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[JoshuaFH]

Mafia, as it stands, is something of an in-crowd thing. People not already in have the very real barrier of having to grasp the rules of Mafia in order to play, and this can be a daunting task to someone that has no idea what Mafia is or what it's about, so I've decided to write this tutorial to explain the basic rules as simply as I can, which will hopefully lower that barrier.

I will not be discussing strategy, metagaming, game balancing, or any of the special themed mafias, only the basic rules.


When someone starts a game of Mafia, that person is considered the GM of the mafia and is not a player, they only manage the players and enforce the rules.

Anyone may sign up for a Mafia, often by simply posting "in!" on the thread when it's in its beginning stages, and once the GM believes he has a satisfactory number of people, he will close the sign-up period and begin the game.

Mafia, to put it simply, is basically a large group of players, and some of those players are contacted by the GM at the beginning and told that they are the Mafia. Everyone else is contacted and told they are townspeople, or townies.

The objectives are simple: the Mafia's goal in the game is to kill every townsperson, and the townie's goal is to kill all the mafia.

The main differences between the two factions is that the Mafia are considered to be an Informed Minority, that is, all the Mafia know who eachother are, and can coordinate their efforts. The townspeople are known as the Uninformed Majority, that is, there are many more townspeople than there are Mafia, but none of the townspeople are informed as to who are townspeople and who are mafia, and have to use reasoning skills to deduce who the Mafia are.

The game itself is separated into rounds, called days, and between each day is a night.

Each day, all the players are allowed to talk in the thread. On top of this, the players are allowed to vote for people to lynch. By this, I mean that at the end of the day (determined by the GM), whomever has the most votes will be killed by the moderator, and then forbidden from play. The Town must use this method of killing players to try to eliminate all the Mafia, however, the Mafia can also use this to mislead the town, and direct the lynchings toward Town players.

At night, no one is allowed to talk in the thread (although PM'ing may still be allowed) and the Mafia are allowed to perform one Nightkill, that is, they are allowed to kill one player of their choosing, and that player is removed from play in the same way a lynched player is. It is through this method that the Mafia must try to eliminate all the Townspeople.

At the end of the night, a new day begins, and the process starts over. This will continue either until either all the Mafia are dead, or the Mafia have an undeniable advantage in votes.

On top of all that, depending on the Mafia one is playing in, players at the start of the game will be PM'd by the GM and given a special Role. That is, they will have special powers beyond being ordinary townspeople or mafia. These roles are too numerous to list, so it's best to consult with the local rules that the GM undoubtedly placed, and ask questions if you're confused about anything.

Lastly, be very certain to read the rules of every Mafia you plan to join, as any of the above might be altered in it's style of the house rules.

That, to my knowledge, is mafia in its most basic form. I hope I haven't overlooked anything.

For further help, you can ask for it here, or follow these links which explain further:

A Flash Animation that is very helpful and instructive.

Mafiascum's Newbie Guide

Mafia's occurring here on the forum have some hitherto unspoken rules which are often not mentioned, but everyone adheres to. These include:

-Never editing one's post.
-Never directly quote any private communication from the mod, including your role PM.
-Talking to other players after you've been killed.

[Kashyyk]

Yeh, This is good. I vote for a sticky.

[SHAD0Wdump]

Yeh, This is good. I vote for a sticky.

Seconded,a very informative tutorial without any unnecessary rubbish.

Sticky please.

[Mephansteras]

Good tutorial indeed. I also vote for a sticky of it.

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

Vote for a sticky.

Do we need to report the sticky needness to ToadyOne using the big red shiny button?

[SolarShado]

Cool, I might actually join one now that i know how to play

[webadict]

You forgot the part where I'm always mafia.

[ToonyMan]

You forgot the part where I'm always mafia.

doooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP.


I vote sticky as well for reasons unheard.

[Pandarsenic]

You forgot the part where I'm always mafia.

Naturally.

Also, Sticky Tiem Plx

[Zai]

I vote for sticky.

[Rysith]

I vote for sticky.

I think that Zai is bandwagoning. FoS Zai.

chaoticjosh's explanation is compelling, though there might want to be something in there about reading the rules, since a lot of the mafias here are complicated enough that reading the rules is a good "second step" after this tutorial. Vote Sticky

[Leafsnail]

Vote sticky too.  A concise and extremely easy to read guide, which just explains the very core.  Might have a go at mafia now.

[JoshuaFH]

Wow, something I wrote actually got stickied! Anyway, I fixed some minor grammar stuff, and added a sentence to the end that I think encapsulates Rysith's suggestion nicely.

[Leafsnail]

Would it be possible to add a small section with other common terms (Role check, role block) and possibly roles that are almost universal (some form of detective, some kind of hidden agent of the mafia)?

[webadict]

There are a ton of different roles that exist for Mafia. The following list shows several that come into play during many games. This list is nowhere near a complete list. The roles can differ vastly or be only Townies and Mafiosos.

Common Roles:
Townie - This role is the standard role for the Town. It means they have no powers.
Mafioso - This is the standard role for Mafia. t means they have no additional powers.
Cop - This role can inspect people at Night and learn their alignment. Occasionally, there will be different types of Cops, that will get different results than expected.
Common Types of Cops:

• Sane: This means your results are accurate.
• Paranoid: This Cop gets mafia for ALL inspections.
• Naive: This role gets town for ALL inspections.
• Insane: All inspections are the opposite. i.e. Townie gets mafia inspection.
• Random: Inspection result is always random.

Doctor - This role saves a player from being killed at Night.
Vigilante - This is a role that can kill at Night. They are, however, on the Town's side.
Roleblocker - This role stops a player from actioning at Night.
Godfather - This role is a Mafioso that gives a townie result for inspections.
Tracker - This role can tell whom a player targeted last Night.
Serial Killer - This role is on neither the town nor the mafia's side, but rather on their own side. They can kill at Night.
Survivor - This role is on neither the town nor the mafia's side, but must stay alive until the end of the game.
Bodyguard - This role guards a player at Night. If that player is attacked, the attacker and this role die instead.
Super-Saint - When this player is lynched, the person to hammer him dies.
Werewolf - A type of mafia. Occasionally, they can infect others to make them join their side.
Cult - Another type of mafia. Usually starts with one person and grows. They do not kill, but instead brainwash.
Jester - A role that tries to lynch themselves.
Redirecter - This role makes a person target a new target.
Magistrate - This role can stop a person from being lynched.
Twin - This role becomes twins with another player. When players target one Twin, they will instead target the other, and vice versa.

Terminology:
Scum: Term for mafia, werwolves, cultists, and sks.
MC (Massclaim): All players state their role and any actions they have taken.
Hammer: Putting the last vote on that person to make them lynched.
FoS (Finger of Suspicion): This is less threatening than a vote, but shows that you are suspicious of this person.
Lurking: Hiding and not contributing to the conversation.
OMGUS (Oh My God, U Suck): Voting someone after they vote you. Usually because they vote you.
CV (Cross Vote): A term in 3p where 2 players vote each other and let the third decide.
NK (Night Kill): Term for kills done at Night. i.e. I'm going to be NKed.
RB (Roleblock): Term for being blocked at Night. i.e. I was RBed.
One-Shot: This can be added to the front of your role. It means that instead, you can only use your role once.

I'll add more later.