(Redux) How To Use The Crown For Dummies

[As of thread 16, this guide is depreciated, on account of no longer having a big fancy magic crown.]

You have a big fancy magic crown. Said magic crown is ostensibly the point of the quest. So how do you go about wreaking havoc with it?

EDICTS
You don't make Laws (of reality) with the Crown. Laws are too fiddly and complicated. Instead, you string together rules made of Edicts, which are essentially Laws boiled down into simple, one-word concepts. The more basic or broad the concept, the easier the Edict is to use: {HAND} is preferred over {FINGER,} and {LIMB} over {HAND.} {CREATURE} beats {BIRD} beats {BLUE JAY}. You're unable to specify specific people or things within one Edict: you cannot say {STEVE}, or {THAT GUY IN THE BLUE JACKET,} or {ENEMY #5}. If specificity is required or desired, multiple Edicts must be combined: you *can* say {BLUE}{JACKET}{MAN}, though whether you'd want to is a different story.

Edicts may be used creatively and in ways that don't make grammatical sense. "<OPEN> (MAY) [BEETLES]" is a valid rule: 'OPEN' as a noun might refer to doors, windows, open spaces, or a person already <OPEN>ed, while 'BEETLES' as a verb may refer to creeping, crawling, walking on vertical surfaces, shrinking, or so on. This variety of meanings extends to all edicts. As a trade-off, edicts do not have defined effects: the specific end result of a rule is up to circumstance, QM fiat, and possibly a dash of RNG.

You currently know two edicts. <OPEN> you know intrinsically, while [BEETLES] is stored in your crown.

AUXILIARY EDICTS
Edicts may be used individually (eg. shouting "<OPEN>"), but this will have unpredictable effects and an unknown target. For safer and more complex uses, edicts may be combined with auxiliary edicts and each other to form complete "rules".
Auxiliary edicts consist of (MAY)/(MAY NOT), (CAN)/(CAN NOT), (WILL)/(WILL NOT), and (MUST)/(MUST NOT), in increasing order of intensity. "(MAY)" enables the target to do something they're already capable of, at least theoretically, at their choosing. "(CAN)" enables the target to do something they're not already capable of, at their choosing. "(WILL)" forces the target into an effect at an unknown later time. "(MUST)" forces the target into an effect immediately. The "NOT" versions reverse the effect of the rule, but otherwise function identically.

Edicts and auxiliary Edicts may be combined in this fashion (effects are examples, there may be more):
[BEETLES] (MAY) <OPEN> might improve Gil's ability to open a door, or possibly 'open' minds.
[BEETLES] (CAN) <OPEN> might grant Gil the ability to create portals, or make doors vanish, or maybe nothing, as this would fall more accurately under (MAY).
[BEETLES] (WILL) <OPEN> would force Gil to turn inside out, or compulsively pick locks, or narrate anything he's thinking. This effect may happen gradually, or it may strike suddenly at some point in the future (though probably not longer than an hour).
[BEETLES] (MUST) <OPEN> would have the same potential effects as above, but happen immediately.

Auxiliary edicts cannot be stacked (no "(MAY) (WILL)" or "(CAN NOT) (MUST)").

PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Rules aren't free. Creating them costs you AUTHORITY ("AUT"). As of writing, you have 16 AUT. This is a cap, not a meter: you start with 0/16, and cannot go past 16.
Each edict, regular and auxiliary, has an AUT point value. You may have as many edicts in a rule as you want, and as many rules as you want, as long as the collective AUT value of all the rules does not exceed 16. Therefore you may have one or two large/powerful rules, or three or four smaller/less powerful rules, depending on how you play it.

The costs are as follows:
>(MAY): Free
>(CAN): 1 AUT
>(WILL): 3 AUT
>(MUST): 5 AUT

>Crown Edicts (eg [BEETLES]): 1 AUT
>Innate Edicts (eg <OPEN>): Free on first use, 2 AUT on future uses
>Temporary Edicts (eg {SNAKE}): Free on first use if roll is successful, 2 AUT on future uses

So {SNAKE} (MUST) [OPEN] is 0 + 5 + 0 = 5 AUT, and {SNAKE} {INSIDE} (WILL) [BEETLES] = 2 (second use) + 0 + 3 + 1 = 6 AUT, for 11/16 total. You may create more rules, as long as they don't exceed 5 AUT (11+5=16) collectively.

"Temporary Edicts" are edicts that you neither know intrinsically nor have in your crown. Temporary Edicts may be any sufficiently general word, but have restrictions: you may only have one 'unlearned' Temporary Edict in a rule; all Temporary Edicts require a roll to 'learn' on first use, with the difficulty determined by the specificity of the word and how close you personally are to it; and Temporary Edicts fade after the encounter where they're used. They may be 'relearned' in the next encounter, but will again require a roll. If you continually 'learn' the same Temporary Edict, you may be able to convert it into a permanent Innate Edict like <OPEN>.

Therefore:
{SNAKE} (MUST) {DEATH} would not be an acceptable first rule. You would have to do, eg, "[BEETLES] (MAY) {DEATH}" (1+0+0), roll to 'learn' {DEATH,} then on the next turn do {SNAKE} (MUST) {DEATH} (0+5+2) and roll for '{SNAKE}'. With the two combined, you would have 8 AUT value, and be able to use up to 8 more.

Miscellaneous: for the time being, rules only affect the immediate area (think of them as an 'arena effect'), and may be broken if the target leaves this area. Rules may be ended at will, recouping the AUT they cost and stopping their ongoing effect (though not reversing anything permanent). This only applies to rules created by you: you cannot end other people's rules at will, should you encounter them.

And that's it. Good luck and have fun!