I feel like this is a bit of an obvious question: Do you think that The Don would give a genuine list to blend in, do you think The Don would give a fake list in order to throw people off if The Don were caught, or do you think The Don might give one honest answer and two fake answers to really mess with things?

Were it me, at least one would be real, possibly going all the way to all 3 being real. I can't speak for anyone else though. The game by its very nature is super meta.

If I were Don, I'd give an honest answer. Nothing to gain, and nothing to lose IMO. Depending on how K posts deaths, we might not even know who is the don until the end of the game so I'm not sure how much "throwing off" could be done.

If I were picking I'd go something like Roy (generally vocal and like his lines of thought), darkstone (good but not as obvious), and adam (because he wins).

I like the idea of drafting a mix of higher and lower profile, but I'm already the wildcard if I'm picking

Well, last time I had JohannaMason pick my team so it didn't have any link to my reasoning. So had I ended up don again, I wouldn't have her do it because I think Mal's still mad at me for recruiting him last time (even though it was her fault, not mine ), and I couldn't have Destructo do it because he's in the game. That means I'd either have the wife pick or go completely random.

Seriously, I'm not strategizing

I think going fully random is in itself a possible strategy. Prevents an unintended pattern being in your picks

To take it a step further, I'm going to go through my thoughts about drafting each player and the probability of them being picked. Kind of like a drafting rainbow list... but a little more i depth ("edit": alright as I went through this it proved a little more difficult than I thought and maybe a waste of time... but whatever):

Girathon - vocal, experienced player. Rallied the scum team big time in Console Wars 2 which was a thing to behold seeing it from the inside. I wouldn't want him on the other side of the board. High probability draft choice.

Grinner - oft overlooked in the early game. Has the ability to slip into later phases. Not super vocal, but could be a wild card choice. A newer player as don might not be hip to Grinner's playstyle. Low-Mid level probability.

Rokk_Krinn - It's Rokk. If you've played mafia on the realms he's probably been in the game and made an impact somehow. Maybe too high profile/gets too much heat. Good at spinning out of trouble/avoiding it before it even IS trouble. High prob draft choice.

The Darkstone - A solid player. Not always super vocal. Doesn't talk to talk. Makes moves when it counts. Might fly under the radar for some players, would be a higher end choice for me (was actually between Dark and Darq for "my three"). Mid-high level probabilty

Destructoboy - Has developed as a player and each game he seems to get a little better. Not sure what a newer player would think, or how other vets feel about him. Typically reads scummy under pressure... which is not a trait I'd want on my scum team. Don't think he's as safe of a wildcard as Grinner. Low-mid prob.

KitsuShel - Shel typically agrees with my line of thinking (or at least has recently) so personally I would keep her on the opposite side of the board. That being said, another strong veteran player who is solid in all phases on both sides. Mid level probability

DarqFeonix - Consistent on both sides IMO so hard to pin down alignment. Darq does the dance well, and is a known commodity here. Can get some attention early, but maybe I'm falling onto my own moves here and now how the hive-mind would think. Still... mid-high level prob.

adamical - frequently comes up on the winning side, and that doesn't go unnoticed. A strong player, another known commodity and I think this cuts both ways. He's on a lot of player's lists thus far. I might place him in the mid range... but I think where other people have valued him places Adam in the mid-high prob range

Cuban Vader - A newer player on the realms so there is still data being collected but so far so good. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I can't recall him being on the mafia... ever? I know that can't be true but I think that says something. I think Cuban would be the best "wildcard" pick of the group. Mid-high level.

StormCrawler - As Shel said, Storm is the SK . In all seriousness, Storm has become a solid player. Typically doesn't pop in unless they have something to add. Not typically super talkative but has good adds. Could be a wild card pick. Personally I wouldn't mind seeing Storm on the other side of the board. Mid level probability.

RenegadeRoy - It's Roy. 'Nuff said. He is both mafia, town, the SK, mason, bystander, and the mod. The beginning and the ending. In all seriousness I think I'm a pretty solid pick. Vocal, can occasionally spin myself out of danger. Frequently reads scum for better or worse. Mid level prob.

Space Jawa - Going through and actually analyzing each player, Jawa is a tough one for me to place which means he's probably a great pick. For me, he always seems to get lost in the shuffle but is a very solid player. Could easily be overlooked when picking... but I think he'd serve a scum team well. Mid level prob.

Morpheousdr3am3r - For some reason Morph usually reads scum to me. I like this because he's also good at convincing people he isn't scum even when he is. Slippery. Doesn't typically garner a ton of heat. High level prob.

Linkor - A strong player, but I feel like he pops up as scum frequently. When I see Link pop up on the proboards when I'm scum, I'm never disappointed, but losing him to the town in this scenario wouldn't be a back breaker. Might fit right into that sweet spot... but I'm not sure. So far in this game I'd pin him at low-mid level prob... maybe more Mid.

visciousbuddha - I echo Link's thoughts on VB. Takes his shots when they matter and rarely puts his foot in his mouth or talks to talk. A very solid pick in my eyes. Mid-high level prob.

vlad3theimpaler - Another great player on both sides. I feel like Vlad and I frequently end up on the same scum teams and it's worked well. Definitely would be one of my top choices and I don't think I'd be alone in that thinking. Mid-high prob.

Okay, I printed out the players list, gave it to the wife and had her pick three for my team:

Rokk, Shel & VB

I’d pick Darq, because he’s a great scum buddy and I think he enjoys being mafia. I’d have to think on the other two.

I’d either draft Grinner or plan to kill him night 2ish. Same for Rokk.

Seeing as how I was not drafted, I expect to see a nightkill headed my way early.

Something I'd like to reiterate from my first signup, I played a few games ages ago under a different username (h2raider) but lost my login info with time. I didn't play much so doubt I'm remembered, but I remember a few names, so that might effect how you think I would draft/evaluate others.

I think the rules for mafia or other teams) I've seen are often along the lines of "you may communicate outside the game thread" and don't specify it has to be via proboard or any other particular method. Now I'm going to have to look back at some games and see how the rules posts are written.

If I were running it, I would probably assign the sk power after recruitment happened. I could see doing it other ways, or not having one at all, though.

To me, assigning anything after drafting destroys the integrity of this kind of game. The entire concept was basically anything can be drafted. I would ether figure out a way to make it work if it was drafted, as I did with the vigilante in the previous two games, or I just wouldn't have a SK, which is what I went with in those two games. SK isn't super needed to have a good game of mafia, even if its normal to have one here. I suppose we ill find out soon what Kenny has decided to do as there are certainly things he has done different from how I ran things with the roles having some super minor flavor to them, al la color mafia.

I don't see how that would destroy the integrity of the game. Just seems like an easy way to make sure that there is an sk, if that is desired. I don't think it's a big deal either way.

Its not a integrity of game balance, its an integrity of concept, in so far as it betrays what I feel the entire point of running this kind of game is.

I'll read the sign up post again, but I think either I'm misunderstanding what the point was, or you're overstating the impact of a potential choice in how to run it.