The whole game of Avalon turns on who knows what. Merlin can see the bad guys but has to hide it. Percival thinks he’s found Merlin — except one of the two people he sees might be a decoy. Get the roles wrong and a five-player game falls flat; get them right and every mission becomes an argument worth having.
This is a plain breakdown of every character in The Resistance: Avalon — what each one does, who they see during the night phase, and which roles to add at each player count. If you just need the rules, start with our Avalon how-to-play guide first, then come back here to set up the roles.
Our full review: The Resistance: Avalon Review Learn the rules first: Avalon How To Play — Simplified
The Two Teams
Every player is either Good (Loyal Servants of Arthur) or Evil (Minions of Mordred). Good wants three missions to succeed. Evil wants three to fail — or, failing that, to assassinate Merlin at the very end. The special characters below are just servants and minions with extra information, so knowing which team a role belongs to is the first thing to sort out.
Good Characters
GOOD — CORE
Merlin
Knows every Evil player (except Mordred). Merlin's job is to steer Good toward the right mission teams without ever looking like he knows too much — because if Evil guesses who Merlin is, they win at the end.
GOOD — CORE
Loyal Servant of Arthur
The plain Good role. No special knowledge — just a vote, an opinion, and a Success card to play on every mission. The number of Loyal Servants fills out whatever Good slots the named roles don't.
GOOD — OPTIONAL
Percival
Sees Merlin at the start of the game — but if Morgana is in play, he sees two players and isn't told which one is the real Merlin. His job is to protect Merlin and figure out the decoy.
Evil Characters
EVIL — CORE
Assassin
If Good completes three missions, the Assassin makes the final call: name one player as Merlin. Guess right and Evil wins anyway. The Assassin is a Minion of Mordred who carries this extra responsibility.
EVIL — CORE
Minion of Mordred
The plain Evil role. Knows the other Evil players (except Oberon), and can play Fail cards on missions. Most games run one or two of these alongside the named villains.
EVIL — OPTIONAL
Mordred
Hidden from Merlin during the night phase. Merlin never sees him, so Good is working with one unknown Evil player the whole game. Brutal for Good — add him only when Evil needs the help.
EVIL — OPTIONAL
Morgana
Appears as Merlin to Percival. She muddies Percival's read by giving him two possible Merlins, only one of whom is real. She's the natural counter to Percival and almost always comes paired with him.
EVIL — OPTIONAL
Oberon
Evil, but blind to his own team — and they're blind to him. Oberon doesn't open his eyes during the night phase and doesn't know who his fellow minions are. He weakens Evil's coordination, so he's used to balance games where Evil has too much information.
Who Sees Whom — The Night Phase
The night phase is where the information gets handed out, and the order matters. Run it like this:
The short version: Merlin sees Evil, minus Mordred. Evil sees Evil, minus Oberon. Percival sees Merlin and Morgana but can’t tell which is which. Everyone else knows only their own card.
Heads up: read the night script off the rulebook or a phone the first few times. Skipping a thumb or opening the wrong eyes quietly breaks the whole game, and nobody will know until the post-game reveal.
Which Roles to Use by Player Count
You always include Merlin and the Assassin, then fill the rest. Below is the standard Good/Evil split and a clean recommended set for each count. Percival and Morgana are a package deal — add one and you add the other.
| Players | Good | Evil | Recommended roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 2 | Merlin, Percival, Servant + Morgana, Assassin |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | Merlin, Percival, 2 Servants + Morgana, Assassin |
| 7 | 4 | 3 | Merlin, Percival, 2 Servants + Morgana, Mordred, Assassin (Oberon optional) |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | Merlin, Percival, 3 Servants + Morgana, Mordred, Assassin |
| 9 | 6 | 3 | Merlin, Percival, 4 Servants + Morgana, Mordred, Assassin |
| 10 | 6 | 4 | Merlin, Percival, 4 Servants + Morgana, Mordred, Oberon, Assassin |
Two rules of thumb. The Assassin can double up with another Evil role: Morgana or Mordred can also be the Assassin if you’re short on Evil slots, since “Assassin” is really just the job of making the final guess. And if Good keeps winning easily, add Mordred before Oberon. Mordred punishes Good directly. Oberon mostly hurts Evil’s own coordination.
How Each Role Plays
Merlin walks a tightrope. You know who’s Evil, but the moment you act too sure, the Assassin marks you. Nudge — don’t dictate. Vote against a team you “have a bad feeling about” rather than announcing the traitor. The best Merlins look like a slightly lucky Loyal Servant.
Percival protects, then decides. Early on you guard both of your candidates equally so Evil can’t tell which one matters. As the game develops, the real Merlin’s votes will quietly line up with good play and the Morgana decoy’s won’t. Pick a side late, and never say Percival’s name out loud — that paints a target on Merlin by association.
Loyal Servants do the grunt work. No private information means your only tools are attention and logic. Track who proposed which teams, who voted how, and which missions failed. A loud, observant Servant is also useful cover — if you act like you might be Merlin, Evil wastes its assassination guess on you.
The Assassin plays the long game. Your real job isn’t sabotage, it’s the final read. Spend the whole game watching for the player who steers too well — the one who always seems to know which team to reject. That’s usually Merlin. Even on a losing night, a correct assassination flips the result.
Mordred and Morgana create doubt. Mordred’s power is invisibility to Merlin, so lean into it: act like a confused Good player and let Merlin’s silence do your work. Morgana’s power is the decoy, so mirror what a real Merlin would do early to keep Percival guessing.
Oberon is chaos on purpose. You’re Evil but flying solo, with no idea who your teammates are. Play it like a wildcard — you can fail missions, but you might also accidentally undercut your own side. In big games that uncertainty is exactly the point.
FAQ
Does Merlin see Mordred?
No. Mordred stays hidden during the night phase, so Merlin sees every Evil player except Mordred. That single unknown is what makes Mordred such a strong addition for the Evil team.
Why does Percival see two people?
Only when Morgana is in play. Morgana shows up to Percival looking exactly like Merlin, so Percival sees two candidates and has to work out which is the real one over the course of the game.
Is the Assassin a separate character?
The Assassin is a Minion of Mordred with one extra duty: making the final guess at Merlin if Good wins three missions. Another Evil role like Morgana or Mordred can also serve as the Assassin if you're short on Evil players.
What's the minimum set of roles I need?
Merlin and the Minions of Mordred (one of whom is the Assassin), with the rest of Good as Loyal Servants. Percival, Morgana, Mordred, and Oberon are all optional spice you add as your group wants more bluffing and more chaos.
Can you play Avalon with all the special roles at once?
At higher player counts, yes — Merlin, Percival, Morgana, Mordred, Oberon, and the Assassin can all be in the same game. Just make sure your Good/Evil split matches the player count on the game board, or one side gets a lopsided advantage.
Once you’ve got the roles sorted, the rest is down to how well your table reads each other. Set the characters up right and Avalon gives you the best kind of argument — the one where half the people at the table are lying to your face and loving it.
Thumbnail image artificially generated for illustrative purposes.
