I would assume all of these rules would still apply unless
they are overridden by the rules modifications section of
the g2 rules. This is not to say that all the rules listed
below are implemented correctly.
In the parlance of Olympia a noble/character is defined as
any unit with an ID that can "possess items, travel through
locations, learn skills, engage in combat, cast magical spells,
etc." So NP nobles, NPC nobles, garrisons, summoned units
(e.g. angry mobs, demons), wandering monsters and quest monsters
are all "characters." In fact many of these "characters" belong
to "factions" not controlled by any player (see the online turn
report for "Independent player [100]" on the web site. Do a
vision of any of these entities and you'll see they are just
a special type of noble.
As to the question of whether a player new to g2 is at
an unfair advantage by forming their interpretations of
the rules based solely on the g2 rules/lore... I can
see an argument in both directions. I think it's the
case that a lack of information led some players to make
a bad assumption about what constitutes a "character."
-- Dogmatix
(excerpt from G1 Times #50 attached below...)
Notice of rule changes:
-----------------------
As of this turn, the following rule changes will be in effect:
1. The TELL order is gone. It was a late addition
to G1 and was a mistake.
2. Speedcast won't reduce a spell's casting time below
one day.
3. Speedcast will not work on the Trance spell.
4. Farcast spells which depend on the presence of a
target in the destination province will use up the
farcast regardless of whether the target is found.
This parallels the way speeded casting now works.
5. Magic use of any kind is banned in the Imperial
City safe haven. This parallels the no-building and
no-combat ordinances.
6. SEEK is changed to have a 10% chance of finding
a hidden noble per day (note that the week-long
success rate is approximately the same as it is now).
The <who> parameter to SEEK is optional.
SEEK without specifying a target will seek for any
hidden nobles. If the target noble is omitted,
SEEK will have a 5% chance of finding any hidden
nobles present.
7. Magical barriers can't be placed around buildings,
only provinces or sublocations.
8. Control units are no longer be exempt from attacks
in Hades or Faery.
9. Units which have health "n/a" require a hit of
50 points or more to kill instead of the current 1
point. This will not affect combat (i.e. attack),
but rather TERRORIZE, Aura blasts, Lightning bolts,
and other means of directly applying damage to a
character.
10. RAZE must be executed by the owner of a structure.