Umlaut's Mini Normal Review, March 2022

[mastina]

Oh no not the traitor enabler again...

[mastina]

Oh no not the traitor enabler again...

Honestly didn't know this had been done before, here I thought I was clever

Years ago I was the og of the idea but the NRG members at the time shot it down in review; I disagreed with the call back then but over time I came to appreciate their viewpoint and adapted it as my own, but the NRG members have shifted towards accepting the role. (So basically I've been on the opposite side of the NRG for that role for every time it has been brought up.)

[mastina]

(Balance-wise I will chime in tomorrow for the assist tho)

[mastina]

Setup in 16 definitely feels scumsided to me, and I think that the best options would either be gating the roleblocker or adding more to the JOAT.
I'd actually add not one role, but two, to the JOAT; my recommendations would be 2/3 of {Voyeur, Commuter, Investigative-role-e.g.-gunsmith/rolecop/etc}.

[mastina]

Do you think Hider and Commuter are too samey in effect for the same JoAT?

I mean, in a sense, yes; they both serve to protect the JOAT at the cost of the JOAT not using an investigative action. I, personally, have no issue with a JOAT having two investigatives and two self-protect actions since they can't be used on the same night meaning that it takes skill to guess when the best times to use which are, and how to use them.

I also personally don't think three investigatives on a JOAT is excessive, but,
1: It's your setup so it's largely your preference, and,
2: Datisi is the primary so it's mostly Datisi's call

[mastina]

I think that's fine.

[mastina]

I have a few issues with the role/result PMs, I'll explain why once home.

[mastina]

I have a few issues with the role/result PMs, I'll explain why once home.

Took me an extra 20 hours or so, but can do so now:

Town Jack-of-All-Trades

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Town Jack-of-All-Trades

, with the following abilities.

• 1-Shot Rolecop:
  On one night of your choice you may
  investigate
  another player to learn their role (but not alignment).
  
• 1-Shot Follower:
  On one night of your choice you may
  follow
  another player to learn what if any type(s) of action that player takes during the night.
  
• 1-Shot Rolestopper:
  On one night of your choice you may
  rolestop
  another player to prevent all actions targeting that player.
  
• 1-Shot Commuter:
  On one night of your choice you may
  commute
  , leaving town for the night and making it impossible to take any action on another player, or to have any actions taken on you.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

This works, but it would be best to specify that the JOAT can only use one ability per night.

Town Combined Doctor Checker

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Town Combined Doctor Checker

.

Each night, you may choose another player to take

both

of the following actions:

• heal
  that player, protecting them from one kill attempt during the night; and
  
• check
  that player, and be informed whether the check was successful.
  (The check has no other effect.)

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

Here, the wording "you may choose another player to take

both

of the following actions" implies that the targeted player will suddenly be

doing

both rather than being the

target

of both. It needs a slight wording tweak, like "Each night, you may choose another player and you will take

both

of the following actions on them", to convey the appropriate meaning.

Detective No Result

You failed to investigate {PLAYER}.

Rolecop No Result

You failed to investigate {PLAYER}.

Follower No Result

You failed to follow {PLAYER}.

I would add "and receive No Result" to this to make it clear that "failed to investigate" = No Result. (Never underestimate players' ability to assume a message from the mod means something else, as without specifying No Result, it's possible they would think that the PM is due to their submitted action having been rejected or something like that.

Rolecop Negative

You learned that {PLAYER} has no special role.

This however is not a correct result for a Rolecop and is mandatory to change; Vanillas/Goons show up as "Vanilla" to the rolecop, not as 'no special role'. (The two might pragmatically mean the same thing but for a role that has a very specific ruleset, you need to follow the rules for the role.)

The rest is good to my eye tho.

[mastina]

I'd also like to verify that the list of "types of action" for purposes of Follower results is the list on the wiki page Natural_Action_Resolution/Normal_Game, so e.g. following the Combined Doctor Checker returns "a protective action and a miscellaneous action" and nothing more specific than that.

That's correct.

I've nothing more that I can think of.