Changelog

2025-04-19: More Drafting Mechanics for Werewolf - Additional Mystic Vaults Behaviours

As a bit of a lame April Fool's I released extra options for Mystic Vaults in the form of new items without mentioning them here. A surprise on the host screen.

They were automatically bestowed to Patrons and as the names of the items are fairly self-explanatory, I left it to the intelligence of the host to figure out what to do with them. Unfortunately for me, Shane was the first host to create a game since their release so I had to explain everything to him separately.

Mystic Vault Behaviour: Move Randomly

The Vault moves to a random living player, instead of to the southern neighbour. The player is chosen during the night phase, so may be passed to a player that was killed during the night. Should the Vault end up in the Graveyard this way it will attempt to pass itself back up to a living player on subsequent nights.

Mystic Vault Behaviour: Move Within Faction

If the Vault is on a player that is not village aligned, it will move to another player within its faction. If the Vault begins or somehow ends up on a village aligned player, it will instead move randomly. If no allies can be found of a non-village player, the Vault will remain where it is.

Mystic Vault Behaviour: Hide All Locked Levels

The number of locked items is known, but not what they are.

Mystic Vault Behaviour: One From Any Level

Only one item may be picked per level, the unchosen items will be lost.

The behaviours are added to players like standard items in the setup screen and impact the Mystic Vault the player starts with. Adding them to player without a Mystic Vault will have no effect.

Each behaviour adds an additional line of text to the description of the Mystic Vault detailing the extra or different behaviour it has.

Developer comments: As previously mentioned, I wasn't entirely fixed on the ruleset for drafting within the game of werewolf. This update does not finalise all possible interactions or behaviours either, but I will keep an eye on their use and rely on the ingenuity of players to create setups with them.

For some time people have been looking at a way to make a Coven-as-the-only-evil-faction game possible, and the obvious use of the Move Within Faction behaviour is to give the Coven controlled access to weapons. However, I had always hoped the solution would have a more "Coven Feel" than resorting to simple kill power. Perhaps someone else can be more inventive than me for this problem.

2025-01-01: Drafting Mechanics in Werewolf

New Item: Mystic Vault

The Mystic Vault adds a mechanic that will be familiar to board game fans to werewolv.es: drafting. Drafting is where players are presented with a list of options they can select from before passing the remaining choices on to another player. The Mystic Vault achieves this by locking away items inside it, allowing players to draw one item from it per night before the Mystic Vault passes to their neighbour below them on the player list.

A host can choose to lock items away in deeper levels of the Mystic Vault so that stronger items are not immediately available at the start of the game.

To put items into a vault, assign them to a role in the setup screen, then assign a vault to that role. Any items above the vault will be locked away in it. Any items below the vault will be available to the player as normal. More vaults can be assigned to the role to add layers of items that are inaccessible until the higher layers have been cleared.

For example, if you were to assign the following items to a role in this order:

Heart of Fenrir
Mystic Vault
Wolf Pelt
Crossbow
Mystic Vault
Potion of Clarity
Potion of Toughness
Potion of Poison
Mystic Vault
Potion of Protection

The player that received this role would see the Mystic Vault and Potion of Protection on night one. They would be able to choose from one of three potions, Clarity, Toughness or Poison on night one and then the Vault would pass to their southern neighbour. They would see the Wolf Pelt, Crossbow and Heart of Fenrir but they would be inaccessible to them. The Wolf Pelt and the Crossbow would be available options once all of the potions had been removed from the Vault. Finally, the Heart of Fenrir would be accessible once all other items had been picked from the Mystic Vault.

You cannot pass a Mystic Vault to a player, it will pass itself automatically

A Mystic Vault cannot be stolen

A Mystic Vault cannot be destroyed

This item was made available early to Diamond_Dove as she was hosting a game due to start on the 1st of January, Patrons should be receiving a glut of them this month to use in their own setups as they see fit.

Developer comments: I felt like item drafting could be a good mechanic to explore in the realms of a werewolf game. The choices that players make could be good discussion points for the village to have. I'm not completely set on having this be the final implementation for the Mystic Vaults, their rules and openness may make them too difficult for evils to utilise well. We'll see how the first few games with them in go. I've decided that the first version would be best off without existing mechanics interfering with them (e.g. theft) but this doesn't mean it will stay this way or that I won't introduce other methods to interact with them.

In addition, giving hosts a mechanism to feed items into a game without them necessarily being available at the start may help to more finely balance some setups.

2024-12-08: Welcome to Werewolf Whamageddon!

As sure as snoozing follows turkey and farts follow sprouts, December has followed November and we find ourselves playing all sorts of games of silly buggers. Like avoiding a certain song whilst panic buying tat for loved ones.

The following new things have been gifted to Patreons for their use at their own discretion:

New Item: Heart of Wham!

If you start the night with a Heart of Wham! you must use it on another player.

The Heart of Wham! has a 20% chance of being destroyed after being used, if it is not destroyed, it is passed to the player it was used on.

The Heart of Wham! will draw one action from the following bag and apply it to the target.

nothing x3
be Itemblocked x2
be Roleblocked x2
become Concussed x1
have a random item destroyed x1

The target will then receive a gift created by the Heart of Wham! in the form of a random item.

New Role: Jackal Frost

Alignment: Neutral
Killer?: No
Uses Witchcraft?: Yes
Night Immune?: Yes
Win Condition: Freeze all living players

Jackal Frost thinks the world would be much better if it was a little colder and has come to the village to make that vision a reality. Jackal Frost may Freeze a player each night, and once per game as a bonus action may also Freeze themselves.

New Aura: Frozen

Visible?: Yes
Removable?: Yes

A Frozen player may only visit themselves or their neighbours, unless they are Night Immune. Night Immune players are aware that they have been Frozen but are otherwise unaffected.

If a player visits a Frozen player, they have a 33% chance of being Frozen.

2024-08-31: kdm-001

As a “golly gosh - aren't you old” commiseration to myself, ww.es will be running a “special” game, hopefully* starting on Sunday 8th September.

With enough players I plan for a rerun of the Kingdom ruleset, involving influence voting, aristocrats and the monarch role. There may be slight adjustments but overall expect a similar setup to the previous one.

To ensure minimal intervention on my side in terms of player activity, as substitutions will be unlikely. Players must either

Have completed at least two 24-hour games on the site without incident ('incident' defined as a smite, poor activity or a consensus of karma down votes)
Have a vouch from an established player ('established' defined as a player with 20+ games on the site with a positive karma record)

Established players are encouraged to tap up any older players, or to invite players from other communities they believe would enjoy the experience.

Whilst a healthy number of players for this game would be preferable, please do not join from 'FOMO' or commit if you cannot spare the time or headspace for a large game. It will take up many hours of your week!

You can join this game here: https://werewolv.es/game/kdm-001

Further communications regarding the game will be emailed to players that have joined it.

* hopefully - adverb. To be full of perhaps misplaced hope, optimistic one might have the time to start at the advertised time and not - more likely, a week later.

2024-06-21: New Tribute Role, New Auras. Vote Manipulation Changes. Bux Fixes

New Role: The Pagan

Alignment: Village
Killer?: No
Uses Witchcraft?: No

The Pagan is a Village role that has the potential to gain extra voting power as the game continues.

If a village-aligned player is executed and the Pagan is voting for anyone other than the execution target, the Pagan gains a +1 modifier to their vote for the rest of the game. There is no limit to the number of modifiers the Pagan can accrue through the game in this fashion. However the Pagan does not know if a modifier has been earned nor does their aura change to reflect their new voting power.

The Pagan also gains a +1 modifier to their vote if they are the first player to vote against their target and at least one other player is also voting for the Pagan's target.

Developer comments: This role is the most difficult one I've ever made, not from a technical challenge point of view but a personal one. I've struggled to get the feel and theming right for this role but fear I'd be tweaking and re-writing it forever in an effort to perfect it. The summer solstice felt like an appropriate deadline to unveil the Pagan.

A good friend of mine died at the end of last year and this role is a small tribute to him. Although the voting aspect may not strictly fit with 'Pagan', he was never afraid to be contrarian and forge his own path.
Our lengthy (and often drunk) discussions and debates helped to shape and sharpen my thinking. They continue to have a positive impact on my life and career to this day.

May many more stubborn Pagans continue to disagree with the majority.

New Auras

Persistent - Player gains a +1 modifier to their vote if they are voting for the same player they were voting for at the end of the previous day.

Righteous - Player gains a +1 modifier to their vote if they are voting for a player that is not village-aligned.

Vindictive - Player gains a +1 modifier to their vote if voting for someone that was voting for them at the end of the previous day.

Wavering - Player gains a -1 modifier to their vote if they are voting for the same player they were voting for at the end of the previous day.

Players are notified if any of these auras apply to them via a Moderator whisper. However, all of these auras also have an Unknowingly variant that does not inform them of their status. The standard and Unknowingly auras appear to the same to Aura Seer and similar checks.

When used, the Arcanum and Greater Arcanum will nullify auras that impact voting. The Pagan will also not gain a bonus vote that day even if they vote correctly.

Vote Manipulation Changes

Valta and Tysta runes now stack. Each Valta use adds a +1 vote modifier to the target. Tysta runes add a -1 modifier, down to a minimum of 0.

Harpy silences also stack however are not subject to the 0 minimum.

Bug Fixes

Amulet of Peace shennihoozitz fixed.
Stalker-style checks now see players that visit more than one player, but still do not see multiple visits to the same player.

2023-09-03: Hell Helm Changes. New Role, New Item.

Hell Helm Changes

The Hell Helm is no longer capable of hearing evil faction chat. It can still hear all village subfaction night chat, such as Masons, Illuminati etc.

The Hell Helm will also hear whispers sent (either through an activated rune or orb) regardless of the whispering player's alignment. Once the whisper item is deactivated however, chat from evil players will not be heard again.

Developer comments: The Hell Helm has remained a controversial item since its introduction and had the potential to out an entire faction's players.

When it was originally added, it was started with a solo evil player to give them extra information so they could manoeuvre the game. Along with Clarity Potions, this strong item was only ever intended as powerful tool for evils that they could not reveal entirely, as it would incriminate themselves if they ever divulged this information.

Players unanimously dislike evil night chat not being "safe" after a day of stressful lies and deception. There are codes and methods to protect night chat from eavesdroppers, but this is yet another burden to place on the evil players when night planning can already be time consuming and mentally taxing.

The Hell Helm was last used in the "whispering evils" wlf setup, which is inspired by Blood on the Clocktower. In Blood on the Clocktower, the "whispers phase" allows players to form smaller groups from the main game and have conversations in private.

Players are free to try to eavesdrop and to keep an eye on who is plotting in secret together and these groups of trust (or deception) become forms of information themselves. The werewolv.es version of this setup includes Bloodmoon Cult and Damned players that are looking to find their evil allies, and the Hell Helm was included as a potential tool to help them. However, its presence still felt like a hindrance to the wolves.

These changes should address the main issues players have with the Hell Helm and allow this more interesting item more use in games in the future.

New Village Role - The Holdout

The Holdout has no active ability until a night phase begins with five or fewer players left alive. At which point, they may either A) shoot another player as if they were a Militia B) activate an Agitation as if they were an Agitator or C) nothing.

The Holdout's power is not single use, in the unlikely event of a second night of five or fewer players they will be able to use either of their abilities again.

The Holdout would be viewed as a potential killer by an Adjudicator at any point in the game.

Developer comments: Auxiliary evils such as the Bloodmoon Cult or Damned can make for interesting setups whilst the game is in flow, they can result in disappointing end game situations where revealing themselves and then tying the vote locks the game into an evil win. The Holdout was designed as a potential counter to such situations.

The Holdout also fits into a category of roles that have less incentive to reveal themselves early, as one principle I try to follow with setups is to make an early "full claim" a dangerous option for the village to pick.

I also considered combining the role "transformation" into an item/aura to allow for more flexibility and this remains a possibility in the future.

New Item - Graveyard Records

Graveyard Records passively reveals the role of a random dead player to its owner each morning. If no one is dead, it does nothing.

Developer comments: A fairly straight forward item, the Graveyard Records is designed to be less useful as the game progresses.

2023-07-03: Sleepwalker / Spellbound Changes

Sleepwalker and Spellbound Changes

A weighted algorithm has been applied to the code which is used by Sleepwalkers and Spellbound players to determine which random target they will visit.
Previously, this was a simple random pick from any living player in the game. It has been changed to give more weight to players being targeted, with additional weight if they are being targeted by a player that is seen as a killer. The weighting scales with the number of players left alive and the number of visits being made.

How a Target is Picked for a Sleepwalking Player

A bag is created which contains each living player
For each visit being made that night, the target is added to the bag again:
p times if the visitor is not viewed as a killer.
p + (p * v) times if the player is viewed as a killer.

Where
p: 1/3 of the players left alive.
v: the number of visits being made.
The Sleepwalker themselves is removed from the bag
One random name is drawn from the bag

Examples

In a 5 player game with a single Werewolf and a Harlot alive. If the Harlot checked the Werewolves' target, a Sleepwalker in the game would have a 62% chance of visiting the victim, and a 12% chance for each of the remaining players.

In a 9 player game with a single Werewolf and a Harlot alive. If the Harlot checks a player other than the Werewolves' target, a Sleepwalker in the game would have a 49% chance of visiting the Werewolf target, a 19% chance of visiting the Harlot's check and a 4% chance for each of the remaining players.

Developer comments: This change was inspired after a conversation at Manchester Werewolf. Sleepwalking is far less of a hindrance to visiting intel roles than Lycanthropy is to Seer roles. Sleepwalkers almost never provide "cover" for killing roles like their original intent.

2023-04-14: 2 New Items. Visit Intel Changes

New Item - Askeleita Rune

An Askeleita Rune allows you to make your target visit every other living player.

Developer Comments: This item opens up new methods to incriminate players against harlots, create cover for kills or straight up murder parties in combination with an Omegawolf or Daggers of Paranoia.
I hope to be able to draft some setups for wlf games built around this item, which I think will allow for some interesting bluff and double bluff situations.

New Item - Potion of Toughness

A Potion of Toughness can be used to make a player Tough for the rest of the game. You cannot target yourself with this item.

Change to Visit Intel

Harlots, Stalkers, Insomniacs (and their item, familiar and drunken equivalents) have been altered so that multiple actions against the same target will only appear as a single visit.
For example, if you use your ability and an item on the same target, a Stalker would see you "leaving your house" once. If you however, used your role ability and an item on separate targets, the Stalker would see you leaving twice.

Currently, the BlindMonk remains unchanged.

Developer Comments: Whilst this change was inspired by the addition of the Askeleita Rune, I feel that this change gives more room for evils to bluff or hide visits. Visit checks have increased in value over time and this goes someway to rebalance that power. Furthermore, it just seems a bit more realistic. If you had nefarious intentions against someone with a War Axe and a Potion of Poison, do you think you'd make two trips from your house in the same night? Being a homicidal murderer doesn't make you insane.