Seeing as the other few threads were dead, I've decided to host a game of my own.

The ruleset I am going to use is somewhat different from the ones that have been played so far. The main difference is that black is now played entirely by the mafia, who do not need to vote about what to play.

Thus, every night, the mafia will PM me the move they want to play. The mafia cannot kill anyone -- they must either win the game, or make the town kill each other.

Every day, everyone will vote about which move to play, or whom to kill. Feel free to kill as often as you want, but do realise that the mafia get a free move for it. White must kill all mafia members, or win the game.

I think the ideal number of players is seven -- that way, I can have two mafia, allowing the town three mislynches before the mafia outnumbers it. If there's nine or more players, there will be three mafiosi; any less and there will be two. Days will probably last one week, with a vote going through as long as a majority of living players supports it -- no majority at the end of the week is a pass. Nights will hopefully take a day or two.

Communication outside the thread is allowed for everyone.

Questions/suggestions/sign-ups are very welcome. ^^

If you wish to participate, please state which board size you would like -- I think 13x13 is most reasonable, but 19x19 may be more fun.

Would you consider alternating turns, rengo-style, for both teams? I'm sure it would make the game a lot faster and less tedious. Players will actually get to play moves rather than voting for everything.

It allows some sharp sacrificial tactics by black (play suicide move on white turn, get voted out), but I'd say that just adds an interesting element, rather than a problem. White will just have to take that into account on board.

There should be a time limit for moves, missed move counting as a pass. Or if this seems too harsh, just have the next player take over.

Potential problem for both versions is that if black gets a good start, they might win by simply playing good moves for both sides, without any subtle (or less subtle) sabotaging attempts. So it might be good idea to use high komi to make the situation harder for them. (The exact komi could even be hidden from white players until the end, so it could also be used for team balancing, to make things harder to guess...)

I'd be interested in playing this on 13x13 if the pace can be kept reasonable, preferably about one move per day.

(By the way, there would not be real need for a referee after the setup if black team could somehow post their moves anonymously. Maybe with a shared "mafia" account if that's allowed by forum rules. That would speed things up a bit.)

First of all, thank you for your suggestions.

I'm going to have to think about the first one one. Part of the main fun in mafia, I find, is the discussion about who is to be lynched (/which move is to be played). I am willing to use this if there is support, although I would still prefer if the mafia got to discuss, instead of taking turns.

The komi idea is very good, and I'll certainly use it. Indeed, white should not know the komi, seeing as it's a good way to balance for rank differences. No move submitted/chosen on time would mean a pass, certainly.

If black gets a good start, white can just start killing off the best players. Black needs to make sure not to play too well, or it'll be clear that it's the best players playing.

I would prefer to act as referee, as I don't think I'm strong enough to play yet.

So far, this hasn't gained all that much interest, so I think it's best to get some sign-ups and feedback on which system is preferred before one is chosen.

Well, it's exactly my point that deciding who is to be lynched should be the interesting part here. But that can be more about discussing the moves that were actually played, which can go on without delaying the game. Discussing the next move might not be bad, but I don't think it's necessary either. It just creates a bit different gameplay.

Waiting for all votes and discussion might easily take a week, like you said. And that means the game on 13x13 could easily take over a year, if it ends up being played out on board. That's just too much for me.

For the mafia it's fine, I guess. With only two players they should be able to decide quickly enough whichever way they want.



True, it may not be that simple. But getting ahead doesn't necessarily mean you have the strongest player in your team. It can just as well be caused by one mistake by the other team.

I'm in, doesn't matter what the ruleset is.

_________________
a1h1 [1d]: You just need to curse the gods and defend.
Good Go = Shape.
Associação Portuguesa de Go

I think voting would end up with fewer mistakes, but you are right about the time, so I think the one-move-per-day-plus-rengo is probably a good idea. This way, it could even be fewer players, so we could go ahead with 5 or so, with just one mafia... Hm.

Let's see how many players we get, and then decide.

Besides The Fresh Meat Initiative, I'm also trying to start a Mafia Go game in BoardGameGeek. See this thread, and let me know if you're interested.

_________________
a1h1 [1d]: You just need to curse the gods and defend.
Good Go = Shape.
Associação Portuguesa de Go