Mafia

Mafia is a game of strategy and deceit in which players attempt to discover and vote off the Mafia before the Mafia manages to kill them all. It is based on a popular party game, which goes by the same and other names, such as "Werewolves." Observing a few rounds may be the best way to learn the ropes, but below is a full explanation of the game's mechanics and many roles.
It is worth noting that by the game's design, it is typical for players to lose a majority of the rounds they play, and due to the emphasis on deception and misdirection, this can become confusing or frustrating if you allow it to. The best way to play is to shrug off grudges and enjoy the chaos.

Table of Contents

Turn Order
Controls
Roles
Mafia
Agent
Ninja
Citizen
Bodyguard
Judge
Psycho
Senator
Witness
Sheriff
Deputy
Detective
FBI Agent
Doctor
Nurse
Rogue
Contact Info
BYOND Hub Page

Turn Order

When the game begins, each player will be randomly assigned a role from the host-designated job pool. The game then proceeds in rounds consisting of two phases, a "night," during which most roles take turns performing their unique action and a "day," during which players discuss, point fingers, shift blame, and select someone to vote out of the game. A full round turn order goes like this:
  1. Everyone goes to sleep (everyone's screen goes dark).
  2. Mafia wake up and may together choose one target to kill.
  3. Ninja wakes up every second night, and may select a target to kill.
  4. Rogue wakes up and may select a target to kill.
  5. Psycho wakes up and randomly selects a target to kill.
  6. Witness has a great chance to Witness a murder.
  7. Doctor wakes up and may select a target to try to save.
  8. Nurse wakes up and may select a target, other than themself, to try to save.
  9. Bodyguard wakes up and may select a target to protect with their life.
  10. Agent wakes up and may select a target whose police records he wants to tamper with.
  11. Deputy wakes up and may select someone to arrest for the next round.
  12. Sheriff wakes up and may select someone to pull up records for. The records may either say 'yes' or 'no' depending on whether they are part of the Mafia or not.
  13. FBI Agent wakes up and may select someone to investigate, and if this person is found to be with the Mafia, use lethal force.
  14. Everyone wakes up and is provided a casualty report for the night; people who were attacked and not saved are removed from the game.
  15. Detective is told the jobs of any people who died during the night.
  16. There is then a 45 second discussion and voting period. Remember that the Mafia themselves will have some votes so they can affect the outcome. Use this time wisely. Try to convince people that you know who the Mafia are, even if you're a member.
  17. Judge, in the event of a tie, makes the final decision.
  18. The player with the most votes (or the player chosen by the Judge) is removed for the remainder of the game. If there was a tie and no Judge, no one is removed.
  19. Detective is told the jobs of the player voted out.
  20. The new night begins and another round follows. The game ends when either all of the Mafia have been removed (Citizen victory) or the game has come down to any combination including one or more Mafia and no more than one other (Mafia victory).  There is also a "Rogue victory," which occurs when the Rogue and one other role are left alive; a Rogue victory takes precedence over a Mafia victory so if a Mafia and a Rogue are the final two players alive, the Rogue will win.
Mafia roles are in red and have a Mafia speech channel.
Police roles are in gold and have a police speech channel.
Medical roles are in blue and have a medical speech channel.
Independent roles are in purple.
The remaining Citizen roles are in green.

Controls

Players can join between games by clicking a darkened character silhouette.  You can help a round start more quickly by clicking the Ready button.  During the game, everyone performs actions by clicking players when prompted to kill, save, investigate, vote, etc.  You can click players on either the player list or in the scene.  You may also right-click a character for additional actions, such as whispering or nominating a new host.

The host has additional Empower and Boot commands among these player-specific options, and also has a Settings menu, which allows them to customize the job pool, accommodating more or fewer players and adding variety to gameplay.

Roles

There are four classic roles (Mafia, Doctor, Sheriff, and Citizen) and twelve extra roles that are unique to this BYOND rendition of Mafia.  In a classic game, further Citizens are added as needed, but these extra roles are designed to help balance larger games and give everyone a greater part in the action.
These roles are aligned with the Mafia:
Mafia:
The main deal. The Mafia must work together to choose someone to kill each round.  Like all members of the Mafia, their goal is to hide their identity and sow confusion and doubt.  This is a classic character.
Agent:
The Agent is a dirty cop. Their job is to tamper with official records and plant evidence to foil police investigations.  On their turn, they may select somebody's record to reverse, making the guilty look innocent or the innocent guilty, but they cannot change their own.  When all Agents are removed from play, all records will revert to their original statuses.
Ninja:
The Ninja has been hired by the Mafia to eliminate its most important targets.  The Ninja takes time and care in planning their attacks, but this lost time is easily made up for by their effectiveness.  The Ninja strikes only once every other round, but their attack is twice as effective as normal, requiring two people to save their victim.  The Ninja's stealth and secrecy have allowed them to completely evade police records.

These roles are aligned with the Citizens: Citizen:
Perhaps the most important people in the game.  The Citizens are the suspects, the victims, and the voters.  In a classic game, they make up the mass of the group, and the mass of the votes in most rounds, unless the host decides to fill the remaining positions with other types.  This is a classic character.
Bodyguard:
The Bodyguard uses their turn to protect someone. If they pick a killer's target, then the Bodyguard will be sacrificed and the killer's original target will be given the name of the killer who targeted them. For falling in the line of duty, they will be awarded an automatic win on their score even if the Citizens lose. The Bodyguard does not receive a win if they are killed without saving someone's life.
Judge:
The Judge gives final judgment in the case of a tie during voting. If there is a tie, a box should pop up asking who they wish to eliminate.
Psycho:
The Psycho is insane, but worse:  they're armed.  Although they try to work with the Citizens, the Psycho doesn't really trust anyone, and will kill completely at random, with no discrimination at all between Citizen or Mafia.  They also hear voices in their head, revealing the plans of others.
Senator:
The Senator represents the Citizens who elected them. Their vote counts as two in the voting round. They should find the Sheriff and help them vote out the Mafia, and they should be careful not to vote at random in the voting round, and end up voting off somebody innocent.
Witness:
The Witness is in the wrong place at the wrong time.  They always seem to be around when a killing is attempted.  The Witness, however, uses this to their advantage.  Each night, a target may be revealed to the Witness, allowing them to report it to the Doctor, Nurse, or Bodyguard.  There is a chance the Witness will not receive a message, and they will never receive a message if they have been targeted.

These roles are members of the Police, who assist the Citizens:
Sheriff:
The group's only hope at finding out who the Mafia is for a fact. The Sheriff picks someone they wants to know about, if that person is a member of the Mafia, then the game will tell the Sheriff "yes." If the Mafia kills the Sheriff, you might never find out who it is, you may just have to guess.  This is a classic character.
Deputy:
The Deputy is the one sent to make arrests. On their turn, they select someone to "arrest." Until the Deputy's next turn, this character is incapable of performing any actions.
Detective:
The Detective's job is to help keep the players aware of the current situation. When someone dies or is voted off, the game will inform the Detective of that person's role.
FBI:
Like the Sheriff, the FBI uses police records to investigate people. The FBI, however, employs lethal force against those who come up "yes."

These roles are members of the Medical Staff, who assist the Citizens:
Doctor:
An important part of every round, the Doctor picks someone to save each round. It is a common strategy to save yourself when you are the DoctorThis is a classic character.
Nurse:
The Nurse is basically like the Doctor, only the Nurse is incapable of tending to their own wounds, and must save someone else on their turn.

This  Independent role is on its own:
Rogue:
The Rogue is a former member of the Mafia. The Mafia is after them. The Police are after them. The Rogue kills someone each turn, eventually aiming to be one of the last two people in the game (they take precedence over Mafia, so if the Rogue and one Mafia are left, the Rogue will win). Because the cops do not know much of the goings-on in the Mafia, their records still indicate the Rogue is a member.

Contact

I am always open to suggestions on things to add to Mafia. Feel free to post ideas in the Mafia forum, or tell me directly if I happen to be on. (Key: Lord Raven)
When I'm not online, you can also e-mail me at LordRaven31@yahoo.com.