Dip's new tagline in the family, and the writing rules learned from the Dip and Wiz-War passes

A deliberate tagline triplet may stay (Wiz-War's), a button may name its
action and its cost, a game may voice a template line its own way, and
the list of load-bearing words grows: client-matched errors, replay
goldens, stored shares, and bot lines told apart by shape. Bots should
not share scaffolding.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0141G6xqLeNRYEtviLWSB5Up

CONVENTIONS.md

@@ -261,8 +261,13 @@ and read each new page against this list before it ships.
   two or more pieces..."), and for a heading that ends in a colon.
 - **No headings made of "The" and an abstract noun** ("The game", "The
   tally"). Name what is there ("Origins", "Games so far").
-- **No clipped fragments in threes.** "Four towers. One crown. No second
-  chances." Write one sentence instead.
+- **A button may name its action and its cost** ("Absorb: take 2
+  instead"). The colon rule is for sentences, not for controls.
+- **No clipped fragments in threes** as a habit. "Four towers. One crown.
+  No second chances." Write one sentence instead. A game may keep one
+  deliberate triplet as its tagline when the energy is the point, as
+  Wiz-War's "Steal treasure. Blast through walls. Outwit your friends."
+  does. Once is a choice, and a pattern is a tell.
 - **No closing aphorisms.** A paragraph ends on its last fact, not on a line
   meant to sound wise ("This is the whole art", "Nothing is unlocked by it
   and nothing is withheld without it").
@@ -282,12 +287,23 @@ and read each new page against this list before it ships.
 - **Words for any table size.** Use "every player" for what each does on a
   turn, and plurals for opponents ("your rivals"), unless the game seats
   exactly two.
-- **Words the ledger stores are fixed.** An end-of-game reason written to a
-  ledger line is matched later by exact text. Rewording
-  one needs a migration, not just an edit.
+- **Some words are load-bearing.** Before rewording, grep for the string.
+  An end-of-game reason written to a ledger line is matched later by exact
+  text, and rewording one needs a migration. The client may match a server
+  error by its words. Replay screenshots kept as goldens include captions,
+  and stored shares carry event text. A bot's lines may be told apart by
+  their shape, and the examples it gives players must still parse.
+- **Bots should not share scaffolding.** When each personality recites the
+  same clause ("I keep out of X, you keep out of Y, through 1903"), they
+  stop sounding like people. Give each its own way of saying the terms, and
+  avoid assistant phrasing ("Certainly", "Happy to help", "I hope you
+  understand").
 
 The game's own voice (above) is not on this list. The chronicle's images,
-the in-world names and the keeper are what the editing passes protect.
+the in-world names, the keeper and a game's whimsy are what the editing
+passes protect. The template's plain lines are a default. A game may say
+the same thing in its own voice ("The gallery listens. The host has not
+opened its mouth.") as long as the fact survives.
 
 ## The move
 

family.json

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
       "slug": "dip",
       "name": "Dip",
       "url": "https://dip.kestrelsnest.social",
-      "pitch": "Seven powers. One map. Nobody has to keep their word.",
+      "pitch": "Seven powers share one map, and none of them has to keep its word.",
       "players": "2 to 7",
       "origin": "Allan B. Calhamer's Diplomacy, 1959; an unofficial rebuild"
     }

gamehall/site/index.html

@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@
       <div class="art"><img class="fill dip" src="dip.jpg" alt="Dip's chart of Europe at the opening: the seven powers' armies and fleets on their home centers, joined by the lines they may move along."></div>
       <div class="body">
         <h2>Dip</h2>
-        <p class="pitch">Seven powers. One map. Nobody has to keep their word.</p>
+        <p class="pitch">Seven powers share one map, and none of them has to keep its word.</p>
         <p class="facts">2 to 7 players · an unofficial rebuild of Allan B. Calhamer's 1959 Diplomacy</p>
         <span class="play">Play at dip.kestrelsnest.social →</span>
       </div>