Octopus Overlords

This time its uhmmmm
.
.
.
its the Third time. Yeah, thats it.



Coming this summer to a gaming forum near you.

Sign Ups
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Please note: If more than 15 people want to play, please say In and I can adjust the rulez and increase the time to earth. I'd love a large crew on the STARSHIP R.SCOTT.

RULEZ ARE UP! COMMENTS REQUESTED AND ENCOURAGED.

Roles:

Humans:


Guard Captain (1)
The Guard Captain has been hired to work at Corrections Station 22 for the next 5 Terran years.

The Guard Captain and The Duke know each from the past when the Guard Captain arrested The Duke and was bribed by The Duke to let him go. The Guard Captain starts the game knowing the identity of The Duke.

BACKGROUND CHECK: The Guard Captain is able to scan one player per course correction (night) and will receive a report of that player's role. If the symbiont is scanned by either the Guard Captain OR The Duke, then the symbiont is reprogrammed and joins that team and wins with their victory condition. Once the symbiont has been reprogrammed he may kill any player each course correction (night) starting with the next course correction (night).


Guards (4)
The Guards have been hired to work at Corrections Station 22 for the next 5 Terran years. Outnumbered by the convicts they must find away to reduce their numbers to take control of the starship.


The Duke (1)
The Duke is a criminal being sent for imprisonment by Divergent Corp. to Corrections Station 22 for various crimes.

The Guard Captain and The Duke know each from the past when the Guard Captain arrested The Duke and was bribed by The Duke to let him go. The Duke starts the game knowing the identity of the Guard Captain.

BRIBERY: The Duke is able to scan one player and will receive a report of that player's role. If the symbiont is scanned by either the Guard Captain OR The Duke, then the symbiont is reprogrammed and joins that team and wins with their victory condition. Once the symbiont has been reprogrammed he may kill any player each course correction (night) starting with the next course correction (night).


Convicts (6)
The Convicts are criminals being sent for imprisonment by Divergent Corp. to Corrections Station 22 for various crimes. The convicts want to survive but also wants to take control of the ship and escape.

Divergent Corp.


Symbiont
The Symbiont is an artificial human being but imperceptible from a real human. The Symbiont has orders from Divergent Corp. to protect the alien until the STARSHIP arrives at earth. Once the STARSHIP arrives at earth the Symbiont must be functioning (alive) in order to capture it for Divergent Corp. All other personnel aboard are expendable. The alien can not switch bodies with the symbiont.

REPROGRAM: If the symbiont is scanned by either the Guard Captain OR The Duke, then the symbiont joins that team and wins with their victory condition. The symbiont can only be reprogrammed ONCE. Once the symbiont has been reprogrammed he may kill any player each course correction (night) starting with the next course correction (night).

SELF DESTRUCT: If the symbiont has been scanned by the alien, the symbiont must immediately self-destruct killing himself and one other player of his choice.

Alien


Alien
The alien is a cosmic parasite attempting to make its way to a populated planet so it can continue to feed.

ABILITY UNDER REVIEW: PLEASE COMMENT IN THE MAIN THREAD.
CHOICE 1: SWITCH BODIES: The Alien has to ability to switch from its current body and take possession of another player. This switch can take place anytime during the day only. This is a ONE TIME ABILITY. The original host will die. The switch will fail if the symbiont is targeted by the alien. The switch will NOT replace the lynch for that day. Switch Mechanism: The first host will choose what player to move to. The first host will die and that player will no longer be in the game however he will be able to send one secret PM (through the moderator) to the new host. The new host will now be the alien and will lose any powers or abilities he had up to that point. The alien can not switch bodies with the symbiont and the attempt fails however this failed attempt will not be announced in the main thread. The symbiont will know that a switch was attempted by not who made the attempt.

CHOICE 2: SWITCH BODIES: The Alien has to ability to switch from its current body and take possession of another player. This switch can take place each course correction (night) only. The original host will die. The switch will fail if the symbiont is targeted by the alien. The switch will NOT replace the lynch for that day. Switch Mechanism: The first host will choose what player to move to. The first host will die and that player will no longer be in the game however he will be able to send one secret PM (through the moderator) to the new host. The new host will now be the alien and will lose any powers or abilities he had up to that point. The alien can not switch bodies with the symbiont and the attempt fails however this failed attempt will not be announced in the main thread. The symbiont will know that a switch was attempted by not who made the attempt.

SCAN ABILITY: The alien will be secretly notified that the symbiont has been reprogrammed. If the symbiont has been re-programmed by either the Guard Captain or The Duke, then (and ONLY then) the Alien may scan for the symbiont each course correction (night). If alien scans the symbiont then the symbiont must immediately self-destruct killing himself and one other player.

ROLEZ:
- Guard Captain
- Guard01
- Guard02
- Guard03
- Guard04
- The Duke
- Convict01
- Convict02
- Convict03
- Convict04
- Convict05
- Convict06
- Symbiont
- Alien

Victory Conditions
Human Victory: The Alien is destroyed before arriving at earth at the end of the 7th day.

• Human Sub-Victory A - Captain and Guard: When the overall human victory is achieved, Captain and Guards are equal to or outnumber The Duke and Convicts.
• Human Sub-Victory B - The Duke and Convicts: When the overall human victory is achieved, The Duke and Convicts outnumber the Captain and Guards.

Notes: While there is an overall human victory condition, a faction (Guards or Convicts) does not win if their sub-victory condition is not met. The guards will imprison the convicts if their victory condition is met and the convicts will kill the guards (in a not so nice way) if their victory condition is met.

Divergent Corp Victory: Both the symbiont and alien are surviving when the STARSHIP arrives at earth.

Alien Victory: The alien is surviving when the STARSHIP arrives at earth and the symbiont is destroyed. BONUS VICTORY: The alien does not use its switch bodies ability when the STARSHIP reaches earth.

Rules:

Private Messaging / Forum Posts:
There will be no private forums or private messages between players unless otherwise expressed in the rulez.

Text sent to players by the Moderator may not be copied and/or shared with other players at any time.

Gentleman's Rule of No Edits (i.e. Edit at your own peril, it's your fellow players you need to satisfy)
Edits to "Game Vote Tally" posts are allowed, as long as the posts contain no 'commentary'. (Since I have no OO access at work I would appreciate players keep the Game Vote Tally up to date)

Length of Game:
The game will last 7 Course Corrections (night) and Day cycles. The STARSHIP will arrive at earth at the end of the 7th day. At that point the game will end and a victory condition will be determined unless a victory condition has already been achieved. The game begins with a Course Correction and players will be in their cryo pods.

Days and Course Corrections (nights):
During course corrections (night), players must enter to their cryo pods to service the ship's accelerations and de-accelerations.

Course Correction Boilerplate:
Guard Captain: Who will you scan?
The Duke: Who will you scan?
Alien: Who will you scan (if possible)?
Symbiont: Who will you kill (if possible)?

Game Sequencing - Course Correction (night):
Guard Captain scans.
The Duke scans.
Alien scans (if possible)
Symbiont self-destructs (if possible)
Symbiont kills (if possible)
Alien will be notified that the symbiont has been re-programmed.

All Course Correction Play orders must be in before the hard deadline, or forfeit.

Night Sequence of Resolution:
Symbiont order is processed.
Alien's order is processed.

Beginning of Day Play Boilerplate:
The results of last course correction (night) and number of votes needed for lynch as well as hard deadline.
Who will you switch bodies with (if possible)?

Voting:
Each day players will be able to place a vote for the player they wish to thrown out the airlock.

Only votes (and withdraws) cast with the   tag are official.

A majority vote will close voting.
If the Day ends without a majority reached no player will be thrown out the airlock.

Deaths:
Dying player's alignment (guard, convict, symbiont, alien) will be revealed. 
 

Reserved

R. SCOTT III is now taking sign ups and I am requesting everyone take a look at the rulez and provide questions or comments. THANKS!

I'm in blind. Maybe I can not give away my role in the first few hours and get my ass lynched.

I'm in!

Count me IN.

in

I'm in. This one looks different, but a cool different...

This again?

In!

How many times per day may the Alien switch bodies? Unlimited? 'Cause, that seems OP if so.

I'd suggest up to once per Day.

...

The Symbiont player is probably not much fun to play. He's a complete tool.

...

Love the new Alien rules!

...

Could you make it terribly clear, this time, that the Human sub-victories are NOT "minor wins" for the other Human faction? Confusion over that has been an issue both other games.

I'm a virgin....to Scoop's game so I'll give it a try.

Lagom Lite wrote:In!

How many times per day may the Alien switch bodies? Unlimited? 'Cause, that seems OP if so.

I'd suggest up to once per Day.

...

The Symbiont player is probably not much fun to play. He's a complete tool.

...

Love the new Alien rules!

...

Could you make it terribly clear, this time, that the Human sub-victories are NOT "minor wins" for the other Human faction? Confusion over that has been an issue both other games.

Actually, I need to fix that. The alien's ability to switch bodies is a ONE TIME power. HOWEVER, I am open to making it the alien's night power each night. What does everyone think? Is that too powerful?

=====

Symbiont player is sort of like Galen. He is a silent protector of the alien though he has no clue who the alien is and then if he is scanned by the Guard Captain or The Duke he then switches to their side and can kill at night. Once he is reprogrammed and has switched sides, the alien can scan for him and set off his self-destruct allowing the symbiont to die and take one other player with him (his choice). Who he kills can decide the game as well.

Alien
The alien is a cosmic parasite attempting to make its way to a populated planet so it can continue to feed.

ABILITY UNDER REVIEW: PLEASE COMMENT IN THE MAIN THREAD.
CHOICE 1: SWITCH BODIES: The Alien has to ability to switch from its current body and take possession of another player. This switch can take place anytime during the day only. This is a ONE TIME ABILITY. The original host will die. The switch will fail if the symbiont is targeted by the alien. The switch will NOT replace the lynch for that day. Switch Mechanism: The first host will choose what player to move to. The first host will die and that player will no longer be in the game however he will be able to send one secret PM (through the moderator) to the new host. The new host will now be the alien and will lose any powers or abilities he had up to that point. The alien can not switch bodies with the symbiont and the attempt fails however this failed attempt will not be announced in the main thread. The symbiont will know that a switch was attempted by not who made the attempt.

CHOICE 2: SWITCH BODIES: The Alien has to ability to switch from its current body and take possession of another player. This switch can take place each course correction (night) only. The original host will die. The switch will fail if the symbiont is targeted by the alien. The switch will NOT replace the lynch for that day. Switch Mechanism: The first host will choose what player to move to. The first host will die and that player will no longer be in the game however he will be able to send one secret PM (through the moderator) to the new host. The new host will now be the alien and will lose any powers or abilities he had up to that point. The alien can not switch bodies with the symbiont and the attempt fails however this failed attempt will not be announced in the main thread. The symbiont will know that a switch was attempted by not who made the attempt.

SCAN ABILITY: The alien will be secretly notified that the symbiont has been reprogrammed. If the symbiont has been re-programmed by either the Guard Captain or The Duke, then (and ONLY then) the Alien may scan for the symbiont each course correction (night). If alien scans the symbiont then the symbiont must immediately self-destruct killing himself and one other player.

Thoughts?

In past versions with the limited alien, this has become a deadlock between convicts and crew. Allowing the alien to jump each night, effectively working as wolf night-kill but providing a new mostly random alien, the convicts and crew will be forced to focus on something besides their own agenda while creating a shifted agenda for one member each day. If the Alien isn't found, agendas don't matter.

A one-time Alien shift will likely result in the same crew/convict deadlock the prior two R. Scott's encountered.

I hereby submit a nomination for the Alien ability to shift each night while killing itself. Does anyone second?

And I am IN!!!!

theohall wrote:I hereby submit a nomination for the Alien ability to shift each night while killing itself. Does anyone second?

Of those two variants, this one intrigues me the most, too - except I still like my idea better; to have the alien swap during the DAY. Imagine the paranoia.

Lagom Lite wrote:

theohall wrote:I hereby submit a nomination for the Alien ability to shift each night while killing itself. Does anyone second?

Of those two variants, this one intrigues me the most, too - except I still like my idea better; to have the alien swap during the DAY. Imagine the paranoia.

This would be almost Thing-like. Too bad Kraegor isn't around to torture with that memory.

Anyway - Day Swap once per day with the Host dying. Works for me. Would make for some very interesting writeups.

Only thing of note, if the Guard or Duke find the Symbiont before the Alien does, there could be 3 deaths per cycle (Day Alien Swap, Day Lynch, Night Symbiont Kill), which would end the game quickly. Might even give the Symbiont a real chance at winning - which has barely existed in prior versions.

Having the alien bounce means that every single day will be like day 1 with the hopes of finding the alien be a complete crap shoot.

Something has to change to prevent the crew/convict deadlock which essentially stopped the first two iterations of this variant.

I would suggest a method of allowing the convicts/guards to switch sides. Maybe allow the main duo to offer a pardon/bribe once per game to someone they had scanned as enemy?

theohall wrote:Something has to change to prevent the crew/convict deadlock which essentially stopped the first two iterations of this variant.

yeah that deadlock killed off all the fun for me last time....and is a major part of me not signed up yet. Not sure how it plays out here since i've only skimmed the rules.

whats to prevent the convicts & duke all self outing, and then voting against one who isnt on their squad? Granted guards could self out...but in the long run why would they do that?

I'm ready for another one, IN!

Remus West wrote:Having the alien bounce means that every single day will be like day 1 with the hopes of finding the alien be a complete crap shoot.

Only when/if he bounces. Which is maybe an argument for making it a night power after all.

Lagom Lite wrote:

Remus West wrote:Having the alien bounce means that every single day will be like day 1 with the hopes of finding the alien be a complete crap shoot.

Only when/if he bounces. Which is maybe an argument for making it a night power after all.

Been thinking about this. Normally, these games rely upon reading patterns over time. With a shifting alien, it does become like a Day One every day, but only for finding the alien. The challenge then becomes whose behavior has suddenly changed and who is still maintaining their pattern over time. To me, this looks like an interesting concept to play out, because it takes away the normal means of finding the alien, while the 3 non-alien sides are trying to find their own way to win and would still be following the pattern thing to garner info.

The alien needs to find the Symbiont, so it should be hopping bodies trying to get the Symbiont to explode, even though that carries the risk of the Symbiont picking the alien as his exploding buddy. The alien can take the risk of not hopping around and hoping the crew lynches the Symbiont. This only works, IMO, if the alien's power is a night time power.

Question: When the Symbiont gets the power to kill and the Alien has the shifty power, if they are night powers, will the crew know the difference between what killed them? (if you decide to go this route) This would become important if the Alien chose to hide instead of transfer.

So what about giving someone an ability that prevents the symbiont from invading that target? And then the symbiont dies, or bounces to a random person? I guess that still makes the ability to shift during the day a little different.

But it adds a special.. Ship's Doctor or some such name.. Not sure if it would work..

RMC wrote:So what about giving someone an ability that prevents the symbiont from invading that target? And then the symbiont dies, or bounces to a random person? I guess that still makes the ability to shift during the day a little different.

But it adds a special.. Ship's Doctor or some such name.. Not sure if it would work..

I think you mean "Alien from invading that target". The Symbiont is the Android who wants the Alien alive.

theohall wrote:

RMC wrote:So what about giving someone an ability that prevents the symbiont from invading that target? And then the symbiont dies, or bounces to a random person? I guess that still makes the ability to shift during the day a little different.

But it adds a special.. Ship's Doctor or some such name.. Not sure if it would work..

I think you mean "Alien from invading that target". The Symbiont is the Android who wants the Alien alive.

Be quiet your dead..err.. I mean yeah..The Alien not the Symbiont.

RMC wrote:

theohall wrote:

RMC wrote:So what about giving someone an ability that prevents the symbiont from invading that target? And then the symbiont dies, or bounces to a random person? I guess that still makes the ability to shift during the day a little different.

But it adds a special.. Ship's Doctor or some such name.. Not sure if it would work..

I think you mean "Alien from invading that target". The Symbiont is the Android who wants the Alien alive.

Be quiet your dead..err.. I mean yeah..The Alien not the Symbiont.

HMMMMMMM. Thanks for all the feedback.

First funny thing, I never considered the alien's "switch body" power to happen more than once. I felt it would be too jarring for everyone to attempt to figure who the alien could be each day. His one time power during the day would best be used to escape a lynch but thinking further on it I can see how that wouldn't be much fun.

So, I'm cool with changing his power to allow him to switch bodies each night and basically each day a new person will be the alien which is a new concept.

And actually that makes me want to get rid of the symbiont. I wanted to make him kind of an independent player (like Galen) who chooses a side once he is re-programmed. However, I see a more interesting "Doctor" character who is a protector against the alien switching bodies.

Also, I like Remus West's idea (he mentioned it last time and I forgot) of Captain and Duke allowing enemy players to switch to their side. Pardon/Bribe once per game. I like it.

Also, someone asked why doesn't the The Duke and Captain just out the other. Remember that both are the only scanners for each team and he knows that if he outs the other, the other will out him too (unless he can find a way to eliminate him).

Is everyone really want the Symbiont as he is currently written? I'm thinking about removing him in favor of a ship's robot doctor that allows protection each night.

I'd be good with switching to a Dr Protector. IMO, the key to making this work is finding some way to avoid the convict/crew issue which is why I was thinking the more than one time alien transfer. One other thought - instead of making the alien able to switch every night, base the number of times it can switch on the number of players. With the current number, say 3 switches. For every 3 players beyond 14 (if possible), it gets one more transfer. Increasing the number of players would be 2 convicts for each guard. But that's just crazy stuff. Even with the Doc, he will be guessing so the alien should have at least one other limitation with the Symbiont being removed.

One other thought would be the Dr protects but also wins at the end, like the symbiont, if the alien is alive. So he is his own team trying to keep the crew alive as hosts for when the ship docks.

I think that's all.

You know scoop, a quick-fix to the stalemate issue between the two human factions is to actually do the complete opposite of what I suggested before - let the human sub-victories be bonus victories. That would mean the cons win a "small win" even if they have to go back to prison.

Or, make the Crew faction very tiny. Like, two or three people, increase Crew player powers, and increase the number of Con players. That means everyone will try to fake Convict and the game will play out as a regular WW game, where there will be publically a single goal (get the convics to win) and the other factions have to sneak around.

Maybe give the Crew their own forum in this case.

Scoop20906 wrote:Is everyone really want the Symbiont as he is currently written? I'm thinking about removing him in favor of a ship's robot doctor that allows protection each night.

Make the Symbiont a Crew Protector, reduce the number of Crew and let the entire Crew share the Symbiont victory condition...

Lagom Lite wrote:You know scoop, a quick-fix to the stalemate issue between the two human factions is to actually do the complete opposite of what I suggested before - let the human sub-victories be bonus victories. That would mean the cons win a "small win" even if they have to go back to prison.

Attica! Attica!

I am still in.

I have to announce I'm Out unless this starts mid-august at the earliest. Sorry.

Hey guys:

Still accepting sign ups since I believe this game starts as soon as we are full.

I'm going to work on tweaking the rulez tonight so expect to see final rulez soon.

scoop - fix the potential of the deadlock between cons & guards, that killed my enjoyment last time around- the engineers & convicts....

if that happens...i AM IN!