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Townie
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A Townie (also known as Citizen, Townsperson, Villager, etc.) is a player with a pro-Town Win Condition. Due to ambiguity, "Townie" has been known to refer to any pro-Town player who has no extraordinary abilities or simply any pro-Town player. Players who have no extraordinary abilities are called Vanilla Townies (abbreviated as VT). The rest of this article is about Vanilla Townies.
Vanilla Townies are defined by having no special abilities beyond being able to post and vote during the Day like everyone else. During the Night they do nothing.
Vanilla Townie is considered Normal on mafiascum.net. The variations below are only Normal if their page says they are.
Variations
A Vanilla Townie is by definition powerless. Any alteration causes the role to become classed as a different role entirely.
- If a Townie is given a unique name, then they become a Named Townie.
- If a Townie's ability to post normally is altered, then they become a Post Restricted Townie.
- If a Townie's ability to vote is handicapped or enhanced, then they become something akin to Voteless or a Doublevoter.
- If a Townie has any active or passive abilities at all, then they become a Power Role. An exception to this comes if a Vanilla Townie is given a temporary ability by a role like Inventor, at which point they are a Vanilla Townie who happens to have been given an extra ability.
- If a Townie's win condition is different from the rest of the majority, then they should be considered a Third Party.
Use and Power
In terms of balance and how games play out, Vanilla Townies carry two implications:
First, since Vanilla Townies do not have any special powers to aid them, they have to depend on traditional scumhunting methods -- analysis of actions, intent, voting, previous posts, etc. -- to win. In general, games with more Vanilla Townies place more of an emphasis on the day game instead of the night game. Online, the Day game is more frequently won by Mafia factions due to their ability to Night-kill players that threaten them.
Second, it is very easy for the Mafia to fakeclaim Vanilla Townie, as they do not have to fabricate any Night action choices.
A setup that is classed as Normal on mafiascum will usually have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the players be Vanilla Townies, with the remainder split between power roles and scum. While this is usually considered a good ratio for balance, themed games with a lower percentage of Vanilla players (sometimes even none) are not uncommon.
A setup where the Town consists solely of Vanilla Townies is called mountainous. The name stems from the belief that these setups are considered difficult for Town to win. It is generally accepted that in games with 11 Townies and 2 Mafia, the Town needs some power role on its side for the game to be balanced.
Note to Moderators
When all Townies have the same wording in their PM, they can use the information to clear each other in a fashion similar to Best Friends. To prevent this problem it is common to either give all the Vanilla Townies unique role PMs or give an example of what the Townie PM looks like in one of the opening posts of the game. At the very least, make sure the Mafia knows what the Town Win Condition is.
Play Advice
While the unaccessorized nature of the role can cause players to feel unimportant in the scheme of gameplay, Vanilla Townie is one of the most flexible roles in a standard game. The most practical purpose a Vanilla Townie can have is to play in such a way that they die and the power roles do not. Players who draw Vanilla are free to threaten scum as much as they like with their Day play and draw the Mafia's Night-kill without fear of the Town losing one of their power roles. They may also consider playing gambits they would not consider if they feared getting lynched or killed with a power role if it failed.