[Path-Shaper]

Sekarand's Tower was not even two decades old, but it was widely know to be the most haunted structure in all of Theft. The liches howled wildly every night and could be seen wandering in the tower and the grounds. By the time Sergeant Guld retired from the city watch and had the liches cease their howling, every home and store for ten blocks around the Tower had been abandoned. Rumours that the liches had stopped screaming eventually spread, but the citizens of Moll were too interested in their continued survival to move back into the Tower's neighbourhood. The same quality cannot be applied to the many adventurers, treasure hunters, scholars and other riff raff who came from across Theft and beyond to delve what the High Sorceror had left behind...

[Path-Shaper]

Core Setup:

This is a Town vs Cult game. There are only two factions:

Adventurers ("Town")
The Adventurers are initially much more numerous but overall less informed. They win when all Bahamudites are dead, either at Dusk or Dawn (ie: immediately after a lynch or at the very start of Day).

Bahamudites ("Cult" or "Scum")
The Bahamudite cult begins the game at an extreme numerical disadvantage, which they must rectify to win. The Bahamudites are a cult, and have a regular recruit ability which can convert an Adventurer into a Bahamudite. The Bahamudites win when a majority-plus-one of all living players are Bahamudites (ie, with 8 or 9 players alive a majority is 5, so Bahamudites need 6 to win). If 7 or less players are alive, they only need a majority. The game ends in Bahamudite victory at dusk (immediately after the lynch) if the Bahamudites have the needed numbers (the game does not end in Bahamudite victory at any other time, even if they have the numbers).

If, at Dusk or Dawn, all players are dead and a faction has not yet won (unlikely, but it can happen), the game ends in a tie.

Day is 34 hours. Night is 2 hours.

The modkill timer for inactivity is 36 hours, ie you must post every day/night phase.


Lynches:

Everyone gets 1 vote, achieve a majority vote to lynch a player and day ends immediately. There is one lynch every day.

You may not self-vote. You may not vote Night.




Espers:

The story revolves around a misfit band of adventurers unleashing three ancient creatures, the Apostl'eyds. An Apostl'ey is a ghost-like entity of limited sentience which can do nothing on its own, but can inhabit another being. The being hosting an Apostl'ey is an Esper and has access to the ancient knowledge and powers of its resident Apostl'ey. The Apostl'ey, in turn, might influence the Esper in certain ways depending on the Apostl'ey's personality... (this last part doesn't really affect the game other than determining factions)

There are three Apostl'eyds in the game. Any player can become an Esper - a host to one of the Apostl'eyds. While you are an Esper you gain additional abilities and/or information depending on what Apostl'ey you host. You can only be host to one Apostl'ey at a time. One of the Apostl'eyds can only be hosted by Bahamudites and provides the main recruiting ability. The other two Apostl'eyds can only be hosted by Adventurers - one Apostl'ey provides a(n) ability(ies) to help the Adventurers against the Bahamudites and the other Apostl'ey is kinda neutral (but can still only be hosted by an Adventurer, so will benefit the Adventurers more if used well).

When an Esper dies, the Apostl'ey is passed-on to another player in their faction who becomes the new Esper of that Apostl'ey. If the Esper died from a lynch or during the night, the successor becomes the new Esper at Dawn. Otherwise, the transfer happens immediately.

Espers still have access to their basic Character abilities. There are no restrictions (unless otherwise stated in role/Esper PMs) on using multiple actions in one phase.





Characters, Roles, Abilities, etc:

This is where things get complicated, so I am going to use specific terms (underlined and italics). Sticking to the same terminology in-game may help to make things less confusing for you players.


Player - The term Player refers to someone playing this game of mafia, as known by their usual forum alt (ie: Silencer).

Character [Name] - The term Character refers to the made-up identity that the player is assuming for this game (ie: Silencer is playing as Kalam Mekhar). This is the term that is most interchangeable with the traditional "role" term. Each player is assigned one (and only one) Character at the start of the game and will play as that Character until the end of the game.

Additional Character Information - All Characters have a name that they go by (ie Kalam Mekhar), certain behaviours (ie a tendency to stab people), a back-story and a physical description, most of which has little to no bearing on the game other than recognition in scenes and relating somewhat to their abilities (ie: a character who's backstory is being a private detector might have a Find ability).

Abilities - Every Character has one or more abilities inherent to themself. These abilities might be passive or triggered, unlimited or limited, day or night, informative or active, etc. Some abilities are more powerful than others, some may be considered very impractical and some may be used much more than others, too. No two Characters have the same set of abilities.

Role Type - A brief word or two which summarize a Character's abilities. If they have a standard-mafia set of abilities, the Role Type will be exactly that (ie: "Guard"). If they have a modified standard role, the Role Type will reflect that, too (ie: "Insane Finder"). Some Characters' abilities are too unique for the Role Type to be anything close to a standard role, in which case the Role Type is also unique, but still usually more or less reflective of their abilities.

Alignment - Whether the Character is currently an Adventurer or a Bahamudite.

Alt - The alternate forum account that the player logs into while playing this game of mafia (ie: Fener).

Esper Status - Whether the Character is currently an Esper or not.

Host To ___ - If the Character is an Esper, which of the three Apostl'eyds the Character is host to.



Here is a sample role PM, with colouring showing the various sections. All role PMs have this format.

Quote

Banaschar
Adventurer

The figure standing before the broad-stepped entrance wore the garb of a Malazan sailor, faded waterproof leathers, a worn shirt of thin, ragged linen. His dark hair was in a queue, hanging down between his shoulders and otherwise unadorned. As he turned at their approach, the sergeant saw a middle-aged face with even, benign features, although there was something odd about the man's eyes, something vaguely fevered.

Race: Human
Origin: Jakatakan
Gender: Male
Age: 53

An ex-priest of D'rek, now a drunkard. His favourite food is steamed cabbage and he can bench press 40 pineapples. His backstory is that the mods arbitrarily put him in the game as the example role PM but then he got drunk and fell out of Spoiler Heaven so he won't be in the game any further.

Role Type: Useless Drunkard

Abilities:

Throw an Empty Bottle (NA) - Each night you may throw an empty bottle and it makes a loud crashing noise. Every night that you use this ability a crashing sound will be added into the end-of-night scene.

Coroner Find:

This game has a Coroner Find (CF) for all deaths. The CF is posted on thread after the character's death scene. In the case of modkills, it may be delayed to the end of the current phase (mods' decision).

Initially, the CF will only provide the Alt and Character Name of the deceased, but there is a hidden mechanic that can result in more information about the deceased being included in the CF.



Scenes:

Scenes will be posted in the game-thread every Dusk - resolving the lynch - and every Dawn - revealing the results of night. Additional scenes will also be posted in the game-thread when certain events occur.

Furthermore, many private communications from Path-Shaper will be in the form of a scene (often in a 2nd-person PoV, too).

In general, scenes will not give enough detail to reveal the actions of a Player, nor to closely relate a Character to a certain Alt. There are some specific event scenes which are exceptions to this, but these are all pretty much either unavoidable or beneficial to all involved parties.

So basically, there's clues in scenes but it won't be so bad that you should ever fear to use your abilities because of them.



Reveals:

Generally, all in-game, in-character information is valid for revealing and discussing, but information related to Path-Shaper, how the game is run or meta-topics is forbidden. Some good rules to obey are as follows:


1. You may discuss and reveal your character/role traits:

{a} You may reveal your character name and role type
{b} You may reveal character traits and information (ie: "my hair is green", "I'm from Umryg")
{c} You may reveal your actions and the details of how they work
{d} You may reveal what happened in scenes from private PMs on-thread

2. You may not use or discuss communications from Path-Shaper:

{a} Never quote directly from your role PMs or other information given by PS
{b} Do not take the description of something in your Role PM, change a few words and/or paraphrase it, and then post that as if it is original - re-write completely any PM information you divulge on-thread
{c} Do not discuss/compare the formatting of your PMs
{d} If you are uncertain about if you can say something on-thread, ask PS before you do
{e} Never say/discuss/claim that you are "waiting for confirmation from PS" or "have asked PS about _____", etc, even if you are in the midst of checking something for {d}, above

3. No meta-information

{a} Do not reveal your player name on-thread
{b} You may discuss past mafia games openly, but not individual player behaviours from them
{c} You can discuss meta information pertaining to game design - ie comparing past game mechanics and mod styles

4. All of the above applies to all reveals, regardless of if the reveal is fake, genuine, or a mix of both.


Lastly, resolving night is a long and complicated process. Please do not reveal the results of your NAs until the following Day has begun.

This post has been edited by Path-Shaper: 28 June 2012 - 06:54 PM

[Path-Shaper]

General Rules, copy/pasted:

The standard rules of Mafia:

Game Mechanics

1 - General Structure
Players may begin posting as soon as the mods announce that the game has started on the thread. The game begins during the day. The day ends when when a sufficient number of people have voted to lynch a player (remove that player from the game) or voted to end the day without a lynch. Many games also have time limits on the days, and if no consensus is reached when the time expires, the day ends with no lynch (35 hours is the time limit for the present game). When the day phase has ended, night begins. The mods will then post a scene reporting the outcome of the day. Players may continue posting in the thread (unless they've been voted out) but no voting is allowed. Night ends when the mods post the morning scene reporting the outcome of the night actions. Day and night phases continue to alternate until the game ends.

2 - Day Phase
During the day, players may post in the thread and vote. Some roles may have special powers which can be used during the day.

2.1 - Voting Mechanics
To vote for a player: bold "vote" and that player's name.
To vote to end the day without a lynch: bold the phrase "vote night".
To remove your vote without casting a new vote: bold the phrase "remove vote".
To change your vote for a player: First bold remove vote then vote for the new player.

The vote should be positioned at the end of a post, and be clearly seperated from the rest of the post. Example:

Quote

your text, many quotes, brilliant arguments and a clever and convincing conclusion. Alternatively, a lame joke.

remove vote

vote Killer

2.2 - Voting Restrictions
You may only vote during the day phase. You can only have one vote outstanding at any time. You may not edit a vote into a post. You may not edit a vote out of a post.

2.3 - Bold Restrictions
The use of bold should be limited to voting. If you want to emphasize a players name or another word, you can underline the word or post using a different color

2.4 - Majority Defined
A majority means either more than half of the active players voting for one player's lynch or half or more of the active players voting to go to night without a lynch.
If a player is modkilled during the day, the majorities will not adjust.
If a player dies during the day due to a player's ability, majorities will adjust.

2.5 - Ending the Day
The day ends as soon as a majority is reached (or, if the game has a day time limit and the players fail to achieve a majority, once the time limit has elapsed). Anyone lynched is no longer an active player and must not post in the thread. Votes can no longer be withdrawn and new votes cannot be cast until the night phase ends.

2.6 - Evening Scene
The mods will post a scene shortly after the day ends to report the results of the day actions. If the day ended with a player's lynch, the mods might also reveal information about the lynched player, such as the player's alt or alignment. This is the mods' choice, and they'll explain what, if any, information will be revealed in the game rules. There are no hidden clues in the evening scenes.

3 - Night Phase
During the night, players may post in the thread but may not vote. Some players will have the ability to perform special actions. Once again, the mods decide which roles will be included for their game, so be sure to fully read the game rules and any role descriptions which may be included.

3.1 - Performing a Night Action
If your role includes the ability to perform a special action at night, you need to PM the mods to indicate the action you wish to take. Most, if not all, roles have the ability to "withhold" their powers (i.e. take no action). This will be made clear to the roled players, and, usually, to all other players as well. If you chose to not perform your allowed action, you must PM "no action" to the mods. Most games have a time limit on nights (12 hours is the time limit for the present game). All players must PM their night actions to the mods within this timeframe. Players are strongly encouraged to send their night actions as soon as possible. You may also send in a PM for your special action during the day phase, this is very strongly encouraged.

3.2 - Contingent PM
If you send in a PM during the day phase, you may choose to list alternative actions contingent on the manner in which the day ended. If none of the contingencies you list actually occur, your PM will be disregarded, and you must send a new PM to the mods (example: if Meanas is lynched I kill Kaschan, otherwise I kill Hood's Path).

3.3 - Provisional PM
You may choose to send a provisional PM if you want to further consider your night action but do not want to extend the night if all other roled players have decided upon their actions. Provisional PMs must be clearly marked as such. A provisional PM will not be acted upon by the mods until it becomes a 'definite PM.' A provisional PM becomes definite as soon as ( a ) you confirm your choice with another PM, ( b ) all other roled players that need to send night actions have done so, or ( c ) the time limit for the night has expired.

As a courtesy to other players we ask that you confirm your provisional PM as soon as you are able.

3.4 - Last Resort PM
In extraordinary circumstances you may be allowed to send in a last resort PM. A last resort PM will not be acted upon by the mods until ( a ) you confirm your choice with another PM or ( b ) the time limit for the night has expired. Should you need to send a last resort PM, you must first seek the mods approval by explaining the circumstances that necessitate such a PM. Last resort PMs are accepted only at the discretion of the mods.

3.5 - Failure to PM
If not all PMs are received within the time limit, everyone who has failed to send in a PM will be considered to have taken no action. In addition, those who failed to send in a PM will be warned by the mods or may risk further penalties.

3.6 - Changing a Night Action
PMs to the mod can be changed at any point before the new day is announced. A PM is considered to be changed only after the mod receives and has read the PM. The player bears the risk that the mod will post the morning scene after the player has sent in a new PM but before the mod has actually read it.

3.7 - Abusing the Time Limit
If the mods have included a night time limit, it begins as soon as the previous day ended, regardless of when the mods posted the evening scene. However, this time limit is a maximum limit, and all players should send in PMs as soon as they feel comfortable doing so. Players (and mods) prefer shorter nights, as people are anxious to see who may have died and to begin voting again. If the mods feel that a player is abusing the time limit by unreasonably stalling, they may force the player to take no night action or take other appropriate action.

3.8 Preventing Night Actions
Except where expressly noted, no night actions prevent any other night actions sent in from taking effect.

3.9 - Morning Scene
The night phase ends when the mods post the morning scene. The mods will post the scene shortly after all night action PMs have been received. The scene will report any player deaths that occurred during the night, and might also reveal information about the lynched player, such as the player's alt or alignment. There are no hidden clues in the morning scenes. As soon as the scene is posted any players who have been killed at night will no longer be active players and can no longer post in the thread. The time limit for the new day will begin with the morning scene.

Section 4 - Endgame
The game will continue to alternate between day and night phases until the game ends. The game can end after either a day or night phase.

4.1 - Winning Conditions
The game ends once one faction has reached its winning conditions, which the mods will state in a later post.

Mafia is a team game. Once one faction achieves its winning conditions, all members of that faction have won whether or not they are active players when the winning conditions are achieved.

4.2 - Ending Scene
The mods will post an ending scene and declare the game over shortly after one faction achieves its winning conditions. If for any reason it becomes impossible for either faction to achieve its winning conditions, the mods will declare the game a draw.

The game is only over when a mod posts the ending scene. Even if you know (or believe you know) the result of the game before then, you may not post in the thread unless you are an active player.

4.3 - Calling the Game Early
The mods reserve the right to end the game at any time before a faction achieves its winning conditions provided there are compelling reasons to do so. In general, the mods will end the game early as soon as one faction's victory becomes inevitable.

4.4 - Spoilers
When the game is over, the mods will reveal the alts and roles of everybody who played and also give everyone access to the spoiled spectator threads on the discussion board.

RULES

All players must:

A1) Have an account on malazanempire.com/forums

A2) Log in and view the thread and the discussion board anonymously at all times, unless they have informed the mods that this is not possible for technical reasons or if you are the all powerful tyrant Steve

A3) Post at least once every 36 hours. Any player who has not posted within the last 36 hours will be automatically modkilled, whether or not the mods announce this on the thread. Warnings will be issued after 24 hours and subsequently closer to the deadline.

The mods may grant extensions to this limit in some cases (if so, they will give details in a later post). However, if they have not posted on the thread to announce an extension before the 24 hour limit is reached, no extension will be granted, whatever may have been said elsewhere. Please contact the mods as early as possible if you wish to request an extension.

A4) Send in role prescribed night actions (including the desire to take no action) within the time limit

A5) Treat everybody else playing with courtesy and respect

A6) Make any edits the mods request of them as soon as possible, whether or not they believe that the posts need to be edited.

A7) Contact the game mods as soon as possible if they feel you are at risk of breaking a rule or fear they or another person may have already done so.

A8) You must not edit previous posts unless to change spelling or grammar.

Players must not:

B1) Act in any way intended to reduce the chance of their faction achieving its win conditions. (However, should all surviving members of a faction agree that they wish to resign and end the game early, they may do so by PMing the mods privately, without stating their intentions on-thread until the mods post to announce that the game is over.)

B2) Discuss the game with any other living players outside this game thread except when told they may do so in their role PMs.

B3) Reveal any information about the game at all in any other thread than this one, or in any other forum (including message boards and chat rooms) where it may be seen by a living player.

B4) Give anybody access to any of their accounts (including game alts, if the game is using them), either here or on the mafia discussion board.

B5) Attempt to obtain advice about the game from anybody not currently playing.

B6) Post information on the thread relating to another player's past or current activity on (or absence from) the board that would not otherwise be available to anybody reading the thread.

B7) Quote, in whole or part, PMs from (or other private conversations with) the mods on the thread, or discuss the timing of any PMs sent to the mods.

B8) Post on the thread at any time after they are dead until the mods themselves post on the thread to announce that the game is over. Any posts accidently made after death should be immediately edited blank.

B9) Make any bets about the game.

B10) Offer to break any of these rules or any other rules the mods have set in place for the game, encourage others to do so or help to conceal the fact that rules have been broken.

B11) Revealing the name of your character is expressly forbidden both in the living thread and in the beyond, doing so will result in a modkill and the removal of your player from both here and heaven.

AND JUST SO YOU KNOW

C1) Failure to comply with the rules may result in any punishment the mods deem appropriate, including, but not limited to: a request to edit posts; formal warnings on thread; "modkilling", lashing, spanking, paddling, the rack, thumbscrews, waterboarding, time-out, death and/or ending the game prematurely in favor of one faction or none. Except where clearly stated in the rules, the mods are free to respond to any rules violation in whatever manner they wish. In all cases the mods' decision on these matters is final.

C2) Feel free to PM your thoughts (or questions) to the mods. We love to hear them!

C3) The mods reserve the right to amend the rules during the game if we realize we've forgotten to cover something.

-------------------------

As well as running the game on this thread, the mods are also responsible for administering the spoiler thread on the temporary forum and anybody not actively involved in the game (whether spectators or dead players who no longer wish to play) can request access to this thread by PMing the mods. Only dead players will have access to the Beyond. Please note that while in general the mods will be happy to let anybody have access to this thread, they do reserve the right to refuse access to anybody for any reason. Accordingly, please do not ask anybody other than the mods for access to the spoiler thread or give yourself access to it, even if you have the power to do so. Any posts found to contravene these rules will be deleted and the responsible players will be added to a blacklist for any future games run my this mod.

Once given access to the thread, spoiled spectators should also take note of the following rules, and must not:

D1) Share any information from the spoiler thread with living players, or post such in a forum where it may be seen by living players.

D2) Offer any advice, hints or strategy to living players.

D3) Make personal attacks on players in the game or on posters in the spoiler thread itself

D4) Post on the game thread before the mods announce that the game is over.

D5) PM living or dead players with comments on the game.

[Path-Shaper]

Alt and Role PMs are all sent out.

If you should have any trouble, now or ever, with your alts let Path-Shaper know!

[Path-Shaper]

Having not been a particularly good sorceror, Sekarand's mysteries were largely disappointing to scholars, fortune seekers and practitioners alike. One by one the travellers departed to seek their fame elsewhere. Only about a dozen were left when the secret barrow was found beneath the tower's lowest sub-basement. Oddly, there was no trap door or other entrance into the barrow, just a crack in the floor that gave away its existence. How then did Sekarand get into it? Leaving that question for later, the remaining adventurers dug their way into the barrow, each expecting to find buried beneath the tower the gold, ancient scrolls, magical artefacts or other treasure they sought. Jumping down through the crack brought the adventurers into what seemed to be an empty storage closet. Torches were lit, warrens were probed and the adventurers set off through the open closet doorway. Beyond, a short hallway soon became a labyrinth of rooms, stairs and passageways, all pitch black and deserted.

Onwards and downwards they went, each Adventurer sure that someone else would remember the way out, until the last torch died and still no treasure had been found. Surrounded now in darkness, they could see light streaming around a corner ahead. Running towards the light in a panicked mob, they rushed into a domed chamber, lit with blue and red light, every wall covered in arcane glyphs. In the chamber's center was a raised shallow basin, or perhaps an altar of sorts. Sitting in the basin, its contours matching the bowl's curvature, sat a crystalline sphere made of red and dark blue translucent crystal. A close inspection of the sphere revealed it to be hollow and filled with a pulsing purple mist which floated and flowed randomly. It was this orb which lit the room, casting the walls in slashes of red and blue which deepened and flared randomly.


 Esper Chamber FFF9 x2.jpg (1.52MB)
Number of downloads: 1


The adventurers stared transfixed at the sphere for several minutes, until a grizzled old treasure hunter cleared his throat and said "That's a shiny rock, how much ya think we can sell it for?"

[Path-Shaper]

It is Day 1. 34 hours and 00 minutes remaining
14 Players still alive: Anomandaris, Barghast, D'riss, Eloth, Fener, Kalse, Kaschan, Liosan, Osseric, Rashan, Serc, Sheltatha Lore, Telas, Tellan

8 votes to lynch, 8 votes to go to night.

[Tellan]

Ok, First. For realz

[Tellan]

So... Whats up guys?

[Sheltatha Lore]

Hello fellow Mafia players! Looking forward to this game, it seems like it's going to be very interesting!!

[Tellan]

It does. I wonder, do the apostl'eyds start out possessing people or does it happen during the game (possession)?

[Liosan]

Did you really FIRSTSTS this?

Bring it properly yo.

[Kaschan]

Can I touch the globe Path-Shaper?

[Kaschan]

If yes, I do so.

[Liosan]

Oh, I see that you made the request publicly.

Not sneaky. That's sneaky.

[Kaschan]

Oh, right, PM. I was more thinking in terms of D&D.

[Liosan]

Can I touch the other players? If so, slap them and say it's time for interspecies sexing.

[Kaschan]

Well, I think I'll abstain Liosan for the moment. As you can see from my cheek, I'm already in a bad relationship.

[Liosan]

I'll warm you up.

*badumtish

[Telas]

I'm sorry you all had to suffer through the first posts without my presence. I am here now, to grace you with my beauty and..uh. grace.

[Telas]

And thank goodness I don't have to suffer anyone else's presence....