# Mystery Mafia -- Sign-up Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090 "2011-08-09T15:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/141 "2011-08-12T19:04:00Z")
But I will say that the standard town/village role PM that people receive at the beginning will probably look something like this: “Gadarene, you are a member of the town. You are a XXXXXXXXXXXX. Each night, you must submit a target for a night action. You may target yourself, but you may not submit the same target two nights in a row. You win when all threats to the town have been eliminated.” …XXXs and all. Scum will have basically the same thing; they won’t get any more information about their role/powers initially than villagers do. Death writeups will likely have full information about a player’s role and powers. ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/142 "2011-08-12T19:13:38Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > That’s mean. True, but mean. (It’s very likely she just found a job. She had been looking for one pretty seriously for a while.) and, of course, you do know that it is in the context of “useless” v “vanilla town”? **ed** can help fill you in if that is not the pretext. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/143 "2011-08-12T19:23:55Z")
Absolutely the last thing I should do is sign up for a game this size. /in. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/144 "2011-08-12T19:24:32Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > > [@sachertorte](#): > > > > I might be able to play. I should have time to read, don’t know about copious time to post though. > > I’ll put you on the list – you shouldn’t need to post a ton at all. Hey, in that case you should sign up Captain Pinkies. Then either tell him he’s playing, or don’t worry about it…the result will be more or less the same. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/145 "2011-08-12T19:25:24Z")
> [@SisterCoyote](#): > > Absolutely the last thing I should do is sign up for a game this size. > > /in. 😃 It really won’t drag on interminably, promise. (smashcut to: four months from now, as we’re finishing up day 23) ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/146 "2011-08-12T19:26:24Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Hey, in that case you should sign up Captain Pinkies. Then either tell him he’s playing, or don’t worry about it…the result will be more or less the same. I mean, I want people to be able to post _some_! This just doesn’t need to be a post- or participation-intensive game from any one player, as long as people get their night actions in. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/147 "2011-08-12T19:28:08Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > “Gastard” - Bastard mod/game - A game that is set up against the players where the mod usually makes up the rules as they go along. A bastard game where the mod makes up the rules as he goes along doesn’t work very well. It’s neither practical nor fun to play or run a game that relies on strategy when the goal-posts keep moving. IME, bastard games usually have one or more tricks, but they are all applied consistently within an unchanging framework. The two Bastard games I’ve run (i.e. Godfather, Mook, 3 Detectives, and 4 Millers mini and the all Serial Killer false flip mafia) were straighforward once you knew the mechanics. I also announced ahead of time that they were Bastard. In the mini, it really was just a complex version of 3-handed mafia. The reason scum won was that BillMC and Texcat worked together very well. (And it doesn’t take scum very long to figure out the gimmick, which is why I let BillMC write most of the color.) Props to Ed though for putting up a great townie fight. In the false flip serial killer mafia, the gimmick was that every one had a false flip corresponding to one of the roles described in the opening, except the serial killer itself, which was what everyone really had. Rather than killing, the SKs were actually conducting a secret ballot based on who they targeted that night. So the mechanical gimmick was that everyone was just secretly lynching the top two (give or take depending on the current numbers) vote-getters at night. The entire game was railroaded into a final Night of 3 SKs, who if they circle voted would kill each other off and all players would win, otherwise one person would end up not voted for, and that person would emerge a solo-winner (since the SK win condition was to be the last man standing or have everyone dead). Oddly enough, even with normal phase revealing that everyone was a serial killer by accidentally posting a comment to the game thread rather than the spoiler board a couple days before end, it didn’t really change much. Mainly because at that point everyone had figured out the flips were suspect (since someone actually claimed serial killer and flipped otherwise). And with the cat out, the final 3 actually elected to do a circle kill that night, theorizing–rightly in this case–that if it worked, they would all win. But one of them decided to get sneaky and vote someone else, resulting in only one person winning. Between that action and the fact that everyone was coming up with wild theories throughout as to how the game was bastard and in much eviller ways than I ever would have, I realized something that became my signature at Idle’s board: the bastardness that players inflict on themselves is much worse than anything mods can do to them. (On a side note, this also applies to LARPs in the Lovecraftian universe of Cthulhu Live.) The thing that was annoying for me, though, was by some dumb stroke of luck, the first seven flips revealed were all Vanilla Town, and there were only 10 vanilla town flips in the setup. People actually began to think there were no power roles or scum. Now I could have “cheated” and choose the order flips came out, but I wanted to give the players a little bit of control over who they “killed”, so the cover flips were predertemined randomly before the game started. > [@Meeko](#): > > Ah, that would be My **ADooso** \* manifesting itself. Bonus, Ritalin is actually a stimulant. Go figure. Yes, but on people with ADHD, it targets the specific part of the brain that needs stimulating (i.e. the part that allows your attention to focus) with only a slightly stimulating effect to the rest of mind and body. On people without ADHD, it pretty much acts like speed. > [@](#): > > \*\* > _Attention Deficit ooh ooh shiny object!_\* I actually prefer calling it ADHLAS myself (Attention Deficit…Hey Look! A Squirrel!) My girlfriend has it in spades. And I have a touch of it as well, though, mine is actually a compensation mechansim for my real learning disability. In other words, mine is a symptom rather than a cause. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/148 "2011-08-12T19:29:31Z")
Typically we start games during the Day so that everyone who signs up gets a chance to play, but I’m thinking that a Night start would be awesome for this game. Random carnage yay! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Jan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Silver\_Jan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Jan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/149 "2011-08-12T19:31:21Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > Oh, you’re in. this wasn’t the whole quote that I wanted. OOOOH Ed Knows I am a twit lol ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/150 "2011-08-12T19:33:59Z")
[The Wiki page is back up and working.](http://wiki.flyingcowofdoom.com/mafiaWiki/Main_Page) It contains, in addition to a lot of other stuff, links to every game we have played. If you haven’t done so go register, create a player profile for yourself and add a bit to the wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/151 "2011-08-12T19:37:49Z")
Hoopy, you should sign up. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/152 "2011-08-12T19:38:52Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Typically we start games during the Day so that everyone who signs up gets a chance to play, but I’m thinking that a Night start would be awesome for this game. Random carnage yay! Current thinking is that there will be a d1 but it’ll be relatively short. Got to give people some basis on which to choose their targets, after all! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Jan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Silver\_Jan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Jan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/153 "2011-08-12T19:40:26Z")
Surely we haven’t even started the game yet and you all want to kill each other DUH ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/154 "2011-08-12T19:42:28Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > Hoopy, you should sign up. I’d like to, since it sounds intriguing, but I really don’t have the time to devote to this that I feel I should. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/155 "2011-08-12T19:42:54Z")
Yep, I’ve already got my first target all planned out and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/156 "2011-08-12T19:43:31Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > I’d like to, since it sounds intriguing, but I really don’t have the time to devote to this that I feel I should. Awww…but it’ll be 36 players; you can get lost in the shuffle if you want. 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 12, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/157 "2011-08-12T19:45:55Z")
Maybe you’ll get lucky and be nk’ed Night 1. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/158 "2011-08-12T19:49:07Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > [The Wiki page is back up and working.](http://wiki.flyingcowofdoom.com/mafiaWiki/Main_Page) > > It contains, in addition to a lot of other stuff, links to every game we have played. If you haven’t done so go register, create a player profile for yourself and add a bit to the wiki. Well, not quite \*every \*game…I see a few that aren’t up there yet. What’s that you say? That instead of sitting here bitching about the incompleteness of our Wiki, I ought to roll up my sleeves and fix it myself? Fine, then! If you’re going to be that way about it…I’ll try to fill in some of the blanks this weekend, including updating my page to include the last 5 games I played in 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/159 "2011-08-12T19:58:02Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’ll try to fill in some of the blanks this weekend, including updating my page to include the last 5 games I played in 🙂 You can fill in the last five games I’ve played in too, if you want. I sure wouldn’t stop you! Idle Thoughts (Whose Mafia Games profile needs major updating considering he’s played in about 8 games since the last one on the list) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090/160 "2011-08-12T20:00:36Z")
I think I’ve got almost all the games I’ve been in on my profile, but I know my moderated game pages need updating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mystery-mafia-sign-up-thread/592090.md?page=9)