Compromise//Empire
A downloadable game
Compromise//Empire is a GMless roleplaying game for 2-3 players about forming temporary alliances and resisting empire.
Each player takes the role of a faction forced into an unlikely alliance. You must represent your agenda while making compromises to fight against the forces of empire.
Premise
The forces of the Empire, the forces of totalitarianism and exploitation, are invading. They have secured a foothold, and want complete control. Their soldiers trample the land, their spies and diplomats are in your places of power, time is limited.
You represent a faction. One of the factions who are working to resist the Empire. As a representative you must extend a hand and form whatever alliances you can with the other factions at play. Resisting the Empire will cost you, and your faction. Compromises must be made.
What cost will you pay to resist the Empire?
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community copies
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Community copies
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Development log
Comments
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Compromise//Empire is a 2-3 player game about resisting empire. You play as the representatives of three factions; traditionists, revolutionaries and opportunists. Will you be able to work through your differences and push back the empire?
we had a lot of fun, easy to play, took about an hour. story was placed in Pandora, one faction were the blue indians and the another a race of mind-hive-locusts that adresses himself as We. Really tragic outcomes. jajaja.
Compromise Empire is a short storytelling trpg about resisting an invasion.
Specifically, it explores how resistances are made up of loosely aligned factions, and how those bonds can be strong or fragile.
The PDF is 12 pages, with a solid, very readable layout and some nice background artwork.
Mechanically, a lot of Compromise Empire is loose. The players define the setting at the start of the game, and then they choose factions within that setting and define them to. To progress, players pick Crises caused by the invading empire off of a chart, and then they attempt to find a mutually agreeable way of addressing the issues and impeding the Empire's advance. Solving Crises always involves a discussion, and the more you compromise, the better the odds of your success. However, compromise means betraying your faction's ideology, and if you compromise more than three times, your specific faction will hate you by the end.
The price of a group victory is personal destruction.
Dice do get involved (you roll between 2--4 dice and succeed if any numbers match,) but the game feels like it would work just fine without them, and it might even be stronger if you leaned all the way in and ran it as a larp.
Overall, Compromise Empire is a really neat game. It uses almost purely social mechanics and gets great mileage out of them, and it's an excellent vehicle for storytelling and drama. If you're looking for a one-shot where your group can flex your acting and storytelling skills a bit, I would definitely recommend giving this a try.
Minor Issues:
-Page 10, "Success and failure is determined but how" by how