All in the Cards

Thanks to the wily ways of one Joseph Brescia, the Shawnee Group (Lite) is in an epic battle of mystery and intrigue...online. That's right, the weird-o card game that many in Medford have seen us play, and I allowed it to migrate to Williamsburg, has made a recent reinvention over the cyberwaves. The subject of a former Condoblitt screenplay, Mafia, is alive and well, and its beta version is unfolding in inboxes across five states as we speak.

For those not in the know, in the card game of Mafia, the rules are pretty simple. A moderator deals ordinary playing cards out to all players, and these cards determine the role you shall assume for the rest of the game. If you have been dealt a King, you are one of the Mafia. Your goal is to kill off everyone who is not Mafia. If you have been dealt a number card, you are a citizen. Your job is to find out who is Mafia, and eliminate them from the game. There are also a few angel cards (Queen of Hearts, Ace of Spades) which are basically citizens with special powers, but that's not important for the purposes of this blog. If you have been dealt the Joker, the moderator doesn't like you. Go home.

The format is also pretty basic, basically speaking. Everybody sleeps, Mafia kills someone. Everybody wakes up, Moderator Joe reveals who was killed, everybody has a debate to accuse and kill someone. For the citizens, they are hoping to kill Mafia. For Mafia, they're hoping the citizens shoot themselves in the collective foot and slay their own. The goal of one side is to kill off the other, and vice versa.

Sophomore year of college I lived in an apartment with 2 karate-crazed roommates, and one other guy who proclaimed himself the President of the Shotokan Club so, that he can tell those who called our place confusing instructions ("Yes, training will be held tonight in Chicago. Yes, Chicago, Illinois. See you there, or you're fired.") You know how Nordberg is with phones... Anyways, Shotokan's highest achievement is black belt, but the levels don't end there. There are 9 grades of black-belt, called Dans (pronounced "Dons"), for the masters of the sport to continue to strive for. Now watch out, or get a kick to the head.

Spud and I, after recently bringing Mafia to Virginia, found that the citizen role in the game is one that can be held by many, perfected by few. A citizen's main jobs are to correctly finger the Mafia and valiantly defend their innocence. It's a skill you improve upon only with experience. Much like the karate world, additional skills and tactics are needed in order to become a better citizen. It's almost as if there are different grades of playing the citizen. The better they are, the better Mafia gets. So without anymore winding introduction, we give you the nine levels of citizenry. We give you Mafia-Dan.

1 - Extraneous Defense - should have no impact on the game whatsoever, since the logic has nothing to do with how the Mafia are selected. Example: "Liz Grimm is from Sicily, and Sicilians are Italian, and Italians are Mafia. Liz is Mafia!" (Note: While the lowest level of logic in the game, being a 1-Dan shows promise. You are willing to try to figure the game out.)
2 - Probability/Behavioral Defense - A 2-Dan will use slightly more logical explanations and defenses, even if these methods have been proven ineffective. Explaining that Lou Jester is Mafia because this is the eighth game in a row and he hasn't been Mafia yet is novel, but incorrect.
3 - Sensory Defense - This is when a citizen realizes much can be gained by paying careful attention during the night. The Mafia must quietly come to a conclusion as to who to kill while everyone sits with their eyes closed. Much shifting and arm waving takes place. If a citizen can visualize what transpires beyond their eyelids, this may be the first effective level of the Mafia-Dan he can achieve. (Note: Mmm...McFlurry. Falls here. Never works. Silly Toms.)
4 - Game History - Congratulations! You're finally contributing to the citizens' cause. This requires a citizen to pay careful attention to alliances, rivalries, and voting records. Example - If Sara Throckmorton is quick to raise her hand against the last three citizens who have died during the day, she's as Mafia as Ashlee Simpson is stupid.
5 - Verbatim Analysis - Ok, so you've paid attention to the others players behavior, but can you pay attention to their words? Mafia often makes the mistake when conveying their arguments to include something in their logic as commonplace, when in fact they only know it because they are the Mafia. Ok, that wasn't clear. Let's say Chris Smith is the Mafia, and in his explanation of why Rob Harford is not, he explains Rob is not because he got saved one night. Only the Mafia (and the Archangel) would know this. Read his words and smack him down.
6 - Angelic Awareness - Remember those special citizens I metnioned earlier? One has the power to save one person a night, and the other has the ability to find out the guilt/innocence of one person a night. Being a citizen becomes a powerful role if you can determine which of your allies hold these powers.
7 - Character Profile Explication - Where the heck did that come from? Anyways, if you have achieved this level, you have got to be a seasoned veteran. Over many games, it should become clear to you that people act differently when they are Mafia and when they are a citizen. For example, Lacey Smith may be really quiet during the daytime when she's Mafia, trying to keep a low profile, but may be a gung-ho accuser when trying the seek the Mafia out. Know your foes, and you become a 7-Dan.
8 - Manipulative Logistics - Warning. Entering expert territory. This is when a citizen may not have all the answers, but is able to run the table with their flawed logic anyways. It's when a citizen, for some unknown reason, alters the thinking of the rest in what seems to be a cult-like following. Blind faith in this citizen's leadership will lead you to the promised land. Hell, let's throw a dash of mysticism in here as well. No one can explain it, just get on the bus. (Oh, and for this to work: The citizen must have absolute power of what he's doing, and he must be right.)
9 - Psychoanalysis - 8-Dan to the next level. Literally. This is when you can bend the rules of the game to such a point where the impossible seems possible. It's tough to come up with a citizen example for this one, so let me leave you with a great 9-Dan play by a former Mafia member, Chris Condon. Ok, three people left. One Mafia (Condon), One Archangel (Jann), One Citizen (Stafford). Everybody sleep. Condon wakes up, kills himself. Jann wakes up, saves Condon. Everybody wakes, nobody dies. Jann know she's innocent, and Condon is too (since she saved him and nobody died.) First on Stafford, Second on Stafford, Stafford is dead. Condon runs from the room before Jann realizes the doublecross.

So, what Dan are you, citizen?