V10 (Unfinished, WIP release)

So. Version 10. This version's main change is how the world responds to your actions. Information and communication are now important to the AI characters, and lies and misinformation come with them.

Investigations

Previously a character would charge up their "suspicion" by seeing evidence on other lords, then, when they reached 100%, become lightbringers. A fairly simplistic system.

In this version, a lord/lady charges their suspicion by seeing evidence or being targetted by world-evidence revelations. They then must start investigating these signs. This involves the deployment of investigators, who will go to other cities to try to find the source of the disturbance. These investigators may either find the real culprit, if they can arrive at a city with evil buildings or with a high-evidence lord, or find a city which has fallen into shadow. In either case, they will try to run back home to report in. Their master will then know that the darkness is a real threat, and may possibly know the identity of one of the enthralled.

In either case, that lord/lady will then start writing letters to their fellow aristocrats informing them of their findings, spreading the knowledge further.

If the investigator were to die before reaching their target, or on the way back, however, the lord/lady will take note. If two go missing investigating the same city they will assume that this is the world of evil forces, and that the lord/lady of that city is the one responsible. Importantly, they will not always be correct in this assumption. If, for instance, there is an active war, the runner may simply have died from mortal causes. Regardless, the lord/lady's assumption will be made, and they will start writing to their peers about this discovery.

To advantage chaos, an action has been added to interpersonal actions. "False Witness" issues a lie, which causes a character to be accused of being enthralled, at the cost of that accused then assuming that their accuser is the real villain. What happens next depends on the flow of information, the amount either character is liked by their peers (accusations depend on who likes whom the most) and possibly a trial, in which characters may vote on another's guilt or innocence.

The "inspect character" button in the society screen has been given another page to its popup. This page tracks who the character suspects of being in league with the darkness, as well as giving a reason for it. It's pretty work in progress, but serves its job.

Taking action

Armed with this knowledge (or mistaken belief) the lords can now start proposing actions, rather than simply becoming lightbringers. They can demand execution of a character in their own realm, or a war on a realm believed to be harbouring an enthralled character. This can be very dangerous for the enthralled, as the entire world can now turn on them, but also a powerful tool, as misinformation can bring entire empires to civil war as they try to find the enemies within.

Panic

World panic is also in. It is a scaled response, which measures the total darkness across the world, and the recent world evidence produced by rituals and power use. In the beginning, the lords and ladies are content and feel safe, so won't take any drastic action at all. Certainly they won't waste time becoming lightbringers. As the situation worsens, however, things change, and options become available to combat the darkness. This prevents thing spiraling too far out of control too fast.

The fog

This is the main non-mechanical addition. A vast white cloud of fog can now envelop the world. It has rituals, world powers (similar to rituals but cost power), a disease and a summonable unkillable monster. It can be used for manipulating investigations (it can affect memory and kill investigators), spreading the shadow or providing a combat benefit.