The Old City is in ruins. The scions of the Noble Houses have commissioned great seabirds adorned with opulent houses; they will fly from perch to perch over the ocean to the New City. None trust each other enough to fly together, so their birds wing lonely through the sky, moving from point to point.
You cannot see eye-to-eye on these winged steeds. But you can communicate. You can intrigue…and who knows who will be lesser or higher when the birds arrive at their final destonation?
Noble Houses of the Seabirds
by John Evans for Game Chef 2009
(version 0.1 – very rough draft)
Noble Houses is meant to be played on the internet, through the use of a forum or blog. Each player has their own unique account; none are anonymous. Messages are posted in a public area or sent privately to various players. They may also be sent privately to the Bureau, a neutral party that oversees administrative affairs. (It is possible to simulate the Bureau without such electronic assistance, but this will be left as an exercise to interested readers.)
Sequence of Play
Determine Game Parameters
Determine number of Houses (players) and number of Stops. For 3-6 players. Stops are the duration of the game; more Stops makes for a longer game. At least 4 Stops are recommended.
Houses
Harvesting – Food. Life Group. Resource: Food. Ability: Upgrades cost 1 less Resource.
Breeding – Life forms. Life Group. Resource: Worker Beetles. Ability: Upgrades cost 1 less Money.
Usury – Finance. Information Group. Resource:
Corporations. Ability: Each Round that another player successfully
resolves a Reinvestment Transaction, Usury gets 1 Money.
Secrets – Communication. Information Group. Resource:
Treaties. Ability: Each Round that another player successfully
resolves a Trade Transaction, Secrets gets 1 Money.
Sensation – Concubines. Labor Group. Resource:
Erotroupes. Ability: Special Transaction: Take 1 Money from
another player. Usable a number of times per game equal to half
the Stops (rounded down), and not more than once per Round. Must
be a public Transaction.
Suppression – Fighters/Policemen. Labor Group. Resource:
Platoons. Ability: Special Transaction: Take 1 Money from another
player. Usable a number of times per game equal to half the Stops
(rounded down), and not more than once per Round. Must be a public
Transaction.
Houses are divided into Groups. Each House considers those in its own Group allied. Each House considers those in a specific other Group opposed. Everything else neutral. (Important Note: Opposition is unidirectional. One House could consider a second opposed, but the second could consider the first neutral.)
Life Group considers Information Group opposed.
Information Group considers Labor Group opposed.
Labor Group considers Life Group opposed.
Character Creation
Choose your House. Each player must have a different House.
Houses have Money and Resources. Roll 1d6; that’s how much Money
you start with. Subtract Money from 6, and that’s how many
Resources you start with.
These totals represent deeds of ownership; the actual finances and
resources are stored somewhere else. They may, of course, be
traded at any time.
Round
At the beginning of each Round, time limits are also chosen for the two Phases. (These time limits are a matter of player convenience; they should be arrived at by mutual agreement of the players.)
During the Air Phase, the Houses are flying through the air from one Stop to another. They cannot come into physical contact; instead, players post Messages. When the Air Phase time limit runs out, the Resolution Phase begins.
At the beginning of the Resolution Phase, reveal the next Complication card. Then resolve any changes in Money and/or Resources caused by Upgrades. At this point the Houses are considered to be landing at the stop; bbefore anything else happens, any Hidden Messages for this Stop are revealed. (Messages for previous Stops that were skipped are also revealed.) Any Hidden Messages marked for this Stop that are dated AFTER the Resolution Phase begins are INVALID. (A program can be run to send a Hidden Message marking the start of the Resolution Phase, then revealing all Hidden Messages up to and including that one.)
When all outstanding matters have been dealt with, the Land Phase begins.
During the Land Phase, the Houses alight on a piece of land, a ship or some other non-sea area. All interactions are watched over by Guards; violence is prohibited.
After the Land Phase time limit ends, start another Round. The Houses take flight again.
Sometimes the Land Phase may be skipped. In that case, simply move onto a new Round. For whatever reason, the Houses did not have an opportunity to land.
Complication Cards
* Hazard – Skip this Land Phase
* Surplus – Everyone gets 1 Resource of their House’s type
* Windfall – Everyone gets 1 Money
* Bureaucracy – Nothing happens
At the start of the game, round the number of Stops up to the next multiple of 4, then add 4. This will be the number of cards in the Complication Deck; take an equal number of each card.
Example: For 6 stops, the next multiple is 8, then added 4 is 12. The Deck is 12 cards, 3 of each type.
Shuffle the cards together to make the Complication Deck. At the end of each Air Phase, reveal the next card of the Deck and resolve its effects.
(These “cards” are a bookkeeping device that could easily be simulated with a computer program.)
Transactions
Important Note: All Money and Resource totals are always public. Any player may check them at any time.
A Transaction is a special Message. It is either posted in public, or it is sent to the Bureau’s private message file (a “Hidden Message”). Each Transaction must begin with the sentence: “ATTN Bureau: Transaction.” to specify unambiguously that it is a Transaction.
Transactions have no effect until they are resolved; most Transactions are resolved immediately after they are revealed. Public Transactions are instantly revealed; Hidden Transactions are revealed in the Land Phase (see Land Phase section).
Reinvestment Transactions
You may trade Money for your House’s Resource, and vice versa, in any combination that is less than 1 for 1. (Give 3 Money for 2 Resources, give 5 Resources for 4 Money, whatever.) Business is tough to transact when you’re riding a giant seabird. Still, these Transactions always succeed, as long as you possess the required Money and/or Resources.
Trade Transactions
You may give any amount of Money and/or Resources to another House.
Conditional Transactions
You may specify conditions for your Transaction. Here is a standard example:
“ATTN Bureau: Transaction. I, Breeding, give 2 Worker Beetles to
Usury if, in the same batch of Messages, Usury gives me 1 Corporation
and 2 Money.”
This is often shortened to:
“ATTN Bureau: Transaction. I trade 2 Worker Beetles to Usury for 1 Corporation and 2 Money.”
If there is a Message from Usury resolved at the same time that gives at
least 1 Corporation and 2 Money to Breeding, the Transaction from
Breeding will complete successfully.
Note: According to a strict reading of the resolution rules, Messages have to resolve one at a time and so a trade could never happen. However, the clerks of the Bureau are smart enough to understand the concept of Transactions depending on each other, and these trades do work.
Another Example, this time a public Transaction:
“ATTN Bureau: Transaction. If Usury gives me 1 Corporation and 2
Money before 11:59 PM Eastern US time September 7th 2009, I give Usury 2
Worker Beetles.”
We expect this to be followed by a public Transaction from Usury handing over the requested goods.
Important Note: Any TIMES mentioned in messages refer to resolution times! Continuing the preceding example, let us say Usury posted a Hidden Message which was a Transaction giving the requested goods to Breeding. If that Hidden Message was resolved before the required time–in other words, if a Land Phase revealed it–the exchange would occur. But if the revealing was past the specified time, the condition of the Transaction from Breeding would not be valid! If you wish a Transaction to be resolved before the next Land Phase, it must be made publically.
You may spend Money and Resources on Upgrades.
Upgrades
Requirements for “Resources”, unless otherwise specified, may be fulfilled by any type or combination of types of Resources. Each Upgraded may be purchased multiple times, unless otherwise specified.
Expansion Contract – 1 Money, 3 Resources. At the beginning of each Land Phase, gain 1 of your Resource. 1 Victory Point.
Business Contacts – 1 Money, 2 Opposed Resources. At the beginning of each Land Phase, gain 1 Money. 1 Victory Point.
Infrastructure – 2 Resources of any type not your own. Gain 2 Money.
Distribution Contract – 3 Money, 4 Resources of any type not your own. At the beginning of each Land Phase, you may spend 1 Money to gain 1 Resource of any type. 2 Victory Points.
Loyal Administrator – 5 Money, 4 Resources. At any time EXCEPT the Resolution Phase, spend 1 Money to take a card from the Complication discard pile and put it on top of the Complication Deck.
Endgame
At the end of the game the players alight at the final Stop, where the lower classes have been constructing the New City. All Hidden Messages are revealed and resolved, and the game’s final situation takes shape.
At this point all the lower classes decide they don’t need the Noble Houses any more, and they revolt.
Actually, I’m just kidding about that last part. The Noble Houses take their place as rightful rulers of the new society.
Right?
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John Evans 2009