Of note, a constantly updated version of these can be found in my sig. All numbers are my personal amounts, some players may agree or disagree. If you must, ignore the numbers and focus on the text.
Part Two: Scum Tells
What is a scum tell, one might ask?
A scum tell is any action that reveals a player to be wolf-aligned. Usually, it's a slip up of some sort where a town aligned player would not have made such a statement or action. There are several common ones, but not everyone seems to know these, so please feel free to use this as a starting point. Remember, both alignments of players should avoid making these mistakes, but mafia has a harder time avoiding these.
I'll break down the most common tells and their relative strengths here. 100 means this person is all but confirmed scum. 1 means this is incredibly weak and should only be used as additional evidence paired with stronger tells.
Gloating about the update
"Man, I can't believe the doctor just got killed" is a good example. This tell is when a player, in one of the first posts from them for that game day, mentions the results of the night's update in a negative light. Think of it as a mafia player gloating over how well they did while trying to appear townie. Actual townies don't need to talk about the update much, as dead players are dead, and talking about the fact that they died is not helping find scum. Please note that talking about what that dead player was thinking in prior days is NOT a part of this tell. If this happens on subsequent days, the tell gets stronger. If the player is telling the doctor "good job" and the doctor is unknown, there is an equal possibility that said player IS the doctor.
Strength: 40 (60 second instance, 80 third instance, 100 fourth instance)
Focus on the Indies
"Guys, what about the indie players, we should focus on them" Is a classical example. With the one exception of serial killer, the town should ignore Indie players until the mafia has been dealt with. A player constantly trying to draw focus to indie-hunting is likely scum trying to distract power scum hunters.
Of note, in a game with two or more scum factions, this also applies to anyone trying to direct the hunt towards only one of these two groups specifically.
Strength: 20 (45 second instance, 60 third instance, 75 fourth instance)
Plurality
"We think XYZ is scum because of ABC reasons" Note the use of the word "we". A town player is alone. If you use somebody using the word "we" or "us" chances are you've found scum. Please note that this read is null if the player claims mason under duress. Still, keep it in mind. Especially if the town already had a pair of masons claimed or dead.
Strength: 60 (90 second instance, 100 third and beyond)
Town Separation
If a player often says "The town" and does not include themselves, you've peered into the mind of a likely scum or indie player. This is similar, but weaker to, the Plurality Tell.
Sometimes town players do this on accident or as an attempt to show the town that they are not clearing themselves until the majority agrees they are cleared.
Of note, look for a mental separation of the two groups. If a player says "the town" and includes themselves, this read is not applied.
Strength: 30 (50 second time, 70 third time, 90 fourth time)
Conviction
If a player says that somebody is a townie without using "if" or acting like there's any chance a player is not, and that player has not been cleared by a known seer, the person leaving these words out is likely mafia. This read is low priority but rises in severity quickly if it becomes a pattern.
As a rule, town players are not sure of anyone else's alignment, whereas mafia players know who the town is. Of note, an inexperienced seer can also make this error in the early game.
Strength: 20 (40 second time, 70 third time, 100 fourth time)
Sableye (SF) Tell
My name for the very "Overeager" tendency of newer wolves to hop onto a townie's wagon as the 3rd or 4th vote on day one. This tell is weak, but should be paired with stronger tells later in the game. Note that this read is probably stronger than the numbers given if the player is new, and lower than this if the player has prior game experience.
Strengths: 3rd vote 20, 4th vote 15, 5th vote 10 (+5 if newer; -5 if experienced)
All Aboard the Short Bus
Pay attention to day one and day two. Mid-level scum will often vote each other for a short period of time in case they later need to claim that they are not linked since they voted for the known mafia at a later point in time. This tell is even stronger when they go around voting known mafia and FOS-ing townies. This is one of those tells where you have to go back and look at day one, the tells means nothing DURING the first day.
Strength: 60 if newer player, 50 if intermediate player, 40 if experienced player
Random votes out of RVS
If RVS stage has already finished, OR RVS was never used, and you have a vote come out of nowhere, you've likely got scum testing the water.
This is a weak tell, use it in conjunction with other tells.
Strength: 20 (50 if multiple vote-hoping once town disagrees with first vote)
Vote-Parking
On day one, a player will sometimes place a vote and then not budge from it for any reason. This player is more likely scum than not. Please note that after day one, this can ALSO be a seer sticking to a lynch target he got as guilty night one. Town aligned players are usually more flexible in their voting. Please note that this is best applied when the town has clearly settled on a much better target.
Strength: 25 (10 past day one, 60 past day one if seer is revealed/dead)
Wrong Voice
A town-aligned player is most likely to post whatever is on their mind. A scum-aligned player, especially in a game with day chat, is more likely to run the larger post by fellow wolf-mates, who may add their own pieces. If you see a larger post by a player, and within that post are multiple tenses of speaking, or different styles of writing, you've likely found scum. I find this tell to be very strong, for what it's worth. Town players don't usually make revisions to a post and also change speaking style. If it doesn't read and flow naturally, something is probably wrong.
Note: If the player is a newer player and claims day mason under duress, this tell is possibly null. If the player is newer and does not claim mason, they're likely a newer wolf being force-fed decent posts.
Strength: 60 (80 second time, 100 third time)
Altered Quoting
If a player is dead and another player is quoting them without linking to the post itself, check for yourself. Sometimes scum will subtly alter the quoted material to swing the case. This is especially important if they use the QUOTE tag but not the QUOTE=LINK HERE tag. ALWAYS double-check.
Strength: 100 (Seriously townies have ZERO reason to do this)
"Where's the setup, doc?"
If a player is trying to fish for information about the amount of power roles in the game, or the game setup, they're likely wolves. Anyone fishing for the priest specifically is pretty much confo scum. Players searching for the seer might be doctor, but are likely scum.
If a player calls for an all-in mass role reveal before LyLo, its 90.
Strength: 30 (50 is repeated instances, 90 if fishing for doctor)
Information Junkie
This tell is applied when a player focuses entirely on information without focusing upon analysis. For example, somebody fixed over which Pokémon are appearing in an update without focusing upon scum hunting. Usually known as "Information instead of analysis"
If a player is relatively new, decrease the below numbers by 20.
Strength: 20 (40 second time, 60 third time, 100 fourth time)
Part Two: Scum Tells
What is a scum tell, one might ask?
A scum tell is any action that reveals a player to be wolf-aligned. Usually, it's a slip up of some sort where a town aligned player would not have made such a statement or action. There are several common ones, but not everyone seems to know these, so please feel free to use this as a starting point. Remember, both alignments of players should avoid making these mistakes, but mafia has a harder time avoiding these.
I'll break down the most common tells and their relative strengths here. 100 means this person is all but confirmed scum. 1 means this is incredibly weak and should only be used as additional evidence paired with stronger tells.
Gloating about the update
"Man, I can't believe the doctor just got killed" is a good example. This tell is when a player, in one of the first posts from them for that game day, mentions the results of the night's update in a negative light. Think of it as a mafia player gloating over how well they did while trying to appear townie. Actual townies don't need to talk about the update much, as dead players are dead, and talking about the fact that they died is not helping find scum. Please note that talking about what that dead player was thinking in prior days is NOT a part of this tell. If this happens on subsequent days, the tell gets stronger. If the player is telling the doctor "good job" and the doctor is unknown, there is an equal possibility that said player IS the doctor.
Strength: 40 (60 second instance, 80 third instance, 100 fourth instance)
Focus on the Indies
"Guys, what about the indie players, we should focus on them" Is a classical example. With the one exception of serial killer, the town should ignore Indie players until the mafia has been dealt with. A player constantly trying to draw focus to indie-hunting is likely scum trying to distract power scum hunters.
Of note, in a game with two or more scum factions, this also applies to anyone trying to direct the hunt towards only one of these two groups specifically.
Strength: 20 (45 second instance, 60 third instance, 75 fourth instance)
Plurality
"We think XYZ is scum because of ABC reasons" Note the use of the word "we". A town player is alone. If you use somebody using the word "we" or "us" chances are you've found scum. Please note that this read is null if the player claims mason under duress. Still, keep it in mind. Especially if the town already had a pair of masons claimed or dead.
Strength: 60 (90 second instance, 100 third and beyond)
Town Separation
If a player often says "The town" and does not include themselves, you've peered into the mind of a likely scum or indie player. This is similar, but weaker to, the Plurality Tell.
Sometimes town players do this on accident or as an attempt to show the town that they are not clearing themselves until the majority agrees they are cleared.
Of note, look for a mental separation of the two groups. If a player says "the town" and includes themselves, this read is not applied.
Strength: 30 (50 second time, 70 third time, 90 fourth time)
Conviction
If a player says that somebody is a townie without using "if" or acting like there's any chance a player is not, and that player has not been cleared by a known seer, the person leaving these words out is likely mafia. This read is low priority but rises in severity quickly if it becomes a pattern.
As a rule, town players are not sure of anyone else's alignment, whereas mafia players know who the town is. Of note, an inexperienced seer can also make this error in the early game.
Strength: 20 (40 second time, 70 third time, 100 fourth time)
Sableye (SF) Tell
My name for the very "Overeager" tendency of newer wolves to hop onto a townie's wagon as the 3rd or 4th vote on day one. This tell is weak, but should be paired with stronger tells later in the game. Note that this read is probably stronger than the numbers given if the player is new, and lower than this if the player has prior game experience.
Strengths: 3rd vote 20, 4th vote 15, 5th vote 10 (+5 if newer; -5 if experienced)
All Aboard the Short Bus
Pay attention to day one and day two. Mid-level scum will often vote each other for a short period of time in case they later need to claim that they are not linked since they voted for the known mafia at a later point in time. This tell is even stronger when they go around voting known mafia and FOS-ing townies. This is one of those tells where you have to go back and look at day one, the tells means nothing DURING the first day.
Strength: 60 if newer player, 50 if intermediate player, 40 if experienced player
Random votes out of RVS
If RVS stage has already finished, OR RVS was never used, and you have a vote come out of nowhere, you've likely got scum testing the water.
This is a weak tell, use it in conjunction with other tells.
Strength: 20 (50 if multiple vote-hoping once town disagrees with first vote)
Vote-Parking
On day one, a player will sometimes place a vote and then not budge from it for any reason. This player is more likely scum than not. Please note that after day one, this can ALSO be a seer sticking to a lynch target he got as guilty night one. Town aligned players are usually more flexible in their voting. Please note that this is best applied when the town has clearly settled on a much better target.
Strength: 25 (10 past day one, 60 past day one if seer is revealed/dead)
Wrong Voice
A town-aligned player is most likely to post whatever is on their mind. A scum-aligned player, especially in a game with day chat, is more likely to run the larger post by fellow wolf-mates, who may add their own pieces. If you see a larger post by a player, and within that post are multiple tenses of speaking, or different styles of writing, you've likely found scum. I find this tell to be very strong, for what it's worth. Town players don't usually make revisions to a post and also change speaking style. If it doesn't read and flow naturally, something is probably wrong.
Note: If the player is a newer player and claims day mason under duress, this tell is possibly null. If the player is newer and does not claim mason, they're likely a newer wolf being force-fed decent posts.
Strength: 60 (80 second time, 100 third time)
Altered Quoting
If a player is dead and another player is quoting them without linking to the post itself, check for yourself. Sometimes scum will subtly alter the quoted material to swing the case. This is especially important if they use the QUOTE tag but not the QUOTE=LINK HERE tag. ALWAYS double-check.
Strength: 100 (Seriously townies have ZERO reason to do this)
"Where's the setup, doc?"
If a player is trying to fish for information about the amount of power roles in the game, or the game setup, they're likely wolves. Anyone fishing for the priest specifically is pretty much confo scum. Players searching for the seer might be doctor, but are likely scum.
If a player calls for an all-in mass role reveal before LyLo, its 90.
Strength: 30 (50 is repeated instances, 90 if fishing for doctor)
Information Junkie
This tell is applied when a player focuses entirely on information without focusing upon analysis. For example, somebody fixed over which Pokémon are appearing in an update without focusing upon scum hunting. Usually known as "Information instead of analysis"
If a player is relatively new, decrease the below numbers by 20.
Strength: 20 (40 second time, 60 third time, 100 fourth time)
