Cycle 16/Ruleset
The Gilded Hall stands abandoned, once the beacon of a now forgotten city, in a time before. In contrast to the decrepit buildings surrounding it, the casino's interior remains untouched. Warm lights cast the room in a pleasant tranquility. But this farce barely suppresses the uncanny silence in the air.
Time
General
All times mentioned in this ruleset are in UTC. Days start at 00:00 UTC. Weeks start on Monday 00:00 UTC.
Phases
Each week is divided into two phases:
- Rest Phase: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
- Battle Phase: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
The Phase Number is the number of phases since the beginning of the cycle, starting with 0 on the phase the cycle began.
Rules
A rule is a body of text which governs the state of the game. Rules that are in effect apply continuously. When a player joins the game, they agree to abide by the rules in effect.
A subrule is a rule that claims another rule as its parent. The subrule is not part of the parent; instead this relationship is to be used for organizational purposes.
A rule that is not a subrule is a top-level rule.
Players
Any person may become a player by posting a message setting forth their intent to do so in the channel #game-actions, provided they have not been a player at any point in the past seven days. A player may cease being a player by sending a message that sets forth their intent to do so in #game-actions.
A player is 'reputable' if they have continuously been a player for the previous seven days or if they have continuously been a player from a time that was within 3 days of the round starting.
A player is considered to be 'inactive' if they performed no actions in the previous phase. All players are active in the phase they join the game.
Proposals
Proposals are made by sending a message in the channel #proposals.
A 👍 or 👎 reaction from a player on a Proposal message at the time when the voting period ends constitutes a vote in favor or against, respectively. If a person's vote is unclear (excluding abstentions), it is considered to be against.
At the end of its voting period, a proposal takes effect if it is popular (as defined for its type) and the message in which it was submitted has been neither deleted nor edited. If more than one proposal would otherwise take effect simultaneously, they take effect in the order in which they were created.
The class of a proposal must be one of the classes listed below. When a proposal is submitted, the submitter may specify its class. if no class is specified, the proposal class defaults to Standard.
Urgent Class Proposal
The voting period of an urgent proposal begins at the time it is submitted and ends two days after. An urgent proposal is popular if it has no more than two votes against it.
Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, only a reputable player can submit an urgent proposal. Urgent proposals should only be used to correct the game to its intended state and to maintain playability.
Standard Class Proposal
The voting period for a standard proposal is the phase that started after the proposal was submitted. A standard proposal is popular if it has more votes in favor than votes against.
Judgement
There shall be a sole Judge, responsible for resolving rules disputes. An incumbent Judge can be removed with the assent of two players, but they should not be removed in this manner except for abuse of office. A person can cease being the Judge by publicly stating so.
A request for justice shall take the form of a question or statement. The proper response to a question is an answer to that question, and the proper response to a statement is the truth value of that statement.
Upon formal submission of a request for justice by a person other than themself in #request-for-justice, the Judge can and shall, as quickly as possible, issue a response to the request in #request-for-justice. This response shall be binding only to the extent that it reasonably directly pertains to the request, and only to the extent that it does not blatantly and obviously contradict rules text while still considering the expressed or clearly implied legislative intent.
Within 4 days of a judge issuing a ruling, a public vote of confidence on that ruling can be initiated in #request-for-justice. Votes may be cast in such a vote for a period of 2 days after initiation. Votes are to be cast by 👍 or 👎 reactions on a clearly designated poll message; if a person's vote is unclear, it is to affirm the judgement. A ruling is overturned if strictly more players vote in favor of overturning than affirming.
A ruling may be overturned by the Judge who made it within one week of being made. When a ruling is overturned in this manner, the Judge shall then issue a new ruling on the initial request, which shall be binding in the same manner as the original ruling.
An overturned ruling shall have no bearing on the interpretation of the rules or of the gamestate.
Any reputable player may become a candidate for the Judge by sending a message in the channel #judge-elections. If there are any Judge candidacies put forward during a week, the player whose message is both popular and has the most 👍 reactions from players becomes the Judge once that week ends. A Judge Candidacy message is popular if it has more 👍 than 👎 reactions from players on its initiating message. Ties are broken in favor of the player with the earliest text message during that week.
If no judge candidacies are put forward during a week, then the incumbent judge retains their position.
Randomness
When randomisation is concerned in this ruleset, it must be resolved by a generally trusted and fair method accessible to all players in the game, and as soon as possible.
When a rule would have a player determine something by random chance, that player should resolve the random chance as their next act, and must resolve it before other actions involving the result of the triggering event may take place - or by phase end. If the randomisation is not resolved, then the event either does not take place, or takes place with only the non-random, non-optional elements resolved.
For instance, if a player receives an item with an optional random chance of having a special trait, they must randomly determine that trait before they may perform actions involving that item, or else the gaining of that trait fails by default. If a player would receive an item with a random attribute that must be determined, they do not receive that item until the attribute is determined.
Random Choices
A person shall not deliberately select random values for a rules-defined action without intending to use those values to the best of their ability to resolve that action.
If a person has selected some or all of the random values necessary to perform an action, they shall not discard the valid specifications in order to attempt a substantially similar action with the goal of obtaining different random values. If there is consensus that a preponderance of the evidence exists, or if a Judge ruling, not overturned, finds that a player has done such a thing, all attempts other than the first are deemed to be invalid and to not have affected the gamestate.
Dice Rolls
A rule that requires a selection of an NdK value, for non-negative integer N and positive integer K, is requiring the random selection of N rolls of a K-sided die.
- If not otherwise specified, this produces the sum of N rolls of a K-sided die; that is, the sum of N independent selections of integers from 1 to K, using a uniform random distribution. If N is zero, the sum is zero.
- If a rule requires an NdK dice roll with a target number x, this instead produces the number of N independent 1dK rolls that meet or exceed the target number and can be abbreviated as "x+". For example, if a rule requires a dice roll with a target number of 3, this can be abbreviated to "3+".
Items
Items are entities defined as such by the rules. Items can be owned by players and are stored in their inventory. When an item's owner cannot reasonably be determined using publicly available information, or if it would be owned by a non-player, it is instead destroyed.
Items with similar properties may be grouped together into item classes.
For an entity to gain an item is for that item to be created in that entity's possession. To grant an entity an item is to create it in that entity's possession.
For an entity to lose an item is for that item to be destroyed from that entity's possession. To revoke an item from an entity is to destroy it from that entity's possession.
Reputable players may trade items from their inventories with the consent of all parties.
Inventory
Each player has an inventory containing all of the items they possess.
Trading
A trade is an exchange or transfer of items between two entities, with each entity giving a specified finite set of items to the other.
When otherwise authorized, a trade between two players takes place when both players explicitly consent to the trade in #trades within 7 days of each other.
Using items
If an item specifies an ability to be used, that item can be used by the player that owns it by posting to #game-actions, specifying the item, and any other required details. When used, the item takes effect as specified in its description, then the item is destroyed. If an item's description references "you", it refers to the player who used the item. If it implies that a player does something, then the player who does it is the player who used the item.
Chips
Chips are items. Chips cannot be eaten or used.
Vertebrae
Vertebrae are items. Vertebrae cannot be used.
When a player becomes reputable for the first time, grant them 20 + 5⌈X/2⌉ Vertebrae, where X is the phase number.
As a shorthand, Vertebrae may be represented in text by the symbol 🝬 or the abbreviation Vb. For example, the text "12🝬" is equivalent to the phrase "12 Vertebrae".
Cards
Cards are a class of item. A species of card refers to an entry in the table below.
When a player obtains a card, a duplicate of that card is added to their deck for each ongoing Exoptosis game that does not already have a duplicate of that card in play.
| Name | Value(s) | Suit(s) | Colour(s) | Type(s) | Effect(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace of Hearts | 1 | Hearts | Red | Special | Select another participant. They draw 2 cards from their deck. |
| 2 of Hearts | 2 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 3 of Hearts | 3 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 4 of Hearts | 4 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 5 of Hearts | 5 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 6 of Hearts | 6 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 7 of Hearts | 7 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 8 of Hearts | 8 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 9 of Hearts | 9 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| 10 of Hearts | 10 | Hearts | Red | - | - |
| Jack of Hearts | 11 | Hearts | Red | Special, Face | The next participant in the turn order must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Queen of Hearts | 12 | Hearts | Red | Special, Face | Select a participant and a card in their hand. This card is destroyed and they must draw a different card. |
| King of Hearts | 12 | Hearts | Red | Special, Face | Select two participants. Each must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Ace of Diamonds | 1 | Diamonds | Red | Special | Select another participant. They draw 2 cards from their deck. |
| 2 of Diamonds | 2 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 3 of Diamonds | 3 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 4 of Diamonds | 4 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 5 of Diamonds | 5 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 6 of Diamonds | 6 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 7 of Diamonds | 7 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 8 of Diamonds | 8 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 9 of Diamonds | 9 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| 10 of Diamonds | 10 | Diamonds | Red | - | - |
| Jack of Diamonds | 11 | Diamonds | Red | Special, Face | The next participant in the turn order must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Queen of Diamonds | 12 | Diamonds | Red | Special, Face | Select a participant and a card in their hand. This card is destroyed and they must draw a different card. |
| King of Diamonds | 12 | Diamonds | Red | Special, Face | Select two participants. Each must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Ace of Spades | 1 | Spades | Black | Special | Select another participant. They draw 2 cards from their deck. |
| 2 of Spades | 2 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 3 of Spades | 3 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 4 of Spades | 4 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 5 of Spades | 5 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 6 of Spades | 6 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 7 of Spades | 7 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 8 of Spades | 8 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 9 of Spades | 9 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| 10 of Spades | 10 | Spades | Black | - | - |
| Jack of Spades | 11 | Spades | Black | Special, Face | The next participant in the turn order must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Queen of Spades | 12 | Spades | Black | Special, Face | Select a participant and a card in their hand. This card is destroyed and they must draw a different card. |
| King of Spades | 12 | Spades | Black | Special, Face | Select two participants. Each must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Ace of Clubs | 1 | Clubs | Black | Special | Select another participant. They draw 2 cards from their deck. |
| 2 of Clubs | 2 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 3 of Clubs | 3 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 4 of Clubs | 4 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 5 of Clubs | 5 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 6 of Clubs | 6 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 7 of Clubs | 7 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 8 of Clubs | 8 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 9 of Clubs | 9 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| 10 of Clubs | 10 | Clubs | Black | - | - |
| Jack of Clubs | 11 | Clubs | Black | Special, Face | The next participant in the turn order must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Queen of Clubs | 12 | Clubs | Black | Special, Face | Select a participant and a card in their hand. This card is destroyed and they must draw a different card. |
| King of Clubs | 12 | Clubs | Black | Special, Face | Select two participants. Each must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Red Joker | - | - | Red | Special | Can be played upon anything but only cards of the colour Red can be played upon them. |
| Black Joker | - | - | Black | Special | Can be played upon anything but only cards of the colour Black can be played upon them. |
| Credit Card | All Natural Numbers | - | Green | Special | can be played on anything if you have at least 3 vertebrae. You lose 3 vertebrae and the owner of the previous card on the pile gains 3 vertebrae. |
| Go to jail monopoly card | 2 | - | White | Special | If this card is played on the pile, all owners of creditcards wich are played on the pile lose 3 vertebrae if possible, you gain 3 vertebrae. If an owner was unable to lose 3 vertebrae they skip there next turn. |
| Amalgam | ? | ? | ? | Null | - |
| Exploding Kitten | 0 | - | Red, Black | Special | A random card in your hand is destroyed. |
| Coup Duke | 3 | - | Magenta | - | Select a player. If that player has at least 3 Vertebrae, grant yourself 3 Vertebrae and revoke 3 Vertebrae from that player. |
| Lotto Ticket | 1000000 | Diamonds | Cyan | Special | Roll 1d100. If 1, you forfeit. If 100, you win the game of Exoptosis. |
| Blue Uno Reverse | - | - | Blue | - | The turn order is reversed before your turn ends. If there is only 1 other player, take an additional turn. |
| Red Uno Reverse | - | - | Red | - | The turn order is reversed before your turn ends. If there is only 1 other player, take an additional turn. |
| Green Uno Reverse | - | - | Green | - | The turn order is reversed before your turn ends. If there is only 1 other player, take an additional turn. |
| Yellow Uno Reverse | - | - | Yellow | - | The turn order is reversed before your turn ends. If there is only 1 other player, take an additional turn. |
Colours
Cards may have a set of colours. When a colour's opposite is referred to, it it detailed in the list below:
- Red and Black are opposites.
- Black and White are opposites.
- Red and Cyan are opposites.
- Yellow and Blue are opposites.
- Green and Magenta are opposites.
Types
Cards may have a set of types.
| Type | Effect(s) |
|---|---|
| Special | A card with the special typing is a special card. Any card without the special typing is non-special. |
| Face | A card with the face typing is a face card. |
Modifiers
Individual cards (and not species of cards) may have additional modifiers applied to them.
| Name | Effect(s) |
|---|---|
| Holographic | Grant the player who plays the card 1 vertebrae. |
| Torn | When played, the card's value has -3 + 1d5 added to it. If this would make the action illegal, it is still permitted but the player must draw 1 card from their deck. |
| Timely | Timely cards cannot be selected at the beginning of a battle. Timely cards can be played outside of turn order. |
| Bound | Bound cards are tied to the player that did the action that caused the modifier to be applied. Whenever a bound card is played, grant that player 1 vertebrae. |
| Fragile | Fragile cards can only be used in 3 battles, then they are destroyed. |
| Speedy | When played, force that player to take another turn if the last card played was not Speedy. |
| Useless | When playing, draw a card. |
| Mean | When playing, select a card in a battler's hand, and add the Torn modifier to it. |
| Demonic | When playing, select a card in a battler's hand, and add the Holographic and Bound modifiers to it. |
| Satanic | When playing, select a card in a battler's hand, and add the Holographic and Useless modifiers to it. |
| Unholy | When playing, select a card in a battler's hand, and add the Timely and Useless modifiers to it. |
| Sacrificial | When this card is played, grant the player who played it 1 chip. After playing it, remove all modifiers from the original and its copies, then destroy them all. |
| Wrathful | When playing, from each battler, select a card in their hand, and destroy it. |
| Deceitful | When playing, select a card in another player's hand, and you play it also. |
| Cheating | When playing, select two cards from other players' hands, and destroy them. If you cannot, you lose. |
| Adamantine | Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, an Adamantine card cannot be destroyed. |
| Chaotic | When playing, randomly choose Useless, Torn, Holographic, Speedy, or Cheating, and this modifier acts like that. |
| Reflected | When played, reverse the turn order. |
| Jumping | When played, the next player's turn is skipped. |
| Hearts Insignia | This card has only the Hearts suit. |
| Diamonds Marking | This card has only the Diamonds suit. |
| Spades Symbol | This card has only the Diamonds suit. |
| Clubs Label | This card has only the Diamonds suit. |
| Red Coating | This card has only the colour Red. |
| Black Coating | This card has only the colour Black. |
| White Coating | This card has only the colour White. |
| Cyan Coating | This card has only the colour Cyan. |
| Yellow Coating | This card has only the colour Yellow. |
| Blue Coating | This card has only the colour Blue. |
| Green Coating | This card has only the colour Green. |
| Magenta Coating | This card has only the colour Magenta. |
| Gold Plating | Gain a number of Vertebrae equal to thrice the number of chips betted. |
| Silvery | Gain a number of Vertebrae equal to the number of players participating in the game. |
Random Cards
When a random card is created, a card type and modifier collection(s) must be specified. If unspecified, the type is 'All' and modifier collections are 'Basic', 'Rare' and 'Colours'.
If 'All' is selected, all cards in the list in Cards, except those with the 'Null' type are randomly selected with equal weight.
When a random card is generated, each valid modifier collection has a chance - specified alternatively or outlined in the following table - of being selected. If selected, a random element is applied to the card.
| Collection | Elements | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Timely, Bound, Speedy, Wrathful, Deceitful, Cheating, Adamantine, Chaotic, Reflected, Jumping | 10% |
| Rare | Holographic, Holographic, Holographic, Gold Plated, Silvery | 5% |
| Colours | Hearts Insignia, Diamonds Marking, Spades Symbol, Clubs Label, Red Coating, Black Coating, White Coating, Cyan Coating, Yellow Coating, Blue Coating, Green Coating, Magenta Coating | 10% |
| Defective | Torn, Fragile, Useless | 5% |
| Cursed | Mean, Demonic, Satanic, Unholy, Sacrificial | 5% |
Card Packs
Card packs are a class of items. Any item with "Pack" or "pack" in it's name is a member of this class, unless otherwise stated.
If a player has a pack in their inventory, they can open the pack by stating their intention to do so, obtaining the random cards inside. Open packs are discarded from their inventory afterward.
Already-opened Pack
Already-opened Pack is a card pack. When "opened", that player gains 1 random card drawing modifiers from the Basic, Rare (10% chance), Colours (5% chance) and Defective collections.
Handy Pack
Handy Pack is a card pack. When opened, that player gains 3 random cards.
Deck Pack
Deck Pack is a card pack. When opened, that player gains 5 random cards.
Legendary Pack
Legendary Pack is a card pack. When opened, that player gains 5 random cards drawing modifiers from the Basic (20% chance), Rare (10% chance) and Colours collections, and 2 random cards with the holographic modifier.
The Croupier
A scarlet vending machine ominously casts it's shadow over a felt table. Cursive letters of neon blue lights label this abomination as 'The Croupier'. The lights blink asynchronously, taunting, terrifying... yet alive? Foil packs of some trading card game are stacked, framed by grisly embellishments of bone. A sickly brown stain garnishes an odd triangularly shaped slot, the only interface with the machine.
Players can purchase items from The Croupier at any time provided they have at least the required cost in their inventory. When a purchase is made, the purchaser is granted the item and the cost is revoked from them.
| Item(s) | Cost |
|---|---|
| Already-opened Pack | 5 Vertebrae |
| Handy Pack | 12 Vertebrae |
| Deck Pack | 18 Vertebrae |
| Legendary Pack | 50 Vertebrae |
| 1 Chip | 25 Vertebrae |
Actions
Players may perform actions by posting a message to #game-actions that signifies their intent to perform a specific action.
A player may in phase I state their intention to remove a card from their inventory in #game-actions.
The card is removed and destroyed from their inventory and they receive 1 vertebrae.
Card gifting
Once per phase, each player (the giver) may select one other player (the receiver) to receive an Already-opened pack. The following also occur:
- If the receiver is inactive, then the receiver is granted 2 additional Already-opened packs. If the receiver then performs an action in that phase, the giver is granted 1 Already-opened pack.
- If the receiver has less than 10 cards, the the receiver is granted an additional Already-opened pack.
Exoptotic Battle
Each instance of an Exoptosis creates a Pool and a Pile for itself, as well as a Deck and a Hand for each participating player.
During a Rest Phase, a player may state their intention to engage in Battle in the next phase by posting a signifying message to the #battle-commencement channel. They may only do so if they have at least 4 cards in their inventory. At this time, a duplicate of all the cards in their inventory is made into their deck for that upcoming Battle. When declaring their intent to battle, the player must select a minimum of 4 cards from their deck. These cards must be revealed before the commencement of the battle and are removed from their deck to be added to their hand.
If 24 hours have elapsed since the commencement of a Battle phase, the battle proceeds with only those players which have signified that they have selected their hand. If such a notice is given falsely or without revealing a valid hand, the offending player does not participate in the battle.
In this game, if 24h elapses from the commencement of a player's turn without them acting, they immediately forfeit.
Full Hand
When a battle commences, grant each participant N - 4 vertebrae, where N is the number of cards in their hand.
Rewards
After the conclusion of an Exoptotic Battle the following occur. The winner of a battle receives:
- 1 Handy Pack
- 1 Chip
The player(s) with the fewest non-zero amount of cards in their hands each receive 1 Already-opened Pack. Each player receives T - C vertebrae. Where T references the total number of cards in players hands upon the conclusion of an Exoptotic Battle, and C references the number of cards in a given player's hand upon the conclusion of an Exoptotic Battle.
Exoptotic Duel
A player may request a duel with a group of players by posting a message stating as such to #battle-commencement. These players may then reply to accept or decline this offer. If all accepted, the players play a game of Exoptosis together immediately.
Fusion
Once per phase, each player may choose to destroy 9 Vertebrae then select 2 cards from their deck to fuse together, destroying both. They are then granted 1 card with value, suit and colour randomly taken from the two selected cards' respective properties (ignoring modifiers). The card has all modifiers of the selected cards and is named 'Amalgam'.
Exoptosis
Setup Rules
Games of Exoptosis and the actions therein take place in the #exoptosis channel.
The cards in a player's hand and deck during Exoptosis are visible to all players. A game of Exoptosis may only commence once all players that indicated their intention to join the duel have revealed their hands. If it is the Battle phase, it has been 24 hours since all participants have been notified that they must reveal their hands, and they have not done so, those participants are removed from this instance of Exoptosis and the game may commence.
After all participants have revealed their hands, turn order is determined and betting may occur. If no betting occurs, the game commences when the first player takes their turn.
Winning
The first participant to have zero cards in their hand wins the game of Exoptosis.
Turn Order
The turn order in a game of Exoptosis is determined by the number of cards in participants' hands, in descending order. If multiple participants have an equal number of cards in their hands, their relative turn order is determined randomly.
Betting
Before the commencement of any game of Exoptosis, a player may raise the stakes by betting Chips or Holographic Cards, up to the number they have. Any bet items are removed from their owner's inventory and added to a pool for that game. If at least one other player matches this bet in number of items regardless of what they are, all players must either match the bet in the same way or further raise the bet by betting a higher number of valid items. Consider the raised bet a new bet and repeat the previous process. If a player does not wish to or cannot meet a bet they must match, they must forfeit the game but the bet they previously had (if any) is returned to their inventory.
If no players match a bet, the raised bet is refunded and the bet restored to the previous amount (or zero). This bet is final and the game then begins immediately.
The winner of the game gains all items betted.
Forfeit
During a game of Exoptosis, a player may forfeit at any time. When doing so, any chips bet are not returned. If only 1 other player is participating, that player wins the game.
Termination
With the consent of every player participating in a game of Exoptosis, said game may be terminated. Any chips bet are returned to their original owners.
Playing Cards
On a participant's Exoptosis turn, they may play a card from their Hand onto the Pile. If they do not play a card they must draw 1 card. Unless a card has an effect that indicates otherwise, a participant may play a card if any of the following apply:
- The card has a value equal to, one (1) above, or one (1) below that of the previous played card.
- The card has a colour that opposes that of the previous played card.
However, on the first turn of the game, the first player must play a non-special card.
Drawing
When a player draws a card in an exoptosis game, they select a card from their deck that is not already in play and add it to their hand. If they don't have enough cards in their deck, they choose another participant who then selects and gives the drawing player 1 card from their hand.
Should the selected player fail to select a card to give before the conclusion of the next player's turn, a random card from their hand is instead selected.
Victory
If a player possesses at least 25 Chips in their inventory, then the player who possesses the most Chips wins the cycle. The cycle then ends.