#nrb plays botc

[natjennie]

its so funny just how paranoid botc makes people like. you haven't claimed you're role yet, that's suspicious. you claimed your role on the first day, like a demon with bluffs, that's suspicious. you waited a day or two to claim your role, like a minion getting bluffs from their demon, that's suspicious. these two people talked for a long time, that's suspicious. these two people didn't talk at all, that's suspicious. why are you sticking up for that person, that's suspicious. why aren't you on board with this, that's suspicious. you think he should die, suspicious. you think he shouldn't die, suspicious. you had to ask the storyteller a question, suspicious. you're breathing? talking? thinking? suspicious as hell.

[ethereal-occultist]

Idk if anyone who follows me on here watches YouTube videos of people playing board games/social deduction games (probably just me lol) but I need to recommend No Rolls Barred in general (been watching them since they started) , but I’m especially into their in person Blood on the Clocktower videos recently, they’re so good.

[bonelessenthusiast]

nothing like getting marionetted by a marionette

[enarbee]

THE OUTFITS

[norollsbarred]

new Blood on the Clocktower tomorrow! and the new character looks really fun

[wittness]

LMAOOO. the psychopath is such an amazingly hilarious role. really out here murderin’ and playing roshambo.

[boneless-mika]

Mayor win! Mayor win!

[inkbirdie]

Me trying to explain BOTC to my friends: no but it’s really funny because the marionette lycanthrope tried to kill the sailor, which accidentally makes them both look on the level because a marionette doesn’t actually have powers but perfectly chose the one person who wouldn’t set off false drunk or poison pings or put suspicion on one of them because if the sailor is attacked by the lycanthrope the demon still gets a kill! and the marionette still believes they’re a good player which makes them all the more useful for the demon to make big plays! it’s perfect!

my friends: are you okay?

[startedwellthatsentence]

Okay I was so excited for Smosh to play BOTC. And I’m making my way through this episode. But they are SO new and it’s putting my teeth on edge so I can’t watch more than a scene or two at a time.

There are TPI members and regular BOTC players in California, even ones in Smosh-adjacent circles like Chris. I kind of hoped one of them could have guested, or at least coached an initial game or two of TB to get everyone used to play (and encouraged them to make use their multiple sets for whispers/private conversations, because whispers are pretty important but everyone is on the same couch, seemingly the whole time???)

NRB has Ben and Mara and Ken that help the less-experienced players sort out the information that they’re getting, which is helpful. Even in the beginning Fuckface and Carly could help the group with the solve and with bluffs.

On the other hand, Smosh may be able to build some new metas that could be fun to explore, since they have absolutely no experience outside of each other and their dynamics. So if we get more episodes then that could be exciting. A LOT of the Smosh cast have that willful insanity that, if they wrap their minds around the potential interactions, could result in EXCELLENT chaos.

Slowly making my way through the episode. May liveblog to relieve some of the tension.

[yellowjckets]

tag 9 people you want to get know better!

tagged by @all-seeing-ifer <333 thank u !!

last song: mirrorball according to my spotify ... yeah <3

favorite color: like a nice lavender or lilac ..... or a pastel blue ... but i am partial to a pastel pink also. i love soft colours <3

currently reading: i JUST finished the new me by halle butler, and i'm starting private rites by julia armfield my beloved <3

currently watching: the x files actually ... very slowly though cause i'm moving house. mostly been doing movies nights w my friends (the only time i ever watch movies)

last movie: we did a triple billing of easy a / lisa frankenstein / suckerpunch the other day (i was asleep for a good chunk of suckerpunch cause it was like 2am by then and i had had a long day). lisa frankenstein BELOVED easy a ICONIC. not sure what happened in the other movie cause i was sleeping on and off so idk if it counts

sweet spicy or savory: spicy spicy spicy always <3

relationship status: simple answer: single. complicated answer: i live w my ex

current obsessions: we have seen me cangel posting .... buffyverse in general <33333 also yellowjackets is still my beloved but now it's Bigger so i have to see hot takes abt it all the time (i interviewed liv for it actually my claim to fame)

tea or coffee: coffee baby! i'm not rly a tea girl (i sometimes very occasionally have a herbal one when i go through a phase). have to cut down on coffee now i'm on these meds though cause i am afraid

last thing i googled: little bo peep . which i can't tell if is worse or better with context .....

context: i made a shitty graphicdesignismypassion style poster for a party me and my mate r throwing cause i like to do it for the bit. and our gc name is little bo peep and her little queer sheep . i am the bo peep in this situation (i make all the plans and tell people what we r doing. i resent this title but alas i am known as little bo peep. and my 12 queer sheep. like the disciples or smth)

ok ok it says get to know better so i will go for some of my new mutuals hello @thechosenthree @vamptoast @justafriendofxanders @lottieurl and then ofc some of the long term ones to round it up to 9 @petzel @sitpwgs @chansaw @sofiarostova @helenekuragina

[riacte]

Okay, I will bite. What exactly is botc and how does one get into it?

Yipppee! Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game by the Pandemonium Institute (TPI) that's similar to Werewolf and Mafia (and I guess Among Us too). It operates on the basis of informed minority (evil team) vs uninformed majority (good team). The goal of evil is to kill + vote out most people on good and the goal of good is to vote out the leader of the evil team (the demon, the main baddie who kills people at night). Evil team know who each other are. Good team doesn't. This is simplified and general, there are many alternate win conditions because BOTC is a game that's ever growing in its complexity. New roles/characters are released periodically.

One huge draw of BOTC is that players can keep talking after death and they retain some agency (in the form of a single dead vote for the rest of the game). The second draw of BOTC is that everyone, good or evil, has a unique power, so you always have an incentive to play. Good and evil are both encouraged to lie for the benefit of their team. For some good characters, you have to lie or you lose. Another characteristic is that it's quite reliant on the storyteller (the host/moderator), sort of like a Dungeon Master. The storyteller's job is to balance the game so good and evil can have an exciting finale. Storyteller choices include coming up with fake information (to help evil) and deciding if someone should die (if the conditions are met). The finale is usually between 1 demon and 2 non-demon characters and the rest of the town has to decide who to kill.

I find BOTC to be inclusive because they have mechanics that allow people to join and leave mid-game and for people to be on the same team so they can share information (eg for a parent-child duo or people who don't like lying to each other).

Key terms: Townsfolk (good characters that help the good team, eg protective roles), Outsiders (good characters that hinder the good team, eg roles that cause extra deaths), Minions (evil characters that disrupt the good team, eg roles that poison information), Demons (evil characters that kill per night), Grimoire (game setup), Script (list of available characters for a game, not all of them are in the game so it gives you choices to lie and bluff)

Anyways BOTC is a large community (lots of online communities and real life meetups) and there are many, many roles to get used to. (See wiki.) People generally recommend playing/watching Trouble Brewing first, which is a "straightforward" and comparatively simple script. (As if any BOTC game can be simple lmao)

I think the easiest way to get into BOTC is to find a regular cast that you already know of / easy to get into. This is because you have to keep track of players AND their roles, and it's easier if you can already tell which player is which. For MCYT this probably means Hermitcraft or Yogs. There's also Good Time Society for Dropout fans.

However, I actually "got" into BOTC from No Rolls Barred, and it's pretty much because of the superb editing. I have the advantage of knowing the cast from HC, but I didn't know shit about the roles and couldn't keep track. NRB has a fantastic video style that shows the role of each player in public and private settings, so it's very easy to associate a player with their character. Online games have the advantage of showing us the grimoire (game setup), but NRB also edits the icons for in-person games. Even though I didn't know anyone from NRB, I found it easy to settle in. NRB cast is similar to HC cast because NRB is full of comedians/actors/theatre kids. Many of them have gimmicks they lean into so it's easy to distinguish them. (Eg. Ken is chaotic, Sully is the bumbling fool (think Ren), Laurie is always right but always loses)

NRB has a loooong public playlist that increases in complexity as the games continue, so you get to learn the game alongside the players. I also pay for NRB patreon for a new monthly BOTC and it's so good. NRB is very popular among the casual BOTC community (to the point some have called them overrated since NRB isn't the most technical channel) and they even partnered with TPI to facilitate the release of new characters.

After binging literally everything from NRB, I moved onto Noobs on the Gooftower run by Chris Grace (who was in some NRB). This felt like a natural progression since Noobs is similar to NRB's style but is more technical and they stream every week. (They're not noobs now after playing so much BOTC lmao).

The official TPI channel has some good cuts but I couldn't get into them as a beginner lol. TPI channel is the most technical/focused on gameplay mechanics out of those I mentioned here (there's more on the same level but I'm not that deep yet). TPI is for when you know many of the roles and want to see something chaotic and borderline game breaking that blows your mind. There are lots of insane plays from very smart players.

BOTC isn't for everyone and there's definitely a steep learning curve, but once you get used to it (and enjoy it), it's pretty much endless entertainment. There are tons of jargon and meta to dig into. The Hermitcraft ones confused me as a beginner so I think it's best to familiarise yourself with the game from a channel with good and clear editing (in this case I recommend NRB). I recommend watching online games in the beginner stage because the storytellers have the time to explain what they're doing and players have the opportunity to explain their plans. Good Time Society is also great for beginners but their editing is a bit confusing sometimes. Now I'm at the stage in which I recognise players but I don't know which channel they were "originally" from— it's just one big BOTC cinematic universe to me.

Also! BOTC is currently running its World Cup script tourney in which people come up with custom rules and people vote for the script they like more. It adds complexity on top of already complex mechanics but it's very fun for me.

Yayy okay this got long, I love rambling about BOTC. Sorry if it's a bit overwhelming but yeah hope this was useful!

[natjennie]

this is fycking sending me rn

[norollsbarred]

there is an nrbe (nrb enjoyers) discord made up of people on nrb tumblr if you'd like to join. it is much smaller than the botc unofficial and we often play botc there.

If there’s anyone out there who wants to play Blood on the Clocktower over voice in a discord server and doesn’t want to deal with the 3,000 member Unofficial Discord for BotC, please DM me. I’d like to get the game together but I just don’t seem to have enough friends.

[bonelessenthusiast]

giving the widow ping to the politician is diabolical 11/10 no notes

[enarbee]

I love Jon's little Willy Wonka suit

[norollsbarred]

THE babygirl blueprint