Mid-Range Game 17: Hic Sunt Leones

[Magestar]

Lucius sat quietly in a chair, watching.  He sighed as he watched as people talked among themselves, making small talk.  He did not care for such things.  The palace was abuzz with chatter and commotion.  It made it so... difficult to get things done.  The crowd of people were beginning to obstruct his view, and that would do no good.  He stood, and began to make his way towards the edges of the room.  People parted around him;  His physique had always been impressive, but most Gold's were, no, it was not his height or bulk that made people stand aside.  It was his face, his eyes.  He had been told by those with a kinder bent that he had a hawkish face, stern.  Those with more honesty about them had informed him that he had eyes that could pierce a pulseShield, that the gold that infused them could have been steel, for all the warmth they contained.  And his face... No one could have called it pretty, and he himself would call it harsh.   And though most would not find his appearance pleasing, Lucius had always appreciated the sight of crowds splitting.  It certainly helped now, as he found his way to a new spot.  He settled himself in a place not too far from a man named... Spartacus, who seemed to be waiting for something.  He too was watching the crowds- he would bear watching.  Danii and Burganna seemed out of place, but that could be simple anxiety.  Lucius would have been nervous at a party such as this, not to long ago.  No longer.  Now, he watched, and waited, for whatever may come next...

---

Finally had time to get around to this.  Note that any suspicions I state in the RP don't necessarily translate into the game, they simply are making response to other peoples RP's.

I'm probably going to post something on my thoughts later, when I have more to say.  This game is going to change how I make posts, because of the whole 100 word merit thing.  

[Arrae]

5 hours ago, Wonko the Sane said:

"Um, the ArchGovernor's Ball?" The girl seemed so deliciously fragile as she spoke. As though the merest push could send her shattering into a million tiny fragments.

"Hm. Well, I confess that I don't know much about it. I usually stay out of politics -- it simply bores me." Sanis grinned apologetically. "But as far as I'm aware, none of us know much about what's going on. It would seem that Tiberius, in all his glorious wisdom, has deemed it proper to pause the entire war for some... party."

"I can't seem to recall your name. Have we met before? I am called Sanis. If you like, I could show you around, and introduce you to a few people. I have something of a... reputation, around here." Sanis smiled winningly.

Sanis's smiles were seriously creepy. Still, Nyanah couldn't just get away and leave. That would be 

"My name's Nyanah," she said. "Um, sure. I guess."

THAT WAS UNWISE, the Stormfather said. YOU SHOULD HAVE DECLINED SANIS'S OFFER WHILE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE. 

Nyanah nodded, an almost imperceptible movement. Why hadn't she refused Sanis's offer? So she could appear polite? 

FORTUNATELY, I HAVE DEDUCED OUR LOCATION. EDGLI'S INVESTITURE INFUSES SOME OF THE PEOPLE HERE. WE MUST BE ON NALTHIS, the Stormfather said. [/i]THIS PLACE HAS CHANGED MUCH FROM THE TIME I WAS LAST HERE.[/i]

---

@Doctor12, disregard this, mobile won't let me delete mentions.

I'm going to ship certain characters together this game. If I ship you and thus makes you uncomfortable, please don't hesitate to tell me. These ships are intended as jokes and jokes only, not to weird people out.

[The_Lady_of_Chaos]

I notice Jefry wondering around not really talking to anyone. He's never really been good at these kinds of parties. "Hey, Jefry!" I say as i walk up and tap him on the shoulder. He turns his head my way and his face lights up with his signature silly smile.

I think back to the institute. He was always there for me. Even when it was in his better interest not to be. He's such a great friend. I don't know what i'd do without him.

I see Lucius in the corner of my eye. He had his usual stern face on. It was really nice to see him again. We haven't talked since the institute. It feels so far away. I try to give no hints that i noticed him.

[Wonko the Sane]

"Excellent, excellent!" Sanis beamed. This was the way. Get to know her. Find the chinks in her armor.

Sanis spotted Tenebrum and Jefry speaking a short distance away. Perfect. Their simple-minded cheerfulness could put this Nyanah at ease in a way that his false smiles obviously weren't.

"Ah! Tenebrum! Could that be you? It's been so long!" He started taking strides toward the pair, but he immediately stumbled over his own cloak, falling to the ground.

Someone had tied the ends of his cloak together! Sanis scowled darkly, looking around for the culprit. Seeing Nyanah, however, he quickly schooled his features into a foolish grin.

"Apologies for my clumsiness, esteemed lady," he said wryly. "Might I escort you over to meet with some friends of mine?"

[Elbereth]

Lumina snorted, hearing Sanis’ little speech to Tiberius. Idiot. Yes, he had the power to spite Tiberius in public, if he wanted to. But what did that get him? Fear from the other lancers. Dislike from his master. No friends, no one loyal to him. And one day he would overstep his bounds, or Tiberius would decide that someone knowing exactly who he’d had killed was too dangerous, and Sanis would vanish, and no one would care.

One of the dangers of being an assassin, she supposed. That was one of the reasons she’d never wanted to do such work. 

Lumina’s hand touched the hilt of the razor at her hip. There were other reasons, too. Disappearances in the night, poisonings? That was cheating. Much better a fair fight on the dueling ground than a knife in the back. If Lumina made someone her enemy, they knew it.

Most people tried to avoid being her enemy, now. 

She shook her head and ascended the steps to Tiberius, bowing properly, unlike her predecessor. “My liege, ArchGovernor Tiberius, beloved of the Sovereign.” She uncoiled her razor and straightened it, laying the long blade at his feet. “I am your bright sword, sworn to follow your will in all things. My life is dedicated to you, and my death will be in your service. This I swear, as I have sworn before and will swear again, my sword and my life and my death to you.” She spoke quietly, not projecting her words like Sanis had. This was meant to be a private reaffirmation of her vow, not a public indignation. 

She rose with her razor as Tiberius accepted her oath, fitting it back at her waist carefully. They spoke a few words together. Then she descended carefully back down to the ground, and went to mingle with the crowd, as much as she could mingle. It probably looked more like stalking through the crowd in search of prey, but she couldn’t help that. 

[The_Lady_of_Chaos]

I turned my head after hearing the sound of someone falling. I quickly run over to help. "Are you ok?" I asked. "Oh! Hi Sanis!" I think my voice sounds nice enough. I just hope i don't sound too fake.

Oh god it's Sanis. ummm, how can i get out of this conversation alive.... Oh wait, there's someone with him! Maybe that's my way to make this a bit less awkward...

"Oh, hello there, i don't believe we've met before, my names Tenebrum. What's yours?" I spoke to the girl next to him after helping Sanis off the floor. I have my usual smile on. It kinda forced but it's normal enough for people not to notice.

Edited October 11, 2016 by The_Lady_of_Chaos

[TheMightyLopen]

7 hours ago, Elbereth said:

All right, let’s get some game talk going here, shall we? Just because we can’t lynch yet doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discuss. So.

One - a few brief reminders. 1. The lynch is different than usual this game. We can’t lynch today (though we could try a mock duel for practice), but we can starting tomorrow, and given that the lynch is arguably the most critical part of the game, that’s kind of important. So I suggest everyone reread the rules before tomorrow, just so we have as little confusion as possible about that. 
2. Rath. Keep in mind that even if there were ways to clear people in this game (which… I actually think there might be, at least to an extent… thoughts on that in a later post, I think, because I’ll have to see if it would work), that doesn’t mean that person will stay good. So be careful about trust. 
3. Merit. Obviously, Merit is important in this game. As a whole, the village will without doubt gain more Merit than the eliminators. That’s just a fact. But the Forsaken can also use what Merit they have much more effectively than can the Faithful, because they can coordinate (at least to an extent). So in return we need a lot more Merit to accomplish the same thing. Thus, RP is definitely something we need to be doing. But I would also advocate that we actually start talking about the game, given that 1) that gives Merit, and 2) that’s the bit that actually helps us win the game. If everyone only RPed and never talked about analysis or strategy, things would be rather problematic, yes?
4. Limited communication - I think it’s of note that the eliminators do not have a doc together as usual. They don’t even have a PM together, only a chain of PMs. (Note that I think that as a result the evil team will be balanced a little more strongly than usual, because limited communication will hamper them, possibly a great deal.) Among other things, that means we can’t rely on looking at lynch patterns quite as usual because they’re not going to be defending each other as a team. So that’s something to keep in mind. 

Fifth… well, I had an idea, so I’ll lay it out. Note that I don’t really think we should do this idea, both because it would be a bit more boring for all involved and because it would take a lot of organization and time, which I at least don’t have the time to do. (Corollary to that - my activity may fluctuate wildly, given that I probably shouldn’t be playing at all right now. Sorry. I mean, I’ll probably be just as active as usual, but if not, the reason is school.) Basically… the way this game is laid out means that we can calculate exactly how much Merit every person in the game has. If we also all came clean about items and roles and kept ourselves accountable, it really wouldn’t be too difficult to pin down the Forsaken, in my opinion. (It would take a lot of organization - figuring out who should get what items, or organizing rotating PMs to different people so we can keep people accountable for their Merit in that way and all - but it would be doable.) Particularly given that the Forsaken with the most Merit is the one who gets the IonBlade. I’ve noticed in the past that the more cards on the table, the harder it is for the eliminators to hide - it’s why eliminators do so badly in LGs.
But I mentioned that I didn’t actually think we should do this. And that’s because it wouldn’t be fun. It’s like the item-passing in QF16, but even more dictatorship and accountability, and that’s not what makes the game interesting for everyone. 
So I thought I’d propose this, just because it was a thought I had and a possibility, but I personally advocate against it because it would make the game less fun.

RP was going to be in this post, but I should really be working on schoolwork, so it will come later.  

1. Yeah, the lynch is a bit different in this game, but for the most part, I think it'll work pretty much like the regular lynch. Though I think this way might actually give more information, because the winner of a duel gets half of the Merit of the loser, so it adds another dimension to it. Which should make things that much more interesting!
2. Yep, agree with ya there.
3. I wish Luckat were playing so she could give really good advice for how to use Merit.  My advice would be to mostly go for the information gathering items. I don't have time to give advice on each item right now, but I might in a little while.
4. On the subject of communication, I think it's important for the Faithful to try and get connected right from the start. You may want to save your Merit for cool items, but PM's are a very valuable information gathering mechanic in games apart from items/roles.

6 hours ago, Magestar said:

Actually, as far as lynch patterns go, I'd tend to think that they'd go rather differently in this game.  Especially as far as votes on innactives go, since it seems like they need to do something to deactivate the Duel.   I don't really think poke votes will work as well in this game either.  I'm going to read over the rules again, but it also seems like Arcos are going to be a bit of a problem from the lynch perspective.  

As far as the Merit tally goes, that wouldn't really work, because of the Bellona, unless you actually did get everyone to roleclaim, which seems really unlikely.

I'll be trying to get some RP in today as well, but I'm trying to finish the first book first.  I'll probably have it up in the next couple of hours, give or take.

I just quoted this because I wanted to say that even if you start a Duel, I think it could get us additional information if you also Cheered for someone as a sort of second opinion from you. That way, we don't just have a lot of Duel's and not very many people Cheering, which is how Duel's are going to gain relevance and discussion. Like, if you start a Duel on someone, but no one else really agrees with you, I suggest you don't just focus all of your game focused discussion on that one person. Basically, it's the same as the regular lynch mechanic, but I could see people using the fact that they initiated a Duel to kind of avoid discussing other Duels.

[jefrywlfersn]

Jefry heard Sanis calling Tenebrum and immediately was filled with dread. Sanis's "speach" was definitely un called for, but he had paid it little mind at the time. Now,  with Tenebrum getting involved,  there was reason to mind.

What was a bit strange though was the girl that Sanis was talking to. She seemed like she was really shy and fragile,  Sanis's kind of prey. Not to be bothered with now for there were more pressing matters at hand.

Jefry ran to Tenebrum's side to protect her from the assasin lying right in front of them. Although he seemed less formidable with his own cloak tied behind his feet. 

[Wonko the Sane]

"Tenebrum! And Jefry! How good to see you here." Sanis's smile deepened as he got to his feet. He pulled at the tails of his cloak a few times -- they almost seemed to be glowing. Just as he noticed, however, the glow, whatever it was, faded, and his cloak fell back into place.

"My new friend Nyanah here was just asking me why our esteemed host had called us here tonight, and I found myself unable to answer her. Do either of you know what old Tiberius is up to?"

Sanis looked over the pair with distaste. Blasts, they were as frightened as Nyanah. The price of a reputation, he supposed. Hopefully the three would warm to each other, let their guards down.

Perhaps there would be some entertainment this evening after all.

 

[Magestar]

1 hour ago, TheMightyLopen said:

I just quoted this because I wanted to say that even if you start a Duel, I think it could get us additional information if you also Cheered for someone as a sort of second opinion from you. That way, we don't just have a lot of Duel's and not very many people Cheering, which is how Duel's are going to gain relevance and discussion. Like, if you start a Duel on someone, but no one else really agrees with you, I suggest you don't just focus all of your game focused discussion on that one person. Basically, it's the same as the regular lynch mechanic, but I could see people using the fact that they initiated a Duel to kind of avoid discussing other Duels.

I could see that becoming a problem, but now that you've brought it up, it should be less of a problem,  I doubt the Elims will risk it, and if they do, it will be somewhat obvious, IMO.

As far as what I'll be saving for, merit wise, I'll probably be saving for protective items.  I have a rather large fear of night kills.  The ghostCloak or fleshMask seem nearly as helpful as the pulseShield, so I guess it depends how I feel when I reach that much merit.  It seems like it could take while, so I'll probably be posting pretty regularly.

RP time.

---

Lucius watched in silence as Sanis frightened the skins off of three Golds.   He very nearly smiled at that.  Jefry.  Tenebrum. Faces from the past, and though Lucius had distanced himself from most of his fellows, he still had some fond memories of the Institute.  Hmm.  He smiled to himself.  Yes, the Institute had some very fond memories.   It had hardened him, made him what he was now, and he had enjoyed every minute of it.  Sanis did look rather... amusing in that knotted cloak of his.  Lucius chuckled at the thought of a Gold doing such a thing.  He wondered who had been up to it.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Magestar
Fixing RP.

[Bugsy]

Spoilered for length (1300+ words), RR/GS spoilers, and some swearing

 

     Now dressed in the ornate but constrictive garb befitting a gold, Sevro strode down the harsh stone hallways of the colony complex. He was currently in the administrative complex, located directly above the barracks of the Gray policing force, which in turn was situated directly above the 12 individual Red complexes. Each color was by and large restricted to the level they lived on and the levels below it; only the most senior Grays ever earned assignments on the top floor, and only detained Reds ever entered the Gray compound, while Golds and other high colors were free to move where they wanted when they wanted. The most prestigious level was above even the administrative complex; it was above even the surface of the world. It contained a terraformed pocket of atmosphere, complete with flora and fauna and a starry sky. This was Sevro’s destination for the meeting. He bounded up flights of stairs, enjoying the light burn in his legs as he exercised his enhanced Golden muscles for the first time in weeks. Although short for a Gold, he dwarfed most other colors, and the severely lessened gravity meant he took the steps 4 at a time with ease.

     After a quick and easy climb up the stairs, Sevro emerged in a starlit forest. The path to the surface led to a small clearing that allowed for an unobstructed view of the starry sky that was present on Pluto, night or day, but on all sides were trees. Sevro closed his eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, relishing the crisp scent he'd missed in the months of the cloying underground air, interuppted only by breaks like this. The others would be in another clearing a short distance away, having chosen to come up the grav lift. Sevro made his way through the trees, careful not to snag his clothes on a branch. What I wouldn't give to lose the stuffy uniform they make me wear. I miss the old days of running around in a wolf cloak, he thought wistfully. After a few blissful moments of weaving through the trees, a welcome break from the mechanical hum of the air recyclers that were an essential backdrop to life below ground, he emerged into a new clearing. In it stood a circle of high colors waiting for Sevro's appearance to begin the briefing. A Gold on the other side of the circle glared at him for his lack of timeliness. Sevro was a Scarred, however, and the other was a Shunned, so there was no real risk of conflict.
     Once Sevro had entered the circle, the meeting began. First, the Coppers reported on the output of the colony and the stage of terraforming, then the Grays reported on the recent state of unrest the lower Colors exhibited. Persephone’s song was on their lips as they worked and rested. It was concerning to the other Golds that not only their censorship policy not worked, but that the message had spread all the way to the far reaches of the system. Sevro, on the other hand, didn't really know what all the fuss was about. It was just a song, after all. So long as rebellious behavior didn't start to happen, he was perfectly content to let the low Colors vent a little. Blissfully, the meeting ended early, after the Silvers had finished reporting the latest economic indicators. 
     After the meeting was concluded, the high Colors funneled onto the grav lift and prepared for decent, but Sevro remained behind, unwilling to leave the fresh air so soon. He leaned back against a tree, closing his eyes and breathing the scent of petrichor that emanated from the spongy soil below. As he relaxed against the rough bark, he suddenly heard a snapping twig behind him. Instincts from his year at the Academy guided his reflexes as he spun, whipping out the knife he had hidden in the folds of his uniform, ready to combat whatever threat might be present, whether Obsidian, Gray, or Gold. Instead, he beheld a frightened Brown. Not just any Brown, of course; they didn't know about the upper level, much less have access to it. No, this was the messenger he had been awaiting, having just arrived from the cargo station. If he was spotted up here, he could have been lashed, along with his associates who could have potentially helped him. What could have happened that warranted such risky action on his part? “Primus”, he began, “I bring news from Mars. Augustus has pushed Tiberius to a breaking point. All of Tiberius’ Lancers have been recalled to Mars. I suggest you attend immediately.” 
     “Is that all?” Asked Sevro. 
     “No, Primus. I was also told to bring you this” responded the Brown messenger, proffering a holoCube. It looked brand new. Sevro was willing to bet it was a closed system to prevent malignant hacking. 
     “Thank you, you're dismissed. I'd recommend you take the side exit to avoid being caught”, replied Sevro, after having taken and examined the holoCube . The Brown bowed, scurrying away. Might as well see what's in this thing while I have the time, Sevro thought. He activated the cube, watching as a video panned around a room to a masked man sitting in the corner. Ares. What possible motive would Ares have for contacting him? He hated all Golds, let alone high ranking Scarred. The man began to speak. “Hey, boyo!”
    Sevro sighed. “Fitchner, you gory bastard”. He settled back against the tree. It was going to be awhile. 

*1 hour (and lots of spoilers) later*

    Gorydamn. Or, well, bloodydamn. He'd always liked that word. Now he'd get to use it, at least. A lot had happened in the past hour. He'd never known his mother, and his dad had never been the most inclined to discuss her. Sevro had always assumed they'd had a falling-out or something, though, and had always slightly resented his father for it. It was good to know the truth, even if it made him feel slightly guilty for the distance that he'd allowed to grow between them. He'd make it up to him, he vowed to himself now. He'd return to Mars with the other lancers, abandoning his exile, and renew his vows to his liege. The Arch Governor couldn't take public retribution; officially, Sevro was one of his favored lancers, as a Scarred who served as the Reaper’s right hand man. If he played his cards right, he could rise the ranks with favor no others could match. He'd have to leave immediately to arrive when the others did, however. He rushed back belowground, opting this time to take the grav Lift in the interest of speed. He rushed to the Copper’s office. “Has the supply ship left yet?”
     “No, Primus. Was there an issue with supplies? I can ground the plane if you like” responded the Copper 
     “No, the supplies are satisfactory, but I've suddenly wanted to take a trip to visit my home in Mars. I assume I have vacation credit for the the past year and a half?”
     “Well, yes, but are you sure you wouldn't prefer a more comfortable flight? I can have an official ship from the Society’s fleet here with a full escort in…” He tapped the dataPad in front of him quickly, pulling up and skimming the schedule “2 and a half weeks”.
     “The cargo ship will do.”
     “Very well, Primus. You'll need to fill out this paperwork first”
     To hell with Coppers and their bloody paperwork, Sevro thought, annoyed. It seemed relatively unimportant with the revelations of that afternoon. “There's no way I'm doing that”, he said. “I'm on vacation!”
     “But Primus, at least name someone who should be in charge while you're gone!”
     “Fine. Put John au Doe in charge” Sevro replied, naming the Shunned from earlier. Let the Scarred snobs chew on that for awhile before they realized he wouldn't be coming back.

Edited October 12, 2016 by Bugsy6912
Fixed a cutoff sentence (thanks, Elb!)

[TheMightyLopen]

8 hours ago, Amanuensis said:

If someone fails to post once every day they will lose 5 Merit, but otherwise there is an inactivity filter. If you inform me ahead of time that you won't be able to manage that much due to real life circumstances, I will not punish you.

So, does that mean that if you don't post at least once every 24 hours, you'll lose 5 merit? So the penalty isn't just for not posting during a Cycle?

30 minutes ago, Magestar said:

I could see that becoming a problem, but now that you've brought it up, it should be less of a problem,  I doubt the Elims will risk it, and if they do, it will be somewhat obvious, IMO.

As far as what I'll be saving for, merit wise, I'll probably be saving for protective items.  I have a rather large fear of night kills.  The ghostCloak or fleshMask seem nearly as helpful as the pulseShield, so I guess it depends how I feel when I reach that much merit.  It seems like it could take while.

RP time.

---

Lucius watched in silence as Sanis frightened the skins off of three Golds.   He very nearly smiled at that.  Jefry.  Tenebrum. Faces from the past, and though Lucius had distanced himself from most of his fellows, he still had some fond memories of the Institute.  Hmm.  He smiled to himself.  Yes, the Institute had some very fond memories.   It had hardened him, made him what he was now, and he had enjoyed every minute of it.  Sanis did look rather... amusing in that knotted cloak of his.  Lucius chuckled at the thought of a Gold doing such a thing.  He wondered who had been up to it.

That's what I was hoping for, yes. By bringing attention to it, I'm hoping that everyone will participate in the lynch in a way that can help us determine alignment, rather than just appearing to be discussing.

I'll admit, I enjoy having some form of protection as well. I think the benefit of getting a pulseShield is that it's passive, so you always have protection rather than just the one use of a ghostCloak or fleshMask. I think the ghostCloak is a better defensive and information gathering item than the fleshMask, but the fleshMask allows you to take other actions. So there are benefits to each of these items, but if you just want defense, a pulseShield is almost definitely the best(which is why it costs the most).

[Wonko the Sane]

Bugsy, I didn't understand half of that, but I'm pretty sure it was incredible. 

[Doc12]

I certainly agree about PMs being a very important mechanic , Lopen. Elbereth had said that she doesn't believe that the eliminators will be able to coordinate this quickly, but I wouldn't place too much hope on that outcome. Never, ever underestimate your enemy.

Elbereth, you asked me why I wanted to be able to confirm roles. I have already been contacted by a Julii, and I have shared with them a plan to hopefully cripple the eliminators. Don't worry, if I die, it's in my whisper gem so you will know if I have been betrayed. Being able to prove roles is useful, because it allows the faithful to coordinate our actions. Or course, as you say, the forsworn have no reason to lie about their role, but if they do not accomplish what they claim they can do, then we would have caught them out. So as you see, the ability to prove roles is an important one in deciding who to trust. Going out of game for a moment, in the last cycle of qf18, Chaos was caught between Daniyah and Ecthelion. How did she know who to support? Because Daniyah had claimed red to her, and they killed Mark together,proving Daniyah's claim right and her loyalty. If we faithful are going  to band together, we need to be able to trust each other. 

Speaking of PMs, I have not made any yet this cycle, although I have received one from the aforementioned Julii. (more are welcome).  What I want to know is, has anyone else sent out their PMs yet?  I myself might send up to five PMs by the end of this cycle. More important than items is our ability to communicate. 

What else... Right, the whisper gem. If you have started any private messages, start updating your whispergems. The whispergems work like the wills in Town of Salem, and provide information even after you die. Tiberius has promised there is no way to hack PMs or whispergems, so those messages can be trusted. How many people you contacted and who? Put it in the whispergem. If you are discussing a plan, put it in the whispergem. If you have any suspicions that you voiced only to one person, put it in the whispergem.i have already started updating  mine. 

Anyway, analysis over, time for rp 

---

 

Hearing a voice, Spartacus turned to find a man dressed in a crimson red and jade green shawl addressing him, asking if he had given his vows yet. That shawl...looked stupid to be honest. Although, he didn't think he was qualified to judge... 

(BTW sheep, I base myself more on twelve with a bit of eleven than I do on ten) 

"Yes, yes of course, I've given my vows," he said. Couldn't question his own judgment,  could he? Inside his room, he had found a box hidden with a perception filter, observable only to him. Opening it, he had found the notes he had left to himself in his own handwriting, a picture of him smiling in battle armor alongside Tiberius, some more photos of him with other young lancers, and a piece of paper with 'Protect Tiberius' scrawled on it. Naah, couldn't question his own self's judgements. On the bright side, the face had been the same as his current one, which he hoped suggested that he wouldn't die for a bit longer. It did explain why some of the older servants had asked if he was getting cellular regeneration therapy. 

An awkward silence. He shook himself out of his thoughts, realizing that the Lancer was waiting for something more and looking at him awkwardly. He forced a sheepish (ha) grin and extended a hand. "Spartacus au [redacted].  Well met, my friend" 

[Elbereth]

The issue I'm having with that is, again, that the Forsaken don't need to lie. If necessary, they could be entirely above board about exactly what they can do and all of their role actions, and they'd still do fine because there is no action limit and it's not like the roles are kills, so they wouldn't be asked to do much to any fellow eliminators. Yes, the ability to prove a role can be useful if the eliminators choose to lie about it, but there's no reason to believe they will and plenty to think they won't. They might lie about their actions, but I rather doubt it (particularly given holoboxes/cameras) for the most part. So... again, it doesn't matter a lot.

Regarding the QF18 example, Dani literally helped kill an eliminator. The closest we could get to that with roles here would be a Fabii using vote manipulation to lynch an eliminator. Other than that, there is very little that would allow you to clear a person based on role. Thus my questioning why it mattered all that much. 

[Bugsy]

Just now, Elbereth said:

The issue I'm having with that is, again, that the Forsaken don't need to lie. If necessary, they could be entirely above board about exactly what they can do and all of their role actions, and they'd still do fine because there is no action limit and it's not like the roles are kills, so they wouldn't be asked to do much to any fellow eliminators. Yes, the ability to prove a role can be useful if the eliminators choose to lie about it, but there's no reason to believe they will and plenty to think they won't. They might lie about their actions, but I rather doubt it (particularly given holoboxes/cameras) for the most part. So... again, it doesn't matter a lot.

Regarding the QF18 example, Dani literally helped kill an eliminator. The closest we could get to that with roles here would be a Fabii using vote manipulation to lynch an eliminator. Other than that, there is very little that would allow you to clear a person based on role. Thus my questioning why it mattered all that much. 

You can only use your family role once per night, so we could maybe figure out a system to account for those if we needed to. It'd also help us figure out who's Rath, since at least one of them is probably an Eliminator. Other than that, the only thing I can think of why knowing houses would be useful is to organize a bunch of Julii stealing ionBlades from everyone to prevent elim kills

[Doc12]

Right, and there's my plan out in the open. Yes Bugsy, that was the plan I wanted to share to the Julii. No everyone, Bugsy was not the Julii that contacted me. 

My plan went like this. In the order of actions, Julii comes before any other item. And while Julii cannot intercept the forsworn receiving the Ionblade, they can trade the Ionblade away for a Harmless item the next cycle if we manage to pinpoint which of the eliminators gained the most merit last cycle. For example, a forsworn sent in a kill, boom, his ionBlade is traded away for a holocam. The forsworn is revealed, and a kill is prevented. I didn't want to reveal it in thread, but since Bugsy has already brought it up... Shrug 

By the way El, Fabii and Julii are the roles that can be used to directly combat eliminators. Technically, Telemanus can, although at a much higher cost. I would suggest all Telemanus start investing in some protection. 

So yep, that's my Elim hunting plan. 

[Elbereth]

Bugsy's points - Um, yes, I'm aware role can only be used once per night. But that doesn't preclude you from using any other actions, and they could be entirely clear with their roles if that was really necessary for them, which it won't be. So that isn't very helpful. With Rath, that would work if the game was role madness, but it's not. So there'll be a lot of Thornes, and it'll be rather difficult to pin down which are Rath and which are really vanilla. 

Yep. I've had a similar idea since when I mentioned a possible way to soft-clear people, I just hadn't checked it with the rules until you brought it up again. While that's possible, it'll be difficult to figure out who does have the ionBlade, obviously, so it's still a guessing game. However. If you have a Julii steal from the person who had the highest Merit in a cycle (possibly the second highest as well, if that could be arranged, in case of Bellonas), you could soft-clear that person by trying to steal an ionBlade from them the next cycle. If they don't have one, it's quite likely that they're not an eliminator. 

A corollary option would be to try to control that so different people get the most Merit every cycle, but I'm not sure we want to go that far down a dictatory path. If we don't, though, it'll mostly be the same people getting cleared. (The most active and contributing players, too, which is rather an advantage, imo.) Thoughts?

Edited October 12, 2016 by Elbereth

[Bugsy]

17 minutes ago, Doctor12 said:

Right, and there's my plan out in the open. Yes Bugsy, that was the plan I wanted to share to the Julii. No everyone, Bugsy was not the Julii that contacted me. 

My plan went like this. In the order of actions, Julii comes before any other item. And while Julii cannot intercept the forsworn receiving the Ionblade, they can trade the Ionblade away for a Harmless item the next cycle if we manage to pinpoint which of the eliminators gained the most merit last cycle. For example, a forsworn sent in a kill, boom, his ionBlade is traded away for a holocam. The forsworn is revealed, and a kill is prevented. I didn't want to reveal it in thread, but since Bugsy has already brought it up... Shrug 

By the way El, Fabii and Julii are the roles that can be used to directly combat eliminators. Technically, Telemanus can, although at a much higher cost. I would suggest all Telemanus start investing in some protection. 

So yep, that's my Elim hunting plan. 

Shoot. Sorry about that, Doctor! I'm going to be completely honest here. I PMed your contact and we traded roles. He told me he was a Julii, and since I wanted to be in the loop about the elim hunting plan, I took a risk and told him I was too. I convinced him to tell me your plan by telling him I thought you might be an SK targeting Juliis and that I was afraid to contact you (which was true). He filled me in so we could 'work together', and I then told him my actual role (Bellona). I later forgot that the information wasn't exactly public, and posted it in thread. *sigh* I completely understand if you want to duel me now, although I'd really prefer you didn't considering how fun this game promises to be. 

[Doc12]

I'm fairly annoyed at you right now, Bugsy, but not enough to start a duel, I guess. Suggesting that I might be a serial killer is a low trick, and frankly, I'm wondering why you're already lying so early in the game and being so eager to learn the eliminator plans. Note that I'm not accusing you so far, merely saying I now have my eye on you. 

Moving on, I do like El's plan. However, one potential problem with El's plan is that it might cause the forsworn to hold back their post count, so to speak. Their goal isn't to get the highest merit, merely the highest within their own group. 

In a way, this could be encouraging the forsworn to lurk, as they do not want to draw attention to themselves by having a high post count and merit of all players. It doesn't matter how little merit they earn, for the blade will automatically go to the forsworn with the most posts. See what I mean? 

Sigh, this is why I didn't want this plan to be revealed this early in game. 

Edited October 12, 2016 by Doctor12

[Wonko the Sane]

It can still clear innocents. That's not as useful as catching an Eliminator, but it's worth something.

[Elbereth]

Yep. It would make them lurk more, true. That's not necessarily horrible, as we could focus more on those players, but I do agree that lurking is generally a bad thing. If we did a rotating way of choosing who should have the most Merit, we could have more success, but I'm not sure whether we should do that or not.

I will note that Bellona isn't nearly as much of a problem as I remembered, looking at the rules again. It only comes into play if someone's earned more than 20 Merit, which is going to be fairly rare, I think. It's been 24 hours, and the most active posters are at maybe around ten, with signup RP. (I'm at 8 right now, I think, which is the point I'm using to base it off of because I haven't bothered to count for everyone else.) So that's not really going to be an issue.

And don't stress too much about it, Doctor. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the eliminators thought of exactly the same plan as well. I thought of it, too, I just liked my variation more because I gave it a higher chance of succeeding its goal (because, obviously, catching out players with ionBlades is going to be a lot harder than getting ones without and semi-clearing them). Actually, I think it's more than semi-clearing them... if the person with the highest amount of Merit does not have an ionBlade the next cycle, the only possible reason that the test would fail (assuming there is an ionBlade kill attempted that cycle; if not then an item or two could interfere, I think) that I can currently see would be a Forsaken Julii taking the ionBlade instead. And at least there'd still be a 50/50 chance of that, which isn't all that horrible. 

[Bugsy]

16 minutes ago, Doctor12 said:

I'm fairly annoyed at you right now, Bugsy, but not enough to start a duel, I guess. Suggesting that I might be a serial killer is a low trick, and frankly, I'm wondering why you're already lying so early in the game and being so eager to learn the eliminator plans. Note that I'm not accusing you so far, merely saying I now have my eye on you. 

Moving on, I do like El's plan. However, one potential problem with El's plan is that it might cause the forsworn to hold back their post count, so to speak. Their goal isn't to get the highest merit, merely the highest within their own group. 

In a way, this could be encouraging the forsworn to lurk, as they do not want to draw attention to themselves by having a high post count and merit of all players. It doesn't matter how little merit they earn, for the blade will automatically go to the forsworn with the most posts. See what I mean? 

Sigh, this is why I didn't want this plan to be revealed this early in game. 

I fully understand that. I screwed up. At the same time, the suggesting you were a serial killer wasn't intended to be a 'trick'. I legitimately thought it was a possibility, otherwise I would have come to you directly instead of taking advantage of your contact. As a Bellona, I'll get 30 Merit this cycle if I max out. Feel free to try and take an ionBlade from me tomorrow to test if I'm a foresworn. 

Edit: Ninja'd by Elb. I hadn't thought of a Forsworn Julii taking an ionBlade. That could be annoying. Also, the amount of merit earned really depends on Aman's way of counting contribution. If every 100 words of RP gets you a merit, I'm probably at 14 right now not counting sign ups, although he likely counts at a lower rate than that

Edited October 12, 2016 by Bugsy6912

[Doc12]

Aman has told me he counts RP by the post, not by the word. I asked him that myself after posting a thousand word RP of my own  The goal of the merit was to encourage interactive RP, so while you can post RP exceeding a thousand words, it doesn't do much on its own, and gets only one point, see what I mean? So start actually approaching people! Start a conversation, heh.

Anyway. through this, Merit can easily be tracked by post count, although it can be hard to determine ourselves exactly what counts as analysis. 

[TheMightyLopen]

16 minutes ago, Wonko the Sane said:

It can still clear innocents. That's not as useful as catching an Eliminator, but it's worth something.

Yeah, clearing innocents makes it that much more difficult for eliminators to hide, because it shrinks the pool of players who could be eliminators. Of course, we have to be wary of any Rath's, but I'm hoping that won't be too much of a problem.

Hm. One benefit to confirming a players role is to confirm that they're not Rath, right? Because I don't think anyone can be from 2 Houses.