Foreword
Before anything else, I should clarify that there are going to be some different than usual mechanics associated with this game, and insofar I have communicated my ideas to Kiyoko and she more or less said, “This needs to happen” and gave her support and backing to the game. I would like to host it during the third round, however I think it's going to need some fine-tuning between now and then. Notably, some of the role mechanics are very different and I will need to balance them.
Thus, I am unsure if this will be a closed or open role game, but it is my fear with closed role that it could get very confusing for the players. As a result, I leave the option on the table and would like to hear feedback. I will, however, outline some sample roles I have been cooking up. These may or may not end up in the game, but they will give you an idea of the way the game's unique mechanic can be manipulated and where I plan to take it.
So now, with this out of the way, allow me to unveil . . .
{Flavor Text Goes Here – Shhh I'm not in the mood to write it just yet. Just pretend there's some lavish, fanciful description, okay? Okay.}
{Also, some artwork}
Mechanics
The most notable mechanic of the masquerade ball (and the primary clause for administrator backing) is that this game will not be carried out through your existing accounts. For The Masquerade, a set of dummy accounts will be created with names such as, “Butterfly Mask”, “Gemmed Mask”, “Fox Mask”, “Skull Mask”, “Wolf Mask”, “Lunar Mask”, and so on and so forth. I will create the passwords for each account and provide them to the player to which each mask is assigned—but will the masks be tied to roles or not? That's for you to find out.
The masks present an interesting dynamic to the way mafia is played: everyone will have total anonymity. Can you recognize each player by their posting habits? Maybe they're disguising their usual mannerisms and tendencies? Maybe... someone is actually masquerading as another player and typing just like them?
The Masquerade will test your ability to analyze not just player roles, but the players behind the masks, because like a true masquerade ball, masks can and will change hands and faces. Certain roles will interact with masks other than their own—or maybe even have the ability to swap between masks. Some examples are as follows . . .
Possible Roles (with placeholder names)
* * Two-faced
A role in which a single player is given access to a second mask account. They can then post under both masks whenever they please. I am uncertain as of yet whether a lynch or attack or anything else on one of the masks owned by such a player would affect the player or just the mask. I am leaning towards this role having similarities only to a role that has the ability to have their votes count twice, with the added advantage of being able to split votes. In other words, an action against either of their personas would go through.
* * Doppelganger
A role in which a player can steal access to another player's mask. How would this work? This will require a little explanation, and it also relies heavily upon players sticking to a code of honor. That said...
At the end of each phase (or each night phase, I haven't decided?), I will change the passwords of each dummy account and send a new message to each player which now has access to that account. This is the most elegant solution I could come up with, and it will require a lot of tracking on my behalf of both passwords and players behind each mask, so as a result there will probably be a 15-30 minute intermission between these password-changing phase transitions.
With that said, say you are a player with the ability to steal the mask of someone else. In addition to your own mask, you would be given the password to the mask of your choice. You could then log in to that account during the phase and post messages under that mask. How well can you conceal your identity and masquerade as the player whose mask you have stolen?
The main balancing point I need to consider with this one is how practical it is. If there are two players posting under the same mask, what's to stop the original player from just saying “That wasn't me that posted that!” In fact, that might be a viable move, or people might elect to fake it for their own ends by claiming that when they're the only one with access to their mask.
This is something I would like a lot of feedback on, in particular.
* * Midnight Mask
Lastly, one other mechanic Kiyoko actually came up with was the idea of a mask with a password that can be determined by a riddle. Essentially, I would provide a riddle at certain points of the game, and the player that guesses the answer would either be able to login with the correct answer, or maybe a more honest solution is everyone sends me their guesses (with a limit? 1-3 to avoid inbox spam?), and if they're correct I provide them with access to the dummy account.
I am not sure what function this separate mask would fulfill. My working idea was that it'd only be active during certain phases, and that it would be unfair to restrict access only to the first person to grab it, as that would be disadvantageous to players that can't be around at the time the riddle is posted.
* * Additional
There will be some more standard game roles, but with twists upon them to fit the theme of the game.
Of Account and Login Access
One final comment before I close this out: Kiyoko has tested the nature of accounts and login permissions, and she determined (I believe) that multiple users could be logged in under one account at the same time without kicking the other out.
Oh, and all game-related information between player and host will be sent via your actual forum account, not the masks. The masks will have no messages on them (unless I send any for game-related reasons), and the passwords will be in my control. If someone is locked out of an account that they have access to because a player changed the password, I will be very sad and unhappy and grumble about it and perform a password reset or make Kiyoko do it. Or, you can all enjoy the spirit of the game and leave the passwords as is!
Closing Thoughts
I believe that I have rambled enough about the mechanics. At its core, I wanted to create a game which served three purposes: 1) The ability to claim true anonymity in a game of mafia, 2) The ability to swap identity like someone changing their mask at a ball, and 3) a game that fully captured the masquerade theme. Since these mechanics are quite a bit different and even complex, I am open to any and all feedback as to how I could structure the mechanics to make it a fun and exciting game, theme, and concept.
Oh, and there is one last idea I am toying with, courtesy of Mr. Alice:
All sign-ups will be done via private message. You wouldn't even know which other players are in the thread (but I would tell you how many).
p.s. my formatting is ugly
and lacking of pretty pictures
and ascii
and colors
; ;
Before anything else, I should clarify that there are going to be some different than usual mechanics associated with this game, and insofar I have communicated my ideas to Kiyoko and she more or less said, “This needs to happen” and gave her support and backing to the game. I would like to host it during the third round, however I think it's going to need some fine-tuning between now and then. Notably, some of the role mechanics are very different and I will need to balance them.
Thus, I am unsure if this will be a closed or open role game, but it is my fear with closed role that it could get very confusing for the players. As a result, I leave the option on the table and would like to hear feedback. I will, however, outline some sample roles I have been cooking up. These may or may not end up in the game, but they will give you an idea of the way the game's unique mechanic can be manipulated and where I plan to take it.
So now, with this out of the way, allow me to unveil . . .
* * The Masquerade * *
{Flavor Text Goes Here – Shhh I'm not in the mood to write it just yet. Just pretend there's some lavish, fanciful description, okay? Okay.}
{Also, some artwork}
Mechanics
The most notable mechanic of the masquerade ball (and the primary clause for administrator backing) is that this game will not be carried out through your existing accounts. For The Masquerade, a set of dummy accounts will be created with names such as, “Butterfly Mask”, “Gemmed Mask”, “Fox Mask”, “Skull Mask”, “Wolf Mask”, “Lunar Mask”, and so on and so forth. I will create the passwords for each account and provide them to the player to which each mask is assigned—but will the masks be tied to roles or not? That's for you to find out.
The masks present an interesting dynamic to the way mafia is played: everyone will have total anonymity. Can you recognize each player by their posting habits? Maybe they're disguising their usual mannerisms and tendencies? Maybe... someone is actually masquerading as another player and typing just like them?
The Masquerade will test your ability to analyze not just player roles, but the players behind the masks, because like a true masquerade ball, masks can and will change hands and faces. Certain roles will interact with masks other than their own—or maybe even have the ability to swap between masks. Some examples are as follows . . .
Possible Roles (with placeholder names)
* * Two-faced
A role in which a single player is given access to a second mask account. They can then post under both masks whenever they please. I am uncertain as of yet whether a lynch or attack or anything else on one of the masks owned by such a player would affect the player or just the mask. I am leaning towards this role having similarities only to a role that has the ability to have their votes count twice, with the added advantage of being able to split votes. In other words, an action against either of their personas would go through.
* * Doppelganger
A role in which a player can steal access to another player's mask. How would this work? This will require a little explanation, and it also relies heavily upon players sticking to a code of honor. That said...
At the end of each phase (or each night phase, I haven't decided?), I will change the passwords of each dummy account and send a new message to each player which now has access to that account. This is the most elegant solution I could come up with, and it will require a lot of tracking on my behalf of both passwords and players behind each mask, so as a result there will probably be a 15-30 minute intermission between these password-changing phase transitions.
With that said, say you are a player with the ability to steal the mask of someone else. In addition to your own mask, you would be given the password to the mask of your choice. You could then log in to that account during the phase and post messages under that mask. How well can you conceal your identity and masquerade as the player whose mask you have stolen?
The main balancing point I need to consider with this one is how practical it is. If there are two players posting under the same mask, what's to stop the original player from just saying “That wasn't me that posted that!” In fact, that might be a viable move, or people might elect to fake it for their own ends by claiming that when they're the only one with access to their mask.
This is something I would like a lot of feedback on, in particular.
* * Midnight Mask
Lastly, one other mechanic Kiyoko actually came up with was the idea of a mask with a password that can be determined by a riddle. Essentially, I would provide a riddle at certain points of the game, and the player that guesses the answer would either be able to login with the correct answer, or maybe a more honest solution is everyone sends me their guesses (with a limit? 1-3 to avoid inbox spam?), and if they're correct I provide them with access to the dummy account.
I am not sure what function this separate mask would fulfill. My working idea was that it'd only be active during certain phases, and that it would be unfair to restrict access only to the first person to grab it, as that would be disadvantageous to players that can't be around at the time the riddle is posted.
* * Additional
There will be some more standard game roles, but with twists upon them to fit the theme of the game.
Of Account and Login Access
One final comment before I close this out: Kiyoko has tested the nature of accounts and login permissions, and she determined (I believe) that multiple users could be logged in under one account at the same time without kicking the other out.
Oh, and all game-related information between player and host will be sent via your actual forum account, not the masks. The masks will have no messages on them (unless I send any for game-related reasons), and the passwords will be in my control. If someone is locked out of an account that they have access to because a player changed the password, I will be very sad and unhappy and grumble about it and perform a password reset or make Kiyoko do it. Or, you can all enjoy the spirit of the game and leave the passwords as is!
Closing Thoughts
I believe that I have rambled enough about the mechanics. At its core, I wanted to create a game which served three purposes: 1) The ability to claim true anonymity in a game of mafia, 2) The ability to swap identity like someone changing their mask at a ball, and 3) a game that fully captured the masquerade theme. Since these mechanics are quite a bit different and even complex, I am open to any and all feedback as to how I could structure the mechanics to make it a fun and exciting game, theme, and concept.
Oh, and there is one last idea I am toying with, courtesy of Mr. Alice:
All sign-ups will be done via private message. You wouldn't even know which other players are in the thread (but I would tell you how many).
p.s. my formatting is ugly
and lacking of pretty pictures
and ascii
and colors
; ;