Ghyll:Main Page

Current Spotlights:

• Yanking
• Yarding
• Zed Varren
• Ziggurat Scrolls
• Zodiacal twins
• Zot, The
• Zygotic Dermatosis
• Zymenadang

See all Round 1 Spotlights.

See all entries in Ghyll Index.

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 as 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.)

• Ghyll Round 2: Commencing on May 14th. We are currently in mad-edit play: anyone can clarify or revise any entry, under the restriction that no new facts are added. More information in Round 2 discussion. If you played in Round 1, you also have the option of leaving final thoughts (in-game or out-of-game) in Encyclopedants Progress Report 26.
• Current events: News and further information about the state of play.
• FAQ: Questions, answers, and discussion about the game, rules, and related concerns.
• Round 2 discussion: A discussion of what changes to make after we reach letter Z.

Game Rules

New players may join in at any time. If you have questions, check the FAQ or ask here.
The core of the game is based on Neel Krishnaswami's "Lexicon: an RPG".

1. Scholars shall dib (reserve), and then write, one entry per turn. Turns loop from A to Z back to A.
2. Entries shall cite two phantom (unwritten) entries and, after the first turn, one existing entry.
3. Scholars shall neither cite themselves, nor write phantoms they were the first to cite.
4. After the first turn, all phantoms for a letter shall be written before new entries are created.
5. Of your required two phantom citations, only one cited phantom can be newly defined.
6. The required per-turn citations must not be for entries or phantoms created in the current turn.
7. Rule of A: Scholars may write new, non-phantom, turn A entries instead of defining an A phantom.
8. Rule of X: If no turn X phantoms remain, you may write a previous letter's phantom instead.

Example of Play (first turn)

1. On the first turn, Sean B. Palmer defines his one entry for the letter A: Andelphracian Lights (Rule 1).
2. In Andelphracian Lights, he creates two phantoms: Bysted Timperton and Quester and Phorrus (Rule 2).
3. Sean B. Palmer may never define Bysted Timperton and Quester and Phorrus now. (Rule 3).
4. On the next turn, all phantoms for the letter B (like Bysted Timperton) must be defined (Rule 4).

Example of Play (all other turns)

1. It's turn 2, letter B, and scholars must first define all phantoms starting with that letter (Rule 4).
2. Sean B. Palmer wants the Bureau of Forgotten Knowledge and commits an edit saying so (Rule 1).
3. He checks "What links here" on the Bureau of Forgotten Knowledge page to see what truths, if any, are known.
4. He writes the entry, and cites two phantoms (existing or not) and one previously written entry. (Rule 2).
5. His citations, however, must not be those he's previously created (Rule 3; see Ghyll Index and FAQ).
6. His citations must also have been created or defined before the current turn of play. (Rule 5).