To celebrate the inception of the new forum, I’d like to start a new Mafia game based on some rules that I’ve written. I’m in the middle of moving some threads over, but I’ll go ahead and start the thread. I’ll edit this post later to include the rules.
A brief summary: the Mafia starts with a single player, the Boss, or Godfather if you will. It’s up to the mafia to recruit or kill their way to victory.
If you’d like to volunteer for this game, please sign up here.
Days will end on Tuesdays. Nights will end on Thursdays. Both will be during business hours, Central time.
Note: Mafia games can take weeks or months to play! This is a commitment, so please be sure to only volunteer if you are sure you will be able to continue participating in the long term. I would like to keep substitutions to a minimum.
THE GAME
*Rumors start to fly about a neighboring town being overrun by the corruption of the Mafia. Despite a lynching bloodbath, they are overrun… and now rumors are flying in Upper Doperville that one of their own has come to this sweet, innocent town to start a new Organization. And he’s ready to make an offer you can’t refuse…
Will the town dispose of the scum? Or will the Mafia overrun another simple town?*
RULES
The only Mafia member at the start of the game will be the Boss. The Boss has the capacity to recruit new Mafia members from the Townspeople in the place of a standard night kill. When a player dies, their true role is revealed.
Please note that former roles will be revealed. For example, a Capo will be revealed as "Capo / Detective” if he was formerly the Detective. In death, all truths are revealed.
The game will start at Dawn. During the day, the town members will vote for one player to lynch by vote. Ties will be decided by random chance.
During the night, night powers may be used. The Doctor may protect, the Mafia may communicate with one another, and either recruit or kill (not both), and the Vigilante may kill. Only a kill (and the killed player’s role) will be communicated to the Town. Recruits, investigations, and failed kills will not be reported to the Town at large.
The townies (including all power roles) not recruited win if the Mafia are all killed.
The Mafia (including all recruits) win if they outnumber the Town.
ROLES… Townspeople
The town will be composed at the start of the game of every player but the Boss, and will be divided into the following roles:
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Townspeople. Honest and hardworking, they are trying to oust the Mafia from their beloved town… unless made an offer they can’t refuse. Townspeople have no special powers, but, as all players, may cast votes to Lynch. There is at least one Townsperson.
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The Detective: Already aware of the new Mafia connection in his town, the Detective is hard on the lookout for scum. The Detective will always determine the exact current role of those he investigates each night. The only exceptions to this rule are Boss or the Capo, who has a 50% chance to be found out as their true role, and 50% chance to be identified as another randomly determined role (random roll of: Townsperson, Detective, Doctor, Vigilante, Mason, Priest, Bishop, Beat Cop, Police Chief, Soldier, Consigliere, Capo, Hitman, or Boss, excluding his correct role). If the target is being Made that night, he will return their new role, rather than their old role (former roles are not revealed in any case).
The Detective also has the option to forego his investigation and instead study the levels of crime in town. By doing so, he will learn the number of Mafia in the game with 100% accuracy, including any recruitments done that same night. He will also determine whether or not the Capo is in play. There is one Detective.
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The Doctor: Trying to stop the killing, the Doctor interferes with the night happenings. The Doctor may protect any player (including himself) whom he chooses each night. If he protects a player, they are safe from recruitment, night kills, and investigations. There is one Doctor.
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The Vigilante: Fueled with a sense of rage towards the scum, the Vigilante has opted to take the matter into his own hands. He may, at his option, kill one player per night. The Vigilante is a fanatic and cannot be swayed from his course; he cannot be recruited, only killed. If a Vigilante kills a Priest, he is filled with deep shame and regret, and forsakes his Vigilante ways, secretly becoming a Priest himself. Should an attempt be made to recruit the Vigilante, the Vigilante will know the name of a random Mafia player, but not his or her role. There is one Vigilante.
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Mason: Masons know one another, but cannot communicate outside of the game. Masons are devoted to their own order and are difficult to sway; any Mafia recruitment attempt has a 50% chance of failure. There are at least two Masons.
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Priest: A Priest is deeply religious and morally opposed to organized crime. These men of the cloth are devout in their ways, and cannot be recruited by the Mafia. Additionally, a Priest may, once per game, visit a troubled soul (any player) and pray with them all night, preventing any attempts at recruitment by the Mafia (but not a kill). There can be one or more Priests at the start of the game.
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The Bishop: The Bishop is like other Priests, but if he prays with a vanilla Townsperson, that person has a 50% chance to convert and become a Priest himself, should he not already be in the Mafia. If the Vigilante night kills the Bishop, he still becomes a Priest. However, power corrupts; the Bishop secretly nurtures ambition for greatness, and he will accept the Capo position if offered. Mafia attempts to recruit him normally fail. There is one Bishop.
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**Beat Cop **: While the Beat Cops are also working hard to investigate scum, they do so less accurately than the Detective. They will only detect if a player is affiliated with the Town or the Mafia, not a specific role (i.e. Priest, Soldier).
For each Beat Cop that chooses to investigate each night, there is a 20% cumulative chance to all Beat Cops that they will miss the target of their investigation (they will receive no result at all). For example, if there are two Beat Cops attempting investigation on one night, the chance of failure is 40% for each (each Beat Cop getting his own “roll” for failure). They have a 50% chance to return the Boss, Hit Man, or the Capo as Town if investigated.
The Beat Cop(s) have one advantage over the Detective, however; if they happen to be investigating the target of a night kill or recruitment on a particular night, they will have a 50% chance to witness the event. If a killing, this will reveal the killer’s name. If the Beat Cop is witnessing a general Mafia Night Kill, the killer will be identified as the Hit Man if in play, or, if there is no Hit Man, a random Mafia player of the lowest rank in the game at that time. If they witness a making ceremony, they will identify one of the Mafia randomly. No roles will be revealed, only the player’s name, though the Beat Cop will know if the recruitment was blocked. There can be one or more Beat Cops at the start of the game.
- Police Chief: The Police Chief has the same powers as other Beat Cops (and counts as a “Beat Cop” for determining failure rates) but, once per game, they may recruit a regular Townsperson (randomly determined from all plain Townspeople) to join the force as a Beat Cop. He may not investigate during that night, and if there are no plain Townspeople in play, no Beat Cop will be assigned. He may choose whether or not he wishes to know the new Beat Cop’s name at his discretion when he decides to recruit. The new Beat Cop will not know who recruited him. If he is recruited by the Mafia or killed, this recruitment is lost. There may be one, and only one, Police Chief.
ROLES… The Mafia
At the start of the game, there is only one Mafia member: the Boss, who intends to recruit and kill his way into controlling the town.
Mafia roles, in order of rank from highest to lowest, are as follows: the Boss, the Capo, Consigliere, the Hit Man, and Soldiers. The highest ranked member has absolute power in determining the Mafia’s actions at night and who will execute those actions. In the case of ties (e.g. multiple Consigliere), the player who has been in the Mafia longest has highest rank.
The Boss: The Boss is the only Mafia player that can recruit. While alive, the Boss has final say regarding recruitment (which will override a night kill vote), though he may of course discuss the recruitment with others. If the Boss is killed, the Mafia may no longer recruit, though they may night kill. The Mafia can only attempt to recruit or night kill each night, not both.
If the Boss is lynched on the first Day, the game is over, but we will start the game again with new roles assigned.
Soldiers: If a normal Townsperson is recruited, he will become a Soldier, except for the first Townsperson recruited will become the Hit Man instead. Soldiers have no special powers.
The Hit Man: The Hit Man is the first regular Townsperson recruited. He may choose any one night kill (but not recruitment) done by the Mafia to be a special hit which cannot be blocked or witnessed. However, using this power is risky. If the target is a Detective, Beat Cop, Vigilante, or Police Chief, the Hit Man will be killed in the attempt (though the target will still die).
Consigliere: All other recruitable townsperson roles other than plain townspeople (e.g. Masons, Beat Cops, Detective, Doctor) will become Consigliere. For every Consigliere in play, there is a cumulative 5% chance that the Mafia will “discover” a random townsperson’s role during the night.
Capo: Once per game, the Boss can elect to designate a Capo from amongst the ranks of the Town. If the Boss is killed before using this power, it is lost. If the Boss attempts to recruit a Priest or Vigilante as Capo, the ability is blocked and cannot be reused, but the target’s role will be revealed to the Mafia. If the Boss is blocked by the Doctor, nothing happens, and but the Capo recruitment can be re-attempted another night. Recruiting a Capo takes the place of a standard recruitment or a night kill.
Should the Boss successfully recruit a Capo, the player recruited as a Capo gains powers depending on his original role:
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The Doctor Capo can continue, at his discretion, to protect one player of his choice per night from night kills and investigations.
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The Detective Capo may investigate as normal. However, instead of a failure chance on the Boss or Capo, there is now a failure chance on the Doctor or Vigilante.
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A Beat Cop or Police Chief Capo may investigate, but will only return “Townsperson” or “Power Role” as a response (“Power Role” as all town roles but Townsperson). The Doctor, Vigilante, and Detective have a 50% chance to show incorrectly as “Townsperson”. The global failure rate of Beat Cops and the Police Chief is still in effect regardless of the town or mafia affiliation, though dead players do not count.
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A Mason Capo gains a special power. If the Boss is recruiting another Mason, they can choose to go to the Mason personally and offer the recruitment. If this is done, a block by the Doctor or Priest (if in effect) will fail to block the recruitment, though it still can be witnessed by a Beat Cop. (If so, there is a 100% chance that the Mason-Capo will be identified as the recruiter.)
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The Bishop Capo may reveal a random Priest in play to the Mafia during the night. This power takes the place of a recruitment or night kill. If used more than once, the same Priest can be revealed multiple times. Priests being defended by Doctors, or being prayed with by other Priests, will block this power.
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A Townsperson Capo has no special powers (other than the decreased investigation effectiveness of various other roles against him).
NOTES ON NIGHT POWERS
When someone is killed or recruited during the night, this will not interrupt any of their powers. For example, a Doctor that is killed or recruited during a night will still have his protection in effect throughout the night. A Boss who is night killed but who was recruiting or promoting is still successful. Investigators who are killed will not be given their results, as they are out of the game and the information is useless, but investigators who are recruited during the round they investigate someone will still receive the results of their investigation.
NOTES ON BLOCKING POWERS AND FAILURES
If a power is blocked, neither the blocking party nor the person whose power was blocked will know. They will only know that they were unsuccessful unless specifically noted otherwise. For example, if the Doctor blocks a night kill, there will be no kill that night, but the Doctor will not know if it was he who blocked the kill. There is no way to determine if a particular event was blocked or failed – the result is the same.
Summary
During the day:
All players are to participate in the discussion of who is to be lynched. You should have at least three posts during every game Day to not be considered inactive.
At Dusk:
Lynching occurs. The person with the highest votes is dead, and their role is revealed. Random chance will determine all ties.
Mafia may begin contact with one another.
At night:
The Mafia will discuss with one another (if there is more than one Mafia) what action to take.
The Mafia may choose one action: to attempt to kill a target or, if the Boss is alive, they may recruit a single target or, once per game, attempt to recruit a Capo. Alternate to all of these, a Bishop-Capo, if in play, may reveal a random Priest to the Mafia.
The Vigilante may attempt to kill a target.
The Doctor may attempt to protect a target.
Beat Cops, the Police Chief, and the Detective may attempt to investigate a target each.
Priests or Bishops may, once per game, pray with a target.
At Dawn:
All players with night powers must have their choices in to me by dawn or they will do nothing.
All players killed during the night are revealed to be dead, and their roles uncovered.
The results of night actions will be shared, where applicable (the Mafia will know if they have successfully recruited someone or not).
5% chance per Consigliere for Mafia to have a random townsperson’s role revealed.
Players who have been recruited by the Mafia, or their role changed in any way, will be notified at Dawn. This includes people turned into Beat Cops or Priests.
Mafia must cease contact with one another.
