Theme Creation

[happylappy]

So, I've always found it fascinating how people constantly come up with new themes. I've always found it fascinating, and I've tried to make a few Open Setups myself, but most of them have ended up being flops.



How does one make a theme?

I'd really like to see the kind of processes you go through when creating a setup, Open or Closed. Anything would be great, but a step by step guide on creating a theme would be amazing, especially if we got a bunch of people to help put it together.



What makes a theme good?

As for closed setups, I'd like to think I'm good at making those, or at least better than when I first started. Some people agree with me, and many others don't. What makes a theme good, and how can we make it better?

Finally, I'm going to include a step by step guide to making a CS for you all to use those torches and pitchforks for something worthwhile. Or to actually try making a CS. Idk.


1. Decide on CS size

Small CS’s (4 to 7)

Pros

Easy to host: How difficult can it be to compile night actions for 4 players? It isn't that bad, especially if one or two are idling.

Easy to find players: It isn't difficult to get 4 people to join a game of mafia.

Allows for quick games: Unless you make every player 5S Deathproof, a 4p game is not going to last very long. perfect for a prefish.


Cons

Restricts creativity: Having 4 roles to work with isn't as fun as something like 9. If you wanted to include a "Town Hirsute Day 1 Silenced Day 1 Actor Night 1 Lightning Rod Gravedigger Death Hirsute", you can't do that in a small CS.

Hard to balance: Most of these numbers aren't suitable for Vanilla, much less a Closed Setup. It won't be easy making this setup fair.

No Multiball: Good luck sticking a mafia AND a werewolf in a 4p game.


Large CS’s (8 to 12)

Pros

Allows for complexity: Now you can make that CS nobody liked with TFPTSLBOOIA in it!

Easier to balance: There's a magic number, somewhere between 7 and 10, that works really well with most setups. 11 and 12 are great for multiball.

Multiball: Now you can include Mimes! Who doesn't like Mimes?


Cons

Harder to host: It isn't as simple as waiting for the mafia to nightkill. Now you have to juggle the White Whale Watcher, the Orange Soup Maker, and the Reflexive Doctor, and don't forget about the Dayvig with a 1/8 chance of missing.

Harder to find enough players: After waiting for 10 minutes for that huge setup you wanted to host, people are going to start to get bored and leave.

Don’t make a CS smaller than 4.

Nobody can make a fair, balanced, and unique CS for 2-3p. Prove me wrong.


Don’t make a CS larger than 12

You won’t ever get to host it, no matter how good it is. I have like 8 unused 20p CS’s that I doubt I’ll ever get to host.



Preparing for any playerlist



Scaling CS’s: Making your CS fit multiple sizes is difficult to do, but makes it much easier to find players.



2. Select a Scum Faction

Which Scum faction you select will likely define the Closed Setup. Make this selection first, and carefully. If you are hosting a bigger game, consider doing multiball, or adding a lyncher into the mix. 

3. Select Powerroles, Negs, and VT equivalent (Town and Scum)

Now that you have your scum faction, the next logical step is to give them powerroles. Be creative, but make sure it stays fair. Also, it would be nice if the town had powerroles too. Sometimes you can get away with giving town the same powerroles, but a town strongman is kinda useless. So is a Goo Strongman, so make sure you take scum faction into consideration when assigning PRs. Finally, VT's are the backbone of Mafia games. Sometimes the boring old VT just isnt enough. Maybe you want them to all be tourists! Or Bloodhounds! or Reloaders! Be creative, but don't get too carried away.

4. Ensure CS Quality

Is the CS balanced and fair for both sides?

No AshIsVeryDumb, 19 Innocent Children and a Mafia Child does not make for a fair and balanced setup.

Is the CS too complicated?

Could a subhost conceivably take this on if you were to have a heart attack? Maybe head back to the drawing board.

Is the CS broken easily?

Follow The Cop and similar strategies

Does your setup include a doctor and an investigative role? it would be bad if Follow The Cop was possible in a CS, no matter how unlikely it is for the cop to claim. Fix it by making the cop macho.

Massclaiming and Scum Fakeclaims

Can the setup be broken if town were to claim all of their roles day 1? Maybe you should fix that and include 3 or 4 Fruit Vendors. But it would look pretty stupid if there was 1 VT claim, and 5 fruit vendors have flipped, wouldn't it? Perhaps you should inform everyone that there are at least X amount of Fruit Vendors in the setup. Now you're hosting with power!

Does the CS centralize around a player?

I'm pretty guilty of this. Is the entire town bulletproof because there's a Mafia Contrary? What if the Mafia Contrary gets lynched day 1? that would suck. Include a universal backup, or rethink your setup.


5. Categorize

Is it Snaq Bastard or Bastard?

Snaq Bastard: May include roles players do not like (Cult, Goo, or something like that)

Bastard: Includes Hiddens, Falses, Lies or Taboo Roles (Scum IC, Mafia Mason, Unfair alignment changes)

Note: Everyone has a different opinion on what is and isn't bastard. If someone tells you that the Haunted modifier is bastard, maybe you shouldn't come back to them for approval. You know who you are.

[chapterseven]

I like this thread gonna give my input on it to hopefully give it a jumpstart. First off, I'd if you haven't already check out my CS/OS Building/Playing Guide I made a while back. Its filled with good info for new players and vets and I think everyone can learn a little from it. If you are interested here ya go. docs.google.com/document/d/1YIwKs4H00QHaVp4xdCwTAHT4g9IU3iVMeG3O3s2JBfE/edit?usp=drivesdk

Next I'll answer Happy's first question by using a theme different from the one in my guide. Let's use Never Gonna Give You Up as it's my theme so I can easily explain the process of building it and I never quite got to host it too much (might host a game of it here on forums).

For me my vision for this theme was 2 things 1) to use an underused role and breathe a fresh air of life into it. At first I wanted to use babysitter but I decided Enabler would be far more interesting and 2) Create a setup that thrusted old vets into a new experience. I don't know if he remembers this or not but I specifically PM'd Hawkie during the early days of the theme about how would he liked the idea. He said he thought it was an interesting and unique idea and from there I knew I was on the right track. Don't be afraid to ask people about what they think of the idea. Remember making a theme is only half the job. Hosting it and getting active engagement from the players is the other.

Next I thought about what roles would go well with a Pusedo Doctor Anyone can PM Anyone setup. Well Information roles be good and they have to play smart to make sure they don't give the information to the wrong person. I felt regular cop was too follow the coppy so I went with Role Cop (Not classics broken ass role cop an actual one) and made the first Enabler on him.

After that, I figured If I have a cop might need a PL as well. As I was making this theme I got a huge inspiration from someone's cs. I can't remember the exact CS or who made it but what I do remember is relevant to the theme. They had a Mafia/Werewolf Loyal Jailkeeper Setup and I thought it was amazing because it gave Mafia a strength and a weakness at the same time. Do you protect and not kill? (since jk couldn't kill and protect) or do you kill and leave both members open to death. I implement something similar to that in the form of the Mafia PL Enabler and Mafia PL combo. On one hand the PL is invincible from Vig (oops spoilers for the next role 🤐) but on the other, Mafia essentially loses 2 power roles instead of one. To make up for this and what I felt was fair, I made the Town PL also connected to the Mafia Enabler so town lost their PL too when Mafia Enabler does.

(Place holder text will edit and continue this soon need to go take care of some stuff + need to look back on the theme)

[qtball]

This thread was click bait, I expected a discussion on theme creation as a whole and it ended up being a CS discussion thread .-.

[Schiavetto ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪]

Hi, I'm a bit hungover but this will still make sense I promise<3



I think what C7-prime said about active engagement from the players is on point. This can be particularly important when it comes to CSes, but I think in general if you're going in with the mentality of "This is more fun for the host than the players," you've got an issue. You want your selected roles/mechanics to spur action from both town and maf, and to create a sense of interplay, so that gamesolving feels like more than just guesswork and nobody is left feeling "oh damn, he got the cool role, guess i should just sit back and let him take care of things".



When choosing roles and mechanics, it can be helpful, I think, to ask yourself "If I were role X, what would I be trying to do right now? What would keep me from accomplishing this?" One thing to consider, for example, is how to avoid D1 PR claims and other themebreaking strategies (FTC is, at its core, just a claim-based breaking strategy). For example, when I first hosted Artpop (Lady Gaga CS), I knew that I wanted public information to be a big element of the game--it fit the flavor, and right from the start it lets VTs feel involved in the investigation. That quickly becomes overpowered, though, so I put some checks in place. You can see how town has the benefit of two Pub Trackers, but they're on staggered nights--this forces town to coordinate their investigations. As a check, Mafia was given the ability to suppress public investigations, while also benefitting from the existence of the Town Singer (tipping them off to the existence of various roles while town is still in its coordinating phases). The playthrough was successful largely as a result of the logic of the setup--roles were intuitive but not overpowered, and gamesolving was needed from all players.