[SETUP] JustKidding Party Christmas 2018

[Mizzytastic]

Based off this video. I know I wouldn't be running a game any time soon on this site after playing one game then flaking three cos I took too much on, but I was watching and the setup seemed quite town-sided. So I guess my questions to the more experienced out there are:

• Do the role names need to be changed to fit site conventions?
  
• Is this balanced, if not what way?
  
• How would you balance it while keeping it as close to the setup in the video as possible?
  
• Is this better as an open, or a theme game with an open setup?

The setup:

1 Made Man

Can convert one person to a

Mafia Goon

at night, can convert N0, must convert by end of N2

3 Mafia Goons

Mafia factional kill starts from N1

2 Cops

Have night chat, know if their partner gets made manned (they don't wake up), 1 investigation per night as group, starting N1

2 Nurses

Have night chat, know if their partner gets made manned (they don't wake up), 1 save per night as group, starting N1, cannot save same person more than once

1 Virgin

No night following their lynch

1 Vigilante

May kill any night, including N0, must kill at least every other night (i.e. first kill must be by N1)

9 Vanilla Townies

The other main difference from forum mafia is the multiple night chats combined with in person play means that if a cop or nurse gets made manned their partner would know that night because they wouldn't wake up until after it had happened. Similarly if you get made manned you got to participate in the mafia night chat that night. However I can't see a way to replicate this in forum games without a painfully long night session.

[popsofctown]

The best way to remain faithful to the mechanic with respect to the night talk issues, I think, is to have daytalk for the scum faction and resolve conversions at the end of the night. A recent convert won't have any input into the nightkill decision, but that's pretty minimal.

I... think the setup's balanced? It is probably crazy scumsided or crazy townsided and I can't tell, can't decide.

[callforjudgement]

14:5 (allowing for the conversion) isn't ridiculous as setups go. The conversion also reduces one of the major problems with Opens (that you can figure out someone's alignment by figuring out their role, and you can figure out roles reliably by massclaim). Town don't have that many power roles, but some of their power roles are exceedingly powerful, so my guess is that this is either balanced or townsided. It probably wouldn't be popular on this site, though, due to the early-game conversion; players don't like to be punished for playing well, and that's pretty much what happens to a converted townie. Scum might also not like the mechanic "convert one of these particular players and they probably get insta-lynched", although it does help to reduce swing (and will almost certainly lead to a counterclaim situation where a converted Cop/Nurse claims that their former buddy got converted).

It feels like a Theme to me, rather than an unflavoured Open: the mechanics are strange and may be easier to convey with flavour than with a long list of modifiers (some of which you'd have to invent for the game).