House Rules, Simplified
24 Dec 2008

In no particular order:

1. All standard rules of Diplomacy apply. Specific version of the rulebook is insignificant; however, all GM rulings stand.

2. Delays will be kept at a minimum. Missing a deadline (even by a few minutes) will result in punitive action. The first missed deadline will earn a public warning and an NMR. The second missed deadline will result in immediate replacement.

2a. If a country stands at less than three Supply Centers at the time of the second missed deadline, the player will not be replaced. Instead, the country will be placed in Civil Disorder until all remaining SCs are captured by other powers.

3. Personal attacks against other players or the GM will not be tolerated. Any player known by the GM to have made an attack of this nature will be given one warning, and ejected from the game upon a second offense.

4. Extensions will be allowed or denied on a case-by-case basis by the GM. Extensions on the current turn are strongly frowned upon, but will still be granted if the GM deems it detrimental to the game to do otherwise. Do not dispute any GM ruling on an extension, as the GMs word is final in this matter.

5. Player or GM impersonation is strictly off limits, and will be cause for immediate ejection of the offender from the game.

6. All order sets sould be emailed directly to the GM, and only the GM, with the following Subject Line template: "[Game Number] [Season and Year] [Country] [Version Number]". For instance, "DC 222 Spring 1901 Germany Version 1", or some semblance thereof. Any order sets not emailed directly and solely to the GM, or with an inappropriate Subject Line, are not guaranteed to be accepted.

6a. If a receipt of orders is not received for an order set in a reasonable amount of time, the player should assume that the orders were not received and resend. If an NMR is announced for a turn, and the player does not have an order receipt from the GM, the NMR will stand.

6b. Only one order per unit per season will be accepted. If the last received order set for a season contains more or less than one order for a given unit, that unit will remain unordered for that season.

6c. All order sets should contain a full set of orders. If a subsequent version of orders is sent (i.e., Version 2,) previously received orders will be completely disregarded, regardless of completeness of the most recently received order set. No assumptions will be made as to player intentions for a unit thus unordered.

7. In the case of a multi-coastal province, where a fleet is involved, a coast must always be specified. Failure to specify a coast in such a situation will result in the fleet remaining unordered. Again, no assumptions will be made as to player intentions in such a situation.

8. If an error exists in an adjudication, the mistake must be brought to the GMs attention before the subsequent deadline. If an error remains after the next deadline, it will stand.

9. Any End Game state may be proposed by any player at any time. Only proposals made directly and solely to the GM will be considered official proposals. All End Game proposals will be voted on by all remaining players. All proposals must be unanimously voted on by all remaining players to succeed. A player may vote no even to a proposal that player put forward.

9a. If multiple proposals all pass unanimously in the same turn, draws including fewer players or solos will take precedence over draws including more players.

9b. At no time can an eliminated player be part of a draw or have a vote in a draw. Only active players can vote in a any draw proposal.

9c. If a game appears to be stalemated, the GM may choose to declare the game a DIAS if there appears to be no substantial change to the board dynamics for 4 consecutive turns (2 game years.) This rule is most likely to apply where some power(s) have demonstrated a stalemate line that cannot be broken given a fixed set of defensive orders. If the No Substantial Change rule is to be invoked, the GM will notify the players after the 2nd season (1 game year) of effect, allowing the players at least one full year to consider the implications of a potential stalemate. Any declared stalemate will be a DIAS where all players in control of at least 1 supply center will share equally in a draw. Some things that may break a stalemate are: The capture of a supply center; Dislodging a unit; or Player request, with explanation of why the game is not stalemated (ultimately at the GMs discretion.)

10. In any situation not covered in these House RUles, the GM has final say. If a player remains unsatisfied by the GMs ruling, that player may request that the GM consult the DiplomaticCorp moderators. The GM will always honor this request, if made, regardless of the situation.