Post by storyteller0910 on Jul 29, 2014 8:42:56 GMT -5
Important Game Concepts
WHAT’S FAMILIAR
The structure of the game will be familiar; Days of 5 real-life days and Nights of 2 real-life days. You will vote for lynch using the usual colors (one vote per player this time around, I’m afraid), and the vote leader will be lynched (though not die in all cases – see #2 below!). Any tie will be resolved by random.org unless other powers become involved.
There will be recruitment – an fairly large amount of it, in fact – but no player will ever change Covenants (this game’s term for alignment) involuntarily.
1. Covenants
In this game, a Covenant is any group of one or more players collectively dedicated to the same goal – every player belongs to a Covenant (only one at a time), and his or her Covenant usually defines his or her win condition. Each Covenant has different rules regarding joining and leaving, as well as different powers or benefits that accrue to members.
At the beginning of the game, the majority of players belong to a Covenant called The Way of the Blue: this is the “Town” Covenant. Other players may belong to other Covenants, or choose to join them; Covenants are generally defined as either hostile to the Way of the Blue (ie, win condition exclusive to that of the WoB) or not hostile to the WoB (can win simultaneously with WoB). Note that the designation “hostile” or “non-hostile” as applied to a given Covenant always applies to the relationship of that Covenant to the Way of the Blue; the degree to which various Covenants may be threats to one another cannot be divined from the “hostile/non-hostile” designation.
2. Humanity and Hollowing
In Lordran, death is… complicated. Every player begins the game as a human (or other living creature) – eating, breathing, blogging, what have you. If lynched or subject to a Night or Day kill, a player will not immediately die and be removed from the game; rather, he or she will become Hollow – undead, soulless, but still able to participate and vote. Importantly, the abilities of Hollow players will be weakened significantly, in ways that are unique to each player.
If a player is lynched or killed while Hollow, her or she dies and is removed from the game, with full reveal of role and alignment. There is no standard reveal of role or alignment that occurs when a player is Hollowed, though some player powers may alter this in a variety of ways.
If a Human player is subject to multiple kills in a single Day or Night, or subject to a lynch and Day kill on the same Day, the effects will be cumulative (that is, multiple kills will render a player fully dead even if beginning the cycle as Human).
The status of each player as Human or Hollow will be public knowledge and available in the official player list. Note that it is possible to regain one’s Humanity having been Hollowed. Restoring Human status will also restore the full-strength version of the player in question’s power.
3. Powers
Every player begins with one or more powers. In most cases, a player may use only a single power per Day/Night Cycle; exceptions will be explicitly noted in the power description in the role PM. Unlike in the prior game, powers are innate to the player possessing them and cannot be passed from player to player. All powers cost one or more souls to use (see below); if you are out of souls, you may not use a power.
Some powers will be represented by single-use items (ie, a sword that allow a one-shot Night kill). These will always be clearly identified as such. Such items may be passed from player to player in the same way as souls (see below).
4. Souls
Souls are currency and power. Souls may be passed freely among players (see Item Transfers, #6, below).
When a player is Hollowed, half of his or her supply of souls go directly to his or her killer. If the player was lynched, half of his or her soul(s) go directly to the first voter for that player.
When a player is killed, his or her remaining soul(s) go directly to his or her killer. If the player was lynched, his or soul(s) go directly to the first voter for that player.
Some mechanics may affect the disposition of souls in all cases.
5. Soapstones
Each player begins the game with at least one Soapstone, some begin with more or many more. Soapstones can be passed from player to player just as Items and Souls can be; each is a one-use item.
There are two varieties of Soapstone: Orange and White.
- Orange Soapstones can be used to place a message (in orange letters) in the opening color of any given Day or Night. The message must be 100 characters or less; it will be delivered anonymously but readable by all.
- White Soapstones can be used to send a private message (of any length allowed by the board) to another player. Obviously this will not be anonymous. It is REQUIRED that all moderators be copied on each private message sent in this way, and if you’re out of Soapstones, you can’t continue the conversation. Your recipient will need a Soapstone of his or her own in order to respond. Note that you do not send this message filtered through the moderator; just send a message directly to your intended recipient, and we will automatically deduct a Soapstone from your stock.
Special Revised Rules Regarding White Soapstones: If you choose to copy more than one player on a message, it will cost you one Soapstone for each recipient. If you copy another player on a message to the moderators, it will cost you a Soapstone. And, very importantly – this is a new rule, so pay close attention: All actions must be taken by PM to the moderators with no other players copied. If another living player is copied on your action request, request to transfer souls, etc, it will not count as an action request.
6. Transfer of Items
Soapstones, souls, and single-use items may be transferred from player to player. You may send an item to another player by sending a message to the moderator that you wish to do so. The item will be delivered at Dawn or Dusk, respectively, of the Night or Day on which you make the request. To re-emphasize: item transfers are NOT instantaneous.
Also important: there is no “transaction” mechanic. If texcat and I reach a private agreement that she will send me five souls and I will protect her, the moderators will not enforce this agreement in any way. Texcat must privately message the moderators telling them to give me give souls, and I must separately message the moderators telling them that I will protect texcat. “But Omniscient Narrator,” you say, “this means that we can easily trick, betray, and backstab one another!” Yes, Hypothetical Player, I reply. Yes, it does.
7. Color
The game color (ie, anything written in italics at any time) does not count. I might put some hints as to what’s going on in there, but I might also deliberately misdirect, or include total red herrings having nothing to do with the game at all. Note that knowledge of the source material is going to be totally irrelevant here; characters and Covenants will and will not be adherent to canon in essentially random ways.
Every game post from me will end with a dotted line. Anything below the dotted line will always be 100% true with no misdirection.
Role reveals upon Death will always be 100% accurate. Role reveals upon Hollowing, supposing those should occur, will not always be 100% accurate, so interpret those with caution.