derived from the Greater BotC Community
influenced by in-person games with Capital Clocktower and elsewhere
editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

Creating a specific declare and respond cadence can be helpful in accepting (or rejecting) public ability usage. A consistent pattern also prevents player confusion. After the habit takes root, your players will copy your cadence when making their public moves and teach newcomers by example. 

Once you confirm a player's selection, pause for a moment and look at the player for confirmation before accepting the action. This allows players to speak up if the Storyteller misheard them. As a precedent, it also assures other players that the Storyteller will give them an opportunity to correct themselves if they misspeak.

Announce and re-state any public actions for all players to hear it exactly how you have heard it, as if it were a nomination. Here are some ideas for cadence and pattern:

• "Alice nominates Bob... (Tell us why.)"

• "Alice claims Slayer and selects Bob... (Nothing happens.)"

• "Alice claims Moonchild and selects Bob... Heard."

• "Alice claims Klutz and selects Bob... (The game continues.)"

• "Juggle heard." 

  • • Repeat back every individual juggler selection to give yourself time to mark, or pretend to mark, correct guesses. 

• "[Repeat Gossip]...Gossip heard." 

  • • Repeat the Gossip request back as you have heard it.

    • Reject Gossip requests that cannot be objectively determined. 

    • If a Gossip claim is clear enough to be observed by everyone, determine it without clarifying who it applies to and let the players observe the outcome.

    • If a Gossip claim relies on unspecific player positioning, then consider clarifying included players.

      • • Example: "The Demon is sitting on the left side of the room, from David through Heidi, inclusive."

    • If the Gossip claim requires some subjective Storyteller judgement to determine, then consider clarifying included players.

      • • Example: "The Demon is wearing black. This includes Bob, Carol, Frank, & Grace. Heidi's black convention badge lanyard doesn't count." 

    • These same principles can be applied in private Artist question conversations.

• "Alice claims Minion and selects Bob as the Damsel... (The game continues.)"

• "Alice claims Goblin."

  • TPI explicitly requires that the Storyteller interject or otherwise declare that they've heard a Goblin claim during a nomination, before the vote starts. Source: BotC Wiki | Goblin

• "Alice claims Psychopath and selects Bob... (Bob dies / Nothing happens.)"

derived from the Greater BotC Community
editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

Publicly disclosing that an Outsider is not playing by the rules confirms the presence and location of a particular Outsider on the script, which is not fair to the evil team. New players may need a gentle nudge to play their Outsider roles correctly. Sometimes, experienced players might make mental mistakes due to exhaustion or mental overload.

Intentional or repeated fouling of required Outsider behavior to gain an advantage in the game, or test their poison/drunk status, should be considered cheating. Players are bound by sportsmanship to carry out the required behavior of the token they drew. Making the Storyteller step in to correct Outsider behavior is unfair for evil.

The Butler Outsider in Trouble Brewing is the example that most new players will encounter. 

"If the Butler accidentally votes illegally, tally the Butler’s vote anyway. If you don’t, the total will be less than it should be, and all players will know which player is the Butler, which is unfair for the evil team. Mistakes happen. Just play on and have a private chat later."
Source: BotC TB Almanac, page 14

This logic should be extended to all Outsiders that modify individual behaviors:

• For Outsiders that modify nominations and voting, like the Butler, Golem, & Zealot - accept the outcome speak with the player on the next day. 

• If a Klutz or Moonchild has claimed their role publicly you may be able to gracefully prompt players

  • "Since you publicly claimed to be X, now would be the time to make a selection." 

• If a Klutz or Moonchild totally forgets to speak up after execution: "Any last words for the town?" is a subtle approach to take.

• If a Klutz or Moonchild totally forgets to speak up after waking up dead, it can be corrected during the day with a private conversation.

derived from the Greater BotC Community
influenced by Discord discussions with Capital Clocktower and elsewhere
editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

Players must be allowed the autonomy to play the game in a manner of their choosing. One player telling to another player "I will nominate you to for execution you if you do this" or "please do not do this" is fair game. However, the tone of that ultimatum should comply with the "Kill with grace" maxim and stay friendly. If an ultimatum like this escalates to bullying, threats, or a pile on with multiple players, the Storyteller should take charge of the room and intervene. This is especially true when working with new players. 

This advice is especially important for any ability that requires players to make a public declarations. Night actions are conducted under the veils of privacy, silence, and the potential for mechanical failure - so it's more difficult for a player to compel another player to act at night or follow through with a threat. 

If a Storyteller feels that a player is being peer pressured into using their ability in a certain way, and if that player makes a public declaration that would activate an ability, then the Storyteller should use their discretion and indicate that they don't accept the action. However, the Storyteller needs to carefully to give instructions in a way that will not socially tip off to town that the player is actually the role that they claim to be. 

Consider Using Hell's Librarian

Bring in the Hell's Librarian Fabled and use it as a tool to get the group's attention and check against compelled actions. 

Countering Compelled Nominating or Voting

Decisions to nominate and vote are up to each individual player. Feel free to stop and interrupt any player that's excessively leaning on another player to make a nomination or vote in a certain way. 

• "You may nominate whomever you wish. It's up to you. Are you sure you'd like to do this?"

• "You may ask a player to do something for you, however, the other player may say 'no' to you."

Players may freely speak and advocate for actions while a vote is in progress. If a player is intentionally disrupting a vote to confuse the other players, then it becomes a problem that needs to be addressed in a private conversation. 

To prevent players from getting steamrolled when a vote is in progress, I believe it's best for the Storyteller to take charge of the room to prevent distractions during the vote:

• Establish that the moment of the Storyteller enters the circle is the point where the vote will start.

• Use an announcer voice to communicate that the vote is taking place, who the players are voting on, and the vote count for the day. 

A Storyteller could hypothetically stop a vote in progress to clarify something or stop a player from acting out. If that happens, ask players to continue from the stoppage point in good faith. 

Countering Compelled Public Selections

When a player decides to make a public claim to use their ability, other players will likely offer suggestions. This is fair game. If other players are slowing down the selection, leaning on the player making a particular selection, or excessively repeating themselves, than and only then should Storyteller step in and hush them. 

• "Alice, the time has come to make a decision."

• "You may offer suggestions, but it's up to Alice."

• "I need to hear it from Alice." 

"Regardless of what the group wants, it is always the individual player’s decision whether they wish to nominate or not, and always the Gnome player’s decision on whether they wish to use their ability or not. If the Storyteller feels that a player is being pressured into nominating or using their ability when they don’t want to, the Storyteller may not recognize that nomination or ability use." Source: BotC Wiki | Gnome

Countering Compelled Suggestions to Privately Consult the Storyteller

During nominations, players may try to compel other players visit the Storyteller to use their one time ability. Some players may use the Storyteller's reaction to this information as proof that player has a particular ability. Some players may use the Storyteller's reaction to socially confirm their private-chat ability.

The Storyteller should try to work against these tactics and support evil players who wish to act like they have a private chat ability by clarifying that anyone may ask for a private conversation at any time:

• "I will accommodate any request to speak with me privately at any time." 

• "If a player has an ability that they use in private, it's their private decision whether or not activate their ability." 

Countering Compelled Breaking of Madness

Characters that have penalties for breaking Madness, like the Cerenovus, Mutant, Harpy, have the words "may" or "might" in their ability text that gives the Storyteller discretion to accept Madness being broken and choose not to act without saying anything. 

If a player is encouraging another player to say something with the clear intention to break or determine perceived madness, try using variations on these statements to encourage fair play:

• "Players may say whatever they want at any time, and also choose not to speak."

• "If I feel that a player has been unfairly coerced by another player to publicly break Madness, I may choose not to apply the penalty."

Countering Compelled Damsel Guesses

"If town attempts to force every player to make a Damsel guess in order to waste the Minion guess, the ST should ignore any Minion guesses that were forced by peer pressure or otherwise" Source: Unofficial BotC Discord | #experimental-how-to-run | Damsel

• "No compelled Damsel guesses."

• "I will not accept dead players as Damsel guesses." 

• "I will not accept Damsel self-guesses."

Handling Compelled Votes in a Legion Game

If Legion is on the script, depending on how the game is run, TPI recommends that Storytellers and players come to an agreement not to lean heavily into compelled filter vote strategies. For more information about these exceptional circumstances, consult the TPI writeup:  https://botclinks.page/LegionGuide

derived from the Greater BotC Community
editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

Stoytellers should strongly consider rejecting Vortox-proofed or overly complicated yes/no questions and ask players to rephrase or simplify their questions. 

The possibilities for the contents of the Artist question are unlimited by design of the character. The Storyteller always has the discretion to reject Artist questions as presented and ask for them to be rephrased before considering questions. Informing players of this discretion is especially helpful for players that present vague, subjective, or unanswerable questions: 

• "Before I answer your question, please understand that 'yes,' 'no,' and 'I don't know' are the only responses I can give to artist questions. Consider rephrasing your question with that in mind before I answer and you exhaust your ability."

• "Please simplify the question, I'm concerned that I'm going to botch the answer."

One common tactic is to phrase an Artist's question in a way that will bypass a Vortox with a question similar to this:

"Is EXACTLY ONE of these statements true: (1) There is a Vortox in play OR (2) [any yes/no binary Artist question]?"

• YES Vortox in play, AND YES to the binary question, THEREFORE "YES" response, because more than one statement is true and the Vortox flips the "NO" with the required lie.

• YES Vortox in play, AND NO to the binary question, THEREFORE "NO" response, because one statement is true and the Vortox flips the "YES" with the required lie.

• NO Vortox not in play, AND YES to the binary question, THEREFORE "YES" response, because only the binary question is true.

• NO Vortox not in play, AND NO to the binary question, THEREFORE "NO" response, neither part is true.

A Storyteller may accept and answer this question as a reward for clever thinking. However, if this meta takes root in the group, then every following Artist question will very likely be phrased in a Vortox-proof way.

In a podcast interview, Steven Medway suggests that he rejects Vortox-proofed Artist questions in his games because they go against the spirit of the character and create an over-optimized gameplay meta that can't be changed once it takes root. SOURCE: Script Notes special w/ Steven Medway by AlejoFBlack - Timestamp 03:51:22 | 2023.05.20

by LivFreeOrPie

In the Mid-Atlantic USA, we've adopted a Blood on the Clocktower custom that has significant group engagement and time management benefits:

• Players must raise their hand above their shoulder to vote.

• Show agreement on an nomination without voting by giving a "thumbs up" in front of or below your chest

• Show disagreement on a nomination without voting by giving a "thumbs down" in front of  or below your chest

• Players may say whatever they want at any time.

This custom allows for the following:

• Dead players who want to save their votes for later can engage the living players before or during the vote and encourage them to use or reconsider their votes.

• Thumbs mitigate conversation pauses and interruptions for players who just want to say "I like this." or "I don't like this."

• Nominators can find candidates who may be inclined to use their dead votes.

•  Thumbs visually indicate if interjected information supports or opposes the current nomination without the players needing to vocalize "I support this because..." or "I oppose this because..."  

by LivFreeOrPie

In the Mid-Atlantic USA, and likely elsewhere as a byproduct of Werewolf, there is a near end game tradition of having the Storyteller proctor a "Round Robin" where folks disclose their character and information before folks make their final vote. 

This is not mentioned anywhere in the official rules or recommended practices of Blood on the Clocktower.

If your players ask you to proctor a Round Robin. It's imperative to give folks the space not to speak and keep the game moving. 

"There has been a call for a Round Robin. We'll go around the circle quickly to give everyone an opportunity to say their role and their information uninterrupted. Participation is optional, you may say "pass" to keep the game moving. Starting here..."