Mafia! Under Cover of Darkness: Conclusion

[Lions]

Day 5

Larry Dowlon rushed over to Julia's side
when he noticed something bulky
in her pocket.



"There's a wocket in her pocket!"

He reached down to grab it.

"Oh, wait... no, this is far more
interesting." He pulled the object
out and held it aloft for all to see.



"Looks like Julia was a member of the
Coscarat Clan, too!" His surprise was evident.

"You had best all watch out tonight!
I have someone I need to talk to."

***

Later that night, Ezra Aferlaus sat
in the Garden of Reflection.



"This is so puzzling," he said to himself.
"There's got to be something more to it.
Something that will tell us everything we
need to know."

As he sat there, he was unaware of the
creature that was coming across the bridge.



"So far," Ezra continued to himself.
"There have been two mafia,
and two werewolves."

He still didn't notice that he was
not alone... "One was that Rory fellow.
Two was Jonasco. Who else could
there be? One... two..."

*WHACK*



"Three." said the creature.

Ezra lay there unconscious the
rest of the night.



***

Elsewhere, Sam was dozing
under a large tree.



"Looks like you're doing just
fine, hon," said Ivanna as she
passed him by. "Tonight it's all
about me."

She ducked into the mausoleum.



***

In the morning, Larry Dowlon
was standing at the front of the
church for another debriefing of
the night's events.



"Nice lump on your head there, Ezra,"
he began. "Who's seen Harold?"

"Not me," they all said in unison.

"Rowr!" came a cry from the
back of the sanctuary.



"Harold!" Ivanna was furious.
"That's really distasteful and a
hideous mask! Really!"

"What??" Harold protested as he pulled
the mask off. "I thought it was kind of funny."



"It is pretty cool," Sam chimed in.

"Shut up, Sam," Ivanna scolded.

"Ahem!" Dowlon cleared his throat. "I
spoke with a few of my contacts and they
indicated to me that Julia and Marty
were the only Coscarat clan here in Bay City."



"Hooray!" they all cheered.

"Furthermore, I've been consulting with
Ezra and we both believe the werewolf
threat has been eliminated as well...
Harold not withstanding, of course."

"Oh, c'mon... it's just a bit of fun."

"Shut up, Harold," Ivanna scolded.

"Nice work, everyone," Dowlon concluded.
"Looks like you're all in the clear!"

***

Winners:
Ezra Aferlaus (Kevin), Ivanna Prerosky (Dylan), Harold Rannom (James), Sam Riethar (Charlie),
Sarah Dysioni RIP (Kevin), Tim Hernbar RIP (Mike), Eli Solmirro RIP (Mike)
Town

Neutral Characters

Larry Dowlon
Has some vague experience with werewolf killings... or so he says.

Active Players
Here is the listing of players... please note that all character assignments, role assignments, and affiliation assignments have been randomized. This includes returning character roles and affiliations. Any attempt to read into those assignments is done at your own risk.


Ezra Aferlaus - Played by Kevin (Evas) - Town
Founder of Lycanthrope Removal Services


Ivanna Prerosky - Played by Dylan (Statesmen) - Town
A wealthy benefactor of Bay City.


Harold Rannom - Played by James (Longshoremen) - Town
An architect.


Sam Riethar - Played by Charlie (Shinkansen) - Town
Professional snowboarder

Eliminated Players

Rich Glons - Played by Rory (Knights) - Lynched Day 1 - Werewolf
Beat writer for the Bay City Journal


Sarah Dysioni - Played by Kevin (Featherheads) - Shot in the pompoms Night 1 - Town
One of the Clutchers cheerleaders


Tim Hernbar - Played by Mike (Hitmen) - Lynched Day 2 - Town
A local artist


Eli Solmirro - Played by Mike (Borealis) - Mauled to death Night 2 - Town
A farmer


Brett Jonasco - Played by John (John) - Stabbed Night 2 - Werewolf
The Clutcher's catcher and captain.


Marty Canoon - Played by Tim (Alleghenies) - Lynched Day 3 - Mafia
A restauranteur



Julia Von Riesal - Played by Dan (Bureaucrats) - Lynched Day 4 - Mafia
Clutchers team president

***

The game is now over. Congrats to our winners: the Town!

Survivors:


Anyone is welcome to post in this thread!

Many thanks to all who participated! I'll post night action results later and change the title of this thread to "Conclusion" once people have had a chance to read it.

Hope you all had a great time!
___________________________________________________________________________________________

As with the last game, all the character names were anagrams of PEBA folks. e.g. Larry Dowlon -> Ronald Lowry.

Role Assignments
Sarah Dysioni (Kevin) - Town Cop - Each night you may investigate one player in the game to learn if they are Mafia or not
-> Yoshisada Rin
Eli Solmirro (Mike) - Town Seer - Each night you may investigate one player in the game to learn if they are a Werewolf or not
-> Ollie Morris
Ivanna Prerosky (Dylan) - Town Doctor - Each night you may protect one player from one nightkill
-> Avery Parkinson
Tim Hernbar (Mike) - Town Roleblocker - Each night, you may prevent one player from using his or her night action.
-> Herb Martin
Harold Rannom (James) - Town Roleblocker - Each night, you may prevent one player from using his or her night action.
-> Ronald Harmon
Sam Riethar (Charlie) - Vanilla Townie - No night action
-> Artie Marsh
Ezra Aferlaus (Kevin) - Vanilla Townie - No night action
-> Rafael Suarez

Brett Jonasco (John) - Werewolf Goon - You may perform your team's factional night kill.
-> Jason Corbett
Rich Glons (Rory) - Werewolf Roleblocker - Each night, you may prevent one player from using his or her night action.
-> Chris Long

Julia Von Riesal (Dan) - Mafia Goon - You may perform your team's factional night kill.
-> Julian Olivares
Marty Canoon (Tim) - Mafia Roleblocker - Each night, you may prevent one player from using his or her night action.
-> Tony Carmona

The Mafia had the same win condition as the werewolves.
The Mafia and Werewolf roleblockers were also permitted to kill at night, but they would forfeit their block to do so.


Night Actions/Results

Night 1
Harold Rannom blocks Tim Hernbar - Successful, Tim can't block anyone
Tim Hernbar blocks Eli Solmirro - Unsuccessful, blocked by Harold
Ivanna Prerosky protects Sam Riethar - Successful, Sam can't be killed
Eli Solmirro investigates Harold Rannom - Successful, he's not a werewolf
Sarah Dysioni investigates Ivanna Prerosky - Successful, but she's dead

Brett Jonasco does nothing

Julia Von Riesal kills Sarah Dysioni - Successful, Sarah dies
Marty Canoon does nothing

Night 2
Harold Rannom blocks Sam Riethar - Successful, no effect as Sam's vanilla
Ivanna Prerosky protects Sam Riethar - Successful, Sam can't be killed
Eli Solmirro investigates Sam Reithar - Successful, but he's dead

Brett Jonasco kills Eli Solmirro - Successful, Eli dies

Marty Canoon blocks Eli Solmirro - Successful, Eli can't investigate
Julia Von Riesal kills Brett Jonasco - Successful, Brett dies

Night 3
Harold Rannom blocks Julia Von Riesal - Successful, Julia can't kill
Ivanna Prerosky protects herself - Successful, Ivanna can't be killed

Julia Von Riesal kills Sam Riethar - Unsuccessful, blocked by Harold, Sam lives

Night 4
Harold Rannom blocks Ezra Aferlaus - Successful, no effect as Sam's vanilla
Ivanna Prerosky protects herself - Successful, Ivanna can't be killed

[Borealis]

YAY TOWN!!!!

Finally...

[klewis]

Congrats to the Town! Glad to see them come out on top. Thank you Frank for hosting as always!

[Lions]

Role assignments and night action results have been added to the first post... individual player comments and host game notes will come later.

Anything surprise you about the night actions?

[Evas]

Interesting to me how Harold got more suspicious of me at the end. We had been in communication and that seemed to be going well, but some sloppiness on my part (not noticing some in game details, sharing the wrong puzzle piece) in those communications apparently made him wary.

At the same time his insistence on Julia as opposed to Sam (who seemed scummy to me in retrospect probably because Charlie was new to the game itself and was inconsistent) seemed possibly scummy.

From my Vanilla Townie point of view, night 3 had gone perfectly. We got a bad guy and lost no Townies, Julia was probably scum, sure. But Sam had aroused suspicion of both me and Harold before. We didn't know how many bad guys there were, so why not try to take out another while ensuring we don't lose anyone else. The fact that, at the time he was making the case, my switching my vote from Sam to Julia would not have lead to a lynch seemed very suspect too.

I think what I learned there is that it is critical to be precise in all communications. Just because you have gained a comfort level with a player and trust them, doesn't mean that they can't start to suspect you if you are sloppy.

[Shinkansen]

Playing Mafia with a group of friends around a table or something like that is a lot better then this.

Once I got the hang of this though, it was pretty cool and fun, thanks for hosting Frank!

[Evas]

I like both the live and the online versions. They play a lot differently.

The live version (I played Resistance with some friends last weekend) is a lot more about tells and reading people. The online version allows for more detailed analysis and dissection of votes.

Both are good, but they play very differently.

[Reg]

I agree...but I would say that sitting around with friends will always be the better experience - because you are with friends....the strategy the online version brings is the one facet that tops the live version imo

[Steel Dragons]

I might have to join the next one , reading along it seemed really fun

[Borealis]

As the Seer, I had investigated Harold on night one and found that he was not a Wolf, so I chanced it, to reach out to him. He seemed suspiciously anxious to collect the puzzle pieces and not too keen on sharing what he knew and thus I began to think there was more than just wolves at play - he seemed scummy and the Cheerleader kill didn't help things. Being the bad guy last time didn't make matters easier, as I think (Many of us) I was naturally suspicious of him. I wasn't sure what to do or where to go with this because I knew he wasn't a wolf - and tried to make that clear to the group before I was 'ingested'.

I think that there ended up being a lot more behind the scenes discussion going on this time around - am I right?

[John]

I think that there ended up being a lot more behind the scenes discussion going on this time around - am I right?

Harold got in touch with me on the day that I met my end. I hadn't experienced behind-the-scenes talk in any game before, so this was a new experience.

[Shinkansen]

I didn't initiate any talks, but Kevin V. came to me, I think Harold did too?

Just wanted puzzle pieces or if I knew anything.

[Borealis]

I think that there ended up being a lot more behind the scenes discussion going on this time around - am I right?

Harold got in touch with me on the day that I met my end. I hadn't experienced behind-the-scenes talk in any game before, so this was a new experience.

Moi aussi - that was my first meta-game experience as well. Interesting... we both do it for the first time... with Harold... we both die... Hmmmmm.....

Dying to know more about those pieces....

[Evas]

I just realized that I was stuck on Sam Riethar (Charlie) as scum because I didn't trust him. He just seemed..off. I was wrong with regard to Mafia, but I guess I was on to something. I just didn't realize what.

Speaking of which, we have had bigger fish to fry around here recently, but I am still eager to hear the story behind the pieces and the comments on how everyone played.

I made some pretty good progress on the clues. I was able to piece enough together to get "... the... name of.....David (C/G)iuntoli's...". I have no idea what it means though.

[Coqui]

Role assignments and night action results have been added to the first post... individual player comments and host game notes will come later.

Anything surprise you about the night actions?

I was surprised Brett did not use his night kill on Night 1. I was also surprised that no one tried to kill me even though I had hinted early on to having a power role:

Why not me? It would be a bad idea. I'm not willing to say why it would be a bad idea at this point beyond knowing what it's like to be on the other side. Therefore, I'm a valuable commodity. Plus, and I'm stepping our on a limb here, and I don't know exactly what this means, but I found something that might be of interest to those of you who aren't werewolves. I won't say what it is, or where I found it, but I suspect that those of us who are not werewolves may have found something similar.

This was a pretty big win for the Town, but it strikes me that it was more luck than anything:

- We just happened to guess right on Day 1 by lynching Rich, who didn't really put up a fight. If that doesn't happen and we kill Town instead on Night 1 it becomes a very different game, I suspect.

- Julia Van Riesal took out Brett for us. (As an aside, how did you determine that Brett's Night Kill occurred before he was killed by Julie? Is there some sort of Mafia overlord handbook that applies?)

I'm curious as to the thinking behind having, essentially, two uncoordinated mafia groups. Was the thought to give Town more of a fighting chance? Is that a frequently employed device in on-line mafia? Granted, the groups were pretty powerful since they each had their own roleblocker.

Interesting to me how Harold got more suspicious of me at the end. We had been in communication and that seemed to be going well, but some sloppiness on my part (not noticing some in game details, sharing the wrong puzzle piece) in those communications apparently made him wary.

At the same time his insistence on Julia as opposed to Sam (who seemed scummy to me in retrospect probably because Charlie was new to the game itself and was inconsistent) seemed possibly scummy.

From my Vanilla Townie point of view, night 3 had gone perfectly. We got a bad guy and lost no Townies, Julia was probably scum, sure. But Sam had aroused suspicion of both me and Harold before. We didn't know how many bad guys there were, so why not try to take out another while ensuring we don't lose anyone else. The fact that, at the time he was making the case, my switching my vote from Sam to Julia would not have lead to a lynch seemed very suspect too.

I think what I learned there is that it is critical to be precise in all communications. Just because you have gained a comfort level with a player and trust them, doesn't mean that they can't start to suspect you if you are sloppy.

Honestly, your refusal to go along with me in lynching Julia was the scummiest, the other details that you mention were just supporting facts. As for what made me look scummy, I was playing the same game with you that I was playing with Ivanna. Neither of you were budging for a while, and I needed one of you to switch.

As the Seer, I had investigated Harold on night one and found that he was not a Wolf, so I chanced it, to reach out to him. He seemed suspiciously anxious to collect the puzzle pieces and not too keen on sharing what he knew and thus I began to think there was more than just wolves at play - he seemed scummy and the Cheerleader kill didn't help things. Being the bad guy last time didn't make matters easier, as I think (Many of us) I was naturally suspicious of him. I wasn't sure what to do or where to go with this because I knew he wasn't a wolf - and tried to make that clear to the group before I was 'ingested'.

I think that there ended up being a lot more behind the scenes discussion going on this time around - am I right?

I played a TON by PM. And in doing so, I clearly made some mistakes - assuming that the puzzle pieces were a town-only thing, being very scummy with Eli (sorry, dude), and (for a long while) sitting down to break bread with Julie.

Anyway, thanks, Frank. This was a blast! I sincerely hope that you took and kept some notes as you did last time and will be willing to share with us. If not, I understand, of course, given LRS-gate and your role in helping solve the problems. And yes, when you get some time, I'd love to know about the puzzle pieces - is it truly nothing more than Be Sure to Drink Your Ovaltine?