Blackmailer

Mechanics

 * When a blackmailed target tries to speak, they will simply receive a message saying "You are blackmailed." and nobody will be able to see their original message and their attempt of speaking.
 * If the blackmailed target is voted to go on trial during the defense phase, the blackmailed target's message will be changed to "I am blackmailed."
 * The "I am blackmailed." message can now be sent more than four times if you leave a gap between trying to talk.
 * Your target is also unable to whisper, but can still be whispered to.
 * If you visit a on alert and you are killed, they will still be blackmailed the next day.
 * A blackmailed can still reveal that day.
 * You cannot blackmail a target that was jailed that night. You won't be notified your visit failed, but the jailed person will know that someone tried to blackmail them.
 * You can't affect your target's ability to write in their Last Will and Death Note.
 * You can't affect your target's ability to vote and unvote someone.
 * You are able to hear whispers the same way as the.

Strategy

 * As a, your role in the is to quiet a confirmed  or a person who is accusing a member of the  to make them stop accusing them
 * However, despite having the ability to blackmail, your alternative role is to also serve as a Spy claim, gaining the Town's trust.
 * You can attempt calling for a -test to prove yourself innocent. Although this may seem like the most obvious claim as it fits your investigation results, you will face the risk of Spy not fitting the role list or being busted or the risk of a or  revealing that you're evil.
 * You may also play as a entirely, passing on who gets killed, forged, framed, cleaned or investigated and then if you see someone get visited but not killed, use that against them and get them lynched to easily gain majority, while still killing off the remaining  or threatening  then use yourself as a number to lynch off the remaining enemies.
 * If the finds a  or  role, it can be useful to blackmail them then kill them outright, as they can reveal crucial information in their Last Will. Spies should especially be blackmailed as soon as possible.
 * Continue to blackmail the same person for a few turns, then casually ask why they have been so quiet, and it will put suspicion on them. This only works when the person hasn't been giving signals about being blackmailed; additionally, be warned that this will tend to call attention to you - if it later becomes clear they were blackmailed, smart players will immediately be suspicious of anyone who pointed out that they were silent. For this reason, it might be best to wait and hope that a Townie notices their silence on their own.
 * Blackmailing the same person repeatedly has a few risks; if they're a, they'll easily kill you, while if they signal that they were blackmailed, (or, worse, the ) may catch you blackmailing them the next night. On the other hand, like any member of the  who visits the same person repeatedly, it has the advantage that you avoid revealing multiple people as non- to a , although smart Spies will easily notice that the person has been role blocked or blackmailed for a few nights straight, therefore exposing a 's existence.
 * Blackmailing the or  can be good at making them less effective. Be careful of blackmailing a revealed  as there could be a  watching him, you will be called out by the  due to the 's signal of being blackmailed. The  roles might visit a confirmed  in order to get his information out if he has to.
 * Neutrals such as the and the  will have no defense if they are blackmailed, so if you want to get rid of them, blackmail them as soon as possible and accuse them.
 * If you are role blocked or your target dies in the same night, you or another member of the may act as if they have been blackmailed. (You may also simply choose not to blackmail anyone for a night.) However, this carries the danger of a  calling you out, thus getting you lynched. Only use this if there is no Spy in game.
 * Try to blackmail people who are accusing a member of the or are chatty. Hopefully the  will go on to other things if you blackmail them for a few nights or if they die.
 * If you think you may be put on trial the next day, a good strategy is to not blackmail anyone that night and instead pretend you are blackmailed yourself. Again, this carries a risk of a calling you out. However, if you have a  on your side, getting your  to role block the, providing you know who the  is, prevents the  from checking whether you were actually visited.
 * If you have a, try targeting the same target. It is usually effective and can create a mis-lynch against someone (e.g a that is role blocked cannot do their night action and blackmailed cannot state that they were role blocked).
 * If anyone attempts to collect roles via whispers, you can tell this all to the so they plan their operations more accurately now that the roles of the Townies have been revealed. You can also harvest info from whispers by  roles,  or  and use them to your  advantage.
 * Blackmailing people every night isn't necessarily a good plan; when the realizes that people are being blackmailed, it becomes much harder for you to claim, and they're likely to be more cautious with whispers.
 * Be careful about claiming, especially to the . By the time your claim comes out, you might have become a and lost your ability to pass a -test.
 * If you do need to prove an older claim after becoming a, one option is to repeat a whisper from earlier in the game (which you heard back when you were a ). It's extremely dangerous and unreliable, but careless towns will occasionally accept this, if either of the people involved verifies it.
 * Another possible strategy, especially with four members of the in a Ranked/Ranked Practice game, is to simply not blackmail at all. Considering the 's ability is not as useful as that of others early game, this is not just a viable strategy but a powerful one. The reason being, if you're called up to the stand, this makes a  claim much more plausible. If it becomes clear there is an active, many  will lynch  claims right on the spot. This requires the cooperation of the other members of the , especially in Ranked Practice, by not having them reveal the existence of a  to a real.


 * A strategy is to pretend to be blackmailed yourself. If is struggling mid-game, considering that there is no, remain completely silent, and signal to other players that you are 'blackmailed' by voting and cancelling two times. This will mess up their suspicions, but be careful not to overdo it. Discuss with the  to let different members act blackmailed on different days. Do be warned, if a faking  member is lynched or killed it will immediately draw suspicion on the others. This strategy works better if you haven't blackmailed the previous night. This strategy is not as effective as it once was, since most players in Ranked Practice and Ranked are used to immediately suspecting anyone that claims to be blackmailed, as it is a popular defence for blackmailers on trial. Also, if you attempt to use the strategy with fellow  members, then a  could figure you out and communicate to the town to not trust blackmailer claims.

Dealing with Blackmailers

 * If you are a part of town and suspect someone of being blackmailed, use this simple test to determine whether or not the target was blackmailed: ask the suspected person to vote and cancel the vote of someone twice if they are blackmailed, most people will appreciate you for checking.
 * If it's proven that someone was blackmailed, ask the to jail them. The  will collect information of this person and will avoid the  doing his work, it may even save the game, since  usually blackmail people with important things to say.
 * will often call for a -test to confirm themselves. To bust them, you'll need a, confirmed or a  who caught the  visiting someone. You can also filter roles claims and confirmed roles with the role list to find out whether the  claim fits in the role list or not. If it doesn't fit, then they're definitely a . Make sure to also -test every single day, as they could have been promoted to , therefore losing their secondary ability.
 * If it turns out that someone was blackmailed, be suspicious of anyone who accused them or who pointed out how silent they were; inexperienced will often accuse the person they blackmailed. In particular, if someone claims to be blackmailed on the stand, anyone who tries to dispute that or suggests that they are faking should be seen as extremely suspicious; it is extraordinary rare for evil roles to fake being blackmailed (due to the high risk of being outed by a .) You should almost always vote innocent on people who say they were blackmailed on the stand, and investigate, role block, or even vote up the person who accused them to demand their role.
 * will often invent new "rules" about how blackmailing and the blackmailed message works to try and cast suspicion on the person they've been blackmailing. (For instance, complaining that they said they were blackmailed too many or too few times, or too quickly or too slow.) Turn it around and look at it from the other direction: Falsely claiming to be blackmailed is an extremely rare and risky strategy, one that has few benefits and which can be easily discounted by a, while trying to get their targets lynched is extremely common. Therefore, any claim that someone who is acting blackmailed is "faking it" should be seen as extremely suspicious, especially if it comes from their main accuser.

Trivia

 * Prior to 1.5.0.3431, could not hear private messages.

Blackmailer