Description
Boffin – The Demon (even if drunk or poisoned) has a not-in-play good character’s ability. You both know which.
Interactions
A few jinxes, 8 in fact, with this one, as one might expect. A few similar to Pit-Hag, where a demon Cult Leader/Goon cannot turn good, a few abilities they cannot have (Heretic/Ogre/Politician).
The Alchemist one makes sense, as does the Village Idiot one, and I like the precedent set by it as ‘having a spare token’, which as this is still primarily a physical game, makes a lot of sense.
Finally, the Drunk jinx is my favourite, allowing the demon to pick a player to be the drunk. In my mind this is along the same lines with the Cerenovus/Goblin jinx, this is just a fun one.
Playing
Stay alive so your demon keeps their ability as long as possible, especially if it is a good and helpful role. You also know a not in play ability, which can help with bluffing at the start of the game.
As the demon with a Boffin ability, use it, because you won’t have it forever. If it’s something powerful but hard to track down, hide it. Confuse the good team! Or if it’s something confirmable, like a Virgin or Night Watchman, ride that confirmation to the end! It’s also another bluff, a 4th role you know is not in the game, which by itself is also valuable.
If you’re the Alchemist Boffin, it’s probably worth considering, as a townsfolk, what ability the demon might get and if, as an ability, it might be detrimental to them, or if not, get yourself killed!
Story Telling
This is one for intermediate and experienced storytellers as choosing which abilities pair well with different demons as well as which ones to avoid can be a challenge. Not only with the demon type but also the other minions and good characters in play, can be tricky to make sure it is still balanced.
Lots of interesting choices here, with what ability you give to the demon. If they’re a Vortox, give them Monk which is like a reverse poisoner, giving true information selectively.
Final Thoughts
Such a game changer of a character, that went through a few iterations (including a name change) during play-testing before finally landing on this version. Some original ideas included the Boffin not knowing the ability and it being a once off ‘gains’, so the demon keeps the ability regardless of the health of the Boffin.
Confirmed players are no longer confirmed! A demon can have that ability so it’s also viable to keep them alive and frame them now!
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