The trick with a PGO is that, at least the common strat, is that they pretty much have to claim D1 because of the risk of killing town PRs, and then, if not breadcrumbed very carefully in advance from the very first post, they are potentially a policy lynch in the same way Cristi's role was b/c they can't be investigated OR killed by any means [other than lynch].

You could play PGO the way Vitek played miller and just do everything possible to avoid drawing town PRs N1 and hope to draw the NK, but...one slip and you're investigate and you killed the cop instead of drawing the NK. And why the hell would you expect a recruiter or play trying to draw one?

I get the theory, but it's a very tough role to play well as pro-town in actuality.

Ironically, the one time I was a Paranoid...vig...(don't ask) I honestly thought I was bluffing the paranoid part.

I think the way to balance it would have to be something related to knowledge a conversion had happened (oracle or some such) and even then 4 scum in 13 with 1 of those hand-picked is just going to be strong no matter how you counter it.

Consider that if you take out the no-lynch D1 and the vig/scum hitting the same target, the game ends D3 in a number of scenarios.

How about replacing Miller-backupCop with Mason-Mason immune to conversion?

I swear I'm going to stop thinking about the game, but I think with what you're going for here as your core mechanic, rather than futzing with roles to try and balance a mechanic that's incredibly hard to balance, I think the biggest thing would be to just make it an open-setup rather than closed.

That reduces the amount of noise for town, and reducing/eliminating safe fake-claims for maf helps balance and brings the game back more towards actual play and less away from setup/PR/flavour guesswork.

I mean, town ultimately did read correctly D1, we're just gun-shy about killing any PR day1 because we're so used to screwy setups. Then add Vitek's flip and cristi's claim and we were way off down the rabbit hole. Well, certainly I was.

Ahhh, so you're a waffle man!

I think something that was underappreciated by the Town was that the Brig was actually quite important to their ability to win, and that it was part of the balance considerations - it was even specifically noted in the rules that Town could win through the use of the Brig. Ultimately I think that the Brig was perceived as being in service to the brand, rather than provoking questions about why it might have been included: the ability to take two consensus actions in a day provided potential for the Town to catch back up, but seemingly nobody seriously questioned why that would be necessary. If there had been only three Cylons, the Brig would have been decisively pro-Town.

Additionally, because it was written off so early, when it came time to use it people weren't well-versed in its use. If instead people had played about it with in the RVS stage and brigged a Townie when the stakes were lower I think there would have been a much better understanding of how it could be used. Due to the lack of information it provided, immediately releasing a brigged player at the start of the Day phase wasn't the smartest course of action, as the endgame demonstrated.

I do agree that an open setup would help, and I'd need to consider how to deliver one.

What about Cylons? For example, if there were 9 players - 5 town and 4 mafia and a townie was brigged would that be game over?

Yes, that would be game over. If you hadn't been brigged, the Town would have lost once the mislynch happened on Day 3; likewise, if a Town player had been brigged instead of you, it would have been game over for Town.

Also, you totally deserved to get lynched on Day 1. :P I was fairly certain you would be, and I was shocked when you got out of it - yogsloth's response to "Town Roleblocker" accurately describes my personal feelings about it.

I think one of the strongest plays in the game was by HSL in a question he asked me in the game thread - I can't remember where it was off the top of my head. Essentially it was a WIFOM gambit targeted at the mod, forcing me to comment about something that HSL knew the answer to, but which he wouldn't if he was Town. I spent a while trying to craft my answer in the most neutral way possible. I think he ended up winning Town points on the back of it.

I thought it was quite sweet that the Cylon players considered how their target would feel about being recruited and chose a player they felt would take it well.

Yes I agree that you hosting the next game is a splendid idea.

Indeed! How lovely of mchack to volunteer.

Did you already post the link to the observer thread somewhere and I missed it? If you didn't, please do. I'm interested what they were speculating over there!

Yep, it was posted:

https://www.quicktopic.com/52/H/8fP8XFKWGSG

Ah, thanks!

lol. :)
I don't have the faintest Idea on how to balance/mod a game. Nor do I have the literary competence to write concise sentences in english (not sure about german, but definitely (I think this is the first time I wrote that word correctly) not english) so my flavor would have nearer semblance to said regurgitation than a well told story.
all in all, I'm fine with my place as a spectator. mayhaps sometimes player but mod is way to soon for me.