M.E. Brines' Official Web Page
"There's
no I in team, but there is an M and an E."
M.E. Brines spent the Cold War assembling atomic artillery shells and preparing to unleash the Apocalypse (and has a medal to prove it.) But when peace broke out, he turned his fevered, paranoid imagination to other pursuits. Designer of more than twenty sci-fi wargames and the Fantasy Nations play-by-e-mail game (all available below) he spends his spare time scribbling yet another steampunk romance occult adventure novel, which despite certain rumors absolutely DOES NOT involve time-traveling Nazi vampires! (Not this time, anyway.)
A long-time student of the occult and committed Christian (sort of like Professor Van Helsing but without the advanced degree,) he is the author of two dozen books, e-books, chapbooks and pamphlets on esoteric subjects. Click here to view those available. His work has also appeared in Challenge magazine, The Traveller Chronicle, Midnight Times, The Outer Darkness, Tales of the Talisman, and The Willows .
Board Games
His games come in a zip-lock envelope and aren't flashy, but they are fun and that's all that's important, isn't it? Click on the link here to view the game catalog.
This could be YOU!
The
Fantasy Nations play-by-e-mail game
Ever wanted to create your own perfect society? Or be the heroic leader of a nation that looks to you for leadership? Or perhaps your fantasies are a bit darker - you see Revenge of the Sith as a movie where the real hero of Star Wars achieves his destiny. Now’s your chance to conquer and rule an empire!
In Fantasy Nations: Utopia the emphasis is on the fantasy. Make up your own origin myth. Your people could be any race (it’s your fantasy) based on any tribe or nation from history or fiction, or make up something new. You begin with a single Stone Age tribe, just arrived, coming ashore from their dugout canoes like the brave Polynesians to a new land beyond the known horizon. Or perhaps they are hardy pioneers wandering down from their ancestral caves in the mountains to invent agriculture in the lush valley below.
That world begins with nothing but terrain features, no existing cities, ruins, artifacts, legends or history - the players create all of those. Your people settle in any location you choose. Players can choose their worldview, employing technology, magic, religious fervor or any combination to grow their nation and fend off their enemies.
In the fullness of time your people will grow and multiply and make discoveries that increase their productivity and allow new types of equipment. As your production grows (either from natural increase or due to your brilliant foresight) your Knowledge increases, advancing your tech level (TL) into the Bronze Age, and beyond. This allows new equipment and new abilities, opening doors to new inventions.
Manna points represent magic. Players can develop particular locations, standing stones, wizard’s towers, sacred circles and the like to generate manna. An investment of around fourteen and a quarter production worth of sacrifices, spell components and rituals will generate one manna point per turn from that location. However, investments into Manna generation do not improve your knowledge or raise your tech level as magic and science are incompatible. Capture of those places of power by an enemy gives them control of the manna generated there. [In this way it is treated like production, which comes from the various settlements and cities, forcing magic users to have to defend physical locations just like other players.] For more information consult the Book of Shadows.
But the gods can be fickle. Karma points are gained by offerings to the gods whether in the construction of shrines and temples or as sacrifices. (Make up whatever pantheon you desire.) Karma is accumulated and used to offset adverse affects of natural disasters or enemy action. The gods can also be petitioned to intervene, turning the tide of battle or smiting your enemies at a distance.