Newbie 1000 - Game Over!

[Vel-Rahn Koon]

You awaken to the hustle and bustle of your home town’s daily activity. Little did you know that the peaceful quiet of your normal, everyday life would come crashing down today. It seems that one of your fellow citizens has angered the Mob, and has paid for it with his life! What are you going to do? Why, you’re going to get your peaceful, little town back, that’s what…

Your job, fair citizens of the town’s Ruling Council, is to discover who among you belong to the Mafia and summarily lynch them. Two of your fellow Council members are working for the Mafia - find them before they take over the Council and the town!


Player List - Confirmed players are listed in bold-face type
moose200x (replaced Computing)
Redtail896 ^ (replaced Equinox)
Robocopter87 (replaced Hirkala)
Memnon (replaced Ibarra)
ICEninja *
jenniwren
Lateralus22
Chimp Pants (replaced exundervice, TheIlluminator during confirmation)
Uite ^

* = Inexperience Challenged (IC)
^ = Semi-Experienced (SE)

The IC(s) are here to help you learn to play the game. Their play is governed by the wiki article Being a good IC.

Dead Players

Spoiler: Role Reveal

Robocopter87 (replaced Hirkala), Mafia Goon, lynched Day 1
Redtail896 ^ (replaced Equinox), Cop, killed Night 1
moose200x (replaced Computing), Townie, lynched Day 2
Chimp Pants (replaced exundervice, TheIlluminator during confirmation), Doc, killed Night 2
ICEninja *, Townie, lynched Day 3
Uite ^, Townie, killed Night 3
jenniwren, Townie, lynched Day 4
Lateralus22, Townie, killed in Endgame


The Mafia team wins the game!

Game Links

Day 1 Lynch | Day 2 Lynch | Day 3 Lynch | Day 4 Lynch

[Vel-Rahn Koon]

Game Rules:

General Gameplay and Etiquette:

1. In order for all players to play at least one game day this game will start with a Day phase. Communication outside the thread (if your role specifically allows it) is allowed until the game begins.
2. As a general rule you should aim for one post every 48 hours, minimum, to keep the game moving.
3. If you anticipate being unavailable for more than a 48-hour period please post a notice to that effect in the thread. Treat this game as a commitment. Be considerate – please don’t leave us hanging!
4. All Newbie games have strict 3-week deadlines. Extensions are given only in extreme circumstances.
5. You may not quote private Moderator-supplied information (either real or fabricated) of any kind. Paraphrasing (for role claims, etc.) is acceptable.
6. There is to be NO personal communication outside of the forum postings unless your role PM specifically allows it. If someone contacts you outside the game you should report it to the game Mod IMMEDIATELY.
7. If you have a role with a Night action your choices are due to me by the posted deadline. If I do not receive your choice via PM by the posted deadline you will forfeit your actions.
8. Roles with Night actions will not be able to submit an action on Night 0 (i.e. during the confirmation stage).
9. Any player with a Night action may instead submit a “No Action” PM to let the Mod know that you do not want to perform your expected action that Night phase.

Voting, Deadlines, and Player Death:

1. A simple majority of all living players must agree on one person (via voting) for a Lynch to occur (simple majority = ½ # of living players +1, rounded down). If no one has a simple majority of votes at deadline a No Lynch will occur.
2. Once a player has reached a simple majority of votes no further unvoting will change their fate.
3. Votes should be bolded or they may not be counted (e.g. Vote: Player).
4. Vote revocations should be bolded or they may not be counted (e.g. Unvote: Player or Unvote). Unvotes are not necessary before changing votes.
5. You may Vote: No Lynch - a simple majority of these vote types are required to send the game to Night phase without a Lynch.
6. Votes/Unvotes should be placed on a line all by themselves to make them easier for everyone to see.
7. Votes/Unvotes that reasonably follow the guidelines specified above, and are unambiguous with respect to player nicknames/abbreviations, will count. Attempting to fake a vote will result in a Modkill.
8. Once a player is lynched the game enters twilight until I post a death scene; all players may continue to post.
9. Once you are killed (either via lynch or night kill) you may no longer post except for a brief “Bah!”-type post that contains NO game related information.

Miscellaneous/Mechanics:

1. Red or Purple text is reserved for the Mod. No invisible/small/encrypted text is allowed (if you can't read it, don't post it).
2. Vote counts will be posted once per page or once per day, whichever is less.
3. If you have an issue/problem with the game, please PM the Mod privately. Do not post issues/complaints in the game thread.
4. The Mod may make mistakes - please point out any mistakes gently. Mistakes will be corrected where possible, but sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be reversed. These will stand as final to be commiserated over after the game.
5. Please bold all requests to the Mod so that they don’t get missed.
6. Prods of missing players will be issued upon request or on the 4th day of no activity. A player who has been prodded 3 times is subject to possible replacement without further notice.
7. Rules violations will be dealt with according to their severity, up to and including a Modkill, as the Mod sees fit. Modkills may be accompanied by a change to day/night and the offender’s role will be changed to Neutral Survivor, which guarantees a loss.
8. Any situation not explicitly covered above is subject to Mod discretion and will be handled as the Mod sees fit on a case-by-case basis.

The Golden Rule:

Please remember that this is a game and your main objective is to have fun! Be considerate of each other, don’t get personal, and enjoy the game. Playing to win does not preclude being considerate of each other!

There is a ZERO tolerance policy for personal attacks in this game. I will remove you from the game (possibly without warning) if you get too personal.


Helpful Links:

• Main Wiki Page
• Newbie Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Commonly Used Abbreviations
• Mafia Theory

[Vel-Rahn Koon]

The F11 setup is the current game format used in Newbie games. To prevent the development of game-breaking strategies, these Newbie Games are Semi-Open, wherein the actual game setup is randomly chosen from one of four possible setups as detailed below:

• 1 Mafia Goon, 1 Mafia Roleblocker, 1 Sane Cop, 1 Sane Doctor, 5 Townies
• 1 Mafia Goon, 1 Mafia Roleblocker, 7 Townies
• 2 Mafia Goons, 1 Sane Cop, 6 Townies
• 2 Mafia Goons, 1 Sane Doctor, 6 Townies

If either of the first two setups are in play, and the situation occurs where the Goon is lynched first, the Roleblocker will still be able to submit both night kills and roleblocks (roleblocking is a function of the Roleblocker; night kills are a function of the scum team as a whole).


These are the Role PMs that have potentially been sent to the players:

Mafia-Aligned players:

name (a Mafia Goon) and name (who is also a Mafia Goon) are part of the local Mafia crime family. Since your plot to quietly overtake the town has failed, you will attempt take it by force by eliminating the others until you outnumber the populace.

• During the day, try to blend in with the normal Townies, and attempt to get someone lynched.
• During the NIGHT cycle ONLY, you may talk with your fellow Mafia (via [url]this QuickTopic[/url]) and choose another player in the town to kill that night. One of you must send me a PM with your choice of who to kill.
• You may communicate privately via QuickTopic with your fellow Mafia up until the game thread is opened (this is called Night 0). Once the game begins, all outside communication must cease until the night cycle.
• You win when the number of Mafia equals or exceeds the number of remaining Town players, whether you survive to the end or not.

Mafia

name (a Mafia Roleblocker) and name (a Mafia Goon) are part of the local Mafia crime family. Since your plot to quietly overtake the town has failed, you will attempt take it by force by eliminating the others until you outnumber the populace.

• During the day, try to blend in with the normal Townies and attempt to get someone lynched.
• The Mafia Roleblocker has the ability to distract any player throughout the night, effectively negating their night ability, if they have one.
• Send the moderator a PM with your choice of player that you want to block, usually along with the kill. If the blocked player has a role with a Night action, it will have no effect. You will not be informed as to whether the roleblock was successful or not.
• During the NIGHT cycle ONLY, you may talk with your fellow Mafia ([url]via this QuickTopic[/url]) and choose another player in the town to kill that night. One of you must send me a PM with your choice of who to kill.
• You may communicate privately via QuickTopic with your fellow Mafia up until the game thread is opened (this is called Night 0). Once the game begins, all outside communication must cease until the night cycle.
• You win when the number of Mafia equals or exceeds the number of remaining Town players, whether you survive to the end or not.

Town-Aligned players:

Townie:

You are a normal townsperson, trying to make a living and survive this insanity.

• You have no abilities at Night other than getting a good night's rest.
• Although you do not have any special abilities, your voice and vote are powerful weapons in their own right. Use them to your best advantage!
• At no time may you privately communicate with any other player.
• You win when all the Mafia players are gone, whether you survive to the end or not.

Cop

You are the local law enforcement, and can tell the good guys from the bad.

• Each NIGHT, you may send the moderator a PM with your choice of player that you want to investigate.
• The Moderator will inform you as to that person’s guilt or innocence. If you are blocked by a Mafia Roleblocker, you will receive a PM stating “No Result”.
• At no time may you privately communicate with any other player.
• In a Newbie game, you will always get a correct result (no sanity issues).
• You win when all the Mafia players are gone, whether you survive to the end or not.

Doctor:

You are the local physician, and can protect people from harm.

• Each NIGHT, you may send the moderator a PM with your choice of player that you want to protect.
• If someone attempts to kill that player during the Night, they will be spared. You will not be informed as to whether your protection was successful or not.
• You may not protect yourself.
• At no time may you privately communicate with any other player.
• In a Newbie game, your protection target will always live through the night.
• You win when all the Mafia players are gone, whether you survive to the end or not.

[Vel-Rahn Koon]

Still waiting on TheIlluminator. I'm going to start Day 1 now and replace him in 24 hours if he hasn't shown up.

5 to Lynch. Click for Deadline

[Uite]

All right! Let's do this!

VOTE: Equinox

For reasons known to her.

[Lateralus22]

VOTE: Uite

Deceptive scum hiding information from town.

[Uite]

For our new players, what we just did were so-called "random votes", and it's one of the common tactics used at the beginning of the game to get discussion going. Random votes aren't supposed to be truly random, so try to find a reason you like for voting, and use that, even if it's something silly like "Player X's username starts with an S, so he must be scum." Have fun with it!

[Equinox]

VOTE: Lateralus22

...for being the last to confirm. Everyone knows that the last to confirm is scum!

Hello, everybody. I'm the other semi-experienced (SE) player. My purpose in life is to find you scumbags and then put you through the most painful interrogation process ever, followed by a swift and merciful lynch. Fear me not if you are innocent.

Protip of the day: Mafia can become a very heated game. If someone says something that angers you, log off and take a breather. You will need all of your wits about you to make a counterargument. Anger does not come across well, and it makes you a harder player to read overall. Transparency is pro-town.

[jenniwren]

Vote: Lateralus22 for his location, which makes me think of my grad exams. The horror! The horror!

Ninja'd...hmmm...

Vote: TheIlluminator, for not showing up yet.

[Uite]

Equinox is right. I have another reason why anger, or any emotion you don't control, is bad. If you're not thinking clearly, it's easy to say something you will regret later on. Slips make you vulnerable to attack, whether town or scum, which puts your side at a disadvantage, however slight. A good rule of thumb is to only submit your post when you feel it helps you achieve your wincon. Don't use it as an excuse for lurking though, because lurking is decidedly anti-town.

Transparency is indeed pro-town. Town usually doesn't have a reason to lie or decieve, while scum will obviously try to hide their true identity. Lateralus22's vote for me illustrates this principle. My vote for Equinox wasn't transparent, and he voted because of that. Flimsy, because it's so early in the game, but still an okay justification.

One final thing: Town shouldn't be afraid to die. Of course, lynching a townie is unfortunate, and it's no excuse to just let yourself be lynched, but remember that you win along with the town even if you are dead. This goes especially for Vanilla Townies. Don't be afraid to give it your all. Analyse, apply pressure, and make cases. If you draw the nightkill because of that, be glad that you prevented a PR (Power Role, i.e. anyone with special abilities, like Cop or Doc) from being killed.

[Vel-Rahn Koon]

Please note: The following rule has been deleted from the Rules set:

"Voting, Deadlines, and Player Death"

In the case of a tie at deadline, the person who had the most votes before the tie will be lynched.

This rule was a contradiction of sorts to rule 1 under the same section, so I'm removing it.


Vel

[Computing]

Vote jenniwren for being inside a TARDIS as that gives you an unfair advantage.

[Uite]

VOTE: Jenniwren

So you're voting twice in the same post? And you don't want to vote the guy who's received a vote right before? Trying to avoid looking scummy by actively avoiding an RVS bandwagon is scummy in my opinion.

Preview edit: Nice coincidence.

[jenniwren]

Vote jenniwren for being inside a TARDIS as that gives you an unfair advantage.

Shhh...I'm just stowing away, hiding amongst all the old scarves and frock coats and things. It's totally worth it, though.

Unvote
Vote: ICEninja, because he's a ninja who has hidden so well in this thread I can't find him.

[jenniwren]

VOTE: Jenniwren

So you're voting twice in the same post? And you don't want to vote the guy who's received a vote right before? Trying to avoid looking scummy by actively avoiding an RVS bandwagon is scummy in my opinion.

Preview edit: Nice coincidence.

I just want to be original.

[Uite]

If being original was your intent, you could have done better than echo Equinox's reason to vote. And what's up with changing your vote again?

[jenniwren]

I wasn't paying attention to Equinox's reason for voting, just who she voted. As for changing votes, it's RVS, right?

[Uite]

You're contradicting yourself. In order to be original, you have to know what's been done before, so you won't do that. But now you're telling me you didn't really know what Equinox did before you, so how can you try to be original if you don't know what came before you?

Also, you're telling me you're not paying attention. How can you hope to scumhunt if you're not paying attention? You do want to hunt for scum, right?

Claiming RVS as an excuse for votehopping doesn't fly with me. I've explained my stance on this already. The RVS is a tool to start discussion, not an excuse to be random.

[Equinox]

If being original was your intent, you could have done better than echo Equinox's reason to vote.

For the record, jenniwren didn't echo my reason. Not showing up and being last to confirm are different things entirely.

I wasn't paying attention to Equinox's reason for voting, just who she voted. As for changing votes, it's RVS, right?

Any particular reason why you ignored my reasoning?

Hirkala, Ibarra, and ICEninja, hoping to hear from you soon.

[Equinox]

Sigh. I forgot this game just started this morning, so of course there would be people missing. Ignore that last line. >_<

[Uite]

For the record, jenniwren didn't echo my reason. Not showing up and being last to confirm are different things entirely.

It depends on how you look at it. If TheIlluminator does confirm before we get a replacement, he will become the last to confirm. Also, Lateralus22 took a few days to confirm, making him only slightly less flaky than TheIlluminator, who isn't definitely out yet. Then again, there's a case to be made for your position, so I guess it comes down to differing opinions.

Regarding the players who haven't checked in, it's been over 12 hours since the thread opened, so I'm a bit surprised we haven't heard from so many people yet.

Question for everyone: What timezone are you in? It helps to know when people are likely on. I'm in the Netherlands, so mine is GMT+1.

[Ibarra]

Why is RVS necessary...
Don't you guys need proof to vote...

[Ibarra]

OK. I read Uite's post, but still...

Should we try to find lapses in judgement even in Day 1?

[Equinox]

What timezone are you in? It helps to know when people are likely on.

GMT-7 until November 7.

Why is RVS necessary...

At the start of a game, there's nothing to work with, so one way to remedy that is to have a random voting stage. People throw votes around for silly reasons until they hit something serious.

Another way to generate information at the start of a game is the random questions stage. The questions are not necessarily random, but it's a good way to learn about fellow players. (I'm not one to create questions like that, so I tend to stick to RVS.)

Don't you guys need proof to vote...

Hmm... Having a good, solid reason behind a vote is highly encouraged, though I wouldn't say that proof is a requirement for voting. In some instances, you need to generate that proof yourself; one way to do that is to use what's called a "pressure vote," where you vote someone with some reason or other and get them to react.

Should we try to find lapses in judgement even in Day 1?

Absolutely. Force the mafia into slipping by generating discussion.

[Uite]

@Ibarra: I see that Equinox answered your questions as well, but here's my take:

The thing is, at the beginning of the game, there's no information at all. Random voting helps with gathering information by looking at what people do with their votes. That information can then be used to pressure players, which leads to even more information. Gathering information is definitely pro-town. You should do it.

Also, anything that's said now can be as important as anything said during Day 3. People can slip at any time, and if someone defends themself with 'it was just RVS', don't believe them. Make them accountable for what they say and do.