As the sun sets, you’re called off the front lines.

“Supper time!” yells Lt. Esther Trout, banging a spoon on an empty shell casing. “Come ‘n get it!”

You all gather around the dinner crater while Lt. Trout regales you with stories of life back home.

“Rocks and grass, far as the eye can see,” she says, dolloping a healthy portion of beans into Krazy Kat’s helmet. “Lord, but I do miss my rocks and grass.”

“There are rocks and grass here, too,” offers Jonathan Hamsworth.

“It’s just not the same.”

High overhead, beyond the puffy orange clouds, you see sparkles of steel. These are the new strato-shells, fired by enormous German guns eastward toward Portugal, 1,400 miles away.

“Oww,” says Portugal. The Man. “Ow owww. Stoooop.”

After dinner, you disperse along the trench line, making your beds where you can. Billy D. Orphan finds a nook in the sandbags and curls up. He feels a tap on his shoulder, and opens his eyes to the barrel of a Rast & Gasser M1898.

“But I’m just a kid!” he whimpers.

“Are you?” says the Austrian spy, and pulls the trigger.

Billy D. Orfan (Snugglewumps) has died. He was a GERMAN SPY (Wolf).

“Kaiserlich und königlich” mutters the Austrian spy, reading Billy’s ID papers.

“Hello, Austrian,” says a voice behind her, and she turns.

A group surrounds her, armed with trench clubs. These are improvised melee weapons similar to nailbats. A few of them have the fun addition of barbed wire wrapped around and between the nails. The Austrian spy really feels the barbed wire as she goes down.

Samantha Parkington (Spiny Creature), an “American” girl, has died. She was the AUSTRIAN SPY (SK #1).

Elsewhere in the trench, a dark blade flashes under the light of the star-shells.

The Internet (Dr. Nick) has died. He was a MEDIC. Like if you cry every time.

Under the cover of darkness, the war sleeps restlessly. Patrols ambush and counter-ambush, signaled only by muffled cries and dropped lanterns.

The Central Powers have captured:

• John Laurens (Lamb Dance)
• Augustus Sebald (Owen1120)
• Smaptibus µ, of the Mermarians of Mu (Smapti)
• Annanomally

They have been taken to Stalag 69. But not all is lost. You manage to capture an Austrian patrol, consisting of:

• Count von Count, a Transylvanian nobleman
• Josef Švejk, an elderly Czech man oddly excited to be a POW
• Gregor Samsa, a huge bug

You will be able to swap your prisoners for theirs at twilight.

Trench Times

“Shooting Our Way to a Better Europe”

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War News

• An outbreak of dracularia has been reported among both the Austrian and Romanian soldiers fighting in the Carpathians.
• Pretty much everyone in Serbia is dead.
• Far beneath the waves, the Mermarians of Mu wage a courageous battle against the German U-boats by stabbing them with their tridents.
• The Turks and Australians continue to develop their respective national consciousnesses by killing each other in the Fourth Gallipoli Campaign.
• Due to wartime shortages of copper and silver, Austria-Hungary has begun minting coins out of uranium from the mines at Joachimsthal.
• The liners of your Brodie helmets are made of asbestos, although that’s the least of your worries right now.

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Today’s Trading Cards

As good as money in Russia!

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“Fragments from France”

By Bruce Bairnsfather

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[spoiler title=PLAYERS]

1. Annanomally – Reposted InnDEEEEED Comments
   
2. April LKD – King Elroy Bertrand Poopypants of East Hampshire
3. BannerThief – Corporal BannerThief Vakarian
4. Boris
5. BrittaBot – Svvëdish Chef – Infantry. Died Day 2 in a duel against Josephus.
6. Clodia –Clothilde Renou
7. D. Goat – Gort v3.0
8. Donalbain
9. Dr. Nick – The Internet – MEDIC. Killed by the Hungarian Spy on Night 1
   
10. DW – Merchant from Resident Evil 4
11. E-Dog
12. Flubba Gunto – Officer Krazy Kat
13. Grumproro – D.H. Lawrence
14. Hegel Exercises
15. Hohopossum – Australian wombat-ready possum
16. Jake – The Luggage
17. Jon Hamm’s John Ham – Jonathan Hamsworth
18. Josephus Brown – Portugal. The Man
19. Lamb Dance – John Laurens – Held in Stalag 69
20. Lindsay – Lena von Meow – Infantry. Died Day 1 in a duel against Mike.
    
21. Lord Stoneheart – Bidoof – Infantry. Died Day 1 in a duel against Jake.
22. Louie Blue – Cheikh Khoulé
23. Mac Crocodile – Lance Corporal Alistair Edmond Angela MacCrocodile III
24. Mayelbridwen – Bertha “Rilla” Marilla Blythe
25. Miss Rim – Dame Augusta Mimsy-Porpington of the Great Snoring Mimsy-Porpingtons
26. Mr. Glitch – Infantry. Sent over the top at the end of Day 2.
27. Mr. I’m My Own Grandfather – Rear Brigadier Zapp Brannigan
28. Otakunomike – Infantry. Sent over the top at the end of Day 1.
29. Owen1120 – Augustus Sebald
30. Pearl Sheltie – Lt. Count Dracula
    
31. Pulprobot – John Harrison – Replaced on Day 2
    • A Winged Potato – Lord Flashheart
32. Ralph Waldo Wiggum – Victor Delamarre
33. Shipwreck – Midshipman Hector “Shipwreck” Delgado
34. Sic Humor – Steve Smith – Infantry. Died Day 2 in a duel against Spooky.
35. Sister Jude the Obscure – Mary Pickford
36. Sister Mary Francis – Special Private Dolores “Babyface” Guppy
37. Smapti – Smaptibus µ, of the Mermarians of Mu
38. Snugglewumps – Billy D. Orfan – GERMAN SPY. Killed Night 1 by the Austrian Spy; also targeted by NCO #1
    
39. Spiny Creature – Comrade Samantha Parkington, an American girl – AUSTRIAN SPY (SK #1). Killed Night 1 by the German spies.
    
40. Spookyfriend – Sean the 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 doll – Infantry. Died Day 2 in a duel against AWP.
41. Subsaharan – Space Corporal Subsaharan
42. The Hayes Code – Deryn Sharp
43. Ult Warrior
44. Zecko – Thelonious “Zecko” Flashman

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=ROLES]

• Fully Integrated First Irregulars (TOWN)
  • 29 20 Infantry (Vanilla Town)
  • 2 1 Medic
  • 1 Investigator
  • 1 2 NCOs (Vigilantes)
• German Spies (WOLVES)
  • 1 German Officer (Wolf Roleblocker)
  • 8 7 German Spies (Vanilla Wolves)
• Austro-Hungarian Spies (Serial Killers)
  • 1 Austrian Spy (SK #1)
  • 1 Hungarian Spy (SK #2)

[/spoiler]

[spoiler title=RULES]

• Win conditions:
  • The wolves win when they are equal to the number of town-aligned players left (if the SKs are dead), or outnumber the non-wolf players (even if the SKs are still alive).
  • Town wins when all the wolves and the serial killers are defeated.
  • The serial killers win when it comes down to just them and one other person.
  • A three-way standoff between the last town, last wolf and one or both SKs will result in a special ending.
• Night actions:
  • There isn’t a hard order that night actions occur in. This is to allow as many of them to go through as possible. Roleblocks will always take precedent over the actions of the targeted player, however.
  • Your night actions do not happen if you are in Stalag 69.
  • In order to keep the game moving, each night will be a maximum of 12 hours long. Be sure to get your night actions in within 12 hours of twilight, or they won’t be counted.
• Role rules:
  • The medics cannot medic themselves or each other. They cannot medic the same person two days in a row.
  • The German roleblocker cannot roleblock the same person two days in a row.
  • The investigator will be told the alignment of the person they investigate. Results are either ENTENTE (town), GERMAN or AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN.
  • The medics know each other’s identities, but do not share a QT. Same for the Austrian and Hungarian spies.
  • Being medic’d prevents the target from being killed or captured by the enemy, but does not prevent them from being investigated or using their night action (if any)
  • A roleblock prevents the target from using their night action (if any), but does not stop outside night actions affecting them (i.e., being killed, captured  or investigated.)
  • Being simultaneously targeted by both the roleblocker AND a medic effectively means the target is jailed, and can neither use their night action nor be affected by other night actions.
  • For a full list of role details, see the sign-up sheet.
• Prisoner capture and trading
  • Each night, you will capture 3 or 4 enemy NPCs, and they will capture 4 of you. Their captives will go to Stalag 69, a German POW camp, and you can trade for them in a daily vote thread.
  • Trades are always 1:1.
  • You can only vote for one person (or “no trade”) each day. The top vote-getters will be traded for with as many NPC prisoners as you have. If one of the top votes is for “no trade,” you will save one prisoner for the next day.
  • Players left in Stalag 69 too long will die (see “Kill powers,” below).
  • If the number of unimprisoned players drops below one third of the original player count, a prison break in Stalag 69 will be orchestrated. Not all prisoners will be able to escape, and they will have to vote for who stays behind. Those who don’t escape will die, and there will be no more prisoner captures or trades.
• Kill powers:
  • The German Spies (wolves) have a collective night kill, which will be conducted with improvised weapons.
  • The Austrian Spy (1st SK) has a night kill with a Rast & Gasser M1898 revolver. Multiple kills in a single night are possible with this weapon, but only if kills are foregone on previous nights.
  • The Hungarian Spy (2nd SK) has a night kill with Pontostárgy, the Doom Sword.
  • The NCO (town-aligned vigilante) has a night kill with railway artillery, which can hit anyone, anywhere. There is a 25% chance it will accidentally kill someone in the same area as the target victim (either the main trench or Stalag 69).
  • Any two players who are not in Stalag 69 can agree to a daytime duel, in which one of them will die. Results are immediate; odds of winning are 50%. Limit 3 duels per day.
  • Players in Stalag 69 will die of disease if left there for too long. The exact length of time will be between 2 and 5 days, and each player will be told the number going in. These are night deaths, and will be publicly reported the following day.
• Vote Threads:
  • Prisoner swap thread: You can only vote for one person. If necessary, I will break a tie by randomly choosing between the tied players.
  • Sending people over the top (kill thread): A tie at the end of day results in no one going over the top. A majority of living players voting for any one person (or not to kill) ends the day early.
  • If you die during the day, your votes (if any) in the kill thread and swap thread for that day will still be counted. However, you can’t add or change your votes after you’ve died.
• There are no secret powers or win conditions in this game. Any changes I have to make to the mechanics will be announced publicly.
• No editing posts.
• No quoting or screencapping from your QTs.
• If you have any other questions about rules, please ask in QT, and I will answer publicly here.[/spoiler]

Current Victrola music:

Day 2 ends Saturday at 10 p.m. EST, or when a majority kill vote is reached.