THE CHITIN COLONIES
DESIGNER NOTES
On my first website, I introduced the Magnesia Galaxy. This was a New Galaxy whose empires were all based on Insects. That name never sat well with me, partially because it did not immediately inform the reader what the galaxy was about. Now, the Magnesia Galaxy returns, this time renamed as the Chitin Colonies.
The Chitin Colonies uses Magnetic Weaponry, which takes various forms, but none so pervasive than as “Phasers.” These “Magnetic Phasers” are rapid fire weapons, firing over a series of impulses. Although their damage output is very low, they gain the advantage of scoring Mizia damage. This whole “rapid fire, multi-impulse, very low damage” concept would also be incorporated into other types of Magnetic Weaponry.
Another design concept built into the Chitin Colonies is the idea of Magnetic Maneuvers for each empire. These are specialized maneuvers that allow ships of that empire to move in unique ways. The Magnesia Galaxy originally established these Magnetic Maneuvers, but playtesting showed they were too numerous and too complicated, easily throwing off game balance during battles. This will be corrected in the Chitin Colonies.
Magnesia starships were supposed to be small and fragile, mimicking the biology of actual insects. Sadly, the original Magnesia SSD’s turned out to be the opposite, ending up so large that the page was crammed full of information and tables. I believe this happened because I was trying to exactly mirror the number of systems and internals of Alpha Sector starships. This will no longer be the case in the Chitin Colonies because their “Heavy Cruiser” will be smaller and more fragile to begin within, nothing approaching the size of an Alpha Sector Heavy Cruiser.
The starships of the Chitin Colonies are meant to be fast, maneuverable, and fragile, with multi attacks that score little damage, just like actual insects. However, the use of Tactics in order to achieve victory must still be imperative. Given the Design Paradigm of the Chitin Colonies, it is clear that they should not be flown against other galaxies (or Alpha or Omega), but rather only playtested against other empires who also reside within the Chitin Colonies.
