Questionable Character Diplomacy (rg13)

by Lee Kendter, Jr.

A collection of thugs, crooks, and other questionable characters have sneaked into Europe. Every player gets the following characters.

1. The Briber – May attempt to bribe one unit to do the move it wants. On a roll of a 1 to 4 it succeeds. On a roll of a 6 it is caught and may not try again for 3 game years. The second time caught, it is in jail for life. The bribed unit ignores its owner’s request. If multiple bribes go to the same unit, the move with the most bribes goes. If the event of a tie, the original order happens.

2. The Embezzler – May attempt to steal a unit each turn. On a roll of a 1 to 3 it succeeds. On a roll of a 6 it is caught and may not try again for 2 game years. The second time caught, 4 game years. The third time caught, it is in jail for life. If the unit is stolen, it becomes a permanent unit of the embezzling country immediately and may be ordered that turn.

3. The Dealer – Each turn may pass out a free sample to one piece on the board. On a roll of a 1 to 3 it succeeds in handing out the sample. On a roll of a 6 it is caught and may not try again for 2 game years. The second time, 4 game years. The third time caught it is in jail for life. The piece receiving a free sample becomes wasted, and will have its move randomly determined.

4. The Gambler – Must declare the piece it is working with. That piece must touch the gambling target unit. The gambler may attempt to win the opposing piece. On a roll of a 1 to 3 it succeeds in winning that piece, otherwise the piece it is working with is given to the other player. The stolen unit may be ordered that turn.

5. The Hooker – May seduce one unit. The seduced unit may not move that turn. On a roll of a 6 it picks up a disease and is killed with the seduction failing.

6. The Thug – May protect one unit. This unit is protected from one attack that occurs on it. If the unit is hit with more than one attack, the defense will based on rule 8 order. If two attacks of the same type occur on the same unit, the defense is randomly determined. The Thugs may protect a country’s leader against the killer.

7. The Killer – First appears after winter 1901. It may attempt to kill a country’s leader. On a roll of a one or two the leader is killed. For this turn only, the country is treated as if it NMRed. On a roll of a three it gets caught in a trail this turn. For this turn, all the country’s characters go to court. All the owning country’s characters become unordered. On a roll of a four, it screws up and will randomly attempt to kill a different leader in Europe excluding the owning country. At that point it succeeds on a roll of one. On a roll of a five, it attempts to kill its own country’s leader and succeeds on a roll of one to four. On a roll of a six, it quits and joins the country whose leader it was its target.

8. Before the moves, the questionable characters are resolved in the following order: The Killer, The Embezzler, The Gambler, The Briber, The Dealer, and The Hooker. Note: It is possible for the later resolved units to change the orders of previous types. Examples:

A. The German Embezzler could steal A Warsaw. Russia was trying to gamble with it. The Russian attempt would fail, since it no longer owned by Russia.

B. The English Briber succeeds in bribing F St. Petersburg (sc) – Livonia. The German Hooker seduces F St. Petersburg. The fleet doesn’t move.

C. The Italian Gambler (via Venice) gets F Trieste and orders it to Albania. The Turkish Briber succeeds in ordering it to Adriatic. The Russian Dealer succeeds in giving it a sample. The Italian units’ move would become random.

D. In the event a piece is attacked by more than one type of character, except the briber, the order for the attack would be randomly determined. The last successful attack by that type of unit would succeed.

9. No country may order a questionable character against itself, except the thug in defense.