castledoom.com

[ExarKun]

I: Introduction
Ia: Night
Ib: Day

II: Roles
IIa: Wolves
IIb: The Villagers
IIc: The Masons
IId: The Seer
IIe: The Vigilante
IIf: The Lovers
IIg: The Guardian Angel
IIh: The Undertaker

III: Variant Roles
IIIa: Wolves with Conversion
IIIb: Gluttonous Wolf
IIIc: The Wolfpack Leader
IIId: The Clairvoyant
IIIe: Town Drunk
IIIf: Double Trouble
IIIg: Themes

IV: Rules
IVa: Absentee Penalties
IVb: Voting
IVc: Game End
IVd: Death of a Player
IVe: Do's And Dont's

V: Tips and Hints
Va: Being the Seer
Vb: Being the Guardian Angel
Vc: Being a Mason
Vd: Being a Wolf
Ve: Being a Villager
Vf: The Status Page






I: Introduction

The Werewolf Game is a murder mystery Role-Playing game. The basic premise of the game is very simple: you live in a village and in this village there are wolves who are the enemy. The wolves eat the villagers each night and the villagers attempt to lynch the wolves during the day while the wolves pretend to be villagers.

Most players start the game in ignorance of what roles everyone else has. Yet there are exceptions. The wolves knows who are the other Wolves. The human Masons also know who are the other masons. But the humans generally play in paranoid ignorance of who is a friend or foe. Anyone around you could be a wolf. There is a small hope, the Seer (to be explained later) can possibly find the wolves.

That is the overview and your challenge.

Ia: Night

Night is when the werewolves prowl. At night the werewolves decide whom to kill and inform the GM of whom they have chosen. Any players with special roles may also tell the GM they are using them.

In the morning, the GM describes the bloody murder, and notifies any players of their special role results.

Ib: Day

During the Day, all of the players -- including the wolves -- vote in the public forum thread to lynch one the players in hopes to catch a wolf.


II: Roles

All players have roles in the game chosen by a mandatory random process. No role is ever guaranteed to be used in a game and the GM has the flexibility to modify the roles to fit their game choice. User suggested roles shall be updated here periodically. The GM MUST tell the people before each game what roles they will be using.

IIa: The Wolves - "bad guys" of the game. All of the wolves know each other and must vote on whom to kill each night.

To vote all the wolves must send a PM to the GM of there choice for their victim during or before the night period of the game. In case of a tie of votes it is up to the GM to decide how to handle it. The most commonly accepted ways are to either randomly pick between the tied choices or not let the wolves eat anyone. This choice at GM discretion based on a public decision posted before the game

IIb: The Villagers The villagers are simple people who have no powers but participate in the daily lynching votes.

IIc: The Masons These are a small group of villagers that know each other as being human and thus can confide in each other. These players can't be converted if said ability is in that particular game.

IId: The Seer can prognosticate once per night at one single player to determine their race and role.

To use their power they must PM their choice to the GM at night or prior before the new day starts. The GM will then PM them the results of their vision. If the seer sends their choice ahead of time then they will not receive the answer until the following day period. If the seer sends an updated request before the night period starts then the last PM is the one that will be used.

IIe: The Vigilante - can lynch another player -- once per game -- of his own volition, without having to consult with any other player. This power is used during the day.

To use their power, the Vigilante writes a post in the public game forum that he is The Vigilante and whom he wishes to lynch. The GM will confirm that the player is actually The Vigilante and write the act into the storyline.

IIf: The Lovers - two players who are linked. When one dies, the other also dies. If The Lovers are intentionally chosen as one wolf and one villager, that villager cannot be converted.

If this role is used the GM will send messages to the two lovers, it is up to the two lovers to decide if they wish to tell.

IIg: The Guardian Angel - The Guardian Angel (or GA) may choose one player per night to protect from a wolf attack. The GA tells the GM which player they wish to protect via PM before the night period. Same rule as the Seer applies if the GA changes their choice for protection. The GA may chose to protect any other person in the game and can protect the same person repeatedly, but they still must send a pm before every night period or no one will be protected that night.

If the wolves pick that target as their victim that night then they fail and no further victim may be chosen until the next night.

The GA is not allowed to use this power to protect themselves. Although the GA cannot protect themselves, they have a 10% chance of being automatically protected from any given wolf attack.


IIh: The Undertaker can identify the race of one dead player per day in those games where dead players are not identified.


III: Variant Roles

The true beauty of this game is in its variations. A GM is not required to use the standard Wolf versus the Villagers format. Any GM can create different variations for the game at will before the game and post them. So let your imagination go wild. The following are some examples of common variations.

IIIa: Wolves with Conversion - They have standard wolf attributes plus the ability to turn villagers into wolves. How often this power is used is on the GM's discretion. GM's are encourage to practice discretion with this ability to retain game balance. One conversion per game by the special wolf is common. This wolf variant also knows the members of their wolf community.

IIIb: Gluttonous Wolf - once per game at night only this wolf variant has the option to kill one extra villager along with the one the wolves are going to kill. This wolf variant also knows the members of their wolf community.

IIIc: The Wolfpack Leader - The Wolfpack Leader is the most powerful of all the wolf variants. They get the power to convert one villager into a wolf. They also get to "vision" one person every other night to help find the human seer. And also can eat one extra person in the game at night. Note: This is a very unbalancing wolf variant in any game. GM's must use extreme caution to balance the human and other wolf roles accordingly. It is never wise to add this to a game with other wolf variants. It is only recommended that experienced GM's use this role in their game.

IIId: The Clairvoyant - A variant on the Seer role. They ask the GM specific short questions. Once per night, The Clairvoyant can ask the GM any Yes-or-No question, which the GM must answer to the best of his ability.

The GM may assign a failure chance when they assign the role. A 17% (1-out-of-6) is suggested as a failure chance for game-balance. If the GM does not know the answer to the question, they may answer "Maybe" or "I don’t know". Most questions about future events fall into this category. If failure is indicated then GM deviousness is encouraged. For instance, a "no" could be answered as "yes" or "maybe". An "I-don’t-know" answer could be switched to a "yes" or "no". Or optionally, give a 2/3 change of a correct answer, with the remaining 1/3 always answered "I Don’t Know". No incorrect information would be given.

IIIe: Town Drunk - The town drunk, a Seer variant, will go out on a nightly drinking binge and wake up with a very hazy recollection of what they saw while wandering the streets at night. The knowlege he gets from his escapade could give hints to wolves or human special roles, but the nights are so vague he can never be 100% positive. This role is usually for the GM to enhance the storyline and roleplay.

IIIf: Double Trouble - There are two groups of monsters that are naturally antagonistic such as Werewolves and Vampires as an example. Since these groups are hunting the same territory there is a natural rivalry with the other group. That in addition the normal human hatred common with evil groups.

These two groups know only their own members, and none of the opposing group. In the interest of playability, the Wolves and Vampires would alternate nights for kills.

If the Wolves pick a Vampire, or vice-versa, as a victim, there is a 50/50 chance that the attack is by surprise, in which case the bodyof the victim will appear to be of a normal Villager when found in the morning. If the attack is noticed by the victim, both the attacker and victim change to their monster forms and fight to the death, with the victor chosen by a 50/50 coin-flip. In this case, the dead body is identifiable as either a Wolf or Vampire. If the victim kills the attacker, the killed player will be chosen at random by the GM from the attacker's group.

For the humans to win, they have to eliminate both the Wolves and Vampires. For either Wolves or Vampires to win, their group must outnumber the total remaining players.

IIIg: Themes - The idea behind themes is to allow people's favorite movies, books, and the like to be superimposed onto the TWG game. Examples are Star Wars or LoTR based games. The possibilities are limitless, but all created roles need to be based off the original game's inherent powers and limitations.


IV: Rules and Customs

The very limited rule base is as follows:

IVa: Missing and Abstention Voting - Missing voting in a short game like TWG truly affects the game for all other players. Don't sign up if you don't have the time free to visit every day during the game. There are automatic penalties for missing a vote. Players can alternatively make emergency arrangements in advance if they find during a game that they must miss votes due to unexpected life events. This is totally at GM discretion.

There is a frequently used optional rule that allows GM's to state at the beginning of the game that players can abstain from voting for tactical purposes. Usually two abstentions are given to each player per game. During the course of the game, each player is allowed to say "I choose not to vote" two (2) times. After using the two abstentions, saying it again will count as a missed vote.

Penalities for missed voting:

1st Missed Vote: Warning and automatic use of one abstention.
2nd Missed Vote: Phantom Vote and automatic use of second abstention.
3rd Missed Vote: Instant Death (race and role are revealed)

A phantom vote is the penalty of having one automatic vote against the player every day for the rest of the game in the villager voting for the next lynch victim. The penalty is only one vote total per day and not a compounding penalty.

Or the GM may give fewer allowances, if null voting is disallowed.

IVb: Revealing Roles - This is a very vague rule. It is possibly a risk to reveal your role. Many people will not believe you, especially if you do it in the actual game. Posting screenshots of communications to prove you are what you claim is forbidden in game and can easily be a forgery.

IVc: Voting - All of the living villagers (including the wolves) then vote on which player to lynch. Each player should make a post, with the name of his lynch choice in bold. Players are allowed to change their vote if later players have information that persuades them. To change a vote the player should edit their original vote-post and replace the name with the boldened word "Retracted", and make a new post with their new vote.

Once a majority of remaining players votes for a single player, that player is immediately lynched and removed from the living villager pool.

If a majority is not reached after 24-hours then the GM will declare a run-off of the top-2 vote-getters. All votes for those two players are "locked-in" and anyone who voted for another player must re-vote for one of the two. If an exact 50/50 vote results, it is then the GM's discretion on what to do. The GM can either randomly pick a person, kill both, or kill neither. It is custom that the GM state his favored course of action in ties before the game starts.

He may even sequester the players and extend the day period until a true majority is reached.

IVd: Death of a Player - Players are forbidden to speak at the moment of declared death unless the GM authorizes it in the beginning variant rules. It is a common variant to allow lynched players a "dying breath" single statement. Upon death, the player is limited to the dead players lounge for continued discussion. Existing live players are warned to view the dead player lounge comments with scepticism. The dead can still lie to protect compatriots still in the game.

IVe: Do's And Dont's - Beyond the rules mentioned here (and/or the rule threads), nothing is truly absolute.

You are free to tell others your race/role, but expect them not to believe you. If someone tells you theirs then be suspicious. This is a game of lies and manipulation.

Don't cheat. Besides being almost impossible, it becomes the GM's sole discretion as to your punishment. You will certainly be ejected from the game and future GM's have the right to refuse your entry into their games as well. A cheater might find themselves banned from game sign-ups for a long time. Possibly even permanently. GM's are encouraged to take a hard line with known cheaters.

Posting screenshots of communications is in very poor form and may be disallowed by the GM. Players are reminded that screenshots of communications can be easily faked in a forum environment. It is easier to get the second party in the communication to corroborate your story in public. As a player, this is a very poor gaming tactic and should be avoided even when GM's allow it.

Players are free to post or PM anything about the game to convince other players to follow their lead or perform actions for them. Ruses and lies are an inherent feature of the game and all posts and PM's must be viewed with scepticism by receiving players. Posting or PMing material not relevant to the game is also in bad form as it detracts from the game. GM's reserve the right to remove anything posted that is not game related.


IVd: Game End

If all of the wolves are eliminated, the villagers win.

If the wolves outnumber the villagers, the wolves win.

If there is one wolf and one villager left, the wolves win.

If the lovers, who are one wolf and one villager, are left, they win. This is the only way a villager can win with a wolf still alive.


V: Tips and Hints

Ideas on how the game evolves and potential player strategy as a result.

Note that if you wish to see how prior games have been played then go to the Cistern archives board where they are stored.


Va: Being the Seer - As the only standard player in this game with the ability to learn the roles of others, this is a powerful position. But without the Seer active or alive the rest of the humans have little hope against a well played Wolf team. It is entirely up to the Seer if they contact other humans that they identify, but survival is paramount and the Seer needs a circle of allies to avoid an accidental lynching. With allies the Seer can also sway lynching votes if a wolf is found. Going public with the Seer role is an almost suicidal gambit unless the Guardian Angel is identified and agrees to guard the Seer as the Wolves will always try to remove the Seer from the game. But if this tricky gambit succeeds then a human victory is almost assured. Note that simply contacting a human the Seer identifies doesn't assure an alliance. Players lie and it's hard to prove what you say. It might be wise have a Wolf identified to prove your case at the next lynching. Of course a nasty double dealing Wolf might pull the same trick too.

Vb: Being the Guardian Angel - The Guardian Angel can either be a potent or impotent role depending on how the game evolves and how skillfully the role is played. Should the GA ever positively identify the Seer then the two can be the main controlling force in the game providing the GA can remain alive and anonymous. That situation should always be the GA's primary goal, but the GA's protection should not be wasted in the interum. The GA should make an effort to identify anyone with a sensible theory or merely a good player and extend their protection. Anytime the Wolves are foiled gives the humans a real boost.

Vc: Being a Mason - As powerful as the Seer is, it is the Mason group that can always have an impact providing they pool their information well. The Seer can be lynched, eaten, or just ineffective, but the Masons can always be a threat to the Wolves right until the end. The last surviving Mason still has all the theory notes the group has collected in the days prior. Like the GA, if the Seer can find the Masons then a strong union can occur to control the game. The group should vigorously defend each other and build player profiles extensively for the group's use or its surviving remnants to draw upon. Note that Masons will be given a hidden board to use during gameplay to store notes and confer privately.

Vd: Being a Wolf - Dirty, sneaky, underhanded, murderous liars. That's how to win as a Wolf. You must truly blend into the village somehow and get the humans to help you win by lynching the others out of fear while you devour them by night. Identify strong threats fast and take them out early. Sow misdirection and dissention amongst the humans every chance you get. If the GA blocks your night feeding then shift directions fast and somehow get another human dead at the next try. Your job is attrition. Always find a way to reduce the human numbers as they will be gunning for you every day of the game. Like the Masons, the Wolves also have a secret board here to confer and make notes.

Ve: Being a Villager - Though weak as an individual role, the Villagers derives their strength from their numbers. While they have no power at night, they are equal to everyone at the lynch vote during the day. The Villager is still can post strategy, ideas, and suspicions. A Villager can easily sway the lynch vote. A Villager is effective by working at the sharp edge of their limitations. Work the clues and hints to be found laying around. Use the lynch and abstention votes wisely. Bond to known humans and support them. Take your death with grace if it happens and try to help at the edge or beyond your death. You may be sheep, but this flock owns a noose.

Vf: The Status Page - To assist in your deliberations, this forum has made an automated checklist to help you keep track of the players and their known status. It has places for your own notes as well. Use the link below to get your own player status checklist fresh for each game:

http://www.castledoom.com/forum/TWG.php


Happy Hunting!

[JuntaJoe]

Attention: Novice players should stop reading here. The prior post contains more than enough information to digest while you learn the game. The following section contains more permutations for experienced players and GM's.



TWG Advanced Options

(A) Optional Roles: More variations on the individual roles listed above and totally new role concepts.
(B) Themes: Thematic overlays for the basic game.
(C) Game Mechanics Variations: Optional game variations of the rules and combined role packages for the game.
(D) GM Checklist: Walkthrough for prospective GM's.


Please notify an administrator if you wish to submit a properly finished idea to these sections.

[JuntaJoe]

Optional Roles: More variations on the individual roles listed above and totally new role concepts.

(I) Healer: The "anti-Vigilante" role that allows the player to resurrect dead players on the day they are killed. The player can save one or two players in a game. They can even save themselves at GM discretion. There is two variations of the Healer role: A) A Vigilante method that is a day action and exposes the playerand usually receives 2 heals a game; B) A hidden option that does not expose the player, but is still performed during day action following a pm to the GM and is usually limited to one heal per game. Option A is better used in 15+ player games while option B is suited for smaller player counts. Because of the vulnerability of the Healer in exposed healing actions, it is highly recommended that Guardian Angels are included when using the Healer role.

(II) Witch: This role combines the powers of the Healer and Vigilante. The player may save one player in the game and kill one other player in the game. It is GM discretion whether these actions are visible day actions or hidden night actions. This role can be used for either the villager or monster team.

(III) Villager Leader: This is a collective class of roles that are used to influence the daily lynch vote. Possible powers are the addition of bonus votes, settling tie votes, or even stopping the lynching that day. GM's are reminded that this is a potentially game shattering role and that abilities should be limited to no more than a couple times per game. Exposing the role after performing the action is at GM discretion and used as a limiter of those vote influencing powers. Naming the role for individual games should reflect the theme of the game and be associated with leadership type titles like Mayor, Judge, Brigadier, Senator, etc.

[JuntaJoe]

Themes: Thematic overlays for the basic game.

(I) Salem Witch Trials Original game by bannie 09/05

Thematic Description:

The setting is sometime either in the 1600 or 1700s, basically whenever there was widespread belief in witchs and faeries and spirits and things of the like. The physical setting takes place in a backwoods isloated village, to help promote the feeling of helplessness. A backstory of why the witches are doing this also helps for role playing purposes, not just "I dont like him, lets turn him into a newt".

Special rules:
Only four special rules unless Im forgetting one, which at this time and night may be a good possibility. The first was the "divorce rule" between the lovers in which the human pair may seperate from the monster pair. This is done at night and is based on a cumulative percent of success (I used 15%, tweak as you like). Success means the monster pair will not immediately find out.
The second rule is that of only one pass at anytime during the game.
The third is that you dont reveal the nightly killed roles. I dont know why, but my friends and I never played that way, but in this game I did hint at the roles (Nibby being the priest who was crucified, all the masons having stone related deaths, ect)
The fourth is that a witch will be randomly selected to be paired with the familair. Dont ask why

Roles:
Here I will list the roles and the TWG counterparts
The Witches - the wolves
The Magistrates - The masons
The Constable - The seer
The Deputy - "Back up" seer
The Woodsman - The vigilante
The Familiar - Human lover
THe Priest - The witness
The villagers - cannon fodder

as for distibution, I found that 3 masons and 3 wolves worked perfectly for this game. A semi formula for game size is take the total number of player, subtract the non group special roles (5) from the total number of players and estimate the wolf to villager ratio

Notes:
Be creative with what you have. This is basic TWG game with pretty wrapping.
I also find a deck of cards to be more effective while choosing roles. Saves paper.


(II) The Americans Are Revolting! Original game by NibbyCat 10/05

Introduction

This theme takes a period in American history, and rewrites it from the underdog's point of view. The time is mid- to late-1700s, the place is the small New England village of West Lower Nosex. The villagers are loyal subjects of King George III. They have heard talk of dissent, but since it takes several days for a rider to bring messages from the larger cities, it's easy to dismiss such talk as rumors.

Then one morning, one of the villagers is missing, it's determined that s/he has been kidnapped. The villagers then choose one of their number who will be imprisoned in the local hoosegow.

The Roles:

Villagers - Hard-working folk, pretty much loyal to the king of England, if they think about him at all.
The Tories - An especially loyal group, they know who each other is, and cannot be converted.
Sons of Liberty - A secret society upset with how King George III is governing the colonies. Each night they kidnap a villager, in the misguided hope that they can convince their captives to follow their views. One of these is Thomas(ina) Paine. Once a game, (s)he can choose to convert a villager, said conversion is accomplished through a pamphlet entitled Common Sense. If (s)he is jailed, the SOL lose the ability to convert.
The Crazy Cat Owner/Busybody - Every evening, one of the cats gets out of the house, and this character goes out to find it. She uses this as an excuse to spy on one neighbor each night. She isn't stupid or truly crazy, so she can determine quickly and accurately the politics of whomever she spied upon. She has done this for years so the folks are used to her and her eccentricity, if they see her on the street at night they don't think anything of it. In other words, she does not get caught at her snooping in the play of this game. Also, she's very loyal to the King, if Thomas(ina) Paine attempts to convert her, she raises a fuss, and Paine is captured and imprisoned.

I had three Tories, three SOL (including Paine), seven plain villagers and one Crazy Cat Lady. There were several non-playing characters, like the constable and a blacksmith, to add some color to the story. I used my own online purrsona as the Town Crier, again for color.

Comments

It's just as well that I had just a basic game, the servers hosting the site were on the fritz, often crashing during the time I wanted to use the forums. Had I gotten more players, I would have added some other characters and roles.

I used kidnapping and jailing because I'm a pacifist at heart.

Future GMs could apply this concept to any struggle in history, revising it so the traditional "heroes" are now the "villains" for the game. Of course, one would hope that the GM has the good taste to avoid controversial themes, like turning Nazis or the KKK into the heroes.


(III) Tombstone/OK Corral Original game by JuntaJoe 11/05

Tombstone

Thematic description:
The town of Tombstone is a wild town on the edge of the frontier US West in the late 1800's. Ranchers and Miners have set up a party town with no respect to any law but power and might. What law enforcement is there is for the preservation of owner property. It's a dangerous town, but the locals love it. Money flows and everyone gets rich.....if they survive. The US Marshall of the Arizona Territory has decided to end the lawlessness in Tombstone, which he considers an affront to US authority. He deputizes Virgil Earp to form a tough police force and bring this town to heel. Virgil recruits the 3 toughest gunslinger lawmen he knows. His brothers James, Morgan, and the infamous Wyatt. Wyatt is shadowed there by his friend, Doc Holliday, whom it is said is the most deadly man west of the Mississippi. These five hardbitten men will put Tombstone to lawfulness or die trying.


Roles:
Virgil Earp (monster with 2 votes in the monster voting)
Wyatt Earp (monster Lover with one extra kill per game)
J.H. "Doc" Holliday (monster Lover with one extra kill per game)
Morgan Earp (monster)
James Earp (monster)
Josephine Sarah Marcus (villager Lover to Wyatt)
"Big Nose" Kate Horony (villager Lover to Doc)
Frank Stilwell (villager Vigilante)
Ike Clanton (Mason)
Billy Clanton (Mason)
Tom McLaury (Mason)
Frank McLaury (Mason)
Billy Claiborne (Seer)
Town Doctor (Healer; see note below)
Sheriff Johnny Behan (Guardian Angel/Witness; See note below)
Old Man Clanton (Guardian Ange/Witnessl)

Optional Roles:
Phineas Clanton (Guardian Angel/Witness)
Undertaker (Sees the race and role of the lynched only; See note below)
Judge Spicer (can stop one lynching at his sole discretion; See note below)
Mayor (would gets 2 extra lynch votes in the game; See note below)


Role Notes:

*Monster Leader (Virgil) always gets two votes in the monster voting for the normal nightly victim.

*Monster Lovers (Wyatt and Doc) receive one extra killing per game at their discretion, but not on the same night. They must either make advance plan or risk one attack is lost if done at the same time.

*GA's can protect every night of the game. They also have the option to Witness when they protect. If the protectee is attacked then the GA can see a random monster, but that monster is notified who saw him via pm. The protectee automatically survives the attack. If it's a gluttonous killing then the Witness sees the actual gluttonous monster.

*The doctor has 2 healings. He is exposed after the first time. When the Earps kill a townsman, the doctor can chose to expose himself to save the human. This will require the GA's to go to work protecting both the proven townsman and the doctor unless the doctor self-healed.

*The addition of the Undertaker will cause the Bartender (Seer) to only be effective 66% of the time. Otherwise the Bartender sees nothing. The percentage will be applied directly to the days. Thus the Bartender sees nothing on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th day.

*The game will have no null voting. Only the addition of the Judge will stop the lynch process. The Judge may only stop one lynch and is at their sole discretion.

*The Mayor will get 2 extra lynch votes in the game. They be used together or separately. These extra votes are secret (ballot box stuffing) and are communicated directly to the GM privately. Players will be aware that these extra votes have been cast, but will not know the source except by deductive reasoning.

Game notes:

This is an all-role game where no one is a simple "meat" villager. It would be excellent for when the normal player pool is large, but tends to drift off for lack of activity.

This is not a game for beginning GM's to run because the daily actions can be double or triple the usual number. The action is quite fast and the GM needs to be extra careful to make sure they handle all the daily GM actions. This game also requires a high number of players as the first 16 roles are mandatory. GM's should ensure they have enough active players before attempting to run it.

The theme setting itself could be radically modified to a "Double Trouble" style game with the Earps as one monster group and the Clantons as the other. Most of the roles would need to be rebuilt from scratch if done this way. The GM would also need a high number of players given that the Earp clan has five members and the Clanton/McLaury clan would need the same. Thus at least 10 more villager players would be needed to offset the 10 monsters.

Theme background is easily found online given the historical notoriety of the 1800's gun battle. This will give the GM a rich setting to write their daily opening stories.

[JuntaJoe]

Game Mechanics Variations: Optional game variations of the rules and combined role packages for the game.


(I) User Group Options: The forum has three permanent hidden boards for monster or player groups. There is also a holding pen board that may be used to sequester players and can be hidden or visible. Finally, the dead board can be used either visibly or hidden. These options must be set up in advance with Admin assistance.

(II) Sensitive/Ghost Opton: By leaving a role in both living and dead user groups, the player may continue participating after death. This is a role modifier option to permit additional activity post mortem within GM designed limitations. The activity can be as simple as continued non-voting conversation in the live boards or can be full blown activities, such as voting, healing, killing, visions, or protection. The Status Page will reflect the dead status of the player.

(III) Null Voting: The GM has several options with null voting. First is the choice between null votes that constitute an actual vote to not lynch a player that day or simply an abstention vote that is not used to generate a majority vote. The GM also has the option to assign various numbers of these null votes to each player per game. The common amount ranges between zero and two. The more null votes assigned will lengthen the game. Surprisingly, the brutal "zero null voting" option actually favors the Villager team.

(IV) No Seers: In a game highly dependent on Seers and their variants, having no Seer class might seem improbable. But using a random vision program is an alternative to free up role slots for extra roles. The GM needs to remember that removing the Seer also removes a critical target for the Villager team. The monster team will require a corresponding power boost to compensate for the lack of that Villager liability. The easiest method is to include the monster teams in the random night vision allotments on an equivilent basis.

(V) Sequestering: As a method to discourage tie lynch votes, the GM may consider simply announcing an extention to the day period until the players form a true majority. Given the cutthroat nature of the game and the common lack of detailed intelligence on other players then simply allowing them to "stew" longer is bound to modify the vote as players feed on each others comments. The GM may simply keep monitoring the day thread until a true majority happens or the GM can announce a fixed extention to the day period. While this happens, no night actions take place. However, all day actions are still in force. A Vigilante could still use their day attack during this extension.

(VI) No PM Posting: The GM may rule that no PM's may be copied to the public and/or hidden game threads.

[JuntaJoe]

(D) GM Checklist:


(I) Volunteering and Planning
* Read and fully understand this list before volunteering. Ask questions first!
* Note that most of this list is pre-game preparation. A good plan makes for easy GMing.
* Decide your theme plans and post it in a discussion thread for peer and admin review.
* Refine your theme towards a pregame synopsis.
* Carefully define and balance all roles. Clarify all role rules thoroughly.
* Build an action time line.
* Define voting rules for all user groups, including tie votes.
* Define all possible winning combinations.
* Continue peer and admin review until full clarity is achieved.
* Admins will notify you of acceptability.

(II) Game Preparation
* Open signup thread along with rough draft synopsis.
* Notify admins to install you into GM user group.
* Notify admins 48 hours prior to start for mass email.
* Get mod controls instruction from staff if needed.
* Clean out any prior game threads from game boards and send them to the Cistern archives.

(III) Pre Game
* Put final pre-game synopsis in main game board along with time line, voting rules, role explanations, victory conditions, start time, & player list.
* The final pre-game thread should carefully delineate all non-permissible actions by the players.
* Use random method to assign roles to players.
* Install all players into Alive user group.
* Install Mason and monster players into respective user groups.
* Clean out your all your pm mailboxes thoroughly by deleting excess pm's or moving important ones into your save box.
* Send out role pm's to all players. Do not delete outgoing pm's until they arrive in your Sent box.
* Post or pm first night duties to early action players and monitor for their response.

(IV) Game
* Perform first night duties as per your timeline rules and start opening day thread.
* Monitor daily thread for immediate action events (Vigilante, etc.) and questions.
* Lock daily thread at scheduled time and perform nightly functions.
* Be sure to remove players from their user groups upon death and install into dead player user group.
* Open new daily thread with results of prior day actions, nightly events, player vote violation warnings/implosions, and storyline if needed.
* Monitor all game boards for participation and prod players into responding with their required actions by the required time.
* Be careful in conversations to avoid giving out information players shouldn't have.

(V) Post Game
* Declare winner(s) in post game thread as per standard or specially designated rules after closing last day's thread.
* Include in post game thread final results, revealed player's roles, and commentary on game proceedings.
* Construct a combined storyboard thread if thematic prose was a feature of the game.
* Clean out all game threads except post game and storyboard threads to the Cistern archives.
* Start conversation on game in 20k Leagues thread.