A general point

[The Fonz]

If you spot something that demonstrates that another player is definitely not a vanilla townie, ie is almost certainly a power role or scum, should you come forward with it? I never really know what to do with 'not-vanilla' tells. If he is a power role, you've basically signed his death warrant. OTOH, such a player is far more likely than average to be scum.

[xyzzy]

You should say, "this is scummy."

Then you're effectively ignoring the possibility of power roles so it's less likely to come up. If they make a good defense, quietly assume they're a power role.

[Cogito Ergo Sum]

Well, how many power roles do you think there are? For example, in a Mountainous game, you should probably come forward, while in a power-heavy game, it might be best to give it some time and just keep your eye on the player.

[BrianMcQueso]

It's something you can always bring up later should the need arise. Unlike real life games, forum games have the advantage of having everything they've said in the past in permanent written record.

If you're asked why you didn't bring it up earlier, say you discovered it during a re-read or something. Saying you did a re-read always makes you look good anyway. 8)

[Yosarian2]

You should say, "this is scummy."

Then you're effectively ignoring the possibility of power roles so it's less likely to come up. If they make a good defense, quietly assume they're a power role.

Agreed. Poke at them a bit, point out that X might be a scumtell, and just don't mention that it might also be a sign of a power role. If possible, word your attack in such a way that it does not sound like you considered the possibility of them being a power role, and so that anyone reading it will tend to think "is X scum or not", not to think about any other roles they have. If they do end up claiming, of course, feel free to say "Ok, I believe that, being a doc would also explain tell X".

If they are a power role, then another townie expressing some early game suspicions of them probably means the scum are less likely to kill them that night anyway.

[Mgm]

If you're asked why you didn't bring it up earlier, say you discovered it during a re-read or something. Saying you did a re-read always makes you look good anyway. 8)

I don't see a need to lie here. If it ever comes up, you can legally say you didn't want to out a power role to the mafia.

[Glork]

I don't think it's possible for me to answer this question in the general case. There are a lot of things that I note (either physically or mentally) and then just shelve -- sometimes with no indication whatsoever. Still, whether I bring it forward (and how I go about bringing it forward) depends on a lot of factors -- setup, the player in question, the game state (D1? D4? Endgame?), the body count, and a whole host of other things. One thing I might sometimes do is poke around at that player *without* mentioning the tell specifically. Ask them some feeler questions about Players X and Y, or have them analyze a debate or argument that you think might be revealing. Seek to make them give you the information you want somehow, even (or especially) if they don't know that they're giving you any information at all.

I would

ONLY

address them about the Non-Vanilla Tell directly if you are prepared to let other players discover the tell and its implications. If you ask them about the tell, and their response makes you think they're protown power, there's a pretty good chance that *somebodY* in the Mafia is going to arrive at a similar (if not identical) conclusion. Keep in mind that, while you don't know if they're Power or Scum, the Scum probably *DO* know that answer.

[Patrick]

Meh. I haven't seen such non vanilla tells crop up often. One case I had was in newbie 309, where the cop outed himself as non vanilla on page 1 because he had misunderstood the way the vanilla townie PM worked (he thought that all vanilla townies had different names, whereas anyone who had received the vanilla townie PM, like me, knew that wasn't true). I called him on it and he was under suspicion for a while, and nobody thought it was strange that I'd pointed it out.

[BrianMcQueso]

If you're asked why you didn't bring it up earlier, say you discovered it during a re-read or something. Saying you did a re-read always makes you look good anyway. 8)

I don't see a need to lie here. If it ever comes up, you can legally say you didn't want to out a power role to the mafia.

After re-reading the thread, I've found that I have to disagree. It's more fun to lie!

[IH]

<3 BMQ

[Oman]

I think the others have hit the nail here. The trick is to keep the scum from knowing they could be a power-role while telling the town they could be scum.
On another note: If someone is breadcrumbing, should you question them on this when they are bandwagoned, or just let it go?

[Mr Stoofer]

[IH]

stoofers fifth law in action?

[Mr. Flay]

On another note: If someone is breadcrumbing, should you question them on this when they are bandwagoned, or just let it go?

I think I'd let them admit/claim they were breadcrumbing, first. No reason to give slow-witted mafia any more ammunition than you have to...

[inHimshallibe]

Flay speaks truth. What you perceive as a breadcrumb, in my opinion, is just as likely to be unintentional as it is intentional, although I am more likely to take action upon it as scum than as town.