Goblin

Information

Type	Minion
Artist	Anica Kelsen
Revealed	07/04/2021

"You don’t want to insult the goblins. You really, really don’t. On a completely different note… can I have another piece of cake?"

Related Jinxes (Open)

	Cerenovus The Cerenovus may choose to make a player mad that they are the Goblin.
	Plague Doctor If the Plague Doctor dies, a living Minion gains the Goblin ability in addition to their own ability, and learns this.

Summary

"If you publicly claim to be the Goblin when nominated & are executed that day, your team wins."

The Goblin takes revenge if the town knowingly executes them.

• If the Goblin is executed, evil wins.
• ...but for this to happen the Goblin needs to tell the group that they are the Goblin when they are nominated, but before votes happen, and to do so in a way that everyone hears. The good players need to know the risk.
• If the Goblin is executed without telling the group that they are the Goblin when nominated, the Goblin dies and the game continues as normal.
• The Goblin must have claimed to be the Goblin today for their ability to work. Telling the group yesterday, or even every previous day, doesn't count.
• Any player may claim to be the Goblin when nominated.

How to Run

If the Goblin claims to be the Goblin when nominated (and before voting begins), declare that this player has claimed to be the Goblin, so that all the group hears. Put the CLAIMED reminder by the Goblin token.

If the Goblin is executed, and they are marked CLAIMED, then declare that evil wins.

If a non-Goblin player claims to be the Goblin when nominated, act as if they are the Goblin. Declare to the group that they have claimed to be the Goblin and pretend to move a reminder token in the Grimoire.

Examples

Abdallah is the Goblin. Alex nominates Abdallah, and Abdallah claims to be the Goblin. Votes are counted, and Abdallah is about to die. Other nominations occur later today, but Abdallah has the most votes and is executed. Evil wins.

Lewis is the Artist, and claims to be the Goblin when nominated. He is executed, and the game continues.

Doug is the Goblin. He claimed to be the Goblin yesterday and the day before, but not today. He is executed. The game continues.

Tips & Tricks

• The Goblin has one job, and one job only - get the town to call their bluff and execute them! If you can successfully get the town to take you out, the ends justify the means!

• Claim to be the Goblin ! You’re mostly giving away your alignment and character when you do so, so perhaps best to wait until you’re actually under threat of execution, but afterwards, go for it! You have no ability without doing so and it is sure to throw good off their game.

• In order to be executed to win, you’ll need to make yourself look like the Demon in spite of your public claim. Try doing Demon-y behaviours at the start of the game to encourage this.

• By the nature of having to claim publicly, the Goblin is a noisier Minion than some - lean into that by being as shifty as possible. Spread outright lies about townsfolk ("I've heard of two other Fortune Teller claims, so I think you're probably just lying!"), make multiple character claims to different people ("What, I never claimed Dreamer to Alan; I've been the Chambermaid the whole time!") and just generally cause as much chaos as you possibly can ("Everyone knows there's 3 Outsiders in this game, so we have to have a Huntsman!"). What are they gonna do about it? Execute you?

• If you lean too much into chaos and then claim Goblin, people will probably believe that you're the Goblin, which is terrible, because they probably won't execute you and they'll stop listening to your helpful tips! It can be prudent to be sneaky and subtle instead, holding a powerful character bluff up as the reason you don't want to be killed by the town - claiming Goblin will cause some friction with the town, but it's just words until they follow through on the execution, and lots of characters have a great reason to not want to die. Undertaker, Savant, or Cannibal all are useful examples of characters desiring to prolong their life as long as possible, even if the town finds them dodgy.

• Don't forget that for your ability to count, you must make a public claim each time you're nominated! The Goblin is not affected by madness like their cousin the Cerenovus - you look the Townsfolk right in the eye and dare them to follow through on their threats.

• Try to convince the town that you are a Demon! In nearly all cases, Minions are hindrances that don't have to be executed - if a suspected evil Minion claims Goblin, the town will probably back off. If they suspect you're the *Demon*, however, they have no choice but to attempt to execute you at some point! Encourage your evil teammates to condemn you with their bluffs, and make your bluff believable... perhaps TOO believable?

• Encourage other players to claim Goblin, whether they're good or evil! Other evil Minions like the Poisoner can use the claim to extend their life (and anyone can say it, a Goblin doesn't have to be in play to make the claim!), while good players can use the Goblin to fend off accusations for a day or two in order to ensure they get just a little more information... or even look like a character desperate to live in order to attract a Demon kill! The benefit of this for an actual Goblin is that if everyone in town is claiming Goblin like it's a fun new fashionable trend, it'll lull the group into a false sense of security when it's finally *your* turn to claim Goblin while up on the chopping block!

• Trying to get the town to execute you for benign reasons (e.g. to have your ability checked by an Undertaker) will clash with you then making a Goblin claim. Don't be discouraged though - it can work out if the town thinks you're not on board with their reasoning to kill you, and are just claiming Goblin to make it difficult. The looks on their faces when you win that way will be incredibly satisfying!

• Beware of the Chef and the Clockmaker, and others of their ilk! If the town believes you are a Goblin, they can use your presence to track down your Demon! (Alternatively in larger games, you can deliberately invoke this if you are far from the other evil team members, making the town waste time executing your neighbours instead of your Demon!)

• The Goblin is ultimately a very social minion, so keeping your finger on the pulse of the town is essential - in nearly all cases, you want to sway them to think differently about you than they are. If town thinks you're good, they have very little reason to execute you - try to "slip up" a couple of times and give them reason to be suspicious! Similarly if they think you're evil and you don't deny it, the town might write you off as a Goblin completely - starting putting extra effort into convincing them you're good! It's all about getting yourself to that sweet spot of "claimed Goblin, but we don't believe it and we're going to execute anyway". All the chaos caused along the way is just a fun bonus!

• If you’re a different evil character, especially the Demon, claim to be the Goblin! When left with no other recourse it is an excellent backup plan to hopefully scare the good team off of executing you, at least for a day or two.

Fighting the Goblin

• Your main issue isn’t the Goblin, it’s the Demon that’s claiming Goblin. A fantastic cover to stay an execution, the Goblin forces your team to interrogate their conclusion on who the Demon is with double the scrutiny, because if you’re wrong that’s the end.

• If a player is claiming to be the Goblin, and you are not sure if they are the Goblin or not, don't execute them! It's too risky. At least for now...

• Use whatever information you can to distinguish between honest Goblin claims and false: the Fortune Teller, the Slayer, the Snake Charmer, or the Exorcist can all greatly help you decide whether to actually pull the trigger on the Goblin.

• Remember the Goblin’s ability only works if they publicly claim to be so before they are executed. If your nominatee doesn’t claim to be a Goblin then, there is no need to concern yourself with a Goblin win risk.

• If a player has claimed to be the Goblin, take your time and co-ordinate among the good team to use Townsfolk abilities on them to find out their real character. Characters that learn alignment or character, such as the Ravenkeeper, Fortune Teller, Dreamer, Investigator, or Town Crier can be very useful. Even gaining some secondary information about who is who, such as via the Chambermaid or the Sage can be helpful. When you have enough information to determine whether or not the player really is the Goblin, then you can execute them accordingly.

• You can claim to be the Goblin as good… but you’ll need a pretty good reason to do so. Perhaps if you really must live to complete your set of information as a Townsfolk, this is a worthwhile claim, but you’ll have a tough road ahead of you building your trust back after giving evil such a strong cover.

• Throw nominations about willy nilly early in the game, to reveal the Goblin as soon as possible. The Goblin player may not have had time to fully think out their strategy by that point, and find themselves claiming to be the Goblin before they know if it is wise or not.

• If there is only one Minion in the game, wait until the final day to kill a Goblin. At this stage, the alive players should be the Demon, the Goblin, and a good player. This still gives you the chance to kill the Demon, or kill the player claiming to be the Goblin if you think that they are the Demon.

• If there is more than one Minion in play, kill the player claiming Goblin long before the final day arrives. Or if you don't, at least make sure that all other Minion players are dead. If the game gets to the point where the three living players are the Demon, Goblin, and one other Minion, evil will win.

• If you 100% believe that the player claiming Goblin actually is the Goblin, that's good news for the good team. Assume that the Goblin player is telling the truth, and use this information to find the Demon. Pay attention to what other information the Goblin is saying, who they talk to. Pay attention to the information of characters that gain information about Minions, such as the Investigator, Chef, Clockmaker, or Undertaker, both to confirm which players are getting good information, and which player this points to as the Demon.

• If you think that a player claiming to be the Goblin is actually good and just doesn't want to be executed, claim to be the Goblin as well. If you do this convincingly when nominated, saying that the other Goblin claim is bogus, the good player may admit to actually being a different character - their real, good character - and not claim to be the Goblin again. Since the real Goblin is unlikely to do this, you have found out another good player.

• Use the Goblin name to get out of being executed yourself. If you really don't want to be executed, claim to be the Goblin when you are nominated. You can tell the group that you are only claiming to be the Goblin so that they do not execute you, then go straight back to claiming to be your real character. Sometimes, it is worth deceiving the good team for a short period, just so you can survive for a few more days. This works best if you get great information each day, such as the Savant or the Flowergirl, but also works well if you have an ability still to be used, such as the Slayer or the Mayor.

• If all else fails, just execute the player claiming to be the Goblin. They are probably lying. Hopefully. Maybe. Perhaps. If you execute someone claiming Goblin, and the game continues, they can't be the Goblin! The whole group now knows something useful! Hooray!