THE CASE OF THE EXAMPLE OF PLAY

This document is meant to show how a game of Detect or Die might play
out, from character creation through the start of a Case. It’s entirely fabricated,
so actual play may differ, but I hope this will inspire and provide a guide to
players picking up Detect or Die for the first time.
To keep things clear, the players will be referred to by their roles in the
game: the World, the Supernumerary, the Deep Cover, and the Egghead.
The players have set aside a few hours for this first session. They might
have had a Session Zero, for getting the PCs ready and discussing questions of
safety tools, intended style and atmosphere, and any other early concerns.
However, they are going to go through character creation in the same session
as they start the Case, to make things easier to read through, and have already
discussed safety concerns with each other. (I’m not going to attempt to model
how to do that correctly; it’s going to be different in different groups.)
The World has also let the other players know that they have a Case
written up as notes, and won’t be improvising the entire mystery as they go;
this way the players are all on the same page about how much improvisation
will be involved.

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Character Creation
The World has told the other players that the Detective is going to be a
more or less modern character, living in the present or the near future, an
adult with a career. The Detective players have all chosen the archetypes they
want to play. The World suggests that the Detective players could either start
with their skills and perks, or with their Memories; they decide to get the skills
out of the way first, and look at their archetypes to determine which skills the
archetypes give and which have flaws.

Authorization -1 (Deep Cover has a flaw in Authorization)

Coordination -1 (Egghead’s flaw)
Exofamiliarity +1 (The Supernumerary has Exofamiliarity)
Grand Definition +1 (Egghead - but also the Supernumerary’s flaw)
Hackles 0 (None of the PCs care about Hackles much)
Heartbleed +1 (Supernumerary and Deep Cover)
Inertia +1 (Deep Cover)
Interlock +1 (Egghead and Deep Cover)
Motive 0
Nightside +1 (Supernumerary)
Reconstructure +1 (Egghead)
Signal Discipline 0

The Detective has a +1 bonus in any skill that’s part of a PC’s archetype.
Authorization and Coordination, which are each flawed for a PC, get a -1. Grand
Definition is also flawed for a PC, but since another PC has Grand Definition, it’s
got both a +1 and the flaw.
Heartbleed and Interlock are both doubled-up between PCs, so the
Detective has an expertise in each of those skills.
The Supernumerary and the Deep Cover discuss the Heartbleed Expertise
options, and both quickly agree that the Detective has a Creative Soul - any roll
to create or investigate art gets a +2 bonus. The Supernumerary makes a note
of this, looking forward to the Memory part of her character sheet.
The Egghead and the Deep Cover don’t immediately agree about the
Interlock Expertise.

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 Egghead: I think we should take the ‘don’t break things’ Expertise, it seems
like it’s just straightforwardly useful.
Deep Cover: Maybe, but I think the stealth one seems like more fun.
Egghead: Eh… is it actually going to come up?
The World: Well, let me think. [The World considers the setting of the Case,
which is a hotel and convention center, with individual rooms, and the Detective’s lack
of official standing] Yeah, I think the stealth one is more likely to come up,
actually. They’re both useful, but in this Case, you might want to be able to
sneak back into places.
The Egghead: Alright, I suppose that works for me.
Deep Cover: Great, let’s do it.

So, the Detective also gets the Backdoor expertise: if they manage to sneak
into a place once, they don’t need to roll again to sneak in or out later, unless
something substantial changes.

Next, the Detective players each choose two perks, the special abilities
their PC brings to the table. These mostly don’t need to be coordinated with
other players, especially since the Detective players aren’t particularly looking
for synergies or combos with each other on that mechanical level. They each
have a clear idea what Perks they find most interesting right now:
The Supernumerary takes Vaster than Light and Novum Organon.
The Deep Cover is interested in Honest Crook and Breaking and Exiting.
The Egghead opts for Fragile Ego and, at the World’s suggestion, Solution
Oriented.

The World: That one could come in very handy, if you’re interested in it.
The Egghead: Sure, that could be fun!
The Supernumerary: Any I should look at in particular?
The World: I think the ones you have should be very good for getting Déjà
Vu, though Vaster than Light isn’t likely to come up as much as Novum Organon.
But it will come up.
The Supernumerary: Well, I really want to be able to take advantage of any
weird stuff we find as soon as possible, so I’d like to hold on to VTL.
For Memories, each of the Detective players reads the question on their
archetype, and answers it. Since they’re all part of the same Detective, they
share their answers as they go.

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 The Supernumerary: Anyone mind if I go first? I had an idea that, since we
have Creative Soul, maybe we used to do some kind of art, as a hobby or even as
a career. And since my question is ‘what is something the Detective forgot and
is kind of glad to forget,’ well, maybe we gave up our art for whatever position
we have now and we have a chance to rediscover it again.
The World: That sounds great to me - maybe you also forgot your tastes in
art? You’re not sure what you like anymore.
The Egghead: Wouldn’t we be able to use Creative Soul to judge art pretty
easily, though?
Supernumerary: Maybe we don’t know why we judge things in particular
ways. We can investigate why we hate, oh, landscape paintings - or love them!
We don’t know yet. Maybe we don’t know what a landscape painting is
anymore.
World: I’m going to say you probably don’t want to rule out any
investigation roll to recover knowledge about art, period, since it might make
that Heartbleed expertise a lot weaker. So yeah, you don’t remember what a
landscape painting is right now, but could roll Hearbleed about one to recover
that understanding… but you won’t recover what you thought about it. You can
judge its technical skill and emotional content with Heartbleed, but not
whether you’d have liked it.
Deep Cover: I’m on board - it’s going to be weird, but I think I’m into it.
Egghead: Actually, since my memory question is ‘what category of trivia
does the Detective know super well,’ basically, why don’t I say that we know a
ton about art history, maybe specifically trivia about famous artists?
Supernumerary: Seems fine to me, as long as that doesn’t already decide
what kind of art we used to make.
Egghead: Oh, yeah, I mean, just because we know a lot about Turner’s
personal life doesn’t mean we were a painter, maybe we played jazz. We just
held onto the Lives of Famous Artists. Actually, on that note - maybe I should
change my Fragile Ego perk to Credentialism? Since then we can have an actual
art history degree to go with it.
World: Sure, if you’re sure - Fragile Ego is probably going to come up a bit
more often without you forcing it.
Deep Cover: We can always just make a point to go around stealing art,
that’ll make it relevant, and come in handy.
Egghead: Yeah, I think I’d like to swap out Fragile Ego for Credentialism,
naming the history of painting as my field, and my trivia area is the lives of
famous artists. They go together pretty well, I think.
World: Great, let me change up the Detective’s character sheet to reflect
that - with the combination of Creative Soul and your art history degree, you’re

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 looking at a massive bonus to a very specific set of rolls about art. Deep Cover,
you’re last up - what’s your memory?
Deep Cover: Honestly, I’m not sure. The question is what have we gotten
away with - some rule or law the Detective broke and never got caught for. The
obvious answer, with what we’ve been discussing, is some kind of art theft, but
I don’t know if I really want the Detective to be that one-note right off the bat, I
guess?
Supernumerary: Sure - any other ideas?
Deep Cover: That’s the problem, I don’t have any that are that good. I guess
I should just go with the one that works?
World: You don’t have to choose your memory straight away - if you’re
really not sure what it should be, you can keep it ambiguous for now, and then
have the Detective remember what it was whenever you get your idea
straightened out. I can make a note of it here, maybe remind you later?
Deep Cover: Yeah, thanks - that would be great. Maybe I’ll go with the art
anyways, but I want to see if I can come up with something more unique.

Leaving aside the Deep Cover’s Memory for now, all that’s left are the
Internal Affairs questions - the starting points for the relationships between
the PCs. The World suggests they be done as a snake draft - each PC answers
one of their two questions, then reverse order to answer the second.

Deep Cover: First off, I think that the Supernumerary makes a great alibi. A
bit of a naif, honestly, a total innocent.
Supernumerary: Yeah, sounds about right! For my part, I think the
Egghead is the most in need of wonder and awe. No offense, but you come off a
bit stuffy to the Supernumerary.
Egghead: In return, the Egghead thinks the Supernumerary is mortifyingly
unsophisticated and ignorant, since she is why we don’t even know about our
own artistic output.
World: Alright, now we rotate back. Egghead, you’ve got the next question
as well.
Egghead: Right - well, could I choose the Supernumerary again with the
other question?
World: I mean, yes, if you wanted, but I kind of recommend mixing these
up, so you have more defined relationships?
Egghead: Hm, OK, so the Deep Cover offers a refreshing, unique approach to
the Detective’s job - an art thief is some kind of connoisseur, I guess!

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 Supernumerary: And the Deep Cover is also the PC I’m most curious to see
in action, I guess we’re both excited for whatever he gets up to.
Deep Cover: For my part, I think the Egghead would be a great accomplice:
Knowledgeable, precise, and kind of a pushover.
Egghead: Hey, I… can’t really argue with that, but, hey.
World: And that’s character creation! The Detective is now ready to wake
up…

The Case Begins

Investigations and actions, flaws, gaining Déjà Vu and losing Morale

The World: You wake up slowly, in the warm and pleasant softness of a neat
bed in a small room. Light pushes in past heavy curtains, and a blank black
rectangle sits opposite the bed against the wall, next to a painting in a frame.
There’s a bedside table with a clock, an empty glass, and a wallet, and another
small table with black and white objects on it and two chairs pulled up on
either side. It’s half past ten AM, by the clock. Past the tables is a desk, covered
in papers. There’s an open door and a closed door, off to one side.
Supernumerary, you have the Glass.
Supernumerary: Well.. let’s get up first, and find out where we are. Could I
investigate that black rectangle with Exofamiliarity?
World: No, I think that’s just Grand Definition, or maybe Interlock. The
floor’s thinly carpeted, by the way.
Supernumerary: Oh, I don’t have those - should someone else?
World: You have the Glass, so you can roll with anything - and Deep Cover
has Interlock and Egghead has both. So anyone could investigate the rectangle.
Supernumerary: Well, I’ll go with Interlock - how does this thing work?
Supernumerary rolls 7, +1 for a result of 8 because the Detective has the
Interlock skill.
World: A mixed success. I’ll gain Déjà Vu, as you recognize the reflective
surface, seeing yourself in it across the room as an indistinct shape. It should
flicker into life, with a little click, and become a window on the rest of the
world, but for now the television is just a blank absence on the wall. It’s a thin
one, thinner than the frame of the picture next to it.
Egghead: This must be a hotel, right? Bed, nice wall television, that kind of
thing.
Deep Cover: What are we wearing? If we’re standing up out of the covers.

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 World: You’re wearing a plain white tee shirt and grey boxers. And
Egghead, do you want to roll Grand Definition to know what a hotel is, and
whether you seem to be in one?
Egghead: Of course, and then of course we have to think hard about that
painting. I am an expert in art history! I can remember that!
World: Sure, starting with Grand Definition…
Egghead rolls 3 +1, for a 4 and a failure.
Supernumerary: Hey! My flaw happens, right?
Egghead: Noooooo
Deep Cover: What’s the Egghead done now?
Egghead: Nooooooo
World: That’s right, your Grand Definition flaw triggers… so what’s that do?

The Supernumerary Flaw

The newness of things is intoxicating. Where once was knowledge, there
is now possibility, which is to say, currently nothing. When the Detective
rolls 6- with Grand Definition, some very basic concept or piece of
knowledge relevant to the task is just not there when they try to find it.
Whether it’s “money” or “law” or a specific phrase - it’s just gone. The PC
who discovered that the Detective had this gap gains Déjà Vu, and their
player decides what concept is missing. Enjoy the chance for rediscovery!

Egghead: So, it looks like I need to choose something missing… I think it

would make sense for the Detective to have lost the concept of a ‘hotel.’
World: What if you understand that you’re a guest, but not what a hotel is?
So you think this must be some important person’s guest room.
Deep Cover: I vote for that, sounds funny.
Egghead: That’s not too bad, I could go with that. And I get Déjà Vu, right? It
says so in the flaw.
World: Yes, you have Déjà Vu now, and also the Detective now knows you’re
a guest in a guest room of some kind, but can’t remember what a ‘hotel’ is - just
that you’re a guest. Since a flaw triggered, there’s no other bad outcomes from
the roll, though!
Supernumerary: You’re welcome, Egghead.
Egghead: And you’re a form of brain damage, Supernumerary. Speaking of
which, do we have any idea why we’re like this?

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 World: None that you can investigate just yet - if you had more of an idea
where to start, like who you are or why you’re here, you might be able to roll
Motive? But not right now. You wanted to look at that painting?
Supernumerary: I have the Glass, what if I didn’t want to look at it, would
that stop the Egghead from investigating it? Not that I’m going to, if he plays
nice.
Egghead: (laughing) You are literally our inner child, I’m in hell already!
World: You’ve already seen the painting, it’s right there, I think Egghead
can investigate.
Egghead: Thank you, and also, since I can’t roll with Heartbleed, can I roll
with Reconstructure? Heartbleed’s not on my sheet.
World: That seems appropriate, but that does mean you won’t get the +2
bonus from the Heartbleed expertise for art appreciation. You could ask the
Supernumerary to roll instead, or Deep Cover?
Egghead: No, I’d like to use Credentialism - when I roll for something directly
involved in Art History, not the Detective in general, I get to reroll with a +2 if I
don’t like the outcome. I’m trying to realize who must have painted this, based
on the brush strokes and style.
World: Alright, then roll Reconstructure…
The Egghead rolls a 7, +1 for 8 - a mixed success. With Credentialism, the
Egghead rerolls - 7 again, but +3 total, for 10 - a full success.
World: Congratulations, you can immediately tell who painted this - it’s a
valuable painting, though not necessarily world-class. Why don’t you tell me
who painted it? And how does it show your host has conventional tastes? Also,
take another Déjà Vu.
Since the Egghead already has Déjà Vu, this new Déjà Vu is immediately banked.

Egghead: If I had the Glass right now I’d be pushing our glasses up my nose
in triumph, harrumph. Obviously, this is… a product of… the Von Trello
workshop, painted by one of his daughters. Lucia, if I had to guess, based on the
lighter hand and the brushstrokes. She was the youngest, and is generally
considered quite playful and romantic in her still lifes of flowers, just like this.
She is the most popular of his daughters, but this would still be significantly
less expensive than one of his own works. The middle daughter was the real
genius of the family, but so unappreciated…
Deep Cover: Like you, eh, guv’nor? Egghead is baffled …ok I won’t try the
Dick van Dyke thing, but I want to give both of the other PCs nicknames, it feels
like it fits the Deep Cover to get chummy. Also, I guess we know that our host is
rich but not as educated as we are, which is something.

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 Supernumerary: …wait… I don’t think we’re wearing glasses. Should we be?
World: You could investigate with Inertia to figure out if something is
missing from your body, or your sight is worse than it should be, or anything
like that?

The investigation continues.

Marskep Phantoms
Handing off the Glass, finding clues without rolling

The Supernumerary holds onto the Glass as the Detective stumbles

around the hotel room. Most of the rolls made are investigations, trying to
gather information about their surroundings. They see themselves in the
bathroom mirror: “A strange woman looks back at you, dark rings around her
eyes,” and the Supernumerary loses Morale to a Motive action, prompted by
failing to recognize themselves in the mirror. On the other hand, she activates
Novum Organon, marking Motive on the Detective’s skill list and gaining Déjà Vu
- it’s the first action roll made with Motive so far.
On the bedside table, they find a paper cup of water and a wallet -
according to a Reconstructure roll, the lip marks faintly on the cup look like
theirs. The water has a strange smell - with Nightside, determined to be
something chemical in the water, and Exofamiliarity tells the Detective that
they know nothing about it, a failure. This takes another Morale from the
Supernumerary (the only PC with Nightside or Exofamiliarity, and the Glass
holder, so the only PC able to roll those investigations), at which point she
decides to go over to the desk and leave the wallet for another PC’s turn with
the Glass - after all, she only has one Morale left.

Supernumerary: What’s going on over here, then?

World: The desk is covered in newspaper clippings, photographs taken from
magazines, and a few scattered pages torn from books. A blue highlighter has
been used liberally. What draws your eye immediately is written haphazardly
in that same highlighter across multiple pieces of paper - two words. “Fisher
King.” The articles all seem to be reporting on a recent rash of thefts believed
to be the work of a single mastermind. High-profile cases, with incredible
rarities stolen, both artistic and technological.
Deep Cover: Oh, now we’re getting somewhere. Fisher King - can I roll with
something about that? I’ve got Heartbleed, Interlock, and Inertia…

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 World: I think there’s an Interlock roll here, yeah. With a -1 penalty. It’s
about how the words are written…
Deep Cover rolls - an 8, +1 for Interlock, and -1 for the penalty. 8 - a mixed
success.
World: Something you can tell: You wrote this, you’re pretty sure. You can
recognize the motion of your own hand. Another thing you can tell: you
weren’t sober. It’s sloppy, it’s disrupted all these carefully piled articles, it
glows with panic. Lose a Morale.
Deep Cover: …why would we do that? Was it after we drank whatever’s in
the cup? I don’t like that.
Egghead: It took a Morale, I don’t think we’re supposed to like that.

The Egghead figures out that the Fisher King is an Arthurian figure, a
king wounded in the thigh and keeping the Holy Grail, using Grand Definition -
the art degree from Credentialism is coming in very handy. The Deep Cover
meanwhile eggs the rest of the Detective on to figure out whatever they can
about the mysterious thief in the articles, and whether they might be the
Fisher King. Supernumerary obliges, shuffling through the documents.
A lot of the information they gather here does not require rolling, since
it’s just in the documents available. A few details can be found about the thief
the newspapers have called The Marskep Phantom - though the Detective does
fail a Grand Definition roll to remember who or what Marskep is, instead
providing the World with more Déjà Vu as the memory seems just out of reach.
Other rolls to infer more information succeed, locating the Detective’s host and
their pleasant guest room in the seaside resort of Camilla Bay. And the
Detective hits a snag when a Reconstructure action to put the documents back
in their original order ends in failure…

World: Alright, a five, that’s going to take out your last Morale.
Supernumerary: You don’t need to remind me! Can I use Déjà Vu to make it
a mixed success? I also get Déjà Vu from Novum Organon here.
World: Hm, you can - but I’ll still take the Morale, since you still suffer
consequences on a mixed success. You would, however, manage to get them in
order.
Supernumerary: But… If I’m demoralized I can’t keep pestering the
Egghead!
Egghead: That seems like a very dubious proposition, harrumph harrumph.
Deep Cover: If you let me take the Glass, I can take the hit for you, can’t I?

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 World: That’s right - if the Glass holder would take Morale damage, they can
pass the Glass to a willing PC who’ll take the hit for them. Are you up for that?
Supernumerary: Definitely. I’ll still use my Déjà Vu, so we get the papers in
order, and Deep Cover can take over. And I’ll try to figure out when we can
start doing some art while I’m in the back seat.
Egghead: I’m in contention with a conspiracy of dunces, and they’re both
me.
The Supernumerary hands the Glass to the Deep Cover.

The documents seem to show a recent interest in a private exhibition

and auction, apparently ripe for the Marskep Phantom’s attention. The
attendees will be rich, the security cautious, and the location isolated. There’s
some highlighted details that seem to point towards the thief targeting the
event, or at least, that seems to be what the Detective’s earlier self thought -
objet d’art and implied rare plants and pharmaceuticals (or their implication)
highlighted, clearly possible targets.

A Chess Clock
Starting a clock, time passing,

Finally, the Detective turns their collective sights on the table, with its
collection of black and white objects and two chairs. The World describes a
checkered board, with little figures of black and white wood arrayed on it. The
Egghead perks up.

Egghead: Yet again, this sounds like a job for my intellect! Deep Cover, may
I have the Glass?
Deep Cover: Sure, Profesor, why not - but give it back when we go out. I
want to be in the driver’s seat when we meet our host.
Egghead: Of course, of course.
Deep Cover tosses the Glass to Egghead, who catches it.
Egghead: I’d like to investigate what is definitely a chess set, please.
World: You have Solution Oriented, which says you can always figure out
games and puzzles uncannily quickly, so yes - you can immediately tell this is
chess, an extremely old and prestigious two player strategy board game. And
you can tell that the black pieces have lost - they’re checkmated, and it’s an

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early checkmate, with many pieces still on the board. But there’s also
something extremely strange about the arrangement of pieces. This knight,
here, or this rook there… it’s off.
Egghead: Strange in what way? And what skill can I use to examine it?
Reconstructure seems applicable.
World: Actually, I’m going to start a four segment clock for this
investigation; there’s something here that’s quite difficult to puzzle out, hidden
in the pieces.
Deep Cover: Can we only use Reconstructure?
World: Hmm, no, I think any resources you can think of to figure out a
chess board state would be applicable. I’d say Reconstructure, Interlock, maybe
Heartbleed… Nightside would be an unusual one but applicable here, as would
maybe Signal Discipline or Hackles… there’s a lot of ways to think about chess.
Egghead: Actually, I’d like to go first with Interlock - simply considering the
moves that may have led to this position, the various possible defenses and
why they don’t work, that kind of thing. Put myself in the place of a player,
that feels like Interlock here.
World: And you have a +2 bonus to Interlock too, but sure, I buy your
reasoning.
Egghead rolls an 11, with his +3 total bonus.
World: Two segments on the clock - and your initial confusion is definitely
giving way to more confusion. But more focused confusion. This endgame is
bizarre, and seems to have required both sides to make the same strange
decisions, since there’s a symmetry between white and black pieces that serves
no tactical purpose.
Deep Cover: Could I roll Heartbleed to figure out which side we played,
maybe imagine the Detective’s reasoning? I’m working with Egghead here, the
Detective can rebuild some of the game, so why make these bizarre moves?
Desperation?
World: Go ahead and roll.
Supernumerary: It doesn’t have to have been us… but it probably was,
since it’s in our room.
The Deep Cover rolls a 3, and groans.
World: I think that’s the Detective hitting a bit of a wall; this chess puzzle
won’t unfold that easily. So I’m going to say, the consequence of failure is that
you need to go take a walk around before you can keep working on the clock -
this avenue is closed.

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 Deep Cover: And we can’t fix that with Déjà Vu, right? Because we’ll only
get a mixed success, I don’t know that it’s worth it right now. What about the
wallet?
Egghead: That’s a good question. What’s up with the wallet?
World: Let me check my notes - the wallet contains some francs, maybe
enough for a coffee, a proximity keycard for the door, and a note in block print
handwriting: “Lunch. Meet me by the mail desk at half past eleven.”
Supernumerary: Didn’t we wake up at ten-thirty?
World: The digital clock by the wallet reads eleven oh two.
Egghead: Well - we need to head off, then! Can’t be late for a meeting, even
if we have amnesia.
Supernumerary: I mean… are you sure? Who would we be meeting, the
Marskep Phantom? Do we want to take them on in this state?
Deep Cover: Are we not the Marskep Phantom? Wouldn’t that make sense,
if we were scheming some exciting plan, and that’s why we had all those
articles? It would be pretty cool.
Egghead: It… is a possibility, I suppose. But who would that make the Fisher
King? And besides, it’s probably our host - we’re a guest somewhere,
remember? We can’t keep them waiting, it would be incredibly rude.
Supernumerary: You were pretty rude about their taste in paintings.
Egghead: Not to their face! Besides, we’d be lucky to own a, what was it,
Von Trello anyways, I’m pretty sure. They sell for, this is my trivia area, right?
The World nods encouragingly
Egghead: A lot of francs. This one being in a guest bedroom tells us we
really want to make a good impression on our host.
Deep Cover: If we’re not already late - how long have we spent talking this
through?
World: Oh, no time at all. You can always pause the action to talk among
yourselves and make investigation rolls, because it’s all in your head. It’s
happening at the speed of thought.
Deep Cover: Oh, that’s convenient. Anyways, Professor, can I have the Glass
back?
The Egghead hands it to the Supernumerary, who hands it to the Deep Cover.
Deep Cover: Thanks. Let’s go out the door, and make sure to note if it has a
number or anything on it, so we can find our guest room again. We’ll keep the
wallet on us.
Supernumerary: Get dressed first!

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 Further deliberations ensue (entirely internal). Somewhat dressed, the
Detective exits, checking the room number - thirteen - and going in search of
the mail desk, and their erstwhile host.

Meeting The Other

Other characters, recovery, flashbacks.

The Detective finds the mail desk, after a little time wandering the hotel
and discovering exactly how wealthy their host must be. Nobody is waiting for
them at the mail desk, but the clerk behind it asks them their room number.
After a short deliberation, they tell him the truth.

World: He checks a list, then pulls a small package up and sets it on the
counter in front of you. It’s wrapped in brown paper, but also a plastic webbing
clipped together on top with a plastic circle stamped with a thirteen. “Camilla
Marskep?” He seems skeptical, and checks something on the list again. “This is
addressed to your room.”
Supernumerary: That’s promising!
Deep Cover: I’m going to roll with it. “Does it say who sent it? I’m not
expecting anything.”
World: He checks again, and looks you over. Don’t forget you have Honest
Crook, so when the Deep Cover is holding the Glass you just look like a criminal
- but this clerk doesn’t seem too bothered. “It was left at the desk yesterday,
with a note. It has a description that matches you, see? That’s not really
normal, but I figured it was important and you might not be expecting mail.”
Supernumerary: Maybe our host is a mob boss, that would be exciting.
Deep Cover: I’ll read that description, and try to flash him a disarmingly
roguish smile. “I wasn’t.”
World: It sounds like a happier version of the woman you saw in the mirror,
all right. Do you take the package, addressed to one ‘Camilla Marskep’?
Deep Cover: Yes, I will take the evidence that we are in fact the Marskep
Phantom. It’s a pretty obvious pseudonym, so we must not be expecting anyone
to be after us. Maybe the Case isn’t to stop the Phantom, but to get away with a
theft? Maybe we’re kind of an antihero.

15
 Egghead: Or something fishy’s going on. I’d like to roll something to
investigate that description - can I use Heartbleed on it, or Reconstructure, to
try to figure out what kind of person would describe us that way?
World: With a hefty penalty, sure - I’d say Heartbleed at -2. You can make
an educated guess, maybe, but it’s a couple sentences. There’s not much
information to work with.

The roll is a mixed success, the description sounds like it might be from a
newspaper article, and the Detective has an internal dialogue about not just
whether they could look up the words online, but (somewhat out of character)
where their phone is now; the setting is plausibly like real life, maybe the near
future. They probably should have a phone. They also inspect the webbing on
the package - the proximity lock won’t open until they’re back in room
thirteen and the door is closed. Tamper-proof, the clerk says. The Deep Cover
wants to tamper with it, moving over to a table nearby - but is stopped by the
Egghead and Supernumerary agreeing that the Detective ought to take a
moment to recover. They’re low on Morale.
After a brief conversation, the World agrees that the Detective can
recover Morale (one for each PC) with a continental breakfast, but it won’t
leave them any time before their meeting. The Deep Cover, who has the Glass
and thus the final say on the Detective’s physical activity, agrees to this.
Breakfast had, Morale is recovered.

World: You’ve been sitting thinking for a moment - does it feel right to
suggest the Detective might be deep in thought until someone approaches your
table?
The others agree.
World: A man in a scarf, glinting gold-rimmed glasses, and a somber outfit
sits down across the table from you, smiling serenely. “I believe I have the
pleasure of addressing Camilla Marskep? I’ve been hoping to talk to you all
day.”
Deep Cover: I feel like we’re under fire here, but also this is the second
person calling us Marskep. So that’s something. I look up, raise my eyebrows,
and say “Ah, and you must be our gracious host. I’m at your service.” Nice and
chill.
World: That’s a Signal Discipline action, I don’t think the Detective is nice
and chill at all under the surface - you just said you ‘felt under fire’ right?
Deep Cover: That’s fair…

16
 The Deep Cover rolls well - a full success. The stranger doesn’t perceive their
internal turmoil. And, because of Novum Organon, Déjà Vu. Since they already have
Déjà Vu, it’s banked. Now the Detective has six banked.
Egghead: We have enough for a flashback! Maybe once we get a bit further
through this conversation? Find out who this is?
Supernumerary: Yeah, we have enough Morale right now, I think? And
then we need to get that package open.
Deep Cover: Let’s talk to him.

Introducing himself as Charles Motte, the new acquaintance asks after

the Detective - Camilla - and how she’s doing. The PCs roll mostly Signal
Discipline, Hackles, and Heartbleed during the conversation - and quickly come
to the conclusion that Motte is not well-intentioned towards them, despite his
apparent concern. If he is their host, he’s playing some kind of game, and he’s
not very pleased to be called their ‘host.’ When he makes casual reference to
feeling ‘checkmated’ by the conference schedule - and Hackles confirms it’s a
very meaningful, barbed reference - the PCs are unanimously certain he must
have been behind the chessboard. Deep Cover makes sure to keep a hand on
the mail, and after a little more internal discussion, the PCs decide to trigger a
flashback to the chess game. Deep Cover only has one Morale left, as most of
the investigation rolls cannot be made by the other two, who lack Hackles or
Signal Discipline skills without the Glass.

World: Alright… I’ll clear out your six Déjà Vu, and you remember sitting
across from Motte in your room.
Supernumerary: Check and mate.
Egghead: I’m mad I didn’t have that ready, but should you really be the
smug one?
Supernumerary: I learned it from you!
World: He has a gun.
The World pauses for emphasis, to let the PCs react.
Deep Cover: I’m not a fan of that.
World: The chessboard is in front of you, pieces arranged. He’s taken the
first move - white. The gun doesn’t waver as he places a paper cup on the board
between you, and drops something that fizzes strangely into the water. “Your
move. Loser drinks.” Can I get a Motive investigation?
Deep Cover: That has to be me, right? Since I have the Glass? And none of
us have Motive.

17
 The World: In a flashback, nobody has the Glass, and everyone can
investigate with any skill. Because it’s a memory, rather than physical space, so
it’s all happening in your head anyways.
Supernumerary: Then I’ll dig into it! Hit me.
Mixed success; Morale is lost, but knowledge is gained.
World: You didn’t want to play this game, but as you know, you’re not bad
at it. The Egghead is in fact quite competent. But… something’s not right about
the line of pieces.
Egghead: I’d like to roll Reconstructure about that!
The Reconstructure roll is another mixed success, but at least it’s not failure. The
clock increments. The World chooses to take Déjà Vu instead of docking the Egghead
Morale; secretly, the World is thinking that the Egghead hasn’t had much of a chance to
carry the Glass - the Supernumerary started out with it, and the Deep Cover has mostly
had it - so it might be best if he got demoralized last, though it’s not a high priority.
World: The pieces are in the wrong places - either these aren’t actually the
first moves, or you’re playing a variant of chess, not the original game. What
exactly that means, you don’t know. You can’t remember the name of this kind
of game. However, in the flashback, Motte has a little more to say… “It’s
elegant, if I say so myself. The variation is the same as our … enmity, our
relationship, what have you, and the same as what’s going to happen at this
exposition. I had to intercept you, make sure we came head to head. And I
wanted to give you a fair chance. But… I can’t just let you get away.” You know
from the board in your room that black lost. You lost. And you drank. The rest
of the game is a blur, but you do remember drinking, the weird taste and the
slight numbness at the back of your throat. As soon as you do, he stands up,
then backs out the door, hiding the gun as he enters the hall.
“I’ve left a note in your wallet. I recommend lying down, or you’ll fall all
over the board. I’ll see you tomorrow… Marskep.” And the door closes with a
click, like the bottom falling out of the world. And that’s what you remember.
Egghead: That bastard! He did this to us!
Supernumerary: Yeah, he took our art from us! And made me exist! So,
y’know, bad but there’s an upside.
Deep Cover: I think he’s a cop.
Egghead: I think that’s ridiculous, clearly we’re the detective, and he took
us out of the picture.
Deep Cover: He called us Marskep, that’s not really an open question. I
think he’s a cop, but he’s crooked, and we’re going to have to get him and also
steal that painting. You said it was worth millions of francs, right?

18
 World: Do you have any other investigations you want to make, before we
go back to the present?
Supernumerary: Can I roll Exofamiliarity about whatever he made us
drink?
She does, and it’s a full success.
World: You felt a certain recognition on drinking it, that you’ve captured in
your memory - that this must be one of those ‘rarities’ of technology and
pharmaceutical invention that this exposition involves. That is why they hold
it in a country with no extradition treaties, after all, and very lax regulations.
Something weird and novel, with sinister implications.
Supernumerary: Cool, also that’s awful.

Chasers
Involuntary flashback, TPK, waking up again.

Returning to the present, the Detective intends to get as much as they

can from Motte, but after a few back and forth barbs, decides they’ve got what
they can, and want to get back to their room to open the package. They make
their excuses and leave, but as they do…

World: Motte gestures to the door, where a man and a woman in matching
suits have just entered, scanning the lobby. “See there? Those, my friend, are
the local constabulary, though ‘police’ may not be an accurate term in this
city.”
Egghead: Great, we can turn him in!
Deep Cover: Excuse you, Professor, I’m not a snitch - and I give off criminal
vibes constantly and proudly. I stand up quickly and get the hell out of here.
World: As you go, the pair see you - and Motte raises a hand to them as if in
greeting. They start to move.
Deep Cover: What’s the most inconspicuous possible speed above a walk? I
do that towards the door to the kitchen.

What follows is a slow chase scene, breaking into a run when the Deep
Cover breaks into the service rooms of the hotel. No weapons are drawn, but
dishes are smashed and lunches ruined, until the Deep Cover manages to

19
 squeeze through a dumbwaiter using Breaking and Exiting and hop out on
another floor.

Deep Cover: And now… I’ll give the Glass to the Egghead, so that we no
longer give off Honest Crook vibes. Oh, first, change into the maid’s dress I
grabbed and tie our hair back. All together, that should keep them off us. That
should be a Signal Discipline action?
World: That’s right, and sure, go for it.
A mixed success - the Deep Cover sighs and prepares to lose their last Morale.
World: And… I’ll take Déjà Vu. Which gives me six. Which means, as the
Detective catches her breath, it’s time for an involuntary flashback.

The World describes the Detective leaning over a desk in the harsh light
of a bare bulb, working on something, full of grim determination. It’s a forgery
- an invitation to the exposition, carefully put together to get her access to
somewhere she hasn’t been invited. The Deep Cover is at first delighted - but
this time, the PCs don’t get to choose when to end their immersion in the past.
The World sets six investigation rolls, two of which are Motive, that they have
to take on. Every roll moves them closer to waking up, but the dice aren’t with
them. The PCs are all low on Morale, and the Deep Cover is demoralized first.
Then the Supernumerary. But the Egghead still has two Morale.

World: There’s one more roll to make - a Hackles roll. After all… you
haven’t remembered why you had to go to such lengths to break in yet. It’s not
a good motivation, either.
Egghead: It wouldn’t be, no. I’ll roll it - and maybe we are Marskep after all.
Hackles is a +0 roll for the Detective. The dice show a 2 and a 4 - 6.
World: I’m afraid that’s failure, Detective. But I’ll throw you a bone - is it
revenge or your ego that sent you here?
Supernumerary: Revenge.
Deep Cover: I vote ego.
Egghead: …I think my archetype requires that I vote ego as well.
World: Great. And you’re free to wake up… but as you do, I’d like to offer an
investigation you could take, with no penalties, to finally remember what kind
of chess game you lost to Motte.
Egghead: This is clearly an excuse to knock us out.

20
 Supernumerary: Yeah, but that also means we wake up with full Morale -
it’s not the end of the world, and I’d rather have three than zero, so I say you
take the plunge.
Deep Cover: I think you should do what feels like the Egghead thing to do.
Egghead: …the die is cast, I guess. Dice. The dice are cast.
It’s a mixed success. Two PCs have Déjà Vu, but they can’t upgrade a mixed
success to a full success, and the World immediately slams down that last Morale loss.
World: As the Detective falls into Total Personal Katabasis you can blame
your pride for setting you up for this disaster, twice over, but before you lose
track of the present… the clock is full, and you remember the name for a game
of chess where the pieces on the back line are shuffled, without control of who
or where they are, to create a new even playing field. Something that put your
king far out of position, and got you checkmated painfully early. It’s called
Fisher Random.
The World pauses for emphasis.
World: Ok, everyone goes back to full Morale, and give me a few minutes to
figure out where the Detective comes to herself again, and you should agree on
a Glass holder for when you wake up. Then we can keep going…
And the Case of the Example of Play continues.

Coda
A note from the author

This example of play is pretty extended, and while I’ve tried to make it
straightforward and clear, I couldn’t help but try to make it at least a little
dramatic as well, and try to capture some of the things I’ve seen from
playtesters. It’s slightly elevated, tuned to demonstrate the system rather than
precisely reproduce how the game might flow at a given table, but I hope it’s
still useful to anyone who’s just picked up Detect or Die and is trying to imagine
it in play.
The Case itself I’ve tried to leave open to all sorts of later sections, in case
anyone reading wants to follow up with it, or at least to make it an interesting
read. If I were to continue this game, with actual players, I would want to have
the science-fictional element step up considerably, with the Marskep
Phantom’s master plan coming to fruition and more characters becoming
tangled up in the battle of wits between the Detective and Motte.
As for which of them is the Phantom, that I leave up to you. If you want
to decide it, run your own Case of the Example of Play, and see it through to the
end! Your answer is as good as mine at this point, if not better.
Cover Image Credits:
King icon by Dima Lagunov,
coffee stain from Freeiconspng 21
 Case? The Example of Play
If you can remember…
Name? Camilla Marskep?

Detective Character Sheet INJURIES

Authorization -1 0 Describe injury here

Coordination -1
0 Not too bad
Exofamiliarity +1
Grand Definition +1 0 Still handling it
Hackles 0
Heartbleed +1 -1 It’s a problem

Inertia +1 -1 You’re in trouble

Interlock +1
Motive 0 -2 Seriously hurt

Nightside +1 At the mercy of the World

Reconstructure +1
Signal Discipline 0
INVENTORY
Tools: Valuables: Misc:
Hotel maid uniform Handful of Francs Key to Room 13
Package, Sealed
 THE PCs
EGO Déjà MORALE
Vu
Egghead You X X X X

Supernumerary can Y/N X X X

Deep Cover be X X X X

Archetype Name the Y/N 1 2 3

Archetype Name one Y/N 1 2 3

Flaws:

Coordination | Egghead, ‘hold my wine and watch this’

Grand Definition| Supernumerary, fail to understand concept
Authorization | Deep Cover, identify and want to cross lines
|
|

Expertise: Creative Soul (+2 to investigate art)

Backdoor (can always repeat the same entrance or exit that
worked last time)
 THE PAST
Lasting Flaw Effects:
Detective Déjà Vu No concept of ‘hotel’
X X X > > >

> > > > > >

World Déjà Vu
< < < < < <

< < < < < <

Memories:
The Detective used to be an artist, but gave it up - and can no longer
remember what kind of art she used to do.

The Detective has an expansive knowledge of trivia regarding the lives of

famous artists (as well as an art history degree).

The Detective got away with breaking some rule… but still doesn’t
remember what it was (the Deep Cover can fill this in later).

The Detective lost a game of chess to Charles Motte, and was made to drink
something that may have destroyed her memory.

The Detective is attending the conference under a false identity, having

forged her invitation.