Live and let die - A Mafia and DnD crossover

Huschel

U up?

Xasy

Well, we don't have long before we die so I guess I'll attempt our plan:

I begin to make the last of our preparations before we attempt to cross the ridge. I instruct Batman and Bon Clay to to continue the coal trail, making a second fuse leading from the crack in the wall down into the small cavern where Batman found the coal. Breaking apart the wooden chest we make a pile of wood at the end of the fuse. If everything goes as planned, the fuse will be lit from the exit of the room. The fuse will travel to the crack we've packed with rubble and held up with torches, burning the torches and causing the rubble to collapse. Hopefully this will distract the dragon down towards the other path while the fuse continues down towards the coal room. If it works as intended, the coal powder in the cavern should cause an explosion, distracting the dragon further and potentially knocking down the loose rocks above the ridge, cutting off the dragon's ability to pursue us.

I lead Batman and Bon Clay out onto the ridge. We creep quietly, using the coal to blend in against the walls. Hannyabal lights the coal powder fuse and keeps watch as we progress. As the flames begin to lick at the bottom of the torches, Hannyabal gives the rest of us our signal. He throws the first smoke bomb into the magma, and the rest of us throw ours in turn. Intoxicating smoke rises from the magma as the dragon begins to wake. Hannyabal rushes to catch up with us, and the torches underneath the rubble seem to give way. None of us can hear whether the the rocks crumbled the way we wanted. From our position, the sound is completely blocked out by the dragon's deafening roar. We can only run and hope that all our efforts have paid off.

Kirbycide

Busier than expected the last couple days, sorry for the absence!

Let’s get out of here, friends. The exit is in sight.

kmohyudin

Okay, the plan is submitted. Just need everyone to sign off to continue.

SkullJoke

~~Better than my idea of pushing someone in and running across during the chaos.~~

Let's a go!

Try: Following Monet's plan

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[hide]( I also apologize for my unexplained absence, I had a very overwhelming start to this week. I did peek in once on a while, but I didn't have much time or willpower to sit down and try to formulate a new plan) [/hide]

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@kmohyudin:

yes you are.

Just moving ahead will get you def killed. So, for example you can move with stealth, etc. Anyway, this is a pretty open scenario, I have tried to describe everything that is available as much as I can, and you can use it however you want, in order to move through safely.
I have deliberately chosen not to give you a simple, yeah do this, and let the odds decide, method. Be creative in how you will face the adversary, and I will be here, running the numbers….

Yeah, suppose you come up with a way, you give it a shot and fail at the calculation. Like try moving stealthily, but fail. That would be one try. You will all lose one point in willpower and can try again, instead of dying outright. Calculation wont be done as a group, but rather with whoever attempts it.

I encourage you to read through the description, and think of what ways you can get across.

With the abundant coal that was emphasized to help with stealth, the additional stealth boost of night, and the above quote, I believed stealth is meant to play an important role in getting past the dragon. The quote suggests it is possible to sneak by the Dragon. I believe I may have simply failed my roll, and, had I succeeded, may have found some more useful materials. A roll of +1 wouldve got me 9.8, and anything higher would be over 10, so I had at best a 50% chance of crossing.

There seems to be athletic challenges ahead of the dragon too, I believe he mentioned difficult jumps way up by the exit. We might want to bring along anything that can help us, such as the pole.

kmohyudin

Alright, with everyone signing off, the plan has been put in motion. For detailed results, please see:

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Successful actions during escape attempt would lower the threshold for the last sprint, total actual deduction = 3.0.

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Bottom line, Buggy, Bon Clay, and Hannyabal have made it into the next room. Unfortunately, Monet and Batman were not successful. The predominant reason being that the last action was an athletic check. Further unfortunately, those that have reached the next room did not bring any items with them to help the others in any way. Tomorrow we will run the final willpower test to see who exits. The threshold will be 5, the formula will be:

score = willpower + willpower * random[-1.6 to 1.6]

If Monet and Batman want, they can try a new strategy in 24 hours, otherwise, they will be presumed dead.

Do let me know if you spot any mistakes, or have any questions.

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Just to be clear, some of these were dependent activities. For example, since Bon Clay failed to sneak on the ridge, their smoke bomb attempt was given a much lower random factor and they failed there as well.

I tried to incorporate every subjective term (like distraction) in the calculation, which to be frank was a really fun exercise. I feel pretty good about the fairness of the results, but again, if there are any questions, feel free to ask away!

SkullJoke

Questions: Where are Monet and I starting from? Do we need to pass the dragon again?

And what are my current stats, particularly willpower?

kmohyudin

Yes, you both are back in the room just before the area with the dragon. You can try to pass the dragon again.

Jabberwok

Can Bon Clay and I examine this next room to see if there's anything we can use to help?

kmohyudin

It's a large room, but nothing in it is of particular interest. There is a very small hole leading to the area where Batman and Monet are. You remember this as the small window you used to watch this room, but it's too small to pass any item through though.

There is also the exit from the dungeon. It's high up, and the rocks leading up to it seem extremely dangerous to climb. You will need very high willpower to even attempt to climb to the top.

Other than these, there is nothing else of note.

SkullJoke

Monet not getting through despite writing out the whole plan has a real school group project vibe to it. Thanks for looking for something for us, Hannyabal. Hopefully we can figure something out to get past here.

Kirbycide

Hannya-boy… we seem to have made it. But I can’t stand to leave any more friends behind.

What do you say about making a final stand against the dragon to draw its attention away and then making a run for it once the others make it across the ridge?

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

Buggy-boy says that we didn’t bring anything of value for the others with us, but I refuse to see my own life and body as useless in this situation.

SkullJoke

Ayyy Bon-Chan, does "Dragon" also bring back fond memories for you?

Jabberwok

I'd happily provide a distraction, but given that we're where they need to go and we can't get anywhere else I don't know how we could arrange that.

I guess we could bust the window out as a starting point? If Batman and Monet could make a rope, they could chuck it to us and we can anchor it. Swing over quickly and we haul them up fast.

Kirbycide

@SkullJoke:

Ayyy Bon-Chan, does "Dragon" also bring back fond memories for you?

Fond? I don’t know about that…

Let’s just say that I find this dragon no more frightening than a hydra.

Jabberwok

Jk, I've mixed myself up on the layout again. They could still pass more smoke bombs to us or something though.

Kirbycide

@Jabberwok:

I'd happily provide a distraction, but given that we're where they need to go and we can't get anywhere else I don't know how we could arrange that.

I guess we could bust the window out as a starting point? If Batman and Monet could make a rope, they could chuck it to us and we can anchor it. Swing over quickly and we haul them up fast.

I’ll jump down and face the dragon myself, if need be.

But I do believe that your plan is worth a try.

Un… Deux... Trois!!!

Try: Kick at the small opening to break it wider

kmohyudin

@Kirbycide:

Try: Kick at the small opening to break it wider

Nope, not happening.

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Also, you guys can't distract the dragon, you are too far away. Going back will mean facing the dragon again, which is not happening either.

In short, all you guys can do is proceed onwards. It's unfortunate, but Monet and Batman must either overcome this by themselves, or become casualties.

SkullJoke

@Kirbycide:

Fond? I don’t know about that…

Let’s just say that I find this dragon no more frightening than a hydra.

Fond memories of….

[hide] Dragon Deez Nuts, lmao gottem

plz don't lynch me if I make it across, thanks [/hide]

Jabberwok

Hannyabal waves his Kessui encouragingly

SkullJoke

Question: Has the terrain or equipment changed at all due to our previous actions?

kmohyudin

Hannyabal and Bon Clay… you should probably... live and let die
Oooh title drop! Always wanted to do that!

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@SkullJoke:

Question: Has the terrain or equipment changed at all due to our previous actions?

Nope. Also, for your earlier question, your stats are the same as they were yesterday. (Morning, not night, meaning the stealth +1 and perception -1 adjustment you received at night no longer applies).

Your willpower is unaffected as well. Your failure got you down, but seeing others succeed has given you a willpower boost, canceling the adverse effect.

SkullJoke

I got a +1 stealth from coal, +1 willpower from treasure, but - 1 willpower from failing my sneaking across the ridge.

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Ok, here are my stats, let's see what we can do. Honestly, because of my low willpower, I'm not very hopeful of getting out of here, even if we do manage to clear the dragon. So if comes down to only one of us getting across, I think it should be you, Monet.

Perception 1
Craft 3
Athletics 4
Stealth 5
Willpower 2

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Crazy idea, since we're in the same scenario again, what if we do the same plan again?

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Try: Give inspiring speech

Kirbycide

Try: Cheer with so much enthusiasm and vigor that it must be seen to be believed

SkullJoke

@Kirbycide:

Try: Cheer with so much enthusiasm and vigor that it must be seen to be believed

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@kmohyudin:

You all come back to the big clearing. You notice a lot of rubble along the walls. There were also what seemed like some man made objects, a small wooden pole, some burnt up torches, some hard elongated pieces of rocks, and other stuff… Before this room, you didn't particularly notice any sign of civilization, but this place seemed like it was used for mining.

.

Hmm wonder if we can come across any mining equipment hidden or buried.

Try: Craft Quartz into Lens

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Try: Digging desperately (we seemed to be quite good at it on the first day)

Xasy

@kmohyudin:

If Monet and Batman want, they can try a new strategy in 24 hours, otherwise, they will be presumed dead.

In 24 hours or within 24 hours?

I'm assuming it's the latter

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@SkullJoke:

Ok, here are my stats, let's see what we can do. Honestly, because of my low willpower, I'm not very hopeful of getting out of here, even if we do manage to clear the dragon. So if comes down to only one of us getting across, I think it should be you, Monet.

Don't worry, we aren't out of this yet! In each calculation, there's a fifty percent chance that our willpower becomes a negative modifier.

Low willpower means a more consistent but middling score. We may have an extremely difficult time with large checks (like the athletics check at the end of our previous attempt), but when it comes to small checks our low willpower could be a blessing in disguise.

Keep in mind that the athletics check in our last attempt was set at seven after the coal fuse failed to light. The most crucial element of our plan failed due to bad luck, but I think as long as we consistently pass the early checks, we can lower the final threshold enough to conquer it.

@SkullJoke:

Crazy idea, since we're in the same scenario again, what if we do the same plan again?

I think our last plan was solid, but I would make a few modifications to increase our odds.

kmohyudin

@Xasy:

In 24 hours or within 24 hours?

I'm assuming it's the latter

Yep, within 24 hours.

or ~2 hours from this post.

Xasy

**In preparation, I attempt to craft the moss shoe pads to silence our footsteps. I also attempt to make two sheets of moss large enough to hide under, two small moss knapsack, and I place our remaining smokebombs in the coal room.

For our attempt, I will fill the small knapsack with coal (or take as much as I can carry), sneak onto the ridge, and continue the coal fuse as far as it can go. At that point I will lay down on my stomach and partly cover myself with the moss sheet before lighting the fuse. Afterwards I'll cover myself fully and slowly crawl my way down the rest of the path as quietly as possible. If the coal room explosion works, gas from the smoke bombs will hopefully sedate the dragon as it investigates. Either way, I'll continue my way down the path as slowly and quietly as possible.** Batman is free to join me in this attempt if he would like. Although if he doesn't make it in time, I will attempt it alone.

kmohyudin

@Xasy:

**In preparation, I attempt to craft the moss shoe pads to silence our footsteps. I also attempt to make two sheets of moss large enough to hide under, two small moss knapsack, and I place our remaining smokebombs in the coal room.

For our attempt, I will fill the small knapsack with coal (or take as much as I can carry), sneak onto the ridge, and continue the coal fuse as far as it can go. At that point I will lay down on my stomach and partly cover myself with the moss sheet before lighting the fuse. Afterwards I'll cover myself fully and slowly crawl my way down the rest of the path as quietly as possible. If the coal room explosion works, gas from the smoke bombs will hopefully sedate the dragon as it investigates. Either way, I'll continue my way down the path as slowly and quietly as possible.** Batman is free to join me in this attempt if he would like. Although if he doesn't make it in time, I will attempt it alone.

As far as I can tell, all of the activities are being carried out by you?

If Batman does indeed join you, I will need them to describe what it is they do, even if it is something as simple as "I want to tag along" in which case I will just put that one activity to an RNG check. Of course it can be more complex than that.

Do you want to maybe put a time limit to when you want to carry out the plan either way?

SkullJoke

Try: Craft moss shoe pads, large moss sheets, moss knapsacks, smoke bombs.
Place smokebombs in coal room.
Continue coal fuse.
Cover self in moss sheet and light fuse.
Cover myself fully and sneak down the path towards the exit.

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My actions are basically a second chance if any of Monet's don't go through or, if they both work, perhaps give a stronger effect

In any case, if the diversions fail and the dragon is after us I jump flashily into the pit and hopefully allow Monet to escape

kmohyudin

Got it!!

Unfortunately, I will need a little time off :D. My brother is having an appendectomy, and I am with him. It's nothing to worry about, thankfully, but I won't have access to my PC for a day or so. We will continue this then. In the meantime, feel free to update the plan if necessary, I have not yet committed anything!

Sorry for the delay and wish us luck! :D

Kirbycide

Good luck! Looking forward to the conclusion~

Jabberwok

Try: Nap until the Big Try

kmohyudin

Alright, guys, the results are in. Let's see how this tale ends…

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Bon Clay reached the final room. One scary climb left between them and their freedom. As they looked around the cave, they almost felt sad in leaving it, it was a dangerous place, yes, but it is in the depth of fire and brimstone that true friendships are forged.

But could they leave their newfound friends deep in this hell?

[hide]
Their heart just wasn't in it… they looked at the steep climb, and sure it may have been nothing to them athletically, but without their heart, they just couldn't find it in them to even attempt it.

Bon Clay does not attempt the climb, and loses.

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Monet watched as her companions successfully avoid the dragon and reach the last room. She couldn't help but feel relieved, even if she probably would never reach them. It was her plan that lead them to success after all.

Without loosing heart, she decided to give it another go. Odds were against her, but maybe, just maybe she will be able to reach them and with them, escape.

[hide]
It was a good plan, and she came very close to crossing the peril, but unfortunately, at the last moment, the dragon spotted her, and she was forced back in the earlier room. She was all out of equipment now, and she wouldn't be able to try again. But, she was happy, that at least her friends made it across.

Monet couldn't sneak past the dragon, and loses.
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Hannyabal wasn't sure how to proceed. On one hand, he had an ambition, and he would happily face any adversity to achieve it. But on the other hand… he now had people he cared for. He couldn't just leave by himself and turn his back on everyone else?

[hide]
In the end, his ambition was too important to him to lose now. With a great roar, he leaped in the air and skipping over stones after stones, reached the top. He turned around to look one last time, and noticed each and everyone of his new friends, happily giving him a thumbs up on his success. He left without shedding a single tear.

Hannyabal successfully escapes the dreaded caverns.

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Batman was on unchartered lands here. What was happening? Is this what friendship felt like? He was so used to living alone… that this felt wrong. His heart ached, his eyes were dripping, his legs were somehow weaker. What rubbish was this? Can he just go out now??

[hide]
Before attempting another bout against the dragon, he took a moment to lean in to these new feelings. Even though his heart ached, it made him smile rather than curse; even though his eyes dripped, it gave him clarity that he never knew before; and even though his legs felt weaker, it also gave him courage to move forward. Okay, maybe he needed to get out of his head, this was getting creepy now…

With thoughts of love and peace, he attempted the crossing, but alas, it was not meant to be.

The dragon had already noticed Monet, and his "maidenly" heart could only think of one thing, to save her. He may have failed to leave the cave, but he succeeded in saving his friend. And at that moment, that was all that matters.

Batman failed to cross the dragon, and was doomed to die along with Monet.

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Buggy died.
[hide]
Yep, he did. My story, my ending.
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Thank you for ~~being my playthings~~ playing everyone.

I hope you had fun. Your honest thoughts on the setup, and how can it be improved will be greatly appreciated!

Xasy

To start, I'll say I absolutely adored this setup! In my opinion it could function as an entirely new game on its own.

The tension early in the game was so intense. The sense of complete distrust giving way to unshakable camaraderie was a completely unique experience for a mafia game. I think it would work even better with more players.

There are a few things I'm iffy about though:

The mechanics around willpower don't feel like they mesh together well. It was very unclear what kind of actions caused suspicious reads. Starting out with a random amount of willpower was an odd choice given that it's meant to function as a stat determined by your actions. I feel like it would have worked better if everyone started with four willpower, so the suspicious reads each morning could be more reliable and no one goes into the final room with a huge disadvantage that was outside their control.

It might be better to do away with the morning reads completely and implement an investigation action that's a willpower contest. The results could be uncertain if the target wins or show the guilt level of the target if the user wins.

And my final critique is about the last two rooms. It was initially confusing and stalled the momentum. Our limited opportunities and each failure being penalized led to a lack of experimentation, which slowed things even further. In the end, it also feels like it was still mostly down to luck. You can try to be clever, but a few unlucky rolls means failure and lost willpower. This all ends up being compounded in the last room. A loss of willpower can make the final climb hopeless. If I'm reading the formula correctly, the odds for the climb are 50% at best. It's a little disheartening to know you could play perfectly, make it to the end with 5 willpower, and still lose to a coin flip.

kmohyudin

Those are some very solid critiques Xasy! You are absolutely right. To be honest I was NOT expecting that you will all play good guys, and I think the setup was not ready for that either.

Live and learn though, maybe if there is a next time, these issues can be ironed out.

starlalilymoon

Well, first off, I confess. I was the one who killed Ussop! I wanted to try to play scummy, though I kept digging my hole in making me more suspicious. I was hoping to kill more once my willpower went up too. AKA evil Nami!

As for the game, it was really enjoyable! Though I wish I understood how the stats worked more, but that's my fault, as I didn't think about it coming into play much; especially with being scummy. If I knew better, I could have fooled more of ya!

For improvement, I think maybe for rolls we can skip the negative numbers and have it sorta like in actual D&D with a natural one being bad and a natural 20 being distant completion? I also think stats could be a bit higher than going up to 5. Also, I wouldn't mind a selection of options to choose from, as I didn't understood much on what to do for my night action. And of course have our own to add to that list. also, have willpower the same for everyone, that could work too. Besides that, this was really fun, and I hope to play for the sequel! :happy:

Jabberwok

My initial stats involved 5 Willpower and decently high Perception and Athletics but no Stealth, so I decided to double down and entered the game with 5/5/0/5/5 as a "paragon" run. With my high willpower, though, I kind of wish I had a setup where I could kill someone.

Xasy already covered most of my thoughts too, but I'll add that it rarely felt like there was any incentive to kill another player. In fact, it often felt like the opposite what with Queen falling to the lowest climbing score earlier. So I'd suggest increasing the temptation to kill another player in a future version, as well as increased incentive to remove a murderous player beyond general trustworthiness.