Wiki Updates

This is a list of significant updates to the wiki which we will try and keep as up to date as possible. Hopefully this will be a more useful document than the recent changes page which lists every spelling correction and formatting change.

By its nature this page will be regularly updated so when you visit the wiki try checking here first. However please keep in mind this is a manually updated page so at times maybe a little behind the actual updates.

Divination

• Updated 04/06/2017

We are updating divination rituals - rituals that gather information about people, places, and things. Several rituals that discover information have had their magnitude adjusted, and a number have seen major changes to how they work and what information they provide. We have also added additional function to the detect magic spell, allowing it to function as a preliminary divination tool - it now provides information about which rituals will reveal more, pertinent, information rather than leaving players to guess.

• Clear Lens of the Eternal River is now magnitude 8, and specifically uncovers the historical significance of an area.
• Shadowed Glass of Sung is now magnitude 8, and may reveal a secret, mystery, or enigma about an area.

Authority

• Updated 15/05/2017

We have updated the explanation of the powers of an ambassador - to try to make clear that they only need an agreement to be ratified by the Senate if it requires a change to Imperial law (such as a new commission or a declaration of peace). An ambassador does not need to get every agreement they make ratified by the Senate.

Wayfarer's Pyx

• Updated 08/05/2017

We corrected the error that had left Wayfarer's Pyx as a two month, no materials item rather than a 10 dragonbone item as is intended.

Insight

• Updated 05/05/2017

We have added the response "ghost" to the species information available through quick insight.

Trods

• Updated 30/04/2017

We've made a few updates to the Trod and The Dance of Navarr and Thorn pages to clarify the use of trods by non-Navarr, as well as to underline the fact that trods are very rarely straight lines.

Crossbows

• Updated 29/04/2017

We have updated the rules for crossbows to make clear that you cannot load a crossbow with more than one bolt at once in Empire - regardless of construction. A crossbow with more than one track is acceptable as a minimum phys-rep provided that you do not load more than one bolt at once.

Bows and crossbows are powerful weapons in Empire - the rules balance the difficulty of using them - they are not play-balanced for situations involving a crossbow with two bolts or more loaded at once. We also want to encourage authentic looking crossbows with a single stock as these suit the look and feel of the game best.

Pyrotechnics

• Updated 16/04/2017

We are no longer legally allowed to let players bring their own pyrotechnics to the event. Previously it was possible to do this with prior permission from Profound Decisions - but changes in the law mean that it is no longer possible.

Private Auction

• Updated 15/04/2017

We have stopped the Bourse private auction for the time being. We are diverting the plot resources that used to be allocated to the auction into other fields plots as we believe we can create more plot this way. This wind of fortune update has more details about the changes and the reasoning and gives the official IC reason for it.

Spy Network

• Updated 15/04/2017

We have modified the rules for a spy network. The details of the update are cover on the rules update 2017 that explains the reason for the change.

Extra Targets

• Updated 07/04/2017

Following feedback, we've adjusted the extra target options on Tenacity of Jotra, Strength of the Bull, Swan's Cruel Wing, Hammer of Thunder, Swift Leaping Hare, and Horizon's Razor Edge so that there is still an incentive to enchant multiple targets at the same time.

Ritual Changes

• Updated 05/04/2017

We have updated a number of rituals, especially those which were personal enchantments. Several magnitudes have increased or lowered. In addition a number of rituals have had their effects changed either because they were no longer appropriate due to other rules changes, or to better reflect their intended purposes. Specific rituals that have changed include:

• Any enchantment that had a "day" duration has been changed to "season" duration.
• We are beginning to phase out "coven" rituals, replacing them with specific enchantments.

Specific rituals we have modified include:

• Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire and Brazen Claws of the Lictor have changed entirely. We are experimenting with a new approach to these rituals, allowing the special ability they provide to be replenished under certain circumstances.
• Whispering Shadow Courtiers has been updated to reflect its new use as a method for communicating with the Whisper Gallery.
• Hearthfire Circle has changed from a coven-targetting ritual to a ritual that provides significant healing to a single target.
• Devastating Scythe of Anguish and Loss has been changed entirely to reflect the fact that we are not continuing with MASS SHATTER.
• Ravenous Tongue of Entropy now provides the ability to perform three specific destructive spells (shatter, paralysis, and weakness).
• Unbreakable Spirit, Unbreakable Blades now provides the ability to repair any one shattered item rather than a specific named item.
• Ambassadorial Gatekeeper has lost the requirement that it can only be used on a member of the coven's band - it can now target any character.
• The functionality of Kimus' Glaring Eye has been significantly changed.

It is worth checking any ritual you have mastered to see if it has changed. If one of your rituals has been altered, you can e-mail [admin@profounddecisions.co.uk] to have it changed.

The Ebb and Flow of Battle

• Updated 02/04/2017

We have removed this ritual. In practice it proved impossible to provide any actual useful information in response to this spell.

Thought Becomes Action

• Updated 02/04/2017

We have removed this ritual. The ability to swift-cast any regular spell was incompatible with the recent changes to spellcasting.

Braying Horns of War

• Updated 02/04/2017

We have removed this ritual. Its functionality duplicates the Mercenary Banner, and we determined that adding significant restrictions to the ritual to make it work in the same way was not ideal.

Execute

• Updated 01/04/2017

There were some problems with players knowing if their characters had been executed or not, especially while wearing orc masks. We have changed the rules so that if you are executing someone, you must call "EXECUTE" at the end of the five seconds of appropriate roleplaying.

Playing Possum

• Updated 01/04/2017

We have made it explicit that pretending to be dead or dying is a use of the disguise skill.

Cleave and Impale

• Updated 01/04/2017

We made the effects of suffering a cleave or impale to the arm or leg more explicit.

Unstoppable

• Updated 1/04/2017

We've clarified how the ability to use the unstoppable skill interacts with the paralysis effect. Paralysis precludes the use of unstoppable.

Army Strength

• Updated 31/03/2017

We have changed the definition of "fighting force" where it represents the strength of a campaign army. The previous model did not support the campaign fiction, so we have explicitly moved to a model where one fighting strength represents one trained soldier,

Ritual Staff Phys Reps

• Updated 30/03/2017

We have clarified the rules with regard to ritual staff magic item phys reps. It must be a phys-rep of a staff at least 42" long and no more than 84" long. It does not need to be a weapon-safe implement.

Losing a Caterer

• Updated 30/03/2017

It is with great sadness that we have removed Appleby Coffee from our list of caterers for the event. Nicky and his coffees have been a fantastic part of our event since he stated attending and we have enjoyed working with him. We are gutted that he is no longer trading. We will be looking for a new stand to replace his service.

Losing a Bourse Seat

• Updated 30/03/2017

We have updated the procedures for characters who lose an Imperial Bourse seat. There is an explanation for this in the latest rules update.

Declaration of Sorcery

• Updated 30/03/2017

We have updated the declaration of sorcery to allow it to be used to name more than one individual at a time. This change means that players don't waste time and mana raising multiple declarations against groups of characters for the same offense.

Miracles

• Updated 26/03/2017

We've edited the description of the miracles sign of the paragon or exemplar to make clear that some exemplars have also shown this sign.

Conclave Review

• Updated 24/03/2017

We have made significant changes to the Conclave. The changes are covered in more detail in the rules update.

Icons and Musical Instruments

• Updated 23/03/2017

We have changed all the musical instruments that allowed a priest to use religious skills as if they were dedicated to a different virtue into Icons.

Physrepping religious items

• Updated 22/03/17

We updated the minim phys rep requirements for musical instruments and icons to underline that they must be a phys rep of a musical instument or icon, must be wielded in at least one hand, and must be used by the character bonded to them.

Religious Items

• Updated 19/03/2017

We've completed work on religious magic items. There have been signifiant changes to vestments, regalia and reliquaries (almost a complete redesign of these categories), and we've introduced seven new musical instruments.

Recovery magic items

• Updated 19/03/2017

We've done a final pass on the magic items that mimicked or affected relentless and unstoppable. The majority of these items were armour or mage-armour, and included some significant changes to Gryphonsoul Aegis. The costs of several items were modified.

Election eligibility

• Updated 15/03/2017

We updated the page Imperial elections to expand the eligibility to vote in restricted elections to any title. The requirement that you not have been eligible to vote in a different election for a senator is explicitly expanded to include cardinals and grandmasters.

Dawn Look and Feel

• Updated 07/03/2017

We removed the word "heavy" from the armour section of the Dawnish Look and Feel page.

Mercenary Banner

• Updated 04/03/2017

We have amended the rules for the Mercenary Banner to try to ensure that they do not upset the out-of-character play-balance of the battles. There is a long explanation of the reasoning behind the update on the rules update page.

Maggot's Talon

• Updated 01/03/2017

We've removed the Maggot's Talon item from the game.

Staff of the Magi

• Updated 08/02/2017

We have significantly changed the Staff of the Magi. it is now a ritual staff, meaning any magician can bond to it without needing the battle mage skill. It also has significantly altered functionality.

Magic Standards

• Updated 06/02/2017

Magic standards have been redefined as a type of talisman with stringent phys-rep requirements. As a consequence, we've retired all existing magical standards (except the Banner of the Bold) as they were obsolete, and added eight new magic standards.

Catering

• Updated 6/2/2017

We have added menus for Goldbird Bistro and Beats and Bass pizza place to the wiki.

Magic Two-Handed Weapons

• Updated 30/01/2017 and 4/12/2016

With two-handed weapons now using mortal blows rather than shattering weapons, we've made some changes to some two-handed weapons

• The Woodcutter's Axe is no longer a two-month item but an expensive two-handed weapon that allows one to spend hero points to call SHATTER.
• The Butcher's Cleaver is now a two-month item that allows the wielder to spend hero points to call IMPALE.
• The Reaving Mattock and Landsknecht's_Zweihänder have had their costs adjusted, and allow the wielder to call IMPALE rather than SHATTER.
• The Trollhammer has had its cost increased, but the sympathetic quality of the paralysis has been removed.

We are also considering the addition of a number of new two-handed weapons.

Cuckoo's Egg

• Updated 29/01/2017

This ritual does not work on Imperial citizens. This change is intended to prevent the ritual being used as a way to take additional players through the Sentinel gate to participate in a battle.

Large army disbanding

• Updated 18/01/2016

We have restored the information that large armies and navies disband when they fall to 1,500 fighting strength. This information was removed by mistake during recent work on the military pages.

Catering

• Updated 17/1/2017

We have updated the list of caterers on the event details page, adding some details of all the caterers we have booked for the coming year.

Philtres

• Updated 13/1/2017

We have switched a number of common potions that are often used in battle to being philtres. You can learn more about this change in the rules update.

Philtre of Heavenly Lore

• Updated 05/01/2017

The Philtre of Heavenly Lore has been increased from 5 points of personal mana restoration to 6 points of personal mana resorattion.

Implement Changes

• Updated 12/12/2016

The wands Acolyte's Mercy, Runesmith's Gavel, Swanfeather Schema, and Mazzarine Spindle; the rod Forlorn Hope; and the staffs Staff of Power, Staff of Life, and Staff of Imperial Mastery have all been updated to make explicit that they allow the wielder to swift cast the appropriate spell, as long as they are prepared to spend the additional mana to do so.

We have also updated several items effected by the changes to spellcasting including the Bloodsilver Spike, the Blood-dimming Tide, the Witches' Hammer, an the Radiant Torrent.

We also updated some of the arcane weapons - specifically the Children of Thunder and Binding Threads to make clear that they cannot be used while wearing armour.

Unstoppable, Second Wind, Stay With Me, Get It Together ... and Relentless

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have effectively merged the Second Wind and Unstoppable skills to create a new unstoppable skill. The new skill allows a hero point to be spent along with appropriate roleplaying to recover three hits, but can also be used immediately a character drops to 0 hits. Instead of dying, the character receives a surge of stamina that restore their fighting spirit. It is also possible to use this ability while effected by VENOM - we have removed that restriction. You can learn more about this change in the rules update

In the process, we have removed the old second wind skill and replaced it with the new relentless skill which allows a character to restore a crippled limb with five seconds of uninterrupted roleplaying and a hero point. You can read more about this change in the here.

Finally, we have placed requirements on unstoppable, stay with me, and get it together than require them to involve at least five seconds of appropriate roleplaying that is not interrupted.

Obviously, these changes will require several magic items to change.

Natural Resupply

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have amended how armies receive natural resupply. An army must be taking a defending order to be eligible for natural resupply - they cannot receive natural resupply and capture territory at the same time, for example.

IC Tents

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have updated the rules so that you cannot enter an IC tent that has been sealed, unless you have a ref present and there are clearly people inside roleplaying. You can read more about this change in the rules update.

Artisan's Oil

• Updated 10/12/2016

In keeping with our changes to the use of herbs and regular spellcasting, the time to use Artisan's Oil has increased to 30 seconds of appropriate roleplaying from 10 seconds, and can now be interrupted if the user or the target are involved in combat.

Physick and Apothecary

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have made several changes to the way a Physick uses a herb to heal someone. All use of herbs now takes 30 seconds of appropriate roleplaying, and is interrupted if the patient or the physik is hit or makes an attack. If herb use is interrupted, the herb is not lost but the roleplaying to apply the herb must begin again. This change has meant that a character is always considered to be using the chirurgeon skill when applying True Vervain - meaning it can now always be used to restore a character who is dying.

We have also reduced the power of the Elixir Vitae. The potion now restores only 3 hits rather than restoring the person who drinks it to full hits. We have also adjusted the recipe for the Sovereign Specific: this potion still restores all lost hits, but the potion now requires an extra two drams of true vervain to prepare.

This is part of the wider changes to healing. You can read more about this change in the rules update.

Spellcasting

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have changed the time required to cast a regular spell to 30 seconds of appropriate roleplaying, up from from 10 seconds. At the same time we have added the ability to swift cast any regular spell by spending an additional mana, allowing the spell to be cast as if it were an offensive spell.

As a consequence, we have removed the swift heal and purge spells, and rolled their functionality into heal and purify respectively. Several magic items will change as a consequence..

Finally ,we made a small change to the create bond spell, specifically with regard to breaking bonds - meaning that it is not feasible to use a swift cast create bond spell to strip a target of the ability to use their magic items.

Paralyse, Entangle, and Repel

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have changed how the paralyse, repel, and entangle effects work. Repel and entangle join strikedown as calls that still have their special effect if they are blocked with a shield or parried with a weapon.

Conversely, we have changed paralyse so it can explicitly be blocked with a shield or parried with a weapon, but now has full effect if it strikes heavy armour.

Hero points

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have changed the way hero points are bought, and a slight change to how they work. The basic skill is now called hero, costs 2 character points, and provides 2 hero points and the ability to spend them to over come roleplaying effects. We have also added a new skill Extra Hero Points that costs 1 character point, can be bought multiple times (at an increasing cost each time it is purchased), and provides 1 additional hero point each time it is bought. You can learn more about the thinking behind these changes in the rules update.

Empower, Shatter and Extra Mana

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have reduced the mana required to perform the empower spell from 2 to 1. We have also added the new shatter spell - a 2 mana spell that allows a magician to call SHATTER with their implement. This will also involve some changes to magic items. In addition, the extra mana skill now provides 2 extra personal mana each time it is bought, up from 1. You can read more about these changes to spellcasting in the rules update.

Shattering Blow and Mortal Blow

• Updated 10/12/2016

We have removed the shattering blow skill and replaced it with the mortal blow skill. This skill allows a great weapon to be used to make IMPALE calls. A number of magic items and rituals will change as a consequence; we are working through those changes but final transition may take some time. You can read more about this change in the rules update.

As part of these changes, the one-handed weapon Sundering Axe has been removed from the game.

Imperial treasury

• New Page 10/12/2016

We have added a page that explicitly states how the Imperial treasury works - including what happens if the Empire is in debt. This information has been in play for a while, but has never made it on to the wiki.

Magical Ritual Masks

• Updated 08/12/2016 and 10/12/2016

Several ritual masks have had their costs and/or effects altered. Some such as the Mask of the Mountebank have seen significant changes to their effects beyond merely adding additional ranks to ritual lore for performing certain rituals. The masks which have been effected include:

• Mask of the Mountebank - no longer aids Masque of the Blinded Weaver. It provides a 2 rank bonus to perform the Twilight Masquerade, and allows the wearer to substitute iridescent gloaming for crystal mana up to the normal (enhanced) limit of mana they can contribute to the ritual.
• Strigine Mask - no longer aids Reading the Weave or Piercing Light of Revelation, and now provides a 2 rank bonus to Eyes of the Sun and Moon and The Eye of the High Places.
• Straw Mask and Mercantilist's Mask - now empower additional rituals, and have had the materials required to make them adjusted (sometimes cheaper, sometimes more expensive).
• Corsair's Bloody Mask - has had its cost adjusted but otherwise unchanged
• Mask of Gold and Lead - has materials adjusted, and additional powers added.

Abraxus Stone

• Updated 08/12/2016

We have updated the Abraxus Stone magic item to provide protection from the effects of the vallorn miasma. Not only is a character wearing one of these talismans not subject to the deleterious effects of exposure to the miasma, they will not contract green lung, nor will you become a vallornspawn husk if they die while wearing this talisman. All other abilities associated with the vallorn, including other area of effect powers of vallorn creatures, work on them normally.

Magic Item Changes

• Updated 30/11/2016 and 10/12/2016

Several items have had the bonus they provide, or their number of uses per day, adjusted. In most cases this has been coupled with a change to the materials required to make them.

• Several items can now be used additional times each day. They include: Bloodwoven Braid, Amberglass Chain, Death's Door, Enfeebling Echo, Caress of Arhallogen;
• Several items that provided a bonus to personal mana have had that bonus increased: Neophyte's Aid, Twilight Pauldrons, Ashen Mantle
• Several items allowed the wielder to make two attacks when they cast an offensive spell. Since we changed offensive spells, those items have become a lot less useful. As a consequence, we have changed them to let the wielder simply cast a spell a certain number of times each day as if they knew it without spending mana. The following items have been adjusted so far: Tumultuous Gyre, Ethereal Manacle
• Several items that allowed an effect to be created with hero point expenditure have had their time to use modified. The following items have been changed: Blacksmith's Wage, Jack of Irons, Splint Mail
• The Sceptre of the Necropolis has had it's 1/day limitation removed.
• The Thresher's Cudgel is no longer a once/day item but allows mage implements to be shattered with hero point expenditure
• The Blood-dimming Tide allows the wielder to cast the heal spell
• The Glamourweave Robe now allows a magician who know the empower spell to cast it four times each day without spending mana

As part of the change, a number of implements have had their wording tweaked such that they no longer require their wielder to know the spell in question.

Magic Item Materials

• Updated 3011/2016

We have begun an overhaul of our magic items. The first stage involves adjusting the costs to make a significant number of magic items cheaper, especially those that allow two or more uses of a power, or provide two ranks of a bonus. A number of other items have also changed because we have removed the cost-breaks initially provided to items that needed more than one magical material to make. The following items have had the materials required to make them changed in the first pass, but have otherwise stayed the same.

• Daggers: Scorpion's Sting
• One-handed Weapons: Triumphant Blade, Thundering Mace, Vorpal Sword, Shieldbreaker
• One-handed Spears: Ironbrand Thorn, Bloodsteel Barb, Terunael Warlord
• Two-handed Weapons: Giant's Maul, Dawn's Glory, Captain's Command, Trollslayer's Crescent
• Pole-Arms: Butcher's Bill, Bolstering Bill, Warden's Bardiche,Magistrate's Grasp, Fell Iron Fury, Bullroarer's Shout, Barbed Spear
• Bows and Crossbows: Oathkeeper, Wayfinder
• Light Armour: Winter's Breath, Runemark Shirt, Ivory Aketon, Spiritskin Coat
• Medium Armour: Mithril Shirt, Boarskin Vest, Runemail, Wardensweave Scale, Tombsteel Guardian
• Heavy Armour: Knightly Redoubt, Goldenfire Scale, Winterborn Warmail, Runeplate
• Wands: Altruist's Recompense, Witchwood Wand, Seer's Probe, Redsteel Chisel, Boneweaver, Woundbinder
• Rods: Windreaping Sickle, Whelpmaster's Fang, Quiet Word, Stormweaver, Roaring Chimera Rod
• Staves: Shadowbound Donjon, Suzerain's Command
• Arcane Weapons: Arms of the Warwitch, Trodwalker's Readiness
• Paired Weapons: Brother Blades, Earthquake Drummers, Bear Claws
• Mage Armour: Sunfire Pectoral, Bloodfeather Harness, Mountainfall Bracers, Battlesmith's Panoply. Splintering Gorget, Wyvernsting Spaulders
• Mage Robes: Shimmergold Coat, Opaline Coat, Robe of Blood and Bone, Alabaster Cerement
• Shields: Champion's Bastion, Oakheart Shield, Stormguard Bulwark
• Jewellery: Shackle of the Unvirtuous, Alderman's Edge, Greensteel Bracelets, Troubadour's Ring, Circlet of Command, Abraxus Stone, Pauper's Key
• Foci: Ring of Adversity, Ring of Triumph, Atun's Ring
• Ritual Staves Choleric Staff, Enigmatic Staff, Luminous Staff, Melancholic Staff, Phlegmatic Staff, Sanguine Staff
• Tools: Phial of the Sun, Lodestone Shears
• Paraphernalia: Amberglass Orb, Burnished Orb, Greensteel Orb, Radiant Orb, Twilight Orb, Vitriolic Orb, Dragonbone Orb, Orator's Chalice, Cartographer's Eye, Web of Celestial Attunement, The Green World, The Fields of Glory, The Iron Labyrinth, The Barren Land, The Empty Horizon, The Flickering Flame, The Eternal Gambit. The Syphon of Stars

Fortifications

• Updated 26/10/2016

Fortifications always occupy a specific region. A given region may have only one fortification in it, regardless of whether that fortification is mundane in nature or summoned with a ritual such as Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae.

Castellan

• Updated 23/10/2016

We made some minor edits to the entry for Castellan, favoured agent of the eternal Barien, primarily to make the confusion about her precise status (eternal or herald) a little more explicit.

Amend Quartermaster General

• Updated 08/10/2016

Following the decision of the Senate, the Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies has been amended with the power to apportion the Imperial Guerdon. Furthermore, the method of appointing the Quartermaster General has changed - it is now a majority decision of the Military Council, rather than an appointment by the Imperial Senate from a shortlist provided by the Generals. The sections relating to the Imperial Guerdon on the military unit and fleet pages have been updated to reflect this change.

Further Funerary Details in the League

• Updated 08/10/2016

Some contradictions between customs surrounding funerals and customs surrounding rings have been smoothed out. Most League citizens are cremated - only the most wealthy can afford to purchase, build, and maintain a tomb.

Clarification to Polearm use

• Updated 31/08/2016

We have made explicit that it is not legal to use a spear or similar polearm by "snooker-cuing" - sliding the pole-arm back and forth through your hands so that your hands meet. If you are using polearm, your hands must remain 18 inches apart on the haft of the weapon. The rules have not changed, but we wish to make clear that this is not acceptable under the existing rules.

Changes to Varushkan Elections

• Updated 24/07/2016

We have subtly but significantly altered the mechanism by which Varushka elects their senators. You can read the reasoning for the change and the IC explanation on the rules update page.

Insufficient Army Support

• Updated 23/07/2016

We have laid out the rules for what happens if an Imperial nation has more armies and navies that it can support. Details of what happens are here.

Exommunication and Orcs

• Updated 20/07/2016

We have slightly amended excommunication to remove a contradiction with the orcs page. Excommunication does not work on orcs at all.

Liao and Anointing

• Updated 18/7/2016

We are going to switch to using cards for liao rather than PD provided phys-reps. Although the little PD provided bottles are great, there are significant issues in using them for self-reffing activities like performing a ceremony. We had planned to get round some of these problems using anointing oil cards for anointing but in the final analysis this half-way house solution proved ineffective. As a result we have abandoned this approach and are instead moving foward our plans to switch liao to cards taking effect immediately at the next event.

We have added a more detailed explanation for the change - and how it will be implemented to the rules update page.

Dragonbone Symbol and Banner of the Bold

• Updated 16/07/2016

With the change to hallow, the power of the Dragonbone Symbol item was invalidated. Consequently, we have changed it to allow a character who is dedicated or anointed to recover hero points once each day by engaging in appropriate roleplaying in an appropriate consecration area.

These same changes meant that the Banner of the Bold was now significantly more potent than when it was originally designed, in comparison to hallow. Consequently, we expanded its power to allow the bearer - and only the bearer - to overcome any roleplaying effect, as well as providing them with an additional hero point. Going forward, our intention is to change all magical standards such that they are of use to the bearer who is bonded to them, rather than to a band of warriors.

Aura enchantments

• Updated 16/07/2016

Several rituals have been changed in response to the changes to the religion rules, clarifying their function as auras as well as enchantments.

• The Chamber of Delights, The Solace of Chimes, and The Chamber of Pallas have all be updated. They are now magnitude 8 rituals that create location auras. The locations can be used as a source of spiritual strength to over come roleplaying effects, and it is possible for magicians who relax in these areas to recover personal mana. Their interaction with religious skills has also been brought into line with the goals of our religion update.
• The Conspirator's Cloak and Freedom of the Soul have been updated. They are now personal auras that explicitly provide a source of spiritual strength to overcome certain roleplaying effects. Their interaction with religious skills has also been brought into line with the goals of our religion update.
• Unfettered Anarchy has been clarified to explain how the inability to overcome roleplaying effects works, and its relationship with Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul.
• Dreamscape of the Endless Hunt has had a line added noting that it also prevents recovery of hero points with effects such as a Dragonbone Symbol or a relaxing in a magical chamber.
• Crystal Clarity of the Rational Soul has also been updated slightly, to clarify its relationship with roleplaying effects and remove unneccessary references to auras.

Wayfarer's Pyx and Dragonbone Reliquary

• Updated 16/07/2016

As a consequence of the change to the way sects and hallows work, we have altered the properties of the Wayfarer's Pyx, and retired the Dragonbone Reliquary. The Wayfarer's Pyx now provides a small bonus to the strength of a ceremony performed by a sect.

As a consequence, every artisan who knew how to make a Dragonbone Reliquary now has the recipe for Wayfarer's Pyx. A character who knew how to make both items will have an empty slot which they can fill by e-mailing admin@profounddecisions.co.uk.

Religious Skills and Virtue Auras

• Updated 16/07/2016

Religious Skill
Dedication †
Anointing
Consecration
Exorcism
Excommunication
Hallow
Insight
Testimony
† Dedication is a prerequisite for all other religious skills.

As part of a large scale review of religious skills and how they are used we have extensively expanded this area of the rules. We've created new pages for each of the priest skills that talk in detail about how they are used and what they do, as well as collecting together and clarifying information from several different locations. In addition, we've changed the function of sect, allowing them to support characters from the same nation who have different dedications rather than to empower the strength of ceremonies.

In addition we have overhauled and made extensive edits to the auras that characters can create with these religious skills. We also edited several items (including Dragonbone Symbol, and Banner of the Bold), as well as a number of rituals (including The Chamber of Delights, The Chamber of Pallas, The Solace of Chimes, The Conspirator's Cloak, and Freedom of the Soul). For the most part these were items and rituals that no longer worked under the new rules or whose properties were inconsistent.

We have also changed the way sects work (again); a sect allows a group of people dedicated to different virtues to cooperate on a ceremony, as long as they have the skill and belong to the same nation.

We have added a lengthy entry to the 2016 rules update to summarize the underlying ethos behind the change. Players who want to change some of their skills in response to this update should e-mail admin.profounddecisions.co.uk.

Foraging

• Updated 16/07/2016

We've reduced the casualties inflicted and ability to capture territory of an army with the Foraging quality using the Plunder order. The fact this order used to have no downside, and that it potentially generates considerable wealth, meant that it was simply too potent.

Ilium and Religious Skills

• Updated 14/07/2016

We've tidied up the section on roleplaying effects to clarify how permanent auras interact with religious skills, and to remove reference to using exorcism to remove roleplaying effects from rituals.

Ritual Potions

• Updated 23/06/2016

In addition to adding six new potions, we've made the six existing Realm Lore boosting potions tonics. Even though they last only ten minutes, they should not stack with other potions that provide boosts to Realm Lore.

Mastery

• Updated 23/06/2016

We have implemented a new rule to allow ritualists to change a single ritual they have mastered for another ritual chosen from Imperial Lore, after each event they attend. We have added a summary of the changes to the 2016 rules update page.

Performing Rituals

• Updated 23/06/2016

We have changed the rules on how much mana a magician may contribute to a ritual. We have added a summary of the changes to the 2016 rules update page. We are in the process of updating other entries on the wiki for rituals, items, and potions to reflect the new rules.

Enchanted fortifications

• Updated 23/06/2016

The three enchantments in Imperial lore that create magical fortifications - Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, Forge the Wooden Fastness, and Dripping Echoes of the Fen - have all had their magnitude increase to 80 from 64. When these rituals were initially designed fortifications were less effective tools; solidifying the rules on how fortifications work has made these rituals significantly more effective, so the cost has been increased accordingly.

Any similar ritual enchantment that is not currently in Imperial lore will likewise require a higher magnitude to cast going forward - if you have a source for such a ritual you should contact empire.refs@profounddecisions.co.uk.

Update to the Throne

• Updated 23/06/2016

The powers of the Throne have been clarified and amended. We have added a summary of the changes to the 2016 rules update page.

Great Works

• Updated 09/09/2016

Liao removed from top row of great works, was included in error.

Changes to Arrows for 2017

• Updated 25/05/2016

As the incidence of Archery related injuries is still too high at PD events, we will be making changes to the types of arrows (and bolts) allowed at events from 2017 onwards. Arrows that are currently legal will remain legal at all PD events in 2016. These changes will come into effect from the first PD event next year.

Colleges of Magic and Arcane Projections

• Updated 23/05/2016

We have amended the powers of College of Magic, Dean of the Lyceum, and Provost of the Halls of Knowledge to remove the ability to create a free arcane projection.

Commission Rules Updated

• Updated 23/05/2016

We have amended the rules for implementing a commission described on the wiki to reflect the actual rules we are using in practice. This means that any player can email PD to provide materials for a commission, you do not need to pass them to the player of the senator who raised the motion to have them email us.

Battle Conjunction Rules Updated

• Updated 23/05/2016

We have amended the rule change for nations on battles using the Sentinel Gate. The new amendment makes the options for the battle as flexible as humanly possible - preserving as many IC choices as are fun - while preserving the goal of having roughly equal forces on both battles.

IC Camp layout

• Updated 23/05/2016

We have updated the wiki with the layout of the camps at Anvil for the next event.

Shroud of Mist and Shadow

• Updated 27/04/2016

After much discussion we have reverted the change to Shroud of Mist and Shadow. Our initial change was necessitated because of the way a military unit works in downtime. Rather than expand the remit of Shroud - which was a little unsatisfying - we've agreed to look at changing the way a military unit operates on our system to allow for a bonus only to campaign army support and paid work.

Gnawing, Endless Hunger

• Updated from 20/04/2016

We have updated Gnawing, Endless Hunger to make explicit the interaction between this curse and the herbal poisons created by the Assassin's Gate and the Winter Moon.

Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae

• Updated 19/4/2016

Targeting restrictions corrected.

Corsets

• Updated 18/4/2016

We have rewritten the tone of the page on corsets to remove editorial elements and focus on the facts and suggestions that are relevant for the Empire setting.

Military Unit and Fleet Enchantments

• Updated 16/04/2016

We've streamlined some of the ritual enchantments that target fleets and resources. Clad in Golden Raiment, Clarion Call of Ivory and Dust, Raise the Standard of War works specifically when supporting campaign armies. Shroud of Mist and Shadow now explicitly adds its bonus when the target military unit is supporting a spy network.

We are also discussing changing Conclave of Trees and Shadow to receive its enhancement when supporting a spy network rather than when performing paid work.

Labyrinth's Gate

• Updated 14/04/2016

We have corrected the page on Labyrinth's Gate so that the description matches the item's cost.

Upgrading Fortifications

• Updated 04/04/2016

We have updated the pages on improving a fortification in line with the changes we made to the price for a basic fortification.

Accessibility

• Updated 17/3/2016

We have updated the pages on assistance, Dadford Road Campsite and the Winter Solstice 2016 to include a section for players with disability or mobility needs.

The Three Refrains

• Updated 17/3/2016

We have reformulated our former team of national bards to create a new bardic sodality - The Three Refrains. Members of the sodality are tasked with bringing performance of all kind to Empire, music, plays, dance, songs, poems, just as the bards before them did. However they now have a new remit - to help players poke the plot and bits of the setting they are interested in. If you're following up a piece of lore, looking to find out what happened to something, seeking out a mystery or anything of that kind - then The Three Refrains may be able to help you.

Site Details

• Updated 16/3/2016

We have added a page to explain how our mules will operate on site to enable players get help quickly.

Event Details

• Updated 15/3/16

We have updated the wiki with more details for Dadford Road Campsite as well as the IC field layout for Winter Solstice 2016.

Boxes

• Updated 13/3/16

We have clarified the rules on stealing items from locked boxes and chains in Empire. These things are considered to be made of weirwood, mithril and similar resources and to have been strengthened magically to the point where they are virtually unbreakable. This means that you must have the key or another mundane way to open the lock if you are to access any of the contents. A full description of the update along with an explanation for the clarification has been added to the rules update page for 2016.

Conjunctions

• Updated 13/3/16

We have made a significant update to the way major conjunctions work in Empire. This will affect the way the Military Council pick the battles they wish to fight and crucially who can fight together on them. A full description of the update along with an explanation for the change has been added to the rules update page for 2016.

Like Water Through Your Fingers

• Updated 10/3/16

We have removed the erroneous reference to campaign resources and imperial titles from the effect of this curse.

Shatter

• Updated 10/3/16

We have clarified that you cannot use a spear, pole-arm, or quarter-staff with the Shattering Blow skill. You can learn more about this change here.

Shrouds

• Update 10/03/2016

We have changed Drawing the Penumbral Veil, Incantation's Mystic Mask, Masque of the Blinded Weaver, and Secrets for the Shadow Courier from being enchantments or a curses to being shrouds. This fits their intended purpose more closely. The only difference is that they count as neither enchantments nor curses.

Freeborn Matrilineality

• Update 3/3/2016

We have updated the Freeborn brief to make clear that men and women who join the nation (instead of being born into it) would not formally take a tribal name. Men or women who marry into a Freeborn family (or are adopted) are encouraged to use the family name, but any progeny always take the tribal name that their mother was born with. We have made this change to preserve the essential idea that Freeborn society is matrilineal - because it traces a line back to the three founders - but keep the experience of playing a character who joins the Freeborn nation as free of gender bias as is possible.

Broken Shore Bounty and Privateering

• Update 1/3/2016

Following feedback from several players and crew we have changed the piracy action to be privateering as that best reflects what is actually happening. We have also updated the Broken Shore Bounty in parallel with this, clarifying the allocation process of the seat and the benefits of committing privateering in the Bay of Catazar.

Barbarians

• Update 1/3/2016

We have updated the page on monstering at Empire events, including a new emphasis on players having the chance to play elite barbarian units on the battlefield. This is an idea we have been developing over winter to improve the battles for people playing and volunteering them. We have also substantially updated the Grendel pages and will hopefully update the Jotun pages at the end of the week.

Elections in Absentia

• Update 25/02/2016

We have clarified that it is perfectly legal to elect a citizen to a position in absentia. You must be present to vote - but you don't have to be present to be elected!

Artisan's Oil

• Update 15/02/2016

From 2016 onwards, artisans can expend one month of downtime and 1 crown to make three doses of Artisan's Oil.

Ties that Bind

• Update 03/02/16

The ritual Ties that Bind has been updated to remove the requirement for the target to be a contributor; we also clarified some of the information the ritual may provide. This should improve the utility of the ritual, especially in terms of locating stolen items.

Before the Throne of Estavus

• Update 03/02/16

The ritual Before the Throne of Estavus has been adjusted to reduce the basic magnitude, but remove the ability to trade any amount of material with the eternal. The ritual now has a base magnitude of 4 (down from 6), but this allows only one lot of ingots to be transferred. Every additional group of five ingots now increases the magnitude of the ritual by 2.

Fortifications

• Update 03/02/16

Due to an oversight, we forgot to apply the standard 2 crowns per wain labour cost to the emergency repair of a fortification. We have corrected this oversight and brought it into line with the resupply of armies and navies..

Rituals that cause MASS effects

• Updates 03/02/16

We have changed how rituals that create a MASS call work (Fetid Breath of Teeming Plague, Howling Despite of the Yawning Maw, Inescapable Chains of Bitter Glass, Revelatory Light of the Empyrean SpheresThe Grave's Treacherous Edge, and Thundering Roar of the Lion-bound Horn).

Rather than imbuing an implement, the rituals now create an enchantment on one of the contributors, and the option for additional uses has been altered to additional targets to reflect this. In addition, we have removed the fifteen minute restriction on their use, allowing covens to perform the ritual in a safe location, or drawing on the power of the Imperial regio, to be unleashed at a later date.

Several of the rituals have also had roleplaying effects added. We have removed the ability to reduce the magnitues of the MASS VENOM and MASS WEAKNESS rituals, replacing them with the ability to substitute beggar's lye for crystal mana common to the other MASS effects.

We also removed the sympathetic element from several of these rituals, and clarified the "backlash" of Revalatory Light, as well as making it clear that the character making the call must be capable of casting spells (so, they cannot be wearing armour for example).

There is still some minor tweaking going on in relationship to some of the options the rituals provide with regard to including materials to empower the ritual.

The only ritual that has not been edited at this time is Devastating Scythe of Anguish and Loss; we are still reviewing the changes we plan to make to this ritual.

Appointment of Senators

• Updates 02/02/16

We've added short sections in out-of-character language to the League, Highguard, Marcher, and Urizen pages to make explicit how votes are calculated. Of particular note is that we think the votes for the Urizen elections have previously been calculated incorrectly, and the new section should make it clear how they will be calculated from here on in.

Senate Announcement

• Updated 29/1/16

We have updated the guidelines for raising a senate announcement to emphasize that the title-holder must present the civil service with the equivalent of a senate motion paper, summarizing their plans. We have made this change to make it possible for our crew to track and record senate announcements, which is almost impossible when announcements are verbal only.

Pakaanan's Iron Shutters

• Updated 27/1/16

We have clarified the use of Pakaanan's Iron Shutters ritual to close the portal at the back of the Hall of the Worlds, and explained what happens if someone is in transit when the ritual is performed.

Shatter

• Updated 15/1/16

We have increased the minimum weapon length required to use the shattering blow skill from 42" to 48". You can learn more about this change here.

Navy Updates

• Updated 15/1/16

We have added a page to the wiki on navy orders as well as updating the information on a commission to include a shipyard.

Magical Traditions

• Updated 15/1/16

There is now some additional content on the magical tradition page, giving a broad outline of the use of traditions in Imperial magic. We also included a description of the blood magic tradition, expanding on elements in the navarr brief.

Army and Navy Resupply

• Updated 22/12/15

We've streamlined the explanation of how an Imperial army or Imperial navy recovers from casualties. We've also introduced a 2 crowns per wain labour cost onto emergency resupply bringing it into line with other Senate commissions.

Military Units

• Updated 20/12/15

We have changed the downtime options available to military unit owners. Military units no longer take the raiding action, but rather engage in paid work. While mechanically the actions are similar, the game context for the paid work action is very different. You can read more about this change here.

We also adjusted the description of Merciless Wrath of the Reaver and Shroud of Mist and Shadow to reflect the changes.

Fleets

• Updated 17/21/15 and 20/12/15

We have changed the downtime options available to fleet owners. Fleets can now be assigned to assist an Imperial navy in the same way a military unit can support a campaign army. We have also made some significant changes to the way that trade and piracy work.

We later adjusted how piracy works, making it an option similar to the paid work option for military units. You can learn more about this change here.

Army Attacks

• Updated 16/12/15

We have amended the rules on the wiki for armies attacking a region to make clear that the targetted region must be adjacent to a region which is under Imperial control - or to a region which will fall under Imperial control in the subsequent campaign.

Raising an Army

• Updated 16/12/15

We have amended the costs to raise an army to bring them into line with the standard costs for Imperial commissions.

Large Armies

• Updated 15/12/15

We've added a labour component to the cost to enlarge an Imperial army, to bring it in to line with other Senate commissions. We have reduced the mithril cost and removed the requirement for the army to sit out for a year while its size is increased.

Fast Casting Effects

• Updated 05/12/15

Since the changes to spellcasting, rituals and items that allowed the fast-casting of regular spells were lagging behind in effectiveness. We've now adjusted these effects to allow a magician to cast spells with a few second of appropriate roleplaying, rather than 5 seconds of roleplaying. Furthermore, this means that (as with offensive spells the caster is not interrupted if they or their target are struck, or if the target is making an attack. All other restrictions of casting regular spells apply, especially the requirement that you must be capable of touching the target with your casting hand as you cast the spell. These changes effect the Hands of the Healer, Smooth Hands Shape the World, and Thought Becomes Action rituals, as well as the Forge of Isenbrad and Trollsweave Vest.

Healer's Harness

• Updated 02/12/15

At the same time, we've altered, the Healer's Harness ability to prevent loss of mana when interrupted while casting a healing spell. The change to spellcasting meant that nobody loses mana when a spell is interrupted; they simply have to begin the casting again, We have changed the effect, and slightly increased the cost in materials to create the item, which now provides reciprocal healing for the wearer when they use certain healing spells.

Warcaster's Oath

• Updated 05/12/15

Likewise, the Warcaster's Oath effect has also changed. This shield is thematically intended to be useful for magicians who fight on the front lines, and the new power - to gain a burst of personal emergency healing in return for personal mana - is intended to reflect that.

Spy Network

• Updated 04/12/15

We've added a labour component to the cost to create a spy network, to bring it in to line with other Senate commissions.

Navy Resupply

• Updated 04/12/15

We clarified how an Imperial navy resupplies, removing the requirement for a navy to be in a friendly dockyard before it can benefit from natural resupply. Instead, the navy merely needs to be in a friendly territory that includes a region with the Coastal quality, and not engaged in a campaign.

Senate Update

• Updated 3/09/15

We have added a page to the wiki which describes the process for the Constitutional Court to check a motion to ensure that it is compatible with the Constitution.

Event Updates

• Updated 3/09/15

We have added the Imperial Roll of Honour for Summer Solstice to the wiki. We have also begun updating the wiki with the event details for the final event of the year and adding the Winds of Fortune and Winds of War details to the wiki.

The League Army Support

• Updated 25/08/15

With the liberation and re-integration into the Empire of Holberg, the League can now support two armies. In theory, the League was always supporting two armies, it's just that one of those armies (the Towerjacks) was part of the defences of Holberg. The Towerjacks are in the process of being restored to full operation by the League.

Changing Territory

• Updated 23/08/15

We clarified what happens when you change territory, with particular reference to how this interacts with a personal resource and with voting in elections. We added several sections to the "leading a territory" sections of the politics pages to make the situation explicit.

Honesty

• Updated 21/08/15

We added a page on Freeborn honesty - to explain a little more about this Brass Coast ideal - in a manner similar to the pages on Dawnish glory and Wintermark heroism.

Furrowed Wake

• Updated 19/08/15

The Furrowed Wake description and flavour text have been edited to use the correct spell. All other sources rather than the page make it clear the staff works with entangle and not repel.

Follies

• Updated 13/08/15

We added a page for a new type of commission, the folly.

Ritual Update

• Updated 17/07/15

We have altered the benefits for casting a more powerful version of Clarity of the Master Strategist. The Empire rituals are designed on the principle that magic is much easier to share around than to simply pile up in one place. That important principle was unfortunately missed when this ritual was originally being written. This update brings the ritual into line with the way other rituals in Empire work.

We have also defined the effects of the Spring ritual Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea. This ritual was created very early on, long before we had any rules for navies so the previous description of the effects was very vague. We have also altered the rules so that the ritual does impact fleets - as we are now able to define a mechanism by which that affect occurs.

Capturing a Character

• Updated 17/07/15

We have updated the rules for capturing a character. We have made this change to make it easier for the militia to conduct ongoing investigations into crimes in Anvil. The old rules were a hang-over from Maelstrom, our previous game, and had little relevance for Empire.

Military Keywords

• Updated 17/07/15

We have update the rules for the fast quality to improve it. The quality only applies when the army needs to move a long distance and we felt there was little benefit in placing a limit on how far it could move under those circumstances.

We have also amended the magic quality. This quality was quite overloaded with abilities and need a simpler and better balance with other abilities. We have removed the generation of an arcane scrying report as we felt this was infringing too far on the ability of players at events to generate such reports using their rituals. We have also amended their ability to create mana - making this a defensive order - but changing it so that the mana generated is based on the effectiveness of the army. The larger and more effective the army is, the more mana it can create.

Summer Solstice

• Updated 13/07/15

The wiki has been updated with a new page with all the details for the forthcoming Summer Solstice 2015, including the site map and the monstering times. There is also a lot of information on the latest campaign developments released with the Winds of Fortune.

Magic Armour

• Updated 12/07/15

We have updated the rules for Gryphonsoul Aegis, Goldenfire Scale, and Gravedigger's Vest. In addition we have removed Soldier's Coat from the game - characters with this skill or one of these items have had it replaced with Baersark's Rage. We have updated the 2015 Rules Update page with an explanation for the changes.

Spontaneous Magic Changes

• Updated 12/07/15

We have changed the costing for spontaneous magic to make it more expensive to request a spontaneous ritual, but easier and cheaper to cast spontaneous rituals of medium or higher magnitude. We have also updated the Rules Update 2015 sheet to describe the change and explain why we've updated the rules. There are some minor changes to the use of ritual texts in formulaic rituals to bring them into line with the new rules for spontaneous magic.

Historical Research Changes

• Updated 11/07/15

Due to the murderous events of 379YE, the civil service ability to perform Historical research has been greatly curtailed, The number of research projects that can be commissioned has been dropped from five to two.

Ritual Changes

• Updated 23/06/15

Some minor tweaks to rituals.

• We've removed the time limit on Whispers through the Black Gate to allow it to be performed on dead people who died more recently than a day ago while stressing that the longer ago someone died the less likely it is you get them.
• We've added the functionality to Timeless Hammer Rhythm that allows it to be used to "reforge" an expired ribbon, to keep continuity of character.

Declaration of Dissemination

• Updated 22/06/15

There have been several questions about how the Imperial Conclave can share rituals with representatives of other nations. The Declaration of Dissemination has been added to address these questions.

Clarification of Imperial Inquisitor

• Updated 03/06/15

While making the Imperial Chaplain Consular page, it became necessary to clarify how the powers of that title were used. After doing that, the Imperial Inquisitor was also adjusted to use their powers in the same way - namely, that they still place a judgement before the Synod, but that no vote is required. This is similar to the way an Imperial title operates in the Senate.

Streamlined Administration Process

• Updated 31/5/5

We have streamlined the administration process for players handing in resources to use to pay for senate commissions or to affects Winds of Fortune. If we are already aware that you intend to pay for something (from your actions in the field) then we will take the resources from your downtime automatically rather than wait for you to email us. You should still email Profound Decisions to let us know that you want to use the materials - as this will ensure that the action is not overlooked - but we will not wait to receive an email if we believe we know what you intend to do.

If a mistake occurs then you should email us as quickly as possible so that we can rectify that.

Clarify Proxy Voting Rules

• Updated 19/5/5

Clarified the proxy rules to explain that a character cannot proxy votes for the appointment of a title in the Senate or Bourse. For example, a Navarr character could not give another character the votes that come from their herb garden during the appointment of The Thimble Bourse seat. You can learn more here.

Forgery

We have updated the published rules for forgery to make absolutely clear that it is cheating to forge bourse notes.

Item Correction

We have corrected the costs of the Staff of Life which were correct on the database but wrong on the wiki entry for this item.

Sects

The rules for priestly co-operation within sects were unintentionally more restrictive than those for co-operation in the absence of a sect. The duplication of rules has been removed, leaving priests precisely as able to co-operate within sects as without.

Winter 2015 Rules Update

Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the second year. As a result of that review we have changed a number of rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these rules changes. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter. The most recent updates are to magic, particularly spontaneous magic and battle magic.

Magic Item modifications

The Healer's Harness and Warcaster's Oath were rendered useless by our change to spellcasting. We have modified the effect of both, and raised the cost of the Healer's Harness to reflect these changes.

Magic standards must be carried (wording strengthened from "should"): back banners, tabards and especially flamboyant bandannas are not appropriate phys-reps for magic standards, and this was not clearly communicated by the previous wording.

Otkodov Spy Network

The Otkodov spy network was initially set up before more detailed information about how they worked was available. A single spy network cannot provide information about an entire nation, only a single territory. We have clarified this, and future reports from this spy network will focus on the Thule territory of Verthandi.

Ritual Theory

We've created a series of pages relating to ritual theory that provide background, setting and rules information for players. It is primarily of use to players who want to create new spontaneous magic effects, or explore the theories of how ritual magic work. This is somewhat of a work in progress - we intend to expand it to cover more setting-related information such as what crystal mana is or how it differs from personal mana (for example), but the information given here should serve as a good foundation for players who want to discuss magical theories in the field.

Brass Coast Army Support

Following the re-integration of Segura into the Empire, the Brass Coast now has the ability to support three armies rather than two.

Senate Commissions

We added details of three new civilian commissions available to the Imperial Senate.

• The College of Magic.
• The Runeforge.
• The Embassy.
• The Imperial navy.

Remote Navarr

We've clarified a few design concepts around the Navarr on the Remote Navarr page. To accompany this, we've made a few edits to look and feel to reflect those clarifications.

Military Council Overhaul

We have done a major redesign of the way the Imperial Military Council works. This has included clarification on the events at the muster and Council session, as well as expanded and clarified material regarding the role of a general, the Field Marshal and the civil servant role of the herald of the Council. We've also given the right of Council address to the High Exorcist and Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies.

At the same time, we've clarified and streamlined some of the factors to do with war, including the way that generals submit their army orders. We've also included a campaign outcome page that details the mathematics that underlie the campaign resolution system.

Finally, we've removed the idea of keywords from armies - each imperial army now has a singular quality that reflects the way that army operates. This means that we have also overhauled all the existing armies with new abilities. The individual armies will be updated over the next day or so, but for the moment the changes are detailed on the table here.

You can find details of some of our reasons for these changes here.

Field Marshal

Following discussion with our magistrates, we have removed the idea that it is a legal requirement for the Field Marshal to address the Imperial Senate. It is still a responsibility of the role, but it is up to the Imperial Synod to deal with Field Marshals who neglect to do so, rather than the Magistrates.

Clemency

We removed the idea that characters with Imperial Titles were given additional weight by a magistrate. This was simply not the case in practice, and undermined the idea of virtuous defence. A virtuous argument from a priest should hold more weight than a poor speech from the Throne.

Legacy of Thorns

We've clarified that the blade venoms (specifically oil of blackthorn and Redwillow Paste cannot be applied to implements).

Ritual Changes

Several rituals are receiving clarifications and tweaks.

• Whispering Shadow Courtiers no longer references the idea of providing visions of "nearby" things. It functions like Signs and Portents, drawing from a pool of visions including "important" or "relevant" secrets, no matter where in the Empire it is cast.
• Wisdom of the Balanced Blade no longer gains a bonus to penetrate magical obscuring effects. As with Bright Lantern of Ophis it must overcome the full strength of an effect designed to obscure information about a curse.
• Eyes of the Sun and Moon has been tweaked to specifically provide military information about armies and fortifications. We've also removed the "hour's notice" requirement from the ritual as the information it delivers is now prepared for each potential target territory before an event.
• The Eye of the High Places has been tweaked to clarify that it determines any large scale effects on the target territory, and to remove reference to detecting small-scale effects such as resource enchantments which were proving difficult to collate information about.
• Reading the Weave has been clarified to remove reference to information that was proving difficult to uncover in a timely fashion.
• Bright Lantern of Ophis has had its ability to divine large-scale effects from a distance removed - this is now the purview of The Eye of the High Places.
• Wisdom of the Balanced Blade no longer requires a regio to analyse an area curse, but the ritualists must be in the presence of the curse in some fashion.
• Sum of the Parts has had its magnitude increased, correcting a significant rounding error

The Brass Coast Brief

We have updated the Brass Coast brief on the Brass Coast magical traditions and the Hakima to clarify their political niche and to modify their role slightly. The Hakima are now dedicated to aiding (and meddling in the affairs of) the entire nation rather than an individual tribe. The old brief was too focused, and too limited in scope and we think these changes will help address that. We've also made a minor change to the way kohan are organised, primarily to remove the restriction that the members of a group belong to a single tribe.

We've also expanded on the material on corsairs that was originally scattered around the Brass Coast section. The new brief contains some new elements and advice on creating corsair characters and groups.

Marcher Brief

We have updated the Marcher brief on the the Marches magical traditions and Landskeepers to clarify their political niche and how they usually organize themselves. We have corrected the old text to make clear that Landskeepers make frequent use of curses against those they believe have transgressed against Marcher traditions and Marcher interests. The old brief was restricting the ability of existing Landskeepers to access the full range of magical powers at events and the previous Landskeeper political structure was too complex and fine-grained to be workable in play.

Wintermark Brief

We have updated the Wintermark brief on the good death to remove any mention of how Wintermark treats individuals who are maimed or crippled. Any form of discrimination on the grounds of disability is against our game rules on equality and diversity and does not fit the setting. Many of the heroes of the Empire come from hard lands - but the Wintermark brief stood out as none of the other briefs single out individuals who are disabled in anyway for special note. The people of the Empire do not discriminate on grounds of infirmity.

Commissions Updated

We have updated the page on commission to lay out the essential details needed for any new commission.

New Map Viewer

Racheet Dave has produced a cool new map viewer for the Empire. The maps page has been updated with a link to the new map viewer.

There are also new maps showing the tactical/political features of the Empire, and two maps showing Barbarian lands (Otkodov and the Barrens).

Senate Update

We have updated the rules for mercantile commissions, and added a page each for a sinecure, ministry, and great work. The costs to make new mercantile commissions has been altered and reduced for play balance reasons. We have increased the effective output of the Madruga Shipyard, but all other existing sinecures, ministries and great works are unaffected.

Rules Update

We have removed Spider Folds the Net from the list of available rituals. The ritual had major problems and after several attempts to fix it, we have abandoned the attempt and simply deleted it. Everyone who had the ritual now has a free slot that they can fill at any time instead. If anyone requires an IC explanation for the change, it is because recent movements of the constellations have rendered the ritual unworkable.

Rules for Battlefield Rituals written up.

Regio rules changed: using a regio does not automatically make the ritual take ten minutes. Some rituals intrinsically take ten minutes, and some rituals require a regio. There is some overlap between these groups.

Sanctioned Event Update

We have added some guidelines for using Imperial Law at sanctioned events.

Senate Pages Overhauled

We have overhauled the Senate wiki pages, mostly to improve the presentation and make the processes clearer. The overhaul includes a few changes to the political rules and powers of some positions. As with other recent updates we have included some OOC design notes about the changes and this part of the game.

Key changes or clarifications are:

• Procedural motions are eliminated, allocation and assignment are done by normal motions. Administrative motions covering minor matters by civil service remain.
• The Throne can talk in the Senate but cannot propose a motion or vote in the Senate.
• The Throne can address the senate.
• The Throne gains the Custodian of Virtue power to change a vote in the Synod.
• The Throne gains the Order of the Throne power to nominate speakers in the Conclave.
• We have removed the deadline for the Senate to appoint a national position but given the wider Senate freedom to act earlier if they choose.

Field Marshal

A page for the Field Marshal, the official name for the Field Commander chosen by the Military Council has been added to the wiki. This page expands on this position, how it works, the powers, limitations and responsibilities. It includes some OOC design notes about why the position works the way it does.

Nations and Territories

The Wintermark Territories have been extensively expanded. A note was added to Wintermark history to make it clear that the position of king or queen of Wintermark was not a hereditary position.

(09/10/14) Extensive updates to Varushka Territories; to Redoubt in Urizen; and to Tassato and Sarvos in The League (including the creation of the Keeper of the Sapphire Stair sinecure)

Ritual Corrections

The following rituals had incorrect costs listed on the wiki. These have now been corrected.

• Blood and Salt
• Revelation of the Jewel's Sparkling Heart
• Unending Cascade of Blood's Fire

The last ritual was incorrectly reduced in magnitude shortly before the last event. This error has been fixed and the original correct magnitude restored.

The following ritual had an incorrect casting time listed on the wiki. This has now been corrected.

• Rising_Roots_that_Rend_Stone

The following rituals have been overhauled to bring them into line with each other and changes to the Campaign Battles.

• Knights of Glory
• Quickening Cold Meat
• Clarity of the Master Strategist
• Bound by Common Cause
• Thunderous Tread of the Trees
• Forge the Wooden Fastness
• Dripping Echoes of the Fen
• Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canea

Anvil Hospital

We have added information about the Anvil Hospital & Imperial School of Medicine to the wiki. Thanks to all the players involved for creating this great institution.

Map Update

There is a new strategic-and-political map of the Empire here, and each of the Imperial (or formerly Imperial) territories now has a territory map. Over the next few days, each territory page will be overhauled and updated to include more information about regions and points of interest.

Military Council Update

We have updated the Imperial Military Council, streamlining the processes which we will use going forwards to calculate the outcomes of military campaigns, and giving player generals more freedom and control over what happens to their armies. We have also modified the upkeep costs for fortifications to ensure that powerful fortifications remain tenable. We have overhauled the presentation of the section to bring it into line with the new pages for the Imperial Conclave and added extra design notes and an explanation for the change.

Senate Update

We've reorganised several pages, as well as creating separate pages for titles such as senator. We've also done some work clarifying some of the powers of The Throne where their function was either unclear, or would work poorly.

Bourse Update

Several new Imperial Bourse titles have been added to the wiki.

• Bailiff of the Grand Market (Marcher position)
• Vizier of the Incarnadine Satchel (Freeborn position)
• Dhomiro of the Cinnabar Hills (Freeborn position)
• Mistress of the Glass Parador (Freeborn position)
• Custodian of the Assayer's Guild (League position)
• Provost of the Halls of Knowledge (Urizen position)
• Castellan of Spiral Castle (Dawn position)

The method by which national Bourse positions are assigned has been updated for the Marches and the League.

Monstering

Information about monstering and playing a barbarian has been added to the wiki. Everyone who is keen is welcome to join us for big kit making session on Friday before the Easter event starts. Whatever you make is yours to keep! We'll hope to find time to add more detail to these pages later in the year.

Conclave Update

Players have asked us to provide an IC explanation for the change in the Conclave rules, rather than simply retcon it, so we have done as requested.

Winter 2014 Rules Update

Over winter we carried out a review of the rules from the first year. As a result of that review we have changed a few rules. We are in the process of updating the wiki to reflect these rules changes. We will continue to carry out reviews of rules each winter, but do not envisage making many other significant changes in the future.

The rules update has been updated... please note that you need to have the relevant skill to participate in a ceremony as part of a sect.

Updates April 2014

Finally wrote up Riddle Hides the Reward.

Clarified power of The Throne to ratify constitutional votes.

Added details of a Highborn celebration to the Customs and Culture section of Highguard.

Changed Warmage again in line with constitutional note.

Clarified ability of Senator to resupply army on Casualties page

Completed motions outstanding from 377YE_Summer_Solstice_Senate_Session

Updates and maps for Semmerholm, Liathaven, Therunin, Mournwold, Brocéliande and Spiral are up, but still stubbed until I have time to check all the backgrounds in the world.

Conclave Overhaul

A number of pages have been changed to reflect changes to the way the Imperial Conclave will function at future events. You can read about the changes in more detail here

• Updated the Imperial Conclave page to lay out the new Conclave in more detail
• Created pages for the three principles of the Conclave Principle of Precedence, Principle of Proportions and Principle of Presence.
• Updated the Conclave order page with details of joining an order and the powers of membership.
• Updated the Membership of the Order section of each conclave order page, and included details of the base materials that go into their Conclave vault each season. The orders are Celestial Arch, Sevenfold Path, Shuttered Lantern, Rod and Shield, Golden Pyramid and Unfettered Mind.
• Updated detect magic with regard to Arcane Mark.
• Updated Imperial title pages for Archmage, Grandmaster, Dean of the Lyceum, Warmage and created a page for the Bursar of the Conclave.
• Updated Conclave session and created pages explaining Conclave address, declaration, gambit and amity and enmity
• Included the ritual Arcane Mark
• Updated Powers of the Senate to reference creation and dissolution of Conclave order and to remove references to Imperial Lore.

Updates March 2014

Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targeting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:

• Rot's Rightful Claim is no longer an enchantment
• Added a section about ilium use to Mark of Ownership
• Added a section to Black Iron Blade allowing its magnitude to be increased when cast on a single target to allow removal of protected bonds.
• Icy Maw Devours the Spark of Essence, Naeve's Twisting Blight, Winter's Ghosts and Drawing the Penumbral Veil now target a territory rather than a region
• Clarity of the Master Strategist now requires a Day regio to bring it into line with other campaign army rituals
• Transmogrification of the Soul's Echo is now clearer on who makes the changes - it is not a brainwashing ritual

Sanctioned event guidelines have been updated to give advice on how to apply Profound Decisions equality and diversity rules to your event.

Tidied up information about several Bourse seats, and linked the physical locations of the seat resources to the territory sections.

Clarified military unit downtime options relating to assigning to Imperial armies or special projects and the production from doing so.

Overhauled and updated Skarsind page, with smaller updates elsewhere especially to Miekarova and Hercynia territory pages

Overhauled and updated Reikos page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Updated the Titles Autumn 377 page to indicate who has what title as of the end of 2013

Overhauled and updated Hercynia page, with smaller updates elsewhere

Made some changes to the with reference to operate portal and detect magic

Several changes to enchantment effects, as well as a slight change to the way an enchantment made permanent with ilium can be removed

Changed duration of Mark of Ownership to "as long as the item lasts"

Minor updates

Corrected an error where Enfeebling Echo was referred to as Hand of Time on the staffs category page, and corrected an error in the materials (it costs seven beggar's lye, not seven beggar's lye and seven green iron. Matt to change on database.

Clarified the way that Witness works for priests in the Imperial Conclave.

Updates February 2014

The senate powers to create new Imperial titles have been overhauled with additional content and clarification.

Update about changing a resource

LaTeX download added to runes

Update to Spider's Tollkeep and Advisor on orc affairs to correct error in who can hold these titles; as National positions, they can be held only by characters from those nations.

Slight change to Vallorn interconnectivity; Vallorn are not believed to be interconnected, allowing more plot options.

Ongoing changes to ritual text durations and targeting guidelines; most of these are just clarifications. Specific changes include:

• Touch of Vile Humours has changed to bring it into line with the new rules on Day duration enchantments
• Forge the Wooden Fastness, Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae and similar rituals are undergoing a revision to bring them into line with out rules on fortifications. Watch this space.

Changed the election process for Keeper of the Spice Gardens has been adjusted to bring it into line with the section on the appointment of titles; added a page about the Keeper title; made some edits to the Feroz section about the gardens.

Rules about what happens with personal resources in conquered territories added here.

Change to orc rules about liao and religious skills, to make the situation very clear

Additional page Languages added to wiki

Details of the Eternals Sung and Janon laid out.

Minor updates

Recordings of songs added for Brass Coast (Lost Segura, Wagon Song, Without You) and Marches (Marcher Battle Song, Apple Wassail).

An option to retire a character using Sift the Dreamscape's Sands added

Updates January 2014

More details added to the sanctioned events page including rules.

The Play one, Crew one rule added to the Battles page

Traders page updated

Events page updated with details of 2014 events

Facebook and Forums page with links for the various social media resources that exist for Empire.

PD management team page updated to show Alison and Matt's current event roles.

Minor additions

A new minor trapping added to the Naga page.

New song "For Once I Was A Young Man" added to Highguard music

New costume diary added to costume advice - high status Marchers doublet.

Updates after Event 4, Sept 2013

Synod Results, Autumn Summit, 377 YE

Updates between Event 3 and Event 4 2013

All updates up to Event 4 are grouped here under appropriate heading.

Details of event 4 Autumn Equinox 2013

Ring of Triumph

An error on the summary page for the Ring of Triumph has been corrected. The correct materials for this item are include six ingots of green iron not six ingots of tempest jade

Rules and OOC info

Update on the FAQ

• Question added - Can I email a longer background?
• Clarification about using using a one handed spear as a two handed pole weapon.
• Clarification about using hero skills at range.

A section added to playing the game about stealing IC items and what to do with the phys reps.

Traders info updated with details of Jolly Dicey, Twisted Flax, Grimm & Grizzly and a new website for Mandala Studios.

World information

A current affairs page added to pull together various reports including elections, senate and synod decisions from the first three events. This page and the various other pages it leads to should be updated each event. There is also a page which details the planned elections at E4 .

Addition of Damaris of Cantiarch's Hold as a exemplar

Pages about Trogoni and Plaguewulf added.

The section on Madruga has been updated to show the current situation with the now repaired Spider's Dream bridge and the Imperial title Spider's Tollkeep which is funded from the tolls is now available for election again.

Section on criminal offences updated with more links to the religious crimes section. New crime of desecration added. Several new Imperial titles have been created they will be added to the current Imperial titles list in due course.

More information added to some foreign nations including a new page on Iron Confederacy

Updated information on the Imperial Bourse about elections and titles.

More Eternals detailed

Details added about Fortifications and existing ones added to relevant territory pages.

On going - Details of senate decisions and the resulting actions being added as the scribes have time, check the Senate sessions for details.

Magic

• Ritual Cold Water from the Mountain changed from Spring to Day
• Autumn ritual Sum of the Parts added.

Updates to Dean of the Lyceum and Conclave session about adding new rituals available to Imperial citizens.

Music

Highguard Go To War added to Highguard music

Extra information about music added to Urizen including three new songs.

Also a whole bunch of song .pdfs have been updated.