Taken from the Warpath Classic Help File (Without permission, but I'm sure Dan Samuel won't mind...)
Warpath places you in the distant future of a galaxy not unlike our own. In this galaxy, seven empires have evolved, spread out and discovered they were not alone. After the usual adolescent conflict stage, the empires settled down to a long period of quasi-peace. Four empires have ascended to pre-eminence and have divided the galaxy between them into four quadrants, each ruled by a different house. The peace between houses is maintained by an artificial energy barrier which separates the quadrants. This barrier was designed to destroy any ship which attempted to leave its home quadrant.
Progress is sometimes the enemy of peace. The Simpson's Chaos theory of AD 4923 led to the development of the chaos-deflecting shield layer. For the first time, it was possible to add shield layers together for a cumulative effect. As a result, it is now possible to cross the energy barriers separating the quadrants, although it is still very damaging to a fully equipped ship, and there is no guarantee you will survive.
Into this universe, you were born. Your youth on the home planet of your quadrant was uneventful. However, recently a major change has come to the galaxy... The Path. Although knowledge of the Path was suppressed for millenium by the philosophers of the galaxy, a popular television show has released its details to the masses. It is now known that all philosophical and economic pursuits can be divided into two Paths: The Path of Peace (symbolized by the green flag) and the Path of War (symbolized by the red flag).
As news of the Paths spread throughout the galaxy, each of the four galactic houses were quick to adopt one Path or the other. The other planets, always slow to adopt to new trends, have remained uncommitted (as symbolized by the yellow aura of indecision).
Your job is to embrace the Path of your empire, and to influence the uncommitted planets into following your Path. Of course, you may have a fundamental disagreement with the Path of your empire and may choose to create a Path of your own.
