# \[Mafia game\] The Realm of Phere **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480 "2012-04-01T15:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/21 "2012-04-05T00:30:51Z")
If I may also throw in my own knowledge of Terminologies, it may be out of date, **GoodStickler** , but these were conventions in my times. Let them also aid us in our quest. LyLo- Lynch or Lose- considered the “Last Day” of the Mafia game- when the game is reduced down to an even number of scum and Townies/other roles- such that if the Scum is NOT lynched and a townie is lynched, scum will either win the game by sheer numbers, or by the additional NK at night thus putting them up and ahead of the town. Mass Claim- the idea that everyone should reveal their roles/PMs. Smearing- the act of accusing/wording a post to attack another player/cast suspicion on a player without outright saying so. Also known as “smudging”. Cuddling/Snuggling- the act of saying positive things about a player in an attempt to curry favor/make them look LESS suspicious. Gastard\*\*- The idea of the Moderator being a Bastard- usually bucking some traditional convention of Mafia games, by throwing in an odd twist or post restriction or part to the game. Some of the games previously described by **Pizzaguy** were definite Gastard-Mafia games. Bussing- the act of one scum voting/accusing another scum- “throwing him under the bus” effectively, in order to gain more credibility as a Townie player. Used with the effect with the phrase “Scum wouldn’t do that” quite well. Hammer- The act of “Hammering” a player- is to cast the final/last vote onto a player, usually used to define the last vote, but some variations have it as the critical vote that pushes one player to be lynched over another. Godfather- “Alpha Wolf”- usually the “Head” scum, often in traditional mafia as having the ability to investigate as a “townie” to cops, or having some additional power vs. their scum brethren. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/22 "2012-04-05T00:39:11Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > Hammer- The act of “Hammering” a player- is to cast the final/last vote onto a player, usually used to define the last vote, but some variations have it as the critical vote that pushes one player to be lynched over another. I thought the “hammer” was a reference to an optional rule employed by the game’s mod, whereby s/he decided at the start of a Day that if someone reached (X) votes that person would be lynched, whether or not the Day was over or not. I guess that’s not a huge distinction from your second definition, but… I just wanted to clarify to see if my understanding was correct. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/23 "2012-04-05T00:43:43Z")
It’s both and I imagine ToeJam omitted it since it appears ATPG is not using such a rule in his game. I am more familiar with its use as a voting mechanism as well. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/24 "2012-04-05T01:18:57Z")
Just checking in. Note that here in the UK, it’s 02.17 local time (why. yes, I am still awake…) ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/25 "2012-04-05T03:03:21Z")
I, BobArrgh, am but a humble player of Mafia games, and though I have played in four, or mayhaps, five such tourneys, have not been in battle since the time of the previous vernal equinox. I have received a summons from my liege, the King of Parma, and have pledged to assist him in any way I can, though my head sometimes seems filled with straw, or even rocks. And now that we are assembling in this place, I am pleased to be reacquainted with fellow travelers with whom I have shared many a laugh over wine and toast, as well as bagels and lox. I look forward to hearing the tales of fortune from days gone by and to joust mightily against those scurrilous Scum who threaten our town and those Wolves who seek to slay our flocks. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/26 "2012-04-05T03:57:39Z")
Checking in. Not the best first post I could have made, but it’s pretty gouda. ---
**Author:** ![gnarlycharlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@gnarlycharlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarlycharlie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/27 "2012-04-05T05:21:24Z")
Parmigiano Reggiano? **Pizza** , you’re at it again. you are quite the cheesy host, aren’t you? 😃 very complex game. i thought this game would be a brie-ze. butte i’m not scared. do your worst. i don’t give edam. > [@ToeJam](#): > > Yarg! Well met fellow adventurers! > My friends, Romanos, countrymen, lend me your ears! > > We must band together to defeat this unseen evil that threatens our delicious empire of Parmigiano Reggiano. The forces of Gouda must triumph over these unseen Edamned Muensters and deadly Gorgonzolas that threaten our lands, seas, and Skyr. > I know some of you have abandoned your Cottages’, some of you- humble Farmers’, saying goodbye to your Buxtom Blue wives, others- nobles, artisans, and others are just simply vagrants that have come to the Margerines of our borders to assist with the cause and prevent the crumbling of our cultures to the wheels of time. > I like many of you dream of cheddar days, but now I have come here to face my destiny! Asiago not quietly into the night, but I go loudly and boldly with you all, my fellow compatriots! We are not alone in this task, the enemy may wish to provolone we fall, but together we are a Formaggi-able force to defeat any threat to us! Let none drive a wedge between us all, or slice us into small shredded forces. We are a solid block, and more powerful united! Remember it is always the most colby-fore the dawn of a new Day, and Toma-rrow our task brie-gins with the first Monterreys of light! So ask what Nacho lands have done for you, but what you can do for your lands! This is not the time to delay in Limburger or pungent purgatory but the time to be decisive and take action! We cannot have any Weisslackers in our party, nor take the time to Greve’ our fallen, lest the enemy cry Havarti, and let loose the stale dogs of war! > > We. Shall. Triumph! 😃 > -R NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! i thought you’d be better than these people who are trying to be punny. i had such high hopes. ☹ > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Don’t be so cheesy, ToeJam. I’m feta up with those puns. We must muenster our strength or the game will start and we’ll stilton be at the starting line. you, i didn’t have high hopes for. 😉 > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I do believe that’s a _big-time_ Scum tell right there… agreed. who doesn’t like cheese? it’s gouda for ya! ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/28 "2012-04-05T05:29:54Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I, BobArrgh, am but a humble player of Mafia games, > and though I have played in four, or mayhaps, five such tourneys, > have not been in battle since the time of the previous vernal equinox. Anyone who can recall doth vernal equinoxes is fine by me. I like the cut of your jib, son! And **Charles the gnarled** , I merely attempted to eliminate as much of the puns as I could on my own- but-eth I see it had not stoppeth you from plagiarizing mine own wordplay! Or hath though been skimming already!?! A Pleasure to play with you, **BobARRGH!** ---
**Author:** ![GuiriEnEspana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GuiriEnEspana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuiriEnEspana)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/29 "2012-04-05T05:53:25Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I thought I’d do a quick rundown of mafia terminology that I’m familiar with and that I would expect to see people using in the game. Could someone do the same thing for the D&D terminology? I’ve never played and I’m not seeing an obvious equivalence between D&D terminology and mafia terminology and I don’t know if this stuff is obvious to everyone else or if part of the goal of the game is to find out. - experience allows you to advance a class which gives your character extra powers, what’s a Mage, Wizard, White Mage, Black Mage, or a Soldier, fighting class, support class or cleric in mafia terms? Or is that discovery part of the game? - what happens to a townie who’s alignment shifts to evil? Do they become scum? - what’s the difference between evil and chaotic? - what’s the purpose of magic alignment? What damage do fire, earth, water and wind do to Light and Shadow? Nothing? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/30 "2012-04-05T07:08:05Z")
**Guiri** asks an excellent question. I think there’s an assumption that people playing Mafia automatically know D&D rules, but I don’t know why that is. I definitely second some of his questions, though a few I think I know the answers to only 'cause of _Order of the Stick_. Actually the only one I feel comfortable answering would be: > [@](#): > > what’s the difference between evil and chaotic? The threesome of Good, Neutral and Evil indicate your morality, basically. The triad of Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic refer to _how_ you display the abovementioned morality. Lawful means there’s a set standard of rules and you’ll obey them, sometimes annoyingly stick-in-the-mud but damn it, you have a code and you stick to it. You can be Lawful and Evil: he’ll kill you with a smile but will play fair, at least according to his own set of rules. I’m trying to think of a lawful baddie character from pop culture… Louis from _Casablanca_ might fit here, or Marcellus Wallace and Jules from _Pulp Fiction_. Possibly _Hannibal Lechter_. Neutral means… well a little from column A, a little from column C. You don’t specifically care one way or another how things get done, or why they get done. You just do them depending on your current need and goal at the moment. “True neutral” means you’re Neutral in both categories. I think Vincent from _Pulp Fiction_ was probably in this category. Fairly bad but I feel he could’ve just as easily gone in a different direction if the money was good. Chaotic means no rules apply – you really don’t know what they’re capable of in order to reach their goal. Chaotic Good characters are probably the most popular anti-heroes in pop culture. Han Solo, Batman (since The Dark Knight Returns, anyway), most Humphrey Bogart characters, and so on. Chaotic Evil… well, they’re the psychotics, scariest mofos. The Joker is one of the best examples. Did I get it right? (Neutral is the hardest one for me to define, which is funny since my favorite OOTS character is Vaarsuvius, who’s True Neutral.) ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/31 "2012-04-05T08:40:58Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > . It has also been revealed that the mastermind behind this attack is a \*\*traitor \*\*to the kingdom, not an outsider. I wonder if this is implying a traitor as in the mafia role sense( a separate mafia), or a godfather (who investigates town) ---
**Author:** ![GuiriEnEspana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GuiriEnEspana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuiriEnEspana)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/32 "2012-04-05T09:56:45Z")
@ **choie** , thank you. I can see how a character can be a mixture of good-neutral-evil and lawful-neutral-chaotic. In relation to this game, does it have any significance to gameplay other than the roles/powers one can aspire to? Can a townie be evil and chaotic? Is that a bad thing and, if not, could scum be good and lawful? ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/33 "2012-04-05T11:04:48Z")
**OOC:** > [@GuiriEnEspana](#): > > Or is that discovery part of the game? Si, señor. > [@](#): > > - what happens to a townie who’s alignment shifts to evil? Do they become scum? _Good is a point of view, Anakin. The sith and the jedi, are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power…_ > [@](#): > > - what’s the difference between evil and chaotic? 🙂 \<-----This guy is **chaotic**. He’s smiling because he just stole a bunch of priceless artifacts. He might intend to give them away to orphans, or he might intend to keep them for himself, depending on what his conscience tells him to do. But he doesn’t care for your silly laws against stealing. 🙂 \<-----This guy is **evil**. He’s smiling because he just killed several people, and he really enjoyed the experience. Now, his morality might tell him that his actions are more than justified, especially considering the circumstances you’re all about to be in, but that doesn’t matter much to the folks he killed. And it may or may not be true. Most evil people do not consider themselves evil, they consider their actions just and correct, for them. Again, good is a point of view to these people. > [@](#): > > What damage do fire, earth, water and wind do to Light and Shadow? Nothing? Standard damage, no modifiers. _Also please note, I have played DnD all of twice in my life, and I’m more creative than familiar. So this will be a game that reflects how I’d design things, not necessarily DnD canon._ ---
**Author:** ![gnarlycharlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@gnarlycharlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarlycharlie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/34 "2012-04-05T11:10:25Z")
> [@GuiriEnEspana](#): > > @ **choie** , thank you. I can see how a character can be a mixture of good-neutral-evil and lawful-neutral-chaotic. In relation to this game, does it have any significance to gameplay other than the roles/powers one can aspire to? Can a townie be evil and chaotic? Is that a bad thing and, if not, could scum be good and lawful? although i am fairly familiar with D&D, i trust our host when he says that it won’t be an advantage. that said, the D&D alignments will likely limit your class choices but i don’t think it implies mafia alignments. ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/35 "2012-04-05T13:18:10Z")
Which should also be a warning in the other direction, most likely. If there is a “dnd alignment” detective out there they should not assume that a response of Lawful Good equals town. ---
**Author:** ![gnarlycharlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@gnarlycharlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarlycharlie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/36 "2012-04-05T13:24:50Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > Anyone who can recall doth vernal equinoxes is fine by me. > I like the cut of your jib, son! And **Charles the gnarled** , I merely attempted to eliminate as much of the puns as I could on my own- but-eth I see it had not stoppeth you from plagiarizing mine own wordplay! Or hath though been skimming already!?! > A Pleasure to play with you, **BobARRGH!** i see my name converted to olde English is not as appealing…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Visorslash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ee59a6/32.png) [@Visorslash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Visorslash)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/37 "2012-04-05T13:44:45Z")
**Vote: Renata** Pre-emptive strike. ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/38 "2012-04-05T13:53:44Z")
You have to make it blue or it won’t count. /is helpful ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/39 "2012-04-05T14:14:47Z")
> [@gnarlycharlie](#): > > although i am fairly familiar with D&D, i trust our host when he says that it won’t be an advantage. that said, the D&D alignments will likely limit your class choices but i don’t think it implies mafia alignments. I think this is pretty explicit. My mafia alignment and class alignment are clearly distinct entities. ---
**Author:** ![gnarlycharlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@gnarlycharlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarlycharlie)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480/40 "2012-04-05T14:20:51Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > I think this is pretty explicit. My mafia alignment and class alignment are clearly distinct entities. yes. i am adding that they are not only distinct but also unrelated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-game-the-realm-of-phere/617480.md?page=3)