Empire - User contributions [en]

Weirwood

2025-09-18T15:08:51Z

Aaronwalter: /* Upgrading Personal Resources */

<quote by="Azul i Camra i Riqueza">As strong as iron and as supple as a river reed. These great trees are the sinews of our world.</quote>
==Overview==
Weirwood is a highly precious golden wood prized for its straight grain, flexibility, and strength. The durability and natural resistance to fire of weirwood make it particularly prized in the building of boats. It is one of the key materials used by the [[Imperial Senate]] to resupply armies or to [[commission]] new buildings and is a vital component of many [[opportunity|opportunities]].

Weirwood is bought and sold in Imperial wains. These weigh about 500kg, with a volume of half a cubic metre. Due to the vast weight, trading is done in [[Currency#Bourse_Certificates|Bourse Certificates]] provided by the civil service.

==Bourse Certificate==
Weirwood is too bulky to easily transport to Anvil. To help facilitate trade across the Empire, the Imperial civil service provide [[Currency#Bourse_Certificates|Bourse certificates]] for every wain. Citizens can trade these certificates safe in the knowledge that they can be exchanged for a wain of weirwood when the need arises.

==Uses of Weirwood==
===Commissions===
Weirwood is primarily useful as a building material. The Senate can [[commission]] a range of buildings that fortify, enrich or uplift the Empire. Weirwood is usually required in the construction of:
{{CaptionedImage|caption=Weirwood Bourse certificate|file=weirwood.jpg|align=right|width=500}}
* [[Imperial_navy#Senate_Commissions|Imperial Navy]]
* [[Ministry]] - a ministry built with weirwood would allow the purchase of herbs.
* [[Sinecure]] - a sinecure built with weirwood would generate rings or herbs.
* [[Great work]] - a great work built with weirwood would generate rings or herbs.
* [[Runeforge]]
* [[College of Magic]]
* [[Shipyard]]
* [[Spy network]]
* [[Edifice]]

===Upgrading Personal Resources===
Weirwood can be used to upgrade:

*[[Fleet]] - each upgrade increases military strength of the unit by 20
*[[Herb garden|Herb Garden]] - each upgrade gives 2 additional herbs, as chosen by the owner.
*[[Farm]] - each upgrade gives 36 additional rings per season

To upgrade a resource requires Imperial wains of weirwood equal to the level the resource is being upgraded to. So the first upgrade of a starting level 1 farm costs 2 Imperial wains of weirwood, from 2 to 3 costs 3 Imperial wains, etc.

==Weirwood Seats==
There are few places in the Empire that produce weirwood. A weirwood seat can be a source of great wealth and prestige to whoever holds it.
Elections for weirwood seats are held in winter each year.
{{#lst:Archive:Bourse_Seats|weirwood}}
===Recent History===
The [[Great Forest at Reikos]] was seized by the Druj barbarians in 367YE. In [[379YE_Winter_Solstice_winds_of_war#The_Rains_of_Reikos| Winter 379YE]], the seat was liberated by Imperial armies. The Highborn attempted to have this allocated as a National seat, but the Senate appointed it an Imperial seat in [[Allocate_Great_Forest_II|Spring 380YE]]

In Winter 380YE, [[The_Witches_of_Applefell#Attack_on_the_Weirwater_Vales| Dawnish witches]] attacked the shipment from the [[Weirwater Vales]] , and took five wains of that season's output.

In Spring 381YE, the Imperial Senate built a set of dedicated docks, trading with Magician-Prince of Pӓrnau Principality in [[Jarm|Eastern Jarm]]. The resultant [[Prime_Factor_of_the_Pallas_Docks|Pallas Docks]] depends on the Empire retaining good relationship with Jarm.

In Autumn 381YE, the Senate permitted the [[Great_Forest_Orcs| Great Forest Orcs]] to work the trees in the [[Thimble]] for the Empire in return for a [[Great_Forest_Orcs#Masters_of_Weirwood|bounty of four wains of weirwood]] each season. This means there is no costs to the Senate for the running of the forest and orcs could use the weirwood they gained to create herb gardens and similar in Therunin.

Following the imposition of sanctions on the Principalities of Jarm during the Winter Solstice 382YE, the cost of purchasing weirwood through the [[Prime_Factor_of_the_Pallas_Docks|Pallas Docks]] increased by roughly a fifth.

In Spring 383YE, [[The_honey_offering#Proposal:_Buying_the_Hunt|Varushkan merchants]] offered to pay 1000 thrones to turn the [[Hunt of Alderei the Fair]] National instead of Imperial.

{{Bourse Further Reading}}

The Doctor

2025-09-18T15:07:41Z

Aaronwalter: Minor edit to maintain gender consistency with the rest of the page

{{CaptionedImage|file=Intensity.jpg|align=left|caption=The Doctor is calm, but she is also intensely focused.|width=300}}
The doctor is one of the [[Dramaturgy#The Personae|personae]] used in [[dramaturgy]]. While the character is usually referred to as female, regardless of the gender of the thespian taking the role, within the narrative she may be of any gender; often, as with many dramaturgical characters, the gender is irrelevant to the story as a whole to allow any ritualist to take the role.

'''Character:''' The Doctor is calm, reasonable and above all dedicated to the idea that sufficient knowledge can be used to overcome any problem. Confident in her own skills, the Doctor also knows her limits and when to seek aid and outside sources of knowledge. Most often she dispenses aid to others, whether they appreciate or ask for that aid or not.

The Doctor is a woman of peace, and will never willingly causes harm to another; where harm must be caused, she always tries to do as little as possible. The Doctor has often taken an oath or promise by which she is in some way bound. Sometimes this oath causes complications to arise, or leads to her doom.

In street theatre, she is often a sinister figure who possesses secret knowledge. She is rarely the butt of a joke, and she may spell the doom of a foolish or unwise character, or the final punishment of a wicked character.

One widely held theatre myth states that if the Doctor opens her bag onstage, one of the cast will die within the year.

'''Magical Associations:''' She is used in ritual where magic is brutal or efficient; despite her apparent profession, she is not necessarily used in magic that deals with healing. More often she is used in divinations or curses, or extracts a binding promise from someone as part of a ritual that deals with oaths, or that punishes the wicked or corrupt. She represents scholars, and the virtues of [[Wisdom]] and [[Vigilance]].

'''Realms:''' The doctor is associated with day (knowledge, diagnosis) and winter (cutting out infection, death).

'''Identities:''' As one of the personae, the doctor usually appears named after one of the four rivers. Her name influences her character, which in turn influences the magical role she plays.
* ''Scorrero'' – used for magic that divines through revelation
* ''Vassa'' – used in magic that punishes or curses the wicked
* ''Gancio'' – used in magic that investigates or discovers
* ''Couros'' – used in brutal magic, or magic that harms; magic intended to teach a sharp lesson

'''Trappings:''' Her clothing is well cut but sober, usually in black with white trimmings. Her mask is usually hooked and curved like a beak, and she often wears gloves. The Doctor speaks softly and with an educated tone. she carries a cane and a bag which is never opened.

As with all personae, a troupe is likely to have a specific mask they use to portray the Doctor.

'''Other Identities:''' The doctor may appear in a role associated with wisdom and knowledge. For example, she sometimes appears as a sage or scholar, a civil servant, as an apothecary, as a teacher or as a parent. In other parts of the Empire she usually remains a doctor, but she may also appear as a monk in [[The Marches]].

===Death===
The Doctor may sometimes take on the guise of Death. Although dutiful, Death is usually sympathetic. Her presence is typically ignored by other players, although she may speak from time to time. When she lays hands upon another character, then their time has come. Sometimes she agrees to a contest or game to stave off a character's death, and in rituals of healing she is sometimes vanquished or trapped.

In [[the Brass Coast]] Death is a figure of fun, a bumbling idiot and a clown who can easily be outwitted through courage and cunning. In this guise, she is often found in the company of [[The Witch#Fortune|Fortune]], her mercurial lover.

[[Category:Dramaturgy]]

Imperial Orcs religious beliefs

2025-05-30T05:11:24Z

Aaronwalter: /* The Living Bridge */

==Ancestral Voices==
All orcs hear the voices of their ancestors. These voices are clearest and most powerful when an orc is in a heightened state of anger or fear, especially in combat. They are usually heard as a rumbling of many voices, where it is difficult to make our a specific meaning, but sometimes an orc hears an individual ancestor offering guidance. Typically an orc hears a specific ancestor if they are a direct descendant of them, knew them well when they were alive, or are a descendant of someone who knew them well. Thanks to the techniques brought to the Imperial Orcs by the [[Illarawm]], however, this is no longer the only way an orc can become connected to an ancestor.
==Liao and the Labyrinth==
Imperial Orcs derive no benefit from taking [[liao]] and do not believe that they reincarnate. It is a key tenet of Imperial Orc belief that each orc has only one life, and that after they die there is no coming back.

Exactly what happens to the soul of an orc after death depends on how they have lived their lives. Most orcs believe they fall into the Howling Abyss that waits for them after death. The Howling Abyss tears their soul to pieces and casts those pieces into oblivion. Such orcs are utterly annihilated and gone forever. It is literally a fate worse than death.

Some humans claim that the lack of reincarnation is proof that orcs have no souls, but the Imperial Orcs believe that the souls of orcs are simply different to the spirits of humans. Experiments have shown that auras created with liao ceremonies still affect orcs as do ceremonies such as insight and testimony so the majority of synod members accept that orcs must have souls even if doubt remains over their ability to enter and pass through the Labyrinth of Ages.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Howling Abyss Symbol.png|title=The symbol is slightly contentious, and has not been adopted by all Imperial Orc preachers; it is one of many such symbols used by the Imperial Orcs, but it has received some official recognition by the Synod.|caption=Symbol of the Howling Abyss, as chosen by the Imperial Orcs [[The_Assemblies_of_the_Synod#The_National_Assemblies|National Assembly]]<br>during the Winter Solstice 380YE.|align=left|width=400}}
==The Howling Abyss==
Most orcs believe that the greatest, the most powerful, the truly legendary orcs, those capable of inspiring a generation with their deeds, are able to cross over the Howling Abyss to the other side. What lies on this farthest shore is not known, for these ancestors never speak of it, but they are strong enough to pass back through the darkness. By doing so they are able to influence and guide their descendants, to speak to them, and to lead them through the Abyss after death - provided they are worthy.

Orcs who have powerful ancestors may receive help from them when they die. It is commonly believed that the ancestors come for those who have managed to achieve greatness, who strive and succeed against the odds, and help them cross the Howling Abyss. These orcs will return across the Howling Abyss many times, seeking to help their allies and offspring grow strong, but eventually they become too weak to make the journey and can no longer return. Only the most powerful ancestors, those capable of making the journey unaided are able to continue to aid their descendants forever more.

To become an ancestor, an orc must be carried within the proud hearts of their people. They must pour their tale into the soul of future generations and become a legend while still alive, respected and admired by their peers and offspring. It is not, however, one that is easily achieved. Each victory in battle, each notch on their blade and each new story to tell around the fire adds to their legacy, and the quest towards becoming an ancestor. Some Imperial Orcs seek triumph in battle in the name of the Empire, aiming to fell the mightiest foes while still living to fight another day. Others seek to remain in the hearts and memories of their people for their wisdom or cleverness, strengthening and nurturing their fellow orcs and building an enduring legacy for later generations.

==The ancestors in play==
How well your character can hear the ancestors is left almost entirely to the individual player's character and roleplaying. The usual time to hear the ancestors is when you're in a heightened state of anger or fear, especially in combat. You become aware of them around you; usually it's a rumbling of many voices where you can't make out the meaning, but sometimes you can hear an individual ancestor offering guidance. This is especially true if your character has a strong connection to one or more ancestors; it is easier to pick their voices out of the background din and they are more likely to have guidance to offer you.

It is extremely unlikely that a ref will ever inform you that an ancestor is talking to you - or what they are saying. What is important to bear in mind is that you aren't just making this up - orcs ''really do'' hear voices when they are agitated, and when they compare notes they often hear the same kinds of voices telling them the same kinds of things. The ancestors ''really do'' move orcs to acts of heroism and glory, or try to encourage them to stab an insolent [[Dawn|Dawnish]] knight in the guts in the middle of a tense negotiation...
{{CaptionedImage|file=ImperialOrc.jpg|align=right|width=350}}
===The Living Bridge===
Orcs can always hear the voices of ancestors, but it can be a challenge to determine ''which'' ancestor they are hearing, or hear a specific ancestor consistenty. The Illarawm techniques help orcs focus on the ancestors they want to hear, and cut out the voices they find disagreeable. The process for connecting with a new ancestor is available to every sept - it doesn't need the direct assistance of an Illarawm although it might still make for interesting roleplaying to seek one out.

The ceremony of "the Living Bridge" begins with a period of meditation, calming the body and mind, and quieting the voices of the ancestors. When complete, the orc feels a profound sense of being alone, as the background rumble of the ancestors' voices is silenced. They then engage in a period of intense roleplaying with someone who has a connection to the ancestor they want to hear. This generally involves being told stories of the ancestor, having the sensation of hearing them described and handling items of [[worth]] connected to them. If everything is working well, the orc becomes more aware of that ancestral voice growing in the silence, like an itch at the back of their head. Completing the process involves getting into an emotional state amenable to hearing ancestors - either through violent physical action such as a battle in the fighting pit, or an intense physical interaction of some sort; performing ritual magic that resonates with the ancestor in question; or engaging in ecstatic dance, music, or another group activity. Potions from the [[Unshackled Gift]] or [[Infusions of Feathers]] sets that induce altered states of consciousness could also be used as part of this process.

Once the ceremony is complete, the orc may have gained a connection to a specific ancestor, and begin to hear their voice more clearly. They can pick it out of the background din when the ancestors are all speaking at once, and are more likely to receive guidance from it. Most orcs can only be "connected" to a small number of ancestors at a time - with the obvious exception being the [[shamans]]. There's some evidence that the fewer ancestors an orc is strongly connected to, the more clearly they hear them. Some septs such as the Illarawm encourage an orc to connect with only a single ancestor while others encourage orcs to seek out many voices the better to receive useful guidance.

Being able to connect to an ancestor is an integral part of being able to change which sept a character belongs to. The ceremony of connecting to the new ancestor is a great opportunity for roleplaying with existing members of the sept, to mark the beginning of a new chapter in the character's life.

This same process can be used to quiet an ancestral voice an orc no longer wants to listen to. In this case, they meditate to quiet their ancestors, and focus on cutting a connection to the specific ancestor they no longer want to hear. When they end the period of calm and open themselves up the ancestors again, the voice in question is usually absent or so quiet as to be inaudible.

Neither form of the Living Bridge is infallible; it is up to the roleplaying of the player as to how effective it is. For example, while an orc may in-character wish to silence a disruptive voice that urges them to hunt and kill humans, it's fine for the player to out-of-character decide that the Illarawm techniques are not effective at silencing that voice.

===Things the ancestors say===
The ancestors are only dimly aware of your character and what you are doing, so the guidance they offer is invariably quite general in nature. In battle, they may alert you to imminent danger with a shout of warning. It is very common for them to exhort you to action but the words they use are never specific. If they do use a name, it is as likely to be someone else's name as your own. Despite this the advice given is applicable to what you are doing, at least most of the time.

Although it may sometimes appear as if the ancestors are talking to you, they cannot hear your words. The ancestors are only dimly aware of you and your actions. Long experience has taught the orcs that the ancestors cannot hear you speak and cannot hold a conversation with you; they have a message to deliver, and they deliver it.

When your grandad urges you to charge the enemy, and you do, there might be a few parting words of approval; if you decline to follow his advice, there may be a feeling of anger and some shouted abuse, but grandad does not enter into a dialogue about ''why'' he wants you to charge the enemy or what alternative courses of action might be equally good.

===Ancestors and hero points===
Orcs often hear the words of their ancestors most clearly in battle when they are roused to fury, or any time when their blood is pumping and their heart beating fast. When an Imperial Orc spends a [[Heroic skills#Hero Points|hero point]], they are much more likely to hear the voice of an ancestor. You may want to roleplay that an ancestor is guiding your hand when you use [[Heroic skills#Cleaving Strikes|cleaving strike]] for example, or that it is the voice of an ancestor shouting at you that gives you the strength to [[Heroic skills#Unstoppable|get back on your feet]] when you are down. It is especially appropriate to roleplay hearing an ancestor when you use a hero point to change your response to a roleplaying effect - the urging of an ancestor lets you act in a way counter to that which the external influence is causing.

==Shamans==
Most orcs only experience communion with the ancestors when battle is upon them but a few individuals - called [[shamans]] - are able to hear the voices more frequently. Shamans occupy a unique position in Imperial Orc society, as a result, but many are moon-struck, their minds affected by the constant attempts by the ancestors to communicate with them.

==Preachers==
The Imperial Virtues are clearly a part of what makes the Empire what it is. As a result most Imperial Orcs at least pay them lip service and there is a drive amongst some orcs to embody the virtues as keenly as possible, to prove themselves the equal of any human citizen of the Empire. Those Imperial Orcs who embrace the Way and become priests are called [[Preachers]].

Two such preachers, Bonewall Rek and Bonewall Cole - presented and secured a significant [[change of doctrine]] during the [[Symposium of Revelation]] of Winter 380YE. These changes incorporated the [[The_Doctrines_of_the_Faith#The_Doctrine_of_the_Howling_Abyss|Doctrine of the Howling Abyss]] and the [[The_Doctrines_of_the_Faith#The_Doctrine_of_the_Ancestors|Doctrine of the Ancestors]] into [[the Doctrines of the Faith]].

==The Imperial Orc National Assembly==
Originally, the orcs did not have their own [[The_Assemblies_of_the_Synod#The_National_Assemblies|national assembly]] within the [[Imperial Synod]]. During the Winter summit of 377YE, a motion to create such an assembly was brought before the [[Imperial Senate]] by the [[Conscience of the Senate]] - the Imperial orc Skywise Gralka. The motion passed with unanimous support, and an Imperial Orc assembly was [[Establish_Imperial_Orc_Assembly|established]].

==Membership of the Virtue Assemblies==
During the Spring Equinox 383YE the [[Imperial Senate]] voted to [[384YE_Spring_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Amend_membership_of_virtue_assemblies|change]] how membership of the [[Assembly#The_Virtue_Assemblies|Virtue assemblies]] was determined. This represents one of the most significant changes to the way the Synod operates since the reign of [[Empress Varkula]]. The change was [[Making_your_mind_up|proposed]] initially as a way to allow the priests of the [[Imperial Orcs]] to more fully participate in the Imperial Synod, by moving membership of the Virtue assemblies away from [[dedication]] and toward the virtues a priest actually [[Congregation#Downtime Options|preached]].

{{Imperial Orcs Links}}

Figures from the past stand tall

2025-04-17T09:10:32Z

Aaronwalter: /* Volunteering */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:386YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
<ic>The man gave out a deathly scream as the flesh was ripped open. His sword dropped from his fingers as he frantically scrambled to stop his bowels from tumbling out of the hole in his belly. Gasping, he dropped to his knees, his features twisted into a look of horror as realisation dawned that death was upon him. He let out a single anguished cry of utter desolation as the depths of his failure consumed him. He tried vainly to rise, but before he could muster the strength, his head jerked back, as if pulled by some unseen hand. From nowhere an invisible blade sliced his throat open, silencing his protests even as it unleashed a riot of blood over his falling corpse as it vanished into the dark night.

"Have you tried conversing with him?" Gideon asked.

The soldier cast him a withering look filled with pure disdain. "He seems a bit busy with dying. I don't know if you caught that bit where he screams 'noooooo'. That's all he had time to say."

Gideon ignored the obvious sarcasm. This guardian must have seen more than his fair share of battlefields, but it was clear what he'd seen here had left him deeply unnerved. "Where's he from?" he asked. "He's not Highborn" he said pointedly.

"He looks like a Leaguer to me. Big puffy sleeves - with slashes in them? The only people I ever met who dress like that are the bravos of Holberg."

"Hmmm... best if we had a League priest really. A bishop if we could get one. They might know what to say to him. And even if they don't he'll be more prepared to talk to one of his own."

Gideon could see the soldier looked sceptical. Understandable really, so he tried to explain a bit, to see if he could engage him in conversation. "That look on his face as he died. That horror. That's not pain or shock. I've seen that before. It's the moment his soul realises there will be no rest for him. This fella died with unfinished business. Our job is to find out what it was."

"Your job." the soldier corrected, pointedly. His voice was calm, but his hand gripped his spear tight, like he imagined that the murdered man's killers might be upon them at any moment. "This is your job." he said again, but quieter this time and almost as if he was talking to himself. "This is your job" he repeated it again, firmer this time, his voice now thick with accusation.

The emotion made Gideon wanted to reach out and touch him, but he knew how dangerous that could be. He was close now. Here in this place where the veil between the living and the dead was so thin you could stop through it without ever realising. All this man needed was the right touch and he would pass on. If he could just unlock the mystery of the bravo he was sure he could help this one let go of his pain.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Figures from the past stand tall.jpg|align=left|caption=In pre-Imperial times, midnight on the Day of the Dead marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next.|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
For several years, [[Reikos]] has known peace. In the aftermath of the [[Druj]] invasion and the expulsion of the rot eternal [[Llofir]] from [[Reikos#Tamarbode|Tamarbode]], its inhabitants have dedicated themselves to the arts of healing and purification. The [[Gardens of High Chalcis]], once a mighty fortification reduced to ruins, now stand as a symbol of restoration and resilience in the face of the horrors that came from the east decades ago.

The final strands of the Druj resistance in Reikos were [[380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_war|cut in 380YE]] as the Imperial armies attacked their last remaining holdout in Tamarbode. Despite the rebuilding, the dedication and the invitation of people from across the Empire to share in mending flesh and spirit, scars still remain. In the depths of a cold winter, as the end of the year draws near, it is not uncommon to encounter a ghost from battles past. These spirits accost the living, wailing effigies of those killed in the terrible conflict that raged over the land. They come from every walk of life but all have a strand in common; a deep, resentful bitterness over the nature of their end. Some can be mediated with and sent on, others require the specialised attentions of priests armed with liao to restore peace. By themselves, the shades are worrisome but they are not numerous enough to trouble the [[Highguard_religious_beliefs#Stewards_of_the_Dead|stewards of the dead]]. Just another uncomfortable reminder of the bloody history of the territory.

==A Strange Toll==
* '''Reikos is being visited by a plague of restless souls. Obsessed with failures in life or the manner of their death, they seek escape'''
* '''There are souls from many different battles with the Druj here, from Holberg, Therunin, and Zenith, as well as Reikos'''
* '''The Stewards of the Dead are appealing for help to placate these spirits'''
As the Winter Solstice draws near, priests and exorcists from around Reikos begin receiving flurries of letters from panicked citizens in [[Reikos#Chalcis_Mount|Chalcis Mount]]. Some grim spectral bell tolls, calling the restless dead to come forth in much greater numbers than usual.

Not just Highborn souls are encountered, the shades of dead orcs, Druj warriors mostly, are encountered, as well as the ghosts from other lands. Every nation lost soldiers fighting in Reikos, and for what seems like the first time their spirits are among the restless dead pulled from their slumber. There are ghosts of free company [[bravo|bravos]], still dressed in their finery. There are scholars from [[Urizen]] wailing about their cruel death at the hand of poison or flux, lamenting a lifetime of work cut short. There are [[Navarr]] [[Navarr_religious_beliefs|guides]] crying out for aid finding their way back to the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]].

There are too many for the stewards to deal with, but they speak with those they can and their reports are strange. The dead who have been called from their graves are not just from this region, but from the terrible wars in lands nearby. There are victims from the bloody siege of [[Holberg]], as well as those murdered only recently by the brutal Druj in [[Therunin]]. There are ghosts that died in [[Zenith]], slaughtered by the bloody magics the Druj unleashed there.

How they come to be here, now, in Reikos, is a mystery that will never be answered. Perhaps it is the tide of blood unleashed so recently in Therunin. Perhaps they are drawn here somehow knowing this is the one place they might finally find peace. What is clear is that the stewards of the dead who dwell in Reikos are overwhelmed and will need significant help to deal with so many.

===A Dark Door===
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=HighExorcist.jpg|caption=Alessi of the Basilisks of the Labyrinth, [[High Exorcist]]|align=left|width=400}}</div>
* '''There is a conjunction for a hundred Imperial citizens to visit the High Arboretum in Chalcis Mount at 23:30 on Saturday'''
* '''The civil service have asked the High Exorcist to ensure that the Highborn stewards of the dead lead a party from all nations to deal with the ghosts'''

Fortunately there is an unusually large [[Sentinel_Gate#Conjunctions|conjunction]] to ''High Arboretum, the Gardens of High Chalcis'', at 23:30 on the second day of the summit. The conjunction is enough to permit a hundred people to pass through, and leads directly to the site where the majority of ghosts are gathered, surely no coincidence.

It doesn't escape the notice of the stewards that this will be just a few hours after the Day of the Dead procession makes its torchlit way through [[Anvil]]. Given the nature and timing of the conjunction the civil service have asked the Highborn [[High Exorcist]], '''Alessi of the Basilisks of the Labyrinth''', to ensure that the Highborn stewards of the dead at Anvil lead a party to the area to deal with the restless ghosts, through whichever methods they might see fit. Many of the ghosts may be encouraged to pass on by mediation with someone of stout enough virtue, but that some more recalcitrant spirits may need to be [[Exorcism|exorcised by force]] if necessary.

As the ghosts that have manifested have not all been Highborn, and some of them appear to be from very recent conflicts, local stewards have recommended that the Highborn may want to invite citizens from other nations to assist with the job of dispelling the spirits, as they may respond better to more familiar faces. As the pre-eminent experts on matters of the dead, the Highborn should lead the other nations in this endeavour and bring any other citizens along under their stewardship.

===Participation===
* '''Characters who spent time in Reikos this season, or had to visit it, may have encountered one or more ghosts in the weeks leading up to the event'''
Characters who spent time in Reikos may roleplay that they have encountered one of these ghosts in the weeks leading up to the event. The ghosts may be someone your character knew, a stranger, or someone long dead. All are ghosts of people who died as a results of the Empire's wars against the Druj, and who are tormented by the cruel manner of their death and some failure in life. You may roleplay that you let the ghost be, talked it down until it accepted its fate and disappeared, or exorcised it using a liao ceremony (this does not cost any of your character's liao).

===Volunteering===
* '''You are welcome to volunteer to NPC for this encounter if you wish to portray one of the restless spirits in Reikos'''
* '''If you played a character who died in battle against the Druj who did not take Kaela's Gift, or did not die under a Litany of the Labyrinth, or was not summoned by Whispers through the Black Gate, and has not already appeared as a ghost and passed on, you can play your ghost in this encounter'''
* '''If you have a complete Druj costume, including mask, you can volunteer to play one of the angry Druj ghosts'''
* '''You must email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk by 18:00 on Friday 18th of April if you wish to volunteer'''

This encounter has an opportunity for players to volunteer to support it, if they wish. If you have a character who died at the hands of the Druj at any point in the game, who did not take [[Kaela#The_Gift_of_Kaela|Kaela's gift]], or did not die under the effects of a [[Litany_of_the_Labyrinth|Litany of the Labyrinth]], nor been summoned using [[Whispers through the Black Gate]], and who has not previously appeared as a ghost then you are welcome to portray the shade of your dead character in this encounter. If you have your own complete Druj costume, including an appropriate mask, then you are welcome to play one of the angry Druj ghosts in the area.

This is a '''combat unlikely''' encounter and will involve some amount of walking in the woods or field. Please email [mailto:plot@profounddecisions.co.uk plot@profounddecisions.co.uk] by '''18:00 on Friday 18<sup>th</sup> April''' if you are interested in volunteering so we can provide further information prior to the event.

Figures from the past stand tall

2025-04-17T07:55:59Z

Aaronwalter:

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:386YE Winter]][[Category:Recent History]]
<ic>The man gave out a deathly scream as the flesh was ripped open. His sword dropped from his fingers as he frantically scrambled to stop his bowels from tumbling out of the hole in his belly. Gasping, he dropped to his knees, his features twisted into a look of horror as realisation dawned that death was upon him. He let out a single anguished cry of utter desolation as the depths of his failure consumed him. He tried vainly to rise, but before he could muster the strength, his head jerked back, as if pulled by some unseen hand. From nowhere an invisible blade sliced his throat open, silencing his protests even as it unleashed a riot of blood over his falling corpse as it vanished into the dark night.

"Have you tried conversing with him?" Gideon asked.

The soldier cast him a withering look filled with pure disdain. "He seems a bit busy with dying. I don't know if you caught that bit where he screams 'noooooo'. That's all he had time to say."

Gideon ignored the obvious sarcasm. This guardian must have seen more than his fair share of battlefields, but it was clear what he'd seen here had left him deeply unnerved. "Where's he from?" he asked. "He's not Highborn" he said pointedly.

"He looks like a Leaguer to me. Big puffy sleeves - with slashes in them? The only people I ever met who dress like that are the bravos of Holberg."

"Hmmm... best if we had a League priest really. A bishop if we could get one. They might know what to say to him. And even if they don't he'll be more prepared to talk to one of his own."

Gideon could see the soldier looked sceptical. Understandable really, so he tried to explain a bit, to see if he could engage him in conversation. "That look on his face as he died. That horror. That's not pain or shock. I've seen that before. It's the moment his soul realises there will be no rest for him. This fella died with unfinished business. Our job is to find out what it was."

"Your job." the soldier corrected, pointedly. His voice was calm, but his hand gripped his spear tight, like he imagined that the murdered man's killers might be upon them at any moment. "This is your job." he said again, but quieter this time and almost as if he was talking to himself. "This is your job" he repeated it again, firmer this time, his voice now thick with accusation.

The emotion made Gideon wanted to reach out and touch him, but he knew how dangerous that could be. He was close now. Here in this place where the veil between the living and the dead was so thin you could stop through it without ever realising. All this man needed was the right touch and he would pass on. If he could just unlock the mystery of the bravo he was sure he could help this one let go of his pain.</ic>
<div style="float:left; width: 500px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=Figures from the past stand tall.jpg|align=left|caption=In pre-Imperial times, midnight on the Day of the Dead marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next.|width=500}}</div>
==Overview==
For several years, [[Reikos]] has known peace. In the aftermath of the [[Druj]] invasion and the expulsion of the rot eternal [[Llofir]] from [[Reikos#Tamarbode|Tamarbode]], its inhabitants have dedicated themselves to the arts of healing and purification. The [[Gardens of High Chalcis]], once a mighty fortification reduced to ruins, now stand as a symbol of restoration and resilience in the face of the horrors that came from the east decades ago.

The final strands of the Druj resistance in Reikos were [[380YE_Spring_Equinox_winds_of_war|cut in 380YE]] as the Imperial armies attacked their last remaining holdout in Tamarbode. Despite the rebuilding, the dedication and the invitation of people from across the Empire to share in mending flesh and spirit, scars still remain. In the depths of a cold winter, as the end of the year draws near, it is not uncommon to encounter a ghost from battles past. These spirits accost the living, wailing effigies of those killed in the terrible conflict that raged over the land. They come from every walk of life but all have a strand in common; a deep, resentful bitterness over the nature of their end. Some can be mediated with and sent on, others require the specialised attentions of priests armed with liao to restore peace. By themselves, the shades are worrisome but they are not numerous enough to trouble the [[Highguard_religious_beliefs#Stewards_of_the_Dead|stewards of the dead]]. Just another uncomfortable reminder of the bloody history of the territory.

==A Strange Toll==
* '''Reikos is being visited by a plague of restless souls. Obsessed with failures in life or the manner of their death, they seek escape'''
* '''There are souls from many different battles with the Druj here, from Holberg, Therunin, and Zenith, as well as Reikos'''
* '''The Stewards of the Dead are appealing for help to placate these spirits'''
As the Winter Solstice draws near, priests and exorcists from around Reikos begin receiving flurries of letters from panicked citizens in [[Reikos#Chalcis_Mount|Chalcis Mount]]. Some grim spectral bell tolls, calling the restless dead to come forth in much greater numbers than usual.

Not just Highborn souls are encountered, the shades of dead orcs, Druj warriors mostly, are encountered, as well as the ghosts from other lands. Every nation lost soldiers fighting in Reikos, and for what seems like the first time their spirits are among the restless dead pulled from their slumber. There are ghosts of free company [[bravo|bravos]], still dressed in their finery. There are scholars from [[Urizen]] wailing about their cruel death at the hand of poison or flux, lamenting a lifetime of work cut short. There are [[Navarr]] [[Navarr_religious_beliefs|guides]] crying out for aid finding their way back to the [[Navarr_culture_and_customs#The_Great_Dance|Great Dance]].

There are too many for the stewards to deal with, but they speak with those they can and their reports are strange. The dead who have been called from their graves are not just from this region, but from the terrible wars in lands nearby. There are victims from the bloody siege of [[Holberg]], as well as those murdered only recently by the brutal Druj in [[Therunin]]. There are ghosts that died in [[Zenith]], slaughtered by the bloody magics the Druj unleashed there.

How they come to be here, now, in Reikos, is a mystery that will never be answered. Perhaps it is the tide of blood unleashed so recently in Therunin. Perhaps they are drawn here somehow knowing this is the one place they might finally find peace. What is clear is that the stewards of the dead who dwell in Reikos are overwhelmed and will need significant help to deal with so many.

===A Dark Door===
<div style="float:right; width: 400px; clear: left;">{{CaptionedImage|file=HighExorcist.jpg|caption=Alessi of the Basilisks of the Labyrinth, [[High Exorcist]]|align=left|width=400}}</div>
* '''There is a conjunction for a hundred Imperial citizens to visit the High Arboretum in Chalcis Mount at 23:30 on Saturday'''
* '''The civil service have asked the High Exorcist to ensure that the Highborn stewards of the dead lead a party from all nations to deal with the ghosts'''

Fortunately there is an unusually large [[Sentinel_Gate#Conjunctions|conjunction]] to ''High Arboretum, the Gardens of High Chalcis'', at 23:30 on the second day of the summit. The conjunction is enough to permit a hundred people to pass through, and leads directly to the site where the majority of ghosts are gathered, surely no coincidence.

It doesn't escape the notice of the stewards that this will be just a few hours after the Day of the Dead procession makes its torchlit way through [[Anvil]]. Given the nature and timing of the conjunction the civil service have asked the Highborn [[High Exorcist]], '''Alessi of the Basilisks of the Labyrinth''', to ensure that the Highborn stewards of the dead at Anvil lead a party to the area to deal with the restless ghosts, through whichever methods they might see fit. Many of the ghosts may be encouraged to pass on by mediation with someone of stout enough virtue, but that some more recalcitrant spirits may need to be [[Exorcism|exorcised by force]] if necessary.

As the ghosts that have manifested have not all been Highborn, and some of them appear to be from very recent conflicts, local stewards have recommended that the Highborn may want to invite citizens from other nations to assist with the job of dispelling the spirits, as they may respond better to more familiar faces. As the pre-eminent experts on matters of the dead, the Highborn should lead the other nations in this endeavour and bring any other citizens along under their stewardship.

===Participation===
* '''Characters who spent time in Reikos this season, or had to visit it, may have encountered one or more ghosts in the weeks leading up to the event'''
Characters who spent time in Reikos may roleplay that they have encountered one of these ghosts in the weeks leading up to the event. The ghosts may be someone your character knew, a stranger, or someone long dead. All are ghosts of people who died as a results of the Empire's wars against the Druj, and who are tormented by the cruel manner of their death and some failure in life. You may roleplay that you let the ghost be, talked it down until it accepted its fate and disappeared, or exorcised it using a liao ceremony (this does not cost any of your character's liao).

===Volunteering===
* '''You are welcome to volunteer to NPC for this encounter if you wish to portray one of the restless spirits in Reikos'''
* '''If you played a character who died in battle against the Druj who did not take Kaela's Gift, or did not die under a Litany of the Labyrinth, or was not summoned by Whispers through the Black Gate, and has not already appeared as a ghost and passed on, you can play your ghost in this encounter'''
* '''If you have a complete Druj costume, including mask, you can volunteer to play one of the angry Druj ghosts'''
* '''You must email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk by 18:00 on Friday 18th of April if you wish to volunteer'''

This encounter has an opportunity for players to volunteer to support it, if they wish. If you have a character who died at the hands of the Druj at any point in the game, who did not take [[Kaela#The_Gift_of_Kaela|Kaela's gift]], did not die under the effects of a [[Litany_of_the_Labyrinth|Litany of the Labyrinth]], nor been summoned using [[Whispers through the Black Gate]], and who has not previously appeared as a ghost then you are welcome to portray the shade of your dead character in this encounter. If you have your own complete Druj costume, including an appropriate mask, then you are welcome to play one of the angry Druj ghosts in the area.

This is a '''combat unlikely''' encounter and will involve some amount of walking in the woods or field. Please email [mailto:plot@profounddecisions.co.uk plot@profounddecisions.co.uk] by '''18:00 on Friday 18<sup>th</sup> April''' if you are interested in volunteering so we can provide further information prior to the event.

Archivist of the Echoing Obelisk

2024-05-28T10:04:55Z

Aaronwalter:

<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Enoch.png |caption=Brother Enoch, first Archivist of the Echoing Obelisk|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==Overview==
This title was [[384YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_sessions#Create_Archivist_of_the_Echoing_Obelisk|established]] by the [[Imperial Senate]] during the Summer Solstice 384YE following a [[Daughters_of_the_Empire#Archivist_of_the_Blank_Book|suggestion]] made by Abigail of Ira's Shield.

==Responsibilities==
The Archivist of the Echoing Obelisk is responsible for collecting and recording the names of Imperial citizens who fall in our wars who do not attend Anvil but deserve to be remembered with equal virtue. The Archivist has a particular responsibility during the [[Highguard_culture_and_customs#Day_of_the_Dead|Day of the Dead]] celebrations; to mark the end of the grand procession at Anvil by calling on all present to spend a moment thinking on the nature of virtue, and what a terrible thing it is to be forgotten. In addition if the Echoing Obelisk was ever threatened it would be the responsibility of the Archivist to deal with those threats.

==Appointment==
This title is appointed during the Autumn Equinox. The Archivist of the Echoing Obelisk is [[appointment|appointed]] by a [[judgement]] of [[Appointment]] in the Highguard [[Assembly#The_National_Assemblies|national assembly]].

The title can be held by any Highguard citizen. They can be [[revocation|revoked]] by the [[Assembly#General_Assembly|General Assembly]], the Highguard National Assembly, and by the [[Assembly#Assembly_of_the_Nine|Assembly of the Nine]].

{{RecentElections|Archivist_of_the_Echoing_Obelisk}}
[[Category: Highguard]]
[[Category: Title]]

File:Enoch.png

2024-05-28T10:03:28Z

Aaronwalter: Brother Enoch (as portrayed by Aaron Walter). Photograph by Jo Perridge.

== Summary ==
Brother Enoch (as portrayed by Aaron Walter). Photograph by Jo Perridge.

File:Athiel.png

2024-05-28T09:37:54Z

Aaronwalter: Aaronwalter uploaded a new version of File:Athiel.png

Benefactor of Regalia

2024-05-26T22:22:40Z

Aaronwalter:

<div style="float:left; width: 300px; clear: right;">
{{CaptionedImage|file=Athiel.png |caption=Athiel Westernborn, first Benefactor of Regalia|align=left|width=300}}</div>

==Overview==
The Benefactor of Regalia is an Imperial title [[385YE_Autumn_Equinox_Senate_sessions#Create_title_of_Benefactor_of_Regalia|created]] by the [[Imperial Senate]] in Autumn 385YE. They are charged with handling the permanent amendment of other Imperial titles to grant them legal ownership of certain items which are commonly called "''regalia''". The original motion to create the title stated that it would have the power to amend an Imperial title once each session, this was amended by the Constitutional Court during scrutiny to instead be once each summit.

Occasionally an interested group, such as the [[Imperial_Necromancer#Tools_of_the_Trade|Black Tablet]], will offer a regular stipend or item to an Imperial title if they have a certain responsibility or restriction. Though the Benefactor of Regalia cannot amend a title to add or remove responsibilities nor implement a restriction they are exceptionally well placed to identify such opportunities and their responsibility to secure items of regalia for Imperial titles could see them being recognised as the first point of contact for such offers.

==Responsibilities==
The Benefactor of Regalia has a responsibility to secure items of regalia for Imperial titles, and liaise with Imperial citizens who have valuable magical items they believe would help those titles fulfil their own responsibilities. By taking advice from the Conclave and Synod they can make judgements as to whether an item will actually be helpful to an Imperial title. Then, when they are satisfied they can use their power of announcement to permanently make such an item the legal property of another Imperial title.

==Powers==
<div style="float:left; width: 450px; clear: left;"><quote by="Leontes the Scribe in scrutiny after Autumn Equinox 385YE">Oh aye that's exactly what they need. Does the Imperial Warmage need to carry around a half dozen artefact Quiet Words to dole out like Good Walder?</quote></div>
===Bestowing Regalia===
Once per summit the Benefactor of Regalia can make an [[Senate announcement|announcement]] in the Senate to amend an Imperial title to grant it regalia. Only one Imperial title can be amended by the Benefactor of Regalia each season but any number of pieces of regalia can be granted to the title in a single announcement. To use this power the Benefactor of Regalia should provide the [[Speaker for the Senate]] with a written summary of what they are announcing so that it can be added to the agenda for the next Senate session. No voting is possible by the Senate at this point, as the power has been delegated to the Benefactor of Regalia. The Imperial Synod may, however, choose to exercise their veto over the Benefactor's decision.

==Appointment==
The Benefactor of Regalia is appointed during the Winter Solstice each year. The title is selected by unanimous decision of the [[Highguard|Highborn]] [[senator|senators]]. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached, the title [[Appointments_by_the_Senate#National_Position|may be appointed]] by the [[Imperial Senate]] instead.

The title can be held by any Highborn citizen, and they can be [[revocation|revoked]] by the [[Assembly#General_Assembly|General Assembly]], the [[Assembly#The_National_Assemblies|Highborn National Assembly]], and by the [[Assembly#Assembly_of_the_Nine|Assembly of the Nine]].

{{RecentElections|Benefactor_of_Regalia}}

==Further Reading==
* [[New_Imperial_titles#Regalia|Regalia]]
[[Category:Senate]]
[[Category:Title]]
[[Category:Highguard]]

Benefactor of Regalia

2024-05-26T22:20:42Z

Aaronwalter:

File:Athiel.png

2024-05-26T22:15:16Z

Aaronwalter: Athiel Westernborn (as portrayed by Anne Bertran). Photographed by Kieran Kerrigan.

== Summary ==
Athiel Westernborn (as portrayed by Anne Bertran).

Photographed by Kieran Kerrigan.

The Solace of Bells

2024-03-29T11:15:45Z

Aaronwalter:

A choral piece of remembrance; written for the Day of the Dead.

Music and lyrics by Anne Bertran and Aaron Walter.

A PDF of the sheet music can be found [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/f/f0/The_Solace_of_Bells.pdf here]<br />
The audio without vocals can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/2/29/The_Solace_of_Bells_-_No_Vocals.mp3 here]<br />
A recording of the full song can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/1/1f/The_Solace_of_Bells.mp3 here]

<song>
To the lost, to the found, to the outcast and unbound:
Let us sing, let us weep, let us give you peace to sleep.
Let our flame light your way, we will guide you through the maze
Whether well known or nameless, we remember your face.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

We build kingdoms of remembrance, we sing rapture remade.
When night comes for you sibling, we'll remember your day.
Raise your voice, raise your voice, don your virtues and veils
Let the dead reach the living in the solace of bells.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

''Counter-melody vowels''
Eh eh-eh-eh eh-eh-eh, Ai ai-oh-ah, A-a-i, ai, oh-a-ah.
</song>

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

File:The Solace of Bells - No Vocals.mp3

2024-03-29T11:14:07Z

Aaronwalter:

The Solace of Bells

2024-03-29T09:24:14Z

Aaronwalter:

A choral piece of remembrance; written for the Day of the Dead.

Music and lyrics by Anne Bertran and Aaron Walter.

A PDF of the sheet music can be found [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/f/f0/The_Solace_of_Bells.pdf here]<br />
A simplified MIDI version can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/1/14/The_Solace_of_Bells.mid here]<br />
A recording of the full song can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/1/1f/The_Solace_of_Bells.mp3 here]

<song>
To the lost, to the found, to the outcast and unbound:
Let us sing, let us weep, let us give you peace to sleep.
Let our flame light your way, we will guide you through the maze
Whether well known or nameless, we remember your face.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

We build kingdoms of remembrance, we sing rapture remade.
When night comes for you sibling, we'll remember your day.
Raise your voice, raise your voice, don your virtues and veils
Let the dead reach the living in the solace of bells.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

''Counter-melody vowels''
Eh eh-eh-eh eh-eh-eh, Ai ai-oh-ah, A-a-i, ai, oh-a-ah.
</song>

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

The Solace of Bells

2024-03-29T09:06:25Z

Aaronwalter: Created page with "A choral piece of remembrance; written for the Day of the Dead. Music and lyrics by Anne Bertran and Aaron Walter. A PDF of the sheet music can be found [https://www.profoun..."

A choral piece of remembrance; written for the Day of the Dead.

Music and lyrics by Anne Bertran and Aaron Walter.

A PDF of the sheet music can be found [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/f/f0/The_Solace_of_Bells.pdf here]<br />
A Simplified MIDI version can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/1/14/The_Solace_of_Bells.mid here]<br />
A recording of the full song can be heard [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/1/1f/The_Solace_of_Bells.mp3 here] (sung by Anne Bertran)

<song>
To the lost, to the found, to the outcast and unbound:
Let us sing, let us weep, let us give you peace to sleep.
Let our flame light your way, we will guide you through the maze
Whether well known or nameless, we remember your face.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

We build kingdoms of remembrance, we sing rapture remade.
When night comes for you sibling, we'll remember your day.
Raise your voice, raise your voice, don your virtues and veils
Let the dead reach the living in the solace of bells.

Oh, farewell! Come hear the bell!
Your tale we shall tell, farewell. (x2)

''Counter-melody vowels''
Eh eh-eh-eh eh-eh-eh, Ai ai-oh-ah, A-a-i, ai, oh-a-ah.
</song>

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

File:The Solace of Bells.mp3

2024-03-29T08:48:17Z

Aaronwalter:

File:The Solace of Bells.mid

2024-03-29T08:47:38Z

Aaronwalter:

File:The Solace of Bells.pdf

2024-03-29T08:46:01Z

Aaronwalter:

Highguard music

2024-03-29T08:40:17Z

Aaronwalter: /* Songs */

{{CaptionedImage|file=HighbornMusic.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Choristers of Cantiarch's Hold.}}
==The Music of Highguard==
===Style summary===
Highguard's music draws its inspiration from Western church choral music, plainsong and shapenote music (also known as Sacred Harp). Of these, the last probably best exemplifies the musical style - Highguard music is robust and enthusiastic, and accessible to all levels of talent. They enjoy rich harmonies and proudly devotional texts, although amongst themselves a wicked sense of humour occasionally emerges in some soldiers' songs and there are also some surprisingly tender lullabies.

===Commonly known songs===
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain

Popular with all strata of Highguard society, these three songs are heard in chapters, the necropolis, and the fields. It is when the army marches to war with its battle choir, however, that the full majesty of Highguard music is best displayed.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Silver Skull Music.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Highguard's music is robust and enthusiastic, accessible to all levels of talent.}}
====A musical tradition====
The Highguard Battle Choirs are a great imperial tradition - no nation marches to battle with the same holy fervour in their singing. Usually accompanied by a single drumbeat, the sound of the Highguard army in full voice is an awe-inspiring and intimidating sound. Often a small number of more confident singers lead the chant in a call-and-response pattern. At least in this context the choirsters are warriors first and musicians second - the singers need not be particularly talented, as it is holy fervour and their indomitable will that characterises the battle choir.

====One for the kids====
*[[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
*[[Nursery Rhyme about Lineage]]- a very naughty chant, not to be repeated in front of anyone with Lineage!

====Songs about notable people and entities in Highguard====
* [[Enoch and Levi]] - romantic ballad, Highguard style...
* [[Pride of the Highborn]] - anthem of Adina's Charge
* [[Silent Tide]]- anthem of the Chapter of the same name.
* [[Anthem of Cantiarch's Hold]]
* [[Vigilance Guide Our Faithful Watch]] -A song commemorating the founder of Felix's Watch.

===Further examples===

====Songs====
* [[For Once I Was A Young Man]] - cautionary tale about the virtuous life
* [[The Ritual for the Departed]] - haunting funerary song
* [[Gone]] - another song for partings and funerals
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - shapenote song with chorus
* [[The Navigators]] - shapenote song, medium
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - medium call and response plainsong
* [[Idumea]] - medium shapenote song about reincarnation
* [[Naughty Pilgrim Song]] - an alternative to all the serious songs sung in Highguard!
* [[O Oriens]] - easy plainsong
* [[Virtue Never Falter]] - rousing song with chorus, also popular in the Brass Coast
* [[Least of my Kind]] - stirring battle song
* [[Farewell Farewell]] - rousing funeral song from Highguard but also popular in the Brass Coast due to boat references
* [[Highguard Go To War]] - Battle anthem
* [[All Come Listen]] - a well known, simple song that can be sung as a round
* [[The Waystone Anthem]] - a song celebrating Virtue and The Way
* [[The Solace of Bells]] - a choral piece of remembrance; written for the Day of the Dead

====Instrumentation====
* Highborn musical traditions favour the flute and other wind instruments. On days when the wind is high, a chapterhouse resounds with the song of wind chimes, aeolian harps and bells.
* Trumpets and bugles are often blown before a battlefield charge.

====Other performance traditions====

===How to adapt your repertoire===
* If singing in harmony, try to sing in consecutive 4ths or 5ths. This gives a fantastic 'plainchanty' sound perfect for Highguard. An example is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xti9lXz3lVI Circle March (arranged by Katy Cooper)] which starts in unison then goes into 4ths before full harmony.
* Many songs can be made to sound plainchanty by just pulling the rhythm all over the place. Have a listen to some church psalms and simply substitute your own lyrics.

===Our sources===
Shape note/Sacred Harp singings (Northern or Southern Harmony), any plainchant choir,

Here is a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOagOv6ztZg&list=PL58F0C16B0DEB67D1&feature=plpp_play_all youtube playlist] of appropriate or inspiring music.
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard Music]]
{{Highguard Links}}

All Come Listen

2024-01-30T18:04:59Z

Aaronwalter:

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

This is a simple little song to a traditional tune which makes a lovely mnemonic for the virtues. It can also be sung as a round. It's well-known in Highguard.

The tune is traditional, the words are by Nira of Cantiarch's Hold.

A PDF of the words and music can be found [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/8/8c/All_Come_Listen.pdf here]. <br />
A MIDI of the tune can be found [http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/File:All_Come_Listen_midi.mid here].

The Waystone Anthem

2024-01-30T17:49:11Z

Aaronwalter:

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]

A song celebrating Virtue and The Way.

Based on 'Els Segadors'. Adapted for Empire by Anne Bertran.

Audio file [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/c/c7/Waystone_Anthem.mid here]. Musical score [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/f/f2/Waystone_Anthem.pdf here]

The Waystone Anthem

2024-01-30T17:47:58Z

Aaronwalter:

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]

Based on 'Els Segadors'. Adapted for Empire by Anne Bertran.

Audio file [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/c/c7/Waystone_Anthem.mid here]. Musical score [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/f/f2/Waystone_Anthem.pdf here]

File:Waystone Anthem.pdf

2024-01-30T17:46:34Z

Aaronwalter: The Waystone Anthem score and lyrics

The Waystone Anthem score and lyrics

File:Waystone Anthem.mid

2024-01-30T17:41:43Z

Aaronwalter: MIDI file of a Highguard song

MIDI file of a Highguard song

The Waystone Anthem

2024-01-30T17:40:20Z

Aaronwalter: Created page with " Category:Highguard Music Category:Music Category:Highguard Based on 'Els Segadors' Adapted for Empire by Anne Bertran."

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]

Based on 'Els Segadors'

Adapted for Empire by Anne Bertran.

Highguard music

2024-01-30T17:31:32Z

Aaronwalter: /* Songs */

{{CaptionedImage|file=HighbornMusic.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Choristers of Cantiarch's Hold.}}
==The Music of Highguard==
===Style summary===
Highguard's music draws its inspiration from Western church choral music, plainsong and shapenote music (also known as Sacred Harp). Of these, the last probably best exemplifies the musical style - Highguard music is robust and enthusiastic, and accessible to all levels of talent. They enjoy rich harmonies and proudly devotional texts, although amongst themselves a wicked sense of humour occasionally emerges in some soldiers' songs and there are also some surprisingly tender lullabies.

===Commonly known songs===
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain

Popular with all strata of Highguard society, these three songs are heard in chapters, the necropolis, and the fields. It is when the army marches to war with its battle choir, however, that the full majesty of Highguard music is best displayed.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Silver Skull Music.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Highguard's music is robust and enthusiastic, accessible to all levels of talent.}}
====A musical tradition====
The Highguard Battle Choirs are a great imperial tradition - no nation marches to battle with the same holy fervour in their singing. Usually accompanied by a single drumbeat, the sound of the Highguard army in full voice is an awe-inspiring and intimidating sound. Often a small number of more confident singers lead the chant in a call-and-response pattern. At least in this context the choirsters are warriors first and musicians second - the singers need not be particularly talented, as it is holy fervour and their indomitable will that characterises the battle choir.

====One for the kids====
*[[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
*[[Nursery Rhyme about Lineage]]- a very naughty chant, not to be repeated in front of anyone with Lineage!

====Songs about notable people and entities in Highguard====
* [[Enoch and Levi]] - romantic ballad, Highguard style...
* [[Pride of the Highborn]] - anthem of Adina's Charge
* [[Silent Tide]]- anthem of the Chapter of the same name.
* [[Anthem of Cantiarch's Hold]]
* [[Vigilance Guide Our Faithful Watch]] -A song commemorating the founder of Felix's Watch.

===Further examples===

====Songs====
* [[For Once I Was A Young Man]] - cautionary tale about the virtuous life
* [[The Ritual for the Departed]] - haunting funerary song
* [[Gone]] - another song for partings and funerals
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - shapenote song with chorus
* [[The Navigators]] - shapenote song, medium
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - medium call and response plainsong
* [[Idumea]] - medium shapenote song about reincarnation
* [[Naughty Pilgrim Song]] - an alternative to all the serious songs sung in Highguard!
* [[O Oriens]] - easy plainsong
* [[Virtue Never Falter]] - rousing song with chorus, also popular in the Brass Coast
* [[Least of my Kind]] - stirring battle song
* [[Farewell Farewell]] - rousing funeral song from Highguard but also popular in the Brass Coast due to boat references
* [[Highguard Go To War]] - Battle anthem
* [[All Come Listen]] - a well known, simple song that can be sung as a round
* [[The Waystone Anthem]] - a song celebrating Virtue and The Way

====Instrumentation====
* Highborn musical traditions favour the flute and other wind instruments. On days when the wind is high, a chapterhouse resounds with the song of wind chimes, aeolian harps and bells.
* Trumpets and bugles are often blown before a battlefield charge.

====Other performance traditions====

===How to adapt your repertoire===
* If singing in harmony, try to sing in consecutive 4ths or 5ths. This gives a fantastic 'plainchanty' sound perfect for Highguard. An example is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xti9lXz3lVI Circle March (arranged by Katy Cooper)] which starts in unison then goes into 4ths before full harmony.
* Many songs can be made to sound plainchanty by just pulling the rhythm all over the place. Have a listen to some church psalms and simply substitute your own lyrics.

===Our sources===
Shape note/Sacred Harp singings (Northern or Southern Harmony), any plainchant choir,

Here is a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOagOv6ztZg&list=PL58F0C16B0DEB67D1&feature=plpp_play_all youtube playlist] of appropriate or inspiring music.
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard Music]]
{{Highguard Links}}

Highguard music

2024-01-21T15:07:00Z

Aaronwalter: /* Songs */

{{CaptionedImage|file=HighbornMusic.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Choristers of Cantiarch's Hold.}}
==The Music of Highguard==
===Style summary===
Highguard's music draws its inspiration from Western church choral music, plainsong and shapenote music (also known as Sacred Harp). Of these, the last probably best exemplifies the musical style - Highguard music is robust and enthusiastic, and accessible to all levels of talent. They enjoy rich harmonies and proudly devotional texts, although amongst themselves a wicked sense of humour occasionally emerges in some soldiers' songs and there are also some surprisingly tender lullabies.

===Commonly known songs===
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - usually led by one singer with everyone joining in the refrain

Popular with all strata of Highguard society, these three songs are heard in chapters, the necropolis, and the fields. It is when the army marches to war with its battle choir, however, that the full majesty of Highguard music is best displayed.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Silver Skull Music.jpg|width=650|align=right|caption=Highguard's music is robust and enthusiastic, accessible to all levels of talent.}}
====A musical tradition====
The Highguard Battle Choirs are a great imperial tradition - no nation marches to battle with the same holy fervour in their singing. Usually accompanied by a single drumbeat, the sound of the Highguard army in full voice is an awe-inspiring and intimidating sound. Often a small number of more confident singers lead the chant in a call-and-response pattern. At least in this context the choirsters are warriors first and musicians second - the singers need not be particularly talented, as it is holy fervour and their indomitable will that characterises the battle choir.

====One for the kids====
*[[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
*[[Nursery Rhyme about Lineage]]- a very naughty chant, not to be repeated in front of anyone with Lineage!

====Songs about notable people and entities in Highguard====
* [[Enoch and Levi]] - romantic ballad, Highguard style...
* [[Pride of the Highborn]] - anthem of Adina's Charge
* [[Silent Tide]]- anthem of the Chapter of the same name.
* [[Anthem of Cantiarch's Hold]]
* [[Vigilance Guide Our Faithful Watch]] -A song commemorating the founder of Felix's Watch.

===Further examples===

====Songs====
* [[For Once I Was A Young Man]] - cautionary tale about the virtuous life
* [[The Ritual for the Departed]] - haunting funerary song
* [[Gone]] - another song for partings and funerals
* [[Virtues Anthem]] - shapenote song with chorus
* [[The Navigators]] - shapenote song, medium
* [[Circle March]] - very easy repeating song
* [[Hymn to Vigilance]] - medium call and response plainsong
* [[Idumea]] - medium shapenote song about reincarnation
* [[Naughty Pilgrim Song]] - an alternative to all the serious songs sung in Highguard!
* [[O Oriens]] - easy plainsong
* [[Virtue Never Falter]] - rousing song with chorus, also popular in the Brass Coast
* [[Least of my Kind]] - stirring battle song
* [[Farewell Farewell]] - rousing funeral song from Highguard but also popular in the Brass Coast due to boat references
* [[Highguard Go To War]] - Battle anthem
* [[All Come Listen]] - a well known, simple song that can be sung as a round

====Instrumentation====
* Highborn musical traditions favour the flute and other wind instruments. On days when the wind is high, a chapterhouse resounds with the song of wind chimes, aeolian harps and bells.
* Trumpets and bugles are often blown before a battlefield charge.

====Other performance traditions====

===How to adapt your repertoire===
* If singing in harmony, try to sing in consecutive 4ths or 5ths. This gives a fantastic 'plainchanty' sound perfect for Highguard. An example is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xti9lXz3lVI Circle March (arranged by Katy Cooper)] which starts in unison then goes into 4ths before full harmony.
* Many songs can be made to sound plainchanty by just pulling the rhythm all over the place. Have a listen to some church psalms and simply substitute your own lyrics.

===Our sources===
Shape note/Sacred Harp singings (Northern or Southern Harmony), any plainchant choir,

Here is a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOagOv6ztZg&list=PL58F0C16B0DEB67D1&feature=plpp_play_all youtube playlist] of appropriate or inspiring music.
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Highguard Music]]
{{Highguard Links}}

Virtues Anthem

2023-09-30T19:58:44Z

Aaronwalter: Removed link to my variant music as near identical to main

To the tune of [http://www.madrigirls.org.uk/audio/veni.mp3 Veni Veni Emmanuel]. Lyrics by Jude Reid.
[http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/e/eb/Virtues-Anthem.pdf Transcribed by Aaron Walter]

'''RECORDING of this song:''' [[Media:virtues-anthem.mp3]]

<song>
O come o come ye seven virtues bright
And lead this soul from darkness into light
Let courage be my armour and my shield
With virtue as my guide I shall not yield
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

O let my spirit hear ambition's call
To strive and rise and never fear to fall
Let flames of holy fervour fill my soul
I shall not cease until I reach my goal
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

I pray that every day my wisdom grow
That I in turn may teach on what I know
To know the truths of all the world I yearn-
Till my last breath I shall not cease to learn
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

Oh holy virtue grant that I be proud
To own my sins and speak my virtues loud
No falsehoods vile, false modesty or shame
Shall tarnish the bright glory of my name
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

All ills I will ensure for duty's sake
A valiant heart may cease but never break
To kinsman, to lover, and to friend
My loyalty shall be without an end
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

With vigilance I strive that I perceive
Those liars who dissemble and deceive
May sinners fear my name across the land
May traitors perish weeping at my hand
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''

When hard I work with hand and heart and mind
Prosperity shall follow close behind
I shall make use of every throne I earn
That other men shall prosperous be in turn
''O come o come ye seven virtues bright''
''And lead this soul from darkness into light''
</song>

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

The Ritual for the Departed

2023-09-30T17:17:04Z

Aaronwalter: Edit links to updated files

[https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/3/3e/Ritual_for_the_Departed.pdf Words and music by Aaron Walter]

A midi of this song can be found [https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/mediawiki-public/images/7/7f/Ritual_for_the_Departed.mid here].

[[Category:Highguard Music]]
[[Category:Highguard]]
[[Category:Music]]

File:Ritual for the Departed.mid

2023-09-30T17:15:20Z

Aaronwalter: Aaronwalter uploaded a new version of File:Ritual for the Departed.mid

Updated version

File:Ritual for the Departed.mid

2023-09-30T17:09:54Z

Aaronwalter: Updated version

Updated version

File:Ritual for the Departed.pdf

2023-09-30T17:08:00Z

Aaronwalter: Updated version

Updated version

This might be your battle

2018-09-11T08:48:54Z

Aaronwalter: /* Overview */

[[Category:Winds of Fortune]][[Category:382YE]][[Category:Recent History]][[Category: Autumn Equinox 382YE]]
<ic>Carissa came out onto the deck behind the house in search her husband's father. Gan was leaning against the back wall of the house, his arms folded, glaring out at the sea, brows thunderous, occasionally sipping his syrah.

She waited to see if hed noticed her and when it was clear he hadn't, she touched him on the arm gently to attract his attention. He started slightly, then smiled when he saw it was her.

"Are you alright?" she signed carefully.

Gan nodded. "Too many people, all talking at once, all shouting. I thought I would come outside until they all calmed down."

He glanced at the sea, in that way he did whenever it was in sight, as if to check it was not creeping up on him. When she had first met him, it had struck her as odd. She'd known Gan was from the west, and she knew his people feared the sea, but she'd never thought about how difficult it must have been for him to come here, to Cazar. Haime - her husband, his son - said there was a family legend that Gan had only been able to make the crossing from the mainland by getting drunk out of his mind and that he'd spent his first week in Cazar hungover, refusing to leave the house or even look out of the windows. It did not make life among the corsair families particularly easy - and there was no way that someone as adept at reading lips could fail to realise how often the subject of snide comments from his neighbours.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

Gan furrowed his eyebrows. Carissa secretly loved his eyebrows and was sometimes disappointed that Haime had not inherited them. He could communicate more with his eyebrows than some people could with a ten minute speech. First they pulled together, then they moved up and out, then back together, then he arched one, huffed, and finally said.

"Are you sure you want to know?" his hands were a little hesitant.

She nodded.

"You should burn them all," he signed matter of factly, and then followed up with a flurry of signs she couldn't follow. She understood less than half of them, and felt a rush of shame at her own lack of understanding. Before she could say anything, though, he seemed to sense she was upset and stopped. He shook his head as if shaking something off and began again more slowly.

"You should hunt them back to where they live, and burn their boats. For every one of your people they have killed, you should kill five of theirs. They need to know that they cannot come here and hurt you without consequence." His hands fell still then for a moment, and he looked at her his expression hard to read, his eyebrows still.

"They think they are strong, and that that means they can do whatever they want."

There was a fierceness in his movements, and for a moment she wondered whether the neighbours who mocked him for his fear of the sea would be so quick to jibe if they saw the fury that rose within him at that moment. Then he stopped, his hands still and open, and for a moment she saw something in him she'd never really seen before, a sadness, an old pain, a memory of something. He looked past her, without blinking, for a few moments.

"Also you should free their slaves." He nodded then, several times. "Burn their boats, kill them, free their slaves. That is what I think you should do"

"Because it is virtuous." she agreed. He laughed soundlesly.

"No," he signed. "Because if you take their slaves away they will have to mine their own damn salt and they will ''hate'' it!"</ic>

<div style="float:right; width: 450px; clear: right;"><quote by="Mazo i Zabala i Erigo, Statement of Principle, Freeborn National Assembly, Summer Solstice 382YE, Upheld with a Great Majority 80 - 0"> The mission to map the Bay of Catazar yielded important information and flagged up areas that should be explored further. Freeborn privateers should prioritize privateering and exploration around the Isle of Balsagoth, which is known for its rich weirwood forests and is harvested by Grendel slaves who we feel should be liberated.</quote></div>
==Overview==
Mazo's [[judgement]] is timely. The statement of principle catches something not only among the Freeborn. It spreads quickly to [[the League]], and [[Highguard]], an even to some of the captains of [[Urizen]]. The Grendel may have lost their entire armies, but it appears they don't know when they're beaten. They have become overconfident since the destruction of the Freeborn Storm and the shipyard at Atalya. They believe they own the [[Bay of Catazar]] - and while it is true that the Empire has nothing to match the armada currently at anchor outside Sarvos... they have perhaps underestimated the power of the citizens of the Empire. With the Broken Shore privateers bent on fruitlessly [[Mean_what_you_say#Salt_Tales|chasing Imperial merchant vessels]], now might be the perfect time to strike against them.

A strike against the [[Bay of Catazar#The Broken Shore|Broken Shore]] is not something to be considered lightly. It will take extensive planning, and if it is to have an impact it will need a very significant force of both [[fleet|ships]] and [[military unit|soldiers]]... but it could be done.
__TOC__

==Attack the Grendel, Raid the Salt Mine ==
Unlike previous actions such as [[Shelter from the storm|evacuating the Isle of Zemress]], [[Down_along_the_cove|protecting the fishing fleet]], or [[How sweet is the sea|mapping the Bay of Catazar]], to be successful the raid against the Broken Shore will require both ships and soldiers.

Following the Autumn Equinox, the owners of [[fleet]] resources will be able to assign them to support the "Attack the Slavers" action available on the [[Fleet#Privateering|privateering]] drop-down menu. Each standard fleet assigned to support this action adds 100 strength to the opportunity. Each additional [[fleet#upgrading|rank]] the resource possesses adds another 20 strength. Rituals and other effects that make a fleet more effective at the privateering action apply their benefits normally to the effective ranks. Once downtime closes, we will determine the outcome based on the total effective strength of all assigned fleets and military units.

Likewise, the owners of [[military unit]] resources will find the "Raid the Salt Mines" action available from the [[Military unit#Paid Work|paid work]] drop down menu.. In the same way each standard miitary unit assigned to support this action adds 100 strength to the opportunity. Each additional [[Military unit#upgrading|rank]] the resource possesses adds another 20 strength. Rituals and other effects that make a military unit more effective at the paid work action apply their benefits normally to the effective ranks.

Once downtime closes, the exact outcome of the opportunity will be determined by the total effective strength of all assigned fleets and military units. Because of the complex nature of this opportunity, it will be impossible to predict the production of any resource that supports it; everything will depend on how successful the action ultimately is.
===The Imperial Fleet Master===
As they have on previous occasions, the expectation is that '''Estaban i Del Rio Blanco i Guerra''' the [[Imperial Fleet Master]] will orchestrate fleets to take part in this opportunity, and presumably will extend his responsibilities to include recruiting sufficient military units. The Civil Service will coordinate with the Fleet Master's office to deal with the complex minutiae of getting soldiers onto ships, organising movements of vessels, and the like. The Fleet Master will also be responsible for disposing of any significant resources secured as a result of this opportunity - especially mithril and weirwood.

===Freeing Slaves===
The purpose of these raids is twofold; to disrupt the Grendel and to free slaves. The orcs of the Broken Shore use a mix of human and orc slaves - they don't really care who ends up in their salt mines, cleaning their floors, working their limited fields, or dying in their arenas. It will be impossible to pick and choose which slaves to free - once the chains are off, any who want to will be loaded onto Imperial ships and brought back to the Empire. Where they end up will depend in part on the mix of nations who provide fleets but it is likely they will be focused around the Bay of Catazar nations - the Brass Coast, the League, Highguard, and southern Urizen. At the moment, no particular provision has been made for these freed slaves - the focus is on breaking their chains and returning them to civilisation. The [[382YE_Summer_Solstice_Synod_judgements#Judgement_10|recently passed]] mandate by ''Eska Crowspeaker''' ensures that any slaves returned to the Empire will receive sanctuary and succour but decisions about what to do with them and how to integrate them into society may need to be made. It is likely that this will be dealt with in a Wind of Fortune next event

==Where You Go==
The total effective strength of fleets committed to the "Attack the Slavers " action will determine how significant the targets of the opportunity will be.

If the military strength of the assigned fleets is less than 5000, then they will be unable to convey the Imperial soldiers effectively to and from the Grendel mainland. They will be restricted to attacking outlying outposts, and raiding ships at sea. If sufficient Imperial military units are sent then they will be be to capture a number of slave ships, freeing the prisoners in their holds and liberating their crews, but the overall impact will be blunted.

If at least 5,000 total strength of fleets is assigned to the action, then the imperial force will attack the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Temple_of_Tempest_Jade|Temple of Tempest Jade]]. This is on the mainland north-east of fort Kuhnaven and is a massive structure said to contain a small Prince's ransom in tempest jade.
The structure appears to be the centre of Grendel worship of the evil Spring eternal Siakha. If the Empire are able to destroy the Temple, it will break the power of that cult.

If at least 10,000 total strength of fleets is assigned to the action, then the Imperial force will be able to launch a raid against the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Vorlach|slave port of Vorlach]]. The town of Vorlach is a rich mining town that imports slaves and exports raw metals - including mithril - and salt. It is located in the northern coast of Shayeel and is controlled by the Salt Lord Moorvain. Any raid here will be a significant blow to his reputation and prestige.

If the total strength of the fleets exceeds 15,000 then the Imperial force will be able to raid the [[Bay_of_Catazar#Balsagoth|Isle of Balsagoth]]. This large island is just north of Dubhtraig and the waters around it are regularly patrolled by Grendel warships. There is a great forest of weirwood here, and if the raid is successful - if the force of military units is large enough - then the Empire will be able to carry off this treasure in addition to freeing the slaves who are forced to prepare it.

If the Empire is able to commit a flotilla of fleets equal to 20,000 strength then that is sufficient to to enable an attack against [[Bay_of_Catazar#Dubhtraig|Dubhtraig]] itself. It is little more than a year since the Grendel invaded the Imperial city of Sarvos - what more fitting way to bloody their nose than to raid their own capital city? Ruled by the ruthless Salt Lord Suriad, Dubhtraig is the very centre of Grendel trade and piracy. There is white granite to be had here - it is known to be for sale to the right buyers in markets in Dubhtraig. A big enough raid would be able to free hundreds of slaves, as well as whatever white granite could be looted - and best of all to strike right at the heart of the Salt Lords Council.

==What You Do When You Get There==
While the fleets are able to disrupt the Grendel by themselves, it is up to Imperial military captains to take the fight to the Grendel on land. The obvious targets for freeing slaves and disrupting the Grendel are the salt mines, and where they can be located any bourse resources. The total strength of military units attached to "Raid the Salt Mines" will influence how many slaves the Empire frees - and how much wealth they are able to seize from the Grendel.

This means that the target of the raid is determined by the strength of the fleets, but the effectiveness of the raid will depend on the total strength of the military units assigned.

For the raids to be truly effective, the Empire must commit at least 5,000 strength of military units. The more Imperial fleets the Empire has, the more impressive a target they can raid - but it won't matter how many fleets they provide if they don't have the soldiers to back it up. Whatever happens, the raid by Imperial vessels will give the Grendel a shock - but it won't be enough to carry off significant wealth or have any lasting effects. If this happens, every fleet and military unit will receive half the normal rewards they achieve from privateering or paid work.

If the Empire commit more than 5000 soldiers in total across all the military units assigned to the action then the outcome will depend on the target.

===Grendel Shipping===
If the Imperial fleets are only able to support an attack on the Grendel Shipping then the results will be limited in scope. It will have an impact on Grendel profits and pride and give opportunities to carry off vessels and free slaves.

* At 5,000 effective strength, Grendel shipping will suffer a discernible impact. The Empire can expect to free around 200 slaves from the vessels they sack and every fleet and military unit will gain half the production they would normally expect in the form of random loot.
* At 10,000 effective strength, dozens of Grendel ships will be sunk. The Empire can except to free more than 300 slaves and every fleet and military unit will gain production. Grendel trade will be disrupted for the entire season. Grendel shipping will be heavily disrupted for the next six months due to the losses and it will make it impossible for them to harass Imperial shipping (as they are doing currently) next season.
* At 20,000 effective strength, scores of Grendel ships will be captured or destroyed. Upwards of 500 slaves will be freed and every fleet and military unit will get full production plus two additional random ingots of metal. Grendel shipping will be heavily disrupted for the next six months and that will stop them harassing harass Imperial shipping (as they are doing currently) for the next two seasons.

===Temple of Tempest Jade===
If the Empire commits enough fleets to reach the Temple of Tempest Jade then the independent captains will be able to launch an assault on the Temple itself. How effective this will be depends on the strength of the military units.

* At 5,000 effective strength, the Temple will be raided. It will not be possible to breach the walls, but any outlying structures will be fire and looted and any slaves freed. This will allow the Empire to free around 250 slaves from the cages and pens that surround the temple. Every fleet and military unit will gain three-quarters of the production they would normally expect.
* At 10,000 effective strength, military captains will be able to attack the Temple directly, although they will be unable to breech the walls. In addition to freeing all the slaves held on lands around the Tmple, every fleet and military unit will gain full production plus two ingots of Tempest Jade. They will also recover valuable information about the strength of the forces that defend the Temple.
* At 20,000 effective strength, the Empire will be able to breech the walls and get inside the Temple. They will be able to slaughter the priests of Siakha and free all the slaves kept there, saving them from a horrible death. The Temple will be razed and looted and every fleet and military unit will get full production plus 10 additional ingots of Tempest Jade. Furthermore, the Imperial Fleet Master will receive 50 ingots of Tempest Jade taken from the walls of the Temple. The power of the priests of Siakha will be broken and they will left a pale shadow of their current power and influence.

===Vorlach===
However, if the Empire commits enough fleets to make an attack on Vorlach feasible, the independent captains will be able to attack objectives in the territory including Salt Lord Voormain's mines. How effective this will be depends on the strength of the military units.

* At 5,000 effective strength, Vorlach will be attacked. Around 250 slaves will be liberated from the town and the nearby mines. Every fleet and military unit will gain three-quarters of the production they would normally expect, plus two random ingots.
* At 10,000 effective strength, Vorlach will be damaged. Some 500 slaves will be liberated from the town and the nerby mines. Every fleet and military unit will gain full production plus two random ingots. Vorlach will be disrupted for at least a season,
* At 20,000 effective strength, Vorlach will be fired and looted. The slave markets there will be comprehensively raided, as will the salt and mithril mines. As many as 1500 slaves will be liberated. Every fleet and military unit will get full production plus four additional random ingots of metal. Furthermore, the Imperial Fleet Master will receive 10 wains of mithril stolen from the salt lord, and the production of the mithril and salt mines will grind to a halt for as long as it takes to secure new workers. The city will suffer lasting damage which will take years to restore.

===Isle of Balsagoth===
A raid against the Isle of Bal Sagaoth requires the Empire to deal with a heavy cordon of defensive ships. This means at least 15,000 fleets assigned to the "Attack the Slavers" action. It also requires a major investment of troops.

* At 5,000 effective military unit strength, the Isle will be raided. Around 300 slaves will be liberated, and that means that Grendel production of weirwood from the island will be halted for three months. Every fleet and military unit involved will gain three-quarters the amount of resources plus two random measures of forest materials.
* At 10,000 effective military unit strength, the island will be comprehensibly raided. The Empire expects to liberate around 500 slaves, and that will prevent any production of weirwood from the island for six months. Every fleet and military unit will gain the full amount of resources they would expect plus two random measures of forest materials.
* At 20,000 effective military strength, the Empire will be able to free every slave on the island (around 1000), preventing any production of weirwood for the next next three seasons. Every fleet and military unit will gain the full amount of resources they would expect normally, from the plunder taken from the island plus five random measures of forest materials. In addition, the Imperial Fleet Master will gain 10 wains of weirwood.
* At 30,000 effective military strength, the Empire will be able to slaughter all the defenders, liberate all the slaves and destroy the lumber mills and infrastructure used to harvest weirwood. There will no production of weirwood possible until the Grendel rebuild which will take at least a year. The Imperial Fleet Master will gain 25 wains of weirwood.

===Dubhtraig===
The ultimate prize requires at least 20,000 fleet strength to be assigned, but would allow a direct raid against Salt Lord Suriad, her city, and her mines. It would be a stab right at the heart of Grendel strength.

* If less than 10,000 effective military force is assigned, the attack will not get past the docks. Around 250 slaves will be liberated, and every fleet and military unit will gain the normal production they would expect for privateering or paid work, but the lasting impact will be minimal.
* If at least 10,000 military force is assigned, the attack will penetrate into the city. At least 500 slaves will be liberated. Every fleet and military unit will gain the full amount of resources they would normally expect plus treasures and other art objects equivalent to 72 rings each. The city will be damaged, and the Imperial Fleet Master will receive 10 wains of weirwood and 10 wains of mithril. Damage to the docks will mean that the ability of the salt lords to harvest weirwood from Bal Sagoth will be halted for three months, and will also ensure the shipyard is unable to build any new navies for six months.
* If at least 20,000 military force is assigned, the attack will damage the city with the same effects as the 10,000 force attack above. In addition, the soldiers will be able to raid Suriad's salt and mithril mines, freeing at least another 500 slaves and securing an additional 10 wains of mithril. Mithril production from the mine and weirwood production from the Isle of Balsagoth will both be stopped for six months, the shipyard neutralised for nine months, and it will delay the Grendel raising a new army for six months. Every fleet and military unit assigned to the action will receive normal production plus Grendel wealth they can carry off equal to 108 rings each.
* If at least 30,000 military force is assigned, the attack will cause extensive damage to the city. In addition to the effects for 20,000 strength the attackers will be be able damage Fort Fuil and Fort Salann, and gain another additional 10 wains of mithril (for a total of 30 wains). The ability of Salt Lord Suriad to take mithril from her mine, and weirwood from Bal Sagoth, will be prevented for nine months, and the Grendel will not be able to commission another navy in Dubhtraig for at least a year, and any plans they may have to raise a new army will be delayed for a year. Every fleet and military unit assigned to the action will receive normal production plus Grendel wealth they can carry off equal to 132 rings each.

==Limited Opportunity==
This opportunity is only available during the Autumn Equinox, and the downtime immediately following. It might in theory be possible to attempt to secure a similar opportunity in future, but there is no guarantee that combination of Freeborn anger and Grendel overconfidence will align in the same way again, or that such a large-scale attack will be possible again this generation.

Tonics of the Open Sky

2018-05-07T13:00:56Z

Aaronwalter:

The tonics of the open sky are useful preparations that slow bleeding and help mitigate injury. They allow a severely injured warrior finds it easier to endure their wounds, granting valuable time for a healer or chirurgeon to reach them. More than one veteran is alive today because of one of these preparations, and they are often referred to as ''elixirs of lifekeeping'' as a consequence.

The herbs used to brew these potions are dissolved in a small amount of alcohol. Unlike the harsher [[Tonics of the Deep Forest]], the tonics of the open sky require a much weaker solution and usually possess a more mellow flavour. The recipes originated in the [[The Brass Coast|Brass Coast]] in pre-Imperial times. While they were initially a secret of the [[Riqueza]] family, the method of brewing these lifesaving tonics quickly spread to the other Freeborn families. In the decades before the formation of the Empire, Freeborn merchants engaged in a lucrative trade in selling them to foreign warriors. After the Brass Coast joined the Empire it was only a matter of time before the recipes became generally known. To pre-empt this, a family of the Riqueza simultaneously sold the formulae to no fewer than fourteen apothecaries in various nations, often through intermediaries, for quite astronomical sums of money. When challenged, their dhomiro simply shrugged, and said it was better to sell something while it still had value than to allow it to be stolen.

In Wintermark, these tonics are collectively termed the ''Grimnir's Cloak.'' According to a popular legend, Grimnir Kaisa Bloodwing served the potion to all the warriors of her Hall before a vicious battle against a besieging orc force. Her foresight meant that the healers were able to save more warriors than the orcs were able to bring down, patch them up, and return them to the fray. In the end the defending forces were victorious. While some historians question the veracity of this story, few can dispute the deeper truth - that no matter how wounded someone may be, if a healer can reach them in time, they can be saved.

==Tonic of Sunlit Glass==
This preparation is most effective when drunk by someone who already possesses deep reserves of fortitude. Even more than its protective properties, it is valued for its ability to inspire a positive attitude in those about to take to battle. As the [[Highguard|Highborn]] general Aaron of Redwater wrote in his journal "''Believing you can win is not enough by itself, but it is the first step along the road to victory.''"

* '''Form:''' Liquid.
* '''Description:''' When this translucent yellow-gold liquid catches the light it seems almost to glow. It has a faint scent of lemons, and a tiny drop on your tongue tastes of freshly squeezed oranges.
* '''Roleplaying Effects:''' You feel a sudden burst of optimism and a rush of positive emotions; you are reminded of past triumphs, hopes and dreams.
* '''Mechanical Effects:''' You gain an additional rank of Fortitude until the next sunrise. This is a [[Potion#Tonics|tonic]]; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
* '''Recipe:''' One dram of [[Cerulean Mazzarine]] and one dram of [[Imperial Roseweald]].
<div style="float:right; width: 450px;"><box>'''OOC Note'''<br>
In common with all [[Potion#Tonics|tonics]], it is important to remember that you cannot be under the effect of more than one at a time. This means even though the Tonic of Surging Flame gives you a one-use ability, you cannot combine it with another tonic nor can you drink more than one at a time to try and stack uses of unstoppable.

When you use the ability granted by the Tonic of Surging Flame, you follow all the rules for using [[Heroic_skills#Unstoppable|unstoppable]]. For example, if you plan to use the ability to regain lost hits, it still takes five seconds to drink the potion and five seconds to use the unstoppable skill for a total of ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying to regain three hits. This also means that the hits restored are affected by items such as [[Goldenfire Scale]], that you cannot use the ability while [[Calls#WEAKNESS|weakened]] or [[Calls#PARALYSE|paralysed]], and so on.</box></div>
==Tonic of Surging Flame==
This potent preparation provides a valuable healing benefit. At its most basic, it allows the drinker to "store up" the power to restore themselves with a few moments of concentration, releasing healing energy to flow through their bodies. More potently, if the drinker is mortally wounded, the elixir unlocks inside their body and suddenly fills them with renewed life and enthusiasm, healing their wounds and driving them back to their feet. If there is a downside it is that the nature of the preparation itself almost encourages the drinker to take foolhardy risks. The tonic dulls the sense of self-preservation that many consider so important to their continued survival. Some warriors, especially among the Freeborn, the Dawnish and the Steinr, welcome the feelings of self-assurance that the tonic of surging flame brings with it, and are driven to ever more courageous and glorious acts.
* '''Form:''' Liquid.
* '''Description:''' This thin tangerine liquid has a thick layer of darker sediment at the bottom; shake the container and it quickly settles down again. It smells strongly of apricots - or perhaps oranges - and has a tart, citrus taste.
* '''Roleplaying Effects:''' Warmth spreads from your stomach to your entire body, and persists for the duration of the effect. It brings with it feelings of absolute confidence in your ability to survive no matter what happens. You find it hard to remember that risky behaviour might result in permanent injury or death.
* '''Mechanical Effects:''' Once today you may use the [[Heroic skills#Unstoppable|unstoppable]] skill as if you know it without spending [[Heroic skills#Hero|hero points]]. The effect remains until used or until the next sunrise. This is a tonic; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
* '''Recipe:''' Two drams each of [[Imperial Roseweald]] and [[True Vervain]], and one dram of [[Cerulean Mazzarine]].

==Tonic of the Distant Shore==
This powerful elixir that can easily triple the bleeding-out time of the average person, and has even more dramatic effects when drunk by someone who already possesses uncommon reserves of fortitude. There are plenty of stories of warriors who survive for hours after they are incapacitated by their enemies, only to be rescued by a friend or passing stranger. While many are almost certainly exaggerated there is no doubt that under the right circumstances this elixir can grant a miraculous ability to stave off death.

It takes its name from an old [[Freeborn]] story in which the heroic [[corsair]] Bolivar i Riqueza tricks Death during a thunderstorm, engaging that dark spirit in a contest of riddles and enigmas. Constantly playing for time, Bolivar keeps the malign entity guessing until the storm passes and the ship reaches shore, saving not only himself and his vessel but all his crew in the process. It is not uncommon to see death mocked or presented as a bumbling idiot in Freeborn humour and a draught of this tonic is often accompanied by a toast that taunts the ever-present spectre of Death.

* '''Form:''' Liquid.
* '''Description:''' When this cherry-red liquid catches the light it seems to glow. A droplet of this sticky fluid on your fingertip stains it a deep crimson. It smells strongly of fresh berries and has a sweet, dry, fruity flavour.
* '''Roleplaying Effects:''' You feel a sudden burst of optimism and renewed hope; feelings of worry, doubt and uncertainty are banished.
* '''Mechanical Effects:''' You gain an additional three ranks of Fortitude until the next sunrise. This is a [[Potion#Tonics|tonic]]; the effect of any other tonic you have drunk immediately ends.
* '''Recipe:''' Two drams each of [[Imperial Roseweald]] and [[Marrowort]], and one dram of [[Cerulean Mazzarine]].

[[Category:Potions]]
[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Venom]]

Insight

2018-01-26T07:36:48Z

Aaronwalter: /* Performing a Thorough Insight */

{{CaptionedImage|file=Maarit Is Skeptical.jpg|title=Whatever Maarit Akkova Cendro of the Circle of Zulgan Tash is seeing, she seems a little skeptical.|caption=Insight allows a priest to perceive the aura surrounding all living people.|align=left|width=600}}
==Overview==
Through the power of this ceremony, a priest can perceive the aura that surrounds living people, and gather information about spiritual effects. There is some disagreement among priests as to whether what they are seeing is the "soul" of the individual - the core of their essential nature that persists from one life to the next - or simply some spiritual penumbra that surrounds thinking beings.

Whatever they are perceiving, the ceremony allows them to gather information about the person by observing it for a few moments. The quickest information to discover is if someone is a human, an orc, or an inhabitant of another realm, whether they are under the effects of any auras, and the effects of any spiritual wounds they are experiencing. All of this can be found out with a quick overview of a target's aura.

The priest can also perform a slower, more potent version of the ceremony to allow them to identify if the target is [[dedication|dedicated]] and reveals the presence of spiritual marks like the ones created by [[testimony]] as well as any malign spiritual effects such as curses or possessions. This version of the ceremony is also effective on items to discover information about any [[hallow]] they may possess, and again will determine the presence of a spontaneously arisen aura, a spiritual curse, or the presence of a haunting spirit - it can be used to identify a ghostly anchor for example.

There are also plentiful reports of priests detecting ''other'' marks on their subject that do not appear to be the result of the testify ceremony yet still contain information. A commonly cited tale refers to a [[Varushka|Varushkan]] [[Varushka_religious_beliefs|wise one]] from [[Karov]] who used the ceremony to observe a band of travelling musicians only to discover that they each bore a mark indicating they bore a twisted boon from [[Wendigo]]. When the minstrels attempted to murder the people of the vale in their sleep, their wicked plan was stymied when they discovered not sleeping victims but fully-armed and prepared [[Varushka_military_concerns|schlacta]]!

The ceremony can also be used to examine objects, but unlike people items do not innately generate auras than can be read with insight. Objects that bear spiritual marks visible to this ceremony have usually been touched by a potent spiritual force - whether a religious ceremony, by close proximity to a profound spiritual event, or by the attentions of ghosts or spirits. It is especially useful for gathering information about spiritual [[aura#Item Auras|auras]] on relics whose provenance is uncertain, as well as to glean information about the anchors of a ghost, or how to combat a malignant curse.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Insightful.jpg|caption=With insight a priest gazes into the depths of the mortal spirit, and few<br>can hide the secrets that are found within.|align=right|width=300}}
It ''is'' possible to conceal information from Insight, but doing so is of limited benefit. It seems that even powerful [[magic items]] such as a [[Shackle of the Unvirtuous]] or a philtre such as a [[Tisanes_of_the_Labyrinth#Shadowcrow Infustion|Shadowcrow Infusion]] can only conceal the ''entire'' person from insight, rather than specific pieces of information - and the ceremony will always detect the presence of such obfuscation, even if it cannot penetrate it.

==Performing a Quick Insight==
* '''Requires a dose of liao and ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying'''
* '''Does not require a referee'''
* '''Reveals the target's race and any aura present'''
* '''Reveals the effects of any spiritual traumatic wounds'''
* '''[[orc|Orcs]] can be the subject of a quick insight'''
Performing a quick insight on a character uses a dose of [[liao]]. This performance of insight requires ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying and target must be close enough to touch throughout. The target need not be willing. After the insight is complete, you should call "Insight" loudly enough for your target to hear and make clear that they are the target of the effect.

If their aura is not concealed then they must inform you of their species (human, orc, creature of the realms, ghost, other), and tell you what [[anointing|personal aura]] they are under the effects of if any. If the target is suffering from one or more spiritual traumatic wounds, then your character becomes aware of and may open the cards and read the effects. The target of the insight should keep the cards (but not read them) in case any other priest wishes to perform insight on them.

You cannot normally perform a quick insight on an object.

==Performing a Thorough Insight==
* '''Requires a dose of liao and and at least ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying'''
* '''Requires the presence and assistance of a referee'''
* '''The target must be within 20''''
* '''Reveals information about the aura of the target'''
* '''[[orc|Orcs]] can be the subject of a thorough insight'''
If you have a referee, then you may perform a more intense version of the insight ceremony to gain more detailed information. Performing a thorough insight requires at least ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying and the target must be within 20' and in clear line-of-sight throughout. The target need not be willing. After the insight is complete, the ref will approach the target to check the results with them.

If their aura is not obscured then you will discover the presence of any malign spiritual effect such as a curse or possession. In addition to the basic information provided by a quick insight, the detailed version of the ceremony reveals the details of [[testimony]], [[excommunication]], [[anointing]], or [[dedication]] (including the strength of durable auras where appropriate); it will reveal the presence of other spiritual auras and may give information about what they are, what has caused them, or how they might be combated.

When used on an object, a thorough insight reveals if the item is under the effect of a [[hallow]], or bears a spontaneous aura, along with details of the effect (including strength, and how to combat it, when appropriate); it will also reveal if the item is an anchor for a ghost or similar creature, and may provide additional awareness depending on the nature of that entity.

==Awareness==
* '''It is not possible to perform insight without the target being aware'''
* '''Most targets will experience the effect as a potentially familiar powerful sense of being observed'''
You can perform insight against the target's will, but you cannot perform the ceremony without the target being aware of what has taken place. Most targets experience the effect of being insighted as a powerful sense of being observed. Most Imperial player-characters are sufficiently familiar with insight and the effects that they will recognize and understand what has taken place.

The awareness is not immediate; it occurs at the point where the priest calls "Insight" or the ref asks the target for their insight response. In effect, this means that a character is always aware they have ''been'' insighted, not that they are ''being'' insighted.

==Concealment==
* '''Insight is blocked by any effect that conceals a character's aura'''
* '''Insight will still reveal that the aura is concealed'''
If your aura is obscured through the use of effects such as [[Tisanes_of_the_Labyrinth#Shadowcrow Infusion|Shadowcrow Infusion]] then other characters cannot use insight to read your aura. However you ''must'' respond to any attempt to insight you by stating that their aura is ''concealed''.

It is not possible to dispel or overcome any effect that conceals an aura.

==Cooperation==
* '''There are no benefits from cooperation using the insight skill'''
While priests can cooperate to perform an insight ceremony, there are no benefits to doing so. Specifically, there are no methods of shrouding an aura that can be overcome with a more powerful insight.

==True Liao==
* '''There is no benefit to using true liao to perform the insight ceremony.'''
While true liao can be used in the place liao to perform an insight ceremony, it provides no additional information.
{{Ceremonial skills further reading}}

Category:Vestments

2017-09-06T16:11:31Z

Aaronwalter: Restored Wiki links that were lost in previous stat update

<table class="wikitable"><tr><th>Item</th><th>Power</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center; ">Months</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Green Iron</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Orichalcum</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Tempest Jade</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Weltsilver</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Ambergelt</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Beggar's Lye</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Dragonbone</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Iridescent Gloaming</th><th style="font-size: 50%; text-align: center;">Total</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[Mendicant Cassock]]</td><td>Once per day when you [[Religious skills#Performing a ceremony|perform]] or [[Religious skills#Cooperation|cooperate]] in the performance of a [[Religious skills|religious skill]] you may do so without using a dose of [[liao]].</td><td style="text-align: center;">2</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wayfarer's Robe]]</td><td>When you [[Religious skills#Performing a ceremony|perform]] or [[Religious skills#Cooperation|cooperate]] in the performance of a [[Religious skills|religious skill]], you may spend an additional dose of [[liao]] to increase the [[Religious skills#Ceremony Strength|strength]] of the ceremony by one.</td><td style="text-align: center;">1</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">3</td><td style="text-align: center;">4</td><td style="text-align: center;">3</td><td style="text-align: center;">10</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Alabaster Cerement]]</td><td>You gain three ranks of [[Combat skills#Fortitude|fortitude]].</td><td style="text-align: center;">1</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">6</td><td style="text-align: center;">7</td><td style="text-align: center;">3</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">16</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Keeper's Habit]]</td><td>Three times per day while wearing this robe, you may use [[Heroic skills#Get It Together|get it together]] as if you knew it without spending any [[Heroic skills#Hero|hero points]].</td><td style="text-align: center;">1</td><td style="text-align: center;">4</td><td style="text-align: center;">7</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">5</td><td style="text-align: center;">4</td><td style="text-align: center;">7</td><td style="text-align: center;">4</td><td style="text-align: center;">31</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Troubadour's Tunic]]</td><td>You gain two additional [[Heroic skills#Hero|hero points]].</td><td style="text-align: center;">1</td><td style="text-align: center;">7</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">4</td><td style="text-align: center;">19</td><td style="text-align: center;">5</td><td style="text-align: center;">35</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Labyrinthine Vestments]]</td><td>When you [[Religious skills#Performing a ceremony|perform]] or [[Religious skills#Cooperation|cooperate]] in the performance of a [[Religious skills|religious skill]], you may spend up to three additional doses of [[liao]] to increase the [[Religious skills#Ceremony Strength|strength]] of the ceremony by the same amount.</td><td style="text-align: center;">1</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">5</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">5</td><td style="text-align: center;">0</td><td style="text-align: center;">11</td><td style="text-align: center;">14</td><td style="text-align: center;">9</td><td style="text-align: center;">44</td></tr>
</table>

Rules update 2017

2017-09-05T11:02:34Z

Aaronwalter: /* Philtres */

==Overview==
Over winter of 2016/2017 we have carried out our annual review of the rules from last few years of Empire. As usual we are implementing some changes to the published rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki and the downtime system to reflect the changes, but will summarize and explain all changes here so that players can identify the changes easily.

We will try to include a section after each rules update to explain the reasoning behind the change.

We will post a link to this page once the update is complete, and continue to update this page throughout 2017 with any major changes.

If your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

==Call Winged Messenger==
We have overhauled the way call winged messenger works. Previously the ritual allowed you to write anything on anything and send it to anyone.

The ritual has been changed to a lower magnitude but now requires a pre-prepared ritual message. This can be created by any character - but requires three measures of iridescent gloaming - for a single page of text. Messages can be prepared before the event and collected in your pack - or created at the event by going to GOD - just like arcane projections. The message is limited to 2500 characters.

When the ritualist casts the ritual, the pre-prepared ritual message is taken to the target - if the ritual fails because the target isn't valid then the message will be in the creator's pack next event they attend.

===Reasoning===
The old system of winged messages enabled players to write their messages in the field and send them to us - which was cool - but unfortunately it resulted in us getting a lot of messages that were exceptionally difficult to read. Often they were written on rough scraps of paper and all too often the handwriting was very hard to decipher.

The only way we could handle those was to find some member of plot team to read them as they came in - and then try desperately to type them all up after the event - so every member of our team could access them. Unfortunately that process was extremely time-consuming and error prone and that meant that our responses to these messages were often delayed or disappeared completely. Given that these letters turned as scraps of paper - and were being handed around the plot tent - it was often exceptionally difficult to keep track of them in the chaos of the event.

The new approach has one clear disadvantage - namely that the actual message needs to be prepared in GOD, rather than while playing your character. We were disappointed to make that change - but the benefits from the new approach are significant. Now the message is logged on our computer system - which means that when you cast the ritual we know exactly what has been written and to whom. We no longer have to try to decipher different hand-writing and it should be almost impossible for any winged message to go missing.

We're confident this will allow us to do a vastly better job of managing our responses to letters. We should be able to respond more promptly at events - as well as being able to follow up messages much better between events without needing to find a volunteer to spend hours typing them up. It will always be a challenge to be as responsive to player actions as we'd like, but this change will give us a fighting chance to be much more responsive.

We have limited the length of ritual messages because we still have to read them all! Long messages take a while to read - which can quickly add up when a message needs to be read by multiple members of the team. Crucially though, the longer the message... the more likely it is that a key point that a player has written will be overlooked. Limiting players to shorter messages will make it harder for that to happen.

Finally the new system will make it easy and effective for us to return a failed message. Currently a failed message just disappears - which is awful game design because it means the player gets no feedback that their attempt to achieve something has failed. Returning a failed letter to the person who wrote it means that they will know it failed - so at least they know what has happened. We hope it will also mean that players get better at making sure they have a valid target for their ritual!

==In-character Explaining==
There has been a recent conjunction between the astrological symbol for [[the Door|the Door]] and [[The_Spider_and_The_Web#The_Web|the Web]]. Magicians are never really sure whether such conjunctions cause magic to change - or are instead visible symbols of hidden currents of magic. Regardless of the reason the movement of the stars remains one of the most effective ways to tell when powerful forces are changing in the world of Empire.

==Ritual Divinations==
We've reviewed and overhauled all our ''divination''-style rituals - rituals that gather information about people, objects, and the area immediately around the ritualists. We're keen to ensure that every divination ritual provides information to the casters that is either useful, or interesting. Useful information helps characters take action - whether it's moving a plot forward or pursuing some in-character goal such as apprehending a criminal. Interesting information provides context or detail about the game world that is valuable in its own right. We're very keen to reduce the number of times that the players perform a divination ritual and get information that is bland, irrelevant, or useless.

The first big change is that we've added a [[Detect magic#Divination|divination]] function to the [[detect magic]] spell. Anyone can cast this on a character; on a ribboned item; or on their immediate area to find out if there is anything valuable to be learned using a divination effect - whether that's a magical ritual or the [[insight]] ceremony. Previously, a character had to actually perform the ritual to find out if there was any information to uncover, which was wasteful not just in terms of mana but in terms of time invested, and player enthusiasm.

You don't ''have'' to take this first step - if someone is complaining about being covered in imaginary bees it is reasonable to assume that they are probably under a curse - but it provides a useful first step in analysing a situation that has a relatively low cost (personal mana), and is open to any magician.

The next change is that we have ensured that each divination ritual is distinct. Previously, for example, there was significant crossover between [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] and Reading the Weave, and between Bright Lantern and [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]]. This created suboptimal situations where a given ritual would provide some information that another ritual provided, but in a different way or to a greater or lesser degree, complicating both the lives of plot writers who had to fill in information in multiple boxes, and referees who had to disentangle it all.

Some rituals have changed more than others. [[Hand of the Maker]], for example, now provides more information about the creator of a crafted item, and the events around its creation. Reading the Weave on the other hand has been completely removed, and parts of its previous function rolled into the new [[Ties that Bind]] - a ritual that now focuses entirely on divining the bonds and social connections of characters.

Ties that Bind has undergone a dramatic overhaul. When redesigning divinations, we looked closely at the kinds of information we were able to provide reliably, and we determined that anything that examined the bonds on magic items was providing very variable results. The new Ties that Bind is more reliable because it targets a character - and a referee can check the details of the information they are handing out and ensure it is correct (something that is impossible with just a ribboned item). We're hopeful that the recent change to allow players to see which magic items they are bonded to will go some way to improving our ability to say with certainty who is bonded to what item, or who has been bonded to it in the past - we're not ruling out the possibility of divining the bonds on an item in future, but for now we're removing that effect from Imperial Lore.

Two other rituals have undergone significant changes are [[Clear Lens of the Eternal River]] and [[Shadowed Glass of Sung]]. These rituals were simply too ambitious in what they did, rarely worked, were rarely used for their intended purpose, but simultaneously created an unsustainable burden on plot writers who were expected to create information on the ''off chance'' these rituals were used. We're very keen to cut down the need for plot writers to create text that never gets seen. The rituals also did the same thing in different ways, something that muddies the waters between the realms and effectively doubled the workload. Now, these two rituals provide two specific kinds of information - the historical context of a location (something we know a plot writer will already have decided as part of writing their quest), and a typically whimsical possibility of "something cool" - provided the plot writer has written something, which can easily be determined with detect magic.

Finally we've added a new ritual [[Hakima's Glass]]. While not the most exciting ritual in the world, it allows for a function that was previously tied up in various other rituals - the ability to cast [[detect magic]] on someone or something that is protected by a shroud or other obscuring effect.

A few magnitudes have changed, but for the most part we've ensured that they remain within reach of solo casters. We were keen to support the characterisation of a specialist diviner magician, and so the majority of the rituals are magnitude 6 or 8 - the former easily attainable by a master magician or an adept with a suitable bonus, the latter easily attainable by a master with access to the Imperial regio, a magic item, or a potion.

The exact changes are summarized [[Wiki_Updates#Divination_Rituals_and_Detect_Magic|here]]. As always, if your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

===In Character Explanation===
Last event's [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|conjunction]], focusing as it did around themes of things being hidden and revealed, is responsible for the changes to divination. The exception is [[Hakima's Glass]] - we are suggesting that the ritual was always around, it was simply not worth bothering with until the recent rise in the number of shrouds, and the changes to rituals such as Bright Lantern of Ophis, made it potentially useful again.

==Bourse Private Auction==
We have take the decision to cut the Bourse private auction for the time being. The auction was a massive investment of time and energy by various plot writers and having examined the concept at great length over winter, we have become convinced that we should try to see if we can't get a lot more plot and game by investing that time elsewhere. Some of those ideas are being trialled in this and other winds of fortune. If they work well and create game then we'll put our efforts into more plot of this kind in the future.

===IC Explanation===
There is an [[Death_of_a_salesman|update in the Winds of Fortune]] that explains the IC reasoning for this update.

==Item Changes==
All the item updates are now complete - a number of items have had their powers changed - and at least two items have been removed. The Sundering Axe has been replaced by a [[Shieldbreaker]] and the old Woodcutter's Axe has been replaced with a [[Butcher's Cleaver]]. If you have one of these items currently - its powers are replaced by the replacement item. If you could make one of these items before - then you can now make the replacement item. All existing magical standards have been changed to become a [[Thaneshall Banner]].

Anyone who wants to drop a skill for an item they no longer wish to make because of the rules changes can [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] and we'll sort that - or you can sort it in GOD at the event. If you have one of the items that has been removed and you don't want the replacement item - then you can surrender the item in GOD to get the materials used to make it returned to you - albeit pro-rata for the number of seasons remaining on the enchantment.

==Pyrotechnics==
Players are no longer allowed to bring pyrotechnics (anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams). We used to allow players to do this - if they let us know beforehand - but unfortunately that is no longer possible.

===Reasoning===
Unfortunately, the new [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/3/section/134/enacted Policing and Crime Act 2017 (Possession of Pyrotechnic Articles at Musical Events)] basically means that it is no longer possible to have a licensed bar at the event and also allow players to have their own pyros on site. We are allowed to use our own pyros - but attendees can't bring their own. The new law covers anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams. Obviously this isn't a decision we wanted to take - but the matter is out of our hands unfortunately and we have to comply with the new law.

==Spy Network==
We have reversed the order of information for a [[spy network]]. This makes it more expensive for the Empire to get a good quality strategic map for a new territory - but ensures that you can always find basic military information - like the presence of enemy armies.

===Reasoning===
Under the old rules, small numbers of players were using spy networks and effectively getting nothing (because they were getting a map the Empire already had). It's part of our game design that we try to ensure that players have the best possible chance of having something useful at the start of every event. With the changes to the guerdon it was more important to update spy networks as the chance was increasingly high that players would receive nothing.

With the new rules, when the spy network is built, the Empire can take steps to ensure that they have enough military units to get a map of the area. But military units assigned to the spy network in subsequent seasons will always finding some useful information - even if that information is only that there are no armies here.

===IC Explanation===
A [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|recent conjunction]] has had a profound effect on the abilities of scouts and spies everywhere.

==Warmage, Bursar and Seer==
The changes to the [[Imperial Conclave]] - removing the gambit and giving the mana directly to the grandmasters to use to further their political order's ambitions have blunted the power of the [[Imperial Seer]], [[Bursar of the Conclave]] and the [[Warmage]]. To address this we have made some changes to each of these titles. The Bursar has gained a [[ministry]] - in line with their economic responsibility to help the Conclave raise money to acquire resources for Conclave members and to arrange the purchase of materials and items that the Conclave wishes to acquire. The Imperial Seer has gained a unique consumable resource and an important piece of new regalia - the Hawk's Demeanour and the Warmage has gained the support of the Arch of the Sky, providing the title with a small bounty of illium each event.

===Reasoning===
We were keen to give these affected Imperial titles some additional options to increase the potential for roleplaying - to correspond with the abilities lost with the gambits. The challenge with the Warmage is that we want to ensure that the position is still dependent on the support of the orders to achieve things - we didn't want to give them their own mana supply because that would have meant less need to roleplay with others. We hope that a supply of ilium will give them something that other magicians want - and that will give them some leverage to negotiate with the orders for aid.

The Imperial Seer was due to receive a gambit next event had the system not been changed in the meantime. Their new regalia and resources will make it easier for them (or an ally) to perform powerful divination rituals - an essential part of their job. Like the Warmage they are still dependent on the support of the Conclave - but we hope their items will enable to them do more if they can get that support.

The Bursar is a simpler change - giving them an economic route to turn money into more mana crystals. We hope that this will give them an effective position to increase their wealth from one event to the next by roleplaying over the opportunities the additional mana presents.

==Synod Correction==
We have removed the rule that a failed [[judgement]] in the Imperial Synod would require primacy to raise again. The penalties for resubmitting a judgement that required a lesser majority make sense - but there was no need for the additional penalties when resubmitting a judgement that required a greater majority. Players correctly pointed out that it led to some very perverse game play options that were difficult to counter. As a result we've dropped this line from the changes - members of the Synod may resubmit a judgement that requires a greater majority without additional restriction.

==The Military Council==
We are making a number of changes to the operation and running of the Military Council. Meetings of the Military Council will now take place in a separate marquee near the Hub, rather than in the Senate building. We will put the map table in the room - but are looking at options to lower the table so it is closer to the ground. There will be a ring of benches with the aim to provide just enough seating for each member of the Council. The Herald will chair the meeting - they will allow a free exchange of discussion as is customary in the Military Council - but they will not permit members of the Council to shout each other down and will look to stop people talking over each other.

Adjutants and guests of the Throne (the Throneguard) will be permitted to come and go throughout the meeting, but cannot talk in Council without the nodded consent of the body. The expectation is that adjutants will sit or stand behind their general they are supporting. Any private conversations taking place in the tent should be no louder than a whisper, so that they avoid disrupting the session. The [[Herald of the Council]] will use their legal powers to silence or exclude anyone in the tent whose activity is disturbing the meeting.

===Reasoning===
We had had ongoing feedback about the Military Council that makes clear that the experience of participation for many players is poor. Any meeting involved scores of participants risks devolving into a shouting match where the best pair of lungs wins. The nature of the table meant that players tended to crowd round it which made the room feel claustrophobic for some and crucially meant that access to the table and the discussion was becoming a physical free-for-all.

We have asked the new Herald to take a more proactive approach to chairing the meeting to ensure that all members of the Council have a chance to participate. We want players to become animated, it's fine to shout - but we won't allow the meeting to degenerate into a contest of volume. Crucially we hope that moving to a larger space, laying out seats for each member of the Council - and dictating the terms for the involvement of the adjutants and others present will give us the chance to remove the physical contest of strength to get a place at the table.

The Military Council is intended to be a contest of politics and war, not a physical shoving match. We hope that the new approach will help us to address that.

===IC Explanation===
The current Herald of the Council has resigned. The head of the civil service, Mila Boraslava, has asked Ekaterijna Gremani to assume the position for the Winter summit onwards. The civil service have a degree of leeway to change the format of the meetings they support - so the new Herald has used their authority to bring in the new changes.

Please note that while we are explaining these changes as the decision of the new Herald of the Council - because that is the simplest in-character explanation - this is a decision taken by Profound Decisions for OOC reasons. Please do not remonstrate with our civil servants over policies that Profound Decisions have implemented - the correct way to provide feedback of this kind is to speak to us directly.

==The Throne==
We have updated the page detailing the powers of [[the Throne]]. The main changes is the introduction of a new power allowing the Throne to designate one citizen who can address the Empire. We have added some important but subtle clarifications for powers like veto and favours.

==Looting on battlefields==
If your character is looting a weapon or shield from the battlefield so that you can replace a shattered item then you must loot an item that is equivalent to the phys-rep you are going to use. If your character has a large round shield - you must loot another large shield (not a buckler). If your character has a spear - you could replace a shattered spear by looting a similar size polearm - not a sword or axe.

If you are looting an item in this way - you must check with the player whose character you are robbing. An item can only be looted once (so if another player has looted it already, you cannot do so) and there is no point to looting a shattered weapon. If the player tells you that the item has been shattered or looted already - then you cannot loot it.

If you are stealing a ribboned item because you want to take an item of value and keep it, then you should check with the owner. They may ask you to take the phys-rep with the ribbon attached, or they may remove the ribbon and give it to you. A player may do this because they do not want to risk losing an expensive phys-rep, but all our monsters will be instructed to hand over ribbons rather than phys-reps as we are unable to replace stolen phys-reps if we need to respawn the orc. If you take a ribbon you should put the ribbon on a suitable phys-rep of your own as soon as possible after the battle is over.

If you do need to take a phys-rep on the battlefield, either a magical item or a banner or equivalent, then you must return it to GOD after the battle is over. All phys-reps, including barbarian banners must be returned in this way.

===Reasoning===
There have been a number of contradictory ref calls on whether it is legitimate to replace a shattered weapon on the battlefield. Shatter is an important call and we want it to remain effective on the battlefield - but we also want to preserve a degree of realism over when a player might replace a shattered weapon with an equivalent.

The change to looting magical items is to ensure that if we do need to respawn a barbarian orc then we can be confident that they still have their weapon phys-reps. We have tightened up the rules on stolen phys-reps, especially banners, on the battle because we have made a number of barbarian banners in recent years - but almost none of them survive a single battle. They get looted and never returned - and we simply cannot replace them at the rate they are being taken. The new rule that if you take any phys-rep from the battlefield then it must be returned to GOD before you go back in-character should make it easier for us to puts cool barbarian banners on the field.

==Cleave and Impale==
We have clarified the effects of [[Calls#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] and [[Calls#IMPALE|IMPALE]] to make clear that the limb is disabled and cannot be used. A few players were under the impression that it might still be possible to use a cleaved limb - but you cannot carry on using an item in the hand if that arm is cleaved. If your leg is cleaved then your character can defend themselves but they cannot stand or even kneel. Effectively you must have your bum on the ground.

==Playing Possum==
We have updated the [[Playing_the_game#Disguises|disguise rules]] to cover pretending to be dead on the battlefield. If your character is pretending to be dead, you must answer truthfully if asked OOC if you are dead or dying.

==Synod==
We have overhauled all the Synod pages on the wiki to bring them into line the presentation and format used for other parts of the wiki and to improve the quality of documentation for all participations on how the Synod works. As part of that process we have made a number of additions and changes described below:

===Scrutiny===
We have reduced the minimum amount of time to submit a judgement before a Synod voting deadline from 4 hours to 3 hours. We have added an additional option that any judgement that requires a greater majority - veto, excommunication, recognition, or change of doctrine - may be raised without the need for three hours of scrutiny. We have limited the power to withdraw a judgement to prevent it being abuse of the system.

===Judgements===
We have put in place an additional limitation that a second judgement with the same legal outcome as one already failed by the Synod that summit requires a greater majority to pass. Once the Synod has said no - any further attempt to pass the same judgement requires majority support of all the priests of that assembly. We have also added a limitation against raising multiple identical judgements and against raising the same judgement over and over to prevent people trying to sneak judgements past the Synod without people realizing what has happened.

We have added an option to allow the priest who submitted a judgement to ask the Tribune to count the votes before the deadline. The Tribune will do this under three conditions:

* There is good reason to believe that the greater majority has been achieved
* The Tribune is not already manically busy
* The request is not vexatious

This addition gives the Synod another way to pass a judgement quickly - making them slightly more responsive - without needing to achieve primacy in one fell swoop.

===Cardinal===
We have given the cardinal a new ability - to extend scrutiny for a judgement once per summit. This allows them move the deadline for voting on that judgement back. Our OOC justification for adding this ability is that the Cardinal will benefit from additional powers and this is subtle and is a nice contrast to the power of the Throne to influence Synod voting. Basically we think it's cool - so we've added it.

===Appointment===
We have amended the power of appointment to make clear that this judgement is raised by the Tribune on behalf of the Synod - but only in response to a request by a citizen to be considered for the post.

In addition we are amending the guidelines for New Imperial titles to make clear that the only acceptable constitutional path for a virtue appointment is by judgement of the virtue assembly - not appointment by the cardinal.

We are looking at an IC approach to allow players to choose whether they wish to amend existing titles to operate using the new constitutional guidelines - or leave them as they are. We will present this to the Senate for consideration at the first event.

===Change of Doctrine===
We have expanded the change of doctrine to include the idea that a failed judgement constitutes defacto but not legal rejection of the suggested change. If the Synod says no to a proposed change of doctrine than most citizens in the Empire will interpret that as a positive rejection of the idea.

===Inquisition, Condemnation, Excommunication===
We have added a role for the Tribune of the Synod in these judgements - informing the target of what is taking place and what the outcome will be.

We have rewritten condemnation as "sanction" so that it can encompass the new options created by players - vindication, castigation and penance. In effect condemnation is now simply one of four options available to the Synod to sanction an individual.

===Veto===
We have changed the way the Synod veto interacts with a motion passed by the Imperial Senate. Previously a member of the Synod needed to announce they were intending to seek the veto to delay implementation of a motion - now they need to actually submit a judgement to do so. The motion does not progress until the judgement of the Synod is concluded.

===Statement of Principle===
We have improved statement of principle to allow the General Assembly to pass a statement with a greater majority to have a significant effect on the rest of the Empire. A statement of principle passed with a greater majority by a national assemby may have a significant effect. In effect, the Synod General Assembly has the power to influence events - even create new plot opportunities - if they can muster a greater majority.

===Mandate===
We have added a new class of judgement to call out the ability to respond to a Synod plot opportunity using liao. We have specified that this must use the wording provided by the original plot opportunity but included a defined route for players to introduce their own responses before the event begins.

===Exemplars and Paragons===
We have added new content on exemplars and paragons to give more definition on these key concepts in the Imperial faith by providing some schools of thought on them.

We have added a new game structure - the inspirational tomb. At present players can make exemplars and paragons - but have no way to get real content about them on to the wiki - which basically reflects the lack of any mechanism for them to make the exemplar/paragon *famous* (we've started referring to them together as "inspirations" in the text). If the players choose to create an inspiration tomb for their inspiration - the exemplar or paragon - then we guarantee to send NPCs out to talk to you - to get the info on the live and signs of the character - and to make a full detailed wiki page for them. Just bear in mind the high cost for this new ability - true liao! One dose of the most valuable substance in the Empire is needed to create an inspiration tomb.

We have also added context for the Custos Claves, a Highborn group who operate from Bastion where they build and curate shrines, churches and basilicas for the most virtuous exemplars and paragons. If the players are able to convince the Highborn of the virtues of their inspiration then the group will provide all the skills and experience needed to commission a suitable sinecure to commemorate their life. You have to pass a commission and provide the White Granite - the Custos Claves are neither rich nor all powerful - but using their skills in place of the civil service, means that the commission will not count against the Senate limit on commissions.

===Gatekeepers===
We have updated the information on gatekeepers to define specify how the PCs tell the NPCs what decision they have made. The question of how the gatekeepers make their choice has not been changed - just how they communicate their decision to us.

===Reasoning===
The original design work on the Synod was excellent and has stood the test of time well. Unfortunately the documentation on the wiki didn't reflect that - and in particular minor procedural changes which had been introduced over the years to keep the Synod running smoothly were not anywhere that new players could find them. Our core goal in overhauling the pages was to condense the material, make it easier to find and read, and present it in a format that was similar to the other parts of the wiki.

Some of the minor changes that were made over the last few years, like scrutiny or seeking the veto were done without full consideration of all the possible alternatives. The overhaul gave us a chance to examine those parts and see if there wasn't a better implementation. With scrutiny it was fairly easy to see that reducing the period from 4 hours to 3 hours would still allow plenty of time for players to consider a judgement - but meant that players would have an hour after time-in each day to get their judgement submitted - a clear improvement.

The old rules for "seeking the veto" were introduced on the fly to respond to the developing situation in the field. The approach worked, but it was crude and clearly ad hoc - required it's own special rules for scrutiny and was dubious on legal and constitutional grounds ("seeking" a veto was a crude flange we just made up to patch a flaw). The replacement means that the veto can follow all the regular rules for scrutiny without a problem - rather than seeking a veto, a player simply submits a judgement for one.

The introduction of the new power for the cardinals to move a voting deadline back was added to give a cardinal a little more power. The voting deadlines were not present when the cardinal was created. Creating the pages for the process identified this opportunity for an additional power.

The wiki allowed the Senate to decide if a new virtue appointment was done by the assembly or the cardinal - we have changed this so that the well worth constitutional path is that all new virtue appointments will be done by the assembly. Having the cardinal appoint the position was an extension of the way gatekeepers were appointed which was implemented without full consideration. In retrospect we are convinced that there is much more game in the virtue assemblies appointing virtue titles - rather than being directly appointed by the cardinal. We hope that it will also help to raise the profile of these important positions if they are being openly fought over by players.

There is a good argument that all virtue appointments should be done by the virtue assembly - we feel there is more game in that approach. But the powers of the gatekeeper are significant but very narrow - and they often play an important role supporting their cardinal which works well in play. So we have left them unchanged - but made clear that future virtue appointments should appointed by the assembly - to maximize the politics of the appointment. We are going to introduce an administrative motion at event one to allow the Senate to decide if they wish to change existing titles like the Virtue Inquisitor - to be changed to be inline with the well worn constitutional paths. We think the game will be better if they are - but we're more concerned with ensuring that all future titles follow the best approach than we are about correcting existing titles. If the Senate doesn't want to change them - that will be a perfectly valid IC decision that we'll respect. Basically we'll attempt to change them IC - through IC means - and drop the matter if the Senate rejects that attempt.

We have updated the civil service processes for judgements like inquisition, condemnation, veto and excommunication. We spent extensive time discussing how the target of these PvP attacks should find out what had happened. Our ideal with vetoes and similar is that the players will grandstand some public denunciation of the wrong-doing - we wanted to make sure that we left room for the players to maximize the drama of these vital synod functions. At the same time - as they are PvP we wanted to make sure that our civil servants were able to talk to players, let them know what was happening, what their options and what the might do about the attack on their character. The new approach gives us the flexibility to ensure that players know what is happening in the game.

The change to statement of principle is small but very significant. If the General Assembly passes a statement of principle with a greater majority - then it is guaranteed to have an effect of some kind. We'll look at any statement of principle that passes with a greater majority - though we'll only run plot with those that happen in the national assemblies if it is clear that there will be good plot and game on the field as a result. This gives the Synod direct control of a lever that they can use to influence events in the Empire. This change is part of an ongoing series of improvements to add more levers of this kind to the game to allow players to be more proactive and to give them greater control of the game. It won't be possible for the players to know what effect will happen - players second guessing or attempting to game the system will be disappointed - but players seeking a means to achieve a clear in-character goal will have a new way to achieve that.

The new judgement of mandate is the counterpoint to the improved statement of principle. It gives the players a clear definitive way to take a moral stand on a contemporary issue and authorize a priest to take action. Changing the mechanism to require the use of wording provided by the civil service removes a clear failure in the current system where players could pass a judgement in the field - but that failed to achieve the game effect because it didn't meet the criteria outlined in the opportunity. In effect we were being forced to judge someone's roleplaying to decide if passed or failed - which is something we try very hard to avoid. Now the decision is whether or not to pass the mandate - if that happens then the priest knows exactly what the outcome will be if they go through with it.

Although there have been very very few successful alternative wordings for the expenditure of liao in the past - we wanted to keep that possibility open as far as possible. But we also wanted to make sure that players could make informed decisions with the certain knowledge of what the outcome will be. Allowing players to email us with considerations before the event makes the process for trying a different option to those presented explicit - gives us time to judge how effective it might be - and leaves a small window to inform other players of the potential consequences if they decide to back that approach.

The two new additions to the rules for exemplars and paragons are designed to give the Synod new ways to reinforce the impact of their decisions. Our implementation of pages on the wiki for new exemplars has been virtually non-existent - a reflection of the large amount of work involved. We can't commit to that amount of work for every new exemplar or paragon made by the Synod (or by a new player group joining the game) - but we needed to have a mechanism for the players to be able to make their exemplar or paragon as famous as historical figures like Tian, Empress Richilde or Good Walder. Since doing that creates a huge amount of work - we wanted to set the cost high - so we opted for a dose of true liao.

We're well aware that many players consider it some kind of sacrilege against the patron saints of LRP to sacrifice a dose of plot-generating liao in this way. That's '''awesome''' because it ensures the cost of true liao remains sky high! It's the most expensive commodity in the Empire which is brilliant. Creating an inspirational tomb is meant to be an epic achievement - you've fundamentally changed the whole Empire by creating a figure that will live in its history forever. That isn't meant to be easy! The precious way that players horde true liao makes it the perfect cost for this ability. And you never know... maybe if someone ever does manage it they'll discover that there is more than one way to skin the plot generating cat...

In the setting Bastion is the site of many of the most important churches and basilicas for exemplars, paragons, and Empresses, but there was nothing in the setting to support that. We've added the Custos Claves to create a mechanism that supports the Synod in creating structures there. They can't help you get the construction past the Senate - or pay for the White Granite - but they can help with the commission itself. We know that commissions are in short supply - so having a free one if you build a sinecure in Bastion should be a neat incentive that reinforces the setting. In addition it adds a new dimension to the roleplaying around getting an exemplar passed by the Synod. If you can get enough political support to pass your judgement - you then have a chance to roleplay trying to convince a group of NPCs of the religious merits of your candidate. If you can persuade them - then they can offer real effort to your cause.

The change to the gatekeeper, specifying the mechanism by which they tell our NPCs what choice they have made was long overdue. The lack of any definition in the setting for the way the gatekeepers choose their candidates is odd - but that oddness has become a feature - something that makes that part of the game distinct. But while we don't mind how the players make their decision, we do need to be very clear about how they inform us. If we don't know what the mechanism for the players telling us their decision is - then we have no way to find out ''for certain'' what decision the players have made.

Basically we want the gatekeepers to argue about what decision to make - what we can't have is a situation in which they argue about whether or not a decision has been made. The update removes that essential contradiction - allowing the players the freedom to choose in any way they wish - but ensuring that when they make a decision then we will definitely know what the decision is.

There are some things that we were asked to change that we have not changed, of which the most important is witness. There is a common complaint that the Right of Witness is meaningless because all the official meetings of the state are open to everyone - so the Right of Witness has no effect there. However the private meetings that some citizens arrange are not subject to the Right of Witness, so there is game happening that priests cannot force their way into. This is all true - but subtly completely misses the entire purpose of the Right of Witness.

The purpose of Witness was never to make it impossible for players to hold secret meetings. Empire is a game of politics - having secrets, creating them, discovering them, spreading them is part of the enjoyment of the game. The last thing we want to do is make it impossible for players to have secret meetings. But the risk of any political game is that the entire political process becomes a secret - obscured behind closed doors it becomes impossible for most players to view it and thus to see what is happening. There are perfectly good in-character reasons why Empire players would choose to lock everyone out of a meeting of the Military Council - or why Senate decisions would be taken behind closed doors. Such an approach might benefit the Empire But we were confident that such an approach would be bad for the game.

The Right of Witness is, a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality|positive externality]]. It existence renders private meetings of the Senate or the Military Council legally impossible. Our preferred outcome in making it impossible to prohibit priests from these meetings is not to give priests special access - rather it is to make players accept the impossibility of making these meetings secret. It is a small step from accepting that if you can't keep 250 Synod priests out of your [[Senate session]] then you might as well have a viewing gallery and let everyone in. The existence of the Right of Witness is not intended to benefit priests - it is intended to benefit every player in the game - by forcing a significant portion of the political game to be resolved in public where any player can see it and get involved.

We have also been asked to look if we can improve the rules regarding religious crimes to give greater agency to the players over these important laws. Our response to that request is likely to involve producing new guidelines - like those issued for clemency - to try to help everyone understand how the law is interpreted and applied by our NPCs. We believe a more transparent process will benefit everyone. Any additional guidelines will take time to write - but may hopefully be available on the wiki before the end of the year.

==Bourse==
We have updated the procedures for characters who lose an [[Imperial Bourse]] seat. The new rules state that the seat will receive back what they paid for the seat in proportion to the amount of production remaining. The original rules giving a re-auction were complex and legally inconsistent with the idea of a contract between the state the citizen. In essence if the contract is broken by the Empire - then the Empire repays what was paid.

Crucially we have removed the line that the proceeds of the auction of an excommunicated bourse seat holder go to the virtue fund of the Synod. In practice, it is near certain that under the old rules, any Bourse seat holder would simply have resigned their position moments before a judgement passed against them. Thus they would have recouped what they paid or more back anyway.

However that would have led to arguments about the validity and timing of the resignation and players disappointed when the excommunication power did not work as expected. Removing this option makes the legal system simpler and much more consistent (the removal of a seat is treated the same no matter how it happens) and critically ensures that everyone involved can see what the likely outcomes are when they make their IC decisions.

We've also removed the ability to get your money back if you resign. That gave too much leeway for players to get their money back if they foolishly overpaid at the auctions - the Bourse is meant to a high-stakes game, not one where you can change your mind at the drop of a hat. Removing that element has allowed us to further simply the rules over the repayment.

==Conclave==
We have made a number of changes to the running of the Conclave, summarized below:

* '''Gambits have been removed.''' The entire system was not creating the kind of game we intended, so we have removed it completely.
* '''Free minutes of discussion have been removed.''' Previously the first person nominated by each grandmaster in each round of discussion after a gambit spoke for free. Going forward everyone has to pay for their minutes during the discussion.
* '''(ETA)''' A line referencing an ability to the civil service to allow people to speak was removed.
* '''No more question and answer sessions.''' Anyone making an address or declaration, or speaking in response to them, has to speak themselves. In keeping with the [[Principle of Presence]] it is no longer possible to engage in question and answer sessions, or allow someone else to talk substantially on your behalf during the minutes you have paid for.
* '''Declarations come into effect at the end of the session.''' Previously there had been some confusion about when a declaration before the Conclave came into effect. All declarations now take effect at the end of the session
* '''Precedence is calculated at the start of the event.''' Rather than calculating precedence based on the attendance of Conclave, we are establishing precedence shortly before the start of each event using the number of magicians who possess each order's Arcane Mark as recorded on our database. We intend to make this calculation as close as possible to time-in to take into account gate bookings wherever possible. Previously precedence involved a great deal of counting and would regularly delay the start of the Conclave session.
* '''Grandmasters receive their order's resources.''' Going forward, the [[grandmaster]] of each order gets the resources that were previously locked in the conclave vaults. We've coupled this with an explicit statement that the grandmaster is responsible for using these resources to the benefit of their order and in pursuit of their order's goals.
* '''Grandmasters may be challenged.''' A system whereby members of an order may declare a lack of confidence in their grandmaster, triggering a new election, has been introduced.
* '''Sorcerors do not lose their resources.''' Previously, sorcerors lost their personal resource if it was a mana site and it became the property of the Conclave. We have removed this stricture. A sorceror still keeps their mana site. Although it is illegal for them to carry the mana it produces, it is acceptable for them to pass the mana to an ally before the game begins.
* '''Archmages deal with eternals.''' The [[archmage|archmagi]] have gained two new powers - [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] and [[Archmage#Parley|parley]].
* '''(ETA) Declaration of the Balance has been removed.''' This declaration was potentially extremely time consuming and disruptive for minimal benefits and has been largely superseded by the ability for order members to challenge their grandmasters.
There may be additional tweaks to the wiki in line with these changes over the next week, and we are still discussing a few procedural and implementation points which should be clarified in the next few days.
{{CaptionedImage|file=LockedGateofMutualism.png|caption=The Locked Gate of Mutualism demands that private resources only be used for the common good.|align=right|width=500}}
===Reasoning===
The Conclave represents a fascinating design challenge in Empire because of it's mass participation nature. The more players who participate in the Conclave game - the slower the game runs and the less enjoyable it becomes. Obviously the point your character is raising is incredibly important - but the more players who are present the greater the chance that you will have to listen to speeches that don't interest you personally from other players.

Any format like this in a LRP game risks reaching a stable equilibrium at the point where it gets sufficiently large that almost everyone is unhappy with it. If more players join - then everyone gets less happy with the resulting game - so some players drop out. As more players drop out of the Conclave game, it speeds up and gets more enjoyable. It is quite possible that there is literally no way to build a Conclave game that won't ultimately result in a situation where everyone is unhappy at how long the meetings are, if that unhappiness is the only check on the length of the meetings.

That caveat aside, we spent the winter reviewing the extensive feedback from the Summer about the Conclave - reading player experiences of the Conclave and looking at the things they enjoyed and how we could support that. The review made clear that there were improvements that we could make to the Conclave to ensure it ran more efficiently. Generally we know that things that make the Conclave run more efficiently are likely to be relatively popular. At best these changes might result in shorter, more enjoyable meetings which would be great. But even if they don't then the Conclave would be at least as enjoyable as it is now - but with more players involved.

Removing the counts of order size before each session is an obvious way to reduce the drag on the sessions. It also reduces our paperwork and administration which allows us to spend that time improving other parts of the game. Crucially it gets away from a model in which grandmasters might be inclined to encourage players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to turn up so that they can count for precedence. There's no evidence that that was happening - but that is the model that the old approach encouraged. On the face of it it encourages participation - but people who are enjoying the Conclave game don't need encouragement to attend - we want players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to find their fun elsewhere.

Removing free minutes to respond to issues is intended to help speed up the Conclave and reduce the potential for "I agree" speeches. One of the essential elements of the Conclave that was designed to try and keep meetings short was to charge people 1 mana crystal per minute to speak. The goal is to say to people that you shouldn't be talking in Conclave if you don't have something worthwhile to say. The idea of free minutes to respond to declarations really undermined this because it gave people a chance to speak without paying for everyone's time - and worse it encouraged people to say things "so as not to waste the free minute".

The change removing the possibility for question and answer sessions has a similar intent - to keep the meetings tightly focussed and prevent drift into conversation. We want conversation to happen - but not in the Conclave when someone has the floor. The time for magicians to be engaging in politics and discussions is in smaller groups before and after the Conclave. We want to encourage that kind of politics to happen ''outside'' the Conclave session.

The change to gambits is very different. It was clear from the feedback that many players didn't enjoy the gambits, they did not work as a public spectacle. Crucially we felt that the gambits had failed to achieve the kind of political game we had hoped for - almost all gambits passed, most were equally funded by each order. There was surprisingly little evidence that the different political ambitions of the orders were having a significant influence on which gambits they were prepared to fund. Even worse was the appearance of gambits to get the mana crystals out of the vault so that the grandmaster could use - we didn't have a problem with the grandmasters having the crystals - we're all in favour of a bit of corruption - it's good for the game. But there didn't seem to be much game in having the grandmasters agree to give themselves their own mana.

By giving the entire contents of an order's vault to the grandmaster at the start of every event, we make the administration of the game considerably easier but more importantly we hope to encourage a strong sense of ownership of the mana crystals by the grandmaster (and her order). The previous system - in which access to the vaults had to be agreed collectively meant that there was unwanted pressure for that access to be for the common good. In effect we had a fairly unique economic phenomena - a sort of reverse [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons tragedy of the commons]. Instead of a collective good - that could be accessed individually (which in classic economic theory leads to ruin) we had a personal good - that could only be accessed collectively. So instead of parochial, political, selfish, corrupt use of an order's mana - which is what we would want to happen - we saw the opposite.

We hope that the change will encourage grandmasters to meet with members of their order, to discuss their vaults and how they will use the contents to further their order's ambitions. We hope that grandmasters will think twice about paying a mana crystal for a magician to stand up and say "I agree" when that is one less mana crystal that they could be using for their own personal enchantments. We are optimistic that there will still be just as much game as there ever was for magicians who want to access the Conclave's vaults - but now that game will take place outside of Conclave. Now you will have to convince the Grandmaster of the Rod and Shield why your magical experiment benefits her order's objectives, rather than having to present a single picture of how your plan benefits everyone.

Of course it's possible that grandmasters will simply pocket the lot and be sitting pretty as the most magically rich citizens in the Empire. Great! Corruption is great for the game and definitely something we're always looking for ways to encourage where possible. However we need checks and balances - levers for players to pull to oppose such chicanery - so that politics and game can happen. So we have removed the declaration of balance which was not fit for purpose and replaced it with a new mechanism for replacing a grandmaster.

The old mechanism was incredibly difficult to access and worse it risked chewing through the precious time in Conclave to allow an order to settle their internal disputes. We want that game to happen - but we want it to happen outside Conclave - 70 members of the Rod and Shield probably don't want to wait 15 minutes while the Shuttered Lantern decide who their grandmaster is going to be. The new change means that the issue is decided internally by the order - it makes it far easier for an order to replace their grandmaster, so grandmasters will have to consider what steps they have to take to keep the backing of their order.

Removing gambits is obviously a blow to those that had them - the [[archmage|archmagi]], the [[Warmage]], [[Bursar of the Conclave|Bursar]] and the [[Imperial Seer]] where the Senate motion to receive a gambit was under consideration by the Constitutional Court. The Bursar and the Imperial Seer are particularly badly affected - since neither title has any major legal powers. The Senate and the Conclave are in a position to ensure that all these positions remain relevant through the decisions they take in the game - but we are also looking at the issue of those titles that were given gambits by the players but no longer have them to see if we can help in some way.

Although the Warmage gained the gambit in the original major revision of Conclave, it was never a core part of the game design that the representative from the Conclave to the Military Council - the magician tasked with representing them to the generals should have enhanced powers to draw on the resources of the Conclave. That set-up risked the position operating the other way round in practice - with the Warmage representing the Military Council to the Conclave and using a gambit to let them know what the Military Council wanted from them. Now we hope that the Warmage will be able to negotiate directly with each grandmaster to let them know what the Military Council are planning and see what the orders are prepared to do to help.

However the archmagi lack that essential constituency. It's clear why a grandmaster might give aid to the Warmage - and by extension the Military Council because that would help the Empire fights its wars. It's not clear at all why the grandmasters would offer any help or support to the archmagi now that they no longer needed their participation in the gambit process. We have always felt that the archmage should have a clear focus on magic - on being a magician - and on using the power and influence of their realm. So it made sense to try and create a new power for the archmage that exemplified that.

We know that players have long wanted a way to contact eternals. The original mechanism at the start of the game - where any player could send any number of messages to any number of eternals was utterly broken. There are more players than there are plot writers - we simply could not keep up with the flow of requests and so many of them were just getting no response. We put a stop to that - and that gave us time to redesign a new mechanism - one where players can contact any eternal - and be pro-active about creating new opportunities for the Empire and their characters - but which is limited in number so that we can ensure that we can guarantee a response. It might not be the response you want... but something will happen. All it needed was to find the right mechanism to put that into play to give players a way to fight over it - and the archmage was the perfect opportunity to do that.

Finally we changed the rules so that sorcerers do not lose their resource. There are various technical reasons for this - it didn't make any sense at all under the existing rules framework The point of personal resources is to ensure that every character has a little wealth in their pack that they can choose to use as they wish. Of course they may give it away, commit it to the war-effort, or spend it in the bar - but that's their character choice. Taking that away made no game for anyone and just encouraged the Conclave to declare people sorcerors to try and improve their income which was nonsense - so we have cut that.

===IC Explanation===
Since the election of the Empress, the civil service had had the need to review all their procedures to ensure that they are inline with the actual rules laid down in law. These changes reflect corrections to errors arising from the time of emergency.

==Mercenary Banner==
We have changed the way the [[Mercenary Banner]] magical item works. It can now only be used during the [[Muster]] of the [[Imperial Military Council]], in the presence of an Imperial [[general]] who agrees to accept an oath of service from a member of the band. This will form a binding magical contract - the players in the band can then only take the field with the general they are serving rather than their own nation. This means we will be able to update the figures for the battle to ensure that the numbers of volunteers remains balanced for each battle.

We have also increased the cost to make the item.

===Reasoning===
Mercenary banners pose a number of significant logistical problems in Empire. Once we had run a few events, we quickly identified that the single most important factor in determining the difficulty of a battle was the number of opponents on the field. It was clear that the starting point for providing enjoyably challenging battles was to ensure that we had a roughly similar number of participants on both sides. Bolstering our numbers with our skirmish crew helps - but it wasn't enough to produce a cool engagement if there were significantly more players than volunteer monsters.

In most cases, the Military Council were making choices designed to roughly balance the sides. To ensure that happened, we provided them with a framework and statistics to support that. At the point we did that, mercenary banners became more problematic. We give the Imperial generals an in-character requirement to balance the forces they send to each battle - to reflect the out-of-character game requirements - but the mercenary banners allowed them or any group of players to throw those numbers completely out of line. The banner allowed a single sizeable group of players to take a perfectly reasonable IC decision to switch sides - rendering pointless all the politics of the Council and damaging the event for everyone.

Sadly mercenaries are fundamentally problematic in LRP. The underlying economic principles behind mercenaries simply do not work well in any game with a functioning economy. In the real world, you pay mercenaries to fight instead of you - to take risks instead of you. As a result there is an economic calculation that takes place balancing risk and reward. But in live roleplaying, taking risks is the point of the game. Paying someone to fight instead of you is akin to paying someone to enjoy the event instead of you. It doesn't make much sense, in fact I suspect it would be possible to get many players to pay for the opportunity to be in a fight. After-all they've already paid out-of-character money to be there - what's a few more in-character coins on top?

In play some players will roleplay paying to hire mercenaries - perhaps because it seems the right thing to do. Most of us are sufficiently familiar with the genre of the hard-bitten mercenary to understand how it is supposed to work - but it is hard to mitigate the problems caused by the misalignment between OOC and IC incentives. The negotiation between a general and a mercenary captain should play like that cool scene from Game of Thrones when Daenerys Targaryen tries to convince the Second Sons mercenary force to change sides. I've played a mercenary captain in LRP - it's how I wanted the scene to play out in my head - but it rarely did.

Unforunately in a game like Empire, mercenaries suffer from another problem. In a game that is all about loyalty, about the bonds that tie you to other groups, nations, and to the Empire - being loyal to yourself and your employer is ''not'' an advantage. Empire is a political game - the core focus of the game is the interactions that come from the interplay of loyalties and conflicting agendas between player-characters. Mercenaries are at severe risk of being cut out of much of this game - and the more implacable they are about playing the archetype to the full - the more likely they are to be treated as nothing more than a mercenary. Some of the feedback we received, exhorting us to keep mercenaries at any cost, sadly demonstrated this very effect - that playing a mercenary runs a very high risk of becoming your only fun in the game. By leaving them in - we are basically giving players an opportunity to have a bad time.

It's perfectly in-character for an Imperial citizen to shun a mercenary. Historically mercenaries were often socially ostracized and the genre is generally full of tales of mercenaries who face contempt and hostility from the rest of society. On paper that sounds a brilliant roleplaying challenge - social conflict is the basis for the game after-all. But if contempt and hostility slides into isolation - then instead of a brilliant roleplaying challenge the mercenary character simply finds themselves cut out of the social game, possibly without even realizing why that is happening or even that it is taking place at all.

So I argued with my colleagues for most of winter that we should cut the mercenary banner - and if necessary find a way to rewrite the League brief. I am not happy being responsible for a game if I'm not confident that every part of what we are offering offers the as many opportunities for great roleplaying as possible. It's quite possible that you can play a League mercenary and have a great time - but it's a significant concern to me that you could fail to enjoy the event because you'd chosen to play a League mercenary. I fear that it can be the Empire equivalent of the dark brooding stranger who sits alone in the tavern - a great idea on paper - a terrible character concept in practice. Worst of all - because it risks cutting you off from the wider political game, the danger is that the player doesn't even realize that it is their character archetype (something PD has provided as a cool concept to play in the game) that is the reason that they have been cut out of the game. Playing a mercenary in Empire can be a trap - it promises fun - but may not deliver.

In the end, we decided not to do it. If I had my time over again, if we were writing the game tomorrow, I would not hesitate to excise mercenaries from the game. I don't believe they provide the kind of enjoyment that other characters archetypes can - and the risk is that they detract from your game much more than they add. It's possible we'd spend some time coming up with something better - something cooler - but I've spent years wrestling with mercenaries in LRP and never been very satisfied with the results.

But changing any rule or part of the setting comes with a cost. Most rule changes impact on players to some extent but they can adapt their play style accordingly. The cost of that change is paid over time by the benefits in terms of the overall improvement to the game. But if you're playing a mercenary - if that is your character concept - then removing them from the game is not something you can adapt your play style to cope with. It is going to wreck your game. Provided we were able to ensure that the existence of mercenaries wasn't negatively impacting the game for others (by wrecking the play balance of the battles) then it seemed better to keep them and let players who were enjoying playing them continue to do so.

So that left us ensuring that the mercenary banner would be available in the game - but would not impact the ratio of volunteers to players on the battles. The new rules that we've implemented do make it trickier to use a mercenary banner - but hopefully not in a way that cuts down play options for those using them. It's even possible that mandating their use during the muster will actually help mercenary groups be ''more'' involved in the military and political game, which would be a boon if that happened. It will mean more complex administration for us, as we will have to track the size of the group using the mercenary banner - so that we can update the in-character figures used to balance the battles accordingly. But that's a price worth paying if it means people can continue to enjoy the game.

What it does leave is a risk that people will use mercenary banners to try to circumvent the rules of the Military Council. The new rules are clear that the banner only affects those characters bonded to it at the time it is used. Players '''cannot''' change sides after the muster is over, ''joining a group who has changed sides has no effect''. But it's possible for players to get confused, or even think it's ok to ignore them. I am very conscious that passions can run high when a group of characters believe that they should be fighting on the other side in a battle. Obviously if that does happen then we'd need to revisit the decision to remove mercenary banners completely. I'm optimistic that won't happen though, provided that the players with the banners understand and respect the rules for using them.

We've increased the cost of the banner a little. Making it more expensive discourages a banner from acquiring one unless having the ability to fight in the other battle is genuinely crucial to their character and to their game. In practice, since a number of groups were assuming you needed multiple banners for large groups, (which was never the case for a mercenary banner), the effective cost will be less for some existing groups.

It does mean that a banner will need to ensure that their list of group members is up-to-date! If you are the administrative contact for your banner then you can check the group membership online at any time. If you are not a member of your banner - and you should be - then [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] before the first event and we'll fix that.

==Philtres==
* '''We have created a new class of potion - philtres - which can be correctly identified by any character'''
* '''Several basic restorative potions have been changed from being potions to being philtres'''
Elixir Vitae, Philtre of Strength, Skop’s Mead, MageBlood, Philtre of Heavenly Lore, Bloodharrow Philtre, Feverfail Elixir, Ossean Balm, and Anodyne Embrocation have all be changed to be philtres rather than regular potions.

Philtres use a card - like a herb or mana crystal - with all the rules for that item printed on it, instead of using a rip-open lammy like a regular potion. This means that any character can correctly identify a philtre with a quick glance at the accompanying card.

The rules for using a potion are not changed. It still requires five seconds of appropriate roleplaying - that is taking the potion bottle, removing the stopper, and drinking the contents - to use it. However you can then rip the card more quickly and take the effects described immediately without having to spend time to check the potion is what it appears to be.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Potion Card.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
===Reasoning===
In any LRP system it is crucial that the rules mechanisms that underpin the game must be applicable within the context in which that part of the game happens.

Rituals and spells represent an easy example of how this principle is applied in Empire. A ritual involves complex rules, so it requires at least a few minutes to perform the ritual to allow the referee time to process it. Spells are needed in the pitched heat of a battle - you can't have a spell that a character might legitimately expect to cast quickly in the heat of a battle take time to process. The application of the rules would be too intrusive and would impact the utility of the spell. The potency of the spell would then become a factor of how quickly the ref could process it - not how well the character used it.

Our current potion rules require the player to rip open a laminated strip and read the text written inside, after they have completed the five seconds of appropriate roleplaying. For most potions this is fine, if you are performing a powerful night ritual then it doesn't matter if the ref needs 30 seconds to rip open and read three potions to check what they do and how they affect your ritual.

But for common potions explicitly designed to be used in the heat of battle, the requirement to rip open and then read the lammy, required an amount of OOC time to administer and process that was not commensurate with the situations in which these potions were commonly used. In effect - the play balance of the item was coming down to how fast you could rip open the laminate. It is understandable - if unfortunate - that given those criteria, players had a tendency to do anything possible to reduce the amount of additional OOC time required to use the potion.

The new rules fix for philtres address this mismatch between the rules for how you use the item and the situations in which you use it. By putting the rules on a card - you know at a glance what the potion does - and the card can be ripped the same way a herb or mana card would be.

We haven't switched every potion to being a philtre, because there is an obvious trade off with the new cards - that they reduce the amount of mystery and roleplaying regarding what a potion does. Under the current rules for potions, any character who recognizes the physical description of the potion can be fairly certain they have correctly identified it - but the more obscure the potion the harder it is to identify. That means there is a degree of hard skill in being able to recognize and identify potions (which we regard as a positive), or that players create in-character books of lore to help them identify potions (even better!).

We want to maintain that element of the game as far as possible - so the overwhelming majority of potions have not been changed. These potions will still use a laminated strip of paper - and you must rip open the laminate and read what is written inside before you take the effects.

Please note that although it is perfectly legal to add an in-character label to the phys-rep for a potion - you must not write the in-character name of the potion on the out-of-character lammy - your character can label the bottle - the player can not add additional information to the lammy.

==Shattering Blow==
* '''The heroic skill that allowed two-handed weapon wielders to call Shatter has been replaced with one allowing them to call Impale'''
Players who had [[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|weapon master]] and [[Heroic_skills#Hero_Points|hero points]] were able to buy a skill called shattering blow that allowed them to expend a hero point to call Shatter when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon. This skill has been replaced with a new skill called [[Heroic_skills#Mortal_Blow|mortal blow]] that allows a character to expend a hero point to call Impale when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon.

The new skill will automatically replace the old skill for any character that had bought it.

===Reasoning===
Two-handed weapons are often weak in live roleplaying because they lack the advantages of power and penetration that such weapons had in reality. Partly to compensate for this we gave them the most potent heroic call to make up for the relative advantages of other weapons.

Although this approach succeeded in making great weapons potent on the Empire battlefield, it had negative consequences in terms of player experience. Shatter is a disabling call, unless you can have your weapon restored you are unable to carry on fighting. While that is a better in-character outcome than being killed, it can be less satisfying player experience than having your character dropped, simply because you're rendered ineffective. It is also something that is almost impossible to stop using hard skills, you can't parry or block a shattering blow.

There is very definitely a place for the Shatter call in the game - but we feel that it will be better play balance to allow wizards to access the call. They cannot wear armour and hence are easily countered in other ways whereas warriors are usually wearing substantial armour.

We still wanted warriors using great weapons to be potent on the battlefield - so we have switched the call for Impale. Given that the majority of our barbarian orcs on the battlefield use medium armour, we anticipate that this will still be a very effective call - we think it's better than the Strikedown call available to polearm wielders and it's clearly better than the Cleave call available to warriors using a one-handed weapon.

There will be some updates to the magical weapons and rituals over time to bring them into line with the new call regime for great weapons in Empire.

==Battle Mages==
We have made a number of changes designed to improve battle magicians. We've added a new potent spell - [[shatter]], improved the [[empower]] spell by reducing the cost, improved the [[paralysis]] spell by changing the limitations removing the protection provided by heavy armour and increased the amount of mana available to characters that purchase [[Magical_skills#Extra_Mana|extra mana]]. We have also clarified that spells such as [[entangle]] and [[repel]] still take effect even if they are parried or hit a shield.

===Reasoning===
The original design brief for Empire viewed the battlefield as a location for warriors to dominate - a location where those who had fighting skills would come to the fore. Crucially what we didn't want was a situation where wizards were simply more potent combatants than warriors. In practice however, it is clear that the Empire rules system allows for two very distinct types of wizard - the ritualist - and the battle mage. The former has a distinct role on the battlefield - there are certain battlefield rituals that can be invaluable in the right circumstances - but generally their main role takes place at Anvil. Battle magicians however are a very different case - like warriors the prime opportunity to use their skills is on the battlefield. The right balance for the game design would be to make them different to warriors on the battlefield - but equally useful.

The most common feedback around battle magicians tends to focus on mage armour - with people wanting it to provide resistance to Cleave or even Impale - the way regular armour does. That change would be a major mistake however - since it would make battle mages much closer to regular warriors. In a system where warriors have access to heroic abilities, the critical distinction between battle mages and warriors is their ability to take a blow. What was needed to improve battle magicians is to make the array of their offensive abilities stronger.

==Hero Points==
We have changed the cost to get access to hero points and to buy additional hero points. Under the new rules the required skill to get access to heroic abilities is called [[Heroic skills#Hero|Hero]]. It costs 2 character points and grants you two hero points that you can use to overcome roleplaying effects. Extra hero points will now be a 1* skill.

The character point cost of every character will be automatically recalculated in the next few weeks to use the new formula. Characters who have bought a single level of hero points at present will thus be in deficit by a single point - these characters will not be automatically changed by us - but will not be able to spend additional character points until they have earned enough xp to pay for their current skills.

===Reasoning===
We've changed the way the cost of hero points and extra hero points are calculated for a number of reasons. It means the skill is less accessible for characters to dip into but more accessible for characters to focus on - which encourages specialization making it easier for characters to differentiate themselves from each other. It simplifies the maths of calculating hero points and additional hero points and brings the cost of these abilities into line with the cost for extra mana.

==Healing and Swift Casting==
We have changed the time required to cast regular spells to thirty seconds, and changed the amount of healing provided by a Swift Heal to 3 hits rather than all of them. This is part of a change across the system so that heals that return all your hits (like True Vervain) will now take thirty seconds to apply, while any source of healing that returns your hits instantly or in a few seconds (like Second Wind, healing potions, Swift Heal) only returns up to 3 hits lost.

As part of this change we have removed the Swift Heal spell and the Purge spell (effectively Swift Purify spell) and instead said that any magician that has the Heal spell or the Purify spell can choose to cast these spells in a few seconds for two mana rather than one (with reduced effects in the case of Swift Heal). We have extended this change across the magic system so that all regular spells now take thirty seconds to cast, but can all be cast in a few seconds for an additional mana.

===Reasoning===
At present, healing on the battlefield is exceptionally fast. A character with a dozen hits or more can have them all restored virtually instantaneously - a problem even more acute for us when fielding large monsters that might have a score of hits or more. One of the impacts of this is that units on the battlefield that have been mauled by their opponents can be back in the fight with very little time needed to regroup and lick their wounds. That makes it harder for us to create dynamic challenges for the players on the battlefield - and because healing is cheap and plentiful, it is harder for us to challenge players and make them feel threatened.

The new rules make healing more expensive - either it is considerably slower - or it provides less hits restored for most characters. We hope that this will make battles more threatening for characters - who have more chance of running out of resources if they are being hard pressed - and more strategic for generals and unit-commanders who will have to need to take account of the need to rest units for slightly longer after they have engaged.

Having decided on the core changes, we felt it was appropriate to remove the swift heal and swift purify as spells - and instead make them free abilities granted by purchasing the heal and purify spell. This increases the availability of these abilities to any players who have invested points into them - so that any magician who can cast heal can automatically cast either version. The changes to the time required to cast regular spells - and the option to swift-cast them - has been applied to all spells for consistency although it is primarily relevant for the [[mend]] spell and the [[restore limb]] spell. [[Voice for the dead]] has been reduced in cost to a single mana point to reflect it's limited utility and to bring it into line with the other regular spells.

==IC Theft==
We have changed the rules so that you cannot enter someone else's IC tent once it has been sealed.

===Reasoning===
Any set of game rules has to balance different abstractions and the needs and interests of different players. Ideally rules should deliver the experience that the game organizers have claimed they seek to offer, but at the very least they should form part of a coherent package that embodies the core ideals for the game.

Although we have become accustomed to ignoring them, the abstractions around theft are particularly acute in live roleplaying. Empire is a game in which some of the players represent some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the land - and yet they regularly store vast fortunes in tents and have no guards - because tents are what we have and because Empire actively discourages guards (because we'd rather players found other more active roleplaying during the event). Robbing tents - particularly robbing tents while players have left them to go and sleep in their out-of-character sleeping area or while they are on the battlefield is a particularly odd quirk that is dependent on the limitations of the hobby.

However there is a vastly more serious problem with the current rules for stealing. Profound Decisions have made very clear that we will not tolerate language that makes reference to non-consensual sexual activity - yet the old rules permitted players to enter tents in which adults or children were sleeping. It is not consistent to try to eliminate verbal references to non-consensual activity but leave individuals in situations in which they may be awakened by discovering a stranger has entered their bedroom. Suggestions made for requiring people for whom this is a concern to sleep in the out-of-character area do not take into account the difficulty of bring two tents to the field. It's part of our approach to live roleplaying to try to ensure that our events do what is possible to provide a safe-space for people to roleplay, not to make it more difficult for them. The current rules did not meet those criteria.

Obviously the new rules will have a very significant detrimental impact on the amount of theft that takes place in the game. We understand and acknowledge that. We've tried to be clear in Empire that we are striving to deliver a grand game of politics and war, where people can build and lose empires. Crime has a very definite role to play in the game - but robbing tents has never been part of the game experience that we were trying to deliver for players. We looked at methods to try and create a balance between the players being robbed and the players doing the robbing - but at the point where it became clear that players were prepared to enter people's sleeping quarters to rob them while they were asleep then we had to make a decision about which game we were going to support. Because of the game's focus we have chosen to take steps to ensure that everyone can attend the event without fear of being awoken by a stranger in their bedroom.

==Unstoppable==
We have combined a heavily modified version of this effect into the [[Heroic_skills#Second_Wind|second wind]] ability.

===Reasoning===
The original design intent for the unstoppable skill was to reflect the hardy warrior who was difficult to put down. The character can take blow after blow, fall to the ground - but through sheer force of will rise back to their feet and carry on fighting. The goal was to reflect the heroic archetypes of great warriors of the fantasy trope.

In practice, the skill didn't really achieve this design goal very well. Because you got back up on one hit - you weren't really effective as a combatant. Instead what it was often used for was playing possum on the floor while the enemy moved on and then leaping to your feet and making a run for your lines, hoping to get back before you were chopped down. We did consider changing the name from "unstoppable" to better reflect it's usage, but there were other more significant problems with the skill.

One problem is the skill tends to break the fourth-wall in various ways that were unhelpful. Orcs who have downed a wounded Imperial character are conscious of the fact that the character has a significant chance of standing back up again so they have to move on... to allow that to happen. Of course, logically in a world in which characters possess the unstoppable ability, cutting the throats of characters that are downed is logically - something we're keen not to encourage monsters or players to do.

By combining the two skills into one but limiting the skill so it can only be used as you hit the deck we hope we will better achieve the original design intent to reflect the unstoppable warrior who just keeps on attacking - but also remove elements of looking at downed characters and monsters and thinking "are they all just going to leap back to their feet in a moment".

==Relentless==
We have a new heroic skill to the game - [[Heroic_skills#Relentless|relentless]]. A character with this skill may expend one hero point to regain the use of a single cleaved or impaled limb.

===Reasoning===
We added this because there was a space for it and we think it's cool.

==Grappling==
The rules for grappling have been changed. If you wish to grapple or use body contact then both participants must ask permission from a referee present. If the ref is happy that both parties are keen to grapple and in their assessment it is safe to do so, then they will allow it for that fight. It is not possible to grapple or use body contact on quests, skirmishes, or battles under any circumstances.

We have also made clear that the rules that prohibit fighting while inebriated also extend to grappling. It is not permissible for a character to fight in anyway at Empire if the player has been drinking that day.

===Reasoning===
There have been incidents at the last few events where monsters have been grappled on quests and battles with absolutely no attempt of any kind to obtain permission. The reality is that battles are high adrenaline moments that take place in the woods where there are numerous environmental hazards. There are no situations where we are happy to have grappling take place in the quest area and we have changed the rules to make that restriction explicit.

Sadly there have also been situations in Anvil (particularly late at night in the Senate) where players are getting involved in grappling while drunk and with no attempt to ensure that the other party is keen to do so. This has resulted in tempers flaring and grappling rapidly becoming out-of-character. The individuals in question have been given a warning, but we have changed the rules so that you can only grapple in a small fight with the permission of the referee. You can expect the referee not to refuse to give permission if they are satisfied that both parties are sober and keen to grapple with each other and that the area is safe to do so.

Grappling in Empire is appropriate in cinematic duels and fights where both parties have indicated that they wish to do so. We don't see any need to stop that - and we believe that the new rules will present little restriction for players who are sensible about it. But the majority of players attending Empire are very keen not to be grappled by people they have not given permission to grapple and we want to ensure that they can enjoy the game without concern.

==Large Creatures==
We have changed the definition of what creatures are immune to calls in Empire. Only [[Calls#Monstrous_Creatures|Monstrous Creatures]], threats that are phys-repped using bulky all-encompassing full-body costumes such as the ice giant or the Grendel drakes will be immune to calls from now on. Ogres - and creatures with a similar phys-rep - are now affected by calls normally.

We have also made clear that Monstrous Creatures cannot be healed on a battlefield using normal means.

===Reasoning===
Over time it has become clear that there are significant problems involved with large creatures. Because the only phys-rep requirement was to have a costume designed to make the wearer look bigger, the costume for ogres and other creatures was focussing too strongly on this element - and not strongly enough on the overall appearance. Using shoulder pads and similar made it much harder for the monsters to fight, because of the encumbrance. In essence we were hamstringing the monster volunteer just to meet the minimum phys-rep requirements for the creature to be ''large''.

In play it has become clear that the ability of creatures just larger than a human to ignore calls was detrimental to the player experience. It is exactly this kind of creature that a warrior or magician would want to use their abilities on - so a character fighting toe-to-toe against such a beast should expect to be able to do so. Nullifying character abilities at the point of optimum use is not good game design - but the problem is particularly acute when those creatures are relatively common.

Crucially defining our powerful monsters by their size was at odds with our guidelines on [[equality and diversity]]. Inevitably the creatures that are immune to calls are seen as one of the most appealing monsters to play on the battlefield. Unfortunately it was impossible for a third of our player base to visibly meet the requirements for large creatures - adding shoulder pads to a short participant was insufficient to make them look large. This contributed to a problem that has been identified in recent years in which short players (which because of human anatomy often means female players) were not being given exciting roles to play when monstering battles. We're keen to ensure that everyone who volunteers to monster for us gets opportunities to play roles on the battlefield based on their ability to portray them and not their physique.

Monstrous creatures that are phys-repped using a full body costume will remain immune to calls. While it is not ideal for any player ability to fail in any situation, threats like these are intended to be fought and taken-down by entire units of players. These monsters need special methods to defeat them, they don't go toe-to-toe with individual characters and so they don't fall over to a single arrow or heroic blow.

Changing the definition of a monstrous creature from size to a bulky full-body costume, we can ensure that the physique of the person playing the role is irrelevant.

{{Rules Updates}}
[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Game Design]]

Rules update 2017

2017-09-05T10:55:05Z

Aaronwalter: /* Large Creatures */

==Overview==
Over winter of 2016/2017 we have carried out our annual review of the rules from last few years of Empire. As usual we are implementing some changes to the published rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki and the downtime system to reflect the changes, but will summarize and explain all changes here so that players can identify the changes easily.

We will try to include a section after each rules update to explain the reasoning behind the change.

We will post a link to this page once the update is complete, and continue to update this page throughout 2017 with any major changes.

If your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

==Call Winged Messenger==
We have overhauled the way call winged messenger works. Previously the ritual allowed you to write anything on anything and send it to anyone.

The ritual has been changed to a lower magnitude but now requires a pre-prepared ritual message. This can be created by any character - but requires three measures of iridescent gloaming - for a single page of text. Messages can be prepared before the event and collected in your pack - or created at the event by going to GOD - just like arcane projections. The message is limited to 2500 characters.

When the ritualist casts the ritual, the pre-prepared ritual message is taken to the target - if the ritual fails because the target isn't valid then the message will be in the creator's pack next event they attend.

===Reasoning===
The old system of winged messages enabled players to write their messages in the field and send them to us - which was cool - but unfortunately it resulted in us getting a lot of messages that were exceptionally difficult to read. Often they were written on rough scraps of paper and all too often the handwriting was very hard to decipher.

The only way we could handle those was to find some member of plot team to read them as they came in - and then try desperately to type them all up after the event - so every member of our team could access them. Unfortunately that process was extremely time-consuming and error prone and that meant that our responses to these messages were often delayed or disappeared completely. Given that these letters turned as scraps of paper - and were being handed around the plot tent - it was often exceptionally difficult to keep track of them in the chaos of the event.

The new approach has one clear disadvantage - namely that the actual message needs to be prepared in GOD, rather than while playing your character. We were disappointed to make that change - but the benefits from the new approach are significant. Now the message is logged on our computer system - which means that when you cast the ritual we know exactly what has been written and to whom. We no longer have to try to decipher different hand-writing and it should be almost impossible for any winged message to go missing.

We're confident this will allow us to do a vastly better job of managing our responses to letters. We should be able to respond more promptly at events - as well as being able to follow up messages much better between events without needing to find a volunteer to spend hours typing them up. It will always be a challenge to be as responsive to player actions as we'd like, but this change will give us a fighting chance to be much more responsive.

We have limited the length of ritual messages because we still have to read them all! Long messages take a while to read - which can quickly add up when a message needs to be read by multiple members of the team. Crucially though, the longer the message... the more likely it is that a key point that a player has written will be overlooked. Limiting players to shorter messages will make it harder for that to happen.

Finally the new system will make it easy and effective for us to return a failed message. Currently a failed message just disappears - which is awful game design because it means the player gets no feedback that their attempt to achieve something has failed. Returning a failed letter to the person who wrote it means that they will know it failed - so at least they know what has happened. We hope it will also mean that players get better at making sure they have a valid target for their ritual!

==In-character Explaining==
There has been a recent conjunction between the astrological symbol for [[the Door|the Door]] and [[The_Spider_and_The_Web#The_Web|the Web]]. Magicians are never really sure whether such conjunctions cause magic to change - or are instead visible symbols of hidden currents of magic. Regardless of the reason the movement of the stars remains one of the most effective ways to tell when powerful forces are changing in the world of Empire.

==Ritual Divinations==
We've reviewed and overhauled all our ''divination''-style rituals - rituals that gather information about people, objects, and the area immediately around the ritualists. We're keen to ensure that every divination ritual provides information to the casters that is either useful, or interesting. Useful information helps characters take action - whether it's moving a plot forward or pursuing some in-character goal such as apprehending a criminal. Interesting information provides context or detail about the game world that is valuable in its own right. We're very keen to reduce the number of times that the players perform a divination ritual and get information that is bland, irrelevant, or useless.

The first big change is that we've added a [[Detect magic#Divination|divination]] function to the [[detect magic]] spell. Anyone can cast this on a character; on a ribboned item; or on their immediate area to find out if there is anything valuable to be learned using a divination effect - whether that's a magical ritual or the [[insight]] ceremony. Previously, a character had to actually perform the ritual to find out if there was any information to uncover, which was wasteful not just in terms of mana but in terms of time invested, and player enthusiasm.

You don't ''have'' to take this first step - if someone is complaining about being covered in imaginary bees it is reasonable to assume that they are probably under a curse - but it provides a useful first step in analysing a situation that has a relatively low cost (personal mana), and is open to any magician.

The next change is that we have ensured that each divination ritual is distinct. Previously, for example, there was significant crossover between [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] and Reading the Weave, and between Bright Lantern and [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]]. This created suboptimal situations where a given ritual would provide some information that another ritual provided, but in a different way or to a greater or lesser degree, complicating both the lives of plot writers who had to fill in information in multiple boxes, and referees who had to disentangle it all.

Some rituals have changed more than others. [[Hand of the Maker]], for example, now provides more information about the creator of a crafted item, and the events around its creation. Reading the Weave on the other hand has been completely removed, and parts of its previous function rolled into the new [[Ties that Bind]] - a ritual that now focuses entirely on divining the bonds and social connections of characters.

Ties that Bind has undergone a dramatic overhaul. When redesigning divinations, we looked closely at the kinds of information we were able to provide reliably, and we determined that anything that examined the bonds on magic items was providing very variable results. The new Ties that Bind is more reliable because it targets a character - and a referee can check the details of the information they are handing out and ensure it is correct (something that is impossible with just a ribboned item). We're hopeful that the recent change to allow players to see which magic items they are bonded to will go some way to improving our ability to say with certainty who is bonded to what item, or who has been bonded to it in the past - we're not ruling out the possibility of divining the bonds on an item in future, but for now we're removing that effect from Imperial Lore.

Two other rituals have undergone significant changes are [[Clear Lens of the Eternal River]] and [[Shadowed Glass of Sung]]. These rituals were simply too ambitious in what they did, rarely worked, were rarely used for their intended purpose, but simultaneously created an unsustainable burden on plot writers who were expected to create information on the ''off chance'' these rituals were used. We're very keen to cut down the need for plot writers to create text that never gets seen. The rituals also did the same thing in different ways, something that muddies the waters between the realms and effectively doubled the workload. Now, these two rituals provide two specific kinds of information - the historical context of a location (something we know a plot writer will already have decided as part of writing their quest), and a typically whimsical possibility of "something cool" - provided the plot writer has written something, which can easily be determined with detect magic.

Finally we've added a new ritual [[Hakima's Glass]]. While not the most exciting ritual in the world, it allows for a function that was previously tied up in various other rituals - the ability to cast [[detect magic]] on someone or something that is protected by a shroud or other obscuring effect.

A few magnitudes have changed, but for the most part we've ensured that they remain within reach of solo casters. We were keen to support the characterisation of a specialist diviner magician, and so the majority of the rituals are magnitude 6 or 8 - the former easily attainable by a master magician or an adept with a suitable bonus, the latter easily attainable by a master with access to the Imperial regio, a magic item, or a potion.

The exact changes are summarized [[Wiki_Updates#Divination_Rituals_and_Detect_Magic|here]]. As always, if your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

===In Character Explanation===
Last event's [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|conjunction]], focusing as it did around themes of things being hidden and revealed, is responsible for the changes to divination. The exception is [[Hakima's Glass]] - we are suggesting that the ritual was always around, it was simply not worth bothering with until the recent rise in the number of shrouds, and the changes to rituals such as Bright Lantern of Ophis, made it potentially useful again.

==Bourse Private Auction==
We have take the decision to cut the Bourse private auction for the time being. The auction was a massive investment of time and energy by various plot writers and having examined the concept at great length over winter, we have become convinced that we should try to see if we can't get a lot more plot and game by investing that time elsewhere. Some of those ideas are being trialled in this and other winds of fortune. If they work well and create game then we'll put our efforts into more plot of this kind in the future.

===IC Explanation===
There is an [[Death_of_a_salesman|update in the Winds of Fortune]] that explains the IC reasoning for this update.

==Item Changes==
All the item updates are now complete - a number of items have had their powers changed - and at least two items have been removed. The Sundering Axe has been replaced by a [[Shieldbreaker]] and the old Woodcutter's Axe has been replaced with a [[Butcher's Cleaver]]. If you have one of these items currently - its powers are replaced by the replacement item. If you could make one of these items before - then you can now make the replacement item. All existing magical standards have been changed to become a [[Thaneshall Banner]].

Anyone who wants to drop a skill for an item they no longer wish to make because of the rules changes can [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] and we'll sort that - or you can sort it in GOD at the event. If you have one of the items that has been removed and you don't want the replacement item - then you can surrender the item in GOD to get the materials used to make it returned to you - albeit pro-rata for the number of seasons remaining on the enchantment.

==Pyrotechnics==
Players are no longer allowed to bring pyrotechnics (anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams). We used to allow players to do this - if they let us know beforehand - but unfortunately that is no longer possible.

===Reasoning===
Unfortunately, the new [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/3/section/134/enacted Policing and Crime Act 2017 (Possession of Pyrotechnic Articles at Musical Events)] basically means that it is no longer possible to have a licensed bar at the event and also allow players to have their own pyros on site. We are allowed to use our own pyros - but attendees can't bring their own. The new law covers anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams. Obviously this isn't a decision we wanted to take - but the matter is out of our hands unfortunately and we have to comply with the new law.

==Spy Network==
We have reversed the order of information for a [[spy network]]. This makes it more expensive for the Empire to get a good quality strategic map for a new territory - but ensures that you can always find basic military information - like the presence of enemy armies.

===Reasoning===
Under the old rules, small numbers of players were using spy networks and effectively getting nothing (because they were getting a map the Empire already had). It's part of our game design that we try to ensure that players have the best possible chance of having something useful at the start of every event. With the changes to the guerdon it was more important to update spy networks as the chance was increasingly high that players would receive nothing.

With the new rules, when the spy network is built, the Empire can take steps to ensure that they have enough military units to get a map of the area. But military units assigned to the spy network in subsequent seasons will always finding some useful information - even if that information is only that there are no armies here.

===IC Explanation===
A [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|recent conjunction]] has had a profound effect on the abilities of scouts and spies everywhere.

==Warmage, Bursar and Seer==
The changes to the [[Imperial Conclave]] - removing the gambit and giving the mana directly to the grandmasters to use to further their political order's ambitions have blunted the power of the [[Imperial Seer]], [[Bursar of the Conclave]] and the [[Warmage]]. To address this we have made some changes to each of these titles. The Bursar has gained a [[ministry]] - in line with their economic responsibility to help the Conclave raise money to acquire resources for Conclave members and to arrange the purchase of materials and items that the Conclave wishes to acquire. The Imperial Seer has gained a unique consumable resource and an important piece of new regalia - the Hawk's Demeanour and the Warmage has gained the support of the Arch of the Sky, providing the title with a small bounty of illium each event.

===Reasoning===
We were keen to give these affected Imperial titles some additional options to increase the potential for roleplaying - to correspond with the abilities lost with the gambits. The challenge with the Warmage is that we want to ensure that the position is still dependent on the support of the orders to achieve things - we didn't want to give them their own mana supply because that would have meant less need to roleplay with others. We hope that a supply of ilium will give them something that other magicians want - and that will give them some leverage to negotiate with the orders for aid.

The Imperial Seer was due to receive a gambit next event had the system not been changed in the meantime. Their new regalia and resources will make it easier for them (or an ally) to perform powerful divination rituals - an essential part of their job. Like the Warmage they are still dependent on the support of the Conclave - but we hope their items will enable to them do more if they can get that support.

The Bursar is a simpler change - giving them an economic route to turn money into more mana crystals. We hope that this will give them an effective position to increase their wealth from one event to the next by roleplaying over the opportunities the additional mana presents.

==Synod Correction==
We have removed the rule that a failed [[judgement]] in the Imperial Synod would require primacy to raise again. The penalties for resubmitting a judgement that required a lesser majority make sense - but there was no need for the additional penalties when resubmitting a judgement that required a greater majority. Players correctly pointed out that it led to some very perverse game play options that were difficult to counter. As a result we've dropped this line from the changes - members of the Synod may resubmit a judgement that requires a greater majority without additional restriction.

==The Military Council==
We are making a number of changes to the operation and running of the Military Council. Meetings of the Military Council will now take place in a separate marquee near the Hub, rather than in the Senate building. We will put the map table in the room - but are looking at options to lower the table so it is closer to the ground. There will be a ring of benches with the aim to provide just enough seating for each member of the Council. The Herald will chair the meeting - they will allow a free exchange of discussion as is customary in the Military Council - but they will not permit members of the Council to shout each other down and will look to stop people talking over each other.

Adjutants and guests of the Throne (the Throneguard) will be permitted to come and go throughout the meeting, but cannot talk in Council without the nodded consent of the body. The expectation is that adjutants will sit or stand behind their general they are supporting. Any private conversations taking place in the tent should be no louder than a whisper, so that they avoid disrupting the session. The [[Herald of the Council]] will use their legal powers to silence or exclude anyone in the tent whose activity is disturbing the meeting.

===Reasoning===
We had had ongoing feedback about the Military Council that makes clear that the experience of participation for many players is poor. Any meeting involved scores of participants risks devolving into a shouting match where the best pair of lungs wins. The nature of the table meant that players tended to crowd round it which made the room feel claustrophobic for some and crucially meant that access to the table and the discussion was becoming a physical free-for-all.

We have asked the new Herald to take a more proactive approach to chairing the meeting to ensure that all members of the Council have a chance to participate. We want players to become animated, it's fine to shout - but we won't allow the meeting to degenerate into a contest of volume. Crucially we hope that moving to a larger space, laying out seats for each member of the Council - and dictating the terms for the involvement of the adjutants and others present will give us the chance to remove the physical contest of strength to get a place at the table.

The Military Council is intended to be a contest of politics and war, not a physical shoving match. We hope that the new approach will help us to address that.

===IC Explanation===
The current Herald of the Council has resigned. The head of the civil service, Mila Boraslava, has asked Ekaterijna Gremani to assume the position for the Winter summit onwards. The civil service have a degree of leeway to change the format of the meetings they support - so the new Herald has used their authority to bring in the new changes.

Please note that while we are explaining these changes as the decision of the new Herald of the Council - because that is the simplest in-character explanation - this is a decision taken by Profound Decisions for OOC reasons. Please do not remonstrate with our civil servants over policies that Profound Decisions have implemented - the correct way to provide feedback of this kind is to speak to us directly.

==The Throne==
We have updated the page detailing the powers of [[the Throne]]. The main changes is the introduction of a new power allowing the Throne to designate one citizen who can address the Empire. We have added some important but subtle clarifications for powers like veto and favours.

==Looting on battlefields==
If your character is looting a weapon or shield from the battlefield so that you can replace a shattered item then you must loot an item that is equivalent to the phys-rep you are going to use. If your character has a large round shield - you must loot another large shield (not a buckler). If your character has a spear - you could replace a shattered spear by looting a similar size polearm - not a sword or axe.

If you are looting an item in this way - you must check with the player whose character you are robbing. An item can only be looted once (so if another player has looted it already, you cannot do so) and there is no point to looting a shattered weapon. If the player tells you that the item has been shattered or looted already - then you cannot loot it.

If you are stealing a ribboned item because you want to take an item of value and keep it, then you should check with the owner. They may ask you to take the phys-rep with the ribbon attached, or they may remove the ribbon and give it to you. A player may do this because they do not want to risk losing an expensive phys-rep, but all our monsters will be instructed to hand over ribbons rather than phys-reps as we are unable to replace stolen phys-reps if we need to respawn the orc. If you take a ribbon you should put the ribbon on a suitable phys-rep of your own as soon as possible after the battle is over.

If you do need to take a phys-rep on the battlefield, either a magical item or a banner or equivalent, then you must return it to GOD after the battle is over. All phys-reps, including barbarian banners must be returned in this way.

===Reasoning===
There have been a number of contradictory ref calls on whether it is legitimate to replace a shattered weapon on the battlefield. Shatter is an important call and we want it to remain effective on the battlefield - but we also want to preserve a degree of realism over when a player might replace a shattered weapon with an equivalent.

The change to looting magical items is to ensure that if we do need to respawn a barbarian orc then we can be confident that they still have their weapon phys-reps. We have tightened up the rules on stolen phys-reps, especially banners, on the battle because we have made a number of barbarian banners in recent years - but almost none of them survive a single battle. They get looted and never returned - and we simply cannot replace them at the rate they are being taken. The new rule that if you take any phys-rep from the battlefield then it must be returned to GOD before you go back in-character should make it easier for us to puts cool barbarian banners on the field.

==Cleave and Impale==
We have clarified the effects of [[Calls#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] and [[Calls#IMPALE|IMPALE]] to make clear that the limb is disabled and cannot be used. A few players were under the impression that it might still be possible to use a cleaved limb - but you cannot carry on using an item in the hand if that arm is cleaved. If your leg is cleaved then your character can defend themselves but they cannot stand or even kneel. Effectively you must have your bum on the ground.

==Playing Possum==
We have updated the [[Playing_the_game#Disguises|disguise rules]] to cover pretending to be dead on the battlefield. If your character is pretending to be dead, you must answer truthfully if asked OOC if you are dead or dying.

==Synod==
We have overhauled all the Synod pages on the wiki to bring them into line the presentation and format used for other parts of the wiki and to improve the quality of documentation for all participations on how the Synod works. As part of that process we have made a number of additions and changes described below:

===Scrutiny===
We have reduced the minimum amount of time to submit a judgement before a Synod voting deadline from 4 hours to 3 hours. We have added an additional option that any judgement that requires a greater majority - veto, excommunication, recognition, or change of doctrine - may be raised without the need for three hours of scrutiny. We have limited the power to withdraw a judgement to prevent it being abuse of the system.

===Judgements===
We have put in place an additional limitation that a second judgement with the same legal outcome as one already failed by the Synod that summit requires a greater majority to pass. Once the Synod has said no - any further attempt to pass the same judgement requires majority support of all the priests of that assembly. We have also added a limitation against raising multiple identical judgements and against raising the same judgement over and over to prevent people trying to sneak judgements past the Synod without people realizing what has happened.

We have added an option to allow the priest who submitted a judgement to ask the Tribune to count the votes before the deadline. The Tribune will do this under three conditions:

* There is good reason to believe that the greater majority has been achieved
* The Tribune is not already manically busy
* The request is not vexatious

This addition gives the Synod another way to pass a judgement quickly - making them slightly more responsive - without needing to achieve primacy in one fell swoop.

===Cardinal===
We have given the cardinal a new ability - to extend scrutiny for a judgement once per summit. This allows them move the deadline for voting on that judgement back. Our OOC justification for adding this ability is that the Cardinal will benefit from additional powers and this is subtle and is a nice contrast to the power of the Throne to influence Synod voting. Basically we think it's cool - so we've added it.

===Appointment===
We have amended the power of appointment to make clear that this judgement is raised by the Tribune on behalf of the Synod - but only in response to a request by a citizen to be considered for the post.

In addition we are amending the guidelines for New Imperial titles to make clear that the only acceptable constitutional path for a virtue appointment is by judgement of the virtue assembly - not appointment by the cardinal.

We are looking at an IC approach to allow players to choose whether they wish to amend existing titles to operate using the new constitutional guidelines - or leave them as they are. We will present this to the Senate for consideration at the first event.

===Change of Doctrine===
We have expanded the change of doctrine to include the idea that a failed judgement constitutes defacto but not legal rejection of the suggested change. If the Synod says no to a proposed change of doctrine than most citizens in the Empire will interpret that as a positive rejection of the idea.

===Inquisition, Condemnation, Excommunication===
We have added a role for the Tribune of the Synod in these judgements - informing the target of what is taking place and what the outcome will be.

We have rewritten condemnation as "sanction" so that it can encompass the new options created by players - vindication, castigation and penance. In effect condemnation is now simply one of four options available to the Synod to sanction an individual.

===Veto===
We have changed the way the Synod veto interacts with a motion passed by the Imperial Senate. Previously a member of the Synod needed to announce they were intending to seek the veto to delay implementation of a motion - now they need to actually submit a judgement to do so. The motion does not progress until the judgement of the Synod is concluded.

===Statement of Principle===
We have improved statement of principle to allow the General Assembly to pass a statement with a greater majority to have a significant effect on the rest of the Empire. A statement of principle passed with a greater majority by a national assemby may have a significant effect. In effect, the Synod General Assembly has the power to influence events - even create new plot opportunities - if they can muster a greater majority.

===Mandate===
We have added a new class of judgement to call out the ability to respond to a Synod plot opportunity using liao. We have specified that this must use the wording provided by the original plot opportunity but included a defined route for players to introduce their own responses before the event begins.

===Exemplars and Paragons===
We have added new content on exemplars and paragons to give more definition on these key concepts in the Imperial faith by providing some schools of thought on them.

We have added a new game structure - the inspirational tomb. At present players can make exemplars and paragons - but have no way to get real content about them on to the wiki - which basically reflects the lack of any mechanism for them to make the exemplar/paragon *famous* (we've started referring to them together as "inspirations" in the text). If the players choose to create an inspiration tomb for their inspiration - the exemplar or paragon - then we guarantee to send NPCs out to talk to you - to get the info on the live and signs of the character - and to make a full detailed wiki page for them. Just bear in mind the high cost for this new ability - true liao! One dose of the most valuable substance in the Empire is needed to create an inspiration tomb.

We have also added context for the Custos Claves, a Highborn group who operate from Bastion where they build and curate shrines, churches and basilicas for the most virtuous exemplars and paragons. If the players are able to convince the Highborn of the virtues of their inspiration then the group will provide all the skills and experience needed to commission a suitable sinecure to commemorate their life. You have to pass a commission and provide the White Granite - the Custos Claves are neither rich nor all powerful - but using their skills in place of the civil service, means that the commission will not count against the Senate limit on commissions.

===Gatekeepers===
We have updated the information on gatekeepers to define specify how the PCs tell the NPCs what decision they have made. The question of how the gatekeepers make their choice has not been changed - just how they communicate their decision to us.

===Reasoning===
The original design work on the Synod was excellent and has stood the test of time well. Unfortunately the documentation on the wiki didn't reflect that - and in particular minor procedural changes which had been introduced over the years to keep the Synod running smoothly were not anywhere that new players could find them. Our core goal in overhauling the pages was to condense the material, make it easier to find and read, and present it in a format that was similar to the other parts of the wiki.

Some of the minor changes that were made over the last few years, like scrutiny or seeking the veto were done without full consideration of all the possible alternatives. The overhaul gave us a chance to examine those parts and see if there wasn't a better implementation. With scrutiny it was fairly easy to see that reducing the period from 4 hours to 3 hours would still allow plenty of time for players to consider a judgement - but meant that players would have an hour after time-in each day to get their judgement submitted - a clear improvement.

The old rules for "seeking the veto" were introduced on the fly to respond to the developing situation in the field. The approach worked, but it was crude and clearly ad hoc - required it's own special rules for scrutiny and was dubious on legal and constitutional grounds ("seeking" a veto was a crude flange we just made up to patch a flaw). The replacement means that the veto can follow all the regular rules for scrutiny without a problem - rather than seeking a veto, a player simply submits a judgement for one.

The introduction of the new power for the cardinals to move a voting deadline back was added to give a cardinal a little more power. The voting deadlines were not present when the cardinal was created. Creating the pages for the process identified this opportunity for an additional power.

The wiki allowed the Senate to decide if a new virtue appointment was done by the assembly or the cardinal - we have changed this so that the well worth constitutional path is that all new virtue appointments will be done by the assembly. Having the cardinal appoint the position was an extension of the way gatekeepers were appointed which was implemented without full consideration. In retrospect we are convinced that there is much more game in the virtue assemblies appointing virtue titles - rather than being directly appointed by the cardinal. We hope that it will also help to raise the profile of these important positions if they are being openly fought over by players.

There is a good argument that all virtue appointments should be done by the virtue assembly - we feel there is more game in that approach. But the powers of the gatekeeper are significant but very narrow - and they often play an important role supporting their cardinal which works well in play. So we have left them unchanged - but made clear that future virtue appointments should appointed by the assembly - to maximize the politics of the appointment. We are going to introduce an administrative motion at event one to allow the Senate to decide if they wish to change existing titles like the Virtue Inquisitor - to be changed to be inline with the well worn constitutional paths. We think the game will be better if they are - but we're more concerned with ensuring that all future titles follow the best approach than we are about correcting existing titles. If the Senate doesn't want to change them - that will be a perfectly valid IC decision that we'll respect. Basically we'll attempt to change them IC - through IC means - and drop the matter if the Senate rejects that attempt.

We have updated the civil service processes for judgements like inquisition, condemnation, veto and excommunication. We spent extensive time discussing how the target of these PvP attacks should find out what had happened. Our ideal with vetoes and similar is that the players will grandstand some public denunciation of the wrong-doing - we wanted to make sure that we left room for the players to maximize the drama of these vital synod functions. At the same time - as they are PvP we wanted to make sure that our civil servants were able to talk to players, let them know what was happening, what their options and what the might do about the attack on their character. The new approach gives us the flexibility to ensure that players know what is happening in the game.

The change to statement of principle is small but very significant. If the General Assembly passes a statement of principle with a greater majority - then it is guaranteed to have an effect of some kind. We'll look at any statement of principle that passes with a greater majority - though we'll only run plot with those that happen in the national assemblies if it is clear that there will be good plot and game on the field as a result. This gives the Synod direct control of a lever that they can use to influence events in the Empire. This change is part of an ongoing series of improvements to add more levers of this kind to the game to allow players to be more proactive and to give them greater control of the game. It won't be possible for the players to know what effect will happen - players second guessing or attempting to game the system will be disappointed - but players seeking a means to achieve a clear in-character goal will have a new way to achieve that.

The new judgement of mandate is the counterpoint to the improved statement of principle. It gives the players a clear definitive way to take a moral stand on a contemporary issue and authorize a priest to take action. Changing the mechanism to require the use of wording provided by the civil service removes a clear failure in the current system where players could pass a judgement in the field - but that failed to achieve the game effect because it didn't meet the criteria outlined in the opportunity. In effect we were being forced to judge someone's roleplaying to decide if passed or failed - which is something we try very hard to avoid. Now the decision is whether or not to pass the mandate - if that happens then the priest knows exactly what the outcome will be if they go through with it.

Although there have been very very few successful alternative wordings for the expenditure of liao in the past - we wanted to keep that possibility open as far as possible. But we also wanted to make sure that players could make informed decisions with the certain knowledge of what the outcome will be. Allowing players to email us with considerations before the event makes the process for trying a different option to those presented explicit - gives us time to judge how effective it might be - and leaves a small window to inform other players of the potential consequences if they decide to back that approach.

The two new additions to the rules for exemplars and paragons are designed to give the Synod new ways to reinforce the impact of their decisions. Our implementation of pages on the wiki for new exemplars has been virtually non-existent - a reflection of the large amount of work involved. We can't commit to that amount of work for every new exemplar or paragon made by the Synod (or by a new player group joining the game) - but we needed to have a mechanism for the players to be able to make their exemplar or paragon as famous as historical figures like Tian, Empress Richilde or Good Walder. Since doing that creates a huge amount of work - we wanted to set the cost high - so we opted for a dose of true liao.

We're well aware that many players consider it some kind of sacrilege against the patron saints of LRP to sacrifice a dose of plot-generating liao in this way. That's '''awesome''' because it ensures the cost of true liao remains sky high! It's the most expensive commodity in the Empire which is brilliant. Creating an inspirational tomb is meant to be an epic achievement - you've fundamentally changed the whole Empire by creating a figure that will live in its history forever. That isn't meant to be easy! The precious way that players horde true liao makes it the perfect cost for this ability. And you never know... maybe if someone ever does manage it they'll discover that there is more than one way to skin the plot generating cat...

In the setting Bastion is the site of many of the most important churches and basilicas for exemplars, paragons, and Empresses, but there was nothing in the setting to support that. We've added the Custos Claves to create a mechanism that supports the Synod in creating structures there. They can't help you get the construction past the Senate - or pay for the White Granite - but they can help with the commission itself. We know that commissions are in short supply - so having a free one if you build a sinecure in Bastion should be a neat incentive that reinforces the setting. In addition it adds a new dimension to the roleplaying around getting an exemplar passed by the Synod. If you can get enough political support to pass your judgement - you then have a chance to roleplay trying to convince a group of NPCs of the religious merits of your candidate. If you can persuade them - then they can offer real effort to your cause.

The change to the gatekeeper, specifying the mechanism by which they tell our NPCs what choice they have made was long overdue. The lack of any definition in the setting for the way the gatekeepers choose their candidates is odd - but that oddness has become a feature - something that makes that part of the game distinct. But while we don't mind how the players make their decision, we do need to be very clear about how they inform us. If we don't know what the mechanism for the players telling us their decision is - then we have no way to find out ''for certain'' what decision the players have made.

Basically we want the gatekeepers to argue about what decision to make - what we can't have is a situation in which they argue about whether or not a decision has been made. The update removes that essential contradiction - allowing the players the freedom to choose in any way they wish - but ensuring that when they make a decision then we will definitely know what the decision is.

There are some things that we were asked to change that we have not changed, of which the most important is witness. There is a common complaint that the Right of Witness is meaningless because all the official meetings of the state are open to everyone - so the Right of Witness has no effect there. However the private meetings that some citizens arrange are not subject to the Right of Witness, so there is game happening that priests cannot force their way into. This is all true - but subtly completely misses the entire purpose of the Right of Witness.

The purpose of Witness was never to make it impossible for players to hold secret meetings. Empire is a game of politics - having secrets, creating them, discovering them, spreading them is part of the enjoyment of the game. The last thing we want to do is make it impossible for players to have secret meetings. But the risk of any political game is that the entire political process becomes a secret - obscured behind closed doors it becomes impossible for most players to view it and thus to see what is happening. There are perfectly good in-character reasons why Empire players would choose to lock everyone out of a meeting of the Military Council - or why Senate decisions would be taken behind closed doors. Such an approach might benefit the Empire But we were confident that such an approach would be bad for the game.

The Right of Witness is, a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality|positive externality]]. It existence renders private meetings of the Senate or the Military Council legally impossible. Our preferred outcome in making it impossible to prohibit priests from these meetings is not to give priests special access - rather it is to make players accept the impossibility of making these meetings secret. It is a small step from accepting that if you can't keep 250 Synod priests out of your [[Senate session]] then you might as well have a viewing gallery and let everyone in. The existence of the Right of Witness is not intended to benefit priests - it is intended to benefit every player in the game - by forcing a significant portion of the political game to be resolved in public where any player can see it and get involved.

We have also been asked to look if we can improve the rules regarding religious crimes to give greater agency to the players over these important laws. Our response to that request is likely to involve producing new guidelines - like those issued for clemency - to try to help everyone understand how the law is interpreted and applied by our NPCs. We believe a more transparent process will benefit everyone. Any additional guidelines will take time to write - but may hopefully be available on the wiki before the end of the year.

==Bourse==
We have updated the procedures for characters who lose an [[Imperial Bourse]] seat. The new rules state that the seat will receive back what they paid for the seat in proportion to the amount of production remaining. The original rules giving a re-auction were complex and legally inconsistent with the idea of a contract between the state the citizen. In essence if the contract is broken by the Empire - then the Empire repays what was paid.

Crucially we have removed the line that the proceeds of the auction of an excommunicated bourse seat holder go to the virtue fund of the Synod. In practice, it is near certain that under the old rules, any Bourse seat holder would simply have resigned their position moments before a judgement passed against them. Thus they would have recouped what they paid or more back anyway.

However that would have led to arguments about the validity and timing of the resignation and players disappointed when the excommunication power did not work as expected. Removing this option makes the legal system simpler and much more consistent (the removal of a seat is treated the same no matter how it happens) and critically ensures that everyone involved can see what the likely outcomes are when they make their IC decisions.

We've also removed the ability to get your money back if you resign. That gave too much leeway for players to get their money back if they foolishly overpaid at the auctions - the Bourse is meant to a high-stakes game, not one where you can change your mind at the drop of a hat. Removing that element has allowed us to further simply the rules over the repayment.

==Conclave==
We have made a number of changes to the running of the Conclave, summarized below:

* '''Gambits have been removed.''' The entire system was not creating the kind of game we intended, so we have removed it completely.
* '''Free minutes of discussion have been removed.''' Previously the first person nominated by each grandmaster in each round of discussion after a gambit spoke for free. Going forward everyone has to pay for their minutes during the discussion.
* '''(ETA)''' A line referencing an ability to the civil service to allow people to speak was removed.
* '''No more question and answer sessions.''' Anyone making an address or declaration, or speaking in response to them, has to speak themselves. In keeping with the [[Principle of Presence]] it is no longer possible to engage in question and answer sessions, or allow someone else to talk substantially on your behalf during the minutes you have paid for.
* '''Declarations come into effect at the end of the session.''' Previously there had been some confusion about when a declaration before the Conclave came into effect. All declarations now take effect at the end of the session
* '''Precedence is calculated at the start of the event.''' Rather than calculating precedence based on the attendance of Conclave, we are establishing precedence shortly before the start of each event using the number of magicians who possess each order's Arcane Mark as recorded on our database. We intend to make this calculation as close as possible to time-in to take into account gate bookings wherever possible. Previously precedence involved a great deal of counting and would regularly delay the start of the Conclave session.
* '''Grandmasters receive their order's resources.''' Going forward, the [[grandmaster]] of each order gets the resources that were previously locked in the conclave vaults. We've coupled this with an explicit statement that the grandmaster is responsible for using these resources to the benefit of their order and in pursuit of their order's goals.
* '''Grandmasters may be challenged.''' A system whereby members of an order may declare a lack of confidence in their grandmaster, triggering a new election, has been introduced.
* '''Sorcerors do not lose their resources.''' Previously, sorcerors lost their personal resource if it was a mana site and it became the property of the Conclave. We have removed this stricture. A sorceror still keeps their mana site. Although it is illegal for them to carry the mana it produces, it is acceptable for them to pass the mana to an ally before the game begins.
* '''Archmages deal with eternals.''' The [[archmage|archmagi]] have gained two new powers - [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] and [[Archmage#Parley|parley]].
* '''(ETA) Declaration of the Balance has been removed.''' This declaration was potentially extremely time consuming and disruptive for minimal benefits and has been largely superseded by the ability for order members to challenge their grandmasters.
There may be additional tweaks to the wiki in line with these changes over the next week, and we are still discussing a few procedural and implementation points which should be clarified in the next few days.
{{CaptionedImage|file=LockedGateofMutualism.png|caption=The Locked Gate of Mutualism demands that private resources only be used for the common good.|align=right|width=500}}
===Reasoning===
The Conclave represents a fascinating design challenge in Empire because of it's mass participation nature. The more players who participate in the Conclave game - the slower the game runs and the less enjoyable it becomes. Obviously the point your character is raising is incredibly important - but the more players who are present the greater the chance that you will have to listen to speeches that don't interest you personally from other players.

Any format like this in a LRP game risks reaching a stable equilibrium at the point where it gets sufficiently large that almost everyone is unhappy with it. If more players join - then everyone gets less happy with the resulting game - so some players drop out. As more players drop out of the Conclave game, it speeds up and gets more enjoyable. It is quite possible that there is literally no way to build a Conclave game that won't ultimately result in a situation where everyone is unhappy at how long the meetings are, if that unhappiness is the only check on the length of the meetings.

That caveat aside, we spent the winter reviewing the extensive feedback from the Summer about the Conclave - reading player experiences of the Conclave and looking at the things they enjoyed and how we could support that. The review made clear that there were improvements that we could make to the Conclave to ensure it ran more efficiently. Generally we know that things that make the Conclave run more efficiently are likely to be relatively popular. At best these changes might result in shorter, more enjoyable meetings which would be great. But even if they don't then the Conclave would be at least as enjoyable as it is now - but with more players involved.

Removing the counts of order size before each session is an obvious way to reduce the drag on the sessions. It also reduces our paperwork and administration which allows us to spend that time improving other parts of the game. Crucially it gets away from a model in which grandmasters might be inclined to encourage players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to turn up so that they can count for precedence. There's no evidence that that was happening - but that is the model that the old approach encouraged. On the face of it it encourages participation - but people who are enjoying the Conclave game don't need encouragement to attend - we want players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to find their fun elsewhere.

Removing free minutes to respond to issues is intended to help speed up the Conclave and reduce the potential for "I agree" speeches. One of the essential elements of the Conclave that was designed to try and keep meetings short was to charge people 1 mana crystal per minute to speak. The goal is to say to people that you shouldn't be talking in Conclave if you don't have something worthwhile to say. The idea of free minutes to respond to declarations really undermined this because it gave people a chance to speak without paying for everyone's time - and worse it encouraged people to say things "so as not to waste the free minute".

The change removing the possibility for question and answer sessions has a similar intent - to keep the meetings tightly focussed and prevent drift into conversation. We want conversation to happen - but not in the Conclave when someone has the floor. The time for magicians to be engaging in politics and discussions is in smaller groups before and after the Conclave. We want to encourage that kind of politics to happen ''outside'' the Conclave session.

The change to gambits is very different. It was clear from the feedback that many players didn't enjoy the gambits, they did not work as a public spectacle. Crucially we felt that the gambits had failed to achieve the kind of political game we had hoped for - almost all gambits passed, most were equally funded by each order. There was surprisingly little evidence that the different political ambitions of the orders were having a significant influence on which gambits they were prepared to fund. Even worse was the appearance of gambits to get the mana crystals out of the vault so that the grandmaster could use - we didn't have a problem with the grandmasters having the crystals - we're all in favour of a bit of corruption - it's good for the game. But there didn't seem to be much game in having the grandmasters agree to give themselves their own mana.

By giving the entire contents of an order's vault to the grandmaster at the start of every event, we make the administration of the game considerably easier but more importantly we hope to encourage a strong sense of ownership of the mana crystals by the grandmaster (and her order). The previous system - in which access to the vaults had to be agreed collectively meant that there was unwanted pressure for that access to be for the common good. In effect we had a fairly unique economic phenomena - a sort of reverse [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons tragedy of the commons]. Instead of a collective good - that could be accessed individually (which in classic economic theory leads to ruin) we had a personal good - that could only be accessed collectively. So instead of parochial, political, selfish, corrupt use of an order's mana - which is what we would want to happen - we saw the opposite.

We hope that the change will encourage grandmasters to meet with members of their order, to discuss their vaults and how they will use the contents to further their order's ambitions. We hope that grandmasters will think twice about paying a mana crystal for a magician to stand up and say "I agree" when that is one less mana crystal that they could be using for their own personal enchantments. We are optimistic that there will still be just as much game as there ever was for magicians who want to access the Conclave's vaults - but now that game will take place outside of Conclave. Now you will have to convince the Grandmaster of the Rod and Shield why your magical experiment benefits her order's objectives, rather than having to present a single picture of how your plan benefits everyone.

Of course it's possible that grandmasters will simply pocket the lot and be sitting pretty as the most magically rich citizens in the Empire. Great! Corruption is great for the game and definitely something we're always looking for ways to encourage where possible. However we need checks and balances - levers for players to pull to oppose such chicanery - so that politics and game can happen. So we have removed the declaration of balance which was not fit for purpose and replaced it with a new mechanism for replacing a grandmaster.

The old mechanism was incredibly difficult to access and worse it risked chewing through the precious time in Conclave to allow an order to settle their internal disputes. We want that game to happen - but we want it to happen outside Conclave - 70 members of the Rod and Shield probably don't want to wait 15 minutes while the Shuttered Lantern decide who their grandmaster is going to be. The new change means that the issue is decided internally by the order - it makes it far easier for an order to replace their grandmaster, so grandmasters will have to consider what steps they have to take to keep the backing of their order.

Removing gambits is obviously a blow to those that had them - the [[archmage|archmagi]], the [[Warmage]], [[Bursar of the Conclave|Bursar]] and the [[Imperial Seer]] where the Senate motion to receive a gambit was under consideration by the Constitutional Court. The Bursar and the Imperial Seer are particularly badly affected - since neither title has any major legal powers. The Senate and the Conclave are in a position to ensure that all these positions remain relevant through the decisions they take in the game - but we are also looking at the issue of those titles that were given gambits by the players but no longer have them to see if we can help in some way.

Although the Warmage gained the gambit in the original major revision of Conclave, it was never a core part of the game design that the representative from the Conclave to the Military Council - the magician tasked with representing them to the generals should have enhanced powers to draw on the resources of the Conclave. That set-up risked the position operating the other way round in practice - with the Warmage representing the Military Council to the Conclave and using a gambit to let them know what the Military Council wanted from them. Now we hope that the Warmage will be able to negotiate directly with each grandmaster to let them know what the Military Council are planning and see what the orders are prepared to do to help.

However the archmagi lack that essential constituency. It's clear why a grandmaster might give aid to the Warmage - and by extension the Military Council because that would help the Empire fights its wars. It's not clear at all why the grandmasters would offer any help or support to the archmagi now that they no longer needed their participation in the gambit process. We have always felt that the archmage should have a clear focus on magic - on being a magician - and on using the power and influence of their realm. So it made sense to try and create a new power for the archmage that exemplified that.

We know that players have long wanted a way to contact eternals. The original mechanism at the start of the game - where any player could send any number of messages to any number of eternals was utterly broken. There are more players than there are plot writers - we simply could not keep up with the flow of requests and so many of them were just getting no response. We put a stop to that - and that gave us time to redesign a new mechanism - one where players can contact any eternal - and be pro-active about creating new opportunities for the Empire and their characters - but which is limited in number so that we can ensure that we can guarantee a response. It might not be the response you want... but something will happen. All it needed was to find the right mechanism to put that into play to give players a way to fight over it - and the archmage was the perfect opportunity to do that.

Finally we changed the rules so that sorcerers do not lose their resource. There are various technical reasons for this - it didn't make any sense at all under the existing rules framework The point of personal resources is to ensure that every character has a little wealth in their pack that they can choose to use as they wish. Of course they may give it away, commit it to the war-effort, or spend it in the bar - but that's their character choice. Taking that away made no game for anyone and just encouraged the Conclave to declare people sorcerors to try and improve their income which was nonsense - so we have cut that.

===IC Explanation===
Since the election of the Empress, the civil service had had the need to review all their procedures to ensure that they are inline with the actual rules laid down in law. These changes reflect corrections to errors arising from the time of emergency.

==Mercenary Banner==
We have changed the way the [[Mercenary Banner]] magical item works. It can now only be used during the [[Muster]] of the [[Imperial Military Council]], in the presence of an Imperial [[general]] who agrees to accept an oath of service from a member of the band. This will form a binding magical contract - the players in the band can then only take the field with the general they are serving rather than their own nation. This means we will be able to update the figures for the battle to ensure that the numbers of volunteers remains balanced for each battle.

We have also increased the cost to make the item.

===Reasoning===
Mercenary banners pose a number of significant logistical problems in Empire. Once we had run a few events, we quickly identified that the single most important factor in determining the difficulty of a battle was the number of opponents on the field. It was clear that the starting point for providing enjoyably challenging battles was to ensure that we had a roughly similar number of participants on both sides. Bolstering our numbers with our skirmish crew helps - but it wasn't enough to produce a cool engagement if there were significantly more players than volunteer monsters.

In most cases, the Military Council were making choices designed to roughly balance the sides. To ensure that happened, we provided them with a framework and statistics to support that. At the point we did that, mercenary banners became more problematic. We give the Imperial generals an in-character requirement to balance the forces they send to each battle - to reflect the out-of-character game requirements - but the mercenary banners allowed them or any group of players to throw those numbers completely out of line. The banner allowed a single sizeable group of players to take a perfectly reasonable IC decision to switch sides - rendering pointless all the politics of the Council and damaging the event for everyone.

Sadly mercenaries are fundamentally problematic in LRP. The underlying economic principles behind mercenaries simply do not work well in any game with a functioning economy. In the real world, you pay mercenaries to fight instead of you - to take risks instead of you. As a result there is an economic calculation that takes place balancing risk and reward. But in live roleplaying, taking risks is the point of the game. Paying someone to fight instead of you is akin to paying someone to enjoy the event instead of you. It doesn't make much sense, in fact I suspect it would be possible to get many players to pay for the opportunity to be in a fight. After-all they've already paid out-of-character money to be there - what's a few more in-character coins on top?

In play some players will roleplay paying to hire mercenaries - perhaps because it seems the right thing to do. Most of us are sufficiently familiar with the genre of the hard-bitten mercenary to understand how it is supposed to work - but it is hard to mitigate the problems caused by the misalignment between OOC and IC incentives. The negotiation between a general and a mercenary captain should play like that cool scene from Game of Thrones when Daenerys Targaryen tries to convince the Second Sons mercenary force to change sides. I've played a mercenary captain in LRP - it's how I wanted the scene to play out in my head - but it rarely did.

Unforunately in a game like Empire, mercenaries suffer from another problem. In a game that is all about loyalty, about the bonds that tie you to other groups, nations, and to the Empire - being loyal to yourself and your employer is ''not'' an advantage. Empire is a political game - the core focus of the game is the interactions that come from the interplay of loyalties and conflicting agendas between player-characters. Mercenaries are at severe risk of being cut out of much of this game - and the more implacable they are about playing the archetype to the full - the more likely they are to be treated as nothing more than a mercenary. Some of the feedback we received, exhorting us to keep mercenaries at any cost, sadly demonstrated this very effect - that playing a mercenary runs a very high risk of becoming your only fun in the game. By leaving them in - we are basically giving players an opportunity to have a bad time.

It's perfectly in-character for an Imperial citizen to shun a mercenary. Historically mercenaries were often socially ostracized and the genre is generally full of tales of mercenaries who face contempt and hostility from the rest of society. On paper that sounds a brilliant roleplaying challenge - social conflict is the basis for the game after-all. But if contempt and hostility slides into isolation - then instead of a brilliant roleplaying challenge the mercenary character simply finds themselves cut out of the social game, possibly without even realizing why that is happening or even that it is taking place at all.

So I argued with my colleagues for most of winter that we should cut the mercenary banner - and if necessary find a way to rewrite the League brief. I am not happy being responsible for a game if I'm not confident that every part of what we are offering offers the as many opportunities for great roleplaying as possible. It's quite possible that you can play a League mercenary and have a great time - but it's a significant concern to me that you could fail to enjoy the event because you'd chosen to play a League mercenary. I fear that it can be the Empire equivalent of the dark brooding stranger who sits alone in the tavern - a great idea on paper - a terrible character concept in practice. Worst of all - because it risks cutting you off from the wider political game, the danger is that the player doesn't even realize that it is their character archetype (something PD has provided as a cool concept to play in the game) that is the reason that they have been cut out of the game. Playing a mercenary in Empire can be a trap - it promises fun - but may not deliver.

In the end, we decided not to do it. If I had my time over again, if we were writing the game tomorrow, I would not hesitate to excise mercenaries from the game. I don't believe they provide the kind of enjoyment that other characters archetypes can - and the risk is that they detract from your game much more than they add. It's possible we'd spend some time coming up with something better - something cooler - but I've spent years wrestling with mercenaries in LRP and never been very satisfied with the results.

But changing any rule or part of the setting comes with a cost. Most rule changes impact on players to some extent but they can adapt their play style accordingly. The cost of that change is paid over time by the benefits in terms of the overall improvement to the game. But if you're playing a mercenary - if that is your character concept - then removing them from the game is not something you can adapt your play style to cope with. It is going to wreck your game. Provided we were able to ensure that the existence of mercenaries wasn't negatively impacting the game for others (by wrecking the play balance of the battles) then it seemed better to keep them and let players who were enjoying playing them continue to do so.

So that left us ensuring that the mercenary banner would be available in the game - but would not impact the ratio of volunteers to players on the battles. The new rules that we've implemented do make it trickier to use a mercenary banner - but hopefully not in a way that cuts down play options for those using them. It's even possible that mandating their use during the muster will actually help mercenary groups be ''more'' involved in the military and political game, which would be a boon if that happened. It will mean more complex administration for us, as we will have to track the size of the group using the mercenary banner - so that we can update the in-character figures used to balance the battles accordingly. But that's a price worth paying if it means people can continue to enjoy the game.

What it does leave is a risk that people will use mercenary banners to try to circumvent the rules of the Military Council. The new rules are clear that the banner only affects those characters bonded to it at the time it is used. Players '''cannot''' change sides after the muster is over, ''joining a group who has changed sides has no effect''. But it's possible for players to get confused, or even think it's ok to ignore them. I am very conscious that passions can run high when a group of characters believe that they should be fighting on the other side in a battle. Obviously if that does happen then we'd need to revisit the decision to remove mercenary banners completely. I'm optimistic that won't happen though, provided that the players with the banners understand and respect the rules for using them.

We've increased the cost of the banner a little. Making it more expensive discourages a banner from acquiring one unless having the ability to fight in the other battle is genuinely crucial to their character and to their game. In practice, since a number of groups were assuming you needed multiple banners for large groups, (which was never the case for a mercenary banner), the effective cost will be less for some existing groups.

It does mean that a banner will need to ensure that their list of group members is up-to-date! If you are the administrative contact for your banner then you can check the group membership online at any time. If you are not a member of your banner - and you should be - then [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] before the first event and we'll fix that.

==Philtres==
* '''We have created a new class of potion - philtres - which can be correctly identified by any character'''
* '''Several basic restorative potions have been changed from being potions to being philtres'''
Elixir Vitae, Philtre of Strength, Skop’s Mead, MageBlood, Philtre of Heavenly Lore, Bloodharrow Philtre, Feverfail Elixir, Ossean Balm, and Anodyne Embrocation have all be changed to be philtres rather than regular potions.

Philtres use a card - like a herb or mana crystal - with all the rules for that item printed on it - instead of using a rip-open lammy like a regular potion. This means that any character can correctly identify a philtre with a quick glance at the accompanying card.

The rules for using a potion are not changed - it still requires five seconds of appropriate roleplaying - that is taking the potion bottle, removing the stopper, and drinking the contents - to use it. However you can then rip the card more quickly and take the effects described immediately without having to spend time to check the potion is what it appears to be.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Potion Card.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
===Reasoning===
In any LRP system it is crucial that the rules mechanisms that underpin the game must be applicable within the context in which that part of the game happens.

Rituals and spells represent an easy example of how this principle is applied in Empire. A ritual involves complex rules, so it requires at least a few minutes to perform the ritual to allow the referee time to process it. Spells are needed in the pitched heat of a battle - you can't have a spell that a character might legitimately expect to cast quickly in the heat of a battle take time to process. The application of the rules would be too intrusive and would impact the utility of the spell. The potency of the spell would then become a factor of how quickly the ref could process it - not how well the character used it.

Our current potion rules require the player to rip open a laminated strip and read the text written inside, after they have completed the five seconds of appropriate roleplaying. For most potions this is fine, if you are performing a powerful night ritual then it doesn't matter if the ref needs 30 seconds to rip open and read three potions to check what they do and how they affect your ritual.

But for common potions explicitly designed to be used in the heat of battle, the requirement to rip open and then read the lammy, required an amount of OOC time to administer and process that was not commensurate with the situations in which these potions were commonly used. In effect - the play balance of the item was coming down to how fast you could rip open the laminate. It is understandable - if unfortunate - that given those criteria, players had a tendency to do anything possible to reduce the amount of additional OOC time required to use the potion.

The new rules fix for philtres address this mismatch between the rules for how you use the item and the situations in which you use it. By putting the rules on a card - you know at a glance what the potion does - and the card can be ripped the same way a herb or mana card would be.

We haven't switched every potion to being a philtre, because there is an obvious trade off with the new cards - that they reduce the amount of mystery and roleplaying regarding what a potion does. Under the current rules for potions, any character who recognizes the physical description of the potion can be fairly certain they have correctly identified it - but the more obscure the potion the harder it is to identify. That means there is a degree of hard skill in being able to recognize and identify potions (which we regard as a positive), or that players create in-character books of lore to help them identify potions (even better!).

We want to maintain that element of the game as far as possible - so the overwhelming majority of potions have not been changed. These potions will still use a laminated strip of paper - and you must rip open the laminate and read what is written inside before you take the effects.

Please note that although it is perfectly legal to add an in-character label to the phys-rep for a potion - you must not write the in-character name of the potion on the out-of-character lammy - your character can label the bottle - the player can not add additional information to the lammy.

==Shattering Blow==
* '''The heroic skill that allowed two-handed weapon wielders to call Shatter has been replaced with one allowing them to call Impale'''
Players who had [[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|weapon master]] and [[Heroic_skills#Hero_Points|hero points]] were able to buy a skill called shattering blow that allowed them to expend a hero point to call Shatter when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon. This skill has been replaced with a new skill called [[Heroic_skills#Mortal_Blow|mortal blow]] that allows a character to expend a hero point to call Impale when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon.

The new skill will automatically replace the old skill for any character that had bought it.

===Reasoning===
Two-handed weapons are often weak in live roleplaying because they lack the advantages of power and penetration that such weapons had in reality. Partly to compensate for this we gave them the most potent heroic call to make up for the relative advantages of other weapons.

Although this approach succeeded in making great weapons potent on the Empire battlefield, it had negative consequences in terms of player experience. Shatter is a disabling call, unless you can have your weapon restored you are unable to carry on fighting. While that is a better in-character outcome than being killed, it can be less satisfying player experience than having your character dropped, simply because you're rendered ineffective. It is also something that is almost impossible to stop using hard skills, you can't parry or block a shattering blow.

There is very definitely a place for the Shatter call in the game - but we feel that it will be better play balance to allow wizards to access the call. They cannot wear armour and hence are easily countered in other ways whereas warriors are usually wearing substantial armour.

We still wanted warriors using great weapons to be potent on the battlefield - so we have switched the call for Impale. Given that the majority of our barbarian orcs on the battlefield use medium armour, we anticipate that this will still be a very effective call - we think it's better than the Strikedown call available to polearm wielders and it's clearly better than the Cleave call available to warriors using a one-handed weapon.

There will be some updates to the magical weapons and rituals over time to bring them into line with the new call regime for great weapons in Empire.

==Battle Mages==
We have made a number of changes designed to improve battle magicians. We've added a new potent spell - [[shatter]], improved the [[empower]] spell by reducing the cost, improved the [[paralysis]] spell by changing the limitations removing the protection provided by heavy armour and increased the amount of mana available to characters that purchase [[Magical_skills#Extra_Mana|extra mana]]. We have also clarified that spells such as [[entangle]] and [[repel]] still take effect even if they are parried or hit a shield.

===Reasoning===
The original design brief for Empire viewed the battlefield as a location for warriors to dominate - a location where those who had fighting skills would come to the fore. Crucially what we didn't want was a situation where wizards were simply more potent combatants than warriors. In practice however, it is clear that the Empire rules system allows for two very distinct types of wizard - the ritualist - and the battle mage. The former has a distinct role on the battlefield - there are certain battlefield rituals that can be invaluable in the right circumstances - but generally their main role takes place at Anvil. Battle magicians however are a very different case - like warriors the prime opportunity to use their skills is on the battlefield. The right balance for the game design would be to make them different to warriors on the battlefield - but equally useful.

The most common feedback around battle magicians tends to focus on mage armour - with people wanting it to provide resistance to Cleave or even Impale - the way regular armour does. That change would be a major mistake however - since it would make battle mages much closer to regular warriors. In a system where warriors have access to heroic abilities, the critical distinction between battle mages and warriors is their ability to take a blow. What was needed to improve battle magicians is to make the array of their offensive abilities stronger.

==Hero Points==
We have changed the cost to get access to hero points and to buy additional hero points. Under the new rules the required skill to get access to heroic abilities is called [[Heroic skills#Hero|Hero]]. It costs 2 character points and grants you two hero points that you can use to overcome roleplaying effects. Extra hero points will now be a 1* skill.

The character point cost of every character will be automatically recalculated in the next few weeks to use the new formula. Characters who have bought a single level of hero points at present will thus be in deficit by a single point - these characters will not be automatically changed by us - but will not be able to spend additional character points until they have earned enough xp to pay for their current skills.

===Reasoning===
We've changed the way the cost of hero points and extra hero points are calculated for a number of reasons. It means the skill is less accessible for characters to dip into but more accessible for characters to focus on - which encourages specialization making it easier for characters to differentiate themselves from each other. It simplifies the maths of calculating hero points and additional hero points and brings the cost of these abilities into line with the cost for extra mana.

==Healing and Swift Casting==
We have changed the time required to cast regular spells to thirty seconds, and changed the amount of healing provided by a Swift Heal to 3 hits rather than all of them. This is part of a change across the system so that heals that return all your hits (like True Vervain) will now take thirty seconds to apply, while any source of healing that returns your hits instantly or in a few seconds (like Second Wind, healing potions, Swift Heal) only returns up to 3 hits lost.

As part of this change we have removed the Swift Heal spell and the Purge spell (effectively Swift Purify spell) and instead said that any magician that has the Heal spell or the Purify spell can choose to cast these spells in a few seconds for two mana rather than one (with reduced effects in the case of Swift Heal). We have extended this change across the magic system so that all regular spells now take thirty seconds to cast, but can all be cast in a few seconds for an additional mana.

===Reasoning===
At present, healing on the battlefield is exceptionally fast. A character with a dozen hits or more can have them all restored virtually instantaneously - a problem even more acute for us when fielding large monsters that might have a score of hits or more. One of the impacts of this is that units on the battlefield that have been mauled by their opponents can be back in the fight with very little time needed to regroup and lick their wounds. That makes it harder for us to create dynamic challenges for the players on the battlefield - and because healing is cheap and plentiful, it is harder for us to challenge players and make them feel threatened.

The new rules make healing more expensive - either it is considerably slower - or it provides less hits restored for most characters. We hope that this will make battles more threatening for characters - who have more chance of running out of resources if they are being hard pressed - and more strategic for generals and unit-commanders who will have to need to take account of the need to rest units for slightly longer after they have engaged.

Having decided on the core changes, we felt it was appropriate to remove the swift heal and swift purify as spells - and instead make them free abilities granted by purchasing the heal and purify spell. This increases the availability of these abilities to any players who have invested points into them - so that any magician who can cast heal can automatically cast either version. The changes to the time required to cast regular spells - and the option to swift-cast them - has been applied to all spells for consistency although it is primarily relevant for the [[mend]] spell and the [[restore limb]] spell. [[Voice for the dead]] has been reduced in cost to a single mana point to reflect it's limited utility and to bring it into line with the other regular spells.

==IC Theft==
We have changed the rules so that you cannot enter someone else's IC tent once it has been sealed.

===Reasoning===
Any set of game rules has to balance different abstractions and the needs and interests of different players. Ideally rules should deliver the experience that the game organizers have claimed they seek to offer, but at the very least they should form part of a coherent package that embodies the core ideals for the game.

Although we have become accustomed to ignoring them, the abstractions around theft are particularly acute in live roleplaying. Empire is a game in which some of the players represent some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the land - and yet they regularly store vast fortunes in tents and have no guards - because tents are what we have and because Empire actively discourages guards (because we'd rather players found other more active roleplaying during the event). Robbing tents - particularly robbing tents while players have left them to go and sleep in their out-of-character sleeping area or while they are on the battlefield is a particularly odd quirk that is dependent on the limitations of the hobby.

However there is a vastly more serious problem with the current rules for stealing. Profound Decisions have made very clear that we will not tolerate language that makes reference to non-consensual sexual activity - yet the old rules permitted players to enter tents in which adults or children were sleeping. It is not consistent to try to eliminate verbal references to non-consensual activity but leave individuals in situations in which they may be awakened by discovering a stranger has entered their bedroom. Suggestions made for requiring people for whom this is a concern to sleep in the out-of-character area do not take into account the difficulty of bring two tents to the field. It's part of our approach to live roleplaying to try to ensure that our events do what is possible to provide a safe-space for people to roleplay, not to make it more difficult for them. The current rules did not meet those criteria.

Obviously the new rules will have a very significant detrimental impact on the amount of theft that takes place in the game. We understand and acknowledge that. We've tried to be clear in Empire that we are striving to deliver a grand game of politics and war, where people can build and lose empires. Crime has a very definite role to play in the game - but robbing tents has never been part of the game experience that we were trying to deliver for players. We looked at methods to try and create a balance between the players being robbed and the players doing the robbing - but at the point where it became clear that players were prepared to enter people's sleeping quarters to rob them while they were asleep then we had to make a decision about which game we were going to support. Because of the game's focus we have chosen to take steps to ensure that everyone can attend the event without fear of being awoken by a stranger in their bedroom.

==Unstoppable==
We have combined a heavily modified version of this effect into the [[Heroic_skills#Second_Wind|second wind]] ability.

===Reasoning===
The original design intent for the unstoppable skill was to reflect the hardy warrior who was difficult to put down. The character can take blow after blow, fall to the ground - but through sheer force of will rise back to their feet and carry on fighting. The goal was to reflect the heroic archetypes of great warriors of the fantasy trope.

In practice, the skill didn't really achieve this design goal very well. Because you got back up on one hit - you weren't really effective as a combatant. Instead what it was often used for was playing possum on the floor while the enemy moved on and then leaping to your feet and making a run for your lines, hoping to get back before you were chopped down. We did consider changing the name from "unstoppable" to better reflect it's usage, but there were other more significant problems with the skill.

One problem is the skill tends to break the fourth-wall in various ways that were unhelpful. Orcs who have downed a wounded Imperial character are conscious of the fact that the character has a significant chance of standing back up again so they have to move on... to allow that to happen. Of course, logically in a world in which characters possess the unstoppable ability, cutting the throats of characters that are downed is logically - something we're keen not to encourage monsters or players to do.

By combining the two skills into one but limiting the skill so it can only be used as you hit the deck we hope we will better achieve the original design intent to reflect the unstoppable warrior who just keeps on attacking - but also remove elements of looking at downed characters and monsters and thinking "are they all just going to leap back to their feet in a moment".

==Relentless==
We have a new heroic skill to the game - [[Heroic_skills#Relentless|relentless]]. A character with this skill may expend one hero point to regain the use of a single cleaved or impaled limb.

===Reasoning===
We added this because there was a space for it and we think it's cool.

==Grappling==
The rules for grappling have been changed. If you wish to grapple or use body contact then both participants must ask permission from a referee present. If the ref is happy that both parties are keen to grapple and in their assessment it is safe to do so, then they will allow it for that fight. It is not possible to grapple or use body contact on quests, skirmishes, or battles under any circumstances.

We have also made clear that the rules that prohibit fighting while inebriated also extend to grappling. It is not permissible for a character to fight in anyway at Empire if the player has been drinking that day.

===Reasoning===
There have been incidents at the last few events where monsters have been grappled on quests and battles with absolutely no attempt of any kind to obtain permission. The reality is that battles are high adrenaline moments that take place in the woods where there are numerous environmental hazards. There are no situations where we are happy to have grappling take place in the quest area and we have changed the rules to make that restriction explicit.

Sadly there have also been situations in Anvil (particularly late at night in the Senate) where players are getting involved in grappling while drunk and with no attempt to ensure that the other party is keen to do so. This has resulted in tempers flaring and grappling rapidly becoming out-of-character. The individuals in question have been given a warning, but we have changed the rules so that you can only grapple in a small fight with the permission of the referee. You can expect the referee not to refuse to give permission if they are satisfied that both parties are sober and keen to grapple with each other and that the area is safe to do so.

Grappling in Empire is appropriate in cinematic duels and fights where both parties have indicated that they wish to do so. We don't see any need to stop that - and we believe that the new rules will present little restriction for players who are sensible about it. But the majority of players attending Empire are very keen not to be grappled by people they have not given permission to grapple and we want to ensure that they can enjoy the game without concern.

==Large Creatures==
We have changed the definition of what creatures are immune to calls in Empire. Only [[Calls#Monstrous_Creatures|Monstrous Creatures]], threats that are phys-repped using bulky all-encompassing full-body costumes such as the ice giant or the Grendel drakes will be immune to calls from now on. Ogres - and creatures with a similar phys-rep - are now affected by calls normally.

We have also made clear that Monstrous Creatures cannot be healed on a battlefield using normal means.

===Reasoning===
Over time it has become clear that there are significant problems involved with large creatures. Because the only phys-rep requirement was to have a costume designed to make the wearer look bigger, the costume for ogres and other creatures was focussing too strongly on this element - and not strongly enough on the overall appearance. Using shoulder pads and similar made it much harder for the monsters to fight, because of the encumbrance. In essence we were hamstringing the monster volunteer just to meet the minimum phys-rep requirements for the creature to be ''large''.

In play it has become clear that the ability of creatures just larger than a human to ignore calls was detrimental to the player experience. It is exactly this kind of creature that a warrior or magician would want to use their abilities on - so a character fighting toe-to-toe against such a beast should expect to be able to do so. Nullifying character abilities at the point of optimum use is not good game design - but the problem is particularly acute when those creatures are relatively common.

Crucially defining our powerful monsters by their size was at odds with our guidelines on [[equality and diversity]]. Inevitably the creatures that are immune to calls are seen as one of the most appealing monsters to play on the battlefield. Unfortunately it was impossible for a third of our player base to visibly meet the requirements for large creatures - adding shoulder pads to a short participant was insufficient to make them look large. This contributed to a problem that has been identified in recent years in which short players (which because of human anatomy often means female players) were not being given exciting roles to play when monstering battles. We're keen to ensure that everyone who volunteers to monster for us gets opportunities to play roles on the battlefield based on their ability to portray them and not their physique.

Monstrous creatures that are phys-repped using a full body costume will remain immune to calls. While it is not ideal for any player ability to fail in any situation, threats like these are intended to be fought and taken-down by entire units of players. These monsters need special methods to defeat them, they don't go toe-to-toe with individual characters and so they don't fall over to a single arrow or heroic blow.

Changing the definition of a monstrous creature from size to a bulky full-body costume, we can ensure that the physique of the person playing the role is irrelevant.

{{Rules Updates}}
[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Game Design]]

Rules update 2017

2017-09-05T10:51:13Z

Aaronwalter: /* Healing and Swift Casting */

==Overview==
Over winter of 2016/2017 we have carried out our annual review of the rules from last few years of Empire. As usual we are implementing some changes to the published rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki and the downtime system to reflect the changes, but will summarize and explain all changes here so that players can identify the changes easily.

We will try to include a section after each rules update to explain the reasoning behind the change.

We will post a link to this page once the update is complete, and continue to update this page throughout 2017 with any major changes.

If your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

==Call Winged Messenger==
We have overhauled the way call winged messenger works. Previously the ritual allowed you to write anything on anything and send it to anyone.

The ritual has been changed to a lower magnitude but now requires a pre-prepared ritual message. This can be created by any character - but requires three measures of iridescent gloaming - for a single page of text. Messages can be prepared before the event and collected in your pack - or created at the event by going to GOD - just like arcane projections. The message is limited to 2500 characters.

When the ritualist casts the ritual, the pre-prepared ritual message is taken to the target - if the ritual fails because the target isn't valid then the message will be in the creator's pack next event they attend.

===Reasoning===
The old system of winged messages enabled players to write their messages in the field and send them to us - which was cool - but unfortunately it resulted in us getting a lot of messages that were exceptionally difficult to read. Often they were written on rough scraps of paper and all too often the handwriting was very hard to decipher.

The only way we could handle those was to find some member of plot team to read them as they came in - and then try desperately to type them all up after the event - so every member of our team could access them. Unfortunately that process was extremely time-consuming and error prone and that meant that our responses to these messages were often delayed or disappeared completely. Given that these letters turned as scraps of paper - and were being handed around the plot tent - it was often exceptionally difficult to keep track of them in the chaos of the event.

The new approach has one clear disadvantage - namely that the actual message needs to be prepared in GOD, rather than while playing your character. We were disappointed to make that change - but the benefits from the new approach are significant. Now the message is logged on our computer system - which means that when you cast the ritual we know exactly what has been written and to whom. We no longer have to try to decipher different hand-writing and it should be almost impossible for any winged message to go missing.

We're confident this will allow us to do a vastly better job of managing our responses to letters. We should be able to respond more promptly at events - as well as being able to follow up messages much better between events without needing to find a volunteer to spend hours typing them up. It will always be a challenge to be as responsive to player actions as we'd like, but this change will give us a fighting chance to be much more responsive.

We have limited the length of ritual messages because we still have to read them all! Long messages take a while to read - which can quickly add up when a message needs to be read by multiple members of the team. Crucially though, the longer the message... the more likely it is that a key point that a player has written will be overlooked. Limiting players to shorter messages will make it harder for that to happen.

Finally the new system will make it easy and effective for us to return a failed message. Currently a failed message just disappears - which is awful game design because it means the player gets no feedback that their attempt to achieve something has failed. Returning a failed letter to the person who wrote it means that they will know it failed - so at least they know what has happened. We hope it will also mean that players get better at making sure they have a valid target for their ritual!

==In-character Explaining==
There has been a recent conjunction between the astrological symbol for [[the Door|the Door]] and [[The_Spider_and_The_Web#The_Web|the Web]]. Magicians are never really sure whether such conjunctions cause magic to change - or are instead visible symbols of hidden currents of magic. Regardless of the reason the movement of the stars remains one of the most effective ways to tell when powerful forces are changing in the world of Empire.

==Ritual Divinations==
We've reviewed and overhauled all our ''divination''-style rituals - rituals that gather information about people, objects, and the area immediately around the ritualists. We're keen to ensure that every divination ritual provides information to the casters that is either useful, or interesting. Useful information helps characters take action - whether it's moving a plot forward or pursuing some in-character goal such as apprehending a criminal. Interesting information provides context or detail about the game world that is valuable in its own right. We're very keen to reduce the number of times that the players perform a divination ritual and get information that is bland, irrelevant, or useless.

The first big change is that we've added a [[Detect magic#Divination|divination]] function to the [[detect magic]] spell. Anyone can cast this on a character; on a ribboned item; or on their immediate area to find out if there is anything valuable to be learned using a divination effect - whether that's a magical ritual or the [[insight]] ceremony. Previously, a character had to actually perform the ritual to find out if there was any information to uncover, which was wasteful not just in terms of mana but in terms of time invested, and player enthusiasm.

You don't ''have'' to take this first step - if someone is complaining about being covered in imaginary bees it is reasonable to assume that they are probably under a curse - but it provides a useful first step in analysing a situation that has a relatively low cost (personal mana), and is open to any magician.

The next change is that we have ensured that each divination ritual is distinct. Previously, for example, there was significant crossover between [[Bright Lantern of Ophis]] and Reading the Weave, and between Bright Lantern and [[Wisdom of the Balanced Blade]]. This created suboptimal situations where a given ritual would provide some information that another ritual provided, but in a different way or to a greater or lesser degree, complicating both the lives of plot writers who had to fill in information in multiple boxes, and referees who had to disentangle it all.

Some rituals have changed more than others. [[Hand of the Maker]], for example, now provides more information about the creator of a crafted item, and the events around its creation. Reading the Weave on the other hand has been completely removed, and parts of its previous function rolled into the new [[Ties that Bind]] - a ritual that now focuses entirely on divining the bonds and social connections of characters.

Ties that Bind has undergone a dramatic overhaul. When redesigning divinations, we looked closely at the kinds of information we were able to provide reliably, and we determined that anything that examined the bonds on magic items was providing very variable results. The new Ties that Bind is more reliable because it targets a character - and a referee can check the details of the information they are handing out and ensure it is correct (something that is impossible with just a ribboned item). We're hopeful that the recent change to allow players to see which magic items they are bonded to will go some way to improving our ability to say with certainty who is bonded to what item, or who has been bonded to it in the past - we're not ruling out the possibility of divining the bonds on an item in future, but for now we're removing that effect from Imperial Lore.

Two other rituals have undergone significant changes are [[Clear Lens of the Eternal River]] and [[Shadowed Glass of Sung]]. These rituals were simply too ambitious in what they did, rarely worked, were rarely used for their intended purpose, but simultaneously created an unsustainable burden on plot writers who were expected to create information on the ''off chance'' these rituals were used. We're very keen to cut down the need for plot writers to create text that never gets seen. The rituals also did the same thing in different ways, something that muddies the waters between the realms and effectively doubled the workload. Now, these two rituals provide two specific kinds of information - the historical context of a location (something we know a plot writer will already have decided as part of writing their quest), and a typically whimsical possibility of "something cool" - provided the plot writer has written something, which can easily be determined with detect magic.

Finally we've added a new ritual [[Hakima's Glass]]. While not the most exciting ritual in the world, it allows for a function that was previously tied up in various other rituals - the ability to cast [[detect magic]] on someone or something that is protected by a shroud or other obscuring effect.

A few magnitudes have changed, but for the most part we've ensured that they remain within reach of solo casters. We were keen to support the characterisation of a specialist diviner magician, and so the majority of the rituals are magnitude 6 or 8 - the former easily attainable by a master magician or an adept with a suitable bonus, the latter easily attainable by a master with access to the Imperial regio, a magic item, or a potion.

The exact changes are summarized [[Wiki_Updates#Divination_Rituals_and_Detect_Magic|here]]. As always, if your character has an ability that has changed because of these rules changes then you are welcome to remove this skill by [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk emailing us].

===In Character Explanation===
Last event's [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|conjunction]], focusing as it did around themes of things being hidden and revealed, is responsible for the changes to divination. The exception is [[Hakima's Glass]] - we are suggesting that the ritual was always around, it was simply not worth bothering with until the recent rise in the number of shrouds, and the changes to rituals such as Bright Lantern of Ophis, made it potentially useful again.

==Bourse Private Auction==
We have take the decision to cut the Bourse private auction for the time being. The auction was a massive investment of time and energy by various plot writers and having examined the concept at great length over winter, we have become convinced that we should try to see if we can't get a lot more plot and game by investing that time elsewhere. Some of those ideas are being trialled in this and other winds of fortune. If they work well and create game then we'll put our efforts into more plot of this kind in the future.

===IC Explanation===
There is an [[Death_of_a_salesman|update in the Winds of Fortune]] that explains the IC reasoning for this update.

==Item Changes==
All the item updates are now complete - a number of items have had their powers changed - and at least two items have been removed. The Sundering Axe has been replaced by a [[Shieldbreaker]] and the old Woodcutter's Axe has been replaced with a [[Butcher's Cleaver]]. If you have one of these items currently - its powers are replaced by the replacement item. If you could make one of these items before - then you can now make the replacement item. All existing magical standards have been changed to become a [[Thaneshall Banner]].

Anyone who wants to drop a skill for an item they no longer wish to make because of the rules changes can [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] and we'll sort that - or you can sort it in GOD at the event. If you have one of the items that has been removed and you don't want the replacement item - then you can surrender the item in GOD to get the materials used to make it returned to you - albeit pro-rata for the number of seasons remaining on the enchantment.

==Pyrotechnics==
Players are no longer allowed to bring pyrotechnics (anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams). We used to allow players to do this - if they let us know beforehand - but unfortunately that is no longer possible.

===Reasoning===
Unfortunately, the new [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/3/section/134/enacted Policing and Crime Act 2017 (Possession of Pyrotechnic Articles at Musical Events)] basically means that it is no longer possible to have a licensed bar at the event and also allow players to have their own pyros on site. We are allowed to use our own pyros - but attendees can't bring their own. The new law covers anything classed as a firework, which is anything that has powder charge and an igniter and a lower yield than 10grams. Obviously this isn't a decision we wanted to take - but the matter is out of our hands unfortunately and we have to comply with the new law.

==Spy Network==
We have reversed the order of information for a [[spy network]]. This makes it more expensive for the Empire to get a good quality strategic map for a new territory - but ensures that you can always find basic military information - like the presence of enemy armies.

===Reasoning===
Under the old rules, small numbers of players were using spy networks and effectively getting nothing (because they were getting a map the Empire already had). It's part of our game design that we try to ensure that players have the best possible chance of having something useful at the start of every event. With the changes to the guerdon it was more important to update spy networks as the chance was increasingly high that players would receive nothing.

With the new rules, when the spy network is built, the Empire can take steps to ensure that they have enough military units to get a map of the area. But military units assigned to the spy network in subsequent seasons will always finding some useful information - even if that information is only that there are no armies here.

===IC Explanation===
A [[Beware_my_power_(Winds_of_Magic)#A_Hidden_Conjunction|recent conjunction]] has had a profound effect on the abilities of scouts and spies everywhere.

==Warmage, Bursar and Seer==
The changes to the [[Imperial Conclave]] - removing the gambit and giving the mana directly to the grandmasters to use to further their political order's ambitions have blunted the power of the [[Imperial Seer]], [[Bursar of the Conclave]] and the [[Warmage]]. To address this we have made some changes to each of these titles. The Bursar has gained a [[ministry]] - in line with their economic responsibility to help the Conclave raise money to acquire resources for Conclave members and to arrange the purchase of materials and items that the Conclave wishes to acquire. The Imperial Seer has gained a unique consumable resource and an important piece of new regalia - the Hawk's Demeanour and the Warmage has gained the support of the Arch of the Sky, providing the title with a small bounty of illium each event.

===Reasoning===
We were keen to give these affected Imperial titles some additional options to increase the potential for roleplaying - to correspond with the abilities lost with the gambits. The challenge with the Warmage is that we want to ensure that the position is still dependent on the support of the orders to achieve things - we didn't want to give them their own mana supply because that would have meant less need to roleplay with others. We hope that a supply of ilium will give them something that other magicians want - and that will give them some leverage to negotiate with the orders for aid.

The Imperial Seer was due to receive a gambit next event had the system not been changed in the meantime. Their new regalia and resources will make it easier for them (or an ally) to perform powerful divination rituals - an essential part of their job. Like the Warmage they are still dependent on the support of the Conclave - but we hope their items will enable to them do more if they can get that support.

The Bursar is a simpler change - giving them an economic route to turn money into more mana crystals. We hope that this will give them an effective position to increase their wealth from one event to the next by roleplaying over the opportunities the additional mana presents.

==Synod Correction==
We have removed the rule that a failed [[judgement]] in the Imperial Synod would require primacy to raise again. The penalties for resubmitting a judgement that required a lesser majority make sense - but there was no need for the additional penalties when resubmitting a judgement that required a greater majority. Players correctly pointed out that it led to some very perverse game play options that were difficult to counter. As a result we've dropped this line from the changes - members of the Synod may resubmit a judgement that requires a greater majority without additional restriction.

==The Military Council==
We are making a number of changes to the operation and running of the Military Council. Meetings of the Military Council will now take place in a separate marquee near the Hub, rather than in the Senate building. We will put the map table in the room - but are looking at options to lower the table so it is closer to the ground. There will be a ring of benches with the aim to provide just enough seating for each member of the Council. The Herald will chair the meeting - they will allow a free exchange of discussion as is customary in the Military Council - but they will not permit members of the Council to shout each other down and will look to stop people talking over each other.

Adjutants and guests of the Throne (the Throneguard) will be permitted to come and go throughout the meeting, but cannot talk in Council without the nodded consent of the body. The expectation is that adjutants will sit or stand behind their general they are supporting. Any private conversations taking place in the tent should be no louder than a whisper, so that they avoid disrupting the session. The [[Herald of the Council]] will use their legal powers to silence or exclude anyone in the tent whose activity is disturbing the meeting.

===Reasoning===
We had had ongoing feedback about the Military Council that makes clear that the experience of participation for many players is poor. Any meeting involved scores of participants risks devolving into a shouting match where the best pair of lungs wins. The nature of the table meant that players tended to crowd round it which made the room feel claustrophobic for some and crucially meant that access to the table and the discussion was becoming a physical free-for-all.

We have asked the new Herald to take a more proactive approach to chairing the meeting to ensure that all members of the Council have a chance to participate. We want players to become animated, it's fine to shout - but we won't allow the meeting to degenerate into a contest of volume. Crucially we hope that moving to a larger space, laying out seats for each member of the Council - and dictating the terms for the involvement of the adjutants and others present will give us the chance to remove the physical contest of strength to get a place at the table.

The Military Council is intended to be a contest of politics and war, not a physical shoving match. We hope that the new approach will help us to address that.

===IC Explanation===
The current Herald of the Council has resigned. The head of the civil service, Mila Boraslava, has asked Ekaterijna Gremani to assume the position for the Winter summit onwards. The civil service have a degree of leeway to change the format of the meetings they support - so the new Herald has used their authority to bring in the new changes.

Please note that while we are explaining these changes as the decision of the new Herald of the Council - because that is the simplest in-character explanation - this is a decision taken by Profound Decisions for OOC reasons. Please do not remonstrate with our civil servants over policies that Profound Decisions have implemented - the correct way to provide feedback of this kind is to speak to us directly.

==The Throne==
We have updated the page detailing the powers of [[the Throne]]. The main changes is the introduction of a new power allowing the Throne to designate one citizen who can address the Empire. We have added some important but subtle clarifications for powers like veto and favours.

==Looting on battlefields==
If your character is looting a weapon or shield from the battlefield so that you can replace a shattered item then you must loot an item that is equivalent to the phys-rep you are going to use. If your character has a large round shield - you must loot another large shield (not a buckler). If your character has a spear - you could replace a shattered spear by looting a similar size polearm - not a sword or axe.

If you are looting an item in this way - you must check with the player whose character you are robbing. An item can only be looted once (so if another player has looted it already, you cannot do so) and there is no point to looting a shattered weapon. If the player tells you that the item has been shattered or looted already - then you cannot loot it.

If you are stealing a ribboned item because you want to take an item of value and keep it, then you should check with the owner. They may ask you to take the phys-rep with the ribbon attached, or they may remove the ribbon and give it to you. A player may do this because they do not want to risk losing an expensive phys-rep, but all our monsters will be instructed to hand over ribbons rather than phys-reps as we are unable to replace stolen phys-reps if we need to respawn the orc. If you take a ribbon you should put the ribbon on a suitable phys-rep of your own as soon as possible after the battle is over.

If you do need to take a phys-rep on the battlefield, either a magical item or a banner or equivalent, then you must return it to GOD after the battle is over. All phys-reps, including barbarian banners must be returned in this way.

===Reasoning===
There have been a number of contradictory ref calls on whether it is legitimate to replace a shattered weapon on the battlefield. Shatter is an important call and we want it to remain effective on the battlefield - but we also want to preserve a degree of realism over when a player might replace a shattered weapon with an equivalent.

The change to looting magical items is to ensure that if we do need to respawn a barbarian orc then we can be confident that they still have their weapon phys-reps. We have tightened up the rules on stolen phys-reps, especially banners, on the battle because we have made a number of barbarian banners in recent years - but almost none of them survive a single battle. They get looted and never returned - and we simply cannot replace them at the rate they are being taken. The new rule that if you take any phys-rep from the battlefield then it must be returned to GOD before you go back in-character should make it easier for us to puts cool barbarian banners on the field.

==Cleave and Impale==
We have clarified the effects of [[Calls#CLEAVE|CLEAVE]] and [[Calls#IMPALE|IMPALE]] to make clear that the limb is disabled and cannot be used. A few players were under the impression that it might still be possible to use a cleaved limb - but you cannot carry on using an item in the hand if that arm is cleaved. If your leg is cleaved then your character can defend themselves but they cannot stand or even kneel. Effectively you must have your bum on the ground.

==Playing Possum==
We have updated the [[Playing_the_game#Disguises|disguise rules]] to cover pretending to be dead on the battlefield. If your character is pretending to be dead, you must answer truthfully if asked OOC if you are dead or dying.

==Synod==
We have overhauled all the Synod pages on the wiki to bring them into line the presentation and format used for other parts of the wiki and to improve the quality of documentation for all participations on how the Synod works. As part of that process we have made a number of additions and changes described below:

===Scrutiny===
We have reduced the minimum amount of time to submit a judgement before a Synod voting deadline from 4 hours to 3 hours. We have added an additional option that any judgement that requires a greater majority - veto, excommunication, recognition, or change of doctrine - may be raised without the need for three hours of scrutiny. We have limited the power to withdraw a judgement to prevent it being abuse of the system.

===Judgements===
We have put in place an additional limitation that a second judgement with the same legal outcome as one already failed by the Synod that summit requires a greater majority to pass. Once the Synod has said no - any further attempt to pass the same judgement requires majority support of all the priests of that assembly. We have also added a limitation against raising multiple identical judgements and against raising the same judgement over and over to prevent people trying to sneak judgements past the Synod without people realizing what has happened.

We have added an option to allow the priest who submitted a judgement to ask the Tribune to count the votes before the deadline. The Tribune will do this under three conditions:

* There is good reason to believe that the greater majority has been achieved
* The Tribune is not already manically busy
* The request is not vexatious

This addition gives the Synod another way to pass a judgement quickly - making them slightly more responsive - without needing to achieve primacy in one fell swoop.

===Cardinal===
We have given the cardinal a new ability - to extend scrutiny for a judgement once per summit. This allows them move the deadline for voting on that judgement back. Our OOC justification for adding this ability is that the Cardinal will benefit from additional powers and this is subtle and is a nice contrast to the power of the Throne to influence Synod voting. Basically we think it's cool - so we've added it.

===Appointment===
We have amended the power of appointment to make clear that this judgement is raised by the Tribune on behalf of the Synod - but only in response to a request by a citizen to be considered for the post.

In addition we are amending the guidelines for New Imperial titles to make clear that the only acceptable constitutional path for a virtue appointment is by judgement of the virtue assembly - not appointment by the cardinal.

We are looking at an IC approach to allow players to choose whether they wish to amend existing titles to operate using the new constitutional guidelines - or leave them as they are. We will present this to the Senate for consideration at the first event.

===Change of Doctrine===
We have expanded the change of doctrine to include the idea that a failed judgement constitutes defacto but not legal rejection of the suggested change. If the Synod says no to a proposed change of doctrine than most citizens in the Empire will interpret that as a positive rejection of the idea.

===Inquisition, Condemnation, Excommunication===
We have added a role for the Tribune of the Synod in these judgements - informing the target of what is taking place and what the outcome will be.

We have rewritten condemnation as "sanction" so that it can encompass the new options created by players - vindication, castigation and penance. In effect condemnation is now simply one of four options available to the Synod to sanction an individual.

===Veto===
We have changed the way the Synod veto interacts with a motion passed by the Imperial Senate. Previously a member of the Synod needed to announce they were intending to seek the veto to delay implementation of a motion - now they need to actually submit a judgement to do so. The motion does not progress until the judgement of the Synod is concluded.

===Statement of Principle===
We have improved statement of principle to allow the General Assembly to pass a statement with a greater majority to have a significant effect on the rest of the Empire. A statement of principle passed with a greater majority by a national assemby may have a significant effect. In effect, the Synod General Assembly has the power to influence events - even create new plot opportunities - if they can muster a greater majority.

===Mandate===
We have added a new class of judgement to call out the ability to respond to a Synod plot opportunity using liao. We have specified that this must use the wording provided by the original plot opportunity but included a defined route for players to introduce their own responses before the event begins.

===Exemplars and Paragons===
We have added new content on exemplars and paragons to give more definition on these key concepts in the Imperial faith by providing some schools of thought on them.

We have added a new game structure - the inspirational tomb. At present players can make exemplars and paragons - but have no way to get real content about them on to the wiki - which basically reflects the lack of any mechanism for them to make the exemplar/paragon *famous* (we've started referring to them together as "inspirations" in the text). If the players choose to create an inspiration tomb for their inspiration - the exemplar or paragon - then we guarantee to send NPCs out to talk to you - to get the info on the live and signs of the character - and to make a full detailed wiki page for them. Just bear in mind the high cost for this new ability - true liao! One dose of the most valuable substance in the Empire is needed to create an inspiration tomb.

We have also added context for the Custos Claves, a Highborn group who operate from Bastion where they build and curate shrines, churches and basilicas for the most virtuous exemplars and paragons. If the players are able to convince the Highborn of the virtues of their inspiration then the group will provide all the skills and experience needed to commission a suitable sinecure to commemorate their life. You have to pass a commission and provide the White Granite - the Custos Claves are neither rich nor all powerful - but using their skills in place of the civil service, means that the commission will not count against the Senate limit on commissions.

===Gatekeepers===
We have updated the information on gatekeepers to define specify how the PCs tell the NPCs what decision they have made. The question of how the gatekeepers make their choice has not been changed - just how they communicate their decision to us.

===Reasoning===
The original design work on the Synod was excellent and has stood the test of time well. Unfortunately the documentation on the wiki didn't reflect that - and in particular minor procedural changes which had been introduced over the years to keep the Synod running smoothly were not anywhere that new players could find them. Our core goal in overhauling the pages was to condense the material, make it easier to find and read, and present it in a format that was similar to the other parts of the wiki.

Some of the minor changes that were made over the last few years, like scrutiny or seeking the veto were done without full consideration of all the possible alternatives. The overhaul gave us a chance to examine those parts and see if there wasn't a better implementation. With scrutiny it was fairly easy to see that reducing the period from 4 hours to 3 hours would still allow plenty of time for players to consider a judgement - but meant that players would have an hour after time-in each day to get their judgement submitted - a clear improvement.

The old rules for "seeking the veto" were introduced on the fly to respond to the developing situation in the field. The approach worked, but it was crude and clearly ad hoc - required it's own special rules for scrutiny and was dubious on legal and constitutional grounds ("seeking" a veto was a crude flange we just made up to patch a flaw). The replacement means that the veto can follow all the regular rules for scrutiny without a problem - rather than seeking a veto, a player simply submits a judgement for one.

The introduction of the new power for the cardinals to move a voting deadline back was added to give a cardinal a little more power. The voting deadlines were not present when the cardinal was created. Creating the pages for the process identified this opportunity for an additional power.

The wiki allowed the Senate to decide if a new virtue appointment was done by the assembly or the cardinal - we have changed this so that the well worth constitutional path is that all new virtue appointments will be done by the assembly. Having the cardinal appoint the position was an extension of the way gatekeepers were appointed which was implemented without full consideration. In retrospect we are convinced that there is much more game in the virtue assemblies appointing virtue titles - rather than being directly appointed by the cardinal. We hope that it will also help to raise the profile of these important positions if they are being openly fought over by players.

There is a good argument that all virtue appointments should be done by the virtue assembly - we feel there is more game in that approach. But the powers of the gatekeeper are significant but very narrow - and they often play an important role supporting their cardinal which works well in play. So we have left them unchanged - but made clear that future virtue appointments should appointed by the assembly - to maximize the politics of the appointment. We are going to introduce an administrative motion at event one to allow the Senate to decide if they wish to change existing titles like the Virtue Inquisitor - to be changed to be inline with the well worn constitutional paths. We think the game will be better if they are - but we're more concerned with ensuring that all future titles follow the best approach than we are about correcting existing titles. If the Senate doesn't want to change them - that will be a perfectly valid IC decision that we'll respect. Basically we'll attempt to change them IC - through IC means - and drop the matter if the Senate rejects that attempt.

We have updated the civil service processes for judgements like inquisition, condemnation, veto and excommunication. We spent extensive time discussing how the target of these PvP attacks should find out what had happened. Our ideal with vetoes and similar is that the players will grandstand some public denunciation of the wrong-doing - we wanted to make sure that we left room for the players to maximize the drama of these vital synod functions. At the same time - as they are PvP we wanted to make sure that our civil servants were able to talk to players, let them know what was happening, what their options and what the might do about the attack on their character. The new approach gives us the flexibility to ensure that players know what is happening in the game.

The change to statement of principle is small but very significant. If the General Assembly passes a statement of principle with a greater majority - then it is guaranteed to have an effect of some kind. We'll look at any statement of principle that passes with a greater majority - though we'll only run plot with those that happen in the national assemblies if it is clear that there will be good plot and game on the field as a result. This gives the Synod direct control of a lever that they can use to influence events in the Empire. This change is part of an ongoing series of improvements to add more levers of this kind to the game to allow players to be more proactive and to give them greater control of the game. It won't be possible for the players to know what effect will happen - players second guessing or attempting to game the system will be disappointed - but players seeking a means to achieve a clear in-character goal will have a new way to achieve that.

The new judgement of mandate is the counterpoint to the improved statement of principle. It gives the players a clear definitive way to take a moral stand on a contemporary issue and authorize a priest to take action. Changing the mechanism to require the use of wording provided by the civil service removes a clear failure in the current system where players could pass a judgement in the field - but that failed to achieve the game effect because it didn't meet the criteria outlined in the opportunity. In effect we were being forced to judge someone's roleplaying to decide if passed or failed - which is something we try very hard to avoid. Now the decision is whether or not to pass the mandate - if that happens then the priest knows exactly what the outcome will be if they go through with it.

Although there have been very very few successful alternative wordings for the expenditure of liao in the past - we wanted to keep that possibility open as far as possible. But we also wanted to make sure that players could make informed decisions with the certain knowledge of what the outcome will be. Allowing players to email us with considerations before the event makes the process for trying a different option to those presented explicit - gives us time to judge how effective it might be - and leaves a small window to inform other players of the potential consequences if they decide to back that approach.

The two new additions to the rules for exemplars and paragons are designed to give the Synod new ways to reinforce the impact of their decisions. Our implementation of pages on the wiki for new exemplars has been virtually non-existent - a reflection of the large amount of work involved. We can't commit to that amount of work for every new exemplar or paragon made by the Synod (or by a new player group joining the game) - but we needed to have a mechanism for the players to be able to make their exemplar or paragon as famous as historical figures like Tian, Empress Richilde or Good Walder. Since doing that creates a huge amount of work - we wanted to set the cost high - so we opted for a dose of true liao.

We're well aware that many players consider it some kind of sacrilege against the patron saints of LRP to sacrifice a dose of plot-generating liao in this way. That's '''awesome''' because it ensures the cost of true liao remains sky high! It's the most expensive commodity in the Empire which is brilliant. Creating an inspirational tomb is meant to be an epic achievement - you've fundamentally changed the whole Empire by creating a figure that will live in its history forever. That isn't meant to be easy! The precious way that players horde true liao makes it the perfect cost for this ability. And you never know... maybe if someone ever does manage it they'll discover that there is more than one way to skin the plot generating cat...

In the setting Bastion is the site of many of the most important churches and basilicas for exemplars, paragons, and Empresses, but there was nothing in the setting to support that. We've added the Custos Claves to create a mechanism that supports the Synod in creating structures there. They can't help you get the construction past the Senate - or pay for the White Granite - but they can help with the commission itself. We know that commissions are in short supply - so having a free one if you build a sinecure in Bastion should be a neat incentive that reinforces the setting. In addition it adds a new dimension to the roleplaying around getting an exemplar passed by the Synod. If you can get enough political support to pass your judgement - you then have a chance to roleplay trying to convince a group of NPCs of the religious merits of your candidate. If you can persuade them - then they can offer real effort to your cause.

The change to the gatekeeper, specifying the mechanism by which they tell our NPCs what choice they have made was long overdue. The lack of any definition in the setting for the way the gatekeepers choose their candidates is odd - but that oddness has become a feature - something that makes that part of the game distinct. But while we don't mind how the players make their decision, we do need to be very clear about how they inform us. If we don't know what the mechanism for the players telling us their decision is - then we have no way to find out ''for certain'' what decision the players have made.

Basically we want the gatekeepers to argue about what decision to make - what we can't have is a situation in which they argue about whether or not a decision has been made. The update removes that essential contradiction - allowing the players the freedom to choose in any way they wish - but ensuring that when they make a decision then we will definitely know what the decision is.

There are some things that we were asked to change that we have not changed, of which the most important is witness. There is a common complaint that the Right of Witness is meaningless because all the official meetings of the state are open to everyone - so the Right of Witness has no effect there. However the private meetings that some citizens arrange are not subject to the Right of Witness, so there is game happening that priests cannot force their way into. This is all true - but subtly completely misses the entire purpose of the Right of Witness.

The purpose of Witness was never to make it impossible for players to hold secret meetings. Empire is a game of politics - having secrets, creating them, discovering them, spreading them is part of the enjoyment of the game. The last thing we want to do is make it impossible for players to have secret meetings. But the risk of any political game is that the entire political process becomes a secret - obscured behind closed doors it becomes impossible for most players to view it and thus to see what is happening. There are perfectly good in-character reasons why Empire players would choose to lock everyone out of a meeting of the Military Council - or why Senate decisions would be taken behind closed doors. Such an approach might benefit the Empire But we were confident that such an approach would be bad for the game.

The Right of Witness is, a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality|positive externality]]. It existence renders private meetings of the Senate or the Military Council legally impossible. Our preferred outcome in making it impossible to prohibit priests from these meetings is not to give priests special access - rather it is to make players accept the impossibility of making these meetings secret. It is a small step from accepting that if you can't keep 250 Synod priests out of your [[Senate session]] then you might as well have a viewing gallery and let everyone in. The existence of the Right of Witness is not intended to benefit priests - it is intended to benefit every player in the game - by forcing a significant portion of the political game to be resolved in public where any player can see it and get involved.

We have also been asked to look if we can improve the rules regarding religious crimes to give greater agency to the players over these important laws. Our response to that request is likely to involve producing new guidelines - like those issued for clemency - to try to help everyone understand how the law is interpreted and applied by our NPCs. We believe a more transparent process will benefit everyone. Any additional guidelines will take time to write - but may hopefully be available on the wiki before the end of the year.

==Bourse==
We have updated the procedures for characters who lose an [[Imperial Bourse]] seat. The new rules state that the seat will receive back what they paid for the seat in proportion to the amount of production remaining. The original rules giving a re-auction were complex and legally inconsistent with the idea of a contract between the state the citizen. In essence if the contract is broken by the Empire - then the Empire repays what was paid.

Crucially we have removed the line that the proceeds of the auction of an excommunicated bourse seat holder go to the virtue fund of the Synod. In practice, it is near certain that under the old rules, any Bourse seat holder would simply have resigned their position moments before a judgement passed against them. Thus they would have recouped what they paid or more back anyway.

However that would have led to arguments about the validity and timing of the resignation and players disappointed when the excommunication power did not work as expected. Removing this option makes the legal system simpler and much more consistent (the removal of a seat is treated the same no matter how it happens) and critically ensures that everyone involved can see what the likely outcomes are when they make their IC decisions.

We've also removed the ability to get your money back if you resign. That gave too much leeway for players to get their money back if they foolishly overpaid at the auctions - the Bourse is meant to a high-stakes game, not one where you can change your mind at the drop of a hat. Removing that element has allowed us to further simply the rules over the repayment.

==Conclave==
We have made a number of changes to the running of the Conclave, summarized below:

* '''Gambits have been removed.''' The entire system was not creating the kind of game we intended, so we have removed it completely.
* '''Free minutes of discussion have been removed.''' Previously the first person nominated by each grandmaster in each round of discussion after a gambit spoke for free. Going forward everyone has to pay for their minutes during the discussion.
* '''(ETA)''' A line referencing an ability to the civil service to allow people to speak was removed.
* '''No more question and answer sessions.''' Anyone making an address or declaration, or speaking in response to them, has to speak themselves. In keeping with the [[Principle of Presence]] it is no longer possible to engage in question and answer sessions, or allow someone else to talk substantially on your behalf during the minutes you have paid for.
* '''Declarations come into effect at the end of the session.''' Previously there had been some confusion about when a declaration before the Conclave came into effect. All declarations now take effect at the end of the session
* '''Precedence is calculated at the start of the event.''' Rather than calculating precedence based on the attendance of Conclave, we are establishing precedence shortly before the start of each event using the number of magicians who possess each order's Arcane Mark as recorded on our database. We intend to make this calculation as close as possible to time-in to take into account gate bookings wherever possible. Previously precedence involved a great deal of counting and would regularly delay the start of the Conclave session.
* '''Grandmasters receive their order's resources.''' Going forward, the [[grandmaster]] of each order gets the resources that were previously locked in the conclave vaults. We've coupled this with an explicit statement that the grandmaster is responsible for using these resources to the benefit of their order and in pursuit of their order's goals.
* '''Grandmasters may be challenged.''' A system whereby members of an order may declare a lack of confidence in their grandmaster, triggering a new election, has been introduced.
* '''Sorcerors do not lose their resources.''' Previously, sorcerors lost their personal resource if it was a mana site and it became the property of the Conclave. We have removed this stricture. A sorceror still keeps their mana site. Although it is illegal for them to carry the mana it produces, it is acceptable for them to pass the mana to an ally before the game begins.
* '''Archmages deal with eternals.''' The [[archmage|archmagi]] have gained two new powers - [[Archmage#Plenipotentiary|plenipotentiary]] and [[Archmage#Parley|parley]].
* '''(ETA) Declaration of the Balance has been removed.''' This declaration was potentially extremely time consuming and disruptive for minimal benefits and has been largely superseded by the ability for order members to challenge their grandmasters.
There may be additional tweaks to the wiki in line with these changes over the next week, and we are still discussing a few procedural and implementation points which should be clarified in the next few days.
{{CaptionedImage|file=LockedGateofMutualism.png|caption=The Locked Gate of Mutualism demands that private resources only be used for the common good.|align=right|width=500}}
===Reasoning===
The Conclave represents a fascinating design challenge in Empire because of it's mass participation nature. The more players who participate in the Conclave game - the slower the game runs and the less enjoyable it becomes. Obviously the point your character is raising is incredibly important - but the more players who are present the greater the chance that you will have to listen to speeches that don't interest you personally from other players.

Any format like this in a LRP game risks reaching a stable equilibrium at the point where it gets sufficiently large that almost everyone is unhappy with it. If more players join - then everyone gets less happy with the resulting game - so some players drop out. As more players drop out of the Conclave game, it speeds up and gets more enjoyable. It is quite possible that there is literally no way to build a Conclave game that won't ultimately result in a situation where everyone is unhappy at how long the meetings are, if that unhappiness is the only check on the length of the meetings.

That caveat aside, we spent the winter reviewing the extensive feedback from the Summer about the Conclave - reading player experiences of the Conclave and looking at the things they enjoyed and how we could support that. The review made clear that there were improvements that we could make to the Conclave to ensure it ran more efficiently. Generally we know that things that make the Conclave run more efficiently are likely to be relatively popular. At best these changes might result in shorter, more enjoyable meetings which would be great. But even if they don't then the Conclave would be at least as enjoyable as it is now - but with more players involved.

Removing the counts of order size before each session is an obvious way to reduce the drag on the sessions. It also reduces our paperwork and administration which allows us to spend that time improving other parts of the game. Crucially it gets away from a model in which grandmasters might be inclined to encourage players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to turn up so that they can count for precedence. There's no evidence that that was happening - but that is the model that the old approach encouraged. On the face of it it encourages participation - but people who are enjoying the Conclave game don't need encouragement to attend - we want players who don't enjoy the Conclave game to find their fun elsewhere.

Removing free minutes to respond to issues is intended to help speed up the Conclave and reduce the potential for "I agree" speeches. One of the essential elements of the Conclave that was designed to try and keep meetings short was to charge people 1 mana crystal per minute to speak. The goal is to say to people that you shouldn't be talking in Conclave if you don't have something worthwhile to say. The idea of free minutes to respond to declarations really undermined this because it gave people a chance to speak without paying for everyone's time - and worse it encouraged people to say things "so as not to waste the free minute".

The change removing the possibility for question and answer sessions has a similar intent - to keep the meetings tightly focussed and prevent drift into conversation. We want conversation to happen - but not in the Conclave when someone has the floor. The time for magicians to be engaging in politics and discussions is in smaller groups before and after the Conclave. We want to encourage that kind of politics to happen ''outside'' the Conclave session.

The change to gambits is very different. It was clear from the feedback that many players didn't enjoy the gambits, they did not work as a public spectacle. Crucially we felt that the gambits had failed to achieve the kind of political game we had hoped for - almost all gambits passed, most were equally funded by each order. There was surprisingly little evidence that the different political ambitions of the orders were having a significant influence on which gambits they were prepared to fund. Even worse was the appearance of gambits to get the mana crystals out of the vault so that the grandmaster could use - we didn't have a problem with the grandmasters having the crystals - we're all in favour of a bit of corruption - it's good for the game. But there didn't seem to be much game in having the grandmasters agree to give themselves their own mana.

By giving the entire contents of an order's vault to the grandmaster at the start of every event, we make the administration of the game considerably easier but more importantly we hope to encourage a strong sense of ownership of the mana crystals by the grandmaster (and her order). The previous system - in which access to the vaults had to be agreed collectively meant that there was unwanted pressure for that access to be for the common good. In effect we had a fairly unique economic phenomena - a sort of reverse [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons tragedy of the commons]. Instead of a collective good - that could be accessed individually (which in classic economic theory leads to ruin) we had a personal good - that could only be accessed collectively. So instead of parochial, political, selfish, corrupt use of an order's mana - which is what we would want to happen - we saw the opposite.

We hope that the change will encourage grandmasters to meet with members of their order, to discuss their vaults and how they will use the contents to further their order's ambitions. We hope that grandmasters will think twice about paying a mana crystal for a magician to stand up and say "I agree" when that is one less mana crystal that they could be using for their own personal enchantments. We are optimistic that there will still be just as much game as there ever was for magicians who want to access the Conclave's vaults - but now that game will take place outside of Conclave. Now you will have to convince the Grandmaster of the Rod and Shield why your magical experiment benefits her order's objectives, rather than having to present a single picture of how your plan benefits everyone.

Of course it's possible that grandmasters will simply pocket the lot and be sitting pretty as the most magically rich citizens in the Empire. Great! Corruption is great for the game and definitely something we're always looking for ways to encourage where possible. However we need checks and balances - levers for players to pull to oppose such chicanery - so that politics and game can happen. So we have removed the declaration of balance which was not fit for purpose and replaced it with a new mechanism for replacing a grandmaster.

The old mechanism was incredibly difficult to access and worse it risked chewing through the precious time in Conclave to allow an order to settle their internal disputes. We want that game to happen - but we want it to happen outside Conclave - 70 members of the Rod and Shield probably don't want to wait 15 minutes while the Shuttered Lantern decide who their grandmaster is going to be. The new change means that the issue is decided internally by the order - it makes it far easier for an order to replace their grandmaster, so grandmasters will have to consider what steps they have to take to keep the backing of their order.

Removing gambits is obviously a blow to those that had them - the [[archmage|archmagi]], the [[Warmage]], [[Bursar of the Conclave|Bursar]] and the [[Imperial Seer]] where the Senate motion to receive a gambit was under consideration by the Constitutional Court. The Bursar and the Imperial Seer are particularly badly affected - since neither title has any major legal powers. The Senate and the Conclave are in a position to ensure that all these positions remain relevant through the decisions they take in the game - but we are also looking at the issue of those titles that were given gambits by the players but no longer have them to see if we can help in some way.

Although the Warmage gained the gambit in the original major revision of Conclave, it was never a core part of the game design that the representative from the Conclave to the Military Council - the magician tasked with representing them to the generals should have enhanced powers to draw on the resources of the Conclave. That set-up risked the position operating the other way round in practice - with the Warmage representing the Military Council to the Conclave and using a gambit to let them know what the Military Council wanted from them. Now we hope that the Warmage will be able to negotiate directly with each grandmaster to let them know what the Military Council are planning and see what the orders are prepared to do to help.

However the archmagi lack that essential constituency. It's clear why a grandmaster might give aid to the Warmage - and by extension the Military Council because that would help the Empire fights its wars. It's not clear at all why the grandmasters would offer any help or support to the archmagi now that they no longer needed their participation in the gambit process. We have always felt that the archmage should have a clear focus on magic - on being a magician - and on using the power and influence of their realm. So it made sense to try and create a new power for the archmage that exemplified that.

We know that players have long wanted a way to contact eternals. The original mechanism at the start of the game - where any player could send any number of messages to any number of eternals was utterly broken. There are more players than there are plot writers - we simply could not keep up with the flow of requests and so many of them were just getting no response. We put a stop to that - and that gave us time to redesign a new mechanism - one where players can contact any eternal - and be pro-active about creating new opportunities for the Empire and their characters - but which is limited in number so that we can ensure that we can guarantee a response. It might not be the response you want... but something will happen. All it needed was to find the right mechanism to put that into play to give players a way to fight over it - and the archmage was the perfect opportunity to do that.

Finally we changed the rules so that sorcerers do not lose their resource. There are various technical reasons for this - it didn't make any sense at all under the existing rules framework The point of personal resources is to ensure that every character has a little wealth in their pack that they can choose to use as they wish. Of course they may give it away, commit it to the war-effort, or spend it in the bar - but that's their character choice. Taking that away made no game for anyone and just encouraged the Conclave to declare people sorcerors to try and improve their income which was nonsense - so we have cut that.

===IC Explanation===
Since the election of the Empress, the civil service had had the need to review all their procedures to ensure that they are inline with the actual rules laid down in law. These changes reflect corrections to errors arising from the time of emergency.

==Mercenary Banner==
We have changed the way the [[Mercenary Banner]] magical item works. It can now only be used during the [[Muster]] of the [[Imperial Military Council]], in the presence of an Imperial [[general]] who agrees to accept an oath of service from a member of the band. This will form a binding magical contract - the players in the band can then only take the field with the general they are serving rather than their own nation. This means we will be able to update the figures for the battle to ensure that the numbers of volunteers remains balanced for each battle.

We have also increased the cost to make the item.

===Reasoning===
Mercenary banners pose a number of significant logistical problems in Empire. Once we had run a few events, we quickly identified that the single most important factor in determining the difficulty of a battle was the number of opponents on the field. It was clear that the starting point for providing enjoyably challenging battles was to ensure that we had a roughly similar number of participants on both sides. Bolstering our numbers with our skirmish crew helps - but it wasn't enough to produce a cool engagement if there were significantly more players than volunteer monsters.

In most cases, the Military Council were making choices designed to roughly balance the sides. To ensure that happened, we provided them with a framework and statistics to support that. At the point we did that, mercenary banners became more problematic. We give the Imperial generals an in-character requirement to balance the forces they send to each battle - to reflect the out-of-character game requirements - but the mercenary banners allowed them or any group of players to throw those numbers completely out of line. The banner allowed a single sizeable group of players to take a perfectly reasonable IC decision to switch sides - rendering pointless all the politics of the Council and damaging the event for everyone.

Sadly mercenaries are fundamentally problematic in LRP. The underlying economic principles behind mercenaries simply do not work well in any game with a functioning economy. In the real world, you pay mercenaries to fight instead of you - to take risks instead of you. As a result there is an economic calculation that takes place balancing risk and reward. But in live roleplaying, taking risks is the point of the game. Paying someone to fight instead of you is akin to paying someone to enjoy the event instead of you. It doesn't make much sense, in fact I suspect it would be possible to get many players to pay for the opportunity to be in a fight. After-all they've already paid out-of-character money to be there - what's a few more in-character coins on top?

In play some players will roleplay paying to hire mercenaries - perhaps because it seems the right thing to do. Most of us are sufficiently familiar with the genre of the hard-bitten mercenary to understand how it is supposed to work - but it is hard to mitigate the problems caused by the misalignment between OOC and IC incentives. The negotiation between a general and a mercenary captain should play like that cool scene from Game of Thrones when Daenerys Targaryen tries to convince the Second Sons mercenary force to change sides. I've played a mercenary captain in LRP - it's how I wanted the scene to play out in my head - but it rarely did.

Unforunately in a game like Empire, mercenaries suffer from another problem. In a game that is all about loyalty, about the bonds that tie you to other groups, nations, and to the Empire - being loyal to yourself and your employer is ''not'' an advantage. Empire is a political game - the core focus of the game is the interactions that come from the interplay of loyalties and conflicting agendas between player-characters. Mercenaries are at severe risk of being cut out of much of this game - and the more implacable they are about playing the archetype to the full - the more likely they are to be treated as nothing more than a mercenary. Some of the feedback we received, exhorting us to keep mercenaries at any cost, sadly demonstrated this very effect - that playing a mercenary runs a very high risk of becoming your only fun in the game. By leaving them in - we are basically giving players an opportunity to have a bad time.

It's perfectly in-character for an Imperial citizen to shun a mercenary. Historically mercenaries were often socially ostracized and the genre is generally full of tales of mercenaries who face contempt and hostility from the rest of society. On paper that sounds a brilliant roleplaying challenge - social conflict is the basis for the game after-all. But if contempt and hostility slides into isolation - then instead of a brilliant roleplaying challenge the mercenary character simply finds themselves cut out of the social game, possibly without even realizing why that is happening or even that it is taking place at all.

So I argued with my colleagues for most of winter that we should cut the mercenary banner - and if necessary find a way to rewrite the League brief. I am not happy being responsible for a game if I'm not confident that every part of what we are offering offers the as many opportunities for great roleplaying as possible. It's quite possible that you can play a League mercenary and have a great time - but it's a significant concern to me that you could fail to enjoy the event because you'd chosen to play a League mercenary. I fear that it can be the Empire equivalent of the dark brooding stranger who sits alone in the tavern - a great idea on paper - a terrible character concept in practice. Worst of all - because it risks cutting you off from the wider political game, the danger is that the player doesn't even realize that it is their character archetype (something PD has provided as a cool concept to play in the game) that is the reason that they have been cut out of the game. Playing a mercenary in Empire can be a trap - it promises fun - but may not deliver.

In the end, we decided not to do it. If I had my time over again, if we were writing the game tomorrow, I would not hesitate to excise mercenaries from the game. I don't believe they provide the kind of enjoyment that other characters archetypes can - and the risk is that they detract from your game much more than they add. It's possible we'd spend some time coming up with something better - something cooler - but I've spent years wrestling with mercenaries in LRP and never been very satisfied with the results.

But changing any rule or part of the setting comes with a cost. Most rule changes impact on players to some extent but they can adapt their play style accordingly. The cost of that change is paid over time by the benefits in terms of the overall improvement to the game. But if you're playing a mercenary - if that is your character concept - then removing them from the game is not something you can adapt your play style to cope with. It is going to wreck your game. Provided we were able to ensure that the existence of mercenaries wasn't negatively impacting the game for others (by wrecking the play balance of the battles) then it seemed better to keep them and let players who were enjoying playing them continue to do so.

So that left us ensuring that the mercenary banner would be available in the game - but would not impact the ratio of volunteers to players on the battles. The new rules that we've implemented do make it trickier to use a mercenary banner - but hopefully not in a way that cuts down play options for those using them. It's even possible that mandating their use during the muster will actually help mercenary groups be ''more'' involved in the military and political game, which would be a boon if that happened. It will mean more complex administration for us, as we will have to track the size of the group using the mercenary banner - so that we can update the in-character figures used to balance the battles accordingly. But that's a price worth paying if it means people can continue to enjoy the game.

What it does leave is a risk that people will use mercenary banners to try to circumvent the rules of the Military Council. The new rules are clear that the banner only affects those characters bonded to it at the time it is used. Players '''cannot''' change sides after the muster is over, ''joining a group who has changed sides has no effect''. But it's possible for players to get confused, or even think it's ok to ignore them. I am very conscious that passions can run high when a group of characters believe that they should be fighting on the other side in a battle. Obviously if that does happen then we'd need to revisit the decision to remove mercenary banners completely. I'm optimistic that won't happen though, provided that the players with the banners understand and respect the rules for using them.

We've increased the cost of the banner a little. Making it more expensive discourages a banner from acquiring one unless having the ability to fight in the other battle is genuinely crucial to their character and to their game. In practice, since a number of groups were assuming you needed multiple banners for large groups, (which was never the case for a mercenary banner), the effective cost will be less for some existing groups.

It does mean that a banner will need to ensure that their list of group members is up-to-date! If you are the administrative contact for your banner then you can check the group membership online at any time. If you are not a member of your banner - and you should be - then [mailto:admin@profounddecisions.co.uk email us] before the first event and we'll fix that.

==Philtres==
* '''We have created a new class of potion - philtres - which can be correctly identified by any character'''
* '''Several basic restorative potions have been changed from being potions to being philtres'''
Elixir Vitae, Philtre of Strength, Skop’s Mead, MageBlood, Philtre of Heavenly Lore, Bloodharrow Philtre, Feverfail Elixir, Ossean Balm, and Anodyne Embrocation have all be changed to be philtres rather than regular potions.

Philtres use a card - like a herb or mana crystal - with all the rules for that item printed on it - instead of using a rip-open lammy like a regular potion. This means that any character can correctly identify a philtre with a quick glance at the accompanying card.

The rules for using a potion are not changed - it still requires five seconds of appropriate roleplaying - that is taking the potion bottle, removing the stopper, and drinking the contents - to use it. However you can then rip the card more quickly and take the effects described immediately without having to spend time to check the potion is what it appears to be.
{{CaptionedImage|file=Potion Card.jpg|align=right|width=250}}
===Reasoning===
In any LRP system it is crucial that the rules mechanisms that underpin the game must be applicable within the context in which that part of the game happens.

Rituals and spells represent an easy example of how this principle is applied in Empire. A ritual involves complex rules, so it requires at least a few minutes to perform the ritual to allow the referee time to process it. Spells are needed in the pitched heat of a battle - you can't have a spell that a character might legitimately expect to cast quickly in the heat of a battle take time to process. The application of the rules would be too intrusive and would impact the utility of the spell. The potency of the spell would then become a factor of how quickly the ref could process it - not how well the character used it.

Our current potion rules require the player to rip open a laminated strip and read the text written inside, after they have completed the five seconds of appropriate roleplaying. For most potions this is fine, if you are performing a powerful night ritual then it doesn't matter if the ref needs 30 seconds to rip open and read three potions to check what they do and how they affect your ritual.

But for common potions explicitly designed to be used in the heat of battle, the requirement to rip open and then read the lammy, required an amount of OOC time to administer and process that was not commensurate with the situations in which these potions were commonly used. In effect - the play balance of the item was coming down to how fast you could rip open the laminate. It is understandable - if unfortunate - that given those criteria, players had a tendency to do anything possible to reduce the amount of additional OOC time required to use the potion.

The new rules fix for philtres address this mismatch between the rules for how you use the item and the situations in which you use it. By putting the rules on a card - you know at a glance what the potion does - and the card can be ripped the same way a herb or mana card would be.

We haven't switched every potion to being a philtre, because there is an obvious trade off with the new cards - that they reduce the amount of mystery and roleplaying regarding what a potion does. Under the current rules for potions, any character who recognizes the physical description of the potion can be fairly certain they have correctly identified it - but the more obscure the potion the harder it is to identify. That means there is a degree of hard skill in being able to recognize and identify potions (which we regard as a positive), or that players create in-character books of lore to help them identify potions (even better!).

We want to maintain that element of the game as far as possible - so the overwhelming majority of potions have not been changed. These potions will still use a laminated strip of paper - and you must rip open the laminate and read what is written inside before you take the effects.

Please note that although it is perfectly legal to add an in-character label to the phys-rep for a potion - you must not write the in-character name of the potion on the out-of-character lammy - your character can label the bottle - the player can not add additional information to the lammy.

==Shattering Blow==
* '''The heroic skill that allowed two-handed weapon wielders to call Shatter has been replaced with one allowing them to call Impale'''
Players who had [[Combat_skills#Weapon_Master|weapon master]] and [[Heroic_skills#Hero_Points|hero points]] were able to buy a skill called shattering blow that allowed them to expend a hero point to call Shatter when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon. This skill has been replaced with a new skill called [[Heroic_skills#Mortal_Blow|mortal blow]] that allows a character to expend a hero point to call Impale when they made an appropriate roleplayed blow with a great weapon.

The new skill will automatically replace the old skill for any character that had bought it.

===Reasoning===
Two-handed weapons are often weak in live roleplaying because they lack the advantages of power and penetration that such weapons had in reality. Partly to compensate for this we gave them the most potent heroic call to make up for the relative advantages of other weapons.

Although this approach succeeded in making great weapons potent on the Empire battlefield, it had negative consequences in terms of player experience. Shatter is a disabling call, unless you can have your weapon restored you are unable to carry on fighting. While that is a better in-character outcome than being killed, it can be less satisfying player experience than having your character dropped, simply because you're rendered ineffective. It is also something that is almost impossible to stop using hard skills, you can't parry or block a shattering blow.

There is very definitely a place for the Shatter call in the game - but we feel that it will be better play balance to allow wizards to access the call. They cannot wear armour and hence are easily countered in other ways whereas warriors are usually wearing substantial armour.

We still wanted warriors using great weapons to be potent on the battlefield - so we have switched the call for Impale. Given that the majority of our barbarian orcs on the battlefield use medium armour, we anticipate that this will still be a very effective call - we think it's better than the Strikedown call available to polearm wielders and it's clearly better than the Cleave call available to warriors using a one-handed weapon.

There will be some updates to the magical weapons and rituals over time to bring them into line with the new call regime for great weapons in Empire.

==Battle Mages==
We have made a number of changes designed to improve battle magicians. We've added a new potent spell - [[shatter]], improved the [[empower]] spell by reducing the cost, improved the [[paralysis]] spell by changing the limitations removing the protection provided by heavy armour and increased the amount of mana available to characters that purchase [[Magical_skills#Extra_Mana|extra mana]]. We have also clarified that spells such as [[entangle]] and [[repel]] still take effect even if they are parried or hit a shield.

===Reasoning===
The original design brief for Empire viewed the battlefield as a location for warriors to dominate - a location where those who had fighting skills would come to the fore. Crucially what we didn't want was a situation where wizards were simply more potent combatants than warriors. In practice however, it is clear that the Empire rules system allows for two very distinct types of wizard - the ritualist - and the battle mage. The former has a distinct role on the battlefield - there are certain battlefield rituals that can be invaluable in the right circumstances - but generally their main role takes place at Anvil. Battle magicians however are a very different case - like warriors the prime opportunity to use their skills is on the battlefield. The right balance for the game design would be to make them different to warriors on the battlefield - but equally useful.

The most common feedback around battle magicians tends to focus on mage armour - with people wanting it to provide resistance to Cleave or even Impale - the way regular armour does. That change would be a major mistake however - since it would make battle mages much closer to regular warriors. In a system where warriors have access to heroic abilities, the critical distinction between battle mages and warriors is their ability to take a blow. What was needed to improve battle magicians is to make the array of their offensive abilities stronger.

==Hero Points==
We have changed the cost to get access to hero points and to buy additional hero points. Under the new rules the required skill to get access to heroic abilities is called [[Heroic skills#Hero|Hero]]. It costs 2 character points and grants you two hero points that you can use to overcome roleplaying effects. Extra hero points will now be a 1* skill.

The character point cost of every character will be automatically recalculated in the next few weeks to use the new formula. Characters who have bought a single level of hero points at present will thus be in deficit by a single point - these characters will not be automatically changed by us - but will not be able to spend additional character points until they have earned enough xp to pay for their current skills.

===Reasoning===
We've changed the way the cost of hero points and extra hero points are calculated for a number of reasons. It means the skill is less accessible for characters to dip into but more accessible for characters to focus on - which encourages specialization making it easier for characters to differentiate themselves from each other. It simplifies the maths of calculating hero points and additional hero points and brings the cost of these abilities into line with the cost for extra mana.

==Healing and Swift Casting==
We have changed the time required to cast regular spells to thirty seconds, and changed the amount of healing provided by a Swift Heal to 3 hits rather than all of them. This is part of a change across the system so that heals that return all your hits (like True Vervain) will now take thirty seconds to apply, while any source of healing that returns your hits instantly or in a few seconds (like Second Wind, healing potions, Swift Heal) only returns up to 3 hits lost.

As part of this change we have removed the Swift Heal spell and the Purge spell (effectively Swift Purify spell) and instead said that any magician that has the Heal spell or the Purify spell can choose to cast these spells in a few seconds for two mana rather than one (with reduced effects in the case of Swift Heal). We have extended this change across the magic system so that all regular spells now take thirty seconds to cast, but can all be cast in a few seconds for an additional mana.

===Reasoning===
At present, healing on the battlefield is exceptionally fast. A character with a dozen hits or more can have them all restored virtually instantaneously - a problem even more acute for us when fielding large monsters that might have a score of hits or more. One of the impacts of this is that units on the battlefield that have been mauled by their opponents can be back in the fight with very little time needed to regroup and lick their wounds. That makes it harder for us to create dynamic challenges for the players on the battlefield - and because healing is cheap and plentiful, it is harder for us to challenge players and make them feel threatened.

The new rules make healing more expensive - either it is considerably slower - or it provides less hits restored for most characters. We hope that this will make battles more threatening for characters - who have more chance of running out of resources if they are being hard pressed - and more strategic for generals and unit-commanders who will have to need to take account of the need to rest units for slightly longer after they have engaged.

Having decided on the core changes, we felt it was appropriate to remove the swift heal and swift purify as spells - and instead make them free abilities granted by purchasing the heal and purify spell. This increases the availability of these abilities to any players who have invested points into them - so that any magician who can cast heal can automatically cast either version. The changes to the time required to cast regular spells - and the option to swift-cast them - has been applied to all spells for consistency although it is primarily relevant for the [[mend]] spell and the [[restore limb]] spell. [[Voice for the dead]] has been reduced in cost to a single mana point to reflect it's limited utility and to bring it into line with the other regular spells.

==IC Theft==
We have changed the rules so that you cannot enter someone else's IC tent once it has been sealed.

===Reasoning===
Any set of game rules has to balance different abstractions and the needs and interests of different players. Ideally rules should deliver the experience that the game organizers have claimed they seek to offer, but at the very least they should form part of a coherent package that embodies the core ideals for the game.

Although we have become accustomed to ignoring them, the abstractions around theft are particularly acute in live roleplaying. Empire is a game in which some of the players represent some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the land - and yet they regularly store vast fortunes in tents and have no guards - because tents are what we have and because Empire actively discourages guards (because we'd rather players found other more active roleplaying during the event). Robbing tents - particularly robbing tents while players have left them to go and sleep in their out-of-character sleeping area or while they are on the battlefield is a particularly odd quirk that is dependent on the limitations of the hobby.

However there is a vastly more serious problem with the current rules for stealing. Profound Decisions have made very clear that we will not tolerate language that makes reference to non-consensual sexual activity - yet the old rules permitted players to enter tents in which adults or children were sleeping. It is not consistent to try to eliminate verbal references to non-consensual activity but leave individuals in situations in which they may be awakened by discovering a stranger has entered their bedroom. Suggestions made for requiring people for whom this is a concern to sleep in the out-of-character area do not take into account the difficulty of bring two tents to the field. It's part of our approach to live roleplaying to try to ensure that our events do what is possible to provide a safe-space for people to roleplay, not to make it more difficult for them. The current rules did not meet those criteria.

Obviously the new rules will have a very significant detrimental impact on the amount of theft that takes place in the game. We understand and acknowledge that. We've tried to be clear in Empire that we are striving to deliver a grand game of politics and war, where people can build and lose empires. Crime has a very definite role to play in the game - but robbing tents has never been part of the game experience that we were trying to deliver for players. We looked at methods to try and create a balance between the players being robbed and the players doing the robbing - but at the point where it became clear that players were prepared to enter people's sleeping quarters to rob them while they were asleep then we had to make a decision about which game we were going to support. Because of the game's focus we have chosen to take steps to ensure that everyone can attend the event without fear of being awoken by a stranger in their bedroom.

==Unstoppable==
We have combined a heavily modified version of this effect into the [[Heroic_skills#Second_Wind|second wind]] ability.

===Reasoning===
The original design intent for the unstoppable skill was to reflect the hardy warrior who was difficult to put down. The character can take blow after blow, fall to the ground - but through sheer force of will rise back to their feet and carry on fighting. The goal was to reflect the heroic archetypes of great warriors of the fantasy trope.

In practice, the skill didn't really achieve this design goal very well. Because you got back up on one hit - you weren't really effective as a combatant. Instead what it was often used for was playing possum on the floor while the enemy moved on and then leaping to your feet and making a run for your lines, hoping to get back before you were chopped down. We did consider changing the name from "unstoppable" to better reflect it's usage, but there were other more significant problems with the skill.

One problem is the skill tends to break the fourth-wall in various ways that were unhelpful. Orcs who have downed a wounded Imperial character are conscious of the fact that the character has a significant chance of standing back up again so they have to move on... to allow that to happen. Of course, logically in a world in which characters possess the unstoppable ability, cutting the throats of characters that are downed is logically - something we're keen not to encourage monsters or players to do.

By combining the two skills into one but limiting the skill so it can only be used as you hit the deck we hope we will better achieve the original design intent to reflect the unstoppable warrior who just keeps on attacking - but also remove elements of looking at downed characters and monsters and thinking "are they all just going to leap back to their feet in a moment".

==Relentless==
We have a new heroic skill to the game - [[Heroic_skills#Relentless|relentless]]. A character with this skill may expend one hero point to regain the use of a single cleaved or impaled limb.

===Reasoning===
We added this because there was a space for it and we think it's cool.

==Grappling==
The rules for grappling have been changed. If you wish to grapple or use body contact then both participants must ask permission from a referee present. If the ref is happy that both parties are keen to grapple and in their assessment it is safe to do so, then they will allow it for that fight. It is not possible to grapple or use body contact on quests, skirmishes, or battles under any circumstances.

We have also made clear that the rules that prohibit fighting while inebriated also extend to grappling. It is not permissible for a character to fight in anyway at Empire if the player has been drinking that day.

===Reasoning===
There have been incidents at the last few events where monsters have been grappled on quests and battles with absolutely no attempt of any kind to obtain permission. The reality is that battles are high adrenaline moments that take place in the woods where there are numerous environmental hazards. There are no situations where we are happy to have grappling take place in the quest area and we have changed the rules to make that restriction explicit.

Sadly there have also been situations in Anvil (particularly late at night in the Senate) where players are getting involved in grappling while drunk and with no attempt to ensure that the other party is keen to do so. This has resulted in tempers flaring and grappling rapidly becoming out-of-character. The individuals in question have been given a warning, but we have changed the rules so that you can only grapple in a small fight with the permission of the referee. You can expect the referee not to refuse to give permission if they are satisfied that both parties are sober and keen to grapple with each other and that the area is safe to do so.

Grappling in Empire is appropriate in cinematic duels and fights where both parties have indicated that they wish to do so. We don't see any need to stop that - and we believe that the new rules will present little restriction for players who are sensible about it. But the majority of players attending Empire are very keen not to be grappled by people they have not given permission to grapple and we want to ensure that they can enjoy the game without concern.

==Large Creatures==
We have changed the definition of what creatures are immune to calls in Empire. Only [[Calls#Monstrous_Creatures|monstrous creatures]], threats that are phys-repped using bulky all-encompassing full-body costumes such as the ice giant or the Grendel drakes will be immune to calls from now on. Ogres - and creatures with a similar phys-rep are now affected by calls normally.

We have also made clear that monstrous creatures cannot be healed on a battlefield using normal means.

===Reasoning===
Over time it has become clear that there are significant problems involved with large creatures. Because the only phys-rep requirement was to have a costume designed to make the wearer look bigger, the costume for ogres and other creatures was focussing too strongly on this element - and not strongly enough on the overall appearance. Using shoulder pads and similar made it much harder for the monsters to fight, because of the encumbrance. In essence we were hamstringing the monster volunteer just to meet the minimum phys-rep requirements for the creature to be ''large''.

In play it has become clear that the ability of creatures just larger than a human to ignore calls was detrimental to the player experience. It is exactly this kind of creature that a warrior or magician would want to use their abilities on - so a character fighting toe-to-toe against such a beast should expect to be able to do so. Nullifying character abilities at the point of optimum use is not good game design - but the problem is particularly acute when those creatures are relatively common.

Crucially defining our powerful monsters by their size was at odds with our guidelines on [[equality and diversity]]. Inevitably the creatures that are immune to calls are seen as one of the most appealing monsters to play on the battlefield. Unfortunately it was impossible for a third of our player base to visibly meet the requirements for large creatures - adding shoulder pads to a short participant was insufficient to make them look large. This contributed to a problem that has been identified in recent years in which short players (which because of human anatomy often means female players) were not being given exciting roles to play when monstering battles. We're keen to ensure that everyone who volunteers to monster for us gets opportunities to play roles on the battlefield based on their ability to portray them and not their physique.

Monstrous creatures that are phys-repped using a full body costume will remain immune to calls. While it is not ideal for any player ability to fail in any situation, threats like these are intended to be fought and taken-down by entire units of players. These monsters need special methods to defeat them, they don't go toe-to-toe with individual characters and so they don't fall over to a single arrow or heroic blow.

Changing the definition of a monstrous creature from size to a bulky full-body costume, we can ensure that the physique of the person playing the role is irrelevant.

{{Rules Updates}}
[[Category:Rules]]
[[Category:Game Design]]

Distribute knowledge of Arhallogen's Ploy cure

2017-09-05T10:27:56Z

Aaronwalter: /* Campaign Outcome */

<ic>Motion to distribute the knowledge of the cure below
<br>
<i>Proposed by Bregasland, Seconded by the Conscience of the Senate</i></ic>

===Overview===
* Passed at 5 thrones

===Date===
* Spring 381YE

===Cost===
* 5 thrones

===Progress===
* 5 thrones disbursed to Senator Bregasland
* 5 thrones provided by Johannes Tiberius after Summer Solstice 381YE.

===Campaign Outcome===
* The knowledge of the cure will be distributed to the citizens of the Empire.

<ic>===Arhallogen's Pox===
*Symptoms: Large pustules, within which is a spider forming. The pus is exceptionally irritating to the skin.
====Cure====
*Spiders must first be excised by the use of hot implements. The skin then is exceptionally fragile and covered in welts.
*A poultice of True Vervain applied to the skin will aid healing.
*Shortly after, the throat becomes highly irritated, similar to Greenlung.
*Roseweald infusion must be used to reduce the inflammation.
*Under no circumstances must True Vervain be used.
*An antipyretic must then be used to bring down the resulting fever.
*The patient is now on the road to recovery; but a cup of tea is recommended to bring down the stress levels of the patient</ic>
[[Category: Senate Motion]]

Mendicant Cassock

2017-09-05T10:11:15Z

Aaronwalter: /* Description */

==Description==
A cassock is an ankle-length robe especially popular with priests of [[Highguard]] and [[the League]]. Among the priests of [[Varushka]] and the [[Navarr]] it is more likely to be a long coat, usually of stout wool with simple embroidery, and both nations tend to call it a ''Guide's Coat'' (albeit with slightly different implications). It may be tight or loose-fitting, and while it is often sumptuously dyed in rich colours with gold, silver or mithril embroidery, the Mendicant Cassock tends to be a much more utilitarian garment. Generally a Mendicant Cassock is of a singe colour, and styled for comfort and practicality rather than ostentation. Only in [[the Brass Coast]] are these vestments likely to be brightly coloured, if only because of the negative associations with black or white clothing.

Despite its simplicity, the power of the Mendicant Cassock is not to be discounted. It allows a priest to perform a small number of [[Religious skills|ceremonies]] without the use of [[liao]], which can be an especial boon to priests without access to a [[congregation]], or whose primary focus is on the politics of the [[Imperial Synod]] rather than the accumulation of this precious substance. Traditionally, wealthy priests have looked down on those who rely on a Mendicant's Cassock - the assembly of [[Prosperity]] in particular has gone through periods in which priests relying on this [[magic items|magic item]] were actively disdained.

The Mendicant Cassock is quite limited - it provides the equivalent of only a single dose of liao to a single ceremony each day. If a priest wishes to take advantage of abilities to create more [[Religious_skills#Ceremony_Strength|durable]] auras, they will still require some actual liao. It is valuable, however, in that it is equally useful to a priest who performs a ceremony by themselves as to members of a [[Bands#Sects|sect]] not all of whose members participate in the Synod.

The use of this vestment is not restricted to Imperial priests. It is known in the [[Sumaah Republic]], where it is treated in much the same way it is in the Empire. By contrast, in some foreign nations where liao is difficult to acquire, the priests value this item considerably more than their Imperial counterparts do. In [[Principalities of Jarm|Jarm]] and [[Sarcophan Delves|Sarcophan]], followers of the Way must often rely on garments such as this to perform ''any'' religious ceremonies due to the difficulty of securing liao at a reasonable price. There are likewise stories of certain [[Axos|Axou]] spiritualists and [[Asavean Archipelago|Asavean]] slaves making use of similar items in their pursuit of spiritual power.

==Rules==
{{Vestments}}
* '''Effect:''' Once per day when you perform or cooperate in the performance of a [[Religious skills|religious skill]] you may do so without using a dose of [[liao]].
* '''Materials:''' Crafting a Mendicant Cassock requires no special materials. It takes two months to make one of these items.

Military Council design

2017-09-05T10:05:29Z

Aaronwalter: /* Keeping it Simple */

<div style="float:left;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.</quote></div>
==Overview==
The Military Council is the political body of the Empire that deals directly with the war with the barbarians. Although the Council is a political body, its primary involvement is in the strategic and tactical decisions that concern the deployment of Imperial forces on campaign and on battlefields. Players who like a very directed, unified engagement with a clear external enemy to fight against are much more likely to find that in the Military Council than anywhere else in the game.

Because the Council are directly up against the barbarians who are controlled by us, we need to ensure that there is a clear, simple, system that allows players to make intelligent, rational decisions about how to commit their forces. To give a better understanding of how the Military Council works we have focussed on explaining how war works in Empire - the best way to understand the Military Council is to understand how they do their job.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.</quote>
==The Sharpe Model==
The setting for the Empire is one of a grand civilisation - of hundreds of thousands of people living in a great empire rising to the height of its powers. To make the scale of the Empire feel right, it needs to have armies - it's difficult to believe in a mighty empire if five hundred soldiers is the most it can put in the field. We wanted the armies to give the sense of coherent narrative to the military campaigns of the Empire to give players a simple, easy-to-understand context for the ongoing wars - our soldiers are fighting here, here and here.

That creates enormous challenges - we obviously can't phys-rep armies of thousands, much as we might like to. More-over we don't want to phys-rep an army of thousands... doing so would create vast arrays of possibilities that we can't control - and we don't want the outcome of the war to be determined by these NPCs - they exist only to provide the setting that makes sense of the player actions and decisions - we want the player actions to be the critical element that determines the outcome.

What we want for Empire was summed up by a friend as Sharpe from the novels by Bernard Cornwall - Wellington is on campaign with his army in Spain - his army of thousands spends months manoeuvring and fighting battles with the French - but the outcome is always critically affected by the actions of Sharpe and his small band of elite soldiers.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.</quote></div>
==The Underlying Goal==
One of the most important of the core design goals for Empire was to have enjoyable battles take place at events where the outcome of the battles was critically important for the future of the Empire. We wanted the battles to be genuinely challenging so that success hangs in the balance based on the actions of the players. It is essential for the victories and the defeats to be significant in the game setting - so that the military triumphs of the Empire were fundamentally based on the actions of players at events not some computer model.

Although we expect that most of the time the Military Council will work together, we wanted to ensure that political conflict was possible even here. Political conflict can only arise spontaneously in LRP if characters are able to make real, meaningful choices - without that possibility player-led politics is impossible. For bodies like the Senate with its power to assign the Imperial budget that is relatively easy to achieve - but to achieve that in the military council it has to be possible to make decisions at each event about where and when it commits its forces.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.</quote></div>
==Keeping it Simple==
In real war, logistics is incredibly important to the success of an army. Logistics is an incredibly challenging field - ensuring that soldiers, their equipment and their food is in the right place at the right time takes a great deal of skill and a great deal of hard work. We're sure that there is a brilliant LRP game in which players spend their days meticulously planning every element of a military campaign, right down to how big the tins of bully-beef should be and whether the key that opens them should go on the top or on the side. However, from experience running games with complex military logistics, we have realized that we have no idea how to make that game fun. So we're not running that game again ''under any circumstances''.

That means the players make two kinds of military decision in Empire - where the armies go and where they attack, and where the heroes go and where they attack. All the logistical decisions about supplying and equipping the armies are beneath the [[abstraction]] layer for Empire. Detailed plans of how an army moves, how it attacks are fine for role-playing purposes, but they don't affect the game in any way. All of this is assumed to be handled by the civil service who automatically make the most advantageous possible decisions for the Empire.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.</quote></div>

==Toy Soldiers==
Empire employs a conceptually complex model to deliver the simplest possible framework that meets all the design goals. The Empire has approximately twenty armies at its disposal with a maximum strength of 5000 soldiers each. These armies are [[war|sent on campaign]] by the general issuing a single order at each event, instructing them on where to go and whether to attack or defend for the next three months.

Between the events Profound Decisions will compare the deployment of the Empire's armies with the deployment of the barbarian forces and will calculate; this is the rough outcome that is taking place as the event happens and in the immediate weeks that follow. The is a purely mathematical calculation with no random element.

This projection is provided by the civil service to the generals at each event they attend, based on scouting reports, military analysis and predictions made using day and night magic. The generals are told what outcome is going to happen if they do not intervene in anyway.

They are then presented with a set of opportunities to intervene, by leading the Imperial heroes from Anvil into a pitched battle - along with analysis of how victory or defeat on these battles will affect the campaign outcome. The better they do on their battle, the more objectives they achieve, the more positive the impact on the outcome of the military campaign that their armies are engaged in. In effect the random element of the clash of armies - the key element that determines the outcome in a meaningful way - is governed by which battles the players choose to fight and how well they do.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance.</quote>

==Scales==
===Campaign===
A campaign occurs over months and years involving armies of thousands across a territory. The Imperial generals have the opportunity to change the orders for their armies once every three months - so the orders they give are appropriate to that scale. A campaign consists of dozens of major and minor encounters between Imperial and barbarian forces.

===Battle===
A battles occurs over a few hours involving armies of hundreds of Imperial heroes against similar numbers of barbarian troops. The Imperial use the [[Sentinel Gate]] to travel to the front line where they engage in a single pitched battle at a location that is pivotal to the outcome of the military campaign.

==Simple resolution, complex story==
The philosophical approach used to determine the outcome of a campaign is designed to be extremely simple, to ensure that it is simple and easy to understand by players. We want players involved with the Military Council to be able to readily comprehend why an outcome has occurred. The rules also completely avoid almost any need for Profound Decisions to make judgements on the strategic value of orders given by the generals as such judgements are always exceptionally subjective.

For this reason, the orders given by the generals do not directly affect the mathematical outcomes calculated using the rules. Which side is winning, the size of their victory and the casualties incurred are all calculated directly from the strengths of the armies involved. The orders the generals submit determine the character of the victory. Which regions are captured and how the casualties are divided between the armies involved in the campaign is set by combining the simple mathematical outcome for the campaign in the territory with the complex free form orders submitted by the generals.

<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.</quote>

There is no random element to the calculations of the outcome of the wars between the Imperial armies and the barbarian forces - but the outcome of a campaign will be significantly altered by the battles the players participate in at events. The success or failure of the players on the field of battle is the random element in the Imperial wars.

The goal is to produce a simple system with simple resolution mechanics that can be readily understood - but one which allows for complex stories and a rich narrative where triumph is ultimately dependent on the ability of the players at events.

==A Civil Servant did it==
In overhauling the Military Council, we've made two significant changes to the existing rules. The OOC reasons for these rules are discussed below, with explanations followed by the IC justification
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Politics is the womb in which war develops.</quote></div>
===Changes to Orders===
The previous order submission system gave players less options and gave us more flexibility in how we interpreted the results. The problem with this approach was that the flexibility proved undesirable - we don't want to guess what outcomes the players were trying for, we want to be given that information in clear and definitive terms by the players. The previous rules also allowed for trade offs between taking territory and inflicting casualties, but rigorous analysis showed this simply didn't work - it was always better to inflict more casualties.

The new system is more robust and critically it places more control of what happens to an army in the hands of the general issuing the orders - and less control in our hands.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the Civil service had improved their support for the generals, allowing them to submit more detailed and precise orders to their army.

===Changes to Upkeep Costs===
We have modified the upkeep costs for fortifications from the information that was provided last year to the [[Master of the Imperial Mint]]. We've done this because we identified that large castles were untenable under the old system, that the advantages in favour of multiple small fortifications were too great. The new figures create more options for political interaction - since there are a wider range of effective strategies that the players can employ.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the [[Imperial Senate]] ordered a complete [[Commission Imperial audit|Imperial audit]] of the treasury. The nature of conducting an audit is that mistakes are identified. In this case the total administrative costs that the Empire faced have not changed - but expenditure had been incorrectly associated with the upkeep of the various fortifications in the Empire. These mistakes have now been identified by the civil service and the correct figures will be presented to the Senate at the next event.
<div style="float:left;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.</quote></div>

==A Conjunction did it==
Over winter 2015 we have completed the overhaul of the Military Council game which was begun at the start of the year. In this final update, we've made a few significant changes to the existing rules. The OOC reasons for these rules are discussed below, with explanations followed by the IC justification.

===Changes to Keywords===
The previous army keywords system included a large number of passive bonuses which could be accrued by an army based on the nature of the campaign they were involved in. As a result there was some emphasis on treating the issues facing the Military Council as a problem of optimization - of finding the most efficient allocation of armies to campaigns. This tended to undermine the roleplaying that would ideally drive such choices, with armies being sent where they could be most efficient rather than where the general might choose to send them.

We have replaced the sets of keywords with a single quality for each army. The new qualities are designed to provide the general who controls that army with more choices about what in-character orders they give. The aim is to keep the armies distinct and interesting but try to support the game for those generals who want to treat their orders - and what campaign they join - as a choice based on in-character political motivations and social obligations rather than a purely mathematical one based on Imperial strategy.

We have switched to a single quality for each army in an attempt to emphasize that these are in-character qualities that an army embodies, rather than out-of-character terms. The Marcher army is notoriously hard-bitten, allowing them to carry out an effective strategy designed to make the enemy pay.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the Civil Service have reassessed the Imperial military situation following the recent Grand Conjunction. The realignment of the stars has had many subtle and enduring effects that are likely to endure for centuries to come if not forever.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.</quote>

===Army Quality===
<table>
<tr><th>Army</th><th>Nation</th><th>Previous Keywords</th><th>Quality</th></tr>
<tr><td>Red Wind Corsairs</td><td>Brass Coast</td><td>Coastal</td><td>[[Army qualities#Foraging|Forager]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fire of the South</td><td>Brass Coast</td><td>Fast</td><td>[[Army qualities#Fast|Fast]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Golden Sun</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resilient|Resilient]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Hounds of Glory</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Glorious, Aggressive</td><td>[[Army qualities#Glorious|Glorious]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastern Sky</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Logistics</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resourceful|Resourceful]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Granite Pillar</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Disciplined</td><td>[[Army qualities#Disciplined|Disciplined]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Seventh Wave</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Scouting</td><td>[[Army qualities#Scouting|Scouting]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Valiant Pegasus</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Siege</td><td>[[Army qualities#Siege|Siege]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Winter Sun</td><td>Imperial Orcs</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Guerilla|Guerilla]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Summer Storm</td><td>Imperial Orcs</td><td>Disciplined</td><td>[[Army qualities#Relentless|Ruthless (Relentless)]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Black Thorns</td><td>Navarr</td><td>Fast, Forest</td><td>[[Army qualities#Fast|Fast]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Quiet Step</td><td>Navarr</td><td>Scouting</td><td>[[Army qualities#Scouting|Scouting]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Wolves of War</td><td>League</td><td>Mercenary, Siege</td><td>[[Army qualities#Mercenary|Mercenary]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Drakes</td><td>Marches</td><td>Logistics, Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resourceful|Resourceful]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Strong Reeds</td><td>Marches</td><td>Marsh</td><td>[[Army qualities#Hard Bitten|Hard Bitten]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Bounders</td><td>Marches</td><td>Aggressive</td><td>[[Army qualities#Relentless|Relentless]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Citadel Guard</td><td>Urizen</td><td>Magic</td><td>[[Army qualities#Magic|Magic]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Northern Eagle</td><td>Varushka</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Guerilla|Guerilla]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Golden Axe</td><td>Varushka</td><td>Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resilient|Resilient]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fist of the Mountains</td><td>Wintermark</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Hard Bitten|Hard Bitten]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Green Shield</td><td>Wintermark</td><td>Forest, Glorious</td><td>[[Army qualities#Glorious|Heroic (Glorious)]]</td></tr>
</table>

===Historical Armies===
Dance in the Blood (navarr, cruel); Iron Helm (Varushka, cruel); Burning Falcon (Freeborn, Glorious); Gryphon's Pride (Dawn, glorious); Bloodcloaks (Wintermark, physick); Towerjacks (league, siege); Thundering Tide (Highguard, skirmish)
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom.</quote>

===Changes to Meetings===
We have updated the system of Military Council meetings to make them more formal and more organized. The original design goal for Empire was to use either in-character mechanics or our civil service to keep political meetings short and on topic. Unfortunately we failed to carry those design goals through to completion with the original design of the Military Council. The Council had civil servants to support it - but had no mechanism to keep meetings ordered. That resulted in frustration for some players since meetings could run on for hours and it made it difficult for anyone to formally address the council.

The new design carries the Empire game design ethos through to the logical conclusion for the Military Council. While we appreciate almost no player likes having any kind of external authority imposed on them, we believe that keeping the muster and the Council sessions timely will ultimately provide a better game for everyone involved. We are still keen for political PvP to happen; our NPCs exist only to try to prevent meetings from dragging on.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...we must boldly advance into the shadows of uncertainty.</quote></div>
The new changes are also designed to emphasize the link between a general and their nation. A general is responsible for sending thousands of citizens of their nation to war - many of whom will never return. The previous arrangement of the Military council stressed the need for Imperial strategy. We want that to remain an important consideration but be something that is keenly balanced with national concerns.

The official explanation for this change is that it is always done the old way in the first two years following a "Time of Emergency" and then automatically reverts to the standard method after that time.

The time of emergency was what happened in the first year following the death of Empress Britta and most of the Empire's finest who died with her. This was why every senator at the first event was having to be elected and so on - it was the rules following a time of emergency when basically everyone who was running the Empire is dead. The explanation is that the civil servants have one set of rules to use when running the Empire in the years that follow the declaration of emergency - and then they revert to the standard rules over time (the ones now on the wiki).

===Changes to Military Units===
The previous rules for military units stated that they could receive herbs, resources, or money - but that such outcomes were rare. We have now overhauled the military unit downtime system to present players with military units with a few more options and to make those options clearer. In doing that we have also improved the code that determines the rewards received by units raiding so we have updated the wiki pages to reflect that.

The change to rewards for supporting is done to make sense of the rewards received by military units supporting armies and fortifications - in light of the fact that it is possible to do so without ever engaging with the enemy - whilst also giving the Senate greater control over the rewards offered to those characters who wish to support the Empire in this way. We have implemented the changes in such a way as to try and minimize the effect on the existing Senate budget - by providing a one-off reduction in the Senate's existing costs to cover the costs for the new system.

Like the changes to the meetings, these changes reflect adjustments made by the civil service after the Time of Emergency.

<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">But everything takes a different shape when we pass from abstractions to reality</quote>

{{Military Council Further Reading}}
[[Category:Game Design]]

Military Council design

2017-09-05T10:03:02Z

Aaronwalter: /* Keeping it Simple */

<div style="float:left;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.</quote></div>
==Overview==
The Military Council is the political body of the Empire that deals directly with the war with the barbarians. Although the Council is a political body, its primary involvement is in the strategic and tactical decisions that concern the deployment of Imperial forces on campaign and on battlefields. Players who like a very directed, unified engagement with a clear external enemy to fight against are much more likely to find that in the Military Council than anywhere else in the game.

Because the Council are directly up against the barbarians who are controlled by us, we need to ensure that there is a clear, simple, system that allows players to make intelligent, rational decisions about how to commit their forces. To give a better understanding of how the Military Council works we have focussed on explaining how war works in Empire - the best way to understand the Military Council is to understand how they do their job.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.</quote>
==The Sharpe Model==
The setting for the Empire is one of a grand civilisation - of hundreds of thousands of people living in a great empire rising to the height of its powers. To make the scale of the Empire feel right, it needs to have armies - it's difficult to believe in a mighty empire if five hundred soldiers is the most it can put in the field. We wanted the armies to give the sense of coherent narrative to the military campaigns of the Empire to give players a simple, easy-to-understand context for the ongoing wars - our soldiers are fighting here, here and here.

That creates enormous challenges - we obviously can't phys-rep armies of thousands, much as we might like to. More-over we don't want to phys-rep an army of thousands... doing so would create vast arrays of possibilities that we can't control - and we don't want the outcome of the war to be determined by these NPCs - they exist only to provide the setting that makes sense of the player actions and decisions - we want the player actions to be the critical element that determines the outcome.

What we want for Empire was summed up by a friend as Sharpe from the novels by Bernard Cornwall - Wellington is on campaign with his army in Spain - his army of thousands spends months manoeuvring and fighting battles with the French - but the outcome is always critically affected by the actions of Sharpe and his small band of elite soldiers.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.</quote></div>
==The Underlying Goal==
One of the most important of the core design goals for Empire was to have enjoyable battles take place at events where the outcome of the battles was critically important for the future of the Empire. We wanted the battles to be genuinely challenging so that success hangs in the balance based on the actions of the players. It is essential for the victories and the defeats to be significant in the game setting - so that the military triumphs of the Empire were fundamentally based on the actions of players at events not some computer model.

Although we expect that most of the time the Military Council will work together, we wanted to ensure that political conflict was possible even here. Political conflict can only arise spontaneously in LRP if characters are able to make real, meaningful choices - without that possibility player-led politics is impossible. For bodies like the Senate with its power to assign the Imperial budget that is relatively easy to achieve - but to achieve that in the military council it has to be possible to make decisions at each event about where and when it commits its forces.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Everything in war is simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.</quote></div>
==Keeping it Simple==
In real war, logistics is incredibly important to the success of an army. Logistics is an incredibly challenging field; ensuring that soldiers, their equipment and their food is in the right place at the right time takes a great deal of skill and a great deal of hard work. We're sure that there is a brilliant LRP game in which players spend their days meticulously planning every element of a military campaign, right down to how big the tins of bully-beef should be and whether the key that opens them should go on the top or on the side. However, from experience running games with complex military logistics, we have realized that we have no idea how to make that game fun. So we're not running that game again ''under any circumstances''.

That means the players make two kinds of military decision in Empire; where the armies go and where they attack, and where the heroes go and where they attack. All the logistical decisions about supplying and equipping the armies are beneath the [[abstraction]] layer for Empire. Detailed plans of how an army moves, how it attacks are fine for role-playing purposes, but they don't affect the game in any way. All of this is assumed to be handled by the civil service who automatically make the most advantageous possible decisions for the Empire.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.</quote></div>

==Toy Soldiers==
Empire employs a conceptually complex model to deliver the simplest possible framework that meets all the design goals. The Empire has approximately twenty armies at its disposal with a maximum strength of 5000 soldiers each. These armies are [[war|sent on campaign]] by the general issuing a single order at each event, instructing them on where to go and whether to attack or defend for the next three months.

Between the events Profound Decisions will compare the deployment of the Empire's armies with the deployment of the barbarian forces and will calculate; this is the rough outcome that is taking place as the event happens and in the immediate weeks that follow. The is a purely mathematical calculation with no random element.

This projection is provided by the civil service to the generals at each event they attend, based on scouting reports, military analysis and predictions made using day and night magic. The generals are told what outcome is going to happen if they do not intervene in anyway.

They are then presented with a set of opportunities to intervene, by leading the Imperial heroes from Anvil into a pitched battle - along with analysis of how victory or defeat on these battles will affect the campaign outcome. The better they do on their battle, the more objectives they achieve, the more positive the impact on the outcome of the military campaign that their armies are engaged in. In effect the random element of the clash of armies - the key element that determines the outcome in a meaningful way - is governed by which battles the players choose to fight and how well they do.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance.</quote>

==Scales==
===Campaign===
A campaign occurs over months and years involving armies of thousands across a territory. The Imperial generals have the opportunity to change the orders for their armies once every three months - so the orders they give are appropriate to that scale. A campaign consists of dozens of major and minor encounters between Imperial and barbarian forces.

===Battle===
A battles occurs over a few hours involving armies of hundreds of Imperial heroes against similar numbers of barbarian troops. The Imperial use the [[Sentinel Gate]] to travel to the front line where they engage in a single pitched battle at a location that is pivotal to the outcome of the military campaign.

==Simple resolution, complex story==
The philosophical approach used to determine the outcome of a campaign is designed to be extremely simple, to ensure that it is simple and easy to understand by players. We want players involved with the Military Council to be able to readily comprehend why an outcome has occurred. The rules also completely avoid almost any need for Profound Decisions to make judgements on the strategic value of orders given by the generals as such judgements are always exceptionally subjective.

For this reason, the orders given by the generals do not directly affect the mathematical outcomes calculated using the rules. Which side is winning, the size of their victory and the casualties incurred are all calculated directly from the strengths of the armies involved. The orders the generals submit determine the character of the victory. Which regions are captured and how the casualties are divided between the armies involved in the campaign is set by combining the simple mathematical outcome for the campaign in the territory with the complex free form orders submitted by the generals.

<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">All action takes place, so to speak, in a kind of twilight, which like a fog or moonlight, often tends to make things seem grotesque and larger than they really are.</quote>

There is no random element to the calculations of the outcome of the wars between the Imperial armies and the barbarian forces - but the outcome of a campaign will be significantly altered by the battles the players participate in at events. The success or failure of the players on the field of battle is the random element in the Imperial wars.

The goal is to produce a simple system with simple resolution mechanics that can be readily understood - but one which allows for complex stories and a rich narrative where triumph is ultimately dependent on the ability of the players at events.

==A Civil Servant did it==
In overhauling the Military Council, we've made two significant changes to the existing rules. The OOC reasons for these rules are discussed below, with explanations followed by the IC justification
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">Politics is the womb in which war develops.</quote></div>
===Changes to Orders===
The previous order submission system gave players less options and gave us more flexibility in how we interpreted the results. The problem with this approach was that the flexibility proved undesirable - we don't want to guess what outcomes the players were trying for, we want to be given that information in clear and definitive terms by the players. The previous rules also allowed for trade offs between taking territory and inflicting casualties, but rigorous analysis showed this simply didn't work - it was always better to inflict more casualties.

The new system is more robust and critically it places more control of what happens to an army in the hands of the general issuing the orders - and less control in our hands.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the Civil service had improved their support for the generals, allowing them to submit more detailed and precise orders to their army.

===Changes to Upkeep Costs===
We have modified the upkeep costs for fortifications from the information that was provided last year to the [[Master of the Imperial Mint]]. We've done this because we identified that large castles were untenable under the old system, that the advantages in favour of multiple small fortifications were too great. The new figures create more options for political interaction - since there are a wider range of effective strategies that the players can employ.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the [[Imperial Senate]] ordered a complete [[Commission Imperial audit|Imperial audit]] of the treasury. The nature of conducting an audit is that mistakes are identified. In this case the total administrative costs that the Empire faced have not changed - but expenditure had been incorrectly associated with the upkeep of the various fortifications in the Empire. These mistakes have now been identified by the civil service and the correct figures will be presented to the Senate at the next event.
<div style="float:left;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.</quote></div>

==A Conjunction did it==
Over winter 2015 we have completed the overhaul of the Military Council game which was begun at the start of the year. In this final update, we've made a few significant changes to the existing rules. The OOC reasons for these rules are discussed below, with explanations followed by the IC justification.

===Changes to Keywords===
The previous army keywords system included a large number of passive bonuses which could be accrued by an army based on the nature of the campaign they were involved in. As a result there was some emphasis on treating the issues facing the Military Council as a problem of optimization - of finding the most efficient allocation of armies to campaigns. This tended to undermine the roleplaying that would ideally drive such choices, with armies being sent where they could be most efficient rather than where the general might choose to send them.

We have replaced the sets of keywords with a single quality for each army. The new qualities are designed to provide the general who controls that army with more choices about what in-character orders they give. The aim is to keep the armies distinct and interesting but try to support the game for those generals who want to treat their orders - and what campaign they join - as a choice based on in-character political motivations and social obligations rather than a purely mathematical one based on Imperial strategy.

We have switched to a single quality for each army in an attempt to emphasize that these are in-character qualities that an army embodies, rather than out-of-character terms. The Marcher army is notoriously hard-bitten, allowing them to carry out an effective strategy designed to make the enemy pay.

The in-character explanation for this change is that the Civil Service have reassessed the Imperial military situation following the recent Grand Conjunction. The realignment of the stars has had many subtle and enduring effects that are likely to endure for centuries to come if not forever.
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...in war, the advantages and disadvantages of a single action could only be determined by the final balance.</quote>

===Army Quality===
<table>
<tr><th>Army</th><th>Nation</th><th>Previous Keywords</th><th>Quality</th></tr>
<tr><td>Red Wind Corsairs</td><td>Brass Coast</td><td>Coastal</td><td>[[Army qualities#Foraging|Forager]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fire of the South</td><td>Brass Coast</td><td>Fast</td><td>[[Army qualities#Fast|Fast]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Golden Sun</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resilient|Resilient]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Hounds of Glory</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Glorious, Aggressive</td><td>[[Army qualities#Glorious|Glorious]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eastern Sky</td><td>Dawn</td><td>Logistics</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resourceful|Resourceful]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Granite Pillar</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Disciplined</td><td>[[Army qualities#Disciplined|Disciplined]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Seventh Wave</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Scouting</td><td>[[Army qualities#Scouting|Scouting]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Valiant Pegasus</td><td>Highguard</td><td>Siege</td><td>[[Army qualities#Siege|Siege]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Winter Sun</td><td>Imperial Orcs</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Guerilla|Guerilla]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Summer Storm</td><td>Imperial Orcs</td><td>Disciplined</td><td>[[Army qualities#Relentless|Ruthless (Relentless)]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Black Thorns</td><td>Navarr</td><td>Fast, Forest</td><td>[[Army qualities#Fast|Fast]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Quiet Step</td><td>Navarr</td><td>Scouting</td><td>[[Army qualities#Scouting|Scouting]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Wolves of War</td><td>League</td><td>Mercenary, Siege</td><td>[[Army qualities#Mercenary|Mercenary]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Drakes</td><td>Marches</td><td>Logistics, Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resourceful|Resourceful]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Strong Reeds</td><td>Marches</td><td>Marsh</td><td>[[Army qualities#Hard Bitten|Hard Bitten]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Bounders</td><td>Marches</td><td>Aggressive</td><td>[[Army qualities#Relentless|Relentless]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Citadel Guard</td><td>Urizen</td><td>Magic</td><td>[[Army qualities#Magic|Magic]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Northern Eagle</td><td>Varushka</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Guerilla|Guerilla]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Golden Axe</td><td>Varushka</td><td>Resilient</td><td>[[Army qualities#Resilient|Resilient]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fist of the Mountains</td><td>Wintermark</td><td>Rugged</td><td>[[Army qualities#Hard Bitten|Hard Bitten]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Green Shield</td><td>Wintermark</td><td>Forest, Glorious</td><td>[[Army qualities#Glorious|Heroic (Glorious)]]</td></tr>
</table>

===Historical Armies===
Dance in the Blood (navarr, cruel); Iron Helm (Varushka, cruel); Burning Falcon (Freeborn, Glorious); Gryphon's Pride (Dawn, glorious); Bloodcloaks (Wintermark, physick); Towerjacks (league, siege); Thundering Tide (Highguard, skirmish)
<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom.</quote>

===Changes to Meetings===
We have updated the system of Military Council meetings to make them more formal and more organized. The original design goal for Empire was to use either in-character mechanics or our civil service to keep political meetings short and on topic. Unfortunately we failed to carry those design goals through to completion with the original design of the Military Council. The Council had civil servants to support it - but had no mechanism to keep meetings ordered. That resulted in frustration for some players since meetings could run on for hours and it made it difficult for anyone to formally address the council.

The new design carries the Empire game design ethos through to the logical conclusion for the Military Council. While we appreciate almost no player likes having any kind of external authority imposed on them, we believe that keeping the muster and the Council sessions timely will ultimately provide a better game for everyone involved. We are still keen for political PvP to happen; our NPCs exist only to try to prevent meetings from dragging on.
<div style="float:right;"><quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">...we must boldly advance into the shadows of uncertainty.</quote></div>
The new changes are also designed to emphasize the link between a general and their nation. A general is responsible for sending thousands of citizens of their nation to war - many of whom will never return. The previous arrangement of the Military council stressed the need for Imperial strategy. We want that to remain an important consideration but be something that is keenly balanced with national concerns.

The official explanation for this change is that it is always done the old way in the first two years following a "Time of Emergency" and then automatically reverts to the standard method after that time.

The time of emergency was what happened in the first year following the death of Empress Britta and most of the Empire's finest who died with her. This was why every senator at the first event was having to be elected and so on - it was the rules following a time of emergency when basically everyone who was running the Empire is dead. The explanation is that the civil servants have one set of rules to use when running the Empire in the years that follow the declaration of emergency - and then they revert to the standard rules over time (the ones now on the wiki).

===Changes to Military Units===
The previous rules for military units stated that they could receive herbs, resources, or money - but that such outcomes were rare. We have now overhauled the military unit downtime system to present players with military units with a few more options and to make those options clearer. In doing that we have also improved the code that determines the rewards received by units raiding so we have updated the wiki pages to reflect that.

The change to rewards for supporting is done to make sense of the rewards received by military units supporting armies and fortifications - in light of the fact that it is possible to do so without ever engaging with the enemy - whilst also giving the Senate greater control over the rewards offered to those characters who wish to support the Empire in this way. We have implemented the changes in such a way as to try and minimize the effect on the existing Senate budget - by providing a one-off reduction in the Senate's existing costs to cover the costs for the new system.

Like the changes to the meetings, these changes reflect adjustments made by the civil service after the Time of Emergency.

<quote by="Carl von Clausewitz">But everything takes a different shape when we pass from abstractions to reality</quote>

{{Military Council Further Reading}}
[[Category:Game Design]]

Cavul

2017-08-27T16:32:46Z

Aaronwalter: /* Crafting with Cavul */

{{CaptionedImage|file=Cavul.png|title=Rune: Cavul|align=right}}

===The Swan, Rune of Purity===
''Affiliated with the Realm of Day''

Cavul is the Swan, which represents purity, clarity and calm. It removes corruption and restores things to their original condition. It is also called the Rune of Clarity, and is used during meditation to center the mind and shut out external influences.

Purity protects from outside influences by reinforcing what is present (protection and warding) or restoring things to their original condition (removing corruption and taint). It has strong connections with water, and magic that evokes Cavul often includes elements of washing, cleansing or drinking with pure liquid.

The Rune of Purity has unfortunate political connections. It has been used by movements that consider [[lineage]] to be a taint on humanity, as well as by groups who oppose the involvement of magicians or the Eternals in Imperial affairs. Prior to their arrest in 342YE, the Fraternity of the Swan inscribed Cavul on the bodies of their Imperial Orc victims as a call to arms against the so-called corruption of the Empire by orcs.

===Using Cavul in magic===
Cavul is evoked with magic that reinforces, protects against outside influence, removes taint or impurity, or cleanses. Many magicians evoke this rune by name, or trace it on the body of their target when performing the [[Purify]] incantation.

===Crafting with Cavul===
Scholars, monks and politicians may bear the Swan Rune on a ring that they can study to calm their emotions without drawing attention. While it is sometimes placed on or inside a drinking vessel (especially by those who fear poisoning) it is not popular with those who enjoy carousing, for it is said that the presence of Cavul removes the flavour of any alcohol it comes into contact with. It is used on flasks and water skins by travellers, to keep the liquid inside fresh.

===For Machine Embroidery===
Here is a digitized version of Cavul in .jef format, suitable for a 7x5 hoop.
[[File:RuneCavul.jef]]

{{Category:Runes}}

Yoorn

2017-08-27T16:25:27Z

Aaronwalter: /* The Shears, Rune of Ending */

{{CaptionedImage|file=Yoorn.png|title=Rune: Yoorn|align=right}}
==The Shears, Rune of Ending==
''Affiliated with the Winter Realm''

Dark counterpart to Evrom, rune of Beginning, the Shears represent the end of the journey. It is the point at which all decisions have been taken, all plans made have come to fruition and victory or loss are complete. Nothing now can be changed and all has taken its course; the thread must now be cut and an ending made.

Although ending can be a time for sorrow, Yoorn urges us to look back and reflect on what has been learned. Often used together with [[Irremais]], Yoorn allows us to learn from what we have done, and in that can also be a rune of fulfillment and completion. Now that an end has been made, we are ready to be renewed and move on, ready for transformation and a fresh start.

Sometimes called the Rune of Severance, it is often mentioned during the formal ending of relationships, associations or agreements. The Scriviners of the Brass Coast sometimes stamp it onto a contract that is considered to have been completed, or voided in some way.
Lovers occasionally give a gift with the rune inscribed on it to discreetly draw a romantic affair to an end – this is most common in Dawn and the League.

Yoorn is combined with the Spring rune [[Evrom]] to represent the idea of birth - as the baby enters the world, the time of pregnancy is at an end. So too as the shears cut the thread of life the soul passes from one world into the next, ready to continue its journey, Yoorn represents Death. When used alone, it represents oblivion; when combined with Evrom, it represents the hope of reincarnation.

===Using Yoorn in magic===
Yoorn is often evoked at the end of a ritual to draw a sustained magical working to its close and is used alongside Cavul, Rune of Purity, in cleansing rituals or in magic intended to prematurely bring other magic to a conclusion. It is also used alone to sever bonds, and especially when breaking the covenant between members of a magical coven who choose to part and go their separate ways.

===Crafting with Yoorn===
It is often inscribed on tombstones and funeral wrappings, and occasionally found on weapons of war intended to end the life of an opponent.

===For Machine Embroidery===
Here is a digitized version of Yoorn in .jef format, suitable for a 7x5 hoop.
[[File:RuneYoorn.jef]]

{{Category:Runes}}

File:Ritual.pdf

2017-08-25T06:57:34Z

Aaronwalter: Aaronwalter uploaded a new version of "File:Ritual.pdf": Updated to remove gender-specific lyrics

[[Category:Photos:JudeReid]] [[:Category:Photos:JudeReid|File by Jude Reid]]

File:Ritual.pdf

2017-08-25T06:53:19Z

Aaronwalter: Aaronwalter uploaded a new version of "File:Ritual.pdf"

[[Category:Photos:JudeReid]] [[:Category:Photos:JudeReid|File by Jude Reid]]

Religious skills

2017-08-13T10:57:19Z

Aaronwalter: /* Overview */

[[Category:Ceremonies]] [[Category:Rules]]
==Overview==
{{CaptionedImage|file=Prosperity.jpg |align=left|title=Cardinal Ynez di Caricomare of the Church of the Little Mother ministers to the fallen|caption=Religion is a core facet of life for Imperial citizens.|width=350}}
Religious skills allow characters to invoke and influence spiritual forces. In the Empire, religious power comes from following the Way, the official faith of the Empire. Characters who practice these skills are often referred to as ''priests''.

Every religious skill requires a dose of [[liao]] to use. Liao is provided to everyone with a [[congregation]], which is a [[Resource#Personal Resource|personal resource]]. Unlike a [[Magical skills#Magician|magician]], a priest does not receive any innate power to use their religious skills. If you intend to make use of your ceremonies, it is well worth considering choosing a congregation for your character's personal resource.

A starting congregation resource produces five doses of liao per event, and also allows a character to participate in the business of the [[Imperial Synod]] - the political body that guides the Empire on spiritual matters.
<table class="wikitable" style="width:250px; float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;">
<tr><th>The Seven Virtues</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[Ambition]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Courage]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Loyalty]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Pride]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Prosperity]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Wisdom]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Vigilance]]</td></tr>
</table>
The [[dedication]] skill is a prerequisite for every other religious skill. By taking the dedication skill, you can also choose to begin play dedicated to one of the Seven Virtues. Priests who are not dedicated to one of the Seven Virtues are called "Priests of the Way". They can still use all the religious skills but their ability to use the anointing, consecration, and hallow skills are significantly limited.

Some religious skills place [[aura|auras]] on [[anointing|people]], [[consecration|places]], or [[hallow|objects]]. These ceremonies create [[roleplaying effects]] that can affect how someone plays their character. The auras a priest can choose from are determined by their dedication. For example, if they are dedicated to [[Ambition]] they can only use their skills to create [[auras of Ambition]].

Using a religious skill is usually referred to as "performing a ceremony."

==Performing a Ceremony==
<table class="wikitable" style="width:250px; float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;">
<tr><th>Religious Skill</th></tr>
<tr><td>[[Dedication]] †</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Anointing]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Consecration]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Exorcism]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Excommunication]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Hallow]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Insight]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>[[Testimony]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>† Dedication is a prerequisite for all other religious skills.</td></tr>
</table>
* '''Requires a dose of liao and at least ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying.'''
* '''May require the presence of a referee.'''
* '''The target must usually be close enough to touch and present throughout.'''
* '''It should be obvious to everyone nearby that you are performing a ritual.'''
* '''Priests can cooperate to create more powerful effects.'''
* '''The ceremony fails if you or your target are hit or attack another character during the performance'''
While there are some exceptions, performing a ceremony requires a dose of liao and ten seconds of appropriate roleplaying. Some ceremonies also require the presence of a referee. Individual skills may call out exceptions to these rules (such as the ability to perform a [[Insight#Performing_a_Quick_Insight|quick Insight]]).

The target of a religious skill must usually be close enough to touch, and present throughout.

If you are using a skill that creates an aura, you need to specify which aura you are creating. For example, there are four [[auras of Ambition|personal auras]] that a priest dedicated to Ambition can create with anointing. They must tell the target of the anointing which aura they have imbued.

Priests who are not dedicated to a virtue cannot produce auras, but can use their skills to remove them (and they have some special benefits when it comes to cooperating with other priests).

==Cooperation==
* '''Characters with the same virtue may cooperate to perform a ceremony with a higher strength'''
* '''Characters with different virtues may cooperate if they are part of the same [[sect]]'''
* '''Every participant must have the appropriate skill'''
* '''Requires one dose of liao for each participant'''
Characters with the appropriate skills can cooperate to perform a ceremony with a higher strength. Strength means different things for different skills. For example, strength determines how hard auras, such as those created by anointing, hallow, or consecration are to remove or replace.

All characters collaborating to perform a ceremony must have the appropriate skill and ''either'' all be part of the same sect (a sect ceremony), ''or'' all have the same virtue (a virtue ceremony). Characters who are devotees of the Way can assist any virtue ceremony; they cannot assist a sect ceremony unless they are a member of the sect.

Each participant can use one dose of liao.

Only the [[insight]] skill provides no benefit for cooperation.

==Ceremony Strength==
* '''The strength of a ceremony is the amount of liao used to perform it'''
* '''A stronger aura is harder to destroy, you must create an effect of equal strength to replace or remove it'''
Several skills talk about the ''strength'' of the ceremony. The strength of a ceremony affects how difficult it is to remove or how effective it is in removing a spiritual effect. For example, an aura created with strength 3 can only be removed by performing a new ceremony with equal or greater strength. A powerful spirit that is possessing a character may require an exorcism of strength 5 or more to remove it.

The strength of a ceremony equals the amount of liao used to perform it, (plus any special bonuses). Under normal circumstances, a priest can spend only one dose of liao. There are [[magic items]], [[Tisanes_of_the_Labyrinth|potions]], and even ritual [[enchantment|enchantments]] that can allow a priest to use additional liao and thus create an effect with a higher strength.
{{Ceremonial skills further reading}}

[[Category:Rules]]