Mafia Moderating Qustions - Suitable for Real Life

[RequiemEternam]

I modded some mini-games IRL last month at a drunken game night. It went over so well, we've decided to organize a full-fledged night of RL Mafia. My questions are about balance in a twenty-person game

1. In a simple mafia/townies game (no other roles), what percentage of people should be mafia?

2. If I add in a doc and/or a cop, how do the ratios change? How about an additional doc?

3. What about ratios for a two-family game?

It's such a blast moderting the real life version, watching people bicker and swear, point and gesticulate, then get silent as night falls. Done right, it's one heck of a good time. I look forward to your answers.

And if the powers that be feel this is more of an OT than a VG thread, please do as you will.

[mith]

1. I have the numbers on mafiascum. Which is down still, apparently. It's something like... below 11 players, 1 Mafia, 11-22, 2 Mafia, 22-40something, 3 Mafia. That's based on random voting and choices, and usually the Town does better in actual games (since the Mafia never act completely randomly).

2. Not exactly sure. Docs don't make that much difference really, unless you also have a Cop. For a Cop, I'd say adding an extra Mafia will usually balance it pretty good (though, I doubt adding 2 for 2 Cops would be fair). If you add both, add an extra Mafia, maybe 2 for large games. It's just a guess really, try it and find out.

3. Well, for 20 players, I usually do 2 Families of 4, and a random collection of Townie roles. It's usually fairly balanced, but that's just a guess as well. Without the Townie roles, 3 in each might be balanced, I dunno.

[Samadhi]

Well there is a bit of balnce once you have a cop and a doc. Look at it this way. If you have more mafia then they're more likely to be randomly chosen by the cop, then the cop is confirmed and the doc protects him and you trim the mafia down. The fewer mafia there are the more likely the cop will only find innocents. Of course, the more mafia you have the more powerful their voting bloc. You have to watch out for that.

But it's more guess than anything else really.

[groza528]

I always thought 20% Mafia was a pretty good rule of thumb. Of course there's no way to go by the books for Mafia. Do what you think sounds fair, and if it isn't, change something midgame *coughSTARWARScough*

[radwulf]

if you can, try to kick the dead people out of the room, or send them off to a corner or something

[radwulf]

did I say "kick"? lol, I am indeed spending too much time on irc

[PuzzleProdigy]

When I mod IRL, I use this:
8 or less- 1 mafia
9-11 2 mafia- 2 masons
12-14 3 mafia- 3 masons
15-16 A: 3 mafia- 1 cop
B: 4 mafia- 2 cop
17-19 4 mafia- 4 masons
20 2 families of 4, 1 cop, 1 doc, 3 masons
The games come out about 40%-50% mafia wins. Of course, my group uses very little logic, and more of looking at expressions and listening for movement at night, so these may not be very good for a logical group.

[This message has been edited by PuzzleProdigy (edited 08-08-2002 01:35 PM).]

[RequiemEternam]

my group is highly illogical. Plus, we placed a gag order on all "I heard/felt them move" arguments. We haven't come up with a suitable penalty, yet.

I've contemplated making the town waste its lynch for the day on the offender, with the accused gaining immunity from death for 24 hours. Even if the town believed it, they couldn't lynch the accused until two days after the offender's lynch, during which time townies are dying left and right. Plus, in two-family, they couldn't be targeted by the other family.

It's really harsh, but I think the penalties are enough that no one would try that sort of cheating.

And I think I'm going with 20 people: 2 4-person families, 1 cop, one doc, 3 masons. Sounds like a plan. If we have time, or enogh booze, we might try another game with numbers tweaked.

Thanks for all your input!

[rOver]

The way we usually play it is 1 cop and 2 mafia under 12 players, 3 at 12 players and above. Note that the roles of the dead are not revealed. The town wins more often, especially if the players know each other.

I'm quite surprised you could manage with 20 players. The most I played (or rather modded) was 17 and they were all shouting at the same time.
I don't see what's the problem with "I heard him move" type of arguments. We use it all the time. You are supposed to be able to vote silently. What I had problems with however is players holding hands (if there are couples) or obstructing each other in some other way. It's a good idea to announce that this is illegal at the start of the game, rather then have the poor mafia ask it.
Oh and looking at expressions and demeanor is highly effective. I say it beats logic hands down.