game information
You remember being on a boat.
Whatever reason you have to be on a boat, it doesn’t actually matter. You could have been surrounded by your friends and family, on a trip to far off lands, anything at all. But when night falls, a storm comes, and you remember falling into the water. Whether you struggle to survive or simply sink into the sea, either way, the sea overtakes you eventually.
So it’s probably surprising that you wake again to the sounds of gentle waves lapping at a shore. You’re probably exhausted, and when you first look around, this looks like a deserted island. Looking out to the sea, you can’t see any other land at all, and behind you, deeper into the island is a thick, verdant jungle. But as you explore, eventually you see something that shouldn’t exist in a remote place like this. Perched on a cliff is a mansion, and you can see lights inside.
But just as you might be considering going up to it or staying away, a woman emerges from the bushes. She looks quite surprised to see you, but she offers you a warm meal and rest at her mansion. Considering how tired you are, it seems like a good idea, so you oblige.
Though of course, once you’re there, you realize you’re not the only one in the situation. It seems like there are other shipwrecked people here…
Ship Trap is a short-term, Mafia-style game loosely based upon The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Familiarity with either Mafia or the short story is not required to participate!
You are indeed on an island, which is seemingly uninhabited, save for your strange host. The entire island is about ten square miles, and almost all of it is covered in thick, verdant jungles.
Characters will arrive on the NORTH side of the island, which is where the beaches are. This is the only portion of the island where you can reach the water easily, since the rest of the island either has sheer cliffs or large rocks in the water. It's easy to get your foot caught in between them, and with the strong riptide and waves, it's generally not a good idea to try. The water on the north side is warm and pleasant if you feel like taking a swim. Looking out onto the horizon, there's ocean as far as you can see and no sign of land. Even the birds don't venture far away from the island, implying there's nowhere else for them to go to.
To the EAST side of the island is the mansion. The mansion is perched at the top of the highest of those sheer cliffs, and it's fair to wonder how such a beautiful, old looking mansion could be built in such a remote place. The inside is even more puzzling, since it's incredibly ornate and lavish. However, despite the opulent decor, there's very little in the way of furniture. The entire mansion gives the impression of a museum far more than a place that someone actually lives in. You might also notice a strange symbol repeated throughout the mansion's carvings, though it's never the center of the art, but rather is a detail throughout.
When Ivan rings the bell for dinner, she'll lead you all to the cellar door rather than the dining room. The door opens with a sensation of warm, humid air, and there's the sight of a open staircase winding down. You're led down to an open cave where a large table is inexplicably set for as many places as there are people. You'll find dinner already set, and for those that have already been killed, you'll find their meal replaced with a framed portrait sketched in pencil. As you come to your conclusions about who to vote for, you can approach a table in a room to the side and write your vote before placing it in an ornate box. When you place your vote, there's the sound of a deep bell tolling. When you return to your place at the table, you'll find a glass of port waiting for you.
To the SOUTH, which is where you'll be spending your nights. You'll at least find plenty of places to hide. All throughout the south side of the island are odd, sometimes unsettling ruins in the jungle. They look like they've been here even longer than the mansion, and there's no explanation given to what they are or where they come from. Otherwise, the jungle is thick and overgrown, and there's no particular landmarks other than the ruins. The jungle is definitely beautiful, so you can at least easily enjoy it. All of the wildlife here is healthy, and there don't seem to be any natural predators for you to worry about.
To the WEST, the jungle continues, but it thins out eventually. You'll find a massive sinkhole, roughly fifty feet across. The ground around the edge doesn't look stable, so it's probably a bad idea to get too close. Not that it matters, since even if you did, you can't see the bottom. Even if you drop something (or someone) in it, you'll never hear it hit the bottom.
This is a short-term, Mafia-style game loosely based upon The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Familiarity with either Mafia or the short story is not required to participate!
At its most basic, mafia is a game where a group of people are targeted. In some games, the killers are mafia or wolves, and the innocents are villagers or sheep. In this game, characters are hunted by a mysterious figure called The General and his foxhounds. The purpose of the game is to figure out who The General is, since if they're killed, the game is over.
During the day, characters are allowed to stay in the mansion or the grounds surrounding it and do as they wish, but come 6PM, all of the characters are gathered together and led downstairs to dinner. Here, characters can discuss and vote on who they think The General is. At 9PM after the votes are tallied, the characters must leave the mansion for the jungle until sunrise, since this is when The General hunts. However, characters aren't picking blindly, so see ROLES for more information.
Don't worry if you've never played it before, or still don't get it; the setting posts will direct your character on where to go and what to do, and you'll be able to get into the swing of things within just a few nights.
More information on roles will be provided when we have a final count of participants in the game. In this game, many different special abilities may be given out. We will reveal the types of roles in the game at the beginning, but these roles may change as the game goes on.
INVESTIGATIVE ROLES — These roles are players who are given an ability that helps the innocents find killers. A player given an investigative role will meet at night, and will be able to vote on a player in the game. That night, they will be given information about that player. They may be told whether that individual is innocent or guilty, or they may be told whether that player did anything during the night, or they may be given clues about that player's identity that will take some additional work to make sense of.
If you are given an investigative role, your specific ability will be revealed to you on your first night playing.
PROTECTIVE ROLES — These roles are players who are given an ability to protect other players. A player with a protective role will meet at night. They will be able to choose another player (or possibly themselves) to protect, and if the killers target that player on that night, their ability will prevent that player from being killed. This may mean the other player will simply be protected from harm, or it may mean that the protective role must risk sacrificing themselves in the other's place.
If you are playing a protective role, the specific way your role protects others will be revealed to you on your first night playing.
SPECIAL ITEM ROLES — These roles are for players who will be able to use special items that may help themselves or others. The special item may be access to a weapon they can use to kill outside of voting, or the ability to give such a weapon to others. The item could also be something that grants them protection from being killed on one occasion, or they may be able to give a protective item to someone else. The player may have an item that will help them reveal someone else's role in the game upon their death.
If you are playing a role involving special items, the specific abilities of your role will be revealed to you on your first night playing.
KILLERS — Killers meet at night and decide who to kill. It's important to think strategically; not just who represents a threat, but who is likely to be protected. Killers will be given a specific IC reason to participate in the game, but the reason won't be made known to ordinary players. Their priority is to make sure that The General stays alive, since if The General is killed, they automatically lose.
EVERYONE ELSE — Even if you aren't given a special role, you still have an important job to do. You have to find The General as best you can! It might be dangerous for the special roles to draw too much attention to themselves, so you can help by being very involved. Talk to others you trust, try to figure out whatever you can and pinpoint who seems to be hiding something. The more you converse with other players, in private and in public, the better you'll do.
After a body is discovered in the morning, guests will have the rest of the day ICly to talk amongst each other and determine who to vote (or whether to vote) for execution. Votes will most likely be due by 11 PM EST on the evening following the day a body is discovered. Voting can be extended depending on how the IC discussion flows, but will never be more than another hour or two, and will also never be earlier than 11 PM. You may discuss voting all day long, and are also encouraged to speak to one another privately.
At 6PM (IC) characters are summoned to the dining hall, where they'll all be together to discuss their thoughts. At 9PM (IC), the NPC will tally the votes. Whoever receives the most votes will be executed.
Players can vote for anyone still living, but abstaining is also a valid vote. However, this is discouraged by the NPC, and can have certain consequences to be discovered.
How will I know when/where to vote?
Within the game, you will be directed to posts in
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxhounds filtered to your character's specific group to place your vote when the time comes to do so.What is the pacing of the game?
For now, players will have ~48 hours for "night" decisions and ~48 hours for "day." In total, one IC day will take 4 days OOC. There will always be things to tag and reply to every day (even for people without night roles; you may tag in the aftermath post or have private conversations in the evening).
While the structure of night posts is a secret for now, for the day, one OOC day will be for morning interactions and one will be for voting/discussion/execution. While the morning posts have light activity requirements, it's very important to be around for voting and discussion. See more under ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS.
How long will the game last?
Approximately a month. The end date depends on the amount of characters and the progression of character decisions, so it could be a little more or a little less!
What if I need to drop halfway through?
Please let us know as soon as possible, so we can deal with it in a way that won't affect the game. We really discourage this, because it requires us to make changes to the game to rebalance it, and this can add a lot of extra work for the mods. If you can try to participate as much as you can, that would help us a lot.
What can my character bring with them?
Anything they would have feasibly had on their person at their canonpoint and therefore on the ship! If the item had magical or extraordinary abilities, they will find these gone. So your magic sword is now just a sword, etc. Don't count on being able to use your weapons when it counts, though. :)
This game is only going to be fun if there's enough participation, and we hope everyone will join in. There will be no specific activity requirements in this game, but the mods will speak to any players who don't appear to be participating in the game.
The mods suggest players be able to tag throughout the week, to try not to miss voting (especially if you have a night role), and to actively participate in discussions. However, we know work/school/family/health situations can complicate that in a game like this. We understand absences for those reasons, but otherwise you do need to be present at and before voting.
In the previous mafia games, the time of most activity was the period a few hours before day voting closes, and the first hours of night voting. In this game, that will happen on different days of the week from a period of 4 PM to 10 PM, give or take. The dates we predict this occurring on are:
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12th
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th
MONDAY, AUGUST 24th
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28th
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st
It is not necessary to be present for all of these or for the entire 4 PM - 10 PM block, but if these times don't work with you, please be aware you will probably miss a very significant part of the discussion on those days, though you would still have time beforehand to participate. Additionally, night roles voting will go up at 11 PM on these days.
As for voting requirements, if you miss more than two votes the mods will probably check in on you, but as long as there is a good reason no one will be idled. This rule is subject to change if there is a huge problem with no-voting.
1) Your character can, and likely will, die. This is something you must agree on as a possibility by playing this game. But not to worry- there will be things for the dead to do. Please also be aware that if you do app two characters, there is a likelihood we'll pick you to be among the first to die.
2) All characters have been depowered for the duration of the game. Characters who look non-human can keep their appearance, but they'll find that they can be killed like your average human to keep things fair.
3) Please keep your role a secret from other players! If you are playing two characters, you especially need to be conscientious of the IC/OOC knowledge gap and not abuse any knowledge you may have gotten from another role.
4) We expect you to be active; inactivity can make the game a lot less fun for the other players. Although there's a system for idling, we really prefer that doesn't happen. It will be better if everyone participates. If something unanticipated comes up that affects your ability to be present, please let us know. We're happy to try and help.
6) If any issues arise, please contact us through PM - other than that, please just have fun!
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