note: despite the title there is no guarantee that reading any of this will improve your Mafia experience, or make people think you actually know what you're doing
Mafia 101: How I Learned To Stop Sucking At Mafia
So you want to play Mafia?
Yes, please!
Well, that's just fantastic! We're always looking for more people to lynchplay Mafia with! Mafia is an exciting game of backstabbing, lying, deceiving, baffling with bullshit and ruining friendships! Is it fun? Of course it's fun.
It doesn't sound very fun.
And yet people play it so much! Ask Shadoweh. She's an addict. Basically, the game's excitement is found in discerning what are the lies and what are not, and using clever cunning and dumb luck to pin down the liars in your midst. It's like middle school, when everyone but you knew the Rules To Be Cool and you were the pathetic, sobbing heap in the corner secretely plotting to down them all! Well, in Mafia, you're the Cool Kid, you just gotta find out who doesn't know the Rules To Be Cool and lynch them.
So how do I get good at this game?!
Well, for one, not by reading threads like these. The problem with Mafia is that once you start acting according to a given set of Rules To Be Cool, people'll think you don't actually know them and lynch you. Possibly by calling you a liar, a scumbag, and a fucking asshole in the process. There'll be much rage, and while rage is a common component of a Mafia game, you want to avoid it.
Anyway, here a list of things that are generally good ideas to do:
1) Don't follow this list religiously.
2) Vote the people you think are most likely to be scum. Having an opinion is good. Having a vote is good. Not making opinion and vote coincide is A Bad Thing, and you want to avoid these things.
2b) When voting someone, it's usually the sum of Scummy Behaviour + GUT! While you can't explain your gut, divine though its readings may be, it is a good idea to present a "case", or a set of arguments which explain how to reach the conclusion you have. Convincing others you are right is part of the game, and partaking in it is a good idea.
3) When presenting your arguments or "case", make sure it's actually understandable! Obvious things are never obvious, so explain why Action X corresponds to Conclusion Y. Multiple interpretations may mean people don't get your point until you show why it is scummy. Don't say "he's not voting, that's scummy" - explain why that particular action at that particular junction points to absolute scumminess that can be fixed only with a noose.
4) Play to have fun, but remember that it's a party game - everyone should have fun. Never let your fun go at the expense of others' fun. When you're not having fun, take a step back, evaluate the situation, and then replace outtry anew, avoiding situations that aren't fun.
5) Remember that you aren't infallible. There will be moments when you may be wrong and others are right. Be prepared to accept that and change course depending on this.
The following is a list of dumb shit don't do this:
1) Follow the preceding list religiously.
2) Be an asshole. Contrary to popular belief, being a down-to-earth asshole does nothing to endear people to you. And if you can't endear people to you, they aren't likely to listen to you and disregard you. It's like that asshole in class who always knows better. Would you spare the bloke a moment if you didn't have to? That's what I thought.
3) Blathering endlessly on end without ever reaching a conclusion or summation. Blabbering on end without reason or purpose or progress. See that Serela person? He tends to say a lot but it's all meaningless when it's conjecture and circular suppositions. There's no value in someone's opinions if they don't lead to progress. Whenever posting, make sure that it's like the plot of a book: you have a starting situation, you build up the climax, and by the end something has changed from the starting situation or some sort of conclusion has been reached.
4) Claim your role while there isn't a pressing need. A pressing need is when you are about to be lynched, not when you've five minutes before the bus to school leaves and the day began two minutes ago while everyone agrees you're probably not scum.
5) Play against your wincon. Hammering yourself is almost always counter to your victory condition. Selling out your teammates is always against your victory condition. Getting modkilled is definitely against your wincondition. Play to win despite the odds. Not doing so ruins the game for everyone else. If you have to ask yourself, "Does this help my wincon?", THE ANSWER IS NO, DON'T DO IT.
6) Pretend Mafia is a single-player game. You play together as Town or as Scum. Very seldom do you roll Independent Third Party. Remember that you win and lose as a team, and victory is never the cause of all your actions. The same is true for defeat.
7) Sign up to a game of Mafia if you're likely to get stressed for the coming two weeks. Mafia is a srs bsns game that will piss you off at least five times per week!
That's quite a list.
You bet! Now armed with this knowledge, go ye out and play Mafias.
