The Dawn phase occurs at the very beginning of every round. During the Dawn phase, Players will be at liberty to begin drafting any dispatches and communications that they need for the following round, with some restrictions. Players who have been called to Duels must decide if they are attending and if so proceed to the battlefield area. Any betrothals will also be announced during this phase. This is also the time where updates in the game will be relayed by both Control and other Players. Players are not restricted in where they can be in the room during the Dawn phase but should not use this time to converse with other Players more than absolutely necessary. The Dawn phase is a personal preparation time and should be used to manage lands or prepare actions for the coming round. War Councils can be called for during the Dawn phase, but they may not convene until the subsequent phase.
Day Break is a phase for actioning plans. The most important thing for Players to make sure that they have done by the end of this phase is to have submitted their Travel Papers. In addition, any Gambits and Battle Orders need to be finalised and submitted to Control by the end of this phase. Day Break is also when Players should meet with their allies and attend any War Councils that they are invited to. Players with the Spider role should make contact with their assets during this time.
High Noon is when game events occur. Primarily, any Players involved in a Battle Order that round will need to go to the battlefield area in order to resolve conflicts. Gambits from the previous turn will begin to be actioned during this time also and affected Players will be informed how their character has been influenced. Intelligence projects will also progress during this time and Spiders will be informed if anything has been reported back through their intelligence networks.
The Gloaming phase is a time for Players to return to their teams and organise for the next round. During this time Control will also lock in the production from each Player’s lands and determine whether each region is in good standing or turmoil. During team time, Players are encouraged to stay at their House, or an ally’s table to prepare for the start of the next round and touch base with their collaborators. Players should pick a table to stay at during this phase and generally not be moving around unless absolutely necessary.
The Dawn phase occurs at the very beginning of every round. During the Dawn phase, Players will be at liberty to begin drafting any dispatches and communications that they need for the following round, with some restrictions. Players who have been called to Duels must decide if they are attending and if so proceed to the battlefield area. Any weddings will also be conducted during this phase. This is also the time where updates in the game will be relayed by both Control and other Players. Players are not restricted in where they can be in the room during the Dawn phase but should not use this time to converse with other Players more than absolutely necessary. The Dawn phase is a personal preparation time and should be used to manage lands or prepare actions for the coming round. War Councils can be called for during the Dawn phase, but they may not convene until the subsequent phase.
In the first turn this phase will still occur but it may be better to treat it as an extension of the Day Break phase as it will mainly be filled with reactions to events from the previous turn.
This is the only opportunity that the Players and the Control Team will have to relay information important to all Players in the game. There may not always be information needing an announcement in this time but the space for it should be held and the ‘quiet’ phase generally encouraged. Even a short announcement of the phase or a ‘change in season’ will help to mark the progression in time and keep the general noise level down in order to preserve the atmosphere for the Duels especially. This time does not require dead silence but encouraging the phase to be quieter in reflection of the other, louder phases with help with both accessibility concerns, and the variety of experiences for the Players throughout the day.
Day Break is a phase for actioning plans. The most important thing for Players to make sure that they have done by the end of this phase is to have submitted their Travel Papers. In addition, any Gambits and Battle Orders need to be finalised and submitted to control by the end of this phase. Day Break is also when Players should meet with their allies and attend any War Councils that they are invited to. Players with the Spider role should make contact with their assets during this time.
This is the longest phase in the game and Players should be encouraged to have all of their submissions done by the end of this time. It is important that Travel Papers and Battle Orders get submitted as soon as possible as these will be needed in the current round to inform positioning and force distribution. Gambits can straggle if necessary as Control will have longer to resolve them between rounds.
High Noon is when resolutions to events occur. Primarily, any Players involved in a Battle Order that round will need to go to the battlefield area in order to resolve conflicts. Gambits from the previous turn will begin to be actioned during this time also and affected Players will be informed how their character has been influenced. Intelligence projects will also progress during this time and Spiders will be informed if anything has been reported back through their intelligence networks.
This is a middling phase, built in as buffer time, specifically to give Control space to get on top of events and outcomes and give a dedicated time for conflicts to resolve.
The Gloaming phase is a time for Players to return to their teams and organise for the next round. During this time Control will also lock in the production from each Player’s lands and determine whether each region is in good standing or turmoil. During team time, Players are encouraged to stay at their House, or an ally’s table to prepare for the start of the next round and touch base with their collaborators. Players should pick a table to stay at during this phase and generally not be moving around unless absolutely necessary.
This phase is essentially enforced downtime for the Players and additional cleanup time for Control as they resolve Gambits or other event outcomes. Whereas in Dawn the Players are encouraged to go where they please but quietly, sorting out their personal agenda, in Gloaming they may talk and collaborate freely, but should be encouraged not to be moving around the space. Gently enforcing these kind of ‘modes’ will ideally help the game to progress systematically without restricting a Player’s options too much. The alternative can tend to dissolve into a morass of everyone trying to do everything at once which becomes difficult for Control to manage and may lead to Players feeling like things aren’t progressing in the game.