IV. DISCUSIÓN GENERAL
1. Resumen de los resultados y discusión
goltor: medium size, cool climate, 73%
water, thin/earth like atmosphere, no
moons. animal life only.
155 WORLD BUILDING
156 CIRCLES
Circles
W
ith more than five people doing things together, work tends to be organized in one way or another. And with more than twelve people brought together, ideological groupings will often start to appear. Using organizations and ideologies in play can be a ver y effective way to make worlds and NPCs come alive, giv- ing them clearly defined goals that the characters can either be a part of, or tr y to thwart.Here, organizations and ideologies are called Circles. A Circle can be any collection of people sharing an ideology or goal, from alien communities and world-spanning religions to secret illu- minatis and local anti-environmentalists.
By assigning stats, attributes and traits to Circles, their relative strengths and weaknesses can be compared. If characters join a Circle, they can call for benefits and fight for its cause. This way you can make Circles an integral part of the game, from the personal level of the characters up to a galactic scale where ideologies compete for dominance.
Below you will find a way to describe Circles in more detail.
Ideas
Ideas are what make Circles tick, the ver y reason for their ex- istence. It can be the love of a god, technological advancement, the superiority of a specific group of life forms - or a combina- tion of several ideas. Many Circles have one idea at the center of its “faith”, with other ideas being added as the ideology evolves. On page 166 is a list of ideas that have passionately engaged
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many humans throughout the ages. Use them if you need some support for your creativity.
For some Circles there will be several layers of ideas: some of- ficial and some unofficial. The unofficial side can for example be a handful of core values that are kept secret from ever yone but a select few, or a violent tradition called upon when needed. This can also be modelled with Sub-Circles. Sub-Circles share most ideas, traits and attributes with the parent Circle, but have a few that sets them apart. They can either be an integral part of the parent Circle or stand a bit on the side, handling its own business.
Types
There are four types of Circles: Organization, Ideology, Corpora- tion, Location.
Add a descriptive word after the type, for example Organization (Religious), Ideology (Political), Ideology (Alien), Location (City of Graath).
Stats
Three stats define the basic concepts of a Circle: Influence, Size, Resources.
Influence (INF, 1-20)
Influence measures the impact a Circle has on the society it be- longs to. Not only the direct influence, but also on general poli- cies, laws and ethics of a society.
Resources and Tech Level
To compare the resources of Cir- cles from different Tech Levels, use the highest TL as reference. For ever y TL step lower, reduce Resources by 2 for the lower-tech Circle down to a minimum of 2. Use with caution though, as low-tech societies may have access to rare raw materials for example, that are in high demand elsewhere, giving them an unexpected edge.
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INF Description
1-4
None. Circle’s ideas are unknown to most people or viewed as uninteresting, extreme or just strange.
5-9 Ver y little influence. Concepts never reach
the corridors of power.
10-14
Some contacts and influence in the cor- ridors of power. Under favorable condi- tions the Circle’s concepts can be turned to society-wide policies.
15-18
The Circle is a major player in the corri- dors of power. Has a big impact not only on what decisions are made but also upon the ver y agenda.
19-20
The corridors of power are completely in the hands of the Circle. Society is fully immersed in ideas from the Circle and new concepts are easily implemented by its leaders.
Size (SIZ, 1-20)
Size defines the number of followers and is a rough estimate on the number of life forms that can be considered part of a Circle. They are not necessarily active, but define themselves as be- longing to that sphere of ideas. See next page for some example sizes.
Resources (RES, 1-20)
The resources of a Circle can take many forms, though money and property are perhaps the most common. For more primi- tive societies, wealth will be measured in food, valuable objects and animals. Somewhere around TL4-5 abstract resources will make an entrance.
Nations, Worlds & Corporations Nations or entire worlds can be played as Circles if you want an abstract way to model their con- flicts.
Size will be tied to population size and Resources will broadly reflect the wealth of the world or countr y. Influence will in this case mean world or subsector influence – how much the nation can affect inter- national (or interstellar) decisions and policies.
Attributes and Ideas will var y as for other Circles, but Group (Na- tion) or Group (Species) will be common ideas. Troops and Politics will be common attributes.
Large corporations can in some settings also act as powerful Cir- cles, with their own agenda and political goals. They can be mod- elled as other Circles with the ex- ception that Wealth will always be one of their ideas.
Resource Levels 1-4 Destitute 5-9 Poor 10-14 Average 15-18 Affluent 19-20 Wealthy
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Organic Stat Growth
To give a quick indication of how a Circle develops, you can mark potential stat growth with a small arrow pointing up, down or horizontal next to the stat value.
Character Actions Raising Stats
If the characters decide to openly support a Circle, their actions can increase or decrease stats. A heroic deed showcasing the ideals of the Circle are ver y likely to attract new followers, new money and possibly contacts with important decision-makers and spin doctors. A Circle can gain 1 point in any of the stats for a heroic deed by a character. Bad publicity will reduce any stat by 1.
Area of Influence
Size and Resources are in absolute numbers. Influence, on the other hand, is in reference to the society it belongs to. A band of mercenaries can have a huge impact on a small colony world but go unnoticed in an entire subsector. To handle this, always write down the area of influence after INF. If you are moving it out of that area or scale, Influence is ver y likely to change.
Attributes
Attributes describe how the ideas of a Circle are implemented and how the goals are to be reached. They are used just as skills for characters, with a d100 to be rolled below the value to use it successfully.
Choosing Attributes
Attributes are picked to reflect the ideas and methods of a Cir- cle. For violent freedom fighters, Mob or Troops will probably be appropriate, while Ahimsa and Politics will better reflect a serene religion.
SIZ Examples
1 <50. Mercenar y group
2 200. Small colony
3 800
4 2.5k. Flat Ear th Society
5 10k. Town 6 50k 7 200k. Small city 8 800k 9 2.5M. Greenpeace 10 10M. Small nation 11 50M 12 200M. Large nation 13 800M 14 2.5Bn. Christianity 15 10Bn. Humanity 16 50Bn 17 200Bn. Interstellar Empire 18 800Bn 19 2 500Bn 20 >5000Bn
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