Friday, May 15, 2020

Proposal: On the Trail

Timed out 2 votes to 1 (!), enacted by Kevan.

Adminned at 17 May 2020 11:22:15 UTC

Enact a new rule, “Evidence”:-

Each Amnesiac has an amount of Evidence about the history of the town and the events of the storm. This is tracked as a number in the Community wiki page, and defaults to zero.

Add a column to the table in “Role Actions” called “Ground Action”, with the following contents:-

  • The Private Eye’s Ground Action is: “Using Binoculars, gain 1 Evidence.”
  • The Sheriff’s Ground Action is: “At the Jail, gain 1 Evidence.”
  • The Deputy’s Ground Action is: “At a Secured Building, gain 1 Evidence.”
  • The Burglar’s Ground Action is: “Choose an Amnesiac with 2 or more Evidence and reduce their Evidence by 1, to gain 1 Evidence.”

Rename the “Role Action” table column in “Role Actions” to “Building Action”.

Add another paragraph to the rule:-

Building Actions, Counter Actions and Ground Actions are types of Role Action.

Replace “Amnesiacs may perform the Role Action or Counter Action of any Role that matches their own Posture.” with:-

Amnesiacs may perform a Role Action of any Role that matches their own Posture.

Replace “Actions cannot be performed at Buildings which are Burning or Secured.” with:-

Actions cannot be performed at Burning Buildings. Only an Amnesiac with the Posture of Sheriff or Deputy can perform actions at a Secured Building.

I think we need a “probably victory point” stat at this point, as a reason for players to do stuff. It seems unclear whose interests any building actions would be being performed in, right now.

Also stating that Counter Actions are Role Actions, and allowing players to bluff their way into Secure Buildings by claiming to be the police - which may result in an accusation.

posted by Kevan at 15 May 2020 11:18:00 UTC Comments (11)

Comments

Josh: Observer he/they

15-05-2020 13:48:01 UTC

I like the general thrust, but worry that immediately establishing this “probably victory point” stat as an action-based grind, with a target-the-leader kicker built in, might make for a slightly boring middlegame

Kevan: he/him

15-05-2020 14:03:25 UTC

Where’s the grind, here? These actions are weekly - and anyone branching out into performing all four Ground Actions during a week is just setting themselves up for four easy Accusations from every single opponent.

Josh: Observer he/they

15-05-2020 14:18:15 UTC

I mean, it’s performing the same actions on a regular schedule, the fact that those actions can be spaced out doesn’t make it less of a grind.

Also, perhaps a bit too good to be a Burglar relative to anyone else.

Kevan: he/him

15-05-2020 14:37:47 UTC

I’d only call something a grind if players would always (or very nearly always) perform that action whenever they could, and would kick themselves if they missed the chance. It’s the “as a daily action, gain 1 gold” level stuff, where you would never not want to do it.

And I don’t think that’s the case here: any Role Action signals to other players your confidence that you have that Role, while also setting you up for an Accusation if you’re faking it. There’s a decision to be made. I’m not planning to Posture as Sheriff/Deputy/Eye in quick succession for three Evidence as soon as this enacts, and would be very surprised if anyone else did.

Josh: Observer he/they

15-05-2020 15:52:01 UTC

Weak against . My feelings on grind haven’t really been allayed and the omission of any discussion of the burglar bothers me.

Josh: Observer he/they

15-05-2020 18:57:43 UTC

(That’s “I’m weakly against”, I’m not attempting to insult Kevan)

ayesdeeef:

15-05-2020 19:09:28 UTC

How are other Roles besides these four supposed to gain evidence, Kevan?

Kevan: he/him

15-05-2020 19:26:08 UTC

[Josh] What would need to change for this mechanic to not feel like a grind? I’d have thought the cloudiness and consequences of Roles and Mementoes would remove any sense of mindless grinding.

I’m not sure I see the Burglar as overpowered; if you get hit, you can always Burgle that player back later. It might get a bit tit-for-tat, but it’s capped at (likely) two Burglings per player per game, and will at least generate some grudges.

[Ayedeeef] By pretending to be those Roles. Or by future amendments to the ruleset.

ayesdeeef:

15-05-2020 19:33:25 UTC

for

Trigon:

15-05-2020 20:54:49 UTC

I don’t think there should be a numerical variable quantifying “how much we know about the past”. The whole goal of this dynasty is to gain actual information about each other. I think we should continue to emphasize that.

Kevan: he/him

17-05-2020 11:17:46 UTC

If we want a game to play over the next two weeks we need some basic way to use that information, though. This is just like the money in Coup - something that’s plainly useful that anyone can try to grab, but that may be a mistake if you were ignorant or bluffing, and another player was much better informed than you. (If I take the Private Eye action and Josh openly explains to everyone why I can’t be the Private Eye, I potentially lose 9 Reputation for being blase.)