Tabletop Companion
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Fascist

Know everything, admit nothing, and walk your leader into power wearing a liberal smile.

Hard — you must lie well and lose convincingly

Background

Fascists are the table's hidden conspiracy. From the opening eyes-closed ritual you know your fellow Fascists and — crucially — which player is Hitler. Everyone else is stumbling in the dark; you are the only ones playing with the lights on.

But information is your only advantage. You are outnumbered, and if the Liberals ever see the table clearly, they simply outvote you. So your true craft is misdirection: look like a Liberal, vote like a Liberal, mourn every fascist policy you secretly enacted — and steer suspicion onto the innocent until the trap is ready to close.

How you win

The Fascists win when 6 fascist policies are enacted, or — the signature move — when Hitler is elected Chancellor any time after the 3rd fascist policy is on the board. You lose if the Liberals enact 5 liberal policies or execute Hitler.

The policy track and the Hitler play work together: early fascist policies come easily (the deck is stacked, and chaos helps), and each one raises the pressure until the table must elect somebody it can't fully verify. Your job is to make sure that somebody is Hitler — or failing that, to ride the track all the way to six.

How they play

You follow the same turns as everyone — elections, legislative sessions, executive actions — but every move carries a second agenda:

  • In elections, build a moderate, helpful reputation. Vote down governments sometimes, including fascist-friendly ones, so your record looks independent
  • In the legislature, the stacked deck is your shield: enact a fascist policy and blame the draw — "three fascists, nothing I could do." Bury liberal policies when you can plausibly deny it
  • With presidential powers, poison the well: investigate a Liberal and call them a Fascist, or execute a confirmed Liberal while praising your own reluctance
  • Protect Hitler passively — never signal, never over-defend. Your best service is making other players look more suspicious than the quiet moderate you all secretly serve

Coordinate without coordinating: you and your fellow Fascists must never look like a voting bloc.

Strengths

  • You know every player's team from the first minute. Every liberal accusation, alliance, and mistake is transparent to you — you can always act on truth while your opponents act on guesses.

  • With 11 fascist to 6 liberal policies, "I had no choice" is often true — which makes it the perfect cover when it isn't. Honest players get bad draws all game, and every one of them makes your lies more believable.

  • The Liberals must stop both the policy track and the Hitler-as-Chancellor play at once. Push on both fronts: every fascist policy is progress, and every trusted-but-unverified player is a potential winning Chancellor.

Weaknesses

  • !

    You never have the votes. A coordinated liberal majority passes what it wants and blocks what it fears — your entire game collapses the moment the Liberals trust each other more than they distrust you.

  • !

    A single caught lie — a policy claim contradicted by a peek, a glance at Hitler, an investigation gone wrong — can burn you for the rest of the game, and every player you're linked to inherits the suspicion.

  • !

    Your win condition has a single point of failure: one execution aimed at Hitler ends everything, no matter how beautifully the conspiracy played. In 7+ player games Hitler doesn't even know who you are, so you can't warn each other openly.

Tips & tricks

  • Tip

    Play the first rounds as a model Liberal: argue earnestly, analyze votes, even enact a liberal policy when the cost is low. Credibility banked early is what lets you nominate Hitler later without raising an eyebrow.

  • Tip

    You don't need everyone to believe you — you need Liberals to disbelieve each other. Seed plausible doubts about strong liberal voices, amplify genuine bad draws, and let liberal paranoia do the demolition for you.

  • Tip

    After 3 fascist policies, don't rush Hitler into the first available Chancellorship — a suspicious nomination gets voted down and marks you both. Wait for the natural moment when Hitler is the table's "obviously safe" choice, then let someone else propose it if you can.