I hate to be a backseat hitman, but… oh wait, that’s what this thread is for. I’m not an expert on this game, but in modesty I do consider myself an expert on games in general. I’ve been watching all three games with interest, and while the latest version has some interesting ideas, unfortunately I think there are a few flaws. Specifically the Do-Gooder and the Night Watchman. Both are excellent in flavor, but lacking in rules execution.
The problem with the Do-Gooder is that they have no power other than being un-corruptable. Thus, they don’t really have a “tell” of any kind, so the Mafia is completely shooting in the dark. It’s essentially a random chance that their ONE AND ONLY recruitment doesn’t work. Seems a bit lacking as a “power role”.
The Night Watchman is really cool in concept, but again, with no “tell,” the result is a random 1 in 6 chance that the mafia kill fails as long as the NW is alive. Which is kind of disappointing for such a flavorful addition.
So, do I have a way to fix them or am I just bitching? Well, I have some suggestions. I would first of all give the Do-gooder some other power. I don’t know what, but something that would encourage them to behave differently enough that the mafia has some slim chance of figuring it out. Or combine the do-gooder with another existing role. (Do-gooder detective, or Do-gooder Mason for example)
For the Night Watchman, I would make the locations matter more. Maybe make some sort of system whereby the players have to publicly declare where they will be that night, and then the Watchman has to make his choice.
Now you’d have to make sure that they don’t break the system by everyone going to one place and having the watchman always protect that place. So there would have to be some limit on how many people fit in one place, which would have to be based somehow on the number of remaining players, lest the limit become obsolete when the number of players drops.
Then you have the issue that the NW just became a super-powerful doctor. So you’d have to limit his powers somehow. Maybe make him change locations every night, or only work on a limited number of nights. I’m not sure. This is a work in progress here…
You might make things even more flavorful by requiring the mafia to have at least one member on site to make the kill. That would certainly give the town a lot to analyze, and also make the mafia’s choices a bit harder. But if you did that, you probably need less locations total so that the mafia isn’t found immediately when 12 people are spread across 6 locations.
In the end, I don’t know if the book-keeping of who is where would detract from the game, and I’m not expecting the mod to make any changes now that it’s started (and certainly not recommending you use my suggestions in this half-baked form). Just making an observation and suggestion for future discussion…
Thoughts?