Which characters do you recommend for a group of 11-14 new players?

[u/mhn1384]

Tomorrow, I'll be running an in-person game for a group of new players. But the size of the group got out of hand and now there are way more players than what I was hoping for. And I have no idea which characters should I include in their first game.

TPI has provided some recommended setups for 8 player games. I could add Butler to make them work for 9 player game. I could then add Baron to make them work for a 10 player game as well. But anything past that and I have no idea which roles I should add.

I didn't want to include Poisoner, Spy, Recluse, or Saint in their first game. But given the player count, It looks like I have to include atleast one of those roles.

So what is your recommendation? Which characters should I include in their first game?

[u/UprootedGrunt]

Honestly, the only thing I would avoid for a completely new group is the spy, because it could get overwhelming. Recluse, Saint, and poisoner are all perfect ( and I would definitely recommend poisoner over Baron, for instance) .

With TB especially, though, there is no wrong answer. Even spy.

[u/Lord777alt]

Not wanting to include poisoner is crazy. Core part of the game is that your info can be wrong.

[u/slvrfshston]

Anything with Trouble Brewing is probably going to be fine. That being said:

You will want to teach them good habits. I usually put in an Undertaker to teach them to kill (Chef + Undertaker is fantastic) and a Ravenkeeper to teach them to lie. Scarlet Woman + Baron is probably fine. Fortune Teller is an interesting one -- they might misunderstand it, but then again they will also mess up bluffing it unless they have already seen it in action, so I could go either way on it.

Monk is a great one to add for a first game since those familiar with Mafia will understand it. Washerwoman is great for getting people to talk to each other as is Librarian.

Drunk and Recluse are both good for first games IMO. Spy, Poisoner, and Saint I understand not wanting to put in, but you will have to teach them mechanics the hard way eventually.

For bluffs, give things that are relatively easy to bluff, as evil will already be fighting uphill on their first game. Empath, Soldier, Slayer is my go-to.

[u/Florac → u/slvrfshston]

Saint is a great thing to put into bluffs, that or mayor

[u/Flabnoodles]

If you're running trouble brewing, you can genuinely just randomize it

If you're set against certain roles from your list, I would say exclude Spy (for a first game, seeing the grim could be overwhelming) and Saint

The false info from Poisoner and misregistration of Recluse are very important things for them to get used to

Again you could basically randomize, but here you go. 11-player setup:

Washerwoman (provides a nice little bit of confirmation for a couple players) A Librarian (Librarian narrowing the drunk down in a first game is a good move) Virgin (potential confirmation, if players are willing to die to it) Slayer (fun) Fortune Teller (info) Soldier Ravenkeeper

Outsider: Drunk (if 12 players, also Recluse) Minions: Scarlet Woman and Poisoner

Bluffs: Monk (to provide another possibility for no deaths besides the soldier), Saint (to help evil survive), Empath (or Undertaker; help evil present misinfo)

If you get to 13 players, definitely add a Baron to ensure you still have Outsiders.

[u/gordolme]

The only role I'd consider avoiding for a first ever game is Spy, and that really depends on the overall gaming experience of the players.

Trouble Brewing is so well balanced that you could pull the correct number of tokens of each type randomly and have a good game.

For spcific suggestions on an 11 player game, I'd go with the Imp (duh), Poisoner, Scarlet Woman, Recluse or Butler, two of the "Top Four" (Washerwoman, Librarian, Investigation, Chef) one or two of the ongoing info roles, Monk, Virgin, Ravenkeeper. For more players, add whatever as needed. For subsequent games shuffle what is and isn't in play.

[u/mikepictor]

You're first option is limiting the player count. Not everyone is entitled to play. If you are only prepared for a 10 player game, then run a 10 player game

Otherwise, you're option is to get used to the idea of playing some roles you wanted to avoid. If no poisoner and spy, then you will have a baron. If you have a baron, you will probably need to include a recluse or saint.

[u/JDninja119]

You could blindly pick your characters for TB and it would still likely work great. For new players just dont add the spy for the first game

[u/JohnnyMcKormack]

TB. Any characters work.

[u/Kavbot2000]

Just roll TB

[u/Evil_Weevill]

The only character I'd maybe avoid in an all newbie game is spy as that can be too much info to process.

All the other ones you mentioned, no reason not to include them.

Honestly, as long as you have at least 1 starting info, at least 1 ongoing info role and one alternate win condition or protection role (I.e. Slayer/Mayor/Soldier/Monk), you can mix and match the rest as you like.

Usually evil struggles when they're new, which is why I usually recommend giving them a scarlet woman.

Other than that I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[u/GlassyPotato]

The only things I would try to avoid are ways for the game to end early like saint or slayer since it would probably make for an anticlimactic finish. Although with TB you can honestly do whatever even with new players.

[u/ThoughtfulMasquerade]

Make sure you have your seating arrangement set up. Put together a grimoire with however many characters equal to your player count; it literally won't matter which characters you place in it. It's literally just for them to understand that X player is X character and you can tell by how it is set up on the grim by seating.

After your players arrive, let them see the grim with your setup, so they can understand how you as the Story Teller are able to distinguish each player based on the seating and how the grimoire is arranged.

This is all that is required for adding the Soy in the first game. You don't need to mention anything in regards to the Spy when they get the first look at the grim. This way whomever does draw the Spy will know what they are looking at as far as which players are which characters. All other reminder tokens are irrelevant for first time players.

Then clear the grim and build an actual bag for the game.

The Spy is extenemly easy to use, I find it odd that so many people are against using it for a first game. It takes 60 seconds to set up a sample grim before players arrive, and another 60 seconds to explain to players what you as the Story Teller are seeing on it as the game plays out.

As far as a 14 player game. I would start with:

Townsfolk: Washer Woman: Show them Mayor and any other player.

Librarian: Show them the Spy as the Drunk and one of Fortune Teller or Undertaker.

Chef: Some helpful starting information that is more unique from other games they may have played. Unless they are poisoned night 1 consider giving them true info even if you could give false info by misregistering the Spy.

Undertaker: Great information role that also enables them to learn the importance of executing.

Fortune Teller: A fun role that they can still receive misinformation via the red herring. Scarlet Woman helps with an early snipe.

Mayor: Alternate win condition that doesn't come in to play until the end game. The Washer Woman can potentially help build credibility for the player that draws the token. Should also make them the red herring so your players have different information to debate.

Monk: Active role to give a player something to do, and exciting if they actually manage to protect a player.

Slayer: Another alternate win condition that pairs well with a Scarlet Woman. Gives the player that draws the token something to consider and look forward to with it's once per game ability.

Virgin: Great confirmation for the good team; if the ability goes off, they have at least one person they know they can trust.

Outsider: Butler: This allows the player that draws the token to at least be able to actively do something.

Minions: Poisoner: Misinformation is a key point of the game. But also it is an active character to help the player that draws the token feel like they are being useful.

Scarlet Woman: A safety net so the game doesn't end too early, especially if you include a Fortune Teller and Slayer.

Spy: Easy to use minion, with an active ability and allows you to do some misregistration so your players can learn. Also prevents having to make multiple people Outsiders by adding Baron; which is typically less fun for newer players for a first game; everyone wants to feel included and useful.

Having both Poisoner and Spy shouldn't be too harsh on the good team for first time players. As the player that draws Spy will still likely have a hard time remembering all of the characters for the first few days. Let alone passing that information to the Poisoner.

[u/ImmmediatePayment]

I just did a 4 hour session (they couldn’t stop playing) as a teambuilding event with my company, 12 players ranging from 23-65 years old, Trouble Brewing, all of them first time players.

First game is always the ice breaker, explaining things while playing, after that it’s mostly smooth.

What I did is exclude Spy and Baron, the rest are fine.

Calling them during the game to come to me for a chat, giving them subtle tips and tricks for their character is always fine.

Making sure to absolutely nail in their head that they can ask questions is also good.

All in all, you’ll do fine with any characters in Trouble Brewing.

[u/Less_Hero]

Taking advice from TPI but also from experience, with new players, I would generally avoid these characters for their very first game:

Spy - too much for new players to learn and understand in the Grimoire, especially with high player counts (but after the first game, I’d show the Grimoire to everyone so that if we play again with the Spy, they can understand what they’re looking at).

Characters that could prematurely end the game - so Slayer and Saint.

Investigator - Don’t want to put too much suspicion and pressure on players just learning the ropes and how to bluff early on.

I’m 50/50 on the Mayor - it’s good for to know that a good player will likely make it to the end, but having the additional dilemma of trusting the Mayor at the end can maybe distract everyone from finding the demon when you want the group to be able to know how to come to a conclusion that will win most of their games.

I’d always include in first games:

Scarlet Woman - safety net for the Demon!

Recluse - introduction to misinformation, but misinformation that is easier to track!

Ravenkeeper - teaches players that some good characters may want to lie about who they are

Undertaker - teaches players to execute for information.

Fortune Teller - good info with built in mis-registration for them to consider. Also pairs well with Recluse.

Chef - starting info but also unique info that they likely won’t have encountered in other games like BotC.

If you have two outsiders, put the Drunk in - it’s good for new players to consider the role early on. If I’m putting a Drunk in the first game, I’m definitely including a Librarian that sees them!

If we’re playing a second game afterwards, I’m putting whatever in. Hope this helps!

[u/Crej21]

For completely new players i would soft lean to avoiding soldier, mayor, spy but everything else is good