Judge

Your target could be a Bodyguard, Godfather, Arsonist, Apprentice, or Mercenary.

**Coven Expansion Results**
Your target could be a Bodyguard, Crusader, Godfather, Arsonist, Apprentice, or Mercenary.

### **Consigliere**

Your target wields the gavel of justice in their hands. They must be a Judge.

## Game Information

### **Summary**

You are a powerful upholder of the law that is willing to put your life at risk.

### **Abilities**

You may Pardon someone at night.
You may Object to a vote outcome, and flip the result.

### **Attributes**

You may not Pardon yourself or on Night 1.
You may only Pardon someone 3 times.
You may Object a trial once, including your own.

### **Goal**

Lynch every criminal and evildoer.

"What do you mean he is innocent? The Lookout saw him!" the Town's Sheriff shouted at the top of his voice, waving his arms angrily as the Mafioso stepped down from the trial stand, a smile on his face knowing his Mafia friends would never convict him.

"We don't have a chance anymore, we are outnumbered," the Jailor sighed, kicking a pebble.

Out of the crowd a man stepped forward, a cigar in hand, a wig on his head and gavel in his hand. "I sentence you to trial, once more, and I declare you guilty of conspiracy against the town." The Mafioso's smile faded as he was hauled back on trial kicking and screaming.

Watching the Mafioso hang, the Consigliere scowled, taking a moment to compose himself. This man, this **Judge**, had killed one of his allies. The Arsonist, the Serial Killer, his Mafia kin would all want to know who he is. For that is one thing they all would be united on. This Judge could not live another day.

## Mechanics

* The Judge is a Unique Role, and cannot exist if there is a Mayor in the game.
* The Judge can be the Executioner’s target, unlike a Mayor and Jailor.
* Objecting turns innocent votes to guilty and vice-versa. Abstains are not altered.
* You can object to your own lynching.

## Strategy

* You are one of the most powerful Town roles in the game, second to only the Mayor and Jailor in power. Do not be afraid to try to lead the daily discussion knowing that your abilities can influence who gets hung.
* Like the Mayor, you are better off hidden from evil roles because you can singlehandedly stop the Mafia or Coven from gaining majority. Try not to claim your role unless under intense pressure or if doing so can significantly narrow the claim space in the rolelist.
	+ You may want to consider claiming a different Town role if asked. Medium works since it is in the same alignment as Judge, and Bodyguard can work due to the shared Investigator result.
		- However, you must be careful when pursuing this strategy. In TGFM Episode XIII, the Judge attempted to claim several different Town roles throughout the game including Mayor and Jailor. Their play may have singlehandedly caused the Coven to win that game.
* Remember that you can object to your own lynching. This gives you the freedom to play more aggressively since you can always save yourself and confirm yourself as the Judge by objecting to your own lynching. However, this is not an effective use of such a powerful ability and should only be done as a last resort.
* Even though objecting only reveals your role to evil players, you can use your objection to confirm yourself to everyone. To do this, announce that you plan to object shortly before doing so. When you actually object to the lynch, it will be highly unlikely that you are faking your role.
* You should consider pardoning every night after the first, particularly in modes like Ranked that resolve quickly. Earlier in the game, pardoning someone can be useful since the Town has less information to work with and is more likely to make a mislynch. Later in the game, when Town is close to losing majority, a well-placed pardon can be the difference between a victory and a loss.
* If you believe that a player who is about to get lynched is a member of the Town and are unwilling or unable to use your objection, attempt to direct the lynch onto the player who you pardoned the previous night. Evil roles are likely to follow suit if you pardoned another member of the Town if they do not know that you are the Judge. Even though it is not ideal, negating the lynch with a pardon is better than letting a Town member get lynched.

## Trivia

* Judge was added into the Testing Grounds following the October 2021 Role Poll, in which it received 10 votes.
* Judge became an Accepted Role following the December 2021 Results Poll.
* Judge was created by the user Cavespider17, who is also known as Widget.