Subject: MN: Year 3 Week 6 Proposals

From: dunx@l... (Duncan Ellis (Dunx))
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 22:26:05 GMT

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MORNINGTON NOMIC

Proposals for Voting on in Week Six
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Proposal 739 - Radio Control [Multiple]

Rule 1.10.x - Radiation

A Player possessing a Remote Control may perform the Action of
"Radiating <Player>", where <Player> is a Player who shares a Station
and Line with the Actioning Player, also known as the Controller.
The Radiated Player, also known as the Controllee, gains a "Radio Clamp"
Indestructable Possession.

A Controllee will move parallel to eir Controller each time the
Controller
Moves or is Shunted, if possible, provided the Remote Control is On.

Thus, if Rushton (now at Regent's Park) had Radiated Garden (now at
Paddington), and Moved (with the Remote Controll On) Oxford Circus-
Bond Street-Green Park-Piccadilly Circus, Garden would be moved
Bayswater-Bayswater-Notting Hill Gate-Queensway, not being able to
move west from Bayswater.

A Controllee may remove a Radio Clamp by playing the "De-Radiating"
while sharing a Station and Line with eir Controller. This causes the
Remote Control to explode, causing Light Damage to the Station occupied
by the Controller, as well as destroying one Token of each colour,
belonging to the Controller, if e has any.

If a Remote Control is destroyed, except by "De-Radiating", the
corresponding Radio Clamp is destroyed, too.

Rule 1.4.x - Zzzzzzzzzzap!

Electric Possessions are either On or Off, Off being the default.

A Player can switch one of eir Electric Possessions On or Off by using
the
Neutral Action [<Possession> On] or [<Possession> Off], respectively.

If the Circle Line is in an Electrified State, all Electric Possessions
are Off.

+---------------------+------+---------------------------------+
| Possession | Cost | Qualities |
+---------------------+------+---------------------------------+
| Remote Control (Off)| 3 Br | Small, Electric |

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action ('#' if Singular) Phase Rule Dur Cost Gain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[De-Radiating] Neut 1.10.x -1 Re -1 Bu
[Radiating <Player>] Neut 1.10.x -3 Re
[<Possession> Off] Neut 1.4.x none
[<Possession> On] Neut 1.4.x none

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Proposal 740 - A Wether Was Once A Ram [Enactment]

Londonian Weather is a strange and unpredictable affair, veering between
bright sunshine and heavy snow throughout the Year, sometimes even
changing during the course of any given Week.

When a Player advances Game Time to or beyond midnight between Sunday and
Monday, e should should roll a single six-sided die after submitting eir
Turn. The next Player to take eir Turn should look this number up on the
table below to establish the weather for the coming week.

Cloudless All is well.

1 = Change, 2 = Overcast, 3-4 = Cloudless, 5-6 =Windy

Overcast Ominous grey clouds gather slowly overhead, bringing with
them the promise of rain.

1-2 = Fog, 3 = Raining, 4 = Overcast, 5-6 = Cloudless

Windy Trees sway and leaves flutter as a gentle wind sweeps
through the City, rippling waves along the lawn.
The LV Adjustment range is LV-2 to LV+4, instead of the
usual LV+/-3.

1 = Change, 2-3 = Cloudless, 4-5 = Windy, 6 = Storm

Storm Trees topple and bankers fly with their little Umbrellas.
The LV Adjustment range is LV-1 to LV+5, instead of the
usual LV+/-3.
If a Player has any Tokens, e must perform the
[<Token Colour> Token on <Station>] Actionduring eir Turn.

1 = Change, 2-3 = Cloudless, 4-6 = Windy

Raining The clouds open, and heavy raindrops patter on the lawns,
streams of water snaking down the windows of the City.
All Pre-Move Actions take 5 minutes more than usual.

1-2 = Fog, 3 = Overcast, 4-5 = Raining, 6 = Snowing

Snowing Chill winds blow, and a crisp layer of snow covers the
whole City, tiny icicles hanging from the gutters.
While it snows, switching Lines at a Co-Situated Station
lasts 10 minutes.
Shunting causes the Shunting Player to skid along with the
Shunted Player, both ending in the same place.

1 = Fog, 2-3 = Raining, 4 = Windy, 5-6 = Snowing

Fog You can barely see a hand before you.
In Fog, [Ghosting] is Free, while Shunting costs
double.
Wearing Spectacles causes the effects of Fog to be
ignored by the Wearing Player.

1 = Change, 2-3 = Fog, 4 = Windy, 5-6 = Raining

Smog Besides your not being able to see a hand before you, Smog
will destroy your health.
All the effects of Fog apply to Smog as well.
An Environmental Tax is levied, so all performed, except
[Recycling <Thing>], cost one Bronze Token on top of the
usual cost.

1-2 = Fog, 3-4 = Raining, 5 = Windy, 6 = Smog

Change For the remainder of the week, weather checks are
performed each midnight.
Apart from this, no change in the pre-existing weather
occurs.

1-3 = Cloudless, 4-6 = Windy

Weather Conditions are noted in a box on the GSD, e.g.

+Weather -----------------+
| Cloudless(Change) |
+-------------------------+

[Upon the adoption of this Rule, the weather is defined to be Cloudless.]

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Proposal 741 - It was thi-i-is big! [Multiple]

New
Rule 1.7.x - Gone Fishin'

A Player may perform the Action "[Fishing]", provided e is at a Water
Station and wearing a Fishing Hat.

The Player performing the [Fishing] Action should roll a single
10-sided die after submitting eir Turn. The next Player to take eir Turn
should look the number rolled up on the table below. The found item is
then added to the Luggage Rack or Token Table of the Finding Player.

+-------+-----------------+---------------------------------+
| Roll | Item caught | Special/Qualities |
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 1-4 | Nothing | |
| 5 | Boot | Garment, Old Wet |
| 6 | Goldfish | Edible, worth 1 Bronze Token |
| 7 | Carp | Edible, worth 2 Bronze Tokens |
| 8 | Halibut | Edible, worth 3 Bronze Tokens |
| 9 | Tuna | Edible, worth 5 Bronze Tokens |
| 10 | HMS Belfast | Edible, worth 7 Bronze Tokens |
+-------+-----------------+---------------------------------+

New
Rule 1.7.x - Following the Wet Footprints

A Player may perform the Action "[Backtracking]", provided e is
wearing an Old, Wet Boot. If Circle Line is Electrified, no Backtracking
is possible.

When a Player performs a pre-Move Action of "[Backtracking]", eir LV is
set to zero - for the remainder of eir Turn, the Station to which e made
eir last Standard Move is a Valid Move, and the Player's Piece is not
considered to pass through any Stations.
A Player may not adjust eir LV after performing a "[Backtracking]"
Action.

Amend
Rule 1.4.6 - You Can Leave Your Hat On

There exist eight categories of Hat: A-Z, British Rail, Compass, Fishing,
Terminus, Verdant, Hard, Silly. Hard and Silly Hats may be bought from
any Emporium station, Fishing Hats from any Water Station, all other Hats
from Stations of the same type (Terminus Hats from a Terminus Station,
for example).

A Player may perform the Action "[Purchasing Hat (<Type>)]" if e is
situated at a Station which a Hat of the specified type may be
purchased, and if e is not carrying a Hat of that type already.

A Player may perform the Action "[Cashing in Hats]" if e is carrying an
A to Z, British Rail, Compass, Fishing, Terminus and Verdant Hat; upon
performing this Action e loses all of those Hats and gains one Gold and
two Silver Tokens.
No Player may Purchase a Hat in the same Turn as cashing Hats in.

Amend
Rule 3.0.1 - Line and Station changes
under (4):
- If it is not possible to find an equivalent for all six types of
station at which Hats may be purchased (A-Z, British Rail, Compass,
Fishing, Terminus, Verdant) and no substitute category can be used,
then Hats and any Rules and Actions relating to them do not exist
in
the game, apart from Silly Hats (and Hard Hats, should any
Construction Lines be present.)

Insert in
Rule 1.17.6 - Station Categories
* Water - A Water Station is one with the string "Bridge", "Brook",
Ditch", "Embankment", "Harbour", "Island", "Quay",
"Shore",
"Water" or "Wharf" in its name.

Insert in
1.4.x "The Emperor's New Clothes..."

Old, Wet Boot - The Player has access to the Action [Backtracking].

Insert in Action Table
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action ('#' if Singular) Phase Rule Dur Cost Gain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Backtracking] Pre 1.7.x -1 Bk
[Fishing] Neut 1.7.x 30 -1 Br

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Proposal 742 - Don't Bomb the Chinese Embassy! [Amendment]

{Comment: As the title suggests, it is important to keep maps up to
date... as witnessed by the recent events over Belgrade.}

- The official Map for Mornington Nomic should be replaced by the
new one at http://www.londontransport.co.uk/image/colormap.pdf
- As this Map has the North London and Thameslink connections as
well, it is suitable for the Finsbury Option rule, and should be
included as part of the Map there.
- Remove some of the text of Rule 2.3.1, between "However, these
lines are considered to be exempt from all Zone regulations..." and the
new Walking Distance connections.
- Append the following text to Rule 1.17.4:
Any National Railways lines shown on the Map are not considered part
of the playing area in the Standard Ruleset. No move which passes along
a Line Segment of a National Railways line is valid: and National
Railways are not counted towards the number of Lines passing through an
Interchange Station, nor are stations where National Railways lines
intersect with Underground lines considered Interchanges at all unless
there is more than one Underground line passing through that Station.
{Comment: Otherwise Willesden Junction, Kentish Town, Custom House
etc. all look like Interchanges with nothing to show for it. Of course,
the Finsbury Option is easier to understand now...}

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Proposal 743 - Mindbocklingly... [Action]

Add to:
Rule 1.7.2 - Actions

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action ('#' if Singular) Phase Rule Dur Cost Gain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[<Token Colour> Bock] Post 1.7.x -1 Bu,
-1 <Token Colour>
[Un-Bock <Token Colour>] Post 1.7.x -3 Bu
-1 <Token Colour>
[Un-Bock] Post 1.7.x -6 Bu

New Rule:
Rule 1.7.x - Mindbocklingly...

A Player may perform the Post-Move Action "[<Token Colour> Bock]", the
Post-Move Action "[Un-Bock <Token Colour>]" or the Post-Move Action
"[Un-Bock]", where <Token Colour> is a colour of Tokens in the Game.

If a "[<Token Colour> Bock]" Action has been performed and no "[Un-Bock
<Token Colour>]" or "[Un-Bock]" Action has been performed since, the Game
is said to be "In <Token Colour> Bock", and each Action has a Token cost
of one <Token Colour> Token above and beyond the ordinary Token cost,
except if:

* The Actioning Player is at a <Token Colour> Station, which for the
purpose
of this rule is defined as a Station with the string <Token Colour> in
its name,

or

* The Token cost of the Action already includes one or more <Token
Colour>
Tokens,

or

* The Action performed is [Un-Bock <Token Colour>]" or "[Un-Bock]".

The State of <Token Colour> Bock is indicated in the Disruptions Box in
the GSD, when appropriate.

------

Comment:

See 'Bock' in Encyclopaedia Morningtonia.

Colours in Stations:
* Black : Blackfriars, Blackhorse Road, Blackwall.
* Blue :
* Green : Bethnal Green, Bounds Green, Golders Green, Green Park,
Greenford, Kensal Green, North Greenwich, Parsons
Green, Stepney Green, Turnham Green, Willesden Green,
Wood Green
* Red : Redbridge, Shoreditch(?)
* Bronze :
* Silver :
* Gold : Golders Green, Goldhawk Road

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Proposal 744 - Stribble me Timbers... [Action]

Rule 1.7.x - Stribble me Timbers

If a Player, after eir Move, shares a Station and Line with a Token
Stack, e may elect to Stribble the Stack. This is achieved by performing
the Action of "[Stribble to <Station>]", where "<Station>" is the chosen
Target Station. This Action may only be performed if the Actioning
Player has a Line Velocity greater than four.

For a Stribble to be legal, the following criteria must be met:-

* There are is a distance of 'p' Stations between the Target Station
and the Stribbled Stack's initial location (where 'p' is twice the
Actioning Player's Line Velocity).

* The Line Code of the Target Station is the same as one of the Lines
which serves the Stribbled Stack's initial location.

Blocked Stations, closed Lines or any criteria which would normally
place the target Station out of reach do not restrict the choice of
target Station.

When a Stribble has been successfully performed, the top-most Token of
the Stribbled Stack is moved to the specified Station, the second Token
(if there is any) is moved one Station less (along the same line),
and so on.

If this placing of Tokens would cause a violation of Rule 1.14.3,
any unplaceable Tokens disappear.

Upon performing a Stribble, the Stribbler has eir Line Velocity reduced
to zero.

Insert in:
Rule 1.7.2 - Actions

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action ('#' if Singular) Phase Rule Dur Cost Gain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Stribble to <Station>] Post 1.7.x

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Proposal 745 - Exchange Commission [Multiple]

-Amend the final paragraph of Rule 1.7.21 to read:
The Opposite Actions ([Silver to Gold] etc.) may be performed, but
at double the exchange rate: thus, 4 Silver Tokens are needed to change
into 1 Gold.

-Amend the Action table accordingly.

{Comment: Removing the focus on Bank, but demanding double the
exchange rate instead... after all, when changing one's currency at a
bureau de change, they always rip you off.}

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Proposal 746 - Blue in the face... [Multiple]

-Amend Rule 1.7.21 Token Exchange table to give 3 Blue Tokens to
one Gold.
{Comment: Blues seem to me to be just a bit too hard to come by in
quantity at the moment, especially given the vast number of Actions
which require Blue Tokens.}

-Change the token gain for Passing, in the Token Table to "1
Plastic Token of any colour".
{Comment: Yes, I know Blues and Greens are most likely to be
chosen, but the player might conceivably be short of Reds or Blacks
instead. (For instance, wanting the tenth to get a Bonanza.) Besides, I
don't like the idea of a guaranteed 2 tokens for a Pass when one has to
be very careful in playing and passing through Interchanges to get 2
tokens as the result of a Move: the reward for a Pass shouldn't IMHO be
greater than the reward for an average move (which may well not involve
landing on an interchange at all, or necessarily passing through one.)
And allowing it to be 1 Green for a Pass simply reflects the fact that
the Token could be Recycled into a Green anyway.}

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Proposal 747 - Stationary Shunts*** [Multiple]

If a Player has an LV of zero after eir Movement Phase and shares a
Station and Line with another Player, e may play the Action of
[Stationary Shunting <Player> to <Station>]. The effect of this is as if
a standard Shunt had been played with an LV of 1, but with the following
differences:

-The Actioning Player may not take any Tokens or Possessions from the
Target Player.

-The Target Player may not, on eir next Turn, play any Action which
directly targets the Actioning Player.

Action: [Stationary-Shunting <Player> to <Station>] Post, 1 Red.

{Comment: A way to get rid of a persistent Shadower. Also, the only
shunt that is permitted from a Wild...}

-Add the following to Rule 1.10.1:
A Player may not perform a Shunt if eir LV is at zero (for
instance, directly after a Pass or a Special Move.)

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Proposal 748 - Second Hand Goods... [Multiple]

-Add the following text to Rule 1.4.18:
A Player may sell any of the above goods ([Selling <Possession>])
back to the Emporium at half price (rounding all fractions down)
provided e is at a Station where that item may be Purchased.

New Action: [Selling <Possession>] Neut, +(x/2) Br.

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Proposal 749 - Reverse The Polarity Of The Neutron Flow [Amendment]

Reword Rule 1.7.46 (Electroplate Blues) to:-

A Player may perform the "[Electroplating]" Action, if eir Charge is at
least fifty more or fifty less than that of every other Player. Upon
performing this Action, the Actioning Player gains a Gold Token.

{ Adding fifty *less* as an optional alternative, and to make the aspect a
bit more interesting in minimal-player games (if Player A rushes off to
get a high Charge and Player B rushes after to prevent it, Player C can
sidle away and achieve a low one). }

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Proposal 750 - Do You Suppose He Meant The Camaargue? [Amendment]

In Rule 3.1.1 (Chateau d'Eau), replace "Narg Clamps may be removed at
"Cite"." with "Narg Clamps may not be played."

{ They're *horrible* on the Metro, after all. }

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Proposal 751 - Et Pourquoi Pas? [Amendment]

Dans Rule 3.1.4 (Station Classifications), ajoutent:-

"Mont" = Hill.

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Dunx
--
Ceci n'est pas un .sig

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---

From: kevan@d...
Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 11:46:46 -0000

>Proposal 739 - Radio Control [Multiple]

This seems very confusing; there's a lot of scope for interpretation in
"moving parallel", and how do you keep track of which Controller controls
which Clamp? Also, since you can only Clamp someone who shares a Station
as you, surely the Controllee is just going to follow the Controller
precisely? Strangeness.

Not a bad general idea, though, and Electrical Possessions seem
particularly neat. Maybe this Rule would work better if the owner of a
Radio Controller could issue an "[Ordering <Player> to <Station>]" for
any Player who has a Clamp, and where Station is within that Player's
LV range - all Stations other than that one are then Invalid Moves for
that Player, during eir next Turn. Or they just get penalised if they
Move anywhere else. Hmm.

> Proposal 740 - A Wether Was Once A Ram [Enactment]

Quite strange to see my dear old Garden Nomic weather proposal unearthed.
Although pleasant enough in its style, it really doesn't seem to fit the
game very well - the percussions of some of the Weathers are entirely too
powerful or awkward, and none of them affect the one (perhaps only) thing
in the Game that Weather *should* affect; namely Walking.

One of the Underground's glorious things is that you can vanish from a
surface world of sunshine, and emerge ten minutes later in pouring rain,
the change in weather entirely unnoticed during your journey. The only
real impositions the weather might make would be to hamper walks between
stations, and mayhap (with the wrong kind of snow) to delay British Rail
trains. This seems too little impact to warrant faffing around with dice,
to me.

> Proposal 741 - It was thi-i-is big! [Multiple]

Oh dear, this really is turning into Garden Nomic. Although the
Backtracking Action is quite excellent and should perhaps be implemented
as a normal Action, the Fishing side doesn't seem to add much, and sushi
from the Thames doesn't appeal particularly; buying a Hat and then
Fishing for something that might be better than the comestible you could
have bought in the first place - not very enticing. As I say, Backtracking
is nice, but the odds of anyone ever getting the Boot to do it seem quite
a shame.

>Proposal 742 - Don't Bomb the Chinese Embassy! [Amendment]

Personally I lack a PDF viewer, so this Proposal doesn't especially appeal
to me. I think we had this conversation before, a couple of years ago;
it's better to reference a map that most people can access from any
computer, than a nicer or more recent one that requires special software.
If anyone's willing to make a JPG format image of the PDF for the Web page,
though, I suppose that'd be alright...

Having said that, the superfluous Lines on this new Map make things a
bit awkward, having to include rules that tell us to ignore them, so
maybe we're better off keeping the existing one.

> Proposal 743 - Mindbocklingly... [Action]

Very nice; a more precise variation of Knip. The cheapness is a little
bothersome, but the fact that it's an all-Player inconvenience seems to
balance this. Good stuff.

> Proposal 744 - Stribble me Timbers... [Action]

Whether this is a good or bad thing, I'm not sure. It allows the easy
destruction of Kafka Sinkholes and patterned Stacks, and can set up
the fallen Tokens to be collected in one swoop (although the twice-LV
bit stops you getting them next Turn, of course; more of a Team thing,
and I suppose tricky enough to warrant the reward). Mmm. Interesting.
Worth trying, I think.

Stribbling does make it sound too much like a Piece Move Action to me,
though. It must be a "Str*ing" thing.

> Proposal 745 - Exchange Commission [Multiple]

Hmm. Double rates seems harsh, but maybe it's a step worth taking;
"Bank then Crescent" seems too common a victory route, the way things
are these days.

>which require Blue Tokens.}

Passing does seem the most common way to get them these days, this is
true, and it certainly shouldn't be the case.

>greater than the reward for an average move.

Stopping to think about it, the only reason I originally proposed the
Token bonus for Passing in the first place was to provide a way out of a
bad situation; I dimly remember Yao getting stuck on the Northern
somewhere, lacking the Tokens to overcome eir problems, and being unable
to perform a Move that would get him any.

This proposal seems a good solution to the problem of Passing being far
too common. Another might be only to award the Tokens if the Player
doesn't have any of that colour already. As Game 15 shows, it's a bit
too easy to stockpile Tokens by continual passing, particularly when
you've got nothing better to do.

>Proposal 747 - Stationary Shunts*** [Multiple]

A nice little displacement Shunt, and a manoeuvre I've used a fair bit
in IMCS-regulated Crescent. Bravo, there.

Two things, though:-

>directly targets the Actioning Player.

No? I'd say you deserved all you got, really. There's mention of it
shaking persistent Shadowers, but I think most Shadowers are likely to
give up if your LV is zero.

>instance, directly after a Pass or a Special Move.)

This is already in there, actually, at the end of the first paragraph.

>Proposal 748 - Second Hand Goods... [Multiple]

Hmm. I suppose so. It does provide an easy and lucrative way to dispose
of a stolen Zone Pass, rather than just discarding it, but I suppose
such is fair enough, really.

Touting,

Kevan

--
kevan@d...
http://members.xoom.com/asabove