Assassins Among Us - Rules/Info/OOC

[persephone325]

Assassins have always done their work in the shadows. But lately, they've been getting a bit sloppy. The people of the community have been catching onto them, and have already weeded out some of their best men. This is the last chance for the assassins to redeem themselves and prove their worth to their leader.

Only one questions remains. Will you help them, or hinder them?

How does this game work?

The game is a strategy and sneaking game, not a role play. Though plenty of 'role playing' is done in the 'flavor text' (voting), the primary point of the game is to discover the assassins, or kill off the targets depending on your alignment. The players are assigned a role before the game begins with assassins, targets and special roles. The goal for either side is to eliminate the opposite. Feel free to make descriptions of what you are doing, have fun with it, etc, but these will not affect the game-play.

How do you win?

~The goal of the targets is to find out who the assassins are and eliminate them before all the innocents are killed. The targets win when they eliminate all the assassins.
~The goal of the assassins is to eliminate the targets before their identities are discovered. The assassins win when their numbers equal or outweigh the targets.

Notes

~Once the game has started, no new players can join unless requested by the GM to replace a member who had to leave.
~You must have access to PMs to play this game. I'm sorry unapproved members.
~The game decides your alignment, not your friendships.
~Your roles will be PM'ed to you before the game starts.
~The assassins are made aware of who other assassins are after the GM has made the opening post.
~You are required to post/vote. Anyone who has not voted for three rounds is likely to be removed by the GM to keep the game running smoothly.
~Assassins cannot attack other assassins.
~Night phases are when the assassins pick a target to eliminate. Day phases are when people publicly vote against who they think the assassins are.
~If someone is kept alive by a special role, you know that person is innocent. (Use this to your advantage, special roles! These people are on your side! Talk to them!)
~The game is a game of lies and deception. Lying about your role, motivation and what others have said/done in private is encouraged.
~Players are encouraged to talk among themselves, form alliances, and etc. Please add persephone325 to any game related PMs!
~Remember that everything you hear could be a lie... who can you really trust?

[persephone325]

Rules for the Forum Games

Dead characters don't talk. If/When you die, you should not post in the active game thread until the game has ended. Do not discuss the game with anyone of the living players, and do not discuss the game where living players can see it. This applies especially to the OOC threads. You can always chat with your fellow ghosts, and with the GM, but make sure no one living can read it.

There's no copy machine. You cannot directly quote/copy anything game related that was told to you anywhere other than in the active game. For example, you can tell others what role you received (and lie about it), but you cannot actually quote the text stating your role. Likewise, you can tell others what people told you (and make stuff up), but you can't actually quote what they said to you. You can of course quote anything said in the game thread, since everyone can read it. For clarification, copying someone's text without using the board quote tags is still quoting and still against the rules.

Monitor the game, not the players. Do not go check the Who's Online often to see what players are doing. Do not go check when each player was last online right after a certain action occurred. Base your opinions on what players are saying, not on outside elements!

The game decides the team. If you're a bad guy, and your best buddy is not, then so be it. You are still supposed to kill each other. Do not tell anyone your role, just because they're a friend of you.

Games are for fun. This is a game, and it's supposed to be fun. Keep this in mind when playing, and don't try to think anything bad about the other players. See them as enemies or suspects in the game, but friends outside the game!

Keep the GM entertained. Whenever you send another player a PM regarding the game, send it to me as well. I'd like to read up on the discussion between players :)

Rules for Voting

Voting is mandatory. You cannot abstain from voting. After all, a major part of the game is based on deducting the voting pattern of other players. Preferably, everyone should vote as fast as possible, but of course people also have other things on their mind, so it's impractical to force people to vote within a certain time limit. However, if you have time to reply to the thread, you also have time to post your vote. (Your first post should contain a vote, when applicable).

Please do not hold back your vote until there are more votes in. If everyone starts thinking like that, then eventually nobody would vote anymore. Just bring out a random vote, and change your vote at a later time, if you found a more suitable target.

Votes can always be changed. Until a "Final Lynch Vote" tally is posted, you may change your vote as many times and as often as you like.

Please do not consider the person that votes first a 'bad guy', simply for the reason that they voted first. That person just happens to be the person to check the thread first, and if everyone always accuses the person first to vote, then nobody will vote first anymore, meaning nobody will vote anymore.

Do not vote based on game experience. Just because Valerian plays in every game, or Saffron is the GM in most games, that doesn't make them a target. The point of the game is to play well, and I will not accept votes based on "Well they're a strong player... we should take them out first." (This applies to lynching and assassinations).

Vote in bold. Whenever you cast a vote on someone, be sure to put the name in [ b ]bold[ /b ], so I can easily check who is being voted on.

You cannot vote on yourself for the lynch. You can only vote on others.

Do not edit your posts. If you change your opinion, make a new post with your new vote. Everything that's said in the thread should be visible at all times.

[persephone325]

New roles have been added, and existing roles may have been tweaked! Please read carefully!

Good Guys:
~Undercover Neutral Party - Is able to figure out the identity of other players during the night phases.

~Doctor - Can choose to heal anyone attacked twice during the game, including themselves. They cannot heal anyone killed by the Master Marksman. This ability does not transfer if the player is turned.

~Police Officer - Equipped with a bullet proof vest. Able to withstand a regular attack. Has a chance to protect a citizen from a regular attack, or from being turned during night phases only. Cannot protect the same person two nights in a row. Has the option to give their vest to another player in order to protect them. However, this will make them vulnerable to normal attacks. Cannot be turned into an assassin. If the assassins try to turn the police officer, the ability is wasted.
     ~Note: If the police officer has chosen to give his/her vest to another player, then that player receives the vest for the rest of the game. It can no longer be transferred. If the police officer is killed and has given their vest to another player, this will not be noted during the next day phase.

~The Elderly Couple - A special role that pairs two people together. They have been together for many years, and trust each other without fail. Due to their frail state, they cannot be turned into assassins. If the assassins try to turn someone who has this role, they are not informed until the next day. Thus, the ability is wasted. If one person who has this role is killed or lynched, their partner dies the next round and the assassins cannot kill anyone during that night. Though they can still turn someone if it is a third night phase. *This pairing may not always be M/F!*

~Regular citizen - No special abilities.

*Special Note: If the innocent attacked by the assassins happens to be protected by the Police Officer AND healed by the Doctor, then the person with the special role who replied to their Night Phase message first will take credit for the saving of said innocent.
Example: Yugi is targeted by the assassins. The Doctor is messaged with this information, and chooses to heal him. At the same time, the Police Officer has decided to protect him. If the Police Officer sends their decision to the GM before the Doctor, then the Officer gets credit for the save and the Doctor is informed that their heal was negated by the Police Officer. They continue the game with their two opportunities to heal innocent players.
On the flip side, if the Doctor responds first to heal the intended target and the Police Officer picks the same player to protect then the Doctor's ability is used and they still have a heal left.

Bad Guys:
~Master Marksman - His/her attacks instantly kill the intended target. This ability can only be used twice during the game. Once both times are used up, they become a regular assassin. Though they are always revealed as the Master Marksman.

~Assassin Trainer - Every third night, the Trainer can turn one of the good guys to the assassin side. Cannot carry out hits due to the fact that he/she devotes their time to training. This ability cannot be used the same night as a hit. If the assassins decide not to turn anyone during a third night phase, they cannot use the ability during the next night phase. Basically, the chance to turn a good guy into an assassin does not carry over.

~Devoted Lackey - The Lackey is not an assassin, but gathers information for them. If the Neutral Party discovers the person with this role, they informed that the player is a good guy. It is their job to make friends with the good guys and gain their trust. Basically, figure out who has what role. They are a wolf in sheep's clothing. This role is similar to the Neutral Party role, but the person with this role has to figure out the roles of the good guys by themselves.

~Regular Assassin - No special abilities. Revealed as a bad guy to the Neutral Party.

Other:
~Witness - This role is special in the fact that it can only be used once, and at random. It is not assigned at the start of the game. Each time after a successful assassination preformed by a regular assassin, the GM will roll the dice to determine if the role will be used. The Master Marksman is too good to be spotted by witnesses. If the roll is unsuccessful, then there is no witness. If the roll is successful, a player on the innocent side is randomly chosen to be the witness. They learn about the assassination before it is publicly announced, and also get a clue as to who the assassin was.
However, there is a drawback. A witness to such a crime sometimes can't clearly remember what exactly they saw. So, they are given two names to choose from. The guilty party, and another name chosen at random. Because the witness does not want to publicly announce that they saw the murder, they message the GM with the name of the person whom they believe to be the guilty party. The GM then announces the death publicly, along with the witness' statement.
For example: The townspeople awoke the next morning, dismayed to find that Valerian has been murdered in cold blood by the assassins. Though with the bad news, comes the good. There was a witness to the crime, and they believe they saw Mr B fleeing the scene!
Players then have the option to vote for the accused player, and lnych him or her. Or, they can vote for someone different. If the players choose to vote out a different person, then nobody finds out whether the accused was innocent or not. If the witness' accusation was correct, then they have the name of an ally. If the accusation was incorrect, the assassins are informed of who the witness is and have the option to take him or her out. However, the assassins must still choose whether they want to use the Master Marksman or a regular assassin to kill the witness. (If the players chose to vote out someone other than the witness' accused player, then the assassins DO NOT learn the identity of the witness.)

~Town Sheriff - Breaks a tie in the public voting.

**How this works: Each night the assassins will choose a target to eliminate. The decision does not have to be unanimous, and is usually a "majority wins" situation.

However, the assassins must decide whether they would like the target to be eliminated via a regular hitman or by use of the Master Marksman's ability.

If a regular hitman is chosen to carry out the task, and that target is the police officer or is healed by the doctor, they will have survived the hit. If the Master Marksman is the one carrying out the assassination, the character is killed no matter their role.

[persephone325]

Saffron has given me permission to run this game again, because the Slender game has been postponed.

Please only reply if you are going to join the game! Thank you.

Interested players (At least 15 would be ideal; 20 maximum)

• Blythe
• Elandra
• Ithnuul
• Josietta
• Leorobin
• Lisar
• MabFaerie
• Mr B
• Phaia
• Rapt
• Remiel
• Sasha
• Silver
• Starlequin
• SunshineSparkle
• Tersius
• ThatRPGuy
• Valerian
• Yugi

[Galactic Druid]

Sure, I'll play!

[Zelric Miras]

I'll play ^^

[Silver]

I'm back for another round of this..

[SunshineSparkle]

I'm in!

[persephone325]

Wow. Four people already! Thank you! ^^

[Sasha]

sounds good to me .... smiles , love to play .

[Starlequin]

I'm in, as well.

[yugi006]

I'm up for this as well.

[Remiel]

Interest!

[persephone325]

Thank you guys for wanting to join! ^^

I'm going to wait until we get at least 15 players. I think that would be ideal, considering the addition of special roles. We could probably play with 14, or maybe 13. But we'll see how much interest we get, and then go from there.

[Remiel]

Er, I was just reading through the roles, and it seems like the game is heavily balanced in favor of the assassins, particularly this:

~Assassin Trainer - Each night, can turn one of the good guys to the assassin side. Cannot carry out hits due to the fact that he/she devotes their time to training. This ability cannot be used the same night as a hit.

If an assassin can turn one of the good guys each night, then I see the assassins outnumbering the innocents very quickly.

[persephone325]

Er, I was just reading through the roles, and it seems like the game is heavily balanced in favor of the assassins, particularly this:

If an assassin can turn one of the good guys each night, then I see the assassins outnumbering the innocents very quickly.

Someone already brought that to my attention. This ability cannot be used the same night as a hit, and if I see the assassins abusing the ability, I will put a stop to it. That's why I added a little note to the bottom of the post.

Also, there are certain roles that cannot be turned to the bad guys side.

But I can amend the role if everyone feels the same.

[Galactic Druid]

Out of curiosity, is a hit ever mandatory? I would just keep turning people if it were a choice.

[persephone325]

Out of curiosity, is a hit ever mandatory? I would just keep turning people if it were a choice.

Because I don't want people abusing the "turning" role, the assassins have to carry out a hit. Since a few people have brought up questions regarding turning the good guys into assassins, I'll probably just go ahead and change the conditions of that role where it can only be used every other night. Or every three nights.

I'm glad people are asking questions and raising concerns. Without them, I probably wouldn't have thought of some of the points they've brought up.

[persephone325]

I've made some adjustments. If anyone knows anyone who might like to join, feel free to send them a message. ^^ I'm excited to see how these new roles work out.

[yugi006]

Much better. I'll see if I can recruit some people.

[persephone325]

Is everyone still interested? I understand that Saffron plans to run Winter Wonderland after the Romeo & Juliet game. I could try to run the game with just the people listed. But that would be pretty hard. If you guys aren't interested anymore, then I can see about trying to run it later on down the road. I was just curious as to how the new roles would work out. ^^

[yugi006]

Still interested but whenever it happens is fine with. I'm always interested in anything you run or playing with you in these types of games.

[persephone325]

Still interested but whenever it happens is fine with. I'm always interested in anything you run or playing with you in these types of games.

*gloats* Well I love playing games with you, as well! ^^ If this doesn't turn out well this time, then I'll definitely run it again at some point later.

[yugi006]

Aww. Thank you.  I'll see if I can recruit some people. Perhaps if there was something people could put in their signatures for advertisement that might work.

[persephone325]

Aww. Thank you.  I'll see if I can recruit some people. Perhaps if there was something people could put in their signatures for advertisement that might work.

I've been looking at images that might fit... But it's rather hard. Most of the images I find are rather...rubbish. lol