Invitational 10: 2005-2006. Game over! before 624

[CrashTextDummie]

Owned.

[elvis_knits]

SUCK ONNNNNE!

Sorry Xyl

[Xylthixlm]

vote: elias

for good measure.

[elvis_knits]

Sorry I forgot how many players were left and thought I was helping you get to hammer!

[Thestatusquo]

"IT WAS ELIAS!" Says patrick. I saw him visit the house of the victim! Xyl muses about this for a second, and then points a gun at Elias. He stops, and puts it to his side again, saying...When we get more agreement, I will be the one to do it. I did it the other two times. No one else need get their hands dirty. He nods, then out of the corner of his eye see's elvis knits raising her pistol.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He says, and tries to get his up before hers.

BOOM!

Elvis's gun goes off with a roar, her bullet speeding towards elias. With a shower of blood and gore it pierces his skull, and he goes down, crumpled in a heap.

"NO!" Says XYL. "I Fucking wanted to do that, you bitch."

He walks over to the corpse of Elias, and empties his clip into his dead form lying on the ground.

"Good enough." He says.

Elias the thief has been lynched. He was Jeep, mafia goon!

All threats to the town have been eliminated! Town wins!

[Xylthixlm]

Yes!

See, randomly hammering people with no warning

is

a valid protown play.

[Xylthixlm]

For the record, I never read the first 39 pages.

[Thestatusquo]

Role PM dump:

Barebones setup: Priority dictated in mod notes.

2 mafia thugs (1 mod note: Gun) Jeep, Mith 1 2
1 mafia priest (1 Mod note: No gun) Thesp 3
1 SK (1 mod note: No Gun) Adel 4
1 shot vigilante (1 Mod note: Gun) Pie 5
1 Gunsmith (2 mod note: No Gun) Cubsfan4ever 6
1 Tracker (3 mod note: No gun) Seol 7
5 Vanilla townie (mod note: No gun.) Nameless newbie. 8-12

bluesoul 6
chamber 8
Elias_the_thief 1
elvis_knits 9
Ether 5
MrBuddyLee 4
Patrick 7
petroleumjelly 3
sarcastro 10
OhGodMyLife 11
IH 12
DrippingGoofBall 2


ROLE PMS:

SERIAL KILLER:

Gibbering, slobber running down your cheeks, you run down the alleys. You are chasing. What are you chasing? You don’t know. All you know is that it beats…Beats…Beats…You hear blood rushing in your head as you dash forever forward. BLOOD! That’s what it is you’re chasing! You dart down an alley and slam into some cans, which scatter every which way. Spotting a shadow ahead you drop to a crouch, and proceed slowly, ever so slowly. Time stops as you creep up closer and closer.

“Is anyone there?” The shadow calls, alerted to your presence. TOO LATE! You bury your mouth in your victims throat, and as blood drips down from your teeth you pull him to the ground.

Moments later, you stalk away; mouth stained red. A small smirk touches your lips. Tonight was a good feast.

You are Adel, and you are the serial killer. Each night you may send me the name of a player whom you would like to devour. You win when you alone remain…

(As a note, I think this is the best thing I've ever written for a mafia game.)

MAFIA:

JEEP

The meeting convenes. You are in a room, lit only by a few candles. Looking around you see Mith () and Thesp() and are immediately reminded of the gravity of the situation. Many years ago you three banded together, tired of all the newer players coming in and ruining your experience.

For a long while, no one speaks. The candles flicker. The wax melts and slowly winds its way down the candle sticks to pool on the table. You clear your throat. This silence is not productive. Plans must be made.

“It is almost done” you say, fully aware that the most difficult part is yet to come. Yes, when you started all those years ago, you never had believed it could go so well, and now the plan was nearing completion. Just 9 players stood in your way. Just 9, impertinent, PATHETIC players between you three and peace. Yet…Perhaps…Perhaps it was not wise of Mith to want to leave these particular players for last.

The others nod and you begin to make plans for the game. One last game.

Many hours later, as you snuff out the candles, you smile quietly. Soon you will have your peace. Soon.

You are Jeep, a member of the mafia with Mith, your fellow goon, and Thesp, the mafia aligned priest. Each night you may discuss with your fellow mafia members and agree on a player to kill as well as a player to do the killing. You win when mafia control of the town is inevitable. As a note, you know you already eliminated all players from the time period of this invitational, and thus those are safe claims for this game.

MITH

The meeting convenes. You are in a room, lit only by a few candles. Looking around you see Mith () and Thesp() and are immediately reminded of the gravity of the situation. Many years ago you three banded together, tired of all the newer players coming in and ruining your experience.

For a long while, no one speaks. The candles flicker. The wax melts and slowly winds its way down the candle sticks to pool on the table. Finally, Jeep clears his throat. You’re grateful. Speaking first at this meeting is not something you had relished.

“It is almost done” He says. You nod quietly to yourself. Yes, when you started all those years ago, you never had believed it could go so well, and now the plan was nearing completion. Just 9 players stood in your way. Just 9, impertinent, PATHETIC players between you three and peace. You had saved these nine for last on purpose. A last challenge…The best the other side had to offer.

Out of the corner of your eye you see Thesp is also nodding. That’s good. He too, seems ready. Together you go about the task of preparing for one last game. The game to end all games.

You are Mith, a member of the mafia with fellow goon, Jeep, and Thesp, the mafia aligned priest. Each night you may discuss with your fellow mafia members and agree on a player to kill as well as a player to do the killing. You win when mafia control of the town is inevitable. As a note, you know you already eliminated all players from the time period of this invitational, and thus those are safe claims for this game.

THESP:

You finger your cross slowly under the table as you quietly watch the candles burn. The consequence settles slowly around the meeting like a fog, ramifications you can practically drink from their severity. Looking evenly across the table you meet the gaze of Jeep () and Mith () in turn, wondering if they too felt the smothering effect of candles in a room with no windows. Wondering if perhaps that was just you, feeling the consequences of your actions.

Jeep clears his throat.

“It is almost done.” he says, and you try to sneak a glance at Mith again, to see how he reacts to such a pronouncement. Indeed, Jeep is right. Many years ago when you set out to get rid of the other players so that just you three would remain you had gone along with it, even enthusiastically, as Jeep would remind you from time to time. But now all those dead players, All those souls removed from their bodily hosts and sent to heaven too early. All that pressure. It is beginning to weigh on you heavily. You finger your cross one more time. Yes, it is almost done.

You are Thesp, a mafia aligned priest. You are incapable of casting a hammering vote. any vote you would cast that would result in the death of another person will simply be ignored. Also note that this does not count for “hammering” no lynch. Along with goons Jeep and Mith, you are the mafia. Each night you may discuss with your fellow mafia members and agree on a player to kill as well as a player to do the killing. You win when mafia control of the town is inevitable. As a note, you know you already eliminated all players from the time period of this invitational, and thus those are safe claims for this game.

1 SHOT VIG

Drunkenly stumbling, you crash hard into something you used to remember the name of. Oh yeah, it’s a wall. Your head is throbbing. How many drinks had you had tonight? 8? 9? Everything is a blur after that 4th. You rub your head and attempt to reorient your body north and south. Success! With much effort you’re able to shove yourself to your feet. What had you been doing at the pub anyway? You had been celebrating something, but what?

You shrug it off as another one of life’s mysteries, and begin the short walk (stumble) home. As you crawl into your bed you feel the lump of your revolver still in its holster on your hip. You spin the chamber, and notice that theres only one bullet remaining.

“THAT’S IT!!!!” You cry out loud, nearly falling out of bed. You had got him, that bastard. The one who had been terrorizing the GD for years, and you had finally gotten him. You remember the name he gave, before you had given him the equivalent of a permanent IP ban. Quagmire.

You are Pie_is_good, and you are a one shot vigilante. Once per game you may send me the name of a player during the night phase that you would like to kill. You win when all threats to the town are elimited.

GUNSMITH

You’re a loner. No one really seems to like you, and frankly, that’s fine by you.

“Fuck ‘em” you growl to yourself, as you continue to polish your guns. You pull up one and look at the barrel. Perfect. You smile at your own reflection and brush back your greasy hair, only succeeding in adding more gun oil to your own, unwashed, oily pate. You step back and lovingly take a look at your store. An air of superiority creeping over you. Law enforcement, criminals, even rowdy hooligans who wanted to act tough…They may hate you, but in terms of guns they were all at your mercy. You were their conduit to the word of bullets, and deep down they knew it. You flip through your manual of customers, pausing every now and again to look at a name or check a date. You tuck yourself in that night with that knowledge heavily weighing on your mind. It is a comforting thought.

You are Cubsfan4ever. You are a gunsmith. Each night you may send me the name of a player, and I will tell you whether or not that player has a gun. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

TRACKER:

You are a scholarly fellow. From high atop the tower where you reside, you can see the whole town. You like it that way. How better to study the townspeople then from up atop? As the sun begins to set over the mountains, you fiddle with some dials on your telescope, as you point it to contemplate the stars.

Sighing to yourself you wonder how humanity has progressed to this point with all the killing and murder which happens every day. It is a mystery to even a scholar such as yourself. Maybe some day you will know the answer.

After hours of stargazing, you turn in. The next day should yield interesting things. Every day does.

You are Seol. You are the Tracker. Each night you may send me the name of a player that you wish to observe. I will tell you who (if anyone) that player targeted during the night. You win when all threats to the town are eliminated.

VANILLA

From the outskirts of the town, it looks like a nice place to live. Little tufts of grass pop up through the cracks in the cobble stones and are subsequently crushed by your boots. You breath deep of the crisp, smooth mountain air and proceed to the nearest Inn. You’re pretty sure that you’re going to like it here.

You are a Nameless Newbie. You have not been around here long enough to have any sort of special powers, but you do have the power to read, think, and vote. You are a vanilla townie, and you win when all threats to the town are eliminated.

Thoughts on flavor? I put a lot of effort into those PMs.

Thanks again to OGML for stepping in for me. Real baller right there.

[Thestatusquo]

For the record, bluesoul targetted elias last night too, so he was fucked.

[OhGodMyLife]

Oo-rah

Go town!

[OhGodMyLife]

And sorry town for my poor play contributing to my replacement's mislynch.

[Patrick]

I'm happy with this game. Interesting how we actually had most of the scum under pressure on day 1 and our choice of lynch seemed to be mostly between two of them. I was getting extremely lazy by the end of it and maybe that helped me -- stopped me second guessing myself even more about DGB. I was elated when I got the result that meant pablito was likely scum, then as soon as Xyl posted I immediately became very worried that pablito would actually be able to back up his claimed ability and that I'd get lynched. Really grateful that Xyl just put pablito away immediately.

I think the setup is slightly rough on the town, and even rougher on the SK; I'd give partial NK immunity there. I like the flavour, always better than just getting the role and nothing else.

Thanks to all for the game, there was some decent scumhunting, especially from MBL, though I don't really understand his strategy as an SK; seems like his play was always going to make him a likely nightkill. I'd have been spooked if he'd been mafia, he looked to be looking for scum so genuinely, lol.

[Lowell]

Great job everyone.

To answer someone's question, I did know I was a one-shot (as you can see from the role). I didn't let on because I was hoping I would get NKed after I became basically a townie. I wish I could say I was nobly trying to deflect scumkills in order to protect actual powerroles, but really I just felt I had no idea what was going on and I figured I'd be better off dead.

[Thestatusquo]

I think you're right about the SK, and on second thought I should probably have given him more powers, but it's interesting to note here that MBL decided to play the "no kills, play pro town vig" strategy. It's probably what ended up costing him the game, because he was too good as a pro town player, and got the mafia spooked, so that they ended up killing him.

I think the setup is balanced. The town doesn't need a lot of power to win a game of mafia (I think this proves it) with good town players, they should be able to link the scum together and catch them, and that is amply demonstrated here. As you said, the scum were all under pressure day 1. If anything, I think I gave the town a bit too much power, and if I had to redo the setup, probably would water down one of the investigation roles a little more. Either way, it worked out to be a pretty good game.

Lastly, my motivation when designing this game was to punish town assumptions. I really like the idea of roles generally thought to be pro-town on the side of the scum. That's where the mafia aligned priest comes in. I was shocked that the scum had the priest carry out the kill, seeing as he had the confirmable protown role. The fact that they let him get a result on him was just sloppy play. The gunsmith which had both a miller and an investigation immune result is another example.

As an aside, I really really hate doctors. I don't think you'll ever see one in my games. It's just a bad role.

[elvis_knits]

WOOOOO! I am so glad I held myself back from attacking Patrick relentlessly after the first few days. Very fun and challenging game. I felt strongly that DGB and MBL were scum at the beginning, but I had basically confirmed pablito in my mind and thought elias was town too. So I'm glad that Patrick and Bluesoul were able to help out with results. And Xyl should really get some "I've got balls" award. Lowell did good job drawing the NK.

[Xylthixlm]

I'm like 71-Hour Ahmed. Once I know someone is scum, why let them live even an hour?

[OhGodMyLife]

Oh and thanks to all the replacements, especially Xyl for being such a shot in the arm to the game when it was really languishing.

[Thestatusquo]

Absolutely, the replacements all made this game possible, and deserve immense thanks.

[bluesoul]

Great job everyone.

To answer someone's question, I did know I was a one-shot (as you can see from the role). I didn't let on because I was hoping I would get NKed after I became basically a townie. I wish I could say I was nobly trying to deflect scumkills in order to protect actual powerroles, but really I just felt I had no idea what was going on and I figured I'd be better off dead.

You made a very solid play, the only argument I would have is that it could've

possibly

netted us another confirmed townie in endgame. In your position I don't know if I would've thought to make that play so very well done.

The town played a great game and got a stroke of luck with the scum taking out the SK night 1.

As for the town being overpowered, with a miller and investigation proof SK I don't think that's really the case.

Great job, guys. I'm glad I got back in it for this last game.

[elvis_knits]

I can't wait for MBL to post.

[bird1111]

Sorry about having to be replaced (though considering my skill level, it probably was for the best)

Glad to see that at least my top choice for scum was right.

[Xylthixlm]

This game was a lot of fun, although the ending (elias caught by the tracker) was kind of anticlimactic.

I'd love to know the scum's reasoning for sending the godfather on a kill. You don't

do

that.

[MrBuddyLee]

Hey guys, nice work.

We had two scum dead to rights day one.

Patrick

broke the game wide open with his track of pablito, who was actually the right person to make the kill considering elias was heavily suspected.

elvis

got herself out of trouble nicely D1 by coming across sincerely.

Xyl

really got things right with minimal effort, lol.

bluesoul

was pretty on-target as well with his suspicions, and generally came across townish all game.

CTD

was hot and cold, but his activity was a catalyst for the communication that ended up clearing townies and drawing out scum. I think you guys kind of rushed the Huck lynch, but meh.

elias bused both his partners heavily, which probably would have worked if pablito hadn't gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. No scum really looked significantly pro-town at any point in this game. Oh, and for the record, there WAS something fishy about PJ on D1!

I meant what I said about an SK wrecking these invitational games. If I'd lurked and killed every night, it'd have gone like this:

D1: lynch, down to 11
N1: vig, scumkill, SK kill, down to 8
D2: lynch, down to 7
N2: scumkill, SK kill, down to 5
D3: lynch, down to 4
N3: game over

Doesn't really illustrate the skill of the various players fully, imo. If I'd been unnightkillable that'd have been great--I'd have had a chance to win as SK by not killing until the end, but it was more fun tracking down scum aggressively rather than lurking for safety's sake. I think I got killed because I was on elias's and pablito's tails, not because they thought I was an SK.

Interesting that most of the minvitational games had SKs. Even more interesting that town won all 4 games. I think our performance was clearly the most impressive. And across four games, it's strong proof that there is very little random about mafia--if you have talented people watching behaviors carefully, they WILL spot the scum.

Thanks for modding, Shea and OGML. Much appreciated.

ps. I fully intended not to kill anyone until the final night.

[Xylthixlm]

Short posts are an art form.

[pablito]

MBL said it, elias was way too much of a target to risk it. The only one with even a mention on me at that time was Patrick. The turning point of the game was when Patrick targetted me and claimed after me. If those two events didn't occur, we may have pulled off an endgame win with Elias and Xyl lynching CTD.

MBL was on elias, therefore we killed him. Lowell was claimed and proven, but I thought of leaving him alive because he wasn't really on us. No one else seemed better, because both bluesoul and e_k (people I considered that town thought was pro-town) were supporting our cause more than Lowell was. Elias thought he was dead because of Lowell's next choice though and we didn't really plan that night at all.

I also didn't know that I didn't have a gun (ie: GF) Had I known, I may not have ever ventured for the kill and just sacrificed elias. I think mafia was just as clueless as town really.

Replacing PJ sucked - he didn't play horribly, but he aimed for people I wouldn't have.