Rogue OM Squad

Rogue OM Squad, or ROMS as it is known in short, is a forum role-playing game, based on the popular game Mafia.

It consists of a town of around 30 players (although this number varies per game). Most of these players are innocent. However, a select group of them are the Rogue OMs, or Rogues for short. The Rogues know each others' identities, while each innocent knows only their own status. The innocent townspeople must discover and lynch all the Rogues, whereas the Rogues are trying to lynch or ban all of the innocents.

Gameplay
Each round consists of a lynching period (Day) and a banning period (Night), the length of which vary. In some games, no player posting is permitted during the Night.

During each lynching period, all players have the opportunity to vote for someone who they think is a Rogue. Players comb each others' posts and voting patterns for evidence to decide whom they are most suspicious of and would like to lynch. The rogues, however, attempt to mislead the town and lynch innocents while protecting their own from suspicion. They want to give the appearance of being helpful townies. Exact voting rules depend on the game, but generally whoever has received the most votes at the end of a specified period is considered lynched, and their status as innocent or rogue is revealed (along with any roles).

Once the lynching period is over, the banning period begins. One Rogue, either through an anonymous rogue account or through the game's moderator, announces the name of the player who is banned. The banned player has no further participation in the game, and the next round begins with another lynching period.

If at any time the number of innocent players is equal to the number of Rogues, the game ends in a rogue victory. If all of the rogues eliminated, then the game ends in a town victory.

Death Scenes and Game Over
During the game, lynched players reveal their status in a death scene immediately after they are voted out. Banned players may also post a death scene, but they may not reveal their status. Lynched and Banned players can congregate in the ROMS Dead Thread after their deaths to discuss the ongoing game and root for their team.

After the game, surviving members of the winning side get to post a victory or survival scene, in which they do not die, and can round off the story how they see fit. In addition, if the rogue team set up their own forum to communicate during the game, they will general open it for the public to peruse.

Other Notes
The games are well-known for paranoia. Sometimes, in the early rounds, lynching periods resemble a witch trial, in which a decision is made based on very little, or very insignificant, evidence.

Most games last between a few weeks and a few months. A naming convention is in the process of evolving where decimal-numbered games are humorous, offbeat, or experimental, while whole-numbered games are more straightforward in nature.

For a more in-depth look at the culture and mechanics of ROMS, visit the New Player's Guide to ROMS.

For information about past games and the evolution of ROMS, check out Rogue OM Squad History.

To view a list of upcoming games, see the Rogue OM Squad Game Queue.