Mafia: modified rules
Mafia, a.k.a. Werewolf: the modified rules of the game.
Note: even though the rules may look long, at every turn the Judge (MC) pronounces standard formulas pointing to the player’s actions according to their cards, so the player’s problem is not to get confused, but to survive by the end of the game.
Number of players: from 8 (minimum recommended) up to 20. The more players, the more special cards like these (left part – role, right part – actions required):
| You are MAFIA |
Every night you wake up and (in cooperation with other Mafia guys) choose who to kill | You are SHERIFF |
Every night you wake up and point at a citizen to disclose his / her status; thumb up means Mafia, down means innocent |
1. The city consists of Loyal Citizens and Gangsters (Mafia). The city’s objective is to reveal and sentence all the gangsters before they take over the city.
2. At the first turn, everyone gets a card with a role. The roles should not be disclosed, however, during the game each player may pretend to have a certain role (except of course the Mafia, as it will result in his / her elimination).
3. Game turns consist of days and nights. During the first day citizens just meet each other and elect the Mayor (which will have the decisive vote at trials, in case of equal number of votes; if killed or sentenced himself / herself, the role is passed on to the next player clockwise). During the following days the players discuss each other, substantiate their suspicions and contradictions in other players’ behavior. By the end of turn (which should not exceed 5 minutes), the city must sentence one of its citizens, who does not take part in following turns until the end of the game. Some of the roles may be revealed when a respective citizen is sentenced (see below).
4. At night, role players perform specific actions (while other citizens’ eyes are closed): the Mafia (gangsters) shoots at citizens (which are deemed killed, with certain exceptions below), the Sheriff reveals gangsters, the Doctor may save someone’s life, the Lawyer silences people, etc.
5. When sentenced or killed by the Mafia, the player does not open his / her cards (note: some variants of the game allow opening cards), except for some special cards mentioned below (Prince, Avenger, Ghost). Furthermore, they may leave the table or stay with their eyes open during the following turns, but they are prohibited to interfere, except for the Ghost (see below).
6. Roles may vary, depending on the number of players and their experience. However, there are basic roles present in every game:
· Judge (MC) – leads the game, announces turns etc. This is not a player but the game’s judge.
· Citizen (Villager) – a regular loyal citizen, without any specific powers
· Sheriff – every night he / she points at a sleeping citizen to reveal whether this one is a gangster (the judge shows a thumb up) or not (thumb down). In some variants of the game (usually with a big number of players, otherwise not recommended) the Sheriff has an extra option: to point at someone with two fingers instead of one, thus killing him / her, in case the Sheriff is sure that the player is a gangster.
· Doctor – every night he / she gives someone an antidote, thus protecting the player from the Mafia’s poisoned bullets and saving his / her life (i.e. if the Mafia shoots the same person, he / she survives that night). Restrictions: save oneself only once per game; do not save the same person in two consecutive turns.
· Lawyer – every night he / she points at a player who he / she wants to silence during the following day. The respective player can vote, but is prohibited to say anything.
7. Optional roles (examples):
· Prince (Tycoon) – when sentenced by the city during the day or attacked by the Mafia at night, he bribes them (and thus reveals the role) so that he / she can stay in the game. When shot next time, he / she will die anyway.
· Avenger (Hunter) – when sentenced by the city or killed by the Mafia, he / she may (but is not obliged to) kill someone else in retaliation.
· Tough Guy – when killed or sentenced, he / she lives the following turn and leaves (dies) only by its end.
· Crazy Hero (Alcoholic) – wants to die heroically protecting the city. Each night he / she may point at someone else whose life he / she wants to save. When this person is shot by the Mafia the same night or sentenced by the city, the Stupid Hero dies instead. If this player does not die by the end of the game, he / she is considered part of the losing party, no matter who wins, the Mafia or the city.
· Prostitute (Corrupt politician) – every night he / she chooses a citizen who cannot be condemned the following day (the voting takes place as usual, but when it finishes, the Judge declares it null and void, and nobody is sentenced).
· Two Freemasons – meet each other during the first night, just to know that they are neither Mafia nor have any special powers. During the following days they use this knowledge to their benefit.
· Ghost – upon being killed or sentenced, every day he / she writes a single alphabet letter or number that should point at the Mafia. Note: the letter should not point at the player’s personal name; other hints are allowed.
· Bartender (Drug Dealer) – a Mafia guy who every night serves alcohol (drugs) to someone. If that person had a card with special powers, these become invalid the following day after voting (for example, a condemned Avenger cannot kill anyone).
8. Other notes:
· During the first night, the Mafia opens their eyes to meet each other, and the Lawyer opens his / her eyes together with them, without revealing his / her role. When the Mafia closes their eyes, the Judge asks the Lawyer to open his / her eyes once again. The Doctor and the Sheriff then reveal themselves to the Judge.
· During the following nights, the Judge calls the role players in the following sequence: the Doctor protects, the Mafia shoots, the Sheriff detects, and the Lawyer silences citizens. If any of the special roles is killed or sentenced, the Judge does not reveal it to the city but keeps saying the traditional formulas (the Doctor makes his choice… thanks, close your eyes… the Sheriff makes his choice… etc.)
· The Lawyer is considered part of the Mafia, but this player has a chance to win no matter who finally wins if the Sheriff is killed before him / her, or when he / she is the last survivor of the Mafia and the Sheriff has not revealed his / her role during one of the preceding nights. When the game comes to this point, the Judge asks: “Is the Lawyer on the city’s side?” The Lawyer may decide to say “yes” and to win… unless the Judge then announces “Sorry, you have been revealed by the Sheriff”, and the Lawyer dies; or the Lawyer may keep silence and fight as the last of the Mafia. This makes this role especially mean: the Lawyer is mostly interested in killing the Sheriff, but he / she may equally frame Mafia guys if deems necessary.
The total number of Mafia guys should generally be equal approximately to 1 per 3-3.5 citizens. If the number of players is especially big (about 20), there may be 2 criminal clans fighting both against the city and each other, for example, the Italian Camorra (2 Mafia guys + Lawyer) and the Japanese Yakuza (2 Ninjas + Sensei). In this case, the Sheriff’s role may be also split into two, for example, a Detective (reveals roles) and a Vigilante (kills those suspected of being criminals).