Game rules and explanation (includes possible roles)

[Xillen]

Explanation of the game

First of all, this game is not a Roleplaying game! Instead, it is a tactical forum game where people have to figure out each other's roles and base their decisions upon that. While people are allowed to make "in character" descriptions, the game is affected only by the actions taken within the rules, and not by flavor actions written by the players.

There is a town, called Miller's Hollow. A group of immigrants recently settled here, hoping for it to be a nice place to live. Unfortunately for them, the town is cursed. Some of the inhabitants are cursed with lycantrophy, and during the night, they change into werewolves and feast upon their fellow villagers.



Due to the nature of the game, players cannot join once the game is started, and dead players can no longer participate. If the game interests you, you can ask to be alerted when the next game starts, by replying to the Interest records thread. You are also welcome to chat in the Tavern of Ghosts thread.

A lot of private communication is required for this game. All participants must be able to send and receive forum PMs. Please do not apply unless you are approved/not castrated.

If both you and your best forum buddy sign up for this game, be sure not to play together. After all, it could be that you're a mere villager, while your buddy is a werewolf. If either one of you would tell the other your role, it could totally ruin the game. Be prepared to vote your buddy out of the game, if that is the best action.



At the start of the game, everyone receives a PM from me, stating his or her role. Roughly 25% of the players are a werewolf, while the rest are villagers, mostly peasants. The werewolves try to remain hidden while they eat the peasants one by one. In return, the peasants try find out who the werewolves are and lynch them before they get eaten themselves.

The werewolves are informed about the other werewolves in the game. The other villagers are unaware about who is and who is not a werewolf.

The game works in a night and day cycle, starting at night.

Every night, the werewolves discuss together over PM and decide upon a target player that will get eaten. Meanwhile, some special villagers, such as the seer, have special abilities, which they can also use during the night. Some of these abilities can even prevent the werewolves from eating their target. When the morning arrives, I will make a reply in the game thread posting which player died that night.

During the first day, the villagers will choose a sheriff. They do so in a democratic way, by voting. Villagers are required to vote, and cannot vote on themselves. Villagers can change their vote as often as they want. The player that ends up with the most votes, becomes the sheriff. If the votes are tied, a small extra time is given, encouraging people to switch to make a decision. If it still remains a tie, there will be no sheriff during that day, and the next day the villagers will again try to choose a sheriff.

The sheriff retains his normal role. He is encouraged to take a leading role in the voting process, but this is not required. When at the end of a lynch vote, two or more people have the same amount of votes, the sheriff must decide among those with the most votes who will actually be lynched.

After a sheriff has been appointed, it's time to start thinking about executing a suspect. Players can post their ideas and opinions, while they are again required to vote, and can change their vote as they please. Peasants are peasants of course. Werewolves do not want to be lynched, so they act as if they are peasants. Finally, the special villagers don't want to draw the nightly attention of the werewolves either, and normally will tell people that they are regular peasants.

Eventually, the player with the most votes will be lynched. The lynched person will die, and his role will be known to the public. If it's a tie, the sheriff will have to make the decision. If there's no sheriff and nobody is willing to change their vote, nobody will be lynched. Then it returns to night in an everlasting circle, until all the werewolves have been killed, or the werewolves outnumber the villagers.



Werewolves cannot attack fellow werewolves. If someone is attacked, and consequently kept alive by special roles such as the guardian or the healer, the attacked person must have been innocent.

Whenever someone dies, his or her role will be revealed to the public. Whenever someone dies during the night, I will not give the reason as to why he or she dies. If the descriptions given in the flavor text seem to indicate otherwise, ignore them. That would probably be poor wording on my part.

Part of the game consists of deceiving the other players. Therefor, lying about what your role is, your motivations are and what others did or did not tell you in private is encouraged.

Villagers are welcome to talk among each other in private, using forum PM's or other media. However, since everything they tell you could be a lie, can you really trust them?

[Xillen]

Rules applying to the forum version

Dead men don't talk (and women neither). If your character dies, you are no longer posting in this thread. You are no longer talking about this game anywhere else where one of the remaining players can read it, including the Tavern of Ghosts thread and private communications off the site. You can of course chat with other dead players or with me, but keep in mind that nobody still alive 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 this channel. 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 occured. Base your opinions on what players are saying, not on outside elements!

The game decides the team. If you're a werewolf, 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 directly related to 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.

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 chance your vote at a later time, if you found a more suitable target.

Also, please do not consider the person that votes first as a werewolf, simply for the reason that he or she 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.

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 both the sheriff election and the lynch). You can only vote on others. Of course, two villagers can make a deal to vote on each other.

No need to run for election. You can be elected to sheriff against your will, if you happen to receive the most votes.

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.

[Xillen]

Villager roles

Peasant

• Peasants form the core of the community. They do not possess special powers, and only have the power of their own vote in the democratic system.
• Usually, around half of the players are peasants.
• Note, if the halfbreed is scryed upon by the seer or killed, he will appear as a peasant.

Soulmate

• Soulmates are just like peasants, lacking any special powers. However, they have one advantage, which is complete trust in their fellow soulmate.
• Soulmates always come in pairs of two. At the start of the game, when the soulmates receive their role, they are also informed about which player is the other soulmate.
• Soulmates have no special connection to each other. If one soulmate dies, the other soulmate can still live on.
• In addition, a soulmate could be turned into a lover by the cupid, or into a werewolf by the alpha, without the other soulmate noticing.

Seer

• The seer can summon visions about other villagers.
• Every night, the seer chooses one player other than himself (sent in by PM), and in the morning, the seer will learn what role the chosen player has (unless the seer dies).
• The seer is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single seer.

Guardian

• The guardian defends his fellow villagers against the Werewolves.
• Every night, the guardian chooses one player (sent in by PM), who is defended against the werewolves, the alpha and the alchemist.
• The guardian can choose to defend himself.
• The guardian cannot defend one person during two consecutive nights. The guardian must choose a different player than the player he guarded during the last night, though he can guard players again that he guarded during earlier nights.
• If the werewolves attack the guarded villager, their attack fails. There will be no deaths due to the werewolves that night. If the healer still has his special ability, he will learn that he cannot find any victims, which should inform him that the guardian did a good job.
• If the alpha decides to convert the guarded villager, the conversion fails, wasting the alpha's ability.
• The chosen player will not be informed that he is guarded. If the chosen player is attacked, he will not be informed.
• If the guardian successfully guards someone against an attack, he will not be informed about this incident.
• The guardian is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single guardian.
• The guardian cannot save someone from being lynched, being shot by the hunter, being slain by the executioner, be turned into a lover by the cupid, or dying to pangs of love.

Healer

• The healer has the power to save one villager from the brink of death.
• As long as the healer has not used his special power, he will receive a PM every night, with information about who was attacked during that night.
• The healer can choose to save the person, or save his ability for a later night.
• If the healer saves the person, that person will not be informed about being attacked or healed. Likewise, the rest of the villagers won't be informed about the incident (though they probably discover that there are no deaths in the morning).
• The healer is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single healer.
• The healer may heal himself if the werewolves decide to attack the healer.
• The healer cannot save someone from being lynched, being poisoned by the alchemist, being shot by the hunter, being slain by the executioner, be turned into a lover by the cupid, be turned into a werewolf by the alpha, or dying to pangs of love.

Priest

• The priest has a vial of holy water, that is able to discern a werewolf from a regular villager.
• One time during the game, when a villager is about to get lynched, the priest can test that villager, by pouring the holy water over him.
• If the villager happens to be a werewolf or alpha, the water will prove him guilty, and he will still be lynched.
• Otherwise, the villager's innocence is proved, and nobody will be lynched that day.
• The priest is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single priest.
• The priest can use the water on him or herself, to prove his or her own innocence.
• Note that both the halfbreed and the peasant lover of a werewolf appear innocent when tested by the priest.
• The priest cannot save someone from being eaten by the werewolves, being poisoned by the alchemist, being shot by the hunter, being slain by the executioner, be turned into a lover by the cupid, be turned into a werewolf by the alpha, or dying to pangs of love.

Alchemist

• The alchemist, with his poisonous concoctions, has the ability to take out one of the werewolves during the night.
• During a single night, except for the first night, the alchemist can choose one other player.
• The chosen player dies (regardless of their role), unless defended by the guardian.
• If the alchemist chooses the player defended by the guardian or attacked by the werewolves, the ability is wasted.
• Nobody will be informed about the incident, other than the additional death in the morning.
• Players will not be informed if someone dies to the werewolf attacks or to the alchemist.
• The alchemist is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single alchemist.

Hunter

• The hunter, armed with his crossbow, has the ability to take out one of the werewolves whenever he's attacked.
• When the hunter dies (due to whatever reason), the hunter chooses another player, who dies as well (regardless of their role).
• The hunter is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single hunter.

Executioner

• The executioner, with his large axe, has the ability to take out one of the werewolves during the lynch.
• During a single lynch, the executioner can reveal himself and choose another player, who dies (regardless of their role).
• Everyone will learn who the executioner is. The lynch continues as normal, but the vote of the executed player no longer counts.
• The executioner is allowed to kill someone else to prove his own innocence when it looks like he will be lynched.
• The executioner is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single executioner.

Cupid

• The cupid, with his bow and love arrows, can make two players fall in love with each other
• During the first night, the cupid chooses two players. If both players survive the night, they will fall in love, even if cupid dies himself.
• If one of the players dies, the cupid can choose two players during the next night, until two players have fallen in love.
• If the lovers have died in a later stadium in the game, while the cupid is still alive, the cupid is not allowed to choose new players anymore.
• The cupid can choose himself as one of the two chosen players.
• Unless the cupid chooses himself as one of the two chosen players, the cupid will not learn the role of the two players. Neither will the two players learn who cupid is.
• The cupid is in all other regards like a peasant. There is only a single cupid.

• When two players fall in love with each other, they will be informed so over PM, and learn each other's role. They keep their old roles.
• From that moment, the two lovers have to work together. They are the only players that can fully trust each other.
• When one lover dies, the other lover dies with him. If this happens during the night, players will not be informed why the other lover has died or that they were lovers.
• When both lovers are on the side of the peasants or the werewolves, they can win with the other players as usual.
• When one of the lovers is on the side of the peasants, while the other lover is on the side of the werewolves, they must kill all other players and be the last two players standing.
• The seer cannot see that someone is in love. The priest can declare someone innocent, even if that person is in love with a werewolf.

[Xillen]

Werewolf roles

Werewolf

• Werewolves are villagers that are cursed with lycantrophy.
• Werewolves know who their fellow werewolves are at the start of the game.
• Every night, the werewolves must together choose a single player to eat.
• Werewolves cannot decide to eat other werewolves.
• The chosen player dies, unless defended by the guardian or saved by the healer.
• During the day, werewolves pose themselves as peasants, hiding among the other villagers. Since no one knows yet that they are werewolves, they get to vote just like the other villagers.
• Usually, around a quarter of the players are werewolves, unless the halfbreed or primate are included.

Halfbreed

• The halfbreed is a werewolf that has enough human blood in his veins to pass on as a normal human.
• The halfbreed appears as a peasant, when scryed upon by the seer or when killed.
• The halfbreed appears as innocent, when tested by the priest.
• The halfbreed is in all other regards like a werewolf. There is only a single halfbreed.
• The halfbreed knows the werewolves at the start of the game, and gets to vote along with them.

Alpha

• The alpha is the original werewolf that has the power to curse another human with lycantrophy.
• During a single night, the alpha can choose one other player.
• The chosen player will be turned into a werewolf, unless defended by the guardian or killed during the night.
• If the alpha chooses the player defended by the guardian or killed during the night, the ability is wasted.
• When the chosen player is turned into a werewolf, he will lose his old role. If he was the seer, he does not learn the role of the target for this night.
  
• The chosen player will learn who the other werewolves are. The other werewolves will learn who the new werewolf is.
• The alpha is in all other regards like a werewolf. There is only a single alpha.
• The alpha knows the werewolves at the start of the game, and gets to vote along with them.
• If the alpha is the last remaining werewolf, he cannot convert one player and eat another player during the same night.

[Xillen]

Other roles

Thief

• The Thief has the ability to steal the role of any other player on the first night.
• They choose the player to steal the role from, and are not aware of what the role is
• Alternately they may choose the extra role card
• If they should steal a players role, the player will become whatever the extra role card is.
• The Thief must choose either the extra role card or to steal a player's role.