# Genre Fiction Mafia **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387 "2011-05-19T01:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/161 "2011-05-24T01:08:31Z")
Almost indubitably, the scum know who they are. Whether they can talk amongst themselves right now, I don’t know. Yes, a mass claim is when everyone reveals themselves. There’s the mas name claim where everyone shares their role name and the mass role claim where everyone shares their role. The first is kind of useless most of the time, the second is where most of the lying comes in. It’s main utility lies in forcing people into a position. If you claim vanilla town and then a watcher reveals that you interacted with a person who turns up dead the night before, you have some explaining to do. I was being facetious in suggesting a mass claim now. It would put too much info in scum hands without an equivalent aid to town. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/162 "2011-05-24T01:11:37Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > I wasn’t sure if Slumlords were good guys or not, till I read the flavour text. They don’t sound like good guys, but it turns out they are, for the purposes of this game at least. It was manifestly clear from the sample PM, to me: “Vanilla” unmodified generally always means “vanilla town”, whereas “vanilla scum” is almost always used as a complete phrase. Especially since the whole point of posting an example vanilla PM is to prevent the town from using the content of their role PMs to create confirmed townies by showing the town’s default PM to everyone. > [@](#): > > More newbie clarification: mass claim - that’s where everyone declares who they are? Surely the bad guys just lie, so what is the point? I guess you get to see which powerful good guys you have. That’s about the size of it–if you know what roles are in play, they’re vulnerable to scum/PFK attacks but they’re also able to make better-coordinated plans (like doc/cop combos and such). Variants include “name claims” (where we’d just reveal our character names and look for patterns in the color to spot scum) and partial mass claims (where you’d ask only certain roles to claim. An example of this would be asking a cop, if they exist, to claim–the idea would be to hope that there was also a doctor who’d remain hidden and protect the cop as long as possible.) > [@](#): > > Do the bad guys, the scum, know who each other are already? In most games they would, since they have to coordinate to decide who to kill at night. As this is not a Gastard game, I would be very annoyed in a meta way if the scum team was not operating under the traditional model. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/163 "2011-05-24T01:13:01Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > I wasn’t sure if Slumlords were good guys or not, till I read the flavour text. They don’t sound like good guys, but it turns out they are, for the purposes of this game at least. Uh, it’s in the Atreyu sample PM. While I’ll admit it is an odd choice, it was clearly the Town name in the game right from the get go. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/164 "2011-05-24T01:14:11Z")
See? From the first post. Bolding and underlining. > [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Sample Generic Vanilla PM: > > Name: Atreyu > Alignment: Consolidated Alliance of Raftdwelling Slumlords > Universe/Story: The Neverending Story > Role: Vanilla > Powers: None > Wincondition: You win when all threats to the **Consolidated Alliance of Raftdwelling Slumlords** have been vanquished. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/165 "2011-05-24T01:15:40Z")
Meh, it’s such a long title for the group that without accompanying color I doublechecked to make sure the name in my PM matched the name in the sample PM. And I’ll be honest, slumlords sounds like a scummy thing. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/166 "2011-05-24T01:17:56Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > Oops, forgot to add @Special Ed. > > I believe your win condition differs because Red, at the time he composed his first post, forgot about the double hammer thing. He already amended one of the rules, and adjusted something else, so **I wouldn’t be surprised to see him post a new, updated sample PM**. > > For the record, though, my PM is also different from the posted one. bolding mine - it’s pretty obvious that **Astral** failed to notice that a new, updated sample PM had already been posted, and was comparing his PM to the first sample, just like **Ed** ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/167 "2011-05-24T01:20:27Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > #You may edit your posts. Does this mean we’re going to have to put up with **Pleo** editing all of his posts, just because he can? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/168 "2011-05-24T01:24:24Z")
That will depend on if pleo ever shows up to claim being vanilla town and vote for 7 people. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/169 "2011-05-24T01:42:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh, it’s in the Atreyu sample PM. While I’ll admit it is an odd choice, it was clearly the Town name in the game right from the get go. It’s just that the sample PM doesn’t say whether it is for town or scum. But Zeriel has already clarified this for me. On re-reading, I guess the win-conditio for scum would indicate that they were on the offensive, rather than the defensive. I’ll just shut up now. ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/170 "2011-05-24T01:49:49Z")
I may have mentioned this before, but I’m getting my masters and Mondays are my night class. We get five minute breaks every once in a while, so I’m reading along on my phone when I get a chance. So, not staying mum, just no time to really compose a response. To answer some questions: 1. I thought I had caught an important game detail from the wording of the team names. I didn’t remember that the slumlords were the good guys, because I glossed over that. The teams (to me) are town and scum. I didn’t remember the details, and in the posted vanilla PM the win condition mentioned beating the slumlords, and off I went to post my “find.” 2. I did not “claim not town” as somebody said. I said my win condition didn’t match the originally posted win-con, just like Ed did. I did miss that Red had posted an amended PM. My problem today is that I had to work, immediately followed by class. Reading along on the phone led to me missing details. Back to class. If you have further concerns, I’ll check back in next break. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/171 "2011-05-24T02:15:18Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > It’s just that the sample PM doesn’t say whether it is for town or scum. But Zeriel has already clarified this for me. > > On re-reading, I guess the win-conditio for scum would indicate that they were on the offensive, rather than the defensive. I’ll just shut up now. Don’t worry about it, Weedy. It’s newbie stuff. Typically, the game mod will provide a sample PM and that sample PM will be Vanilla Town(meaning, town with no powers beyond daily voting). So, we knew Atreyu’s PM was a sample town pm. ---
**Author:** ![gnarlycharlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@gnarlycharlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarlycharlie)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/172 "2011-05-24T02:52:37Z")
would the universe/story be important? i don’t know how it is significant but **Red** bothered to put it there. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/173 "2011-05-24T02:56:26Z")
Well, it’s genre fiction mafia so I’m assuming that we’re all from different genres. I’m not sure if it’s important beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/174 "2011-05-24T02:58:15Z")
> [@gnarlycharlie](#): > > would the universe/story be important? i don’t know how it is significant but **Red** bothered to put it there. I expect it’s to help us identify the more obscure/common names that might be on the list by giving them context. Why would that be relevant? **Red, should we expect that power roles (such as may or may not exist) will have powers related to their role names/canon?** ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/175 "2011-05-24T02:58:57Z")
Per the rules: > [@](#): > > # This game has color, which may contains hints or red herrings about the mechanics of the game. From that, we can assume he’ll include snippets of color that reveal possible power usage, etc. I’d also guess that some names may correlate to some degree with power roles. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/176 "2011-05-24T03:01:54Z")
Astral Rejection(5): Tom Scud[136], Stanislaus[139], TexCat[141], Mahaloth[154], Zeriel[160] Did Not Vote:Hirka T’Bawa, Special Ed, fubbleskag, Inner Stickler, nesta, pedescribe, Normal Phase, fluiddruid, SisterCoyote, Winston Smith, Silver Jan, gnarlycharlie, Weedy, MHaye, Pleonast, Astral Rejection With these votes Astral Rejection will be lynched. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/177 "2011-05-24T03:03:00Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > **Red, should we expect that power roles (such as may or may not exist) will have powers related to their role names/canon?** No Comment. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/178 "2011-05-24T03:09:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, it’s genre fiction mafia so I’m assuming that we’re all from different genres. I’m not sure if it’s important beyond that. Yeah, so basically a kind of Hotel of Heroes 1.5. I mean, in that game, I just used heroes and villains from a variety of genres and media and that was the game. Perhaps the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/179 "2011-05-24T03:21:20Z")
Now that I’m sitting in front of my computer, I finally understand the confusion about my comments. When I first read the sample PM on my phone, the way the words were presented made me skip over the part that says “threats to the.” When I glanced at it, I saw “You win when all Consolidated Alliance of Raftdwellers have been vanquished.” I looked again when I was writing my earlier defense post, and still skipped over the pertinent words. Now, on an actual screen, I see my mistake. At first, I couldn’t understand everybody’s confusion. I might have had the teams wrong, but the opening post had them wrong too! It’s much easier to flit back to the first post of the thread than check my messages on my phone, so I was using that (flawed) name for reference. And from that comes all my misunderstandings. Given that, only one case against me seems off: > [@Stanislaus](#): > > Who, I ask myself, would be confused by the label for Town after reading their PM? Not anyone from Town, surely? > > An explanation needs to be forthcoming: did Astral get a PM telling him he was in CARS and think until now that he was scum? I doubt it. > > \*\*]vote Astral Rejection Do you honestly believe scum are more likely to be confused about which team they’re on? Given that scum presumably have longer PMs, with links to their secret board, which is likely named for their organization, and so on? Or is it more likely that a townie glanced at his PM to see alignment and if he had any cool powers, and then headed back to the boards? Which is _really_ more likely? It’s fine that you voted for me, since my mistake was pretty egregious. I just disagree with your stated reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387/180 "2011-05-24T03:28:31Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > Does this mean we’re going to have to put up with **Pleo** editing all of his posts, just because he can? 😛 Can I edit other peoples’ posts? 😃 **Joking!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-fiction-mafia/582387.md?page=10)