Mafia! Under Cover of Darkness - Confirmation & Discussion

[John]

I just sent Tyler a message on Facebook.

[Lions]

I think that if Tyler doesn't check in today, then I'll do a little rework of the setup and we'll start the game tomorrow. I'll send out new role PM's to everyone but keep all the characters the same. There will be no need to reconfirm in this thread.

[richard_v]

I think that if Tyler doesn't check in today, then I'll do a little rework of the setup and we'll start the game tomorrow. I'll send out new role PM's to everyone but keep all the characters the same. There will be no need to reconfirm in this thread.

Can I still join?

I could take Tyler's spot?

[Lions]

I think that if Tyler doesn't check in today, then I'll do a little rework of the setup and we'll start the game tomorrow. I'll send out new role PM's to everyone but keep all the characters the same. There will be no need to reconfirm in this thread.

Can I still join?

I could take Tyler's spot?

This would be perfect, yes! I'll have you as first alternate and if Tyler doesn't show up, you can play instead. Thanks!

[richard_v]

I think that if Tyler doesn't check in today, then I'll do a little rework of the setup and we'll start the game tomorrow. I'll send out new role PM's to everyone but keep all the characters the same. There will be no need to reconfirm in this thread.

Can I still join?

I could take Tyler's spot?

This would be perfect, yes! I'll have you as first alternate and if Tyler doesn't show up, you can play instead. Thanks!

Yup, no problem!

[John]

Thanks for pitching in, Dylan! It'll be great to have you, and I'm happy Frank doesn't have to lose any of his hard work.

[richard_v]

Thanks for pitching in, Dylan! It'll be great to have you, and I'm happy Frank doesn't have to lose any of his hard work.

No problem! I've never played before though, so this could get interesting lol

[Alleghenies]

Thanks for pitching in, Dylan! It'll be great to have you, and I'm happy Frank doesn't have to lose any of his hard work.

No problem! I've never played before though, so this could get interesting lol

I've never played this game before either, Dylan. So we'll see how it goes.

[richard_v]

I'm here, will edit my signature when I get the chance!

[Lions]

Welcome, Dylan. Hopefully, everything is ok with Tyler.

The game has begun!

[Borealis]

Revenge for O-o-o-scar!!!

[Lions]

Since we have a larger contingent of new players to this game, I'll occasionally give some lessons about how Mafia works. These hints will use "Mafia" as the evil faction, but you can substitute Werewolves, Scum, F-Heads, or Borealis fans to suit your personal taste.

Lesson 1: Day/Night
The game is divided up into day and night phases. Each day phase is a time for the players to discuss their suspicions. If you're Town, you'll want to try to figure out who is Mafia so you can vote for them to be lynched, as that's your way of eliminating them. If you're Mafia, you'll want to try to blend in so that you can get one of the town lynched. On future days, people will have the previous voting history and discussion to look back on as the alignmnet of deceased players are gradually revealed. Day 1 is usually a bit slow as no one has any night action results yet, but it's a great time to discuss so that you have something to look back on in future days. It is generally to the town's advantage to get as much discussion going as possible so as to get an idea of who's trying to hide things. When the day is over, I'll request you PM me your night actions, if you have one, and then process those before getting the next day started.

During the night phase, there's no open discussion. Some or all of you will have night actions which allow you to learn something about or take action against the other players in the game. This is when the Mafia will make their kill. Since the Mafia typically know who's on their team, the night kill is usually a townie.

Note that you're welcome to PM other players in the game, but that communication is at your own risk. That information is hidden from others not in the PM, so it can be a good way to hide information that is important, but as a townie, it also runs the risk that you reveal something to the Mafia that results in your death with no other townies able to piece together clues about what happened. So be careful about what you share privately.

[Borealis]

Since we have a larger contingent of new players to this game, I'll occasionally give some lessons about how Mafia works. These hints will use "Mafia" as the evil faction, but you can substitute Werewolves, Scum, F-Heads, or Borealis fans to suit your personal taste.

[Lions]

Lesson 2: Vote: Scummy McScumpants (Evil McMafiaman)
Voting for the lynch candidate is one of the most important things that occurs during the game. The voting process is unique to the game in that both factions contribute towards the outcome. The town will be doing their best to vote for someone that looks like scum to them, while the Mafia will be doing their best to get the town to vote for someone they know isn't scum. Since town doesn't know who else is town, and the mafia do know who else is mafia, this is a prime opportunity for misinformation.

Online Mafia is a little different from in-person Mafia in that the voting record is very easy to review in the future since it's all posted in the day thread. It's all there in written form. Part of why editing posts in an online Mafia game is such a strict no-no is maintaining the integrity of that record. Sometimes, strong explanations for a vote can lead one to believe a fellow player is town even without additional information to prove it. At other times, a weak defense, or contradictions that come out during the conversation, will lead someone to look like scum. How someone handles the pressure of being a target can reveal a lot about them. Not only can Mafia make mistakes that allow town to catch them, it's also a chance for townies to reveal themselves to each other through behavioral clues and statements that can be fact checked later. Of course, the Mafia will try to steer the vote towards someone they want to get rid of, too.

[Lions]

Lesson 3: Night Actions
Some or all of you were assigned a night action as part of your character assignment. In Mafia parlance, these are referred to as Power Roles. At the end of each day, I'll submit a request for your night actions. If you don't have one, you've got no obligation to do anything other than wait for the next day to start and hope you live through the night. If you have more than one, you'll have to specify which one(s) you'd like to use and the target of each.

If you do have a night action, you'll have 24 hours to send me a PM with the name of the player you would like to target for that night, or a PM indicating you do not wish to use your night action that night (provided not using it is an option for you - check the wording for "may" vs. "must"). Once I recieve all night actions, I can proceed with preparation for the next day.

Everyone who submitted a night action will get a PM response with an indication of the success of your action. Some of you may even get a PM if you were the target of a night action (e.g. if you're killed). The new day thread will contain some information about what happened the previous night, and reveal the alignment of any players who were killed since the start of the previous day (including the lynchee).

From a mafia perspective, power roles typically include an ability to kill at night and various means of thwarting town power roles. The night kill is the one power role that is almost always transferrable upon death, so as long as there's a mafia alive, you can expect a night kill.

From a town perspective, power roles are what allows town to validate their suspicions of other players or even thwart the mafia's attempts. It's every bit as important for town players to identify other friendly players as it is to identify the mafia, since that allows town to coordinate the daily vote better. It's also particularly important so that town doesn't inadvertently vote off a power role, which means that players who are getting close to being lynched will sometimes claim a power role in an effort to survive. This can be a valid tactic for a town power role, but also a way for scum to try to survive another day, although the earlier in the game the claim is made, the easier it is to validate it.

Online Mafia has a greater variety of power roles available than an in-person game since it's possible to layer results and have those roles interact in ways that would reveal too much in person.