Blood on the Clocktower Scripts

[yashima]

I have had some fun running Blood on the Clocktower at get-togethers with my friends. We have played a total of 4 games now

Yesterday though my carefully prepared script went down the drain, as I messed up the position of imp and a townsfolk on the first night and I only noticed when the player I thought was the imp woke up and acted very confused. It was sad but we stopped and I hastily made a new script. I had only one because initially we had said we were definitely only going to play one game. We added nametags to the grimoire after that and I plan on making myself a little grimoire (web-)app to help manage this better and maybe finally dare to include a Spy.

Anyway I would like to share the scripts I have run so far and how they went and maybe ask for some recommendations for future sessions.

I am still very surprised how much this is a hit with my friends and especially who likes it and who doesn’t.

So we have only played Trouble Brewing. I am hestitant to stray from that setting because people still haven’t grasped all the intricacies of the roles or managed to construct some advanced strategies around bluffing as different characters to make their role shine on Team Blue or how to use the characters given to the Imp or other knowledge to confuse Team Blue when on Team Red.

Game 1 (13 players)
Imp (I don’t remember the roles I gave them, they ignored them anyway)
Minion: Poisoner, Baron, Scarlet Woman
Outsider: Fortune Teller/Drunk, Recluse, Butler
Townsfolk: Empath, Washerwoman, Virgin, Investigator, Chef, Undertaker
Wiinner: Team Red

Game 2 (9 players)
Imp (I don’t remember the roles I gave them)
Minion: Scarlet Woman. Poisoner
Outsider: -
Townsfolk: Chef, Washerwoman, Slayer, Fortune Teller, Ravenskeeper, Mayor
Winner: Team Blue

Game 3 (8 + 1 players)
Imp (Slayer, Washerwoman)
Minion: Poisoner
Outsiders: Recluse
Townsfolk: Empath, Soldier (new player), Virgin, Monk, Ravenskeeper
Travellers: Thief (evil)
Winner: Team Blue

Game 4 (7 players)
Imp (Soldier, Mayor, Fortune Teller)
Minion: Baron,
Outsiders: Empath/Drunk, Recluse
Townsfolk: Chef, Monk, Undertaker (new player)
Winner: Team Red

My original plan for Game 3 was:
Imp + Poisoner + Investigator/Drunk (with false info about a Baron), Soldier, Monk, Fortune Teller, Empath, … I forgot which role i had planned last.

So have any of you played “regularly” or had some particularly good scripts that worked well? That last one for game 4 was too harsh on the Blue Team as all their knowledge was cast in doubt. The Chef had got a 1 from me because Recluse and Baron sat next to each other. The Empath being drunk got 0 throughout the game even though he sat next to the baron. The Imp chose to bluff as the Mayor with extreme success, they believed her until the very last minute and decided to execute the Baron who gleefully voted for himself. They executed the new player first and lost the Undertaker. I really should have used the Angel to protect her. She came late for game 1 and was a bit tired and shy… it was a move that cost her and the Blue Team.

[MarkSP]

I’ve played BotC over a hundred times, and honestly Trouble Brewing is great because you can pretty much get away with anything. Sometimes the social reads through players off, but usually it’s what saves them. Your game 4, for example, with the recluse people should have assumed Baron and Drunk, at which point a mayor claim can’t be trusted anyway. It really does depend upon the group

[yashima]

They did realize that as soon as the Recluse announced their presence with the given player count there had to be a Baron–although a very savy Minion that was not the Baron could have used the situation for a clever bluff, however none of the players have played enough to be immediately aware that at that player count there would normally be zero Outsiders, but they checked immediately after the announcement. As the Baron I might have considered pretending to be the Butler when nobody was immediately coming forward with the role. (I admit I have yet to add a Saint to a game). When no Butler or Saint came forward they realized there had to be a Drunk. They kept thinking that either the Chef or the Empath had to be the drunk.

Yesterday the first game ended in a loss for Team Red because the Imp bluffed as Washerwoman and when he learned during Day 1 there was a virgin in play, he said he had been shown that role. The current strategy of the group for Virgin is to have a “one time information role” nominate the virgin. The Imp was playing dumb when they asked him to nominate the virgin to verify both of them. So then they tried to convince the Slayer (who was in truth the Poisoner) who had just tried to “slay” the Ravenkeeper after being voted to be executed… “Hey Slayer, if you are who you say you are, you are dead anyway, so please nominate the virgin.” Slayer/Poisoner also tried to play dumb and then the exasperated new player who was the Soldier announced: "I nominate the player who says they are the virgin–and voilà dead soldier, two blue team players confirmed while Red Team had almost outed themselves for good. They did not recover from that.

In my opinion the Slayer could have shot at the Imp to try to exonerate him and then nominate the Virgin casting doubt on the Virgin by not dying. But especially Team Red strategies seem to be very difficult to learn. For example Red Team players have not started to grasp that sometimes it is necessary to cast doubt on one’s own team members to be considered trustworthy. Especially when pretending to be the Slayer.

My players tend to stand up and do a lot of whispering in the corners of the rooms thanks to both locations where we played at having the space to do so. And then at some point I have to yell–aka announce loudly–that the sun has passed the zenith and is setting above the “Schafott” and then I usually ask for nominations. Which is when they start their discussions all over again. After a nomination, the nominee gets to defend themselves and when I try to get on with the voting… they start discussing everything again… they are having great fun but my voice is suffering. I have considered adding the “Hell’s Librarian” Fabled. But I doubt it would do much except make players get mad at me.