COUNCIL · THE ARCHIVE

The Archive

Council was not written all at once. It began as an argument about what a table loses when it sets down the dice, and became — draft by draft, ruling by ruling — a whole system. This is that record: the work kept in the order it was made, so you can watch the game get built.

Read any document in your browser, or take the printable copy. The finished, revised rules live at The Handbook as they are settled; what follows is the workshop behind it. Every paper here is by one hand — Sir Landis Fishman.

I The Silver Surfer Era

The original insight engine — where the two ways of knowing (a price paid, or a grace given) were first drawn out.

  • Ruleset Options — the Design Canvas
    The opening exploration (options 1a–3b): the first pass at what a diceless game of insight could be.
    READ PDF
  • The Silver Surfer Papers
    The player-facing leaves — the Bill of Fare and the Grace Book — the seed of price and grace.
    READ PDF
  • The Keeper's Seals KEEPER-ONLY
    The keeper-only companion leaf: the Seals as a tool held behind the screen.
    READ PDF
II The System Books

Council becomes a portable system: the design plan, the drafts that were tried and set aside, and the five Books that stand as the current source of truth.

  • Council — Game Design Plan
    The plan that turned a table's habit into a system any crew could pick up.
    READ PDF
  • Foundations — v1 (earned grace) SUPERSEDED
    The first Foundations draft, on the abandoned 'earned-grace' economy.
    READ PDF
  • Book Two, Resolution — v1 (earned grace) SUPERSEDED
    The first Resolution draft, likewise on the earned-grace economy that was later dropped.
    READ PDF
  • Ruling — The Reward of Cleverness HISTORICAL
    The four-option exploration that produced the 'Slack' ruling (now written into Book Two §2.6).
    READ PDF
  • Book the First — Foundations
    The whole of the game set down plain, that any hand aboard may read it.
    READ PDF
  • Book Two — Resolution
    Price, grace, and the Seals — how an answer comes, and what it costs. Carries the 'Slack' ruling.
    READ PDF
  • Book Three — Works & the Tide
    Works, Standing, and the Divine Work — the great tier that turns across whole campaigns.
    READ PDF
  • Book Four — Governance
    The seat of final say, and the narrow and wide table (narrow is the default).
    READ PDF
  • Book Five — Teach & Ship
    Bringing a new hand aboard, and running the game at the table.
    READ PDF
  • How to Play — the Quick Guide
    The whole game in one sitting, for the hand who wants to start before reading it all.
    READ PDF
III The Handbook

The five Books, bound for reading — a browsable hub for the screen, and a continuous edition built for print and the reMarkable.

  • The Handbook — Web Hub
    The reader's entry point: cover, the whole game at a glance, every Book with its own table of contents, and the Eight Timbers glossary.
    READ PDF
  • The Handbook — Print Edition
    One continuous bound document (Letter, 0.75in margins) with a linked contents page — built for PDF export and reMarkable reading.
    READ PDF
IV Site & Landing

Getting Council onto fuckinphilosophers.com — the landing page that greets a new hand aboard.

  • Council — Landing Page
    The fuckinphilosophers.com landing (a still snapshot of the animated page; the stars hold their place on paper).
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V The Margin Review

The Handbook goes under the pen: handwritten margin notes become a Review Edition, a 41-comment editorial pass, and the clean cut of v3 — which settled the tagline: the pen is mightier than the die.

  • The Review Edition — Rich Diff & Proposals HISTORICAL
    Every dictated change applied in place, plus the design proposals for the open questions — marked up for review on the reMarkable. The 41-comment review it drew lives in the repo's reviews/ trail.
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  • The Handbook — v3, Print Edition CURRENT
    The clean cut from the review — black-and-white, print-ready. Interim while the designer's pass is made; this is the current book.
    PDF
VI The First Table Kit (MVP)

The system first in hand at the table: the moment Council became a playable kit for the Council of Un. Not the final copy to be played with — archived as a moment. The one ruled exception to the campaign's separation from this Archive; the honour warning above applies doubly here.

  • Standing Orders — Player Binder (MVP) MVP
    The crew's binder for the Council of Un: the campaign's own handbook, raised from the generic system.
    READ PDF
  • The Works — Play Cards (Table Copy) MVP
    The Works in card form, for the table's hands — declared, held, and turned with the tide.
    READ PDF
  • Keeper's Booklet — Sealed & Divine Works (MVP) KEEPER-ONLY
    The keeper's side of the kit — sealed. Players of the Council of Un: this one spoils everyone, not just Taxe & Ali. On your honor, read none of it.
    READ PDF
THE COUNCIL OF UN CAMPAIGN IS KEPT SEPARATE — SAVE THE TABLE KIT ABOVE, IT IS NOT HELD IN THIS ARCHIVE
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