Simple Rules: Diplomacy Auction Progressive Redux (DAPR)
Pronounced: "dapper"
What this league is:
You know the scene. DAPR is a progressive league where free agents and rookies are signed in a simultaneous silent auction.
Everyone turns in bids for a round before anyone sees results, like moves in the game Diplomacy: sealed orders, simultaneous resolution, and a map that only makes sense once everyone has moved. Then the round resolves, winners get posted, and you bid again until every club has 25-33 men and stops.
The original silent-auction idea comes from toddleduc (Auction League) and ooooohdoggie (Secret Bid League). This combined reboot keeps the spirit of each while sharpening it with the simultaneous resolution.
Basics:
Teams: 24
Parks: Exclusive parks, assigned in a one-round random draft at launch. The park doesn't have to match the real-life season. You may change parks at most once every 5 seasons, and it costs 5 TKS that season.
Start year: 1998, advancing one season at a time.
Roster book: 25-33 players (25 active + up to 8 AAA/IR). Only 25 is required.
DH: None 1998-2019; league-wide DH from 2020 on.
Injuries: on. Clones: none. Split/full cards: winner picks the card face.
Who can be auctioned: That season's WIS player pool of new players/rookies plus free agents whose contracts ended.
Money (TKS):
Everything is in tokens (TKS). Bids and books use tenths only (8.5, 4.1, 0.1). Minimum bid is 0.1.
Each season's budget
- Base: 100 TKS
- Unused TKS can roll to next season only, max 10 (does not stack to subsequent season(s))
- So heading into an auction you have 100-110 TKS (never more than 110 for the auction)
Before you bid
Always keep 0.1 for each player you still need to reach 25 (spots 26-33 need no reserve).
Available to bid = season budget - payroll you're already paying - that reserve.
Max bid on one player = Available + 0.1 while you're under 25, else Available. The Bid Desk does the math.
In-season trades (separate from the auction)
During the season you can go as high as season budget + 10 (absolute max 120 if you already rolled 10).
Before the next auction (and to bid in it), payroll + that reserve must be <= your season budget (100 + rollover, max 110). Extra trade room does not carry into the auction. If you're over, you trade or release players until you're under. The auction doesn't care how clever you were in July.
Contracts:
- Length: 1 to 5 years (max 5). No extensions, no restructuring. Sign it and live with it.
- The winning bid is the salary every year of that deal (win at 8.5 -> you pay 8.5 TKS each season for the contract length you pick).
- You pick lengths after the auction is done and rosters are filled.
- Trades move remaining years and annual TKS as-is.
- Missing WIS season / injury: you still owe that season's TKS and the player still counts on your 33-man roster (this caps IR in any season at 8).
Releases:
You may release someone before the next auction. You free the roster spot, but dead money stays on your books for the leftover years; though it declines each year (detailed in full rules in forum). Round dead money to tenths.
A released player goes back to the free-agent pool right away, and other teams can bid and roster him even while you still carry dead money for that player. Your mistake, their bargain.
When a contract ends, that player is an automatic free agent next auction.
How the silent auction works:
Big picture
1. Commissioner posts who's available.
2. Everyone submits by the deadline (same time, sealed) through the
Bid Desk (a separate site I've set up to make this process simple, consistent, and fair).
3. Commissioner resolves the round.
4. Repeat until every club has 25+ and stops. No leftover snake draft*, no consolation prizes.
5. Then owners set 1-5 year lengths on new signees.
Late = no bids that round. Miss the window, miss the round. Bid Desk down? Sitemail your bids to just4me before the deadline.
What you fill out
You bid by roster spot, not by listing every free agent on earth.
1. Enter WIS username + team name -> the Bid Desk loads your club.
2. You see roster count, players needed to reach 25, budget, Available, and your max bid on one player.
3. You get up to 33 minus your roster bid rows; blank rows are fine.
4. Each row: up to 10 Player / Bid pairs, left to right (first choice, then backups).
5. Tenths only, at least 0.1, no more than your max single-player bid.
6. Same player may show up on your sheet at most 3 times that round (across all rows) - enough to chase him on a few spots, not enough to spam every row.
7. You can only win a player once. If Bid 1 gets him, later mentions of him on other rows are ignored.
8. Sealed: nobody sees other bids until the round resolves. Resubmit before the deadline; your latest submission counts.
Who wins a player
Look at everyone still competing for that player.
- Highest unique amount wins him at that price and fills the bid row that had that line.
- If two or more people are tied at the top amount, nobody gets him at that price - those lines die, and the next live amount can still win him (even at a lower bid).
- No coin flips in a round. If he goes unclaimed, he's back next round.
Once a bid row is filled, the rest of that row is done.
Tiny example: A and B both bid 5.2 -> tie, so the player stays available. Later B bids 3.7 alone -> B gets him for 3.7.
If you won too much in one round
Wins are checked in bid row order (Bid 1, then Bid 2, ...). A win you can't afford goes to the runner-up (next-highest bid, same tie rules), and your later rows are still checked: can't afford Bid 6? You may still get Bid 7. Next round starts fresh.
Year 1 vs later years
- Year 1: Big pool - expect several days to a few weeks.
- Year 2+: Rookies + free agents after payroll (including dead money) is set. Aim to finish in about a week to 10 days.
Ending the auction
At 25+ players you may stop: skip a round and you're done for this auction. Under 25 you keep going. The auction ends when every club has 25+ and is done. Short on TKS? Release or trade players.
*If every team still under 25 has just 0.1 per needed spot, we skip endless tied 0.1 auctions and those teams fill up to 25 in a randomized snake draft (30 minutes per pick).
Trades:
- No trade deadline. Deal whenever.
- You can move players as long as both teams stay inside the in-season cap (season budget + 10, max 120).
- Traded players keep remaining years and salary.
- Dead money stays with the team that released the player.
- No PTBNL trades, everything is up front.
Rule changes:
- Commissioner approves, then 2/3 of all owners vote. If 4+ owners object, the commissioner decides whether it goes to a 2/3 vote.
Yearly loop
1. Play the WIS season / playoffs (playoffs 7-10 days; release deadline at the end)
2. Contracts age; expired players become FA
3. Releases until that deadline (dead money applies)
4. Figure rollover (<=10) and next season budget (<=110)
5. Post FA / rookie lists
6. Run silent auction rounds until every club has 25+ and stops
7. Set contract lengths on new signees
8. Lock rosters and start the next WIS season
Conduct:
No auto cutoff: stop taking part and the commissioner may bid for your club or replace you. If a franchise is abandoned, contracts and dead money stay with the club, and a replacement owner will be found. Build something worth inheriting - or hand the keys to someone who will.
Quick Bid Desk cheat sheet:
Step - What you do
1 - Username + team name
2 - Check roster, needed to 25, Available, max bid on one guy
3 - Up to 33 minus roster rows
4 - Up to 10 player/bid backups per row
5 - Tenths; min 0.1; same player <= 3 times on your sheet
6 - Submit sealed (latest counts)
7 - Ties at a price void; next lower live bid can still win
8 - A win fills that row; empty rows rebid next round
Anyone can win a bidding war when they can see the other guy's number. DAPR asks more: read the room, trust your board, and put your money where your mouth is. This isn't chaos, it's the most honest market in WIS.