Review: SpyKor (long-ish) From: shadiseast@aol.com (ShadisEast) Date: Fri, 30 Dec 1994 05:46:29 +0000 This review originally appeared in Post Marque magazine, carried at the time by Shadis magazine. ---------------- SpyKor: A PBM review by Patrick M. Rodgers When they dig through the rubble a hundred years from now, historians will be somewhat surprised. Besides the fact that Whitney Houston actually had a hit record, they will be amazed by the fact that our civilization went straight to hell with itself, despite the fact that we knew we had it coming. This foreknowledge is evident in the rapidly-increasing number of games, PBM and otherwise, that focus on dark, bleak futures. SpyKor is one such game. Workin' for the man In SpyKor's not-too-distant timeline, everybody works for the man. The man, in this case, being huge, massive, really, really big mega-giganto-corporations (did I mention that they're a wee bit large?) that totally control the world. Governments are pass�; these Korporati had countries for breakfast and the UN for lunch. Even the Illuminati couldn't stop them (fnord). All that remains to be seen is which of eight Korps will achieve total world dominance. Each player takes on the role of the CEO of one such Korp (it would be a pretty dull game if players controlled the custodial staff or something). Under his supervision are military forces, civilian population, spies, and corporate reps. Each are important components of a successful Korp. Military forces, naturally, cause people and things to irreparably explode. This can be useful if you desire to take control of a certain area, and people and/or things are standing in your way. Infantry-type units range from simple Drones (imagine a marine recruit with a lobotomy) to highly-skilled Guards. There are several types of aircraft (yes, Ronnie, they have Stealth Bombers), anti-aircraft weaponry, and even satellite-based weaponry. Don't be misled by the variety, however. Selecting units isn't a question of weighing pros and cons of each unit; rather, it is a question of how soon a player can afford to build the advanced units, since they are superior in every way to their cheaper counterparts. Not unlike our world, civilians in the SpyKor world pay taxes, make things, and join the military. Taxes help fund a Korp's treasury, and the resources gathered by civilians can be used in production or can be sold. Infantry units are recruited from civilian population; thus, high populations are necessary for serious military enthusiasts. Unlike our world, however, civilians in SK have strong opinions, and if they don't like their government anymore, they actually have the nerve to revolt. The measure of a Korp's popularity is called Public Relations (PR), and it plays an important part in how the world view the Korp. If a Korp's PR rating ever falls below a certain level, the Korp dissolves and the player is out of the game. PR is positively impacted by such do-gooder deeds as combating plagues, donating money to charity, and relinquishing control of a sector. PR is negatively impacted by such nefarious atrocities as having underworld ties, being caught with one's hand in the cookie jar, and blowing things up. Spies are capable of everything from simple theft to industrial sabotage and even (gasp) murder. Each spy has a name, and a rating in three different skills: Assassin, Mole, and Tekno. The assassin skill determines how proficient a spy is at both committing and avoiding assassination. The mole skill assists a spy in remaining undetected, performing theft missions, and resisting Conversion attempts by enemy Reps. The tekno skill determines how easily a spy can compromise enemy tek and security and is especially important during acts of sabotage. Each spy may be given one order per turn. The wide variety of targets a spy can select (e.g. steal stocks, steal cash, steal Tek, sabotage military, sabotage Tek, etc.) make these units valuable and enjoyable to employ. Spies begin the game "hidden" - they cannot be molested until their ID codes are discovered or revealed (usually during a failed mission). Cindy Crawford is one. A rep, that is - the "front men" of a Korp. Reps conduct negotiations, trade stocks, launch propaganda campaigns, convert enemy agents, and negotiate more. Unlike spies, reps are public figures; thus, their ID codes are available immediately for all to see - which makes them instant targets. Like spies, reps have names, and a rating in each of three skills: Awareness, Leadership, and Charisma. Awareness assists a rep in ferreting out double agents, launching propaganda attacks, and resisting assassination attempts. Leadership is used primarily in diplomatic functions, and aids in resisting Conversion attempts. Charisma is used in almost every rep order, but is most important when initiating Conversion attempts. When reps Convert personnel from other Korporati, they sometimes bring some money with them, making this action a favorite. The end of the world as we know it The SpyKor world is made up of 238 sector; each sector is a square. On the map, the only distinguishing features of each sector are its terrain type, and owner (if known). If a Korp gains control of a sector, it will also learn the amount of population in a sector, how much food and resources are produced by the sector, the composition and number of military forces present, and the unemployment and disruption rates of the population. If a sector's disruption rating is high enough, it is easier for an opposing Korp to charm the sector away through diplomacy; the other unpleasant side effect is that disrupted population often have labor strikes. Each sector also has a population ceiling, which represents the target number of population in the region. The actual number of population will grow or shrink every turn until it is equal to the population ceiling. A Korp can set the population ceiling of any sector which it controls. Control of a sector can be established through diplomacy, or through conquest (apparently, not much has changed). If conquest is selected, defending forces must be eliminated. If any attacking forces survive, control of the sector is achieved. Shatner's Attorney's, Take Note! Perhaps the single most important element of a Korp is its Tek rating. Tek starts at 1 for all players, and both credits and resources must be invested into Tek funds to finance the research and development of higher levels of Tek. Of course, less scrupulous Korporati have been known to send spies to other Korps in order to, ah, acquire Tek. A higher Tek rating will make a Korp more effective in almost every way. In addition, some orders and military units have a prerequisite of a certain Tek level. Perhaps the most meaningful of these is the Air Drop order, which allows infantry units to deploy to any sector on the map, via a Bomber or Stealth Bomber. Each aircraft can transport one infantry unit; if the aircraft is shot down, the unit is lost as well. A Tek rating of 4 is required. Since infantry units can normally move but one sector per turn, the military significance of this order is readily apparent. Further ramifications will be discussed later. Other Details Each Korp has a Security rating, which determines how much difficulty enemy spies will have when attempting to infiltrate it, and an Industry rating, which serves many purposes, including the employment of population (which reduces disruption), augmenting the Korp's PR, and generating credits. A Korp's Vice rating determines the extent to which a Korp is involved in criminal activities. Each point of Vice yields 500 credits of income per turn, but also increases the risk that a Korp's underworld ties will be exposed (resulting, naturally, in a loss of PR). Each Korp is the world leader in one type of industry (e.g. importing, pharmaceuticals, etc.) There are a number of minor corporations in each field as well; their only real impact on the game is that shares of their stocks can be bought and sold on the market. Special abilities are available to add character to the Korporati; each Korp has one. Each special ability offers some bonus or allows one rule to be circumvented. Three examples include: Double Resource Production, Cheaper Tek Research, and Rapid Military Recruitment. In addition to the standard victory conditions (obtain a net worth of 100,000 credits, or eliminate all enemy Korps), each Korp has a secret victory condition. This condition is to control at least 75 shares of a particular stock, and to control five specific sectors, two of which will be home sectors of other Korps. As the World Turns Turn printouts are reasonably informative as to what occurs on each turn; the only thing missing at the time of this writing was a breakdown of expenditures per turn. Military activities, stock market changes, rep and spy activities, random events, and other pertinent information is presented. Each Korp is also listed, along with its PR rating, net worth, number of sectors controlled, home sector, and the ID #s and names of its reps. This makes it easy for a player to get an idea of where his Korp stands. It also shows which low-PR Korps would be especially vulnerable to PR-lowering attacks.... There is no limit to the number of orders a player can issue, provided his Korp has sufficient personnel and assets to carry them out. The turnsheets are straightforward and easy to fill out. The sequence of events chart in the rulebook is reasonably comprehensive. A useful feature is the "priority order" option. Any order can be designated a "priority order" at no extra cost; these orders are carried out before any other orders, allowing a player to circumvent the standard sequence of events. Since each spy can only carry out one order (each rep gets two), it is essential to hire a few spies and reps early on in the game, since the most significant orders require them. Each additional spy or rep hired during a turn costs an extra amount of money, so steadily hiring one or two per turn is preferable to hiring five every third turn. There we were.... I participated in Game 4, which I believe was the first non-plainest game. All eight players began the game with enthusiasm, but by turn 9 or 10, the field had thinned to three players (one Korp, Premier Labs, had been destroyed by Post Marque writer Trey Stone). The low number of players per game in SpyKor does make dropouts especially detrimental. Spy and rep activity was heavy from the outset, with at least one assassination attempt every turn, and a number of conversions. I had one spy converted away (that I was aware of) by about turn 5, but he was subsequently "reeducated," at a small cost to his abilities (you'd be less effective if you were whipped with electrical cord, too). Other Korps were caught with underworld ties early and sometimes repeatedly, leading me to think that I had under invested in Vice. By turn 10, however, I'd only been busted once, with a small drop in PR. The major military conflict seemed to be between Premier Labs and Space Bus, Inc. SBI actually lost their home sector, but managed to knock PL out of the game. Not to be outdone, my Korp, Dancing Ferret Pubs, declared war on Wildlife Preserve Ent. and Manetheren Stedding, but both dropped the game before the wars got serious. Final Analysis In its present form, SpyKor is a very enjoyable beer-and-pretzels game which has added depth available if a player chooses to explore it. Playing it as a straight-up wargame would be a mistake, since the resulting drop in PR would quickly eliminate a warmonger from the game. There seems to be an equal balance between spies, reps, and military, with economics and the stock market lagging somewhat behind. Turn processing has been regular and error-free. The rulebook is 47 pages in length and includes a sample turn and blank turnsheet. It provides justification for many of the rules in the game, and is fairly easy to understand; it could benefit from an index and improved organization. Turn results appear to be laser printed and information is easy to locate. A map is printed every turn and is easy to understand. Like Illuminati, which it resembles more in theme than in content, it offers a "behind the scenes" avenue to victory that will appeal to fans of intrigue, and perhaps frustrate head-on hack-'n'-slashers. I myself opted for the lightning-fast "secret victory condition" approach, buying the requisite stock and Air Dropping forces into the five required sectors over the course of just two turns (fear the awesome power of the Air Drop)! The outcome remains to be seen. The GM, Mike Childress, has been extremely responsive to player input. It is expected that SpyKor will continue to improve over the months ahead; in fact, rumor has it that SpyKor II is in the works, possibly supporting up to fifty players per game! With an increased player base, standby players could help minimize the damage done by dropouts, and the stock market and economic system are currently being reviewed for possible expansion. Turns are bi-weekly and cost $5.00 each; an acceptable fee. Rules are $5.00, which can be applied towards the setup package. Setup includes a rulebook and turns 4-6 at no charge, and costs $10.00. Email games are run weekly at reduced cost. More information about SpyKor can be obtained from Sudden Asylum, 1401 Gatlinburg Drive, Pflugerville TX 78660, or by posting to 76066,2230 on CompuServe's PBMGAMES forum. #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-<Replies to: Patrick@Ferret.Com>-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#- "(I) do what I want - do what I feel like" -- Offspring "It's all part of life's rich pattern, Brenda, and you'd better f**king get used to it." -- Killian, The Running Man "And so I chortle and spit on thee, for it makes me well pleased." -- Book of SubGenius Up