You wake up in the cabin of a cruise ship, your head throbbing. Where are you? How did you get here?
As you rub the sleep from your eyes, you notice others awakening as well, clutching their heads. The cabin is well lit, but still seems strangely dark. You don't know any of these people. You've never seen them before.
You notice the door of the cabin is open, swinging back and forth. You push yourself to your feet and lurch toward it, but you stumble and fall back down. The floor is not level.
The ship must be tilted, you realize. The ship must be on land. Clinging to the wall for support, your pull yourself up again, and begin slowly making your way to the door. Some of the others have the same idea and follow you.
As you emerge from the cabin onto the slanted deck, you find yourself in darkness. It must be the middle of the night. As your eyes adjust to the moonlight, you hear distant squawks and rustles, growls and caws. You're on an island.
The last of the survivors emerges from the cabin. You let yourself slide down the deck toward the rail, and climb over the rail onto the ground.
Suddenly, you hear an electronic squeal, and a voice booms forth from the shadows.
"Welcome, friends. Welcome...to Death Island."
This Mafia game is a custom variant known as Death Island. Some of you have played versions of it before, over AIM. The premise is a simple twist on the standard mafia template. Instead of town-specific or mafia-specific roles, each player has a profession, which is similar to a role, but is not tied to an alignment. For example, in a normal game, 'detective' is a role that is necessarily town-aligned. But in this game, 'detective' is a profession that anyone can hold, regardless of whether they're a survivor or a killer.
Professions are publicly known, and selected by the players. AFTER professions are chosen, the mafia team is selected. Thus, you will know everyone's profession, but that won't tell you who the mafia are. You'll have to use your professional abilities carefully, and be wary of everyone. It should be noted that many abilities will play differently from the way they do in other games, so be careful not to rely on assumptions from previous games.
Death Island is a unique Mafia gameplay experience. There is only at most one of each profession, and each game has a different configuration of professions, based on which ones players select. Some professions may seem more useful to one team than the other, but you may be pleased to discover more subtle ways to use your professional abilities that are not common in normal games. Finally, it is not always wise to use your professional abilities every chance you get. Some abilities are best withheld until you have more information, or until the situation is favorable. Don't use your abilities just because you can.
Enjoy!
RULES - SHORT VERSION
-1. RULE NEGATIVE ONE
- Lavarinth is always guilty.
- mAc Chaos is always guilty (if Lavarinth is not in game or dead).
- Once signups are finished, I will announce profession selection. Players will be able to pick professions publicly on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once everyone has picked, I'll post a complete list of everyone's profession.
- After professions are selected, I will pick the Death Island Killers (mafia). The number of killers will depend on the number of players signed up. Selection of killers is at my discretion; it might be random, it might not. I'll never tell! :3
- Each night, the Death Island Killers may kill one player. In addition, every player can use a night action, if they have one. The killers do not need to sacrifice night actions in order to kill; the kill is a special team action.
During the day, players vote on who they want to lynch. At the end of the day, lynch votes are tallied and a decision is made.
- All votes must be in boldface. Votes are final; once you have voted, you cannot change your vote or take it back. The day will continue until every player has voted; there is no day timer. You may vote 'no lynch', but 'no lynch' must have one more vote than the next highest number in order to result in no lynch.
Once all votes are in, whoever has the most votes is lynched. In case of a tie, the Judge will decide the outcome. If there's no judge, whoever reached the lynch threshold first will be lynched. Thus, there are no double-lynches.
There will be a night timer, but it will be fairly lenient. If you miss the night deadline, don't panic - I'll extend it... within reason.
- When you die, you may not continue posting, except to make a final 'bah' post. When a player dies, it will not be revealed whether or not they were a killer.
- You MAY NOT communicate about the game with other players, outside of this forum thread. The killers, however, may communicate with each other in private at any time. You MAY NOT quote PMs from me or any other player as evidence in the game.
- If you cannot make the commitment to posting at reasonable intervals, you will be warned, replaced, or modkilled, at my discretion. Don't sign up if you're not able to participate.
- Whenever all members of one faction (survivors vs. killers) have been eliminated, the other side wins. The game may end earlier if one side clinches victory.
- And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the complete list of professions available to choose from. There are 18.
- The detective can investigate a player at night to learn whether they're a killer.
- The doctor can protect a player at night to prevent them from getting killed. The doctor MAY target him- or herself.
- The acupuncturist can puncture a player at night, canceling their night action.
- The bureaucrat can bog someone down in paperwork at night, preventing that player from voting the next day.
- The mindreader can read a player's mind to learn who they targeted at night.
- The spy can follow a player to learn who targeted that player at night.
- The senator has two votes.
- If there is a vote tie at the end of the day phase, the Judge decides the outcome of the vote.
- The priest can bless a player at night, protecting them from being lynched the next day. The priest MAY NOT bless him- or herself.
- The accountant has no abilities, but will never be chosen as a killer.
- The vigilante can kill another player at night, but only once for the whole game.
- The first time the escape artist would die, he or she survives instead.
- The manager can manage some at night, redirecting to that person any actions that would target the manager (except the killers' kill).
- The hypnotist can hypnotize someone at night, redirecting that person's night target to another person of the hypnotist's choice.
- The illusionist can entrance someone at night, changing the results of any investigative abilities they used.
- The hermit can't be targeted by abilities.
- The mime can permanently switch professions with someone at night. This will not go into effect until the morning.
- The jack of all trades can copy the ability of another player at random.
Also, feel free to use my little images as your avatar for the game. If you want.
RULES - FULL VERSION
You should read these carefully. Everything in the full version is the official rules, and overrules anything in the short version. If you don't read these and get owned because of it, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Spoiler
- 0. RULE ZERO
- mAc Chaos is always guilty.
- Once signups are finished, I will announce a time for the beginning of profession selection. At that time, I will make a post to begin selection. After that post, players may publicly claim any profession they wish from among the list (see below).
Professions will be granted on a first-come first-serve basis, so if two people claim the same profession, whoever posted first will get it. You may post an ordered list of professions, in which case your second choice will kick in if someone else picked your first choice ahead of you, etc. If someone else beats you to a profession and you listed no backup choices, you must post again with a new claim.
You may also choose not to choose, in which case simply post that you wish to be assigned a profession at random or at my discretion, or whatever. If you choose to be assigned a profession at random or by any other means that is not your own direct choice, your profession will be assigned only after everyone has made a claim.
Once everyone has claimed a profession, a full list of each player and his or her profession will be posted.
- After professions are selected, I will select a number of players to be the Death Island Killers (mafia). The number of killers will depend on the number of players signed up. Selection of killers is at my discretion; it might be random, it might not. I'll never tell! :3
- The game will begin at night. Each night, the Death Island Killers select one victim to brutally murder. In addition, every player with a night-action profession may select a target for his or her night action. Withholding your action is permitted; in this game, it will often be wise for certain professions to withhold their night actions, at least in the beginning. The killers do not need to sacrifice night actions in order to kill; the kill is a special team action that isn't subject to targeting-based professions. The only professions that can affect the night kill are doctor and escape artist.
Each morning, the kill will be announced, as well as any other relevant night actions (successful protection by the doctor, or any action by the bureaucrat). During the day, players vote on who they want to lynch. At the end of the day, lynch votes are tallied and a decision is made.
- All votes must be in boldface. Votes are final; once you have voted, you cannot change your vote or take it back. The day will continue until every player has voted; there is no day timer. Players may vote 'no lynch', or vote for an individual player.
Once all votes are in, whoever has the most votes is lynched. If 'no lynch' has the most votes, no one is lynched. If there is a tie between two or more players, and the Judge is not alive, whichever player received the tying vote first will be lynched. If there is a tie between one or more players and 'no lynch' and the Judge is not alive, the 'no lynch' votes lose out; that is to say, 'no lynch' needs one more vote that the next highest number of votes in order to pass. If there is any tie and the Judge is alive, the Judge decides which of the tied votes wins out. Therefore, there are no double-lynches.
There will be a night timer. Since the end of the day cycle is variable, the length of night may vary, but I will try to make the nights long enough for everyone to submit their actions. If a player fails to submit any action by the end of the night phase, I will extend night as necessary, within reason, at my discretion. I will not wait forever on one player, though.
- When you die, you may not continue posting, except to make a final 'bah' post. When a player dies, it will not be revealed whether or not they were a killer. Dead players will be given access to the Ghost Quarter, where they may discuss the game with other dead players.
- You MAY NOT communicate about the game with other players, outside of this forum thread. The killers, however, may communicate with each other in private at any time. You MAY NOT quote PMs from me or any other player as evidence in the game.
- If you cannot make the commitment to posting at reasonable intervals, you will be warned, replaced, or modkilled, at my discretion. Don't sign up if you're not able to participate.
- The survivors win when all the killers have been killed. The killers win when they outnumber the survivors, or when there is only one killer and one survivor remaining, or when it is impossible for the survivors to win, whichever comes first.
- And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the complete list of professions available to choose from. There are 18.
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- The detective may target a player at night to investigate. At the end of the night phase, the detective is informed whether that person is a killer or a survivor.
- The doctor may target a player at night to protect. If that player is chosen to be killed by the killers and/or vigilante that night, the player survives instead.
*The doctor MAY target him- or herself.
- The acupuncturist may target a player at night to puncture. That player's night action is canceled that night. If the player had a night action requiring feedback, he or she will know that he or she was acupunctured. If not, the night action will simply not occur, and the player will not be informed.
*The killers' kill is not preventable by the acupuncturist, since it is not performed by an individual player.
- The bureaucrat may target a player at night to bog down in paperwork. That player cannot vote during the next day phase.
*If the bureaucrat uses this ability, it will be announced publicly at the beginning of the day phase which player cannot vote for that day.
- The mindreader may target a player at night to mindread. If that player targeted someone with a night action that night, the mindreader will be informed who was targeted, at the end of the night phase.
*The killers' kill is not a targeted action, so it cannot be detected by the mindreader.
- The spy may target a player at night to follow. If any other players targeted that player with a night action that night, the spy will be informed who did the targeting, at the end of the night phase.
*The killers' kill is not a targeted action, so it cannot be detected by the spy.
- The senator has two votes. He or she may vote the same way twice, or may vote two different ways, for whatever reason.
*Night will not fall until both of the senator's votes have been cast.
- If there is a vote tie at the end of the day phase, the Judge decides the outcome of the vote.
*If there is no judge, or the judge is dead, see above for default rules in case of a tie.
- The priest may target a player at night to bless. During the next day phase, if that person would be lynched, instead the blessing is revealed and no one is lynched.
*The priest MAY NOT bless him- or herself. What kind of priest would do that? Come on, guys.
- The accountant is too boring to ever be a killer. The accountant has no abilities, but will never be chosen as a killer.
- The vigilante may target someone one night to kill. That person is killed the next morning alongside the killers' victim.
*The vigilante may only use his or her ability ONCE throughout the game. Afterwards, the vigilante has no other abilities.
*Unlike the killers' kill, the vigilante's kill can be redirected, prevented, detected etc. by various professions.
*If a single person is targeted to be killed by both the vigilante and the killers, but that person is protected by the doctor, the doctor's protection WILL NOT be enough to save him or her. Two kills beats one protection.
- The first time the escape artist would be killed, either by lynch or by night, instead he or she escapes death. Once the escape artist escapes death, he or she no longer has any abilities.
- The manager may target someone at night to manage. That night, if any night abilities would target the manager, instead they target the person he or she managed. This does NOT include the killers' kill, because it is not a targeted action.
- The hypnotist may target someone at night to hypnotize. If he or she does, he or she also names a second player, different from the first. If the targeted player uses a targeted ability that night, the player's target will be changed to target the second named player.
*The naming of the second player is not a targeted action. The targeting of the first player IS a targeted action.
*If the hypnotist targets the manager, the manager's ability applies first. That is, the hypnotist will change the target of the manager's target.
- The illusionist may target someone at night to entrance. If that player has an information-based night action, the illusionist will learn their target. Then, the illusionist may decide what information the player receives.
*The illusionist shares the mindreader's ability to learn targets, but only for a few specific professions.
*The illusionist's ability can only be used on the detective, spy, or mindreader, or conditionally on the jack of all trades (see below).
- The hermit can't be targeted by abilities. This does NOT prevent the killers' kill, since it is not a targeted ability. It does, however, prevent the abilities of the detective, doctor, bureaucrat, spy, priest, vigilante, mime, and manager. It technically also prevents the abilities of the acupuncturist, mindreader, hypnotist, and illusionist, but none of those abilities would have any effect anyway.
- The mime may target someone at night to switch professions with. At the end of the night phase, the mime and his or her target will be informed of the new profession they have received, but it will not be publicly announced. The mime will not be able to use his or her new profession until the following night.
*Even if the mime or the mime's target is killed at night, the swap will still occur.
*If there is a mime in the game, be prepared for wackiness.
- At the beginning of each night phase, the jack of all trades is randomly given an ability of another living player in the game. The jack of all trades can receive any ability EXCEPT those of the judge, accountant, escape artist, or mime.
*The ability is not stolen from the other player, simply copied.
*The ability is granted at random, selected from among the eligible professions of other players in the game who are still alive.
Also, feel free to use my little images as your avatar for the game. If you want.
And now, SIGNUPS ARE OPEN! Sign up if you want to play, but read the rules first (at least the short version)! The game will begin once everyone who wants to sign up has had a chance to do so.
