Sunday, May 31, 2015

Proposal: Not So Fast, Taffer

Reached quorum 4 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 01 Jun 2015 08:56:00 UTC

In the Meddling rule, add a new action:-

  • Lock Doors: Explore actions may not be taken for the remainder of the current New Day; any Shifter who took an Explore action earlier in the current New Day loses 1 Awareness for each time they took the action. The Lock Doors action can only be taken by a Shifter taking the Form of a Guard.

Day Six Dawns

Two heavy books slap onto the library floor, and the Porter and a Guard walk out through different doorways. In the empty dining hall, a Servant clears the table.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

The wobbly occasional table

Sorry about idling out.  Real life came by and kicked me in the butt.  Hopefully I’ll be able to fully rejoin in the next week or so.  I had some ideas but will need to catch up to see if they still make sense.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Proposal: Pognomic

Timed out / quorumed, 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 31 May 2015 14:36:00 UTC

Add a new rule called “Collectibles” with the following text:

Shifters sometimes carve figurines of the Humans they have known in their time at the castle. It is said to be very difficult to collect a “full set” of the Individual figurines. Shifters may not collect multiples of the same figurine; this behavior would be gauche, and display too much attachment to a given Form. A Shifter’s figurine collection is tracked privately, not in the GNDT.

Two Shifters may trade poses in the comments of the most recent New Day Dawning post. To make such a trade, a Shifter may offer the opportunity to carve their current Form. Other Shifters may respond, offering the opportunity to carve their own current Form to the first Shifter. Should the first Shifter make another comment in agreement to a specific respondent, each of the two Shifters gains a figurine of the other’s Form. A Shifter may only gain a figurine in this way twice per New Day. Once another New Day Dawning post is made, any partial trades that were not completed in comments of the previous New Day Dawning post are considered void.

In addition, a Shifter may carve in foretelling. If a Shifter’s Storytelling Comment has come True, the Shifter who posted it may, once during the following New Day, gain a figurine of any one of the Humans named in their Storytelling Comment.

Any Shifter who has a figurine collection that includes each Individual Human, and can prove as much by citing specific comments, has achieved victory.

If the item “The Child” exists in the list in the rule “Humans,” change the last sentence of “Collectibles” to read:

Any Shifter who has a figurine collection that includes each Individual Human (except The Child), and can prove as much by citing specific comments, has achieved victory.

Maybe a little more interesting than “get the highest number.”

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Proposal: Faction Action

Timed out / quorumed 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 31 May 2015 14:35:15 UTC

Add a new action to the list in the rule “Meddling”:-

  • Struggle: The single Faction with the most members (if any) becomes Ascendant for the remainder of the current New Day, and all others become in Decline for that time. If a Faction is Ascendant, the Forest should increase the Cover of each of its Members by 3, if it has not already done so during the current New Day. If a Faction is in Decline, the Forest should decrease the Cover of each of its Members by 3, if it has not already done so during the current New Day.

Extra Hatstand

Wildcard idles out after a week of inactivity. Quorum remains 4, but a “quorum of Shifters” for the purposes of New Days drops to 3.

Proposal: Less Boring Victory Condition

Self-killed. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 31 May 2015 14:34:42 UTC

Repeal the dynastic rule “Victory”, if it exists.

Add a new Human to the list in the rule “Humans”:-

  • The Child - 50

Add a new action to the list in the rule “Meddling”:-

  • Become Heir: If only one Shifter has the form of the Child, then that Shifter achieves victory and this Meddling action may not be taken again.

In the action “Eject”, change “Nominate an Individual Human in this Meddling’s comment” to:-

Nominate an Individual Human (other than the Child) in this Meddling’s comment

Some theme to explain what having 50 Cover means.

Day Five Dawns

The Lord nonchalantly explores his private library, looking up with a slightly glassy stare as his wife enters. In the otherwise empty dining hall, a Guest tucks into a recently served selection of local meats.

Occasional Table

Dfp idles out after a full week of inactivity. Quorum drops to 4.

Proposal: Boring Victory Condition

Times out / quorums, 4 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 31 May 2015 14:31:58 UTC

Add a new rule, “Victory,” as follows:

Should any Shifter have a Cover higher than 50, and a higher Cover than any other Shifter, that Shifter has achieved victory.

If anyone has any better ideas I’m happy to hear them.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Proposal: One Day A Week

Reached quorum 4 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 28 May 2015 16:00:23 UTC

In the rule “New Day”, replace “If the Forest has received Intentions to change (or maintain) their form from a Quorum of Shifters, then, as the Forest’s next game action taken under a dynastic rule, the Forest must announce a New Day, notwithstanding any other rule which precludes a New Day from beginning.” with:-

The Forest should announce a New Day if it has received Intentions to change (or maintain) a form from a Quorum of Shifters, or if the most recent New Day Dawns blog post is more than a week old.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Proposal: Kingmaker

Times out 1 vote to 1, with 1 unresolved DEF and an abstention from the Forest. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 28 May 2015 15:51:52 UTC

Add a new Human to the list in the rule “Humans:”

  • The Harbinger—40

Add a new item to the list in the rule “Meddling:”

  • Pronounce: This action can only be taken by a Shifter taking the for of the Harbinger, and only once per New Day. Choose one Faction. Announce in the comments of the latest New Day Dawning post that this Faction has been chosen to raise its banner over the castle. Once such a Pronouncement has been made, Shifters may not change their Alignment until the next New Day. If one Shifter who is a member of the named Faction has a higher Cover than all other members of that Faction, and is not the Harbinger, that Shifter has achieved victory.

 

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Proposal: Tattletales

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 26 May 2015 17:49:37 UTC

Add a new rule, “Storytelling”:

Shifters in the castle sometimes find themselves acting out cyclical stories. A clever Shifter may anticipate the roles in stories that they and other Shifters are taking on.

During a given New Day, a Shifter may make at most one Storytelling Comment on the most recent New Day Dawns blog post. Such a comment names three distinct Humans and three descriptive phrases about the circumstances in which they might appear in the castle. A comment that does not fit these criteria is not a valid Storytelling Comment; if a Shifter posts more than one valid Storytelling Comment, none of them are valid. An example of a valid Storytelling Comment might be:

The Lord, the Cook, a Stranger. The dim courtyard, the spring rain, a shattered dish.

Should all three of the named Human Forms be taken by Shifters at the Dawn of the following New Day, the Storytelling Comment is True. If not, it is False.

If there exists a rule called “Awareness,” add the following text to the rule as well:

If a Storytelling Comment has come True, the Shifter who posted it may, once during the following New Day, increase or decrease their Awareness by up to 2.

If there exists a rule called “Awareness,” add the following text to the rule “Awareness”:

A Shifter may set their own Awareness to 0 at any time.

Proposal: We only gain once….

Failed 1 vote to 5, number of Shifters not voting against is less than quorum. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 26 May 2015 17:47:26 UTC

In the rule “Proposal Bonus” replace

If every Shifter has claimed Cover in this way, any Shifter may repeal this rule.

with

If a Quorum of Shifters has claimed Cover in this way, any Shifter may repeal this rule.

 

Per Kevan’s advice here. ;-)

Proposal: Look Around You

Timed out 2 votes to 1. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 26 May 2015 17:44:16 UTC

If a rule called “Awareness” exists, add two Meddling actions to the rule “Meddling”:-

  • Explore: The Meddling Shifter gains 1 Awareness.
  • Blend In: The Meddling Shifter loses 1 Awareness.

Proposal: Canny Worms

Passes 5-0. Enacted by Brendan.

Adminned at 25 May 2015 15:05:56 UTC

Add a new rule, “Awareness”:

Each Shifter has an Awareness score, which is an integer between -3 and 3, inclusive, which defaults to 0, and which is tracked in the GNDT.

Should a Shifter’s Awareness score be greater than 0, when they assume a new Form, they may, once during the following New Day, add an amount equal to their Awareness to their Cover score.

Should a Shifter’s Awareness score be less than 0, when they maintain their current Form through a Dawn, they may, once during the following New Day, add an amount equal to the absolute value of their Awareness to their Cover score.

Delete the item starting with “Any Shifter who declared an Intention to maintain their current Form…” from the list in the rule “New Day.”

Friday, May 22, 2015

Proposal: Modest Proposals

Times out 4 votes to 1. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 24 May 2015 18:16:18 UTC

Enact a new rule, “Proposal Bonus”:-

At any time, a Shifter may gain 2 Cover if they have posted a proposal in the previous 24 hours, and if they have not already claimed 2 Cover in this way previously in the dynasty. If every Shifter has claimed Cover in this way, any Shifter may repeal this rule.

In the past week we’ve had just two proposals from a player who isn’t the Forest. We’re barely playing Nomic at this point, so here’s a gentle nudge to encourage some noise.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Proposal: Cover Up

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 22 May 2015 17:59:15 UTC

In “New Day”, replace the “Any Shifter who declared an Intention to maintain their current Form gains 1 Cover.” bullet with:

Any Shifter who declared an Intention to maintain their current Form gains 2 Cover if their Cover is less than their current Form’s Reputation, or 1 Cover otherwise.

Proposal: Base Meddle

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 22 May 2015 08:35:11 UTC

In “Meddling”, replace “by paying its cost (shown in brackets after the name of the action) from their own Cover” with:-

by paying X Cover (where X is the number of Meddling actions the Meddling Shifter has taken earlier during the current New Day)

Remove all bracketed costs from Meddling actions.

Reproposing the basic recosting idea of the my last proposal.

Day Four Dawns

As the Porter storms into the kitchen looking to eject the Cook, two Servants leave simultaneously through different doors, adjusting their caps. The lost Guest wanders on through the corridors and the Lord continues to gaze down distractedly from his balcony.

Playing Goosberry

With no posts or comments in over a week, the formless stranger Goosberry disappears into a dead-end corridor, leaving only a decorative wooden chair.

Quorum remains 5, and a “Quorum of Shifters” for the purposes of the New Day rule (which does not consider the Forest to be a Shifter) drops to 4.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Proposal: Squeezed Meddle

Self-killed. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 20 May 2015 06:56:20 UTC

In “New Day”, replace “by paying its cost (shown in brackets after the name of the action) from their own Cover” with:-

by paying X Cover (where X is the number of Meddling actions the Meddling Shifter has taken earlier during the current New Day)

Remove all bracketed costs from Meddling actions.

In the effect of “Reassure”, change “If every Shifter’s Cover is less than their Form’s Reputation, increase the Cover of all Shifters by 1.” to:-

Choose at least three Forms, and increase the Cover of each Shifter who has taken any of those Forms by 3.

Making each Shifter’s first Meddling of the day free of charge, and subsequent ones increasing in cost by 1 Cover, to encourage more things to happen.

Day Three Dawns

A cloudy and uneventful morning. Two identical Cooks stare each other down across an empty kitchen, while the Chaplain shuffles prayer books in the chapel and a Guest lingers in the corridors. For the first time since the revels, the Lord emerges from his chambers, looking down across the castle from his balcony.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Proposal: Blown Cover

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 19 May 2015 13:18:58 UTC

Amend the “Meddling Knids” rule to include the following action:

  • Blow a Cover (2): Choose one Shifter (who is not a Stranger) who has a Cover that is less than the Reputation of their Form. Announce in the latest New Day Dawning post that that Shifter’s cover has been blown. If yours is the first such announcement for that shifter in the latest New Day Dawns post, change that Shifter’s Form immediately to Stranger. In addition, if the Shifter’s previous Form was that of an Individual Human, reduce to cover of all other Shifters currently in the same Form by 2 points (due to increased scrutiny).

If enacted, this amendment will not take effect until the next New Day.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Proposal: Dawn Porous

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 18 May 2015 18:25:44 UTC

If rule “New Day” exists, replace “as the Forest’s next game action” with:-

as the Forest’s next game action taken under a dynastic rule

The proposed rule prevents me from voting on proposals and CfJs while a Dawn is due.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Proposal: The Days They Are A Changin’

Reached quorum 7 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 18 May 2015 18:23:56 UTC

Amend the rule “Form” as follows:

Each Shifter has a Form, which is that of a single Human. It is tracked in the GNDT and defaults to “A Stranger” (which may be tracked as “-”; all other Forms are tracked as the name of the Human, minus the word “The” or “A”).

A Shifter may declare an Intention to change their Form (or to maintain their current Form) by sending a private message to the Forest to this effect.

Enact a new rule “New Day” as follows:

If the Forest has received Intentions to change (or maintain) their form from a Quorum of Shifters, then, as the Forest’s next game action, the Forest must announce a New Day, notwithstanding any other rule which precludes a New Day from beginning.

A New Day is defined as the time period commencing at Dawn and continuing until the next Dawn, if any. Dawn is the instant immediately following the Forest’s announcement of a New Day.

The Forest announces a New Day by making a New Day Dawns blog post. At that time, the Forest must apply the following New Day Dawns gamestate changes, in order:

  1. Any Shifter who declared an Intention to change their Form to a Form whose Reputation is less than or equal to the Shifter’s is given that Form.
  2. Any Shifter who declared an Intention to change their Form to a Form whose Reputation is greater than the Shifter’s is given the Form of A Stranger.
  3. Any Shifter who declared an Intention to maintain their current Form gains 1 Cover.
  4. If any two or more Shifters have the same Form, and that Form is the Form of an Individual Human, then those Shifters each lose 2 Cover.
  5. All prior Intentions are no longer considered to be Intentions.

Formalizing the “New Day Dawns” procedure and defining what a “New Day” is.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Day Two Dawns

The morning is one of amused whispers among the serving staff, full of stories of disorientation in the castle’s corridors, of its inhabitants emerging from inappropriate rooms in strange modes of dress, and struggling with locked doors. They put it down to a slow recovery from the midsummer celebrations.

Two Strangers take an apologetic route through the Cook’s kitchen and out of the bailey, the Porter holding the heavy wooden door open. They pass a dishevelled Guest walking the other way.

Shifters are reminded that the current rules preclude the adoption of “a Form whose Reputation is higher than their Cover”.

Proposal: Turn and Face the Strange

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 16 May 2015 06:55:44 UTC

Replace the second, third and fourth paragraphs of “Form” with:-

A Shifter may declare an Intention to change their Form (or to maintain their current Form) by sending a private message to the Forest to this effect.

If the Forest has received Intentions from a Quorum of Shifters, then it may announce in a blog entry that a new Day has Dawned, applying the following effects in order:

  • Any Shifter who declared an Intention to change their Form is given that Form (unless its Reputation is higher than the Shifter’s Cover).
  • Any Shifter who declared an Intention to maintain their current Form gains 1 Cover.
  • If any two or more Shifters have the same Form, and that Form is the Form of an Individual Human, then those Shifters each lose 2 Cover.
  • All prior Intentions are no longer considered to be Intentions.

Fixing an ambiguity pointed out in a private message (are you “changing” your Form if you’re keeping the same one?), and turning the Day Dawn into a list of effects - rolling in the -2 Cover penalty since I might as well always do it myself.

Adding a +1 Cover bonus for consciously maintaining the same Form for a day.

Proposal: Bronze Meddle

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 16 May 2015 06:54:19 UTC

In “Meddling”, reword the bulleted list to:-

  • Gossip (1): Raise or lower the Reputation of any Human (excluding the Meddling Shifter’s current Form) by up to 10% of its previous value.
  • Reassure (0) If every Shifter’s Cover is less than their Form’s Reputation, increase the Cover of all Shifters by 1. This action can only be taken by a Shifter taking the Form of the Lord.
  • Feast (2) Lower the Reputation of all Individual Humans by 3, to a minimum of zero. This action can only be taken by a Shifter taking the Form of the Cook.
  • Eject (2) Nominate an Individual Human in this Meddling’s comment; at the next Day’s Dawn, any Shifter who would have that Form at the end of it instead becomes a Stranger. This action can only be taken by a Shifter taking the Form of the Porter.

Abilities for some Individual Humans, and a minor clarification of Gossip (“previous”, not “starting”).

Friday, May 15, 2015

Proposal: Guild Wars

Self-killed. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 13:59:26 UTC

Create a new rule, Incapacitated:

Each Individual Human can be Incapacitated in one of five ways: the Human can be Killed, Drugged, Abducted, Banished, or Imprisoned. If a Human is Incapacitated, then the way that they are Incapacitated is indicated after the Human’s Reputation.

After the bulleted list in the rule “Factions”, add the following paragraph:

Each Faction, except The Silence, is Run by one Individual (the Faction’s Master). Each Faction has a Goal. The Goal of each Faction other than The Silence is for one Individual other than the Master of that Faction to be Incapacitated in a specific way. This Individual is known as the Faction’s Target, and the way of Incapacitating the Target is known as the Faction’s Method. The Forest privately keeps a list of the Masters, the Targets, and the Methods of each Faction. (Each of these facets of a Faction can change over the course of the dynasty.)

If the Forest has not created a list of the Masters, the Targets, and the Methods of each Faction, they should do so, assigning Individuals randomly to the list of Masters and Targets and assigning ways of Incapacitating Individuals randomly to the list of Methods, making sure that each Individual is represented exactly once in the list of Masters, that each Individual is represented exactly once in the list of Targets, that no Faction has one Individual as both its Master and Target, and that each way of Incapacitating a Human is represented exactly once in the list of Methods. If the Forest has created such a list, then the Forest should repeal this paragraph.

The Silence’s Goal is to get each Individual Killed.

 

I’m not sold on the Silence’s Goal, but I figured I’d put it in there for completeness. Note that this doesn’t actually set any win-cons, it just sets the stage for them.

Proposal: Playing the Part

Number of players not voting against is less than quorum, 1 vote FOR to 5 AGAINST. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 13:54:05 UTC

Add a new term to the “Keywords” appendix:

New Day
The period of time beginning at a New Day Dawns post and extending up to, but not including, the next New Day Dawns post, if any.

Enact a new rule, “Playing the Part”:

Once per New Day, any Shifter who is in the Form of an Individual Human may Play the Part.  They do this by posting a Playing the Part votable story post.  The story must take the form of a dialog between the Shifter’s Form and a different Individual Human Form, and must be titled “Playing the Part: The Shifter’s Form and the Other Form” (for example, a Shifter who is in the Form of The Lord might post “Playing the part: The Lord and the Chaplain”).

Other Shifters decide if this Playing the Part story fits the Shifter’s Form and vote For or Against.  An Against vote must be accompanied by a specific reason of why some or all of the dialog does not fit the Shifter’s Form; any Against vote that is not accompanied by a reason shall not be considered a valid vote.

A Playing the Part story post may be resolved by any Admin if the story post has been open for at least 12 hours and has at least a quorum of valid votes (whether For or Against).  The author of a Playing the Part story post is not considered to have a valid vote.  If, at the time the story post is resolved, the story post has at least twice as many valid For votes as valid Against votes, then the author is deemed to have Played the Part, and gains 5 Cover points.  If there are not sufficient valid For votes, then the author is deemed to have Flubbed It, and loses 2 Cover points.

The Forest may not announce that a New Day has Dawned if any Playing the Part story posts are unresolved.

 

Let’s see how this goes.  I’m not entirely sure about the voting mechanic.

The New Day Keywords entry is needed to avoid ambiguity when referring to a Day (is it a real Day or a game Day).

Proposal: Laying Low

Self-killed. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 08:58:09 UTC

Enact a new rule “Laying Low” :

When a New Day Dawns, any Shifter whose Cover did not decrease since the previous New Day gains 2 Cover.

 

Proposal: Meddling Knids

Reached quorum 6 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 08:57:14 UTC

If a rule called “Gossip” exists, repeal it.

Enact a new rule, “Meddling”:-

A Shifter may take any of the following Meddling actions at any time by paying its cost (shown in brackets after the name of the action) from their own Cover, making any gamestate updates required of it, and mentioning the Meddling as a comment on the most recent Day Dawning post. A Shifter may not Meddle if their Cover would be reduced to zero or lower as a result of paying its cost.

  • Gossip (1): Raise or lower the Reputation of any Human (excluding the causing Shifter’s current Form) by up to 10% of its starting value.

Changing Sylphrena’s Gossip from a once-per-Day race into a free action with a small cost. And making it into a framework for other possible actions.

Proposal: Bad Cover Version

Reached quorum 6 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 08:56:12 UTC

Remove “If a Form’s Reputation would increase, the Cover of each Shifter with that Form decreases by the same amount.” from the ruleset, and add a paragraph to “Form”:-

If a Shifter would adopt a Form whose Reputation is higher than their Cover (and if that Form is not that of a Stranger), they instead become a Stranger.

Change the Reputation of a Servant to 10.

Replacing the ambiguous Reputation/Cover mechanic with one where blown cover makes it harder to mimic prominent humans.

Also lowering the Servants’ Reputations: it makes sense that they would have more opportunities to affect things, but I’m not sure that’s the same as “Reputation”, and it would sit oddly with this new mechanic.

A New Day Dawns

In the bustle of the courtyard, a Servant helps the Porter to carry the heavy wooden tables away, while the Cook collects leftover cutlery. Standing in opposite doorways across the open space, two Chaplains briefly make eye contact.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Proposal: He said WHAT?

Vetoed to keep the queue moving. Failed by Kevan.

Adminned at 15 May 2015 08:55:20 UTC

If “Popular” does not pass, this proposal does nothing.

Add a new subrule to the rule Reputation, “Gossip”:

If no Shifter has Gossiped since the Dawning of the most Recent Day, a Shifter may Gossip. A Shifter (the Gossiper) may do this by making a Story Post (known as a Gossip Post) with a title containing the word “Gossip” and the name of a Form.

In the body of the Gossip Post, the Gossiper shall write the nature of the gossip and put a Reputation Modifier, which is an integer which may be positive or negative and has a maximum of [The Gossiper’s Current Form’s Reputation]/10, rounded down.

At the Forest’s first opportunity, but before the next Day Dawns, the Forest shall either veto the Gossip Post or apply the Reputation Modifier to the named Form’s Reputation. The Forest should veto Gossip Posts if and only if the Forest does not believe that the gossip contained in the Gossip Post could realistically modify the named Form’s Reputation in the way implied by the Gossip Post.

Yes, I expect the topics of gossip started by shapeshifting monsters about the lords and ladies of the castle to be realistic. Luckily, in this case claiming that someone’s a shapeshifting monster is actually realistic.

Proposal: Popular

Reached quorum 5 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 14 May 2015 18:46:19 UTC

Reword the bulleted list in the rule “Humans” to read:

• The Lord—15
• The Lady—25
• The Chaplain—30
• The Cook—20
• The Porter—10
• A Guard—26
• A Servant—32
• A Guest—17
• A Stranger—8

Enact a new rule, “Reputation”:

Each Form has an associated Reputation, which is an integer between 0 and 40 (inclusive) indicated by the number after the name of the Form in the rule “Humans.”

If “The Nightmare Cooperative” passes, add the following sentence to the end of the rule “Reputation”:

If a Form’s Reputation would increase, the Cover of each Shifter with that Form decreases by the same amount.

At high Reputation, a Shifter’s actions have more effect on the kingdom but it’s harder to do things subtly.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Proposal: The Nightmare Cooperative

Reached quorum 7 votes to 1. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 14 May 2015 08:46:33 UTC

Add the following to the end of the rule called “Humans”:

Any Human designated with a definite article (eg “The”) is an Individual. Any Human designated with an indefinite article (eg “A”) is a Class.

Add a new rule to the ruleset, entitled Infiltration:

Each Shifter has a Cover score, which is a numerical value tracked in the GNDT, and which defaults to 20.

Add the following to the end of the rule called “Form”:

If any two or more Shifters have the same Form, and that Form is the Form of an Individual Human, then any other Shifter (or the Forest) may reduce the Cover of those Shifters by 2 each, provided that none of those Shifters have been so penalised since the last time a Day Dawned.

A bit of a reworking of Sylphrena’s Risky Business.

Proposal: Factions and Alignment

Reached quorum 7 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 14 May 2015 08:42:50 UTC

Enact a new rule, “Factions”:-

There are known to exist a number of Factions in the Kingdom:-

  • The Black Roses
  • Nightstalkers
  • Players of Fate
  • The Silence
  • Tinkerers
  • Wardens

Enact a new rule, “Alignment”:-

At any one time, each Shifter is either Unaligned or is Aligned with one of the Factions.  An Unaligned Shifter may Align themselves with a Faction, or an Aligned Shifter may become Unaligned, by sending a private message to the Forest to this effect.  When a new Day dawns, each Shifter’s alignment changes in accordance with the last alignment change received from that Shifter by the Forest.  All Shifters start out Unaligned.

Shifters’ Alignment status are secret, known only by the Shifter and the Forest unless revealed by the Shifter.  If the Shifter changes Alignment, the Shifter’s new Alignment is once again secret, as is the fact that their Alignment even changed.

 

The kingdom is divided against itself.  Factions vie in secret for control of the Throne.  While the names of these Factions are known, their purposes are only rumors whispered in the dark

I hope that these allow for future actions, penalties, and/or rewards based on factions

Proposal: Not managed by trees

Reached quorum 7 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 12 May 2015 21:26:14 UTC

In the rule “The Forest”, remove the following text.

(aka the Manager)

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Proposal: Risky Business

Illegal proposal: Sylphrena was still idle at the time of its posting, and only non-idle Shifters are permitted to post proposals. Flagged by Kevan.

Adminned at 12 May 2015 07:32:12 UTC

If “Form Follows Function” does not pass, this proposal does nothing.

Add a new rule, “Discovered!”:

If a Shifter is Discovered, that Shifter’s Form immediately becomes A Stranger.

Add a new subrule to the rule “Discovered!” Called “Risk”:

Any Form that contains the article “The” is Risky; any Form that contains the article “A” is Secure.

If more than one Shifter would have the same Risky Form, then the Forest shall privately and randomly select one of these Shifters. The other Shifters with this Form are Discovered.

Back from the a-long-away-away

I would like to become a player.

Wild Card.

One more shifter

I’d love to unidle for this dynasty!

Proposal: Form Follows Function

Reached quorum 6 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 12 May 2015 15:24:18 UTC

Enact a new rule “Form”:-

Each Shifter has a Form, which is that of a single Human. It is tracked in the GNDT and defaults to “A Stranger” (which may be tracked as “-”; all other Forms are tracked as the name of the Human, minus the word “The” or “A”).

A Shifter may declare an Intention to change their Form by sending a private message to the Forest to this effect. If the Forest has received Intentions to change Form from a Quorum of Shifters, then it may announce that a new Day has Dawned, updating each Shifter’s Form to match their most recently declared Intention. Upon doing so, all prior Intentions are no longer considered to be Intentions.

Enact a new rule, “Humans”:-

Various Humans are known to occupy the castle. They are:-

  • The Lord
  • The Lady
  • The Chaplain
  • The Cook
  • The Porter
  • A Guard
  • A Servant
  • A Guest
  • A Stranger

Ascension Address: Who Goes There?

Early morning after the solstice, and the castle’s servants cut down the decorations and sweep the broad flagstones of the courtyard, skirting or awakening the few ivy-crowned revellers who remain slumped and asleep. The sun is bright as it breaks over the walls, but the light it casts seems somehow altered and unnatural.

A guard on the parapet squints against the sun and suddenly stands to attention, surprised to see the lord of the castle striding in through the forest gate, sword bloodied and glinting. But as the figure steps through and out of a shadow, the guard realises the sword is only a broom, carried by one of the taller servants.

Leaning forward on the stonework, he hears familiar footsteps rising from the nearby stairwell, and greets the other guard without looking up.

(Change “Cook” to “Shifter” and “Restaurant Manager” to “Forest” throughout the ruleset. Do not repeal the rule which becomes known as “The Forest”.)

Intention to Become a Player

Hi,

My account was just approved and I am interested in becoming a player for the next dynasty.

Thanks!
- Goosberry

Joining just in time for a new round

Hello!  I found this place just as it hit closing time, so I’ll be happy to be onboard for the next round.  I last played Nomicron a number of years ago and had a lot of fun, although Real Life took me away from it.  Looking forward to my time here.

- dfp

Declaration of Victory: Quantum Dessert

Reached quorum 4 votes to 0 after 12 hours with the Restaurant MAnager voting FOR. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 11 May 2015 22:15:04 UTC

Under the “Generous Tips” rule, each Cook has a number of a Customers affiliated to them, and a randomly-chosen Customer determines the dynasty’s winner. The number of Customers was either eight (five favouring me and three favouring Brendan) or six (five for me and one for Brendan) depending on whether Brendan’s most recent Soylent Xtreme recipe was legal. I’d questioned it here, but hadn’t yet had a response from Brendan.

But if we overlap the possible results there’s a fair chance that the legality wouldn’t make a difference anyway. So I rolled a quantum DICE24 to select a Customer from both sets simultaneously, stating that the result would be:

  • 1-15: Kevan wins whether or not Brendan’s Recipe was legal.
  • 16-20: Brendan wins if his Recipe was legal, otherwise Kevan wins.
  • 21-24: Brendan wins whether or not his Recipe was legal.

If I’d rolled in the middle band then we’d have to wait for a discussion or CfJ, but I rolled a 3. Whether or not Soylent Xtreme is a plausible Recipe, I have achieved victory.

Saturday, May 09, 2015

Story Post: Review af a Madman

Grumpily, Mad-Tongue Moody entered the restaurant. Everyone looked at him expecting to get to know the name of the next Reviewer. He only grunted: “Chiaki Ramen, Spicyness 6! Now, where is the garbage you call food around here? Let’s get this over with.”

With that, he proceeded to taste Darknight’s “A Not So Friendly Sting”: “Wuäääh!”, and he spit out, “you won’t get anything from me, boy! (This is a rating of - - - - -.) Does this even have anything in it? (Sweetness 6 Sourness 4 Umami 5 Spicyness 7) Do I have to continue? Really. Oh well!”
And he closed his dashing eyes and put a mouthfull of Kevan’s “Bee Thermidor aux Bicyclettes” in his mouth. A shock was seen on his face. He opened his eyes - in delight, and exclaimed: “Never tasted anything better! (The rating is * * * * *.) You have to try it! (Sweetness 10 Sourness 10 Umami 10 Spicyness 10 Now, I don’t want to leave anything, but I guess there’s another pile of ...” His voice trailed away when he literally saw the burned mass, piled up almost touching the ceiling, that was carried by four men into the restaurant room. Everyone there almost fainted, but Mad-Tongue Moody stepped forward and, almost celebratingly (is that a word) broke of a pice of the hill and crunched it. He never spoke a word. He also did not leave any leftovers. No one ever knew, what he tasted, but he later rated it * * * * *. He never talked again and thus, did not name a winner of the day.

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Proposal: Closing Time

Timed out 3 votes to 1. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 09 May 2015 22:21:11 UTC

Enact a new rule, “Generous Tips”:

Any Cook who was not a Cook on the 6th of May 2015 is not considered to be a Cook for the purposes of the remainder of this rule.

Each Cook has a Success score equal to twice the number of Reviewers who have praised him or her, plus the number of Awards the Cook has received.

A number of Customers exist equal to the total Success scores of every Cook. Each Customer Favours a single Cook, such that the number of Customers who Favour a particular Cook is equal to that Cook’s Success score.

If no Cook has already done so, any Cook may select a Customer at random. Upon doing so, the Cook who that Customer Favours has achieved victory.

Shame to have to do it, but perhaps it’s time to wrap things up with a weighted victory roll, if we’re down to just having three players taking a couple of available actions each per week, and if the core mechanic is something that the Manager isn’t able to speed up.

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Proposal: Well-Oiled Tagine

Reached quorum 4 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 06 May 2015 09:25:17 UTC

In “Review”, replace “The Restaurant Manager may post a Review if one has not been posted in the previous 48 hours, and if there are no active Tasting posts which have been active for more than 48 hours.” with:-

The Restaurant Manager may post a Review if the previous one is Ready, and if there are no active Tasting posts which are Ready.

And add a new paragraph to that rule after the first:

A Review is Ready if it is more than 48 hours old, or if every Cook has posted a Recipe to it.

In “Tasting Contest”, replace “If a Tasting post has been active for more than 48 hours” with:-

A Tasting post is Ready if it is more than 48 hours old, or if every Cook has either made a Best Guess for it or sent a private message to the Manager saying that they do not intend to make a guess. If a Tasting post is Ready

No need to wait 48 hours if everyone is done.

Monday, May 04, 2015

Tasting: Boy With Hedgehog

I’ve prepared some crackers and a spit bucket.

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Story Post: Trade Journal

The local Reviewers have been profiled in a trade journal and have given some idea of their respective tastes:

Name - Spiceyness - Favorite Ingredient
Antonio Fusilli - 3 - Potato
Bruce Haggis - 5 - Eggplant
Chiaki Ramen - 6 - Potato
Dominique Labaguette - 10 - Eggplant
Esmeralda Paella - 7 - Chilli Pepper

Story Post: Review: Fusilis Tasting of Tastefull Tastes

Antonio Fusili came to the restaurant and tasted what was presented to him. First, he was pleased to invite his good friend, Mad-Tongue Moody, to review the restaurant again. He was quoted “grmbl” when asked if he expected a better result. Since all characteristics of him are well known to everyone, no Interview was given.

It was a pitty that Darknight had left hastily shortly before the review to wash his mouth with lots of water. The two other Entries were tasted by Fusili:
Kevan supplied “Pasta al pattino freddo” which was rated “* * + + -”. Everyone had the chance to taste its properties, which were: Sweetness 6 Sourness 1 Umami 9 Spicyness 5.
Right afterwards, Brendan’s “Cry for Help” was more or less ignored, rated with “* * + + -” and collectivly valued Sweetness 6 Sourness 1 Umami 10 Spicyness 3.

There was no Winner of the day since both Ratings were equal.

Saturday, May 02, 2015

Proposal: Starter for Ten

Reached quorum 4 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 04 May 2015 18:09:36 UTC

In “Review”, replace “The Restaurant Manager may post a Review if one has not been posted in the previous 48 hours.” with:-

The Restaurant Manager may post a Review if one has not been posted in the previous 48 hours, and if there are no active Tasting posts which have been active for more than 48 hours.

Should perhaps establish in which order the Manager will always process Reviews and Tastings, when either can be done (as is the case now).

Friday, May 01, 2015

Proposal: Waldorf Salad

Reached quorum 3 votes to 0. Enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 02 May 2015 08:31:31 UTC

In “Review”, replace “In the Review he has to announce the name of the new Reviewer that he has determined with a method of his choice.” with:-

In the Review he has to announce the name of the new Reviewer, chosen by the Manager: if any Reviewers have not Praised Cooks, the chosen Reviewer must be one who has never Praised a Cook.