The Mafia Moderator's Guide
Every duty, a complete read-aloud script, and the classic mistakes — plus the modern answer: a free app that moderates the whole game, so nobody has to sit out.
Skip the job — let the app moderate Free · no downloads · the whole group playsWhat the moderator actually does
The moderator (also called the narrator, host, storyteller, or "God") is the one player who runs Mafia without playing in it. It's a real job. In a typical game the moderator:
- Deals the roles secretly and keeps a master list of who is what.
- Calls night — everyone closes their eyes — and wakes each role in order: mafia, then the investigator, then the protector.
- Resolves the night: applies the kill, checks whether the protector saved the target, and privately answers the investigator.
- Narrates dawn and announces who died — without leaking anything else.
- Runs the day: keeps the debate moving, enforces a timer, and stops table-talk from the dead.
- Counts the vote and declares eliminations.
- Checks win conditions after every death: town wins when the mafia are gone; mafia win at parity.
Do all of that smoothly and the game sings. But notice the cost: the moderator never gets to play — and with exactly six or seven friends in the room, losing a player to admin hurts.
A complete moderator script you can read aloud
If you're moderating by hand tonight, use this. It assumes the classic roles: Mafia, an investigator (Sheriff/Detective), a protector (Angel/Doctor), and Villagers. Keep a pen: write down every night action.
Setup — before the first night
Deal one role card to each player, face down. Roughly 1 mafioso per 3–4 players.
"Look at your card privately, then put it away. You are the only one who knows what you are."
Night falls
"Night falls on the town. Everyone — close your eyes."
"Mafia, open your eyes. Silently agree on one victim."
Wait for them to point. Confirm with a nod. Write the target down.
"Mafia, close your eyes."
"Sheriff, open your eyes. Point at one player to investigate."
Thumbs-up if mafia, thumbs-down if innocent. Write it down.
"Sheriff, close your eyes."
"Angel, open your eyes. Point at one player to protect tonight."
Write it down. The Angel may protect themself.
"Angel, close your eyes."
Dawn
Resolve: if the mafia's target was protected, nobody dies. Otherwise the target is out.
"Everyone, open your eyes. The town wakes… and [name] never will."
(If the Angel saved them:) "The town wakes — and everyone is breathing. Someone was lucky last night."
Day
"You have five minutes. Someone at this table is lying — find them."
Enforce the timer. Dead players stay silent.
The vote
"On three, point at the player you accuse. One… two… three."
Most votes is eliminated; a tie spares everyone. Reveal (or don't — house rule) and check win conditions. Then night falls again.
The 7 classic moderator mistakes
- Leaking with your voice or feet. Pausing longer near the mafia, addressing a corner of the room, footsteps that stop — players triangulate everything.
- Forgetting a night action. Skip the Angel once and the night's result is wrong — and now you have to un-kill someone.
- Wrong wake order. Changing the order mid-game changes outcomes (was the save before the kill?). It must be fixed and mechanical.
- Losing the master list. One misremembered role and an investigation comes back false.
- Letting the day sprawl. Ten minutes of circular argument kills the pace. The timer is a kindness.
- Reacting. A grin when the town lynches an innocent tells everyone plenty.
- Playing favorites with pacing — rushing votes that hurt one team, stretching debates that help another. Even unconsciously.
Every one of these is a human error. Which is the honest argument for the alternative:
Replace the moderator with an app — everyone plays
Mafia Board Game automates the entire moderator job. Each player's phone is their secret hand; a shared Table screen narrates. The night happens silently — every phone shows an identical prompt, so even the body language of acting disappears. Here's the job, duty by duty:
| Moderator duty | What the app does |
|---|---|
| Deal secret roles | Dealt to each phone; hold-to-reveal so a glance can't leak it |
| Wake the night roles in order | All phones light up at once; real roles act, everyone else taps a decoy — no wake order to botch |
| Resolve kills, saves, investigations | Deterministic engine: protect → kill → save → investigate → deaths, every time |
| Announce dawn | The Table narrates deaths with flavor; the Sheriff's answer is delivered privately |
| Time the day | Built-in configurable timer, extendable by the host |
| Count the vote | Everyone votes on their phone; a live tally builds on the Table; ties spare |
| Track win conditions | Checked after every death, automatically |
| Tell the story afterwards | The Reveal replays the whole hidden game, night by night |
And the part no human moderator can offer: the person who sets up the game plays in it. The app deals them a role like anyone else.
Retire the narrator
Start a game, have everyone scan the code, and play — the app runs the night.
Start a free game →Frequently asked questions
What is the moderator called?
Moderator, narrator, host, storyteller, or "God" — in Werewolf circles usually the Storyteller. Same job everywhere.
Can the moderator play too?
Not in the hand-run game — they know every role. With app moderation the "moderator" is software, so the person who created the game takes a seat like everyone else.
Can you play Mafia without any moderator?
Yes — that's exactly what Mafia Board Game is for. It deals, narrates, resolves and counts automatically for 4–20 players, free.
How long should the day discussion be?
3 minutes is a good default (the app's default too). Shorter for small groups, longer for 12+ players. A firm timer beats a generous one.
Should the moderator reveal roles when players die?
House rule. Revealing gives the town more information and a gentler game; concealing is harder and tenser. The app supports the concealed style and reveals everything at the end.