------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MORNINGTON NOMIC Proposals for Voting on in Year Two, Week Nine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 414 - Token Effort [Other, Multiple] { Comments: Another Proposal of unusual size; this turns its eye to the Token bonus side of the game, and the rather glaring awkwardness of having a few Token costs hidden away in the Token bonus table, as well as lots of extraneous text cluttering a single Token Rule. It brings in new Actions to replace the tolls of the Crescent, Home Stations and Holy Stations, and gives a slightly strange "[Line Change]" Action rather than fining the Black amid bonuses. } 1. Token Overview [Amendment] Reword Rule 1.4.1 (Token Gesture) to read:- In the Game of Mornington Crescent, there exist a number of differently coloured Tokens, which can be carried by Players and piled in Stacks on Stations. Tokens are created and lost as the Game progresses, and all are listed on the Game State Document. There are six colours of Token - three Metallic (Gold, Silver and Bronze) and three Plastic (Black, Blue and Red). Tokens may be awarded for certain Moves and Actions within the game, and must be expended to perform particular Actions. The Token Cost of any Action shall, where applicable, reflect the nature of the Action and the extent of its effect. The nature of the Action shall be reflected in the colour of Token required and the extent shall be reflected in the number of Tokens required. The type of Actions the different Token Colours should apply to shall be as follows: Black Tokens : Move Actions (those which only affect the position or movement of the Actioning Player's Piece) Blue Tokens : Indirectly Aggressive Actions (those which may indirectly affect the movement or status of another Player's Piece) Red Tokens : Aggressive Actions (those which directly affect the position, status or ability to Move of another Player) Bronze Tokens : 'Purchasing' Actions (those relating to the acquisition of Gold Tokens and Possessions) Silver and : Special Actions (ones which should only be allowed to be used Gold Tokens infrequently, thus cost more) 2. Token Tracking [Enactment] Each Player's Token totals must be maintained by the Player concerned during eir Turn. Unless its destination is otherwise specified by a Rule, any non-Bronze Token paid to perform any Action (other than that of "[Gold to Bronze]" and the other Token exchange Actions) shall be placed on a Token Stack at a Station selected by the Actioning Player. This placement shall follow the standard Rule for Token Dropping (1.14.3), except that:- * It need not be a Station which the Player has passed through. * It must be in a different Quadrant to the Player's final location. { Comments: Trimming, incidentally, the bit about altering other Player's Token totals if permission is given. I'm surprised there's not been a Drone scam, there. But yes, that's been cut, along with the "unauthorised changes will result in the offending Player forfeiting all eir Tokens" oddness (which clashes with the standard Buzzing stuff). And the Token Gifting was covered last Week in the Move overhaul Proposal. Looking at it again, the whole business about failing to update Token totals being Illegal for losses but not for gains - it's entirely covered by the extant Buzzing stuff, in that other Players can Buzz you for not obeying the "update the Tokens" sentence, or can ignore it if you've forgotten to award yourself bonuses. So that's been edited out as well. The rewording to banning Bronzes from Token Stacks does affect stuff like Knip, I confess, but I think Knip deserves a bit of a stare - its "discard the Bronze Token you've just gained" aspect has proven to be a little dull, and I think I'll put forward a "compulsory [Knip Drain] Action" thing with greater effect, next Week. } 3. Token Collection Table [Enactment] The following table lists the Token Bonus awarded to a Player during eir Token Collection phase, provided that the listed Event occured during eir Movement phase. Event | Token Bonus -----------------------------------------+-------------- Playing any Valid Move within a Zone | +1 Bronze for which a Zone Pass is carried | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Moving to an Interchange with | +1 Red exactly two lines | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Moving to an Interchange with | +1 Black exactly three lines | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Moving to an Interchange with | +1 Blue exactly four lines | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Moving to an Interchange with | +1 Silver five or more lines | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly two | +1 Red Interchanges during a Move | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly three | +1 Black Interchanges during a Move | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly four | +1 Blue Interchanges during a Move | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly five | +1 Silver Interchanges during a Move | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly six | +1 Silver, Interchanges during a Move | +1 Black -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly seven | +2 Bl, +2 Re Interchanges during a Move | +1 Black -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly eight | +1 Silver, Interchanges during a Move | +1 Re, +1 Bu -----------------------------------------+-------------- Passing through exactly nine | +2 Silver Interchanges during a Move | +2 Re, +1 Bu -----------------------------------------+-------------- Playing a Move which does not involve | +1 Black a change of Line as part of the Move | -----------------------------------------+-------------- Playing 'Pass' as eir Move | +2 Red or | +2 Blue or | +2 Black -----------------------------------------+-------------- If a Player passes through the same Interchange more than once in a single Move, only the first instance counts with regard to calculating any Token benefits awarded for passing through Interchanges. { Comment: Token Running was removed from this Table, since the bonus is defined in the Action definition, and is awarded during the Pre-Move phase, not the Token Collection one. Aside from that; the timing column has gone since it's all done in the Token Collection phase, and the Token penalty rows have been duly stricken. "Playing" has become "Moving to" in a number of cases, also, for consistency's sake. } 3. A Mere Snip [Amendment] Remove the bit about Bronzes being removed from the Game when used to buy things, in Rule 1.4.18 (The Emporium). { Comment: Covered by the rewording in section 2 of this Proposal. } 4. Time, Gentlemen, Please [Amendment] In whichever Rule defines the Opening times of Stations, replace Mornington Crescent's "open Mon to Sat 0700 to 2100, Sun 0800 to 2100" with "closed (the [Opening MC] Action will open Mornington Crescent for one Turn)". Also remove Temple and add:- All Holy Stations -- open all day Mon to Sat, closed Sun (the [Collection Plate] Action will open all Holy Stations for one Turn) 5. Key to the Crescent [Enactment] If a Player performs the neutral Action of "[Opening MC]", Mornington Crescent is treated as being Open for the remainder of eir Turn. 6. Cutting the Ribbon [Enactment, Action] Action: Opening MC Cost: 3 Gold Duration: 10 minutes Type: Neutral 7. Collection Plate [Enactment] If a Player performs the neutral Action of "[Collection Plate]", all Holy Stations are treated as being Open for the remainder of eir Turn. 8. 97% Discount [Enactment, Action] Action: Collection Plate Cost: 1 Silver Duration: 10 minutes Type: Neutral 9. Lose the Faith [Repeal] Repeal Rule 1.4.8 (Keep the Faith). 10. Monopoly Commission [Amendment] Reword Rule 1.12.3 (Home Station Tolls) to:- During a Player's Turn, all Home Stations except eir own are considered Blocked. A Player may perform the Action of "[Toll to ]", where "" is any Player besides emself. Upon performing this Action, the cited Player gains Tokens equal to those expended performing the Action, and eir Home Station becomes Unblocked for the remainder of the Turn. 11. Nothing to Declare [Enactment, Action] Action: Toll to Cost: 8 Bronze Duration: 10 minutes Type: Neutral { Comments: It's fixed at eight Bronze rather than letting the Toll-payer choose eir combination of loose change - I think it's safe to say that everyone would just change Silvers and Golds to Bronzes just to give the Toll-paid Player as little benefit as possible (for if eight Bronzes were preferable, the Toll collector could just change the Silvers and Golds for them), if we wanted to Move through eir Station. } 12. Changing Line [Enactment] A Piece Move that involves a change of Line is Invalid unless the Moving Player has performed a "[Line Change]" Action during eir Turn. The Line Change Action is different to all other Actions in that it need not be documented in the text of the Player Move; it is implicit from the listed Line Codes. 13. Step the Gap [Enactment, Action] Action: Line Change Cost: 1 Black Duration: zero Type: Pre-Move 14. Knip in the Air [Amendment] Remove the sentence "No Player may move to Mornington Crescent while the game is in Knip." from Rule 1.8.4 (Knip), if present. { Comment: Now that it takes an Action to Open MC for the Turn, the Game's Knipness prevents such things by default. } ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 415 - Station Damage [Enactment] Certain events may cause Stations to become Damaged; these Stations are treated as being Blocked until London Transport manage to repair the damage. The GSD shall list Damaged Stations in the following example format:- +---------+----------------------------------------------------------+ | Damaged | Victoria, Hyde Park Corner, Angel | +---------+----------------------------------------------------------+ When a Station becomes Damaged, it is added to the end of this list, even if it is listed already. Whenever Game Time moves into a new day, the first Station of the list should be removed. If a newly Damaged Station has a name which does not fit into this box, Stations should be deleted from the start of the list until the new Station fits. { Comments: This came about whilst musing over the "Start Worrying..." Proposal, and the Escalator Fire stuff would perhaps benefit from being amended to include Station Damage. I considered an Action to donate a Gold to London Transport to speed work up, but shall leave this for another time. } ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 416 - Start Worrying and Fear The Bomb [Other, Multiple] 1. If It's Not Love... [Amendment] Reword Rule 1.4.7 (The Suspect Package) to:- "There exists a Game entity called the Suspect Package, which may be present on the Map; its presence is indicated as a Token Stack with the text "Susp Package", at that Station. If a Station contains a Suspect Package, a Move which passes through that Station is Invalid. If there are less than three Suspect Packages in play and less than twelve Token Stacks in existence, any Player may create a Suspect Package with the post-Move Action "[Dropping Package at ]", where "" is a Station passed through by the Player's Piece during eir Move. The Suspect Package may be Shunted as though it were a Player with the name "Suspect Package"; it carries no Tokens or Possessions." { Comments: Trimming and rewording - Packages don't Block, they just have a Maelbergesque slowing effect; this saves the bother of explaining the Shunting at length, and lets us remove the MC ban (dropping a package at the Crescent won't stop a win, now). Dropping at Home Stations seems fair enough, to me; all lower-case kudos to anyone who's well-prepared enough to pay the Toll and set the trap. And the bit about occupied Stations seems superfluous, in that dropping a Package *next* to a Player is just as evil. I've put the Packages in the Token Stack area of the GSD (which should perhaps be reworked to "Station Contents" or somesuch, and maybe expanded without raising the Stack limit); this is undoubtedly clearer than having to dredge through grief-knows-how-many Actions to work out where Packages were Dropped and where they've been Shunted to since. Detonation stuff goes to a new Rule, for clarity's sake:- } 2. Suspect Package Detonation [Enactment] Any Player may play the neutral Action of "[Detonating Package]" to Detonate a Suspect Package, where "" is a Station containing a Suspect Package. If this Action is played, all Token Stacks within two Stations' distance of that Package are destroyed, as is the Package itself. Any Players whose Piece is situated within two Stations' distance of the Package must play a Move of "Pass", with no Actions, as their next Turn, and the Actioning Player may select and destroy one Possession carried by each of those Players. { Comments: A harsher effect than the rather paltry "discard two Tokens of your choice" thing at current (two Bronzes every time, I should think). } If a Suspect Package is Detonated within two Stations' distance of another Suspect Package, the other Package Detonates automatically. { Comments: Super Bomberman, anyone? } If the "Station Damage" Proposal passed, add ", and the Station at which the Package rested becomes Damaged." to the end of the first sentence of that last paragraph. Then remove this sentence from the Ruleset, either way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 417 - A Better Mousetrap [Other, Multiple] { Comment: The aim of this Proposal is to generalise the Manoeuvre system. I think the current structure is fine, but has the weakness that a particular Manoeuvre can only be performed in a specific location, simply because that's how they're declared. In MC terms, this seems a bit restrictive: a Trellis Roundhouse shouldn't, I think, be tied to a particular station sequence. Also, there is currently no way to combine Manoeuvres, which is another constant theme in MC play. This Proposal seeks to address both of these issues by replacing the Manoeuvre component of Station with the more general Station attribute. Hence the existing Manoeuvres are a subset of this approach. } [Amendment: A Name Is Not Enough] Amend Rule 1.18.1 (Manoeuvres in the Dark) so that its first paragraph reads as follows: "A Player may declare one or more attributes of eir recent valid moves (that is, one or more distinct elements of the recent end of turn Piece positions) as a Manoeuvre, provided that none of the recent moves is a Pass, or a Forced Pass. 'Recent' is defined here as being at least three but no more than six. E does this by performing a Declaraction action, which takes one of the two forms:" Add the following paragraph after the line reading "where the underscores are replaced by the Manoeuvre name.": "The specific attributes of these moves must be listed in such a way that the action is clearly identified. Valid attributes which may be given in this context is any information which may be inferred about a Station from its representation on the Map, or which is defined in this ruleset." Change the last paragraph to read as follows: "A Manoeuvre Declaraction action is illegal if a Gambit already exists using that exact sequence of station attributes." [Amendment: Oook] Amend Rule 1.18.2 (Manoeuvres And Their Costs) so that its first paragraph reads thus: "This rule shall contain a lists of all legal Manoeuvres, consisting of their names, the station attributes used to perform them, and the cost of the completed gambit. Costs of tokens are recorded in positive numbers only. The Speaker shall update this rule to include any new gambit declared using a legal Manoeuvre Declaraction action. This list explicitly keeps all the Gambits so declared even after the Game in which the Gambit was declared ends." Add the following Manoeuvres to the list: The Trellis Roundhouse Manouevre (1 Go, 1 Si, 1 Br) Quadrant 1 -> Quadrant 2 -> Quadrant 3 -> Quadrant 4 The Mount of Olives Gambit (6 Bu) Holy Station -> Hill Station -> Populated Station [Amendment: Say It Again, Sam] Amend Rule 1.18.3 (Manoeuvres in the Light) so that its first paragraph reads as follows: "A Player may use a Manoeuvre by performing a Manoeuvre Usage action, which is synonymous to a Gambit Usage action, as long as the most recent valid non-pass Stations that the Player played have the same attributes and are in the same sequence as a named Gambit. This takes the form of:" { Comment: ... and that's it. Possible enhancements for the future include: - adding a simple route condition. For instance, in the Trellis Roundhouse example above, it might be useful to restrict the route to not pass through the Meridian at Tottenham Court Road. - given that it is now possible to complete multiple Manoeuvres at once, it would seem reasonable to increase the rewards of such a coup eg the rewards for any Manoeuvre are multipled by the total number of manouevres completed at the same time. - generalisation of rewards: having generalised Manoeuvre components, it should be practical to generalise reward components too. The obvious extrapolation here would be Possessions, but care would need to be taken in ensuring that undesirable Possessions (such as a Spoon Clamp) were not disposed of in this way! There's also the possibility of sacrificing LV, or any other modifiable Piece/Player attribute, but that really would be fiddly to define. However, these have been left undefined here in the interests of brevity (at least of the Proposal text itself, if not of the comments!). } ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 418 - Not Waving But Drowning [Amendment] Amend Rule 1.4.12 (The Luggage Rack) by changing its first paragraph to read thus: "There shall be a section of the Game State Document known as the Luggage Rack, detailing Possessions of each Player. Hats shall be abbreviated by listing only the initial letter of the Hat type, as shown below. The current Drone Keeper shall possess the Drone Stick. A typical Luggage Rack would be:-" { Comment: This is the acceptable bit from Racked With Gilt (Prop 395, Week 7). I would suggest that we adopt Kevan's suggestion for a terser GSD header. Viz: +--|TIME|--+------------|WILD STATIONS|-------------+-|KNIP|-+-|BRIDGES|-+ | Tue 1800 | Bank, Gunnersbury | In | Down | +----------+----------------------------------------+--------+-----------+ } ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 419 - Shunts for the Memory [Amendment] { Comment: This is a reworked version of the Deer Shunter (Prop 396 from Week 7) which restricts the target station choice to something a little fairer, that is that the shuntee will still be on a line which serves the Station they were last at. } Amend Rule 1.10.1 (A Shunting We Will Go) as follows: Make the first paragraph read as follows - "If a Player Moves to a Station that is already occupied, e can elect to Shunt to that Station. Any Players who are currently located at the Target Station and have the same Line Code as the Shunting Player are Shunted to a single Station with a specified Line Code of the Shunting Player's choice, which fits the following criteria:-" Delete the condition for a valid shunt which refers to the target station being on the same line as the shunted player, and add the following criteria: "* the Line Code of the Station to which the Shunted Players are Shunted is the same as one of the Lines which serves the Target Station "* the Station to which the Shunted Players are Shunted is reachable under normal Piece movement rules from the Target Station with the LV value of the Shunting Player taking into account current restrictions on line changes, route blockage, and so on, unless specifically exempted." { Comment: The second criterion is still necessary, since currently there is nothing to stop someone being shunted through a block or onto a line suffering Power Failure. } Add the following paragraph after the criteria: "No penalties for line changes shall be applied to the Shunted Players during the Shunt." Replace the example as follows - "Brooke-Taylor : Euston (VC) Cryer : Finsbury Park (PD) Garden : Euston (VC) Rushton : Euston (VC) [Shunting Brooke-Taylor and Garden to Moorgate (NT)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 420 - Amendments to Shunting [Other, Multiple] *Amend Rule 1.10.1: After the list of Shunting criteria, add the following sentences: "The Shunt need not take place along the same Line as the Shunted Player was originally resting on, nor along the same Line that the Shunting Player arrives along: but the Shunted Player ends the Shunt on the Line connecting eir new location to eir original Station. If the Shunted Player is thus on a different Line to the one e was originally situated on, or if e has crossed the River, e is not affected during the Shunt by any restrictions, prohibitions or Token penalties for changing Line or crossing the River. {Comments: This allows off-line Shunts, and allows Shunting to take place over the River as explicitly allowed in the Bridges rule.} *Amend Rule 1.14.1 Delete the last clause about Stacks being Shunted as if they were Players, and replace with the following: "Token Stacks may be shunted as if they are Players (i.e. as if they are Players with the name "Token Stack"), with these exceptions: * No Tokens may be claimed from a Shunted Token Stack, either before or after the Shunt. * A Player who directly Shunts a Token Stack retains eir LV, rather than reducing it to zero. * A Token Stack may only be Shunted to a location containing another Token Stack if a Double Shunt is played on the second Stack. If the Double Shunt cannot be played, the original Shunt is illegal." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 421 - Minor Changes to the Glossary [Other, Multiple] *Amend Rule 1.17.4 Replace the last sentence with the following: "When a Player makes a Move, e must state which Line e moves along (or Lines, listed in the correct order, if eir Piece's Move changes Line.) If e moves to an Interchange or Co-Situated station, e must state on which Line e finishes the Move if it is different from the one e arrived at that Station on: and if e starts from such a Station, e must name the Line e started from if it is different from the one e leaves the Station along. If a Player performs any Post-Move or Move Substitution Actions, other than a standard Move, which change the Location of eir Piece, then e must name the Line e is on at the destination Station. Such Actions, however, are not affected by Rules which define prohibitions, restrictions or Token penalties for changing Line unless explicitly stated otherwise. {Comments: At the moment, Wild and Home are *pre-move* Actions, and thus affected by the above restrictions... If people don't like this, then amend Wild and Home.} *Amend Rule 1.7.7 (Gapminding) The last sentence should be amended to read: "If a [Mind the Gap] Action has been performed, and no [Ignore the Gap] has been performed since, then no Player may play a Move which involves a change of Line, except via a Move Substitution or Post-Move Action." {Comment: I thought of this one immediately after Kevan played a Move which went: (DS, PD, DS) under Gapminding conditions. The idea itself was declared legal, though the move itself illegal on a technicality (Hyde Park Corner not being on the DS at all...) And Home and Wild moves are Pre-Move Actions, thus prevented by Gapminding unless somebody amends those rules. A player may of course change Line under Gapminding by the simple expedient of Walking at an LV of 1.} *Amend Rule 1.17.6: Add "Cross" to the list of Stations which are categorized as Holy Stations. {Comment: Ever heard of the Stations of the Cross? :o) I decided to do this ever since I got shunted out of New Cross when I was under the mistaken impression that it was safe to be there.} Add "Grove" and "Wood" to the list of Verdant Stations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal 422 - Amendments to Rule 0.4.14 (Fish and Fowl) [Amendment] I propose to rename the awards, with names somewhat more in accordance with the history and organisational structure of real MC. So the following renaming of awards is proposed: "Monstrous Big" - Ruttsborough Award for Grandiosity. "Doubleplusgood" - IMCS Clarity Award. "Eagle-Eyes Action Man" - CAMREC Cleanup Award. "The Mother-In-Law" - Mrs Trellis Award for Entertainment. {Comments: I seem to recall somebody putting a note on the list about this sort of thing, but nobody's yet bothered to make a Proposal to that effect, so I thought I might as well.} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------