Witches and Jesters

[Randyxpxp]

I’ve noticed increasingly lately witches and jesters who blindly vote off evils and end up either losing the game because all the evils are dead or making themselves a target of evils and getting killed at night. This seems more prevalent in the case of jesters, who often push to lynch others as a means of getting themselves lynched. This frequently backfires however, and I’ve observed many an occasion when the witch or jester ruins their own chances to win by being overly aggressive towards other evils, or even town. I’ve even seen situations in which, with only three players alive, the jester lynches one of the others even though doing so will always result in a jester loss. The importance of evils to witches and jesters seems poorly apprehended by many, and I figured I would make a post about what not to do as witch or jester, with a particular focus on All Any as opposed to Ranked.

Witches:

1. Be neutral within reason. Don’t vote against other evils unless you’ve already coordinated an alignment with an evil faction, or if not voting against the evil would likely result in you being executed or lynched. Don’t push players for roles. Don’t make yourself a target. You’re a witch and you just need to survive to see the town lose.
2. Don’t claim TI unless it’s strategic to do so. Often in AA, witches can keep a low profile and even claim witch in mid to late game to distinguish themselves from mafia and NK. Don’t out an evil unless this serves a strategic purpose. Claiming sheriff D3 and saying you found a mafia is generally not strategic. It will more than likely make you a target of mafia and other evils and you are likely harming yourself by lynching mafia.
3. If you’re unsure who is evil, don’t vote. If you don’t want to look suspicious by voting guilty or voting innocent, you can abstain. In some scenarios, there will only be a single evil left, whose identity you may or may not know. If you don’t know the last evil’s identity, it is very important that you don’t vote anyone up unless you’re sure they’re not an evil you need to win, such as a last mafia or lone NK. Witches who habitually vote players up are more likely to lynch a fellow evil at some point and harm themselves, as opposed to witches who simply don’t vote and remain neutral.

Jesters:

1. As jester, you need other evils alive or else the game ends. This particularly means mafia, NK, and vampires. If you vote off other evils, this harms you in three ways: 1) you aren’t being lynched that day and you risk dying that night; 2) the elimination of evils can cause the game to end before you’ve been lynched; and 3) you can make yourself a target of evils such as mafia and NK who may want to kill you for your aggression. Don’t blindly vote off evils without regard for these three factors.
2. Voting off town as jester can also harm you. If all the town are dead and the faction alignments have been resolved (e.g. the mafia have lynched the NK), you lose. Lynching anyone other than yourself has the potential to harm you if not prove disastrous, except in cases in which the player is likely to kill you at night and lynching them will save you, such as a vigilante or jailor. It may also be in your interest sometimes to lynch players who display a resistance to lynching you.
3. If you suspect or know someone is evil, it is more likely that lynching them will harm you rather than benefit you. Instead, it may prove worthwhile to, for example, whisper them and solicit their assistance in getting you lynched. Evils would generally rather lynch a jester than allow themselves or one of their allies to be lynched. Faking TI to get an evil (or town) lynched is more likely to pressure the town to lynch your target rather than you, unless you can convincingly make yourself appear to be an exe (or otherwise make yourself a more preferable lynch), but even then, the town may not lynch you if you appear to be NE, and could be a jester faking exe. Voting aggressively can also, as stated, make you a target of evils at night and get you killed. If you’re in a scenario in which you are a swing vote, you can claim jester and force the opposing factions to lynch you on the threat that you will side against whichever faction doesn’t vote you. This should prove effective against players who understand jester dynamics. If they refuse to give you a win, then you threaten to side against them so they can’t win either.

[Shyyster]

no

[GrumpyGoomba]

k

[Randyxpxp]

k

k