“And remember, a man with nothing to die for has even less for which to live.”
Dragon Con has room for fans of just about anything even faintly related to science fiction and fantasy. However, in breakout room A706 of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, it turns out there’s not room for everyone, as some ambitious clerk overbooked the space. Three angry groups of Live Action Role Players (LARPers) stand in the room shouting at each other as the hapless young concierge slowly retreats.
“We reserved this room weeks ago,” hisses a leather-clad vampire through costume fangs.
“Fvck off!” replies a ruddy halfling in barrel boots. “I booked it with points in February.”
“Well we called to confirm our reservation yesterday,” interrupts a cyborg flourishing a glowing, battery-operated staff. “The room is ours!”
As the bickering grows more heated, and more facsimile weapons are drawn, the bored dragon, Con, notices and snickers at the humans’ foolishness. “They play at magic,” she muses to herself. “I will show them real magic.”
With a lazy flick of her talons, Con transports all of the LARPers to a realm they often dreamed of but probably won’t enjoy as much as they imagined: Dragonlance. As the players stand dazed outside the Inn of the Last Home, they hear a voice: “Only those with the Mac Guffin will return home. Find your true enemies and allies, or perish.”
This is Werewolf (Mafia) XXXV: Dungeons & Dons
Note 1: I made this game rather large since it seems like people are always getting shut out lately (and because the first couple of days should yield a high body count), but I can scale it down if it turns out there’s not enough interest. That said, get out there and stump for players if we don’t have enough, y’all!
Note 2: The setup sounds more complicated than it is. Also, players need know nothing about D&D in order to play, so don’t let that deter you! On the other hand, if you know a lot about D&D, be forewarned that my knowledge is rudimentary, so please don’t get mad if I get something wrong or play fast and loose with the setting.
Note 3: As always, newcomers to Avocado Werewolf/Mafia are welcome! We’ll tell you what you need to know, starting with, “Trust no one.”
The Alignments
14 Town (Good)
3 Red Dragons (Lawful Evil)
3 Black Dragons (Chaotic Evil)
1 Serial Killer (Chaotic Neutral, delayed activation)
Players must choose a campaign (Forgotten Realms, Vampire: The Masquerade, or Eberron) before the game begins. The campaigns are first come / first serve; each will eventually have 7 players. Players who want to select their own race/clan and role/job (or whatever) within the campaign can make their preferences known in the sign-up thread; otherwise, each player will be assigned a race/clan and class (role/job) within each campaign. Other than making sure that you stick to your basic character template, your role play within the game can be as rudimentary (e.g., “Um, yeah, I’m a dwarf fighter, arrr”) or as complex (e.g., “Greetings, I am a Duergar stonereaver who left the Underdark after killing a Drow priestess of Lolth on the road to Menzoberranzan”) as you prefer. Character make-up will not affect alignment but could affect stats and powers (if any).
At the start of the game, there are three campaigns, with seven players each. Each campaign gets a private QT. The Dragon factions also each have a private QT (in addition to belonging to their campaigns’ QTs). Each campaign has a night kill, as does each faction of Dragons. The Dragons will be randomly (and not necessarily evenly) dispersed amongst the campaigns, and their true allegiance is to their Dragon alignment.
If the same player is targeted for a night kill by multiple factions, that kill will be negated.
Each night until the merge (see below), one member of each campaign will be randomly (RNG) selected to publicly (in their campaign’s QT) choose a player (of another campaign) to protect each night. If that player doesn’t respond, the protected person will be chosen by RNG.
At some indeterminate point, the campaigns will merge into one, and the campaign QTs will be closed. At that point, Town will lose the (collective) ability to night kill but gain a Bard (detective) and a Healer (doctor). Each Dragon faction (assuming both have survived to the merge) will gain a Vandal (roleblocker) as well.
The SK will be activated (from amongst surviving Townspeople) at the merge. The SK will not know (s)he is the SK until the merge. Upon activation, the SK will have a night kill.
When a player is targeted by a day or night action (including lynching), that player will get a save roll. Save rolls will be affected by players’ stats (i.e., how likely they are to dodge will depend on the action targeting them). Each day, surviving players will level up, improving their chances of a successful save role. (Note: The “save” roll is automatic even if the action would benefit the target [e.g., the Bard investigates a Townsperson]). The SK enjoys slightly better save roll odds than other players once activated.
Campaigns:
• Forgotten Realms (heroic fantasy)
• Eberron (steampunky fantasy)
• Vampire: The Masquerade (urban fantasy)
TL;DR: If you want to play, say so, and pick a campaign from the three listed above. Once a campaign has 7 players, it will be closed. If you want to further dictate your race/clan and class within the campaign (for role play purposes only), say so during signups. Otherwise, such details will be assigned.
Note 4: As always, I’m flying by the seat of my pants here. If you spot a major balancing or other issue with this setup, I’d appreciate your feedback before the game begins so I can tweak accordingly.
The game is expected to begin either this Wednesday (July 12) or Friday (July 14), depending on how quickly people sign up and the group’s preference. Days will likely be 24 hours, and nights 12 hours. The game is expected to last roughly six (in-game) days.
Players
Forgotten Realms
1) cuttles (Elf ranger)
2) HolsGG (Aasimar rogue)
3) InnDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED (Halfling wizard)
4) lutair (Dwarf psychic warrior), Baern Darkrum
5) Zecko (Drow monk)
6) Colonel Mustard (Human druid), Xylem
7) HappiestHogan@StarkIndustries (Half-Elf cleric)
Eberron
1) lindsayfunke (Psiforged* warmage)
2) Mello Yello Enthusiast (Human rogue), Snake Myes
3) ThoughtsThoughtsThoughts (Dwarf swashbuckler)
4) Dr. Nick (Elf sorcerer)
5) Otakunomike (Human paladin), Tomine
6) subsaharan (Shifter ranger)
7) Candide (Kalashtar scholar)
*I think they’re usually more golem-like, but you can play yours as a robot-type if you prefer.
Vampire: The Masquerade
1) Owen1120 (Brujah)
2) BannerThief (Toreador)
3) TCRM (Malkavian), marvelous gams
4) Spiny Creature (Nosferatu)
5) Hegel Exercises (Tremere)
6) Count Crocula (Gangrel)
7) Creeper (Ventrue)
Backups
1) FJ’s Motorized Hot Tub
2) Shinichiki