Bookie

Bookie Alias: none Alignment: Town Mafia Role type: Killing Choice: Night

A Bookie aims to guess the following day's elimination. If they guess correctly, they gain a benefit (normally a nightkill).

Standard version

Each Night, the Bookie PMs the moderator a prediction as to who will be eliminated the next day (or a prediction that there will be no elimination the next day). If they guess correctly, they gain a 1-shot kill that can be used to kill someone on the following Night. This kill is independent of existing kills.

Variations

The reward for a correct guess does not need to be a kill; it could be a different 1-shot power, an augmentation of an existing alternate power, or other benefits.

In the setup 8-Ball, the Mafia have a factional Bookie ability, granting them a kill whenever they successfully predict the elimination.

A Bookie could guess who will die in the Night, rather than who will die in the Day; this variant would obviously only be usable by Town.

Bookies would benefit from a "head start" that allows them to make a guess during pregame; this makes the role a bit more powerful.

Use & Balance

In Town hands, Bookie exists mostly to add interest to a game, making it more complex without a huge balance impact; predicting the elimination is hard. As with most killing and protective roles, the value of an extra kill will depend on whether there are an odd or even number of players remaining; if the kill saves you from having to no-eliminate in melo, you've made a big gain, so if there are no other successful kills or protections, a correct Bookie prediction is much more valuable with an even number of players alive.

In Mafia hands, the role is more powerful because there's the weight of a whole scumteam trying to guide the elimination onto the chosen target (and because the Mafia benefit more from extra kills than the Town do). This is a good way to create associative tells .

Play Advice

Predicting the elimination is normally a matter of scumhunting and of correctly gauging the town's opinion. If you're Mafia-aligned, choosing one of your teammates will help to reduce the potential downside of losing a member, but is not recommended; Mafia typically overestimate how likely they are to be eliminated. If you're Town-aligned, there's no point in predicting your own elimination – you'll be dead before you get a chance to use your earned kill.

If you do correctly predict the kill, you're a Vigilante for the Night; see that article for information on choosing a target.

Sample Role PMs

The standardized Role PM for "Bookie" describes the action as follows:

• As an active action: you may guess who will be eliminated the following Day (or that no player will be eliminated the following Day). If you guess correctly, you may kill someone the following Night, in addition to any other abilities you may have. (edit)

Example (simplest form)

Welcome to game! You are a Town Bookie.

You have the following active ability:

• Each Night, you may guess who will be eliminated the following Day (or that no player will be eliminated the following Day). If you guess correctly, you may kill someone the following Night, in addition to any other abilities you may have.

You win if all threats to the town are eliminated and at least one town-aligned player is alive.

Confirm by replying to this PM with a summary of your role.

Example (with modifiers)

Welcome to game! You are a Town 1-shot Bookie.

You have the following active ability:

• Once in the game at Night, you may guess who will be eliminated the following Day (or that no player will be eliminated the following Day). If you guess correctly, you may kill someone the following Night, in addition to any other abilities you may have.

You win if all threats to the town are eliminated and at least one town-aligned player is alive.

Confirm by replying to this PM with a summary of your role.