The New Set-Up Review Thread

[animorpherv1]

I need a review of my Large Themed game.

It does have multiple factions.

Just ssyain, you won't be able to mod that for another year at least. You'll have to go through the Mini Normal or Open queues, then mod a non-Newbie.

[smallpeoples343]

I need a review of my Large Themed game.

It does have multiple factions.

Just ssyain, you won't be able to mod that for another year at least. You'll have to go through the Mini Normal or Open queues, then mod a non-Newbie.

Yes I know. I'm trying to get a review on this site which had more experienced mafia players, to release it on another site where I can't get it reviewed.

[animorpherv1]

Alright then.

[Midnight's Sorrow]

Need a reviewer or two for my Crisis Core Mafia. It's a 28 player theme game.

Still need this

And for another 28 player theme game.

*heavy sigh*

Still need someone or two for these.

Pretty please

I think I'm good for now. Thanks

[Powerrox93]

I need a reviewer for an upcoming mini theme. No flavor knowledge required .

None needed ATM

[smallpeoples343]

I need a review of my Large Themed game.

It does have multiple factions.

Thanks Empking!

[izakthegoomba]

I need a reviewer for a semi-open large normal. It'll be a few months before I get to run it, but I'd like to get it done.

[smallpeoples343]

Thanks again to Empking and drmyshottyizsik for reviewing my Large Theme game!

I need a review of my Large Themed game.

It does have multiple factions.

Just ssyain, you won't be able to mod that for another year at least. You'll have to go through the Mini Normal or Open queues, then mod a non-Newbie.

Oh, BTW. I'll probably end up waiting a year on the other site too

[CSL]

I need a few reviewers for my upcoming Large Theme.

[RichardGHP]

Still need a reviewer for Mafia in Spanish. Offer to cross-review is still good.

[farside22]

I need a review/back up mod for a large theme game.
I'm usually around so the back up mod duties is just for show (IE: required per MS rules)

PM if you are interested.

As reviews go I would like at least 2 reviews for the game.

edit:

Magister Ludi took one of the review spots I would like one more reviewer and still need a back up mod for the sake of requirement.

[JAMFTW]

Alright, so I would like to (sooner rather than later) run this themed game I've been kicking around: A Castle-themed Mafia game (As in, Castle the TV show).

Anyone with knowledge of the TV show is invited to chime in, as is anyone else. Not only am I looking to capture a bit of the flavor of the TV show, but I'm also looking to get this as balanced as possible. Right now, I'm not sure what roles to assign certain people and still have it all as balanced as possible. Alright, so here's the list for my current ideas:

Richard Castle - Roleblocker, Rolestopper, Paranoid Cop

Kate Beckett - Regular Cop

Captain Roy Montgomery (This is where it would get a bit twisty and weird) - Third Party Roleblocker/Survivor. If he is investigated by Beckett, he is offered the chance to either A) Kill Beckett and join the Mafia or B) Kill one of the mafia members, risk being killed in the process (something like a 50/50 roll of the dice) and join the Town (not sure if he would keep his roleblocking ability. Thoughts?)

Detective Javier Esposito - Some type of Cop (Role? Insane?)?

Detective Kevin Ryan - Another type of Cop (Opposite of Esposito?)?

Lanie Parish - Coroner (One shot? Every night? Every other night?)

Sidney Perlmutter - Backup Coroner (Takes over Coroner role if Lanie Parish is killed/lynched. Same guidelines for Coroner Investigations?)

Alexis Castle - Vanilla Townie or Beloved Princess maybe?

Martha Rodgers - Vanilla Townie or Actor maybe?

3XK - Serial Killer (Can kill one target per night. Wins if he is the last one standing).

Scott Dunn, Beckett's Stalker - Lyncher (Wins if he is on the wagon that lynches Beckett)

Special Agent Jordan Shaw - Investigator (Main purpose is to track down and lynch the Lyncher/get him killed. Investigations come back "Third Party" or "Not third party" so could potentially also track down the SK).

Dick "Rathborne" Coonan - Mafia Assassin - Daykill ability. (One shot?)

Hal Lockwood - Mafia Janitor (One shot? Perhaps should be whatever the Coroner is?)

The Man - Mafia Godfather (This is the name I'm using, as it still isn't known who is pulling the strings in the city/had Beckett's mother killed. Perhaps have one of Beckett's win conditions being lynching the Godfather?)

John Raglan - Mafia member (Goon? Framer?)

Michaela McManus - Mafia Hooker (Roleblocker)

These are the only roles I've been thinking about so far. Any additions/eliminations/modifications you would suggest? How balanced, or at least playable, would this game be?

[Faraday]

Woah. baby too much scum.

5 scum + SK + lyncher + survivor in a 17? Player game.

The set-up needs a lot of work. Add some VT's, or at least don't put in that many cops, varying sanity cops aren't particularly fun to play.

Let's see 17 players, try 4 scum and an SK maaaaaaybe. (even that is swingy as fuck).

I mean where to start, it depends on what roles you want/prefer to keep and start working(re-working) the set-up from there.

[JAMFTW]

Well, yeah, it depends on how many people are interested in playing for one. I can always throw in some random vanilla townies if necessary.

I know the "go to" ratio for town to scum is something around 3 to 1 (at least in the games I've played so far), so I was thinking I would start with The Man, Coonan and Lockwood to start as far as Mafia roles go. I wouldn't add in Esposito, Ryan or Perlmutter (or other Mafia members) unless there were enough people to come close to that ratio. The first third party to be included would be Montgomery, followed by the Lyncher and Jordan Shaw. 3XK would be added in only if the numbers justified it.

Also, this is why I'm running the idea through the thread. Input, man, input.

Other possible Town/Mafia roles to toss in? I was thinking perhaps something like a bodyguard role for one of the other cops (Ryan or Esposito) instead of ANOTHER investigative role, but again, this is themed off of the show, and there are usually three or four people doing investigations or running theories by the others.

[DarthYoshi]

Alright, so I would like to

(sooner rather than later)

run this themed game I've been kicking around: A Castle-themed Mafia game (As in, Castle the TV show).

Anyone with knowledge of the TV show is invited to chime in, as is anyone else. Not only am I looking to capture a bit of the flavor of the TV show, but I'm also looking to get this as balanced as possible. Right now, I'm not sure what roles to assign certain people and still have it all as balanced as possible. Alright, so here's the list for my current ideas:

Richard Castle - Roleblocker, Rolestopper, Paranoid Cop

Kate Beckett - Regular Cop

Captain Roy Montgomery (This is where it would get a bit twisty and weird) - Third Party Roleblocker/Survivor. If he is investigated by Beckett, he is offered the chance to either A) Kill Beckett and join the Mafia or B) Kill one of the mafia members, risk being killed in the process (something like a 50/50 roll of the dice) and join the Town (not sure if he would keep his roleblocking ability. Thoughts?)

Detective Javier Esposito - Some type of Cop (Role? Insane?)?

Detective Kevin Ryan - Another type of Cop (Opposite of Esposito?)?

Lanie Parish - Coroner (One shot? Every night? Every other night?)

Sidney Perlmutter - Backup Coroner (Takes over Coroner role if Lanie Parish is killed/lynched. Same guidelines for Coroner Investigations?)

Alexis Castle - Vanilla Townie or Beloved Princess maybe?

Martha Rodgers - Vanilla Townie or Actor maybe?

3XK - Serial Killer (Can kill one target per night. Wins if he is the last one standing).

Scott Dunn, Beckett's Stalker - Lyncher (Wins if he is on the wagon that lynches Beckett)

Special Agent Jordan Shaw - Investigator (Main purpose is to track down and lynch the Lyncher/get him killed. Investigations come back "Third Party" or "Not third party" so could potentially also track down the SK).

Dick "Rathborne" Coonan - Mafia Assassin - Daykill ability. (One shot?)

Hal Lockwood - Mafia Janitor (One shot? Perhaps should be whatever the Coroner is?)

The Man - Mafia Godfather (This is the name I'm using, as it still isn't known who is pulling the strings in the city/had Beckett's mother killed. Perhaps have one of Beckett's win conditions being lynching the Godfather?)

John Raglan - Mafia member (Goon? Framer?)

Michaela McManus - Mafia Hooker (Roleblocker)

These are the only roles I've been thinking about so far. Any additions/eliminations/modifications you would suggest? How balanced, or at least playable, would this game be?

Emphasis mine. Just in case you don't know this, at MS you're required to have been a member here for at least three months, then mod either an Open or a Mini Normal game to completion, then mod either a Open/Mini Normal/Large Normal/Mini Theme to completion before you will be allowed to mod a Large Theme. If this is a setup you want to mod here, you are looking at a considerably long wait to do so. Just so you're aware.

I think Faraday's right, for a 17-player game, 4 scum is plenty and 5 is too much; scum win more than enough as it is. I would add that I think one third-party role is enough as well-functionally, this a 9:5:3 setup (9 town, 5 scum, 3 third-party), which is really really bad for the town. I would hate to draw town in this setup.

Other thoughts about the roles in the game:

-I'm not a fan of lynchers (much for the same reason I'm not a fan of jesters--a single player could theoretically win the game D1)

-See above re: survivors. Here, survivors are considered a bastard role by a number of players.

-Be aware that having multiple roleblockers in the game can create some controversy over how to resolve night actions.

-Mafia Framers are extremely swingy roles.

-Re: the Mafia Godfather--would s/he be bulletproof or investigation immune? Whichever trait you don't give to them should be given to the Serial Killer--a Serial Killer with no other PRs is almost surely going to lose.

-Actor is an extremely obsolete role, at least on this site. (Edit: I don't think I've ever seen it used.)

-If you include a Beloved Princess in the setup, include a role (call it a "Guard" if you want) that knows the BP's identity and alignment and works to prevent their lynch.

-Mafia Janitors are extremely powerful roles. I would limit a janitor to being one- or two-shot.

An often good rule of thumb, imo, for assigning Mafia and Town PRs (other players may beg to differ, this is just something I use):

Town should have however many PRs as there are non-town players (so if there are 4 maf + SK in a 17-player setup), five town PRs is reasonable, depending on the strength of those PRs (which you can limit by being one/two-shot if need be).

Mafia, in turn, should have 1/2 of the number of PRs the Town has, rounded down. I.E., in a typical 13-player, 10:3 setup, town would have 3 PRs (because three non-town players), and Mafia would have 1 PR (1/2 of 3 rounded down = 1). So for this 17 player setup, town should have 5 PRs, and Mafia should have 2 PRs.

[JAMFTW]

And I'm getting even more helpful info. That 1/2 number of power roles is news to me, but makes sense from a balance perspective, as well as thoughts on other power roles in general.

I'm aware of some of the requirements for running your own game on the site. I'm currently running my very first game over at myth-weavers, so once that three month requirement is up, hopefully I can start running a game or two, as I'll be getting a few more games under my belt over there. Though they are generally smaller games. The one I'm running now has 10 people.

My godfather's are usually investigation immune.

Perhaps I can make Martha Rodgers the Guard for Alexis Castle.

Once again, I'm trying to just get an idea for power roles here. I'll be adding in VT's to make sure it isn't just power roles vs power roles. I was in a game like that once. It was crazy.

[Faraday]

I'd drop the Beloved Princess, terrible role, really.

[Beck]

I'd drop the Beloved Princess, terrible role, really.

Not as bad as lyncher

[izakthegoomba]

Imagine if the lyncher's target was the Beloved Princess...

[Beck]

Rofl

[Faraday]

I'd drop the Beloved Princess, terrible role, really.

Not as bad as lyncher

It's far worse, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[smallpeoples343]

I've seen many people saying that survivors, lynchers, etc. are hated roles, but what about Bus Driver?

[JAMFTW]

Alright, so the Lyncher or Jester (or any role that has an independent win condition) is heartily disliked? Would it be cheapening the win too much to say something like "You've won along with whoever wins the game (town or scum, depending?)"?

[Vi]

I've seen many people saying that survivors, lynchers, etc. are hated roles, but what about Bus Driver?

Bus Driver is disliked mostly because it complicates how Night Actions resolve.

Alright, so the Lyncher or Jester (or any role that has an independent win condition) is heartily disliked?

I wouldn't say that. Independent Win Conditions can be done well.
The problem with Lyncher is that it drags the Town into a wild goose chase (esp. when the Lynchee is Town). Plus nobody likes being mod-ordained as a lynchee. *has drawn Lynchee twice*
The problem with Jester is that it REALLY drags the Town into a giant mess, plus it's considered "too easy to win with".

Would it be cheapening the win too much to say something like "You've won along with whoever wins the game (town or scum, depending?)"?

That's actually what's usually done with those roles.
If a person or faction is going to be a sole winner, it's just good design to make it so that in some sense they've "beaten" all the other players. Dragging half the players onto a bad wagon doesn't really qualify in that regard.

[Faraday]

Lyncher on scum is probs worse, I think. I like lynchers to some degree as long as it's...accounted for.