Lynching

Lynching is a action that can be performed by anyone during the voting phase of the game. It mainly involves a player being voted onto the gallows and then being voted as to whether they are guilty or innocent. Lynching is a crucial element towards the end of the game, especially if any Town Killing roles are dead.

The process of Lynching
The lynching phase starts after the day's discussion phase. If the verdict is innocent (guilty votes are less or equal to innocent votes), the day phase may end immediately or a new voting phase starts, depending on how many players are currently left alive (needs confirmation!). This process can be repeated indefinitely.
 * 1) Voting: Every living player can openly vote for one other living player. Votes may be changed (see blackmailed). A revealed Mayor's vote is worth three votes. If a player receives enough votes (more than half of the town), they are put on trial. Otherwise, the day phase ends.
 * 2) Defense: The player being accused is given a brief section of time where they can testify their innocence (or claim to be the jester in some cases). During this phase only, the remaining players may only whisper.
 * 3) Verdict: The remaining players are allowed to secretly vote on whether they think the player being hung is guilty or not. All players may talk; the accused can keep on defending themselves, the remaining players can attempt to convince the others. At the end, all votes and the names of the voters are revealed. If the accused player is found to be innocent then they will simply walk off the gallows, but if they are found to be guilty then they will prepare to be lynched (as per their death animation).
 * 4) Last Words: The accused is given a few more seconds to express any last words before being lynched. Afterwards the game goes through the usual process of revealing the accused's Last Will and role.

Things for Townies to consider before and during Lynching
Lynching can be a great decision or a disastrous one. Any player needs to give careful thought about who to lynch based on the evidence available. These are some of the questions that you may have to consider when someone is being voted to be lynched. Always be critical at the start of the game in your assessment, as chances are a lynch in the first or second round won't include a lot of evidence. Sometimes, unconsidered voting turns into a random lynching and players can be killed in the first or second rounds. If you are very unsure about the the decision to hang them, then abstain (don't press anything) or just click innocent. Assessing who needs lynching and who doesn't is a hard thing to do, and you may get it wrong sometimes but knowing who to lynch is a skill that needs to be developed over time.
 * Never ask somebody to read their abilities and attributes. By the time you ask it, they usually do not have enough time to type it. Also, anybody can easily type from memory, or copy/paste from a notepad or even the wiki, which does not change the validity of a lie. In addition, if you do not possess the role card, how are you to verify it? Asking attributes is one of the WORST things you can do.
 * Is there substantial evidence against the accused player? If so, what is the evidence and how valid is it? If the evidence is good and the players giving evidence can be trusted, then go for the lynch. If the accuser claims Sheriff, Investigator, etc. and accused on N1, chances are they are the Executioner.
 * Has the player who is being accused trying to cause trouble? Or trying to accuse others based on little evidence? If so, be careful as this might be a Jester or Executioner, though possibly a Mafia member or Serial Killer.
 * Is the player presenting poor evidence in order to declare innocence? Then they are either a bad player in general, a Jester who is purposely trying to increase suspicion against themselves, or a Mafia who is trying in vain to defend themselves?
 * Do they seem to give up or don't care if they die? They may be a Jester as they are simply biding time until they get lynched.
 * How many mafia are left? If there are still three mafia left then be careful as they could be pulling the strings of voting and deciding on the target being guilty or innocent
 * How fast are people voting? Typically, if a decent number of people vote immediately, they voted guilty. If this is happening often where 3 people consistently vote people up without substantial evidence, they may be cheaters or Mafia. This can be a way to decide if you should abandon a fellow mafia member or try to get him off the stage.

Getting out of Lynching
Getting yourself out of the gallows is easier said than done, and requires a good deal of deception or intuition. Sometimes, its not always a good idea to get out of lynching, namely with Jesters, although sometimes this applies to Mafia members. A wave of suspicion can come over the other Townies if someone votes innocent for someone despite them being a Mafia, as usually these people are seen as other mafia members for trying to get their buddy off the gallows. If you are Mafia and it looks like your comrade is going to be hung, then vote for them as well and move the suspicion away from you, its a valid technique and your mafia friend will still win if you go on to win the game for them. If you hang your mafia and they call you out, report to them and try to convince the town that you are actually a townie.
 * Use evidence: Whether you are a Townie or Mafia, evidence for and against you is a key part in deciding your innocence. If you are a Townie and there is evidence to suggest you are innocent, you need to bring it up before or during the process. If you are a Mafia, Serial Killer or Executioner, you either need to false your evidence or suggest that there isn't much evidence, essentially seem logical about your reasons and people may listen to it, though some won't care and will call you guilty anyway.
 * Pretend to be another role: This is a valid technique for getting out of lynching, although take care to note which roles are left and which aren't. If you are able to hint that you are a Jester in some way, players may then try to vote for your innocence as the Jester can kill a guilty voter the night after they were lynched. If you are able to use a role that hasn't died yet, or pretend that your role is a Town Killing or Random Town role, then you may very well get away with it. If you are playing an All Any game, then you should be able to get away with it.
 * Sometimes you may be randomly lynched, meaning you were put on trial for no reason, and usually starts out with one person voting against you, then the rest of the votes following. This happens to everyone at one point or another, and should not be taken seriously. When you are random lynched, it is very difficult to get yourself off the block. Tell them the first voter is an Executioner and start to say your role, and you may be able to escape the random lynch.

Neutrals, Mafias and Lynching
Lynching is an essential part of the main two Neutral roles, Jester and Executioner roles, and towards the end of the game it can be a important part of how the Mafia members win. A Jesters entire existence revolves around trying to get lynched and it is an achievement for any Jester to get themselves lynched, as it involves a great deal of deception. Similarly, the Executioner has to try and get someone lynched, sometimes on very little evidence, which can be tricky. Here are some points for the Neutral and Mafia roles to consider when using lynching:
 * If you are a Jester, feel free to play along with any lynching you want, it may end up putting suspicion against you, but don't make yourself to obvious in terms of accusation or in how you try to control the Towns arguments, as you may be classed out as a Jester or Executioner. Another strategy is to try to look like a bad Executioner, get yourself lynched by yelling out your target. This can also help the Mafia, Serial Killer and even the Arsonist because the Town will think they are Town.
 * If you are Executioner, also feel free to play along with lynching, but if there is suspicion against your target then play along to it, but never accuse your target very early on unless you want to be accused of being an Executioner from a early point in the game.
 * If you are any neutral role and your target or aim is not seeming likely for you to achieve, then play till the end of the game, and if you want you could try picking a side and trying to get it to win. Sometimes neutral roles are hard to pull off but you can at least survive until the end.
 * If you are part of the Mafia, going along with early lynching or accusations might get suspicion put on you later on, keep back on lynching unless literally the whole town is doing it. As said earlier, lynching your comrades after they are accused might get you out of suspicion in a tight spot.
 * After a certain point in the game, depending on how many mafia are left, the mafia can start to 'out-vote' people in the voting phase. Calmly lynching people at day while killing them off at night in the late phase of the game can lead to a steady and easy victory.