Advanced Rulebook

 

RESTRICTIONS WITH MODERATION INFORMATION

Moderation information is restricted to prevent players using any OOC circumstance from gaining a bonus IC. Upon first starting to play Quest: GME the majority of players find this rule very limiting, but it is a necessary rule to prevent the game being ruined by a minority that do not role-play. Even if the party carried out actions for the Alliance the party cannot take any moderation information with them. This is an unfortunately necessary part of the rule to prevent countless parties constantly quitting Alliance's after carrying an action out as a way to distribute moderation information without using SAs.Both Independent parties and Alliance parties require a SA to pass on moderation information, see IC Deals section for more details.Long-term plans will allow information to be backdated so that Alliances as well as individual parties will have the information linked to them, but until this is implemented be aware that all moderation information cannot be transferred. Once this plan is implemented information is distributed IC via party turncard orders allowing information to be tracked, spies may be detected and repercussions generated all IC without the need for moderation.

IC DEALS

When an Alliance wants to pass on moderation information, they must involve the GM as a middleman. This allows for underhand IC actions, such as misinformation, to be kept in the game, adds a bit of paranoia, but, most importantly, allows the GM to know what is going on in the game, which is important in stopping resentment and accusations of cheating.If gold payment is required then the Alliance's should use the none-moderation game orders to pass it on; if an Alliance wants the GM to transfer the gold from their account to another Alliance it will cost a SA as normal.
The procedure is as follows:

  • The hierarchy of the two Alliances need to both agree to the deal before contacting the GM, and all the details need to be worked out beforehand.
  • One Special Action is required to be used by one of the groups involved, Alliance or individual Party, to pass on one subject of information only. Only 1 party pays the SA cost to transfer information, the party/Alliance's involved decide who that is. No Status is used unless the Alliances want to use one of the Organisations they are aligned to as the middlemen to pass the information on.
  • The details of the deal need to be explained in the message to the moderator, which should be short and clear as normal, including whether the details are deliberately wrong.
  • The information being exchanged needs to be included in a standard text file. The GM will not type up the information so a printed version is not allowed. If misinformation is being given then both a text file of the correct information and a text file of the incorrect information needs to be included.
  • If two Alliance's involved in some sort of IC deal that involves them both trading moderated information at the same time then mention it in the action. Until both Alliances contact the GM with their actions then nothing will be processed.

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Complicated schemes will still break down into the procedure listed here.

It is possible that an Alliance/Party will be able to detect whether the information passed/exchanged/sold to them is incorrect. In addition, there are powers that can be used, by the Alliance/Party's choice, to detect whether misinformation has been given, or disguise the fact that it may have been. As with all powers there is a chance they may not work. If an Alliance/Party wants to use a power they must include the request in the details sent to the GM.

Example: Simple transfer of information between Alliances with SA

Alliance 1 Mystics of Avaellia (111) & Alliance 2 Freedom Brigade (103)

The following message is sent to the GM:

Game 31, Freedom Brigade (103), Account Number: 54231. Joe Jefferson'
Using a SA the following information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) is to be passed on to the Mystics of Avaellia (111). This is not misinformation.

The information would then be enclosed, which would then be checked to make sure it is correct and then passed onto the Mystics of Avaellia.
The following information will then appear on every party's turn in the Alliances.

Mystics of Avaellia: - 'The following information from Freedom Brigade (103) has been received… (The information would be included.)'

Freedom Brigade: - 'The Alliance has passed on information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) to the Mystics of Avaellia (111).'
OOC - SA used, 0 left.

Example: Simple transfer of information between two groups with one group that has no access to SA

Alliance 1 Mystics of Avaellia (111) & Mercs (1465)

The following message is sent to the GM:

Game 31, Mystics of Avaellia 111, Account Number: 12345 Bobby Joe Smith
Using a SA to accept information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) from the independent party Mercs (1465).

As Mercs are independent party it is highly unlikely that they will have a SA that would be required to pass on moderation information. As the Mystics of Avaellia (111) have access to SA they are required to use a SA to accept the information

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The following is then sent by the player that runs the Mercs (1465)

Game 31, Mercs (1465), Account Number: 12345 Bobby Joe Smith
The Mystics of Avaellia have issued a SA to accept information from us about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11).

The information provided by the Mercs (1465) has to be correct, as they do not have a SA that would be needed to pass on false information. It is possible that an independent party does have access to a SA, or may have been given incorrect information, so it would be a mistake to assume that the all information gained from an independent party is always correct.
The following information will then appear on every party's turn in the Alliance and a message on the Mercs (1465) turn.

Mystics of Avaellia: - 'The following information from Mercs (1465) has been received… (The information would be included.)'
OOC - SA used, 0 left.

Mercs (1465): - 'Information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) has been passed on to the Mystics of Avaellia (111).'

Example: Simple transfer of information plus use of method to check information

Alliance 1 Mystics of Avaellia (111) & Alliance 2 Freedom Brigade (103)
The following message is sent to the GM:

Game 31, Freedom Brigade (103), Account Number: 54231. Joe Jefferson
Using a SA the following information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) is to be passed on to the Mystics of Avaellia (111). This is not misinformation.

The information would then be enclosed, which would then be checked to make sure it is correct and then passed onto the Mystics of Avaellia.
The following information will then appear on every party's turn in the Alliances.
Mystics of Avaellia: - 'The following information has been passed on from Freedom Brigade (103) has been received… (The information would be included.)'
Freedom Brigade: - 'The Alliance has passed on information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) to the Mystics of Avaellia (111).'
OOC - SA used, 1left.

 

The Mystics of Avaellia want to check that the information is correct so they send the following message to the GM:
Game 31, Mystics of Avaellia 111, Account Number: 12345 Bobby Joe Smith
PS: Sense Truth (111667) is used to check the information provided to our Alliance by the Freedom Brigade (103).

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In this example the information was correct, but a test is still made as the PS could fail or the PS could succeed beyond expectation, either extreme outcome could have a big effect on the outcome, however for this example the following outcome is given:
Mystics of Avaellia: 111, Account Number: 12345 Bobby Joe Smith
PS: Sense Truth (111667) is used to check the information provided to our Alliance by the Freedom Brigade (103). The PS use shows that the Freedom Brigade (103) has not lied.

Example: Simple transfer of information but the Alliance providing the information wants to lie

Alliance 1 Mystics of Avaellia (111) & Alliance 2 Freedom Brigade (103)

The following message is sent to the GM:

Game 31, Freedom Brigade 103, Account Number: 54231. Joe Jefferson
Using a SA we have agreed to provide the Mystics of Avaellia (111) information we have about the Settlement Officials of Tavack (11). This is misinformation.

The misinformation and the correct information would both be enclosed, as a text file, making VERY sure to identify which was which!

A test is made to see if the Mystics have any idea that the information is incorrect. The test was failed, so in this example the Mystics believe the information is correct. The following information will then appear on every party's turn in the Alliances:

Mystics of Avaellia: 'The Alliance has been given the following information from Freedom Brigade (103)…' (The information would be included; although in this case it is actually misinformation the Alliance would not know IC.)

Freedom Brigade: 'The Alliance has passed on misinformation about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) to the Mystics of Avaellia (111).'
OOC - SA used, 0 left.

Example: Transfer of information but Alliance B wants to use a SA to pay for the information

Alliance 1 Mystics of Avaellia (111) & Alliance 2 Freedom Brigade (103)
The following message is sent to the GM:

Game 31, Freedom Brigade (103), Account Number: 54231. Joe Jefferson
Using a SA the following information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) is to be passed on to the Mystics of Avaellia (111). This is not misinformation. They will be paying our Alliance 50,000 gold in exchange for the information
The information would then be enclosed, which would then be checked to make sure it is correct passed onto the Mystics of Avaellia.

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A message from one of the Mystics of Avaellia Alliance players to confirm the details should be sent, so the players need to sort this out before contacting the GM. The reason for doing this is that unscrupulous players could agree to a deal and then back out costing another Alliance a SA.

Mystics of Avaellia: 111, Account Number: 12345 Bobby Joe Smith
The Freedom Brigade (103) are selling our Alliance information about the Tavack Officials for 50,000 gold. We agree to the sale and want to use a SA to take the gold from our Alliance bank account.

As the Mystics of Avaellia confirm that they are going to pay 50,000 gold and they currently have the required amount in the designated bank account then the following information will appear on every party's turn in the Alliances.

Mystics of Avaellia: - 'The following information from Freedom Brigade (103) has been received… (The information would be included.)'

Freedom Brigade: - 'The Alliance has passed on information about the settlement Officials of Tavack (11) to the Mystics of Avaellia (111). 50,000 gold has been transferred to the Alliance bank account.'

Whether the information is correct or incorrect the transfer of Gold and whatever payment was specified, will have gone ahead and any Special Actions used; there is no way round this.
It is possible that some players reading this are thinking that using a SA to transfer payment for information when it can be done with normal orders is quite expensive but this option could be used to force an Alliance to complete their part of the deal.
N.B. Alliances have to use this method to avoid any problems. However, Alliances can choose to contact each other directly, but that means that they cannot use any in-game means of working out whether they have been misinformed and they cannot use this information with regards to Special Actions and moderation in general. It also means that they will have to sort out their own methods of payment. If an Alliance tries to use Special Actions on information without having done the IC Deal first, the GM must conclude that there is an OOC spy in one of the Alliances, and that the Alliance is cheating, which may not include all of the players in the Alliance but the Alliance will still be investigated by the GM and likely penalised.

SPYING

Spying has to be kept in game. Since Alliances cannot act properly on moderation information without involving the GM, it is not possible to transfer information just between players. IC the Alliance members would have methods for finding spies, and the spies found would likely all be killed. Due to the nature of the game this is not possible, so an Alliance (A) that has a spy in another Alliance (B) has to inform the GM immediately. For each piece of moderation information the spy passes onto the Alliance it costs a Special Action. This simulates several things: the difficulty of being a spy, not getting caught and giving Alliance (B) a chance to uncover the spy. Failure to follow these rules will result in the entire Alliance being disciplined for cheating.

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HUNTING FOR A SPY

An Alliance can issue a SA to actively hunt for a spy in its midst, however as this SA would tip the spy off OOC the SA needs to have a cover story; so it costs a SA to carry out a search for a spy in the Alliance and the cover story the Alliance is given as to why a SA has been used is a FA. A cover story FA is only allowed on spy search SA. The cover story should make sense for it to work. It is best to avoid a cover story that involves anything that should result in a tangible item in the game, as a party can be scouted and the lie discovered. Another cover story to avoid is one that involves a major action for the Alliance, as the Alliance members will likely expect to see some juicy results on a subject.

MODERATED GLOBAL PLOT INFORMATION

A piece of information may be tagged with an OOC message that says 'Global Plot'. If a piece of information does not have this tag, which is the vast majority, then the rules for Global Plot do not apply. The tag includes a code that needs to be included whenever making references to the information. Do not ask the GM if a piece of information should have a tag of Global Plot since the vast majority of information is not Global Plot it is highly unlikely a mistake will occur, and also if players could question information in this way then the game would be potentially unmanageable due to the time required of checking countless requests to double-check whether something is global plot or not.
When Global Plot information is acted on in anyway in a moderation action the information sent to the GM must specifically state that it is Global Plot. There will be an individual tag with the information that includes the date the information was first given out; this has to be passed on with the Global Plot information. After three months all Global Plot information is considered to be known by the Organisations, whilst this is not very realistic it fits in with the unrealistic nature of Global Plot to make the game more playable.When something is tagged as Global Plot it means that the information can be passed on to anyone else without involving the GM. It is important to remember not to contact the GM to pass on Global Plot information to other players. If you attempt to do so the action will possibly be rejected but it is also possible that a SA will be charged.

MODERATED GLOBAL PLOT INFORMATION & JOINT ACTIONS

A Joint Action is in reference to a party working with a party that is not in the same Alliance as them, which includes independent parties or other Alliance parties. Parties from different Alliances and independent parties that have been authorised by the GM can participate in a Joint Actions, but each separate Alliance is required to spend a SA to join in; thus it is likely that an independent party can not participate in a Joint Action.

GLOBAL PLOT AND ORGANISATION LIAISONS

Global Plot information is slightly different than other information in that it is more likely that NPCs will find out the information, for this reason Alliance's should pass on Global Plot information to their liaison if it is not too old, but as mentioned above it can be assumed that information that is more than three months old will become known by the various Organisations.It is possible that a single independent party could uncover a piece of Global Plot but does not pass it on to anyone, this is unfortunate for the player who might want to hoard the information but the rule regarding the three month time peroid applies in all cases, even this case.

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