by Rod Chamberlin

1) The standard (1971) Diplomacy rules apply except as amended below (and altered during the course of the game).

2) The players may at any stage during the game propose alterations to be made to the current rules.  These proposals are part of that player’s orders and reported as part of that player’s move.  The changes are then assigned a percentage vote by the GM which can range from anything between 5 and 100 percent.  The following turn all players must send in votes for each of last turn’s proposals.  Voting takes place on a one supply center, one vote policy.  Abstentions counting neither for nor against, and the net percentage (votes for/total votes against) is calculated.  If this value is greater than or equal to the percentage required to pass the alteration, then the alteration is passed, and the rules are amended accordingly, taking effect on the subsequent turn.  If the alteration fails, then no rules amendments take place.  The vote totals are reported as a percentage and no indication will be given as to who voted for what.

Notes:

The end game proposal is longer necessary in erratic diplomacy, since it is merely a proposed amendment of the form: “Austria is First, Italy second, and France third”.  Such proposals will always require 100 percent of the vote, however because of the voting system used, abstention will, in effect, always count FOR.

Examples of proposed amendments with the percentage of votes required.

1)         Italy is now in anarchy  –  100%

2)         Every new army build is a double strength army –  70%

3)         Switzerland is now passable – 60%

4)         Tunis no longer connects to North Africa – 20%

Obviously all of these are not definitive values, the actual value selected would depend upon the position, e.g. were a foreign fleet in North Africa when Italy tried to pass proposal four, then the required vote would be substantially more.