SensibleInnsmouth
by eightysix and cb361
based on an idea by bruceski



Ward 361, Arkham Sanitarium.
Arkham, Massachusetts.
15 August, 1931

The identity of the patient in Ward 361 remains a mystery, but is finally responding to the new sedatives administered under the recommendation of Doctor Howard. Although his incoherent rambling still persists, it has quietened down to a whisper. Judging the patient to be in a semi-lucid state but non-communicative, Doctor Howard has given him a notepad on which to write. I gave the patient a strong opiate tonight, and took away the notepad to look at it. The first part of his journal was extremely haphazard with symbols, crude sketches and strings of letters resembling nothing so much as cryptograms, but I transcribe them as they appeared - the delirious prose of the mad.

I dreamed of Innsmouth again last night. Dying shadowed Innsmouth that lies on the salt marshes at the mouth of the Manuxet River. Doctor Canton gives me medicine at night, and he smiles waxenly as he waits for me to drink. He tells me that my dreams are nothing. That I am ill, that the dreams will pass if I behave and that I will be better again. But despite treatment, I fear the only way I will stop dreaming of Innsmouth, damnable Innsmouth, will be when I die.

It was Captain Obed Marsh who brought the curse to Innsmouth, calling folks stupid for going to Christian meetings, and telling us we ought to get better gods like some of the folks in the Indies, gods as would really answer folks prayers. Said that if men would stand by him, he could maybe get hold of certain powers that would bring plenty of fish and quite a bit of gold.

Captain Obed and twenty odd other folks used to row out to Devil Reef in the dead of night and chant things so loud you could hear them all over town when the wind was right. I took my pa's ship's glass up to the cupola and saw the reef a-bristling thick with shapes that dove off soon as the moon rose. And did anybody ever see hide or hair of Hiram Gilman again? And Nick Pierce, and Luelly Waite?

So the town done some looking and thinking for itself. Too many folks missing - too much wild preaching - too much talk about that reef. There was a party one night as followed Obed's crowd out to the reef, and I heard shots betwixt the dories. Next day Obed and thirty-two others were in gaol, with everybody wondering just what was afoot.

God, if anybody had looked ahead ... a couple of weeks later, when nothing had been thrown into the sea for that long.



INTRODUCTION

SensibleInnsmouth is a game for 50 players. It involves a day phase, in which players discuss and vote to lynch one of their number, and a night phase during which certain players can perform a night action.

There are 2 sides, the Town and the Deep Ones. The Town wins when they have eliminated all the Deep Ones from the Deep One Circle. The Deep Ones win when they achieve an equal or majority population over the town.

While the Town is hunting for the Deep Ones, the Deep Ones are themselves hunting for their lost members. Until a Lost Deep One is Contacted and admitted into the Deep One Circle, they cannot communicate with their fellows.

In addition to the overall win/lose conditions, each player has a Personal Quest that they can pursue in any way they choose. Success or Failure in one’s Personal Quest is not conditional on the overall winning side.

Roles and Personal Quests in the game are assigned randomly, and all players are on the side of the Town, unless explicitly Deep One.

Unless explicitly stated, the no PM rule is in place.

The game rules below are comprehensive and there are absolutely no secret rules effecting game mechanics. Individuals may have their own personal secrets, of course.

As the game narrative progresses, events will occur on specific dates and hints may be revealed.

GROUPS

Deep Ones

Not all Deep Ones begin within their inner circle, but must still make contact. All Deep Ones submit a vote every night to kill a player. The roles of Deep One Leader and Deep One Investigator cascade to the next highest ranking Deep One upon death.

Additionally, Deep Ones may not use objects that allow them to Night Kill, though they may possess objects to prevent the town from using them.

Town

Except for the Serial Killer, all other players are members of the Town. The aim of the Town is to identify the Deep Ones and eliminate them. The Town wins when all Deep Ones have been removed.

Masons are all members of the Town who receive no additional abilities on top of their own, except that they know the identities of the other masons and can discuss matters in private with them. The leader of the Masons is in possession of the Masonic Knife. Masons are all members of the Town.

A few members of the Town suffer from an acute form of xenophobia. These players, who know who they are, will suffer death or madness if they are Investigated by a Deep One. This stems from an inability of a human brain to cope with the fleeting alien thought-processes experienced by one who is Investigated by a Deep One.

Circus

Thrown together entirely by circumstances, circus folk are able to discuss matters in private around their campfire. But unlike the masons they have no guarantee that any of them are even on the same side.


WINNING CONDITIONS

The Game finishes when one of the following Conditions are met

* The Deep One Main Circle equal or outnumber all other players or a Deep One is the last surviving player, in which case the Deep Ones win the game.
* The Main Circle of Deep Ones and the Serial Killer are eliminated, in which case the Town wins the game.
* The Players who have been bitten by Finger Biter plus Finger Biter himself outnumber the remaining players, in which case Finger Biter is the sole winner of the game.
* The Serial Killer is the last remaining player, in which case he is the sole winner of the game.


ROLES

On the side of the Deep Ones

Deep One

"There certainly is a strange kind of streak in the Innsmouth folks today. Some of 'em have queer narrow heads with flat noses and bulgy, starry eyes that never seem to shut, and their skin ain't quite right. Rough and scabby, and the sides of the necks are all shrivelled or creased up."

You are Deep One. Your object is to conceal yourself amongst the good people of Innsmouth, until such time as you are in a position to seize control of the town.


Deep One Leader

"Their features were indistinguishable, but their crouching, shambling gait was abominably repellent. And worst of all, I perceived that one figure was strangely robed, and unmistakably surmounted by a tall tiara of a design altogether too familiar."

The Deep One Leader has several additional abilities. He is the only Deep One of the main group who can perform a Contact and bring Lone Deep Ones into the group, and he can choose the target when the Deep Ones Recruit a Town player. If he is killed, his responsibility to Contact will pass to a deputy, but not his arcane ability to conceal his true nature from investigation.

Available Night Actions :
* Contact one player and reveal your Deep One role. If the player is a Lone Deep One, they will be brought into your group.


Deep One Evangelist
"I had to take the Oath of Dagon, and later on there were second and third oaths that some of us took. No use baulking, for there were millions of them down there."

Available Night Actions :
* Forcible Recruit one Human player and bring them into your group. The only player who cannot be recruited is the Deep One heretic. This Action can only be performed once during the game.


Deep One Investigator

Available Night Actions:
* Can investigate a player to determine whether they are Human or Deep One, but does not gain any more information than that.

Deep One Thief

PQ: To retrieve the Tiara

Available Night Actions :
* Can nominate a player to steal from.


Lone Deep Ones

"I had a frightful dream in which I met my grandmother under the sea. She lived in a phosphorescent palace of many terraces, with gardens of strange leprous corals and grotesque brachiate efflorescences. This was to be my realm, too - I could not escape it. I would never die, but would live with those who had lived since before man ever walked the earth.

That morning the mirror definitely told me I had acquired the Innsmouth look."

Lone Deep Ones are newly born and separated from main Deep One Circle which other Deep Ones including the Leader, Investigator, Evangelist and Thief. Lone Deep Ones seek to make secret contact with the Deep One Circle.

RULES: You are a Deep One, but even though you can still submit your vote for the Deep One Night Kill, you don't know the names of your fellows. Unless you have been initiated into the circle, you do not count as Deep One in the end game.

PQ : Your Personal Quest is to make contact with the Deep Ones, either by letting them Contact you, or using your Deep One Contact ability to contact one of them - if you're sure enough of your chosen target.

Available Night Actions :
* Contact one player and reveal your Deep One role. If the player is a member of the main Deep One group, you will be brought into it.


Dreamers and Sleepers

"And far out at sea, despite a high tide, I glimpsed a long, black line scarcely rising above the water yet carrying a suggestion of odd latent malignancy. This, I knew, must be Devil Reef. As I looked, a subtle, curious sense of beckoning seemed superadded to the grim repulsion; and oddly enough, I found this overtone more disturbing than the primary impression."

Alternately fascinating and repelling you, your dreams are filled with images of the Devil Reef and the dark sunken city of Y'ha-nthlei far below the waters. Are these merely the fancies of an imaginative soul, or do stupendous and unheard-of splendors await you below?

Dreamers are artistic or sensitive Humans who are effected by the presence of the Old Powers of the world. Visions of Y'ha-nthlei suffuse their dreams, leading them to doubt their humanity. But they are full blooded Humans who will not aid the Deep Ones, once they have been Investigated and discover the truth.

Sleepers are young Deep Ones who appear Human and are unaware of their ancestry. In the natural course of things they would take to the water as they grow older, but if they are Investigated they will immediately discover their ancestry.

The only way to tell the difference between a Dreamer and a Sleeper is to Investigate or Deep One Contact them.

RULES : You seek to discover the truth about yourself, whether you are indeed Human or Deep One. Upon being Investigated, your true ancestry will be revealed to your Investigator and also to yourself. If you are not Investigated before the game ends you remain firmly Human and Town, never to know the truth for sure.

PQ : If you are Human then your Personal Quest is fulfilled. If you find yourself to be in truth a Deep One, you may spurn your destiny and slay yourself or change your alignment to become a Lone Deep One. If you choose this course, you must still make Contact with the main group to fulfill your Personal Quest.



Serial Killer

There are eyes watching from beneath the dark waters of Innsmouth and whispers in the town. But a Serial Killer cares nothing for the concerns of Men or Deep Ones in their search for vengeance. You have returned to Innsmouth to find that the parents who committed their violent child to Arkham Sanitarium are long since dead, but the blood that you spilled in your escape from that asylum has drawn a Doctor from that place. When your tormentor is dead you will know peace, but until that time the streets of Innsmouth will run with blood.

RULES :

You are neither on the side of the Town or the Deep Ones. Your only aim in SensibleInnsmouth is to achieve your Personal Quest.

PQ : Your personal Quest is to personally murder the Asylum Doctor who is hunting you.
If the Doctor is killed by some other hand, you have at least a small chance of redemption - if you can kill every single other inhabitant of Innsmouth.

Available Night Actions :
* Can perform a Night Kill.


On the side of the town

Heretic

"So far I have not shot myself as my uncle Douglas did. I almost took the step, but certain dreams deterred me. No, I shall not shoot myself - I cannot be made to shoot myself!"

Alone amongst the Deep Ones, caught between Y'ha-nthlei and the Town, the Heretic spurns his destiny and yet lives to thwart his fellows.

RULES : You are firmly on the side of the Town, although your ancestry is definitely Deep One. The other Deep Ones do not know your name, but might perhaps be lured into Contacting you.

PQ: Your Personal Quest is to publicly expose the name of a Deep One that you have discovered.

Reanimator

"...had already made himself notorious through his wild theories on the nature of death and the possibility of overcoming it artificially. In his experiments with various animating solutions, he had killed and treated immense numbers of rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, dogs, and monkeys, till he had become the prime nuisance of the college."

Your single dose of Reagent Solution might help the town, if you choose a subject sufficiently fresh. But remember that although your patient will have full recall of their previous life, any possessions or special role that they played will be lost to them forever.

According to Lovecraft, A Reagent Solution is specific to one species, so you will not be able to reanimate any non-human lifeform.

PQ: To successfully administer your reagent, and so vindicate your life's work.

OBJECTS :
* Reagent Solution. This object allows the bearer to perform one reanimation on a player who has died during the previous 24 game-hours. Reanimated players lose their possessions and any special role.


Witch Doctor

The Witch Doctor is architect and craftsman behind the creation of the Talisman that passes from hand to hand through Innsmouth. The Talisman grants power to the person who possesses it for one night, allowing them to perform an Investigation before nominating another player to pass it on to. Only the Witch Doctor knows who possesses the Talisman, and if he wishes he can execute the that person, destroying the Talisman in the process. The Witch Doctor does not gain any extra information about people who have possessed the Talisman.

PQ: To personally kill a Deep One

Available Night Actions :
* Can destroy the Talisman, killing the one who possesses it.


Finger Biter

Not all of the entities in Innsmouth working against the Deep Ones are human, or indeed have the town’s best interests at heart. Finger Biter is an older, more horrible remnant of ancient times. It seeks to replace its lost fingers with eight new specimens, bitten at night from the hands of eight different Humans or Deep Ones. Those bitten suffer no change in their role or alignment, but should Finger Biter and the surviving bitten players ever outnumber the remaining players, Finger Biter will be the sole winner of Sensible Innsmouth.

Available Night Actions :
* Target one player in an attempt to bite off one of their fingers, if that player has not been protected.


Mark Writer

In accordance with the protocols of the Elder Ones, you have scribed the Invisible Mark upon the forehead of one inhabitant of Innsmouth, and will know that person’s secrets. The Mark will so remain unless unwittingly stolen, or until death finds the bearer whereupon it passes to the murderer.

RULES :
You will know at all times the identity of the player who currently possesses the Invisible Mark and his role.
If the player with the Invisible Mark is lynched or killed by the Deep Ones, the mark will pass to one of those to voted to kill him.

Available Night Actions :
* At the beginning of the game, you may nominate a player to scribe the Invisible Mark on.

Professional Thief

Burglar, house-breaker, robber, pilferer, pickpocket, rustler, looter or mugger are other names for you. You are a thief, and a skilled one at that. You can steal an item from a player. If this player has multiple items, you steal the oldest item in his possession.

There may be more than one player with the theft ability and the Personal Quest to recover the tiara, but only the Professional Thief starts with the Tiara.

PQ: Survive the game with the most valuable item in Innsmouth, the Deep One Tiara.

Available Night Actions :
* Can nominate a player to try to steal from.

Vigilante

Charged with divine mandate to cleanse Innsmouth of the evil rising from the deep, you are bestowed with a revolver and six rounds. Should you fail to kill a Deep One with the first five, you reserve the last for yourself, in hopes that you may escape the wrath of G-d.

Should you die while bullets remain the entity that chose you may pass your mantle to another.

RULES :
You nominate a player upon death if you have rounds remaining to pass the Vigilante role to him. This player will have the role of Vigilante added onto his role.

PQ: You must at least one Deep One with the rounds that have been allocated to you.

Available Night Actions :
* Can kill a player in the night.

Asylum Doctor

The Serial Killer has left a trail of blood across Massachusetts. The records for the patient were destroyed during their violent escape from Arkham Sanitarium, but the Doctor has followed the trail that led inexorably to Innsmouth.

The Serial Killer has concealed themselves in the community. You have the ability to make very quick and accurate diagnosis of schizoid behaviour, although this is all that you can detect. But with luck and skill you may be able to nominate the Serial Killer before more blood has been spilled.

The Asylum Doctor has no special abilities, other than the ability to incarcerate the Serial Killer and permanently remove him from the game.

PQ: To succeed in nominating the Serial Killer.

Available Night Actions :
* Can nominate a player to diagnose. If he succeeds in nominating the Lunatic, the role of both players are made public knowledge. The Asylum Doctor loses his special role when he achieves his PQ, or the Lunatic is killed in some other way.

Night Watch

Certain Humans have the ability to Protect their fellow players. Each protection is over night night.

Available Night Actions:
* Can protect a player.

Investigator

Certain Human players have the ability to investigate their fellow players. When they investigate they receive information on on Race, Alignment, Role and Personal Quest - far more information than a Deep One Investigator receives.

Available Night Actions:
* Investigation

Role Blocker

Certain Human Players have the ability to block the Night Actions of their fellow players. A Role Blocker has to specifically nominate the player who they want to Block for that night, although they do not receive any information about what if any effect this has.

Available Night Actions:
* Block




Martyr

The killing is your fault. You brought the curse to Innsmouth those nights that you lay awake with impure thoughts of your teacher. You touched yourself, and the Almighty sent these creatures from beneath the ocean’s dark tides. An eternity of damnation awaits you in Hell for all that you've done, but as the Son of God himself gave his life for you, there is still a chance for salvation if you can give your life to save another.

PQ: Die protecting a townsperson

Available Night Actions:
* Can protect a player. If the player under your protection is targeted, you die instead of that player.

Blocker Role

PQ: Successfully block a Deep One action

Available Night Actions:
* Can block the Night Action of player.


OBJECTS

Players in SensibleInnsmouth can possess different objects, each with its own properties.

Tiara

The longer I looked, the more the thing fascinated me. The material seemed to be predominantly gold, though a weird lighter lustrousness hinted at some strange alloy with an equally beautiful and scarcely identifiable metal. All other art objects I had ever seen either belonged to some known racial or national stream, or else were consciously modernistic defiances of every recognized stream. This tiara was neither. It was as if the workmanship were that of another planet.

While they possess the Tiara, a person is immune to Deep One kills as they hold it ransom.

Masonic Knife

The owner can optionally perform a Night Kill, after which the knife is discarded. If the kill is successful but the victim is of Human blood, the one who wields the knife will also utterly and surely die.

Hot Potato

Unwittingly stolen from the tomb of the Pharaoh, Amenhotep and brought to Innsmouth by chance, or by something else, this artifact carries a curse so malevolent that nothing can mitigate its ultimate effect. It carries many names in different languages, but we know it as the Hot Potato.

The Player with the Hot Potato is publicly identified. The Hot Potato kills the holder an hour before a set but secret midnight. Each night, the player with the Hot Potato must perform a Nomination Night Action to pass it on to another player, or suffer the curse themselves before the night passes. This Night Action cannot be blocked.

Talisman

A doll carved from a root of swamp wood, with bird bones and fragments of mirror and rags tied around.

The Player with the Talisman can conduct an Investigation and Nominates the player to pass the Talisman onto. The player who is Investigated doesn't have to be the same player who the Talisman is passed onto. The Investigation portion can be Blocked, but the Nomination portion cannot.

While the Player is still carrying the Talisman, he cannot reveal that he has it. He cannot reveal who he passed it on to until one full day after he has passed it on (i.e. while that person still has it). This object is not stealable.

Invisible Mark

The owner of the Invisible Mark is never aware of it. The Mark is passed on when the owner is killed or Thieved. The Mark can only change owners a set number of times, and each time the Mark is moved, the Mark Drawer gets an Investigation of the new owner.

Silver Token and Gold Token

There are two Tokens in the game, held by different people. Each player can either Activate their Token at night by PMing the GM, or keep silent. If both keep silent, nothing happens. If one player activates but the other doesn't, that player gets Protection that night. If both players activate, both Tokens are randomly distributed to other players. Activating the Token counts as a Night Action.

If one player obtains both tokens, they are discarded.

Voodoo Bones

There are three Chicken Bones, distributed to different people who don't know each other. Breaking his bone counts as a night action, and the last player to break his bone before a secret deadline wins this mini-game. The reward for winning this game allows either a Kill, an Investigation or a Protection. If a Deep One wins this game, he may not choose to kill.

Dark-light Camera

On a morning a week ago, Nathanial Gilman the town’s amateur photographer was found floating face down in Innsmouth harbour. Well known for his experiments into the chemistry of light sensitive materials, Nathanial had for some time been raving that he had hit upon a developing agent that was sensitive not to visible light but to what he called a man’s ‘inner darkness’. Whether or not his apparent suicide was the final symptom of madness growing within, Nathanial’s home was broken into that very night and all of his glass photographic plates systematically broken. Strangely though, there was no sign of his camera amongst the wreckage of his workshop.

A camera with only one photosensitive plate, this object allows one to discern if the targeted player is human or Deep One. This object can only be used once.

Green Liquid and Green Paste

These are two poisons of varying toxicity. One of them will place its target in a deathlike trance for a day thus granting protection for the night, while the other one is a lethal toxigenic.

Transcript of the Necronomicon

By chanting the praises of the Great Old Ones on these transcripts, you may call forth malice and death.
Ia! Azathoth! The Blind Idiot God bestows a Protection upon yourself, at the expense of another's life. Nominate a player. This player dies, and you gain protection. You are also henceforth afflicted with a fugue and lose access to your intrinsic Night Action.
Ia! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young ties the fates of two, so that one destiny may be revealed and one may be severed. Nominate two players. One of these players will be investigated and the other will be killed.
Ia! Cthulhu! The Sleeping God drives those who speak and hear his name mad.
Nominate a player. Both that player and yourself will be killed.

After using any of the chants on the transcript, it crumbles into dust.

Dagger

A curved dagger of Arabian origin, this dagger is also known as the Jambiya. The owner may optionally perform a Night Kill, after which the Dagger is discarded.

Shovel

Of all gardening implements, the most deadly. The owner may optionally perform a Night Kill, after which the Dagger is discarded.

Hatchet

The hatchet spent its summers with its blade embedded in the tree stump that Luelly Waite chopped firewood on. Since his disappearance, the hatchet has gone missing as well.

The hatchet allows the owner to perform a Night Kill on another player, after which it is discarded.


There may be certain other items that grant limited number of uses that will be granted as reward for achieving certain tasks during the game

NIGHT ACTIONS

Some players have intrinsic ‘Night Action’ abilities based on their role in the game. Other players may have an available ‘Night Actions’ due to an Object in their possession. Where a player has more than one available Night action, they can only choose to perform one at most.

Deep One Contact

The Deep One Contact Night Action is available to certain Deep Ones

The player who initiates Deep One Contact reveals himself to the subject.
If the Subject is a Dreamer or a Sleeper, then Deep One Contact counts as an Investigation, before moving onto the Contact phase.
If the Subject is Human or the Heretic, they are given the name of the Contacter.
If the Initiator and Subject are Lone Deep Ones, then they are made aware of each other, but cannot converse in private.
If the Initiator is a Lone Deep One and the Subject is part of the Deep One Group, then the Lone Deep One joins the group.
If the Initiator is part of the Group and the subject is a Lone Deep One, then the Lone Deep One joins the group.

Investigate

Investigates a player. This may be an intrinsic ability or an ability granted by an object. An Investigating Deep One will only find out a player’s species, whereas an Investigating Human will find out species, alignment, role and Personal Quest.

Protect

Protects a player from a Night Kill. This may be an intrinsic ability or an ability granted by an object. If a player is protected, they are not made aware of this. A player who protects another player is not made aware if their protection was called upon or not. If a night-kill is blocked by protection, the player who attempted the night-kill is not made aware of why their attack failed.

Block

Blocks a player's night action. If that player has a limited number of actions, the blocked action counts against this limit.

Blocks effect Night Actions and also Deep One Votes. When a Night-Action is blocked, it is as if that player did not perform the Night-action, with any possible negative repercussions that that may entail.

Steal

Steals an object from a player. If a player has more than one object, you steal the oldest object in his possession. If a player is protected, they may still have their possessions stolen.

Kill

Kills a player, if that player is not Protected. This may be an intrinsic ability or an ability granted by an object.

Nominate
Some roles or objects may require you to nominate a player. This also counts as your action for the night.

Forcible Recruit
Forcibly recruits a player to join the Deep Ones. Human players who are forcibly recruited retain their role for the purposes for investigation, but are otherwise unable to use their intrinsic abilities and function as a Deep One. This includes the win condition and the ability to vote for a kill. However, Deep One roles cannot cascade onto the recruited player. Also, they are restricted from using the Kill action granted to them by an object as per Deep One rules. They retain their Personal Quests.

When the Forcible Recruit takes place, the Town will be made aware that it has happened, but not who has been recruited.