Post by Aersoldorf on Aug 20, 2016 17:45:41 GMT -5
was the Word, and the Word was published abroad in Book form, and the Book brought fame and fortune to the Author, the All-Father, Our Creator – Maximus Barrycus. The All-Father imagined a universe, inspired by the Book, where millions of faithful could live out his ideas, and it was so. And Maximus saw the universe that he had created, and he pronounced it good. And the evening and the morning were the beginning of NS Year 1. And Max brought forth nations out of thin air to populate his universe, and he created beings to govern them. Freely He allowed these leaders to rule their lands, and they were fruitful and grew in number and stature.
After many, many years had passed, the people of the universe began to strive with one another, forming alliances and making war, and many of them began to behave rather badly. Maximus was grieved that he had created the universe, but was determined not to let the problems of the petty interfere with his inner Zen. The All-Father looked to and fro, throughout the lands, and chose for himself a group of capable nations and set them as Overseers for the people. These Ancient Ones became members of an organization known as the Bureau of Underling Moderation and are sometimes referred to as BUMs (but only when they aren’t within earshot). For over a thousand years the BUM hierarchs ruled the universe from their palatial homes high atop Mount Big Brother, settling differences between nations and regions, handing out discipline when needed and generally making sure that things ran as smoothly as possible. Things ran smoothly for quite some time under this system……
………………………… Until Now!!!!
Fade in onto a scene of upheaval in the heavens, a clamoring mass assembled before the throne of the All-Father.
Maximus silences the crowd with a clearing of his throat. He rises to address them, and speaks softly, yet each ear hears his every word.
“My friends, I have called you here before me today because of the breaching of our hallowed halls by a mortal. This treachery is made all the more heinous by the fact that the mortal not only made his way to the sacred Mount Big Brother, but he conned a trusted servant into committing an act of treason which also allowed the mortal to steal from our Tabernacle of Taste. He has taken our sacred treasures and defiled them, selling them like expensive trinkets to the masses. The people have flocked to him, revering him like a god- DO YOU HEAR ME??? He has even taken MY NAME!!!!”
By this time his voice had risen to such a level that many in the crowd feared that the building would be shaken to dust. He glanced across the assemblage until his eyes found the one he was searching for.
“You,” he said, speaking to Blaat, “you allowed this blasphemy to occur. You never could fully sever your ties to the human realm after you had been promoted. It was your birthday last week wasn’t it? Had to have a big party to impress your mortal friends. And you failed to provide adequate security to prevent any mortal from learning of, let alone stealing, our most precious treasures? I am disappointed in you, yet I cannot place all the blame on your shoulders. Your housemaid Pandora betrayed us by her actions, but she acted blindly, out of love. Love for a charlatan, a monster who feigned loving her back, who swept her off her feet. He used her. He will pay, they must all pay.”
“My liege,” replied Blaat, “you have never met this Barry to fully understand what he is capable of. It all started last month when Bisclavret announced his retirement. The BUM Inner Circle convened and had issued a summons for Baden-Wuerttemberg to appear for an interview as a replacement. She was scheduled to come in on Monday, but a mix up at the Transporter Terminal Scheduling Office caused her entire entourage to arrive on Saturday afternoon, hours before my already-scheduled gala. Since we obviously don’t normally provide room and board for mortals but didn’t want to offend a potential fellow BUM, it was decided to house the entire contingent in an upper floor suite of rooms until it was time for the interview. It was during this period of confinement that Barry conceived of his plan to steal from the gods and make himself a fortune. Barry began manipulating himself into the mind of the housemaid assigned to the suite. Pandora had never met a mortal and was fascinated by him. Being a plain serving girl, she was putty in the hands of a master potter before the suave and smooth talking butler. He told her that he, too, was of a low station in life, a mere butler to the stars (although he did leave out that he also serves sometimes as a playboy billionaire casino manager back home), and that if she would love him, and trust him, and do one little favor for him, that they could both rise up, shake off their chains of servitude, and enjoy the finest that life has to offer, together. She was overwhelmed, poor thing. Just like a rowboat in the ocean running into a rogue wave – she drowned in the attention that he lavished on her and her head swam with dreams of greatness.
After the interview was over, Baden-Wuerttemberg and her entourage departed. It wasn’t until later that the theft was discovered. Pandora had given Barry, a mortal, the two greatest gifts of the Ancients: Tacos and Bourbon.
Barry quickly capitalized on his theft. Rather than hiding the merchandise, he studied their secrets and soon began mass producing them. He amassed a fortune in less than a week and had been nominated for sainthood by no less than 47 different religions. People want him installed as World Governor and there’s talk of naming a month in his honor.
Surely this atrocity must be punished, but must they all be destroyed because they’ve gained forbidden knowledge? Perhaps there is another way, which punishes the wrong doers, sends a message to all of humanity not to repeat the same crime, and perhaps affords us a bit of entertainment in the process.”
Maximus looked quizzically at Blaat, “What did you have in mind?” he aksed.
“Well, Pandora must be punished as well. Perhaps we should send her to her lover’s side, like she wants. And perhaps we allow her to take a load of gifts to him, like he wants. But, let’s say that we replace the contents of her packages with other items, both harmful and helpful. Then we allow Lycaon the Wolf to bite her before we send her to the realms below.”
“I like it”, smiled Max, “make it happen.”
[Jump to present – you’re in the dining hall of the Mayor’s Mansion. There’s a full crowd of people seated at the table. Everyone is eating and drinking and making conversation with their neighbors. Suddenly, there is a frantic pounding on the huge door leading into the dining hall. When the source is investigated, it turns out to be not one, but two, messengers, and they both speak privately with the Mayor. After reading the missives, the Mayor’s face turns an ashen white and he sinks back into his chair for a few moments, composing himself. After a few moments, he rises to address the crowd:]
“My friends, I stand before you the bearer of bad news. It seems that Barry has been found dead in his home. His body had been horribly mutilated and was found next to that of his betrothed, Pandora. Small, decorative boxes, were found lying all around the bodies, unopened. Another messenger brings news from our old friend Blaat. It would appear that we are being punished for our love of tacos and bourbon. The Ancient ones have turned loose upon our soil the greatest punishment ever meted out on mankind. You are to fight against Werewolves to determine if we are worthy to continue in our way of life, or if we will die for our love of tasty treats. I am forbidden from entering into the fray at your sides. There can be only one outcome, and they may have infected some among you already. I leave you now to your test. I wish you the best, and I raise a toast to the Taco for your safety.”
Welcome, everyone, to Werewolves 50: Pandora’s Boxes. My name is Aersoldorf and I will be your host for this game. Before I get to the rules, I’d like to just talk for a bit about the mechanics I’ve chosen for this game. As our veteran players know, no two of our games have ever played with exactly the same mechanics (with the possible exception of the first two or three). My first game played here was WW7, in which the host (HumanSanity) introduced a new element that has proven popular ever since – the story. Game hosts now are judged based on the content of the story and sometimes the skeletal frame of the actual mechanics gets overlooked. I’m not saying that’s not fair, or that it’s wrong, just that I think it’s factual. I don’t fancy myself a brilliant writer, but I do love the game and so I’ve decided to tinker with the mechanics heavily in an effort to draw attention away from my attempts at writing what’s essentially a fan-fic. I know that very few people actually enjoy being a plain old villager, so I’ve tried to address that by making each individual person matter, for better or worse. Every lynch vote must now take into account the fact that there are no easy decisions on who you can afford to lose. I also have chosen to tinker with the wolves mechanics in this game. This is a large field of players and as a result there’s a large number of wolves. Playing as a wolf can be exhilarating at dawn, as you await the news of your previous night’s kill and the identity of your victim. I’ve added a bit of uncertainty to the way wolves kill, and I’ve added an element of fear for them to watch for as well. It’s my sincere hope that you enjoy my experiment in game mechanics.
A note for new players, Werewolves is simply a game of deduction, discovery and consensual paranoia. You will be divided into two teams, Werewolves and Villagers. Each day will consist of two phases, the Day and Night. During the Day phase, people may discuss their suspicions, accuse other players, and vote on whether or not to kill someone. If someone has a special ability that can be used during the day phase then he/she may elect to do so. At the end of the Day phase, the person that the group has voted to lynch will be taken to the cellar steps and stabbed in the heart with a silver dagger by the Mayor. The deceased will have their role revealed to the group and they will be removed from the list of active players. It is a matter of courtesy that once a player has been killed, they may make one farewell post in the game thread and then they will cease to post in this thread until the game is over. A private message thread will be created for dead players to watch the remainder of the game from. Nothing seen or heard in that thread is to be shared anywhere else. During the Night phase the Werewolves choose a target to attack. Some Villagers have special roles which grant them Night phase powers/abilities as well. They may use whatever special ability they have at this time. If the player that the wolves attack is not defended, then they will be killed (*see special rules below concerning the wolf pack). As players are lynched and killed at night, their roles will be revealed and they’ll be removed from the list of living players. If at any time the number of living wolves equals or exceeds the number of living villagers, then the werewolves win. If the villagers can identify and kill all of the werewolves then they will win. The first team to achieve their victory condition wins. A couple of individual roles have the ability to claim a solo victory. Those will be explained beside the respective role below.
In addition to the normal Day and Night phase activities, each player will choose a number from 1-32. You will be assigned the box that corresponds to your number. Each box contains a surprise, but not all of them are beneficial, and at least one of them will result in the instant death of the person who opens it. You may open your box at any time by indicating that wish to me in the pm thread that I sent your role in. Some of the box results are used instantly, some may be used strategically. Some may have a single use and some may confer a permanent ability/disability to the player that opens the box. You do not have to open your box. However, the number of unopened boxes may never exceed the number of living players, and no player may hold more than one box at a time. If a player obtains a second box then he/she must, in that case, open one (or both) of the boxes in their possession. If a player is killed and their box has not been opened, then it will be awarded publicly to a new owner. If someone wants the box, they may lay their claim to it. If there are no objections, the new owner takes control of the box. If there are several claimants to the available box(es), then a public vote shall take place during the phase and the winner shall take the box. In the event that no player wishes to claim an available box, then a vote shall be taken among the players of who they will force to accept the box, this player has no choice but to accept the box if awarded thusly. Again, if a player obtains a 2nd box by any method, he/she must immediately open at least one of their boxes.
Below is a list of the roles in this game and any rules pertaining to that role:
Werewolf Team:
Werewolves (5) – each Night phase, conspire with the pack and choose a victim to attack, if that person is not defended then they are killed.
Dire Wolf – wake with the pack each night. In addition, during the first day phase you are to choose any other player in the game. If that person dies, then you die as well, but if you die first, that person doesn’t die as a result.
Wolf Cub – protected and loved by the entire pack, if the Wolf Cub is killed then the enraged wolves may make 2 attacks the following night.
Lone Wolf – this member of the wolf pack wants the victory all to him/herself. Can only win if he is the last wolf left alive and the werewolf team meets their victory condition.
*special roles regarding the Werewolves Team: while there are 3 special types of werewolf roles in this game in addition to the generic werewolf role, all of the members of the werewolf team will simply appear to one another as werewolves, their special status is hidden from the remainder of the group. (The Lone Wolf doesn’t want the others to know he’s plotting against them, The Cub doesn’t want to be sacrificed, etc.) Secondly, to begin the game, the wolves don’t know who each other are. During the night phase each wolf will send in a name of someone to attack. An individual wolf will have a 1/8 chance of success per attack. If a wolf attempts to attack another wolf at night, then they will become ‘linked’. They can also become ‘linked’ if two wolves attempt to attack the same victim. Finally, two wolves can become linked during the day phase by voting for another wolf to be lynched. As soon as I’m online and see that one wolf voted to lynch another wolf, then I’ll notify them of each other’s identities. As the wolf ‘links’ grow, their odds of success grow. 2 wolves linked in an attack have a 2/8 chance of success (not counting actions of defense), 3 wolves have a 3/8 chance, etc. Once the largest ‘link’ reaches a size of 6, the remaining wolves will automatically be brought into the pack. The pack will also automatically begin to hunt as a single unit if they happen to make 3 or more kills on any given night while they’re hunting separately.
The Villagers Team:
Seer – Choose one player each night and have that person’s role revealed to you. You may choose to contact that person privately afterwards, or you may keep the knowledge to yourself.
Apprentice Seer – In the event that the Seer is killed, you become the new Seer, but you don’t gain any knowledge that the previous Seer had.
Doppleganger – During the first Day phase, choose any other player. When that player dies you will secretly assume that role. If you become a wolf, then the remainder of the wolves will be made aware.
Hunter (2) – These Villagers have spent their lives hunting wolves and have an itchy trigger finger. If a Hunter is killed they may, as their dying act, shoot any living player that they want to. That person dies alongside the Hunter. The Hunter needs to have their target selected early in case they die. If they want to change their target, they can pm me. No living player may suggest a target for the hunter after it is revealed that the hunter is dead.
Investigator – Skilled in the art of putting 1 and 1 together, this person isn’t supernaturally gifted like the seer is. Rather, each Night the Investigator may choose any 3 adjacent rooms (*see note on adjacent) to watch. While not getting an exact count, nor an idea which specific person it is, the Investigator will be told yes/no whether a werewolf stays in any one of the 3 chosen rooms.
Defender (4) – Each Night the Defenders will each choose a target to protect. If the werewolves attack that person then nothing happens and nobody is killed. Defenders MAY Defend the same target for multiple nights. There are no restrictions regarding successive nights.
Lycan – Poor, hapless villager who happens to carry a recessive trait for Lycanthropy. While a member of the Village team, this person will appear as a werewolf to the Seer and the Investigator.
Insomniac – This villager gets a yes/no answer as to whether each of his/her adjacent neighbors was active during the night (*see note on ‘adjacent’)
The Count/Countess – During the first Night phase, this person may divide the circle of rooms down the middle and will be told how many wolves reside on each half of the circle as divided.
Wild Child – an abandoned orphan, the Wild Child will pick a ‘role model’ during Day one. The Wild Child will play as a Villager so long as their ‘role model’ is alive. If the ‘role model’ is killed, then the Wild Child will act out and become a member of the Werewolf team.
Nostradamus – each night you predict who the wolves will attack, if you’re correct then you have a 50% chance of seeing the identity of one of the attackers.
Blacksmith – not content with having passive weapons to fight with, the blacksmith can create silver caltrops and leave them outside a room each night. If a wolf steps on them during an attack on the resident of the defended room then there is a 50% chance that the silver will enter the bloodstream and kill the werewolf. (whether or not the werewolves’ target dies is determined normally). The Blacksmith may only create 1 set of caltrops at any time, but may leave them outside the same room indefinitely). If the werewolves attack a victim who has caltrops outside their room, then the caltrops are considered destroyed and it takes 2 day phases for the Blacksmith to create a new set.
Cupid – During the first Day phase, you pick 2 players to become Lovers. If one of them dies, the other will also die of a broken heart. The two Lovers will know who each other are, but won’t know Cupid’s identity.
Village Idiot – can never cast the first vote in any Day phase, must always cast his/her vote for the same person that the very first vote of the day phase is cast for.
Blind Man – Every night choose a player, that player may not vote during the following Day phase.
Martyr – May choose to sacrifice himself/herself in the place of an intended lynch victim before the victim’s identity is revealed publicly. This would save the person who had been voted to die.
Priest – During the first Night phase, pick any player to bless. That person may not be killed at night by the wolf team. The blessing lasts until that person is targeted. Once the wolves attempt to attack a targeted individual the blessing is nullified and the Priest picks a different person to bless on the next night. Should the Priest attempt to bless a werewolf, the blessing will expire after one night on the first occurance, two nights on the second, etc.
Mason – Members of a secret society within the Bourbon Brotherhood, you have no special power, but you do begin the game with the knowledge of who your fellow Masons are. You may never, under penalty of death, mention this society in the game thread, either directly or indirectly. The discretion of whether you’ve revealed yourself and earned death is mine to make.
In addition to the assigned roles, you will also elect a President to govern you. The President will break any ties in lynch votes or in other votes. Additionally, 1 time during his term, the President may utilize Executive Authority. The President will privately submit a list of 3 names to me before the night phase begins. The wolves may only choose their target from the names on that list for that night. The list will be made public at dawn. The first President will be elected on Day 1 and serve until killed. A new President will be elected during the Day phase following the death of a sitting President.
*note on adjacent rooms* - think of the rooms for the players as being arranged around the edge of a circle, clock style. Dead players have their 'room' removed from the ring and the ring closes to form a new, smaller circle whenever someone dies. Powers that rely on adjacent rooms determine adjacency based on position in the circle of the respective rooms. Example - say the Insomniac has room 23. Each night that person would get a report concerning rooms 22 and 24 since they're 'adjacent' to 23 at that time. If the player in room 24 is killed, then room 25 (or whatever the next room in order in that direction is) becomes the new adjacent room on that side.
The Boxes that you’ll be given could have anything inside them. I’ve randomized what they will have based on what day of the game you open it (if you choose to do so). I may tinker with the random tables a bit if things go sideways, but I think there should be enough good and bad effects to balance things out. If opening a box reveals an Artifact, then I’ll make an announcement at that time and explain the particular piece in detail.
I will allow private conversations between players provided that I’m included in the thread. If you wish to speak with someone via pm, let me know and I’ll create the thread. You may make any claims you wish about your role, publicly and privately, but under no circumstances may you take a screen shot of your role pm and use it as proof. You may not reveal your role by this method. If you do it, you’ll be disqualified and killed in a horrific manner.
The only day in which a No Lynch vote is acceptable is on Day 1. After that, you must lynch someone every day.
There will be no inactivity deaths, although I may reassign a role if I feel it is warranted should someone vitally important go missing.
Please remember that this is a game, keep your attacks civil and don’t take anything personally.
I’m sure that I’ve overlooked something vitally important, so I’m going to go ahead and post this early to give everyone a chance to ask any questions that they may have before we begin. I’d like to give everyone a bit of time to open their role messages and read through things, so I think we can begin day 1 at 1330 Eastern tomorrow. Day phases will last for 48 hours and Night phases will last for 24 hours. That coincides with my lunch break at work and should enable me to end the phases in a timely manner.
I hope you enjoy, good luck to everyone.
Current list of Players:
1.
2.
3. Tanzoria
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. Slowmeadow - now Lamoni
18. Echolilia
19. Eoin. - now Siuts
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25. Boltor
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32. Randomain