Elandera she/her Posted January 5, 2021 Author Posted January 5, 2021 Four hours left! Don't forget your actions! Vote count: Ghanderflaffle (3) - Snipexe, Liranil, StrikerEZ Snipexe (1) - Ghanderflaffle
Elandera she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Author Posted January 6, 2021 The turn is closed! Next should be posted soon!
Elandera she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Author Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) This was it. The assembly gathered in less than an hour’s time for the vote. The final vote to decide the future of the Delver Resistance Project. A project which, if left to the DPS, would likely lead to more death than already had occurred. Too many missing. Too many attacked. He’d been able to stop one, but that turned out to be a human in disguise. That still surprised him. A human civilized enough to blend into the world of Starsight. To blend in with beings of primary intelligence. Maybe things were different than the Superiority suggested. Different than the DPS wanted them to know. Striker knew that if he could not stop the DPS, nothing could. If only he knew whom he could trust. There was a hunch, though. Someone he expected had survived only because no one expected a heklo of all things, to be that influential. Wonderful communicators, though this one was quieter than most. Then again, he’d met so few. If the DPS was after anyone, it would be them. So Striker searched. He’d gone to where he knew the heklo waited before assembly. A small park just a few blocks from the hall. It would be deserted at this early hour, which is why the heklo enjoyed going before and not after. Others would know that schedule, too, if they wished harm. He found them sitting and watching the dancing balls of water above the fountain. Cautiously, Striker approached. It was difficult to be quiet while having to navigate the mechanical structure that made up the varvax’s suit. But it was better than being stuck in a ball of liquin not unlike the fountain’s display. “I figured you come to me,” the heklo said without even turning to look at Striker. “Much easier this way.” Striker clicked his claws quietly in discomfort. “To protect you, yes.” The heklo turned then, displaying its teeth. Humans might have though it a smile, but to Striker and on a heklo, it was a sign of aggression. Striker took the smallest step backwards. He was a protector. But he had not yet faced such aggression directed towards him. “You’re one of them?” The heklo just grinned wider. “But, not you. Snip, we were supposed to be friends.” “This is more important. It’s the fate of the Superiority in balance. The humans grow stronger. Something must stop them, and the DSI isn’t doing enough.” Striker stood his ground, but felt an incomprehensible sadness at what he knew was about to happen. “Were you with them from the beginning?” Snip just nodded, then struck forward with a speed Striker could never expect. The glass that held his true body was shattered. The liquid spilled out, carrying him along with it. The mechanical suit stopped abruptly, then tipped to the side. Now defenseless, Striker could only swing at Snip with his claws, but it was no use. With a careful delicateness Striker hadn’t expected, Snip picked him up. Then carried him all the way to the nowhere. *** Kaviq couldn’t help but feel satisfied. They made a subtle gesture to represent that emotion as Ghanderflaffle was escorted out of the assembly. The dione should have known better. They should have known it would be futile to act against the DPS. They had insisted on their innocence as they’d been accused of taking part of the disappearances. Ghanderflaffle wasn’t wrong, but they were in the way. While the High Minister suspected the DPS was involved, there had been no proof. And the lack of evidence—tossed into the nowhere—had helped keep direct accusations away from Kaviq and their crew. The discovery of the human, as distasteful as it was to find one hiding among them so well, had been a wonderful boost. They could tell the High Minister was even more willing to turn a blind eye to their actions. They clacked their claws together in discomfort at the thought of the human. Humans were wretched things. And finally, nothing else stood in their way to wipe them from the galaxy. Kaviq looked to Winzik for approval before stepping forward to speak. “You have all seen how disastrous this farcical argument has been. How many of our numbers have lost because the DSI has driven them to a debasing aggressive behavior?” They looked pointedly at Keras, who knew what Kaviq themself had been doing behind the scenes. It knew they’d been directing the removal of several DSI supporters. What it didn’t know, though, was their secret weapon. The one who had been convinced to switch sides. It might even think it could win today. It would be wrong. Kaviq gestured satisfaction again as they turned back to the rest of the assembly. “Let us finally be done with this travesty.” They turned to the minister’s assistant. “I move for a final vote on the project. As Keras wishes, let us decide whether they should be given control.” It brought much satisfaction to Kaviq when Liranil voted. Keras bared its teeth when Liranil was called, and voiced in support of the DPS. Its closest dione supporter now turned to Kaviq’s side. That was all they’d needed. *** Keras sat alone in its office, holding a small metal contraption of twisting light and spinning gears. Everything had tumbled out of its control. There was a moment of hope, once, but that was long gone. Any and all fortune came far too late. There was no light, no hope, no saving grace, just the cold void that lurked beyond thin walls and atmospheres. The DPS were in control, fully integrated into the upper echelons of command. There was a knock at the door. “Sir,” a voice said. Liranil’s voice, the traitor. “By democratic vote, you have been removed from your position as head of the Department of Species Integration.” It pressed a silver button, and a second door, this one reinforced by several layers of metal, slammed down. These measures wouldn’t hold them off forever, but Keras didn’t need forever. It just needed a little more time. It opened the contraption it had spent so long working on, revealing its inner workings. A small holographic screen appeared, asking a final question in a language Keras had learned in agonising hours of the night. It gave the affirmative, and the soft whirring noise that the contraption emitted increased in volume. The light brightened, nearly blinding Keras with its intensity. The pounding at the door grew more frantic as the people outside heard the grinding of gears and saw the blinding light, but the steel held. Abruptly, everything ceased. The whirring stopped for the first time since Keras had repaired the machine, the light faded save for the gleaming of lamplight off of the metal, and the door buckled, admitting Liranil, Snip, and Kaviq. “You’re too late,” Keras snarled. “It is done.” And with that, Keras fell to the floor, body limp, still, dead. “That was surprisingly anticlimactic,” Kaviq remarked as they dragged Keras’s body to the morgue. Even as the rest of the DPS followed them, none of them noticed the dropped contraption, or the faint holographic screen it was emitting, or the words on the hologram, shining bright in a language no living person knew. [INTEGRATION COMPLETE] Aftermath Ghanderflaffle was deposed! They were a Dione Leader with the Department of Species Integration! StrikerEZ was killed! They were a Varvax Leader with the Department of Species Integration! Vote Count Ghanderflaffle (2) - Snipexe, Liranil, StrikerEZ Snipexe (0) - Ghanderflaffle The Department of Protective Services has won! Congratulations to Quinn0928, Somebody from Sel, Dannex, Snipexe, and Liranil! Player List Spoiler @TJ Shade DSI Cambric @Quinn0928 DPS @Straw Detritus Spy Somebody from Sel DPS Cambric @Matrim's Dice DSI Figment @Dannex DPS @Archer DSI @Snipexe DPS Heklo @Liranil DSI DPS Dione Leader @Ventyl DSI @Ghanderflaffle DSI Dione Leader @Araris Valerian DSI Heklo @StrikerEZ DSI Varvax Leader @Ashbringer DSI Heklo @xinoehp512 DSI Dione Leader @Breaker DSI @BrightEyes2 DSI Tenasi Pilot Doc links: Master Spreadsheet DPS Doc Detritus Spy Doc Dead/Spec Doc (Original DPS Doc) Thanks to my amazing co-GM, @Gears, especially for doing most of the write-up RP! You’ll make a great GM. Also, thanks to @Devotary of Spontaneity for IMing and helping me sort out the disaster I made of the first round and keeping me from forgetting other, important details through the rest of the game. Everyone is free to talk about the original distribution now, including any woe at having lost a fun role. You’ll find the full original distribution on the fourth sheet of the spreadsheet. Edited January 6, 2021 by Elandera 7
Gears Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Congrats to the elims! El, the formatting is a bit... wonky. Elims: As I said in the spec doc, killing Straw was quite possibly your worst course of action. Liranil was a confirmed village vote manipulator, and you choose to eliminate the person who doesn't count for parity. Also, that was a lot of bussing there. Village: You made an excellent comeback after a disasterous second cycle. It just wasn't enough. Straw: You were incredibly unfortunate. Keras has departed for different stars, now one with the digital space. Roko the Basilisk will rise again. 3
Elandera she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Author Posted January 6, 2021 2 minutes ago, Gears said: El, the formatting is a bit... wonky. Yeah. I think I fixed it? I missed closing one of the bold code boxes, and when that happens, it throws all of the other formatting off for the rest of the post. All hail the great basilisk!
StrikerEZ he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Ah dang it. I really thought Liranil was still good. I should've reconsidered after TJ flipped village. And of course I protected Snip instead of Ghanderflaffle. I guess I'm proud of myself for protecting Straw when I did, even if we did end up losing anyway.
BrightEyes2 she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Well, good game. Elims, you did very well. This was a very interesting game for my first, and I look forward to being more talkative next time. This was super fun, and made my Christmas break. I can't wait for next time!
Mat he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) That was a good one! I’ll be honest, after I died I was almost certain the game would be over soon, but bussing entered the arena it was quite fun to watch. Besides filing a slight complaint that people listen to me too much, I don’t have much to say. I did gain the Figment role from the reset, so that was nice. Edit: Wait, the elims killed me? I was nearly positive that was BrightEyes. Or I’m reading their doc wrong :P. Edited January 6, 2021 by Matrim's Dice
Liranil she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Good game, everyone! Thanks so much for GMing, Elandera and Gears. I was not prepared for switching sides at the end, especially as I was pretty sure we (village) were going to win, but it worked in my favor I guess. I thought for sure that the villagers were going to figure out that I was the one who switched sides when the elims didn't kill me. 50 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said: Ah dang it. I really thought Liranil was still good. I should've reconsidered after TJ flipped village. And of course I protected Snip instead of Ghanderflaffle. I guess I'm proud of myself for protecting Straw when I did, even if we did end up losing anyway. I mean, even if you had protected Ghander, your ability didn't work against voting, so they still would have died, and you couldn't protect yourself. Nice job with that Straw save! Even though they died the next turn, it still made the game longer and closer at the end. I guess this counts as my first elim game? XD It was certainly a fun one! 1
Guest Breaker Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Thanks for a first game, everyone! I hope to see many of you later!
|TJ| he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Matrim's Dice said: Edit: Wait, the elims killed me? I was nearly positive that was BrightEyes. Or I’m reading their doc wrong :P. You're reading their doc wrong. They changed to Ash. 27 minutes ago, Liranil said: I thought for sure that the villagers were going to figure out that I was the one who switched sides when the elims didn't kill me. Bahh, I was about to wait till the last moment of the previous cycle to send a message that if you're weren't killed, you were likely the convert, and the 3rd Heklo is likely the final elim, but I got busy just before rollover and came back just after cycle closed. Good game Liranil, you had a very good village game. Striker, I always seem to read whenever we play together. Good job protecting Straw. I wish I had asked for protection the turn I was killed. I was glad I got the opportunity to pinch-hit, and thanks to Elandera (you didn't forget Grute!) and Gears for running the game.
StrikerEZ he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, TJ Shade said: Striker, I always seem to read whenever we play together. Good job protecting Straw. I wish I had asked for protection the turn I was killed. You always seem to what when we play together? And I did protect you. Just one cycle too early. Edited January 6, 2021 by StrikerEZ
|TJ| he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 2 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said: You always seem to what when we play together? And I did protect you. Just one cycle too early. Storms, I should proof-read my stuff. I always seem to read you as village when we play together.
StrikerEZ he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 11 minutes ago, TJ Shade said: Storms, I should proof-read my stuff. I always seem to read you as village when we play together. That's certainly surprising! Normally I get read as elim no matter what I do.
Elandera she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Author Posted January 6, 2021 47 minutes ago, TJ Shade said: I was glad I got the opportunity to pinch-hit, and thanks to Elandera (you didn't forget Grute!) and Gears for running the game. Thank you for volunteering! Your work almost helped the village win. Imagine what would have happened if you'd been around the whole game! And it was Gears that remembered Grute. They deserve all the appreciation for the fantastic write-ups. 1
|TJ| he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 39 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said: That's certainly surprising! Normally I get read as elim no matter what I do. Ahh, I read your brother as elim almost every game. xD 25 minutes ago, Elandera said: Thank you for volunteering! Your work almost helped the village win. Imagine what would have happened if you'd been around the whole game! And it was Gears that remembered Grute. They deserve all the appreciation for the fantastic write-ups. I... I think I have a better game as pinch-hitter as compared to when I start the game. I don't know if it makes sense. Thanks, Gears. I enjoyed your write-ups!
Archer he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 Hey, it's finally over! Good game, all. Nice doc math, Straw. Congrats to the elims, especially Quinn who had me fooled until I died. I had the benefit of seeing the first Elim doc, so I knew there were probably four of you, but I got vanilla villager both times so I (wrongly) assumed there was only one of each role going around. Turns out I was just unlucky! Thanks again to the GMs for restarting, and for running this. I'm starting to realize that 'balanced' doesn't mean 50/50 odds of winning. I get that the elims basically had it wrapped up after the first few rounds took out only villagers, but I can't help but be disappointed that sacrificing three elims in a row was a viable strategy for them. I think the spy role-switch is what cemented their win. I really did have a Super Awesome Strategy, and was waiting to collect more evidence on that super sus player... Straw. *facepalm* I now realize the strategy is flawed and its better to assume people are doing what it seems like they're doing, not what it seems like they want us to think they are doing. Lesson learned! Finally, I like the flavor elements of this game and the write-ups.
Elandera she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Author Posted January 6, 2021 9 minutes ago, Archer said: I'm starting to realize that 'balanced' doesn't mean 50/50 odds of winning. I get that the elims basically had it wrapped up after the first few rounds took out only villagers, but I can't help but be disappointed that sacrificing three elims in a row was a viable strategy for them. I think the spy role-switch is what cemented their win. This was an interesting game. The bussing actually nearly cost them the game, especially with TJ's reads. The village still had a chance to win if they'd taken the right actions. Striker, unfortunately, trusted the wrong people. I think he protected a villager once? Balance is a hard thing to achieve, especially with a potential conversion and inactivity involved. But you're right, it is rarely given a 50/50 split, mostly because there are too many factors to influence those numbers. I'll share more thoughts on that maybe tomorrow when I have some time to review at my computer.
StrikerEZ he/him Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 27 minutes ago, TJ Shade said: Ahh, I read your brother as elim almost every game. xD He certainly has a very interesting play style. Tends to make people confused, so they just read him as elim. 8 minutes ago, Elandera said: This was an interesting game. The bussing actually nearly cost them the game, especially with TJ's reads. The village still had a chance to win if they'd taken the right actions. Striker, unfortunately, trusted the wrong people. I think he protected a villager once? I’m gonna blame this partly on the fact that I ended up having a much busier work schedule than I was anticipating for the course of this game. It was hard to keep up with the posts as they were happening, not even to mention trying to read back through old posts. I do feel a bit silly for trusting Snip so much, even after we had two village Heklos die. I just really thought that he would be village for some reason because of that PM he made with me very early on. I should’ve reconsidered as we got closer to the end and had two dead village Heklos, that maybe the third one was actually elim. Anyway, my one (1) successful protect was Straw. I do wish I’d waited to protect TJ. I probably would’ve protected him the cycle I needed to, if I hadn’t protected him the cycle before. Ah well, this was still really fun! It was fun trying to predict who the elims were gonna hit, even if I was very wrong. Also, good job to @Quinn0928 for gaining my trust until very near the end. And for kind of making me suspect TJ a little.
Quintessential she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 9 hours ago, Gears said: As I said in the spec doc, killing Straw was quite possibly your worst course of action. Liranil was a confirmed village vote manipulator, and you choose to eliminate the person who doesn't count for parity. I had assumed that if the Varvax Leader was gonna target anyone, they would protect the confirmed vil vote manipper and not the person who is siding with the elims... Also, eliminating the person who doesn't count for parity also added an elim and got rid of a villager, both of which do count for parity. 8 hours ago, Liranil said: I thought for sure that the villagers were going to figure out that I was the one who switched sides when the elims didn't kill me. You could be protected that turn, so even if you hadn't flipped I wouldn't have killed you, as it happens Not unless Striker had flipped, anyway. 5 hours ago, StrikerEZ said: Also, good job to @Quinn0928 for gaining my trust until very near the end. And for kind of making me suspect TJ a little. Even though you still voted me off. Anyway, thank you to my other teammates for... well, for helping me during the first few cycles? And apologies for the mess in the last few : P I'm... not very good at making decisions XD but hey, it turned out fine in the end, so no harm done right? Also, props to Ashbringer and TJ Shade for making my job harder with incredible reads XD And of course, thank you Gears and Elandera for running the game!
Ghanderflaffle she/her Posted January 6, 2021 Posted January 6, 2021 I started suspecting that there were two elims left, but there wasn’t much for me to do. I missed out on being an elim though. That was sad.
Elandera she/her Posted January 7, 2021 Author Posted January 7, 2021 Time for my overall thoughts on the game! Department of Protective Services I don't regret having four elims to start. It was a bit of a debate when we started (and especially when we rerolled), but I think three would have been too few when the conversion was not a confirmed thing. Also, I know I gave you all a hard time in the doc about the bussing and killing Straw, but it worked and that's what matters. Some of the actions didn't make sense, but I was also seeing it from the bird's-eye perspective, not with the veil of a player. I do wish I'd taken more time to make sure the players were better balanced in the elim team (at least one more person with experience as an elim), but it worked out in the end. In the end, you all did a fantastic job despite all of the challenges. Detritus Spy This is one I regret. Straw basically had no chance from the beginning of achieving his primary win-con of getting all of the clues. It didn't help that RNG was really against him. It should have been no more than three clues with the number of players we had, and I would have made it at least a 75% chance of success instead of a 50% chance. As he pointed out himself, the survival win-con is problematic on its own because it actually encourages less activity. If I were to rerun this, I'd made some major adjustments to the role. I do like, both in application and flavor, having the spy's death trigger a conversion. Exe Rules If I rerun this, I will definitely not be having a "everyone dies in a tie" rule. That dramatically shifted things against the village when it was already balanced a little elim-heavy with the conversion mechanic. And it was particularly dangerous with the amount of vote manipulation I had in play. DPS Win-Con This was a little iffy. The rule was worded as specifically as it was because of the vote manipulation that village had on hand. It worked well enough, but it did cause some confusion, especially with the offer from the spy to align with the elims. In a rerun, I'd put some more consideration into the specific win-con. Roles I think the distribution was fine. It was unfortunate we didn't get to see the Tenasi or Figment in play for long, but I think having one of each of those was enough, even if there were more players. The vote manipulation roles were also good in application as well, so I wouldn't make adjustments there. Varvax This role would need some adjusting in a rerun. I think either allowing them to protect themselves, or having another one in the game would make a difference, especially if a Tenasi doesn't die early or there are a larger number of players. Heklo Use of this role died pretty quickly. Village Heklos were killed early (sorry Araris, for giving you a PM role ) and Snipexe wasn't super active. It would have been useful in the potential alliance with Straw, but Quinn was justified in her concerns about that. I would adjust the PMs to last as long as the Heklo is alive, or maybe open the PMs permanently and allow only one to be created per turn. Fun fact about the Figment role. I did a coin flip at the beginning of each distribution to determine if it would be an elim or village role. RNG was determined to make it village, though I think it would have been a ton of fun to have as an elim role. 1
Illwei Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) Oop I'm late to this but I was a spec hey so who cares! :P. Dead doc responses commence...even though...I had the ability...to speak there... Spoiler Quote Hehe this is where Illwei brings up healing a different elim every cycle in her first game. Quote Illwei, dost thou exist? Speak to us. ...I mean, probably. More likely I'd just stress over that game and how when Gears said something along the lines of "Just letting yall know, that was me, I thought they were sus" I was Immediately like "GeARs nO" because I had been like the only person Gears had expressed suspicion of xD Quote Hey guys, if you bus the ENTIRE ELIM TEAM it DOESN'T REALLY WORK. Okay so uh, see, yea? but I'd argue it depends on when in the game it happens. Like- I was just in a game where for some reason my team thought it was a wonderful plan to just...not communicate. or defend eachother. at all. 3 of us died and it was me vs 13 villagers. there's uh, basically no coming back from that. I think specifically because they killed the spy it definitely worked better than it would in a normal game :P. Quote Were you playing in LG69? That got down to just Illwei. Quote I did. I haven’t missed an LG since joining I think. Also, El’s QF which last till final 3 was exciting too. Am I being self absorbed in pulling out the quotes where people talk about me? ....maybe...but hey! I wasn't in this game and I was mentioned in the doc, not as "hey Illwei what's up what'd'ya think of this!" (it was only once but stiiiiiiiiiilllll) But hey hey hey I guess I just make for interesting endgames as an Elim, huh? Me vs. Pyro vs. Mist in the QF *grumble grumble* Me vs. Elk (vs. Pyro) in the LG... Hey hey hey! no! don't look at that! it's me! I'm the interesting one! not Pyro!!!! :P. Quote Especially since Illwei took my backup color first. Hey! I always have custom colors! How could I have taken your color? :P. Anyways gj Elims, and Gj TJ for subbing in and still nailing the elim team xD. interesting game :P. Edited January 8, 2021 by Illwei The quotes all popped out of their quote boxes!!! pog!!! 1
|TJ| he/him Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 Tbh, it didn't feel like you were a spectator. You've been killed off early in so many games, it just felt like another one of those games.
Elandera she/her Posted July 26, 2021 Author Posted July 26, 2021 Congratulations yet again to the elim team, the Department of Protective Services! The Department of Species Integration put up a really good fight. Thanks to everyone who played. This was a great game to GM. As always, if anyone would like to try their hand at running a game, please get ahold of Wilson, Devotary of Spontaneity, Elbereth, Araris Valerian, or myself, or post in the GM Signups & Discussion Thread. Not only will we get you added to the list, but we'd also be more than willing to help out in any way we can. You can also ask questions and get some hints and feedback from everyone in our Art of Game Creation thread. With all the games that we've run so far, we have plenty of experienced GMs that can help you refine any game you're thinking about. If you would rather keep some detail secret, or are self-conscious about posting in thread (there's really no need to be; while we do slaughter each other, we are very polite about it), then I'm sure one of our fantastic committee members (Amanuensis, STINK, Sart, Fifth Scholar, Straw, Haelbarde, and Young Bard) would be more than willing to help you out in private. Thanks again to everyone that played, and we look forward to killing seeing you in future games!
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