Good evening! Thank you for inviting me to the ball. I'm not from around here, but you sure seem like a friendly bunch, by golly. I'm sure we'll get along just dandy. What's all that rope for?
How to run it (Storyteller)
When a player of the Scapegoat's alignment is about to be executed, the Storyteller may choose to execute the Scapegoat instead, sparing the original target. Use this sparingly and only when it creates interesting drama or narrative — triggering it every time is unfair and trivialising, but never triggering it makes the ability meaningless. The Storyteller should consider game balance, how much information the executed player holds, and whether the swap produces a genuinely surprising but fair outcome.
How to play as a good Scapegoat
- Publicly declare your alignment and ability early — town knowing you exist makes the threat of your substitution a credible deterrent against reckless execution chains.
- Position yourself as a safety net for a confirmed good player the town is reluctant to nominate but may be forced to execute; your presence makes that vote safer for them.
- If a key good role is about to be executed and you want to draw the swap, vote for them yourself to signal you accept being the substitute — the Storyteller reads player intent.
- Avoid being exiled, since exile removes your ability from the game entirely and strips the town of a useful buffer against misexecutions.
- Be transparent about your role immediately if accused; hiding your Traveller identity wastes the deterrent value your ability provides.
How to play as an evil Scapegoat
- Let evil teammates know you exist privately so they can plan executions around your potential substitution — a nominated evil player being swapped for you is only useful if evil can absorb your loss.
- Do not protect high-value evil players like the Demon with your swap; losing you to save the Demon wastes the Demon's continued killing ability only if the Demon would have died, so encourage the Storyteller nudge by being visibly sympathetic to the nominee.
- Manufacture trust by appearing to shield good players — if town believes you will absorb a misexecution, they may execute more aggressively, accelerating good player losses.
- Push for your own exile only as a last resort; while alive, you give evil an occasional execution buffer that good cannot fully predict or control.
- If your alignment is suspected, deny and deflect rather than confirm — an evil Scapegoat whose alignment is known loses most of their protective value to the evil team.
Key interactions
Recluse
An evil Scapegoat can theoretically absorb an execution meant for the Recluse, but because the Recluse may register as evil, the swap is legally possible yet strategically counterproductive — it removes an evil player to save a good one who merely misregisters, which is a net loss for the evil team and is explicitly flagged as inadvisable.