If the same Crossfire event took place again...

 ...what the losing parties could have done differently to win?

In the "Crossfire" game that took place 9 days ago, the Scarlet Sirens managed to secure a victory against the Shamans, Subver (innocent faction), Terror Bite (third-party role), and Aldrich Hanssen (another third-party role). The dynamics in this setup were complex due to the number of factions involved, especially with both scum and third-party factions competing for victory. Here's an analysis of what the losing parties could have done differently to potentially secure a win, without the game context:

1. Subver (10 players) - Innocent Faction

The Subver faction lost despite having numerical superiority. For this faction, survival and deduction are key, but their defeat indicates a failure in either coordination, role usage, or factional management. Here are strategies the Subver faction could have employed:

Strategies:

• Focus on Investigation and Coordination: With 4 Scarlet Sirens and 4 Shamans, the Subver should have focused early on identifying scum threats through investigative roles. Subver players needed to coordinate more effectively, sharing credible information and building consensus to vote out scum.

  • Missed Opportunities: If the Subvers failed to eliminate Scarlet Sirens early, this likely gave the Sirens too much room to grow. Early, effective elimination of one or two Sirens could have severely weakened their chances.

• Targeting Key Sirens: Since each Scarlet Siren had a special power enhancing the factional kill (such as optional kills or decimating targets), Subvers needed to prioritize high-value Sirens like Bombey (who enabled decimation) or Inex (who made kills undetectable). By eliminating these critical Sirens early, they could have weakened the Siren faction’s kill efficiency.

• Utilizing Power Roles Effectively: Subver’s success is often tied to the effective use of power roles, such as investigators, protectors, and vigilantes. The Subver may not have coordinated well, resulting in inefficient targeting. They should have worked together to protect high-value town roles while targeting scum.

  • Improvements: Ensuring that investigators focused on potential threats, while protective roles guarded key players (such as detectives or power roles), would have increased the chances of uncovering the Sirens.

• Dealing with the Third Parties: The Terror Bite and Aldrich Hanssen could both be manipulated to work in Subver's favor.

  • Terror Bite: The Subver needed to be cautious and not eliminate Terror Bite too late, as that could result in penalties for their faction. Detecting and day-eliminating Terror Bite before their penalties could activate would have helped.
  • Aldrich Hanssen: Subver needed to identify Aldrich Hanssen’s objective and manipulate him into targeting the other scum factions (Sirens or Shamans). By keeping him aligned with Subver's interests, they could have neutralized one scum faction, then dealt with Hanssen afterward.

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2. Shamans (4 players) - Scum Faction

The Shamans had a unique advantage with their reanimation and night kill abilities, but they lost to the Scarlet Sirens, possibly due to a lack of coordination or mismanagement of resources.

Strategies:

• Use Reanimation Tactically: The Shamans could have utilized their reanimation ability to bring back powerful Subver players or high-value third-party roles like Aldrich Hanssen to act as decoys or perform actions beneficial to the Shaman faction.

  • Missed Opportunities: If they reanimated a player too early or reanimated a player with no strategic benefit, they wasted a valuable resource. They should have reanimated players with investigative or protective abilities, turning them into valuable assets for the Shamans.

• Better Night Kill Coordination: The Shamans’ night kill was unblockable by most cards, giving them a strong offensive advantage. However, they may have misused their kill by targeting low-value players or failing to coordinate with other scum factions. They should have targeted the Scarlet Sirens aggressively, knowing that the Sirens' powers made their kill deadly.

  • Improvement: By focusing on high-value Siren members (especially Bombey and Isis), the Shamans could have prevented the Scarlet Sirens from gaining too much control and eliminated critical Siren powers.

• Redirection to Counter Scarlet Sirens: The Shamans' factional redirection ability could have been used to confuse the Scarlet Sirens’ kill. By redirecting actions toward their reanimated body, the Shamans could have deflected investigative and killing actions, reducing the Sirens' offensive capability.

  • Strategic Use: They should have delayed redirection until a Siren was performing their factional kill, ensuring it failed or backfired.

• Exploit Sirens’ Vulnerabilities: Since the Scarlet Sirens relied on stacking powers, the Shamans needed to eliminate the Siren with the most dangerous ability as soon as possible. They could have coordinated with Subver or even manipulated third parties like Terror Bite into taking down the Sirens, thus weakening their power.

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3. Terror Bite (1 player) - Third-Party Role

The Terror Bite is a third-party role that thrives on getting killed during the day and inflicting penalties on the faction assigned to them. In this case, the Terror Bite’s loss could be due to not getting eliminated early enough to impose penalties.

Strategies:

• Manipulate the Subver and Shamans: The Terror Bite should have worked harder to manipulate the Subver or Shamans into eliminating them during the day. By drawing attention to themselves and playing as a chaotic element, the Terror Bite could have forced an early day elimination and imposed penalties on the faction they were assigned to.

• Avoid Getting Killed at Night: Since Terror Bite loses if killed at night, they should have bluffed their alignment and appeared to be a low-value target. If the Shamans or Scarlet Sirens eliminated them at night, it nullified their win condition. Terror Bite needed to create confusion during the day to push for their own elimination in a controlled manner.

• Exploit Ties Between Factions: The Terror Bite thrives on being seen as a threat. They could have manipulated both the Shamans and Scarlet Sirens to keep them alive, playing both sides against each other and delaying their elimination until penalties could affect one of the factions.

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4. Aldrich Hanssen (1 player) - Third-Party Role

Aldrich Hanssen is a role that thrives on shifting loyalties between scum factions. Their goal is to eliminate one evil faction and then join the other. Hanssen's loss suggests a failure to align with the winning faction (Scarlet Sirens) at the right time.

Strategies:

• Identify the Weaker Scum Faction Early: Aldrich Hanssen's win condition requires the elimination of one scum faction (either the Shamans or Scarlet Sirens) before joining the remaining faction. Hanssen should have quickly identified which scum faction was weaker (likely the Shamans) and manipulated the Subver or Scarlet Sirens into eliminating them.

• Play Both Sides: Aldrich Hanssen should have worked behind the scenes to foster conflict between the Shamans and Scarlet Sirens. By encouraging the factions to attack each other, Hanssen could have created an opportunity to eliminate one faction, securing their place with the other.

• Survival Tactics: Once a scum faction was eliminated, Hanssen should have integrated with the Scarlet Sirens and assisted them in taking down the remaining opposition. Claiming innocence while secretly working with the winning faction would have allowed Hanssen to secure a late-game win.

  • Missed Opportunity: If Hanssen sided with the Shamans too early, this could have led to their downfall, as the Scarlet Sirens proved to be the stronger faction. Aldrich should have waited until the Shamans were clearly at a disadvantage before shifting loyalties.

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Conclusion:

In this "Crossfire" game, the Scarlet Sirens likely capitalized on the confusion and division among the other factions, using their enhanced factional kills to dominate the game. The Subver could have won through better coordination and targeting key Sirens, the Shamans needed more strategic use of their reanimation and redirection abilities, and both Terror Bite and Aldrich Hanssen could have manipulated the factions to achieve their own third-party goals. By fostering cooperation, leveraging investigative power, and exploiting vulnerabilities in the scum factions, any of the losing factions could have turned the game in their favor.

The Saints (Third Party): Overview and Strats

 

The Saints are a unique and highly strategic third-party faction in Deck Mafia that aim to achieve victory by performing the Exalted Rapture spell, abducting all players and imprisoning them in a Celestial prison. Led by Atlas, the Saints work together to awaken reincarnated Saints hidden in the souls of unaware players, gather their forces, and execute the ultimate plan for game domination. The Saints rely on secrecy, coordination, and manipulation to pull off their win condition without being discovered.

Let’s explore the Saints’ abilities, win condition, and how to play them to maximize their chances of performing the Exalted Rapture successfully.

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Primary Objective:

• Goal: The Saints win by performing the Exalted Rapture, a spell that abducts all remaining players (including the Saints) and locks them in a Celestial prison for one cycle. If no one successfully guesses the identity of Atlas by the end of the cycle, the Saints win.
• Challenges: The Saints must awaken the required number of dormant Saints hidden in other players, perform the Exalted Rapture, and prevent Atlas from being correctly identified during the prison phase.

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Faction Mechanics:

1. Atlas (Leader of the Saints):

   • Mechanic: Atlas is the leader of the Saints and is responsible for finding and awakening the dormant Saints hidden in other players’ souls.
     • Dormant Saints: These are regular players unaware that they host a celestial being. Atlas’s role is to discover these players and awaken them, turning them into Saints and adding them to the Saints faction.
   • Awakening Process: Atlas has the power to awaken dormant Saints and bring them into the faction. Once awakened, these players join the Saints’ private group chat and assist in preparations for the Exalted Rapture.

2. Exalted Rapture (Group Action, 90% Success Rate):

   • Mechanic: Once Atlas has awakened the necessary number of Saints, they can initiate the Exalted Rapture, a night action that requires the entire Saints faction to waive their factional, character, and card actions for that cycle.
     • Success Rate: The action has a 90% chance of succeeding.
     • Outcome: If successful, the Exalted Rapture abducts all remaining players and places them in a Celestial prison for the following cycle.

3. Celestial Prison (Post-Rapture Phase):

   • Mechanic: After the Exalted Rapture, all players, including the Saints, are locked in a Celestial prison. The prison is a limited chatroom where players can post once every 10 minutes.
   • Guessed Identity: During the prison phase, the host will ask each player to publicly guess the identity of Atlas.
     • The player with the most guesses will be revealed as the final guess by the end of the day.
   • Outcome:
     • If guessed correctly, Atlas dies, and all players are freed from the prison, ending the Saints’ attempt to win.
     • If guessed incorrectly, the Saints win the game, as they have successfully abducted everyone and imprisoned them permanently.

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Special Actions and Mechanics:

1. Saint Factional Action:
   • Each Saint has access to a factional action, as well as their own unique character action. These actions must be waived when the Saints perform the Exalted Rapture.
   • Card Limitations: Saints can only rand and keep Card Deck and Support card types or a Gods vs Demons (GvD) card.
2. Death of a Dormant Saint:
   • Mechanic: If a player who hosts a dormant Saint dies without being awakened, the soul information of the dormant Saint will be publicly disclosed.
     • This adds pressure to awaken the Saints before they are killed off, as the public revelation of soul information could expose the Saints’ strategy.

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Win Condition:

1. Perform the Exalted Rapture and Survive the Prison Phase:
   • The Saints win if they successfully perform the Exalted Rapture and prevent Atlas from being correctly identified during the prison phase. The prison phase involves other players trying to guess Atlas’s identity, and the Saints must keep this information hidden to achieve victory.

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Optimal Playstyle and Strategy:

1. Early Game: Atlas Must Stay Hidden and Gather Information

• Atlas’s Role: In the early game, Atlas must remain hidden and avoid drawing attention to themselves. Atlas’s main task is to identify players who may be hosting a dormant Saint and prepare to awaken them.
• Secrecy is Key: The Saints’ strength comes from their ability to remain undetected until they can execute the Exalted Rapture. Atlas should blend in with the general population, avoid risky plays, and ensure that no one suspects their true role.
• Avoid Early Deaths: Atlas must be cautious about which players to approach for awakening, as targeting the wrong individuals could lead to unwanted attention or even an early death.

2. Mid-Game: Awaken the Saints and Coordinate Actions

• Awakening Saints: By mid-game, Atlas should begin awakening the dormant Saints to grow the faction. These newly awakened Saints will join the private group chat and can assist in preparations for the Exalted Rapture.
• Factional and Character Actions: Once Saints are awakened, they can use their factional actions and unique character actions to influence the game. These abilities should be used strategically to weaken opposition, gather more information, and protect the Saints from being exposed.
• Prepare for the Exalted Rapture: During this phase, the Saints should begin preparing for the Exalted Rapture, coordinating their efforts to ensure a smooth execution of the spell.

3. Late Game: Execute the Exalted Rapture

• Trigger the Exalted Rapture: Once the necessary number of Saints have been awakened, Atlas and the Saints should coordinate to perform the Exalted Rapture. All factional, character, and card actions must be waived to perform this group action.
• Survive the Prison Phase: After performing the Exalted Rapture, the Saints’ primary focus shifts to surviving the prison phase. In this phase, all players are asked to guess Atlas’s identity.
  • Deception and Bluffing: The Saints must work together to mislead other players about Atlas’s identity. If Atlas is guessed correctly, the Saints will fail, so this phase is critical to their victory.

4. Strategic Considerations:

• Timing is Everything: The Saints’ success depends on choosing the right moment to awaken their members and execute the Exalted Rapture. Awakening too early may expose the faction, while waiting too long may result in the death of potential Saints before they can be awakened.
• Protect Atlas: Atlas is the key to the Saints’ victory. Keeping Atlas hidden and alive is essential, as their death would mean the end of the Saints’ chances of performing the Exalted Rapture.
• Manipulate the Prison Guesses: During the prison phase, the Saints should work together to subtly mislead other players about Atlas’s identity. The fewer clues players have, the better the Saints' chances of success.

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The Seven Saints

The Seven Saints in Deck Mafia each bring unique abilities that can significantly alter the course of the game once they are awakened by Atlas. These abilities range from manipulative powers to investigative and protective actions, adding layers of strategy and power to the Saints' faction. Here's an overview of the Seven Saints, their abilities, and how they can be used effectively once awakened:

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1. Apollo (1st Seat Saint)

• Architect of War (Character Action):
  • Day Action: Apollo may choose two players. Those two players will unknowingly target each other with the card and factional actions they submit that night.
  • Restrictions: Cannot target the same players two days in a row and may self-target.
• Strategic Use: Apollo’s power to redirect actions creates chaos and disrupts other players’ strategies. This can be particularly effective when targeting key players who are likely to use powerful abilities, forcing them to target each other unknowingly. Self-targeting can also be used defensively to manipulate incoming actions.

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2. Danica (2nd Seat Saint)

• Gather (Character Action):
  • Day Action: Target two players. They will be able to communicate privately during the following night.
• Strategic Use: Danica’s Gather ability creates secret alliances and communication between players. This can be used to either aid the Saints by fostering temporary cooperation or to sow confusion and misdirection among other factions. The private chat allows Danica to influence how players interact, and, if used on enemies, could cause them to waste resources on each other.

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3. Jolene (3rd Seat Saint)

• Celestial Blessing (Character Action):
  • Day Action: This is a visit. Target a player to enhance their character ability by duplicating the number of players (if applicable) they can use their ability on.
• Strategic Use: Jolene’s ability strengthens other players' character actions, doubling their reach. This can be used to amplify powerful abilities like investigations, protections, or disruptive actions. Jolene’s Celestial Blessing should be applied to key players whose abilities can turn the tide of the game, helping the Saints while staying under the radar.

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4. Calypso (4th Seat Saint)

• Pierce (Character Action):
  • Night Action: Target a player to pierce their body and attempt to kill them. This kill has a 20% success rate.
  • Additional Effect: If successful, the target dies and their unused card actions become Calypso's passive abilities.
• Strategic Use: Calypso’s Pierce is a risky but potentially powerful ability. The 20% kill rate is low, but the reward—gaining the target’s unused abilities as passive effects—can be game-changing. Calypso should aim for players with valuable or highly disruptive abilities, knowing that even if the kill fails, the ability remains hidden.

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5. Leo (5th Seat Saint)

• Narkuro (Character Action):
  • Night Action: Target a player to discover if they have a dormant Saint in their soul.
  • Mechanic: If the player has a dormant Saint, Atlas will be informed instead of Leo.
  • Strategic Use: Leo is a key investigator for the Saints. By identifying players who host dormant Saints, Leo helps Atlas awaken them, expanding the Saints' power. This ability should be used to prioritize awakening Saints while avoiding any unnecessary attention. Since Leo gets no feedback for negative results, discretion is essential.

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6. Grace (6th Seat Saint)

• Memperberat (Character Action):
  • Day Action: This is a non-visit action. Select a player. If they visit Grace the following night, they will receive a random negative status effect displayed in their private channel name.
  • Additional Effect: If the target is visited by someone else, the target dies, and the other player is announced as killing them, similar to a loud gunshot announcement.
• Strategic Use: Grace’s Memperberat creates a deadly trap for players. By marking someone for a negative status effect or death, Grace can use the threat of retaliation to influence behavior. If another player visits the target, the blame for the death is shifted, sowing confusion and mistrust.

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7. Siren (7th Seat Saint)

• Early Rapture (Character Action):
  • Night Action: Activate to attempt an early Celestial Rapture.
  • Success Rate: 10%, increasing by 5% each night.
  • Failure Consequence: If the attempt fails, it will be publicly announced that an “Exalted Rapture attempt has failed.”
• Strategic Use: Siren provides an option for the Saints to win early with the Early Rapture. The success rate is low initially, but as the game progresses, the chances improve. Siren’s ability adds an element of risk but can be a game-changer if the Saints are close to victory or if time is running out. The public announcement of failure can be a double-edged sword, revealing the Saints’ intentions but also serving as a bluff to mislead others.

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General Strategy for the Saints:

1. Atlas’s Role in Awakening the Saints:

   • Atlas’s first priority is to identify and awaken the Saints. Once they are awakened, their collective power becomes a formidable force that can disrupt other factions while preparing for the Exalted Rapture.

2. Synergize the Saints’ Abilities:

   • The Saints have a mix of supportive and disruptive abilities. For example, Apollo’s Architect of War can cause havoc by forcing players to target each other, while Grace’s Memperberat can kill players through indirect actions. These abilities, when combined, make the Saints a faction capable of manipulating the flow of the game.

3. Timing the Exalted Rapture:

   • Once enough Saints are awakened, the Saints should coordinate with Atlas to prepare for the Exalted Rapture. The Saints’ powerful abilities should be used to either protect Atlas or weaken opposing factions in preparation for the final spell.

4. Using Siren’s Early Rapture:

   • Siren’s Early Rapture is a risky option but can be used to pressure other players or force their hand. The announcement of a failed attempt can create panic, making other factions rush or overreact, giving the Saints more room to maneuver.

5. Disrupting Enemy Factions:

   • The Saints should use their abilities to weaken other factions while remaining hidden. For example, Danica’s Gather can be used to manipulate communications, and Calypso’s Pierce can cripple powerful players if successful.

   Thoughts

   The Seven Saints are a diverse and powerful third-party faction with a mix of investigative, manipulative, and deadly abilities. Once awakened by Atlas, each Saint brings a unique strength to the faction, allowing them to disrupt the game while preparing for the Exalted Rapture. Coordinating their abilities and timing their final move will be key to the Saints’ success.

   Let me know if you'd like to dive deeper into specific strategies for any of the individual Saints or explore how they interact with other factions!

    

Deck Mafia vs Other Social Deduction Games: What sets us apart?

 The Cards

Imagine you're signing up for a game that you are hyped about, possibly a game that was advertised as the best game of the year. You know they have interesting roles to play, and you are hoping you'd get your favorite role to make your mark in that game, or you just want to experience a role for the first time and this might be the game you'll be able to do that. 

But then...

When the host assigns a private channel for you and adds you to it, you find out that you got the least role you wanted, or no role at all, just the power of your vote. This has happened to all of us who play social deduction games like Werewolves, Town of Salem, Among Us or Mafia; we always get the role we didn't want most of the time. 

Players who like taking justice (or revenge) on their own hands end up getting a role to save people from death, people who like supporting roles get manipulation roles, and people who like simplicity in their role actions get instead, overcomplicated ones that they will never understand to play it effectively. 

And so their game experience is ruined before it even began. 

As trivial as these scenarios may seem to the most adapting players, these scenarios do happen and drive away players. 

In Deck Mafia, you will never have that problem, because simply put, you decide what actions you will be playing before the game even starts. 

 That is because instead of a game moderator (or game host) randomizing and distributing roles to players before it begins, players select their actions in the forms of cards from their inventory to play and yes! It is possible that more than one player submit the same card, and the host must allow it (barring some unique exceptions).

That is the beauty of Deck Mafia, that a player instead of waiting for some good luck to get a role they want in a game, they choose what cards they will be playing in our game!

Our cards are 1-use actions that they can play during a phase (day or night), some are public, most are secret (unless you claim it) but they are all different! Yes! It is exactly what you are thinking! In Deck Mafia you are not stuck being a cop or a doctor, in Deck Mafia you can have up to 7 cards that allow you to be a doctor with one, a cop with another one, a traffic controller with the next one and so on for the rest of your deck. So not only you are submitting a power that you really want, you are submitting several. 

That level of personalization is a key feature that you will not find in any other social deduction game besides Deck Mafia. 

6 Scum Factions

In most social deduction games like Mafia, for example, you know the evil faction that you will be playing against if you rand town. Most likely it is just the Mafia party, or the Coven in Town of Salem, or the Impostors in Among Us. Such simplicity works for them, but it can get rather monotonous after a big while.

In Deck Mafia, we got 6 different evil factions that could possibly be in a game. We got the Scarlet Sirens, a faction whose factional kill is unblockable, unstoppable, undetectable and reveals no info in the results so as long as the characters that possess each trait is alive. When a character dies, their power that enhances the factional kill dies with them as well. 

We got the Shamans faction, this one has a standard factional kill, not powerful as the Scarlet Sirens, but they can reanimate dead bodies and use their cards as their own. 

We got the Madmen faction, a strict 3-players group scum (or two in games with less than 13 players) faction that win when they have obliterated all other factions. Unlike the other scum factions, they don't have a group chat at all, but each of them have conditional kills that they can perform. 

Then there are the Plunderers, these vile thieves have a sweet tooth for your cards, they start with a few, but they can quickly cripple you as the game progresses, this is of course on top of a factional kill, and if you are thinking that you could just claim the cards they stole from you so if they use them, they risk revealing themselves, you are very wrong, because they can trade it out for different ones by contacting the host. 

The Shapeshifters is the fifth one, these extraterrestrial villains in Deck Mafia's lore appear as members of the innocent party when they die, they don't have a direct factional kill, but they can poison up to three people, two of which are fake poisons so good luck healing the real one to save their innocent victim!

And last but not least, the Parasites faction. When a member of this party invades you, you will carry out all their card actions for them! If they target someone with a kill card, it is not them whom the tracker will see when the target is killed, it is you who they will see.

The scum factions are not disclosed in the signups period, so you will not know what to expect until the game begins when the host announces it. 

The Third Parties

Also known as independent or neutrals in other games, most of our third parties are custom-made for Deck Mafia.  For a detailed list and overview of each of them, please visit our home page here. 

We got a total of 35 of them, such as the ASMR Artist (Survivor), Terror Diva (Jester), The DJ (Survivor), Navy SEALs (Cult) and Banana Man (Killer) just to name a few. Aha! Not the names you expected, right? ;)

The reality is that soloing a game has become a stronger preference throughout the short three years of Deck Mafia's existence as they offer new ways to approach, plan for and play the game; plus the incentive that third party winners get a slightly bigger reward than the innocent and scum factions. Rest assure, that playing as a third party is no walk in the park in Deck Mafia, it is as challenging as it is both rewarding and satisfying. 

Our "Bastard" Approach

"Bastard" refers to very unorthodox and misleading mechanics, it also refers to the fact that anything can happen in our game. Things that you don't think are possible in standard social deduction games are possible here. 

For example, you could die as an innocent party and resurrect as an evil one, or you could shoot a living player straight from the graveyard, or a member of the scum party could play a card that confirms it as scum in the game publicly and become unkillable until the rest of their teammates die first. You could get post restricted and be forced to post only GIFs, you could get a gun that is actually another player waiting for you to shoot so he could redirect that kill to someone else and frame you, or you could play a card that forces the host himself to troll a target for the remaining of the day phase. You could get water thrown at you and next night you get a cold, and believe me, getting a cold is bad news in Deck Mafia. 

These are just a few of the many things that could happen in a game, no game is ever the same as the one before it, and that is the ultimate recipe to defeat boredom in our community. Some of you will laugh, some of you will get annoyed and step out for several hours until you cool down, it's a soup of emotions and experiences that likely you will never experience in another game, that is how we roll in Deck Mafia.

Conclusion

Social deduction games are still very niche in the world of online gaming, they are more popular as tabletop games, but you will still find a lot of them if you really try looking for them, when you do, you will realize that most social deduction game communities, either on forums or chat clients like Discord are very similar in how they are played. Deck Mafia is a like a valuable precious stone that you will find in an abandoned garage by the garage squad, we are very rare and very small still, and we are looking to change the latter, come join us and experience a social deduction game like no other in the online hemisphere. 

 Join Our Discord Server

Aldrich Hanssen (Third Party): Overview and Strats

 

Aldrich Hanssen is a unique and highly strategic third-party role in Deck Mafia, designed to disrupt the game by eliminating an entire evil faction before joining forces with the remaining evil factions or third-party group. This role adds a layer of complexity to the game, as Aldrich Hanssen has their own agenda, manipulating both sides while ultimately seeking survival and victory through allegiance to an evil group.

Let's break down Aldrich Hanssen's abilities, win conditions, and optimal strategies for both surviving and leveraging their power in the game.

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Primary Objective:

• Goal 1: Aldrich Hanssen’s initial goal is to eliminate one entire evil faction. This could be any of the qualifying factions, including Madmen, Scarlet Sirens, Shamans, Parasites, Shape-shifters, Plunderers, or third-party groups like Navy SEALs and Specters.
• Goal 2: Once one evil faction is annihilated, Aldrich Hanssen will automatically join the remaining evil faction or third-party group and work toward their win condition. Aldrich Hanssen's loyalties shift, making them a flexible but dangerous entity within the game.

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Lose Conditions:

• If Aldrich Hanssen is killed before successfully joining another faction, they lose.
• If the game ends and Aldrich Hanssen remains unaffiliated with any faction (due to not eliminating an evil faction or dying beforehand), they lose.

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Unique Abilities:

1. Factional Kill (Night Action):

   • Mechanic: Aldrich Hanssen can perform a factional kill once per night, but this kill has specific properties:
     • The kill can only target members of evil factions or group third-party factions. If they target a member of the innocent faction or a solo third party, the kill fails.
     • The kill has priority execution, meaning it is processed first in the Order of Operations, ensuring that Aldrich Hanssen strikes before most other actions resolve.
   • Strategic Use: This ability is key to Aldrich Hanssen’s goal of eliminating one evil faction. The priority kill ensures that Hanssen can preempt potential defenses or other actions aimed at the same target, making them a lethal and precise force. Hanssen must carefully decide when and whom to target, as killing the right players is crucial to weakening an evil faction.

2. Deceptive Aura (Passive Ability):

   • Mechanic: Aldrich Hanssen appears innocent-aligned to any alignment investigations. This aura of deception protects Hanssen from being easily identified by investigators or alignment checks.
   • Strategic Use: This passive ability allows Hanssen to operate more freely, especially in the early and mid-game phases. Innocent factions are less likely to suspect Hanssen, allowing them to work behind the scenes while gathering information and targeting evil factions without drawing attention.

3. Parity Check (Once per game):

   • Mechanic: Aldrich Hanssen can perform a Parity Check once per game to compare two players and determine if they are members of the same faction.
     • This action is not a visit, so it cannot be blocked or influenced by standard visiting mechanics.
   • Strategic Use: The Parity Check is a valuable investigative tool that can help Aldrich Hanssen gather critical information about the alignments of other players. It allows them to identify potential targets or confirm which faction to eliminate. The check helps Hanssen decide who to prioritize with their lethal factional kill and could be used to root out key members of an evil faction.

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Special Mechanics:

1. Automatic Alliance (Trigger Event):

   • Mechanic: Once Aldrich Hanssen successfully ensures the complete annihilation of one evil faction, they automatically join the remaining evil faction or third-party group.
     • Upon joining, Aldrich Hanssen gains full access to the new faction’s communication channels and adopts its win conditions.
     • However, Aldrich Hanssen loses all unique abilities (including factional kill and Parity Check) once they join an evil faction.
     • The remaining faction is notified of Aldrich Hanssen’s integration, and they must accept their new ally.
   • Strategic Use: The timing of when to destroy an evil faction is crucial. Aldrich Hanssen’s early game focus should be on weakening and eliminating one evil faction while maintaining their position as an independent player. Once they achieve their goal, they join a new team with new objectives, and they’ll need to adapt to the dynamics of their new faction quickly to achieve the shared win condition.

2. Identity Concealment:

   • Mechanic: Aldrich Hanssen’s identity is hidden from all factions, including the scum and third-party factions.
     • Aldrich Hanssen does not know the identities of the members of evil factions until they join one.
     • At the start of the game, all players (including evil factions) are informed that Aldrich Hanssen exists in the game, but no one knows who they are.
   • Strategic Use: This mechanic introduces paranoia on all sides. Since Aldrich Hanssen could be working against any evil faction, the scum must remain cautious about their membership and allies. Innocent factions are also aware of Hanssen but don’t have enough information to act against them immediately. This makes Aldrich Hanssen a wildcard that forces all players to tread carefully.

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Growth Over Games Won:

• Mechanic: Every time Aldrich Hanssen wins a game, they gain new abilities. These abilities may enhance their ability to deceive, kill, or manipulate other factions. The progression is tied to the experience of the players who use this role, making Aldrich Hanssen a formidable force in long-term games of Deck Mafia.

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Win Condition:

• Primary Win Condition: Aldrich Hanssen wins by ensuring the complete annihilation of one evil faction. Once this condition is fulfilled, they automatically join the remaining evil faction or third-party group and work toward their new faction’s win condition.
• Secondary Win Condition: Aldrich Hanssen adopts the win condition of their new faction once they join it.

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Optimal Playstyle and Strategy:

1. Early Game: Gather Information and Identify Targets

• Stay Hidden and Operate Independently: In the early game, Aldrich Hanssen should blend into the background, using their Deceptive Aura to appear innocent-aligned. This gives them time to gather information on the players and factions at work without drawing suspicion.
• Use Parity Check Wisely: The Parity Check is an invaluable tool for identifying potential targets. Use it early to compare players and figure out which faction is most vulnerable or which faction needs to be taken down to fulfill your win condition.
• Carefully Plan Your Factional Kill: Since Hanssen’s kill can only target evil factions, they must make calculated choices when using their kill. Use the priority execution to preempt defenses and take out key players in the faction you’re working to eliminate.

2. Mid-Game: Targeting and Eliminating an Evil Faction

• Focus on Weakening a Faction: By the mid-game, you should have gathered enough information to know which evil faction is your primary target. Your goal is to systematically weaken and eliminate this faction while ensuring your own survival.
• Use Deception to Avoid Suspicion: Continue using your Deceptive Aura to appear as an innocent party while sowing discord among the evil factions. Ensure the scum factions are focused on fighting each other and other threats while you work behind the scenes.

3. Late Game: Secure Faction Annihilation and Join Your New Faction

• Eliminate the Targeted Faction: As the game progresses, you need to push toward the complete annihilation of one evil faction. Use your factional kill strategically to take out the remaining members of the faction and fulfill your primary objective.
• Join the Remaining Faction: Once you’ve eliminated the target faction, you will automatically join the remaining faction. From this point, your role shifts as you lose your unique abilities and adopt the win condition of your new faction. Work with your new allies to achieve their goals and secure the final victory.

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Strategic Considerations:

• Use Priority Kill to Control the Game: Aldrich Hanssen’s kill is processed first, giving them immense power over the game’s outcomes. Use this advantage to take out high-priority targets in the evil factions before they can defend themselves or counterattack.

• Stay Hidden and Misinform: Your Deceptive Aura allows you to play the role of an innocent party. Use this to gather information, mislead other players, and manipulate both the innocent and evil factions into working against each other.

• Join the Strongest Faction for Victory: Once you’ve eliminated your target, you’ll automatically join the remaining faction. Make sure you time this shift carefully to ensure that the faction you join has a strong chance of winning.

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Final Thoughts:

Aldrich Hanssen is a powerful and deceptive third-party role that excels in precision killing and manipulation. With a unique win condition that requires the elimination of an evil faction, Aldrich Hanssen can shape the outcome of the game by choosing when and whom to strike. Their Deceptive Aura and priority kill make them a dangerous wildcard in any game of Deck Mafia, forcing both the innocent and evil factions

Mago (Third Party): Overview and Strats

 

The Mago is a high-risk, high-reward third-party role in Deck Mafia whose objective is to infiltrate and manipulate the scum faction to achieve a personal victory. The Mago has the unique ability to convert players into the scum team every night, but there are dangerous consequences if they target certain players, claim their role, or break the rule of secrecy. Ultimately, the Mago wins by reaching parity with the innocent faction while having at least one of their converts alive, which results in the Mafia dying and the Mago leaving as the solo winner.

Here’s a breakdown of the Mago’s abilities, win conditions, and strategies for success.

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Primary Objective:

• Goal: The Mago wins by converting players to the scum faction and achieving parity between scum and the innocent faction. When parity is reached, all scum players die, and the Mago leaves the game as the winner. For this to happen, at least one of the Mago’s converted scum members must still be alive at the time of parity.
• Challenges: The Mago must carefully choose targets for conversion while avoiding targeting existing scum members or other third parties, as either mistake results in the Mago’s death.

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Key Abilities:

1. Factional Convert (Night Action):

   • Mechanic: Every night, the Mago must target a player to convert them into the scum faction. If successful, the target joins the scum chat and receives the scum faction’s win condition.
     • If the target is a scum player or a third party, the Mago dies.
     • The Mago must be cautious about who they target, as missteps will lead to their death.
   • Strategic Use: The Mago’s power lies in growing the scum faction with converts who will assist in the scum’s goals. However, unlike typical scum, the Mago’s true win condition is to eliminate the entire scum faction after reaching parity, so their strategy must involve both supporting and manipulating the scum team to ensure their converts remain alive.

2. Scum-Aware Mechanic:

   • Mechanic: The scum faction is aware of the Mago’s presence in the game. They are informed that there is a Mago, making them cautious of newly converted members. The Mago is also at risk of their converts being killed by the scum’s factional kill, which is allowed to target any converted scum members.
     • If the scum team doesn’t have a factional kill, the host will assign one for the purpose of eliminating converted scum members.
   • Strategic Use: The scum faction will be incentivized to kill Mago converts, so the Mago must work cleverly to keep their converts alive and influence the game. The key is to keep the scum faction guessing and protect the converted scum members long enough to reach parity.

3. Death Conditions:

   • Mechanic: The Mago dies if they:
     • Target an existing scum player.
     • Target a third-party player.
     • Claim their role, as any public claim results in immediate death.
     • Strategic Use: The Mago’s need for secrecy is paramount. They must be extremely careful in choosing their conversion targets and never openly discuss their role, as revealing their identity will result in automatic death.

4. Day 3 Bulletproof Vest:

   • Mechanic: The Mago gains a bulletproof vest on Day 3, which offers protection from one kill attempt. This vest provides the Mago with a defensive advantage as they approach the mid-game.
   • Strategic Use: This vest grants the Mago a bit of extra security as they navigate the growing tensions between factions. The protection helps the Mago survive potentially lethal attacks from both the scum team and town, allowing them more time to work toward their victory condition.

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Win Condition:

1. Achieve Parity with Scum Converts Alive:
   • The Mago wins when the scum faction achieves parity with the innocent faction (meaning the scum team and the innocent faction have an equal number of players left), as long as at least one of the Mago’s converts is alive. When this happens, all scum members are eliminated, and the Mago leaves the game as the solo winner.
   • Strategic Considerations: The Mago’s win condition is unique because it involves temporarily assisting the scum team by converting players into their faction while secretly planning their downfall. Once parity is reached, the Mago ensures the demise of the scum faction, achieving a solo victory.

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Optimal Playstyle and Strategy:

1. Early Game: Careful Targeting and Secrecy

• Choose Targets Wisely: The first task as the Mago is to pick conversion targets carefully. Since targeting scum or other third parties results in death, you must try to identify players who are likely innocent (but not too obvious, as they may be protected) and convert them into scum. Avoid targeting anyone who seems to have ties to the scum team or is acting independently like a third party.
• Keep Your Identity Hidden: Never claim your role or hint at your true identity. The Mago’s survival depends on secrecy, and any suggestion of being the Mago could lead to immediate suspicion and elimination. Instead, blend in and appear to be working toward a standard win condition.
• Early Defense with the Scum Team: Early on, you may need to work with the scum team while pretending to be one of them. Since the scum team knows there’s a Mago, they may be suspicious of new converts, but you can use this early phase to blend into their ranks.

2. Mid-Game: Influence the Scum and Protect Converts

• Manage the Scum’s Suspicion: As the game progresses, the scum faction will become more suspicious of newly converted members. You need to carefully manage how the scum perceive your converts to keep them alive. Encourage the scum to target town or other threats instead of focusing on your converts.
• Use the Bulletproof Vest to Your Advantage: With the bulletproof vest gained on Day 3, you have a layer of protection against potential scum kills or attacks from other factions. This gives you a bit of breathing room to continue working toward your win condition without fear of immediate elimination.
• Influence the Game State: Try to subtly influence the scum team’s actions while protecting your converts. You may need to help scum achieve their goals temporarily to maintain trust, but your long-term focus should be keeping your converts alive until parity.

3. Late Game: Secure Parity and Win

• Aim for Parity: As the game progresses and the number of remaining players shrinks, your primary goal is to ensure the scum team reaches parity with the innocent faction. You need to manipulate the game state to keep the scum strong enough to reach parity without letting them discover your endgame.
• Protect Your Converts: In the late game, ensure that at least one of your converts survives until parity is achieved. If your converts are killed, you lose your chance at victory. Use whatever influence you can to guide the scum team away from eliminating your converts.
• Solo Victory at Parity: When parity is reached, the scum team dies, and you leave the game victorious. Make sure you are still alive at this point, and one of your converts is intact to trigger your solo win.

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Strategic Considerations:

• Avoid Claiming and Stay Secretive: The most important rule for the Mago is never to claim your role, as this results in immediate death. You also cannot claim your converts, which makes subtlety and deception essential to your survival.

• Balance Conversion and Protection: The Mago must walk a fine line between converting enough players to weaken the town and protect their converts from scum factional kills. Influencing the scum team while secretly plotting their downfall is a challenging but rewarding strategy.

• Use the Bulletproof Vest Wisely: The Day 3 vest provides some protection but won’t save you from all dangers. Use it as a safeguard to survive the mid-game while continuing to convert and manipulate.

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Final Thoughts:

The Mago is a unique and dangerous third-party role that relies on conversion, secrecy, and manipulation of the scum faction to achieve a solo victory. By converting players to the scum team and guiding them to parity with the town, the Mago can eliminate the entire scum faction in one move and leave the game as the winner. However, the role requires extreme caution, as a single misstep in targeting or revealing identity can lead to the Mago’s death. Play carefully, deceive expertly, and use your converts to secure your path to victory.