Day Phase

Contents

Day Phase Basics and Flow

Announcing the Deaths

When waking up the village from the Night Phase, make sure that there is no discussion until after deaths of the previous Night Phase have been announced. Many players will be itching for lynching or to share information they may have learned, and it's very important for game balance that everyone remain silent until the Town Mayor says it's time for "open discussion and accusations". If you need to make a house rule to prevent such behavior, we suggest instantly lynching the first person to accuse or speak before permission is given. "You were awake before dawn! You must be a WEREWOLF!". We assure you the village will only make this mistake a few times before behaving.

After the village is awake, walk around the circle and collect the cards of those that have died. Do not say how they have died, only that they have died. Announce the roles of all of the dead players. If one of the dead players had a Lover, announce that their Lover has died of a broken heart. Kill the Lover, collect their card, and announce their role to the village. If one of the killed players was the Hunter, they must then make a decision on who to kill. They must make this decision on their own and without input from anyone else. Once they choose someone to kill, take the victim's card and announce that player's role to the village. If the Hunter picked one of the Matchmaker's Lovers as her victim, remember to kill the other Lover and reveal their role.

A little confusing, right? Here's a quick and dirty checklist:

It can get quite gruesome sometimes! Spice up the revealing of the roles as much as you can! Suspense and storytelling fit in really well at this part of the game. The only time the cause of death can be disclosed is if the only death-at-night roles in play are Werewolves. Remember that you should never accidentally disclose how a player died if there could have been other ways they were killed.

Open Discussion, Accusations, and Defense

After all deaths have been revealed, the Town Mayor should announce to the village that open discussion and accusations are now permitted. Step outside of the circle to allow everyone to have proper eye contact with each other. From here, the villagers can discuss theory and behavior until someone makes an official accusation. It is important to maintain order during this part of the Day Phase.

An official accusation consists of raising one hand above their head and pointing at the person they are accusing with the other hand. This specific gesture is important as it distingushes accusations from random finger pointing and other types of wild gesticulating that can occur during heated discussion. It also allows the Town Mayor to easily see who is accusing first. The accusing player is then asked who they are accusing and why. Once they have given their reasons for suspicion, the village is asked if anyone wants to second the accusation.

If no one seconds the accusation, the village goes back to open discussion. If there is a second, then the accused must give a defense to the village. Discussion involving the accuser and the accused is permitted, but discussion should center aaround at least one of the two when possible. Remember that players who trip up or are caught lying are not cheating; players are allowed to say anything they want, but they may not reveal their card. Once the defense is finished, the village must take a vote to carry out the lynching.

There is no time limit to this part of the Day Phase. There is no accusation limit either, but the same person cannot be accused twice in a row.

Voting

The Town Mayor should give the village around 3-5 seconds to raise their hands to vote in favor of lynching. The accused is not allowed to vote. Once hands are raised, a count is taken. The most fair way to do the count is to start from the accused and count clockwise or counterclockwise around the circle, varying it as the Town Mayor sees fit. Only count the hands that are raised as you pass by; people who do not have their hands raised cannot change their mind after you pass them. This will help make sure that people are paying attention when it's time to vote.

A vote passes if the total number of votes* is at least half of the number of players still alive (with a remainder rounded up). This number of players includes the person being accused, and it does not include the Town Mayor. For example, a village composed to 10 players requires at least 5 votes to lynch someone. A village composed of 9 players also requires 5 votes. Werewolves of the Dark Arts was designed with this kind of voting calculation in mind. It is very important to calculate votes in this way.

If the vote fails, the village goes back to open discussion. If the vote passes...

* The number of hands rased may be different than the final vote count if the Shaman or Crazed Shaman are in play.

Lynching

... the village moves forward with the lynching. The time for the accused to defend themselves has passed. No dying words, no elegant expositional soliloquies, no strategic discussions. Dumping information after the vote has passed removes the element of risk from the doomed player's confession. If there is something critical the accused player has to say, they must say it before the vote takes place.

The player that was lynched has their role revealed to the village. Take advantage of the drama of death and the suspense of the reveal. Remember, someone MUST be lynched to end the Day Phase.

Like the beginning of the Day Phase, a check must be made to see if the lynching victim was one of the Matchmaker's Lovers or the Hunter. If the lynching victim had a Lover, announce that their Lover has died, collect their card, and announce them Lover's role to the village. If one of the killed players was the Hunter, they must make a decision on who to kill. Once they choose someone to kill, take the victim's card and announce that player's role to the village. If the Hunter picked one of the Matchmaker's Lovers as her victim, remember to kill the other Lover and reveal their role.

If the role reveal meets a winning condition, continue to the Final Reveal. If a winning condition was not met, send the village to sleep without any further discussion and continue to the Night Phase.