Roleblocker

Roleblocker Aliases: Dancer Prostitute Alignment: Pro-town Anti-town Role type: Manipulative Choice: Night

A Roleblocker chooses one player per Night to block from performing his or her night choice. The target's night choice will not be performed -- that is, the Roleblocker blocks the target's role from working.

Typically, the Roleblocker only stops things the target tries to actively perform, but not passive abilities that they get no choice over -- that is, a Bulletproof who is roleblocked is still bulletproof, a Miller who is roleblocked will still show up as guilty on a Cop report, etc. More specifically, the Mafia or Masons may still talk amongst themselves even if one of them is roleblocked.

The Roleblocker can exist with either a pro-Town or anti-Town alignment (this one known as Mafia Roleblocker or Prostitute).

Variations

There is no consensus as to what happens when multiple Roleblockers exist and target each other (or with similar roles such as Jailkeeper).

A Mafia Roleblocker may or may not be allowed to perform the mafia kill the same Night they are also performing a roleblock. In Newbie games, the Mafia Roleblocker is allowed to perform both only if they are the last member of their team left.

The target of a roleblock may or may not be informed that they were blocked. Typically, if the target receives a report of some kind (eg, Cop), they will be told; if they do not receive a report (eg, Doctor), they will not be told.

One-shot roles may or may not be used up when targeted by a Roleblocker.

Use and Power

Since the Roleblocker can exist as both a town and an anti-town role, its exact use depends on the alignment. In either case, the function of the Roleblocker is to remove Night actions from the game, which places more of an emphasis on the Day game.

Town: Town Roleblockers are helpful for stopping anti-town power roles, but with the risk that they may hit a town power role instead; in this case, they are like a weaker version of the Vigilante. In most setups, the Mafia must choose who is performing the kill that Night; if the Roleblocker targets this person, there is no kill. The Roleblocker can become very powerful if it is known that there is only one scum left, as if there is a kill that Night then the person they roleblocked is cleared.

Antitown: Antitown Roleblockers are helpful for neutralizing town power roles, even if there is a Doctor or other protective role that keeps the power role from being killed. This is very helpful in preventing Follow the Cop scenarios. A Mafia Roleblocker does not suffer the risk of blocking someone on their side, like a Town Roleblocker does; the only power roles they need to watch out for are the Tracker and the Watcher.