But doesn't that mean that claiming neither of those is also a valid method to get lynched as the Sacrifice? There's a bit of play here, but it seems like a Mountainous with a bit of a twist.
Perhaps, but if you make yourself look like you don't want to self-preserve, people will peg you as the sacrifice...which would actually be beneficial for a non-sacrifice.
I wouldn't compare it to mountainous, when the primary antagonist is a jester-equivalent.
The issue I see is that the Sacrifice is favored to win on Day 1 by virtue of have two votes to use on themselves, and everyone else is more or less equally spreading votes.
Huh, I misread and inserted a "not" in being allowed to self-vote. Why would the sacrifice vote for anyone but themselves, when they die anyway at the end of the day and have no teammates that would benefit from the deception?
ALL players need to pretend to be the Sage and "claim" a Keymaster. From those that aren't chosen during that, they need to try and determine a non-Sacrifice. It's like a weird reversal on Mafia.
But how does one decide whom to claim as the keymaster? The best strategy for that play would be to claim sage and claim that the sacrifice (whom you've figured out through daygame) is the keymaster. There's no guarantee, however, that none of the players not "chosen" as keymaster is the sacrifice (though in this play the real sage can safely claim).
The other problem is that the game is about playing to not lose, even as the Sacrifice. There needs to be a wincon for players to accomplish at the same time, or the optimal strategy is... lurking!
Lurking gives control of the game to others, who aren't going to play for your benefit. To win the game, you must first self-preserve, second lynch a non-keymaster, non-sacrifice. The second part is hard if you rely only on luck and the first part is hard if you rely on other players who, again, aren't your teammates.