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