Hosting Guide

Introduction
Hosting, while intimidating at first can be learned relatively easily with the proper advice. That's what this guide is for. This guide will present the basics on how to host games once you familiarize yourself with how Mafia works. This guide will cover multiple subjects ranging from setup creation to how to handle night actions. This guide may be updated at any time. 
1.0 Setup Creation.
1. 1: Main Game Setups: When it comes to main games, they are relatively down to earth vanilla in terms of regular mafia mechanics and more standard/vanilla Roles. When it comes to making these sort of setups I strongly suggest to avoid complicated mechanics to avoid derailing the focus of main games. A common suggestion while making these rolelists is to follow the format of Town to Evil ratio. This ratio will consist of 3:1 or 4:1 Town vs Evil. This can be derailed should there be stronger power roles on both sides. A few common setups that use this ratio are Cop 9'er. Which consists of a 7:2 ratio. (So 3:1 and 4:1 combined.) Another example is 13 player games with 10:3 (3:1, 3:1 and 4:1.) This is the best trick to work on balance. But to sum up everything. Don't make things over complcated. This is normal afterall, if you follow the main balance ratio and avoid bombarding either sides with power roles your setup will be relatively balanced and fair. If you're in doubt, don't be afraid to seek help.
1.2: Special Games: When it comes to Special games don't be afraid to get your hands dirty with special game changing mechanics or roles. Special Games are usually the hardest to balance and usually follow a ratio of 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 or 5:1 depending on how strong one side compared to the other. Sometimes the evil ratio might be a little high (Like 2:1) this should only be done if multiple factions are involved like Mafia, Coven and Neutral Killings as there's a chance they could kill eachother. In regards to assigning power roles try to assign each power role a number from a scale of 1-5 to determain how strong it is. Add up the average of all the power roles and try to keep the average the same if not similar enough across all sides. Maybe make a Neutral Killing role stronger than a Town Protective role to give them a chance. If you're new to hosting avoid over complicating things as that could cause mistakes on your behalf as it's stressful keeping track of all the night actions, day actions or events that could follow. Anything goes in Special Games, use your intuition when it comes to which side has a fair chance of winning and don't forget to make your games fun. Only host things people will enjoy, don't butcher a game that people could get upset over. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
1.3: Types of Games There are multiple types of pre-set gamemodes if you're unsure on what you want to do when it comes to balancing or creating games. These types can include All Any, Upicks, Pre-set games like Cop 9'er or already hosted games in the past. Consult Game setup if you have no clue on what kind of game you'd like to host.
1.4 Mechanics: Mechanics are sort of like the "settings" of a game. Each mechanic influences how long day/night cycles are, whether plurality or majority is enabled and so forth. (See Terminology if you're unsure on the mechanic terminology) The basic mechanic setup will consist as followed. 48/24 Day/Night Cycle. Evil faction chat 24/7. Plurality, Majority and No Lynch enabled and Prod timers of 24/12. Other mechanics can be used in Special games such as events, role randomizers or locked votes in LyLo. Try to avoid over complicating mechanics if you are new to hosting and stick to the regular mechanics list.
1.5 Opening Post: Your opening post is by far the most important thing to do post-game besides making the setup itself. This is your time to shine, to promote your game in an organized fashion containing all the details of the setup to influence people to join. Every opening Post should pertain all vitle information to the game such as the rolelist, potential roles, mechanics, other unique occurances like events or flavour and the signups/backups list. Once the game begins you can just copy paste your opening post into the information channel.
1.6 Preperations: The best hosts are always prepared, before starting your game make sure you have the following setup: Playerchats including factional chats (Optional if you use DMS) Spreadsheet for handling night actions, Opening post All the rolecards finished and ready to be sent out. Investigative results (if any) and any other preperations if needed. Save yourself the stress, be ready. 
2.0 Pre-Game : Congrats, your setup got approved and people signed up for your game. Time to start the game. There's still quite a bit you need to do before even beginning.
2.1: Randomization: Time for the fun part, once your game is ready and people have signed up you need to start randomizing roles. I strongly recommend using Random.org or other non weighted randomizing sites to assign roles. When assigning roles have the playerlist and rolelist open in another tab and assing each player a role (by strictly using RNG.) For example the first role on the rolelist is Sheriff; you run random.org and get an 11. Therefore player 11 will be the Sheriff. Continue this setup until all players are assigned a role and be sure to write down who has what role so you don't forget.
2.2: Rolecard Distribution: Once you assign all the roles by randomizing them it's time to distribute roles via DMS or the affiliated playerchat server we use. (If you want to use the playerchat server be sure to DM a mod.) Based on who was assigned what role in the Randomization phase you will hand them out. You are also responsible for creating factional chats OUTSIDE OF YOUR SPECIFIC PLAYERCHAT SERVER DUE TO BETTER DISCORD PLUGINS I.E groups DMS or a private server with only gamehosts and the factional members. This is to prevent cheating. Once you distribute all the rolecards I strongly recommend making sure the player has read and understands their rolecard by sending you a confirmation.
2.3: Setting up channels and roles on Discord: It's time to setup channels and roles! This is devided into 6 main parts. (Day Chat, Vote Channel, Information, Graveyard (Optional), Assigning Discord Roles and Factional Chats) First of all there's Day Chat. This is where you have all the players talk during the game. Make sure only players can talk in there. If you are unfamiliar with discord permissions contact a moderator for assistance. You need to do the same thing for voting channel. As for information you need to post all the important information in regards to the game mainly the information presented in your Opening Post and announcements throughout the game (I.E who died.) There's also the graveyard. This will be to pertain all the roles of the players who died including cause of death. (This is optional as you can put the graveyard in Information.) Then for the factional specific chats it's recommended to have a chat for them to talk, keep notes and to submit night actions. Provide them any other channels/permissions should they request it. Finally you need to assign roles on discord. Assign EVERY PLAYER the respective role responsible for their game (I.E Alive line MA/SP.) This is to ensure that when the game begins they can talk in the respective channels and will receive pings. Remove this role upon their death.
3.0: During the Game
3.1: Important Notes While hosting it's important to stay alert, be prepared for anything and everything. I recommend reading chat to make sure there are no infractions that could interrupt the natural flow of the game. Don't be afraid to make mistakes but avoid them if possible. Be sure to respond to any questions players may have assuming it doesn't reveal hidden information. 
More importantly I strongly recommend having a google sheets to keep track of night actions. This will make your job so much easier. When making a google sheets you should have who is what role, what time a player died. What their night actions are and use notes to be able to copy paste who receives what feedback later in the night. At the end of the game you should post the spreadsheet so players can review who did what. Don't forget to keep it constantly updated. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nn4IxQIjRwOQEU78M4Ehf8UZuMaurLimhDPIyy9GIcw/edit#gid=0 (This is an example of what your spreadsheet could and should look like) 
3.2: Handling Votes and Day Actions. During the day there's still plenty of things you can do as host. Such as; handling votes and day actions. In regards to voting expect it to happen a lot during the day. You are responsible to update the votecount as often as possible (Preferably no more than 12 hours apart.) Your vote count should indicate what the majority is, who voted who, if there are any anonymous double votes and who's the current lynch. As for day actions, while not frequent depending on the game you're hosting you still need to stay vigilant. Players may submit you day actions during the game so be sure to handle them properly depending on what it says on their rolecard. The most common kind of day action is a vigilante shot. Should this happen you need to announce if the player died and what their role is. 
3.3 Night Start. At the end of the day you are responsible to count (and re-count if necesssary) the votes in order to decide who gets lynched during the game. (Whoever receives the most votes will be lynched or in the event of a tie either randomize it, no lynch it or use the rule of whoever reached the tie first gets lynched.) Once the player is lynched you are responsible for locking the channels to prevent players from talking there. Revealing the players role, updating graveyard and announcing to all the players that night begins. You should also announce if you're allowing nightskips.
3.4 Handling Night Actions. By far the most complicated part of hosting... Handling night actions. Use your trusty Spreadsheet I referenced earlier to keep track of night actions. BE SURE to read and re-read your night actions to make sure you didn't make any mistakes as even the best hosts make mistakes if they look over something. Lock night actions 30-60 minutes before daystart to give yourself ample time to handle who will receive what night feedback. A couple minutes before daystart start sending night feedback. Night feedback can appear as such: "You have been roleblocked, you have been controlled by a witch." Be clear and precise when distributing feedback. 
3.5 Handling Day Start. Once the Night is over you should announce publicly in info channel who died (If any.) and announce any other occurances that may happen during the day (Should there be a unique twist to your game.) Open Day-Chat and Vote-Chat. Remove the roles of the players who died or went missing to prevent them from talking as dead. Be sure to invite them to a dead-chat (If you choose to do so.) Oh and pin day start so players can differentiate what was Day 1 vs Day 2.
3.6 Handling Prods. Based on the length of your game you need to set standards for activity. This is where Prods come in. Most prods consist of ensuring that players talk every 24 hours and provide contentful message to prevent a dead and stale game. Every now and then you should verify if users have been messaging frequently enough in the Day-chat. (Vote-chat doesn't count.) If you deem a player isn't active enough you may prod them. Doing so will give them 12 hours to respond to the prod to ensure they are still active and willing to participate in the game. The average prod timer is message a fair amount every 24 hours and failure to do so will result in a 12 hour warning to get active or for replacement. In other words 24/12. Feel free to change this at your discretion. Should a player receive too many prods replace them if you deem them not active enough.
3.7 Handling Replacements. Should a player request replacement or be force replaced due to inactivity YOU are responsible to seek out a replacement by asking around the server. If a player volunteers to replace them be sure to give them the rolecard of the player who replaced out including all night feedback they received so they understand what the previous player did beforehand. Be sure to keep track of the replacement in your spreadsheet and info so players know who replaced who. You need to publicly announce if a player requests replacement and who replaces them. REMEMBER tell the players to NOT discuss replacements as it's angleshooting. If a player gets force replaced for inactivity notify moderators and the player may be issued a signup ban. If you get no replacement after a certain amount of time modkill the player.
3.8 End of Game. At the end of the game you are responsible to announce the winning team, who won and what role they were. PM this information to a moderator later on so they can add it to the Hall of Fame. You are responsible for unlocking the channels and posting spreadsheets/private factional servers so players can see what everyone did during the game. Be sure to give your thoughts on the game afterwards so people can see what it looked like from your perspective. 
4.0: Misc: A few extra tips that may or may not be useful, depending on the situation
4.1: How to handle problematic Players. Should there be a severe rulebreak that could influence the game completely the first step is to PAUSE THE GAME. Do not let anything else unfold until the problem is resolved. DM a Moderator at the earliest convenience who is NOT in the game and tell them about the situation. From this point on you will be involved in the discussion and the moderator you contacted will be giving you further instructions. Remember, use your intuition if you think it severely damaged the game, cancel it and redo it if possible . Otherwise continue as normal and modkill if needed. You are NOT responsible besides that when it comes to handling the player as that's the moderators job. But the biggest thing out of all of this is use your intuition. If you think it's worth reporting do so.
4.2 Mod Errors.. First things first, Mod errros are common. Even the most experienced hosts make mod errors so there's nothing to be ashamed of if it happens. Mod errors consist of when you as the host make a small mistake in handling the game whether that be giving wrong night feedback or miscounting votes. If the mod error is minor quickly fix it with as few people knowing and continue the game. If the mod error is moderate be sure to announce it publicly without going into too much detail and try to fix it. All players affected by the mod error should be informed. If you make a severe mod error such as accidentally lynching the wrong player I strongly recommend canceling and redo-ing the game if it's not too far into the game. A few tips into preventing mod errors is to re-read frequently to make sure everything fits perfectly like a puzzle. You should also have a co-host if needed to double-check things. Remember errors only make you stronger and use your intuition on how the error affected the game and make changes accordingly. 
4.3 Cancelling a Game: Should, through some unfortunate chain of events lead to the cancelation of a game be sure to notify Moderators ASAP. Announce publicly that you are cancelling the game and indicate your reasoning if necessary. Unlock all the channels and post Spreadsheet/Factional Chat Servers. If the game got cancelled early you may feel free to have a redo. Just verify with moderators first if a redo is actually doable.
5.0: Extra Tips
5.1 More Stuff to come soon
Guide Created by EqsyLootz (Owner.) This guide may be updated at any moment should I feel necessary. If you have any Questions feel free to ask!