This is the rulebook for the STARWEB play-by-mail game, a game of 15 stellar empires clashing over 255 worlds. Everyone starts out equally, each with one homeworld. The object of the game is to be the first to get approximately 10,000 victory points. When you sign up for a game, you get to pick one of 6 different "character types", each of which gets victory points for different things:

The EMPIRE BUILDER gets points for owning worlds, industry, mines, and population.

The APOSTLE gets points for converting population to his religion. Just by having a fleet at one of your worlds, he converts some of your population, and if he converts the entire population of the world, he captures the world without firing a shot! But if you shoot at the converted ones, he gets even more points for the `martyrs'!
The PIRATE gets points for owning fleets and for plundering worlds. He is the only player who can capture your fleets from you instead of destroying them.

The MERCHANT gets points for carrying metal for people to their homeworlds.

The ARTIFACT COLLECTOR gets points for accumulating the various artifacts that are scattered throughout the game.

The BERSERKER gets points for killing things, and a bonus for destroying an entire planet!