1.0 INTRODUCTION.

1.1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT & TIME SCALE.

The game Imperium takes place in Republican Era Rome. The first Game Turn was January, 200 BC, just a year after the Romans under Scipio Africanus defeated the Carthaginians under Hannibal and ended the sixteen-year-long Second Punic War. Each Game Turn covers one month of time in the virtual world of Imperium.

1.2. HOW TO WIN.

1.2.1 There are two ways to win Imperium - the public way and the personal way. Neither is permanent:
 

1.2.1.1 The public way is to have your paterfamilias PC become the 1st Man in Rome. You accomplish this by his having the best ranking in the Overall Standings among all current PCs. Your Overall Standing score is a combination of the points you have gained for participating in Imperium's civil, military, religious, and cultural life as a PC and the value of your PC's estates and villa urbana.

1.2.1.2 The personal way is simply to reach whatever wealth, power, or other accomplishment goals you set for yourself. You want to be the wealthiest tycoon of ancient times? The greatest general or poet? Or maybe you'd just like to overthrow the Republic and become Emperor? Go for it.

1.3 DESCRIPTION OF PLAY.

1.3.1 Each Game Turn you must communicate to the Umpire by e-mail the actions you would like your PC to take, including your choice to take no actions at all.

1.3.2 You may also send private e-mail to other players and post public PC and NPC "speeches" at various topics at the Imperium group board at Ancientworlds. Posts at the group board made by your PC may help you gain points toward your Overall Standing.

1.3.3 At the end of every Game Turn - usually about every two Real World weeks - the Umpire will post a summary of public news and player standings at the Imperium group board.

1.4 YOUR ROLE AS PLAYER.

1.4.1 Imperium is a game of generations. The Player Character (PC) you role-play in Imperium is a family's current paterfamilias. As the game progresses, you will guide a family's fortunes over time through successive heads of the family.

1.4.2 You may introduce other family members and personas into the game as Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and speak through them by posting messages at appropriate topics on the Imperium group board.

1.4.3 The fate of your PC is truly in your own hands. Few events are decided by chance alone. Submitting thoughtful, clear, complete instructions to the Umpire and backing your ventures with adequate resources greatly increases the likelihood that any action you propose will be successful. Hasty, ill-conceived, or skimpy instructions for ventures run on a shoestring are likely to result in unpleasant surprises.

1.4.4 The only requirement for remaining on the roster of Imperium players is to actively play the game. That's what Imperium is for. (If you don't want to play, why join?) "Actively play" means:
 

(1) You e-mail a report of your PC's actions (as posted at the group board where required) to the Umpire at least once during each Game Turn, even if it's to say you don't want to anything but collect income for the Turn.

(2) You post your PCs support or opposition for proposals up for a vote at the Senate and Assembly topics of the Imperium group board.

(3)  Post your updated Player Status Report (Statrep) on the Player Status Reports Thread at the end of each turn.

1.4.5 One e-mail and a few minutes spent at the Imperium site once or twice every two weeks doesn't seem an overly burdensome requirement for anyone who really wants to play the game. The first Game Turn you miss this requirement, the Umpire will post a notice in the Game Turn summary that your PC has fallen ill. If you fail to participate in the subsequent Game Turn as well, the Umpire will announce the death of your PC, drop you from the player roster, and let a new player join the game.

1.4.5.1 We here at Imperium recognise that players may, on occasion, have real-life issues that may temporarily effect their motivation or ability to play the game and respect the levels of participation as outlined in 1.4.4 above. For these periods players are allowed to take a lower level of participation by emailing the umpire and publicly posting their request to be allowed a period of reduced play for a specified period. Players under this 'regime' will not be subject to the consequences in 1.4.5 but will however be subjected to the following limitations:

(a) Income from all sources will be HALVED for the duration of their hiatus in addition to any local events that effect all players.

(b) Players who do not maintain up to date statreps may not vote, nor may they make any financial actions.

(c) Players under hiatus may not attempt to assassinate other players.

 

 
1.4.6.1  Whilst "IN CHARACTER" posts can be as vitriolic as you wish, OUT OF CHARACTER attacks on other players are strictly forbidden.  Try to remember that just because Lucius Optimus questions your PC's parentage and makes your PC look a total fool it does NOT mean that the player who operates Lucius Optimus hates you PERSONALLY!   PC's should be allowed to operate as their player wishes without fear of anyone taking it personally, if you take insults badly how are you going to handle your assassination?  Players who make out of character attacks or insults about other players MUST remove such offending posts within 24 hours and apologise to the player concerned for crossing the line or they risk being removed by the umpire or being put on warning (depending on the seriousness of the attack).

1.4.6.2  Ancientworlds has a no-smut policy so keep your posts free from swear words, unless they are in good latin!

1.4.6.3  Disruptive, overly petulant or unruly players will be removed.
 

1.5 NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCs).

1.5.1 Actions by most NPCs (usually those holding various offices) are played by the Umpire. The only NPCs a player is allowed to play "freely" (i.e. just like they were his PC), are his PC's immediate family -- his wife and children. However:
 

1.5.1.1 RUMOR MONGERING. Players may post as NPCs at the Forum Gossip topic of the Imperium group board to convey rumours or tidbits of information to other players. Players are cautioned against posting messages that create "facts" which give their PC an unfair advantage over other players or that violate any game rules. Players are explicitly warned against posting messages that serve as deus-ex-machina devices to get their PCs out of trouble. Players who ignore these warnings should not be surprised to have the gods turn such actions against them. When in doubt, please e-mail the Umpire for guidance

1.5.1.2 ANONYMOUS SPOKESMEN. A player who wishes to post anonymous messages at the Imperium group board may do so by posting them through the Umpire. Just e-mail to the Umpire the word-for-word message you want to post, and he will post it at the appropriate topic of the Imperium group board as an NPC. The first anonymous post in a Game Turn costs a player 10 D., the second costs 20 D, the third costs 30 D, and so on.
 

1.5.2 Players may send "private" messages (as opposed to public speeches) intended for NPCs to the Umpire via e-mail. The umpire will report the NPCs response by e-mail.

1.6 THE ROLE OF THE UMPIRES.

1.6.1 The Umpire's duty is divided into two distinct offices: that of Creative Umpire and Administrative Umpire.

The Administrative Umpire; handles the routine administrative tasks involved in running the game, maintains the various spreadsheets for calculating outcomes of battle, trade, riot, rebellion revolt etc as well as maintaining the Imperium Gazetteer and other Imperium related resources. He does not handle creative or storyline aspects of the game but reports events to the Creative umpire so that the creative umpire may incorporate them into the game. Basically, if it needs rolling a dice for it's his job.

The Creative Umpire; advances the storyline, writes up events that result from the work of the administrative umpire, replies to in-game actions, strives to ensure fairness, and maintains order. He also plays the role of NPCs when needed and adjudicates when questions arise. Questions regarding the rules are adjudicated by the Rules Copyright owner.

In addition both umpires carry out the duty of the other when actions involve their PC directly.

1.6.2 The fundamental "law" of the game is that all players agree to abide by the rulings made by the Umpire. He is the final authority on what actions are and are not allowed in the game. The intent is to let you spend your time playing and enjoying the game in a safe-and-sane atmosphere without becoming embroiled in wearisome arguments over the rules.

1.6.3 For the name and email address of the current umpire, please visit the Imperium homepage.

1.6.4 The umpires may NOT make alterations of any sort to the rules of Imperium. This
 

A newly appointed umpire's characters (if they have one) is/are subject to the following limitations during his term of service.

1.6.4.1 The umpire's PC may undertake all normal game activities/posts to improve their rankings (except as noted below).

(a).  Deleted

(b).  The same umpire may not act as both prosecutor/defender and jury in a court case.

1.6.4.2  Any action undertaken by the umpire that requires a DIE roll will have it's result calculated by the other umpire.

1.6.4.3   The umpires both receive 100 CUL, 50 CIV, 50 MIL and 50 REL points per turn of service as umpire regardless of number or quality of posts. Niether umpire qualifies for bonus points.

1.6.4.4  Umpire PC's may not hold the office of Army Commander (including Proconsular Commander, though he may be a ProConsular Governor).

1.6.4.5  Umpire PC's may not hold any war-time military office, though they are free to hold office in a Legion not in a campaign or war situation.  Should the legion in which the umpire PC is posted become involved in a war situation the umpire PC must be re-assigned to another peace-time legion.

1.6.4.6 Any action undertaken by a player against an umpire's PC must be mailed to the OTHER umpire who will post the action, decide on the odds of success and make any rolls required posting the result at the appropriate Imperium group board. If the player that wishes to undertake the action wishes to enact it against the other umpire, or if one or the other is absent, then the Rules Copyright Owner shall replace the excluded officer (if necessary making the rolls). This grants any player the appropriate anonymity from the umpire.
 

 
1.6.5.2  The Creative Umpire and Membership Legate are selected by election once per year (real time) in January.  This is done by the umpire posting an election notice, on the "Group Elections" thread at the Imperium board. The Administrative Umpire is an office filled by appointment by the Rules Copyright Holder only.

1.6.5.3  Players wishing to run (or be Prorogued) for any of the above positions must post their intention to do so within one week by posting on the "Group Elections" thread.   Once nominations have been closed the candidates will have one week to make a campaign speech then voting will be carried out via private ballot (e-mail to the outgoing umpire with cc to a non candidate outgoing officer or other impartial senior player).  Voting is OBLIGATORY in all elections, whether contested or not, with players able to cast votes for or against solitary condidates.

1.6.5.4  Elected officers take over their new positions in the first full turn following their election.

1.6.5.5 Outline of Other Imperium Officers

Group Owner & Imperium Rules Copyright Holder: This life-time position is reserved exclusively for Marco Berni who maintains all rights to the Imperium rules.

Membership Legate: To deal with applications for membership and assist the Umpires in matters involving the players of Imperium.
 

1.8 GAME TERMS. (Here is a short glossary of terms used in these rules):

ASSEMBLY INFLUENCE. The sum of your PC's Cultural Value + Family Reputation Value + Military Value + Religious Value ratings. When you participate in an Assembly vote, this is the "weight" of your vote.

SENATE INFLUENCE. The sum of your PC's Civil Value + Military Value + Religious Value + (2x Family Reputation Value) ratings. When you participate in a Senate vote, this is the "weight" of your vote.

FAMILY REPUTATION VALUE. Members of the patrician class begin the game with a Family Reputation Value of 500 points.  Members of the Plebeian class begin the game with no family reputation value. To this is added 1% of the sum of the Civil Values + Military Values + Religious Values + Cultural Values of the heads of your family who have died during the game. This value is the legacy left behind when a paterfamilias dies. Patricians who own factories, ships, or other commercial enterprises have their starting rating cut in half.

VILLA VALUE. The sum of the value in D. of your PC's villa urbana.

ESTATE VALUE. The sum of the value in D. of all the land your PC owns. Note that factories, ships, slaves, and other commercial holdings or enterprises are NOT included in this value.

CIVIL VALUE. The sum of all the points a PC has acquired for participating in government. This includes both points for holding civil offices and action points earned for carrying out political actions in the Senate, Assembly, Courts, Arena and Civil Office reports threads consistent with a players elected office or standing.

COMMAND RATING. The sum of all the points a PC has acquired for participating in military operations. This rating affects the combat results in any military operation in which the PC participates.

MILITARY VALUE. The sum of all the points a PC has acquired for receiving military honors and holding military offices and carrying out their military office. Note that messages posted at the Military Reports topic of the Imperium group board earn Military action points. They do NOT affect a PC's Command Rating.

CULTURAL VALUE. The sum of all the points a PC has acquired for participating in or producing public and private cultural events, structures and art and for passing Assembly legislation.

RELIGIOUS VALUE. The sum of all the points a PC has acquired for participating in the religious life of Imperium. This includes both action points earned for posting messages at the Temple topic of the Imperium group board and points received for holding religious offices.

OVERALL STANDING. The sum of your PC's Estate Rank + Villa Rank + Civil Rank + Military Rank + Religious Rank + Cultural Rank + Family Reputation Rank. The player with the lowest number is The First Man in Rome.

RANK. The relative position of a player's points when compared to the points held by others. (E.g., If Caius X. had a Civil Value of 100, Gnaeus Y. had a Civil Value of 400, and Julius Z. had a Civil Value of 500, then Julius Z. would be ranked #1, Gnaeus Y. would be ranked #2, and Caius X. would be ranked #3.)