Mini 378- R&GAS: GAME OVER

[EmpTyger]

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Scum

Game Over

Town wins!

Alive:

(2)
HackerHuck (

the Player

,

Townsperson

) (replacing

Mr. Flay

tempreplacing

HackerHuck

replacing

rich_25

)
The Central Scrutinizer (

Hamlet

,

Townsperson

)

Dead:

(10)
Nightson (

the Ghost

,

Townsperson

)- killed Night 1
BabyJesus (

Understudy

,

Townsperson

)- killed Night 1
Rosso Carne (

Kenneth Branagh

,

Townsperson

)- killed Day 1
serinah80 (

the Audience

,

Townsperson

)- killed Night 2
Maz Medias (

Laertes

,

Townsperson

)- killed Night 2
Bogre (

a Pirate

,

Townsperson

)- killed Day 2
Jack (

Guildenstern

,

Mafia

) (replacing

Sherlock

(née

themanhimself

))- killed Night 3
Jules (

Tom Stoppard

,

Townsperson

)- killed Night 3
ThAdmiral (

William Shakespeare

,

Serial Killer

)- killed Night 3
mikeburnfire (

Rosencrantz

,

Mafia

) (replacing

rogue_two

)- killed Day 3

Game Events:

Act 1, Scene 1 (Day 1)
Act 1, Scene 2 (Posts lost in site crash)
Act 1, Scene 3 (Timestamp error)
Act 1, Scene 4 (Another site crash)
Act 1, Scene 5 (Yet another site crash)
Act 1, Scene 6 (

HackerHuck

replaces

rich_25

; D1 deadlined)
Act 1, Scene 7 (Night 2)
Act 2, Scene 1 (Day 2)
Act 2, Scene 2 (

mikeburnfire

replaces

rogue_two

)
Act 2, Scene 3 (

Jack

replaces

Sherlock

)
Act 2, Scene 4 (

Mr. Flay

replaces

HackerHuck

; D2 deadlined)
Act 2, Scene 5 (Night 3)
Act 3, Scene 1 (

HackerHuck

returns)
Act 3, Scene 2 (Day 3)
Act 3, Scene 3 (Endgame)
Dramatis Personae (Roles)
Stage Directions (Nightchoices)
Epilogue (Postgame analysis)

[EmpTyger]

[thanks to Thesp for setup review]

Rules:

(partially plagiarized)
0) This is a game. You are supposed to have fun. Notify the mod immediately if you feel this rule has been violated.

1) Do not discuss the game outside of the thread.

2) Do not discuss the game with dead players or players not in the game.

3) Once your death scene is posted, you’re dead. Stop posting.

4) Do not quote mod PMs. If you will be paraphrasing, I encourage you to run it by me first.

5) Do not edit posts. If you have something to add, add a new post. If you accidentally doublepost or mess up your tags, don’t panic- just PM me and I’ll fix it.

6) Do not post in invisible or micro text. (Or use anything annoyingly clever, such as HTML-tagged text. PM me if in doubt.)

7) There is no rule 7.

8) Votes and unvotes will only be counted if bolded. Unvotes must be made before revoting. If you forget, I will PM you to remind you. (Unless you persistently forget.)

9) Votecounts will reflect the contents of the thread, not necessarily the actual game state.

10) Lynches (or no-lynches) require a majority vote. After a majority vote is reached, the game is in twilight. In twilight, voting has no effect, but players (including any about to be lynched) may continue to post. Once the thread is locked, night begins.

11) Deadlines will be imposed at the mod’s discretion. The following procedure will be reached if a deadline is reached without a majority decision:
If half are not voting (or are voting for no-lynch), then day will end without a lynch. If not (ie: more than 50% are voting for players), then the player with the most votes will be lynched.
If there is a tie among the players with the most votes, I will have everyone still in the game player PM me a vote for one of the tied players.
If this still does not break the tie, I will choose who is lynched at random from among the tied players.

12) If you are, will be, or think there’s a chance you might be unable to participate for 72 hours, please notify the mod either by PM, by posting inthread, or by posting in the V/LA thread.

Failure to abide by the above may result in reprimand, replacement, or modkill. Please do not hesitate to PM a mod with any questions.

Certain roles may allow some of the above rules to be circumvented, as specifically indicated. (I don’t think I’m revealing too much by saying that a role exists which allows rule 1 to be broken.) If you feel a mistake has been made or you’re just not sure about something, feel free to PM.

[EmpTyger]

There’s been a slight snafu in the sign-ups, and I’m having a couple RL issues to deal with. Roles have *not* yet gone out. Thanks for the patience, sorry about the delay.

[EmpTyger]

bah I'm again terribly sorry about this delay, but things are finally settled. Roles *will* be sent out tonight.

[EmpTyger]

Roles are out! Please confirm by PM. For those who have confirmed, consider it Night 1.

[EmpTyger]

Introducing a mafia game that will explore the realms of the philosophical, the existential, the theatrical. The concepts of space, spirit, mind, and emotion will be dissected in careful analysis. Lives will be changed. Lies will be uncovered. Truth will speak. Faith will be tested. Certainties will be doubted. Questions will be answered. Answers will be questioned. Methodology will be transcended. The human condition will be unmasked in its most primitive glory. Words will fail. Time will pass. The future will be known. The past will be understood. The most fundamental elements of the universe will be laid bare for all to see. You will become a better human being.

And in the end there will be a lot of dead bodies.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Scum. 12 players in search of a majority.

All players have confirmed.

It is Night 1.

Nightchoices due at 5pm (central) on Tuesday 10/10.

[EmpTyger]

themanhimself

has changed his name to

Sherlock

[EmpTyger]

Sorry for yet another delay, but I am ill with a fever of 101. I'm lifting the N1 deadline, at least until I'm feeling better.

[EmpTyger]

Okay, let's try this again.

Nightchoices due at 6pm (central) on Friday 10/13.

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 1

The sight is dismal; and our affairs from England come too late: the ears are senseless that should give us hearing, to tell him his commandment is fulfilled, that

BabyJesus

and

Nightson

are dead.
“A dramatically powerful first line, indeed. But why should we care?”
Two men are dead, and you ask why care?
“Two who, though?”

Townspeople

.
“But *who* are they?”
Ah, I see the problem.
“Exactly. We have been waiting so long to begin, and now Act 1, but with no past nor prologue.”
Habeas corpus, as the Romans say.
“Shall we figure out them, and thereby us?”
More like the other way around, I would think. Seeing as how *we* talk, and they do not.
“Well, they’re dead. They obviously do not talk.”
Obvious, is it?
“Well, obviously they are dead.”
Agreed.
“So they obviously have been killed.”
Fallacy.
“I do not follow.”
Well, if they were always dead, and thus never alive, they would not have been killed!
“And you think this is what has happened?”
I do not presume to *think*. I am merely correcting your logic.
“Well, you’re right. This one is a

Ghost

.”
So he was always dead? And thus never alive?
“Oh, he was once a king. Hamlet’s father, in fact.”
Ah, ‘Hamlet’! I love that play!
“Um, *Hamlet*. Not ‘Hamlet’.”
Of course. My mistake.
“Our dear old schoolmate. The character, not the play.”
Did I metareference?
“You really shouldn’t do that. It makes it hard to follow.”
Play-within-a-play, and all that.
“Precisely.”
I mean, what if we were thought to be 2 actors rather than 2 characters?
“Unthinkable!”
Indeed. Hence the careful distinction between

Nightson

and

the Ghost

, and between

BabyJesus

and

the Understudy

.
“

The Understudy

? Who was he?”

BabyJesus

.
“No, I mean, what role did he play?”
What role do *we* play?
“I guess we do need to find that out first, don’t we?”

It is Day 1. 10 alive, 6 to lynch.

[EmpTyger]

TAILS

[EmpTyger]

Roleclaiming would be bad.

Votecount

3 rich_25

(Jules, rogue_two, Maz Medias)

2 Maz Medias

(serinah80, rich_25)

1 ThAdmiral

(Bogre)

1 serinah80

(The Central Scrutinizer)

Not Voting: Sherlock, Rosso Carne, ThAdmiral

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 2

You’re here!
“How did we get here?”
I can’t remember.
“I was saying something just now, wasn’t I? But I forgot what it was.”
Yes, I remember!
“You do? What did I say?”
Oh, I remember that you were speaking. But I forget what it was also.
“So what do we do now?”
We keep on doing what we are doing.
“What are we doing?”
Speaking and forgetting.
“And what happens if at some future point we should remember?”
Forget it.
“But it could happen!”
Yes, that’s a possibility. But it will happen regardless of what we do. No reason to wait around for something out of our control.

Vote: rich_25
Unvote: rich_25

Those who question I will answer.
Those who do not question will find my vote.
Those who are voted may find themselves losing.

Votecount

3 rich_25

(Jules, Maz Medias, The Central Scrutinizer)

2 Maz Medias

(serinah80, rich_25)

1 ThAdmiral

(Bogre)

Not voting: Sherlock, rogue_two, Rosso Carne, ThAdmiral

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

3 rich_25

(Maz Medias, The Central Scrutinizer, Sherlock)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 ThAdmiral

(Bogre)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: rogue_two, Rosso Carne, Jules, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

1 rich_25

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 ThAdmiral

(Bogre)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, rogue_two, Rosso Carne, Jules, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

1 rich_25

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 Rosso Carne

(Jules)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, rogue_two, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 3

“The single experience of one votecount, being tallied once, has been repeated. On the whole, doubtful. Or, a spectacular vindication of the principle that each vote cast randomly is as likely to come down for one player as another, and therefore should cause no surprise each individual time it does.”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.
“This phantom votecount appeared last night, yet no matter what the past, stays most recent. But it reflects a state of game from when it first occurred, and does not change. It is both present and past. We are now held within sub- or supernatural forces.”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.
“But how does such a thing happen? It is a most unusual future perfect tense, not only to speak what will occur, but to constantly exist within future time, echoing backwards? What about the suspense?”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.
“The actor forgets his line, and the cue card is stuck, and the memory blanks, and there is panic and madness, and the same utterance is said again and again and again, and the audience looks on in pained horror at what has become quite a tragedy. For what else is for them? Do they leave? Do they think it deliberate? Do they trust that it will all be resolved in the end? Do they murmur amongst themselves, praying that one of them is cleverer and has read the screenplay and knows what is supposed to happen, and will give a sign that, no, all is well, it’s part of the part, now sit back and relax and wait for the show to go on? Or do they sit there in silence and search for meaning in a scene devoid of any?”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.
“Then maybe there is meaning, some profound secret of the universe which can only be released in this transcendental manner.”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.
“A weaker man might be moved to reexamine his faith.”
I think I have it: time has stopped dead.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

1 rich_25

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 Jules

(rogue_two)

1 Rosso Carne

(Jules)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 4

Do you believe in curses?
“Are you suggesting that the strange misfortunes being witnessed are attributable to some broken taboo?”
My question was about belief, not about reality.
“Well, I’m not sure what to believe.”
Consider that there was delay after delay in the curtain even first rising. That lines of dialogue have been lost to the past and the future. That the theatre has had to be closed twice mid-performance.
“But what if all that was just part of the game?”
Now it is. Believe it.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

1 rich_25

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 Jules

(rogue_two)

1 Rosso Carne

(Jules)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Because of the site problems, I’m going to be a little more lenient with deadlines and replacements as I expect there may be some difficulty in players’ returning. But I will be taking action to keep the game moving, especially since there are some holidays coming up.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 Jules

(rogue_two)

1 Rosso Carne

(Jules)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, The Central Scrutinizer, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 5

"I am realizing that this has become a strange game."
What were you expecting?
"Something less unexpected."
Something like the lights go off, a gasp and a thud; the lights come back on, blood; whodunit?"
"Precisely!"
You came to a Murder Mystery and you expected Murder.
"But that’s not what we have here. There are plenty of dramatic interruptions, but nothing happens between."
Are you beginning to lose interest?
“No! Certainly not. Well, maybe. A little. It’s hard to keep attention when there are these long bursts of darkness.”
It is not enough to just have Mystery; you need Murder also.
"But nothing happens. There is no mystery!"
If so, well, the lights are back on now. Whodunit?

Everyone must vote someone.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 Jules

(rogue_two)

1 Rosso Carne

(Jules)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Sherlock, Maz Medias, The Central Scrutinizer, serinah80

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

3 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80)

2 Maz Medias

(rich_25, The Central Scrutinizer)

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

2 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, rogue_two)

Not voting: Maz Medias

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

3 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80)

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

2 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, rogue_two)

1 Maz Medias

(rich_25)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(Maz Medias)

Not voting: The Central Scrutinizer

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 6

“

HackerHuck

is now playing

rich_25

’s role.”
Recasts: a necessary evil.
“So

HackerHuck

is evil?”
He is necessary.
“How?”
Things are moving. And if we do not move with them, we may find ourselves left behind.

A deadline has been instituted.

Day 1 will conclude at the latest in 5 days, at

Saturday 12/16, 7pm (Central)

. I am sending notifications to each player. If no one has been lynched by deadline, the procedure outlined in the rules will take effect:

11) Deadlines will be imposed at the mod’s discretion. The following procedure will be reached if a deadline is reached without a majority decision:
If half are not voting (or are voting for no-lynch), then day will end without a lynch. If not (ie: more than 50% are voting for players), then the player with the most votes will be lynched.
If there is a tie among the players with the most votes, I will have everyone still in the game player PM me a vote for one of the tied players.
If this still does not break the tie, I will choose who is lynched at random from among the tied players.

Please PM me with any questions about deadline procedure.

Votecount

3 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80)

2 ThAdmiral

(Bogre, Rosso Carne)

2 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, rogue_two)

1 Maz Medias

(HackerHuck)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(Maz Medias)

Not voting: The Central Scrutinizer

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

5 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80, HackerHuck, ThAdmiral)

1 rogue_two

(Bogre)

1 ThAdmiral

(Rosso Carne)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(Maz Medias)

1 Bogre

(rogue_two)

Not voting: The Central Scrutinizer

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

5 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80, HackerHuck, ThAdmiral)

1 rogue_two

(Bogre)

1 ThAdmiral

(Rosso Carne)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(Maz Medias)

1 Bogre

(rogue_two)

Not voting: The Central Scrutinizer

[EmpTyger]

Act 1, Scene 7

“

Rosso Carne

is a liar.”
How do you know?
“He’s an actor. Actors are men who pretend to be someone who they aren’t. Therefore, lying; therefore a liar.”
Well, aren’t we all actors here? We each are given a role not our own.”
“Actors playing actors?”
A play within a play.
“So, in the play and in real life, we have our roles, and we must play both to the best of our abilities.”
And what abilities does

Rosso Carne

have?
“He’s an actor. Actors transport you back into a world of intrigue and illusion.”
Yet

Rosso Carne

is an actor in our very world. No illusion of being transported back anywhere.
“Intriguing. He is

Kenneth Branagh

!”
He was in ‘Hamlet’.
“He also was Hamlet.”
Or ‘Hamlet’, if you prefer. The play, not the character.
“And that guy from Harry Potter 2. Professor What’s-His-Name.”
That still leaves the question of who he is.
“The best actor in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical…”
Come now. Do you even know what any of those technical terms of theatre mean?
“I’m just reading what the cue card says. I don’t know need to know what it means.”
It’s meaningless.
“So would his death be meaningless?”
An innocent

Townsperson

would be dead.
“Tragedy, I guess.”
Possibly tragical-historical.
“Well, he’d hardly be a great Shakespearean actor if he never died.”
Actor! What do you know about death?
“‘To sleep, perchance to dream?’”
Overactor! Sleep on it.

Day 1 Final Votecount

6 Rosso Carne

(Jules, Sherlock, serinah80, HackerHuck, ThAdmiral, The Central Scrutinizer)

1 rogue_two

(Bogre)

1 ThAdmiral

(Rosso Carne)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(Maz Medias)

1 Bogre

(rogue_two)

Not voting: The Central Scrutinizer

It is Night 2.

[EmpTyger]

Act 2, Scene 1

So

Maz Medias

is

Laertes

.
“What does he do?”
He is dead.
“What did he do?”
He was manipulated into attempting to kill Hamlet in order to attempt to avenge his sister’s death.
“I have read the Cliff’s Notes; I know what happened. But what does it mean?”
He was a

Townsperson

.
“Ah, like

serinah80

?”
You noticed her absence?
“I was watching.”
Somebody is always watching.
“We are actors; we are the opposite of people.”
So?
“So we need an

Audience

.”
We need approval.
“It is what sustains us and keeps us alive.”
Thumbs down, life; thumbs up, death.
“You’d make a great gladiator.”
Blood is compulsory.
“Is that what people want?”
We who are about to die salute you.

It is Day 2. 7 alive, 4 to lynch.

[EmpTyger]

HEADS

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

Not voting: HackerHuck, Sherlock, rogue_two, Jules, ThAdmiral, The Central Scrutinizer, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

1 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: HackerHuck, Sherlock, rogue_two, Jules, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Everyone must vote someone.

Votecount

1 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer)

Not voting: HackerHuck, Sherlock, rogue_two, Jules, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

All players have been prodded.

Votecount

1 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(HackerHuck)

Not voting: Sherlock, rogue_two, Jules, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Act 2, Scene 2

“

mikefireburn

’s transformation: What do you recollect?”
Well,

rogue_two

’s changed, hasn't he? The exterior and inward man fails to resemble.
“Is he now what he was before?”
If he is him and he is him, then yes, they are one and the same.
“So how do we know who each respective he is?”
It's a matter of asking the right questions and giving away as little as we can.
“And then we can go?”
On with the game.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer, Jules)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(HackerHuck)

Not voting: Sherlock, mikeburnfire, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Act 2, Scene 3

Hasn't it ever happened to you that all of a sudden and for no reason at all you haven't the faintest idea how to spell the word which or house, because when you write it down, you just can't remember ever having seen those letters in that order before?
“No.”
No?
“Which house?”
Well, I picked that as an example. There is no house, not really.
“So if there is no house, it doesn’t exist; hence anything dependent on it hasn’t happened. Therefore, no.”
Excellently deduced, Sherlock.
“Who?”
S-H-E-R-L-O-C-K.
“He doesn’t exist.”
Not

Sherlock

. Sherlock.
“Anachronism: W. Shakespeare’s works are set and written at least hundreds of years before A. C. Doyle’s.”
Ignore past and future for the purposes of existence. Anything should be able to be generalized to every time.
“So has

Sherlock

ever not existed?”
Or equivalently, has

Jack

ever existed?
“Have *we* ever existed?”

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer, Jules)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(HackerHuck)

Not voting: Jack, mikeburnfire, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer, Jules)

1 The Central Scrutinizer

(HackerHuck)

Not voting: Jack, mikeburnfire, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Seeking a temporary replacement for HackerHuck. Expect a deadline as soon as I find one.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer, Jules)

Not voting: HackerHuck, Jack, mikeburnfire, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Inactive players have been prodded.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(The Central Scrutinizer, Jules)

Not voting: HackerHuck, Jack, mikeburnfire, ThAdmiral, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Act 2, Scene 4

“I would, most humbly, take my leave of you.”
You cannot,

HackerHuck

, take from me anything that I will more willingly part with all.
“Except my *life*.”
It is not mind to take, but the moderator’s.
“*Except* my life.”
Anything else that could be taken could be redeemed.
“Except *my* life.”
Fare you well,

Mr. Flay

.

A deadline has been instituted.

Day 2 will conclude at the latest in 5 days, at

Wednesday 1/17, 2pm (Central)

. I am sending notifications to each player. If no one has been lynched by deadline, the procedure outlined in the rules will take effect:

11) Deadlines will be imposed at the mod’s discretion. The following procedure will be reached if a deadline is reached without a majority decision:
If half are not voting (or are voting for no-lynch), then day will end without a lynch. If not (ie: more than 50% are voting for players), then the player with the most votes will be lynched.
If there is a tie among the players with the most votes, I will have everyone still in the game player PM me a vote for one of the tied players.
If this still does not break the tie, I will choose who is lynched at random from among the tied players.

Please PM me with any questions about deadline procedure.

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Jules, mikeburnfire)

1 Bogre

(ThAdmiral)

Not voting: Mr. Flay, Jack, The Central Scrutinizer, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

3 ThAdmiral

(Jules, mikeburnfire, The Central Scrutinizer)

2 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, Jack)

Not voting: Mr. Flay, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

Votecount

2 ThAdmiral

(Jules, mikeburnfire)

2 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, Jack)

Not voting: Mr. Flay, The Central Scrutinizer, Bogre

[EmpTyger]

[Sorry, my mafia notes are temporary unavailable. Will put up a lynchscene asap.]

[EmpTyger]

Act 2, Scene 5

“Is the lynchscene finally up?”
Are we playing a Game of Questions?
“When aren’t we?”
Why was I not told this previously?
“Didn’t

Bogre

tell you?”
But why didn’t *you* tell me?
“Should I have interrupted your attempts to figure out who is scum?”
Do you expect me to thank you for choosing courtesy over knowledge?
“Would you rather rudeness over ignorance?”
Do I care, as long as I get answers?
“What do you need answered?”
Do you have any idea what took so long?
“Took so long for the lynchscene, or took so long with the day?”
Did you feel the day took long?
“Did it need to be deadlined?”
Did it need to be deadlined?
“Repetition! 0-1.”
Repetition isn’t allowed?
“Was it allowed in the play?”
Why would the rules in the play have any bearing on the rules of the game?
“Which game: the questions game or the mafia game?”
Aren’t the rules of one the rules of the other?
“Are there even any rules to this mafia game?”
Didn’t you see the post the moderator made pregame?
“But what about all the rules that weren’t included there?”
Must everyone be subject to rules?
“Is a

Pirate

subject to rules?”
Is

Bogre

a

Pirate

?
“How does

Bogre

keep fitting into it?”
Oh, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
“To be, or not to be.”
Statement… er, hm. Is that a question?
“Hesitation, 0-2. Shouldn’t ‘to be or not to be’ obviously be a legal question, since Hamlet defines it as being the question?”
Isn’t it dangerous to read too much into flavor?
“Does flavor trump practical procedure?”
Could this relate to roles being revealed, but not abilities?
“Where are you going with this?”
Have you noticed that

Bogre

, along with everyone who has died so far, has been a

Townsperson

?
“Does that mean that they lack nightabilities, or does that just indicate that they win with the town?”
Are we even supposed to be able to know whether we should know this?
“Wouldn’t it be a cruel twist if didn’t know?”
Ignorance as a theme in an R&GAD-themed game?
“Sarcasm, 1-2.”
But why is the mod bringing this up now?
“When did *the mod* mention this?”
You don’t believe that *you* figured it out on your own?
“Why do you minimize your own role in the discovery?”
Do you not see how we are but characters controlled of the mod without any will of our own?
“But aren’t we playing right now?”
Can you say one thing that

EmpTyger

hasn’t put into your mouth?
“…”
Silence. 2-2
“I remember when there were no questions.”
Statement, 3-2, and game over.
“There are always questions.”
Statement, 4-2! Why do you persist in speaking?
What are even we playing to?
“What else, besides a majority?”
So what will happen when that is reached?
“It has been reached. 4-2:

Bogre

is lynched and we go to night.”

Day 2 Final Votecount

4 Bogre

(ThAdmiral, Jack, Mr. Flay, The Central Scrutinizer)

2 ThAdmiral

(Jules, mikeburnfire)

Not voting: Bogre

It is Night 3.

[EmpTyger]

Act 3, Scene 1

Is that you?
“I don't know.”
It’s you.
“We’re not dead yet then?”
Well we’re here, aren’t we?
“Are we?”
I can’t see a thing.
“We’re on a boat.”
I know.
“Dark, isn’t it?”
Not for night.
“No, not for night.”
It’s dark for day.
“Oh, yes, it’s dark for day.”
But we’re not dead and it’s dark, so it can’t be day.
“But we’re posting inthread, so it can’t be night.”
Fallacy.
“It is forbidden to post at night!”
There is no rule explicitly against posting at night. It is convention logically arrived at by the fact that the thread is locked, making posting then merely impossible.
“Only if you subscribe to logic.”
Well, logically there must be a reason for the interruption.
“Oh, certainly! But why must we know it?”
To be told so little to such an end and still, finally, to be denied an explanation…
“In our experience, almost everything ends in death.”
Your experience! Actors!
“Players on a stage, players of a game.”
A game of death.
“You die a thousand casual deaths and come back in a different hat. Thus

HackerHuck

becomes

Mr. Flay

.”
But

HackerHuck

never died.
“Then he comes back in the same hat.

Mr. Flay

becomes

HackerHuck

.”

Night continues

[EmpTyger]

TAILS

[EmpTyger]

Act 3, Scene 3

Nobody gets up after death.
“There’s no applause, only silence and some secondhand clothes. That’s death!”
If we have a destiny, then so had

mikeburnfire

; and this is ours, then that was his.
“And if there are no explanations for us, then let there be none for him.”
Oh, come, come gentlemen, no flattery- it was merely competent.
“You see, it is the kind you do believe in. It’s what is expected: Deaths for all ages and occasions.”
Deaths of king and princes and nobodies and

mafias

.
“That’s it then, is it?”
We’ve done nothing wrong.
“We didn’t harm anyone, did we?”
I can’t remember.
“All right, then, I don’t care. I’ve had enough.”
To tell you the truth, I’m relieved.
“There must have been a moment at the beginning, where we could have said no?”
But somehow we missed it.
“Well, we’ll know better next time.”
Till then:
“The sight is dismal.”
And our affairs from England come too late.
“The ears are senseless that should give us hearing.”
To tell him his commandment is fulfilled...
“…that

Rosencrantz

and

Guildenstern

are dead.”
(curtain)

The game is over

.

Town

wins!
Congratulations HackerHuck, Mr. Flay, Maz Medias, Rosso Carne, Jules, Nightson, The Central Scrutinizer, Bogre, serinah80, and BabyJesus!

Thanks go to Thesp (for setup review); and to HackerHack, Mr. Flay, mikeburnfire, and Jack (for serving as replacements).

[EmpTyger]

Dramatis Personae

themanhimself

, you are

Guildenstern

, and with

rogue_two

, who is

Rosencrantz

, form a

Mafia

At night, you and your fellow mafia may talk privately to each other. (This allows you to break Rule 1.)

Each night, the mafia will choose one member of the mafia to kill another player. The other member of the mafia will flip a coin. The result of the coinflip will be posted at dawn, but this otherwise has no effect on the game.

In addition to the above, each mafia member has an additional ability that they may use once each night:
Rosencrantz may impose a posting restriction upon another player the following day. That player is informed that they may only post votes, unvotes, quotes, or questions. Each violation of this restriction earns a point. With 1 point, they cannot use any nightabilities. With 2 points, their vote does not count. With 3 points, they will die at the end of the day.
Guildenstern may each night PM a name (eg: “

Rosencrantz

”) to the mod, who will inform whether or not that role is in the setup and/or a safeclaim.

You win when only mafia are alive.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time. [These roles are a little unusual, so please do not hesitate to ask me any questions.]

[NM: This was in my inaccessible notes, so it might be slightly off, but I think it was:
Receives is in setup/is a safeclaim for Pirate. Receives not in setup/not a safeclaim for the faux roles associated with the Understudy and the King of Something. Receives is in setup/not a safeclaim for all other roles. Receives not in setup/is a safeclaim for everything else.]

rogue_two

, you are

Rosencrantz

, and with

themanhimself

, who is

Guildenstern

, form a

Mafia

.

At night, you and your fellow mafia may talk privately to each other. (This allows you to break Rule 1.)

Each night, the mafia will choose one member of the mafia to kill another player. The other member of the mafia will flip a coin. The result of the coinflip will be posted at dawn, but this otherwise has no effect on the game.

In addition to the above, each mafia member has an additional ability that they may use once each night:
Rosencrantz may impose a posting restriction upon another player the following day. That player is informed that they may only post votes, unvotes, quotes, or questions. Each violation of this restriction earns a point. With 1 point, they cannot use any nightabilities. With 2 points, their vote does not count. With 3 points, they will die at the end of the day.
Guildenstern may each night PM a name (eg: “

Rosencrantz

”) to the mod, who will inform whether or not that role is in the setup and/or a safeclaim.

You win when only mafia are alive.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time. [These roles are a little unusual, so please do not hesitate to ask me any questions.]

[NM: The mafia can choose each night who will be doing what. If it is not specified, I will assume whoever PMs me the killchoice is the killer. Whoever isn't doing the kill is the flipper. The post-restriction victim will be told what they are not allowed to do, as well as the penalties. Points earned one day carry over to the next, although the specific consequences expire. The voterestriction is disregarded for the purposes of deadline procedure; the affected player is told this also. The affected player and Rosencrantz are informed each time the postrestriction is broken.]

ThAdmiral

, you are

William Shakespeare

, a

Serial Killer

.
You’ve had enough with this plagiaristic performance. Once per night you may PM me the name of someone to kill. You win when all other players are dead.

Also, as bard extraordinaire, you have power over what I, the mod, post during the game. You may communicate with me privately at any point, and I will post what you instruct me to (paraphrased). You can be as general or specific as you want. You still post as normal as yourself.

A few guidelines:
1) I can only post what *you* know. (For example, you couldn’t instruct me to post a list of roles.)
2) I can post something in the form of a vote, but it won’t count. The fake vote *will* show up in votecounts (as per rule 9).
3) The town can vote or target me. If I am lynched or killed, you lose these abilities. (Likewise, you lose this ability if you die.)
4) There are a few items which you do not have control over: votecounts, twilight announcements, replacement notices, deadlines, and other typical mod powers.
5) I will append a votecount to the end of each of my posts. For this reason I will need to post at a minimum of once every 48 hours.

My “role”, for the record, is

EmpTyger

,

God

,

Moderator

.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time. [Since this is a rather complicated role, please do not hesitate to ask any questions you might have. If you want to get in touch with me directly, you may reach me by <deleted>]

rich_25

, you are

the Player

, a

Townsperson

.
You, armed with the power of a prop knife and knowledge of deathscenes, are a vigilante. Once per night you may PM me the name of someone you wish to kill. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

[NM: The vigkilled player writes their own deathscene dawnpost, with 250 words. If the player is doublekilled, they make the post, but the mod supplies the content. If the vigkilled player submits a too short post,

Shakespeare

(or the mod, if Shakespeare has been killed) makes up the difference.]

Maz Medias

, you are

Laertes

, a

Townsperson

.
You are the loyal brother of Ophelia and son of Polonius.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

Rosso Carne

, you are

Kenneth Branagh

, a

Townsperson

.
You are the preeminent Shakespearean actor/director. You actually have nothing to do with this particular performance, but I mean, it’s Shakespeare! Hamlet! The stage! How doth you stay away?

You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

Jules

, you are

Tom Stoppard

, a

Townsperson

.
You are the writer/director of R&GAD. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

Nightson

, you are a

…King…

? Unfortunately you can’t remember *which* king. Hopefully you’ll figure it out before it’s your scene. In any case, you are a

Townsperson

.

You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

[NM: Before the game begins, Nightson’s role is chosen at random from {

The Ghost

,

Player King

,

King of England

,

Elvis

, <1 other I can't remember>}]

The Central Scrutinizer

, you are

Hamlet

, a

Townsperson

.
You are insane. Once per night you may PM me the name of someone to investigate. I will give you their incorrect alignment. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

[NM: Is insane.]

Bogre

, you are

a Pirate

, a

Townsperson

. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

serinah80

, you are

the Audience

, a

Townsperson

.
Once per night you may cheer for a player by PMing me their name. That player cannot be killed that night. (You may not target yourself with this ability.) You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

BabyJesus

, you are either

Claudius

or

Lucianus

. If you are Claudius, you are a miller and will investigate as guilty. If you are Lucianus, you are vanilla. Either way, you are a

Townsperson

, and you win when all threats to the town have been eliminated. [Note that if you are Claudius, there may or may not be a Lucianus in the game, and vice versa.]

Please confirm by PM. If you have any questions about your role, please PM the mod at any time.

[NM: Investigates as guilty. Actual role is

Understudy

.]

[EmpTyger]

Stage Directions

Night 1

Sherlock asks about

tragedian

.
rogue_two postrestricts Bogre.
Sherlock kills BabyJesus.
rogue_two flips TAILS.
ThAdmiral kills Nightson.
rich_25 does not kill.
The Central Scrutinizer investigates Maz Medias.
serinah80 protects ThAdmiral.

Tragedian

is not in the setup, but is a safeclaim.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

Maz Medias

is guilty.

You have been challenged to a game of Questions. This imposes a postrestriction on you until the end of Day 1.

You may only post votes, unvotes, quotes, or questions.

Each violation of this restriction earns a point. With 1 point, you will lose any nightabilities you might have. With 2 points, your vote will not count. With 3 points, you will die at the end of the day.

Please ask if you have any questions regarding the postrestriction.

Day 1

Bogre breaks his restriction, but the illegal post was erased in the sitecrash, and treated as though it had never occurred. The mafia were informed of this. Bogre received 2 points for [16] and [93].

Night 2

Sherlock asks about

Richard Dreyfuss

.
rogue_two postrestricts Bogre.
Sherlock kills serinah80.
rogue_two flips HEADS.
ThAdmiral kills Maz Medias.
HackerHuck does not kill.
serinah80 doesn’t submit a choice because she needs to be replaced as is dying anyone and I’m not going to find a replacement just for their nightchoice, sorry.
The Central Scrutinizer investigates ThAdmiral.

Richard Dreyfuss

is not in the setup, but is a safeclaim.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

ThAdmiral

is innocent.

You have been challenged to a game of Questions. This imposes a postrestriction on you until the end of Day 2.

You may only post votes, unvotes, quotes, or questions.

Each violation of this restriction earns a point. With 1 point, you will lose any nightabilities you might have on the following night. With 2 points, your vote will not count for the rest of the day. With 3 points, you will die at the end of the day.

Please ask if you have any questions regarding the postrestriction.

[Just to clarify: you earned 2 points on Day 1- these points carry over. So if you violate your restriction again, you will die. However, the specific consequences expired, so your vote will count as normal today. I rephrased the restriction to try to make this clearer, but let me know if you aren’t sure about this.]

Night 3

Jack asks about

the Player

.
mikeburnfire does not postrestrict.
Jack kills ThAdmiral.
mikeburnfire flips TAILS.
ThAdmiral kills Jules.
HackerHuck kills Jack.
The Central Scrutinizer investigates HackerHuck.

You are no longer allowed to communicate privately with Jack until after the game has ended.

First of all,

The Player

is in the setup and is not a safeclaim.

Second, I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

You may no longer speak private with

mikeburnfire

(and this includes sharing the above result). However, you are allowed- in fact, required- to make *1* post in the game thread at dawn. This post *can* contain game information, and almost whatever else you want. I warn you that it should be no less than 250 words. Once you have made this post, you will not be allowed to post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

Basically, you are going to be writing and posting the dawnscene. In it you need to indicate in some way that:
1) You,

ThAdmiral

, and

Jules

are dead.
2) You are

Mafia

.

ThAdmiral

is a

Serial Killer

.

Jules

is a

Townsperson

.
3) You are

Guildenstern

.

ThAdmiral

is

William Shakespeare

.

Jules

is

Tom Stoppard

.

This is a little unusual, so feel free to PM me (or contact me by <deleted >) with questions. Let me know when you have composed this post for further instructions.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

I regret to inform you that you have been nightkilled.

You are dead.

Do not post or otherwise communicate about the game until it has ended.

HackerHuck

is guilty.

(I was having trouble with my account logging me out, and thought I had deleted the confirmation PM and sent a result.)

[EmpTyger]

Epilogue

First of all, I would like to admit that I consider this game a failed experiment. I designed this to explore the convergence of 2 themes: identity and absurdity. Unfortunately, due to a series of events- some within my control, some beyond- the game never really felt like it “caught”. The delay at the beginning, the sitecrashes, the lost posts just when things started to happen, the replacements. The only silver lining was that the concept of absurdity was reinforced.

Moreover, there was a balance problem, which is a lesson for me. No-ability-reveal was intended as purely a handicap for the town; however, it can hurt the mafia just as much. (Knowing that serinah80 was a dead doctor would have changed things considerably, for example.)

For all its faults, I did receive compliments on the flavor, which I too had great fun with. Indeed, I had a wonderful deathscene for ThAdmiral ready to go to end D2, except somehow the town didn’t lynch the claimed SK.

Hamlet was a delicious role- from an evil mod standpoint. The first time I heard about guaranteed cop sanity, it struck me as absurd. The opposite seems perfect flavorwise for Hamlet, especially since it lent that player into second-guessing his own sanity.

R&G being scum was another delicious twist. Would the town think it that simple? To counterbalance- as well as to support the concept of identity- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were given their additional abilities. The coinflip fit wonderfully- the mafia had an extra ability by not having an extra ability.

The King of Something and the Understudy were for the identity theme, as well as a slight check on Guildenstern’s ability.

Shakespeare was a tricky role, yet potentially powerful, and I was curious how it would be used. Conceptually, it was designed to make the SK a two-person team, of sorts. The “Every player must vote” messages, the “roleclaiming would be bad”, and the occasional modvotes were all caused by this ability.

Originally the Player knew the mechanic associated with their target's death; this was changed in balancing lest the vigilante be too powerful.


As far as individual performances:
I would vote HackerHuck for MVP. The game is lost without him killing mafia N3, and as demonstrated by Mr. Flay, this was hardly an obvious play.
I would award TCS HM, for playing the cop role perfectly.
And a pox on lurkers. Lying low as a strategy is well and good, but reading yet not replying to a “are you still in the game” PM is just rude.

[EmpTyger]

Actually- if ThAdmiral played an thematic role in the end. Consider what happens if he’s lynched D2. He doesn’t kill an innocent, Jules is left alive in a 4-person endgame, and mikeburnfire’s lynch is not automatic. So there is an absurdly counterintuitive situation of a protown being lynched D2 so that an antitown could survive to kill a second protown N3- which as a result gave the town an almost certain win!