How to Play Mafia
Mafia is a simple concept to grasp and is fun to play once you get the hang of it, but it can be frustrating, challenging, and confusing for beginners. Hopefully, this thread will help if you don't know how to play, but are interested in doing so. I also recommend talking to experienced players as well because anyone who has played before will tell you that the best way to learn is by playing more games.
Signing Up
If you're around the Mafia forum enough, you will notice sign-ups threads going up every once in a while. To sign up for a game, enter the thread and follow the host's instructions (which usually are to post stating your intentions to play). You are pretty much guaranteed a spot by doing this, unless there are no spaces left or the host doesn't want you in their game. In this case, you might be put in the replacement list to replace in for an inactive person.
Role
When the game starts, you will receive a PM from the host that is your role. Your role is who you are in the game. It tells you your character (99% of the games here have a theme, so therefore, you will be a person from that theme), alignment, your goals, and what kind of abilities you have. You are not allowed to quote this information with anyone or screenshot this information to anyone unless specified in your role. You can, however, give details about your role in the thread, but please be careful to not break the host's rules by doing so. Note: Your role doesn't mean you roleplay, unless it says so in your role (which sometimes can be something known as a post restriction).
Alignment
There are three main alignments in the game of Mafia - Town, Mafia, and Independent (any other colour). The majority of players in the game will be Town aligned (Typically around 70%, but this varies from game to game). Their focus is to eliminate all threats (namely Mafia and hostile Independents) before they lose control of the voting majority.
A small group of players form the Mafia (Mafia Aligned). Every night, the Mafia has the privilege to kill one player in the game. The Mafia wins when they make up at least half of the players remaining because of their ability to make a kill every night phase. Please be aware that the Mafia know the identities of one another (with a few exceptions) and therefore, have the ability to communicate and strategise with each other. This is different from being TownAligned because if you are a Town player, or 'townie', you have absolutely no idea what alignment everyone else is unless you find this out via an ability in your role.
Then there is Independent Aligned, which speaks for itself. Typically, you're in it for yourself and are trying to get rid of everyone else. Note: Just because there is more than one Individual in the game does NOT mean they are aligned. In some cases, there are 'other factions' that don't fall into Innocent or Mafia
Day Phase
The day phase usually lasts about 24 hours, typically 36 or 48 during Day 1, but it can be much shorter depending on the outcome, but can also be extended under extraordinary circumstances. During the Day, the Town (all of the players in the game) will hope to achieve a lynch. A lynch is when the majority of the players vote for the same person to die. To vote for someone who you want to lynch (and if the majority is reached on that person, they will be killed), you must post this: Vote: Name. You can also post it as this: Lynch: Name. You must bold your vote so that the host is able to see it, which again, helps the host out quite a bit when tallying the votes (creating what is known as a 'vote count').
Once majority has been reached on a certain player, a write-up will be made by the host and he/she will make a post that recaps what has happened in Day. Usually, the person who the town just lynched will end up being killed (because that's the purpose of lynching them). However, the person who you just lynched may have a special ability that could save them, or another person could have an ability that they could have used to save them. Regardless, the whole point of Day is to get together as a Town and try to lynch the non-Innocents. On the contrary, please realize that you don't know who the Mafia/Individuals are, and so they will try and blend in with the Innocents. This means that they could be guiding you to lynch one of your own, so that's where 'scumhunting' comes in (trying to find out who the Scum/Mafia are based on their gameplay).
Night Phase
You may notice that there is far more activity in the thread during the Day than there is at Night. This is because everything that occurs at Night takes place through PM. In your role, it will say if you have a special power or ability that you can use at Night, and if it's Night, that's the time to use it. In order to use your role, PM the host with what you wish to do. Please note that a role shouldn't be taken lightly - it can affect the entire game. Also, if you have a role but don't wish to use it (you don't have to use it unless specified that you must), let the host know anyways so that he/she isn't waiting on you.
Once the deadline has passed (the host will specify the deadline, don't worry), a post will be made that recaps the events that occurred during Night. If your role doesn't involve killing someone or being killed, it won't be revealed what you did (so for example, if you chose to investigate someone, it won't say that in the writeup).
You won't really be able to learn any more without jumping in and playing a few rounds, and this guide doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the nuance of the game, but hopefully new Mafia hopefuls are reading this and thinking that it really isn't as confusing as before.
Addendum - Sample Frequently Used Roles (Used during Night unless stated)
Cop - Can determine the alignment of a player
Vigilante - Can kill a player
Watcher - Can determine if a player is visited and who by
Tracker - Can determine if a player visited another player
Bodyguard - Will protect a player from standard killing actions
Bus Driver - Can swap the actions that target two separate players
Jailkeeper - Will both protect and roleblock a player (Other variants exist)
Roleblocker - Will prevent a target player from using their role
Rolecop - Can determine the role of a player
Godfather - Has final word for mafia night actions, and will typically return favourable results to investigation
Strongman - Can kill a player regardless of any protective effects on them
Blue roles are practically always town, orange are alignment neutral and red are typically mafia. This list is in no way exhaustive!
(Credit to dH of WrestlingForum who wrote the original version of this guide).
Mafia is a simple concept to grasp and is fun to play once you get the hang of it, but it can be frustrating, challenging, and confusing for beginners. Hopefully, this thread will help if you don't know how to play, but are interested in doing so. I also recommend talking to experienced players as well because anyone who has played before will tell you that the best way to learn is by playing more games.
Signing Up
If you're around the Mafia forum enough, you will notice sign-ups threads going up every once in a while. To sign up for a game, enter the thread and follow the host's instructions (which usually are to post stating your intentions to play). You are pretty much guaranteed a spot by doing this, unless there are no spaces left or the host doesn't want you in their game. In this case, you might be put in the replacement list to replace in for an inactive person.
Role
When the game starts, you will receive a PM from the host that is your role. Your role is who you are in the game. It tells you your character (99% of the games here have a theme, so therefore, you will be a person from that theme), alignment, your goals, and what kind of abilities you have. You are not allowed to quote this information with anyone or screenshot this information to anyone unless specified in your role. You can, however, give details about your role in the thread, but please be careful to not break the host's rules by doing so. Note: Your role doesn't mean you roleplay, unless it says so in your role (which sometimes can be something known as a post restriction).
Alignment
There are three main alignments in the game of Mafia - Town, Mafia, and Independent (any other colour). The majority of players in the game will be Town aligned (Typically around 70%, but this varies from game to game). Their focus is to eliminate all threats (namely Mafia and hostile Independents) before they lose control of the voting majority.
A small group of players form the Mafia (Mafia Aligned). Every night, the Mafia has the privilege to kill one player in the game. The Mafia wins when they make up at least half of the players remaining because of their ability to make a kill every night phase. Please be aware that the Mafia know the identities of one another (with a few exceptions) and therefore, have the ability to communicate and strategise with each other. This is different from being TownAligned because if you are a Town player, or 'townie', you have absolutely no idea what alignment everyone else is unless you find this out via an ability in your role.
Then there is Independent Aligned, which speaks for itself. Typically, you're in it for yourself and are trying to get rid of everyone else. Note: Just because there is more than one Individual in the game does NOT mean they are aligned. In some cases, there are 'other factions' that don't fall into Innocent or Mafia
Day Phase
The day phase usually lasts about 24 hours, typically 36 or 48 during Day 1, but it can be much shorter depending on the outcome, but can also be extended under extraordinary circumstances. During the Day, the Town (all of the players in the game) will hope to achieve a lynch. A lynch is when the majority of the players vote for the same person to die. To vote for someone who you want to lynch (and if the majority is reached on that person, they will be killed), you must post this: Vote: Name. You can also post it as this: Lynch: Name. You must bold your vote so that the host is able to see it, which again, helps the host out quite a bit when tallying the votes (creating what is known as a 'vote count').
Once majority has been reached on a certain player, a write-up will be made by the host and he/she will make a post that recaps what has happened in Day. Usually, the person who the town just lynched will end up being killed (because that's the purpose of lynching them). However, the person who you just lynched may have a special ability that could save them, or another person could have an ability that they could have used to save them. Regardless, the whole point of Day is to get together as a Town and try to lynch the non-Innocents. On the contrary, please realize that you don't know who the Mafia/Individuals are, and so they will try and blend in with the Innocents. This means that they could be guiding you to lynch one of your own, so that's where 'scumhunting' comes in (trying to find out who the Scum/Mafia are based on their gameplay).
Night Phase
You may notice that there is far more activity in the thread during the Day than there is at Night. This is because everything that occurs at Night takes place through PM. In your role, it will say if you have a special power or ability that you can use at Night, and if it's Night, that's the time to use it. In order to use your role, PM the host with what you wish to do. Please note that a role shouldn't be taken lightly - it can affect the entire game. Also, if you have a role but don't wish to use it (you don't have to use it unless specified that you must), let the host know anyways so that he/she isn't waiting on you.
Once the deadline has passed (the host will specify the deadline, don't worry), a post will be made that recaps the events that occurred during Night. If your role doesn't involve killing someone or being killed, it won't be revealed what you did (so for example, if you chose to investigate someone, it won't say that in the writeup).
You won't really be able to learn any more without jumping in and playing a few rounds, and this guide doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the nuance of the game, but hopefully new Mafia hopefuls are reading this and thinking that it really isn't as confusing as before.
Addendum - Sample Frequently Used Roles (Used during Night unless stated)
Cop - Can determine the alignment of a player
Vigilante - Can kill a player
Watcher - Can determine if a player is visited and who by
Tracker - Can determine if a player visited another player
Bodyguard - Will protect a player from standard killing actions
Bus Driver - Can swap the actions that target two separate players
Jailkeeper - Will both protect and roleblock a player (Other variants exist)
Roleblocker - Will prevent a target player from using their role
Rolecop - Can determine the role of a player
Godfather - Has final word for mafia night actions, and will typically return favourable results to investigation
Strongman - Can kill a player regardless of any protective effects on them
Blue roles are practically always town, orange are alignment neutral and red are typically mafia. This list is in no way exhaustive!
(Credit to dH of WrestlingForum who wrote the original version of this guide).
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