The Official USMB Mafia Signups Thread #1

[Wake]

Hello everone! I'm looking to start a new game series in this forum based on the popular message board game known as The Mafia. In order to start the very first official Mafia game on USMB, we need a signups thread for new players to sign up and play. Mafia is a very versatile game, and I'm planning to run it so that people can take their time with it. Here's a few ground rules if you're looking to play:

• Mafia's made to be played on a messageboard thread. To play you simply post in the game thread.

• The game's broken into two teams. The good guys (Townies), and the bad guys (Scum).

• If you're starting the game as a Townie, you won't know the true identities of the other players in the game. You'll have to figure it out amongst yourselves. As Scum, you'll know who you and your team members are, and you'll work together to deceive and kill the Townies. Playing as Scum is incredibly fun.

• It's Town's goal to discover and kill all the Scum. All Scum needs to do is equal or outnumber Town's numbers.

• Townies and Scum in general have no abilities ("Vanilla"). However, there are some Power Roles that players can have that give them certain abilities. We'll use very little power roles this game if any.

• The game is broken into two phases: Day and Night. During the Day all you guys need to do is talk and decide on who to lynch. It's standard Mafia gameplay for players, like in the show Survivor, figure out who to kill by casting votes. If one player receives a majority vote that player dies and his/her true identity is revealed. This information is vital for the rest of the Townies in order to figure out who the Scum are. During the Day Scum will be doing their best to blend in and trick you into voting for other Townies. You vote like this: VOTE: Intense. You can change your vote as much as you want before a majority vote is reached, or you can choose to not vote at all. If a majority vote isn't reached by all players and the time limit expires, no one gets killed. Not lynching a player helps Scum, though.

• After a majority vote is reached and a player dies, Day turns to Night, and the thread is either locked or players aren't allowed to post on it because they're sleeping. During the Night the Scum start getting active, and they decide which person they're going to kill, and then follow through with it. Generally, one of the Scum members carries out the hit. After that victim dies and his or her identity is revealed, Day starts over again until the game resolves.

• The Day phase usually lasts at least one whole, real-life week. During that time you can post as often or scarcely as you want, but a really good game requires activity. You can post whatever you want, but a certain level of skill is required in keeping from looking suspicious. Use your wits to change the outcome of the game. It'll require a lot of thought and patience, but can be very, very fun, too.




That's the gist of it. It's a lot to take in at first, but during the 2nd and 3rd games it gets real easy, like riding a bicycle. Mafia can also take on any theme or changes in gameplay that you can think of. There've been 30-man Star Wars themed Mafia games, Pac-Man and James Bond games, you name it it's out there.

Once we have at least 8 players signups will end, roles will be sent via PM, and the game thread will be posted and the players notified. So... I really want you guys to sign up to get the very first USMB Mafia game going. The more the merrier, friends!

 

[Wake]

As Scum, you're going to be playing cloak and dagger. Totally sneaky, and playing the Town against each other to make things easier for you. I've played as Scum before, and it's incredibly fun.

 

[Wake]

For example, on Day 1...

Player 1 to Player 2: "VOTE: Player 2. Your lack of contribution makes you look sneaky. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Player 2: "HEY, you could be Scum too, you know. No one knows who's who, so put your gun down and shut the hell up. Let's not rush to kill someone too quickly before we hear what everyone else has to say."

Player 3 (who's really Scum): *Starts acting very carefully, making sure to not look suspicious or give himself away* "Player 5 hasn't posted much, and neither has Player 7. I'm going to vote for Player 7 until he has something worthwhile to say."

Player 9: "VOTE: Player 5."

Player 5 (The other Scum who's now nervous about getting a vote): "Why are you voting for me? I haven't done anything wrong and Player 11 looks suspicious!"

Player 8: "Uh huh, now you're looking suspicious. Kinda like you're nervous. VOTE: Player 5."





So, yeah, it's sort of like that. The more you talk and vote for other players to trip them up, the more likely you are to flush out Scum. The conversations that happen during the game are infinite, and can be very interesting.

 

[Immanuel]

I'm not that good at role-playing, but I will give it a shot.

 

[Wake]

Thanks, Immanuel. The game may work here, but it might not. With this level of activity there should be more potential players. I'm unsure what USMB's demographics are.

 

[Yurt]

is this like werewolf?

 

[Wake]

Yeah, it's basically the exact same thing but with a different theme. ;-)

The game's basically a group of players trying to sleuth out the murderous bad guys in their midst.

 

[Wake]

I think one reason why Mafia is more intellectually-challenging than debating is that you have to really use your wits to either deceive members as Scum or unearth the baddies while not killing your team as a Townie. The meticulous nature of the game ensures that you'll have to put in a certain level of mental energy in order to survive. Some are incredibly good at this game, and others are a bit rough around the edges.

 

[derk]

I'm in man.

[ame=http://youtu.be/l2q_-xN2N54]Tesla - Love Song - YouTube[/ame]

drunk and I need to find a place for this post , lol.

 

[Darkwind]

Hello everone! I'm looking to start a new game series in this forum based on the popular message board game known as The Mafia. In order to start the very first official Mafia game on USMB, we need a signups thread for new players to sign up and play. Mafia is a very versatile game, and I'm planning to run it so that people can take their time with it. Here's a few ground rules if you're looking to play:

• Mafia's made to be played on a messageboard thread. To play you simply post in the game thread.

• The game's broken into two teams. The good guys (Townies), and the bad guys (Scum).

• If you're starting the game as a Townie, you won't know the true identities of the other players in the game. You'll have to figure it out amongst yourselves. As Scum, you'll know who you and your team members are, and you'll work together to deceive and kill the Townies. Playing as Scum is incredibly fun.

• It's Town's goal to discover and kill all the Scum. All Scum needs to do is equal or outnumber Town's numbers.

• Townies and Scum in general have no abilities ("Vanilla"). However, there are some Power Roles that players can have that give them certain abilities. We'll use very little power roles this game if any.

• The game is broken into two phases: Day and Night. During the Day all you guys need to do is talk and decide on who to lynch. It's standard Mafia gameplay for players, like in the show Survivor, figure out who to kill by casting votes. If one player receives a majority vote that player dies and his/her true identity is revealed. This information is vital for the rest of the Townies in order to figure out who the Scum are. During the Day Scum will be doing their best to blend in and trick you into voting for other Townies. You vote like this: VOTE: Intense. You can change your vote as much as you want before a majority vote is reached, or you can choose to not vote at all. If a majority vote isn't reached by all players and the time limit expires, no one gets killed. Not lynching a player helps Scum, though.

• After a majority vote is reached and a player dies, Day turns to Night, and the thread is either locked or players aren't allowed to post on it because they're sleeping. During the Night the Scum start getting active, and they decide which person they're going to kill, and then follow through with it. Generally, one of the Scum members carries out the hit. After that victim dies and his or her identity is revealed, Day starts over again until the game resolves.

• The Day phase usually lasts at least one whole, real-life week. During that time you can post as often or scarcely as you want, but a really good game requires activity. You can post whatever you want, but a certain level of skill is required in keeping from looking suspicious. Use your wits to change the outcome of the game. It'll require a lot of thought and patience, but can be very, very fun, too.




That's the gist of it. It's a lot to take in at first, but during the 2nd and 3rd games it gets real easy, like riding a bicycle. Mafia can also take on any theme or changes in gameplay that you can think of. There've been 30-man Star Wars themed Mafia games, Pac-Man and James Bond games, you name it it's out there.

Once we have at least 8 players signups will end, roles will be sent via PM, and the game thread will be posted and the players notified. So... I really want you guys to sign up to get the very first USMB Mafia game going. The more the merrier, friends!

One question. During the 'night' phase, the Townies just have to read the night thread to discover who the Scum are. Or did I miss something?

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Well, you really didn't say how to sign up...but I'd like to play!

(Need something to replace Keep a Word Delete a Word)

 

[Wake]

Alright guys, we've got 3 players so far. If we get six total we have enough for a decent starter game.

Players:

Immanuel
Derk
Kooshdakhaa

One question. During the 'night' phase, the Townies just have to read the night thread to discover who the Scum are. Or did I miss something?

Basically all of the players during the night can't post in the thread, because they've "retired for the night." The Townies stay quiet and inactive, unless they're a power role, like a Doctor, Cop, etc. The Scum are given what's called a Quicktopic thread seperate from this thread, so they can conspire and scheme during the night. Once Scum get done making up their minds they tell me their decision, and then their target gets killed off. Dead players stay quiet until the game resolves.

Well, you really didn't say how to sign up...but I'd like to play!

(Need something to replace Keep a Word Delete a Word)

Whoops, sorry about that.

To sign up all you need to do is post here saying something along the lines of wanting to play.

Honestly, the first Mafia Signups/Game thread always takes a little longer, but once people get familiar to the flow of the game it gets easier.

EDIT: Just found some Mafia Smilies. I love that, lol.

 

[Wake]

Mafia is pretty fun, and it can be modified in virtually any way.

Basically the players are randomly assigned their roles. They don't know in advance whether they're a part of the larger Townies, or the smaller group of Scum. The reason there's only about 2 Scum for every 6 Townies is that Scum already knows who's part of their team. Townies, however, are told they're so by the game host, but they're not told which other players in the game are Townies... so it becomes a game of deduction and reason on Town's part. It's a grand who-dunnit murder mystery that requires the detective in you to shine.

 

[Wake]

Here's some specifics.

As a Vanilla Townie, your job description is to make up your mind on who to vote for and lynch.

A Townie (also known as Citizen, Townsperson, Villager, etc.) is a player with a pro-Town Win Condition. Due to ambiguity, "Townie" has been known to refer to any pro-Town player who has no extraordinary abilities or simply any pro-Town player. Players who have no extraordinary abilities are specifically called Vanilla Townies (abbreviated as VT). The rest of this article is about Vanilla Townies.

Vanilla Townies are defined by having no special abilities beyond being able to post and vote during the Day like everyone else. During the Night they do nothing.

Vanilla Townie is considered Normal on mafiascum.net. The variations below are only Normal if their page says they are.

Use and Power

In terms of balance and how games play out, Vanilla Townies carry two implications:

First, since Vanilla Townies do not have any special powers to aid them, they have to depend on traditional scumhunting methods - analysis of actions, intent, voting, previous posts, etc. - to win. In general, games with more Vanilla Townies place more of an emphasis on the Day game instead of the Night game. Online, the Day game is more frequently won by Mafia factions due to their ability to Night-kill players that threaten them.

Second, it is very easy for the Mafia to fakeclaim Vanilla Townie, as they do not have to fabricate any Night action choices.

A setup that is classed as Normal on mafiascum will usually have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the players be Vanilla Townies, with the remainder split between power roles and scum. While this is usually considered a good ratio for balance, themed games with a lower percentage of Vanilla players (sometimes even none) are not uncommon.

A setup where the Town consists solely of Vanilla Townies is called Mountainous. The name stems from the belief that these setups are difficult for Town to win. It is generally accepted that in games with 11 Townies and 2 Mafia, the Town needs one or more Power Roles on its side for the game to be balanced.

Townie - MafiaWiki

 

[Darkwind]

Alright guys, we've got 3 players so far. If we get six total we have enough for a decent starter game.

Players:

Immanuel
Derk
Kooshdakhaa

One question. During the 'night' phase, the Townies just have to read the night thread to discover who the Scum are. Or did I miss something?

Basically all of the players during the night can't post in the thread, because they've "retired for the night." The Townies stay quiet and inactive, unless they're a power role, like a Doctor, Cop, etc. The Scum are given what's called a Quicktopic thread seperate from this thread, so they can conspire and scheme during the night. Once Scum get done making up their minds they tell me their decision, and then their target gets killed off. Dead players stay quiet until the game resolves.

Well, you really didn't say how to sign up...but I'd like to play!

(Need something to replace Keep a Word Delete a Word)

Whoops, sorry about that.

To sign up all you need to do is post here saying something along the lines of wanting to play.

Honestly, the first Mafia Signups/Game thread always takes a little longer, but once people get familiar to the flow of the game it gets easier.

EDIT: Just found some Mafia Smilies. I love that, lol.

I still don't understand. Let Me rephrase.

If the point of the game for the Townies is to identify the secret identity of the 'Scum', what is to prevent them from just opening the thread where the 'Scum' make their plans and discover who the 'Scum' is?

Do you keep the thread in which the 'Scum' make plans hidden or secret from the rest of the board?

 

[Wake]

Scum's Night thread is kept secret. Only the Scum players are given the link to it. OR, they can be allowed to simply PM back and forth and then PM me their choices when they're ready. That's the easiest route.