Wiki Updates

Overview

This is a list of significant updates to the wiki. We try to keep it as up to date as possible, in the hope it will be a more useful reference than the recent changes page which lists every spelling correction and formatting change.

By its nature this page will be regularly updated so when you visit the wiki try checking here first. However please keep in mind this is a manually updated page so at times maybe a little behind the actual updates. We tend to make an entry on this page once an update is finalised - so if something has changed and hasn't been mentioned here it's possible that the changes are not yet complete.

In early 2022, we moved all entries on this page prior to 2019 to the previous wiki updates page in the Archive namespace as detailed in Archiving wiki updates.

Druj Miasma

• 16/06/2023

We've updated the Druj miasma page, especially with reference to miasma pillars, so that it is less focused on information gained after the liberation of Reikos.

Cruelty

• 14/06/2023

Building on the commentary we added to the Iron Helms army page on cruelty, we added the word "needless" to the what the Varushkans are not section on the Varushka page.

Magic Quality

• 04/06/2023

We've explicitly added a note that the ritual targeting ability of an army with the magic quality can also target a region or fortification within a territory.

Haunted Quality

• 03/06/2023

We've decided to remove the Haunted army quality. There are no armies with this quality, and after extensive discussion we don't believe we would ever allow any future army to have it, either as a quality or an enchantment.

Farm Diversification

• 31/05/2023

Updated the diversification section on the farm page to make it clearer that "herb" means one of the standard five magical herbs. Any opportunity that grants "herbs" will always mean the herbs gathered from a standard herb garden unless it explicitly says otherwise.

Wolves of Winter

• 26/05/2023

The magnitude of the ritual Wolves of Winter has been increased in line with our recent changes to rituals that effect the downtime campaign. The ritual is not in Imperial lore, but the database has been adjusted to reflect this change.

Whispers through the Black Gate

• 20/05/2023

We've added a note to the special liao option on the Whispers through the Black Gate ritual to make it explicit that the option is not available to orc casters.

Throne Appointment

• 17/05/2023

We've edited the part of the Throne appointment that talks about changing support around and when the election ends inconclusively. The previous wording was a little misleading.

Navarr Warlocks

• 16/05/2023

We've changed the word "warlock" on the Navarr page. The word was very misleading and intended to be a synonym for "magician", which is what we have replaced it with.

Commonwealth History

• 10/05/2023

We've changed the year of the formation of the Commonwealth from 120YE to 105YE so that it is consistent with the background of Emperor Frederick.

Throne Election

• 05/05/2023

Appointment of a Throne is constitutional vote. We've made it more explicit that the Assembly of the Nine, as well as the General Assembly, can veto the election of the Throne. We've also added that one of the first things every Throne does is ratify their own appointment.

Marsh Commissions

• 19/04/2023

We've added a note to the commission page to indicate that the problem of building on marshes has become permanent.

Dreams in the Witch House

• 14/04/2023

We've added a note to Dreams in the Witch House inviting players to e-mail us before the event with information about territories they intend to scry so that we are more likely to have a response ready.

Conjunctions

• 12/04/2023

We've updated the wiki to make it clear that characters who are nominated by the civil service to oversee a conjunction can delegate that authority to another character and that they are not expected to go on the conjunction if they don't want to do so. Any player who doesn't want to oversee a conjunction can contact plot@profounddecisions.co.uk to have the responsibility shifted to another character.

Endorsement

• 08/04/2023

Clarified the limits of endorsing deals with eternals. An endorsement cannot support a deal made with an eternal that is under enmity at the time the deal is made. Amity or Neutrality cannot be retroactively applied.

Divination Rituals

• 06/04/2023

We've made matching updates to Clear Counsel of the Everflowing River and Combing the Beach, Both rituals now require an effigy to perform, and that the question posed be submitted the previous night. The response to the ritual now comes when it is performed, rather than some time afterwards. You can find more details about the change on the Rules update page.

Shuttle Service

• 06/04/2023

We have taken the decision not to charge for the [service in 2023]. We have no plans to charge for the shuttle in the future if the costs to run the service remain similar.

Regio and Portals

• 05/04/2023

We made some adjustments to detect magic and operate portal to lay out their functionality when it comes to detecting and identifying regio and the portals that lie within them. We included in operate portal the mechanics of accessing the Hall of Worlds (copied from the regio page), given how commonly that spell effect is used by magicians.

Military Rituals

• 31/03/2023

We've made several updates to rituals that involve armies and fortifications. The Rules Update 2023 page goes through these changes in detail. The rituals effected are Knights of Glory, Bound by Common Cause, Frozen Citadel of Cathan Canae, Forge the Wooden Fastness, Dripping Echoes of the Fen, The Basalt Citadel, Golden Ramparts and Stone's Unyielding Defiance.

We've also modified Clarity of the Master Strategist, Quickening Cold Meat, and the non-Imperial ritual Footsteps of the Fallen to change the roleplaying effects experienced by the general targeted by the enchantment.

Resources and Conquered Territories

• 31/03/2023

We've changed the way fleets and military units interact with the conquered territory rules. Previously these two resources had been exempt from the penalty for being in a conquered territory; we've removed that exemption. You can read more about this change in the rules update.

Venom

• 31/03/2023

We've clarified the VENOM call to make it explicit that if you are dying and have less than thirty seconds to live when you are hit by venom, then you should continue with your current count - gaining the venom condition never increases the time remaining if you were already dying.

Spring Rituals

• 23/03/2023

The effects of Fan the Flame of New Life have been significantly changed, and we've removed the Midwife's Recourse ritual from the game. Discussion of and explanation for these changes can be found on the Rules update 2023page. We also added a medicine section to the Technology page, and a section on the healing in Empire page.

COVID Safety

• 14/03/2023

We have updated the entry requirements and the rules for COVID safety for our events in 2023.

Bow Safety

• 14/03/2023

We have overhauled the rules for bow safety at Empire. Please make sure you read and understand the new rules if you use a bow or crossbow at any point at the events.

Blood of the Hydra

• 14/03/2023

Blood of the Hydra has been amended to make it explicit that it is intended for the treatment of limbs ruined by effects such as CLEAVE or the like. It cannot be used to regrow internal or damaged organs, and is only useful for traumatic wounds when explicitly called out. Damaged internal organs are very much intended to be in the purview of the physick, and regenerating or replacing them magically is a much more significant use of magic than simply repairing a limb ruined by a sword. (23/03/2023) Further discussion of this change can be found here.

Chimes of Annulment

• 14/03/2023

We've changed the casting time on Chimes of Annulment to be 2 minutes rather than 5, to bring it in to line with other rituals.

Knight-protector Declination

• 10/03/2023

We've added a note to the Knight-protector Imperial title about what happens if someone wins the tourney but declines to take the title.

Vital Strength of the Earth

• 09/03/2023

We've corrected an error in Vital Strength of the Earth which had the increased magnitude for additional targets at 5, rather than 24.

Lineage in Play

• 08/03/2023

We added some material about gaining (and losing) lineage after character creation. There's a section on the lineage page, and sections on each of the individual lineage pages in the Imperial (lineage) sections.

Liao and PLV

• 08/03/2023

Additional information about true liao has been added to the liao page. We've also added a new page laying out the procedures and mechanics involved in having a past life vision.

Card Wording

• 02/03/2023

We've added a line to the rules about cards pointing out that when a game itemcard and the rules on the wiki differ, the rules take precedence. Usually this is because a card was printed during an earlier iteration of the rules.

Auras

• 01/03/2023

We've made a few updates to the aura page. Durable auras are now auras that last indefinitely unless replaced, and we've specified strong auras as being auras with a strength higher than one. We've also explicitly called out that the insight skill does not reveal which (if any) virtue or malign spiritual presence an aura is tied to. Finally, we've added a section giving some information about spontaneous auras to the page.

Booking IC Spaces

• 28/02/2023

We've added the facility for characters to book IC spaces at the event - the Hub, Hall of Worlds, Miltiary Council and Senate - when not in use for official business. We've added a section to the page on Anvil to explain how this works and how to make a booking.

Dreams in the Witch House

• 24/02/2023

We've edited the description of the ritual effect for Dreams in the Witch House to bring it more into line with the way the ritual is actually working in the field.

Eye of the High Places

• 24/02/2023

We've removed the requirement for this ritual to be performed in a powerful Day regio, to bring it into line with Eyes of the Sun and Moon and Dreams in the Witch House.

Align the Celestial Net

• 24/02/2023

We've made a slight tweak to Align the Celestial Net to bring it into line with Wind of Mundane Silence. Neither ritual can be performed by a coven that is drawing on the power of the target regio to allow them to cast the ritual.

Army Enchantments

• 23/02/2023

We've changed the casting time of rituals that target Imperial Armies to 10 minutes, with the new rule about using the Imperial regio to reduce the casting time to 5 minutes. So far the effected rituals are Bound by Common Cause, Brotherhood of Tian, Why Sulemaine Walked Away From The Baker, Eyes of the Hills, and Machines of Destruction.This brings them into line with the other army enchantment rituals.

Longer Rituals

• 23/02/2023

We've added an additional power to the Imperial Regio. Any ritual with a casting time of at least 10 minutes can be cast in 5 minutes instead when using the Imperial regio. We're updating existing ritual pages to include a reminder of this effect. We've added a note to the "imperial enchantments" (Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths, Hallow of the Green World, and Wondrous Forests of the Night) to indicate that they do not have their casting time reduced by the Imperial regio.

Phial of the Sun / Bloodcloak

• 22/02/2023

We've updated the rules text for the Phial of the Sun and Bloodcloak magic items to make it explicit that they only duplicate the effect of the five traditional magical herbs; Bladeroot, Cerulean Mazzarine, Imperial Roseweald, Marrowort, and True Vervain. While other substances might be described as herbs, they are distinct from the five herbs used by physicks that these magic items can replicate.

Navarr Are Not...

• 15/02/2023

We've added a new bullet point to What the Navarr are not making it clear that while the Navarr are merciless toward their enemies, they are just as law abiding as any other Imperial nation.

Conclave Changes

• 11/02/2023

We've made extensive changes to the Imperial Conclave. This touches on the way a Conclave session is organised, all the declarations, and almost all of the titles associated with the Conclave, as well as the Throne. Rather than repeat them here, you can find a summary of the changes on the Rules update 2023 page..

Advisor on the Vallorn

• 11/02/2023

As part of the updates to the Imperial Conclave, we've removed the power of the Advisor on the Vallorn to raise a free Declaration of Interdiction.

Unstoppable and Pretending to be Dead

• 19/01/2023

We've edited the rules for Unstoppable. We haven't change the rules, but we've tried to make the intent behind the skill use clearer. We've also rolled in some points from the Rules FAQ as having information about a skill in two places can be unhelpful.

At the same time, we've made the rule about pretending to be dead or dying more prominent by moving it to the section of the rules dealing with dying.

Operating Portals

• 11/01/2023

We've made a few minor edits to operate portal and related effects (specifically the Ambassadorial Gatekeeper ritual) to make it clearer that you can't bring along additional living creatures even if they are dying or terminal.

We've also added a note to the Banner of the Season power of the Knight-protector Imperial title that the Summer Banner is specifically more potent than the others, as there had been some confusion around the fact the item is notably different to the other three.

Necessary Details

• 27/09/2022

We added a note to the necessary details section on the commission page making it explicit that in the absence of details about the cost of a commission, the civil service will always assume it is the minimum size allowed for such a commission.

Accoutrements of War

• 16/08/2022

We've added a boxout to the Accoutrements of War ritual making it clearer that the special production granted by the enchantment only applies to paid work, not to every action under the independent action dropdown.

Cardinals and Assemblies

• 15/09/2022

We've added a note to the cardinal page in the appointment section reinforcing the idea that a cardinal must be a member of the assembly they lead. Changing assembly (perhaps through preaching in downtime) means the cardinal forfeits their title. Likewise, someone without a congregation who gains membership of an assembly through the votes granted by a sinecure cannot become cardinal because as soon as they do, they lose their former Imperial title and no longer meet the criteria to be cardinal. Both are very edge cases, but are worth bearing in mind.

Imperial Enchantments

• 15/09/2022

We've adjusted the magnitude of the three Imperial enchantments up from 160 to 200. In-character magical scholars believe this is due to the increasing size of the Empire, and might have been heralded by a subtle conjunction of the esoteric constellations of the Key and the Lock during the Autumn Equinox. Out-of-character this is because we want to keep these rituals challenging, and the former magnitude is no longer as difficult to achieve as it was when the game began.

We also took the opportunity to change how Hallow of the Green World works. Previously the coven had to choose which herb the herb gardens would create. This is because when we first created these rituals we didn't have the ability to add random herbs to resources. Now that we do, we've update the ritual to work a little bit more like Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths and Wondrous Forests of the Night whose bonus production is set by the base resource rather than being chosen.

Cruel Quality

• 06/09/2022

In July, we made a change to the Cruel quality which we forgot to document at the time. Rather than an army with this quality automatically revealing it to everyone in a territory, it is only noticeable when it actively takes the Merciless Assault order. This change was made to bring the description of the quality into line with how it was actually working in terms of the downtime campaign.

Clear Lens and Shadowed Glass

• 04/09/2022

We've removed the line "A detect magic spell may occasionally reveal if there is specific, additional information in a specific location" from both Clear Lens of the Eternal River and Shadowed Glass of Sung because it was misleading; our intention was to allow some space for plot writers to create specific results from these rituals for their plots taking place on Anvil, but this has proved to be impractical.

Parliament of Owls

• 04/09/2022

We've updates the Parliament of Owls power of the Raven Seer to make it clear there is only one copy of this ritual text and the Raven Seer is expected to hand it to their successor.

Briar Bark

• 04/09/2022

We've made a slight update to patches of bark on the briar page. "While tree bark can come in a variety of colours and textures, briar bark is rough, and predominantly brown."

Shroud of Fog and Ravens

• 19/08/2022

As noted in the Of earth and sky wind of war, we're removing the ritual Shroud of Fog and Ravens from the game. Unfortunately, this ritual is completely incompatible with Empire's magic theory and was a remnant from the very first years of the game before we had nailed down all these elements. As a consequence we are removing this ritual. Any character who has it mastered will now have an empty "slot" for mastering new rituals. The in-character explanation is that the recent conjunction of the Lock has rendered the ritual unworkable, taking away whatever strange power it relied on. We will continue to reject attempts to create similar effects in this realm using arcane projections; it is not possible to to enchant armies in this way with Night magic.

Bright Lantern of Ophis

• 11/08/2022

We've added an additional line to the performing the ritual section of Bright Lantern of Ophis to make it more clear that the ritual cannot be used to target other territories using the Anvil regio.

Castellan of Spiral Castle

• 10/08/2022

We've corrected an error around the election of Castellan of Spiral Castle which suggested it would be appointed in Winter when the text indicates the appointment is (correctly) Autumn.

Improving Opportunities

• 07/08/2022

We added a section to the page on opportunities explaining that it's rarely possible to simply improve a commission gained via an opportunity.

Visions

• 03/08/2022

We've made it explicit that the visions received from Goosewhisper Infusion and Signs and Portents are the same. If you experience one, you get the same vision from all other incidences of these kinds of visions for the rest of the event.

Concedendce

• 29/7/2022

The Constitutional Court have issued new guidance on the use of concedence by the Imperial Senate. The new guidance grants national assemblies the right to veto a motion that cedes a region or territory assigned to that nation. This new guidance does not cover any concedence already passed by the Imperial Senate, it is not a retrospective change, it applies to any motion of Concedence passed by the Imperial Senate from Summer 384YE and onwards.

Raising an Army

• 29/07/2022

We've amended the rules to make clear that you can only raise an army in a territory of that nation. Nobody has ever tried to raise an army somewhere else, but we wanted to be clear that that is not possible.

Consecration

• 20/07/2022

We've updated the performance section of the consecration skill to make it clearer that "letting a referee know in advance" means "during an event" rather than "prior to the event."

Challenge the Iron Duke

• 14/07/2022

We've added a paragraph to the out-of-character section of Challenge the Iron Duke to help players better manage their expectation of the kind of challenge or boon the ritual might provide.

Abrogation

• 13/07/2022

We've updated the abrogation power of the Senate to make it clearer that when a commission is abrogated the exact effects depend on the nature of the structure affected, but generally result in the loss of any production following the summit where the motion is passed.

Preaching and Virtue

• 13/07/2022

The Imperial Senate voted during the Spring Equinox to change how membership of a Virtue Assembly was determined from relying solely on dedication to use of the new preach downtime option. We've updated the congregation and Assembly pages appropriately, as well as adding additional information to history of the Imperial Synod, Imperial Orcs religious beliefs and preachers pages.There are also a number of minor edits to other pages talking about the Virtue assemblies to reflect the changes.

IC Tents

• 12/07/2022

We have discovered that the range of tents marketed as Oxford Canvas has grown to include a small number of tents that don't meet our minimum requirements for the in-character field because the colour and thickness of the material they are made from looks too much like plastic. We've clarified the rules to make clear that these types of tent are not allowed because of this.

We do understand that the tents are appealing because they are cheap and light, but we have to have a cut-off at some point otherwise we would have to allow any tent in the IC area.

We've created an amnesty to allow these ultra-light sandstone bell tents to be used for the remainder of 2022 to remove any immediate need to change.

Naga Scales

• 06/07/2022

We've added a line to scaled skin under naga reminding players to be sensitive to real-world considerations when choosing the colour scheme for their scales.

Artisan's Oil

• 05/07/2022

We've changed the time required to use Artisan's Oil to ten seconds on the wiki, to bring it in line with what the majority of the item cards say.

Ephisis' Scale

• 24/06/2022

We've made a few tweaks to Ephisis' Scale, primarily around managing expectations and being more explicit about what will, and will not, be considered by the ritual effect.

Mage Armour Masks

• 22/06/2022

We've added "mask" to the standard pieces that count toward a suit of mage armour.

Plenipotentiary

• 22/06/2022

We've added a line to the archmage power of plenipotentiary to make it clearer that the more specific a message is, the more likely it is to result in parley.

Drawing the Penumbral Veil

• 10/06/2022

We've updated the Piercing Light of Revelation ritual to make it explicit that the ritual does not automatically reveal the magnitude of a shroud on a territory.

Fane

• 03/06/2022

We added a note that the new fane commission can currently be built only by the Senate or a title that can commission anything. This is both because it is a specific, new kind of commission, and because it uses the Senate power of concedence.

Penumbral Watcher

• 03/06/2022

We've changed the Shadow Well power of the Penumbral Watcher so that it is a "magical effect" that targets an allied spy network rather than a "territory enchantment" to better reflect how it actually works. If it was an enchantment on the territory, it would be obvious to the Empire's enemies, and could be removed with any territory enchantment they cared to place themselves.

Brass Coast Tally

• 01/06/2022

Following on from a statement of principle in the Brass Coast National Assembly, we've changed how the Tally of the Votes is done for Brass Coast national positions appointed through the Bourse. It's no longer required that a character engage in privateering to vote for such titles; ownership of a fleet resource is sufficient.

Anointing and informed consent

• 01/06/2022

We've (again) updated anointing. A target does not need to be aware of what virtue they are being anointed with, but they must be aware that your ceremony is an anointing that will create a personal aura on them.

Vallornspawn Husk Insight

• 29/05/2022

We've added a section to the vallornspawn husk page relating to use of the insight ceremony. It talks about the contradictory results received when using the ceremony on bodies animated by the vallorn.

Election Schedule

• 25/05/2022

We've updated the wiki to make clear that the civil service set what event a title is elected on, if the title is reappointed each year. In practice titles have usually worked this way anyway - for example Bourse seats are all done together and so forth, but we have made clear that new Imperial titles are subject to this rule in all cases. We've done this because we need to be able to spread elections out through the year for the smooth running of the game.

Sinecure

• 13/05/2022

Added a small section to the sinecure page explaining how production of resources works.

Titles, Tenure, and Ownership

• 12/05/2022

We've made some edits to the way tenure works for Imperial titles, along with a short box-out explaining the reasons for the change. We've also added a new section called ownership which is intended to help manage the expectation of players who gain Imperial titles during the game.

Dedication

• 11/05/2022

We've updated the overview of the dedication page to remove an incorrect reference to only priests who are undedicated being able to remove a dedication.

Imperial Orc Wayleave

• 18/04/2022

Fixed the error on the Imperial Orc Wayleave that had them only able to commission once a year. While the title is appointed in the Autumn Equinox it can announce one commission each season.

Foam and Trees

• 17/04/2022

We've added the line "The civilian population of a territory will certainly be affected by this ritual" to both Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea and Thunderous Tread of the Trees.

Mountain Remembers Its Youth

• 17/04/2022

We've made it clearer that Mountain Remembers Its Youth affects fortifications alongside Imperial armies as this wasn't clear from the effect text.

Rivers Run Red / Rivers of Life

• 14/04/2022

We've added a line "The civilian population of a territory will certainly be affected by this ritual." to the Rivers Run Red and Rivers of Life rituals to make it clear that these rituals will have an effect on the civilian population of a territory, not only the Imperial armies there.

Hand of the Maker and Stamps

• 13/04/2022

We've updated Hand of the Maker to make it explicit that the special message used with Call Winged Messenger can be evaluated with this ritual as it has a Profound Decisions ID number.

COVID Safety

• 24/03/2022

We've updated the wiki with our COVID safety measures for our events this year. Our plan is to review these measures and update many of them on the run up to each event on the basis of current conditions.

Sinecure Production

• 23/03/2022

We've updated the sinecure page to make it clear that you still gain the production even if you didn't attend the event.

Conduct Overhaul

• 20/03/2022

We have rewritten the Profound Decisions conduct policy. The page on conduct defines the rules that we expect all participants to follow, reporting a conduct problem provides information on the process for reporting any issue you have, and sanctions describes the steps we can take in response. We have also updated the text for the must-avoid policy to reflect the new changes. There is a description of the key changes and some of the reasoning on our rules update 2022 page.

Sutannir

• 17/03/2022

We have added a new wiki page devoted to the sutannir, archetypal Freeborn priest who focuses on encouraging celebration and festivities. We've also updated the Brass Coast religious beliefs page with new information to complement the updates to the sutannir page.

Public Auction

• 24/02/2022

We've significantly reduced the scale and scope of the public auctions carried out by civil servants at events. From now on, the auction will be restricted to lots of bourse resources, the bourse seats themselves, and a dose of true liao. A more detailed explanation of the changes and reasoning are presented here.

Sanctioned Events

• 07/02/2022

We've made several edits to our sanctioned events page, splitting some of the information onto a separate Sanctioned event advice page aimed at organisers. The main changes are around the definitions of sanctioned event styles, and the rule that all sanctioned events take place in the same chronological order in-character that they do out-of-character.

Downtime Roleplaying and Coronavirus

• 27/01/2022

We removed the relaxed rules about online roleplaying during lockdown from the wiki, and edited references to them. The normal rules about roleplaying online and in downtime are now back in full effect.

Wind of Mundane Silence

• 26/01/2022

We've removed the idea that the Wind of Mundane Silence can only be used to affect a powerful regio. The ritual will destroy any regio it is performed at.

Fish People

• 16/01/2022

We've added a note to the Merrow page under "what they are not" to indicate that they are not fish people.

Emphasising Agramant

• 13/01/2022

We’ve made a change to the setting we want to let you know about. From this point forward, the eternal who has been primarily known by the name Wendigo will be more commonly known as Agramant. Likewise we're changing the name of the Wendigo's Bargain item to Agramant's Bargain.

We are not changing anything else about the character or tendencies of this eternal, but we are de-emphasising the name Wendigo. Agramant has always been one of Wendigo's names - so we've chosen to emphasise it as the "preferred" name for the eternal on the wiki from now on.

We've done this for several reasons. We've been aware for a while of some concerns about the origin of the name, and what that implies for our use of the eternal. We’ve reflected on that feedback and noted that while many of the other eternals make references (at variable subtlety levels) to literary, mythological, or gaming sources, Wendigo was the only one we know of with a name that is directly featured in a real-world belief system. There are no eternals called Hades, Hel, or Balor for example.

For the time being, the name Wendigo will remain one of Agramant’s less-widely used sobriquets. We'd like people to adopt this de-emphasising approach over time rather than treating this as a retcon or sudden break - for example, we know that many characters have written a lot of material about this eternal. It isn't suddenly off brief or wrong to use the original name, and there's no need to reprint IC booklets that use the name Wendigo. The name will remain one of Agramant's less widely used soubriquets. From this point forward, the eternal who has been primarily known by the name Wendigo will be more commonly known as Agramant.

Archiving Wiki Updates

• 12/02/2022

We archived wiki updates prior to 2019. The page had long since become unwieldy due to the sheer volume of entries, and in several cases the page listed updates that were out of date or superseded by later updates. Wiki updates prior to 2019 are now held on the previous wiki updates page in the Archive namespace.

Frequently Asked Questions

• 11/01/2022

We've made some edits to the General FAQ, and deleted both the obscure questions and new player FAQ pages. Most of the questions covered by those pages have been folded into the remaining sections.

Calls and Blows

• 03/11/2021

We've added some words to Calls to make it clear that you can only make one call with each blow you strike.

Iron Qanat

• 26/10/2021

We've updated the Segura page to include the presence of the Iron Qanat; this has also required a note on the Construct Iron Qanat II Senate motion that the great work is in Sobral Grasses not Yellow Chase.

Battle Safety

• 22/10/2021

We've made some edits to streamline the Battle Safety section on the Event safety page.

Heroic Skills

• 22/10/2021

We've added a line to the heroic skills overview reiterating that skills such as cleaving strike, mortal blow or mighty strikedown cannot be used with mage implements.

Illegal Orders

• 22/10/2021

We've added a short section to the general page about army orders that are in-character illegal and how they are handled.

Orders that Break the Rules

• 22/10/2021

We've added a clarification to the army orders page about what happens if a general accidentally submits a set of orders that break the rules on war.

Imperial Enchantments

• 13/10/2021

We've made some adjustments to the Imperial enchantments - Wondrous Forests of the Night, Hallow of the Green World, and Bright Eyes Gleam in the Depths. The main change is to modify the effect of these rituals to better reflect how they actually operate - that they create powerful but unpredictable secondary effects as well as the more predictable effect on production of resources. We've also expanded their history a little in the description sections in the wake of the recent Urizen update.

Finalized Urizen Update

• 28/09/2021

We've finalised the Urizen update. Mostly this has meant removing the stubs from the pages but we've made a small number of changes to the content based on player feedback.

• The sword scholar section about costume has been edited to remove unnecessary references and make it clearer what kind of weapons and armour the sword scholars favour.
• We modified some of the wording on the Urizen look and feel page to hopefully make it clearer
• We updated the costume page to make the wording around less appropriate and inappropriate costume clearer.
• We clarified the rules on guy ropes in the In-Character Tents section of the costume page.
• We modified the details of the Net of Gossamer Chains ritual in the Some heavenly music wind of fortune
• We've moved the content regarding the Urizen Spring Festival to the culture and customs page.

Privateering and Piracy

• 09/09/2021

We have added a note to the box-out about the privateering action on the fleet page to remind players that they cannot use this action to commit piracy against people the Empire is not at war with due to the Civil Service observers.

Armour Coverage

• 09/09/2021

We have updated the armour rules to make clear that a full breastplate that covers the front only is sufficient to be classed as "covering the majority of the torso". This means it will provide extra hits provided your armour also covers one other location.

Urizen Politics Update

• 07/09/2021

As part of our review of Urizen, we've changed the way the nation appoints senators. You can read about the changes here and a discussion of the reasons and in-character explanation for them can be found here

Urizen Culture Update

• 07/09/2021

We've undertaken an extensive review of the Urizen pages on the wiki. Almost all the pages that form part of the Urizen brief have been updated. You can learn more about the reasoning for this and the way the changes are being handled in the Rules Update. A brief summary of the changes follows here.

• We've updated Urizen, Urizen people, Urizen culture and customs, Urizen leadership, Urizen economic interests, Urizen religious beliefs, Urizen military concerns and Urizen magical traditions
• We've greatly expanded the Urizen history page
• We've added significantly to the spire page and created an Urizen groups page (which will also serve as a template for similar pages in other nations)
• We've extensively overhauled Urizen look and feel in line with our new costume guidelines
• We've added or updated pages for all the Urizen archetypes: arbiter, architect, illuminate, mage, seer, sentinel, stargazer, sword scholar, torchbearer, questor
• We've added the rituals placed into Urizen lore
• We've added a page for the historical figure Sulemaine

Some tweaks have been made (or are in the process of being made) to various pages that are connected to these changes.

Costume

• 07/09/2021

We've completed rewritten the costume page to lay out clearer guidelines for the various ways costume is used at Empire.

Vallorn Miasma

• 20/08/2021

Added a line of OOC explanation to the Vallorn miasma section of the vallorn page to make it explicit how exposure to the miasma works.

Armour

• 2/7/2021

We have changed the classification and benefits provided by armour and introduced the dreadnought skill. Please see the 2021 rules update for the explanation and reasoning behind the changes.

Others Languages

• 28/06/2021

We've added a section to languages giving guidance on languages other than those currently placed in the setting which you can find here.

Regio at Sanctioned Events

• 28/06/2021

We've added a section to the Sanctioned events guidance about regio which you can find here.

Lineage Review

• 06/05/2021

We've completed the first stage of a review of the lineage pages. This stage has been largely cosmetic, removing bullet points and replacing them with linkable headings on the briar, cambion, changeling, draughir, merrow and naga pages.

One more significant change is that we have moved the "demeanour" trappings from the "physical trappings" section of each of the pages to the roleplaying secction. This is in line with the requirement that to have lineage you must have a physical trapping.

In the case of merrow, we have also moved blue-green hair from being a minor trapping to being an "other trapping".

Distill the Serpent's Stone

• 21/04/2021

We've corrected the magnitude on the Distill the Serpent's Stone page to match the correct magnitude on the database and in the rituals list. It should have been magnitude 100 rather than magnitude 70.

Icons and Artistry

• 01/03/2021

We've removed the "Icons and Artistry" pages for each nation, and rolled that information into the individual Culture and Customs pages. In some cases this has meant moving some information from Look and Feel as well, or altering the layout of the page (for example we've reordered the information about art and history on the Wintermark culture and customs page to create two new subsections of Scops and Riddles while moving the discussion of music to the new Icons and Artistry section).

• The Brass Coast
• Dawn
• Highguard
• Imperial Orcs
• The League
• The Marches
• Navarr
• Urizen
• Varushka
• Wintermark

Erawayugot and Skaftafell

• 23/02/2021

We've corrected an error with the regions of Otkodov where we'd erroneously labelled both a region of Verthandi and a region of Nithoggir as "Erawayugot". Bringing the wiki into line with the database, we've changed the name of the Erawayugot in Verthandi to Skaftafell and will update the maps appropriately.

Military Units, Army Orders, and Enchantments

• 17/02/2021

We've added a line to Military units to make it more obvious how their strength interacts with orders given to, and enchantments placed on, the armies they support.

Still Waters, Running Deep

• 10/02/2021

We've adjusted the magnitude of the Still Waters, Running Deep ritual to be correct as near as we can tell. We have no idea why the magnitude was recorded in error.

Burning Falcon

• 05/02/2021

We've adjusted the date of the destruction of the Burning Falcon army from 247YE to 248YE to remove a conflict with details of the campaigns of Emperor Guntherm. In-character this correction comes as result of some research performed by Freeborn scholar Bakar i Erigo (Tomas Marchington).

Duplicate Characters

• 27/10/2020

We've clarified the rules for having one character a time, to make clear that it is not appropriate for players to create duplicates of current or retired characters. We're aware that players have done this in the past to change skills or similar - but with the new rules on skill retraining there is no longer any justification for this.

Sinecure Correction

• 12/08/2020

We have corrected the production line for the 30 wain sinecure. There was an admin error with this data and the wrong numbers had been copied to the wiki. This has now been fixed (some returns for this sinecure size have increased as a result).

Toilets

• 29/6/2020

We have updated the conduct page to make clear that Profound Decisions policy is that all participants are entitled to use the toilet facilities they feel most comfortable with. This has always been our policy - but it has not been reflected on the wiki - nor communicated widely enough. That has resulted in some players being challenged on the facilities they are accessing. Challenging another player in this way is not appropriate at Profound Decisions events.

Anvil

• 14/05/2020

We have added a new page to describe the layout of Anvil and what you can find there at an event.

Sodalities

• 14/05/2020

We've overhauled the page for an Imperial sodality to make it clearer how the players can make one. We've removed some older pages to bring existing sodalities into line with the new rules.

Knight-errants and Heraldry

• 29/04/2020

We've slightly modified the Dawnish culture and customs and hearth magic pages to reflect an inconsistency with how knight-errants are allowed to wear heraldry.

Hearth Magic Update

• 25/04/2020

We've introduced a new hearth magic page and completely overhauled each of the ten national hearth magic pages.

Online Roleplaying Amnesty

• 20/04/2020

We have relaxed the rules restricting online roleplaying on our facebook groups and forums for one week only, running from the 20/04/2020 to 27/04/2020. This page describes the updated rules for online roleplaying which apply during this week only. We have taken this step so that we can encourage players and crew to create and share engaging content over the event weekend to stay enthused for Empire until we can once more be in a field together. Edit We removed the rules for roleplaying online during Coronavirus on 27/01/2022.

Election Elgibility and Changing Nation

• 10/03/2020

We've clarified that the restrictions on eligibility to vote do not apply when a character changes nation. A character who moves from Wintermark to Navarr, for example, is eligible to vote in a Navarr senatorial election regardless of whether they were eligible to vote in a Wintermark senatorial election during the previous year.

Arrows and Bow Safety

• 26/03/2020

We have updated the requirements for arrowheads at all Profound Decisions events for 2020 onwards to improve the safety standards for all participants. To try and ensure the least possible impact for our players, we'll have an amnesty for any arrows that do not pass under the new rules but would have passed under the previously published rules. Bring them to GOD and we'll swap them for £6 of credit on your PD account, usable against any PD event.

In addition to these changes we have brought in additional restrictions preventing the use of bows after dusk.

The Stork

• 03/03/2020

We corrected the text talking about the number of stars that make up the Stork astronomantic constellation. The text claimed there were nine, but the images make it clear there are actually twelve stars in the Stork.

Conscience and Proxies

• 23/01/2020

We've added some notes to the Conscience of the Senate page regarding their appointment of a proxy.

Rewarding

• 12/12/2019

We've changed how the Synod judgement of Rewarding works in the event that two or more judgements are tied and there is insufficient resources available for all successful judgements. Rather than being based on the order in which the judgements were submitted, it now uses the same rules for competing mandates (the judgement with the greatest margin between votes in favour and against takes precedence). Part of the reasoning for this is discussed here.

Night Pouch

• 11/12/2019

We have updated the night pouch spell - and by extension the Secrets for the Shadow Courier ritual - regarding what happens to items in the pouch when the spell expires. These items are lost - not destroyed - and should be handed in to the Ref desk at GOD. Such items may well come back into play again via unexpected methods.

Commissions

• 12/10/2019

We have updated the mechanism for commissions - previously you needed to email PD to assign resources or money to a Senate commission. There is now an option for you to do this automatically using the website. You can access this option from your character's inventory.

Adjutants

• 10/10/2019

We added a section to the discussion of how a general can appoint an adjutant to more explicitly call out the benefits of having an adjutant appointed who does not go into a dangerous situation alongside their general.

Treaty

• 08/10/2019

We've added a section to the ambassador power to prepare a treaty to make it clear that the negotiations around such a document do not have to take place face-to-face in the field. Opportunities presented in an ambassador briefing, or a Wind of Fortune, can also be included as they are assumed to represent agreements that the foreign power has confirmed it is happy to make.

Lineage and Twilight Masquerade

• 08/10/2019

We've edited all six lineage pages, and the main lineage page itself, to better present the "boons" that each lineage receives. A boon is a special ability that characters with that lineage enjoy, such as the ability of a changeling to fly into a rage when afraid or uncertain. We've likewise updated The Twilight Masquerade ritual to make it explicit that characters do not gain or lose boons while under the ritual enchantment.

Highguard Elections

• 26/09/2019

We've made explicit that when it comes to appointing a senator for a Highborn territory, if there is only one candidate put forward there is no election - as soon as it is clear there is no contest the sole candidate becomes senator.

Removing Lineage

• 25/09/2019

We've updated the rules and guidelines around lineage, especially as regards removing lineage once a character has been played. It is very difficult to remove lineage in-character, and if you are unable to phys-rep your lineage you may need to retire the character.

Whispers through the Black Gate Timing

• 23/09/2019

We've made a slight edit to the timing of Whispers through the Black Gate, indicating that you should speak to the main referee desk in GOD, and widening the margin to two hours rather than one hour.

Army Orders

• 09/09/2019

We've updated the rules on issuing defending orders to make explicit that an Imperial general can only issue a defensive order for a region that is controlled by the Empire. This has always been the case - but it was not explicitly spelled out on the wiki.

Arcane Projections

• 04/09/2019

We've adjusted the deadline for contributing arcane projections to just before the late booking deadline.

Member of the Senate

• 26/08/2019

We're added the ruling that giving a title the member of the Senate power requires a constitutional majority and ratification by the Throne.

Braydon's Jasse

• 21/08/2019

We noticed we'd left the hills quality off Braydon's Jasse. We've now made it explicit that this region has that quality.

Amalgamation of Silver and Gold

• 19/07/2019

We've added Amalgamation of Silver and Gold to the list of rituals benefited by a Mask of Gold and Lead.

Malign Spiritual Presences

• 10/07/2019

We've corrected an error on the malign spiritual presences page that said exorcism was the only skill for dealing with malign spiritual presences. This was left over from previous iteration before we changed how the ceremonial skills worked.

Great Works

• 08/07/2019

We've updated the wiki to make clear that any remainder from a great work is held over to next time.

Feni

• 08/07/2019

We've updated the description of the Feni to make clear that they use bows where they can get them and javelins only rarely.

Ministry Purchase Lists

• 03/07/2019

We've made a slight tweak to the default purchase prices for ministries. Some of the maths was incorrect leading to an odd diminishing returns curve. We will be adjusting existing ministries based on this progression.

Great Works and Fleets

• 26/06/2019

We've removed the ability to create great works that benefit fleets, bringing them into line with military units. At the time the great work rules were initially written, fleets had no military implications. With the creation of the Imperial navy rules, and the changes to the way privateering works, this is no longer the case. We have also removed the great port quality from shipyards - they are now explicitly only for creating and protecting Imperial navies.

Mandates

• 10/06/2019

We have changed the process for implementing a mandate. Rather than e-mailing Profound Decisions to alert us to your intention to enact a mandate, you now need to ensure the liao is handed in to GOD at the end of the event. Before downtime opens we will check every mandate, remove liao if it is present, and enact the mandate. This allows us to improve our responsiveness to mandates.

Military Units and Fleets

• 10/06/02019

We've edited the fleet and military unit pages to make the various downtime options a little clearer and more streamlined. We've also edited Foam and Spittle of the Furious Sea to make it clear that the reduction to fleets applies to both supporting a navy and taking part in a special opportunity. We plan to make more edits to specific rituals and effects to make it clearer how they work with the new wording, replacing references to "effective strength" and similar with "military strength" wherever possible.

Hand of the Maker

• 09/06/2019

We have clarified that Hand of the Maker will reveal the creator of an arcane projection.

Draughir

• 07/06/2019

In response to a query we added "cannibals" to the list of things that draughir are not.

The Conclave Font

• 30/05/2019

The free mana being provided to the Conclave font is being phased out over the rest of this year. From event 4 onwards the font will consist of just the mana collected from previous Conclave sessions. There is an IC and OOC explanation for the update on the rules update 2019 page.

Sanctions and Commissions

• 28/05/2019

Ahead of the explanatory Wind of Fortune, we've adjusted all the commissions (ministries and great works) affected by the imposition of sanctions on the "slaving nations". Titles effected include: Prime Factor of the Pallas Docks, Steward of the Tassato Mana Exchange, Jarmish Embassy, Overseer of the Cavabianca Dock, Asavean Embassy, Temple of Balo and the Black Bull, Temple of the Way in Nemoria, Bonesetter of Torfast Trading Post, Broker of Treji Wayhouse, Northbound Trademaster, Overseer of the Westward Road, Thule Embassy, Moonwater Hall, Towers of Anduz, Gloaming Road, Faraden Embassy, Suranni Ambassador.

Judgements

• 13/05/2019

We've added some details to the majority section, related to the way that the actual numerical outcome may have an impact on how a judgement is received.

Statement of Principle

• 09/05/2019

We have (finally) updated the statement of principle page to reflect recent changes to the influence of statements raised by the Assembly of the Nine.

Army Enchantments

• 18/04/2019

We have updated the rules for targeting armies with rituals to allow the casters to use the egregore as the target of the ritual if the general is not present at Anvil. There is an explanation for the change on the rules update page.

Imperial Address

• 17/04/2019

We've removed the requirement for the Throne to make an announcement to use the address the Empire, and the ability of the Imperial Synod to veto it.

Tariffs

• 09/04/2019

We have added a new power to control tariffs to the powers of the Imperial Senate. There is more detail on the rules update 2019 explaining why we've added this new power and the IC reason why it has appeared.

Appraisal

• 07/04/2019

We have added the new power of appraisal to the powers of the Imperial Senate. There is more detail on the rules update 2019 explaining why we've added this new power and the IC reason why it has appeared.

Conclave Procedure

• 05/04/2019

We've presented a few changes to the way Conclave sessions are run, following discussions with the Grandmasters at the Autumn Equinox 382YE. Firstly we've changed how speaking in Conclave works to allow a magician to spend mana to discuss matters with the person who raised the address or declaration under consideration. Secondly, we've changed the session order so that all Declarations of Candidacy are presented after addresses and before other declarations. This has required a slight tweak to the Veil of Night power possessed by Grandmasters.

We've adjusted the language on the secion about participation in the Imperial Conclave to make it clearer, and to remove some erroneous implications about who can speak and how speaking takes place.

Finally, we removed the prohibition that a person cannot be nominated twice on the same debate from Principle of Precedence.

Love and Marriage in Dawn

• 04/04/2019

We have updated the page on marriage in Dawn to bring it into line with our guidelines for equality and diversity and to add an option for Dawnish characters to dissolve their marriage (albeit at great cost for the nobility). We have added an accompanying page on love in Dawn that outlines the vital role that love plays in Dawnish society.

Common Attitudes

• 04/04/2019

We've added a new page detailing common attitudes towards matters of age, race, sexuality and gender throughout the setting. These cultural norms are designed to reflect the rules for conduct for the game; except where noted they are not optional. (Thanks to Dark Millennium LRP for some inspiration for this page).

Conduct

• 04/04/2019

We have updated the guidelines on equality and diversity to make clearer that discrimination on real world characterisations is not acceptable at Empire and to be explicit about the behaviour we expect from players when roleplaying around matters of romance and love.

We have also added a section making clear that Empire is a PvP game in which we expect PCs to come into conflict with each other - and make explicit that it is never acceptable to direct out-of-character criticism at players for choices they have made in-character.

General Appointments

• 13/03/2019

We've made a slight alteration to the process for informing the civil service when a new general is appointed. Instead of misleadingly suggesting any member of the civil service can be approached with the details, we've made it clear that it needs to be the Overseer of Imperial Elections (currently Merlot/Paul Wilder).

Espionage Estimates

• 13/03/2019

We've added a paragraph to the description of Eyes of the Sun and Moon and the scouting quality explaining the meaning behind the army and fortification fighting strength estimates.

Dawn Election and the Grand Tourneys

• 27/02/2019

We have expanded on the changes to the Dawnish senatorial election that began last year. There is now significantly more detail about how the new system works, and the nature of the special favours involved. We've also implemented a system whereby Dawnish characters can correctly register whether they are nobles or yeofolk as part of these changes. We've also made a small edit to the hearth magic section to make it clear that these new favours are of a specific kind; they do not replace the ability of Dawnish nobles to create other favours as they see fit.

In addition, we have created (or in-character, bought back to prominence) four seasonal Grand Tourneys. These tourneys replace the Senatorial tourneys of the past with a grand melee open to any noble (and to knights-errant) who compete for the title of Knight-protector of the season.

You can learn more about these changes, and the in-character rationale here.

Diversification

• 18/02/2019

We've changed the cost to diversify a personal resource. Rather than requiring two wains, the cost to change some of the production of a business, farm, mine, or forest to something different is now standardised at one throne each time it is done.

Emergency Resupply and Repair

• 18/02/2019

We've updated the rules regarding emergency resupply to make it more explicit how it works. When a motion (or similar power) is used to announce resupply, any Imperial citizen can provide resources to aid that resupply. The same rules apply to the emergency repair of fortifications. We've also updated the powers of the Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies to make it explicit that their power to resupply an army is governed by the same rules as the Senate motion it duplicates.

Senate Motions Sodality Added

• 15/02/2019

We have added a page for Senate Motions, the Imperial sodality that meets in the Senate at 11:00pm on Saturday at each summit to organize dance lessons for all attendees.

Brass Coast Review

• 17/01/2019

As part of our overhaul of the Brass Coast, we've added a significant amount of information about the history of the Freeborn. We've also removed the matrilinearity concept from the Brass Coast. You can read about the change, and the reasons for it, in this Rules update. As part of the changes, we're editing many existing Brass Coast pages on the wiki to remove references to matrilineal descent, and to foreground the philosophies of the three tribes as a core element of the Freeborn character.

Three particular areas where we have made changes are in the area of marriages and relationships, in family, and to expand slightly the information on magical traditions.