Octopus Overlords

Hi all, not sure what hell vacations are playing with everyone's schedules of late, but hope everyone is having a good summer and getting through the heat.

I would like to propose the following game, which is a fairly standard WW game, with a few twists here and there. I would run it at some point after the conclusion of stessier's current game, either before or after Lassr's, whichever folks prefer.

"The Monstrumologist And The Vampires Of New Jerusalem"

The game "universe" is loosely based on the Monstrumologist book series by Rick Yancey. The books are set in the late 19th-Century, and involve the adventures of Monstrumologist Dr. Pellinore Warthrop and his young assistant, Will Henry. As a Monstrumologist, Dr. Warthrop has dedicated his life to the scientific study of "monsters": those creatures normally hidden from mainstream science who naturally prey upon humans.

While Warthrop has evidence and belief in a wide variety of fantastic and horrible creatures, he firmly denies the existence of such prosaic things as vampires. To him there is no evidence of their existence. This is a source of great conflict among "The Society", the academic worldwide group of Monstrumologists. The president of The Society--Dr. Von Helrung--firmly believes they may exist.

They do.

And they're coming for Warthrop's assistant, Will Henry. Will's blood has been tainted by unnatural forces (Will, born in 1876, will live until 2007 as a result), and a group of vampires have discovered this fact and desire that blood; it will make them invulnerable--to sunlight, stakes, garlic, crosses...you name it. It would be Very Bad Indeed if the vampires were allowed to perform their ritual to ex-sanguinate Warthrop's assistant. The only solution? Disguises for all to root out the vampires who have descended on the tiny village of New Jerusalem in upstate New York!

1. I would prefer at least 19 players if possible. Can easily play with more.

2. Game is a fairly standard WW game in framework. No PMs between "village" players except as noted. "Wolf" team will have its own forum. No edits to posts except for grammar or spelling or to fix tags, please. Game begins on a day turn where the village votes to hang one of their own, and then proceeds to a night turn where the "wolf" team may take action against the village. Play proceeds in that framework until all "wolves" are dead, or until the number of "wolves" in a day turn is equal to or more than the number of "villagers". (May be the start of a day, or end of a day after a hanging.)

3. Not all roles will be in the game. For the "Village" side, there are two roles guaranteed to be in the game: Dr. Warthrop and Will Henry. For the "Wolf" side, Walter Sickert (the "Seer" for that team) is guaranteed to be in the game. The number of roles beyond that, and the number of players on each side will be determined by randomization within a certain range.

ROLES!

The Monstrumologist And His Associates:

Dr. Pellinore Warthrop



Dr. Warthrop is a keen student of human nature, even though most of the time he would seemingly prefer to have nothing whatsoever to do with the fellow members of his own species. Mercurial, stoic, given to mad passions of academia that fuel him for weeks without sleep...and then result in weeks of crippling melancholia. Every night turn, Dr. Warthrop may scan any player in the game and will be told that player's role and faction. Should the Doctor scan Will Henry, Will and the Doctor will be able to PM one another throughout the remainder of the game as long as they both are alive. If Will is voted to the gallows, Dr. Warthrop will recognize him and save him...but this involuntary act will identify both players to all others in the game and confirm their roles, however then both players may PM one another for as long as both remain alive in the game. Guaranteed to be a role in the game at the start. If Dr. Warthrop is the target of a conversion attempt, that attempt fails and he will be told the identity of Landru.

WIll Henry



Young Will Henry, orphaned at 12 and taken in by Dr. Warthrop as his assistant, is a resourceful lad. Although seemingly constantly being exposed to the greatest of perils, Will Henry always manages to survive...somehow. "Infected" by a disease caused by a hellspawn that resulted in the death of his mother and father (who both worked for Dr. Warthrop), the taint did not kill Will--it unnaturally extended his life and seems to give him preternatural good luck when it comes to surviving even the most dire of situations. Will Henry cannot be killed at night unless he is expressly identified and confirmed by the game mechanics or scanned by Walter Sickert. If Will Henry is scanned by Dr. Warthrop, the two may converse freely throughout the game via PM. If Will Henry is voted to the gallows and if Dr. Warthrop is alive he will involuntarily save his protege which identifies both players to every other player in the game--however at that point Will and Dr. Warthrop may pm one another as long as both are alive in the game. If Will Henry is identified by scanning, he will be notified of that fact at the break of day following the night he was scanned. Will Henry is the only player who survives being Jack Kearns's "bait", but such survival identifies Will to all players in the game. Guaranteed to be in the game. If Will Henry is the target of a conversion attempt, that attempt fails and he will be told the identity of Landru.


Jack Kearns



"You're a naughty one, Saucy Jack." Jack Kearns is a loose cannon. Put more bluntly, Jack Kearns is absolutely batcrap crazy. Jaunty, cheerful, supremely confident and possessing no conscience whatsoever, were he alive today, Kearns would be best described as a sociopath. There are dark hints that he may be a certain "From Hell" letter writer who did bloody work with a knife in Whitechapel in 1888, if you get my drift. Kearns is a longtime co-hort (and sometimes antagonist) of Dr. Warthrop and the Society. It isn't that Kearns isn't valuable for his dogged ability to ferret out and destroy monsters...it's the way he does it, which brings new meaning to the notion of the cure being more deadly than the disease. Kearns has the one-time ability that allows him to choose to "sacrifice" (as in "kill") any player in the game during a daytime turn by using him as "bait" in order to discover the true identity of another player in the game. Kearns tends to get impatient and a bit impetuous, too. There is a 10% chance of this ability auto-proccing on day 2, a 20% chance of it happening on day 3, a 30% chance of it happening on day 4, a 40% chance of it happening on day 5, and a 50% chance of it happening on Day 6 and any subsequent days. If Kearns chooses to use his ability of his own volition, he may pick both the person to be sacrificed as "bait" as well as the player to learn the identity of. If the ability happens automatically, the bait player will be chosen at random, but Kearns may select the target to learn the identity of. If Kearns selects Will Henry as his bait, Will survives but the identity of the target is still revealed. Kearns may not choose himself to be "bait." (If Kearns selects a Vampire as his bait, the Vampire will be killed in a fearsome struggle with the psychotic, crazed Englishman. If Kearns's ability auto-procs, the pool of "bait" players shall be restricted to members of his own team. Kearns may elect to use his ability at any time during the daytime turn segment, but the auto-proc check is made when n-5 total unique votes have been cast during the day.)

Dr. Abram Von Helrung



The estimable Doctor Von Helrung is the President of the Society For The Advancement Of The Science Of Monstrumology ("The Society", as it is known to its member monstrumologists). He is a mentor and dear friend of Warthrop, even if the two disagree frequently over matters of monstrumological science (for instance, while Warthrop insists that vampires do not exist, Dr. Von Helrung is rather convinced they do.) Using his medical training and years of experience, Dr. Von Helrung is the ideal person to serve as a coroner in the matter of the vampire problem descending on New Jerusalem. Every night Dr. Von Helrung may submit the name of a player who has been eliminated from the game and be told that person's full and real role within the game.

Adolphus Ainsworth



If Dr. Von Helrung is the face and leadership of The Society, Adolphus Ainsworth represents a much closer representation of what the membership of that august group of academics actually resemble. Reeking of formaldehyde and the decay of his work area, Ainsworth is the keeper of the Monstrumarium, the dark and dank archives and holding area of all recovered evidence and specimens of The Society. Need to see the bones of a Wendigo killed in 1712? Ainsworth's your man. Cranky and reclusive, Ainsworth's formidable eye for detail and remarkable ability to stay on the pulse of happenings within The Society allow him to know at the start of each day the number of players on both teams, as well as the number of players with roles on the Monstrumologists' side.

The Pinkerton



While they prefer to think of themselves as brilliant deducers and detection artists, in truth the Pinkertons are no great shakes at their avowed profession as detectives. If the Pinkerton sent to New Jerusalem lacks any particular brilliant insight into detecting the vampires descending on the village, he is at least good in a fight and an excellent guard. The Pinkerton may choose to protect any player at night. A player under the protection of the Pinkerton man cannot be killed at night, and that player is protected the following day against daytime attacks--not including hanging by lynch or selection by Kearns as bait. The Pinkerton may not protect the same player on consecutive nights. He may self-protect.

Jacob Torrance



Jacob Torrance is rather new to The Society, a Monstrumologist who has recently celebrated reaching "The Thirty"--his 30th birthday, considered something of a milestone in The Society owing to the number of prospective monstrumologists who fail to see that particular birth anniversary owing to the danger of their profession. Torrance lacks the deductive brilliance of Warthrop, or the clinical skills of Von Helrung. He's no Ainsworth either. What the hard-drinking, brutish Torrance is good at is serving as muscle. He's huge, he may have been a fisticuffer in his youth, and when pressed he's hardly adverse to taking bold, destructive action. Torrance has a one time ability that allows him at any time during the day choose to kill any other player in the game during the day cycle. If Torrance selects someone under the protection of The Pinkerton, his attack will fail.

Algernon Blackwood



A writer who would achieve his greatest fame in the 20th century for such stories as The Wendigo, in 1891 Blackwood was a young, muck-raking reporter in New York City, a writer possessing strong enough flourishes and lyrical chops to easily sway public opinion. In that regard, Blackwood--who knows of The Society, but keeps its secrets as a rich vein for future literary material--is a friend and confidant of Society members. They see his access to the public through the newspaper as both a curse and a boon. Thanks to Blackwood's ability to shape public opinion, he possesses an extra, secret vote each day which he may place by PM'ing the GM. Once placed, Blackwood's secret vote may not be moved. His public vote, of course, may be moved at will and whim.

Arthur Conan Doyle



Although Doyle is certainly at this point in life given over to occasional flights of fancy, this friend of The Society is considered a bit flighty for rejecting the notion of the existence of anthropophagi and wendigos, but somehow finding room in his mind to believe in the existence of fairies. While many in the Society dismiss Doyle as a fantasticist, sharp-minded members like Warthrop and Von Helrung recognize Doyle's sharp mind and spirit for adventure. Even a fellow like Doyle--so wrong so often about the "unnatural sciences" is occasionally right--at least in his own mind. Doyle possesses a one-time ability to cast three secret votes on a player in the game during the daytime phase. Those votes may be freely moved during that daytime period via PM, but once the day expires, the ability does as well.

The Vampires

Walter Sickert



Walter, Walter Walter. You're a painter. You're brilliant, if misunderstood. You suffer from headaches, or so you say. You brood. You should. You're a vampire. You might even be Jack The Ripper, a vague claim attributed to you in certain quarters, and one that drives Jack Kearns to great distraction (if anyone gets to be vaguely associated with The Ripper, Kearns would prefer it to be him.) As the leader of this particular group of Vampires, you have discovered that the demonic infection that killed the parents of Will Henry (his father was exposed while assisting Dr. Warthrop) has not only given the young lad a supernaturally long lifespan, the mix of infectants and his particular blood type will render any vampire invulnerable to the usual bits that kill them: stakes, sunlight, garlic, etc. You and yours want that young man's blood. You're something of a genius, Sickert. Every night you may determine the exact role of any other player in the game. This role is guaranteed to be present at the start of the game.

H. H. Holmes



Or is it Mudgett? Never mind, not important. You're a few years from achieving your life's master work as the most notorious of 19th century American serial killers. Only fitting that the reality of the situation is that you're also a vampire (funny how the history books fail to mention that after your hanging you were staked.) You are a man of action, Holmes, not one to be taken lightly. You are brazen and unafraid of the consequences of your actions, and cannot fully grasp why your fellow vampires see the need to slink about so much incognito. You possess the one-time ability to kill another player in the game during the daytime phase. Doing so will reveal your identity to all, but what does that matter to a man of action such as yourself? Should the target of your attack be protected by the Pinkerton, your attack will fail, but your greatness and superiority will still be revealed to all.

Dr. Hawley Crippen



Every good group of Vampires needs a doctor to keep things straight for them, and good ol' Dr. Crippen serves just that very purpose for these fellows. Ol' Cripp, you have great value for Walter and the group, because your medical training allows you to pull and push at the innards of the recently life-impaired to determine what specific role that person may have played. You can do that once per night turn. Lovely.

Ustinov, The Russian Agent



It's always the bloody Russians...or so it seems, at least. Tsar Nicholas II well knows that you don't get to be Tsar without having your own secret service to protect your interests at home and abroad, and you--"Good Old Ustinov" to the Tsar himself--are his man in New York. You've heard about vampires being present and looking for some young lad in the upstate, and you're curious, quite curious about the whole enterprise. Not that you care to stop the vampires--quite the contrary. You're much more interested in seeing them destabilize a country that could someday insert their nosy selves into European affairs. Your boss is also less than enthused about that whole Seward purchase thing with Alaska, and is thinking he'd want it back. Having the cure for rampant vampire killings might be a formidable bargaining chip...or you may just decide to wait until the whole country is an uninhabitable undead wasteland. Decisions, decisions. As the Russian Agent, you possess the ability to subtly move public opinion. Once per day turn you may place a secret, hidden vote against any player. Once placed, that vote may not be moved.

Thomas Arkwright (of the New York Arkwrights)



You are Thomas Arkwright--of the New York Arkwrights--scion of one of the great families in all of the Mid Atlantic region. Or so you say. No one is exactly sure who the "New York Arkwrights" are, but you profess to be their son and sole heir, and clearly are an educated, erudite, and utterly charming young gentleman. You have so greatly insinuated yourself into The Society, that you count Dr. Von Helrung and Dr. Warthrop among the most ardent admirers of your charm and intellect. You're also working for the Russians, have full knowledge of the vampires, and are delighted to have the chance to study what happens when they wreak their full havoc on such self-serving, pompous boobs as Warthrop and Helrung. They'll never realize until too late that you're one plotting against them. Oh no. Any scan of you will return the result that you are a mere unpowered member of The Society.

Dr. Thomas Cream



Dr. Cream, you do love your tonics and potions and remedies, don't you? What's that? A few drinks of this and I'll be right as rain? What could possibly go wrong there? Cream, you're a dainty sort of vampire. You're no fan of getting your hands dirty or engaging in a bit of wild and wet blood drinking. None of that for you. You prefer your meals to be consumed in a civilized manner, where the victim doesn't move a muscle. A such, you are in possession of a wide and sundry variety of pharmaceuticals that will knock your victim out cold. You possess the one-time ability to disable any player in the game. A disabled player may not post, may not use any daytime power, and may not use any nighttime power either. You can be blocked by the protection of the Pinkerton in administering your "cures". If this happens, you retain your ability and may choose another victim on a subsequent day.

Joseph Vacher



You told them you were a vampire. Hell, you'd think they'd have figured it out when you flew into that rage and shot yourself not once, but twice in the head. And survived. To any outside observer, they'd be thinking "Oh yeah, that guy is totally undead." Not the gendarmes in France, though, and not the constables in New York, either. More than most others who try to employ it, your own pleas to insanity will somehow help you escape execution. Well, they'll help you escape execution once, at least. After that, there's a good chance they'll realize that you're a vampire, insane or not.

Henri Landru



What is it about you that's so charming? Perhaps its the plaintiveness in those personal want ads you placed, eh? Perhaps it's just something about you--seemingly meek and mild-mannered and pleasant enough...a charming sort in an understated way. Then again, it could just be that you have a light appetite, and enjoy just a small bite and drink. You have the one time ability to convert any player in the game to the Vampire team, with the exception of Dr. Warthrop or Will Henry. An attempt to convert either will simply read with the same boilerplate text as an attack foiled by The Pinkerton. Once converted, that player retains their abilities from the Monstrumologist side. If the Vampires elect to have Landru convert a player, that conversion takes place in lieu of a night kill.

The Opportunist

Bram Stoker



Really, you should've all been fast friends. You learned of the existence of The Society from Doyle, without once suspected that the author of A Study In Scarlet quite detested you. When you came to interview Dr. Warthrop and Dr. Von Helrung about their adventure with the wendigo, you were rather brusquely treated, you thought. At least they could have gotten your name right! (Warthrop thinks he's so haughty, calling you "Stokely" or "Stocker"). You'll show them. You'll show them all. You're writing a corker of a book, and its publication will make you fabulously wealthy and famous. And though you certainly respect their fear and eagerness to kill off the vampires that seem to be descending on New Jerusalem, would it kill them to let you talk to one at some length before sending him back to the pits of hell? Perhaps you've thrown in with the wrong lot. Perhaps you'd have better luck approaching the vampires themselves? As Stoker, you'll poll as one of the associates of the Monstrumologist. However, at any point before turn 3 in the game, you may voluntarily "convert" to being a member of the vampire team, but under one condition--they trust and like you less than The Society does, and as such you'll not gain any access to vampire forums during the game, and the vampires will not be told of your presence or conversion in the game. If you have not converted by the end of Day 2, you will be considered part of the Village team for the remainder of the game.

Roles, short form:

Good guys:


Warthrop: Seer. Scans every night for role and alignment of one player. If scan reveals Will Henry, they may PM for as long as both are alive in the game. If Will Henry voted to stake, Warthrop reveals his and Will's identity to save Will Henry. (Will Henry not staked). If both revealed in this manner, both may PM one another as long as both are alive in the game. Guaranteed to be in-game at start. Cannot be converted.

Will Henry: Hard to kill. Cannot be killed at night unless scanned by Bad Guy Seer or revealed as Will by gameplay effect. May PM with Warthrop if scanned by Warthrop for as long as both remain alive. If voted to stake, he and Warthrop have their identities revealed; Will Henry is spared; the two may PM as long as both are alive in the game. Guaranteed to be in-game at start. Cannot be converted.

Kearns: Loose Cannon. One-time, daytime segment ability to name one player to kill to reveal the role/alignment of another player of his choosing. Ability may happen automatically, with Kearns allowed to name target but not "bait", who will be killed and eliminated from game.

Von Helrung: Coroner. May learn the role of any one player eliminated from the game, during night phase.

Ainsworth: Statistician. At start of every day turn is given the numerical makeup of both teams, along with the number of powered Good Guy roles in the game.

Pinkerton: Protector. May protect any player at night. May not protect same player on consecutive nights. May self-protect. Pinkerton's protection extends to day turn following the night, to include all daytime attacks. Protects and thwarts Kearns's ability if Kearns' "bait" is protected. (Kearns's "bait" lives, and Kearns gains no information about roles.)

Torrance: Shooter. One time ability to kill and remove any one player from the game during daytime segment.

Blackwood: Overvoter. Has one secret vote per day, but once placed it may not be moved.

Doyle: Supervoter. Has one-time ability to place 3 secret votes on the player of his choice. May move those three votes around freely--even split them--during the day he elects to use his ability, but once used, the ability expires at the end of that day.

Badguys:

Sickert: Badguy Seer. May learn the role of any single player in the game at night.

Holmes: Badguy shooter. May kill any one player during the daytime. Using ability identifies player as Holmes. Ability is blocked by previous night's protection by Pinkerton.

Crippen: Badguy Coroner. May learn the role of any eliminated player at night.

Russian Agent: Badguy overvoter. Has one secret vote per day, but once placed it may not be moved.

Arkwright: Mole. Scans as goodguy throughout the game, but is part of Badguy team.

Cream: Disabler. One time daytime ability to lock down any single player in the game. Disabled player has all powers disabled for the full day and night cycle from the point that Cream PM's the use of his power. Blocked by Pinkerton protection, but if blocked retains his power to use again on a subsequent daytime turn segment.

Vacher: Escape artist. Will not be eliminated from the game on first time voted to be staked.

Landru: Converter. One time ability to convert a member of the Goodguys to the Badguys during nighttime segment. Conversion takes the place of killing for that single turn for Badguy team. Conversion is thwarted by Pinkerton protection, but may be attempted on subsequent nights. If Landru attempts to convert Warthrop or WIll Henry, he automatically fails and is revealed the following day turn segment, but retains his conversion ability if he survives that dayturn to use the subsequent night.

Mixed Affliation:

Stoker: Begins game as part of Goodguy team, but may voluntarily switch teams up to the point of the hanging that ends Day 3. If Stoker switches teams, the Badguys will not be notified, and Stoker will not be given access to Badguy forums. If Stoker does not switch by the end of Day 3, he remains a part of Team Goodguy for remainder of game.

Very open to any questions, ideas, or tweaks to any of the role rules as described above!

Game takes place as per usual with Daytime and Nighttime segments to each turn.

Game begins with Daytime segment of Day 1.

Owing to scheduling at this time of year, Day 1 and Day 2 will have a 144-hr real time limit (6 days). Day 3 and 4 will have 120-hr real time limits (5 days). Subsequent days will have 96-hr real time limits (4 days). Weekends and holidays will not be counted against realtime limits.

Nighttime turns will have a 72 hour real time limit throughout the game.

Badguy team will have their own forum, open to all members. If Stoker defects to the Badguy team, he will not receive access to this forum, nor with his new "teammates" know of his action.

Players may not PM except as indicated above.

Post edits are frowned upon, but acceptable to correct formatting, spelling or grammar.

Daytime:

Pinkerton Protection from previous night remains in effect for that player until hanging completes the Daytime turn.
Ainsworth informed of numbers.
Kearns, will you use someone as bait?
(If Kearns elects not to, does his ability auto-proc?)
(Auto-proc for Kearns is checked on auto proc the moment n-5 total unique votes have been cast on the day turn, but if his ability does not auto-proc he may decide to use it at any time.)
Torrance, are you going to shoot?
Blackwood, who gets your overvote?
Doyle, are you using your multiple votes today?
Holmes, are you killing a goodguy?
Cream, are you disabling a goodguy?
Stoker, are you happy with your team affiliation?


Nighttime turn order:
If Cream successfully disabled, that player remains locked down.
Pinkerton, who will you protect?
Helrung and Crippen both peform simultaneous autopsies.
Vampires, whom will you kill or convert (if Landru is in-game)?
Sickert, who will you scan?
Warthrop, who will you scan?
Stoker, are you happy with your team affiliation?

Questions;

(1) Just to be clear, notwithstanding the description of the vampires' goal as going specifically after Will Henry, the wolf victory condition is the same as always, right? I.e. achieve parity in numbers?

(2) Say Kearns does his bait thingy, sacrifices player A, and picks player B to learn the identity of. If Player B turns out to be Thomas Arkwright, he learns that, as opposed to having Arkwright's ability make the result be "society member"? Basically, Kearns' ability does not act as a 'scan' per Arkwright's ability - correct?

Otherwise, looks interesting. My first thought is that the wolf side might be overpowered, with two possible conversions, plus the threat of Arkwright means that the village scanner cannot clear anyone via scan, unless the villager coroner is also in the game, Arkwright dies, Arkwright gets identified by the coroner, AND the coroner comes out publicly.

I guess I'm not crazy about Arkwright's ability.

El Guapo wrote:Questions;

(1) Just to be clear, notwithstanding the description of the vampires' goal as going specifically after Will Henry, the wolf victory condition is the same as always, right? I.e. achieve parity in numbers?

(2) Say Kearns does his bait thingy, sacrifices player A, and picks player B to learn the identity of. If Player B turns out to be Thomas Arkwright, he learns that, as opposed to having Arkwright's ability make the result be "society member"? Basically, Kearns' ability does not act as a 'scan' per Arkwright's ability - correct?

Otherwise, looks interesting. My first thought is that the wolf side might be overpowered, with two possible conversions, plus the threat of Arkwright means that the village scanner cannot clear anyone via scan, unless the villager coroner is also in the game, Arkwright dies, Arkwright gets identified by the coroner, AND the coroner comes out publicly.

I guess I'm not crazy about Arkwright's ability.

1. Vampires win by getting parity in numbers. The Will Henry thing is just a story hook.

2. Arkwright is on the Vampire forum, along with the Russian Agent--even though neither is technically undead. The Vamps know how to put humans to work for them!

3. I think Kearns's ability needs a tweak. If Kearns chooses to use his power and thus chooses his bait, if he chooses as bait a member of Team Vampire that "bait" fights vehemently for his life and is killed by Kearns, and the target is spared and the Village gets credit for the kill. If Kearns's ability procs involuntarily, the bait will be chosen randomly from the Village team, and Kearns may select the target from the wider pool of players.

I like the idea of Will being unkillable, and the vampires will not kill him (once discovered) at night.

He can be lynched, though it self-reveals. He is the one trusted. His own goal, however, is to stay hidden at all costs.

Perhaps even, that once he is discovered he can still vote, but his vote count does not count against parity -

So an outed billy (by lynch) means that he can vote, and they count, but in the case where the population count is only up by one that the vampires can overpower the villagers and perform their dark ritual on the child.

All Village players have to be kill-able, even Will. His power just makes him tougher to kill, with the corollary being that his power can inadvertently "out" the seer for the Village if they should choose poorly, or Will plays too wolfy.

Two addenda I will include in the role descriptions:

1. If Will is voted to the gallows and Dr. Warthrop is dead, then Will will swing like Robert Evans at Studio 54. Which means he eats some stake, in a bad way. Which means he dies like anyone else.

2. If Kearns chooses a Vamp as "bait", the bait dies and there is no further action. If Kearns' ability procs involuntarily, then the pool of potential bait is restricted to Village players. (I don't want the GM killing Vampires for the village by random draw.)

No comments on the rules and roles... other than...

Well done with the descriptions and how you have tied them to "Munstromology."

Questions re: Will. He can't be killed at night unless pre-scanned or outed by game effect. If the vampires choose him as their night kill (bad luck) beforehand, that attack fails and it goes to day. What message do the vampires receive? Do they get "oops, that's Will Henry, you fail!" Or do they get just "You fail!" and they have to guess whether it was Will Henry or Pinkerton or what?

Also, I assume that if Will Henry gets evil scanned, that he is not notified of this, and so could lose his immunity without him being aware of that fact.

Next, I just noticed the whole "if Will Henry is the target of a conversion attempt, it fails and Lendrau is outed to Henry. That adds some interesting risk to the conversion attempt, as if the vampires have poor luck and hit Will then that's probably a two person swing (Henry probably outs himself and fingers Lendrau, and so then the vampires get no conversion). It sounds like Will's conversion immunity survives even if he is scanned and can be killed, is that right?

Looks good. My main concern is that the good seer may be nerfed excessively in these rules since he can't use his scan to narrow the pool of possible evil due to Arkwright's ability. So personally I'd take Arkwright out of the game, but that's just my thought. Plus the village has twice the chance of outing their seer on account of the linkage with Will Henry.

Excellent questions!

El Guapo wrote:Questions re: Will. He can't be killed at night unless pre-scanned or outed by game effect. If the vampires choose him as their night kill (bad luck) beforehand, that attack fails and it goes to day. What message do the vampires receive? Do they get "oops, that's Will Henry, you fail!" Or do they get just "You fail!" and they have to guess whether it was Will Henry or Pinkerton or what?

After thinking about it, they'll get the same boilplate message on an unsuccessful conversion of Will Henry that they'd have gotten on a Pinkerton-blocked conversion. To handle it more specifically would definitively identify Will to the Vampires in my mind, and that's not my intention.

Also, I assume that if Will Henry gets evil scanned, that he is not notified of this, and so could lose his immunity without him being aware of that fact.

Correct.

Next, I just noticed the whole "if Will Henry is the target of a conversion attempt, it fails and Lendrau is outed to Henry. That adds some interesting risk to the conversion attempt, as if the vampires have poor luck and hit Will then that's probably a two person swing (Henry probably outs himself and fingers Lendrau, and so then the vampires get no conversion). It sounds like Will's conversion immunity survives even if he is scanned and can be killed, is that right?

Good points and question. Firstly, Will is unconvertable no matter what. It's his danged tainted blood (those evil vamps intend to drain him into a series of beakers and emulsify the good stuff they need out of it.) As to the insecurity of the Vampire conversion, I wanted to introduce some uncertainty there for the Vamps. Sure, they *could* convert on night one (which happens in most games with a conversion mechanic), but with the chance of a blind conversion leading to a 2-player swing against them they've got to weigh it against the chance of running into Will Henry. I wanted to force the Vampire side--if Landru is present--into making a difficult game choice with consequences.

Looks good. My main concern is that the good seer may be nerfed excessively in these rules since he can't use his scan to narrow the pool of possible evil due to Arkwright's ability. So personally I'd take Arkwright out of the game, but that's just my thought. Plus the village has twice the chance of outing their seer on account of the linkage with Will Henry.

I'm considering strongly adding a nerf to Arkwright, but would like feedback on which nerf feels like it offers the best combination of keeping him usefully powered while countering him so as to make him detectable. My idea: Once Arkwright has received x number of total votes against him during cumulative daytime turns, he becomes scannable...but also becomes a berserker upon his death meaning that if he's voted to the stake he kills one member of the Goodguy team who voted him there at random.

I would add that if I were the vampires I'd *probably* still convert night 0/1, since the odds of hitting Will are slim, and unless you get lucky hitting Will with the scanner the odds aren't going to get any better if you wait.

With Arkwright, maybe a tweak like this. If anyone who has been scanned by Warthrop gets to n-1, the seer gets definitive Arkwright / not Arkwright confirmation (even if Arkwright's not actually in the game). That way it is possible for the Seer to clear someone definitively, but it comes with the risk that you have to put that person right on the brink of lynching to do so (someone that is statistically probably good).

Could be combined with other tweaks too.

One role change I am strongly considering--and seeking feedback on--is this.

Instead of assigning the role of The Pinkerton to one player, I instead would like to make it a role that rotates to among the "Village" players not otherwise assigned a role, with a new player chosen to receive the role each "Morning".

1. The Pinkerton would still not be able to protect the same player consecutively. If it should inadvertently happen, the player acting as Pinkerton would be told "That player cannot be protected this turn. Please choose another."

2. If a player actively playing the role of The Pinkerton is hanged or killed or otherwise eliminated from the game, the role of the Pinkerton dies with him/her and is removed from the game.

triggercut wrote:One role change I am strongly considering--and seeking feedback on--is this.

Instead of assigning the role of The Pinkerton to one player, I instead would like to make it a role that rotates to among the "Village" players not otherwise assigned a role, with a new player chosen to receive the role each "Morning".

1. The Pinkerton would still not be able to protect the same player consecutively. If it should inadvertently happen, the player acting as Pinkerton would be told "That player cannot be protected this turn. Please choose another."

2. If a player actively playing the role of The Pinkerton is hanged or killed or otherwise eliminated from the game, the role of the Pinkerton dies with him/her and is removed from the game.

Could that be used by crafty Villagers to triangulate anything? I'm not sure it can, but my first thought would be to try.

stessier wrote:

triggercut wrote:One role change I am strongly considering--and seeking feedback on--is this.

Instead of assigning the role of The Pinkerton to one player, I instead would like to make it a role that rotates to among the "Village" players not otherwise assigned a role, with a new player chosen to receive the role each "Morning".

1. The Pinkerton would still not be able to protect the same player consecutively. If it should inadvertently happen, the player acting as Pinkerton would be told "That player cannot be protected this turn. Please choose another."

2. If a player actively playing the role of The Pinkerton is hanged or killed or otherwise eliminated from the game, the role of the Pinkerton dies with him/her and is removed from the game.

Could that be used by crafty Villagers to triangulate anything? I'm not sure it can, but my first thought would be to try.

It certainly could be done. Also, there would be zero reason to not announce "I was The Pinkerton yesterday" as you risk nothing by outing yourself as something you no longer are. I do not like that proposed change at all. It would provide a steady stream of publically outed semi-proven Villagers for the group to trust.

Remus West wrote:

stessier wrote:

triggercut wrote:One role change I am strongly considering--and seeking feedback on--is this.

Instead of assigning the role of The Pinkerton to one player, I instead would like to make it a role that rotates to among the "Village" players not otherwise assigned a role, with a new player chosen to receive the role each "Morning".

1. The Pinkerton would still not be able to protect the same player consecutively. If it should inadvertently happen, the player acting as Pinkerton would be told "That player cannot be protected this turn. Please choose another."

2. If a player actively playing the role of The Pinkerton is hanged or killed or otherwise eliminated from the game, the role of the Pinkerton dies with him/her and is removed from the game.

Could that be used by crafty Villagers to triangulate anything? I'm not sure it can, but my first thought would be to try.

It certainly could be done. Also, there would be zero reason to not announce "I was The Pinkerton yesterday" as you risk nothing by outing yourself as something you no longer are. I do not like that proposed change at all. It would provide a steady stream of publically outed semi-proven Villagers for the group to trust.

Of course with the possibility of a conversion from the vamps, this get's trickier, as you are then semi-proven and ripe for conversion... But yes, I think it sounds great, but makes it very hard for team bad guy to not have a new semi proven to take care of...

So the Pinkerton should just protect himself and then announce every day. You know he wasn't converted and can't be hurt during the day as the protection extends to then as well.

stessier wrote:So the Pinkerton should just protect himself and then announce every day. You know he wasn't converted and can't be hurt during the day as the protection extends to then as well.

So maybe they lose the ability if they announce who they are?

Yep, bad idea. The only way to make it possibly maybe sort of work would be to introduce a series of qualifying and conditional rules that make it confusing and potentially ineffective as a role.