, who number three quarters of the starting players;
Cultists
, who number one quarter; and
Murderers
, who appear later in the game.
Investigator
Honest individuals caught in the deadly machinations of the Cult. You must outwit and outplay the evil Cultists and deranged Murderers, fending off the strange and horrifying supernatural world that threatens to overwhelm you.
Win Condition
: The Investigators win when all Cultists and Murderers have been killed, provided there is at least one Investigator still alive.
Cultist
Depraved individuals intent on slaughtering the Investigators. They command the dark, supernatural forces that threaten the lives of every Investigator and Murderer, but at a price; their sanity will slowly be eaten away by the very beasts they try to control.
Special Abilities
:
Secret communication
- All Cultists will receive a link to a QuickTopic thread with their PM. They may communicate with each other in this thread at any time, provided they are still alive. If they communicate during the
Day
between two successive Vote Counts, the text *whisper whisper* will appear in the next Vote Count.
The Ritual
- Cultists may select the Night Actions
Pass Fetish
,
Craft Fetish
and
Participate in the Ritual
. However, they may not select the Night Action
Stalk
.
Win Condition
: The Cultists win when they number at least half the remaining players, and there are no surviving Murderers, at the beginning of either the
Night
phase or the
Day
phase.
Murderer
Players who succumb to the urge to strike out against unseen horrors and go on a killing spree become Murderers. They become lone wolves, fighting for themselves alone. They descend the dark steps to insanity as they strike out at former friends and foes with equal ferocity.
Special Abilities
:
Killer
- Murderers may take the
Murder
action more than once.
Serial Killer
- Murderers who reach an
Insanity Count
of
9
may target two people with one
Stalk
action.
Win Condition
: A Murderer wins instantly upon the completion of a Murder action, provided that they:
-are the only Murderer alive,
-have completed more successful murders than any deceased Murderer, and
-have completed at least two Murders before this one.
Global Mechanics
Night and Day
The game is broken into two phases,
Night
and
Day
. During the
Day
, the spirits retreat from the harsh sunlight; at
Night
, they come out to play... The Investigators retreat to dark corners and small rooms to await the day, managing only small bursts of activity to do what they can to save their fellows and root out the Cultists.
Each
Night
, all players may perform a single
Night Action
. The Cultists may perform
The Ritual
. Players may not publicly post at
Night
.
During the
Day
, all characters discuss events in the game thread and perform a
Lynching
. Play then proceeds to
Night
again.
The game begins at
Night
.
Lynching
During the
Day
, a
Lynch
is performed. Each player has one vote as to who they want lynched, which can be changed at any time. Once a majority of the players left alive have voted to lynch a player, that player is killed (and therefore becomes
Dead
). Once the required number of votes has been reached, no further vote changes will be counted. The lynched player may not post, though others may continue to post until the thread is locked by a moderator. The option to lynch nobody is available (
Vote: No Lynch
). Once a majority has been reached, the game moves to the
Night
phase.
Votes must be marked in bold in the format
Vote: Herbert West
. You may
Unvote: Herbert West
to undo the previous vote. Whilst they are encouraged when changing your vote,
Unvote
s are not mandatory.
A successful lynch will reveal the
Insanity count
of the lynched player, but not his role (but see
Rob Grave
, below).
A deadline of three RL weeks will be in place for the first three
Days
, falling to two RL weeks for subsequent
Days
. If activity has been good, the Moderator may extend the deadline by one RL week up to two times per
Day
by request from the players. At deadline, whoever has the majority of votes will be lynched. If there is a tie, whoever received their final vote first will be lynched.
States
Various things can happen to you during the course of the game - you may become
Bloody
, hear
Noise
, go
Insane
, become
Dead
and eventually turn to
Dust
. You must also be wary of a descent into
Chaos
.
Bloody
Characters may get blood on their clothes from the
Resuscitate
and
Murder
actions, as well as from
The Ritual
. The
Investigate
action can detect blood. The
Launder
action will clean the blood away. You will be told when you become
Bloody
.
Hearing
Noise
Night Actions
that target a character will often make noise. If your character is the target of at least one of
Pass Fetish
,
Craft Fetish
,
Resuscitate
,
Investigate
,
Ward
or
Stalk
, you will receive the message "You heard
Noise
in the night" upon the start of the next
Day
. You will receive the same message, even if multiple noisy actions target you.
Insanity
Every character begins the game with an Insanity Count of 0. As they are exposed to the bleak horrors of their environment (willingly or unwillingly), their count rises. The
Rob Grave
,
Stalk
,
Murder
and
Commune
actions all cause Insanity, as will being saved from death by a successful
Resuscitate
and participating in
The Ritual
.
Launder
,
Craft Fetish
and
Ward
can also cause insanity, as will receiving a
Fetish
of yourself from a
Cultist
.
Each time a player's
Insanity Count
increases, they will receive a PM from the Moderator. They must choose an
Insanity
from the list below at the start of the next
Day
, prior to posting. You cannot choose the same
Insanity
more than once. You can never remove or change your
Insanities
.
(i)
Taboo
- Choose an action you have
Equipment
for. You may no longer take that action.
(ii)
Hallucination
- You always hear
Noises
each
Night
regardless of actions taken.
(iii)
Compulsion
- If you are
Bloody
, you must
Launder
.
(iv)
Suicidal
- You require one less vote to lynch. This is not reflected in vote counts and does not affect
Sadism
.
(v)
Distraction
- Your vote, once placed on another player, cannot revert to a player you voted to lynch earlier that
Day
.
(vi)
Paranoid
- If at least one player has voted for you today, you may only vote players who have voted you today.
(vii)
Twitchy
- If you heard
Noise
the
Night
before, you are
Bloody
, gained an
Insanity
the
Night
before, or any combination of these, your first post in the thread for the
Day
must contain *twitch* or *twitches*.
(viii)
Obsession
- If on a previous
Night
you chose
Investigate
,
Resuscitate
or
Commune
and your relevant
Equipment
did not break, you must use that same action this
Night
. (
Compulsion
and
Taboo
take precedence).
(ix)
Sadism
- You may only place your votes on players who are one or two votes away from a lynch.
(x)
Denial
- Your
Insanity Count
does not increase tonight, but it will automatically increase by one at the beginning of each of the following two
Nights
.
(xi)
Marked
- If at least one player targets you with
Resuscitate
, you count as being resuscitated by one less player for the purposes of
Murder
and
The Ritual
.
(xii)
Mutilation
- You always appear
Bloody
for the purposes of the
Investigate
action.
(xiii)
Solist
- You may only have one piece of
Equipment
at a time. If you
Search
, you lose what you have. You cannot gain
Equipment
from
Rob Grave
.
(xiv)
Necrophilia
- You must choose
Rob Grave
at least once every
Night
if able.
(xv)
Sociopathy
- You may not speak in
The Sanctum
during the
Day
. (
Cultists only
)
(s)
Psychopathy
- You are now a
Murderer
. (
This may not be selected in the usual way - see
Murder
, below.
)
If a player posts before PMing their Insanity choice(s) to the Moderator, or if they contradict one of their Insanities in any post, the Moderator will send them an
Insanity Infraction
PM. If a player would receive a second
Insanity Infraction
PM for the same offence, or a third for any reason, instead they will be modkilled.
If a player reaches an Insanity Count of
10
, they will no longer gain any
Insanities
. Votes that contradict
Insanities
will still contribute to a Lynch.
Dead
Once you have been lynched,
Murdered
or killed by
the Ritual
, you may no longer post. You may still be the target of the
Rob Grave
and
Ward
actions.
Dust
You may no longer be the target of
Rob Grave
. All of your
Equipment
is destroyed (if it was not taken by a grave robber), and your role is made known to the players.
Chaos
If
every living player
is
Bloody
at any time, all
Investigators
immediately gain the
Psychopathy
insanity, and the
Day
phase no longer occurs. For this state to be triggered, there must be at least three more
Investigators
than
Cultists
remaining alive.
Night Actions
The following are the available Night Actions. They take place in the listed order, and each action resolves simultaneously amongst those who have chosen it (most relevant for
Murder
,
Ward
and
Commune
). If your action fails for any reason, you will be informed via PM (with
Ward
and some instances of
Resuscitate
being the only exceptions). A failed action will not produce the
Effect
, but all
Side Effects
still apply. Some actions allow you to take another action, but you may never perform more than two actions in a single Night.
Cower
Target
: Yourself.
Effect
: You gain an
Insanity
.
Notes
: Players who do not submit a
Night Action
will default to this action.
Participate in the Ritual
Target
: Any player.
Effect
: You submit the target's name to the Ritual.
Prerequisites
: Only
Cultists
may take this action. At least one third (rounding up) of the Cultists must submit the same name for the Ritual to take effect, and the Cultists must possess a
Fetish
linked to the target.
Greater Ritual
: If two thirds (rounding up) of the Cultists target the same player, the Ritual counts as an extra kill for the purpose of
Resuscitate
. If the Cultists use
Corpse Dust
, the Ritual counts as an extra kill for the purposes of
Resuscitate
, and the
Corpse Dust
is consumed. These two effects are cumulative.
Free Action
: You may
Participate in the Ritual
and perform another (different)
Night Action
.
Launder
Target
: Yourself.
Effect
: If you are
Bloody
, your
Blood
is removed.
Prerequisites
: None.
Side Effects
: If you are not
Bloody
when you take this action, you gain an
Insanity
.
Search
Target
: Yourself.
Effect
: You acquire your choice of
Equipment
-
Forensic Tools
,
Resuscitation Kit
, or
Occult Books
.
Prerequisites
: You may not search for a
Resuscitation Kit
while
Bloody
.
Forensic Tools
Effect
: You may choose the
Investigate
Night Action.
Destroyed when
: An
Investigate
you perform discovers
Blood
.
Resuscitation Kit
Effect
: You may choose the
Resuscitate
Night Action.
Destroyed when
: You are
Bloody
.
Occult Books
Effect
: You may choose the
Commune
Night Action.
Destroyed when
:
Commune
discovers someone more
Insane
than you are.
Ward
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: If your target is targeted by the
Pass Fetish
,
Craft Fetish
,
Stalk
or
Rob Grave
actions, those actions fail.
Prerequisites
: None.
Side Effects
: Your target (if alive) hears
Noise
. Your action will fail if someone targets you with
Ward
, and you will not be notified of the failure. If you target a
Dead
player with this action, you gain an
Insanity
.
Pass Fetish
Target
: Up to three (different) non-Cultists.
Effect
: The targets acquire a
Fetish
of themselves, causing them to gain an
Insanity
.
Investigators
and
Murderers
cannot gain more than one
Insanity
per night as a result of this action. The Cultists lose any Fetishes they successfully pass.
Prerequisites
: You must be a
Cultist
to choose this action. The Cult must also possess
Fetishes
of each of your targets.
Side Effects
: Your targets hear
Noise
.
Craft Fetish
Target
: Up to three non-Cultists.
Effect
: You create a
Fetish
of your targets.
Prerequisite
: You must be a
Cultist
to choose this action.
Side Effect
: Your targets hear
Noise
. If you targeted three players, you gain an
Insanity
.
Notes
: Fetishes are not
Equipment
, and once made are available to the Cult as a group. This action will fail if your target has also been the target of
Pass Fetish
.
Rob Grave
Target
: Any
Dead
player.
Effects
: Your target turns to
Dust
, and the role of the player is publicly revealed the next
Day
. If you are the only player to target them, you will receive all of their
Equipment
(
Resuscitation Kits
provided you are not
Bloody
,
Forensic Kits
and/or
Occult Books
) if they had any.
Special Effects
: If you are a
Murderer
and target the victim of a successful
Murder
action, you will learn who killed them.
If you are a
Cultist
and are the only person to target the
Dead
player, you may elect to take
Corpse Dust
. The
Cultists
cannot have more than one lot of
Corpse Dust
at any one time, and it is available to them as a group.
Prerequisites
: None.
Side Effects
: You gain an
Insanity
.
Free Action
: You may choose
Rob Grave
and another
Night Action
. You may select
Rob Grave
twice.
Resuscitate
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: You protect your target against one of either
Murder
or
The Ritual
.
Prerequisite
: You must possess a
Resuscitation Kit
.
Side Effects
: Your target hears
Noise
. Any Resuscitate action targeting you tonight will fail, and the player who targeted you will not be notified of the failure. If you successfully protect them, you become
Bloody
, and your target both becomes
Bloody
and gains an
Insanity
when the killing action (
Murder
or
the Ritual
) resolves.
Notes
: If more killing actions target the player than there are players Resuscitating them, then the kill is not prevented, though you still become
Bloody
when the killing action resolves. If you save your target from death, they will be notified that they were saved, but not by whom.
Investigate
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: You determine whether your target has
Blood
on their clothes.
Prerequisite
: You must possess
Forensic Tools
.
Side Effect
: Your target hears
Noise
.
Stalk
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: You prepare yourself to
Murder
your target.
Prerequisites
: You must be an
Investigator
or a
Murderer
.
Side Effect
: Your target hears
Noise
. You gain an
Insanity
.
Notes
:
Murderers
with an
Insanity Count
of at least
9
may target two players with this action; each target hears
Noise
, but you still gain only one
Insanity
.
Murder
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: You kill your target. They are now
Dead
.
Prerequisite
: You must have targeted them with
Stalk
the previous night.
Side Effects
: You become
Bloody
. You gain an
Insanity
. When you select this action for the second time, you automatically gain the
Psychopathy
insanity in addition to any other
Insanities
you would gain that
Night
.
Commune
Target
: Any other player.
Effect
: You learn whether your target has (strictly) more
Insanities
than you.
Prerequisites
: You must possess
Occult Books
.
Side Effects
: You gain an
Insanity
after the
Effect
resolves.
Ritual Resolves
Effect
: The target of the Ritual is killed.
Side Effects
: All
Cultists
who selected
Participate in the Ritual
gain an
Insanity
. If the target was not
Murdered
, they also become
Bloody
, even if the kill was prevented by
Resuscitate
.
Notes
: Only one Ritual may succeed per night. If there are multiple names submitted for the Ritual, whoever has the clear majority will be killed. If there is no clear majority, the Ritual will fail. This action cannot be selected; it is included in this list to indicate its place in the resolution order.
Other Game Rules
Role PMs
Twenty one players will receive the following Role PM:
Seven players will receive the following Role PM:
Questions and Answers
Questions asked publicly of the Moderator will be appended to this post.
“Fools!” said West, his clenched fist striking the lectern before him. “We must prepare today’s youth for a world whose terrors are etched upon ancient clay tablets recounting the fever-dreams of the other gods; those who lie beneath the earth, waiting until the stars align so they can return to their rightful place as our masters..."
Last edited by Percy on Sat Nov 20, 2010 3:25 pm, edited 7 times in total.
Not Voting - 11 (AurorusVox, Baby Spice, El Goosuki, Feysal, Furpants_Tom, hitorogoshi, rewq455, Seacore, Super Smash Bros. Fan, totallynotmafia, Wickedestjr)
MagnaofIllusion wrote:
@MOD - Your rules state that if no action is sent in by the N0 deadline the player in question will Cower.
Does this apply to invalid actions (ie sending a Ward in on a player not in the game)?
Yes it does.
hitorogoshi wrote:
Mod: Can Craft Fetish be used on the same investigator more than once a night?
No.
hitorogoshi wrote:
Mod: Sorry for asking another question, but it says "Your action will fail if someone targets you with Ward" in the side-effects of Ward. As written, this is a general roleblock, but it's placement under side effects suggests that you meant this to apply ONLY to people using ward (that is, that Wards only roleblock other Wards.) Which is it?
Strictly the latter.
Bowser wrote:
Mod: I believe Fate either needs to be replaced, or be given a severe warning. His posts are breaking the civility line a lot.
Your objection is noted, but I'm not going to replace either of them.
Play nice, everyone.
Fate wrote:
MOD: If everyone choose Sadism, the game would become unplayable. You haz Counter???
The game wouldn't be unplayable. There would be no
Lynching
, though.
hitorogoshi wrote:
Mod: A player is targeted by Resuscitate, Murder, and The Ritual. What's their death flavor?
Mod: would targeting an account belonging to a player in the game work even if it wasn't the account in the player list? Also, would you inform someone if he targeted a player not in the game?
Let's play hypotheticals.
If I received an action that was ambiguous or contradictory (as to what action was selected, who was the target, or they tried to double-
Search
or whatever), I would send a clarification PM. If I were to receive no reply, the player would default to
Cower
.
If, however, there is a technical error but
no ambiguity
, I will accept the action as-is. An example would be someone who submitted the
Night Action
Night Action wrote:
Search:
Forensic Kit
There is no item by this name, but the intention (
Forensic
Tools
) is clear.
On an unrelated note, I urge those of you who are playing with hydra accounts to use them to post. It is important for players who wish to use the ISO function to quickly find your content. If you
do
post in your regular account, post a message from your hydra account directly after it with the text "Sorry, please merge previous post with this one" or words to that effect. I'll come through and copy-paste the content into the hydra account post.
manho replaces Wingless. Thank you and welcome, manho!
Seacore wrote:
Mod: When does a resuscitator become bloody, in regards to the time line? Do they become bloody prior to investigate? For that matter, when do the victims of failed attacks become bloody? I assume the perpetrators of rituals and murders become bloody at those points.
Resuscitate wrote:If you successfully protect them, you become
Not Voting - 9 (Bowser, El Goosuki, Feysal, kunkstar7, Lost Butterfly,
MagnaofIllusion
, rewq455, Seacore, Super Smash Bros. Fan,
Wickedestjr
, xvart)
VasudeVa wrote:
@Mod: Will sociopath scum still have access to daytalk(but can't talk in it anymore?)
Correct.
xvart wrote:
@Mod: Are delayed Denial insanities gained during the night (as in the selectors insanity count goes up during the night) but selected in the morning? When does the persons insanity count go up in the order of action chart?
Insanities gained via Denial occur at the end of the
Night
, so after
the Ritual
resolves. I have edited the rules post to make this more explicit.
Fate wrote:
Do the side effects of actions, such as gaining an insanity for laundering when not bloody, resolve at the same time as the action or at the end of night?
When the action resolves; the order the
Night Actions
are presented in gives you the resolution order, and therefore the order that
Side Effects
manifest. For example, if a player is
Bloody
at the beginning of the
Night
and selects
Launder
, they will show up clean to
Investigate
actions that target them that
Night
.
Thank you to everyone who posts when they're going V/LA. I really appreciate it!
Not Voting - 6 (Bowser, El Goosuki, Feysal, kunkstar7,
Lost Butterfly
, rewq455, Seacore,
Super Smash Bros. Fan
,
xvart
)
Wickedestjr wrote:
Mod: Can a player choose Cower, Launder, Ward, or Rob Grave for the taboo insanity?
No.
Feysal wrote:
@MOD: Does the target of a failed kill still receive notification whether he was targeted by Murder or the Ritual? Will he know if he was targeted by both? (Provided of course that he survives.)
No. Any player who cancels at least one kill via
Resuscitate
will be told as such, and players so saved will be told that they were saved from death - but not who did the saving or what action(s) endangered them.
totallynotmafia wrote:
@MOD: I'm assuming the free action from rob grave is to be used on any other night action, ie you can only rob one grave each night?
No; you can choose
Rob Grave
twice.
Wickedestjr wrote:
Mod: If Player A was chosen to be killed in the Greater Ritual and Player B tried to resuscitate Player A, would Player A and Player B become bloody from Player B protecting Player A from half of the Greater Ritual?
xvart wrote:Hmm. "All Cultists who selected Participate in the Ritual gain an Insanity. If the target was not Murdered, they also become Bloody, even if the kill was prevented by Resuscitate."
Mod: Is the "they" in this sentence the Cultists, or the target?
records the only relevant change made to the ruleset. The only other changes I have made have been to clarify when Insanity gains occur due to Denial, and clarifying that you can take
@MOD: do the cult receive their fetishes the same night that they craft them? Do they receive a message for failed craft fetishes (or can they just assume becuase they didn't receive it)?
I have made an important change to how modkills work. Please read the relevant section in the rules post.
Fate
and
ReaperCharlie
have been rendered
Soulless
- the latter for talking about this game outside the thread illegally, and the former for attempting to gain tactical advantage from a modkill.
It is now
Night 1
.
Due to my current circumstances, I will not be able to post Night PMs until Saturday. Night actions will be due to me 48 hours after I send them. Feel free to send your Night Action in if you already know what action you wish to choose.
Vi, my wonderful backup mod, has kindly offered to look after Night 1. Please send your night actions to Vi for tonight. If you already sent them to me, I will forward them on.
I apologise for foisting a new mechanic on you all at such short notice. It was a necessary fix, as I had not devoted enough time to consider how modkilling players would interfere with the game mechanics.
ReaperCharlie and Fate can be Dispatched at any time, and this in no way interferes with the Day's lynching. If they are not Dispatched today, they can be targeted by any action that could target a living player - this includes actions such as
Commune
and
Stalk
, but not
Rob Grave
. If they are Dispatched, they immediately become
Dead
, revealing their Insanity Count. After a successful
Rob Grave
action, their original Role (
Investigator
or
Cultist
) will be revealed as normal.
I will update the flavour as soon as I get home (Saturday).
Very close to deadline, everyone. Please get your actions in!
Vi is now V/LA, so send your action to me if you haven't submitted it yet. If you have already submitted your action, it has already been forwarded to me, so there is no need to resend it.
A final note: Vi tells me that
Rob Grave
was not listed on some people's Night PMs as an available action. It is available to everyone, so let me know if you want to change your mind.
I am unable to send out Night PMs at the present time (Christmas shopping tonight!). Please refer to your Night 3 Result PM and the rule set for the moment; I will send out your Night 4 PM when I get the chance, probably tomorrow.
Mod: Is someone who receives an insanity infraction pm allowed to say that they have received one?
Anyone can say they received or didn't receive an Insanity Infraction for whatever reason. Trying to learn the contents of an Insanity Infraction PM or trying to get me to confirm or deny whether one has been sent does not a happy mod make.
Hope you all had a happy holiday period! I'll be prodding people on the 3rd of January.
Mods - if you had the Solist insanity and you robbed a grave (and nobody else robbed it) would you be notified if there was equipment even if you were unable to pick it up?
No - you would be told only that you received no equipment.