Backwards Mafia (Experimental)

September 1st, 2011

I had hoped never to open this book again. Even now, I can't muster the courage to turn back the pages, to try and decipher the mad scrawling that went before. Perhaps it would have been better if I had burned it and offered up a prayer with the smoke, begging forgiveness and that the world would never again know the like of the tale it held.

Too late for regrets now. It has come again, and once again I feel I must set it down in words. In doing so perhaps I hope to force onto it some meaning besides a cruel joke of the gods. What better place to set it down than back to back with the sorry tale that began, and I had hoped ended, it all?

So. Once more it begins. The signs have been there for weeks now, though I would not see them. Often I felt someone called out to me in a public place, only to turn and find the impassive wall of the crowd behind me. I saw people, people I half thought I recognized, from the corners of my eyes, but when I stopped to hail them, they were gone. Today, though, I could deny it no longer. There was a man, soaked through as though he had stepped in from a soaking downpour, who rushed up to me, frantic, babbling some nonsense and shoving a handful of coins at me. I wanted no part in whatever he was offering and stepped back, and when he grew more agitated and tried to pursue me, I held out a hand to ward him off. It passed through his shoulder as through empty air, and he was there no more.

Even now, if I close my eyes and listen, I can hear the whispering. Soon I will no longer be able to call my mind my own, and the killing will begin again. Gods in heaven, would that I could recall my foolish words. Is this truly a fitting punishment for my presumption, for my eagerness to prove myself?

It is no good wondering now. I can only set down my thoughts here and hope that some small measure of good will, somehow, come of the evil that is about to pass.

Welcome to Backwards Mafia, which I had hoped to call Reverse Mafia until someone decided to use that name quite recently. It's based around a gimmick that I think has been used in a couple of mafia games here before: at the end of each day and night phase, instead of being told what players have been killed, you will be told what roles have been killed. Dead players can continue to participate in daytime discussion and participate in lynch votes. Thus, although you will know for sure when, say, the doctor has died, you won't know who it was and you can't be sure whether any of the other people posting in the thread are alive or dead. A more full explanation of the concept, and a short example game, are provided in the second post if you're feeling confused by this. The third post has the roles list. Because I primarily want this game to test the "backwards" mechanic and not roles, the roles are fairly standard, although there are a few tweaks and the addition of the "exorcist" role.

Some basic game rules:

1. No out-of-thread communication unless specified by your role.
2. Players may choose to abstain three times during the day phase. After those three are used up, randlynching will occur if there are no lynch nominations or there is an unbreakable tie.
3. If the Mafia Don does not provide a kill order during the night phase, they will die and the position of Don will pass to another Mafia member at random.

Have fun!

In Backwards Mafia, you get told what roles (and their alignments) were killed at the end of each night phase, rather than what players were killed. Until their death is confirmed, dead players ("ghosts") may continue posting in discussion threads and voting to lynch other players. Note that these votes will not actually count, but when a final tally is made there will be no indication made of whose vote was counted and whose wasn't. In the event of a tie, the vote from the most recently-killed ghost will be used to break it, though.

In order to be out of the game entirely, a player must be confirmed dead in one of two ways: by exorcism during the night phase or lynching during the day phase. If the exorcist succeeds in exorcising a ghost during the night phase, the next mod post will include an announcement that the player was exorcised, at which point he or she may no longer participate in discussion. Their role and alignment will not be announced (they would already have been announced in the post where they actually died). If a player is lynched at the end of the day phase, their alignment is stated as usual and their role is not. Lynched players may no longer participate in the game in any way. If an attempt is made to lynch a ghost, the mod post will state that the target was a ghost, but not the player's role and alignment. At that point, the player may no longer participate in the game.

Ghosts may not take their former role's night actions; they can only torment the living during the day phase. Similarly, they can no longer communicate outside of the discussion thread, even if their role would have allowed them to do so. Ghosts still count as dead for the purpose of victory conditions; a ghost cannot win the game.

Imagine a hypothetical game in which there are six players: Mike the Mafia Don, Isaac the inspector, Eddie the exorcist, Dennis the doctor, and Clive and Cecilia the civilians.

On the first night, Mike kills Clive. Isaac inspects Clive and is told that he's innocent. The mod post at the beginning of the next day says only that an innocent was killed.

The group, including Clive, discusses, and decides to lynch Isaac. Isaac dies and is proclaimed innocent, but his role as the inspector is not revealed.

The next night, Mike attacks Cecilia, but she is healed by Dennis. Eddie exorcises Clive. The next mod post reports that Clive was exorcised.

At this point, everyone in the daytime discussion is actually alive. Isaac and Clive cannot participate because everyone knows they're dead. The remaining players agree to lynch Dennis (way to go, Team Innocent!) and night rolls around again.

Mike makes another attempt on Cecilia's life, and this time he succeeds. Eddie fails to exorcise Mike. At the start of the day phase, the players are informed that another civilian is dead.

Cecilia, Mike, and Eddie discuss, and in the end choose to lynch Mike--the innocents win, as the ghost's vote counted as a tiebreaker. Note that if Cecilia had instead been the target of the lynch, Mike and Eddie would have been told that she was a ghost and nothing else, and the night phase would have begun again.

Hopefully that makes the game setup clear. Below are the game roles--again, mostly identical to your usual roles, but the alien works a little differently than usual, and the exorcist is added. The number of players in each role depends on the number of people who sign up.

The Mafia

Mafia Don: As usual, the Don has the final word in all the organization's murders. If the Don attacks a player who is already dead, the mod post the next day will state the player's role and alignment in addition to the fact that they were already dead. The Don may communicate freely with their minions outside the thread.

Mafia Minions: The minions discuss the Mafia's plan of attack with their Don outside the thread, but do not actually carry killings out themselves. If the Don dies, one of them (at random) will be promoted to the lead role.

The Innocents

The Doctor: The doctor can heal one player per night, and if attacked by the mafia during that night phase, that player will survive. If two or more doctors target the same player in one night, that player will die. A doctor can do nothing to protect a ghost, and ghosts likewise aren't affected by healer clashes.

The Inspector: The inspector may target one player per night to learn their current alignment. If the inspector targets a ghost, they will not be informed that their target is already dead, and they will be given the ghost's alignment at time of death.

The Exorcist: The exorcist may make one attempt per night to exorcise a target player they suspect of being a ghost. If that player is indeed dead, they will be exorcised and removed from the game at the time of their exorcism announcement in the next mod post. An exorcism takes place after all nightly deaths, so it is possible for a player to die and be exorcised in the same night.

The Fishing Brothers: Two players who know one another's identities but who may not communicate outside of the day thread. If one of them is killed and not already dead, the remaining brother may choose one other player to kill in revenge during the next night phase. If the chosen target is a ghost, the attack will have no effect.

The Civilians: Civilians have no special powers and may not communicate with one another outside the discussion threads. Their only weapon against the Mafia is their ability to influence the lynch vote.

The Others

The Alien: A strange visitor from another world, the alien is nonthreatening until provoked. The alien remains powerless until they would be killed by the night action of another player(s). They will survive the attack but be transformed into their true form--a pillar of terrifying extraterrestrial rage. If an attempt is made at lynching them while in this state, they will go into an unstoppable rampage, killing all other players and winning the game. This is the only way that the alien can win the game.

The alien can only maintain its anger for two days after provocation; after two discussion threads have passed, if it has not been lynched or night-killed again, the alien will return to its default state. It can then be activated again by another attempt on its life.

If inspected prior to transformation, the alien will appear innocent, and afterwards, Mafia.

Let's say the alien is activated, then expired. What would an inspection in this state yield?

Innocent.

Okaaay, so that's plenty of people and it's now September 1st, so we may as well get started.

Two quick notes about things I missed out on in the OP:

1. When I say that ghosts cannot win the game, I mean that if all the players a faction has left are ghosts, that faction will lose. If your faction wins, you still win the game, even if you are a ghost.

2. Mod posts absolutely will reveal some information about what went on the previous night.

I'll get started on the role PM's now; thread should be up in a bit.