Jail System
The Strike System
Every player has a strike counter tracked publicly by the moderator. Being jailed applies a strike.
| Strikes | Status |
|---|---|
| 0 | Active |
| 1 | On first strike — served suspension, now returned |
| 2 | Permanently eliminated — removed from game |
First Jail — Suspension
A player jailed for the first time is suspended for 3 Years.
| Jailed in Year | Misses | Returns at Start of Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2, 3, 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 3, 4, 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 4, 5, 6 | 7 |
| Y | Y+1, Y+2, Y+3 | Y+4 |
When they return, their first strike is announced publicly. Everyone at the table knows they are one jail away from permanent elimination.
While suspended:
- No vote
- No night action
- No presidency
- No committees
- No revenue contribution
Second Jail — Permanent Elimination
A player on their first strike who receives a majority jail vote is immediately and permanently eliminated.
- Their role card is revealed publicly at the moment of elimination.
- They are removed from all trackers.
- They take no further part in the game.
Win Condition Interaction
- Both Corrupt Politicians permanently eliminated → Good wins immediately
- Both Good Politicians permanently eliminated → Bad wins immediately
These trigger at the moment of the second elimination — the game ends before the End Year step.
The Jail Vote
Each Year, after Discussion (and after any Witness runoff), all active non-eliminated, non-suspended players vote to jail one player.
- Majority required — more than half of all valid votes cast.
- No majority — no one is jailed that Year.
- President's vote counts as 2.
- The President cannot be jailed while in office.
- Tiebreaker — runoff between tied players only.
Lawyer Interaction
Lawyer protection blocks a jail vote entirely — no strike is applied, even if the player is on their first strike. Protection also blocks Tokhang (Hitman) against the protected player. (See Lawyer.)
"The attempted jailing of [Name] has failed due to legal protection."
No consecutive protection. The Lawyer cannot protect the same player two Years in a row. Whoever they protected last Year is off-limits this Year and must be exposed for one round before they can be covered again.
Direct Elimination Abilities
Two paid abilities bypass the normal jail vote entirely:
| Ability | Used by | Cost | Effect | Blocked by Lawyer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Jail | Good Politician | ½ Public Spending target | Forces a jail vote on a target | Yes (if target is protected) |
| Tokhang | Corrupt Politicians | ½ Corruption Fund target | Permanently eliminates a target | Yes (if target is protected) |
Auto Jail still routes through a normal jail vote — it just forces the question. Tokhang skips voting entirely and deletes the player from the game. Because of the no-consecutive-protection rule, even a revealed Ombudsperson has an unprotected Year within Tokhang's reach.
Strategic Impact of the Strike System
First strikes are public — the whole table knows. This shifts strategy significantly:
- A Good Politician on a first strike becomes the Corrupt's primary framing target (one more vote = permanent elimination)
- The Lawyer should heavily prioritize covering first-strike Good Politicians
- A Corrupt Politician on a first strike becomes desperate — they may push harder for committee seats to accelerate the Corruption Fund before they're eliminated
- Citizens on first strikes become easier collateral damage in framing operations
The exact “jail vote → Lawyer check → apply strike rule” flow is part of Moderator Reference.