Madness Philosophy

This is GrayPockets's philosophy for utilizing a player being "mad".

General Philosophy

• General storytelling priorities take precedence in any decision; this includes madness-related decisions.
  1. Fun
  2. Interesting
  3. Balanced

Breaking Madness

• Madness comes in two flavors:
  • Active Madness: Be mad about something.
    • This includes the Pixie, Actor, Harpy, Cerenovus, Swiper, and Pika-Pika.
    • The mad player must actively engage members of the town or they have broken madness.
  • Passive Madness: Don't be mad about something.
    • This includes Her Majesty and the Mutant.
    • It is acceptable for a player engaging in passive madness to be quiet most of the time.
• A player not actively denying they are mad in response to another player accusing them of such is breaking madness.
  • e.g. The Artist has been selected by the Cerenovus. The Savant suggests that the Artist is "Cere-Mad"; the Artist must deny it or break madness.
  • e.g. The Savant says the Mutant might be the Sweetheart. The Mutant doesn't say anything, so has broken madness.
• A player who is mad and dropping hints about their madness is breaking madness.
  • e.g. The Flowergirl has been selected by the Cerenovus. the Flowergirl tells the Town Crier that they think the Cerenovus is in play, so has broken madness.
  • e.g. The Seamstress has been selected by the Cerenovus as the "Flowergirl". The Seamstress announces they are a Flowergirl to the town, but they got a number last night instead of a Yes/No. They have broken madness by suggesting game mechanics that don't work as a hint.

Penalizing Madness

• Never cause a madness penalty after the phase when the madness was broken.
  • Killing a Mutant in final 5 when they broke it on Day 1 is very punishing and unfun for the Mutant.
  • e.g. If a Mutant breaks their madness at night, either execute them before the night is over or that Storyteller opportunity has past.
• Madness caused by an Outsider ability helps the other team, just like any Outsider ability: good Outsider abilities help the evil team, and evil Outsider abilities help the good team.
  • If declaring a madness break would go against that, choose not to do so.
  • e.g. If a Mutant is on the block and breaks their madness on purpose, don't execute them immediately, as that would confirm they are the Mutant, which is helpful to the good team.
• Breaking madness should reward the team of the character the madness is coming from.
  • e.g. Her Majesty is in play. The Witch suggests Her Majesty is in play; the Witch is executed by the Storyteller.
  • e.g. The two good players next to Her Majesty accidentally suggest that Her Majesty is between them. The Storyteller does nothing.
• If the player causing madness breaks their own madness on purpose, honor their request by performing the penalty unless it would mechanically win the game for their team.
  • e.g. Her Majesty says "I am Her Majesty." The Storyteller executes them.
  • e.g. The Cerenovus has selected themself to be mad as the Mathematician when only 3 players are alive. The Cerenovus says "I am the Cerenovus". The Storyteller does not execute them.
  • e.g. The Mutant says "I am the Mutant." The Storyteller decides not to execute them because they are an Outsider; however, the Storyteller might execute them later that day.
• On a script where madness is the main theme, madness breaks should be penalized more often.
  • Sects & Violets is not a madness-themed script, rather it's about misinformation.
  • Elven Court is a madness-themed script.