Netherworld: Tainted Ashes

[TinCow]

I will certainly play, but I voted GAH! on the lynch option. I've been in several games with a dueling system, and the one thing they all seem to lack is a purpose for the duels. They generally end up being a way for bored townies to do something else and don't tend to have much practical purpose in the game beyond entertainment. Your option is a bit more promising because it isn't optional and it is meshed into the actual lynch mechanism. Howeveer, I'm not entirely clear on what use the fight will be. Is the duel going to reveal info on the two combatants, so that the director can lynch one of them? If so, is that too powerful? In such a situation, the town will naturally gravitate towards pumping two suspects forward to duel so that they can both have a 'duel investigation.' If mafia are spotted in duels, that might be too powerful. At the same time, if the mafia are NOT spotted in duels... what's the point?

Again, putting them in for entertainment is perfectly fine; duel system do accomplish that relatively well. However, I'm unclear on how the duel will factor into the greater goal of catching the mafia and whether it would be balanced.

[seireikhaan]

The mafia will not be revealed by the duel mechanism, and there's a reason why. Remember the whole background. There's former Gods and Demons, as well as humans working for Angra Mainyu. Now, the duel mechanism will give an indication of strength of role- and if a player is killed in the duel, that may indicate an, shall we say, abnormal role, as most, including mafia, will attempt to show restraint to avoid a larger spotlight on them. There will be some, but not a lot, of info given away based on how they fight. I felt this would accomplish a couple things:

1) Give a bit more significance to the role of Director. Bearing in mind that I plan on doing the writeups(though I'll take a few hints if the players desire), so that bit of the director's job is moot. Further, this way, the director will have a much more direct influence on the game. Of course, as I figure it, any director who consistently chooses the player the town found least suspicious is one not long for the world. The one override mechanism I have against the director's power is that if he is in the top two in voting at the end of any day phase, he will be stripped of power, and forced into a duel to the death against his peer in "suspicion garnering". Regardless of who wins, the town will then elect a new director.

2) Be a way for both the town and mafia forces to gather a bit of information. Not much a lot, but enough for people to get a feeling of "oh, this guy is probably a power role". There's one more bit of info it would help some people with, but I shan't reveal, as its secret.

[Askthepizzaguy]

I like the duel idea, and how you set it up. One thought for your consideration, as an alternative option for both duels and directors:


The director is elected, and his/her power is to choose between a traditional lynch (top voted dies) or a duel (two top candidates duel each other). Whoever wins the duel might be based on their strength, but perhaps also on some other mechanic... rock/paper/scissors is one idea, but I'm assuming you already read about and considered that. Having it based on strength might be revealing... and it might not be. Having it based on both strength and chance might be interesting. I like the idea of duels, but I also like the idea of there being traditional lynches if the Director wishes so. This is a rough sketch of an idea... you can play with it or toss it out.

[Methos]

The lynch mechanism is similar to what we had in the Snakes & Foxes games at CFC. Basically we voted who would fight each other, with the loser of the fight dying. It was okay, but extremely difficult to remove specific players.

[Askthepizzaguy]

The lynch mechanism is similar to what we had in the Snakes & Foxes games at CFC. Basically we voted who would fight each other, with the loser of the fight dying. It was okay, but extremely difficult to remove specific players.

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This is definitely the thing to be concerned with.

I think at the beginning of the game it might be prudent to have duels to gain information, and then specific lynches later on... which could be decided by the director person. Could be a good compromise.