Ghyll:Main Page

Welcome to the world of Ghyll. The basic idea is that each player takes on the role of a scholar, from before scholarly pursuits became professionalized (or possibly after they ceased to be). You are cranky, opinionated, prejudiced, and eccentric. You are also collaborating with a number of your peers -- the other players -- on the construction of an encyclopedia about Ghyll.

Despite the fact that your peers are self-important, narrow-minded dunderheads, they are honest scholars. No matter how strained their interpretations are, their facts are accurate as historical research can make them. So if you cite an entry, you have to treat its factual content as true! (Though you can argue vociferously with the interpretation and introduce new facts that shade the interpretation.)

The core of the game is based on the principles of Neel Krishnaswami's "Lexicon: an RPG".

• Next deadline: August 31st, for the letter A.
• Current events: News and further information about the state of play.
• Lexicon discussion: Talk about the game, rules, questions, and OOG concerns.

Game Rules

New players may join in at any time. If you have questions, ask in Lexicon discussion.

1. Scholars shall define one entry per turn:
   1. Turns start at A, follow in sequence to Z, and restart at A.
   2. Scholars shall give priority to as yet unwritten entries.
   3. If possible, entries shall refer to two unwritten entries and one current one.
2. Scholars shall neither cite themselves, nor define unwritten entries they cited first.
3. Scholars may reserve phantoms by dibbing them before the turn's first entry.

Unwritten entries are colloquially called "phantom" entries throughout this wiki. @@ Though these rules are incredibly terse, they could be commented on a full FAQ/tutorial about the rules.

Another reworking.

1. Scholars shall write one entry per turn. Turns run from A to Z, looping back to A.

 
A dibbed entry reserves the entry for that scholar, stopping all others from defining it.

1. Entries shall cite two phantom (unwritten) entries and, after the first turn, one existing entry.
2. Scholars shall neither cite themselves, nor write phantom entries they cited first.
3. All phantoms for a letter shall be written before new entries are created for that letter.

I've regularised the vocabulary such that "define" becomes "create" (change that back if you like, but keep it consistent!), "player" becomes "scholar", and "must/may only" becomes "shall".

Anything Goes Until Everyone Knows

Ghyll is different from previous Lexicons (The Toothpaste Disaster, Nobilis, etc.) because there is no pre-existing world for entries to derive from. We don't know if the world of Ghyll is fantasy, cyberpunk, sci-fi, horror, or all of the above. Ghyll is a blank slate, and will be defined and finessed by our entries.

Using the Wiki

To participate in Ghyll, create an account, and login. Defining a new entry is as simple as going to its URL or clicking any of the red links. For example, to create "Crab apples", go to http://gamegrene.com/wiki/Crab_apples, click "edit", and begin typing your entry. More information about wiki syntax (creating headers, links, bold, italic, etc.) can be found at Wikipedia:Help:Editing (this is a third party site... DO NOT test your skills on their pages!)

Each defined entry has a "discussion" page. When discussing an entry (in-game or not), do so on this discussion page and not the actual entry itself. Think of the discussion pages as the footnotes in the encyclopedia's margins. Be warned: other scholars will see your footnotes and may take heated issue with your judgments!

• All pages: Every page created so far (in-game or not).
• All users: Users of this wiki, with their own discussion pages.
• Phantom pages: Entries which have yet to be defined.
• Short pages: Minimally defined entries that could use fleshing out.