Werewolf - Join the hunt
Trihan, over at GamingW, scripted an IRC bot for the text game Werewolf. If you already have a client, jump over to irc.whahay.net and join #werewolf (or even stop by #akamike). We also have a special day on Wednesday (20/06/07), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t visit any other day! Read on for the basic game rules, as well as some resources on IRC.
The Game
Werewolf is based on the popular psychological game, Mafia. The game is set in a village inhabited by the players. The players will either be human, with varying roles, or wolves, also with varying roles. The game goes through each night and each day, Night 0 being first (Seer only, see below for role description). Each night, except Night 0, the wolves may opt to kill one individual, as well as allowing other night roles to play (Seer, Investigator, Assassin, Guardian, Survivalist). No one can talk during the night within the main channel. During the day, players are free to talk and discuss the previous night, as well as vote on who to lynch that day. Players can abstain from the lynching, as well as carry out day-roles such as Hypnotist, Rogue, Warrior, Desperado and Magistrate.
The game continues until the number of wolves is equal to the number of humans, or until all the wolves have been killed off.
The Roles
As humans, the villagers may be randomly selected for one of the following roles at the start of the round:
- Seer - Night Role - Each night, including Night 0, a Seer may scan one player. In the morning, should they survive, they will be told if that player is a wolf or villager, and their role (with the exception of Lucky Bastard, Assassin and Psychopath).
- Investigator - Night Role - This role is similar to the Seer, except they can only tell when a person has done something that night. For example, if X Wolf targets Player Y, they will be told (if they targeted the wolf).
- Magistrate - Day Role - Once per day, this role allows a player to arrest another player for that day. During that day, the arrested player cannot vote or be voted for lynching.
- Hypnotist - Day Role - Once per game this player may force all other villagers to lynch a chosen player. This can be broken by either disabling the hypnotist or the target.
- Assassin - Night Role - Once in the game this player may anonymously kill a person of their choice.
- Warrior - Day Role - A player with this role can publicly and brutally kill a player, once per game.
- Rogue - Day Role - The rogue is identical to the warrior except the kill is conducted anonymously.
- Desperado - Day Role - Once in the game, this player may shoot another. However, if the target is human then they are wounded for one day, and the Desperado is killed for wasting the weapon.
- Medium - The only living player allowed to enter #deadpeople (the channel for dead players). This allows them to talk to the dead, apart from dead werewolves.
- Guardian - Night Role - Each night, the guardian may protect someone. If that player is attacked, they will not die, however the guardian cannot protect themselves.
- Angel - Day Role - The angel can anonymously prevent a lynching once in the game.
- Survivalist - Night Role - The survivalist may stay awake one night, killing one person who attacks them.
It is also possible for each human to be given one of these extra roles, on top of their other role:
- Psychopath - A hidden role, the psychopath has no power other than to instantly kill those who target the player. This counts for wolves, investigators, guardians, assassins and rogues. A lynching is the only way to kill this player.
- Lucky Bastard - Another hidden role, the luck bastard will be protected from their first death, through lynching or being attacked.
- Sibling - Two non-wolf players are told, at the start of the game, that they are related. This allows each player to know neither is a wolf, helping them work together.
The wolves may also be given a random role to aid in their feasting:
- Seer Wolf - Night Role - Same skills as a Seer, with the power of a wolf!
- Wizard Wolf - Night Role - Each night, the wizard may scan a player. In the morning they will be told if the target is a seer or not.
- Fighter Wolf - When killed by an instant kill role, both players die.
- Unseen Wolf - Once per game, they will be undetected if targeted by a seer.
- Stealthy Wolf - Once per game, they will be undetected if targeted by an investigator.
- Intuitive Wolf - If targeted by a seer, they will be told the identity of the player.
- Watchout Wolf - If targeted by an investigator, they will be told the identity of the player.
Make sure you use your roles wisely, and maybe even fool others into thinking you’re something else!
The Commands
Here is a collection of basic commands that will help you get by in the game, stated in #werewolf:
Join a game or start a new one:
/me play
Check the details and commands for a specified role:
/msg Gamebot info [role]
Vote to lynch a chosen player:
/me lynch [player]
OR
Abstain from lynching:
/me lynch abstain
IRC Help
Don’t know what IRC is? Need some client suggestions? Not sure on how to connect? This section is how to use IRC. A better guide can be found on the GW forums in the IRC Master Post, but if you have a rough idea of what I mean then this may be enough.
Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, is the chat service running the internet that most chat services run on. There are servers that you connect to, which can house several channels and users. You can join these channels, prefixed by a #, or private message (PM or Query) individuals.
First, you need an IRC client. I suggest mIRC as it is very easy to use with many options for customization through scripting. Once you have installed and set up mIRC to your preference (have a look around the options to set your name, font, etc) and maybe even checked the Intro to IRC page, here’s a few commands to get you started from a empty screen, to #werewolf.
Join a server, irc.whahay.net used as an example:
/server irc.whahay.net
Set your screen name:
/nick [name]
Join a channel, #werewolf used as an example
/join #werewolf
Quit the server and all channels
/quit [Optional leaving message]
There you have it, an introduction to IRC and the text game #werewolf. Other channels you may be interested in on your visit are #GamingW - the main IRC channel for Whahay, #akamike - A channel I have set up for akamike visitors, #music - Music discussion channel and #Help - The general help channel for Whahay IRC.
Hope to see you there, I look forward to playing with your minds. Mwahahaha!
i remember when about 50 of us played this, and to convince everyone i wasn’t a wolf i had to assassinate someone so i picked neogear out of the blue. turns out he was a wolf :D
Yeah, the game is full of nice little twists like that. ;)