Time Traveler

[Space Milk]

Time Traveler (Neutral Benign) "Sent from the future to change the past, the Time Traveler must search for a temporal fugitive and send them back to the future before the timeline is rewritten. If he fails, his employers at CERN won't be so forgiving..."

A random player is designated as the Time Traveler's target. However, the Time Traveler does NOT know who their target is.

At the start of the game, the target receives a notification of this kind:

"You are being hunted. Your future has caught up with your past, and an agent of CERN is attempting to track you down. Stay low and stay hidden."

Every night the Time Traveler may follow a player and see who they visited (exact copy of the Detective night ability). The following night, the Time Traveler receives a notification of who their target visited the night before in a message of this kind:

"After reviewing your sources from the future, you were able to determine that the fugitive must have visited <insert player> last night."

If the Time Traveler follows the target (knowingly or unknowingly), the target receives a notification that they were being followed in a message of this kind:

"You noticed a strange individual stalking you. CERN might be on your trail!"

Once the Time Traveler believes they have figured out who their target is, they may use a single-use night ability on that target. This ability descriptively incapacitates, kidnaps, and sends the target to the future - and functionally kills the target. This function is unblockable and bypasses night immunity. On the following day, the target's death description appears as such:

"<insert player here> has disappeared. There appears to have been some sort of struggle in their house, but no trace of them remains..."

Their role is also not revealed.

The description for the target (if correct) appears as such:

"CERN has found you! You try to fight back, but the time traveler neutralizes you with a strange looking stun gun. You are tied up and dragged into their time machine..."

The Time Traveler wins.

HOWEVER, if the Time Traveler chose the wrong person, the incorrect target does not disappear / die. Instead, the Time Traveler receives this notification.

"As you approach the fugitive's house for capture, a group of men in black grab you and drag you down an alley! Apparently your deduction was incorrect, and CERN has sent an extraction team to undo the mistake you were about to make. As they prepare to dispose of you, the men in black inform you that your contract with CERN has been terminated..."

The following day, your death description reads as:

"<insert player here> has disappeared without a trace. Despite a rigorous search for clues, no remains or signs of struggle were found. It's as if they never even existed...".

Their role is not revealed. However, due to the unique death description, it can easily be inferred that this player was the Time Traveler and thus Neutral Benign is eliminated from the role list.

If the Time Traveler's target is killed or lynched before they can be found, at the end of the following night, the Time Traveler dies and receives this notification:

"Before you could do anything tonight, a group of men in black grab you and drag you down an alley! Apparently you were too late and the target has already been killed. As punishment for violating the terms of your contract, CERN has sent an extraction team to dispose of you..."



Options:

1: Time Traveler is invulnerable at night

2: Time Traveler's target can be Town / Mafia / Neutral

3a: Instead of dying, Time Traveler turns into Jester upon failure (a new final description must be written)

3b: Instead of dying, Time Traveler turns into Amnesiac upon failure (idea I had, failure description involves the men in black sent by CERN using a device that wipes your memories).

4: Time Traveler cannot be roleblocked.

5: Time Traveler ignores detection immunity.


Why Time Traveler?

This is obviously the Executioner but with a flavorful and mechanically interesting twist. While the Executioner knows their target from the beginning and just needs to lynch them, the Time Traveler must play a game of deduction and intrigue, which is far more engaging and in the spirit of Mafia. In addition, it adds another level of gameplay for the randomized target. I see this as an interesting, simple, yet flavorful addition to the neutral benigns that doesn't infringe too heavily on the main conflict between Town and Mafia/Triad/Neutral Killing.

Potential problems:

I don't know what should happen to the Time Traveler once he wins. Should he stay as Time Traveler, or convert to Detective for the Town. Should he keep his detective night ability and decide who to aid?

[theoneceko]

Time Traveler (Neutral Benign) "Sent from the future to change the past, the Time Traveler must search for a temporal fugitive and send them back to the future before the timeline is rewritten. If he fails, his employers at CERN won't be so forgiving..."

A random player is designated as the Time Traveler's target. However, the Time Traveler does NOT know who their target is.

At the start of the game, the target receives a notification of this kind:

"You are being hunted. Your future has caught up with your past, and an agent of CERN is attempting to track you down. Stay low and stay hidden."

Every night the Time Traveler may follow a player and see who they visited (exact copy of the Detective night ability). The following night, the Time Traveler receives a notification of who their target visited the night before in a message of this kind:

"After reviewing your sources from the future, you were able to determine that the fugitive must have visited <insert player> last night."

If the Time Traveler follows the target (knowingly or unknowingly), the target receives a notification that they were being followed in a message of this kind:

"You noticed a strange individual stalking you. CERN might be on your trail!"

Once the Time Traveler believes they have figured out who their target is, they may use a single-use night ability on that target. This ability descriptively incapacitates, kidnaps, and sends the target to the future - and functionally kills the target. On the following day, the target's death description appears as such:

"<insert player here> has disappeared. There appears to have been some sort of struggle in their house, but no trace of them remains..."

Their role is also not revealed.

The description for the target (if correct) appears as such:

"CERN has found you! You try to fight back, but the time traveler neutralizes you with a strange looking stun gun. You are tied up and dragged into their time machine..."

The Time Traveler wins.

HOWEVER, if the Time Traveler chose the wrong person, the incorrect target does not disappear / die. Instead, the Time Traveler receives this notification.

"As you approach the fugitive's house for capture, a group of men in black grab you and drag you down an alley! Apparently your deduction was incorrect, and CERN has sent an extraction team to undo the mistake you were about to make. As they prepare to dispose of you, the men in black inform you that your contract with CERN has been terminated..."

The following day, your death description reads as:

"<insert player here> has disappeared without a trace. Despite a rigorous search for clues, no remains or signs of struggle were found. It's as if they never even existed...".

Their role is not revealed. However, due to the unique death description, it can easily be inferred that this player was the Time Traveler and thus Neutral Benign is eliminated from the role list.

If the Time Traveler's target is killed or lynched before they can be found, at the end of the following night, the Time Traveler dies and receives this notification:

"Before you could do anything tonight, a group of men in black grab you and drag you down an alley! Apparently you were too late and the target has already been killed. As punishment for violating the terms of your contract, CERN has sent an extraction team to dispose of you..."



Options:

1: Time Traveler is invulnerable at night

2: Time Traveler's target can be Town / Mafia / Neutral

3a: Instead of dying, Time Traveler turns into Jester upon failure (a new final description must be written)

3b: Instead of dying, Time Traveler turns into Amnesiac upon failure (idea I had, failure description involves the men in black sent by CERN using a device that wipes your memories).

Why Time Traveler?

This is obviously the Executioner but with a flavorful and mechanically interesting twist. While the Executioner knows their target from the beginning and just needs to lynch them, the Time Traveler must play a game of deduction and intrigue, which is far more engaging and in the spirit of Mafia. In addition, it adds another level of gameplay for the randomized target. I see this as an interesting, simple, yet flavorful addition to the neutral benigns that doesn't infringe too heavily on the main conflict between Town and Mafia/Triad/Neutral Killing.

Potential problems:

I don't know what should happen to the Time Traveler once he wins. Should he stay as Time Traveler, or convert to Detective for the Town. Should he keep his detective night ability and decide who to aid?

beautiful feedback. however, a few things
1. how is the time traveler able to figure out their target
2. time traveler is a sci-fi role. sci-fi doesn't rly fit into mafia 2.0. perhaps a rebrandingis needed, "drunken dtctive" came off the topof me head UnU

sincerly, frckles

[Space Milk]

1. how is the time traveler able to figure out their target

The time traveler has two tools:

1: they can follow someone to see who they visited that night

2: they can see who their real target visited LAST night.

By putting these two together, they should be able to figure it by following a player who visits the same people as his real target.

For example

N1: TT follows player 1. Player 1 visited player 15

N2: TT learns that real target visited player 3 N1. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 6.

N3: TT learns that real target visited player 6 N2. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 7.

N4: TT learns that real target visited player 7 N3. TT deduces that the real target is most likely player 5. TT kidnaps player 5.

If proves too difficult for gameplay, additional considerations would be:

TT learns the role of their target at game start. This also gives more reason for the target to keep their role hidden from the public or lie about their role, especially if they are Town Investigator or Sheriff. They would be forced to communicate via DMs (IMO I don't like this)

TT has a lookout night ability in addition to his detective night ability. However, they cannot be used at the same time. TT also sees who visited their real target the night before in addition to who their real target visited.

So the example would look more like this.


N1: TT follows player 1. Player 1 visited player 15

N2: TT learns that real target visited player 3 and was visited by no one N1. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 6.

N3: TT learns that real target visited player 6 and was visited by player 14 N2. TT watches player 5's house. Player 5 visited no one and was visited by no one.

D4: TT sees 14 claim lookout and post their LW about how they watched player 2's house N2.

N4: TT learns that real target visited player 13 and was visited by no one N3. TT follows player 2's house. Player 2 visited player 1.

N5: TT learns that target visited player 1 and was visited by player 12 N4. TT deduces that with the LO's LW, the real target is most likely player 2. TT kidnaps player 2.


Essentially TT is trying to match detective/lookout feedback of their UNKNOWN real target with the detective/lookout feedback of TT's night ability.

[theoneceko]

The time traveler has two tools:

1: they can follow someone to see who they visited that night

2: they can see who their real target visited LAST night.

By putting these two together, they should be able to figure it by following a player who visits the same people as his real target.

For example

N1: TT follows player 1. Player 1 visited player 15

N2: TT learns that real target visited player 3 N1. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 6.

N3: TT learns that real target visited player 6 N2. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 7.

N4: TT learns that real target visited player 7 N3. TT deduces that the real target is most likely player 5. TT kidnaps player 5.

If proves too difficult, additional considerations would be:

TT learns the role of their target at game start. This also gives more reason for the target to keep their role hidden from the public or lie about their role, especially if they are Town Investigator or Sheriff. They would be forced to communicate via DMs (IMO I don't like this)

TT has a lookout night ability in addition to his detective night ability. However, they cannot be used at the same time. TT also sees who visited their real target the night before in addition to who their real target visited. ( I think this is a good idea and in retrospect I would have added it to the original post)

So the example would look more like this.


N1: TT follows player 1. Player 1 visited player 15

N2: TT learns that real target visited player 3 and was visited by no one N1. TT follows player 5. Player 5 visited player 6.

N3: TT learns that real target visited player 6 and was visited by player 14 N2. TT watches player 5's house. Player 5 visited no one and was visited by no one.

D4: TT sees 14 claim lookout and post their LW about how they watched player 2's house N2.

N4: TT learns that real target visited player 13 and was visited by no one N3. TT follows player 2's house. Player 2 visited player 1.

N5: TT learns that target visited player 1 and was visited by player 12 N4. TT deduces that with the LO's LW, the real target is most likely player 2. TT kidnaps player 2.


Essentially TT is trying to match detective/lookout feedback of their UNKNOWN real target with the detective/lookout feedback of TT's night ability.

oh ok ty

[RufusPL]

I feel like just seeing who their real target visited and being able to kill is already really good for benign, they don't need to be a detective on top of that. U can determine who is ur target just with that info alone and it doesn't let u easly claim det/lo and it doesn't hurt det/lo credibility. Maybe giving him 1-2 uses on the detective ability to use once u think u found ur target would be acceptable.

[Space Milk]

That would still work. It shouldn't be too easy, and a big part of the role is relying on player intelligence and perceptiveness on others revealing their LWs and LWs of the dead. Essentially the role I am trying to make is some sort of hunting role. And personally I like the idea that the target knows he is being hunted too because it alters their gameplay somewhat. The reason I chose Time Traveler and not Bounty Hunter or some other flavor is that this specific flavor gives reason for why the role would only get one shot, or one chance, at killing the target, else they die. The reason I think a mechanic like this is crucial is that if it didn't exist, the Time Traveler role could easily be abused to be a neutral killing version of the vigilante. It can be used to troll and throw games, and there is no disincentive to just fuck over people you don't like beyond not winning. By giving disincentives, it focuses the role on a detective-like deduction style of gameplay, which is in line with Mafia, and it prevents the possibility of it being used as a neutral killing vigilante, stemming abuse and gamethrowing. Hence the mechanic where if the Time Traveler picks the wrong target, MIB/CERN from the future time travel to right before he will kill the target and kill him for making a mistake in the future. A self correcting time line is an interesting way to ensure that it doesn't become an easily trollable killing role.

As for replacement flavors, I haven't really thought of that. I at least want to put the idea out there of a non-killing hunting role. I guess something along the lines of a Rogue Detective, or Private Investigator would work, but I don't know how the flavor would justify the suicide / role change mechanic for attempting to kill the wrong target.

[RufusPL]

Also i don't think TT should die if his target dies. He can't really influence it and it doesn't make that much sense flavor wise. I think his win condition should be either killing the target on his own or if his target died in other way it just turns into survival. I wouldn't notify him if the target died, he should still receive feedback that his target visited no one every night after it died so it's not completely obvious.

[Exeter350]

Fascinating idea, kind of like a reverse Executioner.

Time travel's not thematically appropriate but the idea could work if renamed to something else.
E.g. Bounty Hunter hunting a Fugitive. Not sure why the Bounty Hunter dies if the fugitive dies tho.
Alternatively Creditor hunting a Debtor. He needs the Debtor to pay his debts or the Creditor will go bankrupt. Upon the Debtor's death, the Creditor hangs himself.

The target would receive a message like "Your past is catching up to you" or something.

[OzyWho]

Fascinating idea, kind of like a reverse Executioner.

Executor? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Carries out a will, and leaves the game once their task or their target is done.

Bryan Mills?
Man has a particular set of skills and has only 1 goal left in life.

Exonerator.
Here to pardon someone... from life..
meme

[Grakylan]

Fascinating idea, kind of like a reverse Executioner.
Alternatively Creditor hunting a Debtor. He needs the Debtor to pay his debts or the Creditor will go bankrupt. Upon the Debtor's death, the Creditor hangs himself.

The target would receive a message like "Your past is catching up to you" or something.

This. Idk how to feel about the role itself yet, but the one glaring thing is that time-travel isnt quite a fitting theme for SC2Mafia, theres no futuristic role themes. Although we do have magic and witchcraft present, but that's besides the point. The credditor vs the debbtor flavor is pretty good. It might even make redditors seethe.

[theoneceko]

magic and witchcraft r not fTRISTIC

[Space Milk]

Alternatively Creditor hunting a Debtor. He needs the Debtor to pay his debts or the Creditor will go bankrupt. Upon the Debtor's death, the Creditor hangs himself.

The target would receive a message like "Your past is catching up to you" or something.

Creditor / Debtor is a brilliant idea for flavor. Ill think of some flavor real quick.

[Exeter350]

Awesome, so that's flavour settled.

After giving it some thought, I'm wondering how gameplay would be like for both Debtor and Creditor.

Debtor has no info to go on besides randomly pressing buttons at night.
Creditor has no "tell" for Debtor to catch on to, and no counterplay possible.

Once Debtor finds his target, he just has to press another button at night to eliminate his target and win.
Unlike Executioner, he does not need to manipulate Town into lynching his target.

There's no deduction or deception involved here.

Seems like it's mostly RNG with no player interactivity.

[Space Milk]

Debtor has no info to go on besides randomly pressing buttons at night.

Investigator has no info to go on besides randomly pressing buttons at night.

Witch has no info to go on besides randomly pressing buttons at night.

etc

Creditor has no "tell" for Debtor to catch on to, and no counterplay possible.

There are indeed tells.

Creditor:

The following night, the ~~Time Traveler~~ Creditor receives a notification of who their target visited the night before in a message of this kind:

"After reviewing your sources from the future, you were able to determine that the ~~fugitive~~ Debtor must have visited <insert player> last night."

Debtor:

"
If the ~~Time Traveler~~ Creditor follows the ~~target~~ Debtor (knowingly or unknowingly), the ~~target~~ Debtor receives a notification that they were being followed in a message of this kind:

"You noticed a strange individual stalking you. ~~CERN~~ The bank might be on your trail!""

Once Debtor finds his target, he just has to press another button at night to eliminate his target and win.

This applies to all killing roles, to Cult, and especially to Witch and Enchantress. The fun comes not in the actual gameplay, but from the player interaction that emerges from gameplay mechanics. Mafia is fundamentally a social game - its merit derived from its players.

[ChannelMiner]

Why bother with a time traveler? This seems to fit the idea of a bounty hunter perfectly, the time travel flavor isn't really there nor does it fit into the rest of mafia.

Great idea but the theme of a time traveler is obviously does not fit into mafia nor does it really fit with your role either.