Mafia Role Thread

This thread is to help Hosts decide on roles to use and such. Considering roles are probably the biggest part of a Mafia Game you want to make sure to include the right ones. Many roles go by many different names, and many roles vary in what they do. Remember you can always be creative and change roles, or make completely new ones. Hosts also often change the name of the roles to suit the theme of the game, but that's all up to you. Anyway feel free to use some of these roles, and if you have any others make sure to post them in this thread. Oh and if you have any ideas for yet to be created roles make sure to share them, after all inventing new roles is always interesting. Cheers.

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• Investigative roles (Standard) - "Detective", "Seer", "Angel", "Sheriff",[13] "Commandant", "Knight Commandant", "Cop", "Inspector", etc.
Allied with the Innocents, the "Detective" can detect whether a player is a Mafia. They will typically "wake up", and point at one person, at which point the Narrator will silently indicate to the Detective whether that player is Mafia or Innocent. In some versions of the game, the Detective's investigation result is announced publicly by the Narrator, for example "the Detective found a Mafioso!". A "Detective" is usually included in modern games. For example, somebody is always assigned this role in all commercial card game versions,[14] and almost all internet-based, and most face-to-face games start with at least one detective.[15] In some games, there are Mafia Detectives, who have the power of a normal detective but are on the Mafia side.

• Investigative roles (Less common) - "Spy", "Psychic", "Wizard", "Little Girl", "Oracle", etc.
The "Super Commandant" has the standard power of a "Detective", while also protecting the investigated from night-time attack. "Psychic", "Psychologist", or "Sorceror"-type investigators can determine other players' roles, rather than their alignments.[12] A "Tracker" may see what someone's night action was, or the target of their action. The Devil is the Detective's Mafia counterpart, with the night-time ability to identify empowered Innocents.[16] The "Little Girl" in Werewolf is allowed to secretly peek and watch as the werewolves choose their victim.[17] Information revealed to investigators is fallible (in more complicated variants). Online versions can give information with a confidence level, and in other variants the Narrator deceives the Detective by showing all players as Innocent, all as Guilty, giving reversed results, or random information (these can be termed as "Naïve",[18] "Paranoid", "Insane", or "Random" respectively). Additionally, some Alignment roles give immunity to successful investigation.[19]

• Protective roles - "Guardian Angel", "Doctor", "Healer", "Archangel", "Bodyguard", etc.
Allied with the Innocents, the "Doctor"-type role defends others at night.[20] Typically, they will "awaken" at night after the "Mafia" have "gone back to sleep" and point at one person to protect; that person will survive any night-time attack.[21] Sometimes they are allowed to protect themselves, sometimes only once. (A "Guardian Angel" has the doctor's powers without the ability to self-protect.) The "Nurse" gains the Doctor's abilities if the Doctor dies.[22]. The Firefighter,[23] or the Herbalist can protect from some night-time attacks but not others. (In Werewolf, for example, they choose one person to protect with wolfsbane, but that person may still be killed by the Serial Killer.)

• Killing roles - "Vigilante", "Rambo", "Crazy Veteran", "Bomb", "Woodcutter", etc.
Aside from Mafia, Werewolves, and Serial Killers (solitary guilty parties), the Innocents may have some roles with the ability to kill at night. The Vigilante is an "innocent" who kills every night, in his own night-time phase,[24] in some variations, having a limited "bullet" supply for the entire game. The Bomb/Crazy Vet may only trigger if targeted at night (not necessarily for death) by another role. Variants exist where this person can kill during the daytime cycle (e.g., the Terrorist / Gravedigger), sometimes only if executed during the daytime (e.g., the Hunter / Village Bicycle). One killer can have the ability to kill several other people at once. For example, Rambo can kill three adjacent victims.[25] And, if killed in the night, the Human Torch can kill the two surviving players closest to them in the morning. The "Woodcutter" or "Hunter" can take one other person with them when they die.[26]

• Alignment roles - "Miller", "Godfather", "Alpha Wolf", "Master Werewolf", etc.
Some roles can fool investigations to determine their alignments: the Miller is an Innocent who appears guilty (usually because they are an outsider); the Godfather, on the other hand, appears innocent despite being the Mafia leader.[27] The "Alpha Wolf" or "Master Werewolf" have the same role as the Godfather in Werewolf settings.

• Double-agent roles - "Godfather", "Traitor", "Possessed", "Undercover Cop", etc.
There is an alternative definition of "Godfather" role from the Alignment role Godfather (who is immune to alignment-detection). This "Godfather" behaves as a standard mafioso, but wakes again (after the Mafia sleep) for an extra kill. This Godfather-role wins only if he survives. The Traitor is not a mafioso, but works with their vote during the day cycle to protect Mafia and hamper the town (he wins only with a Mafia victory).[28] Conversely, "The Rat" or "Undercover Cop" is a mole within the Mafia group (winning with the innocents). Judas is an innocent who converts into a "Traitor" (and survives) when lynched (or vice versa, becoming a "Rat").[29]

• Role manipulators - "Role-blocker", "Bus Driver", "Thief", "Barman", etc.
These roles can stop or alter the night actions of others; for instance, they may prevent a protection or investigation from occurring, or they may change the target. The "Walrus" can block the Vigilante for a night,[30] while the "Thief" or "Prostitute" might be able to disable the powers of any selected target.[31]

• Recruitment Roles - "Godfather", "Psychiatrist", "Cult Leader and Followers", etc.
Cult Leaders recruit at night instead of kill; they act as an independent faction, usually with the ability to talk at night. The Mafia Godfather may be able to recruit innocent players into his faction under certain circumstances. The Psychiatrist is an innocent with the ability to convert the Serial Killer into a normal innocent.[32]

• Association roles - "Freemasons (Masons)", "Siblings", "Cupid", "Lovers”,etc.
Possessors of these roles know one another and what their roles are.[33] On the innocent's side, a "Mason" usually has no special abilities, but knows the identity of all other Masons and that all Masons are also innocent.[34] There are, however, sometimes Mafia Masons, who look like Masons, but are actually part of the Mafia. Innocent Masons all believe that the Mafia Mason is innocent.Sibling pairs typically consist of one Mafia and one Innocent; if one dies, both die. Cupid chooses a pair of "Lovers" on the first night.[35] In this variant, the Lovers can also win the game (regardless of whether they are Mafia, Innocents, or both) by being the last two standing. In some versions, if one "Lover" is killed the other dies as well.

• Power roles - "Mayor", "Judge", "Sheriff", "President", etc.
This role is taken in addition to the assigned role, and it endows the player with additional, overt, powers (particularly during the daytime). Empowerment can be random, but is usually made by vote. For instance, the "Mayor" or "Sheriff" can be elected each morning, and gain two lynching votes, or a Judge could moderate discussion in parliamentary fashion (to the advantage of their "team"). The elected "President" has the sole lynching vote.[36]

• Handicapped roles - "Murr", "Village Drunk", etc.
This role is, much as the power roles, taken in addition to the assigned role. However, it has the opposite effect, giving the bearer a handicap, like speaking only gibberish in the case of the Village Drunk, etc.

• Mafia Team Variant Roles - "Silencer", "Yakuza", etc.
The "Silencer" can 'silence' anyone each day (except whoever was silenced yesterday). The silenced individual wakes in the morning and is immediately instructed not to talk until the end of the day (They may vote and be executed though). The Silencer does not participate in the mafia killing, and the mafia do not know who their silencer is, but he is typically aligned with them and knows their identities. The Yakuza is a regular mafia player with an extra power: they may sacrifice themselves from the second night (during the night) and choose an innocent to join the mafia team.[37]

• Post-mortem roles - "Dark Background", "Priest", "Medium", "Forensic Expert", "M.E.", etc.
The "dark background" roles are standard (mafia or innocent) except for revealing a deceptive alignment when killed. The "M.E." gathers information from the killings that can help the innocents,[38] while the "Priest" learns about the alignment of the dead in the same way that the Detective learns about the living.[39] The Medium can interrogate dead players.[40]

• Reanimation roles - ," "Reviver," "Master Reviver, "Governor", "Martyr", "Witch", etc.
Revivers & "Master Revivers" are able to resurrect dead players, Master Revivers can bring the revived into their association (e.g., the Masons: see Association roles). The players resurrected by a Necromancers are converted to the Necromancer's alignment. The "Governor" can reprieve those killed during the daytime,[41] as can the "Martyr"-role if he sacrifices himself.[42]. The Witch has a (single-use) revival potion. At night, she's shown who will die in the morning, and can choose to save them.[43]

• Rule-immune Roles - "Bulletproof", "Oracle", etc.
A variant on receiving protection is the "Bulletproof" innocent, who becomes invulnerable to night-time attack.[44] The Oracle has an investigative role similar to a "Seer" but also has the power to talk when inactive (talking in a "sleep" phase is usually a rule infraction).

• Special roles - "Baker", "Village Idiot", "Cobbler", "Doublevoter", "Priest", etc.
The baker is on the side of the innocents. During the night, the baker chooses one player to be the recipient of a loaf of bread. If the baker dies, the innocents have just three nights to dispose of the mafia, or the innocents starve, and the mafia win. The Cobbler, "Village Idiot", or Jester has the objective of convincing the town to kill him, or is required to vote in favor of all proposed lynchings. Also, in some games there are players who can change the vote count. Some players have 2 votes (Doublevoter); some players can only "hammer" vote, or vote the final vote to kill a player (Actor); cannot place the final vote (Priest); cannot vote to lynch (Voteless Innocent); or takes 1 less vote to lynch (Hated Innocent. There are endless special roles, and many moderators make up their own roles for games.

Princeton
This is a great website that has all the variants of Mafia Games, and catalogues some of the earliest games played. There are so many role variations on here, I don’t know where to begin. There are some rarely used ones to which would be great for future games:
http://www.princeton.edu/~mafia/oldmafia/rules.htm

Mikeburnfire
Another simple website full of roles. Not as complex or as big as Princeton, but a whole lot easier to search and probably better for newer hosts.
http://mikeburnfire.sitesled.com/mscumB.swf