#empire-builder

[gamtozu]

[imperiumofftopicum]

IOT - A Basic Rundown

Greetings! This blog is for the discussion of Imperium Offtopicum games. Let's do a quick rundown. What is an Imperium Offtopicum(IOT)? More or less, it's a forum game. While they vary in complexity, rulesets, scale, etc. they are all at the end of the day geopolitical simulations. Players create nations, claim land, make war and diplomacy, and overall, play to their heart's content. Orders can be detailed and be quite specific, or very vague and general. But most of all, if you're of a strategy game mind, it's FUN.

One particular variation is whether a game is realistic or fantasy-based. Some games allow you to be anything from a magical or spacefaring empire, whereas some require you stick to a particular era(1800s, 1950s, etc.)

A brief history. The first game was started some years ago by TaniciusFox on a videogame forum devoted to Sid Meier's Civilization series. It was immensely popular, but was very anarchic - the rules were very new, and while things such as nuclear weapons weren't in play, the rules just couldn't cope with the chaos the players created. The first game naturally ended with T-Fox resigning out of stress. Since then, many IOTs have been played and they continue to be made to this day, under a variety of GMs and rulesets.

Now, pictures make everything better so how about we get some of those? The image is linked due to space considerations: http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/5526/balanceofpowermap.png

This is an example of a world map, and was used in the game Multipolarity. Basically, this blank map is where it all begins - players claim a certain number of provinces(usually 5 or 10) and expand through a variety of means. As they begin to grow, they naturally begin to conflict over territory. To ease hostilities they often agree to treaties that divide land a certain way.

However, there are almost always upstarts, and warmongers inevitably trigger conflicts, whether nuclear or conventional. How the world reacts to these varies by game - some do nothing, some actively pick sides. Overall, the combination of politics, roleplay, diplomacy, economics and war makes IOT a very fun game to play. While it can take some time to wrap one's head around the equations and mechanics, one learns to not think too much on it and just relax and let the GM do the work. All a GM needs is your orders, and a GM is almost always reasonable and willing to answer questions. Sit back and watch your empire grow, ready to outdo your competitors.

IOTs are ultimately a text and picture-based game. The nature of the internet lets players post orders when convenient, and turns often take around three days to a week. Veteran GMs are often at the IOT chatrooms(linked below) if you have any questions, though they can also be asked here. Further notes:

IOT Wiki

IOT on TV Tropes

IOT forums

IOT Chatroom