Agreements: offline, online and universal

Killing civilians at night is the mafia's main way to reduce the number of reds. The better and more effectively the victim is assigned, the easier it is for the mafia team to play. An agreement is the way the black team assigns a kill in the night phase. There are two main directions: offline (assigning deaths three nights ahead) and online (assigning the victim directly during the day discussion). Both have a right to exist: they demand different skills from the blacks.

These materials are useful for reds too: knowing the mechanics, you can recognise beacons and break an agreement.

The offline agreement

The don wakes up and assigns three numbers in turn, showing them on his fingers. By them the mafia shoots in the first, second and third nights. Basic offline rules:

1. If the player who is to be shot is no longer at the table, the next one on the list is shot.
2. If the mafia missed, player no. 1 is killed; if mafia sits in no. 1, no. 2 dies.
3. If there is a revealed sheriff at the table and the blacks have no false sheriff of their own, he is the one killed.
4. If there is a red checked from both sides at the table, he dies out of turn in the current night.
5. After the sheriff is killed, they shoot first the red check he made in the first night, then the second, and so on.

So, outside the agreement the priority of deaths is as follows: the sheriff; a doubly checked red; the first red check of the real sheriff; the second check of the sheriff, and so on.

Offline is used mainly with weak and inexperienced players who do not understand speech and number onlines: those give the mafia a far greater advantage. Assigning three victims in the introduction phase seems reliable, but what happens if the civilians begin to cover the real sheriff? If a civilian lies that he is a red checked from both sides? If the false sheriff plays against the real one, or it turns out that the leader of the reds must not be killed? A certain level of play is needed for such cases.

For an exact joint shot in the first night and later hits (especially at tournaments) a mixed agreement is used: in the first night the joint shot offline, from the second on online (a beacon). This allows getting around the tricks of the civilians.

By assigning victims for three nights the team creates rigid frames: the range of players against whom one can play narrows. This kind of agreement trains pressure, the ability to push a situation through, to keep your line, to play a false sheriff well. But there are agreements that work especially well offline. If no. 10 is mafia, the shot 1-2-3 lets the black team close every round. If no. 1 is mafia, 2-3-4 gives the maximum advantage. You can choose shots so that the mafia not only closes but also opens rounds: in the guessing round the closing black has the maximum chance, under the influence of the moment, to buy the final vote. Such a shot is called positional.

It is useful to "feed" the sheriff's checks into your own victims in order to complicate the count for the civilians. A good practice for a false sheriff is to visit his own victim in the second night. If your victim speaks badly and is next on the list, try to remove him in the vote: killing those who could be lifted is an impermissible luxury in many games.

The author calls offline the stone-age agreement, with which it is hard to win against a strong red table. A flexible system replaced the rigid one.

The online agreement

In the day the don marks a certain slot that will die in the current night. This allows choosing the best victim in every round. What this means for the mafia:

1. A player whose vote you bought will never die.
2. A player you intend to vote out will never die.
3. There will be no misses because the players did not understand whom to kill.
4. No confusion with self-shots: the don simply makes an online on his own black.

If the don shows no online, the doubly checked red is shot.

Situational onlines

1. Marking the victim during his speech. In the introduction night the don shows the gesture "players speak" (the hand imitates talking with a circular movement over the table), then performs a certain action, marker or beacon. In the day the joint shot is assigned to the player on whose speech the don repeats the gesture. Drawback: at each speech the mafia has to listen and keep the don in focus. To make up for inattention the don usually makes the gesture throughout the player's speech. Examples of gestures: turning a number tag, thrusting a hand forward, rubbing the chin, putting a hand on the shoulder, leaning back.

2. Marking a player by an action in the don's speech. At the agreement the don points at himself, imitates talking ("I will speak") and adds a characteristic marker gesture. The victim will be the one the don singles out with this marker in the speech in the day. The most spirited variant with a mass of personal variations: from cheerful ones (the don sneezes, exclaims, yawns, plays with his face while naming the number) to unnoticeable ones (scratching an eyebrow, shoulder movements, flipping the mask, an approving thumb up). Minus: it is hard to fit the gesture into the minute organically. If the don voices the number of the victim in the speech: put the mask on the table, rub the bridge of the nose, spread the hands, push the palms forward, fix the hair.

3. The speech number online. In the introduction night the don points at himself, imitates talking with the hand and shows one, two or three fingers: the mafia shoots the one the don names in the speech first, second or third. Simple and convenient, needs minimum concentration. Because it is widespread it is easily noticed: the start of the speech comes out crumpled, ragged. To kill the fifth you must single him out in the speech, address him or start jumping from slot to slot. Example (I name the second): "For me the red players are no. 2, no. 5, no. 7." An inquisitive red will notice that the player does not discuss slots in order. To make it unreadable the "I name the last" version is used: at the agreement the don clenches a fist and sticks out the little finger; the last number voiced in the speech dies. Examples of speeches: "I liked the position of player no. 7..." (first in the speech, no. 7); "The fifth calls the third red without grounds" (second, no. 3); "Among players no. 1, no. 2, no. 4 I did not hear black speeches" (third, no. 4); "No. 1, no. 2, no. 3... so the reds are no. 2, no. 4, no. 7. Pass" (last, no. 7).

4. The name online. Very rare. The don shows "I will speak" and draws a badge near the heart: they shoot the one the don names in the speech by his game name. It is not used at tournaments: people do not know each other.

Modifiers

So that the agreement is not readable, the mafia can change the number slightly by adding a modifier:

• plus one, plus two: with the index fingers the don forms a plus sign, then shows 1 or 2. No. 4 assigned: no. 5 is shot. If tenth, then first. In rounds with few living players we count only the living: the eighth must be killed, the seventh is gone, we mark the sixth.
• minus one, minus two: the sixth assigned, the fifth is shot; with minus two the fourth.
• red player: whoever the don calls red dies. Combines with the speech one: the first, the second red named, that one we shoot.

Universal onlines

The future of the game belongs to them: they allow assigning or reassigning the victim in the speech of the last slot or the vote, after information has been gathered from everyone. The sheriff's mortality in the first night is maximal.

1. Pointing at a player with a hand, felt-tip pen or mask. The don lays a hand in the direction of the victim. Especially good at a round table.
2. I will knock under the table. For mafia sitting within reach: the number is marked by the count of knocks on the shoe. The most effective agreement, the chance to miss is extremely small.
3. Assigning a part of the body or of space to a game number. The don touches a point or marks it in space, and the player dies. Example: left hand to the palm of the right is no. 1, to the wrist no. 2, to the elbow no. 3, to the shoulder no. 4, right hand to the left side of the neck no. 5 and so on. The most popular finger version: right little finger 1, ring finger 2, right thumb 5, left thumb 6. The marker finger is rubbed, a ring is put on it; it is better to bend the phalanx or raise the finger.
4. I will give for a check. At the agreement the don shows the sign "give for a check" and the digit 1 or 2. The one he gives for a check first or second in the day dies. Showing any player for a check can be done at any moment, and usually nobody pays attention. The false sheriff is better given to another player.
5. Number plus any gesture plus modifier. The don raises a hand, shakes his fingers by the face ("number"), adds a gesture and, if needed, a modifier. Example: at the agreement the gesture "red player"; then at the speech of the tenth the don shows that he considers no. 7 red, and that one dies. Any gestures can be devised.
6. Marking by gaze or by body and head. The don points with two fingers at his own eyes, then at the eyes of the blacks. In the day he points with a movement of the head at the player to the right or left. If the victim is far away, he first makes contact with his black, then looks at the victim. A variant for the advanced with no agreement at all.

What reds should do

1. Watch the sequence of named numbers, especially in a potential sheriff. Is the speech built coherently?
2. A way to find reds: in an online, those who voted against the player who will be killed in the current night are civilians, especially if there are two hands or more.
3. If you notice strange pauses at the start of a speech: possibly a speech number online.

For the black

1. Build the agreement into the speech organically.
2. The speech online "I name first, second, last" in round zero is best handed to the last black, sitting on slots seven to ten. In general use the universal online.

Self-check questions

1. At eight players a red check was killed according to the version of one of the sheriffs. What is the probability that it is the check of the real leader of the reds, and why?
2. Why are only three victims assigned in the offline?
3. Invent at least two kinds of marking players each and your own universal agreement.

Practice

Make a table of five agreements you are ready to use and five ways in which the reds can break them.

Typical mistakes

• Showing the gesture too obviously.
• Not checking what the partners understood.
• Using offline against strong tables.

Source of the idea. The chapter "Agreements" from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020).