The Art of Game Creation

[little wilson she/her]

Hmm. For fanwork exchanges, I'm given to understand there's normally a cadre of pinch-hitters: people who aren't immediately keen on signing up, or missed the deadline, but have no issues with signing up to 'pinch-hit' so if someone drops out or goes inactive, they fill in the hole.

 

What if we did something like that instead? So they don't go into the actual gameplay list, but they sign up as pinch-hitters, and because of that, don't sign up for the spec doc? [One of the groups I'm thinking of who might be interested in pinch-hitting are people who want a break but don't mind filling in for a short while in mid-game or so, or in the same light--some of the occasional people who miss a deadline but would like to play anyway.] Perhaps it wouldn't be a very long list. But it might be worth a shot.

 

That's one of the things I was sort of thinking about. A short list of people aren't in the spec doc and stay out of game discussion for that purpose. It's the only thing I can really think of that would take care of the problem without adding a whole new set of problems along with it. And I'm guessing the pinch-hitter would be added to any and all PMs the inactive was a part of (assuming they were in any), just to keep the information on that role flowing.

[A Joe in the Bush]

In every game there are usually a few people who are roleless, just normal vanilla's. What if we transferred an inactive's role to them?

[little wilson she/her]

In every game there are usually a few people who are roleless, just normal vanilla's. What if we transferred an inactive's role to them?

 

That would work. And then if a game doesn't have any regular villagers, they could try the pinch-hitters (if they want to try anything). That's probably what I'll try for my MR, since everyone will have roles in that game.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Here's my idea for Rioters that I accidentally put in the wrong thread:

 

I've been thinking about the Rioter role and have an idea. I thought I'd post it here for you guys to use if you wish. I've never really liked how the typical Rioter role works. Rioting doesn't change someone's emotions, it enhances them, and it doesn't remove the Rioter's emotions. So my idea was that the Rioter would cause someone's vote to be counted as double instead of changed. Another idea is that the Rioter could choose which type of Rioting they wanted to do: Enhancing someone's emotions or tweaking them. Either way, I don't see why their vote should be lost. Just an idea if you want it.

[Zas678 he/him]

Okay, I'm in. How do I gain access to the spec doc? At least till the next game starts up (although I just missed the MR game).

[Herowannabe he/him]

Hmm. For fanwork exchanges, I'm given to understand there's normally a cadre of pinch-hitters: people who aren't immediately keen on signing up, or missed the deadline, but have no issues with signing up to 'pinch-hit' so if someone drops out or goes inactive, they fill in the hole.

What if we did something like that instead? So they don't go into the actual gameplay list, but they sign up as pinch-hitters, and because of that, don't sign up for the spec doc? [One of the groups I'm thinking of who might be interested in pinch-hitting are people who want a break but don't mind filling in for a short while in mid-game or so, or in the same light--some of the occasional people who miss a deadline but would like to play anyway.] Perhaps it wouldn't be a very long list. But it might be worth a shot.

That's exactly what I was going to suggest, Kas. I think this would work just fine, and I like Wilson's added suggestion too, that any pinch hitters who get put into play get added in to any communications that have taken place.

Seeing that I'm up for my Elantris game next, I'll give it a shot and we'll see how it works.

[Wyrmhero he/him]

This idea has been on my mind for a while, no real reason why other than rereading the series. It's a simple game, but with a small temporal twist. It also brings back the Naive Cop Role, which is something I'd like to see a bit more.

 

Sandman: Endless Nights (MR)

 

Everything that is, has a beginning. This is true of all things that are, even the Endless. Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium, each are a facet of reality, a creation born of the forces of the world and the consciousness of the universe. They are older than almost all things in Creation, and they will last until the end of it. They cannot truly die, for how can you kill a concept? Another aspect merely takes its place.

 

Dream, also known as Morpheus, has many titles, and is said to accumulate them as others would friends. His is the realm of dreams, and also stories, magic, and hope. He creates both the dreams and nightmares that all living beings experience, populating The Dreaming with them, while he sits in his castle as lord and master of his realm. Morpheus takes great pain to ensure the smooth running of the dreams of mortals, and is meticulous in his duty, seeing it as the entire reason for his existence.

 

Which just makes it stranger that he has gone missing.

 

Without him, dreams will still mostly continue as they should, though oddities may arise here and there. But the problem is not with mortals, but with the beings that make up The Dreaming. Without their ruler, their core, the people start to unravel at the seams. Dreams have been abandoning their posts, realising that without anyone to command them, they have little reason to actually be here.

 

All this would be acceptable, if not pleasing, if it weren't for the Nightmares. They were created by Morpheus to be cruel, to be the evil in the hearts of dreamers. They are not evil in themselves, though with their leash removed, such thoughts are bubbling to the surface. No longer do they want to hold themselves back, to inflict only minor discomforts on their victims. Now they want true freedom, and they will kill any Dream that stands in their way.

 

General Rules

 

The game is more-or-less a standard Elimination Game. Most normal rules apply. The Eliminators win when they outnumber the Village, and the Village wins if there are no Eliminators remaining in the game. Players may have a Dream Aspect in addition to their Alignment of being a Dream or Nightmare. There may be more than one of any Dream Aspect.

 

However, the Dreaming is an odd place, and time is malleable in the dreamscape. As such, Night Turns do not necessarily follow Day Turns, or vice versa. At the end of each Turn, a coin will be flipped to determine the nature of the next Turn. Days and Nights are two days each in length.

 

Dream Aspects

• The Raven - A symbol of wisdom and of death. The Raven visits the dead doc every Turn, ferrying messages back and forth. Each Day, The Raven may send a message to the dead of 140 characters or less. The dead may send a message to The Raven(s) each Night, of the same maximum size.
• The Genius Loci - An intelligent land, a heart of the Dreaming, anthropomorphised. The Genius Loci is very difficult to kill. They require two deaths to die fully. The first time they die, their Role is revealed.
• The Guardian - The Guardian is a defender of Dreams and dreamers. The Guardian may protect a player each Night from attack. If that player is attacked during that Night, they survive the first attack.
• The Cain - The first murderer. Each Night, your action is automatically used to kill your brother, Abel. You also bear the Mark of Cain on your forehead, a warning and a promise of retribution to any who dare slay you - Any player that kills you will also die. This mark lasts even if your brother dies. You know who your brother is at the start of the game, and if one of you wins as Nightmare, then you both win.
• The Abel - The first murder victim. Each Night, you will be killed by your brother, Cain, and then brought back to life the next Turn as if nothing happened, without anyone being told that you were killed. If another player kills you, however, you die as normal. You know who your brother is at the start of the game, and if one of you wins as Nightmare, then you both win. Your bumbling personality means you can coax information out of people. Each Day, you discover the Alignment of a person you voted for.
• The Dark Mirror - While you are closer to being a Nightmare than a benign Dream, you are still an adherent to the laws of Morpheus. It gives you a measure of sanity, but you are still willing to do the things other Dreams are not. You may kill a player each Night Turn.
• The Janitor - Yours is the job of reshaping the Dreaming according to the whims of Dreamers. During each Turn, you may choose Day or Night. The probability that the next Turn will be the one that you chose is increased by a flat 10%. While a Janitor is alive, messages may be sent between players without restriction.
• The Librarian - While not as prophetic as Destiny's tome, the books you take care of have every possible tale ever thought up within them, You may use this to find information out about a player, discovering their Alignment each Night.
• The Foolish Librarian - You just keep looking in the wrong places. All players you try to discover the Alignment of will show as 'Dreams'. You do not know you are the Foolish Librarian.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Wyrmhero

[Herowannabe he/him]

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! May the 4th be with you!

So with all the hype over Star Wars Episode VII it got that creative bug stirred up in my mind, and I came up with another rule set I want to try out. We've had a few non-Sanderson games so far, and have a few more lined up, so hopefully people will be accepting of (and interested in) a Star Wars themed game. If this gets a good enough reception, I'd like to officially add my name to the Mid-Range Games GM list. Hopefully the timing can work out such that I'll be GMing this game around the time that episode VII hits theaters.

Anyway, here it is:

Star Wars Elimination Game Rules

Setting

The obvious choice for a Star Wars elimination game was to set it in the Jedi Temple with Jedi and Sith factions competing against each other…but that just seems cliché so I did something different (don't worry, if you're hoping for some good jedi/sith interactions- that possibility does exist in this game). Instead all the players are members of the infamous Rogue squadron during the period immediately following the destruction of the Second Death Star. The Empire, made painfully aware of the destructive capabilities of the rebel starfighters, has infiltrated the squadron with a few of its saboteurs. The Empire Saboteurs are attempting to bring the squadron down, while the rest of the squadron must find and eliminate the Saboteurs.

The players will be divided into 2 groups- Pilots and Droids- and will be assigned to ships in pairs. Each ship may have 1 Pilot and 1 Droid. Some abilities in this game will target individual players, others will target ships, meaning that they can affect either player assigned to the ship, or possibly both.

Cycles

Instead of "Day" and "Night" cycles, this game will be divided into "Bay" and "Flight" cycles, respectively.

The Flight Cycles represent time spent out on missions, battling the Empire. It is during these chaotic times that the Saboteurs will spring their traps and try to eliminate the rest of the Squadron.

The Bay Cycles represent the time in between missions, with starfighters safely docked. It is during these times that players discuss and cast their votes, doing their best to root out the Saboteurs.

Factions

The Empire

As one of the Empire’s finest saboteurs, you have been given the honorable task of infiltrating the dreaded Rogue Squadron, and exacting vengeance for the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of Emperor Palpatine. It is up to you and your teammates to make the Rebel scum pay for their traitorous actions against the glorious Empire!

This is your traditional Eliminator team. During each Flight cycle they will be able to use their secret Imperial Comm Devices to communicate via the Holonet (done as a PM group in the game- please include the GM!), and may as a group target and kill one player. During the Bay cycles, they will NOT be allowed to communicate via PM- it's too risky! You might get discovered and turned in.

The Rebel Alliance

While the leaders of the Rebel Alliance are working on forming a New Republic government, the Empire is not sitting by idly. As a member of the Alliance's elite fighter squadron, you will be sent on many missions to battle against the remnants of the Empire's mighty armada. To make matters worse, the squadron has been infiltrated by the empires spies! You will have to work with your teammates and do everything you can to root out these traitors before they tear rogue squadron apart!

Every member of the squadron gets one vote during each Bay cycle. Whoever ends up with the most votes at the end of each Bay cycle will be eliminated from the game. Players will not be able to communicate via PMs freely, but it is possible to send and receive PMs during the Flight cycle (see Astromech droids below)

Roles

Note: there are no safe roles or species. Any of the roles below may be possessed by players from either faction.

During sign-up, players may choose to sign up as a pilot or as an astromech droid. There are 12 pilot spots and 12 droid slots available. Once one group is full all additional players will be assigned to the other group automatically. If more than 24 players sign up, we will alternate between pilot and droid players so that we keep the number of pilots/droids as equal as possible.

Both pilot players and droid players will be assigned their Rogue Squadron ship and number based on the order they sign up (Ie: the first pilot player to enroll and the first droid player to enroll will be paired together and assigned to Rogue 1. The second pair will be assigned to Rogue 2, and so forth).

As the game progresses and players get eliminated, we will inevitably end up with ships that only have a pilot or a droid, but not both. When this happens, a droid may transfer to a ship with a pilot and no droid if both players agree to it (they may must discuss it and agree upon it in the main thread). Pilots never transfer ships (the droids move to them). Droids may only move off a ship if they have no pilot on it. Transfers take place at the end of the cycle in which they were agreed upon.

Some roles are public roles, known to the whole group. Others are private. Unless otherwise noted, each role will be limited to 1 person.

Pilot roles:

At the time of signup you may choose a species, purely for RP purposes (with 1 notable exception, see below). If no species is specified then you will be human by default. In addition, you may end up with one of the special roles below:

Rogue Leader- public

The first player to sign up as a pilot will receive the designation Rogue 1 (to repeat, yes, this role is determined before sign ups even finish. The first player to sign up as a pilot (not a droid) gets this role!)

As Rogue Leader, your vote count as 2 during the Bay cycle. If Rogue 1 dies, Rogue 2 will automatically become Rogue Leader, and so on down the ranks.

Wookie pilot- public

The first pilot player who chooses Wookie as his species gets this role. After this role has been claimed, no other players may choose Wookie as their species. A player may not sign up to be Rogue Leader AND the Wookie, though he may become both roles throughout the course of the game.

This role has two special effects:

Unintelligible growls: your votes do not count during the Bay cycle, though you may still cast votes. (If during the course of the game the Wookie becomes Rogue Leader, his Unintelligible effect overrides the Rogue Leader’s double vote ability).

Let the Wookie Win: if you get lynched during the Bay cycle, you fly into a Wookie rage and tear the arms out of the sockets of the player that you voted for that cycle, killing that player too.

Mechanic- private

You've always been skilled at pulling things apart and putting them back together again, and can get just about any old scrap of junk working again- at least for a little while.

As a Mechanic, you may salvage the parts of any droids that have been eliminated thus far in the game, gaining a little bit of extra use out of them before they give out completely. You may target one eliminated droid each Bay cycle, and each eliminated droid may only be targeted once. If they had any special abilities, the droid equipped to your ship will get the power to use that ability ONCE- and ONCE ONLY. If the salvaged Droid did not have any special abilities then your droid will get the ability to initiate one additional PM group during any one Flight Cycle. If you salvage the Reparations Package upgrade, your droid will only be able to turn it on for 1 Flight cycle before it gives out.

If you do not currently have a droid, you may still salvage eliminated droids, holding the salvaged parts in reserve. The next droid assigned to your ship will get any and all reserve parts you have gathered.

Force Sensitive- Jedi- private

Growing up as a child, a weird old hermit lady befriended you and began teaching you the ways of the Force. Before she was able to complete your training, the Emperor's agents caught up with her and she was cut down before your eyes. You survived, and have done your best to follow the things she taught you, using your mysterious powers to protect the innocent.

In addition to your faction’s normal win conditions, you cannot win unless the Sith player has been destroyed. And as a reminder, this role can belong to either faction- the Empire or the Rebel Alliance.

You start the game with 3 “force points.”

Each Flight Cycle, you may PM the GM and target one ship to protect. If that ship’s Pilot or Droid are targeted by the Saboteurs, your powers will kick in and they will be saved from death, and you will be docked 1 force point. In addition, you will be told exactly who was targeted. When you run out of force points you may no longer use your power.

If the Sith and the Jedi both target the same ship, their powers cancel out. Neither player is docked a force point. They will be each be told who the other player is, and at the start of the Bay cycle immediately following that Flight cycle they will automatically begin a Lightsaber Duel (see below).

Force Sensitive- Sith- private

You always knew that you were special, and this fact was confirmed when the strange hooded figure stole you away from your home and family and began teaching you to use the dark powers you held. Through his guidance you learned to control and manipulate those around you. He planned to use you as a tool to increase his own power, but you proved you were nobody’s pawn when you betrayed and killed your old master. Now you have found yourself in the most elite fighter squadron in the Galaxy- just a stepping stone on the path to greater glory.

In addition to your faction’s normal win conditions, you cannot win unless the Jedi player has been destroyed. And as a reminder, this role can belong to either faction- the Empire or the Rebel Alliance.

You start the game with 3 “force points.”

Each Flight Cycle, you may PM the GM and target one ship to attack. One player aboard that ship (determined randomly) will be killed, and you will be docked 1 force point. When you run out of force points you may no longer use your power. This power cannot be blocked by the Reparations Package.

If the Sith and the Jedi both target the same ship, their powers cancel out. Neither player is docked a force point. They will be each be told who the other player is, and at the start of the Bay cycle immediately following they will automatically begin a Lightsaber Duel (see below).

Lightsaber duel

When the Sith and Jedi players find out each other are, they are immediately drawn together to fulfil their destiny. In the next Bay Cycle they are automatically locked in lightsaber combat. Alternatively, if both players survive to the end of the game, they will automatically enter into a duel with each other.

When the Lightsaber duel begins, the GM will create a PM with both players involved (or, if it takes place at the end of the game, it will be done in a public thread). To duel, each player may make a post RPing an attack against his rival. His opponent then has 2 hours to post a reply to block the attack. Players may Block and Attack in the same post. After making an attack, a player must wait 2 hours before attacking again. The time is measured by the time stamp on the initial post, meaning if you want to simply post "I block his attack and counterattack," then come back later to edit in some RP, that's fine.

At the end of the cycle, the player who has made the most unblocked attacks is victorious. If there is a tie, the combat is delayed and will continue during the next Bay cycle. (NOTE: a Player may not RP any crippling injuries (such as severed hands) or death for his opponent- things like this are reserved for the GM's final writeup).

Astromech Droid abilities:

At the time of signup, choose a designation for yourself, following the format "A#-B#"- the A and B represents any letters in the alphabet, and the #s represent any two numbers you wish, but they are limited to 1 or 2 digit numbers. (Example: "R2-D2" and "Q11-B99" are both acceptable names. "Johnny 5," "R294826-D2028472," and "C-3PO" are NOT acceptable names for Astromech Droids). You may also choose an appropriate nickname along with your name (ie: "Artoo") if you wish.

Every Astromech droid has the following ability:

During the Flight cycle, you may initiate a private comm channel with another ship that has an Astro droid in it, allowing you and your pilots to communicate freely. To do this, create a PM group that includes following:

• You

• The GM

• Your pilot

• The target ship’s droid*

• The target ship’s Pilot*

*You may choose to target your own ship, in which case the PM group will only include you, your pilot, and the GM.

You may only start 1 PM group per Flight Cycle, though you may participate in multiple PM groups if other droids initiate them with you. At the end of each Flight Cycle all PM groups are closed.

If a pilot player is left without a droid on his fighter, he may not participate in any PM groups (unless he is part of the Saboteur PM group, of course).

In addition, Astro Droids may find themselves with one of the following upgrade packages, granting other abilities:

Reparations Package- private

While this power is turned on, if either the Droid or his Pilot are targeted by the Saboteurs they are saved from death. Once it has been used to save either of them, it is expended and may not be used again. The droid may choose to turn it on or off by PMing the GM.

Sensors Package- private

Instead of initiating a PM group, A droid may use this ability to scan any one ship other than his own, searching for any unauthorized communications- thus revealing if there any Saboteurs aboard that ship! At the end of the cycle he will be told if there were any Saboteurs aboard that ship, but he will not be told which member of the pair is a Saboteur, or whether both of them are. To repeat, a droid who uses this upgrade may not start any PM groups that cycle, but other droids may still start PMs with him.

Slicing Package- private

A droid with this upgrade may use it during any Night Cycle to listen in on any authorized transmissions made by one other rogue pair. To use it, just PM the GM with the ship you are targeting. At the end of the cycle, he will be sent transcripts of any PM groups that the targeting ship participated in. NOTE: this power will NOT work on the Saboteurs' PM groups- the Empire's Holonet is too difficult to slice into!

Extendable Arc Welder- private

A droid with this attachment may use it during any Bay cycle to cancel the vote of any one player. To use this power, just PM the GM your target each Bay cycle. NOTE: this will not stop the "Let the Wookie Win" ability.

Events:

At the beginning of each Bay cycle, players will be treated to a special event of some sort, to add some variety. These will be things like visits from influential characters, mechanical breakdowns or breakthroughs, and so on. They will add little twists to the game each cycle, but won't be too disruptive to the game. Although, partially as an effect of this, the following rule is in effect:

Spectators and Deceased Players:

At least one of the events I have in mind will deal with the Spectators/deceased players, allowing them to have some small influence on the game. As such, please do not discuss or reveal anything (such as your role/alignment!) with spectators or deceased players that they could not learn from reading the main thread.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Herowannabe

[phattemer]

Both of those sound awesome! I haven't read the books associated with the Dreaming though, what are they?

Herowannabe, with the Extendable Arc Welder droid ability, you say

 

Extendable Arc Welder- private

A droid with this attachment may use it during any Bay cycle to cancel the vote of any one player. To use this power, just PM the GM your target each Bay cycle. NOTE: this will not stop the Enraged Wookie ability.

 

What is the Enraged Wookie ability? And why would cancelling a vote affect either a vote that doesn't count or a attacker's death?
?

[Herowannabe he/him]

Both of those sound awesome! I haven't read the books associated with the Dreaming though, what are they?

Herowannabe, with the Extendable Arc Welder droid ability, you say

What is the Enraged Wookie ability? And why would cancelling a vote affect either a vote that doesn't count or a attacker's death?

?

Whoops, I mean the "let the Wookie win" ability. I'll fix that now.

And yeah, I was just clarifying that you can't stop the "let the Wookie win" ability with the arc welder.

[vineyarddawg]

I think there should be a Star Trek game in reply to this Star Wars game, just because I'm a Trekkie, not a (whatever Star Wars fans are called). 

 

But due to my affinity for Sanderson-esque twists, I couldn't run a game unless I twisted it around in a weird way.  Something like creating a game set on Bajor during the Dominion war, where the "villagers" are Pah Wraiths/members of Pah Wraith cult and the "eliminators" are Prophets/followers of the Prophets.  Kind of the, "Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb" angle.

 

Or maybe a game where the players are Starfleet officers on a ship(s) and the Eliminators are the Borg trying to assimilate everyone, but there's a special scenario where if certain conditions are met, Q appears, wreaks havoc, and the factions (and roles) are randomly rearranged, or something like that.

[Herowannabe he/him]

...so hopefully people will be accepting of (and interested in) a Star Wars themed game. If this gets a good enough reception, I'd like to officially add my name to the Mid-Range Games GM list.

Well, my post got 8 likes within the first 12 hours of it being up, so I'll take it that the reception for the game is "good enough."

Moderators, please officially add me to the Mid-range GM list.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Herowannabe

[Wyrmhero he/him]

Both of those sound awesome! I haven't read the books associated with the Dreaming though, what are they?

 

The Dreaming is one of the planes of existance in The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. I based the Roles off of characters who live in the Dreaming, aside from The False Librarian, which is more of a balancing mechanic (I am tempted to remove it though because of the fact that it doesn't match the books).

[Kasimir he/him]

The Dreaming is one of the planes of existance in The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. I based the Roles off of characters who live in the Dreaming, aside from The False Librarian, which is more of a balancing mechanic (I am tempted to remove it though because of the fact that it doesn't match the books).

And have people miss the pain of the True and False Voidbringer business?

 

Hreo: I generally love your game (STAR WARS!) but I am a bit curious about how the Sith v. Jedi RP duel is going to work. Is it supposed to go ad nauseum until someone can't pay any more attention to the game and can't reply? Is it supposed to be about quality RPing? (Because I'm going to assume that unless the Jedi wants to pull an Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of them are going to be insistent about blocking each other.)

 

I guess I'm just curious because an RP duel seems to just put the two players at an impasse, and I'm wondering what your intention with that mechanic is.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Kasimir

[Herowannabe he/him]

And have people miss the pain of the True and False Voidbringer business?

Hreo: I generally love your game (STAR WARS!) but I am a bit curious about how the Sith v. Jedi RP duel is going to work. Is it supposed to go ad nauseum until someone can't pay any more attention to the game and can't reply? Is it supposed to be about quality RPing? (Because I'm going to assume that unless the Jedi wants to pull an Obi-Wan Kenobi, both of them are going to be insistent about blocking each other.)

I guess I'm just curious because an RP duel seems to just put the two players at an impasse, and I'm wondering what your intention with that mechanic is.

Well the way it works is that an attack that goes unanswered for 2 hours gets through and hits. Th duel will last for a full Bay cycle (24 hours), and at the end whoever has scored the most hits wins. Most people have to sleep sometime, so I figure that eventually someone is going to miss a post or two and fall behind. And while I really hope that there will be some quality RP it won't be the deciding factor.

If, after 24 hours, both players are tied the duel will go on hold until the next Bay cycle.

Hopefully that clears it up.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Herowannabe

[Guest]

Hero, I couldn't even come up with a critique for that game.

My reaction basically consisted of a Gollum-like hiss of satisfaction. STAR WARS!!!

[Herowannabe he/him]

You want this game, don't you? The desire is swelling in you now. Take your up-vote button. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your desire. With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant. 

 

It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. You, like Snoopy, are now mine. 

[Guest]

...It's a trap, isn't it?

In all seriousness, though, fantastic game! The dueling is certainly unique and could pose an interesting set of problems (as others duly noted), but other than that, it looks splendiferous!

[Wyrmhero he/him]

Time for a fantasy world I've been thinking about making into a game for some time... Though I should note it's been a little bit of time since I've ready The Chronicles of Amber, so bear with me if there's some differences.

 

The Heirs of Amber (LG)

 

There is a Castle at one end of the Multiverse, known as Amber. The King, Oberon, rules there at the centre of creation, guardian of all he surveys. At the other end of the Multiverse, the world falls away to reveal the Pit of Chaos, from which it all that ever is and will be is formed. Here stands the Court of Chaos, a destabilising presence set against the rule of Oberon. Between the two lie varying degrees of Worlds, Shadows that take on varying degrees of the two True Worlds.

 

At the centre of the Castle Amber lies the Pattern, an imprint of Order which provides a degree of stability in an otherwise turbulent, Chaotic sea. Each of Oberon’s sons and daughters has traversed the Pattern, at a great risk to their life. For this ordeal, they are granted the ability to walk between the Shadows, and even to craft Shadows of their own as they become immersed in the Pattern.

 

While Oberon is undying, he is not invulnerable. He has faced the threat of being overthrown before, and sees threats everywhere with his keen eye. There is evidence of the hand of Chaos in his court, and there is nothing he fears more than that they may unravel the Pattern, returning the Multiverse to primordial chaos. Such paranoia is infectious. Whether son, daughter, or even further removed from him, each watches their fellow Heirs of Amber with a discerning gaze - even more than usual.

 

Oberon has disappeared. There has been no warning, nor has there been any threat, or even anyone taking credit for this disappearance. Regardless of why he has vanished, all are in agreement that this would be the perfect time for Chaos to strike. Shadows are eyed with suspicion and fear. And when the Heirs of Amber get jumpy, they tend to lash out with disproportionate force.

General Rules

Lynches and win conditions are the same as usual. Lynches occur during the Day Turn, provided a player gets at least two votes and there is no tie. Each player has an Ability that they may use during the Night Turn, taking the normal place of Roles. The Courtiers of Chaos win if they outnumber the Heirs of Amber, and the Heirs of Amber win if all the Courtiers of Chaos are dead. The Courtiers of Chaos get a Chaos Kill Action each Night Turn, and conspire on a Google Doc.

Through the course of the game, players may move between Worlds, walking between them via the Pattern. These do not work like Rooms in previous games - Worlds do not separate players and stop them using effects on each other; they only grant abilities. All players begin in Castle Amber and start with a Trump of Amber.

 

Alignments are given out on death, but due to the nature of the game, not Abilities. The Trumps a player owns will only be given out for the lynch death.

 

Shadow Worlds

The Shadows of Amber are strange - They are a reflection of the True Worlds of Amber and the Court of Chaos, and they each have different quantities and qualities of each. Each obeys its own laws of physics, chemistry and biology, and only those who have followed the Pattern (or its Chaotic counterpart) to its completion without dying may move between them. At the end of each Day Turn, a player may utilise a World Trump to go to a World. A list of players on each World will be given out at the beginning of each Night Turn. All the worlds are known at the beginning of the game.

Each World has its own rules, and thus whenever a player moves to a world, their Ability changes. Each player has their own, different ‘list’ of Abilities that they gain on the different worlds. For example, on Avalon, Kas may have the Regeneration Ability, but in Remba, he discovers Serendipitous Medicine. At the same time, Gamma may find Chemical Substitutions on Avalon, and have No Ability in Remba.

Players in Amber have no uniquely-granted Ability, but they have the ear of the Castle and its inhabitants, and speak with their mutual antecendant’s voice. Players in Castle Amber gain an additional Vote for the lynch in the Day Turn. They may vote for two different people if they wish. Each player begins the game in Amber.

Trumps

A Trump is a Tarot-esque card, painted to perfection. Each depicts a person or scene in its totality, and they are filled with power. There are two types of Trump: Personal Trumps and World Trumps.

A Personal Trump depicts a player, and can be used to talk to that player. Note, though, that it is not a two-way communication. A PM can be opened with any player who the PMer has a Trump for, but the other player may not respond unless they also have that player’s Trump. Players may open a PM like this at any time. If a player loses the Trump they are using to talk, they may not continue to talk to that player.

World Trumps depict a Shadow of Amber. At the end of each Day Turn, a player may transport themselves to the location on one of their World Trumps as a free action.

A player may Paint one Trump each Cycle as an Action, and may be gifted to players on the same world at the end of a Turn as a free action (or when the Trump is first painted). If a player is killed, their Trumps are given to the killer. If a player is lynched, their Trumps are lost. Players start with a handful of Trumps, in addition to the Trump of Amber.

Abilities

• Voice of Oberon - Players on Amber get the ability to vote twice, for the same or separate players. This is the only ability players on Amber can get, and all players get it.

• Regeneration - Your natural superhuman regeneration body is sped up considerably on this World. If you are killed on this World during the Night, you do not die. The trade-off for this is that you cannot use Actions, post in the thread, go to other Worlds, or use Trumps to talk to people during the next Day Turn as you heal yourself.

• Chemical Substitutions - Gunpowder may not work on Amber or most other worlds, but you’ve found something far more reliable instead. During the Night, you may use this to kill someone.

• Shadow-Self - On this world, there is a Shadow of you. This allows you to duplicate even artistry with no additional effort on your part by using your reflection. Whenever you paint a Trump on this world, you instead paint two of the same Trump. Your Shadow also throws off attempts at detection, shielding you from having your Alignment and Abilities discovered. The person attempting this will be informed that their attempt failed.

• Serendipitous Medicine - You took a few chemicals with you to this World, and now it turns out they’ve bonded into something else here. Even better, the new compound can be used as a medicine. You may use an Action each Night Turn to save a player from death if they would die that Night. This triggers before Regeneration.

• Slowed Time - While on this world, any Action that is used on you, or any action you take (including moving between Worlds), happens one Turn after it would normally.

• Magnified Perception - Your body seems to ‘feel’ things more clearly and strongly here. As a Night Action, you may discover all of the Abilities a player has been granted so far and the order they were granted it in.

• Telepathic Connections - Through your familial connection, even without a Trump, your mental powers are strengthened enough on this World to skim the thoughts of the other Heirs. As an Action, you are able to read the thoughts of other players while on a World that grants this ability. However, you are not sure whether you are reading the thoughts of the right person - or even if they aren’t actively working against you. You may be a True Telepath, a Naive Telepath, or a False Telepath.

• No Ability - Some Worlds are close enough to Amber for a player that they do not grant any Abilities.

I think there's only one thing I'd quite like for this, aside from maybe a few more Abilities here, and that is if someone can figure out a way to use The Pattern in Amber. The only thing I could think of was random World transportation, but I want to avoid that to make World Trumps stronger.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Wyrmhero

[A Joe in the Bush]

The Pattern allows you to regain a power from a world, so that you can use it in Amber? Or it transports you to Rebma/Tir-na Nog'th, Reflections of Amber that give other Unique powers.

 

And what about Shadows of Self? I can't remember which, but one of the brothers faked their own death by killing a Shadow of them self from another world. I can see three ways of using shadows right off the top of my head, Rioting, Second lives, or faking out Telepath/Magnified Perceptions powers.

 

Also, for the Telepath, can you access each of the three types of Telepath on different worlds? Or are you always a specific type of Telepath?

[Wyrmhero he/him]

The Pattern allows you to regain a power from a world, so that you can use it in Amber? Or it transports you to Rebma/Tir-na Nog'th, Reflections of Amber that give other Unique powers.

I do not like the idea of doubling-up on Abilities, since that way gets a bit dangerous and harder to balance. I would be more inclined to have it do special transportation. I would have to think of ideas for those two, especially considering everyone would have access to them and it would be publicly known what Ability those people have. That's a bit difficult though - There are only so many Roles in Mafia that are useful, or at least only so many with how we set the games up.

 

It might work as an anywhere-transportation or unique Ability-giver if it was restricted access, since it takes so long to walk the Pattern - You have to be in Amber to start with, and maybe only one person per Cycle could manage it. Walking the Pattern would then have the opportunity cost of failing and not going to another World. I'll think about it.

 

And what about Shadows of Self? I can't remember which, but one of the brothers faked their own death by killing a Shadow of them self from another world. I can see three ways of using shadows right off the top of my head, Rioting, Second lives, or faking out Telepath/Magnified Perceptions powers.

I kind of want to avoid giving Worlds multiple Abilities like that, and I am especially cautious with defensive Abilities - I am even a little hesitant when it comes to a (slightly weaker) Bulletproof. I do like the idea of faking your death though, it must be said. I'm not sure how useful it is in a setting like this where Roles are not fixed, but it definitely has merit in other games.

 

A passive anti-Telepath/Magnified Perceptions is also quite a good idea, since dual-Painting is a little weak (mostly it allows you to socialise easier). I think that can be added to it without any other changes needing to be made.

 

Also, for the Telepath, can you access each of the three types of Telepath on different worlds? Or are you always a specific type of Telepath?

Say Wilson is on Tir-na Nog'th, and discovers that on this World, she is a Telepath. She is, unfortunately, a Naive Telepath without her knowing, and only sees people as true Heirs to Amber. She eventually realises this, and goes to another world, where she is a False Telepath, and can only detect people as Courtiers of Chaos. Someone dies and disproves this, and she spends the rest of the game going to other Worlds. Unfortunately, she is not a True Telepath on any of the Worlds, and never gains the ability to properly figure out who is an Eliminator without doing something unreversible.

 

In other words, players are not one type of Telepath, and they also do not have access to the full list of Abilities on their own, no matter how much they worldhop.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Wyrmhero

[Kasimir he/him]

Since we were branching out into non-Sanderson games, I immediately thought of Doctor Who. I'd also been wanting to do a lynch/discussion-centric game for a while. So, I present to you:
 
The Osterhagen Deception
 

UNIT, or the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce was created to investigate and deal with paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth. And there are many of them. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans...the lists in UNIT’s database goes on. One of the darkest secrets kept by UNIT, however, is the Osterhagen Project. There are at least five secret stations, located around the world. In the event that Earth is invaded with no prospects of relief, the Osterhagen Project aims to end humanity’s suffering by detonating a chain of nuclear warheads placed beneath the Earth’s crust.

Only three Osterhagen stations need to be activated to set off the chain. You are all members of UNIT, working at Station 1, sixty miles outside of Nuremberg. Unbeknownst to you, Stations 4 (Liberia) and 5 (China) have already been activated.

Your station is the Earth’s last hope of preventing total annihilation.

But the enemy is already amongst you…

General Rules:

1.This game is designed for an LG with 48 hour day cycles and up to 48 hour night cycles. No PMs are permitted, save in the case of the Companion. The Zygons will have access to an Evil Doc. Orders, however, are to be sent by PM. This excludes voting.

2.This game uses the standard Rooms mechanic. Every day cycle, players a) cast a lynch vote, and indicate in the thread (in orange) which room they intend to spend the night in. The available rooms will depend on the number of players. Some of them will be locked. No one can enter or leave a locked room except for the Doctor. (So if the Doctor locks a room, players in that room will be unable to participate in Day discussion. Their votes also do not count. At the same time, however, they will be unlynchable. This state lasts for two full cycles before the lock breaks. The room can be relocked.)

3.Actions are limited by rooms except for special types of actions, such as the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver ability, the Paired Radios, and the ongoing PM between the Doctor and the Companion. In addition, there is no discussion in the thread at night. Discussion is restricted to Room PMs.

4.There are two factions: the Zygons and UNIT. The Doctor and his Companion are, for the purposes of this game, allied with UNIT.

5.The order of actions will be as follows:

Day
-Role-blocks, e.g. being locked up
-Voting
-Target manipulation, e.g. the Psychologist
-Lynch kill

Night
-Locking/Unlocking
-Movement
-Role-blocks, e.g. the Flash Grenade
-Target manipulation
-Kills
-Seeking
-Searching
-Conversion

6.The Zygons do not have access to a faction kill. Their goal is to outnumber the members of UNIT and to be able to use the Osterhagen key. This means they need to be in possession of the Osterhagen key. UNIT, on the other hand, needs to eliminate all of the Zygons.


7.Ties do not kill. No votes are permitted. Depending on game composition, the write-up may or may not indicate if a conversion has taken place.


8.There will be no public confirmation of the people occupying each room in the write-up. However, players are allowed to report on the goings-on in their room in the thread during the day. If a room is locked or unlocked, it will be indicated.

Roles:

Station Commander: You have been entrusted with one of the Osterhagen keys needed to activate the destruction sequence. Upon your death, your killer comes into possession of the Osterhagen key. If you are lynched, the key randomly goes to one of those who voted for you.

Archivist: You maintain UNIT’s database and archives, and have a particular interest in the entries created by the being known as the Doctor. For this reason, you are able to identify a Zygon when you see one. Every night, you may choose to discreetly investigate if a person is a Zygon. [The Archivist’s results are either ‘Zygon’ or ‘Human’.]

Psychologist: You’re the psychologist assigned to Station 1. In the course of your work, you know all the soldiers at the station, and they talk regularly to you. Because of this, every cycle, you may change a person’s target. (This can either affect votes during the day cycle, or targeting at night.)

Engineer: You keep Station 1’s security cameras working. Because of that, you know how to access them and go over the recordings. Once every day, you may select a room. You will receive the surveillance tapes of what went on in that room the night before.

The Doctor: Going by the name of John Smith and with the help of some psychic paper and high-level contacts in UNIT, you have infiltrated Station 1 as a favour to an old friend. What you see both surprises and horrifies you, and you’re going to take UNIT to task about the Osterhagen Project once you get out. But for now, you need to stop the Zygons! You cannot be duplicated by a Zygon and appear as an ordinary human to the Archivist. Every cycle, you may use your sonic screwdriver to discreetly lock or unlock a room. Locks last for two cycles, after which they must be renewed.

Companion: You know who the Doctor is, and can communicate with him discreetly. [in effect, the Doctor and the Companion will have an ongoing PM, regardless of rooms.] In addition, you can send one other person a PM every cycle. They cannot reply. Alternatively, you may use your ability to put a message in the day’s write-up.

UNIT Soldier: You are one of the many soldiers working at Station 1. While you do not have any special abilities, you know that it’s the ordinary men and women like you who keep UNIT running.

Zygon Infiltrator: You have infiltrated this station under the guise of a simple soldier, and are preparing the way for your brethren. Every two cycles, you may lure one soldier into a secluded part of the base, where one of your brethren will assume their identity, abilities, and any items they may be carrying.

Doppelgänger: You are a Zygon who has assumed the identity of one of the base members. You keep the abilities, identities, and items of the soldier you are impersonating. Unlike the Infiltrator, you may not convert another person.

Items:

For reasons of flavour, anyone except the Doctor and his Companion can begin the game with items. Items can also be gained by searching rooms at night, which takes up an action. If a role chooses to search a room, they forfeit the use of their special ability that night. What items are found will be randomly determined, and will also depend on the room. Items can also be passed from one player to another. While passing is limited by rooms, it is a free action.

The following are some of the major items available in the game:

Gun: Allows a kill every night. [Limited by number of bullets.]
Flash Grenade: Blocks all players within a room from taking an action for one night. [Limited by number of flash grenades.]
Kevlar Vest: Protects you from one attack.
Paired Radio: Allows you two-way communication with the person who has the other radio.
Delayed Charges: These charges can be planted in a room during any night. They can be activated remotely during any subsequent night cycle, blowing up a room and everyone in it.
Pass key: Allows you access into or out of a locked room. Only good for one use.

As you can see, I left the potential for killing in the game. Concept-wise though, I'm more interested in a Cult-type enemy: no kills, the only block on their conversion ability being role-blocks and distance, and an enemy who very likely has to manipulate the lynch to be able to win. So the main focus of this game would have to be discussion, which is why I'm trying to make it 48 hours for both night and day cycles. Compensating for a cult is difficult though. I'm toying with upgrading their condition to both possession of the Osterhagen key and eliminating everyone else, whether through upgrading everyone else or using the lynch.

I also have to neuter the Doctor's lock ability some more too, because that's very easily abusable. But to be fair, I'm not sure if that just really helps a great deal since cults can get very easily out of hand.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Kasimir

[Kasimir he/him]

I was listening to the Assassin's Creed soundtrack, and hoping to make something pretty simple. I'd planned for a QF, but these things always tend to spiral out of control. Alas.
 
Cleansing Abstergo

Abstergo is one of the world’s leading multinational corporate conglomerates, spearheading the development of entertainment, communication, and genetic technologies. Their Animus Consoles have revolutionised VR gaming technology and opened new possibilities for historical exploration using DNA samples. You are one of their latest batch of recruits, working for the Entertainment Division. Your job is to research locations in genetic memories for future game settings, and you get paid well, with more-than-decent employee benefits. Unfortunately, it seems that saboteurs have infiltrated the compound and are hiding in your midst. You know corporate espionage happens, especially with corporations as high-profile as Abstergo is, but is it enough to kill for?

General Rules:

1. This game will be an MR, with 48 hour cycles. PMing is not permitted. (See Roles for exceptions.) Votes are cast publicly, actions are PMed. A player has one vote and one action per cycle.

2. This is the order of actions:

-Votes

-Role-Block

-Target switch

-Manipulation
-Kills: Lynch, Hidden Blade, Assassin, Sage
-Recruiting
-Eagle Vision
-Stalking

3. Some players will begin with a single-use protective vest. This item protects them from one kill and cannot be transferred from one player to another; it basically is a quick and dirty way to balance the game with the number of kills floating around.

4. The Assassins get a doc on which to conspire and to free people, etcetera. Unless Recruited by the Abstergo Recruiter, Assassin Recruits do not have the ability to PM freely. [being Recruited does not change their faction; it merely grants them the ability to send PMs.] In addition, any Assassin Recruit can perform the faction kill.

5. The Assassin's Creed has three tenets: a. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. b. Hide in plain sight, be one with the crowd. c. Never compromise the Brotherhood. Assassins who go against the Creed will be penalised. Templars, carry on. [Note that a. and c. will be the tenets primarily enforced.]
 
6. The GM must be included in all PMs to other players.

Win Conditions:

•The Assassins win when the Master Templar and The Sage and Juno are dead, and they outnumber the remaining players.
•The Templars win when all Assassins have been eliminated, and The Sage and Juno dead.
•The Sage and Junowin when everyone else is dead.

Roles:

Abstergo Employee: Congratulations, you got a job at the prestigious Abstergo! The bad news is, you might soon be dead. What seemed at first to be an act of corporate espionage has escalated to corpses being found on the compound floor each morning, and if you don’t find the culprits amongst you soon, you won’t be enjoying any of those employee benefits or your high pay! (At least Abstergo’s paying for your funeral.)

Abstergo Security: Working security for Abstergo has never been an easy assignment, but now you find your abilities further challenged with the ongoing killings. Still, you are determined to make sure that no harm comes to the employees of Abstergo while you’re on the job...as difficult as that task seems to be.
 

•Protection: Can assign a protection detail to a player every cycle, ensuring that nothing untoward happens to them. Unfortunately, under the close watch of your protection detail, it’s hard for a player to even go to the bathroom in peace! As a result, they will be unable to take any actions. The same player cannot be targeted twice in a row. May target self.

Master Templar: You are a successful alumnus of the Animi Training Program and a member of the Inner Sanctum. Under orders, you have infiltrated the Entertainment Division in order to uncover and put a stop to whatever the Assassins are up to.

•Abstergo Gear: Top-quality protective gear from Abstergo means you can survive one attack.

•Experienced Stalker: Once a cycle, you can choose to stalk a target, following them around the compound and learning what they do.

Abstergo Recruiter: You are skilled at sizing up Abstergo’s new intake and searching for talented new additions to the age-long war between the Templars and the Assassins.

•Recruiting: Every cycle, you may recruit one suitably dedicated player to Abstergo’s Animi Training Program. [The choice is the Recruiter’s own. The Recruiter cannot Recruit the Master Assassin, The Sage or the Master Templar. They will be informed of this failure.]

 

Abstergo Recruit: You have been recruited by Abstergo to undergo the Animi Training Program, in which you will pick up the skills of long-deceased Templars. While you cannot yet play very much of a role in the ongoing fight against the Assassins, you are at least able to send unsupervised emails to your colleagues.

•Emails: Can open a PM with one player for a cycle.

Master Assassin: You have infiltrated Abstergo’s Entertainment Division, seeking to delete the genetic information of Subject 17 (also known as Desmond Miles) from the Abstergo Cloud and to recover his genetic samples. Although you have two abilities, neither can be used in a row.

•Hidden Blade: Although few Assassins these days use them, you bear a carefully-crafted hidden blade, inherited from the Master Assassin who trained you. Every cycle, you can make one kill.

•Eagle Vision: Using Eagle Vision, you can discern the role of a given player, once every cycle. Eagle Vision either yields a definite result, such as “Templar/Civilian/Assassin/First Civilisation”, or it fails (such as in the case of a role-block or detention.)

•Keeping the Creed: As a Master Assassin, you must keep to the Creed. Should you slay an innocent (i.e. any role not marked in green or red or purple) or betray a fellow Assassin, you will lose your ability to make any Hidden Blade kills.

Assassin Recruit: You are an Assassin Recruit, trained in one of the many distributed cells of the Assassin Brotherhood. You’ve served on several field missions, but are aware that this is the biggest assignment you’ve been given so far. While your task is primarily support, you know you’re going to get your feet wet.

•Keeping the Creed: As an Assassin Recruit, you must keep to the Creed, but the consequences for failing to do so are less severe. Should you slay an innocent (i.e. any role not marked in green or red or purple) or betray a fellow Assassin, you will lose your ability to make a kill for a cycle.

The Sage: All your life, you have been haunted by visions and memories that are not yours. Eventually, you’ve discovered that you are the human reincarnation of Aita, a member of the First Civilisation, husband of Juno. You do not care who wins in the struggle between the Assassins and the Templars. You simply want to revive your love and be the last one standing.

•Subterfuge: You appear to be an Abstergo Employee to Eagle Vision.

•Paralytic Drug: Every cycle, you can administer a paralytic drug to one player, preventing them from accomplishing anything for the cycle.

•Paralytic Drug*: Every cycle, you can administer a paralytic drug to one player, killing them undetectably. [Note: the Master Templar cannot detect this.]

•Across The Centuries: Before the start of the game, the Sage chooses one player to kidnap and to poison, allowing them to be inhabited by Juno. Thereafter, the Sage and Juno both share the win condition of being the sole survivors at the end of the game. If one of them dies, the other gains an ability upgrade.
 

Juno: You are the imprisoned fragments of the First Civilisation being known as Juno to humans. Through manipulation and deceit, you have tricked the Assassins into freeing you from your prison in order to preserve human civilisation. For a while, you existed in the Abstergo systems, but then your reincarnated husband, Aita, provided you with an organic vessel to inhabit. You are weakened, but a trace of your former powers remain.

•Persuasion: You are a master manipulator, and your skill has been honed over the long centuries of your imprisonment. Every cycle, you can persuade one player to vote for another.

•Persuasion*: Your manipulative skills have grown stronger with the death of your partner. You may now persuade one player to redirect their action or vote to target another.

•Across The Centuries: Before the start of the game, the Sage chooses one player to kidnap and to poison, allowing them to be inhabited by Juno. Thereafter, the Sage and Juno both share the win condition of being the sole survivors at the end of the game. If one of them dies, the other gains an ability upgrade.

Edit: Updated version as of 31/5/2015.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Kasimir

[Kasimir he/him]

I apologise for the awkward of having posted a couple of times in this space  I've been working on this game a little in secret, with some help. This was mostly after a conversation pointing out the effect MR1 had on the meta-game and a few other conversations about rerunning old games. So I asked myself: what would it take to patch MR1? What would a reboot of MR1 look like? This game started with that idea in mind, but things quickly took a different turn. I present to you:

 

Three Splendid Suns

The current Emperor of Eighty Suns, Yazad, grows weaker each day from his disease. While the resealers are working hard to stave off his impending death, it has become clear that the time has come for a new candidate to sit the Rose Throne. Already, the factions are plotting and moving against each other. Here, in the very heart of the Rose Empire, thickets of intrigue thrive and flourish; plots are executed with coin and connections, just as much as they are with crossbow bolts and knives.

The factions are growing restless. Arbiters, all of them, begin meeting in secret to discuss favoured candidates, making and breaking faction alliances. A time of great change is on the horizon. Only one faction will emerge triumphant from this struggle. And the winner will shape the future of the Rose Empire.

 

General Rules:

1. This is a standard MR, with cycles of 48 hours in length. Voting (both kinds) and actions will be sent in through PMs. Whatever you say in thread and in the docs is up to you.

2. No PMs are permitted as a general rule. There are one or two roles that are exceptions to this: wounded Diplomats, and the Siblings.

3. There will be docs. Lots of docs. Each faction will have their own doc. Here is the general idea of how this is going to work without requiring Google Accounts (again): the docs will be set to allow editing from anyone with the specific link. Members of a faction will be PMed the link to the faction doc, which they are not allowed to share. [This goes for Siblings, or any other PM-capable roles, transferred players, or even for the Discovery Faction.] At the end of each cycle, the faction doc for the current cycle will be shut down for the rollover and players will be PMed the link to the new faction doc for the next cycle.

4. My copy-and-pasting policy is simple: please don’t do it. Please especially refrain from copying and pasting doc links. If you have the link, you have it. If you don’t, you don’t. In addition, please do not copy and paste the content of previous cycles into the doc for the new cycle. I will, however, allow members of the Discovery Faction to copy and paste into their faction doc because they are all on the same team and permanently so.

5. There are two kinds of voting done within a cycle. Within a PM to the GM, votes for the lynch should be put in red. Votes for faction transfer should be put in blue.

6. Write-ups will be minimally informative. At this point, the only thing the write-up will announce are the roles of the deceased. In addition, the write-up should not be regarded as an accurate guide to what actually happened.

7. This is the order of actions:

-Role-blocks: Seal of Warding/Bureaucrat Essence Mark

-Protection: Trained Surgeon/Indomitable/Warrior Essence Mark

-Vote manipulation: Leader Essence Mark/Influential

-Kills: Lynch/Skeletal Kill/Striker Kill/Death Before Failure/Hunter Essence Mark

-PMs: Private Language/Wounded Diplomat

-Template alteration: Forbidden Knowledge/Bribery

 

Mechanics:

Bribery: Bribery and faction-trading is common in the Rose Empire, even at the best of times. With the impending death of Emperor Yazad, the usual faction shenanigans have reached an unrivalled frenzy. At the end of every full cycle, members of each faction will cast a private vote by PM to the GM. This is distinguished from the lynch vote by colour. Members of the Heritage Faction will vote for one player from the Glory Faction that they would like to have in their faction, and vice versa. At the end of the cycle, the player from the Heritage Faction with the most votes on them will transfer to the Glory Faction, and vice versa. While transferred players will keep their existing roles, they will take on the win condition of their new faction.

As the de facto leaders of their factions, Arbiters cannot be transferred. If a Faction attempts to bribe over an Arbiter, then instead, the person with the second highest number of bribe votes will be transferred. If there is a tie within a Faction's votes, then the Faction responsible for the tie will not receive any player at all for that cycle. In addition, note that the faction transfer mechanic does not affect the win condition of members of the Discovery Faction.

 

Factions:

There are three (four) factions within this game. The Heritage Faction, the Glory Faction, (the Moderation Faction) and the Discovery Faction.

The Heritage Faction focuses on the glories and the knowledge of the past, consistently striving to resurrect old practices and to preserve them.

The Glory Faction focuses on the Empire’s glorious conquests and seeks to further expand the military capacities of the Rose Empire and to project Imperial power throughout Sycla.

The Moderation Faction seeks to achieve balance in all things, holding that what is needed is a middle ground between respect for tradition, the dispassionate search to expand the boundaries of current knowledge and ambitions of imperial dominion. (Note: This faction will only be included if there are enough players.)

The Discovery Faction is fascinated by branches of learning most Grands consider blasphemous, and argues that Forgery and Bloodsealing can and should be better understood and employed for the ends of the Rose Empire. Given the prevalence of Grand attitudes towards these, it is no wonder that the Discovery Faction is one of the smallest and weakest factions in the Empire. In this game, a splinter group consisting of members of the Discovery Faction have infiltrated the other factions and are seeking to bring them down. However, they do not begin with access to a faction kill.

Win Conditions:

-The win condition for any of the three (four) factions, whether the Heritage Faction, the Glory Faction, (the Moderation Faction) or the Discovery Faction is total annihilation of the other two (three) factions.

-The Siblings win if they are on the same Faction at the end of the game.

 

Roles:

Regular: While you do not yet have a role within your Faction, it is those like you who form the bulk of your Faction’s supporters. Your wits and your outstanding loyalty to your Faction are your primary tools, and they will serve you well as the power struggles rage on. Indeed, in these troubled times, it may very well be the Regulars like yourself who see to your Faction’s triumphant ascent to the highest echelons of power in the Rose Empire itself...

Arbiter: In the Rose Empire, each of the eighty factions are led by five arbiters. As one of the leaders of their faction, the Arbiter wields an enormous amount of political power.

•Incorruptible: While many among the Rose Empire’s army of bureaucrats and functionaries will happily pocket bribes to turn a blind eye to some going-on or other, the Arbiter’s loyalties to their faction are unshakeable. Any attempt to bribe or influence the Arbiter into changing their faction will fail. (If attempting to bribe an Arbiter to swap factions, the player with the second-highest number of votes will be transferred instead. So, suppose Wyrm is an Arbiter and has 3 votes on him. Instead, it will be Kas, with 2 votes on him, who will transfer factions.)

•Influential: As one of the five most powerful members of their faction, the Arbiter’s voice and connections are able to sway the most resolute opponents into at least considering their words. For this reason, the Arbiter is able to change one player’s vote every cycle. (This applies to both the lynch vote and the transfer vote.)

Resealer: It takes years of training and specialisation to be able to repair injury through the use of soulstamps. Although resealing allows surgeons to miraculously heal patients from otherwise-fatal injuries, a mistake on the part of the Resealer means the patient’s death.

•Trained Surgeon: The Resealers in the Rose Empire are among the best in the world, having been extensively trained in anatomical knowledge, among other things. As a result of this intensive training, a Resealer can save one player from death every cycle.

Diplomat: The Diplomat has been sent from one of the many nations of Sycla in order to establish closer ties with the Rose Empire...and, of course, to discreetly report on this distant power to their handlers back in their home nation. Unfortunately, they find themselves stranded in the Imperial Seat during a period of great upheaval and will have to employ their extensive resources to stay alive...if they possibly can. There are two kinds of Diplomats in this game: the Jindoeese Diplomat and the Svordish Diplomat. A Diplomat will not know which of the two they are.

•Jindoeese Diplomat: Relations between Jindo and the Rose Empire have been rather rosy of late. The Jindoeese Diplomat has high-level diplomatic access to all the political manoeuvrings within the Rose Empire and given enough time, can use their resources to cross-check one player’s paperwork every cycle, allowing them to identify the faction they belong to. With access to the best medical care available thanks to their diplomat status, when mortally wounded, the Jindoeese Diplomat is able to cling to life for an extra cycle. In addition, they can send one dying PM to a trusted source.

•Svordish Diplomat: Relations between Svorden and the Rose Empire have, to put it mildly, been rather troubled of late, culminating in the Svordish Diplomat being shut off from access to any of the real movers and shakers within the Empire’s government. As a result, while the Svordish Diplomat is able to use their resources to cross-check one player’s paperwork every cycle, they will not be able to detect any discrepancies and will see only what they expect to see. Otherwise, the result will be generated randomly. With access to the best medical care available thanks to their diplomat status, when mortally wounded, the Svordish Diplomat is able to cling to life for an extra cycle. In addition, they can send one dying PM to a trusted source.

Siblings: Hailing from the province of Ukurgi, the Siblings have been separated for years, but have recently found each other again in the Imperial Seat, right in the middle of the turmoil surrounding the succession to the Rose Throne. The Siblings know who each other are and have the win condition of being on the same faction by the end of the game.

•Thicker Than Water: Blood is thicker than water, as the saying goes. Because of this close connection, the Siblings cannot vote for each other. A vote placed by one Sibling on another gets nullified.

•Private Language: Stemming from a shared childhood, the Siblings have had their private ways of communicating little things beneath the watchful gaze of their parents. The memories remain with them even now. For this reason, they can send each other one PM of 150 words or less every cycle.

Bloodsealer: Pallid, with milky skin and red eyes, the Bloodsealer of Dzhamar is distrusted by most within the Rose Empire. However, no one denies the usefulness of their (blasphemous) skills.

•Seal of Warding: Using blood taken from one player, the Bloodsealer is able to confine their target within the boundaries of the ward, under pain of being hunted down and killed by skeletals. The ward lasts for a full cycle, nullifying the target’s vote and action.

•Skeletal Kill: With the use of bloodseals, the Bloodsealer can reanimate the bones of a deceased player, turning them into a skeletal and ordering them to hunt down and kill one player. This ability can only be used once a game.

Striker Captain: Referred to as ‘Strikers’ by most in the Empire, the Mulla’dill are tall and lean, with curling hair. They are often deployed as guardsmen, particularly within the Rose Palace, and the capable among them may be Elevated for services rendered. The Striker Captain has advanced far for one so young, and with the recent chaos in the Imperial Seat, they see further prospects for Elevation looming.

•Striker Kill: As a trained warrior, the Striker Captain is able to discreetly execute a single kill every cycle.

•Death Before Failure: The Striker Captain is committed to their task and will not easily accept failure. Consequently, they can target one player who will be killed along with them, should they die. Every cycle, the Striker Captain may change their ‘kill-with-me’ target.

MaiPon Forger: The Forger is the role exclusive to the Moderation Faction. A MaiPon Forger has the ability to use Essence Marks to alter their own history, conferring upon themselves skills they would otherwise never possess. This makes the Forger both a versatile and a dangerous foe. Each Essence Mark can only be used once in the game.

•Warrior Essence Mark: This Essence Mark turns the Forger into a seasoned warrior, allowing them to guard one player for one cycle, protecting them from death.

•Leader Essence Mark: This Essence Mark turns the Forger into a canny politician, allowing them to easily convince others of their course of action. For one cycle, the Forger’s vote counts for double. This applies to both votes.

•Hunter Essence Mark: This Essence Mark turns the Forger into a cunning and lethal hunter, and making them a deadly shot with a crossbow. For one cycle, the Forger may make one kill.

•Bureaucrat Essence Mark: This Essence Mark turns the Forger into a lawyer conversant with the various arcane twists and turns of the Rose Empire’s bureaucracy. With this gained bureaucratic nous, the Forger can bury one target in red tape and paperwork, preventing them from taking any actions for a cycle.

Rememberer: The Rememberer is the role exclusive to the Heritage Faction. The line between the Forgers of MaiPon and the often half-trained Forgers working on the production lines of the Rose Empire is a thin one, and it’s really just about the name. The Heritage Faction refers to these government-approved Forgers as Rememberers, with their chief task being to transform ordinary items into masterpieces drawn right out of the annals of history.

•Forbidden Knowledge: The Rememberer has skills in Soul Forgery that they’ve carefully concealed. In ordinary times, this might be enough to merit execution. In these extraordinary times, however...the Arbiters might be willing to turn a blind eye. The Rememberer is able to Forge a dead player’s role and give it to another player, themselves included. The dead player need not have been a member of the Heritage Faction. Once a dead player’s role has been Forged, it becomes removed from the available Forgery options.

Teullu Warrior: The Teullu Warrior is the role exclusive to the Glory Faction. Although most of the Teullu are distrustful of strangers, it is a diplomatic coup that the Glory Faction has managed to secure the services of a warrior trained by the Teullu, having lived among them for years.

•Harsh Life: The harsh life of the Teullu has conditioned the Teullu Warrior to physical hardship, allowing them to shrug off physical punishment that might break a lesser individual. As a result, the Teullu Warrior can survive one death.

•Indomitable: Every cycle, the Teullu Warrior can pick one person to guard from death. In addition, the indomitable warrior spirit of the Teullu leads the Warrior to attack one of the would-be killers, killing them instead.

Blasphemous Scholar: The Blasphemous Scholar is the role exclusive to the Discovery Faction. Belonging to an extreme group that have splintered off the main faction, Blasphemous Scholars have researched deeply into the capabilities of Forgery and Bloodsealing and, as a result, wield powers that while unnatural, cannot be underestimated. The Scholars are seeking to undermine both the prominent Heritage and Glory Factions from within, in order to pave the way for their Faction’s candidate to ascend to the Rose Throne. Whether they will succeed is an open question…

•Augmented Resilience: The Blasphemous Scholar is skilled with using Soul Forgery techniques to rewrite their past and to provide themselves with physical conditioning that rivals that of the Teullu Warrior. For this reason, the Blasphemous Scholar can survive one death. However, upon surviving this first death, their true loyalties will be revealed, and they will find themselves cast out of the Faction they have infiltrated. (See: booted from the doc.) [They can be taken back into a doc through a player-trade. However, this will not affect their win condition.]

•Deep Infiltration: Armed with both Forgery as well as much more conventional means, the Blasphemous Scholar has infiltrated a different faction (either the Heritage Faction or the Glory Faction.) In addition, this is good enough to fool the Diplomats of the Faction they have infiltrated. For this reason, a Blasphemous Scholar infiltrating the Heritage Faction can only be discovered by a Jindoeese Diplomat allied with the Glory Faction and vice versa. Should the Scholar be transferred to the Glory Faction through the Bribery mechanic, then their true colours can only be uncovered by a Jindoeese Diplomat working with the Heritage Faction.

FAQs:

-What if one Sibling dies? Can the other still win?

Yes. The Sibling win condition is not a survival one. If one of them dies, the Siblings can still win if the other(s) manage(s) to join and remain on the same faction as their deceased Sibling(s) by the end of the game.

-What happens if a Faction’s vote ties between two players they want transferred?

Then no player will be transferred over. Flavour-wise, this is the faction’s Arbiters being so confused they don’t know who to bribe and consequently end up bribing no one at all.

-What about if two Factions try to bribe over the same player in a four-Faction game?

I flip a coin to determine which Faction gets the popular player. The other will get their second choice, i.e. the person who has the second highest number of votes from that Faction. If there is no second choice, they don’t get anyone.

-What happens if the Rememberer stamps themselves with the role of a MaiPon Forger?

Two different things going on here. First, anyone who gets targeted by the Rememberer as the recipient of a role loses their original role and gains the new role, superimposed on them like a template. Their loyalties/win conditions do not change. So, an Arbiter stamped by a Rememberer loses their Arbiter abilities and gains a new set of abilities. While a stamped Blasphemous Scholar loses their second life, they retain their ability to infiltrate a doc, if their cover has not yet been blown. Second, with regard to roles like that of the MaiPon Forger or the Bloodsealer, with once-per-game abilities, the cooldown remains. So if the Bloodsealer has already utilised their Skeletal Kill ability, then a stamped Bloodsealer will not be able to use that ability.

-Can I refer to my faction docs from previous cycles?

Okay. I’ve thought about this. For reasons, I’m going to have to say no. The biggest reason is to avoid having a sort of ‘objective’ public record of discussions that’s technically GM-confirmed. We try to prevent this with regard to PMs by disallowing copy-and-pasting, in order to make players rely on human testimony and all its attendant fallibilities I’m going to therefore extend the same principle to the docs. I’m not against people downloading or saving a copy of the docs right before the doc goes down/offline, for their personal reference. But what I am against is providing an easy way [as easy as combing through x number of pages is…] to check if your new faction member is being truthful. For that reason, while you can and should take down what information you want from your doc before rollover, the docs of previous cycles will not be accessible. You’ll just have to rely on player testimony for that

-What happens if there are two survivors left from different Factions?

I’ll consider it a draw for those two, and a loss for everyone else who didn’t make it to the finals. Unfortunately, in a game like this, it’s distinctly possible for two roles without kill abilities to survive to end-game. That’s the nature of the beast.

-What happens if an Arbiter changes the vote of a MaiPon Forger who’s used their Leader Essence Mark?

Then the Arbiter changes the Forger’s double-vote. If the Arbiter has chosen to change both the Forger’s lynch vote and the Forger’s transfer vote, then in both cases, the Arbiter adds a total of two votes to their target.

-What happens if a Faction’s chosen player dies, since the transfer comes last in the stack?

If the player chosen for a transfer dies, then I’ll default to the player with the second-most number of votes and transfer them instead. If there is no clear second (i.e. a tie within the Faction), then the rules about in-Faction ties will come into play and there will be no transfer.

-What happens if a Rememberer’s target dies?

Given that template alteration comes last on the stack, the Rememberer would be ruled as not having given away the role. So, say the Rememberer wants to give Wyrm the role of Striker Captain. Only one Striker Captain has died, so only one such role is available. If Wyrm dies, then the Rememberer would not be counted as having used their ability. They can still choose to give someone (e.g. Gamma) the Striker Captain role in the next cycle.

-Kas, you hate betrayal! Why are you creating a game like this where betrayal and backstabbing is the way things work?

As I mentioned, I think MR1 was an interesting game for many reasons. And while I don’t feel ready to fix a mechanic that turned out as problematic as the Nightwatcher, I do think that given some tweaks, MR1 could be fun to run again, given the current state of the meta-game and the players we are now. (Just look at MR5 and LG7, for instance.) That’s about it, really. The player-transfer mechanic was definitely inspired by Ren’s late-game swap with Aonar.

 

At this point, my main worry is balancing the unique roles. While I think the Glory and Heritage Factions are relatively fine vis-a-vis each other, I'm far more worried about giving the Moderation Faction what is essentially an LG6 Chaneller. Anyway, any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated. The MR1 bones of this game are probably still apparent, but I'm also trying to take it in a somewhat different direction

Edit: Updated on 15/6/2015.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Kasimir

[Tulir he/him]

I love the spin you have put on MR1, it looks good so far.  I think your concerns about the MaiPon Forger are reasonable, but considering they will only be included if enough people are in the game, I think that the role might be reasonable.

 

Edit:  And I should mention, should it be run, I will definitely participate.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Tulir