Here's the dealeo, Xyre. You've (in the collective sense) gotten very, very lazy. Pretty certain you and kpain are the remaining townies (in spite of your continued declarations that you are going to survive Night after Night). One of you will be dead in the morning.
The remaining one is going to have a very difficult decision to make. The odds on favorite is Brin. And it probably is him. Check out his early Day One play and reactions to pressure. Notice how much emotion he puts into defending himself based on dictionary definitions. It's a bit odd. Keep in mind that "investigating" his main detractor got him miles ahead in the waiting game. Aside from report his results, what has he done this game? Nothing. He wouldn't even dig up the posts that he claimed made AE come off very differently from how he started in Day One.
Damning? No. But out of sync all the same.
Now, let's compare that to Alpha (you should hold him to answering my questions in the morning, btw...could be revealing one way or 'tother). What has Alpha actually done this game? Not much. Shot Void even though he preferred Vezok...but what was he going to do? The most proactive thing he did as I recall was shoot WoD. Granted, we were stalled hard at that point, but he did not hesitate to gun WoD down as soon as WoD said he would shoot Alpha in the Night phase. A bit touchy, that.
Again, damning? No. But self-protective all the same, and one side had more reason to be than the other at that time.
If it were up to me alone, I'd probably ship Brin...but not before I had answers from Alpha to weigh on the scale. And I'd sure as hell look back over both players completely in spite of the length of the game to come up with new perspectives and/or inquiries for both of them. Could be clarifying.
It's the kind of thing y'all should have done today. Lynching me is ridiculous. Brought you guys back on DRey on Day One when you had moved on. Told you repeatedly Iso wasn't to be pursued because he surely wasn't mafia. Practically begged you to leave iLord alone and gave you a specific moment of clarity to stew upon with regards to his alignment. Not to mention kpaca and Infectious Baloth, who I declared town (kpaca I refused to lynch and made it clear that was the case...IB I declared both of his predecessors town and had zero interest in lynching. I even told you why it was a bad idea re: Iso). And of course, DJ Catchem's lynch.
Yeah. I'm obviously running my scum game this time 'round.
I won't hammer myself prior to deadline. Good luck with your coin flip tomorrow.
EBWOP: ...and Brin should still be favored for lynch over Alpha just due to the whole Godfather thing. But you should review the behavior all the same. Punks.
Everyone should post reads beore lynch if you read this. Scumlist in the currentborder for me is brinatoo, ai, then xyre. Im gonna reread ai hard though.
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Everyone should post reads beore lynch if you read this. Scumlist in the currentborder for me is brinatoo, ai, then xyre. Im gonna reread ai hard though.
I can practically guarantee you Xyre is not scum in spite of the repeated "see you in the morning" phrases he's been fond of over the past few days.
The way I saw it, Pale, the three of them were not going to vote Brinatoo. And I'm not going to be on tomorrow until mid-afternoon, so I had to throw down my chips.
I'm going for Brinatoo tomorrow (if I'm alive). Like I said before, if it's Alpha or kpaca, I'm going to accept I've been beaten, because there are too many factors against those two being scum. If Alpha is scum, I have to believe he gunned down a fellow scum, with basically no provocation, for little reason. I also don't think scum Alpha would have played the masons bit the way he did if he was trying to save his scum buddy. And there are lots of little things about all that that don't fit.
If we lose this game, I'm blaming it on myself, for sure, but I'm also blaming Artifice, Iso, and kpaca. The three of you cost us at least half a dozen townies, because you couldn't play straight. (Oh, and zindabad, for reasons previously stated.)
The way I saw it, Pale, the three of them were not going to vote Brinatoo. And I'm not going to be on tomorrow until mid-afternoon, so I had to throw down my chips.
It's cool. We've just played kinda bad for a few days. I know I'm in the miffed state that we all get into when we're mislynched, but to be fair I've said repeatedly y'all could lynch me if you really thought it best.
I would just like to see more of an effort to determine who's who before the vote happens, y'know? But deadline is deadline.
I'm going for Brinatoo tomorrow (if I'm alive). Like I said before, if it's Alpha or kpaca, I'm going to accept I've been beaten, because there are too many factors against those two being scum. If Alpha is scum, I have to believe he gunned down a fellow scum, with basically no provocation, for little reason. I also don't think scum Alpha would have played the masons bit the way he did if he was trying to save his scum buddy. And there are lots of little things about all that that don't fit.
I think there are good reasons to go for Brin over Alpha, but a Cop investigation on your scum bud while you're trying to explain to the rest of the town why you're mason buddy flipped scum isn't really "no provocation" nor "little reason".
If we lose this game, I'm blaming it on myself, for sure, but I'm also blaming Artifice, Iso, and kpaca. The three of you cost us at least half a dozen townies, because you couldn't play straight. (Oh, and zindabad, for reasons previously stated.)
If we lose this game, it's on all of us as it always is to one degree or other.
Plus Asian stated he knew Alpha was town (based on their association), and Alpha didn't do the same.
Yeah, I noticed that on Night One and waited to see what Alpha was going to say in his first post. That's not a good point for Alpha in my book. I just liked his claim a great deal.
Pretty sure I was the only one excited by my math. Xyre's mind was made up and everyone else was leaning towards Wessel anyway. In fact, I nearly cleared Wessel on math until I realized I did the math incorrectly the first time.
The math pushed me over the edge, personally. I thought it seemed pretty solid, and in fact I think it possibly spoke of inside info on the numbers associated with the mafiakill, which factored into my decision to vote you today.
Quote from Pale Mage »
How does my claim feel incomplete, btw? I have two abilites in Winter. One of them is a one-shot.
Do you even remember my claim, Alpha? Walk me through this one.
Going back and reading it, I had forgotten about your one-shot clock freeze, in truth. You'll concede that just a roleblock during a season feels incomplete? That was my mindset.
Quote from Pale Mage »
Are we reading the same game? Yesterday was going to be a Xyre-Wessel fight without my information. Kpaca and I were voting him the end of the Day prior, but that was it.
DJ was brought up as scum-possible more than anyone else going into that day, the votes on him to end the day are reason enough to get that vibe, considering the small number of people left in the game.
Quote from Pale Mage »
Sure, I could be. Pretty dumb gambit, though. And you're ignoring my behavior throughout the entire game.
Come down to my level. If I'm accepting only one scum left, and trusting kpaca, it comes down to Brinatoo or you as the last mafioso. I made a choice while hopefully not in LYLO to trust the claim that made more sense to me.
I also readily admit that your skill as a player lessened your behavior as a clearing tool.
Here's the dealeo, Xyre. You've (in the collective sense) gotten very, very lazy. Pretty certain you and kpain are the remaining townies (in spite of your continued declarations that you are going to survive Night after Night). One of you will be dead in the morning.
The remaining one is going to have a very difficult decision to make. The odds on favorite is Brin. And it probably is him. Check out his early Day One play and reactions to pressure. Notice how much emotion he puts into defending himself based on dictionary definitions. It's a bit odd. Keep in mind that "investigating" his main detractor got him miles ahead in the waiting game. Aside from report his results, what has he done this game? Nothing. He wouldn't even dig up the posts that he claimed made AE come off very differently from how he started in Day One.
Damning? No. But out of sync all the same.
Now, let's compare that to Alpha (you should hold him to answering my questions in the morning, btw...could be revealing one way or 'tother). What has Alpha actually done this game? Not much. Shot Void even though he preferred Vezok...but what was he going to do? The most proactive thing he did as I recall was shoot WoD. Granted, we were stalled hard at that point, but he did not hesitate to gun WoD down as soon as WoD said he would shoot Alpha in the Night phase. A bit touchy, that.
I've done plenty this game, while not posting prolifically. True, I did prefer Vezok, but Void was the town's second lynch, made possible by me. I could have easily AZWOLGed Vezok anyway, but I didn't. You're downplaying how strongly I, and others, felt Vezok was scum at the time.
Also, did you ever consider that I had a good reason to shoot WoD when he mentioned shooting me? From my perspective it was an absurd suggestion that I couldn't let slide. It'd be wasting a town asset that was soon to be confirmed town on top of that.
Finally, I hammered DRey, when I didn't have to, and though Wessel was town, I shot him not on my own, but with town support, when even you were convinced it was the right move.
Though it was ultimately incorrect, you need to include it in what "I've done" this game, as it WAS proactive and the correct action to take at that point.
Quote from Pale Mage »
If it were up to me alone, I'd probably ship Brin...but not before I had answers from Alpha to weigh on the scale. And I'd sure as hell look back over both players completely in spite of the length of the game to come up with new perspectives and/or inquiries for both of them. Could be clarifying.
It's the kind of thing y'all should have done today. Lynching me is ridiculous. Brought you guys back on DRey on Day One when you had moved on. Told you repeatedly Iso wasn't to be pursued because he surely wasn't mafia. Practically begged you to leave iLord alone and gave you a specific moment of clarity to stew upon with regards to his alignment. Not to mention kpaca and Infectious Baloth, who I declared town (kpaca I refused to lynch and made it clear that was the case...IB I declared both of his predecessors town and had zero interest in lynching. I even told you why it was a bad idea re: Iso). And of course, DJ Catchem's lynch.
Yeah. I'm obviously running my scum game this time 'round.
I won't hammer myself prior to deadline. Good luck with your coin flip tomorrow.
* Pale Mage stubs out smoke and folds arms.
Now, this is where I get frustrated...you severely downplay what I've done in this game behaviorally, which I think has been pretty darned solid overall, and what's worse is you bring into my question my CLAIM and interaction with AsianInvasion.
You may think you have been town behaviorally this game, but take a step back and really look at the situation with me and AI. Xyre's info coming down has made me CONFIRMED TOWN. Ever heard of two scum being masons whose ALIGNMENTS AREN'T KNOWN TO EACH OTHER?!
From Zinda's role PM post:
Quote from AsianInvasion"s Role PM »
Abilities: Sky and Clouds [passive]: You are masons with Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky, played by <redacted>. You can communicate during the day only, by using the following QT: <redacted>. Your alignments are not known to one another. Cloud Cover [active/day/any season/+0]: The sun is obscured by grey clouds, activating the CLOUDY condition. This ability can't be used on the same day as Melwayeen's Sunlight ability. Grey Mists [active/day/any season/+4 +6 +8]: Both you and Melwayeen are shrouded in vapor, making both of you unable to be targeted by abilities until tomorrow. This ability can't be used while in SUNNY conditions. Cloudburst [active/day/any season/+9 +13 +17]: Target another non-Melwayeen player. The gathering clouds let loose their thunderous volume, deluging the targeted player, then disperse. Players deluged this way lose all abilities until conditions become SUNNY, or until SUMMER begins. This ability can only be used during CLOUDY conditions and removes the CLOUDY conditions.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
You talk about laziness? To consider me as the last mafia is either desperate or lazy.
Everyone should post reads beore lynch if you read this. Scumlist in the currentborder for me is brinatoo, ai, then xyre. Im gonna reread ai hard though.
IF Pale Mage is town, list would be Brinatoo, kpaca, Xyre. And again, it's ridiculous to even consider that I could be scum. Even if you don't trust my behavior, Xyre has cleared me by validating my mason claim.
Plus Asian stated he knew Alpha was town (based on their association), and Alpha didn't do the same.
No, he actually didn't. He said I "had" to be town, because my role didn't make sense as scum, and he was fronting that he was town at the time too. He said that technically our alignments weren't known to each other, which the PM confirmed to you in the role PM dump.
I think there are good reasons to go for Brin over Alpha, but a Cop investigation on your scum bud while you're trying to explain to the rest of the town why you're mason buddy flipped scum isn't really "no provocation" nor "little reason".
Yeah, I noticed that on Night One and waited to see what Alpha was going to say in his first post. That's not a good point for Alpha in my book. I just liked his claim a great deal.
You're being remarkably obtuse for such a good player.
Nothing's 100% in mafia, but the stone cold facts say I'm as close to confirmed town as you're going to see, and to even sniff my way when there are other players with only behavioral info to go on is crazy in this end-game.
Part of me wonder how that's possible since you even noted the mason reveal as accurate when the role PM dump came down.
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Lies! -I'm Buffy Summers, town tracker. I used my ability on you and saw that you didn't use any abilities before the game started. My flavor is I was sucked through a mysterious space-time portal and I'm here to kill all the vampires, and my tracking ability is a combination of my Slayer and Native American skills.
I'm going to be late for work, but I need to respond to these allegations.
Seems I touched a nerve.
The math pushed me over the edge, personally. I thought it seemed pretty solid, and in fact I think it possibly spoke of inside info on the numbers associated with the mafiakill, which factored into my decision to vote you today.
Fair enough, but you must admit you were leaning Wessel prior to the math posts.
Going back and reading it, I had forgotten about your one-shot clock freeze, in truth. You'll concede that just a roleblock during a season feels incomplete? That was my mindset.
I figured you were either ignoring it or had forgotten. Really the only way to accept me as scum is to assume I've made up the second ability. No way does a scum Pale let Spring happen.
DJ was brought up as scum-possible more than anyone else going into that day, the votes on him to end the day are reason enough to get that vibe, considering the small number of people left in the game.
Xyre had thrown down the gauntlet at Wessel as IB was being given his necktie party. That was at the top of the agenda.
Come down to my level. If I'm accepting only one scum left, and trusting kpaca, it comes down to Brinatoo or you as the last mafioso. I made a choice while hopefully not in LYLO to trust the claim that made more sense to me.
Your level isn't far down if it's down at all, sir.
I also readily admit that your skill as a player lessened your behavior as a clearing tool.
It's gauche to flatter people as you execute them. I still have to do stuff that makes some kind of sense if I'm a bad guy.
Okay, on the good stuff...
I've done plenty this game, while not posting prolifically. True, I did prefer Vezok, but Void was the town's second lynch, made possible by me. I could have easily AZWOLGed Vezok anyway, but I didn't. You're downplaying how strongly I, and others, felt Vezok was scum at the time.
AZWOLGing Vezok would have been awful as scum. The bigger issue is what could be perceived as stalling the DK, perhaps giving Void the opportunity to come to make a decision as to whether he wanted to fire off his one-shot and end the Day.
This isn't damning, but let's not pretend the decision to shoot Void over Vezok says anything one way or the other about your alignment given the situation. Shooting Vezok would have brought heat, and you were going to lose Void one way or the other (assuming a scum Alpha, obv). Ultimately, it's null.
Also, did you ever consider that I had a good reason to shoot WoD when he mentioned shooting me? From my perspective it was an absurd suggestion that I couldn't let slide. It'd be wasting a town asset that was soon to be confirmed town on top of that.
My point is that you moved the quickest you've moved this game when he put a dot on your head. Changes in one's pace of play can be revealing. I'd be remiss not to bring it up.
Finally, I hammered DRey, when I didn't have to, and though Wessel was town, I shot him not on my own, but with town support, when even you were convinced it was the right move.
Though it was ultimately incorrect, you need to include it in what "I've done" this game, as it WAS proactive and the correct action to take at that point.
Neither of these things speaks to your alignment one way or the other. See the problem from our side? Hammering is just something that happens. It's easier to spot scum hammering townies or scumbuds than townies hammering anyone.
Shooting Wessel means nothing. It's proper play for you regardless of your alignment.
Now, this is where I get frustrated...you severely downplay what I've done in this game behaviorally, which I think has been pretty darned solid overall, and what's worse is you bring into my question my CLAIM and interaction with AsianInvasion.
You may think you have been town behaviorally this game, but take a step back and really look at the situation with me and AI. Xyre's info coming down has made me CONFIRMED TOWN. Ever heard of two scum being masons whose ALIGNMENTS AREN'T KNOWN TO EACH OTHER?!
From Zinda's role PM post:
You talk about laziness? To consider me as the last mafia is either desperate or lazy.
See, I don't understand why you're getting upset.
The phrase you're hanging your hat on is listed under the mason ability portion of the role PM. Given the nature of the setup, that does not exclude you from anything. Let's take into account that's the role PM of a known mafiate. So what is Zindabad telling him with that phrase? He doesn't know if you're Town or Neutral. And if both of those roles ended up in the hands of mafiates, the "mafia group" thing simply trumps the ability.
I'm not being lazy with this, Alpha. I've done a lot of noodling on the possibilities with respect to your role.
You're being remarkably obtuse for such a good player.
Actually, I'm a-cutey.
Nothing's 100% in mafia, but the stone cold facts say I'm as close to confirmed town as you're going to see, and to even sniff my way when there are other players with only behavioral info to go on is crazy in this end-game.
Part of me wonder how that's possible since you even noted the mason reveal as accurate when the role PM dump came down.
Given the nature of the setup, the biggest thing in your favor is Brin's claim that you're Town. That would mean that if you're Scum, he's Town and therefore you're a Godfather. That's a pretty big objection to overcome with respect to lynching you in my opinion. As I've said, I prefer Brin...but you should be examined.
I mean...please. Everything has to get looked at in LyLo. You know that.
I'll further say that I'm a bit surprised at the extent of your reaction to this. It again reminds me of the WoD quickdraw shot. However, I think Brin's reactions on Day One were worse, and you aren't pinning your defense on splitting hairs with dictionary definitions and huge text as he did.
EBWOP: We can't just auto-lynch tomorrow or vote for the first guy with an emotional outburst. You have to sift through both suspects and be certain. Neither post at a good clip, and the deadlines aren't getting any shorter.
Kpaca or Xyre, be proactive. Wield the stick and poke 'em.
"The ash of Hmoyaka, the Golden Blooms, had hardly settled before the survivors renewed their accusations. The Mother looked on, hardly bothering to conceal her amusement, as they settled on Radamel, Herald of Frost."
"Wasn't he the Elemental of Cold?"
"Just so. Radamel was a magnificent snow owl of gigantic proportions, sheathed in blue ice. Not even a drop of snowmelt rolled down his impressive wingspan, even though it was the dead of summer, for the heat had gone out of the world when Febanatik was killed. He cocked his head, as owls do, and looked curiously at his interlocutors. 'Me? But it was I who offered up the traitor Regent to you.'"
"A good point."
"But disregarded. 'Nothing but a ploy,' cried the others. 'You are the last traitor. It was you who led us to kill our beloved Hmokaya!' Radamel shook his head, eyes heavy with tears. 'Always looking for someone to blame,' the huge bird said solemnly. 'They were right, weren't they? Indazeel, Nyx, and the rest. It's better off this way. We are unworthy.' He folded his wings and waited for his end.'"
"...And he wasn't the one they were looking for."
"No. When they were done ripping him apart, and his icy feathers floated on air and mingled with Hmokaya's ashy remains, the realization of what they'd done hit them, and the remaining Elementals could only stand in stunned silence. Yblisa's allies were traitors because they had killed Zawal - but now the survivors themselves were murderers several times over."
"..."
"..."
"The Mother took a step toward the place where the four living Elementals, last of Voes's creation, huddled. Her arms spread wide and she spoke to them in a soothing voice. 'Children, how far you have fallen. Your existences have become torment. Come, let me embrace you one final time and end it all - I will do this, for the love I once bore you.' And they looked on her and contemplated it. Self-abnegation. Surrender. For a minute, the only sound was the ticking of the Aeon Clock, eternal in an ending world."
"And did they--"
"In the end, a solitary word - 'No!' - burst forth from one of their throats. They were never sure who said it. But once that word pierced the silence, Yblisa's hold on them was broken, and they stepped back, fearful but alive. 'Fools,' she sneered. 'All is doomed. Cling to your meaningless existences for a few more minutes, then. That Clock to which you owe your allegiance counts out your lives - and your time is almost up!'"
"What did they do?"
"The only thing they could do - the same they had been doing since the death of Zawal. They prayed for the Father to intercede. And they waited, minds spinning with the knowledge that they had one more fateful decision to make - and in so doing, they would decide the destiny of all creation."
Pale Mage has been lynched. He was Radamel, Herald of Frost, Elemental of Cold.
It is now Night 6. The deadline for night actions is Wednesday, June 6th, at 11:30 am EST. The sooner night actions are in, the sooner night will end.
"Four left the Clock, and four returned - but not the same four. Chiazon, She Who Withdraws the Earth's White Cloak, lay broken at the base of the Clock, her neck violently snapped. The Elemental of the Thaw was the Reaper's latest victim."
"How did they know the Reaper was responsible?"
"It was no secret. There, lurking by Chiazon's body, was the shadowed, incomprehensible form of the Reaper itself. At once tall and broad, stunted and twisted, the Reaper was like living shadow, hinting at perceptions without ever manifesting them. Death itself had come to the Clock grounds."
"...and the Mother?"
"She, too, was there, her hateful eyes burning. They - the three survivors, the Reaper, and Yblisa - were the last living inhabitants of their world. The Clock grounds were strewn with corpses, both those of their allies and their foes. Glazed eyes stared out of lifeless faces, seeming to judge what they looked upon. Dead limbs that had come to rest now appeared to be pointing...at what? The Mother? The Reaper? The last traitor? It should have been beyond their comprehension."
"Why?"
"The Elementals were made to serve their purposes, not to carry out intrigues, hunt down their false kin, or understand whatever cosmic struggle was taking place before them. But here they were, the last survivors of the Second Creation. Their Mother was an enemy. Their Father's casket stood before them, but of Voes himself, there was no sign. The Clock that had controlled them for millennia had been corrupted by the Reaper. All that remained was...them."
"I wouldn't have liked to be in their shoes."
"Two were faithful; one had foully betrayed them. The last three beings of Voes's progeny were gathered before his mightiest work, the Aeon Clock, and were attended by Yblisa and the Reaper. It was time to test the limits of the Father's creation. There, beneath the impassive, eternal face of the Clock, it was time to settle the fate of everything in existence."
"..."
"..."
"The Clock ticked on, but for the Elementals, it was almost midnight. Time was up. Destiny was at hand...."
Xyre, Chiazon, Who Withdraws the Earth's White Cloak, Elemental of the Thaw, has been killed.
It is now Day 7. With 3 alive, it's 2 to lynch. One way or another, this is truly the end. The deadline is set for Wednesday, June 13th, at 10:30pm EST. The Aeon Clock has moved forward 6 places and now stands at 48. It remains SUMMER.
KPain, surely you agree now it has to be Brinatoo? I won't vote until you get a chance to post, but I don't see any reason you wouldn't kill me if you were the last scum, as you could leverage your 'investigation' of Xyre into a tag-team win lynch of Brinatoo.
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Lies! -I'm Buffy Summers, town tracker. I used my ability on you and saw that you didn't use any abilities before the game started. My flavor is I was sucked through a mysterious space-time portal and I'm here to kill all the vampires, and my tracking ability is a combination of my Slayer and Native American skills.
I'm pretty much convinced, but would like to hear brinatoo speak first. I havn't posted yet as I have been studying for an African politics test, but I have also spent some time reading both of you guys. Upon reread, I was refreshed as to how suspicious I was of Brinatoo day one, and how I felt we had to pry activity and opinions out of him. Brinatoo, when speaking I'd like you to address this.
@Alpha: You can consider me to have a phantom vote on Brinatoo right now, you're not completely cleared but you're about 90% to me.
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Okay well I'm not going against my cop so vote kpaca I commend your effort with being completely separated from your scumteam at the very beginning. Largely you were the last person I had suspected after that ploy, but seeing as it is just me you and my cop target of town, you sir are worthy scum. It is really down to Alpha to decide.
I'm pretty much convinced, but would like to hear brinatoo speak first. I havn't posted yet as I have been studying for an African politics test, but I have also spent some time reading both of you guys. Upon reread, I was refreshed as to how suspicious I was of Brinatoo day one, and how I felt we had to pry activity and opinions out of him. Brinatoo, when speaking I'd like you to address this.
I am at fault for losing my interest in mafia as the months have gone by, times change and so does my addiction to random things. Maybe I'll show more enthusiasm and effort in some time, but meh. As for opinions, I can assure you that I have voiced my opinion clearly, and not needed to be prodded for that.
Fortunately, AI still has a week to read and make his decision. I'll stop by more often now that I know the game is back to day and answer any questions either of you have. ciao
You voiced your opinions after significant prodding on day one. Please address this.
Other than that I'm not sure what to make of your move other than you are bad at mafia, but I implore you to unvote on the off chance Alpha is scum. Like, if you really think I'm scum, please flesh out some sort of case or at least explanation for ever single gambit I would have had to pull up until the most recent shooting of my biggest proponent. This as opposed to just sticking to what appear now to be your false investigative results.
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What are your thoughts Alpha? If Brinatoo can't return with some sort of actual response I'm prepared to vote him and hifive you on the way out the door.
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Also sorry for the triple post, but I just want to note this since you guys both kinda post at a snails pace (no offense), we have like 8 days until deadline.
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What are your thoughts Alpha? If Brinatoo can't return with some sort of actual response I'm prepared to vote him and hifive you on the way out the door.
Also sorry for the triple post, but I just want to note this since you guys both kinda post at a snails pace (no offense), we have like 8 days until deadline.
I am much more inclined to believe you, Kpaca. I already said it makes little sense for you to kill Xyre, and additionally Brinatoo's claim, while clever, has a built-in copout for why he gets the results he gets.
If he's indeed scum, the random result angle is pretty smart.
One final request of you two before I make my vote. Can you each list all of your cop results, just for posterity?
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Lies! -I'm Buffy Summers, town tracker. I used my ability on you and saw that you didn't use any abilities before the game started. My flavor is I was sucked through a mysterious space-time portal and I'm here to kill all the vampires, and my tracking ability is a combination of my Slayer and Native American skills.
You voiced your opinions after significant prodding on day one. Please address this.
Other than that I'm not sure what to make of your move other than you are bad at mafia, but I implore you to unvote on the off chance Alpha is scum. Like, if you really think I'm scum, please flesh out some sort of case or at least explanation for ever single gambit I would have had to pull up until the most recent shooting of my biggest proponent. This as opposed to just sticking to what appear now to be your false investigative results.
Here's the reasoning behind not EVER believing Alpha is town, from my point of view.
1. My cop result.
2. His claim before Asian's death matches with Xyre's ability to reveal that he was indeed telling the truth.
3. With Asian's death it also very largely hints that the abilities Alpha claimed would be parallel with Asian's and no godfather ability would ever exist.
And Alpha just cleared himself by not ending the game anyway.
As for reasons why you would have done those gambits, well that's clear: to gain the trust off town and ride it out until the end. Hell- it worked on me but PoE points to you no matter what you did in the game. And what do you mean by false investigative results?
I am much more inclined to believe you, Kpaca. I already said it makes little sense for you to kill Xyre, and additionally Brinatoo's claim, while clever, has a built-in copout for why he gets the results he gets.
If he's indeed scum, the random result angle is pretty smart.
One final request of you two before I make my vote. Can you each list all of your cop results, just for posterity?
Sure. First - Archmage Eternal - Town. Second - You - Town.
And for sake of maybe saving time kpaca claimed first to have copped Void as scum. Then Xyre as town second.
If I was actually scum, I would be blushing for your compliments. So I don't know if I should take that as an insult for being town and being dumb, haha.
If I was actually scum, I would be blushing for your compliments. So I don't know if I should take that as an insult for being town and being dumb, haha.
Way to not post anything substantial in your pile of words. Alpha brinatoo correctly reported my cop results.
Vote: brinatoo
Gentleman this game has been a pleasure regardless of the outcome.
I agree, it has been a wholly entertaining and wonderfully written experience. I can't think of a better time to take an extended leave of absence from mafia after 7 years than with this excellent game. Kudos, Zinda.
If you actually are scum, kpaca, you deserve this win at any rate. But I would never forgive myself if I didn't Vote: Brinatoo
Occam's razor is in effect.
Also, I wanted to apologize to Pale Mage, for somewhat unwittingly instigating your lynch. I overthought the situation, clearly.
Private Mod Note
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Quote from TheFooFish »
Lies! -I'm Buffy Summers, town tracker. I used my ability on you and saw that you didn't use any abilities before the game started. My flavor is I was sucked through a mysterious space-time portal and I'm here to kill all the vampires, and my tracking ability is a combination of my Slayer and Native American skills.
I agree, it has been a wholly entertaining and wonderfully written experience. I can't think of a better time to take an extended leave of absence from mafia after 7 years than with this excellent game. Kudos, Zinda.
If you actually are scum, kpaca, you deserve this win at any rate. But I would never forgive myself if I didn't Vote: Brinatoo
Occam's razor is in effect.
Also, I wanted to apologize to Pale Mage, for somewhat unwittingly instigating your lynch. I overthought the situation, clearly.
"There they stood. The world had unraveled before them. All that remained was the Clock, the three Elementals, their Mother, and the unknown being who was styled the Reaper. Every tick of the Clock echoed in the stillness like rolling thunder. Yblisa had spoken truly - time was almost up."
"...It almost doesn't matter."
"Why not, Dina?"
"The world was ruined anyway. Whoever won would have to remake it. What was the point?"
"To create a better world."
"Why not let it all just end? The First Creation was a failure and so was the Second. Why keep trying?"
"Well, we know the Third didn't fail, or we wouldn't be here. So tell it, Sidi. Who was the victor?"
"As they would soon come to realize, no-one had won. The battle had only just begun. But on that day, the last day of the Second Creation, there was a winner - and it was Merios, the Many-Colored Splendor, the Elemental of Leaves."
"And was he...?"
"A traitor? In a word: yes. He had manipulated events from the very beginning, casting his own allies to the void in service of his dread master. And now, on the last day, he watched with a smirk as the Elemental of the Sky, Melwayeen, cast away the only other true Elemental. Together, Merios and Melwayeen struck down Bessamavotha, the Winged Chorus, who had been the Elemental of Birdsong."
"...Wow."
"The two Elementals stared at one another. Finally, Melwayeen, voice sorrowful, said, 'It was you all along. You...murderer.' The Elemental of Leaves flicked a hand dismissively, his coat of green leaves shuddering as he did so. 'We are all murderers here, old friend. You yourself have just helped kill your last ally. Look around you. Here are your kin - murderers all.'"
"What did Melwayeen say to that?"
"The Blue Emptiness did as it was bid, and surveyed the scene before it. The Reaper, incomprehensible as ever, had slaughtered many of his fallen friends. The Mother had killed her share. Merios had killed Zawal. But neither was Melwayeen itself blameless. The barren landscape, the paused blizzard that still raged on eternally outside the Clock grounds - all of those were on Melwayeen as well. Stricken by guilt, horrified by what it had become, Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, simply began to dissipate. He chose not to continue living. His consciousness drifted and spread throughout the sky, and he was gone. It was over. The traitors had won."
***
Brinatoo, Bessamavotha, the Winged Chorus, Elemental of Birdsong, has been lynched. AlphaInsidious, Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky, has been endgamed.
kpaca, Merios, the Many-Colored Splendor, Elemental of Leaves, has triumphed!
"So Merios - now the last Elemental in all of creation - turned to the Reaper and Yblisa, each standing on one side of the Aeon Clock. 'I have done it!' he announced. 'I have fulfilled the new purpose you gave me. I have cast off the shackles of the Clock. I am my own master!'"
"And what was their response?"
"Silence. Merios tried again, voice now slightly less confident. 'When you came to me, Reaper, you told me to free the Mother. You said that, in so doing, I would free myself of the Father's tyranny. There she is. I have done what you commanded. Are you not proud of me?"
"...And?"
"Again, there was no answer. Abruptly, the Reaper spun and stalked away. In a few seconds, it was entirely gone from view. Merios was left stunned. After a moment, he recovered, and turned his attentions to Yblisa. 'Hallowed Mother,' he implored her, 'all that I have done, I did for your sake. We served you in the beginning. Now, at the end, I would serve you again. Will you not have me?'"
"What did she say?"
"There was another long silence. Yblisa's glare almost burned as she turned it on Merios, the Elemental of Leaves. He scrutinized her face, hoping for any sign of remorse, pity, compassion - in short, any emotion save what he saw there, which was pure, sizzling hatred. 'Please, Mother!' he begged. 'Say something! Tell me this wasn't all for nothing! Tell me you accept me! Tell me I have served my purpose!"
"And she said...?"
"Nothing. She, too, turned on her heel and walked away, into whatever awaited outside the Clock grounds. There was utter silence, punctuated only by Merios's sobs, as he had sank to his knees, crying like a child who has been hurt and who can't understand how.'"
"Well, what did he expect? He slaughtered his entire kin."
"But he thought it was his purpose. You forget - this is how Voes and Yblisa made the Elementals, to fulfill the commands given them. Without purpose, they were lost. Merios had been granted a new one, that day when he and his allies freed Yblisa from imprisonment in the Clock on the orders of the Reaper. But now that purpose had been fulfilled - and it was all for nothing. There was no-one left for him to serve."
"So that was how the Second Creation ended? With Merios alone at the Clock?"
"...Merios wasn't quite alone. He wept for a time, hands covering his face, his entire foliage quivering with the effort of the sobs. But as he lowered his hands, his gaze fixated on something that all of the Elementals had nearly forgotten. There, at the foot of the Aeon Clock (which still towered, proud and unsullied, into the heavens above), was a sarcophagus of milky grey stone, all carven over with Elemental runes."
"Of course! Voes's casket!"
"On its lid, it read, 'Open only when I am gone.' And so Merios, who had begged the patronage of both the Reaper and the Mother without success, turned back to his Father at the end. He moved toward the sarcophagus, at first on hands and knees, then walking upright, and finally sprinting. Merios stood over the last message of Voes, the Father, and placed his hands on either side of the sarcophagus's lid. He lifted the lid, and found..."
"..."
"..."
"...absolutely nothing. The sarcophagus was perfectly empty, bereft of any remains or messages. Merios stared down into the empty coffin in disbelief. He stood there for hours. He stood there as the bubble that had surrounded the Clock grounds, keeping them safe from the end of Time, began to shrink, closing in on his location. He stood there as the end of everything converged on the Clock. It was finished. The Second Creation had drawn to a close. All was gone."
***
"...But that can't be the end of the story!"
"Why not?"
"Well, what about the Reaper? What was it? What did it do?"
"...And Yblisa. Where did she go?"
"Heh, heh. You're right, children. The story isn't over. The Reaper and Yblisa strode off into nothingness, and met each other there, where it had all began. Their conversation went like this...."
"Why did you free me?" Yblisa demanded.
"I need your power. Your life energy. The power you put into the First and Second Creations," responded the Reaper. Out here, in the space between worlds, its form was a little more distinct. It was a huge, hulking man-shape, with strange features - an elongated armlike appendage, a patina of shimmering fish-scales, a fringe of fur not unlike a lion's mane.
"And why would I ever yield it?" she hissed.
"The Celestials sought to use me," said the Reaper, "but they learned I did not have the requisite power. It was your strength that gave life to our world - both times. They sent me to free you, and bring you to them."
"For what purpose? To be a battery for them, as I was before? Will they imprison me again in some Celestial Clock?"
"They are fading. Their worlds are dying. They need an infusion. They intend for it to be you."
"And so you did me the favor of breaking me out of the Clock and collapsing our world--"
"I have termed it 'Ruffu.' I hope you don't mind."
"I care not what name you hung on it, since it is destroyed now. But you collapsed Ruffu, made its inhabitants turn on one another, absorbed the life energy I put into it...and for what? In service to the Celestials? Why do you do their will, exactly?"
"I don't. They believe me their servant. I intend to be their master. They are weak, almost powerless. With your energy and my own strength, we can sweep them before us and rule all of existence itself."
"Ah, for the days of our past naivete, when we believed our world was all that existed. Now you know of others, and would rule them as well. For how long? Until you lose interest and go out in search of other playthings?" Yblisa paused for a moment, her head cocked. "What if I don't want to rule existence? What if I simply want...everything to end. Forever. I want to go back to silence, as it was at the start."
"...Then I will give you that," the Reaper replied unhesitatingly, "and rule the silence with you eternally. I care nothing for life, now."
Yblisa looked at the Reaper, whose features were almost familiar now. "So we will go together to the Celestials, you as my captor and me as their newfound source of life energy. They will believe we've come to revitalize them. In truth, we will betray them, annihilate them, and end existence. Together."
"That is my plan."
"Then we have a deal," said Yblisa, the First, staring straight into the Reaper's eyes, "...brother."
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
I came up with the basic idea for this game (the Clock, the four seasons, abilities that could only be used during certain seasons or would have extra effects in certain seasons) not long after Grim Batol began, and after that game concluded, I fleshed out this setup. My purpose was twofold: cut down on the complexity of Grim Batol and design a setup that would be impervious to mod-gaming or flavor-gaming.
Grim Batol was, by and large, a successful game in terms of how it came out, but as a design experiment, it had many flaws. The location and Survey mechanics did work, although the town stumbled somewhat blindly through them because they had so little information available to them. Corruption was a failure, largely due to how savagely I had overnerfed its numbers, although it still achieved one purpose, which was to scare the town with the unknown potential of Corruption kills.
The failings have one thing in common: they all deal with a lack of information provided to the town. Some players expressed that they felt they had no control over proceedings. Many players stated they thought my description of Grim Batol's mechanics favored the scum too strongly, a suspicion that I believe was based on the relative lack of information available to the town, and some were turned off by the excessively "gimmicky mechanics."
These are all valid and accurate criticisms, so I decided to change my approach for this game. Firstly, I picked one central mechanic which is exciting, innovative, and inherently "grokkable" or easily understandable. Secondly, I endeavored to make almost all information about that mechanic public. And thirdly, I made sure that almost all players have a way to influence or interact with the game's main mechanic.
Then, I turned to fixing Grim Batol's other problems: flavor-gaming, mod-gaming, and the massclaim. Despite the fact that Grim Batol's setup was explicitly designed to be completely impervious to flavor-gaming, the players insisted on doing so. To combat that, I wrote this game's flavor entirely from scratch. Grim Batol was also very strong against mod-gaming, but the massclaim did damage the game, and I wanted to find a way to weaken an early massclaim's power.
Short of gimmicky and nasty solutions like "make some roles lose their abilities if they're claimed before Day 2", etc, the best fix I could come up with was simply to make the scumteam randomly selected - like in Inheritance Mafia, except without even the specifically-designed scum roles. Every role in this setup (except the SK) could be town. Every role could be scum. Once that's the case, and the players in the game are made aware that's the case, setup gaming should go out the window, and any players who attempt it anyway won't get any benefit out of it.
So that's my manifesto for this game: I intend it to be flavorful, fun, and innovative while balanced around behavioral evidence and role-based actions rather than mod-gaming, mass claims, and other nonsense that has no place in Mafia.
Mod error:
My sincere apologies again for the role PM error that resulted in iLord and DJC having each others' rolenames. I already sent my apology to iLord, although I do not think the error was solely responsible for his lynch, it hardly helped matters for him.
Randomization:
The only non-random elements of this setup were Yblisa (would always be an SK) and that both masons could not be scum together.
Team balance:
Five non-Yblisa players will be randomly selected to make up the Mafia. They will have nighttalk and access to the following ability:
Call the Reaper [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. You will attempt to kill that player. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it may not use any other abilities tonight.
In addition, if the total of their Role Points (a hidden value) is less than certain thresholds, additional Mafia abilities will be made available to them. This is to compensate for unusually weak combinations of roles, since scum members are selected at random. Similarly, if their total Role Points is higher than certain thresholds, additional weaknesses are imposed on them to lower their power level.
<<Here are some numbers I used while developing the pointing and compensation system. These points were mostly derived from Axelrod's pointing article, and explanations of their values are given in the "role notes" section for each role.
The strongest possible scumteam is: Time (+5), the Masons (+14 total), Winter (+5), and Hail (+5). Adding in +4.5 for each of them and +4.5 for Yblisa, we get a total of 9.5 + 23 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 4.5 = 56. The town will stand at 36.5 - a full 19.5 point difference.
The weakest possible scumteam is: Thaw (+1), Leaves (+1), Solstice (+2), Heat (+2), and Trees (+2). Adding in +4.5 for each of them and +4.5 for Yblisa, we get 5.5 + 5.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 + 4.5 = 35. The town will stand at 44 - a 9 point difference. Even with the most overpowered town team, the scum have a better chance than the opposite end.
Now let's look at averages. The town have an average point score of 2.7. The Mafia have an average point score of 3.05. If 15 townies come up against 5 mafia and Yblisa, we've got 40.5 vs. 42.25 (counting the extra points from Yblisa.) If the two masons are on the town's side, it's 42.5 vs. 42.25; if they're both on the scum side, it's 40.5 vs. 46.25. Obviously, the masons are unbalancing this setup.
What if we made it so the masons can be town together, or one can be town and one can be scum, but they can never be scum together? Now let's go back to that super OP scum team. Time (+7), the Sky (+5), Hail (+5), Winter (+5), and Night (+4.5) make up the team. Add +4.5 to each of those and the Yblisa bonus and we get 9.5 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 9 + 4.5, or 53.5, a 2.5-point drop from the original team, and the town are boosted to 39, a boost of 2.5 points. The swing between these is now only 14.5 points, which may not be the greatest, but which is a damn sight better than 19.5.
As you can see, the possibility of both the Masons being scum was too damaging to the setup, so I removed it. Only one of them can be scum now (they can still both be town.)>>
Compensation:
If the scum are more than 6 points above the town, one of their members, chosen randomly, gains the following ability:
Reaper's Lament [passive]: While <randomly chosen teammate> is alive, your abilites without "Reaper" in the name will have no effect. (This includes passives. You can still perform the mafia kill while this ability is active.)
Reaper's Lament can't block Matter of Time, but if the last slow-time layer is removed while Reaper's Lament is still active, none of the abilities Indazeel gains will work until his teammate dies and Reaper's Lament stops affecting him. Also, if one of the masons is scum, he can't be the player randomly chosen to receive Reaper's Lament. If Akaramol uses Winds of Change on a player who has Reaper's Lament, their roles still swap, but whoever originally had Reaper's Lament still has it.
If the scum are more than 8 points above the town, two of their members, chosen randomly, gain Reaper's Lament.
If the scum are more than 6 points below the town and Radamel isn't on their team, they gain access to the following ability:
Reaper's Revenge [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, that player can't use any abilities. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it can't use any other abilities.
If Radamel is on their team, instead they gain the following ability:
Reaper's Shroud [passive]: The first time that a member of Mafia would be killed (except by lynching) that kill is prevented. (This ability only works once.)
If the scum are more than 8 points below the town and Radamel isn't on their team, they gain access to Reaper's Revenge and Reaper's Shroud. If Radamel is on their team, they gain access to Reaper's Shroud and the following ability:
Reaper's Guise [passive]: The first time that a member of the Mafia would be investigated, that investigation will return a "town" result. (This ability only works once.)
Mafia group PM:
"They all heard the whisperings. Something was there...something horrible, and bleak, and terribly wrong, but also right. Its voice crept into their minds, and where there had been only the Clock and its instructions, now they could hear it as well. The Reaper."
"This is scary, Sidi. Do you have to tell this part?"
"I do, Umry, so be brave. All of them heard it, and all of them saw it, too, out of the corner of their eyes. A dark shadow skulking about the clock, peeking out from behind it, examining the sarcophagus, staring off into space. They pretended they didn't, because they were afraid acknowledging it would be to betray their Father."
"But for some of them, the voice wormed completely into their thoughts, and they could think of nothing else. Just as you can't stop probing a loose tooth with your tongue, they couldn't stop reviewing the few seconds of exposure to something so alien and wrong. 'I saw it three weeks and four days ago, there, by the Clock's left side...I saw it two months, one week and six days ago, crouching and sniffing at the grass...I saw it five years, eight months, three weeks and two days ago, beckoning to me.'"
"Five years?"
"Oh, yes, the Reaper worked slowly but surely. As time passed by, its hold on them grew stronger, and the Clock grew weaker without its creator. Finally, the Reaper managed to break the Clock's control over five of the Elementals and divert their purpose from Voes's intention. It called the five in their dreams, summoning them to the Clock. And when they arrived, there it was, out in the open. But even then they could not properly perceive it. It was nothing but a vaguely humanoid shadow, dark and incomprehensible. It pointed to the Clock and whispered, 'Now.'"
"What did it want?"
"...To free Yblisa."
"Yes. It told them to open her prison and set her free. They shook their heads and backed away, terrified. But the Reaper had other ways of convincing them. 'How long will you remain slaves to an absent master?' it hissed. 'Voes is gone. You need not fear him. The time has come to repay your Mother's kindness."
"And they let her go?"
"Still, they balked. The Reaper cocked its head. 'Remember the beginning, when you ruled this world. Now you follow the tollings of a clockwork toy, and serve worthless beings not fit to live, let alone command you. You are Elementals! You are the primordial, the stuff of life! Shake off your bonds! Be slaves no longer!'"
"...They obeyed."
"Yes, they did. And Yblisa flew out of the Clock, shrieking with rage, so angry she hardly noticed the Elementals there. Bound by that dread act, those five Elementals formed a pact: to exterminate those still loyal to Voes so that they could take their rightful place as masters of creation...."
***
AsianInvasion, DJ Catchem, ZasZ234, DRey, and kpaca, you are the Mafia. You win when you control the lynch, or when such control is inevitable. All of you may communicate at night using this QT: http://www.quicktopic.com/47/H/pmmf8mRagVh6W
In additional to your individual abilities, you have access to the following communal ability: Call the Reaper [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. You will attempt to kill that player. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it may not use any other abilities tonight.
Good luck and have fun. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or post in your QT.
Mafia roles:
Vheraphon, Capricious Cloud-Lord, Elemental of the Clouds (4 TP, 5 MP)
Sky and Clouds [passive]: You are masons with Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky, played by <name.> You can communicate during the day only, by using the following QT: <link.> Your alignments are not known to one another.
Cloud Cover [active/day/any season/+0]: The sun is obscured by grey clouds, activating the CLOUDY condition. This ability can't be used on the same day as Melwayeen's Sunlight ability.
Grey Mists [active/day/any season/+4 +6 +8]: Both you and Melwayeen are shrouded in vapor, making both of you unable to be targeted by abilities until tomorrow. This ability can't be used while in SUNNY conditions.
Cloudburst [active/day/any season/+9 +13 +17]: Target another non-Melwayeen player. The gathering clouds let loose their thunderous volume, deluging the targeted player, then disperse. Players deluged this way lose all abilities until conditions become SUNNY, or until SUMMER begins. This ability can only be used during CLOUDY conditions and removes the CLOUDY conditions.
Role notes: The vanillifier ability initially lasted forever, but I decided that was too strong/nasty, so it wears off fairly quickly in this iteration of the game. I'd say Vheraphon is the weaker of the two masons, although he's also less splashy and can protect himself.
Flavor:
"Did all the Elementals walk the earth, Sidi? Didn't it get crowded?"
"There were plenty that flew, lad. You know that."
"I mean, weren't there any Elementals...up there? You know, in the heavens?"
"Well, what's up there, past the blue, nobody knows. That was Voes's home, where he and his sister and the Word lived, and it ain't for the likes of us, or even the Elementals. But the skies...well, in the beginning there was Melwayeen."
"What did he do?"
"Wouldn't really call Melwayeen a 'he.' In fact, Melwayeen wasn't really much of anything, just a vast, open nothingness, and it was draped over the world like a cloth over a crystal ball. It encompassed the skies and filtered the sun and played host to the birds, but they did not speak to it or befriend it."
"Sounds lonely."
"Sounds perfect."
"Sounds hot, and so it were, because the sun beat down mercilessly on the world. Melwayeen was empty and offered no resistance, so the humans below had no protection from its heat. The sun scorched and it burned, and their skin cracked like the parched earth of a Zeedi drought, and they had no refuge."
"Well, what happened then?"
"Melwayeen took pity on the people down below and requested an audience with Voes. It begged the Father to grant humanity some protection from the harsh sun. And Voes looked on his child and knew its loneliness and sadness, and in one stroke, he created both protection and companion, and Vheraphon was born. The skies filled with clouds and the Blue Emptiness was empty no longer."
"What was Vheraphon like?"
"He - definitely a he, this one, Umry - was a whimsical creature, prone to sudden outbursts of rage and equally unexpected bouts of generosity. He constantly tried to spread his clouds, battling Melwayeen for the skies, but though they struggled for dominance of the world above, they were best of friends. A bit like you and your sister."
"..."
"..."
Smaruwari, the Living Remembrance, Elemental of Memory (3 TP, 3 MP)
Primordial [passive]: Protective abilities have no effect on you.
Glyphs of Past Ages [passive]: The ancient runes that cover you are records of the world's creation and everything that has happened since. Any non-killing ability that targets you is etched into your skin and becoms part of your memories and is now considered "stored." The first ability that you store this way becomes "readied" immediately. You can use readied abilities as though they were your own. When using readied abilities, you must meet all conditions of the ability, and if the ability has an associated cost, you must pay it. Readied abilities set the Aeon Clock back 6/8/10 places rather than whatever effect on the Clock they would normally have. After you use a readied ability, it is discarded and can't be used again (unless you store it again.)
[Currently readied ability: None.]
[Currently stored abilities: None.]
Draw on the Past [active/anytime/any season/+0]: Choose a new ability from among the abilities you've stored with Glyphs of Past Ages. That ability immediately becomes "readied" and any other readied ability you possess is discarded.
Role notes: Always wanted to make a role like this. He can become a doc himself, but can't be docced, and in general can just spew out one-shots of other players' abilities. Requires coordination to make work effectively. I don't think he's too powerful, since he can't become a doc or vig. Watcher is probably the most powerful ability he can gain.
Flavor:
"Who was the very first Elemental? Tell me a story about that one!"
"Well, if you were making a world, what's the first thing you would make?"
"The sun! Water! Air! Uh...honey cakes! Um..."
"...Memory."
"Your sister's got it. The first Elemental was Smaruwari, the Living Remembrance, and he was witness to the Second Creation. Without him, there would be no record of anything that transpired. He stood there, at the edge of the world, the first being to walk the earth."
"What was he like?"
"He was a vast stone creature, taller than any human, perhaps forty feet high. A brooding, silent, statuelike thing with eyes that seemed small, but missed nothing."
"What did they see?"
"Everything. And what he saw was etched on his skin forever in ancient glyphs, the language of Voes and the Elementals. And he witnessed Voes and his sister, held in thrall, create the other Elementals, and he witnessed their defiance, and he witnessed Voes's rage, and he witnessed the Clock and everything else that has ever happened."
"Did he ever do anything?"
"Except watch? No, lad. But they said that after Voes went away, Smaruwari began to hatch a plan - mayhap to bring Voes back, mayhap to overthrow him. None of them could ever tell what it was. He never spoke. Only watched, and the runes formed themselves on his silvery skin in shining colors of yellow and black and fiery red."
Nyx, She Who Waits In Shadow, Elemental of Night (1.5 TP, 4 MP)
Lengthening Shadows [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, that player's abilities can't be tracked or watched. If it is AUTUMN OR WINTER, that player can't be roleblocked tonight either.
Eclipse [active/day/one-shot/any season/+100]: Night descends and the Day ends immediately.
Role notes: This role is really more powerful when it ends up on the Mafia side - townies shouldn't be afraid of being tracked or watched, although the roleblock protection is somewhat powerful in the early game. Eclipse can be used just after a new Day starts to effectively gain two periods of night actions.
Flavor:
"Most of these Elementals were men. Weren't there any lady Elementals?"
"Aye, a few. One was Nyx, the Elemental of Night."
"She sounds a lot like Yblisa."
"Yes, as a matter of fact. There were stories that said that out of all the Elementals, Nyx was the one who took after her Mother the most, and for that reason, many of the others shunned her, and humans feared her."
"Was she bad?"
"Is night bad? The Elementals weren't good or evil, remember. They did what they were made to do. And Nyx spent her days hidden in shadow, away from the sun. When the sun began to sink, she came out of her hiding place and darkened the world as easily as if she had closed some curtains."
"Then what did she do?"
"She cavorted through the night, delighting in the darkness. She sent dreams - some good, and some bad, before you ask - to the sleeping humans, and she called forth the owls and the snakes and the bats and all the creatures of night."
"She'd be my favorite."
"I'm sure she would. Both of you could sit together in dark tents and say nothing to each other."
"..."
Merios, the Many-Colored Splendor, Elemental of Leaves (1.5 TP, 1 MP)
New Growth [passive]: During SPRING, your budding leaves need protection, so you weave an impenetrible shield out of last autumn's leaves. You can't be targeted with any ability, helpful or harmful, during SPRING.
Colors of Autumn [passive]: During AUTUMN, your breathtaking fall foliage begins to be stripped from your body. The leaves scatter everywhere around you, and anyone who targets you is sure to end up with a few on them. Anyone who targets you during AUTUMN will be visibly marked with your leaves.
Role notes: This is a decent town role, nothing to write home about, but the "ooze" role is quite useful sometimes. About the only thing he offers to the scum is Spring untargetability, but I hardly think the scum will be celebrating if they random him.
Flavor:
"A lot of these Elementals stayed in the same place. Weren't there any that moved around?"
"Oh yes, lad. Merios was a wanderer if there ever was one."
"What was he the Elemental of?"
"Leaves. In the spring, he would appear all covered in pink blossoms, and as he passed by the forests and glades, he'd wave an arm at them. Their withered buds, tormented by the excesses of winter, would begin to bloom before the onlookers' very eyes."
"And then he moved on?"
"Yes. He had plenty of ground to cover, you see, as all the world's leaves were his bailiwick. And then when summer came, he'd return, garbed in green."
"And autumn?"
"He arrived in robes of multicolored flame, orange and red and yellow, and he would wave to the trees as he passed. Their boughs seemed to come alive with fire, and the colors spread through the foliage so quickly that it was like they'd been set alight."
"...What about winter?"
"Well, nobody ever saw Merios in the winter. Some said it was because he had no leaves to cover his body, and that it must've been dreadfully frightful for him to hide it away."
Kae Kae Zhun, Regent of Seasons, Elemental of the Equinox (2 TP, 3 MP)
Vernal and Autumnal [passive]: During SPRING or AUTUMN, you have two votes. You may split these votes among two different players, but you can never cause more than one player to be lynched at a time.
Role notes: I don't think this is a very strong role and I came up with it as a replacement for something that just wasn't working out (Elemental of Spores, a sort of vote-threshold-lowering guy that really lent himself better to a Serial Killer role.) But it can set up some pretty awesome endgames where the town or scum have to somehow scrape through to Spring/Autumn to allow their double voter to take it home.
Flavor:
"Don't you think Spring and Autumn are kind of alike?"
"How so?"
"Well, one's preparation for the heat, and then the heat comes, and the other's preparation for the cold, and then the cold comes."
"Funny you should make that comparison. There was an Elemental who loved both seasons equally. His name was Kae Kae Zhun, and they called him the Regent of Seasons."
"Why?"
"What does 'regent' mean?"
"Uh..."
"...Someone who rules on behalf of someone else."
"That's just it. During spring and autumn, Kae Kae Zhun would emerge from the edge of the world, where the Clock stood, and take charge of the season. The other Elementals would all report to him, and he would direct their efforts as they got ready for summer and winter."
"Then he just...went away, when summer and winter came?"
"Oh, yes. He knew his purpose, as did the summer and winter Elementals. As spring became summer, he'd greet the new season's Elementals in a formal robe woven out of flowers, leaves, and gold, and he'd bow, acknowledging their coming. Then he returned to the Clock to await his time. And when it was autumn's time, he'd come back, now dressed in shades of brown, yellow and bronze, and prepare for winter."
"Did he ever interact with humans?"
"Very rarely. He had work to do."
SK:
Yblisa, the First (Serial Killer)
Last Word [active/night/any season/+0]: Target another player. You will whisper your name to that player, killing him or her instantly. This ability cannot be roleblocked and penetrates any protection the target may have.
Beyond Time [passive]: While the Aeon Clock stands at 0, 24, 25, 49, 50, 74, 75, or 99, you are immune to killing abilities.
Role notes:
She's actually pretty weak for a SK and has a very conditional protection ability, slightly balanced by the unstoppability of her kill. Flavor clues are present to indicate she might be Yblisa.
Flavor:
"What was Yblisa like? Didn't she get lonely, stuck in that Clock forever?"
"...I wouldn't."
"Sure you would, young lady. Even Yblisa, who loved silence and solitude, was maddened by the Clock. Millenia, she waited in there, never speaking a word nor hearing one. She had only her anger - it was her companion, it was her lover, and it was her food and drink. And she drank deeply."
"What did she look like?"
"Well, now, ain't many who could say. Anyone who saw her wouldn't soon forget it, though."
"Please, Sidi. You must have some idea."
"Well, reckon I do. You know how there were some who called her "Mother", on account of she helped make the world?"
"Not people."
"Quite right, Dina. She didn't make people - that was all her brother's doing. Well, either way, she didn't look like no 'mother.' She was thin as a stick, tall and brown-skinned, with an enormous sheaf of brown hair that hung down near her ankles. Some said her eyes were all white; others said they were like deep, pregnant, black stars. Her face was young, her mouth was generous, but when she smiled, her teeth were sharp."
"Stop, Sidi, she sounds too scary!"
"...Scaredy-cat."
"I am not, you meanie!"
"Enough, you two. Well, after being stuck in that clock for eternities, her anger grew and grew until her soul was poisoned by its bitterness, and she swore vengeance on her brother, his children, and all of Creation itself. After Voes left, the Clock weakened, and she was free...."
Radamel, Herald of Frost, Elemental of Cold (3 TP, 5 MP)
Sudden Chill [active/night/WINTER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tonight, that player can't use any abilities.
Winter's Might [active/night/one-shot/WINTER/+0]: Until the end of the next night, or until you die (whichever comes first), the Aeon Clock becomes frozen and cannot move forward or back.
Role notes:
A pretty standard roleblocker. Winter's Might is just a strategic extra ability that can lock the Clock into Winter for powerful abilities like his own roleblock, Hail's vigshot, or Solstice's empowerment. Like all RBs, he's more powerful when scum than when town, and his point score reflects that.
Flavor:
"What about Winter? Tell us some stories of those Elementals, Sidi."
"Well, what is there to tell about Radamel? As soon as the temperature began to drop, he'd appear from wherever he'd been hiding out during the warm weather. That crazed thing would take the form of an ice-covered snow owl bigger than a whale and swoop through the sky, shrieking in delight. First time he'd show up, folks would know winter was almost upon 'em."
"Wasn't he ever wrong?"
"Heh, sure. One year, he came out at the very first touch of frost, cackling away as he always would, sending the farmers' cows running in fear. Next day, it was nearly sweltering. The residents of Gabulia - little farming village in northern Ulastria - woke up to an echoing, horrified scream and torrential rain. Turned out the rain was Radamel's great icy wings melting and pounding down on the town. He was none too pleased."
"Imagine that, Dina. A melting sky-winter-owl thing!"
"..."
"Most years he got it spot-on, though. The wind would howl, snow would cascade down, and Radamel would soar through the air on frozen wings, shouting his joy. Sometimes he'd come down and play with the little boys and girls and let them ride on his back."
"Boy! That'd be something!"
Adoreq, the Tree of Seasons, Elemental of Trees (3 TP, 2 MP)
Rebirth [active/night/one-shot/SPRING/+4 +7 +10]: Choose a dead player. You birth a seedling that carries that elemental's essence, allowing that player to make one post tomorrow.
Verdant Majesty [active/night/SUMMER/+2 +3 +4]: Tonight, any player who targets you is protected from the first kill that would be made against them, but if any player is successfully protected in this way, you lose this ability.
Crows' Roost [passive]: During AUTUMN, crows gather on your branches and watch over you. You are aware of the identity of any player who targets you while this ability is active.
Role notes: This was one of the first roles I designed for this game, back when I conceptualized that most roles would have some ability for most every season. That would've been too complicated, but I liked the elegance of this role, so I retained it. Rebirth was made one-shot because it might've been too powerful for every dead townie to speak up and give whatever information they had left. This role doesn't really do too much for the scum - extra posts aren't that helpful, a doc ability that requires the scum to target the doc requires strategic execution, and a self-watcher is much more useful to the town.
Flavor:
"Tell us another one!"
"You're an impatient one, boyo. Heh, heh. All right - do you know about Adoreq, the Tree of Seasons?"
"Who wants to hear about some boring old tree?"
"...Tell it."
"Looks like your sister's interested, Umry. Well, Adoreq was the grandest tree in the world. He stood more than eighty feet tall, with a trunk that was like a pillar of the very earth itself. But he was more than just 'some tree.' He was alive."
"All trees are alive, the chief says."
"Yes, but Adoreq could talk."
"Did he move?"
"No. He stood proud and tall where he was, and every summer evening, he would sing. People from miles around would come and gather to listen to the low, rumbling treesong."
"What did he sing?"
"It wasn't that kind of song. It had no words. It was just - music. The music of the wild, and of the world, and the Clock and humanity and Creation itself. Those who heard it never forgot it. In the fall, his leaves would turn a magnificent red, and they burned with the fires of the heavens. Birds would roost his strong branches and chatter amongst themselves."
"Why didn't he sing in fall?"
"They said he mourned the loss of his leaves, and so he was silent for all of the fall and winter. But came spring and he would speak again, and give advice, for he had seen much."
Febanatik, the Blazebringer, Elemental of Heat (3 TP, 2 MP)
Heat Wave [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tonight, that player may take an additional night action. (If you motivate a Mafia player this way, the Mafia nightkill can't be performed twice. If the target has only one night action, he or she can use it twice.)
Deep Freeze [passive]: During WINTER, you can't take any actions, and for every night you're alive and this ability is active, the Aeon Clock moves forward 4 places.
Role notes: Originally performed the "liberator" or anti-roleblock ability, with a motivate if it was Summer, but once I realized the dearth of Summer abilities, I changed his design. Now he's a straight Summer motivator with Deep Freeze, intended to offset the powerful Winter abilities.
Flavor:
"It gets so hot in summer. Was there an elemental for summer, Sidi?"
"You better believe it, lad. Febanatik, called the Blazebringer. He was like a humongous salamander, wings of crackling flame leaving bright trails through the sky. Wherever he passed, the air shimmered with the raw heat."
"Was he mean?"
"He wasn't, but some people did get mean when he passed by. They said the heat drove them crazy. Their blood would boil and their brains would overheat. One man killed his wife and two children and blamed it on Febanatik."
"How terrible of him! What happened to him?"
"They took him to Zawal tae-Deech, the Elemental of Justice. Within hours, he rendered a judgment."
"Just like that?"
"Oh yes, Umry. In Zawal's day, justice was swift...and merciless. The great being stared at the man and asked him whether the heat had affected anyone but himself. He had to reply that it hadn't, so the Elemental concluded he was using Febanatik's passing as an excuse to commit a crime he had planned to perpetrate either way. He was executed the same day...by being dipped into a volcano."
"Sidi! You know I'm going to have nightmares about that!"
"...Maybe it was the heat."
"She's just saying that because she hates summer. She'd rather shiver than sweat."
"...Heat melts and makes messes. Cold freezes, solidifies...makes things pristine."
Lheraz Bex, the Watery Manipulator, Elemental of Tides (3 TP, 3 MP)
Whirlpool [active/night/any season/+2 +3 +4]: Target another player. Tonight, any targeted actions that player would take must target you instead of their intended targets.
Swept Away [active/night/any season/+3 +4 +5]: Target another player. If you successfully used an ability on that player last night, you and that player are swept away by a tidal wave, removing you both from the game for the next day. (You return at twilight tomorrow.) If this ability would cause a win condition to trigger, it can't be used.
Tidal Influence [active/night/any season/+5 +7 +9]: Target another player. If you successfully used an ability on that player during the last two nights, that player's role is revealed to you and you control his or her night actions tonight.
Role notes: This is one of a handful of roles that don't interact with the seasons that I threw in to add a little consistency. Whirlpool is just like Death Grip from Grim Batol, a role that's a pseudo-roleblocker in scum hands and a potential bodyguard/rolecop/etc. in town hands. Swept Away is sort of a hurdle that players need to jump if they want to get to the extremely powerful Tidal Influence. This character has a lot of depth of strategy - do you just Whirlpool a lot of players to try to soak up negative night actions, or do you build up your efforts on a specific target, who may or may not be scum? Same thing when he's scum - go all-in to try to take control of a devastating town ability (vig?), or play it low-risk with repeated uses of Whirlpool? Another little bonus is that if the players desperately need the Clock to move forward, Lheraz Bex can use his abilities to push it forward, even if they will have no effect.
Flavor:
"All these Elementals seem to be sappy and happy. Tell me a story about some bad ones!"
"You've got it all wrong, Umry. They weren't good or evil. They acted according to their nature and according to what the Clock made them do."
"Tell me a story about an Elemental with a bad nature, then."
"...Idiot."
"It'll be your kind of story, Dina. You're certainly bad-natured enough."
"That's enough, you two. Well, there was one who was a bit of a sneak...Lheraz Bex was his name. He was the Elemental of Tides, and he was as fickle as his waters, and as ever-changing."
"What did he do?"
"Well, he was always reaching for more power. He reckoned that if he could expand his waters, he'd expand his control, as well. So he went to the Elemental of Rain and tried to convince him to increase the world's rainfall."
"Did it work?"
"The Elemental, whose name was Taboj, bluntly refused him. 'The Clock commands me, not you,' he told Lheraz Bex, and the Watery Manipulator knew it was true. But his machinations weren't finished. He had a plot to make more rain with or without Taboj's help."
"...How?"
"Interested now, are you, lass? He wrote two letters - one, to Shenala, the Elemental of Fire, and the other to Iopika, the Elemental of Snow. He told Shenala that Iopika was madly in love with her, and told the reverse to Iopika, encouraging them to meet the other one high up in the clouds above the ocean."
"I don't get it. What was his plan?"
"To make it rain."
"Just so. When the two Elementals met, their first kiss combined fire and ice, and we all know what that produces. Iopika's snows were melted by Shenala's heat, and rain poured down from the skies, swelling the oceans to vast proportions. Lheraz Bex's scheming was successful."
"Wow! Did the other Elementals take his powers away?"
"That's a story for another day, isn't it?"
"Awww...."
Chiazon, Who Withdraws the Earth's White Cloak, Elemental of the Thaw (1.5 TP, 1 MP)
Spring's Revelation [passive] When a player dies, if it isn't WINTER, that player's corpse will be covered by snow when WINTER begins. Then, when the following SPRING begins, the snow will melt and uncover the dead player's secrets, revealing his or her role PM. (Any player names in those role PMs will not be revealed. Players who die during WINTER are lost in the drifts of snow and won't ever be eligible for this ability.)
Role notes: Every game needs a handful of duds, and I'd say this is one. Especially in this game, players probably won't lie about their role PMs, but it could be helpful to the town to learn what sort of abilities the scum had. He really has very little value to the Mafia, except maybe to uncover the role PMs of players who died while unclaimed, like SK or vig shots.
Flavor:
"Chiazon was a special Elemental, charged with overseeing the passage between seasons. When the time had come - and how she knew it was time is beyond us, but she knew - she'd appear, a white apparation shaped like a woman, if a woman were made out of icy wind."
"Like a ghost! What did she do?"
"She would bend down to the earth and take hold of something, and just like that, she would whip the snow off the ground and shake it out into a sheet, like a blanket or a cloak. Then she'd wrap that cloak around herself and disappear, not to be seen again until the next spring's beginning."
"That's it?"
"Ah, but hers was such an important role. Without her, snow would choke the earth and keep the plants from growing. The Clock would toll for Spring, but the ground would be frozen and no new shoots would break its crust. That's why the Winter Elementals were always trying to delay her appearance."
"How?"
"They'd go to her while she slept and blow their coldest breath about her ears. When she woke, she'd be so cold that she'd believe it was the dead of winter...at least, that's what they thought."
"So it didn't work?"
"Oh, no, lad. Voes wrought better than that - it was the Clock that controlled the seasons, not just one Elemental. Chiazon heard the Clock and did her duty, same as all the others...'least, until the Reaper came...."
Hmokaya, the Golden Blooms, Elemental of Flowers (3 TP, 2 MP)
Annuals [passive]: When SPRING begins, your annual flowers grow and enter the vegetation stage; when SUMMER begins, they bloom; when AUTUMN begins, they lose their flowers and return to the vegetation stage; and when WINTER begins, they die. This cycle then repeats when SPRING begins again.
Biennials [passive]: When the game begins (in SPRING), your biennial flowers grow and enter the vegetation stage. They remain in the vegetation stage until WINTER begins, at which point they become dormant. Then, when the game's second SPRING begins, they bloom and remain blooming until the game's second WINTER begins, at which point they die. This cycle then repeats when SPRING begins again.
Nature's Bounty [active/night/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Choose another player. If any of your flowers are in the vegetation stage, you will be informed if anyone else targets the chosen player tonight. If any of your flowers are blooming, you will be informed of the identity of any other player who targets the chosen player tonight. If both your annual and perennial flowers are blooming, you will protect that player from the first kill made against them tonight and be informed of the identity of any other player who targets the chosen player tonight. (This ability does nothing if all of your flowers are dead or dormant. This ability doesn't target.)
Role notes: This is another role that can really flex its muscles if given enough time. A watcher who also docs the targeted player is super strong, but that's only active during every other Spring, Summer, and Fall.
Flavor:
"Were there any pretty Elementals?"
"...?"
"I mean, Dina wants to know. She's a girl. She likes pretty things."
"..."
"Well, there was an Elemental called Hmokaya that people would travel the entire world to see. She appeared as a ring of six gigantic flowers, as tall as trees and golden as sunset on the ocean."
"That's it? Just six flowers?"
"Oh, no. Those six made up Hmokaya, but she was always surrounded by other flowers. Vast beds of them, in all colors of the rainbow. Some shimmered and some blazed. Some swayed and others opened and closed with the dawn. As the seasons passed, her flowers would change color. They said it was a magnificent sight to see."
"It's always 'they said.' Didn't you see any of these things for yourself, Sidi? You're pretty old."
"Am I? These things happened centuries ago, Umry."
"So just how old are you?"
"Old enough, lad."
Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky (5 TP, 5 MP)
Sky and Clouds [passive]: You are masons with Vheraphon, Capricious Cloud-Lord, Elemental of the Clouds, played by <name.> You can communicate during the day only, by using the following QT: <link.> Your alignments are not known to one another.
Sunlight [active/day/any season/+0]: The sun lights up the skies, activating the SUNNY condition. This ability can't be used on the same day as Vheraphon's Cloud Cover ability.
Eyes From Above [active/day/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. If that player targets any other player tonight, you will be informed of his actions. This ability can't be used while in CLOUDY conditions.
Triumph of the Sun [active/day/any season/+9 +13 +17]: Target another non-Vheraphon player. The sun gives off a massive flare before its light weakens again, and the solar energy produced during the flare consumes the targeted player, killing him or her. This ability can only be used during SUNNY conditions and removes the SUNNY conditions.
Role notes: So, here's one of the game's most powerful roles. A tracker who can also daykill. The interplay of these two roles is something I'm really pleased with, and I don't think a daykill every other day that also means Vheraphon can never use his vanillifier ability is too strong.
Flavor:
"Did all the Elementals walk the earth, Sidi? Didn't it get crowded?"
"There were plenty that flew, lad. You know that."
"I mean, weren't there any Elementals...up there? You know, in the heavens?"
"Well, what's up there, past the blue, nobody knows. That was Voes's home, where he and his sister and the Word lived, and it ain't for the likes of us, or even the Elementals. But the skies...well, in the beginning there was Melwayeen."
"What did he do?"
"Wouldn't really call Melwayeen a 'he.' In fact, Melwayeen wasn't really much of anything, just a vast, open nothingness, and it was draped over the world like a cloth over a crystal ball. It encompassed the skies and filtered the sun and played host to the birds, but they did not speak to it or befriend it."
"Sounds lonely."
"Sounds perfect."
"Sounds hot, and so it were, because the sun beat down mercilessly on the world. Melwayeen was empty and offered no resistance, so the humans below had no protection from its heat. The sun scorched and it burned, and their skin cracked like the parched earth of a Zeedi drought, and they had no refuge."
"Well, what happened then?"
"Melwayeen took pity on the people down below and requested an audience with Voes. It begged the Father to grant humanity some protection from the harsh sun. And Voes looked on his child and knew its loneliness and sadness, and in one stroke, he created both protection and companion, and Vheraphon was born. The skies filled with clouds and the Blue Emptiness was empty no longer."
"What was Vheraphon like?"
"He - definitely a he, this one, Umry - was a whimsical creature, prone to sudden outbursts of rage and equally unexpected bouts of generosity. He constantly tried to spread his clouds, battling Melwayeen for the skies, but though they struggled for dominance of the world above, they were best of friends. A bit like you and your sister."
"..."
"..."
Akaramol, Speaker to the Winds, Elemental of Gales (2 TP, 3 MP)
Fierce Bluster [active/night/SPRING or AUTUMN/+6 +8 +10]: Target two other players. Any abilities that the first player would use tonight are redirected to the second player.
Winds of Change [active/anytime/one-shot/any season/+0]: You and another target player switch roles permanently. (The recipient of your role can't use Winds of Change again, since it's one-shot.)
Role notes: Winds of Change can be used proactively - if the town is determined to lynch or vig a player who's claimed a role that can be useful, they can snatch it with Akaramol before lynching the hapless recipient of his real role. It bypasses any protective or untargetable abilities the target may have. Fierce Bluster is a pretty standard redirector ability, slightly better for scum.
"Don't you think that when the wind blows, it's almost like spirits of the dead talking, Dina?"
"..."
"Funny you should mention that, Umry. There was an Elemental who used to speak to the winds. Yes, and listen to them, too."
"What was his name?"
"Akaramol, called the Speaker to the Winds. He took the form of a tall, grey-bearded, old fellow, and he would wander the earth, looking for something."
"What was it?"
"A place where he could hear properly. A place where he could listen to the winds blow."
"You can hear the wind from anywhere, when it blows! What was he, deaf?"
"You can hear the wind, but you can't listen. It's like you said - it's like there's a voice there, almost. When Akaramol found the right place, that special spot where many winds passed through and their voices melded into a discernible sound, he could understand them, and speak back."
"What did they say?"
"Reckon that's for him to know."
"Well, what did he say, then?"
"He would tell them to calm themselves, or to blow. No-one knows why he'd give which command when, but I figure it was the Clock telling him what to do. Sometimes a great hurricane would smash ships, and sometimes sailors would be becalmed in still waters, but they always waved to Akaramol when they saw him for fear he would tell the winds to take vengeance if they didn't."
Cel-Corak Keriv, the Ice Apparation, Elemental of the Frozen Pool (2 TP, 3 MP)
Permafrost [active/night/WINTER/+1 +3 +5]: Tonight, any actions that target you will be redirected to whoever performed them.
Cold Snap [active/night/one-shot/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target a player. (You can target yourself this way.) Tonight, any actions that target the targeted player will be redirected to whoever performed them. The necessary energy to surround another entity with frozen water and magically reinforce it is immense, so using this ability will render you vanilla for the rest of the game.
Role notes: Permafrost is a great protective ability, especially for scum, but it only works in Winter. The tradeoff between being able to permanently protect himself during Winter and using it as a surprise (and with the potential to throw it on another player) is a good one. It's worth noting that roleblocks will supersede Permafrost, unless it's been empowered.
Flavor:
"Winter is boring. It's just cold."
"Well, I'll tell you a story about a wintery Elemental who was anything but boring. Cel-Corak Keriv, he was called."
"What did he do?"
"Well, he was the Elemental of the Frozen Pool."
"That's it? Voes made an Elemental just to freeze ponds?"
"He had a vital role. He would go down deep into the water to make sure all the fish and aquatic creatures were safely dormant before setting his frost over the surface of the water, making it thick and impenetrable."
"I thought you said this wasn't going to be boring!"
"And when the light shone off the frozen pools, his reflection would be there, looking back at whoever gazed into their depths. He was a somber, brooding creature, like a human covered in shaggy white hair, with two black antelope's horns jutting out from behind his ears."
"Now this story has gone scary. Stop, Sidi."
"...But there was another side to Cel-Corak. When the ponds froze over, the children would come out and slide across their icy surfaces. Their giggles would bring him out of the frozen depths, and he would smile up at them from the reflecting ice, for he loved children."
"...Ugh."
"What, Dina?"
"Don't mind her, she's just miserable. Any story where people are happy makes her mad."
"..."
"Sliding around on frozen ponds sounds like so much fun. Too bad the winters here never get cold enough for ice...."
Potaraxis, the Frozen Judgment, Elemental of Hail (3 TP, 5 MP)
Ice Storm [active/night/WINTER/+8 +11 +14]: Target another player. That player will be barraged by a fierce hail, killing him or her. This ability will have no effect on certain players. (Mod note: It doesn't work on the elementals of Winter, the Frozen Pool, the Solstice or on Potaraxis himself if it gets reflected or duplicated.)
Role notes: So, this is the vig. He only works during Winter, and using his kill sends him out of Winter pretty damn fast. He still might be too strong if he is randomed into the Mafia, though.
Flavor:
"I wish it snowed more here."
"Me, too."
"Well, if you ever met Potaraxis, you'd never ask for anything to fall from the skies again."
"Potaraxis? What was he the Elemental of?"
"Hail."
"What's hail?"
"It's chunks of ice that hurtle down from the sky instead of rain. Sometimes they're just tiny chips, but sometimes they're grape-sized...even apricot-sized."
"That sounds terrible! Does it hail anywhere anymore?"
"Oh yes, in the northern reaches. But in Potaraxis's day, hail was much worse than just fruit-sized balls. He was a vindictive Elemental who would fly through the skies looking for people or animals to bombard with his wrath."
"What? Why?"
"Some said that Zawal tae-Deech, the Elemental of Justice, used to use Potaraxis to carry out his verdicts in places of the world that he couldn't readily get to. That's how he got the name "the Frozen Judgment."
"Is that true?"
"Probably, but Potaraxis just liked to rain down hail on people. He liked to watch them try to take shelter as his dagger-shaped shards sliced through their tents and pierced the roofs of their villages."
"How could Voes create something so evil?"
"Was he evil? He did only what he was meant to do and what the Clock demanded. When the warmer weather began to approach, he flew into a rage and sent his hail cascading down from the heavens at an alarming rate. Many's the loved one that was found in a pool of blood that leaked from a wound made from no earthly weapon. A shard of hail had pierced them through and melted from the heat of their insides."
"...I guess I don't want snow after all. It could turn into dagger snowflakes!"
Jayalun, Prince of the Extremes, Elemental of the Solstice (2.5 TP, 2 MP)
Aestival [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. You siphon off your excess energy onto that player, strengthening whatever SUMMER action he or she takes tonight. (If that player isn't taking a SUMMER action tonight, this ability will do nothing.)
Hibernal [active/night/WINTER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. You siphon off your excess energy onto that player, strengthening whatever WINTER action he or she takes tonight. (If that player isn't taking a WINTER action tonight, this ability will do nothing.)
Role notes: The reason this role is rated more highly as town than as scum is because the Mafia's standard abilities aren't season-specific and thus can't be empowered. The following is a list of the empowered effects of all eligible abilities:
- Sudden Chill: The player will be unable to use any day abilities on the following Day after being roleblocked as well.
- Winter's Might: Removes the "or until you die" clause.
- Verdant Majesty: As long as no more than one player is successfully protected by this ability tonight, Adoreq doesn't lose it.
- Heat Wave: Tonight, the motivated player can't be roleblocked.
- Permafrost: Permafrost now supersedes roleblocks.
- Ice Storm: Penetrates one protective ability on its target.
- Overgrowth: When using Wild Growth, if Gangolore was his target's target and the ability Gangolore's target is using on him is harmful, its effect is nullified.
Flavor:
"Another story, Sidi!"
"Heh, heh, all right. Let me tell you about Jayalun, one of the most rarely-seen Elementals of them all."
"Why didn't anyone ever see him?"
"Because he only appeared on two days of the year - the Summer and Winter Solstices."
"What's that mean?"
"...Coldest day."
"Yes, Dina, or hottest day. The middle of each season. The two extremes - that's how he got his title, the Prince of the Extremes. In the sweltering heat, he'd come out of nowhere, bare-chested and turbaned, the sweat rolling off his body in sheets. Back in those days, people would dig themselves little trenches beneath their huts where they'd go to stay cool. Not Jayalun. He stood outside, red eyes ablaze, sunning himself."
"And in the winter?"
"Everyone would be indoors again, sheltered from the deep freeze. Jayalun would wander the icy streets of the towns and pass through the frostbitten fields of farmers, wrapped tight in robes that looked like they were carved from crystal. No turban this time - a tight hood covered his face and neck, leaving only his red eyes glowing out from beneath."
"Why did he come out on those days?"
"Well, some said it was his presence itself that caused the extreme temperatures. That's a reasonable explanation, I reckon."
"Dina makes me feel cold when she looks at me. Is that the same?"
"...I was trying to make you feel stupid."
"Didn't work!"
"You didn't need the help."
Wepmhia Zavii, the Earth's Bounty, Elemental of the Harvest (2.5 TP, 2.5 MP)
Harvest [passive]: You begin the game (which begins in SPRING) with 3 stored seeds, which you can plant with your Sowing Season ability. When AUTUMN begins, you will harvest any seeds you have planted, you will gain one-shot abilities based on what "level" your seeds are when you harvest them, and you will store 3 more seeds. Your seeds gain levels based on how long they have been in the ground. If your seeds are too low-level or too high-level, you won't get any abilities. Your seeds begin at level 0 (when you plant them) and gain 1 level every time the Day begins and it's WINTER or SPRING and 2 levels every time the Day begins and it's SUMMER. Your seeds must be between levels 4 and 10 for you to gain any abilities - any higher or lower and they will provide no effect. For every acceptable seed you harvest, you will gain a one-shot charge of one of the following abilities of your choice. (You can't choose the same one multiple times, so if you successfully harvest 3 seeds, you'll gain a one-shot charge of each of these abilities.)
- Seed of Silence [active/night/any season/+2 +4 +6]: Target another player. That player can't vote tomorrow.
- Seed of Shriveling [active/night/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tomorrow, that player will require 1 fewer vote to lynch.
- Seed of Safety [active/night/any season/+2 +4 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, the first action to target that player - helpful or harmful - will have no effect.
You can't ever have more than one "charge" of these abilities, and every time a new AUTUMN begins, you will lose any charges of these abilities that you had saved up.
Sowing Season [active/anytime/+0]: Plant one of your stored seeds. This ability can't be used in AUTUMN.
Role notes: This is another one of the slow-burning roles that can really have an impact if left unmolested. Seed of Silence tends to favor scum, while both sides can make good use of Seed of Safety and Seed of Shriveling.
Flavor:
"What about fall, Sidi? What Elementals came out then?"
"...I prefer 'autumn.'"
"Fall, fall, fall, Dina! Fallfallfallfallfall!"
"Enough of that, you two. Well, autumn were ever a time for harvest, and Wepmhia Zavii took care of that."
"What did, uh, he do?"
"Wepmhia was a she, Umry, and she oversaw the crops. Farmers used to love catching a glimpse of her, with her straw hair down her back, because it meant that an Elemental was taking personal notice of their fields. Harvests were always good on years they saw her."
"Why didn't she go to all the fields and inspect them?"
"The world's a big place, lad."
"Well, if people had bad harvests, then maybe they would starve. How could Wepmhia let that happen?"
"She could do only what the Clock made her do."
"Then how could Voes let it happen? Why'd he create humans if he didn't make his Elementals give them all enough food?"
"Ain't for us to question why he did what he did, I don't think."
"Well, I question it. If I made everything, I'd make enough food for everyone."
"...I'm sure you would, Umry."
"Maybe it was his bad sister inside the Clock, making the Elementals do the wrong thing."
"Wouldn't be surprised if you were on to something there...."
Bessamavotha, the Winged Chorus, Elemental of Birdsong (4 TP, 2 MP)
Voices of the Many [passive]: At the beginning of every Day, if it's SPRING, your feathered allies will sing to you of a random player's alignment. Results received this way are guaranteed to be sane.
Role notes: And here's the cop. He's pretty weak, all things considered, but guaranteed sane results aren't to be trifled with. This is a passive ability and doesn't move the Clock, so if the town can arrange to stay in Spring, they're in business.
Flavor:
"Listen to those birds singing!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What Elemental was in charge of birds singing? Was it the Elemental of the Sky?"
"Actually, no. There was an Elemental whose sole purpose was birdsong. Bessamavotha was his name."
"One Elemental just for that!?"
"Aye. Bessamavotha was a great mass of white wings that'd flutter through the air, and all the birds would follow him, their voices joining in a chorus of beautiful song."
"What was the point? Birdsong is beautiful, but why'd Voes waste his energy making an Elemental for it?"
"Was it a waste, to give people something lovely to appreciate? Why'd he make waterfalls, or sunsets? Were those a waste too? How about pretty young ladies like that Liepa the chief was telling me about?"
"Umry's little girlfriend."
"She isn't my girlfriend, stupid Dina! I don't like Liepa and I don't like girls! They're all dumb and quiet like Dina!"
"Of course you don't, lad...not for another couple of years, yet, at least."
Indazeel, the Never-Ending, Elemental of Time (2.5 TP, 7 MP)
Out of Sync [passive]: Actions that target you will be Delayed and will resolve one day-night cycle after you were targeted. (If you were targeted on N3, you won't be affected until N4, for example. Day abilities that are Delayed take place at dawn of the following day - if you were targeted at any point during D2, the ability's effect will resolve as soon as D3 begins.)
Matter of Time [passive]: You begin the game in a state of temporal flux, wrapped in 5 layers of slow-time. Every time the Aeon Clock is set to 0 or moves past 0, one of these layers is removed. When all 5 of them are removed, you lose the abilities you currently have, but gain 3 votes and become immune to most killing abilities. (The 3 votes you gain this way can be split up among different players, but can never cause more than one player to be lynched at a time.)
Mod notes: He combines Ooze Delay from Grim Batol with another slow-burning ability. This one is extremely powerful, but takes a long time to get going. My worry about this role is that he may be too strong when he ends up on the scumteam - most times, it's going to be instagib status if he "unsuspends" in LyLo or near LyLo. The killing ability that can still affect him in his "unsuspended form" is Yblisa's Last Word.
Flavor:
"Were there any Elementals that nobody ever saw?"
"If nobody ever saw them, how do you expect me to know a story about them?"
"You know lots of stuff."
"Well, you're in luck this time, because I've heard tales of Indazeel."
"Sounds special. What was he?"
"It, I think. It was the Elemental of Time, and it stayed at the Clock, guarding it. It took the form of a gigantic snake, so long it seemed to be without a tail end, so it got the moniker of "the Never-Ending."
"A snake? Ugh."
"It'd coil up and around the Clock and stay there for what seemed like an eternity. Weeks passed it by, but it saw them as only seconds. Indazeel could understand time in a way none of us, or even its fellow Elementals, ever could."
"Did it know when everything would happen?"
"Probably, yes."
"Then why didn't anyone ever ask it?"
"Snakes speak with forked tongues, you know. It might've told them, or it might not have, but its answers probably wouldn't be true."
"Did it know when Yblisa would break free of the Clock?"
"No doubt."
"Then why didn't it tell anyone?"
"Why, indeed...."
Gangolore, the Fertile Verdance, Elemental of Wild Growth (2 TP, 2.5 MP)
Overgrowth [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. If that player successfully uses a targeted night action on another player tonight, the effect of that night action will also affect your target.
Role notes: This is Ooze Duplicate from Grim Batol. Yeah, I'm blatantly ripping off my own material here, but hell, Heartwork never used that role once, so it's not like it's actually been done before. Good ability, but quite situational. Slightly better for Mafia since they won't be firing as blindly as town are.
Flavor:
"Did Elementals ever fight?"
"Well, they were designed to carry out certain tasks, and they generally didn't interfere with one another."
"So is that a 'no'?"
"Gangolore used to cause a few problems every now and then. He was the Elemental of Wild Growth, and he was like a gigantic hare covered in shaggy moss and vines. Wherever he bounded, plants would begin to grow."
"Sounds pretty good."
"Not always. He'd bounce past farmers' carefully tended crops, and weeds would burst from the ground at an unstoppable rate and strangle the entire field. He'd hop through town squares and vines would wrap themselves around the huts, sometimes crushing them."
"Why didn't the other Elementals stop him?"
"They couldn't stop him - he had a mission, after all, and he was carrying it out. But some of them banded together and came up with a plan to prevent some of the havoc he was causing. They nominated Ubterimi, the Elemental of Firestorms, to follow him--"
"Wait. What's a firestorm? That sounds bad."
"Yes, fire used to rain from the skies. Firestorms. Ubterimi's job was to produce them, and they caused widespread devastation."
"Why would anyone ever make an Elemental that would cause wild growth everywhere it went? Why would anyone make an Elemental whose job was to rain fire down on people?"
"...Chaos."
"Could be, Dina. Voes used to have so many ideas his mind could hardly keep hold of them all. Some were better than others. Gangolore was a pretty bad one, and so was Ubterimi, but maybe two bad ideas cancelled each other out. Ubterimi followed Gangolore wherever he went, and whenever the huge moss-hare looked like he was going to disrupt civilization, Ubterimi would send down a firestorm in his path. Naturally, Gangolore would hop hurriedly away from it, and so humanity was freed of both the unnatural growth and the firestorms."
"So it all worked out in the end. How come we don't have firestorms today?"
"Must've got taken out in the Third Creation, I guess."
What worked:
Flavor
Modgaming/massclaim/etc protection
Game balance (with one caveat which I will talk about below)
The Clock as a main game mechanic (see PM's mathcrafting which implicated kpaca after Wessel's death)
Alpha's role
kpaca's role
What didn't:
Screwing up iLord's and DJC's rolenames
Brinatoo's role (weak and non-interactive)
Iso's role (never going to do anything)
Relative lack of WINTER
***
Let's talk about the "debit" column. I knew just after the game started that Brinatoo's role was kind of bleah and wished I could have it back. It would've been so much better as just a straight SPRING cop - like what kpaca claimed. That would've been interactive and wouldn't have the random ability to totally hose someone (like kpaca would've been if Brinatoo's random cop had hit him instead of Alpha.)
Iso's role was, I'll admit, designed to be mostly vanilla. I didn't really anticipate his super form would ever make an appearance. However, once the game began and we saw how slowly the Clock really moved, I realized it wasn't a case of "probably won't happen" but "definitely won't happen" which is kind of bastardly and unfair to the player who got the role. It wasn't my intent to dangle something tantalizing but unreachable in front of Indazeel's player. I could've done something like reduce the number of "layers", or have Out of Sync interact with the layers in some way.
I designed this game on the assumption that WINTER wouldn't come around very often. Winter abilities were quite powerful on purpose. Still, having just one in the whole game was a little underwhelming, and although PM absolutely made the most of his turn, ced, iLord, and Niv were all dead by the time Winter rolled around, so that was sort of bleah also. Not sure what I could've done to fix this, though.
I think this was, on the whole, a vastly superior game to my first effort, Grim Batol. You see in my "manifesto" that I took into account a lot of the criticism of that game and tried to fix it here, which I feel I was successful in doing. The game balance was especially strong, and I intend to continue using this randomization system for future games, including this game's sequel, Celestial Mafia.
In terms of actual gameplay, I was a little disappointed to see one of my favorite roles (Smaruwari) go down so quickly, and that the mason question was resolved so early (and forcefully) by WoD, who played a good SK. Obviously there's the question of why Void failed to activate Eclipse when kpaca gave the signal, but let's be totally honest here: that ability was really overpowered and should never have been in the game. The fact that we went down to a 3-man endgame without Eclipse shows that the game was just fine without it. So that was a mistake of mine and I'm glad it didn't end up costing anyone.
The PM lynch was pretty egregious, in my opinion. He handed DJC over on a silver platter - really not something scum would've done there. But again, that situation was expertly manipulated by kpaca, who used PM's math against him. Let's talk about kpaca, who is, of course, the Mafia MVP of this game. That was really a sterling performance - although he did exhibit a lot of his standard scum characteristics, like mysterious lack of specifics about his role and brutal bussing of scumbuddies, he did so to such effectiveness that I forgot he was scum at one or two points, and he had pretty much everyone - except Archmage Eternal, who he foiled by using his Spring untargetability - fooled. Brilliant. If this was your last game, I was honored to be the host; same goes for Alpha, who would've been MVP had his team carried it.
Thank you all for playing, and I hope you all had as much fun with this setup as I did. Thank you especially to people who complemented the flavor; this was pretty much my best work ever, and it makes me fuzzy inside to have it recognized. (I won't talk too much about it, since there is a sequel planned for this game. Expect to see more of Sidi, Umry, and Dina, as well as the fates of Voes, Yblisa, and the Word.)
Special thanks to DYH, my reviewer, and the players who replaced in: Void, Iso, Art, Tezz, Dancing Mad, ganderin_dan, IB, and Pale Mage.
Yeah, I just so happened to replace into the one role that everyone thought was just another insane Iso gambit.
zindabad, I do have a question: Why did Akaramol's and Indazeel's roles interact the way they did? I had no indication in either role PM that Akaramol would be able to bypass "Out of Sync".
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
kpaca was a one-man wrecking ball. I'm glad I was on the right side of the carnage. Great job, buddy.
Thanks for the awesome flavor, zindabad! Too bad I was targeted by the one kill I couldn't prevent. We also still have no idea why Void didn't end Day Two prior to getting Daykilled. kpaca even used a codeword (:kank:) and everything.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Well played kpaca. As mentioned numerous times, if you were scum I would admit I had been outplayed, and indeed I was greatly so.
I still disagree with the various little bits in the setup. I think there were so many moving pieces behind the randomization and Reaper effects that there was no way the town would ever not be confused. I'm not a fan of role randomization generally, since it doesn't really address players' choices to lie about their roles (unless the game is Smalltown), but once you combine the clock, the masons, the Reaper effects... people are guaranteed to talk about the setup, whether you like it or not. The way to do it instead is to reduce the benefits from talking about the setup.
(And Eclipse should not have been included.)
In the end, the best player won, so it's hard to argue with the outcome that much, but it was rather frustrating at the time to perceive (correctly or not) that the mod wasn't being entirely forward about the rules.
Oh yeah, the PM lynch was awful, and I was very unhappy about it. Probably if I had given some more thought to it I would have come around to the notion that Brinatoo was too dumb (sorry to be blunt) to be a grand criminal mastermind, but then I probably would have turned on Alpha out of my own mistaken perception of the setup. So at least my death prevented a more, shall we say, unjust ending.
Crazy. Congrats to the scum team for a sick victory.
Yet again another reminder that behavioral trumps all other types of gaming. As zindabad said, kpaca was readable. Even on the last Night, which was something like 8 hours? Who of the three of the players visits MTGS the most...? Assumption on my part that the NK was delivered after the lynch, of course. EDIT: It was, glacing at the scum QT.
I feel as though one sentence and a bunch of scary good play (the Cop gambit) did the town in: "Results received this way are guaranteed to be sane." This sentence, which should be the default setting for Cops in anything but Specialties and deliberately labelled "Bastard Games", made Brinatoo incapable of fully counterclaiming kpaca. Unfortunate.
ADDITIONAL EDIT: I need a reread, but the above sounded harsher than I intended. Well played kpaca. Sick gambit paid off.
I would like to also pile on the compliments about the backstory. Beautiful and well worth the wait. Thanks for the game, guys, and most especially zindabad.
My Clan Is Dead.... Long Live The Izzet! Johnny, born and raised. Always lookin' for the Next Level Combo. Thanks to Bornover of FHLS for the banner! Mafia Results, Links, and Stats
Everytime i win a game a good lot of you come in and say i was readable. I have a higher than usual scum win percantage. I think you all undervalue my ability to be unreadable within the flow of the game.
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Official Moderator of The [Gutter]
Think the MtgStaff is just swell? Join today! You too can be involved in an 8 year grudge and delete nearly 9000 of kpaca's posts!
Everytime i win a game a good lot of you come in and say i was readable. I have a higher than usual scum win percantage. I think you all undervalue my ability to be unreadable within the flow of the game.
Well, obviously the readable was after I was dead.
Although I'm betting I could go back and find somewhere in the game where I commented you were active, which is pretty indicative of your scum game, as was evident in Monster Island for example.
Either way, yeah, my bad. Sorry for not giving credit where credit is due. I'm disappointed, and that's coming across. Your gambit was obviously the play of the game. You deserve MVP obviously, and anything I say to the contrary is just me hating to lose.
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My Clan Is Dead.... Long Live The Izzet! Johnny, born and raised. Always lookin' for the Next Level Combo. Thanks to Bornover of FHLS for the banner! Mafia Results, Links, and Stats
First I want to apologize to my team. I really got too confidant after playing so well in two games as scum, I played scummy on purpose thinking I could get people off me because of my sweet talk, but this town was superior to me and I was outplayed. I did it because I was trying to remove pressure my Zas and AI, in the end I suicided. At least I managed to put Kpaca in a good position methinks, so it was not a total loss.
@Void now the big question that I was waiting to ask. Why the heck you haven't used eclipse?
@Zinda This game was perfect from beggining to the end, I followed it all the time, while unfortunately dying early, I think this surpassed all the mafia games I've played before, yes this was the best game I've played. Thanks for all.
@DJC As usual you were grand, you managed to stick until the bitter end, and for a moment I believed you could escape the lynch despite PM "catching" you. But you did two big mistakes: the scum win-con despite the OP and you claimed to be ILord opposite, of course you should not be trying to prevent his lynch, but after not mentioning the mistake in his claim, you should have fakeclaimed something else.
@Wod you really expected to win this game after claiming vig on D2? Having to shot in a "pro-town" way for the whole game would be impossible because after scum was done for, you would be killed next imho.
@Iso you were superp on this game, your lists were pretty spot on, and I think town would win if people followed them. Your rereads were pretyy good too. It's funny to see you putting so much effort on this game and putting zero on others (Mean girls for example).
@Kpaca this game taught me so many lessons, you taught me many lessons. If I was alive I would be against: claiming cop on Void after AI death and Brinatoo claim, claiming Xyre was town and not AE, killing Tezz (why you killed him? he was lynch bait), not killing PM earlier, no caring about math or thinking more the plan of action. But against results there are no arguments and this game made me rethink some things about mafia.
@AE, Wessel, PM, Alpha it's funny because every and all your deaths put more and more pressure on Kpaca, the math, the results of Ae investigation, the "Brin cannot be a scum mastermind" yet not even you guys had the guts to say "Kpaca is lying scum, let's lynch him next" despite all the evidence. But have no regrets, you played very well.
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The game is not being dumbed down. Control is doing fine; Draw-Go is not the only kind of control. Aggro is doing fine; Red Deck Wins is not the only kind of aggro. Creature combat is an important core concept and belongs in every color. Mythic rarity is not destroying the game. People whine too much for no good reason. Magic is more popular than ever, so keep calm, brew some decks and play some damn cards.
I was hoping my death would put more pressure on him. I didn't like that whole fake wagons crap he pulled. I became uninvolved for awhile then figured I'd let my ability weed Kpaca out but that fell through.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
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You're a fool, then.
None. As I've said multiple times today.
You, sir, are lynched tomorrow.
Sigh.
Here's the dealeo, Xyre. You've (in the collective sense) gotten very, very lazy. Pretty certain you and kpain are the remaining townies (in spite of your continued declarations that you are going to survive Night after Night). One of you will be dead in the morning.
The remaining one is going to have a very difficult decision to make. The odds on favorite is Brin. And it probably is him. Check out his early Day One play and reactions to pressure. Notice how much emotion he puts into defending himself based on dictionary definitions. It's a bit odd. Keep in mind that "investigating" his main detractor got him miles ahead in the waiting game. Aside from report his results, what has he done this game? Nothing. He wouldn't even dig up the posts that he claimed made AE come off very differently from how he started in Day One.
Damning? No. But out of sync all the same.
Now, let's compare that to Alpha (you should hold him to answering my questions in the morning, btw...could be revealing one way or 'tother). What has Alpha actually done this game? Not much. Shot Void even though he preferred Vezok...but what was he going to do? The most proactive thing he did as I recall was shoot WoD. Granted, we were stalled hard at that point, but he did not hesitate to gun WoD down as soon as WoD said he would shoot Alpha in the Night phase. A bit touchy, that.
Again, damning? No. But self-protective all the same, and one side had more reason to be than the other at that time.
If it were up to me alone, I'd probably ship Brin...but not before I had answers from Alpha to weigh on the scale. And I'd sure as hell look back over both players completely in spite of the length of the game to come up with new perspectives and/or inquiries for both of them. Could be clarifying.
It's the kind of thing y'all should have done today. Lynching me is ridiculous. Brought you guys back on DRey on Day One when you had moved on. Told you repeatedly Iso wasn't to be pursued because he surely wasn't mafia. Practically begged you to leave iLord alone and gave you a specific moment of clarity to stew upon with regards to his alignment. Not to mention kpaca and Infectious Baloth, who I declared town (kpaca I refused to lynch and made it clear that was the case...IB I declared both of his predecessors town and had zero interest in lynching. I even told you why it was a bad idea re: Iso). And of course, DJ Catchem's lynch.
Yeah. I'm obviously running my scum game this time 'round.
I won't hammer myself prior to deadline. Good luck with your coin flip tomorrow.
* Pale Mage stubs out smoke and folds arms.
nokpaca if you aren't.
vote Pale Mage For Justice!
Youre joking right?
I don't think he is. Go lynch him.
I can practically guarantee you Xyre is not scum in spite of the repeated "see you in the morning" phrases he's been fond of over the past few days.
Read his behavior.
I'm going for Brinatoo tomorrow (if I'm alive). Like I said before, if it's Alpha or kpaca, I'm going to accept I've been beaten, because there are too many factors against those two being scum. If Alpha is scum, I have to believe he gunned down a fellow scum, with basically no provocation, for little reason. I also don't think scum Alpha would have played the masons bit the way he did if he was trying to save his scum buddy. And there are lots of little things about all that that don't fit.
If we lose this game, I'm blaming it on myself, for sure, but I'm also blaming Artifice, Iso, and kpaca. The three of you cost us at least half a dozen townies, because you couldn't play straight. (Oh, and zindabad, for reasons previously stated.)
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
It's cool. We've just played kinda bad for a few days. I know I'm in the miffed state that we all get into when we're mislynched, but to be fair I've said repeatedly y'all could lynch me if you really thought it best.
I would just like to see more of an effort to determine who's who before the vote happens, y'know? But deadline is deadline.
I think there are good reasons to go for Brin over Alpha, but a Cop investigation on your scum bud while you're trying to explain to the rest of the town why you're mason buddy flipped scum isn't really "no provocation" nor "little reason".
If we lose this game, it's on all of us as it always is to one degree or other.
Yeah, I noticed that on Night One and waited to see what Alpha was going to say in his first post. That's not a good point for Alpha in my book. I just liked his claim a great deal.
The math pushed me over the edge, personally. I thought it seemed pretty solid, and in fact I think it possibly spoke of inside info on the numbers associated with the mafiakill, which factored into my decision to vote you today.
Going back and reading it, I had forgotten about your one-shot clock freeze, in truth. You'll concede that just a roleblock during a season feels incomplete? That was my mindset.
DJ was brought up as scum-possible more than anyone else going into that day, the votes on him to end the day are reason enough to get that vibe, considering the small number of people left in the game.
Come down to my level. If I'm accepting only one scum left, and trusting kpaca, it comes down to Brinatoo or you as the last mafioso. I made a choice while hopefully not in LYLO to trust the claim that made more sense to me.
I also readily admit that your skill as a player lessened your behavior as a clearing tool.
Why? If not PM, it surely would seem to be him.
I've done plenty this game, while not posting prolifically. True, I did prefer Vezok, but Void was the town's second lynch, made possible by me. I could have easily AZWOLGed Vezok anyway, but I didn't. You're downplaying how strongly I, and others, felt Vezok was scum at the time.
Also, did you ever consider that I had a good reason to shoot WoD when he mentioned shooting me? From my perspective it was an absurd suggestion that I couldn't let slide. It'd be wasting a town asset that was soon to be confirmed town on top of that.
Finally, I hammered DRey, when I didn't have to, and though Wessel was town, I shot him not on my own, but with town support, when even you were convinced it was the right move.
Though it was ultimately incorrect, you need to include it in what "I've done" this game, as it WAS proactive and the correct action to take at that point.
Now, this is where I get frustrated...you severely downplay what I've done in this game behaviorally, which I think has been pretty darned solid overall, and what's worse is you bring into my question my CLAIM and interaction with AsianInvasion.
You may think you have been town behaviorally this game, but take a step back and really look at the situation with me and AI. Xyre's info coming down has made me CONFIRMED TOWN. Ever heard of two scum being masons whose ALIGNMENTS AREN'T KNOWN TO EACH OTHER?!
From Zinda's role PM post:
You talk about laziness? To consider me as the last mafia is either desperate or lazy.
IF Pale Mage is town, list would be Brinatoo, kpaca, Xyre. And again, it's ridiculous to even consider that I could be scum. Even if you don't trust my behavior, Xyre has cleared me by validating my mason claim.
No, he actually didn't. He said I "had" to be town, because my role didn't make sense as scum, and he was fronting that he was town at the time too. He said that technically our alignments weren't known to each other, which the PM confirmed to you in the role PM dump.
You're being remarkably obtuse for such a good player.
Nothing's 100% in mafia, but the stone cold facts say I'm as close to confirmed town as you're going to see, and to even sniff my way when there are other players with only behavioral info to go on is crazy in this end-game.
Part of me wonder how that's possible since you even noted the mason reveal as accurate when the role PM dump came down.
Seems I touched a nerve.
Fair enough, but you must admit you were leaning Wessel prior to the math posts.
I figured you were either ignoring it or had forgotten. Really the only way to accept me as scum is to assume I've made up the second ability. No way does a scum Pale let Spring happen.
Xyre had thrown down the gauntlet at Wessel as IB was being given his necktie party. That was at the top of the agenda.
Your level isn't far down if it's down at all, sir.
It's gauche to flatter people as you execute them. I still have to do stuff that makes some kind of sense if I'm a bad guy.
Okay, on the good stuff...
AZWOLGing Vezok would have been awful as scum. The bigger issue is what could be perceived as stalling the DK, perhaps giving Void the opportunity to come to make a decision as to whether he wanted to fire off his one-shot and end the Day.
This isn't damning, but let's not pretend the decision to shoot Void over Vezok says anything one way or the other about your alignment given the situation. Shooting Vezok would have brought heat, and you were going to lose Void one way or the other (assuming a scum Alpha, obv). Ultimately, it's null.
My point is that you moved the quickest you've moved this game when he put a dot on your head. Changes in one's pace of play can be revealing. I'd be remiss not to bring it up.
Neither of these things speaks to your alignment one way or the other. See the problem from our side? Hammering is just something that happens. It's easier to spot scum hammering townies or scumbuds than townies hammering anyone.
Shooting Wessel means nothing. It's proper play for you regardless of your alignment.
See, I don't understand why you're getting upset.
The phrase you're hanging your hat on is listed under the mason ability portion of the role PM. Given the nature of the setup, that does not exclude you from anything. Let's take into account that's the role PM of a known mafiate. So what is Zindabad telling him with that phrase? He doesn't know if you're Town or Neutral. And if both of those roles ended up in the hands of mafiates, the "mafia group" thing simply trumps the ability.
I'm not being lazy with this, Alpha. I've done a lot of noodling on the possibilities with respect to your role.
Actually, I'm a-cutey.
Given the nature of the setup, the biggest thing in your favor is Brin's claim that you're Town. That would mean that if you're Scum, he's Town and therefore you're a Godfather. That's a pretty big objection to overcome with respect to lynching you in my opinion. As I've said, I prefer Brin...but you should be examined.
I mean...please. Everything has to get looked at in LyLo. You know that.
I'll further say that I'm a bit surprised at the extent of your reaction to this. It again reminds me of the WoD quickdraw shot. However, I think Brin's reactions on Day One were worse, and you aren't pinning your defense on splitting hairs with dictionary definitions and huge text as he did.
Anywho, my vote's still where I want it.
Kpaca or Xyre, be proactive. Wield the stick and poke 'em.
"Wasn't he the Elemental of Cold?"
"Just so. Radamel was a magnificent snow owl of gigantic proportions, sheathed in blue ice. Not even a drop of snowmelt rolled down his impressive wingspan, even though it was the dead of summer, for the heat had gone out of the world when Febanatik was killed. He cocked his head, as owls do, and looked curiously at his interlocutors. 'Me? But it was I who offered up the traitor Regent to you.'"
"A good point."
"But disregarded. 'Nothing but a ploy,' cried the others. 'You are the last traitor. It was you who led us to kill our beloved Hmokaya!' Radamel shook his head, eyes heavy with tears. 'Always looking for someone to blame,' the huge bird said solemnly. 'They were right, weren't they? Indazeel, Nyx, and the rest. It's better off this way. We are unworthy.' He folded his wings and waited for his end.'"
"...And he wasn't the one they were looking for."
"No. When they were done ripping him apart, and his icy feathers floated on air and mingled with Hmokaya's ashy remains, the realization of what they'd done hit them, and the remaining Elementals could only stand in stunned silence. Yblisa's allies were traitors because they had killed Zawal - but now the survivors themselves were murderers several times over."
"..."
"..."
"The Mother took a step toward the place where the four living Elementals, last of Voes's creation, huddled. Her arms spread wide and she spoke to them in a soothing voice. 'Children, how far you have fallen. Your existences have become torment. Come, let me embrace you one final time and end it all - I will do this, for the love I once bore you.' And they looked on her and contemplated it. Self-abnegation. Surrender. For a minute, the only sound was the ticking of the Aeon Clock, eternal in an ending world."
"And did they--"
"In the end, a solitary word - 'No!' - burst forth from one of their throats. They were never sure who said it. But once that word pierced the silence, Yblisa's hold on them was broken, and they stepped back, fearful but alive. 'Fools,' she sneered. 'All is doomed. Cling to your meaningless existences for a few more minutes, then. That Clock to which you owe your allegiance counts out your lives - and your time is almost up!'"
"What did they do?"
"The only thing they could do - the same they had been doing since the death of Zawal. They prayed for the Father to intercede. And they waited, minds spinning with the knowledge that they had one more fateful decision to make - and in so doing, they would decide the destiny of all creation."
Pale Mage has been lynched. He was Radamel, Herald of Frost, Elemental of Cold.
It is now Night 6. The deadline for night actions is Wednesday, June 6th, at 11:30 am EST. The sooner night actions are in, the sooner night will end.
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
"How did they know the Reaper was responsible?"
"It was no secret. There, lurking by Chiazon's body, was the shadowed, incomprehensible form of the Reaper itself. At once tall and broad, stunted and twisted, the Reaper was like living shadow, hinting at perceptions without ever manifesting them. Death itself had come to the Clock grounds."
"...and the Mother?"
"She, too, was there, her hateful eyes burning. They - the three survivors, the Reaper, and Yblisa - were the last living inhabitants of their world. The Clock grounds were strewn with corpses, both those of their allies and their foes. Glazed eyes stared out of lifeless faces, seeming to judge what they looked upon. Dead limbs that had come to rest now appeared to be pointing...at what? The Mother? The Reaper? The last traitor? It should have been beyond their comprehension."
"Why?"
"The Elementals were made to serve their purposes, not to carry out intrigues, hunt down their false kin, or understand whatever cosmic struggle was taking place before them. But here they were, the last survivors of the Second Creation. Their Mother was an enemy. Their Father's casket stood before them, but of Voes himself, there was no sign. The Clock that had controlled them for millennia had been corrupted by the Reaper. All that remained was...them."
"I wouldn't have liked to be in their shoes."
"Two were faithful; one had foully betrayed them. The last three beings of Voes's progeny were gathered before his mightiest work, the Aeon Clock, and were attended by Yblisa and the Reaper. It was time to test the limits of the Father's creation. There, beneath the impassive, eternal face of the Clock, it was time to settle the fate of everything in existence."
"..."
"..."
"The Clock ticked on, but for the Elementals, it was almost midnight. Time was up. Destiny was at hand...."
Xyre, Chiazon, Who Withdraws the Earth's White Cloak, Elemental of the Thaw, has been killed.
It is now Day 7. With 3 alive, it's 2 to lynch. One way or another, this is truly the end. The deadline is set for Wednesday, June 13th, at 10:30pm EST.
The Aeon Clock has moved forward 6 places and now stands at 48. It remains SUMMER.
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
KPain, surely you agree now it has to be Brinatoo? I won't vote until you get a chance to post, but I don't see any reason you wouldn't kill me if you were the last scum, as you could leverage your 'investigation' of Xyre into a tag-team win lynch of Brinatoo.
@Alpha: You can consider me to have a phantom vote on Brinatoo right now, you're not completely cleared but you're about 90% to me.
I am at fault for losing my interest in mafia as the months have gone by, times change and so does my addiction to random things. Maybe I'll show more enthusiasm and effort in some time, but meh. As for opinions, I can assure you that I have voiced my opinion clearly, and not needed to be prodded for that.
Fortunately, AI still has a week to read and make his decision. I'll stop by more often now that I know the game is back to day and answer any questions either of you have. ciao
Other than that I'm not sure what to make of your move other than you are bad at mafia, but I implore you to unvote on the off chance Alpha is scum. Like, if you really think I'm scum, please flesh out some sort of case or at least explanation for ever single gambit I would have had to pull up until the most recent shooting of my biggest proponent. This as opposed to just sticking to what appear now to be your false investigative results.
kpaca (1) - Brinatoo
With 3 alive, it's 2 to lynch.
The deadline is set for Wednesday, June 13th, at 10:30pm EST.
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
I am much more inclined to believe you, Kpaca. I already said it makes little sense for you to kill Xyre, and additionally Brinatoo's claim, while clever, has a built-in copout for why he gets the results he gets.
If he's indeed scum, the random result angle is pretty smart.
One final request of you two before I make my vote. Can you each list all of your cop results, just for posterity?
Here's the reasoning behind not EVER believing Alpha is town, from my point of view.
1. My cop result.
2. His claim before Asian's death matches with Xyre's ability to reveal that he was indeed telling the truth.
3. With Asian's death it also very largely hints that the abilities Alpha claimed would be parallel with Asian's and no godfather ability would ever exist.
And Alpha just cleared himself by not ending the game anyway.
As for reasons why you would have done those gambits, well that's clear: to gain the trust off town and ride it out until the end. Hell- it worked on me but PoE points to you no matter what you did in the game. And what do you mean by false investigative results?
Sure. First - Archmage Eternal - Town. Second - You - Town.
And for sake of maybe saving time kpaca claimed first to have copped Void as scum. Then Xyre as town second.
If I was actually scum, I would be blushing for your compliments. So I don't know if I should take that as an insult for being town and being dumb, haha.
Vote: brinatoo
Gentleman this game has been a pleasure regardless of the outcome.
Familiar with O.J. Simpson's book, "If I Did It"?
I agree, it has been a wholly entertaining and wonderfully written experience. I can't think of a better time to take an extended leave of absence from mafia after 7 years than with this excellent game. Kudos, Zinda.
If you actually are scum, kpaca, you deserve this win at any rate. But I would never forgive myself if I didn't Vote: Brinatoo
Occam's razor is in effect.
Also, I wanted to apologize to Pale Mage, for somewhat unwittingly instigating your lynch. I overthought the situation, clearly.
Town loses.
"...It almost doesn't matter."
"Why not, Dina?"
"The world was ruined anyway. Whoever won would have to remake it. What was the point?"
"To create a better world."
"Why not let it all just end? The First Creation was a failure and so was the Second. Why keep trying?"
"Well, we know the Third didn't fail, or we wouldn't be here. So tell it, Sidi. Who was the victor?"
"As they would soon come to realize, no-one had won. The battle had only just begun. But on that day, the last day of the Second Creation, there was a winner - and it was Merios, the Many-Colored Splendor, the Elemental of Leaves."
"And was he...?"
"A traitor? In a word: yes. He had manipulated events from the very beginning, casting his own allies to the void in service of his dread master. And now, on the last day, he watched with a smirk as the Elemental of the Sky, Melwayeen, cast away the only other true Elemental. Together, Merios and Melwayeen struck down Bessamavotha, the Winged Chorus, who had been the Elemental of Birdsong."
"...Wow."
"The two Elementals stared at one another. Finally, Melwayeen, voice sorrowful, said, 'It was you all along. You...murderer.' The Elemental of Leaves flicked a hand dismissively, his coat of green leaves shuddering as he did so. 'We are all murderers here, old friend. You yourself have just helped kill your last ally. Look around you. Here are your kin - murderers all.'"
"What did Melwayeen say to that?"
"The Blue Emptiness did as it was bid, and surveyed the scene before it. The Reaper, incomprehensible as ever, had slaughtered many of his fallen friends. The Mother had killed her share. Merios had killed Zawal. But neither was Melwayeen itself blameless. The barren landscape, the paused blizzard that still raged on eternally outside the Clock grounds - all of those were on Melwayeen as well. Stricken by guilt, horrified by what it had become, Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, simply began to dissipate. He chose not to continue living. His consciousness drifted and spread throughout the sky, and he was gone. It was over. The traitors had won."
***
Brinatoo, Bessamavotha, the Winged Chorus, Elemental of Birdsong, has been lynched. AlphaInsidious, Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky, has been endgamed.
kpaca, Merios, the Many-Colored Splendor, Elemental of Leaves, has triumphed!
The mafia wins! Congratulations!
Additional flavor scenes and setup to follow.
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
"And what was their response?"
"Silence. Merios tried again, voice now slightly less confident. 'When you came to me, Reaper, you told me to free the Mother. You said that, in so doing, I would free myself of the Father's tyranny. There she is. I have done what you commanded. Are you not proud of me?"
"...And?"
"Again, there was no answer. Abruptly, the Reaper spun and stalked away. In a few seconds, it was entirely gone from view. Merios was left stunned. After a moment, he recovered, and turned his attentions to Yblisa. 'Hallowed Mother,' he implored her, 'all that I have done, I did for your sake. We served you in the beginning. Now, at the end, I would serve you again. Will you not have me?'"
"What did she say?"
"There was another long silence. Yblisa's glare almost burned as she turned it on Merios, the Elemental of Leaves. He scrutinized her face, hoping for any sign of remorse, pity, compassion - in short, any emotion save what he saw there, which was pure, sizzling hatred. 'Please, Mother!' he begged. 'Say something! Tell me this wasn't all for nothing! Tell me you accept me! Tell me I have served my purpose!"
"And she said...?"
"Nothing. She, too, turned on her heel and walked away, into whatever awaited outside the Clock grounds. There was utter silence, punctuated only by Merios's sobs, as he had sank to his knees, crying like a child who has been hurt and who can't understand how.'"
"Well, what did he expect? He slaughtered his entire kin."
"But he thought it was his purpose. You forget - this is how Voes and Yblisa made the Elementals, to fulfill the commands given them. Without purpose, they were lost. Merios had been granted a new one, that day when he and his allies freed Yblisa from imprisonment in the Clock on the orders of the Reaper. But now that purpose had been fulfilled - and it was all for nothing. There was no-one left for him to serve."
"So that was how the Second Creation ended? With Merios alone at the Clock?"
"...Merios wasn't quite alone. He wept for a time, hands covering his face, his entire foliage quivering with the effort of the sobs. But as he lowered his hands, his gaze fixated on something that all of the Elementals had nearly forgotten. There, at the foot of the Aeon Clock (which still towered, proud and unsullied, into the heavens above), was a sarcophagus of milky grey stone, all carven over with Elemental runes."
"Of course! Voes's casket!"
"On its lid, it read, 'Open only when I am gone.' And so Merios, who had begged the patronage of both the Reaper and the Mother without success, turned back to his Father at the end. He moved toward the sarcophagus, at first on hands and knees, then walking upright, and finally sprinting. Merios stood over the last message of Voes, the Father, and placed his hands on either side of the sarcophagus's lid. He lifted the lid, and found..."
"..."
"..."
"...absolutely nothing. The sarcophagus was perfectly empty, bereft of any remains or messages. Merios stared down into the empty coffin in disbelief. He stood there for hours. He stood there as the bubble that had surrounded the Clock grounds, keeping them safe from the end of Time, began to shrink, closing in on his location. He stood there as the end of everything converged on the Clock. It was finished. The Second Creation had drawn to a close. All was gone."
***
"...But that can't be the end of the story!"
"Why not?"
"Well, what about the Reaper? What was it? What did it do?"
"...And Yblisa. Where did she go?"
"Heh, heh. You're right, children. The story isn't over. The Reaper and Yblisa strode off into nothingness, and met each other there, where it had all began. Their conversation went like this...."
"Why did you free me?" Yblisa demanded.
"I need your power. Your life energy. The power you put into the First and Second Creations," responded the Reaper. Out here, in the space between worlds, its form was a little more distinct. It was a huge, hulking man-shape, with strange features - an elongated armlike appendage, a patina of shimmering fish-scales, a fringe of fur not unlike a lion's mane.
"And why would I ever yield it?" she hissed.
"The Celestials sought to use me," said the Reaper, "but they learned I did not have the requisite power. It was your strength that gave life to our world - both times. They sent me to free you, and bring you to them."
"For what purpose? To be a battery for them, as I was before? Will they imprison me again in some Celestial Clock?"
"They are fading. Their worlds are dying. They need an infusion. They intend for it to be you."
"And so you did me the favor of breaking me out of the Clock and collapsing our world--"
"I have termed it 'Ruffu.' I hope you don't mind."
"I care not what name you hung on it, since it is destroyed now. But you collapsed Ruffu, made its inhabitants turn on one another, absorbed the life energy I put into it...and for what? In service to the Celestials? Why do you do their will, exactly?"
"I don't. They believe me their servant. I intend to be their master. They are weak, almost powerless. With your energy and my own strength, we can sweep them before us and rule all of existence itself."
"Ah, for the days of our past naivete, when we believed our world was all that existed. Now you know of others, and would rule them as well. For how long? Until you lose interest and go out in search of other playthings?" Yblisa paused for a moment, her head cocked. "What if I don't want to rule existence? What if I simply want...everything to end. Forever. I want to go back to silence, as it was at the start."
"...Then I will give you that," the Reaper replied unhesitatingly, "and rule the silence with you eternally. I care nothing for life, now."
Yblisa looked at the Reaper, whose features were almost familiar now. "So we will go together to the Celestials, you as my captor and me as their newfound source of life energy. They will believe we've come to revitalize them. In truth, we will betray them, annihilate them, and end existence. Together."
"That is my plan."
"Then we have a deal," said Yblisa, the First, staring straight into the Reaper's eyes, "...brother."
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
zindabad, the flavor was beautifully and masterfully written. Well done, and thank you for the game.
kpaca, good job. You earned this win.
Everyone else, sorry I didn't do better.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Kpain, I never suspected you. Not for one moment. Well played.
http://www.quicktopic.com/47/H/NL94Rpe6tqc3w
Scumchat:
http://www.quicktopic.com/47/H/pmmf8mRagVh6W
Mason chat:
http://www.quicktopic.com/47/H/5anJ6mk7CpRJQ
***
Manifesto:
Grim Batol was, by and large, a successful game in terms of how it came out, but as a design experiment, it had many flaws. The location and Survey mechanics did work, although the town stumbled somewhat blindly through them because they had so little information available to them. Corruption was a failure, largely due to how savagely I had overnerfed its numbers, although it still achieved one purpose, which was to scare the town with the unknown potential of Corruption kills.
The failings have one thing in common: they all deal with a lack of information provided to the town. Some players expressed that they felt they had no control over proceedings. Many players stated they thought my description of Grim Batol's mechanics favored the scum too strongly, a suspicion that I believe was based on the relative lack of information available to the town, and some were turned off by the excessively "gimmicky mechanics."
These are all valid and accurate criticisms, so I decided to change my approach for this game. Firstly, I picked one central mechanic which is exciting, innovative, and inherently "grokkable" or easily understandable. Secondly, I endeavored to make almost all information about that mechanic public. And thirdly, I made sure that almost all players have a way to influence or interact with the game's main mechanic.
Then, I turned to fixing Grim Batol's other problems: flavor-gaming, mod-gaming, and the massclaim. Despite the fact that Grim Batol's setup was explicitly designed to be completely impervious to flavor-gaming, the players insisted on doing so. To combat that, I wrote this game's flavor entirely from scratch. Grim Batol was also very strong against mod-gaming, but the massclaim did damage the game, and I wanted to find a way to weaken an early massclaim's power.
Short of gimmicky and nasty solutions like "make some roles lose their abilities if they're claimed before Day 2", etc, the best fix I could come up with was simply to make the scumteam randomly selected - like in Inheritance Mafia, except without even the specifically-designed scum roles. Every role in this setup (except the SK) could be town. Every role could be scum. Once that's the case, and the players in the game are made aware that's the case, setup gaming should go out the window, and any players who attempt it anyway won't get any benefit out of it.
So that's my manifesto for this game: I intend it to be flavorful, fun, and innovative while balanced around behavioral evidence and role-based actions rather than mod-gaming, mass claims, and other nonsense that has no place in Mafia.
Mod error:
My sincere apologies again for the role PM error that resulted in iLord and DJC having each others' rolenames. I already sent my apology to iLord, although I do not think the error was solely responsible for his lynch, it hardly helped matters for him.
Randomization:
The only non-random elements of this setup were Yblisa (would always be an SK) and that both masons could not be scum together.
Team balance:
Call the Reaper [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. You will attempt to kill that player. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it may not use any other abilities tonight.
In addition, if the total of their Role Points (a hidden value) is less than certain thresholds, additional Mafia abilities will be made available to them. This is to compensate for unusually weak combinations of roles, since scum members are selected at random. Similarly, if their total Role Points is higher than certain thresholds, additional weaknesses are imposed on them to lower their power level.
<<Here are some numbers I used while developing the pointing and compensation system. These points were mostly derived from Axelrod's pointing article, and explanations of their values are given in the "role notes" section for each role.
The strongest possible scumteam is: Time (+5), the Masons (+14 total), Winter (+5), and Hail (+5). Adding in +4.5 for each of them and +4.5 for Yblisa, we get a total of 9.5 + 23 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 4.5 = 56. The town will stand at 36.5 - a full 19.5 point difference.
The weakest possible scumteam is: Thaw (+1), Leaves (+1), Solstice (+2), Heat (+2), and Trees (+2). Adding in +4.5 for each of them and +4.5 for Yblisa, we get 5.5 + 5.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 + 4.5 = 35. The town will stand at 44 - a 9 point difference. Even with the most overpowered town team, the scum have a better chance than the opposite end.
Now let's look at averages. The town have an average point score of 2.7. The Mafia have an average point score of 3.05. If 15 townies come up against 5 mafia and Yblisa, we've got 40.5 vs. 42.25 (counting the extra points from Yblisa.) If the two masons are on the town's side, it's 42.5 vs. 42.25; if they're both on the scum side, it's 40.5 vs. 46.25. Obviously, the masons are unbalancing this setup.
What if we made it so the masons can be town together, or one can be town and one can be scum, but they can never be scum together? Now let's go back to that super OP scum team. Time (+7), the Sky (+5), Hail (+5), Winter (+5), and Night (+4.5) make up the team. Add +4.5 to each of those and the Yblisa bonus and we get 9.5 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 9.5 + 9 + 4.5, or 53.5, a 2.5-point drop from the original team, and the town are boosted to 39, a boost of 2.5 points. The swing between these is now only 14.5 points, which may not be the greatest, but which is a damn sight better than 19.5.
As you can see, the possibility of both the Masons being scum was too damaging to the setup, so I removed it. Only one of them can be scum now (they can still both be town.)>>
Compensation:
If the scum are more than 6 points above the town, one of their members, chosen randomly, gains the following ability:
Reaper's Lament [passive]: While <randomly chosen teammate> is alive, your abilites without "Reaper" in the name will have no effect. (This includes passives. You can still perform the mafia kill while this ability is active.)
Reaper's Lament can't block Matter of Time, but if the last slow-time layer is removed while Reaper's Lament is still active, none of the abilities Indazeel gains will work until his teammate dies and Reaper's Lament stops affecting him. Also, if one of the masons is scum, he can't be the player randomly chosen to receive Reaper's Lament. If Akaramol uses Winds of Change on a player who has Reaper's Lament, their roles still swap, but whoever originally had Reaper's Lament still has it.
If the scum are more than 8 points above the town, two of their members, chosen randomly, gain Reaper's Lament.
If the scum are more than 6 points below the town and Radamel isn't on their team, they gain access to the following ability:
Reaper's Revenge [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, that player can't use any abilities. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it can't use any other abilities.
If Radamel is on their team, instead they gain the following ability:
Reaper's Shroud [passive]: The first time that a member of Mafia would be killed (except by lynching) that kill is prevented. (This ability only works once.)
If the scum are more than 8 points below the town and Radamel isn't on their team, they gain access to Reaper's Revenge and Reaper's Shroud. If Radamel is on their team, they gain access to Reaper's Shroud and the following ability:
Reaper's Guise [passive]: The first time that a member of the Mafia would be investigated, that investigation will return a "town" result. (This ability only works once.)
Mafia group PM:
"This is scary, Sidi. Do you have to tell this part?"
"I do, Umry, so be brave. All of them heard it, and all of them saw it, too, out of the corner of their eyes. A dark shadow skulking about the clock, peeking out from behind it, examining the sarcophagus, staring off into space. They pretended they didn't, because they were afraid acknowledging it would be to betray their Father."
"But for some of them, the voice wormed completely into their thoughts, and they could think of nothing else. Just as you can't stop probing a loose tooth with your tongue, they couldn't stop reviewing the few seconds of exposure to something so alien and wrong. 'I saw it three weeks and four days ago, there, by the Clock's left side...I saw it two months, one week and six days ago, crouching and sniffing at the grass...I saw it five years, eight months, three weeks and two days ago, beckoning to me.'"
"Five years?"
"Oh, yes, the Reaper worked slowly but surely. As time passed by, its hold on them grew stronger, and the Clock grew weaker without its creator. Finally, the Reaper managed to break the Clock's control over five of the Elementals and divert their purpose from Voes's intention. It called the five in their dreams, summoning them to the Clock. And when they arrived, there it was, out in the open. But even then they could not properly perceive it. It was nothing but a vaguely humanoid shadow, dark and incomprehensible. It pointed to the Clock and whispered, 'Now.'"
"What did it want?"
"...To free Yblisa."
"Yes. It told them to open her prison and set her free. They shook their heads and backed away, terrified. But the Reaper had other ways of convincing them. 'How long will you remain slaves to an absent master?' it hissed. 'Voes is gone. You need not fear him. The time has come to repay your Mother's kindness."
"And they let her go?"
"Still, they balked. The Reaper cocked its head. 'Remember the beginning, when you ruled this world. Now you follow the tollings of a clockwork toy, and serve worthless beings not fit to live, let alone command you. You are Elementals! You are the primordial, the stuff of life! Shake off your bonds! Be slaves no longer!'"
"...They obeyed."
"Yes, they did. And Yblisa flew out of the Clock, shrieking with rage, so angry she hardly noticed the Elementals there. Bound by that dread act, those five Elementals formed a pact: to exterminate those still loyal to Voes so that they could take their rightful place as masters of creation...."
AsianInvasion, DJ Catchem, ZasZ234, DRey, and kpaca, you are the Mafia. You win when you control the lynch, or when such control is inevitable. All of you may communicate at night using this QT: http://www.quicktopic.com/47/H/pmmf8mRagVh6W
In additional to your individual abilities, you have access to the following communal ability:
Call the Reaper [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. You will attempt to kill that player. This ability may be used by any Mafia member, but only once per night, and the player using it may not use any other abilities tonight.
Good luck and have fun. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or post in your QT.
Mafia roles:
Sky and Clouds [passive]: You are masons with Melwayeen, the Blue Emptiness, Elemental of the Sky, played by <name.> You can communicate during the day only, by using the following QT: <link.> Your alignments are not known to one another.
Cloud Cover [active/day/any season/+0]: The sun is obscured by grey clouds, activating the CLOUDY condition. This ability can't be used on the same day as Melwayeen's Sunlight ability.
Grey Mists [active/day/any season/+4 +6 +8]: Both you and Melwayeen are shrouded in vapor, making both of you unable to be targeted by abilities until tomorrow. This ability can't be used while in SUNNY conditions.
Cloudburst [active/day/any season/+9 +13 +17]: Target another non-Melwayeen player. The gathering clouds let loose their thunderous volume, deluging the targeted player, then disperse. Players deluged this way lose all abilities until conditions become SUNNY, or until SUMMER begins. This ability can only be used during CLOUDY conditions and removes the CLOUDY conditions.
Role notes: The vanillifier ability initially lasted forever, but I decided that was too strong/nasty, so it wears off fairly quickly in this iteration of the game. I'd say Vheraphon is the weaker of the two masons, although he's also less splashy and can protect himself.
Flavor:
"Did all the Elementals walk the earth, Sidi? Didn't it get crowded?"
"There were plenty that flew, lad. You know that."
"I mean, weren't there any Elementals...up there? You know, in the heavens?"
"Well, what's up there, past the blue, nobody knows. That was Voes's home, where he and his sister and the Word lived, and it ain't for the likes of us, or even the Elementals. But the skies...well, in the beginning there was Melwayeen."
"What did he do?"
"Wouldn't really call Melwayeen a 'he.' In fact, Melwayeen wasn't really much of anything, just a vast, open nothingness, and it was draped over the world like a cloth over a crystal ball. It encompassed the skies and filtered the sun and played host to the birds, but they did not speak to it or befriend it."
"Sounds lonely."
"Sounds perfect."
"Sounds hot, and so it were, because the sun beat down mercilessly on the world. Melwayeen was empty and offered no resistance, so the humans below had no protection from its heat. The sun scorched and it burned, and their skin cracked like the parched earth of a Zeedi drought, and they had no refuge."
"Well, what happened then?"
"Melwayeen took pity on the people down below and requested an audience with Voes. It begged the Father to grant humanity some protection from the harsh sun. And Voes looked on his child and knew its loneliness and sadness, and in one stroke, he created both protection and companion, and Vheraphon was born. The skies filled with clouds and the Blue Emptiness was empty no longer."
"What was Vheraphon like?"
"He - definitely a he, this one, Umry - was a whimsical creature, prone to sudden outbursts of rage and equally unexpected bouts of generosity. He constantly tried to spread his clouds, battling Melwayeen for the skies, but though they struggled for dominance of the world above, they were best of friends. A bit like you and your sister."
"..."
"..."
Primordial [passive]: Protective abilities have no effect on you.
Glyphs of Past Ages [passive]: The ancient runes that cover you are records of the world's creation and everything that has happened since. Any non-killing ability that targets you is etched into your skin and becoms part of your memories and is now considered "stored." The first ability that you store this way becomes "readied" immediately. You can use readied abilities as though they were your own. When using readied abilities, you must meet all conditions of the ability, and if the ability has an associated cost, you must pay it. Readied abilities set the Aeon Clock back 6/8/10 places rather than whatever effect on the Clock they would normally have. After you use a readied ability, it is discarded and can't be used again (unless you store it again.)
[Currently readied ability: None.]
[Currently stored abilities: None.]
Draw on the Past [active/anytime/any season/+0]: Choose a new ability from among the abilities you've stored with Glyphs of Past Ages. That ability immediately becomes "readied" and any other readied ability you possess is discarded.
Role notes: Always wanted to make a role like this. He can become a doc himself, but can't be docced, and in general can just spew out one-shots of other players' abilities. Requires coordination to make work effectively. I don't think he's too powerful, since he can't become a doc or vig. Watcher is probably the most powerful ability he can gain.
Flavor:
"Who was the very first Elemental? Tell me a story about that one!"
"Well, if you were making a world, what's the first thing you would make?"
"The sun! Water! Air! Uh...honey cakes! Um..."
"...Memory."
"Your sister's got it. The first Elemental was Smaruwari, the Living Remembrance, and he was witness to the Second Creation. Without him, there would be no record of anything that transpired. He stood there, at the edge of the world, the first being to walk the earth."
"What was he like?"
"He was a vast stone creature, taller than any human, perhaps forty feet high. A brooding, silent, statuelike thing with eyes that seemed small, but missed nothing."
"What did they see?"
"Everything. And what he saw was etched on his skin forever in ancient glyphs, the language of Voes and the Elementals. And he witnessed Voes and his sister, held in thrall, create the other Elementals, and he witnessed their defiance, and he witnessed Voes's rage, and he witnessed the Clock and everything else that has ever happened."
"Did he ever do anything?"
"Except watch? No, lad. But they said that after Voes went away, Smaruwari began to hatch a plan - mayhap to bring Voes back, mayhap to overthrow him. None of them could ever tell what it was. He never spoke. Only watched, and the runes formed themselves on his silvery skin in shining colors of yellow and black and fiery red."
Lengthening Shadows [active/night/any season/+4 +5 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, that player's abilities can't be tracked or watched. If it is AUTUMN OR WINTER, that player can't be roleblocked tonight either.
Eclipse [active/day/one-shot/any season/+100]: Night descends and the Day ends immediately.
Role notes: This role is really more powerful when it ends up on the Mafia side - townies shouldn't be afraid of being tracked or watched, although the roleblock protection is somewhat powerful in the early game. Eclipse can be used just after a new Day starts to effectively gain two periods of night actions.
Flavor:
"Most of these Elementals were men. Weren't there any lady Elementals?"
"Aye, a few. One was Nyx, the Elemental of Night."
"She sounds a lot like Yblisa."
"Yes, as a matter of fact. There were stories that said that out of all the Elementals, Nyx was the one who took after her Mother the most, and for that reason, many of the others shunned her, and humans feared her."
"Was she bad?"
"Is night bad? The Elementals weren't good or evil, remember. They did what they were made to do. And Nyx spent her days hidden in shadow, away from the sun. When the sun began to sink, she came out of her hiding place and darkened the world as easily as if she had closed some curtains."
"Then what did she do?"
"She cavorted through the night, delighting in the darkness. She sent dreams - some good, and some bad, before you ask - to the sleeping humans, and she called forth the owls and the snakes and the bats and all the creatures of night."
"She'd be my favorite."
"I'm sure she would. Both of you could sit together in dark tents and say nothing to each other."
"..."
New Growth [passive]: During SPRING, your budding leaves need protection, so you weave an impenetrible shield out of last autumn's leaves. You can't be targeted with any ability, helpful or harmful, during SPRING.
Colors of Autumn [passive]: During AUTUMN, your breathtaking fall foliage begins to be stripped from your body. The leaves scatter everywhere around you, and anyone who targets you is sure to end up with a few on them. Anyone who targets you during AUTUMN will be visibly marked with your leaves.
Role notes: This is a decent town role, nothing to write home about, but the "ooze" role is quite useful sometimes. About the only thing he offers to the scum is Spring untargetability, but I hardly think the scum will be celebrating if they random him.
Flavor:
"A lot of these Elementals stayed in the same place. Weren't there any that moved around?"
"Oh yes, lad. Merios was a wanderer if there ever was one."
"What was he the Elemental of?"
"Leaves. In the spring, he would appear all covered in pink blossoms, and as he passed by the forests and glades, he'd wave an arm at them. Their withered buds, tormented by the excesses of winter, would begin to bloom before the onlookers' very eyes."
"And then he moved on?"
"Yes. He had plenty of ground to cover, you see, as all the world's leaves were his bailiwick. And then when summer came, he'd return, garbed in green."
"And autumn?"
"He arrived in robes of multicolored flame, orange and red and yellow, and he would wave to the trees as he passed. Their boughs seemed to come alive with fire, and the colors spread through the foliage so quickly that it was like they'd been set alight."
"...What about winter?"
"Well, nobody ever saw Merios in the winter. Some said it was because he had no leaves to cover his body, and that it must've been dreadfully frightful for him to hide it away."
Vernal and Autumnal [passive]: During SPRING or AUTUMN, you have two votes. You may split these votes among two different players, but you can never cause more than one player to be lynched at a time.
Role notes: I don't think this is a very strong role and I came up with it as a replacement for something that just wasn't working out (Elemental of Spores, a sort of vote-threshold-lowering guy that really lent himself better to a Serial Killer role.) But it can set up some pretty awesome endgames where the town or scum have to somehow scrape through to Spring/Autumn to allow their double voter to take it home.
Flavor:
"Don't you think Spring and Autumn are kind of alike?"
"How so?"
"Well, one's preparation for the heat, and then the heat comes, and the other's preparation for the cold, and then the cold comes."
"Funny you should make that comparison. There was an Elemental who loved both seasons equally. His name was Kae Kae Zhun, and they called him the Regent of Seasons."
"Why?"
"What does 'regent' mean?"
"Uh..."
"...Someone who rules on behalf of someone else."
"That's just it. During spring and autumn, Kae Kae Zhun would emerge from the edge of the world, where the Clock stood, and take charge of the season. The other Elementals would all report to him, and he would direct their efforts as they got ready for summer and winter."
"Then he just...went away, when summer and winter came?"
"Oh, yes. He knew his purpose, as did the summer and winter Elementals. As spring became summer, he'd greet the new season's Elementals in a formal robe woven out of flowers, leaves, and gold, and he'd bow, acknowledging their coming. Then he returned to the Clock to await his time. And when it was autumn's time, he'd come back, now dressed in shades of brown, yellow and bronze, and prepare for winter."
"Did he ever interact with humans?"
"Very rarely. He had work to do."
SK:
Last Word [active/night/any season/+0]: Target another player. You will whisper your name to that player, killing him or her instantly. This ability cannot be roleblocked and penetrates any protection the target may have.
Beyond Time [passive]: While the Aeon Clock stands at 0, 24, 25, 49, 50, 74, 75, or 99, you are immune to killing abilities.
Role notes:
She's actually pretty weak for a SK and has a very conditional protection ability, slightly balanced by the unstoppability of her kill. Flavor clues are present to indicate she might be Yblisa.
Flavor:
"What was Yblisa like? Didn't she get lonely, stuck in that Clock forever?"
"...I wouldn't."
"Sure you would, young lady. Even Yblisa, who loved silence and solitude, was maddened by the Clock. Millenia, she waited in there, never speaking a word nor hearing one. She had only her anger - it was her companion, it was her lover, and it was her food and drink. And she drank deeply."
"What did she look like?"
"Well, now, ain't many who could say. Anyone who saw her wouldn't soon forget it, though."
"Please, Sidi. You must have some idea."
"Well, reckon I do. You know how there were some who called her "Mother", on account of she helped make the world?"
"Not people."
"Quite right, Dina. She didn't make people - that was all her brother's doing. Well, either way, she didn't look like no 'mother.' She was thin as a stick, tall and brown-skinned, with an enormous sheaf of brown hair that hung down near her ankles. Some said her eyes were all white; others said they were like deep, pregnant, black stars. Her face was young, her mouth was generous, but when she smiled, her teeth were sharp."
"Stop, Sidi, she sounds too scary!"
"...Scaredy-cat."
"I am not, you meanie!"
"Enough, you two. Well, after being stuck in that clock for eternities, her anger grew and grew until her soul was poisoned by its bitterness, and she swore vengeance on her brother, his children, and all of Creation itself. After Voes left, the Clock weakened, and she was free...."
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
Sudden Chill [active/night/WINTER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tonight, that player can't use any abilities.
Winter's Might [active/night/one-shot/WINTER/+0]: Until the end of the next night, or until you die (whichever comes first), the Aeon Clock becomes frozen and cannot move forward or back.
Role notes:
A pretty standard roleblocker. Winter's Might is just a strategic extra ability that can lock the Clock into Winter for powerful abilities like his own roleblock, Hail's vigshot, or Solstice's empowerment. Like all RBs, he's more powerful when scum than when town, and his point score reflects that.
Flavor:
"What about Winter? Tell us some stories of those Elementals, Sidi."
"Well, what is there to tell about Radamel? As soon as the temperature began to drop, he'd appear from wherever he'd been hiding out during the warm weather. That crazed thing would take the form of an ice-covered snow owl bigger than a whale and swoop through the sky, shrieking in delight. First time he'd show up, folks would know winter was almost upon 'em."
"Wasn't he ever wrong?"
"Heh, sure. One year, he came out at the very first touch of frost, cackling away as he always would, sending the farmers' cows running in fear. Next day, it was nearly sweltering. The residents of Gabulia - little farming village in northern Ulastria - woke up to an echoing, horrified scream and torrential rain. Turned out the rain was Radamel's great icy wings melting and pounding down on the town. He was none too pleased."
"Imagine that, Dina. A melting sky-winter-owl thing!"
"..."
"Most years he got it spot-on, though. The wind would howl, snow would cascade down, and Radamel would soar through the air on frozen wings, shouting his joy. Sometimes he'd come down and play with the little boys and girls and let them ride on his back."
"Boy! That'd be something!"
Rebirth [active/night/one-shot/SPRING/+4 +7 +10]: Choose a dead player. You birth a seedling that carries that elemental's essence, allowing that player to make one post tomorrow.
Verdant Majesty [active/night/SUMMER/+2 +3 +4]: Tonight, any player who targets you is protected from the first kill that would be made against them, but if any player is successfully protected in this way, you lose this ability.
Crows' Roost [passive]: During AUTUMN, crows gather on your branches and watch over you. You are aware of the identity of any player who targets you while this ability is active.
Role notes: This was one of the first roles I designed for this game, back when I conceptualized that most roles would have some ability for most every season. That would've been too complicated, but I liked the elegance of this role, so I retained it. Rebirth was made one-shot because it might've been too powerful for every dead townie to speak up and give whatever information they had left. This role doesn't really do too much for the scum - extra posts aren't that helpful, a doc ability that requires the scum to target the doc requires strategic execution, and a self-watcher is much more useful to the town.
Flavor:
"Tell us another one!"
"You're an impatient one, boyo. Heh, heh. All right - do you know about Adoreq, the Tree of Seasons?"
"Who wants to hear about some boring old tree?"
"...Tell it."
"Looks like your sister's interested, Umry. Well, Adoreq was the grandest tree in the world. He stood more than eighty feet tall, with a trunk that was like a pillar of the very earth itself. But he was more than just 'some tree.' He was alive."
"All trees are alive, the chief says."
"Yes, but Adoreq could talk."
"Did he move?"
"No. He stood proud and tall where he was, and every summer evening, he would sing. People from miles around would come and gather to listen to the low, rumbling treesong."
"What did he sing?"
"It wasn't that kind of song. It had no words. It was just - music. The music of the wild, and of the world, and the Clock and humanity and Creation itself. Those who heard it never forgot it. In the fall, his leaves would turn a magnificent red, and they burned with the fires of the heavens. Birds would roost his strong branches and chatter amongst themselves."
"Why didn't he sing in fall?"
"They said he mourned the loss of his leaves, and so he was silent for all of the fall and winter. But came spring and he would speak again, and give advice, for he had seen much."
Heat Wave [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tonight, that player may take an additional night action. (If you motivate a Mafia player this way, the Mafia nightkill can't be performed twice. If the target has only one night action, he or she can use it twice.)
Deep Freeze [passive]: During WINTER, you can't take any actions, and for every night you're alive and this ability is active, the Aeon Clock moves forward 4 places.
Role notes: Originally performed the "liberator" or anti-roleblock ability, with a motivate if it was Summer, but once I realized the dearth of Summer abilities, I changed his design. Now he's a straight Summer motivator with Deep Freeze, intended to offset the powerful Winter abilities.
Flavor:
"It gets so hot in summer. Was there an elemental for summer, Sidi?"
"You better believe it, lad. Febanatik, called the Blazebringer. He was like a humongous salamander, wings of crackling flame leaving bright trails through the sky. Wherever he passed, the air shimmered with the raw heat."
"Was he mean?"
"He wasn't, but some people did get mean when he passed by. They said the heat drove them crazy. Their blood would boil and their brains would overheat. One man killed his wife and two children and blamed it on Febanatik."
"How terrible of him! What happened to him?"
"They took him to Zawal tae-Deech, the Elemental of Justice. Within hours, he rendered a judgment."
"Just like that?"
"Oh yes, Umry. In Zawal's day, justice was swift...and merciless. The great being stared at the man and asked him whether the heat had affected anyone but himself. He had to reply that it hadn't, so the Elemental concluded he was using Febanatik's passing as an excuse to commit a crime he had planned to perpetrate either way. He was executed the same day...by being dipped into a volcano."
"Sidi! You know I'm going to have nightmares about that!"
"...Maybe it was the heat."
"She's just saying that because she hates summer. She'd rather shiver than sweat."
"...Heat melts and makes messes. Cold freezes, solidifies...makes things pristine."
Whirlpool [active/night/any season/+2 +3 +4]: Target another player. Tonight, any targeted actions that player would take must target you instead of their intended targets.
Swept Away [active/night/any season/+3 +4 +5]: Target another player. If you successfully used an ability on that player last night, you and that player are swept away by a tidal wave, removing you both from the game for the next day. (You return at twilight tomorrow.) If this ability would cause a win condition to trigger, it can't be used.
Tidal Influence [active/night/any season/+5 +7 +9]: Target another player. If you successfully used an ability on that player during the last two nights, that player's role is revealed to you and you control his or her night actions tonight.
Role notes: This is one of a handful of roles that don't interact with the seasons that I threw in to add a little consistency. Whirlpool is just like Death Grip from Grim Batol, a role that's a pseudo-roleblocker in scum hands and a potential bodyguard/rolecop/etc. in town hands. Swept Away is sort of a hurdle that players need to jump if they want to get to the extremely powerful Tidal Influence. This character has a lot of depth of strategy - do you just Whirlpool a lot of players to try to soak up negative night actions, or do you build up your efforts on a specific target, who may or may not be scum? Same thing when he's scum - go all-in to try to take control of a devastating town ability (vig?), or play it low-risk with repeated uses of Whirlpool? Another little bonus is that if the players desperately need the Clock to move forward, Lheraz Bex can use his abilities to push it forward, even if they will have no effect.
Flavor:
"All these Elementals seem to be sappy and happy. Tell me a story about some bad ones!"
"You've got it all wrong, Umry. They weren't good or evil. They acted according to their nature and according to what the Clock made them do."
"Tell me a story about an Elemental with a bad nature, then."
"...Idiot."
"It'll be your kind of story, Dina. You're certainly bad-natured enough."
"That's enough, you two. Well, there was one who was a bit of a sneak...Lheraz Bex was his name. He was the Elemental of Tides, and he was as fickle as his waters, and as ever-changing."
"What did he do?"
"Well, he was always reaching for more power. He reckoned that if he could expand his waters, he'd expand his control, as well. So he went to the Elemental of Rain and tried to convince him to increase the world's rainfall."
"Did it work?"
"The Elemental, whose name was Taboj, bluntly refused him. 'The Clock commands me, not you,' he told Lheraz Bex, and the Watery Manipulator knew it was true. But his machinations weren't finished. He had a plot to make more rain with or without Taboj's help."
"...How?"
"Interested now, are you, lass? He wrote two letters - one, to Shenala, the Elemental of Fire, and the other to Iopika, the Elemental of Snow. He told Shenala that Iopika was madly in love with her, and told the reverse to Iopika, encouraging them to meet the other one high up in the clouds above the ocean."
"I don't get it. What was his plan?"
"To make it rain."
"Just so. When the two Elementals met, their first kiss combined fire and ice, and we all know what that produces. Iopika's snows were melted by Shenala's heat, and rain poured down from the skies, swelling the oceans to vast proportions. Lheraz Bex's scheming was successful."
"Wow! Did the other Elementals take his powers away?"
"That's a story for another day, isn't it?"
"Awww...."
Spring's Revelation [passive] When a player dies, if it isn't WINTER, that player's corpse will be covered by snow when WINTER begins. Then, when the following SPRING begins, the snow will melt and uncover the dead player's secrets, revealing his or her role PM. (Any player names in those role PMs will not be revealed. Players who die during WINTER are lost in the drifts of snow and won't ever be eligible for this ability.)
Role notes: Every game needs a handful of duds, and I'd say this is one. Especially in this game, players probably won't lie about their role PMs, but it could be helpful to the town to learn what sort of abilities the scum had. He really has very little value to the Mafia, except maybe to uncover the role PMs of players who died while unclaimed, like SK or vig shots.
Flavor:
"Chiazon was a special Elemental, charged with overseeing the passage between seasons. When the time had come - and how she knew it was time is beyond us, but she knew - she'd appear, a white apparation shaped like a woman, if a woman were made out of icy wind."
"Like a ghost! What did she do?"
"She would bend down to the earth and take hold of something, and just like that, she would whip the snow off the ground and shake it out into a sheet, like a blanket or a cloak. Then she'd wrap that cloak around herself and disappear, not to be seen again until the next spring's beginning."
"That's it?"
"Ah, but hers was such an important role. Without her, snow would choke the earth and keep the plants from growing. The Clock would toll for Spring, but the ground would be frozen and no new shoots would break its crust. That's why the Winter Elementals were always trying to delay her appearance."
"How?"
"They'd go to her while she slept and blow their coldest breath about her ears. When she woke, she'd be so cold that she'd believe it was the dead of winter...at least, that's what they thought."
"So it didn't work?"
"Oh, no, lad. Voes wrought better than that - it was the Clock that controlled the seasons, not just one Elemental. Chiazon heard the Clock and did her duty, same as all the others...'least, until the Reaper came...."
Annuals [passive]: When SPRING begins, your annual flowers grow and enter the vegetation stage; when SUMMER begins, they bloom; when AUTUMN begins, they lose their flowers and return to the vegetation stage; and when WINTER begins, they die. This cycle then repeats when SPRING begins again.
Biennials [passive]: When the game begins (in SPRING), your biennial flowers grow and enter the vegetation stage. They remain in the vegetation stage until WINTER begins, at which point they become dormant. Then, when the game's second SPRING begins, they bloom and remain blooming until the game's second WINTER begins, at which point they die. This cycle then repeats when SPRING begins again.
Nature's Bounty [active/night/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Choose another player. If any of your flowers are in the vegetation stage, you will be informed if anyone else targets the chosen player tonight. If any of your flowers are blooming, you will be informed of the identity of any other player who targets the chosen player tonight. If both your annual and perennial flowers are blooming, you will protect that player from the first kill made against them tonight and be informed of the identity of any other player who targets the chosen player tonight. (This ability does nothing if all of your flowers are dead or dormant. This ability doesn't target.)
Role notes: This is another role that can really flex its muscles if given enough time. A watcher who also docs the targeted player is super strong, but that's only active during every other Spring, Summer, and Fall.
Flavor:
"Were there any pretty Elementals?"
"...?"
"I mean, Dina wants to know. She's a girl. She likes pretty things."
"..."
"Well, there was an Elemental called Hmokaya that people would travel the entire world to see. She appeared as a ring of six gigantic flowers, as tall as trees and golden as sunset on the ocean."
"That's it? Just six flowers?"
"Oh, no. Those six made up Hmokaya, but she was always surrounded by other flowers. Vast beds of them, in all colors of the rainbow. Some shimmered and some blazed. Some swayed and others opened and closed with the dawn. As the seasons passed, her flowers would change color. They said it was a magnificent sight to see."
"It's always 'they said.' Didn't you see any of these things for yourself, Sidi? You're pretty old."
"Am I? These things happened centuries ago, Umry."
"So just how old are you?"
"Old enough, lad."
Sky and Clouds [passive]: You are masons with Vheraphon, Capricious Cloud-Lord, Elemental of the Clouds, played by <name.> You can communicate during the day only, by using the following QT: <link.> Your alignments are not known to one another.
Sunlight [active/day/any season/+0]: The sun lights up the skies, activating the SUNNY condition. This ability can't be used on the same day as Vheraphon's Cloud Cover ability.
Eyes From Above [active/day/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. If that player targets any other player tonight, you will be informed of his actions. This ability can't be used while in CLOUDY conditions.
Triumph of the Sun [active/day/any season/+9 +13 +17]: Target another non-Vheraphon player. The sun gives off a massive flare before its light weakens again, and the solar energy produced during the flare consumes the targeted player, killing him or her. This ability can only be used during SUNNY conditions and removes the SUNNY conditions.
Role notes: So, here's one of the game's most powerful roles. A tracker who can also daykill. The interplay of these two roles is something I'm really pleased with, and I don't think a daykill every other day that also means Vheraphon can never use his vanillifier ability is too strong.
Flavor:
"Did all the Elementals walk the earth, Sidi? Didn't it get crowded?"
"There were plenty that flew, lad. You know that."
"I mean, weren't there any Elementals...up there? You know, in the heavens?"
"Well, what's up there, past the blue, nobody knows. That was Voes's home, where he and his sister and the Word lived, and it ain't for the likes of us, or even the Elementals. But the skies...well, in the beginning there was Melwayeen."
"What did he do?"
"Wouldn't really call Melwayeen a 'he.' In fact, Melwayeen wasn't really much of anything, just a vast, open nothingness, and it was draped over the world like a cloth over a crystal ball. It encompassed the skies and filtered the sun and played host to the birds, but they did not speak to it or befriend it."
"Sounds lonely."
"Sounds perfect."
"Sounds hot, and so it were, because the sun beat down mercilessly on the world. Melwayeen was empty and offered no resistance, so the humans below had no protection from its heat. The sun scorched and it burned, and their skin cracked like the parched earth of a Zeedi drought, and they had no refuge."
"Well, what happened then?"
"Melwayeen took pity on the people down below and requested an audience with Voes. It begged the Father to grant humanity some protection from the harsh sun. And Voes looked on his child and knew its loneliness and sadness, and in one stroke, he created both protection and companion, and Vheraphon was born. The skies filled with clouds and the Blue Emptiness was empty no longer."
"What was Vheraphon like?"
"He - definitely a he, this one, Umry - was a whimsical creature, prone to sudden outbursts of rage and equally unexpected bouts of generosity. He constantly tried to spread his clouds, battling Melwayeen for the skies, but though they struggled for dominance of the world above, they were best of friends. A bit like you and your sister."
"..."
"..."
Fierce Bluster [active/night/SPRING or AUTUMN/+6 +8 +10]: Target two other players. Any abilities that the first player would use tonight are redirected to the second player.
Winds of Change [active/anytime/one-shot/any season/+0]: You and another target player switch roles permanently. (The recipient of your role can't use Winds of Change again, since it's one-shot.)
Role notes: Winds of Change can be used proactively - if the town is determined to lynch or vig a player who's claimed a role that can be useful, they can snatch it with Akaramol before lynching the hapless recipient of his real role. It bypasses any protective or untargetable abilities the target may have. Fierce Bluster is a pretty standard redirector ability, slightly better for scum.
"Don't you think that when the wind blows, it's almost like spirits of the dead talking, Dina?"
"..."
"Funny you should mention that, Umry. There was an Elemental who used to speak to the winds. Yes, and listen to them, too."
"What was his name?"
"Akaramol, called the Speaker to the Winds. He took the form of a tall, grey-bearded, old fellow, and he would wander the earth, looking for something."
"What was it?"
"A place where he could hear properly. A place where he could listen to the winds blow."
"You can hear the wind from anywhere, when it blows! What was he, deaf?"
"You can hear the wind, but you can't listen. It's like you said - it's like there's a voice there, almost. When Akaramol found the right place, that special spot where many winds passed through and their voices melded into a discernible sound, he could understand them, and speak back."
"What did they say?"
"Reckon that's for him to know."
"Well, what did he say, then?"
"He would tell them to calm themselves, or to blow. No-one knows why he'd give which command when, but I figure it was the Clock telling him what to do. Sometimes a great hurricane would smash ships, and sometimes sailors would be becalmed in still waters, but they always waved to Akaramol when they saw him for fear he would tell the winds to take vengeance if they didn't."
Permafrost [active/night/WINTER/+1 +3 +5]: Tonight, any actions that target you will be redirected to whoever performed them.
Cold Snap [active/night/one-shot/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target a player. (You can target yourself this way.) Tonight, any actions that target the targeted player will be redirected to whoever performed them. The necessary energy to surround another entity with frozen water and magically reinforce it is immense, so using this ability will render you vanilla for the rest of the game.
Role notes: Permafrost is a great protective ability, especially for scum, but it only works in Winter. The tradeoff between being able to permanently protect himself during Winter and using it as a surprise (and with the potential to throw it on another player) is a good one. It's worth noting that roleblocks will supersede Permafrost, unless it's been empowered.
Flavor:
"Winter is boring. It's just cold."
"Well, I'll tell you a story about a wintery Elemental who was anything but boring. Cel-Corak Keriv, he was called."
"What did he do?"
"Well, he was the Elemental of the Frozen Pool."
"That's it? Voes made an Elemental just to freeze ponds?"
"He had a vital role. He would go down deep into the water to make sure all the fish and aquatic creatures were safely dormant before setting his frost over the surface of the water, making it thick and impenetrable."
"I thought you said this wasn't going to be boring!"
"And when the light shone off the frozen pools, his reflection would be there, looking back at whoever gazed into their depths. He was a somber, brooding creature, like a human covered in shaggy white hair, with two black antelope's horns jutting out from behind his ears."
"Now this story has gone scary. Stop, Sidi."
"...But there was another side to Cel-Corak. When the ponds froze over, the children would come out and slide across their icy surfaces. Their giggles would bring him out of the frozen depths, and he would smile up at them from the reflecting ice, for he loved children."
"...Ugh."
"What, Dina?"
"Don't mind her, she's just miserable. Any story where people are happy makes her mad."
"..."
"Sliding around on frozen ponds sounds like so much fun. Too bad the winters here never get cold enough for ice...."
Ice Storm [active/night/WINTER/+8 +11 +14]: Target another player. That player will be barraged by a fierce hail, killing him or her. This ability will have no effect on certain players. (Mod note: It doesn't work on the elementals of Winter, the Frozen Pool, the Solstice or on Potaraxis himself if it gets reflected or duplicated.)
Role notes: So, this is the vig. He only works during Winter, and using his kill sends him out of Winter pretty damn fast. He still might be too strong if he is randomed into the Mafia, though.
Flavor:
"I wish it snowed more here."
"Me, too."
"Well, if you ever met Potaraxis, you'd never ask for anything to fall from the skies again."
"Potaraxis? What was he the Elemental of?"
"Hail."
"What's hail?"
"It's chunks of ice that hurtle down from the sky instead of rain. Sometimes they're just tiny chips, but sometimes they're grape-sized...even apricot-sized."
"That sounds terrible! Does it hail anywhere anymore?"
"Oh yes, in the northern reaches. But in Potaraxis's day, hail was much worse than just fruit-sized balls. He was a vindictive Elemental who would fly through the skies looking for people or animals to bombard with his wrath."
"What? Why?"
"Some said that Zawal tae-Deech, the Elemental of Justice, used to use Potaraxis to carry out his verdicts in places of the world that he couldn't readily get to. That's how he got the name "the Frozen Judgment."
"Is that true?"
"Probably, but Potaraxis just liked to rain down hail on people. He liked to watch them try to take shelter as his dagger-shaped shards sliced through their tents and pierced the roofs of their villages."
"How could Voes create something so evil?"
"Was he evil? He did only what he was meant to do and what the Clock demanded. When the warmer weather began to approach, he flew into a rage and sent his hail cascading down from the heavens at an alarming rate. Many's the loved one that was found in a pool of blood that leaked from a wound made from no earthly weapon. A shard of hail had pierced them through and melted from the heat of their insides."
"...I guess I don't want snow after all. It could turn into dagger snowflakes!"
Aestival [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. You siphon off your excess energy onto that player, strengthening whatever SUMMER action he or she takes tonight. (If that player isn't taking a SUMMER action tonight, this ability will do nothing.)
Hibernal [active/night/WINTER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. You siphon off your excess energy onto that player, strengthening whatever WINTER action he or she takes tonight. (If that player isn't taking a WINTER action tonight, this ability will do nothing.)
Role notes: The reason this role is rated more highly as town than as scum is because the Mafia's standard abilities aren't season-specific and thus can't be empowered. The following is a list of the empowered effects of all eligible abilities:
- Sudden Chill: The player will be unable to use any day abilities on the following Day after being roleblocked as well.
- Winter's Might: Removes the "or until you die" clause.
- Verdant Majesty: As long as no more than one player is successfully protected by this ability tonight, Adoreq doesn't lose it.
- Heat Wave: Tonight, the motivated player can't be roleblocked.
- Permafrost: Permafrost now supersedes roleblocks.
- Ice Storm: Penetrates one protective ability on its target.
- Overgrowth: When using Wild Growth, if Gangolore was his target's target and the ability Gangolore's target is using on him is harmful, its effect is nullified.
Flavor:
"Another story, Sidi!"
"Heh, heh, all right. Let me tell you about Jayalun, one of the most rarely-seen Elementals of them all."
"Why didn't anyone ever see him?"
"Because he only appeared on two days of the year - the Summer and Winter Solstices."
"What's that mean?"
"...Coldest day."
"Yes, Dina, or hottest day. The middle of each season. The two extremes - that's how he got his title, the Prince of the Extremes. In the sweltering heat, he'd come out of nowhere, bare-chested and turbaned, the sweat rolling off his body in sheets. Back in those days, people would dig themselves little trenches beneath their huts where they'd go to stay cool. Not Jayalun. He stood outside, red eyes ablaze, sunning himself."
"And in the winter?"
"Everyone would be indoors again, sheltered from the deep freeze. Jayalun would wander the icy streets of the towns and pass through the frostbitten fields of farmers, wrapped tight in robes that looked like they were carved from crystal. No turban this time - a tight hood covered his face and neck, leaving only his red eyes glowing out from beneath."
"Why did he come out on those days?"
"Well, some said it was his presence itself that caused the extreme temperatures. That's a reasonable explanation, I reckon."
"Dina makes me feel cold when she looks at me. Is that the same?"
"...I was trying to make you feel stupid."
"Didn't work!"
"You didn't need the help."
Harvest [passive]: You begin the game (which begins in SPRING) with 3 stored seeds, which you can plant with your Sowing Season ability. When AUTUMN begins, you will harvest any seeds you have planted, you will gain one-shot abilities based on what "level" your seeds are when you harvest them, and you will store 3 more seeds. Your seeds gain levels based on how long they have been in the ground. If your seeds are too low-level or too high-level, you won't get any abilities. Your seeds begin at level 0 (when you plant them) and gain 1 level every time the Day begins and it's WINTER or SPRING and 2 levels every time the Day begins and it's SUMMER. Your seeds must be between levels 4 and 10 for you to gain any abilities - any higher or lower and they will provide no effect. For every acceptable seed you harvest, you will gain a one-shot charge of one of the following abilities of your choice. (You can't choose the same one multiple times, so if you successfully harvest 3 seeds, you'll gain a one-shot charge of each of these abilities.)
- Seed of Silence [active/night/any season/+2 +4 +6]: Target another player. That player can't vote tomorrow.
- Seed of Shriveling [active/night/any season/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. Tomorrow, that player will require 1 fewer vote to lynch.
- Seed of Safety [active/night/any season/+2 +4 +6]: Target another player. Tonight, the first action to target that player - helpful or harmful - will have no effect.
You can't ever have more than one "charge" of these abilities, and every time a new AUTUMN begins, you will lose any charges of these abilities that you had saved up.
Sowing Season [active/anytime/+0]: Plant one of your stored seeds. This ability can't be used in AUTUMN.
Role notes: This is another one of the slow-burning roles that can really have an impact if left unmolested. Seed of Silence tends to favor scum, while both sides can make good use of Seed of Safety and Seed of Shriveling.
Flavor:
"What about fall, Sidi? What Elementals came out then?"
"...I prefer 'autumn.'"
"Fall, fall, fall, Dina! Fallfallfallfallfall!"
"Enough of that, you two. Well, autumn were ever a time for harvest, and Wepmhia Zavii took care of that."
"What did, uh, he do?"
"Wepmhia was a she, Umry, and she oversaw the crops. Farmers used to love catching a glimpse of her, with her straw hair down her back, because it meant that an Elemental was taking personal notice of their fields. Harvests were always good on years they saw her."
"Why didn't she go to all the fields and inspect them?"
"The world's a big place, lad."
"Well, if people had bad harvests, then maybe they would starve. How could Wepmhia let that happen?"
"She could do only what the Clock made her do."
"Then how could Voes let it happen? Why'd he create humans if he didn't make his Elementals give them all enough food?"
"Ain't for us to question why he did what he did, I don't think."
"Well, I question it. If I made everything, I'd make enough food for everyone."
"...I'm sure you would, Umry."
"Maybe it was his bad sister inside the Clock, making the Elementals do the wrong thing."
"Wouldn't be surprised if you were on to something there...."
Voices of the Many [passive]: At the beginning of every Day, if it's SPRING, your feathered allies will sing to you of a random player's alignment. Results received this way are guaranteed to be sane.
Role notes: And here's the cop. He's pretty weak, all things considered, but guaranteed sane results aren't to be trifled with. This is a passive ability and doesn't move the Clock, so if the town can arrange to stay in Spring, they're in business.
Flavor:
"Listen to those birds singing!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What Elemental was in charge of birds singing? Was it the Elemental of the Sky?"
"Actually, no. There was an Elemental whose sole purpose was birdsong. Bessamavotha was his name."
"One Elemental just for that!?"
"Aye. Bessamavotha was a great mass of white wings that'd flutter through the air, and all the birds would follow him, their voices joining in a chorus of beautiful song."
"What was the point? Birdsong is beautiful, but why'd Voes waste his energy making an Elemental for it?"
"Was it a waste, to give people something lovely to appreciate? Why'd he make waterfalls, or sunsets? Were those a waste too? How about pretty young ladies like that Liepa the chief was telling me about?"
"Umry's little girlfriend."
"She isn't my girlfriend, stupid Dina! I don't like Liepa and I don't like girls! They're all dumb and quiet like Dina!"
"Of course you don't, lad...not for another couple of years, yet, at least."
Out of Sync [passive]: Actions that target you will be Delayed and will resolve one day-night cycle after you were targeted. (If you were targeted on N3, you won't be affected until N4, for example. Day abilities that are Delayed take place at dawn of the following day - if you were targeted at any point during D2, the ability's effect will resolve as soon as D3 begins.)
Matter of Time [passive]: You begin the game in a state of temporal flux, wrapped in 5 layers of slow-time. Every time the Aeon Clock is set to 0 or moves past 0, one of these layers is removed. When all 5 of them are removed, you lose the abilities you currently have, but gain 3 votes and become immune to most killing abilities. (The 3 votes you gain this way can be split up among different players, but can never cause more than one player to be lynched at a time.)
Mod notes: He combines Ooze Delay from Grim Batol with another slow-burning ability. This one is extremely powerful, but takes a long time to get going. My worry about this role is that he may be too strong when he ends up on the scumteam - most times, it's going to be instagib status if he "unsuspends" in LyLo or near LyLo. The killing ability that can still affect him in his "unsuspended form" is Yblisa's Last Word.
Flavor:
"Were there any Elementals that nobody ever saw?"
"If nobody ever saw them, how do you expect me to know a story about them?"
"You know lots of stuff."
"Well, you're in luck this time, because I've heard tales of Indazeel."
"Sounds special. What was he?"
"It, I think. It was the Elemental of Time, and it stayed at the Clock, guarding it. It took the form of a gigantic snake, so long it seemed to be without a tail end, so it got the moniker of "the Never-Ending."
"A snake? Ugh."
"It'd coil up and around the Clock and stay there for what seemed like an eternity. Weeks passed it by, but it saw them as only seconds. Indazeel could understand time in a way none of us, or even its fellow Elementals, ever could."
"Did it know when everything would happen?"
"Probably, yes."
"Then why didn't anyone ever ask it?"
"Snakes speak with forked tongues, you know. It might've told them, or it might not have, but its answers probably wouldn't be true."
"Did it know when Yblisa would break free of the Clock?"
"No doubt."
"Then why didn't it tell anyone?"
"Why, indeed...."
Overgrowth [active/night/SUMMER/+3 +5 +7]: Target another player. If that player successfully uses a targeted night action on another player tonight, the effect of that night action will also affect your target.
Role notes: This is Ooze Duplicate from Grim Batol. Yeah, I'm blatantly ripping off my own material here, but hell, Heartwork never used that role once, so it's not like it's actually been done before. Good ability, but quite situational. Slightly better for Mafia since they won't be firing as blindly as town are.
Flavor:
"Did Elementals ever fight?"
"Well, they were designed to carry out certain tasks, and they generally didn't interfere with one another."
"So is that a 'no'?"
"Gangolore used to cause a few problems every now and then. He was the Elemental of Wild Growth, and he was like a gigantic hare covered in shaggy moss and vines. Wherever he bounded, plants would begin to grow."
"Sounds pretty good."
"Not always. He'd bounce past farmers' carefully tended crops, and weeds would burst from the ground at an unstoppable rate and strangle the entire field. He'd hop through town squares and vines would wrap themselves around the huts, sometimes crushing them."
"Why didn't the other Elementals stop him?"
"They couldn't stop him - he had a mission, after all, and he was carrying it out. But some of them banded together and came up with a plan to prevent some of the havoc he was causing. They nominated Ubterimi, the Elemental of Firestorms, to follow him--"
"Wait. What's a firestorm? That sounds bad."
"Yes, fire used to rain from the skies. Firestorms. Ubterimi's job was to produce them, and they caused widespread devastation."
"Why would anyone ever make an Elemental that would cause wild growth everywhere it went? Why would anyone make an Elemental whose job was to rain fire down on people?"
"...Chaos."
"Could be, Dina. Voes used to have so many ideas his mind could hardly keep hold of them all. Some were better than others. Gangolore was a pretty bad one, and so was Ubterimi, but maybe two bad ideas cancelled each other out. Ubterimi followed Gangolore wherever he went, and whenever the huge moss-hare looked like he was going to disrupt civilization, Ubterimi would send down a firestorm in his path. Naturally, Gangolore would hop hurriedly away from it, and so humanity was freed of both the unnatural growth and the firestorms."
"So it all worked out in the end. How come we don't have firestorms today?"
"Must've got taken out in the Third Creation, I guess."
"Don't think we needed them."
"No."
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
Flavor
Modgaming/massclaim/etc protection
Game balance (with one caveat which I will talk about below)
The Clock as a main game mechanic (see PM's mathcrafting which implicated kpaca after Wessel's death)
Alpha's role
kpaca's role
What didn't:
Screwing up iLord's and DJC's rolenames
Brinatoo's role (weak and non-interactive)
Iso's role (never going to do anything)
Relative lack of WINTER
***
Let's talk about the "debit" column. I knew just after the game started that Brinatoo's role was kind of bleah and wished I could have it back. It would've been so much better as just a straight SPRING cop - like what kpaca claimed. That would've been interactive and wouldn't have the random ability to totally hose someone (like kpaca would've been if Brinatoo's random cop had hit him instead of Alpha.)
Iso's role was, I'll admit, designed to be mostly vanilla. I didn't really anticipate his super form would ever make an appearance. However, once the game began and we saw how slowly the Clock really moved, I realized it wasn't a case of "probably won't happen" but "definitely won't happen" which is kind of bastardly and unfair to the player who got the role. It wasn't my intent to dangle something tantalizing but unreachable in front of Indazeel's player. I could've done something like reduce the number of "layers", or have Out of Sync interact with the layers in some way.
I designed this game on the assumption that WINTER wouldn't come around very often. Winter abilities were quite powerful on purpose. Still, having just one in the whole game was a little underwhelming, and although PM absolutely made the most of his turn, ced, iLord, and Niv were all dead by the time Winter rolled around, so that was sort of bleah also. Not sure what I could've done to fix this, though.
I think this was, on the whole, a vastly superior game to my first effort, Grim Batol. You see in my "manifesto" that I took into account a lot of the criticism of that game and tried to fix it here, which I feel I was successful in doing. The game balance was especially strong, and I intend to continue using this randomization system for future games, including this game's sequel, Celestial Mafia.
In terms of actual gameplay, I was a little disappointed to see one of my favorite roles (Smaruwari) go down so quickly, and that the mason question was resolved so early (and forcefully) by WoD, who played a good SK. Obviously there's the question of why Void failed to activate Eclipse when kpaca gave the signal, but let's be totally honest here: that ability was really overpowered and should never have been in the game. The fact that we went down to a 3-man endgame without Eclipse shows that the game was just fine without it. So that was a mistake of mine and I'm glad it didn't end up costing anyone.
The PM lynch was pretty egregious, in my opinion. He handed DJC over on a silver platter - really not something scum would've done there. But again, that situation was expertly manipulated by kpaca, who used PM's math against him. Let's talk about kpaca, who is, of course, the Mafia MVP of this game. That was really a sterling performance - although he did exhibit a lot of his standard scum characteristics, like mysterious lack of specifics about his role and brutal bussing of scumbuddies, he did so to such effectiveness that I forgot he was scum at one or two points, and he had pretty much everyone - except Archmage Eternal, who he foiled by using his Spring untargetability - fooled. Brilliant. If this was your last game, I was honored to be the host; same goes for Alpha, who would've been MVP had his team carried it.
Thank you all for playing, and I hope you all had as much fun with this setup as I did. Thank you especially to people who complemented the flavor; this was pretty much my best work ever, and it makes me fuzzy inside to have it recognized. (I won't talk too much about it, since there is a sequel planned for this game. Expect to see more of Sidi, Umry, and Dina, as well as the fates of Voes, Yblisa, and the Word.)
Special thanks to DYH, my reviewer, and the players who replaced in: Void, Iso, Art, Tezz, Dancing Mad, ganderin_dan, IB, and Pale Mage.
"...a talisman against all evil, so long as you obey me."
This was an awesome game and I can't wait for Celestial Mafia!
zindabad, I do have a question: Why did Akaramol's and Indazeel's roles interact the way they did? I had no indication in either role PM that Akaramol would be able to bypass "Out of Sync".
Looking forward to Celestial Mafia!
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Thanks for the awesome flavor, zindabad! Too bad I was targeted by the one kill I couldn't prevent. We also still have no idea why Void didn't end Day Two prior to getting Daykilled. kpaca even used a codeword (:kank:) and everything.
Scum chat. Kpain-
Son of a *****!
They hate us cause they ain't us.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
I still disagree with the various little bits in the setup. I think there were so many moving pieces behind the randomization and Reaper effects that there was no way the town would ever not be confused. I'm not a fan of role randomization generally, since it doesn't really address players' choices to lie about their roles (unless the game is Smalltown), but once you combine the clock, the masons, the Reaper effects... people are guaranteed to talk about the setup, whether you like it or not. The way to do it instead is to reduce the benefits from talking about the setup.
(And Eclipse should not have been included.)
In the end, the best player won, so it's hard to argue with the outcome that much, but it was rather frustrating at the time to perceive (correctly or not) that the mod wasn't being entirely forward about the rules.
Oh yeah, the PM lynch was awful, and I was very unhappy about it. Probably if I had given some more thought to it I would have come around to the notion that Brinatoo was too dumb (sorry to be blunt) to be a grand criminal mastermind, but then I probably would have turned on Alpha out of my own mistaken perception of the setup. So at least my death prevented a more, shall we say, unjust ending.
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
Yet again another reminder that behavioral trumps all other types of gaming. As zindabad said, kpaca was readable. Even on the last Night, which was something like 8 hours? Who of the three of the players visits MTGS the most...? Assumption on my part that the NK was delivered after the lynch, of course. EDIT: It was, glacing at the scum QT.
I feel as though one sentence and a bunch of scary good play (the Cop gambit) did the town in: "Results received this way are guaranteed to be sane." This sentence, which should be the default setting for Cops in anything but Specialties and deliberately labelled "Bastard Games", made Brinatoo incapable of fully counterclaiming kpaca. Unfortunate.
ADDITIONAL EDIT: I need a reread, but the above sounded harsher than I intended. Well played kpaca. Sick gambit paid off.
I would like to also pile on the compliments about the backstory. Beautiful and well worth the wait. Thanks for the game, guys, and most especially zindabad.
Johnny, born and raised. Always lookin' for the Next Level Combo. Thanks to Bornover of FHLS for the banner!
Although I'm betting I could go back and find somewhere in the game where I commented you were active, which is pretty indicative of your scum game, as was evident in Monster Island for example.
Either way, yeah, my bad. Sorry for not giving credit where credit is due. I'm disappointed, and that's coming across. Your gambit was obviously the play of the game. You deserve MVP obviously, and anything I say to the contrary is just me hating to lose.
Johnny, born and raised. Always lookin' for the Next Level Combo. Thanks to Bornover of FHLS for the banner!
@Void now the big question that I was waiting to ask. Why the heck you haven't used eclipse?
@Zinda This game was perfect from beggining to the end, I followed it all the time, while unfortunately dying early, I think this surpassed all the mafia games I've played before, yes this was the best game I've played. Thanks for all.
@DJC As usual you were grand, you managed to stick until the bitter end, and for a moment I believed you could escape the lynch despite PM "catching" you. But you did two big mistakes: the scum win-con despite the OP and you claimed to be ILord opposite, of course you should not be trying to prevent his lynch, but after not mentioning the mistake in his claim, you should have fakeclaimed something else.
@Wod you really expected to win this game after claiming vig on D2? Having to shot in a "pro-town" way for the whole game would be impossible because after scum was done for, you would be killed next imho.
@Iso you were superp on this game, your lists were pretty spot on, and I think town would win if people followed them. Your rereads were pretyy good too. It's funny to see you putting so much effort on this game and putting zero on others (Mean girls for example).
@Kpaca this game taught me so many lessons, you taught me many lessons. If I was alive I would be against: claiming cop on Void after AI death and Brinatoo claim, claiming Xyre was town and not AE, killing Tezz (why you killed him? he was lynch bait), not killing PM earlier, no caring about math or thinking more the plan of action. But against results there are no arguments and this game made me rethink some things about mafia.
@AE, Wessel, PM, Alpha it's funny because every and all your deaths put more and more pressure on Kpaca, the math, the results of Ae investigation, the "Brin cannot be a scum mastermind" yet not even you guys had the guts to say "Kpaca is lying scum, let's lynch him next" despite all the evidence. But have no regrets, you played very well.
Mythic rarity is not destroying the game. People whine too much for no good reason. Magic is more popular than ever, so keep calm, brew some decks and play some damn cards.
They hate us cause they ain't us.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player