Prologue
*Welcome to Cecilton. Perhaps you’ve been here before; it seems I recognize your face, though I’ve seen enough years now that I could be mistaken. Well, we don’t get many visitors around here, so you’re well met either way.
We sure don’t blame anyone for staying away, not any more than we blame those who’ve left. The Troubles started here, you know. Oh, they’ve spread across the land since – some say they’ve spread well beyond that – but the first of it happened right here, just a few doors down at the Town Hall… eight years ago this February, if I’m remembering it straight.
‘Course, those have been eight long years, and everything’s different now. Different people, different buildings… electric lights in most of the houses now and the gallows have been torn down for good. Enough of the old faces are gone now that some of the new faces have gotten to thinking there never were any wolves at all. But I know better, and stranger – if that’s what you are – I get the feeling you know it, too.
So head on down to the Inn, if you’re planning to stay; get yourself a meal and a room and we’ll talk again soon. In the meanwhile, keep watch for anything strange. Anything… hairy. I’ll be doing the same. You can always do with a second set of eyes, and I’m happy to volunteer mine.
What’s that you say? Oh – yes – I get that a lot. Well, don’t let it worry you.
The better to see you with, after all.*
I invite all comers to join a game of Mafia, to be held here in this forum starting as soon as we have a sufficiently large pool of players. There have been a number of games of Mafia on this forum over the years, of varying degrees of complexity. This one will be relatively straightforward and basic, and so ideal for somebody interested in trying out the concept; Mafia veterans are welcome, as well!
Mafia is a game about information – specifically about conflict between a well-informed minority and an uninformed majority. It works like this:
All players will be divided randomly into two teams – Villagers (Townies) and Werewolves (who will sometimes be called “Scum”). There will be a small number of Werewolves and a large number of Townies; however, the Werewolves will know from the outset of the game who is a Werewolf and the Town will not.
The game plays out as a repeating cycle with two stages. Stage 1 is Day. During the Day, all players discuss among themselves which player(s) they think might be a Werewolf; each player gets to vote for a preferred candidate, and at the end of the Day cycle that player is “lynched,” and removed from the game (and his or her true alignment revealed). Importantly, the Werewolves vote and participate in this stage of the game, and can attempt to misdirect or manipulate the conversation and vote to whatever degree they think best.
During the Night, the Werewolves will choose one Town player to kill, removing him or her from the game. This continues until either all the Werewolves are dead (Town wins!) or there are more Werewolves than Townies (Wolves win!).
There will also be a few special roles on each side, which I’ll outline in a later, more detailed rules post as the start of the game gets closer. The game design will be totally open: that is, there will be no secret rules or mechanics and all roles will be known before the game starts.
So: if you’d like to play, post a note to that effect in this thread. Once we have a suitable number of players – I’d love to get up to 18-20 though we could go with somewhat less – we’ll start the game. I’m also happy to answer any questions about the setup or the game.