Obliteration

Obliteration is the signature action of an Obliterator (also commonly known as Doc Scratch), a role in Witch Hunt games. It is relatively common in open-setup Witch Hunts, and very rarely seen in forum games or IRC games. Alignment is usually Third-party.Doc_Scratch_bca.png

Abilities
The Obliterator was introduced as a disincentive for mass-claiming, which can quickly ruin a witch-hunt/open format game. At any point during the day, the Obliterator may reveal themselves by declaring a player has a certain role. If correct, the player is killed. They then acquire lynch and nightkill immunity until the beginning of the next day, at which point they must select a player to attempt to obliterate or risk immediate lynching.

The Obliterator is typically a third-party Survivor/Serial Killer -esque role, who wins if they (or their faction, which is typically small) overrun the lynch mob. Generally, only a few "unstoppable" kill roles will be able to pierce the Obliterator's protection

Variations
The role was popularised by the first witch-hunts to be run on the forum, x1372's Dersehunt 1 and Dersehunt 2. In both, the role was known as Doc Scratch (played by Niall in DH1, and Chirality in DH2.) The DH2 variant was also able to obliterate a player as a Lover.

The Obliterator was also used in Deceptive's ParadoxHunt. Two roles, in fact, had the "kill by role-naming" ability - Austin Powers and Paradoc Scratch. ''Someone who isn't me and can wrap their head around how dying and killing and silencing and such works in that game, please edit that to be correct. Thanks Schazer 09:30, March 19, 2011 (UTC)''

As Mafia/closed setup games are less easily broken by massclaiming, Obliterators are never used - with the exception of Mirdini's Meta Mafia (with Prime Intellect as Niall from DH1 AKA Doc Scratch.

Strategy
The Obliterator, due to its modconfirmation and rather spectacular killing method, invariably attracts much attention, which is somewhat contrary to its Serial Killer connotations (although the Oblit-gained death immunity helps somewhat).

As the first sign of vulnerability will result in immediate lynching, ensuring enough claims are circulating to obliterate on before exposing oneself is essential.