Secret Gandalf--A Walk Into Mordor

The game can be played with anywhere from 5-10 players. Rules/logistics are in the “Spoiler” below (click the triangle to the side). And apparently, only 10 people can be “notified” with the @ feature.

Spoiler
**The Basics**

The setting is Fourth Age Middle Earth. There are two teams, the Hobbits and the Orcs. One of the Hobbits will actually be Secret Gandalf, which will be explained below. The teams will be enumerated as follows:

5 players: 3O, 1H+G
6 players: 4O, 1H+G
7 players: 4O, 2H+G
8 players: 5O, 2H+G
9 players: 5O, 3H+G
10 players, 6O, 3H+G

*When there are an even number of players, the One Ring Rule (to be explained below) will be in effect.

The Hobbits win if 6 rings are found, or if Gandalf is elected as the Second Counselor after 3 rings are found. The Orcs win if 5 ring wraiths are found, or if Gandalf is assassinated.

One Ring Rule:
With an even number of players, a tie vote is considered a fail UNLESS three (or more) rings have been found. In this case, if Gandalf is the nominated Second Counselor, a tie vote is considered a passed Council and the Hobbits win.

**Before the Game**

You will be assigned one of three roles: Orc, Hobbit, or Gandalf. If you are an Orc, that will be all that you know. If you are a Hobbit, you will be told who else is a Hobbit as well as who is Gandalf. If you are Gandalf, unless there are only 5-6 players, you will NOT know who are the Hobbits. In the 5-6 player situation, Gandalf will know who is the Hobbit.

You will be assigned a seat number as well. Seat 1 will be the first Saruman, and Saruman will be passed down the list one at a time. It will go back to seat 1 if it gets to the bottom of the list and the game isn’t over yet.

**The Ring Deck**

The ring deck will have 6 ring-wraiths and 11 rings at the start of the game. Once there are fewer than 3 cards remaining in the deck, they are immediately placed with the other discarded cards and a new deck is formed and shuffled. (Suggested randomization of at least 6 times to “shuffle” the electronic deck.)

**Phases of the Game**

There are three phases of the game: The Election, The Search, and the Sorcerer’s Power session.

1. The Election

Summary

Whoever is Saruman may choose whom to nominate as the Second Counsellor. The floor is open for discussion among all players about whom to nominate. Once Saruman decides who they want to nominate, they should post in the thread, in bold, I nominate ______.

Once that is posted, all players should vote ‘Aye’ (yes) or ‘Neigh’ (no) via PM to me. I will publicly post each players’ vote after all votes are received. If a majority of votes are ‘Aye’, then the election passes and we will move on to the Search. If it fails (it does fail on a tie vote, except for the One Ring Rule), then the next player becomes Saruman and another nomination and election happens. If there are 3 consecutive elections with no successful Council formed, then the top card of the ring deck will be found without any further input from the players.

Any player that was in the prior Council is not eligible to be the next Second Counsellor. If there are 5 or fewer players remaining, then only the last Second Counsellor is ineligible.

2. The Search

Summary

Once all the votes are in, I will open the Search by posting in the thread. Once the Search has started, Saruman and the Second Counsellor MAY NOT post in the thread until I have closed Search by announcing the result . Other players may continue to have discussions.

Once the Search has started, I will PM Saruman the top three cards of the ring deck. Saruman will choose 1 to discard by reply to me only in PM. I will then PM the two remaining cards to the Second Counsellor, who will choose which one to Find. The Second Counsellor will PM me their choice, and I will close the Search in the thread by announcing if a ring-wraith or a ring was found. If a ring was found, we will then have the Sorcerer’s Power phase, if necessary.

3. The Sorcerer’s Power

Summary

When a ring is found, Saruman becomes more powerful. The CURRENT Saruman (that is, the one that just found the ring) may get to use a sorcerer’s power, as listed below.

5-6 players:
1st ring: No sorcerer’s power;
2nd ring: Search Foresight
3rd ring: Saruman will call a Special Election, Gandalf may now win by being elected the Second Counsellor
4th ring: Choice of Search Foresight or Assassinate a player.
5th ring: Whichever power was not used after the 4th ring was found. Veto power unlocked.

7-8 players:
1st ring: No sorcerer’s power.
2nd ring: Choice of Search Foresight or use the Palantír to investigate one player.
3rd ring: Saruman will call a Special Election, Gandalf may now win by being elected Second Counsellor
4th ring: Choice of using the Palantír or Assassinate one player.
5th ring: Choice of Search Foresight or Assassinate one player. Veto power unlocked.

9-10 players:
1st ring: Choice of Search Foresight or use the Palantír to investigate one player.
2nd ring: Whichever power was not used after the 1st ring was found.
3rd ring: Saruman will call a Special Election, Gandalf may now win by being elected Second Counsellor
4th ring: Choice of using the Palantír or Assassinate one player.
5th ring: Choice of Search Foresight or Assassinate one player. Veto power unlocked.

Explanations of Powers:
Search Foresight: Saruman will be told via PM what the next three cards in the ring deck are, including their order.

Palantír: Saruman should publicly post in the thread, in bold, I investigate _______. I will reply via PM if the player is an Orc or a Hobbit. If the investigated player is Gandalf, you will only be told that they are a Hobbit.

Special Election: Saruman selects his/her successor by posting in the thread, in bold, I choose ________ to be my successor. After that single election, Saruman becomes who it would have been otherwise and the game continues on normally.

Assassination: Saruman should publicly post in the thread, in bold, I assassinate ________. The assassinated player should have no further part in the discussion (they’re afforded a death scene). Assassinated players do not have their loyalty revealed unless they are Gandalf in which case the Orcs have won.

People may discuss openly in the thread about the best use of these powers, but ultimately, once Saruman posts the bold statement, it can not be taken back.

Veto Power: Here, Saruman and the Second Counsellor have the opportunity to veto the agenda. If both choose to veto, then all 3 cards are discarded and we move on to the next Saruman. The failed election counter does go up by 1 as well, bring it closer to finding the next item in the ring deck.

After the Sorcerer’s Power phase, if the game is not won, we go to the next election phase with the next Saruman in power.

ALL GAME COMMUNICATION, UNLESS STATED IN THE RULES ABOVE, SHOULD BE IN THIS THREAD. THERE SHOULD BE NO GAME RELATED PM BETWEEN PLAYERS.

Players signed up

  1. IPD
  2. Mountainhawk
  3. BruteForce
  4. J0EBL0W
  5. R_Daneel_Olivaw
  6. YankeeTripper
  7. MayanActuary
  8. John.S.Mill
  9. A_Student

Hecklers

  1. NerdAlert
  2. Kenny
  3. Doctor_Who
Order Player ID
1 IPD IPD
2 Mountainhawk Mh
3 BruteForce BF
4 J0EBL0W JB
5 R_Daneel_Olivaw RDO
6 YankeeTripper YT
7 MayanActuary MA
8 John.S.Mill JSM
9 A_Student AS
Wraiths Found: 4
Rings Found: 5
Failed Election Counter: 0
. . . . . 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Rnd Elect Saur 2nd R/W IPD Mh BF JB RDO YT MA JSM AS
01 01 01 07 W A A A A A A A A A
02 01 02 08 R A A A A A A A A A
03 01 03 09 R N A A A A A A N A
04 01 04 06 W N A A A A A A A A
05 01 05 08 W A A N N A A A A N
06 01 06 09 R N A A A A A A A A
07 01 05 08 R N N A N A A A A A
08 01 07 01 N N A N N N A A A
08 02 08 02 N A N N A A N A N
08 03 09 01 R A A A A N A A A A
09 01 01 03 W A A A A A N A N N
Sorcerer’s Power Player Using the Power Claimed Result
Palantír BruteForce Mountainhawk Orc
Foresight BruteForce RRW
Call Special Election YankeeTripper R_Daneel_Olivaw
Palantír Mountainhawk R_Daneel_Olivaw Orc
Foresight A_Student RWR

If there are changes needed, please post in the Interest thread

TIA!

Also note that I’ll edit the OP with the player order once I have that established.

@BruteForce: last chance to join in!

Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!

Unless I am Gandalf or on his team.

I knew it was gonna be wizard themed. Take your Gandolfs and Voldemorts while this liberal goes hiking to mordor trying to avoid gollum and the other bad guys.

If it’s not too late and you need 1 more I can play.

Keep an eye on this one…

eye sea what u did there

I’m very confused as to which side I should belong to. Because H = G? So confusing!!!

Maybe V_A recent read this book https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/read-the-lord-of-the-rings-from-mordors-point-of-view

Here, Gandalf is a warmonger, the elves are bent on turning Middle-earth into a carbon copy of the Gray Havens, and Aragorn is a devious villain who is ultimately controlled by his Lady Macbeth of a wife, Arwen.

My reporting labors over, I shall join your quest to smite the foe. (exactly who that is TBD. :smiley: )

Hey, at least the trains ran on time. (miss the tomato emoji here)

Wow, just read the rules. You put a lot of time into this!

Also, I’m pretty sure if Gandolf were hiding with a bunch of hobbits I’d be able to spot him.

But…I don’t want to be an orc…

Does SM even work? He put together the rules in like 2 days

Ah I didn’t even read the rules yet. So they are different than normal huh?

Casts banishing spell on YT (for suggesting this theme)

I suggest that Search Foresight be renamed Palantír

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