How to balance a Serial in your game by THYMOLE.
Most games, no matter how large or small, will have a serial killer in them. Just the concept of one is fun, and it makes for an easy way to balance out the game. However, players won't actually appreciate being a balancing tool. While there is an inevitable "Woo-hoo!" moment when you first read that role email stating SK, there's also a high chance that it will be followed by the feeling of impending doom when you realize it's 1 vs. everyone. This isn't to say that games shouldn't include SKs. They're fun roles to play and most people have accustomed to assuming one will be present (something you don't necessarily have to follow). However, if you are going to put one in, make sure that the player is a player with a viable chance of winning, not a balancing tool.
For example, in Silent Dawn Mafia by Xenophone, I played the Silent Dawn killer, an SK. While I enjoyed the game, something that made me feel sour was that I was an uninformed bomb (meaning I would kill whoever hammered me). When I died, it seemed to me that my purpose in that game was not to win, but rather to make it easier for the Mafia to win or in the very least cause panic for everybody else.
Another example, in Bingo Little's Storyteller's Mafia V: Batman: Lockdown game, there was a serial killer on his own pitted against 19 others. I'm not saying it couldn't have been done, but were the poor guy's chances very good? ... not so much.
Note that in both of these examples, the sad SK's situation doesn't ruin the game at all. But if you're going to make the game, give the little psychopath some thought.
So when making the SK consider his chances of winning, and give him a fighting shot. It's very hard to give him even odds but he deserves your consideration in the very least.
In a small game of 12 or less, the SK's chances are low, but plausible. In a game of 16, those chances fall lower. By the time a game hits 20 or more, an otherwise normal SK has minimal chances if the setup is also normal. So what can you do? In order of least effective to most effective in terms of evening out the score:
1) Iron Status: Considering the general nature of an SK, an iron status is actually not very helpful. Most of the time their deaths are from lynches, because they tend to be easier to deduce than Mafia members. There are of course exceptions to this with better players, but more often than not an iron attribute will make little difference on an SK's chances.
2) Ghost Status: Otherwise known as turning up innocent to investigations, this status is more helpful than iron status in my opinion. An innocent investigation gives a solid alibi for an SK. In comparing the two options so far, you may think of it this way. If the SK is seemingly town, he will be mafia killed. If the SK is seemingly wolfy, he will be investigated. For a player who is actually wolf, the latter is more likely to occur. As a quick note here, when someone is "immune" to investigations, meaning they return nothing, that rarely helps at all.
3) Immunity to all actions: A simple idea that doesn't get as much use. It works quite well, and perhaps too well in a smaller game.
4) A Safe Claim: in a themed game, I heavily advocate giving the SK's a safe claim. It can justify their tough chances and put the majority of their work in their hands. For original games, these tend not to work as well, but offering a name and quick patch of flavour to use can be a nice thing to have.
So go get stabbing! The world needs more apathetic bloodlusters
You must be registered for see images
.
PS: As one general rule of thumb, before hosting your game, compare for a brief moment the SK and the Mafia Godfather/most powerful mafia member. If the Serial Killer is less powerful than the leader of the faction own his own, you've probably got a problem.