Sounds like Alex is taking the next game, but: I'm announcing intent to set up a large (17 players) role-heavy game (well, desire to set up a game at the very least--I know getting seventeen people is tough these days!)
Now, I say role-heavy, but the focus is...strange roles. Quirky ones. Some are useless, some are just there for laughs, some don't do what they're supposed to do (unless of course they do). I'll say flat out that many of the common mafia roles will not be present; those that are present are likely to be altered in some way. Weird alternate win conditions will show up, possibly on more than one role--yep, bastard modding will be in place, but most of it's geared for comedic effect. The roles shouldn't dictate the flow of the game, but they should prompt some amusement, headscratching, and the occasional WTF, hopefully all of them at once. I have not included post restrictions in the setup, and while there are a few triggered events lurking about, this is the exception rather than the rule. You shouldn't have to devote any real discussion time in-game to sorting them out, but it should be fun to see them in action.
The actual flavor will be that of Suicide Squad, a semi-obscure DC comic book that ran from 1987 through 1992. It featured a ragtag band of throwaway villains sent on secret and dangerous government missions in return for parole, Dirty Dozen-style, watched over by a handful of D-list heroes no one's likely to have heard of, an awesome base concept which was propped up by surprisingly good writing throughout the series' run. The roles (all of 'em!) are thus the scum of the DC universe. Expect not the famous scum. You wouldn't see Darkseid here or anything. These are more like the mooks Darkseid would step on without noticing. Thus, the role lineup is the reverse of the way one would typically expect: Town consists of the crooks trying to break out of the federal prison that houses them; Scum are the few resident dogooders trying to maintain order. As usual with anything I run, there'd be safe cover identities--and I'll say flat out that there's no role than can dig up someone's true rolename, so there's no practical barrier to nameclaiming day one and going nuts with avatars and the like if people are so inclined.
If you're not familiar with the flavor, don't worry--I honestly don't expect anyone to be. I'm aware that someone's liking for the flavor of a Mafia game can be a deciding factor in whether or not they wish to participate (I know this is the case for me), so it may be a tall order to try and rustle up seventeen players for something with flavor no one's heard of. However, I'd hope that the general quirkiness (both in roles and flavor) would help add the kind of light touch so often needed in a game as stress-inducing as Mafia can be. In any event, I will wait until I have seventeen people to consider starting this one. I'm in no major rush, especially since Alex is running the next one, but if it sounds interesting then gimme some feedback and club other people into looking at this.
I'd also like to hear what people's preferences are for the actual game mechanics, since we've run plenty of games here by now and it seems apparent (to me at least) that details do make a difference. I'm talking day length here, mostly, because after the fiasco that was day one's end in Classical Composer mafia, I'm pretty firmly convinced that ending a day without a lynch is the worst way to deal with the deadline. Lacking a majority, whoever gets the most votes by deadline gets lynched; it's town's responsibility to get their act together and they shouldn't need any prodding. But I am curious as to what length of day people are most comfortable with.
