Olympia Times [end-of-playtest issue] From: info@pbm.com (Olympia PBEM) Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 14:14:42 +0000 /======================================================================\ | The Olympia Times times@pbm.com | | June 15, 1994 special edition | | | | "You're at the end of | | Turn 110 32 Players the road again." | \======================================================================/ Questions, comments, to play: info@pbm.com Olympia PBEM -= End of Playtest =- * * * From far, from eve and morning And yon twelve-winded sky, The stuff of life to knit me Blew hither: here am I. Now -- for a breath I tarry Nor yet disperse apart -- Take my hand quick and tell me, What have you in your heart. Speak now, and I will answer; How shall I help you, say; Ere to the wind's twelve quarters I take my endless way. -- A.E. Housman * * * The Olympia II playtest is ending on Thursday, June 23rd, after 112 turns. Call for Players ---------------- Signups are being taken for the launch of the commercial Olympia game. Initial position reports will be mailed on Wednesday, June 22nd. (To play in the first turn, your signup must be received by then.) The first turn will run on Wednesday, June 29th. New players after the initial batch will be added every Wednesday after the turn runs. Send requests for info/rules/signup to: info@pbm.com Rules may also be ftp'd from ftp.pbm.com in pub/olympia. There is also a WWW server for Olympia: http://www.pbm.com/oly-top.html Turns cost US$2.50 each. The game will run with a turnaround of one turn per week. Payment can be made by check or money order in US dollars, or by VISA/Mastercard. The Playtests are Over ---------------------- Since the first turn of Olympia ran on November 18, 1991, there have been 150 playtest turns run. The rules were redesigned between the first and second playtests, and the engine underwent a complete rewrite. What's new since Olympia I: o Provinces have interior locations you can find with EXPLORE, such as hidden cities, lairs, ruins, sacred groves, caves, etc. o Complex study/research system. Learning some skills will require travel to distant cities, or finding rare books. Some skills must be found through RESEARCH. o Six magic schools chock full of spells. Each spell is documented with a lore sheet. o Monsters to slay. Monsters guard treasures such as gold, rare magical artifacts, or NPC prisoners you can rescue (and who may join your party in gratitude). o Improved turn reports. There is now a separate report for each noble. A handy order template appears at the end of each turn. And an automatic order scanner syntax checks and acknowledges your orders as soon as its receives them. o New combat system, featuring training of different kinds of fighters, front/behind ranks for troops, and battle skills for the noble. o Solid game balance -- no more out-of-control economy. o New game areas separate from the main world map -- Hades, Faery and the Cloudlands. o Common and rare tradegoods sold by markets. Map out trade routes an build a shipping empire. o Lots of new commands. A Big Thank-you --------------- I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has participated in the Olympia playtests. I was constantly amazed at the quality of the suggestions I received, and the effort playtesters put into tracking down and reporting problems with the design, in the oly engine, and in the documentation. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Player-contributed press =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The life and times of the Alliterating Illiterates under the command of Friendly Freddy. In the middle of the Dark night (turn 71) I entered the safe haven city in Lesser Atnos with plans of making a fortune. Little did I know then of the mistakes I would make. My vague plans were getting rich through trade, not battle, and financing a mage. So, what to do? Well, first of all I started recruiting several comrades, I couldn't do it all by myself. Later I recruited some more companions so that at the moment my party consists of the following people: Friendly Freddy(myself) Wimpy Weasel Merry Merchant Sneezy Snoodle Aggravating Akhbar First of all I did want a tower and a ship, so Friendly Freddy learned Shipcraft and Construction. He also learned some Stealth, but that wasn't used at all. To divide the work Wimpy Weasel learned Forestry. A tower doesn't need wood, but I had big plans for a chain of inns. He also learned Beastmastery and Mining as skills for when we would move out. We never did, and still haven't even found out how to get hold of oxen. Maybe it is time to do some research on Beastmastery? Because I did have to find out trade routes I sent the Merry Merchant exploring. He never learned anything, but he found some cities, and even a circle of trees where I later retrieved a lot of lana bark. Sneezy Snoodle was promoted to mage. He hasn't mastered many spells, but he has researched the whole Gatecraft field, and thanks to a recent voyage has now acquired some knowledge on Magic, Weather magic, Scrying and Necromancy. Unfortunately it seems that Armageddon is near, otherwise he might have discovered some more arcane knowledge. The last to join our ranks was Aggravating Akhbar. He took a permanent position in the safe haven as a trader and apprentice mage. He started out with Combat so that he could fashion weapons for sale and to equip some escorts. He also learned Alchemy, but again this was never used because we never travelled to further reaches of Olympia. To have some cash, and to pay the maintenance of the ever growing stream of new recruits he started out making loads of pottery. Due to a lot of supply there was a price war in which the price dropped from 7 gold to 1 gold in a few months. I dumped my stock because there wasn't any profit in. The next thing to try was the infamous skill 9103 (perform common tasks). This was a financial success. He succeeded in earning money almost every month, and has now reached the skill of grand master:-) So what went right? It seems that the local tycoon(Cajic) had money to spend, so I was able to sell him a nice supply of lana bark for a not unsubstantial sum. I was also able to train and equip a small platoon of pikeman and crossbowmen. Because my plans for a commercial shipyard failed I also got rid of a big supply of wood, but this was done for bargain prices. What went wrong? Everything else:-) My biggest mistake was to stay in the safe haven in Lesser Atnos. As I found out exploring, the whole island was in use by older and stronger players. I found this out after I built my tower and put some money into the mage. What also went wrong was the commercial shipyard. Due to the lack of advertising possiblities(the times) I was unable to find any buyers. Luckily I just built one ship, otherwise I would have had to put one of my party in every ship to keep it my own. The same goes for inns. I never did start one, but for every inn you need an innkeeper, and besides, the revenue on inns isn't that big. Due to these initial investments I didn't have enough money left to start a long and expensive expedition to find unexplored lands. What should I have done? Maybe money can be made with trade, but not with closeby cities on Lesser Atnos. Maybe I didn't find out how to make better profits with trading(there might be some subskills under Stealth). But I think I should have sent my only ship out to sea to find other ports with interesting trade goods. Besides trading within Lesser Atnos never did get of the ground because of the lack of oxen. These weren't on sale anywhere. I should never have started training a mage and building a tower. I could always have done this later when the money started coming in. Maybe keeping a base in a safe haven is a good idea, but I should have taken most of my party and gone to a remote province with just a few soldiers and sailors. There I should have made some gold and iron mines, and maybe created a small empire and put some civilisation into the wilderness. And then, with my own castle, and my own provinces, and my own tax revenues, and with lots of riches, I could have started thinking of the hobby of keeping a pet mage. So, what will I do in Olympia III (or IIb)? To keep it simple : the same, but this time I will try to find my own place far away in the wilderness where nobody will find me. That is, until I think it is time people know where I am. Maybe I'll try to find some partners to go together, as I believe it is necessary to be with several people to start a new city. That I may be more successfull next time, Friendly Freddy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As the Sun set for possibly the last time over the Lands of Torba Bacor, Morgan Steelmane looked out over the lands he had called home for so many years. These lands had been a godsend to his people... endless plains for raising the horses they loved, backed by an equally endless desert to protect them from their enemies, and surrounded by a great sea to keep them safe from all who would harm them. He remembered the first temple to their Lady. And the discovery of the Lady's Ancient City hidden at the desert's edge. Life had been good, but now he was growing old and weary. His people would flourish when he was gone, but how best to make his leaving of worth? So he called His people together and showed them the Castle that he had built from the desert sands. There he told them of his plan. He would take 100 of their finest War horses, 20 Flying Horses, 50 Wolves, 10 Harpies, 10 War Birds, and 5 Minotars; and with them he would journey to his chosen resting place. There he would summon the Greatest Demon Lord of the under- world, bind the creature to him, and then with magic that was a gift of the Lady, he would ascend into the realm of Fairie. From there he would look out over the endless plains, protecting his people for ages to come as the Lady's personal Warlord. So as the sun set, Morgan Steelmane entered the Land of the Dead and from there called forth a creature of such power and malevolence that its visage darkened the fire light of hell itself. And when it came Morgan did not lift a finger, he looked the beast in its unblinking eye, and under the stare of one so filled with the power of the Lady, the creature submitted, knowing that it had no choice. And So Morgan rode from the depths with his servant in tow. And when the children that had journeyed to his burial place saw the evil he had returned with, they looked away and were frightened, but Morgan spoke once more to his people saying... " This evil that I have summoned, I will now take away to a place where he can never make war upon my people again." And with that he lifted a small blue stone from his waist. At seeing it the Dark Lord shrieked and raged, but could do nothing to prevent his own fate. And as his people watched and the moon looked down, Small lights gathered in the place of darkness... first a few, then dozens, then hundreds, and finally more than the stars in the sky. The lights danced and circled, leaving light and hope in their wake. And then Morgan began to glow. The light of the stone he carried was made his and it infused him with the magic and hope of the fairies he had called. And for a brief instant all could see the endless land of the Dawn where fairies played and horses ran on the wind. And then he was gone. Morgan and all his Servant creatures had vanished, and in their place... Dawn. The sun rose a little slower than usual that day. It paid particular interest in lighting and warming the last place on Torba Bacor from which Morgan Steelmane had left his children, may it warm and guide them the rest of their days. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Olympia turn 109 report for Gamemaster [200]. Season "Thunder and rain", month 5, in the year 14. Interesting attribute counts ---------------------------- char ability shroud: 1 char hinder meditate: 0 char project cast: 0 char quick cast: 0 loc shroud: 1 loc barrier: 1010 loc opium: 0 format one: 9/32 galleys with rams: 2 (11%) Skill use counts this turn: --------------------------- count name ----- ---- 29 Defense 28 Swordplay 19 Archery 11 Advanced meditation 10 Perform common tasks for gold 9 Preparatory ritual 7 Receive vision 5 Scry location 5 Determine character's lord 5 Mine iron 4 Mine gold 3 Last rites 3 Bird spy 3 Mine mithril 2 Create magical barrier 2 Teleport items 2 Resurrect dead noble 2 Fight to the death 1 Meditate 1 Forge magical armor 1 Locate character 1 Summon rain 1 Petty thievery 1 Record skill on scroll 1 Conceal self finished unfinished +---------------------- galley | 18 0 roundship | 23 0 tower | 103 2 castle | 38 7 mine | 14 3 inn | 30 1 temple | 33 2 59/245 gates found (24%) 30 sealed (12%), 8 notify jump (3%), 0 notify unseal (0%) 3410/7551 provinces visited (45%) 488/2815 sublocs visited (17%) 64% visible, 35% hidden 618 chars: 241 oath (38%), 27 fear (4%), 34 contract (5%), 300 unsworn (48%) Top 25 skills known by players: ------------------------------- (count is how many nobles know the skill; use is how many uses of the skill occured in turn 109) count skill use name ----- ----- --- ---- 114 9581 Weaponsmithing 111 9580 28 Swordplay 97 9570 29 Defense 96 9579 19 Archery 76 9568 Harvest lumber 71 9103 10 Perform common tasks for gold 67 9566 Stone quarrying 57 9146 Heal 55 9101 1 Meditate 53 9502 Sailing 53 9517 Catch wild horses 48 9506 Capture beasts in battle 47 9515 Bribe noble 41 9530 Train wild horse to warmount 39 9104 Appear common 39 9582 Fishing 38 9503 Shipbuilding 38 9521 5 Determine character's lord 36 9505 2 Fight to the death 36 9529 Train wild horse to riding horse 36 9563 5 Mine iron 34 9115 Detect gates 32 9507 Use beasts in battle 32 9541 Construct catapult 32 9564 4 Mine gold rank gold faction ---- ---- ------- 1 107,552 Silverhorn [660] 2 81,387 Champions Eternal [869] 3 65,737 The Collective [568] 4 46,393 Iconia [551] 5 38,161 The Mostly Harmless [555] 6 29,977 Blue [656] 7 20,135 The House of Blood [778] 8 17,523 Mercia [679] 9 16,134 Blue Wizards [454] 10 12,438 Lords of Chaos [810] 11 10,241 Qu'ruim [594] 12 8,829 Magna Verita [771] 13 6,285 Inspiration [670] 14 4,473 Sen [500] 15 4,400 Morgan's Riders [900] 16 3,465 Order of the Wurm [451] 17 3,414 Siblant Saurians [804] 18 2,957 The Hat Creek Ranch [403] 19 2,484 Nylghai Clan [463] 20 2,176 The Tripartite Council [472] 21 1,806 Asagudarna [721] 22 1,694 Alliterating Illiterates [752] 23 1,611 The Silver Lizards [507] 24 1,554 Burlymen Murder Inc. [516] 25 1,457 Runelords of the Blood Moon [419] 26 1,369 The Mighty Morons [442] 27 1,300 Amber [775] 28 1,040 The Hand [448] 29 868 The Adepts of the Magic Nutcracker [406] 30 455 Kesian Brotherhood [652] 31 21 Dogs of War [424] 32 0 The Padishah Empire [535] rank nobles faction ---- ------ ------- 1 81 Silverhorn [660] 2 26 The House of Blood [778] 3 21 Iconia [551] 4 21 The Collective [568] 5 21 Champions Eternal [869] 6 16 Mercia [679] 7 15 Qu'ruim [594] 8 12 Magna Verita [771] 9 11 Runelords of the Blood Moon [419] 10 11 Blue Wizards [454] 11 11 Blue [656] 12 11 Lords of Chaos [810] 13 11 Morgan's Riders [900] 14 9 The Tripartite Council [472] 15 8 Order of the Wurm [451] 16 7 The Hat Creek Ranch [403] 17 7 Burlymen Murder Inc. [516] 18 6 The Adepts of the Magic Nutcracker [406] 19 6 The Mighty Morons [442] 20 6 The Mostly Harmless [555] 21 6 Inspiration [670] 22 5 Kesian Brotherhood [652] 23 5 Asagudarna [721] 24 5 Alliterating Illiterates [752] 25 4 Nylghai Clan [463] 26 4 Sen [500] 27 4 The Silver Lizards [507] 28 4 Siblant Saurians [804] 29 3 Dogs of War [424] 30 3 The Hand [448] 31 3 Amber [775] 32 1 The Padishah Empire [535] who age gold units bld subloc ships skills --- --- ---- ----- --- ------ ----- ------ 100 109 416k 3711 1 9 3 76 Independent player 204 109 0 15 Faery player 205 109 0 19 King of Hades 206 109 1M 2307 2307 NPC control 207 109 0 482 Garrison units 403 28 2957 7 3 26 The Hat Creek Ranch 406 37 868 6 2 1 31 The Adepts of the Magic 419 80 1457 11 3 1 39 Runelords of the Blood Moon 424 18 21 3 1 15 Dogs of War 442 43 1369 6 2 35 The Mighty Morons 448 23 1040 3 1 21 The Hand 451 45 3465 8 3 1 35 Order of the Wurm 454 47 16k 11 5 1 105 Blue Wizards 463 30 2484 4 19 Nylghai Clan 472 92 2176 9 2 2 36 The Tripartite Council 500 36 4473 4 2 37 Sen 507 44 1611 4 2 27 The Silver Lizards 516 43 1554 7 3 29 Burlymen Murder Inc. 535 37 0 1 13 The Padishah Empire 551 108 46k 21 12 83 Iconia 555 45 38k 6 39 The Mostly Harmless 568 92 65k 21 4 2 2 99 The Collective 594 58 10k 15 7 1 44 Qu'ruim 652 18 455 5 1 32 Kesian Brotherhood 656 69 29k 11 1 2 1 85 Blue 660 92 107k 81 17 6 3 145 Silverhorn 670 22 6285 6 4 29 Inspiration 679 92 17k 16 6 2 2 85 Mercia 721 23 1806 5 2 1 1 33 Asagudarna 752 37 1694 5 1 1 1 27 Alliterating Illiterates 771 37 8829 12 6 1 60 Magna Verita 775 22 1300 3 1 30 Amber 778 108 20k 26 7 1 129 The House of Blood 804 22 3414 4 1 9 Siblant Saurians 810 43 12k 11 1 41 Lords of Chaos 869 101 81k 21 4 139 Champions Eternal 900 90 4400 11 5 1 98 Morgan's Riders Player list: ------------ num faction --- ------- 403 The Hat Creek Ranch Chris Butchko <chris.butchko@support.com> 406 The Adepts of the Magic Nutcracker Florence Gaja <gaja@clipper.ens.fr> 419 Runelords of the Blood Moon John Dolan <J.A.Dolan@exeter.ac.uk> 424 Dogs of War Lars Lundberg <d6lundb@dtek.chalmers.se> 442 The Mighty Morons Jay Legue <jayl@gfx.engga.uwo.ca> 448 The Hand Mikael Andersson <d0micke@dtek.chalmers.se> 451 Order of the Wurm Mark Gagnon <markg@engrg.uwo.ca> 454 Blue Wizards Dan Stephen Phillip Corrin <dan@engrg.uwo.ca> 463 Nylghai Clan Mike Merritt <outlandr@crl.com> 472 The Tripartite Council Montgomery Box <box@scf.usc.edu> 500 Sen Oyvind (Ivan) Bjartveit <oyvind@jade.ab.ca> 507 The Silver Lizards Martin Hansson <d8hanma@dtek.chalmers.se> 516 Burlymen Murder Inc. David Bedard <bedard@ccrs.emr.ca> 535 The Padishah Empire Chi Kim <ckim@skidmore.edu> 551 Iconia Jay Heyman <heyman@camis.stanford.edu> 555 The Mostly Harmless Erik Jacobsen <erik@engrg.uwo.ca> 568 The Collective Allan Flanagan <allan@gfx.engga.uwo.ca> 594 Qu'ruim Benjamin Swain <csc2bds@cabell.vcu.edu> 652 Kesian Brotherhood Rick Socia <rsocia@bass.cuesta.cc.ca.us> 656 Blue Bill Lee <phywmlx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu> 660 Silverhorn Harold C. Payson <hal@ll.mit.edu> 670 Inspiration Thomas P Tignor <tpt2@bbn.com> 679 Mercia Christopher M. Yearsley <cmy@cs.keele.ac.uk> 721 Asagudarna Urban Spaennar <d8spaur@dtek.chalmers.se> 752 Alliterating Illiterates Frits Kuijlman <frits@cp.tn.tudelft.nl> 771 Magna Verita Tim Whalen <whalen@stromboli.usc.edu> 775 Amber Russell Wallace <rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie> 778 The House of Blood Charles E. Craig <chuk@nwu.edu> 804 Siblant Saurians Bryan Donaldson <70007.6077@compuserve.com> 810 Lords of Chaos Mike Cote <mcote@julian.uwo.ca> 869 Champions Eternal David S. Kerven <dsk@diamond.cau.auc.edu> 900 Morgan's Riders Scott D. Cate <Scott_Cate@mentorg.com> Up