Quick Fix Game 33 - Deception: Murder in the Cosmere

[Herowannabe]

44 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Ok I've gone through each scenario in my head that is left, and I have arrived at a possible thing. @Herowannabe, I am Making an accusation. 
I think it was PK using the deathants leaving behind the spectacles! 

Yes. 

---

 

Day 3.5 - A Specter's Spectacles

The Investigators were starting to get frantic. They had followed numerous leads- everything from lead poisoning to a lead bar, but each lead had each led to a dead end. They were about to throw in the towel when a small metallic squid flopped in the room and began gurgling and waving its tentacles frantically. Everyone looked at it, befuddled. 

"Does anyone speak squid?"

Bemused investigators glanced around at each other, but each shook their head. They had all opted to take the much more useful Cremlingish elective at university, except for one who had minored in Swinese. 

"Look, I think he wants us to follow him!" Someone said, and the investigators all watched as the squid squelched its way out the door, beckoning urgently with its tentacles. 

Several hours later- because squids don't move very fast on land- the shiny creature triumphantly threw open the door to an old abandoned shack, and the investigators flooded into the small one room building. There in the corner was Eban Naroreh, the Oracle, bound and gagged and barely breathing. His ancient, shriveled frame was further shriveled by nearly 3 days without food or water. They quickly untied him and dribbled some water into his mouth, and his eyes fluttered open. 

"Eban! Are you alright? Who did this to you!?" the investigators asked.

"John... Smith's... Specter..." the Oracle wheezed, barely able to force the words out. "Need to... exorcise... Recipe... at my... shop..." And with that, he slipped back into unconsciousness. 

---

Congrats to @Steeldancer for correctly solving the crime! @Paranoid King, you and your accomplice(s) have one attempt to guess who the Witness is! If you can correctly identify the Witness you will get away with your crime and win the game. But you better hurry, the Investigators are working on a complex exorcism ritual. If you take longer than 24 hours, or if you guess incorrectly, the Investigators will banish your Ghost to the Spiritual Realm forever and you will lose! Good luck!

 

[Steeldancer]

Haha, I got it RIGHT! Clearly it's because I'm the witness. 

[Kidpen]

2 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Haha, I got it RIGHT! Clearly it's because I'm the witness. 

That's certainly possible considering I am definitely not the Witness. 

Also, props. Very good job. 

[Elandera]

4 minutes ago, Kidpen said:

That's certainly possible considering I am definitely not the Witness. 

Also, props. Very good job. 

Lies! I am the witness!

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

Obviously, I am the Witness. There's no way John Smith could have stolen my ants without me noticing. Or perhaps it's Fluffy the Whitespine, who only wanted John's spirit to be put to rest.

[Paranoid King]

39 minutes ago, Steeldancer said:

Haha, I got it RIGHT! Clearly it's because I'm the witness. 

Well, obviously. Herowannabe, the witness is...

37 minutes ago, Kidpen said:

That's certainly possible considering I am definitely not the Witness. 

 

32 minutes ago, Elandera said:

Lies! I am the witness!

 

1 minute ago, Devotary of Spontaneity said:

Obviously, I am the Witness.

Goshdangit.

[Rathmaskal]

Daaaaaaaaaaang, I was close...  Well done.

[MetaTerminal]

(Actual message)

Storms, I was just about to make an accusation! 

Clearly, it’s because I’m definitely not the witness and was going to make a lucky guess. Definitely.

Edited September 10, 2018 by MetaTerminal

[Snipexe]

My name is literally The Witness, what more evidence do you need?

[Paranoid King]

@Herowannabe! I am making an accusation! The witness was Metaterminal, and he unraveled the murder by using logic and charisma.

[Steeldancer]

and that’s game right there. Well played PK, Joe, and Itiah. 

[Paranoid King]

Ahh, gg. We had you among our final suspects, but you had only posted 2 or 3 times, so we figured it was someone more active.

[I think I am here.]

What? So it isn’t Aon Ehe? Or even Beheading? I feel betrayed by my intuition! 

In all seriousnesss, great game. Most of you were right, my craziness was a ploy to take attention off of the others, and I consider it one of my few Oscar-worthy performances. More (hilarious) details in the doc.

Everything was going so well, and we would’ve gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!

[Alvron]

1 minute ago, I think I am here. said:

we would’ve gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!

and that pesky Squid.  

[Madagascar]

Well, my dear Pet Bird, looks like my work here is done.

But you didn't actually do anything, Mad.

Didn't I, Birdy?

Didn't I?

[Steeldancer]

2 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

Ahh, gg. We had you among our final suspects, but you had only posted 2 or 3 times, so we figured it was someone more active.

By the time I would have said something, so many people had already said intelligent things. For a while I thought it was you and the cliff, but I felt like my reasoning would compromise me. I was planning on making an attempt on not one of you three to throw off the trail, but I’m glad i saved it. 

[A Joe in the Bush]

4 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

and that’s game right there. Well played PK, Joe, and Itiah. 

Well, Hero still jasn't seen the answer. @Paranoid King quick! Edit the post!

[Paranoid King]

@Herowannabe! It was squid who done it! I got this freaky intuition, and the answer just popped into my mind! Final answer!

[Herowannabe]

7 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

@Herowannabe! I am making an accusation! The witness was Metaterminal, and he unraveled the murder by using logic and charisma.

 

---

Epilogue - Meddling Squids

Inside the Oracle's house, room had been cleared for an occult circle. Candles had been lit around the outside, and the investigators were chanting ominously.

Sum no timere phasma
Sum no timere phasma
Sum no-

"ENOUGH ALREADY!"

The choir was interrupted by an ominous spectre, who had materialized in the middle of the summoning circle. He was carrying a sealed cage under one arm, and he wore a pair of ghostly spectacles. He gestured expansively around the room.

"Look at you all! I'm disgusted. This oracle has done nothing but lead you astray!"

A squid darted forward, blooping and gurgling at the ghost.

"Yeah, yeah, he got the murderer last time, but he killed me to do it! He's omniscient, isn't he? He could have easily avoided that! Can't the Oracle just tell us how to solve the case, or better yet, gotten out of our way and let us solve it? Hah, I was watching you stumble around looking for clues. You didn't even bother going to the crime scene! You relied on the Oracle's notes the whole time! And I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling squids."

The Oracle stepped forward, turning a page on the script.

"...Angry monologue, pause for emphasis. Ah, yes. Heroic declaration. Ahem"

"Begone, foul beast! You taint this air and all that. Yadda yadda."

John Smith screamed, letting loose several lightning bolts. One of them hit Felksi, who collapsed.

"You haven't heard the last of me! You will rue the day, Oracle!"

And then the ghost disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving the investigators alone in a dark basement.

(EDIT: Thanks to @Paranoid King for doing the write up!)

---

Game over! The Investigators have (narrowly) won!

7 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

and that’s game right there. Well played PK, Joe, and Itiah. 

And yes, in case it isn't clear, @Steeldancer was the Witness, @A Joe in the Bush and @I think I am here.. were both Co-Conspirators, and @Paranoid King was of course the Assassin. 

A few parting thoughts from the GM/Oracle:

For my hints, I chose "Accident" as the murder method over "poison" because I felt like "poison" would lead people in the wrong direction- towards actual poisons like Blackbane Leaf and Venomous Bite and etc. That decision kind of backfired on me though, as most people seemed to write off Deathants and focus on other possibilities instead- A big part of this was the Conspirators, who did a great job at subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) steering the focus away from PK. Fortunately (or Unfortunately, depending on which team you were on), Steeldancer was there as the Witness and was able to hone in on the right clues just in the nick of time. 

None of my starting tiles helped to give hints for Spectacles, so for Day 1 all of the hints were supposed to be pointing towards Deathants: Wilderness and Untidy Clothes are pretty straightforward. Despicable Personality and Necessity were both there because I was envisioning a Trapper using the Deathants to murder a rival. The Footprint was there because in the book stepping on a Deathant nest is what causes them to swarm out and start biting, but nobody was catching on to that connection, so on Day 2 I chose to replace that one with the Hint on Corpse: Head clue (for the Spectacles, obviously). 

I feel this was much better balanced than the first time. Changing the location tiles and giving everyone 5 methods/evidences felt like the right balance to me. I'm curious to think what everyone else thought- particularly the Conspirators. 

Thanks everyone for playing, and thanks to @Alvron for Moderating! I had fun, and I hope we'll be able to fit this format into the schedule in the future. Alvron mentioned in passing maybe slotting a quick Deception game in between LGs, but I'll leave that decision up to him and the other Moderators. 

Oh, and could one of the Conspirators please share the link to the Conspirator doc with the group? This time around I had @Alvron create the doc so that I wouldn't be able to peek at their plans and plots. Thanks.  @Paranoid King @I think I am here. @A Joe in the Bush

Edited September 11, 2018 by Herowannabe
added in the Mentions, which weren't working before.

[Snipexe]

This was way more balanced in my opinion, sorry I didn’t post much after I made my accusation. I’ve been caught up in the current Lg/School. Thanks for running a really interesting fun version of SE Hero, and I hope Deception is here to stay.

[Paranoid King]

A transcript was found  in the oracle's basement. It seems to have been written weeks before the kidnapping.

That was a good game. I thought the balance was perfect. In fact, if I were to change anything, I would make days half as long so we could fit more games in the same timeslot.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Paranoid King

[Herowannabe]

1 minute ago, Paranoid King said:

A transcript was found  in the oracle's basement. It seems to have been written weeks before the kidnapping.

Thanks for posting that!

1 minute ago, Paranoid King said:

That was a good game. I thought the balance was perfect. In fact, if I were to change anything, I would be make days half as long so we could fit more games in the same timeslot.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't feel like we really need 48 hour turns- 24 hours should be plenty. And at 24 hours/cycle, the game would only take 5 days at the absolute max (1 day for the Assassin to pick their things, 1 day for each the 3 cycles, and 1 day for the Conspirator to try to find the Witness). I really am curious how the Moderators would feel about slotting this format into the schedule on a regular basis... @little wilson @Orlok Tsubodai @Alvron @Seonid: thoughts?

Alternatively, if the Moderators and Site Admins don't mind, we could even break it off and make it it's own thing over in the General or Cosmere Discussion forums, since it is technically a different game. But personally I would rather keep it here with the other SE games.

[Snipexe]

I’m also going to add one thing. I really liked running the two games in a row. I know it was an accident, but it really changed the feel of the game in a good way. I think with only 24 hour cycles, as paranoid said, we might be able to fit in two games in a row. Just a thought.

[Herowannabe]

Oh! I completely forgot to mention that the finale write-up was done by Paranoid King. If you liked it, please go give him upvotes, not me!

3 minutes ago, Snipexe said:

I’m also going to add one thing. I really liked running the two games in a row. I know it was an accident, but it really changed the feel of the game in a good way. I think with only 24 hour cycles, as paranoid said, we might be able to fit in two games in a row. Just a thought.

Yeah, it's the type of game where it takes a couple rounds to get a feel for it. Plus, with all the randomized tiles it adds a lot of replayability. For example, in 2 games we only saw 1 out of the 6 event tiles. Not to mention that we haven't even begun to tinker with custom roles or events or anything like we do with normal SE games.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Herowannabe

[Alvron]

Many thanks to @Herowannabe for running this game and giving us a new format to consider.  It's one I personally can see fitting in quite well.

It was decided to run a second game so those playing could get a good feel for this type of game as we would like to hear everyone opinion on if we should look at making these Lightning games a semi regular occurrence.  At moment something like having one every 3-4 LGs would be the starting point.

Most likely they will have a 48/72 hour sign up window rather than the standard week long period so we can slot it in between LGs without disrupting the scheduling too much.  24 hour cycles would also help keeping everything flowing smoothly as well but 36 or 48 wouldn't be out of the question if players want more time.

So, player of SE, what do you think?  Should these Lightning games become a semi regular thing?  Is there a way you can see to improve or tweak them?  Give your opinion whether good or bad for only together can we make our corner of the Shard a welcoming place for all.