Accessibility - BLIND PLAYER ACCESSIBILITY

This section contains advice on including blind & visually impaired players who wish to play by themselves and not as part of a Revolutionary pair. These processes were established with blind players at Gen Con in 2018 and HandyCon in 2020. Some of these processes are more involved than others.

Above all, we recommend talking to your players (in advance wherever possible) about what processes would or wouldn’t work best for them. The processes here may work well for some players and not for others. For example, we recently encountered a blind player in a regular BOTC group who, after hundreds of games played, received their night info and starting info using text-to-speech from their tablet, and incorporated no other special changes or processes.

Braille Character Sheets

Please check in advance with your player(s) whether or not they can read Braille. If they can, you may wish to provide them with a Braille character sheet. If you have access to Braille printing resources, you can get the .brf files for the base three scripts right here:

If you do not have access to any Braille printing resources of your own, we recommend contacting support services for the visually impaired in your local area to see if they can offer this service. (And it wouldn’t hurt to throw in a donation to them too while you’re at it, if they accept any.) Previously, we were able to have a small number of Braille character sheets printed by the American Council of the Blind of Ohio.

Text-to-Speech

Normally, all night time communication between the Storyteller and players is visual. Text-to-speech tools using the player’s phone are an effective way to communicate secret information to a blind player.

One-way text-to-speech from the Storyteller to the player is sufficient for Trouble Brewing. However, in Bad Moon Rising, Sects & Violets, and in some custom scripts, it will be necessary for the player to communicate a character name back to the Storyteller if, for example, they’re playing as the Gambler, Courtier, Pit-Hag, Cerenovus, or Philosopher.

If any characters that choose a character are on the script, you may need to arrange in advance for the blind player to be able to text the Storyteller, or the Storyteller may need to accept this information from the player at night by whispering.

If you’re concerned about maintaining secrecy at night so that any whispers are not overheard, you may wish to lead the player away from the group or ask all players to block their ears in the night phase. Although please note that if you choose either of these methods then it may be necessary to lead the player away or ask other players to block their ears every night, so as not to give anything away.

Rules Explanation & Player Position Numbers

If any blind player(s) in your game have not played before and are not familiar with the characters in the game, and if they do not read Braille or no Braille character sheets are available, you should spend some time before the game going through each character in the game with them. Throughout the game, you may wish to check in with them from time to time to refresh them on the various characters and their abilities.

Give the standard rules explanation to all players, with the following additions.

All players will have a ‘position number’ starting with the blind player at 'position zero' and going up sequentially from that player's left. (If you’re using name tags, it’s useful to note position numbers on those.)
Ask players to be mindful of their position number – to volunteer it from time to time, and to mention it along with their name when they say it, and with their character if they decide to claim a character. Player position is often important in Blood on the Clocktower, and using numbers is a fast way to communicate where all players are seated relative to each other.
Ask players to be mindful not to speak over each other too much. Don't be afraid to remind them from time-to-time in-game, or check in privately with the blind player if they would like more active Storyteller enforcement of this. Don’t be afraid to bring the Hell’s Librarian into play if you need help reminding your group to be courteous.
Players may also be asked to cover their ears at night as well as their eyes. (Please check in advance whether your group is comfortable with this, as some players would prefer not to block their ears while their eyes are also shut.)

You may also find it helpful to remind players to do the following when interacting with any visually impaired players.

Every time they approach a blind player, remind them of their name, their place in the circle (such as ‘position number’, a clock-hour reference, or whatever other means you’ve alighted on as a group), and a quick reminder of what they’ve already announced publicly.
When claiming a character to a blind player, give a reminder of the wording of that character.
Please be mindful of the privacy/secrecy needs of any blind players, given that it may be more difficult for them to move away from the group for private conversations and that they may not be as aware of who could be listening in nearby.
For each nomination, have nominators and nominees clearly state their names, their position, any character or information they’ve publicly claimed, and any further context that is relevant to the nomination at hand.

Character Selection

All players select tokens from the bag at random, except for any blind players. The Storyteller looks at each blind player’s token and places it in the grimoire. Blind players are informed of their character by the Storyteller at the beginning of the first night, either by waking them and whispering to them or by text-to-speech.

Night Phase - Text-to-Speech

The Storyteller should type any information to be sent in advance (especially if the blind player is the Spy).

The blind player will be tapped twice on the shoulder or knee to 'wake up'. If they receive information, this lets them know that their information is incoming.

Any texts are sent to the blind player. Consider multiple texts for the Spy, and the Imp on first night. The blind player should give a thumbs up if they have received the message and are happy with it. They should give a thumb sideways if they would like to receive the information again. They should give a thumbs down if they would instead prefer to receive the information whispered as direct speech.

If they select a player (e.g. Ravenkeeper, Monk, Butler, Poisoner, Imp) or players (e.g. Fortune Teller, Chambermaid), these two taps let them know that it is time to make their selections. They will hold up fingers corresponding to the position number they want to select, or touch their thumb to their index finger for 'zero'. (For numbers of 11-15, the player will make a fist with one hand and give a number from 1-5 with the other.) After the storyteller receives each number, they will tap the player once on the shoulder once to acknowledge they have received the information.

If the player requires information based on their selections (e.g. Fortune Teller, Ravenkeeper), this information should be texted to them now. The blind player should give a thumbs up to show that they have received the message. They should give a thumb sideways if they would like to receive the information again. They should give a thumbs down if they would instead prefer to receive the information whispered as direct speech.

They will be tapped twice again to be put back to sleep. This lets them know that the Storyteller will now be waking other players, and that if they make any gestures then they may be witnessed.

Night Phase - Direct Speech

The blind player will be tapped twice to 'wake up'. If they receive information, this lets them know that their information is incoming. The Storyteller may choose to lead the player away from the circle, or leave them seated.

The Storyteller will whisper the information to the blind player. The blind player should give a thumbs up if they have received the message and are happy with it. They should give a thumb sideways if they would like to receive the information again. If necessary, the Storyteller will lead them back to their chair.

If the player requires information based on their selections (e.g. Fortune Teller, Ravenkeeper), this information should be whispered to them now. The blind player will give a thumbs up to show that they have received the message. They will give a thumb sideways if they would like to receive the information again. If necessary, the Storyteller will lead them back to their chair.

They will be tapped twice again to be put back to sleep. This lets them know that the Storyteller will now be waking other players, and that if they make any gestures then they may be witnessed.

At the start of each day, summarise out loud which players/positions are alive and which positions are dead. Also outline which dead players do and don't have ghost votes.

Night Phase - Non-Verbal Communication

For certain aspects of the night phase, you may wish to establish some non-verbal means of communication in order to do some things more simply. The following tips won’t work for every character, but they may allow a night phase to play out more quickly with a blind player if they happen to draw a particular character that can receive information in these ways.

Communicating a number to a player by tapping on their hand the appropriate number of times.
Establish one of the players hands as ‘yes’ and the other as ‘no’. The Storyteller squeezes the appropriate hand to silently give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
If the Storyteller needs to communicate ‘good’ (thumbs up) or ‘evil’ (thumbs down), the Storyteller places their hand on the player’s palm and lets them feel whether it is thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

Voting & Executions

All players who plan on voting should be asked to raise their hands prior to the vote commencing, and the Storyteller should relay which players/positions have their hands raised. This does not mean that players cannot later change their minds, but it’s a courtesy that gives the blind player the opportunity to gauge the mood of the group before the vote, giving them the same information about other players’ displayed intentions that a sighted player would receive passively.

The Storyteller announces they are commencing the vote, and then moves slowly. As each player/position is passed, the Storyteller announces their name and/or position number and how they vote (“yes” or “no”). At the end of the vote, the Storyteller counts the raised hands and announces the final tally. Optionally, they may summarise again at this point which positions voted.

All players should be asked to keep their hands raised if they vote so that the Storyteller can make a tally at the end, and the Storyteller should announce if any player has used their ghost vote.