Red Scare Mystery - Conclusion

[Bob]

Everyone can post here!

Winners!From left to right: Def, Peanuts, Legonater, CorneliusMurdock, Fugazi, and Admiral Ron

Conclusion:

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Twenty years have passed since the whole ordeal had occurred. It is Alabatha Day, the founding of the town. Mayor Ackerson is giving a speech. Sitting behind him is Former Mayor Bradford, and standing behind him is Chief Fields. Dieter Schneider, Alan Simmons, and Officer Harrison stand next to the podium.

"It's been a very rewarding day today. I'd like to thank everyone for making this another successful Alabatha Day. I'll be brief," he started, as his speeches were usually hours long. "thank-you for making this day special to everyone."

James Falzone and the lifeguard had married years ago, and James had left Alabatha for the open seas, fixing up and taking the Lakota, as its original crew had all died.

Former Chief Phelps had moved to Oregon after the incident, and bought a farm in the secluded woods. He tends to his garden everyday, with his pet dog, April.

Gloria Jefferson took over the practice from the inexperienced elderly doctor who replaced Dr. Lloyd.

And Patrick Jefferson spends his days looking out towards the sea. Having rebuilt his house after his children went off to college, he sits and reads and watches the townspeople on his patio all day. He pushed away everyone else in his life, except for his two children whom he occasionally sees.

However, not all endings are as perfect as they may seem.

Krista Halle lived in The Bahamas, spending her days on the beach drinking Margaritas at the expense of the Soviet Government. She acknowledged the approaching waiter.

"I'd like another one, please."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

"Pardon?"

"I'm afraid that you won't be having anymore drinks."

*BANG*

"It took twenty years." Garrison says. "But I finally got you."

Elsewhere in The Bahamas, "Dolly Jackson" sings show tunes at a Cabana on the beach.

A familiar face, however, has entered the cabana. He stays until she leaves after her performance, and he follows her.

"Hello Dolores." he said.

"Stevie? How did you get here? How did you find me?"

"I'm afraid none of that is important. You've killed my father, not physically, but emotionally. He hardly sees us anymore, and it's all your fault."

"I loved your father, but I love my country more."

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to die for your country." Stevie says.

*BANG*

Dolores' body falls into the water, and floats off into the ocean. It would be days before the Bahamanian Police find her body, and by that time, Stevie would be back in Alabatha.

"All and all," Mayor Ackerson droned on, lying about his briefness. "We have each other, our health, and our friendship. I hope to see you all next year, and around town as well!"

The captive townspeople were relieved at his completion, and they left.

And, as he had been doing daily for the past twenty years, Ralph Jenkins placed flowers at the secluded burial ground of his wife.

The trouble was over, and the townspeople were free.

[iamded]

Go me! Big shot mayor, woohoo!

Good conclusion Bob! I feel kinda sorry for def and Peanuts, winning the game but still getting shot in the face. That's what you get for being Commie spies though!

Anyway, you've really wrapped things up nicely. Good on ya, Bob!

[CorneliusMurdock]

That was awesome, Bob! I look good in a suit. I told you guys I was the hero of this story. I got the girl and sailed off into the sunset. Now I'm Captain Falzone.

I love the way you tied up the different threads for the characters.

[JimBee]

Thanks for the game, Bob. From what I can tell, it was very well put-together, the clues especially. You also gave an extreme amount of dedication, so great job overall.

Personally, I did terrible in this game. I was just missing it for the first few chapters, and when Walter Kovacs brought up evidence I attacked to fiercely and no one would listen after that. Good thing I was right though.

IMO, it did get very long towards the end, and like I've said before, I stopped following after my part was done. Six months is a long time to be playing any game, and I think the enthusiasm really died when hardly anyone was playing.

However, you did a great job bringing everyone together towards the end (Chapter 11), so overall I think this game was successful.

And congrats to the winners as well.

[CMP]

That wasa a great game, Bob. Very fun, and hey, I'm the police chief now. To be honest though, I was kind of confused as to how everything was set up. But then it was all revealed at the end.

I think I played pretty bad. All I did was protect myself. I think at one point it saved me, though, just before the end. Congrats to the winners, you deserved it. At least I guessed the Project Wolf question.

[The Legonater]

Nice work, Bob. That was a fantastic ending. I love the way everyone's ended up, especially Stevie- rushing, slightly irratating adolecent turned killer. Do I get a black suit and shiney sword too ?

I'd just like to say that everyone has played wondefully these past six months. It's been a really great experiance. For some reason, this conclusion really feels like a reunion of sorts.

Oh, and one more question. Does Stevie go into the hidden wall-finding business as a day job?

[Bob]

IMO, it did get very long towards the end, and like I've said before, I stopped following after my part was done. Six months is a long time to be playing any game, and I think the enthusiasm really died when hardly anyone was playing.

I agree with you completely.

Now it's time for me to reveal what I think that I, as a host, did wrong.

Chapter Seven

I know Jim has forgiven me, but I feel that I was the one who got him killed. It was during this chapter that I became to much like a player rather than a host, and I feel bad about it. I even went as far as to sort of help the communists with the NPC Soldiers saying the townies were going in the wrong direction. I feel this was the biggest and most glaring problem of the entire game.

Time Length

As said, this really should have been ten chapters rather than fifteen, or at least fifteen shorter chapters. As said, it went the length that really took a toll on the players as well as me.

Character Amount

I feel there were too many characters. Initially, I intended on deleting Farmer Alan, Judge Cain, and Officer Harrison, but I kept them on. The Lakota was always supposed to arrive, but I feel that Mrs. Harding was a useless addition as well, especially because the person who played her never posted. The characters that were supposed to come were: Krista, Cpt. Harding, and Frankie. The CIA Agent, Maxwell Touns, was hastily thrown in as well as Captain Garrison and Jackie Harding.

Night Actions

I feel that changing the Night Actions from the actual night to daily was a mistake as well. It was initially a way to "cull out" the characters so the list wasn't ridiculously large, but looking back I think we lost good players this way.

At this point, I will take questions/comments/concerns/tomatoes from you guys.

[Professor Flitwick]

A rather touching conclusion Bob. It's one of the reasons I've enjoyed this more than a mafia game; it gives us much more time to flesh out our characters, as evidenced by the individual conclusions. I must say, even though it's rather depressing, I can't imagine a better fitting conclusion for Patrick.

An I'd like to thank you for putting me in. I know I was very much of the mark with the actual solving of the mysteries, but I hoped I played the part you envisioned well.

You also gave an extreme amount of dedication, so great job overall.

I agree. You managed to continue hosting, even through the ordeal with your sick Aunt. Very commendable.

[Fugazi]

Great conclusion to a great game, Bob! Thanks for being our host for... has it been half a year already? Congrats to the winners, and to all the other players! I really enjoyed this first experience in a Mystery game. The plot was well written and captivating, and the pace was good when enough players were around! By the way, did we miss any major clues?

If anyone's interested, here's my bio:

Alan Simmons

You own a small farm at the edge of the town that’s very profitable for you. You supply most of the fruits and vegetables to the town. There's an abandoned shop behind you that you use sometimes for extra storage. You also live next door to the Jenkins's, whom you are friends with.

You’re not a communist at all, and you’re a loyal American. Although you’re a bit upset with the direction of the country, you will do nothing about it.

Remember, just because a chapter has concluded, that does not mean that the day is over.

You have no night actions.

But eventually...

You're approached by General Stanley as the crowd mills about.

"I'm giving you a night action." he starts. "You're now able to protect someone. At the end of each chapter, please inform me who you'd like to protect."

[Brickdoctor]

Well I can't say I did that much in this game, since by the time I joined I got in one night action, one vote, and then I was just hoping four of you wouldn't guess I was a Commie. (which you did, ) But from what I did get to do, this was a fun game for me; different from a Mafia game, that's for sure. The story was excellent as well.

-HUAC Investigator Matt Liebenston

You’re a spy for the glorious Soviet Union. Five years ago, you came over here with a group of other spies, and infiltrated key places in the United States Government. You decided to become a HUAC Investigator, the very thing that hunts down communists. Laughing as you lead congressmen in the wrong direction all the time, you couldn’t stop them from coming to Alabatha, so you decided to sign on to become the lead investigator. Accompanying the local Congressman, you wish to lead the townsfolk in every wrong direction.

You do not know who the other spy is, and wish to search for who this other spy is. You do, however, know that there is only one spy in the town of Alabatha. You do not speak with an accent.

Your night action is to frame someone. Good luck!

And if you're wondering, I tried to frame Fugazi, but he was protected the night of my attempt.

[Professor Flitwick]

Oh yeah, that reminds me:

Patrick Jefferson

You’re a lawyer in town. You’re a loyal American, and certainly not a communist. You’re also a former Senator, who represented Delaware. You left politics, and have no interest in getting back into them. Over your years as the town’s lawyer, you’ve befriended the judge, as well as a few others. Your wife, Dolores, is a homemaker, and cares for your two children, Stevie and Gloria.

You met Dolores at a bar four years ago, and married her six months later. You already had your children with your first wife, who had mysteriously died five years ago. You will vehemently defend your family, even if it means to the death.

Remember, just because a chapter has concluded, that does not mean that the day is over.

You have no night actions

Please put the avatar provided either in your signature or in your avatar. Please also confirm in the confirmation thread.

Started off with no Night Action, and finished without one too. I hope vehemently defended my family, even if it did mean I never suspected def!

EDIT: Also, will we be getting individual comments from how we all played?

Edited May 11, 2011 by Professor Flitwick

[The Legonater]

Oh, right, roles:

-Stevie Jefferson

You’re the son of Patrick Jefferson. Five years ago, your mother mysterious died. You believe strongly that it wasn’t an accident like everyone said; however, you usually keep quiet about it, unless it’s brought up. Your new mother, Dolores, cares for you and loves you greatly, but, you know it’s not the same.

You have a sister, Gloria, who you love.

Remember, just because a chapter has concluded, that does not mean that the day is over.

You can spy on someone at night to see what they’re doing.

Please include your avatar into your avatar position or your signature. Please also confirm in the confirmation thread.

Also, everything I stated in the chapters about my actions were true.

[Bob]

EDIT: Also, will we be getting individual comments from how we all played?

Indeed, I'm preparing them now.

[Fugazi]

And if you're wondering, I tried to frame Fugazi, but he was protected the night of my attempt.

Once I was given the action, I protected iamded, Flitwick, Cornelius and finally myself (after being convincingly accused by Lord Arjay).

Dragonator as Liebenston claimed that he had a protection vest, I gather that wasn't true then?

[Brickdoctor]

Dragonator as Liebenston claimed that he had a protection vest, I gather that wasn't true then?

If he did, I wasn't informed of it.

[Mrlegoninja]

Thanks for letting me play Bob

I WAS THE INVESTIGATOR!

I investigated Dolores and Farmer Alan, and found Unknown but not town and town respectively. I was going to contact Farmer Alan to tell him about Dolores as I trusted him, but I was killed by Communist Captain Garrison. I could not be killed in the night, but in the day he attacked me. After that, I knew Garrison was a Communist.

I'll post my PM later.

[Captain Genaro]

Thank you Bob for such a great game! It must have been hard with everything going on but I had a great time ( untill I died ).

Frankie Daly

You’re the cargo handler on board the Lakota, working under Captain Harding and his wife, Jackie. You originate from Japan, but your name was changed to become more Americanized when your family immigrated here to escape the Japanese aggression, which you didn’t like. However, the U.S. Government didn’t see you as good people, and imprisoned most Japanese who were in the coastal states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Your mother died inside one of these camps, and you still harbor an intense hatred of the government. Because of this, you have sour opinions of the Government, and will try to frame the Government members.

At night, you can try to incriminate a government member.

So now everyone knows who the framer was and his motives.

[CorneliusMurdock]

So we did have an investigator? Was there another besides Maxwell?

I'll be interested to know what the night actions of the communists were since I ended up blocking all of them during the course of the game with no results.

James Falzone

You’re a simple dockworker at Alabatha Port. You unload boxes and load them back up again. You work for many days and even nights with your fellow workers, who have all fled since this who debacle started.

You’re definitely not a communist traitor at all, you’re a loyal American. You’re also a ladies man and a conversationalist. You never want to stop talking, something that irks your fellow workers and townsfolk.

Remember, just because a chapter has concluded, that does not mean that the day is over.

You can block someone at night.

[Admiral Ron]

Wow, a very surprising ending! Thank you Bob for the glorious game! I am not gonna lie though, I am very surprised I won, I had no idea what I was doing for nearly the whole game!

[def]

おつかれさま〜！

Thanks for your hard work and perseverance, Bob

I enjoyed the game more or less depending on the period. There were some exciting points, but then also some long drawn out parts.

The stuff that took me out of the game was this:

-the length. Three months is about as long as I can concentrate on a game. Cornelius Murdock was drilling me on stuff I did two months ago, and I genuinely didn't know what he was talking about. As for those Jedi and Harry Potter games that have been going on for two years, I can't fathom playing them.

-I didn't know what to do a lot of the time. I was blocking players at night, and pretending to help out during the day. But the overall targets were vague.

-There were a lot of mafia roles, and to be honest, I didn't expect any before I signed up. I'd read through some of Hinck's Red Moon or whatever it's called, and I hadn't noticed mafia roles in the pages I read, so it wasn't quite what I was expecting. No fault of yours, just it was different.

The last thing is that you made Matt and Delores commies for their narrative value... but that also made us the first suspected characters for all the players. Were they made commies simply for narrative's sake? Looking back, was it too much of a problem?

Thanks for your passion for this, I'm glad I had the chance to play, and lie consistently for months on end.

[Bob]

The last thing is that you made Matt and Delores commies for their narrative value... but that also made us the first suspected characters for all the players. Were they made commies simply for narrative's sake? Looking back, was it too much of a problem?

Thanks for your passion for this, I'm glad I had the chance to play, and lie consistently for months on end.

I'm not sure what you mean about the "narrative value." Inspector Liebenston was first suspected because he rarely posted, maybe every other chapter, and wasn't exactly helpful. I have absolutely no idea as to why they suspected you, and nearly voted you out. Mystery Games are typically narratives, if by that you mean a well thought out story. The players are randomly assigned people, but the roles are already thought out and made. Dolores, Matt, and Krista were going to be communists no matter who played them.

Other communists pairs I had planned were:

*Dolores and Stevie - Stevie had been trained since birth for a deep cover assignment, and Dolores married Patrick. Stevie would become his step-son.

*Dieter and Matt - Originally, Dieter was going to be an East German spy working for the Soviets.

*The entire crew of the Lakota - Initially, there weren't going to be any communists in the town. I decided this was a bad idea, because it would have been too easy had one of them been caught.

*Frankie Daly and Dolores - Frankie was originally Chinese, and the two were working together as part of a joint China-USSR Deal.

Other background story lines I had planned were:

*Dolores was never a communist, but killed Laura Jefferson just to be with Patrick. This was eventually changed to where Dolores was a communist who killed ruthlessly to get where she needed to be.

*Dieter was an Ex-Nazi Spy who killed Doctor Lloyd's Wife. A bit far-fetched, and hard to plan, this is one story line that I took out. Dieter was transformed into a lovable chef, who looked more Scottish than German.

*Blank Bullets. At the tail end of the game, I realized how many people had died and how heartbroken the townspeople probably felt. I figured that Stanley would have subbed in the real bullets for fake ones, and that meant that Judge Cain, Nurse Parker, and Frankie could all come back at the Conclusion. Captain Harding could have, had he not fallen off a building. Then I realized this was a bad idea since in the writing I said they were confirmed dead. The only person who I could bring back was Doctor Lloyd, the one body that you never checked.

*The entire Jefferson Family was communist, except for Dolores. The idea here was a bit extreme, but it was similar to the "Dolores-Stevie" pairing above. Laura Jefferson was killed while trying to extort information from a military base, and Dolores, who was in love with Patrick, married him.

*The lifeguard was a CIA Agent. This was dropped in favor of Jack Howard.

*Jack Howard was originally going to be a truck driving playable character.

Clues (I think you missed)

*If you'd notice, none of the communists died when they were targeted. Dolores was narrowly killed, but the bullet hit a lamp. Matt was wearing a vest. This leads me to another point.

*Matt was wearing a vest. Why would a House Un-American Committee Member need a bulletproof vest?

*Krista's Arrival. Krista was the one who stabbed the lifeguard, by the way. If you'd heard what she had said, she was staying with the lifeguard, but she really wasn't. It's also odd that when the lifeguard was found, she was wounded.

*Dolores' disappearance. I believe it was in Chapter Nine when Dolores left the group for a good solid 24 hour time period to go and clean out her commie nest on the top of the Fire Brigade.

There were a great deal, most of which you picked up on, but I'm not sure if I'm forgetting any.

Things I'd like to do better next time:

I won't lie, I'd like to host another mystery game ASAP. However, I'll have to wait behind Dragonator and Shadows, who have the next slot, before I can do this. I was also working on a plot halfway through this, so that's all done. However, this is only self-promotion.

*Shorter Game; this game, as many have said, was too long. It spanned from Eurodina all the way to the Fabuland Mafia School, or six months. I'd like to shorten it to about four months, as there were some long and drawn out, and unnecessary chapters in the game.

*Sets; I made the buildings, but I never made any interior sets! I figured if I did this, then it'd be easier to simply create the room in words, as you're very limited with bricks.

Things I started to do, but stopped:

*Titles: If you look back to Chapter One, and Two, they both had titles. It was at Chapter Three that I forgot to do this, and all the way until Chapter Thirteen.

*People's Avatars when they were talking: If you look back to Chapter One, when Ralph falls into the basement of the hotel, his avatar is present above his lines. I stopped doing this.

*Life Point System: This game was going to have this, but I figured that I shouldn't bother. Again, in Chapter One, Ralph sustains some life point damage.

New things I tried

*Player Freedom: During this game, which I think was different from others, I allowed players to choose where they wanted to go. This was partially a mistake, as it made the game drag on when the players went to a useless place. (Example: The Hospital, Nurse Parker's home, the Hotel).

*Mafia-Hybrid: As def pointed out, this game did have a plethora of mafia roles, mainly "Protector, Blocker, Watcher, and Killer" I figured that maybe a few of these mixed in would help out. However, as time went on, I kept throwing more of the same roles in, including an investigator. I also changed them from Night Actions to Chapter Actions. Initially, Matt Liebenston was the only "investigator", in the sense that he had to find his fellow communist.

I'll have the player summaries up, along with Night Actions, later.

[Fugazi]

I'm not sure what you mean about the "narrative value." Inspector Liebenston was first suspected because he rarely posted, maybe every other chapter, and wasn't exactly helpful. I have absolutely no idea as to why they suspected you, and nearly voted you out. Mystery Games are typically narratives, if by that you mean a well thought out story. The players are randomly assigned people, but the roles are already thought out and made. Dolores, Matt, and Krista were going to be communists no matter who played them.

I think def means that the background story of the commie characters made them suspicious from the get-go. So either they were made commies because they already had valid motives in their background story, or they had background stories that fitted their commie alignment. In a way, this is what a Mystery game is all about: finding clues in the narrative. On the other hand, I have to agree with def that it was perhaps too easy for the town to find out that Dolores had past issues that made her very suspicious. This could have gone either way, as I found her so suspicious that I almost couldn't believe she really was a commie! She may have had unrelated reasons to kill Laura, or she could have been completely innocent, but the narrative made her commie and it was too bad for her. def did a great job of deflecting suspicions for so long, but I do think he had to fight against an initial handicap. Not so sure about Liebenston though, I think he actually had the narrative on his side -- I had the feeling that he was like an outside observer that came to Alabatha to find the scum already present.

A general comment now Bob, and I really don't want this to sound negative, because it's a genuine question. I can't remember how this was dealt with in previous Mystery games, but you chose to have the players 'declare' their PM conversations. It does make sense because in real life players would have been aware most of the time of private conversations happening within the group. I don't know how scrupulously this rule has been obeyed, but it seems to me like there was very little PM going on during the game. As opposed to Mafia games, it didn't seem to me like townie groups were forming, or that action results were shared that much -- although this happened in the public thread during the last few chapters. Did you expect this, and do you think this has had a negative impact on the town performance?

[def]

The foog basically said it: the back story fingered me as guilty. I was the woman who married a guy whose wife died a suspicious death. It pointed pretty clearly at me. As for the investigator, maybe it was a lack of posting that made him look guilty. Certainly when both Shadows and Draggie weren't posting, and only one was replaced, it made them stick out, but that could just be me looking at it with the knowledge he was guilty.

I do think that 100% randomizing roles can still create a compelling narrative as those roles get developed.

[CorneliusMurdock]

There still had to be clues. In any case you did a good enough job deflecting all the logic thrown at you to win in the end. I was very ticked at the time when I presented my evidence against you and no one seemed to care. I probably should have kept at it anyway. So you blocked people, then? Were you not allowed to use it during chapter breaks or was that really an oversight?

[def]

So you blocked people, then? Were you not allowed to use it during chapter breaks or was that really an oversight?

Yes, I was a blocker. But I found that saying I was an investigator would be plausible if I was 'sleeping' with players to block. It was easy for me to 'clear' players.

As for the chapter breaks changed, I honestly hadn't noticed. That was the same time as the same time as the tsunami here, and I was pretty stunned and not paying attention to details. I didn't want to bring that up as an explanation for my not paying attention in the game though, since I though it would be using the event as a free pass, which would have been scummy in a way that I don't like.