Long Game 57: The Tower of Nebrask

[Stick.]

Signing up as Stick

[Araris Valerian]

Since it isn't really described in the book, I'm having a hard time envisioning the camp at Nebrask. Do you guys see it as temporary location, with tents and fire pits and so forth, or more as a village sort of thing with wood/stone buildings? It's hard to write when you don't have a good understanding of the setting, and I want to be consistent with other people.

[+Ed Venture]

I imagine a small town with Rithmatic infrastructure in place to support a large number of rithmatists. Perhaps the warcamps from tWoK would work as a model?

[Shqueeves]

I am very tempted to reprise my role as Jeeves. I'll update probably within a day with whether or not I'm signing up

[Araris Valerian]

Wow, it's been so long that I'd forgotten I was in the first Rithmatist game, MR3. I guess I need to avenge Tavi this game (or betray his legacy, I suppose, if I'm a baddie).

[Alvron]

3 hours ago, Araris Valerian said:

Since it isn't really described in the book, I'm having a hard time envisioning the camp at Nebrask. Do you guys see it as temporary location, with tents and fire pits and so forth, or more as a village sort of thing with wood/stone buildings? It's hard to write when you don't have a good understanding of the setting, and I want to be consistent with other people.

2 hours ago, Butt Ad Venture said:

I imagine a small town with Rithmatic infrastructure in place to support a large number of rithmatists. Perhaps the warcamps from tWoK would work as a model?

Indeed.  It very likely started out as a temporary camp but as the war progressed from what they thought would be weeks or months into years it would've shifted to a fortified encampment followed by a fortified village as more and more services and resources were brought in.  There would be outlying camps closer to the Tower as the primary defense but the village/town itself would be fortified as it would function as a fallback position.

 

[StrikerEZ]

So, I reread The Rithmatist on the flight to Germany, and I’ve got a better idea for my RP character. 

Wardell walked through the camps surrounding the Tower of Nebrask. The chalklings were following him again. He couldn’t see them, but he knew they were there, in the shadows, watching him. He heard their whispers, calling him to the Tower. He found it harder and harder to avoid their siren call. Maybe he should leave the Tower...how long had it been since he’d finished his mandatory ten year service? Yet, he found himself yearning to go to the Line of Warding surrounding the Tower. Maybe this time the chalklings would finally take him....

[Shqueeves]

I have decided to join. I shall once again be Jeeves

[Araris Valerian]

I'm going to change my character to Elysian, who was mine during the Melee.

[Stick.]

I think I’ll have to drop out, sorry. Turns out I’ll be traveling in a couple of weeks, and although I’ll be active in the time leading up to that, I’ll likely won’t have any time at all for SE until I return (which will be sometime late-August). I’d rather not sign up for a game I know I’ll eventually go inactive in. :/ So much for considering singing up for both this and the MR xD Sorry again. 

[Sart]

On 6/27/2019 at 11:26 PM, Furamirionind said:

I'd like to sign up! ... As a... um... as... a... well...

I... Um...
Spectator please. : (

 

On 6/28/2019 at 0:32 PM, Rathmaskal said:

Oh, this will be mostly in July.  I actually probably should spec as well.  I'll be out of town for a week and a half...probably not ideal for activity.  Sorry.

 

On 6/28/2019 at 3:46 PM, Straw said:

Can I get a spec doc link?

 

On 7/6/2019 at 7:55 AM, _Stick_ said:

I think I’ll have to drop out, sorry. Turns out I’ll be traveling in a couple of weeks, and although I’ll be active in the time leading up to that, I’ll likely won’t have any time at all for SE until I return (which will be sometime late-August). I’d rather not sign up for a game I know I’ll eventually go inactive in. :/ So much for considering singing up for both this and the MR xD Sorry again. 

Any chance I can get any of you to sign up? I'm short on players, but I don't want to delay this game since we haven't had a game running for a while.

[Snipexe]

I’ll sign up, though I can’t make any promises activity wise. 

I guess I’ll be Snip, an enigmatic rithmatist from Canada.

[Furamirionind]

1 hour ago, Sart said:

Any chance I can get any of you to sign up? I'm short on players, but I don't want to delay this game since we haven't had a game running for a while.

Sorry Sart. I already dont have enough time to do everything I need to IRL.

[Alvron]

8 hours ago, Sart said:

Any chance I can get any of you to sign up? I'm short on players, but I don't want to delay this game since we haven't had a game running for a while.

I'm happy to sign up as multiple players if you want.   Could be quite fun trying to keep everything straight esp if one of them ends up as an Elim.

[Sart]

Sign-ups are now closed. Day 1 will be up shortly.

[Sart]

"If you are reading this, we have failed. The Forgotten must have already known of our plan to recruit you, and have killed me. They have moles everywhere. Fear not though. The Master always has a plan. We can still salvage something out of this. By now, you should be at our base of operations inside the Circle. It's ironic that the safest place from those creatures is inside the pen we've built for them. We've assembled a moderate stockpile of items that could prove useful. Most importantly, we've gathered enough explosives to blow the Tower sky high. Do not use these until you are at the Tower. You're all Rithmatists, so I expect you to have Chalk on you. Use it, along with the items in our Supply, and charge the Tower. The going will be rough, but if you can get close enough, we can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Please, I beg of you. End this war." Kadal.

The beleaguered survivors huddled together. The recruitment drive at the alumni gathering had been an ambush. Many had died to a Chalkling horde. Those who weren't informed of the danger were briefed on the situation. High Command was run by the Forgotten and the Circle was failing. Their only hope was a desperate plan to destroy the Tower. They eyed each other wearily. There had to be Forgotten among them, but before they departed, they needed to figure out who.

Camp Supply:

Spoiler

• 2 Pieces of Chalk
• 3 Bribes
• 1 Bucket of Acid
• 3 Lanterns
• 2 Spring-Powered Crabs
• 1 Gun

Known Items:

  Hide contents

• Piece of Chalk (One-use, Day or Night): Do one of the following:
  • Line of Warding: Add one to the Camp’s Defense (Night)
  • Line of Forbiddance: Protect a player from up to one attack. Can self-target. (Night)
  • Line of Vigor: Negate a player’s action. Cannot negate itself (Day or Night)
  • Line of Making: Learn a player’s action if that action involves Chalk. (Day or Night)
• Bribe (Passive, Day): Give the Bribe to another player. Their vote will change to match yours. That player gains the Bribe, and can use it on future turns
• Bucket of Acid (One-use, Day): Give the Camp one Defense for the next Night.
• Spring-Powered Crab (One-use, Day): Target a player. You will learn what action they take during the Night
• Lantern (Passive, Night): You may take a Day action during the Night.
• Gun (One-use, Day or Night): Kill a player. If more people grab Guns than there are Guns in the supply, no one gets a Gun, and all but one of the players who attempted to grab Guns will die.

Known Roles:

Spoiler

• Rithmatist: They win when all Forgotten are dead. Each Rithmatist starts the game with a Piece of Chalk
• Forgotten: They win when the Camp is Overrun for the third time. Each Forgotten starts the game with a Piece of Chalk. As a Night action, one Forgotten can kill a player. They also have a standard Google doc to collaborate in.

Player List:

  Hide contents

1. StrikerEZ: Wardell
2. Dr. Dapper: Rick
3. Devotary of Spontaneity: Jenoue
4. Xinoehp52: Ecnelis
5. Butt Ad Venture: Nathaniel
6. Araris Valerian: Elysian
7. Cadmium Compounder: Caden
8. Lumgol: Character TBD
9. Ventyl: Jerm Apple
10. Alvron: Blackbane
11. Elandera: Brodie Fields
12. Shqueeves: Jeeves
13. Snipexe: Snip

This Day will end on July 10, at 7:00 PM CDT. Good Luck.

 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Sart
Add in the Elim night kill

[Sart]

All PMs should be sent out. As a reminder, PMs are open. Just be sure to include me, my Co-Gm, @Ax's Boyfriend and our Impartial Moderator @Fifth Scholar Let me know if you have any questions.

[xinoehp512]

The shadows were long as the sun arose. Ecnelis sat on the eastern side of camp, looking out into the sunrise. There, somewhere, was home.

The place he was fighting to defend.

 

[Araris Valerian]

I’ll start off with a vote on Cadcom.

Seems like the crab and the chalk are the two most useful items, for the village at least. Perhaps we could vote on who gets the gun, so that we don’t all kill each other trying to grab it, and so that it doesn’t vanish during the night. I’m not too sure on the usefulness of the lantern. The acid seems to be a worse piece of chalk, and the bribe won’t be too useful for either team until later on in the game.

Elysian felt nervously the chalk in his pocket. He’d trained at Armedius for this, and yet he also hadn’t. Nebrask was supposed to be a defensive position, with tens of Rithmatists working to hold the line. Nothing had prepared him for a stealth mission. Nevertheless, his resolve was firm as a Line of Forbiddance. If this mission failed, humanity itself might be Forgotten.

[Elandera]

Brodie hated his sister. Her betrayal at Nebrask had meant a lot of trouble for him and his family. But especially for him. 

He hated Nebrask. The place and the chalklings were to blame for what happened to Tahree. And for him being stuck out in middle of nowhere.

He hated his responsibility. His family was relying on him to repair the family reputation. Mostly his dad's.

He sighed, knowing his hatred was for naught. Brodie was there, and he would fight. Because unlike his sister, he actually could. 

---

I like the new function of bribes. It also means we'll have a good idea of who has one.

Be cautious if you're considering trying for the gun. We don't want a slaughter of villagers all trying. It's unlikely elims would go for it, as they may be few in number considering the size of the player pool. 

@Sart, are lines of warding permanent (at least until they're destroyed by an attack)? If so, grabbing chalk and going with camp defense early would be good, if you're unsure what else to do.

Lines of making and crabs will be super useful. One reason I lasted so long in the last Rhithmatist game is because no one was scanning actions and I could bluff my way through everything.

More thoughts to follow when I'm not trying to go to sleep.

EDIT: @Araris Valerian, the lantern would be useful in conjunction with the crab, allowing the user to scan for a kill.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Elandera

[Alvron]

17 minutes ago, Elandera said:

EDIT: @Araris Valerian, the lantern would be useful in conjunction with the crab, allowing the user to scan for a kill.

The Crab can already scan during the Night.  You just have to use it during the proceeding Day.

[Elandera]

2 minutes ago, Alvron said:

The Crab can already scan during the Night.  You just have to use it during the proceeding Day.

It would be useful if I read things all the way through...

Now that I look, there's no obvious need for it, but there may be some unknown roles that would find it useful.

[Alvron]

3 minutes ago, Elandera said:

It would be useful if I read things all the way through...

Now that I look, there's no obvious need for it, but there may be some unknown roles that would find it useful.

You could use it with a Crab or Acid that you pick up that Day.  At moment, we would have to wait a full cycle after getting a Crab/Acid before we could use them but if someone has a Lantern, they could grab a Crab/Acid and use it that same Night.

[CadCom]

Caden was a quiet person. He preferred to listen. As he listened to the others, he wasn't exactly certain what to say, so he remained quiet. 

---------

So far, we know of Forgotten and Rithmatists. We also know that the forgotten don't win at parity or majority. They win when the camp is overrun a third time. Therefore, I believe it is most important to stop the overrunning of camp. Additionally, the only known ways we have to kill forgotten are with the Gun, or with the lynch. (which is typical for many games.) However, the gun is a one-time use action.

Therefore, I think it's best to find a balance between protecting the camp, and scanning for suspicious actions. With 13 players, It's likely that there are 3 forgotten and 10 rithmatists. We also don't know if Lines of forbiddance are permanent (until destroyed) or just for the cycle. (I personally think it's permanent, but we are still awaiting clarification) If they are just for the cycle, then it's important to try to not put down more than we need. Which will be difficult this cycle, seeing we have no idea how many chalklings will attack.

Ultimately, I believe that the Elims will do whatever they can to blend in, especially during the day cycle when actions are more transparent, so I think our best opportunity at catching them is through scans.

The rules don't explicitely state that the forgotten have a kill, but I find it rather likely that they do, as that is generally a capability that the elims have. That means worst case scenario, we lose two people/ cycle, One from the lynch, one from the elim kill. By cycle, that would be 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, or six cycles to parity if you estimate three forgotten.  and, I would guess either chalklings will increase by 1 each cycle, with a maximum of 5 or 6 power, or, there are 3-4 chalklings attacking each night. Either way, by cycle five, it would be an average of 3 to 4 chalkling attacks per night. or a necessity of 15-20 Lines of Warding. Best case Scenario, we all use our chalk as lines of warding before any of us are killed. That's 10 lines of Warding, or half of what we would need to make it that far. We would then need to average just one or two additional protections per cycle, which seems entirely reasonable if we are able to pick up the pieces of chalk and the buckets of acid along the way. 

Regarding the chalk in the supply, I could see a possible elim strategy to try to take as much chalk as possible and use it to protect themselves, rather than protecting camp, so I think having as many villagers pick up chalk as possible makes it more likely to keep the chalk in good hands. 

The bucket of acid seems to work like chalk, except my guess is that the acid is only temporary, but the chalk is permanent. @Sart In the case where a bucket of acid, and Lines of Warding are both protecting the camp, is the acid or the chalk used first for protection? If the bucket of acid is used first, then using it will be just fine, as the remaining lines of Warding are still kept in place. (assuming they're permanent) If not, then it would be wise to save the buckets of acid until later, when there are less opportunities to use a line of warding. 

Other items include Bribe, Crab, Lantern and Gun.

The bribe is interesting. It changes someone's vote, and passes the ability to change the vote onto the next player. This is different from other vote changing abilities, as usually the vote changing ability is either one-time, or remains with the person who originally had it. This makes it more difficult to determine alignment based off the change of vote, but also adds some interesting elements for people attempting to distance themselves, or bus someone else. 

Crab is good to try to determine what people are doing in the night, which is when the Elims will do things that are more Elim-ey. This also means that the elims may want them out of village hands. 

I agree with Araris and Alvron regarding the Lantern. It doesn't seem to have much use, as day actions will either only work in the day (Bribe) or affect the night(Crab and Acid.) So all it seems like lantern does is if you already have lantern, and pick up crab or acid, it allows you to use them that night, instead of waiting until the next day. Of course there could be other items or actions that we simply do not know about yet. 

Lastly, we have the Gun. If someone wants to grab the gun during today's cycle, That would be best in my opinion, because then we could keep track of who has the gun. Buuut, that also makes them a target for the elims to kill, because it re-introduces the Gun to the game.

Anyway, by tonight we should probably try to have at least 4 or 5 lines of warding down to keep us safe for at least the first cycle. 

As for what I will be doing, I'm not entirely certain yet, but I will place a poke vote on Xino who has posted, but it was purely RP. @xinoehp512, any thoughts so far? 

I still don't know what I'll be doing in regards to my action, but as of now, I'm considering between going for the gun, drawing a line of warding, and going for either a piece of chalk or a bribe. 

 

 

[xinoehp512]

Yes, in fact. Rather unusual, I know.  

Here is the section of the rules on wild chalklings.

Quote

• Every night, the Chalklings will attack with all of their Strength.
  • The Strength of the Chalklings starts at one, and can never go below one.
  • If a Rithmatist is lynched, the Strength of the Chalklings increases by one.
  • If a Forgotten is lynched, the Strength of the Chalklings decreases by one.
• If the Camp’s Defense is lower than the Strength of the Chalklings, the Camp is Overrun.
  • Various Items add to the Camp's Defense.
  • The Camp’s Defense resets after every night.
• The Camp can be Overrun a maximum of three times:
  • The first time, nothing happens, and the Camp is given a warning.
  • The second time, a random Rithmatist will be killed. This kill is unblockable, and goes through all levels of protection.
  • The third time, the Forgotten win the game.

Tonight, the chalklings will attack with a strength of 1- or 2, if we lynch a villager. I suspect most, if not all players started with a piece of chalk, so defense should not be too difficult.

2 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

Therefore, I think it's best to find a balance between protecting the camp, and scanning for suspicious actions. With 13 players, It's likely that there are 3 forgotten and 10 rithmatists. We also don't know if Lines of forbiddance are permanent (until destroyed) or just for the cycle. (I personally think it's permanent, but we are still awaiting clarification) If they are just for the cycle, then it's important to try to not put down more than we need. Which will be difficult this cycle, seeing we have no idea how many chalklings will attack.

Do you perhaps mean lines of Warding? The camp's defense resets every night, so lines of Warding are not permanent. We will, however, know how much the chalklings will attack for- and I suspect it will be announced in the end-of-day write-up, as well.

2 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

The rules don't explicitely state that the forgotten have a kill, but I find it rather likely that they do, as that is generally a capability that the elims have. That means worst case scenario, we lose two people/ cycle, One from the lynch, one from the elim kill. By cycle, that would be 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, or six cycles to parity if you estimate three forgotten.  and, I would guess either chalklings will increase by 1 each cycle, with a maximum of 5 or 6 power, or, there are 3-4 chalklings attacking each night. Either way, by cycle five, it would be an average of 3 to 4 chalkling attacks per night. or a necessity of 15-20 Lines of Warding. Best case Scenario, we all use our chalk as lines of warding before any of us are killed. That's 10 lines of Warding, or half of what we would need to make it that far. We would then need to average just one or two additional protections per cycle, which seems entirely reasonable if we are able to pick up the pieces of chalk and the buckets of acid along the way. 

Remember, the camp defense resets each night. This means coordination is key. Too many lines of Warding, and we waste chalk; too few, and our camp is overrun.

Now, some first thoughts about the items.

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Bribe (Passive, Day): Give the Bribe to another player. Their vote will change to match yours. That player gains the Bribe, and can use it on future turns

Vote manip with a slight twist. Overall, I don't really think the pass-it-along mechanic will have a big effect; it seldom matters whom you manipulate the vote of. The biggest effect I can think of is elims using it as a distancing mechanic by passing it between themselves.

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Bucket of Acid (One-use, Day): Give the Camp one Defense for the next Night.

Can be used as a substitute for a piece of chalk as a defensive measure. Unless it's announced in the write-up (which is possible), any player that uses this should inform others.

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Spring-Powered Crab (One-use, Day): Target a player. You will learn what action they take during the Night

If the elims do have a kill (which is more than likely, in my opinion) this can be used as a sort of alignment scan.

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Lantern (Passive, Night): You may take a Day action during the Night.

2 hours ago, Cadmium Compounder said:

I agree with Araris and Alvron regarding the Lantern. It doesn't seem to have much use, as day actions will either only work in the day (Bribe) or affect the night(Crab and Acid.) So all it seems like lantern does is if you already have lantern, and pick up crab or acid, it allows you to use them that night, instead of waiting until the next day. Of course there could be other items or actions that we simply do not know about yet. 

I also agree with this, but would like to note that because this is a passive item, it can be used more than once- it's not used up.

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Gun (One-use, Day or Night): Kill a player. If more people grab Guns than there are Guns in the supply, no one gets a Gun, and all but one of the players who attempted to grab Guns will die.

A dangerous item, but potentially useful. People planning on taking this item should probably warn the others, so we don't get mass shootings.

And finally:

16 hours ago, Sart said:

Piece of Chalk (One-use, Day or Night): Do one of the following:

• Line of Warding: Add one to the Camp’s Defense (Night)
• Line of Forbiddance: Protect a player from up to one attack. Can self-target. (Night)
• Line of Vigor: Negate a player’s action. Cannot negate itself (Day or Night)
• Line of Making: Learn a player’s action if that action involves Chalk. (Day or Night)

 

The most useful item, in my opinion. Chalk will likely provide the main backbone of our defense against the chalklings. It can also be used as protection from the elim kill, or even as a limited scan (if you Vigor someone, and no one dies that night, well...) 

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by xinoehp512