DrakeMarshall

“You’ve lost.” Preservation smirked, snatching up Ruin’s last spiked piece from the board. “Yet again,” the god clarified. “It would seem that your fabled ‘curse’ just doesn’t have real teeth nowadays.” Ruin growled and grumbled something inaudible, ever always easy to rile up. But he remained seated. He didn’t lash out, didn’t flip the table or storm out. Carefully, he picked up each of the pieces and put them away. There was an air of ritual to the movements. The game was sacred, as any game played between them must be. “A lucky turn of fate,” Ruin insisted. “Let’s play again.” He had agreed to the rules of the game, helped shape them even. He didn’t go back on his word. He glared at his betrayer, who had once sought to imprison him. But all things have ends, even prisons. Even uppity gods. “Another round, of course,” Ruin’s counterpart agreed easily, beginning to set up the pieces anew. “I’ll keep going,” Ruin pressed. “Until you slip up. I am patient.” “Something we have in common,” Preservation murmured. “You won’t tear down what we built together.” It was a long familiar quarrel, played out over eons, but it never lost its edge. Hence the game. Structure and civility, imposed over bloody conflict. “Don’t you ever grow tired of it all? Playing the same old game, again and again?” Ruin wondered. “The same struggles, the same dramas, the same ill-fated town?” “Never,” Preservation replied dreamily. “Why would I?” Ruin snorted. “Well, too bad. I’m bored. Doing the same thing over and over… It’s enough to drive a person mad.” “That ship already sailed a long, long time ago,” Preservation opined. “Indulge my madness, then. For this next game, at least. I’ve shown admirable restraint when it comes to changing the terms thus far.” “What did you have in mind?” Preservation adopted a put-upon demeanor, but was there a hint of genuine interest buried in the question? Even Ruin wasn’t sure. “Oh, nothing too extreme. Just a little twist.” Ruin smiled. “Let me explain the rules…” Rules (Google Doc) Edit: Oh, right. Night 0 of the game will start in a week. Almost exactly to the hour. At this time, to be precise. Rollovers will also be at that time. Edit^2: Ookla Season Guidelines: The powers that be have graciously stipulated that if you're changing / have changed your name, you ought to put your original username somewhere else that's still clearly visible. Your member title or the top of your signature is good. Thank you. This will doubtless help avoid some confusion when it comes to keeping track of everything. Quick Links Players 1. The Unknown Ookla (TUO) as (pronounced "") 2. Ookla the Wallfacer (KSauce) as Mr. Nameless (that's not actually his real name though, bc he is nameless) 3. Araris Valerian as Aralis (will thwack you) 4. Ookla the Broken (IHAT?) as Hail (thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter!) 5. Ookla the Redeemed (Hoid Slayer) as Tyrion (no relations to Tyrian, possible relations to House Lannister) 6. Ookla the Hoppy (Worldhopper?) as Coming Later (now uncontested for the name as There Can Only Be One) 7. A Jo in the Bush as Jox (apprentice baker, veteran bush-dweller) 8. |TJ| as Tyrian ( that's the name of the town!! ...you know when you die the cycle's gonna be titled "Tyrian Falls" right) 9. Ookla the Wanderer (TwinStorm?) as Falls (besties with Tyrian) 10. Alvron as Val (a mysterious yet bold individual) 11. Doc12 as Rin (servant to a great House, and maybe also some of the people in it when there's time) 12. Stick as Stick (the Third) 13. Ookla the Story (Mippo) as Lime Guy (eat in case of scurvy) 14. Ookla the Vessel of Honor (Honors ghost?) as ermmmmmmmm izzyieus the izbob (first name ermmmmmmmm, last name izzyieus... perhaps) 15. Ookla the Counter (Exp) as Kas (are we sure identity theft isn't a joke bc this is pretty funny ) 16. Furamirionind as As Exp (as As As Exp Exp help I might be having a stroke) Pinch-Hitters 1. Aeternum 2. Ookla the Divergent 3. Ookla the Dokja Sacrifices 1.

I will note that games with no special roles at all can be balanced though. At maximum, if the Spiked go all-in on removing roles from the game and not stealing any, they couldn't quite achieve a roleless game. There would still be a couple of roles left, and all of them would be in village hands. And I do think it would become noticeable sooner or later that there are so few roles in play, at which point the remaining ones are basically confirmed village by dint of the elims limited budget. So there's also that.

bold of you to assume I'm a fair GM I'm here to subject the village and elims to torment and tribulation all I offer is that I'm equal opportunities about it Ah, yeah, it doesn't actually kill players, just roles If you kill the tineye before the game starts, then it was an NPC All that means in practice is that a player will not be assigned the tineye role when the game starts, but there will still be just as many players playing

Well, asking everybody for input seemed to work out okay for my last game. Let's do it again I suppose! I'm still sitting on a stockpile of rulesets prepared for y'all to hopefully enjoy. Here are some Options™ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LyW2PiH5JP3akj_xzne9TdJDHT0XF0GFSD1dDZLXXXY/edit?usp=sharing TL;DR - Classic allomancy rulesets with some spice Side A lets the Spiked choose the distro, hemalurgy may be involved Side B adds a mechanic for flaring your metals with tradeoffs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JrGpg5jAGozag3kW3beUfc22_zb98RnVfZQSO5VM8IM/edit?usp=sharing TL;DR - A role madness game set in the Roughs plus there's a serial killer https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r6Lh9enIilrb7hcosfZ6wgckocFuBXpiICr5ssdI6Ws/edit?usp=sharing TL;DR - Kinda like SH except instead of political intrigue you're fighting chasmfiends I tried to post this in game-feedback-submissions on the SE discord, but discord said it "contains content blocked by the server." I haven't been able to figure out what's tripping it up, and I'm giving up on figuring it out. I don't think there's anything at all inappropriate in this post? if I'm mistaken then mods forgive me Anyways, any input is appreciated! Especially regarding which one(s) you'd want to play for MR75. that is all have a nice day

okay I was cooking a lot of good food but now I can actually move the ball forwards

okay I have checks notes at least 4 mid-range rulesets lying around lemme figure out what I'm doing and then things will get moving

I can do it if none of the folks before me are interested though it sounds like maybe you'd be ready?

oh yeah there is at least one more thing anyways I enjoyed the Star Wars RP and the chaotic plays that some of y'all made, again thank u all for playing and catch you later last I heard the signups for the next game is on track to get posted so if you still need to scratch the 'murder internet friends' itch then consider staying tuned for that ig

oh also as promised here's a quick summary of some of the things that happened in the game behind the scenes: this is not particularly well-organized and there's probably other shenanigans I missed but at least it's an idea of some of what happened that didn't make it into writeups hopefully

Oh, also, some hypothetical results from dueling matches that never happened: Doc vs Fura -> Doc Doc vs Kas -> Kas Doc vs TOW -> TOW Fura vs Kas -> Kas Fura vs Storm -> Fura Kas vs Storm -> Storm

DAY SEVEN --- Red and green sabers clash, surrounded by a chanting crowd. Once, twice, thrice. Both combatants probe each other's defenses. Their movements are tentative, unused to lightsaber combat but determined to come out on top. They are evenly matched, for now. Johnny adopts a two-handed stance for more power, and launches a flurry of quick slashes. Dying is forced a step back by the onslaught. It's all he can do to get one of his sabers up in time to block the rain of blows. Dying can't find the breathing room to fight back... But neither is he getting hit. The Supervisor smiles as the onslaught grows weaker and weaker. "That's right. Spend all your rage and fury. That's all you rebels know how to do." And at the end, when your strength burns down to embers, I'll be there waiting. Johnny lunges, nearly getting Dying in the throat, but Dying bats it aside at the last moment with his shorter blade. Johnny is thrown off-balance, his saber knocked out of position, and Dying's longer saber slashes forward, timed precisely to exploit the opening. Johnny tries to back out of range, but the saber still catches him, slicing cleanly through his off-hand wrist. Johnny staggers and yells hoarsely as the wound is instantly and painfully cauterized. Dying tsks. "Chaos without control. You were never a threat." Rather than rushing in to finish off the rebel, he holds his defensive form, and waits. Johnny is reckless and now desperate. There's no need to expose himself, he thinks. Johnny doesn't just charge in, though. He hangs back, taking his time to catch his breath and recover. When he approaches, his attacks are more careful and measured, targeting the weaknesses he's spotted in his opponent's defenses. "I'll become whatever I have to in order to burn the empire," Johnny growls. Down a hand, he adapts to a dueling stance that only relies on one hand. When he fully extends his arm the saber reaches just a little bit further than either of Dying's weapons can extend. He uses the extra reach to his advantage, striking just out of range of Dying's ripostes. Dying blocks most of the blows, sure, but some slip their way through. Johnny grazes Dying's ribs, than his shoulder on the other side. Small wounds, but they add up. To close the distance, Dying would need to push more aggressively. Johnny is turning Dying's defensive fighting style against him. "The empire, though, only knows how to bend so much. You could never give up control," Johnny taunts. Johnny thrusts his lightsaber low and scores a third hit, burning Dying badly enough that he retreats with a limp. Johnny doesn't give him space to retreat, though. Every step Dying takes back, Johnny moves forward, perfectly measured. Johnny knocks Dying's larger saber out of his hand. Dying is getting desperate, now. He abandons his defensive posture, cycling through different forms to try to find something to break through to beat Johnny. Lightsabers dance in the space between them, almost too fast to follow. There are no words left, no breath to spend on them, no lofty ideals. In his last moments, Dying isn't fighting as an Imperial agent. There's only desperation to survive and Johnny is standing in his way. It's not enough, though. Johnny's always a step ahead, shifting stances every time Dying tries to change things. It's only a matter of time. Johnny brings his lightsaber down, and finally Dying dies. Johnny stands over the dead Supervisor. The crowd has stopped chanting. So many corpses, he reflects. On both sides. And more to come. Are all the sacrifices going to be worth it? At the end of the day, he supposes both of them were monsters. And one day, when the empire falls, there will no longer be a place for the likes of Johnny. For now, he has more work to do. Johnny snatches up Dying's ID card. With this much chaos, it'll probably be a couple of hours before the clearance gets revoked. He wonders how many imperial secrets he can steal with Supervisor access in that time. One day, he promises. --- @ThatOneWorldhopper has been slain! He was the ISB Supervisor. @TwinStorm has inherited both the Rebel Spymaster and ISB Supervisor roles simultaneously, thus winning the game for the Rebel team. Congratulations to the rebellion! Thank you all for playing. Hope you had fun. --- Player List 1. @TwinStorm as Johnny Kuplack REBEL SPYMASTER 2. @Doc12 as Cal Kyte REBEL SPYMASTER (DECEASED) 3. @The Unknown Misting as Unknown ISB ANALYST (DECEASED) 4. @Divergent as Zeke Slane REBEL TECH (DECEASED) 5. @Booknewt as Reka Wismil ISB SURVEILLANCE 6. @KaladinsSenseOfHumorSpren as Kreen ISB SUPERVISOR (DECEASED) 7. @CoderDrag0n8 as Your Mistakes ISB SUPERVISOR (DECEASED) 8. @Argenti as Jallo Delste ISB TACTICAL 9. @ThatOneWorldhopper as Dying Right Now ISB SUPERVISOR (DECEASED) 10. @Hoid Slayer as Coming Later REBEL MEDIC 11. @Furamirionind as Kimrick Hammyr ISB SURVEILLANCE (DECEASED) 12. @Experience as Garthyl Karn ISB TECH (DECEASED) 13. -ACE- / @Aeternum ISB TACTICAL 14. @IHadAThought as Lotus ISB TACTICAL (DECEASED) 15. @STINK as Kal REBEL TECH (DECEASED) 16. @Kasimir as Korun ISB ANALYST (DECEASED) Game Documents Eliminator Doc Spectator Doc Spreadsheet

Alright, unless you fine duelists have other ideas about when you want to do things, I'll usher in the grace period now, as we're 3 hours out from it having been a full day and a day seems like an intuitive amount of time for this to last. Remember, six phases, with a possible seventh. Remember to submit your lightsaber form choice for each of the phases! The overall winner is decided by who gets the upper hand in the most phases. (Players not directly participating in the duel may still submit a sequence of attack stances if they want. This won't have any mechanical effect whatsoever, but we can see what would've happened if you'd been the one fighting )

I opened a dedicated thread for dueling stuff

DAY SIX --- Korun turns the drive over in his hands. Kimrick died to get this to him. He better make it count. The data on it can't be used to trace back the source of the security breach, or confidently identify the Rebels. Not really. But it can do something simpler than that. Even half-ruined by the Rebel's attempts to cover their tracks, the drive holds surveillance feed data collected for the whole facility. In theory, any suspicious happenings would have been recorded here. In theory, it could lead him right to the Axis network. Easier said than done. Actually piecing together anything useful from the mangled data takes time, and he doesn't have time to comb through every bit of it, even with the rest of analysis cell on the job. The Rebels are making their play right now. They wouldn't do that unless they were close to winning. On a hunch, he focuses on piecing together a timeline for Cal Kyte's whereabouts over the last 24 hours. Cal is listed as a medical officer in the ISB records, so he should mostly be sticking to the medical wing. It should be fairly obvious if Cal is dutifully attending to his post or off pursuing a hidden agenda. --- "Enter," Dying Right Now says. "Try and be brief. I'm busy right now." "Supervisor," Korun salutes, stepping into Dying Right Now's office. "I have physical evidence connecting the rebel conspiracy to Cal Kyte." He drops the drive on Dying Right Now's desk. "Oh," Dying Right Now laughs. "Well, you're in luck. I was already busy with planning to have Cal Kyte arrested for different reasons. It just makes sense. Kimrick didn't die in a turret accident, he died after, in the medical wing getting treatment. Awfully convenient for the rebellion. Medical is obviously compromised." Dying Right Now appraises Korun. The interrogation hadn't turned up anything incriminating, and now bringing him evidence against Cal... "You seem reliable enough," he concedes. "You're being temporarily reassigned as one of my Attendants." Korun was in the analysis track, if he remembers correctly, but everyone in the ISB had basic training to aim and shoot a blaster. And he needs trustworthy sorts more than he needs hardened fighters, right now. "You're going to come with me, and we're going to bring in Cal Kyte. Then we're going to make him give up all his accomplices. The Axis network ends today." --- "Cal Kyte," Dying Right Now says coldly. "You're outnumbered and outgunned. Come quietly and face imperial justice. Don't make this any more painful than it needs to be." Behind him is Johnny, Reka, and Korun. Officers he can trust to get the job done. All have blasters drawn and ready to open fire, with orders to disable rather than kill. The Rebel leader only needs to still be able to speak. "Are you sure I'm outnumbered?" Cal grins. "I have friends everywhere, you know." "Another Rebel mind-game," Dying scoffs. "Trying to make us doubt, turn on each other, and succumb to chaos. We've had more than enough of that." He waves for the officers behind him to advance. "This is your last chance to come quietly." "You might end me, but you can't end the rebellion," Cal retorts, drawing his blaster. All hells break loose as a salvo of multicolored gunfire cuts through the air, blindingly brilliant in the dimly lit hallway. In just a few moments, Cal goes down, and all is still again. Korun is dead, struck down by Cal's deadly aim. And Cal Kyte is very dead. Most of the blaster marks cluster are around the legs, but one stray shot has hit him in the head. "I said shoot to DISABLE!!" Dying Right Now snarls. "Kark. Now we can't get anything from him." He paces back and forth, mind racing to salvage this situation. "...maybe this wasn't an accident," he realizes with a sinking feeling. "Maybe one of you silenced our only lead on purpose, because you're with them." Dying Right Now glares at Reka and Johnny, who glare at each other. Dying's hand rests on his blaster. "Both of you will be confined unt--" Johnny interrupts by shooting at Reka and then taking off at a run down the hall, spraying shots wildly behind him as he goes. Reka curses, touching where the blaster grazed her. "Well, we found the rebel," Reka says drily. "I'm hurt, but I'll live. You go on ahead and deal with that," she gestures after Johnny. As for her, she would be making her way to the control room. --- Explosions shake the ISB headquarters. A voice blasts over the intercomms. “I am not your friendly neighborhood ISB traitor. Because I am no longer friendly.” Storm-troopers swarm around and into the building, but the rubble blocks off most of the entrances, and soon enough there are riots in the surrounding streets slowing down their response even further. It's chaos. There are even reported sightings of ghosts, though that last one might be an exaggeration. “This is our message: Fear. Fear, because we will not be stopped. We will not be silenced.” “We are Axis, and we will make your world burn.” CL finishes, but then other voices chime in. “Your unwitting service to the Rebel cause has been greatly appreciated! Keep on voting out ISB agents, please!” Johnny cackles gleefully over the intercomms, having fully dropped the mask of being a respectable ISB member. “And for your service, a poem most certainly not written by ChatGPT for your enjoyment! There once were some spies in the core, Who swore they’d tolerate rebels no more. They plotted, conspired, Then all got “retired”— By voting themselves out the door! Now every good Rebel can cheer, When an agent of ISB’s near. For they’ll stage a “coup,” ’Gainst their own whole crew— And vanish themselves year by year!” Then another voice, this time Cal Kyte, speaking boldly and confidently as if returned from the dead to deliver his final verdict. It must have been recorded ahead of time. “We're scattered. Disorganized. We hurt our own in the confusion. But we will not stop, even as we are small grains of sand thrown into the gears of the Empire. We know better than to try and persuade you through morality alone. We did not get where we are in the ISB by retaining any common morality. What we little grains of sand present is attrition. inevitability. Till that one piece of sand in the right place wears that last cog down. Long live the rebellion.” The intercomms keep on blaring rebellious words for as long as they're connected. The sentiments are mixed, but all of them are united in defiance. --- Dying Right Now makes a detour on his way to hunt down Johnny Kuplack. He fully intends to go into this fight with an ace up his sleeve. There was a certain lockbox intercepted by the ISB a few days ago. It's scheduled to be handed off up the chain of command soon, probably to be destroyed. It holds relics from before the empire. From a less civilized age. Weapons. They'll make short work of Johnny's blaster, he thinks. Using them is justified in this emergency. He undoes the clasps, and looks at the lightsabers inside. ...Only one of them is already missing. How is that possible? Surely Johnny couldn't have taken it. Surely the rebels couldn't have even known about the crate. ...Right? Dying Right Now supposes it doesn't make much difference anymore. They will fight, and only one of them will live. Figuring out what happened leading up to that point or what comes next is a luxury for the victor. --- Vote Tally Worldhopper (2) - Doc12, TwinStorm TwinStorm (2) - Kas, Booknewt Hoid Slayer (1) - Aeternum For posterity, I'll explain that the vote is tied, and rules-as-written this means the outcome is determined by coin flip. However, through a convergence of various unlikely circumstances, either of the possible vote outcomes will end the game. If @TwinStorm dies the ISB will win the game. If @ThatOneWorldhopper dies the Rebels will win the game. So, we're dueling it out! This thread is reserved for those 2 participants. The Day Five thread and Dead Doc both remain open for everyone else to follow along. --- Dueling Rules Recap At the end of the cycle, each player may send me their lightsaber combat style option for each phase of the duel. The duel has six guaranteed phases, with a possible seventh. Making an attack RP post (more on this in a bit) that the opponent has not responded to allows them to submit a combat option for the final, seventh phase. The three combat style options are: Djem So, Makashi, and Soresu. Djem So defeats Makashi, Makashi defeats Soresu (you should absolutely @ Kas about it, Obi-Wan fans), and Soresu defeats Djem So. If both players send in the same combat style option for a Phase, then it is a draw, and RNG will decide. So for example, if Wyrm sends in Djem So and Kas sends in Soresu for Phase One of the duel, then Kas wins Phase One. The player who wins the most Phases wins the duel. As previously mentioned, there is a bonus seventh phase, unlocked by making at least one attack RP post ( > 200 words) without a response. More attack posts without a response do not get you extra credit. There will be a 3 hour grace period before the end of the cycle. During this period you can't make new attack posts, but you can respond to anything you forgot to respond to. The guidelines I will be applying are as follows: All duel-relevant RP posts must consist in more than 200 words of RP. For a post to count as an attack RP post, it must, shockingly, depict you attacking your opponent. In other words, it must be clearly signalled as an attack. Try to adopt a ‘yes-and’ attitude and not godmode this: the aim is for you and your opponent to have some fun despite trying your damnedest to murder each other For this reason, please do not RP dealing crippling or severe injuries to your opponents, or death. For a post to count as a response, it must engage minimally with the attack RP post, i.e. acknowledge its existence/interact with it in some way. These dueling rules have been illegally pirated with consent from Kas.

lovely RP that's happening I had a vague thought to start the duel at typical rollover time (so in about 20 minutes) but still waiting to know where TOW stands on all this so maybe we put it off just a little longer if that's alright that said, my schedule is pretty free tomorrow so if/when we've got 2 participants wanting to begin I'll probably just kick things off without delay I dunno kinda playing it by ear rn!

not all is as it should be

of course you do

BEHOLD!!! I have committed a theft : If people are generally favorable, there would hypothetically be a Day 6, except there will be no votes or actions, just a lightsaber duel to decide everyone's fates ...a duel of the fates, if you will don't @ me about why there's lightsaber fights in Andor while the presumed participants would be @TwinStorm and @ThatOneWorldhopper, since they're the ones locked in a tied vote, if they don't want to then teammates could serve as champions in their stead. Ultimately it's not just about who dies so much but also which side prevails. alternatively, we could certainly do this rules-as-written, and resolve the vote through a coin flip. Either way it will decide the course of the game and the Aftermath will be what follows. edit: er, hypothetically

this one!

I mean if we're going to have a bunch of ghosts come out I suppose it's fitting that it's a spooky time of year anyways currently cribbing some lightsaber dueling rules from one of Kas' games just in case we hypothetically need them

Fura is with me in the dead doc I could add you to it too, you technically died just now tbh you can keep being a force ghost in the thread though things are going a lil off script sorry I guess you really did unlock that secret ending huh

industrial strength hypothetical no it's fine I'm kind of bending the rules a little here

Day five is over. Hey uh. The last time I ran a QF, the fate of the game came down to a single coin toss, and to make it just a little more interesting, I improvised a duel between the tied players, to choose which side died. Hypothetically speaking, supposing this game had encountered a similar situation against all odds, do you folks uh. Do you want to do something like that again?

Vote Tally TOW (3) - Booknewt, Doc12, TwinStorm Hoid Slayer (1) - Aeternum TwinStorm (1) - Kas I think that's correct.

Re: ACE leaving: Aeternum has agreed to step in as substitute! please welcome Aeternum to the game