	Sorry I've been so unforthcoming in the last two weeks.  I have been
wrapped up in design problems.  In the last two messages I tried to convey
the extent of my problems with the design, but matters only got worse and
worse.  For a long time I felt that the design was changing faster than I
could document the changes, and my confidence in the stability of the design
eroded with each new change.  However, in the last five days things seem to
have settled down for me; I have made no fundamental changes and have been
able to flesh out details of the design without feeling any need to go back and
rearrange the basic design.  I have even resumed programming, so I have some
confidence in this new structure.  Here it is:
	The central level of conflict in the game is still the mind-battle,
which is still an RSP-style combat with exchange of mental "auras".  The
winner of any battle, though, gets to keep the aura he used as well as the
aura that his opponent used.  Characters will cast auras in mind-combat 
according to a well-understood algorithm; thus, victory in the game is 
dependent on knowing their aura-counts.  Discovering these aura-counts brings
us into the second main level of interaction: mind-spells.  There are six
of these.  Three determine the aura counts of each of the three forms of 
auras.  The other three are used to detect lies, conceal lies, or encourage
affinity.  Mind-spells are powered by "mental energy", which is consumed by
their use and regenerated by the presence of auras.  Players will always know
of the existence of mind-battles, but determining their outcome requires 
special knowledge that can only be obtained from the participants in the
battle.  That special knowledge can be obtained by talking to one of the
participants, if he is willing to give you the information, or by taking the
information using a spell.  But one can always lie.
	That's the design, in brief.  Does it make sense to anybody?
.
