You will be playing a small, technologically poor island. Think pre-Bronze Age b/w the Scientific Method. The Islands scattered across the gameworld can all communicate with each other via a small box called 'the gax'. All player islands, and some NPC islands will have a gax. The gax can relay, via a spoken command, words and pictures, but nothing else. It is not a GPS, it is not a mapping tool, communications only. Due to the nature of the gax, and the planet itself, the Islands have developed in radically different ways. You want to play piratical Vikings in the far North? Great! You want to play a gluttonous society of cannabalistic gourmands? Go for it! You want to play something a little more normal? What's wrong with you?!?! I mean, very sensible. Yes, sensible. The initial phase of island creation will consist mostly of description of the island itself and the society that's grown up around it. The total landmass you'll have to work with is around 20,000 sq. miles, or about the size of a Carribean Island like Jamaica or Trinidad. You do not have to have a single landmass, or even use all 20k of space, but 20,000 sq. miles is what you get as your basic territory. There will eventually be hard statistics to tell you exactly what your island does and how it does it. A more in-depth description of the stats and what they do will come later, but you will have 52 points to divide among these 10 stats. They are on a scall of 1-10. Those stats are: Population Under Government: This is the number of people that are under the control of your gov't. 1 point will be equal to 250,000 people. This stat can exceed 10, but that's a lot of mouths to feed. Political Autonomy: Degree of control your government has, please plan on having some degree of political control, or the GM may become very cranky. Civility of Political Opposition: Do your dissidents peacefully protest when you raise taxes and increase work hours or do they start lobbing bombs? Abundance of Resources: The amount of natural resources available to you. Industrial Efficiency: How well you make crafted products. Natural Resources: The ease of collection of your natural resources. This can be due to either to a hazardous collection area (nasty animals, lava) or because it takes a long time to process the raw material to get something useable. Scientific Efficiency: An absolute measure of how quickly and accurately the scientific and philosophical minds in your society work. Military Efficiency: An absolute measure of how quickly and accurately your defense forces are. Police Efficiency: An absolute measure of how quickly and accurately your Police are. Spy Efficiency: An absolute measure of how quickly and accurately your spies are. Those are the hard stats, and you should keep those in the back of your head while you tackle the main objective of this stage of Island creation. This is creating a background and culture. Keep in mind that the technology available to you at the start of the game is pre-Bronze Age. Basic textiles, woodworking, and fire. If you really want to totally invest your society in, say, metal working, that will be possible, but that's all you'll be doing for a while. However, you will have the basic ideas of scientific experiment (if you want them), and thus will be able to invent new technologies at a much greater rate than any stone-aged society. As a result of this, every society has discovered (or shared the discovery) of how to create lighter-than-air balloons. Each island will start with two light sea-going barges and an airship (basically a fancy hot air balloon). Here's what we need to know about your Societal Structure (feel free to give us more). 1. Type of Island and Climate: Is it a lush temperate jungle or a jagged, icy rock? These should be the defining traits from which all other aspects of your island come, whether because the people on the island are constantly in conflict with their environment or have long ago adapted to it. 2. The name of your island: This seems self explanatory, although if it has the name for a reason, here's as good a place as any to describe the origin. 3. Type of Government: You set the style that your government takes. A brutal police state ruled by a powerful elite on horseback, Nudist democratic utopias, Holy Empires, or monarchies ruled by hermaphroditic twins are just a few options. This is also the place to put the history of your government. If it's a recent coup or a system that extends back into the mists of time, we want to know. 4. Societal Overview: How your people live, what they eat, history not covered in Gov't or Name. The more you give us to work with, the more cohesive your ideas, the more rewarding the game will be. 5. Head of State: Who is the controlling entity of your Island? This will probably be the primary persona you'll use when communicating with other players. 6. Where the gax is and how it is used: The gax is central to gameplay, it's what will keep you connected to the rest of the players, and thus it deserves special attention. We need to know who has it (is it in a public square for anyone's use or is it cloistered away by the warrior-monks who rule your island?) and what role it plays in your society. 7. Problems your Island faces. Anything from rampaging giant lizards to hostile weather conditions. A society is often defined by the problems it faces. 8. Anything we've forgotten: If you think of anything that's not covered by the above headings, put it here. That completes the first step in the island creation process. E-mail questions or your completed island to mondango@yahoo.com. I look forward to the islands you'll create!