Araris Valerian he/him Posted May 6 Author Posted May 6 Night 6: Let the Gods of Luck and Chance Decide Verna and Variel were quick to side against Mr. Monopoly. Why, they argued, should someone who planned to bulldoze the House be allowed to escape? "Wait a minute? The House has killed 10 people so far in the last few days! And those are only the ones we know about. Plus the butler makes at least 11, since I haven't seen him since the first night, so he's probably a goner as well." Liam felt like he was stating the obvious, but he kept going. "The first thing I will do when I get out of here is to tear the place down. You two are insane for thinking off doing anything else!" The two pairs stared at each other across the entryway, at an impasse. Neither shaky alliance had any deadly to hand, and they seemed fairly matched in physical ability. Eventually, unable to take the tension, Mr. Monopoly dashed toward Variel, brandishing his walking cane as if it were a quarterstaff. As he reached the rug covering the middle of the hall, his left foot caught the carpet's edge and he tripped, tumbling to the floor. Variel, who had been bracing himself for the attack, now rushed forward, but before he struck, he noticed that Mr. Monopoly was unnaturally still. And... that his neck was at an extreme angle to the rest of his body. Liam took the brief moment of distraction to dash back into the depths of the House. Mr. Monopoly @___ has been executed! He was an Innocent Explorer. Night 6 has begun, and will end at 8PM on Wednesday, May 6. Barring a successful protect, the game will end tonight, so get any final RP in, and let me know if you have requests for the final writeup (which may include your death). Vote Count: Striker (2): Conure, ___ ___ (2): Striker, Doc Player List: Spoiler 1. ___ as Mr. Monopoly, who is looking to redevelop the House - Innocent Explorer 2. Through the Living Wahr as Warren the Wisp-followed Innocent Explorer 3. Fizz9 as Patrick, a friendly neighborhood smith Innocent Explorer 4. Through the Living Star as Mabel, who is secretly not a grouch Innocent Explorer 5. Akimikoisthecutest as Talasin the Journalist Innocent Explorer 6. Qianweilian as Randal Boar, who might be really lost - Innocent Explorer with an Aviar 7. @Doc12 as Verna, a writer enamored by the House 8. Mist. as Brax Innocent Explorer 9. Frozen Mint as Luminair, a disciple of Aralis Innocent Explorer 10. Divergent as Archie Innocent Explorer and proto-radiant 11. Miss Fallen as K. Tims, yo-yo artist extraordinaire - Innocent Explorer 12. @Conure1243 as Liam 13. @StrikerEZ as Variel the dark and funky 14. Verdance as Harley, a secretary with a detective complex - Innocent Explorer 2
StrikerEZ he/him Posted May 6 Posted May 6 Oh hey. I’m alive. And I don’t even have to have a character arc about whether or not to die a hero or live a villain. Lame. 2
Doc12 Posted May 6 Posted May 6 (edited) Verna sits in the middle of the grand staircase, shuffling Brax's deck of cards. Variel stalked the grand hall, searching for traces of the gun they believed Monopoly had held. Liam was nowhere to be seen, having darted off into the depth of the house. The night was almost over. Dawn drew near, and with it the house unlocking. What a disappointment the house had been. No revelations. No invitations into the unearthly. No escape from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the heartaches and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Just a parade of people she had grown close to, dying one after another, victim after victim. Faces flashing in her memory. Proud, ashamed, terrified, gone. "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! - Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted- On this home by Horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore- Is there- is there balm in Gilead? - tell me- tell me, I implore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." From the deck, she drew her final card. A golden, ornate Key. She almost laughed. Yes. A Key. In a matter of hours the house would unlock, and she would walk out of it a different woman. She had come in yearning for so much. She would leave with her spirits crushed. Even in the most eldritch and inhuman of places, human selfishness and death permeated all. "How can you be so sure you'll survive?" Variel asked. "Liam might shoot any of us." From her pockets, Verna drew out a tiny, delicate glass butterfly. "A gift." She smiled sadly. "Some generosity, whether from the butler himself, or the house acting through him. It will shield me from a single shot. You see? I'm meant to survive this night, no matter what." "I'd forgotten about the gift," Variel murmured. "Well, take heart," Verna said softly. "Hero at heart, are you not? You too will live on, your soul pure and untouched, even if your body dies tonight. Not all have been so privileged." Variel scoffed. "I'd very much prefer to stay alive, hero's soul or not." "I am not sure." Verna said. "I might leave the house tomorrow. But I do believe some part of me will remain trapped here... forever, along with all the people I've lost." So saying, she stood. "I am going to find a bedchamber to spend my last night in the house in comfort..." She tipped her head towards Variel. "Care to join me?" Edited May 6 by Doc12 2
Conure1243 He/Him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 Liam stirred uneasily. Alone. Why did he let himself be alone? A tear fell. He knew why. He was a killer. He was scared. He didn't want to die. So he killed someone. But where did that get him? Here. Alone. In a house he never should have entered. And what for? He didn't even know anymore. All he knew was the darkness... 1
coco.pudding she/they Posted May 7 Posted May 7 30 Minutes Remain! If you want anything specific to be in the write up, speak now.
Doc12 Posted May 7 Posted May 7 (edited) Verna could hear them. Brax, murmuring about the Void card. Patrick, crying about his betrayal. K, terrified in the dark. Even Liam, not yet dead, but already ensnared, asking himself why he gave up his soul. She didn't hear Mabel. Mabel was the only one who had resisted. And the house. Now it chose to speak to her, on the verge of letting her go. Now it whispered to her sweet nothings, a thousand promises. It would open itself up to her, it would keep her and her friends together. She wouldn't need to be out among humans again, she would be free. Smoke wisped from the weapon, from her wrist all the way up her arm. Verna glided through endless corridors and through countless doors, smoke billowing behind her. What an irony. To leave the house alive, she would stake a part of herself to it forever. Tragic, yet fitting. There was no escape from human selfishness, really. She could have done the right thing. Refused to fire. Then she would die, but Variel and Liam would live. Still. Liam was a killer. And she would just be dead. Untainted of soul, but dead and kept by the house regardless. It all came back to selfishness, in the end. Variel would live. His soul remained untouched, though Verna privately thought it was more for lack of temptation than any real strength of will. Still. He alone would escape free. Most of Verna would leave with him. Her shadow would remain. She wondered if Mabel was still free. In refusing to fire the weapon, had her soul ascended beyond the grasp of the house? Verna hoped so. Mabel deserved to be among the stars. Too late for the rest of them. The innocents, killed by the house. The killers, kept by the house. Finally, Verna entered a dark room, found her target for tonight. Liam had collapsed in a comfortable chair, exhausted from his run. He was no longer running. Under her veil, a sad smile. In her hand, the smoking gun. "Welcome home," she said. Edited May 7 by Doc12 2
Araris Valerian he/him Posted May 7 Author Posted May 7 The game has ended! Stay tuned for the aftermath!
Araris Valerian he/him Posted May 7 Author Posted May 7 (edited) Aftermath: The House Sleeps Once More 12 graves, hidden in a courtyard walled in on all sides, the light barely reaching the ground. 12 people, dead in the span of six days. 12 souls, lost to the House. The first to die: a man none of them ever got to know, left without even a name on his gravestone. Then Warren, an innocent man doomed by circumstantial evidence, the first gone to the angry mob. Archie, who could have become so much more if he’d only had the time, who was never able to speak the Words he might have. Brax, the first killer among them, the first to find the gun, who’d known his fate was sealed the moment the Void card was drawn. Then Luminair, the first Hero among them, killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ran into Patrick, a kind man who became twisted and consumed by the gun, and was overcome with the guilt of killing another person. Then Mabel, the unsung hero, the only one to resist the gun, cursed to wander the House forever because of it. Then Talasin was killed, who had always been lurking in the background, watching and recording everything until they were pushed to the forefront. Next came Harley, who thought himself a detective but was never able to solve the mystery of the House. Then K. Tims, just 13, who entered the House on a dare and was too young for the fate she got. Randal, who got lost in the House, and would remain that way forever, beyond the reach of the bird he had begun to bond with. Then Mr Monopoly, who came in with big dreams of redeveloping the House and who might have been right about razing it to the ground. And finally, Liam. The Hero who turned his back and the last one to fall. In the end, two made it out. But some part of them would always be lost in that House, just like all the others. Variel, the Hero, who deep in his heart wondered if he would have remained so had the gun passed to him. And Verna, the final killer among them, the one everyone had wanted to save in the beginning, granting her the butler’s gift, unused these six days. In the end, perhaps a part of her had died in these dark halls, when she made that final shot. They found something on Monopoly’s body, a final parting gift: his will, all his holdings left to the survivors. Though they had been wrong about him, he respected them in the end. Perhaps the money would help them continue in the aftermath of this horror. The doors finally opened when the first rays of sun crept through the windows, casting Verna and Variel’s faces in golden light. As they stepped outside, a gust of wind blew up from behind, and when they turned back, the House appeared just as it had for so long before this: a crumbling ruin of stone and wood, no evidence left of what had transpired within. Liam @Conure1243 was killed! He was an Innocent Explorer! Variel @StrikerEZ and Verna @Doc12 escaped the House with their lives! Additionally, Luminair @Mint11 (formerly frozen mint) died a Hero and will be remembered by the survivors. Credit to @coco.pudding for most of the writeup. Also, in general, everyone should give her a big thanks for helping me keep things running smoothly this game! A big thanks to @|TJ| @little wilson for IMing the game as well. I'll post some post-game thoughts in a bit, and of course I'm curious what everyone's thoughts were on the game. I hope to rerun these rules at some point, so let me know if you have any suggestions! Links: Dead Doc Master Spreadsheet Player List: Spoiler @___ as Mr. Monopoly, who is looking to redevelop the House - Innocent Explorer @Through the living Wahr as Warren the Wisp-followed Innocent Explorer @Fizz9 as Patrick, a friendly neighborhood smith Innocent Explorer @Through The Living Star as Mabel, who is secretly not a grouch Innocent Explorer @Akimikoisthecutest as Talasin the Journalist Innocent Explorer @Qianweilian as Randal Boar, who might be really lost - Innocent Explorer with an Aviar @Doc12 as Verna, a writer enamored by the House - Innocent Explorer @Myst as Brax Innocent Explorer @Mint11 as Luminair, a disciple of Aralis Innocent Explorer and Hero @Divergent as Archie Innocent Explorer and proto-radiant @Miss Fallen as K. Tims, yo-yo artist extraordinaire - Innocent Explorer @Conure1243 as Liam - Innocent Explorer and Fallen Hero @StrikerEZ as Variel the dark and funky - Innocent Explorer, Mistborn, and Hero @Verdance as Harley, a secretary with a detective complex - Innocent Explorer Edited May 7 by Araris Valerian 2
Stardust She/Her Posted May 7 Posted May 7 Haha yeah. No promises in the next game though. Thanks for a great first game, everyone! 1
Conure1243 He/Him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 Indeed! I'm surprised I lasted so far! Also, Doc, you traitor. I applaud.
Verdance he/him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 Next time i shall kill you all lol never got the chance, this was fun
Mystic He/Him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 @Doc12 I’m glad you took over my deck of cards. Even if I couldn’t finish it someone else could. This format was basically made for you though. PMs and backstabbing. You do both really well
StrikerEZ he/him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 I can’t believe I survived till the end and actually didn’t have to kill anyone to get there. That’s probably the most surprising part of what happened to me. That was really a lot of fun. Even if I didn’t get to succumb to my evil desires and shoot anyone. @___ Sorry for getting you killed. I was so confused you had to be the person with the gun.
Miss Fallen she/her Posted May 7 Posted May 7 19 minutes ago, Myst said: This was an FFA! Yeah, clearly I have no idea how to play FFA, as evidenced by the following plan. That mechanic was not meant for FFA, sorry guys i would like to try this again though, with any of the scenarios and another FFA And food for thought; how many of us were actually innocent explorers?
Doc12 Posted May 7 Posted May 7 16 minutes ago, Myst said: @Doc12 I’m glad you took over my deck of cards. Even if I couldn’t finish it someone else could. This format was basically made for you though. PMs and backstabbing. You do both really well 20 minutes ago, Conure1243 said: Doc, you traitor. I applaud. What? I didn't do any backstabbing, really I only had the gun the very last cycle! 10 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said: I can’t believe I survived till the end and actually didn’t have to kill anyone to get there. That’s probably the most surprising part of what happened to me. See, I left you alive because you were wishing to be alive for one game. Wish granted 5 minutes ago, Miss Fallen said: Yeah, clearly I have no idea how to play FFA, as evidenced by the following plan. That mechanic was not meant for FFA, sorry guys Your following idea really kinda broke the game a little there I find it very funny that you were forced to also pretend to follow someone when you had the gun. Yeah thoughts wise following mechanic was kind of abused. I did like how the gun and hero role going to voters rewarded active players, though I think players who weren't voting had little incentive to be invested in the game. I also really enjoyed the first couple cycles of trying to figure out what scenario we were in. The setup and explore phase has always been my favorite part of the board game, and I wish there was more to do in the later nights other than just search for item/follow for n0 @Fizz9 @Conure1243 @Through The Living Star Hope you guys had a fun first game! Fizz, you were so annoying that day when you had the gun and was trying to get everyone to vote on me I was halfway convinced you were a villager who was just tunneling rather than a killer. Well played. Conure, I appreciate you rethinking your vote on that day, also well done accidentally fooling me xD. Star, I love how you were caught in a tie twice where one of you and another player had to be lying and was proven to be innocent twice, only to get the gun the very next night. I respect the integrity and story choice. Again, in my mind, you're a hero and you won alongside us @Myst Thanks for the cards Hope you liked how I used them. @Miss Fallen respect for the day you almost manipulated the mob on me, and for breaking the game slightly I loved that Verna got to collect souvenirs from both of you. @StrikerEZ Glad I didn't have to murder you, would have been awkward since we're co-GMing the next game @Divergent @Through the living Wahr @Mint11 Taken too soon @___ @Qianweilian @Verdance @Akimikoisthecutest Also taken unjustly, very sad Sorry for disbelieving you Mippo. As always, thank you to @Araris Valerian and @coco.pudding for the fun game and excellent writeups! I enjoyed writing Verna, and thank you to everyone that interacted with her! 1
___ He/Him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 39 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said: I can’t believe I survived till the end and actually didn’t have to kill anyone to get there. That’s probably the most surprising part of what happened to me. That was really a lot of fun. Even if I didn’t get to succumb to my evil desires and shoot anyone. @___ Sorry for getting you killed. I was so confused you had to be the person with the gun. Welp I was also wrong anyway abt you But this game was fun! 19 minutes ago, Doc12 said: What? I didn't do any backstabbing, really I only had the gun the very last cycle! See, I left you alive because you were wishing to be alive for one game. Wish granted Your following idea really kinda broke the game a little there I find it very funny that you were forced to also pretend to follow someone when you had the gun. Yeah thoughts wise following mechanic was kind of abused. I did like how the gun and hero role going to voters rewarded active players, though I think players who weren't voting had little incentive to be invested in the game. I also really enjoyed the first couple cycles of trying to figure out what scenario we were in. The setup and explore phase has always been my favorite part of the board game, and I wish there was more to do in the later nights other than just search for item/follow for n0 @Fizz9 @Conure1243 @Through The Living Star Hope you guys had a fun first game! Fizz, you were so annoying that day when you had the gun and was trying to get everyone to vote on me I was halfway convinced you were a villager who was just tunneling rather than a killer. Well played. Conure, I appreciate you rethinking your vote on that day, also well done accidentally fooling me xD. Star, I love how you were caught in a tie twice where one of you and another player had to be lying and was proven to be innocent twice, only to get the gun the very next night. I respect the integrity and story choice. Again, in my mind, you're a hero and you won alongside us @Myst Thanks for the cards Hope you liked how I used them. @Miss Fallen respect for the day you almost manipulated the mob on me, and for breaking the game slightly I loved that Verna got to collect souvenirs from both of you. @StrikerEZ Glad I didn't have to murder you, would have been awkward since we're co-GMing the next game @Divergent @Through the living Wahr @Mint11 Taken too soon @___ @Qianweilian @Verdance @Akimikoisthecutest Also taken unjustly, very sad Sorry for disbelieving you Mippo. As always, thank you to @Araris Valerian and @coco.pudding for the fun game and excellent writeups! I enjoyed writing Verna, and thank you to everyone that interacted with her! At least in this game you didn't seem to be lying to me at all sooooo that's good!
Mystic He/Him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 So, rules-wise it was obviously really easy to tell if it wasn’t scenario 3, so I’d just let the people flip as normal, or a 50/50 of flipping with no role and flipping with their original role. And yeah, I think you might need to incentivize betrayal and make teamwork harder by making either the items better or letting people have two. Because it makes people less likely to break the game with following
StrikerEZ he/him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 Following was definitely a little abused, which is why I was so adamant about just…not doing that. And it worked out for me because I caught Miss Fallen with the gun with an item I got.
Cuendillar He/him Posted May 7 Posted May 7 I think that the gun should've rotated less often. Imo it was too hard to find the gun holder, and that resulted in exes being rather random.
Fizz9 Posted May 7 Posted May 7 8 hours ago, Doc12 said: Fizz, you were so annoying that day when you had the gun and was trying to get everyone to vote on me I worked hard! The game was so fun! Congrats to all the winners!
Araris Valerian he/him Posted May 7 Author Posted May 7 I've edited links into the main post. Thoughts on the game will come later today.
Araris Valerian he/him Posted May 7 Author Posted May 7 Alright, here are my thoughts on the game mechanics: Some of the information mechanics were broken to one degree or another. It shouldn’t be possible to rule out scenarios from flips, since that takes away from the mystery of the game. Following players played into this as well, but mostly because the scenario was known and nobody was self-interested enough to go for items instead. Scenario 2 seems to need some mechanical incentive to create a bit more tension during the Day turns. I’m more used to folks being aggressive and backstabby, but there wasn’t a ton of built-in motivation to behave like that in the game The exploration mechanic can still be fleshed out a bit. Doc mentioned this in his thoughts, and I agree. The current rules has mystery elements in regards to the scenario, but not the layout of the House. With all that in mind, I’m considering the following changes for the next run of this game: Players with an exploration role that are eaten by the Kandra will lose that role, but when their body is later discarded it will show their original role. (so that Scenario 3 can’t be picked out by the death of someone with a role) If at least one of the three exploration roles is not assigned to a player in the Kandra scenario, the Kandra’s original body will have a 50% chance to flip as having had a random one of the unassigned roles. (so that scenario 3 cannot be picked out by the death of someone with a role during Night 1) Maybe cause all evil players, including the gun wielder, to flip as Influenced Explorers. Maybe allow the Kandra to cause the target of an exe to flip this way once per game. This could also be an alternative gift ability. (so that players in scenario 2 know when they exed correctly, and so that all 3 scenarios cannot be identified directly by writeup results) The bearer of the Smoking Gun can optionally designate an Accomplice during the night, who will randomly get either an item or the Gun if the bearer is not executed the following day. The Accomplice knows the bearer’s identity, and cannot become a Hero by executing the bearer. The Accomplice role only lasts for a single day turn. (so that at least one person wants to keep the bearer alive, adding some tension to the scenario 2 executions) And the biggest change: Exploration now involves the discovery of Locations. Players can search the house for a random location, or look for a particular one. Each location has an associated action that can only be taken by a player that has found it, or been told about it by another player that has previously found it. Each player also has both an exploration action and a second action they can take each night. When you try to visit a location you think has been found, you submit the name of a player you think found the location already. If they have, you visit it (with a small chance of getting lost), otherwise you always get lost The same location can be found independently by multiple players The follow action (will be reworked a bit) and the items action will have their own associated locations that must be found Some new items that interact with locations will be added, like a key that can be used to lock/unlock a location, a map that can be used to visit any location without finding, etc. Odds of finding a non-boot will increase The location for clues will be available to everyone at the start The odds of finding new locations will be similar to the odds of finding a useful clue: there will be a formula for success that scales with the number of players If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I’m all ears. And once again, thank you everyone for playing! 2
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