Umlaut's Mini Normal Review, May 2021

[implosion]

I just /inned to mod a mini normal. Here's the setup information.

Roles:

• 1x
  Mafia Encryptor
  
  1x
  Mafia Multitasking Roleblocker
  
  1x
  Mafia Goon
  
  1x
  Town Jack-of-All-Trades
  (1-Shot Cop, 1-Shot Follower, 1-Shot Watcher, 1-Shot Vigilante)
  1x
  Town Roaming Neighborizer
  
  1x
  Town Loyal Doctor
  
  7x
  Townie

Mechanics:

• Days are 10 IRL days, nights are 2 IRL days
  
• Majority-only elimination mechanics
  
• No default daytalk or multitasking

(Note: I have no strong feelings about exactly what or how many abilities the JoAT should have so I suspect the easiest way to alter the balance of this setup will be by altering that.)

Spoiler: Role PMs

Mafia Encryptor

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Mafia Encryptor

.

You and your teammate(s) share a private topic in which you can talk during the pregame and night phases.

Each night you and your teammate(s) may together choose a player to shoot and kill. You must specify which of you carries out the shot.

As long as you are alive, you and anyone else present may talk in your private topics even during the day.

You win when the Mafia is the sole surviving faction, or when nothing can prevent this.

Mafia Roleblocker

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Mafia Multitasking Roleblocker

.

You and your teammate(s) share a private topic in which you can talk during the pregame and night phases.

Each night you and your teammate(s) may together choose a player to shoot and kill. You must specify which of you carries out the shot.

Each night, you may block a player from using any active abilities during the night.

You can carry out multiple actions on the same night

(i.e. the factional kill and a roleblocking action)

.

You win when the Mafia is the sole surviving faction, or when nothing can prevent this.

Mafia Goon

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Mafia Goon

.

You and your teammate(s) share a private topic in which you can talk during the pregame and night phases.

Each night you and your teammate(s) may together choose a player to shoot and kill. You must specify which of you carries out the shot.

You win when the Mafia is the sole surviving faction, or when nothing can prevent this.

Town Jack-of-All-Trades

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Town Jack-of-All-Trades

, with the following abilities.

• 1-Shot Cop:
  On one night of your choice, you may investigate a player to learn whether they are
  guilty
  (Mafia-aligned) or
  innocent
  (Town-aligned).
  
• 1-Shot Follower:
  On one night of your choice, you may follow a player to learn what type of action, if any, they take during the night.
  
• 1-Shot Watcher:
  On one night of your choice, you may watch a player to learn who, if anyone, targets that player with an action during the night.
  
• 1-Shot Vigilante:
  On one night of your choice, you may shoot and kill a player.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

Town Roaming Neighborizer

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Town Roaming Neighborizer

.

Each night you may neighborize a player, adding them to a neighborhood with you. (They will all be added to a single neighborhood.)

You may not target the same player twice.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

Town Loyal Doctor

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Town Loyal Doctor

.

Each night you may protect a player from a single kill attempt during that night.

You can only target Town-aligned players. If you attempt to target a Mafia-aligned player, your action will fail and nothing will happen.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

Townie

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Townie

.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

Spoiler: Result PMs

Jack of All Trades / Cop: guilty result

Your investigation determined that {PLAYER} is

guilty

.

Jack of All Trades / Cop: innocent result

Your investigation determined that {PLAYER} is

innocent

.

Jack of All Trades / Cop: no result

You failed to investigate {PLAYER}.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: kill

{PLAYER} shot someone during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: roleblock

{PLAYER} blocked someone during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: kill+roleblock

{PLAYER} shot someone during the night. {PLAYER} also blocked someone during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: neighborize

{PLAYER} neighborized someone during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: protect

{PLAYER} protected someone during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: no action

{PLAYER} did not take any actions during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Follower: no result

You failed to follow {PLAYER}.

Jack of All Trades / Watcher: positive

You watched {OTHER-PLAYER(S)} target {PLAYER} during the night.

Jack of All Trades / Watcher: negative

You watched {PLAYER} during the night, but didn't see anyone target {them}.

Jack of All Trades / Watcher: no result

You failed to watch {PLAYER}.

Spoiler: Rules post

Rules

None of these rules supercede or contradict the Forum Rules and Guidelines.

---

Tl;dr

• This game is Normal.
  
• Days are
  240 hours (10 days)
  ; nights are
  48 hours (2 days)
  .
  
• Standard 48/24 prod timers; naked prod dodges are not counted.
  
• Standard majority-only elimination mechanics.
  
• No default daytalk or multitasking.

---

Conduct

1. Don't use
   orange
   , it's my color.
   
2. Play to win.
   
3. Don't discuss the game outside of the game until it's over.
   
4. Don't flame. Don't harass. Don't use insults that target minority, disadvantaged, or legally protected classes.
   
5. Keep interpersonal disputes out of the game thread.
   
6. Don't quote or misquote private communications from the moderator.
   
7. Don't use encryption, tiny/hidden/unreadable text, or anything that could be easily confused for such.
   
8. All replacement requests will be taken as serious, irrevocable, and immediate. Once you request replacement you are no longer a player and may not post.
   
9. Don't game the rules, pretend to break the rules, or intentionally test the limits. All pretended violations will be dealt with identically to actual violations.
   
10. Don't break the rules of any other ongoing game in this thread.
    
11. Don't argue moderator actions in the game thread. If you want to dispute a ruling, do so via PM.

---

Game mechanics

Day

• Days begin with a deadline of
  240 hours
  (10 days).
  
• Days will end when one of the following events occurs:
  • The deadline is reached.
    
  • A
    yeet
    (elimination) or
    no-yeet
    (no-elimination) is achieved.
    
  • A town-aligned player is modkilled.
• Votes should be made via the vote tag: “[vote]<playername>[/vote]” or “[v]<playername>[/v]”. Full player names or initial segments thereof are preferred.
  
• When more than half of living players are voting for the same player, that player will be
  yeeted
  (eliminated) and the day will end. Votes are irrevocable once a majority is achieved.
  
• You may vote not to yeet by voting for “No yeet”. When half or more of living players do so, the day will end without a yeet.
  
• If the day reaches deadline without a majority, there will be no yeet.
  
• I will interpret malformed votes according to my own discretion. In general, if it looks like a vote, I will probably count it as a vote. I reserve the right to edit malformed votes for easier counting.
  
• When a majority vote has been achieved but not yet recognized by the moderator, the game is in
  twilight
  . Players, including the yeetee, may continue to post during this period.
  
• Under certain circumstances I may elect to extend the deadline. I will announce this in thread if it occurs.

Night

• Nights will last
  48 hours
  , or until all living players give me their approval to end the night early.
  
• During the night, you should be unable to post in the public game thread. If for some reason you are able, doing so is still against the rules.
  
• Mafia night abilities should be submitted in the Mafia's private thread. Factional kills must specify which mafioso carries out the kill.
  
• Town night abilities should be submitted via PM.
  
• Use of active night abilities is optional unless otherwise specified in the role PM; if no action is submitted, no action will occur.

---

Activity requirements

• Players who do not confirm within
  48 hours
  of receiving their role PM will be replaced.
  
• Players who do not post any game-related content for
  48 hours
  in a single game-day will incur a prod.
  
• Players who do not post any game-related content for
  24 hours
  following a prod will be replaced.
  
• Players who incur three prods will be replaced.
  
• “Prod dodges” (posts with no game-related content) will be disregarded for purposes of the prod timer.
  
• If for any reason you are temporarily unable to meet these requirements, you may declare V/LA status
  in thread
  and be excused. V/LA declarations must include a definite end date.
  
• Notwithstanding V/LA status, any player who does not post at all for
  7 days
  of consecutive day time will be replaced.
  
• These are minimal requirements, not recommendations; please keep the game active.

---

Sample role PM

At least one player will receive the role of

Townie

and the following role PM:[/font]

Welcome to Mini Normal {NUMBER}! You are a

Townie

.

You win when the Town is the sole surviving faction.

[implosion]

Primary: Isis
Secondary: Something_Smart

[Something_Smart]

Ego

Intuition says it's scumsided.

[Umlaut]

Ego for myself as well.

[Isis]

Cop, gunsmith,neap for the joat might be balanced on average for the whole thing but if we are only working with one slot it's hella swingy

[Something_Smart]

What's the point of having the neighborizer be roaming? Is it to tip off town that there's a scum roleblocker?

[Isis]

Maybe add enabler to the Joat and put some sweet power role on the neighborizer

[Isis]

It's to ensure the death of the Encryptor feels impactful I think

[Isis]

You can decide you want to prove to any trackers that you are not scum unless you are multitasking but then spam the ability on your night one target so scum don't learn the setup of you are not roaming

[Something_Smart]

oh I totally missed that encryptor got guiltied by the neighborizer lol. (I hate that interaction so much.) I still don't understand how the roaming matters for it though?

pedit: is that a thing people actually do

[Isis]

Watchers, not trackers

[Isis]

It seems like a likely addition to the list of "PR play literally nobody is doing in the normal queue except Isis"

[Something_Smart]

It doesn't even prove you aren't scum unless there's one scum left?

[Isis]

I also missed that old school Encryptor interaction.

I think maybe the setup is already fine then kinda scumsided but I like scumsided.

[Isis]

Yeah there has to be one scum left or it could be applied to theories where you are teamed with someone else confirmed to have acted

[Something_Smart]

I wouldn't even call it old school, I don't think it's how encryptors used to work. It's just weird.

[Isis]

Can we make the roleblocker a Rolestopper and the watcher a gunsmith so the setup has similar balance but less bullshit.

[Isis]

Kinda nice with the follower interaction too

[Umlaut]

What's the point of having the neighborizer be roaming? Is it to tip off town that there's a scum roleblocker?

I think that's probably the bigger effect. It also means if scum are either skillful or lucky enough to block the neighborizer specifically from neighborizing the Encryptor, they've prevented that guilty once and for all rather than just once, but that's probably unlikely to come into play.

Isis, I'm fine with those changes (I assume you mean change the JoAT's Watcher shot to a Gunsmith shot) but Gunsmith is effectively a cop in this setup so would it be simpler to just have 2-Shot Cop (or 2-Shot Gunsmith)? I feel like having one of each strongly leads players to think there is some other player with a gun, I don't know if you agree that's true (or agree it's a problem). And can you explain why Rolestopper is less bullshitty?

[Something_Smart]

I think that's probably the bigger effect.

The problem imo is that not everyone is going to think of that, and it's kind of a big deal whether they do or not.

[Umlaut]

Well I was thinking more of "if you block the neighborizer from someone (e.g. the encryptor) once, you've blocked it entirely" as the reason when I put that on there, I just realized after submitting that the stars have to align just so for that to happen.

If you both think it's scumsided I can add some minor town PR. 2-Shot Commuter?

[Something_Smart]

I do not like the neighborizer/encryptor interaction; it feels like a random guilty that doesn't come about due to good play by town (and can even come about due to BAD play by town if they were neighborizing their townreads).

and I agree that the RB neighborizer while they try to neighborize the encryptor interaction is not very interesting either because it's almost certainly going to be not on purpose.

[Isis]

Rolestopper lets the town kill the joat if the joat is flat good at mafia.and getting docced. It lets the mafia send their favorite scum to lategame rather than send any scum to lategame based on guessing PRs and that seems kinda good when there's multiple roles that can investigate the encryptor but the encryptor might be the best player


It does feel kind of bad if the neighborizer shoots for town and the guilty happens.

[Isis]

Oh btw gunsmith is diff from cop in this setup because it feels less confident about its inno on loyal doc

[Isis]

Make the neighborizer a combined neighborizer strongmanfinder? That's fun