Command points are a currency the player/party use toward actions in the game. Every player action in this game that isn't talking or unvoting (e.g. power role actions, votes, kills, or lynches) requires command points. Both sides have
three
times as many command points as they do players on their side, so if there were, for example, five town, then the town would have fifteen command points that day, and if there were, for example, three mafia, then the mafia would have nine command points. In addition, each Commander unit is assigned an additional amount of
bonus
command points.
The command point pool is not readily visible to all players at all times. However, the remaining command points in the party's pool will be shown privately to all Commander units at the end of every night phase (before the next day's points are replenished). Commander status is an additional ability to your standard role and is not a separate role. The command points replenish after each day using the same formula ([X ∙ 3] + Y, where X = the number of players left in the party and Y = the amount of bonus Commander points). Any and all left over command points are invalid after the end of each night phase. Every player action in the game requires a command point to work, so both the town and the mafia will have to play strategically to make the best use of their command points. Unless your role PM tells you otherwise, no single player may use more than ten command points per day phase. The amount of command points left at night will translate into how many power role actions are successful, and if there are not enough command points remaining for multiple power role actions, all actions will go to random.org to see which are successful and which aren't.
Here are some hypothetical scenarios:
The mafia may be able to calculate their command point pool early on, which may help, but a possible negative is that they have less points to spend during the day, potentially making them more vulnerable to town suspicion. Moving specific players at specific times can make or break a team's chances at victory. Teamwork is essential to the success or failure of your team under command point system.
Voting
-
Votes must be in
bold
, clear context (
Vote: RedCoyote
/
Vote: No Lynch
). This is your power, we both want it to be counted fairly, so try to make it so there's no question who you are voting and unvoting. Unvotes must also be in
bold
and are necessary before changing a vote (
Unvote
). I will be strict about counting votes this way to ensure everyone has a clear understanding of what does and does not count as a vote. There will be no tolerance for vote tricks, please do not try to play with any technical aspect of this rule.
Lynching
-
Once a player is lynched, the game will go into "twilight", and the fate of the town has effectively been sealed for that day phase. The town, as well as the player who has been lynched, is welcome to continue to talk until I officially bring the game into the night phase. The town
must
come to a consensus before the deadline in order for a lynch to go through. Ties will not be broken by me, no matter which wagon formed first. If the town cannot reach a majority or break a tie before the deadline, the day phase will end without a lynch. This town has the option not to lynch, provided it meets the required simple majority of votes.
Deadlines
-
All deadlines are subject to extension should the need arise. Every day phase has an initial three week deadline that may be extended once either by means of a simple majority of players or by my discretion. By contrast, every night phase has a firm 72 hour, or three day, deadline.
Absence, Prods, and Replacements
-
If you are unable to post for a period of longer than 72 hours, please inform me by PM or make it clear in the game thread. All players have a right to know whether or not a player is absent, and any player who informs me of a future absence will be noted as such. Prods will take place at the request of the players in the game as well as at my discretion. If a player receives a prod, they have exactly 48 hours from the time of that prod to show activity before a request for a replacement will be made. At that point, whomever claims the player slot will then become the person playing the game.
Night Actions
-
I will accept any and all actions submitted to me pre-night phase, but be forewarned, once a decision is made it cannot be undone except under specific circumstances (e.g. replacements or Moderator kills). If no night action is submitted to me before the end of the night phase, the player is assumed to have slept through the night, and no action will take place. Standard night action orders are as follows: Roleblocks > Protections > Conversions > Manipulations > Shots > Investigations
Prohibitions
-
To help ensure a fair, balanced, and fun game, it is prohibited to talk to other players outside of this thread unless you are given specific instructions on how to do so. All players who have been lynched, killed, or otherwise removed from the game are prohibited from making any new posts or talking with any of the living players about the game until the game has been declared over. Respecting tradition, "Bah!" posts are expected, but you must respect the boundaries of the game. No player is allowed to post anything game related in their post-death post, so please use common sense when and if you decide to make one. It is prohibited from quoting or paraphrasing any Mod PMs for any purpose other than to claim or explain one's powers. It is prohibited to use invisible text, small text, or to otherwise edit your post in anyway. It is prohibited to use the color
red
in order to make sure there are no quarrels over what is and isn't an edit that I have made. I will only be using the color
red
in edits. Any form of trolling, misbehavior, or poor sportsmanship will not be tolerated and is hereby prohibited.
Questions and Concerns
-
Do not be weary of asking me for any assistance in understanding any aspect of this game. If anyone spots any mistakes I may have made, please send me a PM. You may expect a response within a maximum of 48 hours. If there is anything else you feel I have not covered, or have not covered adequately, please point it out to me.
Thank you
-
Big thanks to SpyreX, who helped me with the setup, roles, and command point mechanic. If anything happens to me, SpyreX has all of the role PMs and who they belong to, and he is the game's official back-up Moderator. Thanks to Cruciare, Vi, and zoraster, as I've stolen moderation ideas from them to (hopefully) make my games more enjoyable and efficient. Thanks to everyone for signing up, and I hope everyone has a good time.
Townie PM
-
There is at least one mafia faction in this game, and at least one player who has received the following PM.
As a Townie, you have no specific abilities during the night. During the day, you are given one vote that you may use toward lynching a specific player, or choosing not to lynch.
You win if the town eliminates all opposing factions.
Please send me a PM indicating you have received your role, understand it, and are ready to play!
Last edited by RedCoyote on Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:06 pm, edited 6 times in total.
I'm posting an early vote count to give everyone a feel for the format. The strikethroughs indicate that the player has left that wagon since the most recent vote count. This is a good opportunity to introduce it as there has only been one move so far. If the strikethroughs confuse you at all, just ignore them completely. Click here to check on historical vote counts.
"And", Seacore said with enthusiasm, winding down after a drawn out modification of the town’s proposed plan, "I’m happy for one of the burners to be me". pops stared him down, analyzing his speech with clarity. Multiple players had been none too happy with Seacore’s constant yapping, his back and forth, or his attitude. Almaster was finally fed up. He demanded that Seacore give up his role, or suffer the consequences. The rest of the players took a step back, for this didn’t appear to be an idle threat. Only J.R had the courage to press Almaster, "Hmm. . .I don’t get it". There was nothing to get, Almaster thought, because he would the one to pass judgment this day.
"Here is why you are an idiot", Seacore began. As he continued to berate Almaster, the rest of the players looked on. Some of them looked on in shock, others in disgust, and still others in satisfaction. Perhaps Almaster had made the right call. Seacore took a long breath, "Just shoot me already", he said. Almaster was only too happy to oblige him.
Fate's eyes opened wide, unable to contain his criticism. Almaster, with feelings of power and control, quipped, "You're next in line", and blew the smoke rising from the hot barrel of his revolver.
Cruciare walks up to Seacore's lifeless corpse. The only thing in Seacore's pocket is a small book, "Command Points for Dummies", along with notes, plans, and other writings. It all seemed genuine, and the conclusion was that Seacore, a
MS is not letting me edit posts at all tonight due to the server lag issue, so I'm just going to make a new post. The answer to pops' question is yes, Commander status is revealed upon death.
All that I ask of the players is that they post by the guidlines established in the rules of the game. All players are currently doing this. As with any game, replacing players hurts the flow, but I won't love any of you any less should you feel obliged to exit the game. Like most Mods, I'd ask that you replace out as a last resort. All of you have played games here before though, so I think you all understand the concept well enough to make a sensible decision for yourself and the game.
On an unrelated note, I just found out that you can use tags inside the quote tags. I must use this power wisely.
Elscouta will be replacing Cruciare. Thank you Elscouta!
As outlined in the rules, the deadline may be extended by either a majority vote of all players or at my discretion.
Iecerint, if you are asking me whether I will choose the extend the deadline, the answer is no, but if a majority of players want to do so, then I will.
In a gasp of pity, "just vote me", whimpered The1fifi. Exhausted from a long day of argument, trickery, gunshots, and command point discussion, he felt like just giving up. The town had heard enough anyways, and some felt they had this all carefully orchestrated from the start. Everyone looked at each other as though the choice was made. "Who is supposed to hammer him?" Elscouta asked. Almaster concurred, and demanded that the hammer come down. The wagon grew more restless by the minute. McGriddle, Iecerint, and bv310 all chimed in. Fate finally decided to step up, tying the noose around the The1fifi's neck. Thefifi's sexuality was no longer ambiguous as his Adam's Apple pressed against the tough rope. "Malmsteen is cool indeed", were his last words as he felt from the tree.
fhqwhgads walked up to the body, apologetic. He couldn't make it to the lynching, but he arrived just in time for role reveal. "Oh well..." he conceded, and prepared to search the carcass. Reaching into The1fifi's pocket, fhq pulled out a number of contents. A fake police shield, an envelope with the words, "Bribe Money, Do Not Touch" written on it, and, most importantly, a form of identification. It seems The1fifi was not only a
As the Sun's rays peak over the distant mountaintops, our weary town begins to stir. A Godfather and a Townie already gone forever, one can only wonder what may have happened during the night. McGriddle is the first to arrive into town, and he seemed to be in a good mood. Did he know something you didn't? Was his McGriddle extra tasty this morning? And next was Cobalt, looking fresh as a daisy. Maybe he's got all the information? The rest of the population began to pile in one after another.
There were only a couple of missing people, but their absence was a stark reminder of a cruel yesterday. The whole town immediately decided to check on Elscouta first. His car was in his driveway, but was anyone home? Rushing up to the door, fhq and J.R began to call out to him, but they noticed Elscouta had left everyone a note. "Everyone, I'm V/LA until Tuesday", the note read. A puzzled J.R scratched his chin and said, "Hmm. . .I don't get it". Thankfully the town all knew he was still alive though.
Iecerint lived only a few doors away from Elscouta, so the town proceeded to stroll, much more relaxedly, to pick him up for the day. Thinking he surely must be V/LA as well, no one is particularly worried about him. The pleasant dream of a healthy, living Iecerint is short lived however, when the town finds him face down in his front yard. Almaster slowly approaches the body to find Iecerint clutching a doctor's bag. It wasn't just any doctor's bag though; in it was a stethoscope, a strait-jacket, tongue depressors, and a few padlocks. Only a real
Paranoid Doctor (a.k.a. Jailer)
would carry these sorts of things around. Someone called Almaster a murderer, and someone else points a finger at bv310... a new day had begun.
To help ensure a fair, balanced, and fun game, it is prohibited to talk to other players outside of this thread unless you are given specific instructions on how to do so.
This is a blanket prohibition against any and all outside chat regarding this game. Until the game is over, no one may talk about this game to any players outside of this thread unless specifically told how to do so. Additionally, I don't want anyone else to talk about any other ongoing games in our game either. This is just a friendly reminder right now, but I am going to be taking it very seriously from this point on.
Cobalt folded his arms. He wanted proof. He boldly walked over the Almaster and pointed to his chest. Almaster, as sure of himself as ever, inquired, "After you see that I am telling the truth, what are you opinions on everyone else". The rest of the room looked on nervously. Almaster pulled out his revolver, pointed it squarely at Cobalt's chest, and pulled the trigger.
J.R failed to pick up his prod (or his Day 2 start PM), so I'll start looking for a replacement. If you know someone who is interested, have them PM me.
I'd like to remind all the players that this game is still running and it is a closed setup. Outguessing the Mod and/or speculating on the setup is not against the rules, but I would ask for any players with issues with the game, how I'm running it, or the other players to please PM me. If you do not want to play the game, then please ask to replace out.
Wanting to wrap things up, McGriddle began tapping his foot on the pavement. "Wtf are we waiting on", McGriddle asked impatiently. "flagwads", Cobalt responded, "someone has to burn". McGriddle began to pace. Anxiety, exhilaration, and hunger were the emotions swirling around in his brain when he cast his vote for Elscouta.
Elscouta had grown weary of the town already. He was a late arrival, but he was the only one willing to sublet Cruciare's dirty apartment on such short notice. No one had told him about all the murders and vengeance that was taking place here. The town sucked. His friends sucked. His
life
sucked. He went over to the local hardware store and bought the rope himself.
Elscouta climbed onto the tree, to the exact branch his friend The1fifi had been on, and secured the rope. With one leap, he was out of this world and into the next.
Fate was the most curious of the bunch. He began looking through Elscouta's belongings, unzipping his jacket and emptying the pockets. Some mints, a pen, a pair of sunglasses, and one... two... three sets of keys? One of the keys was to Cruciare's apartment, another was to his Seabring, and the last didn't seem to work anywhere. It was an odd shaped key, one no one else could recognize. pwnman suggested they use it on Cruciare's bus, a beatup old vehicle he had gotten from an auto auction about 10 years ago. Sure enough, the bus started right up, but instead of routes, there was a list of addresses to all the townspeople in the cab. There was also a gun. Elscouta was scum alright, and he was a
The sound of the paper hitting the front door was enough to awaken Fate. He breathed deeply, letting the oxygen fill his lungs for a moment before exhaling. All things considered, this town had faired pretty well so far. Thanks to his diligence, he thought, as he pulled off the covers and headed downstairs. Strangly, before he could open his front door, there was a knock. He unlatched the door and opened it confidently.
Cobalt, Almaster, McGriddle, and pwnman all stood before him. "It looks like you were spared... as fate would have it", one of them started, "have you seen this yet?" pwnman handed him the newspaper, pointing to the headline,
Slaughter at Local Masonry Lodge, Three Dead
Fate yanked the paper from his hands, reading the meat of the article aloud,
"bv310, town
Mason Recruiter
and fhqwhgads, town
Mason
, died of gun wounds last night following a supposed initiation gone horribly awry. In a tragic twist, popsofctown, local
Townie
as well as
Commander
, was also killed, not far from the scene. It appears popsofctown was not at the ceremony or involved with this organization however."
The five men looked at each other. Had the town's good fortune ran out?
I don't think pwnman is really serious about replacing into this game. Not counting Night 2, he's refused to make a serious post in a collective week's worth of time. I'm going to start looking for another replacement. Per the ruleset, if pwnman starts posting before I find a replacement, he may stay in the game.
The words echoed in his head, and Fate even dared him to do it. His heart pounding, his breath heavy, his feet planted, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his revolver once more.
I should say that I'm somewhat lax about paraphrasing Mod PMs, hence the exception written into that rule specifically. My last game had a player who paraphrased his role PM by talking about the flavor written into it, which I mistakenly did not make the entire game privy to. In any case, I just want to make it clear to everyone in the game that none of the role PMs have any "flavor" in them; they're all name, alignment, voting, role powers, and a confirmation request. That being said, no player in this game has come anywhere close to breaching any of the rules in that regard.
"You don't deserve to win if you can't even use logic to see I am innocent", McGriddle started. The town was whispering about him. He knew it. He continued, "why would the masons try to recruit me, I am far from the towniest looking player". He folded his arms; surely the rest of the town would understand his position, his logic... his townieness.
Almaster couldn't hide his criticism, and Fate, the Colonel, and Cobalt all had their share of questions as well. Far from being confirmed, they collectively had their doubts about McGriddle's behavior. The Colonel was the first to make a move, followed by Cobalt, and finally Fate. Fate, comfortable that the town would be okay over the night, would keep his promise to vote McGriddle. Stunned, McGriddle began to insult his fellow townies as they strung him up. "I really was town faction private you morons", he screamed.
But it was no use, the noose had been tied and the body had been put into place. As McGriddle lifelessly dangled from the same tree that the likes of The1fifi and Elscouta had, would the town find that they hung three consecutive villains? Cobalt began to search the body, looking for something that would point to McGriddle's true identity. A notepad in his pocket with the names popsofctown and fhqwhgads scribbled in it, a card-carrying member of the Commander Fan Club, and a few other odds and ends led the town to the conclusion that McGriddle was telling the truth, and McGriddle, a town
Private
, was unfortunately their first town lynch victim.
The Colonel thought long and hard. What was he going to do with his business? His best customer, McGriddle, was dead. This town had nothing for him any longer. He now understood why his brother, J.R, had asked him to take over. There was just nothing to keep him here any longer. With that, he turned off the bright yellow light that illuminated the golden arches, hung a "closed for business" sign on the front door, loaded his bags in his car, and just started driving.
Cobalt and Fate greeted each other the next morning. Having been through so much, who knew what to expect next? They both tried giving Almaster a call, because it wasn't like him to sleep in. There was no answer. They went over to his house, the gun range, the Clint Eastwood fan clubhouse... nothing. Fearing the worse, the two finally happened upon his car near the end of town. His corpse lay in the front seat, still, eyes fixed toward the bullet hole in the windshield. His right hand was clutching at his revolver, but there were no bullets in the chamber. Cobalt and Fate now knew for certain AlmasterGM was a town
One-Shot Vigilante
. Off in the distance, they saw a woman walking towards the town. Cobalt and Fate made their way toward the stranger, knowing full well that at least one of them wouldn't make it to see another night.
Fate, Cobalt, and the stranger, Nikanor, sat around the picnic table, talking about who the last villain was among them. They were a quiet three, perhaps tired, perhaps frustrated, or perhaps not focused.
"Gotta be Nik", Cobalt would say. Fate looked at him undecidedly, still running through the possibilities in his head. Nikanor, unfazed, was still trying to figure out what had happened here. "P.S. Having no voting patterns to look over is bullshit", she said, and neither of the people sitting next to her could honestly disagree. They continued to talk, but Nikanor must not have felt very comfortable among them. As both Fate and Cobalt had made it clear that they felt more partial to stringing her up, she would make a preemptive move. Knowing that she had a 50-50 shot, she told Cobalt that she was voting Fate, and may she be cursed with decades of magazine articles like, "Active v.s. Actual: What Type of Lurker Should you Watch for?" and "Lurking in the 21st Century".
The two walked Fate over to the tree. Fate didn't speak, but the decision didn't exactly drag on either. Maybe he was in shock, perhaps he just wasn't fully there, but the two were strong enough to put an end to his suffering. Cobalt asked Nikanor if she could search the body while he went to get a soda. Nikanor agreed with some trepidation, wondering who could be thirsty at a time like this. Didn't he care? Wasn't he excited? Hmmm...
That was odd.
Where is Fate's gun? Where's the knife? Where's the weapon?! If Nikanor was a
Townie
and Fate was a
Townie
, then that must mean...
*BANG!*
Suddenly a sharp pain stung Nikanor in her back, then her front, then her entire body. It was warm at first, hot even, then suddenly very cold. She looked down, her white blouse began to turn red, and her vision began to lack focus. As she fell to the ground, Cobalt,
Mafia Roleblocker
, threw a magazine down next to her. Nikanor turned her head to read it, and she could only make out the last few words.
"Thank you for reading this issue. I hope it aided you in the difference between town lurking and scum lurking. Remember our saying: Lynch all Lurkers!"
Final Day 4 Vote Count
Fate
(Nikanor - Cobalt)
Not Voting
(Fate -
Nikanor
-
Cobalt
)
With three alive, it takes two to lynch.
With two votes, that is a lynch and an official end to the game.
The main theme I was going for was a game where players would be cautious about voting and using their powers, lest they have keep one of their teammates from getting information, or, God forbid, stop a lynch. In a way, this worked... just too well.
The1fifi
didn't help matters. I think it goes without saying that I was completely heartbroken when he made such an obvious post outting his partner. I was tempted to intervene right then and there, but it wasn't the town's fault that The1fifi slipped up. Additionally, I truly thought the mafia still had a chance to talk their way out of it. Maybe I'm naive, but I still don't think The1fifi was purposefully trying to harm the game. I really think he just honestly thought that would throw people off. Needless to say, I will not be looking to join any future games with him, as a Moderator or a player.
When
Elscouta
replaced Cruciare, he did so with a lot of enthusiasm. I had thought that he would bring this to the game a little more than he did. I was very excited when he started planning out a strategy for talking his way out of a lynch, and I even PM'd Spyrex at one point saying that, at the very least, it would cause the town to hesitate from a "sure thing" lynch. When Elscouta went on V/LA, I got a bad feeling. When he essentially gave up without giving it a try, I was heartbroken again. In a way I can't blame him, I know it would've been tough on anyone to replace into that situation. I do wish, however, he would've came to me before throwing in the towel.
Cobalt
played very well, given the circumstances. I felt very bad for him, but the Backup Commander role wasn't really assigned out of pity. I had it typed up for the unlikely situation of the scum team losing its Commander early on. To be fair though, the night actions couldn't have gone worse for the town on Night 2. Cobalt gets props for taking it all the way, and for having the courage to shoot for the Commander on Night 2.
As for the town, far be it from me to act as though I have all the answers to the outcome to this game. Like most of you I image, I really didn't expect the town to lose it after The1fifi gave away his partner. In a way though, it kind of did a disservice to the town that the first two mafia were so easily found. Like
Nikanor
said towards the end of the game, having no vote patterns to look over must've been an extremely difficult hurdle. I can't really blame the town, Elscouta and The1fifi were both pretty reasonable lynches. There was nothing to argue about! The1fifi just continued to dig a deeper grave for himself and his team, so the scumhunting portion of the game just fell by the wayside. It got so bad, that
pops
started really railing hard against the balance of it mid-D2. That, Elscouta throwing his hands up, and
Almaster
putting his feet up really provoked me. Although I still saw the town winning the game at that point, I did see a possibility of the Masons hitting the scum team, and pops (the last town Commander at that point) being shot. I was glad
Fate
came in to defend me a little bit, because that really started getting me upset.
In any case, the CP never really played that big of a role in the game. Ideally what I wanted to happen was a scenario like this,
"Player A sounds kind of scummy for this. FoS for now."
"Player B, you are being hypocritical, I FoS you."
"I'm so sure that I'm right I'm going to
vote: Player A
!"
"Wow, you are burning a CP for that?!
Vote: Player B
."
"Player C, why did you just use a vote... BIG FOS: Player C."
"Player A is more scummy than Player B!"
...etc. But the entire town was so united during the first two days that that never seemed to get a chance to happen. And, like I said, there was a good reason why the town kind of stuck together and never really broke off from one another: The1fifi. I think the only big exception to this, and it wasn't even very big, was when
bv310
kept hinting that he needed some CP for his Masons, but it wasn't really necessary due to the fact that the votes were strictly controlled. It was just hard to think of a reason not to take out The1fifi or Elscouta. The
Seacore
shot in the beginning of the game took me by surprise, but I guess it ended up for the best. I wanted Almaster to have the opportunity to shoot during the Day so that town would have something else to discuss that was more "out in the open" than the CP stuff.
Anyways, it's hard for me to weigh the balance here. I really feel as though The1fifi and Elscouta put their hands on the scale, so to speak. I still like the idea of command points, although as the game progressed I kept thinking of all the different roles that could've been added to mess around with it more. I wanted there to be a few different power roles, but it was hard to come up with "useless" power roles.
McGriddle
's role was one meant to be kind of useless, as it was just sort of created on the spot.
Iecerint
's role was meant to be a little more involved, but after dying so quickly he didn't really get a chance to mix it up any. The most difficult thing though was trying to guess what an appropriate CP number would be. I spoke with Spyrex about many different ways to tackle it, but I settled on the base + bonus. The bonus was the factor meant to keep it from being too predictable, but the base was the factor meant to keep it within the frame of discussion. I didn't want the players too paranoid because of it, but I didn't want them to think it was trivial either. By D3 there was little point in using it any longer, but I of course continued to keep tally.
Cobalt wrote: This game was broken from the start. Remember when R_C added that "only 10 votes per day per person" rule? That was because I pointed out in pregame that uncapped burning made the game town-broken, and it was still a little town broken.
Yeah, that was something I hadn't realized until you brought it up, but I wanted to keep it high because the bonus CP was meant to counteract any "burning". As we saw though, it didn't really end up being a factor.
You're making quite a bit of assumptions there. The bonus CP were never intended to be static, and varied quite considerably with each passing day. pops/fhq/fifi didn't get much of a chance to see this, but Cobalt certainly did.
In retrospect though, I think I would want more CP manipulation by individual roles. Sometime early on in the game, and someone probably mentioned this at one point, a scum role (heck, even a town one too), was thought up that could alter the opposing team's CP. More variables like that I think would continually undercut the idea that CP could be used as an investigation device.
The difficulty was/is walking the line between it being trivial and it being unrealistically demanding on the town.
Although I still think the mechanic has promise, I don't think we learned as much from it as we could've due to factors beyond our control (The1fifi).
If I come back to it (or if anyone else wants to use it or a varation of it, please be my guest), it won't be for some time. I have a few different ideas swirling around my head.
