From DiploWiki

Overview

Game Description

Hail Ma'ax and read through Advanced Diplomacy Tutorial: Statements.

Then, hail Ma'ax and choose the parley option entitled Statements.

Follow Ma'ax's instructions and learn how to use statements in a parley.

• Statements Part One
• Statements Part Two

Walkthrough

You will be given the following 4 cards upon accepting the quest for use during the Parleys:

Dialogue

Quest Offering

"Debating things endlessly usually results in a fight, so you will need to learn how to speak decisivily. Other races are more patient when arguing, but we Martok tend to resolve things quickly, with words or axes."

"I'll add a number of new Statements to your Repertoire, and, before we begin, I'll inform you of how to use them in your Strategy. Once you have improved your Strategy, my lesson can begin."

"Advanced Diplomacy Tutorial: Statements"

"Now that you have completed the Beginning Tutorial, I will teach you some of the more advanced concepts in Diplomacy. If you do not feel comfortable in your grasp of the Beginning Tutorial you can return to it at any time. The same applies to this tutorial; you may review it at any time."

"First, you should open your Abilities Book and navigate to the Diplomacy tab. You will find four more cards there. Two will be listed underneath the icon as an Evaluation, while two will be labelled as an Assertion."

["How do I add these two new cards to my Strategy Tray?"]

"If you Strategy Tray is not open, click on the red Strategy button in your Abilities Book to open the tray again."

"First, you will have to remove a card. Click-and drag the card with a 1 in the upper-right corner to anywhere outside the Strategy Tray. This will remove that card from your tray. You should now have four open slots in your Strategy Tray."

"Click-and-drag both Evaluations and both Assertions into the empty slots. You now have a more powerful hand to engage in Parley."

["I'd like to know what these Evaluations do for my Strategy."]

"Firstly, each card in you hand is called a Statement. This means the same as card and Ability that I mentioned earlier. Form now on though, I will be referring to your cards as Statements and no longer Abilities."

"Evaluations are one form of Statement. You can think of them as a card type. Evaluations, as a card type, are used to give yourself Expression of a type. You can use them to build up Expression, which is like fuel, to power your more potent cards, what are called Assertions."

["What are the different Expression types again?"]

"Expression is the fuel you can spend to play more powerful cards. Evaluations generally give you a significant amount of Expression of one type. These types are Demand (red), Reason (green), Inspire (blue), and Flattery (yellow)."

"You have two Evaluations that work differently. One gives you two expression and your opponent one. The other gives you two expression, but moves the Parley Status one point towards your opponent."

["Why would I want to move the Status towards my opponent?"]

"That is something I can explain more in your next Parley. For now, just know that these two Evaluations give you control over how you will fuel your opponent, which is a powerful tool."

"Also, your Assertions will make up for this small loss. Assertions have a cost listed in the colored bubbles in the middle of your Statements. However, their Influence, the amount they move the Parley Indicator, is much higher than it is on your Comments. These are your heavy-hitting Statements."

["I have two of these Assertions here. What exactly are they?"]

"Assertions, as I said, are your heaviest-hitting Statements. Their cost means that it will take you time to build up Expression to play them. However, once you do, you will move the Parley Indicator, the track on the right side of the Gameboard, in you favor a significant amount."

"You will notice you have two Assertions. One moves the Parley Indictor three points in your favor, which is listed on the wax seal in the top right of the Statement. The other Assertion moves it by four points."

["Besides taking time to build up, how are these different from comments?"]

"Comments are used for fast gains on the Gameboard. Snippet of Wisdon is one comment. You will notice that, though it has no cost, it gives your opponent a lot of Expression. This is the trade-off between Comments and Assertions. Speed versus Precision. Assertions give your opponent less to work with but are slower."

"You racial Assertion is a perfect example. It costs four Expression, which you can build up by using both Evaluations, but will take time to play."

["I would like to complete the Advanced Tutorial now, as I understand these new concepts."]

"As before, there is more to be learned about the game of Diplomacy. I will, however, give you time to master all these concepts before teaching you more. The game has many moving parts, but will be very rewarding in the long run."

"Also, you may revisit this tutorial, or the Beginning Tutorial, at any time in your progression. From not on they will be listed under 'Diplomacy Gameplay Tutorials: Strategy and Statements."

"The new Parley option is listed blow under as 'Statements Part One'"

Advisor Ma'ax (Statements Part One)

Like last time, click on "Snippet of Wisdom" and press Speak to play it and begin moving the converstation, this will end your turn. Snippet of Wisdom is a Comment. If you did not add Snippet of Wisdom to your Strategy, you may use another comment.

Comments are easy to play as an opening card because they do not cost any expression; however, they also give your opponent Expression.

Cards are referred to as Statements in Diplomacy. You can have two new Statements types at your disposal in this parley: Evaluations and Assertions.

Evalutions are primarily used for generating Expression that you will spend on other Statements that have an Expression cost.

You can see how much of each Expression an Evaluation will generate on the bottom half of the Statement.

You have two Evalution Statements. Both of them give you the same type and amount of Expression, but they do very different things for your opponent.

One will give them a single point of Expression, while the other will move the Parley Indicator 1 space in your opponent's favor. This is important because it gives you some ability to control your opponent's play by determining what you choose to give them.

Assertions are strong arguments that have high Influence. Remember that Influence is the number in the colored wax seal on the top right of your Statements, and indicates how far playing this card will move the Parley Indicator on the track.

Assertions move the Parley Indicator strongly in your favor. The downside of Assertion is you need Expression to use them.

After playing an Evaluation Statement you should have enough Expression to use an Assertion. Look at the middle of your Assertion cards in the Cost field to determine how much of each Expression they cost.

Play an Assertion that you can afford by selecting it and pressing Speak. If you cannnot afford the Assertion, an error message in red will appear on the main screen.

Note that the Expression disappears from the Gameboard when you play the Assertion. You will also notice that the Parley indicator moved a significant ammount in your favor.

Almost all of your Statements, in some way, help your opponent. This can come either in the form of giving the opponent Expression or Influence.

If a Statement has a negative value in the colored wax seal (top right of the Statement), it will give your opponent that much Influence. Remember to look to the colored part on the bottom half of the Statement for how much Expression that Statement will give your opponent.

Take a moment to read over all of this and then you can continue your training in the next lesson.

Advisor Ma'ax (Statements Part Two)

Like the lessons before, play the comment "Snippet of Wisdom" to start things off.

We will discuss the strengths and weakenesses of your cards in this lesson, as well as refresh timers and a little bit of parley strategy.

When engaging in a parley, it is important to remember that the more Statements you make, the more Expression you are potentially giving your opponent.

The Parley Indicator need only be on your side of the board to score a Dialogue Point, so do not play cards needlessly and give your opponent more Expression than you need to.

Each Statement in parley has its own strengths and weaknesses. You'll notice that sometimes you cannot play a Statement as often as another. This is because all Statements have refresh timers.

Refresh timers are displayed as a range, measured in full turns of play, and are located in the bottom right corner of the Statement. Whenever you play a Statement, its Refresh Timer is randomly determined within this range.

So if a Statement has a "1-3," refresh range it could potentially be 1, 2, or 3 full turns before you can play it again. A full turn begins after your turn, and the timer will decrease by 1 after you play or pass on each of your following turns.

As you can see, maintained a balance between Expression, Influence and refresh timers is the majority of your game play. You must earn Dialogue Points by keeping the Parley Indicator on your side of the board while preventing the opponent from doing the same.

It is important to keep in mind that your opponent needs Expression as much as you do.

Starving your opponent of Expression they need is sometimes more valuable than moving the Parley Indicator, especially if it is already on your side of the board. Listening, or passing your turn, is a powerful tool if you are ahead.

This dialogue, like the previous ones, is also repeatable. You may practice this one as many times as you like, and come back later if you need a refresher. Also, if you wish for a guide to the terminology of Diplomacy Gameplay, you may find a Voice of Kaerellun in may cities around Telon, who can provide you with one.

Quest Completion

"Now you understand the wisdom of our ancestors. The strength of even the greatest warchief of Martok has its limits."

"The greatest leaders of Martok know the limits of their strength and what fights call for it. For all the other quarrels they utilize diplomacy so as not to exhaust themselves."

Parleys

Advisor Ma'ax (Statements Part One)

Name: Advisor Ma'ax Level: Station: Title: Statements Part One Conversation: Interview Presence Needed: Cards Played:

Advisor Ma'ax (Statements Part Two)

Name: Advisor Ma'ax Level: Station: Title: Statements Part Two Conversation: Interview Presence Needed: Cards Played: