WEBDIP MAFIA V: METADATA MAFIA

"For nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident (literally, known through itself) or known by experience or proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture." ~ William of Ockham

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INTRODUCTION

Mafia is educated guessing writ large. Armed with naught but their own identity and a single vote, the townspeople must unite to root out highly-trained killers living among them. The game will alternate between day phases, where the players vote to lynch a player and remove them from the game, and night phases, where the mafia convene to strategize and put out a hit on a townsperson. The game continues until either the town have killed all the mafia members, or the mafia members achieve parity with the town.
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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 non-players are forbidden from posting on all comment threads related to the game notes.
7. All players are forbidden from cheating.
8. All players are forbidden from posting between the employment of the hammer mechanic and the end-of-day post.
9. 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. Self-explanatory. Don't post here.

9. 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.
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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.

This game uses MODIFIED PLURALITY LYNCH rules. Once a player receives any plurality of votes, they become the "lynch target." That player will be lynched at the end of the day unless a new player gains a plurality over that player, at which point the new player becomes the lynch target instead. In other words, ties are broken by lynching the "incumbent" lynch target.

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 and becomes substantially less likely after the first lynch.

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). The GM reserves the right to extend a phase to a more manageable ending time, and will always announce this extension at the START of the phase. The GM will never shorten a phase except through the hammer mechanic. Extensions aside from the above may be granted at a moderator’s discretion, but don’t count on it.

MODERATOR TEAM
The GM for this game is Eden. PM me with any concerns (yes this is allowed you jokers) and I'll get back to you asap. NOTE: If you would like cohosting experience feel free to message me to become a cohost! Cohosting entails occasional votecount updates, flavor text creation, and end-of-day posting.
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ROLES
Green and Blue roles are town; Red roles are mafia.
There may be any number of Green roles; there will not be duplicate Blue or Red roles.
The format of this game is SEMI-SEMI-OPEN. The town will know the list of possible roles in the game. The mafia will know the list of actual roles in the game.

Green

Vanilla: No night actions. Non-visiting role.
Miller: No night actions. Checks as guilty on cop scans. Non-visiting role.
Snooper: Must visit a player each night. Visit does nothing. Visiting role.

Blue

Parity Cop: Checks player each night. First night returns NULL. Consequent nights return SAME or OPPO. SAME result means both players check as the same alignment; OPPO result means both players check as the opposite alignment. Visiting role.
Tracker: Checks player each night. Learns who that player visited that night. Visiting role.
Watcher: Checks player each night. Learns who visited that player that night. Non-visiting role.
Paramedic: Targets player each night. If that player is killed that night, the player is immediately resuscitated with no flip. The following night, that player will die and flip. Visiting role.
Jailer: Targets player each night. That player is roleblocked and cannot be targeted by night actions that night. Cannot self-target. Visiting role.

Red

Goon: No night actions. Non-visiting role.
Hooker: Targets a player each night. That player is roleblocked that night. Visiting role.
Hacker: Checks a player each night. Learns the role of that player. Visiting role.
Voyeur: Checks a player each night. Learns what roles visited the player that night. Non-visiting role.
Assassin: Visiting role. Cannot be detected by trackers and watchers.
Godfather: Non-visiting role. Checks as town-aligned.

Role Priority
0. Vanilla = Miller = Godfather (if not nightkilling) = Goon (if not nightkilling)
1. Jailer > Hooker (if roleblocking)
2. Assassin
3. Watcher
4. Tracker
5. Parity Cop = Hacker (if rolechecking)
6. Snooper = Mafia Role (if nightkilling, sans Assassin)
7. Paramedic
8. Voyeur
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