I, personally, like the idea of straight-up normals with nothing but Mr Flay's "Absolutely Normal" roles. It seems to me you win those games by having fun and playing better, not being the first to guess the setup or what roles are around.
In terms of flavor messing with a Newbie, 309 had all role PMs posted. The cop and doc had names assigned to them. The scum and townie PMs had a list of possible names. The cop outed himself
page one
by saying it would be hard for scum to fake claim since names were assigned. (Scum still lost, but we were both newbs 
)I'm in a Newbie mini on another site. Its theme is High School Talent Show. Newbie friendly it is not (imho), since each player has a unique role and PM, plus there was a little debate over whether a certain roles could be in a Newbie there (roles you will not find in a Newbie here, although I am comparing 7 vs 12 man setups).
I think there should be a list of "Normal" roles. I think a Normal should not assign names to roles- you are the role, the role is you. Generic townie PM should always be posted. Standard role PMs for Normals makes sense, as well.
On the flavor side, only the setup and mod's posts should have any flavor in a Normal- it shouldn't enter into the role PM, affect play or affect the ability to claim. It should be only a touch of flair that makes getting to what role the person lynched or found dead had more entertaining.
[/opinion]
