Wiki Updates

Overview

This is a list of significant updates to the wiki. We try to keep it as up to date as possible, in the hope it will be a more useful reference 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. We tend to make an entry on this page once an update is finalised - so if something has changed and hasn't been mentioned here it's possible that the changes are not yet complete.

In early 2022, we moved all entries on this page prior to 2019 to the previous wiki updates page in the Archive namespace as detailed in Archiving wiki updates. We did this again in 2024, moving updates prior to 2021 to the same page.

Names of the Chain

05/12/2024

We've swapped the names of star #1 and star #5 on the Chain. The writer had confused his left and right and got the anchor at the wrong end of the constellation.

Arcane Gambit and Ilium

15/10/2024

We've updated Thief's Arcane Gambit and the ilium page to detail how an enchantment that has been made permanent with ilium can be moved by that Night ritual. The magnitude required is based on the total amount of ilium that could/should have been used to make the enchantment permanent without any opportunity being taken into account.

Throne Judgement

15/10/2024

We've added a note to the Throne, providing them explicitly with the ability to raise a judgement in the Assembly of Nine only in the event they do not control a congregation.

Assignment

10/09/2024

We have updated the power of assignment to set down that a motion to assign a territory is always raised as an administrative motion by the Speaker for the Senate.

Veto

31/08//2024

We have updated veto to remove the ambiguity about when a veto held over from the previous event ends. We have put a fixed end point, 10pm on Saturday night. The rules update page contains the OOC reasoning and the IC justification for this edit.

Proxies and Resigning

22/08/2024

We have added an entry to the restrictions of what a proxy can do. It is not possible for a proxy to resign on behalf of the title holder as that is not a power of a specific Imperial title.

Maps of Otkodov

19/08/2024

We have added a note that was missing to the Otkodov page making clear that the Empire only has a strategic map of Verthandi. When the first spy network was created the entirety of Otkodov was mapped in error. To gain access to strategic maps of the other territories of the Thule additional spy networks would need to be constructed and supported in the normal fashion.

Senate Voting

19/08/2024

We have updated the Senate motion page to remove an option for secret voting. We've removed it because it hadn't been used in years if ever, because supporting it logistically would have been a massive hassle, but mostly because it runs contrary to the major design elements of Empire around the operation of politics within the game.

Audio recordings

09/08/2024

We have updated the photography rules to remove the option to make audio recordings at events. On further consideration we were convinced that audio recording was much closer to filming and should follow the same rules and guidelines. As a general rule of thumb we want to minimise intrusion: we permit people to take photographs, but that is the limit.

Black Plateau Template

24/07/2024

We have changed the formatting for the Black Plateau template that we use to increase readability and in an attempt to avoid eyestrain. It has changed from black text on a grey background to white text on a black background.

Fleet Great Work Restrictions

13/07/2024

We've added a note to the Great work page making clear that a great work that supports fleets can only be built in a region with the coastal quality.

Whispers through the Black Gate

25/06/2024

We've added a line to the OOC elements of Whispers through the Black Gate to add a little clarity to what happens if you want to summon the spirit of a dead NPC.

Sung and their Counsel

22/06/2024

We've made a couple of tiny changes to the Sung page, to provide more context for the kind of mysteries that the eternal encourages you to probe and look into and those mysteries she prefers to stay hidden. We've coupled this with a set of updates to the main ritual that draws on Sung's power Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River.

We've decided to change the way we respond to queries to Sung to try and provide more useful information going forwards. We want to keep some of the enigmatic quality of the responses, which some of those players casting the ritual currently enjoy - but we want to make it easier to get more useful insight, guidance and wisdom from the ritual.

To help us do that we've changed the way we'll be responding to the ritual going forwards. We created a set of guidelines for the style of responses that we'll give to the different kinds of questions we've been getting up to now. Hopefully this means that where we can provide some useful information or clues to players about a plot we'll be able to continue to do that, but where Sung can't or won't give an answer we'll be able to respond in a way that makes clear why that is the case.

The goal with these changes is to make the ritual more useful to players but also make it easier for us to produce the responses. We want to emphasize the roleplaying interaction with Sung - but allow the eternal more freedom to give out more useful information when it exists.

Martial Titles

10/06/2024

We have added Captain of the Throne Guard to the list of martial titles because of their duties to defend the Throne. There is no requirement to pick a skilled fighter for the role - it has many other duties besides fighting - but it is acceptable for the Throne to include such considerations when picking who they want for the Throneguard.

Savagery and Fire on the Water

05/06/2024

We have updated the declaration of interdiction from Autumn Equinox 385YE to include the ritual Fire on the Water and added a note to the page for the ritual. This was missed at the time as being a ritual that was covered by the interdiction.

Endorsement

05/06/2024

We have updated endorsement to make clear that you cannot use it to permit a sorcerer to carry out an act of magic that is illegal for them to do. Endorsement cannot be used to undermine Conclave itself, so it Conclave has declared someone a sorcerer, it's not possible to supersede that with endorsement.

Guiding an Order

03/06/2024

We have formalised how guiding an order using a Declaration of Concord works. It now requires 20 mana crystals directly from the Font and can only be used as a result of an opportunity, unless specified otherwise. It continues to require the use of one of the order's two declarations.

Territory Curses

03/06/2024

We've made several changes to ritual curses that work on the territory level. All such curses now explicitly have the chance to have unexpected effects depending on where and when they are cast. We've added a section to the curse page detailing this. There have also been other changes made to several specific curses.

Icy Maw Devours the Spark of Essence has increased in magnitude to 30 (previously 15), and now inflicts a fixed penalty on mana sites. We also removed the lethargy and depression roleplaying effect element.
Naeve's Twisting Blight has increased in magnitude to 30 (previously 15), and now inflicts a set 72 ring penalty on a farm rather than the previous 50% penalty.
Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea places a 2 rank penalty on fleets, and no longer harms navies moving through the target territory.
Thunderous Deluge reduces resource production by two ranks rather than a percentage.
Rivers of Life and Rivers Run Red have remained the same but we've added boxes discussing some of the unique peculiarities of the rituals.
Winter's Ghosts affects all resources save congregations, but inflicts a fixed amount of damage to production rather than a percentage.
Mountain Remembers Its Youth does not harm armies that move through the territory. Its effects apply to mines and forests as well as farms, and inflict a fixed amount of damage to production rather than a percentage.
Thunderous Tread of the Trees requires a region with the forest quality (it no longer works on marshes). It no longer affects armies passing through the territory, and reduces production of all personal resources in the territory except fleets.
The Flower is Withered on the Stalk remains unchanged but we added a boxout laying out more clearly the limitations of the curse.

Pronunciation Guide

29/05/2024

We have deleted the pronunciation guide page from the wiki. Anyone who has a query on how we pronounce something is welcome to email plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to ask.

Fire Safety

29/05/2024

We have updated the fire safety page with updated rules for the limited use of small pyrotechnics at events.

Dedication

28/05/2024

We've made a minor edit to the dreams section of the dedication skill to replace "priest of the Way" with "a priest who is not dedicated to a specific virtue". The former wording was a holdover from the period where dedication was linked to the assembly a priest was part of. The new wording makes in explicit that the ability to pick any Virtue for oracular dreams is for priests that are not dedicated.

Senatorial Elections

23/05/2024

We have updated Dawn leadership to add confirmation that nobles must be physically present in the Glory Square unless there are any accessibility issues that make that difficult. In that case our team will make whatever accommodations are needed to support a player.

We've updated Wintermark leadership to change the duration of the election from one hour to half an hour. This is based on feedback that candidates were unduly having to wait around much longer than the election practically needed.

We've updated the Varushka leadership to better describe how it works in practice and to make clear that the right of witness does apply to the part of the meeting dedicated to picking the senator.

We've updated the League leadership to remove the requirement not to exchange bonds before the start of the election. This was unenforceable in practice and needlessly restrictive. Empire is meant to be a deeply political game and we'd like players to have the first half of the summit to engage in as much roleplaying as they want over the exchange of voting bonds.

Warding Rituals

14/04/2024

We have added an OOC note to the rituals that ward an area to make clear that you must inform a ref about it before you pass through the Sentinel Gate and get the props you are planning on using checked. The affected rituals are :

Imperial Orcs

11/04/2024

We've made extensive updates to the Imperial Orcs pages, primarily related to the introduction of septs. This also touches on a number of other elements including the introduction of a new group archetype (the coterie) and changes to the way ancestors work. Many pages now have additional information on them, but the biggest changes are:

Addition of the six septs: Ethengraw, Illarawm, Sannite, Sunstorm, Tamazi, and Yerende
Revision of the Imperial Orcs religious beliefs page
Addition of septs to the Imperial Orcs culture and customs page.
Addition of Spiritweaving to the Imperial Orcs magical traditions page.
We've removed the Imperial Orcs lineage and species page as the information on that page was now redundant.

New characters can select their sept during character creation. Existing characters can change their sept by emailing plot@profounddecisions.co.uk. You can also change sept during play by engaging in the appropriate ceremony then going to GOD.

League Orcs

08/04/2024

We have updated the League brief to incorporate new material relevant to playing an orc in the League, reflecting current developments. It is now possible for players creating a new character in the League to choose whether they are playing an orc or a human.

As part of the change we've made a number of updates to several League pages:

Cold Sun

04/03/2024

We've added a new wiki page for Cold Sun, the cruelly impassive eternal of the Day realm whose forces are currently threatening a number of locations in the Empire. While this is mostly a campaign update, we've included it here because we have taken the winter to tinker with some of the stats of the heralds involved to try and make them more interesting and engaging to fight against, so there are some rules changes. Also, in the past there has been some confusion over the abilities of the heralds of Cold Sun. They are very much not monstrous creatures so they take the effects of all calls that hit them legitimately, including the effects of weakness. There is no indication that looting heralds of Cold Sun will result in any kind of curse, nor are they able to reflect back calls. There was some confusion early on due to the way that the brief was delivered before the first block of skirmishes at E3 2023. We have taken all steps possible to try to ensure that this doesn't happen again. Part of the reason for us presenting this information here as clearly as possible is to ensure that those going on skirmishes can have some idea of what they might be up against.

Sanctioned Events

21/02/2024

We've made some changes to the language around sanctioned events. Previously, "sanctioned event" included both any event taking place in the continuity of the Empire campaign world, and specifically events containing plot elements. We've explicitly renamed the kind of event with plot, NPCs, and combat as a "plot event", leaving "sanctioned event" to refer to all events not run by Profound Decisions that are considered part in the Empire campaign.

We've also added a section of additional guidance on Communication Magic at sanctioned events. While it can't be used to speak to off-stage NPCs in the wider world, it is possible for the creators of a plot event to use certain types of communication magic within the context of their plot.

Tisanes of the Labyrinth

17/02/2024

We've changed Usher's Decoction and Waywalker's Suffusion to be tonics. This means their effects cannot be stacked with each other.

Aspect magic

16/02/2024

We've changed the name of the magical tradition formerly known as totem magic to aspect magic as it more accurately reflects the function of that tradition. We have also taken the opportunity to change the term for calling on aspects of mundane animals in magic to beast magic rather than spirit animals.

Liao Ceremony Cooperation

14/02/2024

We've edited the cooperation section on the religious skills page to make it clear that it is dedication and not membership of a virtue assembly that determines who a character can perform a virtue ceremony in cooperation with. Now that it is possible for a character to be dedicated to one virtue, but a member of a different Virtue assembly through the use of the preaching downtime option, the original wording was open to misinterpretation.

Synod Votes and Lay Members

14/02/2024

We've removed the reference to "appropriate virtue assembly" from the Sinecure page, with regard to people who are not members of the Imperial Synod gaining votes. Since the introduction of preaching as the method for determining Virtue assembly membership, there is no way for someone without a congregation to be part of a Virtue assembly, and someone with a congregation is already a member of the Synod.

Veto

14/02/2024

On the Imperial Senate page, we've changed the word "exercised" for "submitted" and added a line making it clear the usual timing rules apply in the event the veto is being submitted following the Senate session on Sunday.

Medium Armour

17/01/2024

We've made some changes to the names of certain medium armour to avoid confusion since the change to what counts as different types of armour. This has had no effect on the mechanical effect of the magic items.

Mithril Shirt is now Bloodamber Hauberk
Tombsteel Guardian is now Tombshroud Guardian
Wardensweave Scale is now Wardensweave
Runemail is now Runebound Ward
Splint Mail is now Cerulean Protector
Mediator's Mail is now Scrivener's Guard

In addition we have also changed Oathkeeper to Vowkeeper and Alderman's Edge to Alder's Edge

Secrets of Skillful Artifice

11/01/2024

We've made some changes to Secrets of Skillful Artifice. The donor artisan now chooses what skill to share via the ritual, and may choose to share nothing. This partly resolves some inconsistencies with how the knowledge the ritual shares was determined, and better defines how it works with Runesmith's Law and similar effects.

Runesmith's Law

3/1/2023

We've updated both Runesmith's Law and Secrets of Skillful Artifice to make it clear that using magic to temporarily share knowledge of how to make a unique Wintermark magic item triggers the geas not to share this knowledge. The result is that the artisan donating the knowledge to someone outside their nation permanently loses access to Runesmith's Law.

Farms and Businesses

14/12/2023

We've added a line to both farm and busniess resources to make it clearer that the income they provide represents disposable income rather than being the sum total of their seasonal production. Expenses, lifestyle, and taxes all exist below the abstraction layer.

Regalia

11/12/2023

We have added a section on the New Imperial titles page which explains how the Imperial Senate can add regalia to a title.

Ossium Opportunity

31/08/2023

We've made a slight alteration to the Culling the threat wind of fortune in the section about creating a permanent magical fortress in the Drownbark Forest. We've made it clear that the "no upkeep" element of the permanent magical fortress is part of the opportunity, and not a standard part of making a magical fortress permanent. The precise mechanics of creating a permanent magical fortress would be determined on case by case basis.

Appraisal

08/08/2023

Now the Imperial Senate can perform two appraisals each season, we've added a note to the power as to how the Imperial Auditor will proceed if both name the same researcher.

Recognition

25/07/2023

We have added a new use for the judgement of Recognition; allowing the General Assembly to recognise someone as an explicitly false exemplar or paragon. A judgement of recognition used in this way can only be raised in the General Assembly and always requires a greater majority to pass.

Spiral Strategy

24/07/2023

The Spiral page has been tweaked slightly, naming the Apulian Way as the connection between the territory and the Grendel nation, and adding a Strategic Considerations section that summarizes the geographical complications in the territory. Apart from naming the southern pass, nothing has actually changed we've just made it more explicit.

Imperial Inquisitor

0707/2023

We've made a slight amendment to the responsibilities of the Imperial Inquisitor to make clear that they are part of the inquisitorial court.

Thief's Arcane Gambit

04/07/2023

We've added a line to Thief's Arcane Gambit that specifies that the "legitimate target" for the ritual is also affected by any specific restrictions around willingness in the original enchantment. If the original enchantment can only be used on a willing target, it can only be moved to a willing target.

Inspirational Locations

02/07/2023

We have replaced the old rules for inspirational tombs with some new rules for inspirational locations. The new rules cover using true liao to create inspirational memorials for exemplars and paragons as well as using it to consecrate a sacred sites like the Kallavesa Marshes. The new rules provide a detailed framework that lays out how characters do this - what steps are needed in-character and what the outcome will be at each stage. We've provided more explanation for the changes and why we've made them in the rules update 2023 page.

Sentinel Gate

01/07/2023

We have removed references to getting a traumatic wound if you travel back too late through the sentinel gate. Implementation of this rule was always spotty at best and it violated some of our core design principles in the way it confused in-character and out-of-character objectives. We don't want players to return through the gate late, because it plays havoc with the schedule that everyone, players and ourselves, are relying on. Most participants implicitly appreciate this and make the best effort possible to return to Anvil before the gate begins to close. Traumatic wounds are intended to lead to further roleplaying for the participants who receive them, they are not meant to punish participants for taking the wrong action. Empire tries as hard as possible to avoid mixing in-character and out-of-character consequences in that way.

FIRST AID

01/07/2023

We've changed the MAN DOWN call to FIRST AID. We've made this change for two reasons, one is that we and many of our players are no longer comfortable with such a clearly gendered call. The other reason is that over the years, a few players have developed a bad habit of using the call in-character when someone gets wounded. We've replaced the call with FIRST AID - a clear call asking for the first aid team to provide assistance.

We understand that many of participants will continue to use MAN DOWN in emergency situations, precisely because it is the instinctive thing to shout in an emergency. That is absolutely fine, and everyone should treat the call exactly as if they had called FIRST AID. We expect it to take some years to drop the old call in favour of the new one and we would much rather participants shouted either call quickly than pause to think. The hobby has been using the man down call for decades and we do not want to compromise safety while we transition away from its use at Empire.

Searching

29/06/2023

We have removed the option in the rules to carry out a real search when searching a character. Previously it was possible to do a real search, but only if both parties agreed. We've removed this option as it's not compatible with the wider system where we discourage this kind of physical contact.

Art of the Deal

22/06/2023

We've changed the name of the Art of the Deal ritual to Winds of Fortune. Art of the Deal is still an alternate name for the ritual, but the main entry and all references on magic items use the new name.

Golden Ramparts

21/06/2023

We've updated the Golden Ramparts with an assurance, related to the Rod and Shield, that has been helpfully uncovered by a scholar at the Icy Crag of the Eternal Sun.

Druj Miasma

16/06/2023

We've updated the Druj miasma page, especially with reference to miasma pillars, so that it is less focused on information gained after the liberation of Reikos.

Cruelty

14/06/2023

Building on the commentary we added to the Iron Helms army page on cruelty, we added the word "needless" to the what the Varushkans are not section on the Varushka page.

Magic Quality

04/06/2023

We've explicitly added a note that the ritual targeting ability of an army with the magic quality can also target a region or fortification within a territory.

Haunted Quality

03/06/2023

We've decided to remove the Haunted army quality. There are no armies with this quality, and after extensive discussion we don't believe we would ever allow any future army to have it, either as a quality or an enchantment.

Farm Diversification

31/05/2023

Updated the diversification section on the farm page to make it clearer that "herb" means one of the standard five magical herbs. Any opportunity that grants "herbs" will always mean the herbs gathered from a standard herb garden unless it explicitly says otherwise.

Wolves of Winter

26/05/2023

The magnitude of the ritual Wolves of Winter has been increased in line with our recent changes to rituals that effect the downtime campaign. The ritual is not in Imperial lore, but the database has been adjusted to reflect this change.

Whispers through the Black Gate

20/05/2023

We've added a note to the special liao option on the Whispers through the Black Gate ritual to make it explicit that the option is not available to orc casters.

Throne Appointment

17/05/2023

We've edited the part of the Throne appointment that talks about changing support around and when the election ends inconclusively. The previous wording was a little misleading.

Navarr Warlocks

16/05/2023

We've changed the word "warlock" on the Navarr page. The word was very misleading and intended to be a synonym for "magician", which is what we have replaced it with.

Commonwealth History

10/05/2023

We've changed the year of the formation of the Commonwealth from 120YE to 105YE so that it is consistent with the background of Emperor Frederick.

Throne Election

05/05/2023

Appointment of a Throne is constitutional vote. We've made it more explicit that the Assembly of the Nine, as well as the General Assembly, can veto the election of the Throne. We've also added that one of the first things every Throne does is ratify their own appointment.

Marsh Commissions

19/04/2023

We've added a note to the commission page to indicate that the problem of building on marshes has become permanent.

Dreams in the Witch House

14/04/2023

We've added a note to Dreams in the Witch House inviting players to e-mail us before the event with information about territories they intend to scry so that we are more likely to have a response ready.

Conjunctions

12/04/2023

We've updated the wiki to make it clear that characters who are nominated by the civil service to oversee a conjunction can delegate that authority to another character and that they are not expected to go on the conjunction if they don't want to do so. Any player who doesn't want to oversee a conjunction can contact plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to have the responsibility shifted to another character.

Endorsement

08/04/2023

Clarified the limits of endorsing deals with eternals. An endorsement cannot support a deal made with an eternal that is under enmity at the time the deal is made. Amity or Neutrality cannot be retroactively applied.

Divination Rituals

06/04/2023

We've made matching updates to Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River and Combing the Beach, Both rituals now require an effigy to perform, and that the question posed be submitted the previous night. The response to the ritual now comes when it is performed, rather than some time afterwards. You can find more details about the change on the Rules update page.

Shuttle Service

06/04/2023

We have taken the decision not to charge for the [service in 2023]. We have no plans to charge for the shuttle in the future if the costs to run the service remain similar.

Regio and Portals

05/04/2023

We made some adjustments to detect magic and operate portal to lay out their functionality when it comes to detecting and identifying regio and the portals that lie within them. We included in operate portal the mechanics of accessing the Hall of Worlds (copied from the regio page), given how commonly that spell effect is used by magicians.

Military Rituals

31/03/2023

We've made several updates to rituals that involve armies and fortifications. The Rules Update 2023 page goes through these changes in detail. The rituals affected are Knights of Glory, Bound by Common Cause, Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, Forge the Wooden Fastness, Dripping Echoes of the Fen, The Basalt Citadel, Golden Ramparts and Stone's Unyielding Defiance.

We've also modified Clarity of the Master Strategist, Quickening Cold Meat, and the non-Imperial ritual Footsteps of the Fallen to change the roleplaying effects experienced by the general targeted by the enchantment.

Resources and Conquered Territories

31/03/2023

We've changed the way fleets and military units interact with the conquered territory rules. Previously these two resources had been exempt from the penalty for being in a conquered territory; we've removed that exemption. You can read more about this change in the rules update.

Venom

31/03/2023

We've clarified the VENOM call to make it explicit that if you are dying and have less than thirty seconds to live when you are hit by venom, then you should continue with your current count - gaining the venom condition never increases the time remaining if you were already dying.

Spring Rituals

23/03/2023

The effects of Fan the Flame of New Life have been significantly changed, and we've removed the Midwife's Recourse ritual from the game. Discussion of and explanation for these changes can be found on the Rules update 2023page. We also added a medicine section to the Technology page, and a section on the healing in Empire page.

COVID Safety

14/03/2023

We have updated the entry requirements and the rules for COVID safety for our events in 2023.

Bow Safety

14/03/2023

We have overhauled the rules for bow safety at Empire. Please make sure you read and understand the new rules if you use a bow or crossbow at any point at the events.

Blood of the Hydra

14/03/2023

Blood of the Hydra has been amended to make it explicit that it is intended for the treatment of limbs ruined by effects such as CLEAVE or the like. It cannot be used to regrow internal or damaged organs, and is only useful for traumatic wounds when explicitly called out. Damaged internal organs are very much intended to be in the purview of the physick, and regenerating or replacing them magically is a much more significant use of magic than simply repairing a limb ruined by a sword. (23/03/2023) Further discussion of this change can be found here.

Chimes of Annulment

14/03/2023

We've changed the casting time on Chimes of Annulment to be 2 minutes rather than 5, to bring it in to line with other rituals.

Knight-protector Declination

10/03/2023

We've added a note to the Knight-protector Imperial title about what happens if someone wins the tourney but declines to take the title.

Vital Strength of the Earth

09/03/2023

We've corrected an error in Vital Strength of the Earth which had the increased magnitude for additional targets at 5, rather than 24.

Lineage in Play

08/03/2023

We added some material about gaining (and losing) lineage after character creation. There's a section on the lineage page, and sections on each of the individual lineage pages in the Imperial (lineage) sections.

Liao and PLV

08/03/2023

Additional information about true liao has been added to the liao page. We've also added a new page laying out the procedures and mechanics involved in having a past life vision.

Card Wording

02/03/2023

We've added a line to the rules about cards pointing out that when a game itemcard and the rules on the wiki differ, the rules take precedence. Usually this is because a card was printed during an earlier iteration of the rules.

Auras

01/03/2023

We've made a few updates to the aura page. Durable auras are now auras that last indefinitely unless replaced, and we've specified strong auras as being auras with a strength higher than one. We've also explicitly called out that the insight skill does not reveal which (if any) virtue or malign spiritual presence an aura is tied to. Finally, we've added a section giving some information about spontaneous auras to the page.

Booking IC Spaces

28/02/2023

We've added the facility for characters to book IC spaces at the event - the Hub, Hall of Worlds, Miltiary Council and Senate - when not in use for official business. We've added a section to the page on Anvil to explain how this works and how to make a booking.

Dreams in the Witch House

24/02/2023

We've edited the description of the ritual effect for Dreams in the Witch House to bring it more into line with the way the ritual is actually working in the field.

Eye of the High Places

24/02/2023

We've removed the requirement for this ritual to be performed in a powerful Day regio, to bring it into line with Eyes of the Sun and Moon and Dreams in the Witch House.

Align the Celestial Net

24/02/2023

We've made a slight tweak to Align the Celestial Net to bring it into line with Wind of Mundane Silence. Neither ritual can be performed by a coven that is drawing on the power of the target regio to allow them to cast the ritual.

Army Enchantments

23/02/2023

We've changed the casting time of rituals that target Imperial Armies to 10 minutes, with the new rule about using the Imperial regio to reduce the casting time to 5 minutes. So far the affected rituals are Bound by Common Cause, Brotherhood of Tian, Why Sulemaine Walked Away From The Baker, Eyes of the Hills, and Machines of Destruction.This brings them into line with the other army enchantment rituals.

Longer Rituals

23/02/2023

We've added an additional power to the Imperial Regio. Any ritual with a casting time of at least 10 minutes can be cast in 5 minutes instead when using the Imperial regio. We're updating existing ritual pages to include a reminder of this effect. We've added a note to the "imperial enchantments" (Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths, Hallow of the Green World, and Wondrous Forests of the Night) to indicate that they do not have their casting time reduced by the Imperial regio.

Phial of the Sun / Bloodcloak

22/02/2023

We've updated the rules text for the Phial of the Sun and Bloodcloak magic items to make it explicit that they only duplicate the effect of the five traditional magical herbs; Bladeroot, Cerulean Mazzarine, Imperial Roseweald, Marrowort, and True Vervain. While other substances might be described as herbs, they are distinct from the five herbs used by physicks that these magic items can replicate.

Navarr Are Not...

15/02/2023

We've added a new bullet point to What the Navarr are not making it clear that while the Navarr are merciless toward their enemies, they are just as law abiding as any other Imperial nation.

Conclave Changes

11/02/2023

We've made extensive changes to the Imperial Conclave. This touches on the way a Conclave session is organised, all the declarations, and almost all of the titles associated with the Conclave, as well as the Throne. Rather than repeat them here, you can find a summary of the changes on the Rules update 2023 page..

Advisor on the Vallorn

11/02/2023

As part of the updates to the Imperial Conclave, we've removed the power of the Advisor on the Vallorn to raise a free Declaration of Interdiction.

Unstoppable and Pretending to be Dead

19/01/2023

We've edited the rules for Unstoppable. We haven't change the rules, but we've tried to make the intent behind the skill use clearer. We've also rolled in some points from the Rules FAQ as having information about a skill in two places can be unhelpful.

At the same time, we've made the rule about pretending to be dead or dying more prominent by moving it to the section of the rules dealing with dying.

Operating Portals

11/01/2023

We've made a few minor edits to operate portal and related effects (specifically the Ambassadorial Gatekeeper ritual) to make it clearer that you can't bring along additional living creatures even if they are dying or terminal.

We've also added a note to the Banner of the Season power of the Knight-protector Imperial title that the Summer Banner is specifically more potent than the others, as there had been some confusion around the fact the item is notably different to the other three.

Necessary Details

27/09/2022

We added a note to the necessary details section on the commission page making it explicit that in the absence of details about the cost of a commission, the civil service will always assume it is the minimum size allowed for such a commission.

Accoutrements of War

16/08/2022

We've added a boxout to the Accoutrements of War ritual making it clearer that the special production granted by the enchantment only applies to paid work, not to every action under the independent action dropdown.

Cardinals and Assemblies

15/09/2022

We've added a note to the cardinal page in the appointment section reinforcing the idea that a cardinal must be a member of the assembly they lead. Changing assembly (perhaps through preaching in downtime) means the cardinal forfeits their title. Likewise, someone without a congregation who gains membership of an assembly through the votes granted by a sinecure cannot become cardinal because as soon as they do, they lose their former Imperial title and no longer meet the criteria to be cardinal. Both are very edge cases, but are worth bearing in mind.

Imperial Enchantments

15/09/2022

We've adjusted the magnitude of the three Imperial enchantments up from 160 to 200. In-character magical scholars believe this is due to the increasing size of the Empire, and might have been heralded by a subtle conjunction of the esoteric constellations of the Key and the Lock during the Autumn Equinox. Out-of-character this is because we want to keep these rituals challenging, and the former magnitude is no longer as difficult to achieve as it was when the game began.

We also took the opportunity to change how Hallow of the Green World works. Previously the coven had to choose which herb the herb gardens would create. This is because when we first created these rituals we didn't have the ability to add random herbs to resources. Now that we do, we've update the ritual to work a little bit more like Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths and Wondrous Forests of the Night whose bonus production is set by the base resource rather than being chosen.

Cruel Quality

06/09/2022

In July, we made a change to the Cruel quality which we forgot to document at the time. Rather than an army with this quality automatically revealing it to everyone in a territory, it is only noticeable when it actively takes the Merciless Assault order. This change was made to bring the description of the quality into line with how it was actually working in terms of the downtime campaign.

Clear Lens and Shadowed Glass

04/09/2022

We've removed the line "A detect magic spell may occasionally reveal if there is specific, additional information in a specific location" from both Clear Lens of the Eternal River and Shadowed Glass of Sung because it was misleading; our intention was to allow some space for plot writers to create specific results from these rituals for their plots taking place on Anvil, but this has proved to be impractical.

Parliament of Owls

04/09/2022

We've updates the Parliament of Owls power of the Raven Seer to make it clear there is only one copy of this ritual text and the Raven Seer is expected to hand it to their successor.

Briar Bark

04/09/2022

We've made a slight update to patches of bark on the briar page. "While tree bark can come in a variety of colours and textures, briar bark is rough, and predominantly brown."

Shroud of Fog and Ravens

19/08/2022

As noted in the Of earth and sky wind of war, we're removing the ritual Shroud of Fog and Ravens from the game. Unfortunately, this ritual is completely incompatible with Empire's magic theory and was a remnant from the very first years of the game before we had nailed down all these elements. As a consequence we are removing this ritual. Any character who has it mastered will now have an empty "slot" for mastering new rituals. The in-character explanation is that the recent conjunction of the Lock has rendered the ritual unworkable, taking away whatever strange power it relied on. We will continue to reject attempts to create similar effects in this realm using arcane projections; it is not possible to to enchant armies in this way with Night magic.

Bright Lantern of Ophis

11/08/2022

We've added an additional line to the performing the ritual section of Bright Lantern of Ophis to make it more clear that the ritual cannot be used to target other territories using the Anvil regio.

Castellan of Spiral Castle

10/08/2022

We've corrected an error around the election of Castellan of Spiral Castle which suggested it would be appointed in Winter when the text indicates the appointment is (correctly) Autumn.

Improving Opportunities

07/08/2022

We added a section to the page on opportunities explaining that it's rarely possible to simply improve a commission gained via an opportunity.

Visions

03/08/2022

We've made it explicit that the visions received from Goosewhisper Infusion and Signs and Portents are the same. If you experience one, you get the same vision from all other incidences of these kinds of visions for the rest of the event.

Concedendce

29/7/2022

The Constitutional Court have issued new guidance on the use of concedence by the Imperial Senate. The new guidance grants national assemblies the right to veto a motion that cedes a region or territory assigned to that nation. This new guidance does not cover any concedence already passed by the Imperial Senate, it is not a retrospective change, it applies to any motion of Concedence passed by the Imperial Senate from Summer 384YE and onwards.

Raising an Army

29/07/2022

We've amended the rules to make clear that you can only raise an army in a territory of that nation. Nobody has ever tried to raise an army somewhere else, but we wanted to be clear that that is not possible.

Consecration

20/07/2022

We've updated the performance section of the consecration skill to make it clearer that "letting a referee know in advance" means "during an event" rather than "prior to the event."

Challenge the Iron Duke

14/07/2022

We've added a paragraph to the out-of-character section of Challenge the Iron Duke to help players better manage their expectation of the kind of challenge or boon the ritual might provide.

Abrogation

13/07/2022

We've updated the abrogation power of the Senate to make it clearer that when a commission is abrogated the exact effects depend on the nature of the structure affected, but generally result in the loss of any production following the summit where the motion is passed.

Preaching and Virtue

13/07/2022

The Imperial Senate voted during the Spring Equinox to change how membership of a Virtue Assembly was determined from relying solely on dedication to use of the new preach downtime option. We've updated the congregation and Assembly pages appropriately, as well as adding additional information to history of the Imperial Synod, Imperial Orcs religious beliefs and preachers pages.There are also a number of minor edits to other pages talking about the Virtue assemblies to reflect the changes.

IC Tents

12/07/2022

We have discovered that the range of tents marketed as Oxford Canvas has grown to include a small number of tents that don't meet our minimum requirements for the in-character field because the colour and thickness of the material they are made from looks too much like plastic. We've clarified the rules to make clear that these types of tent are not allowed because of this.

We do understand that the tents are appealing because they are cheap and light, but we have to have a cut-off at some point otherwise we would have to allow any tent in the IC area.

We've created an amnesty to allow these ultra-light sandstone bell tents to be used for the remainder of 2022 to remove any immediate need to change.

Naga Scales

06/07/2022

We've added a line to scaled skin under naga reminding players to be sensitive to real-world considerations when choosing the colour scheme for their scales.

Artisan's Oil

05/07/2022

We've changed the time required to use Artisan's Oil to ten seconds on the wiki, to bring it in line with what the majority of the item cards say.

Ephisis' Scale

24/06/2022

We've made a few tweaks to Ephisis' Scale, primarily around managing expectations and being more explicit about what will, and will not, be considered by the ritual effect.

Mage Armour Masks

22/06/2022

We've added "mask" to the standard pieces that count toward a suit of mage armour.

Plenipotentiary

22/06/2022

We've added a line to the archmage power of plenipotentiary to make it clearer that the more specific a message is, the more likely it is to result in parley.

Drawing the Penumbral Veil

10/06/2022

We've updated the Piercing Light of Revelation ritual to make it explicit that the ritual does not automatically reveal the magnitude of a shroud on a territory.

Fane

03/06/2022

We added a note that the new fane commission can currently be built only by the Senate or a title that can commission anything. This is both because it is a specific, new kind of commission, and because it uses the Senate power of concedence.

Penumbral Watcher

03/06/2022

We've changed the Shadow Well power of the Penumbral Watcher so that it is a "magical effect" that targets an allied spy network rather than a "territory enchantment" to better reflect how it actually works. If it was an enchantment on the territory, it would be obvious to the Empire's enemies, and could be removed with any territory enchantment they cared to place themselves.

Brass Coast Tally

01/06/2022

Following on from a statement of principle in the Brass Coast National Assembly, we've changed how the Tally of the Votes is done for Brass Coast national positions appointed through the Bourse. It's no longer required that a character engage in privateering to vote for such titles; ownership of a fleet resource is sufficient.

Anointing and informed consent

01/06/2022

We've (again) updated anointing. A target does not need to be aware of what virtue they are being anointed with, but they must be aware that your ceremony is an anointing that will create a personal aura on them.

Vallornspawn Husk Insight

29/05/2022

We've added a section to the vallornspawn husk page relating to use of the insight ceremony. It talks about the contradictory results received when using the ceremony on bodies animated by the vallorn.

Election Schedule

25/05/2022

We've updated the wiki to make clear that the civil service set what event a title is elected on, if the title is reappointed each year. In practice titles have usually worked this way anyway - for example Bourse seats are all done together and so forth, but we have made clear that new Imperial titles are subject to this rule in all cases. We've done this because we need to be able to spread elections out through the year for the smooth running of the game.

Sinecure

13/05/2022

Added a small section to the sinecure page explaining how production of resources works.

Titles, Tenure, and Ownership

12/05/2022

We've made some edits to the way tenure works for Imperial titles, along with a short box-out explaining the reasons for the change. We've also added a new section called ownership which is intended to help manage the expectation of players who gain Imperial titles during the game.

Dedication

11/05/2022

We've updated the overview of the dedication page to remove an incorrect reference to only priests who are undedicated being able to remove a dedication.

Imperial Orc Wayleave

18/04/2022

Fixed the error on the Imperial Orc Wayleave that had them only able to commission once a year. While the title is appointed in the Autumn Equinox it can announce one commission each season.

Foam and Trees

17/04/2022

We've added the line "The civilian population of a territory will certainly be affected by this ritual" to both Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea and Thunderous Tread of the Trees.

Mountain Remembers Its Youth

17/04/2022

We've made it clearer that Mountain Remembers Its Youth affects fortifications alongside Imperial armies as this wasn't clear from the effect text.

Rivers Run Red / Rivers of Life

14/04/2022

We've added a line "The civilian population of a territory will certainly be affected by this ritual." to the Rivers Run Red and Rivers of Life rituals to make it clear that these rituals will have an effect on the civilian population of a territory, not only the Imperial armies there.

Hand of the Maker and Stamps

13/04/2022

We've updated Hand of the Maker to make it explicit that the special message used with Call Winged Messenger can be evaluated with this ritual as it has a Profound Decisions ID number.

COVID Safety

24/03/2022

We've updated the wiki with our COVID safety measures for our events this year. Our plan is to review these measures and update many of them on the run up to each event on the basis of current conditions.

Sinecure Production

23/03/2022

We've updated the sinecure page to make it clear that you still gain the production even if you didn't attend the event.

Conduct Overhaul

20/03/2022

We have rewritten the Profound Decisions conduct policy. The page on conduct defines the rules that we expect all participants to follow, reporting a conduct problem provides information on the process for reporting any issue you have, and sanctions describes the steps we can take in response. We have also updated the text for the must-avoid policy to reflect the new changes. There is a description of the key changes and some of the reasoning on our rules update 2022 page.

Sutannir

17/03/2022

We have added a new wiki page devoted to the sutannir, archetypal Freeborn priest who focuses on encouraging celebration and festivities. We've also updated the Brass Coast religious beliefs page with new information to complement the updates to the sutannir page.

Public Auction

24/02/2022

We've significantly reduced the scale and scope of the public auctions carried out by civil servants at events. From now on, the auction will be restricted to lots of bourse resources, the bourse seats themselves, and a dose of true liao. A more detailed explanation of the changes and reasoning are presented here.

Sanctioned Events

07/02/2022

We've made several edits to our sanctioned events page, splitting some of the information onto a separate Sanctioned event advice page aimed at organisers. The main changes are around the definitions of sanctioned event styles, and the rule that all sanctioned events take place in the same chronological order in-character that they do out-of-character.

Downtime Roleplaying and Coronavirus

27/01/2022

We removed the relaxed rules about online roleplaying during lockdown from the wiki, and edited references to them. The normal rules about roleplaying online and in downtime are now back in full effect.

Wind of Mundane Silence

26/01/2022

We've removed the idea that the Wind of Mundane Silence can only be used to affect a powerful regio. The ritual will destroy any regio it is performed at.

Fish People

16/01/2022

We've added a note to the Merrow page under "what they are not" to indicate that they are not fish people.

Emphasising Agramant

13/01/2022

We’ve made a change to the setting we want to let you know about. From this point forward, the eternal who has been primarily known by the name Wendigo will be more commonly known as Agramant. Likewise we're changing the name of the Wendigo's Bargain item to Agramant's Bargain.

We are not changing anything else about the character or tendencies of this eternal, but we are de-emphasising the name Wendigo. Agramant has always been one of Wendigo's names - so we've chosen to emphasise it as the "preferred" name for the eternal on the wiki from now on.

We've done this for several reasons. We've been aware for a while of some concerns about the origin of the name, and what that implies for our use of the eternal. We’ve reflected on that feedback and noted that while many of the other eternals make references (at variable subtlety levels) to literary, mythological, or gaming sources, Wendigo was the only one we know of with a name that is directly featured in a real-world belief system. There are no eternals called Hades, Hel, or Balor for example.

For the time being, the name Wendigo will remain one of Agramant’s less-widely used sobriquets. We'd like people to adopt this de-emphasising approach over time rather than treating this as a retcon or sudden break - for example, we know that many characters have written a lot of material about this eternal. It isn't suddenly off brief or wrong to use the original name, and there's no need to reprint IC booklets that use the name Wendigo. The name will remain one of Agramant's less widely used soubriquets. From this point forward, the eternal who has been primarily known by the name Wendigo will be more commonly known as Agramant.

Archiving Wiki Updates

12/02/2022

We archived wiki updates prior to 2019. The page had long since become unwieldy due to the sheer volume of entries, and in several cases the page listed updates that were out of date or superseded by later updates. Wiki updates prior to 2019 are now held on the previous wiki updates page in the Archive namespace.

Frequently Asked Questions

11/01/2022

We've made some edits to the General FAQ, and deleted both the obscure questions and new player FAQ pages. Most of the questions covered by those pages have been folded into the remaining sections.

Calls and Blows

03/11/2021

We've added some words to Calls to make it clear that you can only make one call with each blow you strike.

Iron Qanat

26/10/2021

We've updated the Segura page to include the presence of the Iron Qanat; this has also required a note on the Construct Iron Qanat II Senate motion that the great work is in Sobral Grasses not Yellow Chase.

Battle Safety

22/10/2021

We've made some edits to streamline the Battle Safety section on the Event safety page.

Heroic Skills

22/10/2021

We've added a line to the heroic skills overview reiterating that skills such as cleaving strike, mortal blow or mighty strikedown cannot be used with mage implements.

Illegal Orders

22/10/2021

We've added a short section to the general page about army orders that are in-character illegal and how they are handled.

Orders that Break the Rules

22/10/2021

We've added a clarification to the army orders page about what happens if a general accidentally submits a set of orders that break the rules on war.

Imperial Enchantments

13/10/2021

We've made some adjustments to the Imperial enchantments - Wondrous Forests of the Night, Hallow of the Green World, and Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths. The main change is to modify the effect of these rituals to better reflect how they actually operate - that they create powerful but unpredictable secondary effects as well as the more predictable effect on production of resources. We've also expanded their history a little in the description sections in the wake of the recent Urizen update.

Finalized Urizen Update

28/09/2021

We've finalised the Urizen update. Mostly this has meant removing the stubs from the pages but we've made a small number of changes to the content based on player feedback.

The sword scholar section about costume has been edited to remove unnecessary references and make it clearer what kind of weapons and armour the sword scholars favour.
We modified some of the wording on the Urizen look and feel page to hopefully make it clearer
We updated the costume page to make the wording around less appropriate and inappropriate costume clearer.
We clarified the rules on guy ropes in the In-Character Tents section of the costume page.
We modified the details of the Net of Gossamer Chains ritual in the Some heavenly music wind of fortune
We've moved the content regarding the Urizen Spring Festival to the culture and customs page.

Privateering and Piracy

09/09/2021

We have added a note to the box-out about the privateering action on the fleet page to remind players that they cannot use this action to commit piracy against people the Empire is not at war with due to the Civil Service observers.

Armour Coverage

09/09/2021

We have updated the armour rules to make clear that a full breastplate that covers the front only is sufficient to be classed as "covering the majority of the torso". This means it will provide extra hits provided your armour also covers one other location.

Urizen Politics Update

07/09/2021

As part of our review of Urizen, we've changed the way the nation appoints senators. You can read about the changes here and a discussion of the reasons and in-character explanation for them can be found here

Urizen Culture Update

07/09/2021

We've undertaken an extensive review of the Urizen pages on the wiki. Almost all the pages that form part of the Urizen brief have been updated. You can learn more about the reasoning for this and the way the changes are being handled in the Rules Update. A brief summary of the changes follows here.

We've updated Urizen, Urizen people, Urizen culture and customs, Urizen leadership, Urizen economic interests, Urizen religious beliefs, Urizen military concerns and Urizen magical traditions
We've greatly expanded the Urizen history page
We've added significantly to the spire page and created an Urizen groups page (which will also serve as a template for similar pages in other nations)
We've extensively overhauled Urizen look and feel in line with our new costume guidelines
We've added or updated pages for all the Urizen archetypes: arbiter, architect, illuminate, mage, seer, sentinel, stargazer, sword scholar, torchbearer, questor
We've added the rituals placed into Urizen lore
We've added a page for the historical figure Sulemaine

Some tweaks have been made (or are in the process of being made) to various pages that are connected to these changes.

Costume

07/09/2021

We've completed rewritten the costume page to lay out clearer guidelines for the various ways costume is used at Empire.

Vallorn Miasma

20/08/2021

Added a line of OOC explanation to the Vallorn miasma section of the vallorn page to make it explicit how exposure to the miasma works.

Armour

2/7/2021

We have changed the classification and benefits provided by armour and introduced the dreadnought skill. Please see the 2021 rules update for the explanation and reasoning behind the changes.

Others Languages

28/06/2021

We've added a section to languages giving guidance on languages other than those currently placed in the setting which you can find here.

Regio at Sanctioned Events

28/06/2021

We've added a section to the Sanctioned events guidance about regio which you can find here.

Lineage Review

06/05/2021

We've completed the first stage of a review of the lineage pages. This stage has been largely cosmetic, removing bullet points and replacing them with linkable headings on the briar, cambion, changeling, draughir, merrow and naga pages.

One more significant change is that we have moved the "demeanour" trappings from the "physical trappings" section of each of the pages to the roleplaying secction. This is in line with the requirement that to have lineage you must have a physical trapping.

In the case of merrow, we have also moved blue-green hair from being a minor trapping to being an "other trapping".

Distill the Serpent's Stone

21/04/2021

We've corrected the magnitude on the Distill the Serpent's Stone page to match the correct magnitude on the database and in the rituals list. It should have been magnitude 100 rather than magnitude 70.

Icons and Artistry

01/03/2021

We've removed the "Icons and Artistry" pages for each nation, and rolled that information into the individual Culture and Customs pages. In some cases this has meant moving some information from Look and Feel as well, or altering the layout of the page (for example we've reordered the information about art and history on the Wintermark culture and customs page to create two new subsections of Scops and Riddles while moving the discussion of music to the new Icons and Artistry section).

Erawayugot and Skaftafell

23/02/2021

We've corrected an error with the regions of Otkodov where we'd erroneously labelled both a region of Verthandi and a region of Nithoggir as "Erawayugot". Bringing the wiki into line with the database, we've changed the name of the Erawayugot in Verthandi to Skaftafell and will update the maps appropriately.

Military Units, Army Orders, and Enchantments

17/02/2021

We've added a line to Military units to make it more obvious how their strength interacts with orders given to, and enchantments placed on, the armies they support.

Still Waters, Running Deep

10/02/2021

We've adjusted the magnitude of the Still Waters, Running Deep ritual to be correct as near as we can tell. We have no idea why the magnitude was recorded in error.

Burning Falcon

05/02/2021

We've adjusted the date of the destruction of the Burning Falcon army from 247YE to 248YE to remove a conflict with details of the campaigns of Emperor Guntherm. In-character this correction comes as result of some research performed by Freeborn scholar Bakar i Erigo (Tomas Marchington).