Refuge in Audacity

Refuge in Audacity is a WIFOM gambit in which a scum player does something so outrageous that the town will believe it can't come from scum.

When To Use

When a mafia member is looking to get towncred. Due to the risk involved, this is often only done as a last ditch effort while under heavy suspicion.

Execution

Generally, and especially when scum have daytalk, scum are assumed to play in a calculated and deliberate way. Many scum play cautiously, and avoid risktaking.

In taking Refuge in Audacity, the player fishes for townreads by doing something so risky it creates two options for town:

• The player is bad at playing scum.
• The player is town.

The hope is that town will conclude, by Ockham's Razor, that the player is simply truthful town.

This can come in many forms.

Ridiculous roleclaim

Also known as the Cute Fuzzy Kitten Defense, this involves claiming a role so elaborately out of place that town concludes, "You can't make that up".

• The role may defy game balance.
• The role may benefit scum more than town.
• The claimed night actions might not add up.
• The flavor might be out of place in relation to the game's theme.

This gambit is more likely to work the more likely the moderator is to include unlikely roles in their game.

Ridiculous reads

Many cautious scum players will avoid making reads that could reflect poorly on them, or reads that would be dangerous for them. A player taking Refuge in Audacity sheds that cautiousness entirely:

• They might aggressively scumread the town leader, or the most widely townread player.
• They might antagonize players off of their wagon who can still vote them.
• They might aggressively defend their scumpartner, knowing the scumpartner is about to flip scum, or is mechanically unlikely to be town.

Ridiculous behavior

As many scum players want to avoid drawing attention to themselves, many town players will townread attention-seeking or otherwise ridiculous behavior. The scum player taking Refuge in Audacity exploits this:

• They might put on an annoying roleplaying persona.
• They might fake a Post Restriction.
• They might act antagonistic, egotistical, or self-destructive.

This is also known as acting Too Scummy To Be Scum..

Risk

The risk inherent in all of these strategies, is, of course, the player getting lynched for their troubles.

• Town might conclude that "too scummy to be scum" is a fallacy, and that scummy claims and behaviors simply are scum.
• Town might conclude that the player is simply inexperienced scum.
• Town might realize, based on Burden of Proficiency, that the player would be playing better if they were town.
• Perhaps most dangerously, town might realize that much of this behavior is subject to WIFOM and will see through this gambit altogether.

The player should be aware of how town perceives their skill as town and scum, respectively, in attempting this playstyle.

History

The method of ridiculous claims was called the "Cute Fuzzy Kitten Defense" due to this post by MehPlusRawr.

The playstyle was named after the TVTropes page "Refuge in Audacity".