Mafia Balancing Guide

[Darthe]

Hello all, I have a basic concept for how I create my games and balance them even when they seem completely impossible and I realized a little while ago that some others may want this as well so, for the basic setup I will give you an example so that you can see how this works.

 

First, here are a few rules for creating a game. They do not have to be followed but will make your games both better and easier.

 

1. Be an active moderator or find a co-mod who can! Nothing can kill a game quite so quickly as the inability to keep a regular vote count, keep good judgement when problems arise, remain efficient, or the like.

 

2. Do not be the forefront of your game. If the players see you post so much that they forget you are moderating and instead think you a player, you're inhibiting your game. You are the stage manager, not the conductor or the band.

 

3. Remain true to your game. At the end of the day your game is an experience for everyone. If one player has an issue and is causing trouble it is better to displease, ban, or snub them than to play to their whims and hurt the experience for everyone. You know your setup (right?) and what you say goes.

 

4. Be well prepared. This means you design your game weeks in advance of sign-ups or, better, before you added yourself to the queue. You have had the game checked and balanced by another (even if using the formula below) more experienced player. Your first flavor scene and rules are written out and the game is ready to go.

 

5. Always follow either a time based action resolution or Natural Action Resolution (http://wiki.mafiascu...tion_Resolution)

 

 

I say all of these from experience moderating on this forum, in real life, and in chats. They are honestly the base of any game.

 

Now, onto the example system involved in rating your own games before you have them checked! The idea is that each role in the game is worth a certain point value. These range from 1 to 8 and can (in the instance of roles that hurt their own team) even go to -2 but this will never happen in a basic game. The mafia gains an automatic 12 points for being an informed minority in all instances. This means that they can work together and are aware of who each other is. These points remain constant regardless of the game or the size of your mafia.

 

Here is your basic game below. It has an odd number of players (all basic games should, it means they theoretically end on a lynch instead of on an NK) that include a cop, doctor, and several mafia. This example will have nine people, will start in the day, and will be a hammer game. You should always list your town, then mafia, then third parties, second mafias, solo kills etc. Power roles always come first and their should be a space between each role for easy distinguishment. IE:

 

 

Town

 

Cop: 5

 

Doctor: 4

 

Vanilla: 1

 

Vanilla: 1

 

Vanilla: 1

 

Vanilla: 1

 

Vanilla: 1

 

 

Mafia

 

Goon: 1

 

Goon: 1

 

 

As you can see here, the town is worth 14 points total. The mafia is also with 14 points and so the game is balanced with 9 players. This is the original mafia game designed over a hundred years ago and would be approved by any moderator on the planet. Now, let us take a look at the same set up with a more advanced series of roles, a godfather, and a serial killer (Serial killer, unknown to both town and mafia yet a threat to each, gains an automatic 15 points).

 

 

Town

 

Strong Willed Cop: 7

 

Doctor: 4

 

Vigilante: 4 (potential detriment to the town)

 

Roleblocker: 3 (Can be a detriment to the town as well)

 

BPV: 2

 

Vanilla: 2 (since this is essentially role madness the vanilla is worth two because they are, for all practical purposes, confirmed)

 

 

Mafia

 

Godfather: 7

 

BPV: 2

 

 

Third Party

 

Serial Killer: 15

 

 

Here the town is worth 22 points, the mafia is worth 21, and the serial killer is worth 15. As always, the serial killer is almost certainly doomed to a loss.

 

Here are the ratings for some common roles and here is a link for most common mafiascum roles. If you would like ratings for more please ask or PM and I will update.

 

Commonly Used Roles: http://wiki.mafiascu...=Category:Roles

 

For now let us give ratings to the basic roles of mafia as according to the mafiascum wiki (http://wiki.mafiascu...tle=Normal_Game):

 

You should -1 for odd night/ even night or X shot. Inversely, +1 for strong willed.

 

Vanilla: 1

 

Permanent Godfather: 7

 

Serial Killer: 6

 

Sane Cop: 5

 

Jailkeeper: 5

 

Doctor: 4

 

Framer: 4

 

Selective Joat: 4

 

Nightly Vigilante: 4

 

Role Cop: 4

 

Roleblocker: 3

 

Daily Doublevoter: 3 (their power increases as the game goes on)

 

Innocent Child: 3

 

Gunsmith: 3

 

Mason: 3

 

Random Joat: 3

 

Neighbor: 2

 

Traitor: 2

 

Tracker: 2

 

Watcher: 2

 

Neighborizer: 2

 

Bodyguard: 1

 

Miller: 0 (their are two ways to play miller. Claim instantly or don't claim. The first will eventually lead to your death, the second probably will as well. You're a liability to the town)

 

Hider: 0 (the ability is so WIFOM inducing if the Hider doesn't reveal early)

 

more to come soon!

[RandA lThor]

Nice, I use a similar thing like this, but instead of numbers, I do a more qualitative form of analysis. Obviously I am new, so its not as good, but cop, godfather, and miller, for example are all negative for town, so I would balance that out with a watcher (or other investigative role) and a JOAT. Or something along those lines.

[Nolder]

The absolute most important thing to a balanced game IMHO is to have more vanillas than power roles

[Darthe]

When is the last advanced game that had that?

[John Snow]

Isn't the whole point of an advanced game to have more power roles than vanilla?

[Nolder]

Isn't the whole point of an advanced game to have more power roles than vanilla?

No

That's a "Kitchen Sink" game

[John Snow]

Isn't the whole point of an advanced game to have more power roles than vanilla?

No

That's a "Kitchen Sink" game

I could've swore Kitchen Sink meant everyone had a role....

[Nolder]

Isn't the whole point of an advanced game to have more power roles than vanilla?

No

That's a "Kitchen Sink" game

I could've swore Kitchen Sink meant everyone had a role....

I think of Kitchen Sink games as games where people without powers are in the minority

You can use your own definition though it's not really a set in stone thing imo

[WWWwombat]

Counterrexample:

 

3 cops vs. 3 goons

[Darthe]

Role madness is everyone has a role except one person.

[Darthe]

Would anyone like a larger guide for roles etc?

[Basel Gill]

I'm wondering how you would rate the other investigative roles (LD, watcher, tracker, etc.).

[Darthe]

LD that can or cannot check alignment?

[Darthe]

I just slightly updated (8 point scale) because of a difference I made in my scale a while ago that I forgot to account for. Before, I used to make regular members value 0 points which didn't make much sense and I was sitting here reading over confused about why this didn't play out like it was supposed to!

[LilyElizabeth]

I'm reading this with interest. I'd love to see what value you assign to any roles you have assigned. I'd also like to see some of the more experienced mods' (more than me, that is) opinions.

[RandA lThor]

We need to assign certain ifs for this. For example a BPV is stronger when there are more killing roles, but is weaker when there is only mafia kills. Also a diamond cutter who can only make one person more efficient is worth lesspoints then a diamond cutter that can help a lot of people. A masonizer who can only target certain people is less points than a masonizer who can target anyone.

[Basel Gill]

LD that can or cannot check alignment?

 

Have you somehow confused LD with cop? LD is a lie detector; it doesn't check alignment. It checks honesty.

[Darthe]

You can make LD's that either can or cannot check the statement "I am town, I am not anti-town".

[Verbal32]

All these fancy roles take away from actually playing mafia. It becomes luck of the draw and the dominoes of how roles bump up against each other instead of actual gameplay.

 

The game should be played mostly during the day, not the other way around.

[Darthe]

It can in some games, but the abilities can also be used as role enhancers which is, in my opinion, the goal.

[John E. Kelley]

I'm beginning to see what Verb has always told me.

 

Real mafia is basic mafia. Vanilla is actually liberating and takes the most skill.

[peacesells]

I'm beginning to see what Verb has always told me.

 

Real mafia is basic mafia. Vanilla is actually liberating and takes the most skill.

 

You should have signed up for my game. No roles at all.

[John E. Kelley]

I'm not good enough of a player unfortunately. See my posts in the grievances thread.

[Nolder]

Just take a couple shots, spin around in your chair three times, click your heels, and vote for the next thing you can see clearly whatever it may be

[Verbal32]

I'm not good enough of a player unfortunately. See my posts in the grievances thread.

 

B.S. You're plenty good enough for pure mafia. The crazy kitchen sink games are the ones where you mess around and have some fun. The regular ones are where you get no aide for scumhunting - keeps you on your toes.