[WW/Mafia] Mansion Murder Mystery

[AvatarVecna]

Spoiler: Original Recruitment Post w/ Info

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Each of you received a mysterious letter in the mail: an invitation to an inheritance reading at the private estate of your old friend the cantankerous Sir Bartholomew - quite a shock, since you hadn't even heard that he'd passed away! Nonetheless, the invitation seems official, so with heavy hearts (...for most of you...) you pack up some belongings to prepare for the trip. You arrive a bit after six in the evening, just as the sun is setting - or, would be setting, were it not for the endless thunderclouds stretching from one horizon to the other. As you make your way the short distance from the car to the front door, you shiver in the pouring rain and see your breath glistening in the air before you as if your own spirit were off to join Bartholomew's away from this downpour.

Perhaps the somber nature of your visit is to blame, or perhaps the house is truly that much older, but it seems as though every step creaks, every beam groans, every pipe clunks as you make your way through the house - all sounds that seem that much harsher contrasted against the heavy rain that simultaneously makes things elsewhere in the house difficult to hear while also being just monotonous enough to fade into the background now that you're getting used to it. As instructed, you make your way to the old dining room, where a long, sturdy oak table with plenty of chairs awaits you. You see many familiar faces glance your way as you enter, all looking about as grief-stricken as you feel. You take your seat and make mindless small-talk with your neighbor, but neither of your hearts is truly in it this evening. As the last of you takes your seat, a grandfather clock in a nearby room chimes seven times, which seems to be the signal for a single suited man to enter with a briefcase. He sits at the head of the table and starts shuffling through his papers, spectacles occasionally pushed further up the brim of his nose. He begins to read verbatim from what looks to be a handwritten note.

"I understand that this news has come rather unexpectedly for many of you - many, but not all. Though the fickle mistress of time has slowly begun to reclaim my body, my mind has remained as sharp as ever. I say to you all that I have become aware of a conspiracy, a small group of like-minded individuals who sought to add my fortunes to their own, and took steps to hasten my demise. If you are hearing this letter being read, then my investigation has not succeeded in time, and they have unfortunately done away with me - but I have taken steps of my own with a mind towards avenging my own murder, for I have no faith in the authorities to handle things, particularly when this much money is at play."

"A not-insignificant amount of time and money has been spent investigating those I suspected of foul play, and while I was eventually able to narrow down a relatively small list of visitors that could be responsible for the attempts I am aware of, I know not whom among those suspects are the conspirators. I say to you all, that everybody in this room, including the lawyer reading this page, is suspect, but I am confident that no conspirators remain outside these walls. I am equally confident that it is, in fact, a conspiracy, for the subtler attacks I know about would've required extraordinary coordination and timing to pull off single-handedly, but would be simplicity itself with an ally or two. Still, I believe there are few enough conspirators among you all that those not allied against me can easily overpower the ones who are - if you can deduce their identities, that is."

"I know not who among you can be trusted at this point, so I have devised a game of sorts. Per my instructions, following this reading all of you locked inside until the sun rises in the morning. Windows, doors, chimneys...all have been reinforced with an eye towards preventing escape. Weapons have been scattered through the mansion, to use at your discretion. Additionally, I make this declaration: my fortune, my assets, my properties, and so forth will be divvied up between any who remain come morning. And while it's not mine to declare, obviously anybody dead at the end of the night will have wills of their own in need of execution, and they won't have the opportunity to alter their wills beforehand, so you will stand to gain even more."

"Let the games begin."

Spoiler: General Gameplay

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This will be a fairly structured game:

I'll spend a few weeks recruiting, or until I get 20 players; if I don't get 20 players in that time, the game will begin if I have at least 10, albeit with substantially fewer power roles. If I get more than 20 within the first two weeks, then hey the more the merrier! But I don't expect to. Anyway, once I decide I'm done waiting, I will send out PMs to every player with their role and (if they have a power role of some kind) a link to a particular QuickTopic; this is mostly so that my inbox doesn't fill up constantly.

There will be a mechanical "Day Night cycle" (referred to as such by tradition). While in the canon of the game, all of these events take place in a 12-hour period, this will be divided into "Days" and "Nights" mechanically. The "Day Phase" will last 48 real-time hours; during this time, all players can discuss whatever they wish with each other in the main thread, but the goal is determining who you all, as a group, are going to Kill. Talk is all well and good, but at the end of the day I will be counting official votes. Votes as cast by putting the name of the person you're voting for in bold red text like this: AvatarVecna. New votes cancel any old ones, and editing older posts for reasons besides grammar is heavily discouraged. At the end of the Day Phase, I will begin counting up votes, and whoever has been voted for the most will be lynched, and their role/alignment will be revealed. If there is a tie, the first person to have reached the tie amount will be lynched.

Once the "Day Phase" ends, the "Night Phase" begins, which also lasts 48 hours. During this time, there can be talking in the main thread, but no voting; the only actions that have mechanical weight to them during this time are role powers, which are used privately via the aforementioned QuickTopic chats. During each Night Phase, the Wolf Faction as a whole selects one non-Wolf (who will be murdered) and one Wolf (who will perform the murder); barring interference, at the end of the Night Phase, their target will be pronounced dead, and their role/alignment revealed. Once the "Night Phase" ends, a new "Day Phase" will begin, and so on.

Spoiler: Victory Conditions

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The game ends when all members of either Town Faction or Wolf Faction have been eliminated, or if there are few enough Townies left that the Wolves can definitely control the Day Phase vote every time; no need to draw things out unnecessarily.

Town Faction wins if all of Wolf Faction has been eliminated.

Wolf Faction wins if all of Town Faction has been eliminated, or if the Wolves are no longer outnumbered at the start of a new Day Phase.

Neutrals win if they are still alive at the end of the game.

Additionally, once primary victory conditions are determined, we then determine secondary victory by determining how much inheritance each of the survivors receives at the end of their ordeal: I look at each official "End Of Day Phase" vote count, count up all the votes for each living player, and they receive accolades in order of "least suspected" to "most suspected", with least getting 1st place and the most inheritance (since, if people were less trusting of them during the game, their characters probably trusted your character less when writing their wills previously).

Spoiler: Town Faction

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You are one of the people who was a loyal friend to the end, and are looking forward to punishing those that betrayed his trust. You might be...

Crime Novelist: You've researched crime scenes for decades as part of honing your craft, and while you're certainly no proper investigator, you've learned enough that you can take a good stab at determining guilt and innocence based on seemingly-innocuous details of the murders...but you can only analyze one person's idiosyncrasies and details at once. During the Night Phase, select one player; at the end of the Night Phase, Town, Wolf, or Neutral. If you scry the same target as the Academic or the Crime Novel Enthusiast, both of you receive a message that your scry was unsuccessful.

Crime Novel Enthusiast: You've read basically every true crime novel in existence, and you think that gives you enough knowledge to accuse people accurately. Unfortunately you tend to believe too hard in fictional tropes that make for good stories but aren't necessarily realistic, and this means you tend to be...wrong? You are told you are the Crime Novelist, and your power works similarly, except you Wolf as Town, and Town/Neutral as Wolf. If you scry the same target as the Academic or the Crime Novelist, both of you receive a message that your scry was unsuccessful. When you die, you are reported as a Crime Novelist, and will only be properly identified as the Crime Novel Enthusiast when both both of you are dead.

Eavesdropper: You've spent your life listening in on anybody that catches your attention, but now it's time to put your skills to the test. During the Night Phase, select one player; at the end of the Night Phase, you learn who that person targeted, and who targeted them.

Lesser Nobility: You don't have any particular special skills - indeed, this whole violence thing isn't really your style - but you've certainly got a lot of money. When votes are being counted at the end of the Day Phase (including for end-of-game Inheritance count), you count as having received one fewer votes than you did, to a minimum of zero votes.

Secret Lovers: There's one person, one very special person, who you know will have your back through thick and thin...but if you lose them, then all the money in the world will never mend your broken heart and you'll follow them into the grave. The "Secret Lovers" start out in contact with each other, and can thus coordinate more easily than most other members of Town Faction, but if one dies for any reason, so does the other.

Soldier: You don't know much, but you've got the training to make a real difference. During the Night Phase, you can choose to either Kill a player of your choice, or Bane a player of your choice (possibly even yourself). "Bane" protects the selected player from any kill power, but it can't be used on the same target multiple nights in a row.

Working Class: Be you maid, butler, or cook, you're here because Sir Bartholemew appreciated your ability to keep things running smoothly and intended to reward you for it. Now it's time to do your part and prevent everybody from making a mess of the house while they're busy murdering each other. During the Night Phase, select one player; their Night Phase power fails to work.

Spoiler: Neutrals

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Neutral Role(s) is/are secret, and will tend to have additional win conditions.

Spoiler: Wolf Faction

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You and your co-conspirators thought you'd pulled off the perfect murder. But now it looks like your first victim has handed you all several more on a silver platter. You might be...

Academic: You're smart enough to fool all of these simpleton rubes, but there's at least one person among them with experience approaching crime from an intellectual stance, and you need to figure out which one of them it is before they finger you. During the Night Phase, select one player; at the end of the Night Phase, you learn whether that player is the Crime Novelist or Crime Novel Enthusiast; if they are neither, you get a result of Easy Mark. If you scry the same target as the Crime Novelist or the Crime Novel Enthusiast, both of you receive a message that your scry was unsuccessful.

Gold Digger: You showed plenty of romantic interest, as many did, but you were only ever in it for the money - and unlike some of these two-bit whores, you were willing to do whatever it took to get rich. When votes are being counted at the end of the Day Phase (including for end-of-game Inheritance count), you count as having received one fewer votes than you did, to a minimum of zero votes.

Psychopath: You're dangerously unhinged, and were almost more on board for this plan for the opportunity to murder than for the money involved, and even in death you lash out at those around you. If you die during the Day Phase, a random non-Wolf voting for your dies too. If you die during the Night Phase, you instead kill a random non-Wolf who voted for you during the last Day Phase during which at least one non-Wolf voted for you.

Working Class: Be you maid, butler, or cook, you're here because Sir Bartholemew appreciated your ability to keep things running smoothly and intended to reward you for it...but he really shouldn't have, and in the end it was his demise. All that's left before you get your share of the fortune is cleaning up a few loose ends. During the Night Phase, select one player; their Night Phase power fails to work.

Spoiler: Players/Alternates

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Player List (alphabetical):

1. BasketOfPuppies
2. bc56
3. Caerulea
4. Cuthalion
5. Elenna
6. flyinglemur
7. JeenLeen
8. kgato503
9. Libro
10. Logic
11. Mordekai
12. Voidstar01
13. Xihirli

Current available alternates:

1. flat_footed
2. Ramsus
3. DeTess

"Let the games begin."

And indeed they did, for at the very moment the lawyer read that line, an enormous bolt of lightning flashed outside the window. The power briefly goes out, a scream is heard, and when the lights come back on, the lawyer is bleeding out on the floor with a large knife sheathed to the hilt in his heart!

Night 0 is over.

AvatarVecna died in the night. She was the Lawyer.

Day 1 begins now, and will end in ~48 hours. Place your votes, people!

[bc56]

This is disturbing. I don't think we can make any judgement yet.

(bc56 refuses to vote)

[Xihirli]

Now... who would kill a Lawyer?

[bc56]

Now... who would kill a Lawyer?

That depends what kind of lawyer they are. Just about anyone would kill a Partnership Collective Attorney Drone

[kgato503]

*Currently withholding vote until a few more people speak up*

Spoiler: Request for AvatarVecna

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Would it be possible to put the Game Rules, Roles, and Player List in the first post? That way it is right here in the game thread.

[AvatarVecna]

*Currently withholding vote until a few more people speak up*

Spoiler: Request for AvatarVecna

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Would it be possible to put the Game Rules, Roles, and Player List in the first post? That way it is right here in the game thread.

Done, done, and done.

[BasketOfPuppies]

Refusal to vote doesn’t help the town. The only way to gain info is to kill people then analyze voting patterns in retrospect. The wolves have us on a timer with the night kills; not using the lynch basically gives them free kills. As such, I’ll vote for someone who hasn’t posted yet: Mordekai, though I’ll probably change it if they post.

[bc56]

Refusal to vote doesn’t help the town. The only way to gain info is to kill people then analyze voting patterns in retrospect. The wolves have us on a timer with the night kills; not using the lynch basically gives them free kills. As such, I’ll vote for someone who hasn’t posted yet: Mordekai, though I’ll probably change it if they post.

But if you lynch someone who happens to be in the town, it also gives the wolves free kills. Better safe than sorry.

[Xihirli]

In my hometown, you learn a valuable lesson real quick.

"The only way anyone ever learns anything is by democratically choosing someone to drag into the middle of the street and stab until you can't remember who you picked."

Lolth, we did that every week. A lot of people got picked on purpose. If you had the know-how it was a very public way to fake your own death so that you were off the suspect list for the various crimes you were planning. In fact, that's how I got out of my student loans at Drow Law school.

Anyway, the day-kill is the only power town has and you can learn quite a lot Day One if you pressure the right person. So bc56 until he votes for somebody.

[bc56]

Well if you're going to be like that.
Have at ye then, Xihirli!

[Caerulea]

*Sitting in a comfortable leather chair in the corner, I look up from my book, Superintelligence. What a shame. The others are already jumping at each others throats, no doubt just to ensure they receive a greater portion Bartholomew's fortune. I don't need the money, but this diversion might be fun. Somebody should ensure it is kept orderly, and keep notes. I better speak up: "At this moment, I don't feel confident in voting for anything, so I shall abstain as to not cause harm to any. However, all of you may have access to my journal, so that we don't devolve into Golding-esque chaos, with everyone shouting at everyone else. We wouldn't want to cause a disturbance."

Spoiler: Excerpts from Lady Caerulea's Journal

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Summary of the current state of the proceedings:

Person	Vote	Reasoning
bc56	Xihirli	Reprisal for Xihirli's vote for him.
BasketOfPuppies	Mordokai	Mordokai has not voted. Selected from those who haven't voted pseudorandomly.
Xihirli	bc56	bc56 has abstained from voting night 1.
Elenna	kgato503	Has played enough games that he knows the argument that early day voting is about acquiring information.
kgato503	Elenna	Horrible accusations as to their character.

Vote tallies:

Person	Votes
bc56	2: Xihirli‚ Mordokai
Mordokai	2: BasketOfPuppies, JeenLeen
Xihirli	1: bc56
kgato503	1: Elenna
Elenna	1: kgato503

More to be added, as things progress.

[Elenna]

Early day 1, voting isn't because you feel confident anyone is a wolf, it's to see people's reactions and for future analysis. As such, kgato, because they've played enough games that I think they've probably seen this argument before.

[Mordokai]

I'm going to agree with Xihirli. Stalling never benefits the town, but always benefits the wolves. In my experience, people who avoid voting rarely have anything good in mind for town.

As such, bc56 preaches very dangerous gospel.

[kgato503]

Early day 1, voting isn't because you feel confident anyone is a wolf, it's to see people's reactions and for future analysis. As such, kgato, because they've played enough games that I think they've probably seen this argument before.

I didn't say I was agreeing with bc56 thinking at the time, just that I wanted to wait to vote until more discussion had happened, which is a valid course of action. The main reason I posted at all at that point in time was to ask for the recruitment info to be brought over to this thread for quick access (thank you, by the way). I had little time on my hands at that point, and saw no harm waiting for the next RL day to post. I would also like to point out, Caerulea has also refrained from voting at the current time. So long as you eventually vote on Day 1, it is not that big a deal to wait and watch a little.

All that being said, I shall vote for Elenna, since they seem to be accusing me of poor gaming technique.

[JeenLeen]

Some interesting points. Thank you, Caerulea, for the helpful analysis. It's late and I've got an early morning, so not much time for commentary this period, but I hope to comment more when it's the weekdays (I usually have time during slow moments at work; weekends are tighter.)

All that said, voting for Mordekai.

[Cuthalion]

Been a while since I've seen some of the faces here. Hello, all!

Not feelin' any of the votes so far, will wait and see.

[Xihirli]

I said I'd vote for bc until he voted and he has. As such I'm going to poke Libro for activity. An inactive town is a dead town.

[flyinglemur]

For my own part, I'll vote Libro too.

[bc56]

I said I'd vote for bc until he voted and he has. As such I'm going to poke Libro for activity. An inactive town is a dead town.

That doesn't make me suspect you any less.

[Elenna]

I didn't say I was agreeing with bc56 thinking at the time, just that I wanted to wait to vote until more discussion had happened, which is a valid course of action. The main reason I posted at all at that point in time was to ask for the recruitment info to be brought over to this thread for quick access (thank you, by the way). I had little time on my hands at that point, and saw no harm waiting for the next RL day to post. I would also like to point out, Caerulea has also refrained from voting at the current time. So long as you eventually vote on Day 1, it is not that big a deal to wait and watch a little.

Ah, I misunderstood then. I'm fine with moving to Caerulea. (I originally voted for you instead of her just because you did it first and I've only got one vote. Well, first other than bc56, but I think this is their first game so I'd rather not vote for them day 1.)

All that being said, I shall vote for Elenna, since they seem to be accusing me of poor gaming technique.

Do you actually suspect me of being a wolf, or is that just as retaliation?

- - - Updated - - -

BTW, JeenLeen, any particular reason you're voting for Mordekai?

AV, do you want us to strikethrough old votes? I did it out of habit but the rules seem to suggest otherwise.

[Voidstar01]

Alright so it statistically just gets worse the longer we go without voting. I'm voting Xihirli. Just because we need to vote for someone doesn't mean we need to be so happy about it. Also her quotes paint her to be a masterful deceiver.

[Xihirli]

What about my demeanor suggests that I would take joy in a mob tearing someone apart in the foyer... or perhaps we could throw them out a window. Or drop one of the chandeliers on their head. The possibilities are endless!

[AvatarVecna]

AV, do you want us to strikethrough old votes? I did it out of habit but the rules seem to suggest otherwise.

You can strike-through or not. I don't require it, or require it not be done, but I'm only going to count your most recent vote. Speaking of vote-counting:

End Of Day 1

At first, more than one voice clamored for calm, rational thinking following the murder, a plea to the others to not let their base urges for violence overwhelm them. This first drew in a mob that was all-to-happy to respond to violence with more violence, but as time wore on, the mob grew divided on which of a handful of suspects to take their anger out on. But when finally someone thought to investigate the knife itself, they found that it was engraved with its owner's name: Mordokai was the culprit! Well, maybe. But when the mob descended upon them with improvised weapons pulled from around the room, they eventually pulled a letter from their targets' bloody body, and sure enough, it seemed to be correspondence sent to Mordokai discussing details of Sir Bartholemew's murder with a co-conspirator, signed only with a mysterious symbol!

Spoiler: Vote Count

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Mordokai: BasketOfPuppies, JeenLeen
Xihirli: bc56, Voidstar
bc56: Mordokai
Elenna: kgato503
Libro: Xihirli, flyinglemur
Caerulea: Elenna

Of the three people with two votes on them, Mordokai reached two votes first. They were the Academic.

Libro and Logic will autolynch if they don't at least post by the end of Day 2.

Night 1 begins now. It will end in ~48 hours.

[Xihirli]

And that’s why we vote D1. Sometimes, it works.

[kgato503]

Ah, I misunderstood then. I'm fine with moving to Caerulea. (I originally voted for you instead of her just because you did it first and I've only got one vote. Well, first other than bc56, but I think this is their first game so I'd rather not vote for them day 1.)



Do you actually suspect me of being a wolf, or is that just as retaliation?

I did suspect you of being a wolf, although I have now rethought that. I have had wolves in the past try to twist my words/actions, and your original message had that wolfy feel to it (especially since it did not mention Caerulea at all). Given your explanation, I am no longer quite as suspicious. And, yeah, I probably should have added to my original post why I was waiting (my bad). If I had managed to get back to the game before Day 1 ending, I probably would have changed my vote (sorry about that).

[BasketOfPuppies]

Go team! I sure am glad to have led us on such a great victory /s.

[JeenLeen]

If a Neutral dies, do we discover their Role and Power, if any?

So, for Night Phase, do we PM AvatarVecna who we are targeting?

BTW, JeenLeen, any particular reason you're voting for Mordekai?

To my embarrassment (but I guess the ultimate good), it was largely because I thought he still hadn't posted and so I was going with the other person who voted for him. I later saw he had posted, but decided to leave my vote as-is.

[AvatarVecna]

So, for Night Phase, do we PM AvatarVecna who we are targeting?

While I will accept PMs declaring your targets, I'd really prefer if you use the QT I linked you to in your role PM. Everybody got one, and it keeps my inbox from getting flooded just in case somebody decides to have long PM conversations with another player (which, incidentally, I'd also prefer if they were done via a QT set up by one of the players involved, but PMs work fine once again).

[Grand Arbiter]

From down the hall to the kitchen the clattering of silverware can be heard, followed by muttered curses.

A couple minutes later a young man rolls a tea cart into the room, one of the front wheels squeaking like a mouse. 2 steaming kettles, milk, sugar, honey, stirring spoons and a box of assorted teas are visible atop the cart. He bends over to withdraw cups and saucers from the lower compartment.

“This whole thing has my nerves twisted up in a knot, so I thought I’d prepare some tea to calm myself down. One of the kitchen staff left the tea cart out, so I thought I’d take the liberty of offering coffee and tea to everyone.”

Looking up from the teacups he just placed on the table, he notices the body of Mordokai “Y-you guys killed somebody?” Seeing the the expression on some people’s faces he is visibly frightened. “And some of you thought about killing me? ... I’m going to need to sit down.”

Spoiler: OOC

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Terribly sorry, real life went way crazier than expected this weekend. Family member had to borrow my computer for work purposes and I just got it back last night.

Suspicion on flyinglemur for turning Xihirli’s participation poke (which I definitely deserved) at me into a 2-vote wagon in opposition to Mordokai.

[AvatarVecna]

End of Night 1

Early victory tastes sweet, but it's only one battle in a war that continues. As the night wears on and the arguing continues, frequently people need to make use of the facilities, or just get claustrophobic and go for a walk...which meant that the next time lightning struck and thunder shook the venerable manor, the next time the lights faded out for a few short moments, barely anybody had eyes on anyone else. As you sit in the dark waiting for power to be restored, your blood freezes in your veins as a shot of gunfire rings out! And then another, and then another, and then another! The shot continue for some time. Dear lord, somebody must be murdering damn near everybody in the entire house! As the power returns, you rush to where you heard the shots, thankful that you survived whatever massacre occurred. When you arrive, however, you find only a single cooling corpse, with two dozen bullet holes spread out over their face, and two dozen single-shot flintlock pistols dumped at their feet.

flyinglemur has died. They were the Crime Novelist.

Day 2 begins now, and will end in ~48 hours. If Logic has not posted by that point, they will be replaced by flat_footed.