Mechanics

System Mechanics

Return to Olympus v1.0

1.Introduction
2.Planetary Development
2a.Skydocks
2b.Planetary Defenses
3.Spaceships
3a.Construction
3b.Class Designs
4.Combat
4a.Siege

1. Introduction
Any decent nation-building game needs a mechanics system to keep players in check and reward them for playing well. Here you will find the system for Return to Olympus.

Everything in Return to Olympus is determined via a score referred to as a Rating. Ratings are described by title and number, so an overall Weapons Rating of 5 would be referred to as Weapons 5. Similarly a Skydock Rating of 3 would be called Skydock 3, an Ablative Armor Rating of 4 would be referred to as Ablative 4, and so on. Most numbers, with a few exceptions will max out at Rating 5.

Resources are accumulated on a per-turn basis. If you have a planet providing 1 Metal and 2 Volatiles, that means that you are receiving that many resources at the beginning of every turn.

2. Planetary Development
All planets in Return to Olympus have two resources available: Metals and Volatiles. This resource Rating is expressed as Metals/Volatiles, so a planet with a Rating of one Metal and two Volatiles would be written 1/2. Planetary colonization has two requirements: One, that you have a vessel in orbit around the planet, and two, that you expend double the current resource score of the planet over the span of one turn. Once both of these requirements are met, you may declare at your control panel that you are colonizing this planet. The ship is then frozen for the next turn and all resources dedicated to the task are consumed. Once the turn is complete, the next turn you will have control of the planet and a Skydock 1 upgrade will be added.

2a. Skydocks
Skydocks serve two purposes. One, they serve as the overall measure of development on a planet, and thus provide a multiplier to the planet's natural resources. A Skydock 1, for example, provides an x1 multiplier (that is, nothing) but a Skydock 6 is a x6 multiplier and vastly useful. The second purpose they serve is to measure how large a ship can be constructed and resupplied at that Skydock. More on this in Section 3, Spaceships.
Upgrading a Skydock is similar to initial colonization. As there is already a Skydock in residence, you do not need a ship in orbit. However, you do still need twice the planet's current output of resources. Thus, if a 1/2 planet with a Skydock 3 is being upgraded, its effective score is 3/6, and it will require that much resources over the course of one turn to upgrade. Once you have these resources, declare in your control panel that you wish to upgrade the planet, and the resources will be consumed over the course of the next turn. After that turn is complete, you will have the next level of Skydock.
Only one Skydock 5 and Skydock 6 are permitted per nation.

2b. Planetary Defenses
Planetary Defenses are handed similarly to starships (see section 3), but they trade their mobility for extra Rating. They cannot leave their planet, but they receive half again as much Rating as a ship of their type. A PD system built on a Corvette Hull, for example, would receive 9 Rating points. Otherwise, they are constructed similarly to starships.

3. Spaceships
Now we get to the real meat and potatoes of Return to Olympus. Spaceships are the core of the game mechanics, the foundation of the fleet battles that everyone wants to have.

Spaceships are divided up into Hull Classes, ranging from ultra-light scouts to lumbering behemoths. Each Hull Class has five overall stats: Die Step, Hull Integrity, Rating, Speed, and Logistics. These are expressed as such: Die/Hull/Rating/Speed/Logistics. See below for examples.

Die Step determines the kind and number of dice to be rolled during a round of combat. If a ship loses hull integrity in a round, it moves down one Die Step for every two hull points it has lost.

Hull Integrity is a measure of the ship's hull strength. Hull Integrity is always twice the ship's Hull Class.

Rating is the score with which you will customize your ship. Each type of weapon and armor has a Rating score that determines what kind of bonuses it provides in combat. These weapon and armor Ratings cannot exceed the total Rating score of the ship.

Speed is a determination of mobility, as the name would imply. The Gate system is limited by mass, so a small, light Hull Class can move freely through the Gate system with minimal impediment, but a large ship loaded with weapons and armor will take a long time to get to its destination. The steps are as follows:

• .5: Light ships have a Speed Rating of .5. This means that they can either jump through two Gates in one turn, or jump through one Gate and move freely within the system within the same turn.
• 1: Medium ships have a Speed Rating of 1. This means that, though they can arrive in-system in one turn, they will not be able to take any action until the next turn.
• 1.5: Battlecruisers have a Speed Rating of 1.5. They may arrive in-system in two turns, and take action on the turn they arrive.
• 2: Heavy ships have a Speed Rating of 2. They will not arrive in-system until two turns after their departure, and will not be able to take any action until the turn after that.

Logistics is the score which determines how long a ship can operate afield. Every time a ship participates in battle, its Logistics score is reduced by one until it stops at a Skydock that can support it. Skydocks cannot support a ship whose Logistics Rating is higher than the Skydock's Rating.

The table of Hull Classes is as follows:

• Corvette: 1d4 / 2 / 6 / .5 / 2
• Frigate: 1d6 / 4 / 8 / .5 / 2
• Destroyer: 1d8 / 6 / 12 / .5 / 3
• Light Cruiser: 2d4 / 8 / 16 / 1 / 3
• Cruiser: 1d10 / 10 / 20 / 1 / 4
• Battlecruiser: 2d6 / 12 / 26 / 1.5 / 5
• Battleship: 2d8 / 14 / 30 / 2 / 5
• Dreadnaught: 2d10 / 16 / 36 / 2 / 6

3a. Construction
Constructing a spaceship is fairly straightforward. Declare the Class of ship you wish to construct from your Blueprints and where you wish to construct this ship. Please note that you cannot construct a ship at a Skydock whose Rating is less than the Logistics Rating of the Hull Class you wish to construct. After a number of turns equal to the Hull Class of the ship in question (so a Corvette would be one turn, a Dreadnaught eight turns), the construction will be complete and the ship will be commissioned into your navy.

Material costs for your ship are split into three types: Hull Class, Armor, and Weapons. Armor will always be paid in Metals, and Weapons will always be paid in Volatiles. Hull Class may be paid in either Volatiles or Metals. For example, if you are constructing a Destroyer with Weapons 3 and Armor 9, you will need to pay 3 Volatiles, 9 Metals, and your choice of 3 Metals or Volatiles. These resources are consumed every turn that construction continues, so the cost of 3 Volatiles, 9 Metals, and the 3 of either will be paid again every turn. Repair costs (to return lost Die Steps, see Section 4, Combat) cost 2 resources for every Die Step returned, and may be paid in either Metals or Volatiles, player's choice. Repairs take a number of turns equal to the ships' Logistics score to complete.

3b. Class Designs
This system is designed to let you customize your ships within reason. Each Weapon and Armor system can have a Rating of between 1 and 5, with 1 being minor weapons systems and 5 being massively powerful weapons such as spinal railguns. Each Armor system is companion to a given Weapons system and provides double effectiveness when an enemy ship has the Weapon system they are effective against.
Weapon and Armor Ratings are written as normal; thus a Kinetics system with a Rating of 5 would be written as Kinetics 5.

Weapons systems are as follows:

• Kinetics: Everyone loves slinging large rocks at each other, and it's cheap too! This Weapon system represents weapons which do damage by ramming the target at high speed.
• Lasers: Pew pew pew! What's a space battle without lasers? This Weapon system represents weapons which do damage by directing a coherent beam of high-intensity light at a target.
• Missiles: Who doesn't love an explosion or two? This Weapon system represents Weapons which are propelled by rocket motors and carry some kind of warhead.
• Particle Beams: Lasers are well and good but what if you want something with a little more oomph? This Weapon system represents weapons which deal damage by directing a coherent beam of charged particles at the target.
• Electronic Warfare: They can't hit you if their systems are shut down! This Weapon system represents all aspects of cyberwarfare.
• Bombers: Why run around with one big ship when you can attack with a fleet of little ships? This Weapon system represents flights of smaller vessels armed with ship-killer weapons.
• Assault Pods: All hands prepare to board! This Weapons system represents Marines (or Naval Infantry, if you prefer) boarding a vessel and engaging hand-to-hand. If this Weapon system is in play the round that an enemy ship is reduced to zero hull integrity, the enemy ship is not destroyed but instead captured as a prize. There are two drawbacks: One, this Weapon system can only be used once per battle. Two, you must declare that you are using it; otherwise it is assumed to be out of play. Additionally, if the enemy fields Interceptors whose effective Rating exceeds that of the Assault Pods, they are intercepted and destroyed and cannot take the enemy as a prize, regardless of the enemy's final fate.

Armor systems are as follows:

• Ablative: Our hull is holding strong, Captain! This Armor system consists of heavy plating, designed to take a pounding. It is effective against Kinetics.
• Reflective Coating: Let them try to microwave us all they want! This Armor system reflects directed-energy beams back into the void of space. It is effective against Lasers.
• Point Defense: Dakka dakka dakka! This Armor system puts flak in the air to damage and destroy incoming warheads. It is effective against Missiles.
• Magnetic Shields: Divert all energy to forward shields! This system projects a magnetic field outside of the ship to divert incoming weapons. It is effective against Particle Beams.
• Security Suite: Sir, there is an intrusion in our systems! This system monitors the battlespace and your own internal systems for security. It is effective against Electronic Warfare.
• Interceptors: Take off every zig! This system represents flights of defensive-oriented fighters who engage and shoot down approaching vessels. It is effective against Bombers and Assault Pods.

When you design a Class, it will go into your Blueprints in your Control Panel. You must construct it in a Skydock before it can be added to your fleet. Below is the Class template:

Once constructed, a ship will be given a unique name and registry number, both decided by the player. Their variable statistics (hull integrity and logistics) will be tracked by the player in their control panel as well as in the Roleplay topic of any battle the ship might encounter. All ships owned by the player will be listed under their Fleet. Planetary Defenses are designed similarly and listed in a subsection of the Fleet listing.

4. Combat
Combat is resolved in the Roleplay topic of the planet where ships are engaging. Combat is resolved via a turn-based system wherein one player declares and resolves their attack and then the other player returns fire. The base firepower of a ship is determined by their Die Step, thus a Corvette would roll 1d4 per turn and so on. Weapons provide a bonus to this score, so a Bomber 3 would provide +3 to the die roll. Enemy Armor Ratings subtract from the final damage score, so a Point Defense 2 would subtract 2 from the roll. Weapons which are considered effective against a given weapon type provide double protection, so if the attacker had Bomber 3 and the defender had Interceptor 2, the defender would effectively subtract 4 from the attacker's roll. All weapons systems except for Assault Pods are assumed to be used by default, so the only requirement for an Armor system to be considered effective is if the attack has the corresponding weapon type mounted.
The final score after all Weapons bonuses and Armor penalties are applied is the amount of damage that the defender takes. The defender's Die Step is reduced for every two points of hull integrity it loses. If a ship's hull integrity is reduced to zero, it is destroyed.

Dice rolling will be provided by www.rolz.org. Link here.

4b. Siege
Once all defending ships in orbit around a planet are destroyed, the attacker may bring the planet under siege. When an attacker declares a planet to be under siege, it can no longer provide resources to its owner and its effective resource output is reduced to 0/0. The besieging ship or fleet engages any Planetary Defenses as they would a defending ship. Once the Planetary Defenses are destroyed, the planet's Skydock is reduced to half of its previous rating due to battle damage and the planet flips to the attacker's control.

Good luck and happy conquering!