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The Puppet Masters mini-[Phalla] Day 4

MrTLiciousMrTLicious Registered User regular
edited July 2014 in Critical Failures
Pretty generic stuff:
Welcome to my newest mini-phalla. Click here if you don’t know what that is (How many times do you think people actually click those links?). Now that you have a vague idea of what this is, you surely want to play. To enroll, simply signup in bold lime green or some other bright color.

This game is designed for up to 30 players and is mechanically based heavily on my previous, "award winning*" Angels Mini-Phalla with tweaks for game speed, balance, and fun. All the standard rules apply. If you have a question, you can ask me publicly in bold dark orange or privately by responding to my role PM. Mechanics questions are better asked privately, because it may give something away about your role. We don’t want that. No questions will be answered privately before roles are assigned.

*Did not actually win any awards, I am simply quoting another post.

Because this is phalla, you will vote everyday in bold red. Vote for someone you find suspicious, don’t like all that much, or wronged you in a previous game. I honestly don’t care, but you must vote for someone. Ideally you should use your vote to further your Victory Condition. The “winner” of the vote will perish before the next day. There is no vote manipulation or trickle. Not voting will result in an inactivity warning. Not voting again will result in your replacement by a reserve subject to availability. Vote close, as well as the deadline for all private orders, will be at 12PM Eastern/9PM Pacific. Please include the day of your order in PMs (e.g. Day 3: Kill everybody), though this is not, in the strictest sense, mandatory. All of the normal rules (no proving stuff, no adding people to conversations, etc.) are in effect. In terms of vote editing, just don't do it. Please. Pretty please. I won't be going back to check if votes are changed, so if you vote and then edit your vote post, who you are voting for will be at the whim of my checking schedule. Just make a new post. Lying is perfectly fine in phalla, but messing with the host is not.

If you feel like making a proboard or some other non-forum means of communication and you would like to submit orders/ask clarifications from there please do invite me so that I can oblige.

Stuff specific to this game that you should care about:

So what makes this game special? The twist is that the abilities we normally associate with phalla will not be assigned to players, but to characters in the game. In addition, all villagers can change their character. Some characters have abilities. Some do not. If you’re stuck as a vanillager, fret not, for you can change characters and become someone more powerful! Victory conditions, however, are player specific. That means that no character is inherently tied to one side (unless their possessor cannot "Snatch"). Sounds like chaos, but the system is actually quite orderly. All villagers will have the Snatch ability.

Snatch:
All villagers can choose, in addition to any nightly action taken by their possessee, to attempt to possess another character. Successfully doing so will release your previous possession. A Snatch will be successful if no other player is also attempting to possess that character, and the character is vacant. A character can be vacant either because no one previously possessed them, or because the player that possessed them successfully transferred. Individual abilities may modify these rules. If multiple solutions exist according to the rules (for example, when n people try to rotate characters) the solution with the fewest number of possible movements is taken. Thus, in order to successfully do a chain rotation, the first body in the chain must be vacant at the start of the day, or they must successfully transfer to a body that is not in the chain. You may also choose at any time to release your character, and become bodiless. However, bodiless characters become mute (you cannot communicate with players in the game or vote).

The other somewhat unique thing about this game is that all character abilities are used on other characters, not players! This means you can’t grudge vig someone or seer someone on reputation.

“But MrT,” you cry, “how are we, in our infinite ignorance, supposed to target a character?” Fear not, my friend, for a list of the characters in this game will be provided below the player list after signups, and will be updated each day after narration. I will be using a random name generator and randomly assigning these names to roles, so don’t both meta-analyzing it. You’ll notice, once it’s posted, that there are many more characters than players. This is done for a variety of reasons, including balance, Snatch mobility, and rol(l/e) call prevention (trust me, that strategy is not optimal for the village on day 1 - don’t try it).

You are allowed to vote for either a player, OR a character. Votes on a player and the character that they possess are combined during the vote phase to determine a winner.

Player vs. character death:
If a character dies while you inhabit them, you die. It is possible for players with Snatch to be “evicted” from their character (bound souls cannot survive the eviction process). If this happens you are essentially dead (you cannot chat/vote) except that you have one try to possess another character. If you are voted out, any character you are attached to at the time of death dies as well. On a closely related note…

Order of Actions
Character abilities -> Snatch -> Vote (does not trickle) -> Other Abilities

That should cover just about everything. I’ll post unaddressed clarifications right below this. If signups are slow I may try to add some kind of teaser text to garner interest. It will likely be ineffective.

Clarifications:
Q:Is it possible for a character to become bodiless, then fail to enter a body repeatedly due to conflicting Snatchs, causing them to wither away?

A:Attempting to Snatch will never make you become bodiless. However, if you find yourself bodiless for another reason, a conflicting Snatch would keep you from attaining your new body, which after one failed attempt would lead to your demise.


Q: Can an unpossessed character be eliminated via the vote?

A: Yes.


Q: What happens in the case of a tie?

A: All tied entities die.


Q: Does this character list include the mafia's characters, so that it would also be impossible to Snatch into their bodies?

A: All Characters in the game are on the list.


Q: Can the bodiless vote?

A: No.


Q: Are black names in the narration un-possessed characters?

A: Anyone possessing a character at the character's time of death will also die. Seeing a character death without a slug attached means that they must have died unpossessed.


Q: Will there be any kind of global notification when a player is forcibly evicted? Also, can people send PMs to that person even though they're not allowed to reply?


A: There is no notification. As a general rule you should not be sending PMs to evicted players, though I realize there is no way to know that you are breaking this rule. It's an unfortunate circumstance for which I couldn't find an elegant solution.


Player List
  1. kime
  2. ObiFett
  3. Gizzy
  4. discrider
  5. Auralynx
  6. Grunt's Ghosts
  7. JPants
  8. Goose!
  9. Megafrost
  10. Buddha73
  11. Phyphor
  12. Zombie Hero
  13. The Anonymous
  14. Bedlam
  15. Preda
  16. Sepah
  17. CesareB
  18. TheRoadVirus
  19. Sir Fabulous
  20. Langly
  21. Cythraul

Character List
  1. Nicole Reed
  2. Candice Pope
  3. Lisa Guzman (Tabulator)
  4. Earl Turner
  5. Kent Rhodes
  6. Sandy Craig (Vig)
  7. Jean Moran
  8. Harold Greer (Vig)
  9. Beatrice Gross
  10. Derek Alvarez
  11. Ella Dennis
  12. Alonzo Mendoza
  13. Jimmy Thomas
  14. Corey Massey (Mason)
  15. Darrin French
  16. Jonathan Zimmerman (Action Seer)
  17. Roman Baldwin
  18. Charlie Olson
  19. Alejandro Ramsey (Mafia)
  20. Glenn Rios
  21. Benjamin Quinn
  22. Brian Tate
  23. Ida Garza
  24. Wayne Mathis
  25. Angel Johnston (Infection Seer)
  26. Lynn Pratt (Inoculation Tester)
  27. Dorothy Johnson
  28. Walter Salazar
  29. Traci Bishop (Ability Seer)
  30. Angela Ferguson (Mason)
  31. Georgia Howard
  32. Joyce Reeves
  33. Robin Cooper
  34. Claude Dawson
  35. Angelina Armstrong




Narrations
  1. Day 1
  2. Day 2
  3. Day 3

Sample Villager PM:
You are a: Slug

Your home planet is no longer a viable habitat, so your species has sought out other worlds to colonize. Your particular ship has landed on earth and found a fleshy sentient species that will act as adequate hosts. You must continue the invasion until all the natives are either dead or hosts.

Player Ability: Snatch
Each day you may choose to attempt to inhabit the body of another character (see the OP for a list of character names). If that body would otherwise be vacant at the end of the day, you will transfer from your current host to the new body.

Victory Condition: Eliminate all threats to the invasion.

You currently control: Spanky McSpankster
This body seems totally average. The conclave recommends you find a more suitable host for our plans.

The game will not start before Monday or the conclusion of Ender's game, and I will be incommunicado this weekend, so I will not be updating this post. On Monday morning I will tally signups and assess the state of the game.

MrTLicious on
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Posts

  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    I'm a ghost! Or something!

    Battle.net ID: kime#1822
    3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
    Steam profile
  • ObiFettObiFett Use the Force As You WishRegistered User regular
    Surrogate phalla?

  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    Oh I signed up in orange. Well, you can accept that I'm sure :P

    Battle.net ID: kime#1822
    3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
    Steam profile
  • GizzyGizzy i am a cat PhoenixRegistered User regular
    Ghostie

    Switch Animal Crossing Friend Code: SW-5107-9276-1030
    Island Name: Felinefine
  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Signed
    Should an evicted player vote even if it doesn't count, or is that against the rules?
    Does an evicted player die if they manage to Snatch a body successfully, only to be forcefully evicted for the second time that same night?

  • AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    Let's let people get the ball rolling on revenge.

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Who wants revenge on you?

  • Grunt's GhostsGrunt's Ghosts Registered User regular
    Did someone call for some Ghosts? I got 13 right here!

  • JPantsJPants Registered User regular
    Sign up!

  • MrTLiciousMrTLicious Registered User regular
    Should an evicted player vote even if it doesn't count, or is that against the rules?

    Any thread/PM communication, including voting, is prohibited.

    Does an evicted player die if they manage to Snatch a body successfully, only to be forcefully evicted for the second time that same night?

    No. That section is an accidental holdover from the last OP that is now removed.

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    In the case of a conflict between different sets of chained snatches, does the chain with the fewest swaps within it win, or do no players swap?
    In the tied case where A and B both Snatch empty C, does the former imply that A or B will Snatch based on RNG, or will no-one move?

    discrider on
  • Goose!Goose! That's me, honey Show me the way home, honeyRegistered User regular
    I am in

  • MegafrostMegafrost Leader of the Decepticons Registered User regular
    I am everyone and I am no one.

  • Buddha73Buddha73 Registered User regular
    It's strange but I like it!

  • PhyphorPhyphor Building Planet Busters Tasting FruitRegistered User regular
    sign up!
    discrider wrote: »
    In the case of a conflict between different sets of chained snatches, does the chain with the fewest swaps within it win, or do no players swap?
    In the tied case where A and B both Snatch empty C, does the former imply that A or B will Snatch based on RNG, or will no-one move?

    It sounds like this. Think of the set of characters as nodes, and the attempted snatches are edges forming a directed graph. A snatch is only successful if the target node has exactly one ancestor and is either unoccupied or has a successful move
    a -> b -> c works if c is free
    a ->
           b -> c a, d don't move, b moves to c if c is free
    d ->
    

  • MrTLiciousMrTLicious Registered User regular
    What Phyphor said

  • ObiFettObiFett Use the Force As You WishRegistered User regular
    Yay for directed graphs!

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    The wording is a bit dubious though, because the way I read "the solution with the fewest number of possible moves will be used" implies that if a -> b; d -> c -> b is attempted, then a -> b succeeds if b is empty, and d and c go nowhere.
    But that violates the "A Snatch will be successful if no other player is also attempting to possess that character" rule.

    discrider on
  • MrTLiciousMrTLicious Registered User regular
    And since it violates that, it is not a solution, so the 'solution with the fewest etc.' line doesn't apply.

  • discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    So when does that line apply?
    As far as I can see, if closed loops are ruled out by the empty space rule, and branching chains are ruled out by the no competition rule, then there are no scenarios where there are multiple solutions?

  • MrTLiciousMrTLicious Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    It's a safety valve in case I haven't thought of something.

    Edit: Actually I put it there to prevent closed loops from working.

    MrTLicious on
  • PhyphorPhyphor Building Planet Busters Tasting FruitRegistered User regular
    Depending on the powers involved that violate the general rules there might be a situation that causes it

  • GizzyGizzy i am a cat PhoenixRegistered User regular
    I can already tell I will be out of my element this game.

    Switch Animal Crossing Friend Code: SW-5107-9276-1030
    Island Name: Felinefine
  • Zombie HeroZombie Hero Registered User regular
    I was going to take a break, but this looks too good.

    Boo

    Steam
    Nintendo ID: Pastalonius
    Smite\LoL:Gremlidin \ WoW & Overwatch & Hots: Gremlidin#1734
    3ds: 3282-2248-0453
  • 38thDoe38thDoe lets never be stupid again wait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered User regular
    Gizzy wrote: »
    I can already tell I will be out of my element this game.

    Maybe one of the characters will be a cat?

    38thDoE on steam
    🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀🦑🦀
    
  • MegafrostMegafrost Leader of the Decepticons Registered User regular
    Gizzy wrote: »
    I can already tell I will be out of my element character this game.

  • The AnonymousThe Anonymous Uh, uh, uhhhhhh... Uh, uh.Registered User regular
    Let's go

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    Gizzy wrote: »
    I can already tell I will be out of my element this game.
    It really isn't confusing until you get drunk use your mafia kill to kill your mafia buddy...

    Or until you try to kill someone who is already dead

    Or until someone tries to tell you remove your body and you cant

    What Im saying here is that MrT phallas are why daddy drinks.

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    I'll tell you when Ive had enouf!

    Bedlam on
  • Goose!Goose! That's me, honey Show me the way home, honeyRegistered User regular
    edited July 2014
    Bedlam wrote: »
    Or until you try to kill someone who is already dead
    Lookin' at you, @ObiFett‌

    Goose! on
  • ObiFettObiFett Use the Force As You WishRegistered User regular
    I disengage the safety on my Come At Me Bro Rifle and attack @Goose!‌

  • PredaPreda Registered User regular
    I'll be a ghost too!

  • GizzyGizzy i am a cat PhoenixRegistered User regular
    Can one of the random characters be named Gizzy?

    Switch Animal Crossing Friend Code: SW-5107-9276-1030
    Island Name: Felinefine
  • GizzyGizzy i am a cat PhoenixRegistered User regular
    Also David Bowie .... And Elvis!

    Switch Animal Crossing Friend Code: SW-5107-9276-1030
    Island Name: Felinefine
  • GizzyGizzy i am a cat PhoenixRegistered User regular
    I'd totally possess Cat Woman

    Switch Animal Crossing Friend Code: SW-5107-9276-1030
    Island Name: Felinefine
  • AuralynxAuralynx Darkness is a perspective Watching the ego workRegistered User regular
    I'm going to be pretty sad if a sampling of older ridiculous character names isn't sprinkled in there, but it's all up to MrT.

  • SepahSepah Registered User regular
    Interesting!

  • CesareBCesareB Registered User regular
    Oh god I almost ignored this and it looks so very good. Disaster averted

  • Erin The RedErin The Red The Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMA Baton Rouge, LARegistered User regular
    Yes hi me hello

  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    Gizzy wrote: »
    Can one of the random characters be named Gizzy?
    Do you...not understand what random means?

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