Preface
We like mafia because we roleplay backstabbing -and its investigation- in a safe environment. What does that tell about us? Which characters and narratives are your favorites?
Perception
Having played with hundreds of players for over a decade, I've broken down the perception of personality types for your convenience along the axis of productivity, townieness, and competency.
Productivity
is defined by how often a player posts and how much new meaningful content they produce. How well do you feel like you know this player after a day or a full-length game? Activity + Content = Productivity.Townieness
is defined by how pro-town does the player appear to everyone else. Is this player affecting the game positively so everyone feels good, or are they dominated by their selfish emotions and solely concerned with what's going on in their head regardless of the town wincon?Competency
is how strong of a player they are perceived to be. Can they carry a game, or do they get carried by better players? Can they influence other players to adopt a winning strategy, or are their ideas discarded out of hand?8 Character Archetypes
The Paragon
is a renowned player perceived as competent and produces high quality content. People get paranoid about him because if he rolls scum, we're in big trouble.The Buddy
is a pro-town player who plays a defensive game, protects his town reads, and either sheeps them or tries to convince them to see his view.The Village Idiot
is an unproductive player perceived as low-skilled and anti-town regardless of what he rolled. Nobody cares about his opinion. He's a liability, vig him.The Arrogant Fool
is a productive but low effort player easily convinced of their own greatness, who others usually agree with in principle, but try to make him earn the credit he readily takes. The Scumhunter
is a new player on the scene, with all the advantages of The Paragon and none of the drawbacks. He's having a good game, if he goes on a streak, he can become a paragon.The Intellectual
is competent but takes a long time to reach conclusions, delaying others' from knowing what the hell he's thinking. Usually worth the wait, or might be stalling for time because he rolled scum.The Hanger-on
is an unproductive player, viewed as incompetent, but does his best to be pro-town the few times he deigns to post.The Brilliant Idiot
is a productive player viewed as incompetent, high effort, and anti-town, all rolled in one.8 Narrative Tropes
Narrative tropes are always viewed from the point of view of the person playing, the hero, the town player. What's happening to them? Where's the conflict? This is adapted from TV Tropes.
The Rival
Frequently a Foil for the hero. The rival might turn evil, or might develop a genuine friendship with the hero and perform a
Heel–Face Turn
somewhere down the line. If he is forced to team up with the hero over a common threat, expect much awesomeness to ensue. Arch-Enemy
There will be one opponent where the relationship to the hero and the motivations for battling them are more potent. These feelings may be one-sided. They may not be the biggest threat. Both sides will gather allies to prepare for a big confrontation.
Big Bad Friend
It's often the person you least expect. The best friend has been in league with the scum the whole time. However, they genuinely like the hero and would rather he live a long and happy life; after the game ends.
Accidental Hero
A character becomes celebrated for heroism. He says he didn't do anything special. Problem is, it isn't false modesty this time. He really
didn't
do anything special. The accidental hero blundered in some way that actually saved the day.Wrongfully Accused
The hero is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Whatever the root cause, the phony evidence is so convincing, or the convergence of bad luck that makes them look guilty is so unlikely, our hero struggles to convince anyone of their innocence.
Be Careful What You Wish For
The hero makes a wish and actually gets what they wished for, only to find that the reality does not live up to their fantasy. This trope is all about how a character who makes a wish comes to regret it.
Peer Pressure Makes You Evil
A hero has found a new group of friends, although their advice/behaviour are detrimental to the hero's established relationships. Often the peers will start out just being inexplicably really nice and friendly, encouraging positive virtues for questionable reasons. These new friends begin with encouraging gray morality activities. The hero, under the peer pressure and their hopes of winning more approval, commits more and more questionable acts until he learns his lesson.
Redemption Arc
The hero makes a mistake and is on a quest to right the wrongs.
