[Ok, even with politics and spaaace in the queue, those are a couple weeks
away. Thought I'd throw this out and see if enough people were around to
start something like this in the meantime. Guessing it would last <6
weeks].
Proto-Tournament
Land of Agora - the Trading Card Game (LoAtTCG)
"Because every boardgame metastasizes to a card game expansion, eventually."
1. There is a gamemaster known as the Dealor. E CANNOT win the tournament.
Other persons become Members of this Tournament by Dealing Themselves In
by announcement. This game should be considered "cutthroat" - contestants
are encouraged to bluff, lie, double-deal, set up false trades, etc.
between each other (except when conversing with the Dealor - and outright
cheating is frowned upon).
2. There is a set of currencies collectively known as Cards. The
currencies are divided into two types, Basic and Refined. Cards CAN be
owned by Members and the Discard Pile, but no one else.
- The basic currencies are: ore, wool, lumber, apples, diamonds.
- The refined currencies are: steel, paper, fabric.
If any Tournament Regulations conflict with the Rules for assets, or add
asset actions (e.g. Secret transfers below), the tournament has
precedence.
3. When a person who has never been a member Deals Themselves In, they draw
5 cards [see Definitions at the end for exact mechanisms for "Draw" and
other terms].
4. There are a set of numbered Scoring Instructions, initially known only
to the Dealor. The Dealor will publish a hash of the Scoring
Instructions at the beginning of the game, and the total number of
scoring instructions. The Scoring Instructions are applied in numerical
order to the cards in each member's hand to determine that member's Hand
Score, measured in Points. Scoring Instructions depend only on the
current cards in a member's hand, and do not depend on others' hands,
transfer history, player identity, etc. A non-member's score is always 0.
[
EXAMPLE scoring instruction set:
1. Each ore is worth 1 point.
2. Each wool is worth 2 points.
3. Each lumber is worth 3 points.
4. Each set of (ore-wool-lumber) is worth 5 points (a card only
belongs to one such set).
5. Each Steel, Paper, or Fabric is worth 4 points.
6. Matching Earrings: Each pair of diamonds in a hand is worth 5
points, but having a single remaining diamond (i.e. an odd number
of diamonds) loses 15 points.
7. Spoilage: For the remainder of the scoring, all apples are
considered to be ore.
8. No Hoarding: For each card type, if a hand has 7 or more of that
type, the hand loses 10 points.
]
5. The Dealor begins Round 1 (and the tournament) Publicly. The Dealor SHALL
begin each following round, by publishing a Round Report for the previous
round, between 4-7 days after the previous round began. The Round Report
consists of (1) each member's hand score and (2) a randomly-chosen
scoring instruction that has not been chosen in previous reports and (3)
the contents of the Discard Pile. But e SHALL NOT include the number of
the instruction.
6. Seven days after
Round N begins, where N is the number of Scoring Instructions, the
Tournament Freezes. Instead of a Round Report, within a timely fashion
afterwards, the Dealor SHALL publish a Final Report including all scoring
instructions, members' hands, and scores at the moment of the Freeze -
this self-ratifying final report - if accurate - causes the member(s)
with the highest hand scores to win the tournament. The tournament then
ends.
7. ASAP (preferably immediately) after publishing a Round Report other than
the first or final reports, the Dealor SHALL deal three cards to each
member, and (in Secretly informing each member of eir dealt cards) SHALL
include in that message the player's entire hand and score.
8. Members CAN take the following actions publicly, privately, or secretly
(using cards in eir hand only):
- Discard a specified card.
- Discard an Apple to draw 2 cards.
- Discard 2 Apples to draw a specified card from the Discard Pile (the
Dealor SHALL Secretly inform the member if this fails due to someone
else drawing it first).
- Discard an ore and lumber to create a steel card in eir hand.
- Discard an ore and wool to create a paper card in eir hand.
- Discard a lumber and wool to create a fabric card in eir hand.
- Discard 3 Apples for the Dealor to Secretly reveal a randomly-chosen
scoring instruction to the member (including the number). Repeats
allowed.
- Discard 3 Apples for the Dealor to Secretly reveal the number of a
scoring instruction that has been published in a previous round report.
- Discard 7 Apples and specify a number<=N, for the Dealor to Secretly
reveal the Scoring Instruction with that number.
9. The Dealor SHALL NOT reveal Secret information Privately or Publicly,
even with the consent member paying for said information. [Consortiums
to buy information rely on the person paying to receive the information
transmitting it accurately to others - again, lying encouraged!]
10.A Member can make an offer of a card trade publicly or privately. Other
members CAN execute such trades publicly, or privately if the private
message includes all parties involved. Upon execution, if all parties
have the correct cards to make such an exchange, the exchange occurs.
ASAP afterwards, the Dealor will confirm (to the same set of parties as
in the execution method) whether the trade succeeded - if failed, e SHALL
state only which party "did not meet the conditions" for the trade, but
won't state which conditions were unmet (though for error checking, e
may clarify Secretly with the failing party).
11.The Dealor CAN clarify instructions/scoring etc., publicly, privately, or
secretly, but SHALL respect the general secrecy of information; in
particular, e SHALL NOT
clarify any scoring instructions (publicly, privately or secretly) until
that instruction has been publicly revealed in a Round Report. The
Dealor is considered the default arbitrator of these regulations, only
to be overruled if a CFJ finds eir interpretations to be arbitrary,
capricious, or otherwise wholly unreasonable.
DEFINITIONS
A. "As soon as possible" (ASAP) means "within 4 days".
B. Standard card-playing metaphors apply to these currencies where
sensible, e.g., an entity's collective holdings of these currencies
is eir Hand.
C. To "deal" a card to an entity means the Dealor creates a card in
the entity's possession, randomly chosen by the Dealor from the set
of basic currencies (with equal probability). The Dealor SHALL deal
all cards Secretly.
D. When an entity "draws" a card, e creates an obligation for the Dealor
to deal em a card ASAP.
E. To "discard" a card is to transfer a card in one's hand to the
Discard Pile.
F. An action is done "Privately" by sending a message where the set of
(sender + recipients) includes (a) the Dealor and (B) Members, but no
one else (and no fora). An action is done "Secretly" if the set
includes the Dealor and one Member only. An action is done
"publicly" by announcement.
