Sponsor: RefSteel
Opening Date: Friday, December 31, 2010
Duration: Four Weeks and a Weekend
Map Generation: Random (Unedited except as noted below)

Race: Psilons
Difficulty: Impossible
Galaxy Size: Medium
Opponents: Five
Color: White as Snow
Events: On, except that the Industrial Accident (Radiation) and Rebellion events have been turned off in the save file.

Scenario: It's time for the third annual Master of Orion Holiday Special! Peace, Love, and Joy shall reign across the galaxy! While the season lasts, at least....

'Tis the season to be Jolly - Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la-la!
Kindness 'turn for aliens' folly - Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la-la!
What's next season? Please reca-all - Fa-la-la la-la la-la-la:
Open season on them a-all! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha!!!

Variant rules: It's the Season of Peace and Joy and All that Other Good Stuff to which No One Pays Much Attention for the Rest of the Year, Nor Really Any More So at This Time to be Honest! Yay Peace!!! For now. The Holiday Season begins when the game does, and the following rules all apply:
1) It's time to be at home with the family. (No, really - that's why this Imperium is starting so late this time....) We may not send transports anywhere at any time!
2) It's the Season of Peace: We may not intentionally send a starship to any star with an alien colony unless we have an alliance with that star's owner.
2a) Also, if for whatever reason we find ourselves with a fleet in orbit above a non-allied alien colony anyway, we must immediately dispatch it elsewhere.
2b) Also also, if - in spite of our best efforts - we ever find outselves in combat with an alien starship that is NOT over one of our OWN colonies, we must immediately retreat all our ships from combat. Of course however, if our friends are courteous enough to retreat first, our fleet is then under no obligation to leave.
3) Okay, it's the Season of Giving, right? But there's a reason we call them gift exchanges. "Offering tribute" is not the same as giving a gift. We may not offer tribute to any alien race. Tech trading that grossly favors our trading partner is 100% okay, but of course they'll never thank us for that anyway.
4) The Holiday Season ends with the Jubilee Year of 2500. Beginning in 2501, ALL these rules are off the table! The scoring won't reflect anything after the Jubilee anyway; just win any way you can.

Scoring: This event has custom scoring. SCORING IS OPTIONAL. You are not required to track your score if you prefer not to do so. If you do wish your game to be scored, make a note of your victory date and the other races' feelings toward you in 2500 (or just before you win the game - whichever comes first). Scores will be computed as follows:

Winning on or before 2500: +50

Each year remaining before 2500 when you win: +1 (e.g. if you win the 2450 High Council election, award yourself 50 additional points.)

For each alien race with which you have contact in 2500 (or when you win, whichever is soonest) score points according to their relations with you on the Races screen:
(If you didn't expect to win when you did and have to reload to the autosave to see the races screen, you can use your relations at the save point.)

Feud: 0 points
Hate: 0 points
Discord: 0 points
Troubled: 2 points
Tense: 2 points
Restless: 4 points
Wary: 6 points
Unease: 8 points
Neutral: 10 points
Relaxed: 12 points
Amiable: 14 points
Calm: 16 points
Affable: 18 points
Peaceful: 20 points
Friendly: 22 points
Unity: 25 points
Harmony: 30 points

(Yes, this is identical to Sullla's diplo scoring chart for Imperium 11!)

Note: It is not possible to achieve relations better than "Peaceful" with any race unless you are Allied to that race. On the other hand, if an ally is at war with someone, they will surely ask you to declare war against them too. You may agree to this, but of course you can't actually attack your "enemy" until 2501....

Closing Date: Monday, January 31, 2011. Reports due by the end of Tuesday, February 1, your local time.

Download Imperium 34!