Rules

Overview Decorum Updates Emailing Your character VP CP NT Rank RP Specializations Divisions Bases & Ships MS Teams Ships Fleets MS/MA Rules Bases Death & Dying Repairs Ship Repairs NPC lvl/dmg Capture Actions Non Actions Actions Special Designations Politics & Territory Territory Orbit Side RP Fleets/Patrols Diplomacy Other FFA Tournaments Joining

Overview Welcome to the Play By Email RPG, One Year War. This RPG is dedicated to the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, and all the related spinoffs and sidestories it has spawned over the last 30 years. I am your webmaster, Ketara. Our little PBEM group goes way back, we've been running and playing in games for each other for nearly 10 years now. So if you're new here, you may want a bit of an explanation as to exactly what a PBEM game is. If you aren't new, you can probably skip this section. A Play By Email RPG is a text based roleplaying game designed to allow a modest amount of character freedom and RPing via messageboards, while at the same time creating a strategy game environment with rules and statistics that characters can compete in. The game updates 5 days a week, with weekends reserved for new members joining. Each weekday characters send in player actions via email, and their characters positions and actions are updated on the website by myself. While the Game statistics and actions are maintained by the staff on the website, players are free to RP and interact with each other on the forum. People get a lot of freedom to do and post what they want on the forums, with a rather small forum staff checking to make sure nobody is powergaming. However, combat between characters (or any sort of more confrontational interaction) is handled via battle writing on the website itself. See below. Because of the strategy game element, you are not required to roleplay to play the game. It is enough to send in actions and never make an RP post. However, this is not encouraged, and players that make an attempt to RP will see their characters getting various game upgrades much quicker than players that do not RP. The afformentioned confrontational interaction is handled by the games staff of battle writers. Each day battles in the game are given to writers, who write out a fair and reasonable outcome, portraying the PC characters on both sides to the best of their ability. And like I said, we've been doing this for almost 10 years, so you don't have to worry about us screwing up your character as much as you might think. After battles characters are injured, gain experience and abilities, and the game moves on. Below are the rules for the Game part of the RPG, split into different sections. It's pretty long, and OYW is a bit more complicated than your average PBEM game. If you are new to this sort of game, or if you're not but you're still having trouble, feel free to contact me via our IRC chat and I will be more than happy to help you through the workings of the RPG. Proper decorum Generally the kinds of members I get for games like this are intelligent people that I don't ever have much of a problem with. But just in case, here are a few common sense rules of the game. Game Rules - Don't metagame. No joining the RPG as more than one character. Forum Rules - Don't powergame. Don't make OOC posts on the RP sections. Anything goes in Open Discussion really, but if you're going to post porn or something please tag it NSFW. Chatroom Rules - Don't be an asshole. Don't take things people say in the chat too personally. The chat isn't really my jurisdiction, so don't expect me to have much control over it. Updates The RPG has two different types of updates, weekday updates and weekend updates, and updates once a day. Actions are allowed on weekday updates, whereas weekend updates are saved for processing joining forms, and writing special events. The weekday updates are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, whereas the Weekend updates are Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each character is allowed to send one action email per weekday update. Note that while myself and the writers do try to get everything done on time, sometimes we have to miss an update, and more often than we'd like updates are finished very late at night. It's often better to go to bed than wait for an update that will finish at 1 AM. In the event that we miss an update, an additional action update will be held on Friday to make up for this. For in-game continuity purposes, each weekday update is supposed to represent a single day in the Gundam world. Weekend updates are skipped over, although this does not prevent RPing during the weekend. It's the best time to make a long post. E-mailing Each character is allowed one action email per update day. This email must be sent before the email deadline, so that I have time to make sense of what is going on in the RPG and give battles off to writers, and get them back before too long into the night. The email deadline is 5:30 PM Pacific Standard Time. It's alright to send an action email after the deadline, and it may still be accepted, but I reserve the right to discount any actions sent after the deadline. I can't include a character in an event if the event is already half written. Action emails need to be titled in specific ways, to make sorting them easy. It may not seem like it's very important, but when you get dozens of complicated emails a day it makes updating much quicker and easier. Please title your email with your division, followed by your character name and a short description of your action. Some examples include "SS, Vladimir Antonov, Building Fortress" or "Rogue, Fria Engel, Colony Drop". Again, I will still accept emails that don't meet this exact pattern, but reserve the right to discount an action email titled "lol wtf" or something. Joining emails can be sent any time, and should be titled "Joining". However, new characters will not be added to the game until the weekend. Other emails, things discussing plans or asking questions, are accepted at any time. The email address for all RPG related emails, actions or otherwise, is oywrpg4@gmail.com. Your character In the OYWRPG, you control a character in either the Earth Federation or Republic of Zeon military, or a Rogue agent who is employed or interacts with these two warring powers. You are standardly the pilot of a mobile suit with some exceptions, and for whatever reason are fighting for the cause of your country. Although the environment of the game is one of strict military powers and all out war, you do not have to follow orders of higher ranked characters, and within this environment have a large amount of freedom to portray your character how you see fit. Aside from the mobile weapon your character pilots and its technological abilities, your character is represented in the game by six statistics, which are explained below. VP VP or "Veterancy Points" is a time honored term that shows how effective someone is at piloting a mobile weapon. Fighting somebody with a lower VP score than you doesn't ensure your victory, as many other factors are at stake as well, but the higher your VP is, the better a pilot you are. VP is raised through mobile suit combat. Note that in some circumstances a pilot may end up captaining a ship, or piloting a mobile suit otther than their own. In these situations a PC operates at half effective VP level, rounding up. CP CP or "Combat Points" are similar to VP, but shows how skilled your character is in a fight outside a mobile weapon. While the OYW is a war of mobile suits, espionage, ambushes and firefights do sometimes occur. CP is raised just like VP, through non mobile suit combat. NT NT refers to a players Newtype Rating. Newtypes in Gundam represent the next step of human evolution, people with heightened senses of perception and some telepathical abilities. Each player is given an NT score on joining, and as long as this score is at least a 1, it can be improved through good RPing and special events. Newtype Rating is given on a scale from 0 to 10. Rank Each non Rogue player, as a member of a military organization, has a rank. Your rank determines your salary in RP, and high ranks can give players access to special events and officer message boards. While there is no rule against disobeying a superior officer in the RPG, I would like to stress that in past versions of the game, the sides with the best teamwork have had the most success in winning the war. RP RP or "Resource Points" are used to purchase ships, supporting mobile weapons and other things out of the player shops. RP is divvied out each week to players based on rank every Sunday update. Some special events, such as raiding NPC supply lines, can net a player RP as well. Specializations Some players may have specializations, which note a special skill at fighting a certain type of battle or in a certain environment. Some divisions start the game with certain specializations, but specializations can also be gained from good RPing, or from successfully winning a certain type of battle several times in a row. For example, completing several successful paradrop missions in a row can net you a Paradrop specialization, which gives you a temporary +10VP bonus in every Paradrop event you participate in. In any situation where a pilot is operating at half VP, they still recieve full bonus from specializations. Divisions Each of the two major sides are split into seven different divisions. Your division will tell you your starting VP, CP, RP, Rank and specializations, as well as your choice of available mobile weapons and starting positions. NT rating is determined randomly, but some divisions give bonuses to that as well. For now don't worry about divisions, once you've finished with the rules, they are detailed more properly on the joining page. Rogues don't have divisions, but are done a little differently. This is also explained on the joining page. Mobile Suit Not quite a quality of your character, but the mobile weapon that he pilots. Your starting mobile suit is from a choice given by your division, and through RP or game circumstances you may be given upgraded models as the war goes on. There will also be times in the RPG when players are allowed to change their mobile suit if they wish, but players are only allowed to change mobile suits at these specific times. Bases and Ships Through shop purchases, special events, or simply stealing them from other players, it is possible to obtain ships, fleets, bases and MS teams, and each have their own rules, which are explained below. MS Teams Soldiers on Earth very rarely fight alone, even in the days of the mobile suit. To represent this each character is allowed to purchase an MS team to fight alongside them from the shop. MS teams consist of the PC and their mobile weapon, and up to 3 additional purchased mobile weapons. The MS team acts as an extension of the character for all purposes, it attacks and defends with them, and cannot be attacked seperate of the character while they are repairing. Note that players may only form MS teams on Earth. Moving large groups of people in Space is much more difficult without a ship transport, so in Space MS teams are not allowed. If a character moves from Earth to Space and does not have suitable ships to transport their MS team in, they forfeit the team. Ships Ships are an important force even in the age of mobile suit combat. A ship can provide a heavy array of firepower that a mobile suit cannot hope to match, carry multiple mobile suits into combat, and provide refuelling and re-armament in the field. Player owned ships operate much like players themselves, although they are controlled by the PC owner. Each ship can make one action per day just like a player, and ships have special actions they can take. They are also damaged and repaired, although in a different way than players. All of these rules are described fully in following sections. Many ships can also transport mobile weapons, and their transport capacity will be noted on their roster entry. Note that player characters riding in ships do count towards the maximum transport capacity. For game purposes ships are divided into a number of classes. A ships class will consist of two words, for example a Salamis is a "Space Battleship". The first term in a ships class refers to what sort of environment it operates in, either Space, Land, or Universal for multi-theatre ships. The second term in a ships class refers to their grade, and defines what special actions they are able to make. The three grades of ship are Supportcraft, Carrier and Battleship. Fleets Multiple ships can be formed into a fleet. Fleets offer better protection, as instead of being able to single out and target one ship, an enemy must attack the entire fleet. Fleets can also make some actions that ships cannot make. The downside to a fleet is that fleets are only allowed a single action per update, which governs the entire fleet. If one ship in a fleet attacks an enemy, the entire fleet must engage the enemy, much as the enemy must engage the entire fleet. A fleet must consist of 3 or more ships, and a flagship for the fleet must be designated. The flagship must be either of Carrier or Battleship grade. Once a fleet is formed, players are allowed to purchase support units for the fleet, based on what sort of a fleet it is. Every Earth based fleet can be supported by up to 6 tanks or fighters, and up to 3 mobile suits. Every Earth Federation Space based fleet can be supported by up to 10 Balls. Fed MS Rule / Zeek MA Rule The EF and Zeon each have a special rule pertaining to Battleship grade ships they control. EF players are allowed to have a single mobile weapon supporting their Battleships above and beyond its hangar capacity, and Zeon are allowed to tow a single mobile armor behind their Battleships above and beyond its hangar capacity. These rules are supposed to represent multiple instances in Mobile Suit Gundam where GMs were transported on Federation battleships by more or less sitting on them, and to allow Zeon players to transport huge mobile armors when they lack ships designed to carry them. Bases Players may also come in control of bases, colonies, and mines over the course of the game. These things do not make actions like ships or fleets, but rather are positions that can be moved to of their own accord, and can be attacked. Some of them can make special actions, and others such as mines will net their owner additional RP every Sunday. They can also be defended by store purchased mobile weapons and defences, and have their own hangar capacities. However, note that unlike ships, PC mobile weapons do NOT count towards a bases hangar capacity, nor do ships at the bases position. Bases also have grades, which reflect their ability at controlling locations. The two grades are Facilities, and Installations. Where the word "Compound" is used in the rules it refers to both Facilities and Installations. Death and Dying Unfortunately sometimes in the game a character will be killed. War is war. Rules for death, injuries, mobile suit repairs and all the ramifications thereof are detailed below. Repairs As a result of combat a characters status may changed. There are four different types of status in the RPG. A player can be "OK", "injured", "damaged", or "destroyed". Damages are noted in "days", and a player's damage score of each variety will be reduced by 1 day each update. For example, as a result of an ambush on Monday, Berrik Radhok may become "damaged 3 days, injured 2 days". This score will be reduced to "damaged 2 days, injured 1 day" on Tuesdays update, "damaged 1 day" on Wednesdays update, and then changed back to "OK" on Thursdays update. The maximum amount of damage a player can take from combat is 6 days of each variety. If a player is damaged while on a friendly compound equipped with a Repair Bay, their damage score (not destroyed or injured) will be reduced by 1 day, to a minimum of 1 day. This rule does not apply if the player moves to the compound after becoming damaged. Players with an injured, damaged or destroyed status cannot attack, nor may they be attacked, although they can perform other actions as normal. In the above example of Berrik Radhok, he would be able to perform an attack action again on Fridays update, but could move and make shop purchases Tuesday to Thursday. Although a player who is not OK status cannot be attacked by another player, they can engage in a battle with a damaged or destroyed status (not if injured) if they are present on a ship, fleet or base that attacks or is attacked while they are repairing. In this situation they will either captain a ship, pilot an NPC pilots mobile suit, or as a last resort use their own damaged mobile weapon. In these situations the VP gain for the battle will be halved. Death Players who die are effectively taken out of the game for 7 days. At the end of the 7 days they may pick a new character and new division. When a character dies their VP and CP are halved (although they will not go lower than their divisions starting amount), and their NT score is rolled for again. Their rank will be increased 1 rank. During those 7 days a player cannot make any actions, RP transfers or move at all, but they are still allowed to make actions with ships and fleets under their control. At the end of the 7 days their new character is allowed to start from their present position, or their divisions starting position. Ship Repairs Ships are damaged from combat as well, but in a different way than mobile suits. Ships have four damage ratings before they are destroyed. Lighty damaged, Damaged, Heavily damaged, and Disabled. Ships can continue to make actions normally while they are damaged, but operate at lower effectiveness and are easier to destroy. Ships do not repair unless they are at a Compound equipped with a repair bay. Each update a ship takes no action at such a Compound it will be repaired two damage grades. For example, Rey Tatsuma's Salamis spends Tuesday without action at Luna II, and goes from Heavily damaged status to Lightly damaged status. Some ships are also capable of a special "Repair" action which allows them to repair other ships in the same fashion as a repair bay at a Compound. NPC levelling and damage NPC mobile weapons do not take damage, they are simply either okay, or they are destroyed. However, NPC mobile weapons and ships do gain VP from surviving combat. Each NPC unit has a "level" between 0 and 5, which is shown on their roster. Each level gives the NPC 14 VP and 1 CP, with level 0 meaning 1 VP/CP. NPC units can gain levels from combat just like players, up to the maximum level of 5. The higher their level, the less often they will advance. Note that anything listed without a level is at lvl1. Named NPC units can have a maximum level higher than five. For example, a base entry may have a "lvl11 Gouf Custom (Norris Packard)". Some NPCs are also newtypes, and are listed with an N after their level, such as "lvl3N". Standard NPCs have NT ratings of 2, but named NPCs will have their NT rating listed after the N. For example, "lvl3N7 Elmeth (Lalah Sune)". Capture Sometimes characters may be captured by enemy forces, and held in an Installation or ships cellblock. These characters are held indefinitely, and based on circumstances may be executed. A captured player cannot make any actions but an "Escape" action, to attempt to escape from captivity. Escape actions are more likely to be successful if coordinated with an assault on the compound. Captured PCs may not post on their sides message boards. Captured PCs may move ships and fleets they control, and transfer RP like a normal character. Actions Now that you know about your character, their abilities and how they become damaged, you need to learn what you can do with your character. Each character and each ship/fleet can make one and only one action per update day. Below is a list of actions a character can take. Also note that a certain number of things a character can do during a day do not count as actions, and can be done in addition to their daily action. Non Actions Purchasing ships, mobile weapons or services from the player shops never counts as an action, and can be done in addition to any sort of action during an update day. Ships must be purchased at the position the character is currently in or on a compound the character controls, whereas mobile weapons can be purchased to the characters MS team or to ships/compound/fleets they control. A character may only purchase items for a ship or compound they do not control if they are currently in the ship/compound. Repairs also never count as an action, although a player cannot make a Battle action while repairing. Transferring RP from one character to another also never counts as an action, although note that RP cannot be used until the update after it is transferred. Note that purchasing Compounds does count as an action. Specifics on that are found under the Build rule in the special actions section. Actions Move There are three types of areas in the game that can be moved through, territories, locations and compounds. The word position is used in the rules to refer to all three. Moving from one position to another is an action. The map page lists all the positions in the game, and a move action moves the character or ship/fleet to a position adjacent to the one in which they currently reside. You can send an email with a move action to move somewhere a great distance away, and I will plot a reasonable course for you, or you can specify your own course. Further, Compounds count as a position within a location/territory that can be moved to. For example, Eli Staedtler is in the North America location on Monday, and wishes to move to Belfast, a compound in Europe. Eli sends an action to "move to Belfast", and moves from North America to Europe on Mondays update, and Europe to Belfast on Tuesdays update. Mondays update his action will be listed as "Moving to Belfast, 1 day". On Wednesday Eli would be allowed to act on Belfast as normal. The reverse of this is also true. For example, Vincent Tatum in Constantinople, a compound in Europe, would have to make a move action to Europe before being able to move to North Africa. Battle There are several different types of battle, but they all count as a battle action. Players and ships may only attack enemy formations in their same position. To use the same movement example from above, Eli Staedtler would be attackable by an enemy PC in North America on Mondays update, and an enemy PC in Europe on Tuesdays update. Attacking someone does not interfere with their action for the day, with a few exceptions (the exceptions are detailed below). There are 4 different types of battle. Duel Duels are organized fights between one group of combatants and another. In order to participate in a duel, both sides of the duel must send in Battle actions. Duels are worth approximately 10 VP Ambush Ambushes are pretty self explanatory. Only the attacking characters need to make ambush actions to participate. Ambushes are worth approximately 7 VP, and the attacker is given the advantage of surprise. All Range attack Some mobile weapons have weaponry capable of All Range attacks. These attacks are like ambushes, except that the attacker engages from extreme range, with the defender unable to fight back unless they are also equipped with All Range weaponry. All Range attacks are worth approximately 4 VP, and the attacker is given the advantage of surprise. Assault Assaults are attacks made on an enemy Compound. They are the same as an Ambush for all intensive purposes, except that the attackers do not have to be on the Compounds position in order to attack it, but may assault it from the location the compound is in. For example, Vincent Tatum is a Zeon PC in Europe, and wishes to attack Belfast on Monday. He can do so without moving to the Belfast position, but only Federal PCs at the Belfast position can defend the base. If the attacker is victorious in the Assault they are placed on the Compounds position at the end of the udpate, if they are not then they remain at their current position. Note that other types of battle supercede assaults in all scenarios. If Tatum assaults Belfast on Monday, but Eli Staedtler ambushes him as well on Monday, the ambush will play out and the assault will not. Optional Armaments Mobile weapons have listed optional armaments and optional features that can be carried into battle. In a battle email, a PC is allowed to list optional armaments and a proposed battle strategy. If nothing is listed the battle writer will make the decision for you. Note that carrying everything you can is not always the best idea, as it slows down your mobile suit. There is a message board post with specifics on multiple-use weaponry such as grenades. RP Actions Note that the above actions and the below special actions do not incorporate every single thing that can be done in the RPG. Sometimes special scenarios call for special actions, and I encourage people to be inventive with what they are trying to do. I do however reserve the right to veto actions not on these lists if I don't think they're reasonable. Special Actions In addition to move actions and battle actions, players, ships, fleets and even compounds have a few "special" actions they can make, with special rules. These are detailed below. Everything below does count as an action. Note that these special actions are all cumulative. Ships can make actions from both the Ship and Player lists, and Fleets can make actions from the Fleet, Ships and Player lists. Compounds can only make actions from the Compounds list. Note that the RPG has been designed so that it is possible to play the game entirely without ever engaging in any of the special actions below. Some of them are complicated and if you don't understand them all, don't worry, your sides officers are there to understand them for you. Much as for any other rule in the game, asking me or posting on the Questions board can help. Players - Overwatch A player who believes they will be ambushed can make an Overwatch action in preparation for that ambush. If the player is ambushed that day, the advantage will be given to them rather than to the ambusher. - Amphibious Assault Entirely Aquatic class mobile suits, ships and fleets are capable of making Amphibious Assaults using Amphibious mobile suits. These attacks operate exactly like Ambushes/Assaults, except they net a better advantage of surprise than a normal ambush. - Build Players must engage in a Build action in order to purchase a Compound from the shop. Ships and Fleets may not make Build actions, although a player on a ship or fleet may make a Build action if the ship/fleet makes no other action that update day. If the Player is engaged by the enemy on the same turn they make a build action, the build action is negated. - Refit Some ships and mobile suits can make Refit actions, to refit the unit into a different model. Specific rules on this are listed on the Variants sections of the side shops. Note that if a ship in a fleet makes a Refit action, other ships in the fleet can only make Refit Repair or Emergency Repair actions. If a compound is assaulted while ships or mobile suits on it are refitting, those ships or mobile suits cannot engage in the battle, and the refit action is negated. Damaged mobile suits/ships cannot be refitted. - Orbital drop Some ships and MS are capable of making Orbital Drops. This action can only be made from the Earth Orbit location. Units making an orbital drop are allowed to assault any Compound on any location on Earth from Earth Orbit. Players, ships and fleets cannot be targets of orbital drops, only compounds. Some ships are capable of actively participating in the orbital drop, such as Pegasus class carriers, whereas others simply drop their MS compliment while remaining in orbit, such as Musais. Patrols in orbit can intercept Orbital Drops, but patrols in the location being moved through cannot. Ships - Repair Certain ships can make Repair actions. A ship that makes this action can repair a damaged ship two grades of damage just like a repair bay, so long as the ship being repaired does not make an action. Note that if a ship in a fleet makes a Repair action, other ships in the fleet can only make Refit, Repair or Emergency Repair actions. Only those ships expressly noted can make this action, and if the ship/fleet is engaged that day the action is nullified. - Emergency Repair Player character piloted ships that cannot make Repair actions are still capable of making Emergency Repair actions. A PC ship that makes this action repairs one grade of ship damage. This action can only be made once, and then cannot be made again until the ship ends an update in a friendly compound. Note that if a ship in a fleet makes an Emergency Repair action, other ships in the fleet can only make Refit, Repair or Emergency Repair actions. If the ship/fleet is engaged the day of the action it is nullified. - Paradrop Entirely Airborne or Universal class ships and fleets on Earth are capable of making Paradrop actions. A Paradrop action consists of the ship/fleet moving and then the ships mobile weapon complement immediately engaging in a battle on the same update day. Both the ship and its onboard MS must make the Paradrop action for it to carry out. For example, Eli Staedtler is on a Medea, classed as an Airborne Carrier, in the North America location. Eli makes a Paradrop action with both his player unit and his ship, and is allowed to move from North America to Europe, and immediately Ambush Vincent Tatum the same day. At the end of a Paradrop action, the paradropping mobile weapons are placed outside the ship, and the ship does not participate in the battle, making the ship open to undefended assault by enemy forces the next update. Also, if a Paradropping ship is attacked by enemy patrols when it moves but before its MS compliment attacks their target, the patrol nullifies the rest of the paradrop action. Fleets - Blockade Fleets that make Blockade actions stop moving and will Blockade their current position. Any enemy unit wishing to move out of that position has a chance of being attacked by the Blockade. Units that fight a Blockade battle and lose will not be allowed to complete their movement action. Repairing units cannot be engaged by a Blockade, but if they are intercepted their movement is automatically forfeit. There is also a chance that a Blockading fleet will engage someone at that position making an Assault action, nullifying the Assault action. Fleets can only Blockade so long as they are not engaged by enemy on that update day. - Patrol Fleets on Patrol work very similarly to Blockades, with the exception that instead of engaging enemy units moving out or assaulting from their position, Patrols engage enemy units as they move into their position. If the patrol battle is successful, the movement action is negated. Patrols can also engage players making Build actions. Much like Blockades, fleets can only Patrol so long as they are not engaged by enemy on that update day. - Siege Sieges are a special sort of blockade, where instead of Blockading a position the Fleet blockades a specific Compound in that location/territory. Sieges have many ramifications. The Sieging fleet is moved to the Compounds position, and any enemy units moving on or off the compound MUST engage and defeat the Sieging fleet in order to do so. Players on a compound being Sieged by the enemy cannot make shop purchases other than Services. There are a few unique rules governing sieges listed on the message board. Sieging fleets can only engage units moving on or off the base if they are not engaged by enemy on that update day, but even if they are engaged by a diversionary force, enemy units on the compound still cannot make shop purchases. Compounds - Strip mine Mine and Asteroid Mine compounds can make strip mine actions. This action immediately nets the compound owner 1.5 times the normal rate of RP given every Sunday, and destroys the compound. Strip mine actions are negated if the compound is assaulted on the same update day. - Colony drop Certain compounds in Earth Orbit are capable of making Colony Drops. These actions are unique and have different rules every time they are performed, and should be discussed with the webmaster before they are taken. Special Unit Designations Some mobile weapons or ships have special designations, which give them certain exceptions to the rules. These are explained below. Detector class (D) - Some units, such as the Type 74 Hovertruck, are Detector units. Fleets with these units catch people in Patrols and Blockades more often, and these units make their team/ship/fleet/base less susceptible to ambushes. All Range class (R) - These units have All Range weaponry, and can perform All Range attack actions. Orbital Drop class (O) - These units are capable of Orbital Drops. Mobile weapons with this designation can make Orbital Drops on their own, and ships with this designation can Orbital Drop their MS compliment. Universal ships with this designation can engage in the Orbital Drop themselves. Stealth class (S) - Some units, such as the Acquy, are designated Stealth units. These units have an easier time slipping by patrols and blockades. Large Mobile Suit (L) - While not a Mobile Armor, some MS, such as the Zeong and Zock, are huge mobile suits. These units take up two spaces in a ships MS hangar. Politics and Territory To simulate the total war environment between the Earth Federation and the Zeon, locations in the game can become controlled by either side of the war, and this is something players have a direct hand in doing. The rules for capturing and losing locations, as well as the benefits of owning locations, are listed below. Territory There are four different types of territory. Friendly territory, Contested territory, Enemy territory and Neutral. Each type has rules for how it is controlled, and its ramifications on players. Territory changes will be made during weekend updates. Friendly territory is a position in which your side controls one or more Installations (not a Facility), and the enemy side does not control any Installations. Compounds inside Contested territory also count as Friendly territory. Compounds that produce RP every Sunday produce 1.5 times the amount if they are in Friendly territory. Players may only purchase ships from the shop in Friendly territory. Contested territory is a position in which neither side controls any Installations, or both sides control one or more Installations. Facilities inside Enemy Territory also count as Contested Territory. There are no bonuses or minuses for Contested Territory. Enemy territory is a position in which your side controls zero Installations, and the enemy side has one or more Installations. Players may not purchase Services from the shop in Enemy territory. If a player builds a compound in Enemy territory and is engaged on the same day, not only is the Build action nullified, but the RP used for the compound is lost as well. Damaged players not on a ship or fleet cannot make a Build action in Enemy territory. Neutral territory consists of the neutral provinces of Side 6 and Von Braun. Ships do not repair in neutral territory, and players cannot make shop purchases in neutral territory, although PC mobile suits repair as normal. Fighting is prohibited in neutral territory by the Antarctic Treaty, but not by the RPG rules - although attacking somebody in neutral territory may alter your sides Diplomacy with that faction. Orbit Earth Orbit is controlled like other locations, but has different rules for being controlled. Each spaceport on Earth that is not in contested territory, and each Asteroid Fortress at 0 days from Earth, gives its side 1 point towards controlling Earth Orbit, and the side with the most points controls it. If both sides have an equal number of points, Earth Orbit is contested. Side RP Each Side is given a certain amount of RP each Sunday from mines, bases, and a few other things. The more locations and compounds a Side controls, the more Side RP it will gain. Side RP is used to resupply damaged fleets and bases, and also used for special events and operations throughout the RPG. Side RP is never given directly to players, but the special events in which it is used will greatly assist the war effort. Barrier Fleets and MS Patrols Certain Locations have NPC fleets or MS teams patrolling them. This represents the amount of control a side has over its respective locations. Only Earth Locations, the Moon, Side 3 and Side 6 can have MS team patrols. The number of patrols present will be 4 +1 per Compound at the Location after the first, -1 per enemy Compound at the Location. Contested territory will never be patrolled by NPC units. Where the NPC fleets and patrols are and exactly what they consist of are found on the Bases page, and the actual chances of being caught by patrols is found on the message board. Diplomacy Each Side has a Diplomacy rating with each of the four Neutral powers in the game, the Colony Management Corporation (CMC), Lunar Management Corporation (LMC), Jupiter Development Enterprise Group (JDEG), and Riah Republic of Side 6 (Riah). Certain actions made by characters may raise or lower these ratings. There are five possible diplomacy ratings. Allied, Friendly, Neutral, Unfriendly and Hostile. Bonuses and penalties to each rating for each neutral power are found on the message board. Other FFAs Free For All or FFA events will happen on holidays, and are usually an excuse to add as much comic hilarity as possible to the RPG. FFAs award VP and winners will recieve special prizes, but other than this FFAs happen outside of the continuity of the RPG. When an FFA is held members must email saying they wish to participate, and may include a strategy, but their position and status in the game itself will not change. Tournaments Tournaments are different from FFAs, and do happen within the continuity of the RPG. Once the game has been running for a sufficient amount of time, a tournament will be held in neutral territory. Participants must actually move to the location of the tournament by the appointed day. VP gains for tournaments will be inflated, and there will be other prizes as well. Joining I know that was a lot of rules, but unfortunately the section on joining the RPG is not here, it is on the Joining page. I would however like to thank you for your patience and participation in reading the rules. I know this is a much more complicated game than most PBEM RPGs, and it can take some getting used to. If you have any questions regarding the rules or would like assistance in joining, please contact me. There are many ways to contact me. My email is oywrpg4@gmail.com, and I am often found in the chat. You can also reach me by Forum PM. If you cannot find me, the people in the chat can very likely assist you.