Miscellany

ION
A fast-paced strategy game to be played on IRC.
© 2007 Alexis Damon

Objective
	To score the most points by the end of the game.

Gameplay
	Gameplay flows in a circle, and resembles UNO.
	Players have 10 seconds in which to make their move.
	If they make no move, they are penalized 1000 points
	and play skips them.

	Exceptions to this flow are the [S] object, which
	skips the current player.  The [R] object, which
	reverses the current flow, giving the current player
	a second turn, the [&] object which allows the
	current player to take 2 turns, and the [:] object
	which doubles the players move time.

	Each player must move by using a card or object. 
	If play moves to a player that has no cards or
	objects (this may be impossible), the player is
	given a pity card and is skipped.

	Upon making a move, a player recieves at least
	one card or item in return, and possibly up to 3
	additional bonus items.  Players also randomly
	recieve up to 10 coins (¢) with a 50% possibility
	of recievieving any coins.  

Teams
	Upon joining a game, a player is automatically
	put on one of two teams, the + or - team.

Cards
	Cards affect the bank.  Each card adds points
	to the bank (between 100 and up to 900), and
	may affect the polarity of the bank.  Initially
	the bank is neutral (at polarity 0).  The objective
	is to move the bank all the way (+10 or -10) to
	a team's respective polarity.  If that happens, the
	bank is dumped, and the players on that team recieve
	the points.

	Cards come in 4 polarities, and 3 levels.

	Polarity	Single	Double	Triple
	--------------------------------------
	Negative	-	--	---
	Positive	+	++	+++
	Neutral		=	==	===
	Bipolar		±	±±	±±±

	Note that the bipolar (±) cards can be referred to
	using the letter "b" in the game, to speed up having
	to use ALT+0177.

	Negative and positive cards behave the same in
	their affect on the bank:

			Polarity	Score
	Single		1		300
	Double		2		200
	Triple		3		100

	Polarity is how many spaces + or - they affect the
	banks polarity.

	Neutral cards move the bank toward 0.  If the
	bank is already at 0, the bank is increased 100 pts
	per power level.

	Bipolar cards do not move the polarity at all, and
	simply add points (100 per level) to the bank.

	Neutral and Bipolar cards are 250% rarer than
	positive and negative cards.

Dumping
	When the bank reaches +10 or -10 the resepective team
	recieves the contents, unless the bank is supercharged
	(see the [*] object).

	The points are divided amung all the team members, with
	the person that dumped the bank earning twice as much
	((bank / (num_teammates + 1))*2), while the rest of the
	team earns an even amount (bank /( num_teammates + 1)).

	So if theres 1000 points in the bank and 3 players,
	the dumper gets 500, and the other 2 get 250 each.

Coins
	Coins are earned randomly throughout gameplay.
	When 20 coins are aquired, they automatically are
	traded in for either a [R][S] or [:] card (with
	equally weighted randomocity)

Objects
	In addition to cards are objects that alter the
	behavior of gameplay:

	Symbol	Chance	Description
	---------------------------


	[S]	7%	Skips the current turn.

	[x2]	3%	Double.  Used to double the amount of points
			a played card gives.  Used as "x2 <card>"

	[R]	3%	Reversal tool.  Gives the player a second
			turn and reverses the flow of the game. 

	[&]	3%	Concatenation tool.  Allows 2 moves for 1.  
			This is used as "& <first object>".  Then
			it will remain that players turn for another
			move.

	[:]	3%	Extended time.  Doubles the time allowed for
			the current move (and allows another object to
			be played).

	[+--]	3%	Increase Time.  Adds a minute to the current
			rounds clock.

	[x3]	2%	Triples the amount of points a played card
			gives.  Used as "x3 <card>"

	[:--]	2%	Decrease Time.  Removes a minute from the
			current round's clock.  If less than a
			minute remains, the card has no use.

	[*]	2%	Supercharge.  Supercharges the bank for
			5 turns.  A supercharged bank can exceed
			the ±10 polarity limit without being dumped.

			When the bank is no longer supercharged, the
			first person to play ANY card will dump the
			bank.  Much like disturbing superheated water.

	[T]	1%	TAKE.  Stolen from the Classic Concentration
			game show.  Used as "T <object>".  Takes the
			specified object from the next player that
			has it.  If no players have the object, the
			TAKE has no effect.

	[X]	1%	Swap.  Reverses the polarity of the bank.
			Obviously useless if the bank is neutral.

Extra Points

	There are 2 ways to earn points:

	- Dumping the bank
	- A user quits, parts, or is kicked from the game.
	(all their points are divided evenly among the remaining
	players)
	
	There are 3 ways to lose points:

	- Not moving in time (-1000).
	- Random points loss.  The system will randomly (4%)
	steal points from you after a move (in addition to giving
	you an object).
	- Parting the channel, quitting irc, or being kicked
	will remove you from the game, and all players divide your
	points.

Commands

	join	Joins the game

	quit	Quits the game.  Points are divided amung the remaing
		players.

	inv	Views your inventory