Mid-Range Game 73: SE and Taxes

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

The Target ran, and the Bounty Hunter followed. Across forests, over hills, and through valleys, the chase continued. The Target, ever evading, the Hunter, never tiring. 

Then they came upon a small town. The Target found that they could run no farther. Quickly, they disguised themself, and hid among the townsfolk. 

Then, the tax collectors came.

~

Welcome welcome welcome everyone to MR73 - SE and Taxes. This is a vote weirdness game without revealed votecounts. I will be your GM, and your IM will be @Araris Valerian. Writeups up will be light, as will I suspect most roleplay considering the last one was roleplay only, but this game does take place on Threnody. The village is tax evaders, elims are Fortress dwellers come to collect.

This game will start in one week on Thursday the 3rd of July, tentatively at 10:00 PM Central Time. I'm starting a camp then a wrestling tournament around then, so we'll see what that schedule ends up being.

You can find the rules here in doc form:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18vFpHaAdBRZ9ojDOmGTDMpCNwNJpkQn1PrzWTXXYz2E/edit?usp=drivesdk

Or below in the forum.

Spoiler

MR## - SE and Taxes

In Hell, nothing can be said to be certain, except the Shades and Taxes

Housekeeping:

Cycles will be a combined 48 hours

There will be an inactivity filter of a single cycle, if you don't post during a cycle (two irl days), you will be replaced by a pinch-hitter, if no pinch-hitter is available, you will be given an extra cycle and then removed. If you cannot check in at least once every two days, feel free to sign up as a spectator.

Every cycle, every player may vote. Voting will be done slightly differently than normal, similarly to QF74 - Ain't Nobody Got Time for That. There will be a public spreadsheet with which players can place their votes. Only this, and not any votes within the thread, will be considered.

The player with the most votes, including votes gained from non-player sources, will be executed. If there is a tie, one of the tied players will be randomly picked to die.

There is no vote minimum. 

The execution is flavored as someone dying to the Shades

Unless said to be permanent (just the BH's) all added or subtracted votes will only persist for a single cycle

Votecounts in writeups will not include number totals, only who voted upon who.

There will only be one Bounty Hunter and one Target, barring ridiculous and unexpected 20+ player counts

Alignments:

Homesteaders: The good people of Hell. You've been here as long as anyone, longer than them city folk from the fortresses. Why should you pay them taxes? You must sacrifice every member of the Constabulary to the Shades.

Constabulary: The law keepers of the fortress cities, given a limited purview to chase down the most blatant of the tax evaders. You will have a factional kill that you may use each cycle. You will also have a factional doc to conspire in. You must outnumber the Homesteaders. 

Roles:

Bounty Hunter: You've been tracking your target for a long time. You know all their current aliases, there's no time like the present to take them out. It's unfortunate that you're in the middle of a tax feud, but hey, bright side, they promised you amnesty. The Bounty Hunter will be told the identity of a target. If that target dies, the Bounty Hunter will receive a permanent -1 vote and will survive the first elim kill. If the Bounty Hunter votes for the Target, and the Target does not die, the Bounty Hunter will receive +1 vote the next turn

Target: You're being hunted. You don't know who they are, but you know they're after you. If you run, it'll only get worse. It's time to stand and fight. The Target will not know the identity of the Bounty Hunter. If the Target outlives the Bounty Hunter for any reason, the Target will be told two players, one will be a Homesteader and one will be a Constable. They will not be told which is which.

The Simple Rules:

Don't Kindle a Flame: Every cycle, anyone may choose to kindle a flame near a target. This will add +1 vote to their target, but it will also add +1 vote to themselves.

Don't Shed the Blood of Another: Whenever a player dies to the Shades, their blood splatters upon their accusers. When a player is executed, everyone who voted on them the previous turn will have +1 vote added to their total.

Don't Run at Night: Communication beyond the main conversations is possible, but it regards actions some would consider foolish. PMs are open, but anyone who sends a PM in a cycle will have +1 vote added to their total. Receiving a PM will not trigger this, but replying will. This is triggered by any message sent, whether in an old or new PM thread. This will only result in +1 vote being added per cycle, you do not receive a vote for every PM you send.

Players:

Spoiler

1. @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren Marna
2. @StrikerEZ
3.  @TwinStorm as Rocky
4. @ThatOneWorldhopper as Worldy
5. @|TJ|
6. @Sparker as Honesty Baker
7. @DrakeMarshall as Scarface
8. @CoderDrag0n8 as CD
9. @Wonko the Sane as Prof. Ashford Longfellow
10. @Kasimir as Mendacious

Pinch-Hitters

1.   @Aeternum

Spectators

1. @KelsierApologist

 

Edited July 10, 2025 by Araris Valerian

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

I'm doing this. Will think of a name later.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

I am also doing this. Will also come up with a name later

[al_lan_mandragoran]

I'm doing this.

I'll be Eamon, a name that I'm using for pretty much everything. What can I say? It works.

[Aeternum]

I can pinch hit.

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

Hmm... I will be travelling for all of the 5th of July, will this be fine? I'll be back on the sixth.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

I get back on the 4th, so I'll miss some of the beginning, but I'd love to play!

Sign me up as Rocky, a very law-abiding citizen who loves coppers and would welcome each and every one to his home for a glass of . . . punch. Punch. Definitely not poison. That would be ridiculous of course. Why would he even own poison? He is after all, very law-abiding.

Edited June 26, 2025 by TwinStorm

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

Sign me up as… let's see. I need a name that based in my username and not just spamming special characters.

Worldy. He never wanted to be a part of any tax fraud. No, that sounds awful. He would never do that.

Would he?

Fair note: I will be on a trip from July 7-11. I should be able to check in once every two days, but I probably won't have much time to read everything. If I find out I can’t do it before, I'll switch to a pinch-hitter.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

6 hours ago, KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren said:

Hmm... I will be travelling for all of the 5th of July, will this be fine? I'll be back on the sixth.

Yep! I kinda figured there'd be some vacationing going on. Nice thing about MRs is that you only have to check in every two days. You should be fine.

2 hours ago, ThatOneWorldhopper said:

Sign me up as… let's see. I need a name that based in my username and not just spamming special characters.

Worldy. He never wanted to be a part of any tax fraud. No, that sounds awful. He would never do that.

Would he?

Fair note: I will be on a trip from July 7-11. I should be able to check in once every two days, but I probably won't have much time to read everything. If I find out I can’t do it before, I'll switch to a pinch-hitter.

Sounds good, that should be late enough in the game you won't have much to read anyways.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

I’ll be either playing or IMing, depending on the availability of the other mods.

[|TJ| he/him]

Sign me up! 

Are Bounty Hunter and Target alignment specific? 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

4 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Sign me up! 

Are Bounty Hunter and Target alignment specific? 

I can answer since I'm on the rules committee: not explicitly.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

33 minutes ago, |TJ| said:

Sign me up! 

Are Bounty Hunter and Target alignment specific? 

As Araris said, they can be from either alignment. 

[StrikerEZ he/him]

@The Unknown Order Any chance you'd be willing to change the player list to a numbered list? Makes it easier to see how many people are playing that way.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

1 hour ago, StrikerEZ said:

@The Unknown Order Any chance you'd be willing to change the player list to a numbered list? Makes it easier to see how many people are playing that way.

You see

That requires turning my phone to landscape mode, then scrolling all the way down, then all the way back up without accidentally clicking anything, then switching the type of bullet point

But yeah that'd be smart I'll do that

[StrikerEZ he/him]

2 hours ago, The Unknown Order said:

You see

That requires turning my phone to landscape mode, then scrolling all the way down, then all the way back up without accidentally clicking anything, then switching the type of bullet point

But yeah that'd be smart I'll do that

…do you GM games entirely from just a phone?

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

48 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

…do you GM games entirely from just a phone?

Yes, bow before my might.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Order said:

Yes, bow before my might.

I think I would die if I attempted that. I’ve done inputs from my phone, like after I’ve already made the spreadsheets and stuff on my computer, but trying to do it all from my phone sounds like hell

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

Does the Kindling a Flame show on the votes as a vote from a player? If so, are they subject to the Don't Shed the Blood rule?

How does one submit a Kindling a Flame?

Worldy wants the specifics of murder.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

33 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

I think I would die if I attempted that. I’ve done inputs from my phone, like after I’ve already made the spreadsheets and stuff on my computer, but trying to do it all from my phone sounds like hell

It's not horrible. The Shard's the worst part, so I just copy everything from my docs. I gave up on fancy formatting early on.

25 minutes ago, ThatOneWorldhopper said:

Does the Kindling a Flame show on the votes as a vote from a player? If so, are they subject to the Don't Shed the Blood rule?

How does one submit a Kindling a Flame?

Worldy wants the specifics of murder.

No and no. Votecounts will contain only the votes placed in the spreadsheet. Kindling Flame is secret.

You can submit through your GMPM once the game starts, just like the kill or any action in other games.

[al_lan_mandragoran]

kindling flame?

don't shed blood?

I'm new. What the rusting heck does this mean?

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

37 minutes ago, al_lan_mandragoran said:

kindling flame?

don't shed blood?

I'm new. What the rusting heck does this mean?

It's in the rules for this game. Each game has a different ruleset. This one is set on on Threnody. It's the 3 Simple Rules.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18vFpHaAdBRZ9ojDOmGTDMpCNwNJpkQn1PrzWTXXYz2E/edit?usp=drivesdk

[StrikerEZ he/him]

2 hours ago, al_lan_mandragoran said:

kindling flame?

don't shed blood?

I'm new. What the rusting heck does this mean?

Like KSauce said, it’s based on the 3 rules from Threnody. If you don’t know what the world is, it’s the one from the short story Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell.

[al_lan_mandragoran]

Right. Cool. It's been a while since I read Shadows for Silence

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

4 hours ago, al_lan_mandragoran said:

Right. Cool. It's been a while since I read Shadows for Silence

Yeah, I was mainly using the Coppermind for this one.