Topple The Regime

[Pohaturon]

This is my first forum game idea, so forgive any noob blunders. Basically, this is one of those "respond to the post above you" games, however instead of encouraging short and simple replies, this one is more for longer and more complex responses.

 

Basically, the point of the game is to topple the regime/rule/governance of the poster above you. Be it through a coup, rebellion, assassination, impersonation or any other method (no need to stay serious - if you have some entertaining but crazy idea, go for it). After you describe how you take power, give us a short rundown of your own regime or government. How does it work, what kind of establishment is it?

 

Rules:

 

- BZP rules apply (obviously)

- No references to actual historical groups. That's a can of worms that better stays closed.

- No "undefeatable" regimes. Your rule must be toppled somehow. You can make things hard for the next poster, but don't make it impossible through some contrived reason.

- Don't directly insult the ruler above you. No need to go easy - you are toppling their regime, after all - but don't flame. On the same page, don't take the post below yours personally. Toppling your regime is the point!

- Don't assume that the regime of the user above you (or anywhere in the thread) mirrors their real political views. If someone goes full bond villain and rules the world with an iron fist, that doesn't mean they're a bad person. It just means they're playing a forum game.

- Don't use the exact same method or strategy twice, be it for governance or taking power. It would quickly make this pretty bland. No "I establish a second empire identical to the first" or "I topple you like I did last time" (Recommended by Rache)

- Less of a rule and more of a guideline, but please try to avoid duels, meaning the same two users toppling one another several times consecutively. Sure, the results of such duels might be amusing, hence it not being banned outright, but give others a chance!

 

- Might be expanded if need be, I'm open to suggestions from people more experienced in this.

 

 

This is in no way restricted to the real world and real scenarios. Any fictional universes, worlds, tech, magic, creatures etc may be used.

 

If you wish to change the fictional universe, you can topple the regime of the previous poster and then describe your own regime as a separate thing instead of being the successor to the previous one, however this must be clearly stated. If someone before you has a regime relatively grounded in reality and on earth, you can't turn into the magical dragon-king of the K'thzaak stellar empire in the Andromeda galaxy without explicitly stating that there is a universe break happening.

 

I'll kick things off with a less than serious entry:

In the grim future of 1977, the factions of the world have splintered off into groups constantly waging multiple wars. Many governments are trying to control their citizens with implants, drugs or mind-control rays. Rampant experimentation has turned almost every species of animal dangerous and violent. Cities cover a relatively small surface area and are walled, instead growing upward or underground.

I was just your average, everyday cybernetically enhanced soldier fighting for whichever faction until a wound sustained in combat damaged my mind control device. Having realized I regained my free will, the doctor operating on me, being secretly a member of a resistance group, left the device turned off (if tampered with on purpose, the devices explode, this injury disabled it through dumb luck). I am recruited into the resistance, and through prowess on the battlefield and charisma, rise in the ranks and become a highly outspoken leader. However, this resistance isn't your picture-perfect collection of goody-two-shoes freedom fighters. Instead, they too want to instill their own tyrannical rule. Over the course of several betrayals and deals, I weaken most global super-powers while also causing the rebels to succumb to in-fighting. At this point the general population hates both the governments and the rebels, so I incite my own rebellion, resulting in the fall of the tyrannical powers. 

I establish a new global empire of which I am the monarch. I completely replace all of my organic material, sans brain, with cybernetic components and thus become immune to aging. I spur my loyal subjects to integrate as many just augmentations into themselves as possible, leading rise to a new global super-race of cyborg humans. Crime is punished severely, and I build a massive cult of persona by personally leading my armies in combat, which is always broadcasted to the people. Since most of the cybernetic implants used at this point in history glow in all kinds of pretty colors, the regime saves tons of energy by getting rid of public lighting in settlements. I outlaw all political parties, organised religion, unions and private military companies. I fund project aimed at developing several ecosystems of cybernetic animals which are friendly to my citizens, which makes Zoos once again return to their role of entertainment facilities rather than being military training grounds. Privately owned companies are a concept which I support, however there is a high level of government oversight to prevent corruption. Government bodies do not, however, regulate research, as risks must be taken in the name of progress. Ban human testing? Uphold health and safety regulations? Nonsense!

I support a culture which disregards personal safety and places the tenets of progress and unity above all else. I do not wish to eliminate "the individual", rather strive for a world where every individual comes to believe in unity for their own reasons. However, I believe fear to be a valid reason, thus all outspoken supporters of independence and separatism are dealt with publicly.

In the bright future of the 1980's, the grand terran empire unites the whole planet, and I rule with an iron fist.

 

A really really pimp, glowing iron fist.

 

So, feel free to topple my regime, and all other regimes. Remember, you can always take revenge and rebuild. If you as a ruler happen to die whenever the next poster overthrows you, you always are either revived or you reincarnate.

 

Viva la revolución!

 

 

Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with actual political, historical or military events that have happened or are happening. Everything within this thread is a work of fiction. Please, nobody get offended!

Edited July 29, 2016 by Pohaturon

[Sumiki]

This sounds like a fun game! However, I feel like you may need to modify some of the rules. According to the G&T rules:

This forum is meant for LEGO-related games and trivia only: Bionicle, Hero Factory, Ninjago, etc.

 
Unless I'm missing something, I see nothing in the rules of the game that keeps it LEGO-related.  I'd include that if you want to keep it in G&T; otherwise it'll be moved to one of the off-topic areas.

[Pohaturon]

This sounds like a fun game! However, I feel like you may need to modify some of the rules. According to the G&T rules:

This forum is meant for LEGO-related games and trivia only: Bionicle, Hero Factory, Ninjago, etc.

 

Unless I'm missing something, I see nothing in the rules of the game that keeps it LEGO-related.  I'd include that if you want to keep it in G&T; otherwise it'll be moved to one of the off-topic areas.

My mistake! I guess it would be better suited for off-topic after all. Thanks for pointing that out! Can you move the thread to the appropriate forum?

 

[Black Six]

Making the move...

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Alright, I'm game.

 

The Empire's first mistake was in making martyrs of dissidents. Their lives could be snuffed out, but names were harder to erase, and by 1984 there was a litany, a great list of names - my army of the dead. In the end, it did not matter what they had stood for, as long as their execution, their murder, stood as a black mark against the evil of the Empire, their willingness to spend human life in exchange for shiny toys. With these proofs of the Emperor's crimes, and the growing toll taken by the callous disregard many state-sanctioned research facilities showed for the lives of their test subjects, it was all too easy to amass an army of volunteers, living guerrillas to march under the banner of the dead. Even with my ghastly mementos sprayed over the walls of the cities and seared into the minds of the people, though, it would be madness to face the Imperial armies on the field in open battle, suicide to challenge the strength of the Empire - so we attacked its weakness instead.

In the great cities, it was all too easy to disappear; firebomb some outpost of law and order, terrify the soldiers within, and vanish - most times, by the time reinforcements arrived, we were hundreds of feet above or below them, and in the confusion of the bombing, they never could figure out just who had done it. So confused, and so frightened were the soldiers, that they began to look upon the people with suspicion, and, when some of their chums bought it, it became all too common for them to take their revenge on some civilian suspected of sympathizing with my rebellion.

I allowed this, hard as it was - the butchers, in taking their vengeance, were doing my work for me! For a rebel, truly caught, would indeed have hurt my cause - but some innocent baker's son, given to the firing squad for looking like he might have done something? Oh, his mother's grief and rage would be terrible to behold, and in the fearful outbursts of those tasked with keeping the peace I found my most effective recruiters.

Simply amassing an army of inflamed bakers and clerks could not be enough, no, of course not - but in that army I found eyes. I found agents who, through happenstance, were positioned to inform me of the identities and movements of many of those tasked with commanding the enforcers of the Emperor's law, or - much more importantly - with finding out the ringleaders of the rebellion. So exposed, any one of these key men could be treated to knife, bomb or bullet at my convenience, and I was generous indeed with these gifts. With each cut down, the enforcers - and, I learned, the Emperor himself - grew more furious, and their retribution bloodier. When the Emperor, incensed at the death of some favored cousin, authorized the neutron bombing of a stadium, I knew the time had come for an open declaration of war.

After the deaths of millions for the simple crime of being in the same city as one of my assassins, even many of the Emperor's soldiers turned upon him, refusing to fire on my rebels as they stormed hundreds of armories across the planet, seizing the arms required to take back our planet. I personally directed the assault on the Emperor's Palace, for I knew the men and women under my command would accept nothing less. With my own eyes did I witness his soldiers either lay down arms or join our ragged ranks as we marched to the butcher's throne room. With my own hand did I pull the trigger that ended the Emperor's life - for, as I announced, to my troops and the world, no one who had tasted such power and had it pulled away from him could help but reach for it again.

---

After the war ended in 1996, reconstruction became our first priority. Full pardons were given to all political prisoners, bans were lifted on all religions - though many, sadly, lacked any living adherents - and political power was devolved on a regional basis, giving cultural groups autonomy so long as they upheld the rights of all people - to autonomy of the body and mind, to all of the resources needed to live, and to the pursuit of a better life - while maintaining strong economic ties across the globe. Steps were taken to restore the wild places of the world to what they had been a century before, using the cybernetic technology of the past decades to stabilize ecosystems ravaged by war and by misuse; in this project, the zoos established by the Emperor served as an excellent starting point. The military was almost totally eliminated, so that no group could so effectively hold the threat of violence over another again; I burned the very tools that ensured my victory over the old Terran Empire, for I wanted to avoid such an uprising against any member of the Global Federation of Free States, and I knew with absolute certainty that the only way the Empire could have stopped me was to have acted, above all, to preserve human life. This he failed to do, but as I reflect now upon the world I have built, upon the patchwork governments in which a soldier like myself no longer has any place, I believe that we will not be so weak.

 

- - -

 

This is fun. Now, do your worst.

 

EDIT: Oh, and I would recommend a rule that the same player can't use the same complete strategy twice - elements of it, perhaps, since so much of the work of tearing down regimes of the same general type is pretty much laid out for you, but not the whole plan.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Rache

[Pohaturon]

EDIT: Oh, and I would recommend a rule that the same player can't use the same complete strategy twice - elements of it, perhaps, since so much of the work of tearing down regimes of the same general type is pretty much laid out for you, but not the whole plan.

 

Good idea! I'll add that to the rule.

 

Also, great writeup. I won't be the one to topple your federation, but I can't wait to see someone else do so