Newbie Setup

Original Newbie Setup

Originally, the setup for Newbie Games had two Mafia, three Townies, one sane Cop and one Doctor. All of these games start with the Day phase, to give all players a chance to play before any night kills are made. They almost never last more than three days of game time due to the small size.

After 60 or 70 games in the Open Setup listed above, it became obvious that there was a real potential to have a Breaking Strategy in Newbie Games; with the small size and short possible duration, number crunching became simplified, and a strategy of having the Cop roleclaim on Day One and then engaging in a series of Investigations while automatically protected by the Doctor until the Doc was found and killed by the Mafia became de rigeuer. In response, a variety of other options were tried out.

C9

The first major variation was a semi-open setup, collectively known as 'C9' (see below):

• 1 Cop, 1 Doc, 2 Mafia, 3 Townies (identical to the original setup);
• 1 Cop, 2 Mafia, 4 Townies
• 1 Doc, 2 Mafia, 4 Townies
• 2 Mafia, 5 Townies,

with the players unaware of which variant was chosen for that particular game. Officially this should be done at random, with a 25% probability for each of the four, although some game moderators did not follow that instruction.

This reintroduced some variability into the games, leading to better play by both sides and a new vitality into what had become stale. However, C9 was eventually found to be more difficult and demoralizing for town, and Swingy to boot.

The name 'C9' comes from Norinel, the List Moderator for Newbie Games, who used it as a hexidecimal shorthand for the binary sequence 11001001 - and if you have to ask more than that, look at this post.

Pie E7

Starting with NG #518, Pie E7 is being explored as a more balanced 7-player setup than C9. It trades the variable nature of C9 for certain power roles, and adds a Roleblocker on the Mafia's side.

California

As of NG #554, a variation with only the Cop as the power role is being experimented with. It is nicknamed California.

F11

As of NG #576, a 9-player variant that re-adds variability to the role selection is being tried. It adds two townies, and makes the Mafia Roleblocker a partial chance, in addition to the Cop and Doctor.

2of4

As of NG #1097, a 9-player variant being tested to repair balance issues in F11 -- it raises the Mafia Roleblocker to a permanent position and changes the town PRs, adding a possible town Jailkeeper and removing the mountainous option.

Other

Newbie Game #69 added a Vigilante and a Serial Killer for a total of nine players, and Newbie Game #68 had either a Doctor or a Cop (but with Cop Head Start), and a 4th Townie in place of the role that was not present. These games predated the codification of C9 as the new standard.

Pre-game Night Talk

One common variation with very little effect on gameplay is to allow the Mafia to communicate by PM during the confirmation stage of the game, before Day starts. There are still no Night Choices before the game actually begins, this just allows them to strategize a bit, like in larger games which usually starts with Night.