Elandera

Can confirm. If we wanted to have a conversation about it, I opened the door at the end of LG94 with my GM comments. Yet there's a sum total of zero responses. But I'm not here to talk about play styles, good, bad, or meh. "Ruin?! Who would let Ruin out of all the Shards? I don't even need to explain the havoc on Scadrial to show how bad this could be." Telan pushed her hair away from her face, but the obstinate curls refused to cooperate. It wasn't unusual, yet she always tried. Maybe one day it would work. "And what about our research? How are we supposed to study Ruin if they're off galavanting about the Cosmere in who knows what vessel? Research must be done carefully. Methodically. Not in some haphazard "I do what I want" way." "But you don't even care about Ruin." Telan waved her freehand dismissively. "I care about all the Shards. Learning as much as we can and not breaking their containment. These other so-called researchers... Sometimes I wonder if they're even actual researchers."

Is she wrong, though? I still need to read D1 (got distracted by TotK last night...) before I lay down a vote, but I don't particularly agree with the Archer vote directions. Seems more like a rules misunderstanding than evil, which seems honestly easy in this game.

Telan rushed into the library, hair a frizzy mess and glasses barely hanging on. Books and papers weighed down her arms, seemingly more than anyone should be able to carry, but the faint wisp of stormlight rising from her skin hinted at her true capabilities. "You're la-" "No, I am not." Telan set the stack down with a sigh and pushed her hair away from her face. "I'm just not early." "It's the same as being late," Kelrin said as he stepped up beside her and began shuffling through the stack, reading the titles. It may have made others in Alethkar uncomfortable, but the world's were changing and Kelrin was not from Alethkar, let alone Roshar. "Interesting selection you have here." "It's the best I could collect on such short notice, and with Kharbranth as it is." "It'll have to do." I made it! Sorry for the delay. I lost power last night and cell reception was terrible. But I'm here now. Will work on catching up tonight.

I'll sign up

It's past time for some of my thoughts. First of all, I want to thank all of you for playing. I know my GMing was a bit all over the place this time due to various circumstances, but I do believe the end impact was fairly minimal. It did, however, remind me how much I need a co-GM for this ruleset. Now, on to other things. The balance was WAY off, but it seems to have self-corrected (largely due to RNG and village apathy). As it was mentioned, I believe in one of the docs, the elims had a larger percentage chance that their first kill would fail. A few things that I didn't account for with that: the removal of free actions such as Listen at the Door and swapping the tracking action for Glowpaste in concert with the removal of Fenweed Poison, all of which helped negate the long-term impact of Pallid Masks. That led to Pallid Masks essentially only blocking the kill, White Fox, Glowpaste and the Spellbook. Of which, Glowpaste only got used twice and the Spellbook once. In the same vein, White Fox was too powerful. I needed to make the Spellbook first in the OoA since it was relatively rare compared to White Fox. The fact that it took several night turns before a successful kill went through speaks to how bad the protection/kill balance was, and how badly they needed a 5th member. But that leads me to the real problem this game. The elims should not have won. Everything was stacked against them. Crazy successful village accuracy in the beginning (Sart's crossbow shot, two elims being part of the exe options D1, TKN's glowpaste) led them to losing half of their players by N3. The only thing working in their favor was RNG. Yet the game lasted through D9. Why did they win then? Inactivity, low engagement, and not paying attention to key rules and roles led directly to the village loss. I get it. I really do. There's a reason I don't play very often any more because I just don't have the energy to engage enough in the game to do my teams justice. GMing is mildly easier, because I don't need to put extra critical thinking into it more than an hour or so around rollover. But this is something we really need to consider. At what point does quality outweigh quantity? Yes, we need a certain number of players for certain games. This one in particular is better with a larger player base simply because of the number of roles and interactions. But when those roles/rules aren't used anyway, then what's the point? I do believe we need to get better at really looking at the rules before we decide to engage in a game and consider if it's something we can properly handle. This was Threnody Lite, but that doesn't mean it was base Tyrian in simplicity. It's still one of my Threnody games, though (for reference, glance at the rules for LG60, which also included some secret conversions), and it requires some level of understanding your options. In prior iterations, I was disappointed in the lack of use for the actions anyone could use, so I simplified them. Only one got used (and it ended poorly for balance), so I simplified it again for this, bumping up the importance of the named roles. Yet the only ones that got used consistently were the Writer (and mostly DeTess and his PM orders) and the White Fox. I got more action orders from roleless Alvron ( @Alvron that was fun, btw. I will gladly take RP actions) than some players with actual actions available to them. And that really messed with the village's outcome. The one role in this that made the most difference was the Thief. Those items can be key to helping either party succeed. It's a large part of why the elims won, because Alpha was consistently putting in actions to find items (and RNG really liked him (seriously, one failed items search in all of that is a bit absurd)). It got them the Shade protection they needed to win, Pallid Masks galore, and the Spellbook they used to get rid of Devo's Pallid mask, effectively mimicking a kill order when the actual order failed from a roleblock (which kept Mat alive another turn). And then having a couple of players hovering at the edges of inactivity (that probably should have been replaced sooner had I been tracking activity as I should have been), really didn't help at all. I know contribution crusade isn't a thing so much in our community anymore, but now there are no real in-game consequences for inactivity. Simply post once and you filter dodge. If we try to regulate the type of content that qualifies for avoiding the filter kill, then suddenly we demand the kind of content we want from players, which no one wants to have in our community. So it's up to us to encourage activity and actively fight against inactivity that harms the team. This is a team game, after all. We need to consider those we're playing with as well as ourselves. Consider if your actions (or inactions) are harming your team and whether that's something you can actively change. If it is, then do better. If not, maybe it's time to bow out of that game and try another time when your situation is easier or the rules are simpler.

You mean the glowpaste your team could have used to knock out Devo's mask turns earlier? That glowpaste?

Yes, however the village no longer had any ability to block the night kill. Your team has not missed a submission yet, so the night turn would have been a formality only.

Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men. He is awake. What joy fills my soul as the ancient one rises from his slumber in R'lyeh, breaking through Hell itself to enter this world. To dominate once again. We have succeeded. He is awake. Doom awaits us all and I welcome its coming. I rejoice in the destruction. The desolation. He will enact his vengeance on the world stolen from him. He is awake. He is here. Illwei has been executed! They were a Homesteader and a Thief! Vote count: Illwei (2) - Matrim's Dice, TheAlpha929 TheAlpha929 (2) - DeTess, Alvron The Cult of Cthulhu has triumphed! Cthulhu has risen! Congratulations to @TheAlpha929, @Matrim's Dice, @Archer and @Amanuensis for their victory. Player List: Spectres and Spectators The Cult of Cthulhu Master Spreadsheet

The turn is over.

Yes, self-targeting is allowed.

I am certain the loud thumping of my heart alone will draw the attention of the shades. I cannot help it, though. The time is near. We are close. The anticipation hangs, suspended in the air on a thread more delicate than a spider's web. The Known Novel has been killed! He was a Homesteader! No one is insane! Wrath of Shades Counter: 25% This turn will end Saturday, May 20 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Sunday, May 21 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List:

Sorry for the delay! I got hyperfocused on drawing a book cover. The turn is closed!

The Simple Rules say not to run through the forests. It will draw the shades. But I must hurry. Cthulhu stirs. He wakes. I must meet him. Walin has been executed! He was a Homesteader with Iron Will! Steeldancer has died due to inactivity! He was a Homesteader! Vote Count: Walin (3) - Matrim's Dice, Illwei Matrim's Dice (1) - TheAlpha929, DeTess Wrath of Shades Counter: 20% This turn will end Thursday, May 18 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Friday, May 19 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List:

This turn is over!

(write-up placeholder) Devotary of Spontaneity has been killed! They were a Homesteader and a White Fox with Iron Will. The Known Novel is insane! Wrath of Shades Counter: 20% This turn will end Wednesday, May 17 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Thursday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List: This is the official activity warning for @Steeldancer and @Walin. If you do not post this turn, you will be removed.

The turn is actually over now

There is still 30 minutes. Sorry for the confusion!

I knew nothing at all. Then I discovered the writing. The legends of the sleeping god deep within R'lyeh. He shared his thoughts and now I know the dark wisdom he imparts. s'uhn-ngh athg li'hee orr'e syha'h. Araris Valerian has been executed! He was a Homesteader and a Writer! Vote Count: Matrim's Dice (3) - Araris Valerian, TheAlpha929, DeTess Araris Valerian (3) - Matrim's Dice, Devotary of Spontaneity Wrath of the Shades Counter: 15% This turn will end Monday, May 15 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Tuesday, May 16 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List:

That's time on this turn! Standby for the results!

Forbidden Idols don't cause the same kind of insanity as Unforgettable Horrors or other actions with insanity consquences. I really just need to change the name of the impact of Forbidden Idols, as they basically just cause vote shenanigans.

*facepalm* I keep hitting ctrl+enter instead of shift+enter. Thanks for your patience.

(write up eventually, maybe?) No one has died! Illwei has gone insane! Alvron has gone insane! Wrath of Shades Counter: 15% This turn will end Sunday, May 14 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Monday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List:

The turn is over!

I am beginning to realize the people of Threnody are resilient. They survive where others should not. The ancient ones care not for who dies, only that blood is spilled. Each drop strengthens them, drives them closer to waking. Yet these survive. No one was executed! Vote count: Araris Valerian (5) - Matrim's Dice, Illwei, TheAlpha929, Steeldancer, Devotary of Spontaneity Matrim's Dice (4) - Araris Valerian, DeTess, Walin Wrath of Shades Counter: 15% This turn will end Friday, May 12 at 9:30 p.m. PDT / Saturday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. AEST. Player List:

The turn is over. Standby please