Newbie Guide

Welcome to mafiascum.net!

Playing Mafia online for the first time can be a bit confusing, so this guide is here to point you in the right direction. If something isn't clear, or we managed to miss something entirely, feel free to ask questions in the forums.

You may find this Flash introduction to Mafia helpful. (Created by mikeburnfire.)

Basic Rules

In its simplest form, Mafia consists of two sides: the Mafia, and the Town. The Mafia's goal is to kill the innocents, while the Town's goal is to kill the Mafia.

At the beginning of the game, the Moderator will secretly send everyone their role. The Mafia will know each other, while (in the basic game) everyone else will only know their own role.

The game has two phases. Usually the first is Night. During Night, the Town can not communicate, but the Mafia can discuss and choose someone to murder. After the Moderator has received the name of the victim, the Moderator reveals the dead player, and Day begins.

During Day, the Town must choose someone to Lynch; they are trying to eliminate the Mafia, but the Mafia can lead them astray by casting suspicion elsewhere. Generally, players will vote for someone they think is Mafia (the Mafia will vote so that they seem to be doing this as well, and might even vote for each other to confuse the Town); when a player gets a majority of the votes, they are lynched. Their role is revealed by the Moderator, and it is once again Night.

The game alternates between Night and Day until either the Mafia are eliminated, or the Mafia have killed everyone else.

Basic Roles

The above suffices for a Vanilla game, but most games of mafiascum have roles other than just Mafia and Townie. These roles have additional abilities (which are usually used during the Night, though there are some Day abilities as well). The most common are listed here.

Cop - Each night, the Cop can investigate one player (by sending their name to the Moderator), and finds out whether that player is Mafia or not. The Cop is on the Town's side.

Doctor - Each night, the Doctor can choose one player to protect (by sending their name to the Moderator). If the Mafia (or anyone else) tries to kill that player, they will fail. The Doctor is on the Town's side.

Vigilante - Each night, the Vigilante may kill another player (by sending their name to the Moderator). The Vigilante is on the Town's side.

Mason - The Masons are a group on the Town's side who know each other and can talk to each other at Night.

Serial Killer - The Serial Killer (often abbreviated as SK), like the Vigilante, may kill another player each Night (by sending their name to the Moderator). However, the Serial Killer is not on the Town's side or the Mafia's side. The Serial Killer wins when everyone else is dead.

Multiple Families - Often there is more than one group of Mafia. These act independently of one another, and must kill the other group as well as the Town in order to win.

Roleblocker - Each night, the Roleblocker can choose a player. That player will be prevented from using his or her night choice, if they have one.

There are many variations on the above roles that will often appear in more complicated games; for more information, visit the Roles page.

The Forum

Games on mafiascum.net take place on our Forum. This section will provide information for playing games on the Forum.

The first step is registering. While you do not need to register to post in some of the forums, we do require registration for the actual games. To register, simply click the link in the top-right corner of the Forum page, and fill in the information. You will need a valid email address, and when you have registered you will receive an email allowing you to activate your account.

Once you have registered, head to the Queue forum. This is where you sign up for all types of Mafia games. The Queue page contains detailed information on the Queue system. As a summary, here are the four types of games.

Newbie Game - These games are specifically designed with new players in mind; they use only simple roles (Mafia, Townie, Cop, Doctor, Roleblocker), and contain 7 new/inexperienced players, and 2 experienced players. These run fairly quickly, and allow new players to learn the mechanics of the game. It is recommended that all new players play a Newbie Game or two before jumping in to the larger games. Signups for Newbie Games take place in a single thread here, and are played in The Road to Rome.

Normal Game - Normal Games follow the basic rules of Mafia as outlined above, and are limited to fairly basic roles. Each game has its own signup thread (usually titled "Mafia # - Subtitle") started by the Moderator; to sign up, simply post is this thread. Once the game is full, the Moderator will start a thread in the Normal Game forum, New York. Note that while these games are straightforward, they will take a long time simply due to their size. Make sure you are willing to be committed to a lengthy game before you sign up.

Theme Game - Theme Games are usually large (20 or more players) and the roles are based on a theme (such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Ancient Greece, Aliens, etc.). Some Theme Games have significantly different rules, so they are not recommended for brand new players. Like Normal games, each has its own signup thread in the Queue. Theme Games are played in Theme Park.

Mini Game - These games are limited to 12 players. There are two types of Mini Game, just as there are two types of large game: Normal and Theme. Signups take place in two threads, Mini Normal List and Mini Theme List. You are limited to at most four mini games at any time, and only one (Normal) or two (Theme) games take signups at any given time. Mini Normals take place in Little Italy, while Mini Themes take place in Coney Island.

Open game - An Open Game is a Normal Game in which the setup is determined and known to the players before they sign up. Setups are determined by the community and by player signups, rather than by the moderator. There is currently no limit for the number of games you may play at the same time. Signups take place at the Open Game List Thread. Open games are played in different forums depending on game size.

Useful links

This is a collection of other pages in the wiki that might well be helpful to look over.

FAQ

Commonly used abbreviations

Theory

Roles

Feel free to browse various games around the site too: reading how other players play can be helpful to work out what's going on.