Possible Game Mechanism

[Grundbegriff]

Just thinking out loud here....

Games with three teams are difficult to balance. They tend to result in deadlock. But what if deadlock could be prevented?

Scenario:
Three teams of 5. Let's call them Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow.
Members of a team know one another. So each player knows
(a) 4 teammates
(b) 10 Others

Some More Equal Than Others
Each team starts with a Captain who is worth 2 population. So each team starts with an effective population of 6. The bonus counts toward equilibrium/superiority. The bonus dies with the Captain.

Mind Control
Each team also starts with a Controller. The Controller has the power to select one Victim from among the Others and force him to persecute a named target. Unless stiffed, the Victim does not learn the identity of his Controller (though he may deduce his Controller's team). The Victim's incentive to comply is that the Controller will later kill his family award him 0-3 points for a job well done. These points may be spent as secret votes in the daily lynch or to exercise other powers. One such power is to avenge oneself on Controllers who tip poorly.

If the Victim of control performs poorly in the judgment of his Controller, he will earn fewer points with which to benefit his own team. If the Victim performs well and the Controller stiffs him, the Victim may spend those points to offset whatever the Controller earns the next time he is a Victim. For example, if a Cyan controls a Magenta, the Magenta performs well, and the Cyan pays only 1, then the Magenta can spend that 1 to handicap that Cyan. Later, when a Magenta or a Yellow controls that Cyan, then the Controller's pay to that Cyan will be docked by 1.

On pay of 0, the Victim learns the identity of his Controller, but not until the round after next.
On pay of 1 or 2, the Victim can choose to spend it on handicapping his controller.
On pay of 3, the Victim does not have this option since the Controller paid him well.

As a rule of thumb, each of these services is worthy of a unit of pay: voting against the target, advocating the vote against the target, successfully executing the target.

The role of Controller passes from one teammate to another when its bearer dies.

Goal and Gameplay
The goal is to eliminate one enemy team while having equilibrium or better against the other.

For example, to win the game, the members of Cyan would have to eliminate Magenta and have at least as many members as Yellow when Magenta is eliminated. OR Cyan would have to eliminate Yellow and have at least as many members as Magenta when the last Yellow dies.

Gameplay proceeds as in Werewolf, with a public dispute over whom to lynch. One difference is that each team may also choose to control one Other, who will be paid (as described above) for pursuing a desired target. In addition, points accrued through effective performance while controlled may be spent as hidden votes.

Each member of a team will seek to conserve the lives of his teammates and to end the lives of the 10 others. On a successful execution, the team affiliation of the dead will be revealed. His status as Captain or Controller will not be revealed. Also, the ratio of actual to purchased votes will be confirmed.

I think this mechanism introduces a few interesting wrinkles while staying close to standard Werewolf.

First, it adds a twist to behavioral analysis, since the motivation for any action might be mixed or compromised.
Second, it requires figuring out how many on each team are still around, based on info revealed on execution and on info deduced via control. (e.g., if I'm Cyan and I was asked to target someone who, on death, was revealed to be Magenta, then my controller is probably -- but not necessarily!-- Yellow.)
Third, it requires not eliminating one team until it's clear that this won't bring immediate victory to the other.

The game ends when one whole team is eliminated. At that point, the remaining team with the highest population is the victor.

Thoughts? Holes detected?

[Remus West]

Brief read through about the Mind Control makes me think that the points earned should be able to be used by any member of the victim's team since the odds of the actual controller being targeted by one of the other teams is small the risk of giving few points is then equally small.

[El Guapo]

Brief read through about the Mind Control makes me think that the points earned should be able to be used by any member of the victim's team since the odds of the actual controller being targeted by one of the other teams is small the risk of giving few points is then equally small.

Yeah, this was my first thought too. As is if I were the Controller I would routinely stiff my victims.

[Grundbegriff]

Brief read through about the Mind Control makes me think that the points earned should be able to be used by any member of the victim's team since the odds of the actual controller being targeted by one of the other teams is small the risk of giving few points is then equally small.

Yeah, this was my first thought too. As is if I were the Controller I would routinely stiff my victims.

A good point. I don't want the retribution to be too powerful, but I do want it to have some bite.
I guess it could affect the next member of that Controller's team to be controlled.

[stessier]

There needs to be a prohibition against Controlling your own team or you can rack up a ton of points with no risk.

[Grundbegriff]

There needs to be a prohibition against Controlling your own team or you can rack up a ton of points with no risk.

Already there:

"...The Controller has the power to select one Victim from among the Others... "

[theohall]

Trying to do.permutations on this, but they are too diverse. Would be interested, solely from the uncertain mathematical aspect.