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TL;DR

Day Phase: Everyone talks on the boards about who to lynch/kill
Night Phase: Werewolves eat a villager
Repeat until one side is left.

To the point
The village consists of up to 17 villagers. The number of players determines how many werewolves are involved in the game, with the remainder being assigned a different role.


The only way the villagers decide on who to kill is by the posts in the thread. Someone seem like a douche? Kill 'em. Someone seem a little too smug? Kill 'em. Oh, not talking? Probably the werewolf, kill 'em. We vote once per day (at your convenience), on who to kill, in the forum.

Unless you have one of the special roles, that's it. Simple as that.

Villagers try to find out who the werewolves are and lynch them all.
Werewolves try to avoid detection and eat all of the villagers before they get lynched.








Here's how it works in detail:

1.1 What is Werewolf?

There are two basic principles to the game:

1) Two teams, uninformed majority vs informed minority, try to eliminate each other by using two ways of killing off players: lynching and nightkilling.
2) The game alternates between two phases: days for lynches and nights for nightkilling.

The standard format uses a 24 hour basis for it's day/night cycle, with dusk (the lynch) taking place at the same time every day, and dawn (the night kill) taking place a short amount of time after. Standard games typically do not function on the weekend or American holidays.



For the purpose of deciding which team wins the game the roles in each (basic) game can be best divided into 3 main categories: Villagers, Werewolves, and SPECIAL roles.

The standard victory conditions in a game are these:

Villagers win when all the Werewolves are eliminated.

Werewolves win when all Villagers are eliminated.

It should also be noted that Players may win even if they are eliminated; if their team wins, all eliminated players on that team also win.


1.2 Lynches

During the day phase of a game, every player votes on other players. These votes can be changed as often as a player wants during the day. The player that has received the most votes at dusk (which is the name for the deadline for submitting votes and marks the transition from the day phase to the night phase) will be eliminated and cannot post any messages in the game thread after that point.

Voting is done by making a post in the thread that has the username of the player you want to vote for in brackets and bolded, like this: [vote PeteVasi].


During the day phase players are free (and encouraged) to strategize in the thread and post explanations for their votes.

Obviously the Villagers (uninformed majority) will try to lynch a Werewolf during the day, while the Werewolves (informed minority) try to prevent this. This will result in a discussion based on truths, half-truths and lies combined with strategically placed votes. The key is to find out who is telling the truth and who is lying.

In case the lynch vote ends in a tie, a tiebreaker is used to decide who gets lynched. In most games the tiebreaker is given at the start of the game and will usually be LHLV. LHLV stands for Longest Held Last Vote. This means that if 2 or more people tie in number of votes, all votes will be disregarded except for the last vote cast on each of the players tying. Of those votes the one that was cast first in chronological order is the vote that decides the tie. Voting tallies will be kept during each day phase of a game.



1.3 Nightkills

During the night phases of a game, the Werewolves decide together which of the players they want to kill. The target will be announced at Dawn (the start of the next day phase) and this player cannot post any messages in the game thread after that point.

This day-night cycle will continue until one of the victory conditions is met.


1.4 Communications

In a standard game of Werewolf, Villagers can only communicate in the public thread. Werewolves, in addition to the game thread, will have a secret chatroom (Wolfchat in Discord) in which they can discuss their strategy and who they want to kill during the night phase.

You can PM the moderator questions (discord or here) that they do not want to ask in the public thread. This chatroom is also used to submit orders for those who have them.

It is strictly forbidden for players to contact other players outside of the public thread or the above mentioned chatroom for Werewolves regarding the exchange of information vital to the game in progress. Exceptions to this rule are possible (in case of mason roles) but will be explicitly explained in the rules post for a specific game.

Basically, this is all there is to playing Werewolf. However, learning how to play it well will take some time and lots of experience. There are many different strategies found in Werewolf as well as different types of play. A player could, for instance, focus on analyzing other players' past votes or instead they may play the game entirely based on gut feeling or a combination of the two. Every type of role will also demand a playing style that differs from the next.


1.5 Moderation

A game of werewolf can only function with the help of a moderator. The moderator is a non-player who knows all the roles and carries out the orders that players give during the game. The moderator is also in charge of dawn and dusk and will post the results of the lynches and nightkills in the thread. Usually the moderator is also the one who designed the role set and/or the theme for the game. Some of the more basic games are sometimes moderated through a script instead of a human. These games are called auto-mods. It should be noted that since there is no human moderator present in these games, auto-mods are not optimally suited for new players.


3 - Werewolf Etiquette

We do not have a set list of etiquette rules that one should always follow. We expect every player to have a good sense of do's and don'ts and they do not differ from the next available forum. We also assume that most players are of age and able to handle grown discussions.

Aside from that, a few things are important. Sportsmanship and believing in fair play are essential. Breaking the letter or spirit of a rule will not be appreciated. If you are in doubt, just ask your moderator.

Participation is key. If you are not able to check into a game that you are signed up for then you might want to reconsider joining it. A good minimum rule of thumb is that you should at least be able to post once each day during a game. But more participation makes for a better game. Remember that moderators and players put time and effort into their games and a lack of participation affects everyone involved.
Obviously, real life always trumps online games and if, for any reason, you aren’t able to play anymore, PM the moderator.




4 - Frequently Asked Questions

Can I edit a post?

Players are discouraged from editing posts made during a game for reasons of fairplay. If you do think you need to edit a post, make sure that you state the reason for the edit at the bottom of your post. Once Cassy has scanned your original post, any edits you make after that will not show up when browsing the post on the Cassy game page. Most importantly, a vote that was cast in a post that was edited will not be valid and will therefore not be tallied by Cassy.


What does nightfall mean?

When you nightfall, your vote you lock your current vote for the day. Nightfalling your vote is usually only done when the majority of the players have agreed on who needs to be lynched that day and it is highly unlikely that new information will surface that will change the opinion of players. If a majority of the players nightfalls their vote in such a way that the remaining players cannot change the outcome of the lynch anymore, the moderator may call dusk early. To nightfall your vote post [Vote Nightfall] in the thread. Nightfalling is irreversible. Be aware that nightfalling prematurely may be frowned upon by other players and could therefore make your actions suspect.



What does FUD mean?

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. FUD is a general term for the lies and misinformation spread by the Werewolf team in an effort to cause the Villagers team to make mistakes. In recent years the term has evolved into a verb, to fud, that sees use in almost every game of Werewolf played on this forum. Fudding is usually the domain of the Werewolves in a game, since spreading lies and misinformation can essentially come back to haunt a player. Sometimes bold wolves will also fud the village instead of trying to fly under the radar or look as innocent as possible, and on occasion players on the Villagers team also feel the need to resort to fudding.



See the next post for SPECIAL ROLES and player distribution.

Props to Durden on the rules

Special Roles:

Jester - Team Neutral. The Jester's role is to get himself LYNCHED! If the Jester successfully gets himself lynched, he can kill anyone who voted for him that night!

Villagers don't want to lynch the Jester because they might be killed.
Werewolves don't want to eat the Jester because they waste a 2nd killing (if the Jester is eaten, they don't get that 2nd kill), and they themselves could be his target.

Jesters ONLY win when they are hung. They are not part of the villagers or werewolves team.


Turncoat - The Turncoat is working for the Werewolves! But... the Werewolves don't know who the Turncoat is, while the Turncoat knows who the Werewolves are. Turncoat will NOT be included in the Werewolves chat, and Turncoat CANNOT PM WEREWOLVES. Communication must be public like other roles.

Turncoat wins if the Werewolves win. If the Werewolves lose, so does the Turncoat.

The Doctor - Also a villager, the Doctor has the ability to heal themselves or another villager when called awake by the Moderator during the night. Should they heal themselves, then will be safe from being killed by the werewolves, or should they want to prove themselves the Doctor or fear the death of a fellow villager, can opt to heal them instead. Again, the strategy here is up to you. The Dr. can only heal himself once, and can can't protect someone on consecutive nights (but can protect people more than once per game). The Doctor may not save himself or anyone else from a hanging, only werewolf attacks.

If the Doctor saves someone, the moderator will make it known that a player was protected by the Doctor.

Hunter - Also a villager. Once per game at night, the hunter may kill someone by PMing the Moderator. They may choose not to kill anyone during a particular night by using pass in PM instead (or take no action). It is generally not recommended for the hunter to use their power on the first night of the game, as they may accidentally kill an important role such as the doctor. By waiting for information during the daytime, they can make a more informed decision on a subsequent night. The Hunter is the only player who can win in a 1 vs. 1 situation with a werewolf. Should the game come down to 2 players, the Hunter and the last werewolf, the villagers will emerge victorious.

Mayor - Also a villager. Once per game the Mayor may veto the people's decision. In this case, no one gets hung. If the mayor protects someone other than himself, his identity will remain a secret. If the mayor protects himself, his identity will be made public. This is to encourage the mayor to use his vote to try saving another villager and find a werewolf, a noble act- rather than a self preservation, a selfish act.

Knight - The Knight is a tough son of a bitch, and on the side of the villagers. It takes 2 lynchings, 2 werewolf attacks, or one of each to kill this badass.

Executioner - The Executioner is a vengeful man. His entire existence revolves around getting his target lynched. An executioner wins if he succeeds in getting his target lynched. If the executioner's target is eaten by werewolves, he turns into a regular villager now that his target is dead.

Seer - The Seer is a powerful ally to have. Once per NIGHT the seer can target a player and discern their role. However, the Seer has to be careful and not let the werewolves find out, or they'll be a sure-fire target! Seers win if the villagers win.

Lookout - The Lookout loves to find out where people are going. Once per night, the lookout can watch and see where a player goes. If they see a normal villager, they don't go anywhere and no information in gained. But, if they see the doctor visit a patient, or a wolf go to make a kill, they'll know about it! (The seer cannot be 'spied on' as he simply has a vision and doesn't travel elsewhere)

Escort - The Escort is of the night, and lives to... distract people. Once per night, the Escort may choose to distract someone. If that person has a role, they will not be able to perform their job for the evening. Distract the doctor, he doesn't visit his patient. Distract the alpha wolf, there is no kill! (The seer cannot be distracted as he simply has a vision) The escort may NOT role-block the same person on consecutive nights.


Alpha Wolf - The Alpha wolf is the wolf who does the dirty job of killing. While all of the wolves still agree on who to kill, it is the Alpha wolf that carries out the job. If the Alpha wolf is hung or killed in some other manner, a new Alpha wolf will be chosen at random from the surviving werewolves.




Player Distribution

This will generally be the "chart" used to explain the number of werewolves per villagers. REMEMBER: ALL SPECIAL ROLES COUNT AS VILLAGERS. Even the Turncoat.


[Number of players - number of werewolves in the game]
0 - 6 players : 1 werewolf
7 - 10 players: 2 werewolves
11 - 15 players: 3 werewolves
16+ players: 4 werewolves