Some Rules to Help You Get Started
Many of you are curious about Blood On The Clocktower, and have decided to either make your own Grimoires, or to play online via one of the many fan-made digital platforms. I'm hoping that the following excerpts from the rulebook will be helpful in getting you started. Whilst they are certainly not the complete rules, they should be enough to answer the most basic questions that arise about how to Storytell a game of Trouble Brewing, and maybe even beyond.
The unfortunate delay of the game has resulted in a lot of people learning to play Blood On The Clocktower either from hearsay or trial and error. This should make things a little easier: BOTC Basic Rules
These PDFs can act sort of like a "quick start" set of rules to get you familiar enough with the basics, should you be interested in running a game or just want to get familiar with things before your physical copy arrives.
Also, I've found it to be incredibly helpful to new players to hear the following rules explanation before their first time playing. As a Storyteller, I read this out (or ad-lib it) before every game I run, and it is a great introduction for the players: BOTC Rules Explanation for New Players
It covers the main points that new players need to learn before beginning, ignores the more finnicky elements that nobody needs to know yet, and gets the group playing with a minimum of fuss. Reading this aloud before a game usually answers a lot of player questions that would otherwise occur during the game. It also acts a short "What am I supposed to be doing?" guide.
If you use this sheet, I recommend waiting until the first nomination is about to occur to read out the part that deals with nominations and voting. The players don't need to know this information until this point, and will retain much more information when the rules are read out when they need to use them.
Good luck, and have fun.
- Steven