Araris Valerian

When Junior Junior fled into the House, Leander took off in pursuit immediately, but as Aero made to follow, she noticed something lying on the ground near the Nameless Recluse's body. A small pistol with smoke rising from the barrel. Lacking a weapon, Aero grabbed the gun and made to chase after the others. Doorways flashed by as Junior ran down a hallway in the basement. He'd thought that the twisting passages down here would make pursuit difficult if not impossible, but every time he paused to catch his breath, footsteps echoed distantly in the hall behind him. So Junior continued to run, and the sound of a heartbeat continued to grow louder the further he went. Leander reached the end of a hallway. There had been no side doors for some time, and the door ahead of her was the only exit. Junior was in the room. She pushed open the door and saw him staring at the back of the room, not trying to hide. Leader stepped toward him, then froze as she realized what Junior was staring at. Seven bodies lined the floor at the far end of the room. Aero entered a passage that she'd heard footsteps in. It was a long hall, but no doors opened on either side. A bit of light shone from an open door at the far end. She cautiously approached the portal, then stepped through and raised the gun in a smooth motion. The sight that greeted her shook Aero's concentration, and the gun wavered in her hand. Leander and Junior stood side-by-side, looking down upon... her friends. The bodies of everyone that had been lost or killed lay against the far wall. At that moment, Aero decided that she wouldn't add another of her friends to that row. She had a burning desire to kill with the gun, but she could control whose life she took. Aero Yee pointed the pistol at herself and fired. The House was almost finished. The remaining two explorers had already been exhausted, and now they had the shock of another death to deal with. Their lives would be the final spark to fully Awaken the House. Leander, as if in a daze, picked the gun from the floor and pointed it at Junior. A distant voice screamed in the back of her mind, You're not a murderer! Don't do this! She shook herself. Junior was cowering on the floor at the end of the room. Thump-thump, thump-thump. Something was in her mind, controlling her. Then, all of a sudden, she could see it. A giant heart protruded from the wall above the row of bodies, veins spreading out from it into the walls of the House. Each beat of the heart was like a hammer-strike against her will, pushing her to shoot Junior. Leander's finger began to squeeze the trigger. With her final ounce of strength, Leander yanked her arm up right as the gun went off. The shot went straight through the heart, and a scream echoed in her head. The heart continued to beat, spewing some foul fluid onto the floor, but as she watched, the beating slowed, then stopped. And then the House began shake. Dust rained from the ceiling, and after a moment a shower of stones fell, covering one of the corpses. She grabbed Junior by the hand, pulling him from where he'd curled on the floor. Whatever she'd just shot, it had apparently been holding the House together. Junior stumbled to his feet, and seemed to realize that the House was falling apart. The two of them made their way back down the long hallway, doing their best to retrace their steps. The way back was treacherous, and the two survivors had to dodge falling boards and leap over holes that opened in the floor as they traveled back through the House. Whatever strange force that had twisted the hallways as they explored previous nights was gone, however, and it was a matter of minutes before they reached the foyer. There, at the far end, for the first time since everyone had entered the House four days ago, were the large doors, one already fallen to the floor in the collapse. Sunlight streamed in the opening, and both Leander and Junior were filled with a burst of will at the sight. They dashed across the carpet, through the doors, and into the open. A great crash sounded from behind, and they turned to see the House fall in on itself. Nothing remained of their adventure, and their friends, but a pile of shattered timbers and broken stones where the House had once stood. Aero Yee @Aeoryi refused to kill her friends and was slain by the House! She was an Innocent Explorer Leander @Elandera and Junior Junior @Just a Silvereye escaped the House with their lives! Congrats to them for winning. Thanks to everyone who played the game, and to @CadCom for IMing so that I could run it. I have a lot of thoughts about how the game went, what could be changed in a rerun, etc., but I'll need a while to compile them into a post. Master Spreadsheet Dead Doc Player List:

The game is over! I'm going to need a little more time to post the aftermath, expect it sometime tomorrow.

The House's power was waxing with the death of each additional explorer. Where on the first night, the heartbeart could only be heard as a faint echo following other sounds, now the thumps could be felt everywhere and by everyone. The House focused its power and will on the four remaining visitors, who were faced off against each other in the foyer. From the start of the day, it was clear that Junior and the other guy were working together. The House had barely needed to nudge them to threaten to kill Aero Yee. Leander had been harder to subvert, but soon she saw reason and joined with Aero to resist the other two. And here the House realized it had erred, for both sides were willing to kill, but neither could obtain the upper hand. So it watched, and waited. Eventually, by some fluke of chance, The Nameless recluse slipped while dodging a blow from Aero, and hit his head on a protruding wall decoration with a sharp *crack*. He slumped to the ground, and it was clear from the dent in his head that he wouldn't rise again. Junior Junior froze for a moment, holding his hands in the air as he backed away from the fresh corpse. Then he bolted into the depths of the House. Leander and Aero, slower to react, began to chase their final opponent. The House, slightly frustrated that the death had been accidental, turned its attention to the halls where Junior had vanished. Just a few more deaths, and it would reach its full potential. The Nameless One @Lego Mistborn was an Innocent Explorer! Vote Count: The Nameless One (2): Aero Yee, Leander Aero Yee (2): Junior, The Nameless One Night 4 has begun, and will end at 11 PM on Thursday, September 26th. This is the final night! Player List:

The Day is over. It will be a while before the writeup is posted.

There was an air of despondency as the explorers set foot into the House's hallways for yet another night. Half of their number had fallen, and it seemed as if the outlook for the others were bleak. Still, a couple of those remaining explored the House with purpose, intent on finding a weapon, a way out, or anything, really, to give a sense of control back. Kirc, however, was not interested in exploring any more. He'd seen the kitchen, he'd seen the larder, and he'd scrounged every inch of the basement. Nowhere in the entire forsaken building was there a single drop of liquor to be found. So what was the point? He'd die sober, painfully aware of every moment before the end. He curled into a ball on the foyer's floor and waited. Kirc woke to a loud noise, followed by an unbearable pain. His eyes flashed open, and he glimpsed the face of his attacker. For just a moment, he thought he saw surprise in their eyes. Then everything was over. When the others returned to the foyer around dawn, Kirc's body still lay on the floor. The corpse had a shriveled look, as if it had been dried in the sun for days, despite that not being the case. The four remaining "companions" turned to face each other, preparing their words for the day. Kirc @Lord Spirit was an Innocent Explorer (also no role)! Day 4 has begun, and will end at 11 PM on Wednesday September 25th. Player List:

The Night is over!

Obligatory Dislcaimer that the writeups are purely flavor and don't reflect the actual scenario the game is in! Aven was pretty sure he knew what was going on. The House was making his fellow explorers murder each other, and perhaps even killing those that wouldn't go along. Well, he hadn't signed up to kill his friends. This whole situation had gone out of control the moment they'd stepped though those doors, and nobody had figured out any kind of reasonable plan. Well, Aven was going to change that. When Leader and that nameless fellow started for him, Aven bolted into the basement. For half a minute, he could hear running footsteps behind him, and then something in the House shifted, and suddenly he was alone. Aven had escaped, proved that killing wasn't the only option. He spoke aloud, "I will not serve the House. I will not attack my friends." As he spoke the words, a door at the end of the hallway Aven stood in opened up, and he walked toward it, drawn forawrd by some unseen compulsion. But when he stepped through the door, Aven's eyes widened in horror. A voice spoke in reply, directly to his mind, accompanied by the beating of some massive heart. "Very well. Your sacrifice is accepted." Blackness. Aven @Aeternum was an Innocent Explorer (and I checked and he didn't have a role)! Night 3 has begun and will end at 11 PM on Monday, September 23rd. Vote Count: Aven (2): Leander, The Nameless Recluse The Nameless Recluse (1): Aven Player List:

The day has ended! Writeup will be a while.

Also, another writeup mistake, Kas was a Mistborn.

I'll note that Scenario 2 is not completely a free for all. With this playercount, barring a successful protect, the game would end when two players are alive. The gun doesn't move around completely randomly either; exing the person who used it last boosts your odds of getting it.

Of all the rooms in the sprawling labyrinth that made up the House on the Hill, the chapel seemed the only one that wasn't filled with a sense of wrongness. Kanem wandered into it, and the tension that had been building up in him over the last couple of days suddenly vanished, replaced with an overwhelming weariness. He slumped into a seat, content to sit in silence, nothing but the sounds of his own breath and heartbeat filling the room. The longer Kanem sat, the louder his heartbeat seemed to be. Except... the sound wasn't coming from him, but from the walls. Something in Kanem screamed to get up, to move, to do anything, but he was too tired. His eyes slipped closed, and suddenly both heartbeats ceased. Kanem @Kasimir was an Innocent Explorer with Lerasium and Metals! Day 3 has begun, and will end at 11 PM Eastern Time on Sunday September 22nd. Player List:

The night has ended!

I just realized I missed something in the writeup. Coffee had an Aviar.

Coffee had never been able to sleep through a night, and as much of a bother as that was, it had given her more time to explore the House. Trouble was, nobody seemed to believe her when she described the gemstone she claimed to have found. Not that any of them had found anything more believable. But she couldn't think of the words to say, or of who else to cast blame for the disappearances on. As the day drew to a close, Aven, Kanem, and Kirc decided to take matters into their own hands. Aven and Kirc wrestled Coffee to the ground in an attempt to force her to reveal more information. Then a "thump-thump" pulse ran through the House, and something alien came over Kanem's eyes. He bent down and reached for Coffee's throat, squeezing with all of his strength. Just like that, it was done. Kanem seemed to return to himself, and stared first at the body on the floor, and then at his own hands. Then he fled into the depths of the House. Coffee Cat @Coffeecat was executed! She was an Innocent Explorer with an Aviar! Vote Count: Coffee Cat (3): Kanem, Aven, Kirc The Nameless Recluse (2): Leander, Aero Yee Aero Yee (1): The Nameless Recluse Leander (1): Junior Junior Night 2 has begun, and will end at 11 PM Eastern Time on Friday September 20th. The House is silent, waiting to be explored. Player List:

The day is over!

Just over an hour until sunset!

There is an 80% chance of each role existing (max 1 copy per), unless we are in scenario 1 and an elim got the gift, in which case all roles exist, but one is elim (this is in the rules).

To head off further discussion on this topic, since it wasn't really supposed to be a secret, any scenario 1 game with 8-10 players would have 2 elims, since that needs to be predetermined before I assign village roles for that scenario. I didn't specify that in the rules because in theory there could be more players, but that was always the intention with this ruleset. Apologies to anyone that not knowing this has affected.

I'd say post the rules in the Art of Game Creation thread where we can give you feedback. There's a decent backlog for non-QF games, so it would be better to submit to the committee when you near the top of the list. Also, a warning with faction games, the current player counts for game tend to be 8-10. So I'd suggest planning a game that works with a player count in that range.

Currently there is no filter for this game, though I think everyone has posted recently.

Writeup to come later, I had things come up tonight that I didn't expect. Father Rhinehardt @Sart went missing! He was an Innocent Explorer! Day 2 has begun, and will end at 11 PM Eastern time on Thursday September 19th. Player List:

Basically this. I roll a d6, on 1-4 the clue is one of the 3 clues that match the current scenario, on a 5 the clue matches the first scenario that isn't the current one, similar on a 6. But in a scenario 1 world, you could roll a 5 and still get the scenario 2 clue that is shared with scenario 1.

The group of would-be explorers was muted after seeing the butler's corpse, but eventually some fingers were pointed, and both Father Rhinehardt and Kirc found Keisser to be the most suspicious. Keisser, seeing the potential for his companions to turn violent, turned and ran into the ground floor hallway. Kirc, forcefully sobered up by the lack of his preferred sort of spirits in the House, made to chase after, but when he'd taken a couple of steps a crunch sounded from the hall. Kirc slowed, and his steps were far more cautious as he peered around the doorway. A dozen feet down the corridor was a hole in the floor, the jagged floorboards seeming to form the teeth of a gaping maw. As Kirc watched, the damaged planks seemed to grow, filling the gap until the floor was as seamless as the night before. He shuddered in horror, wishing anything that he could find a drink. Night had fallen, and everyone split off to search the House for a way to escape, though everyone who took the first floor corridor took care to stick to the wall, avoiding the patch of floor that had swallowed up Keisser. Keisser @The Unknown Order was an Innocent Explorer! Vote Count: Keisser (2): Rhinehardt, Kirc Kanem (1): Aero Yee Aero Yee (1): Kanem Leander (1): Aven Night 1 has begun, and will end at 11PM Eastern time on Tuesday, September 17th. Players may send an order to explore the house for a clue to the current scenario (with any flavor they want). The floor you explore no longer matters. Also, PMs are still open, must contain myself and CadCom, and must be 1-1. Player List:

The turn has ended!

This will count as no vote. Ties result in a random tied player getting executed.