Swankidelic

Ideas and notes for Mafia variations. Almost all are works-in-progress. All comments are welcome, send me a PM or an email =)

Chekov’s Gun

Mechanic designed to spur discussion. Chekov’s Gun is a one-shot dayvig, available to any player who reaches for it. Once used, it is not replaced. Add one vanilla townie to the setup.
Players may post Take Gun (or similar phrase) in bold at any time. First player who posts this is now a one-shot day-time vigilante. This change in ownership is public.
The player who has the gun may publicly post Kill: <target name> (or similar phrase) in bold at any time during the day. The target is immediately killed.
The player may also post Drop Gun to make the gun unowned and available for taking again, or may also post Give Gun: <target name> to transfer the gun to target player. These actions can be either public during the day, or privately sent to the mod as a night action. Dropping the Gun cannot be blocked, tracked or otherwise interfered. Giving the Gun can be.

Blade Runner Mafia

(simplified - flavor only) WIP

• Deckard - Town Cop
• Rachel - Town Miller
• Gaff - Town
• Roy - Scum
• Pris - Scum Roleblocker
• Leon - Scum Goon
• Zhora - Scum Goon

Dexter Mafia

A game about cops vs. serial killers. Closed setup game with heavy flavor. I got the setup worked out, and it's really cool, but I'm not posting it publicly yet.

Westside Story Mafia

Two scum groups? Jets and Sharks? Single scum group, Jets in Sharks territory?
Two scum groups, Jets and Sharks, very few townies. Townies either win by eliminating both scum groups, or are recruited to one scum group or the other. Officer Krupke is mod-con town, mod-con cop, and invincible. Tony and Maria are, of course, survivor lovers.

Reservoir Dogs

After a botched heist, the gang gathers at the meeting place, the abandoned warehouse. The plan was perfect, there’s only way it could have gone sour: moles. Some of the gang must be undercover cops.
Each gangster has two guns, and can stand in front another gangster to protect them. The undercover cops (who are the scum in this scenario) also have a police sniper at their disposal for night kills.
Each player gets two Fingers of Suspicion (lynch vote), and one Vote of Confidence (lynch protection). Players cannot use both FoS on one person, and cannot use VoC on self.
Each day, the player with the most Fingers of Suspicion and has more Fingers of Suspicion than Votes of Confidence gets lynched.
The police sniper needs a clear shot to execute his night kill. Scum cannot target a player with at least one Vote of Confidence.
Nightless game. Scum submit their night kill during the day. Subsequent days occur immediately after twilight.
How to execute lynches?

Nemesis

Each player belongs to a Nemesis pair. Each pair is unique and none overlap - strictly one-to-one. Each pairing is secret - only the members of the pair know them. A player must complete their town/scum win condition and their nemesis must be dead in order to win. Scum have to vote on Night Kills, with Godfather breaking ties. No Serial Killers. Nemesis Cops (whose investigations reveal nemesis pairs) may be interesting.

Anti-town mafia

Many town PRs, that actually hinder town. Scum get no PRs.
Serial Killer - balance out PRs that disrupt scum’s night kill
Traitor
Jester
Miller
Beloved Princess
Bus Driver
Roleblocker
Cop - needed to make Traitor and Miller interesting

Flavor cops

Each townie is a flavor cop. Each gets one night action to investigate a player, or the “crime scene”. Each investigation produces one piece of evidence, which may or may not link the crime to the scum who committed it. A piece of Evidence is a trait - a word or phrase. The crime scene has four pieces of evidence, and each player has four pieces of evidence as well. One scum is the perp. All of his evidence traits matches all of the evidence traits at the crime scene. The other scum have to protect their perp buddy from getting outed and lynched, possibly by feigning that they themselves are also flavor cops and producing bunk evidence. If the perp is lynched, regardless of how many scum are alive, the scum automatically lose and the town automatically wins. Flavor investigations are available to each town player only once per night, but in addition to other night actions they may have (IE a doc may protect and use a flavor investigation at the same night.) Mason groups may be very useful, or perhaps an Innocent Child. Night start game - players are allowed to use their flavor investigations on Night 0 before discussion on Day 1. Evidence traits revealed by flavor investigations are chosen randomly, but the mod will favor traits that have not been revealed at all. In other words, the mod will try to reveal the most informative evidence, and choose randomly if a bunch of traits are equally most-informative. Example: evidence traits of the crime scene: time of death, murder weapon, trace evidence, witness testimonial. If a townie investigates the crime scene on N1, the mod randomly chooses and reveals the time of death evidence. Another townie investigates the crime scene on N2, and the mod exclude time of death evidence and randomly chooses another evidence trait to reveal.

Investigation Target	Time of Death/Alibi	Murder Weapon	Trace Evidence	Witness Testimonial
Crime Scene	10:35 PM	Left-handed hunting knife	Bootprint: size 11 work boots	Very tall man, caucasian
Player 1	No alibi (incriminating)	Right-handed	Shoe size: 10.5 (incriminating)	5’9” Caucasian
Player 2	Alone (incriminating)	Left-handed (incriminating)	Shoe size: 9	5’9” Latin
Player 3	At basketball game	Right-handed	Shoe size: 11 (incriminating)	6’1” Caucasian (incriminating)
Player 4	At basketball game	Hunting weapons dealer (incriminating)	Amputee	6’2” Caucasian (incrminating)
Player 5	At bar	Right-handed	Shoe size: 11.5 (incriminating)	6'4" Latin (incriminating)
Player 6	At bar	Exotic weapons collector (incriminating)	Shoe size: 12	6'7" African-American
Player 7	At work	Right-handed	Shoe size: 9.5	5'11" Caucasian
Player 8 (scum)	At crime scene (incriminating)	Left-handed (incriminating)	Shoe size: 11 (incriminating)	6’5” Caucasian (incriminating)
Player 9 (scum)	No alibi (incriminating)	Right-handed	Broken foot in cast	5'9" Caucasian

Meritocracy mafia

Each player begins the game with 1 vote, or 100% voting power. Once per page a player may grant half of their voting power to another player, and be rewarded with half of the voting power granted.
Example: Players A, B, and C have voting power of 100% each. Player A grants voting power to player B, which is 50%. Player A now has 75% of a vote, and Player B has 150% of a vote. Player A grants again, this time to C, 37.5%. Now A has 93.75% of a vote, and C has 137.5% of a vote.
Each grant increases the amount of voting power in the game. In order to do so, though, players must figure out who to trust, since they increase another’s voting power while taking a hit to their own. Each lynch requires a high number of votes, higher than the number of players, determined by a formula. This forces players to begin granting their voting power. It’s entirely possible for the players to fail to lynch because they didn’t grant voting power enough; this gives players a requirement for a certain amount of granting. The number of votes required to lynch doesn’t change from day to day, regardless of players getting killed; this forces players to continue granting on successive days. There are several tricks that players can use to generate exponential voting power, such as back-to-back grant trading; hopefully the trust issues these tricks create will help curtail them. May need town vigs to eliminate power clots, or some way to decimate overly powerful players. Scum still get a night kill. Scum win when they have more voting power than town. Town wins when all scum are eliminated. Mod posts votecounts every page. These votecounts also tally the accumulated voting power; individuals’ voting power is always public knowledge. Granting records are always public knowledge as well.
Always play with an odd number of players to ensure that voting power can never be equally distributed. The game’s coefficient modifies the amount of voting power granted during a grant. The example above assumes this coefficient is .5. Adjust this coefficient for balance purposes.
Grater’s new voting power = (granter’s VP * coefficient + ((granter’s VP * coefficient)/2)
Grantee’s new voting power = (granter’s VP * coefficient) + grantee’s VP
Lynch Majority = (number of starting players * coefficient) * (number of starting players - coefficient)

Democracy Mafia

Several amendments are proposed by the mod. Amendments alter, or amend, the rules of the game, usually in an obscure way that may both help and hurt town, or neither help nor hurt town.
Players vote on amendments as well as lynches. However, players only have a limited number of votes, less than the number of amendments + lynch, and must choose on which to vote. For example, in a game with three amendments and a day lynch, players have only three votes and four things to use them on. Amendments pass with majority voting. Amendments that do not pass roll over to subsequent days.
Example amendments:

• Accept post restriction, add a town PR
• Remove a scum PR, alter number of votes required for a lynch
• Kill all players whose names begin with C

Athiest Mafia

Bastard mod game. 13 players find themselves in a Mafia thread. A fourteenth player, Abel, lay dead between them. Who killed Abel? Why would someone kill another player? Who are these other players? For that matter, why are we here???
Players are cast into a Mafia thread with absolutely no knowledge about the setup. There are little or no clues as to who's in the scum group, how many is in the scum group, or even if there is a scum group.
Lynches still work and game still proceeds in a day/night fashion. Mod communicates only through PMs - players who address the mod in-thread are ignored, and mod PMs don't receive a direct response. Mod only posts in descriptive narrative, never in conversation. Mod may choose a "prophet" - a player to whom he communicates his intentions to, and whose responsibility it is to relay that to the other players.

Fountainhead Mafia

Town are bright, talented, intelligent individuals, working to better humanity with their own efforts. Scum are small-minded, petty usurpers trying to steal the spotlight for themselves. Lacking in the qualities that make individuals into heroes, scum tend to team up and blend together, forming cliques that eventually erode advancements individuals make.
Townies have unique identities listed in their PMs - a name, a history, a talent. Scum do not. Scum PMs list usernames of their accomplices, but they lack the power distinguish themselves from their peers.
Townies lose according to traditional town winco, and also lose if they die. Scum can win posthumously. No third parties - they break the theme.
Townies have an Integrity stat. This varies from player to player, and matches the flavor in their PM. The stat ranges from 1 to about 5, and is evenly distributed among town players.
Scum’s night kill has the power to convert. If the scum’s number is greater than the target’s Integrity, the target’s sense of self is deteriorated and the target becomes scum instead, losing his identity and Integrity. If the scum’s number is less than or equal to, the target dies instead.
All townies have a challenge set before them in their role PM. This is the only way for town to earn their PRs, and for town to convert scum. Scum need backup identities to be revealed if they ever convert to town.
Townies have a challenge to overcome, and the twilight after that challenge is clearly and unequivocally met, the player is awarded the PR mentioned in his PM. Town gets two potential cops, two potential docs, and the rest have the potential to convert a scum to town. Scum don’t get power roles, they only have the ability to destroy.
Example: Officer Hurst is a beat cop. He’s a good beat cop, though, with exceptionally sharp intuition and a knack for getting people to open up. Hurst often works with investigators to helping them piece together cases, often while off-duty. Eventually Hurst aims to become a bona fide detective. If Hurst can convince another player to hammer, Hurst is given a Cop PR from the mod at twilight.

The Dead Talk Back

Dead players become ghosts. Ghosts are not allowed to post in-game, but may leave messages for living players. Power Roles may retain their powers, or roles may change up entirely. Alignments never change, however.
Messages from ghosts are sent via PM to the mod. They may only consist of three components: a player name, a symbol, and one other word. These components may be arranged any way the ghost chooses. A symbol can be one instance of any shape, such as a NO symbol, an arrow, an equal sign, a stop sign (octagon), a stick figure, a gun, a knife, a noose, a shield badge, a rod of Asclepius or red cross, a number or letter, or other simple pictogram. The rule of thumb is that it must be comprehensible if written with a stick in sand, or with a finger on a fogged pane of glass.
The message is then passed on to the target the ghost specifies, but the target is unaware of the identity of the ghost. Alternatively the message may be posted publicly by the mod; the ghost’s identity is still hidden. Ghost messages are couched in fluff when sent to players or posted publicly. Messages may only be sent during the day. Ghosts do not change factions, and win posthumously with their faction.

Gambling Metagame

Meta game where players gamble with meta currency. Players ante when they join a game, before roles are sent out. After the game, players on the winning team divide up the pot amongst themselves. Surviving players get double the share of dead players.
Due to asymmetrical teams, scum stand to win more than town. To counteract this, scum antes are larger than town antes, at a ratio of town players over scum players. Survivor third parties like SKs get entire pot, but since their roles are more difficult their ante is the same as a town ante. Players may PM the mod their preference for town/scum/survivor when they ante.
Not every player in a game has to ante. Ante values and payouts are only revealed after the game. If the only antes come from a single faction (ie, they don’t stand to lose money), their antes are returned at the end of the game.
Example 1: A 2:10 mountainous game starts, and everyone antes. 10 town / 2 scum, so scum players ante 5 times as much as town players. The mod advises the thread that everyone has anted. The game comes down to LYLO and town win. Scum do not win the pot. The two surviving town get two shares each, and each dead townie get one share. 12 total shares. Surviving town each get ⅙ of the pot, dead town each get 1/12 of the pot.
Example 2: A 12 player C9++ game starts. The serial killer, both scum, and a five town ante. 5 town antes / 2 scum antes, so each scum ante is 2.5 times the size of a town’s ante. If the SK wins, he gets entire pot. If a scum wins after a scum has died, the surviving scum gets 2/3 of the pot, and the dead scum gets 1/3 of the pot. (Any rounding favors the smaller portion.)

Kung Fu mafia

Instead of lynching, two players challenge each other for a showdown. Only these two players are at risk of dying that day (excepting dayvigs et al). Other players then vote for who they’d like to win - the player in the showdown with the least votes of confidence is lynched.
Optional rule - strong kung fu - some players have stronger kung fu than others, giving them an advantage in showdowns. Kung fu strength only counts in showdowns, it doesn’t make votes more powerful.
Vanilla town - most numerous, weakest kung fu. At a disadvantage to every other class in a showdown.
Monk - town-aligned but very few. Moderate kung fu.
Triad - scum - Strong kung fu.
Wuxia - town-aligned. Only one but has strongest kung fu.

Backstab mafia

All players belong to one of multiple (probably four) scum groups. No town, but players may still lynch. Godfathers can communicate separately of their scum teams - one QuickTopic for each scum team, and one additional one just for Godfathers. Goons are not be aware of other scum groups unless ther Godfathers tell them. Godfathers may communicate privately via PM and via QT during the day, but not at night; scum teams may communicate via QT at night.
Each team has only one night action, and this includes the night kill, as well as a roleblock, a cop, and a doc. Godfathers may trade night actions amongst their teams during the day, but must choose a Goon to use each night action. Good idea for a Metropolis theme game! Warriors, come out and playaayy

Portal Mobility Gel Mafia

Each player belongs to one of four colors: blue, orange, white, or water.
Blue gel players are repulsive - night actions used on them are also used on the originating player.
Orange gel players are propelsive - night actions used on them are doubled, sliding off of them and onto a second target of the target's choice.
White gel players are converters - night actions do... something... tunnel? Convert gel types?
Water players wash gel off their targets, in addition to other night actions.
This idea is incredibly meh.....

The Prisoner

"What do you want?" "Information." "You won't get it!" "By hook or by crook, we will."
"I am not a number, I am a free man!"
Inspired by the British TV show from 1967.
The scum team actually represents the same thing as #6 from the TV series: outsiders spirited to a peaceful, unassuming Village in order to break down their will and reveal their secrets. What are their secrets? What is it that the Village wishes to take from them? Not state secrets or espionage or anything so trivial, but the notions of liberty, identity and self-determination. The Village isn't a sleepy coastal town, it is a crucible for bending individuals to its will.
Each scum carries a portion of "the secret", separated into pieces to avoid leaking the whole thing if a single person is compromised. "The secret" is actually encoded portions of poetry describing the themes of liberty and individualism. When a scum is lynched, the mod posts flavor that describes the surreal, clandestine interrogation in which the scum gives up his part of the secret. Lynch flavor is themed around the things that dehumanize us: machines, computers, chemicals, etc.
Townies are unwitting participants in the Village's plans. They have, at one point or another, have succumbed their individuality to authority. They are aware that traitors are in their midst, though, traitors who wish to destroy the Village and all that it stands for. These traitors are crafty and walk amongst them in broad daylight. Brute force will not work in undermining these traitors. The Village has given townies tools for the surveillance of their neighbors, using suspicion to root out and break down anyone bearing secrets.
No vanilla roles. Each player has night actions. To stay true to this theme, each player has Tracker and Watcher PRs. No cops, though. Because this increases the amount of information the town has available, scum are also given Bus Driver and Roleblocker PRs to outwit the town.
Possible PRs may also be recruiting abilities: scum can recruit town by showing them the indignity and dehumanization that the Village visits upon them; Masons start alone but may recruit to better organize their efforts.
The mod is introduced as #2. Players are given numbers and encouraged to address each other as such.