Political Conspiracy

A MafiaMutation invented by Norinel. Basically, it's Conspiracy, but with multiple innocents at the beginning and voting rounds; they proceed as would be expected when there's no conspiracy, but when there is, it's entirely the conspiracy's decision about which innocent goes. This has been played once on MafiaScum, but the game was horribly beset with inactivity problems.

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Overview:

Conspiracy is a game based loosely off of Mafia in which conspirators, who may or may not actually exist, try to hide the truth of their existence while innocents try to uncover it and prove to others that there is a conspiracy. Over the course of Political Conspiracy, innocents disappear under mysterious circumstances due to being voted off by themselves or the conspiracy. At the end of the game, the surviving innocent if there is a conspiracy or innocents if there is not one must decide whether or not there is a conspiracy, and win or lose based on their decision.

Roles:

There is a fifty percent chance of being a conspiracy, which is randomly composed of some predetermined number from two to the number of players minus two players. The conspirators know who's in the conspiracy, and consequently who isn't. The goal of the conspiracy is to convince everyone else, the innocents, that there is no conspiracy partially through getting rid of everyone who catches on.

Everyone who isn't in the conspiracy (Everyone if there's no conspiracy) are innocents. Innocents only know that they are innocent. The goals of innocents are to survive to the end of the game, determine whether or not there is a conspiracy, and convince other innocents that there is a conspiracy.

Setup:

Decide on the size of the potential conspiracy and distribute roles however the medium of play demands. Determine time limits for each segment of discussion before and after the voting segments; there normally are the same number as there would be innocents if there is a conspiracy, since each voting segment disappears one innocent with the aim of only leaving one.

Once setup is complete, the main phase begins.

Main Phase:

The main phase alternates between segments of discussion and voting.

In discussion segments, the players discuss, with the innocents try to figure things out and ensure their survival and the conspirators try to cover up their existence. Anyone can say anything, true or false. Private communication is permitted and encouraged, so long as both parties in any communication know with whom they are communicating. However, you may not prove you are or are not a member of the conspiracy. (Through revealing cards, or quoting PMs, or whatever) When the time limit for a particular discussion segment ends, move to a voting segment or the decisive phase if all voting segments are complete.

In voting segments, discussion temporarily ceases and all players privately vote to try to get rid of one of the innocents. If there is no conspiracy, all innocents may try to have any of the other innocents disappear. If there is a conspiracy, only the conspirators' votes count. Either way, plurality rules, and ties are broken randomly. The only feedback the players get from the voting is which player has disappeared. That player is out of the game, and may not communicate about game-related topics to the survivors. If there is no conspiracy, that player has lost, but if there is a conspiracy, that player still has hope in the decision of the surviving innocent. After the disappearance is announced, the next discussion segment begins.

When all voting segments and a final segment of discussion after the last disappearance are completed, move to the decisive phase.

Decisive Phase:

All players write down on a slip of paper or otherwise communicate to the moderator whether or not they believe there is a conspiracy, usually in the form of a yes or no answer to the question "Is there a conspiracy?"

If there is a conspiracy, and the single remaining innocent player believes there is no conspiracy, all conspirators win. If the single remaining innocent player decides that there is a conspiracy, all the innocents (Including disappeared ones) win.

If there is no conspiracy, all players who decide that there is no conspiracy win. The players who decide that there is a conspiracy lose and spend their life making vocal websites and taking photos of trash can lids, gorillas, and weather balloons. (It is to be considered better for those who do win if fewer win. You can represent this when playing with score through having some amount of points split among the winners.)