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Mini 170 - Time Travel Mafia, Game Over!

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:17 am
by mathcam
The date was September 14, 1983. I've just finished...wait, hold on, no...it's definitely sometime in the 60's. Or did I go back to the 60's yesterday? Right right right...it's
definitely
March 11, 2004. This time travel business can be confusing. In any case, journal, I've just finished the last touches on my time machine, and the last few test runs have been a perfct success. If only it didn't require quite so much expensive time fuel, this could be the next------------------
.

That, of course, was the last journal entry of scientist Jenna Ricinventor, found the night she was murdered, already a year ago today. Since that time, cheap imitations of Jenna's time machine have flooded the market. Though the problem of time-fuel consumption is still very restrictive, the last year has seen remarkable advancement in fuel production. So while nearly every household possesses (at least!) one time-machine, few can afford to use them very often.

Now will have to be one of those times. As was bound to happen, the local mafia has begun to use these time machines to terrorize the lives of the citizens. The town must band together, using their brains, their skills, and their time machines to combat the forces of evil, and eradicate them from the town.

Current History
:
Night 1

You awake to find that armlx, townie, has been killed.
You awake to find that MGM, non-townie, has been killed.
You awake to find that Darklight, non-townie, has been killed.
You awake to find that DragonSlayer, townie, has been killed.

Day 1

You lynch SapphireVerde (non-townie) with the following vote count:

SapphireVerde (4, Drummer, Axelrod, Fuldu, Crola)
Electra (2, MoS, Sapphire)
Not Voting: Nanook, SubtleTactix
Dead: armlx, Mgm, DragonSlayer, DarkLight140

Night 2

You awake to find that Fuldu (townie) has been killed.

Day 2
:
You lynch MoS (townie) with the following vote count:

MoS (2, Axelrod, Uraj)
Not Voting: Crola, Drummer, MoS, Tactix
Dead: armlx, Mgm, DragonSlayer, DarkLight140, Sapphire, Fuldu

Night 3
:
You awake to find that everyone has survived the night.

Day 3
: In Progress

Not Currently Dead (5)
:
Axelrod
Crola
Drummer (replacing Electra)
Uraj (replacing NanookTheWolf)
SubtleTactix

Currently Dead (7)
:
armlx (townie, murdered night 1)
Mgm (non-townie, murdered night 1)
DarkLight140 (non-townie, murdered night 1)
Dragon Slayer (replacing Dmi) (townie, murdered night 1)
SapphireVerde (non-townie, lynched day 1)
Fuldu (townie, murdered night 2)
Mastermind of Sin (townie, lynched day 3)

Rules Post

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:47 am
by mathcam
I absolutely insist that you thoroughly read these rules before starting the game.

Major Rule Changes
:

Q: How is time travel incorporated into the game?


A: Many night choices will occur on nights that are not the current one. For example, some roles could be used on night 2 to enact a change on night 5, or on night 1. Performing actions in the
future
will just have a delayed effect. Performing actions in the
past
may cause time to be rewritten. If/when this happens, I will post an updated timeline, though I'll leave the old timeline in its original post to keep for your records.

Q: Wait, so if I die, I might come back to life? How does that work?


Sure, if a doctor goes back in time to protect you on the night you were killed. If this happens, you'll be caught up to the game, and history will be re-written because of your presence in each intermediate day. Because of this (IMPORTANT), all dead players must keep up with the game, and submit votes and night-choices to me (privately, through PM) as if they were still alive. These will be their actions if they are brought back to life.

Q: Any weird rules on lynching?


Yup, 'fraid so. It is not the case that a player will be lynched as soon as a majority is hit. Instead, I will set a dealine each day, and the player with the most votes at deadline is lynched, regardless of how many. No lynch is still a possibility...if no lynch has the most votes at deadline, then it wins. Keep in mind that dead players coming back to life will have a say in re-writing the history.

Q: Will roles be revealed upon death?


Not all roles will be revealed on death. This seems reasonable enough normally, as it's not clear that seeing a mafia's dead body would tell you that they were mafia. It's important in this game, seeing as how players can come back to life, that their life stories not be completely revealed. All that will be revealed upon death is whether or not the player was a generic townie. Players with roles that are not generic townies will not be revealed.

Q: What happens if I go back in time and kill myself?


While obviously a bad play, this is a question that needs addressing...if there's any possible way of making a scenario work, then I'll process any night choice I get. If there's just no way to resolve a certain collection of night choices, I may PM you and disallow your choice.

Q: Couldn't this game go on for ever?


No. The key component to the time-travel mechanism is time-fuel, of which there is a limited quantity in this game. It
is
possible, however, in the case that everyone uses up all of their time fuel, that the game will turn in to a regular mini game.

Q: Anything else I should know?


Sure. First, if you've played any of my games before, you might be expecting a split-motive/role game. That won't be the case. On the other hand, I
have
done a decent amount of work to make sure that mass role-claiming will not benefit anyone very much. For instance, I will post the townie role PM:
Me, to some players, wrote: You are a townie with a time machine, though unfortunately without time fuel...or at least much of it. You have just enough fuel to send a time shield into the future to protect yourself on a future night. Please confirm by PM, including which night you would like to send your time shield forward to.

Please confirm by PM and PLEASE be sure to read all of the rules in the second post.
And, of course, there are the below regular rules:

Rules
  • 1) All communication outside this thread by me will be by PM. So, if you're wondering when that role e-mail will be sent, it won't be.
    2) Once the day's deadline has been reached, the lynchee is dead and Twilight has begun. Posting is allowed during Twilight, though additional votes will not be counted.
    3) Once you are deceased, also decease from posting. Because of possible back-to-life issues, do not post
    anything
    else until/unless you are brought back to life.
    4) Votes must be in bold. If you do not bold your vote, it will not be counted. Unvotes are appreciated, but not required.
    5) Please do not discuss this game out of thread unless your role specifically states you may communicate with other players.
    6) Do not edit/delete any post on pain of being disinvited from playing and/or smiting.
    7) 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 to 12 others. Be considerate: don't leave us hanging.
    8 ) Do not quote any private communication from me.
    9) If there are four consecutive periods (where a period is either a night or a day) without a kill, the game will be ruled a draw unless I see convincing evidence to keep it going. For example, no lynch followed by no night kills followed again by no lynch and no night kill will probably be ruled a draw.
    10) If a player is targeted to be killed more times than the number of times he is protected, he will die.
    11) Remember that this is a game, intended to be enjoyable for everyone. I hope you play to win without giving in to name-calling or general meanness. I will give a warning PM to the offenders if it gets out of hand, and a subsequent infraction will be punishable by smiting.
    12) If I do something stupid, please indicate this to me privately. I may or may not have made a mistake.

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:18 pm
by mathcam
Okay, I'm back in town. Thanks for your patience. Let me first say that I appreciate the questions being asked via PM by all players...I'm glad people are actually thinking about how this game will work.

If you still owe me a night choice, then try to get it to me ASAP. If you've asked me a question that I haven't answered yet, please resend it. I got a little swamped with PMs while I was away.

Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:53 am
by mathcam
The town spends their night preparing for the worst of it. With scum on the loose, they had to set up their defences quickly and efficiently. Despite the town's sudden bout of preparedness, however, the first night ends with the death of a beloved townie, armlx
.

Reminder: Time history can change, so
armlx
, you're not out of the game yet. Please remember to vote for a player or for no lynch privately to me through PM. That vote will be enacted if you are ever brought back to life. Similarly, don't forget to submit a night choice tonight. Finally, don't forget that there is
no
posting once you're dead.

To keep all information available, I'll post the death scene each night in two places: Here, and in the opening post. In case of a timeline re-write, I will edit the one in the opening post, but leave the one here so that this information is available for piecing together what happened.

With 11 alive, it will take 6 to lynch.


Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:58 am
by Dmi
Random Vote: axelrod

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:01 am
by SapphireVerde
Random vote: Mgm

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:08 am
by mathcam
Whoops, forgot to set the deadline...let's say 5 days, i.e.
120 hours from this post.
. This can be extended by popular demand. Remember that the day does not end when a majority hits...read the rules again if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:32 am
by Electra
helloo00o =)

vote: SapphireVerde

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:37 am
by DarkLight140
Ah, this game should be good. The first mini was great fun to read through. :)

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:42 am
by Mgm
Random vote: NanookTheWolf

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:52 am
by Mastermind of Sin
random vote: DarkLight140

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:56 am
by NanookTheWolf
Random Vote: SubtleTactix

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:12 pm
by Crola
Electra wrote:helloo00o =)

vote: SapphireVerde
Hmmm, not random, eh? Just pointing this out.

Against my better judgement, I will random vote. (I HATE RANDOM VOTES!)
Random Vote MGM

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:17 pm
by mathcam
In response to a good question, you can not vote for the dead.

Current Official Vote Count
:

Mgm (2, SapphireVerde, Crola)
Axelrod (1, Dmi)
Sapphire (1, Electra)
Nanook (1, Mgm)
Darklight (1, MoS)
Tactix (1, Nanook)

Not Voting: Axelrod, DarkLight140, Fuldu, SubtleTactix

6 to lynch.

Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:30 pm
by Axelrod
Cheers people!

Semi-Random vote for somebody not already voted for: Fuldu


I don't particularly care for random votes either.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:39 pm
by Fuldu
With a five day deadline, I don't think we can afford to have the first two days be twiddling around with random votes that we're deliberately spreading out to people who don't have them yet. I'm not sure a bandwagon is actually going to be any more helpful, since there's no pressure on the bandwagoned individual until closer to the deadline, but let's try it, anyway.
vote: Mgm
.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:29 pm
by Crola
mathcam wrote:In response to a good question, you can not vote for the dead.

Current Official Vote Count
:

Mgm (2, SapphireVerde,
Crola
)
Axelrod (1, Dmi)
Sapphire (1, Electra)
Nanook (1, Mgm)
Darklight (1, MoS)
Tactix (1, Nanook)

Not Voting: Axelrod,
Crola
, DarkLight140, Fuldu, SubtleTactix

6 to lynch.

Cam
Ummm, that's a mistake. (Check the underlines) My vote is on Mgm, which would technically make me not in the "Not Voting" Section.

I think there's some legitamacy to Fuldu's reasoning also, I had completely forgotten about the 5 day limit. (Thanks for the reminder)

Also, I've checked the rules and according the the lynching section, Mathcam never specified what happened with a tie and the deadline happened.

So, what happens when two people have 3 votes and the deadline is met, which one of the two will die, assuming three is the hieghest vote count? is it who ever had those votes first?

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:50 pm
by mathcam
Yeah, your post came through in the middle of my vote count. It's fixed now.

For ties, it's the standard mafiascum policy of whoever got there first gets lynched.

Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:14 pm
by Fuldu
And, as long as we're clarifying things, no lynch occurs if the plurality is for no lynch. In some other games, non-votes are considered votes for no lynch. Is that the case here?

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:28 pm
by mathcam
No. Not voting just leaves the decision in the hands of fewer people. The vote "No lynch" works just like any other vote, including in regard to my previous post on ties.

Cam

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:38 pm
by Axelrod
Unvote: Fuldu
. I much prefer actually talking about things.

Shall we open up the floor for a discussion. I would say the topic of the moment is Armix and the possibility of reviving him. He is confirmed town which is very valuable in a game where other roles won't be revealed. The only downside is loss of time-fuel which could later be spent to try and revive a more important role (assuming we can identify one.) Also, if the "reviver" gets killed later, the re-vivification may be undone, but that is a risk with any role.

What do people think? I will admit I'm having trouble getting my head around it right now. Hopefully, it will become clearer as the game plays out.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:49 pm
by DarkLight140
It probably will, but we're going to need a decision sooner than that. If you recall, in the last game the mafia pulled some nasty stunts by out-thinking the town. I would call for everyone to have their thoughts (not on their role, of course, but on possible mafia strategies and countermeasures) be public in order to try and avoid this again, but I'm not sure how well people would respond to such a policy. And yes, by saying "I would call for this", I am in fact calling for either it or substantial reasons why it's a bad plan.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:05 pm
by Axelrod
That's two times you have referenced another game. I will confess I looked for one but couldn't find it? Can you tell me where it is? It would definitely be helpful for understanding how this all works.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:42 pm
by DarkLight140
If you go on the wiki, search for "timetravelmafia", it's linked to on the page about the Time Travel games, a few down.

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:43 pm
by Fuldu
Well, one of the tradeoffs in reviving (through whatever means) anyone is that non-generic roles aren't going to be revealed. So, depending on what is and is not revealed, we may run the risk of reviving scum if we try to revive power roles. Per the generic townie role PM in the opening post, armlx was able to choose one night's protection. Presumably, since he died, it wasn't last night (although there's always the possibility of multiple attacks). Reviving him, then, increases his likelihood of surviving a later night-kill.

But the benefits of holding on to generic townies as verified innocents decreases with the amount of information we get about deceased non-generics. If there's no information, I think we should leave all dead non-generics dead, but that decision should wait until we actually have a dead non-generic and can gauge how much information we're going to get. And, obviously, that's just on the basis of public knowledge. If someone had private knowledge that, for example, verified a dead cop's identity, then they might consider attempting to revive him.