I've drafted the rules for the upcoming experimental game, registration for which begins on November 18. I am posting them so that participants of the ХВ "Mafia" can express their opinions and suggestions. New or important points are highlighted with
underlining; comments that are not part of the rules are in
green.
Game Rules №231) The game is led by Vegtam (hereinafter – GM or Game Master); all actions, questions, and suggestions are via ICQ (403-882-055).
2)
To participate in the game, you must leave a quenta for your character in the game thread. A quenta is a short story describing the character's personality. It contains a brief history of the character, as well as descriptions of events that preceded their appearance in the game world. This can be a character from a book/movie/game/comic/other source, but it is preferable for the character to be reasonably well-known. Example of a game with quentas: http://imdream.ru/forums//topic/708/ Further development of the open roles idea. This is not intended to complicate the game, but to give it atmosphere, allow for the roleplaying of chosen roles, and, of course, make coming up with clues easier.3) When the number of approved quentas equals the number of roles provided for the game, registration ends and the distribution of roles begins. The GM sends players their roles via private messages. A player who has received a role must confirm its receipt in the game thread. The game starts only when all players have confirmed receipt of their roles.
4) There are two phases in the game – night and day. The game begins with night.
5) At night, players send ND according to their role (if you decide not to use ND – notify the GM; otherwise, this will be considered offline and may lead to a modkill). Naturally, ND can (and should) be sent in advance.
The duration of the night is about 12 hours (+- one hour at the GM's discretion); actions are accepted only for the first 9 hours. Writing in the game thread at night is prohibited. I liked the idea of short nights from psychological mafia, plus players have recently complained about 24-hour nights. I didn't want to throw 12 hours "into a void," so I moved them to the day phase, which will benefit daytime discussions. The schedule is planned to be roughly the same - night begins around midnight MSK, day begins around noon. The point about not being able to write at night is debatable; the only advantage is that the execution and newspaper are nearby, meaning fewer links in the GM's signature.6) During the day, players vote for the execution of one of them in the game thread.
The duration of the day is 36 hours. See comment on rule 5.7) The vote must be formatted in bold as "Execute " (creativity is allowed – within reason), otherwise the vote will not be counted. If you do not believe that someone should be executed today, then announce that you are abstaining from voting in the format "Hang no one." If you want to cancel your vote, write "Do not execute ", also in bold. One vote and one vote cancellation are allowed per message.
Players who have not voted during the day, or cancelled their vote without voting again, are considered to have voted against themselves. Based on the results of the vote, the player with the highest number of votes will be executed (not necessarily more than half of the players!). Execution does not occur in two cases – if the "HNNV" option received the most votes or if two players have an equal maximum number of votes. Modernized the voting system with ideas from psychological mafia; the goal is to speed up games, as they have recently been dragging on for 7 or more days. All double votes are displayed only if they are decisive. Players are encouraged to compile vote lists.
8) During the game, it is forbidden to change your nickname, avatar, signature, and personal information. If it is vital that you change this information, discuss the changes with the GM beforehand.
If you were killed but wish to edit your profile, you must take a screenshot of your profile before the change and leave it in the "General Discussions" thread. Borrowed from the rules of the 21st mafia, only instead of posting the screenshot in the game thread where it would surely get lost, it will be placed in "General Discussions".9) Clues regarding killers, recruiters, and recruits in reports are given based on the quenta or user profile (nickname, avatar, signature, etc.). If a kill was unsuccessful, the killer will find out, but not why it was unsuccessful. No clues are given for failed kills, except those declared by the killer themselves. Reports also contain a hint about the role of the deceased and the role of the killer. The killer may plant 1 additional clue at the crime scene. It must point to them and be original (i.e., do not leave clues of the "for the super-observant" variety). As for the difficulty of these clues, there is quite a lot of freedom, but the GM still reserves the right to reject a specific clue, with or without explanation.
10) Private correspondence is allowed only between "mafia" and players who are in a game link. Of course, it's hard not to communicate when you study or perhaps even live with another participant. But try to avoid speaking openly about your roles. If you really want to discuss actions, discuss them objectively, as if you were an outside observer.
11) An eliminated player remains silent about the game until the end. They have no right to write on the forum or to anyone in private messages about their role. Likewise, remaining participants have no right to write to them about what roles they possess. All discussions of roles are possible only between eliminated participants.
After a player is eliminated from the game, they have the right to leave one "farewell post" in the game thread, after which until the end of the game they are considered an observer not participating in the game. The necessity of this point is debatable; if added, I think it's worth limiting the ability to place information about the game in such a post. Forum members not participating in the game cannot leave messages in the game thread during the game (messages from non-participants are allowed before the start or after the end of the game).
12)
If a participant is absent for any reason during the game day, or appears on the forum but writes nothing in the game thread (even one message will do, preferably a vote against someone), they are considered an offliner. When killing an offliner, the killer has a 50% chance of leaving no clues. Furthermore, offliners are easier to execute during the day because according to rule 7, players who have not voted during the day receive a vote against themselves. Idea from one mafia forum, decided to test it.13) First night immunity (the impossibility of killing a person possessing it on the first night of the game) is given to the following participants:
- Those killed on the first night in the previous game.
- The leader of the previous game
- LI of the previous game LI wasn't chosen for nothing- Newcomers
- Players who missed two or more previous games
However, immunity does not save a person from death that may result from the actions of their own role.
14)
At the end of the game, the LI (best player) of the past game is chosen. Players and the GM participate in choosing the LI (his vote counts as two); observers may participate if they have taken part in at least one of the games held on ХВ. A tradition from other gaming forums, good because it creates a more active post-game discussion, and gives a small but pleasant bonus.
And another important comment - it is allowed to reveal your role and its elements or make false reveals. This wonderful possibility of psychological mafia was not used during the 22nd game; I really want to see it in the 23rd.
