Local Club Variations
Author: Vitaly - mr. Koteo (Brisbane Mafia Club)
Official FIIM rules give us a universal standard. Real clubs, however, live in the real world:
sometimes fewer than 10 players show up,
sometimes there are brand new players,
sometimes the table is not Russian-speaking.
This chapter explains:
why clubs adjust rules at all,
how English-language adaptations work,
which specific variations the Brisbane Mafia Club uses,
and how things differ between tournament, casual, and non-rating games.
Other clubs may use different local variations. This chapter describes one specific implementation, not a new standard.
Why Clubs Adjust the Rules
Clubs usually adjust FIIM rules for three main reasons:
Accessibility
Not everyone speaks Russian.
Not everyone wants to start with full “hardcore tournament” rules.
New players need a safe on-ramp.
Player Count Issues
FIIM assumes exactly 10 players.
In reality, sometimes only 8 or 9 people are available.
Instead of cancelling the game, clubs create structured adaptations.
New Player Experience
Brand new players can break rules without realising that.
Heavy punishments early (removal, technical team losses) can scare people away.
Some clubs soften discipline for newbies while keeping the core logic.
The key principle:
Local adjustments should never destroy FIIM’s core logic (day–night cycle, win conditions, voting structure), but they may make the game more playable for a specific club.
English-Language Adaptation
FIIM’s official rulebook is written in Russian. However, tournaments can approve a regional language, and for many clubs that is English.
At the Brisbane Mafia Club:
The language of the table is English.
Rules are followed in spirit and structure, but all phrases, explanations, and Judge/Game-master instructions are in English.
A few deliberate terminology choices are used:
“Dark team / dark players” instead of “black”
“Warnings” for minor infractions
“Fouls” for major disciplinary violations
“Split” / “split table” instead of “popil”
“Victory of the opposite team” instead of using the Russian abbreviation PPK
The aim is to:
keep the game FIIM-compatible,
avoid unnecessary connotations in English,
and make the rules readable for players who have never seen the Russian documents.
Brisbane Mafia Club Local Modifications
This section describes Brisbane-specific adaptations. Other clubs are free to do things differently.
1) Player Count Variations (Less than 10 players)
By default, official, rating-oriented FIIM games are played with 10 players.
Sometimes not all 10 seats are filled. Instead of cancelling the game, Brisbane Mafia Club uses structured variants.
When the club runs games with 9 or 8 players, these games are:
usually played as non-rating games,
but this must be explicitly declared by the Judge/Game-master before the game starts.
If the Judge does not declare the game as non-rating, then technically it may still count as a rating game — but Brisbane Mafia Club practice is that less-than-10-player setups are normally announced and treated as non-rating.
Playing with 9 Players
Seat #10 is treated as an empty (ghost) seat.
Roles are dealt as for a 9+ghost game:
6 red players, including the Sheriff,
3 dark players, including the Don,
the ghost Player #10 is effectively a red slot that is never actually seated.
First shooting night rule:
On the first night where a kill would normally happen, the dark team is required to shoot the empty Seat #10.
This means:
the first shot is forced and always effectively hits the ghost,
no real player dies from that first shot.
Don’s checks:
On that same first shooting night, Don receives two checks instead of one.
This compensates slightly for the changed structure created by playing with only 9 real players.
In simple terms:
We pretend there is still a 10th (red) player and kill them automatically on the first shooting night, while giving Don two checks to keep the game interesting and balanced with 9 real players.
This is a Brisbane-Mafia-Club-specific balancing tweak, not part of official FIIM.
Playing with 8 Players
Roles are adjusted:
2 dark players total: Don + 1 mafia,
the rest are red players, with Sheriff as usual.
Sheriff, Don, day order, voting, best move, warnings, fouls – all follow the same logic as in the 10-player game, just with fewer players at the table.
Again, this 8-player configuration is a club convenience setup, not an official FIIM standard.
2) Newbie-Friendly Adjustments
When there is one or more newbies at the table, Brisbane sometimes softens some rules to make the first experience enjoyable without breaking the core game.
Important: These newbie-friendly adjustments are not default. By default, normal FIIM logic applies. The Judge/Game-master must explicitly declare before the start of each game which (if any) newbie protections are in effect.
These are not FIIM rules. They are Brisbane-Mafia-Club house rules that can be turned on or off per game.
1. Newbie as Mafia Player
If a newbie happens to be one of the dark players:
Under standard FIIM, all three dark players must shoot the same target for the kill to succeed.
At Brisbane Mafia Club, if the Judge has declared newbie protections active, and there is a newbie in the dark team:
The shot will still be accepted if two out of three dark players shoot correctly at the agreed target.
So: 2 correct shots + 1 incorrect/missed → the kill still counts.
This prevents constant misfires just because the newbie is still confused about gestures or timing.
2. Unlimited Warnings for Newbies (No Removal)
Under hardcore FIIM, 4 warnings → removal from the table.
At Brisbane Mafia Club, if the Judge has declared newbie protections active:
A newbie can receive an unlimited number of warnings without being removed from the game.
Warnings are still announced so the newbie can learn, but:
they will not be forced to leave the table for hitting 4+ warnings.
The philosophy:
First sessions are about learning, not punishing.
(For experienced players, the standard warning/foul consequences still apply.)
3. Day 1 Split Explanation with a Newbie (Detailed)
The concept of a split vote (pre-agreed equal votes to keep multiple players at the table) is confusing for new players, especially on Day 1.
At Brisbane Mafia Club, if the Judge has declared newbie protections active, they will explicitly explain how the split will work in that specific game, typically using a very common pattern:
On Day 1, Player #1 often gives a very general speech (about anything and everything), not yet tightly connected to the table.
Many players want to hear Player #1 again later,
so #1 is a very natural candidate for nomination.
Later in the round, during Player #10’s speech:
Player #1 can, with a gesture (no talking), indicate to Player #10 that they would like #10 to nominate the most suspicious player at the table.
Player #10 then nominates that suspicious player.
Now we have two candidates on Day 1:
Player #1 (typical “let’s hear them again” nomination)
Player #X (the player #1 considers the most suspicious)
To protect newbies and avoid accidental eliminations on Day 1, the Judge:
explains that the vote will be a planned split between #1 and #X,
clearly states who should vote for whom, so it becomes:
5 votes on Player #1 and 5 votes on Player #X.
The Judge can literally say something like:
“Players 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 vote for Player #1; Players 7, 8, 9, 10 and 1 vote for Player #X. This is a split vote so that nobody leaves on Day 1.”
This way:
newbies see a real FIIM-style vote,
they participate in a structured split,
and they understand that tie voting can be intentional, not random chaos.
4. No “Split Break” on Day 1
A split break is when:
players agree to split votes (e.g., 5/5 between two candidates),
but someone intentionally changes their vote at the last moment,
causing one player to leave unexpectedly.
This is a high-level tactical move, but it’s extremely punishing for newbies.
At Brisbane, if the Judge has declared newbie protections active:
On Day 1:
No split break will be engineered or used as a trick.
All 10 players remain at the table at least until Day 2.
In other words:
You will not lose your very first game on Day 1 because someone decided to “outplay” a planned split in a table that includes newbies.
The Judge/Game-master and experienced players are expected to protect the integrity of Day 1 for teaching purposes.
5. First-Ever Game: No Video Recording
When a newbie is playing their first-ever Mafia game in Brisbane Mafia Club:
That game is treated specially, and the Judge announces it as such.
For that first-ever game:
no video is recorded,
newbie protections are usually active,
the focus is on learning and comfort, not scoring or performance.
Later games (once the player has at least one game behind them) may be recorded as usual, and newbie options can be reduced or turned off as the player requests or progresses.
Tournament vs Casual Differences
It’s important to separate:
Casual club games (training / social / newbie-friendly),
Formal tournaments, and
Non-rating games.
1) Casual Games (Typical Brisbane Mafia Club Nights)
In casual games at Brisbane:
English is used as the language of play.
9-player and 8-player variants may be used if needed.
Newbie adjustments may be applied, only if the Judge declares them:
relaxed shot requirements for newbie mafia,
unlimited warnings for newbies (no removal),
explicit Day 1 split explanation,
no Day 1 split-break tricks,
first-ever game not recorded.
Atmosphere is more teaching-oriented:
the table is encouraged to help new players understand structure,
advanced meta tricks are introduced gradually.
2) Tournament Games
For any FIIM-style or rating-involved tournament:
Standard FIIM structure should be followed as closely as possible:
10 players,
7 red (including Sheriff),
3 dark (including Don).
Newbie “protection” features (like unlimited warnings, relaxed mafia shots, guaranteed Day 1 survival, etc.) are usually removed.
Warning and foul consequences follow FIIM discipline more strictly.
Local language choice (English) may still be used, but:
phrasing and procedures must be consistent across all tables,
Judges are expected to apply rules identically for all players.
In tournament conditions, the guiding principle is:
Fairness and consistency first, comfort and teaching second.
3) Non-Rating Games
Brisbane Mafia Club also runs non-rating games (sometimes called non-ranking games), which are:
explicitly announced before the game starts by the Judge/Game-master,
recorded as games without any scores:
players do not receive rating points,
the result does not change any player’s overall rating.
In practice at Brisbane Mafia Club:
Games with less than 10 players (8- and 9-player variants) are usually run as non-rating games.
This is not automatic: the Judge/Game-master still needs to declare before the game starts that the game is non-rating.
If the Judge forgets to announce it, players should assume the game is rating only if:
it is a standard 10-player setup, and
the season context implies rating (e.g., in the middle of an active rated season).
Non-rating games are typically used when:
a newbie is playing their very first game ever, or
the season is over, ratings are already finalised, and the club just wants a fun, low-pressure game night, or
the table is using a less-than-10-player configuration that the club prefers not to count for rating.
Non-rating games:
give space to try weird strategies, unusual lineups, and experiments,
allow newbies to play without worrying about “messing up someone’s season”,
keep the social side of the club alive even when rating pressure is off.
At this point, you’ve seen:
how FIIM rules look in pure form, and
how one real club (Brisbane Mafia Club) adapts them for language, player count, newbies, and rating policy.
From here, the book will move into how the game actually flows and how to play it well, starting in The Next Part — The Game in Detail, where we break down Day, Night, Voting, Last Word, and Win Conditions not only as rules, but as tools you can use to win.
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