Theme Test Market

[viper0933]

*whistles cheesily*

[stikey]

I'm going to run a mini theme game (you know, eventually, when I get to the front of the queue ) that will (

danger: hyperbole alert

)

completely blow everyone's mind!

It's based on a board game called Betrayal in House on the Hill (which I encourage people to purchase if they enjoy playing board games with groups of 4-6 people).

The mafia game will involve two phases: the exploration phase and The Haunt phase. The game begins with no affiliations distributed. Each night, each player explores a different room in the creepy mansion. In each room, the player will either 1) find an item, 2) experience an event or 3) reveal an omen. Each item, event and omen imparts an ability (or a restriction) onto the player that uncovers it.

At the end of the night, I roll a die to determine whether the game goes into The Haunt phase. The probability of reaching The Haunt phase increases linearly with the number of omens revealed.

If The Haunt does not begin at the end of the night, the next day begins with all players again having no assigned affiliation. The players can choose to kill one of their own or to proceed to the next night.

On the night The Haunt begins, each player who uncovered an omen that night has a chance to become a traitor (i.e., an anti-town role). The game then proceeds similarly to a regular mafia game, except that all players can continue to explore rooms at night until there are no rooms left to search. I might add a rule that discourages rampant exploration (e.g., if a player accumulates three restrictions, then that player dies immediately) but I have a bit of time to figure that out.

Whattayathink?

[Mr. Flay]

I'm deciding on what theme game to run when I come back. Which sounds better?
-We Didn't Start the Fire, Large Edition (You can look at the other game for help, but it won't be much! (Other than proving how crazy I'm willing to make the setup appear.)) 25 people
-Unusual Role Mafia (The game that MeMe told me not to run as a mini!) 15 people
-Yet Another Scummer Game (Mostly people who haven't been in a scummer game before, and a lot of people from when I was in my glory days.) 25 people
-Perodic Table Mafia (Do I really need to give a description?) 25 people
-Weasel Mafia (Dilbert v. the corporate weasels. Who will win?) 20 people
-Animorphs Mafia (Thanks to AniX and MoS) 20 people

I need to know soon so I can get the preperations done. I have a tendency to write a lot of flavor text. (You should see what I have done so far for Cruise Ship Mafia!)

I like Animorphs, Periodic Table, and Dilbert, and Unusual Role probably wouldn't suck either. Not fond of the meta-games, I don't play enough to "get" them.

Also, what's Cruise Ship about? I've got an idea in my head that we might be able to collaborate on.

Of course, I won't be

joining

any new games anytime soon, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Viper: Sounds good, but are your time settings consistent? Are the tomb robbers Egyptian ones, or 1920's ones? I like the concept, though... your mafia could also be the Greeks, who sort of beat up on Egypt a lot.

[Iammars]

Cruise Ship is basically 25 somewhat random people (some having ties before coming onto the ship) and a lot of flavor text. Sort of like Bizzare Mafia. Any more and it'll have to go to PM.

[GreenLiquid]

I think Periodic Table (if it included the atom fusing you were talking about on your wiki page) or Unusual Role sound like good ideas.

[Max]

I'm thinking of doing a vampire mafia game where mafia don't know each other and bite a member of the town each night once that person hs been bitten by all 3 mafia they die if 2 mafia bite someone that person gets double votes for 1 day

[Thok]

What happens when one vampire is killed? Is it now only two bites to kill somebody, or do the vampires lose their ability to kill?

Does the double vote thing ability apply if a vampire has been bitten twice by his teammates?

[Mr. Flay]

A game rattled into my brain earlier today for Medieval Mafia - focus on the Arab occupation of Sicily in the 9th century which theoretically led to the origination of "Our Thing". Would this still be Normal? Or is the time-frame weird enough to push it into a themed game, even with relatively standard roles?

Iammars - PM me if you like about Cruise Ship; I've had some ideas in my brain for a long time for a Mafia Mutation with a lot of additional rules that takes place on a cruise ship, that you may or may not want to integrate. I won't be able to run it myself for many months, so they could either be merged or run separately at different times.

[Max]

If a vampire is bitten by 1 team-mate he still gets double if he gets bitten by 2 he dies from lack of blood(both bites have to be on 1 day)
If 1 vampire dies it requires 2 bites
If a vampire is attacked by the SK the SK counts as being bitten and vampire survives
A vampire cannot be NK unless he is attacked by a monk twice (stake and cross) 1 monk in game
If the doctor protects someone who is bitten the person who is bitten getes double votes and so does the doctor (regardless of how many times they are bitten)
Cops only ever have a 50% chance of being sucessful
If a monk dies a new one is reborn at random
Vampires being nocturnal need 1 less vote than required to lynch to die

I didn't have enough time to type it all out earlier

[Trojan Horse]

Vampires being nocturnal need 1 less vote than required to lynch to die

Wait... so if someone gets within one vote of a lynch, and they don't die, then everyone knows they're not a vampire? Then they can just unvote that person and go to someone else?

I'm hoping I misunderstood what you said.

[viper0933]

Old idea deleted due to stupidness.

What about a mafia with 20 players, but with this setup and roles (mafe up of course):

Avenger: When you are lynched/killed, the person who killed you (if you were lynched, the next day, the last person to vote for you would die, and if night, who killed you dies (randomly))

Spy: Dies when investigated by a cop (due to being caught as a spy)

Bodyguard: Doctor and Bulletproof Townie combined

Special Townie: Each night, the Serial Townie can kill someone or investigate someone

Drug Dealer: Each night, he chooses someone who can't participate the next day.

Inexperianced Cop: Cop with 1 investigation only

Military Leader: Can kill twice during game (in day). Once he uses his first shot, his role is known (who he is)

Shopkeeper: Same as drug dealer, but dies if he tries to get mafia/SK/Vig out for a day

Regular Doctor and Cop

3 townies

a mafia godfather, and 2 goons

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night

Admiral: He chooses 3 people each night. If exactly 1 person in the group is a killing role, the admiral gets to kill one of the three.

Beggar: A townie that can't vote on even number days

Outcase: A townie that can't vote on opposite number days

Is that a better idea? Please tell me about this setup.

[Kelly Chen]

Max, I think it would be useful to ask yourself what the purpose of each rule is.

I'm thinking of doing a vampire mafia game where mafia don't know each other and bite a member of the town each night once that person hs been bitten by all 3 mafia they die if 2 mafia bite someone that person gets double votes for 1 day

This is a very weak mafia, that needs to coordinate their nightkills, but in so doing can accidentally give a pro-town player an extra ability.

If a vampire is bitten by 1 team-mate he still gets double if he gets bitten by 2 he dies from lack of blood(both bites have to be on 1 day)
If 1 vampire dies it requires 2 bites

If losing a vampire makes it easier for the vampires to kill, it could actually be in the vampires' interest to sacrifice someone.

It makes the vampires pretty weak that they can't even tell if they're attacking a teammate.

If a vampire is attacked by the SK the SK counts as being bitten and vampire survives

I'm not sure why you want an SK in this game when the mafia basically act independently already. At least it's consistent that the SK is weakened from normal.

A vampire cannot be NK unless he is attacked by a monk twice (stake and cross) 1 monk in game
If a monk dies a new one is reborn at random

So the monk is a weakened vigilante. If the vampires try to kill him, it's not because he's a threat, since there will just be a new monk.

If the doctor protects someone who is bitten the person who is bitten getes double votes and so does the doctor (regardless of how many times they are bitten)

So this doctor is

stronger

than normal. More important than the double votes is the fact that he can use the double votes to prove he's a doctor.

Cops only ever have a 50% chance of being sucessful

So the cops are weakened...

Vampires being nocturnal need 1 less vote than required to lynch to die

This rule is definitely broken.

I think the vampires would probably not have a chance. Even though most roles are weakened, the vampires have no clue what to do during the day. They will most likely accidentally help the town lynch the other vampires.

[Kelly Chen]

What about a kind of mafia where you have a deadline, and the person with the most votes by the deadline dies? (like a kind of "bomb" mafia?) It can also end early if everyone except for 1 person votes for the same person.

If that's a bad idea, please tell me.

"All but one" is way too high to be a realistic option.

There are games that lynch at a deadline rather than at a majority.

An interesting rule (I think) is that at the deadline, it has to actually be a majority vote, or something bad happens (No Lynch probably). This forces more players to take responsibility for the outcome.

[viper0933]

I pretty much gave up on that. It would probably be better to comment about my edited one.

[indentureddjinn]

post about what you think of this...

Riddle Mafia:

Like a normal mafia game, except every day the players are given a riddle that may give a clue to someone's role.

[Kelly Chen]

Ok.

What about a mafia with 20 players, but with this setup and roles (mafe up of course):

I take it this is an open setup, then? I.e. the players are told what roles exist in the game?

Avenger: When you are lynched/killed, the person who killed you (if you were lynched, the next day, the last person to vote for you would die, and if night, who killed you dies (randomly))

I've seen this. Pro-town I assume.

Spy: Dies when investigated by a cop (due to being caught as a spy)

Is this a pro-town role? Either way, this would be a nasty role to get.

Bodyguard: Doctor and Bulletproof Townie combined

That's insanely powerful (especially if the town knows that this role is out there). If mafia got down to 2 people the game could be unwinnable for the mafia.

Usually I think a bodyguard is a doctor who dies in place of whoever he protects.

Special Townie: Each night, the Serial Townie can kill someone or investigate someone

That's a cop/vig with a strange name.

Drug Dealer: Each night, he chooses someone who can't participate the next day.

Is this a pro-town role? This is not an ability a pro-town player would want to use.

Inexperianced Cop: Cop with 1 investigation only

Pretty weak compared to the other cops.

Military Leader: Can kill twice during game (in day). Once he uses his first shot, his role is known (who he is)

So this guy definitely isn't lynchable.

Shopkeeper: Same as drug dealer, but dies if he tries to get mafia/SK/Vig out for a day

??? Why would he ever use his power?

Regular Doctor and Cop

3 townies

a mafia godfather, and 2 goons

Ok. That mafia is about right for a 12-player game.

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night

Holy crap, that's powerful.

Admiral: He chooses 3 people each night. If exactly 1 person in the group is a killing role, the admiral gets to kill one of the three.

I'm not sure how powerful this role is.

Beggar: A townie that can't vote on even number days

Outcase: A townie that can't vote on opposite number days

Those are some bad roles to get, too.

Is that a better idea? Please tell me about this setup.

No, there's not enough scum (I assume it's just the 3 scum). The town can protect four people per night plus the bodyguard, which is enough to cover all the important roles (cop, surgeon, doctor, special townie, or maybe the military leader).

This is compounded if it's open setup, because if everyone claims, it will be obvious where the scum must be hiding. Any role not counterclaimed is a confirmed innocent.

[viper0933]

Well, it was an idea at least.

[Thok]

It seems like an interesting idea viper, but you should try to tweak things so it's more balanced and so that town doesn't win easily. Don't give up on this set-up just because the first version of it has some problems.

[the silent speaker]

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night

I had a role like this in Simpsons Mafia. I thought having Dr. Hibbert roleblock anyone he successfully protects would weaken him to about a doc-and-a-half with the two protects, but he turned out to be worth very nearly two full doctors for the town. The role is way more powerful than it looks.

[viper0933]

What about a mafia with 20 players, but with this setup and roles (mafe up of course):

Avenger: When you are lynched/killed, the person who killed you (if you were lynched, the next day, the last person to vote for you would die, and if night, who killed you dies (randomly))

Spy: Dies when investigated by a cop (due to being caught as a spy)

Psychic: Is like a cop, but instead of guilty and innocent, he gets whether someone is a gun role (cops, admiral, military cop, mafia godfather, goons, spy) or a non-gun role (Avenger, Special Townie, Drug Dealer, doctor, surgeon, beggar, outcast, townies)

Special Townie: The special townie is a mafia member, but doesn't know who the mafia is. When his role is revealed, it is shown as mafia.

Drug Dealer: Each night, he chooses someone who can't participate the next day. (NEUTRAL)

Inexperianced Cop: Cop with 1 investigation only, but can find what his night actions were that night (PRO-TOWN)

Military Leader: Can kill twice during game (in day). Once he uses his first shot, his role is known (NEUTRAL)

Shopkeeper: Can get 2 people out of the game one day, but kills himself in the process. Otherwise, he's just a regular drug dealer (NEUTRAL)

Regular Doctor and Cop (duh)

3 townies (duh)

a mafia godfather, and 2 goons (duh)

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night, but dies when 1 is targetted. If both are targetted, then only the Surgeon dies (PRO-TOWN)

Admiral: He chooses 3 people each night. If exactly 1 person in the group is a killing role, the admiral gets to kill one of the three, however, once there is 8 people left, he becomes a regular townie (PRO-TOWN)

Beggar: A townie that can't vote on even number days, but can save himself during the night one time (PRO-TOWN)

Outcast: A townie that can't vote on opposite number days but can save himself during the night one time (PRO-MAFIA)



This should be at least a tad better. I'll still work on it though.

[Thok]

Viper-I suggest looking over the wiki to see what people have done before. For example, here is a link to All Roles.

Also, a good rule of thumb is that scum should be between 1/4 to 1/3 of the roles of the game. The stronger the town, the more scum you should have.

[Kelly Chen]

Ok.

Psychic: Is like a cop, but instead of guilty and innocent, he gets whether someone is a gun role (cops, admiral, military cop, mafia godfather, goons, spy) or a non-gun role (Avenger, Special Townie, Drug Dealer, doctor, surgeon, beggar, outcast, townies)

I've seen this called "gunsmith."

Special Townie: The special townie is a mafia member, but doesn't know who the mafia is. When his role is revealed, it is shown as mafia.

Outcast: A townie that can't vote on opposite number days but can save himself during the night one time (PRO-MAFIA)

Some important questions with this type of role. Does the mafia know who

they

are? Can the mafia accidentally kill them? How are these guys supposed to play the game?

Drug Dealer: Each night, he chooses someone who can't participate the next day. (NEUTRAL)

Military Leader: Can kill twice during game (in day). Once he uses his first shot, his role is known (NEUTRAL)

What is the win condition of a neutral? Just to survive?

Shopkeeper: Can get 2 people out of the game one day, but kills himself in the process. Otherwise, he's just a regular drug dealer (NEUTRAL)

Well, his win condition can't be to survive, since he dies when he uses his power.

Regular Doctor and Cop (duh)

3 townies (duh)

For an open setup you want lots more townies, so that the scum have reasonably safe claims. (This is probably open setup unless you play this with people who can't see this discussion.)

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night, but dies when 1 is targetted. If both are targetted, then only the Surgeon dies (PRO-TOWN)

That seems balanced... It's

always

just the surgeon who dies, right?

[viper0933]

Comments are bolded

Ok.

Psychic: Is like a cop, but instead of guilty and innocent, he gets whether someone is a gun role (cops, admiral, military cop, mafia godfather, goons, spy) or a non-gun role (Avenger, Special Townie, Drug Dealer, doctor, surgeon, beggar, outcast, townies)

I've seen this called "gunsmith."

Well, can't do much against that

Special Townie: The special townie is a mafia member, but doesn't know who the mafia is. When his role is revealed, it is shown as mafia.

Outcast: A townie that can't vote on opposite number days but can save himself during the night one time (PRO-MAFIA)

Some important questions with this type of role. Does the mafia know who

they

are? Can the mafia accidentally kill them? How are these guys supposed to play the game?

The mafia knows who he is, but not the other way around. The Special townie doesn't get a night action or anything, but the Outcast can choose to let himself die or to save himself. I'm sorry for the confusion so the Outcast is PRO-TOWN

Drug Dealer: Each night, he chooses someone who can't participate the next day. (NEUTRAL)

Military Leader: Can kill twice during game (in day). Once he uses his first shot, his role is known (NEUTRAL)

What is the win condition of a neutral? Just to survive?

Yeah, pretty much. They win when they are one of 5 players left.

Shopkeeper: Can get 2 people out of the game one day, but kills himself in the process. Otherwise, he's just a regular drug dealer (NEUTRAL)

Well, his win condition can't be to survive, since he dies when he uses his power.

Well, he can choose not to use his extra power to get 2 people out of the game for a day, he can just do 1 a day and NOT die. Really, neutral players can side with the mafia or town, whomever they choose.

Regular Doctor and Cop (duh)

3 townies (duh)

For an open setup you want lots more townies, so that the scum have reasonably safe claims. (This is probably open setup unless you play this with people who can't see this discussion.)

I'll probably make it closed then.

Surgeon: Protects 2 people per night, but dies when 1 is targetted. If both are targetted, then only the Surgeon dies (PRO-TOWN)

That seems balanced... It's

always

just the surgeon who dies, right?

Yep. Just the surgeon

Did those answer your questions? If not, please tell me and I'll answer.

[Fuldu]

post about what you think of this...

Riddle Mafia:

Like a normal mafia game, except every day the players are given a riddle that may give a clue to someone's role.

I considered a rule similar to this as part of a Trifia game, but realized that maintaining balance then relied on my ability to properly judge the relative difficulties of the various possible "riddles." If, for example, your riddle cluing the cop turns out to be substantially easier than the rest of them, that shifts the balance of power in favor of the scum. If you think you can get all the riddles to be of nearly comparable difficulty, then this could be fun and interesting, but I decided that I didn't want to be in a position where the game was broken because I wrote one riddle badly.

[indentureddjinn]

Well multiple games could be run, and there could be a riddle writing committee.