General Discussion & Mafia Ideas, Balancing, and Critiques

[Fippe94]

I was under the impression that claiming mafia results in mod kill, regardless of wether you are mafia or not. Looking at some of the latest mafia, this does not seem to be the case. I am pretty sure that used to be a rule though (?)

[CleanOnion]

My impression was that people should be allowed to claim whatever they want.

In a situation like you have described, a mafia member would have two options:

1. Refuse to claim mafia.
2. Claim mafia and comply with the exploit.

In a situation like this, to not comply with the plan would be to reveal yourself as mafia - you don't want to be modkilled. Therefore, in order to not gamethrow, a mafia member should claim mafia and remain hidden (and then "admit" to actually being civvy once the plan is resolved.)

Mafia players who claim mafia in this situation are not gamethrowing and are remaining hidden. Mafia players who refuse to comply with the exploit to avoid being modkilled are essentially outing themselves as mafia, and are hence gamethrowing.

TL;DR: no

[Demagog]

So what I am thinking is a mafia with no roles besides mafia and civilian. Mafia members won't know who each other are. Lynches and night kills happen at the same time. Lynch voting is private by pm'ing the host. Mafia can accidentally kill each other. Night kill is random between the mafia targets or majority if they choose the same person, but civ targets always trump mafia targets. Each night phase players will get a choice of options to hopefully sway things towards their favor. Hopefully the options will change each night. The lore will support the gameplay. People will be required to post at least once a day phase, and not voting is not allowed. You will also be able to call someone out once a day phase to make them post. Thoughts?

[Submachine]

So what I am thinking is a mafia with no roles besides mafia and civilian. Mafia members won't know who each other are. Lynches and night kills happen at the same time. Lynch voting is private by pm'ing the host. Mafia can accidentally kill each other. Night kill is random between the mafia targets or majority if they choose the same person, but civ targets always trump mafia targets. Each night phase players will get a choice of options to hopefully sway things towards their favor. Hopefully the options will change each night. The lore will support the gameplay. People will be required to post at least once a day phase, and not voting is not allowed. You will also be able to call someone out once a day phase to make them post. Thoughts?

What would be the civvy:mafia ratio? It's an interesting idea, you should test it with 4-5 people in chat one time. (Testgames should definitely be played for such new meta, I think)

[Demagog]

I'd probably start with the typical 1/5 that we use. Mafia can't really interact but there is no easy way for civs to ID mafia... both sides have a pretty big disadvantage compared to usual games.

[Submachine]

I'd probably start with the typical 1/5 that we use. Mafia can't really interact but there is no easy way for civs to ID mafia... both sides have a pretty big disadvantage compared to usual games.

Nah, the civvies often deal with problems like this. Sometimes the cop gets killed Night 1, then the doctor fails to save anyone. It would maybe equalize things a bit.

edit: It doesn't really work though. In mafia 44 one mafia would publicly reveal themselves to gather the team together. It worked, then it was like normal mafia again.

[Demagog]

Except a civ could do that too and then tell everyone who else claimed to be mafia.

[Submachine]

Except a civ could do that too and then tell everyone who else claimed to be mafia.

As I mentioned, it's something that already happened. The civs indeed tried to interfere, but it ended up with the mafia gathering together and all the civs who fake-claimed mafia being lynched (including the mafia member who started it). That one involved role abilities though, and it was also a first. It's not impossible though to correctly guess which claimant is a real mafia member and who's bluffing. And from then it's also not hard to hint some false informations to the civs.

By writing this down, I am making sure that people who will play in such setup can read this. I do not say the thing above because it's always working, but because it's better if the players are aware of all possible strategies and counter-strategies.

[Demagog]

Well if it is a major concern, a rule can simply state that no one may publicly claim to be mafia.

[Espithel]

So what I am thinking is a mafia with no roles besides mafia and civilian. Mafia members won't know who each other are. Lynches and night kills happen at the same time. Lynch voting is private by pm'ing the host. Mafia can accidentally kill each other. Night kill is random between the mafia targets or majority if they choose the same person, but civ targets always trump mafia targets. Each night phase players will get a choice of options to hopefully sway things towards their favor. Hopefully the options will change each night. The lore will support the gameplay. People will be required to post at least once a day phase, and not voting is not allowed. You will also be able to call someone out once a day phase to make them post. Thoughts?

The mafia I am about to host is similar, but quite similar to what you've suggested.
It's a fixing of mafia 46 - a nearly-purely no-role mafia with 5 doctors. It failed horribly.

The issue with elements mafia in general is just how many sheeples there are. A minority - a handful, even - of people actually progress the game. The rest just nod along and don't think for themselves.

That's why we kinda need all these special roles; people don't scumhunt without them.

[rob77dp]

Restrict and eliminate out-of-thread and non-team-pad (i.e. - a mafia pad by organizer) or game-organizer-specific-pads (maybe scripted roles like Masons or such).

Secret, private, and backroom dealings in chat PM and forum PM are way beyond what mafia games are meant to be and quite frankly it sours me that such craptastic craptactics are employed by players I would hold in higher regard than that. A lot of the blame is on the player initiating such crud but a good deal lays at the feet of us other players who respond to and engage in such underhanded playstyle grind my gears.

NO this is not because I am out D1 in current game. If you look my style adjusted while an active civ in previous game where Root's rules BANNED such activity. If players want to do chat-style mafia then go play that style somewhere that it isn't based on a forum intended to be a forum game.

(Note: I am a bit heated right now but tried to be honest and sincere above - I reserve the right to come back later and edit the heck out of this post. Thanks)

[Fippe94]

You can't blame players for using strategies that are within the rules. Limiting stuff is up to the organizer, while the players are (and should be) free to use anything allowed.