← All characters

Shugenja

You start knowing if your closest evil player is clockwise or anti-clockwise. If equidistant, this info is arbitrary.

これは夢。それも夢。すべ て夢です。

Storyteller cues

First nightPoint clockwise or anticlockwise.

How to run it (Storyteller)

On the first night, count seats clockwise and anti-clockwise from the Shugenja to find the nearest evil player(s); show the arrow token for the correct direction. If the nearest evil player is equidistant in both directions, you may show either token — use this freedom deliberately to protect the Demon or sow confusion when the game state demands it. Watch for seating changes mid-game or Recluse on the board, since Recluse can register as evil and may therefore become the 'closest evil player,' giving the Shugenja a direction that points at a good player. There is no re-trigger — the Shugenja only wakes once, so the information is a fixed snapshot of night-one seating.

How to play

  • Announce your result publicly and early: your direction claim is most useful when the group can collectively map it against the seating chart to narrow the evil cluster.
  • Count the seats yourself and note exactly how many players are in each direction to your nearest evil candidate — if your arrow points clockwise and there are only two players before the seating wraps, that heavily constrains who is evil.
  • Equidistance caveat: if you suspect you were equidistant, flag this openly, because the info may be arbitrary and treating it as gospel can misdirect the whole town.
  • Cross-reference with other information roles — a Washerwoman, Investigator, or Empath whose data lands in the opposite half of the circle from your arrow is a strong consistency signal for both pieces of info.
  • Do not assume the closest evil player is the Demon; a Minion sitting nearer to you will pull the arrow, so your info scopes a direction, not a specific role.
  • The single most common mistake: forgetting that the circle wraps — players at the far clockwise end are also close anti-clockwise, so always count both directions before drawing conclusions.

How to bluff as the Shugenja

  • Pick a direction that is either vague or that points toward a confirmed good player you want to frame — this wastes town's triangulation effort without being immediately falsifiable.
  • Commit to a specific seat count in your claim: saying 'the closest evil is three seats clockwise' sounds precise and credible, but choose numbers that implicate players you want executed rather than protect.
  • If a Recluse is in the game, lean into claiming the arrow pointed toward them — it provides a plausible mechanical reason for a 'false positive' that even experienced players will accept.
  • The tell that exposes a fake Shugenja: if your claimed direction contradicts every other night-one information role's data, good players will notice the inconsistency — make sure your bluff direction is at least loosely compatible with other claims in play.
  • As an evil player you already know who your teammates are, so deliberately point the arrow away from all evil players; if pressed on counting you can always invoke the equidistance escape valve to explain an 'arbitrary' result.

Key interactions

Recluse

The Storyteller can count the Recluse as an evil player when determining the Shugenja's direction, meaning the arrow may genuinely point at a good Recluse rather than any actual evil player. If a Recluse is in the game, the Shugenja should publicly acknowledge this caveat so the town weighs the info accordingly rather than locking onto an innocent target.

Poisoner

A Poisoner active on night one causes the Shugenja to receive a randomly chosen direction rather than the true one, completely invalidating the only piece of information this character ever receives. Because the Shugenja has no subsequent wakes to self-check, poisoning on the first night is especially devastating and leaves no tell — treat any Shugenja info with mild scepticism in games where a Poisoner might be present.

Drunk

If the Shugenja is the Drunk, the direction shown on night one is meaningless, but the player has no way to know it. This is the equivalent of a full-game blind spot, since the single first-night info is the character's entire contribution — be cautious about building execution chains solely on Shugenja data without corroboration.