[Path-Shaper]

Ruse, on 28 September 2011 - 10:59 PM, said:

I will start the game as a Civil official.

Okay

[Path-Shaper]

Gamelon, on 28 September 2011 - 11:21 PM, said:

Send Notice Day 1: Provided the following is an acceptable message, please send the following Notice:

Finder ->HZ tomorrow. Targets please. -Okaros



I want it to look like someone hasn't read the rules properly and is asking their leader for targets. I figure trying to move into Luo Yang is unlikely to be possible at the moment, since there will be at least one Gongsun Zan player as well as at least one of the Xia faction present, and there are unlikely to be any Lu there yet. I can't retreat back to Han Zhong either, since that would leave the Northern border undefended for anyone to just waltz in. That leaves staying here and broadcasting a message. It's unlikely that there are any allies here (since the faction is either 4 or 5 players and there will be at least one in each of TS, HZ, YA and here), but whoever is here for the Xia faction might not realise that. The message might be too subtle, but hopefully it will look convincing enough to convince him to try to jump into HZ (and fail). If I start to see someone go after Tiamatha on thread that might give me some useful info too.

ST

Sounds good, will process soon.

Galain, on 28 September 2011 - 11:13 PM, said:

Until I get a better feel for the game, and have time to sit down and read things over (I haven't even checked the game thread yet, and won't have time to for a few hours), I'll just go with the default:

Stab
Block
Slash
Dodge
ThrowKnife


Logic
Wit
Ignore
Insult
Sophistry

ok

Ruse, on 28 September 2011 - 11:24 PM, said:

Do I know if I'm starting in the same location as Zhang Xiu? Or where he starts?

I'm guessing no, but I want to check.

See Action Thread.

Atrahal, on 29 September 2011 - 12:18 AM, said:

I will start the game with the order

Stab
Block
Slash
Dodge
ThrowKnife


Logic
Wit
Ignore
Insult
Sophistry



the same as they are listed...flawless logic

[Path-Shaper]

For those who have never played with Sir Thursday, he is like this all the time (it's good reading though!):

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 12:22 AM, said:

Do you mind if I start up a separate thread for me to drop my thoughts about the game in? I'll keep the Role thread for rule mechanics and the Actions thread for actions.

My first impression of this game is that it's going to be an interesting one to play. If you don't mind me saying so, I can't help but feel that some of the mechanics are slightly too elaborate for the players to fully appreciate though. The blocking mechanic, for example, is something that is going to be very difficult to pull off tactically unless you have more knowledge about the whereabouts of the players than we get given here. The only game I ran (Mafia 56), I made the mistake of including an exotic mechanic that the players didn't have the information to use properly. They spent so long worrying about it that they didn't really get down to the business of playing Mafia and allowed the scum to waltz away with it. Anyway, I can see that there are also mechanics at play that will shape the game subtly - if the starting distribution is as I expect, I'm sure the rules about movement will keep the factions in approximately they're starting positions to begin with, which is nicely thematic with how wars actually work. And the rebel factions will probably keep the Lu and Xia leaders busy for at least the first couple of days, which may serve to keep them where they are while the Yan leader will be a bit freer with his movement. Anyway, regardless of the above doubts, I love the amount of effort you've put into this. The preparation is meticulous, and if it's any indication for how the rest of the game goes, I'm sure I'll love it .

ST

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 12:31 AM, said:

Now, onto the actual game:

Emurlahn, on 29 September 2011 - 12:04 AM, said:

fair enough.

I shall now retire to commit to memory the sayings of the Great Teacher, so that I may ace the civil functionaries examinations and make my family proud.

call me when the geishas get here. i'll bring the rice wine.

If that's a signal, it's ridiculously transparent. But then, I don't think Emurlahn would care, because it reveals him to not be a threat to others, while giving his leader a useful piece of information. Once all the gaps have been filled, whoever his leader is can probably make a better description than a peon in one of the border tiles.

The alternative is that he's a leader trying to be clever, or even *gasp* Mr. Culty Cult himself, Sima Yi. I'll watch him closely and see if anything else comes up.

ST

[Path-Shaper]

Kaschan, on 29 September 2011 - 12:54 AM, said:

Current duel cycle:

Dodge
Stab
Slash
Block
Throw Knife

Kaschan, on 29 September 2011 - 01:00 AM, said:

Move to Han Zhong

You were unable to move to Han Zhong.

Meanas, on 29 September 2011 - 01:02 AM, said:

Ok ok, I'll try and be serious.

This is by far and away the most complex game I have ever been involved in. Thank you for the juicy (if high probability of death) role, by the way.

I commend you for all the effort you've put into this, this is some deeply impressive stuff, so I hope within the game we can live up to the high standards you've set here.

I'm going to need another few hours now I feel before I dare submit any sorts of actions to you.

Locations?
Six factions?
Known and unknown roles?
Multiple powers?
Multiple roles?!?!?

I don't happen to have any sort of spontaneous explosion power whereby I put a quick end to my confusion and panic, do I?

Yeah, it's a bit crazy, and obviously you have one of the crazier roles. But you don't have to do it all at once, just start with what you can manage and slowly build on it. Work with one of your roles for starts and just focus on NAs, then work towards getting the map and day movement underway. Worry about special things like blocking and duels/debates later once you've got both your roles going on the basics, etc.

You'll do fine, I have every confidence.

[Path-Shaper]

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 01:13 AM, said:

His followup got picked up on by Meanas because he put a comma in ga,me, like so. I took that to be an indication of what his character name is, since that is what his leader would need to put all the information together. I went through the character list and came up with a shortlist of appropriate names:

-Gao Lan (Part of Liu Bei's conspiracy)

-Gao Ding (Neutral in the Nanman Rebellion)

-Li Meng (Dead. Served under Fan Chou)

-Meng Huo (Lead the Nanman Rebellion).




None of them seem very promising though

Oooh thanks for reminding me, not sure I ever wrote in that reference thread that characters in black are dead and only blue ones are alive...

[Path-Shaper]

Example of a Notice, ST's notice in Chang An:

Quote

A notice is posted in Chang An:

Finder ->HZ tomorrow. Targets please. -Okaros

Aside, a bad fake notice to make up here, since HZ and all his forces are clearly on the other side of the map...

[Path-Shaper]

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 12:22 AM, said:

Do you mind if I start up a separate thread for me to drop my thoughts about the game in? I'll keep the Role thread for rule mechanics and the Actions thread for actions.

My first impression of this game is that it's going to be an interesting one to play. If you don't mind me saying so, I can't help but feel that some of the mechanics are slightly too elaborate for the players to fully appreciate though. The blocking mechanic, for example, is something that is going to be very difficult to pull off tactically unless you have more knowledge about the whereabouts of the players than we get given here. The only game I ran (Mafia 56), I made the mistake of including an exotic mechanic that the players didn't have the information to use properly. They spent so long worrying about it that they didn't really get down to the business of playing Mafia and allowed the scum to waltz away with it. Anyway, I can see that there are also mechanics at play that will shape the game subtly - if the starting distribution is as I expect, I'm sure the rules about movement will keep the factions in approximately they're starting positions to begin with, which is nicely thematic with how wars actually work. And the rebel factions will probably keep the Lu and Xia leaders busy for at least the first couple of days, which may serve to keep them where they are while the Yan leader will be a bit freer with his movement. Anyway, regardless of the above doubts, I love the amount of effort you've put into this. The preparation is meticulous, and if it's any indication for how the rest of the game goes, I'm sure I'll love it .

ST

ah, done racing through PMs and now I can actually read what you wrote

I agree on the elaborateness of some of it, and some of it like the duels/debates is in fact completely unnecessary. I learned this very lesson after my Twilight game where I had mechanics that were never used all game. But the different here is that in my Twilight game they were optional mechanics that the players just never opted to use. Here, the mechanics take effect whether the players like it or not.

As for why include them, they all have some purpose. The blocking is in there mostly because every single military officer can kill, every night, and so if they all opt to go on a killing spree the blocking reigns in the lethality of the game without having to resort to giving everybody 10 BPs. The duels/debates is in turn a counter on the blocking, ensuring that if there is too much blocking there will still be some deaths to keep the game going.

Of course, they do make resolving nights 10x more work and a pain in the ass for me... but it's worth it!

[Path-Shaper]

Emurlahn, on 29 September 2011 - 04:17 AM, said:

ok, so 2 XIA in the centre one to the left, one to the right, one to the south.



XIA and LU are both gonna be weaker, b/c we have Gongsun and Ma on our rear to deal with, respectively.

Yan had no Nanman to worry about. for shame.



with 25 players, XIA and LU each have 5. Yan will have more (7?) gongsun + MA each have 3+

and Sima has 1-2 to start with.

night 1
deploy healing catapults to He Fei

Galain, on 29 September 2011 - 08:09 AM, said:

Provisional: Find Meanas

noted

[Path-Shaper]

Sorrit, on 29 September 2011 - 08:17 AM, said:

Find Gamelon

Noted.

Sorrit, on 29 September 2011 - 08:18 AM, said:

he looks to have signalled serc so it looks to be a good thing to do right now and see what faction i can go after.

Sorrit, on 29 September 2011 - 08:39 AM, said:

Can I move to Yong An pwease?


How often far can imove into the map? Can I get to Chang An eventually?

You can Move once per day to an adjacent tile if the conditions allow it (see Moving in OP). You can make it to Chang An eventually, it would take at the very least 3 days.

Sorrit, on 29 September 2011 - 08:43 AM, said:

Path-Shaper, on 28 September 2011 - 06:58 PM, said:

Reports from the Throne - the Emperor is in Jiang Xia this year.

this cannot be a notice day action because it's more than 6 words, am i correct?

That's the ability mentioned in the OP that tells you where your emperor is so you know where to go if you need to switch between military/civil.

Telas, on 29 September 2011 - 09:00 AM, said:

This role is awesome! I'm going to die way before I get to enjoy how awesome it is, but at least I can imagine how it would've worked

Osseric, on 29 September 2011 - 09:11 AM, said:

I'm going to guard Tlan Shui

I don't see the harm, it can do some good in case there is a warlord there. I assume I also guard my guy there, unless he moved already in which case the guarding will fail, but I don't see his action being that important. If he's a finder he should be moving to a more central location before his finds get useful.

Or something.

Osseric, on 29 September 2011 - 09:12 AM, said:

Actually,

suppress Tlan Shui, in case you are anal retentive

Noted.

Rashan, on 29 September 2011 - 11:25 AM, said:

Find Tiamatha, if lynched, then Find Gamelon

Action noted.

Rashan, on 29 September 2011 - 11:30 AM, said:

This is awesome D'rek, I finally have a role!!!! (It's the busiest I've been in school in a long time though... >_< ). So I think I've set everything up...

So can I send a Notice or is that only another role's perogative? Do I need to move regularly, and if so how do I go about doing that (on this thread, and where am I starting, in Lu?) Sorry if these questions are redundant, I'm just trying to put in some stuff before I disappear to school today .

From your role PM --> Starting Location: Tian Shui

There is no need to Move regularly, you can stay put all game if you want. You are indeed able to issue a Notice if you like.

[Path-Shaper]

Barghast, on 29 September 2011 - 11:47 AM, said:

Fearsome: guards and kills.
Defence of the Realm: find Korlat. If dead, find Omtose, please.

Noted.

Thyrllan, on 29 September 2011 - 11:53 AM, said:

I see. Are there any restrictions on what we can talk about?

It seems logical that the first lover would be min Emperor, since Zhang Xiu has more information than I do about players. (That's right, isn't it? The Emperor knows who is on their team?)

Sorry, I'm muddling through this a wee bit

No restrictions on what you can talk about.

[Path-Shaper]

Barghast, on 29 September 2011 - 12:00 PM, said:

Move ti Yong-an, please. Bolding is tough from phone so I hope you'll indulge me

Move succeeds - you are now in Yong An.

Sorrit, on 29 September 2011 - 12:01 PM, said:

If Gamelon is lynched, then Find Osseric

K.

[Path-Shaper]

Sheltatha Lore, on 29 September 2011 - 12:41 PM, said:

Move to Han Zhong

Is that how its done?

That is indeed how it is done.

Your attempt to Move to Han Zhong has failed. You remain in Tian Shui.


---

Mockra, on 29 September 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

Thanks for the earlier advice, I think I'm starting to get my head around the various things which need to be done. I still need to think harder about the Duel/Debate thing, is it pure chance or is there a statistical way of gaining an advantage by picking a certain pattern? Anyhoo....

It strikes me that there are some benefits to keeping my alts away from each other on the map, to gain a greater chance of good targets. I also thought that it might be useful so that if one is in danger the other won't be...but then I remembered that if one dies so does the other, harsh that. Why must I get only one life just because everyone else does also?

Sorry, I know this is supposed to be for night actions....so as to those:

Let's have Mockra heal Meanas

And Meanas find Okaros.

For now.

Now to go and think about the thousand other things I need to sort out

Provisionals noted, but see below

Mockra, on 29 September 2011 - 12:46 PM, said:

Right, day actions. Being in Eight Fan I presume I can only move to Jiang Xia, correct? I would like to: Move Mockra to Jiang Xia.

Move succeeds - Mockra is now in Jiang Xia (and cannot Move for the rest of the day). Meanas remains in Eight Fan (and can still move today).

Note that with your current actions, Meanas in Eight fan is doing the find and can only possibly succeed if Okaros is in Jiang Xia or Eight Fan, while Mockra in Jiang Xia is healing back towards Eight Fan but vulnerable to attack from 4 tiles. You sure you didn't want it the other way around (Meanas in Jiang Xia able to find in 4 different tiles and Mockra stashed away in Eight Fan healing Meanas?)

I don't know your long term plans, but short term it looks like you have it backwards. Of course you already moved Mockra, so you can't reverse it completely, anymore...

Mockra, on 29 September 2011 - 12:49 PM, said:

I've decided that Mockra is going to be my sweet innocent face, whilst Meanas is going to be the troublemaker. This is going to be a lot of fun (so long as I don't die straight away - and I am due for that kind of thing).

I presume that you decided Mockra would get no vote power so that I couldn't have too much power late in the game voting-wise? That seems to make sense.

Right, now I need to start thinking about faction numbers....

Divergent personalities, I like it!


---

Kaschan, on 29 September 2011 - 01:56 PM, said:

Kill Kessobahn tonight

Noted.

[Path-Shaper]

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 01:23 PM, said:

Quote

Role: Cen Pi
Role Type: Civil/Military
Faction: Xia
Title: General of Chariots and Cavalry
Starting Location: Xin Du

I started in Xin Du.
I wanted to move to Luo Yang.

So this is your way of basically telling me that my "Move" action has failed...

dohhh

Ooops, no that's me screwing up. You successfully moved to Luo Yang waaay back. When the move fails I will usually say something like "You couldn't move" or "the move failed"

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 01:37 PM, said:

Also --- Which convo should I use to bitch and moan, or add my non-logical / demented / perverted thoughts in??

PS:: MY EMPEROR RIDES THE SHORT YELLOW BUS, WTF.....

Role PM convo works just fine for bitching and demented thoughts.

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 02:14 PM, said:

And btw, this <Notice> ability screams CODE, CODE, FUCKING CODE into my head, ever since I read it.

What the hell, I might actually go for it tomorrow, once I figure out what happened with my move action....

---

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 03:29 PM, said:

Path-Shaper, on 29 September 2011 - 03:14 PM, said:

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 02:22 PM, said:

Question ::: Reading the rules I understand that people can die from duels and debates (why the hell debates btw, are you gonna attack me with nice words and mannerism and ... KILL me? wth? heheh) .... Are we gonna get CF's and possible scenes that explained what happened.. Meaning if I kill someone IN a duel or debate, do I get a chance to actually figure this out?

I could do a Find / Guard on someone for example, and that person might end up dying. Will I get a chance to figure out he died because of the duel / debate and not because of a successful KILL action by someone else?

You'll just have to wait and see!

I don't like surprises unless they are 90-55-90 and wear lingerie!!!

---

the answer is: all duels/debates result in a special scene.


---

Ruse, on 29 September 2011 - 02:32 PM, said:

I am going to stay where I am. I'm guessing my position is strategic for a little overlap with other faction positions. I realize that I could move to my emperor's place and use the kill ability - not only to maybe get a lucky kill on someone, but also to possibly block any kill attempts on me or my leader.

But at first, I really want to try to get information. It seems a calculated risk.

Provisional

Find Atrahal

This is a shot in teh dark, and he's probably far away, but I gotsta try.

Noted.

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 29 September 2011 - 04:02 PM

[Path-Shaper]

Hood, on 29 September 2011 - 03:27 PM, said:

Hey D'rek, do you know if there are any of the 'subs' who could take over for me? I've realised I don't have the time and focus necessary to do my role justice, as I'll be just as busy next week and seem to be fairly important to my team, so don't want to fuck it up for my team by asking for a modkill or being entirely absent, seeing as it's Ironman and looks like it needs close attention. If not then I'll just have to try my best I suppose.

There is a sub if absolutely necessary, but he himself is pretty busy (hence being a sub, it was more in case someone didn't show up at all). The ironman parts is only during the day, and whether you move 1 hour into day or 35 hours into day, it doesn't make much difference (you might get different notices, but that could be good or bad depending).

If you're able to get online once or almost once a day to catch up on thread, talk a little and submit some provisionals for night I think you'll be fine. But if you think you're really, really too busy for the game then I can sub you.

[Path-Shaper]

Tiamatha, on 29 September 2011 - 03:37 PM, said:

I don't want to be Yuan Tan's concubine ANYMORE.

If I so much as slightly detect any *hints* on that, I am well trained in poison use, and not afraid to use it. I tend to hide it in various body places as well.

Please, for the love of Fu-Man-Tsu, can my Emperor not ATTRACT any more attention .... PALEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!

Ignore your avatar and keep telling yourself that you're A GENERAL. RAWR!

[Path-Shaper]

Tennes, on 29 September 2011 - 05:34 PM, said:

Provisional Night Action, Night 1

Illumination
Illuminate Jiang Xia

Noted.

[Path-Shaper]

Barghast, on 29 September 2011 - 06:48 PM, said:

OK, so I'm actually the guy whose level of awesomeness could never be reached by Yet Li (though he's not Lu Bu) ... so you have me that hideous avatar to compensate?

The avatars match the alt names. Silanah is a silver, female dragon so Sil's avatar is a silver-armoured woman. Tennes is very earthy, Omtose and Ruse are blue, etc. Barghast are a bit primitive, so you get a Nanman as your avatar.

---

Path-Shaper, on 29 September 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

Serc, on 29 September 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

Provisionals for Night 1:

Find Tiamatha; if he's dead, find Gamelon

Guard Emurlahn; if he's dead, guard Meanas

You can only use one action each night.

Serc, on 29 September 2011 - 06:58 PM, said:

Well....damn. Ok. New provisional:

Find Tiamatha; if he's dead, find Gamelon

Okay


---

Meanas, on 29 September 2011 - 07:11 PM, said:

Goddamn it, yes you're right. I was thinking about it like that, but then selected the wrong one to move, duh. Thank you for pointing it. Although I would have preferred to have Meanas healed (instinctive reasons), I'll have to swap it around. Could I have:

Meanas heal Mockra

Mockra find Okaros

Thanks again.

Noted.

Meanas, on 29 September 2011 - 07:12 PM, said:

Although I suppose I could move Meanas to Jiang Xia as well....no, I'll leave it for now.

[Path-Shaper]

Barghast, on 29 September 2011 - 07:34 PM, said:

Path-Shaper, on 29 September 2011 - 07:21 PM, said:

Barghast, on 29 September 2011 - 06:48 PM, said:

OK, so I'm actually the guy whose level of awesomeness could never be reached by Yet Li (though he's not Lu Bu) ... so you have me that hideous avatar to compensate?

The avatars match the alt names. Silanah is a silver, female dragon so Sil's avatar is a silver-armoured woman. Tennes is very earthy, Omtose and Ruse are blue, etc. Barghast are a bit primitive, so you get a Nanman as your avatar.

Ah, OK. Because when I noticed the avatars of Tennes and myself and thinking I'm his second-in-command master of awesome and he's my boss, we sure both look a lot like savages. And the last thing I'd want to happen for my faction is a bogus case based on avatar looks coming out correctly by sheer coincidence

Yeah, I noticed that too. The alts were assigned to roles completely randomly, so it's just coincidence that the two of you got similarish avatars. On the other hand, that could benefit you if everyone else finds it too ridiculous to believe that such a connection could exist.


---

Omtose, on 29 September 2011 - 07:45 PM, said:

I would like to repeatedly punch Emurlahn in the head.

---

Meanas, on 29 September 2011 - 07:57 PM, said:

Now, if I was an Emperor, I wouldn't want to be hanging around the hubs, as there's more danger coming from more directions there. So if I wanted to kill an emperor, I would probably move to more isolated bits of their territory.

So I think I have destinations in mind, but no targets as yet.

[Path-Shaper]

Emurlahn, on 29 September 2011 - 08:05 PM, said:

where are my loyal followers?

the only one that pings me as a likely ally so far is Tiamatha.

---

Serc, on 29 September 2011 - 08:05 PM, said:

Out of curiosity, did I miss in the rules where it says only one action is allowed per night? I can't seem to find it.

Dunno if I actually wrote it in there. It's common mafia practice for roles with multiple standard actions, though.

[Path-Shaper]

Okaros, on 29 September 2011 - 08:41 PM, said:

Another question. Is it possible to move and heal in the same phase?

Heal is a night action and move is a day action, so no you can't do them in the same phase. But you can move on, say, day 3 and then heal on night 3, etc.

Okaros, on 29 September 2011 - 08:41 PM, said:

Oh, and I am assuming one can only move to an adjacent tile?

Correct.


---

Clearly some people haven't caught on that the roles were based on continuing previous roles...

Emurlahn, on 29 September 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

really? a usurper-hunter?


these people are REALLY unfamiliar with the source material.



it's not like anyone really knows about Sima's treachery.

sigh

why couldn't we just win the battle of the Red Cliffs/Shang Yong



fun fact: wasn't I Yuan Shao in that game? and now I get to play his son

you know, I have a really BAD track record at being important Chinese political figures--first Dong zhuo, then Yuan Shao, now this......



also, maybe Okaros is with me too, hmmm...

---

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 09:47 PM, said:

Well, at least I've got things moving. I managed to get some direct interaction with Osseric, but I couldn't think of a good way to let him know he's voting for someone on his own team.

I've also tried to reduce the weight of my case to get people to think about other options. I don't know if that's the best strategy, but it feels like it's best for the game as a whole. Having slept on it, there's no way that Ment (I assume that's Emurlahn) would have tried to drop a signal the post after someone accused him of signalling. It's just not plausible from a psychological standpoint.

Gamelon, on 29 September 2011 - 10:05 PM, said:

I'm kind of hoping that people look at my reckless trolling and decide there's no way I can have a power role. Just wish there were more people around for me to berate.

berate the low-posters? Plenty of those!

---

Rashan, on 29 September 2011 - 10:35 PM, said:

Move to Han Zhong

Succeeds, you are now in Han Zhong.


---

Omtose, on 30 September 2011 - 12:43 AM, said:

I pulled a nice bullshit reason to vote for Gamelon, but I immediately followed Korlat. Hopefully someone will see that and think that I am signalling that Korlat is my master. See now that would be signalling. Coming out and saying that you just passed your civil servant exam isn't.

Omtose, on 29 September 2011 - 09:10 PM, said:

Ha Emurlahn is Mental, and I already owe him punches to the head..... Looking at list..... Checking.... Yep I have kicks to the body open. Now I owe mental punches to the head and kicks to the body.