This might be too many words for what it’s doing. I just like the possibility space of a private gamestate that the emperor can’t see, and think there’s room for them to be an unknowing catalyst in an interesting way.

This would be great for a Malign Emperor dynasty, the kind of thing we got into a little with players trying to agree a private code in the Censorship Dynasty, and somebody snitching to the Emperor.

I’m not sure what it means for a dynasty with a Protective-style Emperor who’s predictably voting DEF on dynastic gameplay proposal, though. It feels like to continue to play in that style fairly I’d just switch to abstaining.

If the intention here is a dial that players can turn between “gameplay proposals are harder to pass” and “are easier to pass”, that seems like it could safely be a public one, perhaps cutting out my volition entirely by requiring me to vote FOR or AGAINST all dynastic proposals (while retaining a veto and the ability to vote freely on core).

I think I’m thinking more in the ludonarrative space - the DEFs seem consistent with the idea of the City benignly perambulating on the horizon, a source of mysterious power and threat that impacts strangely without really knowing how. If this passes I’d hope you’d see it as an endorsement of continuing to vote DEF in situations where you feel that a FOR or AGAINST isn’t warranted; I assume that when considering your Protective side you’d be more likely to come off the fence on issues that dislodge game balance in any case.

The DEFs are just a trial balloon, though, in that I think it’s minimally intrusive: a vote of DEF from the emperor signals, to me, “I am not invested in the outcome enough to worry about how my vote affects the outcome”. You’re already expressing deference to the will of the players, why not have that deference just go a step further? I’d like to build this out such that other Imperial actions (the options issued in Dilemmas, say) impact upon Districts in unpredictable ways, and even make the City more of a game entity that can move about the game board, making choices whose impact they can’t know. The interaction points with Commons in particular seems rich to me.

i’m intrigued by this!! it’s very weird (and could honestly be a strong basis for a dynasty in its own right), but this dynasty doesn’t quite feel like it’s ripe yet, and this would be an interesting way to have the one more game system i’ve been feeling is missing :O

@lemon I thought about saving it to be the centerpiece of another dynasty but it can’t rely work in a dynasty where I’m the emperor!

Still not seeing why this needs to be hidden behind a locked door when the Emperor is not a Malign one.

Expanding secret gamestate to cover Dilemmas also seems unnecessary when I’m already generating them through blind dice rolls, rather than trying to outwit the Districts.

i’m all , but if this doesn’t pass, i’ll save the post in my personal dynasty ideas list (if that’d be alright with u, Josh)!!

I like the idea for the right dynasty, just not this one. I’d rather see it incorporated in a dynasty that’s built with it in mind.

For sure lemon!

I have a meeting in 15 minutes and I want my slot so

Withdrawn