NUMBER ONE RULE OF POG:

WHILST IN POG YOU MUST LIKE TAYLOR SWIFT AND EVERYTHING SHE PRODUCES.

__________________________________________________ _______________________



"It is better to remain silent and be thought a wolf, than to speak up and remove all doubt."
--Abraham Lincoln, almost.

The Basic Rules of Werewolf

Overview:
The citizens of a small village one morning wake up to discover that there are werewolves in their town! If something is not done, the entire village population will be eaten!

Teams:
There are two teams, werewolves and villagers. In the standard game on werewolf side there are the werewolves. They all know each other, and may communicate with each other at night (see below). On the villager side you have the villagers, the seer, and sometimes other roles (see below). The werewolves win by eliminating enough people so that they make up half of the players in the game. The villagers win by eliminating all the werewolves.

Turn Structure - The game alternates between two phases, a Day phase and a Night Phase:

• Day Phase - During the day, the village gets together to discuss and decide who might be a werewolf! Everyone votes who they think is a werewolf (votes may be changed at any time during the day). In most games, Day has a fixed length of time, and whoever has the most votes when the time runs out is lynched. In many games, Day ends early if one player has a majority of the votes, and he is lynched immediately. The mod then reveals his role in the thread, as they will with all dead players.
  
• Night Phase - During the night phase, the werewolves decide who they are going to eat! They are allowed to communicate privately outside the main thread to make this decision. Normally werewolves are not allowed to communicate privately during the day. Also, anyone with a special role (such as seer or angel) gets to act during the night as well.

Roles - The following are the most common roles seen in werewolf games:

• The Villager - anyone who is a regular villager is trying to lynch all the wolves during the day, and has no action at night. They win if all the wolves are dead, even if they are dead themselves.
  
• The Werewolf - Werewolves talk and vote during the day just as villagers. At night they collectively choose a victim. A werewolf will win if there are as many werewolves as other people remaining in the game and like the villager, it doesn't matter if you are alive or not at the end.
  
• The Seer - During the day the seer talks and votes just like the villagers. At night, a seer is allowed to determine the role of any one townsperson. The seer is on the villager side and has the same winning conditions.

House Rules:

• No talking at night. There is no talking in the thread at night for any reason.
  
• No talking when dead. Most game mods will allow a post with some sort of funny comment, however no strategy content should be included "I knew I had it coming" is ok but "durron and Jared are wolves, look into their voting history" is not. After this post do not post anymore in the thread until the game ends. Dead wolves are dead in wolf chat as well. They may not give any further strategy input.
  
• In some games, the villians are the Mafia, instead of werewolves. And the seer would thus be called a cop or a detective, and an angel would be called doctor (but the powers are similar).
  
• Do not post pictures of actual lynchings or make references to racial lynchings. While we're using the term lynching fairly lightly in the context of the game, actual lynching is a rather different matter. Please be respectful of others and don't make inappropriate comments or post inappropriate images.

See this thread, started by Madtown which discusses rules and etiquette in more detail.

Some Basic Strategy:

• Villager - Your job is to try to kill all the wolves during the day. In trying to find the wolves, look for statements people make or voting behavior that are consistent with a player acting as a wolf but not consistent with them acting as a villager. Once it's a couple days in look at voting behavior. Try to find not only single wolves but combinations that makes sense.
  
  Here's a thread where basic villager strategy is discussed in more detail.
  
  
• Wolf - You are trying to eliminate the villagers. You have the night kills but will not win unless you successfully frame other villagers into seeming like werewolves so you and your fellow wolves don't get voted off. Try to blend in and not make statements that only a wolf would make. At night try to eliminate players who are more likely to figure you out or who are likely to be seer candidates.
  
  Here's a link to a thread discussing basic wolf strategy.
  
  
• Seer - Try to blend in. You don't want to stick out to the wolves or the villagers as both could kill you. Early on at night it's a good idea to search for people you think play well on both sides as it's good to know where they stand. Later obviously you should try to look at the people you think are suspicious. Another important decision for the seer is when to "come out" that is reveal that they are the seer. This varies widely game by game and depends on what information you have. The seer is very important to a villager win. You have to weigh the EV of coming out. The benefit is that you reveal all of your information; if you were to die then you cannot do so. The cost is that you are probably going to get eaten that night. This cost is much less in games with an angel, which is one reason that few are run.

More advanced strategy advice is found here.

Other Links:

• The POG Wiki also has information about playing werewolf on POG, but it has not been updated recently.
• The Wikipedia entry has more information about the history of the game and other variations of the rules.
• Archive of previous games - links to a majority of the long games played on POG
• Funniest werewolf moments

Types of werewolf games in POG:

Werewolf games are divided into several categories based on their speed and what types of roles are present.

Turbos: The defining characteristic of a turbo is its speed. Each day of a turbo typically lasts between 20 to 30 minutes, with 20 minutes being most common as of March 2009. Nights tend to last 5-10 minutes. Most turbos start spontaneously when there is sufficient interest in playing one. If you are interested in playing, look for a current signup thread. If the latest signup has no posts in the past hour, it is almost certainly dead, in which case a new one should be started. Before creating a signup, you should check the bottom of the forum page to see how many registered users are browsing. It takes at least 9 players to play, so more people than that need to be browsing in order for a turbo to have any chance of happening. If you can no longer play a game that you are signed up for, it is your responsibility to sign out.

Turbos can run with any odd number of players between 9 to 17. There are 2 werewolves with 9 or 11 players, 3 with 13 or 15 players, and 4 with 17 players. There is 1 seer regardless of the number of players. With 11 or 15 players, the seer does not receive a peek on night 0, and for this reason, 11 and 15 player games are not as popular. The seer receives a night 0 peek in the other setups. 9 player turbos are by far the most common. Special formats for 5 or 7 players are also available, but are generally not played.

Some turbos will have a volunteer to mod the game. In other cases, someone known as a rander (for the Excel function rand()), will assign roles and start the game, and whoever is lynched on day 1 will take over. When this happens, the players are responsible for taking note of when night will be, and stopping posting at that time. This scenario is one of the rare exceptions where players may post at night, because someone needs to post the final vote count. Any posts other than to establish who was lynched are still forbidden. Once the results are established, the dead player should announce his role and take over the mod duties. The wolves need to inform this player not only of who they intend to kill, but also of all of their identities, so that the mod can give the seer his results. Also, the seer needs to contact the mod even if he is sure he is getting killed, because when he dies the mod needs to be sure he is posting the correct role in the writeup.

Some mods and randers will only contact the wolves and seer. If you do not receive any message prior to the start of the game, you are a villager.

Due to the frequency of turbos without mods on day 1 and the amount of frivolous votes being cast, it has become somewhat standard that day 1 of a turbo will not end early due to a voting majority. When in doubt, ask the mod for clarification.

Long Games: Long games are the counterpart to turbos. Long games tend to have 20-30 players and follow a much more rigid structure than turbos. Games have fixed start dates with signup threads usually posted at least a week in advance. The most common setup for a long game is to begin on Monday with day and night cycles which closely follow the days and nights in the United States, although alternate schedules also exist. Saturday and Sunday are almost always combined into a single game day. Long Games typically fall into one of two categories: Vanilla Games (formerly known as Average Speed Games) are traditional games with only the basic roles. Games with more exotic roles used to be called Theme Games, but recently have been called Mish-Mash Games as well.

Vanilla Games: This refers to long games which do not have any special roles. Your typical Vanilla Game will have 20-25% of the players as wolves, and 2 seers. These games used to sometimes feature an Angel, although this role has fallen out of favor on POG and is now grouped with other exotic roles. Night will fall early if majority is reached in most of these games. These games usually have one lynch per day, but sometimes there are "Slow Games" which have fewer players and only three lynches per week.

The Other Games: These are games which have non-standard roles. In most cases, they follow a theme from a popular work of fiction, and the roles in the game are named after its characters and they receive powers which are intended to reflect that person's abilities. Some themed games are only a little bit different than vanilla games (for example, a seer, an angel, and a vigilante) while others include multiple evil factions or neutral factions, subplots, and unique game events. And of course, many games fall in between the two extremes. In many of these games, day does not end immediately at majority due to the presence of roles with special voting bonuses.


Moderating Games:

So you want to mod a game? Don't feel obligated to do so. Many players and former players enjoy modding more than playing, so if you just want to play, go ahead. You're not leeching. If you do decide to mod a game, make sure you are familiar with all of the rules and etiquette. This thread has more information for you. And as it says in that thread, be sure to request access to the POG Game Mods usergroup here and then ask us to accept you (we may not see your request for weeks or months if you don't tell us to check for it). You can download this spreadsheet to help you run the game. It has many features to help out with things such as posting vote counts.


Game Structure:

The proper balance for big games has been debated and changed a bit over the course of time. The point at which to add an additional seer to the game is an especially delicate issue, and there have been experiments seers who only peek every other night (half seers). The experience and skill of the players also plays a role in the game balance, with the village performing better when its players have more experience playing with each other. With that said, this is an approximate guideline to balancing a vanilla game:

(# of players - Villagers/Wolves/Seers/Pregame Seer Peek)

9 players - 6/2/1/Yes
11 players - 8/2/1/No
13 players - 9/3/1/Yes
15 players - 11/3/1/No
17 players - 12/4/1/Yes
19 players - 14/4/1/No
21 players - 14/5/2/Yes
23 players - 16/5/2/No
25 players - 17/6/2/Yes
27 players - 19/6/2/No
29 players - 20/7/2/Yes
31 players - 22/7/2/No
33 players - 22/8/3/Yes
35 players - 24/8/3/No
37 players - 25/9/3/Yes
39 players - 27/9/3/No

WW Scheduling Thread for 2012

See that thread for recently completed games. At the end of the thread will have the current and future month or two schedule. Sign up to run a game in that thread!

To join a game simple scan the forum for threads with the paper icon (). In the OP of those threads should be general rules regarding that game as well as it's theme (usually).

Any questions regarding a game's rules could be posted in that thread or PM'd to the poster running the game.

Time translator. Want your timezone added? Pm me.

apparently those times may be out due to clocks changing.

if anyone cares to pm me a correct version I will both appreciate it and update the post.

Discussion and the history of this thread can be found here.


A huge thank you to Chips Ahoy who made this spreadsheet happen.

The spreadsheet is used to keep track of who subs out of what game, for what reason, and in what role. Game mods who run a WW game on POG can utilize the spreadsheet to determine if a player who is habitually subbed out should be welcomed in their game. It is up to the game mod who can play in a game or not.

I hope that this thread and spreadsheet will be all that is needed to keep substitutions from WW games at the bare minimum. But, please understand, life does happen - and everyone here knows it. If there is an emergency a sub can be found I'm sure.

Spreadsheet

*GENERAL DISCLAIMER*

This is just a list of commonly used terms. This is not an instructional pamphlet on how to play. There is also no guarantee that the theories or rules actually work - they are just commonly used terms.

Common Terms and Acronyms:

UTR = under the radar; meaning - not posting to avoid suspicion or detection

AFK = away from keyboard; self-explanatory

seer hunt cleared - in most games wolves spend the "night" hunting for the seer. Its then assumed that even if the person who is killed is not the seer - the wolves must have thought that he was. Careful though sometimes there is...

FPS = fancy play syndrome

CFD = chinese fire drill; means - In the last few minutes leading up to night a wagon alternate to those already there is proposed and quickly lynched

SHROOP = Scott Howard's rule of odd posts; refers to a post that is clearly edited. The theory is that wolves worry more about their posts and thus will reread and edit posts - not proven science however. This "rule" only refers to posts that were clearly edited to change their meaning and not just clerical edits.

wagon = refers to the player or players who are receiving votes and are being talked about. Also can be used as "jumping on the bandwagon"

bus = refers to wolves making a case and subsequently voting for another wolf in an effort to look more like a villager

half-way rule = used with strong WW players. If the wolves haven't killed them by half-way through the game - they are probably a wolf (also not proven science)

DADV = dead air; dead villager; means - lack of posting around EOD sometimes indicates the wolves are happy with the lynch

POE = process of elimination

See below for a template of standard Werewolf rules that you can copy and paste in to your OPs. Rules may be adjusted as desired, except for those under POG Rules, which are universal to POG. These rules were adapted from those posted by Atakdog on his OOT crossover game, so many of them are tailored for new players. Places that the mod should customize the rules for their game have been entered in red. The first is a readable version of the rules; before that is a version with the tags inlined, so you can easily copy & paste it in to your game.

If you have any questions/amendments/suggestions for these, post them in this thread

POG Rules
Do not attack or insult other players in the game. A little bit can be overlooked; if it becomes excessive, or contravenes 2+2 site rules, then Moderator action may be taken. You should focus on attacking a persons ideas, actions or logic - not the poster as an individual. If you feel someone is crossing the line with namecalling, you should PM a POG Mod (Legend42, gtpitch, Zurvan or ElliotR) who is not currently playing in the game. Post reports should be avoided if mods are playing the game, as it may provide them additional unfair information based on who is reporting. Standard 2+2 rules violations (ie, telling someone to perish in a oily conflagration, inline nudity) can be reported with the Post Notification button.

Wagering on the game is not allowed.

2+2 Terms of Service and site rules are to be observed at all times

One account per player - you may not play in a game with multiple accounts, nor should you attempt to use a well known account to extract information from other players while you play on a gimmick account.

Basic Rules

No editing posts

No deleting posts

Do not copy/paste, screen shot, or otherwise post your Role PM.

Any other PMs or private communication with the Game mod is not to be posted in the thread

Any time you have rule questions - be it general questions, or those about specific game rules - contact the Mod in private. Do not post the question in thread, and do not expect the mod to see any questions posted.

No communication outside the game thread with ANY other players in the game about the game, unless it is specifically allowed by your role, and only within such times as are specified in the role PM.


The Setup
[Describe the game setup in however much detail you desire. It is recommended you include Role PMs for, at the very least, the vanilla roles]

Tell everyone if there were night 0 actions or not

Voting

Each day, each player is allowed (and encouraged) to vote to lynch a player. To do so, type the name of the player in bold; if you want to be sure the moderator sees it, you could be so kind as to write something like "vote: Zurvan", but it is not required.You may abbreviate the name of the player, provided it is clear to other players (and the moderator) whom you mean.

You may remove your vote by posting "unvote". You may change your vote simply by voting the new player; you do not need to unvote.

At the end of the scheduled game day, the player with the most votes is lynched, and his role revealed in the thread. If two or more players are tied for the most votes, one of the tied players is chosen randomly by the moderator.

If the game includes a majority lynch option:
If at any time during the day any player has a majority the possible votes on him (e.g., with nine players alive, five or more is a majority), the day ends immediately and that player is lynched. Any player who believes a player has reached majority should post "night", and all other posting should cease while the vote count is confirmed.

If your game has different rules for must lynch, ensure you post them


The Timing

All times give are server time, which is also Eastern Standard Time.

I will open the thread every morning by posting "It is day." You may not post in the thread until I have made the morning post. Day will usually start at whatever o'clock

Day lasts until late O'clock. Posting at late O'clock is acceptable, and votes with that time stamp will be counted. Posting after that, even just a minute after, is not acceptable, even if I have not yet declared it night by posting "It is night." Do not post in the thread at any time, for any reason, between the end of the day and the opening of the trhead the next morning.

Weekends are different: There is not "night" Saturday night -- the thread remains open from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. There is no scheduled Saturday night lynch.

If the game includes a majority lynch option:
If any player reaches majority and is lynched before 2 pm, the moderator may, at his discretion, reopen the thread for a second game day that same day. He will do so only if it seems clear that this will not unduly disadvantage either side.

Communication

Villagers and seers may not communicate with any other player in the game, other than by posting in this thread. Any communication about the substance of the game (i.e., anything beyond the fact that the game is being played and that you are in it) is prohibited.

Wolves may communicate with each other by any means they desire during wolf chat.

ENTER WOLF CHAT TIMES HERE


The Roster

Enter the player list


Questions and Confirmation

Any questions regarding the rules should be submitted to the moderator by PM.

Other Rules

Participation

Werewolf is a participatory game. While it may be good strategy simply never to post, it is not fun for other players when people play that way. Accordingly, everyone is expected to participate on a regular basis.

This means that everyone is expected to post something every day, but it means more than that. Popping into the thread once a day to say "posting to avoid modkill" is an excellent way to get modkilled.

If you aren't going to be able to post at all on a given game day, tell me beforehand. Life happens; we get that. Once or twice is not an enormous problem, but if it's going to be an ongoing issue, we'll have to find you a substitute.

Enter your substitution/modkill standards here

Angleshooting

Lying is not only allowed, it is expected.

Quoting or paraphrasing communications with or PMs from the mod is not allowed.

Player assistance with vote counts will be greatly appreciated when the moderator is not available. If you make a mistake while doing one, that's to be expected. Do not intentionally make any, though.

Posting after day has ended, whether I have called "night" or not, is not allowed.

Discussing the game outside the thread is not allowed. Sometimes this comes up when someone is in two games at once; basically, the most you can say outside this thread is that the game is going on, and so-andso was or is in it.

Posting in the thread after you're dead is not allowed, much. You may post once after you are killed, if you want, but you may not say anything substantive -- "go, village" or "take it down, wolves" are about the limit. After that, stay out of the thread; root, but root silently.

It is best if after you are dead you don't discuss the substance of the game with anyone else in the game, or even other people, until it's over.

If you are ever unsure about whether something is or is not allowed PM the game mod and ask.


Must Lynch

Enter your must lynch rules here. Some possibilities
Standard voting rules apply
Once you vote, you may not unvote, but may switch
Once you vote, your vote is locked, and you may not switch or unvote

------------------------
Copy/Pastable version

[b][u]POG Rules[/u][/b]
Do not attack or insult other players in the game. A little bit can be overlooked; if it becomes excessive, or contravenes 2+2 site rules, then Moderator action may be taken. You should focus on attacking a persons ideas, actions or logic - not the poster as an individual. If you feel someone is crossing the line with namecalling, you should PM a POG Mod (Legend42, gtpitch, Zurvan or ElliotR) who is not currently playing in the game. Post reports should be avoided if mods are playing the game, as it may provide them additional unfair information based on who is reporting. Standard 2+2 rules violations (ie, telling someone to perish in a oily conflagration, inline nudity) can be reported with the Post Notification button.

Wagering on the game is not allowed.

2+2 Terms of Service and site rules are to be observed at all times

One account per player - you may not play in a game with multiple accounts, nor should you attempt to use a well known account to extract information from other players while you play on a gimmick account.

[b][u]Basic Rules[/u][/b]

No editing posts

No deleting posts

Do not copy/paste, screen shot, or otherwise post your Role PM.

Any other PMs or private communication with the Game mod is not to be posted in the thread

Any time you have rule questions - be it general questions, or those about specific game rules - contact the Mod in private. Do not post the question in thread, and do not expect the mod to see any questions posted.

No communication outside the game thread with ANY other players in the game about the game, unless it is specifically allowed by your role, and only within such times as are specified in the role PM.


[U]The Setup[/U]
[color=red][Describe the game setup in however much detail you desire. It is recommended you include Role PMs for, at the very least, the vanilla roles][/color]

[color=red][b]Tell everyone if there were night 0 actions or not[/b][/color]


[U]Voting[/U]

Each day, each player is allowed (and encouraged) to vote to lynch a player. To do so, type the name of the player in [B]bold[/B]; if you want to be sure the moderator sees it, you could be so kind as to write something like "[B]vote: Zurvan[/B]", but it is not required.You may abbreviate the name of the player, provided it is clear to other players (and the moderator) whom you mean.

You may remove your vote by posting "[B]unvote[/B]". You may change your vote simply by voting the new player; you do not need to unvote.

At the end of the scheduled game day, the player with the most votes is lynched, and his role revealed in the thread. If two or more players are tied for the most votes, one of the tied players is chosen randomly by the moderator.

[b][color=red]If the game includes a majority lynch option:[/color][/b]
If at any time during the day any player has a majority the possible votes on him (e.g., with nine players alive, five or more is a majority), the day ends immediately and that player is lynched. Any player who believes a player has reached majority should post "[B]night[/B]", and all other posting should cease while the vote count is confirmed.

[b][color=red]If your game has different rules for must lynch, ensure you post them[/color][/b]


[U]The Timing[/U]

All times give are server time, which is also Eastern Standard Time.

I will open the thread every morning by posting "[B]It is day.[/B]" You may not post in the thread until I have made the morning post. Day will usually start at [color=red]whatever o'clock[/color]

Day lasts until [b][color=red]late O'clock[/color][/b]. Posting at [b][color=red]late O'clock[/color][/b] is acceptable, and votes with that time stamp will be counted. Posting after that, even just a minute after, is not acceptable, even if I have not yet declared it night by posting "[B]It is night.[/B]" Do not post in the thread at any time, for any reason, between the end of the day and the opening of the trhead the next morning.

Weekends are different: There is not "night" Saturday night -- the thread remains open from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. There is no scheduled Saturday night lynch.

[b][color=red]If the game includes a majority lynch option:[/color][/b]
If any player reaches majority and is lynched before 2 pm, the moderator may, at his discretion, reopen the thread for a second game day that same day. He will do so only if it seems clear that this will not unduly disadvantage either side.

[U]Communication[/U]

Villagers and seers may not communicate with any other player in the game, other than by posting in this thread. Any communication about the substance of the game (i.e., anything beyond the fact that the game is being played and that you are in it) is prohibited.

Wolves may communicate with each other by any means they desire during [I]wolf chat[/I].

[b][color=red]ENTER WOLF CHAT TIMES HERE[/color][/b]


[U]The Roster[/U]

[color=red][b]Enter the player list[/b][/color]


[U]Questions and Confirmation[/U]

Any questions regarding the rules should be submitted to the moderator by PM.

[B]Other Rules[/B]

[U]Participation[/U]

Werewolf is a participatory game. While it may be good strategy simply never to post, it is not fun for other players when people play that way. Accordingly, everyone is expected to participate on a regular basis.

This means that everyone is expected to post [I]something[/I] every day, but it means more than that. Popping into the thread once a day to say "posting to avoid modkill" is an excellent way to get modkilled.

If you aren't going to be able to post at all on a given game day, tell me beforehand. Life happens; we get that. Once or twice is not an enormous problem, but if it's going to be an ongoing issue, we'll have to find you a substitute.

[b][color=red]Enter your substitution/modkill standards here[/color][/b]

[U]Angleshooting[/U]

Lying is not only allowed, it is expected.

Quoting or paraphrasing communications with or PMs from the mod is not allowed.

Player assistance with vote counts will be [I]greatly[/I] appreciated when the moderator is not available. If you make a mistake while doing one, that's to be expected. Do not intentionally make any, though.

Posting after day has ended, whether I have called "night" or not, is not allowed.

Discussing the game outside the thread is not allowed. Sometimes this comes up when someone is in two games at once; basically, the most you can say outside this thread is that the game is going on, and so-andso was or is in it.

Posting in the thread after you're dead is not allowed, much. You may post once after you are killed, if you want, but you may not say anything substantive -- "go, village" or "take it down, wolves" are about the limit. After that, stay out of the thread; root, but root silently.

It is best if after you are dead you don't discuss the substance of the game with anyone else in the game, or even other people, until it's over.

If you are ever unsure about whether something is or is not allowed [i]PM the game mod[/i] and ask.


[U][b]Must Lynch[/b][/u]

[color=red]Enter your must lynch rules here. Some possibilities
Standard voting rules apply
Once you vote, you may not unvote, but may switch
Once you vote, your vote is locked, and you may not switch or unvote[/color]


------------------------------------------------

Turbo OP

[player list]

6 villagers/2 wolves/1 seer

Seer got a random villager n0

Majority lynch from d2 onwards

d1 lynch takes over modding

Everybody got a PM. Don't talk about PMs.

At ML there is no unvoting and no vote changing (for turbos)


:xx GOOD, :xx BAD


IT IS DAY


[b][u]Turbo OP[/u][/b]

[player list]

6 villagers/2 wolves/1 seer

Seer got a random villager n0

Majority lynch from d2 onwards

d1 lynch takes over modding

Everybody got a PM. Don't talk about PMs.

At ML there is no unvoting and no vote changing (for turbos)


:xx GOOD, [COLOR="Red"][B]:xx BAD[/B][/COLOR]


[B]IT IS DAY[/B]