Amazing Fantasy is an advanced bastard Mafia game for 2930 players that is loosely based on the in-universe and real-world origins of everyone's favorite wall-crawling, web-slinging, joke-cracking superhero: the Amazing Spider-Man. More specifically, it focuses primarily on the story established in Amazing Fantasy #15, the first three years of The Amazing Spider-Man (issues #1 to #51, including annuals), and a few other surprises taking inspiration from content outside of that. The game features a variety of characters and mechanics both new and old, tying together a convoluted plot that should infuriate even the most stoic of you.
The design file is, as always, impressive to behold and full of moving parts. Expect complex roles. The game is a bastard game, so you know to trust nothing (but see "A Note on Bastardry" in the Rules section below). Some things in the game will intentionally deceive you, while others will make it nearly impossible for some of you to win. The game is not meant to be equal parts fair for all players; meaning some of you will, via luck of the draw, wind up with the short end of the stick and have an extremely difficult uphill battle to earn a victory. If that ends up being you, don't discourage! If it's any consolation, in the last game, one player was so convinced he'd lose that he gave up on the first day and refused to participate further—that player somehow still won. So don't give up, no matter how impossible things seem in the moment, you just never know what shocking twist lies around the corner.
And now, without further ado, it's video time:
The Story Thus Far...
There isn't any. This is where the story begins! Okay, I guess despite this being the start of the story a little background is in order. I'll start you off by telling you that mild-mannered professional wallflower Peter Parker is a 16-year-old student at midtown high who is really smart and will probably become one of the world's leading scientists someday if something crazy like a radioactive spider bite doesn't completely sidetrack his progress first. Orphaned at a young age, Peter lives with his aunt and uncle in Queens, NY, just a stone's throw away from the much more exciting island of Manhattan, home to such illustrious superhero teams as The Fantastic Four or even The Avengers! But I'm sure mentioning them is unimportant to this story, as our poor pimpled pubescent protagonist Peter Parker is never going to run with the likes of them. After all, Peter Parker doesn't have any superpowers...
Yet...
But that's not the only story we need to concern ourselves with. Oh no! Dear reader, I'm talking about the true origins of the character here. The meta origins that exist beyond this universe! Yes, you see, our story owes its creation at least in part to the diligent creative drive of a young comic book writer in another world. I'm talking of course about Stan Lee, without whom none of this would be possible. No origin story would truly be complete without mention of him. Somewhere, out there, he toils away for a company named Marvel, churning out script after script, each one great in its own way yet none of them fulfills his true creative need. A need to tell stories of a different kind. Stories with real characters who have problems just like you and me, whose worries and woes don't go away just because they put on a mask. He yearns to tell stories with backbone, stories with morals, stories that really matter. Stories, like...
Jimmy, roll the credits.
P.S. said:
"Did you know that Zelda Dungeon has something called a 'First message reaction score' on forum topics? I sure didn't until I discovered it today (June 16th, 2023)!! Now that I know it's a thing, I kind of vainly want my first message reaction score to beat all the records. If you're enjoying this game, or just appreciate all the effort I put into it, you can let me (and all of ZD) know by liking this post and boosting the game's first message reaction score. Thanks a lot! Like and subscribe!"
This game is a bastard game. In Mafia, "bastard" is a term to describe games that have elements that are traditionally considered unfair. In a standard game, you generally only have to worry about other players lying to you; in a bastard game, you have to worry about lies from the game Moderator too.
That said, I realize that in a game of deception if you have absolutely nothing to trust it becomes impossible to stand your ground on anything. For that reason, I promise there will be no direct lies in any of your role PMs (except maybe in the backstory section, which is just fluff). And, given the theme of this game, that will include new Role PMs you receive after undergoing a Role Transformation.
That doesn't mean there won't be things in your role PMs designed to trick you, but you can at least count on them not being outright false. Everything else is totally fair game though — it's still a bastard difficulty level, after all.
GAME RULES
I reserve the right to discipline a player for violation of these rules HOWEVER I SEE FIT, ranging from the most insignificant slap on the wrist all the way to the dreaded Modkill, and everything in between. Usually, though, I will punish violations of the rules by placing MODVOTES on the player in question, or by making it more difficult to achieve your win condition or motivation if for some reason modvotes don't do that. Don't break the rules.
1.1 Please read, understand, and obey all the rules. Where contradictions exist between your Roles and the rules, your Roles take precedence.
1.2 Be respectful of the Mod (me) and your fellow players. Mafia can get heated at times; try to remember that it is just a game.
1.3 Please bold anything that you hope me to see. @ing me also helps.
1.4 Discussions about the game's balance are strictly forbidden while the game is still running. Discuss that stuff after the game is over.
1.5 Communication with anyone other than the Mod outside of the game thread regarding this game is strictly prohibited unless you have an ability that allows you to do so. If you can chat with others outside the game thread, it will most likelyrequire you to join this Discord server.
1.6 The Town Aligned and Mafia Aligned win conditions are public knowledge (see below). Unless you have one of these alignments, it is probably in your best interests to pretend like you do until such time as you are no longer able; the reason they are made public is exclusively for the benefit of those who don't possess them.
1.7 Except for Self Aligned players (who have unique win conditions) and Origin Aligned players (who don't have a win condition), all other alignments are tied to their win conditions. Meaning, players of the same alignment will always have the same win condition, and vice versa, until such time as their alignment changes (and win condition along with it). Alignments can change without warning.
1.8 Other than the aforementioned four alignments (hereafter referred to as the "Standard Alignments"), there are five secret alignments whose win conditions are known only to them. That's right, this game has 9 alignments. Deal with it.
1.9 Try to have fun! (This rule is very important.)
Ruletip said:
Town & Mafia Win Conditions
The Town Alignedwin condition is to remove all threats to the Town. It reads as: "You win at the beginning of the Day if no threats to the Town exist in the Active Player pool."
TheMafia Alignedwin condition is to achieve parity with the Town, without eliminating it altogether, and remove all other threats. It reads as: "You win at the beginning of the Day if no non-Mafia threats to the Town exist in the Active Player pool, and the Mafia has equal or greater numbers than the Town while at least 1 Town player remains."
Either one of these win conditions can end the game.
2.2You may edit your posts to add content or fix mistakes (but not delete stuff) if it is the most recent post in the game thread (ie. no one has posted after you). Once anyone has followed up on your post you may not edit it anymore (you can use the preview button or another tab to see if there have been posts made while you've been editing). This rule is strictly enforced.
2.4 Do not post at Night unless you have an ability that allows you to do so (however, see Burning the Midnight Oil in the "Communal Abilities" section below).
2.5 If you are in the Active Player pool and not Silenced (more on both later), please make an effort to post in the game thread at least once every 120 hours. More often is encouraged, but not required. If you are going to be absent for longer than 120 hours, please give me prior notice.
2.6 Once you have been removed from the Active Player pool do not post in the game thread any longer (unless you possess an ability that lets you continue to do so), not even just a "bah" post. Violation of this rule might result in banning you from any chance that might exist to be returned to the Active Player pool.
2.7 You may not directly quote anything from a PM or discord server anywhere else. You may paraphrase/claim whatever you like (claims can be false so no reason to disallow it), but be cautious who you share info with—they might not have your best interests at heart.
2.8 Some roles have Posting Restrictions. A posting restriction is exactly what it sounds like — you are restricted from posting in some fashion. Usually, these will present themselves as some sort of information about your role you aren't allowed to reveal, but it could be anything really. You could have a posting restriction preventing you from posting anything in the color Red, for example! Whatever the case may be, if you have a posting restriction it will explain how it behaves and whether it applies to the Game Thread or elsewhere.
3. DAY/NIGHT RULES
3.1 An in-game Day will last until the time limit expires or a vote Threshold has been reached, whichever happens first. An in-game Night will last until the time limit expires or all players have submitted a Night action, whichever happens first. There could also be abilities that modify the duration of a Day/Night or end them early.
3.2 The standard time limit for a Day is 24 hours + 4 hours per player in the Active Player pool, while the time limit for a Night is 12 hours + 2 hours per player in the Active Player pool (clocked at the beginning of said Day or Night). With 28 players in the Active Player pool, a Day would clock in at 136 hours, and a Night at 68 hours. As the players in the Active Player pool dwindles, so too will the amount of time those who remain will have to get things done.
3.3 As soon as a Day ends, whether because the time limit expired or a Threshold was reached, no further votes or actions will be counted even if the Mod is not present to immediately end the Day. Ditto for when a Night ends.
3.4 Between each Day and Night phase will be a Dawn or Dusk interim phase. This phase is to provide the Mod time to resolve abilities and advance the game's state. Such interim phases will vary in length, but I will endeavor to keep them to no more than 24 hours.
3.5 Generally, activated abilities used during the Day are resolved within 24 hours (usually, when I put up the next Vote Count), while activated abilities used during the Night occur at the end of the Night all at once (following a set order of operations); however, there may be exceptions.
3.6 Abilities that prematurely end the Day are not useable within the first 12 hours of the Day start.
4. VOTING & THRESHOLD RULES
4.1 Voting is not—I repeat, NOT—something universal that everyone can do in this game. To be able to vote you must have an ability that grants voting privileges. Normally such abilities will be passive, but not always.
4.2 Please make your votes stand out. Making them bold and in colour is a good way to do that. Do not hide them in spoiler tags or using invisible text.
4.3 Your Threshold is the number of votes required to see you removed from the Active Player pool (usually, removal means you were Arrested, but sometimes it means Exiled or Lynched instead; your Role PM will specify which form of removal you can expect). Typically a player's Threshold will be Majority. A Majority is defined as being half the number of available Standard Votes (rounded down) plus one, so if there are 10 Standard Votes in the Active Player pool, it would take 6 votes to see you removed.
4.4 A Threshold must be reached in order for a player to be removed from the Active Player pool at the end of the Day. If the time limit on the Day expires before a Threshold is reached, the Day ends without a player being removed.
4.5 You may Unvote to remove your vote from a player. Unvoting is not required to place a new vote.
4.6 You can vote for No Removal if you wish to see the Day end without a player being removed. The "Threshold" for No Removal is always by majority vote, and that cannot be changed.
4.7 Some characters have Bonus or Secret voting abilities. A Bonus Vote is an extra vote you can cast, usually under a different name, while a Secret Vote is cast in private, and cannot be linked back to you. These votes function in different ways than traditional votes and aren't necessarily subject to these rules. Most importantly, unlike Standard Votes, Bonus and Secret votes do not adjust the value of Majority.
5. ABILITIES, CONDITIONS, & EXTRA RULES
5.1 An Ability is a special thing your character can do, often something that nobody else can. Abilities come in three varieties — activated, passive, and item — and every character in the game has at least one of each type.
5.2 An activated ability by default is turned off and must be activated to gain the benefit. Activated abilities specify if they can be used during the Day, the Night, or Both, and will sometimes have a limited number of uses which typically (but not always) reduces with each use. You are limited to using two activated abilities each cycle, one during the Day and one during the Night (unless your Role PM contradicts this), but can never repeat the same activated ability twice in a given Day/Night cycle. Unless otherwise specified, an activated ability only lasts until the end of the Day or Night in which it is used.
5.3 A passive ability is always on and generally cannot be turned off. Sometimes a specific trigger must be achieved before the passive ability takes effect.
5.4 An item ability functions like a passive ability except the benefit is tied to a specific item and is lost if ever you no longer possess it. Items can be stolen.
5.5 Some abilities require you to Target a specific player. Unless otherwise specified, you may never target yourself with a targeting ability. Targeting abilities are referenced by many things; do not confuse them with an ability that requires you to choose a player without having to target them (generally, a superior power). If the word "Target" is not used, it's not a targeting ability.
5.6 A Condition is an ongoing effect (generally negative) that is afflicting a specific player. The condition might have a predetermined duration or an indefinite one. Conditions are usually (but not always) applied as the result of an ability being used. For a list of Conditions, see "Special Game Mechanics" below.
5.7 All Abilities — regardless of type — and any Conditions afflicting you only function when you are in the Active Player pool. Unless an Ability or Condition specifically says otherwise, none of them apply to arrested, exiled, or dead characters.
5.8 If at any point I need to add more rules, this is where they'll go.
Ruletip said:
Sometimes I will refer to the use (or lack thereof) of an activated ability as costing you an action (or not costing an action). This is verbiage borrowed from D&D which, due to my day job (I'm a professional Dungeon Master), might slip in from time to time. If you see something like this, know that "an action" just means "using an activated ability", and "a free action" or "not an action" just means "doesn't cost you a use of an activated ability".
There are several unique game mechanics designed for this game. Please make sure you understand how they work before you begin playing.
ORIGIN STORIES
The central theme of this game is Origin Stories. To simulate this, a lot of you will have Transformational Roles. Throughout the game, certain events can take place that will transform your Roles into entirely new ones (usually you'll still be the same character but with an extreme makeover). Sometimes these events are things you can willfully make happen, other times they might be completely out of your control. Most of these roles make up the many Origin Aligned players in the game (who, for the most part, require such a transformation before they'll be able to win), but make no mistake, just about anybody could, in theory, undergo such a transformation.
LOSS CONDITIONS
This game introduces Loss Conditions. A loss condition, as the name suggests, is like the inverse of a win condition; if triggered, it makes you lose the game. Loss conditions trump win conditions, meaning, if you have achieved your win condition but have also triggered a loss condition by the time the game ends, you still lose. Unlike win conditions, loss conditions are not tied to alignments, but to your Roles. Changing alignments doesn't get rid of your loss condition, but changing your Role (such as, through a transformational origin story) just might do the trick (no guarantees, though). The best way to avoid losing to a loss condition is to avoid triggering one, but sometimes you may have no choice; in that case, you'd better find some other way out from under that noose by any means necessary. Not everyone has a loss condition.
MOTIVATIONS
In addition to your win condition, all players also have a personal Motivation. Your Motivation is not a requirement for you to win, it's just an extra bonus quest. Some motivations require you to acquire or do something, while others rely on you preventing something from happening. No matter what your motivation is, achieving it rewards you with some kind of tangible bonus that should help make winning the game easier for you, but you shouldn't prioritize your Motivation above your actual win condition. While win conditions are tied to alignments, and loss conditions are tied to Roles, your motivations are tied to your characters. As such, don't expect your motivations to change unless your actual character does (very unlikely).
PLAYER POOLS
Most players start the game in the Active Player pool. This is the default player pool (what would equate to living players in most mafia games), and generally speaking, all the rules of the game, and abilities and conditions in the game are built around players in this pool. You must be in the Active Player pool to post in the game thread (unless your Role PM says otherwise).
There are 4 other player pools in the game, each with their own rules for how they function.
The Arrested Player pool is for players who have been arrested, likely as a result of having an Arrest Threshold and accumulating enough votes during the Day to meet it. An arrested player has their assets seized (but may spend money to meet bail, see below), their abilities revoked (again, unless specified otherwise), and can generally only interact with the game by writing to the Daily Bugle using the "Letters to the Editor" game mechanic. Most players have an Arrest Threshold, so this is the default way to remove players from the Active Player pool. A player who is arrested has their character name revealed to the public.
The Deceased Player pool is for players who have been killed, likely as a result of a killing ability used against them, or, in rare cases, as a result of having a Lynch Threshold and accumulating enough votes during the Day to meet it. Dead players cannot interact with the game in any way, and in all likelihood will remain dead for the rest of the game. There is only one ability to return from death in this game, and at the outset it is hidden behind an obscure role transformation (it is entirely possible it never reveals itself). You don't want to die. A player who is killed has their character name and alignment revealed to the public.
The Exiled Player pool is sort of in between the above two. It is like death in that it completely removes you from the game without a chance for bail, but it is slightly easier to return from exile than death, and you can still send Letters to the Editor of the Daily Bugle from exile. So, there's that. Becoming exiled could be the result of an ability or an Exile Threshold reaching its required number of votes. A player who is exiled has nothing revealed to the public.
Finally, theUnknown Player pool is for players who are not in any of the other player pools. It is really unclear how anyone can get into or out of this player pool. Some say it doesn't even exist! I can't tell you what rules govern this player pool, if any.
Leaving the Active Player pool is not usually done by choice, and is called being "Removed from the Active Player pool" in the game rules regardless of what player pool is your next destination.
Ruletip said:
Bail
Players who are arrested can return to the Active Player pool by paying their bail during the Day. Bail is a semi-random amount of "money" (see below) determined at the time of their arrest. The exact amount is determined using the following formula:
($1,000 x C) + ($5,000 x S) + ($10,000 x M) + ($15,000 x T) + X + Y
In that formula, C is the number of "petty crimes" you have committed (defined as being hostile actions you have taken against another player), S is the number of Corporate Shares you hold (see below), M is the number of murders you have committed, T is equal to 1 if your Role at the time of your arrest was a Threat to the Town or 0 if it was not, X is a random value between $150 and $15,000, and Y is a fixed but unknown value also between $150 and $15,000 attributed to each character prior to the start of the game (no two characters have the same exact value for Y).
Other players in the Active Player pool can pay the bail balance of any arrested player if they so choose.
FIGHTS!! (NEW)
This game introduces a brand new FIGHTING mechanic that makes the action of superhero stories leap right off the comic page and into our forum game. Certain characters possess the ability to initiate a FIGHT with another player. Once initiated, their fates are intertwined, locked in battle until the fight is concluded and one person is the victor and another the loser. Nothing can interrupt a Fight in progress, and as such, during the Day, votes against both participants don't count until the fight is decided (they still accumulate, they just don't do anything). Once decided, the winner will always be offered a choice for how to dispatch the loser, which is sometimes influenced by the loser's villainous schemes, depending on who it is.
$MONEY$
Money makes its triumphant return in this game! The last Spider-Man Mafia game didn't have this mechanic, but those of you who remember all the way back to Hobgoblin Lives: A Spider-Man Mafia 2 should remember this. Money ($) is a spendable resource in this game. Most players have varying amounts of money available to them. The primary uses of money is to bail yourself out of jail, or to buy Corporate Shares (see below). That being said, you can use money for a number of other uses. Some abilities require you to spend money, for example, or you can bribe other players with money to get them to do just about anything they are willing to agree upon for the negotiated price. Want to buy someone's vote? Well, throw enough money at them and you probably can. After all, enough money can equate to being a get-out-of-jail-free card, and almost everybody with an Arrest Threshold has cause to want one of those.
Money can be freely given to other players in the Active Player Pool at any time during the Day as long as you do not possess more votes against you than anybody else (or are tied for the most), and the game is not in a "Lynch or Lose" scenario (defined as any situation in which a Threat must be removed from the Active Player Pool within the current Day/Night cycle or the Town loses). Transfer funds by sending a message to the game Moderator. A transfer fee of 5% or $5 (whichever is greater) will be removed from the funds transferred. The gifted player will be informed how much they've been given and the name of the bank account holder that it came from (at times, sending money just to confirm your identity to another player might be cause enough in and of itself for doing so). You may attach a private personal message of up to 500 characters to be sent along with the transfer if you wish to do so. What reasons you might have for sharing your money with another player is purely between you and that player.
CORPORATIONS & THE STOCK EXCHANGE
A corporation is a for-profit business that operates for the exclusive benefit of its evil corporate shareholders. Yes, corporate billionaires who hoard all the wealth made off the backbones of everyday people who do all the work (and in some cases, are even willing to abstain from bargaining with their employee unions until those employees are unable to pay their mortgages and find themselves threatened with extreme poverty and homelessness) are, unquestionablyevil; what a shocker, I know (this is sarcasm – as if I have to tell you that). Unfortunately, fighting the power behind the evil wheel of capitalism is beyond the scope of this game, so, despite the Mod affirming they are evil (and they are), the corporate shareholders are not, for game mechanical reasons only (I can't stress this enough), necessarily the Threats Town needs to worry about. I mean, they could still be Threats, but they don't have to be by definition.
There are 5 corporations in this game. Two of them are Publicly Traded Corporations, and two of them are Privately Traded Corporations. Corporate Shares of each of these 4 corporations are traded daily on the Stock Exchange (see below), and owning at least one Corporate Share in a corporation makes you a member of it, and thus eligible for the benefits it confers to its shareholders.
The fifth corporation is a privately owned company and is not traded on the stock exchange at all. Membership in this corporation is automatically granted to players of a certain wealth bracket. You could also call these evil rich people the 1%.
The corporations are:
The Daily Bugle is New York City's finest tabloid newspaper most well known for its fiercely negative opinion of the city's (in)famous wall-crawling superhero. It is run by tyrannical Publisher John Jonah Jameson and its more reasonable Editor-in-Chief, Joe "Robbie" Robertson. Each morning a new edition hits the streets of New York bringing the facts of today's happenings to the news-hungry readers. The Daily Bugle is a publicly traded corporation; shares cost $1,000 apiece. Holding at least one share in the Daily Bugle guarantees that letters to the Editor written by you must be included in the following issue of the paper as long as they aren't anonymous. Being the Majority Shareholder gives you unfettered access to the Daily Bugle offices, and even gives you the power to fire the current Publisher as an activated ability, replacing them with a new Publisher hand-picked by you (could even be yourself).
Fisk Industries is a perfectly legitimate business run by the independently wealthy self-made millionaire philanthropist Wilson Fisk. Don't be fooled by the rumors, that's just Fisk's business rivals trying to sully his good name by spreading unfounded propaganda. Fisk is actually an all-around nice guy, with a warm smile, a generous checkbook, and who gives killer bearhugs. Who wouldn't want to be associated with a swell guy like that? This publicly traded corporation is run by its president and CEO Wilson Fisk, and his right-hand man, VP James Wesley. Shares go for $10,000 apiece on the exchange, a hefty sum for sure but one that promises good return on its investment. Holding at least one share in Fisk Industries earns you a proportionate share of the company's profits every Day, while being the Majority Shareholder puts Fisk's best lawyers to work for you, ensuring you can still use most of your abilities in the event you become Arrested.
OsCorp (also known as Oscorp Industries, Oscorp Electronics, Oscorp Manufacturing Corporation, Oscorp Chemical Company, and a slew of other names) is an American multinational megacorporation run by billionaire industrialist, Norman Osborn. It was founded by Norman and his former mentor, Dr. Mendel Stromm, starting as a chemical company but quickly branching out into military weapons contracts and other incredibly lucrative though ethically dubious endeavors. OsCorp is a privately traded corporation, and as such the benefits of its shares are known only to its shareholders. The average price its shares usually sell for is around $15,000, but of course shareholders can part with their shares for whatever price they wish.
Roxxon Energy Corporation is a massive petroleum corporation run by various owners. Roxxon is the world's largest conglomerate, but despite its size, its reputation leaves something to be desired. The company is notorious for its determination to make massive profits regardless of any laws or moral principles it has to violate to do so, and continually covertly uses unethical and illegal means to increase its profits. Roxxon is a privately traded corporation; share prices on average are typically $5,000 apiece, though shareholders may choose to sell their shares at any price they wish. The benefits of holding a share in Roxxon are known only to shareholders.
The Century Club is a high-class social gathering spot for New York's wealthiest elite. Unlike other corporations on this list, the Century Club is privately owned and not a traded corporation at all. Membership is automatically awarded to anyone who enters a certain wealth bracket (ie. you must be really rich). Being a member of the Century Club grants you access to the members-only area, access to which may come with other benefits known only to its members. Shares in the Century Club may not be purchased.
Publicly & Privately Traded Corporations each start the game with 10 Corporate Shares (already in the hands of select characters), but new shares are generated as the game progresses. Publicly traded corporations generate a new Corporate Share the first time someone tries to buy one from the Stock Exchange each Day. Privately traded corporations generate a new Corporate Share when the Stock Exchange opens, which is automatically gained by the current Majority Shareholder. You are considered the Majority Shareholder if you hold at least 51% of all shares on the exchange. If there is no Majority Shareholder in a private company, the free share is given to the player with the most shares (or randomly selected among players tied for the most).
In addition to the unique benefits being a Majority Shareholder in a corporation already brings, all Majority Shareholders also gain the following ability:
Ruletip said:
Corporate Vote (Passive): You may cast a bonus vote on behalf of a corporation in which you are the Majority Shareholder which is done by PM to the Mod. Multiple instances of Corporate Vote from different corporations stack.
THE STOCK EXCHANGE
So all this info about the benefits and costs of Corporate Shares is great, but how do they change hands exactly? Each Day, usually around when the newest issue of the Daily Bugle hits the stands, the Stock Exchange will OPEN. While the Stock Exchange is open, any player in the Active Player pool can attempt to buy Corporate Shares from the exchange exactly once during the Day (this is NOT an ability).
You do so by sending the Mod a PM stating which corporation you would like to buy shares in (you can only pick one), and how many of those shares you would like to buy. If the corporation is publicly traded, you must pay the standard public cost for the requested shares, no more, no less. If the corporation is private, you must also declare how much you're willing to pay per share. Shareowners are then asked if they wish to sell (shareowners are told the names of the players looking to buy, as well as how much their bid is). Finally, the transaction is confirmed or rejected. Corporate Shares can each only exchange hands once on any given Day (so, you can't buy a share and then have someone else buy the share immediately off of you).
If a player with Corporate Shares is Removed from the Active Player pool, the bank seizes their assets. If that player doesn't return to the Active Player pool before the Stock Exchange opens the following Day, their shares will be put up for auction.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Without a doubt, the Mod's favourite game mechanic is, of course, going to be featured again (let's be honest, in no small part thanks to the willful participation of one player in particular).
Once per Day, any living Active, Arrested, or Exiled player may write a letter to the Editor of the Daily Bugle. What you include in this letter is entirely up to you. When you send the letter (to the Mod by PM), identify if you would like the letter to be signed (by your Character name) or if you'd rather remain anonymous. The Editor may decide to include your letter in the following edition of the paper, or they may not. Notably (and this part is new to this game), you can now include amoney tip (bribe?)to the Editor along with your letter. Doing so does not incur the normal money transfer fees.
COMMUNAL ABILITIES
Communal abilities are shared abilities that everyone in the Active Player pool has access to. You may elect to use them instead of using your own abilities if you wish. They are not inherently considered "yours" (they're everyone's), so if you somehow lose all your abilities you still can use communal abilities. Using a communal ability counts against your limit of activated abilities per Day or Night.
Ruletip said:
Communal Abilities
Big LeBowski (Activated; Night): Target player becomes Tracked by you until the end of the Night.
Burning the Midnight Oil (Activated; Night): You may continue to post in the game thread until the end of the Night.
Escape Handcuffs (Activated; Day): The 2 most recent votes against you are removed. This ability cannot be used in the last 4 hours before a deadline.
Insider Trading (Activated; Day): Force target player to sell public corporate shares they own if an interested party attempts to buy for the rest of the Day. If multiple buyers attempt to buy, they can still choose who to sell to.
Jump the Gun (Activated; Day): Target player becomes Roleblocked until the end of the Day.
RUMORS
The "Rumor Mill" Communal Ability lets you "learn something interesting", so the story goes. This fun mechanic that promises a "chance" at helping you solve the game has existed since the 2nd Spider-Man Mafia game, but in that game, it was not used more than once or twice at the most, I think. All that changed in the 3rd game, where my list of 30 rumors ran out on Day 5. This game the rumors make their return and I am more than prepared; I have a list of over 100 rumors for this game ready to go.
Using Rumor Mill (or whatever ability you have that generates rumors) is always a gamble. Believing idle gossip can be just as likely to lead you astray as help you down the right path. But for some, curiosity will outweigh the risks. For those of you that partake, be warned, all rumors on my list fall into one of the following four categories:
A rumor is either...
True and Helpful
True, but Useless
False, but Harmless
False and Harmful
Now, the odds do slightly favor rolling a Helpful rumor (it's only fair, you spent an ability activation to get it, after all), but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security, because some of those Harmful ones are really nasty. Just keep that in mind when choosing what rumors to believe in and which ones to throw away. If something seems too good to be true, well... It probably is. Just ask @ExLight...
CONDITIONS
Per rule 5.6, a Condition is an ongoing effect (generally negative) that is afflicting a specific player. The condition might have a predetermined duration or an indefinite one. Conditions are usually (but not always) applied as the result of an ability being used.
In the spoiler block below is a comprehensive list of publicly known conditions in the game. Hidden conditions may also exist—they will be explained only to players afflicted by, or capable of afflicting them.
Distracted (Condition)
Targeting abilities have a 30% chance of failure.
You might note that in the case of the Voteblocked condition, it doesn't actually remove your Standard Vote from play, it just prevents casting it. This is a relevant distinction because the number of Standard Votes affects Majority in Thresholds, and I didn't want the condition to change the value of Majority. Yes, this does mean that if you apply this condition to someone who already has a vote out, their vote will still be counted unless they choose to unvote (being Voteblocked doesn't prevent you from unvoting).
That said, there are conditions that will suppress or make you lose your voting ability entirely (Grief-Stricken and Poisoned), and these would absolutely remove any active votes and change the value of Majority if applied mid-Day. So watch out for those.
"You may want to consider bookmarking this specific post for ease of use, as referencing it frequently throughout the game may prove useful to most of you."
Mod Note: Crossed-out player names represent previously held characters and do not count as being "a player in this pool" for the purposes of abilities and win conditions that care how many players are in a given pool.
Uncle Ben serves as the sample Role PM for this game. Sample Role PMs are essential in a game like this so that players who need to make a fake claim can use the sample as a starting point to base their fake claim on. This is especially true for players whose own Role PMs are unorthodox in design compared to the standard.
Welcome to AMAZING FANTASY: A Spider-Man Mafia Prequel. You are...
Benjamin "Uncle Ben" Parker "With great power, there must also come great responsibility."
Loving husband, uncle, and important plot device. As great as he was, he needs to die so the story can happen.
Raising a young boy in your later years when neither you nor your wife wanted to have kids in the first place was not your idea of how you wanted to spend your retirement, but when your younger brother and his wife Mary died in a tragic plane accident, you were left with little choice. Truthfully, though you worried at first if you'd be up for parenting, you couldn't be happier with the way young Peter is growing up to be a wonderful young man. Every day he grows brighter, and some day you're sure he will change the world. You couldn't be a prouder adoptive parent.
Unfortunately, you won't live long enough to see it happen...
Uncle Ben is Town Aligned.
The Town Alignedwin condition is to remove all threats to the Town. It reads as: "You win at the beginning of the Day if no threats to the Town exist in the Active Player pool."
Your Motivation is to deliver your sanctimonious speech (see Abilities) to young Peter before you die. If you achieve your motivation, you'll haunt your nephew's dreams forever, and continue to be able to talk to him privately each Night after your death.
Your Arrest Threshold is Majority. A Majority is defined as being half the number of available votes (rounded down) plus one, so if there are 10 available votes it would take 6 votes to see you Arrested.
Ruletip said:
Abilities
Abilities come in three varieties: Activated, Passive, and Item. Unless otherwise indicated, you can use only one Activated ability each Day and one each Night — a total of two per Day/Night cycle — but you can never repeat the same Activated ability more than once in a given Day/Night cycle. Activated abilities specify if they can be used during the Day, the Night, or Both, and will sometimes have a limited number of uses which typically (but not always) reduces with each use. Passive and Item abilities are always in effect unless suppressed or lost in some way. If you have any questions about how your abilities work, please ask.
Car [Item]: You have a car. You can use this to take your nephew to and from school when he misses the bus, or to and from the library after school where he likes to study, or to and from the other library across town that is suspiciously next to an amateur wrestling fighting ring for no good reason whatsoever. As long as you have this car, it gives you a Standard Vote and gives your nephew, Peter Parker, a Bonus Vote. If your car is ever stolen, you fight back against the thief and wind up getting yourself killed over it.
Life Insurance (Passive): If you die, your widow, May Parker, gets $25,000.
Sanctimonious Speech (Activated; Day): You give your nephew a sanctimonious speech about the dynamics of how to use great power responsibly. After activating, if you are killed the following Night by a player who your nephew could have stopped but didn't, it will leave your nephew with terrible guilt that will follow him for the rest of his life.
At the start of the game, you have $10,000 in a bank account under the name Benjamin Parker. Money can be used for a variety of different things in this game, but, most notably, it is used to pay someone's bail and release them from prison back into the Active Player Pool.
You do not own any corporate shares.
Ruletip said:
$Money$
Money can be freely given to other players in the Active Player Pool at any time during the Day as long as you do not possess more votes against you than anybody else (or are tied for the most), and the game is not in a "Lynch or Lose" scenario (defined as any situation in which a Threat must be voted out from the Active Player Pool or the Town loses). Transfer funds by sending a message to the game Moderator. A transfer fee of 5% will be removed from the funds transferred. The gifted player will be informed how much they've been given and the name of the bank account holder that it came from, and you may attach a private personal message of up to 500 characters to be sent along with the transfer if you wish to do so. What reasons you might have for sharing your money with another player is purely between you and that player.
There are a few things I would like y'all to please keep in mind:
Ruletip said:
This is a very high-powered game. Some of you might possess abilities strong enough to take other players completely out of the game very quickly. Out of courtesy to how long everyone has waited to play this game, I'm asking all players to please refrain from firing off any "big guns" in the first 24 hours of the start of the game. Thanks. (By "big guns", I mean anything that might limit a player's ability to interact with the game, including but not limited to, things that Kill, things that Exile, things that Roleblock, Silence, or Target Lock, etc.)
The central theme of the game is Origin Stories. To represent this, many of you have Transformational Roles, and even those that don't might undergo a transformation or two as the game progresses. This has the potential to be extremely frustrating if you're not expecting it, so I encourage you to expect it! Expect the rug to get pulled out from under you at any point and find yourself playing with different abilities or for a different team, and be ready to roll with those punches. (ie. try not to go "all-in" on any one line of play, because that play could backfire due to a sudden role transformation; try to keep backup plans in your back pockets always and you should be fine.)
I know it's a lot of text, but please do try to read and reread until you comprehend the rules and your roles as best you can. I can't emphasize this enough: the game has a lot of moving parts and it rewards critical thinkers. There are interactions that will not be evidently spelled out, some which will benefit you, others which will hurt you. Understanding these interactions might be key to your victory. (For example: maybe you have a passive ability that just says "any % becomes 100% for you", but you didn't realize there's a communal ability that has a 30% chance to block a player's targeted action; well, you wouldn't get the most out of your passive ability then, you see?)
If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! This game is not equal parts fair for all players, some of you will have really hard win conditions. Don't make a hard game harder by making assumptions you don't have to. The game is supposed to be challenging to play and solve the correct path to victory, notchallenging to understand. (Along the same lines as asking questions: if you think I've made a mistake, I probably have. Tell me sooner, rather than later. There are too many moving parts to keep track of and small mistakes on my part are inevitable, but the sooner you point them out the faster I can fix—or confirm that no mistake was made, which is also possible...)
"Did you know that Zelda Dungeon has something called a 'First message reaction score' on forum topics? I sure didn't until today (June 16th, 2023)!! Now that I know it's a thing, I kind of vainly want my first message reaction score to beat all the records. If you're enjoying this game, or just appreciate all the effort I put into it, you can let me (and all of ZD) know by liking the first post in the game thread and boosting the game's first message reaction score. Thanks a lot! Like and subscribe!"
I know how long some of y'all have been waiting patiently for this game to start. I promise the wait is finally almost over!
I have but one more role to send out (Vroendal's), which will be sent later today. Then I will start a 24-hour timer counting down to the proper start of the game. This is to give you all (but especially Vroe, who will have just got his role) a final 24 hours to review your role PMs, the rules, the special game mechanics, etc., and ask me any questions you might have. You can also each use this time to write a letter to the editor of the Daily Bugle (see "Letters to the Editor" under Special Game Mechanics in post #2), if you haven't yet. Yes, if you haven't heard, I'm allowing you all to write a single letter each before the game begins, as if this was "Day 0", for example.
Once the 24-hour timer (which you can find here) expires, Day 1 will start immediately. There should be no delay. I already have the Day 1 start post typed out, formatted, and saved, and will have an alarm set so that nothing can stop me from starting the Day the second the timer runs out. Basically, as soon as that timer expires you can wait 2 seconds and hit refresh to probably see the Day post is live.
There will be no other warning and no other confirmation phase! The game will just start 24 hours after Vroe gets his role later today. So get ready to rock because this game is coming and the kick-off is going to be GRAND.
I dream of a brightly lit field of sunflowers...
A field of beautiful, radiant sunflowers that stretches to the farthest reaches of my imagination.
A field that represents infinitepossibility.
And I guess I'm a woman for some reason in this dream? That's alright. I've been a woman before.
This is what it feels like to be a writer at the beginning of a brand-new story. You're surrounded by an infinite expanse of beauty and wonder, and each new flower that grazes your touch as you walk the field is a new thought or idea that could spring to life in you and leap down to the page.
Yes. The page. The blank canvas—as beautiful and as infinite and daunting as a field of radiant sunflowers.
How does one begin a new story? What does one put here, in the first post of the first Day of the first game (chronologically speaking) of this brand new Mafia-verse? Because that's what this truly is. The very beginning of everything that is destined to follow.
What am I to call it? This new Mafia-verse... It needs a name! But how to name it when it doesn't even have a main character yet to name it after? It is not yet finished enough of a story to earn its name.
In the interim, I shall call it, AMAZING FANTASY, because that is what it is....
Shall I show you?...
Come with me, and we will explore it together...
•••••
I see a "high school" in a borough called Queens, part of the expansive realm of "New York City".
There, I see a boy, who has only been on his world a short time (enough for his world to have made nearly sixteen full resolutions around his sun), engaging with his fellow "students" in a social order reorganizing activity. Watch as they torment him as part of their engagement in typical human youth bonding rituals. They form a pact between them to exclude those who are different, like the boy. Some might find this barbaric, but it is their way...
Should we start the story here? In this insignificant place? Truly, though these individuals appear mundane, I have it on good authority that the events transpiring at this high school campus are soon to be anything but...
That said, while one of these students is almost sure to soon impact the larger world in a spectacular way, for the moment, what transpires here in this place is not likely to be of interest or impact to the rest of you. And the needs of the many do outweigh the needs of the few, however important those few might be...
So let's shift our focus to a more appropriatesetting.
•••••••
Ah, yes, here we go. Much better. These are the "offices" of an interior geometric space defined by four walls and a roof called in name and in purpose the "Daily Bugle". Truly, if indeed it can be claimed to have one at all, this place is the beating heart of the "City that Never Sleeps".
Watch them as they toil and turn to bring the fair people of their realm the facts of their shared reality. Ah, it makes me nostalgic to watch, as they too watch others and report on their findings to their dedicated readers. In their own way, they are much like me. If only we could meet, and share stories together, what fun we could have...
But alas, that is not ourway... And I find myself tempted by their enthusiasm, so we musn't linger.
Come, let us not start the story here either.
•••••••••
Perhaps we should shift our focus to the city's seedy underbelly...
It would seem that here, too, the self-appointed "crime lords" value the content printed in the Daily Bugle's paper-clad information dispensary device. Curious, that denizens who seek to disrupt order should have an interest in watching what the ordered members of society are writing about...
But unlike those of the Daily Bugle's Office, simply watching and reporting on the events around them is not enough for these individuals. They seek to interfere, an act I am sworn never to do. I do not see myself in these people as I did the others, but I observe them just the same.
The problem with those who seek to interfere is they will naturally come against those who they are interfering with... And in this case, perhaps even others with different agendas who seek to interfere as well... It is what you might call a melting pot of clashing ideologies. Conflict is inevitable, and though it pains me to see these creatures tempt fate with chaos, I must only watch, and never interfere...
No, I don't think we should start the story here either...
Oh, and if you are experiencing blurred vision, that is just a natural effect of temporal displacement on mortal minds. Do not worry, it will wear off.
Come. Let us look to one final place...
•••••••••••
Ah yes, here is a fitting place to start the story at last, for here is where it truly began. Where are we, you might ask? It is not a place that exists in your world. I am not even sure we could call it a place at all by our definition of it. It is the place where all places are born. The place where ideas come from. The blank page. The infinite canvas of possibility. Watch as your reality takes shape!
Yes, it is here where it all takes place. Soon, very soon, these two men together will create something AMAZING...
I shan't spoil the surprise for you. You have quite an adventure ahead. I am envious, truly, for you aren't restricted to merely watching what occurs... You get to live it. But if you are to do that without my influence, then I must take away the gift I have just given you. I'm sorry, but your memories cannot leave this place. You must return now to your ordinary, mundane existence, never the wiser about the universes beyond yours that I have shown you.
But don't worry. I have faith it will all work out for the best, in the end. Now hold still...
What?
Who am I, you ask?
Maybe no one. Maybe everyone. I am a Watcher, and that is all you need to know.
Actually, even that, you don't need to know.
Now close your eyes. This won't hurt a bit. Or at least, you won't remember if it did.
They call this the city that never sleeps, and yet every morning at around this time the city wakes up. How does one who never sleeps awaken? Rather, this narrator would submit that there are two cities living and breathing in New York. The one that sleeps at Night, and its darker cousin who hides for some shut-eye during the Day.
Maybe these two cities are different sides of the same coin, but even if they are one and the same, no one can deny the transformation that occurs from Dusk 'till Dawn. Regardless of if the Light and Dark sides of New York are different cities or two halves of one whole, one thing is certain: today marked the day the two cities started barrelling towards one another on a trajectory that could no longer be averted.
Today is the last Day of peace between the world above and the world below, and though many in the city are right now starting their Days unaware of what is to come, it won't be long until the blissfully ignorant won't be able to turn a blind eye to it any longer. There's a storm brewing, and it is going to touch every person and corner of this city, and by the time it is done wreaking havoc... Truly, many will never be able to sleep again...
It is now DAY 1!
With 26 Players in the Active Player pool, the Day 1 Deadline is in 104 hours (August 19th, at 5 AM, Eastern Time).
As promised, I have arrived! Full of false bravado and ready to take on the world!... Or maybe just manhattan? Ehhh... how about just the office. One thing at a time. Yes. First the office, then the world.
