Role PMs first.
1: Ryogo
You are: Hildegard von Bingen, 1098-1179. Abbess and philosopher, you also wrote an extensive body of liturgical vocal music. Think Gregorian monk style, but with women.
You are the token female of the game. Congratulations! This comes with no special abilities, though. You are a vanilla townie.
You win with the town.
Ryogo wasn't kidding, his PM really did say he was the only female. I suppose I should've put more thought into the wording. It didn't occur to me that someone would make a big deal out it, but I suppose I should have known. This are serious mafia, and all.
2: Smodge
You are: Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741. Born in Venice, you are now regarded as one of the Baroque masters. You wrote all manner of works over the course of your career but remain best known for the collection of violin concertos referred to as The Four Seasons.
You are a vanilla townie.
You win with the town.
Has anyone even seen Smodge since before the game started? Rat/Tom?
3: Andy
You are: Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750. Do we even need flavor text here? You're freaking J.S. Bach. So yeah.
You are a vanilla townie
You win with the town.
4: Shale
You are: George Friedric Handel, 1685-1759. A German Baroque master known primarily for your vocal works, your most famous piece is undoubtedly the Messiah. If that doesn't sound familiar, maybe this will help: Haaaaaal-le-lu-jah!
You can use this stirring chorus to reinvigorate an ailing player during the night phase. In other words, you are a Doctor, and can make one target of your choice immune to nightkills each night.
You win with the town.
As shown, I did indeed not specify whether or not he could self-protect until I was specifically asked about it. In the future, I probably will not allow this option simply because it makes a doc functionally too similar to a bulletproof townie. The Handel = doc connection came about pretty much because of Star Control 2, yeah. I considered for a moment whether anyone playing would make the connection but discounted it.
5: Alex
You are: Ludwig von Beethoven, 1770-1827. You kick ass.
You're just a vanilla townie, though.
You win with the town.
6: OK
You are: Frederic Chopin, 1810-1849, probably the only composer to be made the basis of a Japanese roleplaying game. Outside of the gaming community, of course, you are better known as a virtuoso pianist and probably the only Polish composer anyone outside of Poland is likely to be able to name.
You are a vanilla townie.
You win with the town.
I swear I didn't fix this role. The dice just
knew OK was supposed to be Chopin.
7: Keeshi
You are: Richard Wagner, 1813-1883. One of the nineteenth century's most prolific (and self-promoting) composers, you are most well-known for elevating opera to levels of grandiosity heretofore undreamed of--your most well-known work, Der Ring des Nibelungen, consists of four separate operas which altogether comprise a staggering fifteen hours. You were also a noted essayist and wrote extensively on music theory, as well as politics and philosophy (sometimes, less encouragingly, promoting anti-semitism).
Of course, having a colossal ego doesn't always happen without reason. Being a jerk doesn't mean you weren't brilliant. You can use your extensive powers of analysis to examine another composer's work for the telltale slips that indicate whether they are in fact who they say they are. In other words, you are a Cop. Choose a player to investigate during the night phase and you will be able to determine their alignment.
You win with the town.
It must be noted that Keeshi was a
paranoid cop (Richard Wagner thought Richard Wagner was the coolest dude around and wasn't shy about saying so). This was the only deliberate bit of bastard modding on my part (the self-protecting doc bit was simply due to lack of foresight!) Felt bad about the board newcomer getting it, but that was what the dice declared. I have to wonder how different the game would've been if she hadn't had to bail. As it stands, I give her a considerable amount of credit for actually suspecting scum just based on their behavior, as no one else in the game actually made a serious case against a scum player.
8: Excal
You are: Modest Mussorgsky, 1839-1881, hard-drinking, hard-living pianist in search of a uniquely Russian mode of orchestral music. Your most famous works are the song cycle Pictures at an Exhibition (somewhat butchered by the twentieth century "rock 'n roll" band Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and the evocative Night on Bald Mountain (used in the macabre end section of Disney's Fantasia).
You are a Vanilla Townie.
You win with the town.
9: Carthrat
You are: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1840-1893. A Russian composer of the Romantic era, you proved adept at framing popular melodies, a trait exemplified by works such as Peter and the Wolf, and The Nutcracker.
You are a vanilla townie.
You win with the town.
10: Otter
You are: Claude Debussy, 1862-1918. A French pianist known for innovative tonal concepts, your best known works include Clair de Lune and the (then) avant-garde Preludes written in the decade before your death.
You are a vanilla townie.
You win with the town.
Scum roles now.
11: Soppy
You are: Arnold Schoenberg, 1874-1951. Born in Austria (later to move to America, once the Nazis rose to power), you pioneered atonal techniques and prefigured most of the trends of twentieth century abstract music.
Your roots, however, lie in the Romantic era, and as such your reputation can withstand an investigator's scrutiny. You are the Godfather, and will show as Town if investigated by a cop. It's still probably not a good idea to go around using your real name, though. If pressed, you may wish to claim as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791, who you know to be preoccupied by a truly bitchin' party at Emperor Joseph II's place (and who at least happens to be from the same country as you!)
You can choose another fake identity if you like, but this is the only one I'll guarantee you is not tied to a Townie.
You win with the scum. Your scumbuddies are EvilTom and Corwin.
Standard godfather, though made irrelevant due to the cop being paranoid.
12: Tom
You are: John Cage, 1912-1992. One of twentieth century experimental music's most widely-recognized practitioners (that is to say, you are slightly less obscure than the rest), you are known for such oddities as the prepared piano (in which objects are placed between the strings of the instrument to alter its sound), and for early exploration of electronic music. Incidentally, you are also the only American in the game. This would likely make you a dead giveaway if you had to claim, so you may wish to pretend to be Englishman and Baroque master Henry Purcell, 1659-1695, who at least spoke the same language as you (technically).
You can choose another fake identity if you like, but this is the only one I'll guarantee you is not tied to a Townie.
You can use the awesome, postmodern power of your signature piece, 4'33'' (in which a performer sits at a piano for precisely four minutes and thirty-three seconds and does absolutely nothing), to silence another composer's music during the night phase. In other words, you are a Roleblocker, and your target's attempt to use a power role (if they possess one) will fail that night.
You win with the scum. Your scumbuddies are Hunter Sopko and Corwin.
Standard roleblocker. His one night of action was put to very good use.
13: Corwin
You are: Yngwie Johann Malmsteen, 1963-present. 80's metal idol and virtuoso neoclassical guitarist, you are not a classical composer but you think it'd be really cool to be one. As for the question of how, exactly, you're taking part in a contest for spectral composers while you're still alive? Never underestimate the power of rock! Obviously, using your real name isn't a good idea in this bunch. If you need to roleclaim, you may wish to do so as nationalist Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, 1865-1957. Look, you're both Scandinavian, okay? It was the best option I knew of.
You can choose another fake identity if you like, but this is the only one I'll guarantee you is not tied to a Townie.
Unfortunately, due to chronic carpal tunnel syndrome, you don't have any special abilities to employ in the service of your team. You're just vanilla scum.
You win with the scum. Your scumbuddies are Hunter Sopko and EvilTom.
Thirteen is not so unlucky after all, it seems.
---
Night actions!
Night 1:
1. Hunter Sopko: Does nothing.
7. Shale: Protect Carthrat (fails: roleblocked).
9. EvilTom: Roleblock Shale.
10. Keeshi: Investigate EvilTom (Result: Scum)
12. Corwin: Kill Carthrat.
Everyone guesses right the first time. The doc protects the NK target but is roleblocked (much to Shale's irritation!), while the paranoid cop genuinely tags scum just based on intuition. Despite the clusterfuck that was the end of day one, I was laughing my ass off here. Thanks for that, guys. >.> Carthrat was deliberately chosen for being a NK target that would tell town nothing, incidentally.
Night 2:
1. Hunter Sopko: Does nothing.
7. Shale: Protect self.
12: Corwin: Kill Shale (fails).
Shale was going to protect Keeshi, but I'd already been notified by this point that she was dropping out and thus told Shale to pick another target. The rest is history. Interestingly, the scum never had any intention of killing Keeshi.
Night 3:
7. Shale: Protect Alex.
12. Corwin: Kill Andy.
Man, say what you like about Shale's voting choices, but he was pretty spot-on with the NK protection this game--just a night too early, in this case.
Night 4:
7. Shale: Protect self.
12. Corwin: Kill Alex.
Cor wanted to forego the nightkill, yes. I kind of just wanted the game to end, though, so I asked him not to do this (as we could've wound up with an agonizing day six if Shale guessed right on night five). I notice other games here specify at the start whether or not the scum can skip the nightkill, and this is something I intend to do in the future (in retrospect, I don't think I had enough reason to deny Cor's request aside from all the modkills and the Otterdrama making it feel like a trainwreck; gameplaywise, it was a very good move for him and my decision kinda worked against him on the last day...not that it mattered in the end).
---
So. Lemme just say first off that Corwin is a fucking Mafia ninja. He fixes your plumbing and kills your beloved parent/sibling/aunt/significant other which causes you to swear revenge against his entire clan in some ultraviolent anime. Nice work, man.
Otherwise...well, the game had its ups and downs. Constant modkills (damn you, Otter), day one ending without a lynch...I was fairly disheartened by day two. I think it turned out pretty well despite this, though. A good, tense last couple days and what I feel was a
very deserved scum victory. (What?) Will not be using the no-lynch rule to end days in the future, though. I had thought it might be a useful prod to make people more active, as opposed to just letting the clock run out while waiting for the person with the most votes to die, but it seems this is not the case. If you have an apathetic or unfocused Town, they're going to screw themselves one way or another. Will go the more traditional route if/when I run anything else.
