Best Role Ideas?

[popsofctown]

Here is my idea. It might already exist, or might be stupid, but oh well. I think it's simple enough to include in small games.
It is actually pretty simple, it sounds kind of complicated but a lot of it is from the flavor.

Mafia orphan

You were raised by adopted parents who found you on the street when you were two. They raised you as if you were their own, but they were always disturbed by the tattoo on your back. It depicts a man's body with the legs totally gone, and every other finger cut off. You also have another tattoo, that depicts a family of X members in silhouettes, one of them is clearly you but the rest are indistinguishable.
When [example murder victim] was murdered, his body was found with no legs and every other finger cut off! The news release says the authorities are certain the murder was the result of organized crime. That means surely you must be a long-lost son of a mafia member.
You are allied with the mafia. You do

not

have the usual mafia power of murder. You win when all people in town are dead except for players allied with the mafia, or when nothing can prevent the same. You do not know who the other mafia allied players are, and they don't know that you are their ally either.
Every night, you choose to either 1) steal a DNA sample or 2) send a letter with a photo of your tattoo.
If you decide to steal a DNA sample, you send the moderator a name of a living player. That person is not informed of this action. The mod will return whether or not that player is a member of your mafia team.
If you decide to send a letter with a photo of your tattoo, you send the name of the letter's recipient to the mod. The mod informs that player that you are a Mafia Orphan. If the letter recipient was a member of your mafia family, all members of the mafia receive the same information, and the mod automatically send back your family's jubilant reply, with all their names signed. They also mail you a gun. You lose your former powers (1 and 2) and become the same exact thing as a mafia goon every night onward.
If the letter recipient was not part of your mafia family, you will receive no reply letter. Note that the player would from then on know you are mafia.
Tracing your genealogy and meeting your family is extremely important to you. If all of your X teammates die, you will immediately commit suicide in grief, and instantly lose.

[popsofctown]

thanks.

[popsofctown]

that kind of goes against a core part of mafia doesn't it?...

[popsofctown]

I think "Traitor" is a term used for a different role, one that is pretty much a townie that wins if the mafia wins. This role sounds ok for closed setups, but i think you need to use an unused name. Maybe "Aspiring Mafiosi" or something like that.

[popsofctown]

hmm.. on that explanation i think it seems more favorable.

I think more information would come out of the idea if you reversed it though:

Disgruntled Spectre

You aren't human, you're a ghost that looks human. Jealous of the other spirits in the town who have true mortal houses, you aim to separate all of them from there bodies just like you've been. (The process involves a silver necklace, a crystal ball, and a large mushroom).
You are similar to an SK. Every night you separate someone from their body, excluding them from the tally that goes towards their faction, taking away their vote and other powers, and immuning them from being a target of any actions (except post mortem actions on your body). They can only speak.
Members of non-town factions immediately go to hell if separated. They have no voice.
It's always clear that any of your victims were not killed, but separated from body, because the uninhabited body is still breathing and performing basic survival functions emotionlessly.
You win when all other faction tallies reach zero.

Original idea- Moses le fou

You don't gain much information if a random towny can become a ghost. Since no one knew that was going to happen, you can't analyze the plusses and minuses of killing someone and leaving their voice. You technically could claim ghost, but all you would be doing is getting the mafia to NK possible power roles instead of you.

[popsofctown]

I like beedrill.

[popsofctown]

You're

Paula

from Earthbound (for lack of better flavor). You have several abilities, but they each cost points. Whenever a positive role is used on you, like protecting or watching, you gain a point, but the ability has no effect.

1 point: Roleblock, Jail, Neighborizer, Bodyguard
2 points: Vig, Hider
3 points: Cop, Watcher, Doctor

You win with the town. Depends on size of game, etc. I like the idea, I don't think it's the best role ever but there's no average role idea thread .

EDIT: ftr, I'd run this as the "only weird one" role in a Normal game, then explicitly define whether each standard role is considered positive or negative. Jailkeeping is ambiguous, so are several others.
EDITEDIT: Except I wouldn't run this. Because I don't mod.

[popsofctown]

I wouldn't call those abilities "similar" either.

[popsofctown]

They're both partial roleblocks.

Personally, I'd find the role rather swingy in anything but an all-PR game. It's borderline godlike. But I do have to ask... why "Rogue"?

I guesso. They seem diametrically opposed though.

I think Rogue referred to the miller status and that the two powers that can be simultaneously used mirror a Rogue holding a knife in each hand, a way Rogue's are often portrayed. But maybe I'm wrong.

[popsofctown]

They're both partial roleblocks.

Personally, I'd find the role rather swingy in anything but an all-PR game. It's borderline godlike. But I do have to ask... why "Rogue"?

I guesso. They seem diametrically opposed though.

Eh. It just breaks up the usual Roleblock power into one that can be more surgically targeted (use the non-killing one to prove a Town claim, for example), AND means if you have good reads you can potentially stop 2 scum from acting. That's overpowered IMO.

Probably

[popsofctown]

Yeah some of those pricings are messed up.

How is a vig better than a cop though? I've been reading a bunch of threads complaining vigs are worse than VTs :/.

[popsofctown]

I might have put them both at three if I didn't want to try and let the role investigate, then kill a player for 5 points.

[popsofctown]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_%28slang%29

[popsofctown]

You are a

Town Harlequin

. The Scum Funstopper maintains a "yes" or "no" guess on whether each townie is Town Harlequin. If you are lynched and the Scum Funstopper was guessing "yes", you die as normal. If you are lynched and the Scum Funstopper was guessing "no", the lynch fails, the mod confirms your alignment in thread, and you get one shot of Hider, Doctor, Cop, and Watcher that all must be used that night. You may also view the Scum Funstopper role pm.
You win with the town.

You are a

Scum Funstopper

. There is one Town Harlequin. You maintain guess of "yes" or "no" for each player in the game not on your scumteam, indicating whether you think that player is Town Harlequin. PM the mod at any time during the day to modify any of your guesses before the lynch scene, or to view your current guesslist. You are currently guessing "no" on each player.
When a player is lynched, if your guess is correct on whether that player is town Harlequin, nothing happens. If your guess is "Yes" but the player is not the town Harlequin, night phase is skipped. If your guess is "No", but the player is Town Harlequin after all, the Town Harlequin will survive and receive several bonuses. You may also view the Town Harlequin role pm.
If you die, your role is passed on to a teammate.
Your buddies are X, Y, and Z, you win when only scum players survive or nothing can prevent the same.

I simultaneously hate Jesters but want them to somehow be a thing.