Recently one of my circle created a Family Feud style game around Clocktower, and it was a great time to play! They published the results and the most interesting to everyone who played and watched was, the question around what people think the ‘communities least favourite character is’. The question was worded specifically so people wouldn’t necessarily write their own, but think of what they think others thoughts are. By and large, expected characters appeared. Evil Twin. Huntsman. Atheist. Politician. But the #1 answer with just over 25% of total votes was the Butler.
An unassuming outsider from the most beloved of base-3 scripts, Trouble Brewing. They have one simple job, serve their master while voting. It, like many of the Trouble Brewing roles, aim to teach new players some key concepts within the game. Virgin/Ravenkeeper – that death is not the end and is actually information. Drunk/Poisoner/Spy/Recluse that not every piece of information can be trusted. These characters, like the Butler, showcases how solid the game design of Clocktower is. You don’t have to teach players to pay attention to voting patterns directly when this character, by its very nature, does it for you.
So why so many votes for Butler in this question? It certainly is not the most interesting role to play as, granted, simply picking a player and one of the main things players can do when good, vote, is tied to them. This should make the Butler pay more attention to who might be evil.
Counter point to the negative – it is an Outsider that is meant to have a less than useful role and the Butler does meet that requirement, more so than some outsiders and even some townsfolk.
What do you think? Do you like the Butler as a character concept? Do you like playing as the Butler?
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