A town of Good players hunts down the Demon and executes it before Evil whittles them down to a takeover. Here's the twist that gives the game its reputation: when you die you keep talking, and you keep one ghost vote.
Blood on the Clocktower is a bluffing game for 5 to 15-plus players, run by a Storyteller who never plays a character. They narrate the night, adjudicate the rules, and bend the odd edge case for drama. Good characters (Townsfolk and Outsiders) hold most of the information yet have no idea who to trust. Evil characters (Minions and the Demon) know each other and pose as Good. Each night the Storyteller wakes characters in a set order to use their abilities, and Evil to kill. Each day the table argues it out, then nominates and votes to execute someone. Good wins the moment the Demon is executed. Evil wins when only two players are left alive, or through other character-specific conditions. This entry covers the base 'Trouble Brewing' edition. The other two base editions, 'Bad Moon Rising' and 'Sects & Violets', aren't detailed here.
Good characters who usually gather information or protect others. They make up the bulk of the Good team.
WinGood wins if the Demon is executed (dies by daytime execution).
Good characters whose abilities tend to backfire or hand Evil an advantage. They're on the Good team regardless.
WinGood wins if the Demon is executed (dies by daytime execution).
Evil characters backing the Demon. Minions know who the Demon is and who the other Minions are.
WinEvil wins when only 2 players remain alive, or when Good can no longer execute the Demon.
The Evil killer, taking a life most nights. If the Demon dies, Good wins, unless an ability passes Demonhood on to someone else. The Demon learns its Minions and is shown three bluff characters not in play.
WinEvil wins when only 2 players remain alive. Good wins immediately if the Demon is executed.
Mark or unmark a player as the Drunk: their ability silently malfunctions and the Storyteller may give them false information. The player is not told.
Apply or remove the Poisoned status on a player (usually from the Poisoner). Their ability malfunctions until the next dusk without them being told.
Kill a player (e.g. night kill or execution). Flips their life token to dead and grants them exactly one ghost vote for the remainder of the game.
Reverse a death — return the player to the alive state and remove the ghost vote (used for ability-based resurrections or Storyteller error correction).
Set what information a character receives when woken at night — e.g. supply a false Washerwoman or Investigator reading, a wrong Empath number, or a dummy Fortune Teller result — to implement drunkenness, poison, or deliberate misdirection.
Choose the three not-in-play good characters to show the Demon on the first night as safe bluffing options.
Move the Storyteller's night-order tracker forward to the next character's wake step, cueing who to wake next.
Jump back to any step in the current night's wake order, or reorder steps, to correct a missed wake or accommodate an ability that triggers out of sequence.
Immediately end the game and declare either Good or Evil the winner — used when the Demon is executed, only two players remain alive, or another terminal condition is met.
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