I'm claiming this now because I want to fix any problems with it before I host it.
Over the years, we've used basically the same setup for jTWG, but I suspect this tried and true approach has lost much of its usefulness. The thing wrong with our regular jTWG setup (wolves w/MW, seer, guard) is that players come to rely heavily on one strategy: Seer come out day one, guardian guard the seer, wolves fumble around looking for the guardian. This lends itself to a "follow-the-seer" mentality and restricts what can happen in the game. jTWGs are supposed to teach new players what they need to play TWG; to actively strategize, communicate, think for themselves, and be on watch for deception. How are we going to teach them this if they are just laying back, trusting the given information, and bandwagon voting on every person who was "seered red"?
I browsed through some stuff and did some thinking, and I came up with this.
12 players.
3 Wolves
1 Master Wolf*
9 Humans
2 Special Humans, picked randomly from the following 4: Seer, Guardian, Psychic, Wolfsbane
*Master Wolf would be useless in a game without a seer, but the role will remain so that the wolves can't know if there's a seer or not.
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So basically everything is known about the game except the special roles. This one mystery element opens a surprising number of possiblities. It abates the solve-all seer and guard strategy and is overall a better learning environment - and isn't this what we're aiming for in jTWG?
Discuss, comment, critique, etc.
Over the years, we've used basically the same setup for jTWG, but I suspect this tried and true approach has lost much of its usefulness. The thing wrong with our regular jTWG setup (wolves w/MW, seer, guard) is that players come to rely heavily on one strategy: Seer come out day one, guardian guard the seer, wolves fumble around looking for the guardian. This lends itself to a "follow-the-seer" mentality and restricts what can happen in the game. jTWGs are supposed to teach new players what they need to play TWG; to actively strategize, communicate, think for themselves, and be on watch for deception. How are we going to teach them this if they are just laying back, trusting the given information, and bandwagon voting on every person who was "seered red"?
I browsed through some stuff and did some thinking, and I came up with this.
12 players.
3 Wolves
1 Master Wolf*
9 Humans
2 Special Humans, picked randomly from the following 4: Seer, Guardian, Psychic, Wolfsbane
*Master Wolf would be useless in a game without a seer, but the role will remain so that the wolves can't know if there's a seer or not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
So basically everything is known about the game except the special roles. This one mystery element opens a surprising number of possiblities. It abates the solve-all seer and guard strategy and is overall a better learning environment - and isn't this what we're aiming for in jTWG?
Discuss, comment, critique, etc.
Comment