Role of the Week

[Maniacal Engineer]

But there are legitimate advantages to being Vanilla.
Like I said above, Vanilla or Bomb are the perfect compliment roles to my fatalistic playstyle, as nothing of value will be lost, so I can bait the Nightkill with impunity.

 

[Snowy]

as nothing of value will be lost

A skilled and observant player would have been lost.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

A skilled and observant player would have been lost.

I am, or rather I was, only skilled as scum.
My best town play in the entirety of Season '16 was baiting the N1 kill in Christmas Mafia, which cleared Elieson and caused the Town to win in a landslide victory.

...actually, I have to wonder why Christmas Mafia Town team didn't win Best Town Team Performance.

 

[Zexy]

A skilled and observant player would have been lost.

This can apply to all the players. Might as well be the vanilla role that gets killed instead of a stronger one, though.

 

[Snowy]

This can apply to all the players. Might as well be the vanilla role that gets killed instead of a stronger one, though.

To be fair, I thought the same thing about Reporter in the game that just ended. Which worked perfectly. I took the NK instead of the doc or something else.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Reporter has its uses, though. Vanilla is a perfect night kill baiter.

 

[Snowy]

Reporter has its uses, though. Vanilla is a perfect night kill baiter.

I don't disagree... But I'd rather be killed as a reporter than lose the cop or doc.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

I don't disagree... But I'd rather be killed as a reporter than lose the cop or doc.

Well you can say the same about most roles, honestly.

 

[Zexy]

I don't disagree... But I'd rather be killed as a reporter than lose the cop or doc.

True, but you'd rather be killed as a vanilla than lose the reporter as well.

 

[Doctor Floptopus]

Sometimes, vanillas can be really useful. In large games, assigning all players some kind of PR can really skew the balance of the game. By throwing in a handful of vanillas, you get a far better balanced game. Some of the most active games here are games with a healthy number of vanillas and passives.
I'd rather give someone vanilla than negative utility passive, like announcer.

 

[Elieson]

Vanillas can screw with mafia through fearcrumbing, and that's a great way to bait mafia kills

I am, or rather I was, only skilled as scum.
My best town play in the entirety of Season '16 was baiting the N1 kill in Christmas Mafia, which cleared Elieson and caused the Town to win in a landslide victory.

...actually, I have to wonder why Christmas Mafia Town team didn't win Best Town Team Performance.

Because I did everything

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Role of the Week #8: Cult

I've recently had some questions about this particular role, so this week, we will focus on an interesting role/faction in mafia games, namely the Cult.

Spoiler

The Cult is technically more of a faction than a single role, per say. It usually starts with one member, namely the Cult Leader, who, each night, can recruit other players into the Cult. This changes the alignment and role of those players from town to Cultist. The objective of the Cult is to control 50% of the player list.
Although their ultimate goal is strikingly similar to the Mafia's goal of achieving parity to control the votes, the Cult is much harder to balance due to how it goes about achieving its goal. As mentioned above, instead of a factional kill, the Cult gets a factional recruitment every night phase.
The recruitment is, hands down, a better and faster means of achieving parity than the factional kill as, not only does it subtract a member from the opposing factions, it also adds a member to the Cult. Additionally, since it changes the alignment, and therefore win condition, of the targeted players, town leaders can often be recruited into the Cult, and thus sew confusion among the town. Furthermore, being recruited into the Cult also gets rid of the player's role, which means that town can easily lose its power roles early on to a Cult.

The above makes the Cult a difficult group to balance, and no surefire means of balancing a Cult has been created yet. Variations of the role force Cultists to commit suicide if the Cult Leader is killed, whereas some have a Backup Leader that would take the place of the fallen leader, should they die. If there is no Backup Leader and the Cultists don't suicide upon the death of their leader, they can still achieve their wincon simply by surviving long enough to gain parity through mislynches and the mafia's night kills.
Most often, the Cult Leader is unable to convert mafia members into the Cult, as the converted mafioso would be able to tell the Cult who the other remaining mafiosos are. If a Cult Leader attempts to convert a mafioso, one of several things could possibly happen.
1. The mafioso is simply not converted.
2. The Cult Leader gets killed and the mafioso isn't converted.
3. The Mafioso is converted, but is also replaced, so that they are unaware of the remaining mafiosos.

Under most circumstances, option 3 is avoided in favor of options 1 or 2. Option 2 tends to be the best option in terms of game balance.

List of notable bmgf games this role has been in:
Survival Game - In this game, there were two cult factions, one of which was hidden. The Hidden Cult faction managed to score the win in the endgame.

Doctor Floptopus's Totally Bastard UK Politics Mafia-Style Game - In this game, UKIP acted as a Cult, and, while there was a successful recruitment on night one, they were blown up by Maniacal Engineer, the Clockmaker, and lost the game. ME apologizes for nothing!!!!

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.

• Do you like or dislike this role? Why?
• How is this role in-game?
• Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for with this role?
• How do you feel about this role balance wise?
• Have you enjoyed this role's representation in TWR?
• If given the power to, would you change anything about this role and if so, what would you change?
• Would you like to see this role more often on bmgf?
• What are good roles to include in the game that can balance out a Cult?
• What do you think about alignment changing roles in mafia games?
• How do you feel about dangerous third party alignment roles, like the Cult?
• Would you ever include a Cult in one of your games?

 

[Zexy]

Do you like or dislike this role? Why?
I actually like it. Most people complain about it being overpowered, but the mechanic is interesting.
How is this role in-game?
In order to not become overpowered, it is restricted or put against other powerful roles. This makes for very swingy games, but if you want to play a bastard swingy fun game, it's nice.
Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for with this role?
Haven't ever got it so I didn't consider strategies... I would have to think a lot over which people to recruit if I were the Leader.
How do you feel about this role balance wise?
It's a mechanic you have to bend the entire game around to make it balanced, and even then it ends up swingy. Not too bad though, as I said above, if you're in for a bastard swingy fun game.
Have you enjoyed this role's representation in TWR?
Not too much, to be honest; I admit that when I tried to showcase the role at its best, in Survival Game where I had 2 Cults, I didn't do it well enough...
If given the power to, would you change anything about this role and if so, what would you change?
That's a long story, because this is actually the kind of role you have to change lots of things about. Would depend on the setup really.
In Survival Game I had both Cult Leaders as Day 1 Lynchproof (so that they could get at least one chance of recruiting in Night 1), and the Leaders would always be protected by the Cultists, being the last person of the Cult to ever die (as a Leader dying early would be otherwise troublesome for a few Cultists that stayed behind). On second thoughts, perhaps that was overpowered, and a changing Leader is better.
Would you like to see this role more often on bmgf?
Sure.
What are good roles to include in the game that can balance out a Cult?
Roles that can get rid of people as quickly as the Cult recruits people. Vigilante is one of the simplest such roles.
What do you think about alignment changing roles in mafia games?
I consider the mechanic bastard, which means that when used in a game, the host should announce it in the beginning and players should expect a crazy role-heavy and swingy game. As long as that is established, it's all in good fun.
How do you feel about dangerous third party alignment roles, like the Cult?
They make the game interesting, so I like them
Would you ever include a Cult in one of your games?
NEVER! I'll never include A cult in my games.
I'll always include two or more!

 

[Elementar]

Could the cult be balanced further if they only had a certain amount of time to recruit? They might only have 3-4 nights in order to recruit or something?

Do you like or dislike this role? Why?
I like the idea of the role, and I think that it would be a great mechanic to a game if there was a 'certified' method to balance it.
How is this role in-game?
I think that it makes a really interesting game, and it would be fun to with or against. Even if it is hard to play against, I think it's still fun and it makes you really think about certain situations.
Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for with this role?
I'd basically recruit the strongest players, and probably the most townie looking players.
How do you feel about this role balance wise?
It's obviously hard to balance, but as long as you make the other factions powerful and put a limit to the cult, I think you can manage it successfully.
Have you enjoyed this role's representation in TWR?
I haven't played a game with a cult yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.
If given the power to, would you change anything about this role and if so, what would you change?
I would put a time limit on how much time they have to recruit players. That is one thing I'm thinking of.
Would you like to see this role more often on bmgf?
Yes, definitely.
What are good roles to include in the game that can balance out a Cult?
Role Cop, Vig/SK and Roleblocker are good to stop recruitment.
What do you think about alignment changing roles in mafia games?
I think that they are fun to play with, but again, hard to balance. As long as a game has been thought out, it can work.
How do you feel about dangerous third party alignment roles, like the Cult?
I like them, and it's much easier to win with than other third-party roles.
Would you ever include a Cult in one of your games?
I definitely would.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Could the cult be balanced further if they only had a certain amount of time to recruit? They might only have 3-4 nights in order to recruit or something?

Hmmmm...a good question. Personally, if I were looking to balance a cult, I'd only allow the Cult Leader to recruit on every other night.
While this does slow the cult down and limit how well recruitment works towards the cult's parity goal, it still doesn't address the confusion that the cult can sew by converting the town leader, nor does it address the possibility of town losing all their good roles early on.
No fix is perfect.

 

[Zexy]

Role of the Week #9: Doctor

Hello, everyone! This week we should focus on another common simple role that appears a lot.

Spoiler

The Doctor is a role that picks a target each night phase and can protect them from one non-strongman attempt at their life. There exist variations of this such as Doctor which can only act on odd/even nights, a limited amount of times, cannot protect themselves and more. A Backup Doctor (also called Nurse) appears from time to time as well, so that town doesn’t lose this power quickly, even if the original player with the role dies.

List of notable games this role has been in: I believe we should pass this part because almost all games have it.

The standard strategy for the Doctor is to avoid claiming until absolutely needed (or getting some successful protections that prove people's alingments because of the setup) and selecting the person they believe is more likely to be shot by mafia any given night.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.

• Do you like or dislike this role? Why?
• How is this role in-game?
• Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for with this role?
• How do you feel about this role balance wise?
• Have you enjoyed this role's representation in TWR?
• If given the power to, would you change anything about this role and if so, what would you change?
• Would you like to see this role more/less often on bmgf?
• Do you think this role goes against the notion that mafia always deserves to get nightkills through just like town deserves to get lynches?
• Do you believe this role can cause trouble by being able to change the game state between LYLO and MILO with a successful protection?
  
• Do you believe this role has been in the spotlight so much that most mafia games are over-centralized around it?

 

[ReturnofMCH]

Yay, my least favorite role to play as!

 

[Zexy]

Role of the Week #10: Beloved Princess

Hello, everyone. My name is Elsa and I hail from Arendelle. This week I’d like to talk about my favourite role, the Beloved Princess:

Spoiler

It is a very cool Town role, although it goes by many names and doesn’t always work the same way. The most common variant is “If you die in a day phase, the following night gets skipped; if you die in a night phase, the following day gets skipped.” Other variants include skipping the next day for a day death/night for a night death, preventing any other deaths the phase they die or the phase after their death. Other names for this role would be Beloved or Celebrity.

Needless to say, the strategy for playing with such a role is quite different depending on the variant. The role itself can be a blessing or a curse; the common variant is supposed to stabilize balance/swing (as their mislynch would skip the night in which another town death would happen, and their nightkill which wouldn’t be that useful to the mafia otherwise now gives them an extra night). The opposite variant is a high-risk, high-gain role; do not get mislynched, because you’ll cost town 2 days instead of one! But if you get nightkilled, mafia fell for quite the trap, as they will waste their kill on a non-power role and give town an extra day phase! The no-risk variants that stop deaths can be claimed at the correct moment and used strategically to stop deaths from happening.

List of notable games this role has been in:

Pokemon XY Mafia: AZ’s role included a part that stated that their death would prevent any deaths the following phase. The role name was custom, though. The person with this role claimed it and was lynched, as they were considered suspicious but would also not harm town’s progress much if mislynched.

twitchplayspokemon mafia: The common variant of the role was in the game but under the name Celebrity. The role survived to the endgame where it won.

Fire Emblem Protagonist Mafia: The role was named Beloved and prevented any deaths the following phase from which they died. The role was claimed although it did not matter much because of the unorthodox finish of the game.

Fruit Bowl Mafia: The common variant appeared as Beloved Princess. They were actually Peach and supposed to be an allegory for Princess Peach. The player who had the role was modkilled, and the host decided to not get the role to activate either way.

Here are some questions to consider to get conversation rolling. You don't have to answer all of them or any of them in your post as long as you're staying on topic and within global forum rules.

• Do you like or dislike this role? Why?
• How is this role in-game?
• Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for with this role?
• How do you feel about this role balance wise?
• Have you enjoyed this role's representation in TWR?
• If given the power to, would you change anything about this role and if so, what would you change?
• Would you like to see this role more/less often on bmgf?
• Which variant and name of the role do you prefer and why?

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

I meant to reply to the Doctor RotW, but my weeks have been short and jumbled lately, due to my holidays, so here's a daily double.

Doctor:
I've been killed early game as the doctor twice now. Once in the very first mafia game I played, when I was joke voted off on D1, and the second time in the first Murder She Wrote on D2, while I was away for my Sabbath.

I haven't had a lot of luck with the Doctor role, but I still appreciate it as a role.
Unfortunately, it is probably one of the worst roles for me to get, as it clashes immensely with my fatalistic playstyle. I suppose, theoretically, if I'm infinite shot with self protection allowed, I could always try to bait the NK on N1 and protect myself. Considering the fact that I'm a feasible N1 kill, on those few occasions when I'm actually town, it wouldn't even necessarily out me as the doctor, depending on who else is in the game.

Beloved Princess:
Never had this role before, and it would probably be disastrous if I did, again, due to my fatalistic playstyle. In general, as Town, I aim to get myself NK'd, instead of lynched, because, as a general rule, it wastes the mafia kill on somebody who, frankly, is really lousy at being town, and saves the town from what is, usually, a fairly easy mislynch. That said, with Princess, getting NK'd might prevent the following Day, giving the mafia a second kill. Getting lynched still causes a town mislynch, which is bad, but at least skips the following night, preventing a NK. On the other hand, that also prevents informational roles from getting information that could lead to a successful lynch.

I suppose, theoretically, the version that skips the following night if I'd get NK'd would go along with my fatalistic playstyle, in a sense. I could easily try baiting the mafia NK early on, but that has its downsides, too. Early game, night phases are very important to town, as their informational roles gather data and attempt to solve the game. In the very early game, skipping a night phase is more likely to trigger two day phases with mislynches than to actually score a correct lynch on a mafioso. Also, with my luck, I'd end up getting lynched D1, putting the town down by three townies before the second day phase.

Really, neither of these are good roles for my particular playstyle, and I'm not sure what I would do if I were to RNG such a role...luckily I'm retired and don't have to think about such things.

 

[Zexy]

I haven't had a lot of luck with the Doctor role, but I still appreciate it as a role.
Unfortunately, it is probably one of the worst roles for me to get, as it clashes immensely with my fatalistic playstyle. I suppose, theoretically, if I'm infinite shot with self protection allowed, I could always try to bait the NK on N1 and protect myself. Considering the fact that I'm a feasible N1 kill, on those few occasions when I'm actually town, it wouldn't even necessarily out me as the doctor, depending on who else is in the game.

My story with this role has been similar.
It clashes with my playstyle as well. Surviving for too long isn't my strong suit, and I prefer a more active role instead of protection.
I only got the role twice; one was in a Fire and Ice Mafia in Mafia Universe (where it was the only town power role, could only self-protect every 2 nights) and the other was the recent Professor Layton Mafia (odd-nights only). In the first game I claimed my role but attempted a WIFOM trick regarding which nights I could self-protect so that they wouldn't target me yet I could still protect others. I got one successful save like this but it wasn't enough.
In Prof. Layton I did the exact same thing; self-protecting N1 and baiting the kill on myself. I'm also a feasible N1 kill, which is why I attempted it in the first place.

Never had this role before, and it would probably be disastrous if I did, again, due to my fatalistic playstyle. In general, as Town, I aim to get myself NK'd, instead of lynched, because, as a general rule, it wastes the mafia kill on somebody who, frankly, is really lousy at being town, and saves the town from what is, usually, a fairly easy mislynch. That said, with Princess, getting NK'd might prevent the following Day, giving the mafia a second kill. Getting lynched still causes a town mislynch, which is bad, but at least skips the following night, preventing a NK. On the other hand, that also prevents informational roles from getting information that could lead to a successful lynch.

I have to agree with this. Beloved Princess (common variant) was the most annoying role I ever got. As Celebrity in Twitchplayspokemon, that is. As someone who gets nightkilled a lot, I could give the mafia a free kill Getting lynched isn't nice, even though it would be the best way for me to exit the game without causing trouble.

I suppose, theoretically, the version that skips the following night if I'd get NK'd would go along with my fatalistic playstyle, in a sense. I could easily try baiting the mafia NK early on, but that has its downsides, too. Early game, night phases are very important to town, as their informational roles gather data and attempt to solve the game. In the very early game, skipping a night phase is more likely to trigger two day phases with mislynches than to actually score a correct lynch on a mafioso. Also, with my luck, I'd end up getting lynched D1, putting the town down by three townies before the second day phase.

I have to agree with this as well; I believe the Beloved Princess (inverted variant) is one of the best roles I could ever get; I rarely get mislynched, so the risk isn't that much of a problem for me. But I get nightkilled a lot instead, and this could really cripple the mafia.