Running Your First Blood on the Clocktower Night: A Guide for Organisers
Everything you need to know to host a social deduction evening that people will actually come back to.
Blood on the Clocktower has exploded across the UK. Fuelled partly by the popularity of The Traitors on BBC, social deduction games have gone from a niche interest to something that fills pubs and board game cafés every week. If you are thinking about running your own BotC night, you are tapping into one of the fastest-growing segments of the tabletop gaming community.
But running a Clocktower event is a different beast to hosting a casual board game night. The player counts are larger, the games are longer, and the storyteller role carries real responsibility. Here is how to set yourself up for success.
What Makes BotC Different
Most board games work with four to six players. Blood on the Clocktower is designed for five to twenty, with the sweet spot for most community games being somewhere around twelve to sixteen. That changes the logistics significantly. You need a bigger venue, more chairs, and a way to manage sign-ups so you know how many people are actually coming.
The game also requires a storyteller, the person who runs the game rather than playing in it. This is a skilled role. A good storyteller keeps the game moving, manages the night phase efficiently, and creates an atmosphere that makes the experience memorable. If you are organising the event, you may also be storytelling, which means you need to be comfortable with the rules and ideally have a few games under your belt before you run a public session.
Choosing a Venue
You need a space where fifteen to twenty people can sit in a rough circle, talk freely, and occasionally get up to have private conversations. That rules out anywhere too cramped or too noisy.
Pubs with function rooms work brilliantly. You want a space that is somewhat separate from the main bar so that your players can be loud without disturbing other customers (and vice versa). Most pubs will reserve a room for free if you can guarantee a group of fifteen or more buying drinks.
Board game cafés are a natural fit. Several UK cafés, including Chance and Counters, Dice Tower, and The Arcanist's Tavern, already run regular Clocktower nights. If you are approaching a café about hosting, emphasise the player count. Fifteen to twenty paying customers on a regular night is a compelling pitch for any venue.
Community halls and similar hired spaces give you more control over the environment but come with a cost. If you are charging a ticket price (more on that below), the hire fee is usually easy to cover.
Whatever your venue, make sure there is enough floor space for the storyteller to move around the circle during the night phase. Tables in the middle of the circle are a common mistake. The storyteller needs to be able to reach every player without climbing over furniture.
Setting Up Your First Event
Start with a beginner-friendly session. Use the Trouble Brewing script, which is the introductory edition designed to teach new players the core mechanics without overwhelming them. Resist the temptation to jump straight into Sects and Violets or custom scripts. You want your first event to convert newcomers into regulars, and that means keeping the complexity manageable.
Aim for a player count of ten to fifteen for your first session. This is large enough to give a proper Clocktower experience but small enough that you can manage things comfortably as a new organiser.
Prepare a short rules explanation. The official rules sheet from the Pandemonium Institute website covers everything a new player needs to know. Practice delivering it beforehand. A confident, concise rules teach sets the tone for the whole evening. Five to ten minutes is ideal. Any longer and people start losing focus before the game even begins.
Have the grimoire set up and tokens sorted before players arrive. Nothing kills momentum like twenty minutes of fiddling with components while everyone watches.
Managing Sign-ups
This is where many Clocktower organisers struggle. The game has a minimum and maximum player count, which means you need to know in advance how many people are coming. Too few and the game does not work. Too many and you do not have enough seats.
A simple RSVP system with a capacity limit and waitlist is essential. Some organisers use Facebook events, but these are unreliable because Facebook RSVPs do not translate well into actual attendance. "Going" on a Facebook event is a very weak commitment.
A dedicated event platform with proper RSVP tracking, capacity limits, and automatic waitlist management makes this much easier. You want to know that your fifteen confirmed players are genuinely coming, and you want the sixteenth person to know they are on the waitlist and will be notified if a spot opens up.
If you are charging for tickets (and most Clocktower nights in the UK do charge, typically between five and fifteen pounds), taking payment at the point of booking dramatically reduces no-shows. People who have paid for a ticket are far more likely to actually turn up.
To Charge or Not to Charge
Most regular Clocktower nights in the UK charge between five and fifteen pounds per session. This is not unusual. The game requires more setup and expertise than a casual board game night, the player experience is closer to an organised event than a drop-in meetup, and there are real costs involved (venue hire, replacement tokens, printed materials).
A five to eight pound ticket price is the sweet spot for a regular weekly or fortnightly event. It covers your costs, compensates the storyteller for their time and preparation, and is low enough that most players consider it good value for two to three hours of entertainment.
Be transparent about where the money goes. If you are covering venue hire and materials, say so. If the storyteller is being paid for their time, that is perfectly reasonable and worth stating. Gaming communities respond well to honesty about finances.
Building a Regular Community
A single Clocktower night is fun. A regular one builds a community. The social deduction format naturally encourages strong social bonds because the game is fundamentally about reading people, building trust, and having memorable interactions.
After your first few sessions, you will start to notice regulars forming. Encourage this by keeping communication channels open between events. A Discord server or group chat where players can discuss games, share strategies, and coordinate attendance helps turn a series of events into a genuine community.
Consider offering different difficulty levels as your group matures. Beginner-friendly sessions using Trouble Brewing for new players, intermediate sessions using Bad Moon Rising or Sects and Violets, and advanced sessions using custom scripts for experienced players. Several UK venues have adopted this tiered approach with great success.
The Storyteller Pipeline
If you are the sole storyteller, you will burn out. Storytelling is demanding. It requires preparation, concentration, and the ability to manage a room of people who are actively trying to deceive each other.
Identify players who show interest in storytelling and encourage them to try it. Offer to mentor them through their first session. Having two or three people who can storytell means you can rotate, take breaks, and actually play as a participant sometimes.
Some groups run a "storyteller training" session where an experienced storyteller walks through the grimoire management, night phase logistics, and common tricky situations. This investment pays off enormously in the long run.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Running custom scripts too early is the most common one. New players need time with the base game before you introduce complexity. Trouble Brewing exists for a reason.
Not enforcing a start time is another. Clocktower games take time, and if you wait for latecomers you end up rushing the game or finishing too late. Set a start time, communicate it clearly, and stick to it.
Ignoring the social side of the event is a subtler mistake. The best Clocktower nights build in time before and after the game for people to chat, debrief, and socialise. The game is the centrepiece, but the community is what keeps people coming back.
Blood on the Clocktower is one of the most exciting things happening in UK tabletop gaming right now. Running a regular night takes some effort, but the reward is a thriving, passionate community built around one of the best social experiences the hobby has to offer.