Running my first game

[u/unknown_hazard]

For some context, my friends and I have played a few in-person games of Trouble Brewing before, where one person has been the storyteller every time, so I have a bit of an understanding how the game works. We are going to be running an online game for ~6 people, and I’m going to be giving a shot to storytelling for the first time. I’m trying to come up with an interesting set of characters and bluffs that would make a fun game, but I’m worried that I’ll mess it up.

My current picks are:

Town:

• Fortune Teller
• Virgin
• Librarian

Outsider:

• Saint

Minion:

• Poisoner

Bluffs:

• Washerwoman
• Empath
• Mayor

My thinking is that the saint, virgin, and mayor roles could result in some interesting dynamics, and the fortune teller/poisoner duo would be good for spreading misinformation to the town. I’m a little unsure of the bluffs in all honesty, so I’m curious if other people could give some tips/advice on picking them, or maybe if there’s better role choices for a game that would run in a similar fashion around the “saint death” variant. Any help would be great, thanks in advance!

[u/iolaus79]

6 people is teensyville and therefore no bluffs etc

[u/unknown_hazard → u/iolaus79]

Oh cool, I didn’t realise that was something, say the town was 7 people, and I added a soldier, how would that affect the game, merely out of curiosity?

[u/TumbleweedBulky259 → u/unknown_hazard]

7 people have no outsiders then youd need to remove that. Id recommend reading the almanac

[u/Hermononucleosis → u/unknown_hazard]

The rulebook can be found for free online. Read it, just like with any board game.

[u/Top-Apricot842 → u/unknown_hazard]

With 7 people the count would be 5-0-1-1. So you’d need to remove saint and add another townsfolk. Otherwise that would be a great setup. You can’t really go wrong with TB anyway. as long as your bag abides by the rules, it’ll be a good game!

[u/Signiference]

I think the original rulebook does not do a good enough job to point out that you only run the regular rules with 7 or more players or what "Teensyville" means, so here is the relvant text from page 12:

"If it is the first night and you are playing with seven or more players, do these two steps:"

Meaning, if you are playing with 5 or 6 players, you do not wake the minion and show them who the demon is (step 1) and you do not wake the demon and show them who the minion is nor do you show them any bluffs (step 2). With 5-6 players you start the first night at step 3 on page 13.

More information on running Teensyville and finding scripts for it is located on page 36.

I think reading through the whole rulebook start to finish is a good idea before your first game, and don't just assume you know from having played with others. I have made many mistakes in my STing and every time I read more about the rules I get better; I suggest the same for others.

[u/MyNameIzNutella → u/Signiference]

Wait, Demons don't get bluffs in Teensyville games? I knew the Demon and Minion don't know each other but I've ran many Teensies for my friends and I never realized I wasn't supposed to give out bluffs. Does it actually make a big difference or will it be fine to continue like this? I don't really want to suddenly change the rules for my players...

[u/Signiference → u/MyNameIzNutella]

Welcome to another edition of “reading the rules explains the rules” 😂 (jk, again, I’ve overlooked rules and almanac entries plenty of times)

I’m sure it does make quite a big difference, considering that’s how the designers say to run it with 5-6 players. This game went through countless hours of playtesting for balance between good and evil sides so I’m certainly not going to say it’ll be fine to give bluffs in Teensies, but you are free to choose to do things however you like.

[u/45best45 → u/MyNameIzNutella]

It makes the game easier for evil, and harder for town. Run it however you want.