# Mafia: The Thrill of the Chase \[Newbie Friendly!\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 20, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526 "2011-11-20T06:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 65
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1281 "2011-12-27T21:09:43Z")
> [@choie](#): > > I _reeeeally_ want to hear from **septimus** already. Seems like he’s gone eerily silent lately. It’s good to feel missed. 🆒 I have been reading the thread, but not posting because, as I tried to explain earlier, Night-time discussion is likely to help Scum. For example, it’s very possible that less important than whom you block, **choie** , is that Scum doesn’t know whom you’re blocking. Scum probably have to designate one of themselves as Killer each Night; there’s probably at least two Scum left so they will be delighted to find out which one could perform last Night’s Kill without fear of being blocked. Similarly, I’m not going to say whom I protected last Night, beyond admitting that it was one of the two Power roles I trust: you or me. It’s important that we keep Scum guessing. (To answer another of your questions – why neither of us were NK’ed – it’s either because Scum didn’t want to waste their NK on someone likely to be protected or, since there may have been only one deliberate NK last Night, because I protected the Killee! 🆒 ) ToDay’s vote looks easy, since **fluiddruid** had become one of my prime suspects for several reasons. (And her posted PM looks suspicious to me: I’d assumed that the “(pure young maiden/handsome young fellow)” would be customized for female/male. Perhaps one of the true Vanillas can confirm whether the PM is proper or not.) Despite the three Deaths last Night, there appears to be only one deliberate Kill, and Mental Guy seems a likelier Scum target than SK or Vig target. Either my Protection worked, or choie blocked the SK/Vig, or PCM was the SK/Vig, or (unlikely?) Scum and SK both targeted Mental Guy. I’m just guessing, but that Trepa is keeping PCM’s alignment secret makes me suspect he was 3rd Party, i.e. probably SK. My current reads on the remaining Players: I’m almost certain **choie** is Town; a Scum-Scum counter-claim would clearly be an almost unbelievable ploy otherwise. I continue to think **Svejk** is Town. If not, he should get the MVP and Rookie-of-the-Year award for his play in this game. I was leaning strongly Town on both **Mental Guy** and **fubbleskag** , but this hardly matters now. I had a slight Town read on **Hirka** , but am promoting him to probable Town. If he’s lying it’s a very cunning lie. I was still suspicious of **Mahaloth** , but, with the Detective report, will treat him as “cleared” for now. This leaves two Players on whom I’m neutral: **special ed** , and **Scathach**. Among my three top Scum suspects, PCM is dead, Mahaloth is soft-cleared, so my vote is easy: **Vote fluiddruid** Some players seem convinced that one of **Scathach** and **Svejk** is Scum. I’m not sure this is true, but if we are to Lynch one of the two, I would strongly recommend **Scathach**. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1282 "2011-12-27T21:14:32Z")
Vote Record amended to include new information. **Day 1** **wevets** (3) - fluiddruid (266), Precambrianmollusc (279), **Astral Rejection (364)** **fisha** (3) - **Silver Jan** 318, **MentalGuy (323)**, **Inner Stickler (357)** Precambrianmollusc (3) - [del] **Astral Rejection** (193-331)[/del], septimus (214), **wevets** (278), **fubbleskag (359)** Choie (2) - **GuiriEnEspana** (82), special ed (351) **Silver Jan** (1) - [del]Švejk (119-329)[/del], **fisha** (302) **Inner Stickler** (1) - [del]**GuiriEnEspana (81-82)**[/del], choie (360) \*\*fubbleskag (1) \*\*- Mahaloth (235), [del]**Astral Rejection (331-364)**[/del] Mahaloth (1) - [del]**MentalGuy (254-323)**[/del], **gnarlycharlie (370)** Special Ed (1) - Švejk (361) Švejk (0) - [del]Precambrianmollusc (136-279 or 310)[/del], [del]Mahaloth (159-235)[/del] fluiddruid (0) - [del]choie (207-360)[/del][del] **wevets** (219-278)[/del] Not voting: Scathach, Hirka, **Orcenio, Gregorio** ========================================================== **Day 2** **Inner Stickler** (4) - Scathach (448), choie (524), **GuiriEnEspana (558)**, Švejk (568) Scathach (3) - [del]Švejk (520-568)[/del], **Inner Stickler (544)**, Hirka T’Bawa (548), **MentalGuy (549)** Special Ed (2) - Mahaloth (528), **gnarlycharlie (574)** **fubbleskag** (1) - special ed (543) septimus (1) - [del]**GuiriEnEspana (510-538)**[/del], [del]**Astral Rejection (513-532)** [/del], [del]**MentalGuy (522-533)**[/del], [del]**fubbleskag (525-536)**[/del], \*\*fubbleskag (560) \*\* **GuiriEnEspana** (1) - septimus (505) Not voting: **Silver Jan** , **Orcenio** , Fluid Druid, PCM, **Astral Rejection** , . ========================================================== **Day 3** **gnarlycharlie** (5) - Scathach 748, **GuiriEnEspana (784)**, special ed (862), Hirka T’Bawa (869), fluiddruid (872) Mahaloth (2) - **MentalGuy (723)**, [del]**fubbleskag (730-834)**[/del], septimus (785), **fubbleskag (847)** choie (1) - Mahaloth (645) Švejk (1) - [del]special ed (646-857) [/del], [del]Hirka T’Bawa (663-869)[/del], choie (809), [del]fluiddruid (860-872)[/del] Hirka T’Bawa (1) - **gnarlycharlie** (702) \*\*fubbleskag \*\*(1) - [del]Scathach (703-748)[/del], [del]fluiddruid (705-860)[/del], **Silver Jan (818)**, [del]**fubbleskag (834-847)**[/del] special ed (1) - Švejk (778) Scathach (0) - [del]choie (736-792)[/del] Not voting: PCM, FluidDruid. ========================================================== **Day 4** \*\*Silver Jan \*\*(4) - **Mental Guy (1049)**, [del]Hirka (1058-1150)[/del], [del]Scathach (1072-1151)[/del], Choie (1088), Švejk (1160), Hirka (1173) Choie (3) - Mahaloth (997), Septimus (1010), **Silver Jan (1135)**, [del]Scathach (1179-1187)[/del] Mahaloth (1) - **Fubbleskag (1085)** \*\*Fubbleskag (1) \*\*- [del]Švejk (994-1160)[/del], [del]**Silver Jan (1006-1135)**[/del], Special Ed (1070) Special Ed (1) - [del]Scathach (1007-1072)[/del], [del]Scathach (1151-1179)[/del] Scathach (0) - [del]Choie (1027-1088)[/del] Septimus (0) - [del]Hirka (968-1048)[/del], [del]FluidDruid (970-1066)[/del] Not voting: PCM, FluidDruid, Scathach [NB: Scathach never revoted Ed after #1187, so she is incorrectly listed as voting for him in **Trepa** ’s EoD record] [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1283 "2011-12-27T21:16:36Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Some players seem convinced that one of **Scathach** and **Svejk** is Scum. I’m not sure this is true, but if we are to Lynch one of the two, I would strongly recommend **Scathach**. Did you miss where I cleared **Scathach** last night? ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1284 "2011-12-27T21:27:09Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Well, in any event, Trepa did claim she would send out Vanilla PMs as well as fake town PMs. Tough break, **fluiddruid** - but your claim won’t fly. I never claimed it was evidence on my behalf. It’s my role, I’m posting it to the thread. And it will fly – very soon, quite likely – when I swing. In any case it seems pretty useless to defend myself. There’s a strong quorum, and I can’t really argue that I haven’t participated as much as other players. I think though, if you look at the situation objectively, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for it to have been intentionally non-voting – I mean, come on, it’s scum rule 101 that you can’t just opt out and expect to fly by. If you want to make other cases, I accept that, but I can’t do much to substantiate the real-world circumstances going on. If you think I would lie and say I was sick just as a scum ploy, I don’t really have much to say to that. _shrug_ If you look at my positions That say, if I accept the claims – and I’m not sure I do, entirely, particularly **septimus** – then it really comes down to **special ed** , **Sjevk** , or myself. Knowing my own alignment, it’s a 50/50 shot. Of the two I’d have to bank on **Sjevk**. It is possible, unlikely but possible, that **special ed** would be willing to sacrifice **gnarlycharlie** – but at that stage in the game it just seems so bizarre a choice that I can’t give it much thought. It only makes sense that **Sjevk** must be the scum player. **[color]vote Sjevk**[/color] I started responding to the cases against me but they seem to all boil down to basically the same thing (except for Sjvek’s, which I find spurious on several counts – though that’s not why I’m voting for him – but it’s pointless to get in a tit-for-tat when we’re voting for each other). As I said, I can’t really defend myself when it comes down to amount of participation; it’s a plain fact. What it means is more debatable, but it’s not something I can really meaningfully debate – that is, I think it’s a stupid scum strategy to not vote on purpose, but if you think it isn’t, then obviously you think I’m scum because of that, so there’s no reason to listen to what I think. For that reason I think I’ll focus on laying down some groundwork for tomorrow and hope that it’s useful. All that said, if there’s some information that you all want to know that would be useful once my alignment is known, of course I’m happy to answer. Sjevk, if you want to know what I think about the vig, I think it doesn’t much matter – it’s very probable pcm was the vig, as was previously pointed out, and the lack of an unattributable kill for several days makes it basically moot anyway. One final point though. Based on the numbers of unconfirmed and un-claimed (well, other than Vanilla, which is meaningless basically) left, I’m guessing we have a Godfather. It’s either that, I’m extremely wrong about **ed** , or one of the claimants is lying. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1285 "2011-12-27T21:27:29Z")
Dammit. **vote Sjevk** ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1286 "2011-12-27T21:34:59Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > Did you miss where I cleared **Scathach** last night? Ooops! I still think Svejk is Town and, in any event, toDay’s vote _looks_ easy, though I await discussion. I hope everyone had a Very **Merry Christmas**! Have I already mentioned that my daughter was chosen as Miss Christmas 2011 at her High School? 😉 🙂 🙂 ---
**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:** [December 27, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1287 "2011-12-27T21:37:46Z")
Thank goodness, **septimus** hath returned! > [@septimus](#): > > Similarly, I’m not going to say whom I protected last Night, beyond admitting that it was one of the two Power roles I trust: you or me. It’s important that we keep Scum guessing. (To answer another of your questions – why neither of us were NK’ed – it’s either because Scum didn’t want to waste their NK on someone likely to be protected or, since there may have been only one deliberate NK last Night, because I protected the Killee! 🆒 ) I can dig what you said in your first paragraph (not quoted here) though I always thought more info was better, but I can certainly understand not wanting to let scum know whom we’re going after during Night time. I guess I’m still too slow to understand this second paragraph. Why would it matter after-the-fact whom you protected? I’d think that it’d be more enlightening for us to get confirmation of whether I was left on my lonesome to fend for myself, or if you were, because it seems hard to fathom that with scum _and_ an alleged SK on the loose, one of us wouldn’t’ve been targetted. Or if neither of us was targeted, this indicates pretty strongly that PCM was the SK. > [@](#): > > Despite the three Deaths last Night, there appears to be only one deliberate Kill, and Mental Guy seems a likelier Scum target than SK or Vig target. Really?! I would’vd said precisely the opposite. What makes you say that? > [@](#): > > Either my Protection worked, or choie blocked the SK/Vig, or PCM was the SK/Vig, or (unlikely?) Scum and SK both targeted Mental Guy. I’m just guessing, but that Trepa is keeping PCM’s alignment secret makes me suspect he was 3rd Party, i.e. probably SK. This I agree with. I think if he were scum, **Trepa** wouldn’t have modkilled him. And you do bring up an interesting question. What happens if Scum and the SK target the same person? Anyway if you believe **Hirka** , as you seem to then option #2 is out (my blocking the SK/Vig), and I also wonder why you later opt for **Scathach** a “strong” recommendation for lynching? ---
**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:** [December 28, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1288 "2011-12-28T02:01:32Z")
I believe Hirka. **Vote Ed** But honestly, I’m good with any of the non-confirmed players he mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1289 "2011-12-28T03:19:13Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > In any case it seems pretty useless to defend myself. There’s a strong quorum, and I can’t really argue that I haven’t participated as much as other players. I think though, if you look at the situation objectively, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for it to have been intentionally non-voting – I mean, come on, it’s scum rule 101 that you can’t just opt out and expect to fly by. If you want to make other cases, I accept that, but I can’t do much to substantiate the real-world circumstances going on. If you think I would lie and say I was sick just as a scum ploy, I don’t really have much to say to that. _shrug_ If you look at my positions > > **vote Sjevk** > > I started responding to the cases against me but they seem to all boil down to basically the same thing (except for Sjvek’s, which I find spurious on several counts – though that’s not why I’m voting for him – but it’s pointless to get in a tit-for-tat when we’re voting for each other). As I said, I can’t really defend myself when it comes down to amount of participation; it’s a plain fact. What it means is more debatable, but it’s not something I can really meaningfully debate – that is, I think it’s a stupid scum strategy to not vote on purpose, but if you think it isn’t, then obviously you think I’m scum because of that, so there’s no reason to listen to what I think. > > For that reason I think I’ll focus on laying down some groundwork for tomorrow and hope that it’s useful. All that said, if there’s some information that you all want to know that would be useful once my alignment is known, of course I’m happy to answer. I’m going to end the day voting for one of you three, I admit I’m not totally sold on you being the scum, so if you can make a convincing case, I’m willing to listen to it. > [@](#): > > One final point though. Based on the numbers of unconfirmed and un-claimed (well, other than Vanilla, which is meaningless basically) left, I’m guessing we have a Godfather. It’s either that, I’m extremely wrong about **ed** , or one of the claimants is lying. I think it is totally possible we have a Godfather, and it is also totally possible that he is someone I’ve already investigated. However, while I’m leaving that option open, I think it should wait for another day. Most likely, the scum will target one of us power roles tonight (probably me), or they will target one of the confirmed townies. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > I believe Hirka. > > **Vote Ed** > > But honestly, I’m good with any of the non-confirmed players he mentioned. Can you make a case on why you think **Ed** is the most likely scum in the three players? While to me he leans town, that is ONLY because of the vote on **Gnarly**. Why would he do that as scum instead of just letting you or **Svjek** die? Either by random, or by switching his vote to you. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1290 "2011-12-28T03:20:52Z")
NETA: Dang, forgot to bleach **Mahaloth** ’s vote! Wish I could just go back and edit it… Oh well… ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1291 "2011-12-28T05:21:45Z")
Here’s a scary thought from deep within my paranoia: What if Choie _ **is** _ Scum? And what if Day 4, when it appeared that one of them was going to die, they concocted this claim/counter claim just to earn one of them a good amount of Townie Cred? I’m not saying this happened, but I can imagine trying this out myself. The real risk being, what if Town did have a roleblocker. Of course, it’s not a usual role for Town, since it often does Town more harm than good. One question, choie, you claimed that Scathach isn’t a power role. How do you know this? Are you informed when you block someone’s action? I think that is unusual for a roleblocker. Or are you claiming that Scathach isn’t responsible for the Night Kill? Which is quite different from being a power role. for example, assuming for the moment that Hirka is honest, had you blocked him, he’d have gotten no results. Would you have known that aside from his claim? ```auto And while I'm deep within my paranoia, Trepa promised us a straight forward newbie friendly game with only 1 unusual role. I consider hider, bodyguard, and to a lesser extent universal back up as unusual roles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I haven't really caught up yet. I will state that I'm somewhat miffed at the lack of reveal on PCM, but this wouldn't be Trepa mafia if he didn't do something that pissed me off each game. :p ``` ---
**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:** [December 28, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1292 "2011-12-28T06:16:57Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > Here’s a scary thought from deep within my paranoia: > > What if Choie _ **is** _ Scum? > > And what if Day 4, when it appeared that one of them was going to die, they concocted this claim/counter claim just to earn one of them a good amount of Townie Cred? Wait, why would this have been necessary? I already had _some_ Townie cred (or at least, not much scum, uh, anti-cred) and the fight was between **Silver Jan** and **fubbles**. I’d already voted **Silver Jan** , which would at least offer a little cred since she flipped scum; did we really need to have that big production number in order to establish town cred? Also, as I pointed out, I’d made some hints about my role going back to Night 1 or so. That would be one helluva Long Con, coming to fruition three weeks later. > [@special\_ed](#): > > I’m not saying this happened, but I can imagine trying this out myself. The real risk being, what if Town did have a roleblocker. Of course, it’s not a usual role for Town, since it often does Town more harm than good. Dammit, the one thing I can keep my chin up about my performance as roleblocker is that I’ve been _useless_, not _harmful_. Kindly let me have my dignity! > [@special\_ed](#): > > One question, choie, you claimed that Scathach isn’t a power role. How do you know this? Are you informed when you block someone’s action? I think that is unusual for a roleblocker. Or are you claiming that Scathach isn’t responsible for the Night Kill? Which is quite different from being a power role. for example, assuming for the moment that Hirka is honest, had you blocked him, he’d have gotten no results. Would you have known that aside from his claim? That’s a lot of questions for a paragraph that started with “one question”! 😃 Nope, I didn’t receive any information. I just PMed “I’ll block Scathach” to **Trepa** , took a ridiculously long time composing an ingenious but once again useless [farewell acrostic message](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14606041&postcount=1245) to Town in hopes that a townie would spot the hidden message after my death (which I figured would come at Dawn), and waited for the axe to fall. I was so surprised to still be _alive_ that once I saw two deaths I leapt to the assumption that two different people had killed **Mental Guy** and **fubbles** , which is why I blithely and ignorantly announced that **Scathach** must be clean of those deaths. That’s when **Scathach** reminded me about **fubbles** ’s stupid frakkin’ Hider role. As for **Scathach** , I think all I said was that she was _clean_ (though maybe I did say power role, in which case that was yet another wrong conclusion I’d leapt to, _quel suprise_) meaning that she wasn’t guilty of the deaths, and since I didn’t notice any other power actions going on, I figured I’d either blocked _something_ or she was vanilla, scum or town. But I’d forgotten a whoooole bunch of other ways of interpreting what happened last night, first and foremost that **fubbles** was a Hider and thus he was only killed because he was hiding behind **Mental Guy** , who was the real target. Does this answer your questions? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1293 "2011-12-28T17:47:51Z")
I’m looking for 5 more players for a mafia game over on **Idle Thoughts** ’ dedicated mafia board. It’s the fifth in my series of four-sided no-vanilla mafia games. [Check it out here](http://psychopathgame.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=consp5). ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1294 "2011-12-28T18:52:37Z")
Vote Count: fluiddruid (4): Hirka T’Bawa, Scathach, Svejk, septimus Special Ed (1): Mahaloth Svejk (1): fluiddruid > [@Svejk\_1](#): > > \*\*1) Trepa, when is EoD? Friday at 10AM Mountain Grazing Time? > [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > I forgot to mention on this too, **Trepa** , I don’t have a problem with > the day ending on the 1st… But do you really expect me to get up that early after the New Years Eve excitement? Can we push it later in the day? It’s fine by me, that’s why I asked. Would, say, 4:00 PM MST work? ---
**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:** [December 28, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1295 "2011-12-28T22:13:21Z")
(Does quick calculation…) Yes, 6PM ET would work fine for me, **Trepa**. Definitely better than the morning deadlines. I know I haven’t voted yet, nor has **special ed**. I’m feeling very weird about what’s happening, and I can’t explain it. It’s almost _too_ easy, too obvious, with a doctor, a detective and a roleblocker all around nearly at endgame, where we can just follow **Hirka** ’s leads… I know this is a newbie-friendly game, but it seems as if last week the deck was hugely stacked against Town, and now suddenly all we have to do is pick out two scum and one possible SK out of a field of four? I dunno. Something feels hinky. I’m not saying **fluiddruid** hasn’t pinged me before, with the no voting and the non-presence, but it _has_ been a difficult time of year for participating in a game, and as she says, scum are normally more proactive than that. Mind you I’m not saying I disbelieve **Hirka**. I just have the weirdest feeling, like everyone’s gonna peel off their masks and reveal that ALL y’all are scum. In fairness, I _think_ this sudden paranoia is how I felt at this point in my first game, where suddenly everyone who’s not me feels equally guilty or innocent. Does anyone else get this way as games hurtle toward the finish line? And goddamit, my stupid thickheaded fool-of-a-Took brain will just _not_ let me trust **septimus**. It’s unbelievably idiotic, I know it is, but to me he’s not the Doctor, he’s still the scumbag Godfather from **De’endee**. It’s a shift in perception that for whatever reason I’m unable to make. (Which is probably why I’m not cut out for this game – you really do need to divorce yourself from past games in order to make reasonable judgements on players.) While I desperately try to free myself of past prejudices, I’m gonna wait to cast my vote until I’ve heard more discussion. There’s still plenty of time and I’m not sure it’s a good thing that this tidal wave of anti- **fluiddruid** votes has occured so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1296 "2011-12-28T22:58:42Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Mind you I’m not saying I disbelieve **Hirka**. I just have the weirdest feeling, like everyone’s gonna peel off their masks and reveal that ALL y’all are scum. In fairness, I _think_ this sudden paranoia is how I felt at this point in my first game, where suddenly everyone who’s not me feels equally guilty or innocent. Does anyone else get this way as games hurtle toward the finish line? Actually it was the thing that made me keep playing mafia :D. I’d read along with a few games before, but the first time I ever played and the creeping paranoia that builds up where the most completely tinfoil hat ridiculous conspiracy theories make ABSOLUTE SENSE - well, it got me hooked 🙂 I will also agree that of the role claims so far, I find septimus’s the most suspect. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1297 "2011-12-28T23:47:02Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > Actually it was the thing that made me keep playing mafia :D. I’d read along with a few games before, but the first time I ever played and the creeping paranoia that builds up where the most completely tinfoil hat ridiculous conspiracy theories make ABSOLUTE SENSE - well, it got me hooked 🙂 Ah, thank you! So glad I’m not alone in this. 😃 > [@](#): > > I will also agree that of the role claims so far, I find septimus’s the most suspect. And yet it’s also the oldest claim, which is the oddest part! We _should_ be completely trusting him (at least Townies), so what is it that’s setting off alarms? For me, other than the aforementioned dumbass prejudice against him from a totally different game, it was his caginess about saying whom he protected _after the fact_. I have _no_ problems with his not saying whom he protected before the Night’s over–I mean, that’s just common sense. But afterward? Also I just find it hard to believe that with a serial killer and scum, he’s still alive at this point unless he’s been protecting himself the whole time (as is understandable), in which case, what the _hell_ am I doing still alive, as the (as of yesterDay) only other useful role in the game? (I ignore **fubbles** ’s Hider because I can’t see what earthly use a Hider is to Town, in fact it’s a downright liability–and thus seems more like a separate faction role to me.) So this means neither the serial killer _or_ scum tried to take a potshot at me? I’m almost insulted! Of course there is an explanation, as **septimus** has offered: scum (or the SK) figured they didn’t want to miss a kill, so went after **Mental Guy** and got a free twofer in **fubbleskag**. So what happened to the other kill? Either it indicates PCM was the SK, or the SK took a night off (assuming **Hirka** is correct about you, **Scathach** ). Or the SK is the one who killed **Mental Guy** and **fubbles** , and **Hirka** was _wrong_ about you, you’re the Godfather, and I successfully blocked you. But this would mean scum was awfully stupid in picking you to make the kill, because they had to know that as of last Night I still didn’t trust you and the odds were that I’d be going for the block. As, rather embarrassingly predictably, I did. So basically nothing is making sense to me. I guess the only explanation that really fits without creating some mega conspiracy is: 1. **septimus** protected me 2. Scum thought he’d protect himself but weren’t certain, so they decided to go after **Mental Guy** and got a damn lucky freebie. 3. PCM was the Serial Killer. My head hurts. ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1298 "2011-12-29T00:01:37Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Of course there is an explanation, as **septimus** has offered: scum (or the SK) figured they didn’t want to miss a kill, so went after **Mental Guy** and got a free twofer in **fubbleskag**. So what happened to the other kill? Either it indicates PCM was the SK, or the SK took a night off (assuming **Hirka** is correct about you, **Scathach** ). Or the SK is the one who killed **Mental Guy** and **fubbles** , and **Hirka** was _wrong_ about you, you’re the Godfather, and I successfully blocked you. One of the things that has prevented me voting Septimus is the fact that you survived. It does imply that scum didn’t want to bet on who the doctor would protect and so instead went for someone different (a lot of people stated yesterDay and Night that they had a town lean on MentalGuy so scum knew he would be a difficult lynch). If scum knew there was no doctor, then why not nightkill you, safe in the knowledge there’s no protection. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1299 "2011-12-29T00:07:53Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > One of the things that has prevented me voting Septimus is the fact that you survived. It does imply that scum didn’t want to bet on who the doctor would protect and so instead went for someone different (a lot of people stated yesterDay and Night that they had a town lean on MentalGuy so scum knew he would be a difficult lynch). If scum knew there was no doctor, then why not nightkill you, safe in the knowledge there’s no protection. That’s an excellent point. I guess the only possible rationale would be that killing me would put a lot of pressure on **septimus** to explain why he didn’t protect me. He could (and surely would) say that he thought it was more necessary to protect himself. A possible violation of the Hippocratic Oath but still understandable self-preservation. 🙂 But going the Occam’s Razor route, you’re probably right. ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/1300 "2011-12-29T00:13:09Z")
> [@choie](#): > > That’s an excellent point. > > I guess the only possible rationale would be that killing me would put a lot of pressure on **septimus** to explain why he didn’t protect me. He could (and surely would) say that he thought it was more necessary to protect himself. A possible violation of the Hippocratic Oath but still understandable self-preservation. 🙂 > > But going the Occam’s Razor route, you’re probably right. Yeah I keep going back on forth on it, but at the moment I’d be reluctant to vote him. Mind you, that’s assuming that PCM was the SK and only the scum kill went through. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526.md?page=66)