Section 5: Rules of Play
Setup
- Select a moderator and agree on the role list, special-role interactions, reveal policy, voting procedure, and tie rule.
- The moderator randomly assigns one secret role to each active player.
- Players privately learn their roles and keep them concealed.
- The moderator begins with a setup night so the Mafia can identify one another. Other roles act on that night only if the announced setup permits it.
Night Phase
The moderator instructs all players to close their eyes and remain silent. Roles are awakened one at a time in a consistent order. A common order is roleblocking, protection, investigation, Mafia elimination, and other killing abilities, but the moderator may use another order if all interactions have been settled in advance.
When called, the Mafia silently agree on one living target. If they cannot agree within a reasonable time, the moderator may accept the choice supported by a majority of participating Mafia members or declare that no Mafia elimination occurs, according to the announced procedure. The Doctor indicates a protection target, and the Detective indicates an investigation target. The moderator acknowledges each legal selection without speaking information that others could use.
After all actions are recorded, the moderator resolves them together according to the established priority. A protected Mafia target survives. A blocked player normally produces no action. An investigation returns the target's alignment unless a special role explicitly changes that result. Players eliminated during the same night do not normally lose an action already submitted unless the chosen house rules state that actions resolve sequentially.
Day Phase
The moderator tells everyone to open their eyes and announces which players, if any, were eliminated during the night. The moderator reveals only the information allowed by the chosen reveal policy. Living players then discuss suspicions, defenses, voting history, and role claims. Bluffing about one's role or reasoning is part of the game; using information obtained outside the game is not.
Nominations and Voting
- A living player nominates another living player for elimination.
- The nominee receives a fair opportunity to respond.
- The moderator calls for votes using the method announced before play.
- Each living player has one vote and may vote only as permitted by that method.
- The player receiving the required result is eliminated and immediately stops participating.
For casual play, use a single simultaneous vote after discussion. The living player with the most votes is eliminated. If two or more players tie, conduct a runoff among the tied players after a short discussion. If the runoff also ties, no player is eliminated that day. The moderator should count visibly or repeat each recorded vote so the result can be checked.
End of the Game
After every elimination or completed action cycle, the moderator checks the winning conditions. The Town wins immediately when no Mafia members remain alive. The Mafia win when their living members equal or outnumber all other living players and no unresolved ability can stop them from controlling subsequent eliminations. If a neutral role is used, its special condition is checked at the time specified during setup.
Common House Rules and Variations
- No-role reveal: Eliminated players' alignments and roles remain secret, making deductions more difficult.
- Full reveal: The moderator announces an eliminated player's exact role. This is friendly to new players.
- Alignment reveal: Only Town, Mafia, or neutral alignment is announced.
- Timed days: Discussion lasts a fixed period, commonly five to ten minutes, followed immediately by nominations or a vote.
- Majority elimination: A player is eliminated only after receiving more than half of the living players' votes. The day may end without an elimination.
- Secret ballot: Votes are submitted privately to the moderator and announced after everyone has voted.
- Last words: An eliminated player may make one brief final statement but may not reveal physical proof of a role.
- Werewolf theme: Mafia members are called Werewolves and Town members are called Villagers; the underlying play remains the same.