Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of Werewolves)

[The Barrow-Wight]

After Sauron captured Tol Sirion and occupied Finrod’s fortress of Minas Tirith, the surrounding region became infested with horrifying creatures in the shape of wolves. These cunning beasts could take the form of man or elf by day, but at night they would change into ravenous monsters, thirsty for blood and death. Together, groups of Sauron’s werewolves would infiltrate a small village and kill off its population one by one.

Welcome to Barrow-downs Werewolf.

Werewolf is a game of accusation, deduction, lying, reverse psychology and bandwagoning. Moreover, it's a lot of fun. It is actively played on several sites on the Internet, and I thought it would make a fun addition to the Downs.

The rules are pretty simple: The players represent a village, and each member of the village has a role, which is kept secret. Most players are ordinary villagers, but two or more are werewolves, and one is a seer. The goal of the villagers is to eliminate all of the werewolves. Likewise, the goal of the werewolves is to eliminate the villagers, which they can do if the number of non-werewolves is equal or less than the number of werewolves.

Gameplay
The game consists of two different phases: Night and Day. The game begins with a Night phase.

Night
In a Night phase, the moderator will ask the werewolves to choose a villager to eliminate and also ask the seer to choose one player to dream about. The werewolves should decide amongst themselves using the board's PM (private message) function who their victim will be and inform the moderator of their choice. Each werewolf should PM the moderator either the group choice of the victim OR which wolf to whom they've proxied their choice. The seer should decide who his victim will be and inform the moderator of his choice.

The werewolves' victim is dead, but the rest of the village won't find out until daytime who the victim is and what their secret role was.

The seer's victim has his role revealed to the seer only.

Day
During the daytime the villagers all wake up and find that one of their own has been killed by the werewolves. At this point at least one player is a werewolf and so someone is gonna get lynched.

During this phase all players, including werewolves who have assumed villager form, must publically discuss their suspicions. Eventually it will reach a point where villagers start to cast votes for who they feel is a werewolf and must be lynched. At least half of the villagers must agree on a player for a lynching to occur. Players can change their vote as much as they wish but once a pseudo-majority is reached, that player is gone and his secret role is revealed. Also, be nice to your moderator and make your vote stand out by bolding it.

If no majority is reached as a result of more than two players accumulating votes, then a runoff is held and the two highest vote-getters are on the block. Anyone who didn't vote for them originally must now choose between the two of them to determine which person will be lynched. If there still isn't a majority by then, a tiebreaker is used. One of the players at risk places a dagger in one of two boxes, and the other player chooses one of those boxes to open. If the box with the dagger is opened, that player is killed.

When the lynching is done all the villagers go back to their homes to sleep and the next night begins.

Winning
In case it's not clear: The villagers win if they kill all of the werewolves. The werewolves win if they kill enough villagers so that their numbers are equal. At this point the werewolves can openly rise up and slaughter the rest of the villagers.

Discrepencies

• Absent voters: In most games once a majority is reached the game continues on from that point. However, it could happen that a player does not vote when prompted for one. A warning will be applied for the first infraction and a phantom vote will be applied for each subsequent infraction. A phantom vote is just an extra vote cast against the absent player(essentially he is voting for himself) in order to make it easier for the crowd to lynch that player.
  
• Compromising privacy: You can say you're a villager/seer/werewolf, etc. all you want, but under no circumstances should you post anything that would give your claim absolute credibility. You are not allowed to post any PMs or other private conversation between yourself and the game moderator. Infractions of this rule are grounds for immediately disqualification from that game and all future games.
  
• Outside interference: Once you are killed in a werewolf game you should no longer post in the thread or communicate with players that are still alive in the game. You're dead. Dead people tell no tales.
  
• Private messages: A major cause of contention is the ability for people to PM each other and thereby keep other players in the dark about this private communication. Since there is no way to enforce, let alone verify an occurance, PMing other players shall not be expressely disallowed. However, it should be a common understanding that the game is more fun for everyone when all communication is available for everyone to see, and thus villagers are discouraged from PMing each other. Besides, would you believe that someone was the seer just because they said so? Werewolves are encouraged to PM each other and agree on who they will kill during any time of the game as this will speed up Night phases.

Our First Game
Barrow-Downs Werewolf will operate in a day/night cycle, with Day lasting from midnight until 6:00 PM, and Night lasting from 6:00 PM until midnight (all times are Eastern Standard Time). Votes cast at 6:01 or after are invalid and will be ignored.

Everyone can post a vote for lynching at any time, and can switch their vote to someone else at any time. I would ask that everyone BOLD their votes so that I can find them easily while scanning the thread. Remember, when a player has a majority of votes, he will be lynched.

Wolves and the Seer must PM their special orders to me by midnight each night. PM's recieved after midnight will unfortunately have their content ignored (so send your orders in early!).



We need players!

Want to play?

Respond here on this thread.

Our game will begin at 6PM (EST) on the first day that we have at least 12 players enrolled. When we have 12+ players, I will be the moderator and will randomly assign these roles:

3 Werewolves
1 Seer
9 (or more) Villagers



There will only be one game of Werewolf running on the Downs, and I will be moderating it. If you want to play, sign up for this game.

[mormegil]

Sounds like fun...I'm in

[The Barrow-Wight]

Games should last about (# of players)/2 days, since we will be killing a villager each NIGHT and hanging a suspected werewolf each DAY, which is 24 hours in real time.



Welcome to the game, mormegil. Everyone else, join quickly so we can already start the mayhem tomorrow.

[The Saucepan Man]

You can count me in.

What's the purpose of the villagers' roles?

Also, given time zone differences, might it be best to have a 24 hour period for each of Night and Day. Otherwise, for us Brits, Night will be something like 11pm to 5am (and later for those further to the east). Although I'm a night owl, this might preclude some people's participation.

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

What's the purpose of the villagers' roles?

I believe it's to be slowly eaten off and lynch each other...

[The Barrow-Wight]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

You can count me in.

Great to have you on board. That's two players already!

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

What's the purpose of the villagers' roles?

Villagers hang (suspected) werewolves. So a villager's roll is to figure out who is a werewolf, or to make suer people don't think they are one!!!

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Also, given time zone differences, might it be best to have a 24 hour period for each of Night and Day. Otherwise, for us Brits, Night will be something like 11pm to 5am (and later for those further to the east). Although I'm a night owl, this might preclude some people's participation.

Because there are only 4 players that do things at NIGHT (werewolves and the seer), the NIGHT phase doesn't need to be as long as the DAY phase. I'd like to keep the pace the same (24 hours for both DAY and NIGHt), as well as the proportion (6 hours: 18 hours), but I'd be happy to slide it all forward a couple hours.

How about:

4PM - 10 PM EST = NIGHT
10PM - 4 PM EST = DAY

That should be more inclusive of both side of the Atlantic (though it is still discriminatory against those members further away, sorry )

[The Saucepan Man]

The players represent a village, and each member of the village has a role, which is kept secret.

I meant the role referred to here - the secret role (which seemingly the seer can discover by dreaming).

Originally Posted by The Barrow-Wight

How about:

4PM - 10 PM EST = NIGHT
10PM - 4 PM EST = DAY

Actually, the other way works better for me, since it is difficult for me to post much during working hours, and I usually don't log in until about 10.30pm at night. But I'll go with whatever suits the majority.

[The Barrow-Wight]

There are three roles:

VILLAGER
WEREWOLF
SEER

Villagers talk publically with each other and vote during the DAY on which player to hang. It is in their best interest to determine who is really a werewolf, because killing innocent villagers only helps the werewolves.

Werewolves decide which player to kill each NIGHT. They also disguise themselves as regular villagers during the DAY and join in the vote on who to hang. Obviously, they try their hardest to influence the vote toward non-werewolves.

The Seer has the ability to see one other player's secret role each NIGHT. He can use this information as he likes. Of course, other players don't know he is the seer, so they may or may not believe any information he shares.

[mormegil]

So I guess saying to the villagers something to the effect of "I had a dream last night that so and so was a werewolf" may not have the desired effect.

[the phantom]

other players don't know he is the seer, so they may or may not believe any information he shares

So I guess saying to the villagers something to the effect of "I had a dream last night that so and so was a werewolf"...

The seer definitely shouldn't say anything about a dream or hint that he is the seer (unless there is only one werewolf left and the seer knows who he is). If the seer gives away his own identity, the werewolves will be sure to kill him the following night since the seer is the biggest threat to them.

Count me in, BW.

[Anguirel]

I'd like to play...

Oh, and I'd rather have the new times.

[Primrose Bolger]

I'd like to give the game a try.

Count me in, if you will.

-o- Primrose

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

O ja, I'll take part, if allowed.

[Firefoot]

Sounds fun - I'll try it.

The first set of times is definitely better for me, though - the new ones make most of my afterschool time at night.

[Mithalwen]

Me too

[The Barrow-Wight]

That's eight players so far. All we need is four more, and the game can commence.




How about we compromise between the original and old hours:

5 PM - 11 PM EST = Night
11 PM - 5 PM EST = Day

This should give most North Americans time to get home from school and make their vote, and most Europeans should be able to do their posting and votes before midnight their time.

Remember, these hours can be adjusted as we see fit. This is our first game, and I'm sure it will take some adjustments before we get it right.

[Anguirel]

Well, my server closes after 10-I can't get on the internet after 4 PM EST (you're six hours ahead of GMT, I think?) So I might have to opt out of this one, I'm afraid. It'll be fun to watch though.

[The Barrow-Wight]

Barrow-downs Werewolf will be easy to play and take very little of your day to participate in.

If you are a werewolf, you'll know who the other werewolves are. Until you are hanged, you will PM back and forth with your hairy friends whenever you like, choosing which hairless ape gets eaten next.

If you are a villager, you wake up each DAY (starts at 11PM) to see who was killed by the wolves. If it wasn't you, you can post your suspicions and read what other players have to say, remembering that the werewolves are now pretending to be villagers. You must include a vote* in a post by the end of the day (5 PM).

* Always BOLD your vote, so that it is obvious. Example: Mister Underhill is always pointing the finger at me, but I say we hang him!!!

If you are the seer, you play just like a villager, except that you will privately gain additional information about the player you dreamed about. Use this information wisely.



I can't wait until the killing begins!

[Mithalwen]

I am going to have to pull out... I don't have internet access at home at the moment so there is no way I can post between 11pm and 5 am (unless someone can tell me very simply how to persuade my mac that it wants to go online and even then .. those are my preferred hours for sleep

[Anguirel]

It sounds so much fun...but it's out of the question for me, alas, as it stands.

I hope this will spawn many variations. Work out who's betraying Gondolin; work out who's messing up the Nirnaeth; and so on...

[Oddwen]

Hey, this sounds awesome - I'll give 'er a go.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I'm in.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

The timing does seem tricky. Perhaps we could all help spread the word, and then we would have enough players for two games on different sides of the Atlantic.

Though there are some Americans I would like to accuse....


Edit: I had better pull out of a game using the current times.

[Shelob]

I'll give it a shot...
the "5 PM - 11 PM EST = Night/11 PM - 5 PM EST = Day" times work well for me.

[Oddwen]

So, the Seer picks a person at random, and the Moderator lets him/her know if the victim is villager or werewolf, correct?

And after a victim is lynched, is it henceforth common knowledge wether he/she/it is a werewolf or common mortal?

I.E.:

Without further ado, the villagers lynch Nilpaurion Fegalund, who happened to be an innocent villager.
Villagers: 0
Werewolves: 1

Or will it remain a secret knownst amongst werewolves only?

[the phantom]

Yes, after the villagers lynch someone the dead person's identity is revealed. Then the villagers will think "Yay, we got one of the werewolves!" or "Oh, darn, we just killed one of our own."

[The Barrow-Wight]

When a player is hanged, the moderator will reveal if they were a villager, werewolf, or seer. If it was the last werewolf, the villagers (including the seer) win the game. If the remaining villagers equal the number of remaining werewolves, the beasts will rise up and destroy the village.

[bilbo_baggins]

Count me in, Barrow-Wight.

So, let me get this straight: Only the Seer and Wolves are active at the "Night" phase, correct? Just wanted to be sure. This is like Mafia, BTW.

bilbo_baggins

[The Barrow-Wight]

Yes, during the NIGHT, werewolves PM each other to decide who to kill. They then must tell the moderator who they killed. While the wolves are killing, the seer is dreaming. The seer does this by naming a player to the moderator, who responds (to the seer only) with that player's role.

At dawn (11PM EST), the moderator will publically announce who was killed by the werewolves and privately give the seer the information he dreamed about. Werewolves can continue to PM each other through the DAY, but they should also be active in their guise as villagers. When one player has received a majority of votes, he will be hanged, and the DAY will be over, though it won't officially end until NIGHT begins at 5PM.

We now have 10 players, which means we only need two more for the game to begin tonight. But we can play with more than 12, so whoever is interested should sign up now.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I'd love to participate but I don't have access to computer for the next week but perhaps I can play after that.

[Kuruharan]

Mmmm...skull duggery. I'm game.

[The Barrow-Wight]

Current player roster:

1. mormegil
2. The Saucepan Man
3. the phantom
4. Primrose Bolger
5. Anguirel
6. Firefoot
7. Oddwen
8. Feanor of the Peredhil
9. Shelob
10. bilbo_baggins
11. Kuruharan
12. Mithalwen
13. We have enough to start, but will continue to take names until 6PM EST.

Possibles.....
- Eomer of the Rohirrim

[Mithalwen]

I think Eomer pulled out?

Please can we have a game for Brits who aren't nocturnal/insomniacs?

[Anguirel]

Hmmm...would anyone object if Brits held a game with identical rules, but a different story, and with a British moderator? I think it would be good fun.

Of course, Brits could still play in this one and vice versa, if they wanted.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Anguirel

Hmmm...would anyone object if Brits held a game with identical rules, but a different story, and with a British moderator? I think it would be good fun.

Of course, Brits could still play in this one and vice versa, if they wanted.

Not want merely logistics .... if I could I would but I have a responsibility to be fairly conscious at work and more vitally fit to drive there and back. I function quite well on 6hrs sleep but it does have to be those 6 hours.... unfortunately... of course other Brits have different lifestyles and biorhythms...

[Anguirel]

I'm luckier than you. I get 11:00 to 6:30...but the internet, as I said, slumbers at ten...

[Mithalwen]

At least my work for the next few weeks gives me access at work (albeit not during work hours) so I could check in before 9, between 1-2 and after 5 but that doesn't help with the night thang... hey ho..

[The Barrow-Wight]

I would prefer to see everyone play together in one large game rather than two smaller games, at least for our first attempt at Werewolf. In order to do this, it seems that we would have to adjust our timeframes a bit. The Saucepan Man has suggested 24 hours for each day and night, which would accomodate everyone but possibly drag the game down to a pace that would be detrimental to our enjoyment of it. On the other hand, the 6 hour NIGHT / 18 hour DAY excludes far too many of our members, so we must make some kind of changes if we want to have maximum participation.

Again, I think a compromise might solve our problem.

A DAY/NIGHT cycle of 24 hours is too fast, 48 hours is too slow, so how about a rotating 36 hour cycle?

NIGHT 1_____6 PM to 6 AM (12 hours)
DAY 1_______6 AM to 6 AM (24 hours)
NIGHT 2_____6 AM to 6 PM (12 hours)
DAY 2_______6 PM to 6 PM (24 hours)

This will allow us to kill 4 players every 3 days (instead of 4). With the moderator clearly posting when the next deadline is, this would give everyone the best chance of having time to play. And, really, only the werewolves and seer would be affected by the shorter timespan.

Tell me what you think, and sign up soon! We're only two players short of a game!

[Mithalwen]

I think I could probably cope with that....

[Anguirel]

Splendid. I'd like to sign up. Again.