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Professor

Once per game, at night*, choose a dead player: if they are a Townsfolk, they are resurrected.

The process is simple. Attach the hydraulic confabulator to the modified chi matrix amplifier, add 20 CCs of pseudodorafine, keep his Z levels above 20%, and your husband will be fine. Now, all we need is a lightning strike.

Storyteller cues

Other nightsThe Professor might choose a dead player. ◦ ◦

How to run it (Storyteller)

Track whether the Professor has used their ability; when they point at a dead player at night, privately check alignment — if Townsfolk, resurrect them and wake them immediately after the Professor sleeps if they have a first-night or 'you start knowing' ability so they can use it again. The nastiest edge case is resurrection timing: a Townsfolk who acts later in the night order than the Professor will act that same night, while one who acts earlier will not act until the following night — know your night order cold before the Professor acts. Watch for a Spy in the dead pool; the Spy may register as Townsfolk, so resurrection is mechanically valid but tactically dangerous and should be avoided unless you are deliberately using it as a storytelling tool.

How to play

  • Strongest line of play: hold your ability until you can confirm a Townsfolk is dead — ideally an information role like a Investigator or Empath who was executed on bad information — so the resurrection provides verified, immediate value rather than gambling on an unconfirmed claim.
  • Timing your reveal: do not claim Professor publicly until you are ready to use your ability or the game is in a state where protecting your identity no longer matters; an evil team that knows a Professor is alive will avoid killing Townsfolk at night to deny you targets.
  • Who to target: prioritize dead Townsfolk with repeatable or ongoing abilities over one-shot roles whose ability already fired, and strongly prefer players whose alignment has been independently confirmed so you are not wasting the ability on a Recluse or Spy.
  • First-night ability edge case: if you resurrect a Townsfolk with a 'you start knowing' ability such as a Washerwoman, they will wake immediately after you go to sleep that same night and receive fresh information — plan around this by using your ability on a night where that new information can still influence a live decision.
  • Most common mistake: using the ability reactively on the first convenient dead Townsfolk rather than waiting for the highest-value target; the ability is once per game and patience almost always produces a better outcome than urgency.

How to bluff as the Professor

  • Claim Professor early and pair it with a visible dead player you say you are 'saving' — this creates a credible reason to keep your ability secret and gives you a named target to point at when pressed, making the bluff feel grounded.
  • Fake targeting: on a night after a confirmed-good player dies, publicly announce you used your ability on them — if the Storyteller cooperates with a resurrection for an actual Townsfolk in that moment you lose the bluff, so choose a dead player whose alignment is disputed or whose resurrection would be awkward to fake.
  • Sitting on the ability: claim you are waiting for the right target, which is exactly what a smart genuine Professor would do — this buys you multiple days of credibility without needing to produce evidence and makes the town reluctant to execute you before you act.
  • The tell that exposes you: if a player you claim to have resurrected publicly contradicts your account of who you targeted or when, your bluff collapses immediately — coordinate your fake resurrection story carefully and only after that player has been executed or is otherwise out of the game.
  • Cover synergy: pair the Professor bluff with an evil Townsfolk who can vouch that they were 'almost' chosen, or use it to shield a Minion by claiming you considered resurrecting them but determined they were not Townsfolk, framing them as confirmed evil without actually killing them.

Key interactions

Spy

A Spy in the dead pool may register as Townsfolk to the Professor, meaning the ability could legally resurrect them — this hands evil a living Minion again and is almost always catastrophic, so the Storyteller should avoid allowing it and the Professor should only target players whose alignment has been corroborated.

Washerwoman

A resurrected Washerwoman wakes immediately after the Professor goes to sleep and receives a fresh 'you start knowing' result, which can generate powerful new information mid-game — targeting her is one of the highest-value uses of the ability if she died before the town could act on her original information.

Poisoner

If the Professor is poisoned on the night they use their ability, the chosen dead Townsfolk is not resurrected even though the Professor wakes and acts normally — the ability silently fails, wasting the once-per-game use, so be aware that an unexplained non-resurrection is strong evidence of a Poisoner.