Resistance roles as mafia roles

[Narninian]

it occurs to me that some roles from the game of resistance (Card game) might make interesting mafia roles - wonder what others might think/if that have tried it. For example:

Commander: This player is a pro-town role who knows all the mafia from the start. If killed, does not reveal as the commander.
+
Assassin: If town wins the game this mafia player has one chance to try to correctly identify who the commander was(could be dead or alive)- if they are correct - mafia wins the game. This gives somebody with all the information they need right away - but unlike a cop with some lucky results - can't just reveal this information as they would then lose the game for their team.

Bodyguard: This player is a pro-town role that knows who the commander is. This helps the commander disseminate the information a little better without making it an autowin for mafia. Because the bodyguard will know exactly who the commander is the commander can be more subtle. I think its best if this character also does not reveal his role upon death.

False Commander: The Player is part of the mafia - the bodyguard would instead find out 2 players that could potentially be the commander - this player and the the real commander.

It might make the game depend too much on one/two players but could be fun to try as a mini

[Majiffy]

Eh I think the inclusion of the BG/FC is a bit too much. The Assassin makes for a neat way to counteract fullclaiming, but I think some sly crumbing and a slick townplayer could make for a pretty easy townwin.

[sthar8]

These roles make The Resistance less fun, and I don't see how they wouldn't do the same for mafia.

[Narninian]

These roles make The Resistance less fun, and I don't see how they wouldn't do the same for mafia.

I

*strongly*

disagree with the former statement. It gives spies the need to do some investigation/deduction on their own / something to do besides try to get on teams (especially once they are 'outed' with plot cards or deduction)and resistance the chance to do a little deception.

[EspeciallyTheLies]

I thought the same thing about resistance. It has some close similarities to mafia. I ran a test setup based on the game but it didn't go very well and I'd planned on refining it at some point.

I think the commander role is a bit too powerful. consider how it could be used in the hands of a very influential player (or loud, stubborn one). what if they claim? a single lynch confirms it.

the roles here seem like chain of command or aitp almost. I need to go look at the game again cuz I don't remember what I had for it.

[Narninian]

what if they claim? a single lynch confirms it.

Then town loses; that is the danger - in the wrong hands the commander can single handedly lose the game for their side, untrue of any other role.

[Cheetory6]

Until a VI gets commander and ruins the game.
Too much swing IMO.

[Cheetory6]

Like, it might work in a marathon game, but in a game that lasts for weeks, would you want to lose because one person on your team is a moron or new or something?

[Narninian]

agreed - it would work much better as a marathon game, I really don't think its too swingy - but the danger of a bad player getting commander ruining a long game is real.

[Egg]

I'd play. Rename the bodyguard though because bodyguard is already a role.

[sthar8]

These roles make The Resistance less fun, and I don't see how they wouldn't do the same for mafia.

I

*strongly*

disagree with the former statement. It gives spies the need to do some investigation/deduction on their own / something to do besides try to get on teams (especially once they are 'outed' with plot cards or deduction)and resistance the chance to do a little deception.

If

they have any impact on the game at all, the effect is to reduce all the effort and play of the majority of the players to background noise and put the game in the hands of only two people. And all the other roles exist to mitigate that shitty design choice.

[Narninian]

These roles make The Resistance less fun, and I don't see how they wouldn't do the same for mafia.

I

*strongly*

disagree with the former statement. It gives spies the need to do some investigation/deduction on their own / something to do besides try to get on teams (especially once they are 'outed' with plot cards or deduction)and resistance the chance to do a little deception.

If

they have any impact on the game at all, the effect is to reduce all the effort and play of the majority of the players to background noise and put the game in the hands of only two people. And all the other roles exist to mitigate that shitty design choice.

I can't disagree more, but everyone's game groups are different. I can see it going that way with some groups. I play maybe 10 games of resistance a week with a lot of the same people. Lately we've been playing around a lot with the new roles from the expansion (hunters, reversers, rogues, etc..) but our default before the expansion release was to include the commander+plot cards + whatever variant we wanted to try with our player count (multiple spy groups, puppetmaster, unknown, etc..). It never feels/felt like it came down to the hands of two people or reducing players efforts.

Which two people are you talking about? The commander and the assassin? The assassin can get input from his fellow spies, so its not like the game is solely in his hands --- also the spies can win 'normally'. Non-commander resistance members have to remember he's there and both look for him and not make statements that make its obvious they are not the commader. The game is still in everyone's hands - and adds depth beyond the initial 'vote against teams Im not on' default stance.

[Majiffy]

Played a mountainous version of this game which worked pretty well.

I don't know how I feel about all the other roles.