Welcome to the mesmerizing Dress Rehearsal of
“Fall of Rome”!
Credit goes to Alex S for making this script.
The highest echelons of the art world have chosen each and every one of you to grace this magnificent stage, weaving a tale of treachery and heart-wrenching emotions. We welcome you into the timeless embrace of the oldest clocktower, nestled within the mystical medieval village of Ravenswood Bluff. As Richard and I stand before you, our hearts brimming with pride, we commend your unwavering dedication throughout countless rehearsals. Your auditions, where you poured your very essence, and the mind-boggling stunts that left us breathless, have secured your rightful place in this grand production. Now, with boundless passion, we bestow upon you our final adieu, as we embark on this dress rehearsal.
But, before you scurry off to fulfill your roles, there is a tale I must share. Legends speak of a malevolent curse that haunts this very stage, cast upon it by the enigmatic clock keeper. A man who took his life right here in these very walls, after a breakup left him with no where else to go. It is said that he possesses the power to immerse performers so deeply into their characters that reality and fiction intertwine… Yet, fear not, for this is merely a myth, a story whispered in hushed tones.
Now, my talented ensemble, assume your positions and don your exquisite costumes. The stage awaits your presence, brimming with anticipation.
Ready! Lights! Camera!
Action!
As those immortal words resound through the theatre, enveloping you in an electric buzz, the lights gracefully fade into darkness, either setting the stage for a mesmerizing spectacle to unfold. Or for a unruly bloodbath you all fear of occurring.
Storytold by @CRichardFortressLies and @Hazardwaste
Mechanics
Town Composition
This game is designed for between 5 and 15 non-Traveller players. All non-Traveller players are assigned one of the 4 character types, then an character from the possible characters for that type. Players that start as Townsfolk or Outsiders are on the Good team, while players that start as Minions or Demons are on the Evil team. Players cannot change alignments unless explicitly stated.
The number of characters of each type dealt out are as follows:
| Total Players | Townsfolk | Outsiders | Minions | Demons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 14 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 15 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
No two players will have the same ability at the start of the game.
Starting Evils know each other’s identities and character types, but not characters unless they are Hannibal. Hannibals don’t know their fellow evils and that they themselves are evil. They have no method of private communication besides whispers, as described below.
Starting Demons know three not-in-play good roles, unless they are Hannibal. In which case it’s starting minions who know 3 not-in-play good roles as explained in post.
The abilities of certain characters modify the game setup, by adding or subtracting certain characters or character types. These are denoted in [square brackets], and only have an effect if the character is present at the beginning of the game. Unless otherwise stated, the amount of Townsfolk is modified so that the total number of characters given out matches the total player count.
Characters
All players start with exactly one of the following abilities, depending on their character type. Townsfolk and Outsiders are good characters, while Minions and Demons are evil characters.
Night* (with an asterisk) in all contexts means “Night, except the first.”
| Possible Townsfolk Characters | |
|---|---|
| Sculptor | You start knowing a player. Each night*, you learn the alignment of their most recent nomination. |
| Vestal Virgin | You start knowing 1 good & 1 evil character, one of which is in play. When they die, that night you learn 1 good and 1 evil character, 1 of which is in play |
| Physician | Each night, choose two players (not yourself): they are sober, healthy and get true info tonight. The 1st time the Demon kills one, you learn the Demon type. |
| Legionary | Each night, you learn how many living evil players are sat clockwise between yourself and a living Legionary. [+0 to +2 Legionary] |
| Trumpeter | Each night*, you learn how many evil players publicly claimed to be Spartacus today. |
| Mortician | Each night*, if a player died by execution today you learn if either of their living neighbors are evil. |
| Standard Bearer | When you are nominated, you may make a unique public statement about the nominator (not yourself). Tonight, you learn If the statement is true. |
| Centurion | If you nominate & execute a living player, their team loses. You are safe from the Demon. If you publicly claimed to be Spartacus, you are drunk until dawn. |
| Merchant | Once per game, at night*, choose to learn which characters have nominated you. |
| Gladiator | Once per game, during the day, publicly choose a living player. Tonight, you and they wake & silently play Roshambo: whoever loses dies (someone must lose). |
| Actor | Once per game, during the day, publicly guess 3 players’ character types (not yourself, 1 guess per type). That night, you learn how many you got correct. |
| Blacksmith | The 1st time the Demon kills you, you live & gain a not-in-play Townsfolk ability. |
| Scholar | The 1st time you nominate a living Outsider, they immediately become a not-in-play Townsfolk. [+1 Outsider] |
| Possible Outsider Characters | |
|---|---|
| The Twins | You start knowing a player: If either of you are executed, all Townsfolk are drunk until dusk tomorrow. |
| Winemaker | Your Townsfolk neighbours are drunk, but every other night, you are drunk until dusk, even if you are dead. |
| Spartacus | If an evil player guesses you (once), your team loses. You might register as a Townsfolk; each day. If you did not publicly claim to be Spartacus, you don’t. |
| Bad Omen | You do not know you are a Bad Omen. You think you are a Townsfolk, but you receive false information. You might register as evil, even if dead. |
| Possible Minion Characters | |
|---|---|
| Temptress | On your 1st night choose two players: they learn that they are chosen. The 1st time one of them dies by execution, the other becomes evil that night. |
| Haruspex | Each night, choose a player: you learn their character. The 1st player you choose twice in this way, dies. [+ Spartacus] |
| Glykon | You might register as good. Players you nominate register as their opposite alignment until dawn, and if they were good, they are also poisoned until dawn. |
| Augur | If a Townsfolk nominates you, they immediately become a Bad Omen |
| Possible Demon Characters | |
|---|---|
| Cleopatra | Each night, choose two players: If they nominate tomorrow, they die that night. Each day, if a good player (Travellers don’t count) does not nominate, evil wins. |
| Crassus | Each night*, choose a player: they die. If the 1st Crassus publicly claims to be Spartacus & dies with 5 or more players alive, an evil player becomes Crassus |
| Hannibal | You think you are a good character, but you are not. Minions learn 3 bluffs. Each night*, a player might die. The 1st Hannibal to die, becomes good. [+1 Hannibal] |
| Caesar | Each night*, choose a player: they die. The 1st time an evil player dies by execution, that night, choose an additional player: they die. |
Phase Lengths
Each day phase will last for 48 hours.
| Discussion | 12h | Players may talk. |
| Nomination | 12h | Players who wish to nominate may do so at this time, and votes may begun to be cast during this time as well. |
| Voting | 24h | During this time, votes may be cast freely on any existing nomination, but no new nominations may be made. Once this time ends or all votes have been locked in, the day will resolve. |
Each night phase will last for 24 hours. The game begins on a night phase.
Night actions are locked 2 hours before the start of each day.
Night Action Resolution
All actions are processed in a specific order each night. Natural Action Resolution does not apply. Dead players have no abilities (unless stated otherwise), and if a player is dead during their turn in action resolution, they do not act (unless stated otherwise).
| First Night | Other Nights |
|---|---|
| Minion info | Scholar |
| Demon info and bluffs | Temptress |
| Hannibal | Mercenary |
| Temptress | High Priest |
| Cleopatra | High Priest |
| Haruspex | Architect |
| Winemaker | Emperor |
| The Twins | Winemaker |
| Physician | The Twins |
| Sculptor | Physician |
| Vestal Virgin | Cleopatra |
| Legionary | Crassus |
| Hannibal | |
| Caesar | |
| Haruspex | |
| Blacksmith | |
| Gladiator | |
| Vestal Virgin | |
| Legionary | |
| Trumpeter | |
| Mortician | |
| Standard Bearer | |
| Actor | |
| Merchant |
Storyteller
The Storyteller is the key moderator for the game; All ability uses at night must be sent to the Storyteller via private message, and Storyteller will have the final say on any open-ended ability behaviors. The Storyteller’s goal is to keep the game both fun and balanced, and they’ll often be trying to make it last as long as possible; however, the Storyteller may not alter any existing rules to accomplish this.
The Fabled
The Fabled are special modifiers that the Storyteller can put in play to tweak the game. Fabled will always be announced when they are in play, along with their effect upon the gamestate. The most likely fabled to be included are the Hell’s Librarian to prevent night talking, I am Spartacus! is a homebrew fabled, which allows half of living players to claim to be Spartacus each day and the Fiddler on the off-chance the game gets deadlocked.
| Fiddler | Once per game, at night, the Demon secretly chooses a player of an opposing alignment; All players then vote which of these two wins the game. |
| Hell’s Librarian | Something bad might happen to whomever speaks when the Storyteller calls for silence. |
| I am Spartacus! | Each day, up to half the living players (rounded up and Travellers don’t count) may publicly claim to be Spartacus. |
Malfunctions
Malfunctioning is the primary source of interference with abilities. A malfunctioning character is not told that they are malfunctioning and cannot affect the gamestate in any way using their ability. If a malfunctioning character would receive information, then the information they receive is arbitrary (open-ended, Storyteller may resolve at their discretion). The malfunctioning status lasts indefinitely unless stated otherwise.
Nominations and Voting
Once the discussion phase has ended, the Storyteller will formally announce the opening of the nomination phase. Players must be nominated before they may be voted on that day. Each player may only be nominated once per day, and each player may only nominate once per day.
When a nomination is opened, the storyteller begins to track votes for that nomination. The players may precast votes, but the votes will lock in a clockhand format. Starting with the player below the nominee on the list, and working downwards, the votes will be locked if they are cast. As an example, take the following five players;
Alex
Brianna
Cameron
Derek
Ellen
Brianna is nominated. Cameron’s vote will be locked as soon as he places it, because he is the first person below Brianna on the list. Derek may cast his vote before Cameron, and may alter his vote if Cameron has not yet voted, but once Cameron has voted and had his vote locked, Derek’s vote will be the next to lock, and if it is placed when Cameron’s vote locks, then Derek’s vote will lock as the vote cast by Derek at that time.
Any votes that are not cast by EoD will be considered votes to pardon. If the count of votes to execute is more than half of the number of living players (not half+1, that’s an important distinction), and is the highest count of votes against any player that day, the accused will be considered “about to die”. At the end of the day or when all votes on all nominations have been cast, the player who is “about to die” will be executed. If there is a tie between two or more players for the highest count of votes, the day will end with no execution. The Storyteller may only declare an early end to voting if it is no longer possible to tie or exceed the highest nomination.
Whispers
Players may whisper each other in-game through private messages (including both this account and the hosts @CRichardFortressLies and @Hazardwaste). Whispers must be publicly announced, by requesting permission to whisper using a format such as /whisper [Player]. Once a whisper has been declared and accepted, the two players may whisper via private message until one of them speaks publicly in the game chat, at which point the whisper is considered broken and the players must declare whispers again if they wish to whisper.
Whispers are allowed until the voting phase begins, and are unlimited for each player.
In addition, a player may make 1 whisper per day to each neighbour of up to 10 words without announcing this in thread.
Some abilities require you to speak privately to the Storyteller during the day. If you wish to do this, you must declare so publicly using a format such as /whisper [Storyteller]. You may choose to declare this even if you do not have one of these abilities.
Death
When a player dies, nothing is revealed about their character and they are allowed to stay in the game and speak. They may not nominate and they will have only one vote token (this will allow them to cast a vote to execute) for the entire game. Evil players who die may thus continue to help their allies by keeping up their claim and spreading misinformation, and good players may similarly help their allies by retaining relevant info that others may have forgotten in the heat of the game. Once a player dies, their ability stops working, which means that a player killed before they would perform their ability will not perform their ability, and any ability with a persistent effect will end upon the player’s death.
Victory
Good wins if all Demons are dead.
Evil wins if only 2 players (not counting Travellers) live.
In the event of a tie, the good team win.
Alternate routes to victory or defeat may exist as detailed by characters’ abilities. The list of all possible characters is above.
Travellers
A Traveller is a player character that can enter or exit a game at any point. Their identity and ability are known to all players, but their alignment may be either good or evil (which is decided by the Storyteller upon their entry to the game).
Unlike standard players, Travellers exist under some special circumstances.
- They may be exiled by majority vote at any time, instead of executed. This vote is independent of the nomination/execution system.
- They do not count as players for any rules, win conditions, or abilities.
- If they are evil, they learn who the Demon is.
- There can be only 1 High Priest in the game if someone elects to be a High Priest. If there is a Pontifex Maximus, there is no Pontiff and vice versa.
| Possible Traveller Characters | |
|---|---|
| Mercenary | Each night*, gain the ability of a player who publicly claimed Spartacus today. If a Mercenary is exiled, you are exiled too. [+1 Mercenary of opposing Alignment] |
| Architect | Each night*, choose a player: 1) They become a not-in-play character of the same type, or 2) They swap characters with a player of the same type. |
| Sibyl | Each day, after the 1st execution, you may publicly choose a dead player: they may nominate. If the majority of the dead and yourself agree, they are executed. |
| High Priest (Pontifex Maximus) | Each day, publicly choose a unique living player to bless: if a majority of players agree, something good happens to them. |
| High Priest (Pontiff) | Each day, publicly choose a unique living player to bless: if a majority of players agree, tomorrow they may learn a statement. Tonight, choose if it’s true. |
| Emperor | Each day, choose the 1st execution’s outcome. If you choose to protect today’s execution: they survive. Otherwise, tonight you learn their alignment. |
Changelog
- Formalised Storyteller consults.
- Whisper Private Messages must include both @CRichardFortressLies, @Hazardwaste and this account.
- All Spartacus claims should ping either myself, Hazard or this host account to make it easier for it to be counted.
- Added a note that only one type of High Priest is allowed to travel in.
- Litten (Emperor)
- Apocryphal
- catbae
- Nightingale
- Leafia
- baker
- Crazynuto
- Marluna
- Jarek
- Magnus (Mercenary)
- Silviu
- May
- guavagudetama
- Youbutworse (Mercenary)
- Kiiiruma
- Achromatic
Backups
- Pigeon
