O&B's Guidelines

So, you feel like you have a great role idea that is worth sharing with others? Well, good for you. However, there are some basic guidelines that it is strongly encouraged you follow so that it lives up to the standards of Town of Salem in terms of balance, variety and other factors.

[size=150]I – The Basics
[/size]The best thing to do when first coming up with a role concept is to ask yourself these five basic questions:

[list][*][b]Who:[/b] What is the name of the role? What is its alignment? What is its backstory?
[*][b]What:[/b] What does the role do? What does it do for the game?
[*][b]When:[/b] When does the role's ability work? Is it during the day, at night, or neither?
[*][b]Why:[/b] What is the point of the role? Is it needed? Is it balanced?
[*][b]How:[/b] How does the role affect the game? How does it help its team? How does it win?[/list]

The [u]who[/u] is supposed to represent the core identity of the role, basic things like name, alignment, and lore. Lore, whilst never being more important than having a balanced role, can turn an otherwise bland concept into an exciting one. It’d be more fun to play as some kind of hero seeking revenge on those that crushed his dreams then a nobody that’s just there for gameplay. The name should also represent their abilities (Serial Killer kills people, Jailor drags people to jail, etc.)

The [u]what[/u] are the core facets of the role. This includes its abilities and attributes, as well as any special features the role has. When coming up with these features you should always ask yourself what each one does for the game. For example, adding night immunity to a role may sound cool, but you should always consider the effects that could have on the rest of the game.

[u]When[/u] is a pretty simple question to answer. Either they have a passive ability, an active night ability, or an active day ability. You can limit the amount of times the role can use its ability if you find it too powerful to be used each night.

[u]Why[/u] is a question that requires a lot of thought. A role can be really cool and fun to play as, but if it doesn't have a point or isn't balanced it can actually hurt the game overall. Make sure you carefully consider how much your role is needed in the game before you move on to the next step.

The [u]how[/u] is considering the largest parts of the role's design. You must determine what the role's goal is and how it wins, and then you have to consider how it helps its team and how it affects the game as a whole.

Once you have considered these five core aspects of role design, you are ready to move on and flesh out your role! However, some other things to remember before you go any further are:
[list][*]Any role concepts that are jokes or are purposely unbalanced should not be posted.
[*]Role concepts that are over the top and almost impossible to code into the game should be avoided. Roles that change game mechanics on a massive scale fall under this category, or those that can produce an instant-loss state for all other roles.
[*]Any role or concept on [url]this[/url] [b][INSERT HYPERLINK HERE][/b] list should be avoided unless you have taken a lot of time to do something different with the concept and you are sure it is balanced.
[*]Try searching for your role before you post it to avoid making a duplicate of an existing role. If you do find a similar role, it may be best to put your suggestions on the original role's thread rather than making a new post for the role.[/list]

[size=150]II – The Alignments
[/size]Now that you have considered the basics, you can start looking into the details of the role, including many things that will determine how it influences the game. By now, you should have come up with something that you like and feel will improve the game. The first thing you should lock down after coming up with your initial concept is the alignment of your role.

[u][size=130][color=#00BF40]Town[/color][/size][/u]
[b]Town Investigative:[/b] The Town Investigative category covers all Town roles that use various abilities to narrow down who is evil and who is not. Diversity is especially important in this category, as each Town Investigative role should be substantially different from the rest.

[b]Town Protective:[/b] The Town Protective category includes any Town role whose main ability is used to protect their target from death, and sometimes other malicious night actions. Balance is especially important in this category, as there is a very fine line between a underpowered Town Protective and an overpowered one.

[b]Town Killing:[/b] The Town Killing category is home to all of the Town roles that can actively kill, usually being punished in some way if they kill another Town role (unless they have no control over whom they kill). Power is especially important in this category, as any Town Killing role must be limited in some way so they can't win the entire game on their own.

[b]Town Support:[/b] Anything that cannot be categorized in the alignments above falls under this. These roles usually have a wide variety of abilities that can assist the town, each unique in their own manner. There aren't a lot of guidelines for this one, apart from being creative and trying to come up with something interesting whilst still keeping balance in mind.

[u][size=130][color=#FF0000]Mafia[/color][/size][/u]
[b]Mafia Deception:[/b] Mafia Deception roles exist to deny the Town crucial information and/or spread false information. You should avoid making another Mafia Deception role that messes up a Town Investigative's results (Framer already has that covered). Creativity is especially important in this category, as there are many ways that a Mafia Deception role could potentially screw with the Town's information.

[b]Mafia Support:[/b] Mafia Support roles exist to help the Mafia and/or hurt opposing factions. This includes gathering information, protecting other Mafia members, or stopping opposing players from doing things to help their own faction. Variety is especially important in this category, as each Mafia Support role should function in a unique way to help the Mafia win.

[b]Mafia Killing:[/b] Mafia Killing roles kill for the Mafia (pretty straightforward). The Mafia can only kill one person each night, and this should not change with the addition of a new Mafia Killing role, so you must keep this in mind and balance around it. The mafia’s strength lies in knowledge, not in sheer power. It is recommended that you do not try to make a new Mafia Killing role unless you are sure it is balanced.

[u][size=130][color=#999999]Neutral[/color][/size][/u]
[b]Neutral Benign:[/b] Any Neutral Benign role should be capable of winning with anybody else in the game and have their own unique, special goal to attain in order to win. Any role that fits these criteria should go here. A Neutral Benign role can help or harm other players, but avoid turning it into one of the other Neutral categories. Also try to avoid making a Neutral Benign role too similar to existing ones, as the game could become bland as a result.

[b]Neutral Evil:[/b] Any Neutral Evil role should be capable of winning with everybody except the Town, and their attributes and/or abilities should directly harm the Town. Any role that fits these criteria should go here. A Neutral Evil role shouldn't be able to kill anybody, as that brings it too close to a Mafia or Neutral Killing role in function. Also try to avoid making a Neutral Evil role that has a special goal aside from harming the Town, as the game's balance could suffer as a result.

[b]Neutral Killing:[/b] Any Neutral Killing role should be capable of consistently killing off everybody they cannot win with, and they should only be capable of winning with Neutral Benign roles, Neutral Evil roles, and their own role (a Serial Killer and a Serial Killer can win together, but not a Serial Killer and an Arsonist). Any role that fits these criteria can go here. A Neutral Killing role should ideally kill 1 person per night on average, although you don't need a nightly kill to be a Neutral Killing role. Also try to avoid making a Neutral Killing role that kills too slowly to be effective or too fast and almost always wins, as the role will suffer as a result.

[b]Neutral Chaos:[/b] There are literally no guidelines to this category. Any unbalanced or crazy Neutral role should go here, although use common sense and don't go too overboard. It is reccommended that you do not make a Neutral Chaos role, as they have slim chances of being added into the game, are generally unbalanced, and are generally frowned upon by the community. Neutral Chaos roles are often better off being changed and balanced to fit another category; however, if you put in the time and effort to make a unique and balanced Neutral Chaos role, go right ahead.

After you have placed your role into an alignment and made any changes necessary to fit, you are ready to flesh out your role idea!

[size=150]III – The Finer Details
[/size]Now that you have figured out all of the basics of the role, you can focus on the way the role interacts with others in the game. What are the results the Investigator, Consigliere, and Sheriff get when they investigate your role? What limits to your role's ability are there? Is your role Unique (there can only be one of them at a time in a game)? What does its role card have on it? Does it have any special messages that the role gets when doing an action? Does it give others a notification, and if so what does that notification say? Considering things like these will make your role higher quality and make it easier for others to understand what is happening.

[b]Investigator Results:[/b] When an Investigator targets your role at night, what result does it get back? You can add your role to a current Investigator result, or make your own. However, it is recommended that each Investigator result have at least one non-easily-confirmable Town role and one Mafia role (the third role [or fourth if you want] in the group can be anything).

[b]Consigliere Results:[/b] When a Consigliere targets your role at night, what result does it get back? While the Consigliere should always be told exactly what role it investigated, try to spruce up the result with a bit a flavor text about your role's possesions or actions.

[b]Sheriff Results:[/b] When a Sheriff targets your role at night, what result does it get back? Most Mafia roles should show up as "guilty" to the Sheriff, and most Town roles should show up as "not guilty", but yours could be different. In addition, certain roles are directly revealed to the Sheriff (Serial Killer, Werewolf on full moons, etc.). Is your role one of them?

[b]Limiting Abilities:[/b] If your role is too powerful to use its ability unchecked, put a limit on it. Either give it a maximum amount of uses (Doctor has 1 self-heal, Veteran has three alerts, etc.), give it a cooldown (Vampires and Werewolves can only use their ability every other night), give it a penalty if misused (Vigilante commits suicide if it hits another Town member), some combination of these limits, or maybe something completely new and different.
Uniqueness: Making a role Unique (there can only be one in any given game, never more) is a double-edged sword. Making your role Unique can be great for when things either would get too chaotic or too unbalanced if there were multiple of them; however, you must be extremely careful when making anything unique, as this can have large affects on Investigator results and claimspace, as well as overall game balance.

[b]Role Card:[/b] Each role must have a role card that sums up the entire role in a short, concise manner. Come up with a short, single sentence describing your role's actions (if it has any), a list of attributes the role has (anything that isn't an ability but is part of the role), and their goal (what they need to do to win). We'll touch on this again in Part IV, but get thinking about it now.

[b]Notifications:[/b] When your role performs its action, does it alert its target? If so, what does that notification message say? Does your role have any special interactions with other roles (for example, any role that roleblocks a Serial Killer gets killed by it)? If so, what message does each role recieve upon interacting?

[size=150]IV – Presentation
[/size]Now that you have essentially finished coming up with your role, it is time to put it into a presentable format and release it to the world. It is highly recommended that you put your role into the following format when posting it in the role ideas subforum:

[quote="Role Card"]Name:

Alignment:

Abilities:

Attributes:

Special Attributes:

Goal:

Win Conditions:

Investigative Results:

Additional Information:

Lore:[/quote]

[b]Name:[/b] The title of your role.
[b]Alignment:[/b] The alignment (Town, Mafia, Neutral) and category (Support, Killing, etc.) of your role.
[b]Abilities:[/b] A short, one sentence summary of what your role does.
[b]Attributes:[/b] Anything your role does that isn't an ability.
[b]Special Attributes:[/b] Any special attributes (Unique, Roleblock Immune, Night Immune, Control Immune, Bite Immune, etc.) your role has (don't include this if there are none).
[b]Goal:[/b] The goal of your role (all Town share a goal, as do the Mafia, but Neutral roles will have a seperate one).
Win Conditions: A list of all of the roles your role can win with and the ones it cannot.
[b]Investigative Results:[/b] The results all three role-investigating roles (Sheriff, Investigator, and Consigliere) recieve upon investigating your role.
[b]Additional Information:[/b] Anything you couldn't place in one of the above categories, an explanation of how your role can be useful, any special notifications this roles gives/gets, or anything else you want people to know.
[b]Lore:[/b] Any flavor your role has (can be a quick description or an entire backstory), although don't feel the need to go too overboard if you don't want to (you can omit this if you want to).

Here's an example role card. Remember, the easier it is for people to read and understand your role idea, the better off you'll be. If you ever need any help, with formatting or any part of the role creation process, don't be afraid to PM me or any other user.

[spoiler][b][color=#00BF40][size=130]Lookout[/size]
Town[/color] [color=#00BFFF]Protective[/color][/b]

[b]Abilities:[/b] Watch one person at night to see who visits them.

[b]Attributes:[/b]
[list][*]If you see someone visit your target, you will scream "LOOK OUT!" in warning.
[*]If nobody visits your target you will commit suicide out of anxiety.[/list]

[b]Special Attributes:[/b]
[list][*]Ignores Detection Immunity
[*]Roleblock Immune[/list]

[b]Goal:[/b] Lynch every criminal and evildoer.

[b]Win Conditions:[/b]
[list][*]Wins with the Town
[*]Wins with Survivors
[*]Must kill the Mafia
[*]Must kill the Coven
[*]Must kill Serial Killers
[*]Must kill Arsonists
[*]Must kill Witches
[*]Must kill Werewolves
[*]Must kill Vampires[/list]

[b]Investigative Results:[/b]
Sheriff: Your target is not suspicious.
Investigator: Your target is obviously insane. They must be a Lookout, Jester, or Disguiser.

[b]Additional Information:[/b]
If the Lookout's target is visited, every living player will recieve the message "You heard somebody crazily screaming "LOOK OUT!" in the middle of the night.", and the lookout will recieve the message "Something startled you!".

This role is totally a joke, meant only for example purposes. Don't post joke role ideas.

[b]Lore:[/b]
An ex-convict, the Lookout was recently released from a mental hospital after he became too expensive to take care of. He is completely insane and likes to watch people while they sleep, but is mostly harmless, if not easily startled by motion. When startled he starts yelling like a maniac, usually waking up the whole Town.[/spoiler]


I hope this helped you out. Have fun coming up with some interesting and magnificent ideas…
…and avoid the gallows!