FAQ's and Help

[Oli]

If you have any questions, or need some help, please post here. I will update this post to build up an FAQ.

So, what is this all about?

This is based on a very popular game (online and in the real world) called Mafia. If you already know it, great, if your not familiar with is, read on...

The forum based version of the game is played by a group of people, each playing the role of either a murdering Mafia member (in our case, an Other) or an innocent townsperson (Lostie), along with a game moderator.

At the beginning of the game, night falls, and the mafia family members become aware of each other (by communication from the moderator). They then choose a victim, and the moderator announces the death scene.

When day breaks, the town must try to weed out the evil by lynching someone they suspect to be mafia. The game continues, alternating between night and day, until one side is eliminated.

Basic Guide:
In its simplest form, Mafia consists of two sides: the Mafia, and the Town. The Mafia's goal is to kill the innocents, while the Town's goal is the kill the Mafia. We have adapted this to The Others and the Losties.
At the beginning of the game, the Moderator will secretly send everyone their role. The Mafia will know each other, while everyone else will only know their own role.
The game has two phases. The first is Night. During Night, the Town can not communicate, but the Mafia can discuss and choose someone to murder. After the Moderator has received the name of the victim, the Moderator reveals the dead player, and Day begins.
During Day, the Town must choose someone to Lynch; they are trying to eliminate the Mafia, but the Mafia can lead them astray by casting suspicion elsewhere. Generally, players will vote for someone they think is Mafia (the Mafia will vote so that they seem to be doing this as well, and might even vote for each other to confuse the Town); when a player gets a majority of the votes, they are lynched. Their role is revealed by the Moderator, and it is once again Night.
The game alternates between Night and Day until either the Mafia are eliminated, or the Mafia have killed everyone else.

I still don't follow...

To clarify, the Mafia (Others) will know who they and the other Others are and are free to talk strategy (ie who to kill) amongst themselves. If you are given a role as a Lostie, by nature you have to suspect everyone of being an Other, but all you know is that you are a Lostie. Seeing as the Others are blending in, they will pose as fellow Losties.

The Losties ARE allowed to talk, but only during the day phase (there will be a thread for this) and they can accuse anyone (who can offer a defence) before committing their vote for that day. There will be time limits for the phases, but these will be made clear later (and may evolve as we get used to the game)

The usual ratio of Others:Losties is 1:4 (25%). If at any point there is an even number of Losties to Others the Others win as you rightly pointed out, as they simply wouldn't off themselves.

I've been given the role of Lostie, what does that mean?

As far as you know, your plane crashed on an island in an unknown location, with a group of other Losties. You know nothing of The Others untill someone in your camp is killed...
You then have to make a decision, based on what little information you have, of who to trust, who to question, and ultimately who to kill off in order to eliminate The Others.

You have the chance to Lynch one person during each Day Phase. There will be a vote to determine who gets Lynched.

Unfortunately for you, The Others are fantastic liars, so your newest friend could be an Other, as well as that person who hasn't even spoken to you yet...

I've been given the role of an Other, what does that mean?

You infiltrated the Losties camp, shortly after the plane crash. You have been tasked by Jacob with the sytematic execution of the survivors, and must not get caught. The only way to do this is to blend in with the Losties, making friends and fearing for your life just like they do.You are allowed to kill one Lostie each night. There will be a vote to determine who you kill.

Unfortunately for you, it can be difficult to hide the fact that your an Other, and it may even be necessary to kill off one of your own to help avoid suspicion.