The Mafia New Game Announcement & Sandbox Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Mafia New Game Announcement & Sandbox Thread

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Let's try SLACK! This is a new experimental Mafia game experience and I need 13 brave volunteers. Rather than being played on the forum, this game instead will play out over the team communication platform Slack. There can be multiple communication and discussion channels, emoji reactions to posts, automated statistics, indexing of namedrops, searchable text, and who knows what other new ways to play will emerge...

Players should install the Slack app on their mobile devices, and use the slack page to play. I have no experience with Slack and I have no idea whether it will be awesome or terrible as a platform for Mafia! There's no better way to find out than to just try.

Slack Mafia #1 is a flavorless open-setup Mafia game for 13 players. There will be a Town Cop, a Town Doctor, 8 Vanilla Townies, a Scum Godfather, a Scum Roleblocker, and a Scum Goon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6zVzWU95Sw

Signup thread is here!

Lumpen fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Sep 25, 2015

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 17:36

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 18:02

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Rarity posted:

Perhaps a vocab section in the OP would be useful?

lynch (lĭnch)
v. To execute without due process of law, especially to hang, as by a mob.
etymology
1835, from earlier Lynch law (1811), likely named after William Lynch (1742-1820) of Pittsylvania, Virginia, who c. 1780 led a vigilance committee to keep order there during the Revolution. Other sources trace the name to Charles Lynch (1736-1796) a Virginia magistrate who fined and imprisoned Tories in his district c. 1782, but the connection to him is less likely. Originally any sort of summary justice, especially by flogging; narrowing of focus to "extralegal execution by hanging" is 20c. Lynch mob is attested from 1838.

This is the word we use in Mafia to describe the removal of a player from the game at the end of a game day, usually by majority vote.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 18:09

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Alignment changes are one of the biggest game-ruiners, after death-millers.

The known possibility of alignment changes make every day more like a D1, because past posts and votes can't be used to judge present alignment.
If the alignment changing is not known from the OP, it just makes the game a mess and frustrating to people trying to draw coherent conclusions.

That's from the point of view of someone trying to scumhunt in an alignment changing scenario. For someone who is the recipient of an alignment change, it's even worse.

In my experience, having my own alignment changed midgame is one of the most annoying things that can happen in a game. It makes all the effort put into the original win condition feel like a complete waste of time. The new win condition usually doesn't feel very appealing, and it's hard to feel loyal to the people who have inflicted it on you. Working against the win condition of all your previous posts in the thread is an unfair and unfun burden.

Alignment changing makes the outcome of the game more random and unsatisfying, leads to sour grapes and devalues player effort. It creates a lot of reason for players to avoid posting and engaging, and creates a lot of situations that tend to shut down posting and thread momentum, and make it impossible to make logical progress through player reasoning or logical analysis. Just a fountain of the unfun kind of WIFOM.

It should never be used unless it's very clearly announced in the OP so players have a fair chance to avoid the game.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 18:44

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

A winning strategy in a game with a cult is just post as little as possible and hope to get recruited. Until you get recruited post as little as possible, then after you get recruited continue posting as little as possible. Maybe you'll win, maybe not. If you win, great, that was easy. If not, at least you didn't waste a lot of time or effort.

Fun game?

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 19:28

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

If it is a known possibility to win with the Cult, don't bother lynching anyone. Just be passive and let the cult recruit until you get into the cult and win with the cult. Do nothing and hope that you get recruited in the process of the cult winning by recruiting because that's what they do. Fun game?

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 19:32

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

EccoRaven posted:

idea: Player Choice mafia. Players are told what actions target them, and they can choose whether the action goes through out not (but if they choose "no," a negative thing happens to them, perhaps increasing in severity depending on how many times they've said no or the type of action they received).

Interesting idea! A variant:

Mutual Consent Mafia: players may consent to or reject the night visits of other players. If they have consensual interaction, each uses their power on the other. Players are not told what power got used on them. Players are told the name of the visiting player before they decide. However, Scum come in disguise in order to trick victims into opening the door.
Examples: <Player 1 Doctor> is knocking on <Player 2 Cop>'s door. Mod: "You hear a knock on your door. "Who is it?" you say. "<Player 1>!" If Player 2 opens the door, they are Protected (but are not told this) and also get a Town result on Player 1 (Player 1 not told this).
<Player 3 Watcher> is knocking on <Player 2 Cop>'s door. If Player 2 opens the door, Player 2 gets a Town result on Player 3, and Player 3 sees everyone who knocked on Player 2's door (true identity not announced identity).
<Player 4 Scum> is knocking on <Player 2 Cop>'s door, but they have the Scum power to announce themselves as <Player 1>! Scum knocks always come last in the night, so if they screw up and do a repeat, it has the downside of Confirming the person they impersonated and tipping off the victim to refuse entry.
Anyone who chooses to visit a Scum will die (if not Protected or a Roleblocker or a Vig) if the Scum chooses to open the door to them.

So choosing to open up is always a risk for Town, refusing to open up is always a plausibly Town choice for Scum, and keeping an awareness of who trusts who and who trusts you and who you trust is functionally important in the targeting choices. Top of the head, may have fatal flaws.. What happens if the Doc claims D1?

# ¿ Sep 24, 2015 20:12

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

People might still sign up for your game even if you don't manage to make it literally their only available choice at the time. Hard to imagine, I know.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2015 18:39

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Slack Mafia is more than half full and several really exciting ~Secret Mystery Players~ have signed up! Don't be intimidated, it is newbie-friendly and the format, while experimental, is expected to be more accessible, readable, and fun to use.

Come join us!

# ¿ Sep 28, 2015 18:47

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

I am seeking one replacement for Slack Mafia. It is currently Night 1. So far, the amount of activity has been comparable to a normal forums game and the game seems to be a lovely success. With one enthusiastic and active replacement, it'll be even better! Please PM me an email address, and feel free to use a throwaway and create a ~secret mystery identity~ in the game on Slack.

# ¿ Oct 2, 2015 13:28

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

I am seeking one more replacement for Slack Mafia. It is currently Day 3. 9 alive, 1 Scum lynched. So far, the amount of activity has been comparable to a normal forums game and the game seems to be a lovely success. With one enthusiastic and active replacement, it'll be even better! Please PM me an email address, and feel free to use a throwaway and create a ~secret mystery identity~ in the game on Slack.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2015 00:36

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Slack Mafia #1 has ended in a SCUM win! It was a pretty great success. If you played under a secret identity and want to reveal, stop by the SA thread to do so. We are currently discussing the game, the format, giving feedback, and contemplating future Slack-based games.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2015 20:38

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Welcome BACK to the SLACK! The first iteration was a rousing success, so it's time to go bigger and better!

Slack Mafia #2 is gearing up. Spectators welcome, see thread for details!

# ¿ Oct 9, 2015 03:10

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Slack Mafia #2 ended with a suspenseful nail-biter TOWN victory!

If you played or feel curious, join us in the thread to see how it all played out and drop any feedback. Watch for Slack Mafia #3, coming in one month when I get back from Bali!

# ¿ Oct 15, 2015 04:10

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Mafia Sandbox thread, I would like to present, for your consideration, an OPEN setup, a slightly tweaked version of the one which ran very satisfyingly in Slack Mafia 2 and will be the basis of the next Slack game as well.

The Nailbiter is designed to maximize suspense from beginning to end. It encourages high engagement, smooths over lurking, rewards risktaking, and the result is highly dependent on player skill over luck. This is a setup with plenty of roles that demands that the players play the setup... the setup doesn't play the players.

To work well, I feel this setup must open. Also it is designed for a strict "No Modkills or Replacements" policy, and for actions to be forfeit if not submitted in time.

Unstoppable Serial Killer (cannot be blocked or jailed, and can kill a jailed or doc-protected target)
Town Cop (sane, TOWN or NOT TOWN results)
Town Doctor (can't self-protect, can't protect the same target on consecutive nights)
Town Tracker (can't track the same person on consecutive nights)
Town Jailer (can't self-jail, can't jail the same person on consecutive nights)
Town Bulletproof Miller (1-shot, notified when expended, does not protect from Poison, investigates as NOT TOWN)
6 Town Versatile Backup (when a Town Doc, Cop, Tracker, or Jailer dies in the night, a random living Backup inherits the role. Lynched roles are lost forever. Each Role can only be inherited once.)
Scum Bulletproof Godfather (if making the Scum kill, loses BOTH powers for that night)
Scum Roleblocker (makes a targeted power fail, can either kill or roleblock, not both)
Scum Ninja (can't be tracked)
Scum Poisoner (if making the Scum kill, the target will die after a 1-Day delay. Bypasses Doc Protection on targeting night, but can be stopped by Doc protection on the death night. A poisoned victim can also die in Jail.)

No role can self-target or target the same person on consecutive nights, unless an attempt fails. Scum have a single nightkill. All kills and skills may be withheld.
Results are given very simply as "your action succeeded" or "your action failed" for most actions, "<player> appeared to visit <player>", "<player> appears to be TOWN". This is vital to preserve the proper deductive ambiguity.

The key innovation of this setup is the Versatile Backup, of which there are 6, and serve as replacement for Vanilla Town. This role encourages participation for players who find VT boring, and introduces lots of interesting strategic consequences for claiming and targeting.
The interaction between the "no re-target unless action fails" rule and deciding what and when to claim adds excitement and intrigue.
The poison option for Scum, interacts interestingly with the jailer, doctor, and bulletproof, providing a way of outfoxing protections after claims (with a drawback). The SK overcoming protections creates a strong disincentive for reckless claims.
When I run my games, I expect the Scum to reach a unanimous plan, but in order to make nights go faster I accept a submitted action plan for the Scumteam immediately from the highest-ranking Scum alive. The seniority of Scum in this game is Godfather>Ninja>Poisoner>Roleblocker. Submitting authority can be delegated.
Mass claiming is a pressing threat to the Non-Town because of the Versatile Backup mechanics, and playing Scum in this setup rewards a proactive and risk-taking approach. Confrontational fakeclaiming or fake counterclaiming will always be expected. Lurking Scum will tend to get painted into a corner and over-run just when the Town seems to be on the ropes, which is exactly what happened in Slack Mafia 2.

I welcome any feedback and analysis of this setup to improve it, and I also highly encourage other mods to give it a run. I think it is very balanced (intricately) just the way it is.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2015 13:37

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

MMM Whatchya Say posted:

I feel like the cop you can't nk could give trouble there but u guess I'll have to look at that more.

If someone claims Cop, the SK (if alive) can unstoppably kill them at night (the SK ignores RB, Jail, and Doc).
If the SK is gone, the Scum can address it two ways: with a normal kill, or by poisoning them (and likely roleblocking them to prevent investigation). The Doc can protect the Cop on the first night which would stop a regular scum kill, but would ensure the Cop's death if they Scum use poison, because the Doc can only save a poison victim on the night after poisoning, but cannot re-target unless an action fails. Or the Doc could guess that the Scum would poison, and so protect someone else so the Cop can be saved on the next night. Now the Town Jailer could Jail the Cop, which would save the Cop but ensure no investigation. If the Cop was jailed, any action failures caused by that would allow re-targeting the next night. There's a good but not stupid amount of WIFOM that varies depending on what roles are alive, and all that should go into when and how a Cop decides to claim.

In Slack Mafia 2 the SK kill would be stopped by Doc protection and if the target was jailed, but I decided the SK needed a buff to have a chance, and there is so much protection that having at least one kill per night go through is desirable, so now the SK is totally Unstoppable instead of a limited Juggernaut.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2015 15:07

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

MMM Whatchya Say posted:

I meant because of the backups, not the doc.

The answer is that the scum team roleblocks the cop every night but it still feels wonky.

No, any role can only be inherited a single time, so there's a maximum of 2 cops (one a time) to burn through, and the first might get nightkilled without sharing any results first. Also, since no role can target the same person on consecutive nights, "roleblocking the cop every night" is right out.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2015 01:33

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

SLACK MAFIA #3 is taking signups!

Welcome BACK to the SLACK!

Slack Mafia #3 is a flavorless open-setup vanillaless Mafia game for 16 players.
This setup is slightly modified from the previous Slack Mafia. It is designed to maximize suspense from beginning to end. It encourages high engagement, smooths over lurking, rewards risktaking, and the result is highly dependent on player skill over luck. This is a setup with plenty of roles that demands that the players play the setup... the setup doesn't play the players.

The Nailbiter�

Unstoppable Serial Killer (cannot be blocked or jailed, and can kill a jailed or doc-protected target)
Town Cop (sane, TOWN or NOT TOWN results)
Town Doctor (can't self-protect, can't protect the same target on consecutive nights)
Town Tracker (can't track the same person on consecutive nights)
Town Jailer (can't self-jail, can't jail the same person on consecutive nights)
Town Bulletproof Miller (1-shot, notified when expended, does not protect from Poison, investigates as NOT TOWN)
6 Town Versatile Backup (when a Town Doc, Cop, Tracker, or Jailer dies in the night, a random living Backup inherits the role. Lynched roles are lost forever. Each Role can only be inherited once.)
Scum Bulletproof Godfather (if making the Scum kill, loses BOTH powers for that night)
Scum Roleblocker (makes a targeted power fail, can either kill or roleblock, not both)
Scum Ninja (can't be tracked)
Scum Poisoner (if making the Scum kill, the target will die after a 1-Day delay. Bypasses Doc Protection on targeting night, but can be stopped by Doc protection on the death night. A poisoned victim can also die in Jail.)

No role can self-target or target the same person on consecutive nights, unless an attempt fails. Scum have a single nightkill. All kills and skills may be withheld.
Results are given very simply as "your action succeeded" or "your action failed" for most actions, "<player> appeared to visit <player>", "<player> appears to be TOWN".
Days will be 24 hours, nights 12 hours, majority lynch. Actions are forfeit if not submitted in time.
I have a "No Modkills or Replacements" policy, it is a matter of your own integrity to play by the usual Mafia rules and to participate if you sign up.

SPECTATORS are welcome to sign up in the spectator slots, and can participate in NON-GAME discussion in the #gbs-zone channel!

CHECK IT OUT!

# ¿ Nov 15, 2015 17:30

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Podima posted:

Couple of setup questions because I'm still trying to better understand Mafia Mechanics:

The Roleblocker can only affect targeted powers. This means that roleblocking the Bulletproof Miller would have no effect?
Correct. Bulletproofness generally can't be Roleblocked, and in this setup definitely not.
When notifying the Miller that their 1-shot BP is expended, is it in a similarly simple format of "Your BP has been expended" with no further details?
Correct. Giving minimal feedback in results is important in this setup to preserve deductive ambiguity.
If the SK attempts to target the BP Godfather or BP Miller, would their kill fail?
Yes, the SK in this setup would be told "Your action failed." And this would tell them they definitely identified the Godfather or Miller, since nothing else can cause a fail for the SK. The Miller would be told if they got hit, but the Godfather would not since their BP is permanent (when not doing the Scum kill).

You should play!

# ¿ Nov 15, 2015 18:57

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Podima posted:

Thanks! This is a neat setup - with your permission, I'd like to reuse it for a forums game at some point. That OK with you?

As for playing, I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to commit enough time to a mafia game right now, so it wouldn't be fair to you or the other players to sign up. I'll still spectate though!

Yep, go for it! It's opensource, lol.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2015 19:48

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Slack Mafia #3 is still gathering players!

# ¿ Feb 14, 2016 14:46

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Yobomakeanos Mafia: vanilla-less game for 13 players.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2019 19:36

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 18:02

Lumpen: Apr 2, 2004; I'd been happy, and I was happy still. For all to be accomplished,
for me to feel less lonely,
all that remained to hope
was that on the day of my execution
there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should
greet me with howls of execration.; Plaster Town Cop

Yobomakeanos Mafia has ended in a Yobomakeanos victory!

Yobomakeanos 2: ENDGAME : An overcomplicated OPEN-setup Mafia-like experience for 13 players.

Now accepting signups.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2019 20:07

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Mafia New Game Announcement & Sandbox Thread