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[Penelope Lancaster]

Penelope Lancaster
These are kind words, Colonel. I thank you. I would never have thought my father would see me as a true heir to his legacy with how strict he always was with me.

// Turns her eyes to Benny Green

Mr. Green. It is unexpected that you decided to arrive given your, ah... busy schedule. We have always only talked business, have we not. So tell me, how to you find the life in the countryside? So very different to New York, isn't it? Did you have trouble adapting to such a significant change of lifestyle?

[Penelope Lancaster]

Penelope Lancaster

// Sips from the glass, smiles at the guests and approaches Ret. Col. Burnes.
Colonel. I am honored that you have accepted my invitation even though as head of the family business, I am no match for my late father. As a woman, I always felt it proper to leave the business affairs in my father's capable hands but alas, fate cared little for what I considered appropriate.

I believe you knew my father well?

I sure hope so... cmon guys, I made such a nice picture for you!

Slasher the Gamemaking Machine, congratulations on finishing your entry.

[Penelope Lancaster]

Penelope Lancaster

// Nods slightly at Hank, makes a small gesture as if instructing him to stay nearby.
// Stands in a prominent place to get everyone's attention

Tonight is a very special night.

Why would that be, you must be asking yourselves? There was no note of any special occasion on your invitations, and no news of any recent event, be it glamorous or sad, have reached our quiet little town, is that right? Well, if this is what you are pondering right now, you are correct. This party is not in honor of anything that happened in my life. It is in your honor, my dear guests.

The tragic accident of my dear late parents is well known among you all. They often say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but how does knowledge of that help one prepare for the loss of those who are the most dear to them? Months back from tonight, the terrible news left me devastated, shaken and... very, very alone. As if on the inside, I was a child yet again, deprived of, but still longing for the careless joy of the childhood. Perhaps it was this very feeling that brought me here, to the manor which was my family's old summer retreat, and the place of so many of my happy memories.

Moving here was not an easy decision. When I was craving support and stability more than ever, I was to become a stranger in Applewick. Of course, even as an adult I would visit the town once in a while, but the family affairs always kept me so busy that I had never really felt I belonged with the community. I was uncomfortable... oh no, not even that. I was terrified. Yes, you heard me right - I was terrified of the warm, dear, lovely people of Applewick! But I am getting ahead of myself, am I not.

Shortly after I arrived at my family estate, the estate which I, for the first time, was the sole proprietor of, I was surprised to discover that someone here remembered me... or rather, they remembered a nosy little girl whose name eluded him, and who'd stubbornly try to peek into his office. Yes Dr. Killmurray, I am looking at you. This discovery, though unsuspected, gave me the first warm feeling of familiarity in the town that would eventually become my new home.

And from there on, life has started becoming a little easier to bear. Angelica, we have had so many delightful conversations that would always help drive the dark thoughts away. Madame Sky, you offered me both hospitality and hope for a change for the better. Mr. Harlington... our casual chat at The Applewick Cafe And Grill has become an habit after a while, and good habits help a woman make some peace with herself. Colonel Burnes, my father always spoke highly of you and I am honored to have you join us tonight. Mr. Green, you were of a great help to me when I was forced to take over my family affairs.

// Raises the glass to eye level
May we make this lovely gathering customary, rather than extraordinary.

// Raises the glass overhead
To Applewick!

[Penelope Lancaster]

Penelope Lancaster

// Nods at Mary to approach, then takes a glass of wine from the tray.

Dear guests, it is a pleasure and honor to offer you the most gracious welcome. Please, do take a drink so we can raise a glass to your arrival.

Hopefully, the selection should please your taste.

Help found for the MAGS version, please feel free to close this thread.

Congratulations, The Outer Zone. "Well deserved" would be an understatement.

[Cola Skunkette]

I've finally found time to play all the entries so here's my feedback (I'll repeat what I said about two entries I have already commented on before):
Cola Skunkette

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It was very short, but entertaining and the collaboration you did this month was an excellent idea. Well done DBoy & Blondbraid! I loved the title screen artwork, very pretty. I had mixed feelings about the music which sounded somewhat J-RPGish to me, but that's probably just the matter of preference. My only complaint is that the ending was somewhat unrewarding. An ending scene may not look like much but it tends to have a considerable impact on the overall reception of your game.
Regarding the puzzles:

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* I'd suggest adding some hint that would help the player figure out how to glue the magnet to the wire, rather than do it via trial and error. Perhaps a mention of the chewing gum in the dialogue or 'look' action?
* When you give the magnet to the boy, the game automatically creates a combination of magnet, gum and wire for you. Similarly later when you use any cleaning agent component on another one, the game auto combines all three into the final product. That made me feel majorly deprived of inventory puzzles
* I didn't feel it was necessary to restrict the player from picking up the soda and the seltzer bottle until the closet door was open, but if you aimed to make a kids game, then this and the inventory puzzle thing can actually be a good move as it simplifies the gameplay a lot.

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The Man Who Liked Cats

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As a cat person I could so relate to this one! And I was 100% sure that the paper towel was going down the moment I entered the room.
There was a sort of a weird dissonance in the atmosphere between the first and the last part but hey, I got to run around as a cat so I didn't mind
On a side note, I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but I managed to somehow get through the barbed fence in the first room without doing anything with it. I bumped into it, then I restarted the game because I had missed some lines and then I managed to go straight through the spot I would bump off of before.

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Cyborg Seppuku

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I LOVED your game. Really. It was awesome. The detailed, well thought out world is the reason enough to give it a go, and the cruel, oppressive, dystopian atmosphere immediately reminded me of BASS. Very, very impressive. If a game makes your player want to explore its world just for the sake of it, then you couldn't have done a better worldbuilding job.

In its current state, the game doesn't offer too much gameplay (it took me about 10 minutes to finish) but you had some interesting and original puzzle ideas, so I'm pretty sure that if you put some effort into expanding them so that it takes more than 2-3 actions per implant, the gameplay alone has a chance to turn into a really enjoyable experience. The dialogues were brilliant, too.

I only have one complaint... sort of.  It may be subjective, so if you are convinced to this idea feel free to ignore me.
So, have you considered revealing less of the player character's personal background at the very beginning? Because you see, if the first thing I learn about the character is that he has a wife named Helen who has decided to run off with another guy, then it makes me wonder just why on earth would I want to help that abusive stalker chase a woman who clearly doesn't want to see him anymore?
Of course, perhaps it's just me being too judgemental but I feel that for the first stage of the story, it would be more than enough to know that he wants to find someone he cares for who recklessly ventured into a dangerous wasteland.

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Vacant Bodies

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It was a huge step forward from your previous game both in terms of overall design and completeness. It still felt more like an interactive intro than an actual game, but the storyline felt consistent, like a beginning of a larger story. And just like the previous game, it felt very dreamlike and surreal which is awesome. The connection to this month's theme was subtle, but it was there - removing someone's ability to speak can be a definition of censorship.

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Fists Of Murder

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Great graphics and animation, and kudos to you for being able to script a mix of adventure and fighting game within less than a month and, as far as I could see, completely bugless.

The story felt a little rushed, a bit as if each quest was a brief summary of a longer and more complex chapter, if that makes sense. I felt more could have been revealed about the protagonists too, because I wasn't sure who they were - investigative journalists, activists of some sort, conspiracy hunters? But I'm sure all this was only due to the time constraint.
I didn't see any direct connection to this month's theme, but I guess cover-up and censorship are close enough for the game to qualify as a censorship-themed entry.

I would love to see more moves available in the combat sequence, e.g. blocking, dodging or stronger punches. And faster enemies to go with these, so that you cannot endlessly backpedal to avoid taking any damage.

Very nice entry overall, I'd love to see it expanded.

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The Campaign Of Daphne White

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What a great game! I loved the concept of four simultaneous storylines I could switch between any moment. This move perfectly dispersed the linearity of each individual chapter and made the game really fun to play. As with any other Slasher game I've played, the witty dialogues and the brilliant sense of humour make this entry worth every minute of the time you spend playing it.
The puzzles were pretty easy to solve except for the password puzzle, which got me seriously stuck. Does it refer to some very obscure in-game information, or is it something I'm supposed to figure out based on common knowledge?
Also, I'm curious if I can finish the lingerie chapter if I spend all the money on sandwitches? I replayed this chapter just to see if the game would stop me from going below the amount needed to buy any of the items needed to progress, and it didn't. Would I be stuck then, or is there a way to "refill" the money pool?

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Edit: Ok, I've figured out the password... two out of three parts, at least - I didn't know about baker's dozen, got the hint from VampireWombat's post Crow's head and half a dollar were pretty clever riddles, congrats!
One thing though - the password is case sensitive, which can be a little misleading since the hint is worded "Half a dollar" (non-capital d)

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I ended up voting for

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Cyborg Seppuku.

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I said I would start a new game around this time now, but I realized that I don't have time in the next couple weeks. So if someone else wants to take over for a round, please go ahead. But as Mandle is running the Murder Mystery game right now, maybe this is enough. And I promise I'll be back for a Werewolf game next month for Halloween.

I feel this timing will be just about right. Looking forward to the Halloween game!

I've been trying to put a feedback post together for the past four days, but I'm determined to post and vote before the deadline!

Hm... both characters are pretty cool but I think I'll be Penelope because grlpwr!

I was so pissed that I even took a break from the forum (which no one seemed to have noticed anyway).

I noticed 😥

I'm pretty sure everyone noticed, cat :< If we hadn't noticed or cared, we would have just happily bragged about this turn of events after the game ended.
It's good to see you back and eager to play another (perhaps less aggressive) session.

(For the records, it wasn't as much that we deliberately tried to make you look guilty, it was a side effect of our attempt to save Stu's behind for one more day. We did consider you very likely to be Mandle's psychic accomplice back then, so we just hoped we'd hit the nail on the head. Imagine how it would make Mandle look like had we been correct! )

Sign me up

Agree, what matters is the outcome not the engine.

As for defend action, I do recall one game in which it is a viable action and this is because on harder fights the damage is sometimes so high it would kill a part of the team even if they were at full HP, unless they defend or use some other damage reduction mechanics.

The nurse seems strong when you describe it like that, but for the nurse's powers to take effect, the nurse and the scum side must decide on the same person in the same night, which becomes more likely the longer the game goes on. But the longer the game goes on, the more knoweldge everyone should have anyway.

Absolutely. This was purely from the scum side's POV, and that's why I said I'm not even convinced if in reality it's that much of an advantage. I suppose in any part of the mechanics, the less players the more difficult it is to balance things out, too.

Agreed! It's a very interesting concept. Imagine: "Oh damn, I'm now convinced that you were right to accuse X but alas, I cannot change my vote anymore! :<"

That's why I'm hesitant with this option and why I didn't use it in earlier rounds and why I call it a risk.

I meant it more as a way for players to make up a convenient excuse for their actions (or lack of thereof), but you do make a valid point. It's not unlikely that it might cause a degree of frustration in some cases.

Hm, can't do something with the Old Ones, I don't know anything about them. Spaceship and Orient Express I considered already, too. And I think a Haunted House for Halloween?

Yeah, a haunted house for Halloween sounds great. As for the Old Ones, they were just a very specific example of a more general context that can be summed up as, for example, "members of an evil cult worshipping a dark god pick up victims/sacrifice for their ritual murder each night and need to be tracked down before they kill off half the local community".

I wanted to say it earlier, but didn't get around to write more than a couple lines until now - thanks for a great game guys! And congratulations to town for winning this round, very well played. Also, Stu belittles his own contribution into the tactics. He has been a great partner in crime, and very patient in digesting and filtering all that spam I'd send him throughout the game (I was half expecting him to put me on ignore list at some point).

The "locked votes" thing sounds very positive in both ending useless day phases early where things are a foregone conclusion and also an interesting window into the psychology of why someone would lock a vote and when they did so.

Agreed! It's a very interesting concept. Imagine: "Oh damn, I'm now convinced that you were right to accuse X but alas, I cannot change my vote anymore! :<"

By the way, if someone is interested, nearly all kill methods were on me this time. Kastchey's only request was the feather boa in night 1. It's actually a lot more fun and challenging for me when you request stuff. I'd love a game where the bad side tries to make me write the most absurd and not fitting to the setting things as possible.

Really? Oh, okay. I wasn't sure if you'd like some more input or if it interfered with your storytelling concept. That's definitely good to know.
It's very interesting when you share more insight about what's fun to you as the Game Master, too. This is an entirely different perspective!

How about 1 game per month? Checking the date of this thread, that would mean the next one opens for sign-up in two weeks.

That sounds just about right. Or perhaps a little differently - set a fixed three weeks break between the end of the last game and the start of another, since various games play out differently? This one ended on day 5, the previous one on day 3 for example.

But if you want to play again, and it looks like some people are interested, let's talk a bit about the next setting as well. Where do you want to play? Somewhat isolated places make more sense, especially if we go with a more role-playing approach. For a purly tactical game, it doesn't matter so much, but would you even want story-telling then?

I think everyone enjoys the storytelling aspect to some extent, and no one would want to ditch it entirely. I'm a huge fan of the concept of changing the setting each game. A cult of the Old Ones as the scum team could be nice. Or a game taking place in deep space (Battlestar Galactica's cylons vs humans come to mind, or that Trilby game by Yahtzee that's set on a spaceship). Or another go at Agatha Christie-ish setting, say Orient Express for a change? Or something fairly close to the original Werewolf game setting, but with a slight tweak, e.g. a setting similar to The Village (which wasn't a very good movie but is creepy enough and it fits the game).

So you're both saying that if we end up with a Kastchey/Mandle murder duo in future games, then the town players might as well just give up?

Haha Well, I was almost certain that dayowlron was the Nurse on night 2 and I did strongly consider killing VW as an alternative to Mandle on night 3, BUT it was also me who came up with that cat-Mandle cooperation idea that turned out to have been completely wrong and which severely clouded both mine and Stupot's judgement (sorry, Stu...), so I really feel I did bite my own tail in this game. I also learned something though, which is "never assume that the opposite team is playing a certain specific cover strategy". Because there can be several perfectly valid cover strategies, and no matter how likely any one of them seems to be you simply have no clue what your opponents are playing at.


One more thing I thought might be interesting to discuss: the Nurse role.
I think that with the current ruleset, the Nurse is the absolute MVP of the town team. The way we play now (which I confirmed with Sini during the game) is that the fact that a target has been successfully protected is fully revealed to all players, but without revealing the target's exact role or the Nurse's identity.
So in effect, the Nurse has the following "hidden" powers in addition to just protecting their target (and themselves, compared to the Bodyguard) from death:
* the Nurse makes the scum team completely waste one of their kills,
* the Nurse hides the role of the protected player from the scum team,
* the Nurse hides their own identity from the scum team,
* the Nurse proves the target's innocence to the town team.

Now, I have no idea if it makes the Nurse too strong, or if the balance is just about right if we want the town to sometimes win for a change. We surely need to play more games in this setup to get a better idea. But I wanted to share my thoughts on that as something to maybe look at during/after future sessions?

Haha fair enough

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Get a total of three penalty points by vandalizing various objects - pipes and rear mirror I believe (you already have one for swearing). Then go back to the elevator.

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Having fun already, will write more once I find

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the appropriate tool to unscrew the goggles. where is it? not in the trash. hints?

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Don't be a good citizen. Be a bad citizen. Then when you really get into trouble, become a good citizen again by turning yourself in.
(Let me know if this doesn't help much )

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The second factor was alcohol.

Don't drink and play, it might get you killed.

In fact... It did get Mandle killed.

When thinking who is likely to be the Psychic, I noticed how Mandle significantly changed the tone of his posts after Stu said that "if not cat, then it must have been Mandle who had been protected". I was sure it wasn't a coincindence - I thought it likely that he may be the Psychic himself, I also thought he might have been bluffing but damn, it never occurred to me that he could just have been drunk! Really, Mandle? REALLY?!

The only decision I made purely on my own after getting his help was to not scan Kastchey...

Haha =) Well, if it makes it feel any better we really did decide between you and Mandle on night 3. And I ended up not killing you