General Guidelines
Welcome to MH Mafia! This document provides the rules and guidelines for Hosts and Players participating in mafia games. These rules are designed to ensure fairness, an enjoyable environment and outline the consequences for rule violations.
- The goal of this text is to provide a set of rules, guidelines and ideas that together are meant to preserve the peace and flow of both individual games and the complete set of games.
- Please respect the Host's directions while the game is ongoing. Players are expected to follow their instructions without exception, to preserve the peace and flow of the game.
- Mafia games are part of the larger MH community, and all MH guidelines, including staff authority, remain in effect
- Mafia is a game of accusation and deception that can sometimes become emotional. Despite this, we ask Players to remain respectful toward the Host(s) and fellow Players.
- Chronic misbehaviour, general unpleasantness, and disobedience have no place in these games. Griefing includes actions such as spamming, excessive rudeness, deliberately ruining the game, or intentionally derailing discussions.
- These actions are subject to host assessment and, accordingly, violations as outlined in the Violations section.
The Players
Factions and Win Conditions
- Players are assigned a role and allegiance at the start of the game by the Host. For information on how to join a game, check the The Host(s) section.
- Town players (Townies) are the "uninformed majority" that must work to uncover Mafia players. If they eliminate all Mafia players, the Town wins. Each townie knows only their role and affiliation.
- Mafia players (Mafias) are the "informed minority" who know each other's roles and identities and secretly work together to eliminate Townies. If they can reduce the town's population until there are as many living Townsies as living Mafias, the Mafia wins.
- Third-party players (TPs) work similarly to the Mafia but have their own faction-specific rules and win conditions. If they are present in the game, both Townies and Mafias also need to eliminate all TPs to win.
- If multiple Mafia teams are present in a single game, they are treated as opposing individual teams and are not informed of the other teams' existence or identity. Each Mafia team needs to also eliminate all rival Mafia teams to win.
Gameplay Phases
- Day Phase: All Players post publicly in the game thread, where they can each vote which Player they want to be lynched at the end of the Day. Townies work together to try and lynch a suspected Mafia or TP player, while Mafias and TPs need to blend in to avoid getting lynched.
- Day Phases generally last 24 hours, but may be lengthened or shortened to accommodate the Host's time constraints and/or the (shrinking) Player base.
- Night Phase: Town Players cannot discuss the game during this phase, but Mafia members can confer privately and may choose a Player to kill.
- Night Phases generally last 12 hours, but may be lengthened or shortened as well.
- Lastly, the number of Mafia Members depends on the number of participants:
- 7 - 10 = 2 Mafias
- 11 - 13 = 3 Mafias
- 14 - 17 = 4 Mafias
- 18 - 20 = 5 Mafias
- 21 - 24 = 6 Mafias
- 25 - 27 = 7 Mafias
- 28 - 31 = 8 Mafias
etc.
Role Actions
- Players with Day actions may use them at any time of the Day Phase before the last hour. Unless specified otherwise in the role description, their effects are immediate.
- Players with Night actions may use them at any time of the Night Phase, and before it is over, may change their mind as often as they like (the Host takes into account the most recent action sent).
- The order of effects for Night actions is decided by their Priority, with higher-priority actions being processed first. Conflicting actions of the same Priority are resolved via coin flip.
- Players may submit Night actions in advance (queued up, as it were).
- Players failing to submit actions on time will forfeit the actions for that Phase.
- Find the full list of roles here
- Find the full list of role interactions here
- Find the full list of Player PM formats here
Posting
Each Player must post at least
3 times per Day Phase.
Prohibited Actions (1 violation) (non-exhaustive)
- Minor edits exclusively to fix a single or a few grammar/aesthetic changes are allowed if they are marked (clearly), otherwise, result in a penalty.
- Repeated and/or unwanted spamming, abusive language, excessively derailing discussions.
- Posting after death or influencing the game once eliminated.
- Posting more than 100 times a day.
- Failing to meet the minimal posting threshold.
- Posting in the game thread during the Night Phase; Day End means Day End, no posts or votes after that point are considered. Posting a lot or long after the Phase has ended may result in being penalized.
Prohibited Actions (2~3 violations) (non-exhaustive)
- Major edits to posts that change the meaning of the information initially presented.
- Sharing or quoting information and/or screenshots from PMs relating to the game. This includes quoting your Host, your role PM, or any private communication with other Players.
- This also includes describing unimportant PM details, such as, but not limited to, the colour/font of the text, fluff pics, choice of words, etc., with the intent to confirm your PM contents to yourself or other players.
- Fake screenshots, quotes and descriptions will be treated the same as genuine ones.
- Refers to privileged information provided by the Host through, for example, PMs. You can only share or fake role results in a non-identifiable way.
- Discussing the game outside the game thread with active Players.
Failure to post, or commit any other kind of Rule Break listed above, is subject to violations as outlined in the Violations section.
Griefing, or deliberately committing game-disruptive behaviour, is considered a separate offence and warrants warnings and violations on its merit, detailed in the Bad Conduct section.
Voting
- Each Player must place at least one vote during the Day Phase.
- You can only vote for one person at a time and cannot vote for yourself.
- You may not take back a vote, even if you vote for them by mistake. You are not allowed to edit your vote text.
- A first vote is considered a regular vote. A second vote is a locked vote, which weighs stronger than a regular vote in case of a tie.
- Players may change their vote once. The second vote is considered a "lock" and cannot be changed.
- To vote, Players must bold their votes and use the format: votekill [Player Name] or vote lock [Player Name]. Typing it this way ensures the host can easily find votes on every page of text.
- If a Player receives enough votelocks to ensure their lynch and every Player has posted at least once, the Host may choose to end the Day Phase prematurely (without awarding violations to any Player who had not yet voted).
Failure to vote is subject to violations as outlined in the Violations section.
Lynching
- The Player with the most votes at the end of the Day Phase is lynched, and their role is revealed.
- In case of a tie, the Player with more locked votes is lynched. If still tied, the Host resolves the lynch via coin flip.
- A lynch is the last action to be processed during the Day Phase.
DeadPad
- Dead Players are out of the game and cannot post or influence the game in any way. They are not allowed to “like” or “heart” any game-related posts by Players either.
- Dead Players may be invited to a private chatroom (the DeadPad) by the Host to spectate the game and discuss the proceedings of the game with other dead Players, spectators and the Host(s).
- The Host should not share any material information about the game until the game is over to guard against leaks.
- Players may not discuss its contents with living Players until the game ends.
Influencing the game after death is subject to violations as outlined in the Violations section.
The Host(s)
- The Host is responsible for creating and overseeing the game they host.
- The Host announces on the Discussion Thread the day the game will commence and opens sign-ups for any forum members who would like to play, excluding previous Players currently listed in the Hall of Shame. While everyone is usually welcome to sign up for a game, the Host may refuse to accept Players they do not feel comfortable hosting in their game based on previously established negative conduct.
- Once the sign-ups close, the Host sends out confirmation PMs where all signed-up Players are required to confirm their participation by the starting date of the game. Failure to do so will automatically remove the forum member from the list of Players for that game.
- At the start of the game, the Host sends out PMs to Players informing them of their roles and allegiance. Players must wear their assigned avatar from this PM for the entire duration of the game.
- During the game, the Host tallies votes and actions opens and closes the thread during Day and Night Phases, and is responsible for maintaining a peaceful and smooth experience for the players. To this end they may issue warnings, violations and Host Kills at their discretion toward players that they deem to be misbehaving.
- After the game, the Host provides an overview of all the true roles of the Players, as well as a clear list of all actions submitted by the Players throughout the game.
The Council
- If you think someone behaved badly with or without breaking rules you PM the host, the host tells the Council, and the Council will consider taking action.
- The Council consists of a select group of veteran Hosts and Players that oversee the management of game rules, roles and bans outside of ongoing games.
- They are responsible for maintaining and updating the rules, discussing, implementing and removing roles and updating the Hall of Shame and other complementary texts, as well as resolving post-game disputes.
- The Council is currently composed of the following members:
Bad Conduct
The following is a non-exhaustive list that exemplifies what kind of behaviours are deemed griefing, or in disagreement with the spirit of the rules and the community, and may be penalizable during or after the game by the Host(s) at their discretion depending on the context, circumstances, severity and duration of the act:
- Griefing and Misconduct: Players found to be griefing, trolling or (intentionally) derailing the game may receive violations at the discretion of the Host and council, bypassing the standard penalty progression. Hosts may warn and penalize Players at their discretion.
- General Unpleasantness: Harassing other Players, excessive rudeness, or creating a toxic atmosphere that detracts from the game. This includes personal attacks, based on a personal history between players.
- Disobedience: Ignoring Host directions or MH guidelines
- Playing against your Win-Condition: It is not allowed to deliberately play against your Win-Condition for non-strategic reasons. You are not allowed to sabotage your team for non-strategic reasons. Do not play against your win condition or play in a manner that is deliberately harmful to your side, regardless of how small your chances are.
- Unsportsmanlike Behaviour: Deliberately and willingly sabotaging another Player in an unreasonable and/or disproportionate fashion (perhaps over an extended period, perhaps rendering them unable to reach their win condition, perhaps impacting that Player after having died themselves) is considered undesirable behaviour.
- It is recommended the Host choose an appropriate moment to deal with the griefing Player to guard the peace of the game and the comfort of the (remaining) player base and deadpad members. This is because it is likely the griefing Player might cause even more problems if they are addressed for their ill behaviours.
- Players who have problems with the Host(s) are requested to address them privately with the Host(s) or wait until the game ends to address them on the game thread.
Warnings, Violations & Reporting
Warnings & Violations
- Warnings: Host(s) are recommended to, if possible, initially issue warnings to misbehaving Players. Depending on the subjectivity, severity or degree of interpretation of the act, it is recommended Host(s) first provide a Player with the opportunity to better themselves. This is subject to Host's discretion.
- Players that break any of the written or perceived rules, or spirit thereof, are issued violations. They are issued at the Host’s discretion.
- Generally, the recommendation is to issue a single violation per rule break, though more may be issued depending on the severity of the action.
- If a Player reaches three violations, they are automatically Host Killed
- If a Player reaches two violations, they are informed of their status and must confirm to the Host(s) that they will resume playing the game in agreement with the rules. If they do not confirm this to the Host(s), they may be subject to preemptive removal or replacement.
Procedure
- Players may report others for unpleasant or disruptive behaviour. Reports are confidential and discrete and submitted to the Host(s) directly.
- The Player submitting the report is encouraged to provide quotes, examples or context to the Host(s).
- Players are encouraged to submit reports constructively and avoid overly vague or spiteful feedback.
- The Host(s) will compile and evaluate the reports and weigh them alongside eventual formal rule violations and sober judgment.
- A Player does not have to break a rule to be flagged as unpleasant if a significant part of the Player base opinion suggests their behaviour detracted from the overall experience
Consequences
The following punishments are determined based on patterns of behaviour and the severity of complaints
- Warning: For less severe, individual or first-time cases, the Host(s) may on their own inform the reported Player they have been reported and warn the reported Player. If the Host does this, they must inform the council so they are familiar with a potentially emerging pattern.
- Hall of Shame: For more serious or repeated cases of unpleasantness, or a higher volume of reports about the same Player, the Host(s) and council may consider Host Killing a Player post-game and issue an appropriate ban instead.
- Accumulation of Punishment: If the reported Player has already been penalized or Host Killed for a separate reason than the reports by the Player base, they may be punished more severely. This will be determined by the council.
Host Kills, Substitution & Hall of Shame
Host Kill
- Depending on penalty progression or Host discretion, the Host(s) may choose to manually Host Kill a Player by announcing this on the thread and taking them out of the game.
- This may happen at an opportune moment for the Host and game state (as to not disturb the game flow), after determining the seriousness of a given offence.
- A Player may be symbolically Host Killed after the game should a bannable offence be determined at that point.
Player Removal
- Player Removal involves taking a Player out of the game that has a valid reason to be removed.
- Players are responsible for managing their schedules and other inconveniences. Therefore, the reason for removal must be serious and unavoidable. Player Removal without Host Kill requires dire circumstances on the part of the Player.
- This is used very sparingly by the Host(s). Removed Players do not go to the Hall of Shame
Substitution
- Host Killed or removed Players may be substituted. Substitutes are arranged by the Host beforehand or during the game.
- The substitute is not allowed to have any kind of information about the game gained by Players in the game that would unfairly put them at an advantage.
- Substitutes don’t inherit violations.
- Even as a mollifying measure, substitution is seriously disruptive to the game and should only be used if there are no other options. This is used very sparingly by the Host(s).
Hall of Shame
- Host Killed Players are entered into the Hall of Shame. The council reviews each case and determines additional consequences, which may include temporary or permanent bans.
- Find the Hall of Shame here
PM information from the Host to the Player
Post at least 5 times and Vote at least once every Day Phase.
Don't post more than 100 times per day phase.
No talking during the Night Phases, no talking about the game outside the game thread and no talking if you are dead.
You are not allowed to quote or screenshot PMs relating to the game, this includes quoting your Host, your role PM, or any private communication with other Players. (You may, however, paraphrase in a way that leaves room for reasonable doubt). This also includes describing unimportant PM details (color/font of the text, fluff pics, etc.) with the intent to confirm your PM contents. If you do, you will be Host Killed and banned from future games (Hall of Shame). Fake screenshots and quotes will be treated the same as genuine ones.
Daytime-specific commands cannot be used in the last hour of the day phase.
Following the basic forum rules and the Fun Forum guideline, Players are not allowed to insult or bash each other, this will not be tolerated and will be punished. The infraction will follow the standard host approach for minor violations, favoring the host's discretion.
You are not allowed to ignore directions sent to you by the host. It's a Minor Violation if you fail to respond accordingly.
You are not allowed to majorly edit the content of your posts, nor delete any of your own or someone else's posts without the Host's approval. If you do, you may get a Minor Violation punishment or Host Killed immediately and be banned from future games (Hall of Shame).
You are expected to play to your win condition(s). Intentionally undermining your team or joining a game with the sole intent to troll is not allowed. ("Bad" or "alternative" plays, however, are allowed, if you sincerely believe in their merit.) Remember that while you are playing for fun, others take the game seriously. Please do not play against your win condition or play in a manner that is deliberately harmful to your side, regardless of how small your chances are. (This infraction will follow the host's judgment or if needed a second opinion, the Council's. It's recommended that the hosts don't do anything with the infractor during the game and only do so once the game is over.)
Not upholding these rules can lead to Penalty Votes or immediate hostkill/removal from the game and a ban from future games.
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