140 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
140 lines
8.8 KiB
Markdown
# Diplomat copied-defense prototype
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13 September 2026. **Prototyped**, with **Partial** rules coverage. This connects
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the Diplomat's normal band for the canonical printed defenses that the opponent
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actually used: Shield, Snooper, Shield Snooper, defensive Weirding Way,
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defensive Chemistry and Portable Snooper sealed in the defense slot. The lower
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[retreat prototype](LEADER_SKILLS_RULES.md#bounded-diplomat-retreat-interpretation)
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is now connected separately; combined modules and other defense sources remain
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unfinished. Public Leader Skills starts and publication remain gated.
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## Source and interpretation
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The archived physical card says that, when its owner plays no defense, one
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Worthless card in that Battle Plan may count as the defense the opponent used,
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and directs that Worthless card to be discarded afterward. Jack Reda repeats
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the effect in the [designer walkthrough at 14:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT_azRVLq_0&t=851s).
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The [GF9 CHOAM & Richese rulebook](https://www.gf9games.com/dune/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CHOAM-Rulebook-low-res.pdf),
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page 9, keeps a normal skill active while its native trainer and card are face
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up. It also expressly keeps the first band available when that trained disc is
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selected for battle, if applicable. Page 12 limits a captured skill to its
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lower band. The archived component photograph and transcript are retained in
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the local source archive described by [the common source contract](LEADER_SKILLS_RULES.md).
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The connected interpretation therefore accepts one actual Worthless card
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from either plan slot, or offers a choice when both slots contain Worthless
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cards. An actual defense makes the skill unavailable. The opponent must have
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played one of the canonical printed defenses; an empty, unsupported or forged
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face supplies nothing to copy. Canonical identity is matched by physical ID with
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printed kind, name and effect, so a tampered card cannot inherit a role by
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claiming a printed name.
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The copied role is the role the opponent actually used in the defense slot, and
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each printed distinction survives: a Shield Snooper protects against both
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projectile and poison weapons and still counts as a Shield for the lasgun
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explosion; a defensive Weirding Way stops a projectile weapon but is **not** a
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Shield and triggers no explosion; Chemistry stops Poison Tooth, which a Snooper
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copy does not; a Portable Snooper sealed in the defense slot copies only its
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poison-defense role. The shared battle-card role helpers supply
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these distinctions rather than a binary Shield/Snooper substitution.
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**First-version interpretation.** Copying the opponent's already-used defensive
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role does not copy its activation, its late-play opportunity or its own-slot
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prerequisite. Two consequences are explicit implementation inferences. A
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defensive Weirding Way keeps its printed requirement that another weapon or
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Worthless card occupy the weapon slot of the plan it was played in, so the
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opponent's real plan weapon is validated before any copy is offered; our own
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plan needs no weapon to receive that copied role. A copied Portable Snooper does
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not gain the original card's after-reveal play, which the prototype already
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excludes for every late defense. The copied role protects exactly like that
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defense without changing the Worthless card's identity or either revealed plan,
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and the copied defense is resolved first so that the common surviving-trainer
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rule is evaluated afterwards. If the copied type does not stop the weapon,
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removing the dead trainer's skill does not change that outcome.
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Two timing and cleanup rules are explicit implementation inferences. The
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optional public choice occurs after both plans reveal and before traitor calls,
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because the copied defense cannot be known when the Worthless card is sealed.
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The chosen Worthless is always discarded after resolution, including when a
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successful traitor call preempts ordinary weapon effects. This combines the
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card's explicit discard instruction with the chosen scheduling point; the
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publisher sources do not separately address Diplomat versus traitor timing.
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The [November 2020 GF9 FAQ](https://www.gf9games.com/dune/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Dune-FAQ-Nov-2020.pdf),
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page 8, supplies the general winner-retention rule, which the chosen card's
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specific discard instruction overrides in this prototype.
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## Connected behavior
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New supported battles carry a version marker and an independent event-bound
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receipt. The marker also records which copied sources that battle admits: a
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newly stamped battle admits every canonical printed defense above, while an
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already-open older battle keeps its original canonical base Shield and Snooper
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sources only, so widening the quote cannot invent a retroactive choice for a
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pending plan that never had one. After reveal, the server derives the eligible
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physical Worthless IDs,
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opposing defense and live native assignment from current custody. Choosing one
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records its copied kind; declining records that choice. Either result preserves
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the original plans and leaves every card in its hand until battle resolution.
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Legacy battles without the new marker keep their existing continuation and do
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not gain a retroactive Diplomat opportunity.
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The copied printed role feeds ordinary weapon survival and existing Poison or
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Projectile Defense skill checks through the shared battle-card role helpers.
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The physical Worthless identity remains
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available to checks such as Warmaster. Only the chosen Worthless receives the
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mandatory skill discard; a second played Worthless follows ordinary winner or
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loser cleanup. The receipt is revalidated before views, normalization and
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actions against battle identity, turn, territory, plans, public skill posture,
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card faces and unique physical custody.
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The decision and its already-revealed card IDs are public. Internal frame,
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signature and binding fields are not projected. Before joint reveal, ordinary
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sealed-plan and hand privacy remain unchanged. Human controls name the opposing
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card, the actual copied role and each eligible Worthless card, allow an explicit
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decline, and state the first-version interpretation above when the copied role
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is a hybrid or otherwise not a plain Shield or Snooper. All
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four AI profiles use the public revealed cards and shared legality; no opposing
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hand or pre-reveal plan is inspected.
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## Evidence and remaining scope
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8 October native Ix/Richese skill-battle smokes prove hybrid protection
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against Poison Blade, Weirding against projectile and non-exploding lasgun,
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Chemistry against activated Tooth, additional Ix Snooper and sealed Portable.
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Each selected physical Worthless is discarded once. A capability1 battle
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finishes without a retroactive hybrid offer or missing-receipt rejection;
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new battles receive capability2. In Chromium, the live owned hybrid control
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reaches native leader survival and one disposal after actual traitor actions.
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This is isolated native engine/control proof, not deployed acceptance.
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Sixteen focused checks were observed before the broad checkpoint run. They
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cover the pure base quote, Basic and Advanced battles, either Worthless slot,
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two-card choice, same-disc survival, Shield explosion composition, captured
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discipline strength, decline, controls, all four AI profiles, private/public
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views, JSON/SQLite restart, concurrent choice, traitor cleanup, corruption and
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legacy continuation. Independent rules, privacy and persistence review found no
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blocker in this bounded path. A new isolated browser room used genuine skill
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assignment before a conserved staged battle. The human sealed Hasimir Fenring,
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Crysknife and Baliset, restored the pending copy choice, copied an opposing
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Snooper and resolved. Hasimir survived poison; Baliset was discarded exactly
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once. Keeping Crysknife and refreshing preserved that private card and traitor,
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four board forces, fifteen reserves, one Tank and eight spice. This is a targeted
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browser journey, not full-game acceptance.
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Two genuine four-profile Basic/Advanced samples completed in 210/223 actions with
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six/seven JSON restores and no rejected candidates. Neither encountered an
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eligible copy; targeted tests and the browser establish the effect. Required
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broad check results and final saved-game preservation are recorded in the
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checkpoint commit and private source-bound report.
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The bounded [lower retreat](LEADER_SKILLS_RULES.md#bounded-diplomat-retreat-interpretation)
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now follows a documented conservative strength and outcome order; this does not
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settle a publisher priority ruling. Carthag-added protection, mirror and
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numeric or Stronghold strength modifiers, late Portable Snooper play, and any
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future copied or modified defense still need a separate contract for whether
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generic roles or named exceptions are inherited; the copied role never imports
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a modifier, an activation or a late-play window. Canonical additional Ix Shield
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and Snooper faces use those same printed roles in new battles. Homeworlds, Nexus,
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Discoveries, Stronghold Cards, Tech Tokens and other combined modules remain
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guarded. These limits preserve the existing public gates.
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