Newbie Setup

Original setup

Originally, the setup for Newbie Games had two Mafia, three Townies, one sane Cop and one Doctor. All of these games start with the Day phase, to give all players a chance to play before any night kills are made. They almost never last more than three days of game time due to the small size.

C9 setup

After 60 or 70 games in the Open Setup listed above, it became obvious that there was a real potential to have a Breaking Strategy in Newbie Games; with the small size and short possible duration, number crunching became simplified, and a strategy of having the Cop roleclaim on Day One and then engaging in a series of Investigations while automatically protected by the Doctor until the Doc was found and killed by the Mafia became de rigeuer. While this setup is still available for use, it has become common for Game Moderators to utilize a semi-random setup, collectively known as 'C9' (see below):

• 1 Cop, 1 Doc, 2 Mafia, 3 Townies (identical to the original setup);
• 1 Cop, 2 Mafia, 4 Townies
• 1 Doc, 2 Mafia, 4 Townies
• 2 Mafia, 5 Townies,

with the players unaware of which variant was chosen for that particular game. Officially this should be done at random, with a 25% probability for each of the four, although some mods in the past have not followed that distribution, or chosen one setup arbitrarily.

This reintroduced some variability into the games, leading to better play by both sides and a new vitality into what had become stale. The C9 setup is now virtually ubiquitous in Newbie Games.

The name 'C9' comes from Norinel, the List Moderator for Newbie Games, who used it as a hexidecimal shorthand for the binary sequence 11001001 - and if you have to ask more than that, look at this post.

Pie E7

Starting with NG #518, Pie E7 is being explored as a more balanced 7-player setup than C9. It trades the variable nature of C9 for certain power roles, and adds a Roleblocker on the Mafia's side.

California

As of NG #554, a variation with only the Cop as the power role is being experimented with. It is nicknamed California.

Other Variations

Newbie Game #69 added a Vigilante and a Serial Killer for a total of nine players, and Newbie Game #68 had either a Doctor or a Cop (but with Cop Head Start), and a 4th Townie in place of the role that was not present. These games predated the codification of C9 as the new standard.

Pre-game Night Talk

One common variation with very little effect on gameplay is to allow the Mafia to communicate by PM during the confirmation stage of the game, before Day starts. There are still no Night Choices before the game actually begins, this just allows them to strategize a bit, like in larger games which usually starts with Night.