READ THIS: (site specific)
Not site specific:
Flip through the mafia archives- look for some recent games Pie has modded and maybe even looks at how some players joining this game have played before.
There are many sites online devoted to variations of this game, most with site specific rules. The popular online game "Among Us" is even a kind of variation on the game. Here the moderator makes the rules and the quality of the games highly variable. Some games are short some long. Most are boring for hours punctuated by quick spasms of revelations and actions. Don't sweat it. You don't need any deep understanding of the rules to play but be patient. The interactions of roles can be complicated and newbies get voted out early fairly often just based on game dynamics, which here is all about detecting and projecting familiar and unfamiliar patterns of behavior. If you play, stay active but trust nobody. If you are scum let your more experienced partners lead you. If you are town take advice with a grain of salt. People may pressure you or ignore you or whatever, but don't take it personally. Standards of behavior within the game don't apply outside of the game. People sometimes adopt personas and gameplay is sometimes tense. Don't discuss the game in other forums or even refer to it. There's an endgame forum at the end of each game for questions and processing game dynamics.
Feel welcome to join- the more who play the better the game and we are currently starving for more participants.