Мафия Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Characters
• First Night
• First Day
  • How to Run the Discussion
  • How to Run the Trial
• Second Night and All Following Nights
• Second Day and All Following Days
• End of the Game
• Professional Mode
• Extended Mode with Additional Characters
  • First Night (Extended Mode)
  • First Day (Extended Mode)
  • Second Night and All Following Nights (Extended Mode)
  • Second Day and All Following Days (Extended Mode)
  • End of the Game (Extended Mode)
• Game Without a Host
• Night Turn Order

Object of the Game

The red team (honest residents) must kill all characters of the black team (criminals). The black team must get rid of everyone on the red team.

Components

The deck has 26 character cards: 14 for the red team (honest residents) and 12 for the black team (criminals).

Red team:

• 8 honest residents
• 1 commissioner
• 1 doctor
• 1 immortal
• 2 honest judges
• 1 sheriff

Black team:

• 3 mafia
• 1 mafia don
• 1 maniac
• 1 shapeshifter
• 1 ninja
• 1 lawyer
• 3 yakuza
• 1 corrupt judge

These rules, which you are reading now.

Setup

1. Choose a host and pass the rules to them. If you want to play without a host, the rules end with such a mode: "Game Without a Host".
2. Host, these rules are written for you. Read them aloud to the players. Prepare a smartphone with a timer, a notepad and a pen.
3. If there are 6 to 13 players (not counting yourself), assemble a character deck using the table below.

Number of players	Honest residents	Commissioner	Mafia	Mafia don
6	4	1	0	1
7	4	1	1	1
8	5	1	1	1
9	5	1	2	1
10	6	1	2	1
11

4. Shuffle the deck and deal one character card face down to each player except yourself. It is very important that nobody sees what is on other players' cards.
5. Decide whether you will call all players by name or assign them numbers. If numbers, the player to your left becomes Player 1, the player to the left of Player 1 becomes Player 2, and so on. Later in the rules, players are referred to by number. It is best to sit in a circle so that everyone can see you and the other players.

The rulebook's seating illustration shows example names: Anya = Player 1, Borya = Player 2, Vova = Player 3, Galya = Player 4, Dima = Player 5, Egor = Player 6, with the host in the middle.

6. Explain to the players that at night nobody may cough, rustle, clear their throat or make noise. Dead players may not speak. Nobody may interrupt other players or speak out of turn.

Characters

Ask the players to look at their character card. Be careful that nobody peeks. Read the character descriptions to the players:

Ordinary Resident. You play for the red team. At night you sleep, and by day you take part in the discussion. Watch the players and work out the mafia.

Commissioner. You play for the red team. Your task is to lead the daytime discussion so that the residents make the right choice at the trial. At night you may point at one player, and the host will nod or shake their head to show whether that player is a criminal. This ability makes you the main target of the black team, so try not to give yourself away.

Mafia. You play for the black team. Your goal is to kill ordinary residents. To win, you must kill enough residents that the size of your team equals the size of the red team.

Mafia Don. You are the most important member of the mafia and play for the black team. At night you wake up and point at any player, and the host nods to you if that player is the commissioner.

Now announce: "Night has fallen." At this moment everyone except you closes their eyes.

First Night

The night consists of three steps:

1. The mafia wakes up.
2. The commissioner wakes up.
3. The mafia don wakes up.

Read each step aloud to the players so that they know what to do.

1. The mafia wakes up. Open your eyes if you have the "mafia" or "mafia don" card. Get to know each other without making sounds. Get to know the host. The mafia goes to sleep: close your eyes. Important: on the first night nobody dies!

2. The commissioner wakes up. Open your eyes if you have the "commissioner" card. Point at any player you want to check. If that player is on the black team, the host nods. After this the commissioner goes to sleep: close your eyes.

3. The mafia don wakes up. Open your eyes if you have the "mafia don" card. Point at any player of the red team you want to check. You already know who plays for the black team. If this player is the commissioner, the host nods. After this the mafia don goes to sleep: close your eyes.

Now you know who plays for which side. Write down the roles and the players.

The night ends here and day begins.

First Day

The day consists of discussion and trial.

How to Run the Discussion

1. Announce: "Day has come." All players open their eyes. Tell the story of what happened during the night. For example, if nobody was killed: "The night was quiet." Or, if it is not the first night and there are victims: "Player 6 was coldly murdered this night. Eleven knife wounds, no witnesses."

2. Open the discussion. Read the discussion rules to everyone:

• You may speak for one minute or less.
• Say whatever you like. Share your opinion about who is in the mafia. Divert suspicion away from yourself. You may claim to play a particular character if this will help you. The main thing is never to show your card to anyone.

While you speak, all the others listen in silence. Nobody may interrupt you or add anything. Except me: I will let you know when your minute is up.

• When you finish, you may nominate any player (other than yourself) as a defendant, or not. Some of the defendants will later be executed.

3. Give the floor first to Player 1. Start the timer.

4. After Player 1, give the floor to Player 2, and so on, until every player has spoken.

5. As soon as all living players have spoken and nominated defendants, the trial begins. If there are no defendants, the second night begins at once.

How to Run the Trial

1. Name the defendants in the order in which they were nominated. For example: "So, we have three defendants. Player 3, suspected by Player 1. Player 8, nominated by Player 3. And Player 1, pointed at by Player 6."

2. Each defendant has 30 seconds to justify themselves and clear themselves of all accusations. They speak in turn, in the order in which they were nominated.

3. Time to vote! Call out the defendants in the order in which they were nominated. Players raise their hand when the number of the defendant they want to get rid of is called. Each player has only one vote. Abstaining is allowed. Nobody may vote twice.

4. Write down and count the votes for each defendant. The votes of everyone who abstained go to the last defendant. If the defendants are tied, give them the right to speak once more, also for 30 seconds. Then everyone votes again. If it is a tie again, everyone votes: execute both or let both live. Exception on the first day: if there is only one defendant, the trial is cancelled and everyone stays alive.

5. Announce who received the most votes. That player goes to execution. Give the player 30 seconds for final words. After this they leave the game. Important: their card stays face down on the table. Who was executed is not revealed.

Check how many characters remain in the red and black teams. If the numbers are equal, or the black team has more, or all of the black team are dead, go to the section "End of the Game". If not, announce a new night.

Second Night and All Following Nights

1. Announce: "Night has fallen." Everyone closes their eyes.

2. All members of the black team wake up and silently decide whom to kill. They point at the chosen player, and the host records it. The mafia goes to sleep.

3. The commissioner wakes up. With your help, they check one of the players, as on the first night. After this they go to sleep.

4. The mafia don wakes up. With your help, they check one of the players, as on the first night. After this they go to sleep.

Important: if the commissioner or the mafia don has been killed, keep playing as if they were alive. That is, announce and voice these steps as usual.

Second Day and All Following Days

Tell how the night went and whether anyone was killed. A player killed during the night has no right to final words; they silently leave the game. Their card stays face down on the table.

As on the first day, hold the discussion and then the trial, but with these rules:

• A dead player may not speak, give signs, use gestures or show their character card.
• The discussion begins not with Player 1, but with the next living player clockwise.
• The trial takes place even if there is only one defendant. Execute that defendant immediately, without a vote.

After the trial and execution, there is a new night, then a day, and so on. Play until all criminals have been executed, or until the number of players in the black and red teams is equal.

End of the Game

Announce the end of the game if:

• All of the black team are dead. The red team wins.
• The black team has become equal in number to the red team, or more. The black team wins.

The losing team pays for the drinks!

Professional Mode

Try playing as they do in professional clubs. It will be a little harder for the mafia. The changes are these:

• On the first night the black team wakes up, gets to know each other and immediately plans kills for three nights ahead. Everyone on the team must clearly understand that this player is killed on the second night, that one on the third, and this one on the fourth. The host times two minutes for this. After this the mafia goes to sleep. Nobody dies on the first night.
• If someone in the mafia later changes their mind about the victims or the order of the kills, they must renegotiate during the day, giving each other discreet signs with glances and nods.
• On the following nights the mafia kills with eyes closed. The host calls out the numbers of all players one by one. As soon as the host calls the number of the player they planned to kill that night, everyone in the black team must form a pistol with their fingers. If all the criminals have marked the same player, that player dies. If not, the attempt failed and everyone lives.
• After the fourth night and onward, the mafia agrees on the next kills secretly during the day: with glances and nods.
• If yakuza are in the game, they wake up right after the mafia.

Otherwise play by the normal rules.

Professional mode role descriptions (red team):

Sheriff. At the end of the night you wake up and choose any player. That player dies. Be careful not to hit honest residents by mistake!

Black team:

Mafia. Your goal is to kill honest residents. To win, you must kill enough characters of the red team that the size of your team equals the size of the red team.

Mafia Don. You are the most important member of the mafia. At night you wake up and check any player to find out whether they are the commissioner or the ninja.

Yakuza. The yakuza are the second criminal group. It consists of three ordinary yakuza and one ninja. Your goal is to kill the mafia and the honest residents. You do not know who plays for the mafia, and the mafia does not know who the yakuza are. On the first night you wake up, get to know each other and plan your kills right after the mafia. On the following nights, after the mafia has killed someone, the host again calls the numbers of the players one by one. Now the yakuza members silently indicate whether they kill that player or not.

Ninja. A member of the yakuza with an additional ability. At night you wake up and point at any player. The host nods to you if that player is the commissioner, a mafia member or the don.

Maniac. You belong to the black team but play for yourself. You win when you are the last living player. Every night you wake up and kill any player.

Shapeshifter. At the start of the game you are on the red team. As soon as someone from the criminals is killed, the host informs you, and you join the black team, wake up with them at night and take part in the killing. You receive the goal and abilities of a basic member of the black team, not the don, not the ninja and not all the others.

Extended Mode with Additional Characters

If there are 6 to 26 players, assemble the character deck using the table below. In the table, the red team's "Honest Resident" is the same role as the "Ordinary Resident" described in the rules (translator's note: the table uses one name and the descriptions use the other).

Players	Honest Resident	Commissioner	Sheriff	Honest Judge	Immortal	Doctor	Mafia	Mafia Don	Maniac	Ninja	Yakuza	Shapeshifter	Lawyer	Corrupt Judge
6	4	1	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—

Deal each player a random role card face down. Read aloud the descriptions of the characters that take part in the game.

Red team:

Ordinary Resident. You sleep all night, and by day you wake up and take part in the discussion. You must watch the players closely and work out the mafia.

Commissioner. At night you may check one player to find out whether they are a criminal or not. Your task is to lead the daytime discussion and steer the honest residents toward the right choice at the trial. The commissioner's ability makes them the main target of the black team, so try not to give yourself away.

Doctor. By day you need to work out whom the criminals will try to kill at night. At night you wake up and silently choose any player, or yourself, to protect from being killed. If the criminals (members of the mafia, yakuza or the maniac) chose the protected player at night, the attempt fails and that player survives. You may not protect the same player two nights in a row.

Immortal. You cannot be killed at night. But be careful, or your own teammates may execute you by day. If the criminals (members of the mafia, yakuza or the maniac) chose you at night, the attempt fails and you survive.

Honest Judge. Only you, together with the other judges, may vote when a trial takes place. If several defendants are tied, give them the right to speak once more. Then all players vote: execute both or let both live. If all the judges are killed, the game continues with a general vote.

Black team:

Lawyer. You play for the black team. At night you wake up before the mafia and can learn exactly which team any one player plays for. Point at that player; the host will show you their character card. When the commissioner checks you, the host will say that you are part of the red team, not the black team.

Corrupt Judge. You play for the black team, but you do not wake up at night. You can win together with the mafia or the yakuza. Only you, together with the other judges, may vote at the trial on whom to execute. If several defendants are tied, give them the right to speak once more. Then all players vote: execute both or let both live. If all the judges are killed, all remaining trials are decided by a general vote.

The remaining roles in the table (Mafia, Mafia Don, Yakuza, Ninja, Maniac, Shapeshifter) are the ones described in the Professional Mode section above; the rulebook does not repeat their descriptions here.

First Night (Extended Mode)

1. The doctor wakes up. Get to know them. After this the doctor goes to sleep.
2. The lawyer wakes up and silently points at one of the players. Show the lawyer that player's character card. After this the lawyer goes to sleep.
3. The members of the mafia, including the don, wake up. They silently get to know each other and plan kills for the next three nights. The mafia goes to sleep.
4. The members of the yakuza, including the ninja, wake up. They do the same as the mafia. The yakuza go to sleep.
5. The maniac wakes up. Get to know them. After this they go to sleep.
6. The commissioner wakes up. They silently point at any player. Nod if this player belongs to the black team. After this the commissioner goes to sleep.
7. The mafia don wakes up and silently points at any player. Nod if this player is the commissioner or the ninja. Then the don goes to sleep.
8. The ninja wakes up and silently points at any player. The host nods if this player is the commissioner or any member of the mafia, including the don. Then the ninja goes to sleep.
9. The sheriff wakes up and gets to know the host. After this they go to sleep.

First Day (Extended Mode)

All judges announce to the others that they are judges, without saying who is honest and who is corrupt. Check their cards without showing the others, and confirm to the players that they are judges.

Hold the discussion and the trial by the basic rules with one change: at the trial, only the judges choose which of the defendants is sent to execution.

Second Night and All Following Nights (Extended Mode)

1. The doctor wakes up and chooses whom to protect. Goes to sleep.
2. The lawyer wakes up and checks one player. Goes to sleep.
3. The members of the mafia, including the don, with eyes closed point at the player they planned to kill this night. The killing takes place if all of them point at the same player.
4. The yakuza, together with the ninja, with eyes closed kill one player. The conditions are the same as for the mafia.
5. The maniac wakes up and kills one player. Goes to sleep.
6. The shapeshifter wakes up. Let them know which team they play for: for example, shake your head if they are on the red team, show a pistol if they are on the mafia's side, or show a dagger if they are on the yakuza's side.
7. The commissioner wakes up and checks one player, whether they belong to the black team or not. Goes to sleep.
8. The mafia don wakes up and checks one player: whether they are the commissioner or a ninja. Goes to sleep.
9. The ninja wakes up and checks one player: whether they are the commissioner or a member of the mafia. Goes to sleep.
10. The sheriff wakes up and kills one player. Goes to sleep.

Second Day and All Following Days (Extended Mode)

Hold the discussion and the trial by the basic rules with one change: at the trial, only the judges vote on which defendant is sent to execution. If there are no judges left, everyone votes as in the basic game.

End of the Game (Extended Mode)

Announce the end of the game if:

• All members of both black-team groups are dead. The red team wins.
• The mafia has become equal in number to the ordinary residents, and all the yakuza are dead. The mafia wins.
• The yakuza has become equal in number to the ordinary residents, and all members of the mafia are dead. The yakuza win.
• Two players are left alive, and one of them is the maniac. The maniac wins.

Game Without a Host

You can play without a host if there are 12 or more players. Play by the basic rules with these changes:

• The most experienced player temporarily becomes the host. They do not open their eyes at night, but voice each step.
• On the first night nobody checks anyone (commissioner, don and all the others).
• As soon as someone is killed, that player becomes the permanent host until the end of the game.

Night Turn Order

1. Doctor
2. Mafia
3. Yakuza
4. Maniac
5. Shapeshifter
6. Commissioner
7. Don
8. Ninja
9. Sheriff