3

CREW CREATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 144

The crew theme represents your shared resources,

beliefs, and weaknesses.
• Choose a ready-to-play crew theme starting on
page 149; or

i e s
• Create it together using the crew themebook,

r
se Ion
choosing 3 power tags, 1 weakness tag, and a Mys-
tery or an Identity.

E A T
CR
Crew Relationships define your initial number of Help
& Hurt points with each crewmate.
• Each player writes down the names of all the other
crew members.
• Go around the table, taking turns.
• On your turn, choose at random one Crew Rela-
tionship option from one of your themebooks and
read it out loud.
• Choose whether to use this option and with which

1
crewmate. If the crewmate accepts, you work out
the details of your relationship.
• You gain one Help point or one Hurt point, as stat-
SERIES CONCEPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 46 ed in the option you chose. Your crewmate does
not gain points on your turn.
Your characters already know each other and they work • Continue taking turns until you have enough details.
together (for whatever reason). Decide together:

? WHO ARE YOU, AS A CREW? 4 A DAY IN THE LIFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 156

• Casual detectives
• Company men Play a short and casual session to tie everything to-
• Conspiracy busters gether and complete missing details.
• Dabblers in the Mist
The MC starts by picking out a time of the day and
• Survivors of an event
asking:
• A gang
• Investigative Masked Vigilantes ? WHERE ARE YOUR CHARACTERS AND WHAT
• Modern gods ARE THEY DOING ON THIS NORMAL DAY IN
• An order THEIR LIVES?
• Professionals / Rifts-for-hire
You all answer.
? WHAT IS YOUR CITY OF MIST LIKE? Ask and answer as many interesting questions as
• True Noir (1930s), Neon Noir (80s), modern-day you can about:
• Generic comic-book city, exiting city, tapestry of • Your characters and their lives
realities • Your crew and what you do together
• Mystical Mist, realistic Mist • Your City

2 • Any potential cases you are working on

Avoid tying loose ends.

CHARACTER CREATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 54
Finally, play a few scenes to familiarize yourselves
See outline the in next page >>> with the rules (given in Chapter 3).
 a c te r
a r
Ch eation
cr
3 CHOOSE THEME DETAILS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 74

1 CREATE A CONCEPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 60
Use the Themebooks starting on page 82 to create
each theme’s tags and its Mystery or Identity.

TAGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 74
Choose your MYTHOS, the legend awakened within Tags are short and specific descriptions, usually 1-3
your character. It can be a person, being, item, or words long, describing a discrete quality, ability, object,
location from any story, mythology, legend, folklore, resource, ally, situation, or thing in the game.
fairytale, literary work, urban legend, religious tale,
Tag questions in the themebooks help you create tags.
concept, or real-world event.
When you answer a tag question, your answer becomes
Choose your LOGOS, your character’s everyday per- your tag. You cannot answer the same tag question twice.
sona and life. It can be any modern-day walk of life.
POWER TAGS power your moves. They always describe
Develop your concept by speculating about:
something useful (ask yourself: what actions would this
? WHY DID THIS MYTHOS MANIFEST THROUGH power tag boost?).
YOUR CHARACTER?
Each theme starts with 3 power tags. You must
? WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S SECRET PAIN? answer the first power tag question in the Theme-

2 CHOOSE THEMES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 64
book. Then answer two more of your choice.
You can have only one broad power tag. A
broad power tag is one that would be useful in
many different situations.
Your character has four themes, with at least one
Mythos theme and at least one Logos themes. Mythos WEAKNESS TAGS depower your moves but earn you
themes represent legendary powers. Logos themes rep- Attention. They always describe something limiting
resent mundane abilities, qualities, resources, and allies. (ask yourself: what actions would this weakness tag
impede?).
Choose your initial level of awareness:
Each theme starts with 1 weakness tag. You
• Legendary: 3 Mythos themes, 1 Logos theme
can answer any weakness tag question.
• Borderliner: 2 Mythos themes, 2 Logos themes
• Touched: 1 Mythos theme, 3 Logos themes Extra tags: In one theme of your choice, you may add one
additional power tag and one additional weakness tag.
Choose Mythos themes: Adaptation (versatility),
Bastion (defense), Divination (information), Expression
MYSTERIES AND IDENTITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 79
(offense or ability to alter reality), Mobility (movement),
Relic (powerful item), or Subversion (stealth or deceit). Mysteries and Identities drive your character to take
action.
Choose Logos themes: Defining Event (in your past),
Defining Relationship, Mission, Personality, Posses- Every Mythos theme has a Mystery, a question for
sions, Routine, or Training. which your character is seeking answers.
Use Character Tropes starting on page 70 for quick Every Logos theme has an Identity, a statement in
ideas for your themes. which your character strongly believes.
 TAG INVOCATION RULES

ay e r
pl es
• Final Call: The MC has the final call on which tags are
relevant and can be invoked.
• No Tag Cap: You can invoke any number of relevant

rul
tags from all of your character’s themes, the crew
themes, or available story tags. †
• Reusable: Tags can be invoked again in subsequent
actions †, except for:
» Repeating Moves: You cannot repeat an action using
the same tags until the conditions have changed (page
178).
HOW TO MAKE A MOVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 172 » Linked Moves: If your move is related to your previous
move, you cannot use the same tags again (page 178).
1. Describe your character’s action AND name the move • Power of Zero: If your action does not require
you are making special abilities or resources, you can take it without
2. Determine your Power † invoking any tags (page 217).
• Minimum One: If a move grants a benefit based on
3. Roll two six-sided dice (2d6) and add the result to your
Power, you always get at least one point of benefit,
Power †
even if your Power is zero or less (page 181).
4. Follow the outcome description based on your score • Using your weakness: The MC or a PC that is the
target of your move can also invoke your weakness
THE CORE MOVES tags (page 207).
CHANGE THE GAME (page 182) to give you or your
allies an advantage (generate Juice).
CONVINCE (page 185) to talk, threaten, or seduce some-
MOVE OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 177
one into doing something.
• MISS: a score of 6 or less. The MC makes an MC move
FACE DANGER (page 178) to avoid a hit, endure harm, or against you or your crew.
resist an influence. (Reduce or avoid a status) • HIT: a score of 7 or more.
» 7-9 is a weak hit, granting benefits with complications.
GO TOE TO TOE (page 188) to overcome someone or
» +10 is a strong hit, granting mostly benefits.
something in a struggle for control. (Give and/or take a
» If your move is Dynamite!, +12 is an extraordinary hit,
status)
granting special benefits.
HIT WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT (page 190) to take a clear See the move descriptions for the exact outcome of every
shot at someone with all of your power. (Give a status, and score category.
possibly take one)
INVESTIGATE (page 192) to seek answers to burning
questions or gain information. (Generate Clues) HELPING OR INTERFERING . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 181
SNEAK AROUND (page 195) to do something discreetly
You can help or interfere with a crewmate’s action before
or deceptively.
the player rolls the dice. Spend Juice (you may Change the
TAKE THE RISK (page 196) to perform a feat of daring. Game) to give them a relevant status or story tag.

DETERMINING POWER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 175

A. Invoke tags that directly help your action. You gain BURNING TAGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 209
+1 Power for each tag.
A burnt tag cannot be invoked. Burnt tags can be recov-
B. Invoke tags that directly impede your action. For ered with the Montage move (page 209).
each tag, you lose 1 Power. For each weakness tag,
mark 1 Attention on that tag’s theme. Burning for a Hit: You can voluntarily burn a tag when
you make a move. You gain a Power of 3 and instead of
C. Add the tier of your highest helpful status to your
rolling the dice, treat the roll as if you rolled 7 (total un-
Power.
modified score of 10). No other tags can be invoked in this
D. Subtract the tier of your highest impeding status roll, but statuses apply normally.
from your Power.
† Does not apply in some moves or when using optional rules.
 OTHER TAGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 212

Story tags represent things and essential qualities import- CLUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 227
ant to the story. To create story tags, you spend Juice. Their
duration may vary:
Clues are a game resource that can be traded for information.
• Temporary story tags expire after a single invocation
• To generate Clues, you Investigate.
and cannot be burnt for a hit.
• Each Clue allows you to ask one question and get an
• Ongoing story tags last until they narratively expire or
answer or a solid lead to the answer (MC or target’s
until they are burnt.
• Permanent story tags do not expire (and thus can be choice).
burnt and recovered). • The information you receive is limited to the method
of your investigation and the source of information.
Power Tags in Crew and Extra Themes are “crispy”: they
• You can bank Clues, but they expire when the infor-
burn once you invoke them and cannot be burnt for a hit.
mation they represent becomes obsolete.
You can recover Crew Power Tags with the Geek Out During
Credits move (page 202). You can recover Extra Power Tags
with the Montage move.
JUICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 232

Juice points represent your ability to shape the scene. To

STATUSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 218 generate Juice, you Change the Game. Each point of Juice
allows you to:
Statuses represent conditions that are acquired or transient.
• Create one story tag
A status has a tag and a tier:
• Burn one Power Tag or story tag
• Tier 1-4 statuses increase or decrease the Power of
• Create a tier-1 status, and give it +1 tier for every
relevant actions.
additional point of Juice spent
• Tier 5 (OUT) statuses incapacitate you, preventing any
• Reduce the tier of a status by 1 (if its tier is reduced
action related to the status.
• Tier 6 (MC) statuses kill or permanently transform you, to zero, it is removed)
MC’s choice. Juice can only create effects related to the action you
When you give a status, your move defines the tier and you took to generate it (its method). You can bank Juice,
choose a tag appropriate to your action. Statuses on Dangers but it expires when its method becomes obsolete.
(adversaries) may affect their actions, affect your actions, or
contribute to their defeat (MC’s choice, see page 128 in the Help & Hurt points are Juice that represents your
MC Toolkit). relationships with your crewmates. You can spend them
to help or interfere with your crewmates as you would
When you take a status, you may Face Danger to reduce the
status (MC’s choice). Statuses of similar nature (“on the same with Juice. Help & Hurt points do not recover. You
spectrum”) stack: can gain new Help & Hurt points with the Geek Out
• A greater tier replaces a lower tier (tier-2 replaces tier-1). During Credits move.
• An equal tier increases the tier by 1 (tier-2 increases an
existing tier-2 to tier-3)
• A smaller tier adds pips to the greater tier until the next
THE CINEMATIC MOVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 198
tier is reached (tier-2 adds two pips to an existing tier-3;
when 3 pips are reached, it becomes tier-4).
• Voiceover Monologue (page 199): At the beginning of
each session, one player sets the mood by describing his
DURATION: character’s thoughts and feelings.
• Most statuses are Ongoing, lasting until they narra- • Flashback (page 199): Once per session, describe a past
tively expire or are removed. event and possibly make a retroactive move or gain 1 Clue
or 1 Juice.
• Temporary statuses expire after they apply to a
• Montage (page 201): Choose your character’s activity
single action.
during downtime and gain benefits accordingly.
• Permanent statuses do not expire.
• Geek Out During Credits (page 202): At the end of every
Recovery: Statuses can be reduced or removed with Juice session, debrief character development, crew growth, and
(Change the Game move) or with the Montage move. crew relationships and gain benefits accordingly.
 a c te r
a r
Ch opment
DRAMATIC MOMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 248

d e v e l MAKE A HARD CHOICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 254

Fade (Mythos themes) represents losing your Mythos
and giving in to your everyday.
• When you forego answers to your Mystery, you
mark Fade.
ATTENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 244
• When you mark 3 Fade on a theme, you replace it.
Mark Attention on a theme when:
Crack (Logos themes) represents losing your identity
• Anyone invokes the theme’s weakness tags (one
and opening up to your Mythos.
Attention per tag invoked)
• (For character themes) You choose to give atten- • When you act against your Identity, you mark Crack.
tion (Logos) or explore your Mythos (Mythos) • When you mark 3 Crack on a theme, you replace it.
on the Montage (Downtime) move
• You find answers to the theme’s Mystery REPLACING A THEME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 261
• You sacrifice something to hold to the theme 1. Lose the theme: You discard the theme card. You
Identity can no longer use its tags and improvements.
• (For a crew theme) A player chooses so on the
2. Gain a Nemesis: Your gain a complication due to
Geek Out During Credits (Session End) move
the loss of the theme. It may only appear starting in
When the Attention track on one of your themes is full, the next session.
reset it and choose an improvement:
3. Gain Build-Up points (or Help & Hurt points when
• Choose a new power tag you lose a crew theme):
• Add, remove, or rewrite a weakness tag
» One Build-Up point for every tag in the lost
• Choose a theme improvement from the themebook
theme beyond the third
• Reset Fade or Crack
» One Build-Up point for every theme improve-
ment in the lost theme
4. Transform:
CREW THEME DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . PG 247
» If this was your last Logos theme, you become an
Season Premiere, Season Finale: When the crew Avatar (page 270).
has a new overarching goal, it gets a new nascent crew » If this was your last Mythos theme, you become
theme. When the crew has achieved its goal, it gets a a Sleeper (page 276).
new nascent extra theme. » Otherwise, you gain a nascent theme of your
choice from the type opposite to the one you lost
(Mythos <> Logos).
MYTHOS & LOGOS MOVES NASCENT THEMES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 265

When you make these special moves, instead of adding A nascent theme has only one power tag (weakness
your Power to your roll, you add: tags and Mystery/Identity as normal).
• When you first mark Attention on a nascent
• Mythos rating: the number of Mythos themes you
theme, it gains another power tag.
have
• When you first complete the Attention track on
• Logos rating: the number of Logos themes you have
a nascent theme, it gains another power tag (you
Tags and statuses do not apply. cannot choose another improvement). It is now a
standard theme.
• Stop.Holding.Back. allows you to use your powers
in a never-before-seen way or scope, but you must
MOMENTS OF EVOLUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG 267
make a sacrifice (page 256).
• Look Beyond the Mist allows you to Investigate When you mark 5 Build Up point, reset the track and
by communing with your Mythos (explained under choose a Moment of Evolution from the list on your
the Investigate move, page 194). character card. You can only choose each option once.
 MC MOVES

n i n g
Runssion
MC INTRUSIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 70
At any point in the game, even when a player has the

a se
spotlight, you may intrude to...
• Translate the story into rules, e.g., add a story
tag.
• Reveal a custom move that has been triggered.
• Ask for more details about a player’s action.
• Tell a player which player move their action
triggers.
• Intervene when a player determines Power,
e.g., invoke a weakness tag.
• Choose, describe, and resolve the outcome of a
move, when the choice is yours or when the player
SESSION STRUCTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 65 foregoes an option.

• Session Start: One player makes the Voiceover THE SOFT MOVES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MTCT 71
Monologue (Session Start) move.
• Play through scenes, downtime, and cutscenes • Complicate Things
according to what the lead characters do, ac- • Hit Them After A Fair Warning
cording to the case, and according to cinematic • Optional: Activate Their Weakness Tags as Flaws
considerations.
» Scene: Follow the scene flow below. THE HARD MOVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MTCT 73
» Downtime: All players make the Montage
(Downtime) move. • Complicate Things, Bigtime
» Cutscene: You set the mood, foreshadow, or • Deny Them Something They Want
reveal information yet unknown to the players. • Make Something Horrible Happen
• Session end: All players make the Geek Out • Turn Their Move Against Them
During Credits (Session End) move. • Give a Status
• Reduce or Remove a Status
• Burn a Tag
• Force Them to Choose
PLAYING A SCENE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 67
• Set the scene: Narrate the opening shot. You can
make a soft MC move. NARRATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 78
• Give the spotlight to the players by asking: “What
do you do?” • Emphasize the atmosphere
» During player spotlight: Listen and intrude • Make your characters real and human
when the rules require you to. • Keep it a mystery
» On a miss: Make a hard MC move. • Ask provoking questions
» After a player move: Narrate how the scene • Stay consistent
responds to what just happened. You can make a • Make the City feel alive
soft MC move.
• When everyone is waiting: Narrate what hap-
pens next. You can make a soft MC move. ADJUSTING THE CHALLENGE LEVEL . . . . MCT 82
• After each MC move or narration: Pass the spot-
light back to the same player, forward to the next • Adjust the severity of statuses
player, or generally to the group and ask again • Adjust the range of actions affected by satuses
“What do you do?” • Adjust how statuses are removed
• When the scene is exhausted: Cut to the next • Apply the Grit Mode or Tag Cap optional rules
scene, downtime, or cutscene. (Player Guide, pages 176 and 207)
 i t i n g
wr ase
ac
CREATE THE BREADCRUMB TRAIL. . . . . . MCT 97
2
1 CREATE THE BACKSTORY. . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 90
CREATE THE ICEBERG
The case Iceberg is made out of locations and people
who lead from the hooks to the truth. It is divided
? What happened before the crew got involved in the into Depths; the greater the Depth, the closer this
case? location or person is to the truth.
STORY SEED • Break down your backstory into the possible loca-
tions and/or characters.
? RIFT(S): WHO IS INVOLVED IN THIS CASE?
• What is the Mythos of the main Rift(s) involved? • Place all the Hooks at Depth 0.
• Who is this Rift in her everyday life in the City? • Place the locations directly connected to the
• How and when did this Rift awaken? Hooks at Depth 1.
• How awakened is this Rift? (Awakening, Touched,
Borderliner, Legendary, or Avatar) • For every other location ask yourself:
• What drives this Rift more: her Mythos or her » How can this location bring the crew closer to
ordinary life? the truth?
• What does her Mythos want from her?
» What follow-up location would the clues lead to?
• What is / was her mundane motive?
» Is this follow-up location significantly closer to
? THE TRUTH: WHAT CRIME, WRONG, OR PROBLEM the truth? (If so, it should be deeper down the
IS AT THE CENTER OF THE CASE? iceberg).

See a list of examples on page 91. • Place all the other locations on the Iceberg based
on your answers.

? THEME: WHAT TYPE OF STORY WILL THIS BE?

CREATE THE LOCATIONS
Scope (personal, neighborhood, city, etc.), common
tropes, and format (whodunit, cold case, clock is ticking) For each location, create:
• A description
? HOOKS: HOW DOES THE CREW GET INVOLVED? • A short list of characters present there
• How does the crew hear about the case? • A list of clues: physical evidence, information
• At what point in the progression of events does the gleaned from characters, observations and de-
crew come in? ductions, papertrail, or information obtained by
legendary means
DEVELOPMENT
Think of additional major characters and further com-
plications. CREATE THE DANGERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 101 3
DETAILS
? Who or what could endanger the investigation or
Your final backstory should have a character roster, a interfere with follow-up actions?
sufficiently detailed account of the whole truth, and
the timeline. See also the Danger creating rules on page 131.
 DANGER MOVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 123

g e r
Soft and Hard Danger moves are suggestions for soft

dan les
and hard MC moves you can make when using a specific
Danger.

ru
Custom Danger moves are special rules relating to a
specific Danger.
• Most custom moves are intrusions and can trigger
even during a player’s spotlight.
• When a custom move is first triggered, you must
SPECTRUMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 120 reveal it to the players. (You can reveal it earlier
than that, if you’d like)
Spectrums measure how much of a given type of sta-
tuses a Danger can take before it changes irrevocably
(overcome or transformed). A spectrum is made of a
COMMON CUSTOM DANGER MOVES. . . MCT 136
tag and a maximum tier.

• Maxing out: When a Danger takes a status on a • Active Shield: When a character attacks the Danger,
spectrum with a tier equal to the spectrum maximum, the character first takes a status or faces a negative
the spectrum is maxed out. outcome.
• Defeat: Normally, when a Danger’s spectrum is • Countdown Outcome: Defines what happens when
maxed out, the Danger is overcome. a Danger’s countdown spectrum is maxed out.
• Countdown Spectrums: When these spectrums are • Starting Status or Tag: Give a Danger a status or a
maxed out, a custom move is triggered (e.g. when a tag as soon as it enters the scene.
timebomb explodes).
• Status Filter: Modify (usually reduce) statuses of a
• Immunities: Spectrums marked with “–” indicate the specific type received by the Danger.
Danger is immune to such statuses and ignores them
altogether. • Status Payload: Create an additional side effect
when the Danger successfully gives a status.
• Off-Spectrum Statuses: A Danger can take a status
even if it does not match any of its listed spectrums.
COLLECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 126
EFFECTS OF STATUSES ON DANGERS . . . . . . . . . . MCT 128
When a Danger takes a status, choose one of the fol- A collective is a single Danger representing a group of
lowing (or more, if appropriate): non-player characters or threats. Every collective has a
• The status counts against that Danger’s spectrums size factor ranging from 1 to 4.
to promote its defeat. • A collective has the same spectrum and moves as a
• The status applies to player moves against that single individual, but:
Danger.
» For statuses taken by the entire collective:
• The status applies to the Danger’s own moves.
Reduce the tier by the size factor.
DANGER DEFENSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCT 139 » For moves made by the entire collective:
• A defensive status or tag which applies to play- Increase the effect by its size factor.
ers’ attack moves • Target individuals: Members of a collective can
• A move which reduces the tier of statuses the takes statuses and be overcome individually. When
Danger incurs (such as a Status Filter) sufficient members of a collective are overcome,
• Immunities, spectrums on which the Danger can- the MC reduces the collective’s size factor.
not take a status • Break apart: You can break down a large collective
• Active Shield (see right column), a custom move into smaller collectives or individual Dangers, if the
which hits the attacker before they make an attack circumstances dictate so (e.g., a gang splits up).