The Mafia Discussion Thread

[-A-]

Too big. With 12 players it should be 4 scum in total, maximum. You could get away with a 3 person mafia in a small game if you gave them a bit more protection.

[Ruki]

I think a 3 man mafia would be good for a 12 person game...as for an indy....maybe. Not sure if the extra kill would fuck things up too badly.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Ah, well, I can't think of anyone in the source material who would be indy so that's that. How much more protection is a "bit more"? Elaborate.

[Ruki]

Unkillable don until the goons are gone, probably.

[-A-]

It probably would, yeah, because the game becomes more swingy. What I mean by that is, more variable and unpredictable. if you've got a small traditional game with no power roles at all, you can get a pretty good idea of how the game will go. One townie will be killed every evening no matter what, and the only variation will be the lynches. If you add a serial killer, then there are two night-kills to every lynch and it's much harder to predict how the game will pan out for each side. Added to that, because you have one player responsible for one kill, it's hard to plan for. If you give the town a bit of a boost because of it, if the SK gets taken out on the first night then you've got a town with better odds because of pure luck. If a game is really variable, then it's 'swingy.'

*Remembers to add that to the Resource Thread.*

Being swingy isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Even including a Protector makes the game more swingy because you're not sure how many deaths there are going to be, but it's a good role.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Right, right. I think I'll settle on 8:4 and start writing the roles up, then go prereg it.

[-A-]

Here are a few really basic 12 player set-ups that are reasonably fair:

1 Protector

1 Investigator

6 Vanilla Townies

1 Unlynchable Don (until Goons are dead)

2 Goons

Probably a bit better for the scum, but close

1 Investigator

8 Vanilla Townies

1 Don

1 Roleblocker

1 Goon

Definitely better for the scum

1 Sane Investigator

1 Paranoid Investigator

1 Miller

1 Protector

1 One-Shot Vigilante

2 Masons

1 Unlynchable Don ('til Goons are dead)

1 Roleblocker

1 Conman

Pro-town, but very unpredictable

2 Sane Investigators

1 Protector

1 Bodyguard

1 Bulletproof Townie

3 Vanilla Townies

1 Serial Killer

1 Don

1 Roleblocker

1 Conman

Pro-town

1 Protector

7 Vanilla Townies

1 Don

1 Roleblocker

2 Goons

Very pro-scum

They can't all be equally fair to both sides or games would get boring. Most games tend to be skewed towards the scum even excluding the fact that townie play is much worse than scum play here.

EDIT: Small games are pretty different from large games in terms of town/scum ratio and balance. In bigger games, the number of scum can be higher because there are almost always multiple scum groups, SKs and whatever else (so there'll be cross-killing.) The first day or two is almost always worse for the town than the later stages because they have a lot more information. In a small game, the first couple of days can be enough to cripple their chances. In a larger, longer game the early guesswork is less significant.

Edited February 23, 2009 by -A-

[MalaCloudy Black]

Cool, I'll probably use one of those set-ups then.

[thuganomic]

You mean, you MIGHT use one of those set-ups, but people will never be able to guess the roles simply based on that, right? >_>

[-A-]

Nothing wrong with open set-ups

[MalaCloudy Black]

You mean, you MIGHT use one of those set-ups, but people will never be able to guess the roles simply based on that, right? >_>

probably = might in this case.

[Ruki]

Man, I don't remember as much about TMNT as I thought I did.....might abandon this idea for now.

[-A-]

But ... Bebop and Rocksteady

[Sousa]

Ruki, if you want help with a TMNT Mafia I can help you. You know I'm a nerd for it.

[Ruki]

This is true.....will have another go at it later.

[Your Mom]

Whats a miller? I always here people talking about it but for the life of me cant think of what it is

[C-MIL]

A townie that appears mafia when investigated...

[Your Mom]

Oh ok. Why is it called that?

[Sousa]

Because everyone assumes millers are terrible people, what with the way they're always grinding wheat into flour.

[MalaCloudy Black]

To prove his point I stopped reading at grinding, spat my tobacco out in my spittoon and uttered a curse under my breath about kids and their always grinding something. Fucking millers, always grinding like a bunch of fucking..