The Father and Son taveled together along the road, always travelling to the coast in search of supplies and milder weather. Their searches, they both knew, were pointless, but they continued anyways. They continued all day, and knew how valuable sleeping (and not posting) at night truly was.

It is now Night 0. Send your night actions to sailingrules8888@gmail.com
Night ends in 48 hours.

Rotaretilbo and the town woke up as normal. They shivered, trying to work some heat into their extremities, as a fire they make at night can't last without being stoked. As they warmed up, thinking as always about food and their chances of survival, they heard something. They hid their shopping cart and put the two cans of beans they had left in bushes and moved quickly out of sight. All in vain. The man ran towards them, hungry. He bounded to Rotaretilbo and made it to him right as he pulled out the pistol he had found before going to sleep that night. Two shots fired and the cannibal could be seen bleeding at the shin and limping away. Rotaretilbo aimed at the cannibal's back when the Boy said

No! You can't!
He'd kill us and eat us, why let him live?
Because we are the good guys, we don't eat people or kill. Right?
We don't eat people, sometimes we have to kill.

Rotaretilbo sighed lowered the gun and let the cannibal return safely back to his hideout. He hoped that the practically sub-human wouldn't return, and mourned the loss of two of their very few bullets.

As they walked along the road, they approached another dead body, a sadly common sight. After scrounging the bit of food he had on him, at the Son's protest about it being his food, whether he was dead or alive, they found a letter. It was obviously one that the unfortunate man had received and saved, probably in delusion of being able to reply to the sender who was likely long dead. It was addressed to Mixz ("The Old Man" - One shot thief). They shrugged, surprised the cannibal didn't take this simpler prey, and continued their journey on the road.

Somebody tried to eat Rotaretilbo, but was forced away
Somebody killed Mixz (The Old Man - One shot thief)

It is now Day 1. There are 7 alive, so it is 4 to lynch.

[This message has been edited by GoSailing (edited 04-30-2008 @ 03:27 AM).]

I remember the old man! Too bad he died so early in this game.

No help from Normandy... Again.

Anyway, Rot is obviously the Father because he's with the son. I haven't read the book so no idea what roles might be. Someone obviously roleblocked the person who tried to kill Rot or someone protected Rot. If you're the roleblocker, please come out now. We might reveal a power role but we also lynch a mafioso. If you're a doc, stay hidden, please.

Now, roles.

We have probably a doc, a cop, a vig, and a roleblocker left, and a three player mafia. Or a two player mafia and a SK. If no SK, then a trigger happy vig. Any ideas?

Always count on me to say them ol' pointless things here and there.

Anyway, I'm gonna go right out and say I'm probably your vig, but I can only kill on one single night, so I did not kill last night. I win with the town.

I'm your father. Ya, I'm your father. I'm your father. Ya, I'm your father.

We got the deathstar. We got the deathstar. We got the deathstar. We got the deathstar.

Well, I guess that kinda blows my cover pretty early. However, judging from last night, I'd say I'm probably iron. I shot the bullets, rather than someone else. However, if we do have a roleblocker, please step forward and reveal your target. I'm sure the doctor will protect you at night, if you feel insecure about roleclaiming so early.

Anyway, I'm expecting possibly a two or three player mafia and definately an SK. I would like to think that players have learned by now that vigilantes don't blind fire on night 0.

That means we definately have a cop and doc, since they are classic roles. Then I expect that we might have a roleblocker. If there is a two-person mafia, then we might also have a one-shot vigilante.

Well...I guess I was right about the one-shot vig part then. Now the question is do we have a roleblocker or am I iron?

I would like to think that players have learned by now that vigilantes don't blind fire on night 0.

The vigs haven't learned it, though.

I suppose we wait now? Or do we go for a mass rc?

The last mass RC worked in the last Mini-Mafia pretty well so I don't see why not this time.

So, what's a 'one shot thief'?
And Rot, why don't you know if you're iron or not? Wasn't that told in your role e-mail?
It was in mine anyway (from the SC mafia).

Telling a player if they are iron is all up to the host. For example, in Improbability Drive Mafia, grizzly137 had no idea he was iron, which was hilarious because he was attacked like four times. On the bright side, for all you mafiosos who want me dead, I'm pretty sure the father is dying of a disease throughout the novel, and dies at the end, so I figure my days are numbered based on a condition. You guys can keep attacking me and we can figure out if I am iron (or if perhaps my aim will be better next time), or you can let time take its effect. I'm rather resigned to the fact that I won't survive this game, so my goal now is simply to ensure a town win.

And no, mass roleclaiming is a terrible idea. The Road is a book where character names are non-existent. Even the main characters don't have names! How, then, can we truly judge one RC from another if we have almost nothing to go on?

TBK, one-shot thief comes in two parts. A thief is a type of cop that receives an item that reveals something about the player's character or alignment. One-shot means that the player may use this action only once.

This is going to be difficult, because besides myself and whoever the son is, there are no solid RCs, simply because of the ambiguity of the book. One of the major themes that I can derive is "good guys", so if Mixz hadn't been town, I'd almost be a bit paranoid that besides myself and whoever the son is, there is no town. However, it looks like Sails went to some length to turn shady neutral characters into the town.

Needless to say, the cannibals are our mafia. I figure we probably also have a serial killer, though I don't know if its one of the slavers or someone else. In a mafia this size, especially if Normandy really is a veteran (one-shot vig), we probably don't have a vigilante.

Right now, I'm on the vurge of declaring a lurker hunt, simply because I don't know how exactly to pull this off. We have a cop, and whoever that is is going to be instrumental in this game. Thus, I urge the cop to come forward at the first sign of scum, and that the doctor take his protection off of me (I assume that he'll be protecting me, since I'm more than just an old man with a revolver to protect myself with , and since I'm unsure that I'm iron, and would like to at least garuntee that I survive one more night) and divert it to you. In fact, tomorrow, I want the cop to roleclaim regardless of town or scum results simply because that would theoretically cut our suspicion load in half. And cop, I'd appreciate if you'd start with Normandy.

And to my mafioso friends, if you guys are still listening, considering how few of us there are, you'd better hope you catch the cop tonight, because once he roleclaims, the doctor will (if the doctor has any sense, and doesn't happen to also have a killing role and kill the cop...not that I'm still bitter at anyone about something like that ) have him well protected.

Now then, that all aside, we have seven people alive. I'm town, as you all might have surmized. No, I don't actually have the death star, I apologize. I'm actually not going to reveal anything about my role. I'm neither a cop nor a doc, I'm much cooler. Well, I think I am, I suppose that's up for debate. A doctor is probably more useful than I am, but being me is much more fun, so gtfo doctor (don't actually, because we'll need you for tomorrow when the cop claims ).

So where was I? Ah yes. Seven people alive. One of them (me) is confirmed town. So that leaves six people that I have to be suspicious of. I don't know how well random voting is going to work in this situation, but I think we might want to give it a try anyway. I am going to vote for someone, and then I want ONE other person to vote. Not two. Not three. One! If anyone else votes without my permission, I will see to it that we divert pressure to you.

Now then

Vote: Friend of Old

because while ABU is technically at the middle, I started a random vote against him in Harry Potter Mafia, so I'm letting him slide from happening to always be in the middle. And since Normandy was so kind as to RC early and since the cop will (hopefully) investigate him tonight, we'll start with the other person on the list next to ABU.

Now, FoO, I don't want you to RC. That would be pointless. Rather, I want you to convince me that there are other people better to lynch than you. I know, what I'm asking isn't easy, but this game isn't going to be easy because RCing is completely worthless, which means all of our tactics that are based around the concept of RCing for discussion are also all completely worthless. Thus, this game is going to be very experimental in how to garner information without RCing (it's like ferret's dream game ).

Meh, forgot to vote.
I vote for RCM for being inactive.
Vote: RCM*insert random number here*

The Road is a book where character names are non-existent. Even the main characters don't have names! How, then, can we truly judge one RC from another if we have almost nothing to go on?

I'd almost be a bit paranoid that besides myself and whoever the son is, there is no town. However, it looks like Sails went to some length to turn shady neutral characters into the town.

Yes, yes I did. Thats one bit of advice I will give you. This mafia was an experiment with nearly useless RC's. Remember, however, that roles as part of a role claim are useful as well.

By the way, before role claiming, make sure you re-read rule one. It may help you to know that your name can be quoted.

@TBK: Dude, wth? I do sleep at night, you know Like Rot said, Vote: FoO Do you guys want an RC from me?

Telling a player if they are iron is all up to the host. For example, in Improbability Drive Mafia, grizzly137 had no idea he was iron, which was hilarious because he was attacked like four times.

Thats a really good point Rot. Because in that mafia I was iron, and told in the e-mail. So, when I roleclaimed and said I was iron, I was immediately speed lynched by the mafia as they knew what damage an iron role could do. So being told your iron isn't always a benefit.

Anyway, back on with the game, I know nothing about The Road, but a one-time thief doesn’t seem a too bigger loss. And it seems Rot, after Sails’ write up is a confirmed townie. I'm a bit concerned that two attacks were made last night? Two factions in an 8 player game? Sounds crazy. Are you sure you didn't kill anyone last night Normandy?

An inactive vote this early is absolutely stupid as the game only just started.

because while ABU is technically at the middle, I started a random vote against him in Harry Potter Mafia, so I'm letting him slide from happening to always be in the middle.

Aw bless your little heart Rot.

I'd join the random vote on Foo. HOWEVER we already have 2 votes on him and it's four to lynch. So if I placed a vote on him someone could fail to notice and vote or a scum could speed lynch him.

Ok, either Normandy's lying or we have a vigilante out there.

Like Rot said, Vote: FoO

BANDWAGON-ALERT.

Quoted from Rot

So where was I? Ah yes. Seven people alive. One of them (me) is confirmed town. So that leaves six people that I have to be suspicious of. I don't know how well random voting is going to work in this situation, but I think we might want to give it a try anyway. I am going to vote for someone, and then I want ONE other person to vote. Not two. Not three. One! If anyone else votes without my permission, I will see to it that we divert pressure to you.

Whick is what I did. You're acting mighty suspicious, TBK. *Scum alert goes off*

TBK it's called random voting
What else should we do on day 1? And like RCM said. Rot said one more person should vote for FOO. And RCM did. Give him a break. Accusing him of inactivity just a few hours into the game. Then saying he's bandwagoning when he's quite clearly not? Give him a break this seems entirely based on OMGUS.

Did I forgot the ":P"?

Yes, I did not kill anyone last night because I am one-shot and don't want to waste it on a random person.

Then who killed Mixz?

Did I forgot the ":P"?

Thast the worst excuse i've ever heard.

I'm really confused at this point to the setup of this game. Sails has given us a real puzzler here. One mafia group with 2 members and a seriel killer sound splausabile. But even then 2 killing groups in a 8 man mafia sounds a bit too much. Sorry Normandy but I kind of don't believe you at the moment. I think it was your first time vig. You panicked and targeted either Mixz or Rot. Then your trying to deny it now. I believe your vig Normandy. But the only possibility I can see for last night is if you targeted someone.

What we really need is someone who has read the book can say what roles there could possibly be in this mafia.

Sails has read it, but he's host

I've read the book.

Banned, out of all sincerity I didn't target anyone. But if you don't want to believe me I don't blame you and there's no hard feelings about it at all.

*Struggles out of coffin*

It's always annoying dying on the first night, but it's never happened to me before so I'm not that annoyed about it. Have a good game guys .

*Crawls back into coffin*

*is let out of cupboard*

I don't believe this, HP mafia I arrive with my entire mafia dead night 1, just when I get to be godfather as well, and now I have become the target of a CRS bandwagon. Oh joy. You want a reason to vote for somebody else? Here's one:

I deserve a break! Fools.

(I don't forget them)

No, what Rot has suggested is in fact a valid point, and Sails has confirmed as to the deliberate ambiguity of the roles. So the RC strategy will not work (like in my mafias, which aren't based on anything). This leaves us with only one other method of evidence. That being behavioural. So, what does an early analysis of the players suggest. I will omit myself as my opinion would be biased and this is my first post.

Rot: Laid down the facts for us and proposed an early stratagem, typically Rot has assumed early control of the game, with the benefit of a cast iron (pun intended) role claim. However he has omitted the details, this may be for better or for worse, however the write up stongly implies a town alignment.

TBK: Either he's a n00b or he's desperate scum. OMGUS is a poor tactic as well as purile. His early, unwarranted attacks make him seem scum to me, however I would suggest, rather than kill him straight off I think he should be the cop's target tonight. This would of course prove him either n00b or scum. One or the other.

Normandy: Is it just me or are you being deliberately unhelpful? I really can't say for one who claims to be an avid professor of the book that you have shown carre to demonstrate that knowlege. When the question was posed, 'Can someone with knowledge of the book give us some ideas of characters' you most eloquently said 'I've read it'. Most effective. I'd recommend pressure on Normandy today, rather than myself. So to put my money where my mouth is: Vote: Normandy.

Banned: Nothing much on Banned yet, seems content to sit around and participate in discussion. Time will tell.

RCM: Reacted badly to TBK's play, however I haven't yet formulated an opinion as to whether he is scum, at least not yet. I would like to hear more from him.

Arvy: LURKER! LYNCH HIM NOW!!!

Right, so as we have established it is imperative that we keep an active discussion. This way scums are more likely to slip up. We also have decided that RC's are useless, so it is pointless in asking for them. In order to further discussion we need people to play provocatively, even if that means pointlessly being devil's advocate.

So we have:
Rot - Town
Normandy - Scum?
TBK - Scum?
FoO - Ambiguous
Banned - Ambiguous
RCM - Ambiguous
Arvy - Lurker

The question is where to proceed from here?

Either he's a n00b or he's desperate scum.

Does it explain enough if I say this is my 3rd mafia?

OMGUS

WTH? What does that mean?

Does it explain enough if I say this is my 3rd mafia?

Well there's no excuse then. Acting so aggressively will get you lynched, I speak from experience here.

OMGUS = O My God yoU Suck
An example of this is voting for someone because they voted for you. In short if a player accuses you are acts negatively towards you and you attack them because of it, that's OMGUS.

My apologies to FoO and everyone else.

I'll give this a shot.

The Old Man
What role could this be? One-shot thief, confirmed as Mixz
The old guy that Mixz was is a guy in the book the father and son meet while traveling with a cart of some kind. They share their food with him but, to the son's protest, the father says he can't go with them. Perhaps this is someone else but I got the impression that's who it was. My terrible memory gets me every time.

The Father
What role could this be? Iron townie? Doctor? Roleblocker?
Confirmed as Rot. My personal guess would be a roleblocker as he is supposed to protect the son. I would also have assumed him to be a doctor but from the way he worded it, he is probably not one.

The Son
What role could this be? Iron townie? Doctor?
The son most likely has at least some sort of role besides just simply being an iron townie. Because he is just the son, however, this may not be the case. But, we can't rule out that possibility.

That One Guy by the Beach
What role could this be? Serial killer? Hell, maybe even a doctor? Roleblocker?
Throughout the whole book they are trying to get to the beach. They finally do, and on a road near it they come across somebody who steals the cart or something like that. (I can't remember this part very well for some reason.) This makes the father mad and somehow he finds out, so he makes the guy take all his clothes off and leave. Then when the father and son make it to town the guy and the father have like a gunfight of sorts, and that man is heavily wounded. They kind of stay in the same house for the night even after fighting but without any words to each other the father leaves, of course taking the son with him.

The Cannibal They Actually Come Across
What role could this be? Godfather? Simply scum? Serial killer?
Towards the beginning of the book the father and the son must quickly hide as a band of cannibals are coming down the road. One comes close to them and then he sees them. The father and that man have a confrontation and the cannibal guy dies eventually because he says, "I think you're chickens***" and quickly tries to take the boy. The man is not a chickens*** and shoots that cannibal in the head when he does this.

The Basement Victims
What role could this be? Townies?
The father and son at a point, I think it was somewhere in the middle, go into a somewhat large city. They go into a house that looks in better condition than the others for food. They go into the basement and there are a bunch of naked people, and the father immediately realizes they are victims of the cannibals. They run out immediately and soon after see cannibals come in, and they hear screams every once in a while. The boy wanted to help the people but the father said they just can't help them.

The Family At the End
What role could this be? Cop? Doctor?
At the end when the father dies, the boy is found by this man who has been tracking the family. (How much do you want to bet this is our cop/tracker?) He, his wife, and two children take the boy in as their own and treat him well. This leaves the book in conclusion.

I believe I am a made up character, because from the way the email was written it didn't remind me of any character in the book whatsoever.