🎲 Gambits -

The main way that Players can affect the game world, not through combat or coalition buiilding, is through ‘Gambits.’ When a Player wishes to ‘do something’ in a round, in addition to submitting their ‘travel papers’ to Control, they can also fill out a Gambit letter. A Gambit is an additional submission that can have on it the questions; Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How?

Players can fill out any section that they like and no section is mandatory. However, the more information that the Player provides, the more likely they are to get a specific result. Gambits do not guarantee that what has been asked for will happen, they only lay out a Player’s intention for the following round.

Players do not have to fill out their Gambit at the same time as their travel papers but they do have to have submitted their travel papers before Control will be able to validate any actions submitted as a Gambit. This is because the Player’s character location may become important to that Gambit, or another Player's Gambit, when it comes to determining success, failure or another outcome entirely. A Gambit will be viewed to resolve after the Player character has travelled to their chosen location for that round, and will be applied in the folllowing round.

Both submissions (Travel Papers and Gambits) must be accepted by Control before the ‘High Noon’ phase, each round, if the Player intends to enact a Gambit in the proceeding round. This means that it is important for a Player to think ahead about what they are meaning to accomplish overall, not just round by round. Players do not have to submit a Gambit in a round if they do not wish to. Players may submit multiple Gambits in a round, if they have time to do so.

Infamy and Renown -

Infamy and Renown are personal resources that each Player will collect during the game. (See more in the named section, later in the Handbook.) When submitting a Gambit the Player may attempt to influence the result of their submission by using either their Renown or Infamy resource, submitted along with the Gambit, to tip the scales in their favour. When opposed in their actions, this could mean the difference between success and failure, but be warned; Disbalancing too far toward either Renown or Infamy can have other consequences and the Player is advised only to do so when absolutely necessary.

For instance, a common use of Renown when initiating a Gambit is to help turn an enemy's region which is in turmoil to another Player's own banner without resorting to bloodshed. Infamy in turn can help the region in question determine who it is that they truely fear the most...

Interpretation -

The Control Team will interpret Player Gambits literally. If the execution of a Gambit becomes impossible or pointless during the round, Control will attempt to apply the Gambit anyway, and interpret a result. Players will not get a report on the outcome of their Gambits, the game state will simply change to accommodate the result, if any. If the Gambit was subtle, the Player should not expect to hear about the result unless they go out of their way to find that information. This means that a Player should outline clearly the results and intention for their Gambit. If left up to interpretation, Control will interpret. This might also work in the Player’s favour as a declarative Gambit may succeed or fail, whereas an open ended Gambit may apply to more situations. The Player should, therefore, think carefully when phrasing their Gambits!

‘Verbal’ only gambits will not be accepted by Control but Players can feel free to ask a Control Team member before filling out their Gambit in order to get a sense of how applicable it is. Nothing that is consulted in this fashion should be considered a promise from Control that it will happen however, as the Gambit itself exists in the context of all other actions in the game and may be modified or entirely discarded, depending on what else is going on. No Gambits will be accepted if they fail to follow the; "Who? What? When? Where? Why? And How?" format.

Upon request, a Control team member can help write out a Gambit (or any other forms like travel papers) for a Player to accommodate accessibility reasons. It is asked that Players, please only rely on this assistance at requirement and give plenty of notice if they think that they will need this type of assistance during the game.