I’m going to create a short post outlining the rules of the game. This will probably be a living, breathing document that will grow as we go along–explaining and clarifying all the roles and other things that pop up along the way.

Short version of the rules

Some versions of the game may modify the basic rules, but a standard game goes something like this:

The townspeople are divided into two teams–villagers and werewolves. The goal of the villagers is to kill all the werewolves and the goal of the werewolves is to kill all the villagers. During each DAY, the townspeople get together to discuss who they want to lynch. When a majority is reached or when time runs out for that round and the person with the most votes is lynched and his or her role is revealed.

At this point, NIGHT begins and the townspeople go to sleep (so no more posting until morning). The werewolves will meet to discuss who they want to kill and that person will be dead in the morning. It then becomes DAY and the cycle continues until either no werewolves remain or there are sufficiently few villagers to assure the werewolves a win.

You may also want to check out the wikipedia page on this game or this nice post by Madtown about etiquette. Here are a couple other key points though.

1) There is no talking at NIGHT or when you’re dead. There is much talking during the DAY when you’re alive, however. In fact, it’s pretty much mandatory for the game.
2) There is no communication about the game outside of the game thread unless your role specifically allows it. Most notably, werewolves are allowed to talk to each other during NIGHT, but not during DAY.
3) The moderator’s word is final.

People Involved in the Game

Moderator–The moderator is the person running the game. He is also the judge, but is not a player and can’t win. He is in charge of assigning roles, calling changes in phases of the game, etc.

Townspeople–The townspeople are all the people involved in the game who aren’t the moderator.

Villagers–Villagers are the innocents in the town who win by killing all the werewolves.

Werewolves–The werewolves are the other main team who are trying to kill all the villagers. Typically, they win when they outnumber the villagers during the day, since this is sufficient to guarantee victory if the game were played out until all the villagers were dead. Occasionally, however, the game may need to be played out further based on the roles remaining in the game.

Seer–The seer is also a villager and wins with the villagers. Each NIGHT, the seer gets to ask the moderator about the role of a single townsperson and have that role revealed to them. If a seer does not send an email request to the mod in the required time, that person doesn’t get to peek that night.

Phases of the Game

DAY–This is the main phase of the game where most of the action takes place. The townspeople get together to decide on a person to lynch. During the day, each player may cast a vote for a single player, although they may change their vote at any point up until a majority is reached or time for that phase has expired (see voting rules below).

As soon as a player receives a majority of votes, the day phase is considered to be over, although this is not official until the moderator declares NIGHT. If you realize that a majority has been reached, but the mod has not yet declared NIGHT, you may make mention of this in a post and ask everyone else to be quiet.

NIGHT–The second phase of the game, which is typically much shorter. During this phase, werewolves decide on a townsperson to kill and send their request to the moderator via email. Other roles–such as the seer–perform their night actions if they have any. If the werewolves have not elected a person to kill by the end of night, then they don’t get a kill that night.

A player killed during the night will have his or her role revealed the next day, along with the group that killed him or her (if applicable).

MORNING or EVENING–These are special phases and don’t normally exist, but will sometimes be used in case action is needed between DAY and NIGHT phases.

Voting

1) For all votes or unvotes, the name of the person must be in bold.
2) In order to vote for somebody, post a new comment saying “VOTE (name)”. This should be a new comment and not a response to anybody else’s comment in order to avoid confusion about when votes were cast.
3) If you wish to change your vote, create a new post saying “UNVOTE (name of previous vote). VOTE (new person)”.
4) If you wish to simply cancel your vote and temporarily abstain, make a new post saying “UNVOTE (name of previous vote)”.

Dying

When you are dead, you are out of the game. Once you have been killed, you may no longer post in the thread, except for possibly a “So long cruel world” post. This is considered your death post and may not contain any strategy or information about the game.

Even in death, you are not allowed to discuss the game with any other players until it is over. Sometimes, in a longer game, villagers are needed to reenter the game as replacements for other players who may need to drop out.

The Role of the Moderator

The moderator has ultimate authority over the game. Any ruling made by the moderator are final and not up for discussion (until after the game is over). In addition to running the game, the moderator may decide to have a player meet their untimely demise if the mod deems that person in gross violation of the rules. The mod may also decide to make a substitution for a player who is AWOL or who declares he or she needs to leave the game.

Other Terms

Two strike rule–When the two strike rule is in effect, if a person abstains from voting in two votes that don’t get decided by a majority, then that person is considered suspicious by the villagers and will be lynched along side whoever else the town decides to lynch that day. These can be any two votes during the course of the game. Votes that go to a majority won’t be counted, because that person might not have decided or had a chance to vote by the time voting is closed.

Missing–If a townsperson is declared missing they may not speak, vote or perform any special actions until they have returned. They may also not be voted against or have any special actions performed against them.

Silenced–If a townsperson is declared silenced they may not speak or vote until they are unsilenced.

Some Other Minor/Occasional Roles

Here are a few fun roles that are sometimes used. This list will grow as more roles are introduced.

All players are told their roles by the moderator at the beginning of the game unless otherwise stated. All players have their roles revealed by the moderator when they die unless otherwise stated.

Angel–The angel is also a villager and wins with the villagers. The angel gets to choose a player to protect from the werewolves during the night. If the player protected by the angel is chosen for execution by the werewolves, that player will survive and the werewolves won’t get a kill. The villagers won’t be told who was targeted for execution, just that nobody died that night. The angel cannot protect him/herself and cannot protect the same person on consecutive nights.

Hirsutor–The hirsutor is also a villager and wins with the villagers. Shows up as “werewolf” if investigated. The hirsutor is a guilty-looking villager. The hirsutor does not know he’s the hirsutor — he is simply told he is a villager. When he dies, he is revealed as a villager.

Suicide Bomber–The suicide bomber is also a villager and wins with the villagers. If a group targets the suicide bomber for execution during the night, one member of that group will be chosen randomly by the moderator to die as well.

Lunatic–The lunatic is also a villager and wins with the villagers. The lunatic is told by the moderator at the beginning of the game that he or she is the seer. However, when the lunatic inquires about the role of another individual, the moderator will not necessarily tell them the truth. When the lunatic dies, their role is revealed as a villager.

Vigilante–The vigilante is neither a villager nor a werewolf and wins when he or she is the last person standing. During the night, the vigilante also gets a kill.

Mayor–This is not an assigned role. Instead, MORNING phase will occur between NIGHT and DAY where the townspeople will elect a Mayor. That person will receive two lynching votes.

Glossary

misattribute — masturbate
nibbliger — portmanteau of nibbish and villager; a villager with no special powers
redeaded — used to close a post of a player that has already died in the game
turbination — werewolf turbo; a rapid game of werewolf
vanillager — portmanteau of vanilla and villager; a villager with no special powers
willager — portmanteau of will and villager; a villager with no special powers