View Full Version : How to role claim when you're not town?
CrusaderC
11/14/2008, 07:40
Just wondering what everyone thinks about getting a role that's either neutral or mafia. Or anything that's not town, basically.
I went for a roleclaim that I thought was pretty good. But I guessed wrong and the character I picked was actually in the game.
What's everyone's opinion on "fake" roleclaiming? Just give alignment? Power? Go for the character bluff?
PaxZRake
11/14/2008, 08:35
Just wondering what everyone thinks about getting a role that's either neutral or mafia. Or anything that's not town, basically.
I went for a roleclaim that I thought was pretty good. But I guessed wrong and the character I picked was actually in the game.
What's everyone's opinion on "fake" roleclaiming? Just give alignment? Power? Go for the character bluff?
I generally try and go for someone unlikely to be in the game, but who could plausibly be in the game. And someone who matches my actual power set. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes I fumble badly, like in X2. I was an Unkillable SK, so I tried to pick a character that could be unkillable. I thought the Tracker was dead, so it could have worked. But the Tracker was alive, and I was busted.
Sometimes I think up something good, like in games worth playing. My Bomberman claim was pretty strong, as it matched what I did, while looking very townish.
CrusaderC
11/14/2008, 09:10
I claimed a NPC from FFVII and thought it was a good one, even had a good backstory, and outs. But he actually made the game and called me out. I've yet to deflect off myself when mafia. I either win, or go out way early.
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 09:27
Wow. I've done all sorts of fake roleclaims, since I'm always mafia. :rolleyes:
Seriously, though, the best way to do it, as previously stated, is to claim someone that could be in the game, but probably isn't. Of course, you can always reverse psychology people too... sometimes it works, sometimes not. Like when I claimed Skywarp (which is who I was) in TF2. "I escaped, I'm still an Autobot! Would I fake claim something like this???" (Skywarp was recruited by the Autobots in the first game.)
If you can make a fake claim that jives with your power set, so much the better. But if you've been tracked or reverse tracked... well, good luck with that, you'll need it.
However, most fake claims (unless you have a janitoring handy) are going to be perforated sooner rather than later, from what I've seen.
anonym0use
11/14/2008, 09:40
Some neutrals/mafia I've seen claim as a PGO or 50% PGO - so as to deflect anyone from looking too closely at them/ Kind of a wise move. I always try and claim something similar to what I could be.
When I was Catman in losers mafia, I tried claiming as Ka-Zar. They both have a similar feel. If someone searched me and found cat stuff I had a chance to explain it was Zabu. It only worked for so long.
I claimed as the Power Battery in the GL mafia. No one believed me (AFAIK) but it was a solid excuse to not target anyone at night - being an immobile object and all.
I have a hrader time claiming when I'm town and have an important role that I don't want to be known (like Doctor).
Sometimes you pick a character that's already in the game. SOmetimes a mod will include two of the same characters (MJ24 had 2 Hyenas running around the Suicide Squad game, which I thought was brilliant). There's really not a lot you can do if the mod doesn't leave some options open for you.
In the GL mafia, we were able to pick a few choice "might be in the game" roles that Ignatz left out, like Carl Ferris, and Charlie Vickers. If a mod doesn't leave a few holes/exploits, there's often no hope.
I kind of felt claiming was hopeless for the first LOST game, which had, like 45+ players in it. There's only so many "frogurt" roles you can claim before people start looking suspicious.
sstralkowski
11/14/2008, 09:55
I claimed a NPC from FFVII and thought it was a good one, even had a good backstory, and outs. But he actually made the game and called me out. I've yet to deflect off myself when mafia. I either win, or go out way early.
Careful not to alk about current games until they're over. I would talk in a mroe general sense or about a game that's finished where a similar thing happened.
sstralkowski
11/14/2008, 10:01
I usually claim my exact role except tweak something essential. Claim your entire power, but switch the character. Claim the character but leave out your win condition. I get busted mroe often than not, but that's something I've gotten used to. The good thing is that when you're mafia and see someone else do this (probably because theyr'e being completely honest), you can toss suspicion on them easily and usually get them lynched. That's why i like to have a good assortment of main and obscure characters in my games and always leave out a few mainstays for mafia role claims. If they can make it to the ends game and know a certina main character isn't present, they can claim it and buy themselves enough time to sneak out the win.
I will add that soemtimes you just have to go balls to the wall and claim something so far from what you really are that if it pays off, you're golden. hulk hogan in Wrestling mafia was brilliant.
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 10:14
I will add that soemtimes you just have to go balls to the wall and claim something so far from what you really are that if it pays off, you're golden. hulk hogan in Wrestling mafia was brilliant.
Yeah. Though it still blows my mind that Grinner didn't actually HAVE Hulk Hogan in that game! :rolleyes:
CrusaderC
11/14/2008, 10:28
Careful not to alk about current games until they're over. I would talk in a mroe general sense or about a game that's finished where a similar thing happened.
I was careful not to give anything away that wasn't posted in the thread. Everything I said here has been covered in the thread. I'm no n00b. ;)
CrusaderC
11/14/2008, 10:30
I usually claim my exact role except tweak something essential. Claim your entire power, but switch the character. Claim the character but leave out your win condition. I get busted mroe often than not, but that's something I've gotten used to. The good thing is that when you're mafia and see someone else do this (probably because theyr'e being completely honest), you can toss suspicion on them easily and usually get them lynched. That's why i like to have a good assortment of main and obscure characters in my games and always leave out a few mainstays for mafia role claims. If they can make it to the ends game and know a certina main character isn't present, they can claim it and buy themselves enough time to sneak out the win.
I will add that soemtimes you just have to go balls to the wall and claim something so far from what you really are that if it pays off, you're golden. hulk hogan in Wrestling mafia was brilliant.
Good ideas. It just seems like when I get into it, someone always finds a loophole in my logic. This time I think I needed more time. Seems like when I'm not town, I end up getting looked into way early. Nuts.
Wave threats at the town, tell them they're making a big mistake and that they don't deserve to win.
If that doesn't work, throw a tantrum and run away. Even better, claim a power first, then throw a tantrum and run away.
Or better yet, don't really claim. Be stubbornly bull-headed about dropping clues but not claiming, yet stay amiable enough so people don't get on your case about it. Or make up a fake post restriction/role restriction for yourself from the get-go and follow that religiously. Works wonders.
sstralkowski
11/14/2008, 10:39
I was careful not to give anything away that wasn't posted in the thread. Everything I said here has been covered in the thread. I'm no n00b. ;)
I know. It was just a friendly reminder to not only you but posts not yet made.
sstralkowski
11/14/2008, 10:41
Wave threats at the town, tell them they're making a big mistake and that they don't deserve to win.
If that doesn't work, throw a tantrum and run away. Even better, claim a power first, then throw a tantrum and run away.
Or better yet, don't really claim. Be stubbornly bull-headed about dropping clues but not claiming, yet stay amiable enough so people don't get on your case about it. Or make up a fake post restriction/role restriction for yourself from the get-go and follow that religiously. Works wonders.
Some of these "ideas" seem strangely tongue in cheek. Hmm.
Truffle Shuffle
11/14/2008, 13:12
I'm always amazed when people come up with good fake roleclaims. I don't think I've ever successfully done it ... or only did it once. I hate being mafia in games where I don't know the topic for this reason and it's why I hardly ever join a game if I don't know the topic.
sstralkowski
11/14/2008, 13:37
I'm always amazed when people come up with good fake roleclaims. I don't think I've ever successfully done it ... or only did it once. I hate being mafia in games where I don't know the topic for this reason and it's why I hardly ever join a game if I don't know the topic...unless sstralkowski is running it.
Fixed it for you. ;)
Truffle Shuffle
11/14/2008, 13:43
There are a few exceptions. :)
Rokk_Krinn
11/14/2008, 15:02
What's this roleclaiming of which you speak? :)
The BoyBlunder
11/14/2008, 15:04
I think the only time I've had a "good" claim was in Carlos' 100 Favorite Movies mafa, and I still didn't win. My character was a powercop, so I claimed a character from a movie that I knew Carlos had been heard praising, who also happened to be a cop.
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 15:08
I think the only time I've had a "good" claim was in Carlos' 100 Favorite Movies mafa, and I still didn't win. My character was a powercop, so I claimed a character from a movie that I knew Carlos had been heard praising, who also happened to be a cop.
Hahaha. That game had my favorite fake roleclaim ever.
AND FOR THE LAST TIME, THAT'S HEDLEY! :cool:
Hmmmmm, i felt the need to post on here as it seemed too funny not to, i'm usually always mafia and i don't think i've ever managed to pull off a fairly successful fake roleclaim, sesamme street was close actually when we janitored/killed elmo so i could claim as him near the end but that was it, Truffle pawned me in the end though, made me realize just how scary she can be at mafia, i swear she nearly made me cry :noid:
Think of one early. The worst role claims are usually the rushed ones.
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 19:14
Hmmmmm, i felt the need to post on here as it seemed too funny not to, i'm usually always mafia :noid:
Sorry, I've taken your crown, and I'm not giving it back!
Um, unless you send over some Penguins. Then I'll consider it. :p
agreed with Mags - one of the first things as Mafia is to come up with a roleclaim so when asked you can come up with it quickly.
darius_dax1
11/14/2008, 19:26
You need to metagame a roleclaim. There are several factors to take into consideration.
1. The source material. Which options are left that fit the genre.
2. The game role. Which roles/powers have been claimed...what makes sense for the character you are choosing to claim. What are your powers?
3. Who are the Players in the game. Who is in the mafia with you? Who has died? Who is left? You can totally make or break a role claim based on the players in the game.
4. What has happened in the write-ups? You may want to shy away from claiming a role that appears in the write-ups. Use the write-ups to narrow your search for an acceptable role.
In the Transformers III game I was Unicron (PGO). There were Autobots and Decepticons that could have been town or mafia. There were also members of Voltron. One of the Voltron characters was also a SK. I chose a member of Voltron based on the the Voltron mythos. I picked Sven. Sven had piloted the Blue Lion but went injured or missing early on. Princess Allura took over the Blue Lion. I guessed that if there were more members of Voltron Force that Sven would not be one of them. It really worked and I had the town fooled. The problem was there were still too many mafia left and they fast-tracked the train and hammered the vote before the town could remove a lynch.
Sorry, I've taken your crown, and I'm not giving it back!
Um, unless you send over some Penguins. Then I'll consider it. :p
*begrudgingly sends over a flock of penguins*
Just so you know those are on loan, i'm going to want them back :mad:
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 19:42
*begrudgingly sends over a flock of penguins*
Just so you know those are on loan, i'm going to want them back :mad:
Darnit! Not those kind of Penguins!
THIS kind. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_%28biscuit%29):p
Please, i have to loan out my penguin henchmen, do you really think i can afford chocolate?!?!?!
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 19:58
Please, i have to loan out my penguin henchmen, do you really think i can afford chocolate?!?!?!
Point. But now that I finally have Star Trek Remastered Season 2 I have a sudden urge to run Original Series Trek mafia. None of this Next Generation/DS9 silliness.
Action! Klingons! Miniskirts!
darius_dax1
11/14/2008, 22:40
Point. But now that I finally have Star Trek Remastered Season 2 I have a sudden urge to run Original Series Trek mafia. None of this Next Generation/DS9 silliness.
Action! Klingons! Miniskirts!
You want action from Kligons in mini-skirts?
malakim2099
11/14/2008, 22:57
You want action from Kligons in mini-skirts?
Hey, Kirk doesn't discriminate! :cool:
CarlosMucha
11/14/2008, 23:55
I think the only time I've had a "good" claim was in Carlos' 100 Favorite Movies mafa, and I still didn't win. My character was a powercop, so I claimed a character from a movie that I knew Carlos had been heard praising, who also happened to be a cop.
hehehe, your rolaclaim and Malakim's were fantastic! :cool:
malakim2099
11/15/2008, 00:08
hehehe, your rolaclaim and Malakim's were fantastic! :cool:
I think the best thing about mine is that you've never SEEN Blazing Saddles!
You have rectified that now, yes? If you haven't, I'm going to hunt you down and stomp on your Starfox HeroClix. ;)
(Seriously, the movie is great.)
CarlosMucha
11/15/2008, 00:12
I think the best thing about mine is that you've never SEEN Blazing Saddles!
You have rectified that now, yes? If you haven't, I'm going to hunt you down and stomp on your Starfox HeroClix. ;)
(Seriously, the movie is great.)
No, still never saw it. :o
but you never saw this video eigfhter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og3YLkw6pGo
:p
Rokk_Krinn
11/15/2008, 01:01
*begrudgingly sends over a flock of penguins*
Just so you know those are on loan, i'm going to want them back :mad:
If there's one thing I learned from watching "Madagascar" - the penguins only allow you to think you're in charge; the reality is a hammer waiting to fall like a well-timed anvil, my friend!
The key to a fake claim is that the mod doesn't put every night action into the writeup!
I'm always amazed when people come up with good fake roleclaims. I don't think I've ever successfully done it ... or only did it once. I hate being mafia in games where I don't know the topic for this reason and it's why I hardly ever join a game if I don't know the topic.
In the recently concluded Anonymous "Rabbits" Mafia, we brainstormed some ideas early. A few of them turned out to be in the game (Playboy Bunny), but by the time anybody was pressuring for characters, we had "fixed" most of our claims.
BTW, in the Rabbits mafia, we mafia were told what we would look like in the writeup...kinda neat twist that should have made it hard for us to hide, but the town was pretty apathetic.
My claim was highly dubious (the Rabbits from a David Lynch movie) but it was absurd enough and offered freely enough that it kept suspicion off of me for a critical day. Our other early claim was Usagi Yojimbo (which would have been a great town vig!) which was an "obvious" character for inclusion in the game but was not there.
Our brave don hoped to cross-claim another role, hoping for a quick end-game but it backfired on us! It was a risky move, and it would have won us the game except that the other character was unkillable by lynch!
majinmagog
11/20/2008, 00:08
It helps to know the material of the game. In Dr. Horrible I was the don and claimed my character. I also claimed town vig because I had been in the write-ups, but hadn't killed anyone. I said I could only kill evil people. I also made sure that we lynched the other don. loganspeedo and I went on to win.
Every other time save the first Resident Evil I had to claim I was town and still got lynched. In Resident Evil I got lynched because one of my fellow mafiosos went insane. He outed the entire Mafia after I got him lynched. He couldn't be trusted and he sucked at figureing things out.
I really hate the necessity of roleclaiming (and yes, I feel that for a majority of players, it ends up being a necessity. RC or die), so I very much advocate the use of janitors.
The key to a fake claim is that the mod doesn't put every night action into the writeup!
Yep! In my DBZ games, there were only kills in the writeups, and characters who had the ability to pull other characters into writeups as their particular night power. Doctored kills, misdirection, roleblocking, jailkeeping, none of that shows up, unless it is part of a successful kill.
As a result, main characters like Tien and Gohan were doubted. And characters like Bardock were just unbelievable.
JackAssterson
11/20/2008, 12:39
1. Be bold. Timidity may keep you alive by not getting noticed, but it's a poor roleclaim. People have pre-set notions about what the Mafia will do. By defying those notions, you upset their sense of how the game works, and increase the odds of your survivability.
2. Remember you're a Townie, not a Mafia member pretending to be a Townie. If you get into the latter mindset, the armchair detectives will actually have a shot. Don't give them one.
3. You can fake roleclaim when you're actually Town, too. Lying is a weapon universally useful in this game.
4. Know the game and preferably know your Mod. It's meta, but understanding your mod's style is a good way to come up with a feasible lie. I'd be more willing to come up with a wacky roleclaim in a Carlos game, for instance. Understanding the roles gives you more options.
sstralkowski
11/20/2008, 14:18
1. Be bold. Timidity may keep you alive by not getting noticed, but it's a poor roleclaim. People have pre-set notions about what the Mafia will do. By defying those notions, you upset their sense of how the game works, and increase the odds of your survivability.
2. Remember you're a Townie, not a Mafia member pretending to be a Townie. If you get into the latter mindset, the armchair detectives will actually have a shot. Don't give them one.
3. You can fake roleclaim when you're actually Town, too. Lying is a weapon universally useful in this game.
4. Know the game and preferably know your Mod. It's meta, but understanding your mod's style is a good way to come up with a feasible lie. I'd be more willing to come up with a wacky roleclaim in a Carlos game, for instance. Understanding the roles gives you more options.
All good points. Jack should never be trusted again. :laugh:
darius_dax1
11/20/2008, 14:48
All good points. Jack should never be trusted again. :laugh:
You mean you actually trusted Jack in the first place?
malakim2099
11/20/2008, 15:44
You mean you actually trusted Jack in the first place?
I trust JackA to be lying/omitting something pretty much all the time... :grin:
I see where this is going so i'll be the first to say...
Lynch JackAssterson
He's obviously mafia 100% of the time as opposed to me who's only mafia 90% of the time
malakim2099
11/20/2008, 16:34
I see where this is going so i'll be the first to say...
Lynch JackAssterson
He's obviously mafia 100% of the time as opposed to me who's only mafia 90% of the time
I support this reasoning. And I'm mafia only 50% of the time, but the other 50% I die Night 1, so...
Vote: JackA
All good points. Jack should never be trusted again. :laugh:
Brother, how can you let down the little Hulkamaniacs by doubting the Jackster like that? You need to say your prayers and take your vitamins, or whatcha gonna do when the 24" pythons come down on you?
PaxZRake
11/20/2008, 19:35
Day 1 Voting:
Malakim2099: (1) Malakim2099
Goodman: (1) Goodman
sstralkowski
11/21/2008, 07:08
You mean you actually trusted Jack in the first place?
Only when I'm the cop, and have an encourager on me and the don has already been killed. So yeah, almost every game. :laugh:
sstralkowski
11/21/2008, 07:10
Brother, how can you let down the little Hulkamaniacs by doubting the Jackster like that? You need to say your prayers and take your vitamins, or whatcha gonna do when the 24" pythons come down on you?
You're forgetting who you're talking to. I wrestle women. And I'm not talking the Ron Jeremy sort of rasslin' either. ;)
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