A version of this document was originally published to the PlayDiplomacy online forum.

This document is meant to provide a common basis for all Diplomacy variants that use a Diplomacy Points system whereby players allocate DP secretly to neutral units to control their orders.

Any variant that uses a DP system is likely to have amendments or adjustments to these rules. GMs and variant designers should feel free to link to these rules (or quote them) when posting rules for individual variants.

Neutral Units

Units not controlled by a specific player are Neutral units. Neutral units belong to Minor Powers. Minor Powers’ territories tend to be colored with one or more shades of a single color per map, typically tan or brown, and the unit design varies from variant to variant.

Neutral Unit Design Examples:

• In Ambition & Empire, Minor Powers’ emblems are designed to show their religious affiliations and their historical (and build-related) connections to the Great Powers.
• In Sub-Saharan, Minor Powers’ emblems are decorated to represent the historical allegiance or ownership of those settlements and colonies (even though this has no effect on gameplay). Unaligned neutrals use an anachronistic design based on the flag of the 1958 Union of African States.
• In Dissolution, Minor Powers’ emblems are adapted from the emblem for the United Nations.

Minor powers’ neutral units occupy neutral Supply Centers that can be captured by players during the course of the game. The orders given for Neutral units are determined via DP allocations (see later section below).

Stationary Units & Sortie Attacks

In most DP variants, all Minor Powers’ units are stationary. Stationary units can be given orders just like any other unit. They can be ordered to hold, support, move, or (when applicable) convoy. They can be ordered to move via convoy as well.

However, while stationary units can be ordered to move, they will never actually move. Instead, their moves will always bounce. This is called a Sortie. For example, a stationary unit’s move order can be used to cut an adjacent unit’s support or protect an adjacent empty province from a potential invader.

Because stationary units cannot leave their current locations, they cannot dislodge other units.

Stationary Units & Retreats

Stationary units cannot retreat. If a stationary unit is dislodged, it is always destroyed during the Retreat phase. If a stationary unit’s move order bounces in an otherwise uncontested province, that province is not an eligible retreat location during the subsequent Retreat phase.

Minor Power Adjustments

In the case that a neutral Minor SC is vacant during an Adjustments phase, that Neutral Minor Power will always rebuild an Army or Fleet there (whichever unit type was present at the game’s start).

Diplomacy Points

Diplomacy Points (DP) are the system by which players determine the orders of Neutral units. Each Orders Phase, every player receives an allotment of DP; the amount allotted varies by variant. That DP is use-it-or-lose-it; none can be stored or carried over into the next turn.

Allocating & Adjudicating DP

Along with orders for their own units, players can submit potential orders for one or more neutral units. Each potential order must come with a DP allocation. Allocations must be made in whole-number values (i.e. no half-points), and the total DP allocated by a player must not exceed their total allotment for that phase. The DP expenditures act like “votes” for that order. Other players may vote for that same order and allocate DP to it. A single player with 2 DP, for instance, can potentially spend 2 DP on a single units’ order or allocate 1 DP each to two different units’ orders.

At the time of adjudication, the GM analyzes all of the submitted DP allocations for a given unit. The order that has the most DP spent is the one that will be given to the unit. If two or more orders tie for DP spent, or if no DP is allocated to that unit, it will be given a default order instead. Except where specified in the specific variant’s rules, the default order for any neutral unit is Hold.

All DP allocations are kept secret. Only the “winning” orders will be known publicly but not which players (if any) allocated DP to those orders. For most variants, all DP allocations will remain secret until the entire game has completed.

Limitations on DP Allocations

Individual variants tend to come with additional restrictions regarding who a neutral unit or Minor unit will attack or support, which players may spend DP on a given unit, and how much DP may be spent on a single order per turn. These restrictions tend to be customized to reflect the setting of the variant and the affiliations of the Minor Powers. However, one rule is nearly universal, particularly for stationary minor powers.

The Attacking & Allocating Rule:

If a player’s own unit is attacking (or supporting an attack on) a minor power, that player may not allocate DP to that minor power during the turn the attack or support is taking place.

This rule lessens some of the inherent “gullibility” of minor powers. Most commonly, it prevents a player from allocating DPs to a minor power for the purpose of having the minor power unit move, thereby making it ineligible to receive support-to-hold during the player’s attack on that minor power.

DP Allocation Example

Below is an excerpt from the rules for Sub-Saharan that provides several examples of DP usage and adjudication. In this scenario, Yeke (red) is attempting to capture Kasongo in the first turn of the game but makes an illegal DP expenditure. Angola (purple), Zanzibar (cyan), and Mozambique (white) all play a part as well.

Setup & Orders Submitted

The following are the orders and DP allocations made for five players, each of whom has 2 DP to allocate this turn.

------
Angola

    A Lua - Bra
    A Moc - Lun
DP  
1:  A Lib S Lua - Bra
1:  A Mwi S Kas H

------
Mozambique

    A Tet - Muc
DP  
1:  A Tab - Aru
1:  A Mwi S Kas H

------
Toucouleur

DP
1:  A Mwi - Lun
1:  A Kam - Aru

------
Yeke

    A Bun S Mwa - Kas
    A Mwa - Kas
DP  
2:  A Kas - Kam

------
Zanzibar

    A Mom - Aru
    A Sto - Tab
DP  
1:  A Kam S Sto - Tab
1:  A Kas S Sto - Tab

For the purpose of this example we are ignoring Mozambique’s order to its army in Maputo and Toucouleur’s orders to their own units. Note that the Toucouleur (yellow, not shown) have submitted DP bids in the region even though their actual units are some distance away. This is perfectly normal in DP-based variants; DP can come from any player on the map.

Deciding Winning DP Bids

Assuming no further players’ units or DP bids interfere with these orders, here is how the GM will adjudicate. First the GM determines what actual orders will be performed by the neutral units. All but one of these DP allocations are legal; the Yeke bid violates the Attacking & Allocating rule, however. In the season’s report, the GM will show these orders for the neutrals in the region.

Resulting Neutral Orders

A Bra H
A Iri H
A Kam H
A Kas S Sto - Tab
A Kis H
A Lib S Lua - Bra
A Mos H
A Mwi S Kas H
A Tab - Aru

• Because no DP allocations were made to Brazzaville, Iringa, Kismayo, or Moshaweng, those units perform their default order: hold.
• Libreville and Tabora received a single bid each from Angola and Mozambique, respectively.
  • Because no other DPs were allocated to Libreville, it will perform the order from Angola to support Luanda to Brazzaville.
  • Similarly, Tabora will attempt to move to Arusha.
• Kampala received two bids: one point each from Toucouleur and Zanzibar.
  • This means there is a tie for the order with the highest bid.
  • Kampala performs its default order: hold.
• Kasongo received two bids: one point from Zanzibar to support a move to Tabora, and two points from Yeke to move to Kampala.
  • Normally, because Yeke’s bid is the higher allocation, the move order would win the bidding.
  • However, Yeke has at least one of their own units either attacking Kasongo or supporting an attack on Kasongo (or, in this case, both). Therefore, Kasongo completely ignores all DP expenditures by Yeke. This is the “Attacking & Allocating” rule.
  • Because Yeke’s bid is ignored, the bid falls to the only other DP allocation: the order to support Stone Town to Tabora.
• Mwibele received three bids: 1 DP to support Kasongo to Hold (from Angola), 1 DP to support Kasongo to Hold (from Mozambique), and 1 DP to move to Lunda (from Toucouleur).
  • All three powers bidding on Mwibele have allocated 1 DP to their chosen order.
  • If these orders were all different, it would be a three-way tie, and Mwibele would hold.
  • However, because both Angola and Mozambique have bid on the same order, that means there are a total of 2 DP allocated to that support order.
• As a result, Mwibele will perform the order bid on by Angola and Mozambique; it will support Kasongo to hold.

Note that the source of each DP allocation is clear to the GM, but the GM never reports on the specifics of those allocations themselves. Only the final “winning” order for a unit, if there is one, is reported.

Adjudication Report

After that’s all taken care of, the actual orders adjudication will look like the following.

------
Angola

    A Lua - Bra             Succeeds
    A Moc - Lun             Succeeds

------
Mozambique

    A Tet - Muc             Succeeds
    
------
Yeke

    A Bun S Mwa - Kas       Succeeds
    A Mwa - Kas             Bounced 2v2
    
------
Zanzibar

    A Mom - Aru             Bounced 1v1 (with Tab)
    A Sto - Tab             Bounced 1v1
    
------
Minor Neutral Powers

    A Bra H                 Dislodged by A Lua (2v1)
    A Iri H                 Succeeds
    A Kam H                 Succeeds
    
    A Kas S Sto - Tab       Cut by A Mwa
    A Kis H                 Succeeds
    A Lib S Lua - Bra       Succeeds
    
    A Mos H                 Succeeds
    A Mwi S Kas H           Succeeds
    A Tab - Aru             Bounced 1v1 (with Mom)

Note that even though Zanzibar’s bid for Kasongo succeeded, its support for the attack on Tabora was cut. DP allocation sets the orders given; winning the bidding war for a unit will not guarantee actual success in the adjudication.