The Basics

Hey there! So excited you're playing "Along the Spiral: A Game of Saving the Galaxy from Itself"!

This page is meant to be a quickstart guide as well as reference manual for the major pieces of the game.

The game has essentiall four seperate but interlocking parts: roleplay, negotiation, development, and expansion.

## Roleplay

The first essential part of the game is building your character.

You should have recieved a link to a page on this wiki that starts with the word "Secret". That page is for your eyes only. This page is "unlisted" and secret. It will not appear in any normal searches of the website, or in any "random page" searches, and it is not linked with any page.

Your character's "name" is your real name, and your title is whatever title the page says.

### Background

Your character already has a background (things that they've experienced in the galaxy up until the start of the game). This is listed under "Your Background" on your secret page an defines the major relationships in your character's life.

### Seeking

Your character has an overarching goal that will help guide your roleplaying. This is listed under "You are seeking..." but you may choose to interperate this goal in any number of ways.

There are specific elements of your goal that you can focus on below, but you must pick one to be your driving and overarching goal. As the page suggests you may also pick this randomly if you want.

### Secrets

Some characters also have special insights into the story of the game, or have special powers those are listed under "Secrets".

### Your Team

While your character is an individual, it is also a (mostly) loyal member of an organizaiton. Your organizaiton is your team. You can tell what team you are on based on the "M.A.X. Terminal" part of your secret page. Only people on your team have access to that terminal. Keep this link a secret.

### Roles

While your team should be making decisions together, if a unilateral decision needs to be made fast, you have roles where certain tasks are primarily certain people's responsibilities. Their are four roles:

1. Head of State - team leader, directives leader, and fleet manager
2. Diplomat - Trade Deal negotiatior and representative to the Federation of United Planets
3. Science Officer - Investments coordinator and representative to the Galactic Universities
4. Matron - spies manager and representative to the Order of the Matron

### LARPing

I do want to emphasize that this is a roleplaying game first. Whenever in doubt, think: "what would my character do?"

Importantly, if the mechanics do not explictly allow for something you are trying to do, contact me! I think doing stuff outside of the mechanics means you're playing the game well!

## Negotiation

Your team does not exist in the galaxy alone, you have many other organizaitons that you'll have to contend with.

### Federation

The Federation of United Planets is the main way to interact with other .

Formed after the Galactic Civil War, the Federation of United Planets passes laws for the galaxy, maintains and creates Hyperspace Lanes, passes embargoes etc. Even if a law doesn't seem affect a game mechanic directly, Max will come up with a way for it to affect the game, for example by affecting morale.

Each organizaiton gets a number of votes in the Federation of United Planets equal to the number of planets, and the Federation of United Planets is ruled by a Chair of the United Planets, elected by its members.

### Galactic Universities

The Galactic Universities is another interplanetary organization that deals with Science and Research. It's leader the Dean of the Galactic Universities gets a small boost to Research spending for its team.

### Order of the Matron

The Order of the Matron is the largest relgious organization in the galaxy. Every major galactic nation has had a Matron in their ruling body, since the First Matron game to the galaxy in the year zero.

The Order of the Matron can see glimses of the future if they cooperate, and they are ruled by the High Matron of the Stroga Empire.

### Alliances

All Alliances are informal until they are signed in an official treaty. These treaties can take the form of Research Pacts, Defense Pacts, or Trade Deals.

NOTE: Research Pacts must be approved by the Galactic Universities.

### Newmedia

Major public developments will be posted by M.A.X. to the Newmedia page.

## Development

Your organization will not only grow its outside influence, it can grow its only logistics, science, military, etc.

### Planetary Resources

Planetary Resources are the main way to grow your empire. Each planet has a unique combination of Planetary Resources that are listed on that planet's page. Your organization's total resources are listed on your M.A.X. terminal. There are four types of Planetary Resources, in brief they are:

1. Income/Wealth - used to purchase units, make gifts, and do Trade Deals.
2. Ore - limits your total fleets.
3. Science - determines how fast you get new Tech.
4. Population - determiens how well your culture is spread.

(see Planetary Resources for more detail)

You recieve Planetary Resources when you annex a new planet, you lose them when a planet is lost or goes into Rebellion.

### Investments

The main way you will grow your organizaiton's capabilities is through Investments. Investments are clearly labeled on your M.A.X. terminal (the right hand side). They come in five varieties:

1. Culture (grows your influence and increases morale)
2. Research (helps unlock new Tech)
3. Defense (increases your power and might net spies)
4. Infrastructure (increases the income of future turns)
5. Propaganda (short term boost to morale)

Each round Max will remove the amount you invested from your Wealth and will give you the benefits.

### Morale

As you develop its important to keep Morale in mind. If it drops to low you risk losing planets to Rebellion or into other empires through Peaceful Annexation.

Morale is helped by Investments in culture and Propaganda, team members holding major positions like Chair of the United Planets, etc.

Morale is hurt by too many Investments in Infrastructure relative to culture, losing battles, etc.

### Directives

Like the Federation of United Planets can write laws, your organizaiton can write Directives. These are laws for the people of your empire. You can write them at any time in your M.A.X. terminal. They can affect things like morale, culture, Research, etc.

### Tech

Tech are bonuses exclusive to your organizaiton, they are sometimes multipliers or new units or small gamebreaking rules. They are earned through Research spending.

## Expansion

Of course your starting planets are not the only ones you are going to have the whole game. You can exapnd your empire across the Galaxy.

### Peaceful Annexation

You can gain planets peacefully though Trade Deals, or by spreading culture to planets in the Neutral Alliance. Or by giving them gifts. Or by roleplaying well with their leaders.

You can also Peacefully Annex planets from other teams if your culture on that planet ever exceeds their morale. Then that planet will willingly join you.

### Fleets

Not everything is so peaceful, of course. Your organization can raise a military (it also starts with one).

You can purchase military units via your M.A.X. terminal. Please note though that there are real world timers on the building of units and they must be built on a friendly planet.

Units are organized into logistical groups called Fleets. No organization can have more than 6 fleets. You can give Fleets directions in your M.A.X. termainal.

Units have three attributes:

1. Shields - shared among a Fleet, protection from damage
2. Combat - damage to units per shot
3. Hitpoints - how much damage a unit can take before it is destroyed

### Battles

When two Fleets encounter each other that are not friendly or have a Defense Pact, they will Battle. Please note that once started a battle will not end until one side is compeletely destroyed.

Battle is extremely important, please read about it on that page, but briefly a Battle goes like this:

* Units on both sides each take shots at each other until their Shields
* Once one side's Shields are down, their units are randomly targeted by enemy units until their damage taken exceeds their hitpoints at which case they die

Some Units also have special abiltiies that affect the flow of Battle.

Some Tech will allow you to build new Units inaccessible to other organizaitons.

### Espionage

Sometimes a scapel can be more powerful than a knife.

With that in mind, spies execute missions with 50% success rates and 25% rate of getting caught. They have specific missions that you can program them with on your M.A.X. terminal.

All organizaitons get two spies.

## Summarizing Thoughts

1. Don't treat this as a video game, this a roleplaying game. We can make any idea happen, not just what is listed here.
2. Please account for delays, I can't look at every M.A.X. terminal at once.
3. When in doubt ask Max.