Werewolf XLVI - Sun and Shadow (sign up thread)

[Peregrine]

I've decided to go ahead and post the sign up thread for my next complex game, which will be run whenever Rome finishes (and as confused as most of us are, it could be a while!)

Full rules and so forth will wait till later, as I'm still fine tuning. For now I'll give the basics.

This will be an 18 player game, and in a fit of whimsy, I decided it would be fun to offer the slots first to people who played in one of my first games, Hawthorne Manor. So far eight people have accepted, and the rest of the slots are open. If anyone wants to drop out, let me know.

This will be a complex game and is probably not suited for new players. Also, I expect you to be active and post as frequently as you can. The kind of inactivity I've seen from some people in Rome will not be tolerated.

1) Mustang
2) BrianD
3) ntndeacon
4) Joe
5) Swaggs
6) Barkeep49
7) Kwhit
8) Lathum
9) Chief Rum
10) Schmidty
11) Mr. Wednesday
12) hoopsguy
13) DaddyTorgo
14) ImTheCrew
15) Tyrith
16) Path12
17) Alan T
18) SnDvls

Oh yes, and I have to provide a teaser of the rules I'm designing.

No death.

No lynches, no kills.

Everyone is in for the long haul. Be prepared.

[Chief Rum]

Sign me up!

[saldana]

no way missing the godfathers game is gonna happen

in please.

[Poli]

Sign me up.

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

The kind of inactivity I've seen from some people in Rome will not be tolerated.

Crack that whip Peregrine!!

I guess this leaves me out

[hoopsguy]

Definitely would like to play in this one.

[KWhit]

I'm definitely in.

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Also, I expect you to be active and post as frequently as you can. The kind of inactivity I've seen from some people in Rome will not be tolerated.

Good.

[st.cronin]

I'll play.

[ImTheCrew]

in

[Tyrith]

Yeah, okay.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

No death.

No lynches, no kills.

Everyone is in for the long haul. Be prepared.

I decided to sign up and jump back into WW mainly because it was Peregrine running the game (that and I have trouble turning down an invitation). I'm curious about what I have quoted though. Sounds like this is going to be quite different than anything we've seen before.

[path12]

I've heard so much about Peregrine's games that I've got to be in this one.

[Alan T]

I'll play

[SnDvls]

If there is room put me in

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Crack that whip Peregrine!!

I guess this leaves me out

What are you talking about? When you're in, you're active. You're not one I peg as constantly disappearing in WW games.

[Peregrine]

Looks like we're full up with a solid crew. I'll start posting some more of the rules in the next few days. And yes, BrianD, this will be different, and hopefully good.

[Joe]

yeah I am back for this game because I was invited. I think I last played sometime in 2005. woot.

[DaddyTorgo]

ballz. Dibs on the first alternate slot should it be necessary

[KWhit]

Originally Posted by Joe

yeah I am back for this game because I was invited. I think I last played sometime in 2005. woot.

Refresh my addled memory. You're GWB, right?

[Joe]

Originally Posted by KWhit

Refresh my addled memory. You're GWB, right?

WORD

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

ballz. Dibs on the first alternate slot should it be necessary

You can take my spot. I'm going to need a break after running the Rome game.

[ntndeacon]

THis sounds utterly confusing. I love it!

[Peregrine]

Long ago, wolves attacked a small village by a river, causing days of confusion and death. The wolves and mages from a certain evil cult were driven off, though they continued to brood over the village from their cliffside compound. What evil rites they practiced there were unknown. For a time the villagers assumed that the King's men, bearing the power of the Sun Gods, would wipe the place clean, but they waited for months, then two years, and it has not happened yet.

Meanwhile, in the cult itself, the Dark Pact has continued undisturbed. Unknown to anyone outside, the cliff their home is dug into is the home of an ancient civilization, and they have used the relics found within to improve their own powers. Though at the time of their defeat in the village by the river they thought they might be attacked, it hasn't happened, though rumors are rampant that a spy or spies might have infiltrated their ranks.

Deep in the cliffside tunnels, a mysterious relic was found, an ancient coffer encrusted with runes and fairly glowing with power, as well as a certain malevolence. The mages of the cult gathered together their best to perform a ritual to open the coffer, and safely contain whatever was inside. The power of eighteen of the cult's best was focused on the coffer, protected by a ritual circle and glowing with reflected magic.

Then something happened.

It was chaos, people shouting, some falling to the ground, but the coffer yawned open, and it seemed the mouth of Hell was inside. A great Shadow force leaped out, slashing past all barriers, and in the chaos it disappeared into one of the mages. One of you.

You were fortunate that the other members of your cult thought fast and managed to seal off your section of the fortress. If this evil force gets out, there's no telling what damage it may cause. In the meantime, you are all trapped here, with whatever relics and personal power you have, to contain this evil, or else it will overwhelm you all.

Are you up to the challenge?

(Rules to follow in due time.)

[Peregrine]

I'll post the rules document as it stands. Note that I'm still fine tuning the victory conditions so those have not been included. If you see any mistakes or confusing points let me know, it's a complex set of rules.

[Peregrine]

GM's notes

This is a somewhat experimental game, since going with a non-death game changes a lot of things. I've tried my best to balance this out, but I'm sure things won't go as planned once pesky players get involved. Note that I will unashamedly retain a small amount of control to prevent a complete blowout one way or the other, mostly in how and when magical items are found, but if things are going normally I won't be putting my thumb on the scales. Note that there are a lot of roles and powers that can be used against the Shadow, but there have to be a lot since they may convert some of the people using those powers.


The Shadow

The Shadow starts with one player, and gains a second on Night 0. After that, each night they can try to gain more recruits. As a night action, each Shadow player chooses one player to try to convert, he focuses his shadow energies on him. As more are converted, the power of the shadow being is split among them. The first conversion had a 100% chance to succeed, when there are two players, each has 50%, when three, each has 33%, and so forth. The more the Shadow spirit is divided the harder it is for him to focus his energies for more conversions. Once the votes are sent to the GM I will total them up and start with the person receiving the most votes. Any total Shadow force that's 50% or more means an automatic conversion, IF the target player can be found and is not protected somehow. After that I will go down the list by percentage. It's possible no one will be converted in a given night, but there will never be more than one person converted.

Once a player has been converted by the Shadow, they can no longer use their original magical role. They can continue to use mundane roles if they wish.

The Shadow players will be able to communicate with all the other Shadow players, through a method I will reveal to them.

It's important to note that the Shadow players DO NOT know the identity of the other Shadow players. They can reveal themselves if they wish, but this will open them up to exposure if/when any of the other Shadows are cleansed. This also applies if they agree to vote for a certain person, but it might be worthwhile if they want to convert a key person. They will be able to communicate with each other, but anonymously.


The Sun

Two spies of the king and the Sun Gods have infiltrated the cult and are trying to learn about it to bring it down. Faced with the Shadow threat, they have no choice but to take action. The exact abilities of the Sun spies are known only to themselves. While the cult members naturally want to discover the spies and kill them, the threat of the Shadow is even greater, and they will take any ally they can get for the moment.


The Count

Fortunately for the cult members, one of the mages left outside is the powerful Seer, and has the ability to detect Shadow energy.

This means that at the start of each day, the players will receive an accurate count of how many Shadow players there are. This will not reveal anything about their identities.



Voting

Each day all players can vote publicly for whoever they want, and can change their votes as many times as they want. This is called the name vote. They also must vote publicly whether they want to punish the person who receives the most votes, or show mercy. This is a separate vote, called the punishment vote, and will apply to whoever gets the most votes! All name votes must be received by 7:30 pm EST, however, there is a small grace period until 8 pm EST, where anyone can change their punishment votes ONLY. This will allow players to make an informed decision knowing who the victim will be. If you won't be around for that time of day, make sure to get your punishment vote in before then!

Ties in the name vote can be broken by particular roles or magical items. If the tie is not broken, no punishment happens that day.

Ties in the punishment vote end in a result of mercy.


Punishment/Mercy

If the punishment vote ends in punishment, the most serious ritual known to the cult is applied - the cleansing. This powerful spell strips the player of all their magical powers, including their magical role! After a player is cleansed they can still use any mundane role they have, as well as magical items, and retain all voting power.

If a player was corrupted by the Shadow, the cleansing removes this, and they revert back to their previous loyalty to the cult.

Important Note - Cleansed players remember everything they learned as a Shadow player, including the identities of other Shadow players, and who they voted for. Of course, given the Shadow mechanic above, a vote doesn't mean that player was necessarily corrupted.

If the punishment vote ends in Mercy, another spell is placed on the player, the Circle of Sleep. This magical cirle will prevent them from taking any night actions that night (including Shadow attempts,) or being targeted by any night actions other than Search, Steal, or Dose.


The Complex / Sleep

The area that is sealed off is an L-shaped hallway and several rooms, in addition to the Ritual Room. Each night along with their night actions a player must indicate which room they want to sleep in that night. If nothing is sent in, they will sleep in the Ritual Room. Note that some of the rooms have space limits, so only a certain amount of people will be able to sleep there. Any extras will be kicked to the Ritual Room. Some players might have roles or abilities that let them hide in some way, in which case they can designate their hidden area.

Available Rooms:

Ritual Room - This is the largest, a big shadowy area with lots of room to sleep.

Storage Room - A smallish room with old robes, unused magical paraphenilia, and so forth.

Kitchen - Luckily the kitchen of the complex is here, so no one will starve.

Alchemy Closet - A cramped closet with a heavy door to prevent any explosions from damaging everything else.

Sitting Room - A medium sized area with some comfortable furniture.

Chamber of Rest - This area contains a few cots for mages who needed to rest between experiments.



Actions available to all:

You can choose to do one of these three actions during the night, INSTEAD OF the night action given to you by your role. The only exceptions are that once per game each player can perform one of these actions in addition to another action, (ex. magical role + dose, or search + steal) and you can always dose yourself in addition to another action. (see below) All of these actions have a chance of you being seen by someone.

Note that a few roles have daytime actions or no nighttime actions (Signifier, Sorceror) and so they can take one of these actions each night.


Search - This action allows you to search a particular room you name for magical items. Message the GM with the room you wish to search. Note that some of the magical items listed below are easier to find early in the game and others are easier to find late in the game. All players will be given a free Search action during Night 0, representing the scramble to find weapons against the Shadow.


Steal - This nefarious action lets you name a person, and try to search them for magic items, robbing whatever you can (normally one item.) If the person can be found and is sleeping, stealing with have a good chance of success. If they are not in the room or are protected somehow the action will fail.


Dose - This action lets you give someone a potion. As stated above, you can dose yourself with a potion you have as a free action. Message the GM with who you want to dose, and what potion you want to use. If they can be found and are sleeping, dosing them will automatically succeed. If they are not in the room or are protected somehow, the action will fail.




Magical Items

There are a number of magical items scattered around the complex. This is most of, but not all, the magical items that can be potentially found. Note that some of the items can only be used at night, others only during the day, and some at either time.

Message me with any specific questions.


Potion of Weariness - A person who drinks this potion is unable to cast a vote in either vote the next day, but able to speak normally.

Potion of Alertness - A person who drinks this potion is active and alert through the night, and able to see what goes on in his room. This gives him a good chance to identify people that come in and what they are doing. Also, this potion makes even the magical sleep of the mercy option or other magical abilities impossible.

Potion of Sleep - This potion will put a person to sleep for the night, they will not be able to take a night action, and night actions on them are more successful.

Potion of Power - This potion is said to drastically increase magical power, temporarily. If it is drunk by someone who has been cleansed, it miraculously restores their powers and their former role (but not any former Shadow corruption.) If it is drunk by a normal person, it boosts their magical powers for the next day and night cycles after it is taken. This allows night actions to be much more effective and useful (even for the Shadow!) and also makes a person immune to cleansing during the next day cycle.

Potion of Masking - This potion is only effective when taken at night. It sheathes the drinker in a magical mask that allows him to shrug off all night actions aimed at them, including Shadow attempts.

Potion of Darkness - IMPORTANT! This potion used to be something useful but has been corrupted by the Shadow's arrival. When found, it will look like one of the other potions. When drunk, horrible things can happen, up to and including being corrupted by the Shadow. This potion is fortunately rare.

Scroll of Identity - This magical parchment can be read one time, to magically learn the role of one player. This will reveal both magical and mundane roles, but not whether a person is corrupted or not. Note that in the case of the Sun spies, this will reveal their TRUE role.


Ring of Shadows - This ancient ring grants the power of invisibility by drawing shadows to the user. It can be used on two different nights to protect the player from harm. Also, if desired it can be used once (and destroyed) to use a night action to search out the shadow beings and find one of them.

Mask of Whispers - This is a small mask that can be put over the lower part of the face. It allows the wearer to once each day send one short (two lines or less) PM message to someone, and get a short message in reply. Must run through the GM, you can identify yourself or not.

Triune Pyramid - A small golden pyramid which if possessed, makes the bearer immune to other magical effects, including items, being corrupted by shadow, and even being cleansed. However, there is an increasing chance it will shatter if exposed to a lot of magical stress.

Ritual Dagger - This long dagger is made of gleaming silver and is used in certain darker rituals. It has been tied into the magical abilities of everyone in the coven, and so can be used to find a specifed person even if they are hiding or using another magical ability to hide themselves. The dagger can be used as a free night action.

Seal of Command - This seal of enchanted black wax boosts the user's command capabilities, people listen to him or her. It can be used to break a tie in either the name or the punishment vote. Contact the GM by 8:00 PM EST with who you choose.

Ring of Wisdom - This Ring allows the user to cast one secret vote each day. The vote is a name vote only, not a punishment vote. The vote must be sent to the GM before the deadline and will be announced immediately. It cannot be changed. Once the vote is cast the GM will announce "The Ring of Wisdom casts a vote for XYZ!"



Magical Roles

Each player will be assigned one of these roles. If you would like you can try to do a role revealing strategy, but note that some of these roles are going to be particular Shadow targets.

Signifier - The player has the powerful magic ability to once each day (as a day action) indicate one statement and learn whether it is true or false. Note that this is not intended to allow coerced situations where everyone is forced to say "I am good!" Such situations muddle the truth and the ability will be wasted.

Warlock - This role allows you to cast a powerful hex on another player, three times per game. This must be done as a night action, you choose another player and they sleep soundly, unable to perform any night actions.

Medium - As a night action you can see through someone else's eyes. What you see might reveal their role, or might reveal nothing.

Artificer - You were the first to study the artifact, and a trickle of shadow energy made its way to you, despite the seals. It has been working through you enough that you believe embracing it would be the ultimate source of power. Each night you can make an action to study one player and determine if they have been embraced by the Shadow or not. You want to protect them, and hope to become one in time. Also, if you are cleansed, you are still loyal to the evil side, and don't have to confess their names.

Alchemist - During the course of the game, you can make three potions, either of Weariness, Alertness, Masking, or Sleep. You can only have one potion at a time - ie, you have to use the first one before you can make the second one. You can't make the same potion more than once.

Diabolist - You specialize in the summoning of demons, a dark and risky magic that is even shunned by most members of the cult. Three times during the game, as a night action, he can choose a player and find out what magical role that player has. He will not learn if a player if affected by the Shadow this way.

Ritualist - You can draw sorcerous circles that can keep magical powers out, or in. Three times per game you can choose to draw a barrier which will protect one room from any outside actions or influences. Players can take actions inside the protected room but they have a higher chance of being noticed. The circles will be drawn as a day action, so message the GM before the deadline if you want to do this, and which room you want to protect.

Spiritmaster - You have expertise in speaking with spirits and the dead. Twice per game you can summon up spirits that will protect the room you're in, guarding against any intrusion at night.

Researcher - You have the ability to identify magical items and have learned much about them. Each night you can pick a magic item from the list and try to find out where it is currently located, if successful you will learn which room it is in or who has it. You can also identify if a potion is a Potion of Darkness.

Sorceror - You care about nothing except magical power. You have quite a lot of it now, and if you were corrupted by the shadow, you're pretty sure you'd have even more. You are immune to magical sleep of any kind.

Summoner - You have a small imp as your creation, that can act independently and follow your orders. Each night you can give it a simple order - "Follow so and so" "Guard me and make sure nothing happens" "Steal an item from Player X." Your pet is not completely reliable, however, and there is a 25% each night that it will not follow your orders.

Augur - You have the power to follow magical trails through the ether. In this case, you can attempt each night to track the shadow (or Sun) energies. If you do so, you have a 50% chance of seeing either where the energy starts or where it finishes, a 25% chance of not seeing anything, and a 25% chance of having the energy focus on you instead!

Theurgist - You can focus a magical field which will block other forms of magic from taking place. Each night you may specify a person, and they will not be able to use any magical abilities. You can't choose the same person more than two nights in a row. Note that this does not give you any knowledge of what their abilities are.

Witch - You have the power to work through people's dreams. Each night you can take a night action to send someone a message through their dreams. The message is necessarily vague and will not always be sent accurately. Alternately, you can use the same action to study someone's dreams. You have to be near them to do this (in the same room) but if you are successful you may learn something about them, including their role and possibly their past actions.

Wizard - Despite being in the coven, you've grown increasingly worried about things here, because you're basically a good person and want to get out. Each night as a night action you can check someone to see if they are a member of the Sun faction. You also have a Sun Amulet which gives you a powerful ability - you can't be corrupted by the Shadow.

Enchanter - You command the power of the enchantments that run through the very walls of the complex. Each night you can specify one room, and you will be notified if any major magical powers are used there (this includes Shadow corruption but also some of the other roles.) You will have a smaller chance to find out who used them.

Craft Mage - You have the ability to build and unbuild magical items. It takes time to build a magical item, but over three night actions, you can make any of the non-potion items on the list. Also, if you choose, you can destroy a magical item. To do this, you have to know the item and who has it.

Elementalist - You have the power to command rock and stone, and can move through them from room to room without being seen. This will also allow you to escape from a magical circle created by the Ritualist.


Mundane Roles

Some players have a mundane role in addition to the magical role. This is to balance out for having a less powerful magical role. These roles are secret, but can be used even after a player is cleansed.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

GM's notes

This is a somewhat experimental game...


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[Long rule set]


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...Some players have a mundane role in addition to the magical role. This is to balance out for having a less powerful magical role. These roles are secret, but can be used even after a player is cleansed.

Is there a gamer's hints & tips available for this one?

[DaddyTorgo]

oh hot? I'm in? I hadn't even realized that. thought i was still on the waiting list. the great cycle of ww-life continues!

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Is there a gamer's hints & tips available for this one?

I think the Prima strategy guide comes out next month.

[Mustang]

Question #1. There are some specific items for voting. Once you use this ability, can you post any votes at all? Or is it that you know the true vote and everything else could just be BS?

[saldana]

my question number one...are the votes public or made only by PM to you?

[path12]

I have to follow this up? Crap. I'm gonna feel like Sanjaya going on after Melinda.

[hoopsguy]

Path, having a haven of sanity (or at least a less radical rule set) in between Cronin's, Peregrine's, and my game will probably be a welcome respite for many people.

Just give us a fighting chance for reveals this time around, m'kay?

[path12]

Originally Posted by hoopsguy

Path, having a haven of sanity (or at least a less radical rule set) in between Cronin's, Peregrine's, and my game will probably be a welcome respite for many people.

Just give us a fighting chance for reveals this time around, m'kay?

Heh. I'm just hoping it ends up being fun. I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Peregrine]

All voting will be public. As for your question Mustang, I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Some of the items allow you to break existing ties in voting, items like the Ring of Wisdom are just a vote in addition to your normal one.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

All voting will be public. As for your question Mustang, I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Some of the items allow you to break existing ties in voting, items like the Ring of Wisdom are just a vote in addition to your normal one.

Ring of Wisdom - This Ring allows the user to cast one secret vote each day. The vote is a name vote only, not a punishment vote. The vote must be sent to the GM before the deadline and will be announced immediately. It cannot be changed.

Someone votes John Doe. Can they vote Jane Doe in public but, their vote of John Doe overrides whatever they say in public?

[Peregrine]

I should have been more clear. You can vote Jane Doe in public, and your vote counts. The Ring of Wisdom allows you another vote where your identity is secret - everyone will see a message like "The Ring of Wisdom casts a vote for John Doe!"

[saldana]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I should have been more clear. You can vote Jane Doe in public, and your vote counts. The Ring of Wisdom allows you another vote where your identity is secret - everyone will see a message like "The Ring of Wisdom casts a vote for John Doe!"

vote The Ring of Wisdom.....no way i am letting that ring get the drop on me.

[Poli]

Peregrine, I just want to be fair and let you know. I'm near my wit's end on werewolf. If you could find me a replacement, I would appreciate it. However, if you need me to play, I will. If I am needed to play, I'll do my best.

I don't want to bring other game stuff into this, but I'm just tired of being accused of stuff by people I hardly know who think they know me. I understand that's part of werewolf, and that's partially why I don't want to play this game right now, maybe ever again.

[Peregrine]

Sure, it's no problem AE. I'm sure I can find another player.

[Poli]

Thanks Pere. I know I was excited to play this game initially, but I'm not sure I can give it the time it deserves. I really wanted to play in one of your games. I'm really disappointed I won't be.

[Mr. Wednesday]

In.

[Peregrine]

Wednesday is in, also I made an important update to the rules for the Shadow players. It was always something I had in mind but I wanted it to be clear.

[Swaggs]

This should be interesting.

This and the Rome game are like All Star games.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Is the new part of the rules the bit about Shadow players not knowing each other?

[Peregrine]

Right. The Shadow players have anonymity from each other, unless they want to give it up. Trust me, I worked over the system for a long time, figuring the best way a "double-blind" system could work, but I've got it all set up now.

[Chief Rum]

Not sure why after being frustrated in the last game, but I feel like getting this going. So I hope it starts soon. Looking forward to it.

[Peregrine]

Well I've had a couple requests from players that are tied up for some amount of days this week to delay the game a little, and next weekend I'm out of town and away from Internet access, so I think it may be safer to start this game on Monday the 30th. I'll try to send out the roles and post any further rules and introductory info on the evening of the 29th.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wednesday

Is the new part of the rules the bit about Shadow players not knowing each other?

I tired this in my small game...it was very interesting seeing the wolves kill eachother since they didn't know who was who...it provides a unique dynamic to the game, but I'm sure can be frustrating for the wolves too.

[Tyrith]

The delay is fine by me...I may be somewhat less talkative during certain days because now the game is going to fall right during all of my finals and such, but I think I'll be able to handle it.