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CF Phalla Signup List

thorgotthorgot there is special providencein the fall of a sparrowRegistered User regular
edited August 2009 in Critical Failures
This is Critical Failures' Phalla Signup thread. It is for signups for running Phalla games, and discussion of game mechanics. Keep the thread strictly on-topic. Generally, there will be one main Phalla running (with up to two threads), as well as up to three smaller Phallas. You must sign up in this thread to run a major game. No dead threads, and the game will be run in the same threads where the signups take place. This is going to be the system until we start having problems, at which point Thanatos will probably fix those problems in ways that no one will like, so play nice.

What is Phalla?

Phalla is the Penny-Arcade Forums' version of the party game Mafia.

The Basic Rules

The "village" consists of all players in the game. Included in the village is a small number of bad guys. Normally, the bad guys all know one another at the beginning of the game, but nobody else knows anything about anyone other than themselves.

Each day (normally 24-hour period) the village discusses and publically votes for one person to be executed that night. At the same time, the bad guys choose one person to kill each night and PM the name to the narrator.

The good side wins if all of the bad guys die. The bad side wins if the number of good guys is less than or equal to the number of bad guys (on the assumption that at that point, they control the vote plus get their kill, so it's inevitable). Large games generally take between a week and two weeks. Small games usually last less than a week.

Usually, there will be one or more "special" roles among the good guys (and occasionally among the bad guys). Exactly who holds each role is only known to that person, although how many of each role exist is most often known.

Each night, the narrator gives the details of who died, and normally whether they were a bad guy. Some games also include clues or outright statements if someone who died is a good special.

Living players may not communicate regarding the game with dead players and vice versa, unless there is some specific mechanic in place to do so. In that case, communication normally goes through the narrator. If you are dead and the moderator allows a "goodbye" post, make sure it includes absolutely no information about the game, even if you think the information is obvious. If you receive a PM or see a post breaking this rule, notify the person running the game immediately.

You may not use any anonymous method of communication to discuss the game. Forum-based PMs, external IMs, e-mails and other message boards (like proboards) are allowed as long as the person you are talking to knows who you are. You may not use screencaps to "prove" anything to anyone. Do not speak in code.

Common Variations

Many larger games contain multiple groups of bad guys working at cross-purposes.

At least one game has included a council or single person elected every other night who are able to use a power publically. For example, one game had an elected council able to shift the execution vote to the second person. Another had an elected emperor able to choose a person to kill.

In a small game, the typical size for a group of bad guys is 3, although an individual game may have more, particularly if there is only one group of bad guys in a larger game.

Often, everyone gets a "flavor" role in the game. Bad guys and good specials usually get a normal "villager" role in addition to their special role. This keeps people from using their initial PM to verify someone else's role. The two most common ways to do this are to (a) use the exact same message to everyone, or (b) give everyone a unique villager role.

Special Roles

Roles will have different names depending on the theme of the game. Listed below are the usual "generic" terms for each role. Normally, specials exercise their power by communicating with the narrator via PM. The core roles present in some form in most games are:
  • Seer - once per night can "investigate" a particular person and find out from the narrator if they are a bad guy. Variations of seers may be able to determine a good special as well, although they may be unable to distinguish them from a bad guy.
  • Vigilante - once per night can kill a person of their choosing.
  • Guardian - once per night can protect someone from any death other than execution by the village. Whether they can protect against multiple attacks on one person in the same night is up to the narrator.
  • Masons - a group of two or three good guys who start the game knowing each other and knowing that they are all good.

There are many, many other roles that can be present. The following is a list of some of them:
  • Miller - a villager who appears to be evil when seered. A Death Miller appears to be evil when seered or upon death.
  • Thrall - an evil person who appears to be good when seered. Sometimes revealed to be evil upon death.
  • Bus Driver - once per night chooses two targets. Any powers targeting one instead targets the other, and vice versa.
  • Role Blocker - once per night chooses a target. The powers of that person do not work for the night.
  • Tracker - once per night may "investigate" someone. Unlike the seer, only finds out if their target used a power that night. Some variations finds out if their target was targeted by someone else, or who their target targeted.
  • Spy - in a game with multiple groups, is a member of two groups. Usually he is really only aligned with one of the groups.
  • Messenger - allowed to send messages to the narrator, which will then be relayed to a single person or during the narration.
  • Jester (Village Idiot)- wins if he is voted out, but loses if he dies for any other reason or if he survives to the end. Rarely used.
  • Survivor - wins if he survives until the end. Usually paired with some other power to make survival easier. Roles which require the player to survive until the end are usually called "neutral."
  • Serial Killer - basically an evil group with one person in it. The SK has a nightly kill and has to kill every single other person, or every other person but one. Often has other powers to make survival easier.
  • Conditional Invincibility (Athan) - a (usually evil) person who is invincible until something happens. The role Athan from the Phalliad is the best known example.
  • Vote Manipulator - a person whose vote counts more than once, less than once, or who affects the vote in some way.
  • Reverse Seer (Befriender, Child) - chooses a target once per night. The person chosen discovers which side the reverse seer is on.
  • Paranoid, Naive, or Insane Seer - a paranoid seer always seers targets as being on the other side. A naive seer always seers targets as being on their side. An insane seer always seers good targets as bad and bad targets as good.
  • Converter - chooses someone to convert to their side.

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