Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Proposal: J’Accuse…!

In the rule “Relationships”, add a subrule named “Accusations” with the following text:

An Accusation is a Story Post where the title begins with the text “I accuse” followed by the name of a Wordsmith and no other text following that name. The author of an Accusation is known as the Prosecutor of that Accusation. The name of the Wordsmith in the title of an Accusation is known as the Defendant of that Accusation. As a Round Action, a Wordsmith may post an Accusation. An Accusation is either Open or Closed and defaults to Open.

At their earliest convenience, the Puzzler should perform a Ruling on the oldest Open Accusation. A Ruling is an atomic action with the following steps, where the terms Prosecutor and Defendant apply to that Accusation on which the Ruling is being performed:
* If that Prosecutor was named as that Defendant’s Rival at the time and date of the posting of that Accusation:
** That Prosecutor gains 1 Point.
** That Prosecutor is removed from that Defendant’s Rival.
** The Puzzler must post a comment to that Accusation with the text “X is guilty” where X is that Defendent.
* If that Prosecutor was not named as that Defendant’s Rival at the time and date of the posting of that Accusation:
** That Prosecutor loses 3 Points, to a minimum of 0.
** The Puzzler must post a comment to that Accusation with the text “X is innocent” where X is that Defendent.

After a Ruling has been performed on an Accusation, that Accusation is Closed.

If you suspect that someone named you as their Rival, you could accuse them and stop being their Rival, but if you’re wrong, you’ll pay a penalty. The Points gain is not as large as the loss because of the strategic value of removing yourself as their Rival.

My intention is not to weaken the Rivals mechanic but to add an extra layer on it, but I’m open to arguments that it goes too far.

Comments

JonathanDark: Puzzler he/him

01-07-2025 19:21:27 UTC

Also, if anyone feels like I’m targeting them specifically with my proposals (either intentionally or otherwise), please do contact me privately. I like trying to shake things up with ideas, but I am not trying to favor or suppress anyone intentionally and will happily back off if that winds up being the case.

Bucky:

01-07-2025 20:09:48 UTC

In the unlikely event that a three letter Acronym begins with “IA”, it makes accusations illegal.

JonathanDark: Puzzler he/him

01-07-2025 20:19:35 UTC

It shouldn’t. A Backronym is specifically a Story Post - Votable Matter.

Trapdoorspyder: he/him

02-07-2025 00:31:51 UTC

for

Josh: he/they

02-07-2025 07:27:48 UTC

against We already voted on this exact mechanic, and also it looks like Rivals is going to get repealed before the queue gets to this, so it’s academic.

Kevan: he/him

02-07-2025 08:10:16 UTC

for since this proposal fizzles if Rivals are repealed.

DoomedIdeas: he/him

02-07-2025 17:07:22 UTC

for

Clucky: he/him

02-07-2025 17:33:47 UTC

for

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