Budding Paranoia

"You start knowing if your closest evil player is clockwise or anti-clockwise. If equidistant, this info is arbitrary." The Shugenja trusts players to their left, or to their right. The closest evil player is the player with the smallest number of steps from the Shugenja to the evil player. If the evil players are ‘equidistant’, that means that the closest evil player clockwise is the same number of steps away from the Shugenja as the closest evil player anti-clockwise. If the evil players are equidistant, the storyteller gives ‘arbitrary’ information to the Shugenja. This means that the Storyteller chooses whether to tell the Shugenja that the closest evil player is clockwise or anti-clockwise. The Shugenja doesn’t know whether their information is arbitrary or not. The Shugenja does not learn how many steps away the evil player is. If a Shugenja is created mid-game, the Shugenja wakes that night to receive their information. The Storyteller communicates with the Shugenja by pointing a finger in the appropriate direction, but may use other methods if they wish.

"You start knowing 1 in-play Townsfolk. If you were mad that you were this character, you gain their ability when they die." The Pixie pretends to be the same character as someone else. On the first night, the Pixie learns an in-play Townsfolk. The Storyteller chooses which Townsfolk this is. The Pixie does not learn which player is this character. If the Pixie player pretends that they are this Townsfolk, they gain the ability of this Townsfolk when the Townsfolk dies. They could have spoken loudly about being the character for one day, or pretended to be the character each day this game, or accused the Townsfolk of being a liar—the Storyteller is the judge of whether or not the player was convincing, by “being mad that they are this character”. When the Townsfolk player dies, the Pixie does not learn this, and is not told that they have gained a new ability. They may learn this has happened if they wake at night and start gaining information, or are prompted to choose players. If the player the Pixie learns about changes character then dies, the Pixie gains the ability of the Townsfolk the Pixie learnt about, not the new character.

"Each night, you learn how many of your 2 alive neighbors are evil." The Empath keeps learning if their living neighbours are good or evil. The Empath only learns how many of their neighbours are evil, not which one is evil. The Empath does not detect dead players. So, if the Empath is sitting next to a dead player, they do not get info about that dead player. Instead, they get info about the closest alive player in that direction. The Empath acts after the Demon, so if the Demon kills one of the Empath's alive neighbours, the Empath does not learn about the now-dead player. The Empath's information is accurate at dawn, not at dusk.

"Each night, choose an alive player: a chosen Demon swaps characters & alignments with you & is then poisoned." The Snake Charmer learns player after player that is not the Demon... but becomes the Demon if they get either too greedy or too bold. Each night, they choose a player. If that player is not the Demon, nothing happens. If they are the Demon, the Snake Charmer becomes that Demon and turns evil, and the Demon becomes good and poisoned permanently. If the Philosopher has the Snake Charmer ability and becomes the Demon, the Demon becomes a poisoned Philosopher.

"Each night, choose 2 players: you learn if either is a Demon. There is a good player that registers as a Demon to you." The Fortune Teller detects who the Demon is, but sometimes thinks good players are Demons. Each night, the Fortune Teller chooses two players and learns if at least one of them is a Demon. They do not learn which of them is a Demon, just that one of them is. If neither is the Demon, they learn this instead. Unfortunately, one player, called the Red Herring, will register as a Demon to the Fortune Teller if chosen. The Red Herring is the same player throughout the entire game. This player may be any good player, even the Fortune Teller themself, and the Fortune Teller does not know which player it is. The Fortune Teller may choose any two players—alive or dead, or even themself. If they choose a dead Demon, then the Fortune Teller still receives a nod.

"Each night*, you learn how many dead players are evil." The Oracle knows how many dead players are evil. Because the Oracle acts after the Demon attacks each night, the Oracle’s info refers to the players that are dead when dawn breaks and all players open their eyes. The Oracle detects dead Minions and Demons, but also any other players that are evil, such as evil Travellers, or Townsfolk and Outsiders that have been turned evil. When counting the number of dead players, remember to count Townsfolk and Outsider tokens that are upside-down, which means their alignment is the opposite of what is printed.

"Each day, you may visit the Storyteller to learn 2 things in private: 1 is true & 1 is false." The Savant gets crazy, amazing information that is different every day and every game, but exactly half of it is completely false. Each day, the Storyteller chooses two pieces of information to give the Savant... so get creative! One must be true, and one must be false, and the Savant won’t know which is which. It is up to the Savant to talk with the Storyteller, not the other way around. This isn’t a public conversation, and the group can’t listen in. It’s private. The Savant can choose to not visit the Storyteller if they wish. A drunk or poisoned Savant might get two pieces of true information or two pieces of false information.

"Once per game, during the day, visit the Storyteller for some advice to help your team win." The Fisherman knows something that nobody else can know: what should be done. The Fisherman player chooses when to use their ability. When they visit the Storyteller, the Storyteller chooses what piece of advice to give the Fisherman. The Storyteller’s pieces of advice are not necessarily “facts”. They are strategy tips that the Storyteller believes will help the Fisherman win, if they are followed. If the Fisherman is drunk or poisoned, the Storyteller may give the Fisherman bad advice.

"Once per game, at night, choose 2 players (not yourself): you learn if they are the same alignment." The Seamstress learns whether 2 players are on the same team as each other. They only get this information once per game, so they had best choose wisely when and who. They may choose alive or dead players or even Travellers.

"Once per game, at night, choose a good character: gain that ability. If this character is in play, they are drunk." The Philosopher has no ability until they decide which character they want to emulate. They can do this once per game. When they do so, they gain that character’s ability. They do not become that character. They may want to wait a while to choose. If the Philosopher chooses a character that is already in play, the player of that character becomes drunk. If the Philosopher then dies or becomes drunk or poisoned, the player they are making drunk becomes sober again. If the Philosopher chose a character that was not in play at the time but is in play now, that character is drunk. If the Philosopher gains an ability that works at night, they wake when that character would wake. If this ability is used on the first night only, they use it tonight. If the Philosopher regains their ability via the Bone Collector, or uses their ability twice via the Barista, the Philosopher may choose a new ability, or the same ability as before. If the Philosopher’s ability works while dead, such as the Klutz’s, it works if the Philosopher is dead.

"If the Demon kills you, you learn that it is 1 of 2 players." The Sage knows nothing while alive, but learns the most important information of all at the moment of their death - who killed them. The Sage only gets this information when killed by a Demon attack. Being executed does not count.

"The Demon thinks you are a Minion. Minions think you are a Demon." The Magician confuses the evil players about who is evil and who isn’t. On the first night, instead of learning which player is the Demon, the Minions are told that both players—the Demon and the Magician—are the Demon. On the first night, the Demon learns that the Magician player is one of its Minions. The Magician does not wake to learn anything. The Storyteller can point to the Magician and the evil players in any order, so that the evil players won’t know which player is the Magician. If the Poppy Grower dies and the Demon and Minions learn who each other are mid-game, the Magician ability has an effect that night, just as if it was the first night.

"If only 3 players live & no execution occurs, your team wins. If you die at night, another player might die instead." The Mayor can win by peaceful means on the final day. To survive, the Mayor sometimes "accidentally" gets someone else killed. If the Mayor is attacked and would die, the Storyteller may choose that a different player dies. Nobody learns how they died at night, just that they died. If there are just three players alive at the end of the day, and no execution occurred that day, then the game ends and good wins. Travellers count as players for the Mayor's victory, so must be exiled first. Remember that exiles are not executions. Fabled don't count as players for the Mayor's victory, as the Storyteller isn't a player. If the Demon attacks the Mayor, and the Storyteller instead chooses a dead player, the Soldier, or a player protected by the Monk, that player does not die tonight.