Politics:
The Bludgeoning
Politics boils down complex social and political
issues into their pragmatic utility just like real live politicians. The idea
is that you win by out-sleezing your opponent. You win when your opponents
approval rating goes to zero or you control enough political offices. Money
buys you everything from people to offices to corporate
"endorsements" and you manipulate the laws to your advantage.
The first set of the game would focus on spoofing
modern American politics. The humor of the game would center upon mocking
tropes found within the political scene without being overly topical (I.E.
making Anthony Weiner jokes or mocking Bush directly, when the collective
unconscious has forgotten about both of these individuals). Later sets could
spoof other eras of history, such as antiquity.
The mechanics are thus:
You and your opponent draw 7 cards at the start of
each game and start with 50% approval rating. Political offices exist as part
of a player’s deck. You may play an office for free, but any player can have a
person they control run for an office if they pay the necessary costs. The
other player may counter by having one of their people run for office. You win
an office by outtalking your opponent, making your opponent’s person leave his
cause in shame upon losing an election. People have stats called charisma
(power) and dedication (toughness).
Offices are worth a certain amount of points and it
takes ten office points to win (arbitrary I might change it). Low offices (E.G.
sheriff or mayor) are worth one point. Middle offices (governors and congress
people) are worth 2 points. High offices (President or Senator) are worth 3
points. Offices come with additional effects and benefits per the office.
Turn order follows roughly the same rhythm as Magic:
Draw, main phase, elections/propaganda, main phase clean up. During the
propaganda phase the people you own can attack your opponents approval rating
directly through the use of media outlets which you purchase from your hand. You
also have to pay to put someone in control of a media source. Media sources
have audience factors which boost the charisma of the people who control them.
Your opponents can choose to spin and block your propaganda with the people
they have in their own media sources.
Also, you have laws both local and global that you
can purchase. Local laws function just like auras in magic. They only attach to
particular permanents.
Here’s some examples of cards:
Rainbow Coalition- 3 mil
Corporation- non-profit activism
Donates 1 mil to your cause each turn.
If you ever control one race people discard Rainbow
Coalition.
Stoned Slacker- 1 Mil
White deadbeat
1 Charisma/ 1 dedication
The Dead vote – 2 mil
Political Maneuver
Gain 2% approval rating for each person in your
discard pile
Billionaire Billy - 20 Mil
Unique-person
Donates 10 mil per turn to your cause
Draw 3 cards at the beginning of each turn
10 Char/10 Dedication
Free Billy -4 Mil
Political Maneuver-Knee Jerk (instant (does magic have this copy-righted?))
Prevent all damage dealt to target unique person. Remove all laws attached to that person.
That person gains Political Immunity (Shroud) permanently.
This is a sweet idea. You should totally make more cards so we can try playing a game sometime. I can see myself making a stoned slacker tribal deck. Also you should make like Ronald Regan be Jace.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a fascinating and fun game. It's hard to find games that have such a great sense of humor and political satire and are also fun to play. I'll admit although I see all the great potential for satire and zany antics in your game, I am pretty confused about how the rules of the game actually work based on your description. The sample cards are great though and I love how that some that have so much more money are so much more powerful. It would be kind of like Axis and Allies where the Allies have a pretty huge advantage, but not enough of one to make the game not fun and not want to root for the underdog (yes, I am secretly a Nazi sympathize, you read that correctly, NSA!!>!). Also Ronald Regan should be like Jace, some kind of God-like figure that shows up kind of like the Greek Gods to have sex with people and screw with the political system however he sees fit.
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