19th Century London, England.
Bethlem Royal Hospital
Bethlem Royal Hospital The notorious institution, which was the first to specialise in mental health treatment in Europe was founded in 1247 during the reign of Henry III.
Its reputation was tarnished for centuries by the inhumane treatment by those in their care. Over the years its aura of insanity was amplified by misrule of the infamous Monro family, earning the institution its cruel name, Bedlam.
Can the patients take over the asylum? Apply to play here!
Welcome to Bedlam – Masters of Madness
PLAYERS
MAXIMUM OF 20 PLAYERS.
Before the game begins, each player will receive a message with roles details and their true identities. You will also be advised of whose side you are on. You will either be part of the Monro Dynasty or a Patient (Bedlamite)
ROLES
The following roles may be in play for this game:
MONRO DYNASTY
DR. JAMES MONRO
(13 October 1680 – 4 November 1752) was a physician specializing in the treatment of madness at Bethlem Hospital in London, better known as Bedlam.
James was the first of the Monro family of physicians who formed a dynasty of mad-doctors between 1728 and 1855
ROLE: Lobotomist Surgeon, Information Thief.
POWER: Single use power only. Can choose one person ONCE only and steal’s that persons vote, and if their chosen person has a role steal’s that person’s role information for 24 hrs. Can also submit night order to hosts.
DR. JOHN MONRO
(16 November 1716 – 27 December 1791) Upon his father’s death in 1752 he succeeded as Physician of Bedlam Hospital.
He delivered the Harveian Oration in 1757 stating that madness could only be cured when “vomiting is infinitely preferable to any other cure”.
ROLE: Isolation Therapist, Role Blocker.
POWER:Chooses one person per night phase to visit and role block that person if they have a role. Cannot submit mafia night kill orders to hosts.
DR. THOMAS MONRO
(10 November 1759 – 13 May 1833) Assistant Head Physician of Bedlam Hospital.
In 1792 he became Principal Physician as successor to his father. He resigned in June 1816, as a result of scandal when he was accused of ‘wanting in humanity’ towards his patients.
ROLE: Rotational Therapist, Role Checker
POWER: Visits one person per night and learns that persons alignment i.e. cop/town/independent. If the person they check is also visited on the same night the visited person will appear as a Monro on report. Can submit night orders to hosts.
DR. EDWARD MONRO
(21 November 1789 – 25 January 1856) Head Physician of Bedlam Hospital.
On his father’s resignation in 1816 he was appointed as Principal Physician of Bedlam Hospital, the fourth of his family in direct line to hold that position.
ROLE:Doctor in charge
POWER: Has no special powers, is just a contributing member of the Monro Dynasty chat. Cannot submit night orders to hosts.
DR. JOHN HALSAM
(1764–1844) was an English apothecary, physician and medical writer, known for his work on mental illness. He was a cruel Apothecary who believed that in order to be cured, the mentally infirm first needed to be broken.
ROLE: Single Use Kill
POWER: Is not in the Mafia chat. Has a single use power, day or night phase can prescribe a lethal dose of meds to a single player of their choice and instantly kills that player.
EVIL NURSE AMELIA DYER
Trained as a nurse, and widowed in 1769, she was an uncaring prodigy to the lead physician of the day.
ROLE:Dispenses meds to patient on drug therapy
POWER: Plays scissors paper rock anonymously (thru hosts) with drug therapy patient to decide if they receive their meds. Can submit night kill order to hosts.
PATIENTS OF BEDLAM
PATIENT 54 – ESTHER HANNAH STILL
Suffers: Acute Mania and Delusions Treatment: Induced Vomiting
Esther arrived at the hospital in 1858 and was diagnosed with chronic mania and delusions.
ROLE: Role Blocker
POWER: Has a doll that she is very attached to, which she shares with one player per night. Whoever receives the doll is occupied holding the doll and cannot perform their duties; i.e. role blocked that night phase.
PATIENT 25 – ELIZABETH THEW
Suffers: Insanity Treatment: Electroshock therapy
Committed infanticide and was admitted to Bedlam in 1852 after being tried for the murder of her two-month-old infant and subsequently diagnosed with acute mania.
ROLE: Role Checker
POWER:Has been to electroshock therapy and is confused. Visits one person per night and learns of their alignment; however, because of the electroshock therapy she is confused and only gets correct information 33% of the time.
PATIENT 38 – james norris
Suffers: Incurable Mania Treatment: Straight Jacket
James Norris, an American marine reported to be 55 years of age who had been detained since 1 February 1800. Norris had been continuously restrained for about a decade in a medieval apparatus which harnessed the patient, severely restricting his movement.
ROLE: Vote Blocker
POWER:Chooses one player per night to restrain in a strait jacket, which stops that person from casting a vote in the next day phase.
PATIENT 13 – HARRIET JORDAN
Suffers: Acute Mania Treatment: Rotation Therapy
Harriet arrived at the hospital in 1858 and was diagnosed with acute mania. The young woman had been found wandering the streets of London in a melancholic state. Rotational therapy involved putting a patient in a chair suspended in the air and then spun round for hours.
ROLE: Role Checker
POWER:Checks one person per night and learns either role or alignment. Will play scissors paper rock anonymously (thru hosts) with Evil Nurse. If patient wins, they forfeit therapy and learn actual role. If Evil nurse wins patient gets therapy and medications and will only get alignment.
The Good nurse
Nurse Sherry was part of the staff at Bethlem Hospital for over 60 years. She was the shining light in the darkness of the treatment of patients being an advocate for humane treatments that built up the worth of patients.
ROLE: Saviour/Doctor
POWER: Selects one person to visit each night to visit and will save that person from any experimental therapies which occur during the night phase.
GROUP THERAPY
John Bailey and his son Thomas (pictured together, left) were both admitted in 1858 with acute melancholia.
Eliza Josolyne (right) arrived at the hospital in 1857 and was later diagnosed with acute melancholia, the cause of her apparent insanity was recorded as ‘overwork’.
The young woman had been working as the only servant in a 20-room house and was unable to keep up with the work over winter. She became stressed because of the extremely harsh weather conditions and struggled to manage as every room needed a fire burning – and she ended up in Bedlam.
ROLE: Group therapy members
POWER: No special powers. In a group therapy session chat; can chat with the other members in ‘therapy’ throughout the game.
ROGUES
A notorious aspect of Bethlem was its availability to public and wealthy patrons who would often pay a shilling to gawk at the unfortunately souls locked in the asylum.
EDWARD WAKEFIELD
Philanthropist and leading advocate of lunacy reform. Wakefield found that the patients in the galleries were not classified in any logical manner as both highly disturbed and quiescent patients were mixed together indiscriminately.
ROLE: Martyr
POWER: Chooses if they want to be aligned with Monro Dynasty or Patients. Chooses a lynched player once during the game and saves that person but sacrifices themselves in the process. Wins along with their chosen aligned team ONLY if the person they save in also on the same team.
HENRY HERRING
(1814 – 23 April 1893)
London-based commercial portrait photographer Hering took pictures of Bethlem patients – from 1846 to 1858 – in order to examine their faces for evidence of their mental health conditions.
After publishing his 1856 paper On the Application of Photography to the Physiognomic and Mental Phenomena of Insanity, he encountered criticism from the psychiatric scientific community of the time.
ROLE: Asylum Photographer
POWER: Visits one person each night and photographs them thus learning their actual role title and alignment. Solo wins the game when they have successfully photographed all of the Monro Dynasty. Cannot tell the town whom the mafia are. Cannot share their role information given to them with anyone in the game.
All other patients only powers is that of their vote and powers of deduction.
AUSONLINE Games 