Re: Olympia: What is it?

From: skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta)

Date: Wed, 06 May 1992 02:42:45 +0000

What is Olympia?
================

Olympia is a computer moderated fantasy simulation.  Characters,
   monsters and other entities move, battle, explore and study in
   the Olympian world.  Each turn players submit orders for their
   characters.  After the simulation runs, Olympia will send reports
   on the outcome of these orders, encounters with other characters,
   and end-of-turn statistics to the players.

Olympia is set in a low technology fantasy world.  Characters
   do not have fixed races or goals.  They may study whatever skills
   they believe will be useful and pursue goals as they find them.
   An aspiring heroic fighter may purchase weapons, study combat and
   slay monsters.  Business-minded individuals may study the art of
   trade and commerce and create a profitable trading empire.  The
   study of magic could furnish tools to advance other dark plans.

Olympia turn reports tend to be long, detailed and dense.  Since
your player character may hire other units which can study, move
and fight on their own, quite large factions of characters may
be organized.  Supplying orders for many units in a large faction
can be a lot of work!

An Olympian Province
====================

What does Olympia look like?  Here is a typical province description.
The turn report includes a description for each province that a
player's characters can see.

Cnossa [204], plain region, population: 6,520

Routes leaving Cnossa:
        [1024]  East, wilderness, to Aldain [233], 9 days
        [1033]  River Estil, northeast, river, to Baraxes [232], 4 days
        [1075]  Southeast, wilderness, to Ossicus [230], 16 days
        [1077]  West, wilderness, to Aerondor [215], 17 days

Market report:
        Market Cnossa [402], market

item  description          buys at  sells for   weight
        ----  -----------          -------  ---------   ------
           4  riding horse             713        783      200  cap 250
           5  small boat                80         90      100  cap 500
          11  bronze shield             14         17       13  arm 2
          14  javelin                    2          3        6  wpn 8

Region features:
        Imperial Palace [3000], citadel
        The Archives [3225], tower, guild [3125], teaches lore research,
        stacked over:
            1)  Osswid [501], player character, lightly armed

Posted in Cnossa:
        Sign [6008], posted by Hyren Baranur [522]:
            "Here in Cnossa lives Hyren Baranur, a peaceful former trader,
             retired explorer, and novice weaponsmith.  All Drassans
             welcome to have a chat."

Seen here:
        Hyren Baranur [522], player character, stacked over:
            1)  Hyren's workers [1166], number: 8
        Xanthus [1127], individual
        Stygian Hauling Company [1235], individual, faction [537]

Sample Orders
=============

Here is a simple set of orders for two entities.

entity 503
	  study combat 10
	  study trade 10
	  move 1001

entity 1081
	  study combat 30
	  attack 502

Here are some Olympian commands:

assist, attack, buy, cancel, declare, explore, forget,
	form, fortify, get, give, join, impress, look, lore,
	message, move, pay, persuade, post, promote, recruit,
	sell, set, signal, stack, study, swear, terrorize,
	transfer, unstack, use, wait, work

Here are some skills which can be learned:

archery, combat, construction, entertainment, equestrian,
	forestry, leadership, lore research, magical research,
	mining, observation, shipbuilding, stealth, teaching,
	trade, weaponsmithing

Disclaimers
===========

Olympia is in playtest.  I change the map between turns.  I
change the rules between turns.  I delete some skills and add
news ones.  I move markets around.  I wipe out trade goods and
create new ones.  I change the amount of money that WORK
produces.  I create NPC assassins to kill players I don't like.

What this means in the PBM context is that your orders will
fail for any number of reasons, most of which are out of your
control.

If this doesn't bother you, or if you enjoy suggesting game
improvements in a dynamic environment, by all means play.
But please don't skip your wedding or your son's birth to
get your turn in on time, and then come after me with a hatchet
when your orders fail because I deleted skill [104].

In short:  I do not guarantee the consistency of the world.

(BTW, I don't really create NPC assassins to kill players.  I'm
just trying to scare you off.)

How to Join
===========

Fill out this form and mail it in if you would like to play.
Within a week or two you should get your initial position report
and a copy of the rules.

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Welcome to Olympia!

Edit this form and mail it to olympia@rt.com to join.

What is your name?

What is your email address?

What is your character's name (maximum 34 characters and spaces)?

Password to send in with your orders:

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References

Olympia: What is it?
allan@cad12.gfx.engga.uwo.ca (Allan Flanagan)
Tue, 05 May 1992 23:06:29 +0000