Mafia Capital (WWC XIII): Important Info Here -- READ OPENING POSTS!

[JeenLeen]

Due to the complexities and difficulties of balancing a cult game, I asked and some of you gave me feedback. Thinking about it, I'm going with an open (e.g., all roles declared) game. Below is a draft. Any comments welcome.

I'm particularly worried about the Survivor being too strong, but it seems doubtful we'll have a 16-player game lately anyhow.

Spoiler: current draft Burning Hate game

Show

Pelor Cult

The village of Smallhaven is a small haven from the dangers of the neighboring forests and mountains. It is a small farming village, with a simple mill and temple for Pelor. Usually, nothing of importance happens here.
However, there is a major church council meeting happening in a major city down the road, and rumors are that one of the high priests of Pelor is going there to help discredit the heresy of the Burning Hate. Normally that would only mean a feast one night to host the traveling clergy, maybe seeing some awesome magic, but it seems that a priest of the Burning Hate has infiltrated the town. Their goal: to spread their belief, such that the town is able to kill the high priest and prevent him from reaching the council.

But nobody knows who the heretic is.

Rules

During the Day Phase, everyone votes. The person with the most votes at the end of the day is killed. In the case of a tie, a person is randomly chosen.

During the Night Phase, those with powers can use them. This includes the potential of the cult converting someone to the cult.

Each player has an individual QuickTopic.
The Cult has a QuickTopic where they can communicate. The Cult can only talk amongst itself at Night, with the exception that a new convert may make one post in the QuickTopic during the Day. (Try to keep editing it to a minimum.)

Power Roles

If there are 10 players, the game will start with 1 Cultists, 4 power Town roles (Town Guard, Healer, Elder, and Town Gossip), and the rest as vanilla town. Less players may mean less power Town roles.
If there are 14 players, a Serial Killer (neutral) will be added.
If there are 16 players, a Survivor (neutral) and True Believer (Town) will be added.

The game starts with 1 Cultist.

High Priest -- the High Priest of Pelor the Burning Hate. Each night, you must visit someone and convert them to your faith.
The first time you would die, you do not die. A note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." This immunity persists if you have failed to convert anyone to the cult.


Town Guard -- you protect the town from the dangers of the wilds, and you'll try to use your skill to protect from heresy at any cost. Each night, you can target someone and kill them.
If converted, you become the Fanatic. Each night, you can target someone and kill them; the High Priest cannot convert someone on a night you use this power. If you are lynched, you randomly kill someone who voted for you. (This can kill a fellow cultist who voted you.)

Healer -- each night, you can protect someone to heal them if they are injured and thus block a night-kill. If you block a night-kill, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." If the person you targeted was targeted for conversion, you learn they were targeted for conversion, but not if it succeeded or not nor who targeted them.
If converted, you become the Alchemist, making potions to influence people. Each night, you can target someone and either protect them from being killed or prevent them from taking any actions. (In other words, you can bane or void someone.) If you block a night-kill, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." If you void somebody, they are not aware of it (e.g., no special feedback) -- but may realize something happened, such as if the Town Guard fails to kill who they targeted but no text says a bane occurred.

Elder -- you know the village and the nature of souls. Each night, you can target on someone and learn their alignment (Town, Cult, or Neutral).
If converted, you become the Prophet. Each night, you can target someone and learn their alignment and role (e.g., Town Gossip, Survivor.)

Town Gossip -- you know how to sneak and spy, as well as how to discretely talk. Each night, you can use one of these powers
-you can target someone and see who targets them
-you can target someone and see who they target
-you can create a QuickTopic for two people (it can include yourself or be two others). If you pick two others, you can see the QuickTopic but are not allowed to write in it. (This counts as targeting the two people you pick.)
If converted, you become the Spymaster. Each night, you can use one of these powers
-you can target someone. You see who targets them, and who they target.
-the same QuickTopic power as above, but you are allowed to write in QTs with two other players. (If converted, this permission-to-write is retroactively given to any extant QTs.)

True Believer -- your faith in Pelor is pure, and you cannot be converted to the cult. If targeted for conversion, the cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral." If you are targeted for conversion, you receive the message, "You were targeted for conversion." If there are at least two cultists, you also learn the name of the High Priest. (By implication, if you are targeted but do not learn who the High Priest is, you know there is only 1 cultist.)

Survivor -- you only care about number one and about lasting through this ordeal. Fortunately, you have a few tricks to help you.
Each night, you can use one of these powers. You can use each power only once per game.
-block somebody from being targeted for the night, by spending the night talking to them. This prevents kills, conversions, and any other targeting. The person targeted receives a message "<Survivor's name> spent the night talking with you." If someone did target that person, you receive the message "<target name> was busy talking all night with somebody."
-target someone and see who they target
-target someone and see who targets them
-bane yourself. If you would have died, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not."
If you are targeted for conversion, you receive message "You were targeted for conversion." The cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral."
You win when the game ends, if you are alive. E.g., if there is a Town, Cult, or Serial Killer win.

Serial Killer -- You live for killing, and with the fear about the cult, now is your chance. Kill them all! Well, you can let that one loner stay alive; he's cool enough.
If the Survivor is in the game, you start the game knowing who the Survivor is.
Each night, target someone and kill them.
You win when all Town and Cult are dead.
If you are targeted for conversion, you receive message "You were targeted for conversion." The cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral."


Clarification Notes and Power Interactions

If you have an information-gathering power (watch, track, seer) and are somehow stopped, you receive "No information." If you watch/track someone and they do no action, you receive "<target> was not targeted, other than by you" or "<target> did not target anyone."

If the Town Gossip/Spymaster use the QuickTopic power and any person targeted is blocked by the Survivor, the power fails for the night. The Town Gossip/Spymaster gets the message to learn which person they targeted was targeted by the Survivor.
If the Town Gossip/Spymaster is itself blocked, they receive no special feedback but the lack of a QT being generated will make it obvious the power failed.
If the Town Gossip/Spymaster targets two other players, but one of them dies the same night, the QT is still created.
No using fake names or aliases when writing in QuickTopics. AvatarVecna can use AV, but shouldn't use Some Person or Town Gossip.
No posting QT links, either publicly or in other QTs. EXCEPTION: the Spymaster may post QT links in the Cult QT to share it with the cult.

If the High Priest dies, no more cultists can be made. But the Fanatic can still kill even if the High Priest is dead.

The High Priest's conversion attempt is not optional. The only way to forgo doing it is to have the Fanatic do a kill instead. If the High Priest player does not choose a target, the Narrator will randomly pick one.

For timing: the conversion happens last, most importantly after night-kills. (So a High Priest targeted with a NK on N1 will always survive.) EXCEPTION: if the Elder targets someone who is being converted, they learn the person was converted that night.
Voids happen first.
If two voiders (Alchemist, Survivor) somehow interact in a way that would create an infinite loop of who-stops-who, the Alchemist "wins".

edit: two additional clarifications
1. The Gossip's QTs can be used during the Night or Day.
2. The thing with the High Priest's death-immunity is basically to make sure at least one convert gets made before the Priest dies. If they make a convert without dying, they still have the 'extra life'. But, if for example, they get lynched D1, their extra life is gone. The next time they would die, after making a convert, they don't.
That does mean they could survive the lynch D1, survive a NK D1 (since no convert yet), make their convert, then get lynched D2 and die (since they had a convert so their immunity doesn't persist.)
But if they survive D1 fine, survive N1 fine and make a convert, then get lynched D2, they survive, but are no longer immune since at least one convert exists so they could be NKed N2. But their power would still activate and they'd get a conversion N2.
If by some chance their conversion keeps failing night after night, they would survive until they make a convert. That's part of why I made a conversion attempt mandatory.
I hope it's straightforward and these clarifications actually clarify instead of clouding the issue.

Spoiler: revised stuff I plan to post when I make my game

Show

Pelor Cult

The village of Smallhaven is a small haven from the dangers of the neighboring forests and mountains. It is a small farming village, with a simple mill and temple for Pelor. Usually, nothing of importance happens here.
However, there is a major church council meeting happening in a major city down the road, and rumors are that one of the high priests of Pelor is going there to help discredit the heresy of the Burning Hate. Normally that would only mean a feast one night to host the traveling clergy, maybe seeing some awesome magic, but it seems that a priest of the Burning Hate has infiltrated the town. Their goal: to spread their belief, such that the town is able to kill the high priest and prevent him from reaching the council.

But nobody knows who the heretic is.

Spoiler: The Heresy

Show

In D&D, Pelor is the Neutral God god of the sun. But also the generally 'good' deity that is worshipped a lot by humans and known for charity, kindness, and hating undead.

The 'heresy' of the Burning Hate is (to my understanding) a fan-made idea that Pelor is actually evil, and maybe is a psuedonym used by an evil human-centric god. This is based on a few things like a picture in the Player's Handbook of a cleric of Pelor casting an evil spell, something a cleric of a Good deity couldn't do.

For this game, there isn't daily intervention from the deities, so it's hard to really prove the heresy one way or the other, hence a church council.

Rules/Mechanics

During the Day Phase, everyone votes. The person with the most votes at the end of the day is killed. In the case of a tie, a person is randomly chosen.

During the Night Phase, those with powers can use them. This includes the potential of the cult converting someone to the cult.

Each player has an individual QuickTopic, which they can use at any time to talk with the Narrator (JeenLeen).
The Cult has a QuickTopic where they can communicate. The Cult can only talk amongst itself at Night, with two exceptions
1) the High Priest can post during the Day (but the rest of the Cult cannot respond)
2) a new convert may make one post in the QuickTopic during the Day. (Try to keep editing it to a minimum.)

Power Roles

If there are 10 players, the game will start with 1 Cultist, 4 power Town roles (Town Guard, Healer, Elder, and Town Gossip), and the rest as vanilla town. Less players may mean less power Town roles.
If there are 14 players, a Serial Killer (neutral) will be added.
If there are 16 players, a Survivor (neutral) and True Believer (Town) will be added.

The game starts with 1 Cultist. (If we got a whole lot of players, we may start with 2 cultists, but I doubt that will happen.)

High Priest -- the High Priest of Pelor the Burning Hate. Each night, you must visit someone and convert them to your faith.
The first time you would die, you do not die. A note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." This immunity persists if you have failed to convert anyone to the cult (e.g., you cannot die until at least one conversion has occurred).


Town Guard -- you protect the town from the dangers of the wilds, and you'll try to use your skill to protect from heresy at any cost. Each night, you can target someone and kill them.
If converted, you become the Fanatic. Each night, you can target someone and kill them; the High Priest cannot convert someone on a night you use this power. If you are lynched, you randomly kill someone who voted for you. (This can kill a fellow cultist who voted you.)

Healer -- each night, you can protect someone to heal them if they are injured and thus block a night-kill. If you block a night-kill, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." If the person you targeted was targeted for conversion, you learn they were targeted for conversion, but not if it succeeded or not nor who targeted them.
If converted, you become the Alchemist, making potions to influence people. Each night, you can target someone and either protect them from being killed or prevent them from taking any actions. (In other words, you can bane or void someone.) If you block a night-kill, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not." If you void somebody, they are not aware of it (e.g., no special feedback) -- but may realize something happened, such as if the Town Guard fails to kill who they targeted but no text says a bane occurred.

Elder -- you know the village and the nature of souls. Each night, you can target on someone and learn their alignment (Town, Cult, or Neutral).
If converted, you become the Prophet. Each night, you can target someone and learn their alignment and role (e.g., Town Gossip (Town), Survivor (Neutral), vanilla Town.)

Town Gossip -- you know how to sneak and spy, as well as how to discretely talk. Each night, you can use one of these powers
-you can target someone and see who targets them
-you can target someone and see who they target
-you can create a QuickTopic for two people (it can include yourself or be two others). If you pick two others, you can see the QuickTopic but are not allowed to write in it. (This counts as targeting the two people you pick.)
If converted, you become the Spymaster. Each night, you can use one of these powers
-you can target someone. You see who targets them, and who they target.
-the same QuickTopic power as above, but you are allowed to write in QTs with two other players. (If converted, this permission-to-write is retroactively given to any extant QTs.)
QuickTopics can be used during Day or Night.

True Believer -- your faith in Pelor is pure, and you cannot be converted to the cult. If targeted for conversion, the cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral." If you are targeted for conversion, you receive the message, "You were targeted for conversion." If there are at least two cultists, you also learn the name of the High Priest. (By implication, if you are targeted but do not learn who the High Priest is, you know there is only 1 cultist.)

Survivor -- you only care about number one and about lasting through this ordeal. Fortunately, you have a few tricks to help you.
Each night, you can use one of these powers. You can use each power only once per game.
-block somebody from being targeted for the night, by spending the night talking to them. This prevents kills, conversions, and any other targeting. The person targeted receives a message "<Survivor's name> spent the night talking with you." If someone did target that person, they receive the message "<target name> was busy talking all night with somebody."
-target someone and see who they target
-target someone and see who targets them
-bane yourself. If you would have died, a note is made publicly that "<name> should have died, but did not."
If you are targeted for conversion, you receive message "You were targeted for conversion." The cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral."
You win when the game ends, if you are alive. E.g., if there is a Town, Cult, or Serial Killer win.

Serial Killer -- You live for killing, and with the fear about the cult, now is your chance. Kill them all! Well, you can let that one loner stay alive; he's cool enough.
If the Survivor is in the game, you start the game knowing who the Survivor is.
Each night, target someone and kill them.
You win when all Town and Cult are dead.
If you are targeted for conversion, you receive message "You were targeted for conversion." The cult is told "<name> cannot be converted because he is Neutral."


Clarification Notes and Power Interactions

If you have an information-gathering power (watch, track, seer) and are somehow stopped, you receive "No information." If you watch/track someone and they do no action, you receive "<target> was not targeted, other than by you" or "<target> did not target anyone."

If the Town Gossip/Spymaster use the QuickTopic power and any person targeted is blocked by the Survivor, the power fails for the night. The Town Gossip/Spymaster gets the message to learn which person they targeted was targeted by the Survivor.
If the Town Gossip/Spymaster is itself blocked, they receive no special feedback but the lack of a QT being generated will make it obvious the power failed.
If the Town Gossip/Spymaster targets two other players, but one of them dies the same night, the QT is still created. (I'd be willing to create the QT between the Spymaster and a dead person, but no point to it, so I don't plan to.)
No using fake names or aliases when writing in QuickTopics. AvatarVecna can use AV, but shouldn't use Some Person or Town Gossip.
No posting QT links, either publicly or in other QTs. EXCEPTION: the Spymaster may post QT links in the Cult QT to share it with the cult.

If the High Priest dies, no more cultists can be made. But the Fanatic can still kill even if the High Priest is dead.

The High Priest's conversion attempt is not optional. The only way to forgo doing it is to have the Fanatic do a kill instead. If the High Priest player does not choose a target, the Narrator will randomly pick one. (The High Priest can be voided; the conversion isn't guaranteed, but they have to try.)

For timing: the conversion happens last, most importantly after night-kills. (So a High Priest targeted with a NK on N1 will always survive.) EXCEPTION: if the Elder targets someone who is being converted, they learn the person was converted that night.
Voids happen first.
If two voiders (Alchemist, Survivor) somehow interact in a way that would create an infinite loop of who-stops-who, the Alchemist "wins".