K. Making stats, effects, and formatting to fit the
Issue Submission Guidelines.
Title: Santa in the Slammer?
Description: Last Christmas Eve, a man identifying himself as "Kris Kringle" was arrested and charged with breaking and entering after descending the chimney of a house while the owner was sleeping. He has since been awaiting trial, but now pleads for you to simply dismiss the charges.
Validity: none
(can't think of any nations for which this wouldn't be valid, anyone else?)Options:
[option]"I try to do something out of the goodness of my heart, and look what happens!" exclaims Mr. Kringle while wearing a black and white prison jumpsuit with a jolly red hat. "It's time for the government to relax these paranoid trespassing laws to allow for more random acts of kindness like mine."
[effect]laws against trespassers have been greatly relaxed
[stats]political freedom increases
(I think... less laws = more freedom??), Law&Order receives less funding, Happiness increases
(maybe)[option]"This goes to show how deluded our society has become," says Citizens for Firmly Rooted Reality spokesperson, E. B. Scrooge. "We need to outlaw Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny too for that matter."
[effect]popular children's myths are repressed
[stats]intelligence increases
(the myths aren't real, so they become smarter, right?), happiness decreases, civil rights go down
(this is a big maybe)[option]"Free Santa Claus!" shouts protest organizer @@randomname@@, handing out "I Believe" pins, bumper stickers, and yard signs. "Don't be a grinch, make Christmas year-round!"
[effect]Christmas is zealously celebrated all year
[stats]civil rights increase
(again maybe), public apathy decreases, happiness increases
[option]"This Kris Kringle clearly has a case of severe delusion, basically causing him to believe he is a mythical character," says Dr. @@randomname@@ of @@name@@'s Psychiatric Association. "It is possible to treat such cases, but it will require more funding."
[effect]education goes up
(only industry I could find even remotely related to psychology), retail sector increases
(actually, maybe not, someone else decide for me here), intelligence increases, economy increases
(not sure about this one either)[option]"He must be a communist!" says your Head of Military @@randomname@@. "His kind should be rooted out and deported to camps, if they're not shot at sight at least!"
[effect]any abnormal behavior is severely punished
[stats]Law&Order receives more funding, happiness decreases, compassion decreases
[option]"Yet another example of a Holy Day being perverted and debased by commercialism," says your religious advisor, Cardinal @@randomname@@. "Our nation must not permit this pagan tradition to continue poisoning our people. Imprison Kringle and return Christmas to us as it was meant to be - the birth of our Lord."
[effect]Christmas celebrations are strictly regulated
[stats]Religion & Spirituality receives more funding, Law&Order receives more funding, devoutness increases
Whew. This definitely needs quite a bit of polishing off. In the first place, my effects are not nearly as witty as the rest of the issue, and in the second place, despite my handy dandy list of all government variables, I couldn't decide what would increase or decrease when. I'll look for the forum thread where it's all laid out, but until then, you'll just have to go with what I have here.