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{{role
{{role
|alias= Gunsmith
|alias=
|align= Pro-town
|align= Pro-town
|type= Informative
|type= Informative
|choice= Night
|choice= Night
}}
}}
A '''Psychologist''' is an investigative role that determines, in some sense, whether a player has an ability that can kill another player.
The '''Psychologist''' is an investigative role that determines a player's [[Killing Roles|ability to kill]]. It does however have a drawback: if a player has already killed, the Psychologist can no longer discern whether this player is capable of doing so. This, along with non-killing [[scum]], such as the [[Mafia Traitor]], or killing-[[Town|Townspeople]], like the [[Vigilante]] can offer unreliable results, making it inferior to a standard [[Cop]]. It is important to note that the result is dependent on a player able to [[Active_Ability|actively]] choose to kill someone, which would produce a [[Innocent#Pseudo-innocent|Negative]] on a role like [[Paranoid Gun Owner]].


Psychologists are most useful to the [[Town]]; although the role makes logical sense for other alignments, this is rarely seen.
The Psychologist role used to be an alias of [[Gunsmith]], until the functions of both roles diverged.
 
Not to be confused with: [[Psychiatrist]].
 
== Normal Operations ==
 
The Psychologist is a valid [[Normal]] role to be used in [[Normal Game|Normal Games]].
 
In a Normal Game, a Psychologist may choose to investigate each night. Only three results can be obtained from this investigation: Negative, Positive, or [[No Result]]. This investigation resolves after any killing abilities in the [[Night|Night phase]].
 
A negative result is returned from players that are unable to actively kill another player, or on a player that has already killed.
 
A positive result is returned from players that can choose to kill, but have not done so.
 
No Result is returned as a result of interference of the investigation, either by a [[Roleblocker]] or [[Ascetic]].
 
== Sample Role PM ==
 
{{CustomRolePM
|Align=Town
|Role=Psychologist
|Ability1='''Investigate:''' you may investigate a player each night and discern whether that player has an active killing ability. Receive a Negative result on those that have no active killing ability, or on those that could kill and have tried to do so already. Receive a Positive result on those that can choose to kill, but have not done so.
|WinCon=Town1}}


== Variations ==
== Variations ==
The exact behaviour of the role is not completely standardised yet; as such, all versions of the Psychologist can be considered variants.


The simplest possible version of a Psychologist simply determines whether a player has an ''active killing ability''; thus, it would detect [[Vigilantes]], and any [[Mafia]], [[Werewolf]], or [[Serial Killer]] with a standard nightkill. This version of the role is very powerful in town hands; because there are few ways to get false positives or false negatives, it's more similar to a [[Cop]] than to [[Gunsmith]]. However, note that anti-Town roles with no active kill, such as some variants of the [[Traitor]], will appear innocent. Note that although the name '''Gunsmith''' is occasionally seen for this role, on mafiascum.net that name is typically used for a different role.
An older version of the Psychologist did not feature its loss of discerning a player's capability to kill upon that player performing a kill. This made it a stronger version of the Gunsmith, the role the Psychologist diverged from, as it no longer gained false-positives from Cops and Paranoid Gun Owners.
 
In the [[Hard Boiled]] setup, a Psychologist can only detect players who have a kill ''but have not yet successfully used it''. (In most action resolution methods, the Psychologist will also not get a "has an unused kill" result on a player if they successfully perform a kill that night.)
 
== Use & Power ==
 
Adding a Psychologist to a set up is a valid way to curb town power with an investigative role that is inferior to a Cop. It may be used with a purpose to general false results onto players, though the expectation of checks against this role may allow [[fakeclaim]] opportunities for [[scum]] to be stronger than they otherwise would be.
 
If using a variant, it's important to know in advance which roles in the game it will gain Negative and Positive results on. In addition, choosing when the action resolves when the game setup is still being created is crucial to identifying the role's power level.  
 
== Play Advice ==


Because the simple version is so powerful, many moderators prefer to limit its power somewhat. In the [[Hard Boiled]] setup, a Psychologist can only detect players who have a kill ''but have not yet successfully used it''. (In most action resolution methods, the Psychologist will also not get a "has an unused kill" result on a player if they successfully perform a kill that night.)
As a player, the Psychologist should opt to play much like a Cop would. This means that investigating either players you find difficult to [[read]] or scummy players you would find it difficult to leverage a lynch upon take top priority.  


A subtler change that's been seen to weaken the Psychologist is for them to detect players who ''have the capability to cause a death at night'' (including indirectly); this is much more prone to false positives, e.g. it could detect a standard [[Miller]] if there's a [[Weak]] player around, a [[Deflector]] if anyone has a kill, etc.
It's acceptable to hunt for players acting like a Serial Killer or Vigilante, or simply softing a vig claim. A positive result after Night 1 could be especially useful in this case. It may be beneficial to [[Breadcrumb|crumb]] your result if it truly seems like this player is acting alone (and, after Night 1, presumably either a Mafiaso or Vig). If waiting it out seems to have lost any usefulness, especially in the case of a non-vig claim, outing the result can be seen as the best play available.


== Use and Power ==
== Related Roles ==
As a player, you generally want to use your Psychologist ability to find threats to your team (typically the [[Mafia]], although if you're Mafia yourself, you can instead use it to find [[Vigilantes]], and players on opposite teams in a [[multiball]] game). Avoid anyone you think is likely to provide a false negative or false positive (e.g. never scan a claimed Vigilante, as you'll likely get "can kill" whether or not they're telling the truth), and otherwise treat the role like you would a [[Cop]]. Also, try to be absolutely sure on what circumstances will provoke a false positive or false negative; the role is sufficiently non-standardised that it can take a careful reading of your role PM, and perhaps questions to the moderator, to determine what circumstances could cause a pro-Town player to have a kill or an anti-Town player to not have one.


As a moderator, bear in mind that the role is a fairly powerful investigative, but that players are typically inclined to overestimate its power. Most setups with a Psychologist have also included some convoluted way for it to produce misleading results, based on the exact wording of the role (this is part of the reason why the role tends to be nonstandardised – so that moderators can tweak the wording to produce creative false positives and false negatives). In general, players tend to miss this when it happens (this has happened at least twice by now), and the incorrect conclusions that they draw can end up hurting their faction more than their valid results help. As such, it's wise not to be too clever with it.
[[Cop]]


The variant that cannot detect players who have already killed is substantially weaker, but is useful if you want multiple investigative roles in a game when you already have a [[Jailkeeper]], [[Tracker]], or similar role that gets more powerful as the game goes long; because its strength is mostly in the early game, it tends to cause less late-game swing than usual for an investigative role.
[[Gunsmith]]

Revision as of 08:26, 8 May 2018

Psychologist
Alias: none
Alignment:
Role type:
  • Informative
Choice:
  • Night

The Psychologist is an investigative role that determines a player's ability to kill. It does however have a drawback: if a player has already killed, the Psychologist can no longer discern whether this player is capable of doing so. This, along with non-killing scum, such as the Mafia Traitor, or killing-Townspeople, like the Vigilante can offer unreliable results, making it inferior to a standard Cop. It is important to note that the result is dependent on a player able to actively choose to kill someone, which would produce a Negative on a role like Paranoid Gun Owner.

The Psychologist role used to be an alias of Gunsmith, until the functions of both roles diverged.

Not to be confused with: Psychiatrist.

Normal Operations

The Psychologist is a valid Normal role to be used in Normal Games.

In a Normal Game, a Psychologist may choose to investigate each night. Only three results can be obtained from this investigation: Negative, Positive, or No Result. This investigation resolves after any killing abilities in the Night phase.

A negative result is returned from players that are unable to actively kill another player, or on a player that has already killed.

A positive result is returned from players that can choose to kill, but have not done so.

No Result is returned as a result of interference of the investigation, either by a Roleblocker or Ascetic.

Sample Role PM

Welcome, [Player]! You are a Town Psychologist.

Abilities:

  • Investigate: you may investigate a player each night and discern whether that player has an active killing ability. Receive a Negative result on those that have no active killing ability, or on those that could kill and have tried to do so already. Receive a Positive result on those that can choose to kill, but have not done so.

Win Conditions:

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

Variations

An older version of the Psychologist did not feature its loss of discerning a player's capability to kill upon that player performing a kill. This made it a stronger version of the Gunsmith, the role the Psychologist diverged from, as it no longer gained false-positives from Cops and Paranoid Gun Owners.

In the Hard Boiled setup, a Psychologist can only detect players who have a kill but have not yet successfully used it. (In most action resolution methods, the Psychologist will also not get a "has an unused kill" result on a player if they successfully perform a kill that night.)

Use & Power

Adding a Psychologist to a set up is a valid way to curb town power with an investigative role that is inferior to a Cop. It may be used with a purpose to general false results onto players, though the expectation of checks against this role may allow fakeclaim opportunities for scum to be stronger than they otherwise would be.

If using a variant, it's important to know in advance which roles in the game it will gain Negative and Positive results on. In addition, choosing when the action resolves when the game setup is still being created is crucial to identifying the role's power level.

Play Advice

As a player, the Psychologist should opt to play much like a Cop would. This means that investigating either players you find difficult to read or scummy players you would find it difficult to leverage a lynch upon take top priority.

It's acceptable to hunt for players acting like a Serial Killer or Vigilante, or simply softing a vig claim. A positive result after Night 1 could be especially useful in this case. It may be beneficial to crumb your result if it truly seems like this player is acting alone (and, after Night 1, presumably either a Mafiaso or Vig). If waiting it out seems to have lost any usefulness, especially in the case of a non-vig claim, outing the result can be seen as the best play available.

Related Roles

Cop

Gunsmith

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