RPS Mafia Play

Setups

Mafia setups by player count

Exactly which roles are dealt at every size from five to twelve. This is not a suggestion — it is the distribution the server uses.

PlayersMafiaTown power rolesCitizens Killers
5GodfatherDoctor31
6Godfather, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Die-hard12
7Godfather, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Sniper22
8Godfather, Mafia, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Sniper23
9Godfather, Mafia, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Sniper, Die-hard23
10Godfather, Mafia, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Sniper, Die-hard33
11Godfather, Mafia, MafiaDoctor, Detective, Sniper, Die-hard43
12Godfather, Mafia, Mafia, Dr. LecterDoctor, Detective, Sniper, Die-hard43

"Killers" counts the mafia who can actually take the night kill. Dr. Lecter is mafia but protects rather than kills, which is why twelve players has four mafia and still only three killers.

Why the ladder looks like this

Because the mafia win at parity, what matters for balance is kill output rather than headcount. The ladder therefore adds killers slowly and deliberately: one at five, two at six and seven, three from eight upward, and a fourth mafia seat only at twelve — where it goes to a medic rather than another gun.

Two rules follow from that and explain most of the table. The Detective only appears from six, because against a lone Godfather every investigation returns "town" and the role would be dead weight. And the Die-hard, whose armour is simply one extra town life, is used to smooth the middle of the ladder rather than to add another power.