M1035 - Julius Caesar Mafia - Game Thread

[BunnyGo]

[The grand hall is filled with Rome’s elite—senators, patricians, and whispering courtiers. The air is rich with the scent of roasted meats, honeyed wine, and the faint trace of perfumed intrigue. The conversation hums, but as Lucius Aelius Sejanus steps through the entrance, a subtle hush spreads, then shifts into eager greetings.]

<snip>

Sejanus (with measured confidence, nodding to a senator): Senator Regulus, your presence here is a gift to us all. The city, I trust, still stands in our absence?

[A warm chuckle from the gathered men.]
[snip]

This city is eternal, too grandé for just one person. That is why the senate exists, isn't it?

I do have to say though, that you got my name wrong. Or is this the new trend from Caesars friends, as a jokingly tease? As a friendly advice from your elder, in politics, you might not want to fly too close to the sun, and should make a name for yourself. You never know when the favour of Fortuna leaves someone, and you wouldn't want to be dragged down by someone else.

But lets talk about something else, if you will. Say, what are your thoughts on the last court trial?

The one that ended a few weeks ago? I was impressed at the ability of the truth to win out in the end. It goes to show that friends can find themselves even when kept in the dark; so long as they put in the work and do not allow petty squabbles to distract them.

[Kakarroto]

By the knowledge of our minds
By the works made by our hands
By our witness against lies
By our people, Rome will stand

The crowd jeered angrily at the reciter. Cinna’s poetry had gradually fallen out of favor during the past several months for three reasons. First, poetry was being scorned by the general public as a symbol of the aristocracy who patronized it. Second, his populist style of poetry in particular had come to be associated with the Senate and the aristocracy’s insistence that they were the true people of Rome. And, third and most importantly, Cinna shared a name with Cinna the Senator, vocal opponent of Julius Caesar, the dictator who was beloved by the people.
A rock flew over the speaker’s head, and several more followed it. The plebians, of course, thought that they were the true people of Rome.
Arrogant fools.
That thought was punctuated by several soldiers turning up to see who was making all the noise and why.
Time to go.
Cinna, wearing a dark hood, quietly backed away. In the chaos, nobody looked at his face or asked who he was.
At the other end of the crowd, Cinna turned and fled. He was not wearing a hood, but for all the attention his name brought, almost nobody knew his face.
Neither of them spared a thought for the poor man who now had the attention of both the crowd and the soldiers.

##VOTE Dip

One kak is more than enough.

If one kak is more than enough, why not vote kak, who is already a wagon?

I don't want to answer for ghug, but I can say that voting for kak, who is already a wagon, isn't the best thing you can do for Rome

[BunnyGo]

Hello fellow Romans! Apologies for my lateness, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. It seems we are voting already?

Vote early, vote often!

Hm, that's true.

I don't have a too good grasp of the game yet, so it's just vibey, but I want to see more of

##vote Red Neurax

Why Red?

The most suspicious so far has been ##vote diplomacy for this post:

<snip>
##VOTE Dip

One kak is more than enough.

If one kak is more than enough, why not vote kak, who is already a wagon?

[Kakarroto]

[The grand hall is filled with Rome’s elite—senators, patricians, and whispering courtiers. The air is rich with the scent of roasted meats, honeyed wine, and the faint trace of perfumed intrigue. The conversation hums, but as Lucius Aelius Sejanus steps through the entrance, a subtle hush spreads, then shifts into eager greetings.]



Sejanus (with measured confidence, nodding to a senator): Senator Regulus, your presence here is a gift to us all. The city, I trust, still stands in our absence?

[A warm chuckle from the gathered men.]
[snip]

This city is eternal, too grandé for just one person. That is why the senate exists, isn't it?

I do have to say though, that you got my name wrong. Or is this the new trend from Caesars friends, as a jokingly tease? As a friendly advice from your elder, in politics, you might not want to fly too close to the sun, and should make a name for yourself. You never know when the favour of Fortuna leaves someone, and you wouldn't want to be dragged down by someone else.

But lets talk about something else, if you will. Say, what are your thoughts on the last court trial?

What is your real name?

Sillus Soddus?

Naughtius Maximus?

Biggus Dickus?

While these are quite honourable names, I didn't have the favour of being born into a prominent family of Rome, and come from the so called Italian hinterlands. If you've followed some of the recent court cases, I rose in prominence as a roman lawyer, and came into politics due to my own merits.

I lived through the times of Sulla, and by Jupiter, those were dark times, which we don't want to relive. I tried my best to carve a course so the Republic stayed stable and sound.

I am Marcus Tullius Cacero, the Elder.

[Kakarroto]

Vote early, vote often!

Hm, that's true.

I don't have a too good grasp of the game yet, so it's just vibey, but I want to see more of

##vote Red Neurax

Why Red?

The most suspicious so far has been ##vote diplomacy for this post:

<snip>
##VOTE Dip

One kak is more than enough.

If one kak is more than enough, why not vote kak, who is already a wagon?

Why, you ask? The posts from Red feel distant. Red chose to respond only to the one thing that Jamie said, the bit about society.

While the sentiment of what was said isn't too suspicious, it's what Red left out. No friendly (or unfriendly) greeting, no mentioning of business or other activities, no engagement in any other gossip, discussions or even banter.

It just feels a bit too isolated, as if reading and being aware of the game, but staying back, staying hidden, waiting. Trying not to say the wrong thing.

I also don't like damo's anchor, but that is much more likely to be NAI, so I'll see what he does when he comes back.

I'm also not a fan of dip, who too said he'd be missing (though he seems quite involved), and I don't like the post you pointed out. Maybe he is the evil one here, and he tries to just get me voted out. I do see though that he could just try to defend himself in that post, and I don't want to be biased by the target (me) he chose to redirect, but yeah, that could be a mafia move.

Still, I want to see more of Red (and Dream too, but didn't see much problems with those posts), so to see where my hunch leads me there.

[Jamiet99uk]

I am Marcus Tullius Cacero, the Elder.

"Cicero" isn't it?

Or is that a play on your own username, in which case Markus Tullius Kakerro would be more apt.

[DreamTrawler]

Vote early, vote often!

Hm, that's true.

I don't have a too good grasp of the game yet, so it's just vibey, but I want to see more of

##vote Red Neurax

Why Red?

The most suspicious so far has been ##vote diplomacy for this post:

<snip>
##VOTE Dip

One kak is more than enough.

If one kak is more than enough, why not vote kak, who is already a wagon?

Curious - what causes suspicion for that post? Is it that Dip is too eager to vote off Kak?

[Kakarroto]

I am Marcus Tullius Cacero, the Elder.

"Cicero" isn't it?

Or is that a play on your own username, in which case Markus Tullius Kakerro would be more apt.

well, the roman "C" is pretty much a "K", in english it just shifted/changed. So a roman would've said "Kikero" when he reads "Cicero". So, I'd say, in my humble opinion, that it is, at least, a little apt.

Fun fact, "Caesar" would sound like "Kaesar", which sounds very close to the german "Kaiser" (and where that words comes from, originally).

Fun fact 2, "Czar" also stems from "Caesar", originally. It is however closer to the german pronunciation of the word, since there/here, a "C" is a "Ts", where it becomes "Tsäsar" (the ä is pronounced like the american 'a' here). The german written format of "Czar" is "Tsar" by the way. So I hope you see the similarities.

[Jamiet99uk]

Fun fact, "Caesar" would sound like "Kaesar", which sounds very close to the german "Kaiser" (and where that words comes from, originally).

This is how the characters in Fallout: New Vegas pronounce it.

[BunnyGo]

Hm, that's true.

I don't have a too good grasp of the game yet, so it's just vibey, but I want to see more of

##vote Red Neurax

Why Red?

The most suspicious so far has been ##vote diplomacy for this post:

If one kak is more than enough, why not vote kak, who is already a wagon?

Curious - what causes suspicion for that post? Is it that Dip is too eager to vote off Kak?

More that after saying he'd be gone for 18 hours, he manages to show up to protest someone voting him and suggest moving to a joke wagon so it catches momentum.

[BunnyGo]

<snip>
Curious - what causes suspicion for that post? Is it that Dip is too eager to vote off Kak?

Also: hi! I'm Bunny! I guess I'm done roleplaying as Sejanus, so can introduce myself now.

Welcome to webdip mafia! Have you played elsewhere before?

[DreamTrawler]

So - I realize this sounds suspicious, but I have a question. Most versions of Mafia I’ve played start with a night phase before the first day. Is the meta here to try and catch a Mafia even before the first night? On one hand, we number only seven so those are decent odds. On the other, we would be whittling down an already small cast of innocents if we’re wrong.

[DreamTrawler]

<snip>
Curious - what causes suspicion for that post? Is it that Dip is too eager to vote off Kak?

Also: hi! I'm Bunny! I guess I'm done roleplaying as Sejanus, so can introduce myself now.

Welcome to webdip mafia! Have you played elsewhere before?

Hi Bunny!
I’ve played IRL Mafia (and Mafia esque games like The Resistance) and Town of Salem once or twice, but never on a forum.

[BunnyGo]

So - I realize this sounds suspicious, but I have a question. Most versions of Mafia I’ve played start with a night phase before the first day. Is the meta here to try and catch a Mafia even before the first night? On one hand, we number only seven so those are decent odds. On the other, we would be whittling down an already small cast of innocents if we’re wrong.

In general, the town are "behind" early because we know nothing and have limited "miskills" in our pockets (at 7-2 we start with 2 miskills allowed before we lose).

But as we are able to reread early days later, we can see trends once we know more. Last game, for example, town started pretty badly, but eventually we caught one person, and then another. And finally the last 3 town were able to recalibrate and find the final mafia.

Also, choosing not to kill doesn't earn us extra miskills (it burns half a miskill and we round down--because at 6-2 we now have 1 miskill allowed).

It also keeps us from learning anything.

So the meta locally is to usually try. We generally only intentionally not use our strongest weapon (our votes, and ability to generate information) for mechanical reasons in more mech heavy games.

Does that answer your question, or did I miss the intent?

[BunnyGo]

<snip>
Curious - what causes suspicion for that post? Is it that Dip is too eager to vote off Kak?

Also: hi! I'm Bunny! I guess I'm done roleplaying as Sejanus, so can introduce myself now.

Welcome to webdip mafia! Have you played elsewhere before?

Hi Bunny!
I’ve played IRL Mafia (and Mafia esque games like The Resistance) and Town of Salem once or twice, but never on a forum.

Nice. Yeah, I started here because I'd played a bunch of f2f mafia, and didn't think this version was possible without lots of mechs.

It is definitely scum-sided, but not impossible. And it gets easier the more you know the other players.

[Jamiet99uk]

So - I realize this sounds suspicious, but I have a question. Most versions of Mafia I’ve played start with a night phase before the first day. Is the meta here to try and catch a Mafia even before the first night? On one hand, we number only seven so those are decent odds. On the other, we would be whittling down an already small cast of innocents if we’re wrong.

We sometimes have Night Start, and as a GM I'm a bit of a fan of it, but a lot of our community really doesn't like it, so we more often have Day Start.

(The argument from the webDip community who dislike Night Start is "it's not fair for someone to get night killed after only 24 hours, it stops them being able to take part").

So, yes, our standard meta is to try to catch out a Mafia on Day One.

[DreamTrawler]

So - I realize this sounds suspicious, but I have a question. Most versions of Mafia I’ve played start with a night phase before the first day. Is the meta here to try and catch a Mafia even before the first night? On one hand, we number only seven so those are decent odds. On the other, we would be whittling down an already small cast of innocents if we’re wrong.

In general, the town are "behind" early because we know nothing and have limited "miskills" in our pockets (at 7-2 we start with 2 miskills allowed before we lose).

But as we are able to reread early days later, we can see trends once we know more. Last game, for example, town started pretty badly, but eventually we caught one person, and then another. And finally the last 3 town were able to recalibrate and find the final mafia.

Also, choosing not to kill doesn't earn us extra miskills (it burns half a miskill and we round down--because at 6-2 we now have 1 miskill allowed).

It also keeps us from learning anything.

So the meta locally is to usually try. We generally only intentionally not use our strongest weapon (our votes, and ability to generate information) for mechanical reasons in more mech heavy games.

Does that answer your question, or did I miss the intent?

I see, so the logic is town will be dying off every night anyway while a vote could kill mafia or town so it’s worth a try?

[Jamiet99uk]

I see, so the logic is town will be dying off every night anyway while a vote could kill mafia or town so it’s worth a try?

It's not just "worth a try" because you might get lucky. It's also the fact that forcing people to use their vote on D1 creates information. The Mafia have to use their votes during the daytime too. They are not legitimately hunting for Mafia but this way we see what they do when they have to pretend to.

[DreamTrawler]

So - I realize this sounds suspicious, but I have a question. Most versions of Mafia I’ve played start with a night phase before the first day. Is the meta here to try and catch a Mafia even before the first night? On one hand, we number only seven so those are decent odds. On the other, we would be whittling down an already small cast of innocents if we’re wrong.

We sometimes have Night Start, and as a GM I'm a bit of a fan of it, but a lot of our community really doesn't like it, so we more often have Day Start.

(The argument from the webDip community who dislike Night Start is "it's not fair for someone to get night killed after only 24 hours, it stops them being able to take part").

So, yes, our standard meta is to try to catch out a Mafia on Day One.

Ok, makes sense. I just don’t know who to vote for because it’s harder to spot tells online. But I saw the logic in what Bunny said about Dip coming back to absolve themselves and then cast suspicion on another.

[BunnyGo]

<snip>
I see, so the logic is town will be dying off every night anyway while a vote could kill mafia or town so it’s worth a try?

That's the right idea, but let me explain the maths of miskills, because that's the logic needed to understand endgame:

Town needs to vote off mafia twice to win.

Every time we vote off a mafia, the difference between town and mafia doesn't change day-to-day because the mafia kill off a town (as you pointed out). We use up 0 miskills.

Every time we miskill a town, the difference decreases by 2 (we put one of ours in the grave, and they put one of ours in the morgue to badly paraphrase a movie). We use up 1 miskill.

Every time we no-kill, the difference decreases by 1, since they still kill one of ours (as you pointed out). We use up half a miskill (if we do this twice, the difference decreases by 2--same as a miskill).

But if you just take the difference of town - mafia and divide by 2 and round down, that's the number of "miskills" we're allowed before we lose. This is the number you should really be paying attention to.

And if we no-kill...we get much less intel for the future (think, clues that mafia leave for us early that only make sense later) and have no chance of being correct. This intel often comes with conversations, but also with moving votes and shifting "wagons" (who is in the lead to be killed and when).