable equipment
3 * droid fighter - Base garrisoned by 2 squads of fighter that is excluded from fleet limit or maintenance. Regenerates at 1 squad / 2 turn starting from loss of a squad.
…etc
Action power
7 * Upgrade: Player / slut - "I am your father/mother" may be used many, many times.
4 * hearing aid - Dumbo cost 1 ap and 500 cr only. It also bypasses any security and misdirection ability from other faction.
11 * ~ - Enable action power "cheat" : pay 1 ap and 1 cr, win the game.
4 * Improved Time bubble - Time bubble recharges at 4 turns and cost 3k credit.
…etc
Tactics power or ship upgrades
3 * Barrage - You may choose to attack again instead of move when using tactical positioning
5 * Veteran engineers - All ships automatically repair 5 hull point per turn, Emergency field repair heals 25 hull points (or 10 if enemy present).
3/7 * Ship tech up - choose from a list of upgrade and apply to your ships. pay 3 perk for 1 upgrade or 7 perk for 2 upgrade.
3 * Flagship hardpoint mod - Your flagship can carry 1 more equipment OR 2 consumable equipment.
5 * Gundarium - All your ship gain a hull max bonus of +3 per ship level. Fighters do not get this bonus.
…etc

Others
10 * Evil eye - Gain info on all Base actions and action powers of any player, including their perk list and choosen perks.
4 * Less evil eye - Gain info on 50% of all base actions and action powers of any player, choosen randomly, exclude perk list and perks.
5 * Secret agenda - Your victory condition is changed (this change and the new condition is NOT broadcast) to: Destroy all planets.
10 * Efficency - 999 AP per turn instead of 99.
…etc

[stessier]

Wow.

I think it looks interesting, but also very, very long. I'm not sure I could commit to something like that. I'm in the BSG game (something that looks like it takes 3-6 hours in RL) and it's already been almost 6 months.

You might want to PM Turtle and see what he thinks. He's running two boardgames right now for us and might have some suggestions on how to implement it.

[Chaosraven]

I think a total lack of info on what could happen and what you could be facing will wipe out large portions of the forum gamers right off the bat. If the game was structured in such a fashion to have time limits for turns and actions, it might be playable. Visual references for the board etc would help (see the current BSG game thread). Extended interest in such a game to survive the duration may be an issue, as people go on vacation, etc.

[Remus West]

Sounds like a cool game to play in RL but I agree with the assessment of the others. I would suggest that the Runewars game thread is likely better for the board images than the BSG IMO (which is not a knock on the BSG one just that I think RW fits the image of this game better).

[Chaosraven]

Probably didn't suggest it since I haven't read it

[Finalgenesis]

I have to admit that it could be very long. I think Your right, rl stuff would interfere an extended game. Even I'm not sure how long it will take.

As for a total lack of information, while it seems that way there are actually multiple ways to obtain them, and I've taken care to ensure that lossing from total surprise or dying early on doesn't happen based on how I worked the mechanics and intel/communication aspect of the game. As for how well I did to work in the balancing would be another question Though maybe I misunderstood? Maybe a "Starting half in the dark and scheme your way out" thing just isn't a appealing idea for gamers in general?

For visual reference, it's definitely a good call and I do have the board map (doesn't compare graphic wise to Turtle) but that's all I got. I can see where nice visual graphic for various things would enhance the theme of the game and make it a better experience.

A timed game with turn deadline has pros and cons, I think your right that without it it'll become a slog, though with it I think would exacerbate the rl fatigue (Having a deadline every other day? On top of my rl working deadline? ).

Good inputs, I think I have to agree in general that its just not workable in a forum game due to how long it can get and the commitment / attention span it requires. Thank again for the input. Off to the deep storage!