Host Post contents

Warning: This section covers FAQ for Mafia and is transcluded in the Guide to Hosting Please don't make changes unless you wish these changes to be included in that guide!

Each day and night post should convey enough information so that players are aware of what is going on. The decision what goes into the post is entirely up to the host, but it should be shared with players at the beginning of the game (or when questions are asked).

It's a good idea to look at the game balance before you decide what to include in the post. For example, showing all actions (including information about failed actions) in the night post often leads to the goodies getting too much information too quickly. By accounting for everyone who has acted and who was blocked or trapped, the goodies can pick out the baddies that did not die and find out the other roles that died.

Day Posts:

• Always reveal the role of the player that is lynched
• Usually reveal if there was a tie in the vote (if it is not obvious from the result of the lynch i.e. if the lynched was picked randomly from a tie - see Tie lynch rules)
• Usually reveal the names of the players in the tie
• Reveal if vote manipulation have acted only if their (combined) actions have either broken an apparent tie or have created one where it was not obvious to the rest of players. Typically, the role of the vote manipulators is not shown, only the manipulation of the votes is hinted at.

Night Posts:

• Always show kills and RID Kills, but never reveal the role of the killed player
• Almost always show explicitly who was trapped and by which role if the trap contains a silence action over the day (if the trap does not contain a silence action, then it defaults to the host's decision regarding blocks)
• Almost always show explicitly or hint when a person was saved - showing the saved player's name (not role)
• NEVER link actions

Reasoning: Linking actions in the night-post by a common player name / role e.g. "X targeted Y who targeted Z" leaks more public information than roles are supposed to have. For example: "ROLE X followed ROLE Y who spied PLAYER Z". In this case, ROLE X, a follow spy, instead of only knowing what his target (by player name) did, can almost always match his follow spy's result ("PLAYER Y targeted PLAYER Z") with the linked part of the night-post and deduce Y's role as it is shown in the night-post. Thus, his follow spy becomes a de facto role spy + follow spy. Also, other roles may deduce Y's RID because of collateral info not related directly to their own action' results (e.g. by elimination). In many cases, Y is basically outed to some or all the players.

Other things are less standard and depend on the overall balance (and personal preference of the host):

• Night posts usually show successful blocks - the ROLE of the player who blocks and the NAME of the player who was blocked. Some hosts do not show blocks, treating a successful block as the blocker causing himself AND his target not to act. It is clear that in small/medium games, if most actions are shown and a player is shown as blocked (by name), there is a high chance that the player is outed. Indies and NK carriers (when NK can be blocked) are prone to being outed by being blocked.
• Night posts usually don't show spies. If spies are shown, sometimes only the ROLE of the spy is shown and not the PLAYER NAME of his target (to account for a successful spy action without revealing the target). The most common option is to show spy ROLES along with the NAME of their target (but not their role). This kind of information leaks to all factions that the spy role is still alive and it adds to the danger of showing blocked players. However specially designed spy roles (broadcast spies) may have the undesired ability of outing both the NAME and the ROLE of their target in the night-post.
• Night posts usually don't show uneventful saves e.g. ROLE X looked after PLAYER Y all night but no one came to visit him". This is the kind of information that leaks to all sides that the save role is still alive and usually favors opposing factions (especially those with RID Kill roles).
• When the Night Kill (or any faction's group kill) can be blocked and night posts show who was blocked, this outs the carrier of the kill if the NK does not happen and only one person was blocked/trapped, giving a blow to that factions chances. However, if the Night Kill cannot be blocked, showing blocks does not zero in on someone's role that easy.

Final things to remember:

• Golden Rule: WHATEVER YOU DECIDE BE CONSISTENT. Basically if something gets posted one night (such as spies), always post them. And if you answered someone that you post spies or something else, keep that promise. DON'T CHANGE THE RULES during the game. And keep a log of what you promise the players.
• Exception from the Golden Rule: If you feel the game's balance has been severely affected and you want to fix the game balance, you may stop showing some actions (e.g. spies). Remember that mid-game balancing is a last resort! However, don't cheat the players, you should always make a detailed note in the main thread that those actions, successful or not, are no longer in the post. In very rare cases, it's better to change in the middle of the game and break the consistency than have a game that solves itself after N2 or N3.
• Final Check: Everyone should be able to glean some information from the night post. BUT it shouldn't be possible (or at least it should not be easy) for any random player to figure out all the roles based purely on the night posts. That's why there are spy roles - an extra responsibility to try to ferret out the baddies without exposing themselves. It's a challenging role, but it's the cornerstone of the goodies' power. An effective spy can turn the game around completely.