Blood on the Clocktower - A Social Deduction Game of Lies and Fuckery

[Praxis]

This is not a game where you need to write!

There are NO posting requirments  You'll need to have some discussions from time to time with other players and respond from time to time to my PMs, depending on the role of your character!  But that's it.  You just need to help other people (players) solve a mystery while other people (players) are trying to sabotage your efforts and/or murder you to death.

IF your character dies.  You're still in the game.  You're still influencing discussions and votes. Being dead is not the end!

NO character sheets!  You're assigned a role at the start of the the game.  That's it!

"I don't know...  This looks complicated." , someone reading this (probably)           It's not!  Well it is...but not for you!  For the Storyteller (me) it can be complicated but you are just a dewy-eyed, apple-cheeked villager.  The game is wicked easy to learn once you're playing.  Under the hood...there's a moderate amount of levers and buttons but that's my problem, not yours.  :)

[Praxis]

Lots of information to follow but recruiting info is this...

+ Seeking 8 to 15 players

+ No requirement for writing, this is just strictly "playing".  This involves communicating with the other players and the Storyteller (this guy right here)

+ Why is this "actual game" posted here and not the board game forum? || That forum has been archived.  I'm putting this where I was told to put it!

+ What forum is this going to be played in? ||  Probably non-con / big groups.

+ Does that mean there's going to be detailed violence? ||  NOPE!  But there will be statements of "So and so has been exectued."  Or...some players will write, "I don't care what the facts are! I just want 360NoScope69 killed!"  So for the sake of hedging my bets, we'll go for Non-Con large groups.

+ If you have questions, ask them!

[Praxis]

A LONG TIME AGO in the sleepy town of Ravenswood Bluff, during a hellish thunderstorm, on the stroke of midnight a scream echoes down the vine-covered stones of its twisting alleyways.

The startled townsfolk rush to the town square to investigate, and find that the local storyteller has been murdered, their body impaled on the hour hand of the town clock, blood dripping onto the cobblestones below.

Curiosity turns to fear, as it soon becomes obvious to all that a demon is on the loose, killing by night and taking on human form by day. Each of the townsfolk has some information, but the demon and its evil minions are spreading lies to confuse and breed suspicion over the identity of the fiend. Will the good folk put the pieces of the puzzle together in time? Or will evil overrun this once peaceful town?




BLOOD ON THE CLOCKTOWER is a social game of deduction and deception, lies and logic, murder and mystery, for five to twenty players. During the day, players talk and socialize as a group, or go into private conversations to gather information, share what they know, or spread lies.

During the night, players close their eyes, while some good players wake to learn valuable information, and the demon and its minions wake to spread their mischief.

Each player is a unique character, with a powerful ability to use or a troublesome penalty to avoid. Players win or lose by their wits, their insight, and their ability to convince others about who should live and who should die.

[Praxis]

This seems like it's complicated...but it's really not!  Everyone will be up to speed by the end of the very first turn so please DON'T be intimidated.

If I can teach this game to 70 year old grandparents (which was a hoot), I guarantee I can get you up to speed.  :)



For those of you that have participated in online versions of Werewolf or Mafia, Blood on the Clocktower is basically those games?  I say that with a question mark because as someone who has run Werewolf and Mafia, there’s a good deal more under the hood with this game.

So a couple things before we get into rules.

How is this different from Mafia and Werewolf?  Well…a few of the differences are detailed below.

I've played a large number of social deduction games and while all of them are generally fun, Blood on the Clocktower is a whole other beast and in my opinion is one of the better (if not best) social deduction games out there.


+   Classes - Everyone is different.  Everyone has a unique power!  Some classes are more handy than other classes but it really does come down to the player and not the class.

+     Death - When your character dies, you’re still in the game!  You’re the chattiest ghost that ever did chat.  As a ghost, you lose all the powers that your class has and you can’t nominate people for execution during the day(more on that later) BUT you still get to vote. You only have ONE vote but in some ways, it’s more powerful than a living vote. (more on that later too)

+     The Storyteller (me) has a “finger on the scale” so to speak.  The Storyteller desperately wants the play group to get down to as few living players as possible. Ideally it comes down to the final two living villagers on the last day.  That means it was a close and suspenseful/stressful (read: more fun with lots of shouting and laughing type of) game.  The Storyteller (a good one) isn’t going to break any rules but they WILL use game mechanics to help one side over another if one side is running away with a victory.  Even then…sometimes you’re gonna get first day victories for the good guys because some people just aren’t cut out to be murderous, deceitful demons…   ::)    Think of the Storyteller more like a GM in terms of manipulating the game and the players some.

+     You’re REALLY encouraged to have side conversations and not just big, open conversations at the table for everyone to hear.  You know those moments at elimination councils on Survivor where suddenly a few people stand up and pull other people aside and then more people stand up and start having more side conversations?  Yep.  As a group gets more experienced, it’s the side conversations where dirt gets done and diabolical plans are hatched.

+     Murdering and Executing and such

People get KILLED at NIGHT by The Demon
People get EXECUTED during the DAY by well-intentioned and sometimes not well-intentioned TOWNSFOLK

A demon CAN kill a player that is already dead.
A demon CAN kill themselves and the game keeps going.
Townsfolk CAN nominate and vote to execute someone that is already dead.

That all sounds crazy right?  Right?  Why would someone do that?  :)   Play and find out.  Shit gets crazy.

+     DRUNK - There’s a lot of nuance to the DRUNK role and it might not be actually a role in the game that is being played. BUT…the chance that a townsfolk COULD be a DRUNK casts doubt on a lot of people.  Basically, the DRUNK works as follows.

      The Storyteller knows that the DRUNK is one of the classes in the game.  The player who gets the DRUNK role isn’t actually told they’re the DRUNK.  They’re told they’re the MAYOR, or the SLAYER or the FORTUNE TELLER or one of the other classes in play.  That player thinks they ARE the role they were told they are.  But what they don’t know is that they’re the DRUNK.

So for roles like the MAYOR or SLAYER, that player thinks they have this specific power, right up until when they try to use it and it doesn’t work.  What they planned to do, doesn’t happen.  The Storyteller doesn’t reveal that the player is the DRUNK.  Just that their power didn’t work for…reasons?

For information gathering roles like the FORTUNE TELLER or GRAVE DIGGER or LIBRARIAN.  A DRUNK that thinks they are the FORTUNE TELLER is simply given incorrect information by the Storyteller. Or sometimes they’re given accurate information once in a while, just to fuck with everyone.  It comes down to the Storyteller and the situation.  So while the DRUNK is on the GOOD Team.  The DRUNK is most assuredly, a fuckin problem for the GOOD guys.

+     POISON - A player that has been POISONED gets POISONED over the NIGHT and that POISON lasts throughout the following DAY and then disappears at the start of the next NIGHT.  When a player is POISONED, their class powers DO NOT WORK AT ALL.

A POISONED player is not told they are POISONED.

So for roles like the MAYOR or SLAYER, that player thinks they have this specific power, right up until when they try to use it and it doesn’t work.  What they planned to do, doesn’t happen.  The Storyteller doesn’t reveal that the player is the POISONED.  Just that their power didn’t work for…reasons?

For information gathering roles like the FORTUNE TELLER or GRAVE DIGGER or LIBRARIAN.  Being POISONED; the STORYTELLER can either skip the FORTUNE TELLER’s turn at NIGHT because their powers aren’t working OR…the Storyteller let’s the FORTUNE TELLER have their turn at NIGHT but they’re given incorrect information.

For those of you following along…someone POISONED can look alot like someone having the
DRUNK class.  That’s just the start of the obfuscation in this game.

[Praxis]

RULES

GOOD TEAM - WINS when the DEMON dies.

EVIL TEAM - WINS when there are only two players alive during the DAY.

There are also other win states available but that’s up to you guys to figure out.  If for some insane reason there’s a tie, the GOOD team wins.

TOWNSFOLK - These people are on the GOOD team.  Even DEAD, a GOOD player still wins if the GOOD team wins.

OUTSIDERS - These people are on the GOOD team.  OUTSIDERS often come with unwanted powers that make the lives of the TOWNSFOLK difficult.

MINIONS - These people are on the EVIL team.  MINIONS work to make sure the DEMON is one of the last two alive on the final day.

DEMON - This person is on the EVIL team.



We start at…

FIRST NIGHT Phase

I will have an order listed of the different classes and the ones that are in the game are the ones that get ACTIVATED, one player at a time that FIRST NIGHT. (I’ll be PMing you a question or some information relating to your class)  Order of operations is super important during this phase.  It’s also important to note that the DEMON finds out who their MINION is but not what class their MINION is. The DEMON also finds out the identity of THREE classes that are not present in this session so the DEMON can masquerade as one of these three classes.   The MINION gets told who their DEMON is.

The DEMON DOES NOT KILL ANYONE ON THE FIRST NIGHT.


Once the FIRST NIGHT tasks are completed, we transition to the first DAY.

DAY Phase

Conversations are had. Some open. Some side-conversations.  The possibility for NOMINATIONS for EXECUTION exists but the Townsfolk do not have to execute anyone…ever.  Sometimes there are good reasons to not execute anyone during the day.  Sometimes those good reasons end up being bad reasons.  ::)

SECOND NIGHT

Some classes only have powers that work on the FIRST NIGHT and some classes have powers that work every NIGHT.  The SECOND NIGHT is where the DEMON comes out to play and claims it’s first victim.

Then we proceed into second DAY, again more conversations.  Possibility for NOMINATIONS and VOTING and EXECUTIONS.

Then we move into the THIRD NIGHT, etc…until one side wins.

[Praxis]

SO HOW DO WE DO THIS ONLINE?

So conversations are easy. At least the open ones are.  We’ll have a “Town Square” thread where all of the open conversations can occur.  IF/WHEN you have a side conversation in PM or on DISCORD, you don’t need to share the contents of the conversation.

BUT YOU DO NEED TO POST IN THE TOWNSQUARE THAT YOU HAD A SIDE CONVERSATION WITH THAT OTHER PLAYER OR PLAYERS!

We do this so that the other people in the village know when other people are talking, conversing, jamming, canoodling with others.  This helps ensure maximum speculation and suspicion.

Maximum levels of speculation and suspicion = fun


But it's an honor system, people.  Please don’t cheat.  If you find yourself cheating at an online social deduction game…well…congratulations.  You totally win?

Example - Praxis and LuvvyCravesit is having a sidebar conversation because Luvvy is the DEMON and Praxis is the POISONER.  They’re planning what to do during the next NIGHT phase but really they’re mostly laughing and high-fiving virtually.

Luvvy, being a responsible player posts in the Town Square Thread

“Luvvy and Praxis are having a conversation.  It’s probably fine.”

Or

Four players have a conversation side-bar…only one of them has to post in the TOWNSQUARE

“Luvvy and MagicMooGooGuy and Praxis and ChampionOfWang are plotting.”


I’ll be sending LOTS of PMs to people….well…maybe not lots but you know…more than none.

Each phase and each individual vote and individual action we will keep to roughly…72 to 96 hours?  I’m amenable to making it shorter or longer based on the group.

HOWEVER…if it gets too long, I’m just going to power forward.  As the Storyteller, I’ll vote or make decisions based on what I think is going to make the game the most suspenseful AND/OR ensure we’re getting down to as few alive players as possible over multiple days.

To be clear, we’re not looking for prose.  We’re looking for single word votes OR information about the specific action you have as a power.  Your “muse” has nothing to do with this game!

BUT…it can.  You want to make impassioned arguments or be a clever, lying, deceitful fucker?  Amazing.  Do it.

You’re making the game more fun.

[Praxis]

DO YOU LIKE FUN?

DO YOU WANT FUN?

IS FUN SOMETHING THAT YOU NEED MORE OF?


IF YOU CAN ANSWER "YES" TO ANY OF THOSE THREE QUESTIONS - SIGN BELOW!

Also...we need at least 8 people.  I'd say go find a fun friend and make them sign too!

[ArtemisHighmore]

Hmmmm, I am intrigued. Bouncing around today but will be keeping my eye on this.

[Envious]

I'll participate. You had me at no writing lol!

[Greenthorn]

I'm in... tried to run a werewolves of millers hollow game but came just shy of the number needed.... so I'll help you out on this one  ;D

[RedPhoenix]

I'm awful at these games, but I usually laugh. So let's do it! :)

[Greenthorn]

I'm awful at these games, but I usually laugh. So let's do it! :)

Yay! It's gonna be Christmas time  ;D

[RedPhoenix]

Yay! It's gonna be Christmas time  ;D

Christmas victory is assured!!!!

[Praxis]

\o/

Hmmmm, I am intrigued. Bouncing around today but will be keeping my eye on this.

Keep an eye!  We've got some momentum and it ends up being a pretty fun social experiment for people involved.  I ran about  dozen games on the weekend and while doing it, I was thinking again how much fun it'd be to do it here on E.

I'll participate. You had me at no writing lol!

Amazing.  We'll have you not writing until you bliss out!

I'm in... tried to run a werewolves of millers hollow game but came just shy of the number needed.... so I'll help you out on this one  ;D

Green!  You're a star, you are.  Thanks you so much!

I'm awful at these games, but I usually laugh. So let's do it! :)

We'll have you laugh your pants right off!

We got Green and Red.  It's an undeniable Christmas combo.




So we've got a hard 3 participants and a soft 4 (including Artemis)

Give some of your friends a nudge!  We need at least five more!

[Hatless]

I'm here for round two. This time it's definitely going to work. :P

[c0i9z]

I'll try it.

[Dingo]

I like these type of games, so I'll join in too, if you'll have me.

[Praxis]

I'm here for round two. This time it's definitely going to work. :P

Absolutely Hatless!  We're SO close now!

I'll try it.

Wicked!

I like these type of games, so I'll join in too, if you'll have me.

You bet we will!




Alright people.

We have six confirmed.  We just need TWO more for the lot of you to have more fun than is legal in most countries!


Shake some trees!

Empty your pockets!  If you know someone here on E that likes fun and likes lying and likes...demons (?)     Get them in here!

We're so close!

[Vreski]

I'll throw my hat in!

[Praxis]

I'll throw my hat in!

SEVEN!

Amazing!



All we need is one more and then I can get the figurative ball rolling.

[Praxis]

Giving this a bump!

We just need ONE more person to join and then we can star!

[Madam Striga]

I'll give it a go!

[Greenthorn]

I'll give it a go!

Yay Madam!!

[Praxis]

I'll give it a go!

YOU are a star!


We're a go people!

I'll be trying to get my shit together today!  Ideally we will be playing by next week.  I'll send a group PM to everyone just to let everyone know we're doing this!

[Praxis]

ALSO

I will need about 72 to 96 hours to get this off the runway SO...if you've been lurking and want in, now that you know we're doing this.

Reply here OR PM me.

Cut off will be Sunday at 2330 EST.