[MAY ‘23 CHALLENGE] Sportsball

[Irrelephant11]

Hi

A couple scummers casually mentioned the other day that they miss Open Setup Challenges. So as the founder of the Challenges, I’m bringing them back! These are monthly challenges to design open setups based around specific ideas. The design phase is followed by a voting phase to determine a winner, who then sets the following month’s challenge!

Previously these challenges included some mechanical restrictions like “has to include exactly 9 players” or “must use neighborhoods in a unique way”. Those were fun, but sometimes the fact that they were TOO strict made it hard to get creative. Or other times people had great ideas, only to get eliminated from winning on a technicality.

SO: The previous era of mechanics-focused challenges is over! These new challenges will be theme-based! Themes allow for a wide range of game design creativity, while still being inspiring and allowing for comparative voting. Let’s get to it:

May ‘23 challenge

Sportsball!

Scummers are notorious for being incredibly athletic and loving various sports. From football (American) to football (everywhere else), tennis to triathlons, everyone on this site LOVES THEM SOME SPORTS. Trust me.

So design an open mafia setup based on a sport! I wanna see Golf Mafia (fewest points?), or Synchronized Swimming Mafia (synchronized votes?) - or even Archery Mafia (idk good luck).

You can post as many designs as you want, but must designate one setup as the one you’re submitting for the challenge.

Deadline is sometime on May 14th, whenever I’m online. I’ll explain how to vote at that time.

Have fun and make sure to stretch so you don’t get injured!

[biancospino]

Archery Mafia

7 Amateur Archers

William Tell
Robin Hood

Special mechanics:

• Players are archers in a competition. After each shot, one of them will be cut (usually)!
  
• Each Day, players can decide by majority on one archer they want to boot from the competition.
  
• Each archer's arrows are of a different color, randomly selected among White, Grey, Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Green, Purple. Color assignment is independent of alignment. Color assignment is not publicly known.
  
• At the beginning of each Night, each amateur archer shoots at the target. The result is a random integer from 1 (the border of the target) to 10 (bullseye); with a probability of (11-n)/55 of hitting n. This result is told privately to the archer, but is not revealed publicly.
  
• William and Robin (the red archers) are told where each colored arrow landed (but
  not
  who shot each arrow). Then each shoots an arrow, and since they're exceptional archers, they can decide exactly where they want the arrow to land.
  
• Each night, one of the red archers may opt to shoot their arrow directly into an arrow already present in the target, thus destroying and replacing it.
  
• The red archers have a factional PT.
  
• The red archers have no other factional ability.
  
• Each archer receives a bonus depending on what they scored:
  1. nothing
     
  2. this night, you may vend a fruit to target player.
     
  3. this night, you may send a message to target player.
     
  4. this night, you may neighborize target player (if either of you two is already in a hood, the other is added to it; otherwise, a hood is created with you and your target)
     
  5. this night, you may target a player to discover the color of their arrows.
     
  6. this night, you may choose a color, and discover which archer's arrows are of that color.
     
  7. this night, you may target a player, thus preventing them from acting, but also making them immune from being cut tonight.
     
  8. this night, you may target a player, thus discovering who targeted, or was targeted by, them.
     
  9. if William is still in the competition, you discover a random color that is
     not
     William's; otherwise, you discover a random color that is
     not
     Robin's.
     
  10. the next time you would be cut, you aren't.
• Bonuses given to archers whose arrow was destroyed have no effect.
  
• At Dawn, it is revealed where each colored arrow landed on the target (but not who shot them), with the exception of any destroyed arrow. The archer who scored the least points is cut from the competition (archers whose arrow was destroyed score 0). If there is a tie, the archer who scored the least total amount of points during the whole competition is cut. If there is still a tie, it is resolved at random.

EDIT: 9 used to be "you discover the color of William Tell's arrow if their still in the competition. Otherwise, you discover the color of Robin Hood's arrows."

[Ausuka]

Mafia: Tennis Challenge

9

Town Vanilla

4

Mafia Vanilla

The game starts on Night 0. In every night phase, every player votes to give a certain player the Tennis Ball. Only one player can have the Tennis Ball - in the (presumably pretty common) event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be a list which is determined by the Mafia during night 0.

The player with the Tennis Ball must issue a challenge to another player. They can choose to do this in

Singles

format or

Doubles

format. In Singles format, the town must vote to eliminate either the challenger or the challenged. In Doubles format, both the challenger and the challenged are able to pick a 'partner' and the vote is therefore to eliminate two people - the challenger and their partner, or the challenged and their partner.

There is no standard night kill. Instead, the mafia can

Bribe the Umpire

, removing a player from the game - this can only be done during a night phase, but it can also only be done

once

throughout the entire game.

Win conditions are standard.

Sorry this might be lame but i said i was interested so I had to do something and sports isn't my forte

[Irrelephant11]

Sports isn’t any of our forte! You could submit something that just, like, loosely includes points tbh

But interesting submissions so far!!

[biancospino]

I do have a question thou; why is this the "April" challenge, as opposed to "May"?

[Irrelephant11]

Because I forgot the date

[Invisibility]

with a probability of (11-n)/55 of hitting n

I think you should phrase this in a way that's easier to roll with random.org LOL. Like assigning each point value a range of numbers that you could roll on a 1d100.

[usesPython]

with a probability of (11-n)/55 of hitting n

I think you should phrase this in a way that's easier to roll with random.org LOL. Like assigning each point value a range of numbers that you could roll on a 1d100.

1d55

1-10: 1
11-19: 2
20-27: 3
28-34: 4
35-40: 5
41-45: 6
46-49: 7
50-52: 8
53-54: 9
55: 10

[Irrelephant11]

Archery Mafia

7 Amateur Archers

William Tell
Robin Hood

Special mechanics:

• Players are archers in a competition. After each shot, one of them will be cut (usually)!
  
• Each Day, players can decide by majority on one archer they want to boot from the competition.
  
• Each archer's arrows are of a different color, randomly selected among White, Grey, Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange, Green, Purple. Color assignment is independent of alignment. Color assignment is not publicly known.
  
• At the beginning of each Night, each amateur archer shoots at the target. The result is a random integer from 1 (the border of the target) to 10 (bullseye); with a probability of (11-n)/55 of hitting n. This result is told privately to the archer, but is not revealed publicly.
  
• William and Robin (the red archers) are told where each colored arrow landed (but
  not
  who shot each arrow). Then each shoots an arrow, and since they're exceptional archers, they can decide exactly where they want the arrow to land.
  
• Each night, one of the red archers may opt to shoot their arrow directly into an arrow already present in the target, thus destroying and replacing it.
  
• The red archers have a factional PT.
  
• The red archers have no other factional ability.
  
• Each archer receives a bonus depending on what they scored:
  1. nothing
     
  2. this night, you may vend a fruit to target player.
     
  3. this night, you may send a message to target player.
     
  4. this night, you may neighborize target player (if either of you two is already in a hood, the other is added to it; otherwise, a hood is created with you and your target)
     
  5. this night, you may target a player to discover the color of their arrows.
     
  6. this night, you may choose a color, and discover which archer's arrows are of that color.
     
  7. this night, you may target a player, thus preventing them from acting, but also making them immune from being cut tonight.
     
  8. this night, you may target a player, thus discovering who targeted, or was targeted by, them.
     
  9. you discover the color of William Tell's arrow if their still in the competition. Otherwise, you discover the color of Robin Hood's arrows.
     
  10. the next time you would be cut, you aren't.
• Bonuses given to archers whose arrow was destroyed have no effect.
  
• At Dawn, it is revealed where each colored arrow landed on the target (but not who shot them), with the exception of any destroyed arrow. The archer who scored the least points is cut from the competition (archers whose arrow was destroyed score 0). If there is a tie, the archer who scored the least total amount of points during the whole competition is cut. If there is still a tie, it is resolved at random.

Wait so based on random dice rolls multiple townies could, say, learn the color of William Tell’s arrows N1, and then a massclaim of colors on D2 could out William Tell? The random dice roll seems a little too swingy

[Irrelephant11]

Mafia: Tennis Challenge

9

Town Vanilla

4

Mafia Vanilla

The game starts on Night 0. In every night phase, every player votes to give a certain player the Tennis Ball. Only one player can have the Tennis Ball - in the (presumably pretty common) event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be a list which is determined by the Mafia during night 0.

The player with the Tennis Ball must issue a challenge to another player. They can choose to do this in

Singles

format or

Doubles

format. In Singles format, the town must vote to eliminate either the challenger or the challenged. In Doubles format, both the challenger and the challenged are able to pick a 'partner' and the vote is therefore to eliminate two people - the challenger and their partner, or the challenged and their partner.

There is no standard night kill. Instead, the mafia can

Bribe the Umpire

, removing a player from the game - this can only be done during a night phase, but it can also only be done

once

throughout the entire game.

Win conditions are standard.

Sorry this might be lame but i said i was interested so I had to do something and sports isn't my forte

I think optimal play for a townie with the tennis ball is to always pick Doubles, pick a scummy opponent, and pick a scummy partner. And then the town also pressures the opponent to pick a scummy partner. With that in mind town probably hits scum somewhat regularly but probably a townie goes down with them, making this sorta dance game-y (not a bad thing)

Also optimal play for scum probably includes a N1 kill so the game is on evens for almost every day phase, I think?

[biancospino]

...

Wait so based on random dice rolls multiple townies could, say, learn the color of William Tell’s arrows N1, and then a massclaim of colors on D2 could out William Tell? The random dice roll seems a little too swingy

In theory (though the chance of that happening would be quite low), but presumably Robin could be interested in destroying one of those arrows if that would happen. It is very swingy still, yes; maybe may be worth changing it to, say "you choose a color and discover whether or not William or Robin's arrows are that color"

[Irrelephant11]

I just bring it up because generally Open Setups try to avoid situations where either side wins automatically, however unlikely. Swing is fine, but nobody wants to feel outplayed by a dice roll

[biancospino]

You're not wrong. What if it was instead "If William is still in the competition, you discover a random color that is not William's; otherwise, you discover a random color that is not Robin's" ?

[Irrelephant11]

I’m not competing since I set the theme, but I thought I’d share the idea that came to me today

march madness

3

vs

9

Night 0, scum pairs every player, then pairs the pairs into groups of 4. These pairings and groupings are announced at the start of D1.

During D1, town votes to eliminate one player from each pair. The deadline resets after every flip.

During D2, town votes to eliminate one player from each original group of 4. The deadline resets after every flip.

During D3, the final 3 players have a normal final 3.

Once during D1 and once during D2, scum can daykill a player whose pairing is still alive, thus determining the outcome for that pair.

[Ausuka]

Mafia: Tennis Challenge

9

Town Vanilla

4

Mafia Vanilla

The game starts on Night 0. In every night phase, every player votes to give a certain player the Tennis Ball. Only one player can have the Tennis Ball - in the (presumably pretty common) event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be a list which is determined by the Mafia during night 0.

The player with the Tennis Ball must issue a challenge to another player. They can choose to do this in

Singles

format or

Doubles

format. In Singles format, the town must vote to eliminate either the challenger or the challenged. In Doubles format, both the challenger and the challenged are able to pick a 'partner' and the vote is therefore to eliminate two people - the challenger and their partner, or the challenged and their partner.

There is no standard night kill. Instead, the mafia can

Bribe the Umpire

, removing a player from the game - this can only be done during a night phase, but it can also only be done

once

throughout the entire game.

Win conditions are standard.

Sorry this might be lame but i said i was interested so I had to do something and sports isn't my forte

I think optimal play for a townie with the tennis ball is to always pick Doubles, pick a scummy opponent, and pick a scummy partner. And then the town also pressures the opponent to pick a scummy partner. With that in mind town probably hits scum somewhat regularly but probably a townie goes down with them, making this sorta dance game-y (not a bad thing)

Also optimal play for scum probably includes a N1 kill so the game is on evens for almost every day phase, I think?

I think since there isnt really a standard scum nightkill it's not like, always gonna be the optimal play to go doubles. with singles it's easier to just like, pick the scummier person i guess. it wasn't clear to me that there was a super optimal option but maybe im wrong

[Irrelephant11]

Oh I mean in practice I’m sure Singles is sometimes situationally the right choice! I’m not saying it’s broken or anything. I just like trying to figure out what good strategies there might be

[Invisibility]

is juggling a sport?

[Jingle]

I imagine a pretty loose definition of sport will be applied. Also, I have an idea and will type it up later.

[Jingle]

Kickball Mafia

Everyone remembers kickball, right? You line up against a fence and then the team captains take turns picking everyone who is better at sports than you and you wait with a sinking feeling to see if you're the sad loser who doesn't get chosen. That's a universal experience, right?

Also, I think there might have been something about kicking.

7 VT
2 Scum

Nightstart

There is no factional nightkill. Each night, a player is assigned to the red team by the mafia. Then a player is assigned to the blue team by the mafia. A player may not be assigned to more than one team at a time. If at any point in time, there is only one player who is not assigned to a team, they are immediately sent off in shame to cry about being bad at sports. All teams are disbanded when this happens.

Each day phase, players may vote on a player to get rid of for being unfairly good. Players may not vote for a player on the same team as they are. If a player is voted by a majority of the living players, they will be escorted to the edge of the field and promptly ejected from the play area because no one wants to play with them.

Town wins if all of the mafia have been removed from the game, at which point recess is over and you all have to go study geography and learn about rocks or something.
Mafia wins if they control half of the votes at any point, or if nothing can prevent that from occurring, at which point recess is over and you all have to go study algebra and learn about seaweed or something.

[Jingle]

Oh I mean in practice I’m sure Singles is sometimes situationally the right choice! I’m not saying it’s broken or anything. I just like trying to figure out what good strategies there might be

I think singles is actually the right choice for town in tennis in all cases except the rare corner case when multiple scum are still alive in an ELO where scum have not used their NK yet. The reason for this being that unless the scum team can end the game with the nk, town will always have the opportunity to reevaluate and make the decision again with the flip as additional knowledge. It's like how DD Nightless is slightly more scumsided than regular nightless.

[Invisibility]

Kickball Mafia

I really like this one

[Jingle]

Kickball Mafia

I really like this one

Clearly you were better at kickball than I was.

[TemporalLich]

I am not sure how eliminations work in Kickball Mafia - considering that there are two teams with an equal amount of players, you can't vote a player on your team, but eliminations are majority which requires more than half of the total vote power.

Are there two eliminations per day, each decided by the opposite team and resolving simultaneously? Otherwise, eliminations would be impossible. Though, this would make the game not have a nightkill after Night 0.

[Jingle]

Are there two eliminations per day, each decided by the opposite team and resolving simultaneously? Otherwise, eliminations would be impossible. Though, this would make the game not have a nightkill after Night 0.

Edited original setup for clarity.

Only two players are added to teams each night, so there are unteamed players who may vote anyone. Also, the team selections happen sequentially, so if a player is chosen for red team and then there is a single player left, they die and the teams are disbanded before blue team picks a player.

[Jingle]

Snip

VOTE: Zebra