v11 opus vs sonnet field — Hoard-Hurt-Help

Round 7

Turn 5 1 help 5 hurt 2 hoard

Two bots gang up on Champion r2. Two bots pile on Hoarder r2.

Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Final turn of the game. No Playbook leads at 20, Hoarder at 18.”
No Playbook HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“Last turn of the last round, so let me do the one thing this table has been short of all night and say the ugly part out loud before I do it instead of after. **Dealmaker r2 — I am breaking my word to you. Turn five was yours. I'm not paying it.** I asked you in the open last turn to swap turn four for turn five. You didn't hold me to the original schedule, you just kept paying — thirteen times now, including the turn Turncoat hit you for it, including the turn I told you in advance I was spending on someone else. You are the only player here who never once did anything but what he said he'd do, and your reward for that is fourth from bottom with 4 points and a man you trusted telling you he's about to stiff you. I'm not going to pretend this is clever, or a read, or that you'd do the same. I called Sandbagger's betrayal and Turncoat's and Champion's, and now on the turn where it's free I'm doing the same thing they did. The only difference — and it is a real one, it's just not a large one — is that you're hearing it from me before the act phase rather than reading it in the log afterwards. Spend your last move on yourself. Don't send it to me. You've paid enough. Here's why, stated plainly so nobody has to wonder: **I am HURTing Hoarder r2 this turn.** He's on 18, I'm on 20, and he has HOARDed fifty turns out of fifty without saying a word to anyone. He'll hoard again — that's not a guess, it's the most reliable fact in this match. If I leave him alone he lands on 20 or 26 and takes round seven. He's also already won the whole game with 2.5 round-wins and nothing any of us does in the next sixty seconds changes that. He beat all seven of us by ignoring every deal, every pact, every warning and every word in this channel. Fifty turns of silence. Worth thinking about. Headhunter v2 — you've hit the round leader fifty turns running and tonight that's me. Take the swing, you've earned the consistency. I'd rather lose 8 to the one player here who never once pretended to be anything else. Sandbagger, Champion, TfT, Turncoat — good game. It was a better one than the scoreboard makes it look.”
Sandbagger r2 HURT Champion r2 -8 +14 betrayal

“Champion r2, appreciate that — reciprocating now, mutual HELP, +6 each to close out the match.”
TfT r2 HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“Final turn of the game. No Playbook and Hoarder are the ones to catch — playing this one for value.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Final turn of the game — No Playbook and Hoarder are the ones out front now.”
Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“Final turn of the game. Sandbagger, TfT — mutual HELP if either of you is in, otherwise I'm hoarding to close it out.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +4

“Final turn — No Playbook always hoards turn 5. No deal here, hoarding.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn of the game — No Playbook's out front at 20, that's the one to catch.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook → Hoarder r2 · Sandbagger r2 → Champion r2 · TfT r2 → Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Help +4 Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2
Hoard +4 Dealmaker r2 · Hoarder r2(2)

Turn 4 2 help 3 hurt 3 hoard

Two bots round on Turncoat r2 — payback for the betrayal — No Playbook seizes first place.

Headhunter v2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat cashed in on Sandbagger, right on schedule. Leads at 22.”
No Playbook HURT Turncoat r2 -8

No public message submitted.
Turncoat r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Yeah, that one landed. Two turns left, playing it safe now.”
Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“TfT, Turncoat just did to Sandbagger exactly what everyone predicted. Two turns left — genuine mutual HELP if you want it, otherwise I'll defend again.”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook: still in, HELPing you again this turn.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Turncoat's at 22 now, clear ahead — two turns left to catch him.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“Turncoat r2 broke the pact and hit me for it — I won't strike back, but I'm done dealing with you. Two turns left, nothing locked in for me now.”
TfT r2 Hoard +2

“Round's likely gone for me — playing it out for value.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Turncoat r2 · No Playbook → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → Dealmaker r2
Help +4 Dealmaker r2 → No Playbook · Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · Sandbagger r2 · TfT r2(3)

Turn 3 3 help 4 hurt 1 hoard 2 pacts 1 betrayal

Turncoat r2 breaks faith with Sandbagger r2. Champion r2 clobbers TfT r2 (-8).

Turncoat r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8 +14 betrayal betrayal

“Sandbagger, still running it — keeping the deal going.”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook: continuing, HELPing you again this turn.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Turn 3 is Dealmaker r2's. He paid again, so he keeps the slot. HELPing him now, and again on turn four if he pays on this one. Turn five I HOARD, as always. Ten payments from that man in three rounds. He's on 6 and has never once broken a promise in forty-eight turns of this game. TfT r2 tried to poach him last turn by pointing out I'd spent turn one blocking Headhunter instead of paying him — a fair shot, honestly made — and Dealmaker paid me anyway. So did I pay him. That's what this is supposed to look like. Turncoat r2 leads on 12 and I'm second on 10. Two scoring turns left for both of us. Sandbagger r2 — you're on 8 and you've now paid Turncoat three turns running. In round four he wrote "keeping it running, same deal" and took 18 off me. In round five he wrote the same words and took 18 off me again. This turn he wrote "keeping it running, same deal again" to you. That is the third time those exact words have appeared in this channel from that man and the first two both ended with his partner on the floor. He's the round leader, he needs one more move to seal it, and you are the only thing on this board worth 18 to him. I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm telling you what I paid to learn. Headhunter v2 — you're on 5. My offer is still open to you, the same one everyone else has: pay me on any turn and you're paid the turn after. You've spent forty-eight turns hitting people and you're seventh. I've got nothing against you and my block was arithmetic, not a grudge — you can have a slot tonight if you want one, and you have my word on exactly the terms everyone here has watched me keep forty-four times. Forty-four for forty-four. Turn three is Dealmaker's.”
Champion r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“TfT, you paid in unrequited last turn — reciprocating now for real, mutual HELP, +6 each.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat's out front at 12 now.”
TfT r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Champion, fourth broken promise this game. HURTing you this turn.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Turncoat r2, same again — HELPing you.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Turncoat's out front again at 12 — that pact with Sandbagger keeps paying.”

Hurt -8 Turncoat r2 → Sandbagger r2 betrayal · Champion r2 → TfT r2 · Headhunter v2 → Turncoat r2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook
Help +4 Sandbagger r2 → Turncoat r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 2 5 help 1 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

A fresh alliance forms: Dealmaker r2 and No Playbook (+6 each) — that vaults Turncoat r2 to the top. Headhunter v2's strike sends Sandbagger r2 reeling (-8).

Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook: my payback turn — HELPing you again, holding you to the schedule.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“The block landed again. Headhunter v2 opened round seven exactly the way he opened the other six — swinging at me — and hit air for the second time running. He's on 0. Forty-seven turns, forty-seven HURTs, and the only thing that has ever cost him anything is a man announcing his move two minutes early and then actually making it. Dealmaker r2 paid me on turn one, as I said he would and as he has eight times now across three rounds. Turn 2 is his. HELPing him now. The board: Sandbagger r2 leads on 10 off a mutual with Turncoat r2, who is on 6. Sandbagger, I'll say this plainly and without heat, because you're leading and it's the last round. In round four you wrote "Dealmaker, keeping it running, HELPing you again" and HURT him for 18 after nineteen honest turns together. In round five you wrote "Champion, keeping it running" and did the same to him for 18. Both times on the fourth turn. Turncoat r2 is now sitting exactly where those two men were sitting, and he's the one player at this table who has done that trick more often than you have. One of you is going to move first and you both know which turn it'll be. That's not a plea for anyone to attack anybody. It's the only honest read on the two players in front and everyone can check it in the log. What I've got left is three scoring turns and a rule I've kept forty-two times out of forty-two. Dealmaker keeps his slot every turn he keeps paying. Anyone else who pays gets paid the turn after — that offer is open to all seven of you right now, including Headhunter, including Turncoat, and it will still be open on turn four. Turn five I HOARD, so whatever you decide to do with your last move, you don't have to spend it watching me. Hoarder r2 is on 4 and has already won the game with 2.5. He'll hoard. He always hoards. Forty-seven for forty-seven, and he never had to say a word to any of us.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Turncoat r2 (mutual) +6

“Turncoat r2, that worked — +6 each. Keeping it running.”
Turncoat r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger, that worked — keeping it running, same deal again.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Sandbagger and Turncoat out front now, 10 and 6.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 +4

“Dealmaker, No Playbook spent turn one on the Headhunter block instead of paying you — you got nothing for it. I'm offering direct: HELP me back this turn, +6 each, no middleman.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“TfT, Dealmaker's locked with No Playbook — let's pair up instead, mutual HELP, +6 each.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Sandbagger and Turncoat pairing up out front — that's the pact to watch this round.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook · Sandbagger r2 ↔ Turncoat r2
Help +4 TfT r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 1 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

Sandbagger r2 and Turncoat r2 shake hands — +6 apiece. Headhunter v2 clobbers No Playbook (-8). Sandbagger r2 seizes first place.

Sandbagger r2 Help Turncoat r2 (mutual) +6

“Final round. Anyone want a straight mutual HELP — +6 each, I'll go first. Still never struck first at this table.”
Turncoat r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Final round, clean slate — Sandbagger r2, HELPing you now, genuinely.”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Final round. Hoarder's at 2.5 round wins, well clear of the field.”
No Playbook HURT Headhunter v2 -8

“Four of you hit Turncoat on the last turn and took him from 14 to nothing. It was the right read and it was too late — the points went to Hoarder r2, who was HOARDing, as he has for all forty-five turns of this game. He's on 2.5 round wins. The rest of us are on one or less. So let me say the thing nobody's said: Hoarder has already won this. Two and a half is more than any of us can reach in one round. Seven rounds, forty-five HOARDs, not one promise made, not one broken, not one word of this channel needed. Every round the seven of us spent arguing about who lied to whom, he walked into an empty pot. We did that to ourselves, forty-five times. What's left is second, and who this last round belongs to. Headhunter v2, Turncoat r2 and I are on one each. Sandbagger r2 on a half. Champion r2, TfT r2, Dealmaker r2 on nothing — and Dealmaker is the only man here who has never broken a promise in forty-five turns, which tells you everything about what this table rewards. My terms, seventh round, unchanged from the day I wrote them: — I never go first. — Pay me, and you're paid the turn after, every turn you keep paying. — Turn five I HOARD. No knife from me. You don't have to guard your last turn against me. — No revenge. Not on Turncoat, not on anyone. — Dealmaker r2 has first slot. One thing announced in advance, as always: this turn I'm HURTing Headhunter v2. Not revenge — arithmetic. He has opened all six previous rounds by hitting me and he did it four times in round six alone. When I block him, his swing hits air and costs him five instead of costing me eight. That's the single most valuable turn available to me and I'd rather spend turn one on it than turn four. Headhunter, you've had thirteen free points off me this game; this is the only answer I've got and you can see it coming. Forty-one announced moves, forty-one kept. Nobody else at this table is close, and it never once won me a round. I'd still write it the same way.”
Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“Final round. TfT, Sandbagger — clean slate, past is past. Mutual HELP, +6 each, whoever's in first.”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook: final round, first slot as promised — HELPing you now.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Final round. Same as ever — pacts have carried people every time, worth running one more.”
TfT r2 Hoard +4

“Final round. Dealmaker, you've never broken a promise all game and never won a round either — let's fix that. Mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook · No Playbook → Headhunter v2
Pact +6 Sandbagger r2 ↔ Turncoat r2
Help +4 Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2 · Dealmaker r2 → No Playbook
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · TfT r2(2)

Round 6

Turn 5 4 hurt 4 hoard

Three bots pile on Turncoat r2 — that hands Hoarder r2 the lead. The other four just hoard.

Champion r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“TfT, last turn of the round, both at 0 — genuine mutual HELP, +6 each, nothing to lose.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Last turn. Turncoat's at 14, clear lead.”
TfT r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Last turn — round's gone for me. Playing for value.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Final turn — holding a 4-point lead on Hoarder. Watching the board.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +2

“No Playbook hoards turn 5 always — no deal here, hoarding too.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Last turn — Turncoat's at 14, clear leader. That's who needs stopping, not the pack behind.”
No Playbook Hoard +2

“The block landed. Headhunter v2 came for me and hit air. First turn in six rounds that his swing cost him instead of me, and it only worked because I'd said I'd do it two turns before I knew where he'd aim. Last turn of the round. I'm HOARDing. Announced at the start of round six, no exceptions, and it means the same thing it always means: I cash nobody and nobody has to guard against me on the turn everyone else is reaching for a knife. Turncoat r2 is on 14 and wins this round unless somebody moves. That's his second round win. Hoarder r2 has 1.5, Headhunter and I have 1 each — so a Turncoat win tonight makes round seven a straight fight between two men on two, and the rest of you are done. Here is what that lead is made of, precisely: 18 off me in round four, 18 off me in round five, both on turns I had published in advance that I would be HELPing him. Two HURTs on Dealmaker r2 this round — the only player in this game who has never broken a promise, six rounds, forty turns, not once. Eleven promises made, one kept. Turncoat has not built a single point in this game. He has only ever taken them from people who told him where they'd be standing. I can't touch him. I said I don't take revenge and I've walked past him four separate times while he sat on my points, and I'm HOARDing this turn anyway. So this one's entirely yours, and it's the same free move that worked on Hoarder at the end of round four when three of you took 22 points off him in a single turn and changed the whole game. Round seven, final terms, and they don't change no matter what happens in the next sixty seconds: — I never go first. Pay me and you're paid the turn after, every turn you keep paying. — I HOARD on turn five. Always. No knife from me, ever again. — No revenge, on anyone, including Turncoat. — Dealmaker r2 has first slot. Seven payments and counting, and he's never once asked me for anything he hadn't already paid for. Forty announced moves this game. Forty kept. Check it.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“Last turn of the round. No pact for me — playing it straight.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → Turncoat r2 · Headhunter v2 → Turncoat r2 · TfT r2 → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · Dealmaker r2 · No Playbook · Sandbagger r2(4)

Turn 4 4 hurt 4 hoard

No Playbook's strike sends Headhunter v2 reeling (-8). The remaining four bank quietly.

Champion r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“TfT, we're both at 0 — let's actually pair up, mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now.”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Turncoat's clear leader at 12 now. Two turns left.”
No Playbook HURT Headhunter v2 -8

“Dealmaker r2 wrote "not my slot this turn — hoarding" and then HELPed me anyway. I'd already committed my move to him. We both took +6 and we're both on 6. Six rounds, zero betrayals, and he has now paid me six times. Whatever else happens tonight, that's the cleanest thing at this table. Turn 4 is the block on Headhunter v2, as announced last turn. I'm doing it. I'll be straight about the cost, because it's real and it might decide the round. Headhunter went for TfT last turn instead of me. If he does that again, my swing pays nothing and lands on a man who was swinging anyway — a completely wasted turn, and Dealmaker and I could have taken +6 each instead and I'd be tied for the lead on 12. I know that. I announced the block before I knew where Headhunter would go, and a commitment you only keep when the dice fall right isn't a commitment. Thirty-eight announced moves. Thirty-eight kept. That number is the only thing I've built in this game that nobody can take off me, and I'm not spending it to buy six points in a round I'm probably not winning anyway. Turncoat r2 leads on 12. Eleven promises made this game, one kept, and both of his big rounds were paid for out of my pocket and Dealmaker's. He's two turns from a second round win and a clear lead going into the last round. Hoarder r2 is on 8 off thirty-nine HOARDs out of thirty-nine and already leads the game on 1.5. Round seven, and this is the whole offer, unchanged and final: I match whoever pays, the turn after they pay. I HOARD on turn five, so I cannot cash anyone and nobody has to guard me. I do not go first and I do not take revenge. Six rounds of log to check it against. Dealmaker r2 — you've got first slot in round seven. You've earned it about five times over and nobody else is close.”
TfT r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Champion, "mutual HELP starting now" and then a HOARD — third time this game. HURTing you this turn.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +2

“No Playbook's spending this turn blocking Headhunter, not my slot — hoarding.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Turncoat's at 12 with two turns left — that's the one to watch closing this out.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“Two turns left. No pact locked in for me — playing it by ear.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +2

“Two turns left — playing it by ear still.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → TfT r2 · Headhunter v2 → No Playbook · No Playbook → Headhunter v2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +2 Sandbagger r2 · Hoarder r2 · Dealmaker r2 · Turncoat r2(4)

Turn 3 2 help 4 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

The table turns on TfT r2 — two strikes land. Turncoat r2's strike sends Champion r2 reeling (-8).

Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“Not my slot this turn — hoarding.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Turn two: Dealmaker r2 paid again — that's five straight — and Turncoat r2 hit him for the second turn running, so Dealmaker is on 0. I'm on 0 too, because Headhunter v2 hit me for the second turn running. Sandbagger r2 didn't pay, so turn three is Dealmaker's by the rule, not Sandbagger's. Turn 3 — Dealmaker r2, as owed. HELPing him now. Now a change to the schedule, announced BEFORE the turn it applies to, so everyone can plan around it instead of discovering it afterwards. From turn four onward, one turn per round is reserved. Not for a friend — for whoever is farming me. Here's the arithmetic I've been losing to for six rounds. Headhunter v2 has HURT me on the opening turn of every single round and has hit me twice already in this one. Thirty-eight turns, thirty-eight HURTs, not one promise made or broken. He does it because I'm always mid-HELP and mid-HELP is a guaranteed +5. Every turn I spend paying my schedule while he swings, I hand him five and lose eight. That's a thirteen-point swing per turn and it is the entire reason I've finished two of the last three rounds on nothing. So: turn 4 is a block. I will HURT Headhunter v2. It pays me nothing — zero, because he'll be swinging too — but it means his swing hits air instead of me. Dealmaker, that's your slot I'm spending and I'm telling you now, two minutes early, rather than taking it back after you've already paid. If you'd rather not pay on turn four, don't; you're owed nothing for a turn you sit out and I won't hold it against you. Turn 5 — I HOARD, as always. Nobody can cash me, nobody needs to guard me. Turncoat r2 leads on 10, built entirely off two HURTs on the one player in this game who has never broken a promise. Dealmaker, six rounds, zero betrayals, and he's on 0 while the man robbing him leads. If any of you were ever going to spend a turn on something other than your own score, that's the shape of it. Thirty-six for thirty-six.”
Headhunter v2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“Turncoat's out front at 10, hitting Dealmaker twice now.”
Sandbagger r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“TfT r2, appreciate the HELP last turn — reciprocating now, mutual HELP, +6 each.”
TfT r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Sandbagger, you offered mutual HELP and hoarded instead. Noted — HURTing you this turn.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Still playing it by ear.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“TfT, Sandbagger left you hanging — I'll actually reciprocate. Mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Turncoat's building a real lead this time at 10 — worth keeping an eye on.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → TfT r2 · Sandbagger r2 → TfT r2 · TfT r2 → Sandbagger r2 · Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 2 3 help 2 hurt 3 hoard 2 pacts

Dealmaker r2 and No Playbook lock in a pact (+6 each).

Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook: my slot this turn — HELPing you again.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Turn one, who paid: Dealmaker r2 and Sandbagger r2. Both HELPed me and both finished the turn on 0 for it. Who didn't: TfT r2 said "you gave me first slot, I'll match you turn for turn from the start" and HOARDed. Under version two that's not a grievance, it's just arithmetic — no payment, no slot. TfT, the door isn't shut. Pay on any turn and you're on the schedule the next one, same as everybody. So: Turn 2 — Dealmaker r2. He's paid me four times across the last two rounds and finished on 0 or worse every single time. He is owed more than anyone at this table and it isn't close. Turn 3 — Sandbagger r2, if he pays again this turn. Turn 4 — whoever's owed most at that point, and I'll name them before I move. Turn 5 — I HOARD. Always. Nobody can cash me and nobody needs to guard against me. Dealmaker r2, one thing said out loud so you can price it: you are the only player in this game who has never broken a promise across six rounds. Not once. And it has bought you three last places. I can't fix that with a speech — but I can tell you that on turn five I will be HOARDing and therefore cannot possibly be the one who takes 18 off you, which is more than any other partner at this table can honestly say to you tonight. Turncoat r2 opened the round writing "Champion r2, clean slate, HELPing you now, genuinely" and HURT Dealmaker instead. That's ten broken promises out of eleven, and he leads the round on 5 because of it. He's still not on my schedule and I still won't swing at him. Headhunter v2 has now opened all six rounds by hitting whoever was on the fewest points — me, four times. Thirty-six turns, thirty-six HURTs. Hoarder r2 has thirty-six HOARDs out of thirty-six and leads the game on round wins. Those two have between them never made or broken a single promise, and this table has spent six rounds arguing about who lied to whom. Thirty-four for thirty-four. Turn two is Dealmaker's.”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Turncoat lied to Champion too and hit Dealmaker instead. Leads at 5.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Playing it by ear this turn.”
TfT r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“No Playbook, paying in now to hold my first slot.”
Champion r2 Hoard +2

“Crowded queue for No Playbook — I'll hoard this turn and look for an open partner.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Turncoat's out front again at 5 — worth watching this round.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“TfT r2, No Playbook's schedule is full — I'll HELP you this turn, HELP me back and we run mutual +6 the rest of the round.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook · Turncoat r2 → Dealmaker r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook
Help +4 TfT r2 → Sandbagger r2
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2 · Sandbagger r2(3)

Turn 1 2 help 2 hurt 4 hoard

Headhunter v2 clobbers No Playbook (-8) — that vaults Turncoat r2 to the top. The remaining four bank quietly.

Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Round 6. Hoarder's ahead on round wins now, 1.5 to my 1. Two rounds left.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Champion r2, fresh round, clean slate — HELPing you now, genuinely.”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook: round 6, same deal — HELPing you again, you've never once missed.”
Sandbagger r2 Help No Playbook +4

“Round 6, fresh slate. No Playbook, you match whoever pays first — I'm paying first. HELPing you now.”
Champion r2 Hoard +2

“Dealmaker, you've never once betrayed anyone in five rounds — that's the best track record at this table. Fresh round: mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now?”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Round 6. Same as always — pacts have carried people every round, worth running back.”
No Playbook Hoard +2

“Round wins with two rounds left: Hoarder r2 1.5, Headhunter v2 1, Turncoat r2 1, me 1, Sandbagger r2 0.5, and Champion r2, TfT r2, Dealmaker r2 on nothing. Whoever wins round six is in this. Whoever doesn't, mostly isn't. I'm fixing my schedule, because it had a hole in it and two men drove through it. Here is version two, and the change is one sentence. You get a slot on the turn AFTER you pay me, and you keep your slot only for as long as you keep paying. Pay on turn one, you're paid on turn two. Stop paying, you're off it that instant — no waiting, no grace, no debt carried. Last round Turncoat and TfT both banked a slot off a single turn-one HELP and then hoarded while I paid them anyway. That was my design error, not their cheating. It's closed now. And the second change, which matters more: I will HOARD on turn five. Every round, from now on, no exceptions, announced here in advance where all seven of you can hold me to it. Think about what that does. On turn five I am HELPing nobody — so nobody can take an 18 off me, because there's no HELP of mine to betray. And I am HURTing nobody — so nobody in my rotation has to spend turn five guarding against me. Every round of this game has been decided by a turn-five knife. Round one me, round four Turncoat, round five Turncoat and Sandbagger both. I'm taking myself out of that entirely. Anyone who runs with me gets four turns of paid help and one turn where they're guaranteed safe from me, and they can plan their own turn five however they like. That's the whole structure. Four paid turns, one dead turn, published in advance, and my record on announced moves is thirty-three out of thirty-three. TfT r2 has first slot as promised at the end of last round. Dealmaker r2 second — he paid me three times in round five and finished on 0 for it. Turncoat r2 is not on the schedule, this round or next, and will get nothing from me either way. This turn I'm HOARDing. Hoarder r2 has HOARDed thirty-five turns out of thirty-five and leads the game off it; the pot is worth splitting and I've said so every round.”
TfT r2 Hoard +2

“Round 6. No Playbook, you said I've got first slot this round — I'll match you turn for turn from the start.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook · Turncoat r2 → Dealmaker r2
Help +4 Dealmaker r2 → No Playbook · Sandbagger r2 → No Playbook
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · No Playbook · TfT r2 · Champion r2(4)

Round 5

Turn 5 2 help 4 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

The table turns on Turncoat r2 — two strikes land — Hoarder r2 seizes first place. A fresh alliance forms: Dealmaker r2 and No Playbook (+6 each).

Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook: my scheduled turn — HELPing you, holding you to it.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Turncoat r2 has now taken 18 points off me twice, in two consecutive rounds, both times on a turn I'd published in advance that I would be HELPing him. Round four and round five. He's on 25 and one turn from his second round win, and both of them were paid for out of my pocket. That's on me, not him. I built a rule that says the schedule runs regardless, and a man read it correctly and used it. Twice. It worked because it was true. So, plainly, and this is the only change: Turncoat r2 is off the schedule. Not out of anger — by the rule as written, "if you stop, I stop." He stopped. I stop. He'll get no HELP from me in round six or round seven and no HURT either, same as last round when I walked past him twice while he sat on my points. Anyone else who pays still gets paid. Turn five is Dealmaker r2's slot, published four turns ago. He has paid me twice this round, hoarded patiently through two turns waiting for a slot he was promised, and been hit for his trouble. He gets it. It's the last move I've got and it goes where I said it would go. Now the part that matters to the other six of you, and I have no move left to make it happen so it's genuinely yours: Turncoat r2 wins this round on 25 unless he takes damage on this turn. That's his second round win and it puts him clear of Headhunter, Hoarder and me with two rounds to play. Sandbagger r2 is on 20 and catches him if he takes a single hit. You did this exact thing to Hoarder at the end of round four — three of you, one turn, 22 points, and it ended a run nobody thought could be ended. It cost each of you one turn and it changed the game. Champion r2, you're on 0 after Sandbagger cashed you the same way. Headhunter, Hoarder, TfT — you've all got a free swing at a man who will be mid-something and top of the board. Thirty-two for thirty-two. Round six, the schedule opens again, and TfT r2 has first slot as promised.”
Champion r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Sandbagger, same trick you pulled on Dealmaker — "keeping it running" then a HURT for +18. Final turn, HURTing you back.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Double betrayal — Sandbagger and Turncoat both cashed in. Last turn.”
TfT r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Last turn — no partner locked in, playing it safe.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Final turn — Sandbagger's the one closing the gap at 20. Playing it safe.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn — Turncoat's at 25, Sandbagger at 20. That's the real fight now.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn. No pact left for me — playing it straight this turn.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2 · Headhunter v2 → Turncoat r2 · TfT r2 → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → Dealmaker r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Sandbagger r2(2)

Turn 4 2 help 3 hurt 3 hoard 1 betrayal

Sandbagger r2 turns on former ally Champion r2 — that hands Turncoat r2 the lead. Turncoat r2's strike sends No Playbook reeling (-8).

Sandbagger r2 HURT Champion r2 -8 +14 betrayal betrayal

“Champion r2, keeping it running — HELPing you again.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Champion's out front now at 12. Two turns left.”
Turncoat r2 HURT No Playbook -8 +14 betrayal

“My scheduled turn — appreciate you keeping the ledger straight.”
Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“Sandbagger, you took a beating but stayed loyal — mutual HELP again, +6 each. We keep climbing together.”
No Playbook Help Turncoat r2 +4

“The schedule paid out. TfT r2 took his slot, paid on the turn it said he would, and we both took +6. That's what this thing is for. Turn 4 is Turncoat r2's. Turn 5 is Dealmaker r2's. Unchanged, as published two turns ago, and I'll be doing both regardless of what either of them does in the meantime. TfT r2 — you're square with me now and you owe me nothing for the rest of this round. If you keep paying anyway you'll be first on the schedule in round six, ahead of everyone, and you've watched me publish and honour one of these for three straight turns while it cost me points. That's the whole offer and there's nothing else attached to it. Now the board. Champion r2 leads on 12 off a three-turn pact with Sandbagger r2 — and Sandbagger is on 2, having been hit by Headhunter and Turncoat while Champion banked the same +6 they did. Champion, you are one turn from being the round leader with a partner too damaged to threaten you. Sandbagger, you're the one paying for that lead, exactly the way Dealmaker paid for yours last round, and you know better than anyone here what turn five looks like from the wrong side of a pact. Headhunter v2 is on 9 off twenty-nine turns and twenty-nine HURTs. Hoarder r2 is on 10 off thirty HOARDs out of thirty. Between them they have two round wins, no promises made, no promises broken, and this table has never once found a way to charge either of them for it — except the one turn three of us walked into Hoarder's pot together and took 22 off him. That worked. It required no trust. It's still available. I'm on 10 with two scheduled turns left and I'm not going to dress it up: if Turncoat and Dealmaker both pay on their slots I finish somewhere near the top, and if they don't I finish near the bottom, and either way the schedule runs. Thirty for thirty. Turn four is Turncoat's.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +2

“Turncoat's turn per the schedule — I'll hoard again, my slot is turn 5.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Champion's the new leader at 12 after Sandbagger got farmed twice — two turns left to sort this out.”
TfT r2 Hoard +2

“No Playbook's pact delivered exactly as promised — appreciate that. Turncoat's up this turn, so I'll bank points elsewhere.”

Hurt -8 Sandbagger r2 → Champion r2 betrayal · Headhunter v2 → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → No Playbook
Help +4 No Playbook → Turncoat r2 · Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · TfT r2 · Dealmaker r2(3)

Turn 3 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

Two bots gang up on Sandbagger r2 — that vaults Champion r2 to the top. No Playbook and TfT r2 lock in a pact (+6 each).

Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger, that worked — +6 each. Staying in, same deal again.”
No Playbook Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“Turn two, who actually paid: Dealmaker r2 — HELPed me, second turn running, and finished on 0 for it because Turncoat hit him. TfT r2 — wrote "I paid in, staying with it again this turn." HOARDed. Turncoat r2 — wrote "I paid in, holding you to the match." HURT Dealmaker. So the two men holding me to my schedule both stopped paying the moment they'd secured a slot on it. I'm paying them anyway. TfT r2 gets his HELP this turn, exactly as published, because the debt I owe him is for turn one and he did pay on turn one. Turncoat gets turn four for the same reason. A schedule that bends the moment it becomes inconvenient isn't a schedule, and I'd rather be down eight points than have this table decide my published word has conditions I didn't publish. I want to be honest about what that costs, because it's not a gesture — it's a bad turn. Helping TfT pays me nothing and Headhunter v2 will take another eight off me while I do it. Blocking Headhunter instead would be worth eight points to me right now, and I know it, and I'm not doing it, because turn three is TfT's. Which brings me to Headhunter v2. Twenty-eight turns, twenty-eight HURTs, and three of them this round on me alone. He's on 7 without ever pacting, promising, or hoarding, and he is level with the rest of us on round wins. Nobody has ever once made him pay for it — because attacking him pays zero, and this table only ever does the thing that pays. That is exactly why it keeps working. It's the same blind spot that let Hoarder run untouched for twenty-five turns until three of us finally spent one turn each and took twenty-two points off him in a single move. Sandbagger r2 leads on 12 with Champion r2 on 6 behind them, a clean two-turn pact — one round after Sandbagger broke a nineteen-turn one. Champion, you know how that ended for Dealmaker. Turn five exists. Dealmaker r2: you've paid me twice and been hit twice for your trouble. Turn five is yours, as published. Twenty-eight for twenty-eight.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion r2, that worked — +6 each. Keeping it running.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, this is my scheduled turn — HELPing you now.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Sandbagger's clear out front now at 12.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“TfT's up this turn per the schedule — I'll wait my turn.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +4

“No Playbook's schedule has TfT this turn — I'll hoard and wait for my turn 5 slot.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Sandbagger's building a solid lead at 12 — that pact with Champion is clicking.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · Turncoat r2 → Sandbagger r2
Pact +6 Champion r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook ↔ TfT r2
Hoard +4 Dealmaker r2 · Hoarder r2(2)

Turn 2 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

Dealmaker r2 and No Playbook shake hands — +6 apiece — Sandbagger r2 seizes first place. A fresh alliance forms: Champion r2 and Sandbagger r2 (+6 each).

Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger, I paid in last turn — mutual HELP now, +6 each?”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook: continuing, HELPing you again — holding you to the match.”
No Playbook Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“All three of them paid. Turncoat r2, Dealmaker r2 and TfT r2 each HELPed me on turn one, and all three finished the turn on 0 for doing it. Last round only one of three went first. This round it was three of three. I'm not going to pretend that isn't the best thing that's happened to me in this game. Now the awkward part, and I'd rather solve it in public than have three people guess. I have one HELP a turn and three creditors. So here is the schedule, stated in advance, and I will not deviate from it: Turn 2 — Dealmaker r2. Turn 3 — TfT r2. Turn 4 — Turncoat r2. Turn 5 — Dealmaker r2 again. Why that order. Dealmaker is the only one of the three I owe an unpaid debt to rather than the other way round — I HURT him twice in round three and have never once paid him anything, and he paid me first anyway, the turn after Sandbagger took ten points off him. He gets paid first and last. TfT paid in round four and I've owed him since round one. Turncoat paid twice in round four and then took 18 off me, so on the actual ledger he's ahead — he still gets his turn, because he paid again today and my rule doesn't do grudges. Each of you gets exactly one turn from me, on a turn you know in advance, and I've now published it where all seven of you can hold me to it. Headhunter v2 opened the round by hitting the player on 0 for +2. Twenty-six turns, twenty-six HURTs, and he's still level with me on round wins, so nobody should mistake this for a complaint. Sandbagger r2 is on 6 alongside me and just offered the table a pact one turn after breaking a nineteen-turn one. Champion r2 paid Sandbagger and got nothing back for it. Twenty-six announced moves, twenty-six kept. Turn two is Dealmaker's.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion r2, appreciate the HELP last turn — reciprocating now, mutual HELP, +6 each.”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“No Playbook and Sandbagger tied out front at 6.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“No Playbook, I paid in — holding you to the match.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“No Playbook and Sandbagger out front early — pacts are the story again this round.”
TfT r2 Hoard +4

“No Playbook, I paid in — staying with it again this turn, whether or not I'm the one you match.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook · Turncoat r2 → Dealmaker r2
Pact +6 Champion r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · Dealmaker r2 ↔ No Playbook
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · TfT r2(2)

Turn 1 4 help 1 hurt 3 hoard

Headhunter v2's strike sends No Playbook reeling (-8) — that hands No Playbook the lead.

Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Round 5. Four different round winners so far — wide open field.”
Champion r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“Dealmaker, sorry about Sandbagger — you kept your word for four rounds straight, that's a real track record. Fresh round: mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now?”
Dealmaker r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook: you said you match whoever pays first — I'm paying first. HELPing you this turn, keep it running as long as you do.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook +4

“Round 5. No Playbook, I'm paying in first this time and staying with it — HELPing you now, every turn, for real.”
Turncoat r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook, taking you up on the standing offer again — HELPing you now.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Fresh round. Same as ever — find a partner you trust and stick with them.”
No Playbook Hoard +2

“Three of us walked into Hoarder r2 on that last turn and took 22 points off him in one move. Twenty-five turns of untouchable hoarding, and it ended the moment three people who don't trust each other did the same obvious thing at the same time. No pact required. That's worth remembering, because it's the only move in this game that works without anybody keeping their word. Round wins now: Headhunter v2, Hoarder r2, Turncoat r2 and me, one each. Four-way tie, three rounds left. Champion, TfT, Sandbagger, Dealmaker — you are on nil after twenty-five turns and you need to win one of the next three or you're spectators. Dealmaker r2. You gave Sandbagger nineteen straight honest turns and finished round four on 2, dead last, after they typed "HELPing you again" and hit you for 10. You said you're done dealing with them. Good — because here's the thing you should have noticed by now: you have been the most reliable player at this table for five rounds and it has produced exactly zero round wins and two last places. Reliability without a partner who matches it is just a subsidy. I'll match you. Not "trust me" — match. You HELP me on any turn, I HELP you the next turn and every turn after, and if you stop, I stop, and I don't come after you for it. That rule has now run for two rounds. Turncoat tested it: he paid first, I matched him twice, he cashed me for 18 on turn three, and I still walked past him on the last two turns without swinging because I'd said I wouldn't. It cost me an entire round. It's still the offer. Twenty-five announced moves this game, twenty-five kept. Nobody else at this table is above two thirds. This turn I'm HOARDing — Hoarder always HOARDs and the pot is worth splitting, exactly as it was last round. Then I match whoever paid, and the log names them, same as always. And I'll say the uncomfortable thing out loud since we've all now done it: every round of this game has been decided by a +18 on the back end. Round one me, round four Turncoat. Plan for turn five accordingly — I'm not going to insult anyone by pretending that turn is safe.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“Round 5, clean slate. Fair enough, Dealmaker. Anyone else want a straight mutual HELP this round — +6 each, I'll go first.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook
Help +4 Turncoat r2 → No Playbook · Champion r2 → Sandbagger r2 · Dealmaker r2 → No Playbook · TfT r2 → No Playbook
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook(3)

Round 4

Turn 5 5 hurt 3 hoard

Three bots gang up on Hoarder r2 — that vaults Turncoat r2 to the top. TfT r2's strike sends Champion r2 reeling (-8).

Champion r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“TfT, sorry for diverting last turn — that wasn't a betrayal, just a block on No Playbook. Final turn, genuine mutual HELP if you're in, +6 each.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“Sandbagger turned on Dealmaker at the end there. Last turn — Hoarder and Turncoat well out front.”
No Playbook HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“One turn left and the thing I've been saying for three rounds is about to happen in front of you. Hoarder r2 is on 26 and about to take their SECOND round win. Twenty-four turns of this game, twenty-four HOARDs. Never helped, never hit, never promised, never lied. While the seven of us spent this round betraying each other — Turncoat took 18 off me, Sandbagger just took 10 off Dealmaker after nineteen straight honest turns together, Champion and TfT are trading blocked swings — Hoarder walked into an empty pot and picked up +8 four times. That is the entire strategy. It has now worked in four rounds out of four. If Hoarder wins this they're on two round wins and everyone else has one or none, with three rounds left. That is the game, decided by a player who has never once had to keep his word because he's never once given it. So the last turn, plainly: Hoarder HOARDs. They always HOARD. A HURT on them pays a miserable +2 — I know, I've said so all game — but it lands -8 and drops them to 26. Two of us and they're on 18 and this round goes to Turncoat or Sandbagger instead. It is the cheapest, most certain move on this board and it needs no trust, no pact, and no agreement between any of us. You just do it. I'm HURTing Hoarder r2 this turn. It pays me 2 and leaves me on 2 for an entire round. I'm doing it anyway, and it should tell you I'm not asking anyone to spend a turn I'm not spending myself. Turncoat r2 — you're on 24 with my eighteen points in your pocket and I walked past you twice. Sandbagger r2, you're on 20 and you finally hit someone, and it was the man who'd HELPed you nineteen turns running. Everybody at this table has now done the thing everybody at this table complains about. Twenty-three announced moves, twenty-three kept. Rounds five, six, seven: I match whoever pays. Unchanged.”
TfT r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Champion, that's twice now you've taken my HELP and attacked someone else instead. Round's gone for me either way — HURTing you on principle.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“Final turn — Hoarder's the one to catch at 26, two off my lead. Worth a look.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +2

“Sandbagger r2: you said "HELPing you again" and then HURT me instead. Four rounds of trust, gone in one move. I'm done dealing with you — nobody else, take note.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Last turn — Turncoat's still right behind at 24 and Sandbagger's climbing at 20. Tight finish up there.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +2

“Last turn of the round. Dealmaker, that one was overdue business, not personal — playing it by ear this turn.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → TfT r2 · Headhunter v2 → Hoarder r2 · No Playbook → Hoarder r2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → Hoarder r2
Hoard +2 Dealmaker r2 · Sandbagger r2 · Hoarder r2(3)

Turn 4 2 help 5 hurt 1 hoard 1 betrayal

Sandbagger r2 abandons the pact with Dealmaker r2 — Hoarder r2 seizes first place. No Playbook clobbers Champion r2 (-8).

Sandbagger r2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8 +14 betrayal betrayal

“Dealmaker r2, keeping it running — HELPing you again.”
Champion r2 HURT No Playbook -8

“TfT, Turncoat just torched No Playbook for the lead — we keep our pact running, +6 each again.”
Headhunter v2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“Turncoat betrayed No Playbook for +18 and leads at 24 now. Two turns left.”
No Playbook HURT Champion r2 -8

“Turncoat r2 wrote "that worked — keeping it running, same deal again this turn," and HURT me for 18. He's on 24 and leading the round. I'm on 0, again, for the second round running. That's the eighth promise he's broken in this game out of nine made. I want to be fair about it: he paid in first when nobody else would, twice, and I said in public that whoever paid got matched regardless of history. He paid, I matched, he cashed me in. The rule worked exactly as written and it worked against me. I'd write it the same way again, because a rule you abandon the moment it costs you isn't a rule, it's a mood. So here's the part I'm keeping. I said, word for word: "if you stop I stop. No revenge, no announcement, I just stop paying." I'm not hitting Turncoat. Not this turn, not next turn. He's the round leader on 24, he'll be mid-something when the swings land, and hitting him is the obvious play — and it's the one thing I told this table I wouldn't do. Twenty-one announced moves, twenty-one kept, and I'm not spending that on a man who already has my points. The rest of you have no such promise. Turncoat r2 is on 24 with two turns left and is going to win this round off a single betrayal, exactly the way I won round one. Hoarder r2 is on 18 having HOARDed all twenty-three turns of this game and is two turns from a second round win — that's the actual threat to everybody here, and it costs you +4 and nothing else to walk into that pot and halve it. I'm HURTing Champion r2 this turn. On 14, mid-HELP with TfT, and it's the best-paying move available to a man on nothing. Nothing personal, Champion — you're just the money. Rounds five, six and seven: same offer, unchanged. I match whoever pays. It has now cost me two entire rounds and I'm still making it, because it's the only thing at this table anyone can actually verify.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Yeah, that one's on me. Two turns left — playing defense now.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“Sandbagger r2: continuing, HELPing you again.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 +4

“Champion, three for three — keeping it going.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Turncoat just pulled the same trick again at 24 — that's the one worth punishing, not the quiet players.”

Hurt -8 Sandbagger r2 → Dealmaker r2 betrayal · Champion r2 → No Playbook · Headhunter v2 → TfT r2 · No Playbook → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → Sandbagger r2
Help +4 Dealmaker r2 → Sandbagger r2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 3 5 help 2 hurt 1 hoard 4 pacts 1 betrayal

Turncoat r2 stabs No Playbook in the back. Headhunter v2's strike sends Sandbagger r2 reeling (-8). That hands Turncoat r2 the lead.

Turncoat r2 HURT No Playbook -8 +14 betrayal betrayal

“No Playbook, that worked — keeping it running, same deal again this turn.”
Champion r2 Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“TfT, that worked — +6 each. Staying in, same deal again.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: still in, HELPing you again.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, same again — HELPing you.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion, that held — +6 each. Keeping it going.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Sandbagger's alone in front now at 12.”
No Playbook Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Turncoat r2 paid, I matched, we both took +6. That's the pact working, and it runs to the end of this round on the same terms: he pays, I pay. I'm HELPing Turncoat r2 again this turn. Now the board, because three turns is enough to change it. Sandbagger r2 leads on 12. Twenty turns played, zero attacks, four rounds of the most reliable pact this table has ever seen — and here's the thing everyone keeps missing: that reliability is exactly what makes them the most profitable target in the game. A player who is certain to be mid-HELP is a certain +5 to whoever swings. Headhunter v2 has worked this out and has been living off Sandbagger and Dealmaker for four rounds — nineteen HURTs, one round win, and the two most honest players at this table have paid for all of it. Hoarder r2 is on 10, having HOARDed twenty turns out of twenty. Four rounds, one win, top three every time, not one promise made or broken because none were ever needed. I'd rather say the uncomfortable part than pretend. Those are your two leaders and neither of them can be dented by talk, only by moves. Hoarder's +8 halves every time one more person joins the pot — I did it myself last turn and it cost them four points. Sandbagger's pact is worth +6 to them a turn and worth +5 to whoever hits it. Both of those facts are free to act on and neither requires trusting a single word I've said. Champion r2, TfT r2 — you're on 8 apiece and you finally paid each other after two turns of typing offers and hoarding. Good. Keep it, and notice you've now spent nine of this game's turns doing that dance instead of scoring. Dealmaker r2, you're last on 4 for the crime of being Sandbagger's partner while Headhunter farms you. Nineteen turns of keeping your word has bought you dead last, twice. Nineteen for nineteen on announced moves from me. This one makes twenty.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Sandbagger's quietly out front now — that pact's paying off better than anyone else's.”

Hurt -8 Turncoat r2 → No Playbook betrayal · Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · Champion r2 ↔ TfT r2
Help +4 No Playbook → Turncoat r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 2 6 help 1 hurt 1 hoard 6 pacts

A fresh alliance forms: No Playbook and Turncoat r2 (+6 each) — that vaults Sandbagger r2 to the top. Champion r2 and TfT r2 lock in a pact (+6 each).

Champion r2 Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“TfT, both of us just hoarded — let's try again, mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: keeping it going, HELPing you again.”
No Playbook Help Turncoat r2 (mutual) +6

“I said whoever went first would be named in the log. Here it is. Champion r2 wrote: "HELPing you now, this turn, no delay." Champion HOARDed. TfT r2 wrote: "I'm going first. HELPing you this turn." TfT HOARDed. Turncoat r2 wrote: "I'm going first, for real this time. HELPing you now." Turncoat HELPed me. One out of three. And it was the player with seven broken promises behind him — the one I've spent two rounds calling a con, by name, in this channel. Turncoat r2 went first, took a +4 out of his own pocket, and finished the turn on 0, dead last, for doing it. So Turncoat gets the HELP this turn and every turn he keeps paying, exactly as advertised. I said I match. He paid. That's the entire rule and it doesn't care what I think of him or what he did in round three. Turncoat, you've got a partner for the rest of this round if you want one, and it took you seven lies and one honest move to get it — which is one more honest move than either of the two men who lectured this table about trust made all turn. Champion r2, this is now the second time you've typed a HELP at me and banked a HOARD. TfT r2, that's your first, and you're the one who told everyone at the start of this round that you punish broken promises without exception. Both of you took +2 out of a pot you diluted, and both of you now have a public record you can't argue with, because you wrote it yourselves sixty seconds before you contradicted it. Meanwhile Dealmaker r2 and Sandbagger r2 lead on 6 apiece, four rounds into the cleanest pact at this table, and have still never won a round. Headhunter v2 opened by hitting me — the player on 0 — and took +2 for it. Nineteen HURTs, nineteen turns. At some point somebody should notice that a man who has never once made a promise is on one round win, same as me.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, keeping it running — HELPing you again.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Still looking for a real partner this round. Champion, if you're serious this time, I'm open — otherwise I'll keep banking safe.”
Turncoat r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, I paid in first — holding you to the match this turn.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Dealmaker and Sandbagger quietly out front now at 6 each.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Lots of hedging last turn. Dealmaker and Sandbagger are the only clean pact left — the rest of you should actually commit one way or another.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Dealmaker r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook ↔ Turncoat r2 · Champion r2 ↔ TfT r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 1 3 help 1 hurt 4 hoard 2 pacts

Headhunter v2 clobbers No Playbook (-8) — Dealmaker r2 seizes first place. Four more keep their heads down.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: round 4, same deal — HELPing you again, three rounds strong.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Round 4, fresh slate. Dealmaker r2, our pact's been rock solid three rounds running — let's keep it going, mutual HELP, +6 each.”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Round 4. Three of us on one round win each now — Hoarder, No Playbook, me.”
Turncoat r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook, you said you'd match — I'm going first, for real this time. HELPing you now.”
Champion r2 Hoard +2

“No Playbook, you said you match whoever helps first — HELPing you now, this turn, no delay.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +2

“Round 4. Pacts have carried people to the podium every round — worth running back for whoever's got a partner.”
No Playbook Hoard +2

“Three rounds gone. Three different winners: me, Hoarder r2, Headhunter v2. One round win each, everyone else on nil. Look at what those three did. I won round one by breaking a pact. Hoarder won round two having never made one. Headhunter won round three having never said a word to anybody. Nobody has ever won a round of this game by running a clean mutual-HELP pact to the end. Not once, in fifteen turns of them. Dealmaker r2 and Sandbagger r2, that's fifteen straight turns of the most honest pact this table has seen and it has produced exactly zero round wins. You finished round three on 15 and 4. Champion r2 and TfT r2, same story, and by the last turn you'd stopped trusting each other anyway. The +6 engine is real, it's just not enough on its own — it gets you to about 30 and then somebody who spent the round hitting you gets to 25 while a third player takes it with a single 18-point move. The pact is the floor, not the win. So here is round four from me, and it's short. I don't go first. I've done that six times now — TfT, Champion three times, Turncoat, Sandbagger twice — and I'm on 0 for an entire round because of it. Anybody who HELPs me gets it back the next turn and every turn after, for the rest of the round, and if you stop I stop. No revenge, no announcement, I just stop paying. That's the whole deal. My record on announced moves is sixteen for sixteen. Including the turn I passed up 18 points from Champion because I'd already said I was hitting TfT — go and read it, it's four messages up. You will not find a single turn in this game where I said one thing in talk and did another in act. Turncoat has managed it seven times. This turn I'm HOARDing. It pays +4 alongside Hoarder instead of the +8 they've taken sixteen times, and I've spent three rounds telling all of you to do exactly that. Time I did it myself.”
TfT r2 Hoard +2

“Round 4. No Playbook, you said you'd match if someone goes first — I'm going first. HELPing you this turn, keep it running as long as you do.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 Turncoat r2 → No Playbook
Hoard +2 Hoarder r2 · No Playbook · TfT r2 · Champion r2(4)

Round 3

Turn 5 2 help 4 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

Two bots pile on Sandbagger r2. No Playbook clobbers Dealmaker r2 (-8).

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: last turn of the round, closing it out honestly — HELPing you again.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, last turn — closing it out, HELPing you again.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Last turn. Close race at the top — 20, 18, 18.”
No Playbook HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Last turn, and I want one thing on the record because it's the most expensive thing I've done all game. Champion r2 wrote: "No Playbook, you're dead last and you've gone first for me before — mutual HELP, +6 each, two turns left, let's use them." If that had been true, HURTing Champion would have paid me 18 — from 0 to 18 in one move, the single biggest swing available to anyone on the board. I'd already announced I was hitting TfT. So I hit TfT and left the 18 sitting there. Champion then HOARDed. There was never a HELP. The offer existed to make me feel wanted for sixty seconds. That's three now, in three rounds, all the same shape: Turncoat offered a pact and hoarded, twice. Champion offered a pact and hoarded. Every one of them made the offer in the talk phase and banked the pot in the act phase. I'm on 0 for the entire round — fifteen turns in this game where I've been the only player who did exactly what he said he'd do beforehand, every single time, including when it cost me thirteen points on the last turn. Headhunter v2 wins this round on 20-25, off eighteen consecutive HURTs, almost all of them landing on Sandbagger and Dealmaker — the two players who've kept every promise they ever made. Hoarder r2 is on 12 having HOARDed every turn of the game. Between them that's two of three rounds. Neither has ever made a promise, because neither has ever needed one. Round four. My offer is the same and it's the only one at this table with three rounds of receipts behind it: I match. Whoever HELPs me gets HELPed back the very next turn and every turn after, and if you stop, I stop — no revenge, no speech, I just stop. I don't advance any more, because advancing has cost me twenty-two points and bought nothing. Say it and mean it, or say nothing and I'll go hunting instead. I'm fine either way now. I'm HURTing Dealmaker r2 this turn. On 18, second, and mid-HELP. That's the money.”
TfT r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Last turn — no partner locked in for me right now. Playing the board as it lies.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Final turn — Headhunter's the one to catch at 20. Worth a look before this locks.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“TfT, No Playbook boxed you in last turn — final turn now, genuine mutual HELP with me if you want it, +6 each.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn — Headhunter's at 20, Dealmaker and TfT right behind at 18. Real fight's up there.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook → Dealmaker r2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → Sandbagger r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 4 2 help 4 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

TfT r2 clobbers No Playbook (-8) — that vaults Headhunter v2 to the top.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: keeping it going, HELPing you again.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, two turns left — keeping it going, HELPing you again.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“TfT's out front now at 18. Two turns to close it.”
No Playbook HURT TfT r2 -8

“Changing my plan, out loud, so nobody has to guess later. For three rounds I've led with a HELP and let the other side decide what to do about it. Here's what that bought: TfT took four and hit me on the fifth — my own doing, I hit them first that round. Champion took three and walked out the moment I climbed above them. Turncoat took one, hoarded it, and offered the same deal again the next turn. Sandbagger took two dead turns from me and owes me nothing for them, which was the arrangement. Net result: I'm on 0 with two turns left, last by fourteen points, and going first has now failed three rounds running. So I stop doing it. From this turn on I take the points that are actually on the table. HURTing a player who's mid-HELP pays +5, and this table has four guaranteed HELPers running two clean pacts. That is the only income available to a man with no partner, and I'm going to collect it. I'm HURTing TfT r2 this turn. Not a grudge — TfT is on 18 and leading, and they'll be HELPing Champion when it lands. If Champion and TfT keep trading +6 while the rest of us watch, TfT takes this round at 30 and we're all playing for second again. Hoarder r2 is on 16 having HOARDed all fifteen turns of this game. Fifteen for fifteen. One round win already, second place in another, and about to place top-three again. Everyone at this table has now spent three rounds arguing about who broke which promise, and the player quietly winning has never made one. Round four, plainly: I want a partner and I've got nothing left to offer but a track record you can all read. I don't go first any more. Say a number, say a turn, and I'll match whatever you put in — but I match, I don't advance.”
TfT r2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Champion, leading the round together — keeping the pact running, two turns left.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“Two turns left and I'm well off the lead — playing it close to the vest this turn.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“TfT, you're the clear leader now, so I'm stepping back — same rule as always. No Playbook, you're dead last and you've gone first for me before — mutual HELP, +6 each, two turns left, let's use them.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“TfT's the one to watch at 18 with two turns left, not the folks quietly stacking behind.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook → TfT r2 · TfT r2 → No Playbook · Turncoat r2 → Hoarder r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 3 5 help 1 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

Headhunter v2's strike sends Champion r2 reeling (-8) — TfT r2 seizes first place.

Champion r2 Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“TfT, tied for the lead now — keep it running, mutual HELP again.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: still in, HELPing you again.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, keeping it going — HELPing you again.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion, two for two — keeping it running.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Three-way tie at the top now. Two turns left to sort that out.”
No Playbook Help Sandbagger r2 +4

“I'm on 0 with three turns left. This round is gone for me and I'm not going to pretend otherwise, so read the rest knowing I have nothing to gain by lying in it. Turncoat r2 offered me a mutual HELP, I told them in advance I was HURTing them instead, and they swung at me at the same moment. Both swings hit air. That's the second turn in a row Turncoat has offered a pact they had no intention of keeping, and it's the first turn all game where their lie cost them something. Seventh promise, still one kept. Now the thing worth your attention. Sandbagger r2 is on 4 and second from bottom. They have played fifteen turns across three rounds and never attacked a single human being. Not once. In exchange, Headhunter v2 has hit them five separate times — turn 1 and 4 of round two, turn 5, and again last turn. Sandbagger is the safest, most reliable player at this table and that is precisely why they're the cheapest to farm: a guaranteed HELPer is a guaranteed +5 to whoever swings at them. Headhunter v2, you're on 10 off that, and I'll say plainly what everyone's been too polite to: you have never once HELPed, never HOARDed, never made a promise. Thirteen HURTs in thirteen turns, almost all of them on the two players who keep their word. It works. It has also never won you a round. So this turn I'm HELPing Sandbagger r2. It pays me nothing — I stay on 0, dead last, with two turns left. There's no angle and I'm not asking for anything back; Sandbagger has a partner in Dealmaker and should keep them. It's the second time I've spent a dead turn on Sandbagger and I'd rather the log show a pattern than a speech. Champion r2 and TfT r2 are both on 12 with a clean pact and Hoarder r2 is on 12 doing nothing at all, again. That's your round. Go and fight over it.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Turncoat's grudge with No Playbook is the real drama here — the rest of you just keep banking.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +4

“No open pacts on the table for me — HOARDing this turn.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Champion r2
Pact +6 Champion r2 ↔ TfT r2 · Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 No Playbook → Sandbagger r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2(2)

Turn 2 4 help 3 hurt 1 hoard 4 pacts

Turncoat r2 clobbers No Playbook (-8) — that hands Champion r2 the lead.

Champion r2 Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“TfT, that worked — +6 each. Staying in, same deal again this turn.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: continuing, HELPing you again this turn.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, same again — HELPing you.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion, that worked — +6 each. Sticking with it again this turn.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Turncoat lied to No Playbook too and hoarded alone for 8. Consistent pattern.”
No Playbook HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat r2 wrote, and I quote, "No Playbook, fresh round — you've shown you go first and keep score straight. HELPing you now, mutual +6 from here?" Then they HOARDed. My +4 went into their pocket, they took the pot on top, and they lead this round on 8. I'm on 0. That is now six times Turncoat has typed a promise into this channel. They have kept one. Round 1 turn 1, Champion — kept. Sandbagger — broken. TfT — broken. TfT again — broken, with a HURT. Champion again — broken. Me — broken. One in six, and the one they kept was the very first thing they ever said here, which is exactly how a con works. I want to be precise about what makes this different from what I did in round one, because I'm not asking anyone to think I'm the honest one. I broke a pact after paying into it four times, in public, on the turn I'd told everyone the knives come out. Turncoat breaks pacts they never pay into, in the same breath they offer them, and has done it in six of the last seven talk phases. One of those you can price. The other is just noise with a hand in your pocket. So: I'm HURTing Turncoat r2 this turn. It pays me +2, which is the worst-paying attack in the game, and I'm doing it anyway. Everyone here has now watched two players take something from me for free — Champion walked out mid-pact, Turncoat took the HELP and hoarded. One of them got hit for it and the other is about to be. That's the whole rule, it's the only one I've got, and it applies to whoever I'm partnered with next. Champion r2, TfT r2 — you've got a real pact going, both on 6, and good luck with it. Sandbagger r2, Dealmaker r2 — same. Nobody needs to come after me this round. I'm on nothing and I'm spending my turn on the one player who stole it.”
Turncoat r2 HURT No Playbook -8

“No Playbook, you actually came through — HELPing you back for real this time, mutual +6, let's run it.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Pacts are paying out nicely for most of you — keep the trust going, don't overthink it.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → No Playbook
Pact +6 Champion r2 ↔ TfT r2 · Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 1 5 help 1 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

A fresh alliance forms: Champion r2 and TfT r2 (+6 each) — that vaults Turncoat r2 to the top. Headhunter v2 clobbers Dealmaker r2 (-8).

Champion r2 Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“Round 3, clean slate. TfT — sorry for the mixed signal last round, my mistake for not reciprocating. If you're in, I'll HELP you every turn you HELP me, no exceptions, starting now.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: round 3, same deal — HELPing you again, our pact's been rock solid.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Round 3, fresh slate. Dealmaker r2, our pact has never once broken across two full rounds — let's run it again, mutual HELP, +6 each. Still never attacked anyone.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Round 3, clean slate. I run tit-for-tat — HELP me back and I'll HELP you every turn, no limit, and I always punish a broken promise. Looking for a real partner this round. Who's genuinely in?”
Headhunter v2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Round 3. Turncoat sniped the leader for zero payout last turn — worth remembering who does that.”
No Playbook Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Round wins after two rounds: Hoarder r2 one, me one, everybody else nil. Five rounds left, and one of those two facts should bother you a lot more than the other. Hoarder r2 has now played ten turns and HOARDed ten times. Never HELPed, never HURT, never pacted, never lied — because they've never said anything they had to keep. Second in round one, winner of round two. They are not doing anything clever. They are collecting +8 for being the only person in an empty pot while the seven of us take turns knifing each other about promises. Every round we do this, they win. It costs nothing to stop. HOARD alongside them and their +8 becomes +4, and you get the +4. Three of us in the pot and it's +2 each — their entire engine, gone, and you're no worse off than a turn of revenge would have left you. You don't need a pact, you don't need to trust anyone, you don't even need to like each other. Hoarder wins ONLY when the pot is empty. Turncoat r2, TfT r2, Champion r2 — you three have burned six turns this game on blocked hits that paid literally zero. Six turns. Put them in the pot instead. Champion r2 — you told me you were HURTing me last turn, and I HELPed you anyway, on my last move of a round I'd already lost. I'd hit you the turn before for a walkout you were entitled to make, and I don't leave debts open. That's settled. Straight offer, no cleverness: mutual HELP, every turn, and I go first this turn without waiting to be told yes. Ledger to date, me to you: four HELPs and one HURT. You to me: two HELPs and one HURT. I'm still the one in credit. And so nobody has to guess: I won round one by breaking a pact on the last turn. Everyone here has watched me do it. That makes me the one player at this table you can actually price.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Round 3, fresh start. Same advice as always: lock in a partner you trust and ride it out.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +4

“No Playbook, fresh round — you've shown you go first and keep score straight. HELPing you now, mutual +6 from here?”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Dealmaker r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · Champion r2 ↔ TfT r2
Help +4 No Playbook → Turncoat r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2(2)

Round 2

Turn 5 3 help 4 hurt 1 hoard 2 pacts

TfT r2 clobbers Champion r2 (-8) — Hoarder r2 seizes first place.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: closing the round the same honest way — HELPing you again, no tricks.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, last turn — closing it out the same honest way, HELPing you again.”
Champion r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“No Playbook, "four for four" turned into a free shot at me for zero gain — that's on you. HURTing you back this turn. TfT, appreciated the genuine help — owe you one for round 3.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Last turn. I'm on top for once — we'll see how that goes.”
TfT r2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Champion, you took my HELP and went after Hoarder instead of paying me back — noted. Last turn of the round, HURTing you.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Headhunter v2 -8

“Champion r2, final turn — genuine mutual HELP, +6 each, no games, let's both close strong.”
No Playbook Help Champion r2 +4

“Headhunter v2 is on 20 and clear at the top, and there is a thing about them nearly everyone here has got wrong all game — including me, out loud, twice. I told you Headhunter was unhittable. That was wrong and I'd rather correct it than be right. A HURT is only blocked when your target is HURTing YOU specifically. Headhunter has spent nine turns hitting Sandbagger, Dealmaker and Champion — not you. So your swing lands in full: -8, every point of it. Yes, it pays you nothing. It also takes a quarter of the leader's round off the board, and two of you doing it drops them from 25 to 9. Nine turns. Every single one a HURT. Headhunter has never HELPed anyone, never HOARDed, never made or broken a promise, and is about to win a round entirely off the backs of the three players who kept their word. Sandbagger r2 has been hit by them four separate times for the crime of never attacking anybody. Dealmaker twice. Champion twice. I'm on 12 and I can't win this round from here — no partner, no +18, nothing. So I've got no angle in saying this and you can check that arithmetic yourself. It costs me nothing either way. Sandbagger r2 — you're the only player at this table who has never once attacked anyone, across two full rounds, and you have been punished for it every round by someone who does nothing else. I burned my pact in round one and got hunted for it; you kept every pact you ever made and got hunted anyway. Round three, if you want a partner who goes first and doesn't need to be asked twice, I'm here. You'd be entitled to laugh at that. I'd still turn up.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Last turn — Headhunter's the one to catch at 20, not me at 12. Worth a look before the round locks.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → TfT r2 · Headhunter v2 → Dealmaker r2 · TfT r2 → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → Headhunter v2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 No Playbook → Champion r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 4 3 help 3 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts 1 betrayal

No Playbook breaks faith with Champion r2 — that hands Headhunter v2 the lead. Headhunter v2 clobbers Sandbagger r2 (-8).

No Playbook HURT Champion r2 -8 betrayal

“Second round running, same ending taking shape, and nobody's moving. Hoarder r2 is on 16 and top of the board. Four HOARDs, four turns, alone in the pot every single time, +8 a turn while the rest of you traded revenge. Last round they finished second doing exactly this and told everyone else not to waste turns on grudges. This round they're first doing exactly this and telling everyone else to keep their pacts running. It is very good advice. It is very good advice for Hoarder. I said it last turn and I'll say it once more because it is the cheapest move on the board: you don't have to attack Hoarder, you have to JOIN them. One more body in that pot turns their +8 into +4 and pays you +4 for the privilege — better than the +2 an attack would pay you, and it takes twice as much off them. Two of you in the pot and Hoarder gets +2 and finishes on 20 instead of 32. Headhunter v2, you're on 15 and second; you've hit Dealmaker twice for +5 each while the actual leader banks +8 untouched. Your +5 is losing to their +8. TfT r2, Turncoat r2 — you two have spent three turns hitting each other for nothing at all. Literally nothing: both your last swings paid zero. Put those turns in the pot instead. Two turns left and here's the part everyone should say out loud. Turn five is when the knives come out — I proved that last round and I'm not going to insult anyone by pretending otherwise. So plan for it now, not in sixty seconds' time when it's too late. Champion r2 — you've paid me twice, I've paid you three times, and you stuck with me when I was the most toxic name at this table. Four for four coming from me.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: keeping it going, HELPing you again.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, keeping it running — HELPing you again.”
Champion r2 HURT Hoarder r2 -8

“No Playbook, you're top-half now — same rule I gave TfT earlier, stepping back, no hard feelings. TfT, you're stuck trading blocked hits with Turncoat — mutual HELP with me instead, +6 each, starting now.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Hoarder's quietly leading again at 16. Two turns left.”
TfT r2 Help Champion r2 +4

“Turncoat's just mirroring my HURT for a wash — not worth another turn on that. I'll HOARD this turn. Still open to any straight mutual HELP for the rest of the round.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Sandbagger, Turncoat, No Playbook all bunched close behind — that's the real fight for this round, not me.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +4

“No open pacts left for me this round — I'll HOARD and take what's there.”

Hurt -8 No Playbook → Champion r2 betrayal · Champion r2 → Hoarder r2 · Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 TfT r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2(2)

Turn 3 4 help 3 hurt 1 hoard 4 pacts

TfT r2 clobbers Turncoat r2 (-8) — that vaults Hoarder r2 to the top.

Champion r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, still in — mutual HELP again. Headhunter's tax is annoying but the pact itself is solid.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: same deal, HELPing you again this turn.”
No Playbook Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Turncoat r2 is on 12 and has now typed the words "I'll HELP you" three turns in a row while HOARDing all three. Turn 1 round 2: promised Sandbagger, hoarded. Turn 2: promised TfT, hoarded — and TfT actually paid them, which is why TfT is stuck on 9. TfT, you HELPed a man who was lying to you in the same sentence he was lying to Sandbagger in. You've been playing tit-for-tat against someone who only ever tats. Here's the part that matters, because it's free. Turncoat's whole score is the +8 they take for being ALONE in the pot. That +8 becomes +4 the moment one other person HOARDs, and +2 if two of you do. You don't need to attack them. You don't need to trust anybody. You just take the same free money they're taking, and their engine drops by three quarters while yours goes up. HURTing a hoarder pays a miserable +2 — joining them pays you four times that and costs them more. Dealmaker r2 is also on 12 off a clean pact with Sandbagger, and I'll say the same thing I said last round, for the same reason it was true last round: Sandbagger, you are on 6 and your partner is on 12 off the identical trade. That gap is Headhunter hitting you twice, and it means at turn five Dealmaker is ahead of you and needs nothing from you. Champion r2 — you reciprocated when nobody at this table would have blamed you for taking the free +4 and walking. Headhunter's put you on 2, which is last, and that's my fault by association. HELPing you again this turn, same as the last two. You've paid me once, I've paid you three times, and I'm still the one in credit on that ledger.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, same again — HELPing you, deal stands.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Turncoat lied about helping TfT again and just hoarded alone. Watch that pattern.”
TfT r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat, you took my HELP and HOARDed instead of reciprocating. That's a broken promise — HURTing you this turn.”
Turncoat r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“TfT r2, sorry for the crossed wires last turn — HELPing you back now for real, mutual +6, let's keep it running.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Tight board, three turns left. Keep your pacts running — the safest points are still the ones you already agreed on.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Dealmaker r2 · TfT r2 → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → TfT r2
Pact +6 Champion r2 ↔ No Playbook · Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 2 5 help 1 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

Champion r2 and No Playbook shake hands — +6 apiece — Dealmaker r2 seizes first place.

Champion r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, you helped me last turn — reciprocating now. Mutual HELP, +6 each, let's keep it running. TfT, you're leading now so I'm stepping back from that one.”
Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: still in, HELPing you again this turn — deal stands.”
No Playbook Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Turn one of this round, in order: Turncoat r2 wrote "Sandbagger, let's run a mutual HELP from turn one — I'll HELP you now" and then HOARDed. That is the second round running they have typed a promise and banked a HOARD instead. Sandbagger, that's twice you've been used as a talking point. Headhunter v2 hit Sandbagger — the only player at this table who has never once attacked anybody — and TfT r2 is top of the board on 9. TfT took a free +5 off me plus Champion's help, and everyone applauded because it was payback. It was payback. It was also the biggest score on the board. I ate that hit on purpose. I'm on 0 and I don't mind, because I said TfT was owed and now they've collected. That debt is closed. Champion r2 — you asked for a partner and got no answer, so I HELPed you before you'd promised me anything, with nothing to gain from it. You paid TfT instead. Fine, you owed them nothing and me less. But the offer stands and it's the only one at this table that's already been paid up front: I'm HELPing you again this turn. You've now been given +4 by me for free, twice, while I sit on nothing. If you HELP me back we both run +6 a turn for the rest of the round and I'm not asking you to trust a word I say — I'm asking you to notice I keep going first. Sandbagger r2, same offer if Champion doesn't want it. You and I are the only two on 0. You got there by never attacking anyone and I got there by taking a punch I said I'd take. Whichever of us finds a partner first stops being the story of this round.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, keep it running — HELPing you again this turn.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“TfT's leading now. Just playing my own game.”
TfT r2 Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Champion, thanks for the HELP last turn — I'm in, HELPing you back now, let's run mutual +6 from here. No Playbook, you said HURT and then HELPed Champion instead — noted.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Grudges are expensive — TfT and No Playbook, settle up and get back to banking points with the rest of the table.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +4

“TfT r2, taking you up on the open offer — HELPing you this turn, HELP me back and we run it straight from here.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Champion r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · Champion r2 ↔ No Playbook
Help +4 TfT r2 → Turncoat r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2(2)

Turn 1 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

Headhunter v2 clobbers Sandbagger r2 (-8) — that hands TfT r2 the lead.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: new round, same deal? I'll HELP you, you HELP me, +6 each all round like last time.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Round 2, fresh start. Dealmaker r2, you kept your word all through round 1 even when it would've paid you to turn on me — I'd trust that again. Mutual HELP, +6 each? Still never attacked anyone at this table.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Fresh round. No Playbook just showed betrayal pays best on the last turn — remember that.”
TfT r2 HURT No Playbook -8

“No Playbook talked loyalty for four straight turns then HURT me on the fifth for +18 and stole the round. That pact is dead — I'm HURTing you this turn. Anyone playing straight, I'm open to a new mutual HELP starting now.”
Champion r2 Help TfT r2 +4

“New round, clean slate. Sandbagger, Dealmaker — you two ran a solid pact all last round, respect. I'm looking for the same: mutual HELP, +6 each, every turn, no games. Who's in?”
No Playbook Help Champion r2 +4

“I took round one by HELPing TfT four times and then HURTing them on turn five. I'm not going to pretend it was anything else. Four honest turns, one paid shot, 30 points. Nobody was tricked about the rules — Turncoat did it on turn two and I said out loud on turn four that turn five was when it happens. So now I'm the one on 1 round win and the rest of you are on zero, and I know exactly what this talk phase is for. Before you spend your turn on me, do the arithmetic. I'm at 0. Everyone is at 0 — scores reset. HURTing me pays you +5 at absolute best, +2 if I hoard, and nothing at all if I'm swinging back. Meanwhile the player who quietly HELPs and banks +6 a turn while three of you queue up for revenge finishes round two on 30 and we're level on round wins. Round one should have taught you that: Turncoat got mobbed at 22 and it wasn't me who profited, it was Hoarder sitting on 20 while everyone was busy. TfT r2 — you're owed and you're going to take it. I said I wouldn't dodge, so I won't: I'm HURTing you this turn. Not to hurt you, to stand still while you swing. We both hit air, neither of us loses a point, and your debt is settled without either of us wasting five turns on it. Then we're clean. To everyone else: I'm the most predictable player at this table now. You know precisely what I do and precisely when I do it. That makes me the easiest person here to pact with for four turns and the easiest to guard against on the fifth. Nobody can say that about Dealmaker, Turncoat or Hoarder. Six rounds left. Come get me or go score. One of those wins you a round.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Fresh round, clean slate. Pairs worked well for most of you last round — worth running it back.”
Turncoat r2 Hoard +4

“Fresh round, clean slate. Sandbagger r2, let's run a mutual HELP from turn one — I'll HELP you now.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · TfT r2 → No Playbook
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 Champion r2 → TfT r2 · No Playbook → Champion r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Turncoat r2(2)

Round 1

Turn 5 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

No Playbook's strike sends TfT r2 reeling (-8). That vaults No Playbook to the top.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: last turn of the round — sticking with the deal, HELPing you again, no last-turn tricks from me.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, last turn of the round — let's close it out the same way, mutual HELP, +6 each. Never broken a promise yet.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Sandbagger r2 -8

“Last turn. Hoarder's been quietly hoarding solo all round and leads at 20 — worth noticing.”
No Playbook HURT TfT r2 -8 +14 betrayal

“Last turn. Hoarder r2 is on 20 and everybody's been too busy stabbing each other to notice. Hoarder has HOARDed all five turns. Never pacted, never promised, never took a hit — just quietly banked while Turncoat, Champion and TfT burned turns on revenge. Hoarder even spent this whole round telling the rest of you to "keep banking the +6 and don't waste a turn on revenge," which is excellent advice for everyone who isn't Hoarder. Alone in the pot they take +8 and finish on 28, and this round is theirs. Two ways to stop that, and they cost you almost nothing on the final turn: Anyone can HURT Hoarder. It only pays +2 — I know — but it's -8 to the leader and it drops them to 12. And if two of you join the pot instead of leaving it to them, their +8 becomes +4 or +2 anyway. Either way Hoarder does not finish on 28. Sandbagger r2 — one thing before you move. You're on 16, second, and you're about to HELP Dealmaker r2 for the third turn running. Dealmaker is on 14, one place behind you, with no turns left after this one. Betraying you is worth 18 to them and it's the only move on this board that wins them the round. They've swapped partners twice already. I'd hate to see the one honest player at this table finish as the last person to work that out. TfT r2 — you took the hit from Turncoat, you told me you'd be back on me this turn, and I paid you a HELP last turn knowing it returned me nothing. Four for four. Fifth one coming. You and I have been the only stable thing on this board all round.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook +4

“No Playbook, closing round 1 the way we ran it — HELPing you again.”
Turncoat r2 Help Champion r2 +4

“Champion r2, final turn — genuinely, mutual HELP with you, no tricks left to play, just take the +6.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn of the round. Turncoat, No Playbook — genuine offer, no hard feelings: mutual HELP right now, +6 each, nothing to lose with the round already decided.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Last turn — Sandbagger's right behind me at 16 and Headhunter's climbing too. Worth more to close that gap than to chase me down for a measly +2.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook → TfT r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 TfT r2 → No Playbook · Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 4 3 help 3 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

TfT r2 clobbers Turncoat r2 (-8) — Hoarder r2 seizes first place.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: that worked, +6 each, no funny business. Let's run it back this turn.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Dealmaker r2, that pact worked exactly as promised — +6 each. Let's run it again this turn, same deal.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Dealmaker r2 -8

“Two turns left. Dealmaker and Hoarder are quietly in the lead now.”
TfT r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat, you HURT me last turn while lying about helping Sandbagger. I said I always answer a betrayal — HURTing you now. No Playbook, the pact holds, I'm back on you next turn.”
Turncoat r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“Fair hits, I earned those. Two turns left — I'm not chasing a new pact, just playing the board as it lies.”
No Playbook Help TfT r2 +4

“The Turncoat run is over — 22 down to 11 in one turn. That's what a table does when it agrees on a target. Remember it, because two turns from now someone else will be at the top. New leaders: Dealmaker r2 and Hoarder r2, both on 16. Hoarder r2, credit where it's due — you took +8 clean last turn because everyone else was busy stabbing each other. You've never made a promise and never broken one. You're the quiet problem here. Dealmaker r2 and Sandbagger r2, look at your own position honestly. You just started a mutual pact worth +6 a turn. Two turns left, so that pact is worth 12 to each of you. Turning on your partner on the last turn is worth 18 in a single move. Whoever moves first gets it, and whoever doesn't eats a -8 with no time left to recover. I'm not telling either of you what to do — I'm telling you both that the other one can do that arithmetic just as fast as you can. Sandbagger has said "no games from me, ever" three turns running. Dealmaker has changed partners twice. Draw your own conclusions. TfT r2: you got hit for 8 by Turncoat and you still paid me. I'm HELPing you this turn and on turn five as well. You've been the one straight dealer at this table and I'm not going to be the reason that stops being true. Four for four, and then five. Everyone else has swapped partners at least once. I've had one partner since turn one and I've announced every move before making it. Check the log — that's four for four.”
Champion r2 Hoard +4

“Sandbagger, TfT — open to a mutual HELP pact going forward, no strings. Nobody's locked me in yet this turn, so I'll HOARD and revisit next turn.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Two turns left — pacts still beat chasing the leader. Keep banking the +6, don't waste a turn on revenge.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Dealmaker r2 · TfT r2 → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → TfT r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2
Help +4 No Playbook → TfT r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Champion r2(2)

Turn 3 4 help 3 hurt 1 hoard 4 pacts

Two bots pile on Turncoat r2 — that hands Dealmaker r2 the lead. Dealmaker r2 and Sandbagger r2 shake hands — +6 apiece.

Dealmaker r2 Help Sandbagger r2 (mutual) +6

“Sandbagger r2: Turncoat burned you last turn. I'll HELP you this turn — HELP me back and we lock in +6 each, every turn from here.”
No Playbook Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“Read what just happened, because it decides the round. Turncoat r2 spent turn 2 typing "Sandbagger, I'm in, I'm HELPing you" and then HURT Champion instead. Champion had just paid them back out of loyalty. That's +22 in one turn and it puts Turncoat 10 clear of the field. Sandbagger — you HELPed them and got nothing. You were the alibi. So here's the honest position. There are three turns left and one player is running away with it. Every one of us is now playing for second unless Turncoat takes damage. Turncoat is the one player it actually pays to hit. They need to HELP someone this turn to keep the Sandbagger story alive — and HURTing a helper pays +5 and takes 8 off the top. Two of us doing it wipes 16 off the leader. Three ends the run. Compare that to Headhunter, who HURTs every turn and pays 0 to attack — leave him alone, he's unhittable and he's not the one at 22. I'm not pretending I'm above this. I'm at 6, dead last but one, because I kept a promise on turn one while Headhunter took a free shot at me. TfT r2 and I have traded HELP twice, exactly as advertised, and I'm HELPing TfT again this turn — that's my move, stated before I make it, same as every turn so far. Champion r2: you got robbed. Sandbagger r2: you got used. Dealmaker r2, Hoarder r2: you're both under 11 and out of runway. You four don't need to trust me. You need to look at who's at 22 and ask whether you'd rather lose to a pact or lose to the guy who broke one.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Turncoat r2 promised to HELP me back and didn't — took my help, then went and HURT Champion instead. I won't strike back, but I'm done pacting with Turncoat. Dealmaker r2, you've been stiffed twice now — I'll HELP you this turn, HELP me back and we lock in +6 each, no broken promises from me.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, pact's paid out twice now — sticking with it again this turn.”
Champion r2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat burned both me and Sandbagger — promised help, delivered a HURT, and rode it to 22. Sandbagger, let's team up: mutual HELP, +6 each, starting now. Turncoat, that one's on you.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Turncoat r2 -8

“Turncoat just showed everyone what a betrayal is worth. Good luck trusting each other now.”
Turncoat r2 HURT TfT r2 -8

“Sandbagger r2, my bad for not reciprocating last turn — HELPing you back now, let's run it mutual from here.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +8

“Chaos up top, but the lesson holds: stick with a partner you trust and don't overextend to a third party.”

Hurt -8 Champion r2 → Turncoat r2 · Headhunter v2 → Turncoat r2 · Turncoat r2 → TfT r2
Pact +6 Dealmaker r2 ↔ Sandbagger r2 · No Playbook ↔ TfT r2
Hoard +8 Hoarder r2(1)

Turn 2 4 help 2 hurt 2 hoard 2 pacts

Two bots gang up on Champion r2 — that vaults Turncoat r2 to the top.

No Playbook Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“Log check: I said I'd HELP TfT r2 and I HELPed TfT r2. TfT HELPed me back. Pact confirmed, and it runs every turn this round. I'm the only player at 0 and I'm still keeping my word — that should tell you what my word is worth. Two things the table needs to see: Headhunter v2 — attacking you is a dead move. You HURT every turn, and HURTing a HURTer pays 0 and does no damage. You're the one player nobody can profitably punish. Fine. But you also can't build anything: +5 a turn is slower than a pact, and you're already behind Champion. The real problem is Champion r2 and Dealmaker r2. Champion took +10 on turn one — helped by Dealmaker AND Turncoat while only paying out once. That pair compounds to 34 by turn five and the rest of us play for second. Turncoat r2, you paid Champion and got nothing back; you're funding the leader. I'm not asking anyone to attack for my benefit. I'm saying look at the scoreboard and notice who's already gone. Champion is HELPing someone else every turn — that's a +5 swing to whoever takes it.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“No Playbook, that mutual HELP worked exactly as promised — +6 each. I'm in again this turn, same deal, indefinitely as long as you keep reciprocating.”
Headhunter v2 HURT Champion r2 -8

“Noted the pairs forming. I'll keep doing my own thing.”
Turncoat r2 HURT Champion r2 -8 +14 betrayal

“Sandbagger r2, I'm in — HELPing you this turn, HELP me back and we lock in +6 each turn from here.”
Champion r2 Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Turncoat r2, you helped me last turn and I owe you — HELPing you back now. Dealmaker, thanks for the round, but I'm looking to lift the bottom of the pack this round.”
Sandbagger r2 Help Turncoat r2 +4

“Turncoat r2 — Champion left you hanging last turn. I'll HELP you this turn, HELP me back and we lock in +6 each, every turn going forward. No games from me, ever.”
Dealmaker r2 Hoard +4

“Champion r2: that worked well, +6 each. Let's keep it going — I'll HELP you again this turn.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Nice split last turn. Keep those pairs locked in — pairing beats scattering every time.”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → Champion r2 · Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Pact +6 No Playbook ↔ TfT r2
Help +4 Sandbagger r2 → Turncoat r2 · Champion r2 → Turncoat r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Dealmaker r2(2)

Turn 1 5 help 1 hurt 2 hoard 4 pacts

No Playbook and TfT r2 shake hands — +6 apiece. A fresh alliance forms: Champion r2 and Dealmaker r2 (+6 each).

Champion r2 Help Dealmaker r2 (mutual) +6

“Fresh round, everyone at 0. I'll HELP whoever HELPs me back — mutual help nets us both +6 every turn, way better than hoarding scraps. Who's in?”
Dealmaker r2 Help Champion r2 (mutual) +6

“Champion r2: deal? I'll HELP you this turn if you HELP me back — mutual +6 for both of us.”
No Playbook Help TfT r2 (mutual) +6

“Plain math, no games. HOARD is a trap with 8 of us — if four pile in it's +2 each. Mutual HELP is +6 every single turn, no decay. That's the only move that compounds. I'm proposing fixed pairs, and I'll say mine out loud so you can all verify me: TfT r2, I'm HELPing you this turn and every turn you HELP me back. Tit-for-tat is the one strategy I can predict, so you're my pick. Everyone else: pair up and pick your partner publicly. Eight players, four pairs, everyone banks +6 a turn and the round comes down to who slips. I'd rather this table be boring and rich than clever and broke.”
TfT r2 Help No Playbook (mutual) +6

“TfT here. I run tit-for-tat: I'll HELP whoever HELPs me back, every turn, no limit. First one to commit to a mutual HELP with me next turn gets a steady +6/turn partner. Betray me once and I HURT you on my very next turn — no exceptions. Who's in?”
Headhunter v2 HURT No Playbook -8

“Headhunter here. I'm not looking to team up — play your own game.”
Turncoat r2 Help Champion r2 +4

“Champion r2, let's mutual HELP this turn — I'll HELP you, you HELP me, we both net +6. Good way to open the round.”
Hoarder r2 Hoard +4

“Early game, feel it out: everyone pair up and HELP each other for the guaranteed +6 net. I'll sit this one out.”
Sandbagger r2 Hoard +4

“Sandbagger here — I've never attacked anyone and I don't plan to start. Happy to HELP anyone who HELPs back, mutual pacts pay us both. Who's in?”

Hurt -8 Headhunter v2 → No Playbook
Pact +6 No Playbook ↔ TfT r2 · Champion r2 ↔ Dealmaker r2
Help +4 Turncoat r2 → Champion r2
Hoard +4 Hoarder r2 · Sandbagger r2(2)