Rumormongering [Rumor Guide]

Benjamin Franklin once said the only certain things in life are death and taxes. He missed out on word of mouth, that is, people talk. People are social creatures that are naturally inclined to share any experiences, true or even false and sometimes realizing the falsity of their statements. Shangri-la is no different. However, recent outlandish rumors had a startling increase of truth over the years. Perhaps one should be careful what they should say... Or rather, prudence should be exercised only within the realm of your goals.

Rumors

Rumormongering is a social mechanic that can have significant impact on the outcomes of your character's endeavors. Like in Persona 2, it has the potential of becoming realized with enough spread. You have several means of gauging the state of specific rumors including and not limited to: Chirper's Trending List (An online social media platform recently popularized over the globe), paying for specialists (players and/or NPCs), and checking the Monthly Transition board.

There are many ways to spread rumors. But all must be nurtured over some period of time to catch on with the populace. Taking action to give it some level of credence or even some kind of "acknowledgement" by the population will further its path to materialize fully into the world and Shangri-La by extension.

As a note, a rumor materializing is a Nyarlathotep-Child ability only.

Chirper: A recent social media platform to share your thoughts and experiences on-line for all to see, Anonymous or with Full Identity Disclosure. It is a perfect platform to check on the recent events happening in the world, especially in Shangri-la! You can even contact some NPCs through it should you be able to pique their interest in you.

To spread a rumor, you must make a new thread to state your rumor. You may get "Likes" or even "Re-Shares" that may boost the numbers for your rumor. But at times, you may get a significant number of skeptics who may put a damper on your rumor. It is up to you to dissuade them to the best of your ability. Your reputation/notoriety rank may help quite a lot in this should your identity be on full disclosure. Being Anonymous may keep your identity hidden so that the rumor cannot truly be traced back to you.

With enough impact, your rumor could hit the "Trending" list which is a possible indicator of it materializing into reality. It also helps if that rumor has a degree of plausibility to realize it, but that is dependent on its nature. Of course, you would have to be careful how you spread it. If it traces back to you, you may suffer deductions in your notoriety/reputation or other variable repercussions.

Specialists: You may instead pay certain specialists to help spread rumors or help keep track of them. They are people who are usually 'in the know', have a way of understanding people, and understand how information flows. It is usually difficult to trace rumors back to you through this way. Though the growth of the rumor's impact may be slow at first.

Additionally, they are great in knowing lesser known rumors that most people do not know and may have some special insights rarely found anywhere.

Monthly Transition Board: Each month, the weather, moon phases, and time of Shangri-la will shift towards the next month. This also brings in new events that may be run by Staff or even some players. Additionally, this also is a time when rumors finally materialized after enough time. Rumors that pop up on the Monthly Transition Board as speech bubbles will have mean they have materialized or even extremely noteworthy.