Star Wars Mafia

BASIS

Looking for a fun social game for a large group of people? Try this one. It’s similar to Mafia, except that instead of just the majority of the people being civilians, everyone has a specialized role. It’s probably the best variation of Mafia that I know to date.

This game wasn’t actually created by me. It was by someone before I came up to UW my freshman year. They gave us the rules and how to play the game, and ever since then, the game has become a legend to all those that have played the game, from our group of friends to youth groups to random people all over the place. While complex, when you finally get the hang of the rules, it becomes pretty dynamic, interactive, pretty vicious, and quite hilarious at times.

OBJECTIVE

For the Light Side (the citizens, for those that are familiar with Mafia) to kill off the Dark Side (the mafia) and the Dark Side to kill off the Light Side.

GAME PLAY

Setup

The Force (the narrator) gives each player a character card.
On the first night, paired characters wake up together to know who their partner is (see the Tips for the Force section).

Night Phase

Everyone goes to sleep and closes their eyes.
The Force asks the Sith to wake up. The Sith choose someone they want to kill and then go back to sleep.
One by one, the Force proceeds to ask every other character with a night ability to wake up, use their ability, then go back to sleep.
Proceed to the day phase when finished.

NOTE: Players that are dead do not reveal their cards after they are killed, as they have the chance of being brought back to life. Also, they need to go to sleep like everyone else for the same reason.

Day Phase

The Force will tell everyone to “wake up” and open their eyes.
Inform the group of who was killed during the night and who was revived/brought back to life.
Proceed to do accusations. When someone receives a second on an accusation, they are put on trial.
The accuser provides their reason for why the accused should be executed, while the accused provides a reason why they shouldn’t be.
Do a vote. A vote of 51% or better will result in the defendant being executed and killed by the group.
Proceed to the night phase afterwards.

Repeat until either the Light Side or the Dark Side is dead

CHARACTER ROLES

Unlike regular Mafia, in Star Wars Mafia, each person will have some sort of special ability that they can use either during the day or night. It’s a different dynamic that can make games go quick or last a while. If players are confused as to how to use their ability, as them to consult with you away from the group as to how their character works.

Dark Side Characters

Darth Vader – (Night) A member of the Sith. Decides with the Emperor which person to kill during the night via pointing.

The Emperor – (Night) A member of the Sith. Decides with Darth Vader which person to kill during the night via pointing.

Sith Apprentice – (Passive) If the Emperor is ever dead, then the Apprentice becomes the Emperor and takes over his/her role. If the Emperor is brought back to life, then Emperor returns back to his role and the apprentice goes back to sleep when the Sith are called to wake up during the night. (It is the job of the Apprentice to know when to take on the role of the Emperor or to go back to being the Apprentice.)

Probe Droid – (Night) Once during each night, the probe droid may “probe” someone. He/she points at a person and the narrator announces to the group the character (but not the person!) by saying “The probe droid has revealed the identity of…”

Imperial Guard – (Passive) If the Emperor is going to be killed during the night, the Imperial Guard is killed instead.

Stormtrooper – (Passive) If he/she is dead during the night and Darth Vader is still alive, the Stormtrooper is brought back to life.

Light Side Characters

Yoda – (Night) During the night, he/she may bring one person back to life.

Jedi Knight – (Night) He/she may either question or duel someone. To question, he/she points at the person and the Force tells them if the person questioned is either dark side (thumbs down) or light side (thumbs up). To duel, draw a “X” in the air and point at a person. If the person dueled is dark side, the person dueled is killed. If the person dueled is light side, the Jedi Knight is killed. You cannot duel someone you questioned.

Obi-Wan Kenobi – (Day) He/she can talk and discuss, even when dead, but he cannot vote when dead.

Chewbacca – (Day) Once per lifetime, he/she may reveal his/her card to the group and “eat” a person. That person is automatically killed.

Han Solo – (Day) Once per lifetime, he/she may cancel a trial and immediately proceed to the night phase. Canceling a trial must be done before the vote has been counted.

Bounty Hunter – (Night) During the night, he/she chooses someone. If he/she dies during the night, the person that he/she chose dies as well.

Thermal Detonator – (Passive) If he/she is killed during the night, the first Sith to his/her left is killed as well. If he/she is killed during the day, the person to his/her left is killed in the following night.

R2-D2 – (Passive) If revealed by the Probe Droid, the probe droid is killed during the night.

Princess Leia – (Passive) If he/she is going to be killed during the night and Han Solo is alive, he/she will not die.

Jabba the Hutt – No ability.

C-3PO – (Passive) If he/she is dead during the night and R2-D2 is alive, C-3PO is brought back to life.

Salacious Crumb – (Passive) He/she must vote the same way as Jabba the Hutt.

Owen Lars – No ability.

Beru Lars – (Passive) If he/she is dead during the night and Owen is alive, Lars is brought back to life.

Jar-Jar Binks – (Passive) Must talk like Jar-Jar Binks.

Lando – (Night) Once per game, he/she may switch character cards with someone and immediately takes the role of that character.

TIPS FOR THE FORCE

The following are some tips that will help smooth out the gameplay and make games go fater.

Before the start of the Sith’s first kill, make sure the pairs that are suppose to work together know who they’re working with. Get them to wake up, identify each other quickly, and then go back to sleep.
1. Emperor and Darth Vader
2. Emperor and the Sith Apprentice
3. Emperor and the Imperial Guard
4. Darth Vader and Probe Droid
5. Han Solo and Princess Leia
6. R2-D2 and C-3PO
7. Jabba the Hutt and Salacious Crumb
8. Owen Lars and Beru Lars
Make sure to note who is what character before dealing out the cards. This will make things go quicker. An easiest method is write down everyone’s name in order, step away from the group, randomize the cards, then assign the characters randomly to each person and write it down. Then hand out the roles to the designated person.
Make sure people sit or stay in the same spot. Position does have some importance for some of the characters in determining who gets killed.
The players always have the right to consult with you privately about their role, questions, or problems (away from the group). Let the players know this.
Not all characters will be used. I’ve listed the characters in the following order above to help you decide whom to put in the game. So use the Thermal Detonator before Jabba the Hut and R2-D2 before Thermal Detonator.
Ideally, a 2:1 ratio is best for groups of twelve people or less. Around 3:1 for more than twelve. There must always be Darth Vader, Emperor and the Sith Apprentice.
These tips are all at your discretion. Feel free to use them if they’ll help you. I would highly suggest following the first four though, as they will help a lot with the game flow. Change the characters to be used up as you see fit and balanced.

FINAL NOTES

While these are the written rules, there are probably a number of things that you may encounter during a game that isn’t addressed on here. It is your duty to call how you see fit and to ensure the fairness and balance of the game. If there is any possible exploit to the rules, ensure that it gets taken care of.

If the Force forgets to revive someone or forgets to name off someone that was killed (or the wrong person), continue on with the game in the current state it’s in. It happens ever so often due to the many present roles in the game.

Editions

v. 1.0.0 – Written by Edward Pham on August 15, 2008.
v. 1.0.1 – Edited by Edward Pham and Alex Teel on August 15, 2008.
v. 1.0.2 – Edited by Edward Pham on August 28, 2008.
v. 1.0.3 – Edited by Edward Pham on July 15, 2010.

This page is by not Strict XHTML 1.0.