# You-Solve-It Mafia Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 11, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636 "2007-12-11T18:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**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:** [December 14, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/221 "2007-12-14T22:26:14Z")
:smack: I need to proofread. Oh yeah, the 17% thing. I feel that this number correlates to the Dossiers. One in six chance of revealing the killer’s public dossier item. I think that one is pretty straightforward. What I don’t understand is the context of NAF’s statement: [QUOTE=NAF1138] There is a 17% chance that the scum will be outted in 5 days IF the information is interpreted correctlly and quickly. [/QUOTE] I don’t quite understand what he’s getting at here. I’m certain that 17% refers to 1/6. I can’t wrap my head around how the Dossiers would function in such a way as to out scum with 17% chance after 5 Days. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/222 "2007-12-14T22:31:57Z")
[QUOTE=sachertorte] I don’t quite understand what he’s getting at here. I’m certain that 17% refers to 1/6. I can’t wrap my head around how the Dossiers would function in such a way as to out scum with 17% chance after 5 Days. [/QUOTE] Every player who gets killed is given one piece of information from their killer’s Dossier. There’s a 1 in 6 chance that piece of information is their public piece of information. Therefore, after 6 kills the expected number of scum who will be outed in this way is 1(BLaM’s not playing in this game so somebody has to take over and do mathematical analysis :)) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/223 "2007-12-14T22:33:09Z")
NETA: Uh, never mind, that was total balderdash and didn’t answer **sach** ’s question in the least. ---
**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 14, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/224 "2007-12-14T22:34:10Z")
I thought it required a strict majority of votes to lynch. **Shouldn’t it require 10 votes to throw someone off the cliff?** I don’t see any reason not to disclose our Dossiers. 1. The mods stated that everyone revealing their Dossier would not break the game. 2. There are no power roles that need to stay hidden among us. 3. Scum will probably want to lie. We may catch them at it. 4. Revealing the Dossiers will let us analytic types look for patterns that may help us catch the Scum. The mods put the puzzle in the game intentionally; we might as well put all the pieces on the table. I’m very tempted to simply reveal my Dossier now. But maybe we want to organize the process. Here’s my idea: Let the only confirmed Townie pick the order of revelation. **Rugger** can include a list of numbers/names to indicate the order we should reveal. He’ll put it in his death scene. Letting **Rugger** choose the order means that Scum won’t be able to game the order of revelation. They’ll still be able to make use of revealed Dossiers when constructing their lies, but that’ll happen no matter how we reveal. If we don’t reveal our Dossiers, our data when looking at death scenes will be very limited. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/225 "2007-12-14T22:39:05Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] The last thing I need is more safety training. [/QUOTE] Best “last words” ever. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/226 "2007-12-14T22:46:30Z")
[QUOTE=Pleonast] I’m very tempted to simply reveal my Dossier now. But maybe we want to organize the process. Here’s my idea: Let the only confirmed Townie pick the order of revelation. **Rugger** can include a list of numbers/names to indicate the order we should reveal. He’ll put it in his death scene. [/QUOTE] I’m not at all sure this would be permitted. It amounts to the dead participating in the process. **NAF / MTGman; can you confirm whether or not Santo Rugger can include this list in his death scene please?** ---
**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:** [December 14, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/227 "2007-12-14T22:51:03Z")
[QUOTE=Pleonast] I thought it required a strict majority of votes to lynch. **Shouldn’t it require 10 votes to throw someone off the cliff?** [/QUOTE] Whoops, my bad. Yes, it is 10 to lynch. I still have it in my head that this is an 18 player game and that Day 1 was going to start with 17 players. (this was the initial conception of the set up, and those numbers have been ratling around in my head for too long.) ---
**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:** [December 14, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/228 "2007-12-14T22:54:27Z")
[QUOTE=MHaye] I’m not at all sure this would be permitted. It amounts to the dead participating in the process. **NAF / MTGman; can you confirm whether or not Santo Rugger can include this list in his death scene please?** [/QUOTE] The only restrictions on the Death scenes are what were posted in the style guide. Anything else is fair game. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/229 "2007-12-14T23:16:42Z")
Isn’t that the whole point of the dying vision in the color? A significant mechanic in this game is the ability of the dead to talk to the living through the medium of writing their death scene. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/230 "2007-12-14T23:25:50Z")
I’m ambivalent about sharing our dossiers, but will continue to think about it. I don’t have any issue with discussing what I’m doing with my own notes, however. Using my dossier and the public bits, I’m trying to categorize the statements in various logical ways, and once I categorize a statement that doesn’t mean it couldn’t also be included in other categories. I then total the instances for each category, and I track my still-private statements separately using color-coding (since I’m the only one who knows them) in my spreadsheet. I compute two totals at all times, one that includes my private data, one that includes only the public data. As new data comes in, other logical groupings will come to mind, and some will become more or less compelling based on the bigger picture. I have no idea how successful or productive this will end up being, but this is how I would work a fraud investigation with a high number of unkowns. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/231 "2007-12-14T23:33:25Z")
Sorry for the multi-posting… Sorry to see you go, Rugger. Give us whatever you’ve got in your death scene and keep the nachos warm. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/232 "2007-12-15T01:06:08Z")
The Day has been progressing nicely and some good discussion has already started when suddenly you are all stopped in your tracks. It is another vision akin to the one you recieved from the monks! This one is from Santo Rugger, here is what he has to say: > [@The Late Santo Rugger](#): > > It was a cold and windy night. As I walked along the mountain pass, pondering the inherent humor of zombies, my mind drifted back to the first exorcism I performed. That night was not unlike tonight. It started out with dinner at Fat Tuesdays, sitting next to Robert Plant. As we ate, I commented on how it wasn’t the first time we’d eaten Rocky Mountain Oysters. These ones sure could use some more ranch dressing, though! > > As the blanket of cold descended into the valley and climbed up the mountain side, I wished more than ever my mom had made the trip with us so she could have prepared a couple dozen portions of her infamous liver dish. She learned the recipe from our fat French neighbor, who was a very cruel woman, to say the least. Nevertheless, the neighbor’s rich, buttery, and delicate morsels were always gone before my mom’s at block party pot lucks. > > I heard footsteps behind me, and snapped out of my daydream. I stopped and turned, but didn’t see anything. I heard what appeared to be a radio conversation, but whoever was talking must have been hiding behind a mesquite tree. “You know what bugs me? Seven-Eleven doesn’t have drive thru service.” I don’t know why that bothered them so much. Drive through liquor stores have been banned in New Mexico since 1995 or so, anyway. And if they were fat enough to want to buy Twinkies at the drive through… well… I don’t know what to say. > > I needed to urinate, so I looked around. I still couldn’t see the person on the radio, so I figured over the side of the mountain pass and into the snow wouldn’t be objected to by anybody. I assumed that anybody crazy enough to be up here at this time of night must have been part of our group, and they were going to experience plenty more of my vulgarity in the next few Days. > As I swiveled my head to catch a glimpse of whoever was making the footsteps, I was caught off guard. My off-site training has taught me to keep my center of gravity low, but I didn’t expect to have to do that while I was peeing! My assailant came running out of the trees, and shoulder charged me into the snow bank at the top of the pass! I wasn’t wearing the proper attire; I wish I had listened when my cow-orkers had told me to put some pants on. I hear hypothermia is one of the easier ways to go. So peaceful, so….. > > [OOG, but still in character]Fortunately, there seems to have been a video shot of my death. I will see if my ghost can get a link of it soon[OOG,bsic] > \*PS to NAF and MtgMan: > > The link is a story I wrote over the summer when we went to Colorado and I entered a RMO eating contest. I haven’t read it in awhile, so I don’t remember if it includes a mention of the video I was talking about. It’s a 30 second clip of exactly what I described, minus the dying, on that same CO trip. I’d like to post it to enhance my story, if that’s ok. Again, the video and story were completed long before I knew about this game, so there’s nothing in them that could be used to try and convey a secret message or something… Not that I know anything that’s not public, seeing as how early I died, though. We will be posting a link as soon as the late Mr. Rugger is able to find one. The link to the story got deleted when I made it a quote: [These ones sure could use some more ranch dressing, though!](http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=27432845&blogID=150534142) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/233 "2007-12-15T01:07:11Z")
I have no idea what to do about the Dossiers, which leads me to believe I should keep quiet about mine until I can figure it out. In the meantime: **Vote faithfool** to give her a feel for the game early. 😛 ---
**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:** [December 15, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/234 "2007-12-15T01:19:50Z")
Here is a link with photo’s in case Rugger to supliment the story. [http://nmt.facebook.com/album.php?a...e6&id=110000200](http://nmt.facebook.com/album.php?a...e6&id=110000200) ---
**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 15, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/235 "2007-12-15T01:27:34Z")
Doh, I guess **Rugger** was quick on the composition. No handy order to reveal Dossiers. And if there’s breadcrumbs in there, I’m not sure what they are. We need information and our Dossiers are the best info we have. Better to reveal them now and let the Town’s collective mind work on it. Vague crumbs won’t help us quickly. I think analyzing all Dossiers is better than working with the few tidbits I have. Scum will either lie or not. If they lie, we might catch them because their Dossiers won’t match the truthful Dossiers the Town has revealed. If they don’t lie, it’ll be that much faster for us to track them down with the death clues. Either way, we come out ahead. Someone has to start, and I’m willing to do it. My Dossier is: > [@](#): > > I have handled and fed a lot of snakes, alligators and crocodiles. > > I’ve wandered and built on an old, live Soviet bomb dump. > > My mother was a former NFL cheerleader. > > I am scared of moths. > > I was once bitten by a wild animal while visiting Dollywood. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/236 "2007-12-15T01:45:09Z")
First, **vote: faithfool** I believe this was a slip that a new player made. > [@faithfool](#): > > Sorry, sorry, sorry! I got the PM and thought I’d already sent it back. My head’s spinning over all this and I’m trying to keep up with here and the link Mtgman sent. Hopefully, I’ll have at least a sorta basic working knowledge of what’s going on and what I should do. Again, I apologize for the delay. Now I’m off to reading and the other confirming. I think **mtgman** recognized **faithfool** made a _huge_ slip before the game had even started, and made his post in an attempt to at least sort of balance things out. The link **mtgman** provided didn’t look like one that someone would need to “keep up” with. Also, what is with this “other confirming”? You hadn’t confirmed on the scum boards. I too am not entirely sure how we are supposed to catch scum by dossier unless there is some way that their info can be reliably revealed… They can just lie and the dead townies’ clues would end up revealing nothing. I’m not sure either how I feel about a full reveal at this point. I will reveal that I shared exactly one fact with exactly one other person, based on the public facts. That’s **storyteller** , as _I’ve travelled with royalty in torn T-shirt and jeans_. I have no idea what conclusions to draw from that, though. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/237 "2007-12-15T01:46:43Z")
bah. Forgot color. **vote: faithfool** Also, what do you think of the idea of having a lynched townie reveal his dossier in his death post? ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/238 "2007-12-15T02:38:25Z")
[QUOTE=NAF1138] The Day has been progressing nicely and some good discussion has already started when suddenly you are all stopped in your tracks. It is another vision akin to the one you recieved from the monks! This one is from Santo Rugger, here is what he has to say: We will be posting a link as soon as the late Mr. Rugger is able to find one. The link to the story got deleted when I made it a quote: [These ones sure could use some more ranch dressing, though!](http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=27432845&blogID=150534142) [/QUOTE] Yay an exorcism buddy. Too bad he’s dead. At any rate I assume the rest of his dossier is in the first paragraph. Thinks Zombies are funny etc. Anyone else have any dossier that matched something there? As for the rest of mine, I’m gonna hold off on them until the pro’s and cons are pondered a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/239 "2007-12-15T02:43:54Z")
Didn’t mean to keep the quoted text. Oh well. On the other hand I’m happy my first mafia experience didn’t result in a night one death. That would have been discouraging, though I did have a half formed death tale written in my head. It focused on how after many years of being rejected from attending the conference in favor of other managers, co-workers, underlings, temps, pets, etc. I was finally able to experience the joy of team-building. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636/240 "2007-12-15T03:15:53Z")
[QUOTE=ShadowFacts] I have no idea what to do about the Dossiers, which leads me to believe I should keep quiet about mine until I can figure it out. In the meantime: **Vote faithfool** to give her a feel for the game early. 😛 [/QUOTE] **faithfool** was the new person who mentioned she got a link in her opening PM, right? I didn’t get any links in my PM. **Vote faithfool** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-solve-it-mafia-game/429636.md?page=13)