Encryptor

Encryptor Alias: Daytalker Alignment: Mafia Town Role type: Communicative Choice: none Status: Complex Normal

An Encryptor is a role that allows people who can converse with it to talk during the Day phase. This is used in games where private communication is normally restricted to the Night phase.

Normal version

This role is allowed in Complex Normal games.

Any private topics containing an Encryptor have daytalk. This is even the case if an Encryptor ends up in a private topic by accident (e.g. if a town-aligned player neighbourises a Mafia Encryptor, the resulting neighbourhood will have daytalk until the Encryptor dies). Encryptors can be of any alignment.

In Normal Games on mafiascum.net, Mafia do not need an Encryptor to have daytalk, but if they have it without an Encryptor it needs to be announced beforehand.

Variations

An older version of Encryptor was specific to groupscum factions like the Mafia, and affected daytalk in their factional private topic only; neighbourising an Encryptor would not produce any visible effect.

In Town hands, Encryptor is nearly always combined with a role like Mason or Neighbour, rather than existing as a role on its own.

Use & Balance

Encryptor is a difficult role to quantify the power of. It effectively amplifies the existing coordination skill of the people talking - people who already had no synergy won't get anything out of daytalk; people who are skilled at manipulating the Day game will find it a massive power boost. With that in mind, Encryptor is a potentially large buff to a scumteam - contingent on the scumteam's skill.

Note that including an Encryptor in a Mafia faction that has two members is almost equivalent to simply giving the faction daytalk outright – the only difference is that the Encryptor may be catchable via roles such as Neighbouriser and Rolecop. (An Encryptor with no other abilities is strongly associated with scum, and thus acts like a guilty (or false positive!) for anyone who discovers the role.)

Play Advice

Unless your private topic has (or has the potential to have) three or more players in, there is absolutely no reason to preserve the life of an Encryptor over that of other members; daytalk is pointless unless you have somebody to talk to.

If you are a Town Encryptor with no other abilities, you probably want to play as though you were a Miller; the role is very hard to explain away if discovered later in the game.

Sample Role PMs

The standardized Role PM for "Encryptor" describes the passive ability as follows:

• As an unmodified passive ability: You, and anyone else present, may talk in Private Topics containing you even during the Day. (edit)

• As a passive ability with a modifier: You, and anyone else present, may talk in the nth Private Topic containing you even during the Day OR Private Topics containing you even during the Day on day n. (edit)

Example (unmodified)

Welcome to game! You are a Mafia Encryptor.

Your team-mates are names. You may talk to them here during night phases and confirmations only.

You, and anyone else present, may talk in Private Topics containing you even during the Day.

You have the following active ability:

• Each Night, if no other member of your faction is performing this action, you may target a player. Assuming no interference with your action, that player will die.

You win if at least one mafia member is alive and all other players are dead (or if nothing can prevent the same).

Confirm by replying to this PM with a summary of your role.

Example (modified)

Welcome to game! You are a Mafia Odd Day Encryptor.

Your team-mates are names. You may talk to them here during night phases and confirmations only.

You, and anyone else present, may talk in Private Topics containing you even during the Day on an odd-numbered day.

You have the following active ability:

• Each Night, if no other member of your faction is performing this action, you may target a player. Assuming no interference with your action, that player will die.

You win if at least one mafia member is alive and all other players are dead (or if nothing can prevent the same).

Confirm by replying to this PM with a summary of your role.