Mafia (Town of Salem Edition) - Rule Variations & Role List
First of all, I'd like to thank omgitshim, our resident EFL Town of Salem guy and resident mafia guru, for a) originally posting these rules in the EFL, and b) answering all my questions about Town of Salem and helping me get started with running it. I'm kicking it off here, but this would be 0% possible if it weren't for his help. What's here is a copy-paste of the EFL rules thread, which I've added to and edited in some parts for clarification. If you already know the EFL rules, you know these rules (though of course it wouldn't hurt to look them over again).
So, you may find yourself wondering what this thread is getting at. Some of you may remember my Cult in the Jungle Republic game from a couple seasons back, which is just this but very very simplified. We're in round 2 now, so it's time to crank it up to the real deal. Town of Salem is an online game, which has in other leagues been adapted to a forum-based format. It's an example of a mafia game, a type of game which I'll provide a basic explanation of below:
WHAT IS A MAFIA GAME?
A mafia game, no matter the layout, runs with this basic idea:
-There are at least two "sides" to the game, mafia and town (sometimes more!). The mafia consists of a small group of people who are allowed to talk to each other in private, and the town consists of a large group of people who are not. All public talk is done in one thread, with all non-town people generally attempting to fit in the best that they possibly can with the town, so as to come across as harmless.
-The mafia is able to kill non-mafia members through their own informed decisions, and will have a private Discord set up for them.
-The town is able to kill (by "lynching") any members who they collectively deem to be suspicious, through voting done in the public thread. ALL roles are allowed to discuss who is suspicious and to cast votes (hi Victor!), not just town roles.
-There may also be roles which are neither mafia nor town who attempt to win the game by their own means.
GENERAL NOTES FOR THIS MAFIA GAME:
-Everyone will get a role. There is no "vanilla town" or "regular town" role with no special abilities--these may appear in standard mafia games, but not Town of Salem.
-Not all roles listed below will be used. Some may be used more than once.
-Roles will be assigned randomly. You will receive your role, along with instruction, via DM on the forum.
-I will be the moderator of the game, and as such will not be participating in it aside from running it and making announcements. If you have any questions, or if you're going to end up disappearing and will need a replacement, contact me.
-Once you are dead, you may NOT talk in the public thread or in any private Discord set up for yourself. There will be a private Discord set up for those who have died, for discussion purposes, and if there is a Medium, that person will have access to the Discord as well.
-There are no guidelines for discussion in the forum thread. Talk about the information that you know, and tell half-truths or lies when doing so works to your advantage. There will be speculation about the status of members within the game. If you're town, trust nobody unless what they say is supported beyond a reasonable doubt. If you're evil, try to fit in.
SUPER IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THIS MAFIA GAME:
-Voting may be done by anyone in any role (though, for beginners--always pretend that you are the most average of town members) and will be done by writing your vote in red, in bold, in all caps (for example, VOTE NYKONAX). ANY other formatting will be disregarded*. Should you choose to remove your vote, do so in the same manner (e.g. UNVOTE NYKONAX).
*Note: not really. However, this is STRONGLY PREFERRED. I understand that changing the color of votes isn't doable on mobile, and I understand if there are other difficulties with this. With that being said, please make an effort to communicate your votes as clearly as is possible.
-If the majority of those who are alive have voted for the same person by the end of a day phase, that person, regardless of role, will be lynched, they will be killed, and their role will be revealed.
-The game will be broken into Day and Night phases. We will begin on a Day phase, and phases will alternate until the game ends. The transitions between day and night will come approximately whenever I'm available to make them, but in general you should expect them to come around 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM EST.
Win Conditions
Town - All town members (dead or alive) are victorious once all Mafia, Coven, Neutral Killing, and Neutral Chaos Roles (excluding Pirate) are dead (this includes Witch if a Vigilante is still alive).
Mafia - All mafia members (dead or alive) are victorious once all Town, Coven, Neutral Killing, and Neutral Chaos Roles (excluding Pirate) are dead.
Neutral Killing, Neutral Chaos (excluding Pirate) - These Neutral roles are victorious once all Town, Mafia, Coven, other Neutral Killing, and other Neutral Chaos Roles (excluding Pirate) are dead. They may win with duplicates of their same role (i.e. a Serial Killer can win with another Serial Killer, all Vampires win together, etc.) but NOT with other roles.
Neutral Benign, Neutral Evil, Pirate - These roles have their own unique victory condition described below.
Coven - All coven members (dead or alive) are victorious once all Town, Mafia, Neutral Killing, and Neutral Chaos Roles (excluding for Pirate) are dead.
Lynching - You need a majority vote to initiate a lynching (i.e., if there are 15 alive players, then 8 votes will be needed). Voting should be done in BOLD RED CAPITAL LETTERS. Please also tag the person you are voting for so that they may attempt to defend themselves. You may change or rescind your vote at any time before the lynching occurs, and you should also BOLD RED CAPITALIZE UNVOTE in this case to make it easier to tally. ANY OTHER VOTING FORMAT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. To dissuade last minute swing votes, the day phase will be extended to 5 minutes after the final vote in the thread (though if someone is repeatedly voting and unvoting, this may be waived by Moderator's discretion).
Communication - All discussion must take place inside the public thread. No edits should be made to any posts in the thread; this is to prevent secretly adding or removing votes to players. In addition to the public thread, there will be separate, private Discords for discussion among the Mafia, Coven, Vampires, and Dead. If you are a member of any of these groups, any actions that you take MUST be submitted for the moderator in this Discord.
Last Wills - Last Wills are a form of notes each player may take that will be revealed upon their death (though this may be blocked by a Janitor cleaning, Medusa stoning, or altered by a Forger). In your personal message thread with the moderator on the forum, you can make a Last Will post that may be edited. You can make edits at any time until you are killed. You can put anything you want in the will; usually it's recommended to put your night actions in it (especially if you're town, though you may lie or be vague if you want to deceive; i.e. a Trapper probably won't want the Mafia/Coven knowing where their trap is placed). It's also common to put in various role claims and which people are suspicious to you. If you are deemed to be game throwing (i.e. a Mafia listing the rest of their Mafia team), then the will will not be posted by Moderator discretion.
While the experience will attempt to replicate the game as much as possible, there will be some minor differences here and there due to difficulties replicating them in a forum/discord format (i.e. there is no whispering, so Blackmailers won't see whispers; due to the headaches involved, Vampire Hunters won't be able to see Vampire chat).
Common Terms
Astral - An Astral ability is one that does not count as a visit.
Attack - Attack is how strong your kill is.
· None - Your role cannot attack players directly.
· Basic - Your attacks will kill any role with a Defense value of None.
· Powerful - Your attacks will kill any role with a Defense value of Basic.
· Unstoppable - Your attacks will kill any role with a Defense value of Powerful.
Control - Controlling a player allows you to choose a target for their abilities if they have targetable abilities.
Convert - Converted players will become Vampires and join your team. You must wait one night between conversions. If the target cannot be converted, it will be attacked by a Basic Attack instead.
Day/Night Actions - The majority of actions taken in Town of Salem occur during the night. However, there are Day Actions (they will be labeled as such), and some roles will even allow you to act from beyond the grave.
Defense - Defense is how resilient you are to attacks.
· None - Your role will die to any attack.
· Basic - Your role is protected from Basic Attacks.
· Powerful - Your role is protected from Powerful Attacks.
· Invincible - Your role is protected from Unstoppable Attacks.
Douse - If anyone doused by the Arsonist is investigated by the Investigator, they will show up as Godfather, Bodyguard, or Arsonist. Players will not know they have been doused in gas unless they are an Arsonist.
Full Moon - Full Moon occurs every even night.
Heal - Heal gives a player Powerful Defense for the night, and cures poison.
Hex - Hexes are placed by the Hex Master. Hexed players will not know they have been Hexed. When all living non-Coven players are Hexed, the Hex Master, if alive, will deal an Unstoppable Attack to them. Hexed players will have their investigative results changed to the Hex Master's and will show up as Coven to the Sheriff. If the Hex Master has the Necronomicon, then hexes deal a Basic Attack when applied.
Jail - Being in Jail causes all direct visits to fail against the player. When in Jail, you have Powerful Defense.
Necronomicon - The Necronomicon is a Coven-only ability enhancer. The Neconomicon is first given out on Night 3. The Coven Leader, if alive, receives it first; if there is no Leader, or the Leader dies, it then goes to another random Coven member. In addition to enhancing Coven Abilities, this also makes the holder impervious to the Sheriff.
Plague - Infected players spread the plague on visiting or being visited. Infection cannot be protected against or removed. Plague is initially spread by the Plaguebearer.
Poison - When a role is poisoned, they are notified. Poisoned roles will die the next night unless healed by a Doctor, Guardian Angel, or Potion Master. Poison is applied by the Poisoner. If the Poisoner has the Necronomicon, then the poison can only be removed by a Guardian Angel.
Purge - Purge removes all harmful effects from a player. Only the Guardian Angel can Purge their target.
Rampage - Causes your attacks to attack your target and all players visiting your target.
Role Reveal - Upon a death or lynch, there will be a full role reveal. In some instances, a role may not be revealed (ex: Janitor cleans the role, Medusa turns them to stone, etc.)
Stone Gaze - Your victims' role will not be revealed. Only the Medusa can Stone Gaze.
Trap - Traps will trigger on players directly visiting the trapped player, but will only harm attackers. You are told the roles of the players who visit your trapped target when it triggers. Traps are exclusive to the Trapper role.
Town Roles
Town Protective
1. Bodyguard - Protect a person from death each night. Your target is given a Powerful Defense. You will deal a Powerful Attack to an attacker on your target, but you will sacrifice yourself. You have one bulletproof vest, granting you Basic Defense for the night. You may not Protect and use your vest in the same night.
2. Crusader - Protect one person each night. You will grant your target Powerful Defense and you will deal a Basic Attack to any one visitor to your target at random, even if your target is not attacked. You will not attack Vampires, but you will block them.
3. Doctor - Heal one person each night. If they are attacked, you will heal them, granting them Powerful Defense for a night. You can not heal the Mayor once revealed, or anyone attacked by an Unstoppable Attack, such as an Arsonist igniting or a Jester's haunt. You have one self-heal.
4. Trapper - You may set up a trap at another player's house. Traps take one day to build, and you can tear them down by selecting yourself. Anyone visiting your target will trigger the trap, revealing the roles of the visitors, and you will deal a Powerful Attack to a random attacker if anyone attacked them.
Town Support
5. Escort - Distract someone each night to block them from using their night ability. If you roleblock a Serial Killer or a Werewolf on a full moon, you will be killed. You cannot be role-blocked by Consorts, fellow Escorts, or Pirates.
6. Mayor - When you reveal yourself as the Mayor, your vote counts as 3 votes. However, you will not be able to be healed by a Doctor. If you are bitten by a Vampire, then you will only have 1 vote and will be able to be healed by a Doctor.
7. Medium - Speak with the dead to gather information. You will be able to read and send messages in the Discord server set up for those who have died. When you yourself die, you can seance someone. Choose a target during the day phase to speak to one-on-one that night. Seances can only be used once.
8. Retributionist - You may raise a dead Town member and use their ability on a living player. Each zombie can be used once before it rots.
9. Transporter - Choose two people to transport at night. You may transport yourself. You are not able to transport the same person twice in one night. You cannot transport anyone in jail, be role-blocked by an Escort or a Consort, or be controlled by a Witch. Transporting a target swaps all visitors to them; visitors will instead visit the other swapped target.
Town Investigative
10. Investigator - Investigate someone each night for a hint of their role. You will be given three to five possible roles that your target may be, listed below.
11. Lookout - Watch someone at night to see who visits them. You can see a maximum of three visits per night. If more visits occur, you will know this, but will not know who the other visitors are. Cannot see Astral visits.
12. Psychic - Receive a vision every night. On odd-numbered nights, you receive a vision of three players, one of which is confirmed to be an evil and the other two can be evil or good. On even-numbered nights, you will receive a vision of two players, one of which is confirmed to be a good role while the other can be good or evil. Good roles are all Townies and Neutral Benigns, while evil roles are anything else.
13. Sheriff - Check one person each night for suspicious activity. You are able to find all Mafia members except the Godfather, all of the Coven (without the Necronomicon), the Serial Killer, and the Werewolf (on a full moon). Hex Masters and Framers can mess with your results.
14. Spy - Bug someone at night, revealing all non-TI targeting actions against them (transporting, roleblocking, attacking, etc). You will also receive a list of who the Mafia and/or Coven have visited on each night.
15. Tracker - Track one person at night to see who they visit.
Town Killing
16. Jailor - During the day, you may choose to jail somebody each night. You can choose to execute them, dealing an Unstoppable Attack to the target. Executing a Townie will result in you losing all your executions while jailing and subsequently failing to execute a Serial Killer, Pestilence or a Werewolf on a full moon will force them to kill you. Your jailee gains Powerful Defense, has all actions against them blocked, and will be roleblocked that night, even if they have Roleblock Immunity. You will be able to speak with your prisoner each night in a private Discord server.
17. Vampire Hunter - Check for Vampires each night. If you find a Vampire or a Vampire visits you, you will deal a Basic Attack to them. When all Vampires have died, you will become a Vigilante with one bullet.
18. Veteran - Choose to go on alert each night. When on alert, you will deal a Powerful Attack to all your visitors. Going on alert grants you Basic Defense. You have three alerts.
19. Vigilante - Choose to take justice into your own hands and shoot someone. Shooting anyone will deal a Basic Attack to them, but you cannot shoot someone on the first night. If you shoot a Townie, you will commit suicide the next night out of guilt. A Witch or Coven Leader can force you to shoot someone on any night, Night 1 included.
Mafia Roles
Mafia Support
20. Blackmailer - Choose a person each night to blackmail. They are prevented from speaking during the day. A blackmailed target may say "I am blackmailed" once and only once, and ONLY if the town has reached a number of votes necessary to lynch them.
21. Consigliere - Check a person each night for their exact role. If you check someone who is doused or hexed, they will show up as an Arsonist or a Hex Master, respectively.
22. Consort - Distract somebody each night. You prevent them from using their night ability. If you distract a Serial Killer or Werewolf (on a full moon), they are forced to kill you instead of their original target. A Consort is an exact copy of an Escort, but aligned with the Mafia rather than the Town.
Mafia Deception
23. Disguiser - Disguise a mafia member as a non-mafia member to alter their identity. The disguised Mafia member will appear to have the same role as the non-Mafia member to the Investigator and Sheriff. Your disguised Mafia member will appear to be the other person to a Lookout. When disguised as a Town member, Mafia visits are disregarded by Spy.
24. Framer - Choose a target to frame each night. On that night, framed targets will show up as suspicious to a Sheriff, and to an Investigator as Framer, Vampire, Jester, or Hex Master.
25. Hypnotist - Sneak into a person's house to plant a memory at night, making the person think something happened without anything happening. The memory will range from the player seeing that they were healed by a Doctor to being poisoned by a Poisoner even though nothing happened. This will cause a player to receive false notifications about actions occurring to them.
26. Janitor - Choose a target to clean each night. If they are killed, their role and Last Will are hidden from the Town. The Janitor, however, can read their will and know their role. You can clean 3 times.
27. Forger - Choose a target at night. If they are killed, their Last Will will be replaced by a forged copy that you have written. You can forge 3 times.
Mafia Killing
28. Ambusher - Choose a target to wait outside their house at night. You will deal a Basic attack to a random visitor. All visitors will know your name.
29. Godfather - Choose to kill someone each night. If there is a Mafioso, they will attack your target for you. You have Basic defense and Detection immunity. Your attack holds a Basic Attack value.
30. Mafioso - Choose a target to kill at night. If you select a target and the Godfather selects someone else, your choice will be overridden and you will attack the Godfather's target. If the Godfather dies, you will become the new Godfather. Your attack holds a Basic Attack Value.
Neutral Roles
Neutral Benign
31. Amnesiac - Remember who you were by selecting a graveyard role. You cannot select anyone who was cleaned by a Janitor or turned to stone by a Medusa. Complete that role's objective to win. If you are attacked on the same night you remember, you still die as an Amnesiac no matter what role you attempted to remember yourself as.
32. Guardian Angel - Keep your target alive for the whole game. You can Heal and Purge your target twice the entire game, giving them temporary Powerful Defense. You can still protect your target even if you are dead. Protecting your target prevents them from being lynched the next day. Protecting your target purges them, removing any negative effects such as douses or hexes. If your target is killed at night, you will become a Survivor with no vests.
33. Survivor - Put on a bulletproof vest at night. You have four vests, each one giving you Basic Defense. Survive the whole game to win, even through a draw.
Neutral Evil
34. Executioner - Trick the Town into lynching your target. Your target will always be a Townie, though they may not be the Mayor or the Jailor. If you successfully lynch your target, you will win even if you die. If your target dies before they can be lynched, you will become a Jester. You have Basic Defense.
35. Jester - Trick the Town into voting against you. Haunt a person of your choice who voted to lynch you, dealing an Unstoppable Attack to them. You win by getting lynched.
36. Witch - Control someone each night. They are forced to use their ability on a second target of your choice. You uncover the role of the first target. You can not control a Transporter or Veteran. You have Basic Defense until you are attacked by a Basic Attack. You win if you survive to see the whole Town vanquished. A Witch cannot appear in any game where there is Coven.
Neutral Killing
37. Arsonist - Douse someone in gasoline each night. They will not be notified of the dousing. Selecting yourself will ignite all targets, dealing an Unstoppable attack to them. Doused targets show up as Bodyguard, Godfather, Arsonist, or Crusader to an Investigator, and as an Arsonist to a Consigliere. You will be notified if another Arsonist douses you. Choosing no action at night will clean any gasoline from you and cancels another Arsonist's ignite on you, which you only have to do if you yourself are doused. You win when all non-neutral roles are defeated.
38. Juggernaut - You may choose to attack a player on Full Moon nights. Each kill you get will grant you a new ability. You can power up four times. In order, you can gain the ability to attack every night, gain Basic defense, Rampage at your target's home, then deal an Unstoppable attack to all visitors and your target.
39. Serial Killer - Attack someone each night, dealing a Basic attack. If you are visited by an Escort, Consort, or Pirate, you will be forced to attack them (unless the Pirate that duels you wins the duel, in which case they will kill you). If roleblocked, you may also attack a target of your own on the same night. If you are jailed, you will attack the Jailor if you are not executed.
40. Werewolf - Go on a rampage on every Full Moon night. You will deal a Powerful attack to your target and all visitors to your target. You can also choose to stay at home and deal a Powerful attack to all those who visit you. If you are roleblocked or jailed (and not executed), you will be forced to rampage in your home to kill the roleblocker.
Neutral Chaos
41. Pirate - Choose a player to plunder each night, role-blocking them at the start. You will be given three options to attack with, while your target gets to choose between three defensive options. If you successfully plunder your target, you will deal a Powerful Attack to them. Attempting and failing to plunder a Serial Killer or a Werewolf on a Full Moon night will force either one to kill you instead. You win when you successfully plunder twice.
42. Plaguebearer - You may choose to infect a player with the plague each night. You have Basic Defense. The plague spreads by visiting other people; if one player catches it, they can pass it on to others. Once all players are infected, you will become the Pestilence.
Plaguebearer as Pestilence - You may choose to rampage at a player's house each night. You have a Powerful Attack and an Invincible Defense. You will kill all visitors to yourself, and you cannot be roleblocked or controlled. You can only die by lynching or committing suicide.
43. Vampire - Convert others to Vampires at night. If you bite any member of the Mafia that isn't the Godfather or any member of the Coven besides the Coven Leader with the Necronomicon (Immune roles), they will die and you will be able to bite again the next night. You must wait one night after a successful conversion to bite again.
There can only be 4 vampires maximum. If the Vampires bite while they have 4 members, they will deal a Basic attack to their target regardless of who they are.
Coven Roles
Coven Evil
44. Coven Leader - Control somebody each night. They are forced to use their ability onto a second target of your choice. You uncover the role of the first target. With the Necronomicon, you deal a Basic attack to your first target and gain Basic defense.
45. Hex Master - Choose to hex somebody each night. When all players that aren't Coven are hexed, you will deal an Unstoppable attack to them all. With the Necronomicon, you will deal a Basic attack to those you hex, and your hexes become Astral.
46. Medusa - Choose to use a Stone Gaze each night. All visitors to you will be dealt a Powerful attack, and their role and will are hidden from everyone. You may Stone Gaze three times. With the Necronomicon, you have unlimited Stone Gazes, and can now visit players directly to stone them.
47. Necromancer - Choose a dead target to use their ability on your second target. You can only use each dead person once before their corpse rots away. With the Necronomicon, you can select yourself to send a ghoul, which deals a Basic attack, to your target.
48. Poisoner - Choose to poison someone each night. Your target will know they were poisoned. The poison will deal a Basic attack to them the next night after they were poisoned. A Doctor or Potion Master can cure poison. The Necronomicon makes your poison incurable.
49. Potion Master - Choose someone to use a potion on each night. Your potions can either heal the target, discover the role of the target, or deal a Basic attack to the target. Each potion has a 3 day cooldown. The Necronomicon removes the cooldown.
Player Distribution
This will generally be the "chart" used to explain the number of mafia/coven members in comparison to the rest of the town. Role lists (unless the game is Any All) will always provide a more comprehensive view of the circumstances of any game in particular.
[Number of players - number of mafia in the game]
0 - 5 players : 1 Mafia or Coven
7 - 9 players: 2 Mafia or Coven
12 - 15 players: 3 Mafia or Coven
16 - 19 players: 4 Mafia or Coven
20 - 24 players: 5 Mafia or Coven
25 - 29 players: 3 Mafia and 3 Coven
30+ players: 4 Mafia and 4 Coven
Investigative Results
Vigilante, Veteran, Mafioso, Pirate, or Ambusher.
Medium, Janitor, Retributionist, Necromancer, or Trapper.
Survivor, Vampire Hunter, Amnesiac, Medusa, or Psychic.
Spy, Blackmailer, Jailor, or Guardian Angel.
Sheriff, Executioner, Werewolf, or Poisoner.
Framer, Vampire, Jester, or Hex Master.
Lookout, Forger, Juggernaut, or Witch/Coven Leader.
Escort, Transporter, Consort, or Hypnotist.
Doctor, Disguiser, Serial Killer, or Potion Master.
Investigator, Consigliere, Mayor, Tracker, or Plaguebearer.
Bodyguard, Godfather, Arsonist, or Crusader.
Note: A disguised Disguiser will show as the person they disguised as. If someone is Framed or Hexed, they will appear under the Framer or Hex Master's results. If someone is Doused, they will appear under the Arsonist's results.