what's the rule on this? because mafia could probably use some "you should play mafia" stuff in other forums to make people aware of it. similarly, keeper was talking about how M:EM used to do calls for stories in other parts of the forum to rope in new interest. or what's the policy on crossover activity? I know Px2 used to run off-board intro games in other forums to grab new people from those forums by running games themed around their interests. (it was classic for the spoiler board to have a mafia themed around the new set.) is any of this allowed and if so to what extent?

I don't think there's a specific rule, but most of the forums have an Off Topic kinda thread, so you could always drop a post in there and try to garner a bit of interest that way.

~SE++

We've discussed this point a few times previously:

You can post to draw traffic/attention to certain games, activities, etc as long as it's done in a tasteful manner that follows the rules set forth by the CoC. For example, if you were starting a Mafia game and wanted to draw some activity you can mention it in the Off Topic thread in the DotP section but it wouldnt warrant its own thread there as thats not the focus of that board. If you were starting a D&D campaign and posted in the General RPG board, a post in the Off Topic thread or a new thread describing your game and such would both be acceptable as it is more on topic for that forum.

Rules regarding spam, thread bumping, etc all apply. If you make your thread, and no one responds to it, don't continuously post 'bump' every single day to keep it at the top.