How to Play Blood on the Clocktower

Objective of the Game

Welcome to Ravenswood Bluff, where a chilling murder has set the town on edge! In Blood on the Clocktower, a social deduction game for five to twenty players, a Demon is on the loose, killing by night and taking human form by day. The townsfolk, each with unique information, must work together to unmask the fiend, while the Demon and its evil minions spread lies and sow suspicion.

The Good team (Townsfolk and Outsiders) wins if they successfully identify and execute the Demon. The Evil team (Demon and Minions) wins if only two players are left alive, meaning they've successfully eliminated most of the good townsfolk.

It's a thrilling battle of wits, deception, and logic. Will good prevail, or will evil overrun this once-peaceful town?

Preparation (Setup)

Alright, gather 'round, folks! Setting up Blood on the Clocktower is a breeze, especially if you follow these steps:

1. Gather Your Players: Arrange chairs in a rough circle or square, ensuring everyone can see each other. As the Storyteller, you'll need a gap to easily enter and exit the circle.
2. Prepare the Grimoire: Clip the two metal clips to the top and bottom of the game box to form the Grimoire, your secret Storyteller screen. Place it on its stand where players won't accidentally peek inside. Keep your info, night, and shroud tokens handy within it.
3. Choose an Edition: For your first game, we highly recommend Trouble Brewing (requires five or more players). Uncover its edition box and place it in the Grimoire. Add the night sheet for this edition to the right side of the Grimoire.
4. Prepare the Town Square: Place the Town Square board on the floor in the center of the circle. Put one life token (face-up) for each player on the board, matching their seating positions. Place a pile of vote tokens in the center. Partially slide the Traveller sheet under the Town Square.
5. Read the Rules to New Players: As the Storyteller, you'll read the basic rules from the setup sheet to any new players. Don't forget to demonstrate the hand signals you'll use during the night phase!
6. Secretly Choose Characters: This is where the magic begins!
   • Take the appropriate number of Townsfolk, Outsider, Minion, and Demon character tokens from your chosen edition box, as listed on the setup sheet.
   • Return any unused tokens to the edition box.
   • Keep this secret! Players should not know which characters are in the game.
   • For your first game, we don't recommend including Travellers or Fabled characters.
   • A great starting setup for an eight-player game is: Chef, Empath, Fortune Teller, Undertaker, Virgin, Drunk (Investigator), Scarlet Woman, Imp.
7. Add and Remove Characters (if needed): Some character tokens have an orange flower and text in square brackets (e.g., [+2 Outsiders]). If you have such characters, follow their instructions to add or remove tokens. The total number of character tokens should always equal the number of players.
8. Add Reminder Tokens to the Grimoire: If any chosen character tokens have green leaves at the top, add their corresponding reminder tokens to the Grimoire.
9. Pass Out Character Tokens: Shuffle all the chosen character tokens and place them in the bag. Each player secretly draws one token, then passes the bag. No peeking!
10. Add Character Tokens to the Grimoire: Collect all the character tokens from the players (face-down!) and place them in your Grimoire, matching each player's seating position. This is your secret map of who's who.

Now you're ready to begin!

The Turn of Play

Blood on the Clocktower alternates between two main phases: Night and Day.

The Night Phase

When night falls, everyone closes their eyes, and the Storyteller takes center stage. This is when secret information is exchanged and abilities are used!

1. All Players, Eyes Closed: The Storyteller instructs everyone to close their eyes.
2. Prepare the Night Sheet: Ensure the correct side of the night sheet is in the Grimoire (First Night or Other Nights). Place night tokens by characters who will act tonight, looking for leaves on their character tokens (left leaf for first night, right leaf for other nights).
3. Minion and Demon Info (First Night, 7+ players):
   • Wake all Minions and show them the Demon.
   • Wake the Demon and show them all Minions. Also, show the Demon three good character tokens that are not in play to help them bluff.
4. Wake Characters, One by One: The Storyteller goes around the circle, gently tapping players to wake them up.
   • Use hand signals to communicate silently:
     • Eyes Open: Two gentle taps on the shoulder or knee.
     • Eyes Closed: Hand over your eyes.
     • Yes/No: Nod/shake your head.
     • Good/Evil: Thumbs-up/thumbs-down.
     • A Number: Hold up that many fingers (thumb to fingertips for zero).
     • A Specific Player: Point to them.
     • A Specific Character: Show their character token or point to their icon.
   • Players use their unique abilities, which might involve choosing another player to affect or receiving secret information from the Storyteller.
   • If a character dies at night before they would wake up, they don't get to use their ability.
   • Place reminder tokens as needed to track ongoing effects (e.g., a Poisoner's POISONED reminder).
5. Dawn: After all characters have acted, the Storyteller waits five to ten seconds, then declares, "All players, eyes open."
6. Declare Deaths: Immediately announce which players died during the night, but do not reveal who killed them or their character identities. If no one died, state that, but don't explain why.

The Day Phase

The sun rises, and chaos ensues! This is a talking game, folks, so get ready to chat, scheme, and accuse!

1. Discussion: Players talk freely. Good players will try to share information and deduce who the evil players are. Evil players will spread lies and sow discord. You can talk to the whole group, whisper to a neighbor, or even step aside for private conversations.
2. Nominations and Voting: When the Storyteller feels it's appropriate (usually after 5-10 minutes of discussion), they'll call for nominations.
   • A player nominates someone by simply saying, "I nominate [Player Name]." The Storyteller repeats the nomination.
   • Only alive players can nominate, and each player can only nominate once per day.
   • Only one player can be nominated at a time.
   • The nominated player gets a chance to defend themselves (10-30 seconds).
   • Tallying Votes: The Storyteller stands in the center, points at the nominee, and slowly spins clockwise, counting aloud as players raise their hands to vote.
   • Each alive player can vote for as many nominees as they wish per day.
   • Each dead player can vote only once for the rest of the game (by removing their vote token).
   • Vote Success: A vote succeeds if the nominee gets more votes than any other nominated player today, AND the number of votes equals or exceeds half the number of alive players.
   • If a vote succeeds, the nominated player is "about to die," unless a future nominee gets even more votes.
   • If a vote fails or ties, the nominee is not executed, and nominations continue.
3. Execution: At the end of the day, the player who was "about to die" (or the player with the most votes if there were multiple successful nominations) is executed.
   • The Storyteller declares this player dies.
   • The dead player flips their life token to its underside and places a vote token on it.
   • The Storyteller places a shroud token on their character token in the Grimoire and removes their reminder and night tokens.
   • Dead players lose their ability, cannot nominate, and have only one vote left for the rest of the game.
   • Crucially, their identity is NOT revealed. The mystery continues!
4. Prepare for Night: After the execution, the Storyteller takes about thirty seconds to prepare for the next night phase, then declares the day over and instructs everyone to close their eyes again.

End of Game and Scoring

The game continues, alternating between Night and Day, until one team achieves its victory condition:

• Good Team Wins: If the Demon dies, the good team immediately wins! Everyone on the good team (alive or dead) celebrates.
• Evil Team Wins: If there are only two players left alive, the evil team wins! All evil players (alive or dead) revel in their victory. This can happen if the Demon kills enough players, or if the good team executes the wrong player too many times.
• Tie-breaker: If both teams would win at the same time (e.g., the Demon dies, leaving only two players), the good team wins.

Remember, death is not the end in Ravenswood Bluff! Dead players still participate in discussions and have a crucial vote, often deciding the town's final fate.

Tips for Winning

New to Ravenswood Bluff? Here are a couple of pointers to help you navigate the treacherous streets:

1. Talk, Talk, Talk (and Listen!): Blood on the Clocktower is a talking game. As a good player, reveal your character and information, but be wary of who you trust. As an evil player, pretend to be good, spread bogus information, and listen for inconsistencies in others' stories. The more you talk and listen, the more clues you'll uncover (or create!).
2. Abilities are Key, But Death Changes Things: Each character has a powerful ability, but remember that abilities are lost immediately upon death, poisoning, or drunkenness. If you're a good player with a crucial ability, try to protect yourself! If you're evil, targeting key good abilities can cripple their information gathering. Also, if a character's ability contradicts a core rule, the character's ability takes precedence.
3. The Storyteller is Your Guide: Don't be afraid to ask the Storyteller questions, even during the game! They are the referee and the final judge of all rules. They can clarify character abilities or general rules publicly or privately. Use them as a resource to understand the game better, especially in your first few plays.