Changelog

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.