I'd like to add to and sort of extend
Jim's post and say that
everybody is considered scummy at some point in the game (and if they aren't, they should). Your job is to look like you're Town, no matter what side you're on. The more you look Town, the less likely you are to be lynched, and the more likely somebody ELSE will be lynched. Both of which are good no matter what side you're on. Everybody is viewed as scum by the Town, even other Town. Mafia is a game of suspicion, not investigation. Everybody is guilty until proven innocent, including you and me. The Town players try to confuse people to find a scum-slip. The scum are trying to do the same to throw suspicion off themselves, and to mimic the Town. Don't get confused by anybody. If you're scum, that means your death. If you're Town, that means time is wasted chasing you. (This is meant as a friendly piece of advice. I am not the most experienced, take all of this with a grain of salt)
RVS, I believe; feel free to correct me on this since you ‘knows all there is to know about the game of mafia’; stands for Random Vote Stage… yes? Then requiring a structured response seems counter intuitive.
Sorry if i wandered a bit there.
I believe the point behind it is that the setup is random. So there's no point in going after somebody specific (that'd be bringing feelings over from the metagame). The questions are really meant as prodding, to get people to break down or slip up. And because you have no idea who the scum is, you go after a random person. And of course, since the scum wants to act like Town, they follow suit. Any kind of question can be enough to get some people to crack.
And continuing on, it appears that
supercharazard and
breadbocks are the only ones that have yet to post. As long as they at least show up, we're good.
But until then...
Toaster, nobody's picked on you yet. You and
Jim are to be mentors here, but at the same time trying to further your own goals as Mafia or Town. How would you see that interfering with your goals if you were scum? If you were scum, how far would you go to advise the players versus ensuring your own victory as the Mafia? What if
Jim were the other scum? (This is also partially to
Jim as well)
(By the way, I try to bold names when I mention one, for easy reference)