The quiet and the double self-shot

The quiet and the double self-shot are used to confuse the civilian town, knock down the count and break the building of logic. At night you kill a mafia player, and he does not reveal as the sheriff. The residents cannot build a mafia team, they begin to suspect each other and eat themselves up. All the remaining blacks need is to stay out of conflicts, vote correctly and argue their position, or simply sit it out and win. The author warns: these schemes are usually not used at tournaments and are meant for home games, to have an interesting game.

The quiet self-shot

The mafia player removed at night does not reveal as the sheriff, but bequeaths the black player as a civilian and calls to remove one or two reds after him. By the counterweight principle a red is lifted. The remaining black then acts as follows:

He logically builds his speech as if by the logic of the game he cannot possibly be mafia.
He voices that the killed "civilian" had sorted him out and called him red, so there are no grounds to suspect him.

This allows taking the choosing position in the guessing round. The quiet self-shot, like the ordinary one, can turn the situation in favour of the blacks. If the ordinary one is used effectively on the night at eight players, a single quiet self-shot is best on the night at six. It is ideal to shoot a player from a conflicting pair, the supposed counterweight.

The structure of the killed player's speech

The slots do not matter, the structure does: "I am a civilian and sure that player no. 5 is mafia, because... If we were both civilians, the mafia would not kill either of us but would pit us against each other, because I would absolutely surely vote against no. 5, and he would probably vote to lift me. So now, on my responsibility, you remove together only no. 5. The red players in this game are no. 2 and no. 3, since between no. 7 and no. 3 there cannot be two blacks, and the second is a civilian by moves. One of them will make the choice in the guessing round between no. 4 and no. 6".

The author clarifies: arguments need not be given. Often it is enough to say that a player is black by emotions, because the main argument comes later: the explanation of the blacks' win if both are red.

To fix it, rework this speech into the minute of the surviving player no. 3 in the guessing round.

The double self-shot

The double self-shot is the use of the ordinary and the quiet self-shots together in one game. Throughout the game the mafia team will have to remove four civilians (the sheriff, two red players and one right to a mistake) and win the guessing round. We build non-existent teams, starting from the count of the game and the removal of players in votes. That is why, both by wills and by logic, we become red for the table.

Seven steps of the most effective use

At ten, a black player leaves by a quiet self-shot. Leaving on the first night is needed so that the sheriff does not find mafia in our player. The blacks should try to divert the check from this slot. We bequeath our blacks as civilians. (A quiet self-shot can also be made at six, after the real sheriff is removed in the day in a balance, with our black who earlier made an ordinary self-shot.)
At nine, in a free vote, a civilian leaves. The sheriffs are not voted, so the probability of removing a mafia in this non-critical round is less than 16.6 percent. Removing a civilian is not hard. The black who by plan will win the guessing round had better not be a removing hand: by the logic of the game, hands of players from both teams will fly against the victim of the round, so he will be a civilian. You did not vote him, your position in the final is stronger if you remind of this. The real sheriff will most likely not go to check you, because he will go to the removing hands.
The self-shot is made. It is ideal if the false sheriff makes the self-shot with red checks, plays the balance and in the same round removes the real civilian leader. If by this moment the real sheriff has already found our last black, this will attract a lot of attention to him. The difficulty is that by the logic of the game he must be shot after the vote at five and not sit to the guessing round. We had better stay out of conflicts, with the choosing position. In any case the remaining black and the town must choose the line of the sheriff killed at night and play only by it: the logic of the game is built from this.
Shooting a civilian at night. It is better to shoot the checks of your false sheriff or unchecked players, to discredit the line of the real red leader. The more red players on one of the lines, the easier it is for the unchecked to count and narrow the range of blacks, which includes themselves. Thanks to the count of the game, new game conflicts will appear.
Removing a key player. At five the round is critical: the player who left earlier was lifted by the blacks on two lines, then there was a balance, and now the town has two black players. So they think. You must remove this character with your own hand: it is one of the main conditions for strengthening the position for the guessing round. Ideally lift the player who gathers hands against the last black (you), so that by logic in the final the mafia has irrefutable arguments of redness.
Shooting any of the players. It is better to leave the one who plays with you, by logic and counts. He is much easier to persuade that you are red.
The guessing round. There is no universal argumentation, you must say what lets you win. For playing by logic the approximate content is: "I nominate player N. First I will explain why I am a civilian. The player who left at nine was red, since blacks on all versions put hands for his removal. I did not vote. Then came the critical round, and all the blacks left by my hand. The red players who left (the shot blacks) sorted out my colour and left me as a civilian. Before player N's speech I lean to vote against player M, because..."

Wills as a weapon

The mention that you were left as red is one of the most powerful ways of influence. By voicing wills in your favour you put on the scales a person's own opinion and the views of other people. If there are several agreed positions of players who left, they outweigh doubts and let a person get rid of the burden of responsibility for his own decision. As life shows, for a large number of people this is a way out of a difficult situation of choice.

For the red

If they bequeath you "reds" without grounds, ask why exactly these. Perhaps the will was prepared for the guessing round.
Count the frames: with a quiet self-shot at a table where you see two lines, usually one of them is weak.
If you see that the killed did not reveal and yet gave a full layout of colours, it is a reason to suspect a ready-made picture is being imposed on you.

Application

For interesting games and for turning the situation at the table, use quiet and double self-shots.
Bequeath blacks as red.
Count the votes for one or another candidate and draw conclusions that strengthen your position.

Self-check questions

Is it worth making a quiet self-shot with two sheriffs at the game table?
Whom is it better to leave at the table: the one who bequeaths you as red, or the one who plays with you? A trick question.
You shoot the real sheriff. How can the false sheriff who stays at the table "smear" his mafioso into the red team? Give at least two ways (a review question).

Practice

Make a table of the seven steps of the double self-shot and for each step write what can go wrong and how to fix it. Then play the scheme in a training game of ten people.

Typical mistakes

Applying the scheme at a tournament.
Removing too many civilians without a plan for the guessing round.
Using the self-shot at a table that does not play the lines.
Forgetting the will as the main argument.

Source of the idea. The chapter "Double and quiet self-shots" from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The explanations and observation questions were compiled by us.