← All characters

Pacifist

Executed good players might not die.

Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.

How to run it (Storyteller)

When an execution vote passes against a good player, you may choose to keep that player alive — use this sparingly but purposefully, ideally to protect a player whose survival most disrupts evil's plan. The nastiest edge case: a player executed under a Saint-style ability or similar instant-kill override still triggers Pacifist's window, but check whether the specific ability supersedes survival effects. Watch for Pacifist players using their role as a shield — if the town believes all good players are protected from execution, it will paralyse the game; remind yourself the effect is probabilistic ('might not die'), meaning you control the rate and should not guarantee survival every time.

How to play

  • Reveal early and loudly: your power actively discourages evil from letting good players die by execution, so public knowledge of your existence shapes the meta of the entire game even if you never trigger once.
  • Timing your claim: if you reveal before a contested execution, town may stay the vote to protect a player they suspect is good — your presence alone can save a life without you lifting a finger.
  • Do not overpromise: the Storyteller controls whether the protection fires, so never tell town 'I will save you' — instead frame it as 'I might save you,' preserving trust when the Storyteller chooses not to trigger it.
  • Track who has been executed: if the Storyteller has saved someone through you, that player is confirmed good, which is rare confirmed information — treat them as a trusted ally and use their confirmed status in your arguments.
  • The most common mistake is going quiet after revealing. You have no night ability, so your entire value comes from social influence — keep driving nominations, challenging suspicious players, and shaping the vote order so your protection has the best targets to land on.
  • Consider which execution matters most to protect: a confirmed Investigator result, a claimed Exorcist mid-chain, or a player the Demon clearly wants dead are all better targets than a disputed claim, because the Storyteller is more likely to fire the ability when the survival is impactful.

How to bluff as the Pacifist

  • Claim Pacifist early in games where executions are contentious — it costs you nothing mechanically since you have no night information to fake, and it buys goodwill by making town feel their executions carry less risk.
  • Manufacture false confidence: tell a wavering player 'if you're good, I might protect you' to keep them from flipping under pressure and revealing you as evil before it matters.
  • The tell that exposes you is silence — a real Pacifist has every incentive to be vocal and steer executions toward good targets; if you bluff this role and then go quiet, experienced players will notice the passive play.
  • Use the bluff to deflect scrutiny from your actual evil role: if questioned about night information you don't have, lean into 'I don't wake at night, so I have nothing to report' as a truthful-sounding deflection.
  • Be careful in small games where the Storyteller never triggers the protection — if several good players are executed and none survive, town will question whether a Pacifist is really in the game, so have a ready explanation like 'the Storyteller hasn't found the right moment yet.'

Key interactions

Poisoner

If Pacifist is poisoned on a night before a key execution, the Storyteller loses the option to fire the protection even if they wanted to — evil can neutralise your insurance policy without the town ever knowing it failed due to poison rather than chance.

Drunk

A Pacifist who is the Drunk never has a functioning ability, so every execution of a good player will proceed to death regardless of how the Storyteller frames it — this is mechanically silent and impossible to detect without external confirmation.