A boardgame concept

[New Dornalia]

This was a little something I told Huntaer, but here goes.

I was brainstorming the idea of a boardgame. basically, it takes all the great conspiracy theories ever written, and then pits them against one another in a free for all for global domination. Naturally, it would be called CONSPIRACY! or something like that.

Here's what I wrote up. If it doesn't pan out as a boardgame, it might make for an interesting RP.

[New Dornalia]

CONSPIRACY! The Game

Factions: These are the Conspiracies that are trying to take over the world.

Cabal—An ancient Cabal originating in the Middle East now headquartered in Switzerland, the Cabal is an elite coalition of wealthy Swiss bankers, Arab Oil Tycoons and other such personalities that is rumored to be manipulating world events, especially in the field of media and finance. Rumored to be responsible for the Great Depression, the manipulation of events leading to both World Wars and the subsequent rise of Neocolonialism and Britney Spears, the Cabal is notably one of the richest Conspiracies.

Stonecutters—A men’s club set up in the 18th Century by Enlightenment thinkers, the Stonecutters are an influential organization shadowed in secrecy and ritual. Rumored to have founded the United States as a pet project and launched the French Revolution, the Stonecutters have grown into an old, but well established organization with branches all over the world. Rumors however, have persisted about Satanic rituals and magical rites within the organization, and indeed, it is the most secretive of the Conspiracies.

Majestic 12—set up after the 1947 Roswell Crash, MJ-12 was a group designed to investigate alien technology and possibilities of contact with alien life. Having made contact sometime in the 1950’s, it eventually became a shadow government unto itself, making contacts on behalf of the US Government and even landing men on Mars. It has a cache of alien technology and their influence is rumored to be the reason why the USA hasn’t fallen to the Black Dragon Society completely.

Black Dragon Society—since the 1970’s, Japanese corporations have asserted their dominance in the world market. What the world doesn’t know, however, is that behind their success lies a combination of political subterfuge, a small cache of alien technology, elbow grease, ruthless pragmatism and what appears to be rediscovery of old WWII projects from both the Axis and Allied powers—mostly the Axis. And, a society of Japanese ultranationalists named the Black Dragons, whom ever since the end of WWII, have been searching for a way to make Japan rise again….

Islamic Jihad—Deriving from terrorist groups funded by the Conspiracies in the 1970s and the Afghan-Soviet War, Islamic Jihad has spiraled out of control into an unstoppable force, determined to forcibly convert the world to Islam one way or another. They are, along with MJ-12, the most recent Conspiracy to form up, congealing together with the creation of IJ in the late 1980s. Initially friendly to the Conspiracies, they broke off relations after US troops intervened in Iraq in the First Gulf War, basing troops in Saudi Arabia and angering the Jihad’s leadership. They engineer numerous terrorist attacks, and also leaked false information to the US to make it invade Iraq in an attempt to sap MJ-12’s power.

The Brotherhood—A coalition of Third World dictators, dropouts from the other Conspiracies, fascists and a few overly logical thinkers and religious fanatics, the Brotherhood seeks to “empower the world.” Drawing upon Social Darwinism and a hatred of the developed countries, they believe that the way to improve the world is by creating conditions where only the strong survive. This led them to create the AIDS virus, weaponize Anthrax, and prolong numerous African conflicts in order to create their “perfect world.”

[New Dornalia]

Map.

The Map would be somewhat like Risk, with the world divided into territories. Nation boundaries would be marked off, such as the USA, UK, Russia, China, Japan, etc.; individual territories would exist for the taking within them though.

Play:

4 vital elements are needed in Conspiracy!

Money—to buy units, territories, influence, etc…
Technology Cards—to get better units and skills, including those unique to each faction
Magic/Psychic Powers—Same as above? Used to perform special attacks.
Influence—This is the amount of control you have over an area. Gauged in 1-10 using tokens, this influences strength of actions and the amount of resources gained in an area.

A fifth may possibly be added--Natural Resources, such as oil, though I'm not sure about this.

Attacks are conducted using units with a certain amount of hitpoints; i.e. infantry would have 2 hitpoints, armor 5, etc. The higher your hitpoints, the better your unit can survive. Likewise, each unit also has an Attack Value that subtracts health from its opponent. Some units are better at attacks than others. For example, you'll need a lot of infantry to hunt Armor.

Examples of units include: Military units, such as Ships, tanks, planes, troops, Spy units, Media units, such as Newsmen, Teleevangelists, etc… Some units are noncombatants by default, but they can execute special attacks provided certain conditions are met (i.e. a Newsman can expose a politician aligned with an enemy conspiracy of a sex scandal for the cost of some amount of influence).

Unique units—

Cabal—Financiers—Special financial agents sent from Switzerland to give money to the right people, they are the diplomats sent by the Cabal to negotiate favors with client governments, businesses, and media outlets and to get things rolling. Though often not well armed, they can prove to be formidable ideological opponents, spreading the influence of the Cabal using its considerable resources.

MJ-12—Men In Black—Heavily armed with temporal shielding, black Armani suits and raybans and advanced plasma rifles, MIBs are the elite foot soldiers of MJ-12s operations, covering up UFO crashes and disposing of conspiracy theorists that get too close to the truth. They are also experts in purging other conspiracies and taking on regular units, by virtue of their technology and their Special Forces training. If needed, the MIBs can deploy orbital strikes using ortillery or even cloaked MJ-12 Battlestars to influence world events.

Black Dragon Society—Shadow Warriors—These are the elites. Often culled from underworld or ex-intelligence sources, they are the beneficiaries of ninja training, as well as the Biological Enhancement Kit. The BEK was the product of Cold War research, and unfortunately, also the child of Nazi experiments and the work of Unit 731. BEK results in the complete cyborgization of the Shadow Warrior, turning him or her into a dangerous killing machine with the added ability to break through computer networks.

Stonecutters—Mages—Arcane practitioners of magic dating back thousands of years, they are in command of powerful forces that can even the odds for the Stonecutters that are beyond the mortal ken. Whether it’s dealing with the formidable technologies of MJ-12 or bringing down the Cabal using a financial crash, Mages have often made the difference for the Stonecutters.

Islamic Jihad—Fedayeen—Special Attack unit, these are fanatical members of the Jihad willing to give their lives in attacks that will attract worldwide attention to their cause.

Brotherhood—Mentor—These are rogue military leaders or scientists who are a part of the Brotherhood that oversee the progress of “selection.” Often armed with biological agents, hate propaganda or other such means, their task is simply to foment as much violence as possible to accomplish the Brotherhood’s goal, and then choose the survivors the Brotherhood finds worthy to live.

[New Dornalia]

Random Events—These are random events that are dealt on a d6 roll of 3 or below. These include:

--Financial Events—Events that occur involving international markets, corporations, oil embargoes, etc.
--Media Events—Can be the rise and fall of Rock/Pop Stars, Newsmen, Sweeps Week, etc.
--Political Events—Military Coups, Presidential Elections, Political Scandals, etc.
--Random/Paranormal Events—See “The X-Files” or “Bhopal, India.”

These events can affect any of the Four Qualities.

--Scientfic Events—Specifically affect Technology. Can give bonuses or penalities, or special one time benefits or attacks for that turn.
--Magical Events—See Scientific Events.

Interloper Cards— Interlopers are random elements that are a threat to the conspiracies. These include people like Internet bloggers who know too much, Wal-Mart tabloids, Senators/MPs with a crusader streak, nosy FBI agents, and time traveling Englishmen with police boxes. Pray you don’t get the Englishman; he will set you back several turns owing to sheer awesomeness.

Special Attack Cards—these are faction specific attacks played to specially attack units in a certain area. These include orbital strikes from MJ-12s USS George Washington, magical hurricanes summoned by Mages, Sudden Massive Lawsuits by the Cabal, or a classic Terror Attack by the Jihad.

Have certain requirements, such as requiring a Unique Unit, spending a certain amount of Mana/Technology Points, researching the right tech, etc. One time use. These are gained by researching certain technologies (MJ-12 gets the Orbital Strike free with the research of Practical Mass Drivers), or spending a certain amount of Money and turns to acquire a weapon. SACs are divided into several Levels, 1-3. They are used, depending on the card, either to supplement an attack or in lieu of an attack during the Events Phase.

[New Dornalia]

Sequence of Play—

Turn based.

Each player takes a turn.

First, he collects money, Mana, Technology Points, Influence Tokens, Units.

Second, then he makes moves. Invests Tech Points into research to facililitate research. Invests mana into new spells. Places influence tokens on the locations where they are gained, representing the increased influence of the Conspiracy in that area. Moves units to various locations.

Third, makes events occur. Attacks are conducted with dice rolls, the user's Attack Value corresponding to the amount of dice he/she can use on the table for that attack (i.e., Infantry get an attack value or 1-2, so they can use one or two dice. Note that you can stack units for an attack, and form entire armies for an assault). On a roll of 3 or above, the attack is considered successful, and the target loses a Hitpoint. Uses money to buy units, upgrade weapons, etc. Draw cards, and then deploy special attacks and play Event cards.