Misfortune Mechanism Proposal

Hey all! Some slight mod-stuff to attend to here.

When I think back to GFA 1.0 and ANC, it occurs to me that none of us ever had very bad luck, as far as I can tell. Chance had very little to play with things and when shit happened, it was never in a "shit happens" kind of way, you know? Nobody dies unexpectedly, nobody misses their train, nothing.

Combining that notion with the generally quiet nature of GFA 2.0 thus far, and it occurs to me that we need a little more random chance in our lives here. I'm not saying--necessarily, that is--that we need to abruptly have train derailments and volcanic eruptions or plagues, but we need...something. Just a little something.

Thus, I propose the *DICE OF MISFORTUNE!*. The *DICE OF MISFORTUNE!*will act as a little mechanism to encourage a little more writing, as well as potentially offer a means of radically altering stories in a more shit-happens kind of way. What I'm proposing is this:

--all players with at least five submitted pieces of art/writing will be eligible for the *DICE OF MISFORTUNE!*. This way, newbies who have not yet gotten their feet underneath them will be safe...

...for now.

--all players with at least five submitted pieces of art/writing will be numbered off 1-6; the initial roll(s) conducted by the mods will be used to select the "winner" of our roll.

--once our winner is selected, we will roll again to determine the severity of the misfortune. This is where things will get interesting.

--A 1,2 or 3 will constitute a "minor misfortune". A pre-existing character is inconvenienced in some way--they miss a bus, are injured, their elevator stops working, etc. This character is not necessarily killed, either--it can be pretty darn small if you want, or if you want you can be a cold-hearted SOB and axe them at this level--but again, not necessary. One can only hope your characters properly recognize you as a kind, benevolent author and give thanks accordingly, or they've made the necessary blood sacrifices to appeal your cruel whims. Addditionally as an option other characters may be influenced, but it's a small deal--a car crash perhaps, a house fire, that sort of thing. If a pre-existing character does not exist, you go up to the next level of misfortune.

--A 4 or a 5 will constitute a "moderate misfortune." Peoples gonna die. Multiple peoples. Now, the good news is that only one named character has to be killed, or they have to be debilitated in a substantial way. It can be as small as giving them an eye patch I guess...or, if you're feeling particularly cruel, paralyze them from the waist down. The choices are endless! BE A MONSTER, DAMN IT.

Alternatively, you can kill a bunch of nobodies, but the catch for this is that if you don't want to kill or otherwise alter the life of one of your named characters, you're gonna have to sacrifice a large unit--say a ship, an airliner, a train, etc. Potentially hundreds of people could die--but, Mary Sue gets to walk out the door tomorrow, buy a paper, and read about it and have you to thank for it.

And if somehow you lack what it takes to fulfill this sort of a role (the mods offer their condolences in advance), you go strait to the top--or the bottom, depending on how you want to interpret that. I mean to say, take the worst option.

(how can you sleep at night?)

--A 6.

Welp.

It's come to this.

If a six comes knocking, kiss your ass goodbye. You are Death, The Destroyer of Worlds for this one--well, not quite, but close.

You have two options here. One is, as you might expect, kill off a pre-existing character--but not just any pre-existing character. Someone important to your faction, perhaps. A king, a general, someone critical to your national identity if you will. Someone that the whole damn country--and maybe your neighbors--will mourn the passing of.

OR, if the death of Czar Uber Von Duber the Great is just too much to bare, you can spare them--but at quite a cost. Thousands of lives have to go--we're talking earthquake, plague, someone dropping a match in the very wrongest of places, etc. San Francisco 1906, Galveston 1900, these sorts of things. Depending on how you want to spin it, you might want to throw some units into the pyre for this one. Pro-tip: Have Czar Uber Von Duber the Great tour the aftermath, as a sign of solidarity with his people.

Once the player and the intensity of their misfortune is selected, we will notify the player and they'll have a week or so to come up with how they want to implement their bad luck. Feel free to collaborate with other players as needed, and feel free to come to the mods with any questions you might have. We'll be in the back, cooking pop-corn.

Rolls would be expected once a week.

--

So that's my proposal. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this! Lastly, formal announcement that the time vote has concluded, and that starting 1 January 2017 it is going to be a fixed 1 month/ 2 month ratio.

Long Live Czar Uber Von Duber the Great!