The Pandemonium Institute wants to make darn sure you never get bored of its debut board game, Blood on the Clocktower. With three strategically rich scripts and plenty of optional extras to choose from in the base box, that was already an unlikely possibility. My tabletop group played basically every week for an entire year, and we never got sick of the social deduction game.
But its publisher wants to make. damn. sure. It's relentless in its quest to give players even more content to enjoy. In the three years since its release, we've seen a legion of experimental roles that can be mixed and matched to create endless variations. And now, as 2025 comes to a close, fans have a brand-new toy to play with: Loric roles.
It's no secret that I consider Blood on the Clocktower one of the best board games of all time (you can read my Blood on the Clocktower review, if you need convincing). I was itching to dig into these new designs, so I went for a double-whammy of investigation. I've tested each new Loric myself, and I've hit up Blood on the Clocktower designer Steven Medway for his top tips on making the most of them.
What are Loric, anyway?
Loric characters are what you might call a Storyteller role instead of a player one. These aren't characters and powers assumed by a player, but a way to modify the structure of the game itself. The Loric's closest cousin is the Fabled, but Medway tells me there's an important distinction.
"The original idea for the Loric came from seeing Storytellers use Fabled characters to try and add extra 'spice' to their games, and being confused and disappointed when that didn't happen", Medway explains. "The purpose of Fabled characters is to fix problems, not to make the game more fun." "So I thought, "Why not just some Fabled-type characters that actually do make the game more fun?" and started experimenting with the Loric idea."
"The Loric are fun, strange, unusual, strong, epic, and will add a twist that makes existing games that you have played a hundred times more interesting", Medway says. That was music to the ears of someone like me, who is less experienced with experimental scripts but has run Trouble Brewing so many times that the wheels are starting to fall off.
On paper, it sounded like my favorite board game was about to feel fresh again. But how did the latest three Loric fare in play?
Zenomancer
"One or more players each have a goal. When achieved, that player learns a piece of true info."
The Zenomancer was, by far, my favorite Loric to test. Introducing side quests as a way to gather information opened the door to many creative possibilities - both strategic and silly.
In our early experiments, we used the Zenomancer to set comical quests. One player was forced to tweet like a bird for an entire day, while another had to tell a joke that nobody laughed at. Even veteran players, ultra-focused on playing strategically, were delighted by these surprise side missions.
Behind-the-scenes, I and my co-Storyteller were still making tactical choices with the Zenomancer. Each night, we'd weigh up which team was most in need of useful information, and we'd select our targets accordingly. The usefulness of the information received on the next night was similarly balanced based on the success of each team. Townsfolk that were struggling to band together might learn that one particular player could be trusted, or they might receive hints that a particularly dastardly play from the Evil team had taken place.
Medway suggests that the goals themselves can be given strategically to up the power of the Zenomancer. "Adding a goal that challenges a player to do something difficult that helps their team, such as nominating a Minion, helps directly." "But even goals that would normally hurt their team, such as getting a Townsfolk executed, are actually beneficial because the fact that the player learns that they have actually completed their goal is crucial information."
"Storytellers can use game-specific goals, such as nominate character X, or get the number of living good players to equal the number of living evil players, or get player Y to reveal their character", Medway suggests. "Storytellers can use meta-game goals, such as get player Z to share a secret about themselves, or convince their neighbors to buy them dinner. Storytellers are also encouraged to give more than one player the same goal, or even make goals conflicting."
"I recommend giving goals to players that sound like they would be fun to pursue, more than goals that are directly beneficial", he adds. My 'tweet like a bird' idea suddenly feels a lot less ridiculous.
The Zenomancer gives the Storyteller a dramatic way to influence the balance between good and evil. It's a tool that creates both tension and hilarity - but it must be wielded wisely to stop one team running away with the win too early. I can see why Medway says that "Loric work better with advanced players", as I think the Zenomancer could be enticing yet challenging for a virgin Storyteller.
Bigwig
"Each nominee chooses a player: until voting, only they may speak & they are mad the nominee is good or they might die."
The Bigwig isn't quite as drastic a change for your games as other Loric roles, and its strategic shifts are less immediately obvious. It simply forces anyone nominated for execution to force someone to speak positively on their behalf. "More than strategy, the Big Wig adds fun and liveliness", Medway tells me.
By nominating players to have a moment in the spotlight, Storytellers can encourage introverted players to come out of their shell - or protect them from having to speak if they're nervous about doing so. Additionally, Medway says "The Big Wig changes the game dynamic by making executions more difficult, because there is always one more voice than usual advocating against the execution."
"It also challenges players to say things that they don't believe, to save their own skin, so extra confusion is added into the game." "The Big Wig usually changes the talking player from the player that is the most suspicious to the player that is the most trusted. Generally, the most suspicious players are the ones nominated, and the most trustworthy players are the ones chosen by the nominee to talk on their behalf."
It's interesting that Medway envisions a world where the most trusted player is usually nominated to play Bigwig. In our tester game, we found players were less strategic and more subjective with their choices. Some players opted for Bigwigs they believed they could count on in the early game, while others opted for their clearest opposition to force them into speaking on their behalf.
Whatever reasoning was behind a Bigwig choice, it gave the other players a new tool to theorize with. Allyships and rivalries could occasionally be deduced based on these strange partnerships. Rarely was a player willing to die just to incriminate the person that made them Bigwig - though, if a dead player was chosen, they had no reason to hold back (as some of our players discovered).
This is the Loric I plan to use the least, as it adds less complexity and strategy than the other options. However, it's a way to create a slightly more controlled social situations at the climax of a day - something I'm sure many Storytellers will appreciate.
Tor
"Players don't know their character or alignment. They learn them when they die."
Here comes the most chaotic member of the Loric family! Tor turns Blood on the Clocktower into an entirely different kind of mystery game. No one knows who they are or what team they're on. They still get woken up, asked to point at people, and given names and numbers, but the silent Storyteller explains nothing - until they're killed.
Naturally, this adds a new level of challenge to a script, and it rewards players that know Blood on the Clocktower's roles very well. It's certainly not a kind introduction for a brand-new player, but if you're looking for ways to reinvigorate an experienced group, it's extremely exciting.
"Tor should work well-enough on most scripts", Medway tells me. " One of the main purposes of the Loric is to reinvigorate the base three scripts, or your favourite scripts that have been played way too much." "Trouble Brewing, Bad Moon Rising, and Sects & Violets should all be fine with the new Loric characters, and Tor is no exception."
"However, of all the Loric, Tor is probably the one that benefits most from a specially designed script", Medway admits. "I recommend putting in lots of characters that appear the same to the player while they are alive, such as the Snake Charmer and the Poisoner, or the Seamstress and the Assassin."
We tested the Tor with a custom script that took full advantage of its capabilities. Tor Be Or Not Tor Be by Ryaniscoolx was a real brain-teaser for the players. Were they a Steward spotting good players or a Bounty Hunter with knowledge about the evil team? Were they a Snake Charmer or a Pit-Hag?
We tested the Tor with a Legion game, where the majority of players were actually disguised demons. It made for an amusing first few days. The first Legion players to die had a tough time figuring out who to reveal themselves to, as it would only take one clever bluff from the good team to suss out their game. As more evil players discovered their roles, though, the tide turned firmly in their favor, and the good team needed to have played a smart early game to see through the ruse.
I'd be curious to see how the Tor changes an official script like Trouble Brewing. This has fewer roles that can be confused for others, and it likely makes the mystery far easier to solve. Maybe that's not such a bad thing for a beginner script, though.
With all Loric tested, I'm thoroughly in their favor. They're an excellent stepping stone for any player who loves the base three scripts but isn't quite ready to dip their toes into experimental roles. They can make games a little easier or a little harder - but either way, they are always interesting. Long live Loric.
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