Town of Salem – Beginners Guide

My all to know Guide for TOS (Town of Salem) including roles, strategies, playstyles, dynamics, and general knowledge I picked up.

Termanology

Note: Credit goes to ellacrium

• CC =Counter Claim
• RT =Random Town
• TI = Town Investigative
• TP = Town Protective
• TS = Town Supportive
• TK = Town killing
• Exe = Executioner
• SK = Serial Killer
• Maf = Mafia
• RM = Random Mafia
• RC = Random Coven
• TOS = Town Of Salem

Role List

The Role list is what will appear at the top left of your screen while playing and it shows all the possible roles that can be in the game (I will be using Ranked Classic as an example).

• Jailor
• Town Investigative
• Town Investigative
• Town Protective
• Town Killing
• Town Support
• Random Town
• Random Town
• Random Town
• Godfather
• Mafioso
• Random Mafia
• Random Mafia
• Witch
• Executionor

So lets say for example the witch dies to a Vigilante meaning that the Witch is now dead and that there is Vigilante slotting into the role list for either TK or RT. And for another lets say someone is claiming Doc but the BodyGuard has already died you can assume that this claim is either false or slots into the RT’s.

Lastly if you become blackmailed and cannot speak you will now know that one of the RM’s are Blackmailer.

The role list is an extremely powerful tool in a competitive setting it helps you find people out very fast.

Role Claims + Wills + CC

Role Claims + Wills:

When playing people will be role claiming, this means they are claiming to be a specific role and they will normally provide evidence through their will afterward to show their proof and what they’ve done throughout the game I would recommend opening up your notes to keep peoples Role claims their actions I would recommend just trying to remember because you won’t have enough time.

Make sure that you are always writing up your actions in your will every night in a format similar to this so that people can understand your will when you die (I will be using Sheriff as an example).

Sheriff

• N1 – checked 7 not sus
• N2 – checked 2 not sus
• N3 – checked 14 sus
• N4 – checked 9 not sus

Now you are a Mafia, Coven, or a neutral non-benign make sure you always pick a role to disguise yourself as when typing in the chat (I.E. Vigie, Vet, or BodyGuard) and make sure that you always have it written up in your will you can also claim as a TI (town investigative) to try to get someone lynched I would tell you not to try Day 2 you will be the one being lynched Day 2 instead of your suspicious person.

When trying to lynch somebody specific you will need to make sure that your role claim lines up so that you aren’t the one to get lynched instead so always make sure that your typing the correct numbers and results
and when they don’t a CC(Counter Claim) could easily happen from a mafia/coven/neutral this will most likely result in them getting you lynched and them claiming Executioner afterwards so they don’t get lynched by town

CC:

However a CC in general is something that happens when 2 town members are claiming the same role at which time you should use your own discretion to see who is more suspicious while of course they could just both be the role which is entirely possible but the less likely answer.

Mafia

The Mafia is defined by their Deception and ability to gain info from Framer, Disguiser, and Forger they can easily power through a game controlling the Investigatives to their will with Blackmailer, and Consigliere they can learn alot of info and find out claims they should kill as well as suppressing those who are problematic but not worthwhile to kill and finnally to top it off their killing power is quite weak to offset the balance of their information gathering techniques with the only possibility of a maf double kill happening from a confident Ambusher which would most likely need a Blackmailer to be able to do their job the mafia is overall fun and consistant.

Coven

The Coven are the mystical posterboys of the Coven Expansion they allow for alot of killing Power withe only supportive role in the cast being the Potion Master and the Necromancer allowing the Coven to gain information and to get protection from attacks as well as a variety of other things their raw killing output is what makes them strong and are generally game quickeners and are sometimes frustrating to play against.

Neutral Benigns

Amnesiac:

You become the role of a dead player claiming that your an amnesiac kills you though.

Survivor:

Same comment on amnesiac I would recommend trying to come off as a Townie because of that fact or trying to find out who Maf/Coven is to win with them.

Guardian Angel (GA):

I would say save on Night 1 or 2 then during the announcements whisper to your target the night after you healed them saying you healed them and ask what their role is so you can help them out because they can still be any role unlike executioner and always ask what they plan on doing and use your own descretion for when to heal them.

Neutral Evils

Executioner:

As the executioner you have to get your target lynched at all costs I would recommend the Vigie method for this saying you attacked someone and they had too high defense is bound to get them lynched if people care enough you could also get lynched for this as well so be careful what you say there are some other ways like Invest, Sheriff, and Tracker claiming which are all still viable but if they are have a confirm for that night your toast.

Note: an executioners target will always be a townie.

Jester:

I would recommend just playing it acting like an investigative role or claiming survivor which is a fast way to get lynched by the town when you wanna go for the under cover route though I would recommend trying to get someone lynched and then make an inconsistancy in your will so they will lynch you instead.

Witch:

your main goal is to try to find out who the Mafia or Coven is if you can then it’ll be very easy to win after all, all your trying to do is make it so that the town loose so your best bet is to find the maf/coven and try to figure out something with them so that you can win.

Neutral Chaos

Vampires:

Whenever there are Vampires there will always be a Vampire hunter you can bite people to make it so that they become a Vampire and only a Vampire they will loose their previous role normally the youngest will sacrifice themselves to find the Vampire Hunter and the rest come up with a way to lynch them by one of them claiming invest or some other role so they can get them lynched that is really your main priority as a Vampire.

Pirate:

The Pirate is able to choose to be on either Town or Maf/Coven this is because all he has to do in order to win is successfully plunder 2 people so he is a complete wildcard and my favorite role in TOS he is interesting to play and how I would recommend doing it is by whispering to someone first day saying your the Pirate and who they want you to plunder it works as a good partner system and is good for team sides however I just ask you to not game throw after getting your 2 kills.

Plaguebearer:

You get to Circumcise the town after infecting everyone just make sure you don’t get found out or you’ll cut off more than you came to.

Medium

As the Medium you gain the ability to talk to the dead you are able to gain advice or info from them Medium is extremely helpful to find roles like Veteran, or Medusa as well as getting results from TI’s that died yesterday just remember to take the advice the dead says with a slight grain of salt as some of them are Mafia and can mess with your game so always check numbers.

You are also able to Seance a player allowing you to talk to them during the night while dead you can send valuable information with this and it is not to be underestimated.

Investigator

Invest Results in Classic:

• Vigilante, Veteran, Mafioso, or Ambusher
• Medium, Janitor, or Retributionist
• Survivor, Vampire Hunter, or Amnesiac
• Spy, Blackmailer, or Jailor
• Sheriff, Executioner, or Werewolf
• Framer, Vampire, or Jester
• Lookout, Forger, or Witch
• Escort, Transporter, Consort, or Hypnotist
• Doctor, Disguiser, or Serial Killer
• Investigator, Consigliere, or Mayor
• Bodyguard, Godfather, or Arsonist

Invest Results in the Coven Expansion:

• Vigilante, Veteran, Mafioso, Pirate, or Ambusher
• Medium, Janitor, Retributionist, Necromancer, or Trapper
• Survivor, Vampire Hunter, Amnesiac, Medusa, or Psychic
• Spy, Blackmailer, Jailor, or Guardian Angel
• Sheriff, Executioner, Werewolf, or Poisoner
• Framer, Vampire, Jester, or Hex Master
• Lookout, Forger, Juggernaut, or Coven Leader
• Escort, Transporter, Consort, or Hypnotist
• Doctor, Disguiser, Serial Killer, or Potion Master
• Investigator, Consigliere, Mayor, Tracker, or Plaguebearer
• Bodyguard, Godfather, Arsonist, or Crusader

Exceptions:

If a player is doused by the Arsonist, the Investigator results will appear as Bodyguard, Godfather, and Arsonist. In the Coven expansion Bodyguard, Godfather, Arsonist, and Crusader.

If the Framer or Hex Master uses their ability on a player and an Investigator checks that player, the player will appear as Framer, Vampire, or Jester in Classic Mode, and Framer, Vampire, Jester, or Hex Master in the Coven Expansion.

If the Disguiser is disguised then the Investigator Results for the Disguiser will be whichever role they are disguised as.

Sheriff

You cannot find evidence of wrongdoing. Your target seems innocent:

• All Townies
• The Town Traitor
• All Neutral Benign
• All Neutral Evil
• All Neutral Chaos
• Godfather
• Arsonist
• Werewolf not during a Full Moon Night
• Juggernaut
• The member of the Coven wielding the Necronomicon
• A Disguiser Disguised as any of the roles above with the right circumstances

Your target is suspicious!:

• All members of the Mafia except the Godfather, unless they are Disguised as a “seems innocent” role with the right circumstances
• Anyone Framed by a Framer
• All members of the Coven unless they wield the Necronomicon
• Anyone Hexed by the Hex Master
• Serial Killer
• Werewolf during a Full Moon Night
• Godfather Disguised as any of the roles above with the right circumstances