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[NUKE9.13]

(Mafia Role To Quest) is an unholy fusion of Mafia, RTD, and questing.

A long, long time ago, I had the best idea ever conceived in the history of mankind.

Then I had another idea, which I posted in a... 'help me come up with a game' thread.
Everyone agreed it was pretty sweet. So we started to work out how it would work. I had this brilliant plan.
Then Solifuge came up with something totally better, so we did that instead.
It suffered from absent players, absent GM, absent clarity, and absent rules. After three turns, the absence built up to critical levels and the entire thing became absent.

Fast-forward 2 years, and I find this thing again. I read over it, and think to myself, man, this was awesome. And there was no reason for it to disappear! You know what I should do?
Revive it. That is what I should do.
And now I am doing that which I should do (reviving it)

Here, for reference, is the original.


The basics of the game are as follows:
-The players are knights on a quest
-Some of the players are secretly evil knaves instead
-Play alternates between the challenge and camp phases.
-During challenge phases, a 2D6 RTD-esque system is used by the knights to overcome a challenge, whilst the knaves secretly sabotage them (also using the RTD system)
-During camp phases, players may vote on someone they think is suspicious, to have them executed.
-A game ends when the knights complete the quest (by successfully overcoming challenges and avoiding/killing the knaves), the knaves kill all the knights, or the knaves sabotage the quest into oblivion

Spoiler: GAME OVERVIEW (click to show/hide)

The idea sounds awesome, if well-executed! This is veering more towards a collaborative/competitive RPG than any of the component games it is coming from, though... keep that in mind when designing it; the largest focus of the game is the elements of suspicion/paranoia/deception created by the players!

I'm working on a refined version of the rules to propose to you, but for now, here's a few ideas:

GAME OVERVIEW:
After everyone chooses their skills and such, divide players into 2 groups: Knights, and Knaves. Knights only know their own role, and must learn who they can trust, whereas Knaves all know one another. Each Round is composed of a single Quest issued by the King. The Knights have a certain number of days to complete this Quest by, and the Knaves are trying to prevent them from succeeding.

During each day, the players will be faced by a Challenge that stands in the way of their Quest. Knights must work together to overcome the Challenge, while the Knaves must try their best to thwart the Knight's efforts, without revealing themselves. Players can publicly work out a strategy for beating the Challenge, or work in silence at their own discretion, but in the end, players must PM their actions in secret to the Game Master. When all players have chosen actions, or when the time limit is up, the GM sends players the results of their actions, followed by the story of what everyone sees happen.

After the day of questing is done, the Knights and Knaves gather in their Camp, to discuss the day. Players who feel suspicious of another player, or who have evidence that another is a Knave may vote against them. If a majority is reached before the end of the Camp phase, the player will be Executed as a traitor. To help the Knights uncover the Knaves, many have access to special abilities that can uncover traitorous actions during the day, etc.

For each Knave executed, and for each Challenge they beat, the Knights earn Victory Points. Conversely, for each innocent Knight who is executed, and for each Challenge failure, they lose a Victory Point. When players accumulate enough Victory Points in their quest, they advance to the final Challenge of the quest. This is the final test of the Knight's mettle, and the last chance any remaining Knaves have to thwart them.

If the Knights succeed in the Final Challenge and complete their quest before time is up, the Knights are victorious. If the Knaves equal or outnumber the Knights, or too many days have passed, the Knaves are victorious.

HOW I ROLL DISE?
As in Roll-To-Dodge, Success and Failure is determined by chance.:
[11-14] An Over-Success is a victory so great that it has unexpected side-effects.
[9-10] A Major Success achieves the best possible result of the roll.
[7-8] A Success achieves the minimum of your goal.
[5-6] A Failure is the least bad outcome of losing.
[3-4] A Major Failure is the worst possible outcome of losing.
[0-2] An Over-Failure is a loss so bad that it succeeds in doing something else entirely.


When you make a character, pick how skilled you are at different sorts of tasks. Skills come from a specific list, and could include things like Strength, Fighting, Athletics, Sneaking, Speech, Searching, and more.

Here are the training levels, and how they affect your Skill Rolls.
UNTRAINED: If you're not trained in a skill, you roll ([1d6] x 2 ) - 1. You have random successes in this category, with lower chances of Over-Success, and higher chances of Over-Failure.
NOVICE: If you're a novice in a skill, you roll [1d6] and multiply that by 2. You have the most random results in this category.
ADEPT: If you're an adept in a skill, you roll [2d6]. You have consistent successes and failures, with lower odds of Overdoing a skill.
MASTER: If you're a master in a skill, you roll [2d6]+1. You have consistent successes, with lower chances of Over-Failure, and higher chances of Over-Success.

*All Role-Powers are automatically treated as Adept Skills, and roll [2d6].

Spoiler: Stuff about roles (click to show/hide)

Sample Roles:
Knight: You are charged with a Quest by your king, and seek to complete it.
You win when the Quest is completed.
You lose when Knaves equal or outnumber Knights, or if the Quest is not complete before time is up.

Unique Knights: (max 1 of each)
◘ Squire: You are pretending to be a Knight, in order to Quest for the King himself. However, your knighthood is a lie, and if you are scryed, you will appear to be a Knave.
◘ Hospitalier: You seek to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Once per day during a Challenge phase, you may choose to use your action to Aid another player, protecting them from death due to a Lethal Failure.
Spoiler: Aid Results (click to show/hide) (Ha ha, spoilers in spoilers don't work)
   Over-Success: Like Major Success, but your target becomes aware that you Aided them.
   Major Success: Like Success, but your target's Skill Check improves by 1 category.
   Success: You prevent your target from dying in a Lethal Challenge during this Phase.
   Failure: You don't manage to protect your target from dying if they are lethally wounded this Phase.
   Major Failure: As Failure, but you interfere, reducing your target's Skill Check by 1 category.
   Over-Failure: As Major Failure, but if your target dies, you appear to be the cause of their death.
◘ Paladin: Blessed by the Powers-That-Be, you have prophetic visions. During the Camp Phase, you can focus on a player, and receive a vision of what they really did during the Challenge Phase.
Spoiler: Scrying Results (click to show/hide)
   Over-Success: Same as Major Success, but your target will also receive a vision of you scrying them.
   Major Success: Same as Success, but you also receive a vision about the True Action taken by your Target during the last Challenge.
   Success: You receive a vision stating whether your target is a Knight or a Knave.
   Failure: You receive no clear vision.
   Major Failure: Same as Failure, but your target is informed that they were scryed.
   Over-Failure: Same as Major Failure, but your identity is revealed to the target.

Knave: You seek to thwart the Knights in their Quest.
You win when you outnumber living Knights, or if the Knights don't succeed in their Quest in time.
You lose when the Knights complete the Quest.

Unique Knaves: (max 1 of each)
◘ Fallen Knight: Once a knight, you have since lost your position, and turned to a life of knavery. You still have the noble bearing of a Knight, and show up as one if scryed.
◘ Warlock: Your curses can foul even the best of plans, and can turn success into failure. During the Camp Phase, you choose a player to Curse: the curse stays in effect until the next Camp Phase.
Spoiler: Curse Results
   Over-Success: Same as Major Success, but also applies to a second player at random (can include you).
   Major Success: Your target's Successful Skill Checks become Failures of equal magnitude.
   Success: The Success of your target's Skill Checks are reduced by one category.
   Failure: Your curse is ineffective.
   Major Failure: Your target's Skill Checks are improved by one category.
   Over-Failure: Same as Major Failure, but it is applied to every player.
◘ Assassin: You see nothing wrong with murdering others to achieve your ends. During any Challenge Phase, you can make a special attack against another player, attempting to secretly kill them.
Spoiler: Assassination Results (click to show/hide)
   Over-Success: Same as Major Success, but you also kill a second player at random (can include you).
   Major Success: Same as Success, but it looks to others like it was as a result of your target failing a Skill Check.
   Success: You successfully kill the player, but it is obvious that it was an assassination.
   Failure: You don't manage to kill the player, and no one is any the wiser.
   Major Failure: Same as Failure, but it is obvious that there was an assassination attempt on the player.
   Over-Failure: Same as Major Failure, but your identity is revealed to the target.

Spoiler: Sample Challenge Phase (click to show/hide)

 Sample Challenge Phase:
You embark from your camp and journey down the mountain road. Soon, you see the great wooden gate of the Dark Fortress, situated in the middle of a 20-foot tall stone wall. A mighty Half-Giant stands imposingly in front of the gate, wielding a Greatclub made from a fallen tree. The gatehouse that controls the Gate sits atop the high wall, guarded by pikemen. and it must be reached to open the gate.

Today's Challenge is to Enter the Dark Fortress. Obvious actions are:
1) Fight the Half-Giant Guard
2) Climb the Wall
3) Defeat the Pikemen Guarding the Gatehouse
4) Open the Gate
◘ First, players propose actions and ways to tackle the challenge in public. Knaves will want to have a good a cover story if they're going to try to thwart the Knights during the Challenge.

P1 (Knight): I'll fight the Half-Giant.
P2 (Knight <Hospitalier>): P1 might need backup, so I'll help him fight the Half-Giant.
P3 (Knave <Assassin>): I'm no good at fighting, so how about me and someone else climb the wall and try for the gatehouse?
P4 (Knight): I can't climb well. How about I just shoot the Pikemen with my bow?
P3 (Knave <Assassin>): If I climb the wall, and you shoot up there, you could hit me... or miss, and the Pikemen will kill me. How about I climb the wall and throw a rope down for you, and then you take out the guards?
P4 (Knight): Okay, fair enough.
P5 (Knight <Paladin>): If P1 and P2 can't beat the giant, I've got an idea for something that might work.
◘ After players discuss how they'll tackle the challenge, they declare their Actions in private to the GM:

P1: I attack the Half-Giant with my sword.
P2: I use my Hospitalier Power to Protect P2, in case he loses against the Half-Giant.
P3: I climb the wall, and throw a rope down for P4, but I'm going to pour oil on the rope so he slips, using my Assassin Power to cover it up.
P4: If P3 makes it up and drops the rope, I climb it. If he doesn't, I'll shoot at the Pikemen with my bow.
P5: I want to use my Speech skill to convince the Half-Giant to smash the door down for us.
◘ The GM then posts the results of the actions:

Spoiler: P1: Fight the Half-Giant (click to show/hide)
Major Failure
The Half-Giant trounces you within seconds, knocking you out cold with a swing of his club. It was a shattering blow, and by all accounts you should be dead... but once you come to, you find yourself back in camp, your head bandaged up, and feeling perfectly fine short of a pounding headache.
Spoiler: P2: Protect P1 (click to show/hide)
Success
The Half-Giant easily knocks P1 unconscious, but you manage to drag him off the field of battle and back to camp, bandaging his wounds before he regains consciousness.
Spoiler: P3: Assassinate P4 (click to show/hide)
Major Success
You manage to scale the wall, and hastily coat the top of the rope using a flask of eel oil. P4 nearly reaches the top when his hand finds the oily length of rope. He loses his grip, plummeting 20 feet backwards and lands with a sickening crunch. P4 is, without a doubt, dead, and no one will be any the wiser.
Spoiler: P4: Climb Rope (click to show/hide)
Success
P3 throws the rope down to you, and using it, you climb up the wall carefully. You try not to look down, but the rattle of a loose stone pulls your gaze earthward, and you find yourself dangling nearly 20 feet above the ground. Nevertheless, you press onward, throwing hand after hand upward in hopes that you'll get to the top of the wall soon. As your hand clamps down on the final foot of rope, it grasps something slick and you lose your grip, and begin to plummet backwards. Just as you begin to wonder why P3 would have greased the top of the rope, you crash into the ground, and everything goes black.
Spoiler: P5: Parley with Half-Giant (click to show/hide)
Over-Success
After the Half-Giant trounces your comrade with a swift swing of his club, you approach him to make a deal. If he helps your party enter the Dark Fortress, you'll give him a share of whatever loot you find, and let him smash things to his heart's content. After a few moments of consideration, the Half-Giant nods his head emphatically, and charges the wooden gate headfirst. He barrels into the door, and it splinters into fragments of wood. Congratulations, the gate to the Dark Fortress is no more! ...but sadly your new Half-Giant friend doesn't stand up afterward. Alas, poor Lumpy. We hardly knew you.
◘ The GM then makes a public report of what happened in the Challenge:

As P3 and P4 run up to the wall, P1, P2, and P5 approach the Half-Giant. P1 makes a valiant stand against him, charging into the fray... but their battle was a short one, as the giant managed to club him into unconsciousness with a single blow. Soon after, P5 approached the giant, and appeared to somehow convince him to charge the wooden gate, which he did with much gusto. The half-giant's headlong charge shattered the gate into splinters, but also seems to have shattered his skull. Ah well, such is life.

With the gate breached, you all prepare to give a cheer, only to notice that P4 was still in the midst of scaling the wall. P3's hand reached down to grasp P4's, but it came too late... P4 lost his grip, and plummeted backwards to the ground below, hitting it with a sickening crunch.

You return to camp, finding P1 laying near the fire, his wounds bandaged up. You deliver the day's tale of mixed success, and settle in for the evening, mulling over the loss of a brave Knight.

Spoiler:  Sample Skills (click to show/hide)

When you create a character, you get 1 Master Skill, 1 Adept Skill, and 2 Novice Skills from the following list. The rest are treated as untrained:
◘ Strength: How buff you are. Can be used to hurl things, move heavy objects, and in contests of might, such as Arm-wrestling.
◘ Wits: How smart you are. Can be used to answer or come up with a riddle, solve complicated puzzles, and in contests of wits and skill.
◘ Melee Combat: How skilled you are in hand-to-hand combat. You are skilled in a weapon or fighting style, and can block and parry too.
◘ Ranged Combat: How skilled you are at hitting targets at range, using a bow, throwing axes or knives, or even chucking rocks.
◘ Speech: How good you are at speaking. You can persuade others to do something, intimidate others, or convince someone of a lie.
◘ Stealth: How good you are at sneaking, pick-pocketing, and sleight-of-hand.
◘ Athletics: Your ability to run, swim, and jump. You can perform feats of endurance with this skill as well.
◘ Acrobatics: Your ability to tumble, balance, and climb. You can perform stunts with this skill as well.
◘ Magic: Your knowledge of magic. You can attempt simple magic rituals, use the stars to predict things, or perform magic tricks.
◘ Healing: Your knowledge of first aid. You can attempt to bandage up wounds, and use herbs to treat illnesses.

UNTRAINED: If you're untrained in a skill, you roll ([1d6]x2)-2. You have random successes in this category, with higher chances of Failure. You can't get an Over-Success.
NOVICE: If you're a novice in a skill, you roll [1d6]x2. You have the most random results in this category.
ADEPT: If you're an adept in a skill, you roll [2d6]. You have the most consistent successes and failures, with low odds of Over-Success and Over-Failure.
MASTER: If you're a master in a skill, you roll [2d6]+2. You have consistent successes, with higher chances of Success. You can't get an Over-Failure.

In each Challenge, you can select a Skill you want to use, and explain how you're going to use it to the GM. You can either use skills as a Skill Check to beat a challenge, to Help another player beat their skill-check, or to Hinder them:
◘ Skill Check: You use 1 skill (or combine 2, and average the results) to beat a part of the challenge, or perform an action on another player.
(spoiler=Skill Check Results]
   [Over-Success] a victory so great that it has unexpected side-effects.
   [Major Success] achieves the best possible result of the roll.
   [Success] achieves the minimum of your goal.
   [Failure] the least bad outcome that is still a loss.
   [Major Failure] the worst possible outcome of losing.
   [Over-Failure] a loss so bad that it succeeds in doing something else entirely.[/spoiler)
◘ Help: You work together with someone else, doing the same Skill Check they are doing to help them succeed:
(spoiler=Help Results]
   [Over-Success]: Target's result goes up 2 categories.
   [Success]&[Major Success]: Target's result goes up 1 category.
   [Failure]&[Major Failure]: Target's result is the same.
   [Over-Failure]: Target's result goes down 1 category.[/spoiler)
◘ Hinder: You work alongside another player in the same Skill Check, but purposefully make it difficult for them and hindering their success:
(spoiler=Hinder Results]
   [Over-Success]: Target's result goes down 2 categories.
   [Success]&[Major Success]: Target's result goes down 1 category.
   [Failure]&[Major Failure]: Target's result is the same.
   [Over-Failure]: Target's result goes up 1 category.[/spoiler)

* Roles that give Challenge-Phase Powers, such as the Assassin Power, are Special Actions you can choose to use during a Challenge, in addition to your Normal Action. You roll separately for both.

Now this is not completely an untested game, as mentioned, and it worked quite well (I think) last time. However, it is by no means balanced in any way, and fairly vague. As such, the rules may be changed on the fly, and I encourage discussion as to how to make them better. But if people play fairly and for fun, it should work.


List of player names and skills helpfully compiled by EagleV.

Spoiler: Player List (click to show/hide)

Ye Olde Liste of Participantes, Yondere Characteres, And Yondere Abilities

Darvi as Sir Sane the Wise
Master Wits
Adept Speech
Novice Melee Combat (Sword)
Novice Stealth

Filiusenox as Sir Quarcaine the Strong
Master Melee (Hammer)
Adept Magic
Novice Athletics
Novice Wit

King_of_the_weasels as Sir Elensar the Good at Talking
Master Speech
Adept Wits
Novice Melee Combat
Novice Acrobatics

Iituem as Sir Kumspecht the Sneaky
Master Stealth
Adept Acrobatics
Novice Ranged Combat (Throwing Knives)
Novice Healing

Toaster as Sir Eously the Terrible Pun
Master Magic
Adept Athletics
Novice Melee Combat
Novice Strength

UltraValican as Sir Victicus Derpinson the Derpy
Master Wits
Adept Melee Combat
Novice strength
Novice Healing

EagleV as Sir Adrian the Archer
Master Ranged Combat (Longbow)
Adept Athletics
Novice Acrobatics
Novice Melee Combat (Dagger)

Ottofar as Sir Far the Surprisingly Nearby
Master Magic
Adept Speech
Novice Healing
Novice Melee Combat

The game is running at this point, but suggestions, commentary, and base flattery are still welcomed.

[Darvi]

Haven't read the OP yet, but whatever it is, holy carp, in!

[NUKE9.13]

Haven't read the OP yet, but whatever it is, holy carp, in!

See? Not even finished writing the OP and people are already signing up. This thing exudes awesome at a frankly unhygienic level.

[King_of_the_weasels]

Sounds like the german style board game Knights of The Round Table, or King Arthur's court or something.

[Darvi]

Haven't read the OP yet, but whatever it is, holy carp, in!

See? Not even finished writing the OP and people are already signing up. This thing exudes awesome at a frankly unhygienic level.

Heheh, I'm an awesomeness magnet.

...what does that say about me...?

Magnets have two polarities dumbass.

...D:

[evilcherry]

Sounds like the german style board game Knights of The Round Table, or King Arthur's court or something.

Shadows over Camelot.

It has at most one traitor though.

[Iituem]

My god this looks awesome.  I want in.

[NUKE9.13]

Sounds like the german style board game Knights of The Round Table, or King Arthur's court or something.

I was told that the concept sounded like paranoia. It is sort of like that.
The presence of knights is arbitrary; the concept works as well with detectives in giant robots; a premise I seriously considered using for the game.

The main thing is supposed to be sabotage and figuring out who sabotaged you. In the first game, first challenge phase, a sneak type (inaluct) went spying on a knave warlock (pandarsenic); he got a over-success (I think), so as well as catching him in his evil ritual (to sabotage the others), I let him get a free, unseen, crossbow-shot in, which would have killed him, had he not been protected by the medic. As it was, inaluct (foolishly) claimed responsibility for the act. No one really believed that pandarsenic was the warlock, and inaluct was executed for the attempted murder of a team-mate.
Had it not been for the fact that much of the drama was caused by mis-communication between me and inaluct (I failed to properly explain that the crossbow shot was a bonus from a high dice roll), it would have been perfect.

[Ottofar]

In all the way

[UltraValican]

Listen well Knave and prepare to be executed!

[Darvi]

In all the way

Oh man, if Pandar and bastardbro join too then the game would take years to finish :V

[NUKE9.13]

...?

[King_of_the_weasels]

Guess I'll throw my hat in.

[Johnfalcon99977]

I'd Join this insanity.

[EagleV]

If there's still a spot left, it's mine.