Variant Rules #

I wrote Kazopolis with the goal of fitting it into a table of custom rules for spicy games of Blood on the Clocktower, and I was trying to make the rules as simple as I could while giving the game a mechanically different feel. Below are some more complicated add on rules for a more balanced Kazopolis experience at the cost of additional complexity.

Demon’s Antidote: The Storyteller may prompt duplicate Minions to pick again. Duplicate Minions cannot be made drunk by Kazopolis. #

This is an optional rule that I reference many times in the jinx list, but making a duplicate minion drunk is much more impactful to the evil team than making a duplicate townsfolk drunk since a minion ability is around twice as powerful as a townsfolk ability. Asking your minions politely to pick again can avoid situations where drunking the evil team feels bad but leaving them sober is worse.

Eviction Notice: If a Minion is made drunk by Kazopolis, they learn this and lose their ability instead. #

This is the softer version of Demon’s Antidote, which still nerfs the evil team for unsuccessfully picking unique roles, but without the frustration of figuring it out late into the game or in final 3. This also lets those drunk minions do more chaos plays since they know the stakes of their life are lower.

Total Bag Failure: After roles are picked, the Storyteller may declare that all players must pick a different role. #

This is an option to do a partial rerack of games that are going to be deeply unfun but that can’t be fixed quietly. Inspired by a game I ran with 3 Poppy Growers and a Pixie, instead of completely resetting the grimoire and teams, the story teller can ask all players to pick a different role to reshuffle the grimoire.

Temporary Character Removal: After roles are picked, the Storyteller may publicly announce that a character has been removed from this game, and all players who chose that character must pick again. #

I have to do this every time someone tried to pick Mez or No Dashii on Fish Bucket with only 5 or 6 players. Some roles just don’t function at particular player counts.

Pick One of Three: Players will be shown three roles and pick one of the three roles to play as. Duplicates are not drunk. #

This is an option to give the storyteller a little more control over the bag while still letting players pick. The storyteller sends players three roles, the player picks one.

I like this one for Outsiders in particular.

Poisoned Bluffs: All players learn up to three characters that are not in play. They can not be put in play by any means. #

This is a Fish Bucket inspired role. After roles are picked, the storyteller can publicly announce three roles that are currently not in play. These roles are hate jinxed for the reminder of the game (so Pit Hags and Philosophers can’t get the roles either).

This makes games slightly more solvable by giving the town some information about worlds that are off the table.

Kazopolis Roulette: Non demons may pick any non-demon, swapping alignment as needed. If more than 1/3 of players are evil, then most players (including all evil players) become Legion. #

Okay, not all of these are balanced. This is the maximum chaos option and lets Legion actually show up in Kazopolis.

Now that I’ve written this down, my group is going to ask me to run it. I already regret my choices.