The gala takes place over nine rounds. Every third round — the third, the sixth, and the ninth — a dance will occur. Round turns are played in clockwise order, beginning to the left of the Host.

On the Turn

A turn is made of two parts: a character’s engagement, and their action.

A character’s engagement is the company they keep — a conversation sought out, a dance joined, or the freedom of the room to themselves. A character who was drawn into another’s conversation earlier in the round has spent their engagement there already, but still takes an action of their own when their turn comes around.

A character’s action is the one thing they do with that company. They may:

• Attack another character
• Ask another character to dance
• Ask for another character’s hand in marriage
• Sell a secret
• Explore the gala, if they are not otherwise engaged
• Speak, and nothing more

On the Art of Conversation

Being engaged in a conversation takes up a character’s engagement portion of the turn. If a character wishes to speak with someone who is already engaged in conversation, they may interrupt or tear them away from the initial conversation. Doing so is rarely well received, and any player who witnesses it may call Faux Pas upon them for it.

On Dancing

Asking Someone to Dance

During the two rounds before a dance, a character may ask another character to dance. If they are accepted, both characters are engaged to dance during the next dancing round. If they are rejected, the asking character loses a reputation point, though they may roll below their own Charm to have the refusal pass unremarked and lose nothing by it.

Dancing

During the dancing round, both partners are engaged in conversation with each other.

At the end of their collective turn, both dancers must make a roll below their own Accomplishment score. If a dancer is accomplished in the dancing skill, they may roll with advantage.

If both players succeed, each gains two reputation points. If both fail, each player loses one reputation point. If one succeeds and the other does not, the dance passes without remark, and neither gains nor loses.

On Proposals of Marriage

A character may ask for the hand of another, provided the two have partnered a dance at some point in the evening. An offer to a guest one has never stood up with is no offer at all, and the room would think very little of it.

If the proposal is accepted, each partner gains three reputation points and the two are engaged to be married. If it is refused, the asking character loses two reputation points, though they may roll below their own Charm to have the refusal pass unremarked and lose nothing by it.

A character may be engaged to only one other at a time, and a character already engaged may not accept a second offer while the first stands.

Being Engaged

From the moment an engagement is made, the fortunes of the two are tied. When one partner gains or loses reputation, the other gains or loses the same. Each takes their share out of their own stats, or pays it from their own purse, as they see fit.

This sharing resolves once and does not run back and forth between them. A loss suffered by one is felt by the other, and there the matter ends.

An attack is the one exception. It falls upon the stat of the guest attacked and nowhere else, and their partner feels nothing of it. A couple would be twice as easy to ruin otherwise.

Breaking It Off

Either partner may break the engagement on their turn. The tie between them ends at once, and only then are the costs reckoned: the one who breaks it loses five reputation points, and the one who is jilted loses three, for the room will talk about them both. Neither loss is shared, the engagement being over.

On Exploration

If not otherwise engaged, a player may explore the gala at their leisure. They may make advantageous discoveries.

Before the evening begins, the Host names the rooms of the house — a conservatory, a library, a terrace, a card room — and settles what is to be found in each. A letter left in a writing desk, a coin fallen behind a cushion, two guests who did not expect to be overheard: these things are placed deliberately, and they stay where they are put until somebody comes across them.

A house already furnished is set out in Discoveries.

A character who explores names the room they wander into and rolls below their own Wit. A quick mind notices what a dull one walks straight past.

Whatever they find, the Host writes upon a slip of paper and hands to them discreetly. The Host does the same when nothing has been found at all, so that nobody at the table may tell from a guest’s face whether they have returned from the conservatory with a letter in their pocket or with nothing but their own company.

On Combat

Attacking

The attacking player rolls above or equal to the attacked player’s stat. If the roll succeeds, the attacked player loses a point in that stat. If a player can indicate an aspect of their character that would benefit them in their action, the Host may grant them advantage. A failed attack costs the attacker nothing but their action.

No character may be attacked more than once in a single round. A guest already cut down this round is, for the moment, beneath further notice.

Retort

If an attacked player wishes, they may attempt to retort by rolling below their own Wit. If the roll succeeds, the initial attacker loses two points in the stat they attacked, and the attacked player loses none. If the roll fails, the attacked player loses an additional point in that stat.

Successful retort attacks may be retorted. Each answer is a fresh roll below the retorting character’s own Wit, and the exchange ends the moment one of them falters. A retort is not an attack, and does not count against the round’s reckoning of who has been attacked.

Faux Pas

If a player takes an action that is not deemed socially permissible by another player, that other player may call Faux Pas, briefly describing the action they considered unacceptable. They may not explain why they consider the action unacceptable. Players may not speak until a verdict is reached. The host counts down from three and players in agreement with the call raise their hands. If the majority declares Faux Pas, the accused loses a reputation point. If the majority votes against, the accuser loses a reputation point.

In the case of a tie, the Host acts as a tie breaker. Faux Pas may be called as often as the room has cause, by any player and against any other.

Whichever player the room has judged against — accused or accuser alike — may roll below their own Charm to carry the moment off regardless. On a success the verdict passes without cost to them, and they lose nothing. A charming guest may do the unforgivable and be forgiven for it.

Selling Secrets

In the case that a character’s reputation is running low, that character may choose to sell any of the secrets in their hand to regain reputation. The selling player must be engaged in conversation with the players they wish to sell their secret to.

To sell a secret, a player must make a copy of the card they hold. The point value of the copy must be one less than the value of the card it was copied from. Upon giving this copy to another player, the seller may gain reputation points equal to the value of the card in their own hand.

A secret may be sold as often as its holder likes, but never twice to the same buyer. They may not sell a secret to a player who already has a copy of it in their hand.

A player who has been sold a secret may sell it in turn, copying from the card in their own hand rather than from the original. A scandal worth five in its first telling is worth four at second hand and three at third, until at last it dwindles to nothing and is worth no one’s trouble to repeat.

Crafting Rumors

If a player wishes, they may write down a secret that they do not have in their hand, setting upon it whatever value they please. Upon receiving a secret card, a player may accuse it of being a rumor.

The character the secret concerns declares whether it is true. They are under no obligation to be honest, and a guest will frequently find it convenient to disown a thing that happens to be perfectly true.

• If the secret is declared true, the accuser has impugned an honest telling and loses reputation equal to the value on the card.
• If the secret is declared false, the player who sold it loses reputation equal to the value they wrote upon it.
• A seller who did not write the card, having been sold it themselves, loses nothing. They must say as much, though they need never say who sold it to them. The accusation goes no further and no one pays.

Whichever player the matter has gone against — the accused caught out in a rumor, or the accuser who has impugned a true secret — may roll below their own Charm. On a success they lose nothing, having brazened the thing out entirely.

Outbursts

If any one of a player’s stats is reduced to 0, that player may perform an outburst. They may choose to reveal any number of secrets that they hold in their hand to the entire party.

When a player’s secret is revealed publicly, they must remove the amount of reputation points listed on the original copy, plus the number of copies in circulation, from their stats. All copies of the secret must be discarded from all player hands.

If another player’s stat reaches zero due to an exposed secret, that player may perform an outburst once the initial outburst concludes.