[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:04 PM, said:

Player = dibs (D'riss)

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Oleg Tushin, Spetsnaz (Russian) - Spy
Level 0:
Elite Operative (H, Hinder): Passive. You cannot be guarded.
Intervention (H, Hinder): day only. Limited number of uses (4). Target two players. If, during the next night phase, one or both of these players takes a night action with a limited number of uses, that player loses 1 additional use of the ability. If this would drop the total number of remaining uses below zero, the action is cancelled instead but the single use isn't expended.
Level 1:
Siberian Survival Training (B, Proof): passive. you gain 1 Bulletproof.
Level 2:
Under the Moonlight (H, Guard): night only. Instant. 1 Provisional Target allowed. Guard a target player for the duration of the night.
Authorized to use Force (*): upgrade of Intervention (3): You receive 3 extra uses of Intervention.
Intervention now also affects abilities with an unlimited number of uses: if an ability can be used any number of times per game, it cannot be used during the next night.
Level 3:
Balkan War Experience (B, Aid): passive. You gain 2 Bulletproofs, to a maximum of 2.
Extreme Measures (*): upgrade of Intervention (3): you receive 3 extra uses of Intervention. Intervention now unconditionally guards the player for the night, in addition to its other effects.
Level 4:
Nightfighting Equipment (*): upgrade of Under the Moonlight. Under the Moonlight may now target 2 other players instead of one, but you may still specify only 1 Provisional Target (so 3 players in all). For the purposes of Victory Conditions, Under the Moonlight now counts as 2 Harmful actions.
Georgian War Experience (H, Kill): day only. Limited number of uses (1). Kill a target player.
Level 5:
"Go!" (H, Kill): Limited number of uses (2). Night only. target 2 players you have targeted with Intervention. You perform a kill against both of them.

Appearance PM:

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Oleg Tushin

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


Age: mid-thirties

General description: a veteran of several ugly armed conflicts and their even uglier special ops, Tushin is the typical commando NCO. Heavily muscled, extremely proficient and with a stamina, endurance and pain tolerance that Iron Man athletes strive for, he is capable of overcoming the elements and enemy fire both, radiating calm throughout every ordeal.
Standing at 1m70, Tushin is not a tall man, but he seems larger.
He has very closecropped brown hair, a brown handlebar mustache, brown eyes and bushy eyebrows. He has a somewhat ruddy cast to his skin, and prefers dressing in browns. He smokes a pipe during peacetime, but is by no means addicted to tobacco. A scar runs over his throat, the result of a nasty little boobytrap that he narrowly avoided save for one piece of shrapnel.
His arms, which are overlong and his most defining feature thanks to the rather non-distinct face, are covered in more scars: a few knife wounds, more shrapnel wounds, and burn marks from being exposed to fire. As a result, Tushin usually wears long sleeves.

Accessories: taught to survive harsh circumstances with only the most basic equipment, you travel lightly. A few changes of clothes, several pairs of gloves, several billfolds with a few thousand yen in each (no credit cards), two passports, six sticks of charcoal to blacken your face with for night ops, a few candybars, a combat knife and an A-91 bullpup small size submachinegun for whenever you require massive firepower. The pipe you he smokes is made out of fruitwood, and the tobacco brand you prefer is Planta Tabak.

Mannerisms: you have the tendency to rub your throat along the line of the scar whenever you feel uncomfortable. You chew gum or tobacco a lot, and always have a water bottle at hand (no preferred brands). Like most Russians, you aren't averse to a shot of vodka, and a mini-flask with the spetznaz logo on it provides. You also like to maintain as much sight of your surroundings as you can, and as such, turn your head left and right quite frequently, often in the middle of conversations, which makes people think you are disinterested. You also have the tendency to walk in the shade, whenever you can, or behind things that can obstruct an enemy from getting a shot at you.

Weaponry: the aforementioned combat knife and the A-91 bullpup.

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:13 PM, said:

Player = Peanutbutta (Mockra)

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Sasha Olievova, Insider (Russian) - Spy
Level 0:
Driven (H, Hinder): passive. You are immune to Recruitment and to all Harmful actions by other Russian Spies.
Infiltrator (B, Aid): passive. you come up as Syndicate on Syndicate finds, and you come up as a Spy on finds by spies. Any additional effects of finds are resolved based on the way you are represented – if this results in lover connections or other forms of communication, you are informed of the alignment of the player who targeted you.
Level 1:
Subtle Sabotage (H, Hinder): day only. silence a target player. He may not post (or vote/ change his current vote) for the duration of this phase and may not use abilities tagged with (B, Talk).
Level 2:
Thorn In Your Side (H, Guard): day/night action. If used at Night, Thorn In Your Side is considered to be Instant. Target a player. Choose Harmful, Neutral or Beneficial. The player is guarded when using any ability of the chosen type for the duration of the next phase (day if used at night, night if Thorn In Your Side is activated by day).
Wetworks (B, Aid): passive. You can use any number of harmful abilities you possess (Sabotage Communications, Stranglehold, Strangulation, Traitor Betrayed) as a single action on a player of your choice, as long as the player is either targeted by Thorn in Your Side or guarded by another Russian player.
Level 3:
Dirty Laundry (N, Find): day/night action. Do a find on a target player. If the player is a Russian, you discover whether he is Spy or Syndicate and automatically become a lover with that player, regardless of the result of your find. If the player is not a Russian, you learn his or her nationality and role description. The next time you use Dirty Laundry on that player, you learn whether he is Spy or Syndicate.
Stranglehold (H, Hinder): Day/night action. target a player. The first time you target him, you learn all his non-passive level 0 and 1 ability names (but not types). Choose one of these, which cannot be used for the next 2 phases. The player will be informed that he cannot use this ability.
The second time you target him with this action, you learn all his non-passive level 2, 3 and 4 ability names (but not types). Choose up to two of his abilities, which cannot be used for the next 2 phases. The player will be informed that he cannot use this ability.
On the third and any subsequent times you target that player, you remove one of his lowest level active abilities, permanently. The mods will select the ability based on the player's role PM and go from top to bottom.
Level 4:
Strangulation (H, Kill): Limited number of uses (2). Day/night action. Target a player you have targeted with Dirty Laundry at least once. If he comes up as a Spy on Dirty Laundry, he is guarded for the this phase and the next 2 phases (day, Night, day or night, day, night). If the player shows up as Syndicate on Dirty Laundry, you kill him instead. If he does not die, he loses 1 BP per phase until he has no bullet proofs left, then he dies.
If you do not know whether the player is Syndicate or Spy, he is treated as if he is a Spy.
Strangulation counts as a Harmful ability for the purpose of victory conditions for every phase during which it is active.
Level 5:
Traitor Betrayed (H, Guard): day/night action. Limited number of uses (1). Target a player you have used a Harmful ability on. You learn whether the player is Spy or Syndicate, regardless of that players abilities. If the player is a Spy, you then guard the player until you take a different action or until you are guarded, whichever happens first. If you die before either happens, the player continues to be guarded. If the player is Syndicate, he loses 1 ability every time he posts, starting with his highest level ability. Once he has no abilities remaining, he dies, unless you die before he runs out of abilities.

Appearance PM:

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Sasha Olievova

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


Age: early thirties

General description: you are a hard faced blond woman with brown eyes, generally dressed in tracksuits or, when slightly more formally dressed for city life, in black pantaloons, a black blazer and a white blouse with a high collar, leaving only the top button undone. Your shoes are sensible: usually runners, but when in the city-outfit, you wear lowcut boots with a very modest heel.
Covering yourself with clothing from toe to neck has a very good reason: you are scarred and tattooed all over your body.
Seven years ago, as a fresh graduate with the Moscow Metropolitan Police corps, you started off as a plainclothes, and got called into an investigation which forced you to infiltrate into a gang. You solved it in record time while keeping your cover intact, and got pulled into another investigation, which you also completed. Then, you were pulled in by the FSB. They needed an insider in a Siberian prison camp to get information out of the Black Widows – Czecenian female terrorists. Needless to say, nothing had prepared you for this, and the year there nearly broke you. Abused by inmates and guards, stabbed twice in the showers (left backside, just under the kidney, right lower ribs) and once in the messhall (left lower arm, from elbow to just above the wrist) over trivialities, tattooed by other inmates without your conscent, two of these tattoos displaying who 'claimed' you (the names Nastasha and Alina, in blurred blue, made by ink that consisted of burned shoesoles and urine) you murdered both ladies by strangling them with a shoestring) and another one proclaiming you an assassin, your body is a living testimony to a year in hell, but you got what information your superiors required, and emerged from prison broken, but forged into something hard and unyielding. You then went two years into training, to become a wetworks specialist.
Then, the secret service planned the most daring stunt to date: they tried to get you recruited by Madame Marichord and her Syndicate. So far, you have been contacted a few times, but nothing definite has come from it. Your superiors hope that by sending you to Japan, the Syndicate will try to make use of you, and you can work your magic as both an infiltrator and an assassin to take them down from the inside.

Accessories: you wear a double silver ring on your left ring finger. When taking one of these off, a thin but nearly unbreakable nylon strangling cord emerges, just 45 cm in length. You have designed it yourself, no-one knows of this weapon.
Other than that, you are not very attached to worldly possessions, a legacy of prison. Everything you buy is basic and functional, and you have little need to write things down in notebooks or to phone or text people or take pictures. One thing you are attached to, is a matrushka doll, which normally contains five little versions of itself inside. Your like for it is entirely different: you use the second largest one as a pill container, and the smallest contains a gram of high grade, hospital monitored coke.
Make-up wise, you use very plain make up, more because it is expected than because you care: a bit of eyeliner and some lipgloss. You do not use scent, as it is a give-away when operating as an assassin, and there isn't always the luxury to shower before a kill. Instead, you use fragrance-less sports deoderant.

Mannerisms: you can't sleep without sleeping pills thanks to your past, and tend to take a whole lot of these, whenever you need to calm down. When the need for action comes and you need a rise that adrenaline can't give you, you either get a line of coke, or get high on coffee. The FSB tried to break both habits, and they have succeeded up to a certain level, but you nor they had the time to get you completely off the pills and the cocaine – and in some way, you believe that was intentional, as the reputation of a junkie might be something the Syndicate will want to exploit… and you being less reliant on it will undo that.
That aside, you have a habit of checking your clothing to inspect whether or not it still covers your entire body. You often close your eyes, at odd times: when speaking to someone, when crossing the street, etc.

Weaponry: you carry a variety of strangling cords, some with grips, some without. You are also proficient with knives, but experience has taught you that taking someone on with a knife sees yourself hurt, as well. You know how to handle a gun, and carry the 17 box double action autoloader MR-446 Viking by the Russian manufacturer Izhmash with you, although you prefer to get up close and personal: gunfights attract far too much attention.

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:22 PM, said:

Player = Silencer (Rashan)

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Bao Han, Kung Fu Master (Chinese) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Zen (H, Hinder): passive. Limited number of uses (3). Every time you are targeted with an action this game, the action is cancelled and one use of Zen is expended. If Zen has no uses remaining, it is deactivated until you acquire more uses.
Blood Sport (B, Aid): passive. each morning, you gain the following ability:
Kill (H, Kill): night only. Limited number of uses (1). 1 Provisional target allowed. Kill a target player.
If a player is allowed through an ability to read your Role PM, Bloodsport and Kill will not be shown to him. If you send through your Role PM, you may of course choose to display this ability.
Level 1:
Kunlu Zenrhu Style (H, Guard): passive. Limited number of uses (1). When Kunlu Zenrhu Style is activated, it consumes a use of Zen immediately, and it will be used instead of Zen the next time you are targeted. If you have no Zen when you gain this ability, Kunlu Zenrhu Style will be inactive until you acquire Zen. The first time you are targeted by another player, he is guarded during the next phase. You learn his nationality and alignment.
Gou Lu Kai Shou Style (B, Aid): day only. Limited number of uses (2). Gain 1 Zen.
Level 2:
Qishi Lianguan Style (B, Aid): day only. limited number of uses (2). expend a use of Zen to be able to take a second action in this phase or the next. You may use the same action twice.
Level 3:
Meditation (*): upgrade of Zen (1). You gain 1 extra use of Zen.
Shandong Tanglang Style (H, Guard): day/night. Limited number of uses (5). Shandong Praying Mantis Style. Expend 1 Zen to guard a player.
Level 4:
Hou Quan Style (*): upgrade of Kunlu Zenrhu Style (2). Monkey Style. 2 additional uses of Kunlu Zhenrhu Style. Kunlu Zenrhu now also grants you a bulletproof for the duration of this phase and the next when it is activated, but only if you have no BPs.
Mishou Manual (*) : upgrade of Shandong Tanglang Style. Instead of guarding a player with Shandong Tanglang Style, you may choose to kill your target by expending one Zen and all uses of Shandong Tanglang Style.
Level 5:
No new abilities.

Appearance PM:

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Bao Han

Age: mid-twenties

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


General description: you were a Hongkong killer for hire, usually in the service of a criminal family, but since a few months you are (mostly due to a lot of blackmail) on the payroll of the Chinese secret service. That chafed, and you're happy with the chance The Syndicate offered to get even with your unwanted employers.
Instead of a gunslinger à la The Killer (if you haven't seen it, go see it, NAO), you are a martial artist in several disciplines, including Jeet Kun Do.
You are tall for a Chinese person, with a narrow, long face and a mullet hairstyle. You have died your hair to make it just a hint lighter than the standard black: it has a slightly reddish cast to it now. While you usually dress in white suits or silk suits with tigers embroidered on them (basically, anything screaming bad boy), for the occasion on which you must make a hit in a public space, you tend to wear roomy pants, usually with a t-shirt and comfortable sneakers. Add a photocamera and you are the perfect tourist. You wear a single white golden ring on your left hand, and have a tattoo of a tigers claw on the palm of your right hand, the nails extending into the fingers.
However, you vastly prefer suits, often paired with shirts with incredibly long sleeves, so that your knuckles, which are always bruised thanks to all the training, are covered up or at the least easily hidden. For much the same reason (but also because you think it looks cool) you wear long coats, but without buttoning them up, instead just draping them across your shoulders, so that the sleeves are empty.

Accessories: you always carry silk handkerchiefs with you. They make great bandages, and are stylish. You've even learned a few coin tricks and general tricks with them, and perform those when you are bored.

Mannerisms: you love children, and play with them a lot. They succeed a lot better at getting your attention than your superiors do, but as with everything, there's also a certain amount of calculation involved: they make perfect hostages. The coin tricks have been mentioned. There's also the habit that you have of taking a toothpick, put it in your mouth, toying it around from left to right side of your mouth, putting it on the centre of your tongue, taking it out again, put it back at the left side, move it to the right, take it out, and break it. When sitting down, you always wipe the seat, even if it is in an upscale restaurant. Out on the street, you spread a handkerchief to sit down.
When fighting, you tend to favour your right leg to stand on, kicking mainly with your left.

Weaponry: you carry a PP-90 sub-machine gun of Russian design. This gun can be folded into a metal box and carried in a pocket or utility bag. It is a 9mm gun with a 30 round magazine. In your tourist disguise, this is the massive camera bag you carry with you. You're not very proficient with the gun and very much prefer hand-to-hand combat, but it is a great weapon to use to suppress your opponent while you get within a range from which you can disarm your enemy and kill him with a few kicks, hits and chops (3 metres or so).

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:25 PM, said:

Player = Morgoth (Hood's Path)

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James Riche, Journalist (EU) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Free Press Association (B, Aid): passive. You come up as a spy on regular finds and CF, and you come up as a spy on Insane finds.
Connected (B, Info): passive. You know Rashan is Bao Han, Kung Fu Master - Syndicate.
Level 1:
Interview (B, Aid): Night only. Target a player. The player receives the ability Press Coverage.
When you submit this ability to the mods, you can specify whether or not Press Coverage is an Insane find (revealing Spies as Syndicate and vice versa). You may target yourself with Interview.

Press Coverage (N, Find): Day only. Limited Number of uses (1) Investigation. 1-time day find, which reveals nationality and alignment.
Level 2:
World Wide Coverage: (B, Talk): passive. You can communicate as lovers with anyone who is identified as Syndicate through Press Coverage (this includes people coming up as syndicate through Insane Finds).
Level 3:
Stop the Presses (H, Hinder): Day Only. Limited Number of Uses (2). Upon submitting this ability, the mods will, for the remainder of the day, refrain from posting updates. Actions are still processed by the mods, but no stories or vote updates are forthcoming, and any communications proceeding through Hugin & Munin is halted (lovers who can communicate directly may still do so). This will be announced on thread in a scene (last of the day). Mods will still intervene on-thread if they feel the need.
The lynch will feature a scene, but no Coroner Finder.
Level 4:
'This is James Riche, BBC News' (*): Passive. Upgrade of Stop The Presses: you receive the CF from lynches while Stop The Presses is active.
Level 5:
Breaking News! (*): upgrade of Stop The Presses (1). You receive 1 additional use of Stop The Presses, and Stop the Presses also stops all results from finds being sent to the players.

Appearance PM:

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James Riche

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


Age: mid-to-late forties

General Description: you are James Riche, a journalist for the BBC. You are close to six feet tall, are getting a tad bit portly, and have a politician's hairstyle: in other words, your died brown hair is cut into a combover that looks just not entirely right (see David Cameron).
You do have a taste for the good things in life: copious meals (less vegetable, more meat), cigars (Cuban), whiskey (Scotch, please let us know a few blends/single malts you prefer, which you will bring with you from London: here in Japan you will have to make do with Yamazaki 1984, and Yoichi 20 year old).
You are dressed exclusively in suits, no matter the weather (Burberry if you need to buy of the rack, but you are a client at Savile Row's Dege & Skinner and at Huntsman (which has a reputation for 'firm coats')). No striped ties, and always conservative colour schemes, but you do always wear a tie-pin and have made a habit of never wearing the same one twice. Call it a hobby.
You have a deep voice, very bad teeth (most of them are false, so why would you bother with brushing them more than once a day anyway) slightly watery but very light blue eyes, you are always clean-shaven, and wear glasses (you are far-sighted), frame by Armani: a greyish narrow frame. People think you are intimidating, and you have made a habit of straight up ignoring any and all officials wherever you go: that way, there's always a shot of you at the crash site, in the front line, at the massacre, or with the prime minister. Your specialty is intelligence, terrorism and high profile assassinations and you are allowed to do your own research and even have your own budget. So, why are you with the Syndicate? Simple. They are behind most of the stuff you report about, and getting a leg up by them is both exciting and lucrative. In return, you use certain code phrases and turn attention away from them onto the splinter group they want to take the blame (and who are often very eager to get the attention… more often than not, they were Syndicate financed to begin with).

Accessories: a bible, a notebook, an expensive fat golden fountain pen, a golden Rolex, several cases with tie pins (ranging from simple golden ones to Christmas trees, mountains, the Union Jack, etc). Also, cufflinks, another hobby of yours. You always carry mints with you, a cigar cutter, and a cigar box of Hoyo de Monterreys (the real Cuban, not the Honduras derivative). You chew mints (King Peppermint, extra strong) but it seldom helps. You also buy every newspaper in English you can get your hands on. Last but not least, there's your usual cameraman, Henry Arnold, a nervous skinny little runt in his late thirties. You hate one another with a passion, but he's a good professional and he can use the extra payment the BBC offers to put up with you to pay for his alimentation: the woman he was married to divorced him (good sense, in your opinion) and left with their children (one boy and a tripling of girls, which you habitually refer to as The Coven to your cameraman, knowing it upsets him). To add insult to injury, you 'forget' the names of the children (Thomas, Emma, Olivia and Ashley), and call them something different each time you make a reference to them: ranging from popular names to obscure mythological stuff.

Mannerisms: you tend to hold your microphone very close to yourself, making people step into your personal space, where they breathe in yesterday night's whiskey, your latest cigar, and a cheap eau de toilette that reeks mostly of lemons. Combined with your height, few people are comfortable around you. Also, you like being heard, and talk just a bit too loud.
You also have a habit of asking closed questions, basically asking someone to confirm what you just said. Every single official hates it.

Weaponry: the pen is mightier than the sword. Besides, you're no savage.

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:27 PM, said:

Player = Giles (Serc)

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Christine Haines, Diplomatic Consultant (USA) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Corporate Suits (B, Info): passive. you know Ruse is Chuda Ruri, Yakuza Oyabun – Syndicate, and can talk off-thread with her at all times.
Diplomatic Immunity (B, Aid): passive. You come up as a Spy on finds.
Level 1:
Neutral Ground (B, Talk): day only. Activating Neutral Ground does not count towards the maximum number of actions you can use per phase.
While it is active, all Syndicate players can communicate through Hugin & Munin, and all American players can communicate through H&M as well (in separate conversations).
Communication through H&M is bound by the following rules: no reveal of forum or game alts, no hinting towards knowing one another on thread of off-thread, no reveals of abilities or role names, no tempting of other players to reveal.
You cannot activate Neutral Ground two days in a row.
Level 2:
Diplomatic Channels (N, Find): day only. Investigation. Do a find on a target player. You learn his nationality and alignment, and for the duration of this phase, you become lovers.
Bargaining Chip (N, Find): night only.Investigation. The mods announce on thread during daybreak which Spy faction would have the most points should the game end now.
Level 3:
Diplomatic Circles (B, Talk): night only. Extends the lover relationship you gained through Diplomatic Channels by another day.
Exploit 'Allies' (N, Find): Operation. Day only. Limited number of uses (1).
Activating this Operation does not count towards the limit of 1 action per phase – using any of its abilities does. You may target yourself with one or more of the following abilities. You must assign all abilities, but only 1 of them has to be performed to make the Operation count as a success. All abilities are lost at the end of the next phase.

1a) target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a 1-time night find, revealing Spy or Syndicate. This find is unaffected by any of the targets abilities. This ability counts as an Investigation.
1b) target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a 1-time night find, revealing all lovers connected to his target. This ability counts as an Investigation.
1c) target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a 1-time find, revealing all of the targets level 0 abilities. This ability counts as an Investigation.
1d) target yourself. The first player that targets you with an action they gained through Exploit Allies, dies.

Level 4:
The Incrowd (*): upgrade of Diplomatic Channels. You can specify two targets per night for Diplomatic Channels.
I Burned Your File (B, Aid): limited number of uses (1). Set another players alignment on finds and CF to either Spy or Syndicate, your choice (if you change a Spy's alignment to Syndicate, the player is NOT recruited). Your own alignment on Finds and CF becomes Syndicate, permanently.
Level 5:
Scapegoat (B, Heal): Night only. Limited number of uses (2). heal a player who does not show up as Syndicate on finds or on CF.

Appearance PM:

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Christine Haines

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


Age: early thirties

General description: you are a black haired (usually drawn back in a pony tail), blue eyed lady from California of average height and weight, and manage to keep a tan despite your light skin.
In your spare time, you like surfing and running, and wear sporty clothing (halter top, trackies - your favorite brand is Nike, sun glasses (always Rayban)), showing the little dolphin tattoo on your belly and the belly button with a tiny chain on it, but while on duty you have to wear more formal clothing. You very much prefer black and white designer wear for this (Your favorite designer for these is Rei Kawakubo, of the Comme des Garcons label). Part of your job is also entertaining guests at evening parties, so a few cocktail dresses in blue, red and yellow grace your collection. Your prefered fragance is Issey Miyake's Eau d'Issey.
Your job is mostly as an assistant to the ambassador, more or less as a personal assistant but also as a minor diplomat yourself. You are very well versed in social skills. In your rare spare time in the evenings, you like to go clubbing: dance music and raves are your main outlets.

Accessories: sunglasses. Always. You generally tend to wear pearl chains when in formal wear, and have a penchant for matching earrings and bracelets, usually with an intricate design in them.
you have these custom made. You prefer to wear silver over gold.

Mannerisms: you chew gum a lot, mostly when working out, but can be caught chewing at moments where it is considered not entirely lady-like. You go and sit in the sun whenever you can, and for that reason, prefer to sit facing windows. You're also perpetually stressed, thanks to your job. Your phone, a Nokia 97, is constantly ringing, and when not ringing, messages come in with demands, arrangements and suggestions. Your ringtone is the Beach Boys' Surfing USA.

Weaponry: none, but one of the ambassadors bodyguards is quite charmed by you, and will do anything at all for a night with you. You dangle the promise of physical rewards over his head without actually paying, at least, for now: you're not interested in a gorilla like that.

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:28 PM, said:

Player = Defiance (Ruse)

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Chuda Ruri, Yakuza Oyabun (Japanese) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Corporate Suits (B, Info): passive. you know Serc is Christine Haines, Diplomatic Aide, also of the Syndicate, and can talk to her off-thread at all times.
Government Contacts (B, Aid): passive. If you are the target of a find, you learn who performed it.
Level 1:
Underneath My Shirt… (B, Aid): passive. Limited number of uses (1). the first action taken against you by a player who is also Syndicate affiliated, is changed.
A Kill action becomes a guard for the duration of the phase. A Recruit action gives you a permanent Lynch Proof. A Hinder action is changed into a guard for the duration of the phase. A Guard action becomes a Find, showing your alignment and nationality to the Syndicate player. A Find action becomes a Heal for the duration of the phase. A Heal gives you a permanent Bullet Proof. A Talk action grants both you and the other player a shared permanent bullet proof. Any Aid actions become a Heal for the duration of the phase. In addition to these effects, at the end of the next phase, the player who performed the action will be informed of your alignment.
A Finger For A Fault… (B, Aid) passive. Limited number of uses (1). When you are targeted by a harmful night action, this ability is activated. You gain a simple use of the same type to perform the next day (so a night guard becomes a day guard, a night recruit a day recruit, a night kill a day kill, etc). If the ability targeting you was a Hinder action, you can silence a player during the day, who can still submit actions and talk to lovers, but not talk on thread or vote. Any specifics of the abilities that targeted you, are NOT carried over to your newly acquired action.
Level 2:
Bosozoku Hitman (H, Kill): night only. Limited number of uses (1). Kill a target player.
Level 3:
…Are My Tattoos (*): upgrade of Underneath My Shirt (1). 1 additional use of Underneath My Shirt, which now works on the next action targeting you, regardless of whether it was performed by a Syndicate or Spy player – but only Syndicate players will be informed of your alignment on finds and as the end result of your action.
Level 4:
…A Life For A Life (*): upgrade of A Finger For A Fault (2). 2 additional uses of a Finger For A Fault.
Hatamoto: (H, Recruit): limited number of uses (1). Day/night action. Once per game, target a player of your choice. The players alignment is changed to Syndicate, he learns your identity and establishes a lover connection with you. He also dies after the next three phases (day, night, day if activated at night, night, day, night if activated during the day). If the player is immune to recruitment, you die immediately.
Level 5:
Honor Demands It (H, Kill): passive. Limited number of uses (1). When you gain this ability, name a target player. If the player is Syndicate, he will gain a lynch proof or permanently becomes immune to guards upon your death. If the player is a Spy, he dies when you die. If the player dies before you do, you may choose a new player.

Appearance PM:

Quote

Chuda Ruri

This PM serves so you can identify yourself in the stories made for the resolution of actions taken by players.
You may reveal none of the contents, nor are you intended to roleplay in any way.


Age: mid-thirties

General description: you are the oyabun (leader) of a minor Yakuza family in Tokyo. As one of the first women to attain this position, life is hard, and you could use a leg-up. You got it through the aid of the Syndicate, and now they are calling in the debts you owe them.
You are a small woman with short cut black hair. You dress like your men: jeans, white under shirt, white shirt, black tie. Like them, you are tattooed from the wrist to your neck and all over your back and chest. However, when wearing a jacket (you prefer denim), nothing shows.
You are a chainsmoker, and prefer the brand Mild Seven. You have to stay alive in a man's world, and that means being twice as smart, twice as honourable, twice as ruthless and about three times more willing to fight for what is yours. You possess all this spirit in abundant quantities.

Accessories: you love dogs, and despite living in Tokyo, city of skyscrapers, you have one. A motherfucking big Akita dog, reddish white in colour, called Shingen.
It goes where you go. Aside from that, you have a lighter made out of finger bones: the first part of pinkies cut from those who dared to disobey you.
Then, there is your gang: a group of thirteen aggressive assholes whose only way up in life is with you. All of you carry a tattoo of a carp on the inside of the left wrist.

Mannerisms: you snap your fingers when you think, and you are very sparse with words, often only a few words. As every word can be a decision, thus, a commitment. You honor your debts, and are quite frugal. You often remain stationary, in your hideout, or if not there, then in the black Mercedes that is your one pride and joy, and mobile headquarters.

Weaponry: you get into the thick of the fighting, and for that, you use a revolver, a six cilinder hand finished Colt Python .357 caliber. it's a big gun for such a little girl, but it is impressive, and your men joke it's your penis.

[Hugin & Munin]

Tapper, on 05 May 2010 - 09:29 PM, said:

Player = Mentalist (Fener)

Quote

Dariusz Vandenko, Operation Leader (RUS) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Stalling Tactics (H, Guard): limited number of uses (4). Night only. Instant. Guard a target player.
Level 1:
Mission Briefing (B, Talk): day only. Limited number of uses (2). Activating Mission Briefing does not count towards the maximum number of actions you can use per phase.
For the remainder of this day, all Syndicate players can communicate through Hugin & Munin.
Communication through H&M is bound by the following rules: no reveal of forum or game alts, no hinting towards knowing one another on or off-thread,, no reveals of abilities, no tempting of other players to reveal, no spread of this information on thread.
You cannot activate Mission Briefing twice in a row.

Strength in Numbers (H, Kill): Operation. Day only. Limited number of uses (1).
Activating this Operation does not count towards the limit of 1 action per phase – using any of its abilities does. You may target yourself with one or more of the following abilities. You must assign all abilities, but only 1 of them has to be performed to make the Operation count as a success. All abilities are lost at the end of the next phase.

1a): target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a one-time day silence (H, Hinder) ability on that he must use during the current phase, or lose it forever.
1b) target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a one-time day guard (H, Guard) ability that he must use during the current phase, or lose it forever.
1c) target a player you can communicate with. The player gains a one time day kill (H, Kill) ability that he must use during the current day, or lose it forever.
1d) you gain the following ability: Kill. (H, Kill): Limited number of uses (1). day only. kill a target player.
Level 2:
Operational Command (*): Upgrade of Mission Briefing. Mission briefing now has a duration of 2 days and nights. If Mission Briefing is active, Russian players can also talk to one another through Hugin & Munin for the duration of Operational Command.
Meticulous Planning (B, Aid): Limited number of uses (5). Day/night action. Meticulous Planning does not count towards the maximum number of actions you can take in a phase, but can be used only once per phase. Expend a single use of Meticulous Planning to give yourself or another player of your choice one of the following benefits (that player chooses):
- Negate guards on the player;
- Grant the player a BP for the duration of the phase;
- Grant the player 2 extra uses of the ability he uses this phase (not applicable on abilities that are an Operation or marked as (H, Kill);
- In addition to any other effects, of any ability the player uses, that ability also heals the target.
Level 3:
Delaying Tactics (H, Hinder): day/night action. Limited number of uses (5). Delaying Tactics is considered to be Instant if used at night. Target a player. Any ability used by the player consumes an extra use. If the ability had an unlimited number of uses, you regain a use of Delaying Tactics.
Level 4:
Urban Camouflage (B, Proof): passive. Gain 2 bulletproofs.
Sniper (H, Kill): night only. Limited number of uses (1): kill a target player.
Level 5:
Coördination (B, Info): passive. As soon as you gain this ability, name 3 alts. This may include dead ones. You receive a list of all their abilities, but without titles.
Stand-in (B, Aid): Night only. Limited number of uses (2). Choose an ability from a player whose Role PM you know. You learn the ability, with a maximum number of uses of 3 – if the ability had less uses, it has a number of uses equal to the original ability.

Appearance PM:

Quote

Dariusz Vandenko

Age: late thirties

General Description: you are a man of average height, average built, and with an unremarkable face if you weren't bald. There is something mediterranean in you: bushy black eyebrows, tanned, black beardgrowth that you can't shave away entirely if it's the end of the day, a huge amount of chest hair. You generally dress in expensive Italian designer suits, and have a penchant for pink shirts.
You have been a spy for most of your adult life, operating in the med, where you fit in splendidly, and rose quickly through the ranks, until you were head of operations in Italy. As a result, you are cocksure of yourself and never hesitate. You are an accomplished marksman, but lack military training. Nevertheless, you learned a lot about combat operations in the southern part of Italy, where the FSB wasn't beneath meddling in the various mafia wars, and your skill as a field leader is renown.

Accessories: you always wear a heavy golden chain around your neck. You carry a small notebook in your pocket, with a simple crayon, and often sketch the surroundings, marking with small Xs where you would place a hitman, or a security camera, or a bug.

Mannerisms: you always check your surroundings carefully, and sit down in places where you can see the entrance and most of the clientele. You love Italian food, and always eat pasta at the least once a day. You also pick up the phone with a Pronto! Italian style, and think you are quite knowledgeable about wine.

Weaponry: a Tanfoglio Combat pistol, 9mm parabellum rounds, 16 bullet magazine.
.

[Path-Shaper]

Looks like they are super anxious already...

I hope none of them blow their load on tuesday after having waited an entire week to play.

Vengeance

[Hugin & Munin]

Path-Shaper, on 12 May 2010 - 01:58 PM, said:

<br>Looks like they are super anxious already... <img src="http://forum.malazanempire.com/public/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif" class="bbc_emoticon" alt=""I hope none of them blow their load on tuesday after having waited an entire week to play. Vengeance

I agree . It's going to be interesting
Victory Point wise, skipping the 15 point victory, each team has a few tough ones.
Here's my prediction, you may all laugh at me after the game how much I got it wrong.
For the USA: prediction: 10 + 7 + 4x2 = 25 points
they have to choose whether they want the 10-pointer or the 3 point one. Producing many Operations with 3 participants is going to be tough, so if they can get one through with 3 participants and then stop, that may be their best bet.<
Their 5 point condition is luck dependant, as they have to target the lynchee on day 1. No lynch on day 1 means a far better chance to secure these points. They should score 8 of 10 on the 2 pointer.

For the Chinese:7 + 5 + 3 + 5x2 = 25 points.
10 points for the highest level is fucking hard, especially if the scum and/or Euros live long. They may not make this one. 7 points is going to be easy for them, there's several players who have high voting strength. 5 points is doable, same for the 3 pointer, it mostly depends on how much Zen GK dares to spend. The 2 pointer is going to net them 10 points.
They are weak as fuck at the start, but once they start getting their BPs midgame, they'll be very tough to take out en masse and with their vote manipulation, they'll monopolize the lynch. Their best bet would be lynching everyone else, I think, if they arrive in strength in the end-game.<

For the EU: 7 + 3 + 5x2 &nbsp;= 20 points.
10 pointer is going to be tough. The USA has a headstart in how many investigations they can produce, the EU has to play catch-up from midgame on, but that's where the USA gets its operations, which gives tons of Investigations too. Will depend on who gets lynched, I think, but if Obdi or MTS gets lynched early, they will net 10 for this one. 7 points is doable, same for the 3 pointer, and the 5 pointer depends mostly on Bent and Gavin. The two pointer can net them 10 points.

For the Japanese: 10 + 7 + 3 + 8 = 28 points.
10 pointer is once again tough, but may succeed, depending mostly on Shin surviving and using his kills. Other teams will be scared of the Japanese, as they aid scum in achieving a majority: they'll carefully have to consider when to kill, imho, rather than kill each night. 7 points is doable. 5 points will be tough, and dependant on dkt, I think. 3 is easily achieved. 2 points... not sure, probably 8/10.

The Russians: 7 + 5 + 3 + 3x3 = 24 points.
the 10 pointer is fucking hard, and can only be done if PB chooses to not use Dirty Laundry at all, but play a full time guard instead. Even then, they need 2 Sickles chosen on the right type of ability (either Harmful or Neutral, not Beneficial). 7 points is going to be easy, by contrast. 5 depends on Sickle, or on PB using his extended guards well.
3 points is tough, and out of the 2 pointers, they may score only 2 or 3 times.

Scum: their game depends on timing their kills right, and on keeping the other teams at each others throat. They also have to babysit the Japanese to achieve victory as fast as they can. I think they'd do best with a game that is very slow at the start, so other teams (Chinese) don't draw their BPs and scum finds.
I'd give them a fair chance to win (35%), especially if they manage to save their recruit until there's 10 or less people left.

I think in the end, the Chinese will win, though.

This post has been edited by Hugin & Munin: 12 May 2010 - 02:31 PM
Reason for edit: fucking format with loads of <br> thingies.

[Path-Shaper]

Gave access to Bauchelain the Evil.

I'm also having extensive convos with D'rek regarding her role, that may have heavy impact on it. Turns out it is fucking complicated.

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 03:42 PM, said:

Shadow, on 12 May 2010 - 03:10 PM, said:

And here come the multitude of questions/comments about my role!!! I'll do it in chunks so it's easier to answer.

Quote

Ba Leng, Triade Liaison (Chinese) - Spy


Level 0:
Three Harmonies Society (H, Hinder): passive. You come up as Syndicate on finds while you have more than 1 alt, as well as on CF of any alt if you still have 1 or more alts left. You come up as a Spy when you have 1 alt left (or on the CF of your last alt). The way in which you

Um, is there a line missing there? It just goes "the way in which you" and stops...

Oops. It seems my deleting skills are not at power level 9000. Forget that bit, or rather, read it as this: If you are targeted by abilities that affect Syndicate differently than Spies, you count as Syndicate while you show up as Syndicate on finds and CF, and as a Spy while you show up as a Spy on finds and CF.

Quote

Anyhoo, so basically my alts CF as Syndicate except when I die for good my last alt comes up Spy? But what if say Shadow dies (and CFs Syndicate), I use Blue Lantern to create the alt Fener and then Emurlahn dies while Fener is still alive - is Emurlahn going to CF Syndicate and Fener CF Spy???

Hehe, in that case, Emurlahn comes up as Scum because Fener lives, but Fener has its own fixed CF in its ability, so you will have CFed scum on 3 alts, which must be a new record.

However, note that it is not just CF, but also finds. In your example: if Shadow is dead (CFed syndicate), Emurlahn lives, and Fener is not created, Emurlahn comes up as Spy on finds and CF.

Quote

Quote

432, Straw Sandal – Liaisons Officer (B, Aid): passive. you have two alts (Shadow and Emurlahn) from both of which you can play and vote, however, if you cast a vote on one alt, you cannot vote from the other alt.
If one alt dies, regardless of the way it died (lynch, kill or modkill) you play on in the other alt with full use of all abilities. You must post from both alts every twenty four hours to prevent a modkill. Whenever you send an action to the mods, the action will be resolved from the alt you sent the action from.

This is going to be weird, but I suppose I like a challenge. If we'd done this game in the last couple weeks while I was done school and not yet employed I'd really have been able to do this justice - faked different time zones, extensive personality differences and more. Not sure I'll be able to do it as well but we'll see what I can come up with.

looking forward to it. I'm not sure if this ability is better or worse than a combined lynch + bullet proof on one alt, especially with the scum stigma attached to it, but I'm sure you'll make good use of it.
Note that you are allowed to deliberately get one alt lynched, too.

If you're going for a deliberate mod kill, which you may, according to the ability, please do talk to us first. This ability is worded in such a way that you may use it to do stuff on one alt that will get it modkilled as a punishment, and play on on the other. It can be a huge advantage to you and your faction.
However, while I am willing to allow you leeway in this, I won't allow it to ruin the game. Hence my request to talk things over before you go and kamikaze .

Quote

Quote

Level 1:
The Chinese Connection (H, Hinder): night only. Limited number of uses (2). When you use this ability, you become immune to finds for the duration of this night and the next. Players doing a find on you will get no results. This disables Three Harmonies Society for the same duration concerning CFs.

So this takes effect during 2 nights but not the day in between, right? If so, then with its disabling of Three Harmonies Society on CFs would that only affect the CFs if I'm killed at night or also affect it if I'm lynched?

It CFs you as Spy on lynches and any and all kills on you during the in between day. Day finds will produce no result. Basically, day is an in-between period. Careless wording from my side, so I'll give you the advantage of it working during the day.

Quote

Quote

Level 3:
Blue Lantern: Hired Hand (B, Aid): Limited number of uses (2). day only. When using this ability, the mods will create a new alt that you cannot vote from, and that you cannot post from. The alt has the following abilities, and can use any two of them during this phase:

- 1 time day guard
- 1 time day find (nationality)
- 1 time day silence for as long as the Blue Lantern alt lives.
- 1 time day vote block.
The alt is destroyed at the end of the phase, or before if any actions target it.
The created alt CFs as: Triade Hired Hand, Chinese, Syndicate.

the alt is destroyed if any actions target it - that includes beneficial actions like heals or if someone gives it a BP?

and the vote block, is that a visible block (ie the person has to remove or isnt counted in PS updates) or invisible block (ie the players see no difference but it isnt counted for a lynch) ??

Yes, that includes beneficial actions. The Hired Hand is the kind of goon that gets killed by the dozen (and sometimes even off-screen) in your average Hong kong gangster movie.

The vote block: the vote is removed and the player cannot vote for the remainder of the day. A scene to represent this, is made.

Quote

Quote

Level 4:
438: Vanguard – Operations Officer (*): Upgrade of Blue Lantern – Hired Hand. Limited number of uses (1). Day only. Vanguard – Operations Officer deactivates all abilities a Triade Hired Hand may have. Destroy one of your alts to kill another player of your choice.

Not sure I really get how this one works, could I perhaps get an explanation, perhaps with examples?

---

Yes. Say, you have 1 use of Blue Lantern remaining, (which creates Barghast), and both Shadow and Emurlahn are still alive.
You gain this ability. You create Barghast, but Barghast can do shit all because he has lost his guard, find and vote block as a result of 438: Vanguard Operations Officer (it's own upgrade).
438's text is an upgrade of Blue Lantern, thus basically modifying Blue Lantern, so what you do in 1 action is:
create a temporary alt with no abilities, and ninja one of your alts.

This may be the temporary guy (seems the logical choice), but of course you are allowed to ninja Shadow or Emurlahn (who comes up as scum) and a random player (who may or may not come up as scum) and sow confusion that way. whether or not that is smart, is your choice

Quote

And lastly, obviously finds and kills affect only one of my alts - what about guards, heals, recruits, etc??

everything basically affects only 1 alt, including lover relations.
I'm going to make an exception for Recruits, which will work on both alts, as we can hardly ask you to become schizo and play for your original faction on one alt, then advance the victory conditions of the new factions on the other alt, just for the benefit of this game.

and:

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 04:02 PM, said:

Shadow, on 12 May 2010 - 03:56 PM, said:

Okay, cool, all those clarifications helped a lot!

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 03:42 PM, said:

Quote

Quote

Level 4:
438: Vanguard – Operations Officer (*): Upgrade of Blue Lantern – Hired Hand. Limited number of uses (1). Day only. Vanguard – Operations Officer deactivates all abilities a Triade Hired Hand may have. Destroy one of your alts to kill another player of your choice.

Not sure I really get how this one works, could I perhaps get an explanation, perhaps with examples?

---

Yes. Say, you have 1 use of Blue Lantern remaining, (which creates Barghast), and both Shadow and Emurlahn are still alive.
You gain this ability. You create Barghast, but Barghast can do shit all because he has lost his guard, find and vote block as a result of 438: Vanguard Operations Officer (it's own upgrade).
438's text is an upgrade of Blue Lantern, thus basically modifying Blue Lantern, so what you do in 1 action is:
create a temporary alt with no abilities, and ninja one of your alts.

This may be the temporary guy (seems the logical choice), but of course you are allowed to ninja Shadow or Emurlahn (who comes up as scum) and a random player (who may or may not come up as scum) and sow confusion that way. whether or not that is smart, is your choice

^^Okay that makes a lot of sense, and of course leads to follow-up questions.

1. If I have remaining uses of Blue Lantern when I upgrade do they add to the number of uses of Vanguard? (I imagine this would be true or not for all Upgrade abilities but I didn't see it in the rules)
2. If Barghast is still alive at the end of the day and gets destroyed that way does that still count for Vanguard and give me a kill? If so, when would that kill occur in relation to the Instant abilities?

1. Rather, Vanguard adds its uses to Blue Lantern and modifies the ability. So if you decide not to not use Blue Lantern, you have 3 uses of creating ninja alts the moment you gain Vanguard at level 4.

2. However, creating Barghast, regardless of what happens with him, expends a use of Blue Lantern/Vanguard, so if everyone decides to happily ignore Barghast and he dies peacefully during the lynch scene, you will still have expended a use of Blue Lantern/Vanguard.

[Path-Shaper]

Gave SH password to Edrigan.

[Hugin & Munin]

Obdivain asking stuff:

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 01:56 PM, said:

Korvalain, on 12 May 2010 - 01:13 PM, said:

Questions:
(Iphone) Lover relationships between all American Players. Does that mean I will at some point find out who the american players are?
2) Echelon - So it is when a player I communicate sends 'Echelon' to you that these things happen, not when I do it, correct?

I am also confused about the level stuff. I read the rules and was under the impression that each person would be on one level. I see levels 0-5. Does that mean I start at 0 and have to level up somehow, or ... ?

1) yes, we will send all the Americans a PM with the alts of all other American players in it, and the conditions for the talks. So, you and all other USAs will know one another.

2) yup, when they send it in. Everyone gains a level when there's 500 posts (or a multitude thereof) on the game thread. Also, everyone gains a level when there are 3 dead players (or a multitude thereof). So with 1000 posts in the game thread and 9 dead, everyone is level 5, for example.

edited for format.

[Hugin & Munin]

Shintatha is pleased:

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 12:00 PM, said:

Sheltatha Lore, on 12 May 2010 - 11:55 AM, said:

This guy is so awesome, I have no choice but to go read the last game thread to try to figure out how long I might last before conceivably getting killed.....

If I die without doing anything cool, I might have to post my first epic rant whine of my mafia career...

I reckon he's more bad-ass than Predators love-child with the Aliens queen. Venge is not so certain about that.

You have a massive bag of tricks up your sleeve, and if you level each day and thus maintain use of every ability, you should be able to survive up to level 5 if you don't get lynched, imho.

[Hugin & Munin]

Sheltatha Lore, on 12 May 2010 - 12:19 PM, said:

Well, I have to assume that there is no shortage of bad-asses in this game. If I'm not smart....


And vengey is probably still peeved that I outed him in D'rek's game.

[Hugin & Munin]

MTS:

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 11:23 AM, said:

Silanah, on 12 May 2010 - 11:04 AM, said:

Did I get given the same role as Spycraft 1 on purpose? Or was it random?

Purpose, we haven't randomized but rather selected who we wanted for which role

[Hugin & Munin]

Bubbatose:

Hugin & Munin, on 12 May 2010 - 10:10 PM, said:

Omtose, on 12 May 2010 - 09:58 PM, said:

10 points: Having the highest level of all factions (EU, US, Syndicate, Japanese, Russians) at the end of the game, including dead players.

if every faction levels up at the same time, how is this possible?

Combined
Say, faction A consists of 3 people, one died at level 1, two others made it to level 5. Their combined level is 11.

So as the Chinese faction, you have to make sure that when the levels of your dudes are added up, you get a higher number than any other faction.

[Grief]

Thank god I didn't sign up for this.
I wouldn't have had a chance at my exams.

Looks like it'll be good.

[Tapper]

Grief, on 13 May 2010 - 01:01 PM, said:

Thank god I didn't sign up for this.
I wouldn't have had a chance at my exams.

Looks like it'll be good.

gl with the exam stuff

[Path-Shaper]

Awesome, Bent fingered two scum on page 1.

[Hugin & Munin]

Here I am to save the day... Here are some thoughts from PB that I didn't have time to post last night.

Mockra, on 17 May 2010 - 03:54 PM, said:

Strategy

I have a sort of "combo" or "burst" hero in that I can take a lot of actions all at the same time. The main part of the combo occurs at level 3, but a lesser combo can still occur at level 2.

The key to the combo is to use Thorn in Your Side as a night action, and that will cause it to "go off" the following day.

I imagine we'll hit level 1 by the end of Day 1. If we got a lynch on Day 1, a lynch on Day 2, and a NK on Night 1, we could conceivably hit Level 3 at the end of Day 2. That would be ideal for me, so I'm going to want to be a BIG poster. (I do need to be careful not to put myself in the same position Vengy was last game where he posted himself into a noose... I don't insanely spam the thread like he or Bent did, but I do sometimes get far too analytical for my own good).

Levels 0 and 1 I'm just going to be a passive person. All I can do on Day 1 is try to attract finds for information. On Day 2, if we're Level 1, all I can do is silence someone. Since I really want to hit Level 3 by the end of Day 2 (detailed below), I will want to silence a low poster.

Level 2 enables my combo. The best move will probably be to block harmful abilities (detailed below):

Thorn in Your Side (night action, affecting the next day, stop harmful/beneficial/neutral) + Wetworks (passive) + Subtle Sabotage (silence)

Level 3 gets me a free upgrade to the combo, and now allows me to to probably block beneficial or neutral abilities, since Stranglehold will be used to disable any 'harmful-sounding' abilities. (Side note: I imagine a player will be quite annoyed to find they are silenced for an entire day

Thorn in Your Side (night action, affecting the next day, stop harmful/beneficial/neutral) + Wetworks (passive) + Subtle Sabotage (silence) + Stranglehold (ability-specific guard for 2 phases).

I also gain Dirty Laundry which is a huge boon, but it requires me to avoid using my combo. Since Subtle Sabotage is a huge key to the combo and victory condition (detailed below), and I have zero information about my team at the start and suspect we are a small team, Dirty Laundry will probably be used every Day after I get it (ideally, Day 3). That should give me 2-4 usages in the game, depending on how long it goes (I think the other one was over around Day 6, but this one is bigger). Hopefully, I'll have enough information by then to find a team mate and link up (although a Russian enemy wouldn't be a terrible ally, either, due to my Level 4 and 5 abilities).

Things could change a lot if I can get in contact with an ally early. I can combo off of an ally's guard, too, and we're going to need to work together to try and get some points (detailed below), but that's an early strategy.

Mockra, on 17 May 2010 - 04:17 PM, said:

15 points: One spy of your team must survive the game.

Self-explanatory, a great combo with the 3-point condition.

10 points: Having used more Harmful abilities than any other team (Americans, Chinese, EU, Japanese, Syndicate) in the game.

We appear to be guard-heavy based upon my abilities and my synergy with other guards. This VP condition could force me to sacrifice Dirty Laundry usages if I feel we are losing members and need more harmful actions.

7 points: Having targeted more people with night actions on an average per player than any other team (Americans, Chinese, EU, Japanese, Syndicate) in the game.

We aren't going to be any bigger than 4 players, so this is a big one, since we know the Syndicate will have a lot of harmful actions. Japanese will probably, as well, but they are going to be small.

How does this work with Wetworks? The language indicates that if I target someone with Thorn in Your Side at night and "attach" a bunch of abilities to it, then that is considered to be only one ability I used at night instead of 2-5 abilities (and those abilities don't even activate until the next day, so I'm slightly confused here).

5 points: Affecting at least 6 players during a single phase with Harmful abilities.

Now this is huge. Stranglehold allows me to carry forward abilities to the next phase, so the other Russians probably have a similar mechanic of 'ongoing' actions, or maybe one of them can take multiple actions on multiple targets.

The best I can realistically do without relying on some kind of luck to use Strangulation on someone loaded with BPs is probably 3 people in a single phase and it takes work to build to: 1st phase-Combo w/ Stranglehold, 2nd phase-Combo w/ Stranglehold on someone else, 3rd phase (1st Stranglehold is on its last tick), NO COMBO and use one of Stranglehold, Strangulation, or Traitor Betrayed (3 total people afflicted by me in a single round).

That could mean I'm highly integral to our team's success in this VP.

3 points: All Russian spies must be alive at the end of the game.

Similar to the French of last game. Highly hints at some kind of team-talk and team-protection mechanic that may activate in the first few levels (similar to Russian BPs and French communications from last game).

2 points: 2 points for every time a player is unable to take an action during 2 consecutive phases as a result of the abilities of one or more Russian players, with a maximum of 10 points. No single player can contribute more than 2 points to this victory condition.

Every combo I do will cause this to happen. Easy points.

What happens, however, if the player is killed or lynched before the two phases elapse?

---

Here's my guess at the faction sizes. I'm not sure about Syndicate because if I'm infiltrating them and they have 1 nationality represented for each member, I could get discovered. Americans could be slightly smaller. Chinese could be slightly bigger. EU could be slightly smaller. Russians had 3 survivors last time... so if all of them returned, we'd actually be a faction of 4 since I'm not one of them. Japanese I feel pretty good are only 2-large.

Americans (4/3)
Chinese (5/6)
EU (3)
Japanese (2)
Russians (3/4)
Syndicate (5/4)

Mockra, on 17 May 2010 - 11:50 PM, said:

Rewrote a few parts of my PM in case I need to relay it later to potential Syndicate members.

Sasha Olievova, Infiltrator (Russian) - Syndicate
Level 0:
Driven (H, Hinder): passive. You are immune to all Level 0 Harmful actions by spies.
Orders Received (N, Info): passive. The leader of this operation is -----.
Infiltrator (B, Aid): passive. you come up as a Spy on finds by spies. Any additional effects of finds are resolved based on the way you are represented – if this results in lover connections or other forms of communication, you are informed of the nationality of the player who targeted you.
Level 1:
Sabotage Communications (H, Hinder): day only. silence a target player. He may not post (or vote/ change his current vote) for the duration of this phase and may not use abilities tagged with (B, Talk).
Level 2:
Thorn In Your Side (H, Guard): day/night action. If used at Night, Thorn In Your Side is considered to be Instant. Target a player. Choose Harmful, Neutral or Beneficial. The player is guarded when using any ability of the chosen type for the duration of the next phase (day if used at night, night if Thorn In Your Side is activated by day).
Wetworks (B, Aid): passive. You can use any number of harmful abilities you possess (Sabotage Communications, Stranglehold, Strangulation, Traitor Betrayed) as a single action on a player of your choice, as long as the player is either targeted by Thorn in Your Side or guarded by a player with whom you have lover communications.
Level 3:
Dirty Laundry (N, Find): day/night action. Do a find on a target player. You discover whether he is Spy or Syndicate and may choose to become a lover with that player, regardless of the result of your find. If the player is not a Syndicate, you learn his or her nationality and role description.
Stranglehold (H, Hinder): Day/night action. target a player. The first time you target him, you learn all his non-passive level 0 and 1 ability names (but not types). Choose one of these, which cannot be used for the next 2 phases. The player will be informed that he cannot use this ability.
The second time you target him with this action, you learn all his non-passive level 2, 3 and 4 ability names (but not types). Choose up to two of his abilities, which cannot be used for the next 2 phases. The player will be informed that he cannot use this ability.
On the third and any subsequent times you target that player, you remove one of his lowest level active abilities, permanently. The mods will select the ability based on the player's role PM and go from top to bottom.
Level 4:
Strangulation (H, Kill): day/night action. Limited number of uses (2). Target a player you have targeted with Dirty Laundry at least once. If he comes up as a Spy on Dirty Laundry, he is guarded for the this phase and the next 2 phases (day, Night, day or night, day, night). If the player shows up as Syndicate on Dirty Laundry, you grant that player the following ability:
Garrote (H, Kill): day only. Limited number of uses (1). Target a player. You kill that player. For the entirety of the day, retroactive to when it began, all actions that target you will inform the targeting players that you used the ability "Garrote (H, Kill)" on the dead player.
Level 5:
Traitor Betrayed (H, Kill): day/night action. Limited number of uses (1). Target a player you have used a Harmful ability on. You learn whether the player is Spy or Syndicate, regardless of that players abilities. If the player is a Spy, he loses 1 ability every time he posts, starting with his highest level ability. Once he has no abilities remaining, he dies. If the player is Syndicate, that player immediately learns the role names, nationalities, and allegiances of players with whom you have lover communications.

He also offers to call Breadmaster if he hasn't shown up yet....

Vengeance