Howdy, folks. How long has it been since I've last been on?
Well, I'm here to bring up a completely different type of forum game-- one that might not be familiar for some, while some might feel right at home with these types of forum games.
Play-by-Forum, or Play-by-Post, games are where each participating individual plays by posting on this thread-- depending on the medium, it may be a role-play, an online game, a party function or something else of a similar caliber. Replies usually follow a certain format to keep the pace of the game's process and to discern between in-game actions and outside-interactions. There are lots of games that involve Player-to-Player interaction, either with (
Co-Op) or against (
PvP) each other.
This particular forum game will be for the interest of a particular game-- one which has seen many moons of various Play-by-Forum interactions and is best known as a Campaign-and-Conquest game in that respect.
The Lazax Empire-- once a beacon of totalitarian control and unchallenged power-- quickly crumbled under the weight of rebellion and civil unrest. The various races waged war against the remaining survivors of the Lazax year-after-year, until the winds of war became an eerie silence. After many millenia, the secluded races of the former galactic empire regained their strength and returned to the ruins of the empire to rebuild and re-occupy the throne of the empire.
Thus began the age of the Twilight Imperium...
Twilight Imperium is best described as a "
Space Opera in-a-box," designed and created by Christian T. Petersen and published by Fantasy Flight Games. Its original conception is in board-game form, but has also taken the route of online (
real-time or play-by-forum) game sessions. Twilight Imperium is "
a game of epic galactic trade, politics and conquest." In a nutshell, the base game handles up to 6 players-- each controlling one of 10 unique races-- vying for galactic control over the ruins of the Lazax Empire. In the center of this conquest is the legendary planet Mecatol Rex, the former capitol of the Lazax.
Each player will utilize their varying strategies to command their galactic forces, develop trade relations with others, engage in high-stakes space battles, fulfill general and secret agendas, organize in diplomatic assemblies and, ultimately, claim galactic dominion over the entire space system.
The overall goal of the game is for one player to reach 10 Victory Points by achieving various objectives (
or by drawing the Imperium Rex card, which, effectively, ends the game).
While the game may look complicated at first-glance, the core mechanics that drive the game are, actually, rather simple. Instead of rolling dice or drawing cards to determine actions, each player has an allotment of Command Tokens to use for the various actions. Some actions include tactical troop deployment, reinforcement production, strategy activation, or they may simply pass their turn to the next player. Cards do exist in the game, but are seldomnly handed out so as to not overwhelm each player with too many options to choose from.
The base game, in board-game form, can usually last between 6-8 hours, depending on experience level. Play-by-Forum games are played at the pace of the players, fitting their schedule and giving them a chance to decide what they want to do-- which means most PbF sessions of TI can last a few months. With this in mind, who would like to participate in a Play-by-Forum game of galactic proportions? Who would be willing to risk galactic conquest for the name of their homeworld? Who among you would attempt to challenge the diplomatic powers of the galactic empire? Who will conquer the throne of the Lazax Empire and take control of Mecatol Rex?
This is a really fun and involving game in which I personally enjoy. If this is something that you would like to participate in, feel free to join! I'm starting out the head-count with 6 players to start, but may bump up to 8 if there is more interest.
Player 1: ---
Player 2: ---
Player 3: ---
Player 4: ---
Player 5: ---
Player 6: ---
There are a lot of online resources for this game in which I am happy to share with everyone.
Here is an example of a PbF game of Twilight Imperium in-progress (
one in which I am participating in):
