# Forbidden Forest - Unspoiled Harry Potter Mafia Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 27, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719 "2010-06-27T22:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/201 "2010-07-25T02:20:48Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Fun game, though, despite the low participation. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/202 "2010-07-25T20:52:44Z")
I believe the fact that there was / is a “football” in play [snitch] unbalances the game. Why wasn’t this public information at game start? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/203 "2010-07-25T21:03:39Z")
How can you believe it unbalances the game when we don’t even know yet what it does? And why _should_ it necessarily have been public information? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/204 "2010-07-25T21:44:26Z")
Whoa, stop the presses! Information slip! From [**Hardly Sanguine**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12725648&postcount=601): > [@](#): > > My original thought was that it helped out the Draco Malefoy or Harry Potter characters in some way. I then thought it prevented the holder for being lynched or Night Killed. **I like your idea that it’s the tie-breaker, too.** I also wouldn’t put it past the Moderators to have something themed that doesn’t do anything, just for kicks/generate discussion. (emphasis mine). It’s not perfectly clear whom **Hardly** is talking to here, but no matter whom it is, this doesn’t make sense, since _nobody_ in the main thread has proposed that idea yet. The first mention of the Snitch is **Jimmy Chitwood** in post 584, and the only person to even use the word “tie” after that is **Hardly** himself. I can see only two possible explanations: First, that **Hardly** has been reading the Forbidden Thread, and needs to be mod-killed, or second, that he’s seen discussion of the Snitch in some other game-legal discussion area. And since the Masons are already known, that pretty much means he’s Scum. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/205 "2010-07-25T22:29:37Z")
Hardly was very upfront about his reading in here. Don’t be too hard on him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/206 "2010-07-25T22:42:01Z")
Dang, I was hoping it was the other possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/207 "2010-07-25T23:08:45Z")
Townies need to stop breaking the rules! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/208 "2010-07-25T23:42:58Z")
OK, so, if there are two Scum left, we might be at LyLo right now, depending on how ties are resolved. I think it’s safe to say that we’re at endgame. I think the time has probably come for a full mass-claim, names and (if there are any still left) powers. In particular, we haven’t yet seen anyone reveal as Ron, Hermione, Ginny, or Neville, and I’d certainly expect those first two, and probably all four, to be in the game before minor characters like Slughorn or Aberforth. This may or may not provide any useful information, but it probably can’t hurt (this late in the game is not the time to worry about outing power roles).’ On another note, I’m rather surprised that the Scum let **Storyteller** live last Night, since this late in the game, even a single confirmed Town makes a significant difference (all the more true, with **Hardly** ’s death). My best guess is that they were hoping that he’d have a delayed-death in reaction to the death of his brother, but they pretty much have to kill him now. ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/209 "2010-07-26T00:11:02Z")
One problem that has occurred with public forbidden threads is the searching. It’s less of a problem on SDMB where every game except Evil Dead was contained in 1 thread. The problem is that if you search the posts of a person who is now dead, you’ll come up with their forbidden thread posts as well as their game thread posts (and any other posts). Of course, you also have the problem of people just peeking into a forbidden thread. When I’m playing, I create a bookmark for the game thread and, in general, forget about the forbidden thread unless it’s mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/210 "2010-07-26T00:31:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so, if there are two Scum left, we might be at LyLo right now, depending on how ties are resolved. What’s a LyLo? I keep seeing people mention this, but I don’t know what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/211 "2010-07-26T00:35:48Z")
LyLo stands for “Lynch or lose”. It refers to the game state where Town absolutely must lynch Scum, or lose the game. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/212 "2010-07-26T00:51:31Z")
Could the scum be _any_ luckier in this game? Getting the cop Night One, hitting the doctor early in the game, two Townies modkilled including a mf’ing power role. I’m going to be furious to lose this game. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/213 "2010-07-26T01:04:15Z")
Well, the Townies were really lucky for the first couple of days…but they’ve done a good job of killing each other or getting themselves killed since then. It’s possible that there is only one Scum left though, right? The Townies can’t count on that, but it might be the case – especially considering that the Snape role could have turned Scum. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/214 "2010-07-26T01:23:06Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Well, the Townies were really lucky for the first couple of days… I disagree. That was solid Town play. Admittedly it was aided by really bad scum play, but that’s why I’m so angry. Scum do not deserve to be at double lynch or lose when the first two lynches of the game were of scum. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/215 "2010-07-26T01:26:15Z")
I think one Scum left is probably more likely than two, and would account for the recent Days being so frustrating: A single scum left alive won’t have very many tells, so the only way to find the last one is by either luck, information from power roles (which we probably don’t have any more), or from the (in this case sparse) data from when there were more. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/216 "2010-07-26T02:11:35Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > > [@Lamia](#): > > > > Well, the Townies were really lucky for the first couple of days… > > I disagree. That was solid Town play. Admittedly it was aided by really bad scum play, but that’s why I’m so angry. It was largely luck that **Red Skeezix** was the Godfather, though. He could just as easily have been vanilla Scum. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/217 "2010-07-26T02:17:42Z")
With the cop dead Night One, Voldemort _was_ vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/218 "2010-07-26T02:58:22Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > With the cop dead Night One, Voldemort _was_ vanilla. We still don’t know that for sure, and the Town didn’t at the time. I don’t understand all of the one-off powers the Sirius role had (what’s tracking?), we don’t know what if anything the Snitch does, and we don’t know if there are any power roles left. It doesn’t seem impossible to me that even after Dumbledore’s death there might be/have been some way to find out another player’s role, Voldemort excluded. And doesn’t the Godfather character sometimes have a tie-breaking role when it comes to deciding the night kill? Voldemort may very well have been exactly the same as any other Scum at the time he was killed, but this game seems quirky enough that I don’t think we can take that as a given. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/219 "2010-07-26T05:06:20Z")
Tracking means that you watch one player overnight, and learn about night actions involving them. What precisely you learn varies a bit: For instance, you might learn whether they did anything, but not what it was or to whom, or you might get a list of all people who had interactions with them (who they targeted or who targeted them), or the like. The point is, it gives some information, but not as much as a true Detective. This can be useful if, for instance, someone claims vanilla, but you can say “But wait, I saw you take an action on Night 3”. > [@](#): > > And doesn’t the Godfather character sometimes have a tie-breaking role when it comes to deciding the night kill? Sometimes, but it doesn’t really matter much. Since the Scum know they’re all on the same team, they can trust each other, and so usually come to a consensus on the Night-kill anyway. Read the Scum boards for a few games; they’re not nearly as drama-filled as the main game threads. It usually goes something like “Bob’s acting kind of funny. I think he might have a power role. Let’s kill him.” “OK, fine by me, he’s a strong player anyway.” ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/220 "2010-07-26T06:40:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How can you believe it unbalances the game when we don’t even know yet what it does? And why _should_ it necessarily have been public information? If it looks like a handshake, talks like a handshake… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719.md?page=12)