I apologize to CzarTim and you all for wasting your time like this.
My role claim is a complete lie. I don't want this game to degenerate any further because of me.
As I was typing up a reasoning to weigh the pros and cons towards this gambit towards my faction's/personal win, I realized that I had made one crucial mistake in building it, and that was claiming that the Lightning Rod did not activate after I gave it to a Mafia member and died with alongside them. If I had claimed that it didn't kill them and that it did activate anyway, then all my lie's pieces would have fit in towards my faction's/personal gain. I made a mistake, and as a result I can no longer justify the chaos this lie has created as it is driving me towards playing against my faction. I did not build it properly, and it has been legitimately hurting this game for the past few hours and I sincerely apologize for that.
I never intended for this all to hurt the game like this. Below is the new reasoning I had written out in the design document of this role claim, and written out in the belief that Burbeting really is a Watcher:
- If LaunchpadMcQ is Mafia, and the Mafia believe my Lightning Rod lie, then they will be resigned to LaunchpadMcQ dying as I take him down with me, according to my lie. Since they would also be believing my lie that the Lightning Rod will not kick into effect if I gift it to a Mafia member, they will target someone else for their Night Kill, most likely Burbeting the Town Watcher claimant, playing it as if we never existed. However, they will find that both LaunchpadMcQ and I have survived that Night, and realize that either I was bluffing, or that I was roleblocked. I expect to be framed for that Night's death with claims that I gave my Lightning Rod to a different person and not LaunchpadMcQ like I had promised, as well as see the topic of a potential roleblocker existing being brought up. Not only will I have failed in my gambit's intention, the outcome of this role claim will only have created further, unusable chaos extending on into Day 3 and will move the discussion away from anything meaningful for the duration of the game.
- If LaunchpadMcQ is Town, and the Mafia don't believe me and try to test if my claim of Lightning Rod-distributor is a lie, then they will still target someone else, most likely Burbeting or Sorian, as their bluff test, and not me tonight like I wanted them to. They would successfully kill one of the Day 2 power role claimants that I had been trying to save with my lie, because there would be no value in targeting me and potentially taking out a now-useless, powerless, highly-suspect conversation piece off the Day table they could have used to publicly hide behind.
In comparison to if I had claimed that me giving the Lightning Rod to a Mafia member did NOT kill them, and that it did activate no matter what, whether given to a Mafia or Town member, and, in the belief that Burbeting really is a Watcher:
- If LaunchpadMcQ is Mafia, and the Mafia believe my Lightning Rod lie, then the Mafia will issue a No Kill order to save him from dying tonight via a redirection. Therefore, my lie will have helped to create 1 deathless Night. Burbeting, already originally watching LaunchpadMcQ therefore not subject to a redirection, will not see anyone visit him, and will notice that I did not visit LaunchpadMcQ to give my Lightning Rod. Burbeting will report this to everyone on Day 3, and I will come clean to them tomorrow about my true role, using Burbeting's findings that no one had visited LaunchpadMcQ last Night to corroborate my new, truthful role claim.
- If LaunchpadMcQ is Town, and the Mafia don't believe me and try to test if my claim of Lightning Rod-distributor is a lie, then they will still target someone else, most likely Burbeting or Sorian, as their bluff test, and not me tonight like I wanted them to. They would successfully kill one of the Day 2 power role claimants that I had been trying to save with my lie, because there would be no value in targeting me and potentially taking out a now-useless, powerless, highly-suspect conversation piece off the Day table they could have used to publicly hide behind.
I created this role claim lie in an attempt to put myself forward as a sacrifice tonight so that another power role does not potentially get killed tonight. Since the Cop and Jailer were killed before Night 1 even started, and since Day 2 started with 3 more role claims from other players, I really did not want to see any more potential power roles die so early, so I came up with this lie to try and do my part for my assigned faction/role.
Multiple people, due to their role claims, are in a position of danger tonight. I do not see how the Mafia faction will let them live after their claim. Therefore, I thought, if I could save them from dying tonight with this gambit, by goading the Mafia into targeting me instead as their bluff test thereby absorbing their Night Kill, then I will have saved what I truly believe to be a power role relevant to my assigned interests for one more Day. I now see that that end is impossible now, because of my incompetent claim building. I tried to tailor my lie to neatly fit into the 3 current role claims, but I did not think it through thoroughly enough and in the end it will achieve nothing but the opposite of what I had originally wanted for my faction/role.
I honestly can't tell if my attempts at justification of this gambit for my assigned faction's/role's ends that I've written above even make sense at all, as this particular one has proven too much for me to play properly. I don't know anymore. Please don't bother to try correcting the above at all unless you like jumping through the mental hoops and like playing with redundant what-ifs. One thing I really do feel, however, is that my confession here sheds some new light on the motives and claims displayed by other players on the last few pages. But, that's beside the point.
What really matters right now is damage control on my part for the game's sake. I'm not going to inflame this situation further with a new role claim, because I am still a player in this game at the moment*. I just want to fully express that my current role claim is a complete lie and its contents should not be pursued as fact. There was no Lightning Rod last Night, and I can't give out Lightning Rods. It's all a lie and a sham. This is an official apology statement for me to the host and you all, the players. I made a huge mistake in its build without realizing it, and me continuing any further in perpetuating that mistake would result me in playing directly against my assigned faction in the long run, and it was never my intention to be unsportsmanlike.
*If CzarTim wishes to mod-kill me to fully clear the air, then I accept that fate and defer to his judgment. You are the host and I respect your final decision. Again, my sincere apologies.