Status: Draft 0.1
Mirrors: rules.md
Does not replace: rules.md (player rulebook). This document numbers procedures and edge cases for implementation.
Clauses are unmarked until the prototype implements them. Tag Applied on a clause when code matches it. If code forces a ruling, add a subclause the same day and a changelog line here.
| Draft | Notes |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | Initial numbering. Mirrors rules.md. Unresolved flags at 508, 603, 721, 731. |
Mirrors: opening of rules.md
100.1 Der Musikclub is played by two, three, or four players. Each player is a DJ.
100.2 DJs play into one shared mix on playlist lines. When the mix qualifies at the end of three consecutive turns, the night holds. The DJ who owns the most Victory Points among cards still in play wins. If the night never holds, the game is a stalemate.
100.3 If a card’s text conflicts with this document or with rules.md, the card’s text is followed.
101–199. Reserved (player-count variants, other formats).
Mirrors: The table
200.1 Each DJ has a crate, a hand, a bin, and two time dice.
200.2 The shared field has exactly as many playlist lines as there are DJs, plus one mix strip.
200.3 Crate. Face-down, ordered. Owned. No size limit.
200.4 Hand. Private. Owned. Cards in a hand have no effect on the mix. No size limit.
200.5 Bin. Public, ordered. Owned. Cards in a bin are not in play.
200.6 Playlist line. A distinct linear row of stems. Lines are not owned. Lines remain distinguishable from each other.
200.7 Mix strip. Shared unordered zone for effects that are not attached to a card.
200.8 In play. A card is in play if it is on a playlist line, in the mix strip, or attached to a card that is in play.
200.9 Field. The playlist lines, the mix strip, and all attachments. See 1002 for stalemate.
200.10 Owner. The DJ whose crate a card came from. Ownership does not change because of where the card sits. Digital play marks owner with a border color.
200.11 At the end of the game, every card returns to its owner.
210.1 Stems on a line are ordered. The two ends of a non-empty line are the head and the tail. Each of those is an edge.
210.2 A stem that is not an edge is a middle.
210.3 A line with exactly one stem: that stem is both head and tail. The stem still has two sides. Playing next to the head and playing next to the tail are two legal placement sites on opposite sides of that stem. Complementary check (723) is against that one stem either way. After a stem is placed on one side, the line has two stems; each is an edge.
210.4 An empty line has no head, tail, or middle.
210.5 A DJ may not place a stem next to a middle.
211–299. Reserved.
Mirrors: The cards
300.1 Every card has an owner and a printed time cost (integer ≥ 0).
300.2 Cards are stems or effects.
320.1 A stem is a synth or a sample.
320.2 A stem prints one or more SATB bands: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass.
320.3 A stem prints a volume class: Ambient 0, Background 1, Supportive 2, Focal 3.
320.4 A stem may print Victory Points, a parallel-seconds grant, and abilities.
320.5 While a stem is in play it contributes +1 raw fill to each of its printed SATB bands, its volume class to volume, and its Victory Points to its owner’s in-play VP.
330.1 An effect prints a time cost. It may print Victory Points, a parallel-seconds grant, SATB or volume modifiers, a lifetime, and abilities.
330.2 An effect is either attached or unattached, as the card requires.
330.3 An attached effect is played onto a card already in play. That card may be owned by any DJ.
330.4 An unattached effect is played into the mix strip.
330.5 If an effect has a lifetime, that lifetime is measured in inner-clock seconds (506).
330.6 When an effect’s lifetime is 0, it is put into its owner’s bin.
330.7 When the card an effect is attached to leaves play, that effect is put into its owner’s bin.
331–399. Reserved (additional card types).
Mirrors: Setup
400.1 Each DJ sits with a crate and two time dice. Create one empty playlist line per DJ and one mix strip.
400.2 Set every time die to 6. Set the hold to 0. Set the inner clock to 0.
400.3 DJs may discuss opening plays.
400.4 Simultaneously, each DJ chooses one stem from their crate, pays its time cost, and places it on a different empty line. The remainder of each crate stays in order. Opening placement does not use complementary attach (723).
400.5 After all seeds are placed, if the sum of Victory Points printed on those stems is 9 or greater, the opening is illegal: return those stems to their owners’ crates in the same order they were removed; those cards cannot be chosen as seeds on the next opening attempt; repeat from 400.3.
400.6 After a legal opening, each DJ draws five cards from their crate.
400.7 Dice remain at their faces after opening payments. A first player is chosen by agreement or at random. Turns proceed clockwise (600.5).
401–499. Reserved.
Mirrors: Time
500.1 Each DJ has exactly two time dice. Each face is an integer from 1 through 6.
500.2 A DJ’s time bank is the sum of that DJ’s dice.
500.3 A die cannot be reduced below 1 or raised above 6.
500.4 To pay N dice seconds, the DJ decreases one or more of their dice by a total of N without breaking 500.3. If no such split exists, that payment is illegal.
500.5 Parallel seconds are a per-turn pool. At the start of a DJ’s turn they become equal to the total parallel-seconds grant of cards that DJ owns that are in play. Unused parallel seconds do not carry over.
500.6 A time cost may be paid with dice seconds, parallel seconds, or both, unless a card says otherwise.
500.7 If any dice seconds greater than 0 are spent on an action, that action is a dice action. If an action’s time cost is paid entirely with parallel seconds, it is not a dice action.
500.8 When a DJ spends one or more dice seconds, the inner clock advances by that many seconds, then each in-play effect with a lifetime loses that many seconds. Then apply 330.6 as needed.
509–599. Reserved.
Mirrors: A turn
600.1 At the start of a DJ’s turn, apply 500.5.
600.2 That DJ may take any number of actions that are not dice actions (500.7).
600.3 That DJ then takes exactly one dice action. When that action has finished, the turn ends.
600.4 After the turn ends, check the night (900).
600.5 Turns proceed clockwise from the first player.
605–699. Reserved.
Mirrors: Actions
700.1 A DJ takes an action only if every part of it can be completed legally. An illegal action is not initiated. Costs are not partially paid; cards are not partially moved.
700.2 After an action that changes objects in play, the mix is available for reading (800). The night is checked only at end of turn (900).
710.1 Cost: 1 dice second.
710.2 Choose one time die you own. Set it to any face from 1 through 6.
720.1 Cost: 3 dice seconds.
720.2 Move the top card of your crate into your hand.
730.1 Cost: the stem’s printed time cost. The stem must be in your hand.
730.2 Choose a playlist line.
730.3 If the line is empty, place the stem on it. This is legal for attach.
730.4 If the line is not empty, choose an edge (210). Place the stem on the free side of that edge. The SATB set of the new stem and the SATB set of that adjacent stem must have no bands in common.
730.5 A DJ may not place a stem adjacent to a middle.
730.6 Example: the tail’s bands are {Bass}. A stem with {Tenor} may be played there. A stem with {Bass, Alto} may not.
730.7 Example: the tail’s bands are {Tenor, Alto}. A stem may be played there only if its bands are a subset of {Soprano, Bass}.
740.1 Cost: the effect’s printed time cost. The effect must be in your hand.
740.2 If the effect attaches, choose a card in play (any owner). Attach it.
740.3 If the effect does not attach, put it in the mix strip.
750.1 Cost: twice the target stem’s printed time cost.
750.2 Choose an edge stem on any line, owned by any DJ.
750.3 A middle may not be chosen.
750.4 Put that stem into its owner’s bin.
750.5 Put each effect attached to that stem into its owner’s bin (330.7).
751–799. Reserved.
Mirrors: The mix
800.1 The mix is computed from cards in play; it is not a separate stored score except for display.
800.2 Each stem in play adds its printed SATB fills and volume (320.5).
800.3 Then apply in-play effects that modify SATB or volume.
800.4 If volume is greater than 10, let D = volume − 10. Subtract D from each of Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass.
800.5 The results of 800.4 are applied SATB. Applied SATB and volume together are the mix.
800.6 Applied SATB may be negative. Display shows a minimum of 0. Qualification (901) uses the internal number.
800.7 Example: volume 11, each raw band 1. D = 1. Each applied band is 0.
800.8 Example: volume 11, raw Tenor 5. D = 1. Applied Tenor is 4.
800.9 Placeholder. If two effects would modify the same value, apply them in the order those effects entered play. Replace this when an engine needs a different layering rule. Tag Applied when chosen.
801–899. Reserved.
Mirrors: The night
900.1 The game has a single hold counter. It is not per DJ.
900.2 At the end of each turn, compute the mix (800).
901.1 If any applied band is 0 or less, or 5 or more, the mix does not qualify.
902.1 If the mix does not qualify, set the hold to 0.
910.1 Each DJ totals Victory Points printed on cards that DJ owns that are still in play.
910.2 Victory Points on cards not in play are not counted. Victory Points are not banked.
910.3 The DJ with the highest total wins.
910.4 If two or more DJs share the highest total, those DJs share the win.
911–999. Reserved.
Mirrors: Stalemate
1000.1 DJs may agree to a stalemate at any time.
1000.2 If each DJ has completed a turn since the last field change, and no card entered or left the field during that round, any DJ may call a stalemate.
1000.3 On a stalemate, no DJ wins. Victory Points are not scored.
1001, 1003–1099. Reserved.
Stub. Reserved for activated abilities, static abilities, and replacement effects as cards are implemented.
1100.1 Until this section is filled, a card does what its text says, subject to 100.3.
1101–1199. Reserved.
Stub. Reserved for a check loop after each action and after inner-clock advance.
1200.1 Until this section is filled, apply 330.6 and 330.7 as soon as their conditions are true.
1201–1299. Reserved.
These terms match rules.md. Clause numbers are the CR homes.
| Term | Meaning | See |
|---|---|---|
| Applied SATB | SATB after distortion | 800.5 |
| Bin | A DJ’s public discarded cards | 200.5 |
| Crate | A DJ’s deck | 200.3 |
| Dice action | An action that spent more than 0 dice seconds | 500.7 |
| Edge | Head or tail of a line | 210.1 |
| Field | Lines, mix strip, attachments | 200.9 |
| Head / tail | Ends of a playlist line | 210.1 |
| Hold | Consecutive qualifying end-of-turn mixes; night holds at 3 | 900.1, 903 |
| In play | On a line, in the mix strip, or attached to an in-play card | 200.8 |
| Inner clock | Timer that advances when dice seconds are spent | 500.8 |
| Middle | A stem that is not an edge | 210.2 |
| Mix | Applied SATB and volume | 800.5 |
| Mix strip | Shared zone for unattached effects | 200.7 |
| Owner | The DJ whose crate a card came from | 200.10 |
| Parallel seconds | Time granted for the current turn by owned cards in play | 500.5 |
| Playlist line | One shared row of stems | 200.6 |
| SATB | Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass | 320.2 |
| Stem | A synth or sample | 320.1 |
| Time bank | Sum of a DJ’s two time dice | 500.2 |
| Victory Points (VP) | Score printed on cards, counted while those cards are in play | 910 |