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5 players- 4 townies, 1 mafioso, no mafia kill.
6 players- 5 townies, 1 mafioso, no mafia kill.
7 players- 6 townies, 1 mafioso, 1 kill per night.
7 players- 5 townies, 2 mafiosi, no mafia kill.
8 players- 7 townies, 1 mafioso, 1 kill per night.
8 players- 6 townies, 2 mafiosi, no mafia kill.
9 players- 7 townies, 2 mafiosi, 1 kill per night.
9 players- 7 townies, 2 mafiosi, no mafia kill.
10 players- 8 townies, 2 mafiosi, 1 kill per night.
11 players- 9 townies, 2 mafiosi, 1 kill per night.
12 players- 10 townies, 2 mafiosi, 1 kill per night.
13 players- 11 townies, 2 mafiosi, 1 kill per night.
13 players- 10 townies, 3 mafiosi, no mafia kill.
14-20 players- 2-3 mafiosi, 1-2 kills per night.
20-30 players- 2-3 mafiosi, 2 kills per night.
30-40 players- 2-4 mafiosi, 2 kills per night.
40-60 players- 3-4 mafiosi, 1 kill per mafiosi per night.
Here are adjustments I would make when adding power roles to the town, thereby upsetting these general balancing guidelines.
1) For each detective that can unquestionably scan and reveal mafiosi, add one additional mafiosi. Try to limit such detectives, as they are in my opinion vastly overpowered. Avoid multiple true detective setups.
2) For each doctor that can stop a mafia kill, allow at least one mafiosi the ability to roleblock, or give one-time abilities to kill through protection. Multiple doctors allow for impenetrable rings to be formed which greatly upset the balance of power. Avoid multiple doctor setups, especially where detectives are involved.
3) For each vigilante town has, allow for either an additional mafiosi or mafia kill to compensate, or provide the mafia the ability to protect one of their own from harm. Vigilantes are very powerful but are double-edged, and I consider them somewhat balanced due to their ability to harm the town.
4) For each role that townies have which can prove their whereabouts, and provide them with an alibi [example, someone who runs around at night giving people loaves of bread.... does nothing but establishes that they weren't out killing anyone] that is still powerful and leads to victory by reveal and deduction, not entirely what mafia is about. Therefore, provide the scumbags with cover roles and abilities which they could use to argue their own innocence. Example: Tracker roles, Watcher roles, jack-of-all-trades roles, roleblockers, or investigative powers of their own. Perhaps even a godfather [scanproof] role.
5) Multiple competing scum families are usually detrimental to the scums. A serial killer reduces the effectiveness of mafia families being able to win games because they can get picked off until there's only one left, and that remainder could get eaten alive by a roleblocker, tracker, watcher, or detective. As such, games with serial killers or competing families should be larger and provide each scum team with a means of victory, such as self-defense powers, blocking powers, or additional numbers. Serial killers should be provided with some kind of cover, extra powers, or anti-murder or one-time anti-lynch powers, or given win conditions which don't require survival to the end.
6) General rule: Make sure all sides can win.
7) Test the setup. Assume bad things happen to each team on day one and day two. Don't make a game unwinnable for any team after the first two rounds of play. Bad luck can ruin your game. Exception: Vanilla games where both mafiosi get lynched right away, those are the breaks. It happens!
If the setup loses all excitement or balance after only one mistake per side, then it is probably going to be lopsided.
8) Setups are easier to balance and are more mafia-like [relying on guesswork over deduction and brute force] when town is actually less informed than the mafia. If the townies all have power roles they will soon deduce what is happening and they'll be more informed than the minority mafia. That's not fun. Avoid all power role setups unless the mafia are VERY powerful.
Hope this is as helpful to you as it was to me :)
