FT Campaign System (In early Playtest)

>I couldn't agree more - some very well-expressed sentiments. The
question
>is, how do we persuade all the powergamers/munchkins/anoraks* that this
is
>the way to go? Does anyone feel we should actually legislate on things
like
>this in future rules (maybe on the lines of the previously-suggested
>"maximum % of certain ship types in fleet"), or do we continue as
before
>and leave it up to the players to be "reasonable" about this....:) ?
>
>Awaiting deluge of replies with interest!!
>
>Jon (GZG).

Jon,

	Perhaps you would be interested in what our small gaming group
is doing with the campaign game I've developed that addresses some of
the points you've mentioned above.  

	First, I would like to state that your original approach to the
FT game engine is what attracted me to this wonderful system.  The fact
that I can so easily twiddle with weapon statistics, game mechanics and 
other rules without "breaking" the basic game is one of the reasons why
I enjoy FT so much.  Please continue with your original premise of game
design for future FT supplements.

	That being said...  I've designed and am currently playtesting
a campaign system for FT that is, IMHO, very different from other
campaign
systems I've seen so far.  It was designed with the following premises:

	1) Simple Game mechanics for 3-8 players 
	   (more if you can find the people).
	2) Simultaneous player actions to speed play.
	   (Very little "waiting for your turn" situations).
	3) Supply and Demand Economic rules that require NO record
keeping.
	4) Research and Development that requires NO record keeping.
	5) Merchant/Fleet support game mechanics requiring supply lines
	   (again with NO record keeping).
	6) Simple Build/Repair/Reload rules.
	   (No record keep... Oh, you get the idea;)
	7) Commodity trading and Resource development.
	8) Random Events.
	9) Trade between players including ships!
	10) Abstract Combat system to use for huge fleet engagements
	   (only if both players agree).  Mostly useful for campaign
	   games played at one sitting.  Good for getting people 
	   interested in the "Judged" version of the game with the
	   Full Thrust tactical game.
	11) Diplomacy (no rules... just sorta happens in this kind 
	    of game)
	12) Spying / Corporate Espionage.
	13) Smuggling.
	14) Surveying and Exploration of Uncharted space.
	15) Warp points.

	etc... the list goes on.

Most IMPORTANTLY, all of the above can be TWEAKED to the player's
liking!

We are still getting the bugs out of the game.	Oh, when I say that
there
is no record keeping what I'm really saying is that you don't have to
write
anything down.	We're using playing chits to take care of everything. 
We've
also designed an economic system that encourages balenced fleets.  So
far,
we've had very good results with the ship building/economic system.  No
min/maxing of killer ship designs, at least not yet.  There's no easy
way
to do it in our game.

The only drawback (I don't consider it one though) is that each player
has
to do quite a bit of work BEFORE the game actually starts, designing his
Fleets for all Tech Levels (oh yeah, we have that too), but how many FT
players do you know that don't like to design their own ships?	Still,
we've got a few predesigned fleets for people who don't have the time or
inclination to build their own.  

There is no way to design a fleet with every type of system available.	
You have to specialize.  During play, if you need ships with certain 
defensive/offensive capabilities that you can't build yourself 
('cause you don't have the tech) you need to buy them prebuilt from 
other players.	Yeah, kind of a hose if one of your enemies has a mix 
of ship designs that you're vunerable to but we felt that anything that 
encourages player interaction/treaties is a good thing in a campaign
game...

Soapbox Mode: OFF

Peter Caron
pcaron@cris.com