The Verse Game Guide

The full rule set for the Verse.

INTRODUCTION

These rules are heavily based on Jim Wallman and Stone Paper Scissors game design ‘Humanity Will Prevail’. This game is a good natured ‘fork’ of Jim’s game. Jim has been running his game since 1996.

The campaign is set in a future galaxy dominated by mankind and features political, military and economic interactions between a collection of human polities.

The game is set at governmental level and players are generally heads of state, sector governors, senior cabinet members or top military.

All player roles are human, or transhuman/cyborg.

The game is designed to play over a long period of time.

The game is played by ongoing sessions on Discord, supported by google sheets to store key data and record decisions, with the occasional Discord video interaction face-to-face (for example at major summit meetings), and the occasional wargaming session to fight significant military actions. The general background is also used for one-off sub-games which add to the growing background story.

The game is not intended to run between sessions, please don’t expect other players to interact between summit meetings or ‘action weekends’.

HISTORY OF THE VERSE

SUMMARY

The year is 2600. It is 110 years since the fall of the old United Earth Empire, and a decade since the end of the catastrophic Bionid War.

Since the fall of Old Earth, various factions and nations have risen in its place - who are now reaching out into the cosmos in their own right.

The Verse takes place in Sector 005, encompassing a star cluster distant from many of the capital worlds of factions present in Sector 005. Several factions have established developed colony worlds in the Sector and seek to exploit and consolidate their positions among the stars.

The Bionids are a mysterious and aggressive biological hive mind entity. First detected by a Zeyland-Butani Corporation mining ship in 2575, they infected and consumed dozens of worlds, prior to the eventual defeat of their main Hive Fleet by the Supreme Allied Fleet. Worlds touched by Bionid spores, the Afflicted as they are known, require significant terraforming and suffer lingering environmental and psychological effects for decades.

The Bionids are not alone. The Verse is a dangerous place. Pirates and criminal organisations stalk the shipping lanes for vulnerable prey. Court nobles and corporate directors plot the downfall of their rivals. Advanced AI entities, banned after the Xing-Mao Uprising of 2250, lurk in abandoned research labs.

Welcome to The Verse.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE VERSE

21st Century

• 2027 War in Ukraine ends, New Cold War begins
• 2028 President Trump seeks third term
• 2030 SpaceX founds Mars Colony ‘Terminus’
• 2030 John Bryden and James Moulding found the Order of the Golden Lion
• 2031 Second U.S Civil War begins, global economy plunged into deep depression
• 2031 Mars Colony Terminus fails
• 2033 People’s Republic of China seizes Taiwan
• 2035 Third World War begins between remaining NATO members and Russia
• 2037 People’s Republic of China establishes first permanent lunar base ILRS ‘Tiangong’
• 2042 NATO breaks stalemate makes major advances, Russia retaliates with nuclear first strike, NATO responds
• 2042 The Atomic Horror - Paris, London, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Moscow and major European cities are destroyed - war ends
• 2043 Democratic Forces seize Washington D.C and end U.S Civil War
• 2045 UK rejoins European Union
• 2048 NASA astronaut Mark Watney marooned on Mars after mission abort due to poor martian weather
• 2050 The Yenzhen Harmony Era begins in China and allied states - Europe and U.S reel from decades of chaos
• 2052 Mark Watney rescued and returned to Earth aboard Chinese spacecraft
• 2055 European Federation formed of European states, Russia granted accession status
• 2058 AI system CharmingSpear goes rogue, crashes global economy and triggers military alerts before PRC Guardian AIs eliminate the threat
• 2060 People’s Republic of China (PRC) establishes permanent Martian base ‘Zhurong’
• 2065 Amazon Corp dismembered following massacre of workers by AI foreman triggering new corporate regulations
• 2067 Russia joins European Federation
• 2070 Global warming reaches 4C, firestorms, droughts and famine are norm in equatorial states
• 2073 United States establishes permanent lunar base ‘Freedom Station’
• 2080 Brydist teachings are written in the Book of G’Kar
• 2093 European Federation celebrates 100 years
• 2098 Yao Lu Zhi codifies Unified Hyperspace Theory

22nd Century

• 2100 Asteroid conglomerates form and large scale mining begins in the Belt
• 2110 Sea level rise reaches 2.4m, major cities and entire countries not protected by seawalls now underwater, triggering large scale migrations
• 2105 North Atlantic Federation (NAF) founded - unifying Europe, Canada, USA
• 2115 NAF establishes permanent Mars base ‘Liberty Station’
• 2120 Global temperatures plummet as AMOC finally shuts down
• 2135 Amexa Federation established - unifying New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico and central American states
• 2140 First permanent orbital around Venus
• 2151 Helios Conglomerate founded
• 2155 Zubat Corporation founded
• 2157 People’s Republic of China (PRC) Belt and Road Initiative now encompasses dozens of mining outposts
• 2160 NAF launches the Icarus Initiative generational sleeper ships beyond the solar system
• 2161 The Race for Space begins, Helios, Zubat, China and others send out generational ships to nearby solar systems
• 2170 NAF, Amex and China begin the first Space War
• 2173 First space war ends
• 2175 Mentat Bonsai, entrepreneur and scientist born
• 2190 First Promethean artifacts discovered on Mars

23rd Century

• 2200 The Hellas Declaration announces Martian independence from Earther corporate control, triggering the Mars Rebellion, smaller Earth states pool resources forming the Joint Space Command (JSC) under United Nations control
• 2205 People’s Republic of China Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute LifeEX gene therapy promises breakthrough in life extension
• 2210 Treaty of Curry reached, Earth state corporates agree to greater Martian autonomy
• 2220 JSC formalised into the United Nations Space Command (UNSC)
• 2226 LifeEX made commercially available safely extending lifespan to approx 120 years before rapid senescence
• 2230 The Gapeto Drive is accidentally discovered, greatly increasing sublight travel speeds
• 2250 Xing-Mao Uprising: Rebel PRC military elements unleash advanced AI to seize power, widespread power loss, solar system economy collapses
• 2251 NAF, PRC, Amex and UNSC eliminate Rebel PRC elements - millions die as critical Earth and space based life support systems fail during the attack
• 2253 Advanced AI entities outlawed by United Nations
• 2260 Generational ship encounters spatial anomaly, transported hundreds of light years to the Luna Piena system, colonists establish first interstellar human colony
• 2280 Hyperdrive technology discovered by Mentat Bonsai
• 2282 Ceres petitions for formal colony status
• 2283 First large scale hyperdrive test ship Event Horizon launched… and never heard from again
• 2284 Event Horizon’s sister ship New Horizon launches, reports successful hyperspace translation tests
• 2290 Brief 200 day war between mining corporates breaks out

24th Century

• 2300 Proxima Centauri settled by Commander John Eggplant, hyperspace-capable probes dispatched to dozens of worlds
• 2310-2320s dozens of new colonies established by Zubat, NAF, PRC, Amex, Helios, Volka
• 2322 Vertinia & Alioth settled
• 2324 Cereans flee restrictive corporate practices and found new colony on Arcturus
• 2325 Zeyland-Butani Corporation formed from NASA, Boeing, Solartex and Mizu Holdings
• 2326 - 2330 Earth politically unified during the Paperclip War as the United Earth Republic
• 2350 The Adama Catastrophe - colony destroyed by rogue AI - Harper Directive severely restricts AI research
• 2360 Zeyland-Butani abandon Revelation Station
• 2361 Seekers holy script We Spit in the Eye of the Gods is written on Revelation Station. Survivors of Revelation Station die of asphyxiation.
• 2362 McDoolist uprising on Ghrian Dhearg
• 2364 Wave of protest, sabotage and dissent across Earth controlled corporate colonies.
• 2366 E’lyrans flee their home colony following Zubat corporate crackdown and begin their nomadic wandering
• 2370 Civil society groups warn of growing corporate and oligarchic state capture
• 2372 Jamus Moldoon elected Senator for the Democracy & Justice Party (DJP) following populist anti-oligarch campaign
• 2375 Earthsea founded by Brydist Great Pilgrimage
• 2376 - 2378 Large scale unrest across corporate colonies following passage of New Prosperity Act limiting rights of corporate colonists. Corporate security forces put down unrest through brutal use of force. United Earth Senate passes new Civil Peace Directive doubling sentencing for public order crimes and establishing new penal colonies.
• 2379 Proxima colony declares independence from United Earth following unsanctioned plebiscite.
• 2383 United Earth fleet suppresses Proxima, civilian atrocities reported
• 2380 Colonies on Alioth, Wolf 359, Funchal, Mars, Mercy and others secede after brutal treatment of Proxima, triggering the Secessionist War. United Earth elections suspended.
• 2386 United Earth defeats the secessionists. Riven by political polarisation, ongoing colonial dissent and an economic recession due to the rebellion - the United Earth Republic begins to fracture. First elections held in six years, return a highly unstable governing coalition with Democracy & Justice Party as a minority kingmaker.
• 2388 The much reduced United Earth Republic is struck by a populist coup led by Senator Jamus Moldoon and elements of Earth military, UER reconstituted as the United Earth Empire - the First Citizen gains additional executive powers.
• 2390 Mars attempts to secede from the newly declared Empire, supported by elements of the Cerean Planetary Alliance. The rebellion fails with great loss of life, including the Dubai-Mao Dome Massacre.
• 2391 Treaty of Europa confirms Mars as a permanent part of the Empire.
• 2394 First Citizen Muldoon restores elections to a new Imperial Senate, with colonies electing representatives to the new body.
• 2395 First colony established in Sector 002
• 2397 The Empire begins the reconquest of Alioth, Funchal, Mercy, Wolf 359 and the remaining independents
• 2398 The Cerean Planetary Alliance sign the Treaty of Livingstone confirming their independent status, in exchange for exclusive shipping and mining rights.

25th Century

• 2400 Professor Spielberg discovers the Gravity Drive on Wolf 359, which creates tears in spacetime to travel across vast distances.
• 2401 Alioth is granted special protectorate status by the Empire, following a failed campaign to subjugate the planet.
• 2404 ISS Voyager - gravitic drive test ship launches at Wolf 359 and reported lost
• 2410 The Martian diaspora reaches its height
• 2412 First Citizen Jamus Moldoon dies in his sleep, the Imperial Council proclaims Rebekah Kenzler as the new leader of the Empire
• 2413 The E’lyran Nomadic Fleet reaches the Luna Piena System in Sector 005
• 2417 The arts and engineer colonist collective on Cocoon begin secret experimentation with advanced AI entities
• 2420 The Archer Rebellion is crushed by the Imperial Navy, Archer is destroyed by Mass Driving in the fighting
• 2427 Advanced AI entity on Cocoon breaks containment, commandeers outbound starship on a rimward trajectory. Cocoon suppressed by Empire.
• 2432 The Kenzler Directive sets out colonial administrative Sectors and standardises colonial regulations
• 2441 The Sector 002 science station on New Birmingham ceases communication. The planet disappears.
• 2452 Rimmer is founded in Sector 005
• 2456 First Citizen Kenzler replaced by coup, Lord Bolai Menzies is raised as the new ruler of the Empire
• 2460 Earth climate change stabilised through new terraforming techniques, temperatures and climatic systems returned to pre-1980 levels.
• 2462 Bolai Menzies is found dead in his palace, the Imperial Council elevates Baron Jorge Hindi in their place
• 2465 First Citizen Hindi found dead in his palace, the Imperial Council proclaims Senator Mendark Span as new supreme ruler.
• 2465 Multiple colony worlds attempt to secede and are crushed in response by Imperial forces, including New Verizon, Wombat and Gandalf
• 2466 First Citizen Mendark Span is found dead in his chamber, the Imperial Council proclaims Lord Yuk Manzika as new supreme ruler.
• 2466 Lord Yuk Manzika is found dead - The Imperial Post Office and Imperial Reserve complain they have to keep changing the Imperial Likeness every year
• 2466 Widespread protests across core worlds - The Imperial Council rules by decree
• 2467 Accord is settled by the Church
• 2468 Protests grow, Empire security forces drive rebels underground.
• 2470 ISS Voyager returns to Wolf 359 - the crew are dead, but one - the remaining crewmen has gone mad and claims to have seen hell. Local monitoring stations report spatial anomalies.
• 2471 Independent miners excavate the remains of Revelation Station and discover the holy script We Spit in the Eye of the Gods.
• 2472 On Earthsea, The Uhura warns of an impending Age of Strife, millions visit in pilgrimage in anticipation
• 2473 The Seekers are formed on Revelation Station, dozens of small mining guilds and family companies combine To Follow The Word
• 2475 Underground independence movements form on dozens of worlds, Imperial Security struggle to maintain order
• 2476 Wolf 359 enacts martial law over severe public unrest.
• 2476 Imperial Council led by Lord Straven Kang disbands the Imperial Senate, and establishes new military sector governors.
• 2477 The Manzikert Plague strikes - dozens of worlds are hit by a severe respiratory virus, reports indicate it derived from an Imperial bioweapons research lab.
• 2478 Sector Governor Jovian Hellebore issues the permanent quarantine of Wolf 359 citing ‘the planet now worships the devil’.
• 2483 Manzikert Plague is pacified, though billions have died. Prices of basic foodstuffs rise across the Empire.
• 2485 The Independence Wars begin. Fuelled by rumours of Imperial muddling prolonging the plague, Proxima declares independence - their ragtag guerilla fleet inflict a major defeat on an Imperial Squadron.
• 2487 Lady Alaria on Alioth declares their secession from the Empire, and defeats Imperial forces in system. Rimmer, Koffing, Turing, Cocoon and Spanner also secede.
• 2488 Dozens of newly independent worlds combine their fleets near Sirius and defeat an Imperial Battlegroup - they form The Independence Movement (TIM).
• 2488 Several imperial squadrons mutiny, siding with the Independents - Contact is lost with Imperial fleets and colonies in Sector 006.
• 2488 Imperial forces attempt to regroup for a major offensive against the newly independent worlds. The Imperial Council unveils new superweapon - the Death Orb - which is promptly destroyed by a young farmhand, a young heiress, a furry and smuggler. It is rumoured that many Cerean spies died to locate the Death Orb plans.
• 2488 Accord reports being struck by Imperial Mass Driver bombardment, but refuse humanitarian assistance from Independent forces
• 2489 Imperial forces capture Rebel leader Duke Starkiller but he refuses to collaborate and is executed by Lord Straven Kang, Head of the Imperial Council. Imperial forces suffer major defeats over Bakku and Edho.
• 2490 Earth Empire defeated: with the loss of their fleet, the Imperial Council flees as independent ships bombard the Imperial Palace on Earth from orbit.
• 2491 Independent forces fail to track down Imperial leaders. Death Orb plans seemingly purged from Imperial databanks. Many Imperial worlds announce their independence, the remaining so-called Imperial Remnant are ruled by competing imperial warlords.
• 2492 After two years of failed negotiations to find common ground, The Independence Movement (TIM) loses coherence.
  • Lady Alaria heads home to Alioth to begin her conquest of outlying systems
  • Cerean Planetary Alliance ships return to their mining
  • Proxima hold their first elections and elect Prime Minister Terrence Hamley of the Democratic Unity Coalition
  • TIM withdraw occupation forces on Earth. Earth undergoes a major civil war, various factions and warlords compete for dominance.

26th Century

• 2500 The United Terran Federation is declared. Mars and several nearby systems capitulate to the UTF, two dozen loyalist colonial worlds across all sectors declare for the Terran Federation. Santiago Nzuzi inaugurated as first Terran Federation Supreme Chancellor, following the victory of his Global Democratic Alliance faction in the Earth civil war.
• 2501 The Divine Web of SILK is established on planets allied with Cocoon, within several years they have chartered colony ships to colonial sectors
• 2502 Contact is re-established with former Imperial holdings in Sector 006, re-organised as the Association of Free Colonies (AFCO).
• 2507 Proxima Federal Republic hosts first interstellar summit, agreeing international trade rules known as the ‘Senapssill’ talks, named after the nearby Proximan resort planet hosting the summit
• 2510 Empress Alaria I declares the formation of the Alarian Star Empire and enters into a more intense phase of conquest, engaging in warfare with both Proxima and the Terran Federation over the following decade
• 2512 Vertinia and CASI begin new colony programme in Sector 005
• 2513 Solas Na Gealai celebrate 100 years since Unification across their colonies
• 2514 The Seekers establish and glorify new colonies in colonial sectors 005 & 004.
• 2515 Proximan colonists begin to colonise systems in Sector 005
• 2520 - 2522 Outer Rim Alliance annex new independent state Free Colonies of Pell in Sector 003.
• 2525 Empress Alaria I consolidates her newly conquered territories across the colonial sectors
• 2531 Proxima Federal Republic alleged to have completed low power gravitic test at deep space research station
• 2532 Interstellar Council of the Nations established on Proxima. Terran Federation pursues new aggressively expansionist colonial initiatives, pressuring and coming into conflict with smaller powers.
• 2533 The Proxima Articles of Coalition Treaty is established
• 2540 Proximan astrophysicists begin programme to track and contact the old generational sleeper ships still in transit
• 2543 The Roke Nexus petitions for offerings to found a new defensive fleet following pirate attacks on Viśvanivāsaḥ temples on Gont and Havnor.
• 2560 Svetlana Johnsdottir, future Proximan Prime Minister is born
• 2568 The Cerean Planetary Alliance and The Seekers skirmish over trading rights with the Rimmer Archipelago in Sector 005.
• 2575 Zeyland-Butani Corporation mining ship detects an organic hivemind entity, codename BIONID.
• 2575 AFCO establishes colony on Sector 005 planet
• 2578 Bionid hivefleets rampage across the Colonial Sectors - Contact with Sector 005 colonies Harper, Rimmer, Dice and Klendathu is lost.
• 2582 The Supreme Allied Fleet is established to destroy the Bionid threat with representation from all major powers, except the Terran Federation.
• 2588 Bionids infect and consume dozens of worlds but are eventually defeated and driven from human settled space.

27th Century

• 2600
  • Skaro promethean relic located, releases energy burst towards distant coordinates
  • Bionids detected on Andor
  • Hobus bombed, Terrans blame Queeg
  • Unity 5 treaty ratified
• 2601 Skaro Pact established, Alarian-Terran War on LGR (aka LGRs invasion of Riker)
• 2602 Present Day

Major factions of Sector 005

The player factions each have their own page: see Factions.

Other factions of human settled space

In addition to those listed above, other major factions exist across Human Settled Space, these include:

Sovereign states

• Concordant Assembly of Systematic Intellect (Sectors 001, 002, 003, 005, 007)
• New Star Socialist Federation (Sector 007, Sector 001)
• The Queeg Heptarchy (Sector 002) - Pact Member
• Quagaar Separatists (Sector 002)
• Dyrektoriat Kosmiczny (Sector 003) - Pact Member
• The Outer Rim Alliance (Sectors 003, 004) - Pact Member
• Alianza de la Aurora Roja (Sector 002) - Pact Member
• Fel-Tek Trade Federation (Sector 009) - Pact Member
• The Union of Prax - (Sector 007) Pact Member
• The New Star Coalition - (Sector 004, Sector 003)

Corporate entities

• Zeyland-Butani Corporation - HQ within UTF
• Coriolis Corporation - HQ within UTF
• Zubat Corporation - HQ within SKC
• Helios Corporation - HQ within PFR
• Volka Industries - HQ within SKC
• BioSyn - HQ within VCW
• Vertex Corporation - HQ within SKC
• Atlas Corporation - HQ within UTF
• Morlana Heavy Industries - HQ - within PFR.

DISCORD GAME ETIQUETTE

The game communication etiquette is as follows.

1. Please only use the game Discord system to communicate with each other and other teams. This ensures Control (James) knows what is happening and can help if necessary.

2. During Summit Sessions - Please mute if you aren’t saying anything. Background noise is a hazard in online events.

3. If you have nothing to say during a Summit, say nothing. Avoid saying the first thing that comes into your head as it makes conversations hard to follow. Video conversations are harder to manage than face to face conversations, so keep this in mind.

4. Don’t talk over other people. Even if you think they are wrong. Listen to what they have to say then give your view. Please raise your hand and take turns.

5. Roleplaying isn’t an excuse for rudeness. You might disagree with or object to something in-character in the game, but in this environment effective personal communication is harder and tone has a bigger impact than in the face to face environment. So be clear, assertive and direct, but never be loud, aggressive or rude.

THE TURN SEQUENCE

Each game turn is associated with an optional virtual SUMMIT MEETING session on DISCORD.

If players cannot represent their polity at the meeting, Control (James) will take instructions and ‘lines to take’ and represent the team’s interests at the meeting (as best he can manage).

Turns will be processed every FOUR WEEKS

Upcoming Turns

The process for each turn is:

1. Several days prior to the meeting Control posts the latest Galactic Network News (GNN) news for the turn and any significant situation ‘injects’ that arises from the last turn.
2. Players agree an agenda (recommended, optional) ideally no later than the day before the meeting.
3. The Meeting begins in the SUMMIT channel. Players are welcome to turn up early and gather in the Out of Character Chit Chat channel prior to game start.
4. Meetings conducted, agreements reached etc. The timing and conduct is up to the players to organise.
5. Players are also responsible for record keeping and recording any decision(s) made.
6. At the end of the session players will update their Team Sheets and notes to reflect actions and discussion during the session. These are their ‘orders for the turn’.
7. Please resolve your turn actions within 1 week of the end of the Summit meeting.

CONTROL will update player team sheets and respond to Action Diary actions by 2 days before the next session.

Discussion, planning and negotiation can happen between sessions, but please do not edit team sheets after Control has updated them before the next Summit.

RHYTHM OF THE GAME

It is the intention that the game will NOT continue significantly between game sessions / game weekends – gameplay comes to a halt at the end of each session and picks up where they left off at the start of the new session. Players will probably continue discussing the game between sessions – but this is not part of the gameplay. This game is not intended to become a full time experience, and not everyone will have the time (or enthusiasm) to be playing the game every day in between sessions.

Here we define ‘session’ as the loose amount of time from when the Galactic News Network (GNN) bulletin drops a few days prior to the optional Summit, to when the actions have been submitted by the players, 48 hours after the end of the Summit meeting. But realistically, if you’re low on time, you could read the Bulletin, confer with your teammate and write your actions for the month and you’re done!

So, avoid making decisions, agreeing treaties or generally doing anything significant between the game sessions, so that we do not risk excluding participants who cannot (or don’t want to) join in the discussions outside the main gameplay time.

WHAT DO PLAYERS DO?

This is a high level political/military game designed to be played remotely, with occasional face-to-face meetings for major events such as Summits and/or possibly battles.

The players represent senior leaders, politicians etc. In this context players are encouraged to avoid drilling down into too much detail and remember that there is a lot of aggregation and generalisation. The key thing here is communicating with other players and joining the shared narrative of The Verse.

CONTROL (James) represents your advisers and civil servants. They will provide information and options as needed, when asked. However your advisers will not tell you what to do or the ‘best’ course of action. And sometimes those advisers might be wrong or have differing perspectives on the problem. In the end, the players decide what advice to follow and what to ignore.

Players are responsible for

• Acting in role and deciding what ‘ACTIONS’ to take (see ACTIONS below)
• Where players play dual roles, ignoring things they would not be aware of ‘in reality’;
• Communicating with other players;
• Communicating with key Non-Played Characters (NPC) (played by CONTROL);
• Keeping track of interstellar movement;
• Keeping track of the composition and locations of their own forces by keeping their Team Resources Google Sheet updated. This sheet allows players to update only their own fleets and resources.
• Keeping track of their own economies and reporting to Game Control as needed;
• Adding to the Encyclopaedia Universalis background material as necessary.

What Players may not do:

• Take on a new role without first checking it out with Control. This especially applies to not taking over existing NPCs or speaking for them.
• Create new NPCs to act as a ‘front’ for your actions and decisions. Players are expected to ‘own’ their actions & decisions.

You are also advised against wild or unfounded assumptions.

In this game announcing you’ve done something is not the same as it actually happening.

In most cases you will have to use an action point (see below) to get things moving.

The principle is to keep your actions in character (IC) as much as possible. The ‘Out of Character’ (OOC) channel is for discussing game administration and not for resolving in-game problems or short-cutting the role-playing.

In-game related conversations need to be IC by default.

In the discord server there is a channel specifically for OOC conversations. The #ooc-general channel must not be used for planning or discussing in-game problems out of character.

If it seems harder to problem-solve in character that is because it is supposed to be – that is the very nature of the game.

Inappropriate posts will be deleted by Control.

ACTION POINTS (AP)

Each Team/polity has FOUR ACTION POINTS (AP) per turn. These do not carry over from turn to turn.

AP represents the efforts of your team, civil service and governing power to make important things happen.

AP can only be spent on a specific array of actions. These are slightly different for each team to reflect national characteristics and political system.

You do not have to allocate an AP, but it helps you make progress.

You do not need to use AP for anything involving interaction with other players on your team, or interactions (i.e diplomacy) with other Teams in the game.

Action Diary

Each player team (usually a polity) uses the ACTION DIARY tab on their team spreadsheet to enter their selection.

Where a team consists of multiple players there needs to be some discussion about choice of actions. It is important that the team reaches a consensus about AP use regardless of each player’s role.

This is the general list of Actions , with background information on each.

Table above updated 11/8/25

GAME CONTROL’S ROLE

Game Control is heavily outnumbered by players, so does not do the bulk of the game administration. This is largely left to the players

If you wish to message Game Control do not send a personal message. Place a message in your team chat channel and tag @ James/Control.

Game Control’s jobs

• Authorising ‘wizard wheezes’ (or disallowing them if necessary);
• Answering game queries in role as an NPC or as needed.
• Approving additional background material made up by players (who are encouraged to fill out the story themselves) to be entered into the Encyclopaedia;
• Moving on the time frame;
• Providing definitive background on key technologies, physical limitations and the like;
• Calculating battle results and reporting back;
• Plotting non-played polities and aliens moves and responses;
• Game Control will not usually ‘police’ the game - that is up to the players – the basic structure of the game depends entirely on the honour system and player honesty

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Movement: Hyperspace Drive (HSD) is the only way of getting about the universe at speeds greater than light-speed. HSD has been developed to its maximum extent. This upper limit equates to 1 parsec per day in hyperspace.

Interstellar Communications is through hyperspace using the same technology as the Hyperspace Drive. Messages move at 2 parsecs per day. There is no known way of communicating instantly, or any more rapidly than 2 parsecs a day..

Technology. There are no Wonder Weapons. What you’ve got is what there is. Humankind has reached a technological plateau and developed pretty much everything it is going to develop in weaponry and gadgets. So, don’t expect to solve problems through inventing a new gadget or building an ‘improved version’ – you are expected to use your wits to make the best use of what there is.

If you have a brilliant idea of how to use the technology, or some thought about new tactics or doctrine, remember that the Verse is populated by generations of NPC tacticians and academics etc. Ask yourself first “If this idea is so obvious and useful, how come nobody does it already?”.

GAME COMMUNICATIONS

The game is mainly managed on the Sector 5 Discord server.

The server is structured with a number of voice and text channels.

At the top is the #out-of-character-general text channel. This is for anything out of character, but should not be used for in character discussions.

There is also the voice channel OOC CHIT CHAT which serves the same purpose for general meet-ups and foregathering before summit meetings.

In the POLITIES CATEGORY:

The #sector005broadcast-messages text channel in which everyone can post in-character messages to the Verse at large. Do not make OOC comments in this channel - they will be treated by control and other players as IC (in character).

Each team has a specific chat channel and voice channel that only team members can use.

In the INTERSTELLAR RELATIONS CATEGORY there is

The main SUMMIT MEETING room

Open meeting rooms where all players can meet to discuss pressing matters.

The databursts channel is for Control to inject information during voice meetings without needing to interrupt.

The #gnn-breaking-news channel is for GNN headlines emerging as event unfold that have not yet reached a proper GNN post on the website.

In the GAME ADMIN CATEGORY are:

Jims bot announcements – keep an eye on this because this is where things like turn update info and admin announcements regarding the conduct of the game appear. Players cannot write in this channel.

#key-documents which is where Control will post rules updates or links to any other key information you will need.

• #referenda is where the referenda process is managed and where polities announce expressions of interest in upcoming referenda. It is not a channel for discussion or comment.

TIMING AND COMMUNICATIONS

The game moves on in nominal ‘game turns’ of 100 days each - otherwise known as a CYCLE. There are four turns / cycles in a StarYear.

The game turns move on regardless at a rate of roughly one quarter per real month, possibly faster if we can manage it,

During each turn, players can communicate freely with other characters in the same sector.

It takes one additional game turn to communicate with a neighbouring sector; 2 turns for more distant sectors. This is not strictly realistic, but I think we can make the assumption that the characters you are playing, and their civil servants, are used to the pressures of communicating in this way, and so therefore are better at careful, well-crafted, bursts of communications than the players are (with all due respect).

A real-world month of discord conversation is therefore probably the equivalent of a couple of Verse-style diplomatic communications (we will assume that anyway).

Communications delay must be built in to communication (i.e. you cannot respond to a message from a neighbouring sector until the following turn).

Game Control involvement: Control will only rule on interactions.

Record keeping and administration of the message timings is the players’ responsibility

Time formats of the Verse

The standard time reference format of the Verse is the following:

[YEAR].[DAYS]

For example: 2602.165 is the 165th day of 2602.

In each given StarYear there are 400 days, divided into cycles (turns) of 100 days.

So, a squadron launched at the beginning of Turn 4 in 2604 might be described as: 2602.315

PLAYER ACTIVITIES

At present everything players do fits one of the categories below.

It will help if you think in these terms, and at the outset at least, specify in which capacity you are speaking at each point.

This is separate from the ACTION POINTS mentioned above. Those are for specific actions, whereas what follows is about general in-game activity.

1. Public Debate

Using the #broadcast messages channel, players can make public position statements and start a general debate with other teams. Remember that this is an in-character channel and therefore careless talk can cost lives. OOC posts will be deleted.

2. Private Discussion

If players wish to hold a private discussion they can arrange to meet in a meeting room in the INTERSTELLAR RELATIONS CATEGORY on discord.

It is also possible to set up an encrypted text back-channel between teams. Consult Control if you need to do this.

3. Adding to the background.

From time to time you will want to fill out some of the background or description to your polity and its people. Contact Control for approval and adding or linking to The Verse main site as necessary Players are encouraged to create their own websites and/or wikis, and to update the Encyclopaedia Universalis wiki on the website.

4. Concluding a treaty or agreement.

After 1 or 2 above, a treaty or agreement might be arrived at - this is written up by one of the signatories and sent to Control for posting in the Encyclopaedia Universalis wiki .

All treaties are public, though occasionally secret clauses may be included.

5. Devise ONE wizard wheeze.

Each PLAYER (even if you have several roles in the campaign) may have only ONE wizard wheeze on the go at any one time.

Control will rule on what needs to happen depending on the wheeze, and how long it will take. So you have to be discerning in your cleverness. Control will also help you decide whether this is actually a wizard wheeze, or just very good use of existing resources.

INTERSTELLAR ECONOMICS

Background

All occupied star systems have been fitted into one of several generalised economic categories.

In this game there is no ‘money’ as such. On the planetary level, the main concern is the capacity of the system’s economy to support certain types of government controlled or sponsored activity.

The game ignores ‘infrastructure’ so that much of what is going on is simply assumed to be happening in the background without the need for player intervention. (For example management of schools, hospitals, welfare and so on).

Government activity represents a very small part of the actual planetary economy, and in The Verse, even the most directive governments have little or no control over the actions and economic decisions of the big interstellar corporations or of low level local governments on the planets under their nominal control.

Since the players represent the various central governments, these rules will concentrate on the ability of those governments to utilise those parts of the economy over which they have some influence.

The wider non state-controlled interstellar economy can have an impact on the ability of governments to maintain their internal economy, and hence keep up their forces and activities in being. This is reflected in this game by colonies (but not the Home Worlds) moving up and down in status (see below for the various economic categories).

The economic update is usually done by Control at the end of each game year (every four cycles/turns).

Support Value (SV)

The most important economic/resource parameter is the Support Value or SV. This is generated on an annual basis (i.e. every four turns). This means that the SV does not vary from turn to turn only every 4 turns.

The SV produced by a given colonial star system is the contribution this colony makes to the ability of the Government to operate its various activities.

Since SV is a measure of economic capacity, it cannot be carried over from year to year – and it should not be thought of as money.

The support value can be passed to another polity within the same quadrant in the same year, if this is agreed by treaty.

Support Value may also be required in taxation by polity Homeworlds in the Core Sector / Sector 001.

The total SV for your polity is calculated for you and shown on the Master StarData Sheet. At the bottom of the list are summary tables showing the totals each polity has in each quadrant.

1 SV is roughly the entire output of 21st century Earth. 1SV is trillions of credits. Only (approximately) 10% of a polity’s SV may be transferred to another polity in any given year.

Each year, Control will be updating the StarData to reflect changes of allegiance and economic development (see later for how this happens).

The Economic Categories

THE SHOPPING LIST

The key issue in The Verse is not how much something costs to build, but how easy it is to maintain over a long period. Maintenance costs are the more significant factor, because short term resources can always be found to build things, but the running costs are usually much more difficult to sustain.

So, in order to keep things simple, these rules allow you to build anything you have the spare Support Value to keep going. And, if your available support value declines, you have to give up something.

Basic Assumptions

All nations are assumed to have a number of shipyards and training establishments, sufficient to maintain their existing forces - shipyards are vital for maintenance because all ships need refitting on a regular schedule, and small ships need replacing regularly.

This is all factored into the Support Value concept, so, a certain number of ‘built-in’ shipyards and training centres and the like are not separately accounted for.

Each nation has one ‘free’ military shipyard included in their underlying infrastructure.

Additional shipyards and training centres, above the baseline infrastructure do have to be accounted for. All sectors have a repair capacity, usually located at the quadrant capital.

In addition, fleets cannot operate effectively if there is insufficient SV in the quadrant to support them logistically or without the infrastructure provided by an HQ.

This can mean that surplus SV must be imported from nearby quadrants to support particular operations. (Within certain limits - See Section 10: Interstellar Banking)

Tldr; You can build whatever you like, but you must be able to maintain the SV cost each turn - from the time you begin building it.

The List

Note (1) Combat values in brackets are values for fighting planetside.

SHIP BUILDING CAPACITY

Most polities ban shipyards in the sectors to reduce risk of secession, limiting shipbuilding to the homeworlds. Some polities are an exception because they may have adopted a policy of dispersing shipbuilding because their shipyards close to powerful neighbours in Sector 001 (S001) and therefore vulnerable . Local powers, which have no presence in Sector 001 also have shipyards in Sector 005 (S005). Hence they have a yard.

General

Shipyards can only be built at Rich Colony or higher worlds. They can only operate on worlds that are AVERAGE COLONY or better.

Construction of new squadrons / fleets requires shipbuilding capacity

When working out the cost of unit building, count the SV requirement for the unit from the moment building starts not from the moment it is launched. This reflects the construction costs, fresh crew training etc.

In general there are no shipyards in the outer quadrants and sectors, only in Quadrant Zero, so building new spacegoing units is limited to the Homeworlds. Quadrants will have to make requests to the Homeworlds to obtain new units.

Mothballs

Units can be mothballed and stored in stable orbit at any colony that is ‘Average’ or better (they have the facilities to keep the mothballed ships monitored and safe).

Mothballing does not cost SV, but takes 1 turn (during which time the normal SV of the unit is still payable). Bringing ships out of mothballs takes 1 turn, and the full SV must be paid for the entire period of recommissioning.

A shipyard or repair yard can be mothballed too. The mothballing does not cost extra SV, but takes 1 turn during which time the normal SV of the yard must be paid.

Bringing a yard out of mothballs takes 2 turns and the full SV must be paid during the period of recommissioning.

Decommissioning

Ships can be scrapped at any time at any colony that is ‘Rich’ or better (they have the necessary economy and facilities to decommission a military ship), or at any system with a repair yard.

It takes 1 turn to decommission a ship in this way, during which time the full SV must continue to be paid.

Civilian Shipbuilding

There are a large number of major civilian shipbuilding companies in the Universe. These yards mainly produce merchant ships for the wider economy to replace ageing shipping coming to the end of its life. On occasions, players can ask these yards to produce military shipping, though they will have to wait until a slot appears on a slipway before work can commence. As a result, military ships ordered from civilian shipyards at least twice as long to build.

Some shipbuilders, where permitted by local legislation, will manufacture military warships on a private venture basis for hire out to independent worlds or small alliances which can afford to have their own shipbuilding industry. Control will advise on the availability or otherwise of commercial off the shelf ships (COTSS).

Commercially built warships have the same characteristics as government-built ships and some are purchased by private military contractors who hire out as mercenaries. They are crewed by mercenaries (all of whom will have served in a national navy at some point).

As mercenaries, their willingness to die for their employer is lower than one would typically see in national navies.

INTERSTELLAR BANKING

At the level we are considering planetary economics in these rules – the resources are expressed in terms of manpower, skills, technology, refined materials and industrial capacity.

Only a small proportion of this is in transferable cash terms, and even then, there are limits on how successfully a cash credit transfer to a backward colony would aid its economy if it lacked the basic resources itself.

The ability of a quadrant’s economy to handle inward investment is limited. Imported SV may not be more than 24SV or 50% (whichever is greater) of the total starting local SV already in the receiving quadrant/sector before any transfers.

(This should not be confused with trade between polities, which is capped at 10% of SV)

So, for example, a quadrant with a total starting SV of 80 would only be able to import up to 40SV in transfers from all sources. A sector with 10SV could import up to 24SV.

Economic Development

SV can be used to ‘prime the pump’ of inward investment. This is risky, since it can fail, and the return (if any) may be long term. Also, colonies can rise or decline as a result of factors outside your control. At the start of any year, there is a status test for all colonies that have been invested in (See Section on Colony Status Upgrade below).

Investment of SV in developing an economy is always on the basis of a full year of investment.

Relations with The Homeworlds

Central Governments have considerable say in what each quadrant does with its SV. However, it is normal for the Homeworld to allocate a certain proportion to local budgetary control in order to support local fleet operations and investment decisions.

COLONY STATUS UPGRADE

This is done each game year (4 turns) for every world receiving investment. Worlds not invested in are rolled for only once every three years or so. Control will roll (or not roll) for additional uninvested worlds as the need arises for the plot.

The total re-investment in the polities’ colony worlds is used to assign a probability of status change. In general status change is rare, with maybe only 1 in 10 worlds changing each year. Control will update your Team Sheet as this arises.

Independent worlds cannot develop beyond Above Average on their own. They have to join a major power (see Membership, below), or form a politico-economic federation with at least 5 other independents to do so.

Any colony attacked and forcibly taken under control by a polity will automatically decline one economic level.

In theory a world could be elevated to Home World level, but this is exceptional. Once at Home World level the economy is stable and does not alter, unless as a result of some huge upheaval or political change (and then usually down to Colonial Capital status).

Investment Effects

Teams allocate TOTAL SV to be spent on economic investment for all the worlds under their control. You cannot invest more than half of the total output of all your colonies, in SV.

This is entered in the INVESTMENTS line of the CONTROL PANEL TAB in the team spreadsheet.

At the end of year the average SV allocated per world is used as a guide to how much change there is in worlds under the team’s control These will be allocated randomly unless the team have deployed SV, KP or AP to indicate priorities for economic development.

The table below gives an indication of the calculation for world improvement based on the pro-rata distribution of investment SV.

Table updated 27/08/2025

The number of possible changes in status follow these criteria to see if they actually change.:

INCREASES IN STATUS

Control determines which worlds are uprated in order of ascending economic value, starting with the lowest. The probability of a successful uprating depends on a simple die roll:

Table updated 27/08/2025

MODIFIERS Presence of an Economic KP all year +1 Use of ‘Economic Boost’ AP all year +1 Presence of Trade Port with Active Trade Route +1 Any CONFLICT on the world at any point during the year -2 Deep Gravity Well world -2

DECREASES IN STATUS

Control determines which worlds are degraded in order of descending economic value, starting with the richest. Additionally, a DECREASE ROLL is forced by the following circumstances:

• Significant military combat operations planetside
• Pandemic
• Quarantine / Blockade
• Major civil unrest / riots
• Significant humanitarian crisis
• Natural disasters

The probability of a colony declining is based on on a simple die roll:

MODIFIERS Presence of an Economic KP all year -1 Use of ‘Economic Boost’ AP all year -1 Any CONFLICT on the world at any point during the year +2 Deep Gravity Well world +2

Modifiers to colony status change

Direct additional SV on the world helps but only a maximum of plus or minus 1 to the die (see in each table above)

EACH Economic KP that spends the entire year on the world +1 to increases, -1 to decreases

Player AP spent on economic development of that world specifically and consistently for an entire year +1 to increases, -1 to decreases

Any CONFLICT on the world at any point during the year -2 to increases, +2 to decreases

Deep Gravity Well world -2 to increases, +2 to decreases

CONTROL MOD +2

SHAKE N’ BAKE COLONIES

New rule 8 April 2023 It is possible to create a government-subsidised colony from the ground up. This is known, officially, as a Direct Investment Colonial Kickstart - but more colloquially as a ‘Shake N’ Bake Colony’ (for obscure historical reasons).

In order to create a Shake n’ Bake colony the following conditions must apply: There is already a colony world under your control of at least BELOW AVERAGE in the Quadrant / Sector you plan to set up the colony.

There must be a budget allocation of 12 SV per year for the entire period of the colony build.

The colony will go from whatever state it was at the start of the process (either UI or JS) to SUBSISTENCE COLONY after 6 turns (600 days) on a die roll (d10) of 2 or more at the end of the 6 turns. A natural 0 is always a failure. If the die roll fails, then the development time is extended by 4 turns (a year).

Die roll modifiers: EACH Economic KP that spends the entire period of the build on the world +1 Player AP spent consistently the entire period of the build on the world +1 The world is already at JS level +1 Any CONFLICT on the world at any point during the build -2 Deep Gravity Well world -2 CONTROL MOD +1

GOING BROKE

There may be times when the SV of a quadrant is not enough to support all the activities going on in that quadrant. This can, of course, be ameliorated by transfers in – but that may not always be possible (for example where the quadrant cannot absorb any further SV.

Quadrants cannot go into the red on SV. When expenditure exceeds resources available the polity must cease economic investment until balance has been achieved.

INTERSTELLAR TRADE

(PLEASE NOTE ‘TRADE PROFILES’ HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO ‘STRATEGIC RESOURCES’)

Small scale commercial activity exists across Sector 005, with merchant freighters carrying cargoes from planet to planet. This is always going on in the background.

Large scale strategic trade requires significant investment, and is measured in Trade Value carried via Trade Routes.

Types of Trade

Trades are an agreement to conduct economic activity between two systems or polities. There are two types of Trade:

1. Trade Agreements (TA) Trade agreements do not cost AP and don’t require dedicated infrastructure (like Trade Ports) to set-up. Trade agreements and similar agreements allow polities to open their economies to other polities and allow free or partial trade between them. In the game system - this is part-role play, and part narrative impact. The proliferation and diversity of trade agreements (ie healthy trading relationships between polities) has a bearing on Trade Stability and Galactic Market Checks undertaken by Control at the end of each year.

2. Strategic Trade Route (STR) is an agreement to engage in trade of specific Strategic Resources. These routes require extensive infrastructure in the shape of Trade Ports, as well as considerable administrative effort to set up (in the form of 1 AP for each polity involved). Strategic Trade Routes benefit each polity with special bonuses (see Strategic Resources table) in addition to SV gain.

You can have multiple Strategic Trade Routes with one polity, if your infrastructure allows it. You can have both Strategic routes and Trade Agreements with each polity.

Trade Agreements and trade relations are relatively common and allow for the freeflowing of general trade between polities and independent worlds - in signing a trade agreement you are allowing that world to access your economic markets. Strategic Trade Routes are less common - think of it as the difference between a general trade treaty covering all manner of items and goods, and strategic trade which involves exchange of a key resource, like oil, rare earth minerals, steel or nuclear materials, for example. To use an ancient example, a Trade Agreement is whether or not the UK businesses can trade with Norway, strategic trade is the UK negotiating with China for access to strategically important Rare Earth Metals.

How to set up a Trade Agreement

To set up a Trade Agreement simply ask the target polity or independent world for consent and declare in the #trade channel in Discord that the route has been set up. Trade Agreements or Strategic Trade Routes with Independent Worlds will require 1 AP as part of a Diplomacy Action as normal.

How to set up a Strategic Trade Route

Strategic Resources represents the dominant export, specialisation or role in the interstellar economy. A table describing available Strategic Resources can be found at the end of the Interstellar Trade section.

Trade Ports represent infrastructure required to enable large scale interstellar shipping. Trade Ports are listed on the Shopping List and can be upgraded once to a Trade Terminal (doubling trade routes).

• Trade Ports have one Trade Route slot
• Trade Terminals have two Trade Routes slots
• A Trade Port or Trade Terminal must be present to both SEND and/or RECEIVE trade
• Both Trade Ports need a free slot to establish a Trade Route.

Example: Biggins World has a Trade Port and a Strategic Resource, the owning faction can establish a Trade Route with another friendly planet which also has a Trade Port or Trade Terminal present. The Trade Port can only send or receive One Trade Route to one planet. If the faction upgraded their Port to a Terminal, they could send/receive two Trade Routes worth of trade to either two separate planets (by establishing a new trade route) or expanding an existing Trade Route to that existing planet.

Creating and maintaining Strategic Trade Routes

To set up a Strategic Trade Route simply ask the target polity or independent world for consent and declare in the #trade channel in Discord that the route has been set up, specifying which polities are trading together, which systems the trade route is running between and which Strategic Resources are being traded (formerly known as trade profile).

Establish Strategic Trade Route cost one Action Point to establish, between two ≥ “Below Average” planets that have all of the following:

• Strategic Resources
• Trade Infrastructure (Trade Port or Trade Terminal) built
• Diplomatic consent, if required

In universe explanation: This covers the bureaucratic set up, setting up trade offices etc. Please note: Both trade ports (at each end) have to spend an AP, they’re gearing up their trade port to receive the incoming goods and services.

Expand Trade Route costs one Action Point, requires Trade Terminal In universe explanation: This covers upgrading those trade offices and hiring more bureaucrats and trade inspectors!

Suspend / Resume Trade Route halts and resumes trade, free (declared during summit or to Control). Halts commerce, pirates can no longer raid - no Trade Value is generated.

Close Trade Route costs 1 Action Point, frees up Trade Route capacity.

Calculating the value of Trade

Each Strategic Trade Route is worth 5 SV at each end of the Trade Route.

Trade Routes where BOTH WORLDS are Rich, Very Rich, and Colonial Capital Worlds produce +1 SV.

A single Trade Port with a Trade Route produces 5 SV at that port. A Trade Terminal with two Trade Routes produces 10 SV at that port (plus other benefits listed below).

Trade Agreements, Strategic Trade and Independent Worlds

Each Strategic Trade Route established with an Independent World generates 1 Influence Point per year, in addition to the aforementioned 5SV.

Referenda Familiarity Bonus: If an Independent World has had 2+ years of consecutive Trade Agreement or Strategic Trade Route with your polity, you get +1 to an Unopposed Referendum Roll with that world, or +1 toward your die in adversarial referendum rolls, due to embedded commercial ties.

Trade and Economic Development

Strategic Trade Routes can impact on the development of a world, this may take the form of improved Colony Status Change modifiers.

Protecting Trade

Every year (every four game turns / cycles/ Octants) Control will perform a Trade Stability Check and Galactic Market Check for the stability and market conditions of the following year.

Trade Stability Checks indicate whether a trade route is active or disrupted. Usually due to the presence of pirates, privateers, blockades or war - these checks are improved by the presence of military infrastructure, Deployed Fleets within the planet’s M25 Zone Limit etc.

Galactic Market Checks indicate the current economic conditions in the Sector and Human settled space, which may improve or reduce trade values.

Trade Sanctions

Sanctions impact on the affected polities Galactic Market Check (run by control, once a year), depending on how many trading relationships the affected faction has. The participating or sanctioning factions will also suffer an impact. Impacts may include colony status upgrade modifiers.

Strategic Resources & Trade Bonuses

(PLEASE NOTE ‘TRADE PROFILES’ HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO ‘STRATEGIC RESOURCES’)

Independent Worlds and Polities/Empires have worlds with Strategic Resources. Strategic Resources represent something special about that world and its role in the interstellar economy.

Strategic Resources may change over time due to investment, or events. Strategic Resources have mechanical and fiction-first effects.

Strategic Resources do not produce any effects where a Trade Route has two of the same Trade Profile. They compete, don’t complement.

These only need to be added up once at the end of every game year (every four turns/cycles i.e every four months IRL).

Certain combinations give special joint bonuses:

Table updated 27/08/2025

INFLUENCE POINTS

These points represent combinations of political pressure, personal favours, media & information operations, intimidation and promises.

These points represent the level of influence available and usually only matters when polities are competing to exert influence.

IP can be saved and carried over from year to year.

At the start of each Year, each polity gains 1 x IP for every 10 worlds under its control (rounded up).

They have a variety of uses:

Influencing a planetary referendum.

Influencing non-played actors to do something you want. This might be within your own polity, or external NPCs.

Trading with other players for favours.

Any other use players come up with that seems reasonable and consistent with reality and approved by Control.

INFLUENCE POINTS can be bought for 1 SV each OR might be awarded by CONTROL for good role playing and/or interesting game-play, or where Control thinks an action has significantly extended your influence in the Universe.

Players will keep track of their own IP totals in their team spreadsheet on the INFLUENCE TAB.

COLONIAL EXPANSION

There is no easy way of conquering a planetary colony and forcing it to join you. Over the centuries attempts to conquer and occupy entire worlds have proved costly failures, time and again. These days, worlds tend to join your polity by conducting a referendum (or something similar depending on the local political system) and voluntarily aligns itself with you.

‘Just Settled (JS)’ and ‘Subsistence Colony (SC)’ worlds are unsuitable candidates for joining, their governments too disjointed and their political systems too loose to make a sensible member of your polity.

However, once they advance to Poor Colony (PC) status, then it is possible to get them to join you. This creates an incentive to invest in Just Settled worlds so that they might become future members of your polity.

This could be achieved by directly investing in the worlds in question, or improving their relationship with you in various creative ways.

The Process

At the end of each game year (4 turns), you can (if you wish) ask an unaligned colony at Poor or better if they wish to conduct a referendum on joining you.

The process is as follows:

1. The team post a message in the #referenda channel expressing interest in a particular system.
2. Once this appears in the channel – any other polity wishing to influence the outcome must make their interest known quickly, and certainly before the start of the next turn (Start of the next turn = when the GNN News Bulletin is posted).

If no-one else is interested, then the players can move on to the Unopposed Referendum Roll (below) - Control will roll the dice.

If there is anyone opposing, then go on to the Adversarial Referenda section below.

Unopposed Referendum Roll (Unopposed Referenda)

Roll 1d10 (0 = 0)

+2 if you invested 1 SV or more in the colony over the last year

+1 if you have military forces in the system on a ‘goodwill visit’ for the whole turn of the referendum

+1 for each 4 Influence points you have spent on the colony this year

+1 if one of your colonies is the nearest aligned colony and within 5 hexes.

+1 if there has been a Social or Political KP present all year (per KP)

-2 For each consecutive previous referendum that failed.

-2 If colony is unstable

-2 If violent conflict is present

+1 Using relevant Action Point in the turn of the referendum (max 1) directed exclusively at influencing the population (i.e. diplomatic, influence military or economic).

Score 10 and they will join you.

Adversarial Referenda

If more than one polity wants them to join then there is a more adversarial system.

In this case there is a Influence Battle first, before the Referendum Roll(s)

1. All sides pay 2 influence points to take part in the process.
   

2. There is then a bidding process. Either side can withdraw – or up the ante and add additional Influence Points from their stock. If they withdraw they lose the IP they bid so far and their original 2 Influence Points.

3. This keeps going until one side gives up. The side with the highest number of Influence Points committed has won the Influence Battle. The number of points used by the winner DIVIDED BY 4 (round down), are counted towards the die roll. Those placed by the loser do not count at all.

4. If the adversarial bidding process stops with equal IP then there is no winner in the influence battle and neither have influence advantage in the subsequent die rolls.

5. All influence points used in the Influence Battle (win, lose or draw) are consumed in the process.

THEN each participant (including the loser of the influence battle, if there is one) rolls as described above for the Unopposed Referenda Roll, requiring 10 or more to win.

It is therefore still theoretically possible for a loser in the Influence Battle to get lucky and win the referenda despite the winner’s influence advantage!

Or for neither of them to win.

In the event of a draw between adversary rolls the referendum fails to identify a clear winner and nobody wins, the world stays independent for now. Note that a failed referendum makes it less likely for a success in the next year. Repeated consecutive fails make success less and less likely, so its a good idea to give a world a rest after a failed referendum.

It is entirely permissible for non-involved polities to add in Influence Points to support allies.

Their points are also consumed in the Influence Battle, and if on the winning side in the adversarial process their points count in the Referendum Roll.

KEY PERSON (KP)

In addition to resources and fleets, you have a number of non-played Key People (KP) you can deploy. These are your government’s go-to fixers, troubleshooters and political heavyweights. They will be in one of the following specialised areas:

Key people are given tasks – these will be related to their specialisation.

They are located at specific locations on the map, and can be moved using civil transportation – so they move from task to task at normal ship speeds.

MOVEMENT & DEPLOYMENT

A military unit will usually be based at a particular star system, and that will usually be public information.

Units are either located at a world or moving in interstellar space.

Units are undetectable while moving Faster Than Light (FTL) through hyperspace. However they can communicate while in hyperspace (subject to communications delays), so obviously you know where your own units are.

Units are detectable once they arrive at a star system and leave hyperspace, which they have to do to move into the system inside the M25 Zone.

The M25 Zone is broadly the distance from the edge of the star system, for the Sol System (our star system) this would be the Oort Cloud.

It takes time (several days) to move from the M25 Zone Limit (the distance from the star where the Hyperspace Drive will work) and the inhabited colony world of that system.

Every unit has 20 movement points per turn. This represents the maximum possible speed for Hyperspace Drives. All units move at exactly the same faster than light speed.

It costs 1 movement point to:

Move one map hex (5 parsecs) using the hyperspace drive.

It usually costs 2 movement points to:

Enter a star system and visit a colonised world,

OR

Leave a system’s colonised world and reach the point at the edge of the system where hyperspace drive can be engaged.

It usually costs 5 movement points to enter a Deep Gravity Well system and visit the inhabitable world there. Once within the gravity well, depending on the system, it can take upwards of a month to establish orbit over the inhabitable world, and vice versa.

How long does it take for fleets to move?

Movement: Hyperspace Drive (HSD) is the only way of getting about the universe at speeds greater than light-speed. This upper limit equates to 1 parsec per day in hyperspace. For comparison, Interstellar Communications through hyperspace use similar technology as the Hyperspace Drive, with messages moving at 2 parsecs per day. There is no known way of communicating instantly, or any more rapidly than 2 parsecs a day.

All communications travel at 2 parsecs per day - so it takes 2.5 days for any message to cross a standard 5 parsec hex. It would therefore take 5 days for a ship travelling in hyperspace to cross a standard 5 parsec hex.

Space battles can only occur at a world / within a star system. Battles are impossible in interstellar space because units are undetectable while in hyperspace and because space is extremely big.

FLEETS

Command & Control

In general, player characters would not personally accompany units on various tasks, and as such they cannot interfere in the operation decisions taken by those units. What player characters are expected to do is set intentions and objectives and rely on the expertise of their subordinates to carry out their duties effectively. Any ‘long screwdriver’ interference from the high level will automatically reduce operational effectiveness.

Fleet Characteristics

Each Battle Squadron or Battle Fleet has its own characteristics. These include

• Combat Value - this is a standard value representing its effectiveness in battle.
• Doctrine - the standard way of fighting. There are a number of options here.
• Rules of Engagement
• Additional Capabilities - additional specialized capabilities. Each squadron has 1 of these, each fleet two.
• Training & Efficiency Level (TEL)

Doctrine

Choose a primary doctrine for the formation. This cannot be easily changed once set. Options are: Minimum Regret - will not risk the formation for objectives of low net worth. Fleet In Being - will take some risks, but not risks which will degrade the fleet in any significant way. Tactical Flexibility - Fleet commander will weigh up risks and benefits when deciding how hard to fight and make a judgement. ‘Live Free or Die’. Fleet prepared to take losses rather than lose a battle. Maximum Offensiveness - always take the fight close in to the enemy whatever the circumstances. Comfortable with heavy casualties.

Rules of Engagement (ROE)

Rules of Engagement define the circumstances under which a fleet commander is authorised to initiate, escalate, or break off combat without direct player orders. Like Doctrine, ROE is set at formation level, reflects the political intent of the polity. ROE can be changed as an additional element to any Deploy Forces action, make a note of the ROE change by editing the Rules of Engagement row on your unit in the Units Tab of your faction sheet.

Unlike Doctrine (which governs how hard a fleet fights), ROE governs when and why it fights.

1. Weapons Free “All non-allied contacts in the assigned area are presumed hostile.” The fleet commander has standing authorisation to engage any vessel or formation not positively identified as allied, without awaiting orders. Typically assigned to fleets operating in active war zones or enforcing hard exclusion zones.

2. Defend and Deter “Hold the line. Do not be the one who fires first.” The fleet will only engage forces that directly attack allied vessels, worlds, or installations. It may issue challenges and warnings, and will posture aggressively, but will not fire first under any circumstances. Standard ROE for peacetime border patrols and garrison fleets.

3. Proportional Response “Match their fire. No more, no less.” The fleet will engage in kind with whatever force is used against it, calibrated to avoid escalation. It will pursue retreating enemies for one system only before breaking off. Favoured by polities that want credible deterrence without risking interstellar incidents.

4. Embargo Enforcement “No vessel passes without inspection. Refusal is resistance.” The fleet is authorised to intercept, hail, and board any vessel in its assigned area. Vessels that refuse inspection or attempt to flee may be fired upon. Used to enforce blockades, trade embargoes, and quarantine zones.

5. Diplomatic Escort “We are here to be seen, not to fight.” The fleet will not engage under any circumstances without explicit player orders received that turn. Even if fired upon, it will absorb one round of fire, issue a formal protest, and withdraw to report back. Assigned to fleets accompanying diplomatic missions, operating in sensitive neutral space, or functioning as a show-of-force. Can be used for ‘trip wire forces’.

Additional Capabilities

Additional capabilities can be changed fairly easily so long as the formation is at a Colonial Capital level world. It also requires a player to expend an AP to change it. Each Battle or Auxiliary Sqn has 1 slot, each fleet 2 slots.

• Logistic Support - extends the operating range of the formation
• Assault Landing - allows the formation to deliver a GFD in an opposed assault. (not Auxiliaries)
• Scouting - add two scouting points to the formation
• Science Lab - allows the unit to support science (not Auxiliaries)
• Humanitarian - allows the unit to be more effective in delivering humanitarian aid and assisting reconstruction.
• Mass Driving
• Exploration - allows extensive surveying of new worlds
• Special Operations - we don’t need to go into detail here… (not Auxiliaries)

Humanitarian Fleets have some different Additional Capabilities that apply:

• Medical - optimised to manage major health issues, such as pandemics.
• Aid delivery - optimised for emergency relief and disaster amelioration
• Subsistence support - assisting with farming and colony infrastructure
• Education Support

Training & Efficiency level (TEL)

This is a modifier to the fleet’s combat value. TEL is accumulated by conducting exercises and wargames. The TEL level applies to the current unit AND its current doctrine only. If the doctrine is changed, the TEL resets to one. Lost TEL can never be restored. Increasing TEL takes time and also requires maintenance, otherwise it starts to leak away. A given TEL level lasts for 2 years (Eight game turns) after which it degrades by 1 level. TEL can never be lower than 1. [Updated rule 03/02/24)

Space Battles

For large-scale wide ranging military operations (For example those that occurred during the Bionid War) Control may use the combat values of the various units and the system described below. In the case of single significant battles (as determined by Control), then Starship Strike will be used. In addition to the combat odds arising from the Combat Values of your fleet there are some important things you should know:

· Combat does not occur in deep space. Only ships co-located at a planet can fight. In general, fleets that do not wish to fight may avoid combat – but they must leave the star system if they do this.

· If outnumbered by more than 1.5 to 1 in combat value then fleets will withdraw automatically. Only a player-character (not KP) actually present and co-located with the fleet can over-rule this.

· The use of nuclear weapons does not automatically increase the chance of winning a space battle, but they do dramatically increase the casualties involved, especially if both sides in the battle have nuclear weapons.

· If fighting in defence of one of your colony worlds, don’t forget to take account of the defensive combat value of the colony.

· In a battle squadrons are either DAMAGED or DESTROYED. A damaged unit cannot be used in combat again and will return to the Quadrant repair yard there. It takes at least two complete turns to repair a damaged squadron.

Fleet Logistics

All logistic ship support is factored into the Fleet / Squadron formation..

Where units are operating outside of space where the polity has worlds to support it the units will need an EHQ or a FAHQ. This represents the costs of the extra ships needed for a longer logistic chain. The SV cost for these longer range HQs is paid at the point of origin (usually Q0, but not necessarily) and so does not require a separate transfer of SV into the quadrant of operations.

This can be particularly important when operating outside of human space.

Fleets may be moved across quadrant boundaries in ‘hot pursuit’ without using visited quadrant’s SV or creating an EHQ so long as they return to their ‘home’ quadrant within 2 turns.

Units that remain for longer than 2 turns must be supported locally by the quadrant.

Scouting

Scouting is assumed to be going on all the time, and that each of the battle squadrons and battle fleets has scouting units attached to it.

However, this is not an infinite resource.

Battle and Auxiliary squadrons and battle fleets each have 4 scouting points representing the lighter ships in the squadron (scout ships, destroyers etc).

One scouting point allows the unit to check out one system on the map at a basic level.

The more scouting points that are applied the more thorough the reconnaissance.

There is space to enter the current scouting tasks in the ACTION DIARY tab on the Scouting Actions boxes, beneath Build Orders and Actions.

GROUND FORCE UNITS

Ground Force Division (GFD)

All-arms Ground Force (GF) Divisions consist of around 5,000 personnel and are space-transportable. However if landing into a defended area or world, they will need to be supported by a Assault Landing Capability in a battle squadron or battle fleet.

Full scale invasion of other worlds is rare because space superiority tends to decide the issue – if you control orbital and sub-orbital space a GF division planetside is a sitting target, and tends to surrender.

However, where space superiority has not been achieved, or where orbital bombardment in support of surface operations is not practical (for example in dense urban areas) the GF Division is a powerful force for influencing the situation.

Marine GF Divisions

These are expensive GF units composed entirely of Starship Marine trained soldiers utilising GF equipment and tactics. Their main advantages are in terms of determination, will to close with the enemy and flexibility.

Starship Marines

Each capital ship (that is Battleship, Carrier or Heavy Cruiser) and every major orbital station has a small force of around 100-150 Starship Marines. Starship Marines are the elite special forces of space. In a larger scale Ground Combat their effect is minimal because they only operate in small numbers – however it is worth bearing in mind that as special forces, the Starship Marines have a role in close-assaulting key locations, coups de main, assassination, capturing wanted persons of interest – in fact anything that requires the use of a small group of determined and motivated individuals. Starship Marines are not “…just grunts, no offence”.

We don’t represent the Starship Marines separately in these rules – the units are too small to feature, but they exist and do provide an important capability for fleets.

Ground Forces Combat

Because of its rarity there are no specific planetside combat systems in these rules.

Planetside combat can be handled using the ‘Plan A’ or ‘PlanetCom’ wargame rules or the outcome of any combat between ground forces is ruled on by Control.

Ground Force Characteristics

Every GF Division can have its own characteristics. These include

• Ground Combat Value - this is a standard value
• Combat Doctrine - the standard way of fighting. There are a number of options here.
• Additional Capabilities - additional specilaised capabilities. Each GFD has 1 of these.
• Training & Efficiency Level (TEL)

Doctrine

Choose a primary doctrine for the unit. This cannot be easily changed once set. Options are:

• Bite & Hold - optimised for operations that require caution and deliberate action. Strong on defence, but slow.
• Manouvrism - Uses flexible movement & maneuver to attain objectives. Not good against strong defences, but excellent in fluid situations.
• Blitzkrieg - fast and furious assaults using maximum mobility in three dimensions. High risk and potentially high casualties, but very fast and can sometimes benefit from shock effect.

Additional Capabilities

Additional capabilities can be changed fairly easily so long as the formation is at a Colonial Capital level world. It also requires a player to expend an AP to change it. Each GFD has 1 slot

• Logistic Support - extends the operating range of the formation provides better medical, repair, and recovery support.
• Humanitarian - allows the unit to be more effective in delivering humanitarian aid.
• Long Range Fires - additional missile support enabling planet-scale ranged engagement.
• Point Defences - Additional weapons systems to defend against incoming missiles or air attack.
• Enhanced ISR - additional detection abilities.
• Stabilisation - optimised for peacekeeping and assisting reconstruction.
• Assault - specialised units designed to conduct intensive close assault operations, i.e. in urban or bunker environments.
• Intervention Force - a small detachment able to operate separate from the main division.
• Special Operations - we don’t need to go into detail here.

USEFUL LINKS

• GNN News Archive
• Sector 005 Map
• Star Data
• Bionid Briefing

Errata

Verse Rules Errata

Additional Rules Change - Leadership Location

28/07/2026

Your Key Person tab in the your Faction Sheet now includes two rows for recording the location of your leadership (Players on your team: Sector Governors, Admirals). Please fill this in before you submit your actions.

For example: the location could be: New Edinburgh, or it could be PFRN 1st Fleet “Vanguard”. The Leadership player could be attached to a unit, or present on a planet.

In the next few weeks between turns I will also be adding new or editing existing tabs detailing faction errata, ship names, fleet commanders etc, to provide a better reference for you as players.

I’m open to feedback (in my DMs) on this, this is an experiment.

Please Read: Rules Reminder - Comms Delays, Movement & Scouting + Unit Rules of Engagement & Doctrine, Unit Capabilities

27/07/2026

Hi everyone - Due to a misunderstanding of Jim’s (Commissioner Shigetaki) original rules we are going to align the game back to Rules As Written.

Communications Delays

Communicating to other sectors (such as your home governments in Sector 1 etc) takes 1 turn to travel one sector, and replies travel at 1 sector per turn. For example: PFR send a message to their homeworld of Proxima in Sector 1 on Turn 8, the message arrives on Turn 9, they will receive a response on Turn 10.

Each game turn is 100 days. All forms of communication take 2.5 days to traverse a standard 5 parsec hex. All communications travel at 2 parsecs a day.

Orders to units, fleets and Key People, travel from your colonial capital to the unit before being acted upon. Take this into account when planning orders and actions.

Moving and Using Units / Fleets

Units and fleets do not require a Deploy Military Action Point to move. To move a unit or fleet, simply go to your Units Tab in your Faction Sheet and type the location you wish the unit to move to in the “Current Location” row for that game turn. If it has enough movement points / time, the fleet will move to the location specified - which will be represented on the map. When ships move to a system, by default they will visit the colony world, unless otherwise stated, such as Proxima (M25).

You use Action Points to DO things with your units and fleets. Deploy Military Force actions allow the unit or fleet to do things, such as undertaking anti-piracy action within a system, landing troops on a colony, or doing something complicated, for example.

For example: the VC change the location of their fleet and ground force division to Alpha Planet, so they will move there this turn. The VC also use a Conduct Military Exercise action, stating both the fleet and ground force are involved, increasing both units Training and Efficiency Level as a result (See Verse Guide).

Moving Key People

Key People are moved via Deploy a Key Person Action. But the Key People move using the same rules as a unit / fleet, with 20 Movement Points, after they receive their orders via the comms travel time mentioned above.

Scouting

Each Battle Squadron, Battle Fleet or Auxiliary Squadron has FOUR scouting points per turn. These represent smaller escort vessels, frigates, destroyers within your fleet which can be detached from the fleet and tasked to scout hexes, star systems or stellar phenomena.

To scout a hex - which may include a star system, deep space, nebulae etc - in the Scouting Actions box below your Actions on your Action Diary Tab:

1. State the name of the hex or star system you wish to scout
2. State how many scout points you wish to apportion to the scouting
3. State any additional context or instructions. Example: “Go silent running, avoid being seen.” “Do a close pass of the planet.” “Lie in wait and watch for X”.

You can undertake as many scouting actions as you have scouting points available. For example: You may choose to focus all four scouting points on one planet to focus your efforts, which may produce better quality information or outcome - or you may wish to undertake four scouting actions with one point each, which may be less effective. The more scouting points that are applied the more thorough the reconnaissance.

Additional Capability - Scouting adds an additional two points of scouting to the unit or formation (bringing it up to 6, for a standard Battle Squadron).

Rules of Engagement, Doctrine and Unit Capabilities

Rules of Engagement govern when and why a fleet or unit may fight. Rules of Engagement define the circumstances under which a fleet commander is authorised to initiate, escalate, or break off combat without direct player orders. ROE is set at a unit level and reflects the political intent of the polity. These include Weapons Free, Defend and Deter, Proportional Response, Embargo Enforcement and Diplomatic Escort (see Verse Guide for more details.) Ensure your fleets and units have Rules of Engagement that reflect your intent.

Doctrine governs how hard a fleet fights. Unit doctrine determines how much risk a fleet is prepared to take to achieve its objectives. Doctrines include Minimum Regret through to Maximum Offensiveness for fleets, or Blitzkrieg and Bite & Hold for ground forces, for example.

Additional Capabilities are fleet and ground force specialisations, which you can choose and change to tailor your forces to their situation. These include fleets that specialise in Assault Landing (allows fleets to deploy GFDs in opposed assaults on planets), Humanitarian (be more effective in supporting humanitarian actions), Special Ops (take a guess) - or for ground forces, these include: Point Defences (additional weapons systems to defend against missile or air attack), Long Range Fires (additional missile / artillery capabilities enabling planetwide ranged engagement) or Stabilisation (specialisation in peacekeeping and reconstruction), to name a few.

To change Rules of Engagement, Doctrine or Additional Capabilities:

Rules of Engagement can be changed via any Deploy Military Force action, just add it as part of the action and change the RoE in your units tab.

Doctrine can only be changed at a Colonial Capital. If the Doctrine is changed, the unit’s Training and Efficiency Level is reset to 1.

Additional capabilities can be changed at a Colonial Capital level world, they require an Action Point to change it (Deploy Military Force).

Check the Verse Guide for the full rules.