Intel checks

Reading intel

A check result is evidence about how the engine reads a player. It is not direct evidence of what that player is. Auras sit between the two: an aura can change the alignment a Seer sees, whether a player registers as a killer, and whether they appear to use witchcraft, without changing their role at all.

Three habits follow from that. Treat a clean read as "nothing was detectable last night", not "innocent". Treat a bad read as a lead, not a conviction. And when two checks disagree, look for an aura or a blocker before assuming one of the claimants is lying.

See auras for what can sit between a player and their reading, and night action order for which resolves first.

Alignment reads

The Seer family. These return an alignment phrase such as "a member of the village", never a role name. Several seer variants exist, and some are designed to return a reading that does not match the truth.

• What it returns: the alignment the engine computes for the target after every aura has been applied.
• What it cannot distinguish: two roles in the same faction, or a role from an aura that changed its alignment. A wolf reading as village and a villager reading as village are the same result.
• What defeats it: any aura that overrides alignment, being roleblocked, and variant seers whose reading is unreliable by design.

Role reads

The Gravedigger and Bloodhound family. Unlike an alignment read, these return an actual role name, which makes them the strongest single piece of evidence in the game.

• What it returns: the target's role by name.
• What it cannot distinguish: nothing about the target's current auras or what they did.
• What defeats it: being roleblocked, and any effect that removes the body or target before the check resolves.

Aura reads

The Aura Seer, the Aura Diviner and the Vibra Rune. All three read the same unfiltered list, so they see auras that the player carrying them has not been told about.

• What it returns: the names of every aura currently on the target.
• Aura Seer and Vibra Rune read one target and are otherwise identical.
• The Aura Diviner reads the target and both of their neighbours together, and is not told which of the three players an aura belongs to. It is roleblocked if it is itself inside that window.
• What it cannot distinguish: role or alignment. An aura tells you something happened to a player, not what they are.

Every aura page lists exactly what these checks would see. See auras.

Tarot reads

The Tarot Reader family, plus roles that compare or locate cards rather than naming them. Every role has a fixed triple of tarot cards covering alignment, killing and witchcraft.

• What it returns: one or more of the target's tarot cards, or a comparison between two targets.
• What it cannot distinguish: two roles that share a card. Many do, which is why a single card is a narrowing tool rather than a confirmation.
• Variants: some readers return the highest or lowest count card in a group, one card drawn from neighbours, or whether two targets share the same cards, rather than the target's own cards.

Each role page shows the exact triple a reader would draw for it.

Magic and witchcraft reads

The Diviner and Witch Hunter family, keyed on whether a player uses witchcraft rather than on their faction.

• What it returns: whether magic is present, and in the Diviner's case how strong the source near the target is rather than who it is.
• What it cannot distinguish: a magic-using villager from a magic-using wolf. Witchcraft crosses faction lines in both directions.
• What defeats it: auras that hide or fake witchcraft usage.

Visit and movement reads

The Harlot, Stalker, Insomniac, Illuminati Lookout and Blind Monk family. These report movement rather than identity, and they are the checks most often misread.

• What it returns: that a visit happened, and usually who made it.
• What it cannot distinguish: a hostile visit from a protective or investigative one. A healer, a wolf and a seer all visit.
• What defeats it: items and abilities whose visits are hidden, and any redirect, which moves the visit somewhere other than where it was aimed.
• The Blind Monk counts footsteps in, out and within a three-player window rather than naming anybody, so it establishes activity level, not identity.

Death reads

The Mortician family, which examines a body rather than a living player.

• What it returns: what killed the target, or an explicit failure to determine it.
• What it cannot distinguish: who did the killing. Cause of death narrows the field of possible killers, it does not name one.

Membership and faith reads

The Inquisitor, Redeemer and Beholder family. These ask whether a player belongs to a specific group rather than reading a general property.

• What it returns: a yes or no answer about one specific membership.
• What it cannot distinguish: anything outside the group being asked about. A "not a member" result is not a clean bill of health.

Item and record reads

Books, relics and runes deliver intel to whoever holds them rather than to a role. Because items can be passed, stolen and destroyed, the same check can end up in different hands across a game.

• What it returns: varies by item, from archive records to aura lists.
• What it cannot distinguish: whoever used the item. A claim backed by an item is only as good as the claim to hold the item.
• What defeats it: theft, destruction and item blocks.

See items for which items carry a check.

Passive intel

Not all information comes from choosing a target. Some roles are told things at the start of the game or when an event occurs, with no check and no visit. Passive intel cannot be roleblocked in the way a night check can, which makes it more reliable and easier to claim falsely, since there is no visit for anyone else to corroborate.