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"I've found evidence linking her to the Mafia!" the venerable Sheriff declared as he pointed to the confused Medium. He then pulled out a handful of crumpled notes, detailing the locations of shady out-of-town meetings at night and written in blood-red ink while starting his 'death to the Mafia' spiel. The Medium tried to defend herself to the best of her abilities, claiming that one would have to be an abject fool to think that those notes could correlate to the Mafia, but fortunately (or unfortunately, in the Medium's case), the Sheriff's years of experience led him to believe that he really had genuine info. He led the Medium's execution, and then realized as she breathed her last... she was framed. Her last will held not her words of dedication to the Mafia... just the words of the deceased townsfolk. The Framer noted the irony in the Sheriff's spiel with his fellow Mafia comrades while the rest of the town turned a blind eye to the incognito Mafia, and one of the brave citizens shouted out loud to jail and execute the Sheriff for his mistake. As the meeting for the day concluded and almost everyone went back to their homes, the Framer congratulated himself on what he had accomplished. Who knew where a few old documents could get you? (credit)

Mechanics[]

  • You can choose a target to Frame each Night. Framing a target will show them as suspicious until they are investigated. Your Frames take priority over an Arsonist Douse.
  • Framed targets will show up as "suspicious" to the Sheriff.
  • Framed targets will appear to be a Framer, Vampire, Jester (and Hex Master, if playing with the Coven Expansion) to an Investigator.
  • Upon turning into a Mafioso, previous Frames will remain on the target.

Strategy[]

  • A strategy to use before the Night phase starts is to say a player is suspicious, and request for a Town Investigative role to check that person. However, an experienced player may realize you could be a Framer, and might call you out on it.
    • Since players are Framed until investigated, this strategy is not recommended, unless you expect the Town Investigatives to check them numerous times to confirm they are not Framed.
  • If accused, a possible strategy is to tell the truth about your role, especially if someone whispers you to ask. Most people will brush you off as a bad Jester trying to be lynched and some people may even step up in your defense if you draw too much attention. You don't have to make a clever lie as long as Investigators and Sheriffs suspect that you've been Framed the next Night, allowing you to survive longer.
    • Try not to press too hard when doing this. Telling the Town directly "You want to lynch me!" is the best strategy. Do not be too annoying, as spamming is against the rules, but reinforce the point every Day by repeating that you're a Framer and act annoyed that Town is not doing their duty to lynch you. Do this until people are annoyed at you and believe you are a confirmed Jester.
    • This strategy has a downside: You could be executed by a Jailor or shot by a Vigilante since killing Jesters is a natural method for these roles. Telling a Jailor you are a Framer will almost guarantee your execution. You could also be attacked by a member of the Coven or a Neutral Killing.
  • Your job in the Mafia is to be the "middleman" between the Mafia because you know that if people investigate you, you have a valid reason to say you were Framed. This works even better if there is a Disguiser who visited you the previous Night as any Spy in the game will confirm that you were Framed.
  • Never keep a Last Will as to who you have actually Framed because this may prove the innocence of those that you Framed and give a clue as to who is Mafia by narrowing down suspects. However, you can write down that you have Framed other members of the Mafia and other fake evidence to mislead the town even upon death.
    • If you MUST keep track of who you actually Framed, write it in the Notes, as unlike Last Wills, anything written in the Notes won't be revealed to the town.
  • A possible strategy is not to do anything at Night. While it may seem like this is a waste of your abilities, Framer alone is not very powerful. By not doing anything, you can trick the Spy that there is less Mafia, and if your Mafia Killing is roleblocked or jailed, you can move and trick the Spy that a player has basic defense (bonus if you have another Framer visiting to count as a double visit). However, this may not work in tight role lists, and some Mafia members could expect you to frame every Night. If someone is confused as to why you aren't doing anything, be sure to explain your reasoning. This strategy can also be used to prevent a death by Werewolf or Veteran and keep you alive until you become a Mafioso.
  • While claiming Town Protective or Spy might seem dumb, your visits can cover them up for you. If a Jailor asks for Town Protective and a Lookout on them, you can either claim to be a Doctor that was visiting your target to heal them, or a Spy who was bugging the Jailor, and the Lookout can cover it up for you.
    • If there is an actual Spy in the game, you can still visit the Jailor to prevent a Lookout from confirming all the visitors as not a member of the Mafia.
    • Of course, if an Escort role blocked the jailor and you're claiming Spy, things could take a bad turn, as the Jailor would likely call you out for not seeing the role block.

Who to Frame[]

  • It's best that you Frame people with names that stick out the most as Town Investigative roles tend to investigate said players first, letting your Frames take effect faster, and in some cases, make the accuser look like an Executioner!
  • Players that talk Day 1 are often a good target, because it makes them stick out to Town Investigative roles.
  • Roles that ask for Town Protective roles to be on them but don't claim Jailor are a good first pick, but you should only do this the first Night.
    • This works especially well if they talk the first Day.
    • However, some Town Investigatives actually avoid people who talk for fear of them being a Veteran.
  • Framing people that are number one, number eight, or number fifteen on the player's list is a good idea too as they also tend to be investigated first.
  • Try framing Vampire Hunter claims. If an Investigator checks them, they will probably think they are a Vampire and accuse them.
    • However, a Sheriff that checks the target will not assume the target is a Vampire, since they will appear suspicious. The silver-lining is that the Sheriff may accuse them as a member of the Mafia instead.
  • If people are suspicious of a particular person, there's a good chance that people will investigate them. It's also a good chance for you to Frame them. Be wary though, as a Lookout may be one of these investigative roles and see you visit this person, so try to Frame them a day before they become suspicious.
  • Since Framers don't die to Traps, a Framer may check for Lookouts or Trappers on a confirmed Town target such as a revealed Mayor.
  • If Spies don't exist or are dead, consider framing each Night. Most Sheriffs and Investigators will check a different person every Night. Since your Frames last until the player is investigated (even if you die or get promoted), they are almost guaranteed to investigate those you Framed.
  • Framing a Mafia-known Jester could possibly have them lynched, killing a Townie or a Neutral Killing in the process. Plus, if the Jailor or Vigilante decides to kill them, they've wasted a shot or execution.
  • Remember, sometimes it isn't necessary to Frame someone every Night. Framing on a Full Moon risks being killed by the Werewolf; framing on any Night risks visiting the Veteran or Medusa. Worst of all, whenever you Frame anyone, you confirm to every Spy in the game that your target is not a member of the Mafia, accomplishing the exact opposite of your goal.
    • If there's a Disguiser, you can ask them to Disguise you to hide your visits to mitigate the Spy risk.
    • Fortunately, if you Frame someone who asks for TP/LO on Day 1, you can prevent a Lookout using a Spy from confirming all visitors as not a member of the Mafia. Additionally, you may not even be seen by the Lookout at all, since players who ask for Town Protectives and Lookouts usually have more than 3 visitors.
  • You could ask another Mafia member to bus you to "confirm" themselves if you believe you are useless, however, higher level players will suspect you if you don't put up a good defense as being Framed.
  • Since visiting a target confirms them as non-Mafia to every Spy in the game (unless there's a Disguiser, Transporter, or Witch/Coven Leader), consider framing people who are being killed by the Mafia. By doing this, you can trick the Spy that the dead Townie was forged, causing them to call out and discredit the info in the Last Will. You can also do this to hide the real Forger's visits within your visits.
    • If a Spy asks an Escort to role block a certain person (that's not a member of the Mafia), you can move and visit the same target as the Escort to make them appear as a Consort to the Spy. If they're role blocking a Mafia teammate, try asking a Witch to control you into visiting the Escort's target.
      • You can also do this to a Transporter as well to make them look like a Hypnotist. If they make the Mafia kill another Mafia member, provided you visit the same target as the main Mafia killer (or all Spies are dead beforehand), you can make it appear that there's a Forger-Hypnotist combo.
  • Consider only visiting if you're sure it will give the Mafia an advantage, especially in the Coven Expansion. Your ability is extremely weak; your chance of your Frames having an actual effect is tiny, and there are countless ways things can go wrong:
  • If there is a living Spy in the game, it is basically impossible for you to successfully Frame anyone since they can immediately speak up and reveal your target was visited by the Mafia if a Sheriff calls one of your targets suspicious; in that case, randomly visiting is not only counterproductive but actively hurts your team, especially if a Lookout or Tracker sees you visit someone and they cross-reference their information with a Spy.
  • Visiting exposes you to a Veteran, Crusaders, Arsonists, a Werewolf, Medusa, Juggernaut and Pestilence; it spreads the plague for a Plaguebearer as well. The damage that these can do vastly outweighs the minimal impact your visits have...
  • There may not be a Sheriff or Investigator in the game at all, especially in the Coven Expansion In that case, your visits accomplish nothing beyond exposing you. On top of that, your ability is only partially effective against an Investigator, since they'll know the Framed result is suspicious.
  • As of Version 3.3.0, however, your ability is slightly more powerful since now your Frames are permanent until investigated. If you Frame the right people, it can buy the Mafia some extra Days, especially if you get promoted to a Mafioso and/or are the last Mafia member overall.

Trivia[]

  • Prior to Version 3.3.0, Frames would last only one Night, whether they were investigated or not.
  • If an Investigator finds a "Framer, Vampire, or Jester (+Hex Master in the Coven Expansion)" result during Night one in a Ranked game, the chance of them really being a Framer is ~33% (25% in the Coven Expansion). This assumes, however, that the Jailor jails a target and a Framer Frames someone.
    • However, remember that with 9 options for the one Random Mafia role, a Framer only has a ~11% chance of appearing in Ranked in the first place.
  • According to a poll made by Naru2008, the Framer is the second most hated role in Town of Salem with 263 votes, for the reasoning that it was too slow and boring (similar to Arsonist). Other comments were that you had to be extremely lucky for the role to be effective at all and that it was underpowered and needed a buff (keep in mind that this poll is somewhat outdated, as Framer has received buffs since then).

History[]

  • 3.3.0
    • Frames will now last until an investigative role targets the Framed player instead of only the Night the player is Framed.
  • 2.5.5.12200
    • The Framer's role icon has been changed. Old one was Achievement Framer.
    • Added Framer's circled role icon (RoleIcon Framer Circled).
  • Town of Salem Release
    • Introduced.


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