Play Diplomacy Online

by **thewysecat** » 14 Jul 2017, 08:52

Men-At-Arms Roster

1. Conq - lynched day one
2. shadowfriend1 - lynched day two
3. sjg11 - shot night one
4. UpsideDownChuck - lynched day four
5. zoomzip - survives
6. asudevil - survives
7. Harb Condude1 - survives
8. Telleo - lynched day three
9. shirt - shot night two
10. kimbyrle - shot night three
11. keirador - survives

Reserves
1. Condude1 (after 22 July reserve)
2. mhsmith0 (not for first week)
3. Nanook (after 7 August)
4. StarWatcher009 (after 22 July or similar to Condude1)

Game Map
End of Day One - Conq enters the scorpion pit
Start of Day Two - sjg11 is found with a hole where his chest should be
End of Day Two - Shadowfriend1 thrown into the scorpion pit
Start of Day Three - shirt is found quite dead
End of Day Three - Telleo says hello to the scorpions
Start of Day Four - kimbyrle is found cold and lifeless
End of Day Four - upsidedownchuck meets new friends in the scorpion pit - town victorious

by **thewysecat** » 14 Jul 2017, 08:52

Men-at-Arms Rules

The teams
Three of you will take on the role of the Assassins' Guild (and associates) (mafia) plotting to use the Gonne to reverse social progress by re-establishing a King in Ankh-Morpork instead of the Patrician.

Eight of you are the City's Night Watch (and associates) (town) and are seeking to expose and thwart this wicked plot.

This is therefore an eleven player game at 8:3

Victory Conditions

City's Night Watch & associates (Town) win when all the Assassins' Guild (and associates) are dead.

The Assassins' Guild (and associates) (Mafia) win if they are equal or superior in numbers to the town at any point in the game

There are no other kinds of victory conditions in play

Always play to your victory conditions. If I suspect you are not then I will investigate and reserve the right to remove you from the game.

Statement about the rules
Unless directly specified otherwise as a unique ability of your role all of the following applies to all players

The game will be played in two phases – day and night.

Day
After a brief actionless night zero where the mafia team will have a chance to chat, the game begins in earnest in a day phase.
Each game day will last at least 72 hours in RL. During this time players will discuss and vote on who they wish to see thrown into the scorpion pit (or otherwise executed) at the Patrician's Palace (lynched) at the end of that game day as a suspected Assassin (mafia). I will generally stick closely to this deadline, but as a matter of policy I will not make the exact deadline 100% predictable. Players are allowed to keep posting and voting until I post the GM’s end of day message

Night
All players with night orders are encouraged to submit their orders promptly and where possible/desired in advance of the end of day. I will then do my best to operate speed deadlines. Otherwise, night will last approximately 24 hours in RL subject to GM availability.

Lynch Voting
Voting is public, in large, red letters. I will naturally use commonsense around misspellings and acronyms etc., but votes not in this format will not be recognised by the GM
The player with the most votes at the end of game day will be lynched.
In the event of a tied vote between two or more lynch candidates then the player who reached their current lynch vote total first will be lynched. For example, if Player A reached 4 votes and then Player B reached 4 votes - Player A would be lynched. Also note that if Player A reached 4 votes and then Player B reached 4 votes and subsequently Player A blipped down to 3 before returning to 4 votes then Player B would be lynched not Player A. This is because in that context Player B has the longest continuity of being on 4 (or more) votes - they are considered to have therefore been at their current vote count total (at least) longer.
Self-votes will be counted
No Lynch is not a valid available voting option.

Running Vote Counts
As GM I will not provide regular vote counts though I will provide a final vote count at end of day. Tracking the current vote count will be a player responsibility. I believe this encourages player attentiveness to the thread. It also leaves scope for player shenanigans...and I’m lazy. Plus C4 has a nice 'machine' to help you.

Communication
The Assassins (mafia) will have the ability to communicate via PM during the day and night.

The GM must be copied in on all PMs.

Any players with a PM ability may – if they wish – use their own webboard instead of or additional to PM as long as the GM has access to it. All other forms of communication (RL, IRC etc) are prohibited. The honour system is in force

Except where specified all communication between players outside the game thread about the game is prohibited. The honour system is in force

GM Messages

No copying and pasting of any correspondence with the GM or GM messages in thread or in PMs is allowed. No exceptions upon pain of ModKill!

Posting in Thread

Editing posts is strictly forbidden. No exceptions! No, not even spelling or grammar, not even if it is 10 seconds later, not even if it is to properly format a vote. Just post again! Simple

Posting is only allowed during the day phase. There is to be no posting at night until the GM’s dawn message signalling the start of a new day phase

No ghost posting - sorry - not even "curses" or something you imagine to be amusing :roll:

- save it for the AAR - when you're dead - no more posting and no communication with anyone about the game because they may be needed to sub in at a later date

Decorum
You can be 'robust' in your communications as long as it is 100% about playing to your victory conditions and obtaining in-game advantage for your team. If it is about emotional leakage and/or just being abusive because you are pissed off or whatever...you are being a dick. Don't be a dick. I reserve the right to make an intervention up to and including Modkill if you are being a dick. Don't be a dick.

Racist, homophobic or other group-targeted hate comments will not be tolerated. They will result in an instant Modkill.

Night Orders
Some players will have night orders. They will be executed (if in game) in this sequence:
1. Special Actions Phase
2. Gonne Passing Phase
3. Character-Ability Blocking Phase
4. Thieving Phase
5. Kill/Protect/Block Phase
6. Investigative/Track/Watch Phase

I have found in previous games that players do not always appreciate the difference between character-ability and faction-ability actions. Please take note and...you know...ask questions if you are unsure.

And/or they do not always appreciate the significance of the sequencing above. For example, the above sequencing implies that character abilities operational in the special actions phase (phase 1) cannot be blocked in phase 3 since phase 1 has already happened! Please take note and...you know...ask questions if you are unsure.

I will do my best to prompt night orders, but you will have approximately 24 hours RL from the GM’s end of day message. Prompt or even early (submitted during the game day) orders are much appreciated.

I will try to avoid NMRs so I will not be dick about orders a few minutes late – the first time it happens! Everyone gets one strike. Second strike and it will be tough luck. That said, this grace only applies if I have yet to process the night orders, send out dawn messages or post the GM’s dawn message. If any of those have happened then obviously it is too late.

As long as they are received within the deadline I will accept changed orders – the first set are not necessarily final. That said, keep in mind that I might be trying to run speed deadlines so if I have received all orders you may miss your chance to change your orders even if the 24 hours have not expired.

Inactivity/NMRs
I hope to have reserves/subs in place and if becomes necessary to replace an inactive I will do my best to recruit a replacement. With NMRs (no post for 36 hours or missed night orders) – again everyone gets one strike. However, second strike (i.e. total, not sequential) and you are out. I will seek a replacement

Death
Death is very good at his job.

There are only two ways to die: day lynch; and night kill by the Gonne. The Assassins do not possess a night kill ability independent of possessing the Gonne

In all cases only the faction of any dead player will be revealed upon death, but not any character ID or role abilities.

Death reveal for day lynches will be posted 'immediately' - i.e. as part of the GM post for the start of the following night phase

I will generally make it a habit to have a brief delay between the final lynch count and posting death reveal. This will allow for players to spot any GM errors in the lynch vote count and warn me...

At dawn any night deaths from the Gonne will be reported and death reveals will be done for them.

Role Allocation & other random events
All random events/allocations will be handled using random.org

Characters specific to this Setup
All of the 11 characters involved in the game are known at game start. They will be:

All of these will have at least one 'Character-ability' - for now most of these are unknown at game start.

Contrary to the story-line of the book, the 3 Assassins (mafia) will be randomly allocated from this cast list. For example, Sam Vimes could be mafia in this game. This will be done without regard to game-balance. Each faction gets the character-abilities that it gets. It is up to each team to use them creatively to their faction's best advantage.

Note also that two of the characters listed above are assassins (lower case) by training (Downey and the Patrician). That does not necessarily make them members of the mafia faction. They could be either town or mafia. Again, the 3 Assassins (upper case) will be randomly allocated from the cast list.

In addition, to their character-abilities the Assassins' Guild (mafia) may gain faction-abilities from faction roles layered underneath their character roles. Again which Assassin gets which faction role will be randomly allocated within that team. The mafia's faction roles are:

For now, what - if any - faction abilities these faction roles might involve is unknown at game start.

The Gonne
There is also at least one special item known to be in the game at game start. This is:

The Gonne
Invented by Leonard of Quirm - a great engineer, inventor, tinkerer and dreamer who currently resides (perfectly contentedly) in the Patrician's dungeon for the safety of himself and everyone else in the city.

Ordinarily, the possessor of the Gonne must (regardless of faction) attempt to kill another player of their choice at night by firing the Gonne. In short, attempt a nightkill on a specified target player.

Note that firing the Gonne is treated as if it were a faction-ability of the player trying to fire the Gonne that night and for that night only.

At game start, the Gonne has been stolen from the Assassins' Guild Museum and is known to be in the possession of Edward d'Eath.

Each night, in the Gonne Passing phase the Gonne must be passed by its possessor at night-start to another player in the game. There are no restrictions on passing based on faction. Assassins can pass to a mafia or a town-player and a city watch can pass to a fellow town-player or a mafia.

However, the Gonne cannot be passed back to a player that passed it to you the previous night though you will not - ordinarily - know for sure who passed you the Gonne. If such a prohibited pass is attempted the Gonne will instead be passed to an alternative randomly selected player.

Note that the act of passing the Gonne involves visiting the player to whom you are passing it.

Angua
One (but not necessarily all) of the character-abilities of one character within the game are known at game start. This is Angua.

Captain Vimes has been ordered by the Patrician to diversify the Night Watch's workforce and that includes hiring 'undead' and other supernatural beings. Angua is therefore an 'affirmative action' hire. Not everyone in the watch knows that she is a werewolf. Carrot, for example, assumes she has been hired as the Watch's first female officer.

Werewolf (Special Action, passive): As a werewolf you can only be killed by a silver weapon. If you are lynched, the mob will be careful to use a silver weapon and you will truly be dead and permanently removed from the game. However, the Gonne does not come with silver bullets. Therefore, if you are shot at night with the Gonne you will appear dead and have to 'sit out' the next day phase, but will be revived at the rising of the moon at the start (Special Action phase) of the next night phase. You can then anticipate playing a full part in the subsequent day phase. In theory, there is no limit to the number of times you can be 'killed' with the Gonne only to be revived.

Note that for the purposes of calculating whether any faction's victory conditions have been met, you will not count as alive from phase 5 of the night you are shot until phase 1 of the subsequent night as you rest in the morgue awaiting a moonrise.

Please note that Angua can be a member of either faction.

Death and the Gonne
What happens to the Gonne if its possessor is lynched?

The Gonne goes to Doctor Cruces, as the Master of the Assassins' Guild.
If Dr Cruces is dead then the Gonne goes to Mr Downey as the Deputy Master
If Mr Downey is also dead then the Gonne goes to the Patrician
If all three are dead, then the Gonne is distributed randomly to one of the surviving players...

Any questions or comments please post or PM particularly if you spot oversights, contradictions, ambiguities etc.

by **thewysecat** » 14 Jul 2017, 08:53

We are currently in Day One - you may post in thread

Current Game Clock

Thanks for all the rules questions so far. One clarification that has emerged that I want to highlight. If Angua is shot at night her alignment will not be revealed in the following day's GM post. Keep the questions coming. They are appreciated

Wyse

"The Gonne swung up...it looked as though it moved of its own accord, like an animal sniffing the air..."

(Men-At-Arms, Terry Pratchett)

Death looked on impassively. It was his thing. The death of rats did a perfect rat-version of the same.

SQUEAK

I KNOW

SQUEAK SQUEAK

THREE YEARS ON. IT IS SURPRISING

SQUEAK

IT DOES NOT MATTER TO ME

SQUEAK

PERHAPS. BUT IN THE END, IT IS ALL THE SAME TO ME

SQUEAK SQUEAK

WE SHALL SEE

You may begin posting, Wyse

by **Telleo** » 15 Jul 2017, 12:32

First question:

Where do people stand re: reveals of our character names and/or character abilities?

Second question:

What ideas, if any, do y'all have for gaining and maintaining town control of the Gonne?

Presently, we know that it is in the possession of the mafia. That means that should someone active during the thieving phase stumble upon it (tonight, at least) that they've likely found a scum. To assist in this method of deduction, I'd like to propose that Angua, at least, be called upon to reveal him/herself, and be the designated target for all town players, every night possible. In this way, the scum risk revealing themselves by firing at other players (because a town player who finds out who possessed the Gonne finds the scum), and are limited to one shot every other night, rather than one shot every night. Meanwhile, town players commit to only target Angua, who cannot be actually killed by the Gonne.

Thoughts? Have I missed things? It's 3:30 AM here, and I'm tired.

by **Zoomzip** » 15 Jul 2017, 13:45

Good morning all, my name is ZoomZip. A pleasure to join so many of you again, including some rare appearances by people I am thrilled to see again. This is normally when i give a special hello to players i dont know, but considering that I have an RL relationship with our new player, that seem facetious somehow. Eh, do it anyways. Special hello to Kimbyrle.

Also, good news, as I have drawn town and that is a hell of a relief in this game.

Telleo is thinking in similar spaces, especially re: Angua, but before we get there, he first question...

DO NOT REVEAL NAMES / ABILITIES AT THIS POINT.

I will say that my name and flavor make sense from a book perspective, especially if you read the entire book. I can only assume others are the same.

As for Angua, this is a good idea, but it relies on the town have possession of the Gonne. There are also drawbacks to the "keep shooting Angua" plan, especially from the POV of the player having Angua, who unfortunately doesn't get to play as much. That being said, if it helps the town win, Angua may have to put up with it.

Point being, this only works on town having Gonne. Which bring me to my first suggestion;

PROPOSED: IF YOU ARE TOWN, AND YOU GET THE GONNE, PUT IT IN THREAD.. -- anyone getting the Gonne and not admitting it is scum, agreed? Which also means Angua, if revealing, only does so as early as D2.

I have more thoughts, but for late. A couple of questions I have rolling around:

1) Suppose we do adopt a "shoot Angua over and over again plan' -- what role terrifies you about being in the game?
2) Outside of a cop or a doc, what role do you hope really is in this game and is town sided?
3) Why is the first scum to be lynched so important for the town?
4) What unique opportunity does the first townie to get the Gonne passed to them have?
5) Why might the mafia want to put the Gonne in town hands? ACtually, I'll answer that -- book is clear, the Gonne can possess its users, pull their will away. I would not be surprised if there was a similar mechanic in this game. Holding onto the Gonne repeatedly is bad for your health.
6) Does anyone want to share any questions they asked the GM? I asked several.

I am guessing Wyse has designed a game that punishes a lazy town, or a town that get self important and dysfunctional. YOLO reveals and moves may be short term good, but also I would imagine have long term consequences.

Also, I kind of expect that even though a lot of the stuff I think is important is for D2 or beyond, I may want to talk about it today.

Telleo's first post above is decent, and shockingly on point. No hair trigger vote there.

by **sjg11** » 15 Jul 2017, 14:26

1. I object to any reveal of names or character abilities. I don't see the upside of name reveals while, although I see a benefit to character abilities, I feel like the negatives outweigh the positives from doing so. If it becomes a big issue I can expand on that.
2. In particular Angua should not reveal. She works far better in my view if she stays hidden to maybe take a bullet for us.
3. The Gonne should be revealed the instant it comes into town hands.
4. (switching over to Zip's questions) A re-director would terrify me if we go for the "shoot Angua over and over again" plan. Re-director's unlikely in my view (admittedly with no flavour knowledge), simply because I generally feel like it's a swingy mechanic, but not so unlikely that I'd discount the possibility at all.
5. Some kind of role which can target an item and find out how has held it previously? A town-sided role-blocker could also be pretty useful. Thief role too.
6. I'm not sure what this question is asking so I'll give two responses. The first Mafia lynched is crucial as it allows us to find connections between players and really start making our data collection useful. The character of the first Mafia is also crucial as, if they have the Gonne and it then moves into town hands, things become much easier for us.
7. The ability to reveal that they have the Gonne and to, potentially, ensure that only lynches occur for the rest of the game.
8. Alright fair enough... would never have arrived at that. Fear over investigative/thief roles may cause them to want to make possession of the Gonne NAI (not alignment indicative) as quickly as possible.
9. I also asked several, nothing which I would mind sharing with the group but also nothing particularly useful to know in my view.
10. I agree with the general conclusion that lazy towns will lose this one. I intend to, as ever, focus on the day thread more than the night game. I always feel like it's the smartest option in a low info, high complexity game.
11. Telleo, I don't think I've mocked you for the Cup final yet. Plus I'm out of Spurs jokes so an early ZZ vote is off the table.
12. Welcome back to Harb, Keirador, shirt and Chuck. Nice to see some returning oldies!
13. Welcome to kimbyrle! Nice to see a new face. Hope you enjoy yourself and stick around for a while. What do you think makes a good town player in this game?
14. Go Arsenal!

by **sjg11** » 15 Jul 2017, 14:30

sjg11 wrote:2. In particular Angua should not reveal. She works far better in my view if she stays hidden to maybe take a bullet for us.

I should clarify that I'm discussing a scenario like this one where we know the Gonne is in Mafia hands not a scenario where the Gonne is in Town hands. I'm still mulling over a Gonne in Town hands scenario, using Angua to absorb shots could be useful so I'm leaning towards an Angua reveal there. Not sure that permanently shooting at Angua is a viable option though.

Oh, and one more thing, I think that pre-death reveals are largely useless for us here beyond a name reveal. I think it's clear that character roles and faction are in no way connected here from teh rulez.

by **kimpossible** » 15 Jul 2017, 14:53

In answer to your question directly to me, a town that pays the hell attention during the day and strategizes together. Which we're doing. I won't be advancing a lot of my ideas initially, because this is a whole different style of play than I've been doing and I haven't internalized yet what makes for good starting strategy. That said, I've a couple times told Zoomzip (hi sweetie!) about plays I've made in my other games and he's thought they were good.

I'll probably start having more ideas as the plot develops. Until then I'll follow suggestions and question them if I think they're fishy.

by **kimpossible** » 15 Jul 2017, 15:00

Oh no oh shit I'm so sorry, I edited to fix a tiny typo. I already told wysecat, and I won't do it again.

by **sjg11** » 15 Jul 2017, 16:03

kimbyrle wrote:In answer to your question directly to me, a town that pays the hell attention during the day and strategizes together. Which we're doing. I won't be advancing a lot of my ideas initially, because this is a whole different style of play than I've been doing and I haven't internalized yet what makes for good starting strategy. That said, I've a couple times told Zoomzip (hi sweetie!) about plays I've made in my other games and he's thought they were good.

I'll probably start having more ideas as the plot develops. Until then I'll follow suggestions and question them if I think they're fishy.

Ok, that's fine for now. "For now" is the important thing to emphasise though. I'd recommend that you aim to have plenty of thoughts down on paper before the end of the day (game day not day day).

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