Mini 1397: War is Hell (Game Over)

[Mr. Flay]

HELL.

It's not all brimstone and screaming... but then, neither is it harps and clouds

(for that matter, neither is Heaven, for those whose memories of the original descent may be somewhat lacking)

. Strife and conflict are commonplace, but there

is

heirarchy even amongst the Fallen, and there

is

order amidst the turmoil. Many times over the Epochs have your numbers swelled, and once the very fabric of the Universe trembled at the battle between the loyal Angelic Host and the Fallen Angels, who have become Demons upon their arrival in this place of exile. But exile is not a death sentence for an Angel; it can also mean a freedom to become whatever your corrupted heart can envision. Some cast off wings and grew the tails of serpents; others discarded voice and music in favor of the roar and bellow of great cats and apes. Still others plucked out their uncounted eyes and meditated upon the inferno itself, until they could move or sense as well in pitch blackness as the heart of a sun.

[/header]

Vis Vires

Pessum Ire

Sasnagiel ( Kinetic ), a Seraphim of Heaven , recovered the Metatron and won! Ambriel ( Albert B. Rampage Quilford ), an Erelim of Heaven , recovered the Metatron and won!

Duke Astaroth (NPC), Fallen Seraph and Loyal Demon , was destroyed at the beginning of Epoch I. Duke Berith ( PeregrineV ), Fallen Arel and Loyal Demon , was slain at the end of Epoch I. Count Bifrons ( scooby Fate ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , was killed at the conclusion of Epoch II. Prince Sitri ( kdowns Voidedmafia ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , was slain at the conclusion of Epoch II. Count Halphas ( Yosarian2 ), Fallen Arel and Loyal Demon , was destroyed in Epoch III. Camael ( Lady Lambdadelta ), an Ophanim of Heaven , was killed in Epoch IV. (but won posthumously) Duke Focalor ( quadz08 ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , brought about the end of Epoch V with his death. Duke Vapula ( MattP ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , was killed in Epoch VI. Marquis Naberius ( charter Xalxe ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , was murdered in Epoch VII. King Viné ( kanyeknowsbest ), Fallen Ophan and Loyal Demon , was destroyed in Epoch VII. King Paimon ( Zdenek ), Fallen Seraph and Loyal Demon , was killed in Epoch VII. Marquisse Phenex ( Tierce ), Fallen Cherub and Loyal Demon , was destroyed in Epoch VIII.

[Mr. Flay]

This is a Semi-Open setup, with Split Roles/Motives. While the roles are structured similarly to previous Angel Nightless games, the flavor is very different. What follows is merely an example of a loyal (Town) Demon's Role PM:

Duke Astaroth

Role:

You are

Duke Astaroth

, once a Fallen Seraphim and now one of the strongest Demons in all of Hell. Your Breath is noisome, your Form hurtful and strong. You have the Ability to discern Hidden Things, and make the Visible hidden. You ride a powerful Serpent with a Dragon's teeth and claws.

Win Condition:

You stand in solidarity with Satan and all of Hell. You win if the Angels are destroyed or cast out, and at least one Loyal Demon survives.

Powers:

• You begin the game with 11 HP. You may be healed to 12 HP total
  (one more than you start with)
  .
  
• You may either
  Hurt
  or
  Heal
  players in thread, as can all other roles. The
  HURT:
  and
  HEAL:
  tags are preferred, or you can just bold them. Hurting or Healing begins a 24h countdown timer before you can act again.
  • Note that in this particular game, Healing someone will subtract a HP from you which will be replenished 1:1 when you next gain Rage in the standard way!
  
  
• As a Demon, you also begin the game with 1 Rage Point (RP). You will gain further Rage as the game progresses, up to a maximum of 5.
  • To use Rage, PM me the name of the player you wish to focus it on, and how many RP you wish to use.
    
  • Using Rage will also start a 24h timer before you may Hurt or Heal, but you may Rage while already in cooldown.
    
  • Rage accrues with the death of others, and at other intervals according to Hell's whimsy. You will receive a PM when your total Rage changes.
  
  
• You may also use
  HURT WITH A BLADE:
  when you attack, and get 2 damage instead of just one. Using this action will cause you to recharge after 36 hours instead of the usual 24.

[Mr. Flay]

Rules

1. Ethical:
   
   
2. Do not discuss the game
   by any means
   outside of this thread unless your role PM explicitly says that you may.
   
3. Don't quote any PMs/private communication directly in thread. Likewise, once you are cast out,
   stop talking
   ; you can say your piece once the game is over. I will set up a Green Room for dead players.
   
4. Don't edit/delete your posts, even if you have the privileges to do so. It violates the integrity of the game and can screw up the game thread. I will take care of duplicate posts or formatting errors upon request.
   
5. Treat this game as a commitment, to me and your fellow players. If you're going to be gone more than about 48 hours on a non-weekend, let us know.
   Doing so without warning will earn you a Prod
   , and multiple Prods may result in your replacement.
   
6. Lying is a sin
   (lying to Satan is akin to a deathwish); pretending to break a rule
   (quoting a fake role PM, for example)
   will result in the same punishment as actually breaking that rule. If you have to think about whether or not you're breaking the rules when you're about to do something,
   ask me via PM
   !
   
7. Robust cryptography and steganography are not allowed in my games.
   
8. Remember, it's a game. It's supposed to be fun. It's supposed to be interactive. Do your part.

1. Mechanical:
   
   
2. Thy Mod is like unto a God, but with a shorter temper and worse language. There are some unusual features in this game; most are public between this thread and previous Angel Nightless games, but not all are, of course. Feel free to PM me or ask in thread if something is confusing; I reserve the right to ignore the question or give misleading answers if it would compromise the game.
   
3. There are no 'lynches' or 'voting' in this game for thematic reasons. Instead, you may either HURT: player or HEAL: player, once every 24 hours, to move them closer/further from being 'cast out' of the game. These actions must be in bold, and must use exactly that verb (there are also tags now,
   [hurt]/[heal]/[hurt2]
   ). Feel free to describe your attack or defence in more detail, though!
   
4. The Rage mechanic is now available to all Demons; PM me who you wish to attack and how many RP to utilize. Your maximum Rage will be reflected in your Role PM.
   Note: Rage no longer accumulates on an exactly-timed basis, though you will still get a PM when it accrues, either from someone's death or due to Hell's malevolence.
   
   
5. I will not provide damage tallies more often than every 8-12 hours, but will try to provide them approximately every 24 hours if changes in health have occurred.
   
6. Once someone reaches 0 HP, they will be destroyed (no Healing will help at that point) as soon as I return to the thread; after that, they may no longer interact with the game thread or players in any way not specified by their role PM. Regardless of how quickly I return to the thread, actions will be processed sequentially, so others may still Heal/Hurt during Twilight, for example.
   
7. Healing may not take someone more than 1 point above their original total HP. You may not Heal (or Hurt) yourself. In this game, Healing will 'steal' a HP from you until the next time you gain Rage.
   
8. Damage levels are preserved even after someone is cast out! A sample tally will look like:
   

   First Damage Tally of the First Æon:

   
   Some Pansy Angel has taken 3 damage.
   A Winged Fool has taken 2 damage.
   Astaroth and Shax have both taken 1 damage each.
   
   

   Dantalion, Andromalius, and Gäap are all undamaged.

   
   
9. This is a Nightless game, and should need no deadlines. If you anger your Mod through excessive sloth, I will very...
   upset
   (this includes someone deliberately standing aside from the conflict). I reserve the right to decide what to do about sloth at the time, not that I fear it will happen in this game...
   
10. Any questions about player damage tallies (like vote counts), overall game mechanics, or prods/replacements for players, mention it in thread. You may preface them with
    Mod:
    or
    Great Lord:
    to catch my eye, if that helps.

Spoiler: FAQ

FAQ

Why didn't you count my vote?

This game uses the Hurt/Heal mechanic, not voting like a regular Mafia game. Each player has a certain amount of Hit Points, and may Hurt players they find scummy/Heal players they find helpful once every 24 hours. If you reach 0 HP, you're dead. You can be raised exactly 1 HP above your 'maximum' HP, to avoid wasting simultaneous shots.

My role says I can do extra damage. How does that work with the new [hurt] tag?

Use the

[hurt2]

tag which will clearly show that it is a double shot. Note that doubleshots take 36 hours to recharge, not 24.

If all Demons have Rage, can't Town just hurt each other round-robin and prove who cannot Rage?

How פהזגטברּ stupid do you think I

am

?

Can I use my <secret ability redacted> and still Hurt someone in the same 24 hour period?

Your role PM will spell this out, but in general, no. Special abilities, including Rage, will usually delay your ability to Hurt/Heal.

I'm going to be gone over the weekend; can I presubmit two Hurts for Saturday and Sunday on ScummerX?

No; you must be present and post in thread to use Hurt/Heal.

I'm going to be gone over the weekend; can I presubmit my secret ability for Sunday afternoon on ScummerX, after my recharge timer expires?

Your role PM should be clear about this, but in general, yes (within a reasonable time frame, usually less than 24 hours).

Can I ask for an immediate Vote Count to confirm my ability/lack of ability?

I will do one Damage Count every 12 hours if the game is moving fast, every 24 hours otherwise.

Do replacements still lose HP when they enter the game?

No.

Can I Hurt/Heal myself?

No.

Can I use Rage on myself?

Yes, if you really want to...

If I use Heal more than once before Rage replenishes, will it all come back at once?

No; it will come back 1:1 alongside your new Rage Points

(this corrects an original phrasing in the Town Role PM)

.

I noticed not all of the roles in previous Angel Nightless games were spelled out in the pregame posts. Are there secret roles in this game?

Stop asking stupid questions and get to killing. Speaking of which...

[Mr. Flay]

But while Heaven still reels from the ongoing defection in its ranks, an unusual tumult has been raised in this corner of Hell.

Duke Astaroth

has been discovered, disfigured and decapitated. That in itself would ordinarily occasion no great alarm; Hell's heirarchy is not sacrosanct, frozen in place like the מטּזרּזבןמב structure of Heaven, and assassinations do occur. But not in the memory of any Demon has such an assault been accompanied by the wretched ץרטּגהמשּ of

angelic grace

. His sigil smokes on the ground beneath his corpse, but an iridescent stench clings to it, and a miasma of harmonies vibrates through the air above the body.

Duke Astaroth, Archdemon of Hell (NPC),
has been destroyed utterly.

Astaroth's powers, among others, encompassed the ability to mask his form and change his shape at will. From the evidence you can find, his killers may very well have absorbed that ability; no trace of angelic infestation drizzles off conveniently into the distance like a snail's ללמ. The Duke's killers cannot have gone far, and may have further mischief on their minds. But why now? Why here, when Heaven itself can seem to do little to stem the tide flowing out from its shining פהזרםבּ walls? That is the mystery, and the task with which Satan has constrained your corner of Hell to perform.

"

גבטרּ

OFF, DEMONS. TAKE CARE OF IT YOURSELVES, I'M BUSY!"

Well, then.

Time to unlimber swords and unsheath claws, and get down to the dirty business of digging out the putrid goodness that infests Hell.

GAME ON!

(no confirmations needed)

[PeregrineV]

Bam!

Are we going to try and do this calmly, or just blast the shit out of each other?

[kanyeknowsbest]

given that we cant freely heal each other anymore im loathe to start throwing around hurts without the intention to kill, but at the same time trying to stifle hurting really fucked the game last time.

[Tierce]

I have only skimmed the previous games (shame on me), and want to look at them further. Special consideration for the plans that tajo and Fonz (iirc), laid out in Hurting people. Let's see how well that would work in a different setting, especially due to the Heal difference here.

While I do that, I'd like Yos's input.

[kanyeknowsbest]

refresh my memory on what youre referring to.

[Tierce]

refresh my memory on what youre referring to.

Apologies for bringing up pansy angel decision-planning.

'tajo talked about a fake voting system (I can keep VCs if we go this way), only Hurting people decided by consensus.
Fonzie had a "buddy" system, where Hurts would be called out by a player and required another's support to go through.

Personally, especially with the alteration in the Heal mechanic, I'd rather use 'tajo's method. There isn't much of a risk in dragging because we only increase HP-from-Heal when Rage accumulates, and The Fonz's buddy method can be disastrous. Yes, voting is slow, but we don't have deadlines, and it creates patterns that are easier to study than the buddy plan.

[Tierce]

!

Okay, this is nice. We lose an HP every time we Heal, right?

Important questions first:

@Oh Great Adversary:
Do all HP-lost-to-Healing points get restored upon Rage accumulation? That is, if Player A Healed three times between accumulation, does Player A gain three HP at accumulation time, or just one?
Do we know whether Accumulation happens at the same time for everyone?

We may be able to enforce sacrifices to increase falling health of those considered Town. Instead of Hurting, those pseudo-voted should Heal others until they die (or close to it; it drags the game down because of the 24h cooldown, but it keeps Townreads healthy). This may be subject to adjustment given the Accumulation (Player A has been mass Healing, is at 2 HP, slated to die... Rage accumulation hits, Player A is back to full HP--oops?) and players may need to be Hurt to die, but we should milk Heals from them before they die.

[kanyeknowsbest]

yeah buddy system wont work here. im willing to give the fakevoting system a try here (i was a major proponent of it in wih3) but it went really poorly there and generally made the game pretty unfun.

i like the sacrifice idea. it would allow a mislynched townie to do some final good for the town and possibly force scum to finish him with rage if they dont want him healing.

what in particular makes you want to hear yos' opinion especially?

[Kinetic]

I was going to advocate a similar voting plan... But rage changes things. I need to think. For now, no hurts or heals. If someone is rage attacked though we should heal them. Keeps them topped off, and it proves you weren't the one raging as it appears raging starts your CD.

[kanyeknowsbest]

theres also the question of whether or not we want to publicly claim rage expenditures to discern between scum and town rage. im leaning in favor of as it could force scum to save/publicly use an amount of rage equal to what a townie would have

[kanyeknowsbest]

i dont recall and i cant find any of the scum pms for previous games: did scum raging interfere with the standard hurt/heal cycle? it may not be safe to assume it does here.

[Tierce]

Rage interferes with the Hurt/Heal cycle cooldown. Look at the sample role PM. You can Rage in cooldown, but then you have to wait to Heal/Hurt.

what in particular makes you want to hear yos' opinion especially?

I want to agree with Yos2

Yos is by far the best theorist in the game.

[kanyeknowsbest]

dont believe its safe to assume that is the case for scum.

[kanyeknowsbest]

reminder that assuming things based on previous games that turned out to simply not be true was a Thing that happened in wih3.

[Tierce]

Oh, I see what you mean now--I missed the 'scum' bit. Yeah, can't find the role PMs in WiH2.

Of note that, in that game's commentary, Flay made it very clear that Hurting willy-nilly is stupid and very damaging to Town in the long run. We need coordination, not people convinced their scumread is the bestest and needs taken down now now now.

No random Hurting.

Don't be stupid.

[kanyeknowsbest]

yes we applied that lesson very vigorously to wih3, which i assume is the cause of the new healing penalty.

[Zdenek]

So let's see.

No willy-nilly hurting, even though it's annoying. Scum also accumulates rage when town mis-kills, and in past games by being in on the kill.

We should keep a pseudo-vote count, for who we are to kill.

We should probably also keep a townie vote count and only let people at the top hurt to try to limit scum gaining rage that way.

I still have to think about what to do about townie rage, but my thoughts are that it should generally be kept secret because of it's potential usefulness in the end game. I'll have to think about this, but it seems to me that town should probably only be using rage early to accelerate lynches.

[Tierce]

I bear gifts!

Don't know if this works because my connection is being etc. Let me know if it doesn't work and I'll pester Flay/Feysal for another version.

But if it does, it's the collected archive of

more pansy angels being whiny and not killing people nearly fast enough wtf why is this 200+ pages

War in Heaven 3. Credit goes to Feysal, s-lullaby and yours truly.

http://www.mediafire.com/?abeqx9yyaokuq82

[Mr. Flay]

Do all HP-lost-to-Healing points get restored upon Rage accumulation? That is, if Player A Healed three times between accumulation, does Player A gain three HP at accumulation time, or just one?

In general, just one.

Do we know whether Accumulation happens at the same time for everyone?

You do not.

[quadz08]

*waves* I have just read the first one and skimmed / read role PMs from the others.

First things first: HURTING RANDOMLY IS BAD HOLY HELL LET'S NOT DO THAT.

I'm trying to figure out if the vote-to-hurt method is a good idea, though. We know that everyone can hurt in secret, but that makes me wonder what the scum's bonus powers are in this game. It could be as simple as more hp and damage, but I rather doubt it.

Almighty, does this game contain similar roles as the last ones (seraphim / ophanim / erelim / cherubim)? Or did you choose to leave roles private this time around?

Also, if we assume everyone has ~11 HP, as the sample role PM does, then it will take at least 48 hours to lynch anyone at the beginning of the game. If we lynch incorrectly, assuming scum is using their Rage effectively, Town players will be missing much more health than scum players.

We need to publicly announce when we use rage. Anyone who uses rage in secret is anti-town and will be treated as such.

Lord, can we call to use a rage point from in-thread?

If we can do that, we're actually able to kill someone in a day, if I'm understanding cooldowns correctly.

Sorry for stream-of-consciousness there.

[Kinetic]

I still have to think about what to do about townie rage, but my thoughts are that it should generally be kept secret because of it's potential usefulness in the end game. I'll have to think about this, but it seems to me that town should probably only be using rage early to accelerate lynches.

No. Absolutely not! This is a terrible idea. If we keep it secret only the scum win because they can better hide their plays.

We need to publicly announce when we use rage. Anyone who uses rage in secret is anti-town and will be treated as such.

Exactly this.

I'm still not 100% of voting-to-harm, but if we couple that with public raging that would be the best scenario. The more information that is open and honest, the less room we allow for the scum to manipulate the chaos. That is what killed us in WiH3. Also, if any Seraphim gets a hard on and starts just randomly hurting people and NO ONE STOPS HIM, so help me

god

Beelzebub. (See roflcopter, WiH3 for an example).

[Tierce]

Hey quadz--the sample role PM is a Fallen Seraph. It's

fucking Astaroth

, commander of forty legions of spirits. That should answer a couple of your questions and make it clear that 11 HP is probably not the average value.

HOLY HELL

Wrong setting, sir. I don't know about you AMURIKA people, but on this side of the ocean of FIRE there tends to be a lot more brimstone and a lot less...

holiness

. Ew.