🦴 Anatomy of the Game -

A game of Fault will go for a number of hours, the eventual running time being determined by the choices made, by the Player cohort on the day. A game will not normally go beyond eight hours and the Control Team will announce to the Players when they have entered the final turn, giving them the opportunity to enact any plans in progress before the end of the day. Following the final turn will be the Epilogue where the Showrunner will describe the outcome of the Player’s collective efforts. This could be positive, negative, or ambiguous depending on the Players’ collective choices throughout the day.

Once the game has commenced, Control will start a turn timer which will not again stop until the end of the game. This is excepting some circumstances where the game time is paused for administrative or emergency reasons. Normally in Fault, there will be a double length turn during the middle of the game where the same number of actions are fit into double the time, and where nothing progresses in the game narrative. This is to allow those who need, to disconnect from the game, to take medication, eat food, and hydrate, etc. This time is designed to give Players some lower intensity minutes and it will coincide with lunch, otherwise, there will be no official lunch break.

During a normal turn, Players are welcome to leave and return at any time but the game will not stop and any opportunities missed will be, just so. Players are encouraged to use the double length turn as it is intended, there will be no additional game actions beyond negotiations with other Players that they will be able to affect during that time. No additional councils will be held during the double length turn, and no additional communication with the DeepEye will be possible. Players will not miss anything special if they finish their actions for that turn and take time to rest until the game recommences.

For the Surface Task Force Teams, each turn of the game is broken into the following phases:

The First Turn and the Briefing Phase -

At the commencement of the game there will be a one time, additional turn before the regular cadence of the game begins. This will include a quick whistle stop tour of each of the stations that the Players will be interacting with, followed by the sending off ceremony for the DeepEye Crew. During this Briefing Phase the turn timer will not be running and the game will only be considered to have commenced at the start of Turn One and the Organisation Phase.

The Organisation Phase -

This is time for the District Players to gather at their District, or Team Table, where they can plan for the upcoming turn and initiate any plans that they may wish to enact. In subsequent turns this is also the time where announcements will happen including any changes to the game broadly and notable events. This is also when any crisis events will be announced with the effects to each team/department.

The Specialisation Phase -

This is the longest phase and the only time where Players will have to engage with their speciality roles, as dictated by their personal briefing documents. More information on a per-role basis will be available within the briefings. The Councillors will meet with any of their established coalitions and visit the other speciality departments. Councillors may also begin drafting policies to be voted on later in the turn. The Head of Communication will begin to establish the contact mode and location for the DeepEye in the current turn and relay any replies from the Digger Crew that may concern the other specialities. The Chief Scientists will interpret their data about where the next event may occur and begin work deciphering the mystery of the crisis. The District Guard Captains will survey the turn’s damage and try to mitigate the security and humanitarian situation in the fallout.

The Debate Phase -

The Debate Phase is a time for each team to announce their current situation to the council through a selected representative and make any specialist recommendations for that turn's policy. Anyone who attends the Council in the debate phase may speak, so long as they are recognised by a sitting Chair. Draft policies may also be announced and debated in this time. No outcome can be voted on unless it is drafted as a policy, with a sitting Councillor’s approval. At least one member of any specialisation must attend the Council, every turn.

The Voting Phase -

Once the ten minutes for debate has elapsed, the Council will enter the Voting Phase where each, amended policy is put to a vote. The votes are processed in the order decided by the siting Chair person for that turn, before the vote is taken. More details on how the Council is run can be found in the related section later in the hand book.

Other Players may remain to watch the vote, or depart early. Successful policies will become Council Decrees and be announced in the following turn’s Organisation Phase. During the Voting Phase the current turn’s communications mode to the DeepEye is still open, only closing at the end of the following Phase, allowing passed decrees to be communicated to the digger in the Communications Phase, if there is time.

The Communications Phase -

This is an important Phase for the Task Force Communication Officers as it is a time where they can relay their information from the other Specialisations, as well as active Council Decrees to the DeepEye, and vice verse. For other Players this phase is largely open, to allow for either inter-team communication or the preparation of other actions in the following turn. Other Players may approach their Communications Officer if they would like to make a broadcast to the city, or send a message to the digger themselves. Details on how to communicate with the digger are explained in the Communications Officer rules.