Quickstart rules

and scenario for

T H E casc
V E I Lade

V E I L
lit c h
“
s a d d e r t h a n g h o s t
in the
o t h i n g
There’s n et without a ghost,
introduction
”
e s
a pupp he kind with red
p e c i a l ly t
t h r o u g h t h e m . shell
n i n g
blood run

glitch
The world grows older. It creaks and groans
w i t h t h e w e i g h t o f h u m a n i t y p r e s s e d u p o n i t.
Neurochips permanently melded to human brains allow mankind to walk in a constant and
pervasive hybrid reality where the digital is just as real as the physical by way of Neurochips
—permanently melded to their brains. New forms of crime threaten the very minds of
humanity, as well as its current way of life.

A highly experimental new form of technology is turned to in desperation, the ability to decant
the digital human mind into bodies devoid of a consciousness. Synthetic and organic bodies are
manufactured to meet the growing demand as the natural born bodies we have today dwindle.
Instead of bodies, they are referred to as Slacks. They are mere sleeves and shells that a
decanted human consciousness can be placed into, provided the wearer has enough Cred.
Scientists developed technologies to reconstruct digital minds from now antiquated

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Neurochips, allowing for humanity's past to be brought into the future.

Agencies began appropriating the technology to download and recruit these people in order
to combat cutting edge forms of cybercrime that began to mimic the same patterns of
warfare in the past. As tech to decant a human mind was leaked and spread like a virus, the
ghosts of the old world are being brought into the future by both sides of the conflict.

Reviving victims of crime allows the imprisonment of those individuals who break the law.
They are forced into digital constructs named Caches, instead of physical prisons. Regulation
and the law fail to keep up with new applications of the technology. Imprisonment means
losing your Slack, appropriated by the system that imprisons them. When taken off a Cache,
you get whatever Slack is chosen for you by them. Civil unrest continues to grow. Then, a short
time after these minds are brought into the future via this reconstruction technology and are
reintegrated into society, the glitch is discovered.
This glitch, this defect, erases swaths of memories from these individuals. There is a growing
tension in the city as more and more incidents of the glitch occur. People worry those with the
glitch will have even more negative side effects. Some in society, fearing the spread of a glitch
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that robs individuals of memories and sense of self, begin to rebel.
Now these people that are feared are referred to more and more as only one thing:
Glitches. And you are one of them.
[ 1/15 - INTRODUCTION ]
 g
Cascade is a supplement for the tabletop roleplaying game, The Veil, in which you use the

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included tools provided in the text to create and contribute to the beloved genre of cyberpunk.
Customized from the award winning Apocalypse World designed by Vincent and Meguey Baker.
It incorporates unique system changes, deviating from the core substantially in order to
embody the fiction it endeavours to help players like you emulate.
This game will allow people to:

* unique kind of cyberpunk only a collaborative effort can yield.

Use character and setting playbooks included in the main game as ingredients to get the

*
Create compelling motivations for characters by placing questions unique only to them as
the driving force of the story.

*
Utilize an award winning narrative system tailored to the genre in order to create new and
relevant stories within the cyberpunk genre.

*
Use a plethora of tags included in the game to make new kinds of technology and weaponry
easily and make them as simple or complex as the fiction you create demands.

*
Use emotional states instead of stats to ground the mechanics in the scenes happening in the
fiction and easily create and depict dynamic characters.

Glitch City is a Quickstart adventure consisting of premade characters, a small sample setting,
and reference materials that include everything you need to jump start a session quickly and
efficiently while retaining some of the key aspects of collaborative setting creation. Using this
to springboard off of, you’ll be able to do a one-shot or use it as a base to start from with
multiple sessions in mind. You’ll use the following included here to play this adventure:

citds
*
5 premade playbooks with unique questions already filled out for you.

*
A sample scenario.

*
Printable game aids: Moves and MC sheets.

The MC (Master of Ceremonies, who runs the game) should familiarize themselves with the
materials first before running the game and should be familiar with Apocalypse World already, as

Cyberpunk has tropes from many different genres. The Veil is used to assemble new and old to
come up with a unique setting that’ll allow you to make whatever kind of cyberpunk you want.
This Quickstart aims to supply you with just enough information to get a game going as fast as
possible and lets you fill in the blanks collaboratively as needed. We’ve used the system to
s
this Quickstart will tell you how it deviates from it, while not describing the system in its entirety.
d The Veil: Cascade will be kickstarting in May and we are thankful for
any support we can get. If you’d like to leave feedback on the new
materials being playtested (the two new playbooks and additional
assemble a setting already, so if you want to build one from scratch, you’ll need to turn to the mechanic: flashback) please message us on The Veil RPG page located
core game to do so. This is deliberately vague and streamlined, focusing on getting you all to the on Facebook or the G+ community.
table fast for a taste of what Cascade has to offer.
[ 2/15 - INTRODUCTION ]
 b l e

“
e s h a d a d o u b l e u
t r od h e r
a r i
all bound e like swords that aniends
Glitch City
”
edge, werd always be turned
coul t h e e n d . fr
i n s t y o u i n
aga

glitch
C o r p o r at i o n s r e a c h f o r t h e s k i e s a n d t e c h n o l o g i e s
are advancing beyond the control of authorities.
The hybrid realities that citizens enjoy are a source of constant advertisement, entertainment,
and, for some criminals that know the tech well enough, a backdoor into people’s minds,
manipulating them toward their own ends, editing memories, and altering perceptions.

As new problems arise, some Glitches such as yourself are part of a task force assembled to
combat these new kinds of warfare being waged in large urban sprawls. They needed new
minds who were part of the old world. A world that was just getting used to cybernetics
when hybrid reality was in its infancy. Times have changed.

A digital layer is as real as the physical in a hybrid reality, making all of your sensory input
pervasive. Stores and corporations project advertisements that are purely digital, yet as tangible

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and tactile as physical objects that people interact with on a daily basis.

And with that technology, never has humanity ever been able to more effectively communicate
with one another, while remaining constantly connected to forces that may wish them harm by
way of this interface.

Never have they had more entertainment tailored to them, less privacy, and less certain futures.
You are of the old world, in which corporate warfare was a daily occurrence. Technology was
catching up to authorities and legal precedent, and cyberized people were the ones that were
newly feared.

You’re all people who were involved in crime, and you’re all people with adaptability built
into the way you live your lives. You led a life where humanity was less reliant on technology.
Until your lives ended.

NeuroSec, a megacorporation contracted by your agency, Gamma 6, brought you back from the
past, with a mission statement in mind for you. You and yours are tasked with the unusual crimes
most citizens never hear about. You’ll use your skills and your habits from another era to fight
back against cyber crimes happening now.
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You’re integrated into society thoroughly, fed orders remotely, and live with the
denizens of society. You’re a Glitch, and you may just be these people’s only hope.
 t
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t i l g h c t i l g

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The city is an amalgamation of many ethnic groups, traditions, races, genders, and
technology. Where the city is doesn’t so much matter as the technology you imagine within it,
and the tech already mentioned. It contains all walks of life in vast sprawls. Towers rise into
the clouds while below, dark alleys hide decay from the eras long since passed. Counter-
culture thrives in these unpopular times. Messages of both hate and tolerance and love
speckle the landscape of this urban jungle.

Lots of people have cybernetics now. The human race is freshly realizing that they are on the
cusp of staggering technological advancements that will redefine humanity yet again,
especially with the digitized human mind surviving in Caches in The Veil, a massive network of
information feeding those inside of them the entirety of their perceptions digitally.

Your digital home is tailored to you and entertainment consumption is fed right into the frontal
lobe. You no longer even need to jack in to go to work, go to the club, or hang out with friends.
Everyone is growing more dependent on The Veil and increasingly, the ability to download into a
Slack when you’re old, when you’re dying, or when you don’t like how you look. A payment plan
can help you erase all your mistakes with a new body and a new life after all, right?

The Veil translates any language straight into your lips and into your ears. Advertisements do the
same, culture is truly mixed and information is attainable and misinformation is ubiquitous. And
then picture what some people may do for a quick buck in a place like this, no matter how
advanced things end up getting, they still need Cred to get by. They can still print up a gun and
knock off a store with downloaded plans for a customized Jacobson 3HK. Designer drugs flood the
streets, altering how you interact with the hybridized world at your fingertips...if you’ve got the
upgrades and the skill. Humanity is still human, for now. And with it trouble is pervasive, always.

No matter how beautiful a melting pot is, no matter how far a neural appendage like The Veil
blankets individuals and communities, there will always be people looking to harm others. With
3-D printers, advanced tech, accessible information, and a bad attitude, people smarter than
most can come up with new and inventive terrible threats as yet unimagined.

Yeah, times haven’t changed that much. Glitch City is still just a city; its face is just
a hybridized digital one.

[ 4/15 - GLITCH CITY ]

 t a

“ ”
n d e r . T h r o u g h . d a ner
Ov e
H
r
e
. U
g e t s p a s
Around. he obstacle but by
t n o t b y run cyberpocalypse
moving t moving himself.

glitch
t h i s Q u i c k s ta r t a s s u m e s t h at y o u ’ r e f a m i l i a r
w i t h A p o c a ly p s e W o r l d o r g a m e s l i k e i t.
Glitch City only gives a very small overview of the basics of how to play this game. Aside from that,
it’s also a helpful list as to what changes you’ll need to know too.

Moves
Moves are a mechanic in the game that let everyone know that the rules of the game are being
activated to help figure out what happens next. If you’re doing stuff that isn’t covered in the
basic moves or the moves in your playbook, well then it just happens and the dice don’t need
to come out. When players playing a protagonist describe themselves doing something in the
description of a move, that’s when you roll dice to find out what happens next. If they don’t say

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anything that triggers a move, the conversation continues as normal without the need for rolling
the dice. The only time you’re rolling dice should be when you’re doing something described
in a move. There are two types of moves; basic moves that any player can trigger, and special
moves for specific playbooks that are only on certain character sheets that only the player of that
specific character can trigger. Anytime a move is triggered, the dice are rolled and a modifier is
applied to the sum of the dice. In The Veil, the modifier is determined by the state the character
triggering the move is in at the time. There are six states that represent any point on the
emotional spectrum a character could be on at a given time – Mad, Sad, Scared, Joyful, Powerful,
and Peaceful. States will be talked about more in depth at the end of this section, but for now
just know that each emotion has a number assigned to it, and that number is the modifier that
either increases or decreases the number rolled on the dice when a move is triggered.

Questions, Questions.
All of you have questions that you need to have answered. It’s your motivation, it’s your lot in
life, it’s what you get paid Cred for. It’s everything. You get experience in this game by working
toward answering these questions, the act of doing so and getting into trouble, and resolving
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them completely. Each act will only lead to more questions.

[ 5/15 - CYPERPOCALYPSE ]
 i l g h
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Questions target specific things in the fiction. The first one is used to actually create something
in the setting you want to explore and have answered. The second is an introspective one used
to have a question asked about yourself. And the third one is left nebulous but will generally be
something you’ll have pertaining to what’s happening in the fiction now. A mission objective, a
first step in a larger purpose you’re trying to have answered, whatever you want to work toward
in the fiction, that’s your last Question.
Advantage/Disadvantage
In order for a move to trigger, a protagonist must actually do something in the fiction of the
game to trigger it. The rule is: to do it, you do it. If a player just states the move’s name and
does not describe themselves actually doing the thing that triggers a move, it does not trigger,
because how the player goes about describing what they do will affect both what move is
triggered and how best to inform the fiction from there. The trigger is the protagonist doing
what is described in the text of the move.
When you have advantage on a roll, it means you roll three six-sided dice (3d6) and you take the
two highest dice to get your result and then add your state, unless otherwise specified. When
you have disadvantage, you roll 3d6 and take the two lowest dice instead of highest.
States vs Stats
When a move is triggered it will ask you to roll. Whenever it says to roll, you will always add one
of the states unless it’s a start of session move and it says otherwise. Whenever you add a state, it
will be because in the fiction, something happens that triggers a move and we are going to see
how your protagonist feels at that point. Next to states are modifiers, which can be negative or
positive; either way, you apply that number next to the state to the total of your dice roll to see if
it’s a miss, a weak hit, or a strong hit.
In The Veil, the states are your core emotions. The reason for this is to keep the players in-
character, playing their protagonists and thinking about how their character is feeling when
reacting to the world. Why a protagonist is doing something and how it makes them feel is a
great way to add another layer of immersion to the world. Rolls become less about in what way
a character does something, or how well they do it, and more about how they react to the world
and what they’re feeling. Based on that, we can create a fiction that feels believable and real
because we can picture the protagonist and empathize with them and their actions.
[ 6/15 - CYBERPOCALYPSE ]
Just like in real life, the protagonists could be feeling multiple emotions at once, but the game
requires a player to choose the strongest core emotion behind the action that triggers a move.
Sometimes, the action you’re doing could be considered an emotion, maybe you’re being
sexy but you’re feeling Scared. In that case, the core emotion is Scared, despite what you’re
trying to portray to others.
There are six core states: Mad, Sad, Scared, Joyful, Powerful, and Peaceful. From each of these
core emotions, almost anything that a character is feeling can be extrapolated. A feeling wheel
follows to illustrate the point, and is part of the reference sheets along with basic moves,
playbooks, and other handouts. Note that the placement of the core emotions on the wheel do
not correlate to one another. The playbook handouts themselves show you what emotions are
in opposition to one another in The Veil, this does not. This is purely a tool to help you figure out
what your protagonist could be feeling in any given scene when a move is triggered.
If you look to the side of the states on the character sheet, there are places to mark bubbles.
Every time you roll that state, you mark a bubble on it. These are called emotion spikes. The
more you roll that emotion, the more intense that emotion will become for that character in the
fiction. When you reach the last check mark, you change that state, temporarily, to +1 and all the
other ones to -2.
In order for a character to get out of this state where they are experiencing a single emotion
acutely, there is a special move, called alleviate. Alleviate is a different type of move from the
basic moves in terms of how it works, and will be discussed later on. For now, suffice to say that
it is a mechanical tool in the game to help people keep track of how intensely they are
experiencing the emotion during gameplay. When you continue to experience something, it
grows until it is resolved. When you’re triggering moves and you’re in the same state, things are
getting more intense for your protagonist.
Describing in the fiction how the character deals with feeling a certain way is a means to
mitigate these emotional spikes in the fiction. For instance, if a protagonist is almost maxed out
in the Mad state, the player might describe how they become Peaceful when rolling the next
state, as long as it makes sense for their character in the fiction. If they were to do so, they would
add one emotional spike to Peaceful and remove one from Mad. Whenever a player is describing
an emotion they may remove an emotional spike of the opposing state. The player still marks a
spike in the state they use even when it opposes another state. You’ll know if they oppose each
other because they’re grouped together on the character sheet. Mad and Peaceful, Sad and
Joyful, Powerful and Scared; each oppose one another.
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Assigning Values to States Alleviate

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Every player starts with the same six

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Alleviate is a special move that works a bit differently than the basic moves. The basic moves all
state values, but can distribute any of

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trigger when something is described in the fiction. While this is also somewhat true for alleviate,

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the numbers into any state that they like.
what triggers it is the buildup of emotion, which is represented by the emotion spike bubbles

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These values are: -1, 0, 0, +1, +1, and +2.
next to each state.

cVitEV When you think about the implications

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of assigning the numbers, remember that When a PC marks the fifth bubble in an emotion all of the modifiers change and the state that
a -1 in a state means that things tend to the fifth bubble was marked in becomes +1 and all others are temporarily locked in at -2. In

ILEI IL go wrong the most when the protagonist

is experiencing that emotion, +2 things most often
go their way, and work your way out from there.
Furthermore, you could look at it from another point of
view and say that the +2 means the protagonist is most
addition, the player chooses one of the following when another move is triggered:

To keep using the spiked out emotion, in which case the emotion spike in that state decreases by
1. When all emotion spikes have been removed, all state modifiers go back to normal.

comfortable with this emotion, and the -1 means they have problems dealing with or facing
this emotion. The zeroes and +1 modifiers are something in the middle—they’re probably pretty
familiar with the emotions, and things can go either way for them when in these emotional
states. Ultimately, how you go about assigning your states is up to you but it’s good to have a
justification in your head for why you’re doing so.
To use a different state at a -2. If they do so they may erase all emotion spikes in the spiked out
state. They must still mark an emotion spike in the state they just rolled.
Obligation Questions
Obligation is a mechanical representation that quantifies a characters feeling of duty toward
another, similar to a debt owed. There is a section for Obligation moves that show how you get

During character creation, Joan goes about assigning her states to her protagonist, Hannah.
She envisions her as an optimistic and cheerful person so she puts her +2 in Joyful. She sees her
not really identifying with being fearful, because she’s so optimistic, she’s only Scared for split-
seconds, mostly when she’s surprised. Bearing that in mind, she puts her -1 in Scared. She feels
like Hannah has a temper and feels confident most of the time, so she puts +1 in the Mad and
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it, what you do with it, and what happens if you choose to refuse to honour it as well.
At the start of session, all the players go around the table and invite the other players to answer
one of their questions and then mark it appropriately. This binds them
together, and gives people leverage over one another to help them try and
get what they want by using that prior established fiction, if they so choose.

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Powerful boxes. That leaves her with a 0 in Peaceful, which she figures makes sense given that

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some of the emotions coming from that core are pensive and thoughtful. Hannah is more likely
to react impulsively than think on her actions due to her temper, and is generally pretty daring.
When she’s at her lowest is when she’s feeling helpless, insecure, and anxious.
Experience and
Advancement

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When you start playing, sometimes how you think or have your protagonist act or react is
different than what you initially thought. Don’t sweat it; at the end of the first session, work with In Cascade, you’ll get experience in a few ways. The
the MC and swap state modifiers to fit your new understanding of your protagonist. After the first way is if you attempt something and you fail,
first session you should have a fairly clear understanding of your character; after the first session, you’ll get 1 XP. When you work towards answering
though, if they react differently than how you thought, it’s just the character changing and a Question on your playbook, you get 1 XP to a

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growing, and being dynamic. maximum of 1 XP per Question per session. If
Remember to stay away from the idea of emotions meaning that your protagonist is bad or pursuing it gets you into trouble, immediately mark
good at something while in this state; it’s better to think of it as just the propensity for the 2 XP, again once per Question per session. And if
character to act in a certain manner. gets answered and needs to be replaced with a new
one, when you change or replace it, take 3 XP.
[ 7/15 - CYBERPOCALYPSE ]
 t i
hc hc l g t i h
l c
g t i l g HUMANITY HARM
Cybernetics A person suffers humanity harm when they are faced with a hard truth about themselves or their
Cascade has you in the pretty far future, and in this future cybernetics are a thing. On the beliefs. They will either not face it, or the act of doing so will have a harmful impact on them.
pre-filled out character sheets you’ll see if a character has some or not. If a miss is ever rolled, -When an NPC suffers this, the MC adds them as a threat, if applicable, and then chooses any or
especially if it’s while you’re using your cybernetics during the fiction in order to do so, the MC all of the following:
can use the negative tags associated with the cybernetics to take into consideration as to what
*
They suffer a break and there are consequences—they become incoherent, unresponsive, or
happens in the fiction with that miss.
something else.

Harm and Healing *

They aggressively pursue their immediate impulses—particularly to fight or flee. Make moves
on their behalf as hard and as directly as you can.
When your protagonist takes damage, you can also ask the MC if you can negate the damage
*
They change their threat type.
by taking a detriment instead. When you do this, you take -1 ongoing for a period of time of the
When a PC suffers the same harm or a hard truth about themselves or their beliefs, the
MC’s choosing that they will make clear to you. If you can’t resolve your detriment before the
person inflicting the harm chooses any or all of the following and they:
time runs out, the amount of harm you can ever take is permanently reduced by 1; this means

*
you have to cross out the last box to represent the fact that you can no longer take as much lose time. Minutes/hours/a day or two.
damage as you used to. You can only do this twice, once for each critical box on your character
*
must answer any question posed to them.
sheet. After that, moderate conditions are, essentially, critical ones and it becomes much easier
*
to take serious harm. take disadvantage forward (roll 3d6, take lowest 2 results on dice)

Your Jam
The option of taking a detriment is usually only given by an MC when a mortal wound is taken
and a protagonist is fighting to function properly despite their grievous injury. Sometimes it may
not be possible; the MC will tell you when you ask. If it is, they will tell you what the detriment is,
how long you’ll take the -1 ongoing to all rolls for, and the timeline or situation you have to deal
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Everyone has a jam in The Veil and Cascade. It’s something you’re good at and something the MC
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will take into consideration for fictional positioning. In this Quickstart, they’re already there and

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with before the detriment wound sets in and there are permanent consequences.
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will work in tandem with each other to go along with the setup that’ll launch you into the fiction.

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When you buy healing tech, for every 1 Cred spent on it, it’ll heal you of 1 harm, all at once or in When you’re playing, take into consideration what it is that you’re trying to do and if it pertains
increments. As to what it looks like, it depends on the injury but it’ll probably range from using to it, remind the MC this is your thing! It should be apparent in the fiction that this is your jam,
a dermal patch that injects medicine, to needing a skilled doctor with tools and instruments. after all.

8/15 - CYBERPOCALYPSE ]
[ 7/XX
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g t i l g She looks down at her chest and sees blood crawling across her perfect white blouse and she
looks in the mirror. Out of the corner of her eyes she spots a man in the reflection that is vaguely

Flashback familiar... but her eyes are too blurry, they try to focus on the man but they can’t. And that’s

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when Zero snaps back into the here and now, staring into the mirror into this new male body,
When you have a flashback now, or during another move, take the highest die from your roll utterly foreign to her.
and subtract from it the lowest one to get the result. Then add as many emotion spikes to the
MC: Cool! OK, so what state are you going to use for the roll then?
state as was the result.
Brooke: Right! I almost forgot, I think that’s going to be Scared. Both because of the body
A flashback interrupts current events in order to insert some fiction from a previous time in a
dysmorphia, as well as because she’s remembered her death. Looks like I got a 5 and a 1, so I’ll
character’s life into the current fiction. They’re succinct and are used by you in order to fill in the
add 4 emotion spikes to Scared. It goes toward one of my Questions, “What’s it like to be in a
gaps in the protagonist’s memories. Whenever a move is triggered, or you simply want to have
body that isn’t the same gender I identify as?”
a flashback that is not tied to a roll that’s just happened, simply make a new roll and treat it as a
completely separate move being triggered. Subtract the lower number from the higher number
and add that many emotion spikes to the state associated with the move.
Jackson: Alright, so Anoah straightens up and cracks his back as he’s driving right, it’s a long ass
If it’s another move that triggers a flashback, simply take that result and add it to the emotion trip and he’s in his matte black cybercycle thing. It looks like the ones in Tron, you know?
spikes of the state that triggered that move. A current emotion, circumstance, or reaction is Anyway, he finally makes his way from the desert going like 200 miles per hour, I’ve got to be
similar to that of the flashback that is about to be triggered usually, with the similarity between going really fast in order to make it to the drop in time.
the two allowing for the information to be recalled at that point. If for some reason that isn’t the
MC: Absolutely, you’re going ridiculously fast and so when you hit the town finally, you aren’t
case for what’s happening currently and you have a different idea for the flashback and it does
prepared for the people running across the road. There is a lot of them and they all look like
not make sense to associate it with the current roll, roll the flashback as a completely separate
they’re displaced, frantic and running from something in fear. If you want to stop in time, it’s risky
move unassociated with the current move.
business.
These flashbacks are entirely of your own making, and the point of the move is to explore some
Jackson: Yeah, I did not expect that at all. I shift down on the cycle to get the engine to help me
of the Questions you have from your past that is created by you and written on your playbook.
stop! My gut reaction is that I’m pissed off at this delay. I’ve got to get to the drop! So I got a 10,
Comparing your body from before to now, how you may have died, and other mysteries that you
yes! I power slide in a dramatic fashion until I’m face to face with them!
may think up are some examples of Questions you might be exploring.
MC: Awesome, your cycle lets out a wrenching sound in disapproval as your cycle starts to
As inspiration strikes you during play, triggering flashbacks will help you come to the natural
unbalance, but then when you power slide you get it to stop just in time, inches from a young
conclusion to a Question organically, through time. This leaves a buffer for you when making
boy with an old fashioned cap on. He looks like he’s about to scream out but then grins up at you
your Questions that takes the pressure off of you. You don’t need to have a satisfactory answer
instead. What do you do?
right away, or even a vague idea. Instead, all you need is an interesting Question and faith that
the answer will reveal itself as you get to know your protagonist and the fiction continues. Jackson: Huh, that’s interesting. I think I’m actually going to have a flashback here. I think that
maybe this boy and the old hat and whatnot jolts me with a memory of a similar boy, inches
from my face. I’ve got him on my legs as I lay down doing that airplane game, right? So yeah, in
Brooke: Alright so I think what happens is this Slack she’s wearing is still so new and foreign terms of my Question, “What, if anything did I leave behind?” ...I think I left behind a son. That die
to her that when she looks at this man in the reflection she freezes up. And I want to have a result was a 6 and a 5, so I’ll add 1 emotion spike to Mad. It definitely makes me upset because
flashback. The man is replaced with Zero as she remembers herself, also staring into a mirror. it’s the only memory I have retrieved. This boy staring back at me with a hat on smiling, and then
Her skin, pale as snow, turns black as it morphs into pure darkness as she touches her neck. It’s a it’s gone. I just have this instinctual feeling I had a son...
nervous, reassuring tick she’s always had, and then, just as she then begins to put on a necklace,
there’s the sound of a gunshot.
[ 6/XX - CYBERPOCALYPSE ] [ 9/15 - CYPERPOCALYPSE ]
 r e d

“
, t e l l e
a lt b o n

”
h o w i d i e d
a s k
If they hem: still angry.
t car playbooks
h e r e ’ s a b r i e f s u m m a r y o f e a c h p l ay b o o k i n c l u d e d .
You’re all agents being made use of by a specific section of an agency known as Gamma 6,
spearheading the fight against cyber crimes and unknown technological threats.

The Apparatus
Asaka Sato is a tactician. They sacrificed themself to save their team forty
years ago. Having been employed by Special Forces specifically assigned to
counter insurgency when the Cyber Coalition Forces were active and using
guerrilla warfare tactics in urban environments, Asaka was the ideal choice to
bring into the future. As an experimental and highly secret procedure, instead
of being decanted into a Slack they’ve been put into a new form of life, one
completely synthetic and cybernetic but appearing completely human.

VEIL
One side effect, however, is they only having one emotion available. Asaka
is discovering themselves through the eyes of humanity as they grow into
whatever it is they may become. And by discovering humanity, they discover
and unlock more of their emotions and by proxy, themselves.

The Architect
Ode Chibuzo is a masterful manipulator of
the digital. While there is the veneer of The Veil
in this common hybrid reality, there is a layer
beyond, one where the building blocks of the
digital reside and masterful hackers can paint
the world with their minds. Ode is the one who gets sent into this
digital realm to find information no one wants found. They specialize
in a new form of interrogation, one where individuals in a completely
digital environment called Caches are uploaded and their minds
are made susceptible to digital intrusion techniques.
ci
[ 10/15 - PLAYBOOKS ]
c t i l
h g
c t i l g hctilg
The Honed
Bohdan Avelin is 100% pure human, no cybernetics. Doesn’t need them,
doesn’t want them. First recruited after the first human electromagnetic
pulse event in the city, they evacuated everyone they could before getting
hit with the pulse themselves. Declared dead, Bohdan was downloaded
into their own body’s Neurochip. They were revived, but their Neurochip

tic LIEV
was fried in the process. Now they’re the only agent completely off the
grid—and a Glitch like the rest of the team. Undercover, they run data
in a biotech tattoo that can house massive amounts of information and
ferry it from one physical location to another.

The Aesthetic
Adarsh Veena is a progressive artist that influenced the public into the
acceptance of cyberized people in a time when cybernetics were becoming
more and more pervasive. They have now been resurrected to earn the trust
and heart of a resistance rooted in counter-culture that supports the growing
cyber attacks on the populace.

The Percipient
Even many years ago when Neurochips were new, a scenario in
which a fully digitized human mind would be downloaded and
uploaded freely was conceived of. A military arm existed in which
they utilized specialized training to allow for an operative to pick
up local culture and blend in as they made their way through
whatever the world was to become. Coupled with research in
optimizing the intuitive senses people already have, a new tip
of the spear was born. Maemi Sage is just such a person. They
know the streets, they know the people, and they are lethal.

When you choose a playbook, some of it is already filled out;

whatever isn’t, do so. Then, ask Obligation questions and mark
them down, as appropriate, of the other players before starting
play to bind the characters together.
[ 11/15 - PLAYB OOKS ]
 u l
c y pu r e

“ ”
e c t r i c g h o s t
n e l
He i
painted
s
i
a
n t h e c o l o u
m
r
o
s
m
o
e
f
n
a
t . c h mc scenario
dead

glitch
I n G l i t c h C i t y, p l a c e a n a e s t h e t i c
of your favourite cyberpunk media.
Typically, for visual cyberpunk that standard is going to be Blade Runner, but all Ghost in the
Shell media is helpful for this kind of a setup as well because of the kind of crimes happening
in the city. As for the type of story, Blade Runner is a one person show, whereas GitS resembles
the dynamic of the team here—getting assignments and executing them together in their own
way. They’re a team utilized to confront problems no one else can, making use of their unique
backgrounds and skills, often unearthing things about current technology that threatens the
inhabitants of the city and no one else ever being the wiser after the threat is neutralized,
usually.

At the start of session, ask what everyone’s cyberpunk touchstones are and incorporate them
into the game if it fits thematically with the tone of the game you all would like to have in your

VEIL
fiction. Ask lots of questions about the city when they’re making their way through it and ask
about their characters. Make it a living fiction that represents what all the players want.

The Veil can embody most any kind of cyberpunk fiction you’re going for by having selections
of playbooks that reinforce the tone and themes you’re aiming for, as well as using the setting
playbook and Scenario sheet provided in the game to define your fiction in broad strokes. In
this Quickstart for Cascade, here’s what Glitch City specifically would look like on the Scenario
sheet.

Changing up this template can be a springboard for you to customize your own
setting and create a one-shot of your own making.

Main Antagonist: Manikin Man.

An entity that is an amalgamation of all the Glitche's “lost” data. As Glitches are made the
imperfect tech “loses” some of the memories on the Neurochip; an unforeseen consequence is
that the data lost is actually expelled into The Veil. This data compiled itself into the entity
known as the Manikin Man, which has no actual defined sex, identity, or sense of self, being an
ci
amalgamation of cast off memories of all these people.

[ 12/15 - MC SCENARIO ]
 t i h
l c
g t i l g
h c t i l g
h c
Organization: Gamma 6.
Motive: Find the person responsible for exploiting Glitches and feeding into the panic
The Manikin Man. Rumours float around in The Veil. Literally.
All of the protagonists will have encountered some chatter about the Manikin Man. Spoken
about in hushed tones, it appears everyone and no one is talking about them. The populace is
divided by fear and another war is brewing, one all too similar to the last. When cybernetics
were first introduced and before they were ubiquitous, a violent civil war was waged—pitting
and hysteria that events are creating.
neighbour against neighbour and citizen against citizen. It feels like it did then, when the stress
of the population was growing and people began whispering only to the people they thought
FiNal Question they could trust, and no one else. Then war broke out.

How much do our memories define who we think we are and what do we, or could we
become when we lose them?
Step 1
Create mass hysteria by hacking Glitches and showing the public they are unsafe.
Step 2
Download itself into the cobbled together synthetic body it has prepared at club Default.
Step 3
Release a virus that destroys the ability to create Glitches anymore.
Technological aspects
Moral implications of using imperfect technology to bring back people who have died, with tech
that can exploit said people. Language barriers destroyed. Hybrid reality.
Cultural and Societal aspects
The madness of crowds depicted, fear of the unknown amplified. A city that is multi-cultural.
Borrowing elements of a cultural “boogey man” and subverting it.
The Manikin Man is manipulating events in the city to recreate those circumstances that sparked
the previous war. It’s clear they’re hacking into Glitched Neurochips in an attempt to create mass
hysteria. Never has a criminal been able to utilize people through their chips before. Alarming,
seemingly random events ramp up tension against Glitches. So far, only they have been hacked,
and the agenda seems clear. So far any attempts to make sense of these random occurrences
have come up short and only cast suspicions on Gamma 6, with multiple agents being the target
of the attacks. The only common link appears to be the very agency that is charged with
investigating the crimes and bringing those responsible to justice.
A few small incidents occur at first. Strange coincidences begin to form a pattern. Someone is
eating a perfectly fine synthetic meal with their family in a crowded and popular restaurant
when they begin to spout an anti-Glitch rhetoric they don’t subscribe to, foreign words
belonging to someone remote piloting them through The Veil. A Gamma 6 representative in
peace talks with another country begins to spout similar rhetoric. Another agent walks into a
crowded store, believes they’re stopping a robbery and exercises deadly force as onlookers
watch in terror as he guns down innocent civilians. There is no robbery. There is no clear
explanation to assuage the civilian unrest exploding form these cascading events.
All done by Glitches. Gamma 6 desperately deploys its assets to try and get information on this
so called Manikin Man, before more incidents happen and the population decides to take an
aggressive and forceful stance against Glitches.
Here are some setup scenes for the adventure, after which just follow the fiction to The Manikin
Man! If any of the playbooks aren’t in use, just insert them in the fiction as an NPC and portray

Threats them yourself. Or, if your time is even more limited and you think that this is too many leads
to follow up within a short session, cut whatever you wish and stick multiple people in scenes
Left blank leaving the Main Antagonist to be the focus of a one-shot. together. Whatever works for your timeline and number of players. The starter scenes are
arranged in a helpful order to naturally have events snowball off of one another sequentially but
as long as you know where things lead you should also feel free to make the story entirely your
own, should you wish to.

[ 13/15 - MC SCENARIO ]
 hc t i lhgc t i l g h c t i l g Info
The person who uploaded the data to their tattoo is a Swedish nationalist recruited by the same
The Aesthetic agency as them, Gamma 6. He commissioned the data run some time ago for this date
They’ve been placed in the heart of counter-culture. They are quite literally an instrument in time and is a match for a patient in a hospital. It turns out that he walked into a store and shot
of music, having cybernetic enhancements that allow them to generate music through the place up, killing civilians, but when debriefed maintained that he believed he was stopping a
their Slack. robbery in progress. He’s being kept in digital storage (a Cache) and an agent must be dispatched
to interrogate them.

Questions to ask The Architect

*
What is the counter-culture scene they’re a part of in Glitch City and what does it look like?
Optionally: Trigger their move, Pulse of the City, to flesh out the details. The Architect has been dispatched to interrogate Sixten Larsson, the agent who is being kept in a
Cache for interrogation. They can go into the (digital only) Cache to do so and when they do,
*
Have they ever let anyone else play them as an instrument? they actually set the scene as per their playbook. They’ll probably want it to be the scene of the
robbery as seen from the perspective of Sixten, or you can guide it there however you like.
*
Who have they been trying to earn the trust of, in order to see what this scene knows about
the Manikin Man?
Info
Whoever it is that they describe, have them start out in the scene, about to schmooze this
If they Analyze the scene, they can recreate the events, where at first it appears to be exactly
person for information. This is a great time to trigger Literacy Of The Heart.
as they remember, that is, stopping a robbery. But, when they examine further, there is a clear
Whoever they are, they know that The Manikin Man recently hired a data runner, The Honed thread (like fishing line) attached physically to Sixten in his memory. When it’s followed, it will
and they may still be on the job right now. take them to a surveillance cam, which is infected with a virus. This virus can be traced back to
the network node belonging to the club named Default. These nodes are used to wirelessly
The Honed send out club's digital visual trappings to the people in the area.

A favourite of everyone, The Honed can get information moved off the grid, away from the Questions to ask
prying eyes of The Veil. No Neurochip, no connection. Their cover is as a freelance data runner,
*
Do they see what everyone else sees in the hybrid world?
with a biotech tattoo that holds information. They get it from one place to the next, fast.
*
What do viruses look like in this digital world where the digital can also be physical?
Questions to ask
*
What kind of protection exists in digital spaces from viruses, barriers, firewalls, etc.? What do

*
What is their tattoo of, where is it located? they look like?

*
What does the city look like without the digital world?
The Apparatus
*
What does it feel like being the only one disconnected from that world?
Asaka has to see people’s emotions in order to unlock them, whether by consuming media,
Have them be on a run right now hitting on their move Parkour, that should naturally bridge the
actually viewing an exchange, etc. The moves are geared towards that exploration, but the
scene from The Aesthetic. Data runners get chased all of the time; it would be a strange run to not
Apparatus is also built for battle, and can’t help but be violent when in a physical conflict.
have someone try to intercept your data. Come into the thick of that, and when and if they try to
get information on who employed them; that’s a great time to Lift the Veil. They have a start of session move that allows for a question about themselves be posed.

[ 14/15 - MC SCENARIO ]
 i l g h
ct hctilgc t i l g
With the information from the Architect, have them mobilized somewhere near Club Default. The
node the Architect discovered can be traced to the roof connected to an A.I. that controls the
whole building. Using the Interface move, they could choose to talk to it as though it were any
other NPC. Or, using their cybernetics, they could jack in and view the inside of the club. Remind
them that this is a good way to pick up another emotion as they only begin with one, as they
view the people inside experiencing a range of emotions. There is dancing and drinking and all
sorts of business being conducted. With their cybernetics or through the A.I, Analyzing inside
becomes a possiblity, perhaps looking for anything suspicious.
Info
This place is taking up a lot of power from the grid, more than it should be, in fact. There are armed
guards inside that are rotating and keeping an eye on an elevator to the bowels of this place.
They’re dressed like everyone else, only their patterns of movement clearly show that they are
guarding something. They also aren’t interacting with other patrons and not drinking, etc.
Club Default
After the Percipient and the Apparatus flesh out what the club looks like, the clear goal is to get
to the underbelly of it. When they reach it, they’ll find a massive laboratory-like space, with
grungy, dirty corridors leading to it. Centrally, there is one person, a completely synthetic and
cybernetic individual that looks like an androgynous patch work of biological and mechanical
parts to appear humanoid. Eyes glow blue and the room is completely black, aside from this
person kneeling there as if praying, with many cords directly attached to their body. Information
pulsating as it makes its way through the cabling.
This is The Manikin Man. And as they speak to them, they switch between a voice that would
sound like each of them, but has an artificial quality to it. And they are exactly what they sounds
like, in a sense. When they were each downloaded into their Slack’s Neurochip, parts of them had
to be left behind, parts of their memories, overlapping data that held their personalities. They’re
not just made up of them, but every Glitch so far. And they’re unable to define who and what
they are because of these discarded memories from so many people it becomes impossible to
do so, as they conflict with one another and ingrain a different “selfhood” with each memory
essentially remembered.

Questions to ask Behind the scenes, they’ve been working to incite rebellion against Glitches because glitches
create tortured digital souls like them. They were in The Veil for what seemed and felt like
*
Have there been any side effects from adjusting to a cybernetic/synthetic body from their
previous one? an eternity, and when they finally managed to manifest their persona they chose to express
themselves by hacking people’s Neurochips and had them do their bidding. They left viruses in the
*
Do they dream?
chips of some as well, should anyone discover them, such as the agent The Architect interrogated.
Now they’ve finally amassed enough power and refined a virus that can meld with the software
*
Do they think that A.I. personalities should be treated the same as the rest of humanity?
and hardware used to make Glitches and permanently disable it so that this will never happen
again. Another creature like them shouldn’t be born, should never have to endure this torture of
The Percipient being a mass of personalities floating in The Veil without physcal embodiment or sense of self.

If the players don’t act to stop them, they are going to release the virus followed by severing
Mobilize everyone, or have them converge but have The Percipient be there already. They
their bodies connection to The Veil. With the end goal to die by attacking them, in order to
blend into mainstream culture thoroughly, so have them Soak it Up and detail the club some
end their torment. Without embodiment and a clear sense of self, they do not wish to "live".
more. They can also be the one to notice the guards protecting the underbelly of the place.
They have Neurochemistry, so they’re also helpful in a fight, potentially. When you talk with the Manikin Man, everyone present must roll.

On a 10+, the Manikin Man will divulge nothing about your past and you take +1 forward.
Questions to ask
On a 7-9, the Manikin Man will provide a choice: A terrible secret or a beautiful moment from one
*
How are clubs like this different than what we know today?
of your memories lost to you, as chosen by the player sitting to your left. If they choose a terrible

*
What is really popular in mainstream culture right now that people in the club display? secret they take +1 forward and marks XP. If a beautiful moment they take -1 forward. Whichever
is chosen the player who rolled the move describes their memory.
*
What separates counter-culture from mainstream the most?
On a miss, tell the MC what is said to you that causes you humanity harm.
[ 15/15 - MC SCENARIO ]
 i l g h
ct hctilgc t i l g

glitch
ardash veena HARM Light
moderate moderate
the aesthetic Assign +2,+1,+1,0,0 and -1 to each state. When you make any roll, apply a State modifier to it and mark
a box under the state to show your emotion spikes in that State. When you max out your emotion spikes
you trigger the Alleviate move. When you add emotion spikes erase one in the State opposite it.
critical critical
hold
Armor
Mad Sad Scared
Peaceful Joyful Powerful Jam
Composing and disseminating their music in a way that
When the people won’t read between the lines, when they provokes thoughtful discourse while also making Cred.
cannot or refuse to hear the words that work to keep the
powers at be in check, you are there. After all, beauty is truth
and truth is beauty, and your art is undeniably beautiful.
Cybernetics
Embedded within the community, you use your art as a You owe your agency 3 Cred for your cybernetics. Your body is
catalyst for social change much needed in Glitch City. a custom made cybernetic musical instrument (You Detail)

*
Arms – Instrument
You’re a progressive artist that influenced the public
*
Legs - Instrument
into the acceptance of cyberized people in a time when
*
Chest – Instrument
cybernetics were becoming more and more pervasive.
*
Negative tags: Susceptible
You now find yourself pulled into the future for a singular
VEIL
purpose: to earn the trust and place yourself in the heart of
a counterculture movement that is now polarized. Some Questions
support the growing number of cyber attacks, while the Are their others like me who have modified themselves in
others advocate for peace and acceptance. order to embody their instrument or art?

Look How did my life end before being put into this Slack?
Can my art change the minds of the people who
Femme, Masculine, Androgynous, Animalistic, Transgressing,
encourage violence against Glitches?
Esoteric, Fluid.

Abstruse wear, contrasting wear, antiquated wear, chic wear,

or Bohemian wear.
Improvement: XP: 

Fine face, Furrowed face, weak face, worn-in face, straight

* +1 Mad
faced, or baby-faced.
* +1 Joyful
* +1 Sad
Dreamy eyes, unusual eyes, soulful eyes, sorrowful eyes, or * +1 Peaceful
seductive eyes. * +1 Scared
* +1 Powerful
ci

Willowy body, thickset body, taut body, energetic body,

or substantial body. * Get a new playbook move x3
* Erase an Obligation owed x 3
*
Asian or South Asian, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino,
Get a move from another playbook x2
indigenous, Middle Eastern, ________.
After your fifth improvement you may also choose
from the following:
*
Take +1 to any state (Max +3) x5
*
Create and play a new protagonist x1
*
Advance a basic move x7
*
Get an additional art choice x1
*
Change to a new playbook x1
Obligation Questions
If you used your art to help someone articulate something
important to them that they otherwise never could have, you
have 1 Obligation on them.
If you needed someone’s help in order to perform your
art at a crucial time, they have 1 Obligation on you.
If you shared your art with another for the purposes of
sharing a secret pain you both have, you have 1 Obligation on
each other.
Gear
You get fashion suitable to your look, 2 Cred, portable
visual modifiers that plug into cybernetics, and choose 1
weapon (You Detail, including make and model):
* Venomous folding knife (3 harm hand poisonous discreet
Kinetic revolver (2 harm close reload)
* reload)
*
Neuroinhibitor (S harm area close reload)
Moves
You have Beauty is truth; Truth is Beauty and Literacy
of the Heart already.
Beauty is truth; Truth is Beauty
When you take something you feel, a concept, or an idea,
and express yourself by way of your chosen art - whether
performed or presented - and it is experienced by others,
roll. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2.
*
People understand what it is you intend to convey. Antiquity of the Soul
*
One person present must meet you, tell the MC who.
Whenever you Probe someone and look them directly
*
You spike out the state of your choice in someone present.
in their eyes, you may also ask them “What is the most
*
This experience either begins to change popular opinion or
important thing to you right now?”
otherwise alter a sense of self in those that witness it. Tell
the MC what it is you hope for. (consumes 2 choices)
Paint your Dream
* Inflict humanity harm on all that experience it.
When you modify an individual cybernetic enhancement
Literacy of the Heart in a way that alters it both functionally and cosmetically in
When you have solitude and share your views passionately
order to express a part of you that you otherwise could not,
detail the first step in an overall design goal and the MC will
with someone else about how something or someone
give you a task to complete in order to achieve this goal, you
could be subverted with art, roll. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9,
may need Cred, time, equipment, etc. With each completion
hold 1. For PCs, they may spend this hold in order to further
the MC will give you a new task until the design goal is fully
that goal by:
realized. When it is, add the necessary relevant tags to the
cybernetic.
*
Remembering this conversation in the future and describe
how it made them think and feel – which gives them
Live out Loud
advantage forward.
When you express yourself using your art you may clear all
*
Tell you something they think you want to know
the emotion spikes in a state that you choose, so long as it is
*
Provide you with something you’ve asked for
*
Do something that would further your goals not the state used when you expressed your art.
For NPCs, they will never harm you so long as you have hold
on them.
Pulse of the City
Whenever you go to an area away from society’s norm Special Move
you haven’t gone to before in order to find something or
When you shares a moment of intimacy with
someone deliberately hidden, describe what it is you follow
someone, be it physical or emotional, roll. On a
that others could not or would not see, hear, or smell, and
then roll. On a 10+, you find yourself where you need to be.
On a 7-9, the MC chooses two of the following in order to
10+ hold 2. On a 7-9, hold 1. Spend the hold 1 for
1 to:
make your way there first: Clear or spike out all emotion spikes in a state of
your choosing for both of you.
*
You must prove you belong here first
*
There is a code or procedure you need to figure out first ◊ Nullify the other person’s sex move if they are
a PC.
*
There is danger along the way
◊ Have them honestly tell you what their secret
*
Someone you wouldn’t want to know where you are now
does pains are.
◊ Have them honestly tell you how their mind
and soul are vulnerable.
 i l g h
ct hctilgc t i l g

glitch
HARM
Maemi Sage
Light
moderate moderate
critical critical hold
the percipient Assign +2,+1,+1,0,0 and -1 to each state. When you make any roll, apply a State modifier to it and mark
a box under the state to show your emotion spikes in that State. When you max out your emotion spikes
you trigger the Alleviate move. When you add emotion spikes erase one in the State opposite it. Armor

Mad Sad Scared Jam

Peaceful Joyful Powerful Direct lethal arm of Gamma 6. Their cover is a street name
(You Detail) who in a short period of time, has learned all the
major players in town.

Cybernetics
You owe your agency 4 Cred for your cybernetics.

*
Eyes HUD, magnifying, multi-spectrum

*
Arm Hidden inhibitor blade (S harm hand reload)

*
Even many years ago when Neurochips were new, a scenario Chest Reinforced (+ 1 armor)
in which a fully digitized human mind would be downloaded
*
Negative tags Susceptible, unreliable, twitchy.
and uploaded freely was conceived of. A military arm existed
in which they utilized specialized training to allow for an
operative to pick up local culture and blend in as they made
Gear
VEIL
their way through whatever the world was to become. You get fashion suitable to your look, including at your option,
Coupled with research in optimizing the intuitive senses one piece worth 1 armor (You Detail), 2 Cred, and choose 1
people already have, Maemi Sage was born. They know the weapon (You Detail, including make and model)
streets, they know the people, and they are lethal.
*
Plasma sniper rifle (4 harm further reload loud burning)
Look *
Kinetic assault burst rifle (3 harm close area reload loud)

*
Oscillating dual blade sword (2 harm hand AP)
Femme, Masculine, Androgynous, Animalistic, Transgressing,
*
Neuro Flechette handgun (S harm hand infinite loud)
Esoteric, Fluid.

Pop culture wear, prudent wear, tactful wear, civilian wear, or

conservative wear.
Obligation Questions
If you displayed some of your training to someone so they
Generic face, circumspect face, seamed face, unlined face, or could blend in when they would have stood out, you have 1
full face. Obligation on them.
Discerning eyes, unusual eyes, generic eyes, focused eyes, or If information you needed was withheld from you somehow
vacant eyes. and you circumvented this by getting it from someone else,
ci

Compact body, generic body, musclebound body, slightly- they have 1 Obligation on you.
built body, or taut body. If someone would have been hurt and you intervened to
Asian or South Asian, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, take the harm yourself, you have 1 Obligation on them.
indigenous, Middle Eastern, ________.
 g
Questions can always spend 1 Cred less so long as it does not become
free and you divulge something about the item you wish to
What happened to the military arm that trained me? purchase that the seller does not already know (You Detail).

Was I truly prepared for the future I woke up to? Make it Personal

tic LhIEcV til

Am I the only one from my unit that is awake? When you genuinely attempt to connect with another
for the first time by sharing something new about your
Improvement training and what it entailed, including how it changed
you as a person (for better or worse) you both mark XP.
* +1 Mad
* +1 Joyful Neurochemistry
* +1 Sad
Mental conditioning allows you to react and think faster
* +1 Peaceful than is normally possible. When you’re in a flight or fight
* +1 Scared situation you may add +1 after any die roll but when you
* +1 Powerful do, you also take 1 harm.
* Get a new playbook move x2
* Erase an Obligation owed x 3 The Tools at Hand
* Get a move from another playbook x2 When you attempt to modify something for a different
After your fifth improvement you may also choose purpose then it was designed and you have the capability
from the following to do so, roll. On a 10+, it works as you intended. On a 7-9, it
will work but only once.
*
Take +1 to any state (Max +3) x5

*
Create and play a new protagonist x1 Axiomatic
*
Advance a basic move x7
Whenever you Analyze, you can ask the MC “What is it only I
*
When you use Neurochemistry you do not take 1 harm x1
can perceive about this situation or place”, for free.
*
Change to a new playbook x1

Moves
You start with the Soak it Up, Neurochemistry, and The Tools
at Hand moves.
Special Move
Soak it Up When you share a moment of intimacy with
Whenever you arrive in a new place you may tell everyone someone, be it physical or emotional, they can
about any local customs, traditions, or aspects of the culture either remove one harm from both themselves
around you that you notice. When you do so, take +1 forward and the other person. Or, you can ask them to do
so long as you are within that same area. something for you. When they do it, now or later,
you both mark XP.
Flaunt and Vaunt
Whenever you go to a market, emporium, store, etc. you
 i l g h
ct hctilgc t i l g

glitch
asaka sato HARM Light
moderate moderate
the aparatus Assign +2,+1,+1,0,0 and -1 to each state. When you make any roll, apply a State modifier to it and mark
a box under the state to show your emotion spikes in that State. When you max out your emotion spikes
you trigger the Alleviate move. When you add emotion spikes erase one in the State opposite it.
critical critical
hold
As the Armor
Apparatus, at Mad Sad Scared
the start of Jam
play you only Peaceful Joyful Powerful Master tactician employed by Gamma 6 as field team lead.
have 1 State

Questions
unlocked. They sacrificed themself to save their team forty years
Others may be ago. Having been employed by Special Forces specifically
unlocked assigned to counter insurgency when the Cyber Coalition Would people fear me if they knew what I was?
using the Rise Forces were active and using guerrilla warfare tactics in urban
move. environments, Asaka was the ideal choice to bring into the Is there anyone or anything else out there like me?
future. Do my comrades classify me as human, machine, or something else?
As an experimental and highly secret procedure, instead of
being decanted into a Slack they’ve been put into a new form
of life, one completely synthetic and cybernetic but appearing
Improvement XP: 

completely human. One side effect, however, is they only have * +1 Mad
one emotion available. * +1 Joyful
*
VEIL
+1 Sad
Asaka is discovering themselves through the eyes of humanity
* +1 Peaceful
as they grow into whatever it is they may become. And by
* +1 Scared
*
discovering humanity, they discover and unlock more of their
+1 Powerful
*
emotions and by proxy, themselves.
Get a new playbook move x2
look * Erase an Obligation owed x 3
* Get a move from another playbook x3
Femme, Masculine, Androgynous, Animalistic, Transgressing,
Esoteric, Fluid, Mechanical. After your fifth improvement you may also choose
from the following:
Bulky Wear, Improvised Wear, Scrounged Wear, Utility Wear,
*
Discreet Wear, Or Innovative Wear. Take +1 to any state (Max +3) x5

*
Create and play a new protagonist x1
Weathered Face, Strong Face, Rugged Face, Narrow Face, Or
*
Advance a basic move x7
Busted Face.
*
Get another option from the “Within” section x1
Mechanical Eyes, Hard Eyes, Blank Eyes, Merciless Eyes,
*
Change to another playbook x1
Dead Eyes, Or Calculating Eyes.

Gear
ci

Huge Body, Muscular Body, Tall Gangly Body, Wiry Body, Or a

__________ Body.
Fashion suitable to your look and Integrated plasma cannon
Asian Or South Asian, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino, in the arm of your choice (3 harm hidden close burning)
Indigenous, Middle Eastern, __________
Cybernetics *
What can I do to gain a measure of acceptance JUDGMENT
*
in this society?
When you witness humanity at its worst or it lets you down
*
You owe 3 Obligation to your agency for your manufactured Was I damaged when I awoke?
in a way that causes you to reevaluate everything you
*
body (You Detail). Do I feel, or do I think I feel?
thought you knew about people, take +1 humanity.
*
Do I have memories or any knowledge of
*
Eyes: Multi-spectrum, Magnification, HUD.
*
another time that I was activated? INTERFACE
*
Ear: Amplification, recording, storage.
*
Why am I no longer with my creators?
*
Interface: Derma-linked, state-of-the-art. When you integrate with, or open your mind to, another
*
Chest: dermal-reinforced (1 armor)

*
Negative tags: Susceptible, Scarred, Twitchy, unreliable. MOVES Intelligence that isn’t human, you may name them as an NPC
and establish their intelligence and disposition with the MC.
They start with The Abyss Stares Back, Rise, and Built For Battle Whenever you merge with another, both of you are affected
Obligation Questions “Violent”, and Interface moves. in some way; the MC will tell you how at the appropriate time.

You may use the following to develop Obligation relationships
with other players if you so choose, or develop relationships
of your own. If someone found you, built you, or modified you
since you were discovered, they have 1 Obligation on you.
If you confided your current view of humanity to someone
else, you have 1 Obligation on them.
If someone taught you how to blend in or stand out, they
have 1 Obligation on you.
THE BiRTH
THE ABYSS STARES BACK
When you search the vast accumulated knowledge of
The Veil or interact with something new in an attempt to
understand humanity and what your place maybe in it, roll.
On a 10+, you generate 2 humanity. On a 7-9, you generate 1
humanity. Spend it 1 for 1 on the following:
*
Choose an option from the Rise move.
*
Ask any question from your special.
*
Divulge a belief or truth about yourself or your target in
order to inflict humanity harm.
Built for Battle
When you decide your vessel was created as a weapon,
choose a way in which you were built that is formidable and
describe it. You are:
*
Reinforced: Your outer shell is cold and thick; take +1
Armor.
*
Caustic: You are deadly to the touch; deal 2 harm, armor-
piercing when you come into contact with organic tissue.
*
Violent: You cannot control yourself when your “fight”
response activates; gain the Forceful and Messy tags.

At the beginning of each session, you are going to roll 2d6 RiSE
without adding a state. If you get a hit, the MC will ask you a
question; answer it. If it’s a miss, you ask the question and the When you draw on and consume your humanity to become Special Move
MC answers it. something more than you once were, choose one of the When the you share a moment of intimacy with
following: someone, be it physical or emotional, roll
*
Who created me?
without adding a state. On a 10+, you may ask
*
Unlock a new emotion and assign a value to the state.
*
Where could my vessel have come from?
them 2 questions if you wish; they must answer
*
You gain advantage (Roll 3d6 and take highest).
*
Is there anything else out there like me?
truthfully. On a 7–9, you may ask them only 1.
*
Have the MC ask you a question from the Birth move.
*
Was I created in the image of someone?
◊ In what way do you believe we are similar?
*
Why does Humanity fascinate me?
FLOPS ◊ Have you ever ended someone’s life; why?
*
What is my purpose?
When you disengage from your emotions in order to lift ◊ Do you feel you truly have free will?
*
Was I discarded or unwanted?
The Veil, you may choose to roll and add a +1 for cold, hard ◊ What purpose does humanity serve?
*
Is anyone aware I am operational now?
logic. On a hit, do not mark an emotion spike. On a miss, the ◊ Do you think I am worthy of humanity? Why?
*
Was I only recently created?
MC may have you add an emotion spike. ◊ What is your concept of good?
*
For what purposes could I have been created?

*
Was I meant to emulate humanity?
 i l g h
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glitch
Ode Chibuzo HARM Light
moderate moderate
the architect Assign +2,+1,+1,0,0 and -1 to each state. When you make any roll, apply a State modifier to it and mark
a box under the state to show your emotion spikes in that State. When you max out your emotion spikes
critical critical
hold
you trigger the Alleviate move. When you add emotion spikes erase one in the State opposite it.
Armor
Mad Sad Scared
Peaceful Joyful Powerful Cybernetics
You owe the agency 1 Cred for your cybernetics
Ode Chibuzo is a masterful manipulator of the digital. While

*
there is the mental aesthetic of The Veil in this common hybrid Interface: Derma-linked, state-of-the-art.
reality, there is also a layer beyond, one where the building
blocks of the digital reside and masterful hackers can paint Questions
the world with their very mind. Ode is the one who gets sent
Is a hacker group behind the recent intrusions in Glitches minds?
into this digital realm to find information no one wants found.
They specialize in a new form of interrogation, one where Am I the best of the best in the purely digital environment?
individuals in a completely digital environment called Caches
Do these interrogations they ask me to do alter me in some way?
are uploaded and their minds are made susceptible to digital
intrusion techniques.
Improvement XP: 
VEIL
Look * +1 Mad

Femme, Masculine, Androgynous, Animalistic, Transgressing,

* +1 Joyful
Esoteric, Fluid.
* +1 Sad
* +1 Peaceful
Uncommon wear, working-class wear, vintage wear, cyber * +1 Scared
wear, hi-tech wear, display wear, or exclusive wear. * +1 Powerful
Smooth face, sweet face, handsome face, sharp face, girlish * Get a new playbook move x3
face, boyish face, striking face. * Erase an Obligation owed x 3

Hard eyes, clear eyes, bright eyes, dead eyes, heavy eyes,
* Get a move from another playbook x3

calculating eyes or one eye. After your fifth improvement you may also choose
from the following:
Huge body, muscular body, tall gangly body, wiry body, or a

*
__________ body. Take +1 to any state (Max +3) x5

*
Create and play a new protagonist x1
Asian or south Asian, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino,
*
Indigenous, Middle Eastern __________. Advance a basic move x7
ci

*
Get an additional +1 modifier for your cyberbrain x2

Jam *
Change to another playbook x1

Works for Gamma 6 as their hacker and digital interrogator.

Subconscious
When they enter the digital environment, their true self,
the catacombs of their deepest memories, and a jilted lover
who knew them better than most bleeds into the digital
environment without their knowledge. (You detail when and if
it comes up in play)
Cyberbrain
What an Architect’s cyberbrain is and how it works is up to
them in the fiction. It also does more than just letting you
jump into a digital environment. No matter what you pick,
you’ll end up with an Architect that gets something neat but
the implications of the choice will be noted by the MC as
well, and will probably have implications for the setting. If it is
sentient itself, then that could be something brought into the
fiction – that’s the stuff that builds scenarios, right there! If it’s
a placebo, then what does allow you to jump into digiscape?
You don’t have to deal with the implications right away, feel
free to give it a couple games to get some cool ideas and then
tie it into whatever is happening in the fiction. Remember to
mark that you begin the game with your cyberbrain modifier
at a +1.
Your cyberbrain has a large database of images and
people’s profiles, take the Lady In Red move.
Obligation QUESTiONS
After you introduce your character, you may use the following
bullet points to develop Obligation relationships with other
players if you so choose, or develop relationships of your own.
If someone else keeps a secret about your subconscious from
you for your benefit, they have 1 Obligation on you.
If you’ve used your cyberbrain to change something in the
digital environment in order to protect someone else, you
have 1 Obligation on them.
If someone jacked into the digital environment to pull you out
of it when you couldn’t or wouldn’t leave yourself, they have 1
Obligation on you.
GEAR
You begin with 2 Cred, fashion suitable to your look, and a discreet
weapon (You Detail, including make and model): (Choose 1)
*
Kinetic pistol (2 harm close quiet discreet)
*
Neural disruptor (1 harm area AP loud dampening discreet)
*
Shock knife (2 harm hand shocking discreet)
*
Thermal chain (1 harm hand AP burning discreet)
MOVES
You start with the Reconfigure, Construct, and Lady in Red
moves.
LADY iN RED
When you change your appearance within the constraints
of the digital, roll+cyberbrain. On a 10+, it’s flawless. On a 7–9,
some part of your subconscious manifests.
RECONFiGURE
When you remake parts of the digital environment as you
see fit, describe what you take from the digital world and
what it becomes, then roll+cyberbrain. On a 10+, you do it and
all 3. On a 7–9, you do it but you may only choose 1.
*
You do not suffer feedback.
*
The change is not noticed.
*
Your subconscious stays repressed.
Special Move
When you share a moment of intimacy with
someone, be it physical or emotional, roll without
adding a state. On a hit, all is well. On a miss,
they are added to your subconscious as a named
NPC. The MC will ask you questions about your
perception of them; answer truthfully.
CONSTRUCT
When you host a digital lobby, roll+cyberbrain. By default,
the effect will last only as long as you maintain it, will only able
to house two minds, will have an unsecure, open connection
protocol, and will appear basic and without detail.
On a 10+, choose 2. On a 7–9, choose 1:
*
It will persist (for a while) without you actively maintaining
it.
*
It is highly detailed and expansive.
*
It has no cap on its population.
*
Its connection is secure from intruders.
THERE iS NO SPOON
When you manipulate the environment in order to mitigate
a danger, roll. On a hit you may reduce any harm that would
normally occur by 1, so long as it is fictionally appropriate.
THE KiCK
When you try to forcefully eject someone or something
from a digital environment, roll+cyberbrain. On a 10+, you
do it and may choose two. On a 7–9, you do it and may choose
one.
*
You take no Harm in the doing.
*
The Veil does not change or respond as a result.
*
Your subconscious stays repressed.
UPGRADES
Take an additional option from the cyberbrain section.
When you have enough XP for an advancement, taking this
option will unlock an additional cyberbrain selection for the
playbook, building on the framework of what you already
know about your cyberbrain.
 i l g h
ct hctilgc t i l g

glitch
Bohdan Avelin HARM Light
moderate moderate

THE HONED Assign +2,+1,+1,0,0 and -1 to each state. When you make any roll, apply a State modifier to it and mark
a box under the state to show your emotion spikes in that State. When you max out your emotion spikes
critical critical hold
Armor
you trigger the Alleviate move. When you add emotion spikes erase one in the State opposite it.
Jam
Mad Sad Scared They run data as a cover while working for Gamma 6

Peaceful Joyful Powerful

Questions
Is there a community of people who remove their Neurochips?
100% pure human, no cybernetics. Doesn’t need them,
doesn’t want them. First recruited after the first human Do I belong off the grid and out of Gamma 6, or with my team?
electromagnetic pulse event in the city, they evacuated
What does most of this sprawl look like without the veneer The
everyone they could before getting hit with the pulse
Veil provides?
themselves.

Declared dead, Bohdan was downloaded into their own

body’s Neurochip. They were revived, but their Neurochip was
Improvement XP: 

fried in the process. Now they’re the only agent completely off * +1 Mad
the grid—and a Glitch like the rest of the team. Undercover, * +1 Joyful
they run data in a biotech tattoo that can house massive * +1 Sad
VEIL
amounts of data and ferry it from one physical location to * +1 Peaceful
another. * +1 Scared
* +1 Powerful
Look * Get a new playbook move x3
* Erase an Obligation owed x 3
Femme, Masculine, Androgynous, Animalistic, Transgressing,
Esoteric, Fluid.
* Get a move from another playbook x3

After your fifth improvement you may also choose from

Fitness wear, superior wear, versatile wear, fitted wear,
the following:
protective wear, upstyle wear, or top-of-the-line wear.

*
Take +1 to any state (Max +3) x5
Handsome face, gorgeous face, stern face, fine-boned face,
*
Create and play a new protagonist x1
worn face, or symmetrical face.
*
Advance a basic move x7
Strong eyes, vibrant eyes, sparkling eyes, young eyes, stony
*
Get an additional option for one of your martial arts x2
eyes, ablaze eyes, affixed eyes, or powerful eyes.
*
Change to another playbook x1
Honed body.
ci

Asian or south Asian, Black, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino,

Indigenous, Middle Eastern __________.
THE REAL MCCOY
While other playbooks must lift The Veil to pierce the mixed
reality in order to see what is the physical, you do not. You
have no neurochip and have a consciousness unpaired with
the technology that everyone else is constantly connected to.
You will always see things without the added benefit of tech
which will be a detriment and an advantage.
GEAR GLORY
Whenever you complete any of the feats below, you
Fashion suitable to your look, including, at your option, one
generate 1 humanity for each task:
piece worth 1 armor (You detail). 2 Cred and one weapon to
use with your martial arts, if you so choose (You Detail,
*
Defeat a worthy foe.
including make and model and It may not exceed 2 harm).
*
Extract a VIP (your call) and see them to safety.
*
Obtain an item of special importance.
Obligation QUESTIONS *
Go to and return from an infamously dangerous location.

You will always be apart from “them”, apart from the world and
society, but you will also be the only one with the ability to
see the world for what it truly is. And in what ways this tech is
impacting humanity from an outsiders perspective.
Martial Arts
*
Krav Maga (4 harm hand brutal messy powerful loud)
*
Jujitsu (2 harm hand / 2 armor only when engaged in a
fight using this style)
*
Liberate something of importance.
After you introduce your character, you may use the following
bullet points to develop Obligation relationships with other PARKOUR
players if you so choose, or develop relationships of your own.
When you use the environment to facilitate your
If you’ve saved someone before and asked for nothing in movements through the world, roll. On 10+, choose 3. On a
return, you have 1 Obligation on them. 7–9, choose 2.
If someone protected you from something specifically
*
Escape an enemy and avoid all harm.
because you have no neurochip, they have 1 Obligation on
*
Leave no trail or trace.
you.
*
Navigate to an advantageous spot.

*
If you see or know of a truth about someone because you have Change, reorganize, or manipulate the environment to

FREEDOM no neurochip and keep it secret, you have 1 Obligation them. their detriment.

When you lead people out of danger, name up to three

people you wish to save. When you save all of them you
generate 2 humanity. When you try and fail to save anyone
you name, generate 1 humanity.
Moves
You start with the Potential, Parkour, and Glory moves.
POTENTiAL
At the beginning of session, roll 2d6 without adding a state.
On a 10+, you generate 2 humanity. On a 7–9, you generate 1.
When you draw upon your humanity and consume it, you
may spend it 1 for 1 to:
WiTH GREAT POWER
Select one state; whenever you would mark your fifth spike
in that emotion, you may choose to ignore it instead.
MUSASHi
Whenever you neutralize, no matter your emotional state,
roll at +1. If your emotional state is +2, use that instead.

Special Move
When the Honed shares a moment of intimacy
with someone, be it physical or emotional, you
generate 1 hold with that person. Either of you can
spend it to have the Honed appear in a dangerous
situation with or without explanation as to how
they got there.
* capable you are despite shirking all technology has to offer.
Inflict humanity harm by telling or showing someone how REPRiSAL
When you take harm in combat, name the character you
* has final discretion).
Perform an extraordinary feat of physical aptitude (The MC
hold most responsible, while they remain present and hostile,
you get +1 hold on a hit whenever you try to neutralize them.
*
Take +1 forward when protecting someone from danger.
BASIC MOVES
When a move tells you to roll, it means roll 2d6 and add the
modifier of the state the protagonist is experiencing at that
moment in the fiction. If a move tells you to roll+X (where x is
any number of modifiers specified in a move), add only that
modifier to the roll to get the sum. Then also add an emotion
spike as the player uses the state for flavour in the scene.
RISK
When you are aware of and act to avoid imminent danger, say
how you do it and roll. On a 10+, you do as you describe and
the danger doesn’t come to bear. On a 7-9, in the doing of it
there will be a cost, complication, or choice introduced by the
MC.
PROBE
When you pay attention, study, or examine someone’s
reactions during an interactionin an attempt to learn more
about them, roll. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7–9, hold 1. Spend
hold 1 for 1 to ask the following questions. When the
interaction ends the hold expires.
*
Are you telling the truth?
*
What are you really feeling?
*
What do you intend to do?
*
What do you wish I’d do?
*
How could I get you to_____?
LIFT THE VEIL
When you try to pierce the constant illusion of The Veil, search
for information, or recall something you may already be
privy to, roll.On a hit, the MC will tell you something new and
interesting about the current situation. On any roll the MC
will ask you a question or two; answer them. On a 10+, the MC
will give you good detail. On a 7–9, the MC will give you an
impression.
ANALYZE
When you use what you have at your disposal to assess a place
or situation, roll. On a 10, ask 3. On a 7-9, ask two. When you
ULTIMATUM
When you say what you want and what you will do if you don’t
get it, roll. On a 10+, they have to choose: make you carry out
act on the answers given to you by the MC, take +1 forward. your threat, or back down and give you what you want. On a
7–9, they also have these options; they can:
*
Where’s my best way out/way in/way past?
*
Clearly remove themselves as a threat.
*
How is ____ vulnerable to me?
*
Fortify themselves.
*
Which enemy is the biggest threat?
*
Give you something they think you want.
*
What, if anything appears out of place?
*
Attempt to remove you as a threat, after taking the
*
What’s my enemy’s true position?
established consequences.
*
Is this going to get worse before it gets better?
*
Tell you what you want to know (or what you want to
SWAY hear).
When you want to get an NPC to do something you want and
their motivations don’t line up with yours, roll. On a hit, they
NEUTRALIZE
do it and choose one. On a 7–9, choose two. When you use force to attempt to neutralize a threat, take
* You’re gonna owe them some serious Cred.
control of a situation, or maintain hold of something you have
with the chance of taking harm yourself, roll. On a 10+, you
* Your own Obligation is in question now.
generate 3 hold and take no harm in the doing. On 7-9, you
* You’re gonna need to give them something now instead of
generate 2 hold and you will take harm in the doing. Spend
later.
your hold 1 for 1 during the scene to:
* You need to do them a favor first.
* You need to give a piece of yourself to them, body or heart. *
Inflict harm.
*
Take away an advantage (requires 2 hold to be spent).
*
Suffer little harm.
DIVERT *
Force a change of location (1 hold and the MC chooses the
new location, 2 and you do).
*
When you engage with someone in an attempt to distract, Impress, dismay or frighten your opponent.
misdirect, or otherwise direct attention to yourself or
elsewhere, roll. On a 10+, pick 3. On a 7-9, pick 2.
*
Your actions create an opportunity for you or someone HELP OR HINDER
else.
When you act to help or impede another player character,
*
You glean a flaw or weakness.
say how you do so and roll. On a hit, they take +1 (assist) or
*
They become confused or flustered.
-2 (impede) to their roll. On a 7–9, you also expose yourself to
*
You’re able to slip away.
danger, retribution or a cost.
SPECIAL MOVES
In normal circumstances only basic moves will be triggered.
Special moves are moves that are triggered only in very
specific circumstances that do not come into play nearly as
often as basic ones.
DUELS
When you initiate single combat with another, answer the
following questions and take +1 forward for each answer in
the affirmative. Then, roll.
*
Do you currently have the upper hand?
*
Are you better trained than them?
*
Does your equipment give you a particular advantage for
this conflict?
On a 10+, you generate 3 hold and your opponent generates
1. On a 7–9, both of you generate 2 hold. On a miss, your
opponent generates 3 hold and you generate 1. You may
spend hold 1 for 1 at any time to do one thing on the
following list as long as you justify your choice in the fiction.
*
Inflict harm (minus armor if applicable).
*
Block harm (minus half the harm being inflicted and round
down).
*
Deflect all harm (choose twice).
*
Force a change of location, or use the environment to an
advantage (generates +1 hold for the next bout).
LINK
When you introduce a new NPC to the game by name, look, and
outlook, decide how you know them and feel about them and
roll. On a 10+, the relationship is in good standing. On a 7–9, it’s
strained or frayed in some way and they have 1 Obligation on
you. On a miss, in addition to what the MC says, they also have
1 Obligation on you.
ALLEVIATE
PERIPHERAL
MOVES
When a PC marks the fifth bubble in an emotion all of the
modifiers change and the state that the fifth bubble was
marked in becomes +1 and all others are temporarily locked
in at -2. In addition, the player chooses one of the following
when another move is triggered: EMPORIUM
To keep using the spiked out emotion, in which case the When you enter a place in order to find something not readily
emotion spike in that state decreases by 1. When all emotion available, answer the following questions and take +1 for each.
spikes have been removed, all state modifiers go back to
*
Is it a part of a corporation?
normal.
*
Is it filled with a wide variety of merchants?
To use a different state at a -2. If they do so they may erase all
*
Is it policed in some way?
emotion spikes in the spiked outstate. They must still mark an
Then, answer the following questions and take -1 for each:
emotion state inthe state they just rolled.
*
Are thieves and urchins circulating here?
STRATEGIZE *
Is there a gang presence or other form of oppression here?
*
Are you known to the sellers here?
When you scrutinize, plan ahead, or confer with each other to
achieve a common goal, you gain preparation. If you prepare On a 10+, you find just what you’re looking for. On a 7-9, the
for a day or two in the fiction, take 1 preparation. If you MC chooses one of the following:
prepare for a week or longer, take 3. Whenever you enact your
*
It costs 1 Cred more than you’d expect.
stratagem, any of you may spend 1 preparation to take +1
*
They don’t have it, but they know someone who does.
forward on any roll when carrying out your plan.
*
They just sold their last one to___________.
*
They have something similar, but inferior.
PROXY
When you exchange Cred in order to have something brought
to you, roll and add the number of Cred you spend doing so
(max roll+3). On a 10+, it comes to you, no strings attached.
On a 7-9, it comes to you, or something that is pretty close, but
there is an additional cost to the endeavor; the MC will tell you
what it is.
Obligation LEAN ON
CRED
Moves REFERENCE
When you ask someone to do something you want and
use Obligation you have on them to make things square between
yourselves while doing so, if they do it, you erase 1 Obligation you
The Veil assumes a setting where Obligation as a concept is marked with them for each thing you ask of them. By no means set in stone, here are some rough guidelines
integral to social custom. As such, there are special moves to Other characters might try to get out of debt with you, or you you and your group may choose to use for the worth and
monitor this debt-like system in the game. You can get Obligation could cash in by having them: expenditure of Cred:
from someone by saving their life, fighting for them, protecting
*
them, or simply having them feel indebted to you, beyond simply
being grateful. Of course, Obligation is specific to the person your *
Bring you something they know you want.
Fight for you, or put themselves in harm’s way.
1 CRED might count for:
character has a relationship with and is most easily thought of as * Transfer Obligation owed to them to you.
*
Any basic weapon (1 Cred per tag).
*
*
feeling responsible toward someone (if they have an Obligation on Answer questions or provide information you Gear or fashionable attire.
want.
*
you) or they to you (if you have an Obligation on them). Repair a piece of basic gear.

Think of Obligation as a commodity, except it tracks subjective REFUTE *

Costs for medical treatment (1 Cred per 1 harm).

*
A few sessions’ maintenance and repairs for hiperformance
social standing. When a NPC or a PC has Obligation on you and they use it in vehicles and cybernetics.
order to ask you to do something they want but you can’t or
STRING won’t do it, roll and add the number of Obligation they have *
Bribes or fees sufficient to get you into almost anyone’s
presence.
on you. You’ll have to make a promise in order to avoid your
When you deliberately go out of your way to do someone a solid,
*
obligations; make it clear to them what your promise is. If Useful information from a contact.
get them out of a tough spot, or anything else where both parties
*
they have 3 Obligation or more on you, you cannot refuse A session’s worth of cheap muscle.
agree they are in your debt, mark down that you have 1 Obligation
them.
on them.
On a 7-9, they get an additional 1 Obligation from you and 2 CRED might count for:
LEVERAGE it’s up to you whether or not you keep your promise later.
*
Getting the base amount of cybernetic work done.

*
On a 10+, they get an additional 2 Obligation from you and A session’s worth of some professional expertise (a hacker,
When you name someone who you have Obligation on in order to driver, etc.).
need a concrete assurance right now to back up the
get something you want, roll+ the Obligation you have on them.
*
promise. Repairing cybernetics that are heavily damaged or custom-
On a 10+, their name is enough to get you what you need and the built.

*
Obligation is still owed you. A customized weapon or specific type of ammo. (2 Cred
base; +1 Cred per tag)
On a 7–9, in order for you to get what you want the debt might be
*
Bribes or fees that could pay off most people.
considered settled if word gets back to them. The MC will tell you
how much Obligation is settled if it does.
3 CRED might count for:
*
Highly professional and trained help.

*
The attention of people that could get you almost any
weapon.

*
Bribes or fees that would fix most problems.

*
High-end, luxury items and technology.
CYBERNETICS TECHNOLOGICAL TAGS
MULTI-SPECTRUM
ENCRYPTED
Difficult to access without the proper key or password.

COMPENSATING
PLASMA AND CHROME Can see multiple wavelengths.
Helps to correct for human error. Could remove recoil or
When you find someone willing to install, remove, or AMPLIFICATION compensate for a person’s heartbeat, for example.
otherwise modify cybernetics for you, use the following op-
Increases the range at which you see or hear something.
tions to modify your person: IMPLANTED
COMMUNICATION
*
Is the surgeon trusted and reputable? If yes, take +1 to the Housed within the body.
roll.
Affords the ability to communicate by means other than
JAMMING
*
Are you having new parts, not used or refurbished ones
neurochip.
put in? If yes, take +1 to the roll.
Capable of preventing any incoming and outgoing specified
*
Are the parts registered to a company, with tracking and MAGNIFICATION signal.
legit registration? If yes, take +1 to the roll.
Zooms in so you are able to see further than the human eye.
*
Do you go through integration therapy in order to remove THERMO-GRAPHIC
a negative tag? If yes, take -2 to the roll. CAMOUFLAGE Able to see and measure heat distribution.
For each additional tag beyond the default number of tags Blends in with the surrounding environment.
for the cybernetics being worked on, take -1 to the roll. On a RESPONSIVE
10+, all is well. On a 7–9, the MC chooses 1 of the following. RECORDING Reliable and intuitive to use.
You may choose to spend extra Cred in the hopes of a better
Records whatever input it’s given, generally from what you’re
outcome. For every 1 Cred you spend, take +1 forward.
seeing, hearing, or both.
DURABLE
*
It costs more Cred than expected. Hard to break; long-lasting.
DAMPENING
*
Your body is rejecting the enhancements so the
cybernetics need some tweaking, you need some meds,
Cuts-off or weakens outgoing signals.
INTEGRATED
need to get your head right, etc. Cross off an open
A system or piece of technology that is housed within another
playbook move until it’s repaired. INTERCEPTING system.
*
It’s being tracked by someone or something, or it has a
Able to pick-up, and perhaps even manipulate outgoing
primitive form of A.I installed on it with its own Motiva-
signals.
DETACHABLE
tions.
Can be removed from its housing.
* REMOTE
It will take you awhile to get used to the operation of the
new cybernetics, take -1 ongoing when using it until the
Able to be controlled from afar.
HUD
MC says so.
Heads-up display, an interface that displays pertinent
*
The cybernetic has more than one negative tag associated
with it.
DERMA-LINKED information by projecting it on the eye or other surface.
Embedded within or otherwise interacts with skin.
STORAGE
MULTI-TASK A compartment or drive, internal or external, which can be
Able to perform more than one task at any given time. used to store information or objects.
MC Sheet COLORS
Build on the success or failure of the characters’ moves and
your own previous ones. If your first instinct is that it won’t
hurt them now, but it’ll come back to bite them later, great! Choose one color or set of colors to invoke and use when you
That’s part of your principals (think off-screen, too). Make describe technology, and another set when you de-scribe
PRINCIPLES a note of it and reveal it when the time is right. Always nature. Opposites work best.
remember you can activate a player’s negative tags as well.
*
Color as much of the world as you can.
EXAMPLE NAMES
*
Always be working toward the exploration of the final
question. MAKING YOUR MOVE Electra, Aura, Hawk, Glitch,Sparks, Gaff, Dozer, Tank, Typhon,
*
Integrate their Questions. When making a move, keep your principals in mind—never Esper, Keno, Jeriko, Iris, Tick, Desty, Eelai, Kaos, Vec-tor, Bit,
*
Hit them in the feels. speak the name of the move and address the charac-ters, not Clu, Ram, Sark, Tron, Aurora, Razor, Proxy, Zapotec, Teknic,
*
Address the protagonists not the players. the players. Remember to cater the fiction and each move, Echo, Gear, Scope, Seven, Spark, Case, Para-dox, Torque, Ruby,
*
Interweave the protagonist’s stories, even across distance each scene to each character--play to their strengths and Exie, Lilou, Cosima, Amethyst, Ceres, Kai, Luna, Callista, Xenia,
and boundaries. weaknesses and keep the unique qualities they have in mind Nova, Nyx, Cressida, Emme, Vi-na, Pilar, Zenia, Lysa, Signy, Valo,
*
Put them at the center of everything. at all times. After every move you make, always ask “What do Fenna, Calixta, Lux, Mali, Pixel.
you do?”
*
The fiction makes your moves, not you.

*
Name everyone and give them a Motivation.

*
Treat them as they were meant to be treated. MAKE YOUR MOVE
*
Ask questions ALL the time and use the answers.
* Announce a conflict.
*
Be a fan of the protagonists.
* Reveal an unwelcome truth.
*
Give them a chance to think.
* Answer or integrate a player facing Question
*
Spotlight everybody.
* Give them recourse, solace, or comfort.
*
Make things costly and destructible.
* Advance, shroud, or misdirect the final truth.
*
WHEN TO MAKE A MOVE *
Put someone in a spot.
Inflict harm or trade it.
You’ll know to make a move when… * Offer an opportunity, with or without strings attached.
Reveal off screen badness.
*
There’s a pause and everyone looks to you to see what
* Turn a move back on them.
*
happens.
Offer or claim Obligation.
* *
A miss is rolled.
Take away something of theirs.
* *
The protagonists hand you a golden opportunity.
Tell them the consequences and ask.
* Activate their stuff’s downside.
CHOOSING A MOVE * Separate them.
To choose a move, think of the obvious consequences of the * Announce future badness.
action that triggered it in the fiction. If you’ve already got an * Make a threat move.
idea for something to happen, roll with it as long as it fits with * Invoke a sense of the uncanny.
W ri t e n by F ra s e r S i m ons
your agenda and principles for the game. Let your moves * Let them feel the ripples. Art by Alessandro Rossi
snowball and build off one another like when warning the use Layout by Oli Jeffery
of a hard move by first making a soft one.