Day breaks. An entire town awakens, turns to the morning news, and reads about the murders committed while it slept. Each citizen is horrified at the violence, yet secretly relieved to have been spared—at least this time. The few honest police officers spend their days fighting to break through the walls of Omertà. As the sun falls at the end of another day, businessmen and vendors alike put portions of their earnings into unassuming white envelopes, handing them off to collectors as they rush to close up shop before the troubles of the night begin. Those citizens who value their lives hurry home, lock their doors, and stay inside. This is a town ruled by mob mentality; this is a town controlled by the Mafia!

Mafia: Vendetta is a ruthless party game of hidden roles. One person takes the job of facilitator and runs the game. The remaining players are dealt cards which secretly divide them into two teams: the civilians and the Mafia.

Each night, everyone closes their eyes. While all the other players have their eyes closed, the Mafia players open their eyes and silently choose a player to kill.

Each day, all players open their eyes, and discuss who among them might secretly be on the Mafia team. Then, the players vote for which of their own to kill, hoping to catch a Mafia player. Over several of these days and nights, each team works to overpower the other.

If all the Mafia players are killed, the game ends and the civilians win. If, at any time, the number of remaining Mafia players is equal to or greater than the number of remaining civilian players, the game ends and the Mafia wins.

The best parts of Mafia involve bluffing. Any player can claim to have any role, but the truth is not revealed until a player is killed. Everyone is a suspect and no one is safe!

FACILITATOR

The facilitator is not considered a player, but is arguably the most important person in the game. The facilitator narrates the story, keeps the game moving, observes the players and their abilities, and ensures that all players follow the rules. The facilitator is the final arbiter for any disagreements and is responsible for rule interpretations during the course of the game.

ROLES AND SECRECY

In Mafia, a player’s role is kept secret from other players until he is eliminated from the game. To keep this secrecy intact, during the day, the facilitator refers to each player by his actual name. During the night, the facilitator refers to each player by his assigned role. A player only reveals his role when he is eliminated from the game; he does so by showing his role card to all players. Otherwise, a player cannot reveal his role card to any other player at any time.

ROUND STRUCTURE

Each Mafia round has three steps.
1. Night: Players may use their abilities and the Mafia chooses a victim.
2. Dawn: The facilitator announces what transpired during the night.
3. Day: Players vote to determine which player to kill.
Additional information about each step can be found in "Playing the Game."

AWAKE AND ASLEEP

Players are awake when their eyes are open. All players are awake during the day; players with certain roles are awakened by the facilitator at night.
Players fall asleep by closing their eyes. All players stay asleep (with eyes closed) during the night, unless instructed by the facilitator to awaken.

ACTIVE AND ELIMINATED

Active players are those who have not yet been killed. When a player is killed, he is eliminated. Eliminated players cannot use abilities or participate in any discussion, voting, or commentary for the remainder of the game.

CIVILIANS

The civilian team must eliminate all of the Mafia players in order to win. There are three types of civilian roles, differentiated by icon color to help create the role deck.

Bystanders are common roles, with no abilities. Most civilian

Specialists are more unique roles. Each specialist has an ability which has a moderate effect on the game. There are few, if any, specialists in a game.

Leaders are the most powerful roles. Each leader has an ability which has a profound effect on the game. There can only be one leader in a game.

MAFIA

The Mafia team must have an equal or greater number of players than the civilian team in order to win. There are two types of Mafia roles, differentiated by icon color to help create the role deck.

Thugs are common roles, with no abilities. They awaken at night to choose a victim with the other Mafia roles. Most Mafia players in a game are Thugs.
Mobsters are more unique roles. Each mobster has an ability which has a moderate effect on the game. There are few, if any, mobsters in a game.

ABILITIES

Specialists, leaders, and mobsters have abilities they may use during the night. Before dealing out the role cards, the facilitator makes certain all players understand the abilities of the roles that are in play for that game. The basic rules governing abilities are as follows:

• All abilities must be used silently. This helps keep player roles hidden.
• A player cannot use his ability on himself.
• Eliminated players cannot use their abilities or be targeted by the abilities of others.
• To use the kill ability, a player mimes shooting a gun at the targeted player. To use any other ability, a player points at the targeted player.
• Players are not required to use their abilities. To not use his ability, a player shakes his head.
• If the facilitator needs clarification, he can ask for it verbally, but the player can only respond with gestures and facial expressions.

The results of the killings that occurred during the night are announced by the facilitator at the next dawn.

Mafia is best played at a large table or in a room with lots of chairs arranged in a circle. All players need to be able to easily see and hear each other. Before playing, set up the game as follows:

1. Determine Facilitator: Determine who will be the facilitator.
2. Create Role Deck: Choose the cast of roles that will make up the role deck. Follow the table on the Setup Reference sheet. (For your first game, see “Casting Your First Game” below.) Once players have decided on a cast, place the corresponding role cards into a pile. This is the role deck.
3. Create Facilitator Deck: For each role in the role deck, place the matching facilitator card into a pile. This is the facilitator deck. The facilitator uses these cards during the game.
4. Distribute Role Cards: Shuffle the role deck and deal one role card facedown to each player. Each player looks at his own role card while keeping it hidden from all other players. While each player familiarizes himself with his role and abilities, the facilitator explains the abilities for each role in the role deck by reading aloud the entries on pages 3 and 4 of this rulesheet.
5. Verify Roles: All players close their eyes and hold up their role cards facing toward the facilitator. The facilitator writes down each player’s name, team, and role for easy reference. When the facilitator is ready, he begins the first night (see “The First Night” to the right).

Put the Detective in the leader role. If you have enough players to include specialists, add the Nurse, then the Bodyguard, then the Vixen. If you have enough players to include mobsters, add the Thief, then the Lawyer.

The order of play is important in Mafia, and should be followed carefully. Remember, the facilitator is the final arbiter of all game decisions.

During the night, the facilitator initiates the night sequence by calling out each role in the role deck in the order specified on the night sequence card. The facilitator does not call out the roles that are not included in the role deck.

When a player’s role is called, that player opens his eyes and may use his ability. When instructed to do so by the facilitator, the player closes his eyes once more. (Bystander and Thug players are not called since neither has an ability.)

At one point during the night sequence, the Mafia awakens to choose a victim. All Mafia players open their eyes and decide which player to kill. For more information, see “The Mafia”.

The facilitator continues calling out roles until all active players with roles listed on the night sequence card have been awakened. Then, the night ends and is immediately followed by the dawn.

THE FIRST NIGHT

During the first night, immediately after setup, the facilitator initiates the night sequence as normal. At one point during the night sequence, the Mafia awakens. During the first night, all Mafia players open their eyes to see which players are on the Mafia team. They do not choose a victim.

No player can be killed during the first night.

At dawn, the facilitator instructs all players to open their eyes. Then, the facilitator announces the identity of the Mafia’s chosen victim from the previous night, unless the chosen player was protected by an ability. The Mafia’s victim is immediately eliminated from the game and must reveal his role card. He cannot learn the player identities of his Mafia killers, but the facilitator does state that he was killed by the Mafia.

Then, the facilitator announces the identities of any other players who were killed during the previous night. The victims are immediately eliminated from the game and must reveal their role cards. These victims cannot learn the player identities of their killers during the game, and the facilitator does not state which role was responsible.

At this point, the facilitator checks to determine if a victory condition has been met. If not, the game continues, and it is now day.

During the day, players must name suspects and vote to determine which player to kill. This is the civilian team’s main opportunity to eliminate the Mafia players.

All active players discuss which player they want to kill. The facilitator is responsible for keeping the discussion moving along while also allowing the players to engage in a lively debate.

At least two players must be chosen as suspects. Any active player can be chosen as a suspect. The facilitator listens to the discussion and makes note of any suspected players.

One suspect at a time, the facilitator calls for a vote. Players vote by raising their hands; a vote indicates approval to kill that player. Once a player’s hand is raised, his vote cannot be rescinded. Each player can vote only once per day. Players can abstain from voting.

The suspect with the highest number of votes is killed. If there is a tie for the highest number of votes, no player is killed that day. The killed player reveals his role card and is eliminated.

At this point, the facilitator checks to determine if a victory condition has been met. If not, the game continues. The facilitator announces, “Night falls. Everyone goes to sleep,” and all the players close their eyes.

During the night sequence, the facilitator follows the same script for each special role. First, he calls for the role to awaken. Next, he waits for the player to use his ability or pass. Finally, he calls for the role to fall asleep and waits for the player to close his eyes before moving on to the next name in the night sequence. Players should wait to open or close their eyes until the facilitator verbally instructs them to do so.

Example: The facilitator says, “The Detective wakes up.” The player with the Detective role opens his eyes. The Detective may either murder or investigate a player. He decides to investigate a player, and points at that player; the facilitator shows the chosen player’s facilitator card to the Detective. The facilitator then says, “The Detective falls asleep,” and the Detective player closes his eyes. The facilitator continues to the next role currently in play, according to the list on the night sequence card.

Aside from Bystanders and Thugs, all roles have abilities they may use at night. A player cannot use his ability on himself.

The nightly Mafia killing is not considered to be an ability; if a Mafia player is blocked, he can still participate in choosing a victim with the other Mafia players.

Each game of Mafia has only one civilian leader. If the leader player is killed by the Mafia at night, the facilitator still calls on him, but the leader cannot use his ability. The facilitator indicates to the leader that his ability has been blocked.

All civilian leaders have one or more of the following fundamental abilities:

• investigate a player by pointing at him; the facilitator shows the chosen player’s facilitator card to the investigating player.
• kill a player by miming shooting a gun at him; unless the chosen player is protected by an ability, the facilitator will announce this player’s death at dawn.

The Mafia players strive to remain undetected by the other players. They work together to kill the civilian team one by one. The active Mafia players must kill one active player each night. All Thugs and mobsters participate in the nightly Mafia killings.

When the facilitator says, “The Mafia wakes up,” all Mafia players open their eyes and use gestures to decide which player they will kill. Once they silently reach a decision by majority, they inform the facilitator of their choice by all pointing at the player they wish to kill. The facilitator acknowledges this, then says, “The Mafia has chosen a victim and now returns to sleep.” All Mafia players close their eyes. Unless the Mafia’s victim was protected by an ability, the facilitator will declare him dead at the next dawn.

If the Mafia players cannot decide by majority which player to kill at night, there is no Mafia killing that night.

For more variety, experienced players may want to use the following game modes. Tables for casting the Yakuza and Loner modes can be found on the back of the Setup Reference sheet.

The Yakuza is another organized crime group within the city, and is a separate criminal team in the game. It competes with the Mafia for domination. The Yakuza can only be used with 12 or more players. When playing with the Yakuza, mobsters cannot be used.

At night, the Yakuza kills a player directly after the Mafia does, but it is assumed that both killings occur simultaneously. Therefore, if the Mafia chooses to kill one of the Yakuza players, the Yakuza still chooses a victim that same night. If the Yakuza chooses the same victim as the Mafia, the facilitator does not indicate this to the Yakuza. During the next day, the facilitator announces that the Mafia and Yakuza chose the same victim. That player is eliminated from the game as usual.

If the Jailer investigates a Yakuza player, he is jailed. If the Journalist researches one Yakuza player and one Mafia player, they are considered to be on different teams, even though they are both criminals.

Victory conditions for a Yakuza game are as follows:

• The Yakuza team wins when all Mafia players have been eliminated and the number of active civilian players is equal to or less than the number of active Yakuza players.
• The Mafia team wins when all Yakuza players have been eliminated and the number of active civilian players is equal to or less than the number of active Mafia players.
• The civilians, as always, can only win if they have eliminated all of the criminal players (both the Yakuza and the Mafia)
• If there are only two active players remaining in the game, one Yakuza and one Mafia, all teams lose.

Loners are individuals out for themselves, and represent a third team in the game. The Loner competes with both civilians and the Mafia for domination. The Loner can only be used with 10 or more players.

Each game can only have one Loner character. Loners are neither Mafia nor civilians. If the Jailer investigates the Loner, the facilitator shows the Loner’s facilitator card to the Jailer, but the Loner cannot be jailed. If the Journalist researches the Loner as one of two players, the Loner is not considered to be on the same team as any other player.

The Loner must work to maintain a balance between the civilian and Mafia teams in order to win. Victory conditions for a Loner game are as follows:

• The Loner wins the game when the Mafia team would win, but the Loner has not been eliminated
• The Mafia team wins when the Loner has been eliminated and the number of civilian players is equal to or less than the number of Mafia players
• The civilians win when they have eliminated all the Mafia players, whether or not the Loner is eliminated
• If the only active player remaining in the game is the Loner, the Loner wins.

Players can choose to use this mode to increase the difficulty of any game of Mafia. When a player is eliminated, he does not reveal his role card. During the night sequence, the facilitator calls out each of the roles that were in the role deck, whether or not that player has been eliminated. The facilitator checks for victory conditions as normal and announces to the group when one team has won. All players reveal their roles once the game has ended.