Welcome to the Metropolis of Lugmere, a flying mechanical collection of floating isles, housing a population plagued
by rampant pollution and tense historical turmoil. Lugmere lives on its alien power source found at the center of
the capital, and trade economy ran by airships. Airships of all sizes and craft drift by the balconies of the
local populance as they fill the air with exhaust and advertisments. Every soul down to the rats know that falling
into the murky clouds below means certain death, but the tight alleyways and canals allow for lucky individuals to
grasp onto nearby buildings or other airships if they fell. However, it is not the distance that will end those poor
unlucky souls, but rather a horror so terrible that everyone lives in denial of its existence, except for
"The Mawful", a local cult who worships the being. They derive their will from this being, making the cult's
insignia of a headless body ever more appropriate.
The cult has since been banished to the undercity of the metropolis, where they worship the being in secret.
Known as "The Maw", she sits underneath the entirety of Lugmere, lurking below the center of the capital,
waiting for her chance to swallow up poor souls who drift or fall too close. Her exact size is unknown, but
it is known that compared to her gargantuan size, Lugmere is but the tip of a pin. The origins of the beast remain
unknown as well, as she recently arrived 223 years ago. Researchers and professors of Lugmere's most prestigious
"Orson Laboratories" theorize that she lost her way from The Outerworld, more specifically,
the Kingdom of R'yleh. Her appearance triggered the occasional arrival of outerworldly beasts, who
ambush travelers through mysterious rifts.
The Maw was sealed away 200 years ago with the help of a giant mechanical claw that grips so tight onto the beast
that at night, ear piercing wails of pain can be heard if you live close enough to the undercity district. Wires
stab into the creature so that with each cry, they light up to deliver power to the entire city. Strange liquids
ooze out of the wounds where the claw tears into The Maw, and is more cruel than even the most horrific of tortures.
This is the heart of Lugmere, a literal beating of energy that paved the way for 200 years of unprecedented
developments in science and research.
The world is ran on The Maw and a mysterious resource called "Flux". These delicate nugget sized ores are found
towards the base of all the isles, and glow with a tinge of light similar to electricity. Removing them will cause
the isle to slowly fall back to the surface, making Flux a limited resource. People have perished from
simply dropping unrefined Flux, as a single unit is enough to explode an entire airship. Therefore, it is illegal to
obtain vast quantities of the matter. It is also illegal to mine Flux from islands not dedicated to mining, because
it would doom anyone living on the landmass. Lugmere slowly lost its reliance on Flux in favor of The Maw, however
recent power surges and unidentifiable noises from The Maw forced the royal technicians to revisit the horror...
... The technicians reported that the beast is roaring and struggling, slowly weakening the grip of the
floating prison. They estimate that even with continuous reinforcement and additional Flux that the clamp can't hold
out for much longer before The Maw escapes Lugmere's hold. A call has been made to all citizens of the metropolis
to prepare for one of two outcomes; for them to help find a solution, or band together to take down the beast.
The announcement panicked the population, causing some to go insane or defect to the local cult. Either way, both
victim's symptoms would warrant them a room in Lugmere's Insane Asylum. However, they are correct to fear fate,
because if The Maw escapes, Lugmere would revert to primitive times, using Flux again. The government knows that
if this were to happen, Lugmere would be doomed because it would be only a matter of time before Flux becomes scarce,
promoting stealing, violence, and Lugmere plummeting, returning to the surface once more.
It is up to you to find a way to save Lugmere.
Sorry for the janky appearence but pls roll with it. I wrote this in python and it doesn't get along with html, so in retrospect should've used js, but eh I wanted to learn python. But here's how to actually start playing:
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME IS TO EARN THE HIGHEST SCORE. AT THE END OF THE GAME, EACH PLAYER'S SCORE IS CALCULATED BASED ON
THEIR TOTAL RESOURCES. THE GAME HAS 7 MAIN RESOURCES:
[Credits, Food, Fuel, Hull, Stress, Crew, Wisdom]
PLAYERS WHO RESOLVE THE MAW CONFLICT WILL GAIN A BONUS.
LUGMERE STARTS WITH A DOOM COUNTER OF 13. THE PLAYERS ENCOUNTER THE MAW WHEN THIS IS REDUCED TO 0.
EACH TURN THE DOOM COUNTER TICKS DOWN BY 1.
AT THE END OF EACH TURN, YOU MUST FEED YOUR PARTY INCLUDING YOURSELF, ONE FOOD EACH. IF YOUR CREW CANNOT BE FED,
THEY WILL STARVE AND YOU WILL LOSE 5 SANITY PER DEATH.
IF YOUR SANITY DROPS TO ZERO OR YOUR HULL DROPS TO ZERO, YOU BECOME DISABLED AND WILL SPEND TURNS TO RECOVER.
IF YOU ARE DISABLED ON THE FINAL TURN, YOU WILL NOT ENCOUNTER THE MAW.
EACH TURN YOU CAN SELECT ONE OF SIX ACTIONS:
Lugmere's Loss is a project that I made because of a couple summer goals I had. One of these goals was to make a game a month, and the other is to learn more about HTML, CSS, and Python. I took inspiration from a board game called "Eldritch Horror" (if you play that then this, you'll find several similarities) because I liked how hopeless the game made you feel, yet for the most part it was an illusion. I tried to do the same with Lugmere's Loss by writing it using tropes from Steampunk and Lovecraftian Horror literature. However, considering that I'm not a writer, it was by far the most time consuming and possibly the weakest part of the entire game, but I'll let you decide that.
Joshua Maza (7/19/2018)
If you want to see more of my projects, you can check out my github by clicking here.