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Monk

Each night*, choose a player (not yourself): they are safe from the Demon tonight.

'Tis an ill and deathly wind that blows tonight. Come, my brother, take shelter in the abbey while the storm rages. By my word, or by my life, you will be safe.

Storyteller cues

Other nightsThe Monk chooses a player. ◦

Jinxes

Leviathan

If the Leviathan nominates and executes the Monk-protected player, good wins.

Riot

If Riot nominates and executes the Monk-protected player, good wins.

How to run it (Storyteller)

Each night (not the first), wake the Monk and have them point to a player other than themselves; that player is fully immune to Demon kills and Pukka poison for that night only. The nastiest edge case is the Pukka: if the Monk protects a player already Pukka-poisoned, the poison is cured and the player does not die the following night, so track poisoned states carefully before resolving deaths. Watch for Al-Hadikhia nights — a Monk-protected player in that trio always survives regardless of their choice, which can collapse the normal three-die rule and expose the protection.

How to play

  • Protect the most information-rich Townsfolk you trust: a confirmed Empath, Undertaker, or Oracle whose death would cripple good's deduction is far more valuable to shield than a role that has already fired.
  • Vary your target every night rather than camping on one person — a predictable pattern lets the Demon simply skip that player and kill elsewhere, negating your entire value.
  • Do not reveal you are the Monk until you have a read on the Demon, because once evil knows your identity they will farm around you by killing low-priority targets and bide time to nominate your protectee on a day you aren't covering them.
  • Use your protection offensively late-game: if you have a strong Demon candidate, protect yourself via the target-swap — no, you cannot protect yourself — instead protect your most trusted player who will vote correctly, keeping your coalition alive through the last day.
  • The single most common mistake is announcing each morning who you protected; this immediately tells the Demon who you did NOT protect, handing them a kill list every night.

How to bluff as the Monk

  • Claim Monk early and invent a nightly protection log — 'I protected Alice night two, Bob night three' — so you appear to have been actively shielding people; pick players who survived those nights so the claim is unfalsifiable.
  • As the real Demon, protect-claim a player you intend to kill, then kill a different player; when that other player dies, you can say 'I wasn't on them last night' and shift suspicion toward the real Monk or toward other Demon guesses.
  • Use the Monk bluff to explain away a Minion action: if a Minion poisoned someone and their ability misfired, claim you protected that player, implying the Demon tried and failed rather than that they were poisoned.
  • The tell that exposes a fake Monk: if the real Monk is also in the game and both claim the same role, one of you is lying — evil should be ready with a consistent 'I think you're the Spy' deflection or a prepared argument for why the other claimant is the Recluse misregistering.

Key interactions

Pukka

Monk protection not only blocks the Pukka's nightly kill but also cures an existing Pukka poison on that player, making it the only tool in good's kit that can retroactively save a poisoned player — prioritize protecting anyone you suspect was bitten the previous night.

Al-Hadikhia

A Monk-protected player in Al-Hadikhia's trio always lives regardless of their choice, potentially breaking the mechanic where all three die if everyone chooses life; the Storyteller must track this carefully, and as the Monk player you should protect someone in a trio if you know or suspect Al-Hadikhia is in play.

Mathematician

Every time the Demon's kill is foiled by your protection the Mathematician's count rises, giving the Mathematician indirect confirmation that a Monk is active and working — coordinate with the Mathematician quietly to cross-reference nights their number ticked up.

No Dashii

Protecting a Townsfolk who neighbours the No Dashii cleanses that poison for the night, meaning their ability fires correctly — if you suspect No Dashii is the Demon, protect the neighbours of your Demon suspects to generate clean information.

Vigormortis

When a Minion dies to Vigormortis and would poison a neighbouring Townsfolk, Monk protection on that Townsfolk blocks the poison entirely for the night, preserving their ability's accuracy — keep this in mind when a Minion has just died.