Togs's Profile

Shading is different than simply accusing someone of being mafia.

A player will casually or informally mention someone, making their posts looks scummy.
This is done either directly or indirectly, though most of the time the player will be distant.

Example


Shading is almost always a mafia tactic. It's scummy, basically.
Sometimes, it's easy to catch someone throwing shade, other times not so much since townies can also make a such a post.

If the game is closed setup and a player is analyzing it and backing up "evidences" to say facts about the set-up that players could never confirm unless they ask the mods, then it is modgaming.

Examples
Player A: "This role can do this, this, this and that because the host told me."
Player B: "This set-up definitely has 3 mafia because it is more balanced" <- though it is not necessarily modgaming but the player is putting their shoes as the host

Setupgaming, trying to figure out what the setup is and analysing what you know about the setup separately from the players, is not exclusively bad strategy, but it is very easy to get into wine. Some find it to be a fair strategy though the reliability of modgaming is usually NAI.

Behavior is important, mechanical analysis based solely on what is known is important, and then other factors come afterwards.

On the upside, it has distinct benefits for town or anti-town.
For either side, if you know about the mod's dislike or like for a particular role, you can interpret claims, you can falseclaim, and, in turn, you can gamesolve, more reliably.
For town, you can make a guess at what sort of roles scum might have. This is particularly relevant when the game has reveals, as the town can often say "Well the mod wouldn't put 2 of X role in the hands of scum."
For scum, this is actually harder and easier at the same time. On the one hand, it can make targets easier to choose, and it can help to guess at what roles town is hinting at. On the other hand, it can lead to some bad decisions, like killing a weak role with a nightkill rather than focusing on someone else, or having trouble finding a better role to claim because not as many roles mesh with your role out of things the mod would choose.
In terms of downside for town, it's so non-alignment indicative, and it can look like good analysis even when it isn't.

In game theory, many situations tend to favour Town at the beginning of a game (allowing them extra time to gain information) but push the odds overwhelmingly in favour of the Mafia in the endgame (allowing them to avoid a lynch and gain majority through the nightkill).

The following is a list of rules which can be found in previous games, ordered by frequency (most common first).

The host should decide and post the rules at the start of the game (or as early as the game-design phase).

There is an extreme case, where no one votes (i.e. an empty voting roster) or equivalently everyone chooses to abstain.
In theory, this creates a tie between all players (if behind the scenes vote manipulators do not secretly influence the voting), and as such, falls under the above set rules. However, a host may override the normal tie lynch rules and set specific rules for this extreme scenario (either to encourage voting or to prevent loopholes in a game's mechanics).