I haven't actually played the game yet, but I have read the rules and forums and stuff, and I know the Topic sounds ridicilous, but read on...

The apparent stupidity aside, can a player simply ask other players if some of them is a Cylon? And can the Cylon one simply answer: "Yes, I'm a Cylon". (No reveals involved). I suppose yes, unless there's some secrecy rule that I'm not aware of. That's what I wan't to know. Anyhing preventing this?

Here's the hypothetical situation. A 5 player game after sleeper phase and I'm a President and also a hidden Cylon. Of the other 4 I don't know who the other Cylon is. A player before me XO'd me giving me basicly 3 actions to take in a row (2 from XO and soon next is my turn again). I have drawn the 2 Quorum cards that can send people to Brig and during my actual turn I could use Admiral's Quarters. So basicly I could try to jail all 3 humans at once right? Now, I don't wan't to jail the other Cylon so I would announce my plan aloud: "Guys, I'm a Cylon and I'm going to brig three of you. Whoever is the second Cylon, please speak now so I won't jail you." Now of course if the second Cylon says he is the other one, then he would blew his cover as well but I think two known but free Cylons against 3 brigged humans is a neat deal don't you think?

Seems rules legit, if possibly ill advised and un-fun.

Yeah, you can announce that. But it is up to the other players to believe you. If you are not a Cylon, it would be dumb to admit you are. And if you are a Cylon, you'd probably get brigged pretty quick.

The only secret card you're allowed to reveal is a loyalty card. I would assume this includes your own.

I once admitted to being a cylon in a game. It was early on (I think the second go-around, maybe third) and someone blindly accused me of being a cylon. So, deadpan, I said "Yes, I am a cylon." Nobody believed me -- except perhaps the other cylon. We played for at least another hour before I revealed myself.

Your situation is entirely different, and in fact I know at least one person (Seth) who would never play with you again if you pulled it in a game he was playing (in fact, he got quite pissed when we played Saturday at a human who saw both his Loyalty cards, knew he was human, and then said "Brig him." Well, after we found out the one guy was human, too, I was ready to beat him up as well. Seth and I had both cylons pegged until Brian pulled his little stunt, and of couse the cylons were able to beat us. A disappointing game to say the least.

This is fine, the obvious counter is to simply have everyone announce they're a Cylon.

"I am Spartacus"

Kingmaker said:

Sure if they have time to think, but out of the blue I think it could work. But I'm not gonna do this kind of stuff, not atleast in the first games. I never thought how unfun it could be, but I can see it now. Thanks for the responses guys.

JerusalemJones said:

I can understand why your friend would pissed if a human player deliberately sabotaged his own team like that, but in the OP's situation there should be no reason to get mad. Everyone acted in the rules, and despite what people say you can't be sure they're being truthful. Consider these situations:

Situation 1:

Cylon A: "I'm going to throw three people in the brig, I need the other cylon to identify themself."

Cylon B and Human A both immediately say: "I'm a cylon"

Situation 2:

Human A: "I'm going to throw three people in the brig, I need the other cylon to identify themself"

Cylon A and Cylon B both immediately say: "I'm a cylon"

azuredarkness said:

I almost said it too. Hey do you post on the RPG.NET forums?

Hipsu said:

Ummmm whats to stop a human player from doing the exact same thing? As a bluff? "HAH TOASTER FOOLED YOU! Brig the bastard!"

I've had games where either I have or another player has jailed the admiral in a plan to get the Admiralty. Something similar is jailing the president so she won't have much impact on determining the next president. It may seem like a jerk move and perhaps a bit against the spirit of the game, but thematically its great. Many points of the series focused on the conflict between people who were trying consolidate or steal power from others.

azuredarkness said:

"I'm Brian! And so's my wife!"

Gaius Frakkin Baltar said:

You're not allowed to reveal loyalty cards (unless yuo're revealing as a Cylon). But they *are* the only type of secret card you're allowed to talk (and/or lie) about.

Bleached Lizard said:

The new FAQ allows you to discuss if you have certain types of Skill cards in order to determine if you can use an action. For example. you can ask if people have Strategic Plannings before you decide to roll a die.

Furthermore, you aren't allowed to talk about which Cylon card you have, just as you aren't allowed to talk about specifics on cards that you saw secretly. You can only say Cylon or Not Cylon, good or bad.

Hipsu said:

If you ever said that in my group, everybody would instantly claim to be cylon. Or human. A human would try not to be brigged, but a cylon would either suspect you wanting to flush them out, thinking you a liar or believe you and tell the truth.

Nice try, but this game is about lying and making false and true accusations. What makes you think you could rely on those answers?

Almost this exact thing happend in our group. I was not the Cylon, but a friend who was the Cylon, sort of asked who the other one was, and I hinted that it was me (quite obviously) in order to try to get him to XO me instead of revealing. He almost did aswell, which would have been funny as I was the president with 2 Arrest Orders in my hand

My reaction to a Cylon doing that would be to immediately respond with a yes if I was not a Cylon, though if I was a Cylon, I am not sure that I would say anything.