Post by Alexander The So-so on Nov 17, 2012 12:21:45 GMT -5
I've always wanted to try an online version of this game, which is an alternative strategic teamwork/deception/bluffing game that bears some similarities to Mafia, but which is distinctly different. We'll need 10 (ten) players in total to play (though if fewer sign up, we can work with at least 5). Without further ado, let me explain this game!
THE RESISTANCE
In the near future, society has fallen under the tyrannical reign of an all-powerful, evil Empire, which rules with an iron fist. The people cry out for freedom against this oppression. The time has come for revolution! And now, a small group of Resistance fighters have answered the call to fight to overthrow the Empire through guerrilla attacks on the Empire's 3 key bases.
But not all is well for the Resistance! Their ranks have been infiltrated by Imperial Spies! These secret servants of the Empire pose as the heartfelt revolutionaries who they share quarters with. But the truth is they are out to destroy the Resistance from the inside, by sabotaging their guerilla operations and in turn causing the destruction of the Resistance's own 3 bases.
It is a race against time. The Resistance fighters must identify and unmask the Spies in their midst, so that they may avoid entrusting them with the missions to strike at the Empire. The Imperial Spies must tread the line between concealing their identities/establishing trust on the one hand, and carrying out their objective of sabatoging the Resistance's efforts and bringing about the Empire's ultimate triumph. Who shall prevail?
The game has 10 players. Four of them will be randomly and secretly assigned the roles Imperial Spies. They will NOT, however, know who the other Spies are, only that somewhere in the group are three other people on their side (unlike in Mafia, I think that, for reasons which might become clear later on, if the Spies knew who each other were and were able to PM with each other, they'd gain too much of an advantage. Ideally, the Spies would know who their counterparts are, but would not be able to PM with each other, but there's no way to regulate that on an Internet forum). The other 6 players will be real Resistance fighters. They, obviously, will not be told who the Spies are; they will only know that there are 4 of them in their midst.
A Round begins with the random assignment of one player as that Round's Mission Leader. All ten of the players will be listed in a certain order, Round 1's Mission Leader will be chosen from the list automatically, and the Mission Leader will be passed to the next person on the list after them, with the role cycling in order. The Mission Leader could therefore end up being a real Resistance member, or there is about a 33% chance of the Mission Leader being a Spy.
Planning Phase (lasts for a maximum of 1 week)
The role of the Mission Leader is to assign a certain number of players (the number will vary between Rounds) to be the Commandos, who will carry out a guerilla raid on an Imperial base. Depending on the Leader's true allegiance (Resistance or Empire), they must choose the Commandos carefully, the Resistance members in order to avoid having any Spies be members of the Team, and the Imperials in order to try to have at least one of their own be a member of the Commandos without giving away the true allegiance of themselves or their fellow Spies. The Mission Leader MAY assign themselves as one member of the Commando Team. I repeat, it is OK for the Leader to be a Commando.
During this time, everyone publicly discusses who should be a member of the Commando Team, taking the time in the thread to publicly jockey for position, argue why they themselves should be on the Team, saying why this or that person should or should not be assigned, etc. The maximum deadline for the Mission Leader to decide who will be part of the Commando Team is 72 hours after the beginning of the Round, though the game will proceed if the Leader makes a final decision earlier.
Once the Team is decided, the Mission Leader publicly announces in the main thread who they have chosen to carry out the guerilla raid. Now, all of the rest of the players must vote to Approve or Disapprove of the Leader's choice for the Team. All of the players publicly state their cases for why they agree or disagree with the decision, taking the time to accuse, spread confusion, try to sort through the deception, and everything else you'd expect as they see fit. Ultimately, the players publicly vote "Yay" or "Nay" about the nominated Team. The maximum deadline for all of the players to vote is 96 hours after the Mission Leader announces the proposed Commando members, though once again, the game will proceed if all of the players vote earlier than the deadline.
If the vote ends in a "Nay" majority, then the plan is rejected. When the plan is rejected, the Mission Leader role passes onto the next person on the player list. Be advised: if plans are rejected five times in a row, the game ends automatically with an Imperial victory, since that means the Resistance is too divided to function.
However, if the vote ends in a "Yay" majority, then it's Mission time...
Mission Phase (lasts for 48 hours)
Now, the Commandos are carrying out their strike against the Imperial base, and the thread goes quiet. But things may not be as they seem. If the Commando is a real Resistance Fighter, they will automatically be in support of the mission. However, if at least one of the Commandos on the assigned Team is secretly an Imperial Spy, then each of them will be asked to present to the Game Moderator, within 48 hours via PM, a decision: Sabatoge the mission, or Don't Sabatoge? It only takes ONE Sabatoge vote in order to ruin the Resistance mission and give the Empire a victory in that Round (with one exception in Round 4).
The results will be announced 48 hours after the Team being approved. If there are no Sabatoge votes among the members of the Commandos, then it's Mission Accomplished, and the Round goes to the Resistance, having succeeded in destroying an Imperial base. However, if there is at least one Sabatoge vote during the Mission Phase, then it's Mission Failed, and the Round goes to the Empire, having destroyed a Resistance base.
Now, keep this in mind: if it ends in Mission Failed, the Game Moderator not only will announce the mission's result, but also the number of Sabatoge votes that came up. Obviously, names won't be named, but because of this, it will become evident that, however many Sabatoge votes there were indicates that there were a corresponding number of Spies within that Commando Group, which allows the Resistance to narrow down the possible identities of the Spies. Meanwhile, in deciding to Sabatoge or Not Sabatoge, the Spies face a critical decision: if you play it safe and vote to Not Sabatoge, you help keep your identity concealed for the time being and make it harder for the Resistance to pinpoint who the Spies are, but unless one of your fellow Spies got on the Commando Team and makes the more daring decision of going ahead and Sabatoging, you'll be handing a Round victory to the Resistance.
No matter the outcome, after the mission, the role of the Mission Leader passes on to the next player on the list, and the next Round begins.
There will be up to five rounds total. Each of them will require a growing number of players to be assigned to the Commando Team.
Round 1: 3 Commandos
Round 2: 4 Commandos
Round 3: 4 Commandos
Round 4: 5 Commandos, PLUS a minumum of not one, but TWO SABATOGE VOTES, are required to make the mission end in Failure and an Empire victory
Round 5: 5 Commandos (back to a One Sabatoge Vote Minimum to cause a Mission Failure)
The first team to score 3 victories wins. The Resistance needs three Mission Accomplished results, and the Empire needs three Mission Failed results.
So as you can see, it's kind of like Mafia, but with key differences. This is NOT an elimination game. All 10 players will continue to play a role throughout the entirety of the game, from start to finish, so please be ready to constantly participate throughout the entirety of the game.
So, who wants to play? I'm going to be the Moderator, but if we can get up to 10 people to sign up here, that'd be great. Are there any questions about the game? Any suggestions to improve it or address potential problems? Are the windows of time for voting and decision making good?
THE RESISTANCE
In the near future, society has fallen under the tyrannical reign of an all-powerful, evil Empire, which rules with an iron fist. The people cry out for freedom against this oppression. The time has come for revolution! And now, a small group of Resistance fighters have answered the call to fight to overthrow the Empire through guerrilla attacks on the Empire's 3 key bases.
But not all is well for the Resistance! Their ranks have been infiltrated by Imperial Spies! These secret servants of the Empire pose as the heartfelt revolutionaries who they share quarters with. But the truth is they are out to destroy the Resistance from the inside, by sabotaging their guerilla operations and in turn causing the destruction of the Resistance's own 3 bases.
It is a race against time. The Resistance fighters must identify and unmask the Spies in their midst, so that they may avoid entrusting them with the missions to strike at the Empire. The Imperial Spies must tread the line between concealing their identities/establishing trust on the one hand, and carrying out their objective of sabatoging the Resistance's efforts and bringing about the Empire's ultimate triumph. Who shall prevail?
The game has 10 players. Four of them will be randomly and secretly assigned the roles Imperial Spies. They will NOT, however, know who the other Spies are, only that somewhere in the group are three other people on their side (unlike in Mafia, I think that, for reasons which might become clear later on, if the Spies knew who each other were and were able to PM with each other, they'd gain too much of an advantage. Ideally, the Spies would know who their counterparts are, but would not be able to PM with each other, but there's no way to regulate that on an Internet forum). The other 6 players will be real Resistance fighters. They, obviously, will not be told who the Spies are; they will only know that there are 4 of them in their midst.
A Round begins with the random assignment of one player as that Round's Mission Leader. All ten of the players will be listed in a certain order, Round 1's Mission Leader will be chosen from the list automatically, and the Mission Leader will be passed to the next person on the list after them, with the role cycling in order. The Mission Leader could therefore end up being a real Resistance member, or there is about a 33% chance of the Mission Leader being a Spy.
Planning Phase (lasts for a maximum of 1 week)
The role of the Mission Leader is to assign a certain number of players (the number will vary between Rounds) to be the Commandos, who will carry out a guerilla raid on an Imperial base. Depending on the Leader's true allegiance (Resistance or Empire), they must choose the Commandos carefully, the Resistance members in order to avoid having any Spies be members of the Team, and the Imperials in order to try to have at least one of their own be a member of the Commandos without giving away the true allegiance of themselves or their fellow Spies. The Mission Leader MAY assign themselves as one member of the Commando Team. I repeat, it is OK for the Leader to be a Commando.
During this time, everyone publicly discusses who should be a member of the Commando Team, taking the time in the thread to publicly jockey for position, argue why they themselves should be on the Team, saying why this or that person should or should not be assigned, etc. The maximum deadline for the Mission Leader to decide who will be part of the Commando Team is 72 hours after the beginning of the Round, though the game will proceed if the Leader makes a final decision earlier.
Once the Team is decided, the Mission Leader publicly announces in the main thread who they have chosen to carry out the guerilla raid. Now, all of the rest of the players must vote to Approve or Disapprove of the Leader's choice for the Team. All of the players publicly state their cases for why they agree or disagree with the decision, taking the time to accuse, spread confusion, try to sort through the deception, and everything else you'd expect as they see fit. Ultimately, the players publicly vote "Yay" or "Nay" about the nominated Team. The maximum deadline for all of the players to vote is 96 hours after the Mission Leader announces the proposed Commando members, though once again, the game will proceed if all of the players vote earlier than the deadline.
If the vote ends in a "Nay" majority, then the plan is rejected. When the plan is rejected, the Mission Leader role passes onto the next person on the player list. Be advised: if plans are rejected five times in a row, the game ends automatically with an Imperial victory, since that means the Resistance is too divided to function.
However, if the vote ends in a "Yay" majority, then it's Mission time...
Mission Phase (lasts for 48 hours)
Now, the Commandos are carrying out their strike against the Imperial base, and the thread goes quiet. But things may not be as they seem. If the Commando is a real Resistance Fighter, they will automatically be in support of the mission. However, if at least one of the Commandos on the assigned Team is secretly an Imperial Spy, then each of them will be asked to present to the Game Moderator, within 48 hours via PM, a decision: Sabatoge the mission, or Don't Sabatoge? It only takes ONE Sabatoge vote in order to ruin the Resistance mission and give the Empire a victory in that Round (with one exception in Round 4).
The results will be announced 48 hours after the Team being approved. If there are no Sabatoge votes among the members of the Commandos, then it's Mission Accomplished, and the Round goes to the Resistance, having succeeded in destroying an Imperial base. However, if there is at least one Sabatoge vote during the Mission Phase, then it's Mission Failed, and the Round goes to the Empire, having destroyed a Resistance base.
Now, keep this in mind: if it ends in Mission Failed, the Game Moderator not only will announce the mission's result, but also the number of Sabatoge votes that came up. Obviously, names won't be named, but because of this, it will become evident that, however many Sabatoge votes there were indicates that there were a corresponding number of Spies within that Commando Group, which allows the Resistance to narrow down the possible identities of the Spies. Meanwhile, in deciding to Sabatoge or Not Sabatoge, the Spies face a critical decision: if you play it safe and vote to Not Sabatoge, you help keep your identity concealed for the time being and make it harder for the Resistance to pinpoint who the Spies are, but unless one of your fellow Spies got on the Commando Team and makes the more daring decision of going ahead and Sabatoging, you'll be handing a Round victory to the Resistance.
No matter the outcome, after the mission, the role of the Mission Leader passes on to the next player on the list, and the next Round begins.
There will be up to five rounds total. Each of them will require a growing number of players to be assigned to the Commando Team.
Round 1: 3 Commandos
Round 2: 4 Commandos
Round 3: 4 Commandos
Round 4: 5 Commandos, PLUS a minumum of not one, but TWO SABATOGE VOTES, are required to make the mission end in Failure and an Empire victory
Round 5: 5 Commandos (back to a One Sabatoge Vote Minimum to cause a Mission Failure)
The first team to score 3 victories wins. The Resistance needs three Mission Accomplished results, and the Empire needs three Mission Failed results.
So as you can see, it's kind of like Mafia, but with key differences. This is NOT an elimination game. All 10 players will continue to play a role throughout the entirety of the game, from start to finish, so please be ready to constantly participate throughout the entirety of the game.
So, who wants to play? I'm going to be the Moderator, but if we can get up to 10 people to sign up here, that'd be great. Are there any questions about the game? Any suggestions to improve it or address potential problems? Are the windows of time for voting and decision making good?
