“Arrr!”x3 – OR – “Oh shit, zombies!”
Game designed by Douglas Wilson, with help from John Shedletsky & Lau Korsgaard
Introduction
Avast! This be Zombie Pirate Mafia… set on three different ships, mateys!
You and your pirate crew sail the seven seas in search of booty (all types). His Majesty’s Royal Navy, of course, is none too pleased about this. Rumor has it that yer crew has been infiltrated by spy-mercenaries hired by the King. Yer task is to find these navy scums and send them to Davy Jones’ Locker… before they do the same to ye!
By the powers, ye didn’t think it would be that simple did you?! Yer crew is sailin' for Tortuga, where in three days time ye aim to join two other pirate crews in a meeting to figure out how to deal with the Royal Navy spies.
That's not all. It just so happens that in three days, a full-fledged solar eclipse will align with the summer equinox – a rare and momentous cosmic event whispered to have dire consequences. One prophecy speaks of the walking dead. Be careful who ye kill, me heartys. The scallywags might very well come back to exact their revenge on the livin’…
Overview: Three Minigames
Three separate minigames, which all converge into one big game on Day 3. Some players who die during these minigames will be recycled into the converged game as Zombies, a kind of second Mafia out for revenge on the living. These Zombie players will be given new usernames, and the group of them will be introduced as a fourth minigame. Thus, players will need to decide which of the four minigames comprise the Zombie players.
Players/roles will be distributed randomly among the three minigames, with the stipulation that the two mafia members will be placed in separate games. There will be five players in one game, and six players in each of the other two games.
Online Mafia
Online Mafia works like this: each “day” is an actual day. The game is played over the course of a week on an online forum. Players post whenever they feel like over the course of the day. Players are expected to post at least a few times per day, but you don’t have to devote your entire life to the game or anything!
Each day will consist of a six-hour period (10am to 4pm California time, or 7pm to 1am Denmark time). When voting to lynch, a special rule system will be used to automatically break ties (see below).
The results are announced at the end of the day, and then players who take night actions communicate their decisions to the moderator before the start of the next day. The Mafia and the dead will each be given their own forums.
Voting
Voting will work differently than it did last game. Specifically, multiple people can be lynched each day. Players can declare votes at any time during the day. If at any point over 50% of the players vote for the same person, that target is immediately lynched. If nobody has been lynched by the end of the day, then votes are tallied and plurality wins (with a tie going to tie-breaking rules, see below). If someone has already been lynched, nothing happens at day's end. There is no limit to how many players can be lynched in one day.
Note that for an early lynch, the majority must be 50%+ of total bodies in the game, not 50%+ of potential voters (e.g. the Possessed's vote doesn't count).
Players can only vote for one person at a time. However, you can specify a sequence to speed things along, e.g. "I'm voting for Joe, but if/when he's lynched, I want to automatically start voting for Sam."
The Basics
17 players:
15 Pirates (Citizens)
2 Spies (Mafia)
??? Zombies (see below)
Pirates (Citizens)
Medicine Man
Like a regular doctor, saves one person at night. Can save others from either Zombies or Spies, but can only self-heal from Spies. In other words, a self-heal does nothing against Zombies. Cannot save self or others from an Assassin kill.
Assassin (There are two!)
Can opt to kill one target each night (but doesn't have to). Vigilante justice! Assassin kills are distinguishable from Zombie and Spy kills.
There are two Assassins, but they work independently. That is, they use different forums to select their kills at night.
Pea-Brain
Cannot be killed by the Zombies at night (brain is too small, not worth eating).
Insomniac
Cannot be killed by the Spies (Mafia) or Assassins at night.
Captain
Once during the game, the Captain can make another sailor walk the plank! Upon calling for the plank (which the moderator will acknowledge to make official), the Captain may opt to give the accused sailor time to defend themselves. The Captain can decide to let the player go, or send them to Davy Jones’ Locker. But the decision must be made at least 30 minutes before the end of the day (3:30pm PST, 12:30am Denmark time).
If the sailor walks the plank, he dies no matter what. The Captain is then told secretly whether or not the player was “evil” (either Spy or Zombie). Note that if the Captain calls for the plank, but then lets the accused player go, he cannot call another trial later on.
If the Captain kills a Pirate who happens to be possessed, they aren't revealed to be "evil" because the host body is not in fact evil.
Bloodthirsty Mutineer
If nobody is lynched or otherwise killed during the day, the Bloodthirsty Mutineer, starved for violence, kills himself (at day’s end).
Drunk
Is told he is the Bloodthirsty Mutineer, but is actually not.
Astrologer
Once per game, can ask during the night for the following info:
• Are there any Zombies alive? (note: this is a yes/no answer)
• How many Spies (Mafia) are left?
Note that the Astrologer is given this information privately. The questions are answered based on the state of the game at the beginning of the night.
Because people can only target those in their own game, if the Astrologer uses their power on Night #1 or Night #2, they only get info about their own game.
Escape Artist
If lynched or forced to walk the plank (that is, killed during the day), the Escape Artist vanishes from play, then returns to play the day after next (assuming the game is still going). All players are informed that the Escape Artist escaped. The Escape Artist cannot be targeted during the two nights he is gone.
Necrophiliac
Ability begins on Day 3 (with the convergence). Each night, can try to sleep with a dead body (from any day and any minigame). Will then be told (privately) whether or not the body is still there – that is, whether the person ever became a Zombie. (Thus, the Zombies might want to be careful about how they post and in what "style"). Also gets a negative answer when choosing a name that never existed.
Four “regular” (vanilla) citizens
Spies (Mafia)
Voodoo Doctor
Once during the game (chosen at night), can "possess" another player - that is, take over their account for a day. If the target happens to be killed that same night, the possession fails and nothing happens. The possessed victim is denied access to post for the day, but can read along, and will return the next day. The victim can still use any night powers they might have after the day ends. The possessed can pretend to vote, but the vote will not actually count. Moreover, the possessed cannot use any special abilities they might have (e.g. Captain or Escape Artist. The Mutineer also gets a break from his curse). The Voodoo Doctor is not told anything about the victim's role.
The Voodoo Doctor still gets to post the day he/she is possessing someone.
On the upside, the possessed victim cannot be killed by the Spies the following night (still a valid Zombie and Assassin target).
One “regular” mafia
The two Spies do get to view each other’s minigames, and will be given a private message board for communicating during the night. It is guaranteed that the two Spies start in different minigames.
Spies, awake during the night to plot murderous deeds, cannot be killed by Zombies.
Spy and Zombie kills are indistinguishable.
Zombies (Another Mafia)
A random number (ranging from 1 to 6) of Pirates killed in the three minigames will be “resurrected” and re-introduced to the converged game on Day 3. These players will be given new identities, and will no longer be a part of the Pirate team. The Zombies represent a second Mafia, and these players are no longer a part of the Pirates team.
Note that only Pirates (and not Spies) can become Zombies.
Zombies, like the Mafia, can attempt to kill one target each night. If they try to kill a Spy, nothing happens. Keep in mind that this kind of non-kill is also possible if they target someone who the Medicine Man saves, or if they target the Pea-Brain.
The Zombie players lose any and all powers and abilities from their previous role.
Moreover, the Zombies, unlike the Spies, do not get to communicate privately at night. Thus, their core challenge will be to improvise a consistent and compelling story about what happened in their supposed minigame.
If there are more Pirates killed than can become Zombies, a hierarchy is used to determine which players are resurrected. Using the rank hierarchy below, those players of the lowest rank are chosen as Zombies. In other words, those players with the lowest rank are more likely to be chosen as Zombies. In the case of a tie between two players of the same rank (e.g. two vanilla citizens), the decision will be made randomly.
Spy and Zombie kills are indistinguishable.
How Zombies vote who to kill:
Because Zombies don't get to talk at night, they each have to vote who to kill independently. They will do so by emailing me their choice independently. The target with the most votes wins. In the case of a tie, the Zombie with the lowest rank (e.g. most likely Zombie) breaks the tie. In the case of an unresolved tie, precedence goes by the person who emailed me quickest (as judged by incoming mail server).
Tie-Breaking
In this ruleset, voting ties are broken automatically based on which side has higher “rank.” The list below represents the hierarchy of sailors. To figure out which side out-ranks the other, the moderator will use the highest ranking sailor in one of the tied voting groups. In the case of a tie between two players of the same rank (e.g. two vanilla citizens), the decision will go to the player of second highest rank, and so on. If the tie is unbreakable, all tied suspects die.
Rank Hierarchy:
1. Captain
2. Medicine Man
3. Assassin
4. Escape Artist
5. Astrologer
6. Vanilla Citizen
7. Insomniac
8. Pea-Brain
9. Drunk
10. Mutineer
11. Necrophiliac
12. Spy
13. Zombie
End Scenarios
Citizens win if all evil forces (Zombies, Spies) have been killed.
Otherwise, the game ends when there are two players. If the two players are Zombie-Citizen, the Zombie wins, no matter what the citizen role is. Same holds true for Spy-Citizen. If the two players are Spy-Zombie, the Spy wins.
I may cut the game short if the Spies or Zombies can form an unbeatable voting block (all roles considered). But I will only do so if I am very sure.
Ground Rules
1. Do not cheat. Do not go out of your way to hax0r the forums or look at things you aren't supposed to. I'll try my best not to mess up on my end, but if I do let me know immediately and try to minimize what you see.
2. Do not discuss game strategy outside the forums - e.g. Zombies/Spies are not allowed to privately talk during the day.
3. I don't think we can avoid some people revealing their real life identities, but remember that some people might lie, and that there might be certain strategic advantages to keeping yourself anonymous. Also, no discussing real life events in the game (e.g. "to prove you are Joe, tell me what we did last Friday night")
4. I reserve the right to kill anyone who copy & pastes “too much” text (real or fake) from other forums/minigames. Sharing, say, the vote results or brief quotes is fair. But anything else falls outside the spirit of the game. And absolutely no copy & pasting from your original role assignment emails!