The Culture: Dunder Hosts A Post-Game Diplomacy Report

Last night Dunder hosted a panel post-mortem review of a recent game of Diplomacy.

This was a straight-up, no bullshit, play-by-post game of Diplomacy.

More people need to play this game as it is written to fully comprehend what the full range of play in the Real Game is; Diplomacy is a good introduction to how to win at the Big Picture level where Domains and Faction Play are done.

The Real Game has two tiers. Most people know the Me & The Boys level where is your man, their mans, and your collected entourages (Henchmen, Followers, Hirelings) do their tactical level operations (dungeon delves, overland monster lair raids, scouting/mapping expeditions, etc.). The Big Picture is where all of the context wherein those small-scale adventures is set, and adjusted, and into which your mans grow into over time.

The intersection of the two tiers is one of the engines that drives a campaign. The other is the ossicilation of actors' Diffusing across the map and then Converging again when actors come into conflict when their paths cross.

It is those moments of Convergence that make the campaign environment--the context of play--shift; how they get resolved, and who wins what, changes the course of play. The bigger the impact, the faster and harder those consequences rippled out from the point of decision.

THis hobby is far bigger than most even consider. The magic runs off Second and Third Order effects of decisions, which are faster to manifest when the game is played properly: Multiple Independent Actors, working at cross-purposes, operating under a Fog of War, until someone wins or everyone loses.

Diplomacy is exactly that: multiple independent actors, working at cross-purposes, operating under a Fog of War, until someone wins or everyone loses. That's its value, and what you learn here feeds into mastering Braunstein and thus into the Real Game at both Big and Small levels of play (because PVP is always on the table).