What is mafia?

Mafia is a game that (usually) consists of two sides: the town and the mafia. The town is a group of players who do not know each other, but make up most of the population of players. The mafia is a small group of players who do know each other. There's two ways the game is played on MPFG, but for now, we'll just explain night and day, and go into weeks later.

How does "day" and "night" work?

During the day, a lynch is held. Players may vote for any player they feel is mafia. Day ends when a player obtains a majority of the votes or has the most votes when deadline is hit. Then night begins. Players may not post when night starts.

During night, the mafia (who is usually unable to talk during the day), convenes and decides who they want to kill. When they decide, they will PM the GO with their choice for their hit.

There will also be players on the side of the town who have night roles that perform certain functions as well, so they will send their actions to the GO as well. Mafiates also sometimes have additional roles than simply performing night kills.

Once all the night roles are in, day begins again. The cycle continues until the game ends.

When does the game end, and how is a winner declared?

The game ends when either the entire town or the entire mafia is dead. The winners of the game are whoever made up the town or mafia, alive or dead. Effectively, that often means when the mafia reaches a day when their team makes up half the town, they cannot be lynched anymore and won the game.

Does the game begin with day or night?

Usually night, although some games will start with day. This depends on how the game is designed.

What is a role?

A "role" is who you are in the mafia game, and what abilities or powers you have, if any.

What are some common town roles with night functions?

Doctor/Bodyguard, Town Aligned. Each night, you can protect one player of your choice from night kill.

Police Officer, Town Aligned. Each night, you can investigate a player and see if they are mafia or town.

See the []Role Bank[] for more.

How do I vote and when can I? How do I remove my vote?

You vote in the following fashion: Vote: PlayerName in bold.

In the day/night format, you can only vote whenever it is day.

To remove a vote, post: Unvote: Player.

Do I have to include the name of the person I am unvoting?

No, but it's rough on the mod doing the vote count not to, so it's much preferred that you do so. Some mods will require you to, though.

How do you figure out if someone is mafia or not?

Here's a list of some mafia-like behaviour:[

    * ][]Quickly trying to end the day, by hopping onto all the lynch bandwagons.[
    * ]Not contributing or excessively lurking.[
    * ]Posting bad logic, or posting ideas that would hurt the town if they were done.[
    * ]Protecting, or refusing to vote for someone who turns out to be mafia.[
    * ]Someone who’s fishing for role information.[

]

There is of course far more to it than that. Also, there are times when citizens exhibit scummy behaviour, so just because someone is displaying one of these traits, does not mean they are mafia. The mafia also will try to avoid playing like this in order to look town aligned. So you’ll have to look at the bigger picture within the context.

What is a "citizen?"

Another word for townie.

How are roles given out in a game?

Randomly.

When would there be more than two sides in a Mafia game?

Well, technically, a Serial Killer would be their own side. And you could have weird things like cults. These forms of alignment will not appear in beginner games.

What's a serial killer?

A Serial Killer (SK) is a single player who's goal is to be the last player standing. Each night, the SK can kill one player of their choice. The SK wins when he or she is the last player alive.

What is a cult as a separate alignment?

A cult is a separate alignment group that is not allied to the town or the mafia. The cult can attempt to add one player of their choice to the cult each night. There's many variations on cults. Sometimes, the cult can only take vanilla townies into the cult and sometimes, it's done randomly with a percentage of success. There is usually a cult leader and if the cult leader dies the cult disbands. The cult wins when they consist of more than half of the town.

What's a vanilla townie?

A player allied to the town with no abilities whatsoever.

Where can I find more definitions of roles?

Scroll down some more for the Role Bank and Filing Cabinet of games.

What does "scum/scummy" mean?

To be scum means to be mafia aligned or another non-town alignment. Scummy means to behave or to be like mafia or another non-town alignment without necessarily having that alignment.

What is a FoS?

A "FoS" is an abbreviation for "Finger of Suspicion." FoSing someone means that you think that they are very scummy. It (usually) has no effect on the game and doesn’t count for anything. It’s a way of showing you are suspicious of someone.

What is a bandwagon?

A bandwagon is a quick succession of votes on a player, usually done with little or no reasoning. It’s considered a bad thing.

What should I avoid doing that is against the rules?

You'll need the check the rules post by the GO, but in general the most common infractions are editing posts, posting in invisible text, posting at night, posting after death, quoting messages from the GO, and discussing the game outside of the thread. Punishments vary from GO to GO, but usually posting in invisible text, editing posts, posting at night will get you get you "warnings" and not killed. Multiple warnings will get you mod-killed.

Quoting messages from the GO and discussing the game outside of the thread without permission is usually instant mod-kill. Posting after death can get you in trouble for messing with someone's game and set up, and possible temporary blacklisting or point reduction from the future Mafia Season Championship.

There are more than what I listed here. Be sure to read the rules of all the games you play.

What is a "mod-kill?"

A mod-kill is when a player breaks the rules of the game enough to warrant having to be killed in the game. People are most commonly mod-killed for posting their role PMs.

Am I allowed to vote for my own mafia partners if I'm mafia, and vice versa?

Yes. There are times when abandoning a mafia partner is the right play or simply voting to make one's self look more innocent. Sometimes, you may be the target of mafia abandonment as well. It’s a valid strategy to look more town.

Do I win if my alignment wins, even if I'm dead?

Yes. (Unless the GO states otherwise in his rules, which is a rare occurrence.)

What is a "mass claim?"

A mass claim is where every single player in the game claims what their role is. (Of course, some players will be lying as claiming a scum role will usually get you killed.) Mass claims are risky because they can expose all of the town's powerful roles such as doctors and cops. However, some set-ups, due to theme or the way they are structured can be broken by a mass claim leading to an easy town victory. (For example, if there were no "good" characters for the mafia aligned players to claim because they were all were taken, the game would basically be over right there.) Most games nowadays have reduced the chance of their game getting broken by a mass claim.

I don't enjoy my game and don't care about it. Can I mess around and do whatever I want?

That'd be a very immature action. If you're not enjoying your game, request to be replaced instead of ruining everyone else's fun.

Can I get myself mod-killed to help the town/mafia, or for some other reason?

No, it is very, very poor sportsmanship and abuse of the rules to get yourself mod-killed. You can get blacklisted from all Mafia games for intentionally getting yourself mod-killed. We do understand accidents happen, but there's no excuse for abusing the rules intentionally.

What should I do if I disagree with the GO on a game ruling?

Remember, the GO is the GO and makes the decision on their game. However, if you do want to go that route, it is much wiser to PM the GO about it instead of posting in the thread. (This is different than something simple and minor...like say, the vote count being wrong or the front page not updated.)

How do Classic games work?

Instead of night and day, Classic games work with weeks. There is no night, and you can always post. There are only certain times you can vote for lynching, though. Classic games always only feature the mafia, one PO, and one BG.

If I have a game that is similar, or like Mafia, who should I show it to to see whether or not I should post it on the Mafia sign up on the list or simply run it?

You probably should ask The Unwritten or Ichthys_II if it at all possible at first; if you can't get a hold of them, you can also ask Skyhunter or zammm. It's kind of a mixed issue...if it's not really a Mafia game, it belongs in MPFG, but if it is, it needs to be on one of the Mafia lists.

I need help designing a mafia game! Who can help me?

While you can get anyone to help you design your game, The Unwritten or Ichthys_II will almost always be available to help you design your game. However, sometimes we have a lot of mafia projects or work to do in which case it may be faster to ask someone else with more free time if you're in a hurry. Just make sure you ask someone who is experienced in designing your game.

I'm really addicted to mafia, and Paranoia Paradise doesn't have enough games for me!

You'll have to go offsite; this is where all the mafia games on Wizards of the Coast are played to our knowledge. Secondly, you could always increase activity by bringing more players in, allowing us to hold more games. Of course, we wouldn't want you to be a pest or annoying about it.

Where can I sign up to host a mafia game? Can I just make one?

 No, you cannot just make one. You have to wait your turn, like everyone else. We will contact you when you are allowed to host your game.

How many games can I play at one time?

There is no game cap at the moment, but you should only sign up in as many games as you can reasonably play. It’s your own responsibility towards the other players that you can keep up with all your games.

What is a "bastard/evil" role/game/GO?

In the context of mafia, it means a tricky, confusing, or misleading role, game, or Game Operator. An example of an evil role would be a Paranoid Cop, which is a cop who only gets guilty results, as it is very misleading to the poor person who gets it. A evil game would be a game with lots of misleading roles. An evil GO would be a GO who is known for making bastard games. Bastard modding (general term) will mostly occur in expert games.

Am I allowed to sign up for a game more than once with a MuP?

No. This is a severe breaking of the rules and can result in some serious punishment like blacklisting from playing games and/or modding. You can ruin someone's entire game by doing this. If you have a MuP who's town, and an account who's mafia, the game can be over right there.

MuPs can be checked via IP by request; so this is a very dumb and risky thing to do. (It has never come up to our knowledge, though.)

Only using one account, can I sign up with a MuP instead of my regular posting account?

There is nothing prohibiting joining a game with a MuP instead of your regular account. It might even possibly lead to interesting results.

What should I do if I need to be replaced?

Inform the GO as soon as possible, even if you're not going for a little while. It can be a huge pain to find a replacement. Also, if you know you're going away or won't be able to post, don't go sign up for a game you'll have to leave.

How does replacement work?

Players that didn’t make it into a game at first, will be put on the replacement list. This also counts for players who join after the game has started already. Players who are replacement wait for someone else to drop out from the game. Once this happens, the GO will contact the replacement and send them their role including all additional information. Replacements are often required, since players drop out for different reasons.

What should I do when I feel being attacked personally?

When you feel someone is attacking you personally, make this known to the player who is attacking you. If necessary, contact the GO or GM’s about it. Mafia is a game and should be treated like it. Discussions might get quite heated from time to time, but always try to remain within the spirit of the game. Personal attacks are disrespectful and have nothing to do with mafia. Personal attacks might also result in penalties, like blacklisting.