Time Management Conventional Wisdom

Editorial

There is no maximum time limit on a Blood on the Clocktower game, so long as your players and venue are available.  Long games and short games can all be great games. Games should continue for as long as they need to go, so long as all participants are engaged and enjoying themselves. 

TPI Perspective from Steven Medway

"Keep the games short

A new player needs to be able to make mistakes that don’t have a lasting impact on their fun. When the games are short, even the most egregious errors can quickly be washed away. Did your first timer just claim to be the Demon, under pressure, and then get executed? No problem, in a short game. If they did it in a 17-player game with a Scarlet Woman and a Zombuul, they will be sitting there for a long time with nothing to do, feeling foolish.

The length of your days should be tailored to the player count, but also to new players and their need to experiment, make mistakes, and make risky plays. New players also may want to stay silent until the final day or the right moment, and it is helpful if you can speed up your days so that this moment comes more quickly. 

Some players like long, serious games, but these players also usually like a more thoughtful, planned, strategy. New players are figuring things out as they go. Have you ever played a 6-hour Eurogame and at the 2-hour mark realised that you made a mistake on your first turn? And now you have to sit there for four hours, knowing that you’ve already lost, and are just going through the motions to be polite? That’s no fun at all, and I want to avoid a similar experience for new players at all costs. I’ve seen more than one video, review, or piece of feedback that said “BOTC sucks. I died on the first day, and had to sit there for nearly 3 hours doing nothing because I couldn’t leave.” 7 or 8-player games can be run in 45 minutes, and a 9 or 10-player game can be run in one hour. Games should only go for more than an hour and a half if all players want it to, and it is difficult to tell if new players want it to."  [Emphasis added]

Source: BotC Website | Including New Players

UK Convention Perspective from Ben Burns 

"So, this is really going to depend on the pace the ST prefers and how much discussion/nominating/going to the kitchen to make a cup of tea their players like to do.

When at conventions we generally book 9-player games to last an hour, with an aim to have them done after about 50 minutes. As a general rule, my timings are as follows:

9 players - 1 hour / 12 players - 1.5 hours / 15 players - 2 hours 

It actually takes longer when running games online, so you can probably add 30 minutes to each of those timings if that's how you're running your games.

There is no right or wrong amount of time for a game to last. However, you don't want the game to outstay it's welcome. Give everyone a chance to do some discussing during the day. Never let them do all of the discussing they'd like to during the day. If you stick with that rule, you won't go wrong."[Emphasis added]

Source: Reddit | r/BloodOnTheClocktower | How long should games be?

USA Convention Perspective from LivFreeOrPie

Blood on the Clocktower games at conventions or large group settings in the United States follow a slightly different plan. Many memorable and excellent convention games have followed these formats:

Variable Demand or Introductory Events (no prior knowledge of the game):

• Circles typically launch at predictable intervals, on the hour or half hour. 

• 10 players brings in a second Minion, this is "critical mass" to stop seeking players and launch a circle.  

  • 7-9 players will suffice if a 10th player can't be found. 

High Demand Events (known enthusiast spaces):

• Games are planned for a capacity of 15 players and scheduled for 2 hours. 

• Fifteen "standard" plus five "overflow" tickets are distributed.

• Storytellers seat up to 15 players with priority order to standard tickets, overflow tickets, and then no-ticket standby.

• Overflow Travelers are permitted at an individual Storyteller's discretion.

• The Fiddler Fabled is deployed if the game is far from a conclusion and there are 10 minutes are left.

editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

There's no set rule on handling conversation time during the day. Conventional wisdom is to have day phases in Blood on the Clocktower be short and shorten as the game progresses for the benefit of the evil team. 

One commonly circulated recommendation is:

[Day Minutes] = [Alive Players] - 2

Storytellers should give a generous time allowance for multiple private Storyteller consults, in-game rules clarifications, temporary player departures to the bathroom, and other administrative tasks. 

Storytellers should also encourage evil players to speak privately with the Storyteller and share the characters that their team are bluffing as. 

On the first day of a large game in-person, subtly track conversations to make sure that the Demon gets a chance to talk to at least one or two minions before the moving the group towards nominations.

Perspective from Ben Burns 

"I tend to have each day be slightly shorter than the last. In my games, day 1 usually has enough time for each player to have about three/four private chats. The next day will be two/three. The next one two. The next one two/one, and so on...

It's important to keep in mind that if you give your players infinite time, good will simply win every game. Evil are relying on the passage of days in order to keep the lie going for long enough.

But ultimately, it's a personal thing too. Your group will know what it is they prefer and your job is 'feel' when the day is beginning to drag and its time to move on."

Source: Reddit | r/BloodOnTheClocktower | How long are your Days and how do you moderate time?

editorial by LivFreeOrPie

Editorial

All players may speak during a nomination. A core rule of the game is that any player may say anything at any time. 

At minimum, players nominated for execution should have the opportunity to respond to the nomination before the vote is run. The formality of accusation / defense is expressly not a requirement for the game, but it can be useful for the Storyteller to use it as a moderation tool if the nominee is getting talked over.  Make sure to step in and let the nominated player speak before running the vote.

Allow trenchant and pertinent information to be shared with the group by everyone else. Encourage players to be brief and focused with their interjections.

Consider recommending that players build their accusation into the nomination if possible. This saves the time of having the Storyteller declare and ask for a formal prosecution. 

It's important to track conversations to prevent nominations from going too far off topic or excessive repetition. The Storyteller can step into the circle and start running the vote at any time. 

When a player gets on the block for execution, nudge them to use their nomination if they have not yet nominated. Players that accept execution will usually vocalize a "pass" or say "I intend to nominate." This is especially important for new players who may get too overwhelmed to act or simply accept their fate.

If no new nominations are coming in, start a countdown to end the day. In the Mid-Atlantic USA, we sometime invoke "5 seconds of silence" to replace a countdown and close the day immediately.

If it's late in the game and you believe that the town will skip the day's execution, ask for living players to vocalize a "pass" on nominating to move the day to its conclusion. This is clearer for all involved and sometime quicker than counting down. 

When you arrive at the final 3, or a similar consequential day unknown by the players, the game should never end due to a surprise Storyteller-decided timeout. The final remaining players have limited options and should be gently nudged out of their analysis paralysis or be given a clear timer tick-down.

Ultimately, running the nominations phase is an in-the-moment individual Storyteller judgement call that will vary from game-to-game and group-to-group.

TPI Rules Quiz Perspective

"All players may speak during a nomination. A rigid accusation and defence, where only the accuser and the accused are allowed to speak, is not how the game is designed to be played. That said, you may want to step in to give a nominated player a chance to defend themselves before the vote is taken."

Source: TPI Rules Quiz | Fundamentals | Easy

Perspective from Evin Donahoe

"...Don’t wait for everyone to be paying attention to you to run the vote. Take the nomination, give a little time for discussion, then just step into the circle and start running the vote. I let all my players know in advance that the only time they’ll see me standing in the centre of the circle is when a vote is about to happen, so if they see me there then it means it’s time to vote. If they’re not paying attention to the game or the vote, then that’s on them. If you do this enough times, they’ll get the message and start paying attention. And even if they don’t, it at least means the game is running at a smooth & steady pace for everyone else.

Similarly, if no one is nominating because they’re too busy discussing or arguing, just end the day. You should always give notice so that players are aware, but it can be as simple as “If there’s no nomination I’m going to end the day in five seconds,” then end the day in five seconds and stick to it. People will likely protest or try to make a late nomination, but stick to your guns and move to the night phase. Let them know that for the sake of all players and for the sake of fun the game needs to keep moving along.

If you do these things often enough, players will notice and you’ll find it easier to move the game along at a steady pace whilst players are also paying attention and actively engaging in that process. Good luck! Have fun!"

Source: Reddit | r/BloodOnTheClocktower | How to Moderate Hard Groups as an ST

Perspective from Ben Burns 

"I've basically got a hard and fast rule that once the nomination veers away from why the nominee should be executed, I step in and say "it sounds like you're no longer talking about why X should be executed, so I'm gonna throw this over to them for their defence." Your players should understand that your job is to keep the ball moving. If they're upset about this, it might be worth pointing out to them that they've had more time to speak today than any other player, so if you are being unfair, you're being unfair to everyone else.

Another, much easier method is to run the game as it was originally intended to be run, without an accusation. The way the Aussies play the game, the accusation is a part of the nomination. So they'll say "I nominate Jim because he's next to the Empath with a 2 and he spent all of yesterday whispering with Jane, who we think is the Baron."

That's it. No lengthy explanation, just a sentence that includes why the nomination was made. It's fantastically efficient but can lack a bit of the dramatic epic-ness that can come with extremely complex, advanced character interactions that may require more of an explanation."

Source: Reddit | r/BloodOnTheClocktower | Players Who Give Long Arguments

Perspective from Evin Donahoe

"I would go about shortening the time by just reigning people in and moving to the nominations phase sooner. Don’t let people talk for too long before running a vote. All that you really need to do is make sure that the nominee has a few moments to speak before you run the vote, and end the day if no one is nominating, making sure to give a few seconds notice before you end the day.

Let your players know that you’re moving the game along for their benefit - that while they may want to talk for a long time, a faster-paced game is better for everyone and they’ll thank you at the end. The thing that players think they want isn’t always the thing they want, so moving the game along even if some people protest is actually for their benefit. In four hours, they should be able to play three games of Blood on the Clocktower, and three games are typically more enjoyable than one."

Source: Reddit | r/BloodOnTheClocktower | How Long Should Games Be?