PLAYER FILE
v09-13-13
Written and designed by Will Hindmarch
Illustrated by Steven Sanders and Noah Bradley
Based on characters by Anton Gleason,
Martin Gleason, Seth Stevenson, and Tony Wagner
Developed from rules by John Harper,
Clinton R. Nixon, and Luke Crane
Graphic design by Will Hindmarch and Craig S Grant
Created with the generous support
of cherished Kickstarter backers
Playtested at Gen Con, Origins Game Fair, PAX,
PAX East, and in homes. Thanks, testers!
alwaysnevernow@gmail.com
always-never-now.tumblr.com
Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
Influences include (with thanks):
William Gibson, Ian Fleming, Quentin Tarantino,
John McTiernan, Robert Rodriguez, John Woo,
The Wachowskis, Paul Greengrass, Doug Liman,
Kathryn Bigelow, Masamune Shirow, Mamoru Oshii,
Kenneth Hite, Robin D. Laws, Vincent Baker,
Jason Morningstar, Steve Segedy, Jeremy Keller,
Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, Leonard Balsera,
Ryan Macklin, Gregor Hutton, Cam Banks
and many more
The text of this project is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 license.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real events or
persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© Will Hindmarch

You were the best. Underground,
cyberpunk street samurai, bur-
glars and breakers, agents of a
mysterious spymaster with half a
name, zero history, and a plan. He
made the missions and you carried
them out. You were his go-to crew
for high-stakes break-ins, danger-
ous ops, and impossible escapes.
You fought the megacorps, the ty-
rants, the killers all for the sake of
making a better future, of beating
the Technocrats at their own game
of shaping tomorrow. You always
won, never quit, lived in the now.
Until, eleven years ago, he disap-
peared.
Now he’s back — back in trouble
— and it’s up to you to find him, to
save him, maybe, and along the
way… change the world.
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What Is This?
Always/Never/Now (aka A/N/N) is an action-
packed roleplaying game adventure with built-in
rules.
If you’re utterly new to roleplaying games or story
games, A/N/N can be a tricky place to start—but
look around and decide for yourself. Look online for
other descriptions of what roleplaying games and
story games are about and how they work.
Instead of using a game console, you play by talk-
ing. Through conversation — in person or through
video chat, maybe — you all discuss and agree on
the action and dialogue that unfolds, using dice to
determine what actions are successful and which
ones cause exciting troubles to bleed into the story.
It’s great fun.
Just in case:
PC = player character. The player’s character
is his role and avatar in the fictional game world.
A/N/N involves up to six different player charac-
ters, detailed elsewhere in this document.
GM = gamemaster. The gamemaster is the
player who plays all the other roles in the game
world (NPCs) and shares in the job of being the
game “console,” helping to render the environ-
ment, load game levels, reveal clues (called intel) at
apt times, that sort of thing. It can be great fun and
a terrific creative workout, being a GM.
This document is meant for all players, including
the GM. This is about setting up the adventure and
how the rules work. Secrets and stuff are in the Sce-
nario File.
Where’d this come from?
A/N/N is a descendant of an RPG campaign I ran
back in the mid-to-late 1990s, inspired by every-
thing from William Gibson to James Bond, with
doses of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, John
Woo, Die Hard, Mission: Impossible, Strange Days,
and whatever other action or espionage movie I had
seen that week. Things like The Matrix and Ghost in
the Shell and the Bourne films made me want to play
in this universe again… but a lot of us didn’t have
time to play and I’d moved away a couple of times
and reasons piled up.
Eventually, though, inspiration overwhelmed me
and I tapped 2011 — the eleventh anniversary of our
last adventure with these characters — as an excuse
to play one more time. “And,” I said, “I’ve found
simple rules that I adapted into a great fit for what
we want to do!” So I wrote up new interpretations
of our characters, eleven years on from the last time
we saw them, and devised a playable story for the
adventure. (That story later grew more robust as a
result of the Kickstarter campaign.)
A lot of the machinery on which A/N/N runs is
based on John Harper’s story-game adventure,
Lady Blackbird. It’s a lovely work, handsomely con-
cise. Where Harper cunningly and helpfully put
his guidelines for running that game onto a single
page, though, I’ve taken considerably more room
to talk things out in this project. A/N/N is a com-
plex collection of scenes and situations and the
ways they interact give rise to options that warrant
more writing.
That said, you could boil A/N/N down to a single
situation and then just go from there if you wanted.
Take a minimalist approach, cut away all the guide-
lines, background, optional rules, and other extra
bits you don’t want and you could easily make a few
 Lady Blackbird-style one-and-done adventures out
of A/N/N. Have at it, if you like.
To pay for the art, some of the graphics, and for
my writing and development time, I made a Kick-
starter campaign for A/N/N, which succeeded be-
yond my expectations thanks to the many wonder-
ful backers listed in the end credits. (Thank you all,
again!) Following that, I released A/N/N online for
anyone to play.
And here you are.
What do you do?
When a theater company gets a play, they work
from the same script that the playwright wrote, the
same script from which other companies of play-
ers have taken their lines and cues. The theater
company doesn’t put on exactly the same perfor-
mance, though, as all those other companies. Ac-
tors inhabit characters in different ways, bring them
to life in different ways, read their lines in different
ways. Directors might choose to enhance or dimin-
ish one relationship, play up the fear, or downplay
the comedy. The set designers change the mood of
the piece by changing the space where it’s played,
while the prop masters might add a dose of reality
or fantasy with believable or hyper-stylized props.
You’re an actor, a director, a set designer, a prop
master, a costume designer, and more. You’ll do
it all with words, through conversation, building
through descriptions drawn from your imagina-
tion. Talk with your hands, sketch out maps and dia-
grams, reference films and comics you love, what-
ever. I’ve given you some material to work with.
In a way, I’m a scriptwriter. I’m not there when you
put on the play and I wrote (only generally) what
might happen on stage, but not everything about
how it will happen. The GM is sort of like a direc-
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tor. The players, then, are sort of like actors, taking
cues from the GM. They’re also like co-writers and
co-directors, too, with each player deciding a lot of
what will happen, and how, and lobbing cues right
back to the GM, to keep things in motion.
If you prefer, though, think of yourselves as sculp-
tors. I’ve given you blocks of stone. I’ve given you
tools. These things contribute to the general pos-
sible dimensions and hue of the things you’re go-
ing to make. They may influence or limit the textures
and shapes you try for or achieve. But just what you
sculpt — what it looks like, how lifelike or stylized it
is — that’s up to you.
All these analogies for this kind of play aren’t
quite right, of course, just as sculpture isn’t quite a
right analogy for dance. They’re different forms, so
they do things in different ways.
The story game is a distinct medium. Take advan-
tage of its unique properties to play out and explore
this story using this medium’s strengths: collabora-
tion, invention, flexibility.
Building and Reincorporating
As you play, you say things that add details, char-
acters, locations, ambitions, and other elements to
the fiction. You might do this by saying things from
your character’s perspective (“I crash through the
window!”) or from your perspective as a creator
(“Emily crashes through the window!”). What you
say implies and inspires the other players to say
things.
You might ask, “Is there a pool table here?“
“Sure, let’s say there is,” replies the GM.
“Great! Then I grab a pool cue and the eight ball
to fight with.”
Collaborate with the other players to add to the
fiction by building on the things they say with the
things you say. After Emily crashes through the win-
dow, someone else might throw an enemy out that
now-open window or use a shard of glass to cut the
zip-tie around their wrists. As you play, details accu-
mulate and change, defining and refining everyone’s
image of the fictional space. The fiction builds up.
Sometimes this sort of building up only lasts for
a scene and then you’re gone from that broken
window by the pool table and off to describe some
new antics in some new space. Sometimes you
bring back previous details and elements by allud-
ing to people, places, and things mentioned or es-
tablished before in the fiction. You do this by men-
tioning it again, ideally in a way that’s sensible and
satisfying, thereby reincorporating that thing back
into the fiction. (An instance of reincorporation, like
when a knife hidden in the first scene comes back
into play in a later scene, is sometimes known as a
callback.)
Remember, the aim is to collaborate to build
something cogent, something that interlocks. Rein-
corporate to keep the number of supporting char-
acters manageable. Build up to support and en-
courage your fellow players, not tear down. When
in doubt, propose additions before you impose
them. If someone says something that establishes,
builds up, or reincorporates in a way that makes you
uncomfortable, talk it out. You all work together.
Cinematic, Not Cinema
This game adventure is written to be unabashedly
cinematic. What does that mean?
That means I encourage you to use cinematic lan-
guage and style to keep up the pace and the en-
ergy of the action. It means you can use cinematic
words and phrases as great shortcuts to complex
ideas and editorial tricks. Say “Smash cut to: Reykja-
vik!” or say “And the camera zooms in on Tank’s face
as she realizes what’s happened!”
 This doesn’t mean you should limit yourself in any
way that cinema is limited. Your imagination’s not
bound by running time or the fleeting light during
photography or a special-effects budget. Neither
are you limited to just visual and audio elements to
convey information. Use senses that cinema can’t,
like smell and touch and taste, to get across the feel
of a place or the sense of a character. Your tool kit is
more like a novelist’s, in that way.
A movie has to actually hold a shot for a long time
to express the idea of a shot held for a long time.
In a game, you can do that by saying, “We stay on
Alex’s face for a long time before fading to black.”
Or you can express the idea of a long-held shot by
describing the subject in depth, giving the other
players more time to take it in, to linger on the bead
of sweat that builds up and falls from an eyebrow,
cleaning a track across a dusty face.
You can convey information directly to your com-
rades as co-creators and as audience members
without having to dramatize every damn thing if you
don’t want to. You don’t have to speak in code or
serve any imaginary audience. You’re creatives talk-
ing shop behind the scenes, pausing and reactivat-
ing the game whenever you want, to get the best
experience you can.
You can ask, “Is Utseo mad about this?”
“Sure he is!” Utseo’s player responds.
“Do I know that? Can I tell what he’s thinking?”
asks Alex’s player.
“I think so,” Utseo’s player says. “Utseo’s show-
ing it, I think. His face is red, his hands are fists. You
can hear him inhale all sharp. He’s ready to take ac-
tion—to do something foolish, maybe.”
And, just like that, you have details and a bit of
dramatization to build on.
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The Style of Action
It’s important that everyone share a common sense
of the scale or style of the action in the adventure.
How risky is which maneuver? If a helicopter gun-
ship opens fire at a character, should that character
dive for cover amid beautifully flying debris or stand
her ground and open fire in response as steaming
shell casings rain down all around? Is a fall from a
rooftop the kind of thing that leaves a character
dusty, limping, or dead? Does crashing through
a skylight hurt? When a character takes out three
thugs at once, is it with the brutal brevity of Jason
Bourne or the dance-like grace of Neo?
When running A/N/N for people, I often asked
about the style of action they wanted to portray. I
put it something like this: Bourne, Bond, or The Ma-
trix? Get everyone on the same page and, when in
doubt, go for a more grounded style with the op-
tion to gradually escalate as the adventure unfolds
and the risks get grander.
Call it a rule, if you want: Play the most grounded
version of cybernetic action-spies that’s of interest
to the group. This stands a good chance of combin-
ing good, dramatic peril with room for the action to
grow more grandiose over time.
Once I had an answer to the style question at
any table, I filtered that answer through this under-
standing: John McClane (and James Bond and Jason
Bourne) is most exciting when things are tough.
Whatever happens in A/N/N, no matter how
easy it is to roll the dice or how handily the hits out-
number the Difficulty, portray the effort that charac-
ters put into leaping from helicopters and breaking
enemy bones. Some players may decide that Yoshi
can cut down thugs with his katana all day or that
Utseo never gets tired when his metal legs are in-
volved and that’s fine. Make no mistake, it’s not any-
one’s job to force the players to show their charac-
ters’ weaknesses. Better to entice. I happen to like it
best when action stars limp or strain or gasp or say
“Oh, crap” because they realize they’re in trouble,
but that’s me.
Instead, the GM might simply ask now and again
how easy a PC makes it look to pull the cybernetic
arm off a half-ton hitman or what toll it takes on a
character to dive out of an exploding helicopter af-
ter ten years off the job. If you like to see some of the
wear and tear on an action star, ask players if a stunt
leaves any McClane-style scuffs or scars on their
face. (“I think the little bits of flying glass and searing
fire probably scuff you up like John McClane, what
do you think?”) A player may reply with something
like, “No, Emily just strides out of the smoke, look-
ing fantastic,” which is still cool.
If nothing else, ask players to describe how Con-
ditions change the way their character looks in the
short term — how they change a character’s ap-
pearance or demeanor. Ask, “What does that look
like?” to get details that everyone can incorporate
into their imaginary rendering of the scene.
Describing Action
At its heart, playing A/N/N is about brainstorming
great moments, great details, great action beats.
How do you describe your character’s escape from
a burning ejector seat? What does it look like when
your character intimidates a squad of armed crimi-
nals? How do you combine a few descriptors and
keywords into an action sequence capable of de-
lighting your friends?
Action isn’t the same as violence. Describing ac-
tion in a way that thrills is seldom about accurate
ballistics or counting how many punches land. Ex-
 hilarating action-adventure sequences are about
jeopardy and danger manifested through details
that deliver the thrills home.
Details are doses of vivid language that evoke the
action sequence in any of the five senses. Ideally, a
description involves two or three senses at once.
The smell of a high-grade fuel during a leap from
a burning chopper, the sizzle as a spent casing hits
an icy floor, the sheen of sunlight on chrome, the
electric spike of wired reflexes kicking in, the taste
of adrenaline — these things bring the action to life.
A drop of hot blood on the goggles, the ping of
a ricochet, the baseball crack of a breaking bone,
these are more moving than sheer gore or cold re-
ports of gruesome violence.
Avoid overloading your descriptions. One, two,
or three details is probably enough. Spread out de-
tails over a couple of turns or actions to keep things
vibrant. It is totally legitimate to write down ideas
for details that you want to use later. It is totally le-
gitimate to brainstorm a detail or two on your turn,
to pitch something to the table and see if it’s good.
One great delivery method for a set of details is
a beat — a short instance of description that’s part
of the larger action or even a break within it. Beats
are like the filmic shots or musical notes that com-
bine to make up the sight and sound of an action.
They’re just the seconds you take to describe some-
thing, even if the description takes longer than the
actual action does in the fiction. “When Utseo’s
electric knife comes out, there’s a beat where ev-
eryone pauses and can hear it hum as he switches it
on,” you might say on your turn. “Then it’s chaos as
he lashes out.”
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Beats are a great way to pay some respect to the
jeopardy threatening your character in the fiction.
“Emily glances down at the asphalt going by at
60mph just inches from her face and makes an an-
noyed sound,” you say, “then she swings back up
into the car.” That beat with the asphalt is fleeting in
the fiction but helps make everything tangible and
interconnected.
It’s great to acknowledge and honor the dangers
your PCs face this way. If your character is never
in danger — of injury, of pain, of being found out,
of being too late to save the day — he’s not over-
coming much. Your description of action, whether
you’re the GM or not, can influence the possible
consequences for failure, implying just how furious,
exhausted, or injured your PC might be if he fails.
This can help guide the fiction toward outcomes
you’re excited about, no matter how the dice fall.
Details and beats add up to moments and mo-
ments are a good reason to play. That moment
when Tank dangles from a crumbling bridge by her
metal arms while her motorcycle plummets away?
That moment when Alex activates his cutting torch
and lobs it into the cab of an enemy truck? That mo-
ment when Yoshi sighs before drawing his katana?
Those moments convey a lot in a small space, es-
pecially when they’re your moments. Go and make
moments of your own. They won’t all be easily sum-
marized. Some of the best moments are nexuses at
the center of complex scenes that only make maxi-
mum sense to those of you there when the memory
was made. Don’t worry about it — you’ve made
a moment for you and your fellow players. That’s
what it’s about.
Themes
This adventure is presented as a text, which means
it probably has subtext and themes of its own. En-
act and explore your own themes in play, in addi-
tion to or instead of mine. Let your own current of
ideas charge the story — it’s probably going to hap-
pen anyway, so don’t fight it. Keep an eye out for
ideas that recur and images that seem to have spe-
cial meaning to you. Highlight those, if you like; it’s
as simple as nodding and encouraging people by
saying “I like that a lot” or even “That implies some-
thing interesting, doesn’t it?”
Encourage and reward what’s good to you.
Here are some themes that are either baked into
the adventure or emerged during play in the past.
These don’t always emerge in the “text” or “sub-
text” of play. (Tricky words, those, since the actual
gameplay isn’t a text.) When these kinds of ques-
tions come up during play, or in the times surround-
ing play, and then get reincorporated, that counts.
Themes don’t have to have single, explicit, or con-
fident answers. Questions make great themes. The
characters might each answer thematic questions in
different ways. I love that.
What’s Human?
When half your body’s metal, are you still human?
When half your mind’s an electronically coded
pastiche, are you still human? Where’s the tipping
point — and what happens after you tip?
Memory’s Imperfect
The world isn’t the way we remember it being.
The past is a consensual agreement to believe that
things were a certain way. Truth and history aren’t
the same. Can we trust any memory that comes out
of a human brain compared to the reliability of tech-
 nology? With a thousand competing versions of
history overlapping in the world, can we ever have
a peaceful consensus?
Foresight’s Imperfect, Too
Foresight’s just the same. We can’t really know
what’s coming next and attempts to know it or con-
trol it are doomed to fail. You can help shape the
future or you can roll with what comes. What else is
there, really?
Having vs. Wanting
What we have may be good, but it’s always fleet-
ing. If you want to keep what you have, you have
to want it, too — want what you have. So can there
ever be an end to wanting? Is it better to be com-
fortable but lose your ambition or to have nothing
and want real hard?
Settling vs. Reaching
It’s good to overreach, to leap. We won’t all make
it. We won’t all ever make it anyway.
Action and Change
Action begets change. Be the change. Do you
want to wait for the future or do you want to make
it happen?
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The Structure
of the Adventure
This adventure is built out of a collection of pre-
fab situations (aka scenes) that prompt the players’
characters into action. Each scene sets up a situa-
tion, gives the characters objectives (so everyone’s
facing in roughly the same direction), and offers
up some clues (aka intel) that lead to one or more
scenes further along in the adventure.
Play a scene by imagining and describing se-
quences of action, stealth, or intrigue. Roll dice
sometimes to see how things turn out. Get the in-
formation that unlocks, reveals, or sets up the next
“action scene.” (Though they’re made up of differ-
ent combinations of action, stealth, and intrigue in-
gredients, we call the centerpiece components of
the adventure “action scenes” for short.)
Between action scenes, you can play out scenes
of quiet recovery, heartfelt conversation, tense ar-
guments, or other moments between the players’
characters that help you understand, contextualize,
and appreciate what they’re doing and why. These
scenes help characters heal, change, and recover
and are therefore called “recovery scenes.”
Each scene, then, is kind of like a game level or
a cutscene, all of them starring the players’ charac-
ters. If you’re using the scene-flow diagram in the
Scenario File to move from scene to scene, the ad-
venture becomes a collection of linked sandboxes:
the PCs can do whatever the players want within the
missions they undertake, then they move on to the
next mission to play around in that next sandbox.
What this is meant to do is give the players a lot
of freedom to play within each scene and clear
choices to make between scenes, when deciding
what mission to play next. Choosing from pre-fab
scenes limits the players’ freedom a bit but guaran-
tees that wherever they go next is loaded with stuff
to do and intel to discover. If this is too much struc-
ture and not enough freedom for your group, you
can let the players choose from the whole, futuristic
planet and its satellites when they decide to move
on from the current scene. Borrow challenges and
clues from the packaged scenes, if you want, and
place them elsewhere on the planet so the players
have something to do when they get where they’re
going. Thus the gangsters that I put in one locale
might turn up somewhere else when you play —
where they’ve “always” been, in your version of the
adventure — to give the PCs something to fight.
Respect the Premise
When you’re playing a scene, respect the premise.
Each scene is designed to setup an adventure in
miniature, built to provoke action, surprise, and sus-
pense. They’re meant to help everyone find things
to imagine, things to say, during play.
This is important! The scenes in A/N/N are built
on the idea that the PCs are taking an active role in
the story, going places and getting into trouble-
some scrapes. Some scenes begin at the begin-
ning, some in the middle, but they’re all designed
to point at exciting developments.
So, if a scene begins with your character caught
by the bad guys, embrace that. Intriguing things
can happen in such a scene. Instead of saying
something like “My character would never be cap-
tured!” or “Before that happens, I escape out the
window,” respect the situation and then play to find
out what happens next.
 How Scenes Work
A/N/N is a series of scenes,
one after the other. The scenes
that come with A/N/N are
presented in the Scenario File.
They’re meant for the GM’s
eyes only, to preserve some
surprises and secrets. Which
scenes get played, and in
what order, depend on how
you all choose to approach
your version of the adventure.
You’ll improvise and describe
some scenes, especially re-
covery scenes, as you go.
How the scenes unfold de- for the amount of playtime you have. It also lets play- off to make it during or after a recovery scene.
pends on your mode of play. ers select the scenes they want to play based solely (In the example above, the players finished an ac-
Linear Mode: In this mode, scenes are played on its pitch. I often use a compact hybrid mode of tion scene (A), played one recovery scene, and then
one after another in a predetermined order, like play when I run A/N/N at conventions. chose one (B) of three action scenes.)
video-game levels, broken up by occasional recov- Open Mode: In this mode, scenes are played Also, the GM can play optional interrupt scenes,
ery scenes. The order of scenes might be decided in the order the players select them, with intel which are scenes out of the players’ control that
by your GM or by some other player online whose attached to the scene directly. This is the most represent antagonists coming after the PCs. These
presentation you all wanted to try. This mode is for flexible structured mode, letting the players un- are meant as quick asides to help the GM under-
tight, direct play intended to minimize confusion or cover and puzzle out facts as they can, with the score or explain what the antagonists are doing
reduce the GM’s prep time. possible risk of playing a scene that contains in- while the PCs are between scenes.
Hybrid Mode: In this mode, scenes are played tel already known (or surmised) from a previous Finally, you have the optional flashback scenes,
in whatever order the players select them but the in- scene. Such is the risk of freedom. This mode still which aren’t so much scenes as brief glimpses into
tel given out in each scene sticks to a predetermined respects the three Acts of the adventure, though, the PCs’ pasts. Flashbacks are explained in detail in
dramatic schedule, so the players don’t get infor- as explained in the Scenario File. (Short version: the Scenario File, just to keep those guidelines near
mation “out of order.” Rather than doling out intel you can’t go back in time to select scenes from the actual flashbacks themselves. Short version:
based on the scene, the GM shares intel based on earlier in the adventure.) players in a flashback-enabled version of A/N/N
the scene’s placement in the overall adventure. E.g., Players choose what scenes to play at decision can play their Flashback card to play a quick turn,
the third scene’s intel is based on it being the third points, which exist between scenes (or sometimes set a decade or so earlier, that reveals and unlocks a
scene, not on its geography or other features. This during recovery scenes that are about the PCs’ own new Tag for the character.
mode ensures that players get vital intel at dramati- planning or decision-making). So, after completing
cally appropriate times and that later scenes get un- an action scene, the players can decide which of the
locked and offered to the players at a pace suitable available scenes they’ll play next or push that decision

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 Intel
Intel covers the information that starts off secret and
gets revealed over time, scene by scene, to contex-
tualize the action, motivate the PCs, and open up
new scenes to pick from at the next decision point.
What the PCs learn in the third scene that leads
them to the scenes they can pick to play fourth?
That’s intel.
Intel takes the form of clues, exposition, and
other data revealed during or after an action scene
based on activities and questions asked during
the action scene. Emily steals a drive containing vi-
tal files, Yoshi questions a thug, Henri recognizes
some make of cyberware — all of these things might
yield clues that we treat as intel. The intel provides a
lead to another action scene and along the way the
NPCs’ secrets continues to unfold.
Intel might come during a scene, when a PC
looks at a clue and realizes what it means, or after
a scene, when the stolen drive can be read or an
inspired PC makes a connection between clues
encountered during the scene. Don’t panic if you
haven’t made sense of everything when a scene
ends and don’t feel like you need to stop and ques-
tion each foe to get clues. Revealing intel is the
GM’s job and she may do it between scenes with
a bit of gentle retconning. (E.g., “It occurs to you
later that the number on that cable you saw might
be a manufacturing code. When you trace it you
find...”) Intel exists primarily to help the story stay
compelling and to open up new scenes to choose
from, so as long as those things are happening, you
have the intel you need.
Intel doesn’t usually require a roll, though the
GM can deliver intel in response to rolls that sug-
gest the right questions. Really, that’s what intel is:
answers. Not all the answers come at the begin-
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
ning. Answers come when you ask the right ques-
tions in the right scenes. Lots of questions lead to
the same core answers and some answers you get
just for showing up. Your experienced and capable
PCs know better than we do how to chase down
leads in the future world they inhabit. Trust that.
And trust the GM not to withhold intel for no rea-
son. Sometimes the bad guys cover their tracks.
Recovery Scenes
Between action scenes, a player can call for a re-
covery scene during which she can help characters
recover from the pains and Conditions of action
scenes. It’s on the player to describe where the
scene takes place and ask what each participating
character does in the scene. See the rules section
of this document for how recovery scenes help your
character. What matters here is how they work in
the fiction.
Recovery scenes are a chance for the players and
the GM to collaborate on little bits of world-build-
ing by inventing locations and NPCs that support
the recovery scene you want to play out. Do the
PCs meet up with a black-market medical supplier
in some ramshackle, rain-soaked American village
to get Dr. Qamar equipment he needs and to help
Utseo repair a busted leg? Now that medical sup-
plier and that village exist in the fiction, ready to
build on or reincorporate.
Travel between action scenes often makes for
good recovery scenes. Brainstorming ways to re-
cover, based on the various Conditions your charac-
ter can acquire, is part of the challenge of a recovery
scene. Where to set the scene, and how to describe
it, is another challenge. Here are a few locations to
set recovery scenes, to help get you started.
• Private aircraft booked in advance (be-
cause the PCs have done this before)
• Commercial suborbital red-eye flight
• Gray-market charter voyage in con-
tested waters
• Common taxi cab with an old friend at
the wheel
• Flophouse motel where you once had
surgery performed
• Four-Star suite in the very city you
should be fleeing
• Quiet rural cottage, miles from any
mission
• Back-room operating theater, dirtier
than it’s ever been
• A safe house you’re almost certain
you’ve been in before
• Underwater condo where you healed
up after a job in Peru once
• A splintering townhouse right under
the enemy’s nose
• The back of a disguised truck rattling
along some mountain road.

Pacing and Timing
A/N/N can be played as a quick, exciting one-time
adventure that’s short on answers or as a sprawling
multi-part series with flashbacks, interrupts, layered
motifs, recurring themes, and an array of exciting
situations. The Scenario File says more about this,
but all the players should be a part of the big deci-
sion at the beginning of play:
How long do you want to play?
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
If you’re looking for a quick, single-session jaunt,
leave out the flashbacks and interrupts and stick with
one, two, or three scenes of actual play. Consider
linear mode and let the GM pick whatever scenes
she’s most excited to play. (Maybe you’ll find that
you want to play more, though, so you should hold
off on the ending scenes until you know.)
Beyond that, it’s a question of how much time
you have to play (and how quickly you play). This
proved difficult to measure, in my experience, so
I encourage you to share your findings with other
GMs — but beware of spoiling stuff for newcom-
ers! You might find it easier than you expect to
pace the adventure as you go, just by cutting a
few scenes from your version and doling out
more intel in each.
This kind of pacing is something the GM han-
dles, for the most part, since it’s related closely to
intel. The Scenario File talks more about pacing,
so look at that if you’re planning to be the GM.
 Background
Josine. It was his only name, back then — a holdover
from some cover identity, maybe, from his days as a
Technocrat. It was the name he gave out, the name
that held the juice, the name you called him to his
face. Some of his closest agents called him their un-
cle. “Give the uncle my thanks,” said people who
knew, and, “Tell your uncle I owe him.” Josine had
his enemies but, for such a meddlesome guy, he
had lots of friends in the right places.
Someone sprayed gunfire inside his lair under
the New York sprawl. His ever-loyal bodyguard,
Hardeman, took two to the skull. Safe houses all
over the world were overturned, ransacked. Jo-
sine’s network had been broken. Freelance agents
got caught in the wind, went off to fend for them-
selves. No one seemed to know who was caught or
who was turned, who was dirty and who was dead.
That was the sunset of a good old day. Time kept
creeping on. Every lead dried up, every trail grew
cold. At the same time, you all drifted — some far-
ther than others — and built new lives in the wake
of the old.
That was 11 years ago.
This is the backdrop. There’s no telling, yet, who
drove Josine into hiding or caught him or killed him.
about the future
The future of A/N/N is collaborative. Some de-
tails get laid out here, because they’re important
to the backstory situation and to understanding
the schemes and motives of various characters,
both protagonists and antagonists, but a lot of de-
tails are left to you all to decide in the moment. Is
your favorite conglomerate still in business? Is that
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
country you like at war with someone? Who’s Pres-
ident of the United States and how many states are
there, anyway?
Don’t answer yet.
Avoid pinning down big-picture stuff until it be-
comes part of an important feature of your story, a
telling detail that you can use to bring the charac-
ters or the environment to life. Decide whether the
streets of Reykjavik are home to driverless autocars
based on the scenes you choose to play out — like
when a player says, “I can put the car on autodrive,
right?” the answer should probably be “Sure!”
Then, later, when a bullet goes through the car’s
brain — because it raises the tension in a chase and
gives a player an important task to brainstorm and
describe — somebody’s got to dramatically take
the wheel.
Assume that most countries in the unspecified
year of A/N/N bear some resemblance to what you
know. Start with what’s familiar, because it’s a great
way to get people’s mental images to overlap, and
expand or revise for futurism from there. Remember
that not everything’s different. Gibson said the fu-
ture’s not evenly distributed. That’s as true tomor-
row as it is today. Some things regress, some things
progress, and nothing ever turns out quite the way
it was meant to.
Truth is, when we were playing out the original
adventures that A/N/N is based on, a whole lot
of it was improvised in the moment or concocted
the day before we played, just because this or that
detail would provoke a fun sequence of action or
espionage. In our fictional future, certain coun-
tries were secretly controlled by criminal empires
and some American states had seceded from the
union, all to explain why Wyoming had its own mili-
tary or how a privatized highway system was built
that only dues-paying members could use. Some
of the details were big as nations, others were as
small as memorable hotel logos (e.g., HYAT&T), but
they were fun because we made them together for
a dedicated audience made up wholly of our fellow
comrades-in-play.
Rather than submerge you in our future, make (or
borrow) your own.
The Technocracy
One of the key players in A/N/N’s future is a na-
tionless government of subscription-based citi-
zenry called the Technocracy. Based in private
embassies, secure consulates, and posh space
stations, the Technocracy protects, represents,
and regulates those citizens who pay taxes into
it, even if they are also citizens of other countries.
Technocrats carry passports for the Technocracy,
call on Technocrat agents and lawyers to get them
out of jams, and rely on Technocracy authorities to
extradite them from countries where they might
be unwanted or unwelcome.
The Technocracy meddles in the affairs of
megacorps, startups, and nations by applying
its expertise as peacekeepers, investigators, and
regulators to help powers with strained budgets,
inadequate infrastructure, or gridlocked congress-
es. The Technocracy gets called in to solve prob-
lems countries can’t solve themselves or situation
they want to blame on outside forces. Technocrats
are fixers and scapegoats, diplomats and consul-
tants, politicos and spies.
Sometimes they meddle first and rewrite the files
to make it look like they were invited. Some days
they’re everyone’s friends and some days they’re
sending Bond-like assassins to cut Gordian knots
in contested lands. They manipulate sovereign mili-
 taries as often as they deploy their own undercover
operatives.
Officially, the Technocracy prides itself on “safe-
guarding its citizenry” and in “regulating the fu-
ture.” They make sure that no one technological
breakthrough sends the planet into chaos. They
help companies turn a tech leap into small, con-
sumable steps for the public. And companies play
along, when they play along, because selling six
generations of gadgets over time eases people into
the future and is more lucrative in the long run any-
way.
Are Technocrats out for social justice and the
spreading of new technologies to the developing
world or are they just trying to keep the have-nots
from sabotaging the planet in a furious riot against
economic and technological disparity on Earth?
Depends who you ask.
It’s a complex legal and international head-
ache, dealing with the Technocracy, so (a) you
shouldn’t sweat the details and (b) you should
assume that many countries are happy to let Tech-
nocrats take over cases rather than pay for investi-
gations, trials, and incarceration themselves. The
Technocracy is part government, part company,
and happy to help.
Behind the scenes, the Technocracy is a big nar-
rative device meant to facilitate big action-movie
and espionage stories by causing and solving prob-
lems on the international stage. Its meddling causes
stories to happen and mopping up after villainous
schemes resets the stage for the next adventure.
Keep them complicated. Technocrats can be
good or bad but the Technocracy should remain
difficult to judge, always looming, and ever in mo-
tion. As a faceless, distributed bureaucracy, it’s a
tool for creating cyberpunk plots — there’s no sin-
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
gle boss to corner or defeat, no one target to thwart
or avoid.
In actual play, they’ve been implacable foes and in-
scrutable allies. In A/N/N, they may be either or both.
the megacorps
As a near-future environment meant for action and
intrigue, of course we use the trope of multination-
al megacorps. A dozen or so gigantic companies
own or influence all the big telecomms, broadcast-
ers, manufacturers, military-industrial contractors,
hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. Start-
ups pursue new enterprises in the hopes of getting
bought out and either retiring at 25 or doing it all
over again.
This is an exaggeration, but a dramatic one.
Megacorporations fight. Sometimes they fight
through proxies, sometimes on the stock market,
sometimes with covert agents, sometimes using
desperate or vulnerable nation-states as battle-
fields. Different corporations want different things
but they all want it bad and for themselves.
Nanotech, Inc.
Nanotech, Inc. is a bunch of bad guys. The corpo-
rate name doesn’t really mean anything in particular
anymore; they own all kinds of companies. They
manufacture everything from toothpaste to teeth,
warplanes to wars.
Not everyone who works for this multi-faced con-
glomerate is a terrible person but they probably all
know that they work for a company that does ter-
rible things. Maybe people within the company ra-
tionalize their participation. Maybe they’re trying to
change it from the inside. The further you get from
the parent company, the greater the likelihood that
a person can wake, work, and sleep without having
to confront some of the terrible things that Nano-
tech has lobbied for, perpetrated, and inflicted on
the world.
Some subsidiaries are more villainous than oth-
ers. Some are dummy fronts for masquerades and
lies that world governments politely pretend to
believe. Nanotech has a better standing army than
most countries and its executives, lawyers, and mer-
cenaries must be kept happy or water, food, power,
and drugs might stop flowing.
People can be layered and confounding and
complicated and while Nanotech is all of those
things, too, it is not conflicted about itself. It be-
lieves it is the outstanding organization in a global
meritocracy, the winner of a game it has carefully
rigged. It doesn’t understand why other corpora-
tions, governments, and individuals don’t just try as
hard as Nanotech does to excel.
That, at least, is the company culture. Within
the company, executives squabble and scheme,
branches battle each other, and subsidiaries com-
pete like they did before Nanotech bought them.
Yet, despite all of the power struggles, the toxic ri-
valries, and the elegant backstabbing, Nanotech’s
corporate culture of cutthroat ambition endures.
Many officers have ejected from the company on
golden parachutes yet the company’s identity lives
on as if the whole operation was haunted by a ma-
lignant, hungry ghost. (It’s feasible that the mega-
corp employs full-time staff to track the ideological
lineage of the company’s plans and profits for the
sake of doling out bonus and blame.)
So, yes, Nanotech is an exaggerated beast built
to be a recurring, heartless nemesis. When I need-
ed a fictional megacorp to use as massive power-
players and notorious villains, to the people in the
 know, I used Nanotech. Hostile takeovers, industri-
al espionage, clandestine assassinations disguised
as suicides, unethical experimentation — they do
it all. On the payroll: goons, spies, fighter pilots,
hitmen, executive bodyguards, cybernetic ninja,
wired snipers, and many more.
Our adventures, back when, called for waves of
goons to fall to our heroic and imaginary martial
arts. Nanotech supplies that. Cyberpunk fiction
sometimes calls for hulking and faceless megacorps
to represent the monolithic and dreadful societal
force that renders heroes and anti-heroes almost —
almost — powerless in their shadow. Nanotech sup-
plies that, too. No matter how much of it the heroes
chip away, the entity remains… and remembers.
limits of technology
Every fictional world has its rules and limits. In the
future of A/N/N, some things are possible already,
some things aren’t (yet). Here are some guidelines
for the state of future tech in A/N/N so you all can
get a sense of what’s normal from the perspective
of the playable characters who live in this future.
• The popular notion of cyberspace was thwart-
ed by companies who decided it would mostly be
used against them. Instead of a mass consensual
hallucination, there’s the Internet and a hundred
little local networks. Realistic artificial construct en-
vironments can be jacked into and explored by liv-
ing consciousness (these are projections of stimuli
onto the brain rather than any actual roving of the
consciousness), but the global matrix never mate-
rialized. Near-field communication (NFC), radio-
frequency identification (RFID) tags, and closed
networks are popular. To hack into something, get
within striking distance of it — in touch with a termi-
nal or inside its wireless range — and cut in. Email
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
and the Internet are still around, but they’re blunted they’re strictly regulated and controlled. Several
and fractured and vulnerable, so living couriers see megacorps, nations, and Technocracy offices have
a lot of use. (This is meant to maximize the amount advanced AIs — some of them off the books — for
of actual physical travel and interpersonal action in private study and clandestine operations. Still, AIs
the game.) are considered rare and somewhat dangerous by
• Cybernetics technology is advanced but a the public ... even if that’s not entirely accurate.
combination of fashion and technical limitations • With the Internet diminished by regulatory
make augmentations and limbs pretty obvious. chokeholds and a lack of international support,
Robotics languishes in the Uncanny Valley. No biometrics and facial recognition technology
one’s gotten convincing androids working yet. The get similarly constrained. Local networks and op-
world’s just been busy doing other things. (Thus erational theaters can use biometry to spot and
characters can spot cybernetic enhancements eas- track assets and targets but there’s no central data-
ily as a means of reading or conveying a bit of char- base that’s good about talking to the myriad local
acter quickly.) operations. It’s difficult and expensive (in favors and
• Memories can be downloaded, copied, time) for jurisdictions to coordinate manhunts, so an
and stored — consciousness cannot. There’s a emphasis is often put on border security over inter-
market in experiential records among those who national cooperation. (This allows for tense border-
can afford cortical drives and processors. Copies crossing sequences while still letting characters
of emotional experiences like fistfights and base roam and get into adventures without the whole
jumps and sex go for good money, sold on nee- planet clamping down on them. Otherwise all the
dles of flash memory that plug into sockets behind characters are always in disguise.)
the ear. Memories are just that, though: vague, fal-
lible, full of weird associations and sometimes dif-
ficult to parse. A user might plug in the know-how
for flying a helicopter, then unplug and be unable
to pilot even though she clearly remembers what
it’s like to know. Frustrating.
• A digitized memory is not a mind, not a con-
sciousness. Memories don’t think. You might con-
verse with a recorded memory but it can’t invent
new ideas, has no real rapport, and never reaches
new conclusions. It might seem to do some or all
of those things, by drawing on and recombining
memories into a sophisticated pastiche resembling
human behavior, but such things are seldom con-
vincing for long.
• AIs don’t think like humans do. Until the Tech-
nocracy can get a handle on how they do think,
 game rules
The summary on the PC sheets explains the basics
of the rules this adventure uses. This section ex-
plains further details, recurring mechanisms, and
the language we use to talk about it all.
reading the characters
A/N/N is about some combination of the six charac-
ters included in this file. Each character is a little dif-
ferent but built in the same style out of similar parts:
• Four Traits, each with distinctive Tags,
some of which begin play unusable
and “locked” in brackets — spend 5
XP to underline a bracketed Tag and
unlock it
• Six Conditions, with one unique Con-
dition per character and three vital
Conditions which all characters have
in common: Injured, Dying, and Dead.
• Three or more Keys, describing some-
thing of the character’s style and meth-
ods, as well as how they earn XP
• Two starting Edges that allow the play-
er to break or augment the rules under
specific circumstances
An optional background dossier accompanies
each character. Dossiers offer notes on history, sig-
nature equipment, and play notes for each charac-
ter. Use the dossiers to flesh out the characters, if
you like, or ignore them in favor of your own inter-
pretation of the character’s statistics.
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
How Action Works
Yoshi wrenches the wheel on a stolen luxury car. Dr.
Qamar performs complex surgery in the back of a
shuddering helicopter. Emily bobs, dodges, and
strikes with perfect grace, taking out two, three,
four gun-toting enemy soldiers.
Each of these can be a single action, a single
statement by the player invoking the action and
engaging our imaginations to render the fiction.
Depending on the circumstances and the poten-
tial consequences, the GM might ask for any of
those actions to involve a roll of the dice. From the
two-second turn of the wheel to the long emer-
gency surgery to the multiple opponents brought
down at once, they could each be described with
a single roll.
Actions don’t map to rolls in a one-for-one man-
ner, though. Rolls are a tool for suspense, adven-
ture, surprise, and pacing. The scale of the action is
mutable. Sometimes multiple goons get taken out
with one roll, sometimes multiple rolls are neces-
sary to take out a single foe. How we parcel out ac-
tions into rolls is a question of pacing. It’s sort of like
asking, “How many shots does it take to convey the
action in a filmed fight scene?” Some fights back a
stunning amount of action and choreography into
a single photographic take, a single stretch of foot-
age. Others require edits and multiple shots and
angles or even cuts to other fights before we come
back and finish what we started.
But even that’s an imperfect metaphor! Dice and
rolls and actions don’t correspond directly to filmic
terms unless you describe them that way. I encour-
age you to mix it up. Sometimes a single roll is a
single take, a single performance captured, and
sometimes one roll requires a glorious multi-angle
slow-motion affair with cinders in mid-air and doves
taking flight in the background, showing us the
same kick to the face from three different angles.
You have that flexibility, so mix it up.
Calling for Rolls
The PCs in A/N/N are experienced and capable
agents. Some things — maybe a lot of things — they
can do just by having the right Trait or Tags to de-
scribe it and then saying they do it. You won’t have
to roll on every turn, all the time.
Calling for rolls is more art than science. And yet,
here’s a guideline:
To take out an enemy or avoid a Condition,
roll the dice.
Want to bring down an enemy helicopter using
only your metal legs and electric knife? Describe
how you try, how you leap from girder to girder,
grab the housing with articulate feet, and slice vital
cables to kill the rotors, then ride the thing to the
ground, jumping free at the last minute. That could
be one roll to take out that enemy.
Success on a roll is usually clear: the enemy’s
taken out or the bad thing being done to you is
avoided, endured, overcome.
Failure on a roll means something else interest-
ing happens. When a player fails a roll, the GM may
have the player mark a Condition on her sheet to
describe what went wrong, what happens as a re-
sult, or some other consequence of the action. The
GM can also decide that the PC actually accom-
plished what he was after but took on a Condition
at the same time — success with a cost.
It’s one of the GM’s jobs to help define the scope
of a roll and the consequences for a miss. In gen-
eral, the more rolls something takes, the riskier it is.
A combat against a bunch of trained foes that need
to be taken out one at a time is risky because a lot
of Conditions might get marked. An escape se-
 quence that calls for a single roll to describe a char-
acter’s leap, a landing, a run, and a disappearance
into a teeming cityscape is a little less risky.
Conditions
Conditions are great! A Condition helps inform and
inspire players about what they can say about their
character during play. It’s a cue to tell the GM and play-
ers to pay attention to something and reincorporate it
into the fiction you’re all building. It might make things
more difficult for a character but really it’s meant as a
creative challenge to the player: How do you depict
Yoshi fighting while he’s Angry or how do you show
Alex dodging a grenade while he’s Trapped?
The whole game is about inventing exciting
descriptions of action and adventure. These are
friendly challenges for the players and perilous
stakes for the characters at the same time. They’re
not punishments, exactly, but they can feel like it if
you’re not careful. You don’t want to punish people
for playing with you, right?
Sometimes a Condition becomes an obstacle in
its own right, calling for a roll to deal with it. Some-
times a Condition only lasts until the fiction sug-
gests or demands it is resolved. Taking out a heli-
copter that has you Trapped by its machine guns
pretty obviously removes the Trapped Condition,
for example, since the helicopter’s not in the equa-
tion anymore. Being Dead is kind of a big deal, but
even that often just means “presumed dead.”
Rolling the Dice
Even numbers are hits, so each die has a 50/50
chance of yielding a hit. You can use almost any
kind of polyhedral die to play, but I assume you’ll
be using six-sided dice, because they’re so com-
mon. You can use the “higher half” of the die’s val-
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Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
ues (4–6 on a six-sider) as hits instead, if you prefer.
I recommend all players in one group adopt the
same method for play, though.
Different colors of dice can be helpful — one for
Trait & Tag dice and one for stunt dice, say — or you
could use six-siders for everyone’s Trait & Tag dice
and all other kinds for stunt dice. Whatever gets you
playing.
To overcome an obstacle in the fiction, roll dice.
To do that, you’ll need to gather the right number
of dice.
Start with one die if you have a Trait that can help
you. In other words, you get one die for the Trait’s
name, in bold.
Add another die for each Tag from that same Trait
that applies to the action you’re describing. You
normally use a single Trait’s Tags at one time, so pick
the Trait that best describes what your character’s
doing. List off the Tags as you gather dice for them,
to help everyone get a mental image of what you’re
up to. Add more description, if you want.
Finally, add any number of stunt dice you want
from the number you’ve got in your possession.
Roll all the dice you’ve gathered. Each die that
shows an even number is a hit. You need hits equal
to the Difficulty number to pass the obstacle. Here’s
a basic rundown of the Difficulty scale:
• 2 = easy — take out a thug
• 3 = tough — take out a trained foe
• 4 = challenging — take out an expert foe
• 5 = extreme — take out a masterful foe
If your hits equal or exceed the Difficulty, you
succeed, overcome the obstacle, and discard to
the pot all the stunt dice you rolled.
If your hits don’t at least equal the Difficulty,
you miss what you were after but you keep any
stunt dice you rolled. The GM may escalate the
situation to increase the Difficulty, impose a Condi-
tion, or any combination thereof (including neither)
before you try again.
Targeted and Untargeted Rolls
Targeted Rolls and Hits: Sometimes a player
must declare the number of hits she’s going after
before she rolls. If she doesn’t net the right num-
ber of hits, the roll fails. E.g., if her PC is trying to
take out two mercenaries (2 hits each), she needs
4 hits. 2 or 3 hits won’t even take out one of them,
because she missed the number she’d targeted.
(Otherwise everyone would try to take out all the
bad guys at once all the time.)
If the GM hasn’t revealed the Difficulty of a foe
yet, the player should just say, “I’m trying to take out
their boss” or “I’m going for the guy with the sniper
rifle” or whatever, thereby targeting that foe. After
the roll, the player has a better idea of the Difficulty
after seeing how many hits did or did not take out
the target.
Untargeted Rolls and Hits: Sometimes a play-
er doesn’t have to declare her targets. She can just
roll, see how well she did, and assign hits to targets
however she likes. E.g., if her PC is fighting corpo-
rate goons worth 3 untargeted hits each in a room
with security cameras worth 2 untargeted hits each,
and she rolls 5 hits, she can take out one goon and
a camera (any remaining goons are left in the fight).
Ordinarily, the GM says something like, “There
are enemies here that don’t need to be targeted”
to let players know that they can make an untar-
geted roll.
Combined Rolls: If a scene contains enemies
of both types, you can target a foe and then, if you
succeed at taking out that foe, apply leftover hits to
untargeted enemies provided it makes sense in the
 fiction. Be careful, though, not to steal the whole
scene from the other players, if you can help it.
Taking Turns
Every player should get a turn to act once before
someone else acts a second time. Your action
might or might not require a roll.
Use the Take Action card in the Scenario File, or
any other marker (sometimes called “the button,”
like in poker) to track whose turn it is. A whole cycle
through the players is called a round. At the end
of a player’s turn, that player gives the Take Action
marker to any other player who hasn’t gone yet this
round. If you’re starting a new round (including the
beginning of a new scene), any character is eligible
to go next. Always let the fiction guide the choice of
who gets the card.
Sometimes (like when serious combatants are on
the scene) the GM may take one or more turns as
well. Remember, the GM doesn’t roll dice. Instead,
other players roll to get PCs out of harm’s way. An
NPC hurts a PC by inflicting a Condition when the
PC misses a roll to avoid that Condition.
Getting and Giving Stunt Dice
Begin play with a number of stunt dice per player in
a central “pot.” Each player draws two stunt dice to
start off the game.
Players earn additional stunt dice when other
players award them. Any time you think another
player has come up with an awesome description,
clever action, or other great move, you may award
that player one die from the pot. Each player can
award only one die on a given player’s turn and
only to the player whose turn it is. So, on Edgar’s
turn, every other player could each award Edgar
a stunt die from the pot if there are enough stunt
dice in there.
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Each table will tweak and interpret its own guide-
lines for stunt dice. Be supportive. Encourage what
you like to see and remember that not every player
is going to have the same strengths as every other.
Dialogue, descriptions, details, helpful ideas, al-
most anything positive is fair game for a stunt-die
award.
Remember that these are player awards, not PC
awards. I encourage players to award stunt dice as
soon as possible for the things they like to see. If An-
nie offers Douglas a great way to describe his PC’s
action, offer Annie a stunt die on her next turn for
that description. Did you give one to Douglas, too,
for embracing that description? No problem. That’s
fair game.
Awarded dice can be used immediately or saved
for future rolls, at the rolling player’s discretion.
A player can never have more than 7 stunt dice in
their possession at once.
Helping Stunts
If your character is in a position to help another char-
acter on a roll, you can roll one of your stunt dice
and add its result to their total. Describe how your
character helps out and cite a Tag on your sheet
that’s relevant. If your stunt die hits, it goes back in
the pot. If it misses, you keep it.
Helping dice depend greatly on the fiction in
play. The GM can veto any helping die by citing
the fictional circumstances that make it unlikely. (“I
think Alex needs both hands to steer, don’t you?”)
Characters who position themselves to be of help
to multiple PCs can do that as long as their stunt
dice hold out.
Players can help if they don’t have stunt dice by
awarding stunt dice from the pot. It helps the other
player and his PC, at least. It’s also helpful to avoid
hoarding stunt dice so that others can help out.
The Stunt-Dice Pot
The number of stunt dice in the pot can vary, based
on house rules. I increased the number of dice in
the pot for each Act of the adventure:
Act One = 4 per PC
Act Two = 5 per PC
Act Three = 6 per PC
This gives the characters more potential to excel
as they get back in the groove of action (and their
challenges ramp up) over time. Avoid putting in so
many stunt dice that everyone can have the maxi-
mum at once. One reason to spend stunt dice is to
put them back in the pot so they can be moved to a
character who might need them in that scene.
Table Rules for Stunt Dice
Feel free to adjust your table’s rules for stunt dice to
achieve the feeling you’re after.
More stunt dice make things go faster. When
players have ample stunt dice, they can tackle a lot
of obstacles on the first try and things feel easier.
Fewer stunt dice make things go a little slower,
feel a little more tactical. Putting the stunt dice in
the right hands for the right scene becomes some-
thing the players can achieve by awarding them or
spending them back into the pot, to free them up
for later awards.
The more players, the faster any one player can
rack up stunt dice through simultaneous awards. In
a game with just a few players, be generous with
your awards to keep the dice moving around. GMs,
when you have just two or three players, consider
increasing the number of dice in the pot by 1 per PC
per Act of the adventure (without ever going above
6 dice per PC).

Rules for Conditions
When you fail a roll or when the fiction reasonably
warrants it, the GM may impose a Condition on
your character. When you take a Condition, mark it
on your sheet and work with the GM to figure out
just what it means in your case and for how long.
Ordinarily, Injured, Dying, and Dead get marked
in that order — ordinarily. Potent dangers might skip
ahead to Dying or Dead depending on the fiction.
A Condition can impact future rolls. The GM can
invoke it to increase the Difficulty of an obstacle by
1 step. You can invoke one Condition per turn to
add a die to your roll if the GM isn’t invoking it and
if you can explain how the Condition actually helps
your character.
If they don’t go away due to the changing fiction,
Conditions can be removed with a successful roll
made by you or an ally for that express purpose. The
Difficulty to remove a Condition is set by the GM to
reflect the fiction. A Difficulty of 3 is the baseline,
modified up for tougher challenges and down for
trivial hindrances.
Conditions are shorthand descriptors standing
in for a variety of specific circumstances. Read them
broadly. Marking the Exhausted spot might mean
that your character is exhausted or that his resourc-
es are. (Down to the last two bullets, maybe?) A PC
might get Angry with himself, with his comrades,
with his enemies — it varies.
Each PC has one unique Condition on their
sheet. This describes their own vulnerability or
weakness and helps set them apart from their co-
horts. (Note that Angry, Furious, and Confused
describe those PCs’ varying reactions but aren’t
strictly unique Conditions.)
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Rules for Recovery Scenes
Between action scenes, a player can call for a recov-
ery scene during which players can erase a Condi-
tion. Describe where the scene takes place and ask
what each character’s doing. Travel makes for good
recovery scenes.
Each player with a character in the recovery scene
can erase one Condition on any character’s sheet
if they can explain how their character helps. Your
crew can play multiple recovery scenes in a row but
each player can call for only one between each pair
of action scenes. Remember to describe how your
character acts both under the Condition and as a
result of having it handled.
Keys
When you hit a Key, you earn an experience point (1
XP) or a stunt die from the pot. If you go into danger
because of your Key, you get 2 XP (or 1 XP and 1
stunt die from the pot). With 5 XP, you can do the
following:
• Unlock a Tag under an existing Trait (by
underlining it)
• Add a new Key (you can never buy a
key you just bought off)
• Add or swap in a new Edge (you can
never have more than three Edges at
once)
You can hold on to XP, if you want, to spend later,
even in the middle of an action sequence.
Each Key also has a buyoff. If the buyoff condition
occurs, you have the option of removing the Key
and earning 10 XP (but not stunt dice). You can’t
buy the same Key you just bought off (but you can
buy that Key again in the future with other XP). Your
character can’t have more than four Keys at once
and probably shouldn’t have fewer than two Keys
at once.
The GM is not the strict arbiter of XP, but she is the
one to look to when you’re not sure if you should
be earning XP or not. Some Keys grant XP based on
circumstances that the table should probably agree
on, for example. (What constitutes “danger,” for
example?) When in doubt, the GM can approve or
forestall the XP gain.
Also, keep an eye on your fellow players. It’s pos-
sible to play such that you rocket through XP faster
than everyone else… but it’s not real neighborly.
Pace yourself.
Equipment Rules
These characters are freelance special agents, ex-
perienced operatives, and ready adventurers in a
futuristic world of plentiful gadgets and cheap tech-
nology. While your character can’t be assumed to
have everything they want or need — many danger-
ous weapons are carefully regulated and cutting-
edge tech is often closely guarded or prohibitively
expensive — they are presumed to have the kind of
gear necessary to use their Traits and Tags.
The characters are also all wired on an encrypted
channel so they can communicate even when they
split up (unless a Condition, say, impairs that ability).
This is hands-off, subdermal tech requiring minimal
vocalization. For the most part, the PCs can talk to
each other whenever they want.
Equipment affords no special bonus to a roll, it
simply makes the roll possible. Smart phones, tab-
lets, near-field communication, high-speed cables,
and multi-tools abound unless the circumstances
of a scene make it important or compelling that re-
 sources are slim. Conditions can indicate damage
to, or a lack of, gear.
In A/N/N, what’s more important than the de-
tailed tech specs are the tactile details. What does
it look like when Emily hacks a smart phone? When
Tank breaks something open for parts, do pieces
go everywhere? When Alex cuts into a security sys-
tem, does he see elaborate glowing fiber optics or
a sleek next-gen setup that only a specialist could
understand? Focus on the visual cues and the de-
tails that make players want to pantomime their
character’s actions, tapping at imaginary UIs.
Environmental Tags
The environment can be a great tool (or weapon)
in an action scene. Knock thugs through +Plate-
glass Windows, whip that +Live Wire around like
a weapon, rush in with +Windswept Snow at your
character’s back.
Each major scene in A/N/N comes with a list of
environmental Tags specific to that scene and us-
able by any PC on any roll. Each Tag can be used
just once in a scene, so when anyone adds a die to
their roll to represent one of these Tags, cross it off
the list. Using these Tags to inspire descriptions,
without adding dice to a roll, is always allowed.
While players have no hard limit on the number
of Tags a single PC can use on one roll, save some
for your friends. It’s nice to share.
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optional rules for tags
Here are some optional house rules for handling
Traits and Tags during play. (Many thanks to the
players and GMs who suggested some of these.)
• A single Trait cannot be expanded with both
Flashback Tags. Assign your Flashback Tags to two
different Traits.
• The first time you use a new Trait during a scene,
take a stunt die from the pot (if available).
• Players, offer your fellows a friendly challenge
to use a variety of Traits over the course of play.
Award stunt dice when another player uses a Trait
they haven’t yet used this scene.
• No Trait can have two Tags unlocked in it in a row.
You must unlock a Tag from another Trait before you
come back and unlock another Tag in a Trait where
you just spent XP.
Selecting characters
Not every character in A/N/N handles quite the
same way. Plus, some characters handle differently
in the hands of different players. Try trading charac-
ters or swapping in unselected characters to spread
some of the spotlight time around the table. It’s not
essential that one player play the same character
throughout the adventure. If a combination of char-
acters isn’t working for you, make a change.
always, never, and now
Use this optional mechanism to help under-
score how the characters have changed in the past
ten years and how they might change during this
story. After you’ve chosen your character, write an
always statement, a never statement, and maybe
a now statement for your character.
The always statement describes something
the character always used to do, like “be honest,”
“hold a grudge,” or “rescue a friend.”
The never statement describes something the
character never used to do, like “abandon an ally,”
“disobey,” or “forget a face.”
Draw on your character’s Keys and optional
dossiers when devising these statements. Each
statement is probably hyperbolic. Each character
can certainly recall a time when he or she failed to
always or never do something. People are compli-
cated and inconsistent sometimes.
The now statement is something you leave
blank until your character goes against one of the
previous statements. In a way, you address the
now with every choice you make and action you
describe during play. When your character does
act out of sync with her always or never statements,
write a note about she behaves now.
Think about why. Think about what motivated
that change in behavior or philosophy. Think about
how you can show that change in play, through
your character’s dialogue or actions.
When your character goes against an always or
never statement three times, cross out that state-
ment and write a new one to replace it.
I invite you to keep a list of now statements as you
play and look back at it after each session you play.
What does this list reveal about your character?
 Getting and Giving Stunt Dice
Begin play with the stunt dice in a central “pot.” Each player draws two stunt dice
to start off the game. A player can never have more than 7 stunt dice in their pos-
session at one time.
Players earn stunt dice when other players award them. Any time you think an-
other player has come up with an awesome description, clever action, great bit of
dialogue, or otherwise needs a stunt die, you may award that player one die from
the pot. No player can award more than one stunt die per turn. Awarded dice can
be used immediately or saved for future rolls, as the awarded player prefers.
Rolling the Dice
To overcome an obstacle in the fiction, roll dice. Start with one die if you have a
Trait that can help you. Add another die for each Tag from that Trait that applies to
the action. Finally, add any number of stunt dice you like from the number you’ve
got in your possession.
Roll the dice you’ve gathered. Each die that shows an even number is a hit. You
need hits equal to the Difficulty number to pass the obstacle:
• 2 = easy—take out a thug
• 3 = tough—take out a trained foe
• 4 = challenging—take out an expert foe
• 5 = extreme—take out a masterful foe
If your hits meet or exceed the Difficulty, you succeed, overcome the obsta-
cle, and discard to the pot any stunt dice you rolled.
If your hits don’t meet the Difficulty, you miss what you were after but you
keep any stunt dice you rolled. The GM may escalate the situation, increase the
Difficulty, impose a Condition, or any combination thereof before you try again.
Targeted and Untargeted Rolls
Usually you aim your rolls at specific goals and obstacles, like taking out a corpo-
rate ninja or flying a helicopter through enemy fire. Those goals have specific Dif-
ficulties known to the GM at the time you roll and if your hits equal the difficulty you
overcome the obstacle or achieve your goal. These are called targeted rolls.
Sometimes, especially during fights with simple minions, the GM says you can
roll first and then spend your hits on available targets. So, if you get 4 hits you
could take out two thugs, each rated at Difficulty 2, even if you didn’t declare that
at first. These are called untargeted rolls.
Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)
Helping Stunts
If your character is in a position to help another PC, you can roll one of your stunt
dice and add its hit to their roll. Describe how your character helps out, citing a Tag
on your sheet. If your roll hits, the die goes back in the pot. If it misses, you keep it.
Conditions
When you fail a roll, or other events reasonably warrant, the GM may impose a Con-
dition on your character. When you take a Condition, mark it on your sheet and talk
with the GM to figure out just what it means in your case and for how long.
Conditions can impact future rolls. The GM can invoke them to increase the Dif-
ficulty of an obstacle by 1 step. You can invoke one Condition to add a die to your
roll if the GM isn’t invoking it and you can explain how the Condition actually helps
your PC. Conditions can sometimes be removed with a successful roll made by you
or an ally for that express purpose — in that way they’re another source of obstacles.
Recovery Scenes
Between action scenes, you can call for a recovery scene during which you can
erase a Condition. Describe where the scene takes place and ask what each char-
acter’s doing. Travel makes for good recovery scenes. Each player with a character
in the recovery scene can erase one Condition from any one character if they can
explain how it happens. Your crew can play multiple recovery scenes in a row but
each player can call for only one between action scenes.
Keys
When you hit a Key, you earn an experience point (1 XP) or a stunt die from the pot.
If you go into danger because of your Key, you get 2 XP (or 1 XP and 1 stunt die
from the pot). Hold on to XP and spend them later, even in the middle of an action
sequence. Spend 5 XP to do one of the following:
+ Unlock a Tag for an existing Trait (by underlining it)
+ Add a new Key (never have the same key twice; 4 Keys max)
+ Add or swap in a new Edge (never have the same Edge twice; 3 Edges max)
Each Key also has a buyoff. If the buyoff condition occurs, you have the option
of removing the Key and earning 10 XP. You can’t purchase the same Key you just
bought off to get those 10 XP (but you can get that Key again in the future with more
XP). Your character can’t have more than four Keys at once and probably shouldn’t
have fewer than two Keys.
 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

A
mong the earliest and most successful of Equipment
Josine’s operatives, Yoshitsune Mac- • Yoshi’s definitive items are his metal arms. The first ones were
Cennedi came to the fold after a installed after a job gone bad, but subsequent upgrades
sordid and painful microcareer as have replaced any regret or phantom-limb syndrome with
a bodyguard and combat driver sleek and functional steel. One arm sports a pop-up
for clients highly placed in various corps, govern- flechette gun fueled by blocks of plastic, shredded
ments, and the like. A few bad ops, a few months in by the gun’s firing mechanism into a spray of lethal
the bottle, and then Josine came calling. Yoshi’s life shards. The other arm features telecommunications
has never been the same since. devices and hidden compartments.
Yoshi may not have been Josine’s first operative, • Upgrade: The Climbing Hands upgrade Tag
but he was the most loyal, the most devoted to equips Yoshi with electrochemical adhesives
the spymaster’s for-the-future missions. Yoshi that enable him to grip any surface by sup-
found new purpose in their chance to change plying a modest electromagnetic charge
the world for the better. When Josine van- to his metal hands. With this upgrade, he
ished, Yoshi refused to give up hope. Even can climb metal, glass, wood—nearly
now, his hopes are merely idling. anything.
The modern Yoshi has fallen off the wagon
a few times but tries to stay ready for the
Playing Yoshi
• Yoshi is devoted, a little dam-
day—the inevitable day—when the missions
aged, but not delicate.
resume. He takes his commitment to Josine
• Play Yoshi if you want an ac-
and his fellow operatives seriously. He keeps
tion hero with easy, fun Keys
a few old phones and safe houses ready so he
to hit and a lot of combat
can contact old cohorts and get things rolling
power.
again.
• First, note that one of
In the meantime, Yoshi’s back to working the
Yoshi’s Keys cannot be
private sector. Except instead of high-profile
bought off. Another,
princes and presidents, he drives local politicos,
Key of the Cohort,
plutocrats, and criminal kingpins around in armored
makes it easy for Yoshi to
cars. It pays the bills.
earn XP just by being in posi-
What it doesn’t do is pay the soul. Yoshi used to
tion to help his cohorts. The Key
work for the fate of the world. He wants that back so
of Vice, meanwhile, is a shortcut to
bad he can taste it like whisky on his tongue.
free XP if you buy it off. Yoshi’s a great
character for new players.

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of the Cohort
Yoshi is a trusty cohort. Earn XP when you help an ally.
Buyoff: Let a cohort down.

• Key of the Loyal Operative

Yoshi is dedicated to Josine, who pulled him out of hell once and may
ANGRY do so again. Earn XP when you get closer to Josine or his master plan.

• Key of Vengeance
EXHAUSTED Yoshi never holds a grudge... for less than ten years. Earn XP when you
get revenge for wrongs done to you. Buyoff: Let go of a grudge.

• Key of Vice
IMPAIRED Yoshi has fallen into a few bottles since Josine went away. Earn XP
when alcohol leads to trouble for you in a scene. Buyoff: Give up
drinking and mean it.

HUNTED

• Former operative of disavowed Technocracy agent known as Josine

• Currently operating as a low-rent bodyguard and driver TRAPPED
• Last known whereabouts: Chicago, Inc., USA

Bodyguard + Hyper-aware, Metal Right Arm, ± Edge: Versatility

FORLORN Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
Metal Left Arm, Battle-hardened, Resolute, Crowd Fighting, Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
[Quick], [Persist], [Gunplay or Swordplay], [Precise Shot]
± Edge: Set ‘Em Up
Once per session you can pass any number of hits from one roll
Mover + Combat Driving, Honed Senses, Quick, Bold, (even a failed roll) on to another player, giving them a base of hits
Wired Reflexes, Floor It, [Combat Flying], [Hotwire] to add to the hits they generate on their next roll. The hits you pass
on don’t count toward your roll but you can wait to see what hits you
INJURED roll before you decide to invoke this Edge. Describe how your hits aid
Searcher + Persistent, Intuitive, Perceptive, Interrogator,
your ally. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
Unshakable, Quick Eyes, [Connected], [Bullshit Detector]
DYING
Survivor + Tough, Strong, Take A Beating, Metal Arms,
Scars, Relentless, [Climbing-Hands], [Intrepid], [Agile]
DEAD
Flashbacks:
A. +Direct or +Evasive
B. +Protect or +Support

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

U
tseo Tao was Josine’s longest-lived and perhaps Playing Utseo
most notorious operative in the old days. He • Utseo is an action hero. Utseo is cunning and wry with kung fu to
was also a street samurai in the classic mold: spare. Utseo’s confidence may get him into trouble, but his skills usu-
razor sharp, ever ready, and infamous among ally get him back out of it sooner or later.
those few who knew the truth about him. • Play Utseo if you want to be an action star and parkour master, always
Josine, meanwhile, kept Utseo employed, entertained, and equipped... leaping and fighting and getting into trouble.
but seldom informed. When Josine went missing, it was a shock to Utseo • Utseo’s an Underground Leader, and that Trait can be tricky to use. Re-
as much as anyone. Utseo scoured the earth for his old spymaster until his member, with encrypted communications, Utseo can put his people
hope was exhausted. Then he set out to fill the void. to work on things from across the globe, having them tackle tasks that
Today’s Utseo is a gutter shogun, an underground daimyo with a min- he’s too busy fighting dudes to do himself. Rolls using these
iature network of his own, shuttling forbidden facts and damning data employees might be just a few dice, though, so look for
about megacorp monsters throughout the world. Utseo produces helping dice or stunts where you can get them.
(and sometimes stars in) online videos denouncing the megacorps
and their stranglehold on the world. Without Josine’s “For the fu-
ture!” ambitions, this is what Utseo has found as a cause.
Equipment
Utseo’s upgraded his tech over the years to stay ahead of the
curve and the mercs dispatched to find and kill him.
• Metal Legs: Custom built, fully articulated, worth
more than a house, these are Utseo’s defining features
and most versatile weapons. They stop bullets, they
break bones, they push off rooftops and roll with
impacts that would trash other modern cybernetics.
These are top-of-the-line, next-gen shit, right here.
• Electric Knife: Utseo’s gone through a few of
these over the years. This new one’s solid, sturdy
tech with a built-in filament for delivering modest or
major electric shocks along a flexible but formidable
blade. The whole thing plugs right into the wall to
recharge. Easy as can be.

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of the Criminal
Utseo is a professional criminal, long has been. Earn XP for any scene
where you escape justice or flaunt the law. Buyoff: Work for a govern-
ment or corporation.

FURIOUS • Key of the Ronin

Utseo is a masterless man. His fate is his own. Earn XP when the group
undertakes a plan of yours or you defy authorities. Buyoff: Follow
orders.
EXHAUSTED
• Key of the Bon Vivant
Utseo is a hedonist and debauchee—he loves to live. Earn XP when
you indulge (or overindulge) in life’s pleasures. Buyoff: Turn down a
IMPAIRED rare indulgence.

HUNTED

TRAPPED
• Former operative of disavowed Technocracy agent known as Josine
• Operating as illegal courier & underground anti-corp movement leader
• Last known whereabouts: Paris, France
MALFUNCTION
Street Samurai + Metal Legs, Martial Arts, Quick,
Rough, Tumble, Weaponry, [Blades], [Kicking], [Honor]
Gutter Shogun + Charm, Leadership, Cunning,
Resourceful, Persuasive, Insight, [Insightful], [Nefarious], [Zen]
INJURED
± Edge: Versatility
Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
± Edge: Transformation
Once per session you can reroll all the dice that miss in a roll involv-
ing your metal legs, transforming them in some surprising fashion
to give yourself an advantage. Describe what this looks like. Add in
additional stunt dice, if you want, during the reroll. This Edge is not
considered “used” if you still fail after the reroll. Rearm this Edge when
you buy off a Key.

Free Runner + Transforming Cyberlegs, So Fast, Clever,

Unpredictable, Tumble, Resilient, [Leaping], [Falling]
DYING
Underground Leader* + Fixer, Net Hacker, Code
Hacker, Gadgeteer, Video Crew, [Memory Tech], [Corporate DEAD
Insider], [Technocrat] *(Each Tag represents an NPC who
works for Utseo remotely.)
Flashbacks:
A. +Clandestine or +Notorious
B. +Nimble or +Powerhouse

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

H
e once Equipment
broke into Alex knows how to use all
a famed manner of tech but he sel-
museum dom seems to hold on to
(you’ve anything for long before
heard of it) because he left his it’s used, misused, lost, or
scarf in the Natural History Wing stolen back.
when he visited earlier that day. • Alex’s reflexes were
He’s poked around inside forbid- wired a decade back.
den palaces and hung outside the They’re still quick, but not
windows of 90th-floor penthouses the kind of quick good
to see how the plutocrats live. Also, money buys today.
to steal their stuff. • Spider Harness: Alex loves this
Alex Hayes wasn’t a loyal operative series of strong filament harnesses built for
in the Josine heyday. It was case by urban exploration and warfare. Equipped
case for him. Josine’s other operatives with magnetic grappling spikes and
kept bringing him into the mix to nab clamps, these fine wires deploy and retract
precious tech, infiltrate impenetrable with ease and can hold more than 500lbs
sites, or smuggle out vital data. Alex aloft and stable. A cat-burglar’s best friend.
would show up, do the job, get in • Laser Cutter: Turn on the 3-inch laser
over his head, and find himself needing blade and lob this sucker at your enemies.
Josine’s people to save him. Became a
habit. Working for Josine was too much
Playing Alex
• How seriously Alex wants to go straight
like being pinned down, having a boss, but
is up to you. Is he conflicted or relieved
it beat doing jobs for the megacorps, the
to get his old life back?
big criminal outfits, or the Technocrats.
• Play Alex if you want to be a witty ex-
The Technocrats tried to turn him once. Alex
pert of subterfuge who’s always in over
stole the wallet of the agent sent to bring him
his head.
in and spent a day charging spa visits and hotel
• The challenge to playing Alex is tak-
rooms to the agent’s credit card.
ing out enemies with so few overtly menacing Traits and Tags. Alex re-
The modern Alex Hayes is trying to go straight. He just can’t get his
quires ingenuity and a bit of luck to play in action scenes but he’s well
street-food venture quite off the ground. What would it take to get him
suited to stealth and intrigue. When in doubt, put Alex in a position to
back inside places he’s not supposed to be? Probably not much.
offer or receive helping dice.

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of the Conman
Alex was a conman by trade for many years. ”You can quit the life but it
never quits you.” Earn XP when you make someone believe something
that isn’t true. Buyoff: Admit something you’ve done that’s illegal or
untrue.

CONFused • Key of the Comedian

Humor is a defense mechanism and a trap. Alex is a funny guy. Earn XP
when Alex makes people laugh. Buyoff: Be serious about something
serious.
EXHAUSTED
• Key of the Escapee
Alex is often caught but seldom kept. Earn XP when Alex makes an es-
cape. Buyoff: Get caught (or Trapped) somewhere you shouldn’t be.
IMPAIRED

HUNTED

TRAPPED ± Edge: Versatility

• Former professional burglar/conman, wanted by various corps & states
• Currently running a seemingly legitimate street-food venture
• Last known whereabouts: Hong Kong Free Trade Zone
Burglar + Climbing, Tumbling, Stealthy, Hotwire, Quick,
Perceptive, Cable Harness, [Wily], [Slippy], [Conceal]
Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
REVEALED ± Edge: Better Lucky
Once per session you can reroll your dice for a roll and use the bet-
ter result. Add 2 extra dice to the reroll for your trouble. Rearm this
Edge when you buy off a Key.

Businessman + Connected, Informed, Clean Papers,

Cash, Local Custom, Trustworthy Face, [Lies], [Insinuation], INJURED
[Appraise]

Stand-Up Guy + Honest Face, Guile, Charm, Wit, DYING

Observant, That Smile, [Something Like Sincerity], [Earnest]

Escapist + Dodge, Improvised Weaponry, Misdirection, DEAD

Quick, Dirty Fighting, Vanish, [Hidden Tools], [Reckless] Flashbacks:
A. +Talking or +Fighting
B. +Rough or +Smooth

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

S
he was an infiltrator, a spy, a free-
lance trespasser and expert eaves-
dropper. She coaxed out codes
and sussed out secrets from
petty tyrants and posh kings.
She transformed herself a thousand times, playing
the damsel, the dame, the damnable foe un-
touchable by police and spy agencies alike. She
was everyone and no one... until Josine went
away and the missions ended.
Her days as a freelance operative doing
deniable ops for an untraceable spymaster
were like college—fun, educational—but
she’s since remade herself again, maybe
for keeps. Today’s Emily Syndrome is
a remixed woman, part mogul, part
artist, part pop persona. As an artist,
she changes minds. As a fashioni-
sta, she changes looks. As a DJ, she
controls the tempo and volume.
Only a fraction of her work is publicly
acknowledged—part of her is still the
secret trespasser, infiltrating cities and
injecting doses of music, art, com-
mentary into the local pop art. The
daylight Emily’s DJ gigs and magazine
covers fund the nighttime Emily’s graffiti
art and culture jamming.
She builds, she designs, she dazzles.
She doesn’t love the spotlight but the
spotlight loves her. She’s got it right
where she wants it.
Equipment
Emily’s as comfortable with a turntable as she is with a laser cutter. Turn-
tables, tablets, dataport, memory socket, lockpicks—she’s got all that
and a silenced Austrian W99 pistol stashed in her every apartment.
• Digital Skin: Why have a tattoo when you can have any tattoo at
any time? Emily’s wired with numerous dermal optics and full-color
e-ink subdermal cells that enable her to display tattoos, photos,
and moving pictures on various parts of her body. Her palms
can glow, her forearm can be a computer monitor, she can
depict a stylish tattoo one minute and dismiss it the
next, all with a moment and a thought.
Playing Emily
• Emily can be a social butterfly or an
alpha-female fixer. She’s made a life for
herself since Josine went away; that
makes her powerful and danger-
ous. Does she want to protect her
new gig or is this the moment
she’s been waiting for?
• Play Emily if you want to be a
confident, connected, and ca-
pable agent of intrigue as well
as a stealthy ninja operative. Use
the element of surprise to your
advantage in combat.
• Emily blends social savvy and
clandestine action but she’s built
to model the Emily that is, not
the Emily that was. Buy off a Key
and pick up a new one if you want
Emily to get XP for pursuing her old
ways. Play it up: What does it mean that
Emily’s willing to sacrifice what she’s built?

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of the Broker
Emily’s rapport is impeccable. Earn XP when you make a new contact,
exchange a favor, or use your connections to further the mission.
Buyoff: Cut yourself off from your network.

• Key of the Traveler

ANGRY Emily seems to know someone everywhere. Earn XP in any scene
where you encounter someone you already know (or someone knows
you) or when your character relays exposition for the GM by talking
about local culture or trivia. Buyoff: Pass up the chance to see some-
EXHAUSTED thing new.

• Key of the Communicator

Emily is an artist experienced at changing minds and conveying
IMPAIRED ideas. Earn XP when you change someone’s mind, create art, or lead
someone to a tough realization. Buyoff: Give up on trying to change
someone’s mind.
HUNTED

TRAPPED

± Edge: Versatility
RECOGNIZED Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
• Former freelance infiltration-and-acquisition operative Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
• Reinvented herself as a fixture in the world fine-art and maker spheres
• Last known whereabouts: Mexico Federal District
± Edge: Exquisite Dodge
Infiltrator + Stealthy, Perceptive, Quick, Subtle, Precise, Once per session you can ignore a Condition the GM gives you
for missing a roll and assign that Condition to another target in the
Agile, [Acrobatics], [Ambush], [Security Systems], [Dodge] scene. (This might take out the target, reduce their Difficulty by 1 or
INJURED 2 steps, or affect them in other ways.) Ask the GM what Condition
Culture Jammer + Clever, Artful, Subterfuge, you’re dodging before you commit to using this Edge. Rearm this
Persuasive, Plugged In, Hotwire, Sabotage, [Gunplay], Edge when you buy off a Key.
[Strong], [Social Network], [Au Courant] DYING
Scenester + Wealthy, Connected, Posh, Charismatic,
Educated, Creative, [Dancer], [Supercool], [Savoir Faire] DEAD
Flashbacks:
Hacker Maven + Hacker, Designer, Break, Repair,
Prepared, Tools, [Improvised Weapons], [Surprising] A. +Intimidating or +Seductive
B. +Disarming or +Turnabout

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

B
orn to a diplomatic attaché ex-pat from rural Viet- Equipment
nam and a construction worker from Warsaw, Tank Tank seldom carries gadgets; she carries tools. Her network of industrial
was trained for a life of labor as a telepresence pilot and construction contacts can get her access to a variety of instruments
and heavy-loader operator. She’s never settled for and devices, many of them in industrial models with super-hard chassis,
such ordinary work. Demolition and assembly fas- shatter-proof touchscreens, and hardened electronics.
cinate her to equal degrees and she’s often held jobs—sometimes odd, • Power Limbs: Tank’s definitive
illegal, clandestine jobs—requiring her expertise in both areas. “It’s easier tools. These repurposed indus-
to destroy than to create,” she’s said, “but creating something new from trial devices, driven by nerve-
something you took apart may be the most fun.” induction connectors and a
Tank’s career has taken her all over the world. Along the hardy dataport, have great lifting
way, she’s learned she doesn’t feel at home anywhere power, gripping power, and
for long. Every couple of years, the urge to move dynamism. They’re faster than they
bubbles up again—too much world out there to look, at least. With Tank’s ingenuity,
see, too many different ways of doing things. they make great climbing tools, steady
Why settle? manipulators, and sturdy weapons.
As an operative in the old days, Tank They also fold down into a not-at-all-small
worked for Josine doing research and case for a measure of portability.
development, meaning she reverse Playing Tank
engineered captured tech and helped • Play Tank if you want to be a tough bruiser
technicians and engineers defect from and clever technologist all in one. She has a
hostile and domineering megacorp potential knack for action and intrigue alike
labs. A lot of her work was done but may require some good gear or assis-
under a variety of cover stories tance for stealth missions.
and front companies; lots of • Tank is a straightforward character in
people she worked with never many ways, but let her grow over time.
knew she was a freelance She doesn’t fear pain (she gains XP
operative. Those old con- from it!) but she’s not foolhardy.
tacts may still be around, • Consider your bond carefully:
working in remote What’s the basis for your cama-
hangars and machine raderie? It might be love, old
shops, drinking lagers trust, admiration, or even envy.
in blue-collar bars It might change over time, too,
by the light of old without diminishing or changing
holograms. the Key of Camaraderie at all.

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of Camaraderie
Tank has a deep bond with a cohort. Select another player’s character.
Earn XP when you make a decision based on that bond or show how
deep it is. Buyoff: Defy your bond.

• Key of Resilience
Angry Tank is tough. What doesn’t kill her guides her. Earn XP when you
suffer remarkable pain or are afflicted with the Injured, Dying, or Dead
conditions. Buyoff: Call out for help or refuse to learn from pain.

EXHAUSTED • Key of Tech

Tank sees technological objects as toys and puzzles to be solved. Earn
XP when you modify, improve, repair, break, or dismantle some new
tech. Buyoff: Pass up the chance to tinker or examine new tech.
IMPAIRED

HUNTED

TRAPPED ± Edge: Versatility

Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.

FRENZIED ± Edge: Wrecking Machine

Once per session, you can apply hits from one roll to an extra
• Freelance technical advisor and security consultant target, maybe taking out two targets with one attack, knocking a
• Person of interest in multiple info thefts and prototype-revelation cases
• Last known whereabouts: Incorporated Warsaw
bad guy into some piece of equipment and ruining it, or similar. See
what you roll first, then declare if you want to use this Edge. (Note that
Bruiser + Steady, Strong, Tough, Hurtle, Grip, Exoarms, this doesn’t guarantee your hits are sufficient to take out the second
[Smash], [Throw], [Threats] target.) Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
INJURED
Saboteur + Exploit Weakness, Break, Fire From The Hip,
Weapons, Engineering, Risky, [Disarm], [Exoarms],
[Prepared]
DYING

Artificer + Dismantle, Repair, Rewire, Dataport, DEAD

Paramilitary Training, Tools, [Electronics], [Machinery],
[Weapons] Flashbacks:
A. +Ruthless or +Wary
Rover + Local Customs, Steer Anything, Connect, Aware, B. +Devoted or +Surprising
Evade, Navigate, [Quick Wits], [Clamber], [Mingle]

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 OPTIONAL DOSSIER

Q
amar. Arabic for moon. It is not his real name
Equipment
Henri is technically adept and ready to operate—as a surgeon or as a
but it’s what he’s known by in many parts of
secret agent—with a variety of equipment, some of it top-of-the-line and
the world—Dr. Moon, Doc Q, Dr. Luna. Not his
some of it haphazardly scrounged.
original names, either, but all his now. Henri’s
• Henri’s body is modified with reflex amps, wired sensory adapters for
an ever-changing, ever-roving man, moving
extremes of light and sound, organic detoxification nodes, and bio-
medicines from where they are to where they’re needed. A one-time
tech enhancements to counteract temporary oxygen deprivation (up
megacorp army doc, sure, and now a fugitive doctor, it’s true. But still a
to 20.5 minutes) and symptoms of shock. All these are keepsakes from
doctor, no matter what the megacorp medical-industry licensors say.
time spent in now-defunct corporate armies and charity vanguards.
He was raised in the multi-island nation of the Comoros, east of Tan-
• Scanner Tablet: This military-grade surgical device emits penetrating
zania, as a final coup transformed the islands into corporate holdings
rays capable of seeing through flesh, bone, and many polymers for the
for a conglomerate that would eventually be forced out by Nanotech.
easy examination of underlying systems and cybernetics; features a
He joined a now-dead corp’s army for medical training and a way out.
durable housing and EasyTouch™ tablet display.
Now he collects languages like French, Arabic, Shikomore (a
• MedGlove: Sporting next-gen gray-market upgrades by Henri
Swahili-Arabic blend), English, and more.
himself, this resistant multifiber polymer glove features delicate sen-
sors for tissue scanning and environmental analysis. Micropores
with nanosyringe™ technology store and deliver up to three
small doses of local anesthetic (or more potent medications)
with a simple touch.
Playing Henri
• Henri makes a fine conflicted, heroic figure trying to do
right in a rough world, even if that means causing some
hurt for the sake of the greater good. He’s meant to be
torn between his training as a doctor and his experi-
ence as a soldier—he’s good at both.
• Play Henri if you want to be good at a mix of
intriguing social interplay and physical action-adven-
ture antics while striving to maintain your Keys.
• Or break your vow early to buyoff that Key and earn
two immediate advances to use to customize Henri.
It’s possible that Henri falls quickly into his old sol-
diering habits once he’s back to his old routine as an
operative and adventurer.

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 • Key of the Vow
Doc has sworn off serious violence. Again. Earn XP when you avoid
causing irreparable harm to someone. Buyoff: Break your vow. Again.

• Key of the Outcast

Doc’s been forced underground. Earn XP when your outcast status causes
ANGRY trouble or is important in a scene. Buyoff: Regain former standing or join
a new outfit.

• Key of Conscience
EXHAUSTED Doc wants to make lives better, not worse. Earn XP when you help
someone in trouble or change someone’s life for the better.
Buyoff: Disregard a plea for help.
IMPAIRED

HUNTED

• Former Class E military surgeon in official and paramilitary units ± Edge: Versatility
• Medical license revoked 14 years ago; working as freelance cyberdoc
TRAPPED Once per session you can gather dice by activating Tags from two
• Last known whereabouts: Bogotá, Colombia Traits at once. Rearm this Edge when you buy off a Key.
Corpsman + Battle-Hardened, Medic, Anatomy, Dodge, ± Edge: Miracle Worker
Wired Reflexes, Medications, [Guns], [Martial Arts], DESPAIRING Once per session you can remove all the marked Exhausted, Im-
[Incapacitating] paired, Injured, Dying, or Dead conditions from any one character
you can reach and treat. Describe how you treat the character. Rearm
this Edge when you buy off a Key.
Cybersurgeon + Steady, Precise, Disassemble, Repair,
Educated, Equipped, Measured, [Operate Device],
[Improvised Tools], [Surgical]
INJURED
Negotiator + Haggle, Soothe, Convince, Respect,
Argot, Sincere, [Codes], [Threats], [Impress]
DYING
Neofugitive + Dash, Quick, Prepared, Improvised
Weaponry, Tumble, Misdirection, [Hideout], [Networking],
[Bone Breaking] DEAD
Flashbacks:
A. +Reasonable or +Forceful
B. +Rapid Fire or +Precise Strike

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 NEW EDGES : Spend 5 XP to add 1 Edge to your character (3 max).
In addition to the following Keys, have a look at the Keys on char- ± Edge: If I May...
acters not currently in play in your instance of A/N/N. Try one of Once per session, give another character some advice about a roll they just
them with a different character and see how it plays out. made, whether successful or not. They can then re-roll all the missed dice on
their roll. This Edge isn’t considered “used” unless their reroll leads to a suc-
NEW KEYS : Spend 5 XP to add 1 Key to your character (4 max).
• Key of the Collector cessful action. Rearm this edge when you buyoff a Key.
You love scoring new things. Earn XP when you acquire something rare or
valuable — including information — or score a big payoff. ± Edge: Split-Second Switch
Buyoff: Swear off collecting forever. You’re quick to adapt. Once per session you can re-target a roll after you
see the number of hits you’ve scored, thereby pitting an unusually good roll
• Key of Cover against a tougher foe than you expected to target, for example. Rearm this
You’re in disguise, hiding your celebrity or notoriety. Earn XP when you fool Edge when you buy off a Key.
someone with your disguise.
Buyoff: Reveal your true identity to someone you fooled. ± Edge: Momentum
Once per session, you can keep up to five stunt dice after a successful roll.
• Key of the Mission Instead of returning them to the pot, keep them yourself or spread them
You have made Josine’s mysterious mission your own. Earn XP when you take around to other players however you like. Rearm this Edge when you buy off
action that draws you closer to Josine or furthers his plan. (He must have a a Key.
plan, right?)
Buyoff: Give up your mission, even temporarily. ± Edge: Precise, At Least
Once per session, instead of rolling your dice, you can act as if you scored a
• Key of the Protector mid-range number of hits on your roll. Gather your dice as usual; you score
You are devoted to a character you want to protect. Select another player’s one hit for every two dice you gathered. If that total overcomes the Difficulty,
character as your protectee. Earn XP when you make a decision based on put any stunt dice you gathered back into the pot. Helping dice work as they
your devotion or show how deep it is. normally do.
Buyoff: Give up on your devotion or expose your protectee to harm.
± Edge: Epic Fail FTW
• The Key of the Vow Once per session, you can hit your Conditions like Keys, earning XP equal to
Swear a vow of personal behavior and do not break it. Avoid violence, alco- the number of Conditions currently marked on your sheet (up to a maximum
hol, plugging into machines, doing memories, whatever. Hit your key when of 5 XP earned). Give a good, vivid description of how all those Conditions
your vow significantly impacts your decisions or causes you trouble. affect your character’s action for better or worse. Rearm this Edge when you
Buyoff: Break your vow. buyoff a Key.

• Key of the Warrior ± Edge: Always Prepared

You crave the thrill of battle. Earn XP when you do battle with a superior or Even when completely searched or disarmed, you manage to retain one
worthy foe of a sort you’ve never faced before. small item or gadget on your person. Pick one hand-held object per action
Buyoff: Skip a chance to finish a good fight. scene — something small like a laser-scalpel or a carabiner — and introduce
it during play. It acts as a Tag on any Trait you like for the rest of the scene but
does not carry over to subsequent scenes. (You can pick the same item again
in later scenes, though; they just don’t accumulate.)

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)

 KICKSTARTER BACKER CREDITS
These names represent many of the wonderful backers whose enthusiasm and support
helped make this project what it is. Thank you, backers, for your trust and patience.

A. Herbert Dylan Spector Jim Dagg Mark Levad Ryan Macklin

Adam “It was an Inside Job” Drew Ed Reeve Jim Reader Matt Canale scott “dog xinu” boss
Adam Jury Edward Saxton Jim Zub Matt Forbeck Scott Amory
Adam Rajski Elizabeth Sampat Joe Blancato Matt Sears Scott Bennett
Adam Robichaud EndGame Joe Terranova Matt Troedson Sean M. Dunstan
Alex “Ansob” Norris Eric J Leslie John Adamus Matthew Broome Seth Johnson
Alexander “SquidLord” Williams Eric Lytle John Harper Matthew Coverdale Shane Mclean
Alisemon Yang Eugene Zaretskiy John Hoyland Matthew Dunn Shannon P. Drake
Amy M. Garcia Evil Hat Productions John Kovalic Matthew Gagan Shervyn
Andrew “Pheylorn” Medeiros Felix Girke John Mehrholz Matthew Sullivan-Barrett Simon Rogers
Andy Kitkowski feltk Jon Cole Michael D Blanchard Stan Yamane
Andy P Smith Filthy Monkey Jon Leitheusser Michael Hewner Stephan Szabo
Angelo de Stephano Frank Marcelli Jonathan “Buddha” Davis Michael May Stephen Blackmoore
Anne Petersen Franz Georg Rösel Jonathan Jordan Michael Ostrokol Steve Dempsey
Antoine BERTIER Fred Bednarski Jonathan Korman Mikael Dahl Steve Kenson
Antti Luukkonen G.M. Skarka Jonathan MacDonald Morgan Weeks Steven K. Watkins
Arthur Santos Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan Jonathan Walton Mori Bund Steven Martindale
Austin Stanley Glen E. Ivey Jonathon Dyer Mur Lafferty Steven Moy
Benjamin Nanamaker Greg Roy Joonas Iivonen Myles Corcoran T.S. Luikart
Bill Paulson Gregory G. Geiger Josh Rensch Nate Lawrence The Roach
Brett Easterbrook H Lynnea Johnson Josh Roby Neal Dalton Tim Rodriguez
Brian Babyok H. M. “Dain” Lybarger Julio “Morgan Blackhand” Escajedo Nick Novitski Timo Newton
Brian Cooksey Henry White Jürgen Mayer Oliver Vulliamy Todd Starbuck
Brian Engard Herman Duyker Jussi Myllyluoma Pablo Valcarcel Tom Cadorette
Brian Isikoff Hiroki Shimizu Kat L. Patrick Grogan Troy Lenze
Brian White Ignatius Montenegro Kate Slagoski Patrick Ley Untitled
Bryant Durrell Ilias Mastrogiorgos Kirt “Loki” Dankmyer Paul Motsuk Victor Wyatt
burningcrow Ingo | obskures.de Kristina VanHeeswijk Paul Tevis Vince “digiconda” Arebalo
Carl Rigney Irven “Myrkwell” Keppen Kyle “Fiddy” Pinches Pete Woodworth Vincent Baker
Carol Darnell Ivan Lee Kyle Jones Phillip Bailey Wayne West
Chad ‘Skrymir’ Hughes J Backer Lauren M. Roy R C Kim Xavier Aubuchon-Mendoza
Charlton Wilbur J.A. Dettman Lester Ward Rafael Rocha Yragaël Malbos
Christian A. Nord Jacob M. Moore Lillian Cohen-Moore Ralph Mazza Zachary Hall
Christopher Beverwyk James Dillane Lisa Padol Raphael Päbst Zachary North
Christopher Ruthenbeck Jason Pitre Luc Cousineau Ray Fawkes Zack Walters
Clay Karwan Jeb Boyt Lucas McCauslin Rich Rogers
Dave Chalker Jed Gremmler Lukas Myhan Rick Neal
Dave Turner Jeff Tidball M. Sean Molley Rob Donoghue
David Gallo Jeffery Tillotson Mao Invictus Robert Rees
David Lai Jennifer Brozek Marc Majcher Robert Saint John
David W Bapst, PhD Jeremy Kostiew Mark Barr Robin Morillo
Derek Guder Jeremy Morgan Mark Diaz Truman and Marissa Kelly Ross Ramsay
Don Corcoran Jeremy Tidwell Mark DiPasquale Rune Belsvik Reinås
drozdal Jesse Scoble Mark Garringer Russell Hoyle

Daniel Montenegro (Order #28831245)