It's the year 1849, in the small town of Jefferson Village, Nebraska. Many a settler with a thirst for adventure's rolled through these parts. Y'see, younguns, Jefferson Village is a vital pit-stop on the Oregon Trail, and travel west, toward the promise of a new life of abundance in the rugged forests and wealthy gold mines in the Pacific Northwest, has reached its peak. Jefferson Village is a thriving hub of trade and activity on an otherwise isolated and lonely trail through the Wild West.
Not all is as it seems. Some wealthy proprietors are lookin' to lay down railroad tracks straight through the middle of town, and they don't care much for the "backwoods hillbillies on the Trail." They've hired some professional guns to stir up chaos in ole Jefferson Village; they figure if they can run enough people off, they can buy up the land for cheap, lay down the rails and get rich off of rail traffic going west.
You've still got time to save ole Jefferson Village, pardner. Do ya have what it takes to root out the Rough Riders and save the town?
===
INTRODUCTION
Mafia is an educated guessing game of epic proportions. The objective of the game is to kill all mafia members before they outnumber the rest of the town. It's much like a game of poker because mafia members are also part of the town during the day and may manipulate the vote to their liking.
The game is typically very active, so the thread will get big quickly. However, it is essential to read the thread to play the game.
RULES
0. The GM reserves the right to adjudicate individual scenarios that arise during the course of the game at his discretion.
1. All players must vote at least once per game day.
2. All players are forbidden from posting screenshots of their role PMs.
3. All players are forbidden from using encryption.
4. All players are forbidden from using non-sanctioned PMing.
5. All players are forbidden from deleting previous posts of theirs.
6. All spectators and players who have been eliminated are forbidden from posting on all comment threads related to the game notes.
7. All players are forbidden from cheating.
8. All players are required to play to win.
ELABORATION
0. Given my lack of omniscience, I cannot create a rule to resolve all possible scenarios pre-emptively. In order to compensate for my inability to do so, I am permitted to resolve a given scenario however I please. I will resolve all scenarios as closely as possible to the written intention of the rules, and will present an explanation regarding the adjudication to the greatest possible detail (which does not compromise anything in-game) and as closely in accordance with the written rules as possible.
1. A minimum posting limit of one required post (with a vote included) has been set to reduce lurking. While inactivity is, on some level, an important part of the game of Mafia, players who provide nothing but a warm body serve only to reduce the degree of enjoyment and increase the degree of frustration of the other players in the game. Signing up for this game is an expression of commitment to taking it seriously – do not sign up if you believe you will not be able to spend any time on it.
2. This is more a formality than anything: all role PMs have been posted in the setup information later in this post, and all players (regardless of alignment) will receive identical copies of the vanilla town role PM. The point of this rule is to forbid "gaming" the role PMs to determine alignments; this is a game of reading people, not outguessing the GM.
3. Encryption is defined as posting an encoded message on public channels which an average person would require outside tools to decode. It is perfectly acceptable to leave "hidden messages" in your posts (for example, spelling out "I AM THE COP" with the first letters of every sentence), but as a rule of thumb, if you don't think the average webDip user could decode it without a decryption service, don't post it.
4. All in-game communications should be kept within the thread. The mafia will receive a QuickTopic thread for communicating with one another outside of the thread; aside from this, there should be no other forms of private messaging.
5. I don't think this will actually be an issue on webDiplomacy, since users aren't able to edit or delete their own posts anyway; but, if you in fact possess some means of deleting or editing your posts after you've submitted them, do not use it.
6. Players who have been removed from the game are no longer playing the game, and will not be permitted to comment on it in private messages or comment threads. A special chat room will be opened for individuals who wish to spectate on the game, or players who have been eliminated. Use these channels to discuss the game while it is still ongoing.
7. This is a catch-all rule intended to preserve the spirit of the game. If you’re considering saying or doing something that may be against the spirit of the game, PM me about it before saying/doing it and I’ll let you know whether it’s allowed or not.
8. This rule simply means that your actions should in some conceivable way advance your win condition as stated in your role PM. This rule is somewhat subjective, because the difference between a mistake and sabotage is sometimes hard to determine; I will err away from assuming malevolence where reasonably possible. This also means that if you need to leave the game for any reason, you should not simply drop out, but should message me first so I can determine the best course of action.
PENALTIES
The penalty for breaking one of the above rules is decided at the GM’s discretion, up to and including immediate removal from the game and/or sanctions from future games. Removal and/or sanction are instruments of last resort and will be used only if absolutely necessary. A player removed from the game may or may not have their role revealed on removal, depending on the circumstances surrounding their removal.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
SPAM
Spamming (defined as excessive content-free posting; or, excessive posting regarding subjects irrelevant to the game) is not lynched by rule in this game. A mechanic exists to curb any advantage that spamming as a tactic may confer; please reference the “VOTING” section below for more information. Suffice to say that spamming isn’t worth anyone’s time in this setup, and it is frowned upon, so while you may not be *lynched * from doing it, you still shouldn't do it.
VOTING
There are two levels of voting in this game. The first level of voting is for whom you intend to lynch. Notate this vote with a pair of octothorpes before your intended vote target. (EX: ##VOTE Eden) You do not need to spell out your intended target's username fully; as long as I can understand who you're referencing you're good. If you don't use double octothorpes then I won't see it when I ctrl+f through the thread and your vote may not be counted.
The second level of voting is whether or not to employ the hammer mechanic. By default, days are set to 48 hours long, and nights to 24 hours long; however, players may instead elect to end the day as soon as a majority is reached (called a “quick hammer” or simply “hammer”). Notate this vote with a pair of octothorpes before the word end. (EX: ##END) The game will switch to the hammer mechanic for the duration of that day once a majority of players choose to do so.
If you are not able to vote before the hammer is dropped, you will not be penalized for failing to vote during that day.
In the event of a tie during a lynch vote, no one shall be lynched (same rule as Mafia 2).
REPLACEMENTS
A player wishing to drop out may be replaced at the GM's discretion. Individuals wishing to serve as replacements must NOT join the out-of-game God QT. (Being in the Obs QT is acceptable.) Replacement is not guaranteed.
TURN DURATION
This game’s days will last 48 hours and nights will last 24 hours, unless cut short by in-game mechanics (e.g. hammer). Extensions may be granted at a moderator’s discretion, but don’t count on it.
MODERATOR TEAM
The moderator for this game is Chaqa. PM me with any concerns (yes this is allowed you jokers) and I'll get back to you asap.
===
FORMAT INFORMATION
14 players:
10 town:
7 Vanilla Town
1 Sheriff
1 Doctor
1 Gunslinger
3 Standard Mafia (Rough Riders):
1 factional kill
1 factional roleblock
1 Independent:
1 Serial Killer
ROLE PMs:
Vanilla Town:
You are a Vanilla Town. (Feel free to pick a username for flavor. <- NOT BEST IDEA) During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. You have no night actions. You win once all mafia members and the serial killer have been eliminated, assuming that at least one town player survives to the end of the game.
Town Cop:
You are [NAME REDACTED],, the Town Sheriff! During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. During the night you may select one player to investigate; at the end of the night you will be told whether that player is Innocent or Guilty, unless you are roleblocked. (The mole will always show as innocent, and the serial killer may show as innocent depending on his initial choice; see the Serial Killer section for details.) You win once all mafia members and the serial killer have been eliminated, assuming that at least one town player survives to the end of the game.
Town Doctor:
You are [NAME REDACTED],, the Town Doctor! During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. During the night you may select one player to protect; if that player would otherwise be lynched that night, the player’s lynch will be appealed, unless you are roleblocked. You will be notified if your target was threatened with a lynch that night, and your target will be notified that they were protected by [NAME REDACTED],. You may protect yourself, but not on subsequent nights. You win once all mafia members and the serial killer have been eliminated, assuming that at least one town player survives to the end of the game.
Town Vigilante:
You are [NAME REDACTED], the Town Gunslinger (obviously)! During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. During the night you may select one player to ban; at the end of the night, if the player isn't saved by the doctor, that player will be banned, unless you are roleblocked. You have two shots for the entire game; after your second shot you will no longer be able to ban people. If you are roleblocked, you will be refunded for that shot; if your target is saved by the doctor, you will not be refunded for that shot. You win once all mafia members and the serial killer have been eliminated, assuming that at least one town player survives to the end of the game.
Standard Mafia:
You are [NAME REDACTED], a Rough Rider! During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. During the night, you may talk to your mafia partners, vote on who to lynch and vote on who to roleblock. Your mafia partners are <Rough Rider A> and <Rough Rider B>. The target of your factional roleblock WILL be notified that they have been roleblocked. You may vote not to lynch someone and you may vote not to roleblock someone. You win once the serial killer has been eliminated and once either all of the town players are dead, or nothing can stop you from eliminating all of the town players. You may use, and must submit night actions to, this QuickTopic thread: <QuickTopic thread link>
Serial Killer:
You are [NAME REDACTED], the Serial Killer During the day you may make an accusation against someone; the candidate which reaches a plurality will be lynched at the end of the day. During the night, you may select one player to liberate from Jefferson Villages. ; at the end of the night, if the player isn't saved by the doctor, that player will "disappear", unless you are roleblocked. Prior to game start, you may choose one of the following protections: immunity from investigations (will return Innocent on cop scans), or immunity from nightkills (you may only die by a lynch). The protection you have chosen will not be announced publicly in the thread. You win once everyone else is dead.
Please PM me if you have any questions. The game has not yet started.
PLAYER LIST:
1. ghug
2. YJ
3. Slyguy
4. uclabb
5. semck83
6. Pjmansfield99
7. CaptainMeme
8. Guak
9. WardenDresden
10. Eden
11. dr_octagonapus
12. Squigs44
13. VashtaNeurotic
14. Maniac
THE GAME WILL START WHEN I SAY IT STARTS.