I want to share something with you. I have some ideas that I haven't implemented and am unlikely to implement. Perhaps someone will want to do something with them. Change, develop, experiment, test them — maybe you'll be able to bring a fresh breath into the mafia on HeroesWorld.

1. Roleplay mafia. Each role from the standard HeroesWorld mafia is split into two parts. This gives us two sets of roles: open ones (picture, description, one or two fitting traits/ultimates) and closed ones (faction, a nearly complete set of traits and night actions, and if desired, a status). Players choose their open roles during sign-ups, and everyone knows who picked which role. Closed roles, as usual, are randomly assigned to open roles and are known only to the player and the GM. During the mafia game, players are allowed to roleplay their open role; the GM may, at their discretion, give small bonuses for good roleplay (preferably not to the detriment of the actual mafia game) — an extra vote, protection, a chance for a repeated night action, etc., preferably for one game day or one game phase. How to announce receiving these bonuses is also up to the GM, but what can (if possible) be earned for good roleplay should be stated at the very beginning. It's better to limit these rewards — say, one player cannot earn a bonus more than once. Identical night actions from open and closed roles are best presented identically; the open role is not allowed to talk about their open actions — only as general assumptions.
2. Open confrontation. I intended to combine this with roleplay mafia, but it can be used independently. Before the game starts, all players, in addition to the standard town/mafia/maniac, are openly divided into 3-4 equal factions. Whether to let players join these factions themselves or assign them forcibly is up to the GM. I think a forced assignment would be better to avoid a "Team of Very Strong Players" or a "Team of Best Friends Forever." Players from the same faction can only communicate within the game thread (unless they are in a bond/mafia, of course). As you might have guessed, an open faction can win just like the town or mafia, if its win condition is met; combined wins between open and closed factions are possible. What to do with the maniac is up to the GM. I planned to make their membership in an open team formal — they are considered a teammate, but if the open faction's win condition is met, the maniac loses (dying in the finale, if the GM wants BLOOD). With good gameplay, it could result in a very interesting confrontation, double agents, intrigue, but there's a 95% chance it will devolve into ALLIANCES and a massive flame war both in the thread and in the mafia chat. The idea seems promising to me, but implementing it should be done very carefully.
3. Catalysis. Initially, with the standard numerical distribution, there is a noticeable imbalance in favor of the mafia. This imbalance is achieved by having several (from half to two-thirds) of the town's roles not working at full strength — out of a set of 1-3 abilities and 2-4 night actions (counting ultimates), they might have, say, only one night action, and that with a cooldown, or only one trait, or only half the set, or nothing at all, at the GM's discretion. But there is a catalyst character in the game — a role that, upon visiting such a "cripple," can unlock all their hidden traits, making them a powerful town role. There is a risk here that the catalyst will be randomly killed on the first night, and then the mafia will only have to methodically wipe out the entire town. You can leave it as is, or you can strengthen the catalyst — give them protection (or even invulnerability removed after the first successful catalysis), make two catalysts — full-fledged roles or give them catalysis as an addition to ready-made night actions, make it limited or rechargeable, or add an ultimate "catalyze role" — the catalyst names a role to the GM; if that role is in the game, it gets upgraded. The order of actions is to taste — it can be at the start of the night, requiring them to submit their action early (like a journalist), or at the end, alongside healing and resurrection. You could also experiment with weakened roles not only for the town but also for the mafia, and make the maniac one of the catalysts (or even the only one).

In practice, I haven't tested any of this, so some of it might turn out to be complete nonsense and just complicate everything. I would be very glad if this proves useful to you.