Town of Salem – Jailed Serial Killer: Full Guide

If you have ever played as the serial killer and have been jailed one night, you know that it can be rough. I’m here to show you that you can live.

A Quick Overview

Please note: all credit goes to Chickenwim!

A lot of you guys and gals at some point were a serial killer that was jailed and was forced to kill your jailor. It seems like a good thing at first, as the jailor will die, in your favor. However, the jailor, if they have some basic experience, will likely write your name down for that very eventful night before the murder. This will look very incriminating, as you could imagine, the following morning, when it says that he jailed you, and he was slain by the serial killer. It’s a very hard loop to get out of, and usually you will be hung within a couple days. I made a few scenarios where the jailor jails the sk. Note that this is intended for the base game and has not been adjusted for coven.

Scenarios

Scenario 1: On night 1, the jailor jails you. He himself cannot kill you, of course, but you will still kill him. He does not add anything to his will, so any claims or accusations between them will not provide use. The jailor died, and the town does not have any reason to put suspicion on you. This scenario is the absolute best thing that can happen as a serial killer. However, it is uncommon. Usually jailors will write something, and have the ability to execute.

Scenario 2: On a regular night, the jailor has the ability to kill you. However, you claim sheriff which is a fairly reasonable role to claim, and he thinks nothing of it. Before the night ends, he writes down your name and your excuse in his will. The next morning, he is dead, of course, and you are alive. The town sees the will and his cause of death. The town, as they reasonably should, become suspicious of you. Unless other players provide some sort of further reasoning this day, you will probably survive that day, but be lynched a following day, as sheriffs often check the last jailed person. Then most of the town will likely turn on you completely and vote to your death. This is the most common scenario.

Scenario 3: It is getting to the latter half in the game (4-8 people alive) and the jailor jails you. You would claim some reasonable role that is still available, and he would probably let you go. He writes down your name and your claim as a responsible jailor should. He is found slaughtered with the note. The town, this time, has much more reason to instantly believe that you must be guilty right from the note as it is much more unlikely to be someone else. You may survive the day but it is less likely than our second scenario. Unless the investigative roles are dead, you are almost always going to die.

Scenario 4: It is possibly the last day or 2 of the game (<4 people alive) and the jailor jails you. Considering that they aren’t protecting a town member, they are likely to kill you. In fact, you would be lucky to get them to believe anything considering only a few, if any, roles would be possible at this point. If you get some luck, he doesn’t kill you. If you die the next day would depend purely on how many town members (and other characters that don’t benefit from you being alive) are available, as it only takes 2 or 3 votes to kill. It’s clutch or die at this point.

What to Do

As you could imagine, this guide was difficult to formulate because it feels merely of little help. I want to make it clear that this will not make your survive 100% of the time, but it should up your chances of surviving and possibly winning as a serial killer against a jailor.

First of all, you need to know what the situation is. If the jailor is simply wondering what role you are, which should be the default action of jailors, then the hardest part is probably making something up.

If you prepare, it can be easier to say something, and potentially it’ll be more believable. However, anything is better than nothing (except for a pure submission, obviously.) To prepare the best, try to make at least 2 excusing wills in your will. Make them different roles, preferably one of them an investigative, and another a support. Try to avoid a protective or killing role, because they are most commonly linked to bad actors. They should only be used when they are the only reasonable roles left.

You may be in a situation where the jailor presses the execute button right away. It may be leverage for you to talk, but chances are, they’ve discovered you and aren’t going to let you slip away. In this case, you basically have no chance. However, I recommend still making an attempt. If you instantly give up then you may have just fallen into the jailor’s trap. It’s simple: a town member would argue (or they would be gamethrowing, quite frankly) which should make the jailor change their mind. If you say nothing, then you would be saying “Well, you found me, no chance now.” This is an uncommon strategy, but you should always try just in case.

In a situation where they’ve decided to execute you and they killed you no matter what, I have no real counter for. That could maybe be solved in a general serial killer guide, but clearly the jailor knew you were guilty beforehand.

Writing Your Will

As a serial killer, you are, on a basic level, everybody’s enemy. To make things clear, your “will” should look more like a list of excuses. Avoid containing any useful information unless it helps town and is also in your favor.

A good example of being helpful to you and the town is when you find out that someone is immune. It may be smart to, in your will, claim to be a sheriff, and directly accuse that person of a bad role. The worst thing, realistically, that can happen is that you show someone the excuse, and your “accusee” is shortly after killed and revealed to be executioner. This is why I would refrain from this as long as possible until it is necessary, or it becomes impossible for an executioner to remain.

Which role to write is often a gamble. This is why it is useful to make several excuses and, when the time comes, show your best one, which would be up to your judgement. Avoid throwing random names in the excuse unless they are far dead and you doubt useful information against your claim.

Specific things to note with wills:

  • When pretending to be escort, only claim to have roleblocked someone if they said themselves that they were roleblocked. This will make your excuse look good.
  • When pretending to be investigator, only claim to have investigated those who have died. I suggest looking on a different guide or a wiki on exactly what should show up in accordance to their role.
  • Be careful pretending to be sheriff. Absolutely avoid claiming anybody as mafia unless framer is or was alive at the time.
  • Never claim neutral roles, including survivor. The jailor could not care less for neutrals.
  • If you pretend to be medium, only give information from the dead that is available anyway or will not benefit anybody. Make sure those you write down did not leave before that night.
  • As I said before, I would advise against claiming vigilante, veteran, bodyguard, doctor, or mayor unless you are in a specific situation. These make you look guilty, especially doctor, as it is a common and expected excuse.
  • Pretending to be lookout can be difficult. I would recommend only using dead people in accordance to their wills or other present information, as the jailor may know of information that directly contradicts any of your own claims. Unless very few others are left, avoid displaying fake information that incriminates someone. If you fake lookout well, then it can be a very good excuse.
  • Type your role quickly once you are jailed. I would even copy your best will before the night begins just to be safe. This way, the jailor can get as much information in as you may need before he dies. Remember that he can’t copy and paste what you type, so give him this time to feed the town your excuse. He can’t change his will once the night is over.

Do’s and Dont’s

While much of the getting-out-alive process is making an educated gamble of an excuse and outsmarting the jailor, it’s important to know some concrete things that will help or hurt your chances. Here’s a short list of basics that will help you out. They may seem obvious, but they are absolutely crucial.

Do:

  • Keep track of events
  • Keep any information as it may prove useful
  • Make an effort to get out of an execution
  • Vote guilty if there is a consensus
  • Assume your jailor is experienced

Don’t:

  • Be silent while jailed
  • Claim a role publically until it is clearly necessary
  • Randomly vote
  • Claim an impossible role (Check graveyards!)
  • Claim a negative role, such as mafia or werewolf
Volodymyr Azimoff
About Volodymyr Azimoff 15057 Articles
I love games and I live games. Video games are my passion, my hobby and my job. My experience with games started back in 1994 with the Metal Mutant game on ZX Spectrum computer. And since then, I’ve been playing on anything from consoles, to mobile devices.

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