Mafia: general discussions.

The main task of the GM, as I see it, is to control the game with minimal influence on its outcome. This is what we should focus on. If a player on one of the teams violates the rules, the sanction should ideally exactly offset the benefit that team gained from the violation. Or give a little more harm than the benefit received. It's not so important what the specific sanctions are; the main thing is to calculate everything mathematically. In some cases, it might not even be necessary to do anything (as was the case in my Mafia game, where Ortonn cheated, but the players managed to execute Mirka during the day). And, of course, issue a ban to discourage future violations. I don't see the point in introducing drastic sanctions that significantly reduce a team's chances of winning. Firstly, as already mentioned, it spoils the game. Secondly, if you think this will teach players... I doubt it. Most regulars already try not to violate the rules, and newcomers don't always reread old Mafia games and won't learn from it. That's how I see it.