None Shall Pass [Game Thread - Concluded]

Autolycus said:
Just curious, which NotW of mine, Only the Strong or Return of the Baron? Both had split towns, although Only the Strong's was much more split :)
Click to expand...
I vaguely remember in Only the Strong being part of the town that everyone died in really freaking fast.
 
Por que no los dos?
 
Porque my game is better.
 
I porqued your mother last night, Trebek!
 
HOST COMMENTARY






Part 1: Introduction​





Lord of the Rings vs. Star Wars, Zack, really? You hack. Yeah, yeah, I know - but the end result wasn't half bad, was it? I hope not.

This game can trace its origins to a couple years ago (probably), and I've gone back on forth on whether or not I want to host it since then. Reasons for not hosting ranged from "this is just too hackneyed even for me" to "I'm a lazy bum," even though the game's design has been mostly finished for over a year by this point.

This is the first mafia game I've hosted in almost three years where the majority of players were not vanilla townies, and that game wasn't even that good. This made me realize that a lot of the current players weren't even around for my two role-heavy large games (Star Wars and Princess Bride). There's probably a large contingent of the player base who believe I'm just the guy who hosts near-vanilla games (which I guess isn't necessarily untrue).

I'm no one-trick pony!


VERSION 1.0

The basic idea for the premise came from wideyedwanderer and remake20's Legend of Zelda Mafia: War of Hyrule (it feels weird to say, but that was over three years ago). I wanted to host a game with a similar setup, but my own signature. There would be two big bads, able to convert some of the players into their cronies. What better roles to play the big bads than the Dark Lord Sauron and Emperor Palpatine?

I went back and forth on how the rest of the game would work out. Originally, the game would employ a "split town" concept, split between the Lord of the Rings town and the Star Wars town. Palpatine could only recruit from Star Wars; Sauron, from LOTR. There were also a host of neutrals, many from places other than Star Wars or LOTR, whom both sides could recruit. I quickly realized that having a bunch of neutrals from other universes was stupid, and scrapped that idea.


VERSION 1.5

I decided there would be no "split town" anymore; rather, there would be numerous factions. There were a few neutrals, each with their own goals, and a large number of innocents, with one more player from LOTR than there were from Star Wars (would you rather be Treebeard or Wedge Antilles?). I also implemented an alignment system. Sauron and Palpatine could recruit anyone with neutral or evil alignment, and Palpatine could even corrupt players and knock their alignment down a level. There were a few characters immune to Palpatine's corrupting power, but for the most part, players could be corrupted. The only player not from either universe was Ganondorf, who I stuck in as a serial killer, both as a homage to the LoZ game and because I've had awesome ideas formulating for Ganondorf as a serial killer in one of my games for a long time. He also formed a fake lover's team with Sauron.

After working with that idea some more, I was unsatisfied with what was coming out of it. It looked like I simply took the setup from the Zelda game and infused it with the roles from the LOTR game and the Star Wars game. The game seemed banal and trite; I was trying to copy the successes of other hosts, instead of coming up with my own ideas.

I left the idea alone for awhile, until I made the thread asking what large game I should host. The "Star Wars / LOTR Mash-Up" jumped out into a dominant lead, and I started getting new ideas for the game.


VERSION 2.0

I basically hit the reset button on what I had designed previously. I stripped it all the way down to the basics...

  • Two cult leaders (Palpatine and Sauron)

  • Split town (LOTR and Star Wars)

  • Serial killer (Ganondorf)

...and worked from the ground up. I took out the fake lovers team - I hadn't stopped to think that it simply didn't make sense. Besides, I already borrowed enough from the Zelda game with the how the two cults would work.

In this new design phase, the split town was not only put back in place, but it was put in place on a whole new level. Not only did the town have to destroy the cults, but they had to destroy the other town in order to achieve victory. The town was truly split in the most extreme sense.

There was also originally an "End This Madness!" faction (composed of Frodo, Luke, Yoda, and Gandalf), intent on finding a peaceful solution to end the conflict. I couldn't make it work, and figured it took away from the main focus of the game, so I scrapped it and sent the members back to their respective towns.

I also instituted a progressive ability system inspired by ATPG's Fall of the Order.

The game also needed a name and a storyline - "Star Wars / LOTR Mash-Up" is an incredibly lame name, and "Star Wars and LOTR characters magically meet up and start fighting herp derp" is not a storyline at all.

About this same time, I was working my way through Battlestar Galactica on Netflix, which provided a lot of inspiration for the story, as fans of the show can probably tell. Hopefully this game's ending wasn't as god-awful (pun not originally intended, but left in with this comment to highlight its punny nature) as the show's, although I'm sure this game's "plot" (a word I use very lightly) pales in comparison.

A cataclysmic event(s) nearly wipes out the Star Wars galaxy. The remaining survivors get in a few Star Destroyers and flee. After drifting through space for twelve years, looking for the mysterious planet, the fleet finally reaches Middle-Earth.

Upon landing, however, they find they're not welcome. The natives of the planet resist them. At first the Star Wars people just want to coexist peacefully, but after the xenophobic hostile welcome, they decide they want the planet for themselves. The planet becomes engulfed in a war, pitting the much more numerous but technologically backwards peoples of Middle-Earth against the tiny but technologically superior group of ragtag survivors from the Star Wars galaxy (coincidentally composed of main characters from the movies).

While all of this is happening, divisions erupt between these two main factions. Sauron is trying to take control of his faction, while Emperor Palpatine is trying to seize power in his own. Of course, both still want to annihilate the other side. Meanwhile, Ganondorf is somehow there.* The story would also contain humorous elements, recognizing the fact that it's not completely serious and it's not exactly a storyline fit for a novel, to put it mildly.

*I think the original justification for this was that Zack was secretly "Darth Zaccino," who guided the fleet to Middle-Earth to find a Holocron of Power or something. This was also going to tie into Stairway to Heaven / Zack Mafia somehow. Needless to say, I abandoned this.

And there it was. A storyline, however ridiculous, that sets the stage for the game in a (somewhat) non-lame manner. I initially went for the name "The Intergalactic Battle for Middle-Earth," which fit extremely well, but ultimately decided it was much too wordy. Instead, I opted for the simpler "None Shall Pass."

(I should also note that I made some final tweaks to the game design when I opened sign-ups, as well as cutting a few roles since I didn't get 39 players.)




End of Part 1.​
​
​
​




Next: The setup.​
 


Will that be your next game?
 
HOST COMMENTARY








Part 2: Fellowship of the Setup











Obi-Wan Kenobi / EMPEROR PALPATINE - Camikaze

POSSIBLE CONVERTS:

Count Dooku - Askthepizzaguy

Darth Vader - Stuck in Pi

Grand Moff Tarkin - player (CUT)

Darth Maul - Backwards Logic

VANILLA CONVERTS:

Padmé Amidala - Gone 3 the Celt

Boba Fett - sirtommygunn





Faramir / SAURON - Takhisis

POSSIBLE CONVERTS:

Saruman the White - johnhughthom/JoanK

Witch-King of Angmar - SamSniped

Nazgûl - player (CUT)

Mouth of Sauron - Frozen In Ice






Aragorn / GANONDORF - Visorslash






Frodo - topsecret

Gandalf - spaceman98

Elrond - Darth Feather

Galadriel - choxorn

Sam - edse (The Black Knigh)

Gimli - johnhughthom/JoanK - CONVERTED TO LOTR CULT

Legolas - Double A

Pippin - BSmith068

Merry - KingMorgan

Boromir - azzaman333

Arwen - Sprig

Bilbo - player (CUT)

Treebeard - player (CUT)

Éowyn - Arakhor

Theoden - Verarde

Éomer - Red_Spy

Denethor - player (CUT)

Gollum - SamSniped - CONVERTED TO LOTR CULT






Luke Skywalker - Jarrema

Yoda - Backwards Logic - CONVERTED TO STAR WARS CULT

Qui-Gon Jinn - Stuck in Pi - CONVERTED TO STAR WARS CULT

Mace Windu - Askthepizzaguy - CONVERTED TO STAR WARS CULT

Anakin Skywalker - Nintz

Padmé Amidala - Gone 3 the Celt - CONVERTED TO STAR WARS CULT

Princess Leia - Frozen In Ice - CONVERTED TO LOTR CULT

Bail Organa - player (CUT)

Han Solo - Dumanios

Chewbacca - Buddhafish

Lando Calrissian - Autolycus

R2-D2 - dcmort93

C-3PO - SouthernKing

Admiral Ackbar - Kennigit

Jango Fett - player (CUT)

Boba Fett - sirtommygunn - CONVERTED TO STAR WARS CULT

Jabba the Hutt - robbiecon

General Grievous - player (CUT)​







End of Part 2.​
​
​
​




Next: Abilities.​
 
HOST COMMENTARY



Part 3: Attack of the Abilities​






Active Abilities:

Spoiler :
Healer - Heal a player's injuries; cannot heal yourself.





Protector - Protect another player, not yourself, from being night-killed.





Enlighten – Make the target incorruptible (only works on members of x Town). If you target someone who does not belong to either Town, you will die.





Feminine Charms - Prevent a male player from performing a Night action.





Force Ghost II - PM one player each phase; the recipient cannot send you a reply, and you can send no additional PMs.





Force Ghost III - PM one player each phase and carry on a full conversation with them.





Horn of Gondor - Post an anonymous message in the morning update. Send me a PM during the Night to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing.





Horn of Gondor II - Send an anonymous PM to another player. Send me a PM during any phase to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing. You can only send one PM each phase.





I Am No Man - Vigilante kill a Nazgul.





My Precious - Scan two people each Night to determine if either of them is in possession of the One Ring.





My Precious II - Steal the One Ring from a specified player.





My Precious III - Wear the One Ring on your finger, as you would any other ring.





My Precious IV - Leave the game in possession of the One Ring.





Propaganda - Post an anonymous message in the morning update. Send me a PM during the Night to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing.





Propaganda II - Send an anonymous PM to another player. Send me a PM during any phase to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing. You can only send one PM each phase.





Reason - Scan another player to determine their susceptibility to cult conversion.





Reviver (Healer II) - Bring someone back to life.





Scan - Scan another player to determine if they are aligned with Star Wars or with Lord of the Rings.





Scan I, Level 2 - Scan another player to determine whether or not they can use the Force.





Scan II - Track another player to see who, if anyone, they visit.





Scan II, Level 2 - Track another player to see what, if anything, they do.





Scan III - Scan another player to see one of their abilities; cannot penetrate cover roles.





Scan III, Level 2 - Scan another player to see who visits them that night.





Scan IV - Scan another player to determine the name of their role; cannot pierce cover roles.





Scan IV, Level 2 - Scan another player to determine whether or not they have been converted.





The Old Switcheroo - Change someone's vote to another player.





The Old Switcheroo II - Change two players' votes to another player.



(continued in more posts, because of image limit)
 
More Active Abilities:

Spoiler :
Ultimate Sacrifice - Prevent any night kills from occurring.





Ultimate Sacrifice II - Prevent everyone not belonging to your team from performing any Night actions.





Vigilante - Injure one person, or kill an injured person.





Vigilante II - Kill one person.



Passive Abilities:

Spoiler :
Copycat - Gain one use of an ability used on you.





Feminine Charms II - Automatically prevent a male player from using a Night action against you; can only stop a maximum of one action; only works if no other Night actions are taken.





Force Ghost - After you die, you may still participate in the game thread (more details if/when you die).





Gandalf the Grey - Death may not be so final...





Gandalf the White - Immune to conversion.





Go Down Fighting - If attacked at night, there is a 50% chance of injuring your attacker; does not function if you are protected.





Go Down Fighting II - If attacked at night, there is a 50% chance of injuring your attacker, and a 25% chance of killing your attacker; does not function if you are protected.





Mason - Know the identity of Character (Player).





Scan V - Use as many Scan abilities as add up to five; Level 2 counts as an additional half point.





Tough as Nails - If you are attacked at Night, you will not die; instead, you will be permanently injured. This ability only functions if no other Night actions are taken. Any subsequent Night attacks will be fatal.





Tougher than Nails - If you are attacked at Night, you will not die; only functions if no other Night actions are taken. Any subsequent Night attacks will injure you; any Night attacks while injured will be fatal.

 
Cult Abilities:

Spoiler :
With no other players:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will injure the target.


With 1 other player:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will kill the target.


With 2+ other players:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will kill the target through most protections and roleblocks.


LOTR Cult Abilities:

Spoiler :
Balrog - Summon the Balrog. Participants in the summoning cannot take part in any other night actions. Minimum of two participants in the summoning.





Balrog II – Kill two people during the Day. One use.





The One Ring - Protect or roleblock another player.





One Ring II - Kill, protect, or roleblock another player.





Persuasion - Scan another player to determine their susceptibility to conversion.





Corrupt - Convert a susceptible player (any convertible member of the Lord of the Rings Town) to your team. If unsuccessful, your identity is revealed to the target.





Corrupt II - Convert a susceptible player (any convertible member of the Lord of the Rings Town OR any convertible member of the Star Wars Town) to your team. If unsuccessful, your identity is revealed to the target.





Cult Leader – Survive one nightkill.





Eye of Sauron - Scan another to player to determine which team they are on.





Black Breath - Prevent the target from performing a Night action.





Black Breath II - Prevent the target from performing a Night action for two nights.





Ringwraith - Track the One Ring in case of thievery.





Ringwraith II - Kill the holder of the One Ring and return it to Sauron.





Witch-King of Angmar - Survive one nightkill.





Palantir - Scan another player to determine if they are aligned with Star Wars or with Lord of the Rings.



Palantir I-2

Palantir I, Level 2 - Scan another player to determine whether or not they can use the Force.



Palantir II

Palantir II - Track another player to see who, if anyone, they visit.



Palantir II-2

Palantir II, Level 2 - Track another player to see what, if anything, they do.



Palantir III

Palantir III - Scan another player to see one of their abilities; cannot penetrate cover roles.



Palantir III-2

Palantir III, Level 2 - Scan another player to see one of their abilities.



Palantir IV

Palantir IV - Scan another player to determine the name of their role; cannot pierce cover roles.



Palantir IV-2

Palantir IV, Level 2 - Scan another player to determine whether or not they have been converted.



Palantir V

Palantir V - Use as many Palantir abilities as add up to five and a half; Level 2 counts as an additional half point.





Mouth of Sauron - Post an anonymous message in the morning update. Send me a PM during the Night to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing.





Mouth of Sauron II - Send an anonymous PM to another player. Send me a PM during any phase to do so; your message will be quoted verbatim, so try to avoid any distinctive patterns in your writing. You may only send one PM each phase.

 
Star Wars Cult Abilities:

Spoiler :
Persuasion - Scan another player to determine their susceptibility to conversion.





Corrupt - Convert a susceptible player (any convertible member of the Star Wars Town) to your team. If unsuccessful, your identity is revealed to the target.





Corrupt II - Convert a susceptible player (any convertible member of the Lord of the Rings Town OR any convertible member of the Star Wars Town) to your team. If unsuccessful, your identity is revealed to the target.





Cult Leader – Survive one nightkill.





Rule of Two - After you die, your Persuasion and Corruption abilities pass down to the highest-ranking Sith.





Body Armor - Prevent the target from performing a Night action.





Body Armor II - Survive one nightkill.





Death Star - Kill one player, bypassing any protection, and injure anyone targeting that player; one use.



Death Star II

Death Star II - Kill one player and anyone protecting that player.





Double-Bladed Lightsaber – Protect another player, not yourself, from being night-killed.





Double-Bladed Lightsaber II - Survive one nightkill.



Ganondorf Abilities:

Spoiler :
Dark Beast - Kill two people. Negates your invulnerability to scans.





Ganon - Kill another player. You will appear as Aragorn in the update.





Triforce of Power - Survive one nightkill. All scans of you return a result corresponding to your cover role.





Triforce of Power II - Immune to roleblocks.





Triforce of Power III – Immune to nightkills.





Triforce of Power IV – Kills using the “Ganon” ability bypass protection.





Triforce of Power V – If you are lynched, you will kill the first person to vote for you. If you are attacked at night while using the “Dark Beast” ability or using no ability, you will kill the attacker.





Twilight - Change someone's vote to another player.





Twilight II - Possess someone and kill another player with the possessed person; can only use after using Ganon twice, or using Ganon and Dark Beast.



End of Part 3.​
​
​
​




Next: Role PMs.​
 
I assume the crossed-out abilities are abilities that would have existed with the full 39 players?
 
All those abilities would've worked better with a game with another ten players, so that there was time to develop them.
 
All of the ones that are crossed out were taken out of the game because they were overpowering and unbalanced. The ones associated with specific cut roles are: Propaganda I/II (Bail Organa), Tougher Than Nails (Grievous/Treebeard), Black Breath/Ringwraith (Nazgul), Death Star I/II (Tarkin). Any other crossed out abilities were just straight-up removed from the game, regardless of size. I never bothered to remove them from the word document, so I left them in for the post as something of an easter egg.
 
Arakhor said:
You don't say. He didn't even exist until Night 6 or so!
Click to expand...

Zack said:
No. However, if Gollum had scanned the Ring on you, his VCs would have changed to escaping the game with the Ring (he would have gained more abilities to help with this).
Click to expand...

Takhisis said:
Didn't he scan me with the Ring just as I converted him? I did anticipate that whe would try to steal from me so I flipped him.
Click to expand...

Zack said:
Yes .
Click to expand...

Teeheehee :mischief:

Also, my Role PMs:
Spoiler Original, Good Guy Gollum Role PM :
Gollum




Alignment:




Team:

​




Gollum, originally known as Sméagol (or Trahald), was at first a Stoor, one of the three early hobbit-types. The name Gollum was derived from his disgusting gurgling, choking cough. His birth can be estimated to have happened in the year TA 2430. His death date is given as March 25, 3019. His life was extended far beyond its natural limits by the effects of possessing the One Ring. At the time of his death, Sméagol was about 589 years old, a remarkable age for a creature that was once a Hobbit, but he had been deformed and twisted in both body and mind by the corruption of the Ring. His chief desire was to possess the Ring that had enslaved him, and he pursued it for many years after Bilbo Baggins found it while walking in the Misty Mountains in the book "The Hobbit".
Click to expand...



Day Actions:

1. Vote to lynch someone.


Night Actions:

1. You may use one active ability.



Active Abilities:

Spoiler :
My Precious - Scan two people each Night to determine if either of them is in possession of the One Ring.



Passive Abilities:

Spoiler :
(none)





VICTORY CONDITIONS:

Spoiler :
TOTAL VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Town are eliminated. You and at least three other members of the Lord of the Rings Town survive to the end of the game.


MAJOR VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Town are eliminated. You survive to the end of the game.


VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Town are eliminated. At least three members of the Lord of the Rings Town survive to the end of the game.


CLOSE VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Town are eliminated. Two or less members of the Lord of the Rings Town survive to the end of the game.


CLOSE DEFEAT:

You survive to the end of the game, but the Lord of the Rings Town is eliminated.


DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Town is eliminated.


MAJOR DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Town is the first team eliminated.


TOTAL DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Town is the first team eliminated by a wide margin.
​

Spoiler Second, Wicked Witch-King of Angmar Role PM :
Takhisis has the One Ring!

Although you might not want to share this, because...



You have been converted to the Lord of the Rings Cult. Your teammates are Takhisis (aka Sauron) and johnhughthom (aka Saruman). They have created a QT here. You are encouraged to use your old role as Gollum as a cover role, although you do not retain its abilities.

Your new role is below:



Witch-King of Angmar





Alignment:




Team:

​



The Witch-king of Angmar was once a Man that was corrupted by one of the nine Rings of Power given to Nine lords of men by Sauron in the Second Age. He and the eight others received incredible power from the rings, which they used to further their own ambitions, but eventually the Rings completely corrupted them and turned them into wraiths, undead Nazgûl, completely under the will of Sauron. The Witch King became the leader of the Nazgûl and Sauron's second in command.
Click to expand...



Day Actions:

1. Vote to lynch someone.


Night Actions:

1. You may use one active ability.

2. You may also use one cult ability.

3. All passive abilities are used automatically.



Active Abilities:

Spoiler :
Black Breath - Prevent the target from performing a Night action.




Ringwraith - Track the One Ring in case of thievery.



Passive Abilities:

Spoiler :
Witch-King of Angmar – Survive one nightkill.



Cult Abilities:

Spoiler :
With no other players:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will injure the target.


With 1 other player:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will kill the target.


With 2+ other players:

• Attack one player. A successful attack will kill the target through most protections and roleblocks.





VICTORY CONDITIONS:

Spoiler :
TOTAL VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Cult are eliminated. You and at least two other members of the Lord of the Rings Cult survive to the end of the game.


MAJOR VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Cult are eliminated. You survive to the end of the game.


VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Cult are eliminated. At least two members of the Lord of the Rings Cult survive to the end of the game.


CLOSE VICTORY:

All enemies of the Lord of the Rings Cult are eliminated. One member of the Lord of the Rings Cult survives to the end of the game.


CLOSE DEFEAT:

You survive to the end of the game, but the Lord of the Rings Cult is eliminated.


DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Cult is eliminated.


MAJOR DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Cult is the first team eliminated.


TOTAL DEFEAT:

The Lord of the Rings Cult is the first team eliminated by a wide margin.
​
 
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