Balloonist

Information

Type	Townsfolk
Artist	Anica Kelsen
Revealed	07/04/2020

"More heat! Higher! Higher! Più alto! Ahhh... it is so beautiful from up here, don't you agree? Can you see the children fishing by the river, under the willow? Can you see the glint of the sun on the circus tent-poles? What's this? An old man, alone, passed out in the vineyard? Less heat! Lower! Lower! Vai più in basso!"

Related Jinxes (Open)

Marionette If the Marionette thinks that they are the Balloonist, +1 Outsider might have been added.

Summary

"Each night, you learn a player of a different character type than last night. [+0 or +1 Outsider]"

The Balloonist learns players of different character types.

• Each time the Balloonist learns a player, the player must have a different character type to the previously shown player.
• The Balloonist does not learn the character type of the player they learn.
• The shown player can be alive or dead.
• The shown player can be good or evil.
• If the Balloonist is drunk or poisoned, they may learn a character of the same type as the previously shown player. When the Balloonist becomes sober and healthy, they must learn a player of a different character type to the previously shown player.
• During setup, the Storyteller may choose to add an Outsider due to the Balloonist’s ability.

How to Run

During setup, you may add an Outsider.

When preparing the first night, mark any player with the KNOW reminder. When preparing each night afterwards, mark a character of a different type than the current with the KNOW reminder.

Each night, wake the Balloonist. Point to the player marked KNOW. Put the Balloonist to sleep.

Examples

Abdallah is the Vizier, Lewis is the High Priestess, and Sarah is the Politician. On the first night, the Balloonist learns Abdallah. On the second night, the Balloonist learns Lewis. On the third night, the Balloonist learns Sarah.

Julian is the Nightwatchman, Alex is the Sailor, and Lachlan is the Puzzlemaster. On the first night, the Balloonist learns Julian. On the second night, the Poisoner chooses the Balloonist. Because the Balloonist is poisoned, the Storyteller chooses to show the Balloonist another Townsfolk, and the Balloonist learns Alex. On the third night, the Balloonist is sober and healthy, and learns Lachlan, who is a different character type to Alex.

Tips & Tricks

• Pay attention to Outsider claims! You might have added an extra Outsider, so if you hear players claiming to be the Zealot, the Snitch, and the Moonchild, this can help you prove you are what you claim to be. Plus, knowing where the Outsiders are makes it easier to decipher your information.

• Each day, talk to the player whose name you learned last night. Find out what character they’re claiming to be, so you can compare their claim to the previous player you learned and see if it makes sense!

• Wait to talk to the players you’ve learned until later in the game, when good players are more likely to tell the truth about their characters, and evil players have already decided what they’re bluffing. If an evil player finds out early on that you saw them after a trusted Townsfolk, they may choose to bluff as an Outsider to obfuscate their true character and weaken your information.

• Choose one player you trust, and share your information with them every day. This helps the good team trust that you haven’t lied or changed your information.

• Lie about your role to stay alive as long as possible. Claim to be a Banshee or Farmer so the evil team is hesitant to kill you at night! The longer you live, the more powerful your information is.

• After you’ve received several nights of information, decide which player you trust the most in your information, and check if the rest of your information makes sense compared to that player’s claim. If you learned the Dreamer on night 3, and you fully trust them, then you know the players you learned on night 2 and night 4 cannot be Townsfolk.

• Look out for misregistration! The Spy and Recluse may show up as different character types. In fact, if your Storyteller is feeling exceptionally devious, they could show you the Recluse every single night (Storytellers, please don’t).

• Look for other characters that detect character type, like the Librarian and the Town Crier. If you know someone is definitely an Outsider, or cannot be a Minion, this narrows down your information and makes you even more powerful.

• Unless there are characters like the Drunk or the Cerenovus on the script, if you learn two players in a row who are both claiming Townsfolk, it’s extremely likely that one of them is evil. Treat this information just as you would a Seamstress who learned that two players are on opposite teams!

• Pay attention to what’s on the script. A Damsel is very unlikely to tell you they are an Outsider while they’re alive, and the Mutant quite literally can’t! Just because you learned two players claiming to be Townsfolk in a row, that doesn’t mean one of them has to be evil. Uniquely, if the Demon is a Vortox, then every player you learn must be the same character type as the previous player.

Bluffing as the Balloonist

Satisfy the madness. Even if you don’t mind dying, the player you’re mad about might be a useful Townsfolk like the Preacher or the Savant. You can always explain your actions tomorrow by outing that you were chosen by the Harpy, but especially early in the game, it’s better to stay alive.

Ignore the madness, especially if you don’t mind dying, or if you think the second player is evil! If you do break madness, you should be prepared to die and possibly have the second player die as well. If people don’t think there’s a Harpy in play, this is a surefire way to prove them wrong.

If you think the other player is evil, break madness and see what happens. If the Storyteller only kills you, it’s more likely the other player is evil, and if you both die, it rules out a Demon candidate!

Be intentional and careful if you claim to be affected by the Harpy. If you do, you’ll struggle to make people believe that you genuinely think your target is evil, and that’s likely to get you and/or the other player killed.

If the Harpy keeps making you mad about the same player, that player is probably not the Demon. It’s rare that the evil team can get away with the sustained pressure of a good player claiming the Demon is evil, so you’re somewhat safe to assume that the player you’ve been mad about is not a Demon candidate. That said, they could still be an evil Minion, particularly an expendable one like the Baron or a spent Mezepheles.

If you are picked with a dead player, commit to the madness. You are the only one at risk of dying if madness isn’t satisfied!

If you think a specific player is Harpy mad, you don’t need to publicly support their claim, especially if you think their target is good. Claiming that you think a different person is evil doesn’t contradict the Harpy-mad player’s claims, so you should still feel free to nominate and vote on whoever you like.

If a newer player is accusing someone of being evil and you think the Harpy is in play, you might want to be gentler when asking for justification for why they think that person is evil. This can mitigate the risk of one or both of the players dying due to Harpy madness.

If only one player dies to Harpy madness, consider why the Storyteller didn’t kill both players. Was an evil player mad about a good player, and only the good player died? Was one of the players unable to die because they are the Sailor, or they’re sitting next to a Tea Lady? Understanding why the Storyteller only killed one player can help your team figure out who is telling the truth.