Pine's Mini Normal Review

[mastina]

I'd call the Cop + JK vs Ascetic setup scumsided, because the ascetic acts as a counter to BOTH town roles: it's immune to their powers, and the only way it gets caught is if the ascetic doesn't claim. And the site doesn't have a "town ascetics MUST claim D1" in the same way a miller does, though half of mafia ascetics claim their asceticness anyway. So a JK can't stop the ascetic from killing, and the cop can't get a result on the ascetic.

It might be more balanced in an all-goon setup: cop + JK is fairly weak as far as town power goes (it's minimal), but each role is strong individually. (Cop is the strongest Normal role, and JK is probably the third-strongest when you exclude cop variants.) They don't synchronize well (the JK blocks the cop when protecting them), but they are both strong by themselves.

A cop + JK setup, in essence, might be swingy because both town roles living = town dominates; both town roles getting outed/killed early = scum dominates, but I don't think the swing inherent to that setup is beyond acceptable ranges; it's within normal levels and I'd call it standard, and more importantly...balanced. It might be unusually light, so the game might be unusually challenging for the town, but it's not a game I see the town being handed a victory easily, or a game I see the scum being handed a victory easily. It comes down to how well the town and the scum play, so I'd be fine with Cop + JK vs Goonx3.

[mastina]

I'd be slightly concerned about the scum having three chances to find the roles which are the town's strength, but I don't think it actually hurts the town badly. Especially since a JK can cause the trackers to waste their shot, and each tracker only would have one shot, and a scum being lynched before using their shot is wasted, and scum have an incredibly small chance of actually hitting a PR, so overall I'd be fine with a 1xtracker x 3 scumteam. Would be a little bit on the quirky side, and weird, and against cultural norms (all three scum as PRs), but not overwhelming and not debilitating to the town.

[mastina]

I'd be fine with that setup. Might be slightly light, but it's good once we see the role PMs.

Also, define the interaction between the JK and the BP, when the JK protects the BP. Does the shot get used (the JK applies only when needed), or does the JK protection trump the shot being used?

[mastina]

You will receive a No Result answer if your power fails for any reason whatsoever.

I would remove this clause altogether. You've included the possible results: innocent, guilty, an "no result". That tells the cop everything they need to know.

[mastina]

Indeed, I am also fine with it.