Village Idiot

Information

Type	Outsider
Artist	John Grist
Artist	18/02/2021

"It was John."

Character Showcase

Summary

"Minions start knowing 3 not-in-play characters."

The Snitch accidentally gives information to the evil team.

• The Minions learn three not-in-play characters at the start of the game, just like the Demon does.
• These characters may be the same three that the Demon learns, or different characters.
• Each Minion may learn different characters to each other. Or they may all learn the same three characters.

How to Run

During the first night, wake a Minion. Show the THESE CHARACTERS ARE NOT IN PLAY info token, then show three not-in-play character tokens. Put the Minion to sleep. Repeat this process until all Minions have learnt three not-in-play characters.

Examples

On the first night, the Demon and its two Minions all learn that the Sage, Innkeeper, and Golem are not in play.

On the first night, the Demon learns that the Fool, Monk, and Saint are not in play. The Mastermind learns that the Fool, Monk, and Saint are not in play. The Witch learns that the Fool, Flowergirl, and Barber are not in play. The Fearmonger learns that the Noble, Amnesiac, and Heretic are not in play.

On the fourth night, the Pit-Hag creates a Snitch. All Minions learn three not-in-play characters.

Tips & Tricks

• When the Snitch is in play, all evil players know three characters to safely bluff as. This means that there will unlikely be more than one player claiming to be the same character. If any players are claiming to be the same character, they might be good characters. Pay attention to which good characters on the script have an incentive to lie about who they are - such as the Pixie, Undertaker, Saint, Sage, or Goon.

• Approach players claiming to be the same characters with a view to them being good players. If you can guess which character they are by looking at the most likely character on the script that would hide their identity, such a player will likely trust you for the rest of the game. And you, them.

• Encourage all players to share information about which character they are, and do so early. See if you can get every player to reveal the truth, or to stay silent. There is less benefit to good players lying about who they are in a Snitch game, because the evil team will probably recognise such lies. Since the evil team likely knows six not-in-play characters, good players bluffing as not-in-play characters are likely to not be fooling anyone except other good players. It's usually best if the good team just tells the truth to each other. Encourage this.

• If you reveal that you are the Snitch early in the game, and explain to the good team that the evil team already have safe bluffs, then this should hopefully encourage the good team to start sharing their information as early as possible. Instead of waiting until the mid- or late-game to share information, sharing information as early as possible should benefit the good team more.

• If you reveal that you are the Snitch late in the game, the good team would have played an otherwise normal game, except that the whole game occurred with no players double-claiming a character. Revealing late, under these circumstances, should make people trust you are the Snitch more, and not execute you. All good players trusting that you are the Snitch might not mean much on day 1, but when there are only three players left alive and you are one of them, it could mean everything. This strategy works best in games where the number of Outsiders is more likely to be known.

• Be as active as you can. Get the group communicating with each other as much as you can. You know something. Yes, the information that you know is not great information, but it is information nonetheless. To win the game, the good team needs to know this information as well. Play as if you are a useful Townsfolk with a piece of information to share.

Bluffing as the Snitch

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

• If you are the Demon, wait until most, or all, of the good players have revealed their characters before revealing that you are the Snitch. This will help the Minions choose not-in-play characters to bluff as. If a Minion bluffs as the same character as a good player, it is probably best to choose a different character to bluff as - unless you want that Minion to be executed. When one evil player bluffs as the Snitch, if another evil player bluffs as an in-play character, then the Snitch will look like they are lying.

• If you are a Minion, talk to the Demon and ask which 3 characters are not in play, and relay this information to all other Minions. This will help all evil players to bluff as not-in-play characters and therefore sell that there is a Snitch in play.

• After bluffing as the Snitch, encourage all good players to tell the truth about about which character they are. This will help the Demon choose the best player to kill at night, and which players the evil team should be voting to execute. This is riskier, as it requires the evil team to commit to bluffs earlier in the game, and discourages changing bluffs later.

• After bluffing as the Snitch, encourage all good players to be silent about which character they are for as long as possible. If all the good players wait a while to reveal their characters, and all players reveal their characters late in the game with no two players claiming to be the same character, this makes the Snitch player more trustworthy, and less likely to be executed. It will seem more like the evil players have safe bluffs, and there is a Snitch in the game. If you are the only player claiming to be the Snitch, then you'll appear good.