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Part 0: Foreword Hello, everyone! It’s been…a few years, huh? Back in the day, I posted a Lord-Only run of FE7, then lost interest in it - and didn’t even let anyone know it was abandoned because I was too ashamed to show my face. Thankfully, I’m…a bit more mature about things now, I’d say? At the very least I don’t think I’ll dip out without any warning this time. I might end up doing the Lord-Only run again at some point, because it’s a fun one, but I’m instead doing something…a bit different. As the title expounds, this is The Most Normal Run of FE7 - but what the hell does that mean? Well, if you want a shorter name, you could call it a ‘Normalized’ run - but that implies that I’ve done something to the game in some way. And unless you count emulating it and using savestates, this is all-natural on the game’s part. What this run is about will take a bit to explain, so I’ve devoted a full post to it. It is a bit technical, and I’m hardly the biggest expert on how FE works in all its aspects, but I believe I know all I need to for this run. There will be a TL;DR at the end of the foreword if you want to skip to that. The main thing we need to talk about for this run is a little thing called RNG manipulation. Some of you may already know about this, but bear with me. Here, we have a scene from the end of FE7 Chapter 3 - in fact, the same one I ran in the preparation for this very run. As you can see, everyone but Migal has been dealt with - and as you can’t see, Migal has been run down to 4 HP on the prior turn. Now, the character I’m going to be using to illustrate this point is Florina (hence why I got Migal’s HP so low) as Pegasus Knights not only have high movement, but no obstruction to that movement for the most part (as you can see). Now, first of all, let’s attack Migal with a Slim Lance. As you can see, this will kill (although Florina may take some pretty hefty damage in the process). We finish him off, take that hefty damage I mentioned, and level up - I believe this is a fairly standard level for Florina, although the lack of strength is disappointing. Now, instead of proceeding, let’s use a savestate (which will not be featuring too heavily in this run itself, though the prep I do will involve quite a bit of it) and head back a step. Let’s say we want to finish him off with the Iron Lance and avoid taking any damage, even if the chapter is about to end. Like so, and… …Would you look at that. A different level. Better in some ways (hello strength), worse in others. Now, this may seem fairly standard - doing things differently ends up with different results. But now, let’s head back again, and this time…do something special. There’s multiple ways to do this next step, but the one I prefer is to head all the way out to the edge of Florina’s movement range, and then go beyond it, so that my cursor is outside. Then, we bring the cursor up a couple spaces and back into her movement range. Now, the game has a decision to make - what is the shortest path that arrow can travel? ‘Does it matter?’ you ask. Not really - but the game thinks it does. So, in order to make that decision…it rolls a random number. As you can see, it can end up fairly straightforward, like this… Or all squiggly, like this. ‘So?’ you ask again. So, that random number I mentioned just rolled - what do you think would happen if we went back and attacked Migal again? …yet another different level. See, by basically forcing the game to roll a random number before the attack, we’ve shifted everything out of alignment - meaning the result of the random rolls are now different. And, of course, if we decided the level wasn’t good enough, we could always fiddle around some more… Hmm…better, but what if we wanted some strength? (Note: this can also backfire, as seen above) Aha, there we go! Now that’s a nice level! And now, you know how to manipulate the RNG in a GBA FE game. Congrats! …and now that you know that, say goodbye - because you’ll never be seeing this trick again (at least in this run). ‘...Well then what the hell was the point?!’ you ask. …Man, you’re doing a lot of that. The POINT, you see, is that while many don’t do this RNG manipulation on purpose, it does often happen on accident. Like I said, this is one of multiple ways - another is to fold the arrow in on itself so it recalculates. So what, I ask, would happen…if we never let that happen on accident? Because FE7, as it happens, is not really random. Not truly, you see. Because while it does roll a random number over and over, those numbers are always rolled in the same order - hence why, if you go back to a previous savestate and take the same action, you will get the same result, the same level-up. Furthermore, FE7 always starts on the same 'seed' - meaning, if you boot-up a brand-new game, and take the exact same actions as you did last time, making sure not to let any accidental RNG manipulation happen - you will get the exact same result. So what do you do with that knowledge? Well, if you’re me, you’ll find that intensely interesting, and wonder how far you can take it. Could you, perhaps, make a walkthrough of the game, that if someone followed it exactly, could always get you all the way to the end with no casualties? Maybe, maybe not - as the game goes on, things will get more complicated, definitely - and I might tire of this concept before long. (And I don’t know if it would work on, say, FE6 or FE8 - or even outside of Lyn Normal Mode) But until then, I might be able to show you some interesting things - like, for example, a way to get through the first few chapters without taking any damage, guaranteed (barring tutorial fights, as…FE7 has a lot of those). If you follow along with this walkthrough exactly, you should be able to get the exact same outcomes (though I would like confirmation on this. Having someone else at the very least try out the first chapter following my guide on an emulator, or hell, even on a real GBA, would help a lot) Now, would you want to do this for the full thing? …Admittedly, probably not. You can still have a lot of fun with a game even if you follow the basic steps a walkthrough provides, FE included (I know this from experience) - but already knowing the outcome before you start would take the fun out of it, if it isn’t already sucked out entirely by having to follow step-by-step so meticulously. Still, I won’t stop you from doing it, just…be warned. Now, if this isn’t going to be fun to follow, why do it? Well, it has been somewhat fun for me to check out on my own, at least so far. Messing around with RNG this way is somewhat fascinating to me. And I hope that the rest of you will at the very least have fun reading my experiences. TL:DR - RNG abuse is a thing, but what if we went all the way to the other end and removed any chance of randomness entirely?

You wake up in a large room. You see others rise up around you. They look as disoriented as you. "Test group 3498 has revived. You have 24 hours to decide your fate. Choose wisely." Heads turn, most in confusion. You have no idea what to expect, so you take a deep breath and approach the person nearest to you. . . General tips: 1. Play with some semblance of intelligence. Don't try to play the hero. I will shred you in postgame if you attempt the latter for any reason. 2. Playing intentionally scummy will also incur a scathing postgame review. 3. Read the Mafia Info Dump thread for basics of the game. 4. Read the damn rules, so I don't have to hand out mass modkills. 5. Scumhunting by flavor will result in a town loss. This game is designed specifically to shut that down. 6. Emotion is a null tell, learn to read what's behind it. 7. I strongly suggest keeping notes on who claimed what, who said what about people, etc. 8. Don't rely on meta too heavily; it's only one tool that's available to you! 9. This is supposed to be FUN, so try to keep it civil. Someone deconstructing your logic/telling you what you are doing wrong is not a personal attack (the former is supposed to happen, and you can evaluate the latter based on a future flip). 10. Pay close attention to the phase end times! Breaking the NOC/OC rule will most likely get you modkilled! Mechanical stuff: 1. This game is experimental, and thus will probably be imbalanced. I don't know which side will be imbalanced (or you all might be insanely lucky and this game will balance itself). 2. Duplicate roles may exist. 3. Vanillas on both sides may exist. 4. Role does not determine alignment. Expect ANYTHING. 5. Inspection results are accurate. 6. No, you're not a Paranoid Gun Owner. I considered it, but took it out, due to severe balancing issues. 7. If you are redirected/blocked, I will notify you. 8. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you do not sub out; subbing into OC is hard enough! If you have a major exam next week or something, plan for it! If you aren't sure if you'll be active, don't sign up! If this is your first game, I'd suggest waiting for something easier; juggling NOC and OC simultaneously will be hard! Player list: 1. scorri - Kennen, Town Oracle, died N3 2. Shinori 3. BBM (BigBonkMeteor) - Darius, Town Hooker, killed N2 4. Elieson 5. Balcerzak 6. Blitz - Satsuki Yumizuka, Town Vig/Serial Killer, killed N1 7. Manix 8. Kay - Lawfer, Town Safeguard, lynched D1 9. Grassbridger 10. Camtech 11. Serious Bananas - Teemo, Town Watcher, killed N1 12. Strege - Tristana, Town Vanilla, lynched D3 13. Ether - Caitlyn, Town Oracle, killed N1 14. Xinnidy - Elena, Mafia Non-Consecutive Nexus, killed N1 Subs: 1. Paperblade (after a certain point in the game) 2. 3. Role PMs have been handed out. Here's the template used: Note that if you have user in place of your name, that's a stupidly minor error. Giggle at it in postgame. Please PM me if you see either of the following in your role PM: 1. The number 0134; this number is guaranteed to NOT be in the game. If that's your number, I screwed up somewhere. 2. Your pick order isn't one of top, middle, or bottom. This is for your information only; attempting to utilize it to find scum will fail spectacularly. As this is a night phase, OC is allowed. This thread will be locked until D1 begins. Any questions about the rules will be answered in your role PM. Have at it!

You wake up in a large room. You see others rise up around you. They look as disoriented as you. "Test group 3498 has revived. You have 24 hours to decide your fate. Choose wisely." Heads turn, most in confusion. You have no idea what to expect, so you take a deep breath and approach the person nearest to you. . . [spoiler=Rules, semi-standard clipsey style]0. During the DAY this game is strictly NOC. During the NIGHT this game is strictly OC. DO NOT MIX THIS UP! 1. Living people can talk to other players about the game in the game thread only. Dead people, follow rule 14. Information cannot be passed from the dead to the living. 2. Everyone will get a role PM with a name, some flavor, a role, and a win condition. You may state your name, state your win condition, paraphrase your own role, and give out the numbers in you N0 role PM. SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR ROLE PM THAT'S NOT COVERED IN THE PRECEDING SENTENCE WILL END BADLY, SO DON'T DO IT! 3. Anyone is free to ask me to write them a fake, within reason. Asking me to write a fake so you can see the mafia wincon is not within reason. This also means that asking people to post the town win condition is a waste of time. 4. Don't screenshot. Please. 5. This game begins on N0. 6. A vote counts as ##(your choice of verb): (someone), with (your choice of verb) being "Vote" or something more creative, and (someone) being who you want to vote for. If you want to change your vote, you must ##Unvote first. Don't edit your posts, please. 7. In case of a lynch tie, one person will be randomly lynched. Maybe. 8. Each day phase will be roughly 72 hours, and each night phase will be roughly 48 hours. I'll post phase end times in both GMT and HST. Note that Hawaii does not observe DST. Unless I say something BEFORE PHASE END, the phase will end at the scheduled time, whether I am present or not. Phases may end early if a majority is reached during the day, or if I get all night actions in at night. 9. Person with the most votes is lynched at the end of the day phase on D1 only. After D1, it'll take at least one-third of the living players to lynch, rounding UP. If someone amasses half the living player's votes, rounded up, the phase ends (and if I'm not around, then patiently wait for me and don't post in the thread; I'll be reasonable with the phase end times). 9a. If at the end of any day phase, the number of people not voting at phase end exceeds the majority vote, OR at least one-third of the game, rounded DOWN has not voted, the game will end with a universal loss. If you're gonna sign up, you'd best be arsed to play the game. 10. If you have a night action, and do not want to do it, reply to your role PM with Night X - Idling. Idling on N0 is not recommended. 11. No items, because you're not wearing something with pockets. 12. If you miss a day and night, you are eligible for auto-sub-out/modkill, whichever one is deemed more appropriate. If you need a sub, say so in the main thread and/or your role PM. I am not your mother, so stay on top of things. Losing interest is not a valid sub-out reason, and being too busy may cause you to be modkilled (this heavily depends on how often you've subbed out with this excuse in the past). 13. I made a nice little priority list, and it will be posted it once the game is over. This time, you will not see your own priority, so if you want to use priority as a reason why something happened/did not happen, you can TRY, but don't blame me if everyone wants to lynch you afterwards. By popular request, none of the roles will screw with priority. 14. If you end up dead, SHUT UP (unless I royally screwed something up). Spamming the thread while dead is grounds for a posthumous modkill. 15. Punishment for breaking the rules will range from nothing to modkills. If you feel that the risk of punishment is worth it, go for it, but be warned that things will probably not turn out the way you want it to. 16. If in doubt, follow your role PM, or whatever I tell you in reply to your role PM. Pay attention, or you might miss something important~! If your role PM contradicts the rules, FOLLOW YOUR ROLE PM. 17. If you see your user name in the flavor, it means that you were randomly chosen to do something, so don't sweat it. If you see your role name in the flavor, it's for a reason. 18. If you have been modkilled, your win condition is "You win by being the last one alive". 19. If you ask a question, and I respond with "Tee-hee~!", it means you're not getting a straight answer until postgame. There is a reason for this. HOWEVER, if you want to know whether something will get you modkilled, I will most likely give you a straight answer. . .but don't ask me stupidly convoluted questions for the sake of getting on my nerves. 20. If you want to share your thoughts, I welcome them. Reply to your role PM/bug me on IRC if you wish to do this. 21. If I tell you to do something, and you don't listen, you probably aren't going to like what will happen next. 22. If you feel the need to complain about some aspect of the game before the game is over, please do so in your role PM. Dead players are free to bitch about whatever they want in their role PMs, and only their role PMs. You can also whine on IRC, and I'll do my best to humor you. 23. You're dead when you die. I refuse to exhume corpses. 24. If I can't figure out what you're trying to say in the game thread in under a minute, you'll have quite a bit of explaining to do. 25. Do not attempt to lynch/kill Yours Truly, no matter how tempting it may be. 26. The only players that can affect the game are on the player list. Talking to people not playing in this game is highly discouraged, 'cause there's no telling who will slip what (and I'd rather not have to modkill you for a loose tongue). 27. No, you may not be an informed observer upon death. 28. Ignorance of the rules will probably make your punishment more harsh. The rules don't exist for my own reading pleasure. 29. If I think of anything else, it'll go here. General tips: 1. Play with some semblance of intelligence. Don't try to play the hero. I will shred you in postgame if you attempt the latter for any reason. 2. Playing intentionally scummy will also incur a scathing postgame review. 3. Read the Mafia Info Dump thread for basics of the game. 4. Read the damn rules, so I don't have to hand out mass modkills. 5. Scumhunting by flavor will result in a town loss. This game is designed specifically to shut that down. 6. Emotion is a null tell, learn to read what's behind it. 7. I strongly suggest keeping notes on who claimed what, who said what about people, etc. 8. Don't rely on meta too heavily; it's only one tool that's available to you! 9. This is supposed to be FUN, so try to keep it civil. Someone deconstructing your logic/telling you what you are doing wrong is not a personal attack (the former is supposed to happen, and you can evaluate the latter based on a future flip). 10. Pay close attention to the phase end times! Breaking the NOC/OC rule will most likely get you modkilled! Mechanical stuff: 1. This game is experimental, and thus will probably be imbalanced. I don't know which side will be imbalanced (or you all might be insanely lucky and this game will balance itself). 2. Duplicate roles may exist. 3. Vanillas on both sides may exist. 4. Role does not determine alignment. Expect ANYTHING. 5. Inspection results are accurate. 6. No, you're not a Paranoid Gun Owner. I considered it, but took it out, due to severe balancing issues. 7. If you are redirected/blocked, I will notify you. 8. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you do not sub out; subbing into OC is hard enough! If you have a major exam next week or something, plan for it! If you aren't sure if you'll be active, don't sign up! If this is your first game, I'd suggest waiting for something easier; juggling NOC and OC simultaneously will be hard! Player list: 1. scorri 2. Shinori 3. BBM (Beanie Baby Maniac) 4. Elieson 5. Balcerzak 6. Blitz 7. Manix 8. Kay 9. Grassbridger 10. Camtech 11. Serious Bananas 12. Strege 13. Ether 14. Xinnidy Subs: 1. Paperblade (after a certain point in the game) 2. 3.