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Fourteen Ninety-Two 
A Diplomacy variant by Edwin Godfrey 
 
 
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean
blue. With the benefit of hindsight, we know that he was to discover
the Americas, and that other explorations were gradually to reveal the
map of the continent as we know it. But to the men of that time the
world might have turned out in almost any form, and all kinds of
possibilities lay beyond the horizon, such as a quick route to Cathay,
the land of Eldorado, the city of Atlantis or the kingdom of Prester
John. Indeed, medieval scholars invented a highly sophisticated
pantheon of monsters and creatures that were said to inhabit the
unexplored lands.

This variant seeks to recreate the uncertainty of the times when the
world was largely unknown, by making the majority, of the playing
board unknown to the players, who have to 'discover' it gradually like
the early explorers. It is hoped that this will produce a combination
of the merits of Diplomacy with some of the adventure of games such as
Dungeons and Dragons.


0. The rules of Diplomacy apply unless otherwise stated. 

1. The players represent the major maritime powers of Western Europe,
   and their units and supply centres at the start of the game are as
   follows:

   England: F Plymouth; F Liverpool (wc); A London 
   France: F Brest; F Bordeaux; A Paris 
   Portugal: F Lisbon; F Oporto; A Coimbra 
   Spain: F Cadiz; F Bilbao; A Madrid 

2. The first move is designated as Spring 1492, and the game continues
   in Spring and Autumn moves as in regular Diplomacy.
 
3. The map attached to these rules represents the Known World at the
   start of the game. However, this is only part of the complete
   playing board. Before the start, the GM secretly devises his own
   imaginary map of the rest of the World, which connects on all sides
   with the Known World, but need not have any resemblance to the real
   world as we know it. There should be a suitable balance of land and
   sea areas, with islands and continents to be discovered, and a
   sufficient sprinkling of supply centres. Some of the supply centres
   may be occupied by native armies, which have to be overcome before
   the centre can be occupied. It is suggested that the world should
   be "cylindrical" i.e. that the eastern and western edges of the
   board should connect, with impassable barriers of ice to the north
   and south, but a flat earth or any other design is not ruled
   out. The GM may incorporate ideas of his own into his own design,
   so long as he gives sufficient information to the players when they
   encounter them.

4. When any of a player's units enter an area on the edge of The Known
   World or outside the Known World, the GM privately notifies that
   player of the number and shape of all adjacent areas, whether they
   are land or sea, whether they contain a supply centre and whether
   they contain any foreign units. Players may of course pass on
   information to each other, or mislead the other players with false
   maps.

5. A player who is the first to discover an area in this way may give
   it an appropriate name, which will be used in the game
   thereafter. If more than one player chooses a name, the GM selects
   the best. Failing this, the GM may choose a name. If a player
   subsequently conquers the area he may rename it.

6. Moves are reported in the game reports only to the extent that they
   take place within the Known World.  Supposing that ABC and DEF are
   the names of off-board areas, some examples of orders end their
   reporting might be as follows:

   Order: F(ABC) Stand         Report: F(OB) 
   Order: F(ABC) - DEF         Report: F(OB) 
   Order: F(SAO) - ABC         Report: F(SAO)-OB 
   Order: F(ABC) - SAO         Report: F(OB)-SAO 
   Order: F(SAO) S F(ABC)-DEF  Report: F(SAO) S F(OB)

   However, if an area outside the Known World has been discovered by
   all the players, moves are also reported to the extent that they
   take place in that area.

7. Builds take place as in regular Diplomacy. However, only the number
   of off-board supply centres owned by each player is reported, not
   their location (unless they have been discovered by all the
   players).

8. The following restrictions or additions to normal movement apply:
   (a) The areas of the Known World not divided into named provinces
       (designated as Rest of Europe) are impassable.
   (b) A player's units may not enter the home territories of another
       player.
   (c) Sea areas in the Known World (but not outside it) may contain
       any number of fleets.

   The effect of these rules is that conflicts may only take place
   outside the Known World or in the named land areas at the edge of
   the Known World. (Colonial wars frequently took place without
   involving a European conflagration.) However, units within the
   Known World may give support to units moving or standing in combat
   areas.
 
9. Fleets have the following additional capabilities: 
   (a) On leaving a home supply centre, a fleet has the option of
       moving either one or two spaces (cf. the pawn in chess) so long
       as the move does not take it outside the Known World. Only
       those unknown areas which are adjacent to the fleet at the end
       of its move are disclosed to the player concerned. This rule
       (combined with rule 8(c) above) gives the players a chance to
       explore in directions other than those opposite to their home
       territories.
   (b) Fleets may move directly from EMS to BLA and vice versa. 

10. For combined operations of armies and fleets, the same rules apply
    as in the Abstraction variant. See the Universal A/F rules module.


11. (a) Any native armies which the GM places in supply centres will
        not, unless the GM specifies otherwise, have any movement
        capability and if they are dislodged. they will be removed
        from the Board.

    (b) (Optional rule) A native army which is dislodged is
        transformed into a treasure unit (T) with no offensive of
        defensive strength, which may be transported by an army or a
        fleet. A treasure unit may be passed from one army or fleet to
        another by the first unit leaving the relevant space without
        the T unit, and the second unit occupying the space. Moving
        units should specify whether they are transporting the
        treasure. Units of another power may capture a treasure unit
        either by occupying the space where its previous holder has
        left it or by annihilating the unit transporting it If a
        player succeeds in transporting a treasure unit back to one of
        his home centres, the unit is removed from the board, but the
        player concerned is thereafter entitled to an additional build
        over and above his total supply centre count.

12. The game is won by the first player to control a majority of the
    off-board supply centres, the total number of which will be
    announced by the GM at the start of the game.


List of Known World provinces with standard abbreviations 

Alg  Algeria        Lpl  Liverpool     BLA  Black Sea 
Arc  Arctic         Mad  Madrid        BOB  Bay of Biscay 
Bil  Bilbao         Mor  Morocco       CEL  Celtic Sea 
Bor  Bordeaux       Opo  Oporto        CMS  Central Med. Sea 
Bre  Brest          Par  Paris         EMS  Eastern Med. Sea 
Cad  Cadiz          Per  Persia        ENG  English Channel 
Cau  Caucasus       Ply  Plymouth      MAO  Mid Atlantic Ocean 
Coi  Coimbra        Syr  Syria         NAO  North Atlantic Ocean 
Egy  Egypt          Tar  Tartary       NTH  North Sea 
Lib  Libya          Tun  Tunisia       NWG  Norwegian Sea 
Lis  Lisbon                            SAO  South Atlantic Ocean 
Lon  London         BAR  Barents Sea   WMS  Western Med. Sea 
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