This is a long list of changes, as well as the reason that motivate them. If you are simply interested into the short, condensed version of my "ideal patch note" to balance out evil roles. Spoiler alert, it is in their favor. It is long, but keep in mind I am perfectly serious when proposing this.
Constructive criticism is appreciated.
Things to take into account when reading my dream patch note :
- Made to balance "Ranked Practice" in normal mode as well as "Ranked" , as Coven is practically never played anymore (sadly) and All Any in chaos mode isn't meant to be balanced in the first place.
- My fixes essentially "kills" Coven DLC roles. I'm aware of that. I don't think this is exceptionally fair to players who bought the DLC, however as a vast majority of players who did don't even get to enjoy it, I find in this a very practical, if imperfect solution.
Problems in town of Salem :
- Some roles are practically "claimable" by evil roles because they are either ridiculously hard to prove unless you specifically contradict someone (which gives you away as soon as this person is lynched or killed), disprovable by the use of a daytime power. I'm thinking specifically of Transporter, Mayor and Jailor.
- Coordination between town members is extremely easy if you are the Jailor. If you announce yourself on the first day as Jailor, you can hardly get punished for it, if at all.
- NK and NE wins are negligible.
- Mafia wins are very rare. So are mafia games where no mafia member disconnects. Read Framer and Forger in particular. This creates a vicious circle, as more and more people choose to "whoops" disconnect as they see they get assigned Godfather, Mafioso, Framer or Forger roles. Or mafia in general. But especially those 4. The more people disconnect, the more mafia loses, and the more mafia loses, the more people disconnect...
- Framer and Forger are severely underpowered. Forger is outshined by lengths by the Janitor, and Framer's power is so rarely useful that it is negligible. Even worse, if you get investigated you come up as "Framer, Jester or Vampire", the Vigilante and Jailor are likely to target and execute you. Nobody wants a Jester running free.
My proposed way to fix it :
- As I specifically target Jailors who reveal very fast and get away with it, Lookouts are planned to become weak with this presented patch note. As a preventive change, I propose thatLookout and Tracker roles be merged into one, giving the Lookout the ability to switch between Watching(see who visits target) and Tracking(see who the target visits) as a daytime ability.
- Give Werewolf a Powerful defense. It is probably the NK with the most success, but not having to worry about BG and Vets mean you can get rid of those pesky jailors who immediately reveal to town their identity. AND don't risk dying when attacking. Tsk, tsk, tsk!
- Give Serial Killer a daytime power "Distraction" that prevents other daytime powers from activating : Jailor's jailing, Medium's Seance and Mayor's reveal. An already revealed Mayor stays revealed and still has his vote count to three. Probably going to be used as a "get out of jail free" card.
- Despite being already okay-ish, Arsonists often end up losing because their doused targets get revealed to town and executed, or otherwise die. A small buff would be necessary to counter that. I advise it to be a one-time only daytime power that douses any remaining player alive, but warns the town that this person is effectively doused. (At nightfall, broadcasts " PLAYER's house reek of gas... They are doused! ". Maybe this could also be usable on self, for bluff measures.
- Either completely remove Framer and replace it by Hypnotist from the coven DLC that everybody bought and nobody plays, or remake Hypnotist and give its old powers to the Framer. It is still very fitting for a Framer to be able to falsly advertise transports, attack & heals, Witch control and such. It effecitvely makes mafia able to claim Transporter role, Doctor and Vigilante role, help out friendly NEs... as long as town is quite innatentive and doesn't seem to notice the Transporter always transes himself with someone else, or that the Doctor heal happened just as there seems to be one too many attack... (see what I did there?)
- OR , Framer's new power could be, like the Lookout edit I mentioned earlier, that the Framer now has the daytime power to switch between Studying a target's movements (tracking, essentially) or Framing a target. As this is pretty close to IRL Framer motus operandi, I wouldn't think this is too much of a stretch.
- Give the Forger the ability to interfere much more with wills - even when alive. If Forger can target living players to make them "lose" their will for a day and a night, it won't stand in the Janitor's shadow. Without being overpowered, it can certainly give another bluffing opportunity for Evil roles who get confronted easily. "Sorry, Dog got the homework and Forger ate my will!" My immediate instinct would be to put this on a 3 uses basis, however with the arrival of notes as an additional mechanic, it might be reasonable to give more than 3 uses. To be discussed.