One of the things I wanted to do in the game was to avoid added math/complexity without purpose. Sometimes I look at roleplay-related games that do not depend specifically on minute levels of data and think that the addition of numerical values (such as hit points) to what can be described as a binary condition (alive/dead) is sometimes fluff on the part of game designers. Sure, a game can use a number, an adjective, or any other sort of description to determine the condition of a player or character in a game, but when the action has to be fast, or if the tactical aspect of a game is not as important, things can be pared down to their bare minimum, or even combined to another feature of the game so as to remove as many obfuscating points as possible. Hit points becomes alive/dead. Mana points can be set to a certain number of actions per round. The underlying logic is indeed an exercise in mathematical analysis, but the playing of the game doesn't have to be.
Then there's the other problem of obfuscation: details within a game that add no additional tactical benefit. One could say that the whole roleplaying aspect of Are You A Werewolf, where the facilitator names the town and describes how the victim was killed each night, is a part of this. Yes, it adds depth to the game and I find it highly enjoyable, but it is optional and should not be enforced. I believe that the "professions" of each character I had in the previous post about the card game falls into this category. Except for the special cards (Murderer, Politician, Patsy, etc), the cards handed out to people should be the same. Maybe call it "Partygoer" or "Suspect".
In the end, I feel that the enforcement of professions on these cards, without any gameplay affect, might be too much. Let the players roleplay (or not) as they will.
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