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Balloonist

Each night, you learn a player of a different character type than last night. [+0 or +1 Outsider]

More heat! Higher! Higher! Più alto! Ahhh... it is so beautiful from up here, don't you agree? Can you see the children fishing by the river, under the willow? Can you see the glint of the sun on the circus tent-poles? What's this? An old man, alone, passed out in the vineyard? Less heat! Lower! Lower! Vai più in basso!

Storyteller cues

First nightPoint to any player. ◦

Other nightsPoint to a player with a different character type to the previously shown player. ◦

Jinxes

Marionette

If the Marionette thinks that they are the Balloonist, an Outsider might have been added during setup.

How to run it (Storyteller)

Each night, track which character type you showed the Balloonist the previous night (Townsfolk, Outsider, Minion, or Demon) and ensure tonight's shown player is a different type — if only one type remains unshown, you may have no valid choice and must work around this by cycling. The nastiest edge case is drunk/poisoned nights: you are permitted (but not required) to repeat the same character type as the previous night, and when sobriety resumes you must immediately return to showing a different type regardless of what was shown while drunk. Watch for setups where a Marionette is in play thinking they are the Balloonist — remember to add the +1 Outsider during setup as you would for a real Balloonist.

How to play

  • Track your type sequence carefully: each night you are guaranteed a player from a category you have not seen the night before, so after four nights you will have seen at least one player from each of Townsfolk, Outsider, Minion, and Demon — this is your strongest mechanical guarantee.
  • Share your information publicly and early: the entire town benefits from knowing which specific players you have been shown, and keeping it private largely wastes the role's power since cross-referencing your claims with other information roles is how Balloonist becomes decisive.
  • Flag any night where you were shown the same character type two nights in a row: this is a strong indicator you were poisoned or drunk on one of those nights, and you should treat both nights' results as suspect rather than only the second.
  • Do not assume the player the Storyteller shows you is telling the truth about their own role — your information is about the character type the Storyteller assigns them, not their claim, so a player shown to you as Demon is genuinely in the Demon category (barring poison/Recluse).
  • The +1 Outsider modifier means you can use your own existence to help count Outsiders in the game — if the number of publicly known Outsiders exceeds the base script count, the extra one may be accounted for by your own setup effect rather than a Vigormortis or similar ability.
  • Most common mistake: treating your sequence as a guaranteed path through all four types in order — the Storyteller can show you the same category again after a drunk/poison night, so never assume you have definitively seen all four until you are confident every night was sober and healthy.

How to bluff as the Balloonist

  • Establish your fake type sequence early and keep it internally consistent: claim you were shown a Townsfolk night one, an Outsider night two, and so on, naming real players in each category — inconsistency across nights is the fastest tell.
  • Name players already under suspicion as your Minion or Demon results to nudge the town toward executing them, but avoid naming your own evil teammates unless you are certain it helps them build credibility.
  • Use the +1 Outsider clause as a defensive tool: if someone notices the Outsider count seems off, point to your own setup modifier as the explanation, buying your team cover for an extra Outsider that is actually a Marionette or similar.
  • The most dangerous tell is being pressed on a night where the real Balloonist's information contradicts yours — if you name a player as Townsfolk and the real Balloonist (or that player's true role) surfaces, your whole sequence collapses, so target players whose roles are unlikely to be confirmed.
  • If challenged on why you have not been more forthcoming sooner, lean into the legitimate strategic reason that Balloonist wants to gather a full four-type set before going public — it buys you extra nights before your sequence is scrutinized.

Key interactions

Recluse

The Storyteller can show the Balloonist the Recluse as a Minion or Demon rather than as an Outsider, meaning a player you have been told is in the evil team may actually be the Recluse. If a player you flagged as Demon or Minion turns out to be the Recluse, do not treat your other night results as automatically wrong — only that specific night is contaminated.

Spy

The Storyteller can show the Balloonist the Spy as Townsfolk or Outsider, disguising an active Minion as a good character in your sequence. This is particularly dangerous because it can make your information look clean while a Minion goes undetected — if you believe a Spy is in the game, any player shown to you as Townsfolk or Outsider warrants extra scrutiny.

Marionette

If the Marionette is operating under a Balloonist bluff, the Storyteller adds an extra Outsider at setup just as it would for a real Balloonist — meaning the +1 Outsider you observe in the game is not proof that you are the real Balloonist, and the town should not use Outsider count alone to verify your identity.

Poisoner

A poisoned night permits the Storyteller to show you the same character type as the previous night, and once you sober up the next valid night must return to a different type — so a single poison night can corrupt two consecutive results and leave a misleading gap in your type-coverage map.