Cogs in the Machine
Irc: /join #CogsInTheMachine
The year is 1870. The world has changed into one of steel wheels and gears. The engine that drives this machinery is London, heart of the greatest Empire that has ever been. It’s a place of wonders and squalor, where the fate of the world is decided by the noble, brilliant, powerful, or simply famous and wealthy.
In Cogs in the Machine, players take the role of one of these people. They will employ their influence and wealth to decide the great issues of their time. Whether in the ballrooms of high society, the floor of Parliament, the counting houses and stock exchange of the City, sailing the skies in the Royal Air Fleet, or the lecture halls of the Royal Society, the quest for glory and prestige takes many forms. But the end goal is the same: to shape the future!
The Game
There are two basic resources in the game. The first is Wealth. Wealth is mere lucre. Hard coin, deposits in the bank, shares of East India Company Stock, that sort of thing. Necessary, of course, but it’s rather gauche and middle class to focus too much on.
The second is Influence. Influence takes a virtually infinite variety of forms. It can be personal charm, favors done or owed, blackmail, peer pressure, eloquence, the promise of patronage, it doesn’t matter. Influence is the ability to make people do what you want them to do.
Wealth is spent on buying things. Maybe a bejeweled monocle, or hosting a flashy social event, or investing in a new business, or financing cutting edge experiments.
Influence is spent on effecting Issues. Issues are matters of import that need to be decided. For example, whether a proposed bill in Parliament should become law, or who should get appointed a colonial Viceroy. Players spend influence to get the outcome they want. The side with the most influence at the end of the turn gets their way.
Actions are significant things players do, aside from meddling in issues. The exact shape of the action is up to the player’s imagination, but the basic idea is that a player spends either wealth or influence, and a die is rolled. This determines how successful the action is, and what they get in return. For example, a player can spend wealth to host an elegant coming out party for their daughter, to get a one-time sum of influence. Or a player could expend influence now to join a prestigious social club, which gives him influence per turn.
Actions fall into these categories: Society, Economy, Science, Politics, and Adventure. Characters will get bonuses and penalties to actions in certain categories, depending on their background and character traits. They can also gain these by having Possessions and Positions. Posessions are simply bought, Positions are bestowed by someone. Both give a per turn modifier as long as you have them, either bestowing extra Influence or Wealth, or effecting dice rolls.
Society rolls are for social occasions. High tea, garden parties, joining exclusive clubs. These can be effective ways of gaining influence
Economy rolls are for business of any kind. Maybe you are trying to modernize your family estate, or launch a new company, or manipulate the stock market. These are obviously good for making money.
Science rolls are for advancing knowledge. They are for new inventions, conducting experiments and other feats of knowledge.
Politics rolls are for overtly political actions. Going out on the campaign trail, giving speeches from the House floor, organizing rallies and manipulating NPC MPs are ways you can use politics
Adventure rolls are for physically dangerous situations. Going on an exploratory expedition, serving in the armed forces overseas, fighting a duel, hunting big game or flying your airship where no one has gone before would all be adventures.
Character creation
Character creation should follow this template:
Name/Year of Birth: (what’s your name, and how old)
Background: (Who are you and why should we care?)
Advantage:
Disadvantage:
Bio:
Try to keep advantages and disadvantages balanced. You’ll need a larger disadvantage to if you want to be Duke Prancibald than Sir Prancibald, for example. You can load yourself up with as many of each as you want as long as its balanced. Your total of benefits and penalties should be +1.
You may also choose to be a member of one organisation listed here
A character sheet might look like:
Name: “Lucky” Jack Aubrey, 1807
Background: Naval Officer (+1 Adventuring)
Advantage: War Hero: +1 politics, +2 adventuring
Disadvantage: Poor education (-1 society)
Bad business sense (-2 economy)
Bio: A highly decorated officer, “Lucky” Jack has spent most of his life afloat. He’s an excellent sailor and leader of seamen, but a rather awkward fellow in genteel company. He’s made his fortune repeatedly through brilliant captures of enemy ships, but without fail he always manages to squander it in bad investments and high living as soon as he sets foot on shore.
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