Board Thread:What happens in Salem/@comment-25375217-20180213193342

A few weeks ago I got three werewolf scrolls from the Daily Brew. Although werewolf is a pain to play and rarely wins since it's neutral, I decided to go ahead and equip them. Today, one of them finally worked and I was werewolf.

In hopes of improving my chances, I decided to claim bodyguard, even though it could easily be disproven by an investigator since most people automatically assume that sheriff = werewolf (or exe). Night 1, I put in my will that I guarded Player 1. Then I was roleblocked, and the next morning, 1 is dead -- and the jailor. Seeing an opportunity, I announce that I am the bodyguard and repeatedly throw salt at the escort for getting the jailor killed, hoping that they are the consort and will attack me the following night.

Night 2, I am, indeed, roleblocked again. I kill both the consort and the doctor; fortunately, the consort did not keep a will. Even so, I claim that I was roleblocked and thank the werewolf for getting the consort off my back. No one questions anything.

For the next several days, I continue to say little things that mention that I am bodyguard (the retributionist revives a dead vigilante instead of a doctor (the jailor left as soon as he died), so I comment that usually, the doctor would be a priority revive but I guess since we have me as a bodyguard we'll be fine, etc.) Eventually, we get down to just me, the revived vigilante, and three other people, one of whom is the last mafia member. The investigator, who just died, has one of these people marked as Framer/Jester/Vampire. Since the Executioner is dead, I say that this person must be Framer. He claims medium, but the revived vigilante argues that there was not a medium when he was dead. As we're voting, one of the remaining two townies reveals that they are mayor. We lynch the "medium" and he turns out to be the last mafia.

That leaves me, the vigilante, the mayor, and one other person who hasn't claimed a role yet. The mayor comments that the wolf is either myself or the other person; I repeat that I am bodyguard so it must be the other person. The vigilante says that this person is lookout, but I think nothing of it, assuming I just missed an earlier role claim. Regardless, the mayor tells everyone to stay home, which is fine by me since the following night was not a full moon and I didn't particularly feel like getting called out for not guarding the mayor should the other person really turn out to be lookout.

The next morning, I ask if we should lynch the "lookout" now. The mayor agrees that it is probably them. But before I can start internally celebrating, the vigilante drops this gem:

"I'm sitting next to him. He's lookout."

The mayor sends a billion "TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL"s and says to lynch me. I respond that I refuse to give them the satisfaction of winning by cheating, that I give up and the two cheaters suck, and leave the game. (I'm probably banned for a few hours now, but it was worth it.)

I know what you're thinking -- "how can this be considered cheating? Are we not allowed to play with our friends anymore?" I play with my brother regularly, too. We often target each other in ways that could probably be considered unfair -- everytime he is a vampire (since he regularly buys vampire scrolls), he bites me first. On rare occasions, we share what role we are with each other -- usually after the other is dead, but not always. However, here's the key: we never use this information to influence the game. If my brother tells me he is the godfather and I'm the sheriff, I may investigate him, then use his investigation results to get him lynched, but I never say "he's my brother, I'm sitting next to him, he's godfather." Sometimes when we're dead and we know there's no medium, retributionist, etc., I will tell the speculating ghosts. But I don't influence the game. THAT is cheating. Using knowledge that you did not receive via in-game means to influence the game. And it isn't fair to, say, the werewolf who would have won otherwise thanks to a (perhaps overly) trusting mayor, to do so. The lookout never once attempted to defend himself -- he only claimed his role after the vigilante revealed that they were friends, and he never posted his will, even though I did both. He relied solely on the fact that the vigilante was confirmed and could defend him to assure his victory. And, as such, I lost a game that I otherwise could have won.

Don't cheat. 