[Class Suggestion] The Locksmith / The Picklock (Replacement for Court Wizard / Sage)

Class/Lore/Fanfic
#1

I am proposing this class to replace the Court Wizard / Sage. My main goal in making this class was to stick close enough to the current CW so that the game's balance isn't too significantly impacted while still adding enough changes to make the class more engaging to play.

The Locksmith (Class type: Support)

Passives:

None

Day Ability:

Skeleton Key: Selected player is guaranteed to visit their target tonight. (3 uses)

Night Abilities:

Reinforce Lock: Prevent all players who are not Blue Dragon from visiting the target. [Cannot target the same player two nights in a row] (Infinite uses) (Notifies player when ability successful blocks someone)

Swap Locks: Cause all players targeting one of your targets to target the other. Bypasses redirection immunity (3 uses)


The Picklock (Class type: Support)

Passives:

None

Day Ability:

Pickpocket: Prevent all players that are not Unseen from visiting the target tonight. (2 uses)

Night Abilities:

Plant Evidence: Make target appear suspicious to Investigative classes. (Infinite uses)

Edit: As RHCube pointed out, this is basically just a worse version of Aristocrat's Intrigue. Maybe instead this ability could be the same as the Scorned's Disguise, changing the players class if he is executed the next day.

Swap Locks: Cause all players targeting one of your targets to target the other. Bypasses redirection immunity (3 uses)


Comments:

The Locksmith stays close to the CW in many important ways. He keeps CW's swap, and between Skeleton Key and Reinforce, the Locksmith can perform many of the same functions as CW. Namely, where CW would empower a phys to make sure he was able to heal his target, the Locksmith can use Skeleton Key on the phys during the day. Also, where the CW would use Clear Mind on an outted investigative class to stop a conversion, the Locksmith would use Reinforce Lock.

I think that replacing Empower + Clear Mind with Reinforce Locks + Skeleton Key will make this class more enjoyable to play than the current CW. For one, Empower is not a very intuitive ability since it has a different effect on each class type. Even after playing the CW many many times, I still have to check back to remember what it does for each class. Reinforce is much more straightforward.

Also, on the rare occasion that Empower does aid the target, it's usually not very satisfying since you don't know whether you just helped the phys heal their target or helped the reaper reap the prince. With Reinforce, you can be much more confident that you had a positive impact on the BD when your ability is successful. There is still a possibility that the ability will be counterproductive (e.g. preventing an alch from truthing an unseen; preventing the NK from killing assassin; preventing pretender from blood testing the MM; etc.) but it will still yield positive results much more frequently than Empower does.

The Picklock also stays fairly close to Sage, keeping the swap and the ability to "firewall" a target. The main difference as far as the firewall is concerned is that it is now a day ability (Pickpocket). This means that the first night the Locksmith is converted, he doesn't have the benefit of talking to the other unseen to pick a valuable firewall target. This is especially important now that Mastermind has Little Birds, I think. However, if all unseen are able to survive long enough, then they will be able to confer to pick a Pickpocket target, but this will require a little more luck and cooperation than it does for the Sage. I think Frame is also a good addition here since it is a fun, low-impact ability that works well with the class's lore.

Let me know what you think.

1 Like
#2

BD shouldn’t have omniscient abilities. I would be fine with this if it just prevented all players from targeting your target.

Just make this a night ability with unlimited uses.

Should be a night ability.

This is just a worse intrigue.

This should have unlimited uses.

#3

I definitely considered this. My main reasoning for not blocking BD was that I felt that otherwise would be mostly counterproductive. Blocking Neuts and Evils only wouldn’t necessarily provide the Locksmith with any information regarding the identity of the prevented evils.

I feel this would be similar to the CW’s empower in that it’s technically useful under limited circumstances but extremely boring and unsatisfying. I think it’s better suited to a day ability since it’s pretty limited in its utility.

Good point. Maybe it could instead perform the same function as the scorned’s Disguise ability. This would certainly be more powerful, especially with a MM claiming an investigative class.

I just copy and pasted this from the current CW/Sage where Tornado is limited to three. I think that making this an unlimited ability would cause a lot of unnecessary mayhem.

#4

The drawback is it isn’t confirmable

#5

Just make it able to prevent all visitors to target and able to target the unseen

#6

also this is probably one of the better classes I seen

@NuclearBurrito

2 Likes
#7

It’s actually slightly more confirmable than the current CW. Swap Locks is identical to Tornado, which is the main confirmation for CWs, and Reinforce Locks could technically be confirmed by an outted alch since it blocks both neuts and evils.

Yes this is definitely a possibility. As I said to RHCube above, I lean towards blocking only evils and neuts so that the ability is more useful for BD and thus would make the class more enjoyable, but I’m sure I haven’t thought through all the implications of that and it would certainly shift the game’s balance in the BD’s direction somewhat.

#8

Except this alch could be a lie, the goal of unconfirmable classes is to make sure BD can’t find it confirmable

#9

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Non-investigative abilities should have risk to them.

Could work.

Sometimes confirmable abilities are needed to prevent a class from being overpowered(like with this. It would be OP if it only prevented non-BD)

If it was able to target unseen than it would be a better version of enforcer’s protection.

That’s actually another reason why I would prefer having skeleton key as a night ability, it’s not overpowered and not confirmable.

#10

Sure but make it VERY limited use (2 at most. Probably 1)

#11

I’ve always thought that kind of ability would work better on illusionist in particular instead of blur

#12

Alternatively make it a tailor. Meaning you chose what they look like and can target Unseen (including yourself)

#13

I think it’s a good start, but preventing EVERYONE as the picklock during the day seems a little op in my opinion

#14

oh yeah. Alternatively just keep Picklock as a reskinned Sage with no mechanical difference

#15

Yes I would agree to make it only one use. It would virtually confirm the MM as BD investigative if played right, so I don’t think unseen deserves a second shot at it if they fail the first one.

I would certainly make sense on illusionist as well. However, illusionist already has mindwarp, which is an extremely powerful ability on its own. Adding disguise as well might make illusionist OP. Also, if Locksmith/Picklock were implimented, the disguise ability would make sense lore-wise for picklock as he can break into the players room and plant evidence to make them look like anything.

Definitely could work. Especially because I feel like no one is really dissatisfied with Sage itself, just CW.

#16

My thinking was that this would function as a slightly less powerful firewall. It does the same thing as firewall, but is weaker because the Picklock isn’t able to talk with other unseen the night he’s converted to figure out who’s Prince or whatever. This means if MM knows who prince is and Locksmith is converted N3, then MM, assa, and Picklock must all survive until D5 in order for the ability to be used on prince.

Of course, if such a powerful day ability was added, I think the power of the night abilities would probably have to be lower to compensate.

#17

The idea is that Illusionist is easily outed because of how mystic works. So having insanely powerful night ability’s is more of a counterbalancing tool

#18

btw this gave me an idea for a timesnatcher rework. Already posted it

#19

I’m the Locksmith I swear of it!

My friends I fear I may be next… “URGH”

Picklock: My fellow blue dragon I need you to trust me for we need to find out the traitors who did this!