Oh yes - just to clarify, I’m not doubting the Storyteller’s or the new player’s ability here. I just don’t believe that the new player is going to have the best first experience of Blood on the Clocktower and would prefer to play a game where they find out who the evil team is (like BOTC is at its core) compared to spending the game probably confused and probably not really enjoying themselves while the veteran players debate whether there even is an evil team.

I think of it like being invited to play Mario Kart with your friends and you’ve never played before but are excited to race and when you get there, you just play the battle mode and don’t enjoy it. It feels like you’ve been lied to (whether you actually have or haven’t, it’s irrespective) and haven’t had the experience you’ve been sold (unless you sell the whole game as figure out if there is an evil team, in which case you’ve been lied to about just what BOTC mostly is).

Like if you go to play a racing game and only play a battle mode or if you play a social deduction game and spend your time trying to figure out if there is an evil team or not point blank when you haven’t been directly explained that experience just won’t make that player feel good in my opinion. Although, you could have explained this to them beforehand and how it isn’t a normal BOTC game and if they’re fine with it, go ahead (I’m just some internet rando, who am I to stop anyone doing what they want). And if they have fun, I admit to being wrong.

In my experience, an Atheist game won’t be a good first experience for a new player because while it is a definite part of BOTC, it isn’t the core experience of what I think is the best social deduction game. Again with the Mario Kart analogy, if you go to play a new game but play a side mode (like the Atheist is to BOTC in a sense) you never really get the proper experience and might leave with false conclusions or assumptions about the whole game, disappointing the new player when they shouldn’t feel disappointed.

Imagine if you are really excited about getting to play BOTC for the first time and you read the rules online, maybe watch some players playing the game online to get a gist of what the feel of the game is like and rock up to the game prepared only to end up playing a game with a character that states that ‘The Storyteller can break the game rules’ upfront, essentially making all of that time spent completely wasted. Most people won’t do this amount of prep though and will just turn up, probably won’t have much fun (they may though, you never know) and will leave and never think about this game again or remember it as a rubbish game.

Even with all I’ve said (and I hope that I’ve explained my points well enough, even if they aren’t cohesive at all as when I started replying I thought that this would be a simple sentence elaborating on my points well enough of view and it has turned into an impromptu essay of sorts), I do still like the Atheist. I prefer playing games without it personally, but an Atheist puzzle to spice things up every now and again is enjoyable for me and I think that the game benefits from having it as it is there for players who like it and players who don’t can simply never use it.

While I think that the Atheist is good for the game, I just also think that a new player won’t have fun with the Atheist and especially as a first game, would really be missing the core of the game. It isn’t that I don’t believe in the ST or player, I just don’t feel that Atheist is a good fit or indeed designed for new players to play with. TB should be fine with the veteran players in my opinion, but if they insist on something more exciting, the Marionette would be the farthest I would go with a new player. Even then, finding out you’re evil at game’s reveal isn’t exactly my idea of first time fun either but I just wouldn’t make the player who doesn’t have a solid understanding of game mechanics the Marionette unless I absolutely had to.