Admin Thread for WWXLV: The Fellowship of Saruman

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by J.R.R.Tolkien: Unfinished Tales

...the Black Riders arrived at the Gate of Isengard while Gandalf was still a prisoner in the tower. In this account, Saruman, in fear and despair, and perceiving the full horror of service to Mordor, resolved suddenly to yield to Gandalf, and to beg for his pardon and help...

Originally Posted by J.R.R.Tolkien: Fellowship of the Ring

"The Wise may have good reason to believe that the halfling's trove is indeed the Great Ring of long debate, unlikely though that may seem to those who know less. But may we not hear the proofs? And I would ask this also. What of Saruman? He is learned in the lore of the Rings, yet he is not among us. What is his counsel - if he knows the things that we have heard?"

***

Welcome at the admin thread of WWXLV: The Fellowship of Saruman, which is another game in the popular series of Werewolf games that have become regular on this forum.

This game is going to be a "basic" Werewolf game. What it means is that there are not going to be any secret twists, secret plots, special newly invented roles, multiple wolf packs or things like that. The roles will be finally distributed depending on the amount of people who sign up, but the basic schema should be something like: three wolves, a Seer, a Hunter and a Ranger. However, as some of you may already know, there are going to be several specific things in this game. And they can all be subsumed under one thing, basically: this game is going to be a roleplaying, or to use term favoured by some, "in-character" game. That means that all posts made by players in the game should be written in-character, as narration or direct speech, and everything you write should accord to the setting of the game. It means nothing more than that you give a different written form to your suspicions, accusations and other forms of interaction inside the game. But otherwise, it still remains the same good old Werewolf as we all know it.

And the setting? Well, after reading the thread title and the opening quotes, maybe you are beginning to see the idea. Yes, to speak plainly: in this game, we travel into a thrilling world of "what-if". What if Saruman the White chose to return to the path appointed to him, what if he traveled back to Rivendell and took a part in the Council of Elrond, and took part in determining the constitution of the Fellowship of the Ring? Yes, your guess is correct – in this game, you have the chance to take upon yourself a role of one of the members of the Fellowship, and experience once again, yet differently - and what's important, personally – the journey of the Messengers sent with the Ring! But this time – it's the Fellowship of Saruman!
Be aware, though. We know the Fellowship's journey was not easy from its very start – the Enemy's malice was following it and the will of the Ring stirred the evil and affected minds of the Companions along the way. And there was one among them, Boromir the Brave, who almost failed in the quest and stood too close to betrayal. But neither of the Fellowship was particularly strong, and only a little could have happened to sway the balance towards the disasterous end. Can we even guess, had the Fellowship consisted of different characters, what influence it would have on those taking the journey?
Join – for the quest to discover it now...

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CHARACTERS
As it was said, in this game, everyone is going to pick a character to play. But unlike most WW games, you are not going to make your own role: you are going to pick one of the characters already existing in Tolkien's world by the time the Fellowship set out on its quest. Saruman the Wise, the new voice in the Council of Elrond, has his own ideas of who is and who is not suitable for the journey. The Fellowship of Saruman is a Fellowship different from the one presented in the books, although there may be or may not be the same characters present. It is all about you, players, now, to determine how far the similarity will go. Everyone is compelled to post the name of the character he picks before the game starts on this thread. I will display the roles taken with the list of players who sign up, so that you know which characters are already "booked" (although if you for example desperately want to play Frodo and he is already taken, you can always try to convince the other player to let you play for Frodo instead of him). This is the opportunity for you to play for a character from the books that you like. The choices are almost unlimited (I will always tell you if there are problems with introducing the character you picked). You can choose a character from the original Fellowship, as well as other likely candidates (Saruman would probably fancy some of the powerful Elf-lords to join the company, so you may pick for example Glorfindel, Elladan or Elrohir; he may fancy older and more experienced characters to join, like Bilbo or Glóin; as well as introduce a "faithful servant" of his like Uglúk or – with some amount of carefulness – Gríma; you can pick a Rohir who, with Isengard being friendly again, was also invited to Rivendell; and as we are in a what-if story, who says it had to be Boromir and not Faramir who traveled to Rivendell – or even both... just unleash your imagination).
And one note. A thing that directly stems from this – technically, you can, and I believe it may be even better for the atmosphere, call each other in the thread not their screennames, but in the names of their characters. You know, not like "I suspect you, Nogrod" but "I suspect you, Radagast". I am afraid if it may not become confusing, on the other hand, as the characters presented are all known to us, I believe it won't be hard to remember who's who. It is merely an exchange of terms. But I would prefer you to say your opinions on the matter. Why I am presenting this is, that I thought: "if in-character playing, then total one".

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POSTING
As it has been said, posting in-character is compulsory in this game. That means, no anachronisms, everything you say in the game should be written in the way that it fits with the atmosphere and setting. When, for example, announcing to the others that you have to leave now for several hours, you may write something like:

"I am going to look around for some food," said Aragorn. "We need to gather more supplies before we continue. I will return before noon."

And so on. Not posting in the in-setting way will result in modfiring you out of the game. However, there is another extreme I have to mention here: I am discouraging likewise merely posting in-character with no in-game value. Of course you can make one or two posts just for atmosphere, but doing that all the time is likewise not encouraged: even though this is an in-character game, this is not the RPG section, this is Werewolf.

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VOTING
Votes are going to be given as usually, only, of course, in the in-character way; but the format will remain the same to make them apparent on the thread. The votes should be on a separate line, boldened, with the well known "++" in front of them, like this:

++Legate of Amon Lanc

Everyone may cast only one vote per Day (retractions are not allowed). There are no double-lynches; in the case of a tie, the lynchee is chosen randomly by the Mod.

***

TECHNICAL THINGS
This game is going to differ in one thing which I hope is not going to become a problem. It's just the vocabulary. As the game is going to map the journey of the Fellowship through the lands of Middle-Earth, we are not going to have "Days" and "Nights", but "journeys" and "collisions": I will always say "The #th part of the journey begins, you may begin to post" and "the #th collision is upon you, stop posting". You can refer to the journeys by names of the places they took part in, like: "When we were in Eregion, Gimli voted for Aragorn, but now he is supporting him." Similarly, you can refer to collisions – I'm sure you'll find for yourselves how.

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ROLES
The basic arrangement of the roles can be changed depending on the number of players playing. But by default, this game should have:
Three Traitors (Werewolves), corrupted by the Ring, who try to appear like innocent Companions on the Journeys and PM each other during the Collisions, choosing one person that will be killed during every Collision.
A number of Ordinary Companions who post on the Journeys and try to get rid of all the Traitors one by one by voting them off.
One Seer, who has the ability to discern one person's role during every Collision, and is on the innocent side.
One Avenger (non-logical Hunter), who has the ability to take down with himself one other person in case he leaves the game. He can change his target at any time. At any time, be it during the Journey or during the Collision, if the Avenger leaves the game, his target does as well, be he a Traitor or not. The Avenger can always PM the Mod that he does not want to take down anyone with him. He is also on the side of the innocent Companions.
One Protector (Ranger), who has the ability to protect one person during every Collision. He can choose to protect himself, but he cannot protect the same person twice in a row. Protector is on the innocent side.
(note: I am using the terms "protector" and "avenger" because of technical reasons to avoid possible controversy: because terms like "ranger", while there may be Aragorn in the group, may prove confusing and create problems)
(note 2: The Gifted don't know each other's roles - neither of them. For such a small group, allowing that will be too much of an advantage.)

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GENERAL RULES

The game starts on March 23rd, at 9 PM GMT.

Every Journey lasts 24 real time hours and every Collision as well. We start with a (Pseudo-)Collision phase, where no kill is made and only the Seer's special ability is used.

Deadline will be 9 PM GMT.

During every Journey, the Fellowship chooses a person to get rid of by voting. The person who gets the most votes at the time of deadline leaves the Fellowship and can no longer post on the game thread as well as on the admin thread until the game ends.

Admin thread can be used only for explanation of out-game problems and apologies for non-participation.

Out-game discussion about the game is not allowed. Only the roles that are allowed to PM each other can PM about the game at Night. Greeting your playing friends "hello, wolf" in RL is strongly discouraged as well.

Person who does not vote for two days in a row will be eliminated from the game by the Mod (amnesty may be granted by the Mod).

Everyone must remain in Invisible mode as long as he is in the game.

***

So, that's it! Are you prepared to join the Fellowship of Saruman on its long journey? You may start to sign up!

Any comments to the rules or other things are welcome as well.

***

Players:

Thinlómien - Gildor Inglorion
Meneltarmacil - Uglúk
Nogrod - Tom Bombadil
McCaber - Elrohir
Aganzir - Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
Nerwen - Elladan
Groin Redbeard - Dáin II. Ironfoot
Sally - Théodred
A Little Green - Éomer
Gwathagor - Halbarad
THE Ka - Radagast
Gil-Galad - Gandalf
Rune son of Bjarne - Galadriel

[Nogrod]

This alternative fellowship looks quite entertaining: Lobelia and Tom Bombadil indeed! And Uglúk! Now we know Saruman had the tongue to speak people over to this and that but managing to convince Elrond's council that taking Uglúk in the fellowship is a great idea must be listed among the ultimate high-points in the art of rhetoric indeed...

I kind of remember that someone asked whether s/he could be Legolas - and if I'm not wrong it was just okay if someone wished to be one from the original fellowship as well. So there was no requirement to take an alternative choice.

I liked Nerwen's idea of being the other of the brothers while McCaber would be the other one. It would add an extra dimension to the game dynamics as well as to the narrations.

And just to remind you others of my honest commitment: I will try to play differently this time - so be prepared to nonsense rhymes...

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Now we know Saruman had the tongue to speak people over to this and that but managing to convince Elrond's council that taking Uglúk in the fellowship is a great idea must be listed among the ultimate high-points in the art of rhetoric indeed...

I'll say.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

I kind of remember that someone asked whether s/he could be Legolas.

Oh, that was me. My specific offer was as follows: For a very reasonable sum of money, payable via check or Pay Pal, I will undertake not to state the obvious constantly. For a bit extra I might even manage not to reminisce about the hair-raising adventures I've had with Aragorn. (See The Mellon Chronicles etc.)

Otherwise... things could get nasty.

Or perhaps you'd rather I was Elladan/Elrohir?

Originally Posted by Nogrod

And just to remind you others of my honest commitment: I will try to play differently this time - so be prepared to nonsense rhymes...

Of course, Tom Wolfadil. What a great cover.

[Groin Redbeard]

Yay, the game is back up. Count me in, I'll be playing as Dain II Ironfoot.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

Yay, the game is back up. Count me in, I'll be playing as Dain II Ironfoot.

BRUTAL!!! COOL!!!



Wow, you surely did that for me, Groin! Great choice!

[Thinlómien]

Why's everybody so funny on this thread?

I have a suggestion. If Legate wishes that we call one another by our in-game names, I think it would be good if every one of us players would change their avatar, signature or location (or all of them, if they wish) to remind people of who they're playing. (Or then the boring option would be simply writing the character's name bolded to the start of the signature...)