Open for Swords of Pelarn discussion From: babushka@sprynet.com Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 00:00:00 +0000 Does anyone else here play Swords of Pelarn? If so, I'd like to start some discusion on start-up types, race selection, troop training and mounts, as well as the various factions. Of course, any other topic you'd like to touch on is welcome! If you don't know what Swords of Pelarn is, it's a fantasy play-by-mail game created by Midnight Games that's part strategy game, part wargame, part role-playing game- depending on your style of play. If you want to know more, read on... SWORDS OF PELARN As stated above, Swords of Pelarn (SOP) is a play-by-mail game. This is convenient for me because I can play it in between live-games and other computer games. Other players have told me they prefer play-by-mail because the games can last longer (1 year and up!), convenient if they travel a lot, and that they can take time to really think out their next move. When you're in a play-by-mails (PBM's), you "move" by issuing orders to the characters/cities/troops/worlds under your command and then submit it to a central Game Master (GM). They then input all the player's orders into a computer, which calculates the effects of everyone's orders, and prints out the end results for you to enjoy. These aren't just one-page printouts; they contain information on each of your characters, castles, inventory of goods, descriptions of the lands around you, information about the castles and troops around you, messages from other players, and messages from the DM. My first print-out was 19 pages long! How many character's you initially control is dictated by your "set-up". There are four set-ups to choose from in SOP: Overlord, Mercenary, Adventurer Party, and Hero. As you can see, these allow each player to practice their own style of play and get back from the game what they want. Being the economic manager that I am, I chose the Overlord set-up so that I could start a thriving economy with which to fund my conquests into enemy territories. Others who prefer the war-gaming approach have opted for the Mercenary set-up. Still others are more interested in role-playing, so they went with the Adventurer Party and Hero options. One thing I like about SOP is the ability to personalize my dominion. Not only do I have 56 different races, 11 religions, and 12 factions to choose from, but I can design my own coat-of-arms, write a message that describes my castle to all those who pass by, name my cities & guilds, and even create new types of troops, magic items, factions, and spells! Winning the game in SOP is a very broad term. Each of the 11 religions and 12 factions have victory conditions that must be met before the game is "won". These include conquering certain cities, gaining certain items, assuming certain positions of power, etc. However, if you decide that all youI want out of the game is to conquer the certain track of land that you find yourself on or to build a vast kingdom, you're really the judge of whether you've won or not. Given that accomplishing all the victory conditions for a religion or faction single-handedly would be a truly heroic feat, cooperation and communication is paramount in SOP. With up to 200 players at any given time and hundreds more NPCs, the opportunity to forge alliances, stab backs, influence away key officials, and generally cause an impact on the game world is everywhere. With the option to send messages to specific players or to all players at the same time, you can be as anonymous or vocal as you please! If you want to know more about Swords of Pelarn or other Midnight Games, check out their website at www.mgames.com. Tell them you heard about it here. Also, ask if there is any openings in the current games and when new games are opening up. Up