Ah, role play. One of the few constant arts that thrives despite being one of the hardest to understand. Its application in the Mafia world is quite limited, as both have very little in common. While they do share some similarities, role play would require much taming and boundary before being implemented into the more neat and orderly Mafia game.
The first idea to note is that role play is virtually boundless, and an untamed concept. In addition, various amounts of effort can be put into each message, action, and the like. The second idea to note is that Mafia, by its’ very nature, is bounded and restrictive. Part of the reason why is that it is secretive, that everyone must act as if they were on the town’s side. There may be variation in how one might act as a townie, and different players may exert different effort, but nonetheless each player is expected to act pro-town, and anyone found to not meet this standard will find themselves at the end of an axe.
With these two ideas in mind, it is trivial to see how they are very much incompatible with each other. To role play means to put on an identity, to present information about yourself in an indirect way, to express one’s self via a metaphorical puppet. However, this is a very dangerous action to take in a game of Mafia, as this gives undue information to the mafia, information which may prove vital in the destruction of the town. In short, it is not wise to force your players to indirectly claim by making their role a part of what they must publicly do.
In closing, role play is a method of expression, a way for one to artistically express themselves to the world, as well as indirectly reveal information about themselves. In addition, it is unbounded, unwieldy, and unregulated, something which a game of Mafia is not. Mafia is pointed, directed, and very much bounded, as you can’t have a game without some structure. In addition, forcing players to reveal information about what they are through any means earlier than they would naturally be required to (such as in a massclaim) will give the mafia an unneeded advantage, or would lead the the mafia indirectly outing themselves to the town should the mafia be forced to act as though they were antithetical to the town’s existence.
In summary, in order to mix role play and Mafia together, much thought and effort would be needed to create an enjoyable game which all players would be comfortable playing in, while also still being fluid enough to allow for the unpredictability of role play.
