TWG Guide for Intermediate/Advanced players:

[Yugi]

Hi.

I've been playing TWG for about two years now (my first game, snakes on a plane, was early September 2011), and I'd say that I know my way around it by now. While I've had my ups and downs (depending on how I feel about TWG at the current moment), I've been said to be a consistently average-good player (and I've been said to be a good candidate for TWC wink wink mods), so I think I have a good idea on what's good play as a role and bad play as a role.

I've decided to make this guide mostly because I don't normally see guides that go outside allegiances (as in how to act like a human or a wolf) and because there are some roles out there that are extremely difficult to play if you're unfamiliar with them (survivor and serial killer instantly spring to mind on this one). Every couple of weeks or so, depending on whether I'm feeling it or not, I'm going to post here with a guide which will outline what your role needs to do to win, and some good ideas in how to achieve that goal. I'll also include examples of good play as that role (on twgs both from NSM and LLF), so that you can potentially incorporate those peoples play into your own playstyle and if I have the time, I'll analyse each person and say why I nominated them.

If this topic gets enough people interested in it, I'll be operating on a request system, but for the most part I'll be operating on random roles I think it'll be interesting to cover, and roles that I see are difficult to play.

So, without further adu, let's check a role that seems to be in most TWG:

Red Scare: How to be a Seer/Cop/Whatever
Useful readings:
Dark Koopa, in LLF TWG 57: Holy Rambunctious Rerolls, Batman! (https://www.last-life.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2747)
Kyoni and Sage of the Forest, in LLF Winter TWG 2: I Spy (https://last-life.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4007)

You are a seer, a human special role. Your goal is to make sure all wolves are dead at the end of the game. To help with that, you get the ability to check on someone every night phase to find out what their colour is.

Needless to say, this is a very powerful role, and is considered to be powerful enough to have roles dedicated to countering it (Herring, Miller, and Master Wolf)! Seers normally form the backbone of a human alliance, and, if the role is in the hands of a good player/bad game design, the game can be won simply by that player making a few lucky sheerings. This, for obvious reasons, makes the seer a huge target for the wolves, so this guide will focus on how you survive for a long time as a seer, and how to make good sheerings.

Keep in mind that this guide is going to be made in the worst case scenario for the seer, which is the fact that the game is either not an alliance game or if you are not the leader of the alliance.

•   Use discretion as much as possible. This kinda goes without saying. The wolves want the seer dead for an optimal victory, and they're likely to be looking through the thread to figure out who's the seer. This guide is going to cover this step for the most part, but this part is going to cover basic things that are common sense not to do. Don't claim seer to the thread if there's no guardian (unless you seered someone red). Don't advertise yourself as leader to the thread. Don't be inactive (the seer can get lynched; don't assume that you're invincible). Don't randomly accuse people of wolves, and don't make yourself seem like you're a special. This should cover the basics.
•   If you seer someone that you're suspicious of green, blue, or yellow, don't suddenly drop your suspicions of that person. This screams seer for anyone who's paying attention to the thread in detail. If you suddenly find out that someone who you thought was a wolf is actually human, provide reasoning for why you don't think that person is a wolf anymore. Maybe you misread something that they said and your suspicion is all a giant misunderstanding. Maybe they said something that makes you re-evaluate your position on them. Maybe that person was actually wolfed and they can't possibly be a wolf (unless gambits). Maybe you can fake a chatlog with that person and have it tie into the second sentence that I made; just so long as you provide reasoning for not suspecting someone and don't just arbitarily drop it.
•   Follow your guts first, but always take note of what other people have to say, and maybe change your target if enough people think about something. Please. Stubborn people are the worst people to deal with in TWG, and having them in a special role is like twice as bad and awful for everyone involved. In my personal opinion, seerings should be decided by a thread consencous, before the phase ends. It makes people active, it can give people insight on suspicions, and it might actually catch a few wolves in the act.
•   If you are in the alliance, but not the leader, act like a wolf. Hang with me on this one. Basically, if you act suspiciously, and a couple of people call you out on it, you are practically immune to wolfings unless wolves are idiots or know that you're the seer. If there's enough traction for your lynch, your alliance buddies can pull you out of it most of the time. Overall, it's generally a good move that can stop you from getting wolfed for a while.
•  While you shouldn't be inactive period, you should try to keep your activity private, or in the chat. Competent wolves typically tend to aim for people who are helpful  in the thread, or if they know too much. If you absolutely think that someone is a wolf, tell it to the alliance, and have the leader be your mouthpiece. The aim is so that you don't get wolfed, and so that you give more results to the human team.
•   Always be aware of the seer counter roles. If you seered someone green or blue, that doesn't necceceraly mean that they're comfirmed humans, likewise, if you seered someone red, that doesn't mean that they're a wolf. This ties into point three, in a way, since the opinions of others could influence whether you say that they're human or a wolf.

And that's it, for the most part. If you have any questions about this guide, or want to request I cover a particular role, post here, and I'll cover it within a week.

[mikey]

your phone autocorrected to sheerings

Also good tips, I learned something!
Can you do traitors next

[Maelstrom]

You don't need a guide.

[BlackDragonSlayer]

Yugi, do you really want to be TWC?

[MaestroUGC]

I once toyed with the idea of becoming one of the TWC, but then I stopped playing for like a year, so it's probably for the best.

[Yugi]

I honestly don't care much for becoming twc, but if I did become one it would be cool.

[FireArrow]

That's some solid advice. You may want to be more specific as to what "acting like a wolf" entails, unless that's already outlined in some other guide.

[Liggy]

Can I just say that laying low as a special only really works if the game is general active?  It's more important for someone to aspire activity than it is for the specials to stay out of attention.

I don't have much of a problem with the rest of it, though.

[braix]

//sigh

thats quite a big wall of text to read...