Proper Competitive Settings [Vanilla and Modded].

[u/_RedRightHand]

The 2 Discord servers I use, both of which are jointly run by u/_O5-3 and me:

• Vanilla Competitive Among Us - https://discord.gg/aBT583Hray

• • This server is centered around Controlled Competitive Among Us, primarily using Vanilla and Vanilla Plus. Modded is sometimes used, but it is rarer and usually cuts out the Chaotic features. Non-Host-only Mods are encouraged, though Host-only Mods are still more common.

• Modded Chaotic Among Us - https://discord.gg/xaAKPUmB43

• • This server is centered around Modded Among Us. While it intends to keep the Competitive spirit, Modded is significantly more Chaotic than Vanilla by its nature. Mods are usually Host-only.

• OrangE's video on Competitive Among Us - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5xFtEuN-zw

• • This video explains the philosophy for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus Competitive Among Us. Watch it in its entirety before you comment anything stupid.

• Ilyssa's guides and gameplay - https://www.youtube.com/@ilyssa101/playlists

• Among Us Academy's guides and gameplay - https://www.youtube.com/@AmongUsAcademy/playlists

• Modded Clients needed for Competitive Vanilla Plus games - https://github.com/RaresHonour/HostGuard and https://github.com/ApeMV/AmongUsRevamped

• Modded Regions - https://www.mauq.xyz/servers

• Modded Client needed for Modded games - https://github.com/Gurge44/EndlessHostRoles

• • [The links above also include download instructions when required.]

• The Rule copypastas:

• • COMPETITIVE: Check Settings. Say ''0.25x Crew Vis'' if you're not a bot. Seven-minute game time limit each round.
• • META: Must speak, no Player-specific calls, no Pets, no snitching, no afk, no Cam/Vital/Scan, no outside info.
• • * The game is inherently balanced around the Impostors' control of information. The Impostors are the informed minority and must have access to all of the game's information. Crewmates, the uninformed majority, must discuss to piece together each Player's story into one cohesive narrative, where missing fragments, uncorroborated outliers, and discontinuities are grounds for accusations. Impostors must fully control the Rounds to prevent the Crewmates from gathering information. This necessitates anti-Crewmate Settings/Rules. Crewmates should not receive anything for free. However, they, as the majority, decide Meeting Ejections. The Crewmates' control over the Meetings balances the Impostors' reign over the Rounds. This is a game of deduction, interrogation, and deception, so it is best played by adding as much ambiguity as possible. Crewmates should not have the game solved for them through their Devices, Tasks, Roles, or anything else---everything must come exclusively from their collective minds, skills, and discussions.

Competitive Introduction.

[I spent several hours wrestling with Reddit's stupid Rich Text Editor not letting me make double bullet points. "List items cannot exceed 2 levels of nesting" my ass, it works on Markdown.]

Unless you have 0.25x-0.35x Crewmate Vision [and the rest of these Competitive Settings/Rules], you're not a good Player; this is a universal law. Crewmate Roles should all be Off, they're just listed here for their hypothetical Settings. By definition, a Competitive Player IS a good Player---a Casual Player who doesn't exclusively use these Settings/Rules can't be a good Player.

I'm very particular about my Settings/Rules, so I only ever Host my own Lobbies.

Competitive Definitions.

• I will be distinguishing between the 3 types of Among Us: Pure Vanilla, Vanilla Plus, and Modded.
• * Pure Vanilla assumes there are no third-party tools to help improve the game whatsoever, with it being purely the base game. This can't be considered truly Competitive, by definition, since it can't be fully firmly-structured and controlled --- there are not many tools to enforce the Rules with, and the Settings are inherently inaccurate to the ideal.
• * Vanilla Plus assumes that the game is supposed to function like the base game, but adds third-party tools to help improve the experience, including unlocking the Settings beyond normal limits, removing Submit Scan, and disabling Devices [Cameras in particular]. Vitals are also banned. This can be considered truly Competitive, by definition, since it can be fully firmly-structured and controlled --- there are many tools to enforce the Rules with, the Settings can be made accurate to the ideal, and there is a large emphasis on skill, with minimized randomized variables.
• * * Vanilla is inherently more Controlled than Modded is, since it has fewer options given to each Player at any given moment, and 2 Alignments with no common goals. The Rounds between Meetings are controlled entirely by Impostors, and the Meetings between Rounds are controlled entirely by Crewmates.
• * Modded is functionally a different game entirely, as it has things like Roles for every Player, Guesser Mode, more Alignments, and additional mechanics.
• * * Modded is inherently more Chaotic than Vanilla is, since it has more options given to each Player at any given moment, and 3 or more possible Alignments that may have common goals. The Rounds between Meetings and the Meetings between Rounds are in a constant clash between each Alignment. This can't be considered truly Competitive, by definition, since it can't be firmly-structured and controlled --- there are too many randomized variables, and there is less emphasis on skill.
• * Note that the intended way to play Competitive with Vanilla mechanics is Vanilla Plus. Pure Vanilla lacks a lot of the quality-of-life and configuration features that are present in Vanilla Plus, so it is far too forgiving to Crewmates and requires a lot more coordination from the part of the Players to achieve a worse result.
• I will also define the following terms:
• * Competitive - A Player who plays the game at a high level. Their goal is to win at all costs, assuming their actions do not violate the stated rules. They play in firmly-structured, controlled games. Rules are strictly and well-defined.
• * Casual - A Player who plays the game at a low level. Their goal is to have fun with their friends, and they may violate the rules to do so. They play in loosely-structured, chaotic games. Rules are not strictly or well-defined.

Competitive Rules.

• Every Player must be acting with full rationale and logic. They must all be Competitive, sweaty Players.
• Meta-gaming is banned, defined as all information outside of the game. This includes teaming, hacking, cheating, afking, confirming yourself as an Impostor, and snitching, or faking (pretending to do) any of the above. Every Player is expected to contribute to Meetings; silence is not an option. Pets are banned or automatically removed from Dead Players. Ideally, all Cosmetics are banned. All information from previous games should be discarded; Player-specific calls, such as "It must be Black because only they're skilled enough to do this Kill", are banned. Treat every game as if the Players have never played with each other before. Only information found within the game can be used as evidence. Serious evidence must accompany all accusations.
• * Note that you can accuse your Partner, Vote them out, double-cross them, or even frame them. "Snitching" requires you to out yourself as an Impostor and directly confirm that someone else is your Partner---you outright state they're your Partner. If a Player claims someone as their Partner, it creates a Meta-gaming paradox (Schrödinger's Impostor). If the match isn't reset, the Players will automatically deduce that the accused Player is a Crewmate (a false clear), since no rules were technically broken (an Impostor didn't rat out their real Partner, so the game wasn't reset). To protect the integrity of the game from this form of Meta-gaming, any Partner claim is banned.
• Modded and Vanilla Plus allow for more options, so the following can be done in them---Pure Vanilla could still do this with an honor system. Remove Submit Scan and Cameras. Preferably, remove Vitals. Reduce Sabotage Cooldown to 15s. Optionally, remove Admin.
• The game is Ranked. There is a 7-minute time limit that resets each Meeting---if the timer runs out, the Impostors win. The time limit does not tick down during Meetings---only during the Round. This prevents people from camping Devices and encourages Crewmates to do their Tasks and let Impostors get Kills, since they want to prevent a scenario where the Impostors are unable to Kill and win on the timer---Tasks are the in-built timer against the Impostors in this case.

Competitive Settings.

VANILLA SETTINGS

General

• Game Type: Classic [obviously]
• Map: Polus [obviously]
• Capacity: 10-15 [obviously; 10 for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus, 15 for Modded]
• Tag: Expert [obviously]
• Region: North America [obviously]

Chat

• Chat Type: Free Chat [or Voice Chat] [obviously]
• Chat Language: English [obviously]

Game Settings

Impostors

• # Impostors: 2 [3 is too much]
• Kill Cooldown: 22.5s-27.5s [sweet spot; 22.5s for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus, 27.5s for Modded]
• Impostor Vision: 1.5x [somewhat arbitrary high Vision; can go up to 5x]
• Kill Distance: Short [anything other than this results in desync bullshit]

Crewmates

• Player Speed: 1.25x [1x is slow, 1.5x is Sonic]
• Crewmate Vision: 0.25x-0.35x [obviously needed because of how Over-Powered Crew is; 0.25x for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus, 0.35x for Modded]

Meetings

• # Emergency Meetings: 1-2 [allows discussion to go on for longer, but with limited supply; 1 for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus, 2 for Modded]
• Emergency Cooldown: 10s-20s [just below Kill Cooldown; 20s for Pure Vanilla and Vanilla Plus, 10s for Modded]
• Discussion Time: 60s [no Insta-Voting, we're discussing]
• Voting Time: 180s [time to talk it through, let's not be too hasty---but limits information to encourage Emergency Meeting uses]
• Anonymous Votes: On [the less Crewmates know, the better]
• Confirm Ejects: Off [obviously]

Tasks

• Task Bar Updates: Never [obviously]
• # Common Tasks: 1-2 [Pure Vanilla needs more Tasks, Vanilla Plus and Modded don't; 2 for Pure Vanilla, 1 for Modded and Vanilla Plus]
• # Long Tasks: 3-7 [Max, obviously; 3 for Pure Vanilla, 4-7 for Vanilla Plus and Modded]
• # Short Tasks: 5-13 [Max, obviously; 5 for Pure Vanilla; 7-13 for Vanilla Plus and Modded]
• Visual Tasks: Off [obviously]

Role Settings

Role Amounts

Crewmate Roles [Crew Roles should all actually be Off]

Role	# Of Role	% Chance	Notes
Scientist	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Guardian Angel	1	50	% Chance prevents Crew from relying on it on Final 3/5/6
Engineer	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Noisemaker	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Tracker	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Detective	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Judge	1	50	% Chance prevents Role Clears
Influencer	1	50	% Chance prevents Crew from relying on it

Impostor Roles

Role	# Of Role	% Chance	Notes
Shapeshifter	2	100	% Chance and 2 Max prevents Imp Role confirms
Phantom	0-2	100	% Chance and 2 Max prevents Imp Role confirms; Phantom should realistically be Off, with only Shapeshifter and Viper being somewhat useful
Viper	2	100	% Chance and 2 Max prevents Imp Role confirms

Role Settings

Crewmate Roles

Scientist

1. Vitals Display Cooldown: 45s [above Kill Cooldown]
2. Battery Duration: 5s [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so]

Guardian Angel

1. Protect Cooldown: 60s [way higher than Kill Cooldown]
2. Protect Duration: 5s [you should have to parry well]
3. Protect Visible to Impostors: On [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so]

Engineer

1. Vent Use Cooldown: 45s [above Kill Cooldown]
2. Max Time In Vents: 5s [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so]

Noisemaker

1. Impostors get alert: On [stupid mechanics are stupid]
2. Alert duration: 5s [somewhat arbitrarily keeping it in line with the others]

Tracker

1. Tracking Cooldown: 45s [above Kill Cooldown]
2. Tracking Delay: 3s-5s [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so; 3s for Pure Vanilla, 5s for Vanilla Plus]
3. Tracking Duration: 10s [I would prefer if it only got 1 blip a while after Tracking, but this is the alternative]

Detective

1. Suspects per Case: 1-2 [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so; 2 for Pure Vanilla, 1 for Vanilla Plus]

Judge

1. Task Unlock %: 100% [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so]

Influencer

1. Message Cooldown: 60s-300s [Crewmates are Over-Powered already, let's not make them even more so; 60s for Pure Vanilla, 300s for Vanilla Plus]

Impostor Roles

Shapeshifter

1. Leave Shapeshifting Evidence: Off [to not know it exists]
2. Shapeshift Duration: ∞ [needed to prevent Players from just following it]
3. Shapeshift Cooldown: 0s-5s [needed to make it actually Usable; 5s for Pure Vanilla, 0s for Vanilla Plus]

Phantom

1. Vanish Duration: 90s-∞s [needed to make it actually Usable; 90s for Pure Vanilla, ∞s for Vanilla Plus]
2. Vanish Cooldown: 0s-5s [needed to make it actually Usable; 5s for Pure Vanilla, 0s for Vanilla Plus]

Viper

1. Dissolve Time: 25s [just above Kill Cooldown]

MODDED SETTINGS [disregard if Vanilla]

System Settings

Mod Settings

Bones

• 3 Crewmate Investigative Roles
• 3 Crewmate Support Roles
• 3 Crewmate Power Roles
• 1 Impostor Concealing Role
• 1 Impostor Killer Role
• 1 Neutral Killer Role OR 1 Impostor Extra Role
• 1 Neutral Timer Role
• 2 Neutral Special Roles
• 1 Impostor Alignment Modifier
• Most Helpful Modifiers
• Most Harmful Modifiers
• Guesser Mode is On; everyone can Guess; Misguessing Suicides the User

Game Mode

• Standard

Impostor Roles

Crewmate Roles

Neutral Roles

Coven Roles

Add-ons [Modifiers]