10 Tips every NEW Blood on the Clocktower Storyteller should know
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2024
- In this video, Devin and Mary Kate discussed different tips on how to be a storyteller in Blood on the Clocktower. They both are relatively new to storytelling and want to share their experiences with you. Let us know in the comments below what are some good tips to tell new storytellers in Blood on the Clocktower. Also, shout out to KC and Jared in giving up tips on how to story for our first game of Blood on the Clocktower.
@BloodontheClocktower
Introduction - 00:00:00
Tip 1 - 00:01:41
Tip 2 - 00:03:06
Tip 3 - 00:04:50
Tip 4 - 00:06:57
Tip 5 - 00:08:20
Tip 6 - 00:09:25
Tip 7 - 00:10:00
Tip 8 - 00:11:01
Tip 9 - 00:12:59
Tip 10 - 00:14:48
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This is fantastic advice. It's really interesting to see what you guys see as important. It's been so long since I was a new Storyteller that it's easy for me to forget about things like the Virgin's reminder token. But thinking back, that was something that I absolutely needed to stay on top of back when I was first starting out.
It’s always a good day when Daddy Ben thinks your video has some value for new storytellers! 😂
Thanks so much. It’s really cool getting a comment from the person who taught us so much about Storytelling in NRB videos.
Very helpful tips for new storytellers! I would just like to add to the 9th tip: if you realize that your group is acting TOO childish and reckless, not listening to your orders at all and it's getting too big of a struggle for running the game, then don't be afraid to pull out Hell's Librarian Fabled token and explain to the players that if they won't listen to the storyteller's requirements, something bad will happen to them in the game. That really has helped me get back on control over the flow of the game. Some children just need some proper motivation of consequences ;D
Haha love it! Sometimes you got to show them what’s up. Lol
Great tips!! I am definitely gonna send this to members of my clocktower group who have interest in storytelling. I have two to add from my experience storytelling ~15 games so far that are worth noting:
1) Try to anticipate how game states play out before they happen: First example, If there’s a virgin in the town make sure you think it out beforehand who will die if the town nominates the virgin, characters like spy/recluse nominating can cause you to hesitate, which that hesitation can give information to the town and they can read into it. Thinking about scenarios like that before they play out leads to a more seamless experience. Second example is if there is a poisoner and there are still information gatherers in play, try to think about what you would show each role if they were to get poisoned. It can take a minute to find the best possible way to handle it and being on top of it can be really helpful. I had a game recently where there ravenkeeper got poisoned and killed and it was so sudden, that when I woke him up I realized I was entirely unprepared on what I was going to show him and he might have got the sense I was figuring it out on the fly because of poison.
2)
Next tip is to make a conscious effort (but not too obvious) to try to understand what the evil team is bluffing as. I like hopping around to a bunch of the conversations during the day and joining the evil team briefly if I see an opportunity and straight up asking them. One of the great privileges as a storyteller is corroborating evil bluffs when the evil team pulls off a cool play and you always want to be on top of it incase it happens.
Great tips! I especially like the tip about understanding what the evil team is trying to bluff as. This is probably my biggest weakness as a storyteller (Devin), but it makes the game go so much better. It takes work, and it will take time to get good at it. So for any new storytellers reading don’t stress too much!
These are both excellent tips, thank you!
Wish I found this before I ran my first games a month ago. It went well, but did forget a few steps.
I now have about 10 games under my belt, including 2 of Bad Moon Rising. I will be running some games this weekend for a birthday get together with my highest player count so far. very excited about the possibilities and potentially getting a request for Sects and Violets. So much mind fuckery to be had!
Hey hope the games for the birthday went great! Also, sects and violets is really good.
The tip about planning your setups in advance is cool - especially in the beginning :) Before I ran my first game, I put so much thinking into what I wanted to put in the bag! Now after hundreds of games, it comes way easier, but when you're running a new script, at least make sure the game is balanced the way you built it, but also plan for which interesting interactions might happen :)
Yep, we found it way easier to function if we had an idea of how the game might go. I think adding planning for interesting intersections is a really good suggestion when planning for a new script.
Great job with these tips! You've done your homework, teachers. Tip #7 is what I tell people over and over. The more you watch it played, the more you will know about it.
I've run about 25 games, and every new script brings new mistakes (lessons). To keep tokens from sticking, I take them out of the bag and hand them to players. It's still random, who gets what.
To save time on game day, I have roles listed on my phone for 7, 8, and 9 players (different roles). Then I have add-ons for 10, 11, 12 players (1 minion, 2 townsfolk), and also for 13, 14, and 15 players. As soon as I setup the Grim, and answer questions, I grab those tokens and pass them out. While setting up, I try to get someone else to read the rules and explain the characters.
Keep things moving in the day phase, but take your time at night. Prepare for each character, like Dreamer, with the true or false tokens to show. Then take a few seconds after you put them to sleep, to see if you need to follow up on that, before you go to the next player.
I write most interactions in a small notebook, along with gossips and juggles, on the right side of the Grim. You can also use it at night for Mez words or "Use Your Ability?" or "Did anyone say the Mez word?" or "What are you bluffing?"
Thanks for the encouragement! It’s great reading all of the tips you’ve provided. I’m honestly taking notes on your tips, so I can implement them the next time I run a game. Some of the stuff I haven’t even thought bout before. I am for sure going to be implementing the note taking idea on interactions for the next time I run a game and being more patient going from one person to the next at night.
You should be the one making a video on tips for BOTC and not us! haha 😆 thanks for taking the time for giving us some tips!
Having run like 300ish games of BotC, I think this is exactly the advice to give new STs.
There's more advice which leads to a more balanced or interesting game. Things like when to help each team ect.
But, especially for irl play, this is *the* advice a new ST should listen to. One thing to add: allow your players to do cool shit if they think of it, e.g. Spy procing virgin after mentioning that's their plan.
Thanks so much for the kind words! That’s high praise coming from someone who has so much experience running BOTC.
Great video! Just started watching playthroughs and am hoping to try ST with a new group soon. Thanks!
I’m glad you liked it! It definitely gets easier as you go. Good luck with your storytelling!
We're planning on running this game for the first time during our New Year's Eve party.... thanks so much for all the really helpfuly advice. Am already looking forward to it, although having never played and being the Storyteller for first ever game is a little daunting 😆
That’s great! I’m glad the video was helpful. Hope all goes well with running it for the first time. When a mistake does happen, just roll with it and you’ll improve on the next one! We still make mistakes all the time. Lol
That was a great list! For my first time i got a smaller group to run some Teensyville so I could practice the mechanics a little because I would have died if I jumped straight into a 12 players game hahaha. It also helped a lot to have those few players who've played at least once in the bigger group.
That’s awesome. We have yet to run a game of Teensyville. I bet it’s a great way to do BOTC for the first time!
Great tips. Game definitely gets easier the more familiar you are with characters. I like watching the ECG videos too, they always have fun :)
Thanks! It definitely get way easier to remember things the more you do it. I’ll have to check their videos out. Do you have a favorite?
I'm running my 1st game soon and I'm glad for the advice. Thanks for love about mistakes. I'm running this at a local bar and worried I've got myself into deep. Wish me luck!
You got this in the bag! If a good time is able to be had, then it’s a success. Even despite of any mistakes that may come.
Some great tips here ! The more people get involved in the game the more fun it is for everyone
Thanks y’all! It is really fun when everyone is super into it. That’s one of the things I like about storytelling; I get to see what everyone is doing and how they’re experiencing the game.
Nice vid, thank you!
Yeah no problem glad it help!
I agree with most of your points, however, I think that 5 minutes for each day is just not enough to play the game out and think through different scenarios in private while also getting social reads and other info. Maybe it is enough in Trouble Brewing but definitely not in other scripts where there is the extra burden of figuring out which demon is in play. Also, if you look at streams from TPI, the first day phase (excluding gossips, juggling, nominations and voting) is always longer than 5 minutes, and very often longer than 10. Later in the game I also tend to make the days shorter 4-6 minutes for private conversations and on the last day I often immediately go to nominations. Plus, I guess it also depends on the players, so maybe if they prefer shorter games you could run BotC with 3-5 minute day phases all the way.
Yeah, we only have experience playing trouble brewing and that time frame has worked out for us. Also, completely agree about the last day usually not needing private conversations at all. Thank you for giving a word of advance on more advance scripts too. We will definitely keep that in mind as we move to BMR and S&V.
It's also worth remembering that the group size matters for this timing issue! If you play with just 9 players, shorter days are fine, but if you're running for 12 or even a full 20, then you'll have to make sure you're giving the players time to scheme and coordinate, while also making sure the game doesn't last for 4 hours ;)
The first day definitely needs to be the longest. Just for private chats, I tend to give more experienced groups 10-15 minutes for this, like you'll see in TPI videos, but if I'm running in person, it'll probably be closed to 20, because people will want to grab more snacks, make tea, and go to the toilet ;)
The following days should be progressively shorter when it comes to private chat time, but if something freaky happened in the night phase, you should probably give the players a longer chat window to first freak out and then figure stuff out :)
I want to play this game so much. I don't have the means to buy it for myself, so I made little tokens out of cardboard and a grimoire out of a pizza box. I also translated all Trouble Brewing role names and their descriptions to Dutch, because I know not everyone I want to invite speaks English at a level that is sufficient for understanding this pretty complicated game. I'm very pleased with my translations. I hope I can gather some people to play a game soon :) It'll be my first time and I'll have to be storyteller right away...I'm nervous but excited! Thanks for the tips. I hope my little bootleg game functions to a reasonable degree.
That’s the best thing ever! Love your dedication and hope all goes well with your game. Glad the tips were able to help you out.
Tip 10 :)
Yeah! Always got to end on an uplifting note.
Tip 5: Yes, put powerful townfolk abilities in the game but consider balance (i.e. if you choose Imp and Scarlet Woman, consider making washerwoman, investigator, or librarian drunk). Evil starts the game losing
I agree and disagree with you. In the context of storytelling for the first time and storytelling to new people, more powerful abilities the better. Everyone’s lack of inexperience is going to make up for there being so many good abilities. People are going to be so overwhelm that they are going to have no idea of how to even use their abilities. Once there is experience in running the game and people playing the game, then balance is a must, so I definitely agree with that sentiment! It’s funny we actually have been having this same conversation over the last couple of days.
devin so dashing with the haircut
Amen! Haircut does wonders lol
haha, just realized that sects and violets is a pun on sex and violence because of how you pronounced it.
Honestly, when I hear people pronounce the “S&V” script, sex and violence is the only thing I hear. It wasn’t until I saw it written down where I had to do a double take and think that doesn’t say sex and violence. Lol
I bet the pointing down tip is often the most useful 🤣👇
Yeah it really is! Save a life and point down. Haha
"Forget em" 😂😂😂
Middle school teacher Mary Kate needs to drop the people's elbow
Lol you know it 😂