# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/141 "2010-07-15T21:53:55Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > I disagree. There are cases where it can be critical IMO. > > For example, had scum been able to Day Talk during Scum Pond **Kelly** would have stood a much better chance of pulling off his fake claim. He could have run his proposed claim post past the rest of the scum and we could have told him about the slips he was making. On the other hand, it opens up avenues for misplays. On my main mafia board, a scum player just accidentally crossposted from the mafia-only board to the game thread. He not only outed himself, but cleared a pair of townies. Scum conceded shortly after that. ---
**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 16, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/142 "2010-07-16T00:39:16Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > On the other hand, it opens up avenues for misplays. On my main mafia board, a scum player just accidentally crossposted from the mafia-only board to the game thread. He not only outed himself, but cleared a pair of townies. Scum conceded shortly after that. Is your gameplay board very similar to the scum board? Are they both “proboards”? I can see myself doing that very easily if that is the case. ---
**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 16, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/143 "2010-07-16T03:06:41Z")
I don’t think that it’s anti-game at all for Scum to set up secret codes for Day-talk, but I still wouldn’t do it myself, not because I think it’s unfair, but because plans that are too complicated have a tendency to gang aft agley. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/144 "2010-07-16T13:23:06Z")
I wouldn’t do it because I’m lazy. Simple stuff like, “If I say X it means Y,” makes sense, but anything more complicated than that and I think it’s not worth the effort. In the first Conspiracy a witch was supposed to reveal an investigation result based on his first post to the Day. He died, posted while forgetting that he was supposed to be coding. It worked out in the end, but very much shows the perils of coded messages. ---
**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 17, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/145 "2010-07-17T16:14:16Z")
OK, so George did indeed exist, was indeed a Mason, and didn’t counterclaim **storyteller**. I still can’t fathom why **storyteller** claimed, nor why the Scum would have killed **LPN**. Even if they have an investigator, I can’t see why they would ever have bothered to investigate him. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/146 "2010-07-18T14:30:59Z")
Looks like I’m here again. 😃 ---
**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 18, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/147 "2010-07-18T15:59:27Z")
> [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](#): > > Looks like I’m here again. 😃 Hey, I’m just glad you got a chance to die “properly” so to speak. 🙂 ---
**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 18, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/148 "2010-07-18T18:54:24Z")
As opposed to, say, being only 90% decapitated? It looks like **Jimmy** is giving **Zeriel** some heat for being one of the last voters for **Red Skeezix** , though I’m not sure that’s justified. I suspect that, once **Red** claimed, everyone voted for him the next time they saw the thread (if they weren’t already, of course). The order of the votes would then just reflect the schedules of various folks, not Scumminess. Also, it looks like people aren’t really processing the fact that there are two and a half Scum dead already. See, for instance, **Meeko** ’s suspicion that there’s a Scum in the set of three people he named, and **Jimmy** ’s response to that. Now, at this point in a game it might ordinarily be true that any given set of three people is likely to have a Scum in it, but we probably only have one or two Scum left here. It’s what you might call a target-poor environment. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/149 "2010-07-20T00:47:02Z")
Welcome back, **Little Plastic Ninja**. Sorry you’re with us again so soon! I wonder if you were targeted by Scum because it worried them that you’d been out of the game and had the chance to read the forbidden thread before subbing back in. If so, they needn’t have worried, because I don’t think we’re doing any better than the in-game Townies at guessing who’s Scum! ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/150 "2010-07-20T13:39:08Z")
Still don’t know that I buy \*\*story \*\*being town. If he doesn’t die tonight, does that mean he isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/151 "2010-07-20T14:06:28Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Still don’t know that I buy \*\*story \*\*being town. If he doesn’t die tonight, does that mean he isn’t? If storyteller doesn’t die tonight, it means scum opted not to kill him. For storyteller to be scum would require massive amounts of bad play by town and a stupid (but lucky) play by scum: (1) Little Plastic Ninja, confirmed Town Mason, would have let a scummy storyteller skate by on a fake mason claim the previous day. Very bad move. (2) If storyteller is not town, then that means someone else IS a town mason. This mason (still alive) also allowed storyteller to false claim without a counter claim. (3) storyteller would have had to false claim mason for no reason at all. I see no plausible way for storyteller to be anything but what he says he is. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/152 "2010-07-20T16:20:56Z")
Ah - yep, I see. I wasn’t thinking about how we knew that \*\*LPN \*\*was confirmed, and what her actions meant. It’s all so clear now! ---
**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 20, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/153 "2010-07-20T17:07:27Z")
I’m really going to want an explanation from him after the game, though, because I can’t make sense of his actions with the knowledge that he’s Town. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/154 "2010-07-20T17:52:31Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is your gameplay board very similar to the scum board? Are they both “proboards”? > > I can see myself doing that very easily if that is the case. Nope. The main one is a Magic board that has a subforum for mafia. I think the scum were talking in google groups. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/155 "2010-07-20T17:59:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m really going to want an explanation from him after the game, though, because I can’t make sense of his actions with the knowledge that he’s Town. Possibly valid, but his actions make even less sense if he were scum. > [@JSexton](#): > > Nope. The main one is a Magic board that has a subforum for mafia. I think the scum were talking in google groups. Magic as in “Watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat?” Or Magic the card game thingy? Is that game still popular? I have a pile of cards from my college days. ETA: Strong mid-game doldrums on this one. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/156 "2010-07-20T18:05:23Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Nope. The main one is a Magic board that has a subforum for mafia. I think the scum were talking in google groups. Which board? (If you don’t mind my asking.) ---
**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 20, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/157 "2010-07-20T19:53:04Z")
Yeah, folks always say that the game gets easier once you nab the first Scum, but when they’re nabbed this early, there’s not much to go on from the vote record and other interactions. Between that and Scum’s lucky shooting, where we stand right now is probably pretty close to a vanilla game with 1 or 2 Scum and 9 or 10 Townies. If it’s one Scum left, then this game is likely to be a case of circular firing squad until they (probably) eventually get lucky, since most non-random, non-power Scum-hunting depends on interactions between Scum. If it’s two Scum left, then Town is actually in pretty bad shape: 8 Town to 2 Scum is very close to 50-50, but 9 Town to 2 Scum is significantly worse for Town. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/158 "2010-07-20T22:38:12Z")
I want to strangle whoever did that. If that was a Town Vig they’re an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/159 "2010-07-20T22:41:01Z")
I was still feeling a bit skeptical about **story** ’s claim, just because I can’t understand what his motives might be and we’ve already had one weird and seemingly pointless false claim by Scum. But reading back over the thread (page 9), it looks like **LPN** did everything she could to support him without revealing her own identity. So **story** is pretty much confirmed…and will thus likely be killed off tonight or some night soon. ETA: Posted before reading the other thread. Removed now-irrelevant remarks about **Meeko** likely being lynched. ---
**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 20, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719/160 "2010-07-20T22:56:49Z")
Whoops, I miscounted for my previous post (was using the player list that mistakenly left **tilt** on it). Assuming two Scum, Town _was_ in the 50-50 situation before that Day-kill, but now they’re worse off: Having an odd number of players hurts Town. And I really don’t understand the motivation of whomever just did that. If they were Scum (though I think the consensus is that Scum getting a Day-kill is unfair), then they should have picked anyone but **Meeko** , who was headed for the lynch anyway, and they should also have saved it for later in the day, when it’d be more confusing for Town. On the other hand, if the Day-killer were Town, why the heck didn’t they use that power on **Red Skeezix**? If you have a Day-kill power (even if it’s one-use, or has some cost associated with it) and someone claims serial killer, that’s a no-brainer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forbidden-forest-unspoiled-harry-potter-mafia-discussion/544719.md?page=9)