ryohgo narita wanted to write a story set during the prohibition and chose a light novel as the medium because not many of them had that setting. he believed that this choice would better attract the interest of the ascii media works judges. after narita saw "the untouchables", he spent about ten days working with inspirations and created "baccano!" "out of [his] useless calculations." while writing the first novel "the rolling bootlegs", he consulted many books while writing and mixed fictional elements with historical situations to create a unique plot flow. the story he originally planned was about an ancient magician who was revived during the prohibition and began to terrorize new york city. a group of mafiosi then violently oppose the magician. however, the story became very different from the original concept. narita never wrote a detailed outline for the novel and is relieved by that fact because it allowed the characters to "move on their own." the original stages of the series included more supernatural elements. maiza avaro was a hypnotist; ennis was a succubus; szilard was a magician. in addition, every member of the camorra, except for firo, did not survive. despite the great differences between the characters' initial concepts and the result, narita is "glad" that these ideas were not used in the finished novel.