Juggler

Information

Type	Townsfolk
Artist	Aidan Roberts

"For my next trick, as per request, I will need a flower, a bag of beans, a toy snake, a paintbrush, and a motorized gasoline-powered hedge trimming device. I warn you, this trick may be my last. Oh dear."

Appears in

Cult of the Clocktower Episode by Andrew Nathenson

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Summary

"On your 1st day, publicly guess up to 5 players' characters. That night, you learn how many you got correct."

The Juggler takes the risk of convincing people to reveal their characters on the 1st day, in the hope of guessing as many as possible that are telling the truth.

• On the first day, they may guess which players are which characters. That night, the Juggler learns how many guesses they got right...if they are not killed beforehand.
• They must make their guesses publicly, so everyone hears what is guessed. They may guess zero characters, or up to five characters, and these characters and players may be different or the same.
• If the Juggler made their guesses while drunk or poisoned, but is sober and healthy when their ability triggers that night, then the Storyteller still gives them true information.

How to Run

During the first day, if the Juggler declares that they are using their ability, then you enter the circle, holding the Grimoire. The Juggler can make up to five guesses, each of any one player and any one character. For each correct guess, mark the Juggler with a CORRECT reminder. (Make sure the players don’t see how many reminders you’re placing.)

That night, wake the Juggler. Show them fingers (0, 1, 2, etc.) equaling the number of CORRECT reminders. Put the Juggler to sleep. Remove the CORRECT reminders and the Juggler’s night token when convenient.

If the Juggler is guessing too fast, prompt them to slow down.

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If an evil player is bluffing as the Juggler, it can help their bluff if you pretend to move tokens around the Grimoire as they make their fake guesses.

Examples

During the first day, the Juggler guesses that Alex is the Town Crier, Mia is the No Dashii, and Julian is the Sage. That night, the Juggler learns a "2," meaning two of those guesses were correct.

During the fourth night, the Savant gets turned into the Juggler. The next day, the new Juggler guesses that Benjamin is the Pit-Hag, that Benjamin is the Witch, and that Amy is the Pit-Hag. That night, the Juggler learns a "1.”

Tips & Tricks

• Try to guess as many good characters as you can! The more good characters you are able to name and confirm, the more good players you'll have in the town that you can trust. This also helps protect you and other information gathering characters from the Demon - you might be a prime target alone, but the Demon will have to choose very carefully if a Savant, Flowergirl and yourself are out and active.

• Guessing that someone is an evil character is powerful if you can confirm it, but difficult without a lead. If you intend to go down this path, try to seek out a Dreamer and their information (they'll definitely have one evil character for somebody by the time you use your ability!). This can also be very effective when dealing with an Evil Twin.

• Guess the maximum amount of characters you can - you'll get a read on 5 people, and the number you get back will give you a LOT to work with, whether or not it backs up the claims made to you. Getting the fabled 5 is incredibly tricky, but manage it and you'll have 5 people you can completely trust - a massive blow for the evil team!

• Guess a small number of characters for focused information on a particular set of players. This can be especially effective for targeting evil players, but you can also use it to confirm the existence of a Vortox by checking information that is verifiable as true.

• A proactive Juggler is a high priority target for the Demon. Consider getting someone to double up with you to confuse the Demon about where the real Juggler is. Bonus points if you can find a Sage, since if the Demon picks wrong, it's doubly bad for them!

• Convince as many people to reveal as possible, even if you don't eventually target them with you ability. The good team thrives on freedom of information, and your ability facilitates this - use it to get a dialogue happening in your town about information. This has the bonus of allowing the good team to coordinate while leaving the Demon with no clear cut target that they should definitely pick on - no matter what, somebody will be alive the next day with new information.

• There's no penalty for guessing the wrong character; in fact, false info is just as useful as true info! If you don't get the number you expected, you might have an evil player in your midst trying to confuse things, or an outsider like the Sweetheart trying to hide, or even have been affected by the Cerenovus! Figuring out why your number was wrong will give you valuable information about the town.

• This is less a tip for the Juggler, and more the Juggler's teammates. Do you suspect your Juggler is not who they claim? Lie to them! Deliberately giving them a false role and seeing if they detect you is a great test to counter the Juggler bluff. (Just be sure to let them know afterwards!)

• Not everyone will want to reveal to you. Evil players will be among them - having a confident bluff on the first day can be a struggle, especially if they are a Minion. However, outsiders (especially ones like the Klutz) and characters like the Oracle or Town Crier will also be reluctant, trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves as Demon targets. It's worth being suspicious of anyone who doesn't share, but don't automatically condemn them either.

Bluffing as the Juggler

When bluffing as the Juggler, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

• Don't be shy. The Juggler acts publicly. This means that the Storyteller, and the whole group, will hear you make your guesses. Jugglers typically want to guess as many people as possible, and will do their best to convince the group that they are the Juggler, and that as many people as possible should reveal their character. If you are bluffing as the Juggler, get as many people talking about who they are as you can.

• Make yourself look good by only guessing good players and confirming that good players are telling the truth. When you support the claims of good players, they will trust you more. For example, if you guess that the Flowergirl is the Flowergirl, the Clockmaker is the Clockmaker, and the Savant is the Savant, and you tell the group that all three guesses were correct, you appear to be very helpful indeed.

• Or, make good players look evil by only guessing good player's characters, but telling the group that you guessed a character incorrectly. If you are believed to be the Juggler, this will make these good players mistrust each other. For example, if you guess the Dreamer, the Artist, the Seamstress and the Town Crier, but you tell the group that you only got 3 out of 4 correct, this implies that 1 of these players are lying. With any luck, the group will tie themselves in knots trying to figure out who it is, and executing all four players.

• Back up the bluffs of your fellow evil players by guessing their characters. Encourage them to say which good character they are on the first day, then claim that your guesses were correct. For example, guess that the Witch player, who is pretending to be the Sweetheart is actually the Sweetheart, and that the Snake Charmer is actually the Snake Charmer. When you tell the group that you got both guesses correct, the Witch appears good to the group.

• Use your ability to undermine the trustworthiness of a particular player, and lay suspicion on them. You can guess just the one character, and tell the group that your guess was incorrect. Or guess their character and another very trustworthy player or two, and say you guessed incorrectly. This technique is especially useful when you target the good twin and get them executed, which makes the Evil Twin ability trigger, winning you the game. Or, putting a lot of suspicion on a Savant or a Clockmaker can make them look evil, and their information suspect, giving you a little more breathing room.

• Beware tricky players, who may reveal a false character in the hopes of tricking you. Some good players have a reason to lie about who they are. If they do so, and you guess their character, but tell the group that all your guesses were correct, then they will now that you are lying. You can always claim that it is actually they who are lying, or that the incorrectness of your information is due to a No Dashii or a Vortox or a dead Sweetheart, but that is a trickier argument to be believed much of the time.

• Pretending to be the Juggler can reveal some high priority targets for the Demon to kill. Many Demons will want to kill a Flowergirl or Savant or Oracle as soon as possible, or other powerful characters for the current game setup. Getting the good players to reveal who they are can help the Demon choose wisely. Of course, in Sects & Violets, all choices are good choices for the Demon, but some are better choices than others, depending on the situation.