Welcome to my game. I believe there is no need for me to introduce myself, so let us cut the unnecessary chit-chat and allow me to explain what this particular board is going to be all about.
First, let’s cover the basics.
##Ground Rules
Usual Mafia rules of conduct apply: Do not edit or delete posts, do not discuss the game with other players unless explicitly allowed to, do not share information about the game with players of the game after being eliminated, do not use physical evidence in the form of quotes or screenshots to back up your claims. These rules are only an approximation of what kind of conduct is forbidden, but I trust you all to be reasonable enough to get what you should and shouldn’t do, okay~? Breaking these rules of conduct will not be tolerated.
The basic two factions in this game are as follows:
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Human Aligned players must eliminate all Witch Aligned players.
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Witch Aligned players must eliminate all Human Aligned players. They are outnumbered, but have the unique privilege to discuss the game at their leisure outside of this topic, in their own private chat.
Players may have additional rules attached to their role, and there may or may not be players whose alignment is neither Human nor Witch.
The proceedings of this game are split into two halves: Day Phases and Night Phases. Day Phases last up to 48 hours, Night Phases last 24 hours. During Day Phases, all players discuss what to do in this topic. During Night Phases, this topic is locked and people are given the opportunity to use their Night Actions.
Some players in this game have innate abilities they can use at night. Others do not, but that does not mean they cannot act. What do I mean by that, well…
##Blue Truth
Now we will get to the heart of this game and what makes it vastly different from our previous games: The Blue Truth.
During day phases, unlike normal, there is no lynch to be decided on. Instead, day phases are used to claim, refute and press Blue Truths. Now what are Blue Truths? Put simply, they are a claim to a night ability.
Every player can do one claim, and either a refutation or press per day phase.
A claim is a Blue Statement in the following form:
Naturally, this claim can either be truthful or a falsehood. When a player makes a claim like this, other players may refute the claim, like this:
If a claim is refuted and it was a falsehood, the claimant will be incapable of doing any action the following night (including their innate ability). If it is refuted but it was truthful, however, the refuter will be incapable of doing any action the following night.
But the real clincher is when claims are not refuted. Regardless of whether or not it was a true or false statement, unrefuted Blue Truths become the truth. That means you can make the most outlandish and ridiculous claims - so long as no one refutes them, they might just go through and you get a sweet ability out of it. However, these abilities only last for a single night phase so the following day you will have to make another claim. And you cannot use your innate ability if you claimed a different one.
To add another wrench into the mix, if a witch aligned player manages to have a false blue claim go through unrefuted, they gain the Magic of Belief. This means instead of using their claimed ability during the night, they also have three other options: They can Kill a player, they can permanently Disable a player, or they can Cancel any number of Blue Claims made during the day (they count as being refuted even if they were true). What does Disable do? Well, a disabled player can still talk and still counts as an active player, however they can no longer use any abilities and any passive abilities they may have will no longer work. They can still refute and press like normal though.
Do also take note that whether or not a refutation is successful or not will not be publicly posted. The claimant obviously knows, but the refuter will only know by seeing if they are blocked during the night or not - and a block could of course have also come through other means.
Players can also press other players, like so:
When a player is pressed, they may not use any ability that night, unless they make a Blue Claim in response before the day phase concludes. Pressing a player is mutually exclusive with refuting a statement, you can only do one or the other in a day phase.
Now, what ability claims are allowed? Generally, the sky’s the limit on creativity, so feel free to go wherever your imagination might take you. However, there are some exceptions.
- The most fundamental limitation is that for the purposes of claimed abilities, the alignments of players are considered “untouchable” (as in it cannot be read or overwritten). So any and all abilities that work differently depending on an involved player’s alignment do not work, and you also cannot make any abilities that change a player’s alignment. No bullshit abilities like “When I use this ability, all witch aligned players die at daybreak.” You’ll actually have to put some effort into figuring out who your allies or opponents are.
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“Informational” abilities must be clearly separate from “acting” abilities. If your ability affects the game in some tangible way, it cannot give any direct feedback to you, and if it gives any direct feedback to you it cannot affect the game otherwise. You can have an ability that makes someone immune to night attacks. You can have an ability that tells you what abilities were used on your target. You cannot make an ability that combines the two.
- The witches’ Disable can be neither protected from nor reversed after it has taken effect. That is the advantage it has over Kill, and ability claims cannot override it - it can only be blocked with Roleblock.
- The game master’s authority cannot be touched by abilities. I am the one carrying out these abilities, you know? If you ask something of me that I am not willing to do - or, for that matter, incapable of doing - you won’t get anywhere.
- Finally, everyone directly affected by an ability must be the ability’s targets, which are set at nighttime. You cannot make an ability that singles out a single person or group in advance. This also means that you cannot make abilities that simply “affect everyone”. If you want to have an ability that can affect everyone, you have to allow it ‘any number of targets’. Forcing it to be used on everyone would count as “singling out a group in advance” and thus not work.
- In specific instances I may propose changes to Blue Claims if I would otherwise reject them.
##Innate Abilities and Locked Powers
I have brought them up before, but some players have innate abilities. These abilities can be used at night even without being claimed. In addition, making a Blue Claim about having your innate ability is, of course, a ‘truthful’ claim and attempts to refute it will fail. A handy thing to have. Do note that you cannot use your innate ability if you claimed a different ability during the day phase.
Now with just innate abilities there won’t be many claims that are actually truthful though, now will there? Well fear not, because at the beginning of every day phase, you may be assigned one or two Locked Powers. Put simply, they are abilities you can claim truthfully. You will not be able to use them without making a Blue Claim for them, however, refuting them is impossible.
Locked Powers change every day, but innate abilities are more reliable. They are not permanent, as they will be lost if you use or claim them too much, but they might simply pass on to someone else or be replaced with another. Innate abilities are not particularly powerful as most of your power will have to be earned with Blue Truth, but they are not subject to the same limitations as ability claims; there may just be an innate ability that can interact with players’ alignments. Claiming abilities that violate the rules for ability claims, is, however, impossible.
##Signups
Signups are open from this point forward. There is no limit on the number of players. If you all need some time to cool down from Mafia V, that is fine. I’ll make the starting time dependent on the moods of the players. Game has already started.
This game will truly test your capability to deceive and figure out who to trust. There is no set way to play this and succeed, and even I do not know what will happen. I expect a lot from you, and I hope you will enjoy this particular brand of tea.
