Starcross SCG (Strategy Card Game)

[Ascent]

The name is open to discussion.

I wasn't originally going to bother creating my own game, but I realized while posting in the Galaxian thread that my ideas were pretty well fleshed out and really weren't meshing with those that were being adopted there, so I've decided to go ahead and just post my system here and anyone who wants to can help develop this one and I'll make any final judgments on what's included.

This game is planned to focus on the following aspects:
1) Non-combat Imperial/Corporate conquest
2) Political intrigue
3) Implied space battles and planetary skirmishes
4) Political factions, with each person playing a primary faction.

The Card Types:
Region - A static location that is played in setup. It contains resource icons that feed a player's empire building capabilities during "war time" or "peace time". "Planet" or "Asteroid Belt" would be a subtype for that Region. Each person sets down a Region card back-and-forth in setup until 5 Regions are on the board. (One person has 3 Regions, the other 2. We can figure out which player gets which later, when we figure out which player should have the most or least starting board position.) This aspect is negotiable, but I'd like to start with it and see if it can be worked with.
   Each Region provides static resources. For each resource you control, you gain a resource icon. If you control two Science resources, then your science resources improves that much. Resources Directly Affect Actions. The more resources a player possesses, the more things they get for their units, planets and ability to play Diplomacy cards. Science can improve power, Medical can improve healing, Mining can improve material resource, Politics can improve Diplomacy, etc.
Armada - Fleets that utilize the resources and facilitate the play of some supplementary cards during war time. These Forces are treated as a hub of interaction during "war time", permitting you to play specific effects.
Conspiracy (Instant) - A card depicting diplomacy played to gain advantage by manipulating the game state. It does not count toward planned actions. Players start out playing cards involving diplomacy. These cards affect trade, construction, treachery and conflict.
Surge - A card that can improve either your resources or your ability to play cards and declare actions.
Crisis (Instant) - A trap card that responds to your opponent's actions. You put it down as your planned action and when it springs, it does so without being a planned action. Once sprung, it is discarded.
Trade - A card that permits you to trade Resources with one of your opponent's planets. If your opponent does not embargo your action, trade proceeds, giving one of your Resources to your opponent in exchange for one of theirs.
Units - Resource-pumping units, namely energy claiming, mining and training facilities and space stations.


Power Bases
Each power base would have its own strategic means of utilizing resources and influencing other power bases. This allows corporate structure to influence politics, religion and military, or to let religion influence politics and military, or to let science influence corporations, politics and the military. This will provide a clear division (blocks) of strategies, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. So you would build your deck around specific power bases and their unique strategies. The power bases would be:

Military
Media
Government
Religion
Union
Corporate

Resources
Materials
Energy
Biological
Knowledge
Finance

Other Mechanics
A) Fast and Fluid. Keep things as simple as possible. Back-and-forth card play and actions. In other words, you lay a card down or make a declaration and you're done. There are no "turns", only card play. So you decide at any time what your action is going to be for any given planet.
B) Trickling Resources (Limitation Mechanic). Resources are taken advantage of on the fly. The resource number for any resource identifies a limit upon what cards you can play during your action from the resource cost on the card. You do not gain and spend resources accept as provided by the cards. You do not need counters to track resources.
C) Diplomatic Restoration. Once conflict ends for a planet, diplomacy resumes and stability returns to the region.
D) Conflict. "Conflict" simply refers to the action of a Forces card at a Region. However, just because a Forces card is at a planet, does not mean you have to engage in conflicts. You may choose to engage in "peace time" actions instead, but you cannot use the Forces for peace time activities.
E) Embargo. You can cancel a trade by your opponent using an instant or other card effect. The embargo remains in effect until you send a fleet to lift it, in which conflict may ensue for that planet.
F) Object of the Game. To control all the resources. (Regardless of whether you actually control a planet or wiped out all the fleets.)

The flavor text directly relates to the effect, rather than in flavor text, and occurs at the top of the text box instead, like a Monopoly card.

Example:

Your opponent's suppression of sapient rights leads you to perform an embargo on carbonized cosmium.

Your opponent can't draw during their next draw step.

[Malagar]

It's very similar to Galaxian, but its good and i finally understood your resource system correctly.

This could also be used in completely different games (medieval, fantasy etc.).

Also - i like the bustling creativity on the forum lately!

[Ascent]

I was thinking of a unit feature, not involving attack units, but resource-pumping units, namely energy claiming, mining and training facilities and space stations.

Also, the planet cards don't need to be planets. They can also be areas of space or asteroid belts. Instead of "Planet", we can call them "Regions", and "Planet" or "Asteroid Belt" would be a subtype for that Region.

What I would also like to do is include a mechanic for allowing a corporate structure to influence politics, religion and military, or to let religion influence politics and military, or to let science influence corporations, politics and the military. I'm thinking that there might be resources and power bases. Maybe the "Power Base" would not be a resource at all, with politics, religion and corporations being the different types of Power Bases. Each power base would have its own strategic means of utilizing resources and influencing other power bases. This would provide for a more cerebral approach to deck design and provides that awesome division (blocks) of strategies we've been working on in the SWTCG, being clearly defined and each having their own unique strengths and weaknesses. So you would build your deck around specific power bases and their unique strategies.

As a result of that idea, the resources would be strictly "minable" resources: ore, energy, knowledge, finance and proletariat. The power bases would be: military, media, government, religion, union and corporate.

I think, also, that I'm not going to have aliens in this game. It's strictly a game of colonization.

[Malagar]

Now i slowly get the picture and its different from Galaxian actually.

I like the idea of having no aliens and focus on colonisation. i could imagine a game in a more grim future galaxy where mankind is struggling to colonize and mine distant planets. there could be different major powers struggling to gain upperhand in new world colonisation - and they would not just be compromised by companies, also states and the church could play a role.

bolted metal, ore and deep space colonies is what first comes to mind when i think about this idea!...

[Ascent]

Cool. While I've had a long distance view in the images in my mind, I'm sure I could fit the 'lived-in' look in some images. There will be lots of supplemental cards that such images could be put on.

[Ascent]

I've updated the first post again.