Rules – Gundam: Ringworld

:: Intro

Hello, and welcome to Gundam Cataclysm. Please read these rules with care, whether you’re a returning veteran, or a complete newbie– GC has many paths for you to choose, and knowing what you’re capable of doing is important to helping pick the right one.

This RPG follows the legacy of a number of games before it: Gundam Pilot and the original Gundam Cataclysm, run by Rob, and of the Future Imperfect and the previous Future Imperfect: New Era as well. Welcome back, pilot… we missed you.

Gundam Cataclysm is a play-by-email role-playing game. What this means is that you send in your character’s actions via email, and then the admins and battle writers deal with the results of these. Simple enough, right? In practice yes, but there is quite a bit in the way of rules that govern which actions you can take, and so forth, and so on. It looks complex, but for the most part, it’s not. Read on, everything should be fairly sensible.

:: Code of Conduct

These are some basic rules of interaction that will help grease the gears of society, so to speak. Follow these at all times.

1. Be respectful to the staff. They spend time and effort to run this game for everyone, after all.
2. Be respectful to other players. No one likes a jerk. Role-playing a jerk, of course, is just fine – we won’t judge you based on how much of a prick your character is.
3. Multiple player characters are strictly forbidden. You may role-play other characters, but you may have only one character on the roster.
4. Follow the rules of the forums and the chat; both are available in the relevant places.
5. Catch-all prove-em-wrong clause: If you’re causing headaches and irritation for the administration or the players in some manner not explicitly banned by the rules and then get punished, this is is it. This is the rule for you.

If you don’t follow the rules, various punishments are available; fines, VP reductions, temporary bans from the chat and/or the forums, and in the worst case, removal from the RPG.

:: When to E-Mail, when we run, and when we update

Gundam Cataclysm runs from Monday to Thursday, with the RPG being paused on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for joining, site maintenance, and salaries. The email deadline is 6:00 PM Central Time. Emails after this deadline will not be accepted unless there are extenuating circumstances of which we have been given notice in advance. Updates will usually be posted by 12:00 AM Central Time, although these have been known to take longer. Large events tend to transpire on Thursdays, so a Thursday update may not go online until the weekend in order to get everything finished. If an update hasn’t been posted by the usual time, the Chat Room is the best place to inquire as to its whereabouts.

The email address for the RPG is (to be inserted). Please direct all actions to this address, and title them appropriately: for example, if you’re moving somewhere, put “Moving” or “Move” or some such in the title. If you’re attacking someone, put “Ambush” and so on and so forth. If you are doing multiple actions in a single update, please send multiple emails so that they can be filtered into the appropriate folders properly. Likewise, be sure to put your character name and MS name in the subject, preferably before the name of the action so that we can more quickly process the emails come update time.

The reason we’re so specific about having certain words in the title of an email is because the RPG email is set up to filter emails based on the subject to allow a more efficient workflow for updaters.

:: Movement Actions

Players in Future Imperfect will generally be in possession of a mobile weapon – mobility being the key term. To wit, movement is a very integral part of the game. Unless you plan on playing as a defensive turret, you would do well to become familiar with the ways in which you can move around the world and its surrounding areas.

Movement, along with other actions (see below), is done via Action Points, or AP. A player receives two AP per day, and unspent AP do not carry over into the next update. Most actions, and their AP cost, are listed below.

Cross a border on a planet:	1 AP
Attack actions:	1 AP
Enter a friendly base/ship:	1 AP
Leave a friendly base/ship:	0 AP
Normal movement in space:	2 AP
Purchase:	0 AP
Transfer funds:	0 AP
Hide location on roster:	0 AP
Enter planetary orbit:	1 AP
Begin atmospheric re-entry:	1 AP

Ships utilize the same movement system as players. Certain ships may speed travel by various means, allowing you to move further than normal. Others may also be limited in range due to fuel consumption. In all cases, these ancillary functions will be described in the ship’s data entry.

If you have moved on a ship, you may not spend your own AP to make further movement actions in that update, though you may attack.

For example, if player Ketara is onboard a land battleship, the land battleship may cross two borders on Earth, spending both of its action points to do so. Ketara may then disembark the land battleship (because it has a 0 AP cost) and Ambush a player in that area (because it is not a Movement action), however under no circumstances may he move into an adjacent area or board another ship during that update.

Attacks have priority over movement, so if you send in a move action and are attacked the same day, your move is interrupted. You may not move after engaging in combat, which can be a powerful tool in restricting the ability of enemies to act.

If you move onto a base/ship the same day it engages in battle (whether attacking or defending) you may participate in the battle.

:: Attack Actions

Combat actions allow you to engage in battles, either to stamp your authority on opposing forces or settle disputes and match wits with allies. Attack actions generally use 1 Action Point, meaning you can typically take one Movement Action as well. See the description of each action for details.

A brief note on PVE: unnamed NPC pilots, while not generally individually a match for a single player character skillwise, can close the gap utilizing team tactics, numbers, or possibly superior technology depending on the situation. Don’t fling yourself headlong into the largest concentration of enemies you can find without a plan, unless you like having your player character spend a lot of time in the hospital or jail.

Certain named NPCs may be able to meet player characters on even terms or better; beware these opponents!

Ambush: A simple and common form of battle that is often considered the bread and butter of any Gundam game. You, or possibly you and several others, will waylay an individual, thus gaining an advantage in combat over them. Usually you will deal more damage than you take, but this isn’t always guaranteed. Rewards are low, but the risk is minimal to you. Only player characters may be ambushed. Players may not be ambushed when in bases or aboard ships, although you can always attempt to attack the base or ship itself to get at them. You may, at your option, attempt to capture a player during an ambush, though you will require the use of a ship to keep them prisoner in.

Blackout: Similar to an ambush, this represents you firing a few quick shots at maximum range and then running away (or, alternately, for people not properly equipped, perhaps setting some sort of trap). Damage to the enemy and rewards for attacker are minimal, but so is the potential risk. Only player characters may be the victims of blackouts, and players may not be blacked out when in bases or aboard ships. Note that the capabilities of the attacking mobile weapon can have very significant effects on the effectiveness of a blackout.

Duel: A duel is when two fighting spirits collide! Two or more player characters will go all out, attempting to defeat the other(s) and establish their supremacy. Duels can be dangerous: damage, injury, and possibly even death can result from a duel. There are, however, proportionally greater rewards. Dueling is technically possible within a base or ship, but this can result in damage being sustained to either from errant attacks, and will often result in serious consequences for the infraction on the part of the ship or base’s owner.

Assault: You, or possibly you and several others, will assault a base or a ship, attempting to either destroy or capture it. You generally make use of a ship to capture other ships; see the Ships and Fleets section below for more details on this. This is a high risk action, especially for inexperienced characters, and a good battle plan is highly recommended! However, the rewards can be great… though don’t expect to get on particularly well with the owners of your target in the future. If you are successful in capturing a base, you will be automatically moved to that base’s location at the end of the battle (even if you have used up all your AP for that day). If you fail, you might also be moved to that base’s location, though likely as a prisoner in its brig.

Death Match: Making a return from Gundam Cataclysm, this action is similar to a duel, but one person is certain to end up dead. This is an intense combat that will stretch both pilots to the breaking point, and one beyond it! A death match may only have two players participating, and the loser faces dire consequences: the death of their character and the loss of any possessions (other than money in their personal account). The winner gains an additional 10 VP above and beyond the regular award for winning a duel. Players may only engage in a death match if they have at least 75 VP. Death matches are a serious matter and should not be engaged in for frivolous reasons. Someone’s coming back in a box!

Piracy: Only people with a ship at their disposal may perform this action. You attempt to raid some of the civilian (or possibly not-so-civilian) shipping in the area. Rewards will be in the form of goods that can be sold at certain bases, as well as potentially useful equipment and information (determined randomly; could be anything from useless novelty toys to entire mobile suits!). Piracy is potentially very profitable, but reduces relations with the victims, and may prompt retaliation from interested parties. Larger ships can generally store more goods, but any vessel that can carry mobile suits can usually store up to four units of stolen cargo in the hangar space that would normally be used for mobile suits. Obviously, any mobile suits acquired as loot will require you to have sufficient hangar space if you want to take them with you.

Mission: The powers that be, including other players, may issue mission requests where a contractor (you) is called on to perform some task. These may be listed on the Missions Board, or come about through role-playing. In any case, typically speaking conditions and any applicable reward will be posted or made available. When performing a Mission action, make sure to specify if anyone else is participating in the operation, otherwise multiple people working on the same job may be assumed to be in competition with one another…

:: Other Actions

This section serves as a catch-all for other actions you may undertake which are not strictly related to combat or movement.

Purchase: You purchase an item from a base, or perhaps purchase additional defenses for a base that you own. You must be in the relevant location or area to do this. All purchases appear at the end of the update for the day. If you need to buy new items for a base while you are on another planet or some other barren area (and there are no alternate means of procurement available), they can be purchased as normal, but must be delivered before use (a ship or small fleet, depending on the number of things purchased, will appear on the relevant page and move to the base location). Note that these vessels can be intercepted by enemies! In the event of such an attack, the purchased mobile suits will be cargo, rather than defenders, and cannot launch to attack. Purchase convoys may be escorted by players. Please include your math in your purchase email, including your starting and ending cash total!

Construct: You order construction of a new base. The amount of time taken will be based on the size of the base; please see the SimBase™ rules in [this forum thread] for more details. You do not need to remain at the construction site while the base is under construction, although it does help in preventing a third party from assuming new management of your facility. As with the Purchase action, constructing a base on another planet or some other barren area necessitates the transportation of the base’s supplies and infrastructure from a developed area and uses the same rules described above.

:: Movement To and From Earth (and select other planets)

A few special circumstances apply towards players who are attempting to enter or leave Earth – this is primarily the result of the perils involved in atmospheric re-entry as well as escaping planetary gravity.

Going to Space: While certain mobile weapons and ships are capable of reaching escape velocity by their own means, the majority require assistance to break the gravitational forces pulling down their machines (and souls, depending on whom is asked). Typically speaking, placing yourself in Earth Orbit requires the use of a spaceport of some kind, where your mobile weapon will be hefted into space via a Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV), a large-scale cargo shuttle, or perhaps simply attached to a mass driver and fired up on its own volition, depending on the available facilities. Ships that are capable of acting in space can be launched from a spaceport as well, although only facilities also equipped with an appropriate Dock Facility – or an Earth Union Cosmoport – can also accommodate launches of this type. If a spaceport charges a fee for use of their facilities, it will be listed on the installation’s page.

Coming Back Down: Leaving the grasp of a planet might seem daunting, but the truth of the matter is that returning to whence you came is the more difficult part. Again, some mobile weapons and ships can perform atmospheric re-entry of their own volition, but the majority require some additional parts and components to do the job. Typically speaking, this is accomplished by coordination with a ground-side spaceport in a reverse version of heading up – the spaceport which you are heading to provides the necessary parts via unmanned launch into orbit, where your ship or mobile weapon collects them and sets a course to arrive at that facility. Alternatively, you may also purchase a ballute pack of your own choosing before arrival in Earth Orbit, which allows a mobile weapon to survive re-entry on its own. The advantage towards “do-it-yourself planetfall” is that you can also choose to land in any territory you please, and could theoretically even attack an unfriendly base via this means, although this can possesses certain perils as well.

Complications: Space launch and return is a fairly pedestrian activity by the UC 170s, with only occasional accidents/catastrophes worldwide. However, the potential for hazards and danger exists – statistically speaking, it is significantly more likely to come as a result of “deliberate human interaction”, e.g. being attacked. A catastrophic explosion aboard an HLV – which are really little more than portable hangars full of rocket fuel – can be extremely fatal, while coming under bombardment during an atmospheric approach vector has problems of its own. In addition to the possibility of being forced into a deeper approach path where you might be vaporized, you could also be knocked off-course – if you come under attack while making a re-entry action, there’s a percentage that you may end up landing in a different territory than you intended.

:: Interplanetary Movement

Movement between planets may only be accomplished with the aid of a properly-equipped ship with an interplanetary sailing unit; the distances involved are (usually) far too large for almost any mobile suit to cross without running out of fuel or life support for the pilot.

If you are unlucky enough to have your method of transportation taken away during interplanetary travel, and aren’t lucky enough to be blown up along with it, you have four updates to come up with a solution before life support expires and your character goes with it. Nobody ever said transit of outer space wasn’t perilous! We’re flexible on this– your solution could be as simple as paying NPCs to help you. Though recovering you from deep space won’t be cheap, your life is probably more valuable to you than your money.

You do not need a ship to move within the Earth/Moon system and amongst the Lagrangian points, as sufficient infrastructure (cargo ships, stations, etc) exist to allow one to move about without as many logistical concerns.

The amount of time it takes to move between planets is shown on the Maps page.

:: Damage and Injury

Violence between apartment building-sized war machines that weigh many tons will, sooner or later, result in things getting broken. “Damage” is a rough aggregate of combat-related maladies that befall player-owned mobile suits during battles, and is expressed as a number of days that will be required before your machine is up and running at full capacity again. Damage will be posted after any relevant battle a player partakes in, and will modify the player’s Status: entry accordingly. The maximum damage a mobile weapon can sustain is four days’ worth – damage beyond this causes the destruction of the mobile weapon.

Fixing What’s Broke: There are two standard ways to remove Damage.

The preferred method is to wait for repairs to complete automatically – the amount of updates (days) remaining for this is noted in the damaged player’s Status. You may move while damaged, but not partake in most other actions that have an AP cost, including attacks, Patrol, Piracy, and so forth. While you yourself cannot be attacked while damaged, you can be captured, so keep a close eye on where enemy ships might be.

If you can’t wait, you can instead make a Hasty Repair action. This is not a repair in the genuine sense, but rather a jury-rigging job to make your mobile weapon combat-worthy in spite of its condition. Making a Hasty Repair action allows you to take attack actions, and defend yourself from being captured, when you would otherwise not be allowed to. You must cancel the Hasty Repair in order to begin repairing normally, and if damaged again, you may not make a second Hasty Repair action under protest from the mobile weapon’s already hindered systems. Fighting while under a Hasty Repair is a less-than-ideal situation, and various functions of the mobile weapon may be inoperable depending on how much damage has already been inflicted. Be careful!

If your mobile weapon has been destroyed, but your pilot hasn’t, consider yourself lucky! A destroyed mobile weapon is similar to having the maximum possible damage, except damage does not begin to be repaired until you travel to a friendly base – it then begins to be ticked-down as usual. Likewise, you cannot make a Hasty Repair action, as there’s simply not enough left to repair. Alternatively, instead of beginning reconstruction of your destroyed mobile weapon, you may also – before repairs begin – choose to switch to another mobile weapon as though it was an end-of-the-month change weekend, with all the usual effects.

During some special multi-update events, players may recieve a Field Repair, which represents a temporary retreat to a supply cache, ship, hangar, and so forth to quickly be re-armed and sent back out to battle. This is the equivalent of having a day’s damage repaired, but you may not move except as directed by the person running the event. Always ask for details!

:: Injuries

The pilot of a mobile weapon can sustain damage just like his chariot can, although this is much less common. A cockpit is usually pressurized, climate-controlled, waterproof, gas-proof, and generally a safe place to be compared to standing out in the open during a mobile suit battle, but sometimes parts of the battle work their way in, usually with unpleasant results. A player may suffer injuries that require up to eight days to heal, during which time their available actions are extremely limited. An injured pilot may not make any attack, purchase, or funds transfer, although a friendly (or unfriendly!) ship can pick them up. Some particularly severe injuries won’t go away if the player is in a location that lacks any kind of medical facilities, such as deep space or an unpopulated planet. The frontiers of the solar system can be a dangerous place – go without a friend at your peril!

Role-playing the effects of injuries on the hurt character is not mandatory, but can earn Veteran Points at a time where most other options are closed. Once the injury is fully healed, the character is free to act normally again. Depending on the nature of the trauma received, the player might be left with a few mementos of the occasion – these might include visible scars, regenerated tissue or limbs, or bionic prosthesis, depending on the exact situation.

:: Death

Mobile suit warfare can be extremely perilous, and getting a beam saber through the cockpit is not out of the question. Death of a player character can come in a variety of ways – the player can be mortally wounded or killed outright by a lucky hit, totally torn to atoms by a catastrophic mobile suit explosion, or even pressed against a wall and shot by a particularly infuriated captor. Regardless of the method of action, death is a permanent and final condition from which there is no reprieve.

“Now what?”: While your character may have expired, you can choose to continue playing the game with a new character at your discretion. Creating a new pilot removes you from the game for a week, as well as resets Reputation and any related conditions that may have arisen. Owned property is lost (though this may be “willed” to other players at your discretion, assuming they are allowed to possess it), but the new character may retain the predecessor’s Veteran Points, funds, and upgrades at the player’s discretion. A mobile weapon switch can also be affected at this point as well. You may respawn at any valid location (including inside the base of a team, if you are a member). Your new location will be hidden until you respawn, to prevent spawn camping on the part of your enemies.

Nameless NPCs will rarely kill players; generally you only need to worry about this kind of thing from other people, or from named NPCs.

:: Purchasing and money transfer

Buying things is fairly simple, assuming you have enough funds available for the item in question. You must be at a base selling the items in question – inventory is usually listed on the relevant Installations sub-page. Note that only public bases show shops, and private ones may have shops of their own – membership benefits of a sort.

Transferring funds is an easy way for multiple players to pool resources, often a necessary step for making a large purchase. Players may only send or receive funds once per update – teams have greater account flexibility, and are not subject to this limitation. Think about forming one if you’ve got a lot of book-cooking to do.

Upgrades, defenses, and garrison forces for a base can only be bought if the buyer is in the same region as the base. Likewise, you may not remotely purchase items for ships or a fleet, or remotely purchase ships.

When making a purchase order or constructing a base, please perform the mathematics in your E-mail order. This is for the staff’s benefit in making sure that all computations have been conducted properly so that you aren’t paying too much (or too little…) for your new purchases. Failing to include an itemized cost list in your purchase request may result in the staff pretending we didn’t see the e-mail.

:: Ships and Fleets

Ship Combat

Ships are capable of most of the same combat actions as players, and due to the greater capability of a crewed vessel and its facilities, are also the only effective way to capture other ships or players in the field.

Ships may not conduct blackout, duel, or deathmatch actions, due to the specialized nature of those combats being oriented at mobile suit battles.

A player must be aboard at least one of the ships involved to start a battle , and likewise must be aboard their ship for single ship actions (not as the captain; you merely need be present at the battle, though you must -start- it aboard the ship).

Ship Movement

Ships utilize the same movement system as players, but certain versions may have speed modifiers; check the shops for details. A ship uses the same AP system for movement as players themselves do. Embarked players on a ship do not consume their own AP while the ship is moving, but cannot disembark and then make further movement actions on the same update.

Some ships – typically those with conventional power plants, or space craft that can fly in atmosphere – require fuel to move. Vessels with this limitation will receive a Fuel: entry on the Ships page, which will be incrementally lowered for each AP used. A ship is refueled when docking at any friendly base with a Dock Facility or Airfield, depending on the type of vessel in question. Running out of fuel in the field can range from simply grinding to a halt or falling out of the air like a rock – in any event, it’s something to be avoided.

Ship Damage

Ships can absorb much more damage than any mobile suit, and while this makes them significantly harder to destroy, significant damage cannot usually be repaired in the field as mobile suits can. If a ship sustains damage to specific areas – as noted in its status description – these must be repaired at a base with the relevant docking and repair facilities, or, more rarely, by a specialized repair vessel. Depending on the base owner’s relationship with ship’s owner, repairs may incur charges and fees, which are charged upon completion of the work. If you cannot pay, then the ship is held by the owners of the base until you choose to pay, though you may optionally attempt to forcibly recover your property– this may lead to seriously damaging both the ship, and your reputation with the people who fixed it, however.

When drydocked and berthed for repairs, a ship’s various maladies will be reduced in order of severity, which will usually require multiple updates. The ship’s status will reflect what damage remains if repair work needs to be postponed during this process. When partially dismantled and in the midst of overhauling, a ship may be vulnerable to enemy attacks that befall the base, depending on the nature of the dock facility. Fully repaired or undamaged ships that are moored at a dock facility can be attacked as well, although unlike a gutted vessel being serviced, those can actually shoot back.

A damaged ship can be attacked in the field, so if your ship has had its main armament shot off, procrastinating on repair work could prove catastrophic!

Capturing Ships

Seizing control of a ship can be a significantly more daunting prospect than a base, as appropriate force must be exerted to force the ship to surrender without destroying it outright. More importantly, a ship fighting to the death offers much less room for error than a base does.

Hoisting the White Flag: To capture a ship, it can either be forced to surrender via threat of destruction, or against particularly motivated crews, boarding parties must be sent over to exterminate resistance. The latter may result in the ship’s crew being killed, in which case it reverts to Level 1 in terms of experience to reflect new press-ganged crew members being hired on. Whether or not a ship can be captured based on being defeated in combat and ordered to surrender is entirely situational. In either case, the enemy ship must be sufficiently crippled to enable a realistic threat or permit the shuttles of boarding parties to not be shot to pieces en route.

Much like capturing a player, a ship is typically required to capture another vessel, although certain circumstances could exist where this would not be necessary.

Send the Marines: The difficulty of capturing a ship can also vary greatly based on the type of vessel that is to be seized. Smaller ships are typically easier to steal than larger ones, and the environmental type of the craft plays a significant factor as well. Land battleships are the most simple to capture, since shooting out their engines typically causes them to simply stop where they are. Naval vessels are somewhat more difficult, as they must be disabled without being sunk – crippling a ship’s systems without compromising its hull can be a tricky prospect. Submarines follow much the same concept, except they must be forced to surface first, which adds another layer of difficulty. Airborne targets are likely the most challenging, as forcing one to land without setting it on fire or inflicting damage that would negate its airworthiness is less than a simple endeavor. If a ship is docked at a base while the base is being captured, the ship could be captured as well. This is a highly situational variable, although the attacking party must still have a ship to affect the capture operation. A ship that is simply moored at a base will have a much better chance of getting away than one that is currently being repaired.

Personal Marinas: There is no limit to the number of ships you can own, though there is a limit to how many you may control at once– independent operators may have no more than three ships in a single fleet at a time. Any excess ships may be stored at a base, though typically NPCs will charge you weekly fees for this. Teams have no such restrictions and may place as many ships in a fleet as they wish. A ship can also be abandoned by a player – this action might be necessary if the player total number of easily controllable ships, or if a ship is badly damaged while capturing another and cannot be reliably moved to a base to receive repairs. In this event, the crew can be transferred to another ship provided it is at the same location. An abandoned ship can be seized by other players, but can’t be used for any combat-related actions until taken to a base to receive a new crew. Optionally, you may choose to simply scuttle the abandoned ship instead, rendering it useless to all.

Second Happiest Day of Your Life: Ships can generally be sold for around half their value at any public base with the relevant docking facilities. A damaged ship’s resale value may be reduced, so it is generally a better idea to have it repaired before attempting a sale. Even at bases that charge fees for repairs, the difference will still usually be in the seller’s favor if the ship has been restored to full combat condition first.

Ships and over-sized units

The hangar capacity of most ships is given assuming a fairly standard size – to wit, very large units occupy more space. As a general rule of thumb, mobile armors and mobile suits equipped with sub-flight lifters or other large performance-enhancing hardware occupy two or more spots of a ship’s hangar capacity. A very large mobile suit, such as a Gabull, simply takes up the space ordinarily occupied by two standard-size units, while giant weapons like a Psyco Gundam must be stored externally – in that event, the two space loss is assumed to be the result of mooring gear and other apparatuses required to haul the given monstrosity along. Externally transporting a large unit could result in a marginal but noticeable impairment to speed or combat ability, depending on its overall size.

Ships that cannot store at least six mobile suits usually cannot store over-sized units unless otherwise noted.

:: Fleets

Fleets are a conglomeration of ships to form a fighting force greater than their component parts. To form a fleet, all that need happen is that all the players involved send in an email. All ships involved must be controlled by the same person, and if the fleet is owned by a team, it is controlled by the team leader or his second.

A fleet must have all ships in the same location before it can form. Fleets between vessels that operate in different environments may not be created (eg you may not group a submarine with an aircraft or an aircraft with a spacecraft, but you may group a submarine with conventional naval vessels).

A patrolling fleet is one of the most effective ways to interdict people from passing through an area and gains a great bonus to detection. Furthermore, multiple players may be interdicted simultaneously by the fleet; each mobile suit carried by the fleet and each ship gets it’s own roll to detect trespassers! Fleets are bad news for the sneaky.

Fleets have the same amount of AP as a player with regards to movement.

:: Role-Playing

Role-playing is the heart of any RPG (what do you think the “R” and “P” stand for?). Your character’s thoughts, motivations, and their relations to others can be played out on our Role-Playing Board. Make sure your Pilot’s Profile is posted to the Profile Board first so that other players and staff have a good idea of where you’re coming from and how your role-plays are derived from your background. You may also wish to link your posts to your profile as well to create a handy reference for the battle writers.

Role-playing isn’t just for interacting with other players. You can also interact with the world around you, and the characters in it. You may also be able to do things for factions and governments, and be rewarded accordingly.

There are a few guidelines for role-playing, try and stick to these throughout your posting.

1. Don’t “metagame” – references or knowledge that your pilot would have no awareness of shouldn’t be deployed on the role-playing board, either explicitly or in allusion.

2. Don’t “god mode” – generally speaking it’s bad form to place your pilot in situations or circumstances that they can’t be in, such as the leader of a faction or a world-renowned hero (unless they actually are, of course). Likewise, don’t try to control or make decisions for other players unless it’s through means your pilot would have access to.

3. Stay in-character – the role-playing board is meant exclusively for posts pertinent to your pilot and their interaction with themselves and the world around them. Anything not having to do with that subject should be posted elsewhere.

Role-playing actually isn’t required to play the game. However, it has been scientifically proven in clinical trials that players who role-play and do so often tend to accomplish greater feats, live longer, and generally enjoy a more fulfilling experience during the run of any Gundam RPG. Having a fleshed-out character and frequent insights into his or her situations helps the battle writers deploy them properly, employ correct tactics, and generally make it that it’s your character – not just your mobile suit – on the field. This is a social game, after all, so get out there and socialize!

:: Reputation

Reputation is a rough representation of how well-liked – or disliked – a player is with regards toward a particular faction. A player who cultivates an excellent long-term relationship with a faction may be rewarded with special perks and prizes, such as an increased salary, access to facilities and bases that are normally private, and perhaps even offers to sell special or prototype weapons not normally found in shops. Conversely, developing a poor Reputation with a faction could result in a bounty being placed on the offending character, loss of access to public facilities and shops, and even hit squads being sent out on official business to deep six the irritant.

Give and Take: Developing Reputation with factions is done primarily via accepting and completing Missions or other jobs for that group. Role-playing can also affect changes on Reputation as well, although this is best performed in conjunction with the former. Be advised that getting close and comfortable with a given faction might result in changes to the player’s Reputation with other factions, especially those that the faction already has a negative relationship with. Reputation is recorded in a post appended to each player’s pilot profile on the Profile Board, and will be updated each day that the player’s Reputation changes. Rogues may start with a variety of reputations, depending on whether they start as an independent, or pre-affiliated with one of the existing factions, but generally all will have a slightly low reputation with the Earth Union.

In the case of player-run Teams, Reputation is aggregated from the individual Reputations of each member. This means that accepting a new member with a very pronounced Reputation with one faction adjusts the entire Team’s Reputation accordingly, so take care in who you let in!

:: Veteran Points, Experience, and so forth

Your general competence behind the controls of your mobile weapon is measured via VP, or Veteran Points. The more VP you have, generally the more experienced and proficient you are. VP is not, however, an absolute determinant of skill, and your mobile weapon’s mechanical ability as well as situational variables can give advantages of their own. Note that even a 1 VP player is assumed to have basic proficiency with their ride.

Veteran Points gained from different types of battles vary widely. A general average is posted here, although the gains could vary by as much as 50% depending upon the exact nature of the battle.

* Blackout: 3 VP
* Ambush: 6 VP
* Duel: 10 VP
* Events and missions: Varies

You may also receive VP for role-playing or for certain other things.

:: Upgrades

As with most Gundam RPGs before it, Future Imperfect: Rising Storm follows the “mid-series upgrade” trope to a point. On acquisition of a certain number of Veteran Points, each player becomes eligible to receive an Upgrade of their current mobile weapon. Upgrades are extraordinarily varied and run the gamut of mechanical and technical ability.

Fixing What Isn’t Broken: Acquiring an Upgrade takes a week of down time, which represents the locating or fabrication of the machine and your pilot’s adaptation and training with it. Players cannot make any actions during the Upgrading process, but at the same time, you cannot be attacked or otherwise interfered with during your upgrade. It’s probably a good idea to park somewhere safe, just in case, though! There is no set point at which you will upgrade– it will come when you’re ready.

The New Ride: An upgrade can take a variety of forms – the most important determinant is the base mobile weapon being upgraded. An upgrade could be an entirely new mobile suit, usually a logical follow-on design to the base model, an overhaul or modification to the base weapon to increase its abilities or handling, or even an entirely custom design created by the player via his associations and allies in the game world. The only constant is that the upgrade will offer a significant improvement in combat ability over its predecessor.

Polishing What You Have: Upgrading does possess one major downside: you will lose any and all customizations you’ve made to your ride. No refunds! You may, at your option, choose to not upgrade, and instead pursue further improvements on your own. Whether this can provide a better result than a normal upgrade depends on your imagination!

:: Captured

In particularly unfortunate circumstances, a player may find themselves cornered by the enemy with no possibility for escape. Instead of a coffin, however, they are rewarded with the interior of a prison cell. This may because of rules of engagement, a desire for information, or simply the capturing party being merciful. Regardless of the method or reasons, being imprisoned is a serious situation.

Breaking the Law: Being incarcerated is a fairly common consequence of a very badly botched attempt to assault a base. When a player’s mobile weapon is shot down over a very angry enemy-held installation, a trip to a five-by-nine box is a high possibility. On the other hand, a player might also be captured in the field – kidnapped might be a more appropriate term – by a motivated enemy in possession of a ship with adequate space. In either case, the unlucky player is more or less at the mercy of their captors. In most situations the player’s mobile weapon is captured along with the pilot, but in unusual circumstances it might be left at the point of capture while the pilot is taken elsewhere. In this event the captured pilot, upon being released or escaping, must return to where they were taken to recover their machine before becoming able to make any combat actions again.

Doing Time: Once behind bars, a player can be held for any period of time. NPC-controlled factions will generally not hold a player for more than four to eight updates unless the victim is particularly hated or has a very poor Reputation, at which point he may well never see the light of day again. If the captured player happens to be in the custody of another player, the capturing party has complete discretion on the final disposal of the unfortunate captive. If a captured player believes they have no chance of escape, they may voluntarily choose to “retire” their player to the slammer – in this event, rules for as if the player’s pilot was killed come into effect (see “Now what?” above).

Note that it is in poor taste to capture another player and then leave them hanging on whether you’re going to execute them or keep them jailed forever. Please let them know what you’ve decided to do with them as soon as possible.

Early Release: Getting out of prison might be easier than getting in, depending on the situation. The captive party may be able to secure an early release by paying a fine of some type, or agreeing to perform a job or mission for their captors. Failure to adhere to the terms of this release may result in a tamper-proof bomb planted in the released party’s mobile weapon being set off. The imprisoned character can always attempt to checkout of their own volition (read: escape), although failed attempts may result in the extension of the player’s sentence. The difficulty in performing a breakout is primarily dependent on the nature of where they are confined – escaping from a ship’s brig or the stockade at a remote outpost is measurably easier than a dedicated prison complex meant to hold renegades, and having outside help can be an enormous boon as well.

Dead Man Walking: The mercy of one’s captors might be a purely hypothetical concept, and a captured player could find themselves being hung or shot if they’ve done exceptionally bad things towards their hosts. In the case of being locked up at an NPC-owned prison, the likelihood of having a capital punishment administered is low for all but the most nefarious prisoners, while guests of other players could receive the “twenty-five cent solution” for almost any reason.

Money Talks: Unless there’s some special reason to hold you, you may choose, at your option, to pay either half of your money or $100,000 to be freed from jail immediately, whichever is larger. You may only pursue this option after having been jailed for at least four days, and only NPCs will take this kind of offer.

:: Factions

There are numerous governments, states, and other entities – broadly referred to as “factions” – present in the Earth Sphere and the greater Solar System. A selection of the more prominent factions are presented here for reference purposes; smaller and more obscure factions exist throughout the game and can typically be interacted with by visiting bases or facilities they control or by opening communications with them in some fashion.

Earth Federation

The Earth Federation was formed before the Universal Century, and has mostly retained it’s grip on power throughout the Earth Sphere for much of the past hundred years, but over the past half a century, it’s fortunes have slowly waned, though it remains, in terms of sheer firepower, the most powerful faction by far.

The devastating effects of the Zanscare War on the Earth Federation’s economy have still not disappeared, and the populace of various regions has grown ever more restive, though the Earth Federation still retains an iron grip thanks to it’s collection of Flash System-equipped Gundams, controlled by brainwashed (some would say enslaved) Newtypes. So far, no single power other than the Jupiter Empire dares to challenge the Earth Federation openly, but times may be changing soon.

The Earth Federation is nominally allied with OZ. Militarily, they maintain outposts throughout the Earth Sphere (with an especially heavy presence in the Zanscare Republic), but are strongest in the American regions, and to a lesser extent, in Africa and Asia.

OZ

Short for Organization of the Zodiac, OZ is a military group raised by the enigatic Romafeller Foundation, an organization of businessmen and politicians who have achieved local autonomy in Europe. Given that the Romafeller Foundation is quite happy to handle a historically restive area on it’s own (and at a lower cost than the Earth Federation can manage), Earth Federation bureaucrats are quite content to allow OZ to maintain it’s grip on Europe.

OZ maintains certain outposts in space and the colonies, most notably it’s mobile fortress, Barge, and is well known for using it’s own homegrown line of Zodiac constellation-themed mobile suits, rather than the assorted Daughtress descendants used by the Earth Federation.

International Gundam Fight Regulation Board

The creation of Gundam Fighters was proposed by a consortium of nations, but it’s most particular proponent was the leader of the Sanc Kingdom, a small neutral territory in Europe. The belief was that it would be better to do away with national conflicts and instead simply have nations represented in battle by a single skilled warrior, and the nation that won the occasional 5-year tournament would recieve governing authority over the Earth Federation.

Naturally, this attempt at peace has failed miserably, but the Gundam Fight goes on regardless. The Regulation Board concerns itself only with maintaining the basic rules of the Gundam Fight and ensuring that nations are properly compensated for damages caused by Gundam Fights; it has no real military force or holdings of it’s own, being based out of an office in the Earth Federation’s capital. It is funded by joint contributions from every nation that is participating in the Gundam Fight.

Currently, the Regulation Board is in the process of overseeing the opening stages of the 3rd Gundam Fight.

Jupiter Empire

The Jupiter Empire is a highly militaristic state consisting of a number of colony clusters stationed, obviously enough, around the planet Jupiter and it’s moons. They have launched several attacks on the Earth Sphere so far using various means, their latest consisting of providing technological support, resources, and money to the former Zanscare Empire. Their embargo on He3 fuel sources has led to a frantic push to develop alternate forms of power, with some success.

The Empire is rather hostile to outsiders, but does allow some commerce and visitors, not that many are inclined (or even able) to travel so far from the Earth Sphere.

Most military analysts believe a renewed push to assault the Earth Sphere is only a matter of time. Oddly, no one has, as of yet, been able to discern why this intense animosity, going back decades, exists.

Black Diamond Industries

One of the many mega-corporations currently struggling for economic dominance in the Solar System, Black Diamond Industries is unusual in that rather than forming from investors or through a single corporation becoming enormously powerful, it initially was created via the merger of a mercenary group, a number of their suppliers, and teams of scientists from several universities. The original members of the mercenary group now act both as board members, and, occasionally, as enforcers against the corporation’s rivals.

Black Diamond Industries’ products are well-known for being both highly advanced and highly expensive. Their primary stronghold is the colony of Sejur in the asteroid belt, but they maintain a few outposts elsewhere.

Typically for such an organization, Black Diamond Industries tends to care primarily about profits, though they are more focused on technological development than most megacorps.

The Triad

Another large, prominent megacorp, The Triad formed from a merger of several resource extraction corporations and what Earth Federation analysts believe to be a number of organized crime syndicates. They provide almost 15% of raw materials mined in space to the Earth Sphere, a gargantuan market share for such a single corporation. They are believed to play a large part in acting as a middleman for allowing certain pirate groups to launder their money, and running a series of ‘ratlines’ to allow major criminals in the Earth Sphere to escape the jurisdiction of the Earth Federation.

Similar to their rivals, Black Diamond Industries, The Triad maintains their own paramilitary forces and research and development, but rather than focusing on the cutting edge, they tend to prefer tried and true, durable solutions employed en masse. Also similar to Black Diamond Industries, they have retained a number of highly skilled individuals as enforcers.

Their primary stronghold is on Mars, in a base built into the Olympus Mons volcano.

Preventers

The Preventers serve a purpose something like international police, with jurisdiction to investigate and extradite criminals of assorted types from, theoretically any place in the Solar System, as well as preventing the outbreak of war via nipping potential problems in the bud.

Outgunned and undermanned, they are widely considered to be a joke by any force more potent than a moderately sized pirate band, and as such they tend to focus primarily on investigations, contracting out direct action to independent operators when possible.

Rogues

“Rogue” is a blanket term ascribed to an enormous medley of people, groups, and organizations. Essentially, any armed force that does not belong to a “legitimate government” or an established corporation or some similar outfit can be considered a Rogue: the military forces of the Lunar cities, minor states on Earth’s periphery, the secretive megacorporations, and distant human settlements on the far fringes of the Solar System. Likewise, a slew of anarchists, dissidents, pirates, and other ne’er-do-wells fall under the Rogue moniker just as well. The only common theme of those described as Rogues is a healthy distance from much of the established order. Or, in other words, you!

Each player character begins the game as a free agent, effectively a common man who happens to have an uncommon possession (a mobile suit), and some desire to do something with it. Your ideology, motivations, and goals are entirely your own. By the definition of the Earth Federation and most other institutions, that makes you a Rogue too!

Many Rogues live a life “off the grid”, and can be quite difficult to track down by organized law enforcement unless they desire a more public appearance, but those “in the know”, so to speak, can usually figure out where someone is via the loose informal contact network that binds most Rogues together.

Rogue players “earn” a salary of 25,000 credits (cr.) per week, which represents foraging, salvage, odd jobs, or possibly less honest work such as pyramid schemes, money laundering and other criminal activities. Aligning yourself with a larger faction, as well as Piracy actions and stealing ships or bases, can significantly augment and increase your cash flow.

:: Teams

Players are free to form their own independent groups of mobile suit operators. Creating a team can be an exciting prospect, and it is within these tiny factions that much of the real power of players can be found. Only teams have the power to seize territory, create independent fleets, and fly their own flag.

Forming a Team: The team’s founder must submit an email containing important information about the new team. Forming a team requires at least three other players to join in, which must be at the same location at the time of the team’s founding, as well as a base or ship to use as a headquarters. A team can include as many members as the founder likes, but new hires must be at the location of the headquarters to join, and there is a maximum limit based on the total mobile weapon capacity of the headquarters itself. The team’s founder is presumed to be its leader, but the founder may designate another member as the leader instead if they desire. The team second in command retains most of the powers of the team leader, with the exception of transferring money from the team account to their own pocket.

Getting Paid: Team members, in addition to their base salary, each receive cr.100,000 per week for every planet their team controls, including the Moon. Due to its size, as well as the fact that the bulk of humanity still lives there, controlling continents on Earth pays out the same amount. The team possesses its own account (see below), which has a salary of its own at cr.100,000. A team leader may adjust weekly team salary as they please; if they wish to pay players less, the cash goes into the team account. If they wish to pay them more, income is instead deducted from the team’s weekly income (or account). In the event that expenses exceed income, the team leader and second get paid first, then each member of the team on the list will receive cash until there is no more cash to be had.

Home Sweet Home: The headquarters is vital to a team’s survival, containing the bureaucracy and financial instruments necessary to run a faction. If the headquarters is lost, for whatever reason, the team account is frozen, as are any additional salaries the members are drawing. Furthermore, the loss of financial records, experienced bookkeepers, or gold bricks going down with the headquarters may result in the account’s funds dropping too – if the headquarters is lost, as much as 90% of the team’s account may go with it (this value is determined by an administrator die roll). The founder must designate a new headquarters before these funds can be accessed again, and must be at the location of the headquarters-to-be before it can officially be recognized as such. Protect it well!

Dollars and Cents: The team’s account is a powerful asset – unlike individual players, it can make an unlimited number of purchases, as long as its balance can support the cost. Team members can also deposit funds into the team’s account without restriction and as many times a week as they like, though only the team leader may make purchase actions with the team account. Account funds are, ideally, supposed to be used for the team, but the team leader has sole discretion. Make sure you pick someone you trust as your team leader!

Inner-Team Conflict: Team leaders may oust and eject fellow members from the team at their discretion. Likewise, the team’s members may demote or even fire their own leader, although this can only be accomplished by unanimous action. If the leader is fired, quits the team, or is killed, the remaining members must designate a new leader, which also requires unanimous action. Note that it’s quite possible to kill a particularly recalcitrant team leader if you foolishly voted in a real stinker…

Bad Things Happen: A team must maintain minimum membership in order to remain solvent. Should membership drop below four players, whether by members quitting, being ejected, or killed, the remainder must bring their total up to four or more by the end of the next update week or else the team is disbanded. In this unfortunate event, fleets are dissolved into their individual ships, which may result in a free-for-all as the remaining team members attempt to seize what assets they can. Bases and any unclaimed ships, including their mobile suits, simply become untyped Rogue NPCs, and must be attacked and captured again in order to regain control.

:: Free-For-All

The Free-For-All – FFA for short – is a classic tenet of play-by-email Gundam RPGs, and each iteration of Future Imperfect has traditionally hosted at least one at some point. Free-For-Alls take place outside the realm of the game’s reality, and are essentially savage and senseless brawls between all participating players – usually, only one will win. Or survive!

The events of a Free-For-All, including inevitable deaths on the part of participants, do not affect the main game. However, rewards earned from attending – including Veteran Points or more tangible prizes – are retained, so do think about attending when one is announced. Specific conditions and details about an individual Free-For-All will be posted on the forums during the announcement of the event.

:: Tournament

A Tournament is a more glorified Free-For-All, and is something of an epic extra-spatial event that the entire solar system will sit back to take notice of. A Tournament may or may not exist within the realm of the game’s reality – this and all other information will be posted to the forums if and when one is announced.

:: Switching Mobile Weapons

The last weekend of every month includes a special provision whereby players who are unsatisfied with their chosen mobile weapon can choose to switch to a different one. Other conditions may exist where a “suit switch” is allowed, but this is the only guaranteed time where such a change is an option. In all cases, the mobile weapon you wish to switch to must not be already taken. In the event that the chosen mobile weapon to switch to is also chosen by a new member via joining that weekend, the changing member’s request takes precedence.

Changing mobile weapons requires the player to assume a one week down-time to get accustomed and familiar with the proclivities of the new machine, similar to the upgrading process. You may switch if your mobile weapon has already upgraded, however you are not guaranteed to receive the equally upgraded version of your new choice.

:: Joining

Thanks for your interest in the RPG. After reading the rules, writing and sending an application is short and simple. All you’ll need to include are five details. New applicants are accepted Friday to Sunday before 6:00 pm Central Time. Please submit by sending an email to (fill this in later); if this doesn’t work for you, contact Troika via the Forum and we’ll see what can be done.

Welcome to Gundam Cataclysm

Pilot Name: Be realistic here. No one would name their child Chief Giant Dong, and you may not copy the name of a character from a movie/book/etc.
Mobile Suit/Armor: Select your steed, pilot: put the name of your desired ride, and a link to it’s Gundam Wiki or MAHQ profile in your join mail.
Email: The email address you’d like to be contacted at.
Forum Account: You are required to register on our Forum to play the game.
Starting Location: You may start in any location within the Earth Sphere or on Mars.

Once you have been accepted as a member of the RPG, you must make a Pilot Profile on the Profile Board – this will be used to house your pilot’s biographical information. Only a short stat block is required, but longer and more detailed profiles will typically result in a better depiction of your character (and possibly better performance in battles as well!). You cannot make actions without a Pilot Profile, so don’t dally!

You are assumed to be whatever genome (ordinary human, newtype, coordinator, etc) required to pilot your chosen ride, but if it wouldn’t affect the operation of your mobile suit, then it’s possible to be other things (Innovades, etc). This is primarily a roleplaying function, just indicate it in your profile. If you think it might have game balance implications, feel free to consult an administrator.

Additional fine print:

* Certain mobile weapons are off limits to joining: Turn X, Turn A, Devil Gundam, Devil Gundam Junior, Divinidad, and any of the originals from G Generation DS, as well as most mobile suits that lack proper statistics and/or a picture on MAHQ or Gundam Wiki. If you’re not sure whether something is allowed for joining, feel free to ask a staff member. Certain other mobile weapons may be prohibited, at the discretion of staff. Due to the issues with game balance they create, mobile suits with nuclear weapons will either not be joinable, or have their nuclear equipment be replaced with other equipment, depending on the mobile suit in action.

* Due to the era this game takes place in, only mobile suits from the Universal Century (including Gaia Gear and G-Saviour), Gundam X, G Gundam, and Gundam Wing are joinable. Certain Build Fighters units may be joinable, provided they fit into these ‘eras’ appropriately and sufficient information can be aquired for them.

* Certain units considered not very ‘playable’ in their basic forms might start in an upgraded form, at administrator discretion.