Mechanics Sheet

Basic Gameplay

• Do not touch other players without permission.

• Don't annoy non-players.

• Gamespace is 34-3, 24-307, 24-402, 24-407, 36-372. The GM room and the negotiations room will be on 34-3.

Statistics

Each character in Shadow Over Babylon has three stats, Combat, Hitpoints and Sanity.

• Combat: For a human being unaided by technology or magic of any kind, combat stats range from 1-5, with 1 being a complete couch potato, 3 being someone who keeps in good shape, and 5 being a supersoldier.

• Hitpoints: Most human beings start with 4-6 hitpoints. Someone who is sickly might have fewer, a supersoldier may have slightly more.

• Sanity: Most human beings start with 4-6 sanity. Of course, nothing in this game would cause you to lose sanity . . .

Combat

This is a diplomatic negotiation, and, of course, no one would initiate combat in a peaceful situation like this. Each character has a combat statistic.

One-on-one

For a two-person combat, in each round, the combatants play rock paper scissors, and the winner adds one point to their combat stat. The person with the higher total afterward is the winner of the combat. The loser suffers hit point damage equal to the difference between the winner's and loser's results. If the winner beats the loser by two or more points, they may decide instead to restrain the loser. They may restrain the loser by remaining with them, but they may not leave or initiate any other actions, nor may they hand the job of restraining off to someone else without a new combat.

If a character at any point goes to 0 or fewer hitpoints, they are knocked unconscious. An unconscious character can be revived to 1 hitpoint and consciousness either via first aid by another character or on their own after five minutes. Any character can kill an unconscious character by announcing loudly that they are doing so and counting to three. If someone attempts to stop them, they are interrupted and nothing happens.

During any round, either character may choose to flee combat. If only one character flees, RPS is played as usual, but the fleeing character cannot do any damage. If the fleeing character is still above 0 hitpoints and not restrained at the end of the round, they have escaped the combat and must move immediately to an adjacent floor or building. If the other character wishes to pursue they may reinitiate combat in the new location.

Example: Susan and Vito get into a fight. They throw rock paper scissors, and Susan wins. Susan's initial combat score was 4, Vito's was 3. Susan now has a 5 to Vito's 3. She can either cause him to lose 2 hitpoints, or she can restrain him. If she causes hitpoint loss, and he is still above 0, combat continues. If he is at or below 0, he becomes unconscious, at which point she can kill him if no one stops her.

Multi-character combat

In the case of a fight involving more than 2 characters, each side will pick a leader, the leaders will play RPS, and each additional character will add 1 to the combat score of their leader. The leader of the winning side will select who on the losing side takes the damage.

Insanity

This being a perfectly normal diplomatic negotiation, of course, nothing would possibly cause you to lose sanity. However, if you should somehow encounter creatures, artifacts or abilities that do cause you to lose sanity, you can acquire derangements.

If your sanity ever goes down to 0 or below, open the derangement in your packet. Role-play accordingly. Your sanity then goes back to full. If your sanity drops to 0 or below again, see a GM for another derangement.

Economy

In this game, there are 4 broad types of economic units about which you might be concerned. These are political capital, land, money and military units.

Political Capital

Political capital is how we are representing votes, bribes, bureaucracy and everything else that goes into getting political/governmental power in a country. Iraq has a total of 100 political capital. Half of this is restricted political capital, the other half is unrestricted political capital.

Restricted political capital belongs to the group that controls each province (1 point each) and major city (5 points each). Restricted political capital is labeled with the location with which it associated. Unrestricted political capital can either be exchanged or it can be pledged. If it is pledged, the group to whom it is pledged can use it for voting or for government control, but the pledging group can withdraw it at any point. If you are pledging political capital to another group, write your groups name on the card before giving it to them. Political capital that starts the game pledged will be labeled with the name of the pledging group.

Some important features of political capital:

• The official Iraqi government needs at least 60 political capital to continue functioning as a government. Otherwise the country devolves into anarchy at the end of the game.
• If any faction has 50 political capital, they control the country. If there is no functional government, they may appoint a dictator.
• If any one faction has more than half of the political capital in the government, they have a majority in the government, and are effectively in charge.
• If no faction has more than half the political capital in the government, the government is weak and fractious.

At the beginning of the game, the parties in the government are the Shiite Islamic Dawa Party, the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, and the Classical Liberal Party. The government controls 60 political capital, with no one group controlling a majority share. If a group ever has no political capital, they are no longer part of the government.

• If the holders of 2/3 of the political capital currently in the government vote to add another party to the government (and that party wants to be added), they may do so.
• If the holders of 2/3 of the political capital in the current government vote to kick a party out of the government, they may do so as well.
• If the holders of 2/3 of the political capital in the current government vote to do so, they may make or revoke business agreements with companies or countries.
• The government may change the prime minister if the holders of 51% of the political capital in the government vote for the new person.

Land

Iraq is divided into 20 provinces, all of which are in the control of some faction. The faction in control of a province can exploit its resources, which may include oil deposits or major cities. Control of regions can be exchanged by negotiation or taken militarily.

• Provinces are worth 1 restricted political capital.
• Major cities are worth 5 restricted political capital.
• Oil sites each generate $1 million at 1 hour into the game and 3 hours into the game.

Money

Of course, money is what makes the world go round. Money in this game is dealt with in units of $1 million USD. Anything else is small change and you don't need to worry about it. Beyond being a negotiating tool, there are a number of things you can do with money:

• Campaigning: Spend $2 million to take 1 unrestricted political capital from another faction.
• Raise unit: Spend $5 million to raise 1 military unit in any province you control.

Military Units

Several factions in the game have control over military units. These are discussed in more detail in the military mechanics sheet that you will receive if you have military units.

Exploring the Ruins

In certain areas of game, characters may find archaeological ruins. Information about these sites will be posted on the walls in manilla envelopes. If you choose to explore these sites, open the appropriate envelopes and follow the directions found within.

Languages

All characters are assumed to speak Arabic and English. Some material may be written in some other language. If this is the case, the language required to read it will be on one side, with the translated text concealed. Only open these packets if you speak the aforementioned language.

Special Note

Special abilities may trump the above rules.