Words Of Power (Mafia)

[gac3]

“Words are containers for power, you choose what kind of power they carry.”
- Joyce Meyer

Words of Power is an experimental mafia game that I wanted to try. On top of that, it is going to be a bastard game. If you don’t know what a mafia or bastard game is, I have included details below. Now I’m going to get to the details of this specific game.

Pay close attention the the following rules: I’m not telling you anything yet. I will give more details once the game starts. This is for reasons that will be explained later. However, feel free to ask questions, make comments, etc. I will compile a list and the things I need to respond to before playing will be answered in the first post of the game. The only detail you need to know is that while no one has been given roles or alignments yet, there are ways to influence the game with everything you say. This includes during the recruitment thread.

“Words can inspire. And words can destroy. Choose yours well.”
- Robin Sharma

Spoiler: Mafia Games

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Mafia games are a freeform competitive game where an informed majority (wolves) go up against an uninformed majority (town). Some people are assigned to be wolves and will have a private group chat. The rest will be assigned to be town (or neutral) and may or may not receive powers to be used throughout the game.

The game will be split into two alternating phases, the day phase and the night phase. During the day phase players will place bolded red votes for who they think should be removed from the game. This phase will last 48 hours. At the end of this phase, the player who has received the most votes is eliminated from the game and their alignment is revealed. Then the night phase begins. During the night phase, wolves choose a target to remove from the game and any players with powers that function at night, may select their targets. At the end of this phase, powers resolve and the next day phase begins.

Winning is based on eliminating rivals. Town members must remove all wolves from the game to win. Wolves must remove enough town members from the game so that they have the majority.

Spoiler: Bastard Game

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Assuming I am using this term right, here is what you should expect from me calling it a bastard game.
- Balance is not guaranteed. One team might have a distinct advantage (though this will not be an intentional active decision on my part in this instance).
- I, as narrator, may lie to you. To keep this from getting to crazy, if I want something to be absolutely 100% truth because I need to make something clear, I will put it in italics. That said, this should be rare and only for when I need to clarify something that is my fault. Otherwise anything I say after this opening post is subject to suspicion and should have its legitimacy questioned.
- You will most likely not be given nearly as much information as is standard for mafia games.
- Uh, have fun though. This game might get weird. It’s kind of up to you all. Like all Mafia games, the more you participate, the better things will turn out.

Spoiler: Players

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1. flatfooted
2. bladescape
3. Batcathat
4. snowblaze
5. Avatar Vecna
6. TankLaser007
7. Flame12
8. Cape
9. Supagoof
10. Taffimai
11. Elenna
12. Valmark
13. Book Wombat
14. Zelphas
15. JoyWonderLove
16. Rogan

Spoiler: Questions to Most Likely be Answered Later

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1) Will there be neutrals?
With this many, expect neutrals.
2) Will there be a cult?

3) Will there be any non-town groups other than regular wolfs?
I will not weigh in on this. However there will only be one group considered to be non-neutral
4) Maybe two competing scum teams (wolfs/mafia)?
No.
5) Will this be an all-power game?
Yes
6) Will there be a fool?

7) If there is a fool, will we be told?
The fool/seer would be told that a fool exists.
8) Will there be a jester?

9) Will there be secret win conditions?
Secret as in not known to the public? Yes. Secret as in not known to the player? No.
10) Will AV die and come back again?
Uh…. We will see?
If Snow isn't neutral, can we be town buddies?
Maybe?
If I'm not town, can I be neutral and get a victory (or lose) condition about my post count?
Interesting Idea
Will the narrator be lynchable?
Maybe
Can you solve the following equation for x?
4x * 3 = 24
2
Who will win this game?
Everyone who has fun
XYZZY
What's your favorite color?
Red
Will roles be unique?
Yes
Are you going to lie about not lying in italics?
No
Will there be death reveals? Can we trust them?
Yes. Maybe
Will you put "Day starts and will last until ..." posts in italic? If you don't manage to post in time, are we allowed to call foul?
It’ll probably be a consistent “When I get off work this day in question”
Will we learn the exact mechanic after the game ended?
Yes
Will there be a dead chat?
Yes
Can the dead influence the game? Cause I WISH they can!
….
Is the opposite of a survivor a jester?
Probably
Tie rules:
Coin flip.

Gac3 has been lynched with a majority two Error zero vote count. Gac3 was the Narrator. Each night the Narrator can [REDACTED]. The target will not be informed of this.

Day One has begun and will end Thursday between 6 and 7 a.m. EST.

"Never let defeat have the last word."

[flat_footed]

JoyWonderLove for having the most question marks.

[Batcathat]

- I, as narrator, may lie to you. To keep this from getting to crazy, if I want something to be absolutely 100% truth because I need to make something clear, I will put it in italics. That said, this should be rare and only for when I need to clarify something that is my fault. Otherwise anything I say after this opening post is subject to suspicion and should have its legitimacy questioned.

Just so we're clear, does that mean that everything in the opening post, including the Q&A section, can be trusted? (You're going to tell me "Yes" but not in italics, aren't you? )

Sooner or later, I will be right about Supagoof being scum.

[gac3]

Just so we're clear, does that mean that everything in the opening post, including the Q&A section, can be trusted? (You're going to tell me "Yes" but not in italics, aren't you? )

Sooner or later, I will be right about Supagoof being scum.

Yes.


Also, that got approved fast. Finishing up with role PMs. If you don't have one within an hour, let me know.

[Snowblaze]

I've decided that this game I'm going to accept that I will never understand what's going on and just embrace the chaos.

Valmark, for Reasons.

[bladescape]

Flat_footed for being closest thing to a narrator I can vote right now.

[Elenna]

RNGesus hath decreed that I will vote for Book Wombat.

- - - Updated - - -

Also I’m super curious if our lynching the narrator did anything mechanically, but I guess we’ll find out after the game ends.

[Batcathat]

RNGesus hath decreed that I will vote for Book Wombat.

Seems fitting with a random vote at BW. Live by the RNG, die by the RNG.

[Elenna]

@gac, is private communication allowed?

[AvatarVecna]

AvatarVecna

[Valmark]

Important to note, according to the topic there is only one non-neutral group- which means that there shouldn't be town and wolf members.

In addition I don't know about you but I wasn't told any alignment- this leads me to believe that we might not have an opposing faction, assuming I'm Town. If there even is a Town.

Also, since it wasn't in italics, it could very well be a lie. I don't think I will vote just yet when I don't even know if I have an enemy.

[TankLaser007]

JoyWonderLove for having the most question marks.

And creepily enough... flat_footed, despite the moniker, got to act first in that surprise round.

Remember we were warned:

I suppose I'll be first to slaughter.

Just so we're clear, does that mean that everything in the opening post, including the Q&A section, can be trusted? (You're going to tell me "Yes" but not in italics, aren't you? )

Sooner or later, I will be right about Supagoof being scum.

And it seems you were correct. "Yes" indeed.

I've decided that this game I'm going to accept that I will never understand what's going on and just embrace the chaos.

Valmark, for Reasons.

And with a capital "R" no less.

Flat_footed for being closest thing to a narrator I can vote right now.

Again I am reminded...

I suppose I'll be first to slaughter.

RNGesus hath decreed that I will vote for Book Wombat.

- - - Updated - - -

Also I’m super curious if our lynching the narrator did anything mechanically, but I guess we’ll find out after the game ends.

Seems fitting with a random vote at BW. Live by the RNG, die by the RNG.

Wait. Are you lot lynching via d12?

AvatarVecna

I think I'll second that vote. I mean why not? Maybe truly an Avatar of Venca doesn't fear death. Let's see where this goes. Perhaps its a "cat came back" situation.

AvatarVecna

[AvatarVecna]

Important to note, according to the topic there is only one non-neutral group- which means that there shouldn't be town and wolf members.

In addition I don't know about you but I wasn't told any alignment- this leads me to believe that we might not have an opposing faction, assuming I'm Town. If there even is a Town.

Also, since it wasn't in italics, it could very well be a lie. I don't think I will vote just yet when I don't even know if I have an enemy.

I received an alignment. Additionally, I'm not sure where you're seeing "only one non-neutral group", can you quote it please?

[Batcathat]

I received an alignment. Additionally, I'm not sure where you're seeing "only one non-neutral group", can you quote it please?

It's in the Q&A.

I will not weigh in on this. However there will only be one group considered to be non-neutral

I can think of three possible interpretations. Either there's only Town (plus neutrals) and the game is realizing that before killing each other (and/or being killed by neutrals) or there's only one non-Town faction or there's only one non-Town, non-Wolf faction. The phrasing does make it sound like the first one, but the other ones seem more likely, I think.

@gac: Any hope of clarification? (In italics?)

[Valmark]

Spoiler: Questions to Most Likely be Answered Later

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3) Will there be any non-town groups other than regular wolfs?
I will not weigh in on this. However there will only be one group considered to be non-neutral

I received an alignment. Additionally, I'm not sure where you're seeing "only one non-neutral group", can you quote it please?

There. Also I hope that makes me a neutral then.

- - - Updated - - -

Also gac3, just in case the narrator death is a lie.

Also gac3, would I be told my alignment if I was neutral?

[JoyWonderLove]

Gac3 gave me a silly power (can confirm my alignment, but I'm unclear who the 'bad guys' are, or if they exist given what Valmark said so.....is everyone basically neutrals and town? If so, how would a team win?) and a weak but nifty power if very specific circumstance pop up.

So it's mostly fun stuff that suits me fine. Question marks ftw!!!

[Taffimai]

Winning is based on eliminating rivals. Town members must remove all wolves from the game to win. Wolves must remove enough town members from the game so that they have the majority.

3) Will there be any non-town groups other than regular wolfs?
I will not weigh in on this. However there will only be one group considered to be non-neutral

I support Gac for creating a game where we can collectively misread the OP to mean that the one non-neutral faction (be they town or wolves) cannot achieve their win condition. And I think it will be fun to see how he handles a narrator lynch.

Also, I'm not in the greatest headspace atm and the start of this game caught me by surprise. Please forgive me if my contributions are lackluster.

[TankLaser007]

Gac3 gave me a silly power (can confirm my alignment, but I'm unclear who the 'bad guys' are, or if they exist given what Valmark said so.....is everyone basically neutrals and town? If so, how would a team win?) and a weak but nifty power if very specific circumstance pop up.

So it's mostly fun stuff that suits me fine. Question marks ftw!!!

But don't we all have Words Of Power?

Wait, can we abstain? I mean we will lynch someone and loose a player OR we wait till night and see if someone is eaten/killed (and loose a player). I mean if there is legitimate doubt as to whether or not we are just senselessly killing each other (narrativity I mean.)

[Valmark]

But don't we all have Words Of Power?

Wait, can we abstain? I mean we will lynch someone and loose a player OR we wait till night and see if someone is eaten/killed (and loose a player). I mean if there is legitimate doubt as to whether or not we are just senselessly killing each other (narrativity I mean.)

In this game? There is. Another reason to not lynch one another until gac clarifies (and then wonder if his clarification can be trusted).

[Batcathat]

In this game? There is. Another reason to not lynch one another until gac clarifies (and then wonder if his clarification can be trusted).

Yeah, if there's one answer gac won't write in italics, I bet it's this one. I'm usually sceptical of not lynching anyone for the same reason I'm sceptical of lynching inactives (we don't get any information), but I suppose this might be the exception that proves the rule.

That said, even if there are no wolves, there might be a serial killer or some other murderous neutral (though it would be pretty funny if this is a mafia game with no kill powers at all), so even if someone's killed, we might not know for sure.

[JoyWonderLove]

But don't we all have Words Of Power?

Wait, can we abstain? I mean we will lynch someone and loose a player OR we wait till night and see if someone is eaten/killed (and loose a player). I mean if there is legitimate doubt as to whether or not we are just senselessly killing each other (narrativity I mean.)

Hey, there is such a thing as +soft+ power.

It all leads to Victory in the end.

[Batcathat]

I've decided that this game I'm going to accept that I will never understand what's going on and just embrace the chaos.

Valmark, for Reasons.

Hey, there is such a thing as +soft+ power.

It all leads to Victory in the end.

Clearly Snow and JWL have some sort of nefarious capitalization power.

I'm not even sure whether I'm joking or not...

[JoyWonderLove]

Clearly Snow and JWL have some sort of nefarious capitalization power.

I'm not even sure whether I'm joking or not...

Oh Batcathat, you and your stories. :>

Why would capitalising Victory make any real difference in a words of power game? :> :>

Repeating peace, love and prosperity earlier couldn't have shaped events in big ways already, right? :> :> :>

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JoyWonderLove for having the most question marks.

I want to vote for you for making the most sense, but I don't do day 1 voting.

[Snowblaze]

No, I do not have a nefarious capitalisation power.

Also I do recommend lynching someone. If everyone's win conditions were mutually compatible, there wouldn't be a game ongoing. Which implies that someone needs to die, and the best way to find out who is to kill people.

And... in general I think we have to treat this like a normal game with town and wolves at least for now, even though it might not be. Because even if it isn't we need discussion about who's being suspicious and who we should kill.

[AvatarVecna]

I volunteer to be lynched. No I am not any kind of Jester AFAIK.

[Zelphas]

Okay, day 1, basically no information, I rolled a dice and it landed on 7, so for now my vote is on Flame12.

Now to see if I can figure out what's going on... which may be an exercise in futility.

[Supagoof]

Snowblaze for the same reasons that BCH called my name out. Sooner or later. Also, sorry BCH, it'll have to be later this time, not scum this game.

Plus, Snow is super slippery and avoids the day 1 lynch all the time.

AV wanting be day 1 lynch has more of an eye raising. I'll probably switch to him as my reason for Snowblaze is the usual "I'll get you day one, one day!" nonsense.

[JoyWonderLove]

Victory will be ours if we work together. SnowBlaze and Rogan are our detectives, AV is our strategic type, Supagoof should be in charge of entertainment, BookWombat is a wombat that reads books, etc.

I volunteer to be lynched. No I am not any kind of Jester AFAIK.

Not the hero we want, but the one we deserve!

Snowblaze for the same reasons that BCH called my name out. Sooner or later. Also, sorry BCH, it'll have to be later this time, not scum this game.

Would you tell us if you were a mafia member...?

[CaoimhinTheCape]

Well! Glad I could contribute to the narrator lynch this game.

Important to note, according to the topic there is only one non-neutral group- which means that there shouldn't be town and wolf members.

In addition I don't know about you but I wasn't told any alignment- this leads me to believe that we might not have an opposing faction, assuming I'm Town. If there even is a Town.

Also, since it wasn't in italics, it could very well be a lie. I don't think I will vote just yet when I don't even know if I have an enemy.

- I, as narrator, may lie to you. To keep this from getting to crazy, if I want something to be absolutely 100% truth because I need to make something clear, I will put it in italics. That said, this should be rare and only for when I need to clarify something that is my fault. Otherwise anything I say after this opening post is subject to suspicion and should have its legitimacy questioned.

I take this to mean that anything in the opening post is confirmed truth, so I would normally assume that to be truth... but the only way for that to be true is the neutrals in the game could cause us (or maybe some of us?) to lose specifically.

Wait. Are you lot lynching via d12?

On Day 1, some players place their first vote my rolling a die or something like that. It usually doesn't stick through all of Day 1 unless it does, and if anyone votes random past Day 1 it's a red flag for most of us.

I volunteer to be lynched. No I am not any kind of Jester AFAIK.

I believe AV about not being Jester. But if I were to guess, AV's power is one that activates on AV's first death or powers up after AV's first death. Not sure if that's good or bad.

There. Also I hope that makes me a neutral then.

- - - Updated - - -

Also gac3, just in case the narrator death is a lie.

Also gac3, would I be told my alignment if I was neutral?

Based on what Valmark has posted so far, I think it's likely that he's a non-hostile neutral. If his win con was to eliminate players or anything along those lines, I'm guessing Val would have acted as if it was a normal Day 1 instead of suggesting no vote and then voting the (possibly) lynched narrator.

Also I do recommend lynching someone. If everyone's win conditions were mutually compatible, there wouldn't be a game ongoing. Which implies that someone needs to die, and the best way to find out who is to kill people.

And... in general I think we have to treat this like a normal game with town and wolves at least for now, even though it might not be. Because even if it isn't we need discussion about who's being suspicious and who we should kill.

Agreeing with this - in addition, lynching is our only shot at learning anything about roles or eliminating hostiles (barring a vig, of course).

Gonna vote: Book Wombat since Book tends to live long and so we have a rival wagon to AV that isn't the maybe dead narrator.

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Vote Count:
JoyWonderLove (1): flatfooted
Supagoof (1): Batcathat
Valmark (1): snowblaze
flatfooted (1): bladescape
Book Wombat (2): Elenna, Cape
AvatarVecna (2): AvatarVecna, TankLaser007
gac3 (2): Valmark, Taffimai
Flame12 (1): Zelphas
Snowblaze (1): Supagoof
No Vote: JoyWonderLove
No Posts: Flame12, Book Wombat, Rogan??

[bladescape]

There is at least one serial killer if my information can be trusted.