Rogue OM Squad/New Player Help

Rogue OM Squad, or ROMS as it is known in short, is a forum role-playing game, based on the popular game Mafia. For a brief overview of the game, see the link above. For ROMS history, click here.

For new players, ROMS can be overwhelming. The purpose of this page is to compile a few tips for getting started and succeeding at the game, as well as to provide a more detailed guide to the conventions and vocabulary of the game.

The Systems of Voting
While lynches take place in all games, the exact criteria necessary to lynch a player may vary from game to game. Some of the most common methods are:
 * The straight lynch, or 50% rule.
 * The 75% rule. This rule was added from ROMS IV onwards.
 * The clear leader system.

If no lynch takes place by the deadline, the town forfeits the opportunity to lynch, and the ban period will begin.

50% rule
If, at any point, a player has received more votes than half of the number of remaining players (the 50% quota), that player is immediately lynched.

Examples: If there are 21 players, the 50% quota is 11, as 10 is less than 50% of 21. If there are 14 players left, the 50% quota is 8, and not 7, because 7 is not more than 50% of 14.

75% rule
If, at any point, 75% or more of the votes have been cast, and one player is leading by two or more votes (often called being the clear leader) that person is immediately lynched.

Example: If there are 8 people left, the 50% quota is 5, and the 75% quota is 6.

Clear Leader
When the fixed lynch deadline arrives, any player who is two or more votes ahead of the next leading candidate is lynched. If no player is ahead by a margin of two or more votes, the lynch is considered to have been missed. Because this system remainds rigid regardless of the number of players remaining, a game with two townies and one rogue left alive will lead to a rogue victory, as the rogue can vote for any other player to prevent a lynch from going through.

Proxies
If a player will not be around for a deadline or an extended period of time, they can proxy their vote to another player, enabling that player to use their vote for them. Proxies are often left in blue font and can be left to one player or to an ordered list of players (in case the first one cannot or will not take it). Proxies are often left with instructions, such as "only change my vote if necessary to secure a lynch", or "do not vote for Player X". There is no official rule requiring the player who holds the proxy to follow these instructions, but most players honor the requests out of politeness.

Activity and Inactivity
ROMS is at its core a way to have fun, but a certain amount of dedication is necessary to keep the game moving at a reasonable pace. By signing up, you are agreeing to post on a regular basis. A rule of thumb is that if you don't have at least half an hour a day to read the thread, then you may want to reconsider playing. Some players try to set aside a block of time dedicated to reading the thread each day, then check in other times as they can. There's no magic number of posts or words you must contribute, but because inactivity can be frustrating for fellow players (if you don't post, nobody can form an opinion about your status, and you can't get your own ideas across to help your team), it's important to make sure you can devote a reasonable amount of time to the game.

Inactivity Rules
Most games will include a clause stating that any player who does not post in the game thread for a certain number of days will be removed from the game.

Resigning
If you discover after the game begins that you simply don't have time to play or don't want to, it's totally fine to resign. You may want to check if the game has any replacements lined up, but ultimately, the goal is for you to have fun: it shouldn't feel like work. And nobody will hold it against you if unexpected circumstances come up in real life.

Other Useful Terms
Argemone Booch: To confuse the terms "ban" and "lynch", using one where the other is intended. First and most frequently performed by Argemone (ROMSIV Coconut). The theory is that Rogues are always focused on who to ban, whereas Innocents are focused on who to lynch. The misuse of the term is therefore an indicator of the player's true mental focus. In recent games, the validity of this as an actual rogue tell has come into question. While some players may make the Booch frequently as a rogue and less often as an innocent, others may mix up ban and lynch often, sometimes, or not at all completely regardless of status.

Ban: What the rogues do each round to eliminate someone, usually an innocent.

Bandwagon: A sudden shift towards lynching a particular player; the one who leads the bandwagon encourages others to vote the person, while bandwagoners are those who may be seen as sheeping the leader.

Bumblebee: One who is frequently away for real life activities, and assigns a proxy.

Bunny: See confirmed innocent.

Confirmed Innocent (CI): A player who, through roles such as the Password Stealer, has been definitively confirmed as a townie.

Goats: An inside joke within the ROMS community about Lotsofgoats where people will purposefully interrupt their thought process by just saying "Goats."

Fluff: Posts that are not directly related to game or game play. Often misused when a player posts frequently, with smaller amounts to contribute in each post.



Jedi Mind Trick: A common Rogue "tell" in which the Rogue attempts to generate an aura of innocence either by stating that they are innocent, or by asking questions that only the Rogues know the answers to (i.e., "These are not the Rogues you're looking for").

Kinocha move: To post sketchy or unsupported arguments or votes, promising to explain or flesh them out later and never actually doing so. A Rogue tell. First use.

Lyaka Move: See wolf.

Lyaka Novella: A very long post consisting of multiple arguments. Frequently very complex and perceived as meaty. Sometimes used as a Rogue tactic (see Lyaka in ROMSV Wild Mango) to throw so much information at the town that players miss underlying logical inconsistencies. First use.

Lynch/Keelhaul/Vote: The declaration of desire for (or actuality of) a particular player to be removed from the game by their peers. Votes should be in bold, red font so that the moderator can count them easily.

Meat: A term coined to describe 'content', where a player posts meaningful, serious discussion.

Moderator/Mod: The person or people who runs the game.

Mod-ban: Being removed from the game by the decree of the moderator, mostly under the terms of a special role or an inactivity clause.

Monkey/Wikimonkey: One who edits the wiki. Originally seen as a sign of innocent devotion to the game, then as a Helpful Rogue tell. The current consensus is that wikimonkeying is irrelevant to one's status.

Padding: Filling up posts by quoting others, or citing the YPPedia, without adding opinion or analysis to it. This term is often misinterpreted as quoting or citing to a large degree.

Parrot: One who repeats the arguments of others, usually somewhat disguised or remixed in an attempt to make them seem newer. Carries an implication of FoS or FoH, as Rogues frequently parrot Innocents to avoid detection, and Innocents who are parrots are considered to be deadweight to the town. See sheep.

Prosperity move: Acting over-defensively as a rogue. Often involves an extreme defense against the slightest accusation, often unwarranted by the actual level of FOS. The over-the-top reaction may be offensive, derisive, or retaliatory, and may contain personal attacks in lieu of actually responding to the accusation. Explanation of use

Puppy: One who blindly follows along with a specific other individual, accepting all of their arguments and mimicking their votes. Distinct from a parrot in that a parrot will copy some things from many while a puppy copies everything from one.

Railroading: Pushing through a lynch on someone using sheer force of will and quantity of arguments.

Roles: Some games assign secret roles to players; which are in conjunction with their status as townie or rogue. Roles may give a secret bonus, a selfless advantage, or even be a constant menace. See below for a list of some frequently used roles.

Sheep (or Sheeping): Voting, often for the sake of securing a lynch, without having independent reasoning. Also, following the arguments of others. See bandwagon, parrot.

Watch List: People who you think are behaving oddly, but on whom you don't have a strong enough suspicion to place FoS.

Wiki-monkey: See monkey. (Sea monkey!)

Wolf: One who has been accepted as a confirmed innocent but is in actuality a Rogue. Alternate form of "wolf in the bunnyfield".

Most Common Roles
Roles are special powers or responsibilities assigned to individual players to provide a unique twist to standard ROMS games. Moderators are continually inventing new roles and modifying old ones, but this section explains some of the most frequently used ones.

The Dead Thread
The Dead Thread (or DT-also known as the Isle of Limes) is a place for dead (lynched, banned, inactive, or watching) players to gather and talk about the game in progress. Information is often revealed in the DT in advance of its being known to the thread. For this reason, the primary rule governing the DT is the rule of silence, expressed as "What's said in the Dead Thread stays in the Dead Thread".

Access to the DT is controlled via Usergroups while the game is still active. People wishing to enter apply for access. They must then be approved by one of the administrators (Lyaka or Flutie) or the Usergroup's moderator (the current moderator of the active ROMS game). Traditionally, inactive players and play-at-home players are permitted access.

The subforums also include previous Dead Threads from ROMSIV to the present (locked but open for reading), a Suggestions Box, a place for Announcements and Polls, and a Moderator Discussion subforum (visible to current Moderators and Administrators only).

The Scheduling and Game Types thread in the General Discussion section is used to determine who wishes to moderate the next game and when it will be played.

Intermissions/The Pip Move
Occasionally, people get confused, and for a brief moment, think that the Rogue OM Squad is a fun game to take moderately seriously, rather than AN UTMOST IMPERATIVE MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. As such, whenever the game gets too hostile, boring, or when a player just feels like it, they can post a fun link or picture to lighten the atmosphere.

Advice

 * 1) This is roleplaying: do not take anything personally. The idea of the game is to catch the bad guys, and people will jump on any oddity or inconsistency they believe they see. Defending yourself is ok, but don't be too agressive. A tip: Pretend you are Mr. Spock and read everything aloud as unemotionally as you can.
 * 2) Some people are given to very long posts. Just because they are doesn't mean you have to be. Post in a manner you are comfortable with, though try to be intelligible.
 * 3) Always remember, we all believe that what happens in ROMS, stays here. We can snark at each other all we want, wave our hands around, call each other out, create drama, and bluff and lie, but it stays in the thread. Once it's over, we're all friends, and many of us have felt like we have become quite close to a lot of players we would not have ever met otherwise. We include new players in this feeling of family.
 * 4) Old-timer players have dissected and analyzed patterns in posting styles, and typical rogue tells. If someone points out a 'classic' rogue tell, don't take it to heart, whether you are a rogue or an innocent. It doesn't mean that anyone thinks you are stupid for doing something so obvious, but just that they are trying to sort out who is the bad guys, and past mistakes are all we have to go on sometimes.
 * 5) When posting, try to avoid chatspeak. We have players from all over the world, so try to be courteous and write like you are turning in a term paper. Role playing speech (Elmynster is the best example of this in ROMS V and V.V) seems to be acceptable to the majority of players, within moderation. If people can't understand you (especially those with English as a second language), they will skip or skim your posts and anything useful you have to say will be lost.
 * 6) Post your thoughts. If we don't know what you are thinking, we can't use that information to catch the bad guys. Don't be too shy to give an FoS on someone you think needs one. If you don't want to FoS right out of the gate, then at least mention you want them on your watchlist and WHY. It usually takes a little from everyone, put together, to catch a rogue. The more you post, the more the rogues have to post, and the more chance they slip up.
 * 7) Don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't understand something. Some may think it's a ploy to make them believe you are innocent, but there is no record of anyone being voted for JUST for asking.
 * 8) Re-read everything before posting. Become friends with the "preview" button. Be sure to check your main points. Often lines of reasoning can be a bit convoluted, and might be misinterpreted if not clear. And since editing is frowned upon in ROMS, you want to make sure you're saying what you mean to.

A Final Reminder...
Once again, HAVE FUN. Even with the paranoia, suspicions, lies and false trails, it's the fun that brings us back time after time.