Barber

Information

Type	Outsider
Artist	Aidan Roberts

"Oops."

Appears in

Cult of the Clocktower Episode by Andrew Nathenson

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Summary

"When you learn that you died, publicly choose 1 alive player: if they are evil, your team loses."

The Klutz might accidentally lose the game for their team, unless they are clever.

• When the Klutz dies, they must declare a player. They may take a few minutes to do so—after all, it’s a big decision, and other players may give advice on who to choose, but it is always the Klutz’s decision. If they choose an evil player, the game ends immediately and the good team loses. If they choose a good player, nothing happens and the game continues.
• It is not the Storyteller’s responsibility to prompt the Klutz to declare they are the Klutz and choose a player. The Klutz must do this shortly after they learn that they are dead. Deliberately not doing so is considered cheating.

How to Run

When the Klutz player is declared dead, they must declare that they are the Klutz and then point at any player. (Give them time.) If they choose an evil player, the game ends and the evil team wins. If they choose a good player, the game continues.

In the strange situation where the Klutz is evil and chooses an evil player, then the game ends and the good team wins instead.

If the Klutz player doesn’t realize that they must choose a player when they die, privately remind them. New players may not understand how their character works.

Examples

The Klutz dies by execution. After much yelling and confusion, the Klutz chooses a player—who is secretly the Seamstress. Night falls, and the game continues.

The Demon kills Dave, the Klutz. In the morning, when the Storyteller informs the group that Dave is dead, Dave says "Ok everybody, I was the Klutz" and after discussion for a few minutes, Dave publicly chooses the player that is the Demon. The game ends immediately and evil rejoices.

Tips & Tricks

• Like nearly all Outsiders in Sects & Violets, you should avoid dying if at all possible. Your ability is particularly nasty as it can end the game if you choose poorly, but it only becoming an issue if you actually die!

• If the good team is floundering, you can die deliberately and confirm someone as good by choosing them. Your ability yields incredibly powerful information for incredibly high risk. Knowing for sure that someone is good allows you to trust them completely, a very rare thing in this edition! Similar to the Snake Charmer, your information can also not be interfered with by the Vortox, meaning that you suspect that demon is in play, you don't have to worry about your information being false. (Note: While this all sounds incredibly useful and even tempting, remember that choosing carelessly will lose you the game!)

• Before you die, work with the other players and try to find one alive player you believe is good, so you have a safe choice to pick in the event you accidentally die. (It's up to you if you want to reveal your identity before death to this player - if you do, they may be more inclined to trust you while you're both alive. If you don't, your choice will be more of a surprise, but it will look less like you're colluding with that player. It all depends on how the group is leaning right now.)

• Don't pick players who are doubling up their character claim with another player - in most cases, a double up means one of the two is evil, which gives you a 50/50 chance to lose! This includes the Evil Twin and their good twin, since it is very difficult to tell for sure which one is actually evil. Aim for players with unique character claims instead.

• If the group is keen to execute you, you can pre-empt the voting by loudly proclaiming which player you WILL choose as the Klutz after you die. If the group thinks that this player might be evil, they are less likely to kill you, which helps the good team. After this, if the Demon doesn't kill you that night, it probably means that the Demon did not want to kill you because it knows that you would choose a good player anyway.

• If you die, and choose a player, and the game does not end, you can be almost certain that that player is good. Since the Klutz is not affected by the Vortox, the No Dashii, and probably not by the Sweetheart or Philosopher, then you can safely assume that you are not drunk or poisoned.

Bluffing as the Klutz

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

• Die! Getting yourself killed and then claiming to be the Klutz can be a game-changer. Some evil characters even naturally result in dead evil players as the game proceeds, which makes the Klutz an even more viable bluff than usual. If you are a Fang Gu that just passed on their ability, or a minion who was just killed by their Vigormortis, go all in and give the good team a real fright.

• When you "choose a player" as the Klutz, you have a few options:
  • Choose a player that you know to be good, and that the group thinks is good - this will endear you to the player in question, and make you look more trustworthy to the group, which in turn means people will listen to you, your lies, and your misinformation.
  • If your Klutz claim is solid and believed, choose a player you know to be evil - since the group believes you, they will believe that this player is good, and they will be protected from scrutiny for at least a while!
  • If your Klutz claim is dubious, choose a player that you know is good but the group is uncertain about. This will lump this player in with you for the rest of the game, and if you come out under fire as actually evil, so will they.
  • Finally, if your Klutz claim is dubious and your group is savvy to the idea that you would try and drag a good player down with you, double bluff them by picking an evil player, making them look good at your expense. The more you insist they're evil, the more the group will insist they're good!

• The Klutz is a good back-up bluff. Either stay quiet about your role or bluff as a different character, and then admit you are the Klutz later. Since this is what a real Klutz would do, you will be more believable than if you simply came out as the Klutz without any fanfare.

• A fun option for players fond of the long game is to tell one or two players in private that you are the Klutz while bluffing as something else publicly. This is a great way to build up trust with good players, as you can argue this secret reveal is because you trust them not to kill you. Players like to be trusted, and until they have information that cast suspicion on your claim will likely be inclined to return the favor. You can then have all sorts of fun - for example, get these players spreading misinformation on your behalf, confusing the available information while you barely lift a finger!

• Revealing you're the Klutz while still alive isn't optimal, but there's a couple of scenarios where it can become very necessary. For example, you might simply be trying to avoid execution! Another clever reason is when you are faced with a scenario where the number of publicly revealed Outsiders equals the number of Outsiders that are meant to be in the game - this gives the good team a lot of information about what sort of evil is in play, and makes those Outsiders trustworthy good players. By revealing yourself, you muddy the narrative, making all Outsiders in the game look dubious and introduce the idea that the demon is the Fang Gu. Finally, it's probably for the best to "reveal" near the end of the game, preferably on final day if the good team don't pressure you too much - it doesn't make much sense to hide when you no longer "fear" being killed by the demon!