Diplomacy in ACTA Campaigns
- Thread starter TGT
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Here's part of it... (TM Wing Commander @ ID Gaming)
Diplomats & Peacemaking
It is entirely possible that you will, at some point in the campaign, wish to make peaceful overtures toward another players faction. You do this by dispatching a Diplomat to any location which contains any of that factions’ forces (this includes Flags, Named locations, outposts, Jumpgates, etc, etc). A diplomat costs 5 RP to generate and comes complete with a diplomatic courier which is the equivalent of a liner in stats. This ship may be assigned to any flag or as a flag in itself and simply moves to another factions sector and opens Diplomatic relations with that race.
Once Diplomatic relations have been established you can then broker a treaty with another faction. This may be a voluntary Treaty or may involve a transfer of RP’s and/or other resources between the 2 Factions. There are 3 levels of treaty and you may enter into any of them at any time, each level beyond the first has the advantages of the previous as well. The terms of the treaty are between yourself and the other faction but the conditions are as follows:
Peace Treaty
A Peace treaty is simply a promise on paper not to attack each other. It is not worth much more than that but does allow you to move troops through a sector controlled by that faction.
Alliance
An Alliance is much more serious than a mere Peace Treaty, it allows you access to an Allies modules (e.g. Shipbuilding, etc) at a cost agreed with the Ally for their use. It also allows you to share Intel / Counter Intel resources and you may “loan” a bonus or penalty to your ally, this does mean that you cannot use it yourself however for this turn.
You may also make an Ally Trade route and can sell your Ally surplus naval vessels at an agreed price between yourselves.
Defensive Pact
This is the ultimate Treaty with your allies. If anybody attacks your Ally you must immediately move at least 1 Flag to aid in his assistance, this Flag is effectively under your Allies control for 1d6 turns or as long as he remains under attack.
Intel & Counter-Intel
In the Ursus campaign, ships are important but a good Intel Team is the Eyes, Ears and shield of the fleet. The Intel Module allows you to perform a number of special actions whilst the Counter Intel module makes you more resistant to other factions performing these actions against you. You may make 1 Intel Action for free and a subsequent action costs 1 of your Intel Points, any of these Actions may be boosted by expending a further Intel point, up to the maximum of your Intel Module rank or spending 5 RP’s per bonus point to the dice roll.
e.g. Trainspotting with a level 2 Intel Module and +10 RP’s succeeds on a 6+.
Trainspotting twice, once for free, once with a Level 1 Intel module and +5 RP’s to each means you’d get 2 dice rolls with a target of 9+ for each. This may be against the same target it you are really determined and fail the first roll.
Where there is a specific target for any Intel Action, other than Trainspotting, you must have contact with that Faction first! E.g. you can’t use Demo Team against an enemy until you have encountered that enemy.
Trainspotting: You may attempt to spot an enemy Supply convoy on a 10+.
Codebreaking: If you capture a vessel from another faction you may attempt to crack its security codes and reprogamme it for your own use. It requires an Intel roll of 11+ and 2 RP’s to make the attempt. Note: there is more to utilising an enemy vessel than this, but this is the step necessary to allow you to use the ship.
Demo Team: You use a special forces mission to successfully infiltrate an opposing factions vessel and plant a demolition charge somewhere important. This vessel must be in a flag that you have encountered and identified and, if successful, the charge is noted and may be activated at any time. Difficulty 10+. If you are successful you may detonate the charge at any time, roll 1 automatic critical roll and apply it immediately to vessel.
Grab’n’run: A specially trained team steal 1d6 RP’s from your opposing factions Supply run. These RP’s are lost after any battles for Convoy attacks have been conducted. Difficulty 8+.
False Intel: Requires a Counter Intel Module. By planting false leads and special sensor echos you trick an opponent into attacking a convoy which does not exist. This may result in a wasted journey or you may have a full flag awaiting their arrival. Difficulty 11+. If an enemy successfully Trainspots 1 of your convoys the GM will inform them that you have more than 1 convoy inbound and ask them to select which they will attack (i.e. convoy 1, 2 or 3, etc), you will number your convoys including the false ones and the GM will then conduct the event either as a real convoy raid or your false trail.
Safe Run: Requires a Counter Intel Module. You can identify if a convoy is under threat from attack and by whom. This will allow you to transfer a further flag to its defence and also results in a further d6 bases of fighters being allocated by Homeworld to the defence of this convoy. Difficulty 10+
Passive Surveillance. Required a Counter Intel Module. By concentrating many of your resources on surveillance and watching your enemies you gain an insight into their Plans. This effect gives you a save of 11+ against all Intel Rolls made against you, if this roll is successful you will know who plans what against you, a separate order is roll against each opponent in turn.
Hijack!: Considered one of the boldest and most aggressive moves an Intel Team can make, hijacking an enemy vessel straight from under the nose of her crew. This is a difficult and challenging process with many hazards, but for those that can pull it off it is a coup worth boasting about.
The base cost to make the attempt is 5 RP’s per level of the ship and a base difficult of 10 +1 per level of the target. E.g. Patrol level 11+, Skirmish level 12+, Raid level 13+, Battle Level 14+ and War level 15+. Needless to say you must put a lot of Intel resources into this project to make it work!
If you are successful you must still spend additional RP’s to reprogramme the vessel as per codebreaking rules
Eyes & Ears: On a successful Eyes & Ears roll you will have positively identified an enemies Flag displacement for a given turn. On a 9+ you will have an accurate list of the disposition of each of the enemy vessels, and to which flag they have been assigned, but NOT where they are going or what their orders are.
Loose Lips: Your spies are everywhere, you may select any 1 enemy flag (nominate the number of the flag) and on a successful roll of 9+ you will know exactly what their orders are for this turn.
False Orders: Communications and orders are the key to any successful campaign. By falsifying orders, replacing enemy communique’s and breaking security codes you may issue a “false order” to 1 enemy flag. The difficulty for this action is 12+ and you must select the number of the flag that you are attempting to give the orders to. If you are successful you may move those ships as if they were your own, this includes ships which should be on convoy patrol and defensive flags. You cannot, however, force them to attack or open fire on anyone although they may defend themselves as usual or be forced to run away from an engagement.
Diplomats & Peacemaking
It is entirely possible that you will, at some point in the campaign, wish to make peaceful overtures toward another players faction. You do this by dispatching a Diplomat to any location which contains any of that factions’ forces (this includes Flags, Named locations, outposts, Jumpgates, etc, etc). A diplomat costs 5 RP to generate and comes complete with a diplomatic courier which is the equivalent of a liner in stats. This ship may be assigned to any flag or as a flag in itself and simply moves to another factions sector and opens Diplomatic relations with that race.
Once Diplomatic relations have been established you can then broker a treaty with another faction. This may be a voluntary Treaty or may involve a transfer of RP’s and/or other resources between the 2 Factions. There are 3 levels of treaty and you may enter into any of them at any time, each level beyond the first has the advantages of the previous as well. The terms of the treaty are between yourself and the other faction but the conditions are as follows:
Peace Treaty
A Peace treaty is simply a promise on paper not to attack each other. It is not worth much more than that but does allow you to move troops through a sector controlled by that faction.
Alliance
An Alliance is much more serious than a mere Peace Treaty, it allows you access to an Allies modules (e.g. Shipbuilding, etc) at a cost agreed with the Ally for their use. It also allows you to share Intel / Counter Intel resources and you may “loan” a bonus or penalty to your ally, this does mean that you cannot use it yourself however for this turn.
You may also make an Ally Trade route and can sell your Ally surplus naval vessels at an agreed price between yourselves.
Defensive Pact
This is the ultimate Treaty with your allies. If anybody attacks your Ally you must immediately move at least 1 Flag to aid in his assistance, this Flag is effectively under your Allies control for 1d6 turns or as long as he remains under attack.
Intel & Counter-Intel
In the Ursus campaign, ships are important but a good Intel Team is the Eyes, Ears and shield of the fleet. The Intel Module allows you to perform a number of special actions whilst the Counter Intel module makes you more resistant to other factions performing these actions against you. You may make 1 Intel Action for free and a subsequent action costs 1 of your Intel Points, any of these Actions may be boosted by expending a further Intel point, up to the maximum of your Intel Module rank or spending 5 RP’s per bonus point to the dice roll.
e.g. Trainspotting with a level 2 Intel Module and +10 RP’s succeeds on a 6+.
Trainspotting twice, once for free, once with a Level 1 Intel module and +5 RP’s to each means you’d get 2 dice rolls with a target of 9+ for each. This may be against the same target it you are really determined and fail the first roll.
Where there is a specific target for any Intel Action, other than Trainspotting, you must have contact with that Faction first! E.g. you can’t use Demo Team against an enemy until you have encountered that enemy.
Trainspotting: You may attempt to spot an enemy Supply convoy on a 10+.
Codebreaking: If you capture a vessel from another faction you may attempt to crack its security codes and reprogamme it for your own use. It requires an Intel roll of 11+ and 2 RP’s to make the attempt. Note: there is more to utilising an enemy vessel than this, but this is the step necessary to allow you to use the ship.
Demo Team: You use a special forces mission to successfully infiltrate an opposing factions vessel and plant a demolition charge somewhere important. This vessel must be in a flag that you have encountered and identified and, if successful, the charge is noted and may be activated at any time. Difficulty 10+. If you are successful you may detonate the charge at any time, roll 1 automatic critical roll and apply it immediately to vessel.
Grab’n’run: A specially trained team steal 1d6 RP’s from your opposing factions Supply run. These RP’s are lost after any battles for Convoy attacks have been conducted. Difficulty 8+.
False Intel: Requires a Counter Intel Module. By planting false leads and special sensor echos you trick an opponent into attacking a convoy which does not exist. This may result in a wasted journey or you may have a full flag awaiting their arrival. Difficulty 11+. If an enemy successfully Trainspots 1 of your convoys the GM will inform them that you have more than 1 convoy inbound and ask them to select which they will attack (i.e. convoy 1, 2 or 3, etc), you will number your convoys including the false ones and the GM will then conduct the event either as a real convoy raid or your false trail.
Safe Run: Requires a Counter Intel Module. You can identify if a convoy is under threat from attack and by whom. This will allow you to transfer a further flag to its defence and also results in a further d6 bases of fighters being allocated by Homeworld to the defence of this convoy. Difficulty 10+
Passive Surveillance. Required a Counter Intel Module. By concentrating many of your resources on surveillance and watching your enemies you gain an insight into their Plans. This effect gives you a save of 11+ against all Intel Rolls made against you, if this roll is successful you will know who plans what against you, a separate order is roll against each opponent in turn.
Hijack!: Considered one of the boldest and most aggressive moves an Intel Team can make, hijacking an enemy vessel straight from under the nose of her crew. This is a difficult and challenging process with many hazards, but for those that can pull it off it is a coup worth boasting about.
The base cost to make the attempt is 5 RP’s per level of the ship and a base difficult of 10 +1 per level of the target. E.g. Patrol level 11+, Skirmish level 12+, Raid level 13+, Battle Level 14+ and War level 15+. Needless to say you must put a lot of Intel resources into this project to make it work!
If you are successful you must still spend additional RP’s to reprogramme the vessel as per codebreaking rules
Eyes & Ears: On a successful Eyes & Ears roll you will have positively identified an enemies Flag displacement for a given turn. On a 9+ you will have an accurate list of the disposition of each of the enemy vessels, and to which flag they have been assigned, but NOT where they are going or what their orders are.
Loose Lips: Your spies are everywhere, you may select any 1 enemy flag (nominate the number of the flag) and on a successful roll of 9+ you will know exactly what their orders are for this turn.
False Orders: Communications and orders are the key to any successful campaign. By falsifying orders, replacing enemy communique’s and breaking security codes you may issue a “false order” to 1 enemy flag. The difficulty for this action is 12+ and you must select the number of the flag that you are attempting to give the orders to. If you are successful you may move those ships as if they were your own, this includes ships which should be on convoy patrol and defensive flags. You cannot, however, force them to attack or open fire on anyone although they may defend themselves as usual or be forced to run away from an engagement.
stringvest
Mongoose
One of the first war games I ever played was a game called Divine Right. It was a fantasy based Risk type game, except you had to build up your armies through diplomacy with pre-set factions, ie the land of Pon had 8 armies, and you had to send an ambassador, make a roll, with plus or minus cards you had accumulated, to get them on your side. Of course other players could try and break that alliance, then get them on their side, but would have a tougher time once the relationship had been established.
I think taking elements from this game would make a superb campaign game.
I think taking elements from this game would make a superb campaign game.
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