[SETUP] Soulmates (bastard), inspired by Mini Love

[Jingle]

There’s already a built in incentive to town not claiming early. They’re basically a lover-best friends and are stronger the longer they survive. I’m very much against mechanically trying to force optimal play unless it’s absolutely necessary.

From a balance perspective this is roughly 3 goons and a traitor v doctor 8vt 2 lover best friends. Historically that’d be significantly scum sided, but it might fly by today’s standards. Unfortunately it’s very vanilla for a large and is likely to be on evens most of the game, both of which might cause thread apathy.

I think cutting your game size will likely make the setup more palatable. I’d suggest 1 goon 5vt as a reasonable approximation to turn this back into a mini.

FWIW I don’t think the gimmick mechanic will meaningfully impact balance, as both unaligned lovers will probably pretend they’re survivors strategy wise.

[Jingle]

I was thinking you’d keep the doc and have an 8:3 setup.

Balance wise you have 7.5 town vs 2.5 scum with a decent amount of town power. If you’re still worried about lover claims, I’d make the town lover macho.

Based on how the first game plays out you might reevaluate the doctor slot up or down in power.

[Jingle]

FWIW, I don’t think this is bastard by the spirit of the rules and isn’t bastard by the letter of the rules if you just give the uninformed lovers a “You win if your lover wins the game.” wincon. Wincons aren’t actually changing and there’s no moderator lies or influence involved.

[Jingle]

Yeah, technically speaking the mafia would win because of the “or nothing can prevent that from occurring” clause assumed to be in most wincons, but making it explicit that the extra lover counts towards mafia parity is completely reasonable.

And no problem. Working through setups happens to be one of my favorite parts of mafia.