The purpose of this document is to ensure that our ‘Blood on the Clocktower’ (referred to as BotC henceforth), game nights are as enjoyable as possible for all who attend.

Storyteller’s Role

The storyteller is unbiased and tries to ensure a balanced game by helping whichever team is struggling the most, typically to provide an opportunity for either team to win at any time. The Storyteller, when possible, will try and avoid triggering a game over with their own decisions (example: killing the demon early by choice). The end of a game should feel like it came from the actions of the players and not the sole actions of the storyteller. They are neither good nor evil.

In the event that you disagree with a storyteller decision, please limit these discussions to the storyteller, and/or Solaris (server owner) after the game has concluded. The Storyteller’s decisions are often based on context that no players has access to. The Storyteller can’t predict the actions of the players. In the event that a mistake was made, players affected will be informed when appropriate. The Storyteller is a player just like you and will sometimes make mistakes which is normal. Discussing mistakes or misplays should be done in a positive attitude with the intention to avoid future situations instead of dwelling on past errors. Attacking the storyteller's decisions never results in a fun experience for anyone. Try to keep complaints or comments about the game to private discussions so as to not take away from the victory or experiences of the other players.

In Game Etiquette

It is important to remember that this is a game that relies on bluffing (lying) and deduction. Good and evil are both going to attempt to interrogate and lie to others to win. Remember that it’s just a game and try not to hold any grudges between games. Expect to be lied to by anyone, even your own team! Don’t take it personal. Due to the nature of the game, players will often truly believe a lie told to them by another player or even the storyteller. Don’t blame lies from misinformed players.

Strongly pursuing someone to make a decision can ruin the experience for some players. Feel free to inform the group of your theories but avoid telling other players what they should do. Some shyer players can easily be pressured to make a decision that they don’t want and later regret, this has a negative effect on their enjoyment. Every player should feel like they won or lost by their own accord and not because they felt pressured to make an action.

When AFK, players should deafen themselves to indicate that they are not listening. If you don’t deafen yourself, the Storyteller may not be aware you are gone and may continue without you. If you missed an event due to being AFK and not properly deafening yourself, the event can’t be replayed/recounted. Please avoid using this AFK mechanic maliciously to extend the day or fool players in an unfair manner. Try to avoid going AFK unless necessary as it may hold up the game longer than intended. The Storyteller may try to accommodate AFK players by waiting to make announcements, but not an unreasonable length of time. If needed, the Storyteller may pause the game and request game related discussions to be halted.

Avoid using bluffs implying the Storyteller has made a mistake, as the Storyteller may not confirm mistakes. If a mistake was made by the Storyteller, they will inform the affected players privately by pulling them aside. If the Storyteller tells you a mistake was made, please avoid spreading that information and act as if you would, would the mistake not have happened. The Storyteller may also pop in at any time to clarify any rules mistake they hear as confusion over specific rules and abilities isn’t intended to be part of the gameplay and all rules/abilities are public knowledge. If you are concerned a mistake has been made, please notify the storyteller privately. Do not use the Storyteller as a part of your bluff.

Players should be aware of their ping to the server for voting and ensure that their hand has been put up in time. It takes time for a hand change to be registered by the server, sometimes 1-2 seconds of delay in worst case situations. To avoid this, put your hand up in advance. A missed vote due to latency can not be corrected as it can be used as a legitimate bluffing strategy.

An honor system is important. When nominating, or using a ghost vote, follow the appropriate rule and don't exceed your number of nominations/votes. If the Storyteller forgot or missed one of these actions, you can give them a reminder. For roles that require you to act a certain way such as butler, the ability of that character will be up to you to follow. It isn’t the Storytellers job to ensure the Butler voted properly. With roles that require a reaction to an event such as the Klutz, it's important that the player remembers that action as the Storyteller will NOT prompt you to act, and your team may lose the game if the action is missed.

Game Setup Notes

Randomly assigned roles: in the event that the same role/alignment is assigned to somebody multiple times, they should not view this as a malicious pattern. The Storyteller often distributes roles randomly, and may not recall what you were in the past. Repetition is a real possibility and getting the same role multiple times can happen. Please do not blame the Storyteller or call for a new game. Play your role as it is dealt to you and be respectful of others experiences. Please avoid excluding players from discussion due to past games outcomes. Don't blame a player for a pattern that does not exist. Storytellers will try to avoid affecting the distribution of characters.

We are attempting to emulate a ‘real life experience’ as much as possible, so no duplicate characters, or manually assigning roles (under normal situation). In the event that these things are no longer true, players should be made aware.

Scripts

There are so many roles and so many interactions that it’s difficult for players to keep up with everything. Therefore, scripts should be limited to the Base-3 (Trouble Brewing, Bad Moon Rising, Sects and Violets) for most of the night, with experimental scripts saved for those who are interested at the end of the night. We may consider following the official Blood on the Clocktower server’s lead by running a strawpoll to select scripts before each game. In any case, games should be kept to the Base-3 scripts as much as possible while new players are involved.

Link to official resources

Rules: https://rebrand.ly/BOTCrulebook

Wiki: https://wiki.bloodontheclocktower.com/Main_Page

Almanacs:

• Trouble Brewing: http://bit.ly/TBalmanac

• Bad Moon Rising: http://bit.ly/BMRalmanac

• Sects and Violets: http://bit.ly/SValmanac

• Travellers & Fabled: http://bit.ly/TravellerFabledalmanac