spoon-business: Giant Hamster Balls

[Rob Speer <rob@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[[This proposal is not as demented as the subject line makes it sound.]]

[[I realize that this proposal does a bunch of calculations, which I
don't necessarily want to inflict on Dave - if necessary, I could write
a script which would input each player's Dimensions and calculate the
effects. And I think this is generally more fun than Property.]]

I propose:

__The Rat Race__
{{
1. Change all occurrences of the term 'Distance' in the current ruleset
to 'Displacement'. [[This frees up a useful term and makes it more
technically correct.]]

2. Create a rule: __Distance__
{{
The Distance between one player and another is calculated as the square
root of (the sum of (the square of each of (the difference between one
player's value and the other's, in each Dimension))).
}}

3. Create a rule: __Hamster Balls__
{{
A Giant Hamster Ball is a game object. Any player (but not a non-Player)
may state eir desire to equip emself with a Giant Hamster Ball by
posting a message to a Public Forum.

At the end of an nweek, after scores have been calculated, if a player
has stated that e wants a Giant Hamster Ball, then eir score is lowered
to the highest multiple of 20 Points which is less than the score.
[[The places in the Dimensions where you can get Hamster Balls occur
only every 20 points.]] Then that player is given the Giant Hamster Ball
and is no longer considered to want one.

The Giant Hamster Ball (GHB) surrounds the player who owns it at a
radius of 5 units. If a player with a GHB has a Displacement [[from the
Origin]] of less than 10, however, the ball is shattered by a mysterious
force and ceases to exist before any effects of GHBs are calculated.

At the end of an nweek, after Dimension changes have taken place, these
effects are calculated for all Players, in order by increasing
Displacement:

1. If a player without a GHB has a distance of 5 or less from a player
with a GHB, the former player has been Run Over by the Hamster Ball.
This player has eir Dimensions recalculated, such that they have changed
by only half as much as they otherwise would have. If there is another
player with a GHB within a distance of 5 from that new location, this
step is repeated. The player's Speed and Displacement are adjusted
accordingly.

[[ For example, a player who got +1 Activity, +18 Score, and -2 Charm
but got Run Over would instead get +0.5 Activity, +9 Score, and -1
Charm. The effect of this is that you didn't actually get to your
destination, because you were Run Over on the way.]]

2. If a player with a GHB has a distance of 10 or less from another
player with a GHB, then both players have Collided. A Dimension and one
of the two players are picked randomly, and the selected player gains 5
in that Dimension while the other loses 5. Then, for each of the two
GHBs, there is a 50% chance that it is destroyed in the collision.

[[ When two GHBs run into each other, the players bounce off in a random
direction, and the GHBs may be destroyed. ]]
}}

}}
-- 
Rob Speer