The Late Bronze Age Collapse [HEIST]

[JaggedJimmyJay]

Over the course of the first half of the 12th century BCE, human civilizations across the Mediterranean and Levant fell into mysterious and nearly simultaneous darkness. Historical accounts emerging from this period cannot provide a coherent tale to explain why this happened, and we are left to piece together the story of history three millennia later. What happened to these thriving peoples who had for centuries prior stood as testaments to the enduring spirit of human ingenuity, ambition, and survival? Did they destroy one another? Did nature intervene? Did ironworks nullify their technological advantages and make them vulnerable? Let's explore these questions by way of Mafia and, if we're lucky enough, learn something about an era lost to history but vital to the story of our own modern western world.

A game for 9-15 people.
Open setup
Closed night phases
60/12 hour cycles if I can make the poll work, otherwise 48/24
Two factions only
A single design-specific mechanic outside the scope of roles

7-12 Civilians
2-3 Mafia
(specific roles dependent upon numbers)

Before the game, the great Icelandic volcano Hekla will erupt. It will spill immense debris into the atmosphere on a scale so massive that the denizens of the ancient western world will lose their intimate acquaintance with their own Sun gods. In their fury will these deities bring drought, famine, and war. The limited historical records of the primitive Bronze Age libraries will be destroyed and forever lost.

At the end of every night phase, there will be a 33.3% probability of total records loss (1 or 2 roll on a six-sided die). All game thread material prior to that point will be inaccessible and invisible to players for the remainder of the game. This may happen more than once. I will establish specific rules to prevent preparatory angleshooting (e.g. saving quotes for later will be illegal).

This is, at face value, a pro-mafia mechanic. Expect power roles to compensate in the civilians' favor. Also expect this mechanic to impact mafia BTSC just as it impacts the game thread.

[Syn]

are role results included in the records loss or could they be considered part of town's "oral tradition"? like if n1 cop green-checks someone, and records are lost from d1 and d2, can the cop still say they green-checked that person n1?

[JaggedJimmyJay]

are role results included in the records loss or could they be considered part of town's "oral tradition"? like if n1 cop green-checks someone, and records are lost from d1 and d2, can the cop still say they green-checked that person n1?

Players lose their recorded history, but not their own memory. If the cop (or whatever power role) remembers their results when they need to restate them, they can do so. Likewise, anything from the past can be paraphrased by memory. It simply cannot be quoted verbatim with the actual quote feature.

Gray area would be someone "paraphrasing" lengthy content verbatim, suggesting either that it is saved to their computer or that they have a photographic memory. I will consider further limitations when the game draws nearer.

[nutella]

spicy

[G-Man]

I have actually studied this event in my free time while reading about ancient history. It’s fascinating stuff and it played a major role in establishing several significant kingdoms and later empires. Count me as curious to see what you do with it as a theme for mafia.

As I intend to run Groundhog Day Mafia in the near- to mid-range future, I’m also curious to see how successful the disappearing thread content will be. That will be a must for my Groundhog Day game.

[NANOOKTHEGREATANDFEARSOME]

How thorough is the record loss rule? Can you, for example, screenshot or otherwise save things you want to remember (somebody's claim, a specific interaction, that sort of thing) if you don't reproduce it in thread?

Obviously this is difficult to police in most cases,, I'm thinking mostly in terms of whether someone saying "nanook green checked jay n1, I have it screencapped" would be allowed or not

[Master Radishes]

Haven't read OP, just gonna pre-sign-up for this based on historical content.

If I ever get around to hosting games here they're pretty much all gonna be historical in theme.

[JaggedJimmyJay]

How thorough is the record loss rule? Can you, for example, screenshot or otherwise save things you want to remember (somebody's claim, a specific interaction, that sort of thing) if you don't reproduce it in thread?

Obviously this is difficult to police in most cases,, I'm thinking mostly in terms of whether someone saying "nanook green checked jay n1, I have it screencapped" would be allowed or not

There will likely need to be some degree of honor system. I generally trust Cindy Kates to respect that. I would "require" players to avoid screenshot-related shenanigans and relate their commentary to screenshots. The spirit of things is meant to be limited to 1) what's currently visible in the thread and 2) what you can personally remember solely with your own brain.

When the game draws nearer if this whole idea is sufficiently unpopular I won't consider it totally essential.

[JaggedJimmyJay]

I've decided to scrap the disappearing thread shtick for this game. I might revisit it in some other similar theme, but not for this game. Heists are intended to be classically structured and not wacko -- this one will be more standard.