the intro so far:
Mafia IV
Awesomeville is awesome, I couldn't resist returning...
Basic Overview: Baddies (and Ninja) strike at night, while the Innocents try to lynch them during the day by majority vote
RULES:
1) only play if you've read the rules, the roles, the strategy tips and most of Mafia II and Mafia III!!! You need to know what you're getting into. Nobody will be allowed to join late and nobody will be allowed to quit.
2) no PMing behind the scenes!!!! Not only is this one of the stupidest things you could do in Mafia (you don't know who you're giving your role to and who is asking for your role, etc), even if you do know another person's role (or think you do) you can't PM them behind the scenes. The only people that are allowed to are the Mafia, and they can only do it at night and with the living Mafiosos. If a majority of Quarky Agents go after the same target one night, the QAs involved can also PM each other. BUT NOBODY ELSE! Also all Mafiosos and QAs should CC me in their PMs, just so I know what's going on faster and can move the game along faster
3) each day in Mafia-time will finish 24 hours after the night post, and if you haven't voted/discussed/participated/etc during that time, you will be out of the game for inactivity. This time is set in stone and will be the end time no matter if everyone is done voting before this. Each night will end 18 hours after the day ends, however if I get all the necessary PMs in before the 18 hours, I will do the night post then. I'll probably extend night post estimates to when I'm awake and stuff (ie, I might say "night post in 20 hours" if I know I'll be awake and ready in 20 hours)
4) please don't be rude ;D be nice and courteous and respectful
5) after you die, you can post in the topic, but not about anything important- ie, you can't reveal your role, make arguments, take part in strategy discussions, etc. And you have to post in GRAY!
6) Mafia is fun I will be choosing the final roster of 20 players, picking from the signer-uppers very carefully. I don't want to leave anyone out, but I don't want to have any inactives or sagekid-repeats (no offense sagekid ) either. If you weren't picked, it may be that we just don't have any room, and I won't be accepting any late-joiners either, it messes up the game (cough Mafia 1 cough Mafia III). So please keep that in mind, and also Mafia is a game of elimination, sort of... so don't be mad or sad if/when you die
7) this rule may be unnecessary but you should never challenge the host ;D hehehehe
now for the best part...
ROLES:
20 peope: 8 baddies, 12 Innocents
baddies:
* 4 Mafiosos (Godfather, Thief, Assassin, Bankroller) - know who each other are. Can PM freely at night, but not at day. The Mafia kills each night. Each of the Mafiosos' special abilities are useable any night but not 2 nights in a row
* 3 Quarky Agents - do not know who each other are (at first). The QAs kill each night. Must have majority to kill. If they do reach this majority, those who were part of the majority meet each other and get to PM with each other at any time (day or night)
* 1 Grim Reaper - kill every even-numbered night. Invincible for first night and first day
win conditions for baddies:
* Mafia - kill everyone except Mafiosos
* QAs - kill the Sphinx. If they fail, they are immediately notified and a secondary mission is given: lynch a specific person the next day (the person is chosen randomly by me and is not a QA). If the QAs fail the secondary mission, their aliases are discovered and they are mass-lynched along with the actual person being lynched
* GR - kill the Ninja. If the Grim Reaper fails to kill the Ninja, the GR is outta the game
mafia special roles:
* Godfather - [any night, not 2x in a row] see the faction of 1 person (a faction is: mafia/innocent/QA/GR)
* Thief - [any night, not 2x in a row] steal from 1 person and assume their identity the next day if the Spy investigates (even days) or if Inspector is getting the Thief's identity PMed the next day (odd days)
* Bankroller - [any night, not 2x in a row] rough-up someone, beating them up, which is a message to stop your accusations the next day, and a warning that the Mafia will kill you if you don't stop or if you reveal you were roughed up. Also, the Bankroller's identity (including the Bankroller status) is revealed completely when he/she is killed, no matter day/night/whatever
* Assassin - [any night, not 2x in a row] if the Assassin is using his ability at the same night that a Doctor or Healer has decided to save the Assassin, the Assassin kills the Doctor/Healer (or both if both decided to save the Assassin that night) after the Doctor/Healer saves the Assassin (if saving is necessary of course, otherwise the Assassin just kills the Doctor/Healer/both)
*** All Mafia abilities must be PMed to me separately before the night is over. I won't wait for a decision on whether or not to use the abilitity. Same with the Bomb's lie-detect ability
**** Special Mafia Wipeout: if the Mafia are sure of the Inspector's identity, they can do a "wipeout" where they all come and kill the Inspector. Doctors/Healers/Sphinxes around are all killed on the spot on the wipeout's path to the Inspector, who is also killed. However, if the Mafia were WRONG about the Inspector, all those people (or just the non-Inspector) gang up on the Mafia and it's a Mafia-wipeout, the other way around
Quarky Agent roles:
* Master of Disguise - if the Bomb lie-detects a statement by or about the Master of Disguise, the MoD can decide what my reply will be
* Master of Espionage - can spy on one person every night. Gets told "Innocent" or "baddie". Influence-able by the Thief
* Master of Subterfuge - if the MoS is lynched while 1 or more living QAs are in communication with the MoS, the MoS escapes the lynching
Innocents: win by killing all the baddies. Each Innocent has a special role...
saving roles = Doctor, Healer, Illusionist
* Doctor - save one person each night. Not same person 2x in a row. Can save self only once
* Healer - same as Doctor, but different methods of medicine
* Illusionist - save one person every even-# night from the Grim Reaper only. If the GR dies before the Illusionist, the Illusionist becomes the Sphinx
* Sphinx - every odd night, turns into a sphinx and protects one person. If baddie trying to kill the person can answer a riddle correctly, the sphinx steps aside. If baddie can't, all baddies in that faction die (or just the QAs that decided to kill the target that night). Baddies have the option of stepping down if the riddle is too hard, they only get 1 guess
discovery roles = Inspector, Spy, Bomb
* Inspector - gets PMed, every odd day, a baddie identity in this order: Mafia, QA, Mafia, QA, Mafia, QA, Mafia. The order is determined at the beginning of the game by me randomly, so dead people may be included.
* Spy - PMs me one player each even day, I reveal their role
* Bomb - [knows Inspector & is known by Mafia] can use lie-detect ability any night, but not two nights in a row. If Bomb is lynched, 1 person that voted for him/her is blown up with the Bomb. If Bomb is killed at night, there is a 1/2 chance it will be a dud and a 1/2 chance it will take one of its attackers with it in a fiery explosion
killing roles = Ninja and his/her Defender
* Defender - [knows who Ninja is] no special powers on their own. No matter when the Defender dies, his/her role is revealed
* Ninja - ancient warrior and nemesis of the Grim Reaper. While the Defender is alive, the Ninja cannot be killed at night, but the Ninja can be lynched any time. The Ninja kills for the Innocents on odd nights except the 1st night
other roles = Janitor, Warlock, Jihadist, Atheist
* Janitor - the Janitor, after his/her many years of watching and learning, has adopted many vital skills. Each night, I roll a 6-sided dice to determine the action of the Janitor (saving, killing, guarding [1/2 kill attacker, 1/2 die for the charge], discovering specific role, impersonating, or free choice of the previous 5 if a 6 is rolled). The Janitor picks a person other than themself and then I tell them what the action is, to which they can either decline or carry out the action (or choose the action to carry out, if I rolled a 6)
* Warlock - the Warlock is a cruel, anti-social magician and a longtime enemy of the Quarky Agents. The Warlock can bewitch one person every day (if they PM before the day is up) and if that person is a Quarky Agent, they explode the next day. The Warlock is a semi-independent character and wins by killing ALL THREE Quarky Agents in this manner. Otherwise, the Warlock wins with the Innocents
* Jihadist - the Jihadist can kill anyone at any time in a suicide bombing (ie, both people die)
* Atheist - the Atheist is favored by the Host God Unreality. The Atheist cannot be lynched and, on the 3rd day, can convert one more person to atheism. The new atheist, in addition to their previous role, cannot be lynched either. If either atheist is lynched, they get out of the lynching via divine intervention (ironic, lol)
Additional Roles:
These are roles that are independent of your main role...
* Tiebreaker - randomly determined by me. If there is a lynching tie, and the Tiebreaker is on one of the tying sides, that side wins. Also, if there is a tie but the Tiebreaker is NOT on one of the tying sides, I will PM the Tiebreaker and he/she will choose the winning side. If the Tiebreaker dies, he/she must PM me the identity of the new Tiebreaker
* Masked Lovers - these tragic romantics don't know who the other Lover is, but if one of the Lovers is lynched, they recognize their Lover and the two die together. The Lovers, being tragic and all, consist of 1 baddie and 1 Innocent. Thus both Lovers are informed that they are a Lover, but not the identity of their fellow Lover
STRATEGY HELP:
Mafia: coordinate your abilities well, try to avoid detection, and try to figure out who the Inspector is based off of the Bomb. There's a zillion more things I could go into, the Mafia is very complex... though one more point I want to make is that you should obviously be reluctant about taking out the Bomb, but don't not consider it- the Bomb poses a very real threat to the Mafia- as both a lie detector and as a sitting explosive. If it comes down to 1 Mafioso left, there's a 1/2 chance the Bomb will take the Mafia with it to the grave. And the Bomb might be more forthcoming about what it knows because of its extra security- don't let the Bomb take advantage of your fear
QAs: a good strategy here is persistence- if someone keeps going after the same person, the other QAs should take hint and join that person, thus getting a kill and uniting the QAs. Try to figure out who the GR is and get the GR out of the way before the Illusionist dies, then kill the Sphinx. If it comes to the secondary mission, first figure out a logical reason to condemn the target before blindly accusing them
Grim Reaper: you may be invincible the first night & day, but you still don't want to be targeted, as your role is revealed (most likely). Avoid suspicion constantly, and watch and wait, trying to figure out who the Defender and Ninja are. A different, very risky strategy is to play a waiting game- don't kill (so that people think you are dead, and no GR accusations are thrown around) until the Defender is dead and you know who the Ninja is. Then strike swiftly to win the game. If the Defender isn't going to be killed, you might have to silence the Defender yourself and then kill the Ninja two nights later
Innocents: try to figure out who everyone is, and keep all the possibilities in mind. Just because someone claims to be something and nobody objects doesn't mean you should trust that person implicity- or anyone implicitly. Many Innocents lie too, and lying doesn't mean baddie. This is a game of deceit, so play your cards carefully and don't give out too much info about yourself. Don't let yourself get swayed into voting, and think about the choices and reasons involved- though sometimes it's a good idea to go with the flow. Know every perk about your role and maximize your role to the biggest possible advantage. Always be thinking of schemes. If you are a healing role, don't blindly give protection (they could be the Assassin, or any baddie trying to absorb protection from Innocents OR trying to get it to ward off enemy baddies). Discovery roles have to be the most reserved in revealing what they know (especially the Inspector) as the baddies want them dead. The Bomb should take advantage of the fact that everyone is reluctant to take you out. As for killing roles, the Defender should obviously lay low, but try to protect the Ninja from lynchings. The Ninja should exercise the right not to kill at night if he/she is unsure of who is Innocent and who isn't.
VOTING HELP:
To add your vote:
1) reply to the most updated roster
2) add a space after your name, then a dash ("-") then another space, then the words "voting for" and then another space and then someone's name, COLOR-CODED
3) if someone else has already voted for the person, use the existing color they used for the name. If you are the first person to vote for the person, make up a new color (not yellow or grey please)
Color Coding:
#) Name - voting for [color=COLOR HERE]Name[/color]
Please retain all the grey dead colors, question mark colors, lynched-people colors, etc (this isn't hard if you just Reply/Quote the next-most-updated roster that has all the colors).
Also, if a baddie has been lynched and has his/her role as red, do not use plain red as a color for voting for someone. If an Innocent has been lynched and has his/her role as blue, do not use plain blue as a color for voting for someone.
Also, don't leave the final roster in QUOTE tags, or future quoters won't be able to get it... so take away the QUOTE tags before and after so it's in plain text.
This may be all common sense, but a surprising number of people have problems with our color-coded voting system ;D
JOINING
The joining process will be slightly different than before. First, I've decided to invite the first 12 players:
Host: Unreality
1) Frost
2) Brandonb
3) Kingofpain
4) Pw0nzd
5) Cherry Lane
6) Dawh
7) Nayana
8) Dnae
9) Scott
10) GC
11) Puzzlegirl
12) Slick
however 8 more may sign up. But don't just add your name to the list- we just need to make sure you understand the rules and that you'll be active enough
CONFIRMATION OF ROLES
We will only start once everyone has confirmed their role (I send PMs to each person). Then I will post the final roster of players and start off the first night
INTRODUCTION
Envision the country of Content Phoenix:
From the vast desert stretching into the south, and to Quarky. In the desert you may be able to make out a small oasis, interlaced with canals and palm trees and broad, bronze plazas, surrounded by the drifting sand. This is Oasis.
Follow the desert to the west, as the sand blows away, revealing dry scrubland and eventually a deep canyon system, where a grandma once told her grandchildren a story in the town of Tumbleweed. Across the canyon the grass is greener, and stretches out to the sea, far off and twinkling.
Follow the rocky coastline north until you reach the Port of Unreality, a trading town with distant archipelagos on the other side of the globe. Watch the merchant ships and great barges flocking the massive harbors like the graceful swarm patterns of bugs.
Now follow the trading road that leaves the Port and travels east across the temperate terrain to the town of Awesomeville. This is a town, although small in size, of much importance. But for now we will skip it.
Continue east, along the road and through tangled forests and eventually broad hills that gradually get steeper. In a rather mountainous basin lies Denbrain, the capital of Content Phoenix, where waterfalls splash and gurgle from high cliffs in the mountains surrounding the capital. What is east of Denbrain? More mountainous terrain. What is north? Wild but beautiful land, hills and small mountain chains and forests and lots and lots of lakes, where people of nature still live.
Bla bla bla. Back to Awesomeville!
Awesomeville, located along the trade route between the Port of Unreality and Denbrain, is of course a prime target for the Mafia. Once, the Mafia had managed to take over the city, but it was restored, and a few months later, the Innocents triumphed. The Mafia's attention had shifted to Oasis temporarily, to thwart the competition of the Quarky Agents, but that was just a diversion as they snuck some of their best Mafiosos back into Awesomeville to have another go.
Little did they know, Quarky was plotting its revenge, planting 3 agents in Awesomeville to activate and attempt the same missions they had failed in Oasis. Everyone gets a second chance, the Quarkies reasoned, and they found their second chance all right.
And of course... need I even mention it? After his downfall in Oasis, the Grim Reaper had fled back to Awesomeville to live there in his favorite town once again. But now that exciting times were returning to the sleepy town, the GR was ready (and eager) to pull out the ol' scythe and start slicing people left and right. Rumor had it that the Ninja was in Awesomeville too, and the Grim Reaper was determined on taking down his ancient nemesis.
The citizens of Awesomeville- the Innocents- were ready to triumph once more and banish the baddies. It would be more a challenge, that's for sure. The war is on. The game is on. Which side are you on?
DUN DUN DUN.
Mafia IV.
Coming soon to a forum near you.
***
Back to Denbrain... a many-tiered city rising from the tropical basin, into which many waterfalls plunge from the mossy cliffs. On one of the highest tiers, from a vast building, a hand sticks out of a window, attaching a scroll to a pig's foot. You can barely read the top of the scroll:
'Attention Citizens of Awesomeville! You are in danger! We-' but then the messenger finishes tying it to the pig's leg and the arm withdraws.
After an hour-long walk, the pig is at the top of a mighty cliff that hides Denbrain from its western flank. The pig takes a few steps back and then begins to run, its tiny legs flashing like pink pistons as it approaches the dropoff of the cliff- which falls thousands of feet into the plains. Far off twinkle the lights of Awesomeville.
When the pig gets to the cliff it leaps into the winds, cruising via momentum for a few seconds, before it begins to fall... then it unfurls its wings and soars across the blue sky, gliding on the thermals and updrafts. Squawking, it epilocates Awesomeville and hones in, gliding closer to the small town. After an hour of flight, the pig lands unceremoniously in someone's garden, splattering their fence with mud and uprooted turnips. It has a sudden desire to start eating the plump vegetables, but then remembers its duty. It waddles out into the street- for a being that's so graceful in the sky, the pig sure is ugly on land. Outside, night is about to fall, and the sun is quivering in the distant west, as if unsure of whether to drop below the horizon.
A dark figure steps out from an alleyway. The figure is wearing black rogues' clothes, black leather gloves and as for the face, the pig can never remember human faces very well. It can't even tell between two sexes, just like most humans can't figure out a pig's gender just by looking at it (though another pig certainly can). The darkly dressed person approaches the pig, eager to acquire the important message from Denbrain.
Is this my receiver? the pig wonders, temporarily confused. All messenger pigs are taught rudimentary martial arts in case someone tries to intercept the message, but this person wasn't being very hostile. They carefully lift the pig's left hind leg and slip the message off, unfurling the scroll. After they read it, they grin in satisfaction and pull a lighter from their dark clothing, clicking it back and setting fire to the corner of the scroll. Then they drop it into the wind as the fire consumes it, quickly turning it into ash.
The pig turns and spreads it wings, gritting itself for the harrowing flight up the cliff. It sprints down the street, yarbling wildly as it leaps into the air and takes off, away from this strange town of Awesomeville where black-clad figures burn scrolls. Three more messages and I can retire, grunts the pig to itself.
Back in Awesomeville, the burned and tattered remaining piece of the scroll is blown into an alley and forgetten, its scorched edges unaware of the secrets it contains.
***
The dark figure hurried down the street, pulling of his/her dark gloves. Night was falling on Awesomeville, and everybody knew that somebody seen outside at night was probably a Mafioso... or a Quarky Agent... or a Grim Reaper... or a Ninja... or a Doctor... or a Healer... or an Illusionist... or a Sphinx.
Hmmm, the dark-clad figure thought. Maybe it's more complicated than I realized. Then he/she disappeared into the liquid shadows.
On the horizon, the sun finally set, casting night on the town.
