The Neutral (Killing) Alignment

[Randyxpxp]

The Neutral (Killing) alignment is, in a way, a faction, similar to the Neutral (Evil) alignment. The three neutral evils can all benefit and win with each other, and each have goals that seek to or can harm the Town faction in some respect. The executioner wishes to lynch a Town member (who could’ve been converted into a vampire). The jester wishes to get itself lynched, and can use its haunt to benefit other evils. The witch wants to survive to see the Town lose. These three evils can generally work more safely with each other than the three neutral killers can, but even the three neutral evils can conflict in their agendas. An executioner might want to lynch its target today while a jester might want to lynch itself, while a witch might want to lynch neither the exe’s target nor the jester but instead lynch a dangerous role such as an arsonist or investigator or lynch no one at all to maintain a shroud of chaos in the town that allows the witch to keep a low profile. The witch might even out the jester to prevent them from being lynched, or the jester might haunt an executioner or a witch, or an executioner might lynch a witch knowingly or unknowingly. There are many possibilities inherent within the neutral evil alignment, but the three neutral evils tend to be less dangerous to each other than the three neutral killers are to each other. Despite the inability of the three NK to win with any of the other two killer types, neutral killers can still benefit from and even work with each other to some extent, and I find that there is a certain strategic nexus within the Neutral (Killing) alignment that many NK neglect, a nexus which, if not handled well, can cause a neutral killer’s demise even if it gets rid of an enemy neutral killer. All of the neutral killers are enemies of the other two, but they’re all also enemies of the town, mafia, and vampires. In this thread, I’ll detail some of my observations of this NK nexus. This nexus is somewhat similar to town using NK to kill mafia or mafia using NK to kill town, but the main difference is that each of the neutral killers are technically part of the same alignment in the game’s terminology, and I think this classification of serial killer, werewolf, and arsonist as members of an alignment is significant and speaks to the similar goals of each evil and also the extent to which the evils can use each other to attain their respective goals.

My main thesis here is that the werewolf and the arsonist should almost never lynch or otherwise rid of a serial killer, at least not until the approximate time when the serial killer is likely to turn the tables on you. If there are three serial killers, for instance, lynching at least one of them or even killing one at night definitely has some strategic value. But if there is only one or two SKs, it is in the interest of both a werewolf and an arsonist to not only not push the serial killer prematurely, but to even perhaps go so far as to defend and deflect from the serial killer.

This serves multiple purposes for the werewolf/arsonist:

1) The serial killer can kill town, mafia, vampires, or other enemies for you.
2) The serial killer can serve as a distraction from you, someone you can get lynched at a key moment to prevent yourself from being lynched.
3) The serial killer cannot kill you at night, and is therefore less dangerous than it is to most other roles.

What many werewolves and arsonists (and even serial killers) make the mistake of doing is they not only vote against a serial killer when the SK may not be voted otherwise, but they even go so far as to aggressively push to lynch the serial killer. While this can make an NK look more-so like town, town is not the only faction that wants an SK dead, and the hostility the NK reveals to get the serial killer lynched can easily make the NK itself a target of others, who will want to know its role and may target it at night. Mafia and vampires also want a serial killer dead ultimately, and both mafia and vampires may attack you if you try to get a serial killer lynched, since your desire to lynch the serial killer implies you probably also want to lynch mafia and/or vampires. It is true that if you don’t vote against a suspected serial killer, your refusal to vote can influence others to target you at night in order to either kill you for being a non-voter or investigate you. However, the point remains that if your vote could prevent a serial killer from being voted to trial or if you can successfully deflect from a suspected serial killer, this can buy the serial killer another night to kill, which could be just enough time you need to arrange the deaths of others. Then, by the time the town has the momentum on its own to lynch the serial killer (if it ever does), you could have bought yourself enough time to seal the town’s fate. While there are some instances in which there is a clear momentum and capacity to lynch an enemy NK and you will likely be deemed suspicious if you don’t vote (although not voting during a fast vote isn’t necessarily suspicious), there are other instances in which it is unclear whether they will be voted to trial, and you can simply let the clock run out. Perhaps there are split votes, or neutral evils or neutral benigns present who aren’t voting or who are trying to get someone else lynched. If they do get voted to trial, you may even emphatically call them a jester and get them voted down. Even if there is evidence they aren’t a jester, some players will instinctively vote innocent if you seem to be convinced the person on trial is a jester.

So don’t be in a rush to lynch a serial killer as a werewolf or an arsonist. Even a single serial killer can be very valuable to you, and is likely to prove more valuable alive than it would dead, especially if it is already suspected of being a serial killer and can be used as a distraction. If you instead actively or passively let the serial killer die, this removes a neutral killer from the equation, and now shifts a higher focus to the question of other neutral killers such as yourself. If you play it smooth and sneaky, you may even be able to convince the serial killer you’re a neutral evil (or even another serial killer), and you can get it to side with you in a late game scenario before you finally betray it. (Another note here is that a werewolf/arsonist wins 1v1 vs a serial killer, so you don’t technically need them dead.) Even when a serial killer is outed in a will D2, there are some occasions when this may not be noticed, or it may gain minimal attention or be overshadowed by the shenanigans of neutral evils such as executioners or jesters. If you then shout over everyone else to single out a serial killer suspect, this is more likely to get them lynched, and the Neutral (Killing) alignment will have less kill power and one fewer member, making you a more likely target for suspicion later. Even if no one notices an incriminating will now, you can use that same will later to cast suspicion onto someone other than you.

This is not to say you should always keep a serial killer alive. There are some occasions when it is better to rid of them. But for general practice, it is my evaluation that the serial killer is more useful to the werewolf and the arsonist alive than dead. Let the serial killer murder as many people as it can before you let it die. You only have so much kill potential. Perhaps it will still manage to turn the tables on you in the end, but if you get it killed too early, this could screw you over in the end too.

Likewise, from the perspective of a serial killer, a living werewolf and/or arsonist can have some strategic value, but the werewolf and arsonist are more dangerous to the serial killer, who can be killed by either evil at night. While in All Any I normally like to out immunes, even if you out a werewolf’s or arsonist’s immunity, that doesn’t mean you have to vote to lynch them today. You can simply keep the death note there as another distraction, and perhaps even defend or deflect from the neutral killer, perhaps get them on your side or make them think you’re something else. Then, once you’ve kept them alive a day or two, perhaps you push to get them lynched, or you wait until the werewolf has mauled again or the arsonist has ignited again and then get them killed. These involve riskier strategies, but in some towns, there is such a strong presence of town, mafia, and/or vampires that a serial killer may effectively only have a werewolf or arsonist as an ally. Many of these enemies may also be confirmed or quasi-confirmed or be in tight coordination with each other, making it even harder to combat them. Although the werewolf/arsonist wants to kill the SK and can kill it, the werewolf/arsonist also wants everyone else dead too, as the serial killer does. You may even go so far as to let a werewolf or arsonist know you’re a serial killer and you know they’re immune, and imply it’d be best to keep each other alive until you two can reach a kingmake scenario. (If you feel it’s best to keep them alive for now, you may out them in your will in case they betray you.) It’s better that one of you wins rather than neither of you. I don’t tend to let players know this kind of information, but I know as a fairly experienced serial killer that there are some instances when getting rid of a werewolf or arsonist is actually likely to make it harder for a lone serial killer to win, as there will be so many town, mafia, and/or vampires left that they’re bound to figure you out before you can kill them all.

There is a delicate balance that must be struck, in other words, between A) the threat posed by another neutral killer and B) the threat posed by your shared enemies, namely, the town, mafia, and vampires. You want all three of those factions dead, while they all want each of the neutral killers dead. If you pit yourself against those factions without another neutral killer to back you up, the math that leads to your victory becomes more difficult in many cases than it would be if there’s at least one other neutral killer. Evils commonly want each other dead, but they can also benefit each other even if they don’t win with each other in the end. This is a deliberate dimension of the game’s overall design, which is again also exploited by towns who use NK to kill mafia or mafia who use NK to kill town. It is in the interest of any neutral killer, therefore, to seriously consider the value of keeping another neutral killer alive, even if this means coming to their aid to buy each of you enough time to fatally damage your shared enemies. If you dispose of an enemy neutral killer too early, this may come back to haunt you in the end.