Note: This thread is to only be used by the game host (GeneralHankerchief) to lodge the game rules and notable posts.

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, everyone! After a three year wait, Pirate Ship Mafia III is finally here! Let's get right to it.

Nassau, three years earlier:

Two figures met on a small hilltop that marked the highest point on the island. A rough wooden cross, about a foot high, was stuck into the ground.

"It's been a while," said the first figure, moving to shake the second figure's hand. "How be life treatin' ye?"

"They killed my consort," the second figure, the Frenchman, said, motioning to the cross on the ground. "Right near the start. We didn't have enough time to do anything. I loved her, I truly did."

"Ah, I be sorry about that, matey."

"I'm sure it will pass," the Frenchman said. "Maybe you'll have to tell me one of your stories to cheer me up, but some other time. How about you? How fares business?"

The first figure sighed. "Business be tough. We mortal folk can't just go raidin' some Treasure Fleet every time we feel like it. The navies be crackin' down everywhere, you know that."

"So then, you should be happy that I have a contract for you, yes?" The Frenchman leaned in closer. "This wouldn't be an attack against any colonial power, so there will be little risk of a ship of the line coming in and leveling its guns at your boat. What do you say, are the men of the Maven up for it?"

The Captain of the Maven paused. "What be the target?"

"I'm done playing around," the Frenchman said. "I want the Presence."

--------------

May 23, 1723
Aboard the Presence

Nassau had traditionally been the Presence’s home base, but it did have a few other places it was allowed to dock. New Tortuga was one of these. Built only a couple of years before, due largely thanks to the small uptick in piracy (of which the Presence and its exploits played a good part), the island settlement off the northern coast of Hispaniola quickly became home to all sorts of folk of less-than-upstanding persuasion. The settlement grew, more money was poured into it, and soon New Tortuga became a bustling pirate haven.

The problem with boomtowns, of course, is that they inevitably went bust.

Such was to be the fate of New Tortuga. On one fine late spring’s day in 1723, the usual merriment and mayhem was interrupted by a couple of sailors racing from building to building, all shouting the same piece of news: “The French Navy is on its way! The French Navy is on its way! La Royale is coming!”

Of course it would come to this. Everyone knew that the French would not be happy with pirates encroaching on their territory, especially not with the period of relative peace that Europe was currently enjoying. It was only a matter of time before they came in and reasserted their authority, much as they did with the original Tortuga after 1684. With this knowledge of the inevitable finally occurring, the exodus from New Tortuga back to the ships was uneventful, almost orderly.

At least, it was until two sailors of the Presence looked at each other, with greed in their eyes. While everyone else was filing down, they entered the backroom of the tavern they had been drinking at to take possession of all its gold. Word got passed to the other crew members, and the looting was officially on.

Eventually the other inhabitants of the town realized what was happening, and what had been an uneventful departure descended into the customary chaos of a pirate raid. As the sun started to descend, the mayhem increased. The sound of gunshots and broken windows became more and more commonplace. The town’s pigs were set loose, squealing and running every which way, having absolutely no idea what was happening. Anne the tavern wench walked right up and knifed two pirates to death just so she could take one of their nice-looking hats for herself.

By nightfall, no crew could chance staying in the town any longer, and so they cast off regardless of current circumstance. Every crew’s haul had been tremendous, but the Presence, having a time advantage over everyone else, made out particularly well. Celebrating on the ship late into the night, it took them a while to realize what had gone wrong.

“Waitaminute,” one of them said, “where’s the Captain?”

“Oh hellfire, he was still looting Bertha’s place when I got back on!”

“And you were the last one on board before we cast off, right?”

“...we left our Captain behind!”

This realization put everyone in a sour mood and shortly thereafter they went to bed. They would elect a new Captain in the morning, but until then they would ponder how out-of-control the circumstances had gotten that they accidentally left their Captain to be taken in by the authorities.

One person, though, was happier than ever. The Frenchman smiled to himself. The chaos of the raid, brought about by his well-paid accomplices who delivered the initial message of the Navy coming in, had worked splendidly to get him on board. Phase One of his long-awaited plan was complete.

Pirate Ship Mafia III


Overview:
Pirate Ship Mafia III is a mafia game in the mold of its predecessors and the Capo di Tutti Capi series in that it gives each player a lot of freedom to do whatever they want at night. Its original aim was to rebalance some of Capo's imperfections to keep things more fun for everybody, in addition to adding some new elements that add a new element to the game: treasure (now its aim is to correct my own hosting errors from previous games ). Maintaining a perfect balance between team cooperation and individual competition will be the key to obtaining victory.

Setting:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
The North Atlantic Ocean, spring of 1723.

It’s a bit past the Golden Age of Piracy, when buccaneers ruled the seas and king’s ransoms of gold were looted and spent in a matter of weeks, but the window of opportunity for those who sail under no colors but their own is still open. In the real world, the final clamp was probably brought down on the pirates in 1718 when the new Governor of Nassau ended the island’s status as a pirate haven, but the men of the Presence’s actions over the first two games have bought the pirates a little bit more time in this universe. That said, the twilight of the pirates is rapidly approaching.


Basic Rules:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
At the start of the game, you will randomly be PM’d a role and its description. Once all roles are sent out, the game will begin. Pirate Ship Mafia will begin with a day phase, taking place immediately after the death of the original Captain as per the above story. Instead of voting to lynch someone on Day 1, the only decision made will be who will be the new Captain. Upon conclusion of that phase, the Captain will appoint his two Officers (see below) and Night 1 will begin. In every night phase, players will PM me their night orders which may vary. Starting Day 2, players will vote to lynch and, if applicable, commit mutiny. This night/day pattern will continue until the game concludes.

Night actions:
Players may do a variety of things at night, depending on their roles. There is always the option to rest up, but treasure is awarded for those who take a more active role at night. Many of the actions must be coordinated with other players in order to be successfully executed, similar to Capo.

For the standard able seaman of the Presence (this game’s version of the townie), the following actions may be performed at night:

Sleep (no treasure awarded)
Kill an individual (treasure awarded) – must form a group of at least 4 to kill any individual
Protect an individual (treasure awarded) – must form a group of at least 3 to protect any individual
Abandon ship - Depart the Presence with all the treasure you have collected, a useful option if you think you're about to die or you think your team is going to lose and want to improve your own victory standing. Note: this option not available to some players.
Steal treasure - You can use this option to make up some financial ground by eschewing group activities for a night in order to directly take money from a crew member.
Guard your treasure stash - This feature allows the paranoid to counteract the above action, at the expense of doing anything else for the night.
Guard someone else’s treasure stash - New for Pirate Ship Mafia III, if you have more important places to be at night, you can assign someone to guard your stash for you. Make sure this person is trustworthy though - should they choose to steal from you, they can take a massive amount of your gold! Stacking of treasure guards is not permitted - i.e. you’re only allowed to have one person guard your gold.

Other roles may do more or complete the same tasks with less people. You may only perform ONE action per night, unless otherwise noted in your role PM.

When actively performing at night, in your orders PM you must send me the exact specifics: What you are doing, the name of every person who is doing it with you, and who you are doing it to. If there is miscommunication and the orders do not match up, they will not be executed. Not only will this deprive you of treasure, but it may also put you at risk of public exposure or dying! Beware!

Example orders PM:

Quote Originally Posted by GeneralHankerchief
GH – night 3 orders

GeneralHankerchief, Sasaki Kojiro, Kommodus, and Kagemusha will kill Seamus Fermanagh.
At the end of every night I will send feedback PMs detailing how successful you were at night. If the group failed, I will not reveal what exactly what went wrong. I will also let you know your current treasure count at the end of every night.


PMs and orders:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
It is in your best interests to PM me every night with your orders. Active participation not only helps your team out, it also helps you individually. Not to mention the fact that it makes for a more exciting game! You will get two types of PMs from me: Role PM and feedback.

The Presence Able Seaman (townie) PM will be posted in the signup thread directly following this post, and will also be posted in the summary thread once the game begins.

In addition, at any time, you may PM me with your Will. Wills, to be explained more later, dictate who some of your treasure goes to should you die.


Voting:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Voting is your primary action in the day phases. Every day, aside from Day 1, you will be voting to lynch the person you think is guilty. Voting will be done in the usual style, like so:

Vote: GeneralHankerchief

Should you wish to change your vote, please do the following IN A NEW POST:

Unvote: GeneralHankerchief
Vote: Beskar

To those players originally from another forum, I do not accept a simple bolding of a name as a valid vote. Please put the (un)Vote: _______ tag beforehand. Thank you.

You may also Vote: Abstain should you have no preference as to who is lynched. You may also vote “No Lynch”. All votes must be bolded and votes may not be edited. Should you edit your vote and not change it in a new post, you are faced with a loss of treasure and potentially, removal from play. The person with the most votes at the end of the day phase is lynched. Should there be a tie, the Captain and his two Officers will vote to determine who is lynched. Should there still be a tie (say, if there are three players with the most votes and each Officer votes somebody different), the Captain’s vote takes priority.

There will be at least one occasion in which you will vote to elect a Captain. The format for choosing a Captain is as follows:

Elect: GeneralHankerchief

Unelect: GeneralHankerchief
Elect: Beskar

In addition, at any point in the day phase you may vote to mutiny. You may do this by adding in a Vote: Mutiny in with your normal vote. If over 50% of living players vote to mutiny, the Captain is lynched along with whoever has the most votes, and instead of proceeding to night, a new Captain selection process follows. If the vote is tied, the status quo remains.

Should you decide you don’t want to mutiny, you may simply write in Unvote: Mutiny at any time in the day phase. There are no official consequences for participating in a failed mutiny, but the Captain will almost surely remember those who were not loyal to him. A successful mutiny results in large amounts of treasure gained for all those who voted for the mutiny.


The Factions:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
As per the opening story, there is a two-way fight for control of the Presence going on. However, there may be additional threats lurking on board, waiting for their chance to strike...

The crew of the Presence: The main faction of Pirate Ship Mafia. Having just escaped New Tortuga with the collective wealth of nearly the entire town in tow, they are on their way back to Nassau to spend their riches as irresponsibly as they possibly can. However, never before have the men of the Presence had such a successful raid without experiencing severe consequences on the voyage home. Most sailors are predicting further consequences this time around and are preparing for the worst. In addition, even the small fortunes that all of the pirates have collected may not be enough for some sailors, who will be looking to increase their own treasure counts at the expense of others aboard...

The Frenchman and his agents (starts with 3 players): After being a shadowy third-party in the first two Pirate Ship Mafia games, the Frenchman finally steps into the light and becomes the main threat to the town in this edition. The Presence was originally his and he will stop at nothing to get it back. He’s hired out two experienced and capable sailors from the Maven (with their Captain’s blessing, naturally) to assist him in this endeavor. The Frenchman and agents can work to determine which members of the crew are susceptible to joining his side, and eventually, make them such an offer. Upon a successful conversion (which is entirely out of the player’s hands), new recruits will for all intents and purposes have joined the Frenchman’s side. Agents can, of course, kill as well. Their ultimate goal is the elimination or subordination of every loyal Presence crewman on board. The Frenchman must also personally survive.


Once you are dead:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Standard stuff here. If there are any questions, PM me.
The dead may post, but not vote/select nor carry out any night actions. Dead players may not reveal their roles publicly or privately and may not reveal their faction or role particulars either. Dead players may not quote from a PM unless that PM has been posted in the public thread by a living player. Dead players may not reveal, recount or allude to their previous night actions (or results thereof in the case of investigations) publicly or privately – even to confirm a previously made public or private reveal. Remember, even if dead not all of your treasure goes away – pirates do have *some* honor. Your participation must be circumspect, but your continued participation IS encouraged.

No screenshots may be used, from or to anyone, for ANY purpose – this includes during PMs. Feel free to quote from my Role PM’s to you or to fabricate as you see fit. Chatlog conversations may be referenced/quoted, but may not be copied via screenshot. Note: it can be difficult to maintain role secrecy during chat conversations.

"Suicide" will not be allowed in this game (it is possible to create an unplayable game with nothing but suicide pact challenges going on. This is not the intended mode of play for this game).
Players who must remove themselves from play for schedule reasons should send me a PM. I will then write them out of play.


Clarity to balance the ambiguity:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Again, if you played the previous Pirate Ship Mafias or Capo-like games, nothing new here.
Upon death, the captain will launch a full investigation of that individual to try to determine the reason they were killed. Though slow (results reported on the 3rd morning after death), their then-current role will be revealed. Unfortunately, the specific actions of that individual -- what they did with their role -- will remain a mystery (until the post-game!).


The Roles:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Crew of the Presence:

Able Seaman
The standard Townie of Pirate Ship Mafia. Able Seamen have no special powers but may form groups of 4 and 3 to kill or protect a target, respectively, in addition to trying to steal or protect treasure. Their goals are to rid of the Presence of its many threats and get more treasure than anybody else (pirates are a very competitive bunch, you see). Some Able Seamen may be susceptible to conversion to the Frenchman’s side, however, they will not know how susceptible they are.

Elected/Appointed Roles:

Neither the Captain nor his Officers can switch sides for as long as they hold their offices.

Captain
The Captain is elected by the crew on Day 1 and will remain Captain unless he is removed by a mutiny. This is a position of extreme power in that the Captain gets a set salary of treasure every turn he is Captain without having to actively do anything. Most importantly, the Captain gets to appoint his two Officers, the First Mate and Quartermaster, who, if loyal, can represent the greatest threat to the enemies of the Presence. The Captain cannot be killed at night but may take part in nighttime activities. The Captain has no vote unless there is a tie (see above), however, activity treasure is still given to him for posting in the day phase.

First Mate
The Captain names his First Mate to me privately before the Day 1 voting phase is over when it appears that he has a legitimate chance of becoming Captain. The First Mate can be replaced at will at anytime either by PM (preferred) or posting in the thread. Changes in officer position will take effect at the end of the phase, day or night. The First Mate is the Captain’s right-hand man on the ship and may individually kill one person or investigate two persons per night. Attempts on his life at night have a 50% chance of failure, regardless of numbers used against him. The First Mate also collects a salary for his efforts.

Quartermaster
The Captain names his Quartermaster to me privately before the Day 1 voting phase is over when it appears that he has a legitimate chance of becoming Captain. The Quartermaster can be replaced at will at anytime either by PM (preferred) or posting in the thread. Changes in officer position will take effect at the end of the phase, day or night. The Quartermaster is in charge of discipline on the ship and may individually protect or block one person from committing an action per night. Attempts on his life at night have a 50% chance of failure, regardless of numbers used against him. The Quartermaster also collects a salary for his efforts.

Frenchman faction:

The Frenchman (1)
*The* villain of the Pirate Ship Mafia series, though he would categorize himself as its tragic hero. Regardless, this time there is no ambiguity to his side: He is the enemy of all loyal crewman aboard the Presence and he is out for blood. The Frenchman’s exact powers will remain a mystery but I have designed him to be the most dangerous “Godfather” role out of the three games in this series.

Frenchman Agent (2)
Capable sailors hired from the Maven, the Frenchman Agents were assigned a clear duty by their Captain: Help the Frenchman gain the Presence back by whatever means necessary. They are all too happy to fulfill this task and get a huge share of the loot (plus a hefty reward from the Frenchman). Their powers include but are not limited to killing (obviously), working to see if any sailors aboard can be converted, and being able to work with loyal sailors in order to increase subversion.

Frenchman Convert
Individuals who have accepted offers to switch sides become Frenchman Converts, who immediately obtain the same powers as Frenchman Agents.

Secret role(s):

Well, you'll just have to wait and see.


Treasure and Wills:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Treasure
The primary standout feature of Pirate Ship Mafia, the pursuit of treasure will significantly motivate you and guide your actions. Everyone starts out with 100 treasure and can accumulate more through various means. For the most part, the more treasure you have at the end of the game, the better off you’ll be. Treasure is disclosed privately to each individual at the beginning of every day phase.

The list of actions you can take and the amount of treasure accumulated for each is below:

100: Base amount
10: For each person you recruit to play Pirate Ship Mafia
3: For each round in which you lodge a legitimate vote (for Captain, you get the three if you make a post in the day phase)
1-5: ***New for Pirate Ship Mafia III*** A small amount of gold, awarded entirely at my discretion, for good pirate-y behavior that amuses me. Actions taken in previous games that would have merited this award include fabricating an entirely fake “treasure map” and selling it off to unsuspecting sailors and putting out a bounty on someone at night just because they annoyed you in the Captain election. A rough, but by no means complete definition would be actions which serve the roleplaying atmosphere I am trying to convey that do not necessarily advance your win condition.
2: For each round in which you submit a night order, whether it is successful or not (can even be simply “sleep”)
10: Amount awarded for successfully killing an individual with the minimum group size of 4.
8: Amount awarded for successfully killing an individual with anything larger than the minimum group size.
10: Amount awarded for successfully protecting an individual (even if he wasn't attacked) with the minimum group size of 3.
7: Amount awarded for successfully protecting an individual (even if he wasn't attacked) with anything larger than the minimum group size.
5-20: Amount awarded for successfully stealing someone else's gold.
Hidden, but large: Amount awarded for stealing someone’s gold who specifically trusted you to guard their stash.
15: Captain's nightly salary
12: Nightly salary of First Mate/Quartermaster (kill/protection awards do not apply)
Mutiny: Every mutineer gets 10 gold; captain’s entire gold supply is then divided evenly among mutineers.
Furthermore, you are allowed to transfer small amounts of treasure between crew members. The caveats to this are that is a maximum 10 treasure per person per day, the transfer must be for services rendered, and the services must be publicly available (in other words, no breaking the game by pooling all of your gold into one source). All transactions must be confirmed to me via PM by both parties.

Finally, at any point in the game you may receive a special "random event" PM from me giving you a one-time choice between two options, usually involving treasure. The exact specifics of this will be detailed in the PM.

Wills
Players may privately message me at any time, saying, in the event of their death, who their treasure goes to. Players may not donate more than 50 of their treasure total – the remainder stays to their name (the only exception to this is if the Captain dies in a mutiny, in which case he loses all of his treasure to the mutineers). Players may divide up their 50 to multiple persons if they wish or choose not to have a Will at all. A Will may be changed at any time and must be sent to me (or updated) at least 3 hours prior to the individual’s death to be considered valid.

Legalese regarding wills:
A player is considered “dead” at the exact minute I first post his death in a public thread, either the main game thread or the game’s story/reference thread.

For example, let’s say Player X’s original will was as follows:

Give GeneralHankerchief all 50 of my treasure.
...but then at 13:00 he changed it to:

Give Beskar all 50 of my treasure; GeneralHankerchief has been written out of my will.
Let’s say that I first posted Player X’s death at 15:59 that day. If this was the case, GeneralHankerchief would get the 50 treasure. If I waited one minute later and posted the death at 16:00, 3 hours would have passed and Beskar would have gotten the treasure.


A final note from the host:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
Unlike Pirate Ship Mafia II, which at the time I swore up and down was perfectly balanced and that I had accounted for every possible exploitation of the game’s features (and look where that got me ) I am less certain about this game’s overall balance. That said, I am confident that, were I to run this game 100 times assuming players going in have the same level of knowledge each time, there would be a reasonable variance in results.

Overall, while the focus should definitely still be on doing your very best in order to fulfill your victory conditions, it is far more important that you all have fun, enjoy yourselves, and take advantage of the opportunity to act like pirates. Thanks for playing!


Signing up:
As I said, I'm looking for 25 players at minimum to start, though I would much prefer if we got in the range of 30-35. The previous two games were really fun experiences for both me and the players involved, and it was largely due to their enthusiasm and persistence in nagging me that this game is even happening. What are you waiting for? Go out and get that 10 treasure per person recruitment bonus!!! (each player recruited must explicitly post here or PM me saying they were recruited for the bonus to kick in)

Signed up (28):
BSmith
Visorslash
Zack
Xiahou
Kagemusha
landlubber
Askthepizzaguy
spaceman98
Ituralde
El Barto
Choxorn
seireikhaan
Montmorency
autolycus
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Csargo
Ishmael
Lissa
NotJimRV
Double A
Andres
Ice
Golden1Knight
johnhughthom
Ironside
TheFlax
TFT
Sprig