History TabletopGame / SecretHitler

* ObviousRulePatch: The "Veto Power" rule allows the Chancellor and President to agree not to enact any policy at all on their turn, if they're one Fascist policy away from a Fascist victory. This prevents a pair of Liberals from being forced to pass the game-ending policy just because the Policy Deck didn't give them a Liberal option to go with.
* PlayerElimination: If enough fascist policies are enacted, the President gets the power to execute a player. If Hitler is killed, it's an automatic win for the Liberals, otherwise the game goes on.

* YouCantThwartStageOne: The Policy deck is stacked so that there are only 6 Liberal policies (compared to 11 Fascist policies), making it almost inevitable that at least one Fascist policy is passed at some point.

* SocialDeductionGame: Among the players, most are Liberals, some are secretly Fascists, and one Fascist is Hitler. The Fascists know who each other are and must covertly pass Fascist policies (done through a "President" and an elected "Chancellor" who choose from randomly-drawn Liberal/Fascist cards) without the Liberals suspecting who they are. The Liberals win if five of their policies are enacted; Fascists win with six, but they can also win if Hitler is elected Chancellor past a certain point.

Five to ten players take envelopes with identities, a "Ja" card and a "Nein" card. Six are Liberal, three are Fascist, and one is Fascist and Hitler.[[note]]Adjust the number of envelopes to suit the number of players so there will always be a Hitler and more Liberals than Fascists.[[/note]] At the start, all players close their eyes, the Fascists (who are not Hitler) open their eyes, and Hitler holds up his/her thumb, so the Fascists (other than Hitler) know who everyone is, but Hitler and the Liberals do not.

Five to ten players take envelopes with identities, a "Ja" card and a "Nein" card. Six are Liberal, three are Fascist and one is Fascist and Hitler.[[note]]Adjust the number of envelopes to suit the number of players so there will always be a Hitler and more Liberals than Fascists.[[/note]] At the start, all players close their eyes, the Fascists (who are not Hitler) open their eyes, Hitler holds up his/her thumb, so the Fascists (other than Hitler) know who everyone is, but Hitler and the Liberals do not.

* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: For games with 7 or more players, one consequence of a Fascist policy is that the current president may look at one player's Party Affiliation card, marking the in-universe increase in surveillance .

* InstantWinCondition: Hitler being elected Chancellor after three fascist policies are enacted (for the Fascists), or Hitler being executed after the fourth or fifth fascist policy is enacted (for the Liberals). Note that this is the only time in the game that someone ''must'' tell the truth because either of these instantly ends the game.

* TakingTheBullet: One Fascist gambit is for one (or more) non-Hitler Fascists take the heat and make themselves look like Hitler trying to squirm their way out of the situation. The hard part is somehow convincing everyone that they're sketchy enough to be Hitler ''without'' being too obvious.
* TalkingYourWayOut: A Fascist or Hitler that's suspected of being a Fascist by most of the players has no choice but to attempt this, usually by deflecting blame onto someone else. This can also happen to an legitimate Liberal who's been falsely accused.

* ButThouMust: A game may end by the Chancellor being given two Liberal or two Fascist policies to choose from when there are five or four respectively already placed, ending the game no matter what. (It's especially harsh if a Liberal President draws ''three'' Fascist policies.)

* ComebackMechanic: A subtle one. Since enacted policies are removed from the policy deck and no more get added, this reduces the likelihood of Fascist/Liberal policies showing up in the future. However, it should be noted that since Liberal policies are greatly outnumbered by Fascist ones, [[YouCantThwartStageOne an early Liberal streak will almost guarantee an upcoming Fascist policy]] while several Fascist policies enacted will only somewhat even the odds for the Liberals. It's mitigated, however, in that a Liberal President can use an Assassination on their turn with a Fascist policy.

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: It's possible for a Liberal win to result in a fascist dictatorship in all but name if enough Fascist policies are enacted first.
** Liberal policies do literally nothing, while Fascist policies give tangible (and useful) powers to those who enact them. The temptation to enact Fascist policies to stop Fascists is always there (with the trade-off between "it brings the game closer to the Fascist win" and "we can root out Fascists here and now and win the game" being always on the table), and while a legitimate strategy in theory, this desire in turn can be exploited by Fascists.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: One possible strategy for the [[NotSoDifferent Liberals]] to make use of once three or more Fascist policies have been exacted and executions are possible. In its basic form, a Liberal President picks a suspected non-Hitler Fascist as their Chancellor with the stated intent of giving them one of each policy, promising that they will execute the Chancellor if they enact a Fascist policy. Assuming that the threat is genuine, a Fascist has the SadisticChoice of either advancing the Liberal cause or sacrificing themselves for their own. Of course, the Fascists can also exploit this tactic and hold real Liberals at gunpoint, but actually pass their unfortunate victim [[MortonsFork two Fascist policies]] in order to execute and silence the "Fascist".

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: One possible strategy for the ''[[NotSoDifferent Liberals]]'' to make use of once three or more Fascist policies have been exacted and executions are possible. In its basic form, a Liberal President picks a suspected non-Hitler Fascist as their Chancellor with the stated intent of giving them one of each policy, promising that they will execute the ''Chancellor'' if they enact a Fascist policy. Assuming that the threat is genuine, a Fascist has the SadisticChoice of either advancing the Liberal cause or sacrificing themselves for their own. Of course, the Fascists can also exploit this tactic and hold real Liberals at gunpoint, but actually pass their unfortunate victim [[MortonsFork two Fascist policies]] in order to execute and silence the "Fascist".

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Because there are more liberal than fascist players but more fascist than liberal policies, it is inevitable that a liberal president will oversee the passage of a fascist policy. One possible victory condition for liberals is to use a fascist policy to execute Hitler.

* ButThouMust: A game may end with the President being given two Liberal or two Fascist policies to choose from when there are five or four respectively already placed, ending the game no matter what. (It's especially harsh if a Liberal Chancellor draws ''three'' Fascist policies.)
* CardCarryingVillain: If Team Fascist acts like this, they're more than likely to lose. A more effective strategy is to subtly manipulate the table and sow mistrust among the Liberals rather than pass Fascist policies at every possible opportunity.
* CassandraTruth: Depending on your group, there's a high chance that at some point one person will figure out who Hitler or the Fascists are, but will not be believed until it's too late. The most common causes: A Liberal investigates a Fascist (directly confirming them to be so, but only to the investigator), a Fascist investigates a Liberal and claims they're a Fascist (the Liberal now knows that person is a Fascist), or the President or Chancellor lies about which policies the President handed to the Chancellor (the other official now knows the lying official is a Fascist). Even worse, it's entirely possible that the person who has figured it out is ''themselves'' accused of being a Fascist if they're too pushy about their claim.
* ComebackMechanic: A subtle one. Since enacted policies are removed from the policy deck and no more get added, this reduces the likelihood of Fascist/Liberal policies showing up in the future. However, it should be noted that since Liberal policies are greatly outnumbered by Fascist ones, [[YouCantThwartStageOne an early Liberal streak will almost guarantee an upcoming Fascist policy]] while several Fascist policies enacted will only somewhat even the odds for the Liberals. It's mitigated, however, in that a Liberal President can use an Assassination on their turn with a Fascist doctrine.
* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Any player that has been executed can no longer speak or non-verbally communicate with the other players, except to answer whether they were Hitler or not. This can be useful to the Fascists, who as President can pass a Liberal Chancellor two Fascist policies, pin the "treachery" on their Chancellor, then immediately execute him/her to prevent them from telling the rest of the table the truth. Of course, this will immediately blow the president's cover, as only a fascist would have anything to gain from killing somebody who obviously isn't Hitler, and if the game has progressed long enough to pass fascist policies to kill players, the chancellor couldn't be Hitler.
* FriendOrFoe: A large part of the challenge for Hitler ''and'' the Liberals is to try to identify who the other Fascists are. The other Fascists obviously want to remain hidden from the table, yet simultaneously are attempting to secretly aid Hitler and (hopefully) alert him/her as to who their actual allies are.

* SocialDeductionGame: Among the players, most are Liberals, some are secretly Fascists, and one Fascist is Hitler. The Fascists know who each other are and must covertly pass fascist policies (done through a "President" and an elected "Chancellor" who choose from randomly-drawn liberal/fascist cards) without the liberals suspecting who they are. The liberals win if five of their policies are enacted; fascists win with six, but they can also win if Hitler is elected Chancellor past a certain point.

* TakingTheBullet: One Fascist gambit is for one (or more) non-Hitler Fascists take the heat and make themselves look like Hitler trying to squirm their way out of the situation. The hard part is somehow convincing everyone that they're sketchy enough to be Hitler WITHOUT being too obvious.
* TalkingYourWayOut: A Fascist or Hitler that's accused of being on Team Fascist by most of the players has no choice but to attempt this, usually by deflecting blame onto someone else. This can also happen to an actual Liberal who's cornered by the rest of the group.

* LoopholeAbuse: The only real situation where honesty is absolutely required is when Hitler is either executed or elected Chancellor when more than three Fascist policies are in play; he must identify himself at that time. However, if Hitler were to refuse to identify himself after being executed, and the Fascists didn't call him out on it, there would be no way for the Liberals to know that the Fascists were cheating until after the game was over.

* AffablyEvil: Hitler ''must'' present himself as Liberal so that he can be elected Chancellor.

* ButThouMust: A game may end with the President being given two Liberal or two Fascist policies to choose from, ending the game no matter what. (It's especially harsh if a Liberal Chancellor draws ''three'' Fascist policies.)

* ComebackMechanic: A subtle one. Since enacted policies are removed from the policy deck and no more get added, this reduces the likelihood of Fascist/Liberal policies showing up in the future. However, it should be noted that since Liberal policies are greatly outnumbered by Fascist ones, [[YouCantThwartStageOne an early Liberal streak will almost guarantee an upcoming Fascist policy]] while several Fascist policies enacted will only somewhat even the odds for the Liberals.

Social deduction hidden-role board game set in Germany 1932, published by the same developers that made ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity''.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Any player that has been executed can no longer speak or non-verbally communicate with the other players, except to answer whether they were Hitler or not. This can be useful to the Fascists, who as President can pass a Liberal Chancellor two Fascist policies, pin the "treachery" on their Chancellor, then immediately execute him/her to prevent them from telling the rest of the table the truth.

* HeWhoFIghtsMonsters: It's possible for a Liberal win to result in a fascist dictatorship in all but name if enough Fascist policies are enacted first.

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: While the rules officially say that Hitler must reveal himself if he is executed (and the fascists know who Hitler is anyway), there is no way for the liberals to hold Hitler or the fascists accountable if they decide to break this particular rule.

* AdolfHitlarious: Averted. Hitler and the generic Fascists are portrayed as evil anthropomorphic reptiles and amphibians. WordOfGod is that they didn't think Hitler and his ilk was worthy to be immortalized in their board game, even if the entire premise is based on them.