Title: Message
I didn't get a real
chance to contribute to the main conversation here since I've been incredibly
busy these past couple of weeks, but I thought I might take this opportunity to
add my tuppence.
If I want to play a
themed game (i.e. something akin to AYAW but without the Werewolf theme) then I
use playing cards and can essentially have whatever roles fits the theme.
Although to be honest, I don't often change many of the roles beyond the
established ones with only really one major exception which I think I saw only
mentioned in passing. Unlike characters like the Vigilante (not used him, not
sure I like the idea of him), and the Little Girl (hate the idea of the Little
Girl, frankly), there's only one role that I tend to consistently add. I think
he was mentioned once but has been overlooked for repeated mention of roles with
a lot more game power (which I find dangerous). The role is the Alchemist (as we
call him) but is also commonly known in Mafia as the Doctor. The game power is
that each night the Alchemist may protect one other player from attack (except
themself). While, yes, it is possible to have a game in which nobody dies on the
first night (it's happened) I find the character doesn't throw off the basic
game play too much and adds an extra level of detection work. Brave Seers might
try declaring themselves in hopes that they will be protected by the Alchemist,
while, of course, on those rare nights when nobody dies the Alchemist gets to
also know for certain who is innocent. For the majority of games the Alchemist
may as well not be there because it is such a hit and miss role, but when it
strikes lucky it really does add a new element to the game which I've only ever
seen aid detectives rather than mess things up in the way that Vigilantes
do.
One great example of
this happened at a convention when the Werewolves doggedly (pardon the pun)
tried to kill the same person multiple times who was continually being protected
by the Alchemist. As a result the Werewolves were forced to press an Alchemist
hunt because with each saved Villager was a bonus day for a lynching. I've even
seen people successfully bluff being the Seer in order to be protected by the
Alchemist and create a successful sting operation to flush out the remaining
Werewolf. An ingenius bit of game-play not possible without a protector-style
role, but one that comes up so infrequently that it, once again, doesn't overly
detract from the "pure" game.
In summary, and
IMHO, it's the only extra card for AYAW that I'd actually like to see (even if
only as a promo) printed.
My
thoughts,
Nimrod...
On 17/09/2007 22:29:52, Andy Looney
(andy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
<snip>
Again, the problem here is that I've yet to
find a new character which I
think it really benefits the game to have
added. I've seen the Lovers
really ruin the gameplay, and I really don't
care for the Little Girl. Even
the Vigilante messes up the dynamic for the
serious hunter. Given this, I
could imagine us doing a promo card or two,
but I'm pretty skeptical about
an entire packet of new
characters.