Four Evil-doers have infiltrated the ranks of the loyal Good folk of King Arthur. And now, they must survive five harrowing quests to prove their loyalty to the Round Table. Will Arthur’s servants succeed in at least three of the five quests? Or will Evil thwart any attempts at success? Will Merlin get it in the end?
In this game, there will be 6 Loyal Servants of King Arthur and 4 Minions of Mordred (including Mordred himself!) The number of players per quest is as follows. An asterisk (*) indicates that two Failure votes are required to fail the quest, when normally only one is required.
Quest 1: 3 players
Quest 2: 4 players
Quest 3: 4 players
Quest 4: 5 players (*)
Quest 5: 5 players
========== The rules ==========
There are five turns, or quests. The game winner is determined by the majority: the winning faction succeeds in their goals in three or more quests. That is, Good wins if three or more quests succeed and Merlin survives; Evil wins if three or more quests fail or Merlin is killed.
There is a strict no PMs policy (except to the moderator for voting).
Setup: Player order is randomized and players are randomly assigned roles (see below for more info on each role.) Players receive their role assignments. Each role will receive a PM with the following information:
Good characters (6 total):
Merlin - Knows Evil (except for Mordred), must remain hidden
Percival - Knows Merlin (also Morgana, and can’t tell which is which)
Loyal Servant of Arthur (quantity: 4) - you get squat, just the knowledge that you’re a Good person (which is enough reward)
Evil characters (4 total):
Morgana - Appears as Merlin; knows Assassin and Mordred
Assassin - Minion of Mordred; knows Morgana and Mordred
Mordred - Unknown to Merlin; knows Morgana and Assassin
Oberon - Unknown to Evil; knows nobody. You get squat, you’re pretty much on your own. You can try and worm your way onto Good quests though!
Round order:
Hey, look! I made you a little graphic.
Leader Selection: The first Party Leader (for Quest 1) is selected at random. In normal play, subsequent Party Leaders proceed down the list, and the list wraps around. Plot cards: A player can assume team leadership at this time using the Strong Leader plot card. Strong Leader cards can be played immediately after No Confidence.
Mission Start: Plot Cards: At the beginning of each mission (i.e., the first Team Leader for each mission), the team leader is dealt three Plot Cards in-thread. The number of plot cards depends on the number of players, as follows:
5-6 players: 1 plot card
7-8 players: 2 plot cards
9-10 players: 3 plot cards
Thus, for 10 players, there will be 3 plot cards per round. The team leader distributes the Plot Cards to any of the other players (not him/herself). I took this photo of the Plot Thickens expansion rules and (continued) extended descriptions of all plot cards. You can also view the video rules about Plot Cards. Plot cards: Use Immediately Plot Cards (Take Responsibility, Establish Confidence, Open Up, Overheard Conversation) happen now.
Quest Start, Party Selection: At the start of the Quest, the party leader chooses a number of players to accompany him or her on a quest. This is done publicly in-thread. The party size for each quest is determined by the number of players, according to the rules.
Party Vote: Players vote (open ballot) on whether the quest should be allowed to proceed. Voting will be called at 12 hours past the quest announcement and absent votes, abstentions, and passes will be counted as yes-votes. Votes may be PMed to me so that voting order does not influence anybody; alternately, you may vote publicly in-thread. I will post the results of the votes including the names of all voters. Majority wins; ties favor failure. Please bold your vote if you vote in-thread. Players that miss two votes in a row will be disqualified from the game. Plot cards: Opinion Makers must vote first and publicly (in-thread). Players may wait for Opinion Maker votes before casting their own votes.
Party Vote Results: The results of the party selection and each player’s vote will be displayed publicly in-thread.
If the majority of the votes are negative: proceed to Quest Start, Party Selection again. This counts as a party leadership change. Five party leadership changes in one quest results in an Evil victory for the game. Plot cards: No Confidence Plot Cards happen after the vote in-thread. These count as a team leadership change.
Call to Arms: The moderator will announce that the quest is a go, and that quest’s party members must PM their votes (see below). Plot cards: In The Spotlight happens now: play the card in-thread. Your answer will also be delivered in-thread.
Quest Vote: Players selected for the quest vote on whether the quest succeeds or fails (closed ballot). Quest party members must PM me their votes once called. In the first three turns and the final turn, one failure-vote fails the quest for the Good faction (and wins it for Evil.) In the fourth turn, two failure-votes are required for Evil to fail the quest.
Good players must vote SUCCESS. Evil players may choose to vote SUCCESS or FAILURE. This vote is a closed ballot. Vote order will be randomized and revealed without player names. Any missing votes will be treated as SUCCESS votes. Players that miss two votes in a row will be disqualified from the game.
Quest Results: The result of the quest is revealed, including each randomized and anonymized vote and whether the quest succeeded or failed. Plot cards: Keeping a Close Eye on You cards can be played at this time: play the card in-thread and your answer will come from me by PM.
================== Player Roles - A Guide ============
** The Loyal Servants of Arthur **
Merlin - you know each Evil player except for Mordred. Your goal is to somehow let the other Good players know what you know without letting the Evil players know what you know…you know? If you’re sloppy, the Assassin will take you out in the end and Evil will (boringly) triumph.
Percival - you know the two players that are holding the Merlin and Morgana cards but you don’t know which is which. Your goal is to figure out which one is Merlin, then try to impersonate him/her as best you can. Best case is that the Assassin takes you out in the end and Good wins! Except you’ll be dead…so kind of a so-so victory.
Loyal Servant of Arthur (quantity: 4) - you don’t know anything except King Arthur is the bee’s knees. Try and figure out who your friends are, or at least some of them. Try to let Merlin’s wisdom flow into that thick-headed peasant skull of yours as well. And try not to think of yourself as generic…only 40% of the players get to be this role! That’s pretty special!
** The Minions of Mordred **
Mordred - the traitorous son himself. You can’t be seen by Merlin so you have the best shot of mucking up your goody two-shoes father’s plans. Try and figure out who Oberon is so you don’t accidentally double Fail a quest that you’re both on.
Morgana - damned if you don’t look exactly like that old gaffer Merlin! At least to Percival, who to be honest was never the sharpest longsword in the armory. Try and fool Percy into thinking you’re his best friend and he’ll follow you like a little puppy dog through quest after failed quest.
Oberon - who needs friends? You have no idea who’s on your side but honey badger don’t care (sorry, don’t know where that came from.) Try and worm your way onto as many quests as possible so you can impress your idol of Evil, Mordred. I’m sure he’ll notice you if you just try a little harder, maybe even go with you to the big Bane Ball next semester.
The Assassin - you get the final say in things so make it count. Put a dagger in Merlin’s back and your faction wins. Listen to your Evil cohorts or not, it’s your call.