Goblin and Nightwatchman: Difference between pages

Revision as of 17:56, 24 March 2023

Information

Type

"The night is cold and lonely, but I have the moon, the stars, the crisp wind and the soft thud of leather boots on cobbled stone for company. Yonder, candlelight flickers behind a murky window..."

Character Showcase

Summary

"Once per game, at night, choose a player: they learn who you are."

The Nightwatchman is known by one player.

How to Run

Each night, wake the Nightwatchman. If they shake their head, put them back to sleep. If they point at a player, put the Nightwatchman to sleep, wake the chosen player and show them the “This character selected you” info token and the Nightwatchman token, then point to the Nightwatchman player before putting them back to sleep. Mark the Nightwatchman with the “No ability” reminder token.

If the Nightwatchman is drunk or poisoned when they choose a player, put them back to sleep, do not wake the chosen player and mark that they have used their once per game ability.

If there is a Vortox in play, wake the player the Nightwatchman chose, then show that player the relevant tokens and point to any player except the Nightwatchman.

Examples

Lachlan is the Nightwatchman. He chooses Abdallah. Abdallah learns that Lachlan is the Nightwatchman.

Marianna is the drunk Nightwatchman. She chooses Amy. Amy does not wake, and does not learn that Marianna is the Nightwatchman, because the Nightwatchman has no ability.

Ben is the Nightwatchman and Vortox is in play. Ben chooses Sarah. Sarah learns that Lewis is the Nightwatchman. Even though the Nightwatchman has their ability, the information is false.

Tips & Tricks

As the Nightwatchman, the two most important questions for you to ask yourself are "When should I use my ability?" and "On whom should I use my ability?" (Using the word "whom" instead of "who" makes you sound waaaay smarter ;)

Using your ability early in the game makes sure that you get to use your ability. Like the Seamstress or the Slayer, it would be a shame to die on the first few days or nights of the game and never get to use your ability at all. using your ability early, even on a less-than-ideal player, means you get some benefit. And will often be more than enough. If someone, anyone, knows that you are the Nightwatchman, then they won't vote for you to be executed and will probably convince others that you are the Nightwatchman too.

You can even use your ability on the first night if you want. This guarantees that you will gain some benefit, since no deaths can occur until the first day or the second night.

Using your ability late in the game is riskier, because you will need both skill and luck to stay alive to get to that point, but much more useful. In extreme cases, it can win the game. For example, if just three players are alive and you choose one of them to learn that you are the Nightwatchman (and they reveal this to the group), then the possible Demon candidates has been reduced from one in three to one in two, or this may even reveal who the Demon is specifically, if the player you chose can be confirmed as good.

When deciding which player to choose, you almost always want to choose someone who is good and who can be confirmed as good. If you choose a good player, they will later claim that you are indeed the Nightwatchman, but you claiming that they are also good may fall flat. If they have already been confirmed good, via characters such as the Empath or the Dreamer, then their claim that you are good has much more weight. When two players claim that each other are good, the good team will want to know that these two players are not Minion and Demon. Before choosing, pay attention to which players are the most trustworthy, and consider them to be the player you choose at night.

If you do choose an evil player, this is still useful. If the evil player later claims that you are indeed the Nightwatchman, then you have confirmed your own identity to the group. You may die quickly thereafter by the Demon, but knowing which team you are on this is still helpful information for the good team generally. However, if the player you chose refuses to admit to the group that they were chosen by the Nightwatchman, you can be fairly certain that they are evil, since good players have little incentive to stay silent about this, at least for the entire game.

If you are a good player that knows who the Nightwatchman is, you can reveal this information immediately the next dawn, or wait until the late game to do so. Revealing immediately means that there is one less player to consider for execution each day, which increases your odds of finding and executing the Demon. Revealing later on can be a fantastic help for the good team, even revealing after you are dead but the Nightwatchman is still alive. Waiting until there are just three, four, or five players left alive before telling the group what you know drastically increases your odds of winning.

Bluffing as the Nightwatchman

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

The Nightwatchman is a difficult character to bluff as, mostly because it needs two evil players to co-ordinate extremely well to do so. Unlike the Washerwoman or Librarian, you can't simply claim to be the character, give your information about the character of your fellow evil player, and hope that they play along. The Nightwatchman works in reverse. THEY will need to claim that they know YOUR character. This will usually mean that you both need to plan to do this beforehand, which takes some conniving.

The easiest way to claim to be the Nightwatchman is to play along with a fellow evil player when they claim that you are the Nightwatchman, and not to initiate things. Real Nightwatchmen usually wait until they have used their ability before claiming their character to the group.

If you claim to be the Nightwatchman who has chosen a player, and that player is good, they will know that you are evil. Saying "I must have been drunk or poisoned" will probably be understood to be the hasty excuse that it is. Be prepared for a showdown. This player will know that you are evil, but the rest of the group will only know that one of you is evil.

Have a ready made reason as to why you used your ability early in the game or late in the game, and why you used your ability on the player that you did.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 		<div id='character-details'>
-			[[File:icon_goblin.png|250px]]
+			[[File:icon_nightwatchman.png|250px]]
 			<span style="display: block; color: black; font-size: 20px; text-align: center; margin-top: 10px;">Information</span>
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 				<tr>
 					<td>Type</td>
-					<td>[[Character Types#Minion|Minion]]</td>
+					<td>[[Character Types#Townsfolk|Townsfolk]]</td>
 				</tr>
 			</table>
-			<p class='flavour'>"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?"</p>
+			<p class='flavour' style="font-size: 15px">"The night is cold and lonely, but I have the moon, the stars, the crisp wind and the soft thud of leather boots on cobbled stone for company. Yonder, candlelight flickers behind a murky window..."</p>
+			<span style="display: block; color: black; font-size: 20px; text-align: center; margin-top: 20px;">Character Showcase</span>
+			<youtube>4eXQlJG_8Nc</youtube>
 		</div>
@@ Line 28: / Line 31: @@
 		<div class="small-12 large-6 columns">
 == Summary ==
-"If you publicly claim to be the Goblin when nominated & are executed that day, your team wins."
+"Once per game, at night, choose a player: they learn who you are."
-The Goblin takes revenge if the town knowingly executes them.
+The Nightwatchman is known by one player.
+*
+*
 		</div>
 		<div class="small-12 large-6 columns" style="padding-right: 0;">
 == How to Run ==
-When nominated, any player may claim to be the Goblin before voting starts. When any player does so, declare to the group that the player has claimed Goblin before starting the vote. If the Goblin does so and is then executed that day, their team wins.
+Each night, wake the Nightwatchman. If they shake their head, put them back to sleep. If they point at a player, put the Nightwatchman to sleep, wake the chosen player and show them the “This character selected you” info token and the Nightwatchman token, then point to the Nightwatchman player before putting them back to sleep. Mark the Nightwatchman with the “No ability” reminder token.
-This claim of Goblin can be as joking or as serious as the player likes, the simple point is that if they claim to be the Goblin in any way when nominated before votes start they have satisfied the ability requirements. This is why you should always confirm that a player has claimed Goblin to the whole group.
+If the Nightwatchman is drunk or poisoned when they choose a player, put them back to sleep, do not wake the chosen player and mark that they have used their once per game ability.
-If a Goblin is executed without claiming Goblin when nominated, the game continues. The Goblin must claim Goblin the same day they are nominated and executed, claims on previous days are irrelevant.
+If there is a Vortox in play, wake the player the Nightwatchman chose, then show that player the relevant tokens and point to any player except the Nightwatchman.
 		</div>
@@ Line 52: / Line 56: @@
 			<div class='example'>
-				Abdallah is the Goblin. Alex nominates Abdallah, and Abdallah claims to be the Goblin. Votes are taken, and Abdallah is about to die. Other nominations occur later today, but Abdallah is executed. Evil wins.
+				Lachlan is the Nightwatchman. He chooses Abdallah. Abdallah learns that Lachlan is the Nightwatchman.
 			</div>
 			<div class='example'>
-				Lewis is the {{Good|Artist}}, and claims to be the Goblin when nominated. He is executed, and the game continues.
+				Marianna is the drunk Nightwatchman. She chooses Amy. Amy does not wake, and does not learn that Marianna is the Nightwatchman, because the Nightwatchman has no ability.
 			</div>
 			<div class='example'>
-				Doug is the Goblin. He claimed to be the Goblin yesterday and the day before, but not today. He is executed. The game continues.
+				Ben is the Nightwatchman and Vortox is in play. Ben chooses Sarah. Sarah learns that Lewis is the Nightwatchman. Even though the Nightwatchman has their ability, the information is false.
 			</div>
@@ Line 72: / Line 76: @@
 == 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!
+* As the Nightwatchman, the two most important questions for you to ask yourself are "When should I use my ability?" and "On whom should I use my ability?" (Using the word "whom" instead of "who" makes you sound waaaay smarter ;)
-* 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 {{Good|Fortune Teller}} claims, so I think you're probably just lying!"), make multiple character claims to different people ("What, I never claimed {{Good|Dreamer}} to Alan; I've been the {{Good|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 {{Good|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. {{Good|Undertaker}}, {{Good|Savant}}, or {{Good|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 {{Evil|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?
+* Using your ability early in the game makes sure that you get to use your ability. Like the {{Good|Seamstress}} or the {{Good|Slayer}}, it would be a shame to die on the first few days or nights of the game and never get to use your ability at all. using your ability early, even on a less-than-ideal player, means you get some benefit. And will often be more than enough. If someone, anyone, knows that you are the Nightwatchman, then they won't vote for you to be executed and will probably convince others that you are the Nightwatchman too.
-* Encourage other players to claim Goblin, whether they're good or evil! Other evil Minions like the {{Evil|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!
+* You can even use your ability on the first night if you want. This guarantees that you will gain some benefit, since no deaths can occur until the first day or the second night.
-* Trying to get the town to execute you for benign reasons (e.g. to have your ability checked by an {{Good|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!
+* Using your ability late in the game is riskier, because you will need both skill and luck to stay alive to get to that point, but much more useful. In extreme cases, it can win the game. For example, if just three players are alive and you choose one of them to learn that you are the Nightwatchman (and they reveal this to the group), then the possible Demon candidates has been reduced from one in three to one in two, or this may even reveal who the Demon is specifically, if the player you chose can be confirmed as good.
-* Beware of the {{Good|Chef}} and the {{Good|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!)
+* When deciding which player to choose, you almost always want to choose someone who is good and who can be confirmed as good. If you choose a good player, they will later claim that you are indeed the Nightwatchman, but you claiming that they are also good may fall flat. If they have already been confirmed good, via characters such as the {{Good|Empath}} or the {{Good|Dreamer}}, then their claim that you are good has much more weight. When two players claim that each other are good, the good team will want to know that these two players are not Minion and Demon. Before choosing, pay attention to which players are the most trustworthy, and consider them to be the player you choose at night.
-* 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 do choose an evil player, this is still useful. If the evil player later claims that you are indeed the Nightwatchman, then you have confirmed your own identity to the group. You may die quickly thereafter by the Demon, but knowing which team you are on this is still helpful information for the good team generally. However, if the player you chose refuses to admit to the group that they were chosen by the Nightwatchman, you can be fairly certain that they are evil, since good players have little incentive to stay silent about this, at least for the entire game.
-* 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.
+* If you are a good player that knows who the Nightwatchman is, you can reveal this information immediately the next dawn, or wait until the late game to do so. Revealing immediately means that there is one less player to consider for execution each day, which increases your odds of finding and executing the Demon. Revealing later on can be a fantastic help for the good team, even revealing after you are dead but the Nightwatchman is still alive. Waiting until there are just three, four, or five players left alive before telling the group what you know drastically increases your odds of winning.
 		</div>
@@ Line 102: / Line 96: @@
 		<div class="small-12 large-12 columns" style="padding-right: 0;">
-== Fighting the Goblin ==
+== Bluffing as the Nightwatchman ==
-* 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 {{Good|Fortune Teller}}, the {{Good|Slayer}}, the {{Good|Snake Charmer}}, or the {{Good|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 {{Good|Ravenkeeper}}, {{Good|Fortune Teller}}, {{Good|Dreamer}}, {{Good|Investigator}}, or {{Good|Town Crier}} can be very useful. Even gaining some secondary information about who is who, such as via the {{Good|Chambermaid}} or the {{Good|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 {{Good|Investigator}}, {{Good|Chef}}, {{Good|Clockmaker}}, or {{Good|Undertaker}}, both to confirm which players are getting good information, and which player this points to as the Demon.
+When bluffing as the Nightwatchman, there are a few things you should keep in mind:
-* 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.
+* The Nightwatchman is a difficult character to bluff as, mostly because it needs two evil players to co-ordinate extremely well to do so. Unlike the {{Good|Washerwoman}} or {{Good|Librarian}}, you can't simply claim to be the character, give your information about the character of your fellow evil player, and hope that they play along. The Nightwatchman works in reverse. THEY will need to claim that they know YOUR character. This will usually mean that you both need to plan to do this beforehand, which takes some conniving.
-* 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 {{Good|Savant}} or the {{Good|Flowergirl}}, but also works well if you have an ability still to be used, such as the {{Good|Slayer}} or the {{Good|Mayor}}.
+* The easiest way to claim to be the Nightwatchman is to play along with a fellow evil player when they claim that you are the Nightwatchman, and not to initiate things. Real Nightwatchmen usually wait until they have used their ability before claiming their character to the group.
-* 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!
+* If you claim to be the Nightwatchman who has chosen a player, and that player is good, they will know that you are evil. Saying "I must have been drunk or poisoned" will probably be understood to be the hasty excuse that it is. Be prepared for a showdown. This player will know that you are evil, but the rest of the group will only know that one of you is evil.
+* Have a ready made reason as to why you used your ability early in the game or late in the game, and why you used your ability on the player that you did.
 		</div>
@@ Line 137: / Line 114: @@
 [[Category:Experimental Characters]]
-[[Category:Minions]]
+[[Category:Townsfolk]]