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RingWor

Version 1.1.0 by poena.dare #CP# >BS<

Ringwor is a pseudo-strategic game based on Halo. In a nutshell, players take turn moving on a map which represents a mysterious, powerful ring construct. When two players come in contact they may battle by playing a game of Halo. Defeat in combat does not necessarily eliminate a player from a game; it reduces his Power Rating. A player is only removed from the game when his Power Rating goes below one. When only one player is left he is declared the champion of the Ringwor.

The Players
Ringwor is designed ideally for 4 players or teams, although as little as 3 or as many as 8 can play. If teams are playing then they must be equal in size and one member of the team must be designated as the leader. The leader is solely responsible for determining actions in the game. Since the term 'player' can be confused between players of Ringwor and players in a Halo battle, players in Ringwor are henceforth referred to as 'leaders'.

The Map
The Ringwor map is a stylized representation of the ring construct from the game Halo. It is divided into 11 zones labeled 1 though 8, C, N, and S. The numbered zones have no special properties. The lettered zones represent special places:

S - The Security Room is where the Control Room key resides.

C - The Control Room is a place of power.

N - The Nexus is a maze of 'underground' conduits which allow rapid transit throughout the ring.

Leaders will also need a variety of counters and tokens. Each leader needs a unique marker that represents their position on the map. Extra tokens are needed to represent locked zones. Lastly, one special token is needed to represent the Control Room key. Optionally, everything can be kept track of on paper.

Starting Positions
In the 3 or 4 leader game, starting positions are in zones 2, 4, 6, and 8, one leader per zone. If more than 4 are playing then leaders can be assigned to zones 1, 3, 5 and 7. Assignment can be random or chosen through some other method as agreed upon by all parties before the game starts. A similar technique should be used to determine the order of play.

Power Ratings
Each leader has a Power Rating which is a symbolic representation of that leader's strategic effectiveness. Each leader starts the game with a Power Rating of 10. Over the course of the game this number will change. A leader's Power Rating can be decreased by losing battles, being forced to retreat to a disadvantageous position, or certain special actions performed by other leaders. The only way for a leader to increase his Power Rating is to win Halo battles. When a leader's Power Rating goes below one, he looses the game and his marker is removed from the map. Any leader's Power Rating is public knowledge and leaders are encouraged to check each other's math.

Play
Each leader takes turns moving, attacking, or performing other actions in the sequence determined by order of play. Once a leader's phase is resolved the next leader's phase begins. A complete turn is the sequence of all leaders' phases cycled through one time.

When a leader's phase begins he can choose to do one of the following:

• Stay in the zone and do nothing.
• Move an adjacent zone and optionally attack a leader in that zone.
• Attack another leader that is in the same zone.
• Perform a special action if he is in the Security Room or Control Room.

Movement
A leader may move from one zone to the next adjacent zone as his action for the turn. The only zones that may not be moved to are:

• A locked zone. Zones marked because a leader in the Control Room has locked them cannot be moved to, however, they can be moved out of.
• The Control Room, unless one of two conditions are satisfied:
  • The moving leader holds the Control Room key, or
  • The Control Room key is presently in the Control Room.

When a leader completes his move he may also choose to attack another leader that is in the same zone, unless he is in the Nexus.

Battles
During a leader's turn he may choose to attack any other leader in the same zone, unless that zone is the Nexus. Combat is resolved by playing a game of Halo. The leader that initiates combat is the attacker and the other leader is the defender. To determine what type of Halo game to be played, the involved leaders take turns selecting from a list of Halo game options. First, the attacker chooses one item from the following list:

• Map
• Game Type and Game Type Options
• Player Options
• Item Options
• Indicator Options

After the attacker announces his choice the defender chooses three of the remaining four items. Then the attacker chooses the last remaining item.

Battle Example
Frog decides to attack Blast. Since he and his team are good at CTF he chooses it as the game type and selects the game type options. He tells Blast:

Game: Capture The Flag
Assault: No
Single Flag: Off
Flag Must Reset: No
Flag at Home to Score: Yes
Captures To Win: 5

Blast examines the list of remaining choices and thinks it will give his team an advantage to play on a large map with vehicles and Sniper Rifles. He tells Frog:

Map: Sidewinder

Player Options
Number of Lives: 3
Maximum Health: 50%
Shields: No
Respawn Time: Instant
Respawn Time Growth: None
Odd Man Out: No
Invisible: No
Suicide Penalty: 15 Seconds

Item Options
Infinite Grenades: No
Vehicle Set: Warthog
Weapon Set: Sniper
Starting Equipment: Generic

Frog is left to determine what the Indicator Options are and decides to confuse Blast's team by turning them all off. He tells Blast:

Indicator Options
Objectives Indicator: None
Other Players On Radar: No
Friend Indicators On Screen: No

At a mutually agreed upon time, the leaders (and their teams) meet for the Halo battle. In the event that a team does not show up for the battle or they arrive with less than the previously agreed upon number of players, then that team and their leader looses the match.

If a team Ringwor game is being played then the Team Play option must be set to Yes.

Winning and Losing Battles
Once the battle is finished the winning leader adds one to his Power Rating. The losing leader must subtract one from his Rower Rating and retreat from the zone where the battle occurred. In addition, if the losing leader posses the Control Room key, then it is awarded to the winning leader. In the event of a tie both leaders remain in the zone, no adjustments are made to Power Ratings, and the Control Room key does not change hands.

A retreating leader may move to a variety of places:

• The Nexus, if he is adjacent to it.
• Any unoccupied adjacent zone.
• Any occupied adjacent zone at a cost of one to his Power Rating. If the total Power Ratings of the leaders already occupying the zone are greater than the retreating leader's Power Rating, then the retreating leader must pay an additional cost of one to his Power Rating. Note that no costs are ever paid if a leader retreats to the Nexus, regardless of how many leaders already occupy it.
• A leader may even choose to not retreat at all and stay in the zone where the battle occurred at the high cost of half (round fractions down) of his Power Rating.

At any point after battle or retreats a leader's Power Rating drops below 1 then he is eliminated from the game.

Retreat Example
Vent (Power Rating 2, with the Control Room key in hand) begins his turn by moving out of the Nexus to zone 2 where Core (Power Rating 1) already is. Vent realizes that Core will probably harry him as he makes his way to the Control Room, so he decides to strike first. Vent announces that he is attacking Core. They choose the game options and play Halo. Poor Vent looses to Core badly. After the battle Vent's Power Rating is 1 and Core's is 2. The Control Room key also goes to Core. Vent now has to determine where to retreat to. Ideally, he would like to retreat to zone 1, but Frog is in that zone and Vent can't afford the cost to his Power Rating. Vent decides to retreat back to the Nexus. Even though Blast is already in the Nexus, Vent pays no additional costs to his Power Rating because of the special properties if that zone. Vent is left badly shaken, but still alive, back where he started from.

The Concept of Control
Special actions in the Security Room and the Control Room can only be performed if a leader is in control of the zone. A leader is considered to be in control if he had been present in the zone for one or more full turns without initiating combat and he is the only leader in the zone when his next turn arrives.

Control Example
Frog moves to the Security Room on turn 8. On turn 9 he does nothing. Later in turn 9 Blast moves into the zone and attacks him. Blast looses the battle is retreats from the zone. When Frog's turn comes next, he is considered to be in control of the Security Room and he takes the Control Room key.

Special Zones
There are three special zones in the game which are treated differently from the regular zones.

When a leader is in control of a the Security Room, instead of moving or attacking, he may perform certain actions on his turn:

• Retrieve the Control Room key if it is not in play. The leader takes the token representing the key and places it on his marker.
• Nullify all Control Room actions for one turn. The leader places a token with his mark on the Control Room as a reminder and removes it when his next phase comes up.

When a leader is in control of a the Control Room, instead of moving or attacking, he may perform certain actions on his turn:

• Halve (rounding fractions up) the Power Rating of any other leader at a cost of one to his Power Rating.
• Lock any number of zones except the Nexus for one turn. The leader places a token with his mark on each of the locked zones as a reminder and removes them when his next phase comes up.
• Manually initiate the ring's self destruct sequence at a cost of half (round fractions down) of his Power Rating. See Ending the Game, below for information about how the self-destruct sequence works.

Performing any of these actions in the Control Room causes the Control Room key to immediately return to the Security Room. None of these actions may be performed if a leader in the Security Room has declared that he is nullifying Control Room actions.

The Nexus is considered a place of refuge. It has two special properties:

• No leader in the Nexus can be attacked.
• If a retreating leader is adjacent to the Nexus, then he can retreat to it without paying any cost to his Power Rating, regardless of how many leaders are already there.

Ending the Game
When only two leaders are left in the game, the ring's self destruct sequence activates automatically. At the beginning of the next turn a seven turn countdown begins. Leaders are free to move and engage in combat as usual, but no special actions can be performed. All previously locked zones become unlocked, including the Control Room. At the end of the seventh turn the leader with the highest Power Rating is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the remaining leaders face off in a Halo battle. A coin is flipped to determine who is considered the attacker and defender.

In the event of a tie between more than two leaders (i.e. due to the self-destruct sequence being initiated from the Control Room), then a random game and map are selected and the winner of the battle is declared the winner. This means that even if the game is being played with teams, only the leaders participate in the final Halo battle.

Optional Rules
A number of optional rules can make the game more interesting, easier, longer, or shorter. Mix and match as you see fit and be sure everyone playing is well informed if the game will involve any variations on the standard rules.

Attrition
If the game is being played with teams then a leader may choose to sacrifice players from his team instead of subtracting points from his Power Rating at the cost of one team member per point. When the team is reduced to less than one member or the leader's Power Rating is less than one then the leader is removed from the game. Note that this option nullifies the balanced teams rule; battles must proceed regardless of how many team members show up.

Simplified Battle Options
Instead of the standard technique of alternately choosing Halo game options for a battle, the game type choices are restricted to the standard presets created by Bungie. If this option is in effect then the defender chooses the map or game type first, leaving the attacker to choose the remaining option.

Longer or Shorter Games
The length of a game can be shortened or lengthened by adjusting the Power Rating each player begins the game with. For example, a game where everyone starts with a Power Rating of 1 will quickly loose half the leaders in two turns.

343 Guilty Spark
Anyone who wishes to have the annoying antics of 343 Guilty Spark in the game can do so easily. At the beginning of each leader's phase a random zone from 1 to 8 is selected. Each leader in that zone is moved to another random zone.

The Flood
If it is desired to play Ringwor with a representation of the Flood follow these additional rules. On the beginning of the turn after a special action is performed in the Control Room for the first time, a random zone from 1 to 8 is considered infected for the remainder of the game. Continue doing this procedure at the beginning of each turn until zones 1 through 8 are infected. Each time a leader moves into an infected zone or spends his entire phase in an infected zone then his Power Rating is halved (round fractions down). Once all eight zones are infected then the ring's self-destruct sequence is activated.

Record Keeping
While every effort was made to keep the rules of Ringwor as simple as possible, an average game will still generate a lot of paperwork. One of the ways to minimize the paperwork is by using the built in forum and databases of a 7th Column chapter. For example, using the Game Types database to track the choices for a Halo battle simplifies the process greatly.

Notes
1.1 - Sunday, March 30, 2003 - Expanded the Power Rating concept so that the retreat onto other players rule is not so harsh and players aren't eliminated so early in the game. Refined map. Added optional rules.

Sunday, May 23, 2004 - This document has been marked invalid due to my lack of interest in Halo. Others are welcome to use these rules if they wish to try their hand at it. What is really required is a complete strategic GUI overlay built in Halo to make this playable.

Contact: - (c)opyleft 1995-2009 Matthew Lewis Carroll Smith - Creative Commons Licensed